#really this is a story about max’s reaction to the ending of a star is born (2018)

[lecsainz]

FOOTBALL GAME

parings: daniel ricciardo x kelce!reader

author note: it's official, I'm entering my NFL era... taylor swift, what have you done?!?! 😭

summary: the one where you're the younger sister of the kelces and you go to a travis game and end up meeting daniel ricciardo.

✩. . . masterlist !

Y/N is the Kelce siblings' little sister, the protected one, adored by her entire family. Her three older brothers loved to tease her whenever they could. Nonetheless, Y/N loved being the youngest, except for the overly protective nature of her brothers. Shawn, Jason, and Travis delighted in intimidating any guy who came near their sister, and this had been the story of her life. The fact that Jason and Travis were professional football players didn't help either. Despite it all, she knew her brothers just wanted her to stay safe and find the right person. And that happened in the most unlikely way.

Y/N was at the Chiefs game, just like any other game, or so she thought. She had chosen to stay in the stands; Y/N wasn't in the mood to be in the player's family area today, especially after the appearances of her supposed new sister-in-law, Taylor. The fans had become obsessed with recording and looking for the singer-songwriter there. Today, Y/N wanted a peaceful afternoon. She had never been fond of being in the spotlight and was grateful that her brothers were the stars, not her.

As Y/N settled into her seat, she couldn't help but relish the anonymity she usually enjoyed in the stands. She liked to be just another face in the crowd, free from the constant attention that came with being a Kelce. But little did she know that this particular game was about to take an unexpected turn.

The energy in the stadium was electrifying, and as the game progressed, Y/N found herself getting more and more engrossed in the action. The Chiefs were playing exceptionally well, and the crowd's excitement was contagious. Amidst the cheers and chants, she almost forgot about her desire for a quiet day.

That's when it happened. Y/N was caught up in the moment, jumping to her feet as the Chiefs scored a touchdown. As she celebrated, an unfortunate collision occurred. Out of nowhere, a cup of beer was knocked from someone's hand, drenching her from head to toe. She gasped in surprise and shock, realizing her white Chiefs jersey was now soaked.

Furious and stunned, she turned to see who was responsible for this mess, and her eyes met a face she couldn't believe – it was none other than the famous Formula 1 driver Daniel Ricciardo, who was attending the game because of his Formula 1 race in Texas.

Y/N's frustration boiled over, and she shouted, "Are you kidding me? You just ruined my jersey!" Her irritation was palpable, and the entire section fell silent as all eyes turned to her and the unsuspecting Daniel Ricciardo.

As crowd silence hung in the air, Y/N could feel her face heating up with embarrassment and anger. She had no idea who this man was, only that he was the one who had turned her game day experience into a mess. But what she didn't know was that Daniel Ricciardo was not only a Formula 1 superstar but also known for his charm and charisma.

Daniel, caught off guard by her fiery reaction, was momentarily stunned. He glanced at the drenched jersey and then back at Y/N, a sheepish grin forming on his face. "Oh, gosh, I'm so sorry," he stammered. "I was just so caught up in the game, and I... I didn't mean to do that."

Y/N couldn't help but notice that, despite the situation, Daniel had an irresistible smile. It was clear that he was genuinely apologetic, and she couldn't stay mad at him for long. Still, she didn't know who he was, and her irritation was evident in her response. "Well, an apology won't dry my jersey, will it?"

At that moment, Max Verstappen, who was seated next to Daniel, couldn't contain his laughter any longer. He burst into fits of giggles, watching the entire interaction. "Mate, you've really done it this time!" Max said between laughs.

Y/N, despite herself, found Max's laughter contagious and couldn't help but chuckle along. "I can't believe you've got your friend here laughing at your blunder," she teased Daniel, a hint of amusement in her voice.

Daniel, red-faced and still grinning, extended his hand toward her. "I'm Daniel, by the way, and I promise I'll make it up to you somehow."

Y/N accepted the hand with a half-smile. "Y/N, nice to meet you. Just don't spill anything else on me."

Max chimed in, still amused. "Well, I think you've made quite the impression, Daniel.”

Max's playful comment only added to the amusement of the moment. As Y/N and Daniel continued to converse, they discovered an unexpected chemistry between them. His initial mistake had broken the ice, and they found themselves discussing everything from their favorite sports to their shared love for adventure.

As the game progressed, Y/N's initial irritation had turned into a delightful afternoon spent in the company of a charming stranger. She had completely forgotten about her drenched jersey and the chaotic start to their interaction.

As the final whistle blew, the Chiefs emerged victorious, and the crowd erupted in cheers. Daniel leaned closer to Y/N, and with a grin, he said, "You know, I've had an eventful day, and it's all thanks to you. Can I get your number? Maybe I can make it up to you with dinner or something?"

Y/N was taken aback for a moment, not expecting such a bold move. But his sincerity and the connection they had formed throughout the game were hard to ignore. She couldn't help but smile and replied, "Sure, why not? I think I'd like to see what other trouble you can get me into."

[tcvsfiredemon]

Platonic Narumayo and Romantic Tension

I was originally gonna post this as a twitter thread, but it started getting really long and that toxic sludgepit doesn’t deserve that kind of effort. Get yourself a snack or something, it’s gonna get rambly.

I think people who go out of their way to shut down the possibility that there could be any romantic attraction between Nick and Maya are missing out on a really cool aspect of their platonic relationship.

There’s a lot to be said about the many facets of the Narumayo friendship, from their bonding through shared trauma, to their building a found family with Pearl, to their effortless ability to trade off being the straight man of their comedic duo. But I think a lot of people miss how much of their friendship is informed by the fact that they both kinda want to kiss each other.

First off, Maya is constantly teasing Phoenix, and often in a weirdly flirty way. Just a few examples off the top of my head. She says Max is dreamy with stars on his face and immediately suggests Nick put stars on his face. She acts like a spurned lover when Phoenix is talking to Adrian, specifically in an attempt to get him flustered. She explicitly compares Phoenix rescuing her from being kidnapped to the DeLites’ love story. 

There’s quite a few moments like this throughout the games, and coupled with a lot of Maya’s actions and reactions, I get the sense that we’re supposed to believe that she has a thing for Nick. Maybe that’s just the shipping goggles talking, but it really does feel like the intended subtext. I mean, look at that what she instinctively drew when she was in 

(You’re probably wondering when the platonic part comes in. We’ll get there.)

But even if Maya does have a crush on Phoenix, does he return it? Obviously she’s very important to him, but is that really as a romantic interest? We often see him get flustered or stunned into silence whenever people assume he and Maya are dating(which happens a lot), but I feel like that can easily just be read as him being uncomfortable with people assuming he’s in a relationship with his assistant.

In general, Phoenix’s feelings for Maya are fairly ambiguous and probably not something that he’s thought through too much himself. That is, of course, until the waitress scene. That scene, in my opinion, is the single hardest thing to justify if you’re trying to deny any romantic tension within Narumayo. I’ve seen people say that it’s just Phoenix giving a compliment to his best friend/sister figure, but is that really the tone that’s being conveyed there? 

That initial comment on her voice. The pregnant pause when he sees her. The weird pick-up line that probably just came out of his mouth without any thought. That’s not the actions of a guy innocently complimenting his friend, that’s the reaction of a guy who just realized that he finds his friend hot. I’d argue that the case can’t even proceed the way it does unless Phoenix thinks Maya is attractive, because that’s what gives him the idea to try to get her to seduce information out of Kudo.

So between Maya and Phoenix we have two best friends with a lot of chemistry who are probably into each other, and whose friends definitely think are already togeyhet, but we never actually see them take that step into romance. And you know what? It fucking works!

(See, told you we’d get into the platonic stuff eventually.)

One of my favorite movies of all time is When Harry Met Sally, and while the titular couple does get together in the end, most of the film is about the two of them navigating being best friends while obviously having romantic feelings for each other. It’s a beautiful story of these two people building a wonderful platonic relationship and then very nearly ruining it when they try to turn it romantic. 

That’s the dynamic I see between Phoenix and Maya. They love each other and are probably in love with each other, but they insist on keeping things strictly platonic because to change that could mean to destroy what they’ve spent years building up. It’s an underlying tension that underscores a lot of their actions.

It’s the dynamic that the two of them still have almost a decade later in SoJ, where they find immense comfort just being in each other’s presence, investigating cases like old times. And no matter how much Phoenix gawks at Maya like a sun fish, no matter how many times Maya teases Nick while they’re investigating a wedding-based case, no matter how much they may or may not want to kiss, they’re so happy just to be friends.

(Not that I’d be mad if they did end up kissing…)

Obviously there’s nothing wrong at all with seeing Narumayo as siblings or as purely platonic friends who would never in their wildest dreams be romantically interested in each other, but I do feel like something is lost in that interpretation. 

Like, I’m not the biggest fan of romantic Narumitsu, but I don’t think you can truly appreciate their friendship while ignoring that those guys have a weird pseudo-romantic tension going on. Without it they’re just two dudes who used to be friends and don’t have a whole lot of chemistry but would still for some reason die for each other. Once you acknowledge that “oh, they’re kinda in love, aren’t they” it all makes perfect sense.

I don’t think platonic Narumayo exactly falls apart if you ignore their romantic tension. They still have all that other stuff I talked about, but their relationship loses a lot of richness if it’s reduced to just “besties” or “siblings”. Even the games themselves took a little time to explore the potential romantic tension between Phoenix and Maya, and I think that’s been pretty instrumental in making them one of the coolest male/female friendships this side of When Harry Met Sally.

[kiirotoao]

Season 3 rewatch notes

Wait a minute, I just realized that Mike and Will are the only ones in The Party who’ve canonically been dungeon masters. Idk what that means for them, but, yeah. Another exclusive detail of theirs

Oh, lord. Mike’s arm being torn off in the D&D game better not be a prophecy. If those s5 notes are accurate about Mike being seriously injured… I’m scared.

GOD I’ve never noticed how hard Will breathes in the rain scene. Poor baby he was so stunned 😭😭😭😭

The thing that I love most about Jonathan and Nancy is that they’ve been through the real shit. Arguments and hardship through the supernatural and the struggles of discrimination and privilege.

I love how Max is usually the one who speaks after Will. It’s like she’s the only one brave enough to answer after he says something profound or important. I need more of Max and Will’s friendship and them having well-thought out arguments I swear

Omg I love Erica’s little green star on her cheek. It’s so cute 😭🩷

After watching The Princess Bride, I am fangirling so much over Cary Elwes - it’s so crazy to me that he got him to play such a character! I wonder if they thought of him because of all the physical stunts lmao

As much as Karen isn’t in the know of much of anything in the supernatural story, I love how she’s a picture of raw strength in the Wheeler family, the true head of the household. She takes charge. Stops at nothing to help. Not even in the face of temptation. Go Karen.

DAMN I forgot that Billy dropped an f bomb! I thought that the closest that the show got was when Max got cut off in the hospital, but nope. There it was

Shit, I’m tearing up at that scene when El collapses into Mike’s arms because I know that that was real exhaustion. Poor Millie 🩷🩷🩷. She did such a phenomenal job there.

I LOVE whenever Joyce is angry this season. Now that’s how you demand. Straight to the point, justified in her worry, and cutting past any unnecessary bs while still including the cherry on top “please” or “good day” of politeness out of basic decency. I want to be her when I’m upset.

I’m always so blown away by Maya’s performance when she comes out to Steve. Straight (haha) through the heart, so good. And I always, always smile at Steve’s reaction. So in character, so accepting. No questioning if she’s being honest, just immediately questioning her type and believing that she’s into girls. So, so important.

Oh, no. Holly saw the trees moving in the woods. Thus far, she’s noticed the demogorgon coming out of the wall, and now this. She’s definitely a target next season.

When El tells Billy the memory of his mom, I teared up a little! Something about the way that El says, “you were happy” breaks me, dude. Millie and Dacre did so well.

Also, thinking in foresight of s4, Max’s letter is so heartbreaking. The Mind Flayer made a huge show of killing Billy slowly and painfully. I don’t blame her for being too horrified to move. It really wasn’t her fault. That was traumatic. Sadie did amazing there, too. Ouch.

