#feel free to ask me to expand or clarify anything that i have said!

[shalom-iamcominghome]

Hello! Can I ramble a bit and ask for some advice?

I've been thinking about converting for a while now. I've been learning more and more about Judaism and the more I learn, the more I feel this inexorable pull towards it. I found a reform synagogue near me and they have a page on their website for potential converts, outlining the process and saying that they're accepting of them. I want to get in touch, via email, explaining my desire to convert and start attending services and immerse myself in the community but I do not know what to say. I'm autistic and and overthinker.

Do I introduce myself? Do I explain in the email WHY I want to convert/what draws me to Judaism? How much about myself should I share? I'm fearful that I won't be welcomed by the community or my presence will make everyone uncomfortable or they won't find me sincere and will turn me away due to my age (I'm 20). I'm sure in my heart, in my bones, that this is what I want and this is right for me. Oh also this synagogue is the nearest to me and I've heard before that you cannot convert if you aren't in walking distance (I'd have to take the bus). Is that true? I will be moving to the area in the future but I don't want to wait to start the process until then.

Just to be clear: I am a layperson and I am not converting reform. I know it matters to some people, so I just wanted to make sure that people do know!

So, I actually think that I will share the email I sent my rabbi when I asked him to sponsor me. I think it might help you in outlining how you might want to introduce yourself - it will be under the cut, with necessary redactions! I totally get how you feel - I was nervous like hell when I was first attending my shul. However, so, so many jews are more than happy to see newcomers. Reform jews - I have noticed - are among some of the genuinely most pleased to see people like you sharing space with them! In my conservative shul, there are numerous different types of people who attend. We have people who are converting, some who are already converted, even some non-jews show up, not even out of a desire to convert! As well, age probably won't be too much of a factor - you're an adult and can make adult choices, after all, including who your people are. I'm not all that much older than you and... it has never come up once because I am more than able to choose my people and my faith (and it's a conservative shul, but I think that indicates it's the same for reform!).

And, also: You can still convert if you don't move within walking distance! That practice is something more "traditional" jews ask of prospective/in-progress converts. You more than likely would not be asked to do that by a Reform shul - they generally have different expectations of you, and that sometimes doesn't apply to frum-er communities. If you want to know why this is done, (I think) it's for two general reasons:

The community wants to help you assimilate. When you convert to judaism, you are also assimilating yourself into jewish culture. You become woven into the cloth that connects judaism together. That comes with a lot of knowledge that you ought to know! The further away you are from a jewish community, the longer it may take for you to fully assimilate into jewish culture.

They want to help you start practicing (parts of) judaism before you are (officially) a jew. When you're finally jewish, shabbos becomes something you need to reckon with if you want to be an observant jew. It becomes officially commanded for you to observe shabbos and keep it holy. If you cannot walk to shul, you may violate that commandment. By living in a walking distance of shul, you can start to observe shabbos while you're still converting. It becomes less of a shock for you to integrate judaism into your everyday life after you are officially jewish the sooner you start observing everything you can while you're converting. Does that make sense?

Because you'll be converting reform, you most likely won't have to worry about that. As long as you can attend services and meet with your future rabbi in whatever way you can (in-person, call, what have you), you will be more than able to fully convert through their standards. I wouldn't worry about this one, but I am not personally familiar with reform standards.

Alright, so below the "read more" is what I sent to my rabbi when I was asking him to be my sponsor. I hope this helps you in some way!

Hello, good afternoon!

[REDACTED] connected me with you and I was wondering if you might be interested in contacting me about being a sponsor for my conversion to Judaism? I'm planning on taking the Intro to Judaism class through [REDACTED] with the plan (and hope) of converting.

As some background, I have been attending services and interacting with the Jewish community at [SHUL] for a few months now, but my interest in Judaism goes back much further. I have also been taking Hebrew classes at [SHUL] for some time now. I feel incredibly at home in the community, and I know I am making a necessary decision.

Thank you so much for your time, and I hope to hear from you soon!

I hope you have an amazing week!

[SHALOM]

[occasionallyprosie]

"Hiding Behind Plaster and Ceremics"

Chapter 3

Wind reveals something. This marks the beginning of something new.

<<Previous

Read On AO3

Finally actually just ending this one, I've had this chapter drafted so long I feel bad not posting it but I really don't think there's much more to be added to this fic.

----

Legend really didn't like the new status quo. Twilight was very defensive of him, which he was on the fence about to be honest, and Warriors just kept giving him weird looks. Contrast that with the fact he couldn't get any space because Hyrule and Sky were trying hard to get close and he'd promised Twilight he'd try not to be as mean.

Which really just meant he couldn't force the others to just leave him alone. Even after he got over the sickness, they stuck close and he could feel his nerves turn to fire as he couldn't get time to himself.

He was biting down on his tongue, trying desperately to avoid them without breaking his promise to Twilight. Now, not only was he trying to avoid getting attached, he was also just trying to not snap as every nerve, every coil, every spring prepared to get set off because everything was just too close.

They were just starting to make camp when Wind chose his chore for it.

"I'm going on patrol!" He declared.

"Fine, but take someone with you," Warriors reminded him, the usual rule for leaving the larger group.

"Come on, Scholar!"

Legend startled as Wind grabbed his sleeve--not his arm, his sleeve--and dragged him off. He quickly pulled himself free but meeting Wind's eyes--Ocean's eyes, bright and expectant and far too smart--meant he was following him.

