#//I have nothing against the ship but this is annoying af

[jingledbells]

ok not to be hater but I was looking through my tags of my text posts and its like. maybe its just me but if someone makes a post about how a character is aromantic to them maybe don't bring up ur ship pls. make ur own post.

[stanlunter]

I'm kinda curious why you don't like catradora? Is it just not your thing or do you have reasons? Just kinda curious as I almost always only see the "they were enemies! And that makes it too toxic!" But I saw you like catra/glimmer so yeah, just curious as someone who personally likes it but also hasn't watched the show in ages

Thank you for your question

Yeah, I do hate it, mb not its fans (or at least not all of them, cuz most of them are actually super annoying, but anyways) tho. Also sorry for my bad English

As for the reasons, there are actually many reasons:

Starting with, like you said

1. Being toxic. But the difference with Glitra is that in their way It's not like Catra abuses Glimmer, no, they hate each other mutually, there ia no "abuser x victim" dynamic, bc they hurt each other mutually. Also there are no manipulations, guilt-trips, gaslighting and etc, they are completely honest with each other. While with Adora, their dynamic is rather "abuser x victim" than "enemies to lovers" bc Adora never wanted to hurt Catra, she was always only ensuring what Catra's doing and saying. Adora was always holding back, never tried to kill Catra or make her feel like nothing or hate herself and all her fights were litterally either self-defense or defense of her friends or other people who were attacked by Catra. While Catra always tried to hurt Adora, both mentally and physically, tried to kill her many times, tried to make her hate herself and etc, etc. She was the reason why Adora had such a strong hero complex and always wanted to sacrafice herself. Adora litterally had panic attacks bc of Catra. And the whole "it was a war" argument doesn't work here bc being a war criminal doesn't make Catra any better and bc Catra was toxic to Adora even when they were on the same side. She was always jealous, controlling, possesive and didn't want Adora to have other friends. She wanted Adora to belong to her, which was shown many times. Also she physically hurt her many times, gaslighted her and etc. So their relationship would be much more abusive than Glitra relationship. And what makes it even worse is that Catra has learnt all her abusive traits from SW - recognized Adora's abuser. Catra litterally copies everything the main abuser who has traumatized Adora in the forefront does, which is actually creepy af too. Even she tortures Adora in s4 she says that she took the idea from SW. So she just takes the abuse she (and Adora) has been throught and intentionally uses it against Adora

Even if you have a kink for abusive ship, you should write them well and not put them in a kid show, normalizing abuse by this. There are examples of good enemies to lovers in kid shows which aren't abusive and It's fine (like Dipper/Pacifica, Talon/Penny, Bubblegum/Marcelin kinda, Amaya and Janai (It's good and It's wlw too), even Glimmadora would work since they were enemies too and etc).

2. The whole being "basically adoptive sisters" thing. They aren't actual sisters, but they were actually implied to be so. I won’t even mention every time the CREW referred to them this way (however, there were many times), but the main problem is that their whole relationship is fully based on the "Skapegoat & Golden child" dynamic. And SW is a mother figure who loves one child and hates the other one, who always tries to earn her love and jealous and hate the favourite child. Some people say SW was just a teacher and not a mom figure, but it would be a lie at least bc 1. The crew has stated SW as a mother figure, so It's canon anyways 2. It was said by Adora that SW was like a mother to her 3. You don't try to earn your teacher's LOVE like Catra does 4. The whole thing that SW sees herself in Catra and wanted fulfil her ambitions throught Adora. Also SW wasn't a mother figure for other cadets, it wasn't actually her duty to teach Lonnie, Kyle, Rogelio and others. She was a right hand, not a teacher and she was there only for Adora bc she decided so and for Catra bc Adora wanted so. So, even if you're trying to ignore it, It's a huge part of the plot and a base of their relationship. Oddly enough, but many catradora shippers actually love to admit that "SW was a bad abusive mother", "Catra & Adora have mommy issues", "Adora is a favourite child" and etc, yet when you point it out, they start denying it. I find it strange.

Another thing is subjective, just my personal vision, but I highly dislike all "childhood friends" ships (mb with exceptions if they always actually had feelings for each other, but in catradora case we find out about it only later, especially from Adora's perspectice). Also there is a biological theory that if kids know each other since the age under 6, they see each other as siblings anyways, especially if they grow up together in the same house, especially with the sams parent figure. So, even tho it's subjective, It's an important reason to ms. And I actually did thought of them so and thought everyone does untill I joined the fandom. So even if I don't recognize "see each other as siblings" thing when it comes to usual friends who haven't been grown up together, I do with those who have. Flr example, Renora. This ship was always weird to me and when they become canon, it didn't make me love it. I don't think It's problematic, but it absolutely does make me feel uncomfortable. Like, if you haven't developed your feelings for each other for during these 10 years you were together, where are the feelings suppose to come from later?

But yeah, childhood friends thing is my subjective reason

3. Catra's redemption arc was horrible. And redemption arc is one of the most important things when it comes to enemies-to-lovers, since It's the thing that suppose to help them become canon. Everyone immidiatly has to forgive Catra and no one calls Catra out for what she has done. Even Glimmer, who's mom was killed bc of Catra or Adora who has been abused by Catra for years. And so Catra doesn't even actually changes. She just swaps sides and immidiatly becomes Adora's gf. That's the problem. If you write enemies-to-lovers, do it well

4. The whole way the shis was handled. It just doesn't make sense and completely ruins the whole development of almost all characters. Adora's development is getting destroyed and she just comes back to s1 Adora. Her whole arc was about stopping blaming herself for Catra's actions, separating from her abusers and getting a life. But she just ends up forgiving Catra and considering Catra a victim of herself. And starts blaming herself for "leaving" Catra again. They just forget everything they've been throught. And what about Catra? Catra was obsessed the whole time. She hated Adora and liked hurting her. Catra was litterally addictive to Adora. It wasn't love, it was possesion. And giving an addict a drug isn't a way to go. Catra should separated from Adora, learn how to live without the idea of being "either with her, or againt her". That's why I think her leaving the Horde with Scorpia and going to a Crimson waste would be the best happy ending for her. She would get a life, get what she wanted (being loved), what she needed and what she deserved and let her issues go. So they just aren't good for each other. Having Adora around was always hurting Catra, Catra never was able to fully show herself when Adora was with her in the Horde and she even saya that Adora leaving gave her a chance to fulfil her actual potential, so Adora leaving was the best thing happened to her. Even if Catra wasn't fully agree with her own words, it was basically truth, bc Catra actually did feel bad bc of Adora when they were together (it wasn't Adora's fault, but still). Catra was always blaming Adora for her problems and didn't stop even in s5. So It was bad not only for Adora, but for Catra as well

Also Adora never even loved Catra before. If Catra's possesion can be called love at some point, it doesn't work this way with Adora. Yeah, Adora cared about Catra as a friend, but DT was right, Adora didn't need Catra. She didn't have such big problems with letting Catra go. After s1 she forgot Catra and never recalled her as a friend, only as an enemy. So her whole "I love you too" thing just came out of nowhere and was a lie. Just like "I never hated her" bc Adora did and it was shown. Adora got new friends who care about her and getting Catra was absolutely unnecessary for her. It doesn't work even as a Stockholm Syndrome or a trauma bond, bc it was never shown and Adora got a development

Actually, if it did make sense, mb I would like it, but unfortunately it really doesn't and only ruines everything the show has been building for years, which is sad, cuz I used to love both Catra and Adora

It's also strange to me how shippers compare catradora to so many actually good wlw couples like Korrasami, Harlivy, Caitvy, Lumity, Bumbleby, Chaggie and etc, while in reality their relationship is much closer to Tauradonna (which is actually hated by Bumbleby shippers, which is ironic) and Citrus and actually Shin Soukoku and Simon/Grace, or even some actual/ almost actual siblings like Vi/Jinx, Zuko/Azula, Rapunzel/Cassandra, Claudia/Soren, Qrow/Raven, Maki/Mai, Nightwing/Red hood, Thor/Loki, White queen/ Red queen and etc.

But I would prefer to compare it to Shin Soukoku tho

So, these are the main reasons. Actually I don't understand why can't catradora shippers just admit that their ship is problematic and enjoy it as it is, bc it doesn't really make sense to just make ship a full ooc and make it romantic and sweet to like it, bc it litterally goes against the whole point and everything it always has been. So I have a big respect for those shippers who do admit the problems and enjoy it without lying to themselves and gaslighting others tbh

Anyways, thanks for a question, it was actually interesting to answer it and you can feel free to asnwer, desagree or agree, Im not a hater or smth

[ikkaku-of-heart]

A Few FYIs to All Current/Potential Ship Partners

Mostly posting these because I am a chronic over-thinker and worrywart about certain things, especially when it comes to shipping, so I figure I’d write some stuff out for my own peace of mind and possibly even my partners’ or mutuals’ who wish to ship but have been too shy to approach.

I ship based primarily on chemistry, but that doesn’t mean I’m not open to discussing the possibility of shipping. Hop into my DMs and I’m certainly happy to talk OOC about it and we can see what it would take for the ship to develop. Hell, even if there is chemistry, please come into my DMs and discuss making the ship official because like I said I’m a worrywart and frequently psyche myself out into thinking that I’ve misread the situation and the chemistry is one-sided.

I am multiship AF. Ikkaku is a social, flirtatious, vibrant woman so naturally she gets around. This ranges from one-night stands to friends with benefits to hateships to actual romantic relationships. However, each ship, unless we decide otherwise for plot/characterization reasons, is in its own separate universe. Ex. in a verse where Ikkaku is shipping with Nami, Ikkaku x Zoro isn’t a thing unless we decide it would make for interesting characterization or plot stuff.

I absolutely ship with duplicates! For example, I ship with two different Eustass Kids and am perfectly willing to ship with more, so don’t be afraid to approach if you want to ship. Each person’s interpretation of a character is different, and therefore each ship dynamic will have its own nuances and cool moments. Because of this I’ll be making a different ship tag for each version, because each one is special and deserves it. 

On the subject of duplicate shipping, I only ask two things:

Don’t assume that just because I'm shipping with one person’s version of a character, that your version is automatically shipping with Ikkaku, too. Like I said, each interpretation is unique and I generally ship based on chemistry.

I know I can’t ask people to completely avoid feelings of jealousy, but if you feel I’ve been showing favoritism towards one version of a ship over ours, please just come talk to me so we can instead work things out. 

I don’t do exclusives. If you want me to exclusively ship with you or your muse, I’m sorry, it’s not happening. Nothing against those who do exclusives, but it’s not for me and certainly not something Ikkaku would be happy with.

On the subject of Hawkins, I know I’ve written more than a few things for him and Ikkaku lately as an NPC ship, but I want to make sure that this is not how I would expect any current or future Hawkins RPers to interact with me. Now, if you decide you want to explore this version of the ship with me, I’m absolutely for it! But I also treat it the same way as I do duplicates - it’s its own separate verse and does not reflect on my interactions with Hawkins RPers. For non-Hawkins RPers, if you want to make this ship part of ours’ canon, I’m also all for it! Feel free to DM me to discuss!

I adore all my ships. I will gladly talk about them all day if prompted. The problem is, I frequently worry that I’m annoying people when I talk about my ships, especially unprompted. So, if you’re ever worried I’m cooling towards our ship, just poke me and I can almost guarantee you’ll be treated to dozens of headcanons and thoughts I’ve had about our ship.

For those who interact/are interested in interacting with Ikkaku’s grandfather, Tomasu, shipping is a no-go for him. Arashi is and always will be his only love. He doesn’t even do casual sex decades after her death. So if he’s ever involved in a ship meme, it’s 99% likely as a joke.

[p-taryn-dactyl]

Kathryn or Lizzie or Katie McGrath???

Ook starting off strong

Imma answer all of these hehehe

Kathryn Hahn

i have to be honest, i haven’t been part of the hahnverse for a long time

but, i haven’t found anything for me to dislike her for? hold on let me scroll through her anti tag (if she has one) for “information”

ok im back there was nothing

Ok who am i kidding with this neutral approach: i love her. Everything ive seen with her gives off just such a kind individual and loving, down to earth

If i wasn’t already devoted to another person who doesn’t know I exist, she would be the love of my life

Elizabeth Olsen

just because her answer is longer does not mean i like liz better than kathryn

backstory time: im a huge X-men fan. I didn’t grow up on the comics but on the animated shows and when i watched age of ultron for the first time i was so freaking excited when my dad told me scarlet witch was in it

but when i watched it…i was confused

wanda is Jewish why would she be working willingly with hydra, a organization with ancient purist beliefs who sided with the nazis? why is her character so different? why did they add the whole ‘ah i hate tony’ thing to the movies again (to be fair, im also just a giant tony stark fan and it hurt to see one of my favorite mutants against my comfort character)

so my dislike of Wanda grew from the weird way the MCU executed her character but i gave Lizzie the benefit of a doubt bc why not

then i heard interviews with her saying the g-slur, her dismissing Wanda’s Jewish Romani heritage, making fun of Serbia and it hurt ya know?

look, im very bi and Lizzie is very hot so im not immune to the whole Wanda mommy thing but idk? Ig i would say im neutral, solidly neutral, about Liz

i bet she’s a great person to be around, a great friend and ik her life hasn’t been the best with the press hounding her family all the time and she is pretty funny and has good chemistry with the rest of the cast but there’s something off?

Katie McGrath

Once more: i am gay af and Katie…whew, she’s one of the reasons why

I haven’t dug that deep into her bc ive never felt a reason to but i really like her

i am not a fan of the rest of the supergirl cast at the moment but she just seems like such a nice person and I honestly would watch anything with Katie in it

i was a huge Merlin fan before i watched supergirl and lemme tell you, katie is a great actress who has this vibe around her thats just…amazing

all the hate i see around here (once again, i didn’t dive too deep) about her is mostly from people who don’t ship supercorp which i find annoying bc even if people ship something, that doesn’t mean you have to come for the people playing the characters (unless they genuinely deserve it, which i don’t think katie does)

I hope this was ok?? This isn’t a hate or anti post for anyone, all three of these people are amazing actors and are probably really nice but since ive never met them and prolly never will, these will forever remain my opinion and not fact

[no-face-no-shame]

for the fandom ask: 4., 10. and 11.

*putting the rare ask in a glass cabinet to preserve and cherish it*

4. Any fandoms that sucked to be in?

STAR WARS. I was unfortunately there during the nightmare of 2019 where people were to fucking stupid to realise that it's the producers who hurt John Boyega, not white actors who played with him. You were a fan of Adam Driver? Good luck, now you'll see posts with 40.000 notes saying how ugly and stupid he is. No one really cared about John anyway. I would hang out in small, specific circles, but even those got toxic af. I'm still fond of the original series but at this point I kinda don't care about anything SW-related

10. What's the character you don't understand the hype about?

Bakugou Katsuki from Bnha. He's just a cunt. That's mostly it. He got *some* character development but it was too late. He's a horrible, abusive person who doesn't seem to have any desire to change. I still don't understand how come there be so many people who want to be like him. The whole story is that you *shouldn't* be like him because he sucks and despite his powerful quirk, he loses due to his stupid decisions and awful personality.

Another one is Todoroki. He's... mid. Later on he gets a bit more content but he's just so forgettable. I don't understand why do people love him so much and make him to be one of the most recognisable characters in the series. He's alright but far from being the most interesting. He's nothing compared to my girl Uraraka 🥺

11. Any fanon that annoys you?

Quite a lot, though it's mostly about shipping. From regular ones - I hate when people present Deku as dumb and incapable. His whole life story is about how powerful he is due to his combo of being clever, a good person and a hard-worker. He's always had it harder than others and look at him go. To me he feels kinda relatable as someone with undiagnosed mental health issues that affect my learning abilities. I've always been put in the race against people who had a way better start. I fon't always win but I usually go quite far, which again matches Deku's story. He's a good, interesting protagonist and I will die on this hill.

Another one is showing Aizawa as super "cool" and confident. To me it always felt like it's a mask - Aizawa seems like a very insecure person who judges others hastily because he's scared of others judging him. That was the case with All Might - Aizawa didn't understand him and judged his motivations wrongly. Over time he changed him mind as he got to know Toshi better. Aizawa is shy and fully aware that his quirk isn't very flashy. He's a professional who never gets recognition- he keeps saying that it doesn't matter but I don't really believe that. I think he's a bit frustrated with that, though will never show it. Aizawa is a pretty complex character so I'm not very happy with ppl bringing him down to the role of an edgy sexyman

[cafeeeeeeeeee3]

I just watched anime for over 4 hours and I'm feeling so fulfiled. Watching ,30 episodes of FMA in two days <3

Manor spoilers btw

I usually post UT stuff, but, uh, yeah. Small Full Metal Alchemist rant,,,,, I need to get this outta my chest or I might collapse into myself.

