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princessphilly · 3 years

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All Bets Are Off: Chapter 1

Word Count: 2068

CW: not yet, except for some bad language

Note: I don’t always write long chapters. Some may be closer to 2000, some closer to 5000, it depends on the chapter and what is going on.

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Chapter 1

“Look at my girl, moving up in the world!”

Nina could hear her mother’s voice in her head as she moved around in her office in the Lemieux Training Complex. Today was her first day working not just as a physical therapist for UPMC but as a physical therapist for the Pittsburgh Penguins and Nina felt like she was going to burst from nervousness. ‘Not bad for a girl from Clairton,’ Nina thought as she went through her schedule.

Nina had pledged never to come back to Western PA when she graduated from Clairton High. Now, almost eight years later, she was back and working with the hometown hockey team. After doing undergrad at Penn State, aka grades 13-16 with everyone from the area usually going there, Nina went down south to the University of Florida for her Doctor’s in Physical Therapy after getting her B.S. in Kinesiology. The warm weather was so much better than the fucking snow of Western PA but UPMC was offering the most money out of all of Nina’s job offers. After thinking about her student loans, UPMC was a no fucking brainer.

Taking a centering breath, Nina pasted her best professional smile on her face and got ready to go meet her first client. Before she could do that, her door opened and three men stepped in.

“Here is our newest physical therapist. Unlike Mike and Trent, Nina is a DPT,” Rick Dvorak, the head physical therapist explained to the two men with him.

Nina smiled and reached out her hand. “Good morning, my name is Nina Jackson, nice to meet you.”

Of course, she knew who the two other men were. One was Super Mario, Mario Lemieux, Pittsburgh legend and co-owner of the Pens. Next to him was Sidney Crosby, superstar who had just won his third Stanley Cup. Mario had a friendly professional smile but Sidney was looking at her like she… Nina didn’t quite know how to place that look. She kept her professional smile on her face while inwardly grimacing. Of course, the star of the team would feel some way about a black physical therapist.

“Sid looks a little starstruck,” Mario joked.

Sidney laughed self-consciously, his cheeks reddening adorably. Nina kept a straight face, thinking, ‘I hope I never have to treat him.’

Sidney smiled and his whiskey-brown eyes brightened. “Just a natural reaction to a pretty girl.”

Nina rolled her eyes inwardly, her professional smile getting strained. Sidney wanted to give himself a bag skate as he could tell that she was turned off. He felt awkward as hell and he wanted to curse but this wasn’t the time. He laughed, wishing that he wasn’t anywhere but here. Nina replied, “I’m used to turning heads but I didn’t quite expect to do that here,” with a laugh.

Sidney had met his fair share of gorgeous women, probably more than his fair share. Yet, his breath was taken away when he first saw her. Clear brown skin, dimples when she smiled, and dark brown hair pulled into a bun, nothing unique. But when Nina smiled, all Sidney wanted to do was drown in her smile and see what he could do to keep her smiling like that forever. Then, he got a look at the rest of her body and Sidney wanted to not only keep her smiling forever, he also wanted to find out what would get her to scream his name.

Then he faltered and realized that he really had goofed. Nina’s hand was still outstretched and he forgot to shake it. Sidney gave Nina an apologetic look and took her hand.

Nina didn’t know what happened when Sidney took her hand but she felt something electric, hot, and intense as hell. It was scary and she carefully pulled her hand back as soon as she could. Whatever it was, Nina was sure it was just another omen that today was going to be the worst day on earth.

Sidney gave Nina his best smile when she let go. He never felt such a connection when he had met a woman before but fuck, he had to change her mind about him.

Nina spent the next five minutes mentally willing the team owner, the captain, and her boss out of her office while making small talk. Luckily, the men left pretty quickly after wishing her luck on her first day working with the team. Sidney Crosby was the last to leave and Nina busied herself with arranging her papers. She could feel his eyes on her and Nina had no desire to interact with him. Then he finally left and she sighed deeply. Nina took several deep breaths before refocusing herself on her day ahead.

“Nina Latreice Jackson, now you know I ain’t raise no fool!”

Nina let out a low groan as she thought about another thing her mother loved to say. As much as it seemed like Crosby didn’t like her, Nina decided that she would be completely professional in every way. It wasn’t that hard; athletes were pretty much the same no matter where they were. Just like the Florida Gators players she worked on while in school, the Pens players fell under several categories. There were the jokers, the serious ones, the ones who lived to flirt, and players who fell under all of the categories.

For her first weeks, Nina worked at creating a professional boundary with the players she was working with. For the majority of the time, they were decently behaved. It was mid-season so there were all kinds of lingering issues, some more serious than others. Nina figured out pretty quickly that some of the players were going to follow directions while others were going to slack off until their issue made it impossible for them to ignore it.

However, today was her first day working with Sidney Crosby after her first day. Like she expected, it was a little awkward and his teammates didn’t help. The leader of the chirping was Geno Malkin. The guys kept walking by, sending suggestive looks and comments. Sidney’s cheeks were a dull red midway through the session. After a while, Nina got annoyed.

The straw that broke the camel’s back was when Geno and Jake came by for the third time, making kissing noises. Nina snapped, “Unless you need treatment, I don’t understand why you are in here.”

“Ouch,” Geno replied as Jake laughed. “She mean.”

Sidney rolled his eyes as he gave his teammates a warning look. As Nina wrapped his ankle, Sidney tried to take several deep breaths. He had rolled it a bit during practice. It wasn’t major but with the other trainers unavailable, Nina had decided to look at it.

“Why are you so stiff?”

Sidney looked up at Nina. She was checking out his ankle with pursed lips but when her eyes met his, Sidney sucked in a breath. Nina was really… words failed.

“I’m waiting,” Nina prodded with a sarcastic chuckle. This was making her feel really uncomfortable. All of the others players were relatively easygoing but the captain, he was so stoic around her. It made her feel like he didn’t really want her and Nina had observed enough over the last weeks that whatever Sidney wanted, he got. If he said one thing, she would lose the extra money from working with the team and Nina couldn’t afford that.

Sidney gulped before deciding just to admit the truth. “It’s a bit hard to be around such a beautiful woman like you.”

Nina laughed before giving Sidney a sardonic smile. Sidney felt his heart break into two. He didn’t even get a chance to ask her out before fucking it up. “It’s true,” he whispered.

Nina swallowed before focusing back on his ankle. “You should be good, Mr. Crosby. I don’t diagnose injuries; I just help treat them but you should be good to go for the next practice and everything.”

“Call me Sidney.”

Her eyes met his again and Sidney was looking at Nina with the most earnest expression she had ever seen.

“Ok, Sidney,” Nina forced out with a fake smile.

Sidney groaned before getting off the table and sliding his feet into his crocs. Nina took a deep breath and rolled her eyes after he left.

Gretchen, one of the athletic trainers, came in and snickered. “I’m surprised he made it without self-combusting.”

“What?”

“Yinz don’t know? He likes you, Nina,” Gretchen explained.

Nina shrugged. “Yeah, right.”

“He’s always staring-“

Nina interrupted Gretchen as she said, “I’d rather go and get lunch. Panera Bread sound good?”

Nina counted herself lucky that she was able to avoid Sidney after that day. Her luck ran out in the worst way. Nina was rushing out to make it to a dentist appointment when she ran into a hard chest. Tripping over her feet, Nina fell on her butt.

“Owww!”

“Are you okay?”

Nina looked up and it was Sidney Crosby, of course, holding out a hand. She cautiously grabbed it and let him pull her up off the floor. Like the first time they met, Nina felt the electricity when their hands touched. This time, Sidney held her hand even after she was off the floor.

“Seriously, are you okay,” Sidney pressed.

Nina felt her cheek feel hot as she replied, “Seriously, I’m fine. It was an accident.”

“I mean, I don’t want to give you more reasons to hate me.”

For the first time, Nina noticed that Sidney looked vulnerable. Pulling her hand out of his grasp, she murmured, “I don’t hate you. I think you’re the one who may hate me.”

Sidney blinked in surprise. “I don’t hate you! But I would love to take you out for dinner sometime.”

Something made Nina feel instantly happy at his words that he didn’t hate her and wanted to take her out but it couldn’t work. “Nice to know that you don’t hate me but dinner isn’t going to happen. I gotta go, I’m going to be late!”

Sidney watched Nina race out of the building to her car. He was losing and he wasn’t used to losing. Gritting his teeth, Sidney vowed to himself that he would get Nina to warm up to him, sooner or later.

“Hey girl, how was your appointment?”

Nina smiled as she FaceTime with her best friend Lauren. “Not bad, no new cavities or anything. I talked with Dr. Smith about maybe getting adult braces and she said I don’t really need them.”

“Sounds good for someone who was freaking out,” Lauren teased. “So, what’s going on at work? Meet any hot players? Anyone you’d hook me up with?”

“Girl, no. I keep it strictly professional with them. I don’t even want them thinking anything is going to happen,” Nina replied. She half considered sharing her interactions with Sidney Crosby with Lauren but her BFF had a bad case of loose lips when drinking. So, Nina kept that to herself.

“Is Sid hotter in person than he is on TV? You know I love my Steelers but I gotta know.”

Nina snorted before saying, “Meh. He’s alright.”

“He’s alright,’ Lauren said in disbelief. “Oh, there’s a story here.”

“There’s nothing because I deal with him at work now and then.” Nina rolled her eyes as Terrible Tess, her cat jumped in her lap. Steely, her dog, was at her feet. “Anyway, did you get the tickets for the game yet?”

Lauren was a lawyer and one of the perks was tickets to Steelers games, usually either in a box or on the 50-yard line. As diehard fans, Lauren and Nina tried to take advantage of that perk as much as possible. Lauren stated, “Oh yes, we got tickets. And there’s this guy…”

Nina listened to Lauren talk about her newest guy she was interested in as she petted Terrible Tess. As much as she didn’t want to, she couldn’t help but think of the look on Sidney’s face when she basically told him thanks but no thanks. He actually looked hurt; not an egotistical hurt that most men got when they were told that they aren't as great as they thought they were. But it was like an honest hurt. It didn’t matter though; past heartbreak taught Nina that getting involved with anyone even affiliated with work was the worst idea ever.

#drabbles #nhl imagines #nhl imagine #sidney crosby #Crosby imagines #penguin imagine #penguins imagines #penguins #all bets are off #blurbs #nhl fic #nhl fanfiction #hockey imagine #hockey imagines #hockey rpf

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magicrowiswritingstuff · 3 years

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“Whisper” - Din Djarin x female!reader

Tigaanur Series: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 (you’re here!) | MASTERLIST

Summary: Both of you longed for one another, wishing to have leaned into each other that night but there seemed to always be something holding you back. However, after months of faint touches one of you could no longer contain these whispered desires.

Warning: Panic attack!, mentioning of violence, M O R E touching and bed sharing, and finally some … kisses? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°), slightly suggestive themes? (not so sure this time but better be safe than sorry), also a tiny bit of Din’s POV! (we get to know how the tin man feels about you!)

Category: fluff, hurt/comfort

Words: about 8.500

Notes: The torture is over and Part 3 is finally here! I hope y'all will enjoy because … writing this was a real challenge, I tell you guys. I have like … only bad experiences regarding physical intimacy and the kisses are the whole plot point in this fic... I hope I managed to pull it off regardless. (Also, coming up with summaries for these parts gets more and more difficult…) Note 2: Set during season 1 but… to be honest I feel like this series has no timeline anymore. Note 3: If you like my writing: I’m taking requests at the moment! Or if you want to be notified when I uploud something: I have a taglist, too! (Look at the end of this post for some more information)

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“Whisper” – Din Djarin x fem!reader

Din sat in the pilot seat, his arms crossed before his chest, body tense and his thoughts racing in tight circles behind the beskar of his helmet as he stared out of the window and at the forest in which he had landed the Razor Crest in to hide and lay low for a while. His thoughts had been all over the place lately. Ever since he had let you take the helmet off, he seemed unable to stay concentrated. And even though you hadn't seen anything the mere thought of your fingers tracing his face to create an image of it, of him in your mind made his body shiver. When he thought about how you had called him beautiful without any hesitation his thoughts got mushy, a stupidly big smile hiding behind the helmet. And when he thought about how close your lips had been to his that night, so close that he had been able to feel your breath on his face, his body seemed to freeze while a strange heat crept up his neck and settled on his face. And all he could do was wishing he had leaned into you that night, longing to get to know how your lips would feel like on his own...

