#I loved that he just gets like a paragraph about him in the original short story and then she doesn't give a shit about him

[moonybadger]

Is there anyone else out there who both read "The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye" AND watched the movie "Three Thousand Years of Longing" who I can complain to about the movie making Alithea care WAY more about her boring ex-husband then she ever did in the original short story? And for taking out what her original first wish was? Because I'm still annoyed about both of those story decisions.

#part of what I liked so much about her first wish was how it deconstructed what you expect her to value most about her body #and led into my favorite of her personal stories that she tells the Djinn #I really wish they hadn't taken it out I'm still annoyed #And her dumb ex-husband ugh #I loved that he just gets like a paragraph about him in the original short story and then she doesn't give a shit about him #I do still really like this movie and can't believe it exists but I do have my problems with it #also idris elba curing her neighbors of racism by being so hot was dumb #bored badgering #three thousand years of longing #the djinn in the nightingale's eye

[pickypickypeak]

So I FINALLY got the art of wish book which is so so good and? I’m honestly a little surprised that the only things that got leaked online were the starboy and evil amaya concepts when it’s literally filled with gems? Here’s a few but first let me tell you, the art alone makes it worth it. It’s amazing

THE HAMLET! LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT THE HAMLET!! Apparently in an early draft Asha and her community had left Rosas and started living hidden in the forest so their wishes could be safe from Magnifico. This hidden place was called “The Hamlet” and it still exists in the final movie, though it’s just a part of Rosas and doesn’t have the original lore. I really hope this trope gets reused for a future Disney movie because it’s a really cool concept!

Live action Valentino??

Some Sakina dump because I love her (also meet Tomás)

Oh and you know the wishing tree in the movie? It’s based on Walt Disney’s own actual wishing tree?? Wtf???

Also there’s a whole 2 pages about Dahlia explaining how much effort and care were put into her creation as a character with a disability. They actually had consultants making sure that ANY form of representation felt authentic and positive. They did not just made the cast multi-ethnic, they actually did their research so that any culture was well portrayed, all the way to the littlest details like textures on their clothing or even each character’s way of greeting.

And about the animation not being fully 2D… Haters conveniently forget mentioning that the movie is expressly made to celebrate both the past AND future of WDAS. Then like it or not, but you can’t possibly celebrate all of Disney without CGI animation. CGI is also Disney. Tangled and Frozen and Moana became instant Disney classics. I would die for a traditional animated movie, but when you put it this way, it makes perfect sense to me that they went with hybrid style for this movie specifically. It just feels right.

Also going through these pages… you just feel the love the producers and animators put in every single reference to older classics. Animation techniques were literally inspired by actual frames from Snow White, Pinocchio, Fantasia, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Peter Pan. So were coloring techniques, lighting, cinematography… There was a breathing effort of paying homages to these movies with tremendous talent in them, while also creating something new. So hate on this movie as much as you want, but mind you calling it “AI-made”. It’s not. It’s made by humans.

Oh, and finally, Starboy. Well, yeah, I fell for it. People literally made it all up. There’s zero indication that he was gonna be Asha’s love interest, let alone be the one singing At All Costs instead of Magnifico. From what the book says (there’s literally two short paragraphs about him, before Star comes in) I think they didn’t even have a plot then, they were just exploring ideas and made some brainstorming sketches deciding how Star could have been. Same with evil Amaya! That one pic that leaked of her with Magnifico is all we got. There’s no indication that it was gonna be “a better movie” because there is no plot for that lol

#wish #wish disney #wish 2023 #the art of wish #disney #asha #king magnifico #queen amaya #star wish

[rosedom]

The final semester is rapidly approaching in the akedemia

Both you and kuni have been overwhelmed with projects and assignments, who knew choosing the earth sciences would require alot of sample gathering? As for your lover he's been drowning in reports.

" those stuck up professors want me to use old research papers ONLY! Are you kidding me?! How am I supposed to write a paragraph let alone a whole report with such limited information?"

Even at home he's stressed. His hair resembles a washed out tamarind's pulp as he keeps messing with it, perhaps hoping to utilise it like an antenna to receive ideas from the gods that share the age of those dreaded papers.

The feeling of soft lips on his neck give his thoughts and abrupt stop. A gasp as soft as the fluttering cherry petals of his home escapes him.

" Come now dear, you look like you'll vaporise the next paper you see."

He cranes his neck up, looking at his dearest standing behind him with a tense squint.

"What else would there be left to do at this point? the report is due in two days, perhaps if the research paper mysteriously vanished the due date might change."

He knows that won't work of course; with the archon being active the scholars would probably grovel at her feet for a copy of the original work.

His beloved giggles and wraps their arms around him, lightly leaning over his chair to whisper in his ear:

"A break could help. For an immortal being you sure are impatient. Take a step back, Refresh yourself with something sweet and then continue only if you desire to"

"Desire, huh? This tedious task wouldn't even make it into my list of desires, however the lovely spouse I have at my side here definitely takes the top spot"

A small laugh escapes them.

"My, my, who knew the thing that'll break you out of your typically shy shell would be some report about a subject long forgotten. Though, I don't have any complaints "

He huffed in a fake scoff then angled his head to blow air into their eyes. Nothing to do with his vision of course, just a light tease to make them squeal.

"Ok fine! fine! no teasing. But I am serious about taking a break. you look worn out."

The tinge of concern in their voice made him wince then reminded him of his work. They're already done for this week and he to finish this before putting his head to rest.

They watched the puppet return to his pen and paper, almost seeming automated if it wasn't for the tension in his eyebrows.

They walked to his side, gently putting their hand on top of his to stop the rapid scratch of the pen.

He looks up at them expectantly.

"something wrong?" He knows what's wrong but he won't take any time to himself until the sadistic torture is done.

"Don't you think I've been good? I've worked very hard to finish all my assignments. don't I deserve a reward?"

He looks at them with a slight bushy haze, their pouted lips and sad eyes doing him no favour.

" O-of course dear, is there something you want in particular?"

AAAAAAAHHHH IM SO EEPY AND THIS IS SO CRINGE ! ITS PURELY SELF INDULGENT BUT I TRIED TO KERP IT GN BYT ITS SOOO CORNY

I might continue later if I get a serotonin hit

I MEANT TO REPLY SOONER >< but oh my goodness, yes . . . he acts so oblivious sometimes just to rile reader up !!

this is so domestic yet horny nhhh . . . reader's horny and kuni's overwhelmed, and neither of you have even touched yet . . . pls pls pls continue !! this is so sweet, i ADORE it. please indulge in yourself—life is too short to be hung up on being "cringe." do what makes you happy: i do, and that's what this whole blog is about: indulging myself !!

#ㅤ✦【 ASKS 】 #gunna add tags so ur work gets boosted <3 #u deserve recognition sweet anon !! #so (⁠?⁠・⁠・⁠)⁠σ #genshin x reader #wanderer x reader #wanderer smut #scara x reader #scaramouche x reader #and because of the direction this is going . . . #sub wanderer #sub scaramouche

[spirkme915]

spirk fics i've read recently(ish) and loved

My Heart to Your Heart by greenforsnow @m-b-w - TOS - need a gentle fic? this is it. softness pervades every syllable of this fic!

Through the Wall by Sexy_Lil_Emo - AOS - a fic inspired by nsfw fanart. who needs plot with that?

Malfunction by Maeko - AOS - a nice, short nightcap when you need something sweet to read before bed

Impulse (or, Three Kisses) by decidedlynotheterosexual @decidedly-not-heterosexual - TOS - spock loses control but in the *sweetest* way and they talk about it like adults and this is just soothing and nice

The Proposal by TheKittyCorps @contrascene - AOS - spirk version of "the proposal." laugh out loud funny in parts (yes, hijinks included)

Heirs to the Glimmering World by gunstreet @gunstreet - SNW/TOS - sybok, michael, and sam conspire to get their brothers together!! siblings! tentative first meetings! sex!

De Profundis by Rhaegal (RhaegalKS) - TOS - tmp-era spirk. spock knows he fucked up so he's gonna woo jim

The Kiss by awarrington - TOS - there are some super dated things in this fic (it was originally written in 1994) but this is one of the best i've read dealing with jim coming to terms with his bisexuality and attraction to spock. def don't read if you can't or don't want to take it in context of its time. if you can/have the emotional bandwidth to, then it's well worth it

On the Arrow by Fic_me_senseless - AOS - post-into darkness, heavy read, so much longing, and pain, and it makes you ache in the best way

i'm also in a "watch beyond on repeat phase" so here are my favorite post-beyond fics:

The Steadfastness of Stars by itsnatalie - AOS - this fic. THIS FIC. i was only going to read one paragraph, really. i skipped work, read the whole thing, and now this is in my top five spirk fics

in my life, i love you more by spaceisgay (ChancellorGriffin) - AOS - idek how many times i've read this now. i watch beyond, i read this fic. if they never make a fourth movie, this will be my canon

And Then I Let It Go by kianspo - AOS - yorktown happens, spock goes missing, jim goes after him. this could so be canon too

on the complete opposite side of post-beyond angst is two (YES TWO, we are so blessed!) "spock makes jim coffee" fics that will both make you smile and feel warm all over:

Home in a Mug by Lizzy0305

certainty relief by itsamew @enterprise-me-capn

and (because i can never quite seem to keep these lists solely focused on spirk) one AOS mckirk fic:

retro/spect by slightlycrunchy @slightlycrunchy - best friends to lovers anyone? this is just so so so lovely!

#spirk #spirk fic recs #fic rec #i have so many i'm subscribed to and waiting for them to be complete! #so many still on my TBR! #and so many tabs! #but please PLEASE send me more recs #i added the tumblrs i knew but let me know if you don't want to be tagged please #if one of these is you and i don't have you tagged please let me know so i can add your tumblr name #also please don't be afraid to self promo #i LOVE self promo

[s-brant]

okay for my steve girlies i’m just having some thoughts abt him as a boyfriend rn that i cannot get out of my head so you’ll have to put up with this.

as a partner i feel like he’d be the most touchy person on the face of the earth. constantly having his hands on you in a casual way whether it be holding hands, pulling you onto his lap to sit there even when there’s a spot open right next to him, standing behind you with an arm wrapped around you, playing with your hair/clothes/jewelry, and so on. he’s probably very touch-starved so i feel like he would be on you 24/7 and very shameless in terms of PDA because he’s just dying to have someone to love. robin and dustin would fake gag in the background but he could care less. also he gives me the vibes of someone who is just constantly warm. like the human incarnation of a furnace, so cozy and inviting in terms of cuddling.

boyfriend steve in season two was very cute to me (i.e: him coming to apologize with flowers even though he literally didn’t even know what he was sorry for because she was the one who hurt him, trying to cut her off when she was drinking too much/take care of her) so i can only imagine he’d be an even sweeter boyfriend in the later seasons with his character growth. i picture him being chivalrous for some reason, like always opening the car door for you, wordlessly taking off his jacket to put it over your shoulders when it’s cold and you stubbornly didn’t wear one, and not wanting you to pay for dinner even though his salary at family video is probably not that great. long story short he is a simp and very romantic. i feel like that’s just canon at this point but i digress.

anyway for the sexy stuff you’re gonna have to go under the cut

okay here we GO

i personally feel, despite my love for the kinkier fics, that steve is pretty vanilla in bed. at least, until he’s exposed to something new by a partner? like i feel that he would be open to trying certain things with you because duh you’re you and he loves you and why wouldn’t he wanna try slightly freaky shit with you, but it’s not something he just thinks up himself if that makes sense? but that doesn’t mean he can’t rock your world, let’s be 100% clear on that. this man eats pussy like it’s a five course meal and i will die on that hill. he’d get so into it, his eyes would close and he’d make soft little noises into you every time you pull on his hair UGH. you sitting on his face is probably his favorite thing you two have ever done because, honestly, suffocation between your thighs is a great way to go as far as he’s concerned.

also, it’s canon at this point that he’s hung right? did that originate from joe keery’s bulge in those tight ass vintage levi’s? probably, but it’s a steve thing now and i wholeheartedly agree with the fandom’s unanimous decision that he has unparalleled big dick energy. that being said, i also feel like he knows how to use it. a lot of well endowed guys aren’t that great because they’re like “oh i have big dick so sex with me is good already and i don’t need to do anything” but steve is a ladies man. he knows what he’s doing, and he doesn’t even need the buffer of kinks and shit to fuck you stupid. and he would be soooo cocky about it. i feel like he would be into degradation and dumbification a bit. he loves the fact that you are basically rendered useless when he’s fucking you open with his thick cock, caging you in with his arms by your head and cooing at you while the room is filled with the wet sound of him pounding into you. the filthiest he gets is whispering stuff like, “look at you. hardly even fucked you yet and you’re already a dumb little slut for me, huh?” like he can get nasty but i feel like it wouldn’t go far beyond dirty talk like that.

then there comes the hopeless romantic in him that cannot resist the opportunity to make love to you. i fully believe he is one of the people who seeks out that type of intimacy more often than the type in the paragraph above simply because he is so needy to be loved. his parents literally have never been in the show and never seem to care, he hasn’t had a steady girlfriend since nancy, and he doesn’t exactly get affection from other people in his life, so he would be absolutely insatiable with you.

his favorite kind of lovemaking is that slow, barely conscious morning sex when the two of you wake up right as the sun’s rising and he is faced with the realization of how much he loves you in those quiet moments. he’d be so sleepy, most of his weight would be let go if he’s on top of you, but you don’t even care because you’re caught on that hazy line between being asleep and awake as well, and the pleasure of him fucking you is heightened by it. it’d be full of sloppy kisses and heavy-lidded eye contact, both of your noses brushing with every deep thrust he makes into you. sometimes you’re on top though, and for those times he’ll just wrap his arms around your back to pull you down so you’re chest to chest while you do the work, albeit very lazily, and enjoy the sight of you. his favorite position for this lazy morning sex is when he’s spooning you tho. it happens the most often anyway, when he wakes up hard and naturally starts grinding into you from behind, which then escalates as normal. he’d keep a hand on your face to keep it turned for him to kiss your mouth and cheek though. just because he’s behind you doesn’t mean he won’t long to see your face and kiss you during.

i also feel like there would be a natural dominance to him that’s unrelated to any actual bdsm or dom/sub thing but rather his default disposition with you. he could definitely get down with being in a more submissive position sometimes and allow you to take care of/worship him—which would probably leave him with teary eyes by the end because of how overwhelming it is—but he gives me a lot of casually dominant energy. he loves sneaking into your bedroom in the middle of the night and fucking you with a hand over your mouth right across the hall from where your parents are sleeping, whispering to you that you have to be quiet and good. he also loves manhandling you, it turns him on unlike anything else to just toss you down on his bed and rip your clothes off because he can hardly wait to be inside of you. it’s also little sfw things like knowing what you like from your favorite take out place so he just orders for you or stopping to tie your shoe when it comes undone because he just loves taking care of his girl in the most innocent ways as well as a sexually.

he has a breeding kink by the way. it’s not something he acknowledges as a kink officially or even fully realizes, but considering that the man wants six children in canon, i feel like the idea of getting you pregnant, or even just coming inside of you whether or not you’re on a contraceptive, definitely gets him going. and if you are pregnant eventually once/if you two decide it’s what you want, forget about it. my god, he would be on you all the time. he’d love having you ride him with your breasts bouncing and a bit fuller from the hormones, your belly protruding with a bump as an undeniable piece of evidence that you’re his. it just checks all the boxes for him. i also believe that his chivalrous behavior would increase tenfold when you’re pregnant. in the later months, you physically cannot tie your shoes so he is right there to help you. he’s always extending his hand to hold while you walk, walking with his body closest to the street and yours closer to where it’s safer, and in general being even more of a simp than usual. if you thought he was a gentleman before, when he knows his baby is inside of you, he’s literally trying to do anything and everything he can for you.

now don’t even get me started on him as a dad. this has gone on long enough.

#steve harrington #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington smut #fem reader

[dumbfridge]

hey!!! if you enjoy varian and the seven kingdoms please stop scrolling for just a moment!!!!

so i know there are multiple fanfiction creators who have written their own versions of vat7k and i love and have read each and every one of them

i decided i wanted to join in on the fun and so i’ve been working on my own version of vat7k for over a year now

i’ve split it into three books plus a prequel and a sequel. each book (minus the prequel & sequal) have 22 chapters each. the prequel & sequel will have around 1-10 chapters (it depends on how long the written portion is)

i wanted to make my series have a similar vibe to an actual tv show so the chapters will be posted as if they are episodes. for example, one chapter will be lore based and another will be similar to a filler episode.

sadly, i’m still working on it and it probably won’t be done anytime soon but i do have a decent portion of it created. i have an idea for what to put into each chapter and am working on the details of each chapter. i’ve also written a few snippets here and there and here’s one from the prequel, After Ever After:

Varian’s pacing. He knows he’s pacing but by the Sun, he’s angry. For years, he’s wanted to know more about his mother. For years, he’s begged to hear stories about her. For years, he’s lived off of the small scraps that his father gave to him, only to learn that he has been keeping a key component about his mother from him.

His mother’s journal sits before him on Xavier’s table, a deep forest green with a symbol engraved upon it. If he didn’t know any better, he’d say it's mocking him. Just when he made peace with the fact that nothing will ever change in Corona, this journal pops into existence as a big “fuck you!” to Varian’s mental wellbeing.

Xavier has been watching him patiently, having already picked his way through the journal. Varian stubbornly refuses to be the one to speak first but Xavier is just staring at him, his eyes following the path Varian is making into his floor.

Varian doesn’t speak for several more seconds before he demands: “So? What does it mean? What are the Seven Trials and why was my mom so obsessed with it?”

“Ah, yes, the Seven Trials,” Xavier enunciates. He rubs his chin as a faraway look passes over his face. “It is an old tale but one worth revisiting.”

“Oh, would you quit it?” Varian snaps. He stops pacing and stands across from Xavier, arms crossed and his foot tapping the ground repeatedly. “I really don’t want a long winded explanation right now.”

Xavier chuckles. “Very well. I will keep my story short. The Seven Trials were a test made long ago by Demanitus himself.”

Varian’s foot falls with a final thump. “Demanitus? My mom followed his studies too?”

“It would seem so.” Xavier gently picks up the journal and flicks through the pages. He stops about midway through the book and turns it for Varian to see. “And it also seems like she got very close to her goal.”

The entry on the page is annoyingly vague. The main phrases he gets from it are words he’s already read when he skimmed through it earlier. “The Eternal Library” particularly stands out to him. He could have sworn he heard it somewhere before.