MUSTANG AND HAWKEYE ARE SO CUTE TOGETHER. WINRY AND THE STEEL GUY WHO IS THE PROTAGONIST BUT WHOSE NAME I SIMPLY CANNOT REMEMBER (IVE BEEN CALLING HIM HAGANENO IN MY HEAD FOR THE WHOLE DURATION OF THE ANIME) ARE SO CUTE.

Nah, fr, this is the first time I ship a straight ship in, like, over a decade. Bitches got them chemistry.

AND THEN WE HAVE ARMSTRONG!!! OLIVER, I THINK. I REMEMBER HER BY HER HIERARCHY. IN PORTUGUESE.

Why does this always happen.

But I love her a ton. She is badass. Extra badass. Her fighting style reminds me of wrath's.

tbh I'd love to see Hughes more. He deserved to have more time with his family.

I ALSO LOVE ENVY SO MUCH. HE GOT ON MY TOES DURING THE FIRST HALF OF THE ANIME (and a little further), ID SEE A CHARACTER AND GO: IS THIS ENVY???? IS THIS ENVY???

His ending was also top tier. Although he did become quite annoying, and I was absolutely rooting for Colonel Mustang to whip him up w his fire (IT WAS SO GRATIGYING TO SEE THAT MAN WALKING AROUND LIKE AN ANIMAL, TRYING TO ESCAPE), I kinda,,, yeah, I think that his correlation to his name was sick.

ALso, Hoenheim had the best ending EVER. it was so rewarding? To see him next to Trisha??? I can't say I exactly like Hoenheim, but he had an amazing ending.

OH, AND PRIDE. OH LORD, OH PRIDE.

I *LOVE* PRIDE. Everywhere he goes, it reminds me of an abstract painting (more of a cubist thing? With the eyes facing foward, but the faces always being sideview), and I *adore* the form he takes. Idk why. Maybe because it's cute. Special adoration towards the Morse code part.

I LOVE THE CHIMERAS, TOO. The lion is sick.

UUH

GLUTONNY

Glutonny is a cute, pathetic little thing. I wouldn't get anywhere within a ten radius of him (for obvious reasons. He is the one that hesitates the less,,,, bitch doesn't even shapeshift. I wonder if there is a consensus, on what homunculus can shift and which ones can't. Are all of them able? Lust and Envy seemed like the only ones,,,), but he's cute af. HE.PLAYS W HIS FINGERS!

I also kinda like his design, y'know, when his belly opens. It feels kinda lackluster against Envy and Pride, but Pride is just,,,, too fucking sick, mb y'all, Pride for the win. But it's better than Lust, who didn't even get one 'cause Colonel VROOM VROOM (how does it feel to be carbonized by somebody named like a car) burnt her to ashes.

So, uuh, back on track (VROOM VROOM), his design serves a purpose. When I stared into it, I instantly remembered the thing it was meant to resemble, and it was very early into the anime, so, uh, it doesn't feel redundant. It communicates very well that he's a failed attempt at opening the truth gates(is this the name).

Also, he had an interesting end. I really liked the irony of his.

Also, hum, Wrath

Idk how to feel about him

I remember early into the anime, realizing he didn't really open his eyes much??? And just being,,, fixated on that. I do not understand why he does that to this point. Obviously, he's interesting, in the way that he is most definitely more human. He's got a wifey. He chose her.

Idk tbh

I didn't really understand him well. He also had a cool death.

OH GOD, TALKING ABOUT WRATH

CAPTAIN BUCANNER.

He.

Oh lord, I don't have many words for him, but HE IS RAD. AND HE, AAAAAAAH.

He was cool.

Hughes

Hughes

I love Hughes (I love too many characters), with his playful persona at the start, all optimistic and shit. I loved seeing him interact with his family, when he pulled out a GUN at preschoolers. He is fatherhood ideals. Tucker should have taken a few lessons (do you think their little girls might have confraternized, in another universe? It'd certainly be cute).

My heart truly ached in his burial, really. Though nothing his daughter says really indicates she understands what happens, her voice is DJEEJDBDJENDNDNDDBEJSBS. Heart wrenching.

Idk much tbh, still kinda organizing my thoughts.

Havoc is also cool. And there's this guy, too, wears glasses and keeps making ":3" w his face. He went to the south. He's cute.

ALSO

HAWKEYE. I TUOOK SO LONGH TO NOTICE WHAT IT MEANT. HER NAME, I MEAN.

bitch, either the subs were wrong or u were doomed from the start :((((

She has such a cute design, with the spicy "bun"? I didn't really get what her deal is, I most definitely remember her tatoos, but I didn't undersrand why she had them in first place. I know she gets those disfigured after Ishval, but I don't think she used alchemy in Ishval — she was never an alchemist????? Why does she have those tattoos??

They're rad either way. SHE IS RAD ALTOGETHER. THIS WOMAN IS THE INCARNATION OF "SWITCHING TO YOU SPARE GUN IS FASTER THAN RELOADING" ( but doubled. She carries three guns with her, maybe 4, if I remember correctly).

Tbh I was kinda bummed at the end,,, when the protag got his arm back. And mustang got his sight. LET THEM CRIPPLED!!!! Like, yeah, mustang? What happened to him was not fair AT ALL (btw the scene w him pinned down by his hands was sick), but it'd be,,, interesting. Not that it matters, since the anime ends briefly after, BUT IF I EVER WRITE FMA FANFIC IN MU LFIE (probably not gonna happen tbh) HE STAYS BLIND.

also, uh

I'm sorry Abt what I'm about to say

Greed is hot. I love him.

I could probably talk a lot more about him, but, uhhh

Idk

It's just cool

Ling is also cool

And FU. OH LORD, FU.

He's also sick

Like the other girl (which I'm not about to try and write,,, I tried to remember her name, but for some reason I keep misremembering it as Hay. It can't be right,,,)

She's sick. I do confess to not seeing much personality in her, which is kind of a bummer, but she's crafty. And an overachiver. Both her and Fu kinda incarnate the idea of servitude, y'know? And that's cool.

ALSO

CURTIS

CURTIS>>>>>

SHE RULES.

Just a housewife passing by <3

I LOVE HOW SHE WHOOPED THE CHEEK OF ONE OF THE ARMY'S HEADS W A FLIP FLOP. ID BE DESTHLY AFRAID OF CURTIS, BUT I ADORE HER. SHE AND HER HUSBAND ARE SO CUTE. AND POWERHOUSES. SHE IS JUST KERNDJJEJJRHJRJDJDJEEJJDNDJDJJDBDH *collapses and dies*

[hawkinsp0st]

Hey bestie (can I call you that?) have you ever been through the anti-byler tag, not the like mikhail posts or anything, but actual anti-byler stuff? what did you think? it made me rather sad :( like i get we can be really opinionated but that doesn't make us delusional or obsessed

you guys are all my besties so yes ofc <3

first of all, im so sorry to hear it made you sad! be sure to look after yourself <3 watch something happy, spend time w friends/fam/pets, read some fluff, hang out in the byler tag and post some memes with us :-)

yes omg…….i went in it once like a month ago……..honestly, the arguments lacked compassion and were also weak af just narratively, the vibes were really annoying and bad so i forgot most of what i saw LOL !!

the main thing i saw was that 1. bylers are misogynistic towards el, 2. bylers are making something out of nothing essentially, and 3. that it’s unhealthy for will to be so attached to mike and he needs to move on.

i laughed so hard at these arguments when i saw them bc i’m a walking contradiction of all 3:

1. i didn’t give af about byler till s4v2, because literally all i cared about was el and nancy and max and joyce……i adore the female characters on this show w my entire soul……….so bylers being misogynistic? my lie detector test determined that was a lie !

2. i didn’t even know byler was a ship that existed till s4, and the only reason i noticed it was bc while watching s4, mike and will had several romantic moments LOL……the duffers byler’d me! i wasn’t searching for an mlm ship and grasping at straws just to make that happen, which is what a lot of antis seem to think we’re doing (aaand the tone with which they express that is often homophobic/condescending).

3. before i was a critical thinker i kinda agreed with this i guess?………but then i rewatched s1&2, and watched the van scene & milk monologue. so basically, i’m convinced antis just do not watch the show. mike’s love for will is already life affirming as it stands, even pre requited feelings—“you make (me) feel like i’m better for being different.” aka mike literally makes will feel okay about being different and being gay when no one else in the show has made him feel that way outside of joyce & jonathan. that’s amazing, and i’d argue that mike has an overwhelmingly positive effect on will 24/7 (except during their fights). he defends him against homophobic bullies in s1 even when he’s not around. he never leaves his side in s2. even in s3, once he learns the mindflayer is back, he drops everything and becomes the Party leader again all bc he trusted what will told him. and in s4, we find out that he makes will feel good about being different. please lmk what’s unhealthy about that.

sorry this is so long, but in conclusion: you’re correct, we are not delusional or obsessed. we are just enjoyers, and smart watchers, of media :-) much love my dear !!!!! <3

[frenchgremlim1808]

How to spot a toxic ship community in somes steps

I have been apart of many toxic ship community before and after a certain time of interacting with them I started seeing a pattern. It's not like a scientific research or something's, I'm just a bored idiot but I thought it could be helpful

Before i start i just wanna clarify some point, being a fan of a ship who is sadly in a toxic community doesn't make you toxic (ex: you can ship komahina without being a toxic person). Any ships that i used as a reference in the post is not meant to be Taken as an insult towards you okay, it's just my opinion. No hate

Let's start :

1.They act like their ship is the only one who's important and better than the others

For exemple: -They seems to only care for their ship. -They would be able to sacrifice any characters or any ships for theirs to thrive. - They commit slander against other ships fan for no particular reason except being mean and acting like their ship is either a joke or not as interesting as theirs

2.They harass/dox people with differing opinions to them about the ship/characters

It can come in different ways, like for example doxxing address, bullying shippers who ships the character with somebody else, forcing their own opinions on others about the character/ship, harrass the actor/ actress for shipping a different ship or not shipping the ship in general ( wow that make me think of something, but what...,🧐)

3.They tend to make make problematic content for their characters

Okay, when I talk about problematic content, I don't really talk about sex. If both characters are consenting adults then everything's fine. I'm mostly referencing sex with minors characters. A lot of fandom tend to forget that the characters are under the legal age of either consent or maturity. That means they are children, which means it child porn. An example .... Bakudeku I don't need to explain myself.

Then we can see other problematic things like for example shits like abuse, yandere,torture ,obssesion which aren't the characters real personality but are implented in fics for being "sexy". But I think you get my point

Also just because some people did problematic things doesn't mean that the whole community is filled with psycho p*do, it's mostly about the numbers of people who do it.

4. THE +

This are the things that don't really make the community toxic in itself but combined with the other point can show you that's it's pretty toxic, in itself it's just cringe or annoying or just normal. No community is perfect so it's normal to have some of the trait I have mentioned and some I'm gonna mention now. Let's start:

They sexualize a lot the characters,they use one off the characters as a self insert for themself cause they just want to ship themself with them,the idolise the characters and put them on a pedestal, they act like the characters are perfect and did nothing wrong, if the characters are m/m or w/w they fetishize the relationship just because they're gay ( like treating all the gay character like uwus boy in skirt who always talk about sex, the mostly feminize them)/ they don't seem to accept other interpretation of the characters, they always tryies to bend the story for their own enjoyment and don't seem to accept the reality of what happened in the show / They seem to like the characters only for the fanon interpretation and not the canon one , etc

They're is probably more things so comment what you think I missed.

CONCLUSION:

If the ship in question check some af the dots doesn't mean that your ship community is toxic, I'm a byler and I know even tough my community is welcoming that were not perfect and we check some of these dots. But's that normal. Every community is kinda cringe. But like if the ship in question check all the dots I consider running. Don't interact to much with the community and stays with the sanes one.

Anyway I'm tired, for once I did an analysis, but the memes are coming back soon, I don't have my computer so you have to wait. ( You can use this in an argument just credit me)

-a french gremlim

[lordymaru]

I'm about to refute this entire essay with the simple explanation being:

The only interaction we've seen of these two is when she's a freaking 8 year old. Your self insert shows no boundaries.

And this is probably the last time I'll make a post about the stupidity behind the way the pair is viewed:

Note: I know there's people out there with a brain who ship these two in a more conventional way. In the end you do you, ship whatever you want, no one can prevent you from doing that, just don't be gross about it.

One of the parts being the Significance of their first encounter:

She’s a poor peasant girl who’s suffered immense trauma, suffering, and loneliness. Her initiative to help Sesshomaru came from her generosity

Exactly, she's alone for her family had been killed before her eyes, the villagers treat her like garbage. When she meets Sess he's wounded and simply in a bad state, both mentally and physically. Both of them are, the difference being he's a demon, a powerful one and for him to have ended in such a bad shape only stabbed at his pride- Rin on the other hand is a child, a human tiny child who is vulnerable and to him she poses no threat. Both of them are weak then.

At this point, it’s observable that despite knowing her story, her scars, and her difficulties, humans do not even empathize, let alone sympathize with Rin. It is the feudal era, after all. She’s a young, disabled orphan and the villagers only see her for what she lacks: a voice, a family, and a place of belonging.

Again with your feudal era shit. I can assure you the world is just as ugly today as it was before you and I existed. Next.

When he asks about her bruises, this is the first time anyone had ever afforded her a second glance.

This was a huge step forward for Sess, a huuuuuuge one for he showed interest in another living creature, not just any creature but a human. And for her it was probably like Christmas, for no one had showed her any mercy or interest. Ok you get a point. But oh, boy, how I'm about to spit on the next one:

The audience can see Sesshomaru calculate her body language, recognizing that she is mute. Instead of pressing her further or ignoring her outright, he attempts to comfort her (in his own way), making her feel that it is okay if she chooses not to answer him; that her desire to reply to him should only be a desire, not an obligation. I think, on one hand, that was the first moment of something that would resemble compassion that Sesshomaru had ever administered, trying to put himself in her shoes — if someone had asked him to do something that required, for example, his left arm, he probably would have appreciated them saying “you don’t have to do it if you don’t want to” so to provide him agency for something that he actually cannot do. And the same goes for Rin. He recognizes her disability, maybe even resonates with it and decides to empower her with a choice. Choice is important when it comes to the Sesshomaru/Rin dynamic and it’s a word that will come up often. 

Ok why are you comparing the loss of his arm to her not being able to talk? Not all disabilities are the same, you moron. Or am I dumb for thinking this way? If so, feel free to call me out on my lack of common sense kr whatever you wanna call it. Sess physically couldn't do shit with his left arm because well- it was gone! That's a physical disability. Rin had "lost" her voice after what she witnessed and so she wouldn't speak anymore. Have you heard of Psychogenic Dysphonia? If not, you can click here and give it a reading or do your own research. The more you know: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0892199703000158

So you say he "empowers her with a choice" that is "important when it comes to the Sesshomaru/Rin dynamic" let me get this straight, a choice because why? She's a child? A female? Because you said so yourself, it's the Feudal Era after all and therefore women had no choice in life, no voice, no agency, no nothing. So he was being magnanimous then? You know... This is where you start edging into the gr00ming territory. Can't you see? No? Alright, moving on.

BRUH WHAT THE FUCK?! Are you fucking good? See how you self insert? Bye. Next

The next time Sesshomaru sees Rin, it is suggested that he actively sought her, whether it be by curiosity or concern for well-being

He did... It is not suggested, he actually did asdfhkl. For both curiosity and he probably was worried. He also states he wants to test out his sword, what a perfect chance to do so for Rin is pretty much dead and that's the only way to make his sword work. So she was both being a guinea pig and an itch he wasn't quite sure how to scratch. Next.

Silence Rin.

Rin screams endlessly, annoying Sesshomaru. Firstly, this is the first time we hear him call her by her name. Secondly, Sesshomaru is visibly annoyed by her noises, however, he does not tell her to “shut up” as he normally would with Jaken or even InuYasha. He simply says “enough of that Rin, stop it.” (In Japanese he says, “Silence, Rin. You make too much noise.”) Even analyzing the Japanese dialogue, it is evidently softer than Sesshomaru’s usual ‘kisama’ (貴樣) manner of speech that we see depicted usually. This is the first time he’s had a companion who is not a demon, someone with compassion, and who has had his general best interests at heart with no expectations in return. His softer tone is a logical deduction to make.

Ok... "someone with compassion, and who has had his general best interests at heart with no expectations in return." Bruh... As if he would even consider meeting someone's expectations. Are you sure you're talking about Sess? Another thing is, he always speaks in a calm tone, he rarely yells or loses his composure- he had no reason to be rude to her either, you're excusing his regular behavior simply because she ain't Jaken. Anything else?

