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ladybellissima · 6 months

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Finding Love Katakuri x Reader Part 31

Wide awake the young beautiful marine cadet watched the morning sun raise. Finally the day started and finally she was able to work on her plan. Normally the Admiral was already waiting outside her door, but not today. No. Today it would be easier. With Captain Coby by her side, (Y/N) was sure to have more freedom. On top he was better to speak with. A really kindhearted captain. A silent knock at her door let her jump to her feets. Slowly she looked through the gap of the open door and felt relieved to see a smiling pink haired man than a cigar puffing Admiral.

"(Y/N)! Good morning. Are you ready for the day?", he asked happily, while she stepped out of her room to make the professional salut. Chuckling he gave her a stunned look of her appearance.

"Wow look at you. Dressed in our clothes… You look great!", he spoke amazed, but then blushed madly of the way it sounded.

With a short thank you, (Y/N) started to walk along the corridors with him.

"I was looking forward to see you again. After the Admiral got you under his wing I was worried, but you seem okay. That's a relief.", he started, while (Y/N) rolled her eyes annoyed.

Nothing was okay in the slightest.

"It's very early, nevertheless we start right away! Today i show you our training grounds. I hope you are motivated, because I will check your fitness level. I noticed that it's still missing in your papers.", he spoke and remembered how hard it was to run the rounds back then.

(Y/N) balled her fists motivated and was ready to deal with whatever would come. Walking in silence she glanced up to his carefree expression. Now was a good opportunity. Should she ask? Would it be suspicious? Her mind was racing of scenarios. Mostly bad ones.

"Something wrong? Tell me if something bothers you, (Y/N)", he spoke in a caring tone. Nodding quickly she thought wisely about her words.

" Say Captain Coby, what happened with my ship? I am just curious. ", she asked nervously. Thinking for a moment his look wandered straight again. (Y/N)'s heartbeat was increasing. Did she go too far?

"Oh yeah. Now I remember where they took it. You mean the giant bonbon. What an extravagant way to sail the seas. It's at the underground entrance by the other submerge ships. They were struggeling where to put it, because of its size. So it stays there.", he looked down to her uneasy expression. By his happy attitude he seemed completely clueless, which let her calm down a bit.

"Underground entrance.. I don't have a clue where that is. This place is really huge.. Honestly I would be completely lost, if i wouldn't follow you right now..", (Y/N) tried to guide their talk to the right direction. It was really hard to have a conversation with the main goal to get information. Stunned Coby stopped in his tracks and started to search through his pockets.

" Didn't the Admiral show you around?", he asked and already knew the answer, but also got a short no from the innocent girl beside him.

"I can't believe that you didn't have a tour around this place. Normally it's the first thing you get..but what can I say..the Admiral has his own way..", he mumbled, while searching frustrated. Confused (Y/N) watched his doings and it didn't help either after he suddenly fished out a folded paper with sparkling eyes.

" Here! This is the most important paper of every new marine here.", he announced and placed it into her hands. Opening it she gasped surprised of the detailed map in her hands. Every room and corridor was neatly named and give her an perfect overview of her location. Feeling her trembling hands of the starting excitement, she had to take a deep breath to calm down.

"Great isn't it? I still had it in my coat but I don't need it anymore. Now nothing could go wrong.", he spoke happily and (Y/N) felt a tear roll down her cheek. Shocked he asked why she was crying and if he had said something wrong, but he quickly fell silent after getting a bright smile from her and a surprising big hug.

" You are right. Nothing could go wrong now… Thank you Coby…", she spoke relieved, while feeling him hugging her back. Both had a smile on their face, but about complete different thoughts.

Stepping back (Y/N) folded the paper again and put it into her trousers. Her goal was getting closer. What a beautiful day it was. Walking again they reached the training grounds where hell became reality for every new recruit, but she was more than motivated now to face this challenge. If (Y/N) wanted to stay here any longer then she had to show that she was worth it.

"Okay let's start this..Surprise me and we are finished sooner.", he joked. If he would have known that she would take his words literally.

Coby was unsure if this wouldn't be too hard for a lovely girl like her. Becoming a marine wasn't easy and if you would ask him, he saw her more as a person, which was protected by him than letting her out there to fight.

God he was wrong in every way.

He didn't know where (Y/N) was hiding this power inside that fragile beautiful body of hers and this training session was starting to make him quite nervous. It was a hot day and (Y/N) changed into short training shorts, sport bra and an oversized tank top, which she got from the dress room. What could he say. It was underlining her curves in a perfect way and standing before him, motivated, with this special glint in her eyes, he knew that she would achieve everything she longed for. The wall climbing, crawling through fields or running rounds like crazy. Her will to fight was unbelievable. Growling like a monster (Y/N) pushed herself beyond her limits, while she climbed high up in the air on a rope. Not only once Coby had to avoid her sexy moves, because of his dirty thoughts. Her whole body hurted like hell and it felt like she was going to faint. Luckily they made some breaks in between to let her rest a bit, till the next test was calling. She never trained that hard her entire life. To be honest, she never trained at all, but she still kept going for him. For the life of Katakuri, who was also fighting with all he got.

"(Y/N) it's enough."

Finally the words of salvation. Breathing heavily, she carelessly took her shirt off and wiped her face. A sudden cough got her attention and she was met with a blushing Coby, who offered her a new one and water.

"I have to say you mastered every test very well. If you go on like that I am sure you will pass the entry test in one month. It's important to train everyday to get better. if you want to make it, then that will be your daily challenge.", he explained nervously, while (Y/N) lay on the ground half naked.

" Everyday? This? ", she breathed exhausted. God she has to get away from here quick. Chuckling he sat down and gave her time to recover.

" Yeah everyday. You need strength to fight. But for now you are free to go..", he spoke happily and fall back of her sudden jump to her feets.

"You mean I have time for me now? I can sleep or eat or mostly sleep? ", she asked excited and got a heartwarming laugh of Coby as an answer.

"You always remind me of myself. Yeah I give you the rest of the day off. Today it's really hot and nothing ordinary is going on. You need time to recover till the Admiral is back. I will finish the papers. So I wish you a great afternoon. ", Coby spoke and was deeply hugged by (Y/N).

" I can't thank you enough! ", she spoke and got up. Quickly running out like she never was exhausted minutes before, he looked after her with mixed feelings. In a way he found that there was more behind her words than it sounded.

Getting a quick shower to look neatly like it was ordered for every marine and gathering her things together, (Y/N) got ready to step out of her room. It was already late in the afternoon and she knew there wasn't much time left. It was risky to go, because maybe the Admiral was already on his way back. Who knows what this man was planning.

But the moment was so damn perfect.

No one was around. Everyone was doing his own thing, because the high ranked marines were out of sight. Locking her door (Y/N) walked along the corridor, while once in awhile taking a glimpse of the map. Coby was really a lifesaver. It would have been very complicated to find the way on her own.

Step after step she finally reached the doors of the prison district. Taking a deep breath she slowly opened it to not cause any noise.

"No one in sight…"

Quickly getting inside she got deeper and deeper into the darkness. The familiar disgusting smell, which lingered in the thick air made her feel sick. Her hands started to shake of her nervousness. She wanted to see him so badly that she was about to miss the guard. Frozen in the spot she hid behind a wall and thought desperately of what to do.

There was a noise. A growling noise.

Did he notice her? Was this her end now?

But nothing happened. Irritated (Y/N) leaned forward to take a glimpse of what was going on.

To call it sleeping would be an understatement. This man was fighting with his inner self right now.

There wasn't another explanation of the sound he was making. Her look fell onto his belt where the cell keys were carelessly hanging and she realized that she totally forgot that part of meeting her husband. Sighing of her stupidity she was happy that the man was caught in such a deep sleep.

Annoyed about herself and the situation, she walked closer and with shaken hands she grabbed his belt to get the keys off. Her look wandered from his sleeping face to the belt and back. Her body was trembling of fear. One wrong move and everything was over. Her mind was racing about the question, if she should really go this far to see him, but checking his condition was also important for their escape. She had to be prepared for everything. The smell of alcohol reached her nose and by his red face she realized that he had a good time with a bottle of sake. Sighing in relief she got the keys of and walked pass the man who still was mentally on the battlefields and sure wouldn't come back so soon.

Passing the cells she was able to see Katakuri's prison. Finally. Rushing towards it of fear to losing this chance again she looked inside and couldn't see anything. Silently (Y/N) opened the cell doors and took a candle from the wall to light it up with one of the matches, which were laying at a small table by the metal bars. Her look wandered from the candle to the wall.

Her breath stopped.

"Are you sure he would life that long?"

Akainu's words rang in her mind and (Y/N) wasn't sure anymore.

In a way she was afraid to step closer. To maybe make things worse. Her hands were shaking and let the candle light move rapidly.

Blood.

So much blood.

Cuts, deep wounds, bruises.

" Burn wounds…", she whispered shocked, while coming closer. His head was hanging down carelessly, exposed without his scarf. Trembling she reached out to him, but hesitated midway.

"Katakuri…", her soft voice called out to him desperately. She thought he was unconscious. He sure had to be with these wounds, but she was wrong. Katakuri heard her angelic voice in the darkness and moved slowly. Gasping she watched him lifting his head. His emotionless pained look met her shocked one.

"Am I dreaming?"

Gasping of finally hearing his raspy, but soft voice she fell to her knees and cried silently, while he couldn't believe it that she was there. In front of him. His beautiful wife.

"(Y/N)…."

Taking a deep breath (Y/N) had to collect herself. But it was so damn hard. She couldn't stand to see him like that. The man she loved, close to his death.

"Please (Y/N)…. You have to focus on your plan.. There is hope..", she thought desperately and shook her head quickly. She could cry the whole night at her room but not stay by his side forever. Taking her bag with shaken hands, she slowly got up again to face her husband. A shiver ran down her spine after meeting his exhausted look again.

"I know what you will say now…", she sobbed bitterly.

"(Y/N)", he whispered and breathed heavily of the pain.

"I know I risk my life. Go too far. Maybe it's useless and we will end together on the scaffold..", she bite her lip in frustration.

"(Y/N)..", he called out again, but this time in a demanding voice, which let her stop abruptly and look to his soft smile. Hugging herself she tried to control her trembling body, while he whispered his long needed wish.

"Just kiss me.."

#fanfiction #romance #katakuri x reader #karakuricharlotte #one piece #charlotte katakuri

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itsclydebitches · 1 year

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By all means, go off about The Blacklist. What's it about? 👀

Bless you, anon, for indulging my current obsessions :D

OKAY so the premise is great imo. Elizabeth “Liz” Keen’s life is basically perfect. She’s married to a handsome, adoring, successful teacher. They’re very near to finishing the process of adopting their first child. Best of all, Liz is beginning her career as an FBI profiler. Today’s her first day on the job and, other than being a little late rolling out of bed, it’s going to be great!

Except for one teeny, tiny snag. An hour or so before she’s due in the office, Raymond “Red” Reddington, #1 on the FBI’s Most Wanted list, turns himself in. He offers himself up as the FBI’s informant, specifically feeding them info on what he refers to as the blacklist: a list of criminals so heinous, secretive, and downright dangerous that the FBI doesn’t even know they exist, let alone how to catch them. Red will serve up his fellow fugitives on a silver platter. The catch?

He'll only work with Liz.

So the FBI is like, “Why the fuck is the ‘concierge of crime’ interested in a newbie profiler who hasn’t even made it into work yet?” and Liz is also like, “Wtf, I don’t know him, why would Reddington be interested in me?” It’s the mystery at the heart of the whole show, interspersed among the stand-alone episodes where they go after blacklisters: who is Liz to Red? Because he is very protective of her. Accommodating. Downright adoring—or perhaps obsessive. But really, Spader is fantastic in the role and keeps things on the side of charmingly sweet (in a ‘I’ll kill huge swaths of people for you :)’ kinda way) as opposed to creepy, which I really like. Honestly, a good 75% of the show's appeal for me is in Red's characterization and Spader's performance.

The point though is that everyone wants to know why such a powerful, immoral man would go out of his way to not just work with Liz, but bend/break every rule he’s ever made—tear apart years of self-serving contingency plans—just to keep her safe. I mean, the whole thing starts with Red turning himself in, risking disappearing into some dark FBI hole, just for the chance to see her.

So is he in love with her? (Lizzington is a popular ship, despite—or perhaps in part because of—the May/December dynamic and frankly the show does a lot to feed that possibility. It's never going to be canon, but fans aren't just pulling this ship out of thin air either. Trust me. I went in expecting it to just be fans being fans and... it's not. It's really not.) Is he her father? (And now we see why lizzington is controversial lol.) Is he manipulating Liz? Are the two of them in on something together? Theories abound, with each season providing new clues and revelations, nine seasons so far in total… so you can see where I’m going with this. Frankly, it doesn’t add up. I knew as soon as I understood the premise and caught wind of the show’s length that there would be no satisfying resolution. You don’t pose a singular question like that and dole out supposed answers each season without eventually retconning the hell out of previous episodes, or dropping previously important reveals, or just plain making stuff up for the sake of drama rather than logic. It’s inevitable in a form with so many fingers in the writing pie and, having been spoiled for the later seasons, I know that this isn’t magically fixed along the way.

