#you've seen the original now get ready for the sequel

[gummi-ships]

#kingdom hearts birth by sleep #khbbs #terra #aqua #ven #my gif #you've seen the original now get ready for the sequel

[litcityblues]

I'm So Annoyed, But Not For The Reason You Think

Look, I'm just going to go ahead and say it: Ahsoka should have been the basis of the sequel trilogy. The whole damn arc from start to finish made for a vastly more compelling story than anything The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, or The Rise of Skywalker managed to put in front of us.

Rogue One and Andor managed to take the original themes of Star Wars (rebellion against tyranny, the costs, etc.) and give them some actual depth about what it means to try and take down a tyrannical government. The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett and now Ahsoka are exploring what I think is a vastly more interesting idea that Star Wars should have centered itself around for the sequel trilogy: now that you've defeated the evil empire, you've got to get into the messy and sometimes boring business of actual governing and how do you do that on a galactic scale? How do you deal with the Imperial Remnants? How do you deal with corruption? How do you, the New Republic, extend your authority and show that you're better than the Empire was?

There are so many story possibilities there and those shows mine that territory and do so effectively-- but what annoys me is that this is such an obvious arc to build into a trilogy of movies and they just... didn't. If the prequels were about the collapse of the old Republic into the Empire and the originals were about the Empire and its defeat the sequels should have been about the New Republic and securing the post-imperial future. That's the perfect arc of a trilogy of trilogies and saves us from such awful writing as, "Somehow, Palpatine has returned."

But, Ahsoka:

The series opens with Baylan Skoll (Ray Stevenson), a fallen Dark Jedi, and his apprentice, Shin Hati (Ivanna Sakhno), assaulting a New Republic cruiser to rescue Morgan Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto) who had been previously captured by Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson). Elsbeth informs Skoll that Ahsoka is searching for Grand Admiral Thrawn who has been missing for years- along with her former companion, Ezra Bridger who was dragged to an unknown location by a Purrgil.

(It should be noted at this point that I have not seen any episodes of Rebels, but know enough of the characters to piece together what's going on. It would probably provide more context if you have seen the show, but it's not at all necessary.)

Ahsoka and Huyang (David Tennant) find the Star Map they've been looking for, but it's locked so, on the advice of General Hera Syndulla (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), they head to Lothal to meet with Ahsoka's former Padawan, Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo), who agrees to help them and manages to unlock the map, only to have Hati show up, steal the map and stab her during a lightsaber duel.

Skoll and Hati take the map to the planet Seatos where Elsbeth reveals that Thrawn is trapped in another galaxy. When Ahsoka and company track down the droids that attacked her to Elsbeth's factories on Corellia- they and the New Republic get an unpleasant surprise, as a massive hyperdrive is being built, not for the New Republic but by Imperial Remnants for reasons unknown. They manage to get a tracker on the ship and it's revealed to be the critical parts for Elsbeth's ship, the Eye of Sion, ready to go and find Thrawn and return him to the proper galaxy.

Hera is convinced that allies of Thrawn and imperial remnants are seeking ways to bring him back, the Senators of the New Republic less so, and despite a sympathetic Mon Mothma (Genevieve O'Reilly), they refuse permission to send Republic forces to Seatos. So Ahsoka, Wren, and Huyang go themselves, find the ship, and are close to figuring out just what it's doing when they get shot down and are forced to land on the planet below, where Skoll, Hati, and company come and hunt them down.

What follows is quite literally one of the best lightsaber duels in the history of the franchise. I would put it right up there with 'Duel of the Fates' from The Phantom Menace or even the original confrontation between Obi-Wan and Darth Vader in A New Hope. Ahsoka and Baylan Skoll absolutely go at it and it's awesome. Ahsoka tries to tell Wren to destroy the map, but not wanting to lose her last chance and find Bridger, she hesitates and Ahsoka goes over the cliff, where she spends time In the World Between the Worlds where she meets none other than her old master, Anakin Skywalker. (Hayden Christensen)

Ahsoka makes some peace with her past- but not before Wren, Skoll and Elsbeth activate the Eye of Sion's hyperdrive and head out of the galaxy, just as Hera and a few New Republic forces arrive for a clandestine and unauthorized mission. Ahsoka and company figure out a way to follow Wren to the next galaxy, while it takes a timely intervention from Threepio (Anthony Daniels) to bail out Hera from being in real trouble with the New Republic authorities.

(Seriously: imagine how fucking badass that scene would have been if Leia herself had walked in. This is what I'm saying when I say this story arc should have been the basis for the sequels.)