Rin doesn't change Sesshomaru overnight, it's a gradual and long process

Well duh!!! Just like you don't lose the pounds you gained from eating in one sit 12 donuts a week ago. Stating the obvious and for what? What's exactly your mf point?

The silence part is important, idk how to tell you there is a power imbalance in their relationship from the moment he tells her to be quiet. He didn't say please, he didn't ask her to, he told her to be quiet. Like a parent would, if I could count the times my mom told me to shush.... That's your first indicator he is not her friend, he is not her equal.

Letting you Be Yourself: The Panther Demon Arc

the first frame the audience sees in the anime sets the scene, painting the Sessshomaru entourage in a serene manner, indicating a level of comfort between group members (episode 75). This is vastly different from our last depiction of Sesshomaru and Rin’s relationship. In episode 44, he was unable to withstand her (albeit annoying) childish antics. But here, it’s observable that Sesshomaru can accept her and her package of unconventional fun. Not only does he tolerate and even more so, accept Rin, but he accepts her influence on his vassal, Jaken and allows them to be free around him.

Is called developing patience. I can assure you that when you're a parent or an older bro/sis and your kid/younger sibling is noisy af you either learn to tolerate that or get used to it for kids are kids abd you have to let them be kids. Next.

She's a child, she's not stupid.

The Abducted Rin: Calling her Name

The respect that Sesshomaru shows Rin is insurmountable. However, the InuYasha franchise is clever to portray the subtlety of Sesshomaru’s respect for her. KV on Twitter points out how highly he regards his companion and never relegates her to anything less than the value that she as a person embodies (@KVndie via Twitter). He consistently humanizes her. 

He only sees how important she is to him after her ass dies a second time. What do you mean? He respects her enough to not coddle her, she is independent and taught her to be self sufficient from the very start. That's respect. He consistently humanizes her because... She ... Is ... Human! OMG WHAT A SHOCKER!

As Naraku remarks on his hostage to Sesshomaru, "Naturally, the girl you're looking for is not here…,” he continues, “the girl is in custody outside of the castle..." Naraku never makes an attempt to give her personhood, leaving her unnamed, disposable, and relegating her to a mere "girl." But Sesshomaru doesn’t take any of this. He is a cold-hearted Daiyokai, yet he still makes an effort and upholds his principle to refer to her as Rin — not a replaceable “girl.”

Naraku is a mf genius. It didn't quite click until now he wanted to see if she was important or not to him and to what extent. For he planned his moves that way, making people turn against one another. While he wouldn't have made Rin turn against Sess he set everything up so he would end up wanting to kill Kohaku and in doing so, Inugang would have engaged against Sess.

Sesshomaru’s insistence on using Rin’s name isn’t only highlighted in this isolated incident though. It pays off. It is an ongoing theme in their dynamic throughout the series.

That's her name ... How you want him to call her? Baby?

I could go on and on but... This is a fucking essay. And then I stumble against more bullcrap:

The second point I want to highlight here is Sesshomaru’s reaction to Rin’s fall and her risky expedition. At this point, it’s unquestionable that Rin has a special place in his heart.

Of course she has a special spot in his heart. I won't deny that. What worries me is how you're trying to justify the way she's important to him since she was a child. As if his way of seeing her had changed.

I'm gonna disagree by agreeing with you in a few pointers. Kagome and Kikyo were rivals, they both romantically love the same guy. Kagome being the only one who could save Kikyo chooses to help her, knowing damn well Inuyasha would have suffered if Kikyo had died- further more, if it was in Kagome's hands to do something about it.

Rin on the other hand, I will applaud to her how she grew past her fear of Kagura after being kidnapped by her, she saw her body in the river and said fuck it and did her best to try to pull her from the water. I loved how stubborn and brave she was, even tho Sess had to pull everyone out of the water- she deserves a gold star. You go baby girl!!!

Rin later makes a cheeky comment, noting Kagura’s romantic interest in Sesshomaru. Jaken brushes this off as childish naivety. But for the spectator, this establishes two things: (1) That Rin does not see Kagura as a rival for Lord Sesshomaru’s attention, let alone affection; and (2) that Rin is still a child. Rin is certainly a child, with a youthful and fresh outlook on life that brings out the best in people. But even as a child, her relationship with Sesshomaru is incredibly healthy, clear, and surprisingly communicative.

Why would she? She's not a spoiled brat

Nah? I thought her double D indicated otherwise. OF COURSE SHE'S A MF CHILD.

Why do you keep mentioning is healthy? Do you need reassurance of it? Communicative in what way? Cuz if you wanna talk about communication let's talk about how he didn't even acknowledge her ass when she gave birth. He didn't even say her name, didn't even look at her. Tell me now how they are communicative and healthy?

I could go on, I really but all I'm getting from this load of bullshit I'm forcing myself to read is how you do in fact need to reassure yourself thr ship is god tier and is... How you said it was? Ah, healthy.

Anyways, thanks for reading and if you see any typo ... My apologies, I tried. Also if you have any input or I was out of line in some way, my apologies once more.

[cipheress-to-k-pop]

Harry Osborn x Alexander!Reader

Anonymous said: i was wondering if you could do a dating Harry Osborn headcanon but with the reader being Sam's Alexander's twin sis? (usm)

Sam was your twin brother

Unfortunately, being slightly older than you was the reason he got the Nova Corps helmet

And you were left with nothing

But he was still the greatest brother ever

Since the two of you were the only family you had left, you ended up relying on each other very much

But there was always some distance in your relationship because he would go on these amazing adventures with the guardians

And you were left at home waiting for him

But he still tried to make sure that you had a strong bond

You and Harry became friends because you had one thing in common

The fact that you had been abandoned by your superhero friends

Of course, you knew that Sam was Nova so it didn’t feel as bad

You lived with him on the Helicarrier and knew all about his superhero life

But Harry never knew that Peter was Spiderman

So, you immediately felt bad for him

You met the first time because both Peter and Sam were missing from Chem Lab

So, you two were the only ones left alone

So obviously the teacher paired the two of you up

And it turns out, the two of you make a great team

Which is weird because neither of you have an aptitude for it

And that’s how you started talking and eventually spending time together

Harry was really sweet to you

And you always thought he’d be kind of snooty because he was rich

But he’s really charming

Not to mention handsome

The amount of times he’s caught you just staring at him with stars in your eyes

Because he’s 

SO

“Like what you see?” 

DAMN

“Take a picture, it’ll last longer.”

PRETTY

“Try not to drool.”

And you swear you don’t like him

But sometimes he teases you and leans in and it’s like you can’t breathe

Harry definitely lets it go to his head that you always get so blushy around him

Once he did this thing where he cages you against the wall

And you’re just having a casual heart attack

Sam obviously has his own things going on so he doesn’t really notice

And honestly that kind of hurts you

Harry definitely notices your disheartened face when your twin brother bails on you

Tries and makes up for it but he can’t really fill the void that your brother leaves

He definitely helps tho

And sometimes Harry is like

“I’ve just about had enough of them ignoring us.”

And he wants to give them a piece of his mind

But you always stop him because you know they can’t help it

Unfortunately, though, you and Sam begin drifting apart

And you start relying on Harry more than your brother

Things honestly go downhill from there

When the Helicarrier gets destroyed and sinks, so does your home

While your brother moves into Peter’s place as a kind of team building exercise

You get shipped off to a S.H.I.E.L.D. housing facility

Even though Sam tried to argue with you staying with him

Fury wanted Sam to stay with the rest of the team

And Peter couldn’t house you too

But you couldn’t bear going into the housing facility, filled with agents and no friends

So, when you show up at Harry’s in tears, with absolutely no belongings, he has no choice to take you in

And so, the two of you begin living together

The big kick to the stomach is that Sam doesn’t realize that you’re not at the S.H.I.E.L.D. facility

And he doesn’t seem to care that the two of you are living apart for the first time since your birth

But Harry is such a great housemate

Absolutely the best

Long drives to wherever while either talking or singing horribly to some songs

Late movie nights where he carries you to bed

Studying together on the couch

Cooking together even though he has maids and butlers

And you’re just falling deeper and deeper

It feels like your married even though you haven’t even said that you’ve liked each other

But you both know that you do

There’s a certain intimacy that you have

Like Harry kissing your forehead before he leaves the house

Cuddling on the couch while watching a movie

Back hugs while you wash the dishes even though Harry insists that the staff can do it

Harry is like the protective husband you dreamed about having

At this point, you and Sam don’t even talk anymore

Aside from some mundane chatting in the middle of the hallways

And you’re starting to get over it

Obviously, it kind of hurts

But at the same time, you’re also angry

And this whole time Harry just kind of stands on the side-lines

Watching your brother take you for granted

But the time he loses his temper is on your birthday

He tried contacting him the whole day because he wanted to have a party for you

But neither him nor Peter picked up the phone

When Harry finally surprised you with a gift

Your first response was

“Have you heard from my brother?”

“Uh, no, actually, I tried calling but he didn’t pick up.”

And that kind of hurts because you usually get alerts from S.H.I.E.L.D. whenever there’s a mission so you don’t have to worry about him

But you didn’t get an alert so he was obviously not on a mission

In reality, the team tricked Sam saying that they had a mission

And then rerouting the plane to go to a remote island to celebrate

Completely forgetting about you

And so did Sam

So, you just try and forget and open the present

And there lies two premier tickets to the newest movie

“Harry, I can’t accept this, it’s too much.”

“Nooo, please, I got invited and it’ll be such a bore if I go alone.”

“I don’t know....”

“Think of it as a birthday present to me.”

You laughed

“So, this is your birthday present and mine?? Anything else? Your dad’s birthday too?”

“Actually, let’s mix in our first date with it too.”

And the two of you are in the papers the next day as the newest couple

With pictures of Harry kissing you on the red carpet

That’s how your brother finds out that you’ve been staying with the Osborn’s for 2 weeks now

And Sam tries calling you but you’re honestly so upset that you don’t even pick up the phone

So, he goes over to your place

And you’re not home

But Harry is

And as soon as Sam sees him, he tries to give the brother protective speech

But Harry honestly gets so annoyed

He just punches him right in the face

And all the staff are like ‘le gasp’

Sam is like wtf man why are you punching your girlfriends’ brother

And Harry loses it

Yells at him about how he hasn’t been paying you any attention the past month, left you to live with someone else and basically not even giving him the time of day anymore

And the most important day of your life, the day the two of you were born, he was halfway across the world

Sam finally realizes how neglectful he’s been and immediately feels like crap

Harry tells him to get his act together because you won’t wait forever

Sam listens and goes home so he can figure out how to make it up to you

And when you get home, Harry has a bruise on his knuckles and you’re just like

“What happened?”

“Oh, I fell.”

“On your knuckles?”

“Yep.”

“Okay then.”

The next day you get a call from Sam and he asks to meet you

You’re honestly kind of surprised

And something inside makes you want to reject him

But you get over your spite and pride and agree

When you get to the cafe Sam wanted to meet you, you’re shocked af to find him with a black eye

“Oh, my goodness! What happened?!”

“I, uh, got the lights knocked out of me.”

“By a villain?”

“Sure.”

He apologizes for everything that happened in the past month

And promises to do a better job

All the feel-good brother stuff

And Harry is just so happy for you

So basically, Harry fixed your family relations and became a part of your family

Idk how to end this

The end

Forever Taglist: @simonsbluee​

USM Taglist: @imcarolinashannon​

[joel-millerr]

Choices Are Made in an Instant

Chapter Six of We Are One When Together (formerly A Mandalorian and a Smuggler)

Rating: Explicit

Word Count: 12.1k

Summary: You and Mando help Ahsoka in battle. Then, when you get back to the Crest, he starts acting weird. You couldn't have been prepared for what happens next...

Warnings: SMUT, dom/sub mentions, mild choking, (maybe a bit of edging?) aftercare, graphic depictions of violence, a sprinkle of fluff. mando is possessive af during sexy time

---

“What’s the plan, again?” Mando asks you, not because he doesn’t know the plan, but because he wants to make sure you know the plan.

Scowling up at him as you sit on the floor of the Crest, Grogu slowly falling asleep in your lap, you roll your eyes when you see Mando put his hands on his hips like he’s annoyed with you. 

“Seriously?”

His head tilts to the side, and then shifts his weight over to one leg. For someone who doesn’t like to talk about their feelings, he sure does wear his emotions on his sleeve. Mando’s body language is a dead giveaway as to what’s going on under that bucket of his.

“Fine. If it’ll make you happy.” You pick the kid up off the ground and hold him in your arm as you explain to Mando—for the third time, what’s going to happen.

“Ahsoka will storm the main gate and engage the guards. You and I are going to walk around the wall and find a way into the village without getting seen. The Magistrate—”

“Morgan Elsbeth.” Mando chimes in.

“Yeah, whatever.” Using your free hand to wave him off because who cares what her name is? “As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted—Ahsoka needs some information from Elsbeth so she’s off limits.”

“Good. You remember.”

“You know—”

“Yes?” He probes.

Lips forming a thin line, and realizing he’s just trying to rile you up you shrug it off and bite your tongue, instead opting to put Grogu down inside Mando’s bunk. The Child looks up at you with his big eyes, babbling incoherently. You wiggle your finger in front of him, causing him to giggle excitedly.

“Are you sure he’ll be safe here, alone?” You ask Mando over your shoulder, continuing to play around the kid.

“There’s no one else out here but us, and I’m going to engage the ground security protocols once we leave.” He explains as he fiddles through his armory, gently placing his pulse rifle back on its hook, and reaching over to his jetpack and strapping it to his back. “Nothing will penetrate the Crest.”

It doesn’t do much to ease your anxiety but since Mando seems comfortable with this, then this must be the safest place for him to be. Air exhales through your slightly parted lips as you turn to the armory and grab a vibroblade from Mando’s stock, strapping it to your right thigh. As time ebbs on, the sound of the blood pounding in your ears becomes louder and louder, and you’re unable to stop the steady thumping of your heart against your ribcage.  This feeling reminds you of spice running. The rush, the excitement, the worry of not knowing what could happen or if part of the plan could go wrong; it’s something you’ve always chased after.

The plan is almost foolproof, so you shouldn’t worry. Of course, the thought of something going wrong is always there in the back of your mind, but how often do you see a Jedi, a Mandalorian, and a smuggler working together? You’re almost certain this is the first time in the galaxy that this has happened, so how could you fail?

As you make your way to the ramp, you feel a rough leather glove grab hold of your wrist, and turns you around gingerly to face the Mandalorian.

“Are you sure about this?” He asks, tone low and husky, and it strokes that part inside of you that forces you to rub your thighs together.

No matter how much time you two can spend being around each other, the moment you’re standing only inches apart—you can’t stop your heart rate from picking up. Your mouth dries up like the sand dunes on Tatooine, and the only thing you can focus on is how fucking intoxicating this man is.

“You can stay here with him.”

His hand is still on your wrist, and you look down to where leather meets your skin. His thumb brushes small, gentle circles on your wrist; an otherwise small token of affection, but taking into consideration that Mando is willingly giving you such a gesture, it makes you heart do cartwheels.

“And miss all the action?” A smile stretches across your face, arching an eyebrow at him. “No way, Mando.”

“What if something goes wrong?”

“Then you’ll need all the help you can get.”

He whispers your name softly and drawls out exhale that cuts up through his vocoder, as if your name is his way of begging you to reconsider. The ‘T’ of his visor stays glaring at you, but it’s damn near impossible to sway you from doing something once you’ve set your mind on it, so no matter how he stares, it won’t make much of a difference. He knows this isn’t a battle he’ll win. Your free hand reaches out, fingertips brushing against his elbow, hoping your touch will help calm his apprehensiveness about you coming along.

“Mando, I’ll be fine. I know you like to worry, but I’ve been in plenty of worse situations and I’m still here.”

Making a noise deep in the back of his throat, he gives you a quick nod and lets go of your wrist. A groan threatens to escape through your lips at the sudden lack of touch, but you manage to keep it under control as he breezes passed you, hearing his boots hit the durasteel ground as he descends the side ramp of the Crest. Taking one last deep breath and looking at Mando’s cot where Grogu is resting, you walk over to the panel by the door, and whisper “We’ll be back soon, kid,” before pressing the button to close the door, watching it come down with a hum. You turn on your heel and march down the ship to meet Mando, who waits patiently for you to join him before using his vambrace to shut the ramp.

You tread towards the village in a comfortable silence. Nightfall is especially unnerving here. The air feels dirty, like dust and ash mixed together, trekking through large gusts of wind as it almost knocks you off your feet. The sky is a dark mossy green, glooming over you, almost like there’s an ominous presence watching the night unfold. Three clicks away from the wall is where you meet Ahsoka. She’s wearing a long robe that aides her in hiding within the shadows, the hood pulled over her montrals, cloaking them from being detected. Her lightsabers, not laser swords like you thought they were called, dangle off her waist. You eye them curiously, wondering how it must feel to wield one of them. The thought makes you chuckle. If you really wanted to know what it felt like to hold such a beautiful weapon in your hand, you just had to find someone to train you, and then you’d be privy to it. A problem for another time, though. Right now, you had more important matters to worry about.

