#Galaxy A03S i

[instawireless]

Unlocked Samsung Galaxy A03S GSM AT&T SM-A037U 32GB Black Smartphone

Samsung Galaxy A03S SM-A037U: $79.99

The Samsung Galaxy A03S SM-A037U, a smartphone originally priced at $149 but now available for just $79.99, represents a remarkable blend of affordability and functionality. As part of Samsung’s Galaxy A series, this model is designed to cater to budget-conscious consumers who still seek a reliable and feature-rich smartphone experience. In this comprehensive review, we will delve into the various aspects of the Galaxy A03S, from its design and display to performance and battery life, offering a detailed perspective on why this device stands out in the competitive budget smartphone market.

Design and Build Quality

The Samsung Galaxy A03S sports a sleek and modern design that aligns well with Samsung's aesthetic standards. The device features a minimalist yet sophisticated appearance, with a matte finish on the back that provides a comfortable grip and reduces fingerprint smudges. The black color variant adds a touch of elegance, making it suitable for users who prefer a classic and understated look. Despite its affordable price point, the Galaxy A03S is built with a robust plastic frame that ensures durability. The build quality is solid, and the device feels sturdy in hand, capable of withstanding the rigors of daily use. The phone’s dimensions and weight are well-balanced, making it easy to handle and use for extended periods without causing fatigue.

Display

This HD+ screen offers a good balance between size and clarity, providing an immersive viewing experience for a variety of content. Whether you’re browsing the web, watching videos, or playing games, the display delivers vibrant colors and sharp details. The large screen size is particularly beneficial for media consumption, making it enjoyable to watch movies and TV shows on the go. While it may not match the resolution and contrast levels of higher-end AMOLED screens, the display on the Galaxy A03S is more than adequate for its price range.

Performance

Under the hood, the Samsung Galaxy A03S is powered by a MediaTek Helio P35 processor, coupled with 3GB of RAM. This combination provides sufficient performance for everyday tasks such as browsing the internet, using social media apps, and streaming videos. The device handles multitasking reasonably well, allowing users to switch between apps with minimal lag. For storage, the Galaxy A03S comes with 32GB of internal memory, which can be expanded up to 1TB via a microSD card. This expandable storage option is a significant advantage for users who need additional space for their apps, photos, and videos. The inclusion of 32GB of internal storage at this price point is commendable, providing ample space for essential apps and files.

Software

The Galaxy A03S runs on Samsung’s One UI 3.1 Core, based on Android 11. One UI is known for its user-friendly interface and intuitive navigation, making it accessible for users of all ages. The software is optimized to run smoothly on the device, ensuring a seamless user experience. One UI 3.1 Core includes a range of useful features and customization options, allowing users to tailor their device to their preferences. Features such as Dark Mode, Digital Wellbeing, and Focus Mode enhance usability and help manage screen time effectively. Additionally, Samsung regularly provides software updates and security patches, ensuring the device remains secure and up-to-date.

Camera System

The camera setup on the Samsung Galaxy A03S is versatile, consisting of a triple-camera system on the back and a single front-facing camera. This configuration allows users to capture a variety of shots, from detailed close-ups to portrait photos with a blurred background effect. The 13MP main sensor captures sharp and vibrant images in well-lit conditions, making it suitable for everyday photography. The macro lens allows for close-up shots, ideal for capturing small details and textures. The depth sensor enhances portrait photography by creating a natural bokeh effect, ensuring the subject stands out against a blurred background.

The front-facing camera is a 5MP sensor, which is adequate for selfies and video calls. It includes features such as beauty mode and filters to enhance photos, making it easy to capture and share moments with friends and family. While the camera performance may not rival that of flagship devices, it is more than capable for casual photography and social media sharing.

Battery Life

One of the standout features of the Samsung Galaxy A03S is its impressive battery life. The device is equipped with a 5,000mAh battery, which provides ample power to get through a full day of usage on a single charge. Whether you’re streaming videos, browsing the web, or playing games, the battery life ensures you can stay connected without constantly worrying about recharging. The Galaxy A03S also supports 15W fast charging, which is a convenient feature at this price point. While it may not charge as quickly as some higher-end devices, the fast-charging capability allows users to quickly top up their battery and get back to using their phone.

Connectivity and Network

The Samsung Galaxy A03S is designed for use with AT&T’s GSM network, ensuring reliable connectivity and coverage. The device supports 4G LTE, providing fast internet speeds for browsing, streaming, and downloading. Additionally, the phone includes Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 5.0, and GPS, ensuring comprehensive connectivity options. The inclusion of a 3.5mm headphone jack is a practical feature, allowing users to connect wired headphones and audio accessories without the need for adapters. This is particularly useful for those who prefer using traditional headphones or have specific audio equipment.

Security Features

Security is an important aspect of any smartphone, and the Galaxy A03S includes several features to keep your data safe. The device features a side-mounted fingerprint sensor, which is conveniently placed for quick and secure unlocking. The fingerprint sensor is responsive and accurate, ensuring your phone remains secure while being easily accessible. In addition to the fingerprint sensor, the Galaxy A03S also includes facial recognition technology. This provides an alternative unlocking method that is both convenient and secure. By combining these two biometric security options, Samsung ensures that users have multiple ways to protect their device.

Audio and Multimedia

The audio performance of the Galaxy A03S is satisfactory for everyday use. The loudspeaker provides clear sound for calls, media playback, and notifications. While it may not deliver the depth and richness of high-end audio systems, it is more than adequate for casual listening. The inclusion of a 3.5mm headphone jack allows users to connect their preferred headphones or external speakers, enhancing the audio experience. This is particularly beneficial for users who enjoy listening to music, watching videos, or playing games on their device.

User Experience and Practicality

The Samsung Galaxy A03S is designed with practicality in mind, offering a user-friendly experience that caters to a wide range of users. Its combination of a large display, long battery life, and expandable storage makes it suitable for both casual and power users. The device is easy to set up and use, with intuitive software and helpful features that enhance the overall user experience. For parents looking to buy a smartphone for their children, the Galaxy A03S is an excellent choice. Its affordability and robust feature set make it a practical option for younger users who need a reliable device for communication, education, and entertainment. The durable build and long battery life ensure that the device can keep up with the demands of daily use, while the security features provide peace of mind.

The Galaxy A03S is also a great option for those considering a secondary phone. Whether you need a backup device for emergencies or a separate phone for work and personal use, the Galaxy A03S provides the necessary features and performance at a fraction of the cost of higher-end models. Its compatibility with AT&T’s GSM network and expandable storage options further enhance its versatility.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Samsung Galaxy A03S SM-A037U 32GB AT&T GSM Black Smartphone offers an exceptional balance of affordability, functionality, and reliability. Priced at just $79.99, reduced from its original $149, this device provides excellent value for money. Its sleek design, large HD+ display, capable performance, versatile camera system, and impressive battery life make it a standout choice in the budget smartphone market.

The Galaxy A03S caters to a wide range of users, from budget-conscious consumers and students to first-time smartphone buyers and those in need of a dependable secondary device. Its robust feature set, combined with Samsung’s commitment to quality and user experience, ensures that the Galaxy A03S delivers a satisfying and reliable smartphone experience. For those seeking a practical and affordable smartphone without compromising on essential features, the Samsung Galaxy A03S is an outstanding option. Whether you’re upgrading from an older device, buying a phone for a loved one, or simply looking for a reliable and cost-effective smartphone, the Galaxy A03S is well worth considering.

[something-wicked-within-me]

Majormooners...

Soup's up! 🥄🥄🥄

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences

Archive Warning: Rape/Non-Con

Categories: Multi

Fandom: 3rd Life | Last Life SMP Series

Relationships: Scott Major | Smajor1995/Pearl | PearlescentMoon, Scott Major | Smajor1995/ZombieCleo

Characters: Pearl | PearlescentMoon, Scott Major | Smajor1995, ZombieCleo (Video Blogging RPF)

Additional Tags: Double Life SMP Setting, Double Life SMP: Session 3, One-Sided Scott Major | Smajor1995/ZombieCleo, Rape/Non-con Elements, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Non-Graphic Rape/Non-Con, Mild Sexual Content, Implied Sexual Abuse, Nudity, Temporary Character Death, Respawn Mechanics (Minecraft), Traumatized Scott Major | Smajor1995, Hurt Scott Major | Smajor1995, Scott Major | Smajor1995 Needs a Hug, Rapist ZombieCleo (Video Blogging RPF), ZombieCleo (Video Blogging RPF) Needs To Die, And she does!, Abusive ZombieCleo (Video Blogging RPF), ZombieCleo (Video Blogging RPF) Is An Asshole

Summary:

Pearl sends somebody who doesn't deserve to be alive back to the grave.

Notes:

'Ello! This fic is a sequel to my previous fic, 'Tll The Dead Depart!

[kedsandtubesocks]

Do you post your mando bakugou on ao3 at all? Any tags or creators you recomend for more similar content?

Howdy anon! Okay so…

Actually I don’t have a ao3 account yet LMAOO (I can hear @the-wild-wolves-around-you screaming at me states away for still not having an official one cause she’s been telling me to make one since we were youths™)

I do thankfully have a tag of all my mando bkg mostly here and I am so thankful mermie of the iconic @ofmermaidstories has been keeping a tag too and hers is here!!

I also wrote a Jedi Shouto for @andypantsx3 that also happens in the same little mess of a universe

And as for recs for other creators that do similar type of content…I actually cant think of any honestly I’m sorry! 😥 (unless andie, merms, you have some leads!!)

even now I still get a bit hesitant and /: writing this type of AU because it is such a weirdly specific combo plus there's a lot of lore in both sw and bnha so i understand how weird of a niche this can be and I’m just the dweeb who decided to tackle it on LOL but if there are any other writers you find i would be so interested to see their take on this!!!

I hoped this helped!!

[unadulteratedsoulsweets]

A DC X DP IDEA #27

They’re the strongest?!?!

Imagine dis…

You know … I read too much humans are space orcs fic, prompts, ideas… etc.

But I still like Danny Phantom and DC…

And I remember that one A03 fic…

…

Another alien invasion is another Wednesday for the JL but it seems like they are quite different. Not only they are known as invaders in the Green Lantern Corps but they also have some sort of code among warriors, they give a chance to the species they are invading to fight back. By having their strongest fight against their strongest. It is not through fighting to the death as different planets have different climates and terrains and thus have their version of the Olympic games but instead of rewarding the participants medals, they were rewarded their planet's safety, but Hal commented that the challenges are too staged, too well known to the invading aliens. Since the ones defending have no idea how to approach the challenges, they always end up losing. Green Arrow commented that since they can just send out the Big Blue boy scout, Hal shook his head as they have to be the same species one planet already tried it by asking aid from another planet and not only lost but the invading aliens got 2 planets, plus they’ll bring it up to the galaxy court system and put them in a tight spot. Of course, Aquaman blinked with confusion and asked if there was a court system for the galaxy.

…

So of course, when the said invading aliens landed on the Milky Way and broadcasted their intentions. The JL already have a team to fight them, of course, we have Batman with his cunning mind, Wonder Woman for her chivalry and strength, Flash for his speed, Doctor Fate for his mastery of magic, and Cyborg for technological skills. Just as they were about to tell the invading aliens that they had already picked their strongest, another announcement popped out. Apparently to even out the playing field they have a new technology to help them pick out their strongest for them. As if they were talking to kids and promptly pressed the bottom to automatically select the earth’s strongest.

The heroes at the space station as well those around the world who were debriefed about the situation a week before are already bracing themselves to be picked, while the citizens around the globe are all now watching and anticipating as not only this a new thing as the majority of their alien invasion they immediately went to evacuation.

Who appeared/ chosen immediately made both sides' jaws drop….

Three?

Only three are chosen…

An adult, a teen, and a child?

A man who wore a blue rental suit with glasses, blue eyes and black hair. Which the Metropolis recognizes as one of their own. Clark Kent, a reporter with fame and reputation on par with the famed Lois Lane. The ideal model of someone who came from the countryside and made a name and life in the big city.

An 11-year-old boy with blue eyes and black hair who wore a red hoodie, faded jeans, and red shoes, in which the city Fawcett knew of. Billy Batson was, a former foster kid on the run until he found his forever home with the couple named Victor and Rosa Vasquez who also fostered a couple of kids, which Billy claims as his siblings. A kind kid who kept doing good around him and his community.

Lastly, a teen, again with blue eyes and black hair wore a faded NASA hoodie, and blue jeans with faint eye bags which was a small town in Amity Park where he came from. Danny Fenton, the only son of the two leading scientists of ecto-biologists in ecotology, the one who realized that one of the two purple-back gorillas is a female thus avoiding extinction.

…

Clark Kent by day and Superman by night knew about the invading aliens. He also knew that he could not participate despite being raised on Earth made him unqualified to join. So, imagine his shock when he suddenly found himself with two earth children in the middle of a large arena with futuristic cameras looking at them. He is now in an internal dilemma; how can he save the two kids, while he tries to save Earth altogether?

This train of thought also passed by the young Billy Batson on the said teen, Billy already knew that Superman was already thinking of saving the both of them. Now his priority is to survive and keep his secret ID a secret for a bit longer.

…

Danny on the other hand has a completely different train of thought, he was just about to reach his room. His beautiful room where his bed is, he had just finished a four-hour exam to bring his grades back up to an acceptable level, 9 continuous ghost attacks, another nonsense quarrel between the observers and he is close to committing anarchy just so he can have the same treatment to Pariah Dark, an eternal sleep in a comfortable looking Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep.

So imagine his surprise when he is suddenly teleported to what looks like an alien ship, Danny would usually be ecstatic but they have interrupted him, he is so close to his bed. He knew that there would be some sort of an invasion as he remembered the bits and pieces from Tucker’s ramble when they last hung out together.

He doesn’t care if aliens invade Earth, but if you come between him and his bed. He will make sure of what he will do to those who disturb him, he will make his fight with his future self and Pariah Dark like child’s play.

…

The Justice League kept on insisting that they had already chosen their fighters and those who appeared in the middle of their arena were civilians, not warriors. But the invading aliens stayed on their decision and immediately began the games.

The rest of the heroes are now scrambling to not only stop the invading aliens but also save the 2 civilians who were randomly selected.

While the rest of the League is now panicking the rest of the world is now in an outrage. Sending out a civilian man and children by the alien's weird machinery.

