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#my stupendous stupidity

raymoo--hackery · 10 months

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Hello followers of the Tumblr variety

It is I, Raymoo Hackery, remembering that you exist!!

And that I haven’t posted any of my work here in a while!!

How messed up is that right?

So many cool artworks that you don’t get to see??

What the hell???

But, major problem, I’m so fucking eeby sleepy that I don wan to deal with this situaaaation rn

So uhm… remind me to do that tmr!!

Kay, thanks, byyyye〜 <3

#this was painful to type I’m gonna kms #I can feel my mind collapsing at the seems #I’m beginning to question the fundamentals of conscious existence #so before I say anything else cringe and stupid I’m putting myself down and sleeping #I wish everyone a please go explode or otherwise I will maul you myself #thank you and have a horrendous night #except for myself I hope I sleep stupendously well #destroy the world #my continuous message #fuck shit balls #a couple slurs #goodbye (derogatory)#raymoojabber

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miasmaghoul · 4 months

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who do u think is the best and worst at riding dick amongst the ghouls

what a STUPENDOUS question!

best to worst below the cut!

Rain - undisputed king of dick riding, whether it be real or silicone. knows exactly how every other ghoul likes it, when to clench and grind and roll his hips just right. he also has crazy high stamina and can ride for a g e s if he feel like it. it's his favorite way to top from the bottom too Aurora - it's her favorite position, and she's damn good at it. not that she minds getting thrown around or pinned to a mattress, but something about being able to bounce with her hands planted on their chest - or thighs, if she's going reverse cowgirl style - drives her wild. as such, she's gotten VERY good at it.

Aeon - one word: flexibility. this boy can be bent and folded into all sorts of novel positions, ones that make even Rain raise a brow, but he'll ride his partner like a pony if they ask for it. he enjoys it too, don't misunderstand, but he likes to be able to keep a greedy hand on himself and that can be difficult when trying to stay balanced.

Dew - small, bendy and energetic, he likes a good ride. preferably with he's bouncing on a ghoul much larger than him. it's not his favorite solely because, unlike Aurora, he actually prefers being overpowered. especially at the end - he has a hard time finishing when he's riding, the effort tires him out, so he'll do it until he can't anymore and then demand to be railed until he can't breathe.

Sunshine - also very energetic, she will ride without argument. however, she has some issues with coordination. finds it difficult to time her bounces with their thrusts, can't focus on touching herself if she's also trying to keep rhythm. no one complains, but they know there are positions that suit her much better.

Cumulus - will ride on request, but it's far from her favorite. it feels amazing, to be sure, but it makes her knees ache and after a few minutes she's usually worn out. she'll take a reclined position any day, preferring to do less of the work but reap all the benefits. the exceptions to the riding thing are Dew and Sunshine, whose warm hands help relieve the soreness in her legs so they can enjoy the feel of her above them a little longer.

Swiss - "bad" isn't how you could describe Swiss' riding style, but most of the others don't have the patience for it. if Swiss wants to ride, it's a commitment - he wants it slow and without prep, wants to sink onto a cock and feel the burning stretch of with minimal lube. it's a specific thing for him, something he really only indulges in with Aether and Cirrus. they give him all the time in the world.

Aether - riding makes him feel weirdly shy, so more often than not he suggests alternatives when asked. Dew, though, gets ridden like a pony whenever he requests it. Aether can tolerate the tightness in his chest much more easily when Dew looks up at him all slack-jawed and stupid while Aether's cock slaps against his belly. sometimes, though, if he needs to feel small, Aether will dress up pretty and ride Mountain until he has tears in his eyes.

Mountain - it's not that he's BAD, per se, but he's got those long, long legs and scrunching them up enough to ride leaves him too sore to make it worthwhile. in all honesty he doesn't bottom often, so if he's in a riding position he's more likely to have his hips held tight and his hold used by whoever has the privilege of being inside.

Cirrus - she's the closest to a stone top amongst my ghouls, so her being at the bottom of the list is mostly perfunctory. could she ride someone til they popped like warm champagne? absolutely. but she would MUCH rather be the one making them bounce on the biggest strap they can handle. if she chooses to ride, though, it's going to be on her terms and probably framed as some hardcore objectification.

#miasma's work #the band ghost headcanons #nameless ghoul headcanons #rain ghoul #dewdrop ghoul #aether ghoul #aeon ghoul #phantom ghoul #mountain ghoul #swiss ghoul #cumulus ghoulette #cirrus ghoulette #aurora ghoulette #sunshine ghoulette

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mellohd · 2 months

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sam winchester is a millennial guys.

more milli-chester coming soon 🔥🔥😈 anyways i had to pose for the coffee and other drawings i havent made yet so be GRATEFUL it was a traumatic and scarring experience that i will carry with me for as long as those tainted images remain in my camera roll…

this is the stupidest thing ive ever made(and ive made some really stupid stuff, like stupendously stupid and thats double stupid so you know its stupid), click below for image without the mug and bonus goodies

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ventique18 · 1 year

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what makes a man attractive is not his stupid face but his stupendous yearning and agonizing longing for one person and one person alone.

it's him. it's malleus "super mega ultra simp i love you with my entire being and i'm afraid to lose you" draconia.

#stolen from blue bird app #twisted wonderland #ventique rambles #malleus draconia #malleus x reader

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luveline · 10 months

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Jadeee! I had a thought reading the last zombie au story, with r taking a bath in the cold water and she was super chilly maybe she gets a tad sick (maybe just some sniffles or a stuffy nose) and Robin and Steve kind of go overboard to take care of her? (And cuddles with Robin's new cat!!)

thank you for your request angel, hope this is ok. steve zombie au —steve and robin take look after you when you get sick. fem!reader, 2k

There are better places to feel shitty. You're the kind of sick that could get dangerous —hypothermia, maybe pneumonia, you got too cold after a cold wash in the river outside of camp and didn't warm up the right way— and it would be a thousand times easier in a building with central heating. But at least you're not in a tarp anymore.

You, Steve and Robin share a real tent. It zippers closed and doesn't have any mesh, so heat brought inside of it doesn't ebb away immediately, like it had in the poorly constructed tarp tent. You pull your second blanket over your body and try to seem casually tired rather than sickbed exhausted as their footsteps return.

"Hey, killer," Robin says as soon as she sees you, ducking under the tent's opening, a box in her hands. "You're finally awake. Since when do you sleep in?"

"I'm tired from the girl's trip."

"That was nearly a week ago," Robin says.

"And yet you're still reaping the benefits," Steve says to her dryly as he follows her inside of the tent. He gets on his knees and crawls to your side. "Hello," he says, kissing your cheek. "Good morning."

"Hey."

He frowns at you. "Why do you sound like that?"

"What? I just woke up," you say.

Steve clearly doesn't believe you, and he's right not to. Sick of being a burden on him, you've stopped telling him about your aches and pains, your injuries, your worries. He absolutely hates it but no amount of begging has changed your mind. You're not interested in being his weight to carry. Love, sure, but there's no reason he should be so intrinsically responsible for your wellbeing. Or at least that's how you feel right now.

"Sarah's given Robin a present," he says, his eyes narrowed at you. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. What did you get, Robs?"

Robin slides the lid off of the box eagerly to show you the contents. "It's a baby grow, only Sarah's cut off the arms and legs and sewed the hems. I'm going to put it on Stinkyboy."

"I thought his name was Shark?" you ask.

"Or something as stupendously stupid," Steve mutters. He smells like woodsmoke. "Are you sure you're okay? You don't look okay." He rubs under your eye with his thumb. "You're all puffy."

"I don't think you can speak to her like that, Steve," Robin says.

Her deadpan delivery makes you laugh, and it's a perfect segue to new conversation and away from your unokay-ness. "Are you and Sarah, like… you know?"

Robin looks at you for a second. "Like what?"

"Romantic?" you whisper.

"Oh, no. She's my new Steve, I'm replacing him."

"Can't you replace him with me?" you ask.

Steve puts his hand on your forehead. "You're warm. You're warm, shithead, are you sick?"

"No?" You frown as his hand moves to the back of your neck. You're not warm there, you're a furnace.

"You're actually sick?" he asks, frowning down at you. "What, were you just not gonna say anything?"

"It's not that bad," you mumble.

Robin and Steve make simultaneous sounds of disbelief. "You really weren't gonna say anything?" Robin asks.

They talk so quickly.

"I don't know for sure if I'm sick, and neither do you guys, don't worry so much." You sit up to get away from Steve's overly cautious hands, black spots behind your eyes and a shooting pain at the back of your head. "Ew," you say, bringing your hand to your eyes, "Maybe I'm sick."

Steve puts his arm behind your shoulders. "Dummy," he says, rubbing your arm.

"What he said." Robin stands up. "I'm gonna go track down some breakfast for little miss secretive. I'll be back. Don't let her die."

"I'll try not to," Steve says.

When Robin's gone, Steve gets nicer. Which isn't to say he's mean when she's around, of course he isn't, but he's polite enough to spare her the full reality of his affection for you, and maybe slightly shy about it. He gathers you into his chest and rubs his cheek against your crown. "You're so warm, honey. I'm not fucking around, you have to tell me when you're not okay."

"You can't do anything about it, Steve, just a flu."

"Where would you have caught the flu?"

"I mean, I must've got it from the cold. It's a cold, that's all it is."

"You sure?" he asks, his hand snaking under your shirt. He takes an unabashed handful of your stomach. "How do you feel?"

"I'm fine, Steve."

It isn't without fondness, but it's said to be simple and straight. Steve tends to catastrophize —why wouldn't he? You can't be cut, you have to be bleeding out. You can't trip, you always fall flat on your face. You have the worst luck in the entire world (or, almost, getting bit would plant you firmly in the worst luck category). And Steve's the one who pays for it, every single time.

So you assure him as best as you can and describe your symptoms honestly. "My head hurts, and I feel like I'm on fire. My hands and my legs are really hot, but I don't feel sick. It's not food poisoning, and it probably isn't, like, influenza."

"I guessed that much."

"Oh, did you?" you murmur, turning in his arms to hug him back, and better. Steve gives the best hugs for you, but you know everything that he likes down to the placement of your pinky finger. You do your own skin-searching and slide your hands under his shirt, one palm roving over each bump of his spine to the midway point. His skin is smooth as velvet under your touch here, and noticeably colder. "Stevie," you say, still murmuring as you drag your fingertips down to the base of his back, "I love you. Don't worry, okay? I caught a chill from the river."

"I do worry," he murmurs back, nuzzling your temple with his scratchy cheek.

"I know, baby."

"It's hard to be the one in charge when you speak to me like that," he says.

"Who says you're in charge?"

You snuggle like fools until Robin insists you eat your breakfast outside in the cold, which you abhor but your feverish skin appreciates. Steve sits on one side of you and Robin on the other.

You know Robin likes you, but you think she must really love you, she's so worried. She doesn't say it, but she keeps glancing your way with a pinch between her eyebrows, and she asks you twice if your breakfast, a lukewarm soup she procured from the campfire, is hot enough. You lie each time, 'cos cold soup stopped bothering you a long time ago, and she's a sweetheart for caring.

Steve suggests a group reading, as in, he grabs a book and usually you'd read, but you're sick, and they both tell you it isn't your turn. Steve reads, practised by now, more confident with each page. He even tries to follow the dialogue tags, whispering and sighing when instructed.

You start to nod off. There are things you should all be doing, but none of you move. You can't report for washing duty, you can barely stand, and Steve refuses to go without you. Robin's supposed to take baby Ada for two hours. When Robin doesn't show up, one of the other members of the camp appears and makes her take her anyway.

"You should strike," you say, woozy on Steve's arm. Your fever is getting worse. The cold breeze helps some, but eventually Steve's gonna have to dunk you in the river.

"I should." She hugs the baby on her chest. "I don't even really like babies. Like, I'd die for her, but kids aren't my thing. At least, they weren't."

"She's quiet," Steve says.

"Why don't you hold her, Stevie?" you ask. He loves kids.

"I'm busy with my own baby."

You can't decide if it's funny or romantic. You fall asleep against his side and wake a few times throughout the evening, your face in his lap, his hand protective in your hair or against your ear. He wakes you at dusk, kissing a stripe down your cheek.

"Sorry," he says softly by your ear, "but I can't carry you."

"You would if you loved me," you tease, your eyes sticky and hard-pressed to open.

Steve helps you stand and takes more of your weight than necessary as you walk back to your tent. Robin's already inside sans baby Ada, and she has a surprise for you.

"Tada!" she says. "It's a pillow."

You rub your eyes with your fist. "Aw," you mumble, disoriented, "yis."