Wind happily moved across the rainforest floor, seemingly accustomed to brushing aside underbrush as tall as they were.

Legend decided not to ask why and just followed, letting a distance form between them and letting himself just... relax in the silence and space.

They did a number of expanding loops around the chosen campsite, only coming across some tektites at a nearby river and some Deku Babas here and there. As they turned to go back, having been silent the entire time, Wind spoke up.

"You need more time?" He asked, facing him with an overly knowing expression.

Legend frowned. "What?"

"More time alone and away from everyone?" He clarified, a wry smirk tugging at his lips. "Don’t tell me our ever-aware spitfire didn't notice I dragged him off so he wouldn't explode on everyone."

Spitfire. He'd been called that before by exactly one person, the kid in front of him. Not that he'd say it first.

"Oh," he responded, definitely with the eloquence of the scholar he was nicknamed for. "Why?"

Wind laughed. "Please, I could tell you were getting antsy, I just didn't want to find out if you getting overwhelmed by people is the same now as it was in Hytopia."

Legend stopped in his tracks, Wind noticed immediately and looked at him, a wryness in his eyes.

"You--"

"You think I couldn't recognize you?" Wind scoffed, as if insulted. "I recognized you when we met, but, well, you never said anything, and then you snapped at everyone and cursed out the Rancher when he tried to scold you for your language 'cause of the Smithy and I." He sighed. "It wasn't until you got sick and--" he grinned a bit, "you were hiding behind the Rancher, and his pelt-cloak thingie made you look so much smaller, that I knew I was right. You just didn't say anything."

Legend stared at him but Wind just smiled brightly.

"Which is okay," he said, still just as warm as when he'd asked if he was ready to head back. "I get things change... I get that you've changed and I can tell that something about all of this scares you--you haven't changed that much, Apple."

Legend grimaced. "I'm not scared."

"Can't be courageous without a bit of fear," Wind retorted with a still-wry grin. "But my point is, I noticed you were getting antsy and needed some time away from everyone. So do you want more time, more space, or what? We probably have another hour before we need to get back."

Legend ended up just backing up into a tree and slumping down to the ground, Wind hummed lightly as he followed and sat in the grass in front of him, a solid three feet of space, if not more, between them.

Silence settled, and if Legend closed his eyes, Wind was somehow so silent that as long as he ignored his magic, he could pretend he was in complete solitude.

They stayed like that for a while until Legend broke the silence. "Why aren't you mad at me?"

Wind made a confused noise. "What'd'ya mean?"

"I mean--For not telling, for not saying anything, why aren't you mad?"

Legend wouldn't admit he probably would've completely shattered if Wind was ever genuinely mad at him, Forest was their big brother, yeah, but it had been Ocean who he'd stared at and tried so desperately to mimic during Hytopia, from the casual singing of work songs to the way he fought. All of that had been Ocean, and even the blue cap he still wore to this day was the one Ocean had given him when they'd separated, sure it had been mended and resewn and altered to fit his larger head, but it was the same cap.

Wind laughed at his question though. "Why would I be? It's been years for you, I don’t think you realize how obvious it is that you've been through a lot, and what's probably only obvious to me is that it all hurt."

Legend opened his eyes and looked over at him, Wind gave him another warm smile.

"It's been years for you," he repeated, "but just over one for me. I think you've forgotten how well I know you, how well I can read you, and how little you've actually changed."

Legend stared at him. "It has been years, I'm not the same kid anymore."

Wind raised an eyebrow. "Well you have all the same tells as you did before."

"I do not."

"Oh yeah?" Wind leaned forward to poke his arm. "Then why did I know you needed to be away from everyone? It's almost as if you've been introverted since the day I met you and Hytopia was constantly getting on your nerves because of it, hmm?"

Legend couldn't help but smile a bit as he huffed and swatted him away. "I wasn't doing a very good job of hiding anything."

"And yet Forest didn't have a clue, the oblivious dumbass. I don’t know how he found out but I'd bet a gold rupee that it wasn't until you called him by his name or something."

Legend snorted. He couldn't even argue because Wind was exactly right!

For the remainder of the hour until Wind's necklace chimed with Wild's voice asking after them, they just talked and Legend didn't realize until that evening, just after dinner, that he hadn't even thought about his fear, about what was to come.

He'd reconnected with Ocean, he hadn't even thought twice about it either, which made it worse. He'd just forgotten exactly why he had been spending this whole quest sharpening his edges.

He'd forgotten that it was useless to reach out for them, as they were just going to be ripped away.

And as much as it hurt... he couldn't bring himself to regret it. Not when Wind joined him in his corner of the campsite and just laid down beside him, not chatting his head off, but quietly humming.

His heart felt softer, lighter, but even if he couldn't bring himself to regret it now, bringing his ocarina to his lips and putting a ringing tune to Wind's hums, he knew in his mind that it wouldn't last.

The quest would end and he'd be all alone again, whether or not it would be his breaking point was a different question, he thought Marin had been the breaking point but he still hadn't reached it even after her and then Ravio. What would he do then?

He didn’t know, but he’d have to concede here, wouldn’t he? He wouldn’t be able to fend off both his brothers, which meant… well, it meant he was done. It meant this was the beginning of a new chapter, at least with some of the other heroes. It meant he couldn’t keep running, and once this was over, the pitfalls of grief would catch up to him… but he couldn’t stop it, and he had to just accept that.