Din blinked and cursed under his breath when he finally noticed that he had spaced out. He had spaced out again. With a huff he forcefully shook his head, trying to sort his thoughts, trying to keep them focused. This happened far more often than it should. It was something he couldn't allow himself to do. He was supposed to protect, supposed to look out for the Child and ... you. He clenched his jaw and forced his thoughts to stay focused, to not wander to how your eyes always lit up whenever the Child clawed at your pants, begging to be picked up. How his heart seemed to skip a beat whenever your soft laugh broke the tense silence inside the Razor Crest. How your presence filled every room you were in with warmth. How- He was torn from his thoughts and jerked out of the pilot seat when something hit the window right in front of him. With his hand immediately wrapped around the grip of his blaster he took one step forward, instinctively ready to draw his weapon. But then his eyes locked onto your grinning form and he promptly let go of the blaster, his body relaxing only seconds later. With the Child hoisted against your hip you threw another small rock against the cockpit's window, laughing at Din's annoyed form, you could tell by his arms, that were crossed before his chest and how he shifted his weight slightly more onto one foot, before you gesturing at him to come outside. Din watched you disappear around the Razor Crest to the hangar and let out a long sigh, placing his hands on his hips as he shook his head silently, cursing at himself again. He had let his thoughts wander again! He hadn't been alert. He wouldn't have been able to react fast enough should have had happened something outside of the Razor Crest. Should have happened something to you and the Child. His jaw tensed underneath his helmet and his eyes hardened. He couldn't let anything happen to the two of you. He had to focus, he couldn't allow his thoughts to wander off. Not anymore, not again. He had to stop thinking about you all the time. He had to ban you from his thoughts. He gulped hard but nodded at himself. It was just too dangerous. With his plan set in stone, Din slowly set himself in motion and began to climb down the ladder. And with every step his decision solidified more. This couldn't happen again. He was supposed to protect you and the Child but he couldn't do that when he always lost himself in his thoughts. Even when it pained him, he had to let go off you. At least in his thoughts. At the end of the ladder Din stood still for a while, intensely staring into the void, his eyes not focused on anything in particular. He had to banish you out of his thoughts, he had to focus. He would still see you, your smile, your bright eyes ... but these thoughts had to stop and therefore also the faint touches. He furrowed his brows and nodded at himself, reassuring himself that this was the only option. But then he turned around to walk out of the hangar and he saw you. He saw you playing with the Child, rolling in the grass with him, giggling and laughing loudly. He saw how you enjoyed the sunny day in the forest, how the stress he had noticed more prominently on your face ever since a few weeks, had now vanished completely. You didn't worry about anything in that moment, you just lived. And the only thing Din could do was freeze mid motion and stare at you. The smile on your lips captivated him, enchanted him. His thoughts were immediately circling around you again. The sun made your eyes glow and sparkle with so much joy he rarely got to see in his life. It felt like he was seeing you for the very first time. His heart stuttered against his ribs as a strange warmth traveled up from it to his face, the echo of his blood buzzing in his ears and his first thought was that he might have been hit by something, that he had been injured and his blood was pumping faster because of that. But when his eyes glanced over the clearing and the trees of the forest there was nothing. His gaze fell back on you and his heart jumped once again. Taken by surprise he sucked in a sharp breath and clenched his jaw afterwards. His heart wasn't racing because of some threat, it was racing because of you. Din's thoughts morphed into a tornado of incoherent whispers that had haunted him ever since that night and his face twisted into an expression of shock when the realization slowly dawned on him. In that exact moment he realized that he wouldn't be able to go through with his previous decision. He wouldn't be able stop thinking about you. He wouldn't be able to let you go. _______________ You groaned in discomfort and stretched your arms over your head until the muscles and bones in your shoulders let out a satisfying sound. But even after that your body still felt stiff and the copilot seat hadn't gotten any more comfortable. You weren't even sitting for long but not leaving the Razor Crest for two weeks took his toll on you. It felt like you couldn't move anymore, you felt restricted. But it wasn't like Din had forbidden you to leave the safety of the ship, you simply didn't ask to join him outside anymore. You were the one who had decided staying on the Razor Crest was probably the best for you and the kid. You noticed that the Mandalorian was a bit confused by that since you had practically argued to go with him the last time and now you only stepped a foot outside the hangar when the ship was hidden and far away from any cities. But he hadn't requested an explanation when you didn't ask to go with him as he left the ship and had just shrugged his shoulders, the whispers in his head that were worried he kept to himself. Mostly you passed the time by playing with the Child outside, but the planet you were on at the moment didn't have much vegetation to hide behind. Din had decided a long walk to the next city wasn't worth it if the ship wouldn’t even be properly hidden, so he had landed the Razor Crest closer than usually. He would leave soon to go out and try to find some spare parts for the ship he needed after a shoot-out in space earlier that week and you would have to wait for his return inside the Razor Crest. Because the sparse vegetation meant that you couldn't even play outside with the kid now. The only thing you could do was sit around and count the seconds until Din would be back. You huffed and leaned back against the seat, your arms dangling around uselessly while the Child sat on your lap, playing with the small silver ball from one of the levers of the control panel. You looked down at him and smiled, stroking over his little head and then turning to face the entrance of the cockpit since you had heard some shuffling. Din had climb up the ladder and was now leaning against the doorway with his arms crossed before his chest. You raised one eyebrow at him in question. "Didn't you want to go to the city?" you asked and straightened up in the seat. Wrapping your arms around the Child you hoisted him up so he was now cradled against your chest. He let out a small squeal before all of his attention shifted back onto the ball. Din nodded stiffly but didn't speak up immediately so you waited with your head tilted slightly. However, the Mandalorian just stared down at you, his eyes hidden behind the dark visor. You could still feel the intensity of his gaze on your face though. You shifted on the seat and blinked confused and slightly uncomfortable. In situations like these you wished you could read minds, or maybe just his. Things weren't necessarily awkward between the two of you but there was a tension in the air now that hadn't been there before. You furrowed your brows as you wondered when exactly it had appeared. It only took you a few seconds to date it back to two weeks ago. To the night Din had let you take of his helmet. The night you had almost kissed. You bit your lip out of reflex at that thought. You had been so close, so close to his lips back then. But you hadn't leaned in, he hadn't move and you two hadn't kiss. You had felt like it was too early, too much. He had just taken off his helmet, had let you touch his face and revealed his name. It hadn't felt right to take more. So, when Din had tucked your head wordlessly into the nape of his neck, you bit your tongue, didn't complain and just snuggled close to him. And then in the morning this tension was strung in the air between the two of you. This tension that felt somewhat awkward and fragile. And that scared you. You were scared of what would happen if it broke. You were still sleeping in his cot, snuggled into the blanket, pressed beside him and he was still taking of his helmet every night. But you hadn't touched his face since and the helmet was always placed above both of your heads, always still in reach. And you knew he needed it to be in his reach, he needed to be able to quickly cover his face should something happen. But if felt like a looming reminder and you couldn't stop worrying if maybe ... he regretted taking it off. Maybe he regretted letting you touch his face, regretted revealing his name to you. Because every time you called him by his real name he seemed to tense up. At first you brushed it aside as him not being used to hearing it again. But even after two weeks he still froze for a few seconds whenever he heard you use it. It had gotten to a point where you couldn’t deny anymore that it was kind of strange. Was he uncomfortable by you calling him that? However, what felt even stranger was being near him outside of the sleeping cot. Sitting next to him in the cockpit or simply being in the same room with him suddenly felt really odd. Well, not really the "being in one room with him" part but the distance felt strangely foreign now. Now that you had been so close to him before, now that you had mapped out his face in your mind, your body craved for him even more. You wanted to stand by his side, wrap your arms around him or place your chin on the top of his helmet when he was piloting the Razor Crest. But that sort of normality just wasn't ... there. Or maybe you were just worrying too much again. Maybe you could just stand up and be closer to him without any issue and you simply didn't allow yourself that kind of normal proximity. Maybe the problem was you. Or the fear buried deep in your chest that one wrong move could scare him away. He had already shown so much of him to you that you still weren't ready to take steps of your own. You didn't want to take more than he was willing to give. And like always you didn't dare to ask questions. No matter how often you told yourself to disregard the unspoken boundaries, to just talk about what this was, you still never seemed to be able to address it. Your words always got stuck in your throat when you looked at him. In the end your nerves always won. You blinked a few times and readjusted your eyes to the dark visor as Din spoke up, his modulated voice tearing you from your chaotic thoughts. "Would you like to come with me?" You tilted your head in confused shock. He had spoken up and just broke through the tension, tore it down without a second thought just like that. Two weeks of worrying, of tiptoeing around it and him, and he just ignored it, he just spoke. He asked you to join him as if it was his second nature, so easily, in an almost carefree manner. As if... as if you belonged by his side. Something inside you stirred at that thought, something hot and burning and hungry. You wanted to belong by his side. You wanted him to want you as badly as you craved for him. You wanted whatever this was and more. Heat traveled up your neck and to your cheeks, your body tense as your heart hammered relentlessly against your ribs. And in your flustered surprise you agreed immediately, forgetting the reason why you hadn't left the Razor Crest for two weeks. So, that was how you ended up on yet another marketplace, the kid hidden in the bag strapped over your shoulder once again while Din walked in front of you, taking the lead, breaking up the sea of people so you could follow him more easily. There were a lot more people out than you anticipated. You took a deep breath and forced your legs to keep going, forced yourself to follow Din into the mass of people. But unlike how it was before, how you normally liked being out and seeing new places, you couldn't relax, couldn't smile at all the little booths, you couldn't feel the tiniest bit of enjoyment. Your body was tense and on high alert. You held your bag with the Child clutched against your chest and let your eyes wander around, never focusing on anything for too long, just searching for any possible threat, anyone coming too close, anyone with a wicked grin on their lips and bad intentions in their eyes. But everything was so loud and there were so many people, you could barely focus. Your thoughts kept spinning. You swallowed hard, shaking your head, trying to sort the mess inside it but it seemed to only make it worse as your vision was spinning now too. You had to stay calm, you had to keep going, you couldn't lose your cool now. With your eyes glued on Din's back you kept walking even if every step seemed to take more energy than the last. Your breath had gotten shallow and a few beats of sweat began to form on your forehead. When you whipped them away with the sleeve of your shirt you stared down at your hand and noticed that it was shaking violently. The usual buzz of the energy of a full marketplace tingling on your skin was replaced by cold dread that tightened its grip around your heart with each passing second. You had felt strangely dizzy when you got near the city but now it had gotten so bad you couldn't force your feet to keep going anymore. You could barely hold yourself upright at that point, slightly swaying to side to side while you pressed the palm of your hand against your forehead, trying to soothe the pulsing heat behind your skull. "Ma-Mando?" you croaked out, barely remembering to not use his real name outside of the Razor Crest when dark spots began to dance before your eyes. What was happening? The Mandalorian turned to look at you when he heard you call him by his alias. The confusion on his face hidden behind the helmet immediately switched to shock when he noticed your condition. With two quick steps he now stood directly in front of you, but it happened so fast you had trouble keeping up. Your mind felt nervously frantic and strangely slow at the same time. The only thing you really noticed was Din's gloved hands on your shoulders as he steadied you, hindering your body from swaying too much. But when you looked up at him the darkness of his visor and the bright light reflecting off his beskar mushed into one incoherent picture of colors and light you were unable to deceiver. Were you even looking at his helmet right now? "(Y/N)?" he asked worried but you couldn't answer him, your throat was too dry. Your whole body was shivering and the dread tingling on your skin hardened its grip around your heart, making you gasp in pain. Tears began to from on the corner of your eyes as you clutched the kid tighter against your chest with one hand and the shirt over your heart with the other one, clawing at the invisible force that caused you to wince in pain. But the pain only traveled higher up, it climbed up your throat, leaving you gasping for air. You felt like someone was choking you but the only hands on your body were your own and Din's still firmly placed on your shoulders as he tried to keep you anchored in reality. "Help me, please I don't know what's happening" you wheezed out between fast, shallow breaths that did nothing to get the oxygen you craved into your lungs. You felt like your body was on fire while your hands seemed to freeze of the cold at the same time. Everything around you seemed strangely surreal but too real at the same time. You couldn't tell if the flashes of wicked grins were real or only a figment of your imagination at that point. The chatter of the people on the marketplace all around you echoed back in your ears, mixing with the buzz of your blood rushing through them and making you even more dizzy. You only barely heard Din's voice cut though the chaos. "You're having a panic attack" he stated, sounding equal parts shocked and panicked himself. You couldn't answer him, you weren't even sure if you heard him correctly. You could have a heart attack right now for all you knew. You freed the hand clutching your shirt and searched for Din, not even really knowing why. You just needed to touch him, needed to know he was- "It's okay, I'm here" he whispered and placed one hand on top of yours, pressing it against his chest plate. You flinched a bit at the coldness of the beskar but it immediately traveled up your arm, soothing the heat pulsing through your veins. You placed your forehead on his chest intuitively and let out a short sigh when the furious fever behind your skull slowly diminished. But the dread was still hardening its grip around you, it closed up your throat. You felt like you couldn't breathe. You felt powerless, unable to fight against the panic rising in your chest. The kid cooed at you in concern but you didn't even really register it, just clutched him tighter against you while you tried to block the sounds of the marketplace out. What were you supposed to do? How were you supposed to escape? Your thoughts were spinning too fast you could barely get a grip at them, only on some small parts, single words that only made you panic even more. You felt trapped in your own mind. Were you even still on the marketplace? "What do you need? How can I help?" Din asked, cutting through your panicked thoughts. He tried to stay calm himself, tried to act as an anchor for you but it was difficult. He never had to help someone through a panic attack before. He knew the signs of one but he had no idea how to help you. All he wanted was to protect you, help you, ease the panic and pain but right now he didn't know how to do that. His eyes darted over your form, searching for an answer, anything that could tell him how to help you. "I want to go back" you forced the words out and pressed your head even more against Din's chest. Sobs tore through your dry throat as you hiccupped, the tears finally flowing down your cheeks freely. Your mind had switched to fight and flight modus and all you wanted to do right now was to flee, to hide, to get away from the city, from the people whose intentions you didn't know. "I want to go back home." _______________ As soon as you were back on the Razor Crest you felt better. The panic was still deep rooted in your chest, the dread was still looming ominously above you and tears were still clouding your vision but you felt like you could breathe again. You didn't feel like your heart was about to give up, you didn't feel like you were dying anymore. When Din asked you if you wanted to lie or sit down you could only nod, your throat still shut tight and too dry to get any words out. Your legs were shaking so much you could barely hold yourself up right, even when you stood leaning against the wall. Din had taken the kid from you and quickly placed him in his hammock above his cot then he immediately stood before you again. You blinked a few times, trying to clear your vision from the black dots, trying to make out his helmet through the tears. The Mandalorian didn't say anything, just placed his hands underneath your arms to keep your legs from giving up underneath you while he directed you to his cot. With gentle pressure he pushed you down into a sitting position. You let out a relieved sigh and buried your fingers into the fabric of the blanket, trying to anchor you in reality with it. You were no longer on the marketplace, you were on the Razor Crest with Din, you were safe. Swallowing hard you nodded at yourself as if to reassure yourself. You were safe. It was okay. Everything happening after that seemed to go by in a blur. Suddenly Din kneeled before you, something to eat and to drink in his hands. You weren't sure when he had left your hazy gaze to get that but you were grateful for the cold water. It soothed the burning dryness in your throat and the food gave you a bit of your strength back. But your limps kept shaking and your eyes kept switching their focus between Din and the wall behind him. "You should get some sleep." You blinked and forced your eyes to stay on Din's dark visor as your mind tried to get behind the meaning of his words but your thoughts were still to disoriented. "What?" you croaked out and handed Din the empty bowl back. When had you eaten all that? "You should try to get some rest" Din repeated and placed the bowl on the floor beside him. "Okay" you agreed but you weren't even sure if your mind had really understood him the second time. You didn't flinch when you felt his hands on your legs as he took your shoes of. Something about that felt familiar. It's because he had done it before. You furrowed your brows at that, your mind clearing a little bit, shining light into the dark chaos of your thoughts. You blinked, slowly and only now really registering where you were and what was happening. You were on the Razor Crest, yes. Din was with you. You were safe. You blinked again as your senses came back to you and the dread and panic slowly vanished. You were safe. "Are you-" Din's modulated voice tore you from your thoughts and you shifted your eyes onto his helmet. He was still kneeling before you, his hands placed lightly, almost anxiously on your thighs. "Are you feeling better?" You noted that he hadn't asked you if you were okay but if you were feeling better. For some reason that made you smile. Your face softened and you nodded in answer. "Yeah, I think so." Din nodded too but it seemed to be absentminded, out of reflex. For a few seconds you two just stared at each other, and you were more than aware of the sudden proximity again. You didn't think you felt so close to him ever since two weeks ago. So, you shifted your focus on Din, shifted all your thoughts on him, chasing away the last traces of dread. All you could think about was how you didn't want him to recoil again, you didn't want to feel alone while lying beside him in his cot. You wanted to feel wanted, to feel like you belonged next to him. "Can you..." you began and cleared your throat nervously. "Can you stay with me?" You could almost feel his lips curl up in a small smile just like they had two weeks ago underneath your fingertips as he tilted his head lightly. "Of course, cyar'ika." _______________

You had fallen asleep almost instantly beside the Mandalorian, too exhausted to keep your eyes open for another second. Din, however, had trouble falling asleep, the worry still deep rooted in his chest and mind. He glanced at your sleeping from through the darkness from time to time, even though he couldn't even see you. When he finally managed to fall asleep after what felt like hours, he didn't sleep very deeply, still on high alert. So, when he heard the sound of faint wails, he was immediately wide awake again. His first instinct was to jump up and look after the Child but it only took him a split second to realize that the sounds didn't come from above but from beside him. His heart clenched in worry. You were curled up on your side, your back facing the Mandalorian and your head ducked in between your shoulders as heartbreaking whimpers left your lips. Din shifted in the small space so he could lie on his side, his chest pressed against your back. "(Y/N)?" he whispered, brushing your hair back so he could place one hand on your cheek. You flinched under this touch, cowering away and further against the wall of the cot. Panic shot through Din and he sat up, pushing his helmet that he had taken off further up the cot and out of the way, his upper half held upright with one arm while the other one turned you on your back. "(Y/N), wake up" he tried again, his voice stronger and more demanding in his panic. But in the haze of your dream his voice just blended in. You gasped and shook in fear. You couldn't see a thing but you felt the panic again, you felt the pain again. It was clutching your heart again that hammered relentlessly against your ribs in fear, trying to break free, trying to get away. You wanted to get away. Someone touched you, turned you on your back and the only thing you could do was whimper in fear because your throat was too dry and your tongue was too heavy to from any words, too heavy to cry for help. While your mind seemed to lose itself in the panic, your body acted on its own, tried to escape from their grip. Who's grip? You didn't know. You only knew about the burning pain. Your right side burned in pain, the heat traveled up your chest until it sat down in your throat, making you unable to breathe as you struggled to get free. "(Y/N)!" Your eyes snapped open but when you couldn't remember where you were and still couldn't see a thing in the darkness, the panic settled in deeper, restricted your breathing even more. You gasped for air and blinked, trying to sort your mind, trying to realize what was happening. Someone was leaning over you. Instinctively you brought your hands to the persons chest, trying to get them off of you. "It's only a nightmare, (Y/N). You're safe." You paused when his voice rang in your ears, shallow breaths stuttered over your lips as you blinked confused. "Din?" you asked cautiously, the grip on his shirt slowly loosened. "Yes, cyar'ika, it's me" he whispered. You felt his hand on your cheek, caressing the skin underneath your eye gently as he stayed leaned above you and slowly lowered his forehead against your own. His breath hit your face and together with his presence the steady rhythm calmed you down. You took a deep breath over quivering lips and let your hands fall from his chest, your muscles went limp as the rest of the nightmare and the panic vanished into the darkness, muttering angrily at you, promising to be back. You still couldn't bring yourself to speak, your tongue still tied into a knot. Din laid back down beside you and wrapped his arm around you without a word, drawing you closer against his chest. You snuggled into the nape of his neck and took in his soothing scent, trying to get your breathing under control. Desperately you grabbed the fabric of his shirt, silently begging for more comfort. He instantly understood your need and placed his other hand on your head, slowly stroking your hair back behind your ear. "Do you want to talk about it?" he asked after a while, his voice sounded unsure but sincere. For a few moments you stayed silent, then you shifted in his hold so you were lying more on your back than your side again. You stared up at the ceiling through the darkness of the ship, just trying to sort your thoughts for a moment. "I-" you began but your voice cracked. Din's grip on your waist tightened immediately. You cleared your throat and continued: "It's because of the bounty hunters. The ones who... Those who-" When Din's hand accidently wandered over the scar they had left on your right side you couldn't force yourself to continue as the memories flooded your mind. You couldn't tell him about how that experience still haunted you. You couldn't tell him that your dreams weren't just plagued by them but also by the ones that had chased you through those narrow streets, almost shooting you only two weeks prior. But you felt like he knew regardless. "It's okay" Din said hesitantly, not knowing how he could comfort you the best. "What can I do for you? What do you need?" "All I need is you" you whispered, laid on your side again and wrapped your arms around him, seeking comfort in his presence once more. You weren't oblivious to your words and their weight, just as you weren't oblivious to how Din's heart sped up underneath your hands. But they had skipped your mind so easily, so truthfully, you hadn't been able to hold them back. A soft smile curled your lips upward as you sighed. You had wanted to say them out loud for a while anyway. What you were unaware of however, was just how fast Din's thoughts were racing in his head after those words. You two laid content in the silence but neither was able to fall asleep. You tried to slow your breathing, to let your body relax against Din's but you still felt his fast-beating heart underneath your hand which left you wondering what was on his mind. You bit your tongue, suddenly self-conscious if you had said the wrong thing. Maybe such words had been too early? You and Din hadn't even talked about what this really was. You licked your lips absentminded as the memory of the almost kiss replayed in your mind again. There was at least something, neither of you could deny that anymore. Maker, he felt comfortable enough in your presence to let you sleep beside him in his cot. Comfortable enough to remove his helmet in here. Comfortable enough with you to let you trace his face in the darkness. He had revealed his name to you without you even asking for it once. He had opened himself up to you, exposed himself so willingly. Your eyes opened and you stared up at him through the darkness, his breathing strangely heavy and uneven. He had trusted you with all those secrets, had told you about his feelings for you without words, and for the first time after months of small touches that had evolved into sleeping wrapped up into each other's arms you had finally opened up to him about how you felt by saying those few words. The desire struck you that you wanted to tell him again, to tell him more. You needed to give him the same amount of trust, you needed to tell him just how comfortable you were with him. You needed to tell him about what this was to you, you needed to reassure him just as he had you all those weeks ago. You needed him to know that you wanted to belong. But before you could even move one single muscle, before you could open your mouth, Din suddenly shifted beside you. Confused but too caught off guard to ask you just loosened your grip on him to allow him to move freely. You felt his hand travel down from your hair to your face, tracing your features just like you had done the first time he had let you take off his helmet. Your fingers immediately itched towards his face, you wanted to see him through the darkness again but you forced yourself to stay put, allowing Din to do what he needed to. His fingers slowly wandered down your cheek until they reached your chin. Your breath hitched and your eyes grew wide when he let them wander even further down, his un-gloved fingers caressing the skin of your neck with a touch so delicate no one would believe you he could be capable of. But they didn't know him like you did. Not that you would ever tell somebody about this side of him. You felt too special to share this with anybody else than him. You hummed as a shiver ran down your spine and your body moved on its own to give him easier access to your neck. For a few moments he let his fingers dance over the exposed flesh, hovering over your collar bone, before he let them wander up again to cup your cheek. When he directed your face upwards, so you would have looked at him if it weren't too dark to see anything, you let out a confused whine. "Din?" you asked perplexed with your voice suddenly sounding really drowsy. "What are you doing?" He didn't answer you. Instead, he sat up again, unwrapping his arm around your waist so he could hold his upper body leaning over you. You could feel and hear his breath from above you, coming closer. Your heart fluttered in your chest and your own breath got stuck in your throat when he placed his forehead on yours once more. But this time it felt different. There was something hanging in the air, delicate like his touch, that you didn't dare to move, too afraid that you would break it. "Din?" you asked instead once more, with your eyes darting around even though you couldn't see him in the darkness. The response that you got from him was something you hadn't expected. "I love you" he suddenly whispered, making your body tense up underneath him. You opened your mouth but no words were able to leave as your eyes grew wide. The silence seemed deafening. You couldn't believe your ears. Did he... had you imagined that? Did he really just say that? His breath had stopped tickling your face and you realized that he must be anxiously holding it. You blinked a few times, trying to sort your thoughts. You had to say something. Anything! "Wha-what?" you only managed to stammer and you could have cursed yourself. "I'm-I... You?" Every word you had been prepared to say before, every word of adoration you were prepared to shower him with just vanished out of your vocabulary, out of your mind's reach. Everything mixed into one confused, happy, surprised feeling buzzing in your chest and it made you dizzy. "I love you" he repeated still only in a hush but more strongly, more daring, more confidently. "I love you and I can't imagine a future without you by my side." You gasped as your body seemed to be engulfed in flames, hyper aware of Din's on top of yours, his chest only inches from yours, his forehead still lightly pressed against your own but at the same time this also felt strangely surreal. Like a dream. You couldn't quite believe it, your brain seemed too slow to process his words and their meaning fully. And then the shock suddenly mixed with hot, burning happiness that made your chest swell with adoration. You shook all the surprise away, or maybe your body just acted on its own accords, tired of the unsureness, of the timidness that always had been in the air, longing to finally get close to him, to jump over the distance. Your hands shot up, cupping his cheeks and pulling him down before you even realized what was happening, what you were doing exactly. And then, without thinking, you bypassed the small distance left between you two and connected his lips with yours. The small sound of surprise and shook from Din wasn't left unnoticed and made you laugh against his unmoving lips. But it only took him a second to catch on, to shove away his own surprise. He acted so fluently, placing one of his arms beside your head, balancing on his elbow so he could lean down closer to you without having to put his full weight on you, his chest just ever so slightly brushing over yours, while his other hand immediately grabbed you by the hip and his legs placed to either side of yours, faintly pressing against your thighs. His fingers dipped into the soft flesh of your waist, making you whine and squirm lightly. And then his lips began to move against your own, responding to your kiss so fiercely and untypically dominant for him, or at least towards you, it left you breathless. You gasped against his mouth in shock and immediately felt the corners of his lips twitch into a small smile, that you could just too good picture as smug in your mind. Your hands wandered almost automatically to Din's hair, stroking through his soft locks before you grabbed some of them. You didn't really mean to do it, but your fingers twitched when the muscles in Din's hand flexed against your hip, ever so slightly tightening his grip on your side. You tugged at his roots, making Din growl lowly against your lips. And all you could do was swallow the sound, feeling it vibrate through you and echo back in your chest, leaving you with tingles all over your skin. The softness of his lips against your own paired with the intensity of his kiss, the kiss from a man starved, left you with your thoughts spinning, unable to do anything but kiss back just as desperately, craving more, craving to be even closer. You could only think about how much you had wanted this, not quite believing that it was actually happening right now. Your lips twitched into a big smile, making it difficult to kiss back that way, but you couldn't suppress it, just as you couldn't suppress the small giggle escaping your mouth. Your heart drummed hard against your ribs, pulling, dragging and begging you to get closer to him. You curved your spine, pressing your chest against his and wrapping one of your legs around his waist to simultaneously pull him down to you. Din's breath hitched as his legs gave up, his body shivering in what you could only imagine to be surprise and effort now that he could only hold himself upright with one arm. You didn't care, you couldn't care at that moment. Your mind was far too clouded by the taste of his lips on yours. Addicting like the taste of slightly sweet, warm honey. You couldn't even wonder how something could taste warm but right now, it just felt right. His hand traveled from your hip to your stomach, caressing the soft flesh carefully and at first your body tensed up a bit, but it only took a split second until you melted into the touch. Warmth was swirling in your chest, making your body shiver in excitement and dangerous desire while your hands began shaking, making you tug at his locks again. Din parted from you with a gasp but with his mouth still hovering close over yours, so you could feel his just as labored breathing against your face. You fell back onto the bedding, your leg slipping from around his waist. Your chest rose and fell rapidly as you tried to catch your own breath, your thoughts still trudging in circles through the thick fog that was wrapped around your mind. "I-" you gasped, your eyes darting through the darkness again as you tried to collect yourself. "I love you, too." This time the silence wasn't deafening when Din placed his forehead on yours again. With your hands still rooted in his hair, arms draped over his back, you were able to feel his shoulders shake in what you interpreted as silent chuckles at first. But when you felt something wet on your face you realized that he was crying. Panicked you placed your hands on his face again, feeling the tears wetting his cheeks and his brows furrowed together. "Din!?" you asked a bit overwhelmed, not knowing what to do. "Din, what's wrong?" He let out a huff which took you a few seconds to process and identify as a stifled laugh. Even more confused you furrowed your brows too while you wiped away the few tears on the corners of his eyes. "Nothing is wrong, cyar'ika" he replied, his voice husky and low. He was still so close to you that you could feel the sound of his soft laughter in your chest. You only needed a few seconds to realized that he was crying tears of joy. And that revelation made you tear up, too. Closing your eyes, you pressed your forehead firmly against his, squishing his cheeks lightly between your hands before you moved them to wrap around his neck again. You sucked in a trembling breath, trying to collect yourself enough to be able to speak up again. You were overwhelmed with emotions, feelings that finally wanted to bubble onto the surface. They wanted to finally be heard and seen and you had no intentions, no worries of holding them back anymore. "I love you, Din" you began in a hush. "With all my heart and soul. You make me feel at peace, you are my save haven, my home. I want to belong right here on the Razor Crest with you and the kid. I want to be with you, want to be by your side because I can't imagine a future without you by mine either. I-" You stopped when you felt Din's breath hitch, his body tensing up for a split second before melting into your embrace. His hand wandered from your waist up to your face. His fingers hovering over your lips for a few seconds before he began to lightly trace their shape in the dark. Then he moved further up and cupped your cheek. "I lov-" you tried to continue but before you could finish your sentence, Din's lips were on yours again. This time in a much softer and gentler manner, like it was only a soft whisper, a ghost of a kiss, a shy declaration of love. Giggling you responded immediately, smiling into the kiss while your heart skipped a few beats, leaving you dizzy with your thoughts spinning once more and his hypnotic scent in your nose. Your thoughts were back to being obscured by a thick fog and your breath hitched when his stubble lightly scratched against your skin. And then when he suddenly wrapped his arms around you and rolled onto his back you let out a surprised squeak, breaking the kiss because of it. Now with your positions switched you were holding your upper body upright by your elbows that were placed to either side of Din's head. You blinked confused before laughter bubbled over your lips and Din tuned in, the low rumble of his own laughter that he tried to stifle vibrated in his chest you were currently lying on. Every last fiber of your body began to tingle, the sound of his laugh echoing in your ears as you grinned down at the darkness that was hiding his face from you. Slowly your laughter faded away until you could only let out a soft sigh. Din's arms were still tightly wrapped around you but his hands had begun to wander down, tracing the curves of your body. It made you shiver and press further into him. But when one of his hands stroked over the scar on your side you flinched out of reflex. Din immediately let go of your side and instead placed his hands on either side of your face, pushing back your hair behind your ears. Then he wrapped his arms around your upper body and pressed you down, pinning you flat against him in a tight hug. "I'm sorry" he whispered and stroke over your head with one hand repeatedly in a soothing manner. "Don't apologize. It's okay" you replied softly. "No, it's not okay" he retorted, his tone stubborn. "I shouldn't have taken you with me into the city today." You pushed against Din's arms around you, pushed your upper body upright again so you would have been staring down at him if it weren't too dark. Regardless, you stared down at the darkness, finally understanding what he was on about. "It's not your fault, Din. I didn't even know that was how I would react. I just..." you sighed and shook your head. "I don't want to talk about it right now." You felt Din shift underneath you, probably because he was nodding. You let out a groan and then flopped back down into Din's embrace, just wanting to relax in his warmth. You had closed your eyes, but even after what felt like an eternity you weren't able to fall back asleep. Maybe it was because Din had nestled his face against your neck, his breath and beard tickling the soft skin there. Maybe it was because of the close proximity to him that finally felt normal, it felt wanted. You felt wanted. And that single thought kept circling in your mind, refusing to let you fall asleep in his warmth. You sighed and shifted slightly in his hold. "Din?" you asked in a hush after a while, hoping that he would still be awake. He shifted his hold on you and lowly hummed against your neck in response, the sleepiness in his grunt very noticeable. "I love you." Chuckling Din straightened up a bit, freed his face from underneath your chin and placed a kiss on your forehead. "I love you too, cyar'ika" he whispered back. You giggled and placed your lips on his, soaking up the feeling of them against your own eagerly. Rough and soft at the same time. Something so typical Din, you hadn't even been surprised by it. He returned the sweet kiss but after a rather short time he pulled back. You groaned and whined in protest and stretched towards his face, towards his lips which made Din shake his head in laughter. "Enough, ner kar'ta. You need sleep" he chuckled, brushing back a strand of your hair. You huffed and rolled your eyes. "I don't need sleep, I need you to kiss me!" you mumbled, pressing your face against his neck, breathing in his soothing scent. "Bossy" he grunted amused and brought your face back up with one finger underneath your chin. "No" you objected. "Addicted." Din laughed in agreement before placing his lips on top of yours once more. They danced against your lips so intuitively and in such a delicate manner that the only thing you could do was sigh and melt into the kiss, forgetting everything else. All your worries just disappeared, the nightmares, the fear until the only thing left on your mind was Din. But just like before he parted from you far too quickly. You whined once more but Din shushed you. "Sleep. Now" he demanded with more chuckles escaping his lips as he tugged your head underneath the crook of his neck. With a theatrical sigh you let your eyes flutter close. "More kisses tomorrow?" you asked softly, sheepishly grinning against the skin of Din's neck. He huffed, trying to stifle his laughter but failing miserably as he hugged you tight. "I promise, ner kar'ta."

