#I swear they all share half of a brain cell

[call-me-maggie13]

I’m bored and the guys at work are being goofy so here’s a list of no context things I’ve heard from The Boys™ recently.

“Call me a fake lesbian but I don’t really like girl in red. Clairo? Love. WILLOW? Besties. Hayley Kiyoko? Lesbian Jesus. But Girl in Red and I don’t really vibe. Sorry.”

“Maybe I’m losing my mind, but I wanna bite that truck.”

“Aye, watch your language.” “Will it do a flip?” “What?” “Watch it’s gunna do a flip!” [flips manager off]

“Have y’all heard about the Zuckerberg V. Musk fight? Okay let’s debate. Kanye or Swift, who would win? Actually. That wouldn’t be fair, Kanye never stood a chance. Okay. Obama or Trump? Fists only, no weapons.”

“Do you ever wonder if grass can feel? Like. What if it screams on a frequency I can’t hear every time I step on it? What if the fresh mowed grass smell is actually grass tears and blood?”

“I know we all agreed, but…”

“If lightning struck me right now, would y’all try to save me?”

“Sometimes I’m like ‘Hozier is a god.’ And sometimes I’m like ‘Hozier is just some guy.’”

“Someone threw away a black American Express card. Can I keep it? It’s not expired.”

“I’m not allowed to set off fireworks anymore. It’s not my fault I didn’t know they were actual explosions that could burn a house down. No, this wasn’t when I was a kid, this was like three months ago.”

“What do you think the sky tastes like?”

“When I was twelve, my mom hit me with her car backing out of the driveway and she didn’t even take me to the hospital. I think I broke my arm and I’m pretty sure that’s why my wrist does this. [shows wrist making clicking noise when he rolls it]”

“Okay. But. What if. Nope wait, I think that’s illegal.”

“God customers are stupid. Are you closed?? No lady, the sign says we’re closed because we’re open. It makes me want to eat a car battery.”

“If you could only eat one bug for the rest of your life, what would it be?”

“What are y’all’s opinions on potato flavored chewing gum?”

“Can I start bringing my dog to work?”

“Can I break this? I know it’s already broken, I want to break it more.”

“I’m a simple man. I like when things go boom. That doesn’t mean I started the fire.”

“Sometimes I like to take a bath and pretend I’m a little potato getting boiled to make some mashed potatoes.”

“Why can’t I be a duck? Why do I have to be a person?”

“But if I just punch him in the face, I don’t have to worry about him being mean anymore.”

“Maggie. Maggie. Maggie. Maggie. Maggie. Maggie. Maggie. Mag - okay I’m bored now.”

“If I was a rock, I think I’d be a big blue smooth shiny rock. What rock would you be?”

“I have an announcement to make. Stalactites and stalagmites. That is all. Carry on.”

“Sorry, was that gay?”

“I think being an adult is all about being nice to yourself. And taxes, maybe.”

“Why does the dirt over here taste saltier than the dirt by the flowers?”

“No. If I’m not asking him about Taylor Swift, what makes you think I’d ask him about Gracie Abrams?”

“Can I make a list of everyone’s red flags?” “Only if you list their green flags too.”

“I had to change your contact name to Charles. I don’t know why Charles, I just panicked and picked the first name I could think of.”

“Sometimes I forget she’s your mom.” “She’s not my mom. Do you think she’s my mom?” “Not anymore.”

“God. Everyone wants to be Donna but no one wants to be Rachel. No one is Donna except Donna. Everyone else is Rachel. Or they’re Harold.” (Someone please tell me what this means, I have no idea what he’s talking about)

“Why do crickets taste like that?”

“Oh to be a silly little horse in a silly little field being taken care of by a silly little person I could crush like a bug beneath my silly little hooves.”

“Tell me more, tell me more, like does he have a car?”

“The world went to hell when autopsies started testing for poison. Women just can’t poison their husbands anymore. That was the true beginning of the downfall of society.”

“What happens if someone asks to take their motorcycle through the carwash?”

“You don’t have to file customer complaints if you eat the paper they’re written on.”

“And if I said I still haven’t forgiven John Wilkes Booth, what would you say?”

“I don’t say this lightly, but the Pedro Pascual edits on tiktok have confused me sexually.”

“I just pulled a dead bird out of some guy’s grill. Anyone hungry?”

“Taylor Swift might have forgiven him but that doesn’t mean I have to!”

“Why aren’t we allowed to have a company pet? Firefighters get Dalmatians, we should be allowed like. A fish or something.”

“I dreamt that I came to work yesterday and worked an entire shift, is there any way I can get that added to my pay?”

“My girlfriend is mad at me because I keep playing I’m Just Ken and telling her she’s Kenough.”

“Can we close early on October the thirteenth? Oh, no reason… On a completely unrelated note: what should I wear to the Eras Tour movie?”

“If my grandmother confessed to murdering my grandfather but it happened in like the eighties, do I have to report it? Hypothetically, of course.”

“Sometimes a man just needs to cry to mirrorball and tolerate it in his car. Sometimes he just needs to scream Death by A Thousand Cuts. Sometimes…”

“I accidentally just called a customer Mom and she gave me her phone number, what do I do?”

“It’s only blasphemy if you get caught. Do you really think God has time to listen to everything every single person says?”

“Sometimes I wish I was a woman but then I remember this is America and I thank the stars that I’m not. Sorry, Maggie.”

“Why is it so hard to find a stupidly rich woman searching for a trophy husband?”

“Do you think I could walk through the carwash instead of taking a shower?”

[after a guy’s day off] “I missed you guys yesterday. I wish I never had to leave.”

“My sister told me I was adopted and my mom got mad because she wasn’t supposed to but like. My parents are white. I’m black. I already knew.”

“I just had a child quote Revelations at me because I told him he shouldn’t drink the glass cleaner.”

“I forgot my shoes. Also, I just stepped in glass in the parking lot, someone should really clean that up.”

“I think everyone should be allowed to kill someone if they have a really good reason. I would kill the guy that called my sister a bitch because she didn’t want to sleep with him. Who would you kill?”

“Is… is that… not… normal?” [hint: it was not.]

“I stand with Sansa - I mean Sophie Turner.”

“I still don’t understand why I’m not allowed to punch customers in the mouth for being assholes to Maggie and Dru.”

“What kind of tree do you think I am?”

“Apparently I was supposed to listen to the new Olivia Rodrigo album with my girlfriend and now she’s upset with me for listening to it with y’all first.”

“Every night, I go to sleep and every morning, I wake up. How do I stop this cycle?”

#I work with men #boys at work #the guys #boys will be boys #boys will be bugs #boys will be Barbie #these guys #they’re so silly #my boss has also started calling me Magnolia River Blossom when I fuck up #that is not fun #I swear they all share half of a brain cell #I swear I never know what they’re going to say #I love my job #barbie 2023 #barbie movie #barbie #Taylor swift #taylor swift eras #eras Taylor swift #guts olivia rodrigo #olivia rodrigo

[techniiciian]

sometimes, matt can be so oblivious to his heart that he wont realize the truth until he’s laying down next to the person he’s grown old with, shared a bed with, and lived through so many adventures with that maybe, just maybe, they’ve been more than friends this entire time.

#( other times matt catches feelings early on and knows it’s love ) #( half the time matt just thinks ‘wow are are really good really close friends’ ) #( sometimes he gets it and sometimes he don’t ) #( looking @ u nev ) #( what’s worse than one dumb boy ) #( two dumb boys ) #( and these dumb boys are so painfully a couple & everyone else but them can see it ) #( matt vc: we tell each other we ‘i love you’ at least once a day and kiss on the mouth . wow we’re such good friends ) #( AND WHATS WORSE IS NEV IS EXACTLY THE SAME ) #( NEITHER ONE OF THEM CAN RECONGIZE THAT THEY ARE MADLY IN LOVE WITH EACH OTHER ) #( matt vc: i can’t wait to grow old with nev . i bet we’ll be the cutest best friends ) #( SIR YOU ARE ALL BUT LEGALLY MARRIED ) #( what do you mean ur just best friends ) #( YOU CAN BE MORE THAN FRIENDS ) #( matt vc: i wish i had a boyfriend but at least i have nev . the man i cuddle in bed with every night and wake up to every morning ) #( i swear to god ) #( PLS MATT YOU CANT BE THIS UNAWARE ) #( i will say this is a special case ONLY because both nev & matt share one brain cell ) #( so if you think matt is bad then look at nev and know it’s the same ) #( both of them complain about not having boyfriends while they’re holding hands at the aquarium ) #( idiots dumb dumb idiots ) #( i love them so much )

[i984]

Sweet Words Make a Lovely Shade | Part 1

|Pairing|: Wednesday Addams x gender neutral reader.

|Warnings|: Ooc! Wednesday Addams, mentions of gore, Wednesday being uncharacteristically tame, reader likes to test boundaries, Wednesday gives bone-breaking hugs, no beta; we die like my brain cells.

|Summary|: You test your luck by putting Wednesday Addams in a compliment jail. 

|Word count|: 2.7k words

|A/n|: I ended up not changing a thing. I took some liberty with your request 💡anon, hope you still enjoy it! | Part 2 is available in my masterlist.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

Love  

It does wonders for a person. 

And for you? Well, it makes you spew the utmost revolting, foolish, and absurd things out of your mouth—Wednesday's words, not yours. You think it's her way of saying she likes the compliments you practically shower her with. 

At first, you didn't even realize you were doing it. You could be sitting next to the raven-haired girl in class, having some lunch together, reading books in the library, or on your occasional walks around town, and you only have one single recurring thought that you can't seem to get out of your mind; 

Wednesday Addams—your precious sadistic little girlfriend—is so pretty.  

And not to be shallow or anything; after all, you like her for many different things. Her intelligence, wittiness, and her I-don't-give-a-fuck attitude. Her obsession with everything macabre, the monochromic-colored outfits that perfectly suit her, and the way she uses words you can't even begin to comprehend half the time. 

But then there's the way her hair has that lustrous glow, and then the rare grin she cracks when it's just the two of you, the constant little pout in her lips, and don't even start about her plump dark burgundy lips; Oh, you wanna kiss her-  

"-so bad," you mumbled out absent-mindedly, and Wednesday slowly looked up from her double cap—mouth gaping slightly at the suddenness of your words—her eyes blinking rapidly at you.  

"Oh- no no no I was just thinking and I got distracted because your lips look SO pretty!" Your voice was louder than you had intended for it to be, and you quickly covered your mouth—a pointless act as the slip-up had already been done. 

Wednesday only spared you a sharp glare before standing up from your shared sofa booth, already heading towards the Cafe entrance. Before you can even explain yourself, she had already bolted out, leaving you and her double cap behind. 

You know that Wednesday is not big on PDAs; soft kisses and gentle touches are reserved for private quarters. And even then, you can tell that her moves are calculated—afraid of doing too much that she'd find herself in a compromising position. 

But you didn't miss the darkening of her freckle-painted cheeks as she snuck a peek at your figure from outside Weathervane, and that's when you realized; 

Oh.  

Well, this is gonna be fun. 

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

You walk to your dorm room with a dopey grin on your face, recounting the things that happened earlier.  

You've figured it all out. Wednesday might act like she isn't affected by other people's words and opinions about her—and in most cases, this is true—except when it comes from you.  

She caught you wearing a hoodie of hers? Now you have three more in your closet. You respond a beat late to some disputable thing she mentions? She immediately apologized for being insensitive and asked your take on the subject. You told her that she looked good in that checkered sweater? Now she wears the piece of garment all the time. Ask her to binge-watch all 10 seasons of My Little Pony with you? It would give her nightmares for weeks, yes, but absolutely.  

You quickly realize that you're one of the few people lucky enough to have Wednesday tolerate you to a certain degree. So you do the obvious—run after Wednesday after leaving some money on the table, and then shout at the top of your lungs, "I LIKE YOUR LIPS WEDNESDAY ADDAMS"  

You swear to God, you've never seen someone bolt out of your view so quickly. She didn't even spare a single disapproving glance at you—on normal occasions she would—but now, as people stop in their tracks to see who your words are pointed to, she's gone, nowhere to be seen.  

It's cute, how much she's affected by your words. And that's why, as you open your dorm room door, you walk straight to your thinking desk past a figure, planning to come up with new ways to fluster your girlfriend. 

Wait. Past a figure? 

You turn your head to see Wednesday Addams standing still, looking daggers at you, and you know things are about to go down.  

You smile coyly at her while taking a seat. The raven-haired girl's gaze trails your every movement. She looks almost predatory in this state. Like she's about to tear you apart to shreds. 

You hold your head high as you speak, "Is something wrong, Wens?" A pet name. You've heard Wednesday made it clear time and time again to Enid that she was against pet names. And you've never called her one before. But you're willing to gamble your life this time just to see how far she would tolerate you. 

So you maintain your perfect facade, and it was all worth it as you see Wednesday's eyes widen at the morbidity of your words—the good kind, you'd assume—and you saw her mouth open and close a couple of times, trying to say something deprecating and failing acutely.  

She stands awkwardly like that for a moment; her hands making little gestures as if she was trying to make a point while maintaining her look of utter disbelief at your behavior. 

You figured if you didn't egg on her a little more, she wouldn't let her guard down, so you decided to turn your back on her and pulled out a book to read. 

"What are you doing?" You can hear the stress in her words. You can picture her look right now; her jaw clenched, teeth gritted, brows furrowed in dismay. 

"I'm reading a book, as you can see with those pretty brown eyes of yours." You flipped a few pages, eyes tracing along the shape of letters and words, not really paying any mind to the actual content. 

"All right then," exasperation is evident in her voice, and you have to fight yourself from snickering at the situation. 

You've always been very careful around Wednesday, trying not to agitate her into giving you snarky comments—she still gives them nonetheless, and you find it amusing as time goes by—but curiously, she's not giving you any at the moment. And if you are to guess, it's probably because she physically can't bash you for your words. Not when she's fighting for her life with feelings she refuses to acknowledge most of the time. 

You hear her footsteps grow distant—she's heading for the door, you figured—and you don't even bother to look up as you say, "Come back soon, tesoro,"  

The sound of footsteps ceased. 

"Are you really going to keep doing this?" You can tell by Wednesday's voice that she is trying so hard not to burst at your display—you were never like this after all—from rage or the compliments, you don't know. But you figure you'll find out if you pick the right words. 

"Keep doing what, Wens?" You spin in your chair to her, your voice dripping with honey, with faux innocence. You can see her face turn colors into one of carnation, her lips thinning into a line as she tears her gaze apart from you. 

"You. Know. What." Wednesday strains every word, her tone is low as if to intimidate you, but you know the ball is in your court. 

"What? Telling you how pretty your lips are? In front of a lot of people? 

"Yes, exactly-" 

"And that I wanna kiss those lips of yours so badly? Dark plump lips like yours are my favorite, by the way," you look at her in the eyes as you speak, and you let your gaze trail down her face, and Wednesday fidgets with the hem of her top. 

"Oh wait, actually, you are my favorite." 

Wednesday glares at you—an act that usually works with Enid and everyone else when she wants to avoid certain conversations—but you are unfazed. You have her exactly where you want right now, and judging by the absence of a knife in her hand, you're going to assume that she's more than okay with what you're doing.  

"But wait. Oh. Is this about the fact that I know you blushed so hard when I complimented you? Every single time, did you notice that?" You stood up from your seat, throwing the book atop your desk.  

"I know you like it, Wens," you smirked, the nickname easily sliding out your tongue the more you said it, "I know you like me."  

"Oh, you are so full of yourself-" 

"You know what else I like? The way your pout grows bigger—as we're speaking right now, yes," and you see her face growing a scowl as you take a step closer towards her, "and now you're clenching your jaw slightly, god, you look so cute doing that."  

"I do not look cute, and if you cut my words off-" 

"Do you know that your micro facial expressions are probably the most adorable thing I ever get to witness?" 

"-again, I will cut your tongue and force-feed it to you."  

You ignore your girlfriend's words, continuing the torture you've devised for her. "No, not probably. Definitely the most adorable thing ever."  

A broad grin sprouted on your face, the one Wednesday always calls 'the idiotic grin' but you know she secretly likes it, and you can't be happier right now. You're experiencing a power trip; adrenaline rushing through you to continue your teasing despite the possibility of being mute in the future. 

"And that? Right there. Just now. The way you just announce dangerous threats? And sometimes about people's demise? Now, that is attractive."  

Wednesday decided that she's had enough of your antics. Her hand reaches for the doorknob, and you trail after her out of your dormitory. 

"Do not follow me," Wednesday hushed, and you walk beside her trying to catch up as she seems to speed up her pace.  

"I'm not following you, we just happen to be walking in the same direction- Oh, hi Bianca!" You see the girl waving back at you as you both walk through the quad; Wednesday did not acknowledge Bianca's presence as usual. 

"Oh yeah, that reminds me. Remember when you totally beat the shit out of Bianca in that oral test last week? That is also incredibly attractive."  

Wednesday seemed to pay no mind as you continued your horrible strings of compliments, except for the fact that she's practically running through the corridors right now, embarrassed of being caught blushing by any of her peers. 

You know that at this point, you're threading a thin line between her turning into putty at your words or her leading you to a grave site, ready to smash your head with a rock once you get there. 

Well, she's heading towards Ophelia Hall now, so it's safe to say you won't be visiting the realms of the dead today. 

"It would be wise for you to quit whatever skulduggery you're doing if you don't want me to slice your head off at fencing class-," 

You raise your hand in mock defeat at her words, and you can see Wednesday's knuckles turn white in a fist as she continued her words, "-which will start in a couple of hours. So, leave me-" 

"Oh yeah, that got me thinking of how good you look when fencing. I mean, there's a reason why I never ever spar with you during class."  

"Yes, and it is your remarkable ineptitude in the sport." 

You shoot her a look of false hurt at her words, "How dare you- Well. I mean yes, but also have you seen yourself?" You speak out of breath, your legs slowly catching up with Wednesday's pace.  

"Yes, of course. I've been staring at a mirror in the middle of my sparring," Wednesday rolls her eyes at you, "and that's why I've been on a losing-" at this, you can see Wednesday practically seethe in anger as she chokes the word out, "-streak against Bianca Barclay."  

"No, silly, it's because I would be in complete awe," you decided not to comment further on the sore issue, opting to clear out the tension with—yes you guessed it—more compliments.  

"I mean, the all-black outfit? Your menacing strikes and your calculated steps, not to mention your disheveled hair and the concentrated look on your face?" You clasp your hand in front of your chest, eyes looking up dreamily at the memory, while the girl beside you scoffed in irritation. 

You're now at Ophelia Hall, and Wednesday continues her brisk walk toward her shared dorm room. You don't have much time left if you want to break her composed demeanor. 

"And yes, if I sparred with you, the exact situation you mentioned earlier would've happened. My head sliced off the very first second into the spar." 

"And I'd assume you wouldn't want that. So don't make me do it." 

"Quite the contrary, I wouldn't mind. I bet dying by such skillful hands would be an amazing experience." 

You can see the door now. Wednesday knows this as well. If she gets inside and locks you out, maybe you'll shut up and spare her from the torture that makes her gut feel like it's ripping her apart from the inside. 

"What do you think of adding my head as a mount on your room's wall? I'm sure Thing would appreciate the addition of another dismembered body part in the room." 

If Wednesday wasn't agitated before, she definitely is now. As she opens the door to her dorm room and turns her body to you, you can see that not only are her cheeks of blossoming color, the tips of her nose and ears are as well! It's as if this is the first time blood has rushed to her face, and you'd argue that she looks dangerously magnificent like this; face sneering but eyes unable to maintain eye contact with you. 

She spared you only a short pointed glare, before closing the door to your face. You can hear her voice ring moments later, "Stop pestering me on my writing time or I will take you up on that offer. If you decide to omit my warning, make sure you say something adequate, as I will personally make sure it will be written on your gravestone as your last words."  

Her threats have never felt so empty, not with her obviously shaky voice—not when you know she's staring at her typing paper blankly right now, unable to type a single word as you can't hear any clacking sound of the machine's keys. 

The gears in your mind turn at an insane speed, and with the bravado only you possess, you belt your next words for the whole dormitory to hear,  

"I AM CRAZY FOR YOU, WEDNESDAY ADDAMS!" 

There was only silence. Then, you hear the rapid clickety-clack of your girlfriend's shoes, and you jump backward when Wednesday yanked the door open. 

This is it, you thought.  

You had been too cocky, thinking that you could get away with harassing the raven-haired girl—if compliments can be considered harassment, that is—and now you're going to pay the price. In the most gruesome way imaginable, if you know anything about your girlfriend. 

Wednesday storms at you, and before you can even try to escape, you feel her arms wrapped strongly around your figure in a death grip. She's about to tackle you to death, and you brace yourself for the upcoming impact- 

-that never comes? Her arms just stay there, her head buried against your chest, and you are at a loss for words. 