Steve laughs like you're the cutest thing on earth, and he helps you sit down. You're horrified that you actually need him to, almost slipping and smashing your head on the packed dirt ground as your leg buckles under your weight. Now that would've made you sick.

One fool on your left and another on the right, you rest your aching head on Robin's miraculous pillow and breathe a sigh of relief.

"Where did you get this?" you ask.

Robin taps the side of her nose. "Not saying."

You huff at being out of the know but are ultimately too tired to pioneer for your right to know —you nod off a minute later, and vaguely recollect the sound of the tent zipper.

Much later, you wake to whispers.

"He has fleas, Robin," Steve says.

A weight lands on your legs. "He doesn't anymore! And fleas don't live on people."

"But they bite. And they have diseases! Stinkyboy can't stay in here."

"Stinkyboy has just as much right to shelter as you do."

"No, he doesn't. Not if he's going to give bubonic plague to the love of my life."

You try to wake up properly. All you manage is a weak sound and a leg twitch. There's a sharp and sudden silence, disrupted only by a thwacking of skin on skin.

"Did you just hit me?" Robin whispers furiously.

"No! You tried to hit me, I was defending myself!"

"You're so done. I'm taking Stinkyboy and Y/N in the divorce."

"Idiot! Shut up, you'll wake her up. She needs to sleep to get better."

"You're the idiot, idiot. Isn't that right, Stinky? Isn't Uncle Steve just the worst?"

After a night of tossing and turning, you finally wake at daybreak. You're confused at first when you can't see Steve, until you realise he's pulled your head into his lap again, stroking the skin before your hairline. It tickles.

"I still feel awful," you say hoarsely.

"I don't think you'll recover after just one day," Steve whispers back. Robin sleeps beside you, a blanket wrapped bundle of cat at her feet.

"You let her let the cat in?" you ask.

"We actually argued about it at length." Steve's fingertips draw a heart over your temple. "She swears that flea ointment stuff worked, but I found a flea on my sock. I'm furious."

"You sound it."

"Don't worry. She has to de-flea everything, we made a contract."

"Well," you say. "It's a big tent."

It most certainly isn't. If Stinkyboy was as rife with fleas as he was when he first came along Steve would've put his foot down and so would’ve you rather than let him stay, but he only has a few stubborn ones hanging around, and Steve feels really sorry for the poor cat. Imagine how lonely he must have been, he'd said, and then coughed, like sympathy was something to be embarrassed of.

You feel very sorry for the cat, but you absolutely don't want fleas. You ask Steve to help you go down to the river so you can change your clothes and wash the ones you'd been wearing. You're still too sick to do a good job, but Steve sits half behind you and helps your aching arms scrub the fabric against the makeshift washer (corrugated metal from a shed roof).

Being sick isn't so bad when you have that much love at your back, metaphorically and physically. You lean all of your weight on him and sigh.

"Love you," you say.

"Love you," he says back. He holds your wet hands in his. "Now let's go and warm you back up, loser. You're just dying to get hypothermia."

"It's in season."

"Funny."

#steve zombie!au #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington x you #steve harrington x y/n #steve harrington #steve harrington fic #steve harrington blurb #steve harrington drabble #stranger things x reader #stranger things fic #steve harrington imagine #steve harrington fanfic #steve harrington fanfiction #stranger things #stranger things 4

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wild-karrde · 4 months

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One Step at a Time - Part 15

Master List | Previous Part | Next Part

A/N: I have been SO EXCITED for this chapter, and also INCREDIBLY NERVOUS, but HERE IT IS! As always, thank you to the stupendous @teletraan-meets-jarvis for beta reading this for me!

Chapter Rating: M

Warnings: language, mention of suicide, mention of character death, grief

Word Count: 8.4k words

Chuckles didn’t go back to the Starlight.

He didn’t have any idea where his feet were carrying him until he slid onto a stool in the tiny excuse of a cantina the settlement had. As far as he knew, the place had at least three different names, and he’d never been certain which one was the official one. It always seemed to reek of death sticks and sweat, and it attracted mostly miners, leaving smears of dust from their boots across the floor. It wasn’t much, but the camaraderie and feel of the place reminded him of 79s, although the clone bar had definitely been cleaner, even on its worst days.

He wasn’t sure why he’d come here. Throughout his training and the war, he’d had more than enough medical droids warn him against drinking with a concussion, and he’d been stupid enough to ignore that advice only once. The worst hangover of his life combined with the exceptionally loud ass-chewing Crater had given him were enough to ensure he never would make that mistake again. His captain hadn’t normally been one to raise his voice, but he suspected the volume of the reprimand had been part of the punishment.

Maybe he wanted to be around people, to blend into a crowd.

Unfortunately, the place was mostly empty.

Should have guessed that. Could have if my head wasn’t throbbing.

Only two other patrons were there, tucked into corner booths. Normally, you couldn’t hear the music coming from the rundown player in the corner, but tonight, the notes easily carried across the cantina, cutting through the silence even at their low volume.

Chuck chose a seat at the far end of the bar, away from the other patrons. He hadn’t gotten a good enough look to determine who they were, but he didn’t want to sit close enough to encourage conversation. Just because he wanted to be around people didn’t mean he actually wanted to interact with them.

He just didn’t want to feel alone.

Even with the concussion, he was thinking clearly enough to know he wasn’t ready to go back to the Starlight, to the kids he didn’t have answers for, to the sheets that still smelled like the woman that had just told him killing those kids and the use of inhibitor chips were justified.

Did she actually say that though?

Chuckles folded his hands and stabbed his thumbs into the crease between his brows, his eyes squeezed shut.

Stop trying to give her an out.

He’d always been one to try and justify, to rationalize someone’s bad intentions away in favor of some less malicious reasoning. Crater had teased him about his optimism, but if he was honest, the majority of that optimism had died with Crater and most of his squad.

But this was Endi. She loved kids, or she at least seemed to tolerate them better than most. She loved to teach. She baked the best desserts he’d ever had. Sunlight sparkled in her eyes and her laugh sounded like music. She was gentle and kind and soft and sweet, and the person he believed her to be simply did not match the woman he’d sat next to tonight. The two women were incompatible in every way, and yet they were the same, and no amount of spin or mental contortions would change the fact that she was a danger to Arni and Nita, a danger to him.

How did I not see it?

His mind was still churning when he felt someone sit down next to him heavily. He ignored them for a moment before he felt a nudge in his shoulder.

“I expected a better welcome,” Anj croaked. “You’d think I hadn’t almost died today.”

He huffed mirthlessly as he tried not to stare. Anj’s head was wrapped in a wad of bandages that hid one eye. The other eye still glittered brightly but sported a massive bruise around the socket, and the cut on her cheek had been bandaged. The arm she had injured was in a sling, and he could see that two of her fingers were splinted. Every movement she made felt slow and carefully calculated, and he’d seen enough injured brothers to be able to see what body parts she was favoring or trying to keep away from scrutiny. In his estimate, she had at least a few injured ribs as well, an ankle that was giving her trouble, and she had all of the same muscle soreness he did.

If she noticed him tallying her injuries, she didn’t comment. Instead, with her good hand, she slid him an unlabeled green bottle across the worn wooden bartop.

“It was Lu’s. He kept the strongest stuff in town.” She sighed, her voice breaking slightly. “‘S not strong enough for this, though.”

Chuckles rolled the bottle between his hands, examining the amber liquid inside. He wasn’t certain she wanted him to ask how she got it. So he didn’t.

“I can’t drink this right now.” He tapped his temple. “Concussed.”

She scoffed, taking the bottle back. “More for me then, I suppose.”

A glass of water brushed Chuckles’s knuckles, and he glanced up to see the barkeep standing on the other side of the counter, watching him carefully. He’d never been certain what species they were and figured it would be rude to guess, but they were at least visibly humanoid, a handful of centimeters taller than Chuck with dark skin and even darker eyes. Their shock of pink hair was woven into tight braids that hung down their back to their waist, and silver piercings sparkled from their nose and ears. They went by Mona and normally, they met their patrons with a smile and joke, but tonight, he could see sadness and sympathy in their eyes.

Word’s gotten around about what happened.

“Thanks Mona,” he rasped.

“Let me know if you need more. Anything for you, Anj?”

The Nautolan raised the bottle she was drinking from wordlessly, and Mona took it, sniffing before wrinkling their nose.

“I’d normally tell you to take outside shit back outside, but that’s Lu’s isn’t it?”

Anj nodded, her eyes falling to the wooden bartop.

“His stuff always could take the lining off your stomach,” Mona said softly, their deep voice suddenly more gravelly. “I’m sorry.”

Anj just nodded again, and Chuckles could see her swallow hard, her teeth digging into her lower lip as her thumb rubbed over the bottle. Mona met Chuck’s eyes one more time before slipping out of view.

“How’s Hells?” Chuckles asked, hoping the news would be good enough to bring Anj up a little.

“She’ll live. Lost a lot of blood, but we… we got her there in time. A few more minutes, and we’d be having a very different conversation.”

Chuckles fought off a shudder at the possibility that they’d eluded.

She’s alive. She’s ok.

“She may never walk unaided again though.” The statement was forced out through gritted teeth, and Anj’s voice broke on the end of the last word.

“But she’ll walk,” Chuckles said softly.

“Yeah. Yeah, she will.” Anj rasped with a soft, pained laugh. “Once she woke up, she was already chattering about what sort of cane she’d want, and how I shouldn’t worry because it will make her that much more interesting.” She took a swig from the bottle, hardly flinching at the harshness of the liquor inside. “Her first thought was to comfort me, as if I was the one that almost lost her leg today. As if I was the one that almost bled out in her arms.” She sniffed. “Like I always say, she’s a kindness I never accounted for in my life.”

“Petal?” Chuckles prompted after a moment.

Anj sighed, dropping her voice low as if someone might hear. “The first time she… she touched my face, it was so gentle. I flinched because of my previous partner, but Helly was slow and patient with me. She never pushed me, but it made me want to let her have more of me.” She paused. “There was a tree on one of the small islands near where I grew up on Glee Anselm. I can’t even remember if the island had a name now, but I remember the tree. It would bloom every spring with these pale pink blossoms, and towards summer, it would drop the petals when the wind would pick up. My sister and I loved to run and dance in them when it happened, and that sensation of the petals grazing my cheek, that’s what Helly made me think of the first time she touched my face. So, she’s Petal to me.”

“Execute Order 66.”

The memory of the tree in the Jedi temple gardens slammed into Chuckles, and tears leapt into his eyes. He swallowed hard, burying that moment of peace and the violence that had followed.

“That’s… that’s really beautiful, Anj,” he croaked out.

“So is she,” the Nautolan replied, seemingly not noticing his turmoil or chalking it up to the day they’d both had.

They sat in silence for a while. Chuckles had a million questions he wanted to ask Anj, but he wasn’t sure if now was the time. She was clearly grieving, and the day’s events had taken a toll on them both.

But I need to know. I need to know so I can protect the kids.

“Why’d he do it?”

The question was out of his mouth before he could overthink it. The Nautolan didn’t meet his gaze, locking her dark eye on the shelves at the back of the bar as if the half-empty bottles were suddenly the most interesting thing in the universe.

“What makes you think I know?” Her tone was slow, deliberate, just like his had been when he’d been trying to disentangle himself from Endi an hour before.

“Hells said something in the mine. That she didn’t think he’d do something. That you both didn’t think it.”

Anj shrugged, taking a drink before answering.

“Helly was delirious with pain. She didn’t know what she was saying. Surprised she could even get a coherent sentence strung together.”

“Anjii.” Annoyance flared within Chuckles. He leaned closer, dropping his voice low. “I need you to tell me what you know. I need to keep my kids safe, and I can’t do that if I don’t have all the information. I need to know what you know, otherwise you’re putting Arni and Nita in danger.”

Anj said nothing for a moment, but a muscle in her jaw ticked in anger. Her eye darted around the bar one last time, ensuring no one was listening to them before she lowered her voice.

“I’ve done a hell of a lot to keep your kids safe, Chuckles. More than you’ll ever know.” Her unbandaged eye finally met his, piercing even in the dim lighting. “And I did it without you having to tell me anything you didn’t want to. Even though you didn’t trust me fully.”

Chuckles shrank back in his seat, his heart thundering in his chest. Anj’s expression softened as she took his reaction in. His mind raced, rapid thoughts bouncing off the pounding throb behind his eyes.

She knows. We have to get out of here.

He stood. Anj’s good hand clamped around his forearm.

“Sit,” she hissed. “If you run now, you’ll only make this worse. There’ll be questions. Now, sit.”

Chuckles stood still, his mind scrambling to pull a stream of logical thoughts together, but panic overwhelmed him.

What does she know? Who else knows? How long do we have?

“Sit. Down.”

He sat.