So that’s a definite flaw in the show, though one I fully expected and thus am pretty indifferent to. The far bigger issue I have is that, as said in my tag rant, poor Liz is barely allowed to be a character anymore. She’s treated as a plot device, with her emotions serving whatever the current conflict is, rather than occurring as a result of her experiences. As you can imagine, Liz has some complicated feelings about Red, but they’re far from logical or consistent. I’m not joking when I say that she’ll despise him at the start of one episode, be hugging him by the end, and then be back to wanting him cut from her life at the start of the next episode with no explanation as to why this change occurred. Much like RWBY, the viewer is forced to decide for themselves why Liz is constantly on an emotional roller coaster that defies gravity and though yes, there are PLENTY of potential explanations in the show—I think this woman has been through enough to have earned a blanket ‘You think she’s emotionally stable??’ justification—but from a writing perspective it’s less than satisfying to continually do the writer’s work for them. In some episodes things won't stay consistent between scenes and I want to kick down the responsible party's door to ask what the actual hell they were thinking.

It's the kind of show with a few key, GLARING problems and if you’re hoping for something tightly written that will neatly wrap up all your questions and presumed inconsistencies with a pretty bow… keep waiting. But I’m used to shows like that—it happens with most long-form action stories, frankly, especially if they’ve got a core mystery like Blacklist—so I’ve learned to prioritize other aspects. Like the cast of characters? Top notch. Liz and Red’s dynamic is obviously the heart of the show and as much as I prefer them getting along, Liz’s cyclical anger is compelling too, in large part because Red remains completely devoted to her, no matter what she throws at him or how badly she treats him. Not to overshare on main, but I cannot possibly emphasize enough what a sucker I am for a sophisticated bad guy who would burn the world for his loved one even when she hates him. Actually, especially when she hates him because oh no, no one can hate him more than he already hates himself.

We’ve got Dembe, Red’s right-hand man and all around badass with a marshmallow center. Ressler who I’m usually pretty meh about because he’s the boring by-the-book cop, but every once in a while he pulls some chaotic move out of left field that makes me cheer. Samar who is even more of a badass than Dembe and that’s REALLY saying something. Aram, easily one of my favorite quirky tech characters of all time: literal ball of sunshine who will nevertheless cut you if you threaten his found family. Their boss, Cooper, who seems like a hardass but ultimately treats his team like his kids (letting them get away with shit included). Tom, Liz’s husband, who is… complicated. Mr. Kaplan who you just need to watch to fully appreciate. The cast is A+

Which means I’m watching the stupidest plot-line man ever devised, or a character suddenly did a 180 with no explanation, and yeah that makes the meta-writing part of my brain seethe and bite her imaginary pillow to muffle screams of rage… but then the characters have A Moment™, or there’s an actually well done twist, or we get an action sequence that yeah, is pretty silly when all is said and done, but it’s fun and I remember why I want to watch this show through to the end. Not because I think the big mystery will have a satisfying conclusion and not even because I like a lot of the major plot-lines coming up (I don’t) but because I still like the characters and so long as they’re interacting together in interesting ways, I’ll keep tuning in.

Particularly when it comes to Liz and Red. For however badly their relationship is written at times, the underlying dynamic itself remains stellar: successful FBI agent vs. renowned criminal. Poetic charmer vs. down-to-earth realist. Answers vs. questions. Is she making him better? Is he making her worse? What are they to each other and, even if the show did define that clearly on some level, can it really be answered so easily? I don’t think so. The fact that some days my brain goes, “God they have such a good father-daughter-esque relationship” and other days it’s going, “I ship it 👀” and other days it’s just, “You two need to stay FAR AWAY from each other. I mean, I’m digging the dysfunction, but if you were real people holy shit” just speaks to the complexity here. As frustrating as it can be, the messiness is kinda fun too? They’re compelling and they make my brain go brrrr with possibilities and sometimes that’s all you need in a show!

At least for the first three seasons. Lets see how I feel after 3 times that lol

Thus ends my 1k+, mostly non-spoilery Blacklist ramble ✌️

#Blacklist #The Blacklist #Lizzington #mymetas

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kbrick · 7 months

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Tag Game

Woo, it has been a minute since I've done one of these! Thanks @the-sinking-ship for the tag!

three ships: Uhhhh Drarry. And that's it!

No, for real, this is hard because I am a single-minded crazy person and have trouble leaving my beloveds. I used to be into Jurdan (Jude + Cardan from The Cruel Prince) a few years back. Het romance, so boring, I know. But enemies to lovers, so. In the HP verse, I think Scorbus is really cute. And I'm peripherally into Lunasy.

first ship: Jurdan (see above)

last song: I've recently fallen into a time warp, grunge edition. Been listening to Black and Release by Pearl Jam a LOT.

last movie: Barbie movie, and I cried. What, I'm not made of STONE you bastards

currently reading: Re-reading Perdido Street Station and tbh I'm liking it a lot less this time? not sure why.

last thing i wrote:

“Can't it wait until Monday?” Harry had little hope of this, but he had to ask.

“Afraid not,” Lisa replied. “Bit of an emergency. Little man blasted a three-foot hole in the wall of the foster family’s house today. They’ll all need to be wiped.”

“Obliviated. We obliviate them,” Harry corrected her (because ‘wiped’ sounded scary, like some sort of Cold War tactic). He thumbed through the file. “Eleven years old. How is this the first time I'm hearing about him?”

Kids this age always got to Harry, for reasons that he both understood and didn’t. Of course, eleven was when his own life had changed forever, but that didn’t really explain why these cases made him feel so frantic, like it was almost too late, like the child might be lost forever if he didn't intercede post haste.

“Honestly, I've no clue,” Lisa said. “I don't know how he escaped our notice until now. He’s clearly got magic juice; it’s been popping up for years by the look of it.”

Indeed, there was a whole stack of incident reports in the file, from various primary schools and foster homes, things that had been labelled as violent behavior or pyro tendencies, but had probably been errant magic.

Yeah, this one had slipped through the cracks.

currently writing: a top secret fic for a top secret fest, and dabbling in the above 'Harry as a Wizarding Child Protective Services caseworker' fic (Lisa is the Muggle liaison between the magic and Muggle parts of the department). Yes, this one will be Drarry, too, and also involves Scorpius.

Tagging @aibidil @moonflower-rose @gracerene @getawayfox @sorrybutblog @t4tdrarry, but please ignore if you've done it already or don't feel like doing it!

#drarry #kbrick #tag game

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xecutivecucumber · 1 year

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Something for the Tech fans (including me. I am a Tech fan)

Okay, so I know that the ship I write for isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. But there are some scenes that don’t involve the ship that I’m really proud of and I think would appeal to a wider audience. So I’m going to start posting scenes that I really like with enough context for things to make sense.

For my regular followers and readers, this will be things that you’ve seen before.

Today’s sample!

Tech has a breakdown

The context:

In a world where Order 66 kind of happens, but Anakin doesn’t turn and starts an early rebellion with the clones, Omega is kidnapped by bounty hunters sent by the Empire in order to win Nala Se’s cooperation. The Bad Batch works with Anakin’s rebellion in the hopes of finding some clue of her whereabouts. They’ve found the bounty hunters who took Omega: Taja and Admani Desai, Togruta siblings who were lied to by Nala Se and have agreed to help the Batch find Omega. Tech especially has taken this badly, spending weeks pushing himself to his limit trying to crack the deeper Imperial codes in order to find Omega. Taja has formed a connection with Tech as they’ve worked together, empathizing with him as she has lost siblings as well. Crosshair has also never left the Batch.

That should be everything! I hope you enjoy!

Tech stared at the information on his datapad. He did not understand it. He needed to understand it. He tightened his grip on the datapad and tried to focus on each character one at a time.

It did not help that he could hear the others talk quietly on the other end of the ship. He would not be here if Hunter had not forbidden him from finding somewhere he could do his work in peace.

It took far too long for him to realize that the pad was telling him his latest attempt at cracking the Imperial's secrets was unsuccessful.

Tech swore.

Frustration and anger like he had rarely felt before consumed his chest. What was wrong with him? Why couldn't he do this simple kriffing thing?

"Tech."

The rage he felt at himself redirected at the interruption.

"What is it?" Tech snapped.

"You need to take a break." Hunter said.

He and Wrecker had approached Tech.

"No." Tech said. "What I need is to succeed. I need to find a way to bypass their security."

Burning tears sprang to his eyes. He furiously dug the heel of his palm under his goggles to press them away.

"It needs to work." He mumbled. "I need it to work."

"Give me your data pad." Hunter said.

Tech pulled away from him.

"No." He said. "I can continue. I am fine."

"You're not." Hunter said. "You haven't slept or eaten in a rotation and you've barely gone to the fresher. Give me the data pad. That's an order."

Tech pulled it away from him.

“Come on, Tech.” Wrecker said, reaching for the pad. “Don’t-”

“If you touch this, I will destroy Lula.” Tech said. “If you cared for Omega a fraction of how you dote on that idiotic toy, we would not have lost her!”

Wrecker drew back as if punched. Shame mingled with Tech’s anger and frustration as he saw the wounded look in Wrecker’s eyes. Crosshair, Hunter, and Echo were staring at him. He could feel their disapproval. Crosshair opened his mouth and Tech knew he could not hear the words his brother would throw at him.

Tech tucked his datapad to his chest and fled.

The sunlight of Yavin IV blinded him momentarily. He hurried across the landing area and to the main temple. Surely there would be somewhere he could hide from his brothers' anger and censure.

He found himself in a cold, dark stone room. There was nothing in it save a few containers of spare equipment. Good. He could be alone here.

Tech held out his datapad with trembling hands. He still felt a pang when he saw the negative result there. He took a deep breath. He could do this. He had to.

The next six attempts were failures.

He was a failure.

Tech hurled the datapad at the wall. The crunch of the screen breaking made no dent in his miasma of emotions.

It wasn't working and he had hurt Wrecker and Omega was still out of reach-

The words ran over and over in his head, interrupted only by thoughts of worthless and failure.

Tech fell to his knees and curled in on himself. Shameful tears stung his eyes. For the first time since Omega was taken, for the first time since he was a child, Tech cried. He dug his fingernails into his arms as he sobbed. The pain was welcome.

The door opened and Tech cringed away from the light. There was no one that he wished to be the one to find him. The regs would be cruel and even worse, his brothers would attempt to help him.

He waited for the questions, the demands.

What are you doing?

Why are you in here?

Are you crying?

Come out of there.

None came. The door closed again, leaving Tech in the soothing darkness. There was no silhouette joining him in the room when he looked up.

Tech curled up again on the floor, trying to keep his mind away from what had pushed him to this state. He let it go blank, and the world seemed to disappear from around him.

Voices jolted Tech back to reality. He sat up, unsure of where he was. To his surprise, a blanket fell off of his shoulders. He looked around and slowly the memory of his breakdown came back to him.

But then- where did the blanket come from? If his brothers had found him, they would have taken him back to the Marauder. Tech became more confused as he picked up a ration bar and a canteen that had not been there before. He would have thought it was Omega if she were not gone. It was something she would do.

The voices outside sounded again and this time Tech could distinguish the words.

"Ma'am, I need you to stand aside now."

That was a trooper's voice.

"I'm under orders from Clone Force 99." A familiar, melodic voice said. "No one is to enter this room."

Taja?

Tech got to his feet. He hesitated, and then picked up his broken data pad from the floor.

"Uh huh." The trooper said. "Why don't I just comm Sergeant Hunter and see if that's true."

"That won't be necessary." Tech said, opening the door.

His ears had not deceived him. It was Taja standing as if on guard duty outside the closet door.

"She was doing me a favor. I needed some quiet for my research." Tech was surprised with how steady his voice was.

The clone trooper looked between the two of them before shrugging and moving on.

Tech wanted to speak the moment the guard was out of earshot, but found himself unable. The shame of the moment seemed to seep in. She had seen him at his lowest. Words seemed inconsequential in the wake of it.

The long moments dragged before he finally managed to speak.

"How did you know?" He asked.

He did not understand. She should have left him alone. Tech was sure that most of the individuals at the base would have done so, or, if they cared to, have gotten his brothers.

Taja's pale green eyes met his and he averted his gaze.

"My sister would have similar episodes." She said. "I assumed you did not need more stimulation.

Tech didn't know quite how to reply. He merely pressed his broken datapad to his chest.

"Thank you." He finally mumbled.

"I am glad to help." Taja replied.

Tech cleared his throat.

"I was unaware you and your brother had returned." He said.

Taja nodded.

"We have been in contact with some of the leaders of the Rebellion, concerning the increasing number of slavers in the galaxy." She said. "We have come to discuss the possibility of raiding a slave camp near here."

"And by some of the leaders, you mean General Skywalker." Tech said.

Taja smiled.

"Too clever by half." She said.

For the first time since Omega was taken, Tech felt a faint urge to smile.

That urge fled when a loud voice cracked through the air.

"Tech!"

Wrecker was barreling towards them. Taja took a step back as he drew near. He skidded to a stop in front of them, looking between them with his brow creased with worry. He lifted his hands, as if he wanted to grab Tech in a hug, which he probably did. Tech was glad that he abstained.