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Tigaanur Series: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 (you’re here!) | MASTERLIST

That was it! I hope you liked it as much as the first two parts! Regardless of that: I will always love some feedback and reblogs! 💜

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Taglists:

Permanent Simps: @buckysalefty

Din Djarin Simps: @theflightytemptressadventure / @sarahjkl82-blog / @remmysbounty / @cali-beaches-wakes-and-boards / @idekah / @freeshavocadoooo / @dindaddy / @wonderless-screwup

Tigaanur Series: @24-blackbirds / @archaeoheart

If you want to be added/removed/switched to another taglist at any point just let me know!

The crossed out names I couldn’t tag normally (I had to do some coding for it to work) so PLEASE check if “Allow this blog to appear in search results” or anything similar regarding tagging in your settings is turned ON for your blog! I hope that works so I can tag you more easily the next time, BUT if your name is still crossed out the next time shoot me a message to let me know you turned it on but it still isn’t work, please. I’ll try to find another solution for it then.Thank you! 💜

#the mandalorian #din djarin #the mandalorian x reader #din djarin x reader #the mandalorian x female reader #din djarin x female reader #mando x reader #mando #female reader #reader #x reader #star wars x reader #fluff #hurt/comfort #the mandalorian oneshot #the mandalorian imagine #the mandalorian season 1 #Tigaanur series

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michaels-blackhat · 3 years

Note

thoughts on evil Forrest 😈

We are going to start out by apologizing. This is very very late. I’m sure when you sent this ask, you meant it to be in the same joking tone that I approach all of my other propaganda posts. Sadly, this is actually going to be a deep dive into a few Evil Forrest related things, including the moment I feel they changed directions, the perfect wasted build-up, and the implications of the change/how it then negatively impacted the story. As I’m sure you already know, by being on my blog at all, I don’t think the story was good to begin with, so we are going to focus on the weird hoops they made themselves jump through to make that story still work. Additionally, I am only going to mention once, right now, how much of a waste it was to not have Forrest ‘fall for his mark’ and complete one of my absolute favorite tropes. Honestly, I think “because I want it” is a completely valid reason to like Evil Forrest. But, the question was “Thoughts on Evil Forrest” and these thoughts have been developing for over a year and a half. So, I apologize in advance.

The majority of this is under a cut, with highlights in the abstract. If no one wants to read this, I understand completely. Go ahead, skip it.

Note: it pains me greatly to not actually have full sources for this essay. Just know that in my heart I am using proper APA citations, I just absolutely do not feel like digging through tweets to find sources to properly cite.

Abstract:

Previous research indicates that Roswell New Mexico has a history of repeating excuses to explain mid-season changes to plots. This essay explores how those excuses are not only loads of crap, but how they hinder the show’s ability to tell a coherent story, misuse the multiple-plot structure to enhance the themes being explored, and lead to decisions that mean the show continuously goes over budget. This also means that characters are not used to their full potential and has led to what some fans consider to be “out of character” behaviors. While these behaviors are not universally agreed on, evidence can be shown that these behaviors directly contradict emotionally important character arc/plot points in the show.

The author of this paper acknowledges that the show took some strides to mend this problem. However, once again no consensus could be found on whether Forrest was a low-level member of Deep Sky and thus just allowed to fuck off on a bus, or his job was recruitment because he did a piss poor job of making Alex not join.

The concept of Evil Forrest has been with the fandom as early as New York Comic Con (NYCC) in 2019, when it was revealed that Alex had a new “blue-haired love interest”. Speculation abounded within the fandom, with some people, including the author, going “yeah, he’s evil” while others rejoiced in the concept of Alex having a loving partner. Speculation increased as fans discussed Tyler Blackburn’s seeming disinterest in his new love interest, prompting some once again to scream “EVIL” at the top of their lungs to anyone who would listen. Very little was revealed, beyond the fact that the new character would show up somewhere around episode 3 of the second season.

Episode 2.04 aired with some commenting on how he barely interacted with Alex- prompting more evil speculation- and others excited to see the characters interact more. The character appears again in 2.06, where he invites Alex to dubious spoken word poetry (which Alex attends); 2.08, where they have a paintball date and go to The Wild Pony; 2.10, where the two are seen writing together briefly at the beginning of the episode; and 2.13, where Alex performs his song at open mic night, tells Forrest his relationship with the person in the song was long over, and they kiss. Forrest was not revealed to be evil during season 2.

Amidst the season airing, Word of God via Twitter post announced that yes, Forrest had originally been planned as a villain, though not the main villain, but it was changed as filming progressed.

The Word of God Twitter post revealed that Forrest had originally been planned as a villain, but they decided that they could not make their “blue-haired gay man” a villain. This mirrors a similar situation and excuse used the previous season, where the character of Jenna Cameron was originally planned to work with Jesse Manes against the aliens, before it was changed because they just “loved Riley [the actress] too much”. Both of these examples occurred while already filming and reflect on a larger problem with the show. Though not the topic of this essay, it is important to note that both characters are white, both in the show and by virtue of being played by white actors. The fact that they couldn’t be villains for one reason or another is not a courtesy extended to the male villains who are all the most visibly brown, and thus ‘other’, members of the cast.

This also highlights the fact that, via Twitter, it has been revealed two other times that occurrences that were reported in season 1 also occurred in season 2. During the airing of episode 1.02, it was revealed that the single best build-up of tension in the show- when Alex walks to the Airstream not saying a word to Michael after a dramatic declaration- happened because one actor was sick at the time and they had to go back and film the kisses later. At the point of airing for episode 2.08, it was revealed that one of the actors were sick and unable to film a kissing scene. Allegedly, this caused the writers to retool the entire scene and deviate from the plan to make that subplot about Coming Out. The execution of this subplot will be explored later in this essay.

The last occurrence revealed via Twitter also revealed larger issues within the show: lack of planning and poor budgeting. During the airing of season 1, Tyler Blackburn was needed for an extra episode beyond his contracted 10. A full explanation was never given, but speculation about poor planning and to fill in because Heather Hemmens had to miss one of her 10 episodes due to scheduling conflicts for another project. During the airing of season 2, yet another tweet came out saying they made a mistake and Tyler would once again be in an additional episode. No explanations beyond “a mistake” were given, though once again speculation occurred. It is the opinion of the author that this was due to changing plot points over halfway through writing, while episodes were already in production. It has been speculated by some that these changes occurred during the writing of 2.08, which was being finished/pre-production was occurring roughly around the time of NYCC 2019.

Previous Literature:

A brief look at different theories of plots and subplots

Many people have written on the subject of plotting, for novels and screen alike. The author is more familiar with film writing than tv, but a lot of the concepts carry over. Largely, the B- and C- (and D- and E-… etc) plots should reinforce the theme of the A-plot. This can be through the use of a negative example, where the antithesis of the theme is explored to reinforce the theme presented by the A plot, or through other examples of the theme, generally on a small scale.

A movie example of this would be Hidden Figures (2016), where the A-plot explores how race and gender impact the main character (Katherine Johnson) in her new job. The B-plots explore the other characters navigating the same concepts in different settings and ways- learning a new skill as to not become obsolete and breaking boundaries there (Dorothy Vaugn) and being the first black woman to complete a specific degree program and the fight it took to get there (Mary Jackson). A TV example that utilizes this concept of plot and theme is the 911 shows. Each of the rescues in a given episode will directly relate to the overall theme of the episode and the overall plot for the focus character. This example is extremely blunt. It does not use any tools to hide the connection, to the point you can often guess the outcome for that A-plot fairly quickly.

This is not the only way to explore themes within visual media. Moonlight (2016) looks at three timestamps in the life of Chiron. Each timestamp has a plot even if they feel more like individual scenes or moments rather than plots as some are more used to in films. Each time stamp deals with rejection, isolation, connection, and acceptance in different ways. So while there is no clear A-, B-, or C-Plot, each time stamp works as their own A-Plot to explore the themes in a variety of ways, particularly by starting out in a place of rejection and moving to acceptance or a place of connection to isolation.

Please note that there are many ways to write multiple plots, there are just two examples.

While there are flaws within season 1 of RNM, overall the themes stayed consistent throughout the season, mainly the theme of alienation. The theme threads through the Alien’s isolation/alienation from humanity which is particularly seen through Michael’s unwillingness to participate and Isobel’s over participation. There is Rosa’s isolation from others, how her friendship with “Isobel” ended up compounding her existing alienation from her support system due to her mental illness and coping mechanisms. We see how Max and Liz couldn’t make connections. This theme presented itself over and over in season 1. While this essay is not an exploration of the breakdown of themes in season 2, it should be noted that there were some threads that followed throughout the season. The theme of mothers/motherhood was woven throughout season 2, with some elements more effective than others. Please contact the author for additional thoughts on Helena Ortecho and revenge plots.

One of the largest problems within season 2 was the sheer number of plots jammed into the season. These plot threads often ended up hindering the effectiveness of the themes and made the coherence of the season suffer. Additionally, a lot of them were convoluted and difficult to follow.

Thesis:

Essentially, season 2 was a mess. To look at it holistically is almost an exercise in futility. Either you grow angry about the dropped plots and premises, you hand wave them off, or you fill them in for yourself. Instead, this essay proposes to look at individual elements to explain why Forrest should have stayed evil.

We first meet Forrest in 2.04 when he is introduced on the Long Family Farm, which we later learn was the location where our past alien protagonists had their final standoff. He’s introduced. He’s largely just there. The audience learns he has more of a history with Michael. In 2.06, we meet him again with his dog Buffy (note: poor Buffy has not been seen again and we miss a chunky queen). There’s mild flirting, Alex is invited to an open mic night, which he attends. For the purpose of this essay, the author’s thoughts on the poetry will not be expressed. Readers can take a guess.

It is after this point that the author speculates the Decision was made. This choice to make Forrest not evil- paired with the aforementioned ‘can’t kiss, someone’s sick’- impacted the plot. We have Alex have a scene with his father- which the author believes could have been pushed to a different episode- and then have Alex go on a date and then not kiss Forrest at the end of the night. Here, the audience sees Forrest hit Alex in the leg, allegedly not knowing he had lost his leg despite ‘looking him up’, which parallels the shot to the leg that happens to Charlie. Besides wasting this ABSOLUTELY TEXTBOOK SET UP WTF, it also takes Alex away from the main plot and then forces a new plot for him. Up to this point, Alex’s plot was discovering more about the crash and his family’s involvement. Turning Alex’s date from a setup for evil Forrest to a Coming Out story adds yet another plot thread to a packed season. It is also the author’s thought that this is where the convoluted kidnapping plot comes in. With Forrest already in 2.10 for a moment, a plot where Alex is evil has Forrest attack him for Deep Sky rather than Jesse abduct him for a piece of alien glass Alex was going to give him anyway and then for Flint to abduct Alex from Jesse. It’s messy. In a bad way. Evil Forrest would have been a cleaner set up: no taking back a piece of alien glass Alex gave to Michael in a touching moment. No double abduction. Instead, there is only Forrest, who Alex trusts, breaking that trust to take him as leverage over Michael.

Implications:

Now, Alex has two plots (Tripp & Coming Out). The Coming Out plot is largely ineffective, as they are only relevant to scenes with Forrest and have the undercurrent of there only being a certain acceptable way to be out. This could have been used for Alex to discover his comfort levels, mirroring Isobel’s self discovery, but there was not enough screen time for that. Additionally, Isobel’s coming out story was about her allowing herself the freedom to explore. Alex’s story was about the freedom to… act like this dude wanted him to. Alex’s internalized homophobia played out often in the series but it was also informed by the violence he experienced at Jesse’s hands and the literal hate crime he and his high school boyfriend experienced. With that in mind, the “kissing to piss off bigots” line comes off poorly. This is a character who experienced what a pissed off bigot could do- reluctance to kiss in public is not the same as not being out. There is more to be said on this topic, but as it is not actually the focus of the essay, it will be put on hold. To surmise: Alex’s coming out is attempted to be framed as being himself, but it is actually the conformity to someone else’s ideals. It does not work as an antithetical to Isobel’s story, as the framing indicates that the conformity/right was to be out contradicts Isobel’s theme.