Anj watched him for a moment before casting another cautious glance around. She leaned in closer, her voice slightly above a whisper.

“The day we helped move the kids down to the hold, Arni ran back up to get one more thing out of the bunk. Now, I was holding the last armful of knick-knacks, so that struck me as odd, but kids sometimes have things stashed, so I thought nothing of it. They came back a few minutes later with something shoved up under their shirt. I didn’t press, but they stumbled on the last step, and that metallic something clattered out onto the floor. I turned, and they were hurriedly shoving it back out of view.” Her tongue darted out to wet her lips. “I’ve seen many weapons in my time, Chuck. Several of the variety they were carrying, although never up close.”

Their lightsaber. She saw their lightsaber.

Chuckles felt like the bottom of his stomach was going to drop out. His mind frantically raced, trying and failing to come up with a believable explanation as to why an eleven-year-old would have a Jedi weapon.

“Anj-”

She raised her hand to cut him off. “I turned away, and as far as they know and as far as I’m concerned, I never saw it. Got it?”

He nodded, unable to formulate words.

Her eye was flicking over every centimeter of his face, taking in his reaction, watching him process the new information. Finally, she spoke again.

“I need you to understand that you can trust me. That there is nothing I wouldn’t do to keep you and your kids safe. Hells knows too. I couldn’t keep it from her. She knows me too well. But there are people that you’re close to that wouldn’t do the same.”

“I know about Endi,” he said quietly.

Anj’s mouth drew into a thin line.

“Ah,” was all she said.

“I mean, I didn’t know, not until tonight,” he stumbled. “I thought… I don’t know what I thought, but it wasn’t that. I just… that’s why I’m here. And not at home. I don’t understand what happened, and I don’t have answers.” He scrubbed his hands over his face before tugging gently on his mohawk. “Why didn’t you tell me about her?”

A look of guilt clouded Anj’s features. She rolled her shoulders, rolling the bottle between her hands. “Thought you’d see it on your own eventually. And I wasn’t sure how to intervene without telling you what I knew. I wasn’t sure how you’d react to me knowing something you didn’t want me to.”

“It’s not that I didn’t want to tell you, Anj,” he rasped, his throat suddenly tightening on him. “I wanted to. The kids love you and Hells. I just… the last place we were at, I told people. And then those people had to lie for us, and that put them in danger. And I… I didn’t want to do that to you.”

“You wanted to tell her.”

“I did,” he gritted out. “Almost did tonight. Thank the Maker she told me where she stood first.”

Anj was quiet for a moment. “There wasn’t much about the war that made it out here. Lots of folks have to just believe what they see on the feeds. That’s all we get out here.”

“You know better.”

“I do. But I wasn’t always on Lothal.”

Chuckles paused. “You said you saw… a weapon like Arni’s before.”

Anj nodded, taking another deep pull from the bottle, drawing her lips back from her teeth in a grimace as the liquor burned her insides. “I did. Was in Chaleydonia on Christophsis when the war broke out. The Separatists moved in quick, and then there was a siege and a battle, and I decided I wanted no part of it, so I headed for Lothal. Seemed like it wouldn’t see much action, and my bet paid off. Well, until now, I suppose.”

“And that was enough? To make you see things differently about the Jedi?”

Anj shrugged again. “I don’t claim to understand the ins and outs of everything that happened politically at that time. But I do know what the Jedi meant to people. Growing up, we were taught that they were peacekeepers. The stuff of legends, really. And regardless of how much of that was true or not, I don’t see how killing off all of them did anyone a lick of good.” She shivered slightly, and her grip tightened around the bottle, now only about half full. Her voice dropped even lower.

“I’m no fan of the Empire. Wasn’t that big on the Republic either, but they at least felt like they tried at times. The Empire just seems keen to get as much power as they can and quash any naysayers. And all that about the Jedi? I don’t know everything, but I cannot imagine a galaxy that would be better off without Arni and Nita existing.”

Chuckles’s vision blurred, and his voice cracked. He sniffed hard. “Me either.”

He felt Anj’s eye on him and turned to meet her gaze. More questions were looming in her expression, and he could guess what they were.

You can trust her. You know you can.

He took a deep breath.

“My chip didn’t work,” he said softly. “I was still in service at the end of the war. I’d gone to the temple to see someone, and that’s when all hell broke loose. I-I saw them, my brothers, killing Jedi, killing children.” His hands were shaking, and he folded them together, clasping tightly to keep the tremors in check. “I found the kids and got them out. At first I thought… I thought it had to be Seppies. That they’d gotten ahold of clone armor and snuck in. There was no universe in which I could fathom them doing that.”

“So the chips were real?”

“I think so. Never got any official confirmation, but when the order was given, there was a sharp pain in my head, like something trying to activate, crazy as that may sound.” His fingers drifted up to graze the place on his scalp where he’d felt that stabbing pressure that day. “I just… they’d never have done that, Anj. Not without something making them.”

“Why didn’t yours work?”

He huffed a laugh. “The only thing I can figure is too many concussions. I’ve come down on that place on my head at least twice. Best guess is I’ve damaged it. So I kept my wits about me by sheer dumb luck.”

Anj chuckled quietly. “So your concussions saved your life. And theirs.” She extended the lip of the bottle towards the rim of his water glass.

“It’s bad luck to toast with water,” he mumbled.

“You think we haven’t used up all the bad luck today?”

Chuckles huffed at that, clinking his glass of water against her bottle. “Luck didn’t have much to do with it.”

“Oh, I think we’re luckier than you know,” Anj said softly.

The Nautolan sighed deeply, clearly still wrestling with how much to tell him. Finally, she gingerly turned, fishing a piece of folded flimsi out of her back pocket and placing it on the bar top. She drummed her fingers on it, still thinking until finally, she let out a long, slow exhale.

“Judging by the fact that you’re still sitting here and not halfway to hyperspace, I’m going to assume you’ve decided to trust me with your secret. At least, I’m hoping you’re not going to kill me after we leave here.” Her lip was curled into a nervous smirk.

“Thought hadn’t even crossed my mind. Plus, I think I still like your odds, even with one arm in a sling,” he joked with a pained wink.

Anj relaxed slightly. “Right. Well, then it’s only fair I put my trust in you.” She tapped the paper. “This was in the breast pocket of the shirt you had on. Hells was still clutching it when they brought her into the med tent.”

His brow furrowed in confusion. “I didn’t have anything in that pocket.”

“It’s from Lu.”

Chuckles’s blood pounded in his ears as his brain raced back to the moments just before the explosion. He remembered Lu’s expression, the way he’d awkwardly patted Chuck’s chest, just above the pocket.

“Karking hells,” he swore quietly.

“I’m going to tell you what I know about Lu,” Anj continued, as if she hadn’t heard him. “And then you and I are gonna read this together. I tried. I couldn’t do it. It’s addressed to you. And I just can’t do it.”

Chuckles nodded slowly. “Alright.”

Anj studied the bottle between her hands, and he could see she was steeling herself for what she was about to share. He propped his feet on the bar stool and faced forward, occasionally glancing at her out of the corner of his eye. He knew she’d speak when she was ready, and he didn’t want to stare at her or the folded note sitting next to her elbow. Finally, she spoke, her voice gravelly and grief-stricken.

“Lu was like you and I,” she rasped tightly. “Has a past he’s running from. His homeworld was one of the first to have the Empire clamp a manacle on it. Entire cities occupied with patrols in the streets, picking people up for silly things like being out past curfew. Lu and a few others didn’t take kindly to that and raised a bit of hell about it. Most of his friends got locked up, but Lu had his twin sister Cilli and her family depending on him, so he managed to get out and ran here. He’s been lying low, sending money home to Cilli and her kids. They were close. Real close. Their parents died young, so they’ve been looking out for one another ever since. Cilli’s second pregnancy was so hard, and her man cut and ran when things got tough, so Lu stepped up.” Anj paused to take another swig from the bottle, wincing slightly. “Someone got a message to Lu yesterday. The Empire found out Cilli was getting credits from him. Not sure how. He was so careful, running the credits through all sorts of different places to make sure it didn’t trace back to him. But someone figured it out, and the Imperials classified that as conspiring with a traitor to the Empire. Apparently they take their treason quite seriously, and they raided the house. With detonators.”

She paused to let out a shuddering breath.

“The kids were inside, and they didn’t care. Kids. Gone in an instant. They were closest to the door. As you can imagine, Cilli didn’t take it lying down, not after seeing her babies die. From what it sounds like, she went out with a blaster in her hand and a curse on her lips.”

Anj’s head was down, her tendrils hiding her face. Chuckles could still hear her quivering exhales. The blood was drained from her knuckles, and it was a wonder the bottle in her hand hadn’t shattered in her grip.

“I commed Lu to give him a heads up about the inspectors yesterday, and when he didn’t answer, I went over to check on him. He’s normally pretty responsive, so it struck me as odd. When I got there, I could tell right away something was wrong. He was quiet, more quiet than usual, but there was a tremor in his hands and an anger I could just feel rolling off of him. I finally pressed enough for him to tell me, and when he started talking, it was like he couldn’t stop the words. I told him to take the week off, to not do anything rash. But the minute I saw him today, I knew he hadn’t listened.”

Chuckles chewed the inside of his cheek as he turned the information over in his head. He certainly understood that anger that Lu had felt. There had absolutely been days where he’d felt the losses so deeply that he’d considered burning everything down.

The difference is you didn’t. Because your remaining brothers would have faced the consequences.

“Anger and grief are a deadly combination,” he murmured bitterly. “Keeps you from thinking clearly. And that’s when you put the other people you care about in danger.”

Anj’s head snapped up, and her eye pierced into him fiercely.

“Watch your tongue.”

He glared back at her, taking a sip of his water. “He brought the damn shaft down on us, Anj. He almost killed us too. I get his anger, trust me, I do. But I would never have done something that could have gotten others I cared about hurt.”

“And Lu didn’t either,” she snarled under her breath.

“How do you figure?”

She sighed, picking at the edge of one of her bandages.

“I didn’t know the reason for the inspection until this morning. The new shaft was pushed for by the Empire in order to meet their quotas, so they provided small mining corporations with some of the construction materials as incentives to expand. Every screw and strut and gear in that shaft comes from Imperial factories, and apparently, that means they’re built by the lowest bidder.” She scoffed angrily. “Jerrno got notice from some of his partners that the inspectors were coming to look at the construction of the shaft. Apparently, they’ve been making the rounds, claiming shafts aren’t being constructed properly, but they’re just covering their own asses. The beams we were supplied with can’t hold what they’re spec’ed to. Another mine saw a collapse last month, and the inspectors came out and blamed the corp and their construction processes. But when they tested out a few of the extra beams they had leftover, they found the struts didn’t even come close to being as durable as they were supposed to be.”

Chuckles nodded slowly as she met his gaze once more, her voice quieter.

“Lu was the best damn demolitions expert I’ve ever seen. He could blow a mite off a massiff without waking it up. He had no way of knowing about the fucking beams. Teef was filling me in right when Lu walked in.” Her voice broke. “You think what you want, but I believe Lu just wanted to take out the shaft and inspectors, not bring the entire cliff down on us. That collapse was far too uncontrolled for one of his explosions.”

Her fist tightened around the neck of the bottle, and the muscle in her jaw twitched angrily again.

“They weren’t even going to tell us about the beams. The inspectors just strolled in this morning without so much as a ‘hello’ or ‘fuck you’. They were just gonna tell us it was our fault. Probably still will.”

She drained the bottle, tossing it into a bin at the back of the bar before she turned to face Chuckles again.

“Lu didn’t almost kill us, but the Empire sure did.”

Chuckles let out a long, shuddering breath. All of the anger and resentment he felt leaked out of him, and grief swiftly settled into its place. Of course Lu hadn’t meant to hurt them, not the Lu that had held Nita’s hand or listened to Arni babble on for hours, not the Lu that had quietly showed up with furniture for the kids’ room and watched with a quiet smile as they squealed over it. There was almost a relief for Chuckles, to let the pieces fall into place and find that the Nikto he’d known was the same person he’d always thought he was, the confirmation that Lu was the Lu he’d seemed to be.

It still felt as though he’d lost two people today, Lu and the Endi he thought he’d known, and he grieved them both. Tears streamed from his eyes, and he wiped at them hurriedly, sniffling hard.

“I’m so sorry, Anj.”

“You had no way of knowing,” she croaked. “I just… I know he’s going to get branded as a terrorist, an unhinged and dangerous and cruel man.”

It’s already happening, Chuckles thought, Endi’s words echoing in his mind.

“But we know better,” Anj continued. “We knew him.”

“We did,” Chuckles agreed. Quietly, he reached over for the note. Anj didn’t move. Taking a deep breath, he unfolded the paper.