The Fenton couples are especially rabid as, if there is anything that tops their ghost obsession, it would be their children’s safety. The family of Batson are on the edge of their seats as they worry for Billy.

…

The games begin with an opening of rules and such, as well as an introduction to the alien’s warriors who are big and full of muscles making the Earth team look so tiny.

The first game starts with a simple hunting game with very minimal clues and tools at their disposal to find what they seek. Clark can crack the code on to where to hunt but it is a dangerous environment, Clark discusses it with his teammates on how to catch it, Clark is already thinking if he should reveal himself as a meta with strength but Danny just glares at the man and grabbed capturing tools form the table and sought out the thing they are designated to hunt.

The other team took a glance at Team Earth and warbled some snickers at how they took looking/hunting too fast without any plans and went back to their planning.

Clark and Billy are worried for their other teammate but after a few minutes, they hear a roar some shuffles, and then silence.

Back on earth, most people are horrified a what could be the teen’s fate but when footsteps were heard they saw the teen again scathed, with a few scratches, and a hulking beast all tied up from its muzzle to its tails.

Clark nervously asked, still maintaining his civilian identity, how on earth Danny had caught such a beast. Danny’s only response was, back from where he came a certain ”friend” really wanted “someone’s” pelt on a wall and learned some things while HE was chasing that “something”.

That starts the Danny effect…

…

A tag sort of game as there is a hunter to hunt them down and their objective is to hide longer than the other team, with both Billy and Danny a part, while Billy lasted a few hours with his wit and skills that he honed during his time when he ran from CPS and the police during his days as a foster child, which is impressive itself as he got two of the other team’s members to be captured first before him. Danny outlasted Billy and the rest of the other team won the game in a landslide and gained some bonus points by not only redirecting the hunter and leading them into a false trail or a dead end but also messing with the said hunter without being spotted by him.

Cooking with live and weird ingredients? Clark initially volunteered to do it as he has a stomach of steel being an alien but cannot cook as he has no idea which ingredient is edible as all alien dishes and ingredients come from Krypton and he has to impress the judges who put them in a disadvantage as the judges are from the same race as the opposing team. Danny just shook his head at Clark quickly put on an apron and set to work.

Clark and Billy immediately turned green at the sight as Danny nonchalantly battled the live ingredients, from the meat section to what seems to be the fruit and vegetable section, It is bloody as it is and quite fascinating as it is disgusting. All their years in the Justice League they have seen some twisted and weird things but seeing their third teammate casually stab what looked like an unholy cross hybrid between an octopus and a shark trying to crawl away from the carnage, cleaned the weird animal from the inside out and fillet it.

Of course, they are in disbelief when the judges practically moan the moment, they taste Danny’s dish. Clark and Billy are pretty sure one of the judges is planning to spare Danny and turn him into their chef if the invasion continues, with the way they look at Danny. The judges reluctantly let Danny’s dish win.

Billy reluctantly asked Danny where he learned to cook like that, Danny’s only response was a grumble of a sound that seemed to sound like at home but that cannot be, right?

Trying to survive an onslaught of hypnotic plants native to the alien’s home world, Danny once again won and even began criticizing the plants for how their music was so horrible that it would not even wake the dead.

Play some sort of FIGHTING VIDEO GAME that is popular in 5 sectors in their part of the galaxy, Danny wins and repeatedly shoots the aliens with pure hatred and anger in his eyes, Clark has to physically drag Danny out of the arena to stop his onslaught of firing to the poor guy who was already on the verge of crying.

And so on with the Earth’s team leading COUGH Danny COUGH and demolishing the invading aliens from their games.

After a while the games are done and Team Earth wins with a massive gap to the invading aliens. They returned the three in the middle of the Metropolis and went away without so much a fuss…

Well, expect that one chef in their midst how begged the leader to take Danny and only him with them but the leader is already fearing for his life as the last few games that humans began to be more feral by the second and he was sure he is also a second away from being the one at the other end of his chopping board.

…

Back on earth everyone cheered on the three and began flashing them their camera lights to get a new scoop, and one brave reporter even tried to interview Danny but when people tried to look for the elusive teen he seemingly disappeared.

Clark knew Danny was, sleeping peacefully in the middle of the bushes a few feet away from them, and kept quiet as he was late to realize that Danny was on the verge of a crash like Red Robin is when he pulled something like this when Conner invited him.

…

PS: If someone out there wanted to continue or make a fic about this you are free to do so, don’t forget to tag me though.

[enigmatist17]

This AU by @keferon has been burrowing in my brain

A03 -> https://archiveofourown.org/works/60738373

---

In hindsight, Jazz realized he was stupid.

Unabashedly, completely stupid.

No one back home would have called a mecha pilot stupid, not with all the pain and training it took to even have a chance to look at a suit, but he was! He shouldn't have stayed out too long on the mission that had changed his fate, shouldn't have waved at that stupid satellite, but he did, and was taken far from home and brought to a place that was slowly becoming his second.

Cybertron.

Jazz was stupid when he decided to keep the fact that he wasn't truly one of them to himself, realizing eventually he was as alien as they were. He was stupid when he began to work with the Cybertronians rather than find a way back home, fighting the things that had brought him out deep into space in an effort to stave off homesickness. Oh, Jazz was so fucking stupid when he began to make friends with these Cybertronians, laughing at jokes he didn't quite understand and listening to their woes as he settled into their strange but oddly Earthen-like way of life.

What made him the most idiotic lifeform this side of the galaxy, however, was falling for one bot in particular.

Prowl had been the very first alien he'd met, speaking to him in that beautiful Cybertronian melody (language but whatever) that cut right through the pain he'd been in. Call it an inevitability, call it destiny, Prowl was the first one he'd met, and Jazz made damn sure he'd make a friend out of him. Sure, it was hard at first as Jazz had to not only decode an entire alien language but learn how to mimic it through his mecha, but once he got the ball rolling, it was a breeze. Prowl had been uncomfortable with him at first, which, all things aside, he didn't quite blame the mech for being suspicious of a strange mech, but over time he'd won him over. Of course, his stupidity would eventually catch up mere days after he had finally worked up the courage to actually tell Prowl how he felt, because the universe knew how stupid he was.

It came in the form of a Quintesson blade catching him in the wrong area, slicing right through his mecha's chest armor and right into his piloting seat. It took a second to register that something was wrong, the connection with his suit fizzling out when Jazz felt the pain from his actual body slamming into him like a truck. He knew pulling the blade out was stupid, but Jazz needed it out right now ohfuckithurtsstopthepain -

He's not sure how long he was out, but he knew the jig was up the moment he started coming to.

Muted voices sounded out from around him, some laced with anger, others with curiosity, and only one with concern. Jazz knew it was Prowl's, and judging from the finger (it's a digit come on now idiot) that gently poked his side, he was most likely unsure of what to think at the moment. With a sigh, Jazz slowly cracked open his eyes, finally taking in the mech he'd come to love with his own eyes for the first time.

"Hiya Prowler." His voice is scratchy with dehydration, the tactician and everyone else in the room going silent at his voice. "What's shakin'?"

"Jazz?" The wings (doorwings man come on) he spent hours watching twitched in discomfort, helm tilted as Jazz tried to sit up, only to hiss and slump back with a groan. "It is not wise to move right now, your...you are heavily damaged."

"Gettin' stabbed does that to ya." The attempt at lightening the mood falls flat, but no one is really sure how to react, so they don't call him out on it. He can see Ironhide and Optimus staring at him from behind Prowl, the Prime looking mystified, while Ironhide seemed to be going back and forth from awe to suspicion to uncertainty.

"Pulling the blade out instead of waiting for help was extremely poor judgment," Ratchet grumbled from the other side of Jazz, the medic giving him a grumpy look. "However, if you hadn't, I would not have found...you."

"Where's my mecha?" Jazz slowly moved to pull the scrap of cloth he'd been covered in back, honestly surprised with how neatly his midsection had been bandaged, or whatever the strange gel substitute was. "Oh...huh."

"Your frame's in a private med bay, I've been able ta repair some of it so far." Wheeljack moved into view with a cheerful wave, having picked up the motion from Jazz. "I've got ta tell ya, I'm impressed with all the work that's gone into it!"

"Thanks." Jazz gently poked at the gel after smiling at the scientist, eyeing the wound underneath with a sick sort of fascination. "I was expectin' this to be worse."

"Some of our organic allies were able to help to an extent, but your biology was only so similar." Ratchet shook his head, clearly displeased. "You're not going anywhere anytime soon, so I would get comfortable. In fact, I want everyone out so Jazz can get some rest, everyone but Prowl." Despite all the questions most of the high command had, Ratchet's word was law, so the medbay emptied until it was just Jazz and Prowl.

"Do you require anything?" Prowl's voice was the same as it always was, but Jazz had come to know him enough that he was tense and sorely out of his element.

"I could use some water, but I can go without." Those wings raise a fraction of an inch (or he's guessing, it's hard to tell without his enhanced sight sigh), and he winces. "Y-You're fine Prowler, I'm fine."

"You are not fine." Prowl grabbed a nearby stool and dragged it over, sitting at the head of the bed that seemed too large for the tiny organic. "I do not understand how you can say that."

"Pain is an old friend, I just...normally have access ta the proper help, ya know?" Jazz adjusted himself to have a better view of his mech, heart skipping a beat when Prowl reached over to gently help, the metal cool against his back. "Thanks."

"Jazz? May I ask you something?" His servo remained where it was, moving to brush against the side of Jazz's face with the greatest care he could manage. "Why did you not tell us?"

"Well...I'm stupid." Jazz leaned into the touch with a soft hum, Prowl's head tilting at the noise. "I figured you were all piloted mecha like myself, just with more money poured inta ya, but by the time I figured out you weren't...it was too late?" Prowl didn't need to know the reason he'd vanished for two days was to deal with the mental breakdown he had at the news, not his proudest moment.

"Why have you not sought to return home?" Prowl watched as several microexpressions crossed the org- Jazz's face, brown optics flickering between his face and the berth as he struggled with the answer.

"Honestly? Besides fightin' these bastards who attack my home on their turf? You."

Oh

Wings taut with tension relaxed as the information was processed, a soft click escaping his vocalizer as Prowl looked down at the person who had turned his life around.

"What I said to you a few days ago? It's true, every damn word of it." Jazz leaned his head to press his dermas to Prowl's digit, and idly, he wondered what it must taste like to an organic. "I fell for ya, heart an' soul."

"...what is a heart?" The laugh that burst from Jazz's dermas nearly made Prowl jump, the sound familiar as it was strange without the vocalizer in Jazz's frame. He's not sure why the question is so amusing, but then again, Jazz had always had a peculiar sense of humor, so all he could do was give a rare smile to his organic as the tension in the room slowly faded away.

"Ah Prowler, always known how ta make me feel better." The ache from the laugh aside, Jazz smiled at seeing Prowl's doorwings completely relaxed, the good deed of the day accomplished.

"I do try." The Praxian leaned forward to gently press helm against Jazz's, giving a soft purr as he cycled his optics off. "I am relieved you are safe, when I saw your energon staining Ratchet's servos..."

"I'm a stubborn guy, one blade isn't takin' me out." Jazz reached over with his better arm to touch Prowl's cheek, the metal warm against his hand. "Got too much ta live for."

"Indeed."

Ratchet returned a breem later to find the organic deep in recharge, Prowl cradling Jazz in his servos. Some unfamiliar thick fabric was resting between Jazz and the limb, cushioning the injured man far better than the fabric someone had found in a storage crate, judging by the lack of stuttered venting they had heard earlier. Prowl said nothing to the medic as he continued to murmur to Jazz as he read through a data pad, looking down occasionally to watch the subtle rise and fall of Jazz's chassis. Prowl still surprised the older bot with his dedication to work despite holding his injured partner, only shaking his helm as he dropped off some energon before disappearing into his office for his own work. There was going to be a lot of chaos when Jazz would have the chance to talk to everyone else, the news already spreading like a virus throughout the army, but that was a problem for another cycle.

For now, Jazz was resting with the mech he'd fallen for, and as far as Prowl was concerned, nothing would interrupt his partner's rest.

[galaxythedragonshifter]

YESS SOMEONE SAID IT!!

fuck this, if hvitur has a million fans I'm one of them, of hvitur has 10 fans I'm one of them. if hvitur has 1 fan then I am that fan. if the world is against hvitur I'm against the world fuck all of you and fuck tui

I KNOW hvitur dies in the prologue but HE IS THE ONLY ICEWING IN THE TALONS OF PEACE (not including cirrus or pyrite) AND I WANNA KNOW THE STORY

hvitur is cool fuck u

[itsgoldleaf]

It’s @codywanweek 2024!!!! ☀️🧡 Here’s my fic for day three’s prompt: After The War

***

“I thought after the war would be easy. Easier,” Cody amends. “Even after everything we lost. Everything I… did. I thought once the dust settled, we could shut the galaxy out for a while and that it’d finally be something I didn’t have to think about. That it’d just work.” He swallows, his throat ticking like a clock. “That we’d just work.”

***

You can read it on A03 at the link below:

I’ll Carve Out Space For Us However Small We Become

[sketchnskribbles]

A03 | Rectifying Fallacies

Another section of my animatic has come into play! Anyone remember Devcon? The foil to Lockdown?

He’s the G1 Autobot-aligned bounty hunter we get to see a very few episodes of. He transforms into a spacecraft and Mando’s his way across the galaxies. Gotta love him💖✨

I really miss the guy. He might have been one of my little kid crushes once upon a time and I really appreciate the very small taste of galactic civilization we also get in those eps.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen any fanart or fanfics of him. So I plan on fleshing out his character and giving him some love. Haven’t quite decided exactly where to place him in my AU storyline but he will definitely be getting some attention.

A03 | Rectifying Fallacies

[illuminatedquill]

🖌️ 🧠 🖼️ for the Sabezra Secret Santa Ask Game?

Another one, thank you

Here we go . . .

🖌️:

Favorite Sabezra work I’ve made - Sweet Christmas anon, you’re asking me to pick a favorite among my children? Sheesh.

. . . Well, gun to my head, I suppose my favorite would have to be Princess Lenora and the Starboy. That one came while writing another fic because Sabine needed a favorite fairytale and I just came up with it on the fly. The idea was so good that I had to write it out fully.

It’s my favorite because Star Wars is, at its heart, a modern fairytale. All the best stories are, really. So, I always jump at the chance to add to the tapestry that is Sabine and Ezra because I think their relationship is essentially a core theme of what makes Star Wars great.