In the next galaxy, Ahsoka and company find themselves at Peridea, home of the Night Witches of Dathomir and Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen) and his fleet. Wren goes out to find Bridger (Eman Esfandi) and Ahsoka and the company eventually reunites with them and has one grand finale. They try and stop Thrawn and Elsbeth-- but the Night Witches of Dathomir reanimate the Night Troopers sent to confront them (zombie Stormtroopers!) and eventually the parties are split once more, with Bridger hitching a ride back to the galaxy with Thrawn before sneaking off his ship and reunited with Hera and Chopper while Ahsoka, Wren, and Huyang are stranded on Peridea.

Overall: I absolutely loved this show. Love the characters, love that you didn't need to have seen The Clone Wars or Rebels to enjoy the shit out of this show. Loved so much new stuff! No Tatooine in sight! Loved the Night Witches! Loved Thrawn and his falling-apart Star Destroyer! Loved that he's loading up what I'm guessing are Palpatine clones-- which retroactively provides a clear, story-driven explanation for "Somehow, Palpatine has returned."

This is the Star Wars I should have seen on the biggest screen possible in the theaters. If I'm annoyed, it's because I can see the missed opportunity throughout all eight episodes of this show. That doesn't mean this show isn't awesome though. It is. Give me more, please. My Grade: **** out of ****

#ahsoka #star wars #streaming show #streaming review

[ughmyreality]

I'm ready for Disney to go back to being Disney ANIMATION studios! I'm all for inclucivity, but you can't just do the bare minimum and claim it's good because it features minorities. Or even worse, start remaking every single thing you've already done before, just in a lackluster version. I wish these companies would see that these projects aren't doing well and change directions. Besides, you'd think they'd learn because nearly every live action remake (Disney or not) involves some sort of "scandal" with one of the actors.

Examples:

Ian Ousley (Sokka) aledgedly lying about his race.

liu yifei (Mulan) supporting Hong Kong police causing people to boycott the movie.

Rachel Zegler (Snow White) acting like she couldn’t care less about the role and having an overall entitled attitude, making people dislike it when the film hasn't even been released yet.

The list goes on. I am absolutely tired of seeing the "magic" being sucked out of everything. I feel like I grew up with some pretty good animated movies, but what is there for people nowadays. Elemental? Wish?!?!?!?

And please don't start to mention the countless different "companies/shows" Disney has bought the rights to. Really, I think that's part of their problem. They're trying so hard to keep all these different things afloat that they're all sinking. They are trying to do too many cash grabs at once, and the quality is seriously suffering.

Disney knows, or at least knew, how to make a classic romance. There's nothing wrong with that. In fact, I'd say stick to what you know until you can get going.

And another thing, I hear there's supposed to be a Moana 2! Moana isn't even that old. They're not even letting an ample amount of time pass before they start another ploy. Where are the original ideas? Because all we're getting is revisited versions of things they've already done. And isn't common knowledge by now the running joke that the majority of Disney sequels are trash?

Now for the extra controversial option. I'm over the live action race swapping of characters we've already seen. It's one thing if it's a book. Sure, I can get behind that. But it's getting to the point that they're just swapping out anyway white person with a minority girl and calling that diversity. Can we PLEASE have some more diverse main original characters?

Plus, diversity is not having one person of color and calling it a day. Diversity isn't even having a full cast of one minority. In order to be diverse, there actually has to be a group of multiple different types of people. They think they can just throw in one black people, and all of a sudden, they're so with the times.

Then you only ever see 3 different types: black people, Latinx, and Asian (typically only Japanese or Korean). But I just have to say that that is not as diverse as people make it seem. And why is it that these minorities never interact. It's either all one minority or minorities with white people. Absolutely no in between.

Then, to top it off, I want to get back to catchy songs. A good example of this was Encanto. Not only did it focus on a topic besides romance (family bonds), but it also features a minority family in which each member looks like some actual representation. That on top of the fact the music was good, made Encanto popular despite not having much marketing I'm the beginning. You go from songs like "we don't talk about Bruno" and "Surface Pressure" to.... "This is the thanks I get" from wish.

I feel like they need more people who are passionate about what they do. Even if it's not for the whole movie, just certain aspects. Lin Manuel Miranda is known for his music. Great! He's passionate about it that's one of the reasons it was so good. Who exactly wrote the songs for wish? That is the question.

Anyway... that's all I had to say. Just felt like complaining.