I’m never getting over the helicopter lights being blue, yellow, and red. Were starboard and port always blue and red? And isn’t starboard supposed to be green? It’s all intentional, I’m telling you

I love how Max and Lucas are supposed to be “butchering” Never Ending Story but those two theater kids actually sound amazing. I just wish they harmonized 😆

Oh my gosh Jonathan did the Byers hold to Nancy 😭😭😭😭 I am not okay 😭😭 I never noticed that

Okay wait. This is kinda horrible. I feel bad for saying this. But y’know how Mike has a Will voice? Well I just noticed that Mike definitely does not have a soft voice for El. I swear, he’s always so loud around her like nothing’s different about her 😂😭 Any time he’s sweet with her he’s just like YEAH. COOL. and it’s kinda hilarious.

Jancy is WRECKING me this season wtf. Charlie and Natalia are so cute 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Oh my gosh David’s voice kinda breaks at “doze off.” Fuck.

Erica has blue, yellow, and pink balloons plus a rainbow drawing on her door. I now headcanon Erica as pansexual/panromantic, thank you.

AHHHGHH I can’t wait for the original version of Heroes to play next season over Byler kissing when everyone thinks that they might be dead but they’re just surviving in the Upside Down, clinging to each other and having the highest moment of their lives!!!!!!!

This has been my s3 thoughts for the 6-8th time watching? I forget? And I missed a number of moments because I got too absorbed so, oops. Anyway, I love Jancy, I love Jopper, I love the Scoops Troop, I love Suzie, I miss Alexi, Byler is endgame, and this season was way more fun than I remembered and it always makes me laugh. My list of favorite seasons has been shaken expertly.

[steampunkforever]

How you handle pacing is in my opinion what will make or break Furiosa for you.

If we're judging the film on whether or not it's a good film, it passes with flying colors. If we're judging the film on whether or not it's a good sequel/prequel, I'll still say it's pretty good. If we're judging the film against Miller's last film, the lauded Mad Max: Fury Road, Furiosa feels a little disappointing, while still being a perfectly good film.

Fury Road is one of my perfect narratives. I've said this in my filmposts, in my podcasts, in general conversation. It's a supremely focused film that crafts its story in a lean, effective manner. The characters of the film drive in a line, stop, then turn around, and the film uses the minimal plot and dialogue to present its themes as succinctly as possible. It's elegant! Furiosa. on the other hand, tackles a story with a much wider scope, and comparing the pacing of both films would be unfair.

I liked Furiosa. It's a good film. As far as prequels set in established franchises go, it certainly handled origin stories much better than classic examples such as the Star Wars prequels (though its explainer of wasteland politics did feel like a phantom menace callback) or the 2010 A-Team origin did. Personally I feel this film went into development back when the 2010s obsession with the origin story was still strong, and Furiosa manages to overcome the fact that nobody really cares to see how superman got his cape anymore. It's a solid film. Just not as good as Fury Road.

The pacing has a lot to do with this. It meanders through Furiosa's story, and Miller's choice to show us Furiosa from childhood up to the start of Fury Road means there's a lot to wander through. Which is to say, there were several moments where my "I'm not sure where we're going with this" reactions weren't so much tied to how the film was going to end as much as they were linked to when we were going to wrap up. The movie has a much wider scope than Fury Road, and the pacing issues are a direct result of this.

Another result of the massive scope Furiosa attempts is a more minor quibble: the CG. Prefacing this, I'll say that I totally get it. To make a film of this scale, CG assets are a must have because this isn't Ben-Hur. Fury Road's limited scope meant that largely practical effects could be used on battles that would be *impractical* for the much larger production that is Furiosa. Even so, the CG was pretty solid for the most part, just a bit jarring compared to Fury Road.

Usually the followup effort for an excellent piece of cinema like Fury Road ends up bad, or at least mediocre. Furiosa is neither of these, instead presenting a good film with interesting worldbuilding that expounded on some themes in a way that made those of Fury Road more poignant after a rewatch. Still worth watching, especially if you're already into Mad Max.

To that, I feel like Anya Taylor-Joy was a pretty mid Charlize Theron replacement until about two thirds in, at which point she really nailed the voice and I finally bought the performance. This is of course made up for by Chris Hemsworth getting let off the chain and getting properly wacky with it. Very fun to see them let him be Australian again.

[agentravensong]

hello, fellow hatchetfield fans! here are my stray nerdy prudes must die thoughts, which i'm going to try to keep brief (she said, before spending an hour writing this)

the production level of the show as a whole really blew me away. the lighting; demon!max's costume and makeup; even the way it was shot and edited felt even more electric than past shows

this is the only one of the full-length hatchetfield musicals to have one consistent antagonist throughout (black friday has linda but half the leads don't know about her at all until the climax, plus there's wilbur and wiggly). and i gotta say, max's actor really killed it. hilarious, terrifying, and even with moments of nuance. he repeatedly stole the show.

some of the songs are already stuck in my head. off the top of my head i can't think of any that stood out in a bad/unmemorable way (though i could just be forgetting them, lol). ruth's song in particular i think is gonna really stick with me once i listen to it a few more times.

and i love the way the "i'm not a loser" motif gets used throughout the show. the closest any of the songs got me to having the visceral reaction i have to "did you know that i wanted to live with you" in "not your seed" and the bridge + ending of "let it out" ("i've never been happy...") was when richie sings that line right before... well.

speaking of richie: as a paul stan, what this show proved to me more than anything is that when jon matteson plays a sympathetic lead (or side character - hi daniel/stopwatch), he will always break my heart. he's just. really good.

thinking about how in the last of the originally planned 3 hatchetfield shows, initially conceptualized as the first, jon's character is the first one to sing, whereas in the first of those shows, conceptualized as the last, the whole crux of the musical is him refusing to sing, the audience essentially waiting for the moment he breaks and does it. thinking about how the opening of npmd tells us richie is going to die, already dying, already dead, while the opening number of tgwdlm tells us paul is the target, the Doomed Hero, the "star of the show" "destined to go viral" [read: get infected], whose story is going to be told, already written.

thinking about how singing dooms paul, and how richie singing "i'm not a loser", reigniting max's ire, is the final nail in his coffin.

...i'm normal.

there's a lot of meta jokes and nods of that sort throughout the show. maybe a few too many? like, at a certain point, as a fan, i do feel like i'm being pandered to a bit.

i liked the lords in black's scene, it was a lot of fun! it's always great to see jon get to let loose with crazy characters, and the others were great too. but i do wonder how it plays for people who haven't been following nightmare time stuff. like, i get that in one world this was our introduction to these characters, but even in that world, i wonder if including all five of them with their specific names and allusions to their individual deals is a bit too much for what the plot of this show needs. there's something to be said for not showing all your cards right away.

on the other hand, i feel like the paulkins coffee scene actually fully earned its inclusion: because when pete comes in asking for his hot chocolate, it reads differently when we're coming at it from having followed his perspective up to this point versus having been following paul in tgwdlm, in a way that strengthens both scenes. it's a nice reminder that emma and paul can be... rude, i guess. assholes, even (she really didn't need to spit in it). that idea of perspectives affecting how we categorize people arguably even plays into the themes of this show! how about that.

ah, yes, Themes. there are Themes to be drawn out of this show about the experience of high school, especially in an intertextual comparison to how tom and becky talk about their time in high school in black friday. something about how the two of them see it as this idealistic time they want to go back to, whereas the teens (the nerds/outcasts) in npmd sing that they'll "still despise it when [they're] gone". something about how in ruth's solo number, the fantasy future she imagines for herself (even in the context of it being a performance for an audience of no one) is of a standard, arguably dreary, middle-aged existence. there's definitely stuff there to be dissected.

and also there's arguably a theme of continuing cycles of cruelty, brought into focus by the ending, but also implied with the way the adults failed the kids (see max referencing his dad belittling him).

...but also, i feel like they could have done more with that.

that's my one big thing with this show, and it could very easily just be that the genre of this show isn't as much my jam, but i'll say it anyway: i wanted more from the characters, and more emotional weight in regards to certain things.

like, between this and tgwdlm, i think tgwdlm is still the better written show. there's just, a subtly to the characters there, a grounded human-ness, that i didn't quite get from all of the teens here.

as much as i clearly have a soft spot for richie, that's mostly on jon; as written, there really isn't much there, beyond "anime nerd" and "generally nice kid who wants to be liked". the scene right before he dies is comedic in how obvious it's setting things up, but its obvious-ness also makes it feel kind of cheap in terms of pulling on the heartstrings. similarly, ruth is initially just a gimmick (though hers at least ties into a deeper insecurity) and only gets her real moment of depth right before she dies. neither of them feel like they have much affect / haunting presence on the surviving teens once they're dead, past the initial shock of the reveals of their deaths.

and steph and pete are good, but... idk. i wanted a bit more from each of them. if they got to have a talk like paul and emma before "join us and die" - not even for the sake of the romance, but just for the sake of giving us more on each of them outside of their basic stereotypes and the romance - that would've helped, i think.

grace was great, though, no qualms. initially there was a part of me that was disappointed that the stereotype max was pushing on her about her being secretly repressed and horny was in fact true, but the way it gets used makes up for it, and in between max's death and when that specific thing comes up again in the climax, she gets to do a lot with the two conflicting sides of her personality, wanting to be good but having a capacity and arguable instinct for scheming and ruthlessness.

(also, as i mentioned earlier, max has a surprising amount going on, especially once you get into the Implications)

it could just be that i see those depths in the tgwdlm cast because i've had more time to chew on that cast, and that in time i'll see these teens in the same light. but i don't think it's just that.

i think part of it is how there are so many jokes about the teens being nerdy prudes (really, mostly just nerds). and like, that's part of the point, obviously, that they were being forced into those boxes and that they were still people with the potential to be more. but... i don't know if the show does enough to really make that point. again, richie doesn't really get to be more (and it's not for lack of time - there's a good amount of show before max comes back as the demon and kills for the first time).

in tgwdlm, the mains are all arguably based on stock characters, but they have more depth through their relationships. look at ted, the stock asshole sleazeball, who's shown to feel genuine remorse when he loses people he loves, in a way that contextualizes his bitterness. and there's a lot less highlighting of the stockness of them in their show than there is of the teens in npmd.

and the thing is, i think the cast of npmd at their foundations are more likable than the cast of tgwdlm (see the earlier point about emma and paul being assholes at times). they had a lot of potential. but i don't think enough of it is realized for the majority of them. the edges the tgwdlm cast has are part of what makes them compelling, and it's something the teens (minus grace) are largely missing.

the thing is, i know the fandom is going to see that potential and run with it. i know that they're gonna develop the teens' characterizations and relationships. i know they'll get into the trauma and the implications from everything that happened to them in the show. i know they'll get into... pete's survivor's guilt, and steph losing her dad(!!!), and what richie and ruth could have been, and all that. i know that they'll fill in the gaps. because that's what fans do. i guess i just wish there weren't so many gaps to fill. or, that the gaps wouldn't take so much effort from them to fill.

again, i acknowledge, maybe i'm expecting too much from the genre of show this is. it doesn't need to have A Point, i guess, it can just be fun, a comedic horror slasher in musical form. and it is fun, a lot of fun! ...but, tgwdlm was also a lot of fun. not as bombastic, for sure, but i'd say just as humorous. and it was also incredibly tightly written, and satisfying, with strong character arcs for multiple leads. it had commentary on musicals, on what makes a protagonist and what it means to be one, on conformity and institutions of authority, on romance even (you could do a very interesting aromantic reading of this show, trust me). and with a show that's titled nerdy prudes must die, that is About high school, there's, similarly, a lot you can do. and there's a fair amount of seeds planted there. but i don't think it all quite coheres. and it could've, if they really wanted it to.

...i did not keep that brief. ah well. i might disagree with half of this by the time i wake up tomorrow, i just needed to get it out of me. tl;dr, in my opinion, this show is stronger than black friday, but tgwdlm is still my favorite. all the cast and crew put a lot of love into this production and it really shows. i had a great time! :D but i'm always going to overanalyze things i care about as much as i care about the hatchetfield universe, and hence, here we are.