It's unfair, how easily she makes you feel flustered. You've been trying to get a reaction out of her all this time, and she barely cracks. But now as she hugs you, you practically melt into her embrace; your mischievous agenda is long forgotten. 

When you regain your senses, you take a breath— about to comment on the situation before she cuts you off with a; 

"Shut up. I hate you."  

You smirk at her words before sighing in contentment, eyes closing as you soak in the rare moment, "I love you too." 

"But I will never shut up about this- OW-" 

Wednesday left you rolling on the floor in pain after landing a punch in your guts. 

"Now, you will."

#wednesday addams x reader #wednesday addams x you #wednesday addams fanfic #wednesday addams imagine #jenna ortega x reader #wednesday series #wednesday x reader #wednesday addams

[miekasa]

What would satoru do in his son first's day of elementary school? I bet he would be crying in the car with Ijichi cause his baby is growing so fast :(

Satoru doesn’t cry when he’s dropping of his son. He takes way too many pictures and holds him for way too long—physically, in his arms, even as he’s made his way into the classroom, Satoru doesn’t want to set him down; walks around the whole room pointing out cool things, but it’s just to stall, just to keep his baby boy with him for as long as he can. He doesn’t cry or make a scene when it’s time to leave, other than give your son many many many kisses and tell him to have a super awesome day so he can hear about it later. He’s awfully cool, he’s smiling, your son is smiling, the teachers are smiling, hell even some of the other kids come up to Satoru because they always want a first day of school congratulatory fist bump. He’s Satoru—he’s the coolest in the room, and he keeps it together.

The second you’re off of school grounds though, he’s a mess. He freezes the second he sits down in the car. He doesn’t blink, he doesn’t move, he doesn’t even breathe when it finally hits him that he just dropped his kid off at school. That he’s old enough to be at school. Not daycare for half a day—this is school, it’s going to be eight whole hours before Satoru sees him again and his world physically stops. Ijichi asks him if he’s okay, and that’s when Satoru snaps out of it. He feels like crying, but he doesn’t; he doesn’t mask that he’s not really okay, for once, either. Ijichi can tell, and offers what comfort he can.

Satoru really loses it when he comes home. It’s quiet. It’s empty. There are not little footsteps, no bowls clanking together, no animated kids series playing on the TV, not even a stray stuffed animal. Only when he gets to the kitchen and sees those few spare cheese cubes that didn’t make it into his lunchbox is when Satoru really starts crying. His thoughts aren’t logical when he calls you to weep—“But—but, it’s the Muenster cheese he really likes and now he won’t have a balanced lunch and then he’ll be cranky and he won’t nap, and he might wake up the others and—oh, god, will he have enough energy to make it through the day? Baby, I have to—we should go give him more cheese. What if he wants more and he can’t have any because I’m not there for him and—”

And that fear of not being there for his son comes spiraling out and Satoru can’t stop it, and you have to remind him that it’s okay—that he’s Satoru’s son and he’ll always be okay, and that, “You’ve done this before, yeah? Megumi was a little older, but he was hard to let him go—but he turned out just fine because he always had you, Satoru. He still does.” Satoru just nods his head through sniffles. You literally have to coach him out of his fear but it's just :( he just loves his baby and he wants to take care of him forever.

And even though your kid is old enough to go to school on his own, that night all three of you end up cuddled together in your bedroom. Satoru in the middle with you on his left, and your son practically on top of him on his right, and he wouldn't rather be anywhere else in the world rn :( (Getting them to let go of each other is even worse the next day; you swear they share a single (empathetic, but single still) brain cell and that's how Satoru sends his dramatic feelings down to your son).

#anonymous #satorus like... the parent that encourages overachieving but also hes gonna play hooky like.... twice a month LOL #like go kid whoooo!! u made the honor roll for math!! but also fuck school what do u say we ditch and get ice cream #hes just :( a lover!!! he loves you!! he loves your family!!!!! #ive said enough but also not enough i love love love him #satoru x reader #gojo x reader

[starberry-cupcake]

I come here with further updates on my gideon the ninth read as per the favorable responses in my previous shares . You asked for it, so you're gonna have to hear it (@lady-harrowhark maybe you'll have fun with this one)

previously, in gideon the ninth:

this happened

currently, having just finished chapter 29:

gideon had tea with the eighth

actually no, scratch that, gideon sat in a chair while mayonnaise uncle's hair got braided, they never got to the tea part

false advertising

mayonnaise uncle gave half info, as people seem to like doing here

duracell bunny nephew stepped up and called him out

good for him, actually

you go, duracell bunny nephew!

it's gonna end terribly for him, but we stan

gideon left that Situation and found teacher saying ominous things

gideon left that Other Situation and found regina george twin being intense with swords

chad came in and she bit him

I see a trend alert with these third necromancers and the biting

gideon left that Yet Another Situation and went to the ninth room

gideon proceeded to open the closet

gideon got brad pitt-ed in the movie seven, but instead of gwyneth paltrow's head it was protesilaus'

it's not gideon's best day

now, hear me out

I know how this will sound, but hear me out

I haven't read past this scene, I haven't started chapter 30, all I know is she found the box

but hear me out here

just, just listen

hear me out

I still blame dulcinea

no, no, come back, I have a theory

I don't trust her, she's shady, she's too suspiciously fake kind, she's desperate and she has mentioned wanting gideon as a cavalier

I think it was back when gideon was turned into a blood sprinkler during the whole temple run key second trial thingy

or maybe later, after jeannemary left the mortal plain, but she said it at some point

and gideon has told harrow she wants her to free her to be dulcinea's cavalier

which, over my dead body

or maybe not, people here are dropping like flies, but anyway

dulcinea knows things others don't seem to know

she says things that gideon doesn't follow up on because she's horny and dense (affectionately)

I don't trust dulcinea

in case that wasn't clear

so what if

hear me out

seriously, I swear I have a point

what if harrow was set up?????

no, no, come back, listen, listen

gideon said something like the box wasn't well hidden

and I doubt very very very much that if harrowhark harrowldine harrowmina nonagesimus would have ended a bitch, she would have half-assed anything, much less the hiding

like, she'd either kill in plain sight and make a show of it or make it disappear and nobody would know

harrowhark harroweena harrowline nonagesimus pulled an edward and alphonse on her parents and only 3 people know she did

the entire system of these houses is unaware of that fact, as far as I know

so, if she wanted to hide a murder, I think, I hope, she would do better than this

also, keeping a head in a box doesn't seem her style, that's very haunted mansion and she's more halloween horror nights

so

what if she's been set up????

and gideon has like 3 brain cells working right now so she might fall for it??? hopefully not but maybe????

and side with my mortal enemy dulcinea instead?????

am I crazy????

am I too latina for this and seeing things???

is dulcinea the soraya montenegro of this story??? or is it me??? am I the drama???

this might all be absolute nonsense and in like 1 chapter I might be proven wrong but I don't trust dulcinea del toboso the seventh and I never will

if you pictured the always sunny meme while reading, that's the right energy I'm trying to share here

#luly reacts to tlt #tlt #gideon the ninth #the locked tomb #tlt spoilers #long post

[inoreuct]

zosan angst 👀 post whole cake island where zoro is mad for sanji not relying on him enough to help with his family drama. swears to become a better man for him. sanji thinks zoro is the ideal man (he’ll never tell him this though) and doesn’t have to deal with his family drama bc he can “solve it himself” they fight, their screams are heard by the whole ship who is all negatively effected by it. they come to the point of throwing punches (something sanji would never do outside of this intense monent). zoro grabs sanji by them shirt, gets sanji down on his knees, and is hitting him in the face. sanji stops hitting him back and breaks down crying, zoro sees this and stops being angry instantly.

“why can’t you just let me help you”, zoro wants to understand.

sanji’s sobs echo through the room his nose running with blood and tears, “ i never thought i was worthy of being saved.”

zoro’s eyes widen. sanji gasps out through tears, “im sorry”.

something breaks within zoro, he kneels to sanji’s level, and holds him tightly as he sobs into his neck

“i’m sorry too. you are worth more to me than you could ever think.”

zoro take’s sanji’s face into his rough calloused hands, wiping away the blood and tears, “let me me be there for you”.

i swear this prompt grabbed my brain cells and SPRINTED bcs this was slightly more than 1.6k words,,, thank you anon 🤭🤌🏼

Zoro catches a heel to the jaw, lets it whip his head to the side and rolls as he hits the deck. 

His blood is a metallic bloom in his mouth, rose-red as it splatters across the planks and drips from his chin. He’s half sure he just lost a tooth. He’s very sure he bit his tongue. 

He thinks he rather deserves this pain, even if he’s not exactly sure why.

It had started when they were back on the Sunny, after the whole shitshow on Whole Cake Island; Zoro had paced about the deck, strung tight as a tripwire, still itching with the urge to look over his shoulder and around the corners and unwilling to take his hand off Wado’s hilt.

He’d retreated to the men’s quarters alone, too wound up to seek out Sanji’s usual company as waited his turn for the shower and then scrubbed until his skin turned raw. He’d changed into clean clothes and lay down on his bed, put his hands behind his head, tried to breath in time with the gentle rocking of the ocean and found something still binding his lungs tight.

He was safe. They were safe. And yet, it had still felt like his skin was crawling. 

After tossing and turning for a good twenty minutes he’d given up trying to fall asleep and hauled himself out of bed, trudging to the galley for a glass (or a bottle, more like) of whatever liquor he could get his hands on. The ship had swayed as he’d grabbed a half-filled bottle of scotch, bumping the door shut properly with his hip because he knew Sanji was finicky about it.

He’d hesitated before going back to the shared cabin. His bed hadn’t been the only one empty, and there was cigarette smoke rising from the helm. 

Sanji had barely reacted when he’d settled beside the cook, elbows propped on the railing as he took a swig of his drink. It went down easy; everything Sanji had always did. Some nights Zoro found himself wishing for more of a burn if only to help him feel something. 

He’d eyed Sanji out of the edge of his vision, tongueing behind his canines as he noticed the way the cook’s hair was all over his face, more so than usual. Both his eyes— no, not his eyes, Zoro had realised. Both his eyebrows were covered—

And it had sunk in slowly, like a lead weight to the bottom of the ocean. 

“Why didn’t you tell me?” he’d muttered, half to the mouth of his bottle, and Sanji had sighed.

“What do you mean, marimo?”

“You know what I mean.”

And Sanji had. He’d tilted his head, taking in a bracing breath, lips pinched in something that was supposed to be a smile. “Not your battle to fight.”

“That’s bullshit and you know it,” Zoro had snarled, suddenly angry, and it made him dig his nails into the peeling paper label beneath his fingers. “You— We do this shit together, curly, that’s what we agreed—”

And Sanji had turned away silently, pushing off the railing and walking off to God knew where, and Zoro had grabbed his wrist before he’d realised what he was doing.

“Do you just not trust me?” he’d gritted, desperation sharpening his tongue, a little voice wailing in his head and sounding a bit too much like his younger self for his liking. 

Sanji had barked a laugh, burning his cigarette down to a stub in one long inhale. “Now that’s bullshit.”

“Then? What?” I’d do anything, is what he hadn’t said. Anything for you to let me in. Let me help. 

“It’s not your fight, alright? Just leave it.”

Zoro had wanted to scream, just a little. He’d been distantly aware that his grip was in danger of crushing the bottle but he hadn’t cared at all. Sanji had shoved him away when he hadn’t let the matter go (because how could he?), and he’d shoved back, and then it had escalated until they were fighting across the deck and now—

He snaps out of his head when Sanji screams, a ragged thing torn out of his chest, abandoning all reason to tackle him bodily to the ground. Zoro stumbles and hits the deck hard, pain flaring sharp as his elbow jams into the ground and a fist sinks into his gut. He’s snarling as he rolls them over, as he pins Sanji’s wrists to the ground and lets out a grunt when a kneecap catches him beneath the ribs.

“Why can’t you just stay out of it?!” Sanji yells, right in his face, hair a mess and eyes wilder than Zoro has ever seen up close.

He falters. Just for a moment, but it’s more than enough for Sanji to slip out of his grip and wriggle away, and the pit in his gut grows ever larger. “They hurt you! They were hurting you!” he roars, scrambling to his feet, and it rather feels like someone has a crushing hand wrapped around his heart.

“It doesn’t matter!” the cook cries, swinging a fist towards his face, and Zoro dodges. Sidesteps, slams a foot down behind Sanji’s kneecaps and slugs his knuckles across a pale cheek if only to snap Sanji out of whatever the fuck is going on, he raises his fist again and—

Freezes. Bile crawls up his throat as his heart sinks. Sanji’s eyes are wet, so blue they’re nearly glowing in the darkness, and Zoro is so, so tired. He vaguely registers the rest of the crew behind them and he angles his body to hide Sanji from view; he knows the cook would hate their nakama seeing him like this. The hand he has wrapped in Sanji’s collar loosens, falling away like fluttering paper, and he drops to his knees with a heavy thunk.

Sanji shudders, and Zoro feels sick. His — he doesn’t know what they are, but Sanji is his — cook’s cheekbone is already bruising, blooming purple-pink, and guilt sinks its claws into his stomach. “Why can’t you just let me help you?” he hears himself plead, breathless and choked, and Sanji smiles with blood across his teeth.

“Because I never thought I was worthy of being saved,” he whispers, looking down at his trembling hands. There are tears dripping off his chin now, luminous streaks down his face that suddenly looks haggard in the starlight. “And I never wanted you to see me like this.”

Zoro thinks he breaks. Shatters right apart like the bottle of scotch on the ground not far away from them, amber seeping sticky into the wood. He’d have to apologise to Franky later, he thinks a little wildly, throat tight and fingers numb as he reaches out to pull Sanji to him.

The cook goes slack like a puppet off strings, hiding his face in the crook of Zoro’s neck as he really starts to cry. Zoro sits back on his heels and takes his weight, cards a hand through his hair so that it doesn't stick because he knows that Sanji would make a fuss about it being all over his face later, and it’s these tiny, trivial things that wrench a hollow sound from his lungs. “There’s no such thing as it not being my fight, you hear me?” It comes out more watery that he likes, but the laugh-sob Sanji lets out tells him the message got across. “If it’s your fight, it’s my fight. I’m with you till the end no matter what happens.”

“It’s pathetic,” Sanji hiccups, shoulders hitching as he tries to get himself under control.

“No, it’s not.”

“I’m pa—”

“Don’t you dare finish that sentence,” Zoro hisses, at odds with the way he rubs a soothing palm over Sanji’s back. His knees are starting to hurt. He doesn’t care. “They hurt you. They put you through some fucked-up shit, cook, and then you had to go through it again. And you were strong enough to make it out but you— You could stand to give it a rest, alright?”

It’s times like this when he wishes he could be better with words, because Sanji looks a little like he might start crying all over again when Zoro takes a peek at his face. He presses his thumbs flat to wet skin, salt cooling in the night wind, dragging up along Sanji’s cheek as the cook sniffs. “Let me be there for you,” he rasps.

He feels like he’s been scraped raw from the inside out. Like someone had hollowed him out with a ladle and now his guts were spilling all across the deck. He doesn’t know how to describe the twisting in his chest when he thumbs rust-red iron away from Sanji’s bottom lip, regretfully cups the spill of colour spreading over the right side of his face. “Look at me?” he tries again, and Sanji does, fine lashes clumped with tears and inhale trembling. 

“I’m sorry,” he gasps, and Zoro is an open wound, raw and weeping as Sanji climbs into his lap and curls up into a ball. 

“You are worth so much. To the crew, to our friends—You’re worth more to me than you could ever know. So shut up and stop trying to deal with it alone,” he says in lieu of a reply, achingly quiet. He hopes it’s enough as Sanji digs lithe fingers into his shoulder. 

He welcomes the pain like an old friend. Bears it gladly, for if he could take all of Sanji’s he would. 

But he can’t— So he tries. Tries to be gentle, as much as he knows how, sits properly and folds his legs and rocks them back and forth because it helps Sanji’s breathing even out. Traces the spirals of his eyebrows and brushes his mouth over the bruise on his cheek, presses his silent apologies into skin.

Sanji’s spine bows beneath his hands, and the cook’s fingers are wound tight into the back of his shirt like it’s a lifeline. His pale hair tickles Zoro’s jaw, impossibly mussed and starting to curl with the sea air. Their crew is waiting. Worried, surely, but they can wait a little longer; Zoro will make it up to them.

For now, he thinks he and Sanji have earned this. 

fin.

#zosan #zosan fanfic #one piece zosan #zoro x sanji #ronoroa zoro #black leg sanji #vinsmoke sanji #this was so fun to write i’m ngl #one piece #one piece sanji #one piece zoro #about time i started angsting them #ask box #ino’s ask box

[popesgirlfriend]

Not Another Rebound

This is 3k words of me being in love with Pope :)

Warnings: there's a bit of angst and I swear a little bit, kissing, overuse of italics, and I think that's it

Note: Just wanted to write about my main man getting all the love he deserves. Still pretty new at this though. Shout out to @dreamingwithrafe for letting me talk about my boyfriend Pope, here's that fic I've been mentioning since forever lol

You’re blushing, you know you are, but you can’t help it. You and your friend, Kiara, were walking down the docks when she spotted her other friends, the pogues. She had stopped to talk to them but quickly got caught up in a side conversation with JJ and John B, leaving you alone with Pope. If it were anyone else, you’d be fine. But he had smiled at you and suddenly you couldn’t form a coherent thought. 

He was so fucking pretty, even prettier up close. You’re used to seeing him from afar at keggers with his friends, illuminated by the light of the bonfire. Or surfing at the beach, saltwater dripping down his toned chest. You’ve never been this close to him before and none of the cells in your brain are cooperating with you.  You can’t even make proper eye contact.

“Kie says you’ve been prepping for a scholarship interview, how’s that going?” you manage to ask. You’re still not quite making eye contact though. The boat you can see peaking over his shoulder is just so interesting.

“You and Kie talk about me?” he smiles at you. Christ. You start trying to defend yourself but the only thing that comes out is a bunch of half-formed words. You’ve never stuttered this much in your life. He just laughs, “Relax, Kie talks about you too.” He nudges your arm and goosebumps erupt all over your skin. In the middle of the day, on a hot day, in the Outer Banks. You’d be more embarrassed if you weren’t currently freaking out about him stepping closer. 

“The interview prep is kind of brutal actually,” he continues, “I feel like I’m stressing myself out more than anything else.”

“I’m sure you’ll do great. If anyone deserves that scholarship it's you,” you say. 

“You would know about that, wouldn’t you? Kie tells me you’re going to be valedictorian when you graduate from the Academy.”

You roll your eyes, discomfort fading as the conversation shifts to you, “Do not listen to anything she says. She exaggerates everything. I told her that this year the administration is deciding to let the student body choose the valedictorian for our graduating year. I have no  idea how she got that out of what I said.” 

“It’s probably because you’re exceptional. I can see you being valedictorian,” Pope nudges your arm again. 

“How would you know that? We’ve never talked before.”

“I just do.” Kie chooses that moment to pop back to your side. It takes you a moment to even realize she’s talking to you, you’re too busy staring at Pope. You two are practically sharing the same space, Pope having crept closer throughout your conversation. Are his eyes sparkling? 

You are snapped out of your Pope-induced trance by Kie waving a hand in front of your face. 

“Can we go now or do you want to stay here and admire Pope some more?” she asks. 

You bat her hand away, “Shut up.” You can feel yourself blushing again and now that you’ve been called out you just want to run and hide. You turn to walk away as Kie’s laughter fills your ears. In your haste, you miss Pope’s soft look in your direction. 

That was almost a month ago. Since then, Kie has invited you to absolutely every event she and her friends have planned. Every moment not spent at school is spent with the pogues. You’ve started not even changing out of your uniform, just pulling up to John B’s chateau in your pleated skirt and navy blue jacket thrown over a shoulder. It’s started to get warmer in the Outer Banks, and for the pogues, that means parties on the beach. 

It’s your first time partying with them and you might have had more to drink than you normally would in an effort to calm your nerves. There are no tourons here, it’s not quite summer yet, so everyone is local. You recognize more people than you thought you would. 

“Hey, pretty girl, what are you doing all alone over here?” Pope slides up beside you. 

The nickname makes you blush but the alcohol in your system means you don’t immediately turn into a stuttering mess. 

“Well, I didn’t think I was alone. Kie was here a moment ago I swear,” you use the half-empty beer bottle in your hand to gesture to the empty spot on the other side of you. Pope laughs at your fake pout and you’re transfixed. He’s so beautiful you can hardly breathe. He’s talking again but you can’t hear him anymore over the kiss me kiss me kiss me pounding in your head. 