#long post #disney #anti disney #complaining #live action #remakes #ugh #rant

[dandelion-wings]

As for the wip asks, I'm quite curious about Kujou Sara - sibling dynamics

Right now, this one is actually peeled from older drafts of Betrayal's Daughter, because I felt like to really get a handle on Sara's relationship with Takayuki I had to figure out the larger family dynamics, but then I cut a lot of the content with her brothers because I wanted to stick closer to the prompt-writer's request. But I still wanted to play with what I'd worked out! (A good third of my WIPs are actually based on stuff I had to cut for other fics but wanted to set aside to reuse, which is why a lot of them end up sitting for so long--the sense of urgency was attached to the original fic that did get posted, and now they're just hanging out waiting for a rainy day. XD;;)

This one's still trying to decide if it's a more family-oriented sequel to Betrayal's Daughter or if it's a standalone fic, but either way, I know it includes Kamaji's wedding-that-wasn't, so leaping off a particular line in the trimmed bits:

With the threat of the Tatarigami subdued, Masahito is able to leave the military encampment in Kannazuka to his senior officers long enough to return to Narukami Island for his younger brother's wedding. It makes the deception that Kamaji has let himself be talked into both more plausible and more threatening; both Kujou generals are now here at their brother's side, ready to enact the supposed maneuver that Lord Kamisato wishes to suggest. Sara would rather not be involved in the whole affair, but she has little choice.

Masahito arrives with enough soldiers in train to add further substance to the ruse without leaving the encampment weakened. Sara fills him in on the latest developments, stands by while he gives his troops their orders, and then, once they're dismissed, walks with him up to the Kujou estate. She sees him observing the city as they pass through, watching Doushin and civilians alike, noting their reactions both to each other and the generals walking past. By the time they reach the estate, his brow is shadowed.

"We've lost a great deal of trust among the populace," he says, quiet and solemn, as the samurai training in the yard pause to bow.

"We have. It will take time, effort, and diligence to earn it back."

"Best that you're at the helm of that."

He says it as if he's going to go on, but before he can, the door swings open and Kamaji comes out and rushes down the stairs. "Masahito, you've arrived."

Kamaji smiles up at his brother with so much relief that Sara feels a brief pang of bitter jealousy. He'd been pleased to see her recovered from her fight at Tenshukaku, but there hadn't been this kind of joy in his welcome. Nor in Masahito's few rare smiles for her, but he's grinning back at Kamaji now, equally pleased. They haven't seen each other for over a year now, she reminds herself, ashamed of the feeling, and the two of them have always been naturally close. She is, as always, an intruder in their lives.

#why not meme i guess #fic excerpt

[fics-n-stuff]

Empty Castle

Pairing: JJ x reader

Summary: Three weeks after John B and Sarah Cameron were lost at sea, Kildare is still reeling from the dramatic events surrounding the death of its sheriff. JJ in particular has been struggling to get back to normal, so Y/N goes to try and help him get back on his feet. Sequel to Holding Cell.

Warnings: tiny bit of swearing, v sad JJ

Word Count: 4.2k (about double what I originally intended)

A/N: This took way longer than expected and I didn't mean for this to be so sad but it got real sad, so there isn't really anything beyond platonic until towards the end. I would highly suggest that you read Holding Cell first (perhaps because I worked hard on it and I want people to read it) but if you really don't want to then all you really need to know is that JJ and Y/N were childhood friends but hadn't spoken for two years until they both got arrested on the same day and they decided to be friends again. Cool, enjoy! :)

The bell for the end of school rang and the crowd of teenagers swarmed out, and you made your way to the bike rack along with your friends.

"So, my house for movie night?" Jess said, and the rest of your friends chorused in agreement.

"Actually, I have something else to do." You replied, fastening your helmet. "I'll come by after if I finish up in time."

"What are you doing?"

"I need to go see someone." You replied, quickly getting on your bike before any further questions could be asked. "Later guys."

You cycled out to the house that you knew was where John B lived - basically the entire island knew where he lived after everything that had happened - and left your bike on the porch. The front door was open.

"JJ?" You called tentatively. "Are you here?" You heard movement from one of the rooms and turned towards it, seeing JJ walk out a few moments later. He looked disheveled, shirtless and with messy hair.

"Y/N?" He asked, surprised. His voice was slightly gravelly, like he'd woken up not long ago. "Why are you here?"

"I came to find you, JJ. School started on Monday, you've missed the whole week."

"School started?" His question made you frown in worry. "Wait, how did know I'd be here?"

"Because you're not anywhere else." You answered, putting down your school bag. "Nobody's really seen you. I stopped by at your house and your dad said-"

"You did what?"

"Relax, JJ, it's not as if he has any idea who I am. And he told me that you haven't been home in two weeks."

"I'm surprised he's kept track." JJ muttered.

"Clearly you haven't." The comment made JJ pause. He ruffled his hair and let out a long sigh, looking down at his own appearance. "What have you been doing these past weeks?"

"I don't know." He shrugged. "It's kinda blurred. I go to work, I go fishing, I smoke. I really didn't realise that school had started." He crossed the room to the sofa and grabbed a tank top off of the back of it, throwing it on before making his way to the kitchen.