Further Research:

MAKE FORREST EVIL YOU COWARDS

Author Acknowledgements:

The author of this paper acknowledges that the show took some strides to mend this problem. However, once again no consensus could be found on whether Forrest was a low-level member of Deep Sky and thus just allowed to fuck off on a bus, or his job was recruitement because he did a piss poor job of making Alex not join.

#anti forrest long #i guess #evil forrest propaganda #I asked and no one said don't post it so...#here it is #I started writing this roughly 7 months ago

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ellewords · 3 years

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hello elle this is for your matchup event!! congrats on 1k+ ◡̈

my favorite trope is enemies to lovers :P for dynamic i love both partners listening to each others and physical affection in forms of cuddling :)

my zodiac sign is aquarius and my mbti is istp. im an ambivert, love: nutella, sleeping, reading, late night drives, night time in general, and listening to all types of music. i hate broccoli to my very core and hate people who hate on others for what they like :/ um i also used to play various kinds of sports but don’t anymore. im talkative once i warm up to the person and always care deeply for my friends.

&& my nickname is zey!!

you’ve been cast !

a note from the director ! hi zey :)) thank you for sending something in,, I'm an ambivert too omg ;-; anyways, I hope you like it <33

elle presents… [ uncertainties ]

starring

zey <3

KENMA kozume as the main lead : he hates that he can’t read you. but why should he even care in the first place? you were one of fukurodani’s managers, it shouldn’t matter whether or not you and him got along. his nonchalant attitude rubs you the wrong way and your seeming indifference towards him doesn’t help either. so why does his heart race whenever you lock eyes with him? why is there an ache in his chest whenever he can’t say the words he truly wants to? he doesn’t hate you and you don’t hate him. why couldn’t you let the other know that?

BOKUTO koutarou as the second lead : living next door to bokuto for more than half your life meant spending most of your time trying to reign him in. not that he minds though, all that time together only lead to you growing more comfortable around him. he sees it too — in the way your eyes lit up as you endlessly talked about your favorite things — and it makes his heart flutter every time. bokuto could only hope that you saw him in the same way.

[ series synopsis ] it was meant to be like any of the other summer training camps. but tension arises when feelings begin to interfere.

the pilot ep : teams arrive at shinzen for the summer training camp. akaashi wonders why there’s tension between zey and kenma so early on. the mid-season twist : zey and kenma’s relationship is starting to making progress, finally managing a smile in the halls. but bokuto can no longer hold back on his feelings and confesses. kenma just so happened to overhear. the series finale : kuroo can’t take kenma’s sulking any longer, even if his friend was trying his best to hide it. so he does what any good, well-meaning captain would do, lock kenma and zey in a supply closet and hope for the best.

a song from the ost : line without a hook by ricky montgomery “ oh, all my emotions feel like explosions when you are around and i've found a way to kill the sounds ” …plays during the opening credits, a few scenes of the times you’re looking away just as he turns to face you in the background.

a scene from the script ; from (ep. 15 — the finale : mumbled feelings)

INT. SUPPLY CLOSET - NIGHT

It’s the teams’ last night at Shinzen, most everyone already heading to their rooms to prepare for bed. ZEY and KENMA stand on opposite ends of the enclosed space, a few feet away from each other. A palpable silence fills the air as both try to process the words of confession that had just left KENMA’s lips.

ZEY (mouth slightly agape, still clearly shocked) What did you just say?

KENMA Please don’t make me say it again.

ZEY takes a few steps back, an attempt to create more space between the two of them. Unfortunately, their back immediately makes contact with the metal shelf behind them, barely widening the distance.

ZEY (shaking their head, sighing) You know, Kuroo’s not going to let us out until we resolve whatever’s going on between us. Please, what did you just say?

KENMA I know you already heard me. (mumbles) I like you…but I know you’re with Bokuto and I don’t want to get in between that, you’ve known him longer anyways…

ZEY (takes a few steps closer, a smile slowly spreading) I’m not with him. He’s sweet but…I don’t like him like I like you.

[ bonus : a brief post-credits scene ]

— zey’s head rests on kenma’s shoulder, voice gentle as they read kenma a chapter from their favorite book. he pulls zey closer, pressing a soft kiss to their temple. kuroo enters, tone and grin clearly teasing, “do i even get a thank you?”

feel like getting cast for something too ? see if auditions are open here.

#📄 — the cast list!#thank you for sending this #this was a lot of fun hehe #v slight enemies to lovers with kenma i feel it #<33 hope you're having a lovely day <33

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pleaserelaxfc · 3 years

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NWSL Week 21: Where Things Stand

With the games from October 1-2 rescheduled, mostly for October 13, the next ten days are going to be crucial for NWSL teams, with most playing three out of four remaining games between now and October 17. For several of those teams, it will mean four games within two weeks, so the necessary balancing between player rotation over that period with the importance of these games for playoff standings could create some interesting outcomes. Most teams will be playing their 21st game of the season over the weekend, and with five teams still in the mix for three playoff spots, it should be exciting.

As things stand:

The Portland Thorns (38 pts) and OL Reign (35) are still at the top of the table, but the Thorns' form has been dropping lately, having lost twice to teams in the middle of the table.

On the other hand, the North Carolina Courage (32) have regained some of their form with a win mid-week (albeit against Louisville), and while they're still three points off of the Reign, they are also now three points ahead of the top of the mid-table pack.

The mid-table pack is now mostly back on the same number of games played, with the exception of one game in hand for Gotham. With a win over the Thorns, the Houston Dash (29) moved up from the bottom of that group to the top, tied with the Chicago Red Stars (29) and one point ahead of the Orlando Pride (28), who now hold sixth place, the final playoff position. However, the Washington Spirit (27) and NY/NJ Gotham FC (26) are still very much in the mix for the last couple of spots.

At this point, Racing Louisville (17) and KC NWSL (11) are firmly the bottom two teams - KC has been out of the running for the playoffs for a couple of weeks, and if Louisville drops any further points for the season, they will also be mathematically eliminated.

Current/Max Potential:

Thorns: 38/50

Reign: 35/47

Courage: 32/44

Red Stars: 29/41

Dash: 29/41

Pride: 28/40

Spirit: 27/39

Gotham: 26/41

Louisville: 17/29

KC: 11/26

Potential end of season, based on overall performance to date:

Top Two: Thorns (46), Reign (42)

Middle Four: Courage (38), Red Stars (35), Dash (35), Pride (34)

Out of the Playoffs: Gotham (33), Spirit (32), Louisville (20), KC (14)

Change from last week: The Dash's upset win over the Thorns moved their expected result up into the middle four over Gotham, who only managed a draw against the Spirit.

Potential end of season, based on recent trends:

Top Two: Reign (45), Thorns (43)

Middle Four: Red Stars (36), Courage (36), Dash (35), Pride (34),

Out of the Playoffs: Gotham (31), Spirit (31), Louisville (18), KC (15)

Change from last week: The Thorns' loss to the Dash this week, combined with their recent loss to the Red Stars, dropped them out of expected first place based on their last five-game trend, and allowed the Reign to move into first place.

Games to be played this weekend:

Pride - Gotham (7:00 Sat., Twitch)

Spirit - Louisville (7:30 Sat., Paramount+)

KC - Thorns (5:00 Sun., Paramount+)

Reign - Red Stars (7:00 Sun., Paramount+)

Dash - Courage (7:00 Sun., Paramount+)

Mid-week notes:

After rescheduling the games from the first weekend of October to allow players time to process the disclosures of abuse within the league, six teams played on Wednesday as scheduled - the Courage snapped their winless streak with a comfortable win over Louisville, Gotham and the Spirit came to a scoreless draw at a Carli Lloyd retirement game in Philadelphia, and the Dash catapulted themselves to the top of the mid-table grouping with an unexpected win over the Thorns.

Players made a statement during all three of those games by halting play in the sixth minute of each game and coming together in the circle at midfield, with players from both teams, including those on the bench, linking arms with each other for one minute to recognize the six years it took the league to take any action to protect players in response to very credible allegations of abuse.

The postponed games have now been rescheduled - four of the five will be played on October 13, with the fifth, Gotham vs. Louisville, to be played on October 28.

Portland has announced that their GM, Gavin Wilkinson, has been placed on leave from his Thorns duties - however, he will continue to perform the same duties for the Timbers, the organization's MLS team.

Notes on the week:

Since KC has been eliminated from playoff contention, attention is now on Louisville in terms of bottom-of-the-table standings, and they are pretty close to official elimination as well - as it stands, they will definitely finish behind the Thorns, the Reign, and the Courage, and they can at best finish tied on points with the Red Stars and the Dash. A draw (or worse) for Louisville against the Spirit on Saturday would officially eliminate them (putting their maximum potential at 27, below the five teams already listed as well as the Pride and the Spirit), and even with a win, a combination of a win for the Pride and any points for the Red Stars would also eliminate Louisville, since the Dash hold the head-to-head tiebreak against them.

The wait for the Thorns to officially clinch a playoff spot continues, but should end soon: they already have more points than the maximum potentials for KC and Louisville, and a win over KC would earn them 41 points, more than the maximums for the Spirit and the Pride as well. Additionally, the Thorns could clinch a playoff spot with a draw combined with either a draw between the Pride and Gotham or a loss for the Pride (the Thorns would have 39, more than the maximum for the Pride in either case and tied with the maximums for Gotham and the Spirit, in the case of a draw, or just the Spirit - the Thorns would win the tiebreak against any combination of the two). Even if they lose outright against KC, if both the Pride and the Spirit lose as well, the Thorns will clinch a playoff spot.

The Reign, already guaranteed to finish above KC and Louisville, could also essentially clinch a playoff spot this week, if the right circumstances are met - they would need a win against the Red Stars, which would guarantee that they finish ahead of the Red Stars at least based on head-to-head tiebreak. If they got that win, any one of the following would essentially guarantee them a playoff position: a Spirit loss or draw (the Reign would be guaranteed to finish ahead of the Spirit on points), a Pride loss (Reign would be guaranteed to finish ahead of the Pride on points), a Pride draw (they could tie on points, but the Reign hold the head-to-head tiebreak), or a Dash loss (they could tie on points, but the Reign hold the head-to-head tiebreak). While technically there could be some multi-way tiebreak scenarios that could break against the Reign, those scenarios are improbable, particularly when taking into consideration the exact games that are left in the season.

For overall playoff standings, the Pride-Gotham game is probably the most important one this weekend - both teams are on the bubble, and given the current standings, there is no way for both of them to end the week within the top six (and it's possible that neither of them will). A draw could also make the road ahead for the other bubble teams significantly easier.

I also expect the Dash-Courage game to be pretty informative for how the remainder of the season will play out for the two teams - the Dash have been on a brief hot streak, with a resounding win over Louisville setting the stage for a huge upset win over the Portland Thorns (a win that puts them in much stronger position for the playoffs than I was expecting), and the Courage have only just ended a long scoring drought with a win over Louisville. A win for the Courage would build their momentum and break the Dash's, and might suggest that the Dash's win over Portland was more of a fluke than anything, whereas a win for the Dash would suggest some staying power for them and might also indicate that the Courage's win against Louisville was based more on Louisville's weaknesses than the Courage's power.

All that said, the Spirit-Louisville game is probably the only one of the weekend that is a real make-or-break game - although the Spirit won't be mathematically eliminated regardless of the results, this is probably their easiest opportunity to pick up points for the remainder of the season and they really need a win here in order to keep their hopes alive. Using the 33-point threshold I used last week (which might even be underestimating things at this point), the Spirit will need two wins in their remaining four games to make the playoffs, and with games against the Reign (who haven't lost since mid-August, winning four of the five games they played in that period) as well as the Courage (who can never be counted out) and the Dash (on a hot streak), the Spirit will probably need at least a little luck for the remainder of the season even if they get this win.

#nwsl

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hcrnimoore · 3 years

Text

task 001. who do you love?

for @embersrpg

at first it was only juli on this list, but then it grew and grew and i came to the conclusion that despite perri’s cold exterior (and her own perception of herself as someone unfeeling and incapable of caring), she cares quite a bit more than she likes to admit or to let on. unfortunately this probably means i’ve set her up for a lot of weaknesses haha whoops.

so without further ado: juli blueshade / flax gallocreek / zizania wheatfall / sandor hornimoore

part i. juli blueshade

beloved son.

Perri never sleeps well during Games season.

She never really sleeps well in general, but the restless nights are bad when she’s training tributes, worse since she started taking care of Juli. The nightmares are always the same — their faces morphing into one another's before they become Juli’s, staring up at her with pleading eyes. She must have witnessed him killed for over a hundred times now, like some sick game of spin-the-wheel where he gets to experience every death that her tributes died, every death she could not prevent, every death on her hands.

She wakes with a splitting headache.

The hologram screen in her room springs to life. “Good morning, mama,” Juli’s beaming face fills her vision, and immediately Perri’s heart floods with relief, racing heartbeat slowly calming. Still alive. It had only just been recently that Juli started calling her that. (Before that, she'd been too scared, too unqualified to allow him to call her that. It was always 'Auntie' instead.)

“Good morning,” she greets back, rubbing sleep out of her eyes. If she wasn’t staying at the Training Centre, she would have given him his usual morning hug. “Are you ready to go to school?”

At the question Juli scowls. “Nooooo,” he whines, giving Perri his best pout. He should have grown out of this petulance by now, but Perri is biased — it's endearing still. “I don’t like school. But I made you breakfast!” At this he holds out a bowl of cereal and milk. “See?”

Gods above, Perri loves him, but the small hints of rebellion he’s been displaying lately ages her ten years every time they happen. It’s cute, sure, but if this keeps up as he gets older she knows she can’t keep him safe. Not since she mostly retreated from the social scene at the Capitol to raise him. “That’s so sweet of you,” she smiles, keeping her fears to herself for the time being. Maybe when he was older she would tell him. “I’ll eat your breakfast, and you get dressed for school, alright?”

Juli nods eagerly. “Promise!” he holds up a pinky finger.

“Promise,” Perri echoes back, holding up a pinky finger of her own before his hologram flickers shut.

Back to another day of training.

part ii. flax gallocreek

fellow district 9 mentor.

Perri often wonders if Flax made the better choice.

Flax is a man of few attachments. He returned from his Games bitter (as one should be), keeping a sort of disdainful distance from his family ever since. Perhaps that was what people would call a smart decision. By pushing his family away, Flax keeps them safe. Doesn't marry the man he's always been sweet on, even though he'd promised to be together if Flax makes it back alive. Perri suspects some of it has to do with the fact that Flax had returned from the Games with a temper that he detests, a side of him that he doesn't want to show people he genuinely cares about.

In the end, Flax is probably right. They worked together as mentors, bonded over an unspoken shared weight of being responsible for so many deaths. They'd shared a bed before, once or twice, when Perri was still going through her destructively cynical phase, but they quickly figured out that it was more like pressing down on an open wound than any sort of healing. Flax's kindness has always been brutal; he'd broken things off by telling Perri that seeing her just reminded him of the dead.

Still, it's strange thing. Attachments. Perri had always thought of herself as cold and stand-offish, but recent revelations had shown her that she did have the capacity to care for others, after all. Flax might have been opposed to her caring about him, but she did, in some strange way of hers.

She hopes he doesn't mind.

part iii. zizania wheatfall

fellow district 9 victor; not a mentor.

Zizania is always the earliest to wake in the house. It's difficult to call it 'early', considering she has never slept well ever since she returned from the Games and it was more likely that she hadn't slept at all in the first place. She has a house of her own, but whenever Perri (and often Juli in tow) return to District 9 on the weekends, she stays over at their residence instead, citing the silent loneliness of living on her own.

Which is why Perri is up at five in the morning making pancakes.

There's a resilience in Zizania that Perri almost envies. That's why she's so determined to protect her from the duties of being a mentor for just a bit longer, why Perri treats her like a little sister more than a fellow victor. She’s happy to bear the burden of it all if it means that Zizania can have some semblance of normalcy for just a bit longer.

Footsteps from the stairs signals Zizania's arrival, and Perri turns to greet her. 'You shouldn't have,' Zizania gestures. 'I'm the guest.'

"And I'm the host," she replies, pushing a pancake off onto another plate with a spatula. The pancake-making had ulterior motives (Perri couldn’t sleep at all) but she wasn’t about to admit it "Zi. It's the least I can do for you for watching Juli while I'm gone."

Zizania shoots her a disgruntled look, but it comes off as warmer than she probably intended. 'Thank you.' In a motion of practiced ease, Perri slides the plate across the countertop while Zizania pulls out a set of cutlery from a drawer. She’s been over so many times that she knows where everything is, and Perri’s almost tempted to tell her to move in entirely. 'It smells lovely, as always.'

She smiles. "It's the only thing I know how to cook, after all."

part iii. sandor hornimoore

adoptive sibling.

"I suppose it would be strange to tell you happy birthday."

Perri pauses mid-step. She left for the Games and came back with a kill count and a bad habit of pacing and scratching the back of her wrist when she's nervous. "Oh," she answers at last. Her voice comes out suspiciously light, though mostly because she's still too numb to feel anything. She has a big house now, in Victors' Village. It's also move-in day, and it's her birthday. "It is."

Sandor looks at her a bit funny, and she doesn't meet their gaze. Perri knows it'll be there, that strange mixture of sympathy and cautiousness. She doesn't want to see it, not from them.

"Well, happy birthday." They barrel on anyway. She supposes it's one thing she's always liked about them: their unfailing honesty. Having grown up together as siblings-but-not-quite, with the adults at the Children's Home more or less hands-off when it came to the children's upbringings, the older ones were in charge of imparting the unkindness of the world on the younger ones. It's why she chose Sandor to come to her new house with her, so it wouldn't be so lonely. "I got you a gift. Besides moving into your house, that is."

That did the trick — a bickering exchange so familiar she couldn't help but retort. "You are so stingy," she answers automatically. "Your generosity is noted."

Sandor snorts. "Hey, someone has to keep your ego in check. I thought fourteen year olds were supposed to be mature."

"I didn't think I would get to turn fourteen." All the wind rushes out of her as soon as she says so, and Perri doesn't breathe in the ensuing silence.

But finally Sandor makes the first move. "Here it is." They toss a tightly wrapped package at her, and she catches it on reflex. "Don't open it until I've left the room."

Still smarting from the exchange, Perri can only nod in appreciation.

(Later, she opens it in her obnoxiously large and empty bedroom to reveal a hand-carved whistle. Carefully, preciously, she wraps it back up and places it into the drawer of her bedside table. She doesn't think she can bear to use it.)

#emberstask #emberstaskone #w h e w this was long #brief descriptions of who they are to perri are under each heading in case you don't want to read all of it which...#understandable

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mylifeiskara · 4 years

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Happy Holidays*, Have a Fic Rec List!