“We were thinking of heading out on the—”

“Kiss me,” you blurt out. You see the moment he registers what you said. Even the alcohol isn’t enough to quiet the butterflies swarming in your stomach at his silence. 

He sighs, “You’re drunk.”  He’s looking everywhere but at you. You just want to see his pretty eyes again so you grab his face with your hands, turning his head back to you. There he is.

“I’m not drunk but even if I were you have to know how much I want to kiss you all the time. I’m not subtle about it. I don’t even know how to be subtle about it. You drive me crazy,  Pope Heyward and—”

He kisses you. One second you’re trying to cut off all the words trying to spill out of your mouth, the next, there is a pair of soft lips pressed to yours. Your hands are still on his face so you pull him in closer. You want him closer. Being pressed chest to chest wouldn’t even be good enough. You want to feel skin. Your hands have a mind of their own. They move down his neck to rest on his chest and back up like they can’t settle on a spot. You want to feel everywhere. He presses closer to you, pushing you back into the tree behind you. You’re sandwiched between the rough tree trunk at your back and the warmth of Pope at your front. You never want to be anywhere else. 

“Slow down, wait, wait,” Pope says, breathless, against your lips. You chase him for a second before the words catch up to you and you’re pulling back. He looks dazed. His lips are spit-slick and swollen. You wanna bite them. His gaze is fluttering between your eyes and your lips and back again. You want him to kiss you again. 

“What are we doing here, pretty girl?” 

“Making out against a tree,” you say. He rolls his eyes and you can’t help but smile. He’s so pretty. 

“Okay, what happens after this?”

“You take me on a date. There’s this bookstore I’ve been meaning to take you to. Then we can get lunch after, or dinner, or whatever works.” The kiss might have sobered you up more than you thought. There’s not enough alcohol in your system anymore to prevent the nervous rambling that usually happens whenever you’re around Pope. 

“You want to date me?” he asks. As if the answer would be anything other than yes. As if there’s anyone else who has captured your attention the way Pope has. 

“If you’ll let me, yea. I’d love to.” You’re so busy admiring the smile that spreads across his face that you don’t even notice him pulling you back in until you’re kissing again. And if the two of you spend the rest of the party making out and whispering into each other’s ears, then that’s no one’s business but you’re own. 

It takes about two months for the honeymoon phase to wear off. Dating Pope is even better than you would have imagined. Even your wildest dreams don’t come close to how amazing it is. You’re so excited he even wants you back that you might have gone overboard. Those first two months, you tried to be the best girlfriend Pope will ever have. Final exam season had come around again and you had pushed your own studying aside in favour of helping Pope study. You stayed up late with him reviewing flashcards and kissing him stupid every time he got an answer correct. 

You started helping him with his chores around his dad’s shop. He complained about it being boring and tedious so you showed up to keep him company. Heyward might have been happier to see you than Pope was, always happy for an extra set of hands.

You planned all your dates. Picnics on the beach once it got truly warm. Surf dates. Shopping trips on the mainland where you two really just roam the streets hand in hand. Movie nights at your house that turns into hours of cuddling and conversation with the movie playing in the background forgotten. Everything was fine until you realized that you planned all your dates. Pope has never initiated anything. Never a date, a kiss, or even a conversation. Scrolling through your messages you notice that every text thread between you and Pope was started by you. Every hug or kiss or any act of physical affection was you just trying to get as close to Pope as possible. He has never once reached for you first. 

To test your theory, you don’t text him. He’s supposed to be out with the pogues today, an outing you couldn’t join because of other obligations. Usually, when you and Pope aren’t together you text him a couple of times throughout the day just to check in. Not today though. You’re adamant that you are not going to send a single text message. Not a good morning, handsome that you usually start with. Not a has JJ fallen off the boat yet? Nothing. You check your phone every hour but it remains dark throughout the whole day. Not a single text. The disappointment you feel sits heavy in your chest when you get back home. You know Pope is also at home because you’ve gotten messages from Kie saying that they’re back at the Chateau. JJ had sent you a single message with a picture of Pope in the hammock at the back of the chateau staring down at his phone followed by a single question mark. You left that one unanswered.

Knowing that Pope had his phone in his hand and still hadn’t texted you was the final nail in the coffin. Obviously, Pope doesn’t like you as much as you like him. After his failed attempt at a relationship with Kie, you were clearly the rebound. Something to build back his ego. It probably helped that you were so clingy, always wanting to be around him, constantly texting him. Well, no more. 

You managed to go a full 5 days on your new restricted affection schedule, as you’ve started calling it. You only send good morning and goodnight messages. You told yourself if he initiated the conversation then you would reciprocate (the thought of not talking to Pope at all was excruciating) but after the initial good morning, he doesn’t say anything else for the rest of the day. You stopped randomly appearing at Heyward’s to see him. You stopped showing up to the Chateau unannounced to see if he was there. You put a hold on everything you used to do to try and spend more time with him. 

On the sixth day, you get a message from Kie. 

KieKie: Okay, this has gone on long enough. What is going on with you and Pope???

No idea what you’re talking about

KieKie: Really? Then why haven’t you been around lately and why is Pope snapping at all of us all the time now?

How Pope reacts to JJ’s stupid jokes has nothing to do with me and I’ve just been busy lately 

KieKie: busy with what? 

KieKie: you know what I don’t care we’re having a bonfire later tonight and you’re coming 

Fine. 

You don’t want to say that you’re nervous to see Pope, but the way your hands are sweating and you can’t hear anything over the sound of your own heartbeat probably means that you’re nervous. You pull up to the chateau when it's already dark. You can see the light from the fire and hear your friends’ laughter before you even get out of the car. You take a moment to hype yourself up, trying to get all your nerves out before seeing him. The walk from the car to the back of the chateau feels like it takes forever and two seconds all at the same time. No one notices your presence at first, too wrapped up in whatever story JJ is animatedly telling. You quietly sit yourself down on the grass next to Kie’s feet. Funny enough, Pope notices you first. 

He springs to his feet, eyes locked on you. Everyone else pauses and then follows his gaze. As a group, they chorus out your name. You roll your eyes as they all start talking to you at once. John B even throws a rock at you for “ditching them this past week”. Pope doesn’t say anything though, just stands there staring at you. You stare back. 

“Hey, Pope, could you go grab another case of beer from the kitchen for us, bro?” John B asks. You fleetingly glance at the full case sitting by his feet and then back at Pope. 

“Yea, yea, and maybe you should go with him,” JJ says, looking at you. “You know how heavy those cases can be. He might need help.” 

Pope raises an eyebrow at you so you stand. You walk back to the chateau without checking to see if he’s following. The moment you step into the empty house though, he’s right behind you. You can feel the warmth coming off him and you missed it. You missed him. 

“Are you going to Midsummers?” Pope asks. You’ve settled into a corner in the kitchen with him standing at the entrance looking at you. That’s not what you expected him to say though and you say as much. 

“Kiara’s parents are making her go and she’s been talking about it all week. There’s apparently a lot of prep that goes into it. You know, with the whole picking a dress and then trying to find a matching suit for your date. She’s trying to get JJ to agree on this weird shade of purple,”  he explains. You’re still confused. 

“Okay. I don’t know where you’re going with this, Pope.” 

He runs a hand down his face roughly and then lets out a deep sigh, “Do you not want to go to Midsummers with me? Do you not want to take me as your date or something?” 

And then it clicks. Is that all he wants? To be shown off in front of Kie? He must note your  rising anger because he’s quick to start speaking again. “It’s fine if you don’t!” he reassures, “I just thought that would be something you wanted, but you haven’t said anything and you actually haven’t said much of anything lately and I just—” he sighs again— “I can’t fix it if you don’t tell me what I did wrong. Tell me what I did wrong, please.” 

“You could have texted me,” you say. He’s visibly upset and you’re fighting to not rush over there and comfort him. This might be the end of your relationship though, you have to stay strong. “If you wanted to talk to me so bad you could have messaged me yourself. Communication goes both ways, Pope.” He just stands there, staring at you with his mouth agape and it makes you angrier. “You know, if all you wanted was an ego boost, I would have preferred if you let me know at the beginning instead of leading me on like this.”

“What—”

“I get it, Kie rejected you and now you’re using me to fix what she broke–’’

“Hold on–”

“I get it, okay, but it would have been nice to know that you don’t actually like me the way I like you instead of letting me embarrass—” 

“Let me speak, woman!” Pope yells, cutting you off. You’ve never heard him raise his voice before and definitely not at you. You stop talking immediately. “You think I don’t like you? You think my heart doesn’t skip a beat every time I look at you? You think I don’t light up on the inside every time you reach out to hold my hand or touch my neck. You think I don’t want you? Sometimes you get up to leave and I want to pull you back down into my lap so I can keep feeling you just a little bit longer. Sometimes I want to go with you, anywhere, everywhere. I just want to be wherever you are. 

I have wanted you since I first met you in 5th grade. I didn’t even know what it meant then, all I knew was that you were pretty and my stomach felt all funny whenever you smiled at me. That’s all I know now too. Kie started bringing you around and I felt like I was in 5th grade all over again. I didn’t know what to do so I let you take the lead. And then we got together and I was so scared of ruining it, of ruining the best thing to ever happen to me, so I let you take the lead again. I want to do anything you want to do, as long as it's together. I want your name popping up on my phone every day, every hour. No, actually I don’t. If you are texting me that means we’re not together and I don’t want that. I want you in my personal space all the time.”

He stops talking to make his way over to you. 

You’re stunned, rooted in your spot. You don’t stop him when he runs a careful finger along your cheek and down to your neck. You don’t stop him when he presses even closer to you, chest to chest, wedging himself into any free space he can find. He drops his face into the crook of your neck to run his nose up and down the skin there. 

“I want you so fucking bad I don’t even know what to do with myself. You’ve been gone this week and it felt like the world was ending. You don’t know how many times I wanted to text you, call you, just to hear your voice. I like that you’re clingy because it means I get to cling back. Don’t ever, and I mean ever, disappear on me like that again. You’re mad at me, come yell at me. Get right up in my face if you have to, but don’t ignore me. Do you understand me?”

You nod. 

“No, pretty girl, I’m gonna need to hear it. You’ve had me out of sorts all week. I need to know you won’t do it again. I can’t handle it,” he says, leaning back to look you in your eyes. 

“I won’t do it again.”

“Good, good.” And then he kisses you. It's more forceful than the way he normally kisses you, almost bruising. He tips your head back as he gets even closer to you and you let him. You let him show you just how much he missed you, how much he wants you. You distractedly notice the catcalling and whistles from outside the kitchen window but you ignore them in favour of kissing your boyfriend. Turns out you weren’t a rebound after all. 

#pope heyward x reader #finally writing for my boyfriend!!! #pope heyward #i just wanted to write someone being obsessed with him and this was the result no idea where the angst came from that was an accident #also i had more background info in my head I just didn't end up writing it so sorry about that #pope heyward x fem!reader #outer banks #outer banks fic #obx fanfiction #pope heyward fluff

[escapingrealtiylovinginsanity]

Nick Amaro: Protest 

This technically is a pre-story to this but can be read as a standalone. Warnings: Slight mention of Sexual Assult  

Nick walked back into the bullpen as a herd of protesters were being led in. There had been a slut walk tonight. Hundreds of women had flocked to the streets to protest victim blaming and slut shaming. There had been a case of rape that had been all over the news where the police and media had been more concerned with the length of a victim’s skirt and how many drinks she had consumed than going after the big wig producer. Nick understood their frustration but didn’t see how a bunch of half-naked women walking down a Manhattan Street was going to help. With how hostile the case was going it seemed like asking for trouble at this point. 

Trouble had of course been found. A few men had protested the protest, three had been flashers running through the crowd exposing themselves, one being as bold as to rip down the protester's top. Now gaggles of girls were waiting in the lounge area to pick the assailants out of lineups. Nick notices a barely dressed girl hovering in the lobby. He downs half of his energy drink in one pull before going over to tell her to return to the lobby to wait. 

“Excuse me, are you here for the lineup-” Nick cuts off when you turn around and it takes him a moment longer than it should for his brain to register that it was you. He has known you for a couple of months now. You were a cute little thing. A part of the Crime Scene Unit. The two of you had talked and been around each other at various crime scenes. Nick liked you, you were sweet and funny if not a bit of an oversharer. Granted you seemed to like poking fun at yourself and your rather strange decisions that had some interesting fallout and it got people laughing. 

He is used to seeing you in a shapeless, oversized dark blue crime scene jumper. It takes his brain time to process the cute girl to the sexy woman in front of him. He couldn’t help the appreciative lingering glance. You were wearing high-heeled boots and a short skirt that he was at risk of flashing your underwear if you attempted to bend down or move too quickly and left a glorious amount of toned skin from your calves to upper midthigh on display. A sleeveless wide-dropped, white top that was barely covering your generous chest was only held together with a tie at the bottom snug under your breast struggling to keep them contained. Across your bare stomach written in red was #METOO. His jaw tightened as he wondered about the events that could have caused you to join.    

“Detective Amaro,” His dark eyes shoot up to yours as he focuses on your face. “Yes, I’m waiting on the lineup. All the crazy things always happen at the protests I swear, at least I’m not the one under arrest this time.” You grin self-indulgently. 

“You’ve been arrested at a protest?” He couldn't imagine you getting into any kind of trouble.  

“Once or twice. Charges were never filed.” You cross your arms over your chest, which causes your breasts to strain even more against your white top. The movement caught his gaze. Nick could just make out the lines of your hard nipples through your flimsy top. You seemed completely unaware of his heated gaze as you told him about being sprayed with a water hose and pepper spray, cuffed, and booked for a night while protesting the fracking of Indian land while you were in college. You thought they felt bad and that’s why they released you so easily. You had been pushed down and broken your nose giving you two gnarly black eyes. He couldn’t help but chuckle when you stated that another woman who had been arrested with you spiritually healed and blessed you with sage-infused water in the cell you shared claiming it would help with the physical pain too. It hadn't. 

“Your college days and mine were very different.” You didn’t get a chance to answer as a cuff perp was walking in and saw you. He ogled you and whistled before being pushed into holding. Nick moved to stand in front of you defensively. You shift uncomfortably remembering that you didn’t have much on and suddenly feeling very exposed. You weren’t the type to flaunt your body. This protest had just called for you to go over the top and out of your normal tomboy zone. You feel the warmth over your shoulders and look back to see Nick wrapping his suit jacket around you.  

“Thank you,” You shrug further into it sliding your arm through the sleeves. The scent of his cologne musky with a spicy tinge overwhelms you. Nick is taller than you and the jacket hangs down nearly to your knees. You go to do up the button to completely cover yourself before remembering the red lettering on your stomach, you don’t want it to bleed onto his clothes. You feel his gaze on you. Nick felt something in him change when he saw you wearing his jacket. Lust pooled in his belly and he didn’t think he would ever be able to reconnect his mind with you just being the cute CSU girl who overshares again.  

“You can button that up if you want, I’m not worried about it.” You give him a grateful nod before buttoning the jacket. It helps cover the bare skin, but your chest is much larger than Nick’s and it stretches the fabric bunching it awkwardly, and your breasts are still falling out. 

“You can ask if you want detective.” He had led you over to his desk and you leaned against it. 

“You’ve been sexually assaulted.” You hum in response, “Did you ever press charges? We could file a report-” 

“That’s not necessary. It was years ago.” You play with a ring on your finger, twisting it. “It’s not like the cases you get here.” 

“Any sexual assault-” 

“Yeah, yeah I know the spiel.” You shake your head at him, “It wasn’t anything crazy. Just one incident in college. I was at a party and there was this drunk guy. I didn’t really know him or anything and he didn’t know me, clearly.” You laugh to yourself before rolling your eyes. Then turned back to look at Nick, “He cornered me and slid his hand down my pants. When I told him no, he didn’t listen. He was clearly drunk and thought I was too. I wasn’t. I only had one drink. What he didn’t know was that I had been wrestling since middle school and took kickboxing classes throughout high school.” You shrug your shoulder nonchalantly, “So, when I told him to stop again, and he didn’t I kneed him in the junk hard enough that he spit out blood.” 

“And then?” You start tugging at the jacket sleeve.  

“Then nothing. I got up and left. I was called into the office the next day. They gave me a choice if I didn’t report it as sexual harassment then I wouldn’t get in trouble for violence and underage drinking on campus.” 

“You get harassed, and they try to put the blame on you to get you not to report to save their school image.” You watch his frustration spike and grin at him. 

“You’re a good fit here. It’s nice to know that some cops are still on our side.” He calms down and feels great satisfaction at your praise. “Honestly though, I wasn’t planning on pressing charges. I think he got the picture. I kind of feel bad sometimes... about how hard I hit him. I wonder if he will ever be able to have kids now.” 

“I don’t think it will hurt the world if he doesn’t.” Nick sighed as he read your face. You seemed fine talking about what had happened and he was glad that you had been able to take care of yourself but your not reporting did bother him. You heard your name being called and saw Liv waving to you to do your lineup, so you stood. “Hey, do you want me to call someone for you? To take you home that is. Are you dating someone?” He feels the air pulled out of his sails when you respond. 

“Yeah, Teddy Jackson from homicide. No need to call him though. He’d be pissed if he found out I went to this protest. I don’t feel like another fight.” You give him one more smile before slipping out of his jacket and handing it back to him. “Thank you for the company though Detective Amaro.”     

This was supposed to be a short two-pager. Oh well, I have two more parts to this of Nick pining after you while you are with my made-up homicide detective. I have a notebook of ideas for Nick and I'm trying to get through them before I start up new ideas or they usually get trashed. Hope you enjoyed xoxo

#nick amaro x reader #law and order svu #law and order special victims unit #svu #nick amaro x you #nick amaro imagine #nick amaro svu #nick amaro

[metvmorqhoses]

Although I wasn’t expecting a completely faithful adaptation, since it is just that—an adaptation. I was expecting at least a coherent narrative that followed what season 1 gave us. Even though s1 diverged from the books particularly in terms of characterization it wasn’t something I was upset about since Ben and Jesse’s versions still had substance and incredible chemistry. This season hurt because the bad writing had Ben doing his best to salvage Darkling in his acting choices alone, all while Jesse’s Alina was completely stripped of nuance. It was such a strange choice the way the writers handled their relationship since bad writing aside, their scenes were still intriguing just based off their on screen chemistry alone. Which is why it was such a disappointment that instead of utilizing that, along with book canon to create a complex and enthralling mutual connection we instead got…this lol A big thing was always how despite their fundamental differences, they understood each other. I could see Ben’s Darkling trying to emphasize that part but when you have Alina absolutely not having it, it just comes off as pathetic on his part, which is what the writers wanted I suppose. I would say the ending is hopeful that this isn’t the end for them and a way for Alina to bring Darkling back but if the writing is anything like this season then that might just be wishful thinking.

Not being fond of the books, I didn't particularly care about plot faithfulness either. The real, terrible problem is that the dynamics and the characters' être weren't respected in the slightest, everything meaningful stripped of nuance and complexity for no apparent reason if not a huge dumb woke flex.

The crux of this disaster resides in the fact the writers seem to have completely forgotten (and I too was absolutely astonished by this, because in season one it absolutely wasn't the case) that actual human beings don't feel in black and white and half a dimension, at least not the ones without psychopathologies? And I swear that everyone but the Darkling and maybe one or two Crows this season acted like unfeeling robots or caricatures of themselves with a plot task to complete.

You know, as not fond of the concept as I am (since I don't really think the Darkling to be the villain of the story or so guilty of everything he is angrily accused of by the supposed "heroes"), they could have totally pulled off the darkest and most twisted interpretation of him imaginable and still respect his character and dynamic with Alina, since love, core understanding, admiration, hatred, violation and betrayal are not mutually exclusive and can actually be felt at the same time.

One splendid example of it is The Great. I don't know if you are familiar with the show, but it is the epitome of enemies to lovers to enemies to lovers and the things the two protagonists do to each other are way worse than anything the Darkling has ever done to Alina, but the deep connection between them is never denied, cannot be denied, no matter the terrible actions they inflict upon each other.

Alina could have been convinced the Darkling didn't deserve to live (no matter how fairly or unfairly), she could have decided to kill him and still recognize their unique connection, the nameless thing she feels, the deep affinities they share, maybe even be scared of it all, maybe even wishing none of it was there, but without outright denying what they fed us for the entirety of season one just out of a minor deception, appearing nothing but a petulant, close-minded child. Not only this made Aleksander appear as a delusional, desperate, weak stalker, but it made Alina honestly appear a dumb idiot without a single brain cell, if not an outright psychopath.