This one is near and dear to my heart because of how nicely it wraps up with Sabine and Ezra’s last words to each other. It was a joy to write.

🧠:

Favorite Sabezra headcanons - hoooo boy, do I have lots of thoughts about these two.

- I wrote about this recently in my domestic Sabezra fanfic Quiet Night, but Sabine and Ezra split the house chores between cleaning and maintenance. Sabine handles the latter, with Ezra doing the former.

- Since these two were denied a proper childhood/teenage experience, they are absolutely silly in their adult years and indulge in stuff that others of their age would deem childish.

- Sabine is horrendously down bad for post-exile Ezra. Who can blame her.

- Ezra continuously grapples with Sabine’s Big Decision during the events of Ahsoka that allowed her to find him. He tries to make up for it by constantly pushing himself to be the best he can for everyone around him. Anything less, in his eyes, would make him unworthy of what Sabine did and the cost it took on the galaxy.

- Sabine does not cook. Ezra handles all the cooking.

- Ezra and Murley are secretly rivals for Sabine’s affections. They play nice when she’s around, though.

- Sabine is secretly filthy rich thanks to being from high ranking Mandalorian family but she doesn’t really care about money. Ezra, having lived on the streets of Lothal as a child, almost has a heart attack when he sees how much money Sabine has when they make a joint bank account.

- If there is a Tumblr or A03 that exists in-universe, then Sabine has an account and constantly looks up Sabezra content. She shares the best stuff to a group chat with Hera, Zeb, and Ahsoka.

- Sabine and Ezra have really good singing voices and actually release some albums under a pseudonym band name (Starbird and the Wolf).

- Sabine never returns to Krownest, instead choosing to rebuild her clan with Ezra on Lothal, with their beloved comm-tower as the new Clan Wren residence.

- As a surprise gift for Sabine on one of her birthdays, Ezra takes her to an art gallery with portraits of her during candid moments that were all drawn and painted by him. Their first child, Mira, is conceived later that night.

- Did I mention that Sabine is down horrendous for Ezra. Well, I’m mentioning it again. It’s important.

I have so many more. Maybe someday I’ll write about them later.

🖼️:

Favorite Sabezra work that someone else has made.

Any art by @alphaofdarkness. Go check out their work, it’s super gorgeous, and also Eman Esfandi and Natasha Liu Bordizzo have seen and liked it.

[gingerlurk]

Binding

Din Djarin x f!Reader

A Lovers' Crest one-shot (in three parts). Complete on A03.

Here's the LC Masterlist.

Summary: It was the hardest time of your life, those six months separated from Din Djarin. And when you and the Mandalorian had reunited amid passion and a promise of always, you'd wanted nothing more than to leave that wretched, lonely period behind. You should know by now your past will always have other ideas. This galaxy just isn’t gods damn big enough for all your missteps. And a chance encounter is going to test your bonds whether you want it to or not.

[Or, the characters from Lovers' Crest have a little post-story adventure! Could be read standalone, if below warnings are noted, but probably more enjoyable if you've read the whole thing.]

Word count: This chapter: 6kish. Total: 19.5kish.

Warnings: 18+ MDNI, smut: unprotected piv (be safe), multiple Os, creampie, breath play, established relationship. Also, lots of action, characters in peril, bug/insect/creepy-crawlies imagery, discussion/descriptions of a slave colony (SW/sci-fi style), non-canon planet, lots of being non-canon in general, teeny tiny reference to Reader with someone else, thus jealous!Din makes an appearance. The next chapter is a little rowdy and there'll be warnings there. Please let me know if there's more to add I am rusty.

A/N: Hiiii. So yes, these are the characters from Lovers’ Crest. Just coz they insist on continuing to live on in my head, having adventures. And I thought it’d be fun to explore a dangling thread of plot I’d just left there to… dangle. (Chapter 16: The Bounty Hunter, for reference.)

This came about when a certain little unaired pilot took us fans of the man by surprise back in… September? And a certain gif set burrowed into my psyche and would not leave. This is the result.

And honestly? Bit off more than I could chew for a while there. It does say one-shot, but this is a three-parter. Also, fully admit I’ve been a touch lazy with parts of it. Goes with the territory.

--

Part I

The cave is dank. The air putrid with the smell of stagnant water and mildew. 

Din Djarin makes sweeps with his scanner array as he walks through the gloom. From one side of the passage, across the jagged roof of the rocky ingress, to the other. Every surface drips liquid in a constant pat, pat, pat. He does his best to ignore it falling on his helmet and shoulders, soaking through his cloak, along with the clammy sensations gathering on his skin under all the armour.

This tunnel is among a matrix of caves spiderwebbing up and out from an aquifer that penetrates deep into the crust of this small planet. It’s the only source of water around, which is why the facility where the target awaits was built right over the top of it. The factory pumps the precious resource and draws all moisture from the surrounding terrain, leaving it dusty and barren.

Down here though, Din would kill for something dry. 

You crinkle your nose and look across to him.

‘Well this is miserable,’ you pout, holding your hood forward to keep the drops out of your face.

He shrugs. ‘Your idea,’ he replies, stepping over a particularly deep puddle. ‘Your “debt”.’

It’s a petty description; he’s being petty. He knows it. He doesn’t want to be. Doesn’t want to be feeling this jagged edge of jealousy pricking at his mind either. Knows he shouldn’t. That it’s unfair. But it’s making itself known whether he wants it to or not.

‘Ouch,’ you murmur, stare head on again and continue to walk. He sighs.

‘Sorry,’ he says, reaching over to nudge a loose strand of hair into your hood. You let him, but don’t engage further. He sighs again.

‘Patu,’ Grogu inputs. The child drifts closer to the two of you in his pod, peering ahead. He doesn’t often use the little transport device these days, but something about this job had agitated the young one and Din had suggested the pod to try to ease his nerves. Grogu had accepted the idea with a grunt of appreciation.

‘It’s alright, kiddo,’ you’re saying. ‘We’re alright.’

He gives a nervous chirp as the path forward grows darker. Three beams of light stab at the eerie grey atmosphere – one emitting from Din’s helmet, one from the little device on your shoulder, and one from the headlamp of Grogu’s pod. Your shadows dance across the walls as your group makes its way through the dark.

The damp path you’re on burrows into the maintenance shafts of the vast power plant that is the destination. Once inside, it’ll be a matter of tracking the target with the makeshift fob you had – quite cleverly – devised with the limited intel Din had gleaned. 

As a fresh whiff of stink hits his nose, he gives thanks there’s not much further to go. But just as the thought occurs, the sensors in his helmet pick up the ground ahead dropping away into a sheer cliff. He puts an arm out to signal for Grogu to hang back as you and he approach the edge.

‘Dank farrik,’ he mutters. ‘That wasn’t on the Crest’s scan.’

‘Rock must have been too deep to pick it up,’ you reason, shuffling closer to peer over the ledge to the pitch black below. ‘Or maybe it’s new? Is there seismic activity here? Can’t see how far down it goes. Or how far across.’

‘Well, let’s scope it out,’ Din begins to engage his jetpack, reaches an arm for you. ‘C’mere—’

He’s drowned out by a deafening noise that fills the rocky space and grows louder and closer within seconds. From across the chasm you’d just been contemplating, two huge shadows emerge from the dark to make a rapid approach. You and Din waste a crucial second to look at each other in alarm. Then they’re on you.

Din is cannonballed backwards by a massive black thing buzzing angrily. It slams him into the wall with a grunt. You shout his name just as a second insectoid monster whizzes overhead, careening off a large stalagmite to turn back and make at you with a mad hiss. You duck into a tumble to dodge its charge and it shrieks in fury as it sails past. The one on Din clacks mandibles in his face. He grabs hold of them and yanks, dragging them apart. The screeching intensifies until his flamethrower unloads into it and it drops to the ground twitching.

He has enough time to stand up and assess the scene before three more are accosting your party. One bursts into sticky bits as Grogu sweeps a tensed claw across himself, eyes closed and channelling his Force powers. 

The creature that had missed its attack on you collides with the second incoming and they wobble about in the void. The third is headed straight for you. 

Panic seizes Din’s chest. He doesn’t have time to reach you. But you’re standing tall, torch beam trained on the monster and a vibroblade readied in a fist. At the perfect moment, you twist side on so it barrels by and the blade makes a wide arc to find a home somewhere near its head.

The thing goes berserk, flipping onto its back while screaming and thrashing. Disgust on your face, you draw your blaster and unload into it. Once, twice, three times. In the time it takes, Din has crossed the space to treat it to a thorough roasting, reducing it to a spasming mess.  

‘What the f—’ Before you can finish, the pair that had collided shoot upwards over the ledge, clearing your heads.  

One just bashes straight into the granite ceiling, stunning itself and crashing to the ground by you. You drag your blade free of the dead one and rend a long slash along it, carving the carapace like covering clean off. It screams until it stills.

Din’s attention is on the final creature, which isn’t so clumsy. Corkscrewing in the air to orient itself, it spies a target and whizzes straight for it. Straight for the child.

He jabs at his vambrace and the pod strafes, swinging Grogu out of the thing’s trajectory. It had been moving so fast it ricochets off the wall with force. Tumbling backwards. And, no.

It slams into you, catching you by surprise and sending you with a scream over the edge into the chasm below.

‘Grogu!’ Din yells. The child already has arms up and eyes shut. Your cry of terror cuts to a string of ‘oh gods, oh my gods, oh shit, oh shit’ as he uses his powers to arrest your descent.

A spike of adrenaline surges in Din and the disoriented bug is snatched from the air with a hiss of whipcord. It gets reefed backward and ripped in half by the incensed Mandalorian.

Dropping the gory black pieces, he scrambles to the drop-off and leans over. You’re in midair, looking up at him with eyes wide and arms and feet dangling.

‘Holy shit!’ you yell. ‘Grogu! Good job!’ 

‘Are you okay?’ Din strains to keep his voice calm.

‘Uh, yeah...’ you twist to look over your shoulder. ‘I think it’s water at the bottom. Not sure how deep though. But if Grogu can let me down easy it’ll be—’

‘He’s got you,’ he calls back. He looks to his son, who is trembling with concentration, then back to you as you start to rise toward him. The panic eases a little.

‘Oh,’ you say. ‘Wow. This is... this feels weird.’

Din raises a forearm to ready his whipcord again. He’s about to launch it down to give you some stability when something hard wraps around his ankles. He hears a clank and feels a pull. He’s tugged onto his front and dragged backwards, away from the ledge. Past his son, whose eyes pop open to watch him go with a panicked ‘EH!’

He hears you scream again, followed by a huge splash. Some kind of heavy door snaps between him and the scene. He’s in total darkness. A sharp jab into his neck and he’s lights out.

One day ago

The Razor Crest is docked and resting. Grogu as well, cosy in his little hatch, slumbers deep. There is nothing and nobody around to hear the soft moans and dulcet praises drifting out of the cabin.

Din has had you spread across his lap for an eternity, massaging your ass and encouraging the rocking and swaying motions to work yourself on him. He stays deep so your clit grinds against his pelvis, so the head of his cock kisses your cervix.

Your mouths have barely parted, unable to get enough of lips and tongue sliding together. Sometimes kissing, sometimes just panting and pressing and playing. You can still taste your juices there, from when he had pleasured you until you were begging to have him inside you. 

The orgasm now approaching with steady rotations of your hips is the third since straddling him, though you’d not bothered counting quite a few before that. There was no point, really. Din had lately discovered a stamina that awed you – though he had insisted it was just the natural result of having ‘your beautiful, perfect body, mesh’la,’ in which to indulge.

Hands buried in his dark curls, you smile and sigh as a gentle, warm bliss spreads over you. 

‘Mmm, that was a soft one, was it?’ he hums against your cupid’s bow. ‘Only just felt it, love.’

‘Mmhm,’ you murmur back. ‘Felt good. Think I’m just getting all oversensitive now.’

You know better than to suggest wrapping up the session, to try to lay him back and ride him to completion. Know by now to let him give and give until he’s ready to accept. So you wait.

He presses his forehead to yours and considers.

‘Shall we try something new?’ he asks. You pull back to look at him. Your face is questioning, curious. Trying to think what he may mean by that. His brown eyes glimmer in the low light, warm depths that you can lose yourself in over and over. If you had it your way, you’d sink into them and never surface again.

‘Something new,’ you say. ‘Like what?’

He eases himself from you, lifting you from his lap and you whine a tiny ‘noooo’ at the sloppy sucking sounds of your parting. After so long feeling full and stretched, the emptiness is palpable. 

‘Ssh, mesh’la,’ he coos. ‘Hush, trust me?’

‘Of course,’ you say, but still antsy. Feeling yourself drip with need. You let him guide you onto your hands and knees. He settles behind you, lets his stiff cock rest at the top of your ass.

‘Tell me if you don’t want to do this,’ he says, waits for acknowledgement – a nod of the head – before sweeping covetous hands over your lower back and ass. ‘I’ve been reading,’ he goes on in a husky drawl.

It’s such an odd statement you huff through your nose, look around. ‘Oh?’

‘Mmhm,’ he says. ‘A tome on the… pleasures of the flesh, I guess.’

You smirk, swipe a thirsty lick over your lower lip and regard him. ‘Din Djarin,’ you say with mirth. ‘Have you been reading smut?’

He gives you a low chuckle that you feel dance down your spine and swirl in your lower belly. The sensation is intensified when you see a hint of blush creep onto his features.

‘Not exactly , cyar’ika, love,’ he says. ‘More a guide. It suggested that a little added pressure, applied right, can heighten the um, the intensity at climax.’

He bends forward, braces an arm so he’s hunched over you, crowding you. Stomach pressed flush to your back and his hardness sandwiched between you. The other arm glides along your hips, skirts your waist and snakes across your ribs, between your breasts. A light forefinger taps the hollow dip at the base of your throat. It sweeps a smile-like shape from one ear to the other.

‘Here,’ he whispers. ‘Applied here. What do you think?’ The wandering digit is joined by the rest of his huge hand, which takes a gentle hold, barely touching.

The longer your pussy has been empty and untouched, the more it throbs and leaks. But your senses have indeed channelled a direct line to the feel of his hand there, can’t help but imagine what it’d be like to have him tighten his hold, push in, hold your life between the press of skin.

