#and dialogue echoes make me very happy

[starsofteal]

Daylight

Halsin x Tav // Halsin x Reader

Summary: Tav misinterprets Halsin’s declarations, thinking he must not want her as much as she wants him. Can Halsin convince her of his love? A/N: Well, my first Halsin fic is here! Based off this dialogue from the game, featuring a classic miscommunication trope. When I first came across this dialogue, I found myself rather disappointed by Halsin’s declaration, and I realized I was focusing on all the wrong parts of it. I couldn’t get the idea out of my head, so here we have a scenario in which Tav has done the same. This fic is so self-indulgent it should be a crime. Warnings: Hurt/Comfort (emphasis on the comfort—I promise all’s well that ends well). Pretty spoiler free, except for the opening dialogue if you’re romancing Halsin and you want all that to be a surprise. 

“Relationship?” A deep chuckle rumbles in Halsin’s chest. A sinking feeling settles into your gut. You weren’t sure what to expect when you broached the topic of a potential relationship, but a laugh? A direct blow from an enemy sword would have hurt less. 

“Such terms belong to civilization—a little unfamiliar to my lips.” His words continued, but that soft smile, those kind eyes, the strong, steadfast shape of Halsin, it all begins to shift, distorting just slightly as traitorous tears prick at your eyes. A quick bite of your inner cheek reminds you to hold steady, to not let the tears fall—by every star in that gods damned sky, you are not going to let him see you cry. 

“…you and I should each seek happiness wherever it lies…”

He’s still going on? You think to yourself. How long can one rejection take? You bite your cheek even harder, a coppery tang bursting on your tastebuds. 

Halsin’s words echo in your mind, despite the fact that his monologue seems to continue, piercing your heart again and again, the pain stealing the breath from your lungs. You will yourself to take in another breath.

“Let others know the happiness of being with you.” Halsin smiles down on you, not an ounce of malice in those soft green eyes. The staunch difference between his kindhearted gaze and the red-hot pain radiating in your chest was nearly laughable. In fact, at that very moment, you were unsure if your next steps would include crying, laughing, or launching an all out assault on the mountain of a man before you—an action that would surely not work out in your favor given the comical size difference between you two. 

In the end, it was all you could do to offer a small, meager, “I see.” It’s a notable effort to keep the emotion from your voice, but you’re proud of the attempt all the same.

A frown breaks out across Halsin’s face, his brows knitting together in confusion. “Have I said something wrong, my heart?” 

Those two words are a slap to your face. You don’t trust yourself to speak, not again, so without a word you turn and make your way to your tent as fast as your feet can take you. 

The fabric barely has time to fall in place behind you before the warm tears finally break free. 

_________

Two days had passed since the incident. While you wanted nothing more than to mope about on your bedroll and avoid Halsin altogether, your situation doesn’t exactly allow for such luxuries. 

Which is how you find yourself in the woods with Shadowheart, foraging for ingredients to top off your party’s supply of potions and tonics. Though you left early in the morning, the sun glares bright overhead now. Wiping a bead of sweat from your brow, you crouch low beneath a bush and scan the area for the bright violet blooms Shadowheart had you scouting for. 

“I just don’t understand why you had to drag me out for this,” you fuss at your friend as thorns from the underbrush prick your side. Your clothing offers little protection against natures most irritating defenses. 

“Surely there’s…someone more suited to this than I.” Your following scowl can’t be entirely blamed by the literal thorn in your side, not as thoughts of Halsin flash through your mind once more. 

Shadowheart hums absentmindedly. “Yes, this is true. Halsin is more in tune with the forest,” she mutters, collecting something from the earth too small for your eyes to make out. A soft clink tells you the specimen makes it into the glass bottle. “I was actually hoping to talk to you about that,” Shadowheart continues, popping the cork back on the bottle and tucking it away. 

“About what?” You hiss as another thorn embeds itself in your palm. You toss a scowl her way before distracting yourself from the conversation as you fiddle with removing the thorn. You’re not sure which hurts worse, the abrupt change in conversation topic or the wound in your hand. Impervious to your dirty looks, Shadowheart makes her way over to you. 

“Well, you two were nearly inseparable. Absolutely enamored with each other—anyone could see it.” She takes your hand into her own to assess the damage.

“And now, well, if I’m being completely honest dear, you’re rather dour, you seldom leave your tent, or you’re looking for any excuse to get away from the party—sorry this’ll only hurt a second.” You wince as she pulls the thorn free and presses hard on the wound to stanch any bleeding. “And, well, Halsin’s been…unusually forlorn. Like a poor dog that’s been kicked in the stomach.” 

With a scoff you withdraw your hand, taking care to apply pressure to it just as Shadowheart had done. 

“I couldn’t care less what Halsin’s been doing.” The lie is ash on your tongue. 

Shadowheart looks at you then, really looks at you. You try your best not to fidget under her assessing gaze. 

“What happened?” 

“I—“ 

“And don’t bother lying to me,” she’s quick to interrupt. “Save it for someone else. I know something has been bothering you.” 

Resignation floods you. Leave it to Shadowheart to see right through your bravado and into your heart. 

“I was a fool for thinking he could ever be happy with me.” The words are soft as they fall from your lips, but they burn your heart all the same. A firm weight falls on your shoulder as Shadowheart offers an encouraging hand. 

“Tell me everything.”

_______

Halsin’s voice calls out your name from just outside Shadowheart’s tent. His low timbre still brings a tightness to your chest, but you will yourself to breathe normally. You’d been doing your best to avoid him since getting back to camp with Shadowheart, but you suppose now is as good a time as any to rip that particular bandage off. 

“Yes, Halsin?” You ask matter of factly, not even looking up from the array of ingredients you’re currently sorting through. You pointedly ignore his gaze as he steps into the tent, taking up a majority of the albeit limited empty space. 

Halsin clears his throat, clearly uncertain how to proceed. You two had always shared such an easygoing openness between you,  but the last two days had left him scrambling for purchase. 

“I was hoping we could talk,” Halsin smiles down at you, undeterred by your clear avoidance. 

“Mm, we are talking.” You collect up one of the empty potion bottles, wiping at a smudge spot with the edge of your tunic. 

Halsin forces a chuckle, but his smile doesn’t reach his eyes. “Of course we are, but, erm, perhaps we could go for a walk? Enjoy some of nature’s company for the evening?”

“That won’t be necessary.” Your tone is sharper than you’d intended, but the guilt passes over you in a second as you replay his words in your mind, his scoff when you so much as mentioned a potential relationship. 

Halsin sighs. He had hoped that his 300 odd years of experience would give him a leg up in navigating this prickly conversation, but—as is usual when you’re involved—his heart and his tongue seem to be tripping over one another. 

 “My heart,“

That gets your attention. Your gaze snaps up to his, laced with venom. 

“You do not get to call me that. Not anymore.” 

Halsin feels his own chest start to cave in as the hurt flashes across your face—you master it a moment later, but the damage is done. 

“I’m not sure what I’ve done to upset you,” he starts, but you interject again. 

“It’s fine. I’m not upset,” you force some neutrality back in your voice. “You weren’t interested in things continuing between us, and that’s fine. Nothing to apologize for.” You gesture to the flap of the tent. “You can take your leave now.” 

Halsin does the opposite, braving another step closer. 

“Of course I need to apologize. It appears my words have caused some confusion. Worse yet, I fear they’ve caused you pain.” 

At that, you still, finger pausing over the bottles set up in front of you. 

“You must know that I would never intend to hurt you.” Halsin’s tone was bordering on pleading. “Even now, it physically pains me to know that I’ve hurt you so.” He draws a hand to his chest, moving as if to soothe an ache that’s nestled beneath the surface there. 

You glance up to see the hurt now reflecting in his eyes. It’s enough to bring forth a sigh from your lips, your shoulders caving in as resignation takes over your body. Even now, you can’t find it within yourself to hate him, no matter how much easier it would make this. 

“You’re not responsible for my feelings, Halsin,” you sigh. “They are my own.” 

“No, but I do take responsibility for my words,” he counters. 

“You don’t want a relationship with me and you said as much. There’s nothing left to be said.” Despite your best attempts, your voice breaks on the last word. You close your eyes, clinging to the blunt words, mentally rebuilding your armor to power through the rest of this conversation. 

“There is so much left to say, my heart.” Halsin’s gentle words caress your face like the sun’s rays on a warm summer day. “I have so much left to say.” 

You keep your eyes closed, focus on taking another breath, keeping your heart steady. “Then speak.” 

“I love you.” 

Your eyes spring open, and Halsin is before you, close enough to touch. A large, tentative hand reaches up to cradle your face. You don’t pull away, and that’s enough to bring relief to Halsin’s heart. 

“I don’t understand,” you whisper, afraid your mere voice would crack the perilously thin ice you suddenly find yourself on. “You said—“ 

“That I would not keep you to myself,” Halsin is quick to finish the thought. 

“That we should seek out other people,” you correct, a touch of anger shading the words as you step out of Halsin’s grip. 

At that, Halsin’s eyes widen. “No.” His voice holds more sharpness than the druid had ever shown with you before. “I said no such thing.” 

“Well, maybe not exactly, but the sentiment was there,” you grumble, the frustration seeping through at your hazy memory. 

“That ‘sentiment’ is misguided.” His tone leaves no room for argument, but you do it anyway. 

“Well, forgive me if I don’t have it memorized word for word—I was a little busy having my heart broken,” you snap. 

Halsin pauses for a heartbeat and you watch the pain shine in his pale green eyes at your words.

“And I will never forgive myself for the pain I’ve caused you these last few days. But listen to my words now. I beg of you.” 

Another heartbeat passes. He takes your silence as permission to continue.

“I don’t abide by these conventional rules set in place by society. My home is in nature, and I follow the path the Oak Father has set before me. These ideals of what relationships should or shouldn’t be, you’ll have to forgive me if they're all but foreign to me.” 

Another wave of disappointment washes over you and you close your eyes in a futile attempt to deter the familiar pinpricks of tears. A warm, familiar hand caresses your face before tilting your chin up to bring your gaze to his. 

“But trust me when I tell you that I have never met someone like you. My heart does not stir lightly. But it does for you. What I feel for you pales in comparison to those who came before you.” 

There is no doubting the sincerity that lies in those soft verdant eyes. 

"It feels as though I have been asleep in a centuries long dark night, and now I am finally seeing daylight,” Halsin’s deep voice soothes, each word repairing the aches and tears of your heart.  

“There is no one else for me, my heart. Call it what you wish; you are all I want. Nothing would make me happier than to have you by my side for the rest of my days, if that is what you desire as well.

My love for you runs deep and true. Never doubt it, my heart.”

And then his lips are on yours, and every thought eddies out of your head, but one: Halsin loves you. 

Pure joy and relief floods your body and you don’t even bother trying to stop the tears of joy that follow. Halsin pulls back from the kiss just enough to swipe the tears from your cheek.

“I love you, too, Halsin,” you whisper in the space between you as Halsin presses his forehead to yours. 

“Forgive me, my heart. For the pain I have caused you.” 

You smile up at that handsome face you’ve grown to hold so dearly. Your slender hand  reaches up to caress his cheek, tracing the swirls of his tattoo. “Only if you’ll forgive my foolishness for doubting you.” You feel the shame rise up, bringing a heat to your cheeks.

“My heart, there is nothing to forgive,” Halsin murmurs before pressing another kiss to your forehead.

#halsin #halsin x reader #halsin x tav #halsin silverbough

[hollybell51]

Last night on Earth

^don't mind me going absolutely feral over this gif

Navigation

Cas x AFAB!fem!Reader

Supernatural (2005), s05e03 "free to be you and me"

Word count: 6.4K

Summary: following the hooker failure, you feel that sitting alone in a shitty abandoned house is not the best way to spend one's last night on Earth. Cas seems to agree with you.

Content: smut! Yay! First kisses, first time, making out, handjobs, hickeys, penetrative sex, safe sex (yay!), cowgirl, mutual masturbation, fingering, gags? if you squint? maybe? like a hand over the mouth. Discussions of sex work and sex workers (I'm not commenting on anything, it's just there as dialogue due to the nature of the episode, and all dialogue/internal monologue regarding the topic is purely for the furtherment of the plot). Talking during sex, Cas is loud. Sex on a couch, spooning, almost-love-confessions ("like-confessions"). Very light comment on body image, some very vague descriptions of scars (reader is a hunter). Cas is just Cas and I love him for it. He's also a virgin. Dean's probably a warning but I adore him.

Notes: Heyyyy how's it going? One day into my holidays and I churn out this bad boy. Couldn't get the idea out of my head, and hey, I'm a sucker for virgin angels. This show is rapidly taking over my whole life lmao.

It's also been a while so I just thought I'd remind people of the taglist form, and the existence of my AO3 (if you wanna read my stuff there for whatever reason). Anyways enjoy, stay safe out there xx

“That was quick,” you called as the door creaked open, Dean’s low chuckle echoing through the hallway. You closed the book you’d been reading – a shitty paperback you’d picked out of a bargain bin – and watched as the other hunter dropped his jacket onto a rusted dining chair. You’d expected them to be gone for a few hours, hence your foray into the realms of “downtime”, but it had barely been one since they’d left, Dean throwing an obscenely enthusiastic wink your way as he shoved an apprehensive looking Cas out to enjoy his last night on Earth. 

“We had to wrap it up pretty fast.” Dean glanced over his shoulder at Cas, laughter still clinging to his face. You hadn’t seen him look that happy in ages, not for this long. Well, that was something at least. 

You’d had your doubts about the whole idea from the moment Dean had mentioned it. Sure, sex was sex. It was something that could be pretty darn nice and that you were glad for in your life, but you weren’t sure if Dean fully grasped that it was never the same with a hooker. It would never feel as good, it would never be meaningful, it would be a service purchased from a provider. A business transaction. That wasn’t any way to experience it for the first time, in your opinion. 

“Good time not a long time, then?” you asked mildly. 

“Would you say that, Cas?” 

The angel stiffened, hands shoved into the pockets of his trench coat. 

You wrinkled your nose, suddenly wondering if you should feel bad. “Bad time?” 

Dean snorted. “I’m turning in. You tell (Y/N) about it, she’ll give you a pat on the back and tell you it’s alright. And don’t look so… grief stricken.” 

“G’night,” you waved to his retreating back, then turned back to Cas. “Really bad time?” 

He really did look grief stricken, standing stock still in the dimness. Even his hair looked droopier than usual, and you almost got out of your seat just to push it off his face. You settled for putting your book down and leaning forward. 

“She ran away,” he said after a moment. “I think I scared her.” 

“Geez,” you frowned. “How’d you scare a hooker?” 

He shrugged. “I told her it wasn’t her fault that her father Gene ran off.” Then, as if it explained everything; “He hated his job at the post office.” 

You laughed, but stopped quickly. “Oh, Cas. You know the whole–” 

“The whole industry is run on absent fathers, I know.” He sighed. “Dean found it hilarious.” 

This time, you did get up, crossing the room to pat his shoulder. You knew Dean wouldn’t have meant anything by it, wouldn’t have been laughing at Cas. Still, a pang of what was almost pity shot through you. It wasn’t about the sex, not really, as much as Dean played that aspect up. It was more all the coulds that never would. Cas wasn’t human, as much as he could pass it off (mostly), but there were so many things that he wasn’t going to get to try now. You just didn’t understand how he could so casually volunteer to die at the drop of a hat. It was either incredibly selfless, or incredibly selfish. Or maybe just stupid. 

But no, Cas wasn’t stupid. He was razor sharp, a soldier of God, even if you poked fun at him when he didn’t understand your and Dean’s pop-culture reference infused slang. It had only been the last time you’d seen him that you’d vowed to make him sit through all the Star Wars movies, something you hadn’t realised until afterwards had sounded a lot like a “movie and chill” proposal. Luckily, he wouldn’t have picked up on that. Just like he wouldn’t have picked up – like Dean had – the moments where you caught yourself watching him, or the smiles that were just too damned determined to break out on your face when he showed up – either in the real world or in your mind. And thank the heavens nobody but you noticed the tiny flurries of butterflies in your stomach you’d noticed increasingly often when he was around, the surges of warmth that would sneak up and rush over you unexpectedly when you thought of him, the tingles that flooded your skin when he stood that little bit too close to you.  

Which, when you thought about it, was maybe contributing to the ounce of vindication you were feeling regarding the hooker failure. It wasn’t all the “I told you so” type of satisfaction, anyway, and you weren’t too proud to admit when you liked someone. 

“Don’t worry about it,” you assured him now, giving his shoulder a gentle squeeze. 

“You’re giving me a pat on the back and telling me it’s alright,” he sighed, almost mournfully. “Dean said–” 

You reached up, pressing a finger to his lips and shaking your head. “You wanna know something?” 

He nodded, brows furrowed. He hadn’t drawn back, you noticed. 

“It doesn’t matter how much sex Dean has,” you whispered, hand still floating close by his face. “I wouldn’t take a damn letter of his advice in that department.” 

“Why not?” His breath tickled your skin, and suddenly you realised just how close you were standing. 

You shrugged, dispelling the shiver that had run up your spine. “I just know if a dude came onto me how he comes onto chicks, I’d kick him in the balls.” 

“I’ll make a point to not come onto you like he does, in that case.” 

It took a moment – past the words “like he does”, not that he wouldn’t come onto you full stop, but like Dean does – for the fact that it was a joke to sink in, then you smiled. Maybe there was, or had been, hope for him yet. You took a breath, turning the words over in your mind. It was now or never, you supposed. 

“I want you to know,” you said carefully, “if you die–” 

“When. Tomorrow, when I die.” 

“Uh, yeah.” You swallowed. How could he be so matter of fact about it? How could he just say it like that? It didn’t matter, you supposed. Whether he said it or didn’t, it wasn’t going to change the fact that it was happening. 

“When I die…” he prompted when you were silent. 

“I want you to know that I liked you,” you said simply, then shrugged. “I think I was on the way to really liking you.” 

He frowned, and for a moment you thought you’d made a massive mistake. “You don’t have to do that,” he said. “I don’t mind. I know I’m… a dick.” 

“Jesus, Cas,” you snorted. “Guess we say that a bit too much, don’t we?” 

“Maybe.” 

“And we don’t say ‘thank you’ enough.” 

He shook his head, still holding your hand. “You don’t have to do this,” he repeated.

“It’s not about that. Not all of it, anyway.” You smiled, glancing at your hand where it met his. It looked big, wrapped around your fingers, and it fitted painfully well. “But, you know, if it’s your last night on Earth…” You looked up, wiggling your eyebrows. You could play it off as a joke if you needed to, you weren’t too far in yet. 

That familiar almost-smile you’d come to look for danced over his lips. “You pity me, dying a virgin? Dying,” he added. “A virgin.” 

You laughed. “I don’t… pity you. Not exactly. Not because you’re gonna die a virgin, and definitely not because you’re a virgin.” 

“Because I scared away a prostitute?” 

“Her loss,” you laughed. “And anyway, if it’s your first and last time, it’d be nice to… y’know… feel good.” 

He frowned. “Surely a prostitute would know how to do that?”

“Maybe the technicalities,” you shrugged, “but there’s more to it than that. There’s feelings, y’know?” 

“Feelings?” 

Again, you shrugged, suddenly self conscious. What were you doing? “Two way street kind of thing,” you explained lamely. “Not just someone you want, but someone who wants you. Not just your money.” You were acutely aware of the unspoken words floating beneath the casual sentence. I want you. It could be me.

A pause, where his eyes seemed to bore into your soul. He had a knack for that, you’d noticed. Sometimes you felt like he could see right to the very core of your being. In the dimness, they looked even more startlingly blue than usual. He was so close, you could almost count his eyelashes, almost feel the rise and fall of his chest beneath the coat, jacket, shirt, tie… 

“When it’s…” He paused, his tongue darting over his lips. God, his lips. “Someone you want.” 

“Mhm.” 

“Someone who wants you.” 

“Mhm.” 

“Not just your money.” 

You hadn’t taken your eyes off his mouth through the whole exchange, and your voice, when you asked, sounded softer than you’d meant it to, breathy and faint to your own ears. “Do you want me, Cas? Last night on Earth, and all.” 

The corner of his mouth curled up, brows twitching into a thoughtful frown. No, you thought, not quite a frown. Something else, more curious than confused. Almost quizzical. “I think…” He paused, drawing breath. “I think I do.” 

“Ok,” you smiled, ignoring the butterfly rampage taking place in your stomach. This kind of thing wasn’t supposed to happen in real life. Not your life, anyway, even if it was Cas’s last night on Earth. It didn’t exist outside the pages of those shitty paperbacks. 

“Do you want me?” Cas asked. 

“Mhm.” It was all you could manage, really. Then you were stretching up the last few inches between your face and his, pressing your lips gently against his own. 