When he rereads the paragraph, though, he puts together pieces that he had taken for granted before. Most of it doesn’t make any sense because she’s using key words only she obviously knows but Varian gets the gist of it. She completed all of the trials and found the location of the Eternal Library.

that’s all i have for that right now

if you have any questions, feel free to ask

and if you have suggestions, i’d be happy to hear them! i can’t promise any of them will make the cut but if they do, i’ll make sure to credit whoever’s idea it originally was

thank you for reading! if any of you are interested i might be able to post more snippets of it

#varian and the 7 kingdoms #varian and the seven kingdoms #vat7k #varian tts #varian #varigo #hugo vat7k #nuru vat7k #yong vat7k

[danielfosseyart]

Daniel Watches She-Ra & The Princesses Of Power

-S1E1- 'The Sword Part 1'

Today's She-Ra Watch Art: This shitty Glimmer doodle.

Look I promise they won't all be garbage ;-; I promise

Okay I wanna preface: Not every post is gonna be this detailed, I didn't even intend to go on this long with just one episode but I lost track of time. Some posts I'll be short & sweet. Some I'll be long winded to a comical degree. Depends on my feeling.

I think I'll just keep it to one paragraph per episode, & only pull out the long rambles when I finish a season. I think that'll work. Yeah.

Okay so I have no idea who any of these people are because I literally just started but one of these guys is a lizard. I'm a huge sucker for lizard people in anything ever so I immediately like this fucker. He's a lizard, that is all I need. He's just instantly cool because lizards are fucking rad as hell dude.

So Cat-Ra speaks, that first fucking line of hers.

The fucking "Hey Adora"

The first fucking thing I said to myself, out loud, was the immediate reaction I had to that line: "Oh so they're gay."

I don't know if it's like canon or not but one of the things I know about this show is people ship them a lot. I have no idea if that's actually like a canon thing in the show or not but I've seen a lot of fanart of them so I know people at the very least WANT them to kiss or hold hands or get married & buy a house in the suburbs & raise like 5 kids & watch Shrek on VHS & talk about doing their taxes or whatever idk.

That being an actual thing in the show itself? Uh I guess I'll see what happens so who the fuck knows man. Maybe they just explode idk.

But like....dude. DUDE. The fucking way Cat-Ra said it was just....

SO fucking extra like that immediately felt fruity to me. I'm already getting that vibe from her. On top of that, the way her & Adora continue to interact in the episode also give off a very distinct vibe, a rather, ahem, 'fruity' vibe. I think I'm already getting the idea of why this ship is popular. I do believe I see the vision.

Also, quick tangent, I LOVE the way the animators animated Cat-Ra like an actual cat. Her hair getting puffed up when she's agitated, her ears moving to reflect her mood. Her eyes dilating like how cat eyes actually do. THEY EVEN ALSO MADE HER PURR LIKE AN ACTUAL CAT, LIKE SHE AUDIBLY CAN BE HEARD PURRING. THAT'S SUCH AN ADORABLE DETAIL & IT MAKES HER IMMEDIATLEY ENDEARING AS FUCK.

Also I guess it makes sense Cat-Ra would be into women, yeah?

Because it makes sense that CAT-Ra would be interested in PUSSY.

(Please Laugh) (I'm desperate please think I'm funny I need this)

Now moving on, let me talk about this BITCH.

One. Compared to the original Shadow Weaver, they sure did make her a way more intimidating villain.

Two. FUCK THIS BITCH??????

THE FUCK IS YOUR PROBLEM YOU FUCKING BITCHY, INKBLOT LOOKING, WACKY WAVING TUBE MAN HAIR HAVING, WIZARD-WANNABE MOTHERFUCKER? LITERALLY SHUT UP

+ NO ONE CARES & ALSO YOU SMELL BAD

+ YOU LOOK LIKE A BOOTLEG ERMAC

+ YOU'RE MEAN TO CAT-RA, I MEAN HONESTLY, WHO THE FUCK JUST BULLIES A CAT?

IMAGINE BULLYING A FUCKING CAT. FUCK THIS BITCH.

I DO NOT CARE FOR THIS WOMAN.

HER SMUG AURA MOCKS ME.

Hi so I immediately love you?? Like instantly my favorite character just from the design alone. Glimmer is so real honestly.

I also like Bow, like, Bow is just so fucking cool & nice? He's such a real one, I wanna be best friends with him & hang out he's just so lovable like he's just awesome. I love this man immediately. He deserves all the good in the world actually.

Also holy shit the contrast between Bow in the original show vs this reboot design.

It's funny, the original design WAY more gay than the new one.

The new one that a lot of people (and by people I mean homophobic douchenozzles.) complained about, the design for Bow in this supposedly 'woke tumblr sjw cartoon' has a design that is far less homoerotic in it's design & feel.

The original Bow just outright looks like a fucking gay pornstar.

He's got the trademark 'Gay Porno Mustache™' & everything.

Okay so there's a magic sword or something, etc.

They mentioned Eternia.

Okay so, one of the reasons the original she-ra was lame as fuck compared to He-Man? No Skeletor.

Hordak & literally all the villains in the original show suck ass.

They fucking suck. Hordak is just Skeletor but boring & shitty.

Why the FUCK did they not take the oppurtunity to replace Hordak with Skeletor? You don't even need to add He-Man, I'm fine with that.

But You could have just taken She-Ra & added a better villain because Skeletor fucking rules. He calls people boobs. That's fucking awesome & cool. WHERE IS HE? WHERE THE FUCK IS SKELETOR? LOOK SHOW. HORDAK WAS FUCKING LAME AS FUCK.

SO IF THIS REBOOT IS GOING TO CONVINCE ME THAT HORDAK IS IN ANY WAY A LEGITIMATELY COOL VILLAIN, THEN THEY BETTER FUCKING PULL OUT ALL THE STOPS BECAUSE IT'S GONNA TAKE A LOT TO CONVINCE ME THAT THEY WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN BETTER OFF JUST USING SKELETOR INSTEAD. LIKE, YOU BETTER FUCKING IMPRESS ME BECAUSE OTHERWISE, THE LACK OF SKELETOR IS GONNA BE A HUGE FLAW THAT YOU CANNOT OVERLOOK.

I mean, so far they managed to make me actually LIKE Cat-Ra, & the original Cat-Ra fucking sucks. Shadow Weaver sucked & so far at least this reboot Shadow Weaver is actually intimidating. But man, you better fuckin' impress me show, because the lack of Skeletor is felt deep within my soul.

OH wait hold on.

Okay I see why everyone said this show is gay now.

Anyways I didn't mean to ramble on this long about the show in just one episode, I promise this is gonna be a rare occurrence. I think from now on, I'll keep it shortened to just one paragraph per post. I'll only pull out these long posts when I finish a season or something.

Anyways uh:

-Glimmer is the best

-I'm sorry but I'm not over the skeletor thing WHY DID YOU NOT USE HIM HE WAS RIGHT THERE-

#daniel watches she ra #daniel fossey #first time watch #she ra season 1 #she ra and the princesses of power #daniel fossey art #she ra #she ra fanart #she ra adora #she ra spop #spop #shadow weaver #adora #gecky #artwork #watch along

[dispatchvampire]

Radio Free Bucky - Bucky x Fem!OC

Pairing: Bucky x OC (in progress)

Warnings: Fluff, mild angst, casual swearing, smut in later chapters

Series Summary: A bunch of interrelated  of fluffy ficlets about Bucky and Penelope. Strangers in the night, tenuously connected by the past, finding their way together a little at a time.

Chapter Summary: In which Bucky has a birthday and someone unexpected knows about it.

It was his birthday, but he’d kept the proceedings low key. Dinner with Sam and his family, some cake, before retiring to the fixer-upper he’d bought not far from their family homestead so he had a place to stay in Delacroix  that wasn’t the front room couch when he came down. That’s really all he had the mental and emotional space for these days.

The soft patter of rain on the roof and windows droned in the background as he worked on the birdhouse Sarah had asked him to. Sam’s sister was a sweetheart, very unlike her brother, and he had no problem giving in to any and all requests from her and her boys. They did love them some Uncle Bucky. 

A memory of a warm summer afternoon on the bayou made him smile as Chet Baker’s smooth voice crooned about falling in love too easily, just a shade louder than the downpour. As much as Sam gave him shit for it, Bucky liked what he liked, and he wasn’t ashamed. It was good music. 

He’d found this satellite radio station one day online, looking for god knows what now, but it had been a revelation. A whole channel devoted to 40’s music, and it was like the universe was giving him a bit of comfort after kicking the hell out of him for so long. 

The soulful trumpet at the end of the song faded into the gathering shadows in his workshop.

“That was Chet Baker on vocals and trumpet there, and I think that might be my favorite song of his. It’s ten past eight here on the east coast, and this is 40s Junction.” 

Just hearing her voice made Bucky smile. It was warm, knowing, with a spark of humor that made him wonder if her actual smile was as nice as what he pictured in his head. And, to be fair, he’d pictured her a bit.  

This woman, the only female DJ at the station near as he could tell, was a nightly companion as he worked on his projects and unwound at the end of the day. Hearing tiny snippets of her life, and how joyfully she related to the music that was clearly way too old to be current for her, made him feel a little less alone in the world. It was an unusual feeling and he’d started to enjoy it. 

“Now, I know I promised you all I’d get to some Ella Fitzgerald this hour, but…” she trailed off and he turned his head to look at his phone like he expected to see her there, with a mischievous grin. “I wanted to take a moment to share something with you all. Today’s a special day in my family. It’s a tradition my Pawpaw started way back in 1945.

“I’m sure you all have guessed by now that he’s the reason I’m here with you, five nights a week from four to midnight. He was my best friend growing up and I miss him terribly. 

He served in the Army in Italy, with the 107th Infantry Regiment.” Bucky carefully set his work aside as his fingers went numb. 

“You history buffs probably recognize the unit, but for those that don't, that’s Captain America’s outfit, and my grandfather was Gabe Jones, one of the original Howling Commandos. 

“Today is March 10th, the birthday of one of my Pawpaw’s fallen comrades in arms, Bucky Barnes. For years, on this day, he’d raise a glass and tell us about the man who saved his life more than once. A man who gave him a reason to go on, to keep fighting, even when all seemed hopeless. Whose death marked his young life indelibly. You get the picture. 

“He’d raise a glass and ask us to remember the fallen and their families, and to help those still around us carry on. After the Blip, I’m sure a lot of us can relate to those sentiments.” Her sigh held paragraphs he didn’t need a translation for. 

“Anyway, long story short, it feels weird to say that Bucky isn’t dead, as Pawpaw informed us, but I’m celebrating his day just the same. I’d like to think he’s having a good 107th birthday, out there, somewhere. 

“As for me, I raise a glass to him, and all the boys who served.” She paused and he could faintly make out the sounds of ice cubes hitting glass. “And with an extra sip for those who didn’t make it home. Happy Birthday, Sergeant Barnes, wherever you are. Now, here’s Ella, serving up some Black Coffee.” 

Bucky’s gasp when the music kicked back in told him that at some point he’d lost air, and even though he was breaking currently, the lump in his throat was throttling him slowly. Of all the things… so many thoughts in his head, fragments of memories, imaginings. Abandoning his workbench entirely, he shuffled across the room to toss himself down onto the couch in the now mostly-dark. 

He could see Gabe’s face in his mind like it was yesterday. Easy smile, quick wit, brilliant mind. Gabriel Jones had been a good man, and it warmed Bucky’s heart to know he’d gone on to come home, have a family, and that he kept the joy in his life. 

The tender affection in her voice when she spoke of her grandfather said more than any words could ever. That was the true measure of a man, the love of those left behind.

There was a voice in his head, one that sounded annoyingly like Dr. Rainor’s, whispering that he was well-remembered by those he’d left behind too, and that meant something. To them, to the world. It was a voice quickly snuffed out by the knowledge that while that may have been true at the time, a whole encyclopedia of lifetimes had transpired between then and now, and his worthiness of that sentiment, no matter how well-intended, well… it was more worn than not. 

Still, it warmed his heart a little to know that he was thought of fondly, and by his DJ-crush of all people, even if it was a strange coincidence. How could it not? He may have still been getting used to this time, but having that moment, that connection no matter how brief, felt like a much-needed hug in a world that has offered him precious little in the way of comfort. 

For a second, he could just close his eyes in the gathering darkness and let the music and rain rhythm wash over him, like a baptism of time, washing him clean once more. For a second, he could just… be. And it was enough

#fanfiction #avengers fanfic #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky barnes #avengers fanfiction #bucky fanfic #bucky barnes smut #bucky barnes fic #bucky barnes fluff #bucky barnes imagine #bucky fluff #bucky imagine #james buchanan barnes #james buchanan bucky barnes #james bucky buchanan barnes

[bethanydelleman]

Northanger Abbey Readthrough Ch 30

Despite having ten whole children, Mrs. Morland notices that Catherine is acting oddly and is concerned about it. She waits a few days before talking to Catherine, which honestly sounds very wise, kudos to her. Then she gets it into her head that the high life at Northanger Abbey has ruined Catherine for home. She's wrong of course, but she is trying her best. How often do parents understand their kids anyway?

I think Jane Austen gets a kick out of bringing in a hero, unlooked for, mid paragraph. It happens here with Henry Tilney, who shows up during Mrs. Morland's search for an essay, it happens with Mr. Darcy turning from the stables at Pemberley, and with Captain Wentworth's arrival in Bath!

I just love this so much:

He was not ill-inclined to obey this request, for, though his heart was greatly relieved by such unlooked-for mildness, it was not just at that moment in his power to say anything to the purpose. Returning in silence to his seat, therefore, he remained for some minutes most civilly answering all Mrs. Morland’s common remarks about the weather and roads. Catherine meanwhile—the anxious, agitated, happy, feverish Catherine—said not a word; but her glowing cheek and brightened eye made her mother trust that this good-natured visit would at least set her heart at ease for a time, and gladly therefore did she lay aside the first volume of The Mirror for a future hour.

Henry can't talk, Catherine is just sitting there all heart eyes. It's so cute! It's so real! I love it so much. I can't even.

Mrs. Morland runs out of things to talk about and Henry finally lightbulb-moments his way into a walk to the Allens. Which Sarah ALMOST RUINS! Thank you, Sarah. Oblivious younger siblings remain a timeless problem. But Mrs. Morland luckily catches on and sends them on their little solitary walk. Mrs. Morland's "silencing nod" seems to be much more effective than Mrs. Bennet's winks at Kitty, by the way.

Such a short proposal description, but it's so lovely:

Some explanation on his father’s account he had to give; but his first purpose was to explain himself, and before they reached Mr. Allen’s grounds he had done it so well that Catherine did not think it could ever be repeated too often. She was assured of his affection; and that heart in return was solicited, which, perhaps, they pretty equally knew was already entirely his own

Now, a lot of people hate this:

I must confess that his affection originated in nothing better than gratitude, or, in other words, that a persuasion of her partiality for him had been the only cause of giving her a serious thought. It is a new circumstance in romance, I acknowledge, and dreadfully derogatory of an heroine’s dignity; but if it be as new in common life, the credit of a wild imagination will at least be all my own.

I have already talked about why a girl liking a boy first is bad (stupid notions of female modesty basically), but I don't understand why people dislike this so much. Yes, it wasn't love at first sight, but there is nothing wrong with liking someone because they like you first! That is literally what happened with Elizabeth Bennet! And it's not like that is the only reason Henry proposed, he realized that she is awesome! It was the regard for him that made him take notice, but that isn't why he defied his father, rode over, and proposed.

I love this, what did the Allens think of them? A very short visit to Mrs. Allen, in which Henry talked at random, without sense or connection, and Catherine, wrapt in the contemplation of her own unutterable happiness, scarcely opened her lips, dismissed them to the ecstasies of another tête-à-tête

Am I saying I love too many things? I WILL KEEP LOVING THINGS! This book is the best! I love it with my whole heart.

Here is a nice rendering of Henry's conversation with his father if you like fan fiction:

In Just Defiance

Now the crazy thing is how important John Thorpe was to the plot. His bragging about Catherine's wealth is the whole reason that Catherine was able to visit the abbey and probably secured her relationship with Henry Tilney, Thorpe's second interference has her sent home in disgrace, the catalyst for Henry's proposal. I don't even know if Henry and Catherine would have got together if it wasn't for that stupid idiot Thorpe! What a weird story!

I love John's lies though, exaggerating wealth and then poverty:

The expectations of his friend Morland, therefore, from the first overrated, had ever since his introduction to Isabella been gradually increasing; and by merely adding twice as much for the grandeur of the moment, by doubling what he chose to think the amount of Mr. Morland’s preferment, trebling his private fortune, bestowing a rich aunt, and sinking half the children, he was able to represent the whole family to the general in a most respectable light.

and then

They were, in fact, a necessitous family; numerous, too, almost beyond example; by no means respected in their own neighbourhood, as he had lately had particular opportunities of discovering; aiming at a style of life which their fortune could not warrant; seeking to better themselves by wealthy connections; a forward, bragging, scheming race. The terrified general pronounced the name of Allen with an inquiring look; and here too Thorpe had learnt his error. The Allens, he believed, had lived near them too long, and he knew the young man on whom the Fullerton estate must devolve.

"lived near them too long" is a great way to describe neighbours who have grown tired of each other.

It says that John is, "spurning a friendship which could be no longer serviceable" which makes me think that he actually ended things with James, not the other way around. Come on, James!

I love Catherine's ultimate conclusion about General Tilney, because I'm totally with her! He's the worst:

Catherine, at any rate, heard enough to feel that in suspecting General Tilney of either murdering or shutting up his wife, she had scarcely sinned against his character, or magnified his cruelty.

Oh the romance of it all, and the first time Henry defies his father:

The general, accustomed on every ordinary occasion to give the law in his family, prepared for no reluctance but of feeling, no opposing desire that should dare to clothe itself in words, could ill brook the opposition of his son, steady as the sanction of reason and the dictate of conscience could make it. But, in such a cause, his anger, though it must shock, could not intimidate Henry, who was sustained in his purpose by a conviction of its justice. He felt himself bound as much in honour as in affection to Miss Morland, and believing that heart to be his own which he had been directed to gain, no unworthy retraction of a tacit consent, no reversing decree of unjustifiable anger, could shake his fidelity, or influence the resolutions it prompted.