So you nod, the underside of your jaw and chin brushing against his hovering hand.

He rumbles in affirmative praise. ‘Thank you, cyar’ika,’ he whispers against your shoulder. You wait for him to move, to press in and start restricting your breath. But he shifts his hand down to press flat to your sternum instead. A petulant little whine turns to a gasp as your hauled up. Straightened at the waist so you and he are pressed together staring into the mirror hanging at the head of your bed.

Din had installed it at your request not long ago. You’d said it would make the cabin feel bigger. And it did. Though he didn’t much care about that and was quick to find other means for its use. Finding that he rather loved to make you watch yourself get fucked senseless. 

You found yourself just fine with that too.

In the reflective surface, he locks gazes with you. You melt back against him.

‘So, we’re gonna take it slow,’ he says. You’ve no doubt. He’s an expert in patience when it comes to drawing pleasure out of you. The warm hand rests on your chest, forefinger on one collarbone, firm thumb on the other. Each receive another light tap before the hand moves back to the column of your throat. Comes to rest so those digits settle at the underside of your jaw, below your ears. No pressure yet. 

He watches your face in the reflection, raises both brows in question, ‘do I keep going?’ he silently asks. 

Nodding again, you nearly whimper as he still doesn’t move. Seems instead to be considering something of great import. After a torturous beat in which you’re on the verge of opening your mouth and begging, he lifts the other arm. It had been resting on your hip but now it moves to take up one of your wrists and guides it up. Wraps your fingers around the forearm resting at your breast.

‘Hold onto me, here,’ he rasps, close to your ear. ‘Let go if I should stop, okay?’

That’s it. You’re begging.

‘Yes, Din, yes, okay, but please please please, I need, ah!’

There it is. The hand at your neck finds the two perfect spots on either side and squeezes. It’s amazing how quickly your body reacts. Hands tingle with the errant sensation. Heart rate picks up and delivers static bursts against your ribs. Your thighs are quivering and your belly draws in to hug around the wanton desire at your core.

Torn between clenching your eyes shut to lose yourself in the feeling and wanting to see Din’s face, you make the effort to lock eyes with him. A pitch-dark, heated gaze flicks to and fro across your face and body. Locked in furious concentration as he stares at you in the mirror. But eventually, you have to let your eyelids drop and loll your head onto his hard shoulder, drunk on lust and want.

‘There,’ Din sighs in satisfaction. He eases off for a little, lets you suck in air. He reaches up to cradle your cheek, where blood rushes to burn you up. At your sublime smile and glassy-eyed stare, he moves back down, smooths over your jaw, finds his place and tightens in again. ‘Now, let’s see…’

His free hand moves to your breasts and, as your head swims with airy pleasure, pinches a tingling nipple. It’s like an electric shock and you arch your back against him, keen with a delirious kind of desperation. The intensity of it a measure of magnitude more than you’ve ever felt. Fingernails dig hard into his forearm as he works the bud – every tug and tweak eliciting a burst of sensation in your pulsing sex.

Oh, gods. What it will feel like when he finally touches you there. The thought alone is almost enough to bring you crashing over the edge. But no, he holds you on the precipice, watching your face while his two hands play you like a fine-tuned instrument. He knows just when to ease back, let you draw breath, and he knows just when you want more, gives it to you, over and over.

Right at the moment you feel you might scream – your clit now on the verge of an eruption set to tear you apart – both massive hands move. You moan with abandon as oxygen rushes back through your body, now overtaken with the vivid, buzzing waves of your approaching high. Din grips your hips, draws back to angle himself at your entrance. You’re babbling, yes, yes, ah, please, please, please, as he slides in, your juices letting his cock take and stretch that space within that is made for him. 

He’s going in slow, inch by agonising inch, eking all he can from the movement, hissing and snarling with satisfaction. But you’re unable to hold yourself up, overcome and overwrought, and flop forward – only just catch yourself on an outstretched forearm. The angle forces him to bottom out in a snap of your ass to his hips and he lets out an almost pained grunt.

‘Oh, fuck,’ he spits. ‘Fuck, you’re perfect. Fuck, you feel so good.’

‘More Din,’ you beg. ‘Please, I want more.’

You’re a burning wick, shimmering and melting all over. All you need is for Din to replace his hand at your throat and move and you’ll—

He doesn’t hold back, throws the whole candle into the flames that lash and hiss at your lower belly and spine. Din cages you into his hunched form again, seizes your neck with one hand, grips your thigh with the other, and begins to fuck you hard and fast, pressing everything from your mind but the glistening, dazzling climax roaring toward you.

His thrusts are perfect inside you, finding the spots that sizzle with the friction. The force of his hips hitting your behind intensifies the tightness at your throat and you feel every bit of it your body bowing into the line between the two. His grunts and pants of effort feel louder, closer, inside. 

The hand you’d had holding onto him falls away to hit the mattress with a thud. He releases his grip. His questioning, ‘Okay?’ is drowned out by your cry of, ‘So close!’ and the fingers that had been restraining you shift down your body, find your bundle of nerves, apply just the right pressure, and—

Oh sweet GODS!

It’s not just one rush of exquisite release, it’s rippling waves like a tide pool filling up. Pouring into you and coursing across your body again and again. You grip the bed covers like you might fall and let the whine that had settled in your throat crawl up and escape as a low moan – all you’re capable of. All you can do as it peaks, and peaks, and peaks.

‘Uh, gods, shit,’ he gasps. The hand on your thigh leaves and you know he’s squeezing the base of his dick hard right now. Edging himself to withstand what must be an exquisite feeling of your cunt spasming on him over and over.

But oh gods, holy fuck. You’re done. You’re spent. You have to tap out.

Reaching an arm to bury fingers in his hair and hold his head to your shoulder, you plead, ‘Please, Din. Please, want to feel you. Want to feel you cum.’

He accepts. He lets himself take it. Your cunt is a mould for his throbbing shaft, cast to bring him to nirvana with you. He bucks into you so hard, your whole body gives out, flattens to the mattress and he follows you down, dropping his hips into you at a pace so frenzied – in such contrast to the patience and precision of before – it sets the sparks going inside you again. Your body can’t help but wring another shattering release out of you and, at the feeling of you clenching hot around him, Din lets go.

‘Fuh, gods,’ he cranes his head to pant into your welcoming mouth. ‘Uh, fff- shh, huh, cuhhh- cumming.'

His groan sticks in his throat but his cock finds the very depths of you and spills his seed there, fills you and nurtures you. His mouth stays on yours and, as he rides out his high, starts to kiss you long and slow and deliberate while you each shift back into reality.

A sigh of, ‘I love you,’ slips into the air between you. And the responding, ‘Oh, so fucking much,’ dances in the breaths shared between your locked gazes and dazed smiles.

By the time you’re both showered and dressed again, Grogu is awake and making impatient cooing and burbling noises in his space.

‘That kid’s always hungry,’ you say, at the exact moment your stomach chooses to let rip a hollowed-out grumble of its own. Din smiles at your sheepish look.

‘You wanna head out?’ he asks. ‘Get a hot meal?’ 

‘Sounds amazing,’ you say, handing him his helmet and leaning up for a kiss. A thorough, deep kiss that – despite the past few hours leaving you about as sated as you think it’s possible to ever be – lights a renewed fire under you all over again.

You’re in real trouble.

It’s less a matter of finding it difficult to choose, and more about the fact you want to try it all. This bustling interchange hub had, over time, attracted purveyors of delicacies from across the galaxy. And it all looked delicious.

Adding to the challenge, the market is massive. Passing vendor after vendor, you get to the end of a row of stalls to find a whole new city block full of enticing smells and eye-catching dishes.

‘Din,’ you lean to him, lay a hand to the arm carrying the child. ‘I think I need to spend a month here. Eating everything.’

He chuckles, a warm rumble from his helmet. ‘We’ll definitely come back, that’s for sure. Why don’t you get the—’ But he’s distracted by Grogu having got hold of some kind of steamed bun, munching on it with a gleeful purr. ‘Hey, where did you get that?’

The two of you check the surrounds, trying to spot the stallholder selling the buns so you can slink over and pay for the kid’s sticky-fingered snack. Din focuses one way and you look the other, tracking over colourful signs and animated faces of all shapes and sizes. You’re about to turn back to report nil sightings when your eyes land on a familiar face and you freeze. Not a stallholder. You swallow as that ravenous appetite from before fades into a solid pit in your gut.

You make one futile attempt to duck out of view, to avoid this and stage a retreat. But it’s too late. You’ve been spotted. So, with reluctance, you slink over to an entirely different source of debt from a slightly less recent past. 

Gaius straightens from the bollard they’d been leaning against. 

‘Hey,’ they say, soft and easy. You eye them as you come to stand level. Looking for any anger or resentment. Any malice or indignation. It’d be fair enough. You had promised them you were one job from settling said debt when you’d up and disappeared along with the rest of the Guild. It wasn’t exactly your fault of course. But the pilot – who’d looked out for you and transported you all over the fade quadrant without question for several months – didn’t know that. 

They had every right to be furious that you’d skipped out on what you owed.

But they seem... relaxed? Greeting you like an old friend.

‘Hhhhi,’ you say with a dumb little wave. ‘Gaius.’

‘You’re a sight,’ they say. There’s something in their tone, like you’re just a vision. A mirage shifting in and out of existence. 

‘Listen,’ you start. ‘I’m really sorry about—’ But you’re stopped by a hand raised and a shaking head.

‘I heard,’ Gaius says. ‘I heard about the Guild up and shipping off to some Imperial invasion or other. Glad to see you’re alright, at least.’

‘Yeah,’ you kick a boot and pop hands in pockets, like a little kid caught sneaking off. ‘That was… I…’ 

Gaius is looking at you with a small, amused smirk. But the expression drops to a slacked jawed awe as Din takes that moment to step up to stand beside you. You’ve seen it plenty of times now. Were now used to strangers openly staring at your partner. Strangers who’d make no effort to hide the fascination and amazement when confronted with the statuesque wonderment that is Din Djarin. 

But this is no stranger. 

Gaaaah, ripping this plaster off is going to hurt.

‘Mando,’ you say, with an arm raised, ‘This is Gaius. We met, uh- we met while I was… away.’ The arm sweeps between the two of them. ‘Gaius, Mando. And this is Grogu.’ The kid has yet another fresh steamed bun and he waves it around while burbling with content.

The two adults regard each other. You stand between them, feeling wretched. After a beat, Gaius seems to make a decision. They turn to you.

‘Well hey, if you are still looking to settle that debt,’ they say. You wince as you hear a whisper quiet ‘debt?’ from the man beside you. ‘I have a job in mind that would put you free and clear. You are still working bounties, right?’

With raised eyebrows and palms out, held up, they wait.

Shhhhhit, you think. This is going to suck. Let out a sigh and a shrug.

‘How about we start with, I buy you a drink?’

Gaius grins, and nods.

Shit.

‘So,’ Gaius says, at ease with elbows propped on the booth’s table. You’re already cringing. ‘You two together then?’

You twitch on the bench seating, twist a drink around by its base. Gods, you’d managed to make things so awkward.

‘Yeah,’ you say. ‘Very much so.’

They nod, jut out their chin in contemplation. Could they just drop it and tell you want they want from you, already?

‘That who you were running from?’ they prod. ‘When you were with me?’

Your eyes dart over to Din, wary of how he’s going to learn about what transpired in those long, desperate months apart. You’re now really wishing that you’d talked about it. The barest details at least. But he had never asked and you had wanted nothing more than to just move on. Take the lessons learned and move forward.

Apparently you hadn’t learnt enough. You should know by now your past will always have other ideas. This galaxy just isn’t gods damn big enough for all your missteps.

Fortunately for the moment, Din is on the other side of the bar getting distracted by Grogu trying to steal an irate patron’s plate of ribs.

You look back to Gaius.

‘First of all,’ you say. ‘I wasn’t with you, okay? We were working together.’ They raise a brow, an unnecessary clarification. ‘And that was one time. Could we please not--’ Gaius straightens with a flick of the eyes to the side, tipping you off that Din and Grogu are approaching. You clam up.

The two of them take their seats. Din slides into the booth beside you and the kid just plants his butt on the table, gnawing on a meaty bone. His father shrugs. ‘Paid the guy a couple credits,’ he explains.

You shift in your seat again.

‘So what’s the deal?’ he asks.

‘We haven’t gotten to that yet,’ Gaius says. ‘We were just catching up.’

You pull an annoyed face at them. 

‘Okay,’ Din says. Goes quiet.

You scull your drink. Immediately regret it, the strong flavour making your vision swim. 

‘We were just getting to it,’ you burp. You can sense the puzzlement flowing off the man sitting beside you, try to get your breathing under control. ‘If you wouldn’t mind,’ you say, with a wave to the table companion across from you.

Gaius takes a drink of their own and sets shoulders back, draws a deep breath.

‘Right, okay, so... Sorry, it’s hard to know where to start with all this.’

Noticing a slight tremor has crept into their hands, you lean forward. ‘Start anywhere, we’ve got time,’ you say, as soft as you can. Try for a reassuring expression.

You get a grateful nod in return.

‘Okay. So I’m from a planet called Evalon,’ they plough on. ‘If you’ve heard of it?’

You shake your head as Din gives one solid nod. 

‘Right,’ Gaius focuses on Din. ‘So you know that it’s a…’

‘Slave planet,’ he finishes when they trail off. You startle, look back across the table at the pilot with whom you’d briefly travelled. A tug on your heart. You’d had no idea.

‘Sure, yeah,’ they don’t give you a chance to dispense any sympathies though, pushing on in a rush. ‘Used to be just a whole colony of the indentured… But it’s a little different now…’

Over the foamy liquid of the drink you’d bought, Gaius tells a story that brings a dawning horror upon you. Slips icy daggers between your ribs. Settles a profound dread within you as vast and as wide as the greatest oceans.

A generation ago, the people of Evalon revolted. Rose up and tried to end the awful system that kept them in perpetual servitude. Tried to fight off the brutal company of droids that had kept them under the thumb of a faceless regime. They had failed. As punishment, a new system was introduced. A new piece of tech created that, as you sit there and listen, makes the primal lizard part of your brain lurch in terror. 

Mind control.

‘They call it binding,’ Gaius says, and you’re awash with gooseflesh. ‘It suppresses all independent cognitive functioning, hacks into neural links that obey without question.’