He was perfectly still for a heartbeat, two heartbeats, almost three. Then his hand tightened around yours and he pulled you closer, trench coat rustling where your chest met it. He kissed you the way you remembered the first boy who’d ever kissed you – a boy in your year level at school, at a party, playing spin the bottle no less – had kissed you. The want was all there, the enthusiasm and anticipation and the only half-conscious desire for more. His lips remained shut, but you could feel in it that he knew it wasn’t quite right. 

You pulled away briefly, just enough to raise a hand to his mouth and run your thumb over his bottom lip. “Like this,” you murmured, pushing just enough to part his lips. Then your hands were in his hair and you were pulling him down to you, and this time it was perfect. 

He made a little sound of pleasure as your tongue slipped beside his, stroking, caressing, gently as you could. Without any guidance, his hand had found the cloth-shielded contours of your breast, tracing the outline with a sort of awe. His fingers ran along the neckline of your top, dipping under the material, curving around your bare shoulder, exploratory and cautious. 

You let him explore you, his hands mapping out every curve he could touch, tongue darting into every uncharted depth he could find, tasting and learning and discovering parts of you you hadn’t guessed could be felt like this through just a kiss. Your mind spiralled as his hand eased under your shirt, cool fingers tickling the skin of your hip. He squeezed gently, pulling you against him harder, and you gave in completely. You weren’t sure if it was what he had been going for, but when you pushed your pelvis against his he gasped; a quiet, shuddering little sound that went straight to your panties. 

“Ok?” you breathed between kisses, then, at his nod, you did it again. 

His voice was strangled when he said your name, the pads of his fingers digging into the soft flesh of your waist. Oh Cas, you thought. A rush of affection washed over you at how eager he was, where just an hour before he’d been being literally pushed out the door by Dean, looking as terrified as you’d ever seen him at the prospect of sex. Now he was kissing you hungrily, kneading at your skin, inching your shirt up off your torso, his feet at risk of tangling with yours as he walked you backwards. Not to mention the increasingly noticeable bulge pressed against you. 

“Clothes off,” you breathed, already undoing his tie. “On the couch.” 

He paused, then he was shrugging off the trench coat, the blazer following suit – no pun intended – and landing with a soft rustling thump on the floor. You stepped back, just a little, as he deftly unfastened the buttons of his shirt, drinking in every inch of skin like a kid in a lolly shop. Fuck, maybe you had the hots for him even worse than you’d thought. 

“Are you going to undress too?” The question was mild, matter of fact, but something in the way Cas had paused midway through relieving himself of his pants and was watching you, hands still on the belt buckle, made you stomach flip. 

You cleared your throat, but your voice still came out too low, too husky. “Sure.” 

His gaze didn’t leave you for an instant – apart from when he kicked his discarded trousers aside – as you pulled your shirt the rest of the way over your head, slid your jeans as gracefully as you could down your legs. You shivered slightly in the cool night air, acutely aware of your hunter’s body. 

Cas’s eyes widened, scanning over you and taking in every inch of your skin. It wasn’t perfect, you were aware of that. It wasn’t like a hooker’s body, it carried you around as you fought monsters, and was littered with the proof of said monster fights. You wondered if Cas had seen other – normal – human bodies like this, if he’d find the painfully obvious reminders of your mortality somehow repellent. You suddenly felt very, very small and very, very human. 

“Sorry about… y’know…” You shrugged, patting your thigh awkwardly. “The meatsack’s a little dinged up. Most people don’t look like this.” 

“Don’t look like what?” he frowned, finally looking back at your face. 

You shrugged again, poking a long white scar over your side. The first werewolf you’d ever come face to face with, and nearly the last. “Scarred. At least not as much as I am,” you added. 

A shiver shot up your spine as Cas settled his hands on your bare waist, fingers running over the most noticeable marks. “Don’t apologise,” he said softly. “You’re human, and you spend your days killing monsters. It would be more disturbing if you were unblemished.” 

You laughed at that, a small breathy sound. “You think I’m disturbing?” 

He smiled faintly. “You’re not so bad.”

You felt your own mouth curve, matching his. “Neither are you.” 

He leaned down, his lips meeting yours once more. This kiss was softer, more intimate, maybe a little too intimate. You were vaguely aware of the couch behind you. Before your knees knocked against its side, you broke away – a difficult task, given that Cas chased your lips like a lab rat after cheese – and spun, laying your hands firmly on his chest. 

“Couch,” you muttered, giving a gentle push. 

He pulled you with him as he sat down, his hands running down over your hips, your thighs, back up again to your waist. He watched you carefully as his touch slid up the centre of your torso, over your bra, lingering momentarily on the anti-possession sigil tattooed over your heart before he moved on, across the line of your ribs. Unbidden, the memory of the last time he’d touched you there sprang to mind; the sharp, burning pain and throbbing after-ache of the Enochian sigils being literally carved into your bones. 

“I can see them,” he whispered, as if he’d read your mind. “The sigils.” 

You raised an eyebrow. “How do they look?” 

“Foreign,” he said after a moment. “They don’t belong.”

You shrugged, unsure how to respond to that. Sure, the sigils weren’t part of you, and you didn’t exactly know how you felt about angel writing being carved into your ribcage, but there was also something reassuring about knowing it was there, knowing you carried that kind of magic with you. In you. 

Cas’s eyes lifted from your body, fixing on your own. “Can you feel them?” he inquired. 

You shook your head. “Not really. Not physically. But I know they’re there.” 

“Perhaps I should have asked,” he muttered, almost to himself. “It’s your body, after all.” 

“No,” you smiled. “Don’t worry about it. I kinda like the idea of you scribbling on me. Bone graffiti.” 

“Bone graffiti?” 

You felt the smile grow, nodding. “Besides,” you added, “I’ll always have a little bit of you, even after you're gone. Like a… souvenir.” 

“Oh,” was all he said. You supposed people were right about impending death making people sappier. But still, what you said was true. Your own ribs had become a kind of lucky charm, a talisman, a locket of sorts. 

You dragged yourself out of that line of thinking before you went any further, turning your attention back to the angel currently underneath you on the couch. Underneath you and very shirtless. You’d placed your own hands on his chest in an attempt to not fall over on top of him, and now you let yourself touch him – really touch him. His chest heaved under your fingers as you swept over him, a tiny, strangled noise falling from his lips. 

“Alright?” you asked, pausing for a moment. 

He nodded, shifting slightly under you. “It’s good,” he said softly. 

“Keep going?” 

Again, a nod. Cautiously, gently, you spread your fingers over his chest. His heart beat fast, thudding frantically as you moved your other hand lower, down the centre of his torso, following the contours of his lithe muscles. You reached the waistband of his underpants, pausing. 

“Can I?” you asked, your hand hovering over his barely concealed erection. 

“Yes,” he whispered, tongue darting over his lips. His eyes flicked from your face to your hand, back to your face again. 

You smiled as you slipped your fingers under the waistband of his underwear. His dick was hot to the touch, hard and already damp at the tip. “You ever touched yourself?” you asked as you withdrew your hand, spitting into your palm. 

Cas’s breath hitched. “Once.” 

“Yeah?” 

He nodded, licking his lips again. “Dean said I wasn’t supposed to talk about it.” 

“Yeah, well…” You smiled again, wrapping your fingers around his cock and stroking languidly. “You can tell me.” 

He gave a sort of half gasp, half moan, his grip tightening on your thigh. “I found Dean’s magazine,” he confessed. “The one with the women, not the cars.” 

“Mhm?” You kept your voice mild, focussing on the steady motion of your arm and wrist, your fingers sliding effortlessly over him. You could almost see Cas flipping through the pages of one of those god-awful porn mags Dean insisted on carting around, picture his confused little head-tilt and his frown as he looked through the pictures, his hand creeping to where yours was now, his much larger fingers circling–

“It was uncomfortable,” he continued, jerking you back to the present. “Too hot. I really just wanted it to go away.” 

“And did it?” 

“Not until I– oh!” He broke off as your thumb slid over the leaking head of his cock, fingers digging into your thigh. 

You fought off the surge of heat the sound sent shooting through you, watching his slightly parted lips, his wide eyes. “Did you cum?” you asked evenly. 

“Yes,” he panted, hips twitching up slightly. “Oh, (Y/N), yes–” 

“Yes, you did cum?” 

“Yes, yes I did.” 

“Was it good?” 

Another soft moan, then he smiled. “Not as good as this.” 

Maybe it was the praise, maybe the moan, maybe the smile. Either way, the words went straight to your panties. You ignored it, stopping yourself from grinding against him with willpower that would have impressed Jesus. Although, you weren’t sure how he would have felt about you fucking a literal angel. 

You leant forward, kissing his lips gently, then his jaw, then his neck, then his chest. You kept going, tracing a path inexorably downwards, shuffling backwards to straddle his thigh as he shifted with you, now splayed along the couch lengthways. 

“Help me out,” you muttered, your hand moving beside your face as you attempted to pull his underwear off. Obediently, he lifted his hips and kicked them aside, the muscles of his stomach twitching as you placed a kiss on the junction of his hip. And holy shit, you could have just watched his torso moving like that forever. You kissed his hip again, sucking gently at the spot, licking over the mark you conjured. Then you added another beside it, and another, and another. A little belt of hickeys across his pelvis. 

“Do you, hm, touch yourself too?” he asked, breathless and raw. 

“Fuck, Cas.” You paused where you’d been about to kiss the base of his cock, raising your eyes to his. His chest rose and fell, rose and fell again, the skin almost glowing in the dim light. 

He frowned. “Am I not supposed to ask that?” 

“You can ask me anything you want,” you assured him, kissing the little trail of hair below his belly button. “And yeah, I do.” 

“Does it feel good?” 

You smiled. “Yeah.” 

“Do you…” He paused, searching for the words. “Do you want to do it now?” 

“This is about you,” you said softly, giving his cock a gentle squeeze. “Don’t worry about me.” 

“I want you to feel good too.” 

You sat up, studying him. There was nothing by sincerity in his eyes, the genuine desire – and desire there was – for you to enjoy yourself. And why shouldn’t you indulge that? You were having a great time as it was, and there was no denying the throbbing ache that had grown exponentially between your legs. 

“You want me to touch myself?” you asked, double checking. 

He nodded. “Yes, please.”

“Ok.” You shed your own underpants, shivering as the cool air came in contact with your wetness. Slowly, you reached down and ran your finger over your clit, your breath hitching in your chest. You repeated the action, your hand moving further down to circle your entrance, slick gathering on your fingers. You’d done this countless times before, and you weren’t ashamed of it. Masturbation was natural, it was a perfectly normal perfectly human thing to do. This, however was different. You’d never had an audience before, never had anyone watch you with such rapt wonder and awe. 

Cas’s eyes flicked down to your bra, then back to your face. A question, almost a request. 

“Off?” you asked, already reaching behind your back. He nodded, watching carefully as you shed the garment and cast it aside to join the pile of clothes on the floor. Slowly, reverently, he stretched up and kissed your breast, his hand leaving its place on your hip to trace over the other one. 

A shiver ran down your spine and you bit down on your lip, attempting futilely to stifle your moan. Absently, your hand resumed its place between your thighs as Cas’s hand left your chest and found its way to his cock. You’d never in a million years have thought you’d be where you were now; touching yourself on top of an angel touching himself while he did his best to turn your chest into one giant hickey. You were hardly complaining. 

Something rustled in the next room over, and you both froze. Fuck, you thought. Dean was still (hopefully) asleep, only the wall and the hastily closed door to that room barring him from hearing you. Cas seemed to have had exactly the same thought, his head tilted slightly as he listened, his breath raising goosebumps on the spit-damp skin of your chest. There was another rustle, then a quiet snort, then nothing. He hadn’t woken, then. 

“We gotta be quiet,” you whispered. You shifted, biting back another moan. “Ok?” 

“Ok,” Cas nodded. He pressed his lips firmly together, eyes flicking down to where your hand disappeared between your legs. You hissed as you resumed your movement, acutely aware of every possible sound you or Cas made, ears pricked for any other disturbance from nextdoor. 

Cas’s free hand was still resting on your thigh, firmly holding you in place on top of himself. His wrist brushed your own with every stroke of his cock, the skin over his stomach and chest twitching ever so slightly. His own thigh tensed as he thrust into his hand, something that you could only describe as a whimper falling from his lips. Heat surged over you, your mind awash with desire. If only that hooker knew what she was missing. 

“Sorry,” he muttered almost immediately, eyes darting towards the door. 

“‘Salright,” you replied, swallowing hard. Being quiet was a much more difficult task than you’d anticipated, but you’d be lying if you said you didn’t enjoy the possibility of being caught just a little bit. You grunted softly as your finger brushed over a particularly sensitive spot, the familiar rhythm and movements working just as well as ever, and even better when you had Cas to look at. Not to mention the warmth of his mouth where it occasionally found your breasts again. 

But you wanted more, you needed more. The same part of you that was electrified by your own touch craved his, especially when his beautiful hands were right there and his eyes were still fixed on you like you were the centre of the universe, his own movements becoming faster and more frantic, chest heaving. 

You paused, much as it pained you. “Do you wanna go further?” 

He frowned. “What do you mean?” 

Gently, you laid your hand over his and peeled it away from his cock. Wriggling forwards a little, you finally – finally – rocked your hips over his, revelling in the hot hardness of him against your slick. His mouth fell open, fingers tightening on your own. 

“Here, Cas. I want you inside me, wanna fuck you properly.” 

“Oh, (Y/N),” he sighed, his own hips matching your movement. 

“Will you let me? Let me fuck you?” 

“Yes,” he nodded. “Yes, of course.” 

You smiled. “Ok, one second.” You reached over the side of the couch, digging through the pockets of your jeans until you found your wallet – and the little foil package inside it. 

“What are you doing?” Cas asked as you tore it open and set the latex atop his dick. 

“It’s a condom,” you explained. “So I don’t get pregnant. No offence,” you grinned, “but I don’t really wanna have your babies any time soon.” 

“Oh.” He swallowed, processing. “That’s… understandable.”

“All good?” At his nod, you slid the condom the rest of the way down, spitting into your hand once more and resuming your earlier ministrations. “It feels a little different, I know,” you whispered as you moved to grind against him once more. 

“It’s still good,” he assured you, placing his hands gently on your hips. 

You smiled. “Ready?” 

“Yes.” The word was a breath, nothing more, but it was all you needed. Carefully, you lined him up and sank down, watching his face carefully. His eyes widened, his fingers digging into your flesh slightly as a deep groan reverberated through the space between you. 

“Gotta be quiet,” you reminded him, your voice not half as steady as you’d have liked. “Don’t wanna wake Dean up, yeah?” 

“Yeah,” he echoed, “quiet.” 

You leaned forwards and placed a soft kiss on his lips, rocking your hips over his. He was everything you’d imagined and so much more. It was like he’d been made for you, the way his cock stroked every inch of your insides, sliding smoothly with how wet you were. You wanted to go back in time and kick your past self for having waited this long. 

“God, Cas,” you sighed. “Oh God.” 

His brows pinched together slightly, but he didn’t say anything. Instead, he stretched up and captured your lips with his, moving down over your jaw to your neck, sucking gently just as you’d done to the skin of his hip. Your fingers tangled in his hair, holding him close against you as you lifted and lowered your hips, a faint whine somehow slipping from your lips despite your best efforts. 

“Is this, hm, ok?” he asked, his usually gravelly voice made even more so. 

“Fuck,” you gasped as his hand came to rest on your ass, kneading at the soft flesh, moving up over the front of your hips where your leg met the rest of your body. “So good, Cas.” 

“You’re so good,” he murmured, guiding your movements gently. He thrust into you, his hips meeting yours halfway, stomach muscles flexing.

“Let me,” you said, pushing him backwards into the couch cushions. “You relax, yeah? I’ve got it. I’ve got you.” 

He nodded, head tipping back as you bounced on his dick, the rough fabric of the cushion beneath you scratching at your knees. Fumbling slightly, your hands found purchase on his chest and you locked your elbows in an odd sort of imitation of CPR. If CPR was done from the front rather than the side, you supposed, but you weren’t exactly doing any resuscitation. 

His chest heaved under your touch, another low groan seeming to echo in the otherwise stillness of the night. The tiny part of your brain that wasn’t totally consumed with the wonderful pleasure-ache of his cock hitting deep inside you and the burn of your thighs was torn between telling him to be quiet and just listening to him, but then he was licking his lips again and his mouth was falling open and you were lost. 

“(Y/N),” he panted, his eyes fixed on your face. “Oh, (Y/N), oh my–” 

“Alright?” you asked, biting back a moan as you found a particularly good angle. 

“Yes, yes, of course. It’s, hm, so good.” He glanced momentarily down at where your body met his, another groan rumbling in his chest. 

“Sh–” you whispered, half tempted to press your hand over his mouth. Or maybe your own, given the struggle you were facing to remain quiet yourself. 

“Sorry, sorry I–” 

You cut him off quickly. “It’s alright Cas, you’re fine. Just, fuck–” 

“(Y/N),” he panted, the muscles of his arms and stomach flexing as his fingers gripped the couch cushion, luminescent in the dimness. Again, his eyes flicked downwards, this time to the soft mound of flesh currently on display. 

You smiled, reaching down to take his hand, drawing it up to rest over your pelvis. His skin was warmer than you’d ever felt it, faintly clammy and God his hand was big under your own. You couldn’t count the number of times you’d caught yourself picturing his hands in this kind of context, and you didn’t want to try. His fingers splayed over your skin, moving with you, covering the whole space below your naval. 

“That’s where you are,” you panted. “That’s where I can feel you, Cas, right there.” 

A small, strained noise you could only describe as a whine. “Is it, ah, good? Do you like it? Do you like feeling… me?” 

“Fuck,” you sighed. “Yeah, sure do, Cas. Do you like feeling me?” 

He smiled, biting down hard on his lower lip. “Of course. I like it immensely.” 

You felt yourself clench at his words, and this time you were unable to restrain the downright pornographic moan that tore from your throat. Any other time, you might have been embarrassed, but Cas seemed to like it. Pressing your lips firmly together, you glanced hastily towards the other room, but as far as you could tell there was no disturbance. 

“(Y/N), oh, (Y/N), I don’t think—” He swallowed hard, eyes wide and back on your face. 

“Yeah? What’s wrong?” 

“I can’t— I don’t think I can be quiet, (Y/N) I—”

Affection bloomed alongside the desire in your gut, and you had half a mind to tell him it was alright, he didn’t even have to worry about being quiet at all. It wasn’t like you didn’t love the noises he was making. But Dean was only one room over, and you didn’t want to wake him. 

“You can, Cas,” you breathed, “you can. You’re doing so well already, we just gotta— fuck.”

He’d bucked his hips up into you, the movement jolting the steady knot of pleasure forming low in your stomach. He was close, you could see it as much as hear it, but the thought of the thin walls and your friend sleeping in the next room over had taken root more firmly in your mind now. 

“It’s so much,” Cas gasped. “Oh, oh, (Y/N) it’s so much—”

You managed a smile, slowing down your movements a little. “I know,” you said softly. “You’re ok, yeah?” 

He nodded frantically. “Hm, yes, yes. Please, don’t stop. Keep going, please—” 

Another soft moan slipped from your mouth, Cas’s answering groan enough to make your legs shake. It was too loud, and any other time you’d have soaked up his praises and curses and everything, but not now. After a moment’s hesitation, you clamped your hand firmly over his mouth, sh-ing him gently. If possible, his eyes widened even further and he groaned against your skin. 

“Alright?” you breathed. 

Another frantic nod, an almost-whimper as your grip firmed up. Well I’ll be damned, you thought vaguely. Who’d have guessed he was into that? 

You felt him shiver all over as you continued to rock your hips over his, his hand where it rested on your hip tightening. You wondered if you’d have finger-shaped bruises later. It didn’t matter, you told yourself as he moaned again, his stomach muscles tensing, something that could have been your name squashed under your hand. 

“Sh, shh!” you gasped. Between holy shit I’m so close and holy shit he’s so close, the thought that Dean was right there and would hear you was still rooted in your mind. “Cas, sh, Dean’s right– ah, fuck, Dean’s–” 

You broke off as Cas’s chest heaved, his hips bucking up into you once more. His mouth had fallen open under your hand and he was gasping something, angel curse-words, maybe? It didn’t matter, not when his eyes were screwed shut and his head was tipped back, your name sprinkled into the litany of foreign words like a prayer. 

The sight was enough to make the bomb that had been building in your stomach explode, sparks of pleasure shooting through your aching legs right to your toes and back up again. You might have said Cas’s name, you weren’t sure, but the sentiment was there. You clamped a hand over your own mouth, nothing but the need to be quiet reverberating through your pleasure-blanked mind. 

After what felt like an age, your brain managed to find its way back into your skull and the aftershocks of your orgasm faded from your body. Gently, you removed your hand from Cas’s mouth and looked down at him, smiling. 