"So I take it you've just been living here." You stated, looking around the mess that had accumulated in the house.

"Yeah. Pope and Lie have been staying away from the place ever since, uh..." He trailed off, pushing his tongue against his cheek and clearing his throat. "But me, I'm here basically all the time. They use Heyward's boat so I've got the HMS Pogue all to myself; they use Kie's car, I get that busted up van." He laughed, but there was a real sadness behind it.

You watched JJ as he made himself a sandwich, and even from a distance you could tell that there was barely any food in that kitchen. A few seconds passed and you spun on your heel, starting to collect empty food packages from around the room.

"What are you doing?"

"Cleaning." You answered matter-of-factly. "If you insist on staying here, I insist that you keep it clean."

"Why do you even care?"

When you turned around to face him JJ was leaning against the kitchen door frame. He wasn't looking at you, rather he was staring at the floor. His body language was relaxed but you knew that that wasn't how he was feeling.

"What happened to the 'giving to whole friendship thing another try' deal?" You replied. "I'm just trying to live up to my side of the agreement."

"Maybe that wasn't such a great idea."

"Okay." You muttered after a stretch of silence. "Let's try this again later. You go off back to your bedroom or whatever, I'll clean up here and we can reconvene at a later time." You pushed past him into the kitchen to look through the cabinets for trash bags, and when you found them you pushed past him back to the living room.

"Y/N-"

"I'm not leaving, JJ, so don't even try it." You interrupted, throwing empty bottles and cans into a trash bag. You heard him mutter something under his breath and disappear down the hall, slamming the door shut behind him. You scoffed and continued clearing the house.

You got rid of all of the trash from the living room and the kitchen before knocking on the door to the room JJ had shut himself in. By now he'd had about half an hour of preparation for a civil conversation.

When you opened the door he was lying on his back on the bed with a hat covering his face, but you knew he was awake because he kept fiddling with his fingers and tensing and untensing his jaw.

"You ready to talk about it?" You asked softly, taking a seat at the foot of the bed.

"No." He mumbled, his response muffled by the hat over his face.

"Want a hug?" He didn't answer, so you took his silence to mean 'yes but I don't want to say it out loud'. You kicked off your shoes and shuffled up the bed so that you were lying beside JJ, draping an arm over his body and resting your head on his chest. He let out a long sigh and slowly wrapped his arm around your body, pulling you in closer.

You stayed like that for a long time, just listening to yourselves breathe while you waited for JJ to be ready to talk to you.

"We really ran off a cliff, didn't we?" He finally broke the silence, his voice quiet and full of emotion as he removed the hat from over his face. "Pope lost his scholarship, I've become a complete pothead, John B and Sarah are missing. We don't even have the gold."

"Gold?" You questioned.

"We found the wreck of the Merchant, Y/N." He whispered, staring up at the ceiling. "And we found the gold, underneath the Craine house, and Ward Cameron took the whole lot out from under us while the town was on a manhunt for John B."

"Oh my god, JJ!" You exclaimed, sitting up. "You seriously found the Merchant gold?"

"Yep. To finish what Big John started. But it doesn't matter now, it's gone. Just like John B." His voice broke as he said his best friend's name, and you lay back down beside him.

"I'm sorry."

"They could still be out there, right?" JJ murmured. "I mean, they found the Phantom but they didn't find John B and Sarah. Maybe they got picked up by a ship."

"Yeah of course, that's totally possible." You nodded. The silence stretched out again, JJ sniffling every now and then as if holding back from crying.

After a while you sat up, getting JJ's attention and he turned his head to look at you.

"Let's go grocery shopping." You said. "There's barely any food in this house, you need some supplies."

"I haven't really got the money, Y/N."

"My parents just left town and I never spend all of the money that they leave so we can use that." You replied adamantly. "You need to get some human contact, okay? So let's go."

You climbed off of the bed and put your shoes back on before pulling JJ up as well. Reluctantly, he put on some shoes and grabbed the keys to John B's van.

+++

The two of you were out for about an hour. You stopped off at your house to grab the cash before going to the grocery store, where you ended up leading the shopping trip because JJ apparently had basically no knowledge of nutrition. Being with another person seemed to bring JJ out of the haze that he had been presumably for the past few weeks; he even smiled at a joke you made while you were at the checkout.

"I didn't expect you to have enough money for a full grocery shop." JJ said as the two of you packed the food away in the kitchen.

"Well, because my parents don't talk to each other they also don't coordinate their trips out of town which most often results in them both leaving money for me." You explained. "I never tell them, I just keep the extra cash as compensation for the neglect." You smiled, closing the cabinet you had been packing things into and turning around to take a seat on the counter. JJ finished putting away the last of the groceries and leant against the wall opposite you, folding his arms over his chest.