Not feeling any form of emotion or compassion for someone you had romantic feelings for (feelings she was even forgetting her great love Mal for, just saying) just ten minutes prior is not badass behaviour, is just not normal. Hell, not showing any emotion or compassion for a human being who is trying to show you an abyss of sorrow (that you are destined to share by the way) is not normal, not even in terms of old-fashioned villain/hero dynamics. Usually the hero is the one to have pity for the villain, the one with the moral high ground. Here not only this isn't the case when the two are balances of each other, connected cosmically and previous lovers, but basic human decency is also completely dismissed and Aleksander is the only one to show any.

I am as astonished as you by all this. I hope this whole season was in truth Alina's slow descent into madness, her power corrupting her from the start. I hope this is the reason they chose to feed us this soulless drivel, it's honestly the only way they could redeem the series at all, but who knows at this point.

#darklina #the darkling #alina starkov #shadow and bone #shadow and bone s2 #anon #asks/replies #one and one thousand stories lis told #the grisha trilogy

[kyberblade]

Back To You (Din x Reader) - Part 14

A/N: There is one brain cell shared among all three of them, and the child has full custody of it. 🤦🏼‍♀️ I have been waiting for this part. When I first came up with the story, I was like, “Ugh! I’m going to have to come up with an OC Jedi to teach the reader and blah blah blah,” and I was dreading it. Then, lightbulb, “You, dummy! There’s an episode called The Jedi.” Don’t look at me. I laughed at myself but also wanted to hide. So without further ado, here is the next part! (Okay, more ado. Sorry.) There is more show dialogue in this one. 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 to the middle of episode 2x5/13, The Jedi.)

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. Swearing. Space swearing. Some inappropriate jokes but all in good fun and nothing overtly spicy, more innuendos. Mando’a.

Word count: 14,010 (I regret nothing.)

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 @what-the-heckin-heck, @dontletyourchildrenwatchthis, @lloweryourstandardss, and @fordo-kixed-rex for reading this over for me and letting me know I’m not crazy despite it being a behemoth. And @deceiverofgodss​ for helping with the Mando’a.

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Xxx

Your right vambrace rested in your lap, the glove worn underneath clutched tightly between your teeth as you fiddled with the beskar. “Dahnk fahrik,” you mumbled around the leather as the tool slipped. Luckily not much could damage beskar, or the vambrace would be covered in scratches right now simply from this repair attempt.

Din turned in his pilot’s seat to watch when you let out a growl in frustration. “Need some help?”

“Yesh,” you said around the leather before spitting it out beside the vambrace. “Yes,” you repeated with a sigh, letting your head plop back against your chair. 

He chuckled lightly, taking the vambrace to inspect more closely. “What seems to be the problem?”

“The fastening mechanism isn’t working right.” You picked up your head to look at him properly, handing him the tool. “It clicks in, but it still sits kinda loose on my arm. I was trying to tighten the screw, but-”

Din slid the mechanism closed after three small twists with the little tool, a sound click filling the cockpit. “It’s fixed.”

You stared at the armor in his hands for a moment, tilting your head after a minute of silence and blinking. “How-”

“It’s a spring mechanism. Fails on mine sometimes, too. The trick is to bypass it here,” he pointed with the tool to a spot an inch away from where you were working, “so it can continue without catching.” Leaning forward he set the vambrace back in your lap, keeping the tool, tossing it in the air and catching it. 

Holding the beskar close to your face to inspect it for yourself, you narrowed your brows as you turned it over to see all the little crevices, poking at the spot he pointed at almost like you were testing it. “Thanks,” you mumbled.

He nodded once before turning back to the control panel and dropping out of hyperspace.

As you slipped your glove and vambrace back on, you looked up through the viewfinder to see a dreary looking planet looming ahead, half in shadow half in sun, the side in darkness barely lit up with any cities or lights. 

“Corvus, this is the place. I’ve detected a beacon.” As Din spoke, he looked across his shoulder at the kid where he sat to his right on the console, looking up at him with bright eyes, making you smile. “I’m gonna start the landing cycle. You better get back in your seat.”

Din continued to press buttons and flip switches while the child stayed where he was, looking around the cabin as if nothing had happened. His focus settled on the silver ball on top of the lever about a foot in front of him, and you rolled your eyes. This was going to be interesting.

Jerking his head back towards the kid’s seat, Din’s voice got a little gruffer, more stern. “Hey, what did I tell you?” If Din noticed, he didn’t say anything, but you had to stifle a laugh at the way the kid’s face scrunched up into a scowl as he eyed the ball again, eyes narrowed slightly. As quickly as it came, it went, and the most innocent expression fell over his features as he tilted his head to the side and looked up at his caretaker. Oh, he’s good. 

“Back in your seat.” Din turned back to face forward as the kid clamored down with little coos and grunts, hiking himself up into his chair on your right. You raised a brow as you watched him worrying his hands in front of himself as he looked between the ball and Din, and back again a few times. 

Reaching out a hand, his eyes falling partway shut, you didn’t have to feel the surge in the air to know what was happening as the kid started to slyly unscrew the ball with the Force.

Under the guise of adjusting your vambrace further, you tucked your smile towards your chest, trying to swallow the snicker that wanted so badly to come out. 

As you flew over the surface of the planet, it reminded you of the lower levels of Coruscant, grimy and hazy, the air almost yellow and thick. Everything looked gloomy and sad, the trees that once would have been a magnificent forest now stood baren and stripped, lonely spires left as a reminder of a better time.

Landing in the middle of what was once a forest on the outskirts of the village, you heard deep moaning and chittering coming from beyond the little clearing the ship was in. Stepping down the ramp cautiously, you peered around, eyes going wide when you saw the source of the sounds. Large creatures on four legs, taller than the Crest ambled about, snapping what was left of the dead trees in their jaws as they ate. 

At the bottom of the ramp, Din turned to look at you. “If anywhere was a place you needed to conceal your identity, it’s here. This is the type of place where someone would turn you in for a handful of credits, let alone whatever the bounty actually is now.”

“I’ll just stay here on the ship, then-”

“No,” he cut you off. “I can’t protect you if you’re here and I’m there. We stick together.”

You nodded. “Fine. I’m not going to disagree with that. But what’s the solution? I mean, I have my capes but they don’t really conceal me much.”

Din tilted his head to the side as he stared at you, his visor moving from your head down to your toes and back up in a silent appraisal.

You swallowed roughly. “Uh-oh. No. No, Din. Whatever you’re thinking, I don’t like it.”

“You don’t even know what it is yet!” He protested, arms going out to his sides as he laughed lightly.

“But I already know I don’t like it,” you countered, taking a step backwards up the ramp.

“Will you just trust me, please?” He was still laughing over his words, taking a step towards you. “Mesh’la, come on. Have I steered you wrong before?”

“Let’s see,” you stopped, holding out a finger for each situation. “We’ve crash landed on an ice planet because you were avoiding being arrested after helping with a prison break gone wrong.” You held out a second finger, “The Crest was held together with twine and hope as we limped to Arvala-7.” A third finger, “You said you shot the trooper at the base when it was obviously me-”

You let out a squeal as he rushed toward you, turning and darting up the ramp yelling, “No, no, no!” as you laughed. Scooping the kid up, you turned to face Din as you held the kid up in front of your face. “Think of the child,” you panted, trying to catch your breath as the little green bundle in your grasp let out a soft questioning coo. Din kept stalking closer, so you set the child down. “Run, kid! Save yourself!”

Din was on you the next second, your back against the wall of the Crest as you stared at his chest plate with a grin. “We’ve got to quit meeting like this,” you teased. Laughter filled the ship as you batted his hands away. They poked into your sides mercilessly, crawling up to your neck and back down until finally you relented. “Fine! Fine! Whatever it is, I’ll do it. Just stop! Please!” Once he stopped and you could get a deep breath, you glared up at his visor. “It’s really not fair that all of this,” you tapped a knuckle against his beskar, “keeps me from ever being able to get you back.”

“Then you’re going to love my plan.” His tone sounded like he had a broad grin plastered on under his helmet, and it made one climb up your features as well.

Xxx

“This will never work!” You yell through the refresher door.

“It has to,” Din called back, his footsteps pacing back and forth in the main part of the ship. 

Looking down at yourself, you grimaced. He’d told you to put the armor you'd gotten from Vanth on Tatooine on. It was obviously made for someone much larger than you. If you were trying to remain inconspicuous, this was going to do the exact opposite. 

You weren’t even thinking about messing with the helmet right now, it was much too big and you’d probably trip and break something if you wore it before it was necessary. You still wore your own vambraces. Din didn’t want you to bump a button on the others and blow something up.

“Just let me see,” Din said quietly, his footsteps pausing. “Please.”

Pushing the button to open the door, you looked up at him through your lashes, afraid to move your head up to look at him properly, lest the armor all just fall off.

“It…. Um.”

“My thoughts exactly,” you grumbled, shuffling forward with your arms held stiffly out at an angle to make sure it stayed on you.

Sighing, you stopped about a foot away from him, looking up expectantly. When he said nothing, you huffed, rolling your eyes. "This was made for a man, Din."

“....And?" He held a hand out in front of him in question.

“....Men don't have breasts." You adjusted the chest plate slightly, glaring at it as you did.

He choked. "I see."

Rolling your eyes again, you stomped over to your bag that sat on a crate to your right, careful to hold the armor in place, and went back in the refresher.

“Mesh’la, what’s wrong?” Din called from the other side of the door, knocking softly.

“I’m fixing this. Hold on.” You pulled off the chest plate and put on your capes, both of them, along with your scarf, hoping the padding would help fill in the blank spaces the armor left behind. It fit a little more snuggly once you slipped the armor back on, so you opened the refresher door again, walking out a bit more confidently this time.

Your face fell at Din’s instant reaction.

"No. No, no, no. No."

You held your arms out to the side, looking down to survey the armor again. "What? I thought it looked…. Okay-ish?"

"You look like a- and don't take this the wrong way... You look like a Hutt that sprouted legs."

Your arms froze out to your sides, and you looked up at him with only your eyes, the rest of you completely still. "Gee, thanks."

He was quick to add, "Or a Wookie that shrunk."

You lifted your head up to level a glare on him, your voice a deadpan. "I get it, Din."

"Or a-"

Your arms crossed over your chest, somewhat awkwardly at the bulk of the capes and armor. "Say one more thing. I dare you."

He just looked you up and down once, his visor trailing the path slowly before he couldn’t help himself. "....it doesn't look right."

Letting out a battle cry, you launched, tackling him to the floor of the Crest. Your momentum caused you both to roll down the ramp, falling off halfway, and landing on the ground with a thump.

"Why. Are. You. So. Annoying?!" You shook his shoulders, lifting him as far up off the ground as you could- only an inch or so- and dropping him back down between each word for emphasis. But you were barely moving because of the padding, each movement stilted, and Din just snickered beneath you at the whole situation.

"Kid, help!" He cried over a snort of laughter, turning his head toward the ramp. 

"Your gremlin can't save you now, Mando," you practically growled out.

Suddenly the world spun for a brief second before coming to a grinding halt as you let out a breath on an oomph. When you looked up, you saw the T of his visor looking down at you as he now had the high ground. 

"No need," he said simply, lowering to get close to your face as his next words came out on practically a hum. "You can wear my old armor, it'll fit you better. And if not....” His head tilted to the side just slightly. “Nothing is always an option."

You raised a brow at him, eyes narrowing on his visor as you slowly repeated his words. “You want me to walk into the village.... In nothing?"

His head tilted the other way. "Who said anything about the village?"

Xxx

“I look ridiculous.” The sound of your voice through a modulator made you wrinkle your nose inside the beskar dome. 

“You look like a Mandalorian.”

You sighed. “I sure hope so. Otherwise all of this,” you gestured down to the armor, “was for nothing.”

“I wouldn’t say nothing….”

You reached out and shoved his shoulder lightly as you both chuckled. Taking off the helmet, you took a deep breath.

“It’s not an awful way of life. Maybe you should consider it,” he teased. “You look good in beskar.”

“And hide all of this?” You made a swooping gesture to your face before you laughed. 

“True,” Din said lightly, bumping your shoulder with his own. “Maybe it’s just that it’s my old armor.”

“That could be it….” You winked at him before you put the helmet back on, grumbling as you did. “I don’t know how you do this all day every day. I feel like I can’t breathe.”

“Everything still works the same,” Din mused, making you turn a visored glare on him, the helmet shifting slightly to the side with your movement. 

“Ugh!” You groaned. “Don’t make me glare at you. Or laugh. Any sudden movement and this thing is gonna go.” You righted it on your head, sighing when it finally sat right again.

A soft coo came from the top of the ramp, and you looked up to see the child ambling down slowly, almost sleepily. Your helmet began to shift with the movement, but Din held one finger up to the temple and held it in place. 

The child plopped down in the middle of the ramp looking thoroughly exhausted, eyes blinking slowly as he fought sleep, and when you spied the silver ball in his hands, you finally understood. He had spent his energy trying to get his toy.

“What did I say about that?” Din walked up to the child, lowering to his haunches and taking the ball gently from his ward. Holding it up, he spoke sternly. “This needs to stay in the ship.”

The child reached after the toy, whining softly as Din tucked it into his belt while he rose to his feet. Turning to survey the area, he didn’t seem impressed. “Not much to see out here.”

“Good, because I can’t move to look,” you grumbled, holding the top of the helmet with one hand as you slowly turned to glance around as well. 

“Never had dealings with a Jedi before,” Din mused absently, and for some reason that stung unexpectedly.

It frustrated you that you couldn’t be enough to help the kid. You hadn’t had the training, it just wasn’t possible to be everything he needed. But that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt sometimes. 

Din scooped the child up into his arms with a grunt. “Let’s head into town.” The child cooed as Din tucked him into the satchel. “See if we can pick up a lead.”

You followed behind as quickly as your awkward armor clad frame would allow, one hand on top of your helmet as you tried to keep up with your Mandalorian.

Xxx

As you approached the city wall, you lowered your hand to rest on your belt, your saber tucked safely away behind Din’s cape. Careful not to linger near your weapons, you tried to look as casual as Din did beside you on your right. 

A guard said something you didn’t understand, then a man came walking across the top of the wall, standing tall and imposing in the center over the city gates. “State your business.”

“Been tracking for a few days. Looking for a layover.” You kept your face forward as Din spoke, every bone in your body itching to rest your hand on your blaster.

The man looked skeptical, but it quickly faded into appreciation, if somewhat aloof. “Nice armor.” When Din said nothing, he continued. “You a hunter, then?”

Din nodded once. “That’s right.” His tone was a little more amicable now, trying to get on the man’s good side.

“And them?” The man bounced his head your way, eyeing your patchwork armor. 

You nodded, as little as possible, but you still felt the helmet start to slip before it suddenly held fast. Glancing down at the satchel, you saw the kid reaching out to help, and you nodded more firmly.

“Guild?”

“Last I checked,” Din said after a moment, making you smile under the helmet while you nodded slowly once again.

The man tilted his head at you. “Do you not talk?”

Without missing a beat, you shook your head no. The armor was for a man, and your voice wouldn’t pass as masculine even if you tried. Which you had back on the ship. Din and the child found it very amusing, both of them laughing hysterically. It was ridiculous, you had to admit. You’d chuckled yourself.

“Vocal chords were frozen before they came to the Creed. Toxin from an uninhabited planet chasing a bounty. Not much to say in our line of work, though, anyway.”

You tilted your head to look up at the man again, and felt the kid’s grip on the helmet slip. Reaching out yourself, you held it still with an unseen force, looking the man in the eye.

He arched his brow at Din’s words, looking at you with a new appreciation in his gaze before he turned his head to one of the guards. “Open the gate.”

Releasing your hold on the helmet after you looked forward again, you walked a step behind Din, as smoothly as you could. Sending the kid a wave of thanks, you heard his soft coo in response.

Walking down the main thoroughfare, you came upon a vendor Din started to question before they turned and walked off, leaving him trailing off mid sentence with a sigh. 

Behind the booth was an alley with a man crouched down in front of two children. They looked so sad, you decided to do something about it. A gentle nudge with your mind, and two pieces of fruit rolled off the vendor’s table, landing softly against the children’s feet. You made sure to make their path look haphazard and natural.

The children beamed as they picked them up, but the man sadly informed them they couldn’t afford them. Taking a step forward, you held up your hand to stop him, Din withdrawing the amount of credits needed from his belt and setting them on the table. 

“We can’t-” the man began, but you just waved your hand at him, gently shaking your head back and forth the little the helmet would allow before it slipped. “Thank you,” he finally said instead, to which you only nodded once.

“I need some information,” Din began softly, taking a step forward. “I’m looking for someone.”

The man’s face fell, and he turned to the children. “Okay, bye.” As they scampered off, he rose to his feet. “Please, do not speak to them, or to any of us.” It looked like he had more to say, but couldn’t. 

Din took a deep breath in, but was cut short by some armed guards surrounding both you and him. “The Magistrate wants to see you.” Sighing, Din turned to you, signing in Tusken. “Go back to the ship. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

Nodding as gently as possible, you didn’t know how else a Mandalorian would respond, so you did the first thing that came to mind. Bringing your hand up in a salute as you stood at attention, you held it for a second before turning on your heel at Din’s slight head shake in reaction.

Well.

You tried.

Xxx

You stood near the front gates as you waited for him, keeping a watchful eye on the village around you. 

It was dismal, dark, everything a bit hazy, and an overall sense of gloom hung in the air. Nobody smiled, you heard no laughter, no sounds of children playing around the corner. Just the chatter over the guard’s comms and silence.

Every once in a while, the tense air was broken with a distant yell, someone crying out in anguish as the faint sound of crackling electricity buzzed in the background. It echoed off every wall, so you couldn’t pinpoint where it came from, but it made your spine crawl every time. 

You thought you heard a “please” on the wind, carried on the latest cry, right before you saw Din approaching quickly down the street, walking a bit faster when he saw you. 

“I told you to wait on the ship,” he signed, ignoring the questioning eyes of the man who let you into the city close on his heels.

“I decided this was best,” you signed back, earning a soft growl of frustration from him.

“Problem?” The man looked between the two of you as he came to stand across from you where you leaned against the front wall, one leg bent, foot propped up against the stone beneath you easily.

You started to shake your head when your breath caught in your chest as you were abruptly hauled off the wall by the material at the back of your neck. Turning to find your assailant, you were met with none other than Din’s visor, tilted at you pointedly, making the scoff you were about to let loose die on your lips as you remembered your cover.

“No, no problem,” he grunted as he began to haul you toward the front gates, and out of the city. “Just a little domestic dispute is all.”

Swallowing the huff you wanted to let out, you shrugged out of his hold, signing in a flurry when your hands were free. “Domestic dispute my ass.”

The man let out a snort of laughter, looking down to his feet to try and conceal his amusement. When he looked back up to find two T visors on him, he sighed. “Did I mention I speak Tusken?” After a moment he held up his hands placatingly. “But, hey, it’s none of my business.” He leaned in on the last few words with a wink, before leaning back again, hands falling to rest on his belt easily. 

After a long moment, you signed something not so nice to him, making him laugh. “Sorry. I know when I’m not wanted.”

The child let out a coo from his satchel, looking up at the man with bored eyes.

“What is that thing anyway?”

Narrowing his eyes up at the man, his ears falling to the side of his head in an unimpressed scowl, the kid let out a soft grunt. 

“I keep it around for luck.” Din’s dry tone made you want to laugh.

“You’re gonna need it where you’re headed.” The man’s ominous warning didn’t sit well with you, and you turned your back on him, heading toward the tree line.

With the helmet’s enhanced hearing, you were just able to make out his low voice as he leaned into Din. “What about them? You keep them around for luck, too?”

You couldn’t hold back the soft snort when Din mumbled softly, “Something like that.”

Xxx

You stayed several paces ahead of him the entire way back to the ship, letting the helmet slip to the side a bit further with every impact of your feet as you tread a little more forcefully than necessary. 

Not knowing what else to do, you had reached up and offered your best salute, hoping it didn’t look as awkward as it felt. Din had walked off with a shake of his head, not offering you much hope that you looked very convincing. But then…. Then he came and hauled you off the wall by the back of your neck like a mothering animal to a misbehaving baby…. At least you had tried to be a little Mandalorian, you grumbled to yourself, thoughts bouncing off every wall of your mind. 

Meanwhile he had just been plain Din, what with his domestic dispute, and luck, and something like that. Letting out an exaggerated breath, you rolled your eyes, which was a bad idea, because when you tried to focus forward again, the helmet had slipped further in those precious seconds and your field of view was now almost completely sideways somehow.

Going back to the ship, as soon as you were on board, you ripped the helmet off, taking a deep breath. 

“How does he do it?” You mumbled, setting the lump of beskar on a crate.  

After some time passed, you were startled when a body pressed up against your back. It wasn’t until you felt the cool touch of beskar against your ear that you relaxed again, letting your eyes fall closed as you let out a sigh. You were still baffled by how he could move so silently.