I do think it's a sign of Henry's growth that he finally defies his father, but I also get the feeling he's just never had any reason to go against him. It's my impression that he mostly maintained a civil relationship with his father so he could keep visiting Eleanor. Catherine is just the first thing to be important enough for him to fight back. *heart eyes*

IT'S ROMANTIC YOU HATERS!

#almost there! #northanger abbey readthrough #northanger abbey #so much work!

[goodmorning-rigoberto]

> Sugar sachets.

asakikuweek day 2: nostalgia.

@asakikuweek2024

"Where can it be?" Arthur asked to himself in a distracted tone, concentrating on the task he had been given. The small closet barely illuminated by a the faint light of a bulb that hung inside and which did little to help in the search. "Bingo" he exclaimed when he found the desired object.

A warm blanket for Kiku who, with the drop in temperature, had begun to shiver while in his arms. They had been reading sitting on the couch in the living room, focused on their own world but enjoying each other's silent company. His host's head rested on his shoulder, breathing calmly, eyes moving in a continuous rhythm while he hungrily devoured the book in his hands.

Suddenly a slight shake coming from the other's body accompanied by the distant sound of the wind chime placed near the sliding door that led to the backyard in Kiku's traditional-style house. A house that Arthur liked to visit so much and that had a warmth very similar to his own in London. The kind of warmth you can only found in places where your presence is well received.

"Are you okay, luv?" he asked, putting aside his book to surround the foreign body with his arms and bring it closer in a hug.

"Yes, I'm just a little cold. That's it" basking in the other embrace, smiling. "I should go look for a blanket, it will rain soon" Kiku declared with that knowledge gained over the passage of time.

A very long time in which, as nations, they were destined to live and thanks to which many of them had become experts in predicting what every slight change in the weather may brought with it. Changes that once meant perhaps death, perhaps destruction. Air with the smell of gunpowder and the blood of his people; vibrations of the Earth that not only housed them geographically but also allowed their kind to share the same space as living beings. Now, in this fragile truce in which some territories found themselves (because they did not dare to call it "peace"), the changes in the airstream and the passing of the days only predicted mundane changes.

Simple changes in simple existences.

Making a move to get up to look for the aforementioned object, Kiku was stopped by the firm arms of his companion who still kept him wrapped in a hug. Smile still present, touched by that facet of the british's personality that only he was aware of.

"Don't worry, I'll go fetch it for you" always a proper gentleman, looking after and pampering him in everything possible. There was no reason to refuse.

That was the reason why he now found himself carefully removing some clothes from the closet to get what seemed like a fluffy blanket perfect for continuing to snuggle for a long, long time. Man with a mission. With a future reward in the form of the warmth so typical of his japanese lover, so soft and pleasant, waiting for him.

So focused on his daydreams about the way his bodies fit together perfectly like pieces of a custom-made watch, he didn't realize when his movements came upon what looked like an old shoe box tucked-in the very back of the closet. Contents spilling over the floor after falling gracelessly to the ground.

"Oh, crap" exclaimed quietly, shifting his attention from the fluffy blankets to the scattered papers to carefully take and return them to their place of origin without damaging any, quickly, as if it were covering up a crime. His movements stopping abruptly as he paid more attention to the papers in his hands; papers that were more than that: photos, short handwritten notes, letters and postcards.

His own handwriting on it.

Those were paragraphs written by him addressed to Kiku over the years. Without believing what he was seeing, his eyes began to sting as a result of a mixture of surprise and emotion, a big blow of love hitting him with the force that only the history between them can contain.

There was no way Kiku would have kept those fragments of time in a little shoebox like that.

But there they were, shining in his hands.

"Paris, France. 1934. Summer."

"Paris, France. 2015. Fall."

"Vienna, Austria. 1972. Summer."

"Connecticut, United States. 2002. Spring."

"London, United Kingdom. 1988. Winter."

Dates were written in neat Japanese, on empty sugar sachets. Sachets Arthur knew corresponded to the times when he had shared a coffee or tea with Kiku in a restaurant while they visited the aforementioned places. If he closed his eyes he could almost return to those dates and live it again.

"To my oldest friend."

"Dearest Kiku."

"Love, hope this letter finds you in good health..."

"...Can not wait for the moment in which we can be reunited, I'm counting the remaining days so I can be in your presence and hug you until my arms lose their strength..."

"As you might already be aware; the future of our alliance hangs by a very thin thread and I don't think you are oblivious to the predicament in which I find myself, as you might also know the dangers that..."

"From Essex with love, I wish you were here."

"Yours truly, Arthur Kirkland."

"Your most loyal ally, The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Arthur Kirkland."

"With love, Arthur.

P. S. Don't forget to bundle up accordingly at night."

Reading all that in one place brought back the good times and the bad times. The pain they had exposed themselves by trying to keep afloat that relationship which at times felt suffocating and at others did nothing but bring tears to their eyes.

The birth of their love, the death of it.

The cold that accompanied their hearts during the Great Wars in which they served opposing sides, the looks of resentment, of forgiveness, of faith and again of love. A few years ago, Arthur had decided to write letters to his love, missives that in the past took months to arrive and for which he waited longer for a response; postcards from his travels, telegrams from ships when possible and texts just because.

Currently and with the technology of the world in which they lived, those fragments had become text messages in the mornings, calls between cabs to work or videocalls on weekends when both had the day off and wanted to feel in each other's company. Japan and the United Kingdom were still thousands of miles apart but their hearts lived inside each other.

He wasn't sure how much time he had spent reading his letters or looking at Kiku's beautiful face in the black and white photos kept in the box, until soft footsteps creating a tapping on the wooden floor announced someone was approaching. Returning him to the present in which he was supposed to be looking for a blanket to protect Kiku from the cold.

"Is everything all right, Arthur?" the black-haired man asked, crossing the threshold of his room. He had decided to go look for him given his uncharacteristic lateness.

"Ah! Yes, sorry honey, I'm..." caught red-handed, the blonde only managed to cover his blushing face with his hands, it was surely very rude of him to be watching private things "I'm...terribly sorry, the box fell off the closet and you see... this is not, you know. I'm really, really sorry."

As a response, Arthur felt soft hands helping to remove his own from his eyes. Kiku was kneeling in front of him with a gentle expression on his pretty face.

A soft kiss placed on the tip of his nose and then another on his forehead.

"It's ok, don't worry about it," replied, taking one of the sheets of paper that Arthur had arranged in a pile. "After all, these letters belong to you too."

The British's green and now watery eyes watching his every movement. Another kiss, this time on his lips. Full of emotion, a thousand feelings and the mutual understanding of the history that made up their lives. The recognition of his lowest moments and those that had led them to what they currently were. Nostalgia, suffering and a desire to eternally watch over the well-being of the contrary.

Standing up and brushing the knees of his pants, Kiku offered a hand to Arthur. He took it, after placing each and every one of the pieces of time inside the little box to take them back with him to the living. Back to today's world, back to the arms and warmth of Kiku Honda. His long-time ally, friend, the addressee of his letters, once his enemy in battle, and undoubtedly his one and only greatest love.

#asakikuweek2024 #asakiku #hws england #hws japan #excuse the errors or weird grammatical structures i originally wrote this in spanish (and english is not my first language) #hope you like it <3

[kyberblade]

Back To You (Din x Reader) - Part 11

A/N: Woo-hooooooooooooo!!!!! Here we are, a part with entirely original content, absolutely no show dialogue or plot lines. Whew. I did it. I had about 3k then all of a sudden it was 10k and I went to wrap it up with a few paragraphs and then we had 13k. I had a lot to sayyy, okaayyy??? I fully expect screaming at me when this is done. We have revelations, discussions, action…. Is that vague enough? Oh! And we have Mando’a again in this one. Lots of it. If the reader doesn’t understand it, it will look like this. (Bold and italic.) If she understands and/or says it, it’ll look like this. (Just italic.) The translations are at the end of the respective sentences in parentheses. Also, once again, there is some lore in this that @writerlyhabits​​​ wrote in a fantastic short, and I loved it so much, I asked if I could use it.

(This takes place right where the other one left off and goes into the first part of episode 2x4/12, The Siege.)

I do not own Star Wars or it’s characters. Sadly. But I carry them in my heart. Does that count for something? My soul says yes.

Warnings: Tooth rotting fluff, Grogu being the cutest thing you ever did see, and Din is once again a warning in and of himself in this one. Typical show violence. Maybe like one or two light swear words? Space swearing, and a general sense of you’re going to scream at me, I know it.

Word count: 13,238

As always, thanks to @grippingbeskar​​ for encouraging me, looking over this for me, and being the one to introduce me to Din fanfiction in the first place, getting me hooked. You are fantastic and I always love our chats.

Thank you to @blondiwankenobi​ who brainstormed the premise of the flashback with me just during a chat, @what-the-heckin-heck​ who helped me with language decisions while shooting the breeze, and @deceiverofgodss​ who is the ruler of all Mando’a knowledge, showed me the error of my ways, and was kind enough to help me fix it.

Previous | Series Masterlist | Next

Xxx

Landing on the dusty planet, you tried to peer through the viewport over Din’s shoulder. A cloud of dirt kicked up from the ship quickly obscured your view, dissipating much too slowly for your liking.

“Why are we going there?” You’d asked him as he initiated the landing sequence, the Crest shuddering with the effort.

“We need to make some repairs before we can make it all the way to Nevarro, and it’s quiet and out of the way. It’s where I found the kid. No one will think to look for him where he originally was.”

Nodding, you hesitated before you asked the next question. “Wasn’t this where you met Kuiil? Your burc'ya, your friend.”

Din only nodded in answer.

A silence stretched on between you, filling the cabin with a heavy air before finally it was broken when Din sighed.

His voice was quiet, but compared to the silence you’d just left, it nearly startled you. “We’re going to be landing right by his house. He has- had-” He let out a quick breath. “There is a work bench near the back we can use, and keeping the ship in sight will help keep the Jawas away.” He growled a little when he mentioned the little thieves, making you smile. “Plus, I figured the kid could stretch his legs for a while, you could use the space and privacy to work with your lightsaber, and learn your vambraces.”

“Y-you’re going to let me set stuff on fire? Like on purpose?”

He turned his chair to face you. “It better be on purpose, otherwise you’re doing it wrong.”

You laughed. “How do you say fire in Mando’a?”

Din shook his head at you. “Tracyn.” Continuing to shake his head incredulously at you, he began to mutter as he turned back to the console. “Nehutyc dala, gar mirdi tracyn bid emuurla, ni chabaa gar.” (“Feisty woman, you think fire is so pleasing, I fear you.”)

“That’s not fair,” you grumbled, crossing your arms over your chest and glaring out the viewport as the surface of the planet loomed closer.

“Cuy aay'han bal'bin.” (“It is indeed bittersweet.”)

You had humphed in frustration, slumping further into your chair, making him chuckle.

Now as you made your way down the ramp, Din beside you and the kid in tow, you took in your surroundings as you squinted against the bright sunlight. A small structure that looked like a home sat in the middle, a small shop to the back, a windmill out front, and a large pen in front of it all for some kind of animals, but it was empty.

“Why don’t you go get the kid settled in while I grab our stuff from the ship, then go get parts from his workshop and get started on the repairs,” Din said once you’d all reached the bottom of the ramp, turning to face you.

“I can help,” you offered, taking one step back up the ramp, but stopped when he lightly grabbed your arm.

“I’ve got it. Really, it’s okay. Keep a close eye on the kid. He loves to eat the frogs around here.”

You nodded once, looking down at the kid with a raised brow. He just squealed in response, giggling when you scooped him up off the ground and into your arms. “Come on, little one. We’re going on a frog hunt,” you winked at Din before making your way towards the house, the child letting out a shrill screech of excitement.

Xxx

Din POV

He watched the two of you walk off for just a moment before he sprung into action, climbing the ramp up into the ship. Going straight to your bag, he rifled through the contents until he found the papers he was looking for. Glancing around the doorframe to make sure you were still headed the other way, he flipped through them until he found the document he wanted. The training remote instructions. Folding them in half he tucked them into his belt, returning the others to your bag before sliding it over his shoulder.

Next, he went to his weapons cabinet, punching in the code on his vambrace to make the doors hiss open. Quickly surveying his options, he grabbed the one he wanted, studying it in his hand for a moment before pressing the buttons to close the storage back up.

It wasn’t a spectacular blaster, but it was important to him. It was one of the first ones he’d ever acquired, bought with the credits from his first bounty. He hardly used it anymore, kept it around mostly for sentimental reasons, one of the few things he allowed for that, and he could think of no better use for it than as part of your training remote.

He may not have forged the knife but he’s going to forge the training ball.

No more loopholes.

Grabbing the last few things, he made his way back down the ramp and over to the little shop bench, depositing the blaster and instructions before making his way to the hut with the rest of the gear.

Xxx

Regular POV

The kid was chasing after a frog when you saw Din making his way around from the workbench. Walking the few steps between you, meeting in the middle, you took your bag off his shoulder, and another miscellaneous bag in his grasp.

He leaned around you to look at the kid, sighing. “I told you he’d chase the frogs.”

You looked over your shoulder at the child as he let out a squeal, lunging after the amphibian, and shrugged. “It keeps him out of trouble.”

“He is trouble,” Din grumbled.

Before you could react, a bellowing sound came from over by the ship, the sound of heavy and fast footfalls rapidly getting closer. Looking over, you saw large two legged creatures that looked almost like blobs with teeth charging toward the three of you.

“Get the kid!” Din yelled, dropping every bag he was carrying, and pushing lightly on your back to get you to move in the kids direction.

Dropping your own gear, you ran and scooped the child up in your arms and held him close, turning to watch as the beasts drew closer.

They were so close you could see yourself reflected in their large eyes, and you pulled up your arm, the mechanisms of your vambrace whirring as the flamethrower prepared to fire. Before you could point and shoot, electricity danced over the creatures in a quick flash before they fell to the ground, sliding to a stop right in front of you, the nose of one tapping the tip of your shoe.

The child giggled as he looked down at the walking blobs, making you look at him before you pulled your gaze up to Din, finding him just lowering a rifle, and that’s when you noticed the darts sticking out of the side of their thick skin.

“What…”

“They’re blurrgs,” Din explained, walking up to stand on the other side of the creatures. “It’s how Kuiil got around on this planet. That’s what the pen is for.” He tilted his head to the side at the large vacant enclosure.

“It’s called a blurrg? Its name sounds like how it looks. Blech.”

Din laughed. “Yeah, they aren’t the best looking creatures, but they were loyal and helpful. I’m going to get them in the pen so when they wake up they are contained, and then I can show you how Kuiil taught me to ride them.”

You were still staring at the creatures, their slow easy breaths rising and falling deeply as they slept. “That’s what you say when you don’t know what to say. Blurrg.” You shook your head, looking up at him. “Wait, what, ride them?”

Din nodded slowly with a gentle chuckle. “Don’t worry. If I can get the hang of it, then surely you can, too.”

You swallowed roughly, looking back down to the blurrgs. “We can only hope.”

Xxx

“So you just point like this,” Din adjusted your arms from his spot behind you, moving around to your side to adjust your arms further. “And then flick your wrist down, and that should engage the whipcord.” Before you could move your wrist, he reached out and held it tight, shaking his head at you slowly. “I told you, not yet. This is still the basics. You do it now, you're going to turn yourself into a cocoon, and yes, before you ask again, I speak from experience.”

You rolled your eyes but still laughed at his antics. “Fine.”

He moved to the arm directly in front of him. “Now, this is where your whistling birds are.”

“My what?” You blinked at him.

“Small projectile explosives that track all nearby enemies automatically and before you say anything, no, absolutely in no way am I letting you have tiny flying explosives.” You dropped your jaw at him. “These are blanks, more of a deterrent, so you have time to get away.”

“What is your problem with me and heavier firepower?” You whined, dropping your arms to your sides and standing up straight to look up into his visor.

He sighed. “Do you remember the first time we met?”

“Din, don’t change the subject-”

“I’m not,” he countered, his hands going to his belt as his weight shifted to one side, his head tilting the opposite side yours was. “Answer the question.”

You sighed. “Yeah, at the bar. You got a drink to meet an informant, and they didn’t show-”

“Okay, okay,” he held up a hand to stop you, returning it to his belt when you let out a huff. “Actually, it was before that. A few weeks before.”

Your eyebrows shot up in question before they narrowed, your hands going to your hips.

Din shook his head gently, looking down at the ground before he brought his gaze back to your face. “It was a few weeks before….”

Din stalked down the dirty streets of the lower levels of Coruscant, huffing out an aggravated breath under his helmet, fogging the display briefly. The bounty had given him the slip, jumping on a transport right before the doors closed, grinning at him in triumph through the grimy window. The fob was still beeping, so the bounty was still on the planet, but the beeps were becoming fewer and farther between, meaning it was only a matter of time before the quarry was on an entirely different planet.

Making his way back to the Razor Crest, Din was eager to get back and get off this metropolis hell, the crushing weight of people at every turn making him feel like he was sinking.

Coming around a corner, a group of people were gathered on the street, shouting in various languages, pushing and shoving one another, in what looked like the beginnings of a fight.

Don’t get involved, Din thought, drifting to the side of the streets to continue on in the shadows, undetected.

The crowd began to part as someone shouldered their way through, arguments coming to a halt as they all turned to look at the newcomer with wide eyes. Curious, Din slowed his steps, coming to a stop as he watched the scene unfold, a disbelieving scoff passing through his modulator when he saw what had everyone suddenly on edge.

A woman, bottle of alcohol with a scrap of material sticking out of the top in one hand, and lit torch of some kind in the other. She began to speak in Basic, but everyone seemed to understand her. “Okay, look everybody! I have had enough! This whole thing is so stupid, I don’t want to hear anymore about it!” A few in the crowd began to protest, stopping when she called out. “Hey! You want back into my bar? You shut up!” She looked around, meeting the eyes of every creature without flinching. “No more.” Looking at one large creature in particular, she leveled one of the most severe glares Din had ever seen on him, making the creature that was easily twice her size shrink away. “You understand?”

Agreement went around the crowd in grumbles, and she nodded. “Good.” She sighed, relaxing her shoulders now that the confrontation was over, the movement inadvertently lighting the fuse of the fiery cocktail, and making her eyes go wide, her mouth into a tight line. “Oops,” was all she said as she stared at it a second longer before winding her arm back and lobbing the bottle at a dumpster across the street. In the chaos that followed, even though he looked away to follow the impact for only a second, Din lost track of the woman in the crowd, catching just a glimpse of her apron dashing into one of the storefronts the direction she had entered the crowd from. Looking up to the sign, Din saw it was a bar, and things began to make a little more sense. Emphasis on a little.