[jamneuromain]

Highway to Hell - Shared

Series Masterlist

Series summary: A failed mission brought you once again back on earth, a punishment that’s more pleasurable than you'd normally expect punishments to be. Your punishment? Corrupting people’s thoughts. It’s easy, in a very simple way: sexual pleasure. Turns out no man can resist such a beauty like you.

And who were you? Oh, just the devil's child.

A/N: This is a drabble of what would the four men do when they find out you have been dancing among them. Spoiler alert: they decide to share. Applause to the amazing @rogerswifesblog / @rogerswifesblog-updates who help me write this series and provide many excellent ideas to put in the fic <333

Pairings: Cop Lloyd Hansen x Reader, Priest Steve Rogers x Reader, Bartender Ari Levinson x Reader, Uncle Curtis Everett x Reader

Warnings: Smut, Gangbang, Dub con, Double Penetration, P in V, Anal, Oral (Male Receiving), Handjob, Unprotected Sex, Age Gap (implied), Power Imbalance, Spanking, Threesome (implied), Overstimulation, Creampie (implied), Cum Play, Dummification (just a little), slightly dark(?

On second thought, you shouldn’t have trusted Steve, who told you he needed to speak to you in somewhere private.

And you trusted him. Following him to where he said it would be “peace and quiet”.

Or else, you wouldn’t be cornered by four fuming men in a hotel room, all knowing that you have slept with them separately, while thinking they must have been your only one.

Who would doubt an innocent girl that did nothing than to accept their “generous” offer?

Lloyd, obviously.

“Smart move, sunshine.” The man with a moustache twitches his lips, far from amused, “Telling us that you are shy and rather we won’t tell anybody? Intimate moves forbidden in public? Too bad your little plan didn’t work out.”

“I didn’t plan anything.” You lie to their faces. While in fact you did, carefully choosing your “target”. Lloyd was the unexpected one of them though, since he asked you to pull over as you should have gotten a speed ticket.

“Public?” Steve grinds his teeth before growling, his temper on the thin line of exploding, “I fucked her right in the church. There were only two of us. But still…” Drawing a cross in front of his chest, Steve murmurs a few prayers silently, regardless of the other three men watching him in curiosity.

Lloyd snaps his head back to you, flashing a wolfish glint in his eyes, “The point is, you made us feel very bad about ourselves, sunshine.”

“Yeah, well, you should be proud of yourselves. I wasn’t planning on expanding the list of the men I’ve slept with.” You snap back.

“And we’re supposed to … what? Gloat?” Curtis casually says, taking off his coat, blocking the window, and probably your only hope of escaping, as Lloyd leans on the door.

“If you don’t like it. Feel free to cancel my monthly subscription.” You retort his sarcasm, crossing your arm in front of your chest.

“Gentlemen,” Ari hums in a low voice so that everyone could pay him some attention. He’s been silent ever since Steve led you into this room, “obviously we need more than a ‘monthly’ drop-by.”

The men nod in unison.

“Although we haven’t clarified the specific terms, I believe we should use her whenever we please. And, of course, as we all agree to, share.” Ari smiles at you, but says the darkest thing you could ever imagine.

This was definitely not part of your plan.

“I’ll ask Jake whether he wants to be part of this.” Curtis throws an icy glare at you, “I doubt he would be a problem though. He has shared with me before.”

Lloyd mutters a “fuck”. While Steve is still mulling over his sin-clarification.

“Shall we start?” Ari is shrugging off his leather jacket as he speaks, unbuttoning the top two buttons of his shirt.

“You can’t-” You cry in panic as the four men close in, surrounding you in the middle, “this is against the law … or something at least.”

“Oh sunshine, I am the law in this town.” Lloyd grabs your chin, his psychopathic grin gives you shivers down to your spine, “and you should be glad we decide to forgive you and share you. Or I could tie you up in my basement and invite my new friends over, occasionally.”

You draw a deep breath.

Tears burning. Your jaw hurting. Your dripping holes spreading wide open for two cocks.

“You like that, don’t you?” Lloyd groans as he squeezes your hand tighter, guiding you to stroke his hard cock.

“Yeah she does.” Steve agrees quietly before you could answer. He knees on the couch to push his cock further in your swollen pussy, “Christ. She’s so tight.”

“Wait till you’ve tried her ass, Priest.” Ari brings his hand firmly down your ass cheek, painting it red – as if it weren’t pink and hand-printed already, “that ass is fucking heaven.” He chuckles darkly, kissing the sensitive spot behind your ear, gripping your waist, making sure you are fully seated on his thick member, “or should I say hell?”

Stuffed to the fullest with two cocks in both of your holes, you couldn’t do more than let out a mere whimper.

“Can’t believe I’ve bought her stupid acts.” Curtis spits out through gritted teeth as he feels your throat takes his cock again as far as it could, your whimper vibrates his cock. In return, he tugs your hair without mercy, “all those innocent girly acts. Fuck.”

“We all bought it.” Lloyd eyes Curtis, raising his eyebrows, mocking Curtis, “and speaking from a man that has shared her with his son before, seriously? Innocent?”

Curtis huffs but does not bother to answer.

“My turn.” As Lloyd pulls your hair, and choke you on his cock, leaving Curtis slightly irritated.

You were used by these four men for hours. Each has painted your body, both inside and outside in milky-white substance, bringing you orgasms after orgasms. Your holes red, leaking, and abused.