“We need to work on your Mandalorian etiquette." His voice was low and somewhat amused, his hands finding purchase on your upper arms before they began to trace down towards your hands.

"Why? Was I a little... Rusty?" You looked over your shoulder at him, fighting a smirk. 

Stopping all movement, Din went rigid, even his modulator falling silent. Turning abruptly, he let go of you, and made his way out and back down the ramp to the outside of the ship.

“Din?” You chuckled, watching him with your eyes. Following him to the top of the ramp, you popped your head through the opening and followed his steps as he made his way around the Crest in a circle with knit brows. “Din.”

You tried everything, but he didn’t speak to you for a good hour after that.

You tried really hard to get him to talk to you and he just looked at you for a moment, pausing his incessant movement, shook his head in disbelief, and began working on part of the Crest again. 

Finally you’d had enough, following on his heels like a bad smell, lamenting, "It's the armor! It's rubbing off on me!"

He mumbled so quietly you almost missed it. "I'll help rub something off on you-"

"What?" You cut him off.

"What?" He fired back dryly just as fast.

You stared at him for a long moment, your eyes flitting over his helmet as your jaw dropped in shock before you squeaked, "What?!?”

Another long moment passed before he simply turned and walked away in silence. 

"Din?"

He held up a hand, waving it dismissively as if to say "Shhhh!"

“Ugh!” You groaned, throwing your head back and staring at the ceiling of the ship as you followed him around. “Will you please tell me what the Magistrate wanted?”

“Wants me to kill a Jedi.”

You stopped moving, your head snapping up to look at him properly. 

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to,” he clarified. “Offered me a spear of pure beskar in exchange. If I turned that down, it’d look suspicious. Plus, she gave me coordinates of her last known location. Get your stuff packed up, we’ll leave as soon as you’re ready.”

“I’m ready now,” you said without hesitation. “I’m not going to take the armor off, it was too hard to get it to look right in the first place, plus if we run into anyone from town, we need to sell our story again.” You turned, taking a few steps toward the ramp before rounding on him with a finger held close to his visor. “But I’m not wearing the helmet.”

“I thought it stayed pretty well-”

“That’s because he,” you pointed to his little green ward sound asleep in the satchel, “wore himself out holding it on for me, then I held it the rest of the time.”

Din looked down at the child. “I didn’t know,” he murmured.

“Not everything is black and white like your visor would lead you to believe, Din.”

Xxx

Walking through the woods, the soft moans of the wood chomping creatures the only sound in the air, you kept a few paces ahead of him.

“So you have to kill a Jedi?”

He only grunted in response.

After a long moment of silence, your voice lowered before you continued, something hesitant in your chest. “Do you do this sort of thing a lot?” You looked over your shoulder at him, eyes lowering to the ground before you turned forward again, voice going lower still. “I mean, before I came along.”

Din sighed. “A bounty was a bounty, mesh’la. I…. I didn’t really think twice. Didn’t look much further than the information on the puck. Until this one.”

Chancing a glance back at him one more time, you saw he was looking down at the kid in his satchel with a fond tilt of his head, the kid now wide awake and blinking large eyes up at him as he babbled nonsense around an adoring smile.

“What made you think twice?”

Din lifted his visor to look at you straight on. “I don’t know. It just didn’t feel right. He was just a kid….” His focus turned toward the ground in thought, his voice going along with it. “….kinda like I was.”

“If….” You turned forward, unable to look at him as you said the next part. “If you got my puck, what would you do?”

“Go straight to the bar and get you the hell out of there.” He didn’t even hesitate.

You smiled softly. “No, I mean if you didn’t know me.”

“Oh.” Suddenly his hand was around your elbow, tugging you gently to a stop. “Mesh’la, you don’t want to go down this road.”

“Maybe you’re right. I just…. I don’t know. I’m curious-”

“No. Mesh’la,” he tugged you softly in the opposite direction you had been going. “You really don’t want to go down this road. The coordinates are that way.”

“….Oh.” Taking a few steps in the proper direction to get ahead of him again, you scrunched up your face in disbelief at yourself once you were past him as you mumbled, “I knew that.”

His hand still around your elbow stopped you short. “Mesh’la.” 

Sighing, you looked at the ground. “Forget it, Din.”

He tried again, ignoring you, his tone just as soft. “Mesh’la.”

Refusing to face him, you lifted your gaze to study the forest of dead trees around you, the faint figures of the giant creatures lowing in the distance drawing your focus as you spoke. “No, Din. I don’t know what I wanted to know. Just…. Just forget it. Okay? Please?”

He sighed. “Mesh’la,” you echoed his heavy exhale, rolling your eyes, making him let out a soft snort of laughter. “Before…. My job as a bounty hunter wasn't…. Nice. It was an existence more than anything. Yes, it came to be something I enjoyed to an extent, but…. The taking of lives, ruining someone’s life, breaking up a family…. That was never the part I wanted. I hated that part.” The fingers around your elbow slowly began to trace absent patterns. “I….” He let out a huff. “I came back to the bar, back to you, to try and forget about those parts. You made me feel a little bit more human when I’d been stripped down to just a monster in beskar.”

Turning, you looked up into his visor. “You were never a monster, Din.” He shook his head at you with a disbelieving huff, his gaze falling toward the ground. “You weren’t,” you said more firmly, trying to catch his gaze again, smiling ever so slightly when you did. “You may scare Mythrol, but you’re not a monster.” You leaned in slightly, like you were sharing a secret. “I scare Mythrol, remember. And I am most definitely not a monster.”

“I don’t know….” He mused, his voice dripping in amusement. He began to move down the correct path again, pulling you gently until his hand fell from your arm as he pulled in front of you. “Have you seen you just after you wake up?”

Stopping in your tracks after only a few steps, your jaw dropped as an indignant scoff tumbled out, making him chuckle. Stomping past him, you brushed his shoulder with your own, the beskar on each set of armor bouncing off the other with a clang. “I take it all back. You’re awful.”

It only took a few more minutes before Din slowed to a stop behind you, making you turn to face him, tugging at the scarf around your neck where it was still tucked into the armor. “This is starting to itch….”

“I tried to warn you,” he muttered, pressing a few buttons on his vambrace as he looked around, pressing something on the side of his helmet once he was satisfied. “Well, these are the coordinates.”

Looking around, you tugged the scarf a bit harder, sighing in relief when it loosened just a bit. “This?” You used your other hand to gesture to the vacant space, save for barren trees.

He only nodded, turning slowly to survey the area for himself. “Keep your eyes open.”

“For what?” You grumbled. “This place is a ghost planet.”

He huffed, making another half turn before turning back towards you, his shoulders tense. “We must be close.”

Something rustled not far from you, making all three of you snap your attention to the side at the sound, searching for the source.

“You hear that?”

“No. I’m just reacting exactly like you for absolutely no reason,” you grumbled, eyes darting back and forth in search of the sound. It was hard to swallow the smile that wanted to come up when you felt his visor level on the side of your face, utterly unimpressed with your jokes.

Keeping his visor fixed on you, he walked over to a large nearby stone, setting the kid down on top of it. Finally, he turned to look at the kid as he spoke softly. “Don’t worry. Sit right here. Let me see what’s out there.”

Pulling the scope off his rifle, he looked around the area, coming back to a spot with a sigh. “False alarm.”

Following his line of sight, you saw one of the giant creatures in the distance, meandering slowly through the leafless trees. You were about to make a joke, something about the huge beasts and how they obviously hid so well, when you felt a sudden surge in the Force. You barely had time to say, “Mando!” before he spun just in time to block two white sabers with his vambraces.

The metal sang under the pressure of the blades before they were drawn back and you saw the face of your attacker, a Togruta, very strong with the Force.

She glanced between the two of you quickly before she went in again for another swipe at his beskar, the clang and ting of impact ringing around the clearing. A spin sent the blades careening for your own armor clad arms, and you felt the impact vibrate throughout the metal as you swiftly blocked, then put distance between you once again.

Using the Force, you summoned your saber from where Din still had it tucked away safely under his cape, and it flew into your waiting hand, igniting on impact.

Without wasting a second, you ran in between them, blocking her sabers with your own. White met purple in blinding flashes, the zing of kyber on beskar rang in between the hum of clashing blades as Din tried to come from the other side.

You saw her eyes widen in shock for only a moment when she saw the glow of your saber meet hers, but she quickly schooled her features back into something more battle ready, more menacing as she came back in for another attempt.

Both of you blasted your vambraces at her, walls of fire coming from each side and meeting in the middle in a collision of flames. She leapt up and out of the way at the last second, soaring high over your heads and landing safely away, firmly on her feet with her blades at the ready. 

Din’s whipcord shot out and wrapped around her, pinning her arms to her side, her sabers pointed to the ground. She quickly looked up and you saw her plan form in an instant. Before you could say a word, she had leapt up again, obviously using the Force to gain distance from the two of you, and spun her body over a low hanging branch, yanking Din up by the cord with the movement.

He grunted, reaching out with a blade in his other vambrace to slice the cord tethering them together, dropping to the ground with a thud. He spun to face her as she turned, swinging her sabers with a flick of her wrists to cut the cord still around her at her back with a flash of sparks and hum of her blades on impact. Her blades once again at the ready once the whipcord was gone, she stood ready to charge. 

“Ahsoka Tano!” Din held up his hand placatingly, backing up a step when she began to move toward him, his blaster drawn in his other hand. She stopped when she heard what he said. “Bo-Katan sent me!”

She hesitated, eyes darting between the two of you, dancing along the glow of your blade held in front of you at the ready before returning to your eyes.

“We need to talk,” he continued, voice softer as he caught his breath, and her gaze drifted over to the child.

She lowered her sabers as she casually slipped into conversation, and disengaged them, making you hesitate as you lowered your own blade, keeping it ignited as you held it loosely at your side. 

“I hope it’s about him.”

After studying her face for a long moment and finding nothing bad, you followed her gaze to look at the child as he cooed softly, tilting his head back and forth as he looked between the three of you. 

“And her.”

Looking over your shoulder, you found her eyes now on you, seeming to see beneath the layers of beskar with just a look. Shifting your weight nervously, your gaze darted to Din before you disengaged the saber, clipping it to your belt.

“Him,” you said decidedly as she and Din walked closer to the child. 

Narrowing her eyes as they looked you up and down one more time, she pursed her lips as she stared at your face for a long moment. “And you,” she finally added again, something mischievous in her tone. 

“No, just hi-”

“You may have just come for him,” she began, turning to walk away further into the woods, stooping down to pick her cloak up off the ground that had fallen off at some point in the battle, then motioning you both forward after a few steps. “But it is both of you that need my help.”

You and Din shared a look before following after her, Din scooping up the child on the way.

“I don’t-”

She held up her hand to stop you, a small smile working its way up her face. “There is no need to lie to me, little one. I could sense you long before I saw you. You’re quite powerful, but obviously never actually trained, much like your little green friend over there.” She gestured to the child with a small jerk of her head, eyes on the path in front of her. “Come.” Pulling the cloak over her shoulders, she finally fully looked at you and smiled. “We have much to discuss.”

“We don’t have anything to discuss,” you grumbled, keeping your stride alongside her. “You and the child do….”

She smiled knowingly. “We’ll see.”

Xxx

Ahsoka sat with the child by a lantern in complete silence. You could feel some sort of exchange happening between them, but you couldn’t tell what it was about, only that it felt friendly and good natured. The large moon behind them made the scene all very picturesque, but from your little viewpoint down here, everything about it made you want to run up and curl yourself around the child and never let go. It felt like a changing of the guard.

Din paced back and forth on the edge of the clearing as you leaned up against one of the old trees, your ankles crossed leisurely and your arms across your chest.

“Could you be any more of a worried father right now?” You chuckled over the words, holding your hands up in surrender when he stopped to stare at you, his head tilted in annoyance.

The armor was long gone from your frame and in a neat bundle with all but one of your capes and your scarf- which you were wearing- near your feet, ready to be carried back to the Crest. Your clothes you’d worn as a base layer had never felt better as you stretched your sore muscles, tired after lugging beskar around all day. You looked down, adjusting your vambraces needlessly, fiddling with the weapons on your belt while you waited.

He began pacing again, face toward the ground as he moved, and you sighed.

“They’ll be fine,” you tried after a minute, your arms crossing back over your chest as you slumped further back against the tree.

He stopped again, his shoulders tense, chest broad as he visibly kept from looking their way. “Can you hear what they’re saying?” 

Narrowing your eyes, you tilted your head just slightly in question. “What they are silently saying in their heads?”

“Yes.” He spoke so matter of factly, you couldn’t help but answer in the same tone.

“Oh yeah. He’s complaining about the lack of frogs in his diet- No I can’t hear them!”

With a heavy sigh, his shoulders visibly deflating and rolling forward, he began to pace again, eyes on the ground.

Pushing off the tree, you stepped into his path, stopping him with your hands on his shoulders. The way he was moving you expected it to take more effort but he gave very little resistance, a small breath leaving his modulator as he looked up at you.

“Din. Breathe.” Taking a step closer, you tilted your head back to keep eye contact with him. “This is what he needs. What’s best for him. We won’t let him go if it isn’t right.” Your hands fell down into his cowl and you pulled him closer still. “And after that little fight she put up, I have no doubt he would be completely safe in her hands. She’s a Jedi, Din. She knows what she’s doing, knows what he needs. You know that.”

He let out a ragged breath, his gloved hands coming to rest solidly on your back, fingers tracing absently ever so slightly as he spoke. “I know. Doesn’t make it any easier.”

“Never said it would,” you whispered, turning your head to the side and resting your cheek against the fabric still fisted in your hands.

“And what about you, mesh’la,” Din prodded quietly after a moment, his hands stilling on your spine to hold you to him in a preemptive move. “Is this what you want?” You pulled back to look at him, and his grip only let you pull back enough to tilt your head back further. “Is it what you need?”

“He’s your ward, Din. Your foundling. It’s not my decision-”

He tisked, his head tilting to the right. “That’s not what I’m talking about, and you know it.”

Closing your eyes, you buried your face in his cowl with a soft groan. Rolling your head back and forth against the fabric, you spoke into the material, unable to look at him. “No. It’s not.”

“You haven’t even talked to her yet-”

“And I don’t need to.” Pulling back, you looked at him through narrowed eyes, your brows pulled together in a scowl. “I’m fine with what I am, Din. Would I have one day, long ago, maybe have become a Jedi? Yeah.” Your eyes fell to his cowl, darting briefly to his signet that glinted in the moonlight, making you smile, before you looked back up at him. “But that’s not where I am now. It’s not where I’m supposed to be. I’m supposed to be here. With you.” You poked his chest, smiling. “….Kicking ass.”

He chuckled softly.

“I didn’t join a clan just to up and leave when something else came along. You know me better than that.” You arched a brow as you looked up at him, eyes flitting back and forth between where you assumed his eyes were.

“I do,” he said softly, leaning his forehead against your own. “I know you.”

“Then why even bring it up?” He laughed again at your soft grumble.

“Because, mesh’la, I want to do what’s best for both of you. Even if you did leave, you’d still be a member of my clan. You’ll always be a member of my clan.”

“Damn right I will be,” you mumbled, unable to contain your smile. 

The squeaking of the lantern as it swung by Ahsoka’s side made you both pull away, turning to face the Jedi and your small ward. She set the lantern on the ground, then shared a long look with Din, then you, a soft smile on her face, before finally turning and setting the small child on a nearby stone. 

He grunted softly as he looked between all of you, his ears wiggling as he did. 

She sat on a rock across from him, tucking her arms under her cloak as she settled in, staring at the lamp for a long moment, before she looked back at the child with a fond smile, tilting her head as he continued to babble and coo. 

“Is he speaking?” Din finally broke the silence. “Do you…. Understand him?”

“In a way.” Looking at the child fondly, she then looked up to Din. “Grogu and I can feel each other’s thoughts.”

Everything stopped. Your breath caught in your chest. Your eyes went wide from where they studied her, darting over to the little green child you’d instantly connected with, come to love more and more over the months, and would protect with your life. The kid.

“Grogu?” Din spoke hesitantly, as if tasting the word as it passed through his lips. 

Lifting his ears, the chi- Grogu turned up toward Din, a questioning coo you’d never heard him make before softly tumbling forward into the silent space.

“Yes. That’s his name.” Ahsoka looked at the chi- Grogu with something that seemed like sadness.

Reaching out, you felt nothing but a kindred connection between the two of them, almost making you smile as the ki- Grogu turned to look at the Jedi again, but you successfully tucked it away. Turning to look up at Din, you watched as he shifted his weight a bit, processing this new information.

“Grogu.” He said it more confidently, looking directly at the kid, an affectionate tilt of his head after when Grogu immediately perked up, turning his way, ears up, eyes wide, and that silly little questioning coo tumbling out again, followed by a sweet, short little squeal of returned affection. 

“He was raised at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant.” Ahsoka stared at the lamp as she spoke. “Many Masters trained him over the years. At the end of the Clone Wars when the Empire rose to power, he was hidden.” Din lowered to a stone across from her, listening with rapt attention. “Someone took him from the Temple.”

His visor turned to you, and without even looking, you felt its weighted stare along the lines of your face. “I saw it.” Glancing up toward the Jedi, she tilted her head to the side in question, studying you closely. “I was there.”

“That’s not possible,” she gently shook her head. “You would have been too young-”

“I was only a baby when the Temple burned.” You held her gaze, hard as it was, but you managed. “I remember the smoke, billowing into the sky. My parents shaking their heads, watching with such sadness…. The dread, not my own, but an overwhelming, horrible feeling I’ll never forget just coming over me in waves as the flames grew.”

Removing the saber from your belt, you gently moved it back and forth between your hands idly as you continued. “I found this on Trask, in a black market box stamped with the Empire’s symbol in the corner. It called to me. Endlessly, until I touched it. Then the voices quieted, and….”

“The visions started,” Din offered softly in support.

“Tell me about them.”

Looking over at Din, you smiled sardonically. “Um, okay.” You looked at the ground for a moment before looking back up at her, expecting some sort of judgment, but only found curiosity and a touch of concern. “It started with the vision of the k- Grogu,” you corrected yourself pointedly, making her smile, “at the Temple on that day.”

His big eyes blinked up at you as he babbled softly, his head tilting to the side as a hand reached out toward you. Sticking your index finger out to place in his small hand with a smile, you continued quietly. “I saw it all as a bystander. Then I saw him. I leaned over him to protect him on instinct, then it all faded. When I told him about it, he did this,” you wiggled your finger in reference, making him giggle. “And I saw from his perspective.”

Removing your finger, you reached it up to scratch the top of his head, a contented purr making you smile. Turning back to the Jedi, you lowered your hand to your lap. “When I leaned over him in my dream…. Vision…. Thing,” you huffed, “in his memory, I was still there. I was a shadow covering him, and made him feel safe…. At peace.” Reaching out, you pulled your finger on the tip of his ear, making it shake away from you as he let out a squeal, his face scrunching up in amusement. “When he looked up, I saw my own face looking down into his cradle. I had just gotten my vambraces, and the saber, his signet on my knife, and all of it was there and accurate down to the last detail.”

Ahsoka leaned forward, resting her head on her fist, elbow braced on her knee. “And the second?”

You sighed, leaning back on your palms. “I saw him,” you jerked your head to the left toward Din. “A ten year old him, living a story he’d only vaguely told me about weeks before. Details he never mentioned, things he forgot…. Then, at the end, a Mandalorian flew off with him on a jet pack, and I swore it was like he was looking right at me.”

“When she told me that, I remembered seeing a girl down below as we took off,” Din said almost disbelievingly. “It sounds crazy, but I remembered it clear as day. And just like the other one, the vambraces, the saber, the mudhorn, all of it.”

Ahsoka smiled, bracing her other arm and cradling it under her chin beside the first as her eyes flicked between you all amusedly. “Sounds to me like the three of you were always meant to be a clan of three.” She nodded toward the saber in your hands. “And that was always meant to come to you.” She held your gaze firmly with her own. “Kyber crystals choose the wielder, not the other way around. If it brought you to it, then immediately quieted when in your hands….” She sat back, her hands falling to her lap. “Then you were chosen.”

You stared at her, hesitating before finally stating the obvious. “But I’m not a Jedi.”

“Doesn’t matter. The Force worked with the crystal, and that is what it chose to show you. Purple kyber can be extremely….”

“An asshole?” She smiled at your muttered response.

“Rambunctious,” she concluded. “But then again, the crystals are supposed to be a reflection of the wielder, so I suppose you knew that already.” Sending you a wink, she turned back to Din and Grogu, her voice floating into your head. We’ll finish talking later. I feel you haven’t told me about one other vision that is troubling you. Perhaps I can help. 

