My favourite things about the kylux fandom:
~ Millicent™
~ pink-haired Hux
~ reserve’s NSFW head canon Friday
~ the serious dedication to putting Hux in various exotic forms of fancy lingerie
~ exasperated best friend Phasma
~ the shared emotional experience of a new Children, Wake Up update
~ Hux’s Tiny Butt 2k16
~ the wacky adventures of the Knights of Ren
~ weird alternative names for Domhnall Gleeson in the tags of posts
~ force grabbing the lube
~ the “I fucken hate kylux” anon
~ giving Hux increasingly obscure and unpronounceable first names in fics
~ vastly overestimating size difference
~ pretty dresses without context
~ the freckle discourse
Tag: fandom
Dear Kylux Fandom,
Hi, I’m not the most well known author in the fandom, nor the most recced or read, and I don’t feel like I have a right to ask for anything, but I am, and if you disagree that’s fine.
My name’s Amy, I go by dreamingofawolf here and on AO3 (also twitter, but I barely use that, so it’s not entirely relevant) anyway, I’m in a bind, my mental health is declining due to a less than fully functional old laptop – which sounds ridiculous, I am well aware – which I use to distract and generally cope with the world.
I also use it to write on, when it deigns to function, I have a roster of half finished pieces waiting to be fully finished when I can type more than 150 words without hand cramp from using a phone or restarting the laptop because it’s conked out on me.
I wrote Moiré on this laptop when it functioned, and Better Hemispheres (in which I accidentally fucked Hux with a Death Star shaped anal bead…)
I created a gofundme (here) to raise funds to purchase a new laptop, hopefully a good quality machine that will last for many years and give me enough time to get through therapy, get out of the house, get my mind back, get back to writing and funnelling my anxiety and nervous energy into something productive and shareable with the community.
Smaller donations can also be sent to my paypal: dreamingofawolf@googlemail.com
I would automatically offer small fanfics to all donators if I knew I could keep up with them definitely, my memory is scattershot and I have all the planning skills of an amoeba. But I can promise to try if you ask? Drop me an ask and I’ll try and write something short and snappy, I’m better with kink to be honest, I’m pretty good at it I feel.
Anyway, thank you for reading if you’ve gotten this far, I understand that you might be burnt out on donating, but even a reblog would be much appreciated.
Yours Sinfully
Me
xxx
Kylux Fandom Starter Pack
So the kylux fandom has grown a whole lot recently. I have no idea where you’re all coming from, but welcome! You’re in luck! Our art is great, our fic is wonderful and we’re a really nice bunch behind the gore, I promise.
I’ve been lurking about around here since pretty much the beginning so in light of that I’ve attempted to put together a kind of short master post of cool stuff to check out to get you started out in our little trash pile of lovely weirdness.
This is by no means an exhaustive list, but listing everybody would be impossible. If I’ve missed off someone it’s not on purpose. You’re all so talented. I’m gonna make a separate list just for fics, but without further ado let’s go.
Much like this entire fandom, this post is NSFW.
General Great Blogs to Follow (they’re also amazing content creators and lovely humans)
@that-vicious-vixen @brawlite @reserve @generallyhuxurious @ocktorok
@hollyhark @kylostahp @tarkinducken @sinfullucifer @sathinfection
@lingua-mortua @nightsofllyn @badspacebabies @deluxekyluxtrashcan
@crackedverbosity @first-disorder @hux-you-up @thesunandoceanblue
@sakurita94 @doverdameron @kyluxcollective @kylux @robokittens
@hicstreme0 @space-emos @jeusus @horatiosroom @pidgy-draws
Notable Fandom Phenomenons (that you may be confused about)
Children, Wake Up by @hollyhark. The biggest fic series in the fandom. Beautiful, long, heartbreaking and updated weekly. You can read it here
@reserve’s Witch AU. The greatest AU never to be written. All posts related to it can be found here
Kylo Ren’s Big Dick. Origins on this one are hard to trace but I suspect a combination of common sense, thirst, and Adam Driver’s general stature had a lot to do with it. A great example of fic is by @eralkfang and can be found here.