"Why'd you really come find me?" He asked.

"Well, after John B and Sarah got lost in the storm it was obvious that you weren't going to be doing the best." You answered, watching him carefully to gauge how he was feeling. "And when you didn't show up for school all of this week, I figured that you might need a friend to bring you back to reality."

"I, uh, I appreciate that." He nodded, his lips turning upwards into a small smile.

"Happy to help." A silence settled between you again, as it had many times throughout the evening, but it felt a little different this time; slightly more tense, but not in a bad way.

"Do you wanna go out on the boat?" JJ suggested. "The sun's about to set."

"Sure. Sounds nice." You replied, hopping off of the counter. His smile grew and he kicked off the wall, adjusting his hat on his head as he headed back to the front door, you following after.

You took a seat on the bow of the boat while JJ got it going, and you stayed in silence as he drove you out into the marsh. The sky was orange and violet when he anchored the Pogue, and he came to take a seat beside you.

"It's nice, isn't it?" He said quietly, looking out at the sun setting over the water. "I come out here most nights if I'm not still at work."

"Yeah, it's beautiful." You nodded. "What's your job?"

"Busboy in a hotel restaurant. You got a job?"

"Nah, I've got my absent parent money." You looked over at JJ and you could see sympathy in his eyes. "Don't feel bad for me, it's really not so terrible." You chuckled. You didn't need sympathy; certainly not from JJ, who was in a far more difficult situation than you.

You talked idly as you watched the sunset and when the sky turned dark you had settled into silence and lay back on the boat to look up at the stars. The two of you were lying with your hands on your stomachs, your elbows touching with the proximity in the small boat.

"What if they're not out there?" JJ whispered, barely audible.

"Then... we learn to keep going." You answered, turning your head to look at him. "Look, JJ, I was never as close to John B as you were, and I have no idea how you guys became friends with Sarah Cameron, but whether they're out or not, and whether they cane back, you'll always have them with you."

He turned to look at you too, tears shining in his eyes, and you reached a hand out to grab his and interlocked your fingers.

"I know it's cliché, but it's true." You smiled reassuringly. "They left you a piece of themselves to keep in your heart, and nothing can ever take that from you." He held onto your hand tightly, a single tear escaping his eye as he tensed his jaw to try and hold back any more.

"I really miss him, Y/N." He sniffled. "He was my brother, you know." You quickly moved to hug JJ, your body half on top of his as he wrapped his arms around you tightly and buried his face in your shoulder as he started to break down.

You maneuvered the two of you into a sitting position so that you could wrap your arms around him properly, cradling his head in your hand. He held onto you tightly, his tears soaking through your t-shirt and his body shaking with his sobs.

Minutes passed before JJ calmed down, and you held onto his shoulders as you broke away from the hug.

"You'll be alright. Okay?" You said softly, and he nodded. "I'll drive us back." You wiped away the tears on his face with your thumbs with a smile, before getting up to bring up the anchor.

JJ stayed where he was sat while you drove the boat back to John B's house. You docked the boat and went inside, the atmosphere heavy. He took a seat on the sofa while you flicked on the lights.

"Can I tell you something, Y/N?" He asked.

"Yeah, of course."

"I used to have the biggest crush on you when we were kids." The confession left you a little shocked, but you didn't show it, and JJ continued. "John B used to tease me about it all the time. When we were thirteen, after, like, four years of pining after you, he told me that I just needed to man up and tell you... but I never did, and then our friendship kind of just fell apart."

"Why are you telling me this now?" You questioned, and JJ let out a sigh before shrugging.

"I don't know. With John B missing and you suddenly back in my life... it just feels weird." He answered. "But I'm glad that you're here. I think I really need it."

"I think you do too." You chuckled. "Now, I'm gonna make us something to eat."

"Us?"

"What, you don't want me to stay?"

"No!" He defended himself loudly, making you laugh. "No, that's not it at all. I just wasn't expecting you to."

"Well, I have nowhere else to be." You smiled before disappearing into the kitchen.

You busied yourself in cooking, cutting up some chicken and vegetables and throwing them into a stir fry. You were completely absorbed in what you were doing, humming to yourself while you pushed the food around the pan with a wooden spatula, so when you felt a hand on your shoulder it made you jump.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." JJ apologised quickly, taking a small step back. "I said your name but you didn't hear me."

"Oh, really? Sorry." You chuckled. "What did you want?"

"Just... You weren't weirded out that I used to have a crush on you?" He asked tentatively.

"No, of course not." You shrugged turning back to the pan. "I'll admit it was a little surprising, but we were kids and we were super close. Jess used to tease me about that all the time."

"About us being close?"

"Yeah. I remember one time she totally freaked out because you called me pretty. Can you get a couple of plates out for me please?" You heard JJ open a cupboard and take out a couple of plates.