Looking over at Din, you remember how he had reacted to the possibility of someone saying he had removed his helmet. It was like you had broken him. Darting your eyes back to Ahsoka, you were grateful she had kept this one between you.

“Then his memory becomes…. dark,” she continued, looking at Grogu sadly. “He seemed lost.” Looking over, you saw the little one hanging his head almost dejectedly. “Alone.” She looked at you pointedly, before turning her gaze back toward Din. “I’ve only known one other being like this. A wise Jedi Master named Yoda.”

At the name, a warm sensation crawled over your skin, a familiar feeling settling in your gut, almost as if a presence was right behind you, as words from when you found the saber echoed in your head.

A gravelly, quirky voice invaded your mind, echoing in the vast nothingness you found yourself in. You didn’t recognize it, but it brought you a sense of peace. “Trust in the Force, you must. Your path, you have found. Easy, it will not be, but walk it still, you must.”

Ahsoka chuckled softly, Grogu letting out an amused grunt as they shared a look, some unspoken exchange passing between them.

“Can he still wield the Force?”

Din hesitated, shifting his weight slightly. “You mean his powers?”

Ahsoka’s eyes darted to you quickly before they landed back on Din, her smile growing, her eyes softening. “The Force is what gives him his powers. It is an energy field created by all living things. To wield it takes a great deal of training and discipline.”

Her eyes once again fell on you in an unspoken question, and you shrugged, your eyes fluttering shut for a moment before meeting her gaze again in amusement. “I’ve tried to explain it before. I don’t….” You shrugged again, smiling. “It just doesn’t take.”

Nodding in understanding, her eyes danced with mirth as they fell back on the Mandalorian.

“I’ve seen him do things I can’t explain.” Din spoke haltingly, looking at Grogu before looking at you. “The same things, if not sometimes more than I’ve seen her do.” Looking back at Ahsoka, he sighed. “My task was to bring him to a Jedi.”

Something dark crossed over her face, her eyes falling back down to study the lamp again, her voice dropping with it. “The Jedi Order fell a long time ago.”

“So did the Empire, yet it still hunts him.” Lifting her gaze to his visor, she seemed to ponder his words. “He needs your help.”

A faint smile climbed her face as her gaze fell back down on the lamp. When she looked over at Grogu, you followed, and saw the child was almost asleep, fatigued         from the long mental exchange, no doubt. She sighed as he let out gentle coos, right on the edge of rest. “Let him sleep.” She took a deep but silent breath. “I’ll test him in the morning.”

You got to your feet, walking over to Din’s side as he scooped up the child, pausing when her voice sounded at your back.

“You. Stay.”

Turning, you saw her looking you right in the eye as she got to her feet. “There’s something I want to try.”

Looking across your shoulder at Din, you saw him hesitate a few feet away. Nodding once, you jutted your chin in the direction of the Crest. “I’m fine. Go.” When he lingered, you sighed, closing the distance between you, your hand coming to rest on his upper arm. “If you’re gonna be all Mando about it, at least go sit and lean against the tree I was leaning against earlier. And try to sleep? Please?” Giving his arm a squeeze, you plastered on your best smile. “For me?”

“That’s not fair,” he sighed, turning to head over to the tree several yards away.

“Thank you!” You called after him, laughing when he waved a hand in the air dismissively. Turning back to face Ahsoka, you waited for her to explain.

“How did you come to know how to use the Force?”

Shifting your weight from foot to foot uncomfortably, you stared at her for a long moment before you found the courage to respond. So far in your life, you’d talked to a total of one other person about this. Din. Adding another finger to the count was hard.

“On my own. I just…. Did it. It’s not technically proper use of the Force, but by the time I was old enough to understand that, there was no proper training available. So I used it for mundane things until they came into my life.” You gestured behind you with a slight backwards lean of your head. “Now I only use it to help keep them safe. Well, and when Mando is being annoying. But I consider that saving my life, and sometimes his, depending on this situation.” You laughed softly.

“You don’t want training.” It wasn’t a question. An observation.

You shook your head. “The kid, he needs this. Deserves this. He’s going to do great things someday. He’ll always be my ad’ika, but the things he’s destined for are far from little.” (“Little one.”)

Ahsoka smiled fondly, nodding in agreement with a soft hum as she began to circle you slowly. “I can feel it in you. The chaos. The mischief you spoke of from the kyber, it simmers just below the surface.” She came to stop directly in front of you, her thumb and index finger clutching her chin in thought. “It’s part of what fuels you, gives you the strength you have, the abilities you’ve expressed like the visions and connections before their time, but….” Her eyes studied your face, darting all over until she found what she was looking for, finally returning to your eyes. “It’s also a source of anger for you. A loss of control. I sense a rage that sits just on the edge, ready to tip over with little provocation.”

Your eyes fell to the ground in shame. “The last few times I’ve gotten emotional, highly stressed or scared specifically, it…. It feels like I’m not in control.” Lifting your gaze to hers once again, you found only grace there, no scorn or judgment. “I’m able to stop it, rein it in, but each time it’s a little harder. It’s so easy. This last time I thought I was fine, that it had stopped at some crates shaking on a platform, but then Mando went to hug me, and I tried to gently push him off, but…. Instead I pushed him back several feet.” Looking down at your palms, you stared as if they held the answer. “It was like something exploded out of me, it wasn’t…. I didn’t….” Swallowing roughly, you lowered your hands as you lifted your head to look at her fully. “Please help me.”

As her hands went to clasp behind her back, she began to circle you again. “Tell me about this other vision.”

“It was something in the future, Mando’s future, to be exact.” She nodded for you to continue. “It happened right after the others, came on like a headache. Other Mandalorians asked if he’d removed his helmet. He said yes. They excommunicated him from their ranks. He was devastated in the vision and when I told him about it.”

“There’s something you’re leaving out. A detail…. Something small you couldn’t quite see.” Her head is tilted to the side as she rounds into your field of view again, passing around the other side a few seconds later.

“How did you….” You huffed. “I guess that’s the difference between proper training and not….” She chuckled at your muttered words. “A weapon. I think. I don’t know. A small black…. Something laid at his feet, but no matter how hard I looked, it was just like I was asleep, my eyes too bleary to make it out.”

Coming around in front of you for the umpteenth time, she stopped, looking at you with an arched brow. “I’m going to teach you something basic we learn in the Temple as younglings. I think it’ll help you learn to focus. Maybe, if you can apply the practice to this dream-”

“So it was a dream, not a vision?”

“It was the future, a possible outcome, however you want to call it.”

You sighed as she smiled before continuing. “If you can apply this practice to this vision, maybe it’ll help clear up any lingering confusion.”

Nodding your head vigorously, you stood a bit straighter. “Please. Yes. What do I need to do?”

She stood directly in front of you, walking a few paces away before turning to face you once again, her expression nothing but kind and amused. “I want you to jump.”

“How high?” You joked, your weight shifting easily onto one leg, thinking she was teasing.

“That is entirely up to you.”

Centering your weight again, your eyes widened before a look of incredulity crossed your features. “Oh, you’re serious?”

Hands still behind her back, she leaned just slightly toward you, her eyes practically dancing with held back laughter it seemed. “Jump.”

You couldn’t help but roll your eyes. “How does this help-”

“If you’d just do it, you’d understand.”

You whirled around when her voice sounded at your back, finding her now suddenly behind you several feet, stood in the same posture, hands behind her back patiently. “How did you….” Closing your eyes, your brows knit together, you shook your head in disbelief, eyes flying open when you felt a sudden surge in the air around you, a slight breeze making the finer hairs around your face move just slightly, only to find the spot she had been in empty.

“I promise this will work,” she said from off to your left, making you spin to try and find her yet again.

“Okay, now you're just showing off.” Hands on your hips, you grumbled at her with an arched brow, making her laugh.

Suddenly she shot up overhead like she had during the fight, landing back where she had started as if nothing had happened, and all you could do is watch with your jaw dropped. 

“Maybe,” she conceded, “but I thought a little demonstration was necessary, don’t you think?”

Lifting your chin and straightening your spine, you closed your eyes, tapping into everything around you. The Force flowed up from the ground, still vibrant and plush despite the barren surface surrounding you. A whole mess of creatures just below the surface working hard to repair the damaged soil sending vibrations across your skin. Ahsoka shined bright in front of you, little tendrils of energy rolling off of her like condensation on a nice cool drink. Somewhere behind you you heard Din and Grogu snoring softly, both of them emitting something so good and content that washed over you like waves.

It all built up in you like a spring, coiled and ready to burst, and when you bent your knees just slightly then rocked to the balls of your feet, suddenly the ground fell away, and with your eyes still closed, the wind rushing in your face made you grin.

Once something solid was under you once again, you peeked your eyes open to find yourself on the other side of Ahsoka now, standing on top of the rock you had been sitting on earlier. It was several feet away, much more than you should have been able to jump on your own. Your cape fluttered down around you from the force of the movement, swooshing just slightly until it came to a stop. 

You looked at Ahsoka, finding a lopsided grin climbing up her face as she watched you closely. “Now,” she said quietly, “use that focus, draw on it, and think about that vision. The object. The space. The people. Pull from everything, and let it build you a clearer picture.”

Nodding, you closed your eyes, recalling every aspect you could. The other Mandalorians. Din. Narrowing your brows you realized Grogu wasn’t there. You didn’t see yourself, either, but you could tell you were somewhere in the background, watching. 

The object at his feet shimmered like a mirage from the heat of Tatooine. That was different from before, now it was coming in and out of focus, still just enough hidden that you couldn’t tell what it was, though. 

“Then you are a Mandalorian no more.”

Your focus pulled to Din as the words of the other Mandalorian echoed in your head, and you saw his world shatter. He began to ask for forgiveness, how he could atone, and the other Mandalorian next to him made some jab, and you wanted to punch him for it. 

Sizing up the brute, you heard Ahsoka whisper near your left ear, “Focus….”

Shaking your head, you tried to do what she said, looking down at their feet to see the object clearly for the first time.

“It’s…. It’s a saber?” You tilted your head as you stared at the item, wanting to be certain. Din picked it up and left before the vision dissipated. You stared at Ahsoka with wide eyes. “A saber. But how can that be?”

“Describe it to me.”

“Black hilt, um…. The other Mandalorians didn’t seem surprised by it, either. It almost seemed like they had maybe been fighting over it with the position Mando and the asshole were in.”

A light went off behind her eyes, understanding covering her features. 

“Do you know it?”

Her head tilted to the side, a mischievous look taking over her face. “I think it’ll all be okay.”

“Mesh’la?”

Leaning to the side to look around Ahsoka, you saw Din standing near one of the rocks a few feet away, Grogu still snoring in his arms.

“I’m sorry, did I wake you?”

“No, the little womp rat did. Had some dream, started flailing, smacked my helmet pretty hard, actually. The sound woke me up….” He looked down as the kid started sleeping fitfully again.

Ahsoka reached out, placing a hand on his head, and instantly the lines on his face soothed, his limbs coming to still as he snuggled further into Din’s arms. “He’s dreaming about frogs,” she laughed softly.

“What have you two been doing?”

You smiled at Din as he looked at you expectantly. “Watch this.”

Xxx

The next day Ahsoka brought your little clan to a clearing, leading your little band as you brought up the rear. Grogu cooed from his spot in Din’s arms, looking all around with wide eyes.

You watched the mossy ground pass underfoot as you walked, marveling at the greenness of it as it squished beneath your feet. Growing up on a planet basically made of durasteel and concrete, you felt like you were walking on air. Leaning closer to Din in front of you, you pushed up onto your tip toes and whispered, “Somewhere green.”

He snorted. “This doesn't count.”

“I see green, it counts,” you grumbled.

“It’s barely even green, mesh’la. It’s moss. The rest of the planet is a wasteland.”

“It counts.”

“Fine, it can count,” he mumbled. “But as soon as I take you somewhere like Endor, or Naboo, even Sorgan….” Grogu’s ears perked up on the last one, his face turning up to look at Din with a smile. “You’re not even going to remember this place.”

Before you could respond, the group was coming to a stop, and before you realized, you were bumping into Din’s back with a soft oomph. “Ow,” you muttered pitifully, rubbing your nose as you took a step back.

Peering over your hand, you saw Ahsoka smiling at Grogu still perched in Din’s arms. “Let’s see what knowledge is lurking inside that little mind.” She booped his nose with her finger. Motioning over towards a nearby stone, she turned to look for something while Din set Grogu down on the large rock.

He sidled up beside you, muttering in a low voice, “What do you think she is going to do?”

“I’m not sure,” you studied her as she picked up a stone before rising to her feet again. “But I trust her.” Tilting your head back to look up into his visor, arms across your chest, you tried to ease his worry with a reassuring smile. “So far she hasn’t given me a reason not to.”

“No voices?”

The smile took a crooked tilt up in amusement as you turned your attention to Grogu. “No voices. No bad feelings. No premonitions. Nothing about the past, present, or future. And no taunting kyber crystals.” Turning back to his visor, you narrowed your eyes playfully. “Did I cover everything?”

“Just making sure,” he clarified somewhat teasingly, turning his own attention over to the child.

“Well, there was one voice.” You saw his head turn toward you in your peripheral and you smirked. “Hers. She spoke to me in my head.”

“You…. She…. Can do that?” He sounded amazed but also slightly disturbed.

“Easily,” you mused, trying to contain the broad grin trying to come out.

“Ne shab’rud’jetiise,” he mumbled under his breath, turning back to face Ahsoka with a slight incline of his head. (“Don’t fuck with Jedi.”)

Facing her palm upwards with a small stone resting in the center, she turned it toward Grogu, keeping the stone held firmly to her palm with the Force. Then, with a slight push, the stone began to float through the air slowly, gently tumbling end over end like a planet on its rotation. 

Din took in a sharp breath when the rock started levitating, holding it until the stone landed in Gorgu’s hands. Letting it out on a stutter, his chest deflated a bit with the motion, his shoulders curling forward just slightly in relief.

Letting out soft coos, Grogu looked at the stone, then over to you before he turned to Ahsoka.

Holding her palm face up once again, she smiled at him encouragingly. “Now, return the stone to me, Grogu.”

The child looked down at the stone one more time before lifting his gaze and darting it between the three of you, eyes wide and innocent. You’d seen this look before. He knew exactly what was going on, what was expected of him, but something stood in the way. He got almost a little bit…. Shy.

“He doesn’t understand,” Din finally offered after a long moment of silence, and you had to bite your lip to keep from grinning at how concerned he was.

“He does,” Ahsoka assured, turning from the Mandalorian to the child. “It’s okay,” she soothed after he whined quietly, staring down at the stone. Slightly bouncing her extended palm for emphasis, her tone once again grew more firm. “The stone, Grogu.”

With the slightest jerk of his head toward the Jedi, Din motioned for the child to do what she said. You almost rolled your eyes at him. Gone were the days of a cold Mandalorian, jumping from job to job and only worrying about credits and his ship. He’d never admit it out loud, but he wanted so badly everything for this child. He was the nervous father on the sidelines, trying to help their child succeed in any way they could. It made your chest feel too small for the feeling swelling inside it at the thought.

You brought a hand to cover your mouth in an attempt to hide the smile trying to betray you at the scene unfolding in front of you. When Grogu looked up at you after Din, it was all you could do to raise your eyebrows in encouragement and tilt your head toward Ahsoka like he had, keeping the smile sealed beneath your fingers.

The whole exchange felt light and easy, so it was surprising when the kid looked to the stone for a final time before dropping it in front of him with a frustrated grunt. It made your brows knit together as you studied your little ward, trying to reach out to him with encouraging thoughts, happy things, maybe even something about frogs, but he was completely closed off to you.

Din let out a sigh behind you, his weight shifting slightly as you knew he, too, was feeling Grogu’s discouragement without any need of using the Force.

Ahsoka let out a sigh of her own, before walking over and crouching in front of Grogu, staring at him intently. When she reached out and took his small hand with hers, you reached out to try and feel what they were ‘saying’. Closing her eyes she ducked her head and took a deep breath before she spoke calmly. “I sense much fear in you.”

Grogu looked at her as he babbled softly, ears wiggling as he did. You didn’t sense anything from him to her, he didn’t even try, but there was a small tendril being extended to you, faint and tentative, like a child hiding in their mother’s skirts when a long lost relative comes to visit. You let every calming thing you could think of flow back on the line being precariously hung between you. Be brave, ad’ika.

Walking back over to her spot across the clearing from the child, Ahsoka explained softly. “He’s hidden his abilities to survive over the years.”

Din shifted his weight to one side, his head tilting ever so slightly to the right. “So has she, but she doesn’t have this problem.”

Keeping your eyes on Grogu, you explained in a quiet voice, “I didn’t watch everyone I love die.” Your gaze fell down to study the ground, your voice so low you pictured it skimming just along the surface. “I kept it hidden. He’s kept it buried.” You turned your face up to look at his visor. “Imagine the Crest sat for a year, untouched. At the end of that time, it’s still a ship. But everything about it is going to be rusty, gunky, need a good tune up.” Grogu cooed, bringing your attention back to him with a smile. “He just needs a little elbow grease, is all.”

Humming in agreement, Ahsoka nodded once. “Let’s try something else. Come over here.”

Din jerked his head to the side, beckoning the kid over once again, sighing when Grogu stayed where he was. “He’s stubborn.”

“Not him. You.”

Din turned his attention back to her quickly, your palm coming to slap over your forehead as your eyes scrunched up tight.

“I want to see if he’ll listen to you.” She smiled softly in amusement.

He scoffed, walking over to stand beside her. “That would be a first.”

“I like firsts. Good or bad, they’re always memorable.” She placed the pebble in his hand. “Now, hold the stone out in the palm of your hand. Tell him to lift it up.” She began to walk around behind him, headed toward where you stood to the side. 

He sighed again, doing what she asked. “Alright, kid. Lift the stone.”

Ahsoka paused before she made it very far, leaning in by his ear to whisper pointedly, “Grogu.”

Din’s weight shifted side to side as he turned his visor on her, a heavy breath, not quite a sigh, filling in the silence. Facing the child once again, his posture stiffened just a bit. “Grogu….” The child perked up with that adorable new sound he made whenever he heard his name. “Come on, take the stone.” Grogu deflated, his gaze turning toward the ground with a dejected coo. “You see? I told you, he’s stubborn.” This time you actually did roll your eyes when Din enacted every bit the stubborn one and threw the rock to the side in annoyance. 

“I wonder where he gets that from,” you mumbled, simply smiling at him when he tilted his head at you in response.

“Try to connect with him.”

After a long moment, Din reached into his belt, pulling the little silver ball out, the child instantly peering up curiously. 

“Grogu…. Do you want this?” Din spoke tantalizingly, lowering to his haunches and holding the ball out in front of him. “Well, go ahead. That’s right, take it. Come on. You can have it.” He nodded his head once, gesturing toward the ball. “Come on.”

The ball flew through the air like you had seen a million times on the ship, straight into the kid’s hand. A small burst of joy surged in the air from Grogu, but it quickly faded into something a little more nervous as he stared at the little silver orb.

Din quickly stepped over to him, praise tumbling out of his mouth excitedly. “Good job! Good job, kid. You see that?” He lowered to his haunches, taking the ball back from the child gently. “That’s right. I knew you could do it. Very good.”

You could feel something anxious roll over Ahsoka beside you, and you chanced a glance her way, finding her looking at the pair of them in concern. You knew where this was headed, you’d seen it from the start. You had just hoped that maybe since the Jedi Order wasn’t around anymore that someone would be willing to bend the rules, especially for someone like Grogu. Turning back to watch Din still fawning over the child, you had to physically bite your tongue to not say anything. This needed to come from her.

“He’s formed a strong attachment to you.” Din turned his head to look at her briefly before looking at Grogu again. “I cannot train him.”

Her last words brought him back to his feet. “What? Why not? You’ve seen what he can do.”

You hung back, leaning on the rock you had been observing from, looking between the three of them. Your heart admittedly broke a little to hear the words you already knew would be said. You had found a way. Sure, you weren’t actually a Jedi, but like Ahsoka had said, that didn’t stop some kyber from choosing you. That didn’t stop the Force from making you a clan of three. Attachment hadn’t been something wrong for you, but you saw it was something almost terrifying for her. Something beyond just the teachings of the Jedi. Something about this felt personal.

“His attachment to you makes him vulnerable to his fears. His anger.” She looked at you pointedly on the last word, almost begging you to understand.

And you did. To a degree. There was also a part of you that still believed this was best for him. The part that had been in that vision with him, had felt his peace and comfort from the halls of the Temple. There was a part of him that longed for this, no matter how deep it was buried.

“All the more reason to train him.” Din was having none of it.