Chuck,

I can’t give this to Anj or Hells. They’ll know immediately and stop me. So I’m sorry, but it has to be you. I know you may not get my reasoning, and that’s fine, but I know you’ll understand wanting to keep loved ones safe, and the anger that comes with failing at that. Tell Anj I’m sorry, but I can’t let it stand. I’m sure she’ll tell you why, about my sister. All that I had in this galaxy was spilled on Cilli’s front stoop. I can’t stand for it, but I can damn sure fall making my point.

I don’t know how Arni and Nita came to be yours, but keep them safe at all costs. I’ve taken your name off the roster for today and for the rest of the week. Left a note for Jerrno that I didn’t want your name involved, especially being a clone. I’m confident that’ll be enough, and Anj’ll see that it is.

You and your kids are special, a symbol of hope in a galaxy turned on its head. I hope they have the future I wanted for my kin. See that they do. And see that Arni keeps that laser sword better hidden.

It’s better this way. I know too many names and too many places, and I can’t have any more blood on my soul. Tell Anj and Hells I’m sorry. I hope they’ll forgive me and know that they were the family I chose. You all were.

“That shithead did see,” Anj breathed over Chuckles’s shoulder. “He was right behind me, that day on the ship, but I stepped in front of Arni, trying to hide it better.” She choked out a laugh. “Never reacted, and had a perfect sabacc face about it when I probed later. Karking asshole.”

“The roster?” Chuckles managed to grit out around the emotions that were overwhelming him.

“I’ll see that it’s handled,” Anj said quietly. “And I’ll testify to whoever that will listen that Lu acted alone, that he’d been nursing anti-Imperial sentiment for a long time, but we never thought it’d get this far.”

“Anj, I can’t ask that-”

“You’re not askin’. I’m telling you how it’s going to be. Maker alive, Lu wasn’t stupid, but this was impulsive and short-sighted and driven by grief. He planned all these contingencies, but he didn’t really think this through. And now, here we are, picking up the pieces and trying to stay safe while he fucks off into whatever afterlife he believed in.” Chuckles could see her moving through her grief, allowing some anger at her friend to finally show.

“It won’t even take them long to fix that shaft,” she snorted. “A few months at most, even if we replace all the struts, and we’ll be right back down there. I know I told him to not do anything rash, but if he’d… I’d have…” She took a deep, steadying breath. “I’d have at least helped him make sure it counted for something.”

It was then that Chuckles saw it. Anj sat back, her unbandaged eye glistening with unshed tears, and yes, there was grief there, but more than that, there was betrayal. She’d thought Lu would reach out to her, would allow her to help him when he needed her most, and instead, he’d gone alone.

“He kept you safe by keeping you out of it,” Chuckles rasped, reaching over and gripping her hand. She tried to yank it away, but he held on tightly. “And for that, I’m grateful, Anj. Because I’d have done the same.”

“I doubt that,” she snorted, wiping at her eye with her good hand. “Even as reckless as you are.”

Chuckles was quiet for a beat before he folded his hands in front of him. “When I was a pilot, I lost a lot of brothers. Pretty much my entire squad once. I got out by the skin of my teeth. A pilot’s death isn’t like a normal soldier. We don’t bleed out slowly on some battlefield. It’s rare we even get a shot at a medic. If a ship’s done, it’s done, and in the middle of a fight, it’s not like you can take it to a hangar for maintenance.”

He felt Anj watching him, and he pressed on slowly.

“Sometimes, when your ship’s damaged and there’s no hope of you making it home, you do something reckless. You do what you can to steer your fighter and take out as many of the bad guys as you can. It’s not an official thing we’re trained to do, but many of my brothers did. Of course they knew it wasn’t always guaranteed to do much. Sometimes, you’re just a spec of flame on the side of a much bigger battle station. But the thing is, you hope that at a minimum, someone will see it happen, will see you doing everything you can with the moments that you have left, and you hope that galvanizes them.” He ran his thumb along the edge of his water glass. “I think Lu knew as well as you do that it wouldn’t take them long to rebuild, but I think what he hoped is that we’ll be galvanized by what he did. We’ll see what the Empire did to him and his family, and we’ll see his final act of defiance, and we’ll carry that spirit with us and spread it.” He tugged lightly at his mohawk. “I’ve been hiding for the last year, worried that if I stepped into the fight again, I’d put my kids and those around us at risk. But now… I don’t know.”

“I don’t know either,” Anj said quietly. “But what I do know is I’m not sure I can let it all stand. Same as Lu. But I haven’t an inkling of where to start.”

Chuckles took another sip of his water. “Right now, I think the best thing we can do is keep Lu’s memory and message alive,” Chuckles whispered. “Let the anger and the grief pass so that you think clearly. And then you wait.”

“Wait?”

He nodded. “The opportunities will come. We start small. Maybe someone like Lu or me needs a job, and we help them get one and cover their tracks. Maybe some expensive equipment goes missing.”

Anj chewed her lip, and he could see her thinking. “Maybe someone with a lot of pull finds out about the construction materials in the mines.”

“Maybe,” he agreed. Grief was still the main emotion in his system, but Chuckles could feel something sparking in his chest, like a nearly-dead ember being blown upon. He hadn’t felt that spark in over a year, but it felt good, right even.

Maybe I’m finally on the right path.

He could feel a similar energy radiating off of Anj. The slump in her shoulders had disappeared, and a hint of her usual smirk was tugging at the corner of her mouth. “For Lu,” she said quietly, holding out her pinky finger on her uninjured hand towards Chuckles.

He grinned.

“For Lu,” he promised, locking his pinky with hers.

“But tonight, we rest.”

“Some of us do,” he corrected her. “I’m not supposed to sleep much.”

“I don’t know that either of us will do much of that,” Anj said quietly, some of the sadness seeping back in. “But we can still try.”

“We can.” Chuckles pushed his stool back from the bar, standing carefully. He folded the flimsi back up and slid it back to Anj. “You keep this.”

She nodded wordlessly, taking the note between her calloused fingers and rubbing it gently. “Don’t come ‘round the mine until I tell you it’s safe, got it?” she whispered.

“Yes ma’am.” He gently clapped a hand on her shoulder. “Take care of yourself. And give Hells my love. Let us know if there’s anything we can do.”

“When she’s better, can you bring the kids around?” Anj asked quietly. Chuckles could hear the emotion she was holding back. “They always make her light up.”

“You got it,” he said quietly.

She nodded.

“‘Night Mona!” Chuckles called over his shoulder. He thought he heard them call a soft response, but he was already out the door.

He wasn’t sure if it was the water or the conversation or his headache finally fading a bit, but a determination had settled into his chest, one that he hadn’t realized had been lying dormant in the year since the war. He wanted to do something, even if he wasn’t sure what that was yet.

But we’ve got to be safe. I can’t put the kids in danger.

But what am I teaching them if we just keep running and hiding?

How to survive.

But what if they want more than that?

His mind was still wrestling with itself, even as he made his way home, his feet carrying him back to the Starlight as if on autopilot. The interior of the ship was dark and quiet, and he could still smell the dinner he’d shared with Arni and Nita hours ago. The familiarity of it all brought a sense of relief, and he was suddenly overwhelmed with exhaustion. He kicked off his boots with a sigh, shutting the hatch behind him.

Home. But maybe not settled.

His eyes burned, and he ground the heel of his hand into them, huffing a quiet laugh.

One step at a time.

A soft shuffling sound broke him out of his haze, an incongruence from his expectations that jarred him just enough to draw his attention. His eyes snapped to the co-pilot seat.

Arni was sitting in it, wrapped in the heavy blanket from his bunk. They clearly hadn’t anticipated him coming home, but their sharp brown eyes quickly scanned his face, absorbing everything as usual. He was too tired and overwhelmed to try and hide his feelings anymore tonight.

“Why are you up, kid?” he asked.

They shrugged. “Woke up and couldn’t fall back asleep.”

“Nita?”

“Out. She was pretty tired.”

Chuckles nodded, trudging over to the pilot seat and plopping into it. He let his gaze drift out the front viewport to the stars, taking in the mountains and the soft glow of the town, suddenly less welcoming than it had seemed when he’d woken up this morning.

Maker alive, morning feels like a lifetime ago. When Lu was still here.

It wasn’t all threatening. There was good in the little town still, but there were also threats he’d let slide past his defenses, and now more than ever, he needed to be cautious.

“I’m glad you’re safe,” Arni said softly, interrupting his thoughts.

He sighed heavily. “Me too, kid. I’m sorry I scared you like that.”

“Wasn’t your fault,” they replied, hugging the blanket closer around them.

“Is that why you can’t sleep?”

They nodded. “When… when we first heard about the explosion, I knew there was a chance you were gone. So I started trying to think of what we’d do, Nita and me.”

Chuckles’s heart shattered.

“I figured I could probably keep doing repairs, and maybe Grinz would let me help out at the store for some credits,” they continued. “I just needed to find a way to keep us fed until I was old enough to go into the mines. I think we could have made it work.” They turned to look at him, their eyes shining with tears. They gave him a small smile. “I’m glad we don’t have to though.”

Chuckles slid out of his chair, kneeling in front of Arni and pulling them into a tight hug.

“I’m so sorry, Arni. I’m so sorry,” he whispered. His chest swelled with awe at the young Twi’lek and their selflessness, but the fact that they thought they were alone again, that they’d have to take care of Nita on their own tore at him. He bit back a shuddering sob, rocking Arni back and forth. He felt a damp spot form on his shirt where their face was pressed against his chest, and their fingers dug into the fabric of his shirt.

“I’m right here, kid. I’m alright.”

“I know. I was just scared.”

“That’s allowed.”

After a few minutes, they released him, wiping at their nose and eyes. Chuckles shifted back in the pilot’s seat, sniffling back his own emotions.

“Why didn’t you stay at Endi’s?” Arni asked quietly after a few moments.

Chuckles turned his head to look at them. They were watching him intently, gathering data from his reaction to the question. And that’s when it dawned on him.

The wariness. The hesitation. It all makes sense.

He sighed deeply.

“You knew, didn’t you? About her and how she felt about… about it all?”

Arni’s eyes dropped to their lap. They nodded.

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

Another shrug. “You seemed happy. And you deserve to be happy.” They met his gaze. “I thought you knew.”

Chuckles stared at them for a moment before scrubbing his hands over his face, tugging lightly at his mohawk.

“Arni, there is no universe where I’d want to be with someone like that. That thinks like that.” He sighed again. “Whoever I’m with, I want it to be someone that I could eventually trust with our secrets. Endi and people that see the galaxy the same way will never fit that category, understand?” His voice cracked, and he did his best to keep the anger and grief he felt at bay.

They thought I’d put someone like that above them.

Arni nodded again, meeting his eyes. “Maybe you can convince her.”

Chuckles huffed at the suggestion. “Nah. I don’t want to be with someone that I have to convince that killing children was a bad idea,” he joked dryly. “Or that putting chips in me and my brothers’ heads was wrong.” He shook his head, releasing a mirthless laugh. “I just can’t believe I didn’t see it sooner. I’m such a kriffing idiot.”

“You’re not,” Arni said quietly. “You wanted to see the good in her. And I can’t fault you for that.” They pulled their skinny legs up to their chest, wrapping their arms around their knees. “Being alone is hard. I don’t want you to feel alone, Chuckles.”

“I’ve got you and Nita. I’ll never be alone.”

“That’s different and you know it,” they countered. “I saw how you looked at Teacher Endi. I’ve never seen you look at anyone else like that.”

Chuckles blew out a long breath through his mouth.

Dark curls. Sharp eyes. A twist of a smirk.

“There was someone else that I looked at like that. A long time ago,” he said quietly.

“What were they like?”

He glanced over at Arni. They were watching him intently with wide eyes.

“Only if you want to talk about them. I’d like to hear,” they added.

Chuckles nodded, letting his mind drift back to the garages of Coruscant.

“Her name was Brienna. We called her Bri for short. Well, Bolts mostly. She was a mechanic that worked on our ships. Deep, brown eyes that felt like she knew everything about you from just one glance, dark, wild curls that she always was blowing out of her face. A smile that could light your whole day up just before she ripped you a new asshole. Maker, she was so smart and quick. She was short, but she acted like she was ten meters tall. Took no shit from anyone.” He realized his cheeks were hurting from how big he was smiling. He hadn’t let himself think about Bri in a long time. Not really. But it felt good.

Arni was smiling too, as if Chuckles’s joy was infectious. “What happened to her?”

The smile on Chuck’s face faded.

“Not sure. I was going to see her on the day the war ended. We’d been seeing each other in secret, keeping it casual. She didn’t want the other pilots to think I was getting special treatment, so we didn’t tell many people. I’d promised to take her to dinner when the war was over and court her properly. And then… well, you know the rest of that story.”