"You okay?" Wrecker asked. "It's been hours and we couldn't find you."

Tech felt some of his guilt return at Wrecker's concerned tone.

"I apologize." He muttered. "I did not intend-"

"It’s okay!" Wrecker said quickly. "I’m not mad, you know. Just worried."

He paused.

"We're all worried, Tech."

Tech looked down at the ground. His wretchedness that he had forgotten for a moment returned in full force.

"I do not understand." He finally said. "Omega is gone. How can you stand not doing anything?"

Wrecker looked again as if Tech had hit him and more guilt piled onto Tech.

"Cause I can't do anything." Wrecker said. He sounded close to tears. "I'm not smart like you. If I could help Omega by blowin' things up, or taking apart a bomb, or punching something, I would. But I can't."

"Then you understand that my work is of the utmost importance." Tech said. "I am the only one who can find her."

"Maybe." Wrecker said. "The Rebellion still might find somethin' out. But Tech, what would Omega say if she saw you doing this yourself?"

Tech knew exactly how she would react. Her eyes would go wide. He could hear her voice.

"Tech!" She would say.

And it would be all she needed to say.

"I miss her." Tech said.

"Me too." Wrecker said.

Tech became aware of Taja looking between them.

"If I may," She said. "I understand what you are going through. You hurt, you are angry. You feel that the hole in your heart will never be filled."

Tech blinked at her astute description of how he was feeling. Taja looked at him.

"It will not be this painful forever." She said. "But regardless, your sister is alive. There is hope."

"Yeah!" Wrecker said. "We're gonna find her and we're gonna bring her home, okay?"

Tech looked between Taja and Wrecker. For once, he felt no urge to contradict Wrecker or point out the probability.

"Okay." He said.

"I must go." Taja said. "Admani and I have our meeting."

Tech nodded to her. She smiled back. He liked it when she smiled.

"So, is she your girlfriend?" Wrecker whispered as Taja disappeared around a corner.

Tech frowned.

"That is not the nature of our relationship." He said.

Wrecker grinned in a way that Tech was not fond of.

"Uh huh." Wrecker said.

Tech shook his head.

Romance and partners were never something that Tech had considered. They were clones bred to fight a war. The things that other beings considered natural were not options for them. Even now, Tech had far more pressing matters than whether or not he had a partner. It was even difficult for him to conceptualize.

Though, when it came to potential mates, he could do far worse. She was pleasing to the eye, even with her disfigurement. Perhaps more so because of it. She stood with pride, as if challenging others to mention it.

He found her coloring aesthetically pleasing and her eyes striking. She was intelligent, worked well with him, and also seemed to understand how Tech's mind worked. And she cared about him, for whatever reason.

No, he doubted he could do better when it came to a possible partner.

He doubted she felt the same way. It was one thing to help him with his troubles and to be a good mission partner. It was quite another to consider Tech in a romantic light. Tech had no data on how partners he found attractive reacted to him. But he had a feeling that any testing would not end with the results he wanted.

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cranberrymoons · 5 months

Text

20 questions for fic writers

I was tagged by @steventhusiast a billion years ago and more recently by @thefreakandthehair and @just-my-latest-hyperfixation🥰

1. How many works do you have on AO3? 49 under my current account, there are some fics for other fandoms buried deep within the depths of the archive which we WILL NOT DISCUSS at this time

2. What’s your total AO3 word count? 128,515

3. What fandoms do you write for? currently just stranger things! I wrote one fic for Crazyhead this summer, a single-season Netflix show from 2016 (?) and that fic has 6 hits 😎 I'm also considering writing a top gun fic (entirely your fault @urmomsonfire) (affectionate) but no promises yet

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

get it off your chest

can't start a fire

so fondly today

something so pretty

i carry this feeling

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? yes!! I always respond to comments, even though it sometimes takes me a week or two. comments are genuinely so special to me and my FAVORITE thing is when someone reads a bunch of my fics in a row and I can follow their comment trail 🥹 I love comments

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? I'm a happy endings girlie all the way, I genuinely don't have an answer for this 😅

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? so many of my fics are fluff-fest so I'm not really sure. maybe i carry this feeling because it's (currently) the end to a long future fic series and feels like a good buttoning-up of that story which is still being added to

8. Do you get hate on fics? someone once called me transphobic for having steve paint his nails in a fic (??) but that turned out to be a random anon from that twitter meltdown that was happening over the summer (i am not on twitter and didn't know it was even happening until after the fact)

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? LMAO (yes, i write lots of fluffy goofy smut with feelings. if they're not talking and/or laughing a lot during sex, it's not a sage fic)

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? no, I really struggle with the concept of crossovers in general. I don't read them usually and wouldn't really know how to begin to write one! but fics set IN the universe of something else (not a crossover where two different universe's characters interact) – I like those.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? not that I know of in this fandom

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? yes! but not in this fandom

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? no, but I would definitely be interested if it was with the right person!

14. What’s your all time favorite ship? I can't answer this 🫣 I will say steddie is the ship I've written the most words for

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? I'm not sure I really have one that's out there right now. there are a few things in my google docs that might not see the light of day

16. What are your writing strengths? dialogue! good communication is so important to meeee and I have so much fun writing it

17. What are your writing weaknesses? I always feel like I struggle with scene-setting/imagery because I focus so much on character interaction

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? I've written French dialogue in fics before (not in this fandom) which made sense situationally. I think it works as long as you make sure to translate in end notes and/or through context clues, so the reader doesn't have to keep jumping back and forth between google translate

19. First fandom you wrote for? early 00s, the wizards who must not be named

20. Favorite fic you’ve written? this changes depending on my mood tbh. my usual answer is either so fondly today because I love the energy of that fic or back in the new york groove which has so much pulled from my own life. I also had a lot of fun writing wanna help my worlds collide

no pressure 😇 @urmomsonfire @wynnyfryd @thisapplepielife @shares-a-vest

#tag games

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elenaaadaniels · 2 years

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Chapter Fourteen: Mos Pelgo

Part 15

___________________________________ Time, curious time. Gave me no compasses, gave me no signs. Were there clues I didn't see? And isn't it just so pretty to think. All along there was some. Invisible string. Tying you to me?

- 𝘐𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘉𝘺 𝘛𝘢𝘺𝘭𝘰𝘳 𝘚𝘸𝘪𝘧𝘵 ___________________________________

If Nadia from six months ago saw herself from today, willingly following a Mandalorian and his magical green baby across galaxy running from Imps, she'd call herself an idiot and hit herself upside the head for good measure. But this was her life now, and, as much as she like to snark, she actually liked it. It had been four months since Nevarro and six months in total since she met Din and the child.

To say how much things had changed was an understatement. Despite having Moff Gideon gone, the imperials were still after them causing them to spend time on a planet for no more than one or two days and flying through space in hyperdrive. It was like a routine for them, but a good one. Cutting some carrots, she smiled making dinner for the three of them knowing when Din came back, he would be likely starving.

For about a month, they been going from planet to planet trying to find Mandalorian's since Din had a hunch that finding one would help them also find a Jedi. Cutting one more piece of the carrot, she paused feeling a weird energy around her. Somehow knowing it was the child, she reached out next to her stopping a piece of the biscuits she made from floating towards the child.

" Ah. Ah. Ah." She disciplined shaking her head," You know we wait for him to get back"

The child gave a confused look letting out a babble.

" I know you're hungry, but we have to wait."

" Patoo." He babbled pouting his cute little face.

" Don't give me that face. It's too cute to argue with." She said grabbing a piece of the carrot she cut and handing it to him." What am I going to do with you?"

" Call him adorable about five more times." A voice broke out.

She smiled at the voice turning to see Din walk up the ramp, a smile on his face too that she couldn't see.

" Hey, there's the man we've been waiting for."

" Sorry, took longer than expected." He apologized lightly rubbing the child's head as he passed by.

" So, how was it?" She questioned closing the ramp and walking to get dinner ready." Did you get any information?"

" Believe it or now, we're about to see an old friend."

She frowned excitedly," Really? Where?"

" Tatooine." He answered.

She briefly paused while pouring the soup into the bowl at the memory, but like a flash, she broke from her thoughts continuing her task. Yet, Din still noticed.

" Are you okay?"

" Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" She chuckled placing a bowl on the table for the child." You hear that little guy, you're going to see Peli again."

The child did not care what she said babbling as he reached forward grabbing the biscuit and taking a big bite with hunger in his eyes that didn't surprise the two.

" I was told this Mandalorian would be in Mos Pelgo."

" Mos Pelgo?" Nadia questioned pouring a bowl for Din next." I haven't seen that one on Tatooine's maps."

" Look who's been studying." He complimented nodding." I haven't seen it either but I'm thinking maybe Peli would have maps pre-empire."

Nadia nodded back," She most likely would."

" You can stay on the ship when we get there. I know how hard Tatooine is for you."

" Please." She chuckled rolling her eyes at his worry." I'm not a baby, Din. I can handle the ghost of my ex-boyfriend's death. Besides, can you handle being away from me for so long?"

" No." He honestly answered.

" That's what I thought." She said handing him a hot bowl of the soup." Eat up. We'll be down here."

With a smile, she turned heading to the small little table to eat with the child. Din stared at them before climbing up the ladder a bit sad he couldn't join them. Out everything they been through, he would like to at least have dinner with them, but with his creed, he was kept in the cockpit eating with himself. When they got to Tatooine only four hours later, Nadia felt the nerves in her stomach, but smiled walking down the ramp with Din seeing Peli already outside.

" Hey, hey, hey!" She called out to her droids already coming towards the Razor Crest." Sorry, gang. Come on. You know he doesn't like droids."

" May as well let them have at it. The Crest needs a good once-over." Din said looking over his ship from the outside.

" Oh! So he likes droids now." Peli sassed looking over to her cheerful droids." Well, you heard him. Give it a once-over."

Nadia smiled to the polite droids that passed by grabbing at their tools with excitement when heading towards the Razor Crest.

" I guess a lot has changed since you were last in Mos..." Peli spoke when the sight of the child made her face light up." Oh! Thank the Force! This little thing has had me worried sick. Come here, you little whomp rat. Looks like it remembers me. How much do you want for it? Just kidding. But not really. You know, if this thing ever divides or buds, I will gladly pay for the offspring."

" We just might make back all the credits we ever gave you." Nadia poked at getting Peli to laugh herself.

“She is funny.” She directed the statement towards Din who sighed. “Where did you find a funny woman who was willing to stick around with you?”

“Lots of credits.” Nadia sarcastically responded.

“She is kidding.” Din responded and Nadia couldn’t help but to laugh at the exasperation in his voice.

From behind them, a loud bang caused everyone to jump while the droids fought with a loose hose that was knocking them down like dominoes.

" Hey! Oh, jeez! Watch what you're doing up there." Peli scolded." He barely trusts your kind. You want to give all droids a bad name?"

The droids tried their best, one even grabbing the hose from flying around, but in the process got it stuck to its face.

" Oh maker." Nadia cringed.

" I'm here on business." Din spoke bringing the attention back to the task." I need your help."

Peli nodded her head," Oh, then, business, you shall have. Care for me to watch this wrinkled critter while you seek out adventure?" She cooed down to the child in her arms.

" He's been quested to bring this one back to its kind." Nadia explained causing Peli to wince.

" Oh, wow. I can't help you there. I've never seen any like it. And trust me, I've seen all shapes and sizes in this town."

" A Mandalorian Armorer has set me on my path. If I can locate another of my kind, I can chart a path through the network of coverts." Din further explained, but it didn't help his case with Peli.

" You've been the only Mando here for years from what I can tell."

" Where is Mos Pelgo?" Nadia questioned." He was told there's one there."

" Oh. Boy, I haven't heard that name in a while." She breathed scratching her head." It's not on any of the maps because it was wiped out by bandits. Once the Empire fell, it was a free-for-all. I didn't dare leave the city walls. Still don't."

Nadia nodded understanding," Can you tell us where it used to be?"

" Depends who's asking. You want to see it? R-five!" She yelled unexpectantly looking to a white droid." Bring the map of Tatooine. No, take your time. Seriously. You just can't get good help anymore. I don't even know who to complain to."

" Maybe the maker." Nadia joked watching the droid give a hologram of the planet.

" This is a map of Tatooine before the war. You got Mos Eisley, Mos Espa, and up around this region, Mos Pelgo."

Din shrugged his shoulders," I don't see anything."

" Well, it's there. Or at least, it used to be. Not much to speak of. It's an old mining settlement. They're going to see that big hunk o' metal long before you land." Peli warned, but Din had another idea on how to get there.

" You still have that speeder bike?"

" Sure do. It's a little rusty, but I got it." Peli informed guiding them over to the back of her shop.

Lifting up the tarp, Nadia smiled at the speeder bike she had left behind remembering how smooth it was to ride the desert. She ran her hands over the handles, however, a little disappointed when hers had lots of rust around it.

" Your bike looks really rusty." Din commented grabbing her attention.

" You think so?" She pressed.

He nodded his head," Yeah, maybe we should only take one." He hinted wanting her to be with him, but he wasn't going to admit that.