“No more.” You grip Lloyd’s thigh to keep balance, sniffling when he lets your head go and breathe, battling your eyelashes, but they are heavy with tears that you can’t see his expression, “hurt too much.”

“Heard that?” Lloyd barks out laughter, wiping his cock on your face, leaving traces of your saliva and cum on your rosy cheek, “she said she can’t take it, boys.”

Ari grunts out of disagreement, his fingers dancing around your rim, attempting to squeeze one in alongside his cock, “she was screaming and moaning just fine for hours. Lies.”

“Ari, please,” The helplessness inside you bubbles and fuels to your tears, “I just can’t.”

Steve peppers a trail of kisses down your throat, nibbing your shoulder, while toying with your sensitive clit, “I guess you have to be a strong girl for us then. Don’t you want to be good for all of us, hmm? We’re prepping you. More might join, you know.” He speaks softly, comforting you as always. The panting on the joint between your neck and shoulder increases when your pussy grips him. Still, he mouths your breasts, sucking little red marks on them.

“Steve-” You feel torn apart. The four men bringing you pleasure, but in their own way. As if your body belongs to them separately. And the coil in your stomach threatens to snap with greater pain and pleasure than you could withstand.

A rough hand grips your chin, forcing you to turn the other way.

The hand that has hold you for countless times, on your back with a friendly pat.

Curtis.

“She’s not dumb yet. She can still talk.” Curtis talks about you as if you are an object in front of him, having you clench down your thigh involuntarily. It’s degrading, but it arouses you so much than you should admit. “I’d say she could take more.” The dark brooding man inspects your teary eyes and your cum-stained face, “yeah she’s alright.”

“Heard that, sunshine?” Lloyd taps your forehead with his knuckles, “not brain-dead yet.” He grins, “but it does sound empty, folks.”

Steve wipes the cum from your pussy lips, a mixture of the previous men who has thoroughly used it before he did, onto your soft stomach, which compliments your pretty skin and your cute bellybutton. He smiles warmly, though you are not even certain at this point, “she’s always the smartest. I’d say we work harder to satisfy this little devil, hmm?”

With the element of surprise, Ari starts bouncing you on his dick, shamelessly putting his flexing biceps to use, which earns him a few strangled sounds between cries and moans from you.

He simply shrugs, on receiving three other men’s looks, “I am working.”

And you gulp in fright. When Lloyd, with his sadist grin, taps your lips to open for his heavy cock as you still struggle for air.

This would be the start of some many long nights with men more than you could handle.

Taglist: @rosedpetal @dankoiseori @katcutie @peachlle @mrs-marc-spector

[merryfortune]

The Newlyweds Game

Written for 12 Days of Yurimas

Jan 2nd: Christmas Party

Title: The Newlyweds Game

Ship: Bluestshipping | Aoi/Blue Angel

Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh! Vrains

Rating: T

Word Count: 4,475

Warnings: None

Tags: Pre-Canon, Selfcest, Ambiguous Ending, Fluff, Humour, Christmas, Kissing, Secrets

   “Thank you for video calling today, Blue Angel, we really appreciate it.” President Hosoda said, his tone of voice warm and grateful.

   “Agreed, agreed.” Tanaka nodded his head.

   “Shame Zaizen couldn’t come in. Of all the days to get a cold… We’ll be sure to let her know you said hi.” Sato sighed pitifully, rubbing his chin.

   “Oh, don’t even worry about it.” Blue Angel replied, flustered, and waving her hands. “I-I’m sure Miss Zaizen already knows I’m as big a fan as she is.”

   Suzuki laughed and crossed his arms in front of him, “You two are chalk and cheese. Not alike whatsoever.”

   “Oh, that’s not true. We have duelling in common, at the very least, and if it weren’t for fans like all of you, I’d have no one cheering me on.” Blue Angel said. “I’m really grateful for these meet and greet opportunities, it's been a blast duelling you all, too.”

   “You really are Den City’s sweetheart, Blue Angel.” Sato smiled. “You’ve only been a Charisma Duellist for a few months and are already top fifty. You’ll be bigger than strawberry shortcake on Christmas Day before you know it. So if anything, we ought to be happy a rising celebrity like yourself has made an appearance at our dinky little Duel Club.”

   “Heh, true.” Suzuki agreed.

   “Aw, c’mon, we’re great.” Tanaka argued playfully, furthering the banter.

   Only for President Hosoda to interject, he adjusted his glasses and cleared his throat, “Anyways, Sato’s comment about Christmas cake reminded me, Blue Angel, if you would be so kind if you are free, would you like to visit again via video call for our annual Christmas party?”

   “Oh, um…” Blue Angel hesitated.

   “Please, please, please, Blue Angel.” Shima begged.

   Blue Angel continued to hesitate, especially now that she had a chorus of pleading and asking from the various Duel Club members sans Hosoda who had some sense of decorum. It was so hard to say no, her heart pounded. Besides, she was already going… as Zaizen Aoi.

   “Please, it would be kind of you, if only to meet Miss Zaizen, our only female member of the club. It would be good, I think, for representational reasons or aspirational ones.” Hosoda finally joined the others in asking.

   Wearing Blue Angel down and breaking her courteous, eloquent reply she had been formulating behind her quivering lips.

   “I already am.” Blue Angel burst. 

   “You are?” Suzuki asked, his head tilted.

   “Yes, Aoi invited me. Did she not tell you?” Blue Angel asked.

   “You know Aoi?” Shima asked.