So I realized recently that even though I didn’t start interacting with people until like September, I got back into The 100 last January, even if it was mostly just scrolling through the tags to see what was going on. I’ve been absolutely floored by the writing talent in this fandom, and everyone I’ve interacted with has been so warm and welcoming, which has only encouraged me to write more. So to mark my almost a year of being a lurker and as a fun sort of holiday present to everyone for being so nice, I thought I would go through all my bookmarks and AO3 history and find some of my favorite fics I’ve read this year and share them, complete with commentary somewhat like the way I leave comments on AO3! I’ve read so many more amazing fics than just these ones (which is surprising because I’m a really slow reader), so thank you to literally everyone who writes for this fandom, because you’re all superstars! I get so excited every time someone shares something new, and my marked for later list just keeps getting longer.

This list is mostly Bellarke, but there’s also a couple Murven and one Memori. It’s also abundantly clear that I read mainly modern AUs, so I didn’t bother separating canon things from modern things, but I did separate the complete works and the WIPs. And if I don’t know someone’s Tumblr, I’m just gonna link their AO3 profile!

*I’m pretty sure only one of these fics has to do with a winter holiday, so sorry if that’s misleading!

Complete

Your words on my skin by not_a_total_basket_case Bellamy/Clarke, Rated G (Multi-Chapter) This is the first The 100 fic I ever read, so obviously it has to go first on my list. I don’t read many soulmate AUs, but I liked that soulmates communicated to each other through notes on their skin. The whole thing is just so soft, and I’ve read it a bunch of other times since my first reading. Also bonus points for Clarke and Bellamy being absolute idiots in love.

Feels Like Reckless Driving When We’re Talking by Chash Bellamy/Clarke, Rated E (Multi-Chapter) In this one there’s an age swap, so Bellamy is younger than Clarke, who’s a single mom in her 30s. Bonus points for the presence of Murphy and Emori to help get Clarke out of her head and out of the house so she can meet Bellamy, a hot younger man!

so i sing a song of love by @hiddenpolkadots Bellamy/Clarke, Rated M (One-Shot) This is my comfort fic! I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve read it, but it’s one I keep going back to. I love a good friends with benefits complicated by feelings, and also in this case, pregnancy.

I’ll always wear the crown that you gave me by bellamysgriffinprincess Bellamy/Clarke, Rated G (One-Shot) Best friend’s brother is one of my favorite tropes, and I really love the evolution of Bellamy and Clarke’s relationship throughout the story.

Talking with You in the Dark by @bettsfic Bellamy/Clarke, Rated E (One-Shot) This is like “oh my god they were roommates” adjacent (since they’re neighbors), which is what I like about it. I think I’m just a sucker for stories where Bellamy and Clarke’s relationship kind of evolves in a very natural way. Also the simple ask of wanting to share a bed with someone because you’re lonely is such a mood.

the naked truth by @kombellarke Bellamy/Clarke & Murphy/Raven, Rated E (Multi-Chapter) Speaking of “oh my god they were roommates”! This fic has so much great angst! It’s probably the angstiest thing on this list! I’m not sure if I can adequately put into words my feelings about this fic, other than it’s great, and I feel like everyone’s read it already, but here it is so you can read it again!

guess it’s never really over by @captaindaddykru Bellamy/Clarke, Rated M (One-Shot) I love how even when Bellamy and Clarke are divorced, they’re clearly still so in love. It’s why the idea of them having another kid together didn’t sound absolutely absurd to either of them, and that’s the tea.

You Should Still Take Me Home by @eyessharpweaponshot Bellamy/Clarke, Rated T (One-Shot) This has many things I love, which are fics about New Year’s, friends with benefits, and a college setting. It’s the dream! And it’s really cute!

Here’s What I’ve Got (The Reasons Why Our Marriage Might Work) by @marauders-groupie Bellamy/Clarke, Rated T (Multi-Chapter) I have been trying to come up with the words to describe the way this fic made me feel literally ever since I read it, but my God, I still feel like what I say wouldn’t do it justice. Also there is a very particular word I’m searching for that I have yet to land on. It’s so beautifully written, and I love stories that begin after the couple has broken up. Also they’re actors, and I love a celebrity AU!

Potions et Patroni by chants_de_lune Bellamy/Clarke, Rated T (One-Shot) I love anything to do with Harry Potter or Hogwarts, so adding Bellarke to the mix was just right up my alley. If you haven’t noticed, I really love watching/reading the natural evolution of a relationship, which this fic does a great job of. Also if I were a student at Hogwarts, I would have thought Professor Blake and Professor Griffin were a couple the moment I stepped foot into the school.

starry eyes and galaxy minds (we’ll be dancing on the clouds at night) by @pawprinterfanfic Bellamy/Clarke, Rated M (One-Shot) If Bellamy were Spider-Man, I too would fall in love with him, solely based on his voice. When he removed his mask, him being incredibly attractive would just be an added bonus.

Eons With You by @she-who-the-river-could-not-hold Bellamy/Clarke, Rated G (One-Shot) Another great soulmate fic I stumbled upon! I feel like I’ve never gotten into soulmate AUs until this fandom, but that’s just truly the only way to describe what Bellamy and Clarke are to each other? So yeah, this one has reincarnation and the time periods that are in it are so vivid and great.

And in Other News... by @jeanie205 Bellamy/Clarke, Rated T (Multi-Chapter) News anchors! Who make the most perfect team on the planet! There’s some angst, but this is great fluff. And more bonus points for Clarke and Bellamy being idiots in love.

Rock Bottom by @detectivebellamyblake Bellamy/Clarke & Murphy/Raven, Rated E (Multi-Chapter) Wowee, I love so many things about this fic! Clarke and Murphy are my brotp, so I think that’s why I clicked on it to begin with. I hope to have a group of friends like this when I’m in my mid to late 20s, so I guess I’ve got a couple more years to get working on that. I also love that everyone ends up owning up to the shit they’ve done wrong and growing, which is something we don’t always get to see. And there are such cute moments between so many characters!

Burning Cities and Napalm Skies by @jarleene Murphy/Raven, Rated M (Multi-Chapter) Honestly, don’t remember how I found this one, but I’m so glad I stumbled upon it. I’m really only into Murven in AUs (as I’m low key Memori trash), but this fic just had me hooked. Also as someone who wondered if the show would ever question having to repopulate the human race, I was very on board with the concept. Dare I say bits of this more sense than the season 6 we were actually given?

feat. by Debate Murphy/Emori, Rated T (One-Shot) Please forgive the fact that I called myself Memori trash, yet there is only one Memori fic on this rec list. (But also, if anyone wants to rec me some Memori stuff, literally send it all my way!) I love musician AUs, so I was immediately sold on the idea of Murphy admiring Emori’s band’s music and wanting to write a song with her. It’s just so cute!

WIPs Not as many of these, because I can only follow along with so many unfinished things at a time, but these are ones I’ve been keeping up with!

If the Right One Came Along by @useyourtelescope Bellamy/Clarke, Rated M Another celebrity AU, with a side of friends with benefits! Bellamy is a famous historian, and I am here for that. Literally peak nerd, I’m so proud of him. I really enjoy Clarke and Bellamy’s dynamic as they have to figure out how to be friends again after naturally drifting apart when he moved away. And it feels like each subsequent chapter gets cuter!

All Because of You by @burninghoneyatdusk Bellamy/Clarke, Rated E It’s another best friend’s brother fic! This time with a pregnancy! I really enjoy that this story switches back and forth between the past and the present, so we get to see moments of Bellamy and Clarke when they were teenagers/baby adults, and we get to see them be amazing co-parents in the present as well.

The Hungry and The Hunted by @octaviadblake Bellamy/Clarke, Rated T As I said before, I love musician AUs, and I’m so absolutely pumped for more of this story. I’m a huge fan of Bellamy and Murphy’s dynamic. The 80s setting works really well, and I’m already preparing myself for the coming angst.

someone let the poets out by @kindclaws Bellamy/Clarke, Rated M Another actor AU! But this time, actors gone rogue! This fic is also really cool because it’s mixed media, so there’s little tweets and Tumblr posts and whatnot throughout, so I’ll give you the same recommendation the author does to not read this one on mobile.

That’s all I’ve got for now. But happy reading!

#the 100 #the 100 fanfiction #bellarke fanfiction #bellarke fic rec #the 100 fic rec #fic rec #this was fun to curate #and if anyone wants another at any point in time #hit me up and let me know

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themaskedwriter · 5 years

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Steve Rogers’s Day Off

Summary: For years Steve’s friends and coworkers have seen him as a stalwart stick in the mud. If only they could see him when he lets his hair down. But only one person seems to get that side of him- you.

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Reader

Word Count: 2500

Warnings: Swearing. Steve shirking his captainly duties?

Clues: This author started writing last June and has loved every second of it so far. She has a slight obsession with all things vintage, the latest being Queen and John Hughes movies, hence the inspiration for this fic (side note: Bucko and Steeb count as vintage, right?). She’s currently in the last semester of her undergraduate degree, which is related to the medical field.

******

Tony pushes his head into his folded arms, almost sending his plate of untouched eggs to the floor. “Can we all just take the day off? Mission debrief be damned.”

“Steve wouldn’t stand for that,” Clint chuckles as he takes a long drag of his coffee. “We all know he isn’t one to play hooky, especially when he’s the one that set the meeting”

Around the dining room table, there are nods and a few words of agreement. Bucky looks up from his phone and shakes his head.

“I don’t think you guys know Steve as well as you think you do,” he says with a small smile.

“I think you’ve lost touch, Tinman. We’ve all seen Steve in action this century,” Tony rolls his eyes. “Pardon my French, but he’s so tight that if you stuck a lump of coal up his ass, in two weeks you’d have a diamond.”

In the kitchen, a glass shatters and everyone whips around in their seats toward the noise. There’s a flash of golden blond hair and the sound of hasty footsteps.

“I think he heard you,” Bruce murmurs, not looking up from his bowl of cereal.

Bucky moves to stand as you walk into the room. “Hey, do you guys know what’s up with Steve? He ran the other way when he saw me coming down the hallway.”

“Tony’s just being an asshole, as per usual,” Clint says.

You look away from Bucky and notice the sheepish expression on Tony’s face. “Tones, what did you do?”

“Clint said it too!”

“I wasn’t the one talking about his tight ass!”

Bucky rolls his eyes and moves to smack both men on the back of their heads. “Maybe you should go check on him, sugar?”

“Yeah,” you look back down the hall to where Steve disappeared. “Yeah, I can go see if he’s okay.”

You knock on Steve’s bedroom door softly and wait for a few minutes before peeking your head around it. Steve is sprawled out on his back staring up at his ceiling fan. You walk over to him and sit down on his bed. He lets out a long exhale and tosses his arm over his eyes.

“What’s got you so down, Stevie?”

He pulls his arm away from his face and his bright blue eyes meet yours. “Am I boring?”

You raise your eyebrow at him and grin at the face he pulls. “I don’t even know where to start.”

“Because you think I’m a stick in the mud too?”

“Get up!” You reach down for his hands and pull the two of you up off the plush mattress. “We’re going out. I’m not letting you sit here and throw a pity party all day.”

“Leave me be,” Steve groans. “Hey! This isn’t a pity party and I wasn’t going to stay here all day.”

“You’re damned right it’s not. You do fun stuff all the time, you’ve just been busy lately.”

You grab Steve’s hand and he trails behind as you lead him through the halls. When you reach the garage, you look up to the wall of keys expectantly. “Pick one.”

“I don’t think Tony would want us to.”

“Tony owes you one,” you gesture towards the wall. “Now pick a car, any car.”

“Where are we going?”

You grin at Steve as he randomly grabs a set of car keys. “To see something good.”

He passes you the keys and you click the lock to find the car. Your grin only grows when you see it’s one of Tony’s favorites. Steve slides into the passenger seat as the car roars to life.

Steve fiddles with the knobs of the stereo and looks over at you. “Okay, you’ve successfully kidnapped me, now where are we going?”

“What’s the first thing that pops into your head when I say ‘fun’?”

His brows pinch together. “I don’t know? Baseball, maybe?”

You pull out your phone and shoot off a quick text. “It’s a little early in the year for baseball, but I’ve got an idea. F.R.I.D.A.Y. can you start a route to Yankee Stadium? Also, send a message to the team that Steve came down with some nondescript illness.” You pull the car out of its spot and race off into the early morning sun.

Her Irish lilt fills the speakers. “Of course. Anything else, miss?”

“Yeah, start Steve’s favorite playlist. Thanks, F.R.I.”

She doesn’t answer but a different song pours through the speakers and Steve nods along to the beat. You weave through the mid-morning traffic and soon enough your stepping out into the parking lot outside the stadium.

“Are you going to tell me what we’re doing here? The season doesn’t even start for another month.”

“I know that you’re a Dodgers man, but I figured you wouldn’t want to spend all day on a plane. That, and I don’t personally know anyone on their coaching staff.”

Steve quirks his eyebrow at you. “That doesn’t tell me what we’re doing here.”

“We’re breathing a little life back into our routines,” you say with a laugh and tug on his arm. “C’mon, I promise it’ll be fun.”

A smile overtakes Steve’s face and he lets you guide him through the empty stadium to a row of offices. You knock on one of the doors and a man with kind eyes greets you.

“I’ve been expecting the two of you,” The man says with a broad smile. “Mr. Rogers it’s an honor.”

“Please, it’s Steve.”

“Steve this is Aaron, he’s the team’s general manager. I saved his ass during one of the many botched alien take-overs and he insisted that he owed me a favor.”

“I am surprised you are finally cashing it in, though. The field is all set up for the two of you.”

Aaron winks at the two of you and Steve raises his eyebrows at the man. “Set up for what, exactly?”

“You’ll just have to wait and see,” you singsong and push the confused blond back towards the field.

Steve smiles as you pull him onto the field and toss him a bat. “Ready to let out some aggression? I have a feeling this is going to be a baseball massacre.”

Steve scoffs and spins the bat in the air over his shoulder, catching it deftly. “This was my dream, you know? Buck and me went to any game we could. I uh- I thought that they’d let a little guy like me on a team if I was good enough. I practiced until my hands were raw.”

“You never told me that.” You look up from the pitching machine that you’re trying to turn on.

“Never told anybody. Not even my mom or Bucky,” he murmurs with a far-off look. “I’m sure they suspected.”

“I’m sure they did. You’re about as subtle as a bull in a china shop.” You tear your eyes away from him before he can notice you staring and finally turn the right knob. “Aha! You ready for the first pitch, Mr. America?”

His eyes narrow at you, but he can’t hold back the laugh that bubbles up out of his throat. “Do your worst.”

You raise your brow and feed the first ball into the machine. A deafening crack sounds throughout the stadium. You flip around just in time to see the ball fly through the air straight over the back wall.

“Holy shit,” you exclaim. “Steve! That was on the fastest setting!”

Steve’s smile is blinding as he takes off around the bases at breakneck speed. He’s not even panting when he slides into home plate. He stands and wipes the dirt off his pants as he jogs over to you.

A giggle bursts out of him as he pulls you in for a hug. “I’ve always wanted to do that.”

“If only the talent scouts could see you now,” you say breathlessly. “They’d be begging to get you on the roster.”

Steve’s cheeks flush as he lets go of you quickly. “That would sure be something. Is it your turn?”

“After that performance, I don’t know if I should.”

“C’mon its fun,” he smiles as you return to the plate and pick up the bat. “I’ll even turn the speed down.”

You hold the bat with one hand and raise your middle finger to him. Steve drops the ball into the machine and you manage to hit the ball over his head. You drop the bat and sprint towards first base. Steve scoops up the ball and darts towards you, just before you can hit the base Steve is there. You can’t stop your feet in time and you crash into Steve’s broad frame, his hands circle your waist to keep you steady.

“You okay there, doll?”

You grin and look up at him. “I mean I’d be better if I were safe, but I’m no match for the great Steve Rogers.”

He rolls his eyes and holds your arms to make sure that you’re okay to stand. “It’s the serum. I’d be almost as hopeless as you without it.”

You gasp and clutch your chest. “That’s a low blow, Stevie.”

“I couldn’t help-” his stomach growling cuts off his sentence and his cheeks flush a brilliant red again. “it.”

“It appears that even star athletes get hungry,” you say with a grin. “You wanna break for some lunch?”

“As much as I love ballpark hot dogs, I don’t think eating last seasons are such a good idea.”

“As good as that sounds, that’s not what I had in mind,” you scrunch your nose up and he laughs. “What’re you in the mood for, dummy?”

“You’re the mastermind here.”

“That’s not how it works! We’re having your best day ever. So, I ask again, what’s for lunch?”

Steve laughs and his eyes light up. “You know a hot dog actually sounds really good.”

“So, you do want a moldy-year-old hot dog? You’re a sick man, Rogers.”

“I was thinking Central Park? We could do some people watching. That and the drive shouldn’t be too bad.”

“If that’s what you want for your special day then it’s what we’re doing.”

You reach for Steve’s hand but stop midair, quickly rethinking your action. You feel your cheeks heat up and you turn to walk back to the car. Steve watches your retreating form before his brain catches up and he darts after you. You toss him the keys with a tight grin.

“Think you can handle it?”

“Doll, I was driving long before you were alive,” Steve chuckles. “Tanks and planes mostly, but they can’t be that different.”

“Hardy-har, grandpa has a sense of humor.”

Steve turns to you with a heart-stopping grin and stomps on the gas, pealing out of the parking lot. He expertly weaves through the mid-day traffic and pulls the sports car into a spot just outside the park. You make your way to a hot dog vendor and eat your lunch as you walk around, enjoying the warm weather.

The soft sounds of a few street performers draws you and Steve in, along with a small crowd. An older couple takes each other’s hands of the and the two start to sway to the music. Others in the crowd follow their lead and Steve offers his hand to you.

“Dance with me?”

You smile and take his hands and he spins you around. “It’s only right.”

“Danke schoen, darling, danke schoen,” the singer croons. “Save those lies, darling don’t explain.”

“I recall Central Park in fall,” Steve sings quietly. “How you tore your dress, what a mess. My heart says danke schoen.”

You laugh softly and lay your head on Steve’s chest. “Too bad it’s spring.”

“Just pretend, doll.”

You close your eyes and he continues to murmur the words, his chest rumbling as the two of you dance. All too soon the song is over and the couples around you begin to separate. You squeeze Steve’s warm hands and he smiles softly before stepping away from you.

“What’s next?”

“I was thinking something with art? I think they’ve got a new exhibit at the Met,” you say as you start to pull out your phone to check their website.

Steve stops you and nods towards another street artist, this one sketching people for money. “How much do you think he’d charge for a sketch pad?”

“There’s only one way to find out,” you say with a grin as Steve approaches the man.

It turns out the going rate for a sketch pad in Central Park is twenty-five dollars and a selfie with Captain America. You and Steve find a nice spot where he can draw, while still having people around for him to sketch. You sit next to him, content to watch his intense concentration as he shades. The park begins to grow quiet as the afternoon wears on.

“What are you sketching now that there’s nobody around?”

Steve bites his lip and his eyes dart down to the pad in his lap. “One of my favorite subjects.”

“Oh, Tony then?”

He laughs but it doesn’t quite reach his eyes. “You know I prefer to not draw from memory. Besides Tony’s a terrible muse, he’s always moving too much.”

“What is it, then? The city? New York’s got to be the perfect muse.”

He shakes his head. “How could I waste time drawing buildings when I’ve got something so beautiful sitting right in front of me?” His hands shake lightly as he holds out the pad of paper to you.