“Alright?” you asked. 

His hair was a mess, his brow lightly beaded with sweat, cheeks flushed. There was even a slight red mark where your hand had been, which you stroked gently. 

“I’m more than alright,” he smiled, turning to place a tiny kiss on your fingers. “Are you?” 

“Good,” you nodded as you slid off him, mourning the sudden emptiness momentarily as you peeled off the condom, tying it in a neat knot to be disposed of later. Then he was lifting his arm, wriggling with you as if he could read your mind, and you were being cocooned against his body. 

“I’m sorry,” he said after a moment, “if I was too loud.” 

“You weren’t,” you assured him quickly. “Not at all. Sorry about… gagging you. I should’ve asked. That’s not what usually happens.” 

He hesitated, turning to meet your eyes. “I… didn’t mind.” 

“No?” 

He shook his head, a small, nervous smile dancing across his lips. “No. In fact, I quite liked it.” 

You felt your own smile widen as you placed a soft kiss on his cheek, taking his hand where it rested on his chest. “Good,” you said. “What about  the rest? What do you think?” 

He sighed, a beautifully satisfied noise that flooded you with warmth. “I think I should not have waited this long.” 

You laughed, pressing closer. “Mhm?” 

“Mhm. Thank you, (Y/N), truly.” 

“Oh,” you said softly, turning away to hide the blood rushing to your face. “That’s ok, Cas. Thank you.” 

He gave another little hum, shifting to drape his arm over your waist and pull you into him, fingers skimming your ribs. Getting spooned by a divine warrior of God, you thought with a thrill. Real life really was stranger than fiction. 

“You’re tired,” he murmured, his voice seeming to rumble through you in the best way possible. “You should sleep.” 

“Hold on,” you protested as you felt his arm withdrawing. You grabbed his hand, pulling it firmly back down to rest on your stomach, wiggling closer. “There was a blanket on the back, grab that. I’m staying here.” 

You could almost feel him frowning when he replied. “You’d not rather a bed?” 

You only hesitated a moment before bending to kiss his arm. “I’d rather you.” 

He didn’t seem to know quite what to say to that, but after a beat something heavy and slightly scratchy was being draped over you, and Cas’s arm was tightening around your waist, and his lips were pressing against your shoulder. 

“G’night,” you whispered. 

“Good night, (Y/N).” 

It was Dean who found his two friends curled together on the couch the next morning. He snorted, taking in the gentle rise and fall of your shoulders in tandem with Cas’s, his hand enveloping your smaller one where it rested just above the blanket, the assortment of what was very clearly Cas’s suit and your own clothes scattered over the floor. Well, he supposed, the night hadn’t been a complete failure. He had half a mind to throw something at you, the scene was so jarringly… sweet. 

“Rise n’ shine lovebirds,” he called instead, “we’ve got shit to do.” 

#supernatural #castiel #castiel x reader #castiel smut #castiel x you #supernatural fanfiction #shameless smut #supernatural smut #smut #fanfiction #fanfic #cas x reader #female reader #x reader #reader insert

[moonlightdarlings]

giving them a surprise hug | the bad batch

a/n: pics not mine! this was genuinely relaxing to write! i’m so sorry this is late- i had such bad writers block and i didn’t want to post anything that i'm not proud of. nonnie, i hope this meets what you wanted and of course, thank you for requesting 🫶🏼🥰

crosshair

the shock! the surprise! he didn't expect you, of all people, to come up and suddenly hug him. it's all very welcome though since he absolutely adores you, but you don't know that. his crush on you is just amplified when you make moves on him.

"get off me. do you have glue on your arms or something?"

“no. you’re stuck with me,” you defiantly replied, “whether you like it or not.”

“well…uh. you’re welcome to stay in my arms,” he softy mumbles.

later in the day, he ends up spilling to you that he’s liked you since you first insulted him. he’s just glad you’re as crazy about him as he is about you.

tech

he doesn’t know how to respond when you come behind him and hug him. he definitely knows that his heart beats faster with you around but he’d rather keep that to himself. he's so in love with you and he's such a softie.

“may i ask why you are hugging me?”

“i like you, tech.”

oh. OH. his brain stops functioning a little after hearing before asking, “did i hear that right?”

he smiles softly to himself as he whispers back, "i like you too, darling." you don't know yet, but he's already daydreaming about the moments you'll share together as a couple.

echo

echo thinks you're so cute when you ran in front of him to give him a massive hug. but somehow, your hugs always last a little longer each time. he knows you have a crush on him, and he knows his feelings toward you.

"you're comfy."

"oh? does that make me your new pillow then?" he teased.

"perhaps..." you muse.

his eyes soften upon realizing that you'd be his forever, quietly whispering, "i think i love you."

"did you say something, echo?"

he smiles at you in response, no words are needed for his feelings anymore.

wrecker

as someone who likes both you and physical affection, wrecker is so happy about the hug. he's not shocked either about you coming to his side and hugging him. in fact, he appreciated your hug as he had just finished a mission that involved high-stress levels and heights.

“just what i needed.”

“what?” you inquire, “a hug? or you mean- my hug?”

"well- i mean, your hugs do feel nice but i prefer your hugs."

you glance up at him, smiling softly as you admire how pretty his eyes are. he knows you're staring, and he knows that you're definitely his future. you make him feel at home, truly loved and that's a bonus in his eyes.

hunter

he’s always admired you from afar. due to his heightened senses, he wasn’t too shocked about you sneaking up behind him, wrapping your arms around his chest. he relished the moments with you, as life seemed to slow down when he was with you. 

“oh? what’s this?” 

“just a hug for my favorite person,” you giggle, “you’re warm.” 

"my waist is free real estate..uh if you'd like another hug?" he states slowly, scratching the back of his neck, not knowing what to do with his hands now that they aren't around you.

you end up confessing your crushes to each other at the same time.

a/n: hi! this is later than i would've preferred to post this, but late is better than never :) i really loved writing the dialogue for this and i was inspired by the kdramas i'm currently invested in! i hope you enjoy and thanks for reading 🫶🏼

#the bad batch #bad batch imagine #tbb crosshair #tbb hunter #tbb wrecker #tbb tech #tbb echo #clone trooper x reader #clone trooper fluff

[dramadramallama]

Love Supremacy - brain rot part 1

So I have a problem. I enjoyed the first half of Love for Love's Sake without knowing I would get absolutely bowled over by the second half. I have so much to say holy fuck, I'm all over the place.

Unfortunately for everyone, my brain has been love supremacied, and I'm unable to move on. The show has a high rewatch value. It’s full of details; big, important ones, and small, insignificant ones, but they all add a lot of weight to the story. I need to exorcise my thoughts for my own sake. I guess if I have to intellectualize it somewhat, I really liked the show cause it’s perfectly balanced in terms of structure, and its themes. Judging from the amount of notes I have made on this show on my second watch, it’s safe to say it’s got some substance. It cleverly uses a mise en abyme, “a story within a story (within a story)” to really stack all those layers, and answer an age-old, quite difficult question: “what’s crucial to a happy life?” Dialogues, scenes, characters, and motifs all echo, mirror, and circle back to one another, giving the story enough dimension to avoid banalities.

Simply put, the thesis of the show is surprisingly philosophical, with universal themes. It posits that life is neither fate nor chance, and the answers are in mundane details of life. "Happiness is hidden somewhere in each of our days."

It’s obviously about love; a double love story even. Myung-ha learns to love someone else, and himself too. It's about life, and it's about death, new beginnings, and everything in between. The show made me feel like this, and like this, and like this, and...

▶️1. Mirrors/Symmetry

2. Fate, Free Will, and Happiness

3. Game/Reality

The story structure is very symmetrical. Circular almost. I LOVE IT, I EAT IT UP LIKE A HUNGRY, GRUBBY GOBLIN. Things begin where they end, elements keep repeating themselves like a series of mirrors.

By going through the game, Myung-ha finds himself on the other side of the mirror: he is supposed to find his own happiness, and will to live.

Yeo-woon is introduced to the audience as a sad side character in someone else’s story, victim of his “fate.” He almost perfectly mirrors Myung-ha: his background is eerily similar to his. He was raised by his (recently deceased) grandma, with an absent mother and a dead-beat dad. He’s lonely, unhappy.

When Myung-ha first meets him, Yeo-woon is resolutely standing on top of a building, about to fall or jump, which directly parallels Myung-ha's own suicide. In this new iteration of life, in this “game,” he saves Yeo-woon from hurting himself, which is the start of his own salvation. Saving Yeo-woon, the poor guy who didn’t get his happy ending, is saving himself. Yeo-woon is like a version of him right before he lost control of his life, after his grandma died, and he felt abandoned by all. It’s the core of the game, and the core of the drama, but Myung-ha (and we, the audience) can’t understand it right away.

Several details, in retrospect, show that he is the driving force behind this "game", and that it’s, by lack of a better term, both a test (as in, an exercise, a learning mechanism) and a Test (as in, an exam you don't wanna fail.) Myung-ha’s main, most important mission is to “make Yeo-woon happy.” Which he happily and enthusiastically tackles. He does what we all do: he takes a liking to the character most relatable to him. Time and time again, the way he reacts when presented with someone who struggles the same way he did is very telling.

He provides comfort. The comfort he lacked in his own life. (distant sounds of my heart shattering.)

But Yeo-woon isn’t the only one mirroring elements of Myung-ha’s life. Sang-won is a careless, tough-looking student, who seems slightly directionless. He picks fights easily and has a reputation at school for being “crazy.” He also smokes and rides a motorcycle (both illegal lol). His mom having abandoned Myung-ha, it’s also relevant to note Sang-won doesn’t seem to have a very good relationship with his own mother, and craves her attention. Although, he is your typical badboy, he is overall nice, sensitive, and has good intentions.

Myung-ha himelf appears to have been quite the turbulent student, with his own “mad dog” nickname. He, just like Sang-won, knows a thing or two about school fights, also drives a bike (lmao 100% sure he didn’t wait to have a license to drive though). Although he berates Sang-won for his rebellious side, with the patronizing tone of someone who’s done it all before, he shows genuine care.

Finally, Kyung-hoon. To me, he’s like another facet of Myung-ha’s personality. An absolute sweetheart, without friends, but always ready to help, and open to be befriended. While Myung-ha seems nonchalant about speaking badly of himself, he cannot stand it from others. He makes him his friend on the spot.

Once again, he provides like-minded friends the safe space he probably would have liked as a troubled, most certainly depressed teenager. Of course, it turns out Yeo-woon hates himself the most too (and by extension, dislikes everyone else.) It's the first clue for Myung-ha to realize some self-love might be the answer.

As it will become increasingly clear, Myung-ha has no issues protecting, providing for, and loving others, but fails to realize he should do the same for himself to achieve balance, and maybe, a little bit of happiness. The journey to get there makes him care for someone else the way he should care for himself, love someone else, like he should love himself. 

The last episode does a wonderful job of confirming what seemed to be threaded through the whole show, and explaining very clearly, in no uncertain terms, what it was all about.

However, the interesting aspect of this “mirror world," is that all of them, and Yeo-woon in particular, flip the script, in more ways than one. They all are a reflection of Myung-ha's life, but transcend their condition of “fictional character.” They’re not virtual. Yeo-woon is not made of something unreal, and he’s not a messed up copy of someone else. He has his own needs, desires, and quirks.

I don't think I can name them all here, but one of my favorite circular storytelling moment happens when Yeo-woon parallels Myung-ha by running to "find his fave." That moment in ep 8 counterbalances the one in ep 1.

Nothing is written in stone, and both of them set off to build their own happiness, against fate.

#love for love's sake #lfls #love supremacy zone #love for love's sake meta #the number of rambling sections i had to cut out #i'm feral :( #there's a part 2 and 3 coming too like i need help

[hephaestuscrew]

Fisher's death is a different kind of tragedy to the rest of the original Hephaestus crew, because it genuinely was just a horrible accident. And I think accepting that isn't an easy thing for Lovelace.

When almost everyone in your crew is dead, it's the opposite of a consolation to realise that the only other survivor is responsible for those deaths. But once you know you have been betrayed, once you understand that there was someone in your crew who was willing to sacrifice all of you for his own ends, once you've accepted that someone you used to trust killed people you loved, wouldn't it make a kind of sense to believe he was responsible for every awful thing that happened? Wouldn't there almost be a perverse comfort in the righteous anger of believing that Fisher died not because Hui's predictions were wrong, nor because Lovelace's attempts to save him failed, but because Selberg's sabotage doomed him from the start? Wouldn't it tie up the narrative of Lovelace's trauma more neatly if all of it was Selberg's fault, if he was pulling the strings for that first devastating loss? (Cont. below cut)

I imagine that Hui had a sense of guilt and responsibility for Fisher's death. After all, Fisher was only out in that meteor shower because "Hui's projections were way off". Blaming Selberg/Hilbert for Fisher's death would allow Lovelace to posthumously absolve Hui of that guilt. Whereas to accept that Fisher's death was an accident is to accept that it was the result of decisions which held absolutely no malice or willingness to harm.

In Ep38 Happy Endings, after Hilbert reveals that he infected Fisher with Decima first, he has this exchange with Lovelace:

HILBERT But intention was never for anyone to die. Not unless unavoidable.  LOVELACE (realizing) But Fisher did die.  HILBERT Tragic accident. One which even your addled mind has to realize was not my responsibility.

The 'realizing' dialogue tag could be interpreted in a few different ways, but I think this is the moment Lovelace realises that Fisher's death - to echo Minkowski's description of Eiffel being stranded in deep space - "wasn't anyone's fault. It's horrible, and pointless, and it just happened." I think that's a different kind of pain, for Lovelace to realise that - despite the malicious forces around the crew - there was no one to blame for that first tragedy. 

Fisher was the first of Lovelace's crew to die. Lovelace broke her arm trying unsuccessfully to save him. It was the event that turned the first Hephaestus mission from a series of fairly trivial sources of stress, to something ominous that not everyone would come back from. It would be easy to view it as 'the beginning of the end' of the first Hephaestus mission. The period after Fisher's death was "a very difficult time" (as Lovelace describes it herself in Ep35 Need to Know), to the extent that Lovelace developed an "alarming" "dependence on painkillers" (according to Selberg's medical journal).

And there's something particularly heartbreaking to me about the fact that all of that could have happened on a mission without any of the sinister background that the first Hephaestus mission had.

#wolf 359 #w359 #The way that Fisher's death is initially framed #when Minkowski and Eiffel are listening to Lovelace's logs #It feels like the beginning of the tragic chain of events #We hear the build up to Fisher dying #and then Lambert and Hui's deaths happen more 'off-screen' #(and in those logs we don't know what happened to Rhea and Fourier) #which gives Fisher's death a different kind of emphasis #where in a way it stands in for the other deaths too #And so it's interesting to me that it's very different from the other deaths in not being Hilbert's fault at all #wolf 359 spoilers #w359 spoilers #the empty man posteth #Also from what we see in Change of Mind I get the impression that Fisher was the peacemaker #the guy who got along with everyone #so for him to be the first to die is particularly tragic #He probably would have died at some point anyway #There was Decima pumping through his veins #But it seems that the way he actually died was just really bad luck

[hugmekenobi]

S2: The Bad Batch (3)

Chapter Three: Undercover

Gif by @kamino-coruscant

Hunter x femaleJedi!reader

Series Summary: Some time has passed since everything that happened at Kamino and you and the Batch are trying to figure out your place in the rapidly changing Imperial galaxy. And you're having to do all this whilst figuring out where your relationship with Hunter fits into it.

Chapter Summary: A mission assigned to you by Cid sees you and Hunter make some grounds in your relationship.

Masterlist for S1

<Previous Chapter

Genre: Friends (idiots) to Lovers (we're in the lovers stage now)

Chapter Warnings: Not a Crosshair episode (his later episodes will be covered though)! No show plot here, Cid being Cid, bad flirting/flirting to manipulate, having to deal with unwanted advances, mentions of drinking, swearing, suggestive dialogue, semi-public moment of PDA (kissing in an alleyway), mild panic attack description, unwelcomed pet names, welcomed pet names (honey), protectiveness from both these two, doubts and insecurities coming to the surface, Hunter gets a bit carried away (but is a respectful king and stops), angst, fluff and feelings, hurt/comfort, implied mention of Hunter's advanced senses, SMUT (heavy kissing, biting/marking, non explicit descriptions of handjobs and unprotected PinV (be safe in reality please), mentions of oral (f) receiving and fingering, teasing, Hunter doesn't know how to be vulnerable but reader takes care of him this time round, body and general worship)

Word Count: 6.9K

Author's notes: Okay it's here! Apologies for how long it took, I really did struggle with this one but I hope you all enjoy it! Thank you @keep-calm-and-drink-caf cause your advice was very helpful! And thank everyone for your patience! I am on holiday with the fam so Ch4 may be a bit of a longer wait to but I will try to find some sneaky writing time lol

Things were peaceful in Cid’s parlour. Cid had reluctantly let you guys have fewer missions since Tech was out of commission, but you could tell she was waiting for the day he made a full recovery, a day that Tech had assured the rest of you would be very soon. Echo and Wrecker were at the bar and your head rested on Hunter’s shoulder- a more comfortable feat since his armour was off- and the two of you watched Omega and Tech play a game of Dejarik. The peace was soon broken though by a recognisable voice.

“I got it!” Lyra announced as she came through the door, case in hand.

You lifted your head and looked quizzically over at her. “Got what? What are you doing here, Lyra? Not that I’m not happy to see you but…”

Lyra stopped short. “Cid didn’t tell you?”

“Tell me what?”

“Oh uh… I’m sorry, I thought you knew.”

“Knew what?”

“Your next mission. I’m tired of you lot just lazing around here. Time you made some cash.”

You all turned to face Cid as she came back into the main parlour from her office.

“Tech’s not-” Hunter started to say.

“He’s not essential. I’ve found a mission he can help with from here. It just relies on her.” Cid interrupted and she pointed at you.

“Me?” You replied, crossing your arms.

“I can come back…” Lyra said uneasily.

“No, we need that. I didn’t pay you for a social visit.” Cid said sharply.

Lyra walked over to you and handed you the case, an apologetic smile on her face.  

You opened the case and stared at the bundle of fabric, shoes, and jewellery with suspicion.  “What exactly am I supposed to be doing?” You lifted the dress out and your eyes widened.

“Cid, what is this mission?” Hunter asked warily.

“My client needs some intel on the… business activities of a man on the other side of the city. He’s having a party tonight and you’re the way in.” Cid said to you before she addressed the others. “You lot aren’t even needed. It’s easy money.”

“No.” Hunter replied instantly.

“Yeah, sorry, not really sold on that.” You said as you pushed the case away. “My social skills in that department aren’t exactly well developed.”

Cid just rolled her eyes. “All you need to do it get his attention and download his records. Clearly, you got some skill in that area.” She added snidely as she looked from you to Hunter.

You glared at her.

Cid raised her hands to pacify you. “Look, you got the gear right here and there are easy credits to be taken. Goggles can give you something, so he doesn’t even need to go. Right?” She directed her question to Tech.

“Technically… yes.” He replied reluctantly. He knew you well enough to tell you weren’t thrilled with the idea and the look on Hunter’s face also told him that he wasn’t either.

“Come on. I’d owe ya.” Cid pleaded. “You’d be doing us all a solid.”

You sighed heavily and ignored Hunter’s head shake. “Alright. Fine. Lyra, care to help me out with this get up?”

“You got it!” Lyra took the case from you and the two of you went into the back to change.

--

You shed your limited armour and got to work.

“I really am sorry about this. Cid just told me she needed you to look the part, she never mentioned the fact you didn’t know. I shouldn’t have assumed you did.” Lyra said as she kept her back turned.

“It’s classic Cid. She only told you what she deemed to be the necessary information. That often turns out to be manipulated truth or the bare minimum so don’t worry about it.” You appeased. You finished pulling on the dress. You glanced down and analysed your appearance. “Fuck me, Lyra. Exactly what part am I supposed to be playing?”

Lyra turned around and took you in. The floor length dark red fabric suited and fitted you perfectly and the slit was just high enough to grab attention but keep room for eager discovery.  “Okay, I know there was a bit of misinformation but damn I’m good at my job.”

“I want to catch his eye, not an STD.” You adjusted the straps self-consciously. It was a far cry from Jedi robes or civilian clothes and armour. You had seen the get up senators would don, and you were sure even they wouldn't go for something this bold.

“Well, I should hope actually sleeping with him is off the table. Plus, looking good isn’t an open invitation.”

You heaved an irritated sigh. “I know that and of course sleeping with him isn’t going to happen, but that’s not the point. No doesn’t always mean no to some people.” You said gravely as you passed her the necklace.