"For what it's worth," He said, setting the plates down on the counter beside you and taking out some cutlery. "I still think you're pretty."

"Aw, thanks JJ." You smiled. "You're not too bad yourself."

"What's that supposed to mean?" He countered, feigning offense, and you laughed.

"Nothing. You're a good looking guy; not at all like the chubby cheeked little kid that I used to know."

You dished up your meals and you and JJ went back to the living room to eat. You kicked you legs up onto the sofa with your plate on your lap and tucked in. It was later in the evening than you would usually eat, so you were eager to get some food into your stomach. Even still, JJ practically vaccumed in the food and finished before you did. He took the plates back through to kitchen when you finished.

"You gonna head home any time soon?" He asked.

"I'm not in a rush." You shrugged. "I'll just be going back to an empty house." JJ hummed in acknowledgement. He lifted your legs up to sit on the couch beside you, putting them back down on his lap once he'd gotten himself situated. Maybe him being in such a vulnerable situation earlier had accelerated your connection, but it was like those two years that you didn't talk at all never even happened; you were just as close as ever, if not more somehow.

"You're gonna stick around, right?" He said, turning to look at you. You tilted your head slightly.

"Of course." You reassured, smiling. "I'm not gonna leave you now, of all times. Besides, I missed you and we were supposed to be trying the friendship thing again anyway."

"Yeah, the friendship thing." He muttered, downcatsing his gaze, and you frowned.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"JJ, you can tell me." You took your legs off of his lap and crossed them under you, shuffling forwards towards JJ and lowering your head to try and catch his gaze.

"I..." He began but trailed off immediately. He let out a loud sigh, running a hand over his face and through his hair before taking a deep breath. "I know that I might just be saying this because I'm kinda fucked up in the head with my friends being lost at sea and all, but I think I still like you Y/N. As more than a friend." He rambled.

"JJ, we didn't speak to each other for two years." You replied, taken aback by what he was saying and trying to introduce some reason into the conversation.

"I know- I know that, Y/N, but... it doesn't feel like anything has changed for me." He explained, mirroring your body language and crossing his legs under himself to face you. "I get it, it's stupid, but I can't help that. I mean, I know that we were literally twelve years old but when we were friends before I think that there was something there. Maybe I'm biased because I liked you, but maybe..."

He looked at you, his eyes searching for any tell of what you were thinking, and there was a long pause while you thought.

"Even if there was something." You started slowly. "We were kids, JJ."

"We still are kids. We're sixteen." He argued. "When we were at the sheriff's station I felt something there, even though we hadn't spoken for two years. Tell me you didn't feel it too."

You looked away from him and took a deep breath. You would be lying if you said that you never had any feelings for JJ - he was probably the first real crush that you had - and it was probably your feelings for him that made you react so strongly when he would get himself into trouble. And you did think that being with JJ again felt much the same as it had done back then; plus, you hadn't been lying when you said that he'd grown up to be pretty handsome. Even still, he was going through an incredibly difficult time and you didn't think it would be a good idea to start any kind of relationship.

"Maybe... Maybe there might be something." You mumbled. "But right now really isn't the time to try it."

"Why not?"

"Because... well, you..." You struggled to articulate what you wanted to say.

"Y/N, I know it's a really messed up time, okay? Two of my best friends are lost at sea and I haven't spoken to the other two in weeks. I have lost all of the people closest to me and I feel completely alone, so maybe the fact that you're literally the only person that I have right now is making my feelings more extreme - I recognise that - but that doesn't mean that they're not real."

"JJ, I can't in good conscience agree to pursuing anything with you right now." You replied softly, shaking your head. It hurt you to have to say no.

"Don't you want to try?" He asked, voice a little weak as he looked into your eyes. "It doesn't need to be a huge commitment, we can just give it a try."

You looked over his face, the cogs turning in your mind as you thought through the situation. You really did want to give it a try, you were just worried that it might do JJ more harm than good. But the longer you ĺooked and him and the more you thought about the possibility, the more you wanted to pursue it.

"No promises, no big commitments... but I'll stick around." You smiled slightly, and you put a hand gently against JJ's cheek when he smiled back. "I just don't want you to get into something that's not good for you." He chuckled, taking your hand from his face and holding it in both of his.

"You've always been looking out for me." He mumbled, brushing his thumb over your knuckles. "Where would I be without you?"

"Somewhere messy I'm sure." You smiled.

"Definitely."

You sat in silence for a minute. You were watching JJ's face while he fiddled with your fingers. He let out puffs of air every once in a while like he had just remembered something funny, and it made you smile. You yawned, suddenly realising that you were actually really tired.