[malka-lisitsa]

Star wars Headcanon: Katherine's BPD

@sithdestined brought up a point about the resources and training Katherine would have gotten as Katerina while with the jedi order, so I want to touch a little on the differences in her BPD for this verse.

Unlike her TVD main verse, Katherine spent a lot longer in this 500+ year life span as Katerina than she did in her canon universe, and ALSO never knew her father.

Because of this Katherine's bpd stems less from an abuse root, and more instability in her life when she was younger. Lack of needs being met, and circumstances that lead to abandonment issues.

Katerina had a more mild case of BPD to start, and when she joined the Jedi order, she was given training that helped her manage her emotions and emotional responses as a whole. How to rationalize and talk herself out of a spiral. Essentially A CBT therapy training.

This helped Katerina immensely while she was in the order and worked with regularly to keep herself in check, and with very little in the way of opportunities for abandonment triggers, Katerina did really well in her environment.

It wasn't till she met and fell in love with Stefan that her BPD symptoms started to act back up. There was suddenly someone so incredibly important in her life that she was capable of losing, and this often triggered her abandonment issues and ultimately lead to her choice to leave the Order for love.

While she was with Stefan he was incredibly good at meeting her needs and took very good care of her, so Katerina's BPD symptoms were highly manageable again in her still mild case.

It's not until she LOST STEFAN and the spiral there after that lead to some incredibly shitty situations that resulted in a lot of traumatic events, did Katerina's BPD move from a mild case to an extreme one.

Her emotional regulation was next to zero, trust issues sky rocketed, paranoia, for a while she had all 9 symptoms in her little bpd infinity gauntlet. Luckily her desire to live returned after a very short time, with the reminder that Stefan wouldnt want her to go before her she was meant to. - Once again survival instincts set to max.

It was in this time period's unstable grief spiral that Katherine changed her identity and also made a lot of enemies. Impulsivity, paired with zero emotional regulation, and rage tends to land you on a lot of people's shit list.

Eventually, Katherine evened out and her spiral ended with her in a delightful chaotic neutral alignment, and a lot of trust issues.

However unlike her canon universe counterpart- Katherine had prior training on how to help regulate her emotions. Now out of her spiral, Katherine does a lot better with her emotional reactions than canon Katherine does.

This Katherine can and will get up and walk away BEFORE she acts or reacts on her anger. It is her first step to emotionally regulating herself. She also will try to talk herself out of a spiral if her abandonment issues are triggered. Katherine tries to rationalize the actions of others before her brain takes them and runs with some demonized story of how they hate her and are going to betray her.

Keep in mind, these tactics do NOT always work, she very well may slip up and fail to regulate herself, but UNLIKE canon Katherine, SW Katherine at least has the tools to TRY, and there for isn't quite as reactionary as her canon counterpart.

That being said her white hot rage is still the same, and the way she reacts violently is just as probable should she fail to regulate herself after a trigger.

Thank you for coming to my ted talk.

[bsaka7]

Fave fics rn go 🔫

thanks anon! going to split this into two sections (f1fic and everything else) and limit them to just a couple. Under the cut!

f1fic

provenance by ecorone, seb/lewis, 18.9k, au

this is an au about a lot of things but also about the apocalypse. it's genuinely some of the best writing I've ever read in fic. it explores themes I love - life, legacy loss - in ways that feel so thoughtful. the fic is interconnected with culture and with f1 history in just a phenomenal way. definitely my fav fic rn.

leave it all behind in your lifetime by @misonikomi, charles/pierre, 19.6k, college au

read this and then read EVERYTHING by misonikomi. i love her writing and i love the questions this fic explores about choices and losing a future that was once everything you wanted. she's got wonderful oc's, a setting that feels so real, and writes the stupid mess of your early twenties in a beautiful, aching way.

hard feelings by @geluksalig, pierre/esteban, 2.9k, au

another author i absolutely love! THEE pierresteban master. this fic strikes some miserable chord in me about breaking up. this fic makes me feel sad without fail. it's just the perfect encapsulation of a certain head's pace. i also think fernando in it is hilarious. (honorary mention to I'll be the sky you be the bird, max/daniel, 24.7k for the incredible structure and the line "I'll think that gets me what I want.")

perfect pretenders by @wdcseb, mick/esteban, 19.8k, au

is this a cheater pick because it was written for me? no!!! this fic is AMAZING and marthe is so fun and clever and helped send me down the esteban spiral. the writing is super funny and it plays with classic romcom tropes in a very fun way. first time I've ever had to split a comment in TWO. i especially love the ending!!

i could genuinely put a dozen more fics on this list, but these are some of my favorites that I've read more than once and really enjoyed reading and i remember what happened (and enough to think of right now) and i had some emotional reaction. #critera. definitely missing some stellar fics I really enjoyed!! also genuinely surprised these are all AUs lol but I suppose it is what it is.

Non-f1fic

All the angels and the saints by speranza, captain America, Steve/bucky, 48.7k

formative fic for me. probably reread it once a year. just a genius job of weaving together a broad swathe of real texts and work with the story of steve that's really stuck with me. it has early 20th c socialism and interesting takes on religiosity and of course. captain america. so I really like this one.

Asynchronous circuit by jessepinwheel, star wars, obi-wan kenobi centric, 117.5k

This is a very clever fic. Obi-wan is a noir-style detective and i love how the author weaves together the star wars world and the tropes of detective noir writing. it's a very interesting take on an alternate version of obi-wan who doesn't stay with the order, and I love all of the side characters. again, good writing and an interesting concept does a lot for me

okay i actually have a horrible memory for things i read and don't really bookmark much (these are both from my bookmarks) but everything there i liked enough to do so and have read at least twice. tbh I've read a lot of fic but most of it doesn't really stand out, especially once i stop being interested in the source material. stop by in a month to get my 2022 book report lmao!

[avecpardon]

4 Month Check In

So it's been about 4 months since I started the Primoless DPS Barbara year-long challenge on Genshin Impact and I figured it's good to have a lil recap of all I've gotten done so far.

As a refresh of the rules, I'm not allowed to spend any Primogems I gather for a full year from the date I started the account. I can gather them in any method, but I can't touch 'em. All my wishes must be done with the free Fates I can pick up from any sources, like ascending characters, in-game rewards, limited events, etc. Originally I could only do the wishes on the last day of the month but that started proving far too unbalanced against me so it switched to using Standard Banner wishes whenever I feel up to it, but the Event banners I can hold onto until characters that can be support for Barbara come up (no wishing for like Ayaka or something cuz she's too tempting to have take over as the driver).

Barbara is built as a DPS and must always be on the team, ideally as the main DPS. Whatever characters I end up from wishes either support her or get benched. (I might turn some of them into a Team 2 for spiral abyss, we'll see.)

So with that out of the way, here's what I've got so far in 4 months!

Barbara is near level 80, has the first 5 star artifact I ever got dropped, and an R2 weapon. She's getting her talents up fairly well, but I'm still struggling a little with getting her substats to roll properly.

My AR is 44, soooo close to 45, and world level is 5. Soon I'll be able to artifact farm for her!

Her main team for clearing content/story. Sometimes I sub in DMC for hyperbloom, but he's still much weaker compared to the others so I don't rely on him much. Still got a lot of work to do to build them them up for next rank.

All the characters were obtained either for free from in game, events, or via wishing with the free Fates. Jean is my only 5 star and she only gets used to collect dandelion seeds and do anemo tasks in Mondstadt commissions. Pity. I'd love to build up Yaoyao more but I haven't walked that far into Sumeru yet to get her ascension materials. I did make it in just far enough to get Lisa's skin for free as well as max out everything for Lantern Rite to get Yaoyao.

Story-wise, I'm in Chapter 1 Act IV and struggling a little because I wasn't paying attention to my levels compared to my rank and WL and it outpaced me by a LOT. So I'm hurrying to catch up so I can resume the quest.

Not too shabby on the amount of Primos I've saved up since January! Likely I would have had more if I didn't slack a few days here and there on doing dailies (I hate going into Dragonspine). Completely F2P, all Primos came from in-game sources, events, Twitch Drops, gift codes, etc. I get fairly consistent Acquaint Fates from the Battle Pass and character ascension, so hoarding these few Intertwined Fates I have left until Baizhu shows up. I could definitely use a shielder I can set up hyperbloom with. Noelle has carried me thus far, but I could really use the reactions.

I think that's about it for major milestones and records. Gotta get back to grinding the Electro Hypostasis to ascend Lisa. If I hurry, I should have my team decent by the time the next event starts and I can clear that to get Faruzan! Could be handy for crowd control, we'll see.

[j2memories]

The New York Times article (August 12th 2021)

Jared Padalecki on the ‘Walker’ Finale and ‘Supernatural’

In an interview, the actor and producer talks about the season finale’s big twist and the “Supernatural” prequel that took him by surprise.

By Max Gao

Aug. 12, 2021

This interview contains spoilers for Thursday’s season finale of “Walker.”

More than a year after his wife’s murder at the U.S.-Mexico border, Cordell Walker (Jared Padalecki) returned to the scene of the crime with his family and the man responsible for pulling the final trigger: Stan Morrison (Jeffrey Nordling), the longtime Walker family friend, Texas Department of Public Safety chair and recently elected district attorney.

The twist was a secret that Padalecki — who serves as a star and executive producer of “Walker,” a modern-day reboot of the hit 1990s series that featured Chuck Norris as a high-kicking Texas Ranger — had been keeping since production on the show began last fall.

“The big difficulty for me was having to tell white lies to my friends and family and fellow cast and crew,” Padalecki said in a recent interview. “I didn’t feel good about it, but I’m learning to put that line between friend and fellow actor.”

Thursday’s season finale revealed the events leading up to the death of Emily Walker (played by Genevieve Padalecki, Jared’s real-life wife). Emily was dropping off water for migrants one night when, in a case of being at the wrong place at the wrong time, she heard a truck hit a pothole and found a group of people smuggling drugs across the border through a side road. While Cali (Katrina Begin) wounded Emily, it was Stan who, fearing the wrath of a powerful crime syndicate known as the Northside Nation, delivered the fatal blow. Stan and Cali paid off a dying man named Carlos Mendoza (Joe Perez), who agreed to confess to the crime only two days after the fact — only to be exonerated by Cordell’s sedulous search for the truth.

In a phone interview from his home in Austin, Tex., Jared Padalecki spoke about the pivotal confession scene in the finale, the evolution of his Cordell Walker, the impact of his 15-year run as Sam Winchester on “Supernatural,” and the brief online fallout from his reaction to that fantasy drama’s upcoming prequel. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.

What do you think motivated Cordell to force Stan to confess to his crimes in front of the entire Walker family?

Season 1 saw Cordell Walker still reeling from his wife’s murder and trying to put on a happy face and professional face, but really going through a lot of turmoil behind the scenes. I think he realized that the only way he could refrain from killing Stan outright was to get him to confess. Being an attorney and the D.P.S. chair, Stan knew all the loopholes and all the ways out. Walker had to set his eyes on a goal, so what was going through my head [as an actor] at the end of [Episode] 17 and all of 18 was that I just have to get this guy to say the truth and to agree to tell the truth in public.

I actually added that line on the day where I say, “Tell my family what happened.” Then, in that moment, it just occurred to me to say, “Tell Emily’s family.” [Nordling] did such a powerful job in that last scene of pulling the line between somebody who’s ashamed, but finally just ready to release the proverbial escape valve on all the pressure that’s been building up for him.

How does finally uncovering the truth about his wife’s death help Cordell to move forward?

He just needed to exhale, and he’s at a better place now. Now he realizes he needs to be there for his kids, for his parents, for his brother, for his work partners, and for himself. We’ll see in Season 2 that Walker has found some degree of closure.

How much influence did all of the stories of families being separated at the U.S.-Mexico border have on this series?