“It’s a good thing you know a thing or two about fighting then.” Lyra provided by way of comfort as she clasped it. “Plus, there’s no way your man is going to let anything happen to you if it gets bad.”

Her words, in a strange way, did reassure you. You knew you could handle yourself, regardless of the situation and yes, there would be no way Hunter would let you go it alone on this sort of mission, but you hadn’t realised that would be such an obvious conclusion for an outsider. “What makes you think he’s coming with me?”

Lyra just paused what she was doing and gave you a look that screamed ‘seriously?’

You half smiled. You figured the two of you weren’t as subtle as you thought when you were in the more public domain. “Yeah, you’re right.”

“You look the part. Embrace the role and you’ll be just fine.”

“This just isn’t something I’m used to.” You mumbled as you continued to fiddle with the fabric.

“Didn’t you ever have to attend any balls or play dress up as a kid?” She asked as she batted your hands away.

“It was never on the cards for me.” You muttered. You still hadn’t told her the full extent of your past and you intended to keep it that way. For her sake more than anything.

“Hmm well that’s unfortunate cause you’d fit right in. Final touch.” Lyra added as she handed you a small bag. She looked you up and down. “Anyone who doesn’t do a double take when they see you is an idiot. This is going to be your easiest mission yet.”

“I can only hope.” You muttered as you made your way back out.

“Your sergeant is going to struggle to control himself.” Lyra teased as she followed you.

“Shut up.”

--

“Oh wow! You look really pretty!” Omega exclaimed as she tore her gaze away from the Dejarik board.

Hunter, who had replaced Tech for the next match, turned around at her words and he practically gulped. Pretty was an understatement. You damn near took his breath away and he couldn’t find the words to express how beautiful you looked.

Wrecker sent a playful wolf whistle in your direction, giving you an encouraging smile and thumbs up as you looked over at him.

Echo nodded his head in casual agreement at the sentiments expressed already.

“Thank you.” You said, a tad bashfully before you wandered over to where Tech was sitting. “What do you have for me, Tech?”

“Here.” Tech said, not looking up from his datapad as he handed you the drive.

“Thanks.” You walked back over to stand by Lyra.

“What do ya think Sergeant?” Lyra called over to Hunter.

You’d been avoiding his stare for a reason but now you couldn’t help but look over to him as you heard Lyra address him. Your breath caught in your throat as you saw the way Hunter was staring at you and suddenly this mission seemed very low on the priority list and finding a private space became your brain’s main focus.

Hunter cleared his throat. “You’re perfect.” The quiet awe infused utterance was all he could manage because anything else would be inappropriate for general audiences.

“Told you.” Lyra whispered as she nudged your arm. The guy was staring at you like he was willing to get on his knees and worship you the second you gave the word.

You were too entranced by his gaze to pay her words any real attention.

“Good luck.” Lyra said as a farewell.

“Thanks for your help, Lyra.” You said distantly as you registered her leave your side, but your eyes never left Hunter’s.

“Yeah, yeah, you’re wearing a dress, big whoop. Can we get to the important part?” Cid said impatiently before she brought up a hologram.

Cid’s bluntness gave you the required shock you needed to focus on the task at hand. “Who’s the target?” You asked as you crossed your arms and stared at the image of the man.

“His name is Taryn Franco. He’s in the spice smuggling business and is doing remarkably well despite the Imperial presence in the regular smuggling channels. Your job is to find out how he’s manging to do so well.” Cid directed as she brought up a map of the location.

“You want me to get his shipping routes?” You clarified as you studied the map. It really couldn’t be that simple. 

“Yup. Told you it was an easy job.”

“I’m waiting for the catch.”

“The catch is you gotta make him notice you, other than that, the only thing you need to do is a bit of downloading.”

“Once you get a visual on the records, insert that drive and you’ll have the necessary information in two minutes.” Tech added.

“Got it.” You replied as you slipped the datastick into your bag. “How are we getting in? I’m assuming we’re not on the guest list.”

“You’ll have to figure that one out.” Cid said frankly.

You huffed out an irritated sigh. “An easy job would mean we had a way in in the first place.” You griped.

“Be resourceful, it’s not my problem. You better get going.” Cid said dismissively.

“Be safe!” Omega said as she gave you a hug goodbye.

Tech, Echo, and Wrecker waved you off, echoing Lyra’s message of good luck.

You didn’t even need to ask him. As soon as you walked away from Cid, Hunter stood up and followed you out the door and together the two of you made your way to the Marauder, the tension between you palpable and ready to snap at any moment. You just needed to keep it together for a little while longer.

--

“We can pretend I’m your guard as you look for the target. That way I can keep a look out.” Hunter said as you both walked down the ramp of the ship and moved towards the building all lit up and the one that had music blaring from the door and windows.

You grabbed his wrist and tugged him into a nearby alley. “You can’t come in with me.”

“Why not?” Hunter asked with a frown.

“Because the way you’re looking at me right now is making me want to ditch this whole thing and go back to the ship.” You said as you let out a shaky breath.

Hunter really didn’t see the issue with that. He knew you both weren’t enthusiastic about this. “Let’s go then.” He uttered as his hand traced the slit of your dress.

“Hunter.” You chastised as you pushed his hand away. You were having to use a considerable amount of self-restraint. It would be so easy to just blow this whole thing off and Hunter was making it a very tempting idea. He somehow looked even better without his armour on tonight. “Cid’ll kill us, and we need the money. I’ll be quick. In and out, there won’t be trouble but if you enter with me, that’ll make my job ten times harder because it wouldn’t take a genius to figure out our feelings towards each other.”

Hunter nodded in tentative agreement. He knew he would struggle to see you in this environment, and he knew you were right, but he wasn’t going to let you go it alone. He’d go insane. “Okay, I’ll leave you to it, but I’ll come in after you and keep my distance. You need someone to watch your back. ‘No trouble’ isn’t exactly how our missions tend to go.” He offered as a compromise.

“Fine.” You agreed. “I’ll deal with the bouncer to get us in, so we better get moving. Sooner we’re in, the sooner we can leave. And then we can have some time to ourselves.” You added with a sly grin as you nudged past him.

Hunter caught the top of your arm. “If you take less than 30 minutes, I’ll finally let you use the scarf.” He whispered, his lips ghosting behind the shell of your ear.

The tension chord had well and truly snapped. You released a heavy breath. You don’t play fair. With that, you turned your head and kissed him, and you both groaned in relief.

Hunter was quick to assert his dominance as he pushed you against the wall, his hand coming to rest behind your head so as to protect it before he moved it to your waist. Your appreciative moan only helped him deepen the kiss.  

The kiss was desperate, each of you hungry for more but you both were just about resisting the urge to give into what your bodies really wanted to do but the longer the two of you kissed, the harder it got to defy.

It was your hands that betrayed you first. Yours had started to wander down Hunter’s chest whilst the other tangled itself in his hair. His had stayed on your waist and the other had slipped under the fabric and had started to caress the inside of your thigh and was steadily moving upward. So, you really had to pull back before you did get too carried away.

You both let out disgruntled sighs as you broke the kiss first.

“I am going to get that information so fast.” You replied breathlessly as Hunter let you go. You knew that moment was a bad idea as it only served to rile you up more, but you really couldn’t help yourself. You smoothed your dress down to regain your composure.

Hunter focused on getting his breathing under control. “Be careful. I’ll see you in there.”

--

“Invitation?” The bouncer asked as he held his hand out as you approached.

You channelled the Force and covertly waved your hand. “You don’t need to see my invitation.”

“I don’t need to see your invitation.” He replied, his voice distant.

“Me and the man that’ll come after me can enter without one.”

“You and the man that’ll come after you can enter without one.” He replied faintly.

You opened the door. You’re good to go, Sarge. With that, you stepped inside where the sound of music and people’s voices talking over it greeted you.

Hunter made to move once he got confirmation from you that he was in the clear.

“Have a good evening, sir.” The guard said with a nod.

Hunter didn’t reply, he just wandered in and set about finding you.

--

Maker it was loud in here. And hot. And it reeked of sweat. Hunter thought as he pushed his way past people in his search for you. He was very uncomfortable, everything was too loud, including his own heartbeat, and he knew his breathing was growing unsteady. He found a slightly quieter corner and he took some calming breaths as he scanned the area for you.

--

It hadn’t taken you long to find to find your host. He was at the bar eye-fucking anyone that walked past. Before you could make your move, you sensed Hunter’s Force signature, but it was filled with stress and anxiety. You projected your own calm onto him. Honey, listen to me. I know it’s loud and I know it’s crowded but focus on your breathing, focus on my voice. Breathe in and count to 5 and breath out and count to 5. We’ll be out of here soon. If you need to leave, you can, I’ll find you when I’m done. You had to fight the urge to go find him and you wished with all your heart that you could comfort him properly, but this was the best you could manage.

You made yourself focus on the job at hand and swallowed down the bile that threatened to rise in your throat at the thought of having to interact with Taryn, but you knew it needed to be done. You straightened your back and channelled an alternate version of yourself that would be able to succeed at this.

You slid into the space next to Taryn and pretended to analyse the choices behind the bar. When you felt his eyes on you, you turned to face him. “So many choices, care to help a girl out? You look like a man who knows a good drink.” You simpered.

Taryn looked you up and down and he liked what he saw. “You got a good eye, doll. Stick with me tonight and I’ll make sure you get only the best. Both in drink, and in company.”

The look he’d given you was the same one he’d been giving everyone else tonight and you very nearly left right then and there but you needed the credits. You forced yourself to lay a hand on his arm. “How could I refuse such an offer?”

He shouted an order over to the droid behind the bar. He handed you a drink and held his own glass up and took a hold of your hip and tugged you closer to him. “Cheers, baby.”

Biting back your grimace, you gave him a fake smile and clinked your glass with his. This would definitely be unpleasant, but it would be very easy to get what you wanted.

--

Hunter released a deep breath. Your words had helped him calm down and he was ready to wait it out but now he was having to keep it together for different reasons. He had spotted you at the bar and had to witness Taryn’s hand crawling all over your thigh, squeezing it and tracing a path from your knee right up the slit of the dress and Hunter knew you and your body well enough to tell that, despite your apparent enthusiasm, you were hating every touch. He only hoped you didn’t have to put up with it for much longer. In addition to this, Taryn kept having people come over to talk to him and each one gave you an admiring stare and would start chatting to you too and you made talking to them look so easy. If he didn’t know you as well as he did, he would’ve assumed you were a regular here.

--

All the interruptions had been driving you crazy. You needed to get this done before someone else came over and you had to feign interest in their seedy business activities and entertain their creepy flirtations. You waved off the newest arrival before you turned your attention back to Taryn. “So, I keep hearing from you and all these people about how well you’re doing, and I must say it’s very impressive. From what I’ve heard, the Empire has been making people’s operations quite difficult. How are you managing to avoid them?” You asked, fake in your admiring tone.

“Well, when you know the right people and have a great business brain like mine, it’s very easy.” He boasted.

“Hmm handsome and smart. How’d I get so lucky?” You flirted.

“Wearing a dress like that certainly helps.”

You resisted the very strong urge to roll your eyes in disgust. “So, can I see how that business brain of yours operates? I’d sure love a peek of your records.”

Taryn shot you a quizzical look. “Why would you want to see my transactions?”

You had to think quickly so you went for the reason you figured would make him forget any lingering questions in his head. “It really gets me going.” You murmured in his ear whilst your hand toyed with the lapel of his jacket. You hated yourself for it, but you knew you wouldn’t be able to keep up the charade much longer.

“Say no more, babydoll.” He downed his drink and grabbed your hand and led you to his back office.

--

To say you were underwhelmed by what you saw would be an understatement. All he did was bribe certain Imperial officials and put his shipments out on the days they were on shift.

“How’s that for a turn on?” He said, mouthing at you neck whilst his hands started to pull your dress up.

You cringed away from his touch. “Before we do that, can you get me another drink?”

You saw the flash of annoyance on his face, and you figured he wasn’t used to people refusing his advances all that often, but you needed him out. “I’ll make it worth your while.” You murmured, batting your eyelashes.

Taryn practically sprinted out the room.

You wiped your neck in revulsion and got to work. “Great business brain my ass.” You said to yourself as you inserted the drive, and it began its download.

--

You managed to get out without being spotted by Taryn and you found Hunter in no time.

“You okay?” Hunter asked instantly, breathing in relief as he saw you in front of him once more.

“Feeling gross but I got the information and yeah, I’m okay. Are you?” You asked.

“He didn’t force-”

“No, I dealt with any attempt, and he didn’t get far.” You replied quickly, not wanting to even let his mind wander down that path. “Are you okay?” You asked again.

“Yeah, I got better after hearing you.”

“I’m sorry about this whole thing. I know it wasn’t easy on you.”

“Or you.” Hunter added. “You were put in an uncomfortable situation and did what you had to do. You were looking out for the squad by doing this. You don’t have to apologise for that. I’m just sorry this was the kinda job you were handed, it wasn’t fair.”

You gave him a grateful smile. “Wanna get out of here?”

Hunter nodded, but he wasn’t able to shake the voice in his head that was bringing up every illogical doubt as weaved his hand in yours and together, you snuck out the party and headed back to the ship.

--

You had scarcely boarded the Marauder when Hunter backed you into the wall of the hallway and began to kiss you. You dropped your bag that contained the stolen information and let out a surprised gasped which he used as a chance to intensify it. You were lightheaded when he pulled away, but he didn’t give you a chance to recover since he lifted your thigh and slotted himself in between your legs and started to kiss along your jaw and neck.

He breathed you in but the things that made you you weren’t there anymore. They were tainted with something wrong and unfamiliar, and he couldn’t stand it.

The way he nipped at your jaw and neck stung and his grip on you was sore and not the pleasurable kind. It told you there was more to this than simple possessiveness. Something was bothering him. The atmosphere between you now was different to how it was before you had entered the party. “Hunter, stop for a minute.” You said through a gasp as his fingers dug into your thigh in a way that was sure to leave bruises- and not the good kind- if he continued to do it.

Hunter stopped immediately and pulled away from you. Seeing the concern in your eyes snapped him out of whatever mood he was in. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what happened. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“You didn’t.” You reassured him quickly. “But what’s going on? That was… different. You don’t usually get like that.”

“I know, I know. I’m so sorry.” He went to step away from you.

You assumed things had gone too far with Taryn. You grabbed his hand and tugged him back towards you. “He wasn’t going to get far. He doesn’t even hold a candle to you. I didn’t mean the things I said to him. I don’t understand-”

“It wasn’t just him.” Hunter interrupted quietly as his hand fell to your waist.

“What are you talking about?” You asked softly, running your hand through the hair at the nape of his neck to comfort him.

“Everyone there was looking at you. Everyone. And you fit there. You looked like you belonged. Not with criminals.” He clarified hastily as he saw your brow furrow. “But with people that have something to offer that isn’t just scraping by from one job to the next. And I think it all got too much. You- You could have anyone you wanted. You could have a life for yourself and instead you chose this. You chose us. You chose me. I guess… I guess I just struggle sometimes believing you’re still here. But it’s nothing you’ve done; I just can’t get the voice in my head to shut up and it’s not your fault or your issue. I shouldn’t have taken it out on you like that.” He turned away from you.

Your heart went out to him. You knew it would have taken a lot for him to admit that. So often he was a sergeant first and person with real emotions second. He rarely let his guard down like this. Clearly, your conversation after the last mission didn’t soothe all the insecurities that had built. You knew Crosshair leaving would have left scars, but you didn’t think they ran this deep. You cupped the side of his face and caressed your thumb across his cheekbone. “Well, I’m glad I seem to possess such an acting talent because I was fighting every instinct to not show my disgust at the people there.” You said lightly before you continued in a more serious tone. “Hunter, I am with you 100%, I don’t even think about what my life would be like if I didn’t meet you guys or if I didn’t fall in love with you because it gets too upsetting.” You pulled him in for a hug and held him close. “People leaving doesn’t mean you failed or missed something, sometimes people make decisions that hurt but the great thing about choice is that it can also leave room for future change, you just have to be patient.” You soothed.

He knew what you were saying about yourself was true and he could only hope that what you were saying about his brother was also true. “I love you.” Hunter murmured into your neck. “I’m sorry.”

“I know. I love you too and that’s not going to change.”

Hunter met your eyes once more.

You placed a delicate kiss on to his lips before you pulled away and rubbed your thumb tenderly across his jaw. “Now, to shut that voice up, here’s what we’re going to do.”

Hunter tilted his head at you.

“First, I’m going to take a shower which you are going to join me for.” You crooned as you pushed back part of the scarf and gently bit the skin by his pulse point and sucked a bruise into the skin.

Hunter stifled his groan but his hold on you tightened.

“Then...” You kissed along his jaw, pausing before you reached his lips. “I’m going to both show and tell you all the things that make me happy that I get to call you mine.” You whispered before you kissed him. It lasted for a few minutes before you broke away for air.

“Sounds good to me.” Hunter rasped as he got his breath back.

You smiled at him and began the process of undressing him, a task you took great pleasure and care in before you slipped off your dress and the two of you made your way to the refresher.

--

It wasn’t a completely innocent shower, he still had to work his emotions out, but he was back to his usual self in that regard, and it wasn’t lost on you that the marks he’d left on your thighs and neck were in the places that Taryn had touched you. When he’d used his mouth and his fingers to bring you that sweet release, not once but twice, you’d decided to wrap things up in there. You cleaned each other up and after you turned off the water, you grabbed his hand and led him out the refresher. You didn’t bother to dry off and neither did he. You tenderly pushed him down onto your bunk, so he was sitting but you made no move to follow just yet. Instead, you took him in, and the way he looked had you weak at the knees. Droplets of water were scattered across his tanned skin that were just begging to be kissed away, and his dark hair fell flawlessly around his face and the necklace you had given him sat just past his collarbone. “You’re the one who’s perfect.” You said, your voice barely above a whisper.

Hunter swallowed heavily. “Well, genetics had a helping hand.” He kidded awkwardly as he felt himself growing warm under the intensity of your stare and your words didn’t help. In these particular situations, it was usually him who was the attention giver. This was a new, more vulnerable position for him to be in and it wasn’t one he was used to. But he trusted you and that’s what really mattered here. He reached for you.

Sensing some unease, you let him pull you onto his lap. Your hands found his shoulders whilst his cradled the side of your neck and your waist. You brought your lips, so they were mere inches from his. “Do you know you only have to walk into a room, and I’m left thinking when I’ll have the next chance to be alone with you?”

A low groan left Hunter’s throat and he made the decision to close the remaining distance between you.

Your hands moved to tangle themselves in his damp locks and your slick bodies and lips moved together in perfect sync, the passion and intensity between you never faltered. You only removed yourself to get air, but you didn’t leave him wanting. You pulled on his hair slightly, so his head fell back and more of his neck was exposed to you.

“You did take less than 30 minutes today…” Hunter managed to choke out as you licked away the water on the side of his neck and nipped at the skin.

You smirked to yourself and trailed your lips softly across his collarbone. “Someone’s eager. I’m reserving that for a later date. I told you; we’re doing things differently tonight.” With that, you nudged him to lie on his back and you reached your hand between you. Your mouth hovered above his and you savoured the short, sharp breaths that left him at your ministrations. Focus on my voice. Focus on my touch. Nothing else matters. It’s just you and me. You need me to stop, tell me and I will, okay?

Hunter nodded.

So as things weren’t going to be over before you had said all you needed to, you were ensuring that your movements were enough to satisfy any longing he was experiencing, but it wasn’t enough to fully satisfy him yet. His mildly frustrated grunts and the way his hips were trying to buck into your touch told you though that he wasn’t quite getting the patience memo yet. You pressed your mouth against his. “Ssshh.” You ordered softly. “I got you.”

Hunter looked into your eyes, and he saw something in them that he knew was reflected in his every time he looked at you. The loving way you were looking at him had something so pure and unfiltered behind it. He took a deep breath and relaxed under your touch.

When you felt the tension leave his body, you began. You kissed his untattooed cheek and kept your voice low but there was no hiding the sincere way you spoke to him now. “I love how you look out for us and how protective you are.”

You nudged his nose with yours and kissed the bridge of it. “I love how kind and caring you are.”

“I love how you are with Omega.” You kissed his other cheek.

“I love when you let yourself be vulnerable and that wall comes down.” You kissed behind his ear.

“I love watching you track. I love how you capable you are.” You kissed right by his hairline.

“Your hair not only looks beautiful on you, but I love how you let me pull on it when you’re making me see stars and I need to be grounded.” You didn’t miss the deep groan that left him when you used your free hand to tug on it so you could leave more marks on the other side of his neck that had been without your attention since this had started.

You found his mouth once more and kissed him deeply, lovingly. I love that you know what to say to reassure me. You continued to kiss him, upping the intensity as you did so. An act you knew he appreciated due to the way he cradled the side of your jaw. You let him have a moment of control as he licked into your mouth, drawing a small moan from you. Plus, you know exactly how to drive me wild. You included and you grinned against his mouth as you pulled away slightly to allow you both to breathe. You started to pay his jawbone some care. You laid soft kisses along it.