One older man stood out as the crowd dispersed, smiling and shaking his head as he turned to move in Din’s direction. Spotting the Mandalorian, he paused, tilting his head in question, and Din decided to get some info if he could. Purely for his own curiosity. Nothing else. Or so he told himself.

“Is she going to be okay?” He cuts right to the chase, stepping up a few feet from the old man.

“How do you mean, Mando?” The senior’s voice has a lilt to it that hints at another meaning entirely, and Din doesn’t know what he thinks about that.

“I mean, that was an accident, it was obvious, but is she still going to get in trouble? I don’t see any law enforcement, but surely there are cameras or something.”

The man smiled warmly. “There’s no security or surveillance down here.” He grinned up at the Mandalorian, eyes darting over toward the bar before coming back and twinkling with something mischievous. “Unless…. You’re offering to keep an eye on her.”

Mumbling his thanks, Din turned away from the old man, drifting closer to the bar as he weighed his options. He wasn’t anywhere near the bounty anymore, the fob barely blinking when he checked it. His ship was still a ways off, and, if he was being honest, after that spectacle, he was more than a little curious about the girl who dispersed bar fights with alcohol bombs. Staring at the flaming dumpster, he chuckled softly.

Deciding he could do with a drink before he goes back to his ship, Din made his way into the small hole in the wall cantina he must have passed by a million times on his many trips here. Stepping into the doorway he paused, looking around. It’s small, not that impressive, but it’s clean, which is more than a lot of places this far down can say. People from the crowd trickle in around him, casting him sideways glances as his beskar catches the lights of some neon signs in the street.

The girl is behind the bar, working as if nothing had happened, but Din notices the way her eyes dart up to the door and to the flaming dumpster across the street every so often. Opting against a drink, he slides into a corner booth bathed in shadows and just watches for the rest of the evening, observing everyone, making sure there is no more trouble.

He slips away at the end of the night, without a name to put to the face, but he still has a smile climbing his cheeks as he makes his way back to the Crest, thinking of her bravery and her various little mannerisms he observed throughout the evening. He didn’t often want to get to know people he came across, but he had been tempted to get to know her. It was simply that she seemed so flustered after everything, he didn’t want to throw meeting a Mandalorian into the mix. People often balked when they first saw him, the stories and the beskar making an intimidating cocktail. But something told him, deep down, if he had just said hello, she’d have met the introduction with the ease of the top shelf drinks she was serving.

It’s only pure coincidence when a contact wants to meet up somewhere under the radar a few weeks later, and he knows just the place.

“And that’s when I actually finally said hello,” he concluded, staring off at the horizon.

“Actually, what you first said to me was,” you grunted deeply, imitating his voice as best you could.

His visor snapped down to look at you. “I did not!”

“Yes! Yes, you did! I asked, ‘Are you here by yourself?’ and you grunted at me.” You smiled. “And you’ve been grunting ever since.”

“I don’t-”

“You do, and it’s fine,” you laughed, reaching out a hand to place on his forearm. “It’s kinda endearing.”

Din grunted in response, both of you tilting your heads at the realization, making you chuckle while Din let out a heavy sigh.

“I can’t believe you saw that,” you mumbled, hiding your face in your palm. “That was truly not my best moment. I only meant to scare them, they were fighting about the stupidest thing, I can’t even remember, and…. And that was a really good top shelf bottle of liquor. What a waste.” You let your hand fall down to your side with a slap against your leg.

“I wouldn’t call it a waste,” Din mused. “Got my attention.”

“Oh, well then I guess it was all worthwhile,” you teased, rolling your eyes.

“It was! Because now I know not to give you anything explosive.”

You glared at him. “You’re mean.”

“No, I just don’t have a death wish,” he chuckled as he moved behind you and ushered you forward.

Xxx

“And why did I take away your flamethrowers?”

Hands behind your back, you looked down at your feet, fiddling the toe of your shoe pointlessly into the ground, mumbling. “Because I roasted your cape on accident. .…But to be fair, it was already really full of holes and next to your jet pack, so really, who was the fire hazard there?”

Din said nothing in response, and you tapped your shoe into the dirt with a little more aggression, staring down at it with a sour expression.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got to adjust some stuff on them for you, anyway, the calibration is a little off.”

“Fine,” you mumbled, still staring at the ground.

“In the meantime, why don’t you try and use this.”

Glancing up quickly with no intention of keeping your eyes on whatever it is for long, you do a double take, your eyes going wide when you see what’s in his hands.

“A training remote…. But how?” You look up at him with wide eyes, not even daring to blink, lest it all disappear.

“You were right, we had most of the parts already, and Kuiil happened to have the rest in his shop. He would have helped you build it if he was here, he was an excellent mechanic.” Din stared down at the ball in his hand, his voice distant. Clearing his throat he tossed the ball up before catching it, bringing his gaze back to you. “I used an old blaster of mine, one of the first ones I ever got from the payout of my first job. It’s reliable and not too powerful, so if you end up getting stung by a bolt, it shouldn’t be too much-”

“Din, this is too much,” you put your hands over his, one under his hand the other cradling the ball in his palm, trapping his hand in between. “That….” Your voice cracked with emotion, and you cleared your throat in an effort to continue. “Thank you,” you finally settled on, looking up into the dark T of his visor, smiling when he tilted his head just slightly to the side.

“Don’t thank me yet. Let’s make sure it works first.” Taking a step back, he flicked it on, and it began to hover close to you, just above your head level.

Pulling the saber from your hip where it has been living since you found it, you pressed the button and ignited the blade, letting the hum wash over you and center your focus on the floating orb.

Settling into a sturdier stance, you waited, reaching out to try and connect with everything around you, to simply feel. Before you realize what you’re doing, you’d lifted the saber at an angle as the ball shoots out a bolt of light. It bounced off the blade, ricocheting into the hills in the distance, and you felt a smile climbing your face.

“I think it works.”

Xxx

You found it hard not to peek when trying to train with your eyes closed. Finally getting so fed up with yourself, you marched over to your bag and pulled out the scarf you had gotten on Tatooine, wrapping it around your head and tying it tight to create a blindfold.

Settling back into a ready stance, you reached out with the Force and turned the trainer back on, immediately tuning in to everything around you as the ball buzzed above your head.

One of the blurrgs bellowed off to your side from its place in the pen, distracting you, and causing the trainer to just catch the side of your arm with a bolt, stinging just enough that you hissed. Reaching out and switching it off again, you lowered the blindfold with a huff, turning to face the pen and lean on one of its poles to watch.

Din had already gotten the blurrgs to calm down, and was even able to ride them for a short time. They still didn’t entirely trust you, but the feeling was mutual. Turning your head just slightly, you saw Din at the edge of the pen filling up the feeding trough with a disgusting looking slop that had the creatures in an excited tizzy.

A few yards behind him the Crest glimmered in the sunlight, looking slightly better than when you had landed, repairs going slow but steady.

You’d taken a break to sit inside and eat something, and Din was supposed to teach you some Mando’a while the three of you ate, but he instead just said a few more sentences in Mando’a and offered no translations, though his teasing tone told you enough to know he’d earned an eye roll.

You all ate at the same table, but you kept your eyes trained on the tabletop when his helmet was tilted back, still not completely okay with the idea of seeing part of his face. The few phrases of Mando’a he uttered when the modulator was out of the way had you completely distracted, lost in the sound of his voice without the creed in the way.

The sun was beginning to set, and you sat a few feet in front of the entry to the house, meditating with the kid. Really you were just resting your eyes while the kid was meditating, but so long as he was still and not eating another frog- you’d lost count at this point and it hadn’t even been a day yet- you’d count it as a win.

You heard the crunch of footsteps coming around from behind you, and smiled, cracking one eye open to peek at Din when he came around in front of you. The smile quickly melted back to something neutral, both eyes opening to take in the sight you were greeted with.

Standing behind the kid, about three feet in front of you, was Din, the sun setting behind him making him almost look like a shadow, but it was still blatantly obvious he wasn’t wearing any beskar aside from his helmet. A simple long sleeved black shirt and black pants was in place where shiny metal usually was, and your brain took a minute to wrap around that fact.

“Not that I’m complaining or anything, it’s a good- it’s a great look for you,” you swallowed, staring at his shirt and the way it pulled across his chest a moment too long before continuing. “But what are you doing?” You craned your neck back to look up into his visor, squinting at the bright sunlight behind him.

Holding out his hand for you, you took it, letting him help you to your feet. Brushing off the dirt from your pants, you froze at his next words.

“You don’t have your vambraces,” he reached out and unclipped your belt that held your saber, blaster, and knife, taking it and gently setting it to the side. “And you have no weapons. Something happens and you need to defend yourself. What do you do?”

“Yell for you and run away.”

A snort of laughter passed through the vocoder, making you smile. Din picked up the kid and set him over by your belt, lowering onto his haunches and producing the little round ball from on the Crest from some secret pocket to keep him entertained. The child took it with an enthusiastic squeal, plopping back to sit on the ground and watch the both of you as he munched on his toy.

Rising to his feet and turning back to you, Din pushed the sleeves of his shirt up to his elbows. “You asked on Tatooine to learn how to fight, and I think you’re right. Nothing major, just how to land a hit without hurting yourself, and how to take one with the least amount of damage.”

You swallowed roughly, nodding as you studied the ground around you. “Okay. Sounds easy enough.”

“It’s not.”

You scoffed, locking your gaze on the T of his visor. “Don’t be rude.”

“I’m not! It’s the truth. If it were that easy, I wouldn’t need to show you, would I?”

You grumbled something as he walked a few paces away before turning back around.

“It’s just like anything else, it’s a skill you have to learn, and once you do, you’ll be great. You’ve already learned everything else extremely fast, this will be the same.”

You hesitated. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

A moment passed before Din burst out laughing, bending over at the waist and clutching his stomach, ignoring your glare. “You-” another wave of laughter cut him off. “You won’t hurt me, mesh’la, I promise.”

“You don’t know that,” you said lowly, failing in your attempt to fight the grin desperately trying to break free.

His laughter reduced to chuckles, he shook his head at you. “You’re right, I don’t. You get the crazy visions, not me. Maybe you’ve already seen how this plays out, but I can almost one hundred percent guarantee that you won’t hurt me. Do you trust me?”

Your glare turned into an obvious look. “Of course I do.”

“Then what can I…. Okay, how about for every successful hit you land on me, I teach you a word in Mando’a?”

You narrowed your eyes at him. “Deal,” you said slowly. “And,” you added, his head tilting at your conditions, “if I end up taking you down, you tell me what all that Mando’a you said on the ship and at dinner was.”

He scoffed. “That’s cheating, mesh’la.”

“Oh, and bribing your student isn’t?”

Din groaned, tilting his head back and turning in a small circle before facing you again and nodding. “Fine. Whatever you say, cyar'ika.”

“I need to hear the words, Din,” you cupped a hand around your ear as if you couldn’t hear him.

“I’ll tell you what the Mando’a means if you end up dropping me, but it would take a kriffing miracle for that to happen.”

“I don’t need a miracle,” you stretched your neck side to side before walking up to stand across from him. “I just need to beat you.”

“Careful,” he warned. “Don’t get cocky. That’s a sure fire way to end up flat on your ass.”

“That works both ways, Din.”

Din chuckled, settling into a wider stance, bending his knees to demonstrate, and you mirrored him.

“Now, some basics. Good places to hit are,” he took your hand and laid it flat on the middle of his chest, both of his hands closing over it and pressing it into the fabric of his shirt. It’s only now you realize he isn’t wearing gloves either, the warmth of his hands bleeding into yours, rough calluses contrasting with soft skin brush softly against your knuckles, and the thudding of his heart under your palm making you dizzy. “Here,” he continued, his voice seemingly unaffected, unlike you. “The solar plexus. This’ll knock the wind out of someone.”

He lifted your hand off his chest, pulling you slightly closer and resting your hand on his left lower ribcage. “Here. Rib shots always hurt, but if you place it right,” he drug your hand further back, effectively moving you even closer to him, “you’ll get a kidney shot, which can drop someone if done right.” He took your left hand and put it over his right side just below the ribcage. “Same for over here. A well placed kidney shot can mean you getting away or not.”

You’re so close you have to tilt your head back to maintain eye contact, trying to not get lost in the surrealness of the soft weave of material in place of the usual armor.

Suddenly you’re facing the other direction, your arms crossed over your chest, wrists held firmly in his hands, and your spine is sealed along his chest. Trying to catch your breath, your eyes dart all around until his voice comes right up beside your ear, the modulator popping at the proximity. Staring straight ahead, your eyes narrow as he speaks. “Don’t let your guard down. It’s easy enough for someone to take advantage of one small lapse and then you end up incapacitated.” You let out a huff of annoyance. “How would you get out of this?”

The real question is, would you really want to? He’s so warm, and without the beskar, his shirt is so soft. You’ve always known he was strong, but you can finally feel every muscle as it flexes behind you, keeping you still. His grip on your wrists is firm, but not too tight. His heartbeat steady in his chest, if a little elevated, is a rhythm against your own that makes you want to dance. And there is an overwhelming sense of just wanting to relax and melt into his hold on you, close your eyes, and just be.

“Mesh’la?”

Your eyes that were drifting shut snap open, your head snapping up from where it had begun to loll back against his shoulder. Fighting. Pain. Attack. Right.

“If I could get my arms free, I could easily elbow you in the kidneys.”

“Correct.” His voice sounded pleased. “And how do you get your grip free?”

“I want to say I could headbutt whoever is behind me, but right now with that beskar, that doesn’t sound like a good idea.”

He chuckled. “Good. Okay, moving on.”

He let go of your wrists and you rounded on him.

“Where is my Mando’a?”

“You didn’t land a hit.” He said it so simply, you don’t respond for a minute.

“I did figuratively.”

“Oh. Well in that case, Ni ven'rejorhaa'i gar naas.” (“I will tell you nothing.”)

Your jaw dropped. “Sometimes I want to strangle you.”

Xxx

You’d landed a few hits in the following few hours, Din making good on his promise and teaching you a word for each one. Ni, cuyi, utreekov. It wasn’t until you strung them all together that you launched at him, batting at his arms in frustration. “I am an idiot. Really? That’s what you teach me?!”

Din was laughing, simply raising his arms up to block your feeble blows, taking small steps back. “Hey, you said you wanted to learn. Is that not learning?”

You stopped with a huff, glaring at him as you grumbled. “Utreekov.”

“See? You’re learning.”

The sun was just finishing its set, twilight painting the area in shadows and purple hues. Stars began to twinkle overhead, and they reflected in his helmet, distracting you for a moment.

“I want to try something,” he said, breaking your absent stare at his beskar, and bringing your gaze back to his visor. “Since it’s dark anyway, put your blindfold on and try to sense me like you sense the training remote.”

“Why do I feel like a party trick all of a sudden?” You groaned, your eyes following him as he began to slowly circle you.

“No tricks, I just want to try it.”

“Fine,” you mumbled, walking over to your belt where it still sat with the kid, smiling at him and scratching between his ears as he slept before pulling the scarf out of a pocket on the belt. Turning to walk back, you fold it up properly, and go to tie it, but stop when you notice Din’s extended hands.

“May I?”

Looking down to the scarf briefly, you quickly look back up at him and nod. “Yeah.” Handing him the thin material, he slowly goes around behind you, delicately draping the cloth over your eyes before cinching it at the back of your head.

“Is that too tight?”

His voice right by your ear made you jump before you chuckled nervously.

“No.”

He finished off the knot gently before you heard his footsteps come around in front of you like earlier. You were about to say something when you heard the seal of his helmet disengaging, your mouth snapping shut at the sound. Shortly after, the clunk of beskar being set on the ground makes everything shift slightly.

“I had to take it off,” he said, his voice without the modulator disarming you as usual. “Something is glitching in my display, and since it’s dark, I figured why not.”

You let out a breathy chuckle. “Yeah. Why not.”

“So no headbutts,” he joked, earning a more substantial chuckle from you.

You held your hands up in surrender. “Fine. No headbutts.”

He continued to circle you, coming in quickly after a few seconds, and you successfully blocked him.

“Good,” he mused, backing away.

You smiled as you let everything flow through you, letting the Force guide you instead of trying to make it tell you something.

This goes on a few times, he came in, you blocked, he went back out, until you were breathing heavily. There was a shift in the air before he came in again, and you were unable to place it until the last minute, and by then it was too late, the sharp tip of a blade pressed close to your neck. He holds you closer than before, your noses almost touching, and you can feel his warm breath fanning out across your face.

“Never assume people will play fair,” he said lowly, his lips brushing against your cheek as he spoke, he’s so close.

His forehead rests against your temple softly, and your mind went utterly blank at the contact.

After a moment he pulled away, and you were left trying to find your breath. You heard the helmet reengage, and you pulled the blindfold down, turning to face him to find him looking up at the sky.

“There’s a meteor shower. I bet you’ve never seen one of those, have you?”

You gasped, turning to look up at the stars. “No,” you breathed, holding your breath until you saw a light streak across the sky and you gasped. Quickly dropping to the ground and laying flat on your back, you watched with wide eyes. “No, I haven’t. The lights are too bright on Coruscant, and that’s if you’re lucky enough to be on the upper levels. From the lower levels you can’t even see the sky most of the time.”

After a few more flew by, you sighed. “It’s beautiful.”

Din sat beside you, his head tilted back to watch, but when you glanced at him out of the corner of your eye, you found his visor trained squarely on you.

“Yes, it is.”

Xxx

Din POV

He’d almost kissed you.

As he sat there watching the stars shoot across the sky, his mind wandered back to just a few minutes ago.

They were so close. It would be so easy to just…. Just breathe a little deeper and close the distance. It’s right there…. His lips had brushed against your cheek as he spoke and it took everything in him not to move just an inch to the left so they could brush against yours.

But he couldn’t bring himself to do it. If he was being honest, for two very blaring obvious reasons. One being he hadn’t told you yet how he feels. Well, not technically. He had, but you didn’t know that.

The other…. He wants to see your eyes when he does.

He wants to see your eyes with his own eyes.

Looking down at you as you laid in the dirt without a care, staring up at the stars in awe, he smiled.

There was nothing wrong with his helmet. He just wanted a moment with you without it. Something he hadn’t felt before, and it caught him off guard. He thought if he gave in and appeased the temptation, maybe the urge would go away, but the opposite had happened. Now he just felt contained and cut off inside the beskar, and he itched to once again be that close to you without anything in the way.