Just as you reach the woodland edge, Ahsoka turns to you and Mando and once again repeats the Magistrate is not to be harmed.

“Save the prisoners,” She reiterates.

Offering her a nod and a smile of reassurance, her hand touches your forearm, squeezing it gently. Mando detaches his right pauldron—the one with his signet engraved and hands it to Ahsoka. It looks like a mudhorn signet. You’re reminded of what Grogu had shown you just a few days ago. Mando battling the ferocious beast, and the Child, watching him on the brink of death, feeling his need to save the Mandalorian.

“We’ll go around the perimeter,” He announces, shooting you a quick look that you acknowledge by dipping your head downwards. “Just make my death believable.”

The corners of Ahsoka’s lips curl upwards. “Don’t worry about that.”

You and Mando break off, choosing to go to her left. Being mindful of where you walk, and making sure not to rise any suspicions by making noise and accidentally stepping on a broken twig, your eyes shift constantly between the ground and the giant wall just a few metres in front of you. Given your experience with sneaking around, you’re basically a master at keeping to the shadows.

Once Mando’s content with the distance you’ve put between yourselves and Ahsoka, he scans the area of lifeforms with his helmet. Beckoning with his hand, he moves forward with you following closely behind him. You crouch over, making yourself seem as small as you head straight for the fortified village.

“We’re going to have to climb it.” He says, realizing the sound of his jetpack would be too loud and alert the guards.

“Wouldn’t be the first time I’ve had to sneak around,” You jest.

Mando lifts an arm towards the top of the rampart and a grappling line shoots out from his vambrace, flying right over the top of the duracrete wall and latching onto the parapet. Tugging the rope to make sure it’s got enough of a sturdy grip for both of you to scale, he hands you the wire to climb first. Blood pounding in your ears and your heart racing faster than the fathier races on Canto Bight, you take the line from Mando’s hand and pull on it hard enough until your body is leaning backwards.

Your left foot presses against the rampart, making sure to balance yourself properly before your other foot hits the wall, then you begin scaling it. Mounting it quickly, you make it to the top in just under a minute—you can’t help but be impressed with yourself.

Once you climb over the parapet, you crouch down immediately, head whipping to the left then to the right to make sure there aren’t any soldiers in sight. In the distance you hear cries of pain, whooshing, and a loud bang. Ahsoka must have engaged the guards by now.

Taking notice that the coast is clear, you beckon for Mando to join you, and he scales the duracrete wall, beating your time by just a couple of seconds. Show off.

The village is a good… maybe thirty or forty feet drop, and the thought makes you groan. Already you can feel the ache in your legs and knees, but better to get it over with. As you’re about to jump off the wall, Mando’s arm comes flying out across your torso.

“What the hell are you doing?” He whispers through gritted teeth.

Standing there somewhat dumbfounded, your eyebrows pull closely together. “I was going to jump?”

“And break your legs in the process?” He asks rhetorically. Then, without waiting for your answer, he coils the grappling line around his arm that you used to scale the rampart and drops it on the other side of the wall.

“Are you sure you’ve done this before?”

Your eyes dart over to Mando’s eye slit, narrowing them as you watch him climb down just as fast as he came up. When you hear him reach the ground and taking one last look around, you grab onto the line and head down into the village.

The fighting in the distance has stopped, you hope that means Ahsoka’s made it through the barricade of guards. Darting between alleys through the village, you can hear her voice echoing in the distance.

“Your bounty hunters failed.”

Making sure to keep your centre of gravity low as you continue to navigate through the huts, you follow Mando on his heels until you see Ahsoka in your sights. She’s standing just a few metres away from Elsbeth, who has her own platoon of armed soldiers behind her, holding the staff in her hand, alongside the gunslinger Lang.

“Tell me what I want to know.” Ahsoka says, voice calm and stern. “Where is your master?”

Elsbeth stays silent for a few seconds, scowling at Ahsoka, eyes burning into hers, rage all but spilling out of her words. “Kill her.”

Lang takes a step forward, hands gripping his gun fiercely as he says with amusement, “Love to.”

A blast of red shoots out from his gun, narrowly missing her as she jumps onto one of the roofs. Her lightsabers come to life, beams of white whirl around her as she blocks an onslaught of blaster fire. You want to help her, to take down just even one of the guards, and Mando seems to sense your urgency because he grips onto your arm as a warning. You can’t blow your cover, not yet. The guards need to follow Ahsoka and leave the prisoners alone so you and him can free them.

The Magistrate instructs Lang to take her battle droids with her before turning on her heel and stalking back towards her fortress. She orders the remaining two guards by her side to execute the prisoners. Shrieks and cries fill the air as the prisoners start begging for their lives, and then your feet move before your brain takes notice, running straight for the guards before Mando can pull you back into the shadows.

You come up behind the soldiers, just as one aims their gun to one of the men strung up. Your hand flies to your blaster, unholstering it and shooting him right between the shoulder blades. He cries and falls to the ground with a loud thud. The remaining guard pivots towards you, aiming his own rifle at you but is shot down by Mando before he can pull the trigger.

“You were supposed to wait for my signal,” He hisses through the helmet as he appears from behind one of the houses to join you.

“You were taking too damn long.”

“And why the hell is the safety on your blaster not on?”

Narrowing your eyebrows, your mouth opens to answer but you have trouble finding the words. “Uh—is that reallyimportant right now?”

He doesn’t answer, but sighs somewhat angrily. Okay…

In the corner of your vision, you see the elderly man from yesterday emerge from one of the huts. Out of reflex, you catch Mando pointing his blaster at him. The man’s palms fly up in defense and freezes. They exchange a series of glances, ending with Mando placing his blaster back in his holster. They make their way to one of the prisoners, trying to gauge how to free him without hurting him or themselves.

The sounds of gunfire in the background catch your attention. Looking over to Mando and the elderly gentlemen, you really want to go out there and fight.

What if Ahsoka needs backup?

Surely, you should help her, right?

Hands fidgeting at your sides, your body racing on adrenaline and the urge to make these soldiers pay for what they’ve done, you take one last glance over to Mando who instinctively looks back at you. By his body language, you know he understands what you want because he squares his shoulders and takes a tentative step towards you. Shaking his head, slowly but nothing shy of authoritative, basically warning you not to go after her. Giving him a shrug and lips forming a tight line, you whip your body towards the sounds of gun fire and disappear into the shadows.

“Get back here!” Mando’s voice come from the commlink on your wrist as you continue zig zagging through the city, following the sound of gunfire. Ignoring him, you turn the volume down on your commlink until it’s fully muted, as to not draw any attention to yourself. Your body is running entirely on the electricity pumping through your bloodstream right now. Senses heightened to a degree you’ve never experienced before. The wind brushing against your hot cheeks, hearing the thumping of your heart in your ears, you feel everything so much stronger, now. Maybe it’s because you’ve never being in such a gritty battle like this, but it’s so much more intense than any spice run you’ve ever done.

Navigating through the huts and keeping yourself hunched over, you look out for any potential threats, coming up on dead-end after dead-end. You’re running out of time, and need to find Ahsoka now.

A hand touches down on your shoulder, causing you to gasp a little too loudly. Reaching over your chest and gripping the hand tightly, you twist your body around to face them while pulling downwards on their arm, vibroblade flying into your free hand. Relief overcomes you when you see it’s Ahsoka.

“Felt like you were missing out?”

You give her a smile, tucking the blade back into its strap on your thigh, hand clutching your chest as you try to come down from the sudden alarm. “Little bit.”

The moment is short lived when a blast of red gunfire flies by the back of your head, missing you by only inches. Ahsoka wraps her arm around your back, pushing you behind her as her lightsabers come alight once again, using them to dodge and ricochet incoming fire. As she continues to block blasts, a guard emerges from behind you, giving you only a second of time for your blaster to come out of its holster and into your hand, shooting them down with two blasts. Just as his body hits the ground, a second soldier comes right for you from the left. Your free hand shoots up close to your body, palm facing him. Taking a step forward, your arm straightens out and the power of it sends the guard flying backwards, hearing his skull hit the ground with an echoing crack.

You don’t have time to process it, to think about the fact that you’ve just heard that man’s skull split because you propelled him so aggressively into the ground. Turning your body back towards Ahsoka, she continues to fight off blasts, one of them knocking a lightsaber out of her hand and sending it flying through the air, landing just a couple feet behind you. Without even taking a second to think about it, you dash for the lightsaber, gripping it with your hand just as you fall over onto your stomach. A black gloved hand grabs hold of your shoulder, flipping you onto your back. The man crouches down and presses his body into yours, each leg on either side of your body, pinning you to the ground. You wrestle for a few seconds, dodging some punches but ultimately taking a couple hits to your stomach. All of a sudden, a bright white light nearly blinds you—the lightsaber buzzes to life, and then you’re pushing it in your hand through the man’s chest, screaming as it impales him. The sound of flesh sizzling against the lightsaber makes your skin crawl, never before hearing such a foul noise. Maker, even the smell is agonizing. Something you never thought you’d ever experience. You’ve cauterized wounds before, but that was just kissing the skin. This? Fuck, this went through his body, burning his skin, bones, and whatever organs were in the saber’s way. Ego and pride aside, it makes you nauseous. Pushing his limp body off yours and rising to your feet, the smell still lingering in your nostrils, you attempt to shake it out of your mind and wrench your eyes shut for a moment. This isn’t the time to dwell on things.

Feeling the lightsaber in your hand, something in you changes. Everything stills for a moment. All of the insecurities you had about yourself, the feeling of having lost your way, not knowing which path to choose, it all comes together. The answer is around your fingertips, its power clearing your mind of the questions you so desperately wanted the answers to. For the first time in your entire life, you feel at peace, like you finally found your place in the galaxy.

A new power courses through your veins, enabling you to take down enemy after enemy with Ahsoka’s lightsaber. As you battle in between the huts, your eyes meet hers for a brief moment, and it’s almost like she understands how you’re feeling. After cutting down the last guard, your chest is heaving, body shaking as it burns off the adrenaline that was exuding from your body just seconds ago. You head over to where Ahsoka is standing, a pile of bodies surrounding her. Mindful not to step on anyone, you tiptoe around them and hand her her lightsaber.

“And?” She asks, head cocked to the side.

You can’t even find the words. How can you even describe such a feeling? All your anxieties solved in just one moment. Jaw nearly dropping to the floor, you want to say something but the only thing coming from your mouth is a laugh. Ahsoka smiles back, but it quickly disappears, leaving you to look into her eyes, she seems…sad? You want to ask her what’s wrong, but you table it for another time.  

As you both make your way back to the main street of the village, she treks along the rampart of Elsbeth’s fortress. Once you clock the second gate ahead of you, Ahsoka leaps onto to the top of the wall, leaving you to meet Mando on the main road. Keeping to the shadows of the little houses around you, you see him standing just a few feet shy of the wall, hand hovering over the blaster strapped to his thigh. Towards the end of the cobblestone street is Lang, hands on his rifle.

No one speaks for a moment; Lang’s eyes shift between Mando and Ahsoka who stands at the top of the rampart. Your body is still shielded in the shadows, gauging Lang’s body language; waiting for the right moment to show yourself. Finally, Ahsoka turns her body and jumps into the Magistrate’s home, leaving you, Mando, and Lang behind.

“So, you threw in with the Jedi.”

Taking a quick look around, and noticing you to his right, he answers Lang, “Looks that way.”

Maker, you’ll never get tired of looking at him. Broad shoulders pushed back so his all-encompassing chest is on full display, practically toying with Lang because he knows they’ve lost, it’s not only intoxicating how much he turns you on, but it’s quite frankly obscene how your pussy gushes at the sight of him. His ability to stay calm, even when he’s seething with anger. It’s easy to get wrapped up in the heat of the moment, but watching Mando in his element, full of gusto and brawn…It’s quite a shock that some people choose to fight a Mandalorian rather than save themselves the trouble and simply surrender.

Sounds of beskar clashing with lightsabers ricochet through the air. Cries from both women pierce your ears. You want to see Ahsoka fight, curious to see how a Jedi battles with a formidable opponent, but you’re too transfixed on Mando right now to tear your eyes away even if for a moment.

“Who do you think’s gonna win?”

Mando doesn’t answer, just stays ever still, his cape flapping in the wind behind him. Lang takes a tentative step forward, and then another, and then another. “Could be your side…” He taunts. “Could be my side.”

He’s getting too close for comfort; you think to yourself. Stepping out from behind one of the homes, you make sure Lang sees you. Squaring your shoulders, you walk over to Mando cautiously, keeping eye contact with Lang the entire time. Once you’re by his side, your arms rest by your thighs, one hand gripping on your blaster.

“Ah, there you are. I was beginning to think that you were left behind… or dead,” The last word drips from his tongue like venom.

Clamping down hard on your jaw to keep yourself from snapping back, your free hand balls into a fist, white knuckling so aggressively, you’re digging half-moons into your skin.

He takes one more step forward.

“I got no quarrel with you two.”

Another step.

“That’s far enough,” Mando warns, his hand coming up to stop Lang in his tracks.

The Magistrate’s cries blend in with Ahsoka’s. The silence between resonances of weapons colliding become more and more frequent. The fight must be nearing its end.

“You know, we’re a lot more alike than you think.”

What in the kriffing hell is this man talking about? To think that you or Mando could ever be similar to someone like Langmakes you scoff, an empty laugh expelling from the back of your throat.

“All of us, willing to lay out lives for the right cause.” He says orotundly then pauses for a moment, listening to the two women fighting on the other side of the rampart. “Which this is not.”

He can’t honestly think either of you believe him, right?

All of a sudden, you hear the beskar staff hit the ground, bouncing a few times before everything becomes jarringly quiet. Tilting your head slowly in Mando’s direction, his visor keeps to Lang.

“Looks like you guys win.”

Holding out his gun in front of him, he shows you the weapon and ever so slowly places it down on the ground, motioning his surrender. Mando’s hand flexes over the blaster, gauging Lang’s next move. Without skipping a beat, Lang’s hand flies to a blaster at the back of his waist, but before he can even take it out of its holster, Mando’s own gun flies into his hand and shoots him down.

“Did you have your safety on before you shot him down?” You ask sarcastically, darting an eyebrow at him as holsters his weapon.

“Is that really important right now?” He repeats, using that same mocking tone that drives you fucking crazy.

Eyebrows pulling together in a frown and rolling your eyes, you reply, “I hate you,” while also trying to hide the dumbass smile that’s sneaking up on your lips.

The elderly gentlemen, who has apparently been watching you this entire time, emerges from his home. One by one, the villagers come out, stunned that they’re finally free. They cheer and holler, walking over to you both to give their thanks. Seeing the instant smiles on their faces fills you with warmth and pride. All the pain, all the cruelty they were forced to endure is gone. They can live the rest of their lives free of tyranny.

“WATCH OUT!” Someone cries. In a nanosecond, panic sets in, whipping your head in every direction trying to find the threat. Looking at the roofs, there’s the faint silhouette of a battle droid, crawling on one of the homes, its gun aimed right at Mando.

“Mando!” You shout. The droid’s weapon then switches to you, a red beam of light flies from his gun, hitting you right in the shoulder. The force of the hit sends your body flying backwards, landing hard on your back, head smacking the ground hard enough to make you dizzy.

The pain in your shoulder is fucking intense, the smell of sizzling clothes and burnt skin quite literally burning into your nostrils. Hand flying to your shoulder and pressing down on the wound to ease the bleeding and hopefully the pain, you realize your shoulder has been taking quite the hit lately. First the bruise, now a fucking gash.

Mando rushes to your side, holding the back of your head with one hand as he eases you to sit upright.

“Are you okay?” Baritone pulling rough through the helmet, panic sits at the back of his throat. The hand cradling the back of your head travels down to your lower back, the other reaching for your hand that’s keeping pressure on the place where the droid hit you.

Unable to answer, you groan low in your throat and gesture that you’ll be fine with a simple nod of the head. When you finally look over to Mando through hooded lids, the corners of your lips curl upwards in an attempt to prove to him that you’re fine. Folding your legs at the knees and using his forearm to pull you to your feet, he helps you stand up, keeping his hand on the small of your back the entire time.

“Kriff, that hurt.” You groan through jagged breaths. When your hand finally moves away from the injury on your shoulder, you peek down to see just how badly you were hit.

Thankfully, it’s actually not that bad. There is a gash where the blast connected with skin, but the bleeding has stopped significantly, although your tunic and hand are drenched with blood. You could probably cauterize it right away to close up the wound and then put some bacta on it once you get back to the Crest.