Slowly but surely, Hunter was starting to forget the outside world for a while. You were being so affectionate and loving and he found himself believing all you were saying. That usual voice that would tell him he was failing, or he was losing you was starting to fade into the background. He caressed your sides and continued to do what you had said at the beginning. You were what he was focusing on now.

You started to kiss your way down his chest, gently biting and sucking the skin and your hand skimmed over the necklace that sat there perfectly. I love how good this looks on you and it means so much to me that you wear it and I love you for it.

Your hand trailed up and down his arm. “I love how secure I feel in these arms when they hold me. Or when you show off how strong you are.” You added playfully before you brought his hand to your mouth and traced your mouth across his wrist before you kissed his palm. “I love how these hands play with a vibroblade. And how talented they are in… other areas.” You teased and you increased the pace of the hand that was between you, relishing in the pleasurable sigh that left Hunter’s mouth.

Hunter knew he was reaching that point of blissful ecstasy. You had driven him crazy but in the best possible way, however, this wasn’t how he wanted things to end. “W-wait.” Hunter said hastily as he grabbed your wrist to stop you.

You tilted your head at him.

“I need-” He swallowed thickly. “I need to feel you.”

You gave him a warm smile and brought your mouth against his. “And what exactly do you want to feel?” You murmured against his lips.

You left him chasing your mouth and instead took his hand once more and brought his finger to your mouth and sucked, emitting a seductive moan as you did so, and your teeth grazed the tip of his finger. “Do you want my mouth?”

“Shit.” Hunter gasped.

“Or is there something else…” You trailed off and ground against him.

A strangled groan left Hunter’s mouth. “Pl-please.” He rasped.

“Please what, Sergeant?” You said alluringly, not letting up on the slow, steady grind of your hips. You kissed him and tugged his bottom lip between your teeth.

“Fucking hell.” He said through clenched teeth, his head fell back down onto the pillow. “I need- I need to be inside you.” He said, knowing he somehow sounded shy, but he was so desperate for you that he didn’t care.

Finding his demeanour rather endearing and as a sign that you’d done your job, his mind didn’t seem as preoccupied anymore and having pushed him far enough and not really wanting to leave him wanting, you lifted your hips. You quieted his groans with your kiss as you started to move with both of your breathing quickly becoming irregular. Force you feel perfect.

Hunter couldn’t help the noises that were leaving him. You looked positively ethereal, he couldn’t take his eyes off you, and you felt incredible. Your words and comfort had helped to ground him, and he knew he was so lucky to have you. He drank in the pleasurable sighs that were coming from you and they were tipping him over that edge.

You had teased him long enough and you could tell he was close by the low moans that left his throat and the way his hold on your hips had tightened that but that wasn’t a problem. Your priority now was his pleasure. His release. And you did everything you could to get him there. You kissed him. You nibbled his earlobe and his pulse point. “I love you, Hunter.” You whispered breathlessly and then you felt him fall apart beneath you. You worked him through it, and it was only when he lightly tapped your hip that you stopped.

You planted light, sweet kisses along his neck and jaw and admired the many love bites you had left in your wake. Still with me, Sarge?

Hunter struggled to find any words. You had made him seen stars and he was still coming back down from the surreal experience you had just provided him, but he was aware enough to know you weren’t taken care of yet, something he was not used to. “You didn’t-”

You stroked the shorter strands on his hair back to silence him as you laid down next to him. “I did. Twice. Right in that shower if you remember. This was about you.”

Hunter let out a disgruntled grunt but accepted it as he kissed your brow. “I love you too.”

“How’s that voice?” You asked quietly as you tossed a leg over his hip so as to get even closer to him.

“What voice?” Hunter whispered in reply as he rested his head on top of yours.

You hummed out a laugh and closed your eyes.

In all the peace, you both had forgotten about the group of people waiting on your return. Your abandoned comms chirped and then Echo’s voice filled the empty space. “(Y/N), Hunter, it’s been a while. What’s your status?”

You and Hunter both groaned but smiled at each other as you sat up.

You reached down and grabbed your comm. “Sorry, Echo. Took a bit longer than expected. We got the data and we’re heading back now.”

“Copy that.” He signed off.

“Kinda forgot the whole point of why we were here in the first place.” Hunter said lightly as he kissed the top of your shoulder.

“I mean, that was the idea.” You said with a coy smile as you angled yourself to face him. “We better get going.” You kissed him quickly once more before you grabbed your dress and slipped it back on with Hunter following close behind.

“If you don’t want any brotherly teasing or awkwardness, you’re uh, going to need to wear this before we get back.” Hunter said apologetically as he examined the marks he’d left on your neck. He hadn’t been too careful about his placements this time around.

You tutted playfully at him as you took his scarf from him and wrapped it around you. “Better?”

 “You make anything look good.” Hunter said by way of reply.

You grinned at him. “Let’s this ship in the air.” You started to walk to the cockpit.

“Hey, (Y/N).”

You turned back around to face him.

“Thank you. For all of it. I- I try so hard to be in control and keep it together. It was nice to not be for a change.”

You made your way back towards him and wrapped your arms around him, sighing happily when he held you tightly against his chest.

“We’re getting the hang of this relationship thing.” You said jokingly before you angled yourself to look at him. “You can share the load, Hunter. You’re not alone.” You said, your tone more serious.

“I know.” Hunter agreed, really believing it this time.

--

As the ship made its way back, Hunter felt a true sense of calm that he hadn’t felt in a while. There would still be uncertainties and he still had his squad to look after but one thing was now certain in his mind: you were it for him. He could face the unpredictable galaxy and protect what he loved with you by his side. He wouldn’t let that doubt creep in and take over like that again. He had you. He had his squad. That wouldn’t change. It couldn’t change. He wouldn’t let it.

Next Chapter>

Tagging: @noeasyisnoisy, @tpwkcalli, @fuckoffthanos, @arctrooper69, @graciexmarvel, @flyingkangaroo, @nightmonkeysstuff, @brujaporfavor, @a-streakofazure, @ladytano420, @dragonrider9905, @keep-calm-and-drink-caf, @yyourmotherr, @xxeiraxx

#the bad batch #the bad batch season 2 #the bad batch s2 #hunter x reader #hunter x fem!reader #hunter x femaleJedi!reader #hunter x female!reader #sergeant hunter x reader #sergeant hunter #hunter tbb #hunter the bad batch #the bad batch hunter x you #hunter x y/n #tbb hunter x reader #the bad batch fanfiction #star wars #friends to lovers #angst #fluff #smut

[goodboyaudios]

Hello! My name is Grim, and I fancy myself a bit of a researcher. Now, this is not for anything important or extremely serious. Instead, this is mostly for my own pure enjoyment and something I have in the works that is to be posted on Tumblr. You are not obligated to answer any or all of these questions I have posed. I know it’s a bit much. Take your time, but don’t feel obligated to do anything. Feel free to add any additional input! Thanks for your consideration!

1. How different do you think your work would be, in terms of getting across a point, in a different medium thats not Audio RP?

2. How do you think your work would be different if it more reflected main stream industry forms of storytelling where you as a creator would be more separate? (ex. movies, tv shows, games, etc.)

3. How important do you find the voice acting in your work?

4. You are the primary voice of your works. Would you consider taking a step back from voice acting in your work to focus on narrative work?

5. Do you believe your own individual ability to voice characters enhances the story overall?

6. Do you enjoy the idea of a “Listener character” or would you better prefer to not have one?

7. As a writer, how does the writing of the Listener take you out of your comfort zone? (ie their effect in relationships, plot movements, etc.)

8. Is Audio RP your favored form of art?

9. How do you believe Audio RP differs from main stream forms of art/entertainment?

10. Do you believe that your work has over arching themes that relate to you personally? (very optional)

Sure! I'm happy to answer some questions!

I think with the addition of a visual medium it would most definitely be significantly easier, yes.

Well, I can't say for sure. I could explain for hours about how mainstream media forces a creative to conform their work within often-times hostile parameters. Nevertheless, I'd be blessed with the opportunity to try. That being said, I have a lot more creative freedom here on Youtube than anywhere else, at least by my standards.

I think it's very important. Conveying enough emotion without the added visuals means that it is ALL DOWN to vocal performance.

I am typically the primary voice, yes, but I must admit this is a very difficult question. I love to write stories of scifi and fantasy, I love to take concepts and ideas, pieces of dialogue and conveyed emotion and put them into an all expansive list of things to try, but I personally love bringing those emotions and ideas out myself. I find it fun! I suppose...I wouldn't! Writing is fun, don't get me wrong, but being able to perform it is part of my joy in creating what I make. If I stopped doing one, I'd have to find it elsewhere and that would take me away from doing the other thing.

I like to believe that, yes. It only makes sense that the writer knows the exact feeling to convey in a script, but you could call me vain for that if you like lol!

Listener characters are the bane of my existence lol! Okay, that was too dramatic. It's very difficult to write a character that doesn't talk, but represents...basically everyone! How do you compensate for that? And echoing dialogue is not something people do on a regular basis. No one talks like that, but we need to in order to get across what the listener is thinking at any given time, because if you don't, everyone is confused. It's quite frustrating and a hell of a dilemma in the scripting process.

Well, like I said earlier, I have to try and accommodate for everyone which is a challenge all on its own. It's VERY easy for the listener to become a talking head and I try my best to avoid it. Alas, I imagine even the greatest xlistener writer has fallen into that trap lol

No, it is not. I like 2D animation and RPGs.

Money? Budget? A lot more emphasis on visuals? When you start out as a content creator, you start with nothing and are tasked with making something, but with mainstream media, the network hands you a budget to make something. Granted those things might not be great given the parameters of the network, but hey! At least you can say you made something!

Very much so, yes. Zed is directly related to my insecurities and fears of not being enough as a person. Makkaro is related to my need for a work/life balance so that I might enjoy the little things while still giving my all. Albus is a toxic form of what I wanted to be when I grew up, a man who can fight through anything, but inside is deeply broken. Yargwynn is my running away from my problems in hopes that it'll all just go away. Mortallous is those problems always chasing me, always catching up. One day, I will tell a story of Zed realizing who he wants to be. That story will show that the man I really want to be, is myself. I will no longer be Good Boy Audios, but Good Man Audios. Yeah, it's cheesy as fuck, but hey, I like cheese.

Thank you for your questions. I really appreciate the time you took to ask me them. And I hope you enjoy my stories moving forward too!

#good boy audios #goodboyaudios #youtube #asmr roleplay #asmr boyfriend

[acciocriativity]

PAYBACK (IT ISN'T OVER) - JYH

(Pictures aren't mine, credits for the rightful owners)

Pairing: Actor!Yunho x Actress!Reader

Genre: Fluff

Warnings/ Tags: Actor! Yunho; Mentions of smut and angst, but not real life; Ateez is still a kpop group in this; pure chaos

WC: 865

N/A: This was requested by @ynxxho! I'm so sorry it took me so long, dear and I hope you enjoy it <3

Payback I

Ateez Masterlist

He was dressed like an angel that came from above to bless people with his mere presence for an hour or so.

But you knew better than to believe the innocent smile on his face right now, he IS the definition of wolf in sheep’s clothing.

They all should’ve known better, so you don’t even feel bad for what was about to happen.

The ringtone echoed through the walls of the dorm.

Seonghwa was the one that got the honorable mission of retrieving the food safely.

The food arrived right on time as everyone got as comfortable as possible to watch the very last episode of the drama you both did together on Netflix

It was Yunho’s request, one that nobody thought anything of it because it made sense, right? It was an event worth celebrating for in every ateez member’s mind, the end of a very promising drama, that could lead to a very successful career in the future, for both Yunho and you.

They were elated for this. Everyone promised to watch on their own and wait for the last episode.

They were dying to know if the couple got together or not, even it was obvious it was supposed to be a romance-focused drama. It was engaging, ok? No one can judge them for caring way too much about those fictional characters. (Maybe there was a huge debate about who was right or wrong on the last episode three days ago on their group chat, but that’s normal!)

The last episode ended on a high tension scene, both characters were hurt, and now they were confronting each other, saying things that they didn’t mean and making everything worse than it was before.

Wooyoung came barging in Yunho’s room to hit him with a pillow for being so dumb that same night.

“Why did you hit me??”, it was Yunho’s response.

“You know why”, Wooyoung said and left the room.

Yunho texted you about the incident, first confused and then extremely offended that he got punished for his character’s actions when he found out, but more importantly, because Wooyoung was on YOUR side.

Wooyoung, in fact, was on your side since that traumatizing day, because you weren’t on Yunho’s plan and therefore, you were now replacing Yunho as his favorite.

“It’s time”, Jongho said as he pressed play on the 16th episode.

You exchanged glances with Yunho before the room went dark.

He smiled as he held your hands in his, that same smile you learned meant business.

Up until now, the spiciness of the drama stayed in the first episode for the most part. The rest of the scenes were the perfect mixture of fluff and angst, something the viewers could relate to and then get to know the characters to a deeper level, but now there are only a few knots to tie and some happy endings to show, including yours.

What’s better than a full ending cycle?

Close to the 20-minute mark, you excused yourself to grab some water in the kitchen.

You waited for the chaos, for some screaming and curse words, the absolute drama that only them could pull off, yet there was silence.

Silence in their dorm always means something’s up. It’s a warning sign for trouble. In this situation? You could guess the whole group fell dead on the ground all of a sudden.

The scene you walked into was just as amusing as it was in the first episode.

The 7 of them were still on their seats, mouth agape, eyes wide as the scene kept on going.

Yunho sat there with an easy smile on his face, just as entertained as you were. He was having the time of his life as he watched their expressions change to pure shock.

There wasn’t much revealing than it was already done before, no, that wasn’t the cause of the silent commotion. It was the bold dialogue, to put it lightly. It wasn’t cringe, otherwise all of them would be rolling on their backs laughing right now, it was good, the writing of the drama was excellent in general, something you’d always be thankful for, it made your job easier.

“Damn, that’s hot”, Wooyoung broke the defying silence in the living room.

After that, it was a chain reaction. Mingi laughed, then Hongjoong, who pushed Wooyoung to the ground. Then everyone was laughing.

You laughed so hard, you felt tears pooling in your eyes.

When you managed to find Yunho again, he was laughing on the floor.

The rest 30 minutes of the drama was completely forgotten after that.

"What do you mean that's hot?", Jongho was the first to ask, still flabbergasted on his seat.

"Because it was, come on, every single on of you though the same thing, don't act like you didn't!"

"It kind of was, I mean, the writing is good and it's Yunho, he's a good actor", San said as he shrugged.

"OK, let's stop with whatever conversation is this and finish the episode", Hongjoong said.

And his wish is a command so, that's exactly what happened.

But it was clear that no one was going to forget this drama anytime soon.

#ateez fluff #ateez x reader #ateez imagines #ateez scenarios #ateez reactions #ateez headcanons #yunho headcanon #yunho x reader #yunho fluff #ateez masterlist #yunho fanfic #yunho imagines

[pansear-doodles]

what's your process for making comics ? how do you plan them out ? the panels ? the dialogue ? do you plan it all out in advance or is it more spontaneous

sometimes if the comic requires a lot of dialogue, i make the transcript first. (and it helps because once i get to the step of actually putting in the dialogue to the comic, i make improvements along the way)

usually the process of paneling it is... very mixed. im not an expert in comic making and there are honestly better rain world artists out there who do much better in that field (trying to not compare myself to them is a mental struggle i really fucking hate but it does help me strive to work better and study how they do it(pansear i swear to god stop looking at the NUMBERS)). ive actually been one to make comics and story telling for quite a while but not much a full length big comic series.

when i make anthro au comics, i usually have the "ok this is what i want to go" in my head. since a majority of them are sketched, i dont really worry about how itll layout. i just need to get the idea out of my head. sometimes i think really hard on a scene and think to myself "ok this part is really dramatic and important so i must make it bigger than the rest". sometimes it is for comedic effect like in helm where there is an entire page dedicated to the lizard exploding over a jpeg, sometimes its for scenic feels (like echoes showing themselves upon the characters and making foreboding(though also strange) dialogue), and other times its when the character is saying something or doing something incredibly crucial like whatever saint was doing to arti in heretic.

sometimes id do it without dividers (which is actually easier for me personally). sometimes id do it experimentally like with the ghost arti and zombie hunter comic.

i suppose what i prioritize more is to tell a story rather than to tell the story in flair, so its best to not entirely heed to my advice if you want stylized-looking comics. it probably doesnt help that i might have some sort of attention deficiency because its difficult for me to get back on a project thats stored away for another.

some of the really great rw comic artists i can think on the top of my head are:

@lynxmisnomer who has a really great ongoing series called The Curse of Metropolis and has made a really cool comic of Monk and Survivor

@ninten-draw who makes really colorful stylized comics about certain rain world characters including the ones you wouldn't think of and nails on the story-telling without words

@lyss-butterscotch who puts a lot of effort to her gijinka au stuff (if you ask me which of her comics is my favorite- come on. you already know the answer based on who's writing this LOL)

@snailfen for having cutesy and detailed comics (i read ruff and ruff like garfield comics- they're not as frequent but i get this unexplainable feeling of happiness whenever i see it)

@toxictoxicities whose comics are??? scenic??? holy shit.

and you of course!

#ask

[deancasbigbang]

Title: Then Till Now

Author: silver_penny

Artist: spiffyflypie

Rating: Teen

Pairings: Dean/Cas, Sam/Eileen, Dean & Sam, Dean & Charlie, Cas & Anna, Cas & Claire

Length: 20000

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Tags: 17776 AU, human/nonhuman relationship, alien invasion, happy ending, dialogue-heavy, rocketry

Posting Date: November 1, 2023

Summary: It's the year 17776, and Dean Winchester is used to the peace. Humanity has stabilized the climate, vanquished world hunger, and achieved equitable global co-operation. Nanobots swoop down to heal every little paper cut, and if no one is born anymore, well, no one dies either. When the Cassini-Huygens space probe crashes into his life – newly conscious, bluntly sarcastic, and deeply skeptical of humanity's late triumph – it's the most interesting thing to have happened to Dean in millennia. But out in deep space, something truly interesting is stirring...

Excerpt: Bobby’s wrong about the house – it’s not too big, not for Sioux Falls and especially not for their family – but when he opens the door and the creak echoes out into a cavernous empty space, it kind of feels that way. Dean ends up in the Deancave, curling up in the best seat and summoning up something old and a little mindless to watch. Hello.  It’s the first thing he’s heard in hours, and for a moment Dean doesn’t even recognize it as another person. But it lingers, the way real environmental sounds do. Dean mutes the TV. “Hello?”  Yes.  Dean bites his lip. “Hello, yeah. You okay?”  I’m not sure.  “Alright. What’s up? Can I help?”  I am unsure if that is something you are capable of doing.  Dean blinks. “Okay. You just soliciting or something? Sorry, man, not interested.”  I am not...soliciting.  “Okay?”  I have no interest in solicitation.  “So any reason you decided to barge into my evening, then? If you don’t need anything, you don’t want anything...”  I am talking to you on the advice of my brother.  “Who’s your brother?”  Pioneer G.  Dean blinks again and then slowly sets his remote control back down. “The – the space probe? Pioneer G?”  He likes to be called Gabriel.  Of course he does. “You’re talking to me from space?” There’s a very long pause. Yes. “Huh.”  I don’t know where else I would be talking from.  “Yeah,” Dean says, “of course not.”  You are also talking to me from space.  “From Earth,” Dean says absently. “Not quite the same thing.” There had been, of course, probes on the news. How humanity built something that, millennia later, could wake up like that, for lack of a better term...that was still a mystery. The scientists were all over it, of course, but maybe a little less urgently than they might have been, once upon a time. And now there was a spacecraft interrupting his show. Dean clears his throat. “So, um, any reason your brother thought I would be the best person for this conversation?”  He didn’t.  Now Dean squints at the ceiling. “You know, you’re not doing a great job answering my questions.” There’s a beat. Two beats.  My apologies. Gabriel requested that I “go find one of those humans to chat with if you want to talk so much.” You were in an optimal position.  “I am, huh?”  Yes.  “You mean, like...spatially? Cosmically?”  Your position on Earth is optimal for transmission at the current moment. Also I can see your television. Huh. “So who are you, then?” Dean asks. He kicks up his feet a bit and studies the ceiling, imagining the moon and stars that might show behind it, once the sun goes down. He racks his brains, but even back when the space program was at its height, it didn’t make top thousand on the Winchester priority list. “Hubble? Sputnik?” Sam would know more.  Cassini-Huygens. Dean catches his breath.