   “Yes, we’re um…” Blue Angel’s mind began to race. She couldn’t say that they were the same person and so, she just said the first thing as far away from the truth as she could find. “We’re dating.”

   The idiocy of her own statement went down her spine like a bolt of electricity but hey. She was damned if it didn’t work and completely changed the nature of the choral pleading. It shut them up. If only for all the wrong reasons. Jaws dropped and eyes widened.

   “I asked her not to tell, not even my civilian name.” Blue Angel clarified, unhelpfully, all things considered.

   “Of course, that makes sense.” Hosoda said, coughing into his hand.

   “You know, Zaizen always did give me that vibe…” Tanaka mumbled.

   “No wonder Shima’s hit-on attempts haven’t worked.” Suzuki laughed.

   Sato pat Naoki’s shoulder with a pitiful expression.

   “Argh, now I feel like an asshole. I had no idea she was taken.” Shima grumbled, embarrassed.

   “Only recently, like we only got together a few weeks ago.” Blue Angel added to her now ever expanding lie. “Though, we knew each other beforehand… Anyways, I-I don’t want to air Aoi’s private affairs without her permission but, um, I will see you at the Christmas Party, I’ll look forward to it. But, um, now that you know we’re going out, I can’t come as myself anymore so it’ll have to be a video call, if that’s okay.”

   “Of course, you and Miss Zaizen’s comfort and privacy are paramount.” Hosoda trumpeted.

   “Oh, Aoi was right, you boys really are the sweetest.” Blue Angel laughed. “Tata now, I-I’ll see you at the party.”

   Blue Angel logged out as fast as she could, sending them off with a delicate wave and when she took off her VR equipment in real life, a pit formed her stomach. Just what had she gotten herself into? Faking dating but it was her other self as an online avatar?

   Oh no…

   This could only spell disaster, right?

   So, she would have to prepare. There was a week until the party and Aoi spent all her off-time coming up with a way to make this lie work. She might have had an idea or two about how to do that.

   The day of, Aoi was nervous but she had done her best. She put on some festive glad rags, white stockings with a long-sleeved red dress, and was ready to make this work. Blue Angel, too, with all her pre-recorded responses. The goal was to make this as short and choppy as she could with a stream deck app on her phone. Here’s to nothing, she thought as she arrived and welcomed with open arms by her fellow club members.

   “Good afternoon, Miss Zaizen, the Smart Board is ready for Blue Angel’s arrival.” Hosoda informed her, escorting her across the classroom.

   Since Aoi was in charge of bringing the guest of honour, that had made her exempt to all the boring jobs ahead of the Christmas party. The boys had, instead, done up the classroom with decorations and prepared a platter for afternoon tea. They had done a really good job, too. 

   The once clean if dreary classroom had come alive with a jovial atmosphere. All the smiling faces under wreaths and ribbons added to the end of year mood. This was the last day of school after all and they were sending it off with a bang. There was cake and crackers, cheese and dips, dried meats and sweets. It was all really tied together, too, even if it was obvious most of the decor was from the bargain bin and the food from the shelves of the nearest convenience store. Still, Aoi liked what she saw.

   Especially since they had decorated the Smart Board, too, in anticipation of Blue Angel appearing on it. Not in Aoi’s plan, however, but she could try to make this work so long as she kept idle animations on.

   She walked up to it and essentially said, let there be light. Blue light, specifically, as the screen lit up around the jolly green ribbons, and the Duel Club’s guest of honour appeared. Blue Angel smiled and waved, greeting everyone by name, acting all cute and giggly and hopefully, none would be the wiser.

   Even though the lie of her appearance now dwarfed reality, with Aoi standing in front of the screen and the boys came around to cluster.

   “Now,” Aoi piped up as her fellow club members tried to get Blue Angel’s attention, “Angie can’t stay long and she’s really busy so if she seems AFK, its probably because she is.”

   “Understood, we will try not to bother her.” Hosoda said.

   “We also decided that we’ll text instead of whisper, so if I seem rude for using my phone, just know I’m chatting with my girlfie.” Aoi continued.

   “We are seeing a very different, much cuter side of Zaizen today.” Tanaka laughed. “I like it, she seems happy.”

   If happy meant nervous, then sure, Aoi conceded. She bit her tongue. Her stomach knotted and twisted. The strawberry shortcake looked really good and she just wanted to stuff her mouth with it if it meant no more lies would come out. Still, she put herself on guard and began to field questions, filter anything that could be a problem, and more.

   Though, thankfully, for the most part it was just a chill, normal party. The guys socialised and ate food, drinking cola and lemonade all whilst playing games. Not just Duel Monsters, surprisingly enough despite being the Duel Club. Aoi and Blue Angel, meanwhile, were perfect at faking secret glances and text messages. It certainly gave more life and entropy to the Blue Angel recordings that the boys were none the wiser to.

   Until they wanted to get too close and observe the happy couple for themselves. Something that put the fear of a Solemn Strike in Aoi. Hadn’t they already gotten their fill of Q&A last week?!

   Seemed video games and shiny cardboard could only entertain the teenage male for so long…

   “Hey, Aoi, Blue Angel, let’s play some rounds of the newlywed game with you two.” Suzuki announced with a salute.

   “The… what?” Aoi asked.

   “We feel bad, we know you prefer to be on the sidelines, especially with your plus one but it would be remiss if we didn’t do at least one activity with the whole club.” Hosoda clarified absolutely nothing.