Someday.

“It’s beautiful,” you breathed, staring at the show in the sky.

Din smiled as he looked at you.

“Yes, it is.”

Xxx

Regular POV

Din had shown mercy on you and taught you a word for every shooting star you saw.

Ka'ra, ca, kebii'tra, ca'tra, dral…. Stars, night, sky, night sky, bright, there was a theme. Nothing he taught you would help translate anything he’d already said, and you knew that was on purpose.

You must have drifted off after a while, because soon you were being woken up by his hand on your shoulder, gently shaking you.

“Mesh’la,” he tried softly. “Wake up, mesh’la. You’re having a bad dream.”

Groaning, you sat up, holding your knees close with your arms wrapped tightly around them.

“Must be the stress of everything. I don’t usually have nightmares.” You blearily rubbed one eye with the palm of your hand.

“Wanna talk about it?”

You brought your arm back around your knee and stared off at the horizon. “Well, at first I thought it was a vision of some sort, everything was normal, but then….” You shuddered as you trailed off. “Then the fire….”

“Fire?”

You nodded slowly, eyes wide. “The kid, he- He had his own miniature flamethrowers and was running around lighting stuff on fire, and we couldn’t stop him! And- Why are you laughing?”

Din was laughing so hard almost no sound was coming through the helmet. You whacked his arm with the back of your hand, quickly regretting it as your hand landed firmly on his pauldron, a smile climbing your face unbidden.

“What’s so funny?!”

“You qualify it as a nightmare because the kid was misusing his own vambraces? I’m sorry, I mean, misusing the flames from his mini vambraces?” He chuckled through every word.

“Yes!” Your eyes were wide and so was your smile. “Anything that puts those things in a bad light just can’t be true- Oh, will you shut up, you big oaf!” Reaching out, you shoved his shoulder as hard as you could, barely moving him an inch, making you huff in frustration.

His laughter had reduced to giggles as he tried to right himself, clutching his stomach with one hand, and shaking his head gently. “You’re something else.”

Xxx

The next day you rode the blurrgs a bit around the pen. They still didn’t entirely trust you, but the feeling was still mutual, and you were more than happy to leave it at that.

You watched with a sense of pride as Din worked with the creatures, all of this seeming to come so easily to him. “So are you just good at everything, or….?”

Din scoffed. “What do you mean?”

You gestured to the walking blobs. “You’re just so good with them.”

He chuckled. “Thanks. The first time I tried with Kuiil I got bucked off or head butted across the pen more times than I could count.” You smiled. “But I finally got the hang of it.” He shrugged, going back to petting the head of the closest blob.

Din showed you a few things on the Crest, explaining how the basics of piloting worked, should you ever need to take over in case of an emergency. He promised once the ship was repaired he’d let you try flying if you wanted, and you expected the thought to scare you, but you smiled and began to bounce in place where you sat in the pilot’s chair, making him chuckle.

Later in the day, you and the child got into some shenanigans that resulted in a puff of smoke rising from a tool Din had been using on the ship and had set down for a moment.

When Din turned and saw the damage, he put his hands on his hips and tossed his gaze between the two of you in silence.

Admitting nothing, you pointed at the child who just said “Eh?” and tilted his head as he looked up at you.

Din let out a heavy sigh. “I hate it when the children fight.”

You scoffed, jaw dropped in shock as the child giggled.

After some more hand to hand training, this time without the blindfold, and he wore his beskar again, you sat beside the child while you took a break, sipping some water.

Din reached down to pick up his own container of water, only for it to slide away from his outstretched hand at the last second. Tilting his head, he closed the distance and reached again, the container just out of his grip as it slid across the dirt again. Huffing, he lunged, only for the container to shoot several feet in front of him, stopping when he did.

He turned abruptly to you and the child, hands on his hips. “Okay. Who was it?”

The kid was walking off aimlessly, hands behind his back innocently as he blinked his big eyes to try and deceive the Mandalorian.

Watching the little green menace enact his scene, you scoffed. “Traitor.”

The child turned to you, and let out a mighty, “Patu!”

“Don’t ‘patu’ me!” You chuckled disbelievingly. “You little gremlin.”

Sighing, Din threw his hands up in defeat, turning away from the two of you and beginning to walk away. After a few steps he pointed his arm toward the water container and used his whipcord to finally retrieve it.

The days unfolded slowly and soon you’d been on Arvala-7 a week. You knew enough Mando’a to stumble your way through a conversation with Din, and still get supremely frustrated when he rattled off complete sentences to you in response.

The child kept getting into mischief and you were convinced there was something in the frogs that made him do it.

The Crest was looking better and better, still falling apart and shuddering every time the engine was turned on, but improvement was being made.

You’d just tucked the child in for a nap inside the hut when a glint on the horizon caught your eye as you stepped back outside.

Narrowing your eyes to try and see better, you reached out with the Force to try and sense anything as you fiddled with your vambraces absently. Din had polished them before giving them back to you, and you smiled as you glanced at him a few yards to your right by the pen. He’d seemed so flustered- You snapped your head back toward the flash in the hillside, picking up on several life forms and waves of…. Aggression?

A surge began to roll toward you, and everything seemed to move in slow motion. “Get down!” You yelled at Din, dropping to the ground as a shot tore through the air where you had been standing. Another came lightning fast and pinged off his beskar, making him groan softly.

Rolling your eyes at him, still standing, you got to your feet and dashed toward him, lunging at the last second and tackling him to the ground as three more rapid fire shots tore through the air.

“Stupid Mandalorian. Di’kut,” You hissed, looking around for any signs of the life forces you felt. (More emphatic form of idiot.)

“You’re learning,” Din mused quietly, his tone sounded like he was smiling as he looked up at you from where you’d landed over him, hovering over his chest to stay low.

Looking at his visor you smiled. “I am. Aren’t you glad you taught me how to say idiot?”

“Among other things,” he chuckled, turning his head to look for the shooter as well.

“Do you see anything?” You asked.

He reached up and pressed something on the side of his helmet. “Three bodies, moving this way fast. All of them have rifles. Go get to cover, I’ll take care of this.”

“Are you really that stupid?” You look down at his visor again, and he whips his head back to look up at you. “Gar cuyi utreekov,” you mumble. “A ori solus.” (“You are an idiot.”) (”A big one.”)

“Ni copaani gar slanar-” (“I want you to go-”)

“K'atini!” (“Suck it up!”)

Din tossed his head slightly side to side in disbelief.

“I’m helping,” you said lowly, staring into his visor before you turned to look toward the incoming bodies. “And that’s final.” Pushing off his chest, you uncliped the saber from your belt and ignited it, standing over your Mandalorian, waiting.

Shots flew towards you, and it was just like with the training remote. Letting yourself simply feel everything around you, you suddenly felt like you had all the time in the world, moving into place between the bolts and their target. Sending beams of light back towards your attackers, you heard Din get to his feet behind you and draw his blaster, adding to the flying bolts sent the enemies direction. One of them fell, wounded, and Din took off on his jet pack, landed beside him a minute later and dispatched him quickly. Only seconds later he was back by your side as the other two closed in, laying down heavy fire.

Dodging behind some crates, you disengaged the saber, clipping it back to your belt. “I can’t repel that much fire,” you mumbled, ducking when a shot made the crate splinter close to your head.

Glancing over the edge quickly before ducking back down, Din looked at you and nodded once. “You take the one on the left, and I’ll take the one on the right?”

You smile and nod. “Perfect.”

Waiting until the bandits were close enough, you and Din stayed silent, popping out at the last second and launching toward your designated targets.

In order to buy some time without rapid blaster fire, you blasted a wall of flames at your attacker, making him stumble back, dropping his rifle in the process. Striding closer with each step, as soon as the flames died out, you punched him in the face, disorienting him.

He was quick to recover, however, and began to throw blow after blow. He was sloppy, compared to Din, but he obviously knew where to try and hit, landing a punch square to your chest, knocking the wind out of you. Stumbling back, you heard Din yelling your name from somewhere to your right. Shaking your head to clear the fog, you jumped back in, landing a punch to the guy’s ribs and earning a moan.

“Sur'ar!” You yelled, hoping Din could hear you. (“Focus!”)

“Gar sur'a!” He yelled back, making you groan before it melted into a chuckle. You landed a punch to the guy's face again, then got a kidney shot, and a knee to the groin, making him fall to his knees. (“You focus!”)

“Shut up!” He yelled at you between moans, trying to kill you with only a look.

Staring down at him in amusement, you heard one blaster shot from Din’s direction before the sound of a body landing on the ground, then the tell-tale jingle of the Mandalorian’s boots as he made his way over to you.

“Gar k'uu,” you countered. “Ne shab'rud'ni,” you said easily to the man on his knees. (“You hush.”) (“Don't mess with me.”)

“I said shut up!” The man hissed, trying to rise to his feet, only to sink back to his knees when Din clocked him on the side of his face with his fist. “We can make a deal,” he whined, looking up at the Mandalorian with his one good eye that hadn’t swollen shut. “Keep the child, go on your way,” he looked at you, a twisted smile climbing his face. “Just leave the bitch.”

You looked at Din, and he looked at you. “Kaysh mirsh solus.” You smiled and Din laughed at your comment. (“His brain cell's lonely.”)

Suddenly the man pulled a knife from his boot and leapt forward towards you with a growl.

Wasting no time, you twisted his grip so he was wrapped firmly in your hold, slamming his hand down on his chest and making him drop the blade with a cry. Using the momentum to continue moving him over, you flipped him over your shoulders and onto his back with a thud, and pinned him down with your foot on his chest.

Drawing your blaster, you pointed it at the man. “Ni copaani gar cuyir k'uu.” (“I want you to be quiet.”)

Before you could think any further, you faintly registered Din’s cry of protest at your side before you were pulling the trigger, and the man was lying lifeless at your feet. Holstering your blaster, you noticed a second blaster entry right beside yours, and you turned to see Din with his blaster aimed at the man, smoke still rising from the barrel. You blink once. Twice. Din’s head tilted at you in concern.

“Are you okay, mesh’la?” He holstered his blaster, reaching out a hand to rest on your arm, but you shrugged out of his hold, eyes falling to look at the ground by his feet. He hesitated. “Mesh’la?”

You began to shake, the reality of what you’ve done sinking in. “Don’t…. Just please don’t touch me right now. I can’t….” You took a deep breath, your voice quivering with emotion. “I can’t believe I just killed someone,” you whispered, looking up into his visor.

He put his hands on your upper arms and held firmly when you tried to slip back out of his grasp. “Mesh’la, mesh’la….” He shook you gently to get you to look up at him again, and he sighed when you did. “Mesh’la, we don’t know if it was your shot or mine that killed him. There’s no way to know.”

“But he’s still dead, Din.” You whispered, tears racing silently down your face.

“And if we didn’t kill him, he would have killed you. Or me. Or the kid.” He pointed to the house behind him where the kid was still sleeping. “Or all three of us.” Your face grew more sour with each name he listed.

“I thought you said they wouldn’t find him here!” You turned the subject around, swiping angrily at your tears and kicked at the fob that had fallen out of the man’s pocket in the tussle.

Din picked it up, pointing it toward you, and the beeping went absolutely nuts, almost becoming one constant sound before Din clicked it off.

“They weren’t here for him,” he mumbled softly.

You began to hyperventilate, your breath coming in shallow pants in and out, and everything started to spin. “I can’t- This- This is- Too much! I-” Din grabbed your arms again, and you looked up at him with wide eyes. “I’m a danger to him, I’ll just attract more attention, get him and you and myself- Everyone in the galaxy killed-”

Din tried to calm you down, shushing you softly, and just listened to your ranting, until finally he had to cut in. “You can’t go.”

“Why?!”

He hesitated. “Because.”

You scoffed. “Oh, that’s a great answer, Din.”

“Because I have to tell you something.”

He sighed again, letting the heavy breath in and out carry any trepidation he still had away from him, and any courage he could summon into him.

“That knife…. It’s more than just a symbol of my clan.”

“What do you mean, Din?” Your voice was soft, your tears drying as you stared at him in confusion.

He didn’t say anything. He couldn’t. The words were stuck in his throat.

“You say I can’t leave because you have to say something then you say nothing, I don’t-”

As you turned to walk away, he grabbed you softly and pressed your foreheads together, more forcefully than normal.

He took a deep breath. “I’ve been so stupid. I should have told you, and I’m sorry. Technically I told you, but it was in Mando’a and you didn’t understand….”

“What?” Your voice was a deadpan, beginning to connect some dots, and getting lost in others.

He sighed again. “The sigil on a knife, it’s…. It’s a symbol of courting in Mandalorian culture.”

You said nothing. Not because you wanted to, but because nothing would come. Nothing seemed enough.

“Technically the one who gives it is supposed to forge the blade and I kept using that as a loophole to not tell you-”

“Why?” You suddenly found something to say.

He paused. “Because I didn’t know what I would do if you walked away completely.” The two of you just breathed for a moment. You let your eyes fall shut as the soothing sensation of cool beskar against your forehead began to calm your nerves. “I…. I couldn’t take the thought of not having a you to come back to.”

Your eyes flew open, and you reached up to cup his cheeks, looking into his visor through your lashes. “Oh, you stupid, stupid Tin Can, that would never happen.”

“You don’t know that….”

“I know,” you cut him off firmly, using your hands on the sides of his helmet to tilt his forehead more securely into yours.

He took a breath then paused, letting it out on a huff before he finally spoke again. “As long as we’re being honest and everything, polishing the other’s armor is also a symbol of….”

You dropped your jaw and lightly shoved his shoulder, quickly cupping your hand behind his helmet to pull it back to you, and he did the same, his gloved fingers threading through your hair as he did.

“And here I thought you were just being nice.”

“Well, technically I was being really nice,” he teased, both of you laughing softly.

“Oh yeah? I’ll polish your armor,” you teased lowly, laughing when Din began to cough in response.

“Yes,” you said softly after a moment, chuckling when his head tilted just slightly in question. “Yes, I accept, wholeheartedly, whatever. Help me out here, Din.”

“That’s all you needed to say,” he mumbled softly, sounding like he had a broad smile turning up his features. “Gar gotal'u ni bid briikase,” he added even more softly. (“You make me so happy.”)

“Gar nau'u ner oya'cye, Din.” (“You light up my life, Din.”)

A sharp breath through his modulator caught in his chest, his head tilted just slightly against yours, and you smiled.

“Am I dreaming?” He asked, barely above a whisper. “Was I shot earlier and I’m dead right now?” His free hand not in your hair came up to pat down his chest anxiously, looking for a wound, and you laughed, the sound making his movements fade slowly, his hand coming to rest on your cheek.

“No, you utreekov. In the interest of being honest with each other, I may have found a holopad buried in Kuiil’s stuff, and I may have looked up some Mando’a.” His head tilted even further to the side. “But! To be fair,” you’re quick to add, “you were being so annoying and not telling me anything, so I opted for a more peaceful solution than murdering you in your sleep.” (“Idiot.”)

He snorted a laugh. “Good to know.”

You nodded once, smiling. “I thought so.”

“So, then….” He paused. “Do you know what I said on the ship?”

You sucked air in through your teeth. “Unfortunately, there was only so much Mando’a I could find, and that wasn’t part of it. Bits and pieces, yes, but no, I still don’t know entirely what you said.”

“Good,” Din said with a firm nod, chuckling when you gasp at the remark.

“Mir’sheb,” you grumbled. “See, I told you I figured some of it out.” You laughed softly. “I like to think they are the important parts.” (“Smartass.”)

“For now,” Din mused, slowly brushing the apple of your cheek with his thumb. “The important parts for now.”

Xxx

Strapping each body to the back of one of the blurrgs by an ankle, Din dragged them off into the hills after stripping them of their credits, weapons, and fobs.

Handing all three of the trackers to you, you stared at them with disdain, holding them loosely by the antennas between your thumb and index finger.

“What do we do with them?” You asked, eyeing the little tattletales.

“Well, there’s one sure way to get rid of them,” Din mused, hopping off of the blurrg and walking up to you.

“And that would be….?”

Taking one fob he threw it on the ground and smashed it under his heel, sparks shooting out to the side as the inner mechanics broke apart.

Looking up into his visor with a grin, you dropped another on the ground. “Works for me.” Stomping down as hard as you could, you ground your heel into what was left after the sparks subsided. “That felt good.”

Nodding your head toward the waiting blurrg, you lightly pushed his arm. “Go. Get rid of these di’kut chakaar. Get them out of here.” (“Idiotic bastards.”)

“What are you going to do with the last fob?”

You felt your smile turn toward the mischievous side. “Let’s have a campfire tonight.”

Once he had come back from disposing of the bodies, he began to get things set up for the fire. The child ambled around the area where he worked, chasing another frog.

As you made your way over and spotted the little troublemaker, you shook your head, reaching down when he was close enough to try and stop him, but he lunged right as you did, evading your grasp. Once he got back to his feet and tried to scramble away, you reached out with the Force, holding him still until you could reach him.

He squealed in protest, looking around with a sour expression, as he flailed in one place until you scooped him into your arms, holding him tight. “Leave the poor frogs alone.” The child grumbled gibberish at you. “If you eat too many more you might just turn into one.”

Din chuckled as you made your way over to him. “You heard your buir. You need to listen, ad'ika.” (“Mother.”) (“Little one.”)

The sun was beginning to set, painting the world in oranges and pinks, purples and blues, the stars beginning to make their appearance, twinkling through the darkening blanket above.

Turning his head to look at you, Din pointed at the waiting fire pit. “Care to do the honors?”

You grinned up at him. “Don’t mind if I do.”

Aiming your vambrace towards the pit, you flicked your wrist to ignite the flamethrower, only for it to sputter out, barely a spark shooting out of the end. Shaking your arm a little, you tried again, but to no avail.

“You’re already out of fuel?” Din asked incredulously.

“Well, excuse me, mirsh’kyramud, I had someone who wanted me to practice with it a lot over the last week, and I had to use it to save our lives earlier, in case you forgot.” Din just hung his head in response, chuckling softly. “But don’t worry,” you continued, jostling the kid to your other arm as Din turned his visor just slightly to look at you. “I have two of them.” (“Boring person.”)

“Showoff,” he mumbled, mimicking what you had said to him about the same thing on Tatooine.

Extending your arm, you gestured with your wrist again, and sent a wall of flame toward the waiting pit. The wood crackled as it caught fire, hisses and pops filling the silence when you shut it off.