" Whatever you say, Mando." She chuckled lightly grabbing the child from Peli's hand and setting him up on the back of the bike.

" I'll never get your relationship." Peli commented throwing her hand in the air." You're too connected just to be friends."

Nadia's face flushed red that if someone pointed it out, she would lie saying it was the heat. As for Din, he paused for a moment clearing his throat to hide from Peli's comment.

Nadia looked over at Din with a grin. “Can I drive the speeder bike?”

He looked over at her. “Do you know how to ride one?”

She shrugged. “No, but it probably isn’t too hard.”

“It is harder than you’d think. I’ll drive it that way you don’t kill us.”

" ThAt WaY yOu DoN’t KiLl Us." Nadia mocked with a pout that made Din smirk behind his helmet.

" Hop on, Mesh'la." He smirked getting on the bike himself and starting it up.

She nodded smiling to Peli one last time before getting on the bike and taking off towards the desert. Just like their first journey, the deserts of Tatooine were empty with nothing, but sand for miles long. She tightened her hold on Din whenever they sped over a large hill. The feeling of the bike free falling for a bit made her nerves jump.

Din did in on purpose secretly liking how she clung to him whenever it happened. They rode the bike through the bike for hours until they came up on some tusken raiders that had information. Nadia glanced to the sunset before turning back seeing how skillful Din was when it came to speaking the Tusken language.

For the night, they slept against the bike, but by morning Din followed the Tusken's instructions only to come up to a town. Nadia now understood why they couldn’t find it on a map. It was a small town, though small sounded like the understatement of the year. The whole entire place seemed to stretch over the small portion of road Din was now slowly driving along, a few buildings on each side of it the sandy single street that passed through it, just as empty as the rest of it. It was barren except for a few curious eyes here and there, either from people stood on their porches or people peering out from their windows, eyes seeming to dig into Nadia and Din.

" Is this it?" Nadia questioned surprised by how small it was.

" I think it is. Just keep an eye out for me." Din ordered riding the bike into town.

" You know I will." She added.

Din slowly drifted down the street, seeming to look around for something that stood out. A place where he could find a Mandalorian. Nadia looked around as well, straightening her body up and removing her arms from around Dins waist to bring them up to her eyes, shielding them from the piercing rays of the suns. Her feet followed Dins path in and once they entered the establishment, Nadia's assumption that it was empty was confirmed. There were no day drinkers, nor people grabbing a bite to eat or conducting business. All that stood was a lone bartender, who seemed to be mindlessly stirring a drink mix together with not much care.

" Can I help you?"

" I'm looking for a Mandalorian." Din answered walking over to the bar.

" Well, we don't get many visitors in these parts." The Weequay admitted." Can you describe him?"

" Someone who looks like me."

The Weequay looked over Din's armor before humming lightly.

" Mmm...You mean the Marshal?"

Nadia frowned by the other side of the bar," Your Marshal wears Mandalorian armor?"

The Weequay nodded," See for yourself." He grunted and gestured his head to the door Nadia and Din had entered.

Both turned around to find a Mandalorian stood in front of them, with wholly the outfit on. The armor it self had been painted a green and red but Nadia had guessed that must of been many years ago due to how aged and worn it looked. The colors looked half cuffed off, the metal of it dusted with marks and dents that had shown it had seen much greater days. The helmet that the man worn was a bit unruly, not seeming quite right on his manly frame.

" What brings you here, stranger?" The Marshal questioned taking careful steps forward.

" I've been searching for you for many parsecs."

" Well, now, you found me." The man remarked walking towards the bar." Weequay, three snorts of spotchka."

The Weequay nodded his head taking out a blue liquid from under the table before taking out three cups. The Marshal grabbed all the items glancing to Nadia before to Din taking himself to a near by table.

" Why don't you join me for a drink?" He asked confusing Nadia that he would offer.

Her confusion only grew from there when the Marshal removed his helmet from his head revealing his face to the two of them, like it was nothing. He was a cleaned man with white hair on his head and a matching beard around his face that Nadia couldn't lie. He was attractive.

" I've never met a real Mandalorian. Heard stories. I know you're good at killing." The man chuckled beginning to pour the drink for his new guest." And probably none too happy to see me wearing this hardware. So...I figure only one of us walking out of here. But then I see the little guy...and the beautiful woman and I think, maybe I pegged you wrong."

The Marshal placed the two drinks at the edge of the table for them to take. Din stood like a statue still stunned by the Marshal removing his helmet, but Lexie took the drink needing one after the long day they had.

" Who are you?" Din finally spoke.

" I'm Cobb Vanth, Marshal of Mos Pelgo." He introduced with a charming smile.

" Where did you get the armor?"

" Bought it off some Jawas." Cobb answered taking a swing of his drink.

Din narrowed his eyes," Hand it over."

" Look, pal, I'm sure you call the shots where you come from, but 'round here, I'm the one tells folks what to do."

" We don't give two shits." Nadia replied lightly slamming her empty cup onto the table in front of her." Take it off. Or he will and it won't be pretty."

" We gonna do this in front o' the kid?" Cobb questioned pointing over in the direction o the child playing with a vase.

" He's seen worse." Din remarked.

Cobb looked impressed," Right here, then?"

" Right here."

Cobb sighed from where he was sitting slowly rising from his seat. Nadia backed away until she was at the bar knowing how ugly things were going to get and how she would have to dive to get the child so he didn't get hurt. Before either man had the chance to respond, a loud rumble tore through the atmosphere. The Marshal raised a finger, beginning to walk outside, Din following closely behind while Nadia followed quickly behind. She rushed out to where the Marshal and Din were, hearing an alarm start to blare. The sand in the center of the road was moving, seeming to shift from something coming below.

A huge array of scales role up from the sand, only showing a small portion of the creature below who tore through the town with reckless abandon. Reaching the edge of the town, the creature rose from the sand like a creature breaching out of the water. A gigantic head rose up, the skin scaled and gnarled with what appeared to be almost horn-like structures rising from the head as it crashed down, swallowing a bantha whole in the process as if it was nothing. The Marshal stepped forward, watching the people of his town slowly exit their homes and businesses, fearfully checking to see if the threat was truly gone before beginning to pick up the pieces of the damage.

" Maybe we can work something out." Cobb negotiated heading to make sure his people were okay.

Nadia was thunderstruck with her mouth wide open as she turned Cobb horrified.

" What the hell was that thing?"

" That creature's been terrorizing these parts since long before Mos Pelgo was established." Cobb answered stepping onto the sand once it was safe." Thanks to this armor, I've been able to protect this town from bandits and Sand People. They look to me to protect 'em. But a krayt dragon is too much for me to take on alone. Help me kill it, I'll give you the armor."

" Deal."

" Deal?" Nadia asked looking at him like he was insane." We did just see the same thing, right?"

" I'll ride back to the ship, blow it out of the sand from the sky, use the bantha as bait."

" Not so simple. The ship passes above, it senses the vibrations, stays underground. But I know where it lives."

Din nodded looking to the speeder," How far?"

" Not far."

" Then let's head there." Din said already heading back to the speeder.

Nadia felt nervous about being close to the creature, but knew how much Din needed the armor and went along. The child stuck his head out from the bar causing her to smile grabbing him lightly and placing him in the back of the speeder.

"Is it really a good idea to take the little one with us?" Cobb questioned

"Wherever I go, he goes." Din answered while Cobb rolled his eyes going to his speeder.

" Figured." He commented.

With Cobb gone, Nadia looked over to Din biting her lip as the memory of the krayt dragon came to her mind.

" That thing was big, Din." She said." Maybe we should keep the kid away."

"You think I can't protect the two of you?"

She rolled her eyes at his response,"I know you can." She assured." But it would actually be easier for you if you didn't have to look out for the two of us while fighting a deadly dragon with anchors for teeth."

He looked over to the kid," Wanna stay back, kid?" He asked when the child let out a coo." The kid said no."

" Did he now?" Nadia chuckled playfully shoving Din's shoulders.

She got onto the speeder watching Din start it up following Cobb through the desert going after a little journey once again. She couldn't imagine them taking down a krayt when they were simple people that only fought against troopers.

" You don't understand what it was like. The town was on its last legs." Cobb spoke over the ride." It started after we got news of the Death Star blowing up. The second one, that is. The Empire was pullin' outta Tatooine. There was blaster fire over Mos Eisley. The occupation was over. We didn't even have time to celebrate. That very night, the Mining Collective moved in. Power hates a vacuum and Mos Pelgo became a slave camp overnight."

" I lit out. Took what I could from the invaders. Grabbed a camtono. I had no idea it was full of silicax crystals. I guess every once in a while, both suns shine on a womp rat's tail. I wandered for days. No food, no water. And then...I was saved. The Jawas wanted the crystals. They offered their finest in exchange. And my treasure bought me more than a full waterskin. It bought my freedom.

Nadia could see Cobb wasn't a bad guy that stole Mandalorian armor. He was just a man that cared about his town and his people wanting to keep them safe from the people that weren't so good. They let out into a canyon with narrow walls and curves lightly paved out by the dragon itself. From the echoes of the walls came a growl loud over the engines that the two men instantly stopped their vehicles.

" Get down little guy." Nadia warned spinning off of the speeder and aiming her blaster.

From out of the corner, a massiff came out of hiding followed by others likely growling at the intrusion. Nadia gripped her blaster hoping it was enough to take them down when Din shouted in Tusken language. Cobb frowned along with her watching Din walk in front of the speeders and towards the massiffs.

" What the hell you doin'?" Cobb asked, but Din gestured to lower his blaster.

He turned back to the massiffs speaking Tusken to gain their trust and it worked when one of them prodded forward in order to get pets. Din smiled leaning down to pet the creature behind the ear causing the Tusken Raiders themselves to come out of hiding. He nodded his head to them speaking more of their language while Cobb watched dumbfounded.

" Hey, partner, you want to tell me what's going on?"

“Dont worry. He is good with Tuskens.” Nadia spoke glancing at Cobb before turning back to Din and the Tusken's.

" They want to kill the krayt dragon, too." Din answered nodding his head to follow.

The group moved out of the canyon making it to the other side where a small camp was made with other tusken's. They pointed by the fire and the four sat while Din spoke to the Tuscan's about the situation. Being in silence and out of the loop was killing Nadia. All she knew was after this little trip, she was going to make Din teach her Tusken. Cobb Vanth, who looked just as confused as he had earlier. He leaned into Nadia just a bit and she felt his shoulder brush against hers.

“Do you have any clue what they are saying?”

Nadia shook her head,“None.” She responded .

“They could be plotting to kill us for all we know.” He whispered back at her and she couldn’t help but to chuckle.

“Mando wouldn’t let anybody kill me or the kid. But you on the other hand…” She sarcastically trailed off, teasing the man who looked over at her with widened eyes." I'm joking, Cobb."

“You think you are real funny, don’t you?”

" Hey, you were the one that asked." Nadia laughed looking up to see while talking to the Tusken's, Din would glance at them.

One of the Tusken's cracked open a Black melon, the smell reaching Nadia's nose as she scrunched it up at how foul it's odor was. The Tusken handed it over to Cobb urging for him to take it, but the man had the same reaction like Nadia.

" What am I supposed to do with this?" He questioned hesitantly.

" You drink it." Din answered only for Cobb to cringe.

" It stinks."

" Do you want their help?"

" Not if I have to drink this." He answered honestly causing the Tusken to grow a bit irritated.

" He says your people steal their water and now you insult them by not drinking it." Din translated looking over to Cobb." They know about Mos Pelgo. They know how many Sand People you killed."

Cobb grew equally irritated," They raided our village.I defended the town."

" Lower your voice." Din warned, but Cobb did the exact opposite throwing the black melon into the fire.

" I knew this was a bad idea."

The Tusken people stood up in anger causing Nadia to grab the child from the floor under her not wanting him to get hurt if things turned south.

" You're agitating them."

" These monsters can't be reasoned with." Cobb stated standing up in anger while they yelled over each other." Sit back down before I put a hole through ya! I'm not going to say it..."

Din aimed his flame thrower in the air sending the flames to stop the fighting instantly by how scared everyone had gotten from it. Turning it off, he stood up between the two groups hearing the child coo and Nadia console him.

" It's okay." She promised while Din spoke to the Tusken's first.

" What are you telling them?" Cobb questioned.

" Same thing I'm telling you." Din stated fiercely." If we fight amongst ourselves, the monster will kill us all. Now, how do we kill it?"

The Tusken took a deep breath before speaking to Din carefully.

Cobb turned to Din," What did they say?"

" They'll show us in the morning when we set out for travel. For now, we camp with them."

" I'm not-" Cobb tried to argue, but Din held his hand up not wanting to hear it" Fine, but I'm sleeping out here."

Cobb turned in a fit walking over to his speeder to make night while Din turned to Nadia with an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking. The fire-"

"Don't. I think the kid liked it." She stated while the child clapped his hands in happiness.

Din shook his head amused at the things the child liked before helping her up and walking over to the tent the Tusken's had given them. The tent was perfect with enough room for the three of them to move around and sleep. Nadia placed the child and her bag on the ground groaning at the gritty feeling in her shirt and bra.