   Sato snickered in his low, gravelly voice, “It's a game where couples have to guess what the other would answer a question with.”

   “Like what’s the other’s favourite colour.” Tanaka added as an example.

   Aoi discretely pressed a button on her phone and, with amazing synchronicity, she and Blue Angel answered the example with a resounding, “Blue.”

   To the absolute amusement to everyone else. They laughed raucously and Hosoda adjusted his glasses.

   “My, you two are a match made in… Blue heaven.” he joked.

   “Good one, boss.” Tanaka said and gave Hosoda a nudge with his elbow.

   “So, let’s start, eh?” Naoki suggested.

   Aoi’s stomach dropped. This was… not something she had expected. She got lucky with that easy-peasy question but if they asked something totally off the walls, she was screwed.

   “I-I dunno, wouldn’t it be more fun to play, uh…” Aoi fumbled to come up with an alternative.

   Which left the boys all too happy to start firing off questions. It was utter commotion, getting no one anywhere. Thank goodness, which meant Aoi could take the reins back from this sudden quick-time event that could have her and her secret in jeopardy if not played correctly.

   “One question per club member,” Aoi announced, “I don’t want you guys getting too nosy, is all, and then we’re done. Blue Angel and I will then call it quits, because, like… I have a curfew and Angie has stuff to do.” She just hoped they would buy it.

   And they did. They discussed amongst themselves and the honours of first, naturally, went to the president of the club. Aoi just had to cross her fingers and hope that she could cobble together some answers for whatever whacko, screwball questions was about to come out of the mouths of her club mates. 

   At least, unlike with a real couple, Aoi had the unfair advantage of being both players and thus could “read her own” mind. Hopefully that would be a boon to her as she tried to figure out or otherwise anticipate just might what the boys would ask her. Something that she proved a struggle with as she didn’t know them all that well unlike her other self.

   Now that she thought about it…

   They were a lot more brotherly with each other than akin with her. It felt a little bad but she had a lot of reasons to be a standoffish, private person. Even so, this was probably the first - and only time - they were going to see her open up much about anything.

   “Alright, for Blue Angel about Miss Zaizen,” Hosoda said, hands behind his back, all prim and proper as he carried himself, “tell me, who has the better win rate against the other?”

   “Oi, oi, kind of an easy one, huh, prez?” Naoki complained.

   “I thought it would be best to start low and work our way up.” Hosoda said.

   The other boys seemed unimpressed by the question but Aoi thanked her lucky stars. That one was all too easy for her sock puppet to reply.

   “Tee-hee-hee, that would be Blue Angel.” 

   Aoi stitched together some laughter with half of an introduction to make a brand new sentence. Blue Angel bounced and laughed, seemingly at Aoi expense as she made a lowly show of herself.

   “Yep, that’s true.” Aoi replied.

   “That was a practice question,” Naoki grumbled, winding his arm up like he was a baseball batter in order to stretch it out, and emphasising that it was to be all hard ball only here on out, “I got one for Aoi.”

   “Go ahead.” Aoi replied.

   “What is Blue Angel’s go-to snack from the konbini?” Naoki asked, his voice thunderous and yet…

   That was it?

   He wasn’t impressing the other boys much - except Hosoda who did concede that question mogged his own as having a slightly more interesting answer. His certainly opened it up to a side-sided sweep. At least this one was a little bit more unobvious - though for all they knew, it could be something in any given tabloid.

   Aoi licked her lips and mumbled, doing her best to keep eyes up whilst she tried to figure out an answer. She did have some food-related recordings since she figured people would talk about food at a Christmas party. Didn’t really matter which button she hit, so long as the answer was sweet. It didn’t have to match, though, at the very least…

   “Oh, um…” Aoi murmured, thinking, “it's Pocky, duh.” Everyone loves Pocky so it was a non-suspicious answer in Aoi’s mind.

   “Well, Blue Angel?” Hosoda asked, prompting the recording.

   Blue Angel blinked, then bounced and smiled, all idle animations, until Aoi pressed a button, “Strawberry shortcake!”

   The boys laughed. What an adorable answer.

   “Haha, oops. I didn’t realise, babe, you preferred cake to biscuits. I’ll have to remember that.” Aoi replied.

   “All good, Aoi, no one can be perfect.” Naoki assured her.

   “My turn to ask a question.” Suzuki piped up.

   “Be our guest.” Aoi replied.

   “I don’t really believe in this sorta stuff but it's a bit girly so whatever,” Suzuki shrugged, “but for Blue Angel, what is Aoi’s zodiac sign? ‘Cause birthday would be too easy.”

   “Ooh, that’s a good one.” Tanaka agreed.

   Aoi’s stomach dropped. She did not have an answer for this. Nor did she have anything that could be a proper non-answer like saying “the fish” or “the ram”. Though her mind scoured these hours she spent rigging up these recordings just in case but no dice. 

   Luckily… There was an emergency button.

   “Whenever you're ready, Blue Angel.” Suzuki said.

   “I have no idea.” Blue Angel replied, blithe as sunlight on Aoi’s command.

   Aoi forced herself to laugh instead of releasing a gusty sigh of relief, “Makes sense she can’t remember off the top of her head, we haven’t celebrated my birthday together yet as a couple.” 

   “Ah, true. Only a couple weeks is what Blue Angel told us last week.” Suzuki said.

   “Oh well, no points this round.” Sato observed as he wrote something down on a piece of paper.