I was reading an op-ed from a law enforcement agent in Texas about how they were bound by duty and how they had to obey the law, but they just couldn’t bring themselves to put a 3-year-old in a cage. People talk all the time about how a coin has two sides. But in reality, a coin has three sides: there’s heads, tails, and the edge. So we wanted to find that edge, that gray area, and really lean into it about somebody who takes their job very seriously, who risked their life to make others’ lives safer, but also still has a deep moral code.

We developed the show before the pandemic and things came to a fever pitch between our communities and our law enforcement in different parts of the country. And America doesn’t really have a big appetite right now for tall, white, straight law-enforcement agents roundhouse kicking minorities in the face — and nor did we, so that lined up. [Laughs.] We’re more interested in these stories of a parent or a human being who find themselves stuck between a rock and a hard place.

How did you begin the transformation from Sam Winchester to Cordell Walker last year during the pandemic?

We had already been developing “Walker,” so I was able to spend some time leaning into who this character might be. And at the time, I think [the showrunner] Anna [Fricke] and the gang had already broken five or six stories. I used that time selfishly to really try and develop Cordell Walker even further, because I knew that getting the phone call to go back to Vancouver and finish “Supernatural” would come in a snap.

I did 327 episodes of that show, and that is basically 2,500 full days of filming and all the days in between of prepping and trying to figure out who Sam is, so it wasn’t difficult to get back to Sam. Frankly, knowing the last few episodes of “Supernatural,” I didn’t really want to live as Sam every day, because they were so sad. [Laughs.]

Do you still find yourself grieving the end of “Supernatural”? How did that show change your life?

We, the people who worked on and watched “Supernatural,” were all fortunate to have that time to prepare for a loss. And ultimately, the loss still was tragic and dramatic. But in another sense, “Supernatural” never really died. I still talk to [Jensen] Ackles, Misha [Collins], and the rest of the gang. I did “Supernatural” from age 22 to age 38, and I’ll never deny that my time and experiences on that show are certainly a part of who I am now. It’s still a part of me. I could film a scene as Sam Winchester right now because he lives in me, and I’m certain he always will.

I’m sitting in my office right now, and behind me is my last-ever tape mark. The last day of shooting when we shot on that bridge, which was the last shot of the series, we had our tape marks. My dear friend [the actor and stunt man] Jason Cecchini picked up the last tape marks — my red tape mark and Jensen’s blue tape mark. He put them on a call sheet and framed them, and as we all said our goodbyes, he handed them to us. I have so many reminders. The mother of my children is somebody I met on the show in Season 4, and now we have three kids! It sounds like a cop out, but because I thought about it so much, I can’t even begin to explain how much it changed me.

In June, you posted on Twitter that you were “gutted” to learn that your former co-star Jensen Ackles and his wife, Danneel, were working on a “Supernatural” prequel without your knowledge. What exactly happened that night?

I hadn’t heard of it, and then he and I chatted [the next morning]. He just kind of explained: “Man, it’s not picked up yet. It’s not even written yet.” He knows and I know how much “Supernatural” means to both of us, and it wasn’t a secret he was trying to keep, necessarily. It was just something that he didn’t feel really even existed yet. But he has been like: “Hey, I’ll let you know what’s going on.”

I love Jensen deeply. He’s my brother — he has been for many years, and he always will be, no matter what. He’s spent more time with me on camera than anybody probably ever will, so he knows my strengths and weaknesses more than I do, and vice versa. I respect his opinion.

It was just one of those things that because it was online, and people were assuming I was part of it, I really wanted to just say: “Hey, I’m not keeping a secret from you guys. I just don’t know about this.” And I should be old enough to know better than to put something out there and expect that people will understand. It’s hard to tweet a specific tone. If you write it online, it’s like, “Oh, he doesn’t know! They’re going to kill each other! The world is ending!” And I’m like, “No, no, no.” [Laughs.] I try to avoid social media as much as possible because of that.

Link to the article

[badedramay]

I will always hold a soft spot for PSM because it's what got me back into Pakistani dramas. I know it wasn't perfect at all, far from Maya's best work, some extremely stupid writing and acting choices, but it wasn't a TERRIBLE drama either. Like when it was good, some of the scenes were really good and well directed. The cinematography for instance was topnotch and some of the dialogues were amazing. Issy badtar drameys got and continue to get amazing ratings and critically raved.

The worst part of course is that Maya got the short end of the stick with a poorly written character and also the bulk of all the negative criticism. I remember the way people were piling on her back then. I won't say she was faultless because she said yes to the script and she should have absolutely done a few scenes differently. And as the biggest star in the project she will have to bear the brunt of audience feedback, positive or negative. But I feel like the overly harsh reaction really got to her. I loved her PSM-era interviews because she appeared so confident and endearing (and anyone who says she's not well-spoken need to watch those interviews). If you compare her promotional interviews during PSM and then during Yunhi, she seems more guarded, nervous, a bit more jaded and cynical now.

I don't even know if I have an ask per se lol. Just thoughts about how PSM wasn't as bad as everyone made it out to be. In fact even Maya wasn't as bad and she had some good scenes in that drama. But the way people remember and describe the drama and her character I think is slightly unfair. And as an aside, epecially love how eloquent and insightful she was in the PSM-era interviews.

The Aslam-Rakhsi love story buildup!!! 😭🤌🏼✨😭

yeah, PSM isn't the worst show ever but the unfortunately for it the many mistakes it made all summed up to make it into a show with much to criticize and less to praise. although the show's themes were completely on point. and relatable as well. it's just stretching that show to 35 episodes when a 22-23 episode narrative at max would've created a far stronger impact is, for many, an unforgivable offense. the show took no time in completely giving up on the "mohabbat" portion of the story and embracing the DRAMA of it all. matlab itna lamba hi kheenchna tha toh they could've built the Aslam-Rakshi story a bit more gently instead of insta-loving the heck out of it? but then again..the insta-love was a theme so eh.

i can understand why PSM's reaction got to Maya. this was her comeback project on TV after years and that too with someone with whom she was personally entangled with in what can only be described as a messy relationship. the overlap of personal and professional, her own health issues, her basically shining the spotlight that should've been completely hers on others because that's just how this woman's heart works, and then the results she got from all that - it makes sense. Rakshi wasn't even a terrible character..just the direction couldn't bring out the character's nuances. the same character being directed by a woman director would've been presented differently. Maya was basically asked to act like a crybaby without fully giving her character the space to process other emotions. crying IS a valid response to the shit Rakshi went through but good god it's not the ONLY one. i am not saying she should've girlbossed through her emotions but not having a single episode where the FL did NOT cry can be an exhausting thing for any audience to endure.

i am just glad it became a learning experience for her and both of her characters following Rakshi have had minimal crying scenes. about time Maya breaks free from that Mannu image of "yeh toh roti hi rehti hai" and does projects with more wholly realized characters. i just hope she does them with a team/co-actors that uplift her rather than rely on pushing her down to elevate themselves.

the comparison of Maya during PSM promotion time vs Yunhi that you bring up is an interesting one and one that, I must admit, i have completely missed out on clocking. what makes you say this? i am curious to know~

[mr-chatterboxs-column]

Just saw a movie that quietly blew my mind and made me want to think about what other movies I’ve really enjoyed this year! (... I have not yet finished writing the Cageospective.) I don’t pay for Letterboxd to give me actual annual stats, but under the cut is a summary of the twenty movies I arbitrarily gave five stars to this year (questions are welcome but not expected, guessing this is mostly of interest only to future me):

When I rate movies on Letterboxd, I find that while I’ll really try to make a conscious distinction between what exactly I rate something between 2.5 and 4.5, the movies I rate 5 stars after seeing them for the first time are usually based on a visceral reaction rather than being objectively “better” than the 4.5s. I have rated a lot of movies I really love 4.5. These are the five-stars I saw for the first time this year:

 - The Hudsucker Proxy  - Millennium Actress  - Moonstruck (which I ended up watching three times this year because both of my best friends had never seen it either)*  - The Card Counter  - Everything Everywhere All at Once  - Pig*  - today, Blood & Donuts, the best vampire movie I’d never heard of

Even though I wrote a review of more than a third of the movies I watched last year, apparently a consistent factor in five-star movies is that they are ones that blew my mind enough that I didn’t end up with specific comments, just enthusiasm. The Hudsucker Proxy is the only one I actually “reviewed,” in the sense that I apparently felt like I needed to add the disclaimer: “This movie was *made* for me but [I can kind of get] why it flopped.” All the rest took some time to coalesce in my brain before I started enthusiastically recommending them to people, except for EEAAO which everyone else had already seen.

I rewatched these:

 - The Silence of the Lambs  - O Brother, Where Art Thou?  - Star Trek IV  - Inside Llewyn Davis  - Face/Off*  - Atomic Blonde  - Raising Arizona*  - (Moonstruck)*  - Mandy*  - Over the Garden Wall (technically a miniseries, but shorter than most movies?)  - (.... Moonstruck again)*  - Penelope  - The Philadelphia Story  - Brokeback Mountain  - Holiday (1938)

and didn’t write a real review of any of these that weren’t Cage features. I think a lot of this category are more obvious emotional faves, like, I get that Penelope has flaws? But there’s also something ineffable about them, to me, and I guess this year was tough enough that a sufficiently good movie just knocked my analytic brain into next week every time. If I tried to thoughtfully consider Star Trek IV as a great artistic work it would honestly not max out the rubric, but right after watching it? Of *course* it’s five stars.

* viewed as part of the Cage Journey. Cruelly, after we’d just watched Pig, my dear friend had the temerity to remind me that I would now have to put it into the ranked list... this is what happens when you tell people about projects that aren’t done yet

[missyourflight]

A Riot in the Heart | max/daniel | 2.4k | mature

“I love the comedies, too,” Max says. “When all ends well.”

A Shakespeare In Love AU.

[olvine-and-tea]

Things that pissed me off about Stranger Things 4 v2

Spoilers up ahead (duh)

1. I got queer baited in 2022. Why the hell did they use Will to strengthen Mike and El's relationship like ://

2. Follow up about Will - why was he a background character this season... My mans really went "i can feel him" in the last 5 minutes. WILL DESERVES SO MUCH BETTER #willvillainarc

3. The unnecessary hype. Like take your Karen Wheeler poster and "5 major character deaths" up your ass!!!!!!!!!!!!! My girl Holly had more screentime, why would Karen get a poster IN THE VICTOR CREEL HOUSE??????? The 5 death thing was for what? To psych us out? Like no one from the main cast died (b/c plot armour and it pisses me off) and the only death shown was Eddie. :(

It was probably the theories that hyped it up for me but it pissed me off. The "harnessed up" photo hyped up my desires for Will to have a story line this season and nothing happened. This problem is on me and im just grgrgrgrgrgggh.

4. Eddie Munson's death. It felt so forced wtfffff!!!!!! I love Eddie and his whole character and his death was just forced, unnecessary, and IGNORED AT THE END. There was no respect, no reaction from the others, only Dustin seemed to try and paint Eddie the hero he truly is. This truly made my blood boil.

5. Back to El and Mike. WHY WAS THE FOCUS ON TEENAGE ROMANCEEEEEEEE!!!!! We had Robin, Steve, and Nancy being choked to death, Eddie getting eaten alive, Max going snap crackle and pop for the main focus on Mike saying, "I love you" to El for the first time like........... Was I supposed to clap?

6. STANCY... Where did Steve's feeling come back like... Mmmmmm... I wanted to skip him telling his dream so badlyyyyyyyyyy. I thought we moved past him and Nancy. Its giving Tom and Star energy from SVTFOE with Jonathan being Marco....

7. THE SHIT ENDING. WTF DO YOU MEAN 2 DAYS LATER. ALL THAT BUILD UP FOR A 2 DAY TIME SKIP. LIKE BROOOO YOU ARE JOKING.. The fucking ground just split in half, I wanted to see panic and chaos. I needed to see reactions and theories being formed but nope. It skips to everyone presumably fine.

Like they just started to clean the cabin while the town is cracked in 4 ways?!?! We didn't even get to see upside down crew get out of the upside down and react to what they just did...