" God, I think I have enough sand in my shirt to cover the desert." She said shaking her shirt to get it out, but even that wasn't working.

" Here." Din said reaching in his bag and handing her a black shirt.

" I didn't know you packed extra shirts."

" I hate sand." He stated handing the shirt over." I'll wait outside."

She shrugged her shoulders," You don't have to wait outside. I don't care." She said, but he wasn't that type of guy and turned facing the tent walls." Such a gentleman."

He nodded his head as his cheeks burned imagining if he didn't turn around. He knew it was wrong to think about, but he could imagine she looked beautiful. She had the curve and shape with the way he noticed her shirts hugged around her. He suspected it looked the same, maybe even better without one. The more he gone into his thinking, he blushed harder.

" I'm done." she announced and he practically thanked the maker.

When he turned around, he couldn't hide the smile on his face at the sight of her wearing his shirt. Unlike the shirt she owned, it didn't hug her body. It was big almost swallowing her whole, but it still made her look beautifully gorgeous. He knew deep down that she could wear a potato sack and still look like a million credits. His smile however slowly came down as his thoughts reminded him of her laughing with Cobb earlier by the firepit.

“Vanth and you seem to get along.”

She looked up with a small nod," A bit of a ego man, but he seems cool."

" I-I think he was...flirting with you." Din stuttered beginning to turn red from both jealousy and his openness to the situation.

Nadia looked up to the beskar man, a voice in her head asking if Din was jealous, but as quickly as it came, she shook her head knowing Din would never have those feelings towards her. Or so she thought.

" I think you are way off, Mando."

“ You are a very attractive person. Strong. Smart. Of course he wants you.” Din muttered half-heartedly that Nadia still heard it.

“I was being polite, Din. Treating him like I treated Peli.” Nadia explained hugging her knees to her chest." Not the guy I want anyway."

His head perked up for a second, but when he realized how eager he looked, he darted his eyes away from her nodding his head to try and think of anything to switch the subject.

" We'll probably leave late morning or early afternoon." He said clearing his throat.

" Are you sure you know how to take down this dragon?"

" It'll be a first, but it shouldn't be too hard." He said picking up on her worry." Why?"

She shrugged looking down," Nothing."

" It's obviously something."

" I just don't want anyone getting hurt." She said shrugging again.

" By anyone...you mean me?"

When she remained silent for a bit, he knew that he had hit the hammer right on the nail.

" You have a way or doing something reckless and scaring me shitless, Din Djarin." She softly spoke looking up to him.

" And I still come, right back to you, don't I?"

She smiled," You better." She said while the child climbed up on her lap.

" Patuu." He cooed causing her to laugh at him.

" Yeah, you can sleep with me." She said getting the message and laying down using her bag as a pillow." Night Din."

" Night, Nadia." He said watching the child yawn in her arms before turning down the lantern.

With the lantern off, the tent was engulfed in darkness except for the slow burning bonfire outside that peeked through the opening. Silence took over the night except the banthas snores from outside and one, maybe two, Tusken raiders taking watch. He was taking watch too, secretly going on his thermo radar to look at the distance making sure no one snuck up on them or even the krayt dragon itself.

A snore came from the child and he looked over to see Nadia and the child sleeping peacefully. The child found comfort in her curling up in a ball and even holding her finger with his tiny hand. Nadia in her sleep was protective of him as much as she would be if she was awake. Her arm wrapped around the child securely tight enough to make sure no danger came, but comfortable enough so he could move around.

He couldn't help, but stare at her seeing her beauty in the night. With the angle she slept in, the bonfire from outside glistened bringing a orange hue to her. She looked peacefully in her sleep, a slight smile on her face from dreaming. Her hair had grew over the months spread around in waves of brown. She was unreal to him. He couldn't believe someone could be so beautiful on the inside and out. Caring on a whole other level and beautiful like a angel sent from heaven.

It had Din constantly swoon, but he never told her his true feelings because of the fear. So what if she made his heart feel things that his mind couldn't explain? So what if she was always on his mind? So what if every hour he spent in the chill of hyperspace with her, he wanted to never leave or be disturbed? So what if he was a coward and couldn't stick around to tell her in person on the off chance she did not feel the same?

Nadia was like the bad habit Din had to break, except he didn't want to break it. He looked away from her taking a deep breath as the sorrow of it all overcame him. It was better to not say anything. What they had was perfect and to lose it all scared him more than any mission he had been on. It was better to go on this journey finding the child's people. It was better to just be friends, nothing more.

It was better this way.

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wrrdbrrd · 1 year

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A ghost story, sort of

I don’t believe in ghosts, not in the supernatural sense. But I have had a kind of encounter with something that was left of a person long after they died.

(Sorry, this is going to be a long one. CW for discussion of death.)

When I was a teenager, maybe fourteen or fifteen, I joined a Star Trek-themed play-by-email roleplaying group. (Why yes, thank you, I am very cool.) It was a “fleet” of maybe a dozen starships, each running its own separate mailing list. Each player on a given ship wrote in character as an individual Starfleet officer. Of course, one person was the captain, and they were something like the game’s GM.

I had two captains in that game who both left a profound impression on me. The first was named Max, and his story is very important to me and I’ll maybe write about it another time, but today I want to write about Sava, who made me feel a lot of things about the nature of life online.

Ironically, I never got to know Sava very well as a person. I learned a lot about writing from him, though, and I loved the character he played very much. Captain Crow was, to my mind, everything a starship captain should be: authoritative yet flexible, morally complex but always driven by a strong sense of justice. His emails were always a joy to read, and the rare moments when our characters got to play directly off each other were some of my favourites in that game. There are many reasons why there’s a corvid in my avatar, but one of them is a little nod to Captain Crow.

But then, one day, we got an email from someone who introduced herself as his ex-wife. Sava had died in a motorcycle accident. His wife and children, she said, had at least been able to say goodbye in the hospital.

We didn’t know he had an ex-wife. I don’t think we knew he had kids. He’d been a very reliable presence in our lives for years without us ever really learning anything about him.

But that was our last chance to learn anything at all. Sava was gone, and so was Captain Crow. We wrote the best send-off we could for his character, tied up as many of his plot threads as possible, and kept playing.

I can’t remember what prompted me, late one night several years later, to go back and read some of his final posts. It’s possible I was trying to refresh myself on an old plot point, but I think maybe I just missed his writing. Whatever I had meant to do, it instead got me sidetracked wondering about this person I’d known for years and hadn’t known at all. Who always signed off his emails with the same few cryptic lines of poetry.

Out of curiosity, I googled the lines in question. It turned out it wasn’t a poem, it was the start of a song.

youtube

I really like this song. It’s impossible for me to separate my feelings about it from the person I slightly hero-worshipped as a teenager, of course, but either way, I love it. Now that I knew the reference, I realised Sava had sprinkled his writing with occasional sly references to this band, imagining that by the 24th century they would be musical legends on a galactic scale. He never got to hear their second album, or their third through tenth for that matter, but I think he’d have been pleased to see them keep on rising.

I felt like I’d finally made a connection with Sava, in some small way. It was a strange time-delayed connection, a kind of parasocial one, but it meant something all the same.

(Considering the way I discovered this song, it also felt significant that, by some cosmic coincidence, it’s called Late Goodbye. The devil grins from ear to ear when he sees the hand he’s dealt us.)

So then I went a step further, and I did something that would have been pretty creepy if he were still alive. Maybe it was still creepy anyway? I googled his full name, and I found his LiveJournal.

I could tell it was his because of certain context clues: a familiar username, more references to that one band. His posts were all still there, up to and including a final note from his family for those who hadn’t heard the sad news some other way.

I didn’t go back through the whole thing, but I read a few pages’ worth of posts. It was all pretty mundane daily-life stuff, plus the occasional very long meditation on how much he loved writing. (Truly, he was a blogger.) It was no substitute for what I had missed out on – talking to the man, genuinely getting to know him – but I felt like I understood him a little better afterwards, and that was nice. And I still listen to Poets of the Fall.

Like I said, I don’t believe in ghosts, but it’s hard not to think of that LiveJournal as a kind of digital shade of the man I almost knew. Those of us who are very online tend to do the same thing as Sava – we put pieces of ourselves out there, semi-permanently, in semi-public view. Websites rise and fall pretty regularly, though, and I wonder what proportion of online profiles actually outlast their owners. I know most of mine have been lost already, and I don’t really think it's likely that the rest of them will surpass my own life expectancy. But, hey, maybe I’m being pessimistic. So, if this post beats the odds, and you’re somehow reading it many decades in the future after I'm long gone: Boo. 👻

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deshoveledmess · 1 year

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310123

Just felt like doing a little bit of journaling today. It’s been one hell of a month. 26 days in camp, 5 days out. Today is one of those rare days.

Before I start though, Tiong Hoe Coffee @ Vivocity. Flat white, hot, getting scents of flowers and cranberries, $5.50.

Damn, did I mention it was one hell of a month? I’ll start by recounting events that happened during the month. It initially started pretty slowly. We did have a couple extra ops related things occur, but nothing too bad. Pretty quite throughout the first half of the month. Then it hit.

Chinese New Year, or well, Lunar New Year, cause China do be a hot topic right now. We brought in a couple ships, USS MAKIN ISLAND, USS WAYNE E. MEYER, USS CHUNG HOON, and USS NIMITZ. That makes 2 CVNs and 4 carrier type ships in my CDS career. The schedule was pretty whack the entire month, my platoon ended up with the shorter end of the straw on that one. Did manage to expand on my patch collection though.

Combat Shoot Support Proper. Well, Marksman, baby. I shot 35/38, pretty good if I do say so myself. Pretty shag 4 days of work though, but that’s a free $200 which I will gladly take.

Injury. Well, remember that bad fall I had in December of last year? Turns out I tore a tendon and sprained several ligaments in my foot. Been off the grind for a hot minute, no climbing, no gym, too much food = gaining weight, not good.

Stress. you know, I never understood why people drink sadness or stress away, but now I do. I’ve been feeling pretty stressed lately. Maybe it’s the upcoming 2IC term, maybe it’s exhaustion, maybe it’s the Mac Health Sci Supp App, or maybe it’s nothing. But wow, Stress.

Dreams. I have been having one too many dreams about her. It’s kinda strange. I don’t even know why. It ain’t like I’ve been looking through any photos or texts. Maybe it’s her upcoming birthday? It’s so strange. One dream was us driving down some random road before I got caught in an accident. Maybe it’s a reflection of my life spiralling out of control. I haven’t got the faintest clue... they just happen out of nowhere.

Gym. Well, progress has been pretty nonexistent. In fact, it might be a regression. But, well, when there’s lows, you can only go up from here. So here’s to dedicating February back to the grind.

But man, 2023 is already 1/12th over. Time really flies. This time last year, I would’ve been half way through BMT with my mates. Still chonky. The more I think about it, the more grateful I am for the past year. Everyone I’ve met, especially my Sea Soldier friends, it’s all been such a blessing. Yi Da, Kai Jie, Matthew, Zavier, Lyon, Aniq, TL. Man... 8% of the year is done, and I’ve got, what? T-06 months left if I’m disrupting my service. So, let’s make the most of it. Here’s to a February, a productive one.

Sincerely, CHEF LUNGLESS

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dixon65silverman · 2 years

Text

Marvellousnovel The Bloodline System txt - Chapter 308 - Checking Mails honorable sparkling recommendation-p3