“Nicely done,” Din said, groaning as he sat on the ground.

“Thank you,” you offered quietly, pulling the last fob from your pocket and examining it before tossing it in the flames. “Goodbye.” The little device let off a whistle that increased in pitch until it finally combusted, sparks flying within the little fire pit, and the flames turning bright blue around it as it burned.

Settling onto the ground next to him, you sat the child on your lap, holding onto him as you watched the flames dance. You hadn’t left much space between the two of you to begin with, but Din soon made sure there was none left, scootching over until his side was pressed firmly against yours.

Staring into the fire, your mind began to wander. It must have shown on your face, because Din was soon asking you about it.

“You okay, mesh’la?”

“Kind of. ….I guess,” was all you had to offer. Pondering on it a bit longer, you finally let out a loud huff before starting again. “I just didn’t like going to that dark place again.”

“How do you mean?”

“Right before I- we shot that guy, it’s like I wasn’t myself. It’s like this darkness is always lurking just underneath and comes out at quite possibly the worst times.”

“There’s a Mandalorian proverb. Haatyc or'arue jate'shya ori'sol aru'ike nuhaatyc. It means ‘Better one big enemy that you can see than many small ones that you can't.’”

“Wait, hold on a second. I’m just in shock that you actually told me what a sentence you just said in Mando’a actually means.” Patting down your chest with one hand like he had on himself earlier, you mimicked his words back at him. “Am I dreaming?” Your voice was barely above a whisper. “Was I shot earlier and I’m dead right now?”

Chuckling, he leaned his shoulder into you more heavily, making you fall to the side slightly.

“I’m just saying,” he continued pointedly, “that maybe it’s okay that that’s your problem. You’re aware of it, and you’re trying to fix it, and as far as I can tell, that’s really the only one.”

“Are you saying I’m basically perfect?”

“I’m saying you're pretty kriffing close.”

You bit your lip and looked back into the fire, willing yourself to not do something stupid like tackle him and smoosh your foreheads together just because he said something nice.

The meteor shower had continued throughout the week, painting streaks of light across the sky above you. There was no need for more Mando’a, or any other exchange of words. Relaxing into the warrior beside you, you leaned your head on his shoulder and looked up at the stars. You knit your eyebrows at him when he quickly pushed you off of him, just enough that he could slip his pauldron off before lightly tugging you back into place.

The rest of the night was spent in silence, closeness, and finally peaceful sleep.

You woke with the sun, its bright rays trickling down onto your face as it broke over the hilltop in the distance. Blinking your eyes open, quick to squint them at the incoming light, and holding a hand up to block what you could, you glanced to your side and saw a sleeping Din. You were in the exact same spots as the night before, your head on his shoulder, his on your head, the fire a few feet in front of you now ashes and a thin wisp of smoke curling up into the morning air.

Even though you’d moved when you had woken up, Din stayed asleep, his head tilted to the side at an uncomfortable angle, and soft snores coming out of his modulator, making you smile.

Peeling yourself away from his side slowly so as not to wake him, you finally succeeded after a few stop-starts. Grabbing your scarf off to the side, you wadded it up into a ball and gently tucked it where your head had been on his shoulder as a makeshift pillow.

The kid let out a big yawn, blinking up at you blearily before he crawled up into Din’s lap and curled back up into a ball, fast asleep in seconds.

Ducking into the house, you grabbed a few satchels of tea you had seen along with two cups, heated up some water and grabbed a few ration packs, tossing them all in a basket that sat on Kuiil’s counter to carry out in one trip. As you passed back over the threshold you paused, smiling at the sight in front of you. Din fast asleep with the kid in his lap, the sun just cresting the hill behind them, the Razor Crest standing proudly to the side.

Building the fire back up into something useful, you paused, looking over your shoulder when you heard Din take a deep breath through his nose, the modulator popping with the sound. He looked around, seemingly disoriented for a few seconds, hand coming up to catch the scarf before it fell, visor falling down to look at the kid briefly before landing on you, a slight tilt finishing out the sequence.

“Good morning,” you smiled.

“Good morning,” he rasped, his voice still heavy with sleep. “How long have you been awake?” He reattached his pauldron he’d removed the night before as he looked at you, waiting.

“Not long.” You turned back to the fire, taking the cup of tea you had steeping for him over some coals off the little grate, turning and handing it to him. “Just long enough to make some tea, really.”

He ran a hand over the top of his helmet like he was ruffling his hair, the absent gesture making you chuckle. “The kid’s going to want something to eat, I’ll go-”

Reaching out wordlessly, you handed him a ration packet, tending to the little warm meal you were cooking from your own packet with your other hand.

He hesitated. “Thanks.” Taking the packet, the crinkle of the packaging must have been the child’s alarm clock, because he was suddenly wide awake and reaching expectantly for the snack.

Turning your focus back to your little warm pastry bread thing, or whatever this dehydrated meal was supposed to be, you heard his helmet disengage before he blew on the hot tea to cool it, then took a quiet sip before the mechanism reengaged. Smiling as you stirred the powdery mix, you were suddenly back at the bar, weeks ago when this all started, and even before, turning away from your nameless Mandalorian friend so he could adhere to his creed and you could still enjoy his company over a drink.

Did you think then that you’d ever be here? On another planet with, arguably, your best friend, and a tiny former Jedi, while learning new languages, new skills, amassing a small arsenal along your belt, beskar on your arms, and a mudhorn on your blade?

No, you probably didn’t. In fact, you’d probably have laughed in your face if you had said that a little over a month ago. But now? Now, there was nowhere else you needed to be. Not a place in the galaxy was better than the one you had right here, wherever these two travel companions, their raggedy ship and your travels took you. Nowhere was quite like home.

One of the blurrgs bellowed from their pen, drawing both of your gazes their way.

Din sighed. “I should go feed them. Let them have a few minutes before I open the pen so they can leave.”

Nodding, you pulled your meal from the grate, settling down beside the kid once Din had gotten up. The two of you watched as he spoke to the creatures in a low, soothing voice, reaching out a hand to pet the middle of their large heads. Looking down at the kid, he stared with wide eyes, his hand in the ration pack frozen as his attention was pulled away from eating for once.

You hadn’t gotten to ride the blurrgs outside of the pen but once, you used the time to focus on training, but Din and the kid had gone on a ride at least once a day. They always took off toward the hills with the child giggling loudly, squealing when Din would urge the blurrg to go faster, the sound coming out in little bursts because of the bouncy gait of the creature.

They’d bring you back little ‘treasures’, the child presenting it to you with a proud smile each time. It was usually just a rock, nothing particularly special, but to you it was. One day it was a bug that had shiny iridescent wings. You’d cringed slightly when you accepted it, trying desperately to hide the grimace from the kid, his eyes shining with excitement.

“I tried to tell him not to give you that, but I think that’s why he gave you that,” Din had huffed from atop the blurrg, making you chuckle.

Every single one, aside from the little beetle you had convinced the kid needed to be released and not eaten, sat in the bottom of your bag, ready to continue on your journey with you.

Din came over and sat on his haunches beside you, turning back to face the blurrgs.

“How did you learn to do that?” You asked before popping a bite of food into your mouth.

The kid opened his mouth expectantly, a belated “Eh?” sounding when you didn’t immediately share. Rolling your eyes, you gave him a bite.

He looked at you. “Do what?”

You swallowed your bite before offering the kid another, much to his joy, gesturing toward the pen with a nod of your head. “Handle creatures so easily.” You looked up into his visor. “Your voice is just so soothing, I don’t know. It just seems like you’ve had a lot of practice or something.”

“I do.” He tilted his head. “It’s the same voice I have to use on a very stubborn friend of mine.”

Your face fell into a deadpan. “You better not mean me.”

“Who else?” He teased. “Gar cuyi ori'atin.” (“You are very stubborn.”)

You scoffed before it melted into a disbelieving chuckle. “Am I, now?”

“The most stubborn.” He sounded like he was smiling. “But I’ve come to expect nothing less. It’s part of what makes you you. Makes you vutyc.” (“Special.”)

You grumbled something unintelligible, making him chuckle as you turned your glare on him. “Sheb’urcyin.” (“Kiss ass.”)

“Only for you.”

“Oh, really now?” You chuckled. “Careful, Din. Don’t get cocky. Your ego can’t get any bigger. Ori’buyce, kih’kovid.” (“Big helmet, small head.”)

Din grunted, angling his visor at your face.

You suddenly felt like prey.

“No, Din, don’t,” you warned, handing the kid the rest of your breakfast before scrambling to your feet, taking a few steps back before Din slowly stood to his full height.

“Don’t what, mesh’la?” He began to stalk slowly toward you, each one of his steps as long as two of yours.

“Don’t make me defend myself. You won’t like the outcome.”

“And what would the outcome be?” He stopped, head tilting further as he stared at you.

“Untangling me from my whipcord most likely.”

The two of you stared in silence for a long moment before you both burst out laughing.

You took off running towards him, catching him off guard, dodging his attempt to grab you and running toward the child. “Kid! Help!”

“Eh?” He squeaked, watching you run past with a turn of his head, then doing the same when Din followed shortly after.

“No one can save you now, cyar’ika.”

Both of you were laughing as you ran half heartedly around the blurrg pen, dodging his attempts to catch you and doing your best to trip him up.

Stumbling back towards the fire, you leaned your back up against one of the large poles making up the circumference of the pen, and stared at the ground as you tried to catch your breath. “I yield, I yield! I give up! Din, I-” Looking up, you stopped short with a startled yelp when you found him right in front of you. “Kriffing hell, you startled me!” He didn’t say anything. “Dank farrik, Din!” You swatted at his chest, trying to create more space between you, but it had the opposite effect, and he crowded in closer. You huffed, your voice quiet. “I surrender.”

“Not accepted,” he finally said, holding still for a moment longer as your brows knit at him in confusion, then he surged forward, his fingers digging into your sides mercilessly, ignoring your screech of protest.

Your cries for mercy soon turned into nothing but laughter as he continued to poke at your sides in the spots he knew were the worst.

It felt like forever, but he finally stopped, easing forward the last few inches left between you, his body gently knocking yours back against the pole, and his coming to meet your front.

Trying to catch your breath yet again, it’s stolen from you when his movements stop after his forehead is firmly pressed against yours.

Leaning your head forward slightly, you melt into the embrace, his hands that had been relentlessly prodding your sides now gently smoothed over them, coming to rest on either side of your waist.

Standing in the silence, you simply share the moment, letting it wrap around you and forge memories for another time.

“We need to get going,” Din finally broke the silence, slowly pulling away from you.

“Okay,” you agree, reaching forward and pulling him back into you. Your hands found purchase in his cowl like they always seemed to do, holding him close. “Just…. Just another minute?” Your breath fogged up the T of his visor when you spoke.

“At least,” he mused quietly, making you both chuckle softly.

A while later, Din slowly rolled his helmet back and forth as if shaking his head. “We really need to get going, mesh’la.”

You sighed. “I know.” You focused on your grip on the material around his neck. “I like it here.”

“I do, too.”

“Quiet, simple…. I think Kuiil was onto something.”

Din let out a soft huff. “He probably was.” The following silence was comfortable. “I’m sorry you didn’t get to know him.”

You pulled away just enough to look up into his visor. “I’m glad you did.”

Finally pulling apart from one another, you double checked everything was packed up while Din went with the kid to get the ship ready to go. You did one last glance around the room, turning in a circle to see it all, and stopping when you saw Din leaning in the doorway watching you.

“Ready to go?”

You nodded, glancing around the inside of the house fondly.

“I’ll open the pen on our way back to the ship. They’ll find their own way out.” He held out his hand to take the bag you were carrying, pulling it over his shoulders before turning to leave the space. He paused after a few steps, looking over his shoulder at you. “Coming?”

You nodded again, not trusting your voice very far with the catch in your throat you were currently trying to swallow down. Walking out of the small home, Din let you walk past him before he fell in step with you on the way to the pen.

He propped the gates open, gave the blurrgs one more slow pet on the head each, then you both were on your way back to the ship, walking up the ramp feeling foreign after so long on solid ground.

After settling in the cockpit, you watched Kuiil’s little homestead disappearing as the ship rose higher and higher. “Thank you, Kuiil,” you whispered. “I had a lovely time.”

The little house was almost too small to be seen when Din spoke. “He would always say, ‘I have spoken’. It was his answer to everything. You couldn’t argue with it. No matter how small or large a matter was, that was the end of the discussion.” He chuckled fondly.

“When you’re as wise as he was, you're allowed to.”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

The cabin was silent until the Crest slipped into hyperspace, the mesmerizing streaks never failing to amaze you.

“Din?”

“Yeah?” He turned his pilot’s chair to face you, glancing over to the kid fast asleep in his seat to your right before he looked back at you.

“I’ve been thinking, and-”

“Uh-oh.”

“Every time!” You raised your eyebrows at him as you scoffed. “I do have good ideas, you know. It has been known to happen.”

“I’m sorry, I just hear you say that, and my mind automatically flashes to you hurling a flaming bottle of alcohol in a dim alley saying ‘oops’, and I go to a whole different place.”

Your jaw snapped shut. “Fine. Never mind.” You turned to stare out the viewport, arms coming up to cross over your chest.

“I’m sorry, mesh’la. What have you been thinking?”

You sighed, rolling your head to look at him. “My blaster doesn’t have a mudhorn yet.”

There was a beat where Din didn’t move or make a sound, he just sat frozen in his seat, and you smirked smugly at his reaction.

“Are you….” His voice died off, his head cocking at an angle in a jerky motion. “Are you saying you want my aliik, my sigil on your blaster?”

“Do you want it on my-”

“Of course I do, don’t be a smartass.”

“Only for you,” you smirked, taking your blaster off your belt and putting it in his waiting palm.

He took it delicately, looking down at it like you had the rocks the child had given you.

Like he was holding something precious. A treasure. And in a way, it kind of was.

A sigil is symbol of clan, of family. Something sacred to Mandalorian culture.

But somewhere along the way, it became sacred to you, too. Somewhere along the way this giant shiny man and his tiny green son had gotten under your skin, into your veins, and became part of your reason for living, the very essence of what kept you going, circulating your system day after day. With adventure, with companionship, with a home.

Xxx

Tags: @ren-ni, @hoodedbirdie, @rennalouise, @kurlyfrasier, @what-the-heckin-heck, @deceiverofgodss, @Littleshadow17, @nghtwngs, @yourcoolauntie, @queenmalhinewahine, @lam-ila, @jesseeka, @come-hell-or-eldren-fire, @creativeautistic, @lemonsandraspberries, @heyitsaloy, @987coley, @marvel-sw-lover, @just-shut-up-kid, @1800-get-alife, @multifandomsw, @oliviajdjarin​, @eeopxlt​, @tomskookie​, @venusacrossthestars​, @sanscas​, @veralii​, @a-rose-of-amber​, @i-own-loki​, @lil-writer-523​, @starry-supernova​, @qweenrogerina​, @darkenwolfie​, @mischiefnevermanaged94, @tragerlover​ What’s This?

#din x reader #din djarin x reader #din djarin fanfiction #star wars imagine #star wars reader insert #mando x reader #mando x you #mando x y/n #din x you #din x y/n #din djarin x you #din djarin x y/n #star wars x reader #star wars x you #star wars x y/n #din imagine #din djarin imagine #din reader insert #din djarin reader insert #mando imagine #mando reader insert #the mandalorian #star wars #din djarin #mando #grogu #grogu x reader #the mandalorian reader insert #the mandalorian imagine #the mandalorian x reader

[quirkle2]

PLEASE PLEASE TALK ABOUT THE LEGENDS ARCEUS AU I'M SO NORMAL ABOUT IT <- LYING I AM NOT NORMAL

HI WE'LL BOTH BE NORMAL TOGETHER

(uhm warning for injury/blood/whump, parental death, uhhhhhhhhh fire? a lot happens (also idk if the read more thing has been fixed so let's pray. i refuse to smack these long ass paragraphs in front of innocent bystanders (this is so long. im so sorry)))

ok so reigen is the professor of the galaxy expedition team and u may be wondering how he got that job: lying :)! he claims he knows everything abt pokemon and that he's been studying them his whole life when in reality he's not even totally sure how many pkmn types there are. granted, the rest of the team doesn't either, so his ability to bluff himself out of any given situation is massively helped by their cluelessness

he just wants to sleep in a bed with blankets and eat food to survive and lying into the professor position was the quickest way he saw to get there. he'd been wandering in the wilderness for a while since coming to hisui before that and it kinda sucked. bro just wants a house in this crippling economy

mob n ritsu were originally from another village! they don't meet reigen until mob is 9 (ritsu 8). there's no powers in this au but mob's whole shtick is that he takes the,, extreme pacifist route i guess? he thinks pokemon r to be respected and loved and Not Bothered and he's against the use of pokeballs to store them and commanding them to battle each other, etc. essentially if he were in a modern era he'd think the way present-time people treat pkmn is, for the most part, cruel

anyway their hometown gets attacked by pkmn and the village is destroyed. their parents die protecting them, so 9-year-old mob was left to fend for himself n his little brother alone. they travel together kinda aimlessly for 7ish months until they get remarkably (unknowingly) close to jubilife village and come across that giant fuckin rapidash before the bridge

it's their first alpha pkmn encounter. neither of them have pkmn to defend themselves with (mob's reason: he ain't like that. ritsu's reason: He Is Eight and Scared). mob has always been able to empathize w pkmn a lot and sorta get a read on what they're thinking, so the vibes comin off that rapidash were rancid and he was worried abt it. mob has never been afraid of pkmn, not even the rly big and scary looking ones. so he approaches it with the intention of calming it down, seeing what's hurting it. he makes ritsu stay back in case things go bad

he's kicked in the head. if u forgot how big that rapidash is just google it. the hooves r the size of ur player character's head and ur player character is like 15. mob is 9. the fact that he doesn't die immediately upon impact is a miracle. the fact that he survives longer than 5 seconds after the fact is basically divine intervention

the doodle i made in the top left corner of ritsu screaming is this ^ encounter. he watches it happen, and then watches in horror more as the rapidash panics at ritsu's scream and rolls a flame wheel over his brother's limp form. ritsu manages to dive for him and run, but the kid is thoroughly terrified and traumatized

i'll spare u the horrid bits but long story short ritsu finds a cave to settle in and while he's rly inexperienced with medical treatment he does his best. his best isn't very good in the grand scheme of things but him being 8 is a pretty damn good excuse. he camps out there for Three Whole Days waiting for his brother to wake up or respond to literally anything but it isn't happening and the longer this goes on for the more terrified ritsu gets

mob's taught him how to survive pretty well all things considered, but ritsu is a lot more worried abt mob than taking care of himself and he ends up neglecting his own needs pretty fiercely. he feels too sick w guilt/fear to eat. he tries to stay up as long as he can in case mob stirs. by the end of it he's pretty worse for wear too

reigen finds them while out in the field doing research (wasting time). he sees a little kid half stuck in a bush looking for berries and when reigen tries to get his attention ritsu, who is extremely on edge and sleep deprived and scared, just straight up screams at him. reigen sees his dirty clothes and skinny arms and flushed face (fever. definitely fever) and alarm bells ring in his head to not let the kid go no matter what cuz he Will lose him otherwise

once ritsu gets his bearings and realizes this is a human (first one other than mob he's seen in forever) and not a pokemon coming to kill him he starts crying to him abt his brother and reigen feels his heart drop to his stomach bc if This kid is worried about a brother who is supposedly worse off,,, dear god

ritsu leads reigen to mob. the dressings around his arm where he was burnt are completely incorrect and most definitely horribly infected and ritsu didn't rly do Anything for the head injury other than clean the blood away bc well. again. he's 8. idek if eight year olds know what concussions are

reigen BOOKS it back to jubilife faster than he's ever ran and halfway through he realizes ritsu has passed out in his arms too (kid's probably exhausted beyond belief. reigen has no idea how long they've been like this but he guesses a while) everybody in the village is kinda horrified when the professor comes back with two hurt kids, one of which is on death's door. the medical team there does everything they can

it takes a while for mob to wake up, but thankfully he does in the end. reigen finds out thru ritsu that they've been alone for "a long time" (ritsu doesn't know. doesn't rly remember. reigen asks mob when he wakes up and mob says he stopped counting somewhere after day 140)

even though mob still isn't quite back to his old self and is still generally confused and Slightly Off, the doctors say he'll be okay after a few weeks and reigen has unintentionally gotten very attached to these kids. ritsu had told him their parents died during the attack on their village. they have nowhere else to go, and like hell is Any member of this village gonna be happy with simply throwing them out into the wilderness again. so reigen takes them in

anyway that's how they meet <3 GVEYAI mob is back to his normal self (the occasional Moment of Confusion comes around from the brain injury, but they taper off after a while) and reigen is very much surprised to see that mob, as ritsu has described to him, still very much loves every pkmn he comes across. he gets a bit nervous around rapidashes in particular, but other than that, mob is still just as caring and just as respectful as ritsu described him to be. ritsu is scared of bigger pkmn like any other kid is. mob is an exception, even after that experience.