This might just be me but I wish they showed more of the consequences these traumatic events can do and; like what they did with Max. Like you're telling me that after that whole gong show, everyone just helps out and smiles. I'm sure they are going to show more in season 5 but I'm just mad they hyped up a 2 hour episode for nothing to progress until the last 5 minutes.

Summary:

These are just my opinions and thoughts after ST4 v2. I am sure season 5 will be great and season 4 is just a build up for the final season but for now these feelings will stand. :)

[spectral-kitkat]

Miraculous Rant.

Where the hell do I begin…

Season 1:

The show was decent in season 1. Some episodes were just mindless filler and probably weren’t needed in the grand scheme of things but they helped us get introduced to the characters, we got to know the plot and the world our characters inhabit. It was good. The love story between Adrien and Marinette was cute and off to a touching and fluffy start.

Season 2:

This season was immediately better than season 1. It had character development, it went more into detail about the lore surrounding the Miraculous and we got to learn more about our characters and their families and the villian’s motives. (HM really went from “I wanna destroy the world” to “I wanna wake my wife from the coma she’s in”).

We got to see new heroes which was fun! We got new characters like Luka and Kagami.

The season finale was epic! The Miraculous team all taking down all the previous villains in the show was awesome. At the end we even got Mari kissing Adrien on the cheek. It was great! (Even though it clearly reset itself in season 3 cause it’s never mentioned again)

I really enjoyed season 2 and it’s probably my favourite out of the 4.

Season 3:

Season 3 was kinda good and kinda bad. We had some great episodes but this is where the show took the wrong turn.

Marinette lost some of her character in season 3. This was the start of her descent into being the Queen of Mary Sues. It’s also where she was crowned the Queen of Stalkers! Her character took a fucking nose dive in this season. We had so many moments that just creeped me the fuck out.

1. The ENTIRETY of Puppeteer 2 🤢🤢🤢 I could not stand that episode. When we reached the dreaded statue scene I physically had to pause it like 10 times. That scene takes about 3 minutes to watch… it took me about 20. I cringed so fucking hard because of the secondhand embarrassment I was feeling. That was not sweet, it wasn’t romantic, it wasn’t the least bit cute… it was a train wreck! It was creepy and stalkerish and it’s a wonder Adrien even spoke to her again after that atrocity!

2. LB delivering the present in Chat Blanc. Two words: STALKER BEHAVIOUR!!! I genuinely could not believe my eyes when I saw LB run her hand across everything in his room and then actually SNIFF Adrien’s pillow. Like WTF!!! 🤮 I’m pretty sure whoever was responsible for that scene clearly thought it was the equivalent of when someone gets their S/O’s jumper or something and it still smells like them. But this turned it up to the nth degree and way passed the line of sanity.

Adrien was extremely under-utilised in this season. He didn’t really do anything. The only episodes we got about him didn’t really focus on him. ‘Felix’ whilst focusing on Adrien’s family didn’t really feature him. ‘Party Crasher’ while a beautiful mess was more about Mari trying to get into the party than the party itself. ‘Chat Blanc’ again focused more on Mari trying to fix her mistake.

We got even more heroes in season 3, not in the right order but they were there. It was fun seeing everyone’s transformations.

Season 3 was also the season of destroying redemptions. The big one obviously being Chloe. Season 2 was setting up this amazing redemption for her and before it could go anywhere it was wiped off the face of the earth during the finale (and don’t worry we’ll get to that dumpster fire later). Gabriel also had any remaining sympathy ripped away from him. How did the guy who stopped Gorizilla from letting Adrien die when he only thought he was CN go from that to using his son like fucking baseball in Chat Blanc when he knew his son was CN. Like I knew you were a shit father but you still cared about Adrien in some way shape or form but after that episode I can see I was clearly mistaken!

Before we get to the finale I want to talk about probably my 2 least favourite episodes from this season: Desperada and Reflekdoll

Desperada:

I fucking hated this episode! The only good thing was Luka getting to be Viperion, other than that this episode was awful!

Marinette was a selfish cringey bitch. Completely ignoring Luka to gush about Adrien to Jagged. Brushing Luka off as soon as Adrien turns up. Immediately cuddling up to Aspik and flirting with him when she needed to focus on the akuma (something which she has told CN not to do many times before)

Adrien, I love you kid but Jesus Christ you were a dumbass in this episode! Aspik’s design was terrible! Aspik himself was awful. I know Adrien tried his best but dude you were given the Black Cat miraculous for a reason! He shouldn’t have tried to be Aspik but even when he did he should’ve called it quits after like 5 resets not 25,913 times.

The only person with a brain this episode was Luka. So well done guitar boy, gold star!

Reflekdoll:

This episode was annoying! It was basically the start of the Marinette can do no wrong streak! When they have to swap miraculous I was happy cause it meant we got to see new outfits and see how they each handle the different powers. It would also serve as a way to get LB and CN to see what their partners role is first hand. Until we actually get to it…

LadyNoire is of course amazing and needs no introduction to using this new miraculous that she’s never used before. She’s cocky and confident and basically just LB in Chat’s costume with his powers.

Mister Bug on the other hand is just useless. He struggles with this new miraculous (like anyone would!) and is stupid and goofy. He has to rely on LadyNoire to solve the lucky charm. They swapped miraculous so shouldn’t that mean that Mister Bug should get the lucky vision and the creative powers that the earrings give him.

Overall Reflekdoll is awful. It was shitty writing and the start of Adrien getting the short end of the stick.

And now the season 3 finale… Just what the fuck. That is my only reaction: what the fuck!

Chloe you poor fucking child! What did they do to you!!! So much potential SQUANDERED!!!!

What was the point in bringing in all these different superheros with unique skill sets, costumes and transformations if you were just going to immediately reveal them to the main villian so they can’t be used again. That’s stupid! If you wanted the shock value that is “Oh no HM knows some of the heroes identities!” Then keep it as only some. Have like Max, Kim and Kagami outside trying to find somewhere to hide but unfortunately they get hit. Or Nino and Alya are hiding but the windows open and they get hit. Have some of the heroes hide so they’re fine! Taking away every ally of LB and CN’s was a stupid move! (Even if they wanted Alya to become a spy have her as part of the like 4 that get revealed or something, it’s not that difficult)

Season 3 was 50/50 for me

Season 4:

So I know season 4 isn’t even halfway through yet but so much is wrong with this season already that I need to vent!

So my biggest problem with this season of Miraculous: Tales of Ladybitch and Rena Rouge, I mean Rena Furtive… shit, Chat Noir! Is that CN is basically pointless! Adrien has been flung over a rainbow and is only remembered when he’s needed as

1. Marinette’s love interest

2. Someone for LB to shout at

3. A plot device

He has basically been sidelined. Partners my ASS!!!

Adrien is being blown off by pretty much EVERYONE! It’s coming to a point where this poor sweet summer child is going to crack! And it is not gonna be pretty… I definitely feel like the writers are leading up to a big fight between CN and LB which will probably end with Chat Blanc 2.0.

I REALLY HATE MARINETTE/LADYBUG!!!! In Season 3 I said it was the beginning of her descent, well in season 4 she’s done it. She’s descended, she has hit rock fucking bottom. She is so unlikable I don’t actually care about her as a person. She has entered full blown stalker territory it’s only a matter of time before she starts killing people for even looking at Adrien! Not to mention that Miss Mary Sue here can’t do anything wrong! She never has to suffer the consequences of her actions, she is always perfect no matter what she does… it pisses me off!)

She’s the Guardian now big whoop. I know what it feels like to be stressed and under pressure so I do understand why she needed to tell someone about it all. I just don’t see why that person had to Alya! Especially considering she has someone by her side every akuma attack going through pretty much the exact same thing. I know she’s worried about CB happening again but as I said before the more she leaves him out the more she is actually pushing that to become a possibility! Plus it makes sense for them to reveal their identities now since LB is now the guardian it’s probably a good idea to know who holds the cat miraculous, she knows everyone else’s identities!

Even if she didn’t want to tell CN her identity she could still explain the situation to him. If she didn’t want to tell him anything (which she doesn’t anyway) then instead of Alya she should’ve talked to Luka! Her boyfriend for all of half an episode (thanks writers…). He’s so sweet and caring and clearly loves her so much! If she wanted someone to confide in then why not choose the person you clearly wanted to date but couldn’t because of that very reason! (Yeah I know it’s kinda a moot point now since Luka knows both identities but still). He wanted to try and comfort her so it would’ve been the perfect moment for it. That way you could still date him and he’d know why you had to suddenly leave dates halfway through! But no break the boys heart instead!

Adrien and Marinette were both such fucking idiots in the first 2 episodes. Like why would you start a relationship with someone when you know your heart isn’t in it! That’s called leading someone on and is a really shitty thing to do to someone! No wonder Kagami and Luka ended up akumatized!

Another aspect of season 4 I don’t like is Rena Furtive. Yes ok having a spy for your side is a good strategy but when said spy basically tells an important member of a duo that the 2 person job doesn’t involve them… it just really ticks me off! Alya you are the sidekick to LB and CN! Chat isn’t!

Miraculous specials:

The Miraculous World specials suck! Shanghai is better than NY but still has its problems. Both specials add nothing to the overall plot/lore of the show apart from trying to set up some weird cinematic universe…

NY special:

One of the worst things I’ve ever had to sit through! The plane scene alone I paused a few times. I want to say well done to Mari for trying to move on from Adrien (especially considering I’m pretty sure she’s dating Luka at this point) but I can’t help but think it’s just to give her character some pointless development that goes nowhere and doesn’t actually develop anything!

LB can pretty much fuck off at this point! I hate her! She put all this shit on CN (like she doesn’t know exactly how that feels). It’s like why does she get to go off on holiday but CN can’t. LB should’ve stayed in Paris for 3 reasons:

1. She’s recently become the guardian meaning it would probably be best that she stayed with the Mircle Box

2. She’s the only one who can purity the akumas

3. If she’s so sure about being the boss then she should take responsibility of Paris and the citizens.

What really pisses me off about her is what she says to CN during the big fight. “I can’t trust you”… surely you could have this conversation afterwards since you’re supposed to be focusing on taking down the villian! Plus everyone bashes Adrien for giving his miraculous up in this episode but look at it from his point of view: His partner and best friend just said she couldn’t trust him which in turn caused him to cataclysm someone and essentially kill them. That’s gonna take a toll on anyone, especially a 14 year old! He probably thought in that moment. “Ladybug needs a partner she can trust and someone who won’t mess up and kill someone. She needs a better partner.” It makes sense he renounces his miraculous! I’m just upset that in doing so he loses Plagg who is pretty much his only friend who actually understands what Adrien goes through at home.

When Uncanny gets CN to come back, LB acts like it’s not her fault in the first place that he feels inadequate! She didn’t even apologise for saying what she did! He apologised for lying about not being in Paris but nope LB wasn’t in the wrong at all and didn’t have anything to apologise for 🙄… (yes the LadyNoir hug was amazing but I just wish it was under different circumstances!)

Also are we not gonna mention Gabriel Agreste almost starting WW3??? He wanted to launch a fucking missile!!!

Shanghai:

As I said before, this special is way better for several reasons.

We got MariChat! (Best side to the love square imo). This special actually had some semblance on a plot. Fei, whilst a bit op, was a cool character. It was nice to see Wang Cheng again.

However once again there were many problems.

A big one being Marinette yet again! (What a shock! 😒 I’ll come back to this). Another was that once again HM’s motivation has changed. How is getting the Prodigious gonna help bring back Emilie??

Back to Marinette… The fact that the words “Huh?! There must be some kind of mistake! I always know what's up with Adrien! … His 5 first names and every corresponding name date, his yearly schedule, even his shoe size! If there were anything to know about him, I would know it!” come out of her mouth whilst she is flipping through his schedule that she keeps in her pocketbook is a hugh red flag!!! That is not cute or adorable! That’s messed up and Adrien needs to fucking run and maybe possibly go into witness protection… Marinette is a full blown stalker! Not to mention the GPS she has (that could just be the find my friends app on iphone but still).