“Did you love her?”

Chuckles chewed the inside of his cheek. “Yeah. Yeah I did. Was thinking of telling her that night.”

“I’m sorry.”

Chuckles met Arni’s eyes again. “I’m not. I got you and Nita out of the deal.”

“But you never got to tell her.”

He sighed again, shrugging one shoulder. “That’s true. But I’d like to think she knew. And I almost hope she thinks I died. Better that than her thinking I was a child killer or a mindless drone that offered the Republic up on a silver platter.”

“That’s still sad.”

Chuckles tucked his hands behind his head, carefully propping his boots up on the flight console of the ship.

“It is, but I was lucky that I got to experience love like that, kid. Not many of my brothers did. There were some that tried to make things work, but it was hard. You knew tomorrow wasn’t guaranteed, and if you found someone to share your life with, there was a good chance you might leave them behind. Not to mention a good portion of the galaxy didn’t see us as people in the first place. I was lucky to have Bri, even if it was brief and didn’t end the way I wanted it to.”

“Do you miss her?”

Heat crept up to Chuckle’s cheeks, and his eyes stung slightly. “Sometimes,” he admitted. “When I think about her.” He looked over at Arni. “I think you would have liked her.”

“What if we tried to find her?”

He forced a smile, touched by Arni’s hopefulness and desire to find someone that meant so much to him. But he didn’t share their optimism.

“It’s a nice thought, but I wouldn’t even know where to start, kiddo.” He reached over and squeezed their shoulder.

“I’m alright. I’m sure she’s moved on already. And I want her to be happy, you know?”

Arni appeared to contemplate this for a few moments.

“You should be happy too.”

Chuckles’s smile came more naturally this time. “I will be, kid. It hurts a bit right now, but I will be happy. Don’t you worry.”

They sat in silence for a while longer, watching the stars together. Finally, Chuckles could hear Arni’s breathing deepen, punctuated by the occasional soft snore. As carefully as he could, he gathered the Twi’lek in his arms and made his way down to the hold, doing his best not to trip over the toys that were scattered around. Nita was still dozing quietly, her trooper doll tucked close to her side. Chuckles tucked Arni back into bed gently, waiting a few minutes for the confirmation that they were still asleep, and when he heard another snore escape them, he smiled, sneaking back to the cockpit.

It had been a while since he’d slept in the pilot’s chair, but it felt fitting tonight. He considered what he’d do with the sheets that still smelled like Endi as he retrieved the brown bottle of mystery liquor from its hiding place and sat back down heavily in the weathered seat.

Maybe just a little. There isn’t that much of it left anyway.

Sorry, Crate.

The burn of the booze felt nice and familiar, warming his insides and taking some of the edge off of his feelings. He knew he had to come up with a reason to end things with Endi, one that didn’t create suspicion or out him as an enemy of the Empire. He also knew he’d likely have to carry on the charade for a while longer. He’d acted strangely enough tonight that ending things immediately may make her suspicious.

He hated this.

“Now’s just not a good time for the kids. Work’s getting to be too much, especially with what just happened, and I don’t think that’s fair to you.”

No, that lets her counter it.

“I’m not over the last person I was with. I’m not ready to move on yet. I thought I was, but I’m not.”

That could work.

It wasn’t exactly untrue now that he thought about it. How many times had flashes of Brienna invaded his mind while he was with Endi? How many times had he almost called her the wrong name?

Maybe I was just trying to find someone to fill that space for me. But no one was ever going to be her.

Chuck glanced over at the now-empty co-pilot chair and noticed Arni had left their sketching supplies in it. Leaning over, he picked up a loose piece of flimsi and placed it on the top of their journal before reaching for a pencil.

He started with her eyes. Those were her most striking feature, in his opinion. He could get the shape right after a few rough attempts, but never could seem to capture the light in them or the sharpness, the way they’d always felt like they were pinning him down. He moved on to her nose, which proved easier, and then her lips. He couldn’t quite get their fullness right or the permanent skeptical quirk her mouth always seemed to have, but what he finally came up with felt somewhat acceptable. The curve of her jaw was easy enough from memory; he’d touched that place on her enough to never forget it, cradling her face when he’d kissed her, running his fingers along it as she slept.

Her ears were impossible, and he eventually compromised by deciding to cover them with her hair, but even that wasn’t right. The curls were mostly the right shape, but he couldn’t get them to sit right against her face, nor could he add the shine they always seemed to have. As his frustration grew, so did his level of inebriation, and at some point he tossed the paper and pencil aside with a huff, wrapping the blanket around his shoulders and grumbling to himself before eventually drifting off to sleep.

Brienna’s loud cackle and brown eyes haunted his dreams. He could almost feel the rough fabric over her coveralls beneath his fingers, smell the oil and grease on her skin.

Bri.

Even with the concussion, Chuckles slept through the night, too overcome by exhaustion to worry about protocol. When he awoke in the morning, the paper and pencils had all been cleared away along with the empty liquor bottle.

Tag List: @redheadgirl @cyarbika @witchklng @djarrex @arctrooper69 @sleepingsun501 @ladytano420 @rexxdjarin @echos-girlfriend @zoeykallus @leftealeaf @galacticgraffiti @hidden-behind-the-fourth-wall @ariadnes-red-thread @goblininawig @merkitty49 @ladykatakuri @runforrestr @baba-fett @daimyosprincess @obihiddlenox @bucketbunny99 @fordo-kixed-rex @nerd-ika @amish---paradise @arctrooperechy

#karrde writes #one step at a time #osaat #star wars #the clone wars #tcw #clone oc #twilek oc #pantoran oc #jedi oc #OC Chuckles #OC Chuckles Ayyshu #OC Arni #OC Arni Ayyshu #OC Nita #OC Nita Ayyshu #found family #angst #whump

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collectorsedtn · 2 years

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The (insane, crazy, stupid) Deal - P.1

Steve Harrington x Henderson!Reader Series Summary: When Y/N Henderson asks her crush out in front of his girlfriend (who she didn't know about!) damage control needs to be done. In a state of panic, she asks Steve Harrington, her little brothers best friend and Mr Popular of Hawkins High, to pretend to date her for a week. In return, they hope to convince Nancy Wheeler that she made the wrong choice and to see what she's been missing. Fake dating drama ensues. ST Timeline: After Season 2, before Season 3 (but may play around with the timeline just to have Robin and their Scoops Ahoy job in here) word count: 4k a/n: Told myself I wasn't gonna start a series but I just love the fake dating trope so here we are lol Part 2

This was crazy. This was insane and stupid and dumb and crazy. You’re not sure what demon possessed you to make so many stupendously horrible mistakes, but whoever he was, he obviously had it out for you. Each decision you made was worse than the one prior, creating a domino effect where each mistake snowballed into the next, resulting in this exact moment.

The moment in question? Kissing Steve Harrington.

You could tell that Steve was still in shock, his hands barely grasping your waist and his lips pretty much unresponsive to yours. Your eyes were thankfully closed so you could spare yourself the humiliation of seeing his eyes wide open during a very public kiss at a very popular party. You don’t blame him, even you were completely mystified as to what your thought process was for this moment. You had panicked and put barely any thought into what you were doing when you ran up to him and just planted one on him in the middle of the party, simply reacting from one humiliating situation into another one. You knew that this was a huge mistake on so many different accounts. Not only was he King Steve, but he was your brother’s friend and not the boy that you’re actually crushing on, although you had just found out that that boy might just be a lost cause anyway. On that note, you start to pull away, deciding to end this torture sooner rather than later when you suddenly feel Steve’s hands finally start to grasp at your sides and a hint of reciprocity from his own lips, although you’re not even sure if it really happened or if your mind is just trying to make up for the endless rounds of humiliation you had already experienced today.

You open your eyes to see Steve’s completely bewildered expression, his eyes wide with confusion and mouth slightly agape, but his hands still holding onto your waist. You open your mouth so you can start explaining yourself before deciding against it, realising the music would be too loud for you to properly have a conversation with him. You grab his hand instead, guiding him to the closest room you could find, weaving through groups of people who openly stare at the two of you with curiosity and a few snickers, probably making wrong assumptions as to where we were going and what we were going to do. You finally reach a bathroom, quickly pulling Steve in after you and locking the door. You lean your back against the door, reaching your hand to rest over your chest and feeling your heart beating against the palm of your hand, adrenaline going through the roof.

“Okay, let me explain myself.” You begin.

“Yeah, what the hell was that, Henderson?” Steve’s slightly annoyed, this much you can gather. He’s standing across from you, leaning on the sink with his arms crossed in front of his chest. “Usually I’m good at picking up signals but you got me at a complete loss this time. Where the hell did that come from?”

“Look, I panicked, okay? I just panicked. My brain imploded and I panicked and I kissed you.” You rambled, mind running a mile a minute.

“That’s not an explanation.” He retorts, shaking his head.

“It felt like I had no other choice.”

“Just what a man wants to hear.”

“I mean, I felt – I felt trapped! I thought there was only one solution to get me out of it.”

“Earth to Y/n? You’re still not making sense. Get you out of what?”

You let out a deflated sigh before answering, “Danny McCormick.” You keep your eyes trained on your shoes, avoiding eye contact as you feel your cheeks heat up with embarrassment.

There’s silence for a moment as Steve processes what you said but comes up empty. “...Danny McCormick?”

You push away from the door and start pacing the short length of the bathroom, still keeping your eyes trained to your feet. “Tonight was the night I was finally gonna make a move on Danny McCormick. And I did. Kind of.” You explain, wringing your hands. “Well, I was starting to, y’know? I asked him out.”

You finally look up at him to make sure he’s following your story to see his brows furrowed in confusion. “Okay? Good for you. What does that have to do with me?”

“Because right after I asked him out, Mandy, his apparent girlfriend who I knew nothing about, showed up right next to him, giving me the stink eye. Which, in retrospect, I totally deserved.”

Steve nods his head slowly, you can tell he’s trying to pick up the pieces. “Ah, so I’m guessing this is where the panicking starts?”

“Yup. My brain just went into fight or flight and I started improvising. But the big, huge, terrible problem is that I’m not good at improvising. I just start saying the first thing that comes to my head without even thinking about the repercussions of what I’ve just said”

“Wrap it up, Henderson, get to the explanation.” Steve says impatiently.

“So my brain kind of starts working overtime when I realise that I’ve just asked Danny out in front of his girlfriend and I’m scrambling for ideas to get me out of it, when suddenly I see you right in my line of vision. Now, this is the part where the monkey with the cymbals in my brain starts getting all erratic and giving me bad ideas.”

“The monkey with the cymbals?”

“Yeah you know the one. The monkey toy in the yellow vest that goes crazy with the cymbals? The one with the creepy eyes? That’s what I picture is driving all my common sense away in my head. Like the cymbals are just blocking and drowning all other thoughts out. Anyway, I see you, and the monkey with the cymbals goes off in my brain, and I think hey, there’s Steve, he’s a nice guy! He’s friends with my brother! And so I just tell them, Danny and Mandy, that what I meant to say was double date, not date singular, but date plural. And obviously Mandy isn't buying it so she’s all ‘Well who’s your date?’ and so I say–”

“Steve.” Steve finishes.

“Exactly!” You say, pointing your fingers at Steve. “But she can still smell the bullshit since I’m not a great actor, so she’s all ‘You’re going on a date with Steve Harrington?’ and she says it in this real condescending tone which really pisses me off. And look, I know and you know that you would never date me which I’m totally fine with because I would never date you, but who the hell is Mandy to assume that I’m not good enough for Steve Harrington? As if I’m below you or something!”

“I’m guessing the monkey cymbals came out again.”

“Oh, the monkey cymbals came out in full force when she said that because I just ran towards you in a blind, hot rage and–”

“Kissed me.”

“Yes! That’s when I kissed you and – Oh my god! I kissed you!” You gasp out, hand coming over your mouth as you realise what you had done. You had gotten so wrapped up in the explanation of it all that you had already forgotten you kissed Steve. “This is basically assault. I pretty much assaulted you. I’m an assaulter!”

“Woah woah woah let’s not go that far.” Steve stressed, pushing himself off the sink.

“No but I did Steve! I just kissed you without your consent. God, this is probably the worst thing I’ve ever done. I just forced you to kiss me!” You lean back against the wall and slide down until you’re crouched on the floor, arms resting on your knees and your head in your hands.

“I wouldn’t use the word for–”

“People get charged for doing stuff like this. People get arrested for doing stuff like this.” You exclaim, looking up at Steve who was now standing in front of you.

“Nobody is getting arrested–”

“It’s basically the same as punching someone. I’m no better than some violent, brutish–”

“You are taking this way too far.”