"Since I'd be going home to an empty house anyway," you began, breaking the short silence. "Would you be alright with me maybe staying here for the night?" JJ looked up from your hands with an amused smile.

"Of course." He answered happily. "I could use the company."

"Great."

He stood up from the sofa and gently pulled you up after him. Your hands remained connected as he walked you through to the same bedroom as earlier and flicked on the lights.

"This is where I've been crashing." He said, quickly scratching the back of his neck. "You can stay here with me if you want, or you can stay in the other bedroom if you'd rather do that." He became noticeably more tense at the mention of the other bedroom, and you just knew that it was because that was John B's room even though you'd never been there before.

"I'll stay here." You smiled, giving his hand a comforting squeeze. "Can I borrow a t-shirt?"

"Yeah, sure." He let go of your hand and crossed the room to a duffel bag in the corner. "There's stuff in all the drawers so I've kinda just been living out of this thing." He pulled out a t-shirt and handed it to you.

"Thank you." You smiled as you took it. JJ nodded awkwardly and shuffled past you out of the room, pulling the door shut after himself.

You quickly rid yourself of your school clothes and put on the t-shirt that JJ gave you - which was long and baggy on your body - before hopping onto the bed and covering your legs with the covers. He came back in not long later carrying two glasses of water.

"I figured you might want a drink at some point." He mumbled, setting the glass down on the bedside table. You gave a grateful smile and quiet thanks as he turned on the bedside lamp and then went to turn off the main light.

"We used to have sleepovers sometimes when we were kids." You mumbled as he walked around the bed and climbed in beside you. "Do you remember?"

"Yeah, of course I do." He smiled, lying down. "We used to stay up until midnight thinking that it was a big deal."

"It was back then. Midnight is really late when you're ten years old."

"I miss when little things like that could be so exciting." He sighed, staring up at the ceiling. You looked down at him thoughtfully, absentmindedly reaching out to brush a piece of hair out of his face.

"Well, anything can be exciting with the right company." You said softly. His eyes shifted to connect with yours and he smiled ever so slightly. "We have the whole weekend ahead of us, maybe we could do something fun. Go surfing, like old times, maybe?"

"That sounds nice." He murmured.

You shuffled down the bed to rest your head on the pillows and reached over to flick off the table lamp. You lay on your side facing JJ as he remained looking up at the ceiling. With the moonlight coming through the window you could just see the silhouette of his face and a slight shine where the light reflected off his eyes.

"What are you thinking about?" You whispered after a while.

"Lots of stuff."

"Wanna talk about it?"

"Maybe tomorrow." He answered with a sigh, turning his head to look at you. "But thanks."

"No problem." You smiled. "We'll talk tomorrow." You shuffled towards JJ and curled into his chest as he wrapped an arm around you. You felt him press a very light kiss to the top of your head and it made you smile. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight." He replied, holding you a little tighter, and you fell asleep in each other's arms. For the first time since John B and Sarah went missing, JJ had some comfort and you were happy to be the person to provide that for him.

#obx #outer banks #obx fanfiction #obx jj #jj obx #jj outer banks #jj maybank #jj x reader #jj x y/n #jj maybank x reader #jj mayback x reader

[thompsborn]

Happy FFWF! What's your favorite title you've given a fic? Why?

okay so i looked through ALL of my posted fics, including my ~secret identity~ and my it account, and i’m too indecisive to pick a FAVORITE favorite, so here are the ones i can’t choose between, in no particular order

• sea green, see blue

this one isn’t marvel, it’s my ron/harry one shot that i’m still planning to write a sequel for eventually, but this title just HITS me okay?? i love this fic a lot too, like i put say more thought and effort into this bitch than i needed to, and i spent literal HOURS of my time trying to think of a name for it, and then i found this song while listening to a playlist of music that was on how i met your mother, because himym is one of my favorite shows and had so many great songs in it and oftentimes i’ll find such good lines in those songs—case and point being this one, which, while the lyrics don’t FULLY fit how i think of ron/harry, the title of the song fits the fic PERFECTLY, because the entire central point and theme of the fic is the two of them seeing each other—how they think, how they act, how strong and smart the other is. it’s all about their perception of each other and harry, green eyes, seeing ron, blue eyes, who sees harry right back. it’s just. i love it. SO much.

• when healing hurts

this title is kind of self explanatory and not hard to grasp, but i still just love it a lot, especially since it perfectly grasps the main part of why i wanted this fic to be in this series and why i wanted to write it in the first place. peter’s healing factor is incredible and is written about a lot but i just always think about how there are situations where his healing would be agonizing, and i’ve read fics that explore that but i wanted to write my own version of it that fit into the series, and the title gives the two main points of the fic—healing and pain, and how they can go hand in hand. idk i just think it’s nice and suits the fic really well!!