It also is extremely rude of her to use not only her great uncle’s birthday but also a lie about wanting to know her Chinese heritage in order to go to Shanghai to stalk her obsession, I mean crush. This could’ve been avoided if the Dupain-Chengs were going to Shanghai for the purpose of celebrating Wang Cheng’s bday and then Adrien just so happened to be in Shanghai.

Also this means LB left Paris without telling CN! I know CN did the same but again he can’t purify the akumas. Plus he has a reason he couldn’t stay in Paris, Mari just went cause her crush did. Great guardianship there Marinette.

This was also the last time CN actually did something. Even if it was for a short while before LB and her female partner took over (the beginning of a theme…)

Other things:

There are 2 other things that I wanna say but felt they needed a separate bit.

In Furious Fu, Su-Han has a rule book that he uses to tell Marinette which rules she has broken. At the end of the episode he tells her that is she breaks 1 more rule that he will take the Miraculous and the Miracle Box off her, which fair enough but wouldn’t it be helpful to leave the rule book with her?! How can she be wary of not breaking anymore rules when she doesn’t even know what the rules are??

Now the big one: Master Fu…

Where do I even start with him. He is so fucking manipulative!! He is Asian Dumbledore!

He decides to leave these extremely powerful jewels in the hands of 13 year olds! Surely leaving the miraculous to someone in their 20s would’ve been better!

He clearly favours LB over CN even though the Ladybug and Black Cat are supposed to be partners! Wouldn’t it make sense for them both to be in contact with the guardian from the start?? He randomly started introducing rules such as if LB and CN find out each other’s identities they would lose their miraculous… what kind of bullshit rule is that? It also came out of fucking nowhere!

Final Thoughts:

But to summarise all of that: Miraculous is on quite a steep decline but I’m invested at this point and I am genuinely curious as to where the fuck this will go.

Marinette needs professional fucking help before the writers even consider canonising Adrienette cause at the moment she is not what Adrien needs!

Adrien needs to stand up for himself! He needs to pull LB to the side and tell her what he feels and what he’s going through cause he is on the precipice of a breakdown!

(Small point that’s more to do with the fandom: when searching for fanfics it’s really annoying that Adrien Agreste/Chat Noir Bashing is a tag but Marinette Dupain-Cheng/Ladybug Bashing isn’t. Why does everyone think Marinette can do no wrong???)

[kylorengarbagedump]

Defy Your Authority: Chapter 1

Read on AO3. Part 2 here.

Summary: You’re a Lieutenant, stationed on Orinda. You’re content with your trustworthy crew, but issues with a certain ship (spoiler alert: it’s the TIE silencer) end up trapping you on the Steadfast, instead. Your relationship with Kylo Ren isn't how you left it. How many more messes can you stand to clean?

(Yes, this is the sequel to Fix Your Attitude.)

Words: 4500

Warnings: None. Yet.

Characters: Kylo Ren x Reader

A/N: Umm... hi!! I don't have much to say other than I'm very excited to post this, and I really hope you enjoy it! I love you all so much. I'm genuinely lucky and grateful to have you in my life.

You weren’t ready.

Since the alert had come in that the First Order would be sending a transporter to Orinda, your hands had been jittery. There’d been no indication, no hint as to what your team should be expecting when they arrived. In the four months since you’d arrived at the fuel post, you hadn’t received a single visitor from the brass.

“Hey, Chief.” 

The voice called you as you were chest-deep in a pile of fuel-cells. Grunting, you wrenched yourself free, patting the reactor dust from your uniform. Certainly there was some in your hair, too. 

“Hey, hi Tonis, what’s up?” You tried to restrain your anxiety to the perimeter of your mind. “Can, uh, can I help you?”

Tonis, your third engineer, sighed, wrangling his hands together as he looked to the ground. “Do you know what’s going on with this transport unit arriving?” His thin lips twisted in a frown. “They’re saying that they might be shutting the post down.”

“Oh, jeez.” You shook your head, grabbing a rag from the terminal and wiping your hands. “No, no. Nothing like that. I’m sure.”

“Okay,” he said. “Good. I really, really, really don’t want to be moved. Again.”

Grimacing, you looked at your reflection in the terminal facade. “I know.”

“Orinda’s really great,” he said. “All the different ships we get to work on. And it’s so quiet. And our team is so great--”

“I know.” You mussed your hair, as if shoving dirty fingers through it would improve its appearance. Incredibly, it did not. “They’re only sending three people. I’m sure it can’t be that big of a deal.”

“But that’s the thing!” he said. “Don’t you think that a transport unit with only a few passengers must be here for something super-official?”

Your chest seized, and you cleared your throat, turning back to him. 

“Maybe.” You ignored the hot burn of your cheeks. “Guess we’ll see when they get here.” 

The terminal blipped, a familiar pattern that indicated the atmosphere had been breached. It’d been awhile since you’d felt like you had the power to summon anything of importance with a single thought. The reminder tweaked your heart. 

“Or… I guess we’ll see now.”

Tonis squealed, running through the post. “Hey! Hey guys! The First Order’s here! The First Order’s arrived!”

Sighing, you looked into the terminal again. Four months hadn’t changed your appearance too much. Not that it mattered. Or it might. But you wouldn’t worry about it. Only a little.

You steeled your nerves and walked out of the hangar into the dusty outcropping of the fuel outpost. Flat land stretched for miles in diameter from your station, a rolling pitch of blue mountains in the far distance, the wind whipping across the plains, rustling the dry grass. Shielding your eyes with a hand, you gazed up and spotted the transporter, a blooming black spot in the cloudless sky, quickening the pace of your pulse with every passing second.

It was just a transporter. He wouldn’t be on it. There was nothing to freak out about.

Tonis had gathered the rest of your massive crew--all three of them, him included--and they surrounded you, faces taut with anticipation.

“What do you think it is, Chief?” That was Mirna, your second engineer, a short, wide-set thing, with buzzed hair and a gruff voice. “You think they’re shutting the place down?”

“She already said she doesn’t think it’s that,” Tonis replied.

“Well, yeah, but then, why are they just sending three people?” said Lin, your mechanic. 

“There’s plenty of reasons they could send three people,” Tonis said, as if he hadn’t just been agonizing over that very issue just minutes ago.

Mirna snorted. “Like what?”

“An announcement,” Lin said. “Maybe they’re canvassing all First Order planets.”

You nodded, chewing your cheek. “Sure. That could be it.”

“Or maybe it’s a survey!” Tonis was almost wiggling with excitement like the little nerd he was. “Does anyone else love filling out those weird surveys?”

“No, nerfherder,” Mirna teased, grinning. “Just you.”

“Could be an escort.” Lin shrugged. “Maybe they’re here to pick someone up.”

Mirna laughed. “Oh, come on,” she said. “Who in the stars could they have an interest in on this planet?”

Blood blazed your face. “It’s a mystery.”

You hadn’t told anyone since arriving what had brought you there or why you’d come. You hadn’t told them when you’d first landed that you still had the cum of the Commander of the First Order leaking out of your cunt. You hadn’t told them that just hours before, he’d held you in his arms, brought you into his mind, and shown you--with a breathless, crushing tangibility--how utterly and completely he loved you.

You hadn’t told them, either, that in the days, weeks, months following your arrival, you hadn’t heard from him at all. 

With a dying wail, the transporter hovered and landed, spitting up a ring of dust that smacked you in the face. You sputtered, wiping your eyes, the rest of your crew apparently victims too. Frowning, you crossed your arms, brow cocked as the ramp whined and descended. Something akin to fear needled your heart in the empty space between the sound of footsteps and the emergence of two Stormtroopers stomping to the ground. 

Something that was definitely fear gripped it as those two troopers were followed by a man you’d hoped to never, ever see again.

“Engineer.” General Hux had somehow lost none of his smarmy, pink-cheeked smugness--his refusal to say your name was out of petty spite at this point. And his face was just as punchable as you remembered. “I see you are, for once, prepared for our arrival.”

“What sort of facility chief would I be if I didn’t stay on top of our arrival queues?” You hid your hands behind your back to hide their quaking. “Though I believe my rank is Lieutenant, now, sir.”

“Lieutenant,” he replied, with the same amount of disdain he’d probably afford a crying child. “I imagine it’s the lack of distraction.” He smirked. “I loathe to think of the productivity you would’ve had on the Finalizer with a similar environment.”

“Oh, as do I, sir.” You offered him a gleaming smile. “I can’t imagine a punishment worse than being in your good graces.”

“Chief,” hissed Mirna. “That’s a General of the First Order. What are you doing?”

Cursing internally, you pinched yourself, stood straighter. Your team would have no idea why you felt so comfortable mouthing off to a man who, otherwise, might’ve had you thrust into the bowels of space by now--and to be honest, you didn’t have much of an idea why at this point, either. Your presumed protection was hardly a current presence in your life. 

You shook your head, wagged out your hands. “Let me try again, sir.” Clearing your throat, you continued, “General Hux, sir. To what do I owe the honor?”

Hux smirked. “As much as I hate to interrupt, Lieutenant,” he said, continuing to let the word drip with more venom than a snake ever could, “I’m here to order you to come with me onto the Steadfast.”

“The Steadfast?” Obviously the name of a ship, but not one you were familiar with. No news bulletins had made their way to Orinda in the time you’d been stationed. “Why?”

“The Supreme Leader’s TIE fighter has ceased functioning. Every engineer we’ve brought to it has failed to diagnose the issue.” His jaw tensed in real, actual reluctance. “We were at the border of the Rim, and unfortunately, I thought of you.”

You blinked. He wanted you to work on Snoke’s TIE fighter? 

And then another question: Snoke had a TIE fighter? 

“Uh…” Frowning, you glanced around at your crew. You couldn’t stand the thought of leaving them for days on end. “How long will I be gone?”

His face betrayed nothing but pure disgust. “As long as it takes you to fix a TIE fighter.” He watched as you paused in thought. “I wasn’t offering you a choice, Lieutenant. We’re leaving now.”

With that, he turned on his heels, marching up the ramp. A long, slow breath left your lungs, and you turned to your team, scanning their faces for any reaction. To your surprise, everyone but Tonis seemed rapt in excitement, eyes wide and chins wagging in awe. 

“I had no idea you were such a big shot!” Lin grinned. The other two nodded in agreement.

Blushing, you rubbed your arm in embarrassment, looking between them. “No, no,” you said. “Nothing like that.”

“You have to tell us the story, one day.” Mirna was smirking.

“Uh… Right.” You coughed. “So, hopefully I’ll only be a day or so, max,” you said. “Mirna, you’re in charge while I’m gone.”

“You got it, Chief,” she said. “Tonis, my first order is for you to please calm down.”

He shot her a glare. “Good luck, Chief!” He offered you a salute, which was both strange and unnecessary. “We’ll be thinking of you!”

Warmth spread in your chest. “I’ll be thinking of you guys, too. Don’t make too big of a mess, okay?”

“Yes ma’am!” they replied in unison--and then broke into laughter. 

You shook your head, finding yourself laughing with them. “Okay. See you guys soon.” 

Bowing your head, you trudged up the ramp into the transporter, taking a seat far away from Hux and the two Stormtroopers. You wondered why he’d bothered to bring them to a tiny outpost like Orinda, but you supposed that self-importance and paranoia knew no bounds in the higher ranks of the First Order. 

As the door closed to the transporter, your heart wrinkled. In the past few months, despite your open ache, Orinda had become your home, your crew had become something akin to your family. You hoped the issue with the TIE fighter was something stupid, like a busted hyperdrive. They were simple to repair, but most engineers wouldn’t mess with lightspeed travel--the mechanisms were so delicate that even a simple mistake could result in splitting the ship. 

The transporter rose into the air, and in seconds, it burst into the sky. A windowless cargo meant you could only imagine the faces of your crew as you disappeared into the horizon. You sighed, watching your feet as they jostled with the jerking of the ship. You weren’t sure what the Steadfast was like, but apparently Snoke had moved his operations there. Though you still had no clue what Snoke looked like, you’d never imagined him to be the type to fly--but perhaps a Supreme Leader required multiple skillsets.