Deevyfiction The Bloodline Systemblog - Chapter 308 - Checking Mails division cooperative propose-p3 Novel-The Bloodline System-The Bloodline System Chapter 308 - Checking Mails soak somber The Bloodline System 'Sir Gustav..? sounds like a butler coming from a big familyâ€¦ I ponder what they want with me?' Gustav wondered since he extended out his fingers to gather the cube. "Now, let's see what this total invitation shenanigan is dependant on," Gustav muttered and tapped in the cube. 'Sir Gustav..? appears like a butler coming from a huge familyâ€¦ I question what they desire with me?' Gustav wondered since he extended out his fingers to gather the cube. Inside of his fretting hand had been a little one palm-scale dark cube. "Sir Gustav, I have been tasked with the project of offering you this invitation cube," The man voiced out in a surprisingly lightweight tone when he extended out his fingers towards Gustav. Gustav squinted his vision with a appearance of suspicion as he was not able to feel any reputation in addition of the large mankind. Both their auras put together together since they moved like they had been the one that was why Gustav was just capable of good sense one reputation as an alternative to two. "This can be a particular invite to my manor for my impending seventieth birthday bash," Mister Gon stated. He acquired decided on anyone he saw as appropriate for the job of assistant and the other two persons as shipping and delivery agencies, but asides from that, he sought even more people today on the discipline. They had not a clue that Gustav possessed never been to any community accumulating or perhaps obtained admission to Tv set along with the web right before he begun residing by yourself. "Of course he willâ€¦ Nobody is able to fight this kind of intriguing offer you with the one and only master Gon," The large guy said with a sculpt of self confidence. He possessed triangular-molded blue decorated curly hair having a extended goatee. He searched just like a thirty-year-classic male with a lot of swag a result of the massive dark fashion spectacles on his confront. "Hmmâ€¦ I feel like that young child isn't as easy as you think," The young lady muttered. Gustav threw the cube towards his looking through table on the other end right before going to the eating out. "Oh, I forgot about it," Gustav stared on the black cube beside his computer system in the looking at desk. "Believe me, you may inquire a single thing of me as long as I observe your attendance," Mister Gon extra. "Oh, I forgot concerning this," Gustav stared within the dark cube beside his computer system on the reading through table. The Bloodline System "Howdy younger Gustav, I am mister Gon," The person from the projection voiced out. Gustav squinted his eyeballs using a seem of suspicion since he was cannot sensation any profile in addition with the large mankind. Both their auras varying jointly because they moved like these were the one that was why Gustav was only able to sensation one profile rather than two. Gustav gotten to out for doing it and decided on it. "I'm certain you will need to be wanting to know why that was provided for you, so I'll go straight to the point," Mister Gon said. He experienced decided on somebody he discovered as ideal for the job of assistant and the other two people as shipping providers, but asides from that, he desired some other men and women around the industry. "Actually, I'm positive he's reviewing it now and shivering in pleasure," The massive person laughed lightly because he put in. "Now, in which was I?" Gustav stared for the incredible meals that has a grin when he sat down to enjoy a feast. "Hmmâ€¦ I feel as if that kid isn't as simple as you feel," The lady muttered. "Oh yeah, I neglected about this," Gustav stared with the black color cube beside his personal computer over the looking at dinner table. He acquired never been told about him, but Gustav could figure he was really a pretty important man or woman and should be from one of several mighty homeowners within the area. "It is a unique invitation to my manor for my impending seventieth special birthday," Mister Gon stated. It turned out two women and a man. Gustav witnessed their portfolios in addition to their expertise composed inside of for your umpteenth time. "Do you consider he will participate in?" The lady required having a surprisingly serious speech. _____________________ Gustav squinted his eyeballs having a look of suspicion while he was cannot good sense any existence besides that in the massive man. Both their auras merged alongside one another because they migrated like these were one that was why Gustav was only in the position to sensation one reputation rather then two. Right after obtaining it, the huge person bowed and turned around to exit. That has been when Gustav noticed there had been yet another man or woman. A tiny young lady in a very black colored enterprise suit was appropriate behind him, and they also switched around to have with each other. 'Sir Gustav..? actually sounds like a butler from the big familyâ€¦ I ponder what they want with me?' Gustav been curious about since he extended out his hand to collect the cube. "The particular date and location of your festivity shall be unveiled at the end of the video clip," Mister Gon voiced out ahead of the projection vanished.

#ull #how much is half a serving

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night-filled-mountain · 3 years

Text

From the first day we met him, I have had such strong feelings about Essek’s relationship to Caleb--not as a love interest (though I’m into that now, don’t get me wrong), or as a friend, or even as a trustworthy individual--but as the best teacher he’s ever had. The teacher he’s always deserved. Kind, respectful, patient. Tailoring everything about their lessons to make him feel safe and comfortable. Deeply appreciative of his talent without ever seeking to harness or control it for his own ends. Giving solid advice at every turn, whether he follows it himself or not.

And as I’m re-watching the latest episode, I’ve realized that’s still the case. It might sound funny to hear Essek pull the age card when we know he’s incredibly young for an elf, and especially for a Kryn; it might be outright hilarious to hear him dropping all these pearls of wisdom about resisting the allure of knowledge and power, keeping your eyes on your highest goal, etc., considering, you know...everything about Essek Thelyss.

But ultimately? He’s doing what he’s always done for Caleb. He’s falling back on familiar ground, on those teacher/student roles. And there’s something incredibly touching about it. Caleb’s life was destroyed by a teacher, a powerful mage who was entrusted with his education and abused that trust in every conceivable way. Essek might not know that for sure (though he probably has a pretty good idea at this point), but he’s long since clocked the general air of trauma (“I’ve seen those far older than you that have experienced maybe half the pain I see in your eyes”).

And Essek might be a traitor and a liar, he might have wrought evil on a scale that he doesn’t even believe Caleb can understand, but he can still do this much for him: he can pour everything good in him, every noble impulse he’s ever had (or simply believes he should have had), into these lessons, into a student he clearly considers worthier of them than he’s ever been. Do as I say, not as I do, and all that. I don’t even know if he intends all that “young man” stuff to be flirtatious, not because I don’t think Essek wants to flirt, but because I don’t think he believes for a moment that he deserves to. He’s always been Caleb’s mirror, and this is classic early Caleb: shying away from the very intimacy you crave, believing that you only have a right to interact with other people (especially “better,” “purer” people) in very specific ways.

Essek believes he’s going to die. If not in this battle, then at the hands of the Cerberus Assembly; if not theirs, then his own people’s. And honestly? A significant part of him probably believes that he should. And listen, I want wizard kisses, I want them so much, and I even think Caleb might be coming around to that idea. But Essek? Essek is in the mindset of Let me share all my knowledge with you while I still have a chance, it’s the only thing I can give you that isn’t tainted, and I just.

I just.

I have a lot of feelings.

#critical role #c2e135 #cr spoilers #essek thelyss #caleb widogast #shadowgast #essek #caleb #no clue why but i am really feeling my ships today

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fangirlingpuggle · 2 years

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Well... I have been sleep deprived and feeling sick today and apparently my brain decided that coming up with some random not serious ideas for a season 1 of a remake/adaptaion series could go(...after remembering that the awful one was actually a thing) apologises that these are will probably make zero sense and very dumb... I am still super tired.

(Note in my brain they’d only be covering the first 3 seasons so Valtors foreshadowed a lot, also fairies power only has the first 3 stages and enchantix is final/full powered form)

So all the fairies/different realms are not human and that shows all having different traits ect and that being very clear in the show, however Bloom being a bit like a changeling appearing completely human originally and season 1 as her powers start unlocking is her regaining traits and losing her human disguise (more on that further down).

The girls are all good friends no drama or conflict there, just bonding and the general agreement of ‘I have had these friends for 1 day and if anything happens to them I will destroy this entire realm’

So Bloom has to keep pretending to be Varanda for much longer and that being where conflict comes form (only the winx and later the specialists know the truth... which leads to ‘Why are you calling Varanda Bloom?’ ‘Uhhhh it’s a nickname!’) the main thing of season 1 is the winx trying to figure out how Bloom has powers and when it becomes clear she’s not human where she’s form... none of them recognise the traits Bloom’s showing and when they try to research it... all the books are blank... (because of Valtor whose foreshadowed form season 1 as only 3 seasons but they don’t know about that yet) but they keep trying eventually finding some stuff about Sparx/Domino.

They run into the trix who are also looking at this, the trix still trying to find the dragon flame.

Faragonda is less all-knowing mentor here she has no idea who Bloom is at first and when she starts seeing clues she’s suddenly very worried

It’s only when Bloom starts using fire magic that everyone realises WHO Bloom is... only problem this is revealed when her identity is revealed and Bloom due to misunderstanding with the real Varanda leaves because thinks going to be arrested for impersonating a princess... only this leaves her venerable and she gets power taken... as well as FINALLY getting full story of what happened to Domino/Sparx.

Bloom is able to gain power back as the last of Daphne’s spirit helps her, though it completely destroys her human disguise, which had also been suppressing her power because the dragon flame is crazy powerful and an infant having it... not good. So Daphne’s spirit had been holding it back and when the last of the spirit fades she’s got all of it... and a lot more dragon features... they’re able to defeat the trix but there’s now a lot of attention on her.

She’s also told all about the company of light and everything right away Faragonda and Griffin reveal about her parents and everything they know up front... they don’t talk about them normally 1) because of grief and 2) there’s really no knowledge left because Valtor basically stole it all and kept it as one last fuck you when he realised they weren’t going to win... because part dragon flame he’s been able to keep it., also becuase of how important/crazy powerful dragon flame is was king of kept a secret from anyone not the royal family.

Other point... the whole Sky love triangle thing...doesn’t end like it did before... instead both Bloom and Diaspro dump Sky... they do fight but then come to the realisation of ‘...wait...the fuck are we doing? we didn’t do anything wrong we were both lied to...WTF’ yeah Diaspro not a villain here...

And as I am writing this just realised Fairy of dragon flame and fairy of gems... now I shipping it slightly for the aesthetic...huh... also now i’m thinking baout Disapro getting a character arc helping the specialists with gem sword...

Anyway...sorry for my dumb sleep deprived ramblings

#winx club #winx club au #dumb idea #sorry if this is dumb #I really need sleep #bloom #diaspro x bloom #I guess #I really really need sleep

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ashintheairlikesnow · 3 years

Note

AAAAAH!!! Petition for the news people to show Chris's face on tv and Akio and his mom see and come to rescueee -🦖

(follows from this piece, in what I am calling the Chris Saves Himself AU)

CW: BBU, some vaguely dehumanizing language, references to child abuse and ableism

"Mom! Aki!" Emi's voice rises loud enough to filter right up the stairs and into Akio's room, audible right through his headphones while he listens to his playlist of Tristan's favorite songs and lays in bed.

Akio sniffs, sitting up and taking the headphones off, rubbing the tear tracks off his face. It's still light outside - he never knows what time it is anymore, not since he quit gymnastics. "Emi? Did you say something?"

"Yeah, you better get down here like right now! Right now!" The urgency in her voice sets his heart to beating faster and Akio pushes himself up, taking the stairs three-steps-to-a-jump. His mother is right behind him, coming out of her own room with her book still in hand, thumb marking her place.

"Are you okay, honey?" Aimi calls out. Somehow even though she doesn't skip any steps she beats Akio to the bottom. "Em? Emi?"

"I'm fine, I swear, just-... look at the TV!"

Akio and Aimi swing into the living room, finding Emi sitting on the couch, remote in hand, groaning in frustration.

"Damn it, they just cut way from his-... hold on, let's see if they cut back before this ends. You have got to see this."

"Just what have I got to see?" Aimi asks, frowning, walking up behind Emi and absentmindedly tucking a bit of hair behind her daughter's ear. Emi sort of ducks-pulls away, rolling her eyes. "I'm almost to the bit where the ship sinks, Em."

"I know, I know, don't mess with your reading time but-... but look!"

Akio's eyes scan the TV, reading the chyron - the little moving headline at the bottom - that says MYSTERY BOY FALLS FROM BALCONY IN GOVERNOR'S MANSION - IN HOSPITAL WITH SERIOUS INJURIES - POLICE LOOKING FOR CLUES TO IDENTITY - GOV. BRANCH CLAIMS LEGAL PURCHASE FROM WRU - WRU DENIES CULPABILITY...

Talking heads banter back and forth about the seriousness of the scandal, the lack of documents to prove any kind of veracity to the governor's claims.

The anchors start interviewing a woman with short, dark red hair with a cold smile that sends a chill down Akio's spine. Karen Renford, WRU Representative to the Media, reads the little nameplate beneath her as she speaks.

"Since when do you care about politics?" Akio asks, head tilted. "This is stupid. I don't care about any of this."

"WRU sponsors your team, Aki-"

"It's not my team anymore. I'm going back to my room."

He turns to leave, but feels Emi grab at his wrist, and when he looks back her black eyes are pleading. "Please, Aki. Please. Trust me, you will want to see this."

He sighs. Everything feels too heavy to add one more thing to his days right now. But Emi is his little sister, and... "Yeah, okay." He moves around the corner of the sectional and flops himself down on it. He's put on some weight since he quit gymnastics, the waistband of his jeans digging just a little into his stomach where he used to have to wear a belt.

He doesn't care. It's... actually really nice to not have to care. He kind of likes himself better this way.

If only he didn't have to be grieving his best friend's death to get there-

"There!" Emi hisses, and her nails dig hard into Akio's forearm, hard enough for him to wince. "There, Aki, fucking look!"

"Language, young lady-" Aimi starts, and then falls silent. When she whispers, "Nantekotta..." That's when Akio looks at the screen.

Where his dead best friend is very much alive in a hospital bed.

He hears a thump and jumps, turning to see his mother's book on the floor, fallen from suddenly numb fingers as she stares unblinking at the boy on the TV screen.

Akio looks back and swallows, hard, and then swallows again. Inside him there is a sudden burst of fight between the despair and anger he's been living in and a kind of awful, horrifying hope.

"Tris?" He whispers.

"I told you!" Emi says, still holding his forearm painfully. He doesn't pull away from her - he can feel her starting to shake right alongside him. His eyes flood with hot tears and he has to blink them away to focus on the screen.

"-are speaking with the boy, who appears to be a legitimate WRU product. A simple barcode scan was performed, and police have the pet's designation, Facility number, and basic identification number." Karen Renford's voice speaks in voiceover. "However, WRU has been unable to find in our own records at the Facility any record of the boy's existence or training. WRU has strict ethical protocols surrounding the age of accepted trainees who apply, and it's increasingly clear that none of our Facilities would have taken on this individual, especially not our flagship Facility here in Berras-"

Akio hears none of this.

Instead, he hears only a rushing as loud as a waterfall filling his ears, the sound of his own blood pulsing through his veins as his breaths go shallow and gasping.

Tris is right there.

He's alive and he's right there.