“ –abuser. I mean, I should really let you punch me.”

“ –what?” Steve barks, so shocked that he takes a physical step back.

You tilt your head up to look at him, sincere expression adorning your face. “I totally deserve it. An eye for an eye. I assault you, you assault me.”

“Y/n, I’m not going to punch you, are you crazy?”

“It’s only fair.”

“It’s not fair if I don’t want to punch you!” Steve scoffs.

“But I’m letting you! All I ask is anywhere but the face. I've recently grown to like my face and it’ll be harder to hide the bruise.” You commanded, turning your head to the side and closing your eyes to pretend like you were preparing yourself to get hit, hiding the smile that was tugging at your lips. You were obviously teasing Steve at this point since you knew he would never hit you, but you also weren’t close enough to him for him to know that you were joking.

“Y/n stop it. I’m not hitting you.” Steve huffed, nudging his foot with yours so you’d open your eyes again and look at him.

You give in, turning your head back and staring up at him again. “But I don’t know how to make it up to you.”

“I don’t know what type of person you think I am, but allowing me to hit you is not you making it up to me. Besides, after hearing all of that, the kiss is the last thing I’m annoyed about, the double date on the other hand–”

At this you scramble to your feet and grab Steve’s hand, remembering the stupid double date that you lied to Danny about. “Please Steve it’ll just be one date–”

“No way! I am not going to willingly spend my free time with Danny McCormick of all people.”

You pull your hand back quickly. “What’s wrong with Danny?” You question defensively.

Steve scoffs at this, shrugging slightly. “No offence to your taste or whatever, but the dude’s got the personality of a wet blanket.”

“He does not!”

“Uh, yes he does.”

“No he doesn’t! He’s kind and smart and has passion and hobbies and interests!” You defend.

“Yet he’s somehow still the most boring person I’ve ever met on the planet, and need I remind you Y/N, we live in Hawkins Indiana, we probably have the highest percentage of boring people in the world.” Steve teases with a small smile, walking over to the bathroom door and unlocking it, deciding the conversation is over.

“Please Steve, I’ll do whatever you want!” You insist, following behind him as he exits the bathroom. “I’ll take over babysitting duties! I’ll drop off and pick up Dustin from your house so you don’t have to drive him! I’ll do your trig work for you!”

Steve pauses at this,“All my trig homework?” He asks, head not even turning to look at you.

“Well, actually, probably not that since I’m morally against plagiarism and doing someone else’s work for them but I’ll tutor you in trig! I promise I’m a really great tutor!”

Steve laughs at this before shaking his head and continuing to walk away. “Yeah, no way. No deal.”

You continue to chase after him, weaving through throngs of people. Once you’re close enough again, you hold onto the bottom of his shirt between your fingers so that you don’t lose him again, trailing behind him as he makes his way past people.“C’mon Steve! It’s just one shitty double date. Honestly, tell me what you want in exchange because these are desperate times.”

“Very desperate times apparently.” Steve mused, smirking down at you and making light of your previous kiss. You bark out a laugh and hit his arm as you round a corner, bumping directly into Nancy and Jonathan, causing all four of you to jump back slightly. The air is awkward and tense around the four of you with Steve’s eyes on Nancy, Nancy’s eyes on Steve and Jonathan’s eyes on Nancy, you just there taking the whole thing in.

“Steve,” Nancy finally beamed, smiling at him sincerely, Jonathan next to her smiling politely as well. Nancy’s eyes quickly cut to your hand which was still holding onto the bottom of Steve’s shirt and up to your face, a barely noticeable furrow clouding her expression for a second before she wipes it away with a smile directed at you. “And Y/N! Hi.”

You smile politely back at her in return, making note of the expression you caught on Nancy’s face that you’re sure no one else saw.

“Hey, didn’t know you guys would be at this party.” Steve manages with a grin, you can tell that it’s forced from the way it doesn’t reach his eyes and you’re sure Nancy can tell too.

“Yeah, we kinda felt like we needed to spend some time with people our age after listening to the kids play dnd all day.” Jonathan explains casually, Nancy nodding along in agreement.

The four of you stand together in awkward silence, nodding along to the previous statement, “Oh shoot!” You pipe up, breaking the silence as you turn to face Steve, nudging his shoulder with yours. “That actually reminds me that we should probably get going. I promised Dustin I’d be home soon to help him set up the next campaign. You can still give me a ride, right Steve?” You asked, looking up at him with wide eyes which hopefully translated what you were saying but probably made you look crazy.

“Uh yeah sure…” Steve replies slowly, obviously not understanding what you’re doing but just going along with it. “Yeah, me and Henderson are gonna get going. We’ll see you guys later.”

All four of you wave your goodbyes before you start to walk away with Steve, impulsively grabbing his hand in yours and threading your fingers through his, keeping a strong grip so he doesn’t pull away.

Steve nearly jumps back at the surprising contact, staring down at you with wide, dumbfounded eyes. “What the hell are you doing?” Steve questions through gritted teeth.

You lean up on your toes to whisper in Steve’s ear, “Testing out a theory.” You turn your head back just before you round the corner and see Nancy’s eyes linger on yours and Steve’s hands, causing you to break out into a mischievous smile. The second you’re out of sight of Nancy and Jonathan you wrench your hand from Steve’s and lift it for a high five, to which Steve just stares blankly at your hand.

“What am I meant to do with that?” Steve nods towards your still upraised hand, wearing an expression of mild annoyance.

“High five!” You explain, still holding your hand up.

“Why?” Steve asks, finally relenting and giving you a very lacklustre high five, although you would say it was more similar to a gentle hand nudging rather than a high five.

“Because,” you sing, “Nancy was one hundred percent staring at our hands meaning, drumroll please!” Steve stares at you blankly again, not willing to entertain you. “Wow, you’re in a mood.” You grumble, rolling your eyes, “It means she’s jealous, nimrod. That’s what I can give you in exchange.” You pat Steve on the arm with a smile, walking on without him while you let him absorb your words behind you.

“You think she was jealous?” Steve calls out after you, jogging back up to you. By now the two of you were out of the house and on your way to Steve’s car, the night air so chilly that your breaths came out like puffs of smoke.

“Definitely. I noticed it when we first bumped into them so I had to test out my theory, that’s why I held your hand.” You explain, stuffing your hands in your jacket pockets to bury them away from the cold. You hear Steve hum in reply as he processes this information in his own time, silently leading the both of you to his car. “So will you do it?” You ask, breaking Steve out of his thoughts as he unlocks the car.

“Do what?”Steve asks, sliding into the driver's seat.

“Go on the date with me in exchange for making Nancy jealous again.” You elaborated simply, sliding into the passenger seat and shutting the door.

“What? No.” Steve grumbles, frowning and shaking his head as he starts the car up and pulls away from the house, refusing to make eye contact with you. “I don’t even care if Nancy gets jealous. We’re broken up anyways.”

You whip your head around to face him and give him a look which reads ‘I can read straight through your bullshit’, smiling a little at his obvious state of denial. “Uh yeah, sure. I totally believe you.” You tease sarcastically.

“What, you don’t bel–” He stops himself when he pulls his eyes away from the road and glances your way, deciding to give up then and there when he sees the expression on your face. “Yeah alright, so I care a little bit that she got jealous, so what?”

You smile triumphantly at his admission before explaining your plan to him, “So you can go on the double date with me and then I’ll let you act all flirty with me in front of Nancy and make her jealous and see what she’s missing.”

“Look Y/N, I’m sorry, but I’m not going on the double date. I don’t do double dates. Especially double dates with Dann—”

“Danny McCormick, yeah I know.” You grumble out defeatedly, slumping in your passenger seat. You’re silent for a moment as you think of other options to get you out of your humiliating mess with Danny, especially since you have to see him every single day in class. “What if I cancel on the double date but you act all flirty with me in front of Danny and Mandy, just enough to prove to them that I wasn’t hitting on him.”

“But you were hitting on him.” Steve reminds you pointedly.

“Only because I didn’t know he had a girlfriend!” You defend yourself, huffing out an annoyed sigh when you see Steve’s lips quirk up at your obvious irritation. “C’mon Steve! This can be mutually beneficial. Just do your whole flirty King Steve bit with me in front of Nancy, Danny and Mandy and it’s a win-win situation.” You’re practically begging at this point, as if you hadn’t experienced enough humiliation in one night.

You watch with bated breath as Steve keeps his eyes forward on the road ahead, his one hand resting on the steering wheel and the other pulling at his lip, obviously thinking over your proposal and how it will benefit him. “If I say yes to this, and that’s if, we gotta set some ground rules.”

You practically fling your body forward so you’re turned in your chair and facing him, nodding your head vigorously and excitedly. “Yes! Ground rules. Completely agree.”

“Like, there needs to be an end date to all of this. And we need to specify what we’re allowed to do and when we’re allowed to do it.” You nod along to everything Steve says, too excited and overwhelmed to even come up with your own ground rules. “And we gotta think of an answer for when people start asking questions about what we are to each other.”

“What we are to each other?” You’re confused now, as you had just assumed that the situation would just be some light flirting in the hallway, not anything that resembled actual dating.

“Yeah, I mean, I flirt with everyone so if you want it to be believable that we’re really into each other, I kinda gotta go all in. People are gonna ask questions.” Steve shrugs, catching your eye briefly before turning away again.

“Oh… I guess I never thought about that.” You mumble out quietly.

“What? Now you’re all shy and want to back out? Aren’t you the one that kissed me?” Steve teases as he finally stops the car in front of your house, pulling his key out of the ignition.

“Shut up, I was just thinking.” You grin back, undoing your seatbelt and twisting your body so you’re fully facing him with your back to the passenger door and your legs crossed on the seat. You’re silent for a moment as you pick apart ideas in your brain, trying to come up with some ground rules that would benefit both of you in this situation. “I think we should start off with just one week of public flirting slash displays of affection, then we can reconsider if we need more time after the one week.” You finally propose.

Steve nods his head at this, mimicking your actions by sitting cross legged across from you as well. “Kissing or no kissing?” He asks.

“No kissing. Unless absolutely necessary.” You answer with the shake of your head. “And if people ask what we are to each other, we’ll say that we’ve just been on a few dates, nothing serious.”

“Yeah, I like that. Good answer.” Steve nods along before leaning over and rummaging through the centre console, finally fishing out some old receipt paper and a pen, no doubt jotting down everything you were saying. “And what do we tell Dustin?” Steve asks, not looking up as he finishes writing down his last word.

“Why does Dustin need to know?”

“Don’t you think he’s gonna hear about how one of his best friends is being seen with his sister?” Steve asks.

“This thing is gonna last a week.” You state, shaking your head dismissively. “I doubt it’ll make the gossip rounds and reach his middle school in just a week.”

“Yeah, but it might.” Steve counters.

“Then we’ll cross that bridge if we get there.”

Steve raises his eyebrows and sighs in defeat. “Fine, whatever.” He says, shrugging his shoulders and scooting closer to you, passing the old receipt paper which he was writing on. “Have a look at this and see if it looks alright.” You grab the paper from him and quickly skim through all the bullet points, nodding along to everything but stopping at the last point. Y/N will not fall in love with Steve.

“What’s this?” You ask, pointing to the last point.

“It’s a clause that says you won't fall in love with me.” Steve says matter of factly, expression dead serious.

“Yeah, right” You snort, stealing the pen out of his hand so you can cross it out.

“I’m being serious. You haven’t experienced my full charm, Y/N, the clause is completely necessary.” Steve insists with crossed arms.

You roll your eyes and laugh at him a little but decide not to fight him on this, signing your name messily at the bottom of the paper before passing it to Steve to sign as well. Once you both signed the paper, you took his hand in yours and gave it one firm shake to fully seal the deal, Steve even giving you a salute with his other hand, causing you to snort out a laugh.

“Pleasure doing business with you.” Steve jokes, giving one last shake before letting your hand go.

“I guess I’ll see you at school on Monday.” You say, gathering your few belongings before stepping out of the car. You start to shut the car door but stop halfway, leaning down again to say one more thing, “Again, I am so sorry for kissing you without your permission. So sorry.” You say sheepishly, earning some surprised laughter from Steve.

“Henderson, seriously, it’s fine. Plus, I’ll get you back at some point this week so fair is fair.” Steve says, cheeky glint in his eyes.

You squint your eyes at him before slamming the door shut, walking halfway up your driveway before turning around and shouting, “You better read those terms and conditions well. It said unless absolutely necessary.” You turn back around before seeing his reaction, running up to your door and wondering what the hell you had just got yourself into.