DCBB 2023 Posting Schedule

#dcbb 2023 #fic preview #2023 promo #deancas #destiel

[evans-heaven]

Scene ; Joseph Quinn

Leave it to me to see one comment asking for a full fic based on one of my Moments drabbles and actually write that shit 😭 I've been working on this piece for weeks and I'm pretty happy with how I left it so here it is for your reading pleasure ;)

Before we start, a couple of things:

This is pre-Feelings (tho reader is very much in love here but doesn't realize it)

The death scene is from the POV of Stacey, your character, and is mostly my dialogue bc i tried watching the actual clip and got less than 10 seconds in before i started crying 🙃 so I'm not gonna torture myself like that y'all sorry lol

Reader is portrayed as having anxiety and overthinks a lot, kinda like in Feelings. I write her like this bc that's pretty much how I am in real life about my own thoughts, feelings, and basically everything else. Aaannnd that's basically it lmao

Pairing: Joseph Quinn x Fem!Actress!Reader

Warnings: Unedited content, strong language, ANGST, description of Eddie's death scene, mentions of blood, mild depictions of anxiety, some fluff, and touching, duh ;)

wc: 3.6k

I already linked the other two fics so read Touch here

Pt 2 here

Prior to this day, you had your assumptions that actors filming a death scene would be pretty tough. 

But, now that you were in a position where you yourself would be at the borderline center of one, ‘tough’ was kind of an understatement. 

‘Tough’ wasn’t nearly a suitable enough word to describe having to cradle your co-star who was covered in prosthetic wounds and fake blood as he sputtered out I love you’s and goodbye’s, and then ‘died’ in your arms. 

Maybe ‘tough’ would be the appropriate term here, if said co-star wasn’t your best fucking friend and the person you were undoubtably closest with on set. Him dying in your arms, even if it was just for the screen, was still an experience that would feel way too real-even if you tried to remind yourself that, at the end of the day, it wasn’t. No matter how true to life it would seem. No matter how damn realistic those wounds looked (why the fuck did Amy and her team have to be so talented?), and no matter how fucking incredible Joe Quinn was at pretending to die. 

The words ‘calm down’ echoed in your head like a broken record all day. They had blended into one, to the point where they were incoherent and didn’t seem to make sense. Thus, they did very little to offer comfort. 

The day had been frustrating, to put it lightly. But, at least you had Joe.

That morning, during your daily-or hourly-sanctioned bear hug, your heartbeat was so strong he practically heard it pulsing in his ears. That alone told him your anxiety would be working double time that day. It was a serious pain in the agss sometimes.

You and Joe had always been attached at the hip over the last year and some, always hanging off of each other in some way or another. And today, it was with good reason attached to it-not that (consensual) physical touch ever had to have a purpose other than wanting to be close. Having that gentle contact, even if it was just a hand on your shoulder-was more than enough to ground you and halt the overactive thoughts-even if for a couple of minutes.

Although he’d say he was only trying to comfort you, it was obvious your embraces and touches held mutual benefit. Just as he was able to sense your anxiety, you could sense his. The sweaty palms when your fingers laced together during breakfast and lunch weren’t from you, nor were the goosebumps you felt against your collarbones when he held you from behind after you got your makeup done for the scene. This showed you that, despite acting his ass off during rehearsals, it didn’t mean he wasn’t nervous.

But, in typical heartthrob-from-a-90s-novel-written-by-a-woman fashion, all his energy was put into making you feel better, comforted, and assured that everything would be okay. Even if he had no idea what the true driving force was behind your anxiousness.

You couldn’t have asked for a better on screen boyfriend. Stacey Miller-Rhodes was a damn lucky gal. Well, up until her boyfriend got chunks of his flesh ripped from his body by demobats. Meaning he died. Meaning Eddie was gone.

Calm down. Calm down. Calm down.

A sharp knock on your trailer door interrupted your useless mantra, as you jolted, just a little, before giving permission for whoever to enter.

In walked Matt and Ross, warm smiles on their faces. It didn’t do much to ease you, because you knew why they were here. 

“Hey, Y/N, you ready?” Ross asked. Matt stood by the door keeping it open, since it was time to go. 

You nodded. “Yep,” your voice was even, masking the heavy feeling in your throat. You were not ready.

“Figured we’d come get you ourselves, Joe’s busy with makeup on set, for, you know-”

“I know. Thanks,” you said quickly, cutting Matt off. “Let’s get going, then,” you said, standing up and walking past Matt, exiting your trailer. You heard the door shut softly and their footsteps following behind you.

You were being short with them, but that was because you really only wanted Joe at this moment. Unfortunately, he was currently being ‘deadified’ on set, which is where you were now headed. You two had a little cuddle session in your trailer, where he held you tight and layed kiss after kiss on your forehead, cooing that it would be okay and that you would both be fine. After that, he had to go to the makeup trailer to get his prosthetic wounds applied. The process had taken hours, and then he had to film the scene where Eddie actually got attacked by the bats. This meant it had been a while since you saw him last. So, his mamed and mangled appearance awaited you, when the last time you saw him, he was totally unharmed and at ease.

You entered the building, in which there were only a chosen few people. It was a closed set, just you, Joe, and the necessary crew members. The Duffers believed that because a death scene with a couple was so intimate, you and Joe were the only actors that should be on set. 

That, you were thankful for. You were your best self when it was just you and Joe, so you could be your best ‘acting self’, when it was just the two of you as well.

Your eyes were immediately drawn to the ‘Upside Down’, a set made to look like the particular spot in the alternate universe where everything would go down. It was tinted blue and almost sent a chill down your spine to look at, from how cold uninviting, and eerie the general vibe of the scenery was. And a little depressing, which was pretty fitting. The backdrop was a blue screen, which would be used to add the background of the setting, to make everything look as real as possible.

You spotted Joe in the middle of the set, the makeup team applying fake blood to his very real looking wounds. 

“C’mon, we wanna talk to you and Joe for a second before we start,” Matt told you, and as much as that made sense, you wished Joe was more than just a few feet away so you could prepare a little more for seeing him….like that, outside of the context of the scene. 

“Okay,” you said as you three began walking towards him just as makeup finished up their job. When you got to him, you felt yourself tense up at his appearance as you lingered back, just a little bit. He stood awkwardly with his arms slightly hovering away from his body, clearly not wanting to disrupt the fake damage. You could tell from the sight before you that with how much fake blood the team used, those demobats would really do a number on Eddie.

You hated those little CGI bastards.

“Hey,” Joe said, gaining your attention, though his tone was light. You met his eyes, narrowly avoiding the blood streaking the lower half of his face.

“Hi,” you said back, feeling just a little bit of air release from your lungs, not even remembering when you took a breath in. You wanted to make a sarcastic quip to lighten the mood, but words failed you. You didn’t really feel like being funny right now.

“So, you guys remember how the scene goes, Eddie just sacrificed himself and got attacked by the bats, and Stacey runs up to him afterward and sees his body laying there, barely alive, covered in blood and wounds,” Matt began.

You curled your lips in and nodded stiffly, feeling the slightest of shocks run through your body. Calm down.

“I know you two are gonna kill this scene,” Matt continued. “No one understands or could have brought to life Eddie and Stacey better than the two of you,” he said warmly, clamping hands down on both your shoulders. Yours was tense under his touch and Stacey’s clothing.

You had to admit, though, he was right. You had a lot of input into Stacey’s character, taking her from Eddie’s shy girlfriend who was just a tool to enhance how eccentric he was, to a girl with a backstory and reasons for her reserved nature. Knowing Stacey’s history would make the scene even more gut wrenching to film. A girl raised in a household with a domineering step-father who believed women should be seen and not heard, who made her life a living hell under the watchful eye of her mother who did nothing to stop it. Upon turning 18 she left him and his toxicity behind, but carried the burden of years of being forced to subdue herself. Eddie got her to open up to him, but she still carried herself quietly around others. The fear of judgment was damaging.

Because of how much you put into Stacey and the influence you had on her storyline, you knew none of your nervousness had to do with how you’d perform in the scene. You were confident in your abilities as an actress and knew you could carry this scene with the help of Joe perfectly. 

“Thanks, guys, that means a lot,” you said to them, gripping the moto jacket you wore, canonically taken by Stacey from Eddie’s closet. 

“Yeah, truly, we’ve come a long way from me thinking I would completely ruin the show,” Joe chuckled, the smile on his face juxtaposed by the blood caking it. It was actually kind of off putting.

“Alright, well, let’s get this show on the road!” Mat clapped his hands and walked with his brother offset.

More like let’s get this over with. You were about to walk off to get in your spot, when Joe grabbed your hand gently, stopping you. You turned to face him, brows raised expectantly.

“You good?” he asked.

Deciding to keep this short and sweet, you settled for a quick nod, and a soft ‘yeah’. Satisfied, he released your hand so you could go to your place, just as one of the Duffers yelled “Places!” 

When you got to your mark, you looked over to Joe one more time, who was already looking your way. You could feel the intensity of his stare from where you stood, those gorgeous brown eyes and the way they sparkled no matter the lighting or setting. He gave you a smile, and you returned one, unable to ever not do so. It managed to give you a new found confidence you lacked just seconds prior. He took his position on the ground, and then, it was time.

There was no turning back once it began. Unless you swiveled on your heels and ran in the opposite direction, which was tempting. 

Once it happened, everything you were worried about could become a possibility to follow suit.

You sucked in an unstable breath and closed your eyes, savoring a final moment of calm before those two little word were uttered-

“And….ACTION!”

You took off.

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

Stacey’s heart was ramming against her ribcage the moment she re-entered the upside down, but when she saw her boyfriend lying limp on the cold, wet ground, she swore her legs would give out as her heart seemed to cease in its entirety. 

He had gone back. He wanted to be a hero. He didn’t want to run anymore, but God, she wished he did.

“Eddie!” Stacey called out, voice unstable and legs threatening to give out from underneath her as she sprinted towards him. Somewhere in the corner of her mind that was swarming with fears of what would happen to him, she began to pray to whoever there was that could hear her and help him.

Please let him be okay. Please. Please. Please.

“Ed, babe, oh my God,” Stacey whispered, and fell to her knees before his broken down form. His torso was torn to shreds, his Hellfire shirt almost completely soaked with blood from his wounds. She took hold of him and pulled the upper half of his body into her lap, feeling the red substance begin to seep through her jeans.

The demo bats surrounded the two of them, incapacitated, laying limp on the floor of the upside down-taunting you. Blissfully unaware that they had probably just taken the love of Stacey's life away from her, brutally, with no remorse, as he tried so desperately to be the hero, not the coward he convinced himself he was.

“Ed, are you with me? Can you hear me?” Stacey asked him softly, not wanting to scare him. She brushed his hair from his face and tried to meet his eyes, his gaze unfocused and teary.

Eddie’s voice came out shaky and weak from his blood coated mouth, his cheeks smeared with it. “I did it,” he choked out. “I didn’t run anymore,”

There was no denying he felt some semblance of pride at what he did, and because of that, Stacey couldn’t help but let out a small laugh, though the tension in the noise was palpable. “Yeah, yeah baby, you’re so brave,” she told him.

The proud smile he bore was distorted by a look of pain as he shifted slightly. “It’s bad, isn’t it?” he groaned, in clear discomfort.

One of her hands applied pressure to one of the many wounds that marred his torso as he shivered in her arms. “No, no babe, it’s fine, you're gonna be okay,” she stumbled out, trying to sound as confident in her words as possible, when everything about the situation told her that her words were not the truth. “We just….we just need to get to you to a hospital and everything’s gonna be okay, Ed, don’t worry,”

“No. I think this was it, baby,” he met his girlfriend’s gaze, his jaw trembling as more blood dribbled out the sides of his mouth as he took in barely there, labored breaths. “This was finally my year,”

Stacey choked out helpless cries, caressing his face, and shaking her head. This couldn’t be his year, this couldn’t be the way it ended. He was supposed to finally graduate and the two of them were supposed to get the hell out of Hawkins together, away from all the bullshit media propaganda and pearl clutching PTA moms. They were going to get out of there and be happy together. That was how it was supposed to fucking be, goddammit.

“No,” Stacey gritted.“This isn’t over yet, you’re gonna be okay, Ed,” she nodded stiffly, lips trembling as salty tears flowed into the seam. “We’re just gonna wait a little until the others get here, then we’re gonna carry you out of this hellhole and take you to a hospital, and the doctors there are going to fix you, baby, they’re going to make the bleeding go away, and stitch you up and give you some meds, and then you’re gonna be okay, you’re gonna be okay, you’re gonna be okay,” she chanted weakly as her cheeks became soaked with tears. She wanted to speak it into existence, even as reality clawed and fought its way to the front of her mind.

“Baby,” he cooed. He placed a cold hand on hers, the one that still pressed against one of his wounds, gripping it weakly. Always the one who wanted to comfort her, even if he needed it way more in this situation. “I’ve fulfilled my duty as Eddie the Banished, I didn’t run, and I saved the town,” he told her. 

“That town doesn’t deserve your sacrifice, Eddie,” Stacey argued pathetically.

“I saved you,” he stressed, making it known that this act was with only one person at the forefront as motivation, the rest of the town behind her. “And you’re worth it, Stacey. You’re so. Fucking. Worth it,” he said to her, lacing their fingers together, pulling the back of her hand up to his lips, and pressing a bloodied kiss to the cold, dirty skin. 

“I love you so much,” he said as firmly as his shutting down body would let him.

It hurt her to not say those words back, but she knew why he said them, and she didn’t want to accept this as the end.

“Ed, don't you dare say goodbye,” she told him through her tears, trying to sound strong and sure, but it wasn’t possible. “This isn’t the end for you, this isn’t the end for us,” she said.

“Stacey, baby, I want you to listen to me,” Eddie began, the wobble in his voice impossible to ignore now as he tried to raise his head as much as he could, wanting her to truly take in his next words. “When you go back, I want you to go home and pack all of your shit, as much as you can carry, and I want you to get on the next bus out, because you’re gonna leave that shithole Hawkins. You’re gonna tell that place to kiss your ass and you’re gonna run like hell out of there without so much as a single glance back,”

Stacey shook her head, understanding where this was headed, not wanting to hear a word more. “Ed, no-”

“You’re gonna find some place for the both of us, somewhere where the people aren’t shallow minded assholes, where we can be whoever the fuck we want to be with each other, and I want you to live your life everyday as you would have if I was there,’

“Eddie, I can’t-”

“Yes, you can. I don’t want you to cave back into yourself, baby. You’re the most beautiful, brilliant, incredible human being I’ve ever met and everyone deserves to know you and appreciate you as you are. Do you hear me?”His proclamation to her ended with that simple question, and he left no room for argument. 

She absorbed all his words, every letter, every syllable, struggling to accept that the life they wanted to have together, would have to continue on without him. The life she wanted with him would totally and completely absolve her from the one she had growing up. Could she do it? Could she move on?

Those answers remained to be determined, but the one thing she absolutely couldn’t do was argue with him anymore. She just didn’t have it in her to deny him his dying wish, or keep fighting what he had already accepted.

Closing her eyes, more droplets fell, mixing with his blood. She felt herself nodding before she could even consider another response in her mind. “Yeah,” she whispered in a watered down voice. “Yeah, baby, I hear you,” she opened her eyes and met his own once more. 

“Good,” he replied. “Good,” his voice was noticeably more floaty that time.

They fell silent. They just looked into one another’s eyes, exchanging so many words and feelings that would completely consume what little time they had left together. His hand was still laced with hers, pressed against his chest, where she could feel his weakening heart beat.

“I love you so much,” he repeated his words from earlier, breaking the hauntingly peaceful quiet. It was barely above a whisper practically mouthed, but she heard him, loud and clear. And as soon as those words came out, he looked ahead blankly, his eyes slowly beginning to lose the light in them Stacey loved so much.

“Eddie, no, please,” she gritted, tears dripping from her eyes uncontrollably. “Stay with me, baby, please,” she pleaded urgently, brushing more of his damp hair out of the way and patting his cheek lightly, trying to get him to remain alert….alive. She just wanted one more moment with him. Just one. 

But then, she felt it.

His body stilled.

His grip on her hand went limp.

His eyes lost any life left in them.

“Eddie,” she whimpered, hand remaining on his cheek. Her body shook uncontrollably as she let the tears fall freely onto him, her agony and pain taking over as she held his lifeless form close to hers. She repeated his name through her cries, trying to wake him, trying to make this nightmare end. She leaned down and pressed her forehead to his, wanting to feel him as close as possible, for what was the very last time.

“I love you, too,” Stacey whispered, her lips touching the skin between his eyebrows. If those words meant anything anymore, she wanted it to be at this moment. 

Because she truthfully didn’t know when-or if- she would ever say them again.

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

“CUT!”

It was like a switch went off in you, as reality made its presence known once more. 

The scene was done, the Duffers yelled cut, it was over.

However, the moment fully sank in when Joe rose up and took your hands in his, pulling you upright and bringing you into a warm embrace. You didn’t care about the fake blood that would get all over your front or the fact that his back was soggy and caked with damp dirt, you threw your arms around him and held on tightly, rivaling the hold he had on you.

“You did so incredible, babes, I’m so proud of you,” he whispered in your ear, his long fingers running up and down your sides lightly, almost tickling, but you reveled in it and his touch. You closed your eyes blissfully as you came down from your high, feeling the tears drying on your face, thankful makeup used waterproof eye makeup. 

“Yeah, you too,” you said back for his ears only, as the Duffers and the rest of the crew approached you both. You let each other go, though his arm remained on the small of your back, as everyone began delivering their praise. The voices became so jumbled you could barely register who said what. So, you just smiled and nodded and gave your gratitude along with Joe, whose hand rubbed soothing circles against your waist.

Now, to face reality.

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

Part 2 where Joe and reader discuss why she was so nervous coming Saturday 🥰 it was originally part of this fic, but it was getting way too damn long, so a split was needed lol. Stay tuned Joe girlies 😘

#joseph quinn x fem!reader #joseph quinn x actress!reader #joseph quinn x reader #joseph quinn imagine #joseph quinn fanfiction #joseph quinn fic #joseph quinn writing #joseph quinn #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x oc

[heartofwritiing]

Never meant to make you bleed.

paring: cassian andor x fem!reader

summary: after the events of 1x6 Cassian comes back to you with the chance at a better life together, but you’re still mad at him for all the secrets and leaving constantly, it will take more for him to apologize. based off I’ll be good by Jaymes young.

authors note: I can’t believe this show is done. It has gotten me through some stuff ngl I'm so sad it's over for now but I'm so happy that they're already filming season two!

warnings: angst, mentions of the events of 1x1 & 1x6, andor spoilers, slight fluff, mentions of spice (fictional drugs) some suggestive dialogue, arguments, lots of uses of cass idk i just really like his nickname lol, super unedited! (like fr I really need a beta reader..)

Coming home from a 12-hour shift at the junkyard, you were covered in oil and filth and stars know what else. You couldn’t wait to hop in the refresher, slip in your favorite nightwear and climb into bed.

You went to check on Marrvea before you made your way home to see if she was doing well, knowing she had been very sick the past couple of days. You, Brasso, and Bee had been taking care of her since Cassian left after the whole Corpos incident. She had been like a mother to you growing up so you only deemed it right to take care of her. Sometimes the woman could vex you with how stubborn she was. Refusing help when it was given to her, and the fuss you, Brasso, and Bee had given her.

You had walked through the entrance of your home and were greeted with darkness, the only light being from the small kitchen lantern you had left on for this reason.

You threw your bag next to the door and unbuttoned your jacket. Most days were hard to get through with all the labor and demand from Mora your boss. Especially with the empire patrolling the city more, everyone was on edge with how much it was getting overrun by Imperials. Getting things done recently had been more challenging since that day Cassian had left and what had happened.

You didn’t expect a knock at your door before you could even get it off. You groaned, wanting whoever it was to go away so you could relax for the rest of the night.

Strutting over to the door, your boots echoing off the walls, you pressed the panel button and the door opened to reveal Cassian Andor. He was clean shaven, dressed in a blue coat and his hair looked shorter than when you last saw him.

“Cass?!” you whisper shout. “what are you doing here, come in before someone sees you.”

You grip his jacket and pull him through the door way before you shut and lock it behind him. You had so many questions, like why he was here so late in the night and where had he been for almost three days. He looked on guard but placid as you shrugged your jacket off and placed it on the hook by the door.

You looked at him through the dimly lit white light from the kitchen as it glowed on the left side of his face making his eyes shine and skin glow. Cassian had always been attractive growing up but now he was even more handsome and rugged, especially in low light and when your half hooded eyes were scanning over his face and you hadn’t seen him in days it was doing things to you. You were still angry with him, but did miss him a lot while he was gone.

You noticed when his lips turned right into a smirk that his eye grew darker as you focused on him. He moved closer till your chests were closer to touching and you could feel his breath fan across your cheeks. His eyes glint when they meet yours, he knows precisely what you’re thinking. You shook your head from side to side, composing yourself, keeping your eyes hard on him.