The awkward ride finished without a single word being exchanged between you and Hux, which was fine by you, and possibly finer by him. When the ramp lowered, he speared you with his gaze, waiting for the troopers to exit before standing and ordering you to follow him with only his eyes.

You tromped down the ramp into the hangar on the Steadfast--it looked almost identical to the one on the Finalizer. The ceilings stretched high, like a giant’s mouth, the magnetic shields glowing teeth at the lips of the bay. Ships buzzed above you, racing in and out of their docks, the floor crowded with soldiers and officers alike. 

The rush hit you--sure, the time on Orinda had been fantastic, engaging, rejuvenating. But it would never match the thrill of working in the presence of fleets and fleets of warships, surrounded by the heady spell of urgent, prestigious labor. You sucked it through your nose, held it in your chest, unable to stop your eyes from lingering on every busted ship they saw. In the distance, a team huddled around the smoking wing of a TIE fighter--you bit your lip to prevent yourself from racing over, from tearing it apart for them.

Another thing you weren’t able to stop looking for was any hint, any presence of the Commander--but in the bay, you didn’t even catch evidence of the Command Shuttle. It was a huge assumption to guess he’d be on the Steadfast to begin with, but part of you hoped he’d trailed his precious Supreme Leader to any place he was ordered. It figured that the one time you might have been within thinking distance, he’d managed to make himself scarce. 

Another twine in your heart snapped, joining the collection that’d been unfurling since you’d departed the Finalizer. 

Yes, he’d said he would find you. You still believed him now, even. 

But really. What was taking him so damn long?

Hux led you to a wide dock toward the very front of the hangar. The crews you spotted along the way seemed detached, working without words, communicating with gestures and mirthless expressions. Tonis’ silly salute would never happen here. You frowned. The lack of thrill was worth your autonomy.

“Lieutenant.”

A snap of your head, and you blinked. You were in front of your charge. 

This TIE fighter was unlike one you’d ever seen. Instead of the flat panel wings, this one bore talons, sharp knives capable of cutting space and possibly any ship in its way. Red-paned transparisteel formed the cockpit into a muzzle, imitating an animal instead of a sphere. And it wasn’t a ball suspended on plates, but was rather tucked tight into the body of the ship, creating a seamless, dynamic transition that to you, seemed so new, so modern. It was almost--sexy? 

You looked to Hux. “Are you sure this is the one that isn’t working?” Lips parted in awe, you stepped up to it, placing a hand on the solar array. “It’s gorgeous.”

“The Supreme Leader has been unable to fly it for cycles, now,” said Hux. “I’m sure.”

“All right.” You rolled your eyes. “Got it.” 

What you needed was a post-flight report. You strode over to the nearest terminal and entered your credentials--thankfully, as a Lieutenant now, they were universal to the entire First Order system. Only one ship was logged underneath the access: TIE/vn space superiority fighter: SILENCER.

“TIE silencer?” you mumbled. “Where do they come up with these names?”

You investigated the reports in the past several cycles that detailed the attempts by engineers to get the thing working: thrusters aligned, check. Solar lines flushed, check. Refuel port cleansed, check. Heat calibration reset and replaced, check. 

And yet with each new repair--engine test: fail. 

Engine test: fail. 

Engine test: fail, fail, fail. 

Screwing your lips in thought, you landed on the post-flight report, hoping it would provide you with insight. If he knew what was good for him, Supreme Leader Snoke would be thorough.

You opened the report, and paragraphs of information flooded the screen. Your jaw dropped. Every single system had been left with a meticulously in-depth account of its status before, during, and after flight. The level of specificity contained within each sentence astounded you. It was almost unbelievable that a single person could remember this much, let alone regurgitate it with any level of accuracy. You groaned, lost in Basic.

Hux cleared his throat. “How long do you anticipate this taking, Lieutenant?” 

“As long as I--...” You stopped yourself with a grumble. It would be much easier to hear it from the tauntaun’s mouth, instead of pouring over and cross-checking every single detail. “I’m not sure, General. Is there any way I could speak with the Supreme Leader?” 

A strange, smug look passed over his face. “Certainly,” he replied. “I’ll take you.”

You blinked. That was easy. Almost too easy. “Uh… okay.”

Hux turned on his heel, clipped stride cutting through the hangar. You hadn’t been prepared to meet the Supreme Leader when you woke up this morning, but you supposed anything was possible when working for the First Order. Swallowing, you shut down the terminal, and followed him into the halls.

Returning to a Star Destroyer, in a way, felt like home--the glossy black tile passed like a familiar path beneath your feet, and you spared fleeting glances to the Stormtroopers who passed you. The halls of the Steadfast maintained their similarity to everything else on the Finalizer--though that did nothing to assuage your anxiety about the memories you’d had on that ship. Or who may or may not be on this one. 

“Do you work on the Steadfast, now, sir?” 

Hux was silent for a moment, gaze trained forward. “Yes. The Finalizer was decommissioned.”

“Wait, really?” Your heart thumped. The only datapad message you’d received from your friends had come in the first few weeks after your departure. You just assumed they’d been busy. “What happened?”

“A Resistance attack left it crippled,” he replied. “Leadership and surviving crew were transferred to the Steadfast.”

Terror seized you, your pace quickened. “Sur-surviving crew?” you asked. “Sir?” More silence. You stumbled to catch up with him, fighting the tremor in your voice. “Sir--”

“Engineers Foster and Loren were transferred to this vessel unharmed, Lieutenant.” He leered at you. “Satisfied?”

You heaved a massive sigh, hands falling to your knees. They were here. You’d have to catch up with them, soon. 

“Yes, sir, thank you--” 

By the time you’d finished, he’d already managed to make it what seemed to be fifty paces ahead of you, and you scrambled to keep up with him. 

As you did, a grey-haired man emerged from the corner in front of you both, and Hux stiffened, cursing under his breath. Raising a brow, you tried to meet this man’s gaze, only to bump into the general, who’d stopped, limbs pinned to his sides.

“Shit!” Your face burned, and you jumped back, snapping to attention. “I mean, uh, sorry, General, sir.”

The look Hux offered you was similar to one a parent might offer a simpering child. Right before they murdered that child in a fit of blind rage.

“General Hux,” said the grey-haired man. “Just the one I was looking for.” 

“Allegiant General Pryde.” Hux’s chin jutted to the ceiling. 

The Allegiant General Pryde turned his attention to you, glimpsing your uniform before meeting your eyes. “I’m afraid we’re not acquainted, Lieutenant…”

You gave your name. “Sir.” Clearing your throat, you continued, “I’m Chief of Operations on Orinda.”

“Ah.” His gaze lingered on the fuel cell filth smattering your chest. “Of course.” Something within his eyes categorized you in league with rodents--and something else within them told you he crushed rodents for sport. “Interesting.” His attention whipped back to Hux. “General. Regarding the Council meeting…”

“I plan to present the Supreme Leader with my plan, sir.”

“I know you do,” Pryde replied, “but you failed to run it by me.”

Hux’s jaw tensed. You wished you were anywhere other than this extremely awkward hallway meeting that had absolutely nothing to do with you.

“Forgive me, Allegiant General,” Hux said, “but I didn’t think a basic unit efficiency research required your approval.”

“Everything requires my approval, General,” he said. “Lest we forget the errors of Starkiller Base.”

That was a low blow. You gulped. They both looked at you, and you cleared your throat again, throwing your hands behind your back. The energy radiating from Hux could be classified as skin-scorching. 

“Of course.” Hux’s tone grew tighter with each word that left his lips. “I’ll remember that next time, sir.”

“Good.” Pryde glanced between you. “What brings a facility chief from her station all the way to the Steadfast?”

“The Supreme Leader’s TIE fighter, sir,” Hux replied, still staring into the air. “She may be the only engineer capable of repairing it.”

The Allegiant General frowned. “Really. How many resources did you expend picking up a single person from a remote outpost?” he asked. “Do you not consider this to be something I should know?”

“It was a brief excursion,” he said. “I took two Stormtroopers and a single transport unit.”

“Was that unit’s excursion approved?” He circled Hux, a silvered predator, sizing up his prey. For once, you almost felt bad for the ginger bastard. “What if Resistance staged an attack while you were gone? If we needed that unit for more than a handful of bodies?”

Hux’s lips pursed, chin dimpling with tension. “I don’t know, sir.”

“And how do you think the Supreme Leader will feel knowing you acted without approval, all to retrieve a single engineer?”

Silence drifted like fog over the three of you, thickening as this grey-haired power-laden dickhead glared at General Hux. But Hux’s back had aligned, parallel to the wall, every flicker of frustration fled from his frame. The tiniest hint of a smirk curled at his mouth.

“I think he’ll be just fine with it. Sir.” Hux’s brow quirked. “We’re on our way to speak with him now, if you’d like to accompany.”

Pryde grinned, a serpent’s twist to his smile. “Your confidence has failed you in the past, General,” he replied. “Lead the way.”

You trailed behind the Allegiant General and Hux, fingers starting to quake. Now, you’d not only be meeting the Supreme Leader still smothered in space dust, you’d be meeting him accompanied by the two biggest assholes in the First Order--second only to one other, perhaps. 

Unfortunately, that particular asshole was a ghost to this ship, and there wasn’t anyone in particular you felt comfortable asking about him. If Hux had been superceded by this new jerk, the last thing you wanted was another opportunity for someone with rank greater than your own to question you about your personal relationships. 

Dread pooled in your belly. Supreme Leader Snoke did know about your personal relationship with the Commander. In fact, Snoke had been the one to insist you be his conduit, among other insulting things. You imagined him bringing it up: Ah, yes, the engineer, the distraction… and how have you been, without his cock inside of you?

You shook your head. No, it didn’t make sense for him to bring up his apprentice’s dick at your first meeting. Or any meeting, for that matter. You hoped.

The two men led you through the rest of the journey in silence, animosity prickling like durasteel barbs in the air between them. At least your own team didn’t regard you with vibrodaggers behind their backs--as far as you knew, anyway--and the realization, against the backdrop of your current situation, had you aching to leave. The discussion with the Supreme Leader would be swift and succinct; you’d get the information you needed, diagnose the problem, and be on your way back to Orinda. 

In front of you, a massive turbolift sang its arrival, blast door whirring open. You followed the two men inside, heart tingling. Maybe part of you had been hoping that your long-awaited reunion would have occurred during your time aboard--as you thought it, you tried to stymie the resentment that you’d waited this long at all. The rational part of your mind reasoned that he was a busy man, that lack of contact didn’t indicate lack of thought. 

But every other part of your mind was staving off bubbling despair. Four months had felt like four years, and you’d only grown more desperate, more anxious for his embrace--then furious that he didn’t appear to return the sentiment. 

You knew how he felt. So it didn’t make sense, then, why he hadn’t acted on it for even a single, solitary night in the past sixteen weeks.  

When the blast door opened, you crossed the threshold into an obsidian sanctuary. The floor gleamed, a black lake of glass sweeping into high ebony ceilings that twinkled with artificial stars. The only other illumination came from two enormous spheres that hung, suspended in air at opposite ends of the room, their surfaces a swirl of white-grey light, imitation suns with colorless coronas. At the far end of the room was a hovering stone throne, six dark figures crowding it in a crescent. 

Your heart stammered--you’d seen them before. In memories that hadn’t belonged to you. All of them were outfitted in clothing that seemed familiar, helmets that hid their identities, and each of them possessed a weapon meant explicitly for assassination. The only conclusion you could draw was that they were the Supreme Leader’s bodyguards. 

Whoever they were, to you, they were ominous.

The two men in front of you strode forward, and you followed, catching your reflection whispering by your shoes: your hair was mussed with evidence of engine exhaust, your uniform still glowing with smears of ionization. Internally, you cursed yourself. Yeah, this was exactly how you’d wanted to look when meeting the Supreme Leader of the First Order--like complete shit. Stomach sinking, you sidled behind them as they stood at attention. 

“Supreme Leader,” they said simultaneously.