Mando’s still holding you. It’s like he’s too scared to let you go, like he needs to protect you and the only way he can think of doing it is to keep holding you. In any other moment, you’d be absolutely loving this, but right now? His body heat mixed with the fervor and throbbing from the gash near your clavicle is making you burn up. It’s when you finally take a step forward that his arm falls back to his side, fist balling up like he’s fighting the urge to keep you in his reach.

“The droid dead?” You manage to say through winces of pain, hunching over.

“Yeah.” He says breathlessly.

“Okay, good.”

As more and more villagers approach you both, they continue to give you their appreciation and continuously asking if there’s anything they can do to thank you. An elderly woman even retreats back to her home and comes out just a few minutes later with a medpac for your gash. Initially, you reject her kind offer, insisting that you can wait till you’re back on the ship for your wound to be taken care of, but after she continue to argue that you should accept a bit of help, you take it graciously. They seat you down on one of the cobblestoned steps, and begin wiping away at the dried blood, trying to be mindful not to touch the actual wound.

“We can’t thank you enough,” She says kindly.

“You’re—ah shit—” You try to thank her, but despite her best efforts, you’re still in quite a tremendous amount of pain. “Sorry. It’s our pleasure, really.”  

Once she’s done cleaning up the blood, you look down at your shoulder to see that the wound isn’t even as big as you initially thought. The blood splattered around your shoulder had made it seem much worse than it actually was. It’s barely the size of a Calamari Flan coin. It’ll definitely scar, but it’s nothing you can’t handle.

“Your husband doesn’t ever take his helmet off?” She asks, trying to keep you distracted as she begins to spray bacta on it.

Completely taken aback by the word ‘husband’, you blurt out a laugh. “Husband? Oh no, he’s not my husband. We’re just…” Your voice trails off because in truth, you have no idea what your relationship to Mando is anymore. It doesn’t seem appropriate to say that you two are friends because your relationship has certainly developed passed that, but to go so far as to say you’re…together doesn’t really seem to fit your situation either.

“Oh, my apologies.” Shaking her head like she’s embarrassed by assuming the nature of your relationship, you place a hand over hers and smile.

“It’s okay. No need to apologize.”

“I just assumed that because of the way he was so concerned for your health after getting shot by that droid…”

Chewing the inside of your cheek, you mull over how Mando held onto you for a lot longer than he needed to when you finally got to your feet. How he stood so close to you, even when you assured him you were okay. How he still looks over to you every couple of minutes while he talks to Ahsoka, like he needs to watch over you.

You watch as Ahsoka hands the staff over to Mando, who seems to hesitate to accept it at first, but is eventually persuaded to take it. He takes a moment to speak into his commlink, your wrist comes alive to the sound of his voice.

“I’ll be back in a moment. Will you be okay here, alone?”

You can’t help the smile that forms on your lips, and you attempt to hide it by biting down on your lip. Bringing your wrist up to your lips, you press on the talking button on the comm, “Yes, I’ll be fine, Mando.”

As Mando disappears into the forest, Ahsoka makes her way over to you, just as the elder is finished addressing your wound. She’s put a bacta patch on your laceration now, its cooling sensation untensing your muscles and relaxing you almost instantly.

“Thank you.”

She grabs your hand with both of hers, giving you a gentle squeeze before letting you go, and hobbling back over to her home.

The city is full of life now, residents cheering and conversating. The children are running around, laughing and shouting with joy, even kicking a ball around the main cobblestoned road. It’s such a stark contrast from the city you and Mando had entered just two days ago.

Pushing yourself up to your feet, you pat the dust and dirt off your pants and face Ahsoka.

“How the shoulder?” She asks.

“I’ll be fine. It was barely a scratch.” You joke. She laughs in response. The first moment of genuine happiness you’ve seen on her face since you two met.

You both begin to take a leisure stroll through the village, noting how different the villagers seem now the Magistrate is gone. It’s such a fulfilling moment for you. For most of your life, you’ve behaved selfishly, usually only caring about yourself and doing whatever was in ever was in your own self-interest, and now you’ve just helped hundreds of people. You don’t want to put yourself on a pedestal, but if you’re being entirely transparent, you’re pretty proud of the change that’s happening to you. This? You could get used to this.

“If I did want to train…”

Ahsoka turns her head to face you once you address her. “Yes?”

“Like…How would I go about doing that?”

She stops walking, looking down at the ground. “You need to learn to control your emotions before you can even think of training. You’re pretty reckless.” Her voice stays kind, but she’s very much warning you of the difficult road ahead if you choose to go down this path. “I worry that your own attachment to the Mandalorian will be your undoing.”

You could argue with her, you could say that there is no such attachment, but if you were to be completely honest with yourself, you’d be lying if you said there wasn’t something there. It’s almost unbelievable to come to terms with the fact that you’ve developed some kind of connection with him, especially when you used to pride yourself on the idea that you had transformed into the type of person that did not become invested in someone else but Mando is different. He’s unlike anyone you’ve ever met.

He’s full of mystery. An enigma that you could learn about every day for the rest of your life and never even scratch the surface. Mando can be cold and callous in one moment, then tender and kind in the next. It quite literally makes your head spin. He can be so distant, and then all of a sudden, he can’t bear to be away from you. The inability to know what he’s thinking or what he wants just reels you in even more. You want to know everything about him, to feel like you’re a part of him, that you’re more than just someone passing through his life.

“Surely, the two can coexist?”

Ahsoka doesn’t respond right away. Her eyes leave you to look up at the sky, as if searching the clouds for help. “Asking that question just proves that you aren’t ready to train. Attachments clouds the ability to see reason. If you let your attachments control you, you can never act solely based on the good for all. You’ll always put your loved ones first, and that’s something the Jedi do not do.”  

Your lips press into a thin line.

“If you want this, you have to realize what you’ll be giving up. What you’ll end up denying yourself later on.” Her voice is almost a whisper. “There will come a time when you’ll need to make a choice. To embrace the way of the Jedi, or walk away forever.”

“It’s just…” You begin shifting, pacing around as the words come to you. “Ahsoka, the darkness I feel inside me? It scares me, like I’m never actually in control of it.”

“The Dark Side is powerful. It’s something you’ll fight your entire life as a Jedi, but it’ll become easier to deal with as the training progresses.”

“When I held your lightsaber…” Voice trailing off, you let out a small chuckle. Her lips curl into a smile, she knows the feeling all too well.

“I know.”

As you both stand at the gates of the village, the newly appointed Magistrate—the old man that aided Mando in rescuing the hostages, approaches you both, smiling from ear to ear.

“Thank you again for saving the village.” His eyes are kind, the wrinkles on his forehead giving you an insight as to the many years of injustices and struggles he’s had to face, as well as the hope he’s held that his people would one day be free once again.

Dipping your head downward, he grabs your hand in his, shaking it twice before turning to Ahsoka. “The New Republic will be here soon for Ms. Elsbeth. If there’s anything else you’d like to question her about, now would be the time.”

“Mando should be here by now…” You remark, noticing that it’s been too long since he left.

Ahsoka nods in agreement. “Go. I’ll catch up with you.” She doesn’t wait for your response before following the Magistrate back into the city walls.

During the walk back to the Crest, you continue to go over everything Ahsoka’s told you over the last two days, weighting out your options. You’re not like Mando. You’re not a Mandalorian, nor are you a bounty hunter, so naturally you couldn’t expect to stick with Mando once you get all of this figured out. Going back to spice seems irresponsible, given that you know you were destined for something better. Moreover, now that you know why you’re different, it would see inappropriate to ignore that side of you and continue to live a life where your powers were wasted. Maybe this is something you could discuss with Mando. Maybe he’ll offer a different view that you hadn’t thought of before.

When you catch sight of the Crest, you suddenly feel a bit nervous, almost shy. You can hear the pounding of your heart in your ears as you near the ship, and clutch your chest with your hands when you see what’s happening inside the ship.

Mando’s sitting by his cot, one leg resting on the edge of the bed, Grogu seated on his thigh, and speaking gently to him. Even if you tried not to get sentimental about it, you’d never get tired of seeing how endearing Mando is with the Child. Every moment is more precious than the last, warming your heart and making you fall for the Mandalorian even more. You know he doesn’t need it, but you want to protect them both—to keep them both safe from anyone who would ever try to harm them, and on some level, you think Mando would do the same.

“Hey,” You announce as you get closer to the edge of the ramp, making your presence known so that he hopefully doesn’t think you spent the last minute gawking at them during their little intimate moment.

As you approach them, Mando rises to his feet and walks over to you, holding Grogu with both arms. “How are you feeling?” He asks.

“Much better. The bacta really helped,” You answer, keeping your voice low as to not wake him. Grogu’s eyes flutter open, head tilting to the side when he sees you.

“Hi, little guy.” Your index finger gently boops him on the nose, causing him to giggle in Mando’s arms. Although you don’t know for sure, you have an inclination that Mando’s watching you, and when you look up away from Grogu, sure enough the eye slit in his helmet is pointed at you.

“You’re like a father to him.”

Your turn your body around and see Ahsoka standing at the end of the ship, arms crossed against her chest. Mando heads down the ramp first, and you follow closely behind him.

“I cannot train him.” She says, a bit of disappointment hidden in her voice.

“We had a deal, and we held up our end.”

Letting out a deep breath, Ahsoka takes a step towards Mando and takes Grogu’s little hand in hers, rubbing her thumb across his tiny claws.

“There is one possibility.”

“We’re all ears,” You reply.

“Have you heard of the planet Tython?”

“No.” Mando answers dryly.

“It has a strong connection to the Force. There you will find the ancient ruins of a Temple atop one of the mountains. Place Grogu on the seeing stone and wait.”

“Wait for what?”

“For Grogu to choose his path. If he reaches out through the Force, there is a chance that a Jedi might sense him and come searching for him.” She looks down at the ground for a moment, before pulling her eyes away from the dirt to look at you. “Then again, there aren’t many Jedi left.”

“Thank you.” He answers sincerely, then turns on his heel and heads back into the Crest.

You take a step towards Ahsoka and wrap your arms around her, giving her a gentle squeeze before pulling again. “I hope our paths cross again.”

“This will not only be a test for Grogu, but for you as well. You will need to make a choice.”

“I know…”

Her head dips down, offering you a farewell smile. “May the Force be with you.”

Heading back into the ship and closing the ramp, you hear the Crest’s thrusters come to life, finally feeling like you now have a purpose.

--

“Do we have enough fuel to make to it to Tython?”

“We’ll have enough to get there, but not enough to leave. We’ll have to make a stop beforehand to refuel.”

Mando punches in some coordinates and activates the hyperdrive. You look out through the transparisteel and watch the stars change from small specks in space to giant rays of light as you beam passed them, and then cockpit is surrounded by waves of baby blues similar to the waters on Naboo.

“Hey, where are we headed?” You ask once Mando rises from the pilot’s chair.

“You ever been to Coruscant?”

Fuck. “There’s nowhere else we can go?”

He walks over to where you’re still seated. At this angle, your eyeline is pointing right at…that. Trying to look anywhere but there, you opt to tilt your head at high as it can go so you can look at Mando in the ‘T’ of his visor. Maker, don’t you dare even peak down there.

“Is there a problem with going there?” He asks in jest, head tilting ever so slowly to the side. When you don’t immediately answer, he takes an excruciatingly slow step forward. He’s now almost touching your knees with his, making it even more difficult not to look down and catch sight of his—kriff, pull yourself together!

“No—” You squeak, your voice embarrassingly high. “I mean,” Clearing your throat in an effort for it to go back down to its normal octave. “No, that’s fine.”

Mando hums smugly in his helmet before disappearing through the cockpit door and descending down the ladder.

Uh… what the hell was that about? Was Mando acting…coy? No, surely you were misreading things. He’s not like that. He doesn’t joke around or act smug…right?

Sleep.

You should get some sleep.

Shifting around in your unbearably uncomfortable chair until you’re in a somewhat comfortable position—which is just you sitting upright in the chair with your leg crossed over the other, you fold your arms across your lap and close your eyes, hoping it won’t take long for you to fall asleep.

You can hear a light scuffle in the hull, and you try to ignore it, but now that you’re aware of the sound, it’s impossible for you to ignore it and try to get some sleep. All you can focus on is trying to ignore the sound which just makes the noise that much louder. Letting out a groan in annoyance, you move around even more in your seat hoping you’ll be able to find some kind of position that’s more comfortable, but to no avail.

Not only is the noise annoy the hell out of you, but you’re completely hung up on your interaction with Mando just a few moments ago. He usually doesn’t get that close to you unless he thinks you’ve been injured, but there he was, willingly getting closer and closer. Actually, it seemed like he was enjoying watching you squirm and get frazzled by how close he was to you.

Just when the sound stops, you hear heavy boots hit the metal rungs of the ladder. Great, he’s coming back.

You sense Mando reach the top of the ladder before you see him. Although, he doesn’t directly step into the cockpit. After a couple seconds of still not seeing him, you look over your shoulder to see where he might be, but you end up craning your neck to an uncomfortable amount and still no sight of him.

Fuck it. You jump to your feet and face the door to the cockpit, and see him standing like a goddamn statue. He’s still in full armour, but you definitely notice something different about him. His fists are balled up together at his sides, black eye slit pointed directly at you, and by the way his shoulders rise and fall, his breathing is uneven. As your eyes travel downwards from his helmet down to his feet, you can’t help but notice the bulge in his pants. Shit.

Your mouth instantly goes dry, your own heartrate picking up slowly, heating pooling in your belly. This isn’t the first time you’ve both been in this exact situation. It happened before on Sorgan, but somehow this is a hundred times more intense. Maybe it’s because of the rush from today, maybe it’s because you’ve tasted him before, but whatever was on your mind right before this moment is totally gone.

Right now, you can feel the blood pounding in your ears, you can feel the fucking heat radiating off Mando, your panties sticking to you like glue because of your slick, causing your pussy to fucking throb.

You want to say something snarky, but words are something you’re not even able to come up with, you’re so fucking spellbound by him that nothing in this galaxy could pull you away. He’s got you entirely wrapped around his leather finger and he hasn’t even said a word to you.

A broken moan forms at the back of Mando’s throat, coming out rough and distorted. It reminds you of his sobs the night his cock was wrapped around your lips. You want to run to him, feel his big arms pull you closer to him, but you need to know he wants this as badly as you do, so you wait. You wait for him to speak, to make the first move.

“I—” His voice is barely above a whisper, like he’s struggling to find the words.

“Tell me what you want, Mando.” You say breathlessly.

He takes a step towards you, and your breath catches in your throat. His own chest is heaving, his quick breaths cutting through his helmet. “Fuck.”

Realizing how hard this must be for him—admitting how he feels, you step closer to him. Now, you’re just arm’s length away. If one of you reached out, you’d touch the other and it’s becoming more difficult with every second that goes by not to jump into his arms, rip that helmet off his face and kiss every inch of his skin, but you won’t. You would never touch him in a way that would compromise his creed.

“Do you have any idea how many times I’ve thought about bending you over that control panel and fucking you until you begged me to stop?” He nearly growls. Voice so rough and low, you can’t stop the moan that escapes your lips.

Your pussy gushes in response. “Maker…”

He inches closer to you, taking his sweet, agonizing time as he continues to taunt you. “I’ve thought about it ever since I picked you up on Kijimi.”

Another inch.

“I thought about it in the alley with my hand touching your drenched, sweet cunt.”

Another inch.

“I thought about pulling you off my cock and pounding into you right against that wall.”

The heat coiling in your stomach is so fucking intense, you can feel it all over your body. Your heart is thumping against your ribcage, jaw slacked so you can breathe in quick little bursts of air. He’s standing merely inches away from you, and you want to reach out and touch him. You want him inside you, but you’re frozen, unable to move. Unable to break free from the trance he’s put you in. All you can do is stand there helplessly as he continues to torture you with his confessions.

“But I was able to control myself.” He grits out, head tilting ever so slowly to the side.

“Mmm…” Is all you can say. Your mind is on fire, your body’s on fire. Everything’s fucking on fire.

“I don’t think I can control myself anymore.”

Only one word comes to mind now. Once you say it, your relationship to the Mandalorian will never be the same. It’ll definitely make it harder to choose between Mando and following the way of the Jedi but quite frankly, right now, you really don’t give a shit. You want this. You want Mando, and nothing is going to come between you and him. “Good.”

Finally, he closes the tiny gap between your bodies and wraps a big arm around the small of your back, spinning you around and pushing you up against the door to the cockpit. You yelp at his swiftness when you feel metal hit your back, but it’s still not fast enough.

You want more.

You need more.

“Mando…” You moan helplessly.