You look down at the sketch pad and notice a familiar form- yours. He’s somehow captured the slopes and angles of your body perfectly as if he had drawn them hundreds of times. You can’t take your eyes of the radiant woman smiling up at you. Steve’s somehow put a sense of untouchable longing into the portrait.

“I’m really sorry if you don’t like it,” Steve whispers. “It’s creepy. God, I just can’t help but draw you-”

You cut him off by pressing your lips to his and the needy noise he makes in the back of his throat sends you into overdrive. His hands find your waist and he drags you impossibly closer to him. The sketchpad falls forgotten at your feet as you tangle your fingers into his short strands. You both pull back panting, desperate to catch your breath.

“I take it you like the picture?”

You bury your face in his chest. “I love it.”

“Doll?”

“Yeah, Steve?”

“Can I kiss you again?”

******

Tony shrieks as he looks down at his phone and everyone comes running into the common room. He shoves a picture of you and Steve kissing into Natasha’s face. “Since when are they together?”

“According to this very real looking TMZ article, they’re secretly married,” Sam says as he reads over Natasha’s shoulder.

“How rude, we didn’t even get an invite,” Natasha smirks. “And to think Steve told us he was sick.”

Bucky grins from the couch. “Oh, that’s not Steve, that’s Abe Froman. And his lucky lady.”

“The sausage king of Chicago,” Tony sputters.

Bucky laughs and nods as the rest of the group look at Tony as if he’s grown a second head. “It’s the name he uses when they’re playing hooky. Looks like he finally got the balls to do something about his feelings, though.”

“What the actual fuck.”

“Language,” Bucky mock-gasps.

Tony’s eyes widen. “Rogers has got a lot of explaining to do.”

#fic

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tvobsessed96 · 4 years

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Top 10 TV Episodes of 2019

10. Marvel’s Runaways- Season 3, Episode 10- “Cheat the Gallows”

I’ll be the first to admit that Runaways is not a perfect show. I didn’t like season 1 all that much, mostly because Pride’s motivations and ultimate goals were too poorly defined for my tastes. I’m not expecting a big expositional villain monologue, but I at least need to understand what the villains are trying to accomplish and why. Otherwise, it’s hard to get emotionally invested. Having said that, season 2 was a marked improvement, and I wound up falling in love with this scrappy bunch of kids anyway. Which makes it all the more disappointing that the season that proved Runaways could be something great if it tried ended up being its last. I enjoyed season 3 a lot. The writing was better, the performances stepped up to match, and as annoyed as I am that the evil alien family trying to kill everyone plot was dropped unceremoniously without a satisfying explanation partway through the season, the battle with Morgan le Fey was filled with enough danger and tension to make up for it. But rather than choose that climactic battle as my entry for this list, I went with the messy, emotionally fraught aftermath. “Cheat the Gallows” could have been a simple, somewhat patriarchal story about a man going back in time to rescue the woman he loves, but it ended up being about a family clawing its way back together after wrestling with a shared trauma. Which, come to think of it, is pretty much exactly how the show started! Talk about coming full circle. The episode also ended up being a bit of a meditation on time itself, as the older versions of the Runaways contemplate the fact that Gert’s death led them down the paths that made them who they are. Once that’s erased, so are they. This realization gives the Runaways, mostly Nico, a chance to think about what they would have done differently, leading to a powerful scene in which Nico talks with her past self and pleads with her not to make the same mistakes she did. I bet we’ve all wished we could do that at one point or another. I also like that the episode ends with the sense that, with Gert saved, the Runaways might just be okay. Even if the note left for Alex by his murderous older self adds an ominous note to the whole thing.

9. So You Think You Can Dance- Season 16, Epsiode 15- “Live Finale Winner Announced”

So You Think You Can Dance continues to be the best reality competition show no one’s really talking about. Cat Deely has been robbed of her Emmy for best host too many times, but I digress. This show is always the highlight of my summer, and season 16 was no exception. Another season of amazing choreography, amazing performances, and a truly deserving winner that I can’t really be mad about, even if I was rooting for other dancers just as much. It was another really fun season, and I can’t wait for season 17! There’s a reason Fox keeps renewing this show despite the ratings, is all I’m saying.

8. Emergence- Season 1, Episode 9- “Where You Belong”

It’s true that the first half of Emergence’s freshman season was a bit uneven. The writing isn’t quite as compelling as it could be, and it does rely on some sci-fi cliches. But I’m a sucker for a good found family story, so I stuck it out. And I’m certainly glad I did, because the mid-season finale was pretty great! An excellent sense of stakes, and enough tension to keep you on the edge of your seat without skimping on the sweeter moments. It culminates in one of the most brilliant twists I’ve seen on TV since The Good Place! I’m curious to see what the rest of the season will bring.

7. Veronica Mars- Season 4, Episode 3- “Keep Calm and Party On”

I’m willing to bet that this will be the most controversial pick on the list, for several reasons. No, season 4 of Veronica Mars was not as good as its first, and I have problems with the way Rob Thomas and Kristen Bell handled the fan response to the ending. And that’s before we get to the episode itself. Many long-time fans of the series took serious issue with the extended party scene in this episode, given that Veronica was drugged and raped at a party in high school. There’s also her mother’s own history of alcoholism to consider. But while I absolutely sympathize with those concerns, Veronica’s decision to let loose and party still feels understandable to me. Given everything that’s been going on with the bombing case, she's searching for some kind of release. And if there was a year where the desire to just forget about the world for a while, past traumas be damned, felt all too real, it was 2019. And that’s why “Keep Calm and Party On” makes the list.

6. Single Parents- Season 1, Episode 23- “Ketchup”

Will and Angie are clearly the Jess and Nick of Single Parents, which is fine. But part of me is sort of hoping they don’t get together, because their friendship is pretty great. In this episode, Will takes Angie to a terrible fast food restaurant to confront Graham’s dad about abandoning her while she was pregnant. Will ends up using a bunch of food metaphors to explain to Derek what an amazing mother and person Angie is, and it’s fantastic! Add that to Douglas and Poppy realizing their feelings for each other, and you’ve got an episode that’s as completely hilarious as it is completely sweet. If you haven’t watched this show, check it out! It’s pretty delightful.

5. Stumptown- Season 1, Episode 3- “Rip City Dicks”

Stumptown was the best new show this fall, hands down. The first half of its first season didn’t end quite as strongly as it started, but it gave us some fantastic episodes along the way. “Rip City Dicks” is one of them. Dex is hoping to apprentice under veteran PI Artie Banks in order to earn her license, but gets a cold, hard dose of reality when he sells out their client and her child to make a quick buck. Dex does learn a valuable lesson from it, though. Exactly what kind of private investigator she doesn’t want to be. The episode ends with an amazing, very feminist monologue from Dex promising Candace that she’ll get her kid back. It’s a fantastic performance from Cobie Smulders, and I’m really looking forward to the rest of the season! If you’re not watching Stumptown, you’re missing out.

4. This Is Us- Season 4, Episode 7- “The Dinner and the Date”

America’s favorite cry-worthy family drama gave us plenty of great episodes this year, including a much-anticipated origin story for Beth Pearson. Out of all the possible options, I ended up choosing “The Dinner and the Date” as my entry for this list. On one hand, you’ve got a sweet story of young love set against the backdrop of Philadelphia. On the other hand, you’ve got a young Black kid trying to form his own identity in a way his white adoptive parents just can’t understand, no matter how hard they may try. It’s a beautiful episode, and I look forward to seeing what 2020 brings for the Pearson family.

3. Marvel’s Cloak and Dagger- Season 2, Episode 10- “Level Up”

Honestly, I could have chosen any episode form Cloak & Dagger’s stellar second season for this list. There’s the near-perfect three episode run of “B-Sides,” “Vikingtown Sound,” and “Two Player.” There’s also the dark, thought-provoking Emma Lahana showcase that is “Shadow Selves.” But I ended up choosing the finale, because it felt like such a perfect culmination of everything the show had been doing up to that point. Tandy and Ty take on every obstacle Andre throws at them with an abundance of grace and an unshakable faith in each other. The choice to have them literally fight each other’s demons was inspired! But the most powerful moment comes when Tandy gets the chance to confront her late father after everything she’s learned about him since his death. She tells him in no uncertain terms that she, and only she, gets to decide how big a part of her he is. She says that the only thing she can do in the face of adversity is level up. If there’s a lesson to take into 2020, it’s this. If you think you aren’t strong enough to face what the world sends your way, level up. Turn your dagger of light into a sword of light. Stare oppression in the face and say, with your whole being, “Not today.” Disney and Marvel made a big mistake in cancelling Cloak & Dagger. Huge.

2. Good Trouble- Season 1, Episode 8- “Byte Club”

I hope anyone who thought Good Trouble wouldn’t be as powerful as The Fosters is really embarrassed after these first 20 episodes, and I mean that in the best possible way. Good Trouble is everything a great spin-off should be. It keeps the spirit, heart, and progressive mission of the original show, while also feeling like its own distinct entity. It introduces an amazing cast of new characters to love, without forgetting to check in on the old ones every once in a while. “Byte Club” has to be the best offering the show’s given us so far. Facing rampant gender and race discrimination at work, Mariana rallies the women of Speckulate to come up with a set of tips to help them assert themselves in the workplace. The advice they come up with is solid, and actually really useful in real life. But it’s made even more powerful when Mariana points out that women in professional spaces shouldn’t have to jump through all these ridiculous hoops just to get recognized for having an idea! And that’s not the only powerful feminist moment of the episode. Callie discovers that the reason Rebecca ended up as a clerk for Judge Wilson is because her previous judge sexually harassed her, and her powerful family refused to do anything about it other than get her out of there. I’ll admit that Callie had no right to insert herself into that situation and guilt Rebecca into coming forward in the following episode, but it’s still an amazing scene featuring excellent performances from Maia Mitchell and Molly McCook. I’m so excited for more Good Trouble in the new year!

1. The Good Place- Season 3, Episode 13- “Pandemonium”

The final season of The Good Place has been fantastic so far, and several of the most recent episodes almost made this list. But at the end of the day, “Pandemonium” is the kind of episode that makes me want to make television. To make something that will touch other people the way this episode touched me. I could go on and on about the beautiful love story between Eleanor and Chidi. But instead, I want to focus on the final scene, in which a distraught Eleanor calls Janet into her office and demands the answer to, well, everything. What does it all mean? Because if there’s no greater meaning, then the universe is just made of pain, and Eleanor can’t accept that. Janet’s response is what really makes the scene sing, so I’ll quote it here. “If there were an answer I could give you to how the universe works, it wouldn’t be special. It would just be machinery fulfilling its cosmic design. It would just be a big, dumb food processor. But since nothing seems to make sense, when you find something or someone that does, it’s euphoria.” To which Eleanor replies that all she can do is “embrace the pandemonium” and “find happiness in the unique insanity of being here, now.” And then she steels herself, opens the door, and welcomes her soulmate who has no idea who she is into the afterlife. This is the same philosophical bent that made me adore Angel so much, and it works just as well here. This episode aired all the way back in January, and these sentiments got me through awful headline after awful headline in 2019. Catch up on The Good Place if you haven’t already. It will be going off the air soon, and our lives will be all the worse for it.

#marvel's runaways #runaways #so you think you can dance #emergence #veronica mars #single parents #stumptown #this is us #cloak and dagger #good trouble #the good place

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octoberobserver · 4 years

Note

I recently had a dream about a plot for a fic where reddie get a duck from mike on their wedding day and the note makes it seem like it’s meaningful to their relationship and they spend their whole honeymoon trying to figure out what the deep meaning of this duck is and it turns out stan and bev dared mike to do it to fuck w/ them and when i woke up i immediately was like SOMEONE HAS TO WRITE THIS and i immediately thought of you! (literally u don’t have to it’s just funny how i thought of you)

Hi Nonnie! This *probably* isn’t what you had in mind, but I hope you like it anyway ^_^ ♥️

Your Love Life’s DOA (read on ao3)

“...a chick.”

“Pretty sure it’s a cock, dude.”

“It’s a chicken, asswipe. Cocks are roosters.”

“Huh. And here I thought cocks were—”

“Don’t,” Eddie Kaspbrak held up his hands, cutting Richie Tozier off mid-terrible-joke.

Richie just smirked, his eyes alight in a way that never failed to make Eddie’s stomach swoop.

“Cock, chicken, whatever it is,” he waved dismissively with the hand not cradling the miniature poultry, “it’s cute as fuck.”

Eddie stared at Richie staring down at the (probable) baby chicken, warmth spreading across his chest.

He only basked in the feeling for .2 seconds however as the irritation he had felt this morning when he opened the door to go grab their mail and nearly stomped on the little feather-ball, made a swift resurgence.

“But why the fuck was it outside our door?”

“...”

“Richie.”

“...”

“Rich.”

“...”

“Trashmouth!”

Richie’s head snapped up from where he had been gazing down at the chick that looked comically small in his ridiculously large hand.

Eddie’s treacherous stomach did an impressive (if annoying) front handspring.

“I don’t know, Eds. Maybe it was meant for the butcher shop down the street. Or a petting zoo,” he tilted his head, looking pensive, “maybe it’s Erica Delaney getting her sweet revenge on me after I broke our egg-son in the first five minutes of class. Or it’s the chicken god’s gift to us to raise in his image, fucked if I know. All I do know is,” he shrugged, gently, with one shoulder as to not jostle the chirping baby bird, “we're definitely keeping it.”

Eddie blinked.

“We can’t keep a chicken in the apartment, Richie.”

Richie’s eyebrows raised halfway up his expansive forehead.

“Why not? I own the building, and I say it’s all good for lil Chick-Fil-A to stay.”

“We’re not naming it after a homophobic chicken restaurant, dickwad.”

A slow smile spread across Richie’s face that had Eddie’s pulse simultaneously racing and screeching to a halt.

“...But we are keeping it?”

Fuck.

~*~

“Chicken Little?”

“No.”

“Chicken Run.”

“What?”

“Chick Flick.”

“Hell no.”

“Oh! Wait! I got it - Chicken Carbonara! Carbs for short.”

“You’re an idiot.”

“I agree,” Stanley Uris piped up as he meandered his way over to where Eddie and Richie (baby chick loudly making her presence known in his shirt pocket) were arguing at the sink, glass in hand, topping up Patty’s Merlot.

“You don’t have a horse in this race, Staniel,” Richie dismissed his input, gently running a finger over the chick’s fuzzy head, adopting a sickening sweet baby voice, “Isn’t that right, Carbs? Uncle Stan the Man wouldn’t know a good nickname if it kicked him in the face.”

“Coming from the man called ‘Trashmouth.’”

“Eds gave me that name, so blame him,” Richie quirked an eyebrow, elbowing the man in question.

Eddie’s Chardonnay tipped dangerously close to the rim of the glass.

Richie ignored his murderous glare.

“Now all we need,” Richie beamed with pride as ‘Carbs’ gave another loud chirp from her cloth perch, “...is a duck.”

Eddie winced, “You need to stop binge-watching Friends, Rich. Who are we, Joey and Chandler?”

“Dibs on Chandler!”

Eddie rolled his eyes, gesturing up and down at Richie.

“Well duh.”

Richie merely smirked, tilting his head at him, “You’re definitely more of a Monica than a Joey, though.”

“So in this scenario, you two are married?”

Both Eddie and Richie whirled around to blink at Stan who had attracted the attention of the rest of the Losers, each now awaiting some sort of response with rising interest.

Eddie refused to give one.

He also refused to look at Richie not give one.

“Ooh we’re playing the Which Friends Character Are You game, huh?” Richie asked, stepping around Stan, eyes still focussed on the chick.

Stan rolled his eyes, “There’s eight of us, it doesn’t work.”

“Spoken like a true Ross.”

Stan shook his head and sighed.

Like the Ross he was.

“Alright, I’m game,” Bev piped up, raising her glass from across the room, her eyes glinting at Richie.

“Do your worst, Trashmouth.”

Richie smirked, clearly tickled by the challenge.

“Alright, Marsh,” he cleared his throat, beginning to pace the room like Columbo at the end of every episode, where he explained how he solved the whole damn case with nothing but a moved potted plant, “You’re Phoebe obviously, because you’re a fiery but lovable enigma who’s cooler than all of us combined.”

Bev chuckled, “Damn straight.”

“Haystack here,” Richie whirled around, cradling Carbs to his chest in one hand and pointing with the other, “is our Joey for his actor good-looks and lovable nature.”

Ben sank down into the couch next to Bev, picking up her socked-feet and rubbing them, “I’ll take it.”

Bev grinned, “I did always think Joey and Phoebe should’ve got together. Although Paul Rudd was great.”

“Which leads me to,” Richie turned to his left, smirking.

“Oh no,” Mike held up his hands, “count me out. Black people weren’t even a thing on Friends until like season 9 or whatever so—”

“Oh yeah, the diversity sucks ass Mikey, no one’s disputing that,” Richie agreed with a nod, “but hear me out. You’re Mike, Mike! A sexy, African-American Paul Rudd. Think about it...you may come in late in the game but you win everyone over instantly with your good looks, nerdy charm and wicked air-piano skills! Just like you did with the Losers Club!”

Mike blinked, amused.

Stan tilted his head.

“I don’t think that’s exactly—”

“Same with Patty!”

Richie cut Stan off, clearly on a roll, whirling around to point at his wife.

“It feels like she’s always been with us, right?” he asked the group at large, smile pleased when everyone nods in agreement, Bev winding an arm around her from where she was perched on the arm of the couch, causing Patty to flush and grin behind her wine glass at the compliment.

“And you know who was always with the Friends? Always there, like an honorary 7th member? Or 8th in this case?”

Eddie rolled his eyes, not quite believing he was going to participate in this.

“Gunther.”

Richie winked, “Gold star for Kaspbrak.”

“She does make a mean Cappuccino,” Stan mumbled almost absentmindedly as Patty gave her charming snort-laugh, letting her head rest against her husband’s shoulder as he stood next to the couch.

“Which leaves…”

Richie slowly turned on the spot, like the dramatic bastard he was.

“Congrats, Bill. You’re Rachel. Our Jen Aniston. People are gonna start copying your hairstyle soon.”

Bill chuckled, “Yeah, don’t think ‘The Bill’ has quite the same ring to it, Rich.”

Richie gave a dismissive wave.

“It’ll catch on. Then you’ll become a mega movie star and forget the rest of us exist. Except for Eddie, of course.”

Bill frowned.

“Why just Eddie?”

Richie threw him an exasperated look.

“Because he’s Monica! Courteney Cox. Best friend of Jen to this day. Duh.”

“So you two are married, then?”

Eddie felt his throat tighten as Richie squared his shoulders at Stanley, gently putting Carbs in her bed before huffing out a laugh.

“Nah man, we’re still in the friends-who-help-friends-give-their-dates-orgasms-in-seven-steps, stage.”

Stan rolled his eyes.

“Right.”

Eddie watched as the two friends stared at one another, a weird tension draping over them.

And in true Phoebe-style, Bev broke it.

“Hey, who wants to hear my Smelly Cat rendition?”

Richie’s analysis was flawed, of course. Bill didn’t know jack about fashion (that was Bev), Ben built stages not performed on them, Stan actually loved, cherished and respected his partner, Patty wasn’t desperately in unrequited love with Bill (that was Mike, though it was requited), Mike wasn’t married to Bev (that was Ben) and Bev…

Well.

Bev was spot on, actually. A riddle, wrapped in an enigma, shrouded in mystery, all while being simultaneously cool and lovable.