reigen waits about a year so that they have time to settle and recover (and so that he has time to observe), and then he gives them each a pokemon. this might seem odd, but mob has never expressed any ill will toward Any pkmn, and ritsu still smiles at the smaller ones

he gives them a choice between the pla starters that have been hanging around his office. mob picks cyndaquil and names her cindy. ritsu picks rowlet and doesn't name him at all (this gives reigen pause, but ritsu seems to have a new fire in his eyes, so he brushes the worry away)

when they're of age (mob waits for ritsu to reach 13. they do everything together) they both join the survery corps, and mob ends up becoming reigen's assistant :]! reigen is admittedly a little worried abt this development, about his kids going out into the wild, but they both seem ready for it (ritsu seems ... a little Too ready for it considering his past) so he relents

mob has made his opinions about pkmn clear, especially to reigen, and reigen has ended up adopting some of his ideals since he met him bc they,, well thwy sound reasonable. they sound nice. mob doesn't ever put cindy in a pokeball, and cindy had never once been in a battle other than play fights with rowlet. mob treats cindy like any other normal pet, like a friend. he looks at those boxes of pokeballs in reigen's office with a frown. he finds the idea of fighting pkmn in the wild for sport despicable. he openly scratches out the pokedex tasks like "defeat 10 times" with disdain. reigen starts seeing another world that he never rly considered before, with mob

this is where reigen senses some,,, tension, between the boys. ritsu evolves his rowlet into a dartrix remarkably quickly since joining the survey corps, and not even a few weeks later he's a got decidueye on his side. ritsu catches pokemon left and right and if they're "not strong enough" he keeps them in pokeballs until he remembers they exist again. he works on building a team with no weaknesses, or as few weaknesses as possible. bro invents competitive pkmn

obviously, mob sees this and ,,, doesn't like it. he doesn't like how Distant ritsu is with his pokemon, with creatures that he wholeheartedly believes should be treated as friends or family. he doesn't name any of them, he spends nearly all his earned money from the survey corps on items that boost their strength, but almost no money toward items for comfort, or even treats, or toys. ritsu treats his team like they're tools. the relationship between ritsu and his pkmn is,, strained. mob can sense they aren't nearly as happy as they could be

but mob knows that he can't just,, police ritsu on how he should handle his own pokemon. he may not agree with how ritsu approaches the subject, or with how ritsu's first instinct for anything pkmn is usually "fight it," but mob knows ritsu Does like pkmn. ritsu's never hated pkmn, he's just,,, scared of them, sometimes. he thinks maybe this is his way of making himself feel protected. mob doesn't like the idea of taking that away from him, no matter how much seeing ritsu refrain from giving his team a break grinds on his soul

little does he know, ritsu's strictness with his pkmn isn't born out of a fear for himself at all. he's building a dependable team to protect his brother. that's the whole reason he's doing this, the whole reason he didn't name rowlet when he first got him. ritsu knew that if he were to do this, he couldn't get attached to them, bc losing pokemon in fights is a very real possibility. it's been drilled into each and every one of his pkmn's heads that they r to protect mob at all costs. if there's a repeat of That incident, ritsu doesn't think he can handle it (>:])

WOW THIS IS ALREADY SO LONG i haven't even gotten to the kleavor part yet. fuck. if ur still reading this can i have ur hand in marriage /silly

OKAY SO . The Game's Plot comes in, finally. took long enough. reigen starts getting reports of frenzied nobles and he's most worried abt kleavor bc it's rather close to them, and the village could very well be in danger if kleavor decides to say fuck you in particular. so reigen goes Hey This is an Actual Threat That Needs My Attention I Have to be Competent For a Sec and spends the next few weeks tirelessly searching for an answer for this kleavor. some of the staff have already gotten mauled by it. reigen cannot ignore this and put it on somebody else like he usually does

the whole town is getting antsy, and mob most definitely notices. ritsu's jumpy all the time anymore, like he expects kleavor to rampage through the streets any second now. reigen looks tired and worn down, and he's been coming home later and later. mob watches as reigen makes plans to use force against kleavor with a sour taste in his mouth. he tries to tell reigen that force isn't the answer here. reigen, bless him, doesn't know how to tell a kid that friendship and rainbows isn't always the answer

after another week or so, mob's had enough. they've gotten nowhere closer to calming kleavor and more people have gotten injured, so mob quietly writes a note and leaves it on his bed, makes sure he doesn't wake up ritsu or cindy, and leaves the house before reigen comes home. he sneaks out over the fence so the guards at the gate don't catch him. he sets off to go see kleavor

he fully and truly believes that force is not the answer. he fully and truly believes that if he goes up to kleavor with no pokemon to fight it with, no weapons or spears pointed at it, and just a calm voice and peaceful demeanor, kleavor will see there is no danger. the galaxy team's previous attempts have all centered around violence and scare tactics. nobody has recently come up to its territory without posing a threat. mob genuinely just thinks that kleavor needs calm

reigen finds the note. freaks the fuck out. immediately rounds up every person in the village that's capable of fighting and they march out of the village to save a kid who's in way over his head. reigen makes ritsu Promise him that he will not leave the village. he can see it in ritsu's eyes, the way he wants nothing more than the come with them, but reigen gives the argument that ritsu is their strongest soldier back home and they still need to protect the village from anything else while everybody's gone. it takes all of ritsu's self-control to not go against him (he's fully set on coming with them until reigen Grips him by the arms and says "i can't lose both of you.")

mob's plan does end up working in the end, but not quite perfectly and not at all in a good way. he steps into kleavor's territory and has it calm at first, but smth changes in kleavor's eyes and whatever Force that's corrupting it surges and kleavor snaps.

mob gets Fucked Up by that thing. sliced and thrown and clawed until he can barely stand up to run away, but it's the last blow that matters. kleavor comes down on him with a chop right to his middle and everything stops. there's a sizeable gash that cuts through mob's side horizontally and kleavor's axe is stuck in the flesh there, but once mob isn't moving anymore and nothing is making kleavor afraid, the fog in its brain clears and it sees what it's done

it also sees that mob is still awake, and despite everything kleavor did to him, he's still looking at it like he knows its capacity for gentleness. even through the pain mob looks at kleavor like he Knows this isn't what it's rly like. and as soon as mob sees the light return to kleavor's eyes he smiles, blood gurgling in his throat

kleavor hears shouts from the forest, sees torchlight and panicked yells for mob. it doesn't know what to do, don't like what it sees, what it Did to this poor kid. it winces when it has to slide its axe out from the gash in mob's side—the squelch it makes and the Noise mob lets out is the last thing kleavor needs to book it

u can only imagine how fuckin hysterical reigen feels when he sees mob on the ground like that. they brought half of the medical team just in case and reigen is rly glad they did bc if they didn't there's a good chance mob would've bled out right there within a few minutes.

he's in rly rly bad shape and is barely conscious by the time reigen grabs his face and tells him itll be okay. they bring him back to the village at record pace and every minute they take he looks paler. reigen is so scared the kid's going to die in his arms before they even get there

when they get to the gates someone from the medical team takes him from reigen's arms. reigen hears ritsu scream. the kid's shoving people away who're trying to comfort him and beelining his way to mob, but reigen catches him before he can fully see the damage bc he does Not want that bloody mess to be in ritsu's nightmares for the rest of his life

ritsu fights him and pushes him and shoves him away, screaming that he just wants to see his brother, but reigen holds him back and he ends up pulling ritsu close when the kid loses steam and just starts sobbing into his chest

to ritsu, he's failed again. to reigen, he's failed them both. to mob, despite holding onto the living world by a thread, he succeeded.

anyway that's the story so far VGEAYVUA I HAVEN'T .. FIGURED OUT TERU YET. or dimple. i know the gist of i how i want teru and mob's meeting to go tho. teru is just like ritsu but like . Worse when it comes to pokemon. uses them as tools and doesn't even rly think of them as sentient at all. until he meets mob that is :]

i'm thinkin he's the warden of sneasler! and yaknow what, just for shits n giggles and bc i love ingo too much to get rid of him, what if ingo is teru's unofficial teacher. what if. wouldn't that be fuckin hilarious and completely ruin any sense of consistency here. what if (it's happening)

i'm also pretty set on making dimple one of the wisps from the spiritomb quest that ends up following mob around. that's fitting i think

#qktalks #asterleavess #okay but like . i Just now thought of ingo and teru being teacher & student and it's kinda hilarious #ingo would be so fed up with his bullshit. i think ingo meeting mob would be like ''please make my student not an asshole'' #''he's good at heart i know he is. he's a very good kid. but god he's so obnoxious'' #that's gold. fuck it it's happening #putting two blorbos from different fandoms into a blender and watching it spin #i thought abt it as a joke and then 2 minutes later it was no longer a joke #bald best friends ?????????????????????????????? #i hate that tag i want to delete it GVEYIAGVA #im hoping y'all aren't waiting for a conclusion that ends with the actual plot of pla cuz .ihaven't thought abt the legendaries at all <3 #this is just me beating up the main cast. mostly mob. okay it's just mob but im beating the others up emotionally

[bepop-moon]

!!SPOILERS!!

The Fourth Wing review !!!

WHAT. I just finished the fourth wing like 5 minutes ago and i NEED to talk about it before i go to the store and buy the second book.

- I am an ultimate book-lover and it takes a lot for me to dislike a book so this is just gonna be filled the positive things that i loved

I’ll get nerding about the world-building out the way first

So for starters, this book was so well written. As a fantasy lover, i’m a sucker for a well-built fantasy world. I loved how without being too heavy on description Rebecca managed to describe the world beautifully and naturally. I love how developed the history and culture is, the religion and beliefs and values.

I love Rebecca’s take on dragons. The idea of bonding and the mental communication and emotional connection. I don’t know how original it is but it was so well-done in this story. The design of the dragons and the different species are not overcomplicated and the way she wrote it made it easy to understand. I love the descriptions of the dragons, but also (this is just my opinion) i love that Rebecca didn’t shy away from the sheer size of the dragons. Ik in fantasy there are no rules about species like this, but in all folklore and mythology dragons are like, huge, and not enough books show that.

Overall, the world building is 10/10 and perfectly woven into the story.

Things that had my jaw on the floor

Something that had me ✨flabbergasted ✨ was the small details Rebecca snuck in there unnoticed. Now i was kicking myself when it came to Violet finally finding out her signet was lightning and Xaden tells her he suspected it from the first time they kissed. I went back and realised that in that scene lightning was striking. I usually pick up on these things 😭😭

Another example is- and this one hurt me physically because i realised like the paragraph before they said it- all the times dain “caressed her cheek” or “cupped her face” the actual vulgar little maggot (i hate him). I hate that they didn’t finish him off in this book and i so hope that Xaden or Violet ends him when they get back. if not i will.

Also, the ENDING??!! THE LAST FEW LINES??!! HELLO?!?!? I did call it though as soon as she woke up and Xaden looked at her wound and it was all healed up, i was like woah hang on i thought this was the venins poison. But I WASNT EXPECTING TO MEET HIM. I do want to just say that it really ticked me off because i don’t believe Xaden knew Brennan was alive but didn’t tell violet. I want to think he found out when he got there but i think he mentioned knowing this was the place to come or something. They must have a bloody good reason to be keeping this one ☝️

The characters 🥺🥺🥺

i was in love with EVERY single one of the characters. I love how every character was focussed on at one point or another so you could connect with all of them. I love the entire groups chemistry. I think an easier way to explain would be to go through them individually:

VIOLET- So, i made a post when i was in the early chapters of this book about how she annoyed me. She was very much a stereotypical “aren’t i just💁‍♀️…too small and weak🥺to play rugby👉👈” kind of girl, and i could see myself disliking the book if it kept up. I also said i can see how, if done correctly, she could have the BEST character development and gods, it didn’t disappoint. Rebecca showed Violet growing mentally and physically in a really real and natural way. It was forced, rushed or skimmed over. It was really a big part of the whole story, and i really loved it. Violet is my short, feisty girlboss and she’s litterally my idol. I volunteer as tribute guys, i will join the riders quadrant to be with her 😔😔. Dw, I can replace Liam. I love her sarcasm. She’s litterally me if i had confidence. Her chemistry with everyone else is on point.

RHIANNON- So dispite the fact that I was pronouncing her name wrong for a good chunk of the book, THIS GURL IS ONE OF MY FAVS. Everyone needs a friend like Rhi, period. She’s also a bisexual queen (** i will lead into this later) which makes me love her even more. Massive crush. She’s so badass.

RIDOC- okay now hes just a cutie patootie 🥰🥰 like “YES THATS OUR GIRL” when Vi beat the gauntlet had my heart melting. I want one. i want a ridoc. He’s my under appreciated baby.

THE OG GANG (Vi, Rhi, Ridoc, Sawyer)- I honestly wish they had more time. I could never get enough of them. The chemistry 😭 get me a friend group like this.

LIAM- i cried. no sorry i balled. like omg why was taking him like that necessary 😭😭 But i did know he was gonna die cuz i remember when he gave vi the wooden tairn he made, i said to myself “uh oh he’s too nice he’s not gonna live”. The emotional attachment i had to this man. But besides that, the whole backstory of him and Xaden being his foster-brother and the two of them having gone through so much together was soo good. I’m so glad Xaden was given a character to fall back on, and in a sad way, i’m glad that his loss was what made him break in the end. He stayed so strong for both Violet and Xaden. He’s so loyal and sweet, there is nothing not to love about him. RIP 🩷🩷🩷

XADEN- Where do i even start with this man. just love. love love love love ❤️ Ngl, i didn’t like his description and his initial impression looks-wise which (silly me with my high fictional person standards) put me off him for the first part. But- i made a post about this aswell- i think that’s just me personally not liking big, tall, dark, hunky men. I couldn’t picture him correctly. That is until i went onto pinterest and started picturing a slightly more buff Zayn Malik with fluffy hair and reading-glasses that i liked the sound of him a lot more. OkOk besides looks, I think Xaden is my favourite character. He was so compassionate to Violet as they got closer, and just every small thing he did i loved. I mostly loved how gift-giving is his love language. Okay let’s list off the things Xaden gave: The dagger, the saddle, flowers, dick, coffee, head, his jacket, more daggers. lol anyway he had it made just for her 😭😭 So i love how we got to see him and his high defences all come crumbling down at the end. He knew he messed up when he kept secrets, and the way he was like “i will try every day for the rest of my life to make you trust me again”. The battle- Liams loss and thinking he lost Violet must’ve affected him so much i just wanna give him a big hug. AND HIS CHAPTER AT THE END 😭 i squealed when i saw it was his perspective. i want more of that ngl. When he said he felt unloved since his father died. He’s a little bundle of trauma and i love him for that. Angst aside, the pet name, the banter, the mind talking thing THE CHEMISTRY AHHHH. Best boy.

The Family trio (Liam, Xaden, Bodhi)- their connection was so cute and refreshing. It was so nice to see Xaden have people he can rely on other than Vi, and they are so iconic. I wish they got more time. I also wanted to see more of Bodhi and how he dealt with Liam’s loss. It was all very Xaden-heavy. Let’s not forget about him 🥺

The cool bois 😎 (Xaden, Garrick, Bodhi)- Honestly, i bet they act like young teenagers. I like to imagine them getting extremely competitive over a card game like dobble or smt and flipping the table. The way Garrick and Bodhi both always had Xaden’s back, keeping his secrets, knowing his history, which he doesn’t tell many people. They also quietly had Violets back too, when they cleaned up her room after her attack in the night, and then hauled in a new armoire after their.. evening together. They are also funny and Garrick and Bodhi are so quick to defend Xaden in a rlly wholesome way.