   Aoi hadn’t even realised someone was keeping score - or at that points were being doled at all. Her blood ran cold.

   “So, just for fun, when is your birthday?” Tanaka asked, turning to Aoi.

   “Angie, you better remember, I want a present,” Aoi said, sounding way too saccharine about it, “my birthday is July third.”

   “Huh, summer baby, wouldn’t have guessed that.” Tanaka whistled.

   “Makes Miss Zaizen a cancer, too, which I can very much see.” Sato chortled. “For what it's worth, I do believe. I’m a Pisces and today’s lucky item is a pen.” He wagged his pen for emphasis.

   Suzuki rolled his eyes.

   “Here that, Blue Angel, don’t forget Aoi’s birthday next year.” Naoki teased.

   “Yeah, Angie, don’t forget.” Aoi insisted, too, joining the bandwagon.

   Blue Angel just laughed, expression kind of absent-minded.

   “Well, I’d like to go next if that’s okay.” Sato said.

   “Go right ahead.” Aoi replied.

   Sato paused, mused, and tapped his chin with his pen before he asked, “Hm, for Aoi, who had better handwriting?”

   Excellent, Aoi cheered internally, another question with an easy reply. 

   She turned her head to the Smart Board, “I’ll let you answer this one, Angie, since we whiffed the last question.”

   “Thank you.” Blue Angel chirped. Then, with a slight blip to the video quality, she then replied, “Me.”

   “I love the self-confidence.” Sato beamed under his spectacles. “Well, Aoi, do you concur?”

   “I do.” Aoi replied.

   “Then let’s see it. I wanna see Blue Angel’s handwriting because Aoi’s handwriting is already so neat, I want to see something even better.” Suzuki said.

   Aoi did not see that coming. No such thing as a freebie, it seemed. Especially as the other boys began to cheer them on, they wanted to see Blue Angel’s beautiful handwriting - and hopefully nab an autograph. Though, the latter was just Naoki who was very much the loudest voice amid the hullabaloo. 

   One that Blue Angel was seemingly oblivious to, smiling and preening on the big screen.

   Aoi needed to think of something quick and thank goodness. There was a work around immediately obvious to her. She didn’t have a recording of Blue Angel writing some pretty autographs but DuelTube most certainly did.

   “Blue Angel is in a private server, by the way guys,” Aoi piped up on behalf of her girlfriend, “and it’d be so hard to manually add in new props in and stuff that she doesn’t already have on her avatar or part of her inventory so I’ll just quickly do some searching…”

   She snatched the keyboard and switched tabs. She artfully deflected out of the program she was using to project her Blue Angel videos and got onto the internet. From there, with enough key word optimisation, she found what she was looking for: some videoing from the Link VRAINS where Blue Angel had been signing autographs from when she had placed thirty-six in a huge battle royale. 

   “Tada.” Aoi said as she paused on the perfect freeze frame. “Oh, and as for me…” 

   For herself, she grabbed some printer paper that was lying around and Sato lended her a pen. She scribbled out the kanji for her entire name then turned it around for the boys to see - and, more importantly, compare against Blue Angel’s handwriting up on the big screen.

   There she was. Waving hello, holding a large card turned towards the camera. The footage was grainy and low-quality, there was an obvious crowd in the frame but Blue Angel was by far the main focus. As was her gorgeous and cutesy handwriting, all but done in calligraphy and blue ink. It was starry and loopy, bubbly, and looked nothing like Aoi’s thoroughly mid little scribble on her printer paper.

   “Wow, yeah, Blue Angel does have really nice handwriting.” Naoki agreed.

   Aoi sighed out of relief. Thank goodness she had decided long ago to best keep her lives separate, she needed not only a stage name but a whole different way of writing. She had practiced hard for clips like the one on the Smart Board.

   “Point to Blue Angel.” Sato decided and Aoi silently handed back the pen so he could write it down, too.

   Aoi smiled. She was almost in the clear. Just one person hadn’t had a crack at being question master for the newlywed game: Tanaka. A thought that must have dawned on him, too, as he rubbed his chin in thought and with his eyebrows creased.

   “Alrighty, last question, I gotta come up with a good one, eh?” Tanaka said, rubbing his hands together in thought. “Okay, I think I got it. For all the marbles. Blue Angel?”

   “Yes?” Blue Angel replied on the press of a button.

   “What is Aoi’s dream?” Tanaka asked.

   The boys howled around him and Aoi straightened up. Aoi was an intensely private person, no one really knew much about what she wanted in depth. A high school diploma like everyone else, some kind of degree at university but nothing was set in stone.

   All because Blue Angel was her dream, the manifestation of it. Of wanting attention, of wanting to be the greatest there was, someone who brought smiles to everyone including herself. Someone she could be in the future.

   “Can be anything, dream for the future, like a career or thing she wants to achieve, heck I’ll even take her dream holiday vacation or whatever’s on the top of her Christmas wish list.” Tanaka added helpfully.

   But Aoi couldn’t say any of what she was thinking - nor could she make Blue Angel say it, either. She was thinking through her recorded videos, what she could make Blue Angel say using what she had prepared in advance. 

   “Whenever you're ready, Blue Angel…?” Tanaka prompted the recording.

   “Not yet.” Blue Angel replied.

   Aoi swallowed a lump. This was the most tense the newlywed game had been thus far. She looked through the faces of her fellow club members and she was certain they were beginning to catch onto the ruse that she had set up. That the facade was falling apart, they were completely unconvinced.