Under the renewed tyranny, children were implanted with the device and sent off to toil away. There was minimal need for security because they were no flight risk, docile and programmed to follow a set path, a known routine. And the droids that once guarded them were decommissioned down to a skeleton crew.

The adults were cast out to live in squalor and decay on the outside. Neutered and powerless. Unable to rise up again lest their children be harmed, or worse. They were all and one trapped in an evil psychological vice.

‘Why just the kids?’ you ask. ‘Why not chip everyone and make them all work?’

Gaius smiles at you sadly. ‘Pragmatic as ever, you are,’ they say. You realise how insensitive your comment was, kick yourself and mumble out an apology, that wasn’t what you meant... Sorr-- But they shake their head. ‘No, it’s a valid question, and the answer is important.’

They explain. Though a terrifying and unprecedented feat of ingenuity, the tech isn’t perfect. Its effectiveness has a half-life in a fully formed frontal cortex. Once of a certain age, it only works for so long before the subject – the enslaved person – can break out of it and act of their own accord.

‘That’s how I got out,’ Gaius says. ‘The birthdate on my chain code was always inaccurate, a quirk of the system when I was born. So I was kept in the ranks for longer than most, and was able to break out. Run away. But…’

Squaring shoulders back and looking you head on, they state the case. The job.

‘My little sister is still there. I think. I hope. And I want you to rescue her.’

The bustle and chatter of the bar filters into the silence that cloaks the table. You’re at war with yourself. You want to know where this Evalon planet is so you can ensure to stay far away from that cursed, horrifying place for all of time. The notion of binding. Of being bound. It sets off every single fear instinct in your body. 

But you can see a sad desperation flickering behind the steady features of the person across from you. So unlike how they were when you worked with them before. It tugs on your heart. This is something they’ve carried too long. Behind a jaded yet sanguine veneer. A horrific past and a deep love still lurking back there.

‘So,’ you say, thankful for your even tone. ‘You want us to go to a slave colony, with mind-control tech, and evil droids, to do a rescue… That’s kind of quite a lot beyond what I’ve left owing, don’t you think?’

‘Hey, I said free and clear,’ Gaius makes an effort to muster some ease, leans back to prop an arm across the booth’s backrest. ‘And let’s say I’ll owe you one, instead.’

‘This isn’t a bounty,’ Din says, startling you a little by speaking up after a long stretch of silence. ‘We don’t do rescues.’

It’s a little cold, and you frown at his composure. 

Gaius sighs. The pretence of relaxation drops and the world-weary traveller rests elbows back on the sticky varnished surface between you. 

‘Look,’ they say. ‘I’ve been trying to buy my sister’s rescue for years. But I lack the… well, I lack everything. And I could never afford the likes of you,’ a gesture at you both. ‘I just, I see an opportunity here. And alls I can say is, please…’ 

They move a hand to a pocket. Beneath the table, you shift an arm to stay Din’s instinctive movement onto a weapon, hoping it was subtle enough that Gaius didn’t notice. They don’t seem to, focused instead on the object they’re drawing out. It’s dropped onto the table and the holo blinks to life.

A small, cherub face winks into existence, rotates in front of you. 

‘She’s older now, of course, but uh…’ they go quiet.

That’s when you give in. Your hand grips the wrist of the Mandalorian beside you, where it still rests on the blaster holstered there. When you feel him move, twining fingers with yours in a silent affirmative, you speak.

‘We’ll do it,’ you say.

Despite the mutual agreement, it’s a palpable awkwardness between you and Din as you ready for the mission. 

At the Mandalorian’s nod, your debtor had followed your clan of three back to the Razor Crest. You’d invited Gaius to take a seat up in the cockpit and explained the ship’s ground security mechanisms. It was clear they needed to join you on this quest to Evalon – the more information in hand about this hellish planet, the better. And you do the best you can to reassure them of their safety before departing to join Din by the weapons locker.

You approach slow, taking in his hackled back and stand-off posture.

Though he shows it rarely, you know what jealousy looks like on him. And right now it’s radiating off him like a piece of steel held too long against the forge. 

Turning it over in your mind, you wonder at the best approach here. What should you tell him? There’s not a lot of time, none at all really. But he’s likely to be drowning in scenarios playing out in his head, so you have to say something. 

He’s undertaking his usual ritual of equipping munitions and weaponry to every limb and every piece of beskar on his body. Blades of various length and utility are taken down and jammed into hidden sheaths with force. He tugs rifle slugs and detonators off the weapons rack like they’ve offended him before clipping them to bandolier and belt. 

Stepping up beside him, you take down your favoured vibroblade, toy with the hilt and look up at his profile. The T visor doesn’t turn your way. 

‘You know,’ you start, feeling out of your depth already. ‘It was hard. Those months apart…’

‘Seems like you got by,’ he murmurs, focused on adjusting a vambrace and glove. 

Ouch. You accept the blow and push on.

‘Din, please,’ you say, holstering the hand weapon and hugging yourself. ‘It was hard. I was just never sure what to tell you about, about it all.’

‘The way they look at you tells me plenty,’ he says, just a hint of a growl behind his words. ‘Flew with them on a lot of jobs, did you?’

‘Psh, I got a hole blown in their ship,’ you scoff, arms dropping and going wide. ‘I was just trying to pay back on the repairs.’

‘Hm.’

An awkward beat of silence as you flounder about what to say next. 

How about…

I was alone and I needed a pilot and they were helpful and let me do what I needed to do. We slept together one time because I was so lonely I thought I might die. I felt worse than ever and then I disappeared on them because I’d joined the Guild and it got hired by the Imps set on destroying your people and I escaped to come find you again and warn you and…

Uh, no. Saying all of that will not be of help right now. 

You think you might just burst into tears. But Din tilts his helm like he’s had a sudden thought and asks, ‘You were paying back on the repairs?’

‘What?’

‘You didn’t just do the repair work yourself?’

Huh, fair question. If something like that ever happened to the Razor Crest, you’d have had the lovely old gunship back in action within the day. None of this ‘paying back on repairs’ business.

‘Wh- no…’ you say. ‘I wasn’t… I was trying to—’

‘Keep your cards close to the chest?’ he finishes – the tiniest, blessed hint of a smile in his voice.

You give him a full grin. ‘Yeah, pretty much. Always used to try to keep that particular skill-set under wraps, before uh-- before I met you… And, and it just wouldn’t have felt right… you know, with another ship…’

Another silence follows. But gentler, more companionable. As Din nears the end of his process, you chance it to lay a hand on his elbow, smooth it over the rough fabric of his flight suit. He lets you, closing up the locker with the other hand.

‘Does it matter how they look at me?’ you say. ‘Isn’t what matters the way I look at you?’

You swallow your sigh of relief as a gloved hand closes over yours, gives it a gentle squeeze.

‘Mm,’ he says. ‘You’re right, I just-- Maybe if you’d told me about them before now…’

‘You didn’t ask… I would’ve if you’d asked. I’ve told you anything you’ve wanted to know, anytime you’ve asked,’ you’re rambling. And losing track of what your intent here was to begin with. 

‘You know all about my past. About my- my old family. But all I’ve ever gotten about yours is the “Narrated History of the Mandalorians”,’ you say, aware of your petulance but unable to stop. Where is this coming from all of a sudden? ‘But what about you? What about your fami—’ He cuts you off by turning to you fully and leaning in.

‘Is this really the time?’ he asks, low and just shy of dangerous again.

Drop it. Drop it now.

‘No, guess not…’

‘Okay then,’ he says. He mounts his jetpack, hands you a blaster pistol and strides to the cockpit ladder. Conversation over. ‘Let’s go pay off your debt.’

--

Quick note on breath play… this story is fantasy, it’s just make-believe, and it feels plausible to me that the characters – via their respective fighting techniques and training – have the knowledge of anatomy and skills around the neck, head and chest area to reduce the risks. But it is risky, and if you do it – do your research first. (Or maybe don’t do it at all?) As with all kinks, education, communication and explicit ongoing consent are key. Thanks for your time. Ily.

Hope you enjoy the read.

[aceinhyperspace]

SUN KILLER LULLABY

SUMMARY: In the final days of the Clone Wars, Ahsoka Tano struggles to protect the shattered remains of her family. Her brothers, the clones, are falling faster than she can save them, and each loss tears away at her. Anakin, too, is slipping away, their bond twisted by an unsettling darkness that threatens to consume them both. On Mandalore, with enemies pressing in and the weight of the galaxy on her shoulders, Ahsoka is forced to confront a harsh truth: some battles aren’t meant to be won—only survived.

RATING: M

PAIRINGS: GEN

WARNINGS: Graphic Depictions of Violence, Character Death, visit A03 for the full list of tags

CHAPTER I: TELL ME THE WAVES WON'T RISE SUMMARY: Old bonds are reforged, and visions are shared. CHAPTER WORD COUNT: 6.2 K

You’re not home, Ahsoka reminds herself, ignoring the swoop of emotions in her chest. She’s surrounded in the Force by the warmth of the soldiers around her, not the least Rex and Anakin. Rex glows with pride, the newly painted orange and white helmet held gently between his gloves as she trails her hands over it. Anakin wears a small smirk, mischievous and self-satisfied. He’s been projecting unease ever since she landed on the Negotiator, stepping around her cautiously, tripping over his words. Only by presenting her a company in her own colors do his turbulent emotions settle. Behind Ahsoka, twinned relief and excitement emanates from the small contingent of clone officers, but especially from the ones she knows well. Vaughn is at perfect attention, his energy calm and balanced, but incredibly pleased to see her. Kes and Lion are radiating delight, barely holding their salutes. Prim and Finch feel nearly as animated. Jesse stands over her right shoulder, the ARC Trooper an unshakably warm presence that settles in the back of her skull. She’s missed this, the easy comradery of her siblings, her vode. The last time she saw most of this group had been on the Resolute, well before the Temple bombing. She spent weeks wondering if they blamed her for leaving the Order without saying goodbye... Even if they had, any lingering resentment has been replaced with infectious joy at seeing her safe and back amongst them. You’re not back and you are not home, she chides, pulling herself back to the present. In Anakin’s hands there is a lightsaber box. Her lightsabers. Her throat closes, unruly emotions getting the best of her. She reaches out, long fingers coming to rest on the carved wood.

CONTINUE READING ON AO3

[thechaoticfanartist]

Chapter One: Once Upon A Time, In A Galaxy Far, Far Away

“How did we manage to survive such a fall?” Obi-Wan asked.

“I don’t know,” Anakin said. He looked up. “Force, how far did we fall?”

The other two looked up as well and saw that they could hardly make out the entrance to their fall in the first place. Yet just enough light managed to reach where they landed to illuminate the flowers.

“We have to find a way out of here.”

Read On A03

[alyssalenko]

Mirror, Mirror

After several months of life trying to drown me, I not only got some writing done, I finally finished something for myself.

I was very inspired by the mirror in the loft bathroom--it needed to see some sexy times…so Alyss and Kaidan get up to some sexy shenanigans. Also on A03.

Alyss woke with a start, her chest tight and her cheeks wet from tears��the nightmares were getting worse. Carefully extricating herself from Kaidan’s embrace, she made her way out of bed, finding the switch on the wall to slightly lift the shutter over the aquarium, letting a little light shine out from the bottom. She didn’t raise it any higher, so as not to disturb Kaidan and picked her way across the loft using only that small glow from the fishtanks to light her way. The door to the bathroom slid open at her approach, making Alyss glance over her shoulder and double check that Kaidan was still asleep and she hadn’t woken him. Bracing herself against the sink, she stared at her reflection in the mirror which seemed to look more and more haggard as the days dragged on, the war taking a toll on her body and mind. She sighed and activated the tap, leaning over the sink basin and splashing cold water on her face—maybe it would help her shake the lingering phantoms. As she straightened and groped along the wall for a towel, a familiar pair of arms wrapped around her waist, Alyss patted her face dry and relaxed back against his chest as Kaidan pressed several gentle kisses to her neck—his touch more comforting than he knew.

“The nightmares again?” She nodded as she traced circles on his arms with her thumbs, Kaidan frowning as he met her eyes in the mirror. “What can I do?”

If he could take away her burden, he absolutely would, but she was the one the galaxy looked to and out there she never wavered, but in here? She was only human.

“You can strip us both naked and take me right here, right now.”

Concern etched its way across his handsome face, as his eyes met hers in the mirror. “You can’t use sex to avoid talking about what’s bothering you.”

She lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “It’s worked so far.”

“Alyss—”

“Is it so wrong that I’d rather get lost in you than relive my nightmares? Dwelling on it won’t bring back everyone I’ve lost—their voices that haunt my dreams, grim dreams that make me think that this is the end and I’m going to join them…and that I’ll be alone when I do, and that scares me. So, I want to focus on what I can control and what makes me feel happy and whole and able to go on. And that’s you.”

She hadn’t meant to make a habit of avoiding her problems, but with so much riding on her, her problems had gotten pushed to the wayside, and at this point, avoiding them was easier than confronting them. She looked so small, so broken as she wrapped her arms around her torso, desperately needing a distraction, a soft place to land. Kaidan drew her deeper into the circle of his arms, pressing a kiss to her hair as she bit her lower lip before she took his hand in hers and brought it to her lips pressing a kiss into the center of his palm. The ghost of a smile flashed across Kaidan’s face, Alyss smirking at him in the mirror and rolling her hips back, grinding her ass against his pelvis as she gripped the edges of the sink, making him groan quietly as the arousal set in, the air around them crackling with biotic energy as he flared briefly. If this was really what would help her, who was he to argue? His arms closed around her, hugging her closer and bringing his growing erection flush up against her. Alyss’ eyes fluttered shut, head lolling back onto his shoulder as he grazed his teeth along the ridge of her ear, making her bite her lower lip.

God, she’d needed a distraction from the voices in her head and Kaidan was just what the doctor ordered—and besides, she always seemed to sleep better after he’d wrung an orgasm, or three, from her.

He slipped his hand below the waistband of her pajama shorts, palm cupping her pussy as his fingers sought her core and he lowered his mouth to the spot where her neck met her shoulder, Alyss gasping as the pad of his index finger brushed her clit. A shiver ran down her spine as she felt the familiar tingle of his biotics, pulsing and vibrating from his hand, the intention to stir her up and push her closer to the edge of orgasm. Kaidan tilted his lower body, bringing his erection flush against her and rolling his hips to the same rhythm of his index finger circling her clit. Her eyes fluttered closed on a moan, lost in the sensations he was giving her as she ground her rear against the hardened bulge of his cock through his pants as he slid two fingers through her slick folds and dipped them inside her, Alyss rocking backwards to drive his fingers deeper. He growled low in his throat as he leaned forward, his chest smothering her back as he bit her shoulder gently, tongue darting out to soothe the spot immediately, his erection straining to be freed—but this wasn’t about his pleasure; it was about hers.