The shakiness of his breath, kriff, you really want to drop to your knees and make him feel so good. His hands try to touch every part of you. They settle on your waist and he flips you around. Your face nearly smacks into the door but you’re able to catch yourself before your cheek makes contact, hands bracing up against the wall. He grinds his hips into yours, and you feel the outline of his cock nuzzle against your backside.

“If I’m too rough…” He begins to say, but you cut him off before he can finish his sentence. “I’m not fragile, Mando. Do what you want with me.”

“Fuck,” He punches out, fist hitting the door in front of you. “Y-you can’t say things like that to me.”

“I want you to,” You make sure to drawl out your words, to make sure he really hears you, so that he knows you want this just as badly as he does.

The sound that comes next is almost animalistic. It’s somewhere between a cry and a snarl, but it’s the sweetest, most arousing sound you’ve ever heard. It’ll be something you replay over and over in your mind.

His hands travel down to your hips, grabbing onto the waistband of your pants and yanking them down in one swift motion. A brown leather glove flies to your throat, using his thumb and index finger to press on that sweet spot right under your jawline. You sob brokenly as he continues to apply more pressure on your neck, but still gentle enough for you to know he’ll never actually hurt you.

“M-Ma-n-ndo…” You manage to choke out.

Mando hums in the back of his throat, pressing his body into you even more. His cock is rock hard in his pants, and your hands leave the wall to fumble around behind you, trying to touch him. With his free hand, he grabs hold of both your wrists and holds them in place behind you. “Let me take care you, pretty girl.” He purrs, his baritone dangerously low.

When his hand leaves your throat, you whine at the sudden lack of pressure. Cupping your jaw, he drags his thumb across your bottom lip, your tongue darts out and tastes leather. Two fingers force themselves into your mouth, and Mando growls into your ear. “Bite.”

You obey like the good girl you are, biting and tugging on the glove until it comes right off his hand. He takes it from you and tosses it on the ground, revealing his beautifully tanned skin. It’s a little embarrassing how just the sight of his hand makes your pussy pulse, but everything about Mando draws you in. His smell, his stoic demeanor, even his fucking hand.

As his naked hand travels back down your body, fingertips barely touching your tunic, it’s driving you crazy. He’s taking his sweet ass time, reveling in the fact that he has you completely spell bound against him. You can’t move, you can’t shift under him and create more friction for yourself. No, you’re going at his pace, which is making you fucking dizzy.

When his hand reaches the edge of your underwear, sending shivers down straight to your throbbing cunt, your body is basically shaking from the lack and overwhelming amount of stimulation all at once. It’s too much, yet it’s nowhere near enough. A thumb begins to trace the skin around the waistband of your underwear, tantalizing you. Your broken sobs echo through the cockpit, and then in a second, his hand pushes passed the thin material and cups your sex.

“Fuck!” You cry out.

“Look how wet you are, and I’ve barely touched you,” He whispers.

Pushing your ass out and rubbing against his cock, you feel him twitch in his pants as you continue to tease him. The hand on your cunt disappears and wraps itself around your throat again, pressing into your flesh just enough for you to stop grinding your hips. When Mando speaks next, he growls through gritted teeth. “Do that again, and I’m stopping. Do you understand?”

Your throat is dangerously dry, and all you can do is moan in response.

“No, pretty girl. I need you to use your words. Do you understand?” He says again, this time in a much gentler tone, but without relinquishing any of his control over you.

“Yes,” You whisper breathlessly.

“Good girl,” He praises, and then his hand is back on your pussy. His fingers rub between your folds, sending shockwaves through your body as he starts collecting your slick on his calloused fingertips, and then he’s rubbing tight, quick circles around your clit. You mewl helplessly into the door, forehead pressed against door with such force, it’s actually starting to hurt, but in the best way possible. You wouldn’t dare move from the spot you’re in right now, not when Mando continues his agonizingly slow assault on your bud.

“I’m going to let go of your wrists now,” He begins to instruct, his head resting on your left shoulder. “And you’re going to be a good girl and keep them there, right?”

Your orgasm begins to build in your stomach, the rhythm on your clit never faltering. “Y-y-yes,” You answer, voice hoarse and barely audible.

Letting go of your wrists, you do as you were told and keep them behind you on the small of your back. You hear him fumble with his utility belt and pants. Panting and having to manually control your breathing because air just isn’t fucking coming into your lungs fast enough, your body starts to shake from the white-hot pleasure, causing your hands to clench violently. Mando thrusts his body against you once again, almost flattening you on the door, but now you feel his free cock pressing between your ass, feeling drops of precome graze your skin.

His hand drenched in your slick, you’re on the verge of coming. Breathing picking up even more, he must sense you’re close because his rhythm gets quicker and quicker, nearly pushing you over the edge.

“I’m g-gonna c-come, Mando.”

“Already? Hmm,” He hums proudly. A gloved hand comes up to your throat, using his thumb and index to choke you again. The pressure on your throat and cunt is making your head fucking spin. It’s too much all at once, your orgasm teetering right now. This is so much more intense than anything you’ve ever experienced.

“Come for me,” He commands gently in your ear.

Head lulling back, your knees are about to give out, but he never stops. He develops a pattern now, rubbing even tighter circles on your clit and then brushing his fingers through your soaking folds, then back to your bud.

“Fuck fuck, fuck, Mando!” You cry out as your orgasm rips through you, sending waves of ecstasy through your entire body. He doesn’t stop though. As you cry out, riding out your climax, he slams his gloved hand over your mouth, muffling your cries; still continuing his pace between your thighs. Practically convulsing from the overstimulation, your knees almost completely cave in, and you almost feel your body going limp, but Mando keeps you steady.

“Such a good fucking girl.” He praises.

You don’t even have time to come down from your climax before he’s thrusting a thick finger allll the way inside of you. Flexing it in and out of your pussy and body trembling, if you don’t grab onto something, you’re sure you’ll drop to the ground. Broken sobs stifled by leather, feeling the corners of your eyes getting wet with tears, your mind is going fucking blank. Maker, the Mandalorian is going to be the death of you.

Pushing a second finger into you, your eyes wrench shut. He eases them in and out of you at a deliciously slow rate, sometimes choosing to roll his fingers inside you before pulling out. One of your hands grabs onto his vambrace, using that as a means of staying upright because you’re hanging on by a thread right now. This is the most intense feeling you’ve ever experienced. No one has ever even come close to making you feel the way Mando is, and you’ll never be able to be with anyone else after this. He hasn’t even fucked you yet, but you’re literally coming apart under him. He pushes two gloved fingers inside your mouth and orders you to bite down again. You do as your told and his hand yanks free of the glove, tossing it to the ground like he did with the other glove.

His precome continues to paint your back and backside, and you start begging and pleading.

“Please, Mando…”

“Please what?” He asks, and then he’s fucking curling his fingers inside you, hitting that sweet spot that makes you see stars. You cry out again, feeling a second orgasm bubbling to the surface.

“Please, f-fuc-c-k me. Please, Mando I need you inside me.”

“Mmmm,” He drones deep in his throat. Flexing his fingers inside you once more time before pulling out, you feel suddenly empty.

Need more.

Need more.

Using the slick he’s gathered on his hand, you look over your shoulder and can barely make out him smearing it all over his thick length. “Gonna make you feel so good, pretty girl. Gonna fill you up, and fuck that pretty cunt of yours until you can’t fucking walk.”

All you can do is mewl back, a broken sound that he barely notices.  Mando grabs hold of the waistband of your underwear and pulls them down to your knees. One hand digging into your waist, the other holding his length, he starts to rub his cock between your sopping folds, gathering even more slick. Once he seems satisfied hearing your broken sobs, he angles himself to your entrance, and pushes just the tip into you.

Kriff, you’re not even sure if you’ll be able to take all of him.

He stills for a moment, and then he’s back to pushing himself against your cunt.

Fucking unbelievable.

Mando’s teasing you, getting off on the sweet torture he’s putting you through. Every time you think he’s about to fill you up, he pulls away and continues to toy with you, bringing you closer and closer to the edge, but then pulling away at the last second.

“Mando!” You whimper.

“Shhh…” He scolds, giving you gentle slap on your left buttcheek. “I want to take my time.”

He continues his gradual onslaught, and then finally, he’s lining up his cock with your pussy, and ever so slooowly eases an inch of himself in your entrance.

Maker, he’s huge. Even with just an inch inside of you, he fills you up, your walls clamping around him in an attempt to stop him from pulling away again. “Fuuck.” He drawls out through shuddered breaths. “You’re tight, pretty girl.”

You don’t answer because you can’t. Words are no longer a thing inside your mind. Just Mando.

“You’re mine.” He snarls, pushing another inch of himself inside you.

Something like a sob escapes your lips.

“No one else will ever get to touch you like this.”

Another painful inch. You can feel the veins around his girth pushing against your walls.      

“I’ll kill anyone who comes close to you, do you understand me?” Mando doesn’t wait for an answer, just continues to push himself more and more into your pulsating cunt. He must be almost fully inside you now. It burns, almost painful. It’s uncomfortable but it’s so fucking good, it feels so fucking amazing to be filled up by the Mandalorian. A delicious pain you’ll be thinking about for days.

With both hands on your hips, he seems to lose control for a second because the next thing you know, he stills for a moment, his helmet dropping to rest in between your shoulders, and then he’s grinding even more of himself into you. Kriff, how fucking big is he?

When Mando finally fucking pounds into you, hitting that spot inside you that makes your vision go blank, you scream out, feeling completely stuffed to the brim. “Fuck!”

He’s so much bigger than you thought. Your walls flex around him, your pussy is on fucking fire right now, pain and pleasure mixed together to form a delicious cocktail, you’re drunk on this feeling. Mando widens his stance to steady himself, and pulls out just enough for only the tip of his head touching your walls and then slams into you so hard, your entire body flattens against the door, his cuirass digging into your back.

“Ah shit!” He swears breathlessly. Mando’s barely began fucking you, and a second orgasm is seconds away from unleashing electricity through your entire core.

“I can feel you clenching around my cock, sweet girl. Are you going to come again?” He taunts deliciously, pulling out once more and snapping back into you with such force, it blinds you momentarily. Bending your knees and using one his hands to push down on your back so you’re arched with your ass out—almost sitting back on his cock, he wraps a hand around your throat and begins pounding into you like an animal. The sound of skin slapping skin pierces through the cockpit, you can’t even make a sound. Your pussy clenches once again, climax nearing.

Two rough fingers find their way to your clit, and rub tight circles on your bud, the sounds of his length thrusting in and out of you are downright obscene.

“Be a good girl and come for me again,” He orders, voice so deliciously low in your ear. You last only a couple more seconds before a second orgasm rips right into you. White-hot pleasure tears through you, the ecstasy so intense, tears are streaming down your face at a constant rate. He doesn’t relent, just continues to plow into you over and over and over again.

“Fu-ck, you feel so fucking good. I’m g-gonna, shit, I’m gonna c-come.” He pants, his rhythm beginning to falter as he approaches his own climax. “Wh-ere should I…?”

“Inside…please.” You choke out.

“Kriff, are, a-are you sure?” He punches out, thrusting deeper into you between each word.  

“Im—implant,” Is all you can manage to say, but it seems to be enough for Mando, because he uses the remaining strength he has to pound into you a few more times before his own orgasm hits him.

“F-fuck, pretty girl.” He grits out as his cock starts pumping his seed into your worn-out, swollen cunt. He sheathes himself one more time, reaching that sweet spot inside you before ever so slowly starting to ease out of you. Being the brat you are, using all the strength you can muster—which isn’t very much right now, you fiercely clench around his cock, causing Mando to cry out in the back of his throat.

“Maker, you don’t want me to leave, do you?” He says, shuddering but ending with a soft chuckle. “Well go on then, squeeze out every bit of come out of my cock like a good fucking girl.”

And so you do. You continue to squeeze down on his length, milking every single drop of his seed until you feel it trinkle down your legs. As soon as his hands leave your body, your knees cave in and you double over, nearly falling right on the cold metal floor, but Mando manages to wrap an arm around your waist before you do, holding you upright. Lifting you off your feet, he pulls you close to his chest, hooking his arms under your legs and around your back. Instinctively, you wrap your arms around his neck and lean your cheek against his cuirass. Beskar cools the heat on your face, and you swear you could fall asleep right now in his arms. Taking a deep, shuddering breath, nostrils filling up with the smell of sex and gunpowder, your eye flutter shut, feeling the exhaustion hit you all at once.

“Hey, don’t fall asleep yet.” Baritone low and gentle. “We need to get you cleaned up first.”

“Mmm,” You mumble in protest. “ ‘M gonna sleep here.”

“Hey,” He repeats, this time more commanding. “You’ll need to climb down the ladder, can you do that?”

Pouting and wanting to resist, but knowing Mando won’t take no for an answer, you give in. “Fine,” You answer, petulantly.

He puts you down gently, making sure that when your feet touch the ground, you’re able to stand up straight on your own. He pulls your underwear and pants back up from your knees. His come mixed with yours sticks to your underwear, and you hate to admit it, but he’s right. You definitely need to clean yourself up before falling asleep. Legs still buckling, Mando opens the cockpit doors and heads down the ladder first.

“Okay, come down.” He whispers kindly.

Kriff, your whole body is shaking. You’re not sure if you’ll be able to make it down those stairs without falling back. As you begin to descend the ladder, your grip on the rung loosens and you slip. Thankfully, Mando’s waiting at the bottom of the ladder and catches you in his arms before you could hurt yourself. Leaning on his pauldron is the only way you’re able to stand up, so you continue to lean into him as he guides you over to the fresher.

“Will you be able to clean yourself up?”

Looking up at the visor through hooded lids, you nod your head slowly. The possibility of you falling asleep in the fresher is very real, but you could try not to…

“Dank farrik…” He swears to himself. Mulling over his options with your half-asleep body leaning into him, he must realize there’s only one option available. “You’ll have to keep your eyes closed the entire time, okay?”

You look up at him sheepishly. “Okay.”

“I mean it,” He repeats. “You can’t—”

“I won’t look, Mando. You can trust me.”

A drawn-out sigh emits from the helmet, but he seems to be satisfied enough with your comment. Keeping yourself steady by holding down on his pauldrons, you watch as he carefully begins to remove your pants and underwear, gently telling you to step out of them and tossing them to the side.

“Lift your arms,”

He pulls your tunic over your head, and even though you’re absolutely wrecked and exhausted, being completely naked in front of the Mandalorian while he stands there, fully clothed and wearing his armour, you begin to feel a bit self-conscious, and try to cover up your body with your hands and arms.

“What…are you doing?” He asks, head tilting to the side.

“Feel so exposed,” You mutter.

“Now you feel exposed? Not when my cock was inside you?” He jests.

“Mmm, that was before.”

Mando sighs once again, the sound breaking apart like static through his helmet. “Get in the fresher, I’ll be there soon.”

“M’okay.”

Turning around sleepily, you head into the refresher and turn the water on. Kriff, it feels good. Standing directly under the hose, you let the water cascade down your body, closing your eyes and enjoying the warmth that tickles your skin.

“Okay, eyes closed,” Mando says, voice no longer modulated by his helmet. Maker, his voice is heavenly. Curse the helmet he wears, covering up a sound as sweet as Mando’s voice. Smooth like silk, you wish you could listen to him for hours, undistorted and naked. Keeping your promise, your eyes wrench shut, palms coming out trying to find him in the small space you’re both sharing. You feel his hands meet yours, your own feels so small in his. Calloused fingers trail up your arm, causing goosebumps to form on your skin and you purr into him.

And then, he’s gently massaging the bar of soap across your body, ridding your body of the grime and sweat from the day. It’s ridiculously intimate, and it’s actually quite surprising how gentle he’s handling you, given the fact that he kills people with those same hands, but it’s incredibly endearing. The entire time he cleans you up, your hands are resting on his broad shoulders. Suddenly, you feel him get closer to you, and you’re forced to back up, feeling the wall touch your bare back. Mando leans forward and presses his forehead against yours. You need to crane your head upwards to meet his, but it’s not uncomfortable. This is probably the first time his face has been touched by another being since…well you’re not sure when because you’ve never actually asked him when the last time he took his helmet off was, but you assume it’s been years.

“When’s the last time you took off your helmet in front of another person?” Your voice is barely above a whisper, not only because your vocal cords are shot from all the obscene noises you made before, but also because you’re scared that if you speak too loudly, he’ll dismiss your question.

“I was just a child.”

“You don’t ever want to show your face?”

The water trinkles over both your faces and bodies, hands carded together.

“This is the Way.” He answers plainly, but you sense a bit of uncertainty in the way he speaks. It’s almost like he’s lost the true reason for covering his face—that there came a time in his life where he began to question his Creed, but still feels like he has an obligation to adhere to it.

You want to see his face. There are so many questions that you wish you had the answers to.