As if on command, the wall of shadowed soldiers parted to reveal the throne. 

But no one was there.

You blinked. “Oh.” 

Hux’s head swiveled between the strangers in front of you. “Where is he?” He turned to Pryde. “These are his receiving hours--”

“Yes,” replied the Allegiant Asshole. “But perhaps he’s departed early for the Supreme Council meeting. We’d be better off--”

The turbolift doors wailed behind you, and like synchronized chronometers, you, Hux, and Pryde spun to meet the new arrival. 

Your brain went blank.

Kylo Ren crossed the shimmering sable floor in a confident stride, his robes replaced now with padded armor that clung to the contours of his powerful, thick chest, his broad shoulders covered with a hooded cape. His fists, still bound in leather, flexed at his sides--and his face... 

More beautiful, more arresting than you could have conjured in any memory, his lips still pink and plush, his nose still a long line, his hair still rolling in waves, like black silk-velvet at his shoulders. You met his eyes as he advanced, finding them guarded, resurrecting every fear and insecurity, tempering them with hidden warmth. 

“Generals.”

The voice was lightning through your limbs, its owner a perfect match to the soft baritone you’d replayed in your dreams for the past one hundred and fifty two days. All of your systems leapt to life at once: brain spinning, heart soaring, adrenaline coursing. Sweat soaked your neck, your figure thrust whole into a furnace.

“Sir!” Both bowed their heads.

Gazing at him, then, you realized what was happening. This was his throne. You were working on his TIE fighter. Kylo Ren, your lover, your obsession, your galaxy was now the de-facto leader of the actual galaxy. You weren’t in love with the First Order’s Commander, anymore. 

You were in love with its Supreme Leader. 

Shock anchored your mouth open. Your eyes welled with latent tears. You grinned in disbelief.

“Dude!” You laughed. “What the fuck!”

[jinnyu]

regarding romance!

╒══════════════════╕

Used artwork credits

Hop

Bede

Leon

Raihan

╘══════════════════╛

———☆️

Hop🍀

It started as the cliché love story about falling in love with your very own bestfriend

Which, actually turned out great??

His Zacian/Zamazenta loves you as much as it's trainer does, and is willing to protect you from anything

Probably because it observed Hop being protective over you, and proceeding to do the same

Sure it might took a toll on him when you defeated him on the championship semi-finals, but he wanted you to be happy more than anything

He's such a sweetheart even if he doesn't show it much

The type to appreciate small little things, especially when it comes from you

"Let's camp together!!"

You camped together

He got chased by a wild steelix whilst trying to gather data for his research later

His Zamazenta/Zacian was busy playing with your own legendary

*from the distance* "GAH! HELP!"

You ran after him and calmed down the wild steelix

Then you walked to him and checked if he got any wounds or scratches, which leads you to cupping his face gently with a worried look on your face

Hop's blushing

He's freaking out inside

You didn't notice the tint of blush dusting his cheeks,which gradually reddens with each second that passes

"im okay, dont worry" he tried his best reassuring you

Even though he's blushing, he proceeded to press his forehead gently against yours, closing his eyes and smiling

oh no he's cute

You're blushing

haha blushy reader

You let him do his thing, its somewhat calming

He's warmm

His hands are calloused, different from yours; you just remembered this when he placed his hand on top of yours while you were checking for his wounds from before

This just shows how much he's been working off to reach the champion title

And yet he's completely alright with you taking the spotlight

After all, you're his shining star

And he wouldn't have it in any other way

You let him borrow your champion cape

And he lets you borrow his labcoat

It fits just right with you! And it got his scent, which calms you down whenever you're feeling anxious

When you wear his labcoat, you're 1000000000% irresistible to his eyes

"Don't be so adorableee" he said as he pulled you into a hug and burying his face in your neck

You only laughed softly at his reaction. He was blushing too,,,

You often waited for him to finish his lab work, even if it's until late hours

He's a really hard worker, no wonder he stayed until late

"Im sorry for making you wait"

He looks exhausted, but tried his best to pull a bright smile, not wanting to worry you

You only gave him a warm hug, which surprised him at first before he hugs you back and proceed to walk you to your house

💓💓💓 < your heart

Comfort time

There's usually some jerks who'd tease you for being the champion, or flirt with you in an impolite way

If Hop caught on to this, he would politely ask them to leave

If they still dont understand, his legendary comes out of his pokeball and growl at them

He'd ask them one more time to stop bothering you, but this time, with a menacing smile that says "stay here any longer and you wont get to see another daylight"

Then he'd check up on you, asking if you're alright, if they did anything to you or whatnot

Hed wrap his arms around your waist and drape his labcoat over you, because he knows his labcoat always manages to calm you down

"It's okay, you're okay, everything is alright now, c'mere"

You let him hug you as you feel safe around him, and you two stayed in that position until you feel alright again

💕💕

———☆️

Bede🍰

He's not the best at showing affection but at least he tries

You help him come out with quizzes for his gym challenge

And sometimes joke about the poses he makes when practicing

Sometimes, he gets reminded that you're the champion of Galar and he's way out of your trainer level

Which actually motivates him to become the strongest gym leader there is by pushing past his limits

"I'll show you how strong fairy types can be"

He said to himself as he was thinking about you

People kept misunderstanding fairy types after all, and thats a big mistake

You appreciate his efforts in maxing out his strength, and you show it by coming to his fairy stadium whenever he battles a challenger

You texted him "good luck, I'll be cheering 4 u!❤️❤️👍" before his matches start

And you looked at his direction after sending the message

He has just gotten your message, and opened it

Which leads to him blushing furiously as he covers his face with one of his hands

He took a deep breath and tried to regain his composure, only to fail miserably when he saw you looking at his direction with pure ambition and determined eyes as you grinned happily

All that i could say is, he's red as a beet

He wont lose this match, not when you're watching him.

He puts extra effort when you're watching his match, and made sure not to slip up. It'd be embarrassing if he did.

Opal notices this and only smiled seeing her successor acting out of his place whenever you're around

Opal knows something that you dont, and that's Bede's feelings for you

After his match ended, his Hatterene walked towards your direction, pulling you into a tight hug

You were surprised, but apparently Hatterene has grown to like you ever since she first met you

And when you look at Bede's direction, he was looking away with his arms crossed infront of his chest, visibly drowning in embarassment

,,,you wondered, is Bede projecting on his Hatterene or what,

Yes, yes he is

So you asked him if he also wants a hug, which of course he answered with "Why would i want a hug from someone like you? That'd be an insult to me"

You let go of Hatterene and hugged him anyways

He flinched when you hugged him, not knowing where to put his hands and just let them stay still in a defensive pose

Hatterene watched with a smile from behind you, seeing her master in such a flustered state was truly something new for the Pokemon

Not long after, Bede finally let his arms wrap around your waist, giving in to his subconscious and just hug you

he wanted to hug you anyways so thats a win win situation

You were actually surprised when he hugged you back

He smells nice!! Like perfume?? Cologne?? Floral scent

His Hatterene decided to join in and wrapped her arm around you both, making you all hug even more tightly

Bede cant handle this well.

No, not at all.

His face was really red and its hot— in all honesty, its cute, but he was burning

"Why do you have to embarrass me like this?"

You buried your face in his neck, which startled him as he couldn't think at all

"Y-you!!"

He feels nice and soft, so you're not planning to let go any sooner, likewise with Hatterene.

Bede's mind: ASDFGHJKL????—GODDAMMI—

OKAY NOW COMFORT TIME

His true nature would come out when you're not feeling yourself or when people would makw you feel like shit

"Hey.."

His face shows concern, but it still his usual look of coldness— however, his actions are warm despite his cold features

He'd let you wear his coat as he battles anyone who dared to hurt you

"Are you alright now..?"

He cupped your face and made you look at his face, swiping off the tears that stained your face with his thumbs delicately

He hated seeing you cry, and he'll try better next time to make sure you didn't cry

———☆️

Leon🌟

He's kind at all but sometimes he's just... "???????"

Training!! Dates!!

More like battle tower dates because he really admires your strength as a champion

Occasionally, he'd visit your house and check up on you, wondering if you're free for the day for "quality time"

At first, he was surprised to see one of the legendaries answering the door for you

And he couldn't resist to ruffle it's hair

your legendary on the other hand was kind of irritated by it

So it let out a displeased howl

Which leads you to come down stairs and see who is it

"L—leon?"

He looked up and greet you with a goofy grin as your legendary returned to your side, walking with you

He treats you like a gentleman, and sometimes is very strict with your training regimen

In which you usually whine about because you're the current champion and you have no business listening to him

But he'd swoon you with lovely words

And you would easily fall for it

you hate this

You hate him

No you dont

You love him, you could never hate a goofball like him anyways

Hey did i ever mention Leon's sense of direction is shitty

You went on a date in Wyndon a couple of times and he still gets lost everytime

"Ah!! Hey—....."

"Im lost again aren't i?"

He tried to find his way back to you but got surrounded by paparazzis

Even if he's not the current champion

You saved his butt since he couldn't say no to the people and his fans

He said thank you and hugged you, lifting you up to the air before pulling you close to him

This only made you laugh softly as you hugged him back, letting your fingers comb his thick lavender like hair

His body is warm and comforting, you really like his cuddles and hugs

He came into your house one time when you didn't answer his calls or messages, only to find you drown in your anxiety and self loathing

He pulled you in his arms and let you cry on his shoulder until you're all done and alright again

He'd draw circles over your back and tell you reassuring words— tell you that you're more than enough and he's grateful to have you here, alive and well

Your Zacian/Zamazenta got out of it's pokeball and helped you in calming you down too by giving you small licks on your knee

It'd whine whenever you're sad and climb onto your bed, nudging your arm afterwards as if it's asking what's wrong

You're lucky to have them both whenever you need them the most, and they're lucky to have you

———☆️

Raihan 🐲

It's finally the Character y'all been waitin for, dragon boi coming through

Okay serious talk here— Raihan is TALL

His hoodies makes you look smaller than you already are

You tried copying his "Gaooo~" pose a couple of times while wearing his hoodie

Its cutest thing he has ever seen his entire life

It makes him melt everytime

Okay aside from that, he's gentle and laid back, even if his personality is quite the opposite when he's on battle

He's cLINGY ASF

Don't forget his fangs, never forget his fangs

You're actually curious about his fangs since the first day you saw him

And he lets you touch it whenever you like

Youre still curious, because what the hell, its so cool

The first day you saw him after defeating him in a match and gain your gym badge, he immediately took an interest in you and your strength

"Hey Challenger!"

He called you before you tried to take your leave, gaining your attention

He then asked you if you want to practice with him next time, and have a rematch when you've become the champion

You agreed and exchanged numbers

What can i say, he spams you like?????? A lot

And casually sends you pictures of him and his duraludon

You love his dragons, especially flygon

Flygon loves you too, and one time it wanted to come with you

Raihan lets you keep his Flygon and you send him pictures of you with it

He sends emotes of duraludon crying, wanting to join you and your fun trip with Flygon to grab the Champion title

After you took the Champion title, Raihan greeted you with a big hug

And you hug him back with no hesitation

"Congratulations, may i have a selfie with the new Champion?"

He asked in a teasing manner, letting you down on your feet as you nodded

You took a selfie selfwith him numerous times before he posted it to his social media

He captioned 'First person to get a selfie with the new Champion'

He took pride in that, and some of his fans were jealous that you managed to get a selfie with him

From that day onwards, he'd have casual selfies with you, sometimes hilarious one and sometimes its just for showing off

You didn't mind it really, he's a celebrity anyways, so you understand why he does that

"Hey.. do stars have feelings"

It was three am what the fuck Raihan

You squinted at your screen seeing his message

"Why in the Galar would you be awake, dear Dragon tamer?"

You answered him

And immediately he answered "oh? The Champion is awake?"

You guys didn't sleep afterwards and was sending streaks of blurry selfies

It was fun and helped you cheer up

You got some of his blurry pics that he captioned "party rock in the house" when clearly its just him and his pokemons

What a goofball pt.2

You love him anyways shut up

Haha smol reader pt.2