“No.” She stepped closer, her voice lowering. “I’ve seen what such feelings can do to a fully trained Jedi Knight. To the best of us.” The last part was almost like an afterthought, and you watched her closely, unable to get another read on her. Her walls had gone up. “I will not start this child down that path. Better to let his abilities fade.” Looking at Grogu one more time, she turned and began to walk away, passing right by you without a second glance. “I’ve delayed too long. I must get back to the village.”

The child began to whine softly, so you started over toward him, stopping when Din began to speak again, turning to watch the Jedi’s reaction.

“The Magistrate sent me to kill you.” Ahsoka froze at Din’s words. Slowly she turned to look at him over her shoulder, something between disbelief and ‘I should have known better’ on her face. “I didn’t agree to anything,” he continued in a softer tone. “And I’ll help you with your problem, if you see to it that Grogu is properly trained.”

She turned around fully to look at the child once again, but you were standing in the way. She met your eyes as you stepped aside, allowing her gaze to flicker down to the child and you watched the decision roll behind her eyes as she let out a heavy sigh.

Xxx

Walking through the woods back toward the village, Din carrying the child in the satchel and you carrying the bundle of armor until you could get back to the Crest, you listened as they discussed the technicalities of an attack.

Din listed off blasters and droids and a whole mess of things Ahsoka just nodded to, while you made a face at the kid, making him smile from his little perch.

You finally began to listen when Din spoke of the man who had let you into the village. “He reads ex-military to me.”

You scoffed before you mumbled, “He reads asshole to me.”

Din shook his head at you as a soft snort passed through his modulator, Ahsoka smiling fondly. “Combined, not even your laser swords would be able to protect you from all that firepower.”

“You do this on purpose, don’t you?” You turned up toward Din, adjusting the bundle on your back as you stared into his visor. 

Ahsoka still smiled, Din just tilting his head at you as she finally spoke. “True. But don’t underestimate the Magistrate either.”

Finally coming to a stop, you dropped the bundle of armor with a thud as they discussed the lady that had hired Din. Stretching your back as you listened, you grimaced at the stiffness in your limbs, shooting the kid a wink when he cooed at you.

“She plundered worlds, destroying them in the process.” 

That was enough for you. Anywhere that had life outside of trillions of people crawling around like bugs on duracrete and steel deserved to be saved, not looted. You hated this woman even more now.

“When you were in the city did you see any prisoners?”

“I saw three villagers strung up just outside the inner gate.” 

So that’s what you’d heard. You stared at the ground as they continued to talk back and forth, worrying your thumbnail between your teeth. There were no voices, nothing sinister in the back of your mind, just a genuine bad feeling about the whole thing simmering just under your skin. 

“We must find a way to free them.”

Din’s voice was amused as he continued. “A Mandalorian and a Jedi? They’ll never see it coming.”

“And whatever I am.” You didn’t even realize you said it out loud, your head snapping up when you feel three sets of eyes on you. It had been meant to be out loud, then you’d thought better of it, but still it had come tumbling out into the open before you realized it.

Ahsoka placed a hand on your upper arm and a sense of calm began to wash over you. It wasn’t mind control like you had done with Mythrol, but instead just a surge of something good, something rooted deep from within her being shared with you. “You are yourself. And that is all you could ever hope to be.”

Xxx

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[dumbass-duo-showdown]

Propaganda masterpost for desertduo

They are two idiots thinking eachother's udeas are good and then somehow winning

They are two idiots thinking eachother's udeas are good and then somehow winning

They don’t have a single brain cell between them. They poked the goat to “see what would happen” and ended up getting their bases covered in duped ender dragon eggs.

Particularly in Hermitcraft, they are the most chaotic together. Chaotic in the most stupid of ways. Example: they blew up an intricate machine from one of the most "threatening" people on the server, stopped posting for a while, tried fixing it and failed, and tried apologizing with diamonds (Grian), theme park gifts (Scar), and by calling the victim "handsome" and "smart" and everything they could think of. And THEN, when Doc (the victim) retaliated with very intricate pranks that take a lot of skill and knowledge, they teamed up, went to the perimeter they were banned from as their alter egos as a loophole, and FILLED the ENTIRE PLACE (and it's a ginormous hole down to bedrock, many chunks wide) with CHICKENS. Just. A lot of chickens. Chickens everywhere. Oh my god. And another thing. Grian loves pressing buttons, like ADORES it (that's how the machine broke in the first place) and Scar... well. He gets confused easily and also breaks a lot of machines. So when people in the server build stuff, they have to both Grian-proof it (make sure an overexcited person who loves pressing buttons won't break the system) and Scar-safe it (make sure it's easily understandable and won't be broken like that). But now they also have to GRIAN-AND-SCAR-PROOF their stuff, because i swear, they multiply each other's dumbassery like by 100. And all that is just from the current arc of Hermitcraft season NINE. If we go back to season eight for a second, Grian decided to fake being AFK in all his friends' bases, and when he got to Scar's, Scar built him a ROLLERCOASTER RIDE to the BOAT TOTEM (boatem) HOLE THAT GOES BEYOND BEDROCK. People constantly fell there in the season and it was hell gearing themselves back up. But Scar was sure they were gonna land on the boatem and thought Grian was asleep because of time differences. But he failed and both died either way. And good fucking thing Grian was watching it all happen. Scar was SINGING him a SONG. You could even HEAR HIM COMING UP WITH IT BEFORE THE ACTUAL RIDE. Scar by FAR had the BEST reaction to the AFK experiment. And GODDD they're such idiots together. Unless they're in it for survival (aka the Life series) in which case Grian basically becomes his nanny let's be real. Scar is way too prone to die. He dies literally all the time and someone's gotta have him on a leash.

grian thinks that hes the responsible one in the dynamic but really hes just as much a chaos gremlin as scar is

they enable each other constantly. fellow builders to friends to enemies to friends to enemies to f

they share two braincells with each other and they do not work half the time. The number of things they fucked up is not even countable. One of them will be like "I'll save you!" and then both of them need someone to come and save them. They also are connected at the hip and love to annoy each other and other people so so much. they need help

They are so. so. Pesky british bird who loves explosions and has an attention span of 2 + catboy scammer who likes to lick magic and die badly. They are perfect for each other and their friendship is so precious to me. They are canonically soulmates. Currently theyre camping out on the edge of their enemy's giant hole because they accidentally exploded his machine together while Grian was procrastinating. The situation escalated because Grian likes war and Scar likes chaos so now theyre sitting directly in the path of their enemy's giant TNT-pooping goat mecha. Their plan? Build a buttercup-themed mecha to fight it because buttercups are poisonous to goats

They have caused a lot of chaos and destruction due to their lack of braincells /pos

Scar dragged Grian to the desert on a llama to monopolize on its sand, they blew up their friend’s tunnel bore, and rode a roller coaster together. They just bounce a braincell back and forth basically.

They ping pong a brian cell between each other and the few times it produces a thought the idea is always a bad one

they have two brain cells between them and they are not sure where they left them, they actively search for trouble and act sincerely shocked when it bites them on the ass, very orange cat coded if you ask me

Things only work out for them by pure luck. They both think they have the braincell and will be the one to pull each other through but they are both wrong. Tripping over their own feet and stumbling so hard and yet still coming out on top just because the others fall over harder

They get in a room together and its like all braincells disappear. They blew up their neighbors redstone, they filled his base with thousands of chickens, they die nonstop, they bully the other (in a friendly way) constantly and then do the exact same thing, theyre dunbasses ur honor

Theyre literally, just an echochamber of dumb. They actively lose braincells when around eachother. Grian seems smart and calculated but he can never get anything to work properly and scar is just an absolute hazard to himself and grian tries to keep him safe. They both die in minecraft so much. Grian also just has a habit of pressing every button lever or chest he ever sees. Even if its an obvious trap. He breaks stuff so easily. Grian WILL press the big button on top of the tnt block thats in plain sight. Especially right after scar says "i wonder what that does". Theyre duo can be summed up to trickster dumbass and dumbass with a heart of gold. They literally started a prank war by accidentally blowing up someones redstone. They are the unattended children on every server theyre in.

long live the science bros.

One owed the other a life debt for killing them with a creeper (it was just a prank, bro) and so they spent the season trying to monopolize all of the sand in a desert, and that's jusr scraping the surface of how stupid they are.

#be glad i got a new gaming pc #propaganda masterpost #desertduo #mcyt #dumbass duo showdown

[angrelysimpping]

as kitties 🐈

Alex is an orange tabby with eyes that make them look like they never get a turn with the single brain cell that all orange tabbies share. Silly kitty is very strong. Breaks toys by accident all the time.

Avery is a tuxedo cat. Slender and slinky. Sleeps in the weirdest looking positions. Hisses a lot, will stop mid purr to hiss.

Bailey is either a mostly black cat or a Sphinx cat. Either way, they have golden eyes; a pink nose and toe beans; and a notch in one of their ears. Sleeps in adorable positions. Talkative as hell because they're swearing. Has a heart shape on their body somewhere by law.

Eden is a Main Coon cat. Huge. So goddamn fluffy. Has knocked you down before jumping on you unexpectedly. Will do it again. Purr is near deafening.

Kylar is just this teeny tiny black cat that you think wasn't fed right because of how small they are. Little tiny meows. Starts to purr every time they see you. Their tail does that little happy, excited vibration every time they see you as well.

Leighton as some fat grey cat. Maybe a British Shorthair, but not necessarily. Default smug look. Really long, scratchy sounding meows.

Remy is a Calico. I have no reasoning for this, but they are. It's the vibes. Feel like their tail is crooked. Their claws always stick out a little, you can hear them tip taping on hard surfaces.

Robin is just a little sweetheart. Short hair but fuzzy. No discernible breed. Constantly looks like their smiling. Purrs easy. Love being held.

Sydney as a flame point Siamese cat. The sweetest meow in town. Almost constantly making biscuits.

I really wanna say Whitney is a Ragdoll just cause it's funny, they'd be the exact antithesis of a Ragdoll cat. Maybe a Bengal, if they're any discernable breed at all. Nibbles on fingers in what is probably a display of affection. Very loud meow.

Maybe a Scottish Fold for Wren. Though Wren's way more vocal than most Scottish Folds. Sneaky kitty. Has a horde somewhere of random things: hair ties, pens, coins, the odd sock. Half of it isn't even yours.

#:3c #alex the farmhand #avery the businessperson #eden the hunter #kylar the loner #robin the orphan #sydney the faithful #whitney the bully #bailey the caretaker #leighton the headteacher #remy the farmer #wren the smuggler

[haikyuuwaifu]

4

Breakeven: The Script

Genre: Humor, Drama, Fluff

Warnings: Swearing

a/n: imagine that the xx-xx-xxxx is a specific date

Masterlist

Her best days will be some of my worst She finally met a man that's gonna put her first While I'm wide awake she's no trouble sleeping 'Cause when a heart breaks no it don't break even, even, no  

xx-xxx-xxxx

“Babe, it’s time to get up.” Y/n whispered, giggling as the man next to her only snuggled further into her chest. “It’s my day off brat.” Katsuki grunted, snuggling her close. “But I still have to work today.” she snorted, reaching out to run her fingers through his hair. “Call out sick.” Katsuki mumbled, his head snuggling into her bare breast. “I’m not going to call in sick just because you’re feeling frisky Suki.” she huffed, as the blonde made to nip at her skin. “But it’s my day off.” Katsuki whined, pouting cutely. “And I’m getting in the shower.” Y/n hummed, moving to slide out of their shared bed. “If you’re a good boy, you can even help me.” she called, throwing a towel at his face. The blonde let out a growl, as he gave chase to his giggling girlfriend. An hour later found Y/n standing at the front of her classroom, waiting for her students to file in. Katsuki had decided to spend the day at UA, wreaking havoc and aggravating the staff. Aizawa came inching into her classroom, eyes narrowed in annoyance. “Why didn’t you leave your dog home for the day?” He huffed, curling up at her feet in his sleeping bag. “It’s his day off pops, he’s got errands to run this afternoon and you know he likes to grocery shop together.” “It’s sickeningly domestic.” Aizawa blanched, rolling over to look out toward her empty room. “You’re students are late.” Y/n shook her head, settling her glasses on her face. “They’re not late. I told them to change into their costumes, as today is going to be a physical mock-exam.” Aizawa hummed, waiting for her to continue. “Toshi and Touya are here to play heroes versus villains.” She grinned, as her psuedo-father cackled.

xx-xx-xxxx

“Suki, relax! It’s just your mom.” Y/n supplied, patting her boyfriends hand in reassurance. “I know, that’s the problem. The hag is a lot on a good fucking day. Auntie Inko is going to be there too, and I don’t know if she knew you and shithead were even together.” Y/n smiled softly, dropping a kiss to her boyfriends cheek. “If she doesn’t know then I’ll let her know. I’ll simply tell her things just didn’t work out.” At her statement, Shoto scoffed in the backseat, giving his brother Natsuo a solid elbow as the man barreled over to his side of the car. “It’s more than he deserves honestly.” “Stop elbowing me you little shit.” Natsuo hissed, as Keigo rolled his eyes in the way back seat of the car. The Bakugo’s were hosting a weekend getaway, and invited all of their friends and family. This invitation was also extended to Katsuki, his group of ragtag friends and his girlfriend. Bakugo had rented a 3 row SUV for the weekend, and Keigo negotiated not being in the same car as his boyfriend and his practical father-in-law for the 6 hour drive. Anyone with half a brain-cell knew how terrible of an idea it would be to ride in the same car as Enji and Touya, even on a good day. Next to Keigo, Momo sat, her chin in her palm. “What are you thinking so hard about ponytail?” Katsuki grumbled, making eye contact with her in the rearview mirror. “I think I want to give dating a try.” She supplied, effectively silencing all occupants in the vehicle. “It’s about fucking time!” Y/n shouted, as Natsuo made a show of flexing. “I know just who to set you up with!” he declared, as Shoto dug his elbow right into his brother’s eye. “She’s a lesbian you dipshit, and last time I checked, you hardly know any.” Momo let out a laugh as the brother’s started bickering, Keigo giving her an affectionate side hug, as Y/n sighed. “Don’t even worry about it ponytail, I’ve got just the person in mind for you.” Katsuki supplied, turning the radio up and effectively ending the conversation. 

As Katsuki pulled Y/n’s door open, she sighed, stepping out of the car to finally stretch her legs. Natsuo was on bag duty, and Keigo and Momo were talking quietly with Shoto. Behind them, Enji had pulled the car to a stop, stepping out and letting out a bout of flames. Shinsou came barreling out of the backseat, falling into his fiance’s arms. “Do not ever, stick me in a car with those idiot’s again!” He screeched, shaking his boyfriend slightly. “It’s a right of passage babe, you can’t escape it.” Keigo nodded sagely, coming up to wrap a wing around his fidgety boyfriend. “I had to do it when Touya and I got together, and it was as shitty as your experience.” He supplied, as Fuyumi crawled out of the back seat. Her boyfriend, Tai, stepped out as well, eyes wide in fear. “Surprised you made it in one piece fatty.” Bakugo teased, as the other man paled slightly. “I thought we weren’t gonna make it a handful of times the entire drive.” He whisper yelled, causing the blonde to cackle. Before Katsuki could say anything else, the door to the compound opened, and Eri came barreling toward them. “Finally! I’ve been waiting hours for you guys to get here!” She huffed, making a beeline for Katsuki. “I am your brother!” Shinsou hissed, crossing his arms to pout. “But Kachan’s my favorite!” Eri declared, giving the taller man a hug. “What’s it look like in there kid?” Even if Eri was now a teen, Bakugo would always and forever refer to her affectionately as kid. “It’s hectic already. Auntie Mitsuki and Auntie Inko have already gotten into it over the desserts, and then they ganged up on dad over how to set the table. Honestly, the only two that are level headed right now is Papa and Uncle Masa.” “And where’s that boyfriend of yours hm?” Y/n asked, giving her sister a sinister grin. “Y/n!” Eri screeched, covering her face as the men around them went  up in arms. “I’m here sensei!” A boy shouted, coming out of the house. Kouta was a tall gangly thing, still growing into his own. The men around them protested, arguing over who would give the shovel talk first. 

Kouta knew though, that the man he needed to get through to was the #2 hero staring him down. Bowing low, Kouta spoke. “I promise to support and care for Eri as long as she’ll have me. I know we’re just kids, but someday we’ll be adults and I swear I will always take care of her.” he declared, as the man scrutinized him. “What about her dreams to be the #1 hero?” He questioned, as Y/n buried her face in his shoulder to hid her smile. “I will support her in any way I can to ensure her dream becomes a reality.” Kouta shouted looking Katsuki in the eye. “Better make sure you do punk, or you’ll be answering to me.” Eri let out a squeal of excitment as she launched herself at her stunned boyfriend. Giving Katsuki’s hand a squeeze, Y/n made her way inside, patting Kouta on the cheek. “Good job kiddo.” She whispered, as the young couple followed her inside. Katsuki followed after them, nervous for the meeting between his two favorite women. 

xx-xx-xxxx

Y/n let out a little hum, as she perused the aisle. Mitsuki’s birthday was coming up, and she wanted to find the perfect gift for the other woman. She recalled their first meeting, where she and Y/n had gotten into it over the best way to make curry. Y/n had won out, her boyfriend’s eyes shining with pride at her victory. Over the next number of months, Y/n and Mitsuki built the kind of relationship Y/n wished she’d had with her own mother. They texted, called, and went shopping together all the time. Katsuki would grumble, but she knew he was pleased that his mother adored her. And with Mitsuki came Inko. Funnily enough, Inko didn’t really make Y/n think of Izuku. During that weekend, Inko had taken Y/n aside and apologized profusely for the actions of her son. She’d been made aware of what had happened some months before, when Katsuki informed Mistuki of his budding relationship. Y/n refused to allow the woman to apologize and promised that she was in a much better place. Y/n was brought out of her thoughts by an annoyed scoff. “Figures I’d run into you here.” Uraraka sneered, glaring at Y/n. 

Y/n supplied the other woman with an easy going smile, giving her a slight nod. “It’s been a while Uravity.” She supplied, as the brunette snorted. “Obviously, I’ve been doing serious work, you know as a ranked hero.” She stated, a dig at the fact that Y/n was not one. “And taking care of my best friend since you broke his heart.” She hissed, as Y/n rolled her eyes. Uravity was the only one of Izuku’s friends that knew about their relationship. As his token “best friend” he felt it was right that she knew. “Not like it matters to you, since you’ve been flaunting your relationship with Bakugo all over the news.” Y/n only sighed, checking her watch. “Pleasant as always Uravity.” She supplied, opting to ignore the woman and leave. “You don’t get to walk away without an explanation!” She hissed reaching out to grab her. At her attempt, Uraraka found herself bouncing back, and falling over. “I’m not comfortable with others touching my person Uravity, even if you’re a hero you are not an exception.” Y/n supplied looking over at the other woman. “I don’t owe you any sort of explanation. We are not friends and we’ve never been friends. You are simply the woman that wanted my boyfriend. Now that Izuku is no longer my boyfriend he’s free to be yours.” She declared, as the hero moved to stand. A small crowd was forming, as Uravity touched her fingers together. “You never deserved Izuku.” She hissed, glaring at the other woman. “Izuku never deserved her.” Inko scoffed, making her way through the crowd. “And I don’t appreciate you talking to my friend like that.” She hissed, wrapping her arm in Y/n’s. “Sorry I’m late dear, Yagi was being extra needy this morning.” She huffed, rolling her eyes. Y/n let out a snicker giving the older woman a wink. “Blondes” She teased good naturedly. “Suki made me promise to bring home spicy ramen for his troubles.” “Midoriya-san, what are you doing with her?” Uraraka asked, voice laden with shock. “She’s my friend, and my best friends birthday is coming up, so we’re looking for presents. What I do isn’t really any of your business.” Inko replied. The crowd whispered amongst themselves, as a teens stepped forward. “What are you doing to Y/n-sensei!” they shouted, pointing an accusatory finger at Uraraka. “I didn’t do anything!” She defended, glaring at the child. “Isn’t that dynamight’s girlfriend?” Someone else questioned, as the mumbling grew louder. “If that’s dynamights girlfriend, then what does uravitity think she’s doing trying to harass her.” Someone else mumbled as Uraraka looked around frantically. Y/n and Inko were having a separate converstaion, as Uraraka looked for some support. The crowd continued mumbling, glaring at her. Security made their way over, standing in front of her. “I’m afraid you’re going to have to leave no ma’am.” He stated looking down at the hero. “On what grounds?” Uraraka hissed, floating above the guard. “You’re causing a disturbance to other shoppers here, and harassing the girlfriend of the #2 hero.” he stated, as the crowd started yelling at her. “leave her alone!” “Get out of here Uravity!’ Some shouted, as the woman looked around. Inko tsked’ looking at her son’s friend. “I’d say it was nice seeing you, but you’ve always been a bit too fake to pull of the cheerful friendliness.” She supplied, as she and Y/n turned to leave. “See you around, Uravity!” Y/n called, as the two women left. Leaving the floating hero, seething with rage. 