Do the corners of his eyes wrinkle when he laughs?

Does he have any scars or dimples?

Have the many years of fighting and surviving aged his face beyond his actual age?

What color are his eyes?

You’re not sure if you’ll ever know the answers to those questions, but truthfully, it doesn’t really matter. You don’t need to know all those aspects of him because they’re simply just arbitrary details. Everything that you really need to know, you’re already aware of.

And what you know is, you’re in love with a Mandalorian.

[zaina-xoxo]

My k-pop opinions

* I feel like a large/fair amount of BTS stans (army's) are not actually into BTS. Majority of army's are just there for the hype and popularity around BTS. Not all are like that. I understand, many army's are there since the beginning and continue to do so till the end!

* Don't ignore the problematic stuff your idols say or do! I see a lot of k-pop stans ignore all the mistakes. And even if an idol does the same mistake/or a mistake in general, don't bring up their previous apologies everywhere! They need to be educated about it and stuff, and covering them up won't help it.

* 'Mistreated', it gets brought up in every subject. If an idol doesn't have a fancy outfit for once, or doesn't get as much attention , you name it. Mistreated gets brought up. Most of times your idols are mismanaged, not mistreated.

* Liskook: Where do I even start?- If your unaware, Liskook is a ship between Lisa (Blackpink) and Jungkook (BTS), people like to believe they are real, and go to extreme lengths. Like making edits of them together, and the fanarts :/, if the lengths people go to, to prove they are real. If you believe in Liskook, your a delusional.

* Those who can't differentiate between k-pop idols, I am sorry if I sound rude, but you must be bad at recognising people.

* Jennie is the best in Blackpink. She is a total package! Like she can dance (after her ankle injury it seems like she doesn't try anymore, and I get that, getting your ankle injured for 9–10 times isn't fun), she can sing, I love her vocals! She can rap! She is my bias for a reason! The other girls are good too! Most of the times she's overrated, there's no ignoring that.

* Honestly I love Red Velvet's comebacks, you never know what kind of concept they are gonna back with, and their songs are really unique!

* More & More stage outfits were ugly.

* I loved Rosé's Gone!

* At this point, I find girl groups hotter than boy groups.

* I hate it when you call a grown ass man/woman a baby- like they are actual adults. Call them cute/adorable anything, but baby? I hate it when fans do that.

* Your idols are not your property. You can't buy their life! Give them some personal space, they deserve happiness too. Don't act childish and selfish.

* There's a big difference on supporting a group, supporting one person and hating others. Like I don't have a problem with solo stans, but when they hate the rest of the group it annoys me.

* Let idols date, they have a life too. They don't belong to you.

* Sexually attracted to a idol is normal, like it's a human thing. Attracted to an idol is different than sexualizing an idol.

* You need to stop sexualizing idols, like I hate it when people do that. Like, when an idol isn't even an adult (a teenager) the inappropriate comments are everywhere. Like, no. Stop!

* You don't need to like every member. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying hate the other members. You don't need to like any of them. Like, you can just listen and vibe to the songs, and not like any members. Biases exist, for a reason. You don't need to keep up with the group/members at all. It's music, after all. Unless, you're being hateful, it's a whole different story.

* Most of the opinions are just there to hate on a group (blindly) whom people know nothing about (there might be a few opinions of mine like these, but they are not hateful!)

* Shipping is supposed to be fun, not toxic. Like, shipping is so toxic in k-pop. Like the weird edits, fanarts and stuff (most of the fanarts are fantastic, but why the ship?) I don't have nothing against people who ship idols as long as you're not crossing the line, and don't take it to the extreme (which most of y'all do). Like, enjoy it, but don't cross the line. Most of y'all are harmless, and I agree. Shipping is cool, unless it's taken seriously.

* If you wanna write fanfiction about real life people, make sure it's harmless! Just don't dump all your fantasies into it. They are real people!

* There's no best company in k-pop. Every company is worst or best in their own way. And you're never too sure what happens behind the curtains.

* BTS did not pave the way. They helped in the popularity, but no they didn't pave the way.

* Fanwwars are the worst. I don't see the point in it. They are literally so lame, like most of them make me laugh. Like y'all immature af, just get a life. Like why?

* 2nd generation k-pop was the best. Go on prove me wrong :). Ha, you cant.

* Solo >> On The Ground >> Gone >> Lalisa >> Money

* Lisa's solo wasn't that bad. Like, it grew on me. I like it now. Say whatever you want, but i don't hate it anymore. Like, I found it cool after listening to it a few times.

* Sexual harrasment, Sexualization etc. needs to stop.

* I find Aespa's concept confusing, but it's unique.

* You don't have to like every song artist's release. Like, why are y'all attacking for not liking a song? Chill, people have different interests and don't like the same things as you. You shouldn't force them too.

* I've finding myself drift away from k-pop. I am 👌🏻 close to leaving the k-pop fandom either permanently or temporarily. Like, I don't have intrest in the groups I stanned before. Honestly, I might just consider myself a decent listener at this point.

* Why can't yall handle when k-pop idols date? Jealous that you can't date your precious oppa and noona? That's ridiculous. I dare you to never date in your life, will you do it? It's the same for idols, let them live their life. Like y'all are so toxic, and need to get out of your fantasies. Seriously people like these annoy me so much, I wanna throw hands.

* I hate survival shows.

* Most k-pop idols can't model. Don't get me wrong herereason Like, most of the time they are just pulling it off cause they are pretty.

* The main reason idols aren't allowed to date are the fans. Company's protray idols as the dream boyfriend/girlfriend, and the fans go with it, get lost in their fantasies. Dream that they will go to South Korea, become a k-pop idol and fall in love. It ain't easy as it sounds, trust me :/

* BTS and Blackpink aren't the only talented groups out there. Like, there are groups that deserve the exact fame as success as them.

* I can't stan Twice or Ateez. I need to get connected to the members to stan a group. I love their music and stuff. But I don't connect with their personalities.

* Most of the idols are dating. Get over it. Like, y'all are hating on idols who date, but your favourite oppa and noona might be dating. Like, most of y'all are caught up in the idols, like when they say 'I only love my fans' like they don't even know you honey. This really is ridiculous. Y'all don't believe that k-pop idols are/can date cause of the illusion. Y'all go like 'ah, I wish they would date' yada yada yada, and when they actually do. You make comments on the relationship, don't support it etc. Like, you were the one who wished they could date! Where's the support now? Like most of them unstan that particular idol or the whole group because of this. Like y'all stop—

* I feel like majority of the people are hating on Lisa's solo without an actual reason. I get it, it didn't pass your expectations but why overhype it? Why overrate her talents? Like she did what she had to do. It ain't her fault, I think she wasn't even involved in the writing of her songs. After a few listens, I liked that song. Money, it wasn't as good. But, it could be better. I understand, most of us don't have the same intrests, and you don't have to like a song. But don't hate on Lisa for that. Y'all are blaming Lisa for that, when you were the ones who hyped it up. But the word Lalisa is stuck in my head, that I feel like I've entered some cult-

* Normalise solo stans, the ones that aren't toxic and respect the group as a whole, you have my respect. But the ones that hate the rest of the group- we need to discuss some serious shit.

* You don't have to like every song that is self produced.

Feel free to agree or disagree! I will add more later on :)

[waynedunlaptheorgandonor]

can i say a sort of pointless rambly thing i was thinking about that i can't put under the cut bc i'm on mobile?

jk, i'm not actually asking. ramble below, not edited for clarity. the following is completely unclear and i will not fix it:

i've been thinking about how part of the reason i'm so chill about caryl is bc growing up as a queer woc 99% of my main ships were like, never gonna fucking happen bc they literally couldn't. it was like, "omg, they gazed at each other from across the room, let's analyze the homosexual subtext of this one scene for the next fifty years, that's not necessarily hyperbole." i've watched all my ships fuck other ppl/have other love interests, and i knew that my thing was never gonna be canon, so to see like, one thing being like, "one half of my ship fucked another person several years ago while pining for the other half of my ship," i'm like...#nice, bc that can and likely will be used as a plot point to get them together later on, whereas in other situations i've been in i just kinda had to deal with it. so my impulse when i see ppl losing their shit is to be like

and to be slightly annoyed, tbh, bc the ship is still on track to be canon, and it's like, literally two white heterosexuals, they're prime candidates for juicy angsty pining that actually gets a resolution.

but!

that being said, i recognize that that attitude isn't necessarily fair. for one thing, i'm not the only queer woc (or some variation thereof) in this fandom, and some ppl's impulse might be exasperation instead, bc like, "wtf, even my mayohet ship has dumb fucking drama," and that's valid as hell, and i get it.

and also, i get that, even if you didn't grow up shipping impossible ships (or mulder/scully, bc that's a brand of bullshit all its own), this has been a suuuuper drawn out process where sometimes it feels like they're legit sprinkling crumbs to keep you hooked, just to play you again, and when you are invested in something, like /rly/ invested, especially if it's a form of escapism or hyperfixation or whatever, that can be e x h a u s t i n g. and i get that. i truly do, and while i make a lot of snide comments about the fandom being bonkers, i do get where the bulk of you are coming from (unless you're one of those ppl who hate on actors and esp actresses for just doing their jobs, and attack them on social media, in which case i am very much judging you and you need to get your life together).

i also realize that in the scheme of things i'm still a newbie. i've been here, what, twoish/threeish years, whereas some of you have been here since the beginning, so i'm not as worn out as y'all. but i also think that gives me a bit of objectivity that some of y'all have (understandably) lost.

my positivity is not meant as a sleight against those of you who are feeling negative, but is more of a semi-objective viewpoint (i say semi, bc lbr, i'm invested af in this, so i definitely have bias), and to me the threads of the storyline they're crafting seem sort of obvious.

like, let's look at it, yeah? they have one season left of this show that has been on for over a decade. they need to cater to everyone to give them a satisfying ending, while still hanging on to carylers bc of the spin-off. darylrreah seems like a very calculated move, bc it gives them both something to make abcers happy, while also creating tension and suspense and pining for carylers (i think they might underestimate just how fed up some carylers are tbh, and are banking on us to hang on for one last ride, which, honestly? if they play it right will probably work.)

if they end up doing a dumb love triangle thing, which, without seeing the episode and gauging the subtext i can't confidently say if i think they will or won't, it will ultimately end in our favor. it has to, bc leah isn't going to third wheel them on the bike in the spin-off. we can say with good authority that whatever that relationship ends up being (again, idk if they'll drag it out or not) it will be temporary. which leaves caryl open to ride off into the sunset and then bone down in every state in the united states and in puerto rico for good measure.

it's a lot of cheap drama, but i really and truly do not think it's anything to worry about, and i still really and truly trust kang to not make it out of character. ik ppl still don't agree with me on that point, and i'm not gonna argue, but to me it really does make perfect sense.

and i also predict that they are gonna play it up hardcore in the promotional shit and talking dead, but when that happens, remember it's bc it gets attention. regardless of where the story is ultimately going, relationship drama gets attention, which gets viewers, which gets amc and twd producers nice and comfy with full pockets

idk. to sum up ig i just wanted to clarify that i don't mean any harm with my relentless positivity. my history in fandom has just made this seem like nothing in comparison, bc while ppl are freaking out, i'm like, "oh damn, they're actually gonna get together by the end of this, aren't they? i didn't know that could happen!" and that makes me excited instead of upset

and you definitely don't have to listen to me. maybe i'm actually wrong. maybe i'm completely full of bullshit and am just good at making things sound confident. i got a lot of As on papers in college over books i never read, i know how to bs. but i also know how to analyze, and i while i will be the first to tell you i am not the best at a great many things, i do know that i am good at critically analyzing text while taking into account the context it was written in, and imho all signs point to canon caryl. when, i'm not entirely sure, but i see it happening. if it doesn't then they severely fucked up their storytelling, and that'd just be bad writing on their part.

(if you want proof that i'm good at reading writers'/producers' intentions, consider that i watched like, 8 seasons of supernatural before giving up, and said to myself, "i think they're gonna make destiel canon, but not until the very last second bc they are rly into catering to their fans but also have to consider their dumb fanboy audience so they can't do anything crazy overtly gay," and guess who hit the nail on the fucking head on that one)

none of this is important, but it was rattling around my mind grapes and i wanted to write it down into something vaguely coherent, and where else better to do it than here. i can word vomit and then send it into the ether and pretend i never said a thing. i love this horrible website, nothing can compare

i have no real conclusion to this, it was mostly stream of consciousness, but i hope it sort of helps y'all understand where i'm coming from, and why i am as chill as i am about things. not about y'all. y'all cause me so much anxiety i get physically sick and have to legit block tags, but with the actual show content i'm zen as hell

uh

the end ig?

it feels weird even signing off on this, but w/e

-diz

[the-music-maniac]

I got sucked back into Ever After High, so hoo boy get ready for a long ass analysis about a ship

Did I mean to get sucked into Rapple? Uh, no. Fuck no. I usually make it a point not to sell my entire soul to small fandoms because the inevitable lack of fics will just break my heart. But here we are.

I'm low key distressingly neutral about the canon/popular ships for Ever After High. Namely Dexter x Raven and Apple x Darling. I have absolutely nothing against them, cause they’re both really adorable. I don’t know if appling is canon actually but it is strongly hinted at, and while I’m ecstatic that there’s some form of lgbt rep (however small), and that Dexter isn’t sadboi anymore cause he’s with Raven, I’ve always just liked Apple x Raven way more.

I guess I’m posting this cause I want to analyze why I like Rapple specifically? This isn’t meant to attack either of these ships or shippers in any way btw! This is just my personal opinion, I just felt the need to mention dexter x raven and apple x darling cause they are (for the most part) canon. :))

Tbh i really didn't mean to make such a gigantic analysis about this, but I got carried away lmao.

1. Rapple has a lot of narrative tension and weight:

I feel like rapple has more narrative weight as a ship then most I’ve seen in the Ever After High fandom. These two characters are undeniably the focal point of the story, and while all characters in the show have backstories and well developed characterizations, Raven and Apple are the "leaders" and the main main characters.

Raven with Apple could make for a really a complex and interesting storyline. After all,  Ever After High is ALL about breaking free of your pre-determined destiny, it would be the perfect twist in the story for Apple to fall for Raven and vice versa. There's so much more to write with that kind of turn in the story; the growth of a relationship, character development, the backlash they might recieve from a hero and villain together, fighting what everyone else tells them they should be. Honestly if we're gonna go there, it kind of mirrors what lgbt people have to go through on the daily. In my eyes, appling and dexter x raven (I'm sorrryyy I don't know the proper ship name) pales a bit in comparison, just in the amount of weight they carry (not that it HAS to have narrative weight to be a good cute ship of course).

Darling for Apple is also unconventional and a plot twist, cause it no longer follows the stereotypical hetero-normative fairy-tale, and I absolutely ADORE Darling as a character, but in the end she is still a Charming. Apple is still pre-destined to fall for a Charming, she's still following what her destiny tells her she should be, and while that's good on one hand, cause Apple wants to follow her destiny, I feel like when she pulled Raven back from the brink in Wonderland, she realized that destiny is not so set in concrete and what matters more is the people behind those destinies. I think Rapple would really drive in that point; destiny or no destiny that’s not what matters. So while appling does have some narrative tension as well, it doesn’t make me gleefully go “oh my god FUCK, you wonderful DISASTERS, now you’ve gone and done it. Now you've fucking stepped in it. AMAZING.”, y’know? Dexter and Raven is the exact opposite.  Destiny-wise it's pretty unique and frowned upon, but again, heterosexual romance (not that I expect all the characters to be lgbt, that's not what I'm saying) so it also doesn't hold as much weight as Rapple. I'm greedy ok? I want both. I want aspects of both. Maybe I'm just a shit-stirrer though lmao, maybe I just need a ship that fucking destroys all expectations and fucks shit up in the process XDD. It's possible *shrugs*

2. The amount of growth they go through together.

So it's pretty undeniable that Apple at the beginning is....um. Selfish, if we're gonna go with mild language. Kind of a bitch if we're gonna go with stronger language. She doesn't give a shit that Raven will have a horrible life if she follows her destiny, all she cares about is her part of the story and her happy ending. But the thing is, Apple doesn't stay like that. She becomes Raven's roommate and friend, and when it really came down to it, during the Wonderland part of the story, even though Apple is the one who gives Raven the book, she doesn't push and shows her support in thinking that Raven is too good to become the evil queen. And then when Raven was almost lost, Apple is the one who pulled her back and told her to choose who she wants to be. She let go of her need for Raven to be evil and saw her as her own person; someone she cares about deeply. Raven on the other hand starts off unsure and kind of insecure. She was still figuring herself out, and trying to resist what everyone is trying to tell her; that she has to be evil. I feel like through her personal growth and Apple's influence she starts to be more settled, confident. And Apple's support before and after she signed her storybook in wonderland definitely helped. This mutual growth actually brings me to my next point:

3. Rapple has a very strong basis for a relationship

So there's a definite reason why I love the concept of enemies to friends to lovers SO MUCH, and despite what people say, no it's not just because of UST (i mean that's a bonus but far from the only reason). What I care about is again, the mutual GROWTH.