Kaidan’s fingers circled her clit furiously, the friction against the sensitive nub almost too much to bear.

“Look at me.”

Alyss’ eyes snapped open at the command, her gaze meeting Kaidan’s in the mirror and the things she read there made her come undone.

He bent his head and sucked her earlobe, free hand cupping her breast, his thumb grazing her nipple through the fabric of her n7 tank top, the action making her core clench around his fingers and her grip tighten on the edge of the sink basin, his name on her lips as she came. His gaze held hers in the mirror, fingers still working her clit; not letting her rest or come down from the high, her walls clenching around the digits as he pulled them back, body not wanting to let him go and be left empty. He smiled as he watched her face in the mirror, making her flush under his gaze—he still looked at her like she was the most beautiful woman in the galaxy, even if she didn’t think her reflection told the same story, and she couldn’t get enough. There was something so intimate about this position—Kaidan’s fingers inside her, his chest against her back, one hand holding hers against the edge of the sink, her other hand in his hair and being able to see every change in Kaidan’s expressions in the mirror as he pleasured her without having to turn around.

“Kaidan, please…I need you inside me.”

He trailed his lips down the column of her neck, fingers pumping in and out of her and curling against that perfect spot inside her, making her see stars. “As you wish.”

She whimpered as he removed his fingers from her drenched core, his other hand joining it under her waistband and pushing her shorts and underwear over her hips and down her legs in one deft motion, the warmth of his touch and the brush of cold air against her skin, making her shiver and bite her lip. The fabric pooled around her feet as Kaidan’s hand went to his own waistband, unbuttoning his pajama pants and freeing his erection, the fabric hanging wide open, draped about his hips. Alyss gripped the sink basin so hard her knuckles turned white as he rolled his hips, erection pressed against her ass, using his knees to open her legs a little wider. He softly trailed his fingers along the bare skin of her ass and down her thigh to grip her knee, lifting her leg and bracing it against the counter, before wrapping his arm around her waist to steady her as he entered her. Not the most comfortable position, but with the way he felt inside her, she’d endure.

Alyss found herself watching him in the mirror, tongue darting out to wet her lips, his muscles flexing as he thrust into her slowly, letting her feel every single inch of him as he moved within her.

The intensity of his gaze as his eyes connected with hers—all smoldering heat and desire and his beautiful brown eyes suddenly glowing blue—sent a shiver down her spine. Blue flames licked across her skin, her body humming wherever his biotics touched her and she could feel the pleasure building again, Kaidan determined to bring her to orgasm a second time before he found his own release. His hands gripped her hips, fingers digging into the soft flesh to guide the speed of his thrusts as she arched her back, insides clamping down around his cock. Alyss reached back, tangling her right hand into his hair while he stood behind her, making Kaidan thrust harder, his mouth trailing up her spine and along the column of her throat before his lips clamped over her pulse point sucking hard, her heartbeat fluttering under the stroke of his tongue and a gasp escaping her. She whimpered and bucked her hips against him, making Kaidan groan in delight and surge forward, deeper and faster than before, her responding moan all the encouragement he needed. He knew just how to make her tremble with desire and overwhelming need and she loved it.

The coil that had been building inside her finally snapped as her second orgasm hit her, muscles tensing, body shaking as he stilled inside her, biting her shoulder gently as he finished right behind her on a growl, Alyss falling against him, her chest rising and falling in time with his.

They stood there for a moment to catch their breath, flushed bodies pressed together, Alyss drawing her fingers along his jawline before Kaidan captured her hand in his, spinning her in his arms so her ass was pressed against the counter, one hand braced against the sink basin, thumb stroking her hip as he pressed soft kisses to her fingers and the inside of her wrist. He was always so gentle with her after sex and it made her melt. His thumb slipped under the hem of her N7 tank top, slowly pushing the fabric upwards, stroking every muscle and inch of skin he exposed, and after tugging it off over her head, his lips found hers in a heated, passionate kiss that left them both breathless. She giggled as he swept her up into his arms, thankful he wasn’t making her walk, because at this point she wasn’t sure she could, before carrying her out of the bathroom and back to bed, depositing her in the center and bending down to steal a kiss, his hands on either side of her hips.

“I was kind of hoping to use the mirror a little more.” Alyss panted as he pressed a gentle kiss to her shoulder, the fabric of his t-shirt rubbing against her taut nipples with every move he made—the friction winding her up inside.

Kaidan chuckled, peppering her neck and chest with even more soft kisses and making her moan. “Let’s put a pin in that.”

He was always up for whatever she asked of him, and it made her wonder how she’d gotten so lucky, but for now, in the early morning stillness, they were content to lose themselves in each other.

[nyxocity]

Hi Nyx,

I just wanted to write a quick message letting you know how much I adore seeing you here. I've been a fan of Supernatural for a long time, but it's only been in the past couple of years that I've really read SPN fanfiction or engaged with the fandom in any conceivable way, and it's something I wish I'd done a lot sooner. There are so many amazing recommendations for fics on LiveJournal that just aren't around anymore, and unfortunately, the Wayback Machine only captures a very small fraction of them (although shoutout to people who were saving webpages back in 2008!!!). That's part of the reason why I'm so grateful to see you around. As lovely as it is watching new people build their own castles in the sandbox of a piece of media I love, there's something so incredibly warm and cozy and joyful about seeing a familiar username pop up on A03 or Tumblr. It's kind of like coming home, if you know what I mean :) Fandom (any fandom, really, but SPN is near the top of that list) can be exhausting and disheartening and toxic, just as much as it can be exhilarating and uplifting and transformative, and while I'm sure that as someone who's been in this space for a long time, you've most definitely encountered an unreasonable amount of the former, I'm ridiculously glad you're still writing. Because to me, you are a part of what makes the SPN fandom such a wonderful place to be in :)

Oh, and besides that, have I mentioned how much I love your writing? Because I love, love, LOVE it. All your fics are so diverse, I have no idea how you come up with the plot sometimes (especially the current one, UGH I'm dying just thinking about it!!). But no matter how complicated or simple the story, there's something so heartfelt and tender in each one, with beautiful angst and the kind of witty humour that makes me want to reach for a pen and take physical notes—not that I end up doing that because then the hot sexiness comes in and I lose all coherent thought ｡^‿^｡ Speaking of which, your characterization of Dean and Sam is EXACTLY how I see them, too (including Top Dean/Jensen which is absolutely delicious and I so wish there was more of that in the fandom) and ohmygod I don't know whether to love you or hate you for making me read RPF, the one thing I thought I'd never be okay with, but how can I resist when your stories are so enticing?????

(Oh, and speaking of RPF, I also love your characterization of Chad whenever you incorporate him in your stories. Every time I see him on screen I know it's going to be a good time :) It's kind of funny because I know virtually nothing about the actor in real life outside of his character from One Tree Hill, but from my limited knowledge it seems to me that a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, all the authors in the CW RPF fandom got together and unanimously decided to make him a secretly smart but also complete buffoon-headed slut (in the best way) and I just have to know how that all started. Do you have any insight?)

Okay, this message is getting seriously long and cheesy, so I'm going to wrap it up now before I start proposing (although if you're willing to join me in the land of maple syrup and hockey, I will happily get down on one knee with a ring pop), but I just really wanted to let you know how much your work means me to me and how much of an inspiration it's been. I hope to one day be capable of writing fanfic as incredible as you can, and that the depth of my love for the things I enjoy will shine through my writing in the same way yours does.

Thank you so much for always putting a smile on my face (or making me cry because the angst is just that good) and I wish you all the best in life, the universe, and everything ♡♡♡

Love,

IllusionalOptics

Oh my gosh this is so much love! Wow, thank you so much for this, you made my whole week!

Honestly, I can't believe I'm still here in SPN fandom. Back in the LJ days, usually when a show ended the fandom died shortly thereafter. And a show that went on as long as SPN did means a lot of people moved on to other fandoms anyway. So I'm thrilled to still be here, playing in this sandbox. No way I would have called that back in 2007 when I first fell into this fandom. And yes, I've seen a lot of vitriol over the years, some of it slung directly at me, though not in a long time. I'm here to have fun and enjoy fandom and I refuse to let anyone drive me away from it. No one gets to take away my joy.

I'm so honored and humbled that people are still finding and reading my stories to this day--especially newer fans! Thank you so much for your lovely, amazing, wonderful comments about my writing! It's funny because I usually start out with a simple idea for the plot and then it just becomes so incredibly complex and complicated lol For Retroactive, my current story, I knew the plot was going to be exceptionally complicated, and I don't know why my brain does this to me. It's like, hey you've written so many things, this time, let's make it EXTRA DIFFICULT! This story is by far the hardest one I've done yet. And I feel like I say that every time I write a new one, unless it's just a romance piece.

So happy that my Sam and Dean match your interpretation. Everyone (not just writers) kinda has their way of seeing the characters. I try to to stay true as I can to canon characterization, but there's always my personal filter on it that I can't separate out. So it makes me happy that it matches yours!

Hahaha. Okay, so you should probably love me for making you read RPF because some of it is just ASTOUNDINGLY good as they tend to be original stories with the actors playing the parts. But real talk, RPF was a big NO for me in the beginning, too--hell, Wincest was gigantic NO for me in the beginning lol, but I tried to draw a line at RPF. And after I wrote Like Staring Into the Sun I was in a chat with two friends who basically decided I was going to write this RPF story about a teacher Jensen and a student Jared. I resisted for like an hour or more. And eventually they convinced me. But Then My Homework Was Never Quite Like This was my first RPF fic. And I was just finally like, welp, I'm already shipping Wincest so here we go I guess lol So yeah, I hear you. I live my life mostly line free these days though. SPN fandom will do that to you.

Oh my god I love writing Chad. He's a bit different in every story I do but he retains some core characteristics. Ooooh, I get to impart some fandom elder knowledge lol So, back when I wrote the original Homework verse story, there was this tendency in fics to make Chad kinda dumb and/or gross and/or a dick. Often, he was a douchebag. He was funny, but a lot of times not in a GOOD way, I guess? So when I wrote the first Homework story (2008), I decided I wanted to make him smart, but in like, the most ridiculous roundabout way, so he'd still be funny. I can't say I started it, but I was definitely way ahead on the trend for smart Chad. Back in the day there was a lot of talk about him IRL being kind of a dick, a sleazebag and sleeping around, and though I don't remember if there was confirmation, a lot of people talked about him cheating on Sophia being the reason their marriage ended. I can't confirm any of that but I remember it was the talk at the time. So a lot of people took pieces from these things and ran with them and the fic version of Chad was created as kind of a dick and a douchebag and usually Jared's best friend (because of them living together IRL for a while) and the comic relief. It seems to have morphed some over time, which is good, because RL Chad seems to have grown up and to be a good person at this point in his life.

I wanted to talk about top Jensen and Top Dean, too, but this is getting so long lol Just know that back in 2008, 90% of fic was Top Jared and Top Sam, and my understanding is that that's now shifted and rebalanced the other way, to like 90% Top Jensen and Dean now. Although maybe it has shifted again in the last five years to be more balanced, Idk. I don't read fic like I used to.

Anyway, seriously, thank you SO SO SO SO MUCH for this. It means so much to me that you took the time to write all this out to me. Thank you for telling me all these things and for sending me so much love! Sending love right back at you! And feel free to ask me anything, any time! <3<3<3

[lamaenthel]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

thank you for tagging me @ahsokathegray !!<3

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

25! 

2. What's your total A03 word count?

231k lmaoooo when did that happen I feel like I've been in a fugue state since February

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Star Wars (and technically, TECHNICALLY The Matrix but it's a Star Wars AU fusion lmao)

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

Porg Eyes, Princess For A Year, Ram'ser'ika, Better Than Nothing, The Contingency

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes every single one omfg I love everyone

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Well, Soft Dark Nothing is Ahsoka and Rex on the moon right after The Tribunal crashed so by default it's gotta be her (rip Jesse my beloved)

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Not Bad ends up with Snips n Skyguy going to Biscuit Baron lmao

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not yet but I live in fear every day especially since I'm dipping my toe in the Republic Commandos pond and I know the girlies are passionate

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I do and it's ridiculously graphic HAHAHA no but there's a reason I haven't posted any Rexsoka smut. Makin y'all wait for it until they COMMIT, gotta keep that tension in there somewhere uwu. But wlw, mlw, mlm, aliens and cyborgs gonna work their way in there eventually (?) I have Not Out Loud, which is an mlm fic with Boba tying up Cal and facefucking him (Kesett nation rise)

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

Go Ask Ahsoka is the Matrix crossover that I wrote for AU August which I will eventually update lmfao

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

No but I would cry

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Not like… technically but Erika is my beta and my bestie and she comes up with amazing ideas and lets me play with her OCs so honestly she counts (ilu)

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

Rexsoka 💙🧡, closely followed by Anidala (burning down the galaxy for a single person is objectively WRONG but also hot)

15. What's the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Well Do Not Go Gentle is a huge fucking project that I HOPE I finish one day

16. What are your writing strengths?

I think I'm pretty good at action. I enjoy it which helps lmao

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I get really ahead of myself laying out hints and red herrings which I then forget about (Princess For A Year especially is the worst about this, I am so sorry for all of those hints about Sylen being a pretend Mandalorian I fucked up so bad with that one but I'm going to rewrite it eventually to bring back a bunch of my dropped subplots)

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I enjoy it and do so regularly. Mando'a nuhur'shya ni ru'kar'tayli. And it makes my brain work in unexpected ways, it's like a puzzle trying to figure out the wacky ass baby's-first-conlang grammar that is Karen's creation (what the fuck kind of language doesn't have a passive voice)

19. First fandom you wrote for?

OKAY OKAY TECHNICALLY, TECHNICALLY????? It was the Lion King. I was in first grade and we had to write a little storybook and illustrate the pages they gave us with crayons and my story was How Simba Lost His Mane lmfaoooo

20. Favorite fic you've ever written?

I have poured my whole heart, soul, brain, and pussy into Tivaevae pls read it it's longer than The Hobbit

no pressure tags: @soliloquy-of-nemo, @tangledlichen, @ink-in-books, @hannah-schooler

[kiyfra]

The third and final chapter of Katatsumuri is finished! It can be read here or on A03. Pokerus AU belongs to @monsoon-of-art.