#fic #steve harrington imagine #steve harrington #steve harrington fic #steve harrington fanfic #steve harrington fanfiction #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington fluff #steve harrington x you #steve harrington x y/n #steve harrington x henderson!reader #steve harrington imagines #steve harrington blurb #steve harrington x reader blurb #stranger things #stranger things 4

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benevolenterrancy · 6 months

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Got a Rat Patrol Cake for my Birthday 😊

My brother @daughterofhecata sends his thanks for hat references and a "Please draw Moffit, I couldn't figure out that fucking beret!"

Oh my gosh I can't handle how cute that cake is TT^TT stupendous! The little hats to represent all the characters is seriously so perfect!! I hope you had a very good birthday ^^

Also yeah, I went to have a look at the beret and the reason you can't figure it out is probably a) because all the hats in this show are so so so hard to draw and b) because the ridiculous sand goggles strike again

Apparently he has a Royal Tank Regiment beret, which is worn at a slight angle over the right eye. This in and of itself is pretty easy to draw. Unfortunately almost all the pictures of Moffitt include my arch-nemesis, Those Stupid Goggles, and if you put big, heavy goggles with a big, heavy strap around a soft, wool cap then guess what! it becomes a squished, nonsensical mess! Completely indecipherable! Here is my best understanding of it

#i appreciate the instinct to see a WRETCHED hat and just immediately decide ''hey lets curse bene with this horrible thing :)'' thanks xD #also is it just me or is wearing a black wool hat in the middle of a desert like the dumbest thing imaginable? hey jack you good?#rat patrol #jack moffitt #louis lebeau #yeah you got me drawing wwii berets so obviously my favourite beret-wearer is going to camo #apparently lebeau and moffitt have an entire foot height difference which is hilarious #though drawing him with lebeau made me realize that not only does he also wear a beret but a scarf as well?#and i don't care if we try to call it an ascot or something else like why do you have a ton of extra fabric stuffed down your shirt #you're gonna die from heat stroke before anyone gets a chance to shoot you #my art

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tboygareth · 9 months

Note

awkward office!!!!!!!

y'all this one was popular! thank you as always, my love, for your request and also your amazing stupendous brain for getting me unstuck on this one i love you so so much for all your help.

thank you to @matchingbatbites, @starryeyedjanai, @inairbinad, @kkpwnall, and @sidekick-hero for the requests! i'd written myself into a bit of a corner on this and gerry and @patchworkgargoyle both helped me out so now i can give y'all the snippet you've been soooo patiently waiting for for days!

“I am a dumb sack of shit,” is what he tells Chrissy as he pushes her office door closed and lays their lunch on her desk.

“What are you talking about? Steve was just here, asking where you were.”

“Oh, god, did he have security with him? Should I pack my shit right now and save them the trouble of escorting me off the property?”

“Eddie, breathe,” Chrissy says. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

“I fucked up, Chris.”

And he tells her. He tells her verbatim what they said to each other at the coffee machine and he watches her roll her eyes at him and huff out an exhausted laugh.

“You are a dumb sack of shit, Eddie Munson, but not for the reasons you think. He was flirting with you.”

“You can’t know that, Chris!” Eddie insists around a mouthful of carne asada.

“I absolutely do know that. Steve was concerned when he swung by. He said he thinks he said something stupid. Go find him after you clock back in. I promise you will not get fired for flirting with your office crush.”

“How the fuck can anything he said be interpreted as flirting?”

“That’s exactly how the two of you flirted at the holiday party, you idiot! That kind of shit was what got you in his pants in the first place!”

Eddie… doesn’t exactly remember the lead up that got them into his hotel room, truth be told. He doesn’t remember the specifics of what was said. He remembers the heat in Steve Harrington’s gaze, the way he’d touched Eddie’s arm, the way they’d circled one another like sharks with blood in the water for the better part of the evening but… he doesn’t remember what Chrissy is talking about.

“Can you… remind me?” he asks. “Like… how everything went down in December?”

“You called him a stuck-up nepo baby and he asked if you were interested in, uh… I think the way he phrased it was sticking something else up inside the nepotism hires?”

Jesus.

#awkward office au #wip weekend #(i guess???)#bee's blurbs #bee's inbox

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in-a-daddy-state-of-mind · 11 months

Text

A Really Bad Day

Pairing: Dieter Bravo x actor!reader

Summary: Dieter comforts you after a bad day.

Word Count: 895 (Drabble)

Warnings: Some angst. Mostly just fluff.

Notes: I’ve been having a rough go at it so this is mostly what I wish Dieter would say to me. As always interactions with the post are appreciated as well as feedback!

“FUCK”

You yell out as you throw your bag on the corned of the room not thinking about how things inside it could break. Dieter immediately jumps from his place on the couch at the sound of your yell and the loud door slam.

“Woah, what’s wrong, kitty cat?” Dieter questions going up to you quickly.

Even the nickname that is supposed to be endearing and comforting feels annoying to you today. It had all gone to shit and you were about ready to give up on your stupid life.

“What isn’t wrong? It’s all so fucking dumb.” You say allowing him to embrace you.

His larger figure enveloping yours in a crushing hug is the first comfort you feel today. His body is like a natural furnace that always radiates heat no matter how cold the day is. You love Dieter’s hugs. They are always the best.

“The audition didn’t go well, I take it?” He questions once again to which you only nod against his chest.

It’s not only that the audition didn’t go well. The audition had gone stupendously bad. Your manager had given you the wrong sides to read from, you made a complete fool of yourself, and the tied executives hadn’t even bothered paying attention to your fiery disaster. It was embarrassing. You were dating one of the most famous actors in the world and you couldn’t book the gig that would finally give you your break.

“Hey, look at me.” Dieter says taking you away from the embrace so you could look in his eyes.

He wipes away a single tear falling from your eyes.

“I know you’re frustrated, okay? This job is infuriating. I mean look at me! I’ve won an Oscar and there are still parts I can’t book.” Dieter says calmly never breaking eye contact with you.

“Yes, but you already have a career. You’ve already made the movies that make you recognizable. You can actually make a solid living out of this.” You argue back trying to not cry more.

“And it continues to be infuriating that there are roles I genuinely would love to play but can’t. That’s just how it is, kitten, unfortunately this industry is cruel.”

You take a deep breath and take in what he’s saying. You know Dieter also never had it easy. When he was coming up it was still very hard to imagine that a Latino could be a leading man and a heartthrob. Heck, nowadays people still found that hard to believe.

It was a cruel and unfair industry set in an equally cruel and unfair world but when you looked into Dieter’s eyes and saw the amount of love radiating from them for you it all seemed… easier. It wasn’t perfect but having him right there, feeling the weight of his hand on your shoulder and knowing that this man would bend over backwards to make you happy just made it all a little better.

“I just want to do right by you. I don’t want you to date a failure.” You admit with more tears coming out of your eyes.

“Oh my god, that has to be the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard!” Dieter says making your laugh. “I don’t think you’re a failure! I think you are one of the most talented actresses I’ve ever met! And you know all that is keeping you from a big role is one phone call from me.”

“You know that’s not how I want to make it into this industry.” You reply.

“I know. I respect the heck out of you for it.” Dieter says bringing you back into a hug.

He had offered many times to get you a huge part and you know he could do it. Deiter had connections in places you couldn’t even imagine. But this was supposed to be your success. Your life. You didn’t want to owe Dieter that much and you wanted to carve your own path.

“Believe me, I think the world of you. I see what you’re doing and I see how hard you’re trying. That’s all you can do, baby, try your best. Which, by the way, is more than enough. Some shit is just out of your hands, okay? But believe me soon enough those Hollywood bozos will realize how brilliant of an actor you are.” Dieter almost whispers kissing the top of you head.

He always knew just what to say to you. Well, maybe not always. You still remembered when you first met on the set of some B-action movie he was making after the Cliff Beasts fiasco. You were just a background actor so when THE Dieter Bravo came to talk to you it was almost unbelievable. That was until he gave you some cheesy one-liner that was corny as hell and asked you out. You thought he was cute and found his attempt charming so you said yes and well here you were. Months later with the best boyfriend you had every had.

You break away from Dieter’s embrace and kiss him longingly which he replies with enthusiasm.

“Thank you.” You say as soon as you break the kiss.

“Don’t mention it.” Dieter replies with his Academy Award Winning smile. “Do you want to order some comfort food and watch trashy tv shows?”

“Mr. Bravo, you read my mind.”

#dieter bravo #dieter #the bubble #the bubble fanfiction #dieter bravo x reader #dieter bravo x you #dieter bravo x y/n #dieter bravo fluff #dieter bravo fic #dieter bravo fanfiction #pedro pascal #zaddy pedro

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trikadekaphile · 9 months

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Here’s where the fun begins (aka my “Star Wars” marathon)

I've been making my way through the entire SW saga, starting with TPM. It's been a while since I watched any of the SW movies straight through. I'm really amazed at how well the whole saga fits together -- despite what the fucking stupid pricks bashers claim, the prequels do dovetail quite well into the OT. And the prequels make the OT richer...especially ROTJ, but ANH and ESB too.

Specifically: Owen and Beru's exchanged looks when Luke talks about Obi Wan,and Obi Wan's own shifty-eyed looks when Luke asks about his father, gain so much from the prequels; and I always teared up at the scene in ROTJ when Anakin tells Luke to take off his mask: "I want to see you with my own eyes." But the enmasking scene in ROTS makes it even more resonant and heartbreaking. Now I don't just tear up, I bawl like a baby during that scene. And in ESB, I see various Luke scenes and think, "Damn, so much like his dad!", not to mention various Leia scenes and think the same thing: so much like her dad, she's got his temper and some of his personality traits. Of course, that gets muted a bit once she stops being in denial about being in love with Han.

And despite what the fucking perspectiveless assholes bashers claim, Hayden gives a good performance in AOTC and especially ROTS, before and after Anakin turns to the Dark Side. Another especially: he had to integrate the performances of no fewer than four actors (five if you count Ben Burtt providing Vader's breathing) into his own, and also make his own contribution to the character. That's no easy task. But Hayden was up to it, and he didn't deserve the thrashing he took from the self-important asshats known as movie critics, nor from the fucking shit-for-brains dickheads bashers, who did more than thrash him...they fucking persecuted him.

Which is why it was so nice to see him join Ewan onstage at, what was it, a Celebration? I forget, but anyway, he got a Standing O and the audience absolutely freaked out over him...part of that is because the people who were born around the time Episode I came out are now adults, and grew up with the prequels like our generation did the originals -- they've replaced some of the nastier fucking lamebrain sons of bitches bashers and have to some extent taken the microphone back from them. Also, the passage of time has mellowed some people out.

Even fucking Chris Gore. What changed him from a virulent, vile basher into a...well, not exactly a fan of the prequels, but someone considerably less hateful toward the prequels, was a simple, common life event: he became a father, and was able to see the prequels through his offspring's eyes to an extent, and realizing they're not so bad -- maybe there's a reason they were so popular and made so much money, maybe they're even (gasp!) kinda good!

(Kind of like how the passage of time, a run of flops, and an expensive divorce delivered a well-deserved kick to Harrison's ass and made him realize that being remembered as the fan favorite character -- one of the hippest characters in movie history -- of a stupendously successful and beloved movie series isn't so damn bad after all.

Mark Hamill was sensible enough to have realized all along that most actors aren't remembered at ALL, let alone remembered for being a central character in, again, a stupendously successful and beloved movie series. His good friend Robert "Freddy Krueger" Englund realized it too, and both he and Mark had much more cause to bitch and moan about their respective series' association than Harrison ever had. I can't see where the SW association ever hurt Harrison's career, whereas Mark was denied the chance to play a substantial part -- the title character of the movie version of "Amadeus," a part he'd played on stage to great acclaim -- specifically because of the SW association. So shut the fuck up about SW hurting your career, Harrison!)

But anyway...Hayden has always been the nicest of guys, and behaved with real class when so many of the fans acted like stupid buttheads. It's good to see him be appreciated by fans now, and of course it was good to see him in "Obi Wan Kenobi," playing both Anakin and Vader.

Natalie...well, I feel kinda the same as I always have about her performance(s). I think she was really good in TPM, but kind of had bought into her own press with the other two (although I did think she was quite good in the family scenes for AOTC, and the "birth of the Rebellion" scenes for ROTS -- alas, those scenes ended up on the cutting room floor, a poor decision IMO) and felt she was "above all this." But to be fair, she did seem to change her 'tude more recently, and start to (gasp!) defend the prequels and her character against the fucking cretinous pricks bashers and their representatives in the media.