“what are you doing here?” you asked.

“not happy to see me?”

You rolled your eyes at his comment. Of course, you were happy to see him that should be a given. You lowered your voice as you spoke.

“the Corpos are searching for you, they’re holding Marrva in her home, there have been rumors that you..” you trail off.

Not bringing yourself to say the word’s you don’t want to be true. You didn’t want to believe town gossip, you wanted to hear the truth from Cassian. His eyes searched yours frantically trying to figure it out before your lips could say it.

“what?” his eye brows scrunched down.

“you killed two corpos on Morlana One,” Your voice goes quiet as you finish your sentence.

Cassian sighs and swears under his breath as he turns away from you. You felt sick when you first heard the news from Brasso who informed you and he didn’t believe it either. Cassian wouldn’t have done that, not unless he had a reason. How would you know you barely see Cassian anymore? He returns after being away every few weeks, doing hell knows what. He comes back for you and Maarva as he always does. You sometimes feel he perceives it as an obligation to return to you. AZ

He says he loves you, he shows it in more ways than one, but you haven’t felt it recently. All the secrets made you worried for him, If he loved you why would he leave all the time?

You move towards him and slide up to his side, he felt tense and cold as you touched his jacket clad shoulder.

“It’s true,” he spoke, his eyes trained on the floor. He’s too scared to look at you, too afraid to see the look on your face. What you must think of him right now. No words are shared between you two as you stare at the side of his face in disbelief, he can feel your eyes on him not judging but just staring.

“What happened Cass?” you inquired, bringing your hand up to the base of his neck in comfort.

Cassian had explained why he went to Morlana One in the first place, he was going to find information on his sister. That shocked you greatly. He hadn’t told you much about his childhood, only that Marvea took him in when he was fourteen and had brought him to Ferrix and he told you very little about his childhood. You understood it was difficult for him to discuss it.

You and Cassian grew up together on Ferrix, your father was very good friends with Clem, Cass’s adopted father, and you both would consistently play together since you were only a year or two younger than him. throughout the town making mischief as you went. But as you got older something had sparked between you two other than friendship.

Cassian was always handsome but as he got older he became somehow more rugged and handsome in your eyes. You became more beautiful as time went on in his eyes. You both never liked the idea of love and marriage as kids, but when puberty came around everything changed.

He kept going on, he told you two Corpos had instigated him at the brothel where he was tracking his sister, then they proceeded to follow and corner him in an ally. There had been an accident, one of the men had fallen and hit his head rendering him to pass from the blow.

The other Corpo had begged him to go in and say it was an accident and there wouldn’t be any trouble, Cassian couldn’t bare to tell you the next part. What you were thinking of him now was driving him mad, when he finally looked at you he could see the discerned expression in your eyes.

You were glad he told you the truth, you could only guess how he was feeling right now. You felt a mix of emotions that you couldn’t quite place.

“I want you to come with me,” he says.

You blink at him.

“What?”

Cassian turns to you and shifts closer.

“I want us to go somewhere and be together like you’ve always wanted,”

That was a fantasy when you were kids, always talking about leaving and traveling the galaxy with each other. It was escapism, imagination, he didn't honestly think you would actually leave one day?

“Where would we go?” you asked.

“Anywhere,” he breaths. “everywhere,”

Your lips parted in shock, you couldn’t believe he was dropping this all on you. Did he expect you to leave everyone and everything behind?

You bite your bottom lip in uncertainty. You did love Cassian, with all your heart always have, and will. when he was always leaving and keeping all these secrets from you now, it was getting harder to trust him. He felt distant, and unsympathetic towards your feelings of loneliness when you would wait for him.

Uneasinesses consume you as Cassian looms over you with his broad shoulders. He places his hands over your biceps and you feel his thumbs rub circles through your shirt sleeves. His warm breath fans across your forehead, and you pause to meet his eyes, keeping them trained on his shirt under his jacket.

“I don’t know Cass,” you trailed off.

Bringing his hands up to your face he tries to get you to meet his eyes.

"If you're worried about money, I have the credits," he says.

You frowned.

"How did you get money?" you asked, worry lacing your tongue.

Cassian sighs annoyed that the conversation has taken a turn.

"It's not important, I just have it,"

"Don't do that,"

"What?"

The atmosphere has shifted around you both as you get more restless with his reservedness. You can't stand for the secrets anymore.

"Just tell me where you got the money Cass," you implore. "Are you trading spice?"

You wished your mind hadn't gone there but with everything that had been going on lately, you couldn't help it. He knew how you felt about that trade though, how your uncle had gotten mixed up in all that and then vanished, and now the same was happening with Cassian, this is how that happen last time. the people around you always suffer the most.

"kriffing- no! how could you think that?" he scowls.

Your eyes brim with tears, how could you have thought that, of course, he wouldn't get mixed up in that, not your Cass.

"I'm sorry, it's just I don't understand why you all the sudden just come back with all this money and expect me to think anything but bad,"

Exhaling through his nose Cassian just felt right about just telling you. He trusted you more than anyone. He told you everything, well almost, leaving out parts he didn’t want you to know that he knew would upset you. Aldhani was a mess to say the least, You could tell he was leaving out some details with the way he hesitated with every breath between pauses of speech.

You were happy he was opening up more with you but you still felt wrong about just leaving out of know where.

“But think about it,” you speak. “you can’t just expect me to leave everything and everyone I love?”

“no, but-“

“what about my father? Marrvea? Bix? Brasso?!” you retorted.

“Just because you leave doesn’t mean that you can just come back and pick up the pieces of those you left behind!”

Cassian looked a little wounded at your words but he noticed how worked up you had gotten. You were right, he had been inconsiderate in not telling you anything, and asking you to drop everything and run away with him was unfair.

You notice how he looked with a pained expression and his eyes trailed down in shame, you felt bad for snapping at him like that. You took a deep breath and placed your palms on Cassian's chest.

“im sorry,” you apologized. “I didn’t mean to get so cross,”

You tried to level your head as Cassian pulled you closer and pressed a kiss to your forehead tenderly as he whispered against your skin.

"don't apologize, I'm the one who should be sorry,"

You wrapped your arms around his middle and you could feel his warm hands follow up your spine, he perceives that you might melt away in his arms if he doesn't hold you tight enough. That you will fall if he doesn't catch you now.

“You just make it hard sometimes, I can’t keep feeling empty when you’re not here, then happy when you’re here, and then dread when you’re gonna leave again. It’s torture but I carry on, get things done, and I can’t keep doing it Cass.” his nickname trembles off your lips. You feel a weight lift off your chest as you tell him, you slump into his shoulder and cry softly as he holds you close.

He had no idea this was how you'd been feeling, if he had known then maybe he would've done things differently. Instead of just leaving all the time he could've stayed with you, worked at the yard until he made enough credits to get a place for just you and him, somewhere close enough to Marvea and your father so you could keep eyes on them. Somewhere you could grow a little family together. But instead, he was searching for his sister who might not even be alive anymore but still held onto hope that she was still out there.

"Why didn't you tell me this sooner?" he asks.

You didn't know why you waited so long to tell him, maybe it was the fact he came over tonight and everything was finally boiling over in your mind and you just wanted closure.

It wasn't essential right now. All that mattered now was that he was holding you. Silence passed between you, though it didn't leave you feeling dread. You thought hard for a moment, knowing another chance like this might not come again. An opportunity for you both to be together, and have a life.

"I'll come with you," You say.

"You will?"

You nod into his chest and inhaled getting the scent of his musk that brought you serenity. Cassian was relieved that you had made up your mind, you were glad that he was. You could feel the tension slipping away from you both from the conversation.

"Can we wait a day or two while I get my affairs in order?" you ask.

It would take you a day to pack and say goodbye to everyone. You don't know what you'll tell your father despite knowing he will understand more than anyone why you are leaving. Your father always did use to joke about how you and Cassian were fated to be married. He used to say there was no one else he could see you settling with than Cassian.

"of course," Cassian nods.

You pull back from him and see his face light up when he looks at you sincerely, which makes your heartbeat skip. Cassian presses his lips to yours in a gentle kiss that causes you to moan softly at his lips' softness. He cradles the back of your head as the kiss becomes more fervent and desperate.

You reach a hand up to stroke his jaw with the pad of your thumb, the stubble growing there pricks at your skin. You disconnect your lips when you feel a knot form in your belly, and your breaths mix as you stare into each other's eyes currently clouded with desire.

You wished he still had his full beard, the hairs used to tickle when you kissed but it suited him very well.

“You shaved,” you giggle, tension slipping away for a moment.

Cassian chuckles under his breath as he gazes at you cheekily.

“You miss my facial hair?”

You shrug nonchalantly pushing up onto your toes you kiss his cheek tenderly and lean into his ear.

“Can’t blame a girl, especially when it tickles in a good way, in more places than one..” your voice trails off.

Cassian's face goes bright red and he clears his throat as he leans forward.

“Don’t,” he warns.

“But it's so fun,” you tilt your head, grinning like a cat.

Cassian shakes his head and gives you a smile. Suddenly you're squealing as he picks you up and you circle your legs around his waist. He carries you to your bed and sinks down until you're both laying on your sides. You lean your foreheads together as his hands caress your back ever so softly. Anger is forgotten as he touches you and somehow you mostly hate the way he makes you feel half the time.

Love, annoyance, pain, dread, compassion, and sometimes resentment. Never the less you never could hate him for that.

"I'm still mad at you," You hum, eyelids shutting as you cuddle close to him.

"I know," Cassian murmurs. "Just get some sleep,"

*~*

tags: @redheadspark @a-lumos-in-the-nox @wacky-nerdchick @countlessimagines @nicolewithanee @starfirette @pandalandalopalis @michel-98lml @creedtheconquer @user-jongdae @steve-harringtons-slut @charlie-heatons-whxre

if you would like to be added or removed please let me know!

#cassian andor x reader #star wars fanfiction #fanfiction #cassian andor x fem!reader #star wars #andor #andor fanfiction #x reader #star wars x reader #cassian andor fanfiction #cassian andor #andor spoliers #star wars andor

[tarisilmarwen]

Rebels Rewatch: "A Fool's Hope"/"Family Reunion And Farewell"

*singing*

~I'm glad that you were here with me/Here at the end of all things.~

Live reaction version.

Yeah be prepared for a lot of Lord of the Rings quotes and song lyrics in this one, lol.

Hey, don't blame me, the writers were the ones who made it clear they were hopeless Tolkien nerds.

And yes I am packaging both (all three?) episodes together. This is how it was aired, this is how it was experienced, you're gonna get the full treatment.

This does mean though that I will be very stingy with the pictures. Apologies. Blame Tumblr, not me.

Anyway, we start off the finale by gathering all the disparate parties that we completed the Friendship Fetch Quests for. Rex, Kallus, Gregor, Wolffe, Hondo, Melch, and Ketsu are all Back For The Finale. Which is a trope that I absolutely love in all shapes and forms, and it's even more appropriate for this show given that Ezra's main character "superpower" is literally making friends.

The connections and bridges he built all come back to aide him, not for any selfish motives of their own or because "the enemy of my enemy", but simply because Ezra has asked them to come.

"It's for Ezra," is all Hera has to say, and Hondo is immediately, genuinely pledging, "For that boy, there is nothing I would not do."

It is... incredibly heartwarming.

And I told y'all Hondo was a romantic at heart, and genuinely misses the days when the Jedi were around. And also that in the Rebellion Era, the Jedi still represent the nobility and goodness of the past.

After the titlecard, which still has no fanfare, we get this scene:

Come, you all knew I was going to cap it. Sabine's concern is so soft, the hand she places on Ezra's shoulder and the way she asks if he's okay so gentle.

The visual similarity in this scene and two scenes prior to this are interesting. This scene is firstly visually reminiscent of the Kanan-Hera scene in the beginning of "Kindred" (inviting comparison to the main canon ship of the show), and also the Kanan-Ezra scene at the beginning of "Jedi Night" (which emphasizes again that Kanan and Sabine are the two Most Important People in Ezra's life).

Ezra sits in the exact same pose, in the exact same place, that we saw Kanan meditating at, suggesting that he is also hearing the echoes of things to come, having similar visions of the future. This is certainly supported by his dialogue, where he mentions, "Something's changed... Something's happening." and that he's had a vision of Palpatine sending Thrawn back to Lothal.

Honestly I'm surprised it took Palpatine so long, lol. Thrawn: Treason supposedly takes place over the course of... a week? And the events of "Rebel Assault" to "A World Between Worlds" can't have been more than three or four days.

(This is why I reject the official canon timeline for Rebels, Season Four's events are crammed into the space of a month or two AT BEST.)

But anyway, Palpatine is pretty pissed off about the whole Temple thing so yeah, he's sending Thrawn back to retrieve Ezra personally. This seems to be a big ol' sticking point for our favorite blue bastard because he is NOT HAPPY when he turns back up.

You can't blame him really. He'd barely left Lothal and his TIE Defender project got literally blown up, so he had to spend the budget meeting arguing for what was essentially a smoking crater, and the wager he made with Krennic et. all. ultimately went nowhere because he lost on a technicality, and then the Emperor starts questioning his loyalty because his old Ascendancy friends showed up during the shenanigans, and then Palpatine dismissed him to go clean up the mess on Lothal and fetch him back a teenager for Sith sorcery bullshit.

...He'd had a very bad week, is what I'm saying.

I got off topic there, where was I?

Oh yes, Ezra's risky gamble. Fun fact, that was the original title of the episode, "Ezra's Gamble". I assume they axed it because it would give too much away. And like I've said before, if they could have avoided showing Ryder in footage taking the Dome for the finale previews, they could have really sold his false betrayal.

Pryce does not look like she's having a good week either lol.

Ezra continues to be cryptic about things, yet another hint to us that he's gotten "insider information" from the Force, as it were, and has made plans according to multiple possible outcomes. This is just one of the reasons why he outmaneuvered Thrawn, the other major one being that there was no possible way for Thrawn to predict Ezra throwing space whales at him lol.

This interference by the Force could have been a bit of a Deus Ex Machina but I think it's pretty clear that the Force only shared what might happen and left Ezra to figure out a solution on his own.

And his solution was space whales. XD

That comes later though, after this very risky gambit with letting Ryder broadcast their location to Pryce. A lot of things could have gone wrong. Hera might not have made it back in time. Ryder could have decided to genuinely betray them. Rukh could have gotten in a lucky strike and incapacitated him.

We are apparently putting a LOT of trust in the Force today.

This action setpiece is a great one so I'll just cover a few of my favorite highlights:

All the shots that track Sabine as she jetpacks around the battlefield.

Ezra versus Rukh.

Zeb going full feral with the minigun.

And of course on the other side of things Hondo trying to count the number of times he'd been collided with pulling off this exact maneuver they're using lol. The blockade seems to have thinned from "Rebel Assault", not as many capital ships?, so maybe I was right in that Thrawn called for reinforcements to repel the attack. Still gives Ezra the highest kill count by proxy at the end of things.

Oh and once again there's a moment where someone threatens Sabine in order to force Ezra to surrender. <3 Love that.

Pryce is awfully smug until the Ghost shows up, lol. (To heroic Main Theme fanfare into the Rebel Alliance theme of course.) Someone on the writing team understood the power of a good Eucatastophe. (Tolkien term, it means "the sudden happy turn to good".)

The clones also get a leitmotif fanfare as they debark the Ghost.

And we get a lovely Force Theme as Ezra gets his most badass shot.

Hell yeah.

The wolves sequence is amazing. The dramatic chorus, the chaos, the wolves skirting the veeeeeeeeeeery boundary of what's allowed on a Y7 show lol.

You know some of the troopers got ate.

One last shoutout to Hera using the Ghost to straight up smack a gunship out of the air and now we've come to the end of the setpiece. It can be hard sometimes to fill a full episode with one action sequence but this episode pulls if off perfectly. It never feels stale or boring, there are multiple bits and moments that just work. (I've always loved the moment where Ezra lunges for Ruhk's energy staff and uses the momentum of Rukh lunging for the same to straight up yeet him off the platform.)

Ezra's completely nonphased at Hondo's slung arm shoulder hug now aww.

Moving right along into the next segment...

This soft intro with Ezra talking to his parents' picture, telling them they are the inspiration behind his actions, how he wishes they could meet his new family, how he knows what he needs to do, but he's afraid. T_T Hgn he's precious and so mature and I love him so so much.

He knows what he might have to do, guys. He knows he might never actually see Lothal again and he's still prepared to make that sacrifice if he has to.

He's SUCH a good Jedi you guys I can't.

Kallus gets a token line here about his defection which is... okay. But again, really needed more from this arc for it to have a full impact.

"We come to it at last; the great battle of our time."

One casual wolf threat later, Pryce has agreed to transmit the victory codes and our heros fly off to the capitol to pull off their boldest venture yet.

I will never ever get over this moment. Sabine so attuned to Ezra even without the Force that she can tell just by looking at him how distracted and sad and scared he is.

How Ezra so clearly wants to tell her but holds back, and substitutes instead a declaration of absolute faith and trust.

And how she sees right through that and knows Something Weird Be Up With The Boy, Yo.

But like so many other conversations between the two, things are left unfinished, the mission and circumstances taking precedence.

Love the two quipping back to Pryce tho. <3

Still a crapton of air pollution over the city. This would clear up dramatically in the climax, for a bit of a symbolic moment.

There are SO many callbacks to previous moments in the show in this sequence, I noted a couple of them in my original liveblog but I'm certain there's a few I missed.

The music cue is great too, as is the effective silence once they've taken the bridge. A little bit of musical breathing space before things get hairy again, courtesy of Rukh ambushing the others back at base and stealing a gunship.

You know? I'm not quite sure what the plan was for if they managed to destroy the Dome before Thrawn got back. Seems a little shortsighted to blow up all the fighters and equipment and your city shields. A single Star Destroyer is more than capable of leveling cities and there are several in orbit around Lothal.

This honestly lends even more credence to the idea that, Force visions aside, Ezra was largely making this up as he went and had NO idea what he was doing lol.

Indy Ploy versus Xanatos Gambit. Indy Ploy wins by virtue of there was no way the Xanatos Gambit could predict the level of crazy Ezra's ideas were.

Amazing how empty the streets are when they've been emptied of Imperials.

Thrawn arrives, per schedule, and parks right over the Dome so that can't launch, lest they create catastrophic collateral damage. Important to note, for the people who want to nitpick No Endor Holocaust scenarios, the show specifically details that the city shields put out by the Dome deflected the Star Destroyer wreckage when the purrgil came, and that the Rebels directed the Dome to explode over the bay, not the city. The Cadet Academy is also a completely different building.

I mean, sure the debris from the Dome probably isn't great for the bay's ecosystem but honestly the water was probably already super polluted from the factories, they had to clean it up anyway.

Where was I? Right, Thrawn getting to be really awesomely creepy. The placid, "Are you quite finished?" gives me chills every time. Once again let me praise the expression work on this show because Ezra's soft Oh Crap look is amazing.

The dawning horror on Sabine's face too.

And then this music cue! The tension is drawn out just long enough for us to fully appreciate the horror.

:((((((

They even give us a nice wide-shot to appreciate just how much damage just those few seconds of bombardment did.

I had a rant here originally about the dumbass headcanon that Thrawn targeted empty buildings in this sequence (that may or may not have originated from Timothy Zahn himself) but if you've been following me you already know how I feel about it. It's asinine and I won't entertain it. Moving on.

Backed into a corner, Ezra knows he has no choice but to give himself up to Thrawn. This track in the score, "Sabine Sees Ezra" perfectly captures the sorrow and drama. It starts with a strained version of Ezra's theme, that doesn't resolve, fading instead into mournful original strings. Hera's entreaties for him to stay are painful, we can't help but think of what must be in her head--she just lost Kanan, she's afraid to lose him too. But Ezra is a Jedi. He is the guardian of Lothal. So he must make the sacrifice no one else can. He can't choose to be selfish.

So while Hera and the others try to figure out a way around the problem of Thawn, Ezra goes to confront it head on, secretly signaling to Chopper, who has been entrusted with so much of this plan.

And Sabine sees him.

It's a consistent theme throughout their relationship. She sees him. She notices him. She's attuned to when he's upset. She perceives him in a way that's unique from everyone else.

And he trusts her so implicitly that he silently asks for her help here, and after a moment of agony she does it, because she trusts him too.

These two just break my heart. :(

Sabine keeps looking back at the empty spot where he had been. T_T

There's a theme here about attachment and loss again, and it comes from Sabine. Like a Jedi, she's able to let go of her fear of loss and trust Ezra, whatever happens, and is able to encourage Hera to do the same. Her theme plays out here, strongly, before giving way to an excerpt of the Main Titles theme, uniting the Rebels in their heroism.