"A creature given to melancholy. I suspect its metallic shell developed as a result of the mucus on its skin reacting with the iron in Hisui's water."

----------------------------------------------------------------

Gaeric’s tent was still coated in ice, a thick sheet of it forming a few days ago. The warden’s remaining hand had fallen off just as his arm and leg had, this time during the clan’s communal dinner. A loud crack was heard through the dining hall and the hand shattered like glass upon hitting the ground, drawing everyone’s attention. Gaeric had solemnly gotten up and announced he was going to bed, managing his crutch as best he could and ignoring his concerned clan mates offering to help. He kept his head down and headed to his tent with a thousand yard stare.

A heavy snow storm raged that night and come morning the tent was cocooned in a dense layer of ice, separating it from the outside world. Neither fire nor steel could put a dent in it; a complete black box where Gaeric was presumably undergoing the final stages of his metamorphosis.

Shouts asking if he was alright hadn’t produced a response, indeed nothing could be heard from within the ice chrysalis. Even if Gaeric was attempting to ride it out as stoically as possible, he would have wanted to reassure his worried clan members. Either he couldn’t hear them or he couldn’t answer, neither was comforting. There was an eerie stillness in the air as the clan waited.

Lian almost envied the solitude. He spent most of his time in his tent, withdrawn into his shell, hoping to blot out the world around him. He didn’t want anyone to see him like this, slimy, immobile, unable to fulfill his duties as a warden and completely dependent on others.

He had been transformed completely into a sliggoo, the painful process finally at an end after so many weeks. It had felt like a Fox resided in him and took delight in tormenting him. Lian could imagine sharp claws slowly dragging organs into place, muscles being stretched and molded. His entire body being rearranged as it saw fit, heedless of his cries begging it to stop. A metallic shell grew out of his skin, spiraling around his lower half as his legs atrophied.

With his transformation complete the thing had gone dormant, evidently satisfied with the new arrangement. Enzymes had finished dissolving his skeleton, his flesh was gluey to the touch and muscular tissue affixed to the absurdly heavy shell.

Lian just didn’t want to think or feel anything. Not the vicious cycle of his body excreting acidic mucus when he was stressed, then the awful disgusting feeling stressing him out more. Not about how he couldn’t keep being Lord Kleavor’s warden and how he’d be stuck like this forever. If he kept trying to retreat further back and concentrate on the smooth curved interior of his shell, he could pretend he didn’t even have a body.

People still came to bring him meals and check on him before Lian quickly dismissed them. He knew if he didn’t he’d have to endure awkward attempts at conversation and answer unwanted questions.

“How are you doing? You really shouldn’t spend all your time moping. Why don’t you join everyone else for dinner?”

What was he even supposed to say to that?

The clan respected his need for space and Lian knew he wasn’t the only one suffering. Very few across Hisui had escaped the bizarre infliction turning people into pokémon; PokéRus, as the Galaxy professor called it. Those that worked closely with pokémon turned first, meaning the wardens and clan leaders, but it soon spread to everyone. Snovers, bunearys, piloswines, sneasles and an assortment of others at differing stages of transformation became a common sight at the settlement.

It wasn’t much fun turning into a quadruped, losing opposable thumbs or gaining bizarre new dietary needs. Many had been trying to ignore their newfound desires to eat grass or raw meat. Lian himself found that anything with salt made him violently ill, so that meant he couldn’t eat any of the clan’s cured meat they had stored. He had mostly been eating soup, the liquid diet being the easiest on him since his teeth fell out.

A bowl of mushroom stew sat uneaten by his bedside, having gone cold an hour ago. Lian couldn’t stand the goopy squelching noises that came from him when eating. Eating sounds had always bothered and disgusted him, but were now unbearable. He was repulsed by the urge to let his own acid dissolve the food before eating or needing to use a chitinous tongue to eat anything solid. He could barely bring himself to eat the meals brought to him, only doing so at his partner’s insistence.

Goomy hadn’t left his side since he was brought to the settlement, frequently leaning against him in an attempt to comfort him and kicking up a fuss if he thought Lian was letting himself waste away.

He knew it was wrong to worry his partner like that, especially after the stunt he pulled in the mire lands. It had given him and Calaba quite a fright when Lord Kleavor started bellowing outside Calaba’s tent, carrying him by the scruff of his tunic, half-conscious.

His partner abruptly perked up, noticing someone approaching the camp briefly before Lian did. A small dewott treaded through the Pearl Clan settlement carrying a heavy satchel. They were beating a path directly to Lian’s tent, the physical details filled in long before they approached the door.  Black nub ears poked out from a head-kerchief and a long scarf was wound snuggly around their neck. The locks of hair adorning both sides of their face like mock lop ears couldn’t have belonged to anyone else but Dawn.

She had clearly been swimming recently; water droplets still clung to her fur and her scarf was frozen stiff. Snow stuck to her fluffed up coat and ice crystals formed at the end of her whiskers. She was still pretty, even as a dewott.

A small paw rapped on the door to his tent. “Lian, can I come in?”

He really didn’t want Dawn to see him. He spent several seconds trying to think of a response, some way to send her away that wasn’t rude before she asked, “Are you okay?”

He didn’t dignify that with an answer. She seemed to realize her mistake and followed up with, “Right, that was a dumb question.”

There was an awkward pause as Dawn deliberated on what she should say or do next. No one in the Pearl Clan would take kindly to someone entering their home, their sacred space, without permission. If Lian told her to leave, there was nothing she could do.

After some deliberation, she decided to just go for it and state the reason for her visit.

“I brought you something,” Dawn announced, lifting her waterlogged satchel up. She clearly went out of her way to see him and there was no polite way to tell her to leave. Besides, Lian would be lying if he said he wasn’t intrigued by the gift and what she went swimming in the ice lands for.

His curiosity won out. “Come in.”

The dewott opened the door, shaking herself to clear the water and snow off before entering.

It was completely dark inside his tent save for the afternoon sun pouring through the now open door, giving his living space a depressing atmosphere. He was resting on the floor next to his bed, peering out over the edge of his shell self-consciously, with his partner Goomy beside him. He still wore his hat, without it he’d feel completely naked.

Lian’s tent had fallen into a state of disarray with his Pearl Clan uniform tossed carelessly onto the bed that could no longer support his weight, blankets strewn about on the floor and neatly arranged shelves of stones and minerals gathering dust. A lantern that hadn’t been used in some time sat upon a table next to his uneaten lunch.

Dawn closed the door behind her to avoid letting the heat escape, once again plunging the tent into darkness. She strode towards him before stumbling, her foot caught on one of the many blankets he had left lying around for his makeshift nest.

“May I put on a light?” the girl asked, clearly not wanting to impose.

Lian had no need for a light source in his current state and his partner was unbothered by the dim living space so it failed to occur to him that his guest would need one.

“My apologies, the lantern is on the table,” Lian said, mentally kicking himself for his lack of consideration.

Dawn stood on tip toes as she lit the lantern, the orange glow illuminating the cluttered abode.

“Please do forgive the mess. I wasn’t expecting company.”

She brushed it off as not a big deal as she sat down cross legged beside him, setting the satchel down on her lap. Goomy was happy to see her, sidling up and clamouring for attention. Dawn laughed as she pat his head. “Sorry, I didn’t bring anything for you.”

She returned her attention to the gift and opened her satchel.

“I went diving for rocks for your collection.”

He hadn’t expected that. Nobody really payed much attention to his lectures on minerals or the importance of stones. He was used to being politely tolerated when he tried to share his knowledge about ores and later admonished for boring people with long winded speeches.

“I thought there might be some interesting ones underwater you couldn’t find on land,” she explained, looking for a stone she deemed a good one.

Under normal circumstances Lian would have been stoked. He’d always wanted to investigate underwater rock formations and having a friend to spend the afternoon with, speculating about their composition and formation would have been the cherry on top.

It almost seemed cruel the opportunity would come now when he couldn’t fully appreciate such a gift with the loss of his eyesight. Never again would he be able to see the subtle flecks of mica in a sun stone or the deep blue of a water stone. Lian hoped his despondency wasn’t too apparent; it was a very thoughtful gesture and he didn’t want to come across as ungrateful.

“This one came from Heart’s Crag. I found it on the way over here,” Dawn said, passing one of the rocks over to him.

He accepted the gift and turned it over in his hands. It was a flat disk shaped stone, one that had been smoothed out by erosion at the bottom of a riverbed. A pleasing streak of quartz ran through it with a small pocket of crystals that hadn’t been worn down in the center.

Was it a pale grey, a dark black or perhaps a ruddy red? Would he forget what those looked like with time?

“So, what do you think?” Dawn asked, looking up at him hopefully.

He considered his response for a long minute.

“Thank you for the gift and for taking the time to visit me. I truly do appreciate your concern.“ Lian said finally, sounding too careful, too rehearsed.

He didn’t seem inclined to say much more, but Dawn wasn’t giving up that easily. Ignoring the implicit rejection, she searched her bag for another rock, one she brought specifically for this purpose.

Time to bring out the conversation starter.

“You know, I think I actually found gold!”

Dawn removed an ore from her bag and Lian’s senses informed him of the rigid cubes composing its shape, immediately guessing the girl’s mix up. She handed it to him for appraisal, confirming what he’d already suspected.

“This is pyrite, fool’s gold. The most obvious giveaway is the cubic structure, but if you look closely you can see striations on its surface,” he lectured his impromptu student, pointing to the parallel lines covering the exterior.

“Wow, you can tell all that just from touching it?” She sounded genuinely surprised.

“Sure I can, that’s child’s play! But this...“ he picked up the river stone to gesture with it. “I can’t tell you much besides that it’s probably igneous. The weight and density means it’s unlikely to be sedimentary and a cavity like this wouldn’t remain if it was metamorphic.”

Lian brought the stone in front of his face and squinted as if straining his eyes would cause them to miraculously start working again.

“I’d wager that a gas bubble was trapped in the quartz vein while it was still magma and a slow cooling process allowed larger crystals to form.”

It was clear from his tone that he didn’t consider the observation impressive. The girl looking up at him with wide eyes evidently disagreed.

“If you call that not knowing much then you must be a genius! It’s no wonder Lord Kleavor made you his warden!”

If the praise were coming from anyone else he would have agreed without hesitation. But praise from the girl turned dewott sitting cross legged in front of him caused his face to grow warm and he mumbled about how it wasn’t that impressive with uncharacteristic modesty.

Dawn rooted through her satchel again and brought out a handful of rocks. “What can you tell me about these?”

The two of them spent a solid hour going over the various stones collected from around Hisui, Dawn listening attentively as he lectured her about composition, formation and any other noteworthy facts.

Lian had a considerable base of knowledge to draw upon, but it was an interesting test of his abilities to identify minerals without visual information. He’d explain what he could discern about the rocks he had never seen before and account for how years underwater changed the ones he was familiar with, adding a new layer of complexity. He was surprised that he found himself enjoying the challenge.

Crystalline, gritty, porous; the shapes and textures told him a lot about their makeup and the environments they were formed in. He would speculate out loud and Dawn would interject with questions he was all too happy to answer.

A thought occurred to him. Did she deliberately choose stones that would be interesting from a tactile perspective? She’s so kind and intelligent...

Dawn finally brought out the last rock, a hunk of limestone embedded with many tiny shells. “They kind of look like helix fossils, but way smaller.”

“I wonder if they might have been juveniles of the species,” Lian pondered.

“No, baby omanytes are nowhere near that small,” Dawn said, recalling when Lucas bred one of his omastars and Professor Rowan’s lab was overrun by a swarm of the cute little buggers.

Lian looked at her incredulously. “How would you know?”

“Back home there were researchers that studied fossils. They could tell a lot about the pokémon they used to be and I was helping a professor with a research project.”

Dawn was careful not to mention she had live specimens to study. Explaining she was from a place where people had figured out how to revive species from fossils would sound far too suspicious, never mind telling anyone she was from the future.

Lian wasn’t wary or distrustful of her like some people were. There was already an amnesiac skyfaller that had been part of his clan for years, but Kleavor’s warden could still be rather prickly. A lot of people in Hisui were highly superstitious and Kamando had made it clear her place in Jubilife was conditional. No, the fewer people that knew, the better.

“I used to spend a lot of time in the Underground and I’d find a lot of fossils to bring back. I think you’d really like it there!”

Lian listened, enraptured as Dawn talked at length about the massive tunnel system that ran under her home region and how plenty of people built secret bases and went treasure hunting there. She spoke of rare evolution stones, rocks with mysterious effects on the weather, ores valued by collectors and fossils she sought after for her research.

“I’ve never found a skull fossil! My friends find them all the time, but I’ve never found one!” Dawn ranted, throwing her hands up in frustration.

Lian swung his head towards her, his eyes narrowing gave the impression he was staring straight at her.

“Didn’t you say you lost your memories?” he blurted out, his tone probably sounding more accusatory than he meant it to.

“Well, er-“

In her excitement, Dawn had forgotten she was supposed to be playing the role of a poor amnesiac girl.

“I- I started remembering some things recently!” she hastily explained.

A flash of inspiration struck her. “After my first battle with Ingo I started recalling some things about my home. Battles have been jogging my memory lately.”

Lian’s expression didn’t change. Dawn wasn’t sure if he believed the lie or not; either way he didn’t challenge her on it. It’s not like he could prove she was lying.

Itching to change the subject, she asked, “Actually, I’ve got a question. Obsidian is formed by volcanoes right? But I’ve seen scythers and gravelers carrying pieces of Black Augurite. So how does it get all the way to the Fieldlands?”

“There are large deposits in the Obsidian Fieldlands.” Lian accepted the change in topic, eager to discuss anything relating to his passions with such an inquisitive student. “That’s actually where it gets it’s name! My current theory is that they were picked up and moved by glaciers during the ice age.”

Goomy had started to doze off, content to leave the two of them to their geology lesson. A thick bubble of snot formed, expanding and deflating with his snores.

“But not all obsidian is Black Augurite. Every warden to a Noble Kleavor has to learn how to distinguish the evolution stone from regular obsidian.”