   Time was ticking. This was about to become an emergency and Aoi was getting desperate. She saw a line but she didn’t like it. She could say that she didn’t have a dream. In a sense, that was true. What was the substance of fame? She got what? Bragging rights and paparazzi? That sucked. 

   But there was still the truth.

   She could twist it, make it fit the narrative.

   “I have an idea.” Blue Angel announced. Her lines disjointed and wrong but she was talking so hopefully that was enough, Aoi thought as she continued to touch her phone ever so discreetly. “I’m having fun.” Oops, wrong button. “Aoi wants- me.”

   “Huh?” Naoki gawked.

   The stitched together sentences were hasty.

   “Um, what Blue Angel means is… my dream is her.” Aoi clarified. “Angie, I told you, I’m not that kinda girl! Not in public anyway, in front of my… my friends.”

   Aoi glanced at the Duel Club boys. Was she even friends with them? She enjoyed their company, the low stakes Duels, the fact they understood her private life was off-limits for the most part. It was nice, a home away from home since it was warm and welcoming, full of actual people rather than robots and the absence of her brother.

   “O-Oh my.” Hosoda murmured.

   Blue Angel giggled, “Oops.”

   “Still, that’s a good dream.” Tanaka said. “Sato, give Blue Angel the point, why don’t you?”

   “If you say so.” Sato shrugged and he scribbled it down. He then looked over his notes and made a decision, “Okay, we had two round with no points and Aoi answered both times, then three rounds where Blue Angel scored points so I guess Blue Angel wins. Five questions only makes it hard… Oh well, if that’s what you want.”

   “Aw, congrats, Angie.” Aoi said, fake as plastic.

   “Yay.” Blue Angel cheered.

   “So, what’re you gonna give Blue Angel as a prize for winning, eh, Aoi?” Naoki pestered her.

   “Huh?” Aoi blinked.

   “Yeah, Zaizen, what’re you gonna give Blue Angel for winning?” Tanaka joined in.

   “It’s only right to give her something, agreed.” Suzuki grinned a shit-eating grin.

   “How about… a kiss, eh? Since your girlfriends.” Naoki obnoxiously suggested.

   Aoi’s knees knocked and she played a shocked expression that she had recorded of Blue Angel - but it was obvious, that time, that she was just playing. Blue Angel recoiled back, hands in the air and jaw dropped, eyes bugged but it was just so exaggerated, like a rigged anime drawing.

   “Hush now, all of you. Stop with the peer pressure, Aoi has already clarified she is not into PDA. So hush now.” Hosoda scolded his subordinates.

   “Exactly.” Sato agreed sternly.

   “Ah, sorry.” Tanaka said.

   Though Naoki rebelled by giving Aoi puppy dog eyes. He had all the best intentions in the world, he promised through a quivering lower lip and the shine in his eyes. 

   “Ah, what the hey. A little kiss can’t hurt considering that it's just me and the Smart Board.” Aoi shrugged and used that motion to disguise her using her phone, tucked into the kangaroo pocket of her Mrs. Claus dress.

   “True!” Blue Angel cheered.

   “Well, if they’re comfortable with it.” Sato shrugged, speaking to Hosoda.

   “In that case, if you are, indeed, comfortable with the negging.” Hosoda relented.

   “I am, promise.” Aoi replied.

   She walked further into the centre of the Smart Board. The image of her “girlfriend” was gargantuan around her, blue light haloed her and turned the pixels fuzzy. There was a funny feeling in the bottom of Aoi’s stomach. She hadn’t been lying, PDA made her uncomfortable but there was something almost fizzy about how she felt. It was exciting. Having an audience, even if she was doing something embarrassing and equivalent to practicing kissing the mirror.

   “Here goes nothing.” Aoi murmured.

   She got up on her tiptoes and… Blue Angel bent down. Her hands reached out, as though she wanted to caress Aoi but the best she could do was touch the screen back. Aoi’s eyes widened as her lips pressed against the screen. She could feel the whir of electricity on her lips, it was sizzling and warm.

   What the…?

   Did she bump her phone but she didn’t remember recording any clips with these movements. Or was it a trick of the light, Blue Angel’s vision morphing because she was getting too up close and personal with the Smart Board. 

   Still, the kiss was enough to prove her allegiance to her so-called girlfriend and the lie she embodied. The boys turned bashful, surprised that Aoi had succumbed to kissing Blue Angel in public and through the video call, no less. When Aoi pulled back, there was a smudge on the Smart Board from where Aoi had been.

   “Okay, um, I think that’s enough for now, I think I and Blue Angel best be going, it's been a fun party, guys.” Aoi said, sheepish. She retreated into the turtleneck of her collar, blushing.

   “Bye, bye.” Blue Angel cheered.

   “It's been a pleasure, please do not be a stranger to our club.” Hosoda wished the happy couple well.

   “Er, thanks.” Aoi said.

   She let the other boys say their farewell and she looped a blooper of Blue Angel saying goodbye and that was that. The Christmas party had been as navigated as best it could have to preserve her secret but the sensation of kissing the Smart Board lingered on Aoi’s lips. There was just something truly out of the ordinary, as though for a second… Blue Angel had taken on a life of her own, Aoi couldn’t explain it nor the butterflies in her stomach that it gave her.

[youreallyshouldtalkmore]

A Boon to Boot

A.N: Same artistReader as in the series Once upon a Time when can be found on