Honeycomb by @bettydays. The Daddy Kink fic to end all. Beautifully written and pretty much universally loved by the fandom. You can read it here
Emperor Hux. A logical extension of Hux’s role as General combined with the fandom’s need to force him into fancy regal outfits. A great example is by @that-vicious-vixen and can be found in all its glory here
Myspace AU by @horatiosroom. High school AU with scene kid Kylo and awful teen psychopath Hux who has a thing for vivisection. This started as one piece of art and morphed into this incredible collaborative thing that just keeps on going and it is glorious. Content related to it can be found here (warning for gore and questionable morals)
Matt the Radar Technician. The origin of Matt is the SNL sketch Adam Driver did, which is here. Fandom did what fandom does best and immediately wrote as much fic as possible. Notable examples include ordr by @brawlite and Who Did You Think I Was? by @ladyshivs
Blue Milkshake/Pink Haired Hux by @nightsofllyn. Pink Haired Hux began as a character in a dream sequence in this fic, and then evolved into a huge thing when this fic was posted with the help of some pretty rad art by @space-emos. The rest is history.
Slave Kylo. Slave Kylo was born from the desire to see Adam Driver in that slave outfit. Notable example art can be found here. Notable fic can be found here by @chickadddddd
Southern Gothic AU by @ocktorok and @sinfullucifer. How does one begin to describe SoGo? Start with this fic and this art.
Kylo Amidala AU. The origins are difficult to pin down but notable contributions have been made by the lovely art by @robespierrre. Do you like Kylo Ren? Do you like pretty dresses? What are you waiting for?
Millicent. Millicent is a bit like the Marmite of the fandom. You either love her or hate her. She was created from a tweet by Pablo Hidalgo that pondered on the possibility of Hux owning a cat called Millicent. It was intended as a joke but fandom ran with it. A good fic as an example is by @huxology and can be found here
Lingerie Hux. Fuelled by desire we all have deep within us to see pretty boys in expensive lingerie. Some great art can be found here by @pidgy-draws and here by @letmeputitinyourbutt. A notable example in fic is Indulgence which can be found here. (Edit also @the-pudding-is-a-lie also has really rad art relevant to this here)
The Knights of Ren and the Trippy Space Orgy of Dreams by @kdazrael. Involves ritual sex. It’s really quite difficult to explain and is best experienced for yourself
Middle Class Family AU by @jo2oo. Deliciously fucked up AU in which Hux kidnaps Kylo and forces him to live as his wife in a super creepy version of the suburban nuclear family. Bonus points for kidnapped evil children too. You can find posts related to it here.
Spoiled Prince AU by @mythoughtcrime. Kylo is a spoiled asshole who has a habit of seducing his bodyguards. Enter Hux. Find it here.
A (Very Small) Selection of Artists to Follow
@jeusus @sakurita94 @wickedicks @viella-art @space-emos @randomsplashes @first-disorder @kromitar @schaloime @hicstreme0 @mythoughtcrime @valinwhore @pidgy-draws @darth-vader-apologist @letmeputitinyourbutt @salemnevada @nicca11y @jakkutrashheap @elithien @littleststarfighter @the-garbage-chute @palalife @amazingnessin @kawaiilo–ren @freedomconvicted @kyluxmagnus
I love how when fan-fiction writers have friends in the fandom, to demonstrate their friendship, they dedicate porn to one another.
I think that’s lovely.
#happy birthday my friend #here’s that specific thing that you like #you perv #ilu
*snortlaugh* @adamsgirl42 knows her pron. 😛
I don’t know what you’re talking about. *cough* @dreamingofawolf
Reasons for boarding, or S.S. Kylux
I asked the goodly Kylux shippers out there for the reasons why they’re behind it, and I got a great spectrum of responses that I’d like to share with people – in particular, Kylux and Reylo shippers. I found it super interesting to get a feel for why people are into it, and while I don’t see myself becoming a Kylux shipper any time soon I definitely have a much better sense of why it’s such a thing now.
The first response was from an anon, who came up with:
online fandom = mostly straight females = ship any two dudes who breath in each other’s vicinity.
While I’m certain there’s at least some element of truth to this, it’s clearly not the whole story. Several people indicated that they enjoy seeing the ‘enemies to lovers’ trope explored:
@our-blades-are-sharp I personally ship them because I love the ‘Enemies to Lovers’ trope, and because kylux fic tends to show a more unapologetically evil Kylo, which I love!
An anon expressed similar feelings:
I ship Kylux cos I’m a sucker for hardcore denial of feelings, angsty miscommunication, hatefucking, enemies to lover, the ‘oh my god I have /feelings/’ moments (followed by more denial and angst), and… I dunno, I just like thinking that, no matter how horrible someone is, they can still love, and maybe even find redemption through it.