He's sitting in a hospital bed, cringing back from the doctors speaking to him, looking at them with wide, terrified eyes. There are bruises around his neck like someone-... bit him, or something. His arms are bruised, wrists rubbed red in circles. He doesn't sway or rock or tap like Tristan Higgs, he sits perfectly, hauntingly still.

But it's Tris.

It's him.

"He's alive," Akio says, and his voice is strangled. "Tris is alive, he's alive, but he's-... he was-"

His mother's hand rests on his shoulder and Akio tenses at the firey rage he feels right through the tension in her fingers. "His aunt," Aimi says with a voice that cuts through bone. "His aunt told us he was dead."

"She said he-... you know... did the thing. To himself," Emi says, looking nervously sideways at Akio. "That he ran away and they found him."

"He told me she took away all his stuff and stopped giving him his meds and then she took his phone... why would she say all that if he was alive the whole time, Mom?" Akio looks back up at Aimi, and she looks back down at him.

He is terrified of her, in that moment. Scared of her the way you are scared of a bear rushing at you, knowing that you aren't much more than a matchstick in its way. But he also wants - needs - her to tell him everything is going to be fine.

Instead, she pulls her hand back off his arm and turns to leave the room. She murmurs to herself in a rapid-fire string of Japanese even Akio isn't quite keeping up with, and he jumps up to follow her, Emi on his heels.

"Mom? Mom, what are you doing? Mom, answer me-"

"Mom?"

They manage to catch up to her in the den, where she's picked up her cell phone still charging, plugged into the wall, and dialed a number.

"Mom-"

Aimi holds up one finger without looking at him, phone to her ear, and Akio's voice cuts off immediately.

"Yes, hello," She says to whoever picks up. "My name is Aimi Nakamura and I am calling about the boy found in the governor's mansion today. I believe I can tell you who he is." She pauses. "Who he really is."

Another pause.

"Yes, I'll wait."

Yet another pause. Akio and Emi stay in the doorway, staring at her in baffled confusion. Neither of them dares to speak when her face looks this way. They know better than that.

Finally, Aimi takes another breath. "Yes. Thank you. Hello, Detective... Davis. Right. My name is Aimi Nakamura." She rattles off her phone number and address when she is asked for them without hesitating. "Yes, as I said-... as I said to whoever answered the phone, I know who the boy in the governor's mansion is. I have absolutely no doubt... Yes. His real name is Tristan Paul Higgs. He was born-... oh, yes, sorry. I can slow down. His birthday is March 6th... yes. I don't know his social security number entirely but I know the last four digits were 6654... his mother and I were close friends. Veronica Botham Higgs - Ronnie. She was murdered, with her husband, it was a double-... oh, you remember? Tristan survived it. Custody went to his only surviving relative, Joanne Botham..."

Aimi swallows, and Akio feels Emi's hand seek his out and squeezes it tightly, reassuringly, as their mother's steel comes flashing to the surface underneath her usual deceptive tranquility.

"Joanne Botham works for WRU. Her nephew lost his family and was given to her. And now, more than a year after she told us he was dead, he falls out a window with a WRU barcode. I think you see where I'm going with this, detective."

Another long silence.

"Yes. I need about an hour and a half. Is that too long? Perfect."

She hangs up, and turns to look at Akio and his little sister. There is a startling brightness to her that makes Akio think she's feeling exactly what he is - grief and horror and rage and that awful swell of hope.

Maybe it really was just a horrible mistake.

Maybe he's never been dead.

Maybe he's still breathing.

"Put your shoes on," Aimi says in a flat voice. "We are going to meet Detective Davis at the hospital where Tris is."

#Chris Saves Himself AU #chris the strawberry blond romantic #aimi nakamura #akio nakamura #grief tw #dehumanizing language #karen renford #bbu #box boy #box boy universe #alternate universe #I might do one more AT the hospital but that's it I swear

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ackerpreach · 3 years

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This ending .... I can name 500 reasons and I will name them right now, because I don’t think I’m the only one who is upset with how things turned out. (Also, A positive message for all of you at the end)

MAJOR LEAKS SPOILERS/ READ WITH CAUTION

Update: after reading more theories from fellow RM bloggers, and sleeping over it one day, this entire chapter might be an april fools... Don't fully lose hope yet beautiful people. It's me just giving a review on a possible fake April fools chapter

After following this franchise since 2013, so nearly a DECADE. this ending is a pure disserve to the entire fandom. I feel like Yams has rushed it just for the sake of being done with the entire manga. So many things are left open, characters and their developemt are reverted back all the way to chapter 1 or are left even worse than that...

Mikasa’s worthless character development/ Aaronmika’s horrible toxic codependent relationship

Oh honey... Let’s start with how horrible Isayama has treated her. We were all rooting for her, because we all felt like she was so misunderstood. She had a horrible childhood and imprinted on a guy who treated her like trash 99 percent of the story. And then, slowly but surely, she starts to realize she has to stop obsessing over him in the uprising arc with the help of a real man who treats her like a queen, more importantly, he treats her like a real human being. This man sees her for her abilities and that she has the power to be self dependent. She learned parts of herself, that she was able to work together with him like no one else could. She learned parts of herself she was unable to do so if she kept obsessing about Aaron. All this love, care, mutual understanding and RESPECT these two shared.

but...NAH FUCK THAT, right Yams?? Throw all this development away, all this bonding. Let’s make the main female lead even more yandere than she already was in the first season. Let her make out with his decapacitated head (like dude, this is also pure disrespect to Aaron’s dead body btw) and let her obsess even more about the guy who has treated her no better than a piece of toilet cloth 99 percent of the time. The guy who was never really appreciative in front of her for saving his ass billions of times, who always pushed her away, who yells at her and snaps at her whenever he can instead of reasoning and talking calmly with her in mature way. (EVEN PARODY YOUTUBE CHANNELS WHO DONT SHIP ANYTHING MAKE IT A TROPE WHERE AARON TELLS MIKASA HE HATES HER GUTS WHENEVER HE CAN)

Then after all that, suddenly Yams tries to last minute persuade us Aaron’s always been head over heels for her??? He should have build their relationship better which he hasn’t even tried to do so... He must be thinking his fans are stupid for eating this from his hands.

Like seriously??? What is this???

Isayama is just fully contradicting himself. It’s like someone tipped him off with a buttload of money for him to write Aaron like this to satisfy shipping needs and to cash in those extra money’s from it. Even if he tried to cater to Erem*ika, this is not how you write a loving and caring couple which people will root for.

This next two panels just freaking infuriates me to the core of my soul. I can’t even describe how dissapointed I am with Mikasa.

Why is she clutching that head so obsessively like that? Why is she walking and turning her back away from her comrades? After everything they have done for her, after all they’ve been through?! After everything Armin has done? Standing up for Mikasa, beating up Aaron for hurting her. I feel like even Jean, Connie and Sasha have cared more for her in a healthy way. Sure, Aaron cares for her romantically too apparently (What a twist Yams :)), but has he aided her to becoming a mentally healthier individual? Has he aided in her mental stability? The answer is a big fat NO! All I see between these two after today’s raw Chapter’s are too Yandere obsessed individuals who have no clue on how to maintain a healthy relationship.

Love should only go as far as the heart can endure and it seems like her character is not willing to be aware of that. Even Armin was able to let go of Aaron in those latest panels. Why does her entire character resolve around this guy??? I really do not understand. Her Ackerbond and her age is not an excuse for her to throw her life away like this.

Shonen’s disgusting portrayal of women

I’ve seen this countless of times in the many years I’ve watched anime. SasuS*ku from Naruto, Ichih*me from Bleach, Shinji and that oranged hair girl from Neon Evangelion.. Why do these women get decreased to simpletons with one single goal? And that is to obsess over a bland male lead who either treats them like trash or doesn’t notice them up until the last last chapter (LITERALLY WHAT YAMS HAS DONE). Some go even as far as the male leading wanting the kill the female love interest and yet the female lead is still in love with them???. It’s disgusting for him to write the MAIN female character this way.

It’s dissapointing we believed in Isayama doing Mikasa’s character right. That she’s finally being able to let go of her codependency and to live for herself maybe live in Hizuru and find more about her roots???, but every single time she shows some improvement, it’s burried deep in the ground again by the Author. It almost seems like a lowkey kink of some of the male Mangaka’s to write about a girl obsessing over them no matter what. I see this so many times to the point that I truly stand behind it that some of them might have this fantasy.

I wished he didn’t portray her last panels like this. Everyone else is living their lives while Mikasa is still grieving about him. I’m not saying she’s not allowed to grieve and everyone takes it at their own pace, but cmon... Show her living her life too. This is too much. Her being next to his grave and grieving him as her last panels just shoves it in our faces that YET AGAIN, BEING OBSESSED WITH AARON IS ALL HER CHARACTER STANDS FOR.

I truly despise how Isayama handles her grieving, kissing his decapacitated head, carrying it around like some handbag, and her last panels being thissss.

The world leaving Paradis alone miraciously after all that???

It’s so weird and out of place with so many political feuds and disagreements between the world and Paradis, the entire Rumbling happening and we can see Mikasa just chilling outside in Paradis with no one bothering them. You can see the rings of the walls in the picture below. I don’t know the exact reason behind as the manga is still in Korean, but from what I see, the story went the route of: throwing a happy ending without enough proper reason and it was all fixed just like that in a snap! It doesn’t fit the entire narrative of attack on titan for things to be so peacful out of nowhere. When it comes to the narrative, how things work in that world, how hard it is to achieve peace, everything made somewhat sense up until chapter 138. 139 seems so so out of place... It’s like I’m reading a chapter from a totally different manga.

Aaron Yoghurt got defeated so easily/ Aaron’s character assassination

The build up on the first part of the rumbling was great, those kids carrying coins. You could feel humanity’s fear and Aaron’s hatred in those pages. As if he truly had a goal and he has turned away completely from his comrades and his closest friends with no return. The world seemed truly doomed, but he got defeated just like that. He was in the nape all this time (because screw the warhammer power of hiding yourself elsewhere in his ginormous titan body). There is no master plan as we all expected, and in the end he just acts all yandere in the paths with Armin and that’s it... They massacared his entire character as well. Many fan theories created a better ending with his character. Him being reincarnated as Historia’s baby would be so much better. For him to still keep on seeking and to strive for power. It has always been his motive. It’s his personality from the start until chapter 138. Even if things are okay, to keep on going and to seek that adventure, but then.. He’s so weak and directionless suddenly.. It’s so weird... This is not Aaron at all???

Using Aaron for him this entire post, because I don’t want others to invade our tags... :)))

Historia’s baby

The only panel we got from Historia’s child was this. Just a normal kid, normal life... Why did Isayama put so much effort in highlighting Historia’s pregnancy if it was nothing too spectacular anyway? It seemed he had major plans for this kid and for their development too??? It’s again, big plans, big developments, big relationship dynamic, but all got thrown out of the window...

Don’t read the next sentence if you are a minor :’)

It’s like almost ejaculating, but stopping right before it and repeating that every single Arc.

My energy when writing about this chapter is the same as Nostalgia Critic and his hatred for atla the live action

In Conclusion...

I know us fans should not be deciding on how this story should end, because this is Isayama’s story after all, but I truly wished for him to wrap up things much more rounded. There are so many unanswered questions... Again, I think for the sake of being done with this manga, he rushed all of it. He’s become a millionaire from this story and now his pockets are jammed full, I guess he doesn’t need to put in any effort anymore, right? Perhaps a controversial opinion, but I really wished he cared for his fans a little bit more with this last chapter by giving some answers that make sense at least. It’s his fans who gave him this platform and the opportunity to tell his story and for him to at least give in a bit of effort especially in the last chapter is the least he can do. Rivamika being canon or not, he truly rushed it without thinking much about the entire story line. He expanded it so much, he didn’t know how to bind it all together.

Even after all this, I’ll still ship them in the headcanon type of way. I do give credit to Isayama for giving us a template for such a beautiful dynamic between Levi and Mikasa. He decides to waste it, but that doesn’t mean we have to. I want to thank all the people with amazing writing skills, the ones who give us beautiful art like @carmenlee @phit chan @vialesana and many more. I want to remind all of you that we can create something beautiful of our own and we don’t neccesarily need canon lore for that. The art I’ve seen, the fanfictions I’ve read have touched me deeper than Isayama ever could at times.The Mikasa in our mind is appreciate of Levi, is mature, classy and has a strong will for herself. They spend their remaining days together peacefully. Keep writing, keep drawing, stay creative.

I love you all so so much, I’ve only been publicly active since March, but thank you Rivamika fandom for giving me so much joy as a lurker these past 7 years <3

#rivamika #snk leaks #snk 139 leaks #levimika #mikalevi

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august-anon · 3 years

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Tickletober Day 1: Interrogation

OH MY GOSH i have been trying to post this for over 30 minutes i hate internet connections i am going to move to the jungle and become tarzan so i never have to deal with this again lol

anyways

I have never written for these characters/this fandom before, but tickletober has always been a time for me to try out new fandoms lol. Also, I barely edited this because 1) I am exhausted and 2) the internet where I have been staying the past couple of days is absolutely abysmal, it took me 15+ minutes just to get ao3 and tumblr to open, so if there are mistakes or it is OOC please be gentle lol

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Fandom: Six of Crows

Ship(s): Wesper

Characters (lee/ler): Lee!Jesper/Ler!Wylan

Word Count: 1052 words

Summary: Jesper feels that he hasn't gotten enough attention from Wylan, lately. He has a few ideas on how to rectify that.