And Eddie?

He was Monica Geller and proud of it, dammit.

A damn shame Courteney never got the Emmy-nom, in his opinion.

As for Richie?

Richie wasn’t Chandler Bing. Chandler Bing was Richie Tozier.

“If only they had let Chandler be gay,” Richie sighed wistfully as Eddie closed the door, waving off the last of their guests, Bill and Mike as they hopped in an Uber headed for Casa Denbrough.

“Why? So you could fuck Ben instead?”

Eddie knew how his voice sounded as he slowly leaned back against the door, reaching out to pull Richie towards him by his collar, crashing their lips together in a bruising kiss that he had ached for all night.

Richie gasped into his mouth, his hands roaming Eddie’s body like a hyperactive octopus, pressing him back against the door and rolling his bottom lip between his teeth.

Eddie groaned, breaking the kiss, staring up at his best-friend-turned-secret-boyfriend.

“So, when do we tell them we hooked up at Ben and Bev’s wedding?”

Richie chuckled, leaning down and pressing his lips against Eddie’s neck, right over the spot he knew drove him crazy, breathing hot against his skin.

“Not until I ask Bill for his eyelash curler and Ben figures us out. Duh.”

~*~

They really should have been all fucked out after three weeks of eating, drinking, sleeping and sex-ing in Barbados, and yet, as soon as they got back to their apartment, they christened their old bed, their leaking shower and the living room floor because they just couldn’t get enough of each other.

Married.

They were fucking married.

Husbands.

Legally bound.

Til death—

No, not even death could stop them. They proved that already.

“You’re heavy,” Eddie groaned, his chest vibrating under where Richie had his face squished against it.

“It’s all the Barbadian food, dude. S’gone straight to my thighs.”

Eddie brushed his hand along said thigh, squeezing roughly.

“Hmm. I like your thighs.”

“I like you.”

“You better. You’re kinda stuck with me now.”

Richie lifted his head off Eddie’s sweaty chest, smiling softly, interlocking their left hands, pressing their rings together.

“Guess my love life isn’t D.O.A anymore, huh.”

Eddie groaned, and not in the sexy way he had been five minutes before.

“Those Friends references grew old in the nineties, dude. Stop.”

Richie pecked at his lips, letting out a sound of disagreement.

“I’ll have you know, Eds, I—”

The unmistakable sound of a knock echoed throughout the apartment.

They blinked at one another.

“Who the fuck is that? No one knows we’re home yet.”

The post-Honeymoon-fuck had come (heh) above all - including texting the group chat that they had made it back safely onto California soil.

Marriage had made them selfish like that.

Eddie shrugged, “I don’t know. Could be Rosa dropping off Carbs. I did tell her we’d be back today, and she might have like...sensed us. You know what she’s like.”

Rosa was their downstairs neighbour, a lovable, elderly woman who seemed to have had a sixth sense for everything Richie and Eddie-related even before they had become a couple, often calling them out for the pining bullshit before they got their act together, got tipsy at Benverly’s wedding and jumped each other.

Or as Richie put it once - “She high-key ships us, man. Wants us to bone it out.”

To this day, Eddie had no idea what that meant.

Another knock came, this one louder.

“Alright, I’m coming,” Eddie called out, pushing a whining Richie off his chest before he could make the obvious joke and forcing himself to sit up, grimacing as the sheet stuck to his back.

He’d have to be the one to answer. No way he was unleashing a half-naked Richie onto Mrs Hernandez.

Eddie actually had the decency to pull on sweatpants and an old Trashmouth-tee before padding to the door.

He knew his husband did not.

Husband.

Eddie smiled to himself, his stomach doing its usual somersaults that he knew would never fully disappear.

Richie Tozier, his lifelong best friend, was now his husband too.

Crazy.

“Sorry Rosa, we were—”

His incredibly made-up-on-the-spot excuse died on his lips as he opened the front door to reveal - nothing.

Frowning, Eddie stared into the empty air, turning his head to glance down the very vacant hallway.

And then, he heard it.

Quack!

“Oh, not again.”

“Duck!”

Richie said it like fuck.

Like he had been human-autocorrected.

“Yes, Richie, I see that,” Eddie sighed at his husband who had appeared over his shoulder, still shirtless, staring down at the baby duck sitting pretty in a box, much like Carbs had two years before.

“We’re not naming him Daffy,” Eddie grumbled, bending down to gently pick up the box, cradling the duckling against his chest and kicking the door shut.

Richie opened his mouth.

“Or Donald.”

Richie closed his mouth.

One quack called Donald was enough.

“We’ll brainstorm,” Richie grinned, leaning down and capturing Eddie’s lips, before softly patting the new addition to their family on the head.

They’d find the note later. The one that read,

To Chandler and Monica,

You two were the last to find out.

Not Stan.

Here’s a brother for Carbs.

We left her with you as a prank, for Richie’s Friends obsession, but you became the best dads ever instead. You’ll do it again.

Just don’t get them stuck in the Foosball Table.

~The Losers

#reddie #eddie kaspbrak #richie tozier #prompt #lovely anons #friends #i tried lol #my fanfiction #writing stuff

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matt-eldritch · 4 years

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Mortal Kombat Akademy

In between my work on the 31 Days of Original Characters challenge, I've begun to revisit my plans for the big Mortal Kombat story I'd wanted to do for awhile; Mortal Kombat Akademy. I've done a lot of character busts with backstory info and I did a sort of "season one" plots but this is something I'm not really satisfied with anymore. I'm gonna spend the new year trying to readjust and rework the overall story and characters to something more workable. Here's a few odds and ends of what I've planned so far;

Story Outline

Shaolin Monks, Lui Kang and Kung Lao, are recruited into the Mortal Kombat Akademy, the secret fighting school located on the island paradise of international crimelord, Shang Tsung. But those who step foot on the island are subjected to terrors beyond comprehension once they learn the true purpose of the school; a training ground for the soldiers of an interdimensional tyrant who conquers by use of a fighting tournaments ordained by the gods themselves. But one of the gods, Raiden, is willing to give Earth a fighting chance by training as many chosen Earthlings as he can so they may finally defeat the forces of evil in the Mortal Kombat tournament.

Kinda bare bones but for plot synopsis go, it helps me sort of make a launching pad for the ideas. Like my original idea, the story is still primarily about Lui Kang and Kung Lao going to the school and meeting/befriending the typical heroes of the Mortal Kombat world, Raiden being their mentor and Shang Tsung being the big bad to overcome.

But the story ideas I had just don’t really cut it for me now. I feel as though I was sort of putting the cart before the horse by putting so much time making elaborate details instead of snowballing one idea to make a big bright idea. I’ve made some titles for them;

Start the Semester!

Tour the Akademy!

Prepare for the First Exams!

Bond Like Your Lives Depend On It!

Learn the Fatalities!

Wills and Testaments!

Survive the Detetionrealm!

Survive the First Round of Exams!

Survive the Second Round of Exams!

Survive the Last Round of Exams!

Party Your Asses Off!

Mortal Kombat Akademy V. The DC Universe: Dawn of Pain!

To give some context to them, I had a storyarc planned; Early on, Raiden would want the Earthrealm class (the class would have Kang, Lao, Johnny, Sonya, Jax, Stryker and Nightwolf) to be friends and allies in order to survive the matches and save the world. Easier said than done when so many personalities were clashing together. And once they learn about fatalities, the class goes through some mental anguish over having to kill or be killed, Kang being the only one vowing to never kill anyone, to the disbelief of everyone else. Things start looking up once the class starts to trust and respect one another and become stronger fighters.

But Kano, on the behalf of Goro’s Class (Mileena, Kitana, Jade, Baraka, Sheeva, Skarlet, Reptile, Tanya and Kano himself) frames Sonya and Johnny for a crime, leading to Professor Quan Chi to exile them to the “Detention Realm” where his goons, Drahmin and Moloch, deal out the punishments. My idea for them that they’d be bumbling and dim so Johnny and Sonya could escape them, bonding while trying to make it to the final exams. Everyone but Kang and Lao have been defeated and since Sonya and Johnny were late, it’d all be up to them to beat Goro. Once Goro beast Lao half to death, Kang faces his fears and manages to defeat Goro without killing him, but not without making him suffer for all the pain he’s caused.

The class’ reward for passing the exams is an-all expense paid vacation to Edenia, which is basically a hellhole built to Shao Kahn’s pleasure. Here, Kang and Kitana get some alone time to romantically connect to one another during the celebratory feast hosted by Kitana and Mileena’s parents, Shao Kahn and Sindel. But really, the feast is for the Kahns to asses the threat that Raiden’s students hold to their long term plans. And finally, the DCU story is just a fun breather where I have the mid-1990s versions of their heroes (Superman with a mullet, Batman Forever styled Batman and the two Wonder Women, Artemis and Diana, for example).

And after rereading what I had for plots, I noticed how little the Lin Keui featured into the stories since I designed a lot of them for the series. Should try to fix that somehow.

Overall Art Style

As I stated in previous MKA concept art, I based the art style on the look of Steven Universe. I still intend for the project to be written fanfiction, but I do wish to have some elements of it to be drawn by myself. Not a full adaptation but maybe a full page illustration of each chapter, along with the general character/environment sketches, or like the ending credits of The Mandalorian series.

But back to the art style, I wish to change it. I can’t really go further on the style of Steven Universe if this story is going to be about such heavy violence and gore. It wouldn’t really look right, might cross over into unintentional hilarity or into the uncanny valley. I’m looking at something like the artist One, the man behind One Punch Man and Mob Psycho 100 whose style is really unique, fast, sketchy and frenetic, all attributes I think will work well. I also love the anime aesthetic of the 1990s so that’s definitely a goal to achieve since I’m setting the story in 1995.

Story Ideas To Keep

* Koins: My idea for an in-canon reason for the koins you win in matches (at least in Mks 9-11, IDK how far back they go) to unlock Krypt stuff will be used as a way for the students to buy things like food, clothing and resurrections due to being killed by another student’s fatalities since its primarily a learning facility instead of a battlefield. Though if you’re broke, you’re not gonna be saved. Koins, like in the games, will be given for performing a fatality and a moral choice comes up when you think “do I do good and be paid less, or do something terrible but get more chances of being resurrected if I die?”

*Profiles: I’ve got to do some rewrites for the characters. Nothing too too major since I do like a lot of what I wrote, but its more to streamline it to fit in the new direction I’m doing. Like, having Sonya, Jax and Stryker being Hall Monitors, I don’t think something like that is gonna be part of my story since I’m trying to take it a tad more seriously. The idea of Detention Realm and having Dharmin and Moloch as lovable henchmen is still canon, as far as I’m concerned. Think the two mice henchmen from the film “Flushed Away”. And on a final note, the newly retconned origin for Sindel...that shit isn’t gonna be part of my story.

Overall, whatever backstories that’ll be changed will likely be on a case by case basis. No telling who or what will be changed right now, but I’ve now thought of some parts to start with.

Diversity and Inclusion

This one is probably gonna be one of the hardest to accomplish since I really want to make the series really diverse with body types, genders and sexuality, race, neurodiversity, that type of subject matter. Inclusion is really important to me, and I’m scared how I might screw it up like how Disney, JK Rowling, SNL, Simpsons, Big Mouth, Voltron so many more screw it all up since they all serve the needs of the capitalist, neoliberal status quo over the voices of the marginalised.

And with that, brings up some more challenges. Will I make so many diverse original characters that they take time away from the canon characters? Should I make more canon MK characters differently diverse?

I'm also planning on having the characters display prejudices and bigotries but I'm scared I'll go in too much of "Bright" territory, if you know what I mean.

Tackling Mature Content

I mean, it goes without saying that the series is going to be full of violence and gore since that’s basically in the DNA of Mortal Kombat in the first place. But there’s much more serious topics I want to try to write. Like the effects of abuse, queer rights, the above themes about diversity and inclusion, the seemingly never ending war and the ideas of the long defeat. Of course, my chapters will be marked with as clear as possible content warnings, those are important.

A Shared Universe

A month ago, I watched a video about Midway trying to recreate the success of Mortal Kombat into other fighting games. The video, “Remember when Midway tried to copy Mortal Kombat?” talked about three would-be franchises of Midway fighting games; Mace: The Dark Age, War Gods and Bio FREAKS. After watching the video and reading about the games, I think it’d be good for lore if they were integrated into my story. Mace and War Gods could be used as part of the backstory of the series. Like the idea of the Earthrealm Kombatants being the descendants of the characters of Mace and War Gods, maybe Raiden was involved with the later, I’m not sure. Bio FREAKS could be latter used if I go into a time travel story. Maybe a mix of the game and the story/characters of Mortal Kombat X. As for Midway’s other successful but overlooked franchise, Killer Instinct, that is probably going to be the most recurring element in the shared universe. UltraTech, the main villains of the series would be the people behind such things as Kano’s cyborg eye, the Lin Keui’s Cyber Initiative and being the rulers of Neo-Amerika in the Bio FREAKS timeline. I also wrote in the profiles of Nightwolf and Sub-Zero that the Killer Instinct universe is linked to my story (one of his divorced parents is dating one of the parents of KI’s Black Eagle and Thunder while Glacius was an alien that helped give Cryomancers their powers).

And on a side note, there is another Midway MK clone called Primal Rage, which I swear I had one of the toys based on it and saw a parody of it on an episode of Dexter’s Laboratory. Its pretty gruesome, its a bunch of savage Kaiju in a post-apocalyptic earth that resembles the stone age. Probably an alternate timeline/dimension if I use it in my series. Who knows, maybe elements of the worlds of Street Fighter and or God of War could make an appearance...

Writing the Damned Thing

Probably the absolute hardest part of this entire thing. I struggle with actually keeping attention to writing since I’m primarily a visual artist and it feels terrible to not even follow through on any idea I have and it just kinda sits and collects dust in my brain. If its sketching and rendering, I can do it. If its writing shit down, I just have executive dysfunction when it comes to it. I never know where to start writing it, how to continue writing it, how to finish it or how to put it all together cohesively.

I can’t do this without at least writing the complete first season, if I do it on a semi-regular basis, nothing is going to be done. Even like, less than a week of non-recurring writing is like a poison to me. I don’t know how, but if I make room for an hour or two of writing a day every day might help me get more prepared for longer writing.

In Conclusion

When will the first chapter be done? I don’t know. When will I start writing? Hopefully as soon as I can. I can try to post updates or work in progresses, but that’s still a pipe dream, in my honest opinion. But I want to make progress in 2020, I need to make a difference and to actually make this coming year worthwhile.

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pcttrailsidereader · 5 years

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April is the Worst Time to Start the PCT . . . Here’s Why

This is a perennial question that has no right answer. That being said, it is an important decision for each individual to make based upon snow pack, skill level, tolerance for crowds and need for solitude, pace, and, of course, when you need to be done. Daniel Winsor offers his perspective and outlines a number of considerations.

This post seems an appropriate follow-up to the October 29 post about the changes to the permit system for 2020. It will become increasingly important because these changes will make skipping the High Sierra and returning later more difficult given new permit regulations.

By Daniel “Beta” Winsor

…ok, ok, so maybe it’s not the absolute worst time. December, for instance, probably deserves that title.

I thru-hiked the Pacific Crest Trail in 2017, starting on March 26th. But if I did it again, I’d start a week earlier.

Heresy, I know.

Because April 15th, plus or minus a few days, has traditionally been THE time to get on the trail headed north. Last season, those permit dates were the first to go, within minutes of the permits opening up. You ask a group online for their opinion, they’ll tell you mid-April. You read a book on the PCT, you’ll get the same answer.

It’s not a very good answer.

Now I’m not saying it can’t be done, obviously many people have started in April over the years and did just fine. I’m proposing that more people think about starting in March, specifically the last two weeks of March. Here’s a few of the rationales behind starting in April, and why March is almost always a better answer.

1. Snow in Southern California

Specifically Fuller Ridge near Mt. San Jacinto and then Mt. Baden-Powell later on. Honestly, there’s not much too worry about here.

I went through Fuller Ridge on April 5th on one of the highest snow years in recent history… and it was about five miles of low angle snow. People were getting through without any snow gear (not recommended). For me, it was slow, but manageable, in microspikes. Hikers with crampons used words like “cake” and “joke” enough to make me wish I had crampons.

People summit Mt. San Jacinto in the winter. You just hiked over a hundred miles to get to Fuller Ridge. You can most likely handle walking along a peripheral ridge for a few miles in the spring.

Mt. Baden-Powell is along the same lines as San Jacinto. The snow is steeper, but only slightly, and longer, about ten miles. Many of us managed just fine with microspikes, but those with crampons ran across with a common theme of “was that it?” once they were off snow again.

If there’s ANY snow in the Sierra you’ll be dealing with (a.k.a. every year that isn’t an extreme drought year), don’t fear the small patches of snow in SoCal. Get your ice axe and crampons out and go boost your confidence. Never used those things before? Go learn! It’s a great opportunity to figure out if you feel ready to tackle Sierra snow or if you need to flip up north to avoid the white stuff.

There is MUCH chatter about those first snowy obstacles. This is the first time you’ll likely see the word “impassible” crop up online…

Low angle snow is never impassible with the right gear.

2. Snow in the Sierra Nevada

If you start the PCT in March, then there will be a ton of snow in the Sierra, right?? Yes and no, it really depends on the snow year.

During high snow years:

…such as 2011 and 2017 (and 2019), starting in March puts you in Kennedy Meadows in late April or early May. Most people will need a few days to put their gear together before entering the snow, then you’ll enter into the Sierra in the first or second week of May. At a comfortable pace in the hard, firm snow, you’ll exit the Sierra in the first couple weeks of June.

Does that sound early? It is, BUT you get to leave the Sierra before the melt happens in mid-to-late June when crossing creeks becomes a harrowing, dangerous obstacle. Traveling on snow isn’t (terribly) dangerous, crossing creeks is dangerous. Snow is slow, but you’ll keep moving safely forward. Swollen creeks have the potential to turn you around or even kill you. Many of the creeks, up to 80% of them, are possible to cross on snow bridges during the month of May after heavy winters.

Unfortunately, a well known rule-of-thumb is to leave Kennedy Meadows on “Ray Day”, which is June 15th. Hikers who followed this guidance in 2017 damn near gave themselves a death sentence. Most who went into the Sierra in the month of June were forced to bail. Some even died.

Go when the snow is still snow.

During low snow years:

…such as the drought years from 2012 to 2016, March is still the better answer. You aren’t racing to get to the Sierra before the melt happens, but seeing the Sierra in at least some snow and solitude before the crowds move in on the John Muir Trail portion of the PCT will be the highlight of your hike.

An earlier start gives you the gift of time also. The Sierra is an incredible place, most hikers consider it their favorite section of the whole trail. Nobody should be running through it. There’s plenty of monotonous hiking in the hundreds of miles ahead to push mileage.

There’s great trail towns and side trips all along the Sierra also, take more zeros! Like Bishop, California? Stay there a couple extra days. Mammoth is great spot to go skiing in June! You’ll hike right by Yosemite Valley, an incredible side trip to go play tourist for a day or two.

3. It’s too cold.

I’d actually flip this concern and consider it too hot to start hiking in April.

Starting in late March means you’ll be hiking through Southern California section mostly in April. The hottest and most waterless sections of the PCT happen 3-4 weeks after you start, just before getting to Kennedy Meadows.