As did @songstressfox:
You asked people why they ship Kylux – I tend to see the fierce rivalry as being both a cover for and a prelude to fierce OTHER feelings, and I’m trash for rival ships anyway so them bickering onscreen was practically an engraved invitation for me to ship the thing. Plus, I see them as kinda complimentary – Kylo is all emotion, Hux is (mostly) all control, so they kinda balance each other that way!
A reason that I find especially sympathetic – on account of my experiences as a Reylo shipper – comes from @mistress-of-ren (the bold is my emphasis):
They both are hot, the relationship is good for nice kinks (bdsm, uniforms, etc), and the kylux fandom is very entertaining, as well. I love kylux jokes :D. There are less dramas than with reylo,all these reylos vs antis arguments in the tag annoy me
@lokithedumpsterbaby has some really interesting supplementary thoughts in a similar vein:
It’s fairly common to see fans jump onto ships between two characters with an antagonistic, superficially developed relationship. Without much backstory to their relationship, there is a lot of room to play around. Maybe they just hatefuck. Maybe they are hiding secret feelings for one another under all that hate. Maybe they have an enemies to frenemy lovers situation. Also, given the nature of fandom at the moment, it’s one of the least wanky pockets of fandom. The shipping-for-righteousness crowd has gravitated towards combinations of Finn/Poe/Rey(/Jessica Pava). Reylo is both a target of massive amounts of wank, and also the source of defensive, reactionary wank. Kylux is a fairly unwanky corner. There is no expectation or hope that it might end up canon, so there’s no pressure there. It’s just a fun and cracky sandbox to have some (porny) fun with.
Another ask message from @hux-you-up likewise indicated that Kylux offers a more fun and relaxed alternative to the dramatics of the Reylo ship:
Why I ship Kylux: b/c it allows me to have some shippy fun without becoming emotionally invested. Kylux is not grounded in canon, it’s not going to become canon, & I’ll be shocked if Hux even survives the first half of Episode 8. (I took my last ship far too seriously & ended up suffering for it, & I don’t want to make that same mistake again. It was a hero/villain ship & those of us who shipped it were treated the way Reylo shippers are treated now – hence why I feel rather protective of them.)
The quality of the fanworks was also clearly a big element of the appeal for people:
@zero-pointe-vers-linfini Kylux have serious and sexy fanart, full of BDSM references. At the same time, the ship art has that amazing chemistry and humor that resembles films such as “It happened one night”, so funny and nonsense. That’s why I like both Reylo and Kylux.
I think none of us exactly shipped it seriously, not at first. It’s a ship that grows on you, especially with series like Children, Wake Up. Also, when I first saw TFA, I briefly thought they were holding hands on the bridge and I was sold -_-
@millicentthecat has an epic response to the question that’s well worth reading, but I’ll just post the introductory paragraph for the sake of brevity:
When I jumped on board the Kylux ship it was literally just because I find Kylo relatable and, more than that, the fandom is PRODUCTIVE. There is so much cute fanart and good fic in all different styles and tones. Plus it’s a really positive and supportive community. The tag is usually full of a wide variety of pretty celebratory material, and well, if you haven’t read CWU, I highly recommend it. I recommend it to people who aren’t Star Wars fans, even. In my mind it is (so far) the single most perfect work of fiction in existence. It is a literally heart-breaking vein of truth.
Thank you to everyone who got in touch – I found it really interesting to gauge people’s views and experiences. I was especially intrigued by the volume of people suggesting that they turned to Kylux after witnessing all the hysteria and drama enveloping the Reylo fandom. As much as I love the Reylo fandom, it absolutely is hyper defensive and extremely sensitive to any potential attacks on the pairing – I’ve seen shippers get jumped on by other shippers who thought they were antis, and at times the paranoia is practically tangible (we’re talking Red Peril levels, people!) I can absolutely understand why the dynamics of the Reylo fandom – as much as I love it – have turned some people off and sent them in search of chiller pastures. Since there is a definite possibility of Reylo becoming canon, people tend to be heavily invested in it, which simply isn’t the case with Kylux – the shippers know it ain’t happening, so they just focus on having fun. Which should, of course, be the whole point of fandom. I think that the Reylo fandom (myself included) could stand to learn from that, tbh.
Kylux seems to offer what many people consider to be a comparatively safe and relaxed fannish environment, on top of characters dynamics and storytelling potential that people find rich and worth exploring.
dispatches from the dumpster 