What enemies to lovers does (healthy enemies to lovers btw, rivalries and stuff, not abusive shit) is force the two people to confront the worst parts of each other first and foremost. Meeting someone for the purpose of dating/because you like them means you'll put up a fake, mellower version of yourself to impress them, but there's none of that if you start off hating each other. Clashing is also often because of some underlying issue or sometimes because of a weakness in character; there's numerous reasons, pettiness, unhappiness, jealousy, anger, but it's never because everything is perfect. This means that, in order for these two characters who dislike each other to end up together in any capacity, they have to grow as people first, become better versions of themselves, and in the process they help each other achieve that. They also have to learn each other and let go of whatever was nagging them and compromise. It takes work and I love that, so much more than just a kiss to fall in love, or love at first sight or any of that fairytale stuff. Because that’s exactly it, relationships take work. It takes people repeatedly choosing to stay and work things out, and compromising, and that’s, in pure essence, exactly what you’re doing in enemies to lovers. Not only that, but it means they willingly choose the other person despite their setbacks, because god knows they're not the easiest option, means they see the worst in each other and want each other anyways.

Raven and Apple already have that set up in Ever After High, the only difference is, canonically, they're only friends (which honestly is just as good, not everything needs to be romance but this is a shipping analysis, so, I’m gonna stay on brand here). They disagree with each other, and they annoy each other, and they fight sometimes and they're still best friends despite it all. They really truly know each other, and that I feel like is such a strong basis for a relationship. Other than Maddie, I don't think Raven truly is as close to anyone else as she is to Apple, and the same goes in reverse. They even live together. *leans forward creepily* oh my god they were roommates.

I don't know, I just feel like, with other Raven and Apple ships, there's always a hint of potential for a relationship that the show and books never really explored or developed extensively, while Rapple already has these solid af steel foundations that could be built on and made into something amazing.

4. We know the most about Apple and Raven respectively

This is a rather minor detail, and more about me personally, but I'm the kind of person that has to really know a lot about characters in order to ship them. I also have to like both characters but I feel like that's kind of a given for shipping. If I know very little about the characters involved I lose interest. I know the most about Raven and Apple, we follow them closely throughout the series, and in the books, we see things from their viewpoints. In contrast, I just don't know as much about Darling or about Dexter.

5. I just find them cute as shit tbh

This is pretty self explanatory, they're just plain adorable. Something about them makes my heart go squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Oof this turned out WAYYY longer than I intended it to be, but anyways, stan rapple- or don’t y’know, stan appling or dexter x raven, or whatever other ships, stan ALL the other ships, ship anything and everything you want, be happy. I’ve been writing this ever since I finished my physio midterm and got this analysis idea that wouldn’t leave me the fuck alone so now my eyeballs feel like they’re about to fall out of my head, I’m gonna go pass out now, peace.

[kinetic-elaboration]

March 6: 3x20 The Way to Eden

For the first time in several weeks, an episode I have seen before, though it has been a while. I remember thinking it had a better concept than execution and was overall disappointing, but maybe my prior expectations were just too high. This time, they were much lower, and I was pleasantly surprised.

Today’s mission: trying to catch a stolen space cruiser.

Lol Kirk is talking directly to them and they just turn the ship around and leave. Rude.

The cut to Spock’s face at the warning about entering Romulan space made me think he’s particularly against that idea.

I like the design of the Aurora a lot. It’s very pleasing.

I feel like Scotty is supremely unimpressed with the hippies.

...Did they just say Ambassador’s son? Hmmm. I seem to know another one of those.

The hippies are already annoying af. Chanting and being belligerent like little kids.

You could be arrested for violating flight regulations! Oh no! And, like, staring a war.

I like the design of the Ambassador’s son, too. Interesting looking alien.

Spock knows how to talk to them. Kirk can only speak to them in Starfleet language but Spock is a hippie at heart and can easily adopt their weird little lingo. Also he’s clearly already familiar with them? Like he’s heard of them, obviously?

I can’t stop looking at their weird little hard boiled egg pins.

Kirk absolutely refuses to speak hippie language.

“I would prefer that you state your mission so that Kirk understands and I don’t need to admit I know who you are.”

“We recognize no hostilities.” Okay but if you entered into Romulan space, you would be considered hostile. I mean you can not believe in whatever you want but objective facts will eventually reach you??

“I AM the authority on this ship.” Poor Kirk, so out of his depth.

“This is not a passenger ship.” Isn’t it though?

“One of THOSE was in the Academy?” Oh Jim, my sweet summer child. One of those is your First Officer.

You can tell that Spock is entranced by all this. “There are many who are uncomfortable with what we have created.” What a thing for him to say in particular. I mean not even because he is part of Starfleet, but because he IS a created being.

“They regard themselves as aliens in their own world.” :(

I love that Kirk doesn’t like or get the hippies but he still has a sort of sense of humor about all of this. Like he recognizes that he’s just going to be weird to them and vice versa, and most of the time they’re dangerous or at least annoying and so he’s reacting to that, but sometimes he lets that humor slip through too. “I shall try to be less rigid in my thinking.”

I think Irina has the only good outfit of the hippies. With a little macrame bag that seems to have nothing in it and doesn’t really match.

Random dude walks by Chekov and Irina literally just to judge them.

Their relationship is interesting actually. It’s probably one of the more developed former romantic relationships on the show. Like you can see their attraction and curiosity about each other but also the differences that would have pulled them apart, and you get a little bit of concrete history, too, with her running away into San Francisco while he goes off to train in space... It’s decent. Would have been better if Irina was Joanna but okay.

The Ambassador’s son--whose name is Rad and I don’t know how I can keep forgetting this--has a nice bag too.

I remembered this virus plot but it does feel different this go around... for obvious reasons. So Severin is a carrier, not sick himself, but able to infect others. The disease was somehow formed from the very existence of a”sterile” world (seems counterintuitive) and most everyone is vaccinated, though there isn’t a cure. I know they included the regular boosters thing to post Severin as a possible threat to the crew themselves, even though they’ve all been vaccinated because it is The Future where people do that, but it makes me wonder if he would eventually be a threat to the other hippies as well. One assumes they’re not keeping up with their inoculations now that they don’t believe in that anymore. Also, how did Severin get it in the first place? Is he anti-vax?

Sulu is definitely interested in these hippies. This scantily clad lady hippie in particular. This episode is really lacking in happy hippie Sulu content.

Kirk is 100% Done and there’s still another half hour left.

Ah, so now they are trying to recruit people. Sulu was only the first!

Spock, another ambassador’s son, to the rescue.

I’m willing to accept the concept that the very existence of a Futuristic World created a new virus, like for the sake of argument, even though it’s very hand-wavy and doesn’t really make sense, because it creates Severin’s extremely ironic position: that a space age world created a disease that, now that he carries it, confines him to that very world of spaceships, colonized planets, artificial air, computers, etc., whatever--because he can’t be around unvaccinated people, he can’t be somewhere that has never known this illness. He’s bitter about his status and in a way rightfully angry, but his subsequent desire, to leave all of this behind, is the one thing he can’t do in this free and open universe. I like this conundrum but I feel like it could have been a little more artfully done.

Also his fetishization of “the primitives” is a little... mmmm...

"Your very presence will destroy the people you seek. Surely you know that."

He's quite selfish, ultimately... I understand his sense that he's been wronged, but his reaction is just a sort of unseeing denial... I don’t acknowledge hostility so I cannot be the victim of or even cause hostility. I don’t acknowledge disease so I cannot harm people with my disease. This is a very familiar line of thinking to be honest. I both understand it and despise it more.

But for Spock it’s just proof that “Dr. Sevrin... is insane.”

And yet Spock is still interested in the overall idea of Eden. This is the same part of him that tried to go through with Kohlinar.

He requests his little protege Chekov to help him. How cute.

Spock has one of those ceremonial bell instruments from Amok Time in his room.

The Great White Captain upstairs lmao.

Irina is obviously playing dumb to get Chekov to explain extra stuff to her, but even so, she does need his expertise... I feel like she probably didn’t get too far in Starfleet.

Love this random shot of Spock working in the middle of their intense romantic scene.

“You always had to be different.” This could have been Joanna McCoy!!

Sulu’s specializations are described as weapons and navigation and his interest as botany. I’m glad he’s still canonically interested in plants. I wish we’d seen that recruitment scene though.

Aw man...the jam session... little free concert for the whole ship I guess...

The music that Spock and the unnamed blonde hippie play is described in the subtitles as “mellow jazz-rock fusion melody.”

Scotty is second only to Kirk in just NOT understanding the hippies. Kirk, Scotty, and Chekov are the “I don’t get it” people and Spock, Sulu, and Uhura if she were here are the “oddly attracted to hippies” people. McCoy... too hard to read. I want to say against the hippies and yet... canonical disco hippie McCoy...

"I used to get into a little trouble when I was that age." I do NOT believe that for a second lol, Kirk’s just trying to be nice because Spock likes them.

This scene is so hilarious to me. Spock shows up with his instrument, sits down and plays with them, then gets up and leaves, doesn’t say a word the WHOLE TIME.

Love that Rad, in addition to also be an ambassador’s son, has his own version of the neck pinch.

“You're endangering the peace of the galaxy”--but Severin doesn't care because he has the power of magical thinking and "doesn't believe" in Romulan space lol.

Telling Kirk he has “jelly in the belly”--uh, rude.

I feel bad for Kirk. He’s a great Captain but he just fundamentally doesn’t “reach” these hippies. His skills do not match up well with this mission.

Spock gives it his best shot to talk to them and then when it fails he gives this little shrug like, well, sorry boss I gave it a go.

Adam is the most memorable hippie but also the most annoying.

That was a fast three hour journey.

Ah, yes, Severin was a sound expert or what-have-you, right? So using a sonic weapon makes sense.

Spock and his sensitive ears :(

Everyone gets to chew some scenery as they fall down.

The shot of everyone lying on the floor on the bridge while the hippies sing their little song is truly creepy.

Seeing the navigator’s chair inexplicably tossed over and on the floor makes me think of CPine saying “The chair is NOT bolted to the ground.”

In some ways it would make more sense to have Scotty messing around with auxiliary controls but Spock tells Kirk to do it. Only Kirk is strong enough to manage.

NOW it’s time for Kirk to do what he does best and think strategically.

“If any Romulans appear, try to make them understand.” Because they are an understanding people. Just get Spock to seduce, I mean talk, to them.

Oh, Eden....

“Why do you wear so many clothes?” “To protect us from the acid plants.”

Adam’s Ironic Death. Or almost death. Definitely saw his finger moving there.

I thought the rest of them would be dead too but I guess they ran back to the shuttle when Adam died. Although as they are all barefoot and not wearing much in the way of clothes, and as you DO see that Severin’s foot is burned, it seems like they should be much more injured than they are. Also like maybe you shouldn’t pick them up just to set them back down again on the acid sand but okay. Maybe it’s just the grass that’s like that.

Kirk is trying so hard to keep up with the slang but it doesn’t make any sense when he says it. He’s making an attempt, okay!

I remember thinking this episode was a good idea with a terrible execution but this time, probably because, as I said, my expectations were way lower, I actually liked it quite a lot. It had a solid idea and even though there were parts that could have been better developed or tighter or more coherent, overall, I found it really enjoyable to watch, with an interesting idea to think about.

Also, watching it in the context of S3 makes me like it more, I think. Even though this was the first episode in a while that I had seen before, I felt more interested in it than I have in a lot of the recent episodes, even the ones I didn’t have any particular complaints about or felt were ‘fine.’

I liked that the hippie group was made up of a variety of humans and aliens, and so we got to see not just a coalition of different aliens (that isn’t like a Federation conference or something) but new aliens that are nevertheless not First Contact aliens for the Enterprise. That’s pretty rare actually!

The use, or not-quite-use, of the Romulans was pretty weird. It was obviously to try to put in some extra drama and also to highlight against that Severin is extremely selfish and reckless, but since the Romulans never actually showed up, even though there was a big-ass Federation ship in the neutral zone for three hours (??!) sort of deflates any possible drama or tension the mention of the Romulans might have brought to the narrative. I will say that Eden being in Romulan space opens up the question: did they know about it? And, is it acidic because of them? Wildly speculative, but why not.

This is one of those episodes that makes me hate Beyond more because like, okay, you want to “criticize the Federation,” as if that’s a new idea no one’s ever hard before--well what about this concept? The supreme Irony of Severin’s situation, the reliability of the hippies’ search for simplicity and a pastoral sort of community, and the parallels to real life independent communities, all make a potentially quite compelling story. The thing is that Severin does have a certain point (kinda) and the hippies definitely do, and the secondary protagonist is with them on it right up through the final lines of the episode. The insanity of their leader and the failure of their mission doesn’t undermine the purity of their dream, and Spock tells them as much in so many words.

The biggest problems I had with the ep were, first, that it put a little too much on Chekov and Irina and their personal relationship history to illustrate the difference between “Starfleet” and the “hippies;” that Severin being insane was an easy cop out to actually engaging with most of the hippies’ views; and that the central irony relies on a certain suspension of disbelief that isn’t even really necessary.

I thought it would be more interesting to say that the illness was created not by “sterilized air” or whatever they said, but rather by the very meeting of various alien cultures--because frankly that probably did breed a lot of new diseases. But then the other part of aliens coming together is--the mutual cooperation of the Federation, where prosperity for everyone increases; or, the hippie contingent themselves, whose members come from more than one planet; or, Spock's very existence. So then it basically requires people who have greatly benefited from these things--the dream that caused Mr. Spock and I to become brothers, etc.--to admit in so many words that it was worth the sacrifice of people who died of these illnesses that would not otherwise exist. We also don’t know what this disease is or what it does, which makes it seem even more like an Irony Producing Plot Point. Obviously it was pretty bad if they bothered to make a vaccine, and yet what parts of the body it affects, what the prognosis is, etc, these are all unknowns. Just like it’s unknown how Severin got it. I assume he could only have gotten it if he didn’t get the vaccine but his conversion to Edenite came pretty late, and also no one seems to blame him for encountering it. Maybe many people are carriers? This is stuff I’d like to know.

I know it’s hard for an episode to do everything in 52 minutes. I grade TOS episodes up if I enjoyed the plot as it unfurled (which I did) and if it left me thinking, wondering, questioning, imagining even after the story was done (which it did). So in that sense, even though I have quite a few Notes about details of the episode, and I think it would have been more interesting with Joanna McCoy for MANY reasons (one being--more Bones!), I think it might be one of my more preferred episodes of S3 overall.

[wcamino-confessions]

Rapid fire confessions that the priest in my head needs to know, but only the ones I can think of in 3 minutes:

- I've been in this fandom since back when no one had any idea what a tortoiseshell looked like. I was one of them. I vividly remember reading that Spottedleaf was a tortoiseshell and thinking she was green and brown

- Joined amino when I was around 7, ban evaded for the next 6 years

- I role played warrior cats with my class at recess. I was always the deputy named Shadowtail, and I would hiss at people in the halls

- I used to violently hate rarepairs because they "made no sense"/"ruined canon" and now I ship nothing but rarepairs

- Used to be transphobic af, then figured out I was trans. Then I was still transphobic and violently against neopronouns. Then my Math teacher refused to use my correct pronouns and called me an it and I realized that I liked that a bit too much lmao

- I was really, REALLY into fandom/ship drama. Still am, only difference is that I don't go out of my way to shove myself into it when I have 0 idea what I'm talking about. Just find it amusing to watch people argue

- Used to be a proshipper (gag)

- I used to be a dumbass. I would hate every ginger cat because in my mind they made Firestar less important lmao

- I,,, hate? Strongly dislike? Every main character. None of them appeal to me, and honestly a good 90% of them should've died ages ago

- ShadowClan is the only good Clan in these books. Nothing will change my mind on this.

- If there's another tribe filler book in this series I am going to scream

- Only somewhat related to above, I say I stopped reading after OOtS but I actually stopped reading after TNP. Lion, Holly, and Jay annoyed me so much that I read maybe 3 pages into The Sight and put it back on the shelf. Still buy all the books though purely for aesthetic purposes. I get all my information from rants and moonkitti lmao

- There is no such thing as a Neurotypical cishet warrior cat in my mind

- I used to think that Kittypets/former Kittypets/cats related to kittypets were all neon/Sparklecats, and even now it is a hill I will die on. Give me neon blue Leafpool and neon purple Lionblaze or give me death

.