Sex 🫢

Okay so this is a fun one 🤩 First i’ll talk about sexuality in this book and the representation. Although this is just a small detail my queer ass naturally picks up on, is how i love that sexuality isn’t an explicitly identified thing in this world, it just is what it is. You sleep with who you sleep with, you love who you love. It’s not a labelled thing. Rhiannon slept with tara- normal. Then she slept with Sawyer- normal. Ridoc slept with some older guy idk- normal. Ridoc then made jokes about sleeping with violet. normal. It’s just so natural and normalised and i like that she didn’t read too deep into it. that’s all. And also the Non-binary (again not labelled) rep with i think their name was Heaton? idk but i like never see they/thems in books so it was kinda nice. I think it’s a nice thing about creating a fantasy world, you can litterally portray things like this however you want, because it’s your fictional society, and you can give them whatever norms and values you want.

Ok smut 🫣. The book had good smut, a dedicated smut chapter, and a lot of steamy moments after that. But i won’t lie to you, the main smut scene was giving edward cullen destroying the bed 😥 like ngl i was scared- and then the lightning?!? girl- anyway it was wild. I like how Xaden was openly humble, reluctant to go any further in fear of “taking advantage of her after a shit day”, He cares so much 🥺❤️. The consent was a nice part. And then another thing, that kind of relates to what i was saying about the perks of being able to create the norms of a fictional society, is how they both mentioned they were on fertility surpressants. Both of them, not just her. I liked that small detail. OTHERWISE I WAS LITTERALLY SCARED FOR HER LIFE ON THAT SCENE😭😭

My only complaint about this in particular, some might disagree is that as much as i like smut in a book, i prefer it a lot more when it’s evenly split with fluff and wholesome cuddles and forehead kisses and stuff. It was just a very sexual-heavy relationship. Although, it’s understandable considering they ARENT ACTUALLY DATING !!!

Just some other things i liked:

- Tairn and Andarna 🥺 They are so cute just eeee!!

- Golden one and silver one

- “violence”

- Jesinia, using sign. love 👏the👏inclusivity👏

- The way the storyline all came together at the end. It’s just the best feeling when you read a book and you’re getting the ending and you can see all the small details tying together perfectly, and Rebecca did SUCH a good job at that

- I love the note at the beginning saying “the following text has been translated..” because it adds such a cool small layer of depth to the whole story

- How Rebecca showed violets trauma. She couldn’t bring herself to show weakness in front of others so she runs away to somewhere where she knows she can be alone to cry. How everything comes crumbling down on her when she sees mira again. How she panics when someone she loves is at risk. How she has flashbacks when she killed Barlowe. Beautiful 😍

- Jack’s death being her discovery of her signet and a big moment for her, how it was ruined by the fear and instant trauma of killing him (lol he had it coming)

Complaints !!

I don’t think i have many complaints about this book at all, only that all the guys look the same with different hair colours 😭 i said earlier about how i don’t like the stereotypical buff protective guy and that’s what im imagining them all as. More male diversity. Obvs i mentioned the lack of fluff. Probably could’ve done with more angst.

also dain was the biggest ick from the start

The next book???

I CANT WAIT!! i’ll probably stop by and buy it tomorrow. There are a few things i’m interested in:

-Brennan 🧍‍♂️

-Xadenviolet fixing itself

-Torturing Dain 😍

-The REBELLION!! hunger games who? violet everdeen who?

something i do hope is that it continues right where it left off, because istg if rebecca decides to do something clever and introduce a whole new set of characters and not even MENTION my babies until like the end of the book i will come to her house and scrap her (a formal threat). I hope it will be just as good as the first one!! it was very quick to be released but i bet she has a trilogy or series or something lined up she will be popping out soon. I don’t see Iron Flame being the last book of the series.

Conclusion 🤩🤩💃🕺

10/10 would recommend to young-adult readers!! It just had the perfect blend of, fantasy world, storyline, romance, plot twists and action that a story could have. Will give me so much daydreaming material to work with. Very inspiring for my own fantasy world aswell !! lots of small details to take inspo from and a very cool world to explore. The whole Xadenviolet arc from start to not-so-finish is annoyingly touching and Dain is just annoying!! (i hate him)

If you got this far thanks for reading :) xx

#book review #the fourth wing #xadenviolet #violet and xaden #fantasy #fantasy books #dragons #tfw #rebecca yarros #iron flame

[fallen-stellar]

You know, I have a dream I want to tell you about

Omoi no Kakera by Switch Song Analysis

Lyric Translation from Mika Enstars (@/mikaenstars) and KYM2020 (taken from the Ensemble Stars Wiki)

Overview:

This song is about finding what you once were, through the slumbering fragments of things you once desired or dream of. Even if you can't find it, there are people who are more than willing to help you reconnect with them and repaint them for you, embracing who you once were.

Note: This analysis is made with me having a decent knowledge about metaphors and Switch itself. I have dived deeper a bit with the Japanese original of the song, however I have not included every detail that might be hiding! So if you can add more to this or see some misinterpretation, please free to discuss with me! I love discussing these things with people! Anyways, enjoy reading!

Omoi no Kakera is a bit of a hard one to crack and it's bound to be different for everyone, but I will share with you today what I see this song to be!

Since it's a Sora-center song, fittingly, the song centers on Sora and his relationship with Switch. But before that, we should know how the song gets told to us and some references that I will be saying throughout this analysis.

Omoi no Kakera translates to "fragments of imagination". The lyrics also include being in this illusion, particularly using the kanji "幻", which means vision, illusion, apparition, and even a short-lived dream. The song revolves around these things, so buckle up because this is quite a ride!

I am not kidding when this song is a tough nut to crack, it relies heavily on metaphors and references to how Sora perceives Switch and his relationship with the members, both of which I just have a decent knowledge of, but I have taken the challenge to scrap up what I can find. As I said in the note, please freely to criticize or discuss this song with me! I love discussing with people, especially these particular topics.

In order to understand my blabbering in the next few paragraphs, let us address one term that is constantly repeated in the song and what ties this whole song together:

Fragments of Imagination/Memories

This is basically the topic and even the title of the song and it's a phrase repeated in almost every stanza of this song. Not really the exact words, but precisely the words imagination and memories are constantly repeated throughout the song. These are mostly referred to as being found or being seen, however, it's mostly accompanied by being caught in a dream or being in someone's heart:

The sleeping fragments of memory will remain there in your heart The world that surrounds us is a swaying fragment of memory

These are also referred that could be touched:

When I touch it (the fragments of memory), it's like I can hear you, I wish you could tell me

Or be interacted with:

If you have trouble finding them, come and see me Connect them and paint a new layer

What I could get from this, basing the that this is possibly Sora's perspective, this might be literal memories from him or referring to memories, specifically with Switch, which will be much clearer as we go on. The ability to interact with these memories will be important later on as we go. With this in mind, let's finally tackle the song itself!

The song starts by introducing us that the persona of this song is in a dream, or at least it will bring us much more understanding since it's a Switch song, it has magical elements to it.

The world that surrounds us is a swaying fragment of memory When I touch it, it's like I can hear you, I wish you could tell me

Keep in mind that this is Sora's world, the memories are his. When he touches one of his memories, he feels like he can hear one of the members of Switch.

The next lines are actually heart-wrenching to dive deep about, even if you don't know the context behind it all:

A beautiful dream that you told me that day I've already forgotten about it now You're already yourself there's nothing I'm worried about

Let it be known that the first line, "A beautiful dream that you told me that day," is sung by both Natsume and Tsumugi, telling Sora that he has told them something before, to which he responds, "I've already forgotten about it now." Natsume then responds, "You're already yourself" or "You're your own person" in other translations. Let's take these one by one. Sora has told Natsume and Tsumugi about his dream before, and the two then tried to let him remember it, but Sora responded he doesn't remember it anymore. Natsume responded to him with "You're your own person (now)." However, this is immediately followed by "There's nothing to worry about."

This entails that Natsume (and Tsumugi by extension) have seen how much Sora has grown, to the point that he has already forgotten about a dream he had (we will come back to this in a second). Even though he has forgotten this dream, Sora became his own now, which Natsume is proud of, reassuring him that "there's nothing to worry about it."

Even if one day it may seem like nothing but a dream The sleeping fragments of memory will remain there in your heart If you have trouble finding them, come and see me Connect them and paint a new layer

The basic meaning of this stanza without any connection with any prior lines is even though everything feels like a dream (specifically a short-lived dream), the fragments or the traces of the memory will always be inside them. When in times they couldn't find themselves, they should seek guidance to connect them and bring them in a new light or make them better or change it (in reference to "painting a new layer").

Honestly, that doesn't boil anything down to any simpler terms, so in order for me to clearly state the meaning of this line, let's take another line from the song.

This world that we've chosen, the fragments of memory that come and go If we recognize each other Our days will become even more wonderful

This stanza of the song basically confirms that the fragments are from Sora's and Tsumugi and Natsume is in the fragments, especially with the line "If we recognize each other, our days will become even more wonderful." This is a reference to how Sora desires for Switch to be together (if you want a deeper dive on this King of Thieves scout story is a good way to start!) It's not really in terms of recognizing each other, but it's apparent with Sora that he hates it when Switch, especially Natsume and Tsumugi get into misunderstandings, especially with their "colors" change. With the previous line being "the fragments of memory that come and go", meaning every day in Sora's life, he wants Switch to be together and he wants these specific fragments of memories.

You know, I have a dream I want to tell you about. It continues out into the sky, far far away, like a line being drawn Never stop dreaming and never give up on anything...

When I said we will come back to the dream Sora "forgotten" about earlier, we will come back with him telling the first line, "You know, I have a dream I want to tell you about."

This is just my interpretation (everything about this post is my interpretation, so please feel free to say something that I missed or got wrong), but since this line is after the prior lines, it might be referring to how Natsume and Tsumugi have helped him to remember his dream or reconnect with them. This is also heavily backed up that this is from past to future order with these lyrics:

A continuation of the past is waiting in the future Today I will show you it

A continuation of the past dream for the future that they will do in the present.

Let's go back to the chorus of the song:

Even if one day it may seem like nothing but a dream The sleeping fragments of memory will remain there in your heart If you have trouble finding them, come and see me Connect them and paint a new layer

The chorus of the song could be explained in simple terms: If things don't seem true or things might be confusing, the desire will still always stay in your heart. And if you have lost yourself, you could find us, we will connect these desires and memories and make them even better.

With that in mind, putting ALL of what I have blabbered about in this whole analysis in Switch terms:

It is implied that Sora is lost, even from the start he told us that he could hear them from his memories, and telling "I want you to tell me" is basically a term asking for guidance. Sora has forgotten about the dream he once told to Natsume and Tsumugi, may it be Switch being recognized or finally bringing the magic of Switch to everyone (or anything). Natsume and Tsumugi then reassure him even though he has forgotten the dream, or even if everything feels confusing or like a dream, the sleeping fragments (or the hidden memories or desires that are waiting to be awakened), are always in his heart. They will help Sora to find them if he can't, connect them, and make them better for Sora. Once they did connect, Sora finally found himself or this dream that continues on, telling himself to never stop dreaming and never give up on anything. It's a continuation of what Sora has desired before through the present, where Natsume and Tsumugi are helping him, up to the future of himself and Switch.

Adding onto this, the dream that they might be saying here couldn't be the literal sense of Sora's dream, however, it fits as well, but what he really is or what he desires. It actually makes sense how Natsume told him, "You're your own person" meaning Sora has grown already. However, the thing that Sora lost was integral to him, even tho Natsume (and Tsumugi) were proud that he was growing up. Even the last line emphasizes how important this dream was or whatever Sora lost:

Embrace the fragments of your memories...

It's telling to hold on tight to these memories, as even when we grow older, these dreams are what shaped us throughout the years.

#switch #omoi no kakera #sora harukawa #natsume sakasaki #tsumugi aoba #ensemble stars #enstars #song analysis #enstars songs #enstars song analysis

[restlesscrybaby]

Omg hii!!! I absolutely love your Jack Horner x Menace Reader content and how you write it!!! 😭😭💓

Could you perhaps make a Jack Horner x Mischievous Reader that loves to bite? I think it would be super fun to see how Jack reacts to a s/o that tries to bite him no matter what lol.

Ty!!!

GRAAH I LOCE THIS!! Mischievous little things <33 and I love to bite so teehee!! I wrote this while tired as well, so it's a little rushed and more 'headcanon-y' I'd say! I do apologize

~ JACK HORNER X MISCHIEVOUS! READER ~

~ 'LOVES TO BITE' HCS. ~

~ 'Chew you up, spit you out,' ~

☆ CONTENT WARNING : None. ☆

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Cheeky.

That's what Jack would describe you as.

A cheeky little bastard.

He sat in his office, at his desk. He studied a book, a large pointer finger dipping towards a paragraph, a certain line, something was clicking, something important, he needed to find a way to-..

...

And he lost it.

Anger and frustration radiated off of him, almost in sickening rays.

...

Of course, you were in there with him, he liked to make sure to have his eye on you. Just..

A matter of safety .

However, how his arm flexed, as his palm slapped against his face, covering his eyes as he let out a pained sigh,

You could practically see how chewy his arm was.

...

Plus, biting WAS a love language. He couldn't get mad at you...

...

Just one bite..

You snaked over, tediously sliding as he used his other hand, gripping the front cover of the book and slamming it upon the worn-down pages, probsbly from ages of existing. How could he forget so easily,

I mean, yes, he can forget but, that easy? Come on. Only a fool would do that.

...

Yes. And only a fool would not pay attention to their lover.

You bent over, just a tad, going towards his upper arm...

You lowered your bottom jaw, letting your teeth open to the wind of the cold office room he deemed his 'trophy room'...

You shot your head forward, as you forced your jaw shut upon his upper arm, that was full of muscle and fat.

What tHE HELL--

He screeched, his hand that originally covered his eyes had suddenly slammed upon the oak desk, some papers fluttering out of place from the harsh smacked.

Angry coiled onto his face like an angry python wrapping around your neck, as his head snapped to look at you. Eyes wide, brows raised, lips pursed and uneven teeth showing.

He questioned you, as you gently teethed upon tje leather fabric, trying to get towards his arm. Your pupils moved, as you locked eyes with him.

A sheepish grin curled upon your lips.

He used his other hand, as he placed it upon your forehead. His arm flexed, as he pushed you off with might.

You, obviously, fell down upon the push.

...

And, obviously, he was pissed.

Yet, this wasn't the end of it.

When cooking, you'd bite.

When eating, you'd bite.

When writing, you'd bite.

When showering together, you'd bite.

He always got angry. Also stumbling back slightly and angrily shooting him arms up, only to push you off with the might of an angry God casting hell upon his subjects.

...

He got used to it, eventually,

When he'd feel your strong jaw clamp down upon his hands or arms, he wouldn't flailxor even shove you off anymore.

Instead, he'd only wince in surprise.

But, always,

And I mean,

Always,

Roll his eyes and keep doing what he had too.

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

~ 'That's what life is all about.' ~

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

SURRY RHIS IS RUSHED AND SHORT I WAS EEPU WHEN ERITING

#big jack horner #jack horner #puss in boots the last wish #puss in boots #jack horner x reader #jack horner is so bbg #big jack horner x reader

[lowkeyclueless5137]

uhhh can I still ask for Riddle and or Idia be given the Four Sword somehow. The sword that can split the wielder into four aka FOUR RIDDLES AND OR IDIAS :D

So I went on google to research :'3

Found 2 interesting things.

This logo that looks like Idia's tablet logo

2. This paragraph on the sword abilities

dunno anything about Zelda games, but damn this was a miss

I bring these up, bc the first one seemed funny. The other one is something that I would like to actually use if we are gonna hypothetically gib these 2 the sword.

Now for the cases:

Riddle's case:

If he came to have the 4 sword, it would be Ace's nightmare. The 3 different Riddles I think would split from the original would be his most proeminent emotions. Riddle is a very emotional guy at the base, so I see the sword splitting that up in 3.

The 3 emotions I would think of are:

Anger(pray for Ace :'3)-in an orange-y fire palette. He has a much stronger attack than og Riddle, but his defence is little to none. His name would be Ro.

Sadness(this one doesn't do a lot since he cries so much)-Blue all the way for this one. His gimmick is that he's great at escaping and pushing away enemies, more versatile in situations that require terrain use. For the name, I fell on Remi.

Love(be it platonic or romantic, this one is a cuddlebug)- Very barbie-pink in terms of palette. This one is set on protecting everyone. not the best attacks, but an impeccable defense. As a name, his given one would be Riri, bc it sounds cute. :'3

Of course, being clones, they are dissapearing when og Riddle runs out of energy, but they are meant to complement each other and as such, making the og actually the versatile one.

For interactions, I see that Ro is very set on beating Ace up. Remi is just sitting in a corner and being all gloomy and sad, thus no one can actually do smth about it. And Riri is the peace-maker for either the Riddles or other people. He has that nice way of expressing affection, ya know. :v

Idia's case:

I bolded in Riddle's case that he gets split by emotions. Well, It's important here, bc unlike Riddle, Idia's clones resemble stages of his own life in terms of mentality. Baiscally, Idia's 3 clones are split by Idia's different views along time. Thus we have another kind of chaos, since these 4 can't see eye to eye enymore.

The 3 views I thought of are:

Innocence(the only happy guy I guess :'3)- This one stems from before the incident, thus is an Idia who always wants to go on adventures. A bit rushed, but he has the spirit, ya know? :'3 His primary collor would be bright purples, while his name would be Idy, bc if u know, u know U-Ub

Denial/Delusion(oh this one is difficult)- post the incident, thus this one is used to dissassociate and always deny bad things. For him, nothing bad ever happens, because he doesn't want to admit it. For a name, I came up with Ei, because it's short. Along that, his colors are always in tones of grey, despite his very 'outgoing' personality :v

Uncaring/Feral(a personal favorite)- Filter? wut that? This one has absolutely no shame or self preservation. Want to burn the school down? He's already doing it. A menace and he knows it. He just doesn't care about outside opinions anymore. WILL BITE TOO. Unlike the other 2, this one has different shades of green and even warpaint marks on face, bc why tf not??? He was names Dante, but everyone also reffers to him as public enemy no.1.

Ortho is always protected by every version of Idia. Althrough, the Idias themselves have a hard time getting a point across or getting to an agreement. They only agree on smth when it's for Ortho's sake. :'3

#asks :3 #twisted wonderland #twst riddle #twst idia #Can we all agree that this kind of trope always ends up in chaos? #Like it's not an uncommon trope for X to get split into clones... but the sword thing is new :v #still a fun trope... not my personal fav... but enjoyable #Actually is quite fun to think of it as like... getting out of the comfy zone for a bit :v