• the portal closed

again, self explanatory title once you read the fic, but that’s kind of the entire point of it! this is a fic about a different version of the mcu, one where everything changed due to a singlilar event going differently—tony not making it out before the portal closed. and this is an exploratorion of everything that follows from that point. it’s simple but it’s exactly the purpose of the title and i get so excited whenever i open the doc to work on it (which i need to do since i haven’t updated in a hot minute) and it’s just v satisfying to me!!

• hold me (like the night sky holds the moon)

lol so ~secret identity~ (even though anyone i’ve been in a marvel discord server with knows this) but this is my other account where i post anything that includes ~spicy~ content just bc i like having it completely separate from my main fics since a majority of my fics don’t actually include explicit content, HOWEVER i love this fic and the title and wanted to include it anyway! this entire one shot was directly inspired by three songs written by anson seabra and i don’t even remember how i got the idea but i rememver listening to those three songs (especially broken, which i still listen to very regularly) on repeat and busting this fic out in like a day or two, and the title comes from one of those songs (this one, specifically) and it just. it captures the point!!! the point of the fic!!! is peter going from “fuck it i ruined my life and i’m still ruining it and now i’m just living what’s left of it and that’s just what it is” and then making it to “this is still hard and i’m scared and i’m sad but you helped me see what i wasn’t seeing before and i’m so grateful for you and i want you to be here and me to be with you even though that scares me even more” and the song is just AAAAA !! the title is so poetically lovely and from the song that CAPTURES THE ENTIRE POINT and just. wow.

anyway.

• butterflies and storms and ooey-gooey feelings

i have no justification for this other than i think it’s a really cute title for a really cute one shot

• fall into your blue

so this is also a lyric from a song (any jon bellion fans? anyone? hello?) that i was so grateful to realize fit this fic because this was also a fic i remember spending HOURS trying to brainstorm a name for, and i just happened to be listening to jon bellion and this song came on and i was like,,,, wait. this fic isn’t complete (but i did recently get back into my it fics a little bit and started rewriting the second part) but the premise behind the fic is these guys, two different separate people, who are in their senior year of high school and who are getting ready to become adults and have their whole futures ahead of them but they can’t do that yet because there is so much behind them that they need to address and deal with, and they meet and they fall into each other and help each other and end up being the people they needed to help them through this last year of really being like a high school student.

they’re both sad—aka blue. they fall into each other. hence, the lyric fall into your blue being literally the PERFECT lyric for this.

• empty world

i’ve mentioned this fic before on this account because it is still my favorite thing that i’ve literally ever written so far in my life, but the title is also very important to me and to the fic. it has a double meaning!! this fic is three parts, right? part one is richie being forced to grow up in a world that is literally empty—he doesn’t know why, but everyone else is just gone, in the blink of an eye, and he’s alone, and it slowly gets more and more apparent that this loneliness gets to him and all he wants is to see his friends again, to see eddie again. part two is eddie growing up in a world where richie is “missing” and they can’t find him no matter how hard they try, and he runs on empty hoping that richie will shownup one day, and bases so much of his life around the fact that he knows a huge part of it is missing, and he may have the rest of the losers and he may go to college and get a job, but he still feels empty because he knows that a vital part of him is just gone. part three is the reunion and the aftermath and how they try to process the fact that all of this happened in the first place and the fight against pennywise and all of that, and then they win and that emptiness is gone because the losers are all together, eddie and richie are together, and they get to have the rest of their lives like this. there’s so much meaning packed into the words empty world that it’s insane!!

plus i wrote a literal song in order to have good names for the chapters, as well. so

part one — “i have not seen your face in so long” aka richie and being alone, doing everything he can to never forget the losers and eddie and trying to picture what they might look like as he gets older since he never got the chance to see them grow up with him

part two — “but i will never forget your name” aka eddie doing what he can to live his life after having to accept there’s nothing else he can do to try and find richie but in every single thing he does he remembers the boy he loved anyway and it constantly weighs him down

part three — “without you, this is an empty world” aka they feel that emptiness in them start to fill up and heal once they’re together again and they get their happy ending

• an old heart, a new home

another one that feels a bit self explanatory once you’ve read the fic, but it’s a reddie fic and this is a marvel blog so i doubt anyone has or will pfjjf, but the title captures the fic! an old heart (eddie, due to being cursed to live forever until blah blah magic magic i can’t remember the specifics—and to an extend, richie, too, since he is a reincarnation of the man eddie originally fell in love with) a new home (the apartment building, each other). plus this is a fic series that i’ve been considering taking down and turning into an original book for a while now, and if i did i’d keep the name the same bc i feel like it fits so well !!

and that’s it :D i listed too many but oh well !!

#ffwf #happy friday!! #my writing