Prev/Next

#breakeven #bnha fanfiction #bnha angst #bnha scenarios #bnha bakugou #bnha #bnha x reader #bnha x female reader #izuku midoriya x female reader #izuku midoriya x reader #izuku x reader #katsuki bakugo x reader #bakugou katsuki #bakugo x reader

[thethreeeyed-raven]

Boys

chapter one - beach or nah?

chapter two - “I know you didn’t hire a fucking escort.”

pairing : Tim Klitz x Fem!Reader

word count : 802

warnings : swearing, mentions of sex, deez nuts joke (i apologise), use of the ‘f’ slur

a/n : if you don’t like the outfit i described, you can look up for some on pinterest :)

paul dano master list

wattpad version

ao3 version

"Do you have the fever?" Matt turned to Klitz, quoting the banner that hung above their heads.

Klitz hummed in thought then turned to his friend. "No, why do you?"

"I don't know, maybe. What about you?" Matt turned to Eli who was looking straight ahead.

"I just gotta fuck something." Eli said breathlessly. Klitz shook his head and pulled a look of disgust.

"Guys!" Sorry, excuse me, excuse-sorry-" Behind the trio, your voice could be heard. You tried not to be so loud incase it annoyed people. Matt and Eli almost never heard you when you tried to get their attention, but Klitz could always hear your sweet voice.

"Guys, Y/n's here." Klitz lightly nudged Matt as they all turned around to look at you. His mouth went agape as he took in your appearance.

Half of your l/h was tied up neatly, decorated with a small white bow. You wore a white cardigan that wasn't buttoned up. Underneath that was a baby pink tube top. You wore a short skirt that was a shade darker from your top. On your feet were a pair of light pink socks and some white sneakers and you held a white Kånken bag which had a gold keychain on the zipper. For accessories, you wore a pair of pearl earrings, a pearl necklace, and few gold rings. Your makeup was light, everything matched, from your light brown eyeshadow to your clear lip gloss.

Klitz thought all of your outfits were cute and made you look beautiful, this one was no exception.

"Hey Y/n!" A bunch of hey's and hellos were shared amongst the four.

-🦋-

"I said, everybody say 'Ho!'" One of the jocks shouted to everyone on the bleachers. The head was hosting an assembly to make a few announcements.

Everyone jumped up and cheered, mostly the jocks.

"You know what I say? I say, this prom's gonna be off the hook! You feel me?" Everyone got up and cheered again. The jock looked towards the Principle then back at the crowd. "Security's gonna be tight. Get wasted before you show up!"

"That's enough! I can wait," The teacher tried to shush the rowdy audience. "I can wait, people." Everyone in the audience finally quietened down, giving the Principle time to speak.

"Now, it is your student-council president who has a few announcements to make."

A few people in the crowd clapped, including you, Klitz and Eli. "Thanks Mr Salinger," Matt said, taking the mic from him. "All right, how you doing?" There was an awkward silence, and Matt cleared his throat. "Okay, lets start off with Operation Get Samyung."

"Samyung baby!" One of the weirdo's sat near the blue jacket-wearing jocks shouted, everyone cheering after.

"Yeah," Matt tried not to seem awkward, it was painfully obvious to you three. "Well, we did it. We raised the twenty five thousand dollars, so now we can bring the genius Samyung out of Cambodia and bring him here to study at Westport."

You and Klitz sat listening to Matt intently, Eli slightly clapped for him and a few others did.

"Speaking of which, Samyung sent us a new tape."

One of the most popular boys in the school jumped up and shouted, "Show that shit!" Everyone automatically started cheering after. "Show it!"

You were honestly beginning to think these fuckers only shared one brain cell.

-🦋-

"How do they just skip class everyday and go to the beach?" Klitz asked as you four watched a bunch of students leave the building and get in their cars.

"Because they just don't care." Matt answered with a sigh. "Let's go with them."

You, Klitz and Eli gave Matt a funny look. Matt would never skip a class, no matter how much he hated it. The action would ruin his reputation and give him a bad look.

"Seriously, let's just do it."

"Why?" You and Klitz asked in synchronisation. Klitz looked away with a light blush on his cheek.

"Because, I mean, we never do anything. I mean, we're graduating, we should be going nuts right now. Let's just do something."

Deez nuts

"I am doing something, I'm going to class." Klitz argued.

You nodded along with him. "Klitzy needs his grades," You gently placed your hand on Klitz's arm, causing the blush on his face to turn darker and spread to the tips of his ears. "And besides, sand is horrible, it's messy and gets everywhere."

"Klitz, you already got into Yale. I mean, it doesn't matter anymore."

"Yeah, Klitz you pussy." Eli added on.

"Well, why don't you go?"

"Yeah, come on. Let's go."

"Beach is for fags man." You rolled your eyes at Eli's use of the 'f' slur. He knew you hated the word, yet he kept saying it anyway.

"The beach is for fags?" "Yeah." "You know what? You guys are fags." Matt said then began walking away.

Eli followed him, going to his next class.

You sighed and grabbed Klitz's arm. "Come on Klitzy, let's just skip in the toilets."

#Spotify #paul dano klitz #paul dano nation #paul dano x you #paul dano x reader #paul dano #klitz x you #klitz fluff #klitz x y/n #klitz fanfic #klitz imagine #klitz x reader #klitz the girl next door #the girl next door

[onaperduamedee]

Notes on The Dragon Reborn

I went almost straight from The Great Hunt, but never edited my notes. As I am jumping in The Shadows Rising immediately after, I felt the need to clean up my impressions if only to come back to them later.

Full spoilers for The Dragon Reborn under the cut :

Also Perrin arguing with Moiraine that Rand knows what he is doing the day after Rand accidentally caused an earthquake that hurt people and destroyed buildings.

Moiraine: states facts about Rand being both dangerous and extremely vulnerable, is straightforward about her being only here to keep him alive for the last battle

Perrin: this is your fault, you meddlesome hussy, what are you trying to do with him, stop lying, stop manipulating, just be niceee

Me: ????

Regarding this tension between Moiraine and the boys, I wish I understood better the sexist kool-aid the three boys drank, because otherwise I like their POVs and arcs, but every time they so much think about Moiraine or Aes sedai it devolves into resentful post-feminist paranoia. However, their behavior is consistent with the defiance some male students had toward female teachers in High School: they would aggressively challenge their authority, but never with male teachers, even with the ones who were notoriously lax. So it's something RJ really nailed here, even if it can be exhausting to read.

The running gag of Nynaeve having to get angry to heal people or channel is comical, but could have major unwanted implications in the show.

The EF5 really are sharing a single wandering brain cell with Elayne. They are impulsive and reckless to the point of angering Verin, of all people. I do feel this is a very strong argument in favour of Nynaeve and Egwene being ta'veren too: they have such a talent for pandemonium, all of them. The trail of chaos that Rand was leaving behind wasn't that different from Mat, Nynaeve and Egwene's path, although on a different scale.

Siuan… I swear her mind is a kink at this point: she's so sharp and commanding. I am sorry Nynaeve and Egwene, you must be straight, because I would have been on my knees in the gayest sense during the scene where Siuan recruited them against the Black Ajah. I have never been more attracted to a fictional character as I am with SIuan in those scenes.

I do understand her reasoning when it comes to hunting the Black Ajahs (and it reinforces the parallel with young Moiraine and Siuan in New Spring), but Egwene is too damn young to be dragged into this. Also, it makes me a little disappointed we're never going to see them really study as Accepted.

Absolutely obsessed with Perrin prattling in front of Faile and an innkeeper and then cursing Moiraine for not telling him enough. Amazing.

I adore her, by the way

Moiraine: is aware of the general public perception of Aes Sedai, gets repeatedly cursed at by Perrin for not being trustworthy, has Lan not trusting her anymore because of the bond

Also Moiraine: doesn't lift a finger to appear less suspicious, cryptic or uncaring

Perrin walking in on Moiraine half-naked and then having a little bit of a case of MILF panic was weird, but still not as disturbing as the entire contingent of Aes Sedai leering over Rand and the boys in early TGH.

I am at a point where I love Nynaeve so much more than Lan, to say nothing of interest. I hope it gets better because he is inextricable from my two favourite characters. And I do wish Nynaeve wasn't taking love advice from two sixteen-year-old ta'veren-struck lovebirds.

Egwene snapping at Nynaeve about her manipulating as well as Moiraine and Elayne slapping her, while Elayne has spent months with someone as blunt as Nynaeve… After New Spring and TEotW, I remember complaining about Jordan writing women as petty in a way that feels a tad sexist. With women so far, disagreement devolves too often into cattiness. Watsonian hat on, I absolutely see why this scene happens (Egwene’s trauma that gets triggered by Nynaeve’s authority, Elayne who’s been dealing with Nyn and Egwene for weeks, the Forsaken’s influence), but with a Doylist hat on, it’s merely another instance of the books being Like That™ about gender.

It's implied Moiraine did some pretty impressive sleuthing this book and it's so frustrating that we only get the aftermath. How did she know Sammael was in Illian incognito, about Be'lal in Tear? Why was Lan so afraid for her, since she wasn't going to kill Sammael anyway? Why did she have to go alone? TELL ME

The Wild Hunt after Perrin and Moiraine’s group getting balefired was such a striking scene. I hope the show keeps that scene.

Am intrigued by the geographic progress of the characters. With the Perrin and Moiraine group, it's straight-forward enough, but with Mat, Thom, Nynaeve, Egwene and Elayne, there is a lot of going somewhere to get information to go somewhere else and yeah, although it feels realistic, it's a tad confounding. Not necessarily bad, but striking enough that I wonder if it's supposed to call back to a circular progression. 

Absolutely in love with the circularity of the girls, more specifically Nynaeve, being convinced they can rely on their strength in the One Power to defeat their enemies and then being obliterated the moment they face Black Ajahs because yeah, Verin was right, there's a reason they cannot use their power like that. No matter how strong, they shouldn't want to hurt people this way and Darkfriends, particularly the Black Ajahs, will always play dirty.

Jabs at Perrin and the girls aside, I believe this may be an underlying theme of the book: the belief that honesty equals knowledge, and recognition of lack of knowledge equals dishonesty. It's particularly blatant in Perrin and Moiraine's dynamic, where Moiraine keeps repeating she doesn't know, doesn't understand yet, and Perrin cannot see it as anything but duplicity, while his straightforwardness must mean he knows better. And conversely, there is a reason why the moment Nynaeve offers a magistral demonstration of knowledge - her Wisdom trade, mind you - it's immediately followed by a comparison to Aes Sedai and accusations of hypocrisy by Egwene.

It's a nice exploration of growing up too, because as I entered adulthood I expected older people to know all the answers and just give them to me. And here, Moiraine, Siuan, Thom, Verin… All of them are trapped in circumstances of their own, hindered by their lack of knowledge. The EF5 get angry at them, even when they find themselves in circumstances they can't control and flail through inexperience. Growing up and taking responsibility for your place in the world means understanding there is no universal answer and the work is never done: power, knowledge, luck - they aren't a panacea, especially when fighting against the end of the world. If you've ever felt utterly hopeless before events beyond your control - pandemic, war, climate crisis, late-stage capitalism, rise is fascism and white supremacy - it's a familiar sentiment.

From the fandom's perception of the Forsaken, I was skeptical about the Forsaken being goofy because the concept is really cool in theory. The fandom was absolutely right and the Forsaken are goofy in the best of ways. They remind me of Grand Guignol theatre, which was a famous French theatre in the first half of the XX c. specializing in gory, over-the-top and dark plays. It has become a term to refer to work of fiction that's melodramatic and horrific, often verging on ridiculous. I get a kick out of such camp characters.

By the light, the payoff for Egwene's multiple ventures in the dream world was extremely satisfying. I am taking back all my reservations about Tel'aran'rhiod. I still could do with fewer dream sequences overall.

On that, Perrin's hunt for Faile in Tel'aran'rhiod felt redundant, even if the narrative lays the groundwork. And I am not fond of Perrin, and Mat, and Lan being deadset on rescuing the women.

I say that and then Lan yet again does not do much to save Moiraine from being obliterated in battle and Moiraine does the saving when it comes to Rand. So there's that.

And, oh, Faile? Love at first sight on my end. I want her to be played by Erin Wu.

Everything in Tear filled me with Joy and not only because everyone was reminded of Siuan. Jordan is really good with worldbuilding. The Wisdom betraying the girls, the Aiel, the Black Ajahs, the Forsaken trying to trap Moiraine, Mat running around with hunters and gleemen... It's too much, but in the most enjoyable manner, like carnival or a Doctor Who finale. Parts of it are delicious slices of cloak and dagger, others pure esoteric gothic-ish nightmare.

If I had a nickel every time Moiraine shields Rand from a Forsaken and then gets obliterated before the final battle while Nynaeve and Egwene are running around and Mat is hiding, I would have two nickels, which isn’t much but it’s funny it happened twice.

So far, this book is the one I enjoyed the most. The pacing is miles better than the first two. The treatment of the different plots is much more satisfying and equal, which goes a long way to improve the rhythm. Rand is almost completely absent from this book, which is an interesting choice given what he goes through, but more on that in another post because it is a very deliberate shift in POV.

Although I still maintain the middle part is meandering, it's thoroughly jolly meandering, like the kind of adventure you could get in Alexandre Dumas' serialized novels. There is so much tension between the characters, but it's mostly compelling tension for now, coming from people being flawed and foolish and human. The final battle is again an explosion of chaos and barely adaptable to the screen as it is, but SO BLOODY ENJOYABLE. At moments the writing veers into straight-up Symbolism and Surrealism, particularly with the emphasis on dreams, and it's often messy but the result is strangely compelling. Like, if the writing stays on this level and above for the whole series, I will be more than content.

#the dragon reborn #wheel of time #wot book spoilers #the wheel of time #remblai #wot review #I have two other posts on Rand specifically and character ranking #interest in certain characters has changed in unexpected ways after this book #other meta-ish post will be on Rand and his title and the book's title and we're going straight into metadiegetic territory #Wot meta #Meta

[sungbeam]

Please write 6, 15 and 22 prompts with Doyoung 😭

[𝟏𝟐:𝟎𝟑𝐀𝐌] — bad boy!doyoung x reader

1.3k words, meet cute jail cell edition lmao, cursing, unrealistic situation (cries)

a/n: tbh i was so stumped by this prompt, but i'm actually kinda pleased w how it turned out :D

You never thought you would ever finally meet your school's ice prince Kim Doyoung while in a jail cell. It was cold, really, and when you had been taken into custody, you hadn't gotten the chance to grab the jacket from your car. Then again, you had little chance to do anything when they had up and cuffed you as if you being there at the wrong place and the wrong time was the evidence that you were the one who set fire to the front office building. 

No, you had an idea of who it had been. And he had just been shoved into your cell with you. (It was a small town with a small station. You were just realizing how small it was.)

"Don't go conspiring, you two," mocked the officer, before walking away, ring of keys spinning around his index finger. 

Doyoung had a jacket. 

It was that cursed black bomber jacket that half the girls in your class always dreamed about wearing around their shoulders. They always fantasized about him claiming them with that jacket. You always scoffed at the idea. They all had the money to buy the same exact jacket, but always lacked the brains to think about buying it. 

Doyoung let out a brusque sigh, raking a hand through his dark hair. He leaned against the front wall of the cell and now faced you, who sat on the edge of one of the two cots. "Hey."

You didn't say anything. You were here because of him, after all. 

He must have read your mind or something, because he said, "I know what you're thinking—"

"Oh, do you now?"

The man rolled his eyes, hard. You hoped it made his head hurt. "Mature, Yn. Very mature."

You almost started. How did he know your name?

"Yes, Yn. I know your name."

Was he reading your mind?!

"No, your face is just very readable." He sent you a thin smile. "I am fully convinced you never graduated Kindergarten now. Are you always like this to people you just meet?"

Now it was your turn to roll your eyes. "Fuck off. I have every right since I'm in this damn place because of you." You didn't even have an alibi to get yourself out, or bail money. You were literally stuck here. Your idiotic older sister wouldn't even care you were in here either. Full on screwed, was what you were. 

Doyoung held out his hands as if placating a wild animal. "Yn, I swear to god I didn't set the office on fire. For once, I'm not the bad guy here." 

The two of you held and maintained a tense eye contact from across the cell from one another. Doyoung was always causing some sort of trouble with his friends. He wasn't labeled as a bad boy, per se. Rather, people dubbed him an ice prince for lacking empathy or compassion for anyone or anything outside his inner circle. You'd seen the wreckage he had made of the chem lab or the mess this freshman's bike became after Doyoung had raged through the bike racks after school. You despised him for being so—cruel. 

You had your fair share of trouble, but you liked to think it was because you were misunderstood. Yes, spray painting your art onto alley walls was a misunderstanding, clearly. But you would never go as far as arson. Fire was cool, but not that cool. (No pun intended.)

He breathed out again. "Someone's trying to frame us." He paused, reconsidering, "Well, someone's trying to frame me. You're just the poor sap who got sucked into this."

You deadpanned. Did you have to share a cell with this idiot? "Thanks. That makes me feel so much better."

"I didn't mean it like that," he stammered. "Yn, I'm just trying to put it how it is." Doyoung pushed off the cell wall and began walking across the cell toward you, and there was a sudden and very real spike of anxiety in your chest. 

"Don't come near me."

At your words, Doyoung immediately stopped.

You cleared your throat, adding, "Take another step, and I can't be held responsible for my next actions."

Instead of backing up as you intended for him to react, he instead cocked his head at you. A sly sort of smile slipped onto his lips as he crossed his arms over his chest. "And what might that action be, love?"

It suddenly occurred to you that the idiot was you at this moment. Your heart rate leapt. "No—no, that is not what I meant! I meant that I'd kick you in the balls or something if you came any closer!" You tried amending your words, but the damage had been done and your face was as hot as the flames that had devoured the office building. 

Doyoung grinned, and you had the sudden thought that it looked like a bunny. He chuckled. "Sure. Okay, I believe you."

"It's true!" You stammered. 

"Mhm," he hummed, sitting down on the edge of the other cot. "I said I believed you, didn't I?"

You scowled, and in a desperate attempt to save your dignity, you said, "Look, I'm this close to actually giving you a shiner, dude. I can't even go home because of you, and now this is on my record, and—"

Doyoung's eyebrows furrowed. "Wait, wait. Why can't you go home? You did call someone to bail you out, right?"

You scoffed. "Yes, because my older sister cares so much about me that she would interrupt her beauty sleep at midnight to come bail me out for alleged arson." You shook your head, bitterness rising in your chest. "I don't have the luxury."

Another tense silence fell over your shared cell as Doyoung considered you. You couldn't meet his gaze; you hated the pity in his eyes that was so uncharacteristic of him, but somehow fit his pretty, dark eyes so well. His face was built to express, but something prevented him from being emotional all the time. 

It was maybe a couple moments later that Doyoung broke the silence. He scratched the back of his neck. "For what it's worth," he murmured softly, "I'm sorry you got roped into this, Yn."

You swallowed. "It's okay."

He looked as if he wanted to say something else, but the officer from before was coming back with the ring of keys jingling from his fingers. "Looks like you're going home, Kim." He yanked the cell door open, and Doyoung stood up to exit. 

You tried not to be bitter. Or to feel sad about the prospect of being abandoned again. 

Doyoung glanced back over his shoulder at you. "Hang in there, Yn." He followed the officer back down the hallway, away from you and your sight. 

So… you were alone now, huh?

With a sigh, you settled onto the cot and curled in on yourself in an attempt to get comfortable and to stay warm. No jacket, no company, no sympathy. At least you wouldn't have to go to school tomorrow—

"Aw, love, you look so cute like that." The cell door was yanked open and you shot upward. Doyoung grinned at you from beside the officer. He beckoned you out with a wide grin. "Come on; let's get you out of there."

You blinked. Were you still asleep?

"No, you're not still asleep."

You glared, standing up and walking toward him. "What the hell are you doing back here?"

Doyoung ruffled your hair with his hand and you whacked it away with what you thought was a frown, but looked more like a pout. Man, did you always look this adorable? He couldn't understand why he was seeing you differently. Maybe there was something wrong with that jail cell. "I got my friend to bail you out, too. We'll give you a ride home."

When you balked a little, Doyoung examined your face, and suddenly understood. "Or you can crash at my place. You can be cute and curl up with me." He wagged his eyebrows at you, and you couldn't help but think how this was probably the most emotion anyone outside his inner circle had ever seen from him. 

You rolled your eyes, punching him in the bicep. (Shit, he had buff arms—) "Fuck off, Doyoung."

He grinned, though its edges were softer. "You first."

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