Ezra's theme playing again here, skittish and frightened. Once again the expression work is heartbreaking. Ezra looks like he's steeling himself, holding back his fear. He's resigned to his purpose, but that doesn't mean he's enjoying it.

AND NOW WE GET MY FAVORITE HANNIBAL LECTURE/SHUT UP HANNIBAL EXCHANGE! :D

The dialogue between Thrawn and Ezra here is so good.

"You could have chosen to let your people die. However... you chose to be a Jedi." Jedi cannot help what they are, the Jedi Code is like an itch he cannot help it *sobs in Kenobi feelings*.

Thrawn pontificating about how petty things like ethics get in the way of being efficient. He picks at Ezra from several different angles in this conversation, first by deriding the moral code of the Jedi, then by pointing out that their righteousness did not save the Jedi in the end, all that's left are frightened poorly trained children--a clear dig at Ezra himself. He laments what a shame it is that the Jedi didn't apply their powers in a way he deems would have been effective, implicitly suggesting that the Jedi should have used their power to dominate and conquer--Might Makes Right, after all, if you have the means to achieve a certain end you should use it.

Ezra tanks that calmly, pointing out that the Force isn't a weapon.

So Thrawn switches tactics, now lamenting that he must destroy Lothal (no you don't you asshole you can literally just disobey orders and defect, the total genocide of Lothal is entirely within your power to prevent) and oh, isn't it such a shame about Sabine.

And that hits Ezra's berserk trigger lol.

He snaps back at Thrawn. You're a tyrant, a bully, you didn't make or earn any of this, you just took it because you could, because you think your strength makes you right.

Thrawn essentially confirms that, "Yeah, having power does make me right." before leading him down to where the Temple doors have been set up for his meeting with the Emperor. Which kind of makes me think Thrawn wanted the opportunity to dress Ezra down and soften him up for Palpatine's manipulations because he could have just had the troopers shove him into the hanger first thing.

Subtle animation appreciation moment: The way Ezra keeps looking around in astonishment, wide-eyed, at the sight of the Temple doors.

Palpatine cloaks himself in white like an angel of light for this final temptation, wearing the guise of a friend or kindly old grandpa. It's every bit as unsettling as it seems.

Meanwhile with the B-Squad, Mart reveals that--like Chopper--he has also been entrusted with a crucial part of Ezra's "Just in case" plan. (Theirs is an underrated friendship, fanficcers you have let me down, again, why do I have to write all the things I wanna see more of?)

That shot of the wolves running alongside and under the Ghost. *chef kiss*

I have no idea when Ezra found time to figure out a signal the purrgil would respond to but I very much want to see that scene.

Sabine: "He [Ezra] knows what he's doing." Lol are you sure about that, 'bine? I think he had no clue the whole purrgil thing would work.

Palpatine is so slimy here, ugh. Acting like he did Ezra a favor by desecrating the Jedi Temple. Ezra's all ready to fling back anything ol Sheev throws at him here until Palpatine takes aim right at the heart of his greatest weakness.

Because after all this time, Ezra has never quite fully gotten over and accepted the loss of his parents. He's still at heart a lost little boy who misses his mom and dad.

The score goes almost Stravinsky-esque here, suggesting the Faustian nature of the deal Sidious is offering.

Meanwhile down in the gullet of the Dome, the Rebels are working feverishly to regain control of the the shield generator. There's some great coordination here between the teams and the control, Sabine really shines as a leader.

Word of God behind the scenes confirms Ezra is seeing THE day his parents were taken, his seventh birthday, when he could hear his mom and dad calling for him but didn't come because he was goofing off.

Hey uh, can this boy's life stop being ENDLESSLY SAD please? That'd be nice.

Love how Gregor calls for "something drastic" and Zeb immediately thinks, "Right, yeeting myself at the enemy." lol.

Gotta respect a man whose strategy is to fling himself full force at the enemy.

And the obligatory Make TCW Fans Cry Moment with Gregor here.

Palpatine keeps digging. This is your heart's desire isn't it? Don't you deserve this? All you have to do is open this one little door. He tries to keep Ezra's attention and focus on himself, even when Ezra asks what will happen to his friends if he makes this choice.

You can undo their deaths, Palpatine promises, about Ezra's parents. You can save them. I can help. It's the exact temptation he offered Anakin all those years ago.

"I have the power to give you what you want. You won't have to face this loss."

Like a devil, what he offers is a two-edged sword. What he is offering can't actually exist. Because if Ezra goes to be with his parents on the day they were arrested, how will he be able to make it here to open the door for Palpatine? Will Palpatine have to trap him in a closed loop, retrieve him from wherever he will end up in the alternate timeline, to ensure he can't fix this one fatal mistake?

See Palpatine doesn't care about breaking the timeline, he will gladly do it and rule over the ruins. But if Ezra reaches for this vision, he dooms his friends. He allows Palpatine to gain power beyond his wildest imaginings, turn himself into lord and master of time itself, a physical god.

So Ezra must deny himself, accept the loss, and let go.

And he does.

The Emperor's hologlamour flickering and failing as his rage ascends is really effectively creepy. Also HOW ABOUT THEM RETURN OF THE JEDI PARALLELS?

Years down the line, yet another pure-hearted Jedi boy will stand before the Emperor, throw his offer in his face, and tell him where to shove it. Even the dialogue mirrors Luke's.

"You're wrong. I have a family. I don't need anything from you."/"Never. I'll never turn to the Dark Side. You've failed, Your Highness. I am a Jedi, like my father before me."

"Unfortunate. Destroy him!"/"So be it, Jedi. If you will not be turned, you will be destroyed!"

Poetry. Pure poetry. <3

Ezra gets a nice little face off against the Royal Guards, with some lovely whump in the form of whatever those pikes are doing to him, but manages to weasel himself out of the situation. And then somehow fights his way all the way up to the bridge. So proud of him.

The Rebels get the shield up just in time to prevent Thrawn's full scale bombardment, Rukh frying rather dramatically in the process. Lol and ouch with how irreverent Zeb is over the comm.

So now all that's left to do is break the stalemate and remove Thrawn from the chessboard.

HELL YES.

Oh hoooo man this twist isn't even really a twist it just makes too much sense for Ezra, for his character, for the themes of the show, for how to take Thrawn out as a threat while respecting his acumen as a strategist. (Gotta throw something at him he would never suspect lol.)

The musical build-up is amazing. Dooming low bass notes, drolling percussion. The strings build up, crescendo-ing.

AND THEN THE "WRATH OF NATURE" CUE FROM "THE CALL" COMES IN WITH GLORIOUS FULL ORCHESTRA.

The Hyperspace theme comes in as well, and the purrgil proceed to utterly decimate Thrawn's fleet. By proxy this gives Ezra probably the highest kill count on the show, as the purrgil must have taken out the orbital construction stations, a good chunk of the Star Destroyers up there, and all three of the ones above the city. (Somehow Palleon survives to join the Council of Evil in Mando Season 3 lol.)

Sabine looks SO confused, ha ha.

What a great shot.

Thrawn tries to get in a final, Taking You With me speech only for Ezra to be like, "Joke's on you that was the plan all along. You're not taking me with you, I'm taking you with me."

I do love Thrawn's increasingly panicky WTF expressions as things progress.

THIS ADORABLE #MARRIED BANTER BETWEEN EZRA AND SABINE AND THEN HOW THEIR THEMES ARE TONALLY INTERMINGLED IN THIS CUE.

Subtle animation appreciation moment: The way Ezra's left arm hangs limp after Thrawn shoots his shoulder and the pained grimace he gives when he turns around to seal the door behind them.

He looks exhausted.

Pained grimace number two as Ezra raises his injured arm to wind up IN AN EXACT TABLEAU OF THE POSE KANAN HAD AT HIS OWN HEROIC SACRIFICE.

HELLO YES, ALSO ANOTHER ONE OF MY FAVORITE MOMENTS BETWEEN EZRA AND SABINE AS SHE BEGS HIM TO GET OFF THE CHIMAERA.

ALSO IT BEARS EMPHASIS BUT LOOK HOW THE GLASS SHARDS STILL WHEN EZRA RAISES HIS OTHER ARM.

EZRA IS LITERALLY HOLDING THE OXYGEN INSIDE THE BRIDGE WITH THE FORCE, WHILE HOLDING THRAWN AND THE DOOR IN PLACE, WITH AN INJURED ARM.

Ezra Bridger is the greatest shut up.

The purrgil charge up. Everything goes white. His theme bellows at full heroic volume and then...

Quiet.

Utter awed quiet.

Right, so you wanna know the other of the two times I cried at this show? Ezra's sacrifice right here. Waterworks.

"We set out to save the Shire, and it has been saved. But not for me. I have been too badly hurt. The last pages are for you, Sam."

Sabine is handed Ezra's lightsaber by Chopper, and takes up his mantle, finishing his mission and leading all the rest of them to safety as the launch the Dome and blow it. (Her journey to becoming co-protagonist is complete.)

Chopper gives us a final goodbye message from Ezra (that makes me sad again), and they soar over a triumphant freed populace.

Fade out and then...

*SOBS ABOUT THE BOOKENDS FOREVER*

Shot for shot. Shot. For. Shot. And I am UNDONE.

Lothal is free. The Empire never had a chance to retake it. Likely couldn't spare the manpower from the rest of the galaxy, first off, also replacing all those ships they had in orbit has gotta be expensive, and I suspect Palpatine just put glassing Lothal on hold until the Death Star was completed. And well... we know how that turned out lol.

The Fellowship broke, but they seem to all keep in touch, if Sabine's voiceover is any indication. Kanan's legacy lives on. Our crew found peace.

And last...

A sworn promise to find a precious friend and bring him back home.

The finale of Rebels is near perfection. With a very few quibbles here and there (the purrgil could have been just a smidgen more set up, Kallus's arc still needs to have some decent onscreen content for his redemption happy ending to be earned) it is the best Rebels has to offer.

The callbacks and bookends undo me. The music is full of wonderful dramatic cues. The animation is gorgeous. Everything comes to full completion and it is a very satisfying end.

Overall Season Thoughts:

Season Four is almost a bit nostalgic, returning to the tightly written narrative of the first season, but even more tightly tied together. None of the episodes feel wasted or superfluous. The major character death midway through is given plenty of narrative weight and time for the characters to adjust and grieve. Objectively it's probably the best season overall, none of the episodes are misses.

Even with the unanswered mysteries, the season feels solid, and a fitting conclusion to the overall Rebels saga.

---

And that was Star Wars: Rebels, the little show about a Found Family that could. It is my favorite new Star Wars content and what actually dragged me back into fandom after years away. It is heartwarming and exciting, poignant and hopeful and I'm so so glad I was taken on this journey.

Here's hoping the lost son of Lothal can make his way home soon.

#star wars #star wars rebels #ezra bridger #grand admiral thrawn #sabezra #rebels rewatch #liveblog #dunking on the blue bastard

[shreddedleopard]

I am absolutely bursting at the seams to scream about Morimyu Op 3.

Wanna write a very structured, intelligent analysis post but I don’t even know where to begin. Just … all of it.

— incoherent rambling about Moriarty the Musical Op 3 in-coming so quick — scroll if you don’t wanna see!

The way William’s yearning is portrayed. And Sherlock’s frustration. All the little references to Sherlock being a puppet on William’s strings. The way William is so infuriating and yet heartbreaking in the same breath. I totally get what Shogo meant when he once said, ‘it would be nice if William could be honest.’

The songs.

Spinning Around the Rondo? That entire spectacle. The lyrics, but also the way William steers and manoeuvres Sherlock at his whim … and the fact that they’re dancing with one another. I just. The metaphors. It was everything I needed from them.

I also love how we see the theme of the scarlet thread connecting them — this idea that they’re both attached but William is the one literally ‘pulling the strings’ — again in the scene with the Jack the Ripper culprits murdered. William tugging on an invisible string as he leaves and Sherlock immediately turning up to investigate. Chills.

In This Lonely Room I think is my favourite song from all 5 Opuses. When I say my jaw hit the floor … the dialogue from Albert beforehand — “you seem quite taken with him” ????? Umm. Okay. So it’s not just us then 😂 WILLIAM. You have been perceived 👀

And Shogo’s perfect called-out expression. But the pain in his eyes like … he doesn’t want to be made to face reality. He was having fun with his own little delusions and fixation with Sherlock. He was living in happy denial. Why do you have to go and be all voice of reason and ruin it, Albert?? “It will only hurt you.” EXCUSE ME is this advice on dealing with an unhealthy crush from your older brother time? I DIED.

But anyway. The song. Oh god, the song. Shogo sang it so beautifully and emotionally it made my soul ache for William and he’s like … he’s got this little glimmer of hope in Sherlock and when he LIES ON THE SOFA and sings TO HIS HAND LIKE A LOVER and then CLUTCHES IT TO HIS HEART. I cannot. Breathe.

What were they thinking? HOW can anyone be normal about them after witnessing that?

All of the songs in the second half pretty much ended me, to be honest.

I’m not sure how many times two people need to sing about having each other in their hearts to get the message across. I heard it the first time. And the second. And the third. BOYS PLEASE I UNDERSTAND don’t make it hurt more.

And then … the Durham date? THE DURHAM DATE!?

Ryo’s acting here was so good. The range of emotions he goes through during his talks with William — from notice me senpai to omfg challenge accepted to oh god we just sang about changing the world together do we really have to return to the weighty matter of why I came here — the LOC — after that? To oh shit you really do want someone to stop you to actually the RELIEF because that means you are a good person underneath it all if it’s really you — and I hope it is because I want you to be as obsessed with me as I am with you.

WILLIAM’S SHERLOCK AFTER HE LEAVES? The way he smiles so full it’s visible even with the dimming lights.

And then the final song … the repetition and switching of ‘I hope’ and ‘I will.’

I now fully understand why Morimyu twitter cannot stop saying those phrases and I am fully with everyone because ever since watching Op 2 they have been echoing in my mind but NOW — now I feel them in my bones like a bloody mantra.

Yes, I am dramatic about this. What of it?

😂😭🥹🤦🏼‍♀️

(Not even gonna start on Op 4 because that also broke me in very specific ways but it still comes in hard second to Op 3 my love.)

#this is why it has taken me so long to finish Ever Ours ch.3 #but I hope my writing is the better for it 🤞🏻🤞🏻 #morimyu #Morimyu op 3 #moriarty the patriot #yuumori #Moriarty the patriot the musical #Yuumori the musical #yuukoku no moriarty #william moriarty #sherlock holmes

[saturncoyote]

Yooo someone else that doesn't like saint's whole deal. I always felt like it just didn't fit with everything rain world had been up to that point. Imo Rivulet should've been the last scug in the timeline, it would've been a much more powerful way to close this world's story...

Plus it feels nonsensical lorewise? Even if all the information you had was from Saint's campaign, it doesn't make sense that they can just forcefully ascend any living creature and it has seemingly No Consequences. And, the iterators and the ancients tried SO MUCH to figure out how to ascend without creating echoes. Then Saint pops up and oh it turns out that this is the specialist little guy in the world and they can help ascend everybody :)!!!

Moon and Pebble's dialogue in Rubicon is great. It really put it into perspective just how impossible their task was. Rubicon itself was cool too! But everything else was just.... eh. I have no issues with them getting happy endings, but you're definitely right on the fact that them just randomly getting ascended is just such a slap on the face.

Sorry for ranting in your inbox I have Opinions about Saint and I haven't seen ANYONE else that dislikes their story.

No no no don't apologise ! I've been wanting to talk about my feelings about Saint for SOOOO long and i'm so glad i'm not the only one who feels this way about it !

Honestly i think Saint's campaign would have been perfect if they just... didn't have the ascension powers, that we were just yet another slugcat but in the very far future.

The worldbuilding of everything getting colder as the iterators start to fall is genuinely super interesting to me and it's SO neat to see how the world has changed because of it, it really hammers it in that the iterators have been alive for so long that they're basically part of the wildlife now even if they think they're above it, because when one species goes extinct the entire ecosystem suffers and that's exactly what happened, it's SO cool and it's yet another factor that shows you that these man-made gods were never above anyone else in the grand scheme of things.

I think it would have been way more impactful if we really were just yet another slugcat, one that has evolved to adapt to the cold, one that has nothing truly special about it outside of the fact that we're alive and thriving, much different to the iterators who are starting to malfunction and fall, in the end the "lesser beings" of the world outlived the gods.

#saturn speaks #rw spoilers #rainworld spoilers

[puppypopcornpizza]

hey pookie idk if ur taking fic requests but a man can dream!!! so if u are, could you do something like ur angsty fics with daryl (idk if you've done them for others) with glenn where it's either gn or male and reader is just kinda like exhausted and not eating

if u don't want to or don't feel comfortable feel free to ignore!!!!! have a good day

Hi, nonny, I don't mind requests at all! I'm just typically more comfy with characters I've already written a lot of, but I gave it a crack just for you. I've written Glenn a total of maybe 6 or 7 lines of dialogue before this fic lmao.

I made it so their relationship is platonic, I hope that's okay!

I hope you're doing well, remember you are loved.

Heavy

Warnings ➳ massive caution tape, flickering light warning for eating disorders and depression, pls be safe

Pairing ➳ Glenn Rhee x Platonic GN!reader

Word Count ➳ 710

Alexandria's roads sparkled with rain, petrichor hanging in the late afternoon. Gravel crunched under their boots, weary footsteps accompanied only by the scattered chirp of a bird or cricket. Fatigue seemed to seep into the very wildlife surrounding the community.

Their limbs, heavy as they felt, moved unthinkably down the asphalt. Muscles tense but exhausted, an unbearable weight in their chest yet a feeling of moving underwater. The contradictions felt the most infuriating.

"Hey!" Glenn's voice echoed from behind them, heavy steps approaching before he fell into step. A look of happy recognition falling into immediate concern and their stomach twisted itself into knots at the coddling neither of them knew was needed.

"You okay?" But that wouldn't stop Glenn from trying.

"Yeah," they breathed shortly, shooting him what could only be described as a grimace in an attempt for comfort. It only worsened their situation.

Glenn spun and continued walking backwards, his focus fully on them and they wanted the ground to swallow them at the scrutiny from their friend.

"I'm fine, Glenn," a more convincing smile this time round. "Really."

His eyes narrowed before hands gripped their shoulders to a halt, sighs and a look to the side to avoid his gaze. They couldn't hide hollow eyes and the sway in their stance.

But then his face changed once more, and their heart shattered in their chest as eyes finally locked. He knew.

"Again?" His shoulders fell, hands still firmly planted on them and an anguish taking over his features. The crack in his voice was what had their so carefully built up facade crashing down into pieces.

They bit their tongue, hands trembling before balled into weak fists and Glenn was the only thing holding them upright in that moment. Gaze fell to their shoes, how could they look at him? Why would he want to see them?

"I'm…" But that would be a lie, an insincere apology to provide false comfort to the one whose mind was clear and fingers stayed steady.

Time felt like limbo in that moment, in the moment where he pieced together patterns that had repeated and tangled until the start couldn't be determined from the end. Until they all blurred in a horrid weave of stupidity.

Because they were stupid, they had to be. They couldn't tell the difference from the walkers outside the walls and their own reflection most days, more often than not, they avoided their own eyes completely.

"What…" Gears turned at rapid speeds in his head; working out a plan and determining solutions that they both knew would end them right back where they stood now.

"You shouldn't have to-"

"You're crazy if you think I'm gonna let you deal with this on your own," and he said it with such certainly, such unwavering belief that they almost believed him.

They wanted to believe him - more than anything.

"Glenn-"

"Let me help, me and Maggie." Words urged further, leaning down to make sure their gazes locked. "Please."

When words stuck heavy in their throat, he continued. His hands still held their shoulders firmly, they knew his fingers felt the trembling beneath.

"And even if we can't help, just let us be there." They searched his eyes for traces of a joke or malice, it seemed idiotic to even consider the idea of a lie because it was Glenn. "Lean on us."

Swallowing the lump in their throat, eyes fell to their boots once more and the disagreement sat on their tongue.

No.

But why? Did they believe themself so unworthy of help that even the idea, the mere thought of healing made the wicked voice in the back of their mind scream to spin around and never speak to him again? To continue fabrications of, "I've eaten already," and, "No, I'm not hungry."

Because as loud and as awful as that voice was, they were tired. Exhausted of waking to trembling fingers and a mind that couldn't fucking think. They could barely find the energy to wave greetings with false niceties and find excuse after excuse to not go on runs because they knew they'd only be a liability.

So they swallowed their pride, along with that screaming voice wailing in disapproval.

And they nodded their head.

#glenn rhee x platonic reader #glenn rhee #glenn rhee fanfiction #glenn rhee imagine #twd glenn #the walking dead #the walking dead fanfiction #fanfiction #writing request #my writing