Liam as Qui Gon...love him. That's all that needs to be said. And despite Ewan's bitchiness about the prequels, I think he gave good performances too, and he had more fun making them than he claims. I really like the relationship between Obi Wan and Anakin in Episodes II and III. Yeah, there's a lot of friction between them in II, but it made sense -- Anakin was beginning to chafe under Obi Wan's tutelage, plus he was making his first serious steps toward the Dark Side. I remember how the fucking idiot dickheads bashers bitched about his whining, claiming (falsely) that Luke doesn't whine in ESB. First of all, Luke most certainly DOES whine in ESB. In fact, he whines twice as much as in ANH. Practically all he does once he meets Yoda is whine, for Pete's sake. But anyway...does it ever penetrate their thick skulls and find one of the two (dying) brain cells clattering around in the otherwise empty space in their craniums that Anakin being whiny was the POINT? That Anakin and Luke have completely opposite journeys? Isn't Anakin falling to the Dark Side just as Luke is fighting against it and, ultimately, rejecting it? Fucking DUH!

Then there's the complaint about how Anakin falling to the Dark Side "makes him look dumb." Jesus H. Christ, do they think it should have made him look SMART? I mean, turning to the Dark Side IS dumb. It's rejecting everything he's ever been taught and worked for, because he CLAIMS to want to save his wife, when really, all he wants is more power. So he makes this dumb decision for the sake of power...and it ends up nearly destroying him physically and mentally.

I haven't gotten as far as Episodes VII-IX, but watching them again is going to be hard, because of Carrie. Her death was not only devastating to the fans, but it threw a big wrench into the filmmakers' plans for Episode IX. It was supposed to be something like: each one of the movies was going to focus on one of the Big Three. VII was Han's movie, VIII was Luke's movie, and IX was going to be Leia's movie. But instead they had to rely on putting in cut scenes from the other movies to form Carrie's performance.

And I don't give a red-hot flaming SHIT who shot first, nor do think Jar Jar or the Ewoks ruined a bloody thing about the movies. *assumes bratty tone* So THERE! Nyah nyah nyah! *ends bratty tone*

Damn, that felt good. Now I will go resume my marathon.

#star wars #star wars marathon

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manuscripts-dontburn · 24 days

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The Morning Gift

Author: Eva Ibbotson

First published: 1993

Rating: ★★★★☆

I adored this story! A romance born on the eve of WW2, that holds the foreboding but still shows you that people still lived their lives and had their hopes. I was happy to note that for once the main female character of Ibbotson´s is not a sheer perfection (this girl has actually some issues to go through), though I admit I could still do without the comically evil rival (it would have been so much more interesting if there actually at least appeared a possibility the other girl might succeed). But all in all, especially because of the last third of the book, I thought this was a well-crafted romance with some, perhaps cheesy, but well-used tropes. Just, for the love of god, DO NOT listen to this as an audiobook recorded by Kate Lock, who insisted on using a fake German accent and squeaky voice for the main character, making her sound like a stupid child of 10. (And that is not the only horrible thing she does to the selected characters).

Jane, the Fox & Me

Author: Fanny Britt

First published: 2012

Rating: ★★★★☆

A beautifully executed graphic novel in which the story somewhat fizzles out and feels unfinished, definitely could have been longer and yet I rate it quite high simply because it hit me like a train. I was not a fat kid but all my life I felt I was, even if in my case there was no bullying. I felt this little girl´s pain deeply.

The Witches: Salem, 1692

Author: Stacy Schiff

First published: 2015

Rating: ★★★☆☆

I think Stacy Schiff is an excellent historian and has an extremely readable style of writing. I also think she has done a stupendous job putting this mammoth project together, but I need to agree with those who complain about the density and slowness of the text. It is next to impossible to keep track of the names and the accusations/descriptions of the alleged witchcraft are so similar (or completely the same) that it is very taxing to keep up. I am not sure whether I should be complaining though, because, after all, I DID want a book about these events and I got it. I would recommend an audiobook though, makes it easier to get through.

The Clockmaker's Daughter

Author: Kate Morton

First published: 2018

Rating: ★★★★☆

This is a story of a house and people connected to it in an intriguing web of connections. It spans from the 1860s to the modern day, not always in chronological order, and I must say that Kate Morton managed to jump through the timelines quite effortlessly. There is a great number of characters but I had no problems following who was who, though admittedly some of the timelines were less interesting than the others (notably and predictably for me I enjoyed the modern one the least). I also had trouble when some things, already revealed to the reader, were "revealed" again. The main voice is that of a ghost (trust me, this is not a spoiler), and while I did not mind it, I also believe the book would have been stronger had that been completely committed and we only got to know that particular character from the other stories it touches. Even after all that I have to say I was surprised at how easy this was to read (it IS a chunker) and how much I enjoyed it.

A Face Like Glass

Author: Frances Hardinge

First published: 2012

Rating: ★★★☆☆

I adore the fact that Frances Hardinge does not talk down to children, because this is undeniably a middle-grade book, but does not shy from some pretty heavy stuff. However perhaps I have read too much Frances Hardinge at this point because I tend to really like/be intrigued by the start of her books, her world-building and her unique ideas, but then it all became too much with this one and I was impatient for the story to be over.

Brigid of Kildare

Author: Heather Terrell

First published: 2009

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

I am sad to report that this book was kind of a mess. The historical bits would have been just fine on their own, even if I had wanted a little more depth, many a time I felt like we were merely dipping our toes into the fascinating story of Brigid. But then the author decided to weave in a "mystery" set in modern times and those chapters, apart from being unnecessary to the story, felt just tedious to the point I was considering skipping them altogether. A bummer.

When Women Were Dragons

Author: Kelly Barnhill

First published: 2022

Rating: ★★★☆☆

As long as it was a family tragedy infused with the elusive and unexplained, I was enjoying this book quite a lot. But then, in its second half, it becomes too wordy, too idealistic, too uninteresting.

The Silent Unseen

Author: Amanda McCrina

First published: 2022

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

The good thing: the topic, even if you have read loads of WW2 books, is an unusual one. The bad thing: the story is extremely weak (walking and talking do not an intriguing narrative make), the characters shallow, the motivations extremely basic, the romance needless and not particularly well done. No matter how many betrayals posing as shocking twists you cram into the last third, you cannot make me invested in this.

Charlotte's Web

Author: E.B.White

First published: 1952

Rating: ★★★★☆

As a non-UK and non-US child, I have never read this book when I was its target audience. I picked it up now more for the super cute edition than anything else. And indeed throughout I kept thinking: sure, it´s cute. But is it that great? And then I got kicked in the guts by that friggin ending.

Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands

Author: Heather Fawcett

First published: 2024

Rating: ★★★★★

Just as enjoyable and delightful as the first volume! I love the tone, the language, and the romance (I am SHIPPING Emily and Wendell so hard), it can be both touching and humorous at the same time. Cannot wait for the conclusion of this series which so far I find to be one of the most joyous literary events in years.

The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the Black Death, the Most Devastating Plague of All Time

Author: John Kelly

First published: 2005

Rating: ★★★★☆

The Black Death epidemic of the 14th century remains one of the most gruesomely fascinating events in European history and I dare say this book is a very accessible, informative and well-organized study of it. It is strictly chronological, leading you in the steps of the disease, and adding stories and explanations that make it all less clinical and more humanly tragic. Just perhaps the ending sounds way too much like "but in the end it was a good thing" felt like a very, very weird conclusion.

Psyche and Eros

Author: Luna McNamara

First published: 2023

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

I finished this book out of spite more than anything else. The myth of Psyche and Reos may just be my favourite of all the Greek myths, unfortunately instead of crafting it into something fresh and memorable Luna McNamara tried her hand at mixing every Greek myth you have ever heard of and made Psyche insufferable during the process for good measure. It is not even subtle mixing, instead, she goes full Marvel Universe of Greek gods on you, twisting the story to incredible lengths just to cram more of the mythology into her book. I would also say that the original myth takes quite a beating in this reimagining, being stripped of much that made it so appealing to me as a reader. Sometimes less is more.

A Middle-Earth Traveller: Sketches from Bag End to Mordor

Author: John Howe

First published: 2018

Rating: ★★★★★

Beautifully executed "sketchbook". It would seem that while Alan Lee was more concerned with the Elven stuff, John Howe focused on Dwarves, Orcs and the more gritty parts we saw in the movies. There are, however, also illustrations from the Silmarillion included. I would imagine this is a perfect book to take with you outside, where you can sit under a tree and just leaf through, dreaming of Middle-Earth.

#booklr #wrap up #March 2024

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dnschmidt · 30 days

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Movie ideas

Are you a Hollywood movie studio? I am an excellent writer. You should hire me to write your movies. Here are just a few of my stupid (that's stupendous plus splendid) ideas:

A superhero movie where the first ninety minutes is all origin story, and then right before it ends, the hero goes on his first mission and immediately gets hit by a bus. Call it “Anticlimax Man”.

A remake of Predator where the alien only turns invisible because of his social anxiety.

A RoboCop sequel where he dies after his case fan gets clogged with cat hair.

A remake of Home Alone where Kevin doesn’t need to build traps for the burglars because he’s not a kid. He’s a badger with rabies.

Michael Fassbender stars as an illegal street racer in “The Michael Fassbender And The Michael Furiousbender”.

An Edward Scissorhands sequel where instead of giving people haircuts and trimming their hedges, he becomes a very unsuccessful masseuse.

An Oceans 11 prequel called Oceans 1/2. This time, the heist team is just George Clooney’s legs. Running around, kicking security guards in the shins, stealing pants. Lots of shoe product placement.

A slasher film that ends with the heroine gloating as she hands the killer over to the cops, but then she realizes her car is parked over in the same direction. They all have to walk together and make small talk and it’s super awkward.

Thanks for reading, movie studio. Looking forward to working together.

#funny stuff #movies #movie parody #humor #jokes #robocop #predator #oceans 11 #slasher movies

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siena-sevenwits · 4 months

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Jan 1 - Day #2 - A Fortnight of Books

I am loving these prompts!

Most surprising (in a good way) book of this year?

"A Doll's House" by Henrik Ibsen

I was shocked how glad I was that I read this, because I knew it mostly as an example Chesterton and similar authors of the rough time period used to discuss the controversial feminist ideas of the day. In other words, I knew it by reputation through the lens of "'A Doll's House' reflects everything wrong with how we think about women and marriage these days." This is not to say the historical context/critical reception at time of its release is not important - this play would fall flat without them. But taking the play on its own terms, here's what I say. Nora is 100% right about the problem she and Torvald face - even though they do their best to love each other and have been happy in the lesser idea of marriage society has shaped them to believe in, there is no respect or maturity in their marriage and it will ultimately fail. Nora has her eyes opened to the idea of what marriage should be - utter self gift of each to the other, striving and sacrificing always for trust and respect, together helping the other thrive in all that they are, as a team and in their own individuality and in their responsibility to their children and community. A marriage with no stupid delineation between love and respect, a marriage of equals. She has no words for it, but what she's talking about is a ToB marriage, in fact.

But she realizes that society has fed her and her husband extremely messed up ideas about what it means to been a good upperclass woman or man, and to have a good marriage, and that they're not equipped to embrace what a true marriage should be. So she walks out and leaves no contact information. I think she made the wrong choice. I think what we see in this play, as horrible as the situation is, is a Flannery O'Connor time moment of grace. The true ugliness of Nora and Torvald's relationship has been made clear, and the contrasting beautiful marriage they both desire has been made manifest. This is awesome! This is what a play SHOULD do! The solution it proposes leaves a lot to be desired, but I think that's only because neither Nora nor Ibsen knows how to solve the problem, and making a clean break is all that they can come up with. But it seems to me that in that moment of grace, Nora and Torvald should have determined to make one, last incredible try. Separation might have to be involved, for a time. Certainly extremely hard work and brutal honesty would have to be involved. And there's nothing to say they would be successful - but if they only gave it one chance now that they KNOW the truth that was hidden from them... And that's why I like this play. I disagree with how Ibsen wraps it up, but he was RIGHT to raise this issue to the light back in his day, and I think the conversations around it must have been stupendous. Where is that post about how all fiction has been touched by sin, and you can focus on that, but you can also find where it has been touched by truth? So I have a complex relationship with this play, but am very glad I read it. Oh, and Nora has such an amazing arc.

(Some of this may be off - it's been nearly a year since I read it and some bits are hazy.)

Most disappointing book/Book you wish you enjoyed more than you did?

Yumi and the Nightmare Painter by Brandon Sanderson

I DNF'd this one. Ugh, I was so excited for the new Cosmere book - bought it the day it hit the shelves, and everything! But the good parts became overshadowed for me by all the immature body stuff and "sneaking peeks." I roll my eyes in this book's general direction. If you want to make a point about vulnerability, there are better ways to do it.

Sanderson, if Stormlight 5 isn't an awesome series finale to make up for this, you're the one who's getting magically turned into a coat rack.

#fortnight in books 2023 #coreander's old books #recovering reader

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