[ao3 link]

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Jesper had been ansty lately. There were no fights to win, no cons to play out, and he wasn’t allowed in the gambling halls under any circumstances. Inej was out at sea, they were still waiting on the next letter from Nina and Matthias, and Jesper was pretty sure that if he showed up at the Slat, Kaz would kick him right back out when he saw how tightly wound and energetic Jesper was.

Wylan, busybody that he now was, running the Van Eck empire and all, didn’t always have the time to entertain Jesper these days. At least, not when Jesper wasn’t already helping him with that, reading him documents and letters and everything in between.

But, Jesper knew how to get Wylan to make time for him.

He snuck into Wylan’s rooms while Wylan was in his office doing who knew what. He shuffled through drawers and shelves until he found what he was looking for: Wylan’s flute. He wasn’t as good at stealing things as Kaz, but in such a low stakes situation it wasn’t like that mattered. The goal was for Wylan to notice, anyway, so the more obvious he made it, the better. For good measure, he left a little note with a smiley face where the flute had been.

Most days, Wylan immediately went to play music after finishing his work. Usually it was the piano, out in the music room where anyone could join him. Jesper, Mrs. Van Eck, Inej, if she was in town. On extremely rare occasions, even Kaz was there sometimes. On particularly stressful days, however, Wylan would choose his flute. He would lock his doors and play it in his room, until he felt calmer, and then he would rejoin the world. Sometimes he would let Jesper join him, sometimes not, but his flute was very important to him.

Which was why it was the best thing for Jesper to steal.

Jesper waited eagerly for Wylan to come looking for him, to indulge him in a little annoyance and teasing. What he didn’t expect was for Wylan to come bursting into Jesper’s rooms, expression stormy, pushing Jesper back against the bed when he tried to rise to meet him.

“Where is it.” It wasn’t a question, it was a demand.

Jesper swallowed. “Where’s what, Wy?”

Wylan scowled deeper. “You know what, Jesper. My flute.”

“I haven’t a clue.” Jesper raised an eyebrow. “Maybe you should be more careful with your possessions, merchling.”

Wylan’s eyes searched Jesper’s face before his features settled into an eerily calm determination. He cracked his knuckles and Jesper shifted nervously on the bed.

“That’s okay,” Wylan said. “I’ve seen you and Nina and Inej. I know how to make you talk.”

Jesper furrowed his brows, but before he could ask what Wylan meant by that, Wylan’s fingers were digging into the dip of his waist. Surprised, Jesper didn’t stand a chance trying to hold back his laughter. It flowed out of him, silly and bubbly and childish in the most embarrassing of ways.

He rolled onto his side and tried to curl up, hoping to protect himself, but Wylan swiftly straddled him the moment he moved. Now, not only was Jesper unable to curl into a ball and protect his weak points, but he also couldn’t roll back over. He was stuck on his side, giving Wylan full access to the other.

“Wait!” Jesper cried. “We can talk about this!”

“You going to tell me where my flute is?” Wylan asked, not stopping tickling in the slightest.

Jesper bit his lip over his laughter, trying his best to muffle it. Stupidly, he shook his head. Sue, him, he was having fun. He had Wylan’s full attention, he was getting some energy out, and Wylan had been brave enough to straddle him. Maybe he should hide Wylan’s stuff more often.

Both of Wylan’s hands focused on Jesper’s exposed side, pinching and squeezing and scratching away. When his hands started crawling up toward Jesper’s ribs, that’s when Jesper started to thrash.

“Wy!” He laughed. “Wy, don’t!”

“Where’s my flute, Jes?” Wylan didn’t sound frustrated anymore. In fact, he sounded like he was barely keeping from giggling himself, his voice all shaky and bubbly.

Jesper hesitated, and Wylan immediately took it as noncompliance. He didn’t have another chance to plead for mercy as Wylan’s hands skittered up to his lower ribs. He scratched at the first two bones and tears sprang to Jesper’s eyes as he howled. He really hoped Wylan’s mom wasn’t home, that she’d gone for a ride around the canals or something, because he would never be able to sit through dinner with her again if she’d heard this.

“Please,” Jesper managed to sutter out through his cackling. “Wylan, please!”

“Will you talk?”

Jesper nodded his head, a few tears escaping from his eyes.

Wylan slowed his fingers, but he didn’t completely stop. His fingers tapped carefully against Jesper’s lower ribs, dancing away like he was playing the piano. Jesper’s body flinched, both from the aftershocks of the brutal attack and from the teasing touch that remained. His giggles had a touch of hysteria to them as he tried to squirm away from Wylan’s fingers.

“Where is it, Jes?”

“Under my pillow,” Jesper giggled out.

Wylan’s fingers stopped. Jesper risked a glance up at him, and he was blinking in confusion.

“Really?” Wyaln asked. “It was that easy?”

Jesper grinned at him, sliding a hand up under his pillows and withdrawing it with the flute in hand. Wylan blinked again, then shook his head with a light laugh.

“Sorry,” he said, still grinning. “Did I not give you enough attention today?”

Jesper tried to pout at him, but it wasn’t particularly effective with the afterglow from the tickle attack. Wylan reached up to cup his face, laughing again.

“I’ve been so lonely,” Jesper moaned dramatically.

Wylan hummed, flopping off Jesper’s side and onto the bed next to him. He wrapped an arm around Jesper’s waist, mercifully unticklish.

“That was pretty effective at destressing,” Wylan said. “Maybe I should do that every time.”

Jesper’s stomach gave a pleasant, flustered squirm. Instead of answering, he just hummed. And then he rolled the two of them over so that he could straddle Wylan.

“And maybe, I should return the favor.”

#tickle fic #my writing #six of crows tickling #lee!jesper fahey #ler!wylan van eck #ticklish!jesper fahey #six of crows #SOC #jesper fahey #wylan van eck #wesper #tickletober #tickletober2021 #shuntickletober2021

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elias-veturius-laia-of-serra · 3 years

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Why Elias And Laia Mean So Much To Me

Okay so I’ve been wanting to write this for a while but knew it would be long and that I’d need some time to get my thoughts in order. So without a further ado here is my attempt:

Why is Elaia so important to me. Well to start off, Laia Of Serra in particular is very important and inspirational to me. She is not only a brown girl who is a hero but she is the most realistic hero I’ve ever had the honor of meeting. I’m so used to white female main characters that are badass warriors who are smart, beautiful, strong, special, that everyone is attracted to, and who fight for their people. I grew up on books like that. In which don’t get me wrong I still greatly enjoyed those stories and some of them are still my favorite to this day.

However I could never relate to those characters and it really solidified the belief that I most likely could never be a hero cause I could never fit that mold. And for the longest time I thought I was okay with that and I never really understood how much physical and emotional representation could mean to me until, Laia Of Serra.

Laia is a brown girl that is afraid, insecure, oppressed, sheltered, poor, weak, with no fighting experience, kind, emotional, girly, and self deprecating. She’s scared and second guesses herself all the time. It’s hard for her to phantom that she’s good enough to make the right choices or save anyone or anything. Which is exactly what I struggle with on the daily let alone in the middle of a war. I first read aeita when I was 17, the same age as Laia. So meeting a heroine that made mistakes, berated herself, cracked under pressure, had no clue what she was doing, let herself cry, understood that in a place filled with skilled deathly warriors she was weak, and let people trample over her. It was so relatable and heart wrenching. Especially when I’ve been wired to think girls like her are useless and typically the first to die or used as a stepping stool for the real hero.

Seeing her continue to fight with what she can and however she can made my heart soar. There were so many times she wanted to give up and feared death. However in time she grew and instead of fearing death she embraced the possibility of it in order to fight for what is right and for the people she loved. She stayed true to herself and became a badass without the need of having to kill people. Laia detested killing people especially after having to see how her people got killed all the time. She’s filled with understanding, love, forgiveness, sensitivity, kindness, and determination. No matter how many times she got knocked down she kept getting back up.

She gave and still gives me hope. Hope for who I am today and who I can grow into the future. She’s a symbol that you can be strong in other ways. That physical strength isn’t the only way to be a hero. Her bravery to face things head on, her compassion towards everyone, her determination to reach her goal, and her heart always willing to accept others is what makes her a hero. Even when it came to the final battle. It wasn’t her powers or weapons that got her to win the war. It was her kindness and understanding and love.

I understand people are disappointed that she wasn’t as “brutal” or stabby as other heroines. I love stabby women as well! But I think her depiction of strength and heroism is so important. It really shines a light on the meek and shy and scared and shows that it’s okay to feel like that. How that doesn’t automatically make you weak and how you can be just as important in the world.

I also love that Laia isn’t reduced or or shown as “not like other girls”. Laia loves to dress up, she likes to look pretty, she does think about boys, she is bossy, she is emotional, often has break downs, and she’s just so human. I find that a lot of the most badass heroines are always the ones that don’t like dressing up and finds it a waste of time, doesn’t fit in with other women, is stoic, cold, good with swords but not with words, and violent. Im not saying that these characters shouldn’t be allowed, but I feel like it reinforces the idea that the normal things a woman feels or behaves is considered weak. Not saying that all women are emotional, but we do feel. We do stress and some of us do love to put on make up and dresses. That shouldn’t be demonized or looked down upon.

That’s why I adore Laia. She’s a normal teenage girl that IS like most girls. And she gets praise and stronger because of it. Also people need to realize that at the start of the series Laia is a 17 year old girl with zero survival training skills. Elias and Helene have been training since they were literal children. Their whole lives revolves around fighting. Laia’s didn’t. So it makes sense and is realistic why she isn’t as “strong” or “skilled” as them.

To expect her to be at their level within the three year timeline between these books is impossible. I feel like people are so used to heroines that know how to fight or learn to become the most badass fighter through mere chapter montages that seeing a realistic depiction of a teenage girl that’s never fought in her life is displeasing. But I love that about her. She always becomes stronger in spirit, braver at heart, but at her core she is still Laia. A teenage girl trying her best.

Her needing help or needing a team to fulfill her goals shouldn’t be looked down on. It’s shown through even real history some of the best fighters or leaders needed a team. Needed support, right hand man, etc. Which is why I feel so connected to her and wish she wasn’t so underrated or looked down upon. Cause I feel like she’s a voice for girls like us that so desperately needed a way to be heard. She’s someone I can look up to and remember and find comfort in when times get stressful or dark.

Now as for why Elias and Laia’s relationship mean a lot to me. It’s simple. They’re a healthy brown couple and I love finally seeing a girl that looks and acts like me get praise and love. I love that Elias sees her strength and admires her for who she is. And how he actually finds comfort in a person like her. How he views her at times even stronger than him and everyone else.

Girls/characters like Laia are always reduced to a side character, the best friend, the second choice for the love interest, the death that motivates the main character, and or the character that pops in and out to give moral support. However under Elias’s eyes she IS the main character. She IS the only girl for him. He loves everything about her and was the first to believe she’s strong. He chooses her above all. Above anything and anyone else.

As a brown girl as shallow or dumb as it may sound it really does feel touching to see us described as not only just strong and desirable but loved and wanted by the warrior. The main love interest. That in his eyes this brown girl that others deem as weak, useless, boring, and a waste of time. To him she is everything. She is brave, smart, powerful, beautiful, admirable, and perfect. It means the world to me. Especially with how characters like her especially in fantasy is seen as never good enough or tossed aside.

I also love that Elias shows the struggles on what it means to be “strong”. How a lot of learning to be the best fighter happened through a lot of trauma, shame, and guilt. He does show how physical strength isn’t the only way to be strong. Which is why Laia is his balance. She is the peace and freedom he yearns for while Elias is the strength, power, and love she’s always yearned for. Where she falls in believing herself he is always the first to count his vote on her. They compliment each other perfectly. Countermelodies. True loves.

They show me a healthy version of love. One of the purest and sweetest kinds of love. Elias is always soft, kind, and patient with her. He’s proud of her even if she feels like it’s undeserved. She sees the good in him even if he feels like he’s a monster. They see each other for who they are and love that about each other. They love each other so much and I’d never seen two characters be as in love as these two are. They are utterly devoted to each other and constantly fought for their way back to each other. It’s been five years and rereading their scenes still makes me smile and feel butterflies, like it’s the first time all over again.

Even now seeing any content of them is like a shot of straight up serotonin. They are my comfort ship. Despite the stress these past five years of being with them and shipping them has brought me. They also bring me great happiness and excitement and I wish I never had to say goodbye.

Though here’s to hoping that maybe we can have an Elaia novella, at the least, in the future 👀🤞

♥️♥️♥️ Elaia Forever ♥️♥️♥️

#an ember in the ashes #a torch against the night #a reaper at the gates #a sky beyond the storm #aeita #atatn #aratg #asbts #sabaa Tahir #laia of serra #Elias Veturius #Elias x laia #elaia #otp #Elias laia #emberling #ember quartet

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