Lian had extended pretty far out of his shell, drawn up and excitedly gesturing for emphasis.

“Of course, I learned long before anyone ever considered me for the position. It was only natural Lord Kleavor recognized my aptitude and chose me to be his warden.”

He already had several pieces stored away for when the Lord of the Woods chose his heir. Lian was quite familiar with the largest and most powerful of his children, an alpha scyther that he allowed to share his territory.

They were quite an impressive specimen with a sturdy carapace and serrated scythes who the Lord wouldn’t even considered for the position, for the usual reasons alphas were passed over. Far too aggressive and preoccupied with their own standing, they held little appreciation for the duties and expectations the Noble title conferred. Lord Kleavor and his warden would just have to keep an eye on his offspring to determine which of his children was a worthy successor.

Would he ever ever get to present his Black Augurite to an heir? Lian tried to imagine tending to his Noble as a sliggoo and nothing seemed right. How could he possibly gather the plump beans for Lord Kleavor and his children, let alone present offerings covered in cold snot? A sliggoo couldn’t socialize baby scythers and get them used to humans.

Lian retreated back into his shell, his eyes barely visible from under the brim of his hat. “I might have to give mine away...” he said, his voice tiny.

“What? Why?” she exclaimed, her eyes wide with surprise and worry.

He took a deep breath, hoping his words would convey his conundrum and testiness wouldn’t creep into his voice. “I don’t believe I can continue being a warden in my current state. Lord Kleavor deserves to have a warden that can properly tend to him.”

Dawn stared at him quizzically. “Because you turned into a pokémon? I don’t know who you think would replace you then. Everyone has been infected.”

“Someone who wouldn’t offend Lord Kleavor with offerings covered in mucus!” Lian would have grit his teeth if he still had any, feeling a surge of irritation at her failure to comprehend his predicament.

She blinked. “Then wear gloves!”

Dawn had stood up to shout, startling Goomy awake, his sleep bubble bursting with a loud pop.

Lian was running out of patience. “I have to fill and bring a basket to Grandtree Arena at least twice daily, often more. How do you expect me to carry it?”

“You can work something out!” She let out an exasperated sigh. “Lian, what exactly is your plan here? Are you just going to spend the rest of your life sulking in your room?”

By now Lian was fuming at her, gripping the edge of his shell and wishing she could feel the rage that must be coming off of him in waves, lest he say something he would later regret.

Dawn continued. “Look, I don’t know what’s going to happen, maybe you can’t be a warden anymore. But there are problems of yours that you can solve.”

He had half a mind to yell at her to get out. This sort of discussion was exactly what he didn’t want and why he had turned everyone else away. Had she planned this from the start? Lian felt a sting of betrayal at her entering his home to talk under such false pretenses.

“All of this is easy for you to say when you’re still walking around, on two legs I might add, with all your senses working just fine and your skeleton intact.” Lian started, venom dripping from his words.

Goomy shrunk in on himself, trying to look as small as possible knowing this was going to turn ugly.

“But some of us have to face the indignities of not even being able to get out of our beds or homes without assistance. Do you know that when I have to relieve myself I need to have Paulina carry me away and bring me back? So don’t lecture me on what I should be doing when you had it easy!”

Dawn stared at him in stunned silence. He wasn’t sure if his rebuke had sounded as poignant as he intended or if he had sounded petulant to her.

“I had it easy? My mom and my friends don’t know where I am and probably think I’m dead and I’ll never get to see them again!”

Lian knew he screwed up. His anger quickly fizzled away and was replaced by an uneasy regret, but Dawn wasn’t finished yet.

“The Galaxy Team decided that I had to risk my life to save your Nobles and people still think that I’m to blame for all this! Do you think I can just mope around in my room?  No, I have to work my butt off every single day if I don’t want to be left to fend for myself in the wilderness! And I've got to do all of this while knowing I’m never going to go home and I don’t even get to be a human!”

Dawn stood there with her hands balled into fists and shaking, looking like she was about to cry.

If Lian thought his ire was palpable, her rage could have incinerated him on the spot. He wanted nothing more than retreat into his shell to hide in shame.

“I’m not going to stand here and argue with you over which of us has it worse. But don’t you dare tell me I had it easy!” Her voice cracked as she finished her tirade.

Lian struggled to find the words that could properly express the guilt prickling at him. How could he have said something so blatantly disrespectful to the girl that had calmed his Lord and scoured Hisui for gifts to cheer him up? It was several agonizingly long minutes before he found the ability to speak again.

“I’ve allowed my frustrations to get the better of me and I spoke out of turn. You have my sincerest apologies for such unwarranted hostility.”

The mechanical sounding apology seemed horribly inadequate and Dawn remained impassive. He made a point of turning his face towards her to create the illusion he was looking her in the eye.

“I lost my mother too, several years ago. I understand what it’s like knowing you’ll never see someone again.” He pulled down the brim of his hat. “I’m sorry.”

Dawn sniffed and wiped at her eyes with the back of her paw as she sat back down. “Neither of us wants things to be this way, but they are and there’s nothing we can do about that. Why don’t we focus on what we can change?”

She opted not to mention her studies with Volo into the myths of Hisui’s legendary hero or both of their search for the plates. The merchant believed something similar happened long ago and the plates held the solution to Hisui’s current predicament. While Volo was convinced and Dawn was inclined to trust his judgment, she remained cautiously optimistic without much else to go off of. She didn’t want to get Lian’s hopes up in case that didn’t pan out.

“What would you have me do?” Lian asked.

Goomy squeaked for his trainer’s attention and drew itself up as tall as possible, swaying slightly before tucking his head down and performing the slowest somersault one could imagine.

Lian understood what he was suggesting. He had seen sliggoos rolling on the sides of their shells like a wheel as their primary means of traversal. It was such a bizarre form of locomotion and seemed so disorientating. How were you supposed to stop or steer?

“That’s a great idea Goomy!” Dawn agreed with his partner. “Lian, why don’t we spend the rest of the day figuring out how you can roll around? It would probably help you feel better about yourself.”

Previously, he would immediately shut down at the idea whenever he considered his mobility needs, a sheer gut punch refusal to entertain the notion. But he needed some way to get around. What other choice did he have? Besides, wardens don’t sulk.

He let out a beleaguered sigh. “Sure, might as well roll down to Avalugg’s Legacy. That seems like a productive way to spend the afternoon.”

“I’m just trying to help...” Dawn looked away, hurt in her voice.

“I-I wasn’t being sarcastic!” he clarified. “I appreciate your help and I truly am sorry for acting like such an ingrate.”

She cheered up immediately. “That’s okay!”

The dewott girl marched over to the door and swung it open, a gust of cold air sweeping through the room.

Wait, right now?

“Don’t worry, you’ve got this!” Dawn grinned as she gave the thumbs up with both hands.

Now wasn’t the time to get cold feet. Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, he gripped the edge of his shell and hoisted himself upright in one motion, balancing precariously on his side.

Lian had no idea what to do next and remained there, paralyzed by indecision until he felt himself starting to tip over. He gave an alarmed shout and flailed uselessly before Dawn and Goomy rushed over to catch his fall, Dawn straining under the weight as she tried to push him over with her back and shoulder.

It was clear he couldn’t balance on his side and he needed momentum, so he withdrew into his shell and took a guess, throwing himself against the inside of the shell to roll forward. He moved forward slightly, and feeling encouraged, tried again.

He started to pick up momentum as he rolled towards the door, the weight lifted off of Dawn and Goomy. He felt like he was starting to get the hang of it as he tried to time his forward pitches, his friends cheering as he gained speed. With an air of confidence, Lian rolled straight out the door and into the frigid afternoon air of the camp. As the winding path through the settlement and tents dotting the hill stood before him, he realized his mistake.

The boy panicked as he slowly rolled over the crest of the hill with no way to stop or slow down. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion at the precipice and gave him plenty of time to understand what was going to happen next. One moment he was barely moving, then all at once his heart plunged as he rapidly gained speed and was sent barreling through the camp.

Lian shouted as hard as he could to warn anyone that might be in his path, his voice echoing inside his shell deafeningly. Pearl Clan members in various stages of metamorphosis looked up from what they were doing, eyes widening in alarm and diving out of the way of the steel juggernaut heading their way.

More voices joined in the panicked shouting as he smashed through a water barrel and a clothes line, scattering clean laundry to the wind. It barely even slowed him down as he whirled past clans folk exiting their tents to see what the commotion was.

His brain was swiftly processing every bump and dip in the terrain, but he had no idea what to do with it. There was no way he’d be able to follow the footpath that wound back and forth, instead his route to the camp’s exit would take him over several harsh drops and dangerously close to many people’s tents.

Experimentally, he tried to lean to the side to turn. When that threatened to tip him over, he over corrected and added a dangerous wobble to his trajectory, swerving wildly back and forth.

The pandemonium went unnoticed by a snorunt boy only a few years older than him who was preoccupied with chopping firewood. A bolt of panic went through him and he screamed at the top of his lungs for him to get out of the way, terrified his warning wouldn’t be heeded in time.

The kid looked up and dropped his axe before throwing himself against his tent, just barely clipped by the five hundred pound armoured wheel barreling past him. The kid screamed as they narrowly avoided being flattened.

The spike in adrenaline from the close call caused something to shift in Lian’s brain, some pathway that was previously closed was now open. Lian gasped as claws raked through his mind like those of a Fox, or something equally as angry and spiteful. They gripped and dug into him to tear him away from his body, to leave something else at the helm.

The world faded away as those claws dragged him down, made him small and rendered him a passenger in his own mind. Lian tried to scream but no sound came out, his voice and psyche swallowed up by the darkness.

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It all made sense now. He knew exactly how far to lean in order to turn, how to compensate for every irregularity in the terrain. How to work with the momentum and how he could stop on a dime. His shell wasn’t a ball and chain restraining him, it was freedom, it was movement itself. Just as his legs had been before, his shell was a natural extension of himself; a self-contained world, a shelter, a shield and a weapon.

With his mastery, he’d see prey driven before him. Unable to escape in time before he chased them down, painful squeals as their bones cracked, bursting open and steam rising from the entrails as they were crushed. Delicious meat would spill out onto the ground then he and his odd pack would feast.

His kind were not avid hunters, typically feeding on plant matter and carcasses left behind by other predators. But he was no ordinary sliggoo, he was part of a pack of alphas, larger and more voracious than other members of their species.

He’d learn to hunt and hone his skills as a predator to prove he deserved his place amongst them. Dragging back the large kills dripping with viscera would show everyone that he wasn’t a runt that constantly needed to be looked after. Tearing and battering, he’d bloody himself fending off their rivals as many times as he needed to until they never looked down on him again.

And he’d do it because he loved them.

Because he wanted to provide for his kin, to be able to protect them when needed. His body flushed with warmth at the thought of his pack feeding from his kills, growing stronger from the meat together.

And he’d do it to the impress her.

The mighty huntress whose prowess in combat dwarfed that of even the Nobles. A warrior that presided over an enormous pack that brought so many alphas to heel and a roaming territory that spanned all of Hisui.

As he matured into a proper alpha, he would approach her looking to be accepted as her mate. Already she had brought gifts for him to decorate his nest;  she was considering him as a potential suitor, he was sure of it.

They were both juveniles, but had already proven so much to their respective packs. Fearless, they defied expectations and met challenges their contemporaries shied away from, ascending the ranks.

What had he done again? It didn’t matter; he would kill and kill again until everyone had their fill, then he would start his courtship.

He would need to bring an appropriate gift to demonstrate his caliber as a mate; fresh meat from a hunt would display his aptitude as a predator and show he was worthy of being consort.

He could start with the dewott that had wandered into their territory...

“WATCH OUT!”

The shout from the Survey Corps girl snapped Lian back to reality, with such alien, animalistic thoughts already fading from memory and leaving a cold uneasy dread in their place.

He had no time to ponder what happened as he was still steamrolling through the camp, now on a collision course with Gaeric’s tent.

The frozen obelisk was fast approaching, the boy rattling inside his shell with the ground becoming more uneven. Lian remained petrified as he rocketed over a large bump and he was suddenly launched airborne. He helplessly sailed through the air like a shot put, spinning head over tail as he braced for impact.

He ricocheted off the pillar of ice with a loud clang and landed hard some distance away on the packed snow, the crash knocking the wind out of him.

Dawn trotted down the slope towards the crowd that had gathered, carrying Goomy in front of her with two paws.

“-ian! Lian, are you alright?”

He was still too dazed to process what she was saying and was busy trying to understand the strange gap in his memory. There was an odd jump where one moment he was on the foot path towards the camp’s entrance, then the next he was careening towards the ice chrysalis.

“Lian?”

Right, he needed to answer her.

“I’m okay. It just stunned me.”

“No kidding! You got quite a bit of hang time!” she exclaimed, setting Goomy down beside her.

All things considered, Lian supposed that could have gone much worse. Already he was thinking of what he could have done better. The boy turned sliggoo now had some understanding of what proper direction and movement would entail, more than his practice session alone could have taught him.

Deep down, Lian knew that if he looked inside himself he’d find all the information he needed. His body would no longer feel like a stranger to him and he would be free to use any move he had at his disposal. Everything about being a sliggoo would become second nature.

Such a deal would come at a terrible cost, one he’d never willingly accept, but Lian was beginning to suspect that he frankly didn’t have a choice in the matter.

There was a loud crack that rang through the camp that sounded like an ice sheet breaking. Lian and the rest of the Pearl Clan immediately went on the alert, always vigilant for such a sound as it signalled the possibility of an avalanche.

The mountains surrounding the camp and their slopes were shaped in such a way that they usually directed avalanches away from the settlement, having been sculpted by a Noble Avalugg long ago. The camp was not at risk of being buried, but even the small ones that came down the settlement’s side could be dangerous.

The gathered clan members were trying to locate the source as they rounded up children and elders, prepared to evacuate them to safety until a girl with buneary ears shouted “Look!” pointing to a large fracture in the ice encasing Gaeric’s tent.

D-did... did I do that?

As the minutes crawled by, more tiny cracks spread out and bits of ice chipped and broke off. Though a slow process, the shards that fell off melted supernaturally fast, gone in a matter of seconds.

Any thought of spending the afternoon on practice was long gone as the Pearl Clan gathered, barely daring to breathe as they waited to see what emerged.

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“It has trouble drawing a line between friends and food. It will calmly try to melt and eat even those it gets along well with.”