Water is a big factor here too. Seasonal water sources in Southern California start dwindling in early May, some even earlier. Without those intermittent water sources, you have to carry more water. Some stretches can be 7-8 liters, even more if you’re hiking slow. The most I had to carry was five liters, which turned out to be excessive.

Water caches are a personal enemy of mine (more on that later), but they are a (wrongly) heavily relied on source through those hottest sections, sometimes getting hikers in trouble. Caches tend to be well stocked very early in the season, even before they’re really necessary, but many run dry as the folks who were maintaining the caches don’t have the time/energy/money to keep them stocked the whole season. Earlier hikers have a better chance coming across water in the water caches.

TO BE CLEAR: NOBODY SHOULD BE RELYING ON WATER CACHES.

I apologize for all the capitol letters, how annoying. But anyways…

If you start in April, you’ll be walking through 90F days in May with disappearing seasonal water sources and questionable water caches. Starting in March, you’ll be walking through 70F days in April with every seasonal water source flowing and freshly stocked water caches.

One of those sounds a bit better than the other, right?

Oh, but you can just hike through the night to beat the heat? Uh. There’s cool stuff to look at out there. Why would you want to miss it? You could just stick a treadmill in your basement, stop showering, and turn off the lights if that’s all you wanted out of your thru-hike.

…although you’d also have to pencil in some off-treadmill time for the psychiatrist.

As for the cold, if you have a 20F sleeping bag, you’ll be fine. My coldest morning in Southern California was 23F near Big Bear. But then I was sleeping back in the 20’s the last few days in Washington! If I had started later, I’d have been spending the last weeks on the trail even colder, through snow storms and other garbage that NO ONE wants to backpack through in the final weeks of such and long, exhausting trip. The beginning of any thru-hike is the time to be uncomfortable, not the end.

4. There aren’t any trail angels or trail magic around in March.

Wrong. One of the best parts of hiking in the early season is that you’re one of the first PCT faces most people are seeing. You’re ahead of the “herd” of hikers, so businesses are still happy to see you. No asshat thru-hikers (yes, these exist) have come along to put a bad taste in anyone’s mouth yet. You’re still a novelty in trail towns. You’re the ONLY hiker at bars and restaurants. People haven’t seen PCTers in a while, so they want to say hi and buy you beers and give you rides. You know what people want to do when they walk into a bar with 20 thru-hikers? Probably leave after they throw up, because why would a hiker shower first when there’s hot food waiting?!

Big trail angel stops are still psyched on the season starting. You’re in places like Hiker Heaven and Hiker Town with less than 10 other people, not 50 or 60.

Just like thru-hikers, trail angels get worn out as the season goes on. By the end of the “herd”, there’s fewer and fewer trail angels around. Earlier season hikers easily have it the best when it comes to trail angels, and this continues all the way up to Canada.

5. I’ll miss the bubble of hikers if I start in March!

Uh. Good.

Not that all thru-hikers aren’t amazing people, I made many incredible friends on my thru, but think about what happens when there’s 50 people starting the trail every day for weeks before you and weeks after…

What are the odds that perfect campsite is free at the end of the day?

When someone leaves a couple six-packs of IPA’s as trail magic, what are the odds there will be one left for you?

Ever tried hitch-hiking along a road with 20 other hitch-hikers?

You like solitude? Hopefully you’ll get over that.

I don’t mean to say that a ton of thru-hikers on the trail is a bad thing, but some people like it, some people don’t. I prefer a tight-knit group of hikers I can get to know, but spend as much time alone as I want. That’s what I got by starting in March.

Final Consideration: Permits

Note: See the updates to the Permit system in the October 29 post. These changes have occurred after Daniel Winsor wrote this piece.

This upcoming year is the first time permits will be given out in November, before anyone has any idea what will happen during the upcoming winter! This is understandably frustrating for 2018 thru-hikers.

So what’s the safe bet if you’re not particularly good at telling the future? Once again: March.

If you go with an April permit and we have a dry winter, you’re in for a hot, waterless desert section. If we see another high snow year, an April permit will put you in the Sierra right when the rivers get dangerous.

If you go with a March permit and we have a dry winter, you’re in for a pleasant desert hike with decent water sources. If we see another high snow year, a March permit will give you choices: head straight through the Sierra on hard snow before the melt, flip up to Hat Creek Rim while it’s still pleasant, or drink beer in Bishop hoping it all melts (which this year, it oddly did).

The earlier permit thing sucks. No way around that. But if you’d like to play it safe, March is the way to go. The beautiful advantage to starting early is that you can always take more zeros. If you start too late, you can’t insert time into your hike if you need more.

All considered, you have to choose your starting date based around many more factors. Time off from work, time away from loved ones, financial limitations etc. The most important thing about choosing a start date is to allow as much time as possible for your journey. Nobody wants to death march through such an amazing trail. Take your time, stay uninjured, and go camp next to that gorgeous lake! A core regret of many thru-hikers is not allowing themselves time to thoroughly enjoy the trail.

Starting in March will give you that time.

#crowds #solitude #start date

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mugen-monogatari · 5 years

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5 Quality Yet Accessible Tragic Anime You Should Watch

Let’s talk about tragedy in anime. Ain’t nothin’ like watching some sad anime boys experiencing sad things while I sit there and cry. I love tragedy in anime, there’s just a certain satisfaction in ‘dissatisfaction’. Sometimes, it’s far more meaningful for someone to lose a fight, to make a hard decision or sacrifice something. Maybe the hero never saves the girl, or a loved one just doesn’t make it. Yes, in a perfect world everyone ends up happy, but this isn’t a perfect world. People suffer, and sometimes it ends on a good note, sometimes everything goes to hell and the world burns. That gritty realism and human error adds a level of empathy and depth to many shows that would otherwise lack it. I personally think it’s worth talking about that, since I don’t think tragic anime get enough love.

So I thought I’d make a quick list of 5 accessible yet Quality tragedy series, ranging from pretty popular and accessible, to slightly more niche. Many of you have seen these series I’m sure, but with the continuous stream of shows being released every single season, it can be hard to either go back and watch older shows, or stay on top of newer ones. These are just a few picks that I would urge anyone and everyone to go and at least try.

I should also preface this by saying, when I say tragedy, it doesn’t mean the show has a depressing ending. By tragedy I’m referring to tragic events happening in a show regularly, be it at the end, the beginning or throughout. Simply putting something on this list, doesn’t mean it has a tragic ending, so you can rest assured there are still surprises to come when watching these.

Also, these are all my opinions, everyone is entitled to them. You can disagree or agree, it’s up to you, we can even discuss my peeps. Just don’t brutalize me for shows you don’t like or if one of your favorites isn’t on this list.

All of that being said, Here are 5 tragic series I think everyone should at least try:

1. Code Geass

Starting off simple we have Code Geass. What a show this was back in the day. Death Note, mixed with Mechs and sci-fi and chess and a whole lot of edge. For many people, they have already seen it, it’s almost guaranteed if you watched anime in the early 2000s. However, as time goes on, this series slowly falls into obscurity, many people being less attracted by its flamboyant art style and the ever growing age. It seems like Code Geass is slowly fading away with time, people online aren’t forgetting about it, but moving on, and many new fans are understandably detracted from a show like this.

But they’re all wrong. This series is incredible. It’s a fundamental “must-watch” show. Sure, it shows it’s age now, but that doesn’t detract from it’s plot and characters. With a very likeable cast, a constantly expanding story, high stakes, insane powers and mind games, politics and action, all of these make an insanely good series, one that warrants repeated viewing to this day. What starts as a boy being in the wrong place at the wrong time, blows up into a worldwide conflict. This is one of those series that sticks with you, there are scenes and moments in this you just never forget moving forward.

Some of the things I love is Sunrise’s mech designs, Lancelot as well as many of the Knightmare frame designs in the movies and show are still fun and vibrant to this day. Many old Mecha shows become redundant years later as the designs don’t hold up. This one though, certainly does.

I also really love the voice acting. Yes the sub is good, but the dub (fight me) is just mwah. Johnny Yong Bosch as Lelouch is nut worthy. Just watch the first episode where he gives his first command. Insta nut. I’m telling you.

I also love the endings of both seasons. I think the first is a really good climax, while the second season closes about as well as this could, while still coming out of left field.

Some things that I think detract people, definitely start with the art style. Sunrise’s designs for the machines and backgrounds and such is fine, it looks good, however Clamp’s character designs are definitely an acquired taste. They’re not for everyone. Everyone looks super slender, almost cartoon like in their clothes and proportions. Yes you get used to it, but they still look very “different” to the standard, even back when it first came out.

Another is sometimes, the show just goes to very strange places, for example having an episode to do with drug addiction that just came out of left-field. In the same vein, some people have very mixed opinions on season two, not entirely liking the direction it goes and some of the character developments. However, a lot of these things are subjective and I’ll leave them up to you to decide.

Spanning two, 25 episode seasons (you can definitely just pretend the movie never happened) as well as several spin off OVAs and Shorts (Those you actually can watch though), the series is a pretty long watch by today’s standards, but it’s definitely worth it.

2. Zankyou No Terror

Next up, we have Terror in Resonance. This one for sure is worth the watch even without the tragedy. This is one of those shows, which is so visually appealing to watch. It’s one of the most aesthetically pleasing shows I’ve ever seen. I guarantee anyone who’s interested in aesthetic gifs and images of weeb stuff, has seen shots from this show without even realizing it. It’s not exactly a niche show, but it’s a little less accessible than something like “Angel Beats”, with a much more serious and gritty tone. It’s not criminally underrated, but I just really wish more people had seen this, since it genuinely is a beautiful series.

Some of the things I really love about this show, is (as I’ve mentioned a thousand times) the aesthetic sense. Every shot in this series is screenshot worthy, with plenty scenes making for ‘straight-out-the-box’ gifs and icons and whatever it is you kids use screenshots for. Even the food, just like papa Gigguk mentioned, is just mwah, spicy stuff. I attribute this to the very well considered color palette, realistic lighting and designs, as well as just overall good cinematography.

On the less visible side of things, the story hold ups really well too, with some very genuinely emotional moments and scenes. Just like Code Geass above, this series has a very well considered ending, with a “Wholesome”(?) message at the end.

The only negatives I can really give for the series, is some pacing issues if you’re an impatient brat like me, as well as almost a complete lack of lightheartedness. The series can be sweet and touching, but it’s almost always dark and serious at the same time, with no time to relax or breathe throughout.

I think there isn’t as much to say about ZnT as there is about Code geass, as it’s not as subjective. It is an objectively high quality show, your own enjoyment of it is what varies. Unlike Code Geass, there isn’t many flaws, but it doesn’t take as many risks. To me, this show is a very safe bet. It looks gorgeous, is only 11 episodes (you big boys and girls can binge that) and tells a satisfying, self-contained story. A little bonus is that it’s directed by Shinichiro Watanabe, famous for Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo, so hey- It has that going for it too.

3. Parasyte: The Maxim

Following on, we have one of the series that introduced me to tragedy, Parasyte: The Maxim. Let me tell you, this series is dark. And violent. Very violent at times.

When it first aired in 2014, the response was pretty good, it didn’t reach critical Acclaim, but had its own cult following, with the manga having been published from the late 80s to the mid 90s. For me, this was one of my first truly “darker” and more violent anime, having really only watched shounen and some seinen before that. This to me isn’t one of the best stories ever, the characters are fine, and the show looks acceptable. But while it doesn’t excel in anything, it does everything really well. To me, it’s the perfect bridge from Casual fan, to serious- or even as a primer for more dark and violent stories, such as Berserk or dare I say it Tokyo Ghoul (Read the manga, please don’t support the anime adaptation).

For me personally, I really Liked the main character, he drove the show on for me. Watching him develop into someone completely different from the beginning of the show, was a real draw to me. He’s likeable, relatable to an extent, and he had a complete character arc. Shinichi in the beginning is not the same character as in the end.

This character is also used to convey a deeper meaning about what humanity is and how we define the term. It’s a really interesting series about us as a race, with some genuine things to discuss and think about, which leaves a longer lasting impression than most shows. It’s the sort of series that makes you want to share it with other people just so you can talk to them about it. Ah- and it’ll hit you in the feels. This show is genuinely tragic through out, but still stays personal to the small cast, which to me, is the sign of a really good tragedy. Despite things going on in the entire world, they make you care about these few people specifically.

However, it has it’s own problems too. Art wise, it’s very faithful to the original source material, capturing the feel of it, the low key oppressive vibes. However, this also means, it can look a little… ‘Bland’? At times. The earthy colors can be a little drab, especially in an age were Studio Trigger, for example, can make an eye-gasm worthy scene using colours you didn’t even know existed.

The other problem, is some of the characters are very one dimensional. Take the love interest, she doesn’t really develop or change at all throughout the series, but I personally give this a pass as she’s not super relevant to the story anyway.

A fair warning though, this series has some strong violence, plenty of gore and mutilation, if that’s a problem for you, I suggest either giving this one a skip, or just trying to sit through it. It’ll be a good learning experience.

Spanning a fair 24 episodes, having aired in 2014, this series is both bingeable, and holds-up very well in the modern ecosystem of anime. To me, this is a pretty top tier show, a solid 8/10, it’s very good, a really well made show, It makes for the perfect bridge into far more serious and dark stories, such as maybe Berserk and Devilman, hence why I put it on this list.

4. Fate/Zero

For my second to last show, perhaps one of the most well known franchises, that is lowkey kinda niche. Fate is a series everyone knows the existence of, but not as many people have actually watched, especially not casual fans. To be frank, it’s intimidating. The series has no real easy entry point, and all the timelines are relatively interwoven, you can’t just bounce around. Everything spoils everything and it’s scary to even look at a list of fate entries.

That’s why I picked Fate Zero. To me, it’s the best entry point into the Type/Moon genre. For those of you who don’t know, it’s basically a battle royal between seven summoners who each have a servant of different classes. They all have to fight for the Holy Grail, an artifact that will grant them a single wish. Sounds simple right?

Well it’s not. The entire series is full of not only badass action, but plenty of mind games and ‘cat-and-mouse’ between the characters. It’s brutal, it’s tragic, violent and uplifting. Ufotable delivers some of the highest quality animation you’ll see in your life (they’re renowned for it), but it doesn’t just look good. The story is compelling, the characters are genuinely likeable and by the end, I wanted everyone to live and survive. Everyone has believable and compelling motivation, and even the objectively evil characters, like Caster, are still likeable, because you begin to love to hate them. The entire season honestly plays out more like a compressed microcosmic version of Game of Thrones, than a battle royal anime.

There are plenty of things I like about this series, the plot is really fun, the fights are pretty damn cool and it can be a very emotional show at times. I could talk about these aspects endlessly. However, the thing that really makes Fate for me, is the characters. Each individual characters gets some time and attention, and with the exception of a few, you really genuinely like and care about everyone. You want everyone to win, or at least survive, since all of them are either genuinely lovable, or have very compelling motivation.

The other part to it is, this is the best starting point for the rest of Fate, and I would actually argue that it enhances many scenes found in the subsequent (story wise) series, even if they aired prior to Zero. This series both introduced me to Fate, and got me attached and invested in the world, which is the sign of a good (technically) first series.

On the other hand, it has problems. First of all, it’s pretty interwoven with the later series. Those came before it and set up a lot of mysteries and ideas that Zero goes out of it’s way to explain, from character identities to events in the timeline, watching Zero will spoil a lot of those things, which may lessen the later experiences for some people.

The other flaw is despite being maybe the best starting point for Fate, it still isn’t entirely accessible. The show can be straight up confusing at times, at least for someone who hasn’t seen Fate. Many elements of the world aren’t explained and you’re just expected to go along with it, since it’s either just a part of this world, or explained in other series. Which is fine, but often lead to some rather “But wait… What just happened?” moments.

Ultimately, Fate/Zero is fantastic series for anyone looking for a really good character drama, full of magic and badass historical references. It’s not the best introduction but it’s the best you’ll get from Fate. Similarly to Code Geass and ZnT, the series has a really good conclusion in my opinion, with plenty of tragic moments sprinkled throughout.

For Fate, Zero specifically consists of two seasons of 12 episodes each, for a bingeable 24 episode series. For ideas where to go next from this, look for my upcoming Tumblr Post explaining the fate continuity.

5. Mobile Suit Gundam : Iron-Blooded Orphans

And Finally, we come to our last pick of the day. This is a series, I would urge anyone to watch. If I could make you watch one Single series from this list, this would be it. Throw away any views you have on the franchise or the genre, don’t be afraid of the name, just give this series a try.

Iron Blooded Orphans follows a small mercenary band of boys who just want to make a home for themselves in a galaxy strained by political unrest. The premise is simple, just people trying to survive and make a life for themselves.

Well what if I told you it was directed and written by the same Duo that made AnoHana, one of the most commonly acknowledged tragic shows out there. This duo write and direct stories about innocent children being put through immense hardship and this series is no different. This show is tragic, painful even. I sobbed as many times as I laughed and smiled in this show. We spend a season watching them come up in the world, only to watch everything get torn apart in the second season, and it is genuinely emotional and heart wrenching.

Something I love about this series, is the characters and how attached you become to them. Death is a genuine threat in this show, even if you don’t feel it in the beginning. When people die, it hurts, and that applies to IBO, where each death leaves resounding ripples on the people around them. It handles familial relationships really well, making you believe in these people and their emotions. When they suffer, you cry for them, and when they get brief moments of respite, you do too. I love how invested you become in this ragtag team of boys, making some of the later scenes all the more devastating when they happen.

Another thing I love is the stakes. Within the second season, the pressure to perform is on, the first season, while having threats and such, was never even close to season two. To be vague, one of my favorite moments is when a character has to land a decisive shot in the midst of a battle, and everyone’s lives are on the line. That entire confrontation is one of my favorite scenes in anime of all time. It is truly suspenseful and will take you on an emotional journey.

To top it all off, it’s made by Sunrise. If you like Mechs, well oh boy do they have you covered, and if you don’t- well oh boy, you will when you’re done. This show makes the mech Genre, and Gundam entirely accessible, you need no prior knowledge, you don’t need to be a fan to enjoy it. The fights are really fun and have genuinely cool moments, as cool as it can get for a mech anyway. The characters and story are well written and everything just comes together to make a very well produced show- Good job Sunrise.

It doesn’t go without it’s own problems though. The first 20 ish episodes, until they get to earth, are not pointless, but have some pacing issues, as well as low stakes. There are threats and people die, but you never feel that scared or intense. Then towards the end of season one, the show kicks into high gear. To counteract this slow start, the series has a phenomenal season two that I genuinely believe everyone should watch, as it’s a perfect example of character drama done exceptionally well.

The series is comprised of two seasons of 25 episodes each, totaling a measly (if you’re a big boy or girl) 50 episodes. There is several related forms of media, nothing worth mentioning though, for more Gundam, you’re better off watching other series from the franchise.

If I can only force you to watch one, please go out and watch Iron Blooded Orphans. To me, it’s 9- pushing a 10/10 series, with a undeniably slow start, but a fantastic heart felt, emotional ending.

So that’s it from me guys. Thanks for taking the time to read the ramblings of a mad man like me, but I hope this gives some people some ideas on where to go next or what they can watch now. If you enjoyed, make sure to follow me for more discussions and lists and whatever else anime related. If you have any advice, or want to discuss something with me, go ahead let me know, other than that- Leave, go outside, get some fresh air after reading all that.

#anime #discussion #Iron Blooded Orphans #Fate #code geass #Parasyte #terror in resonance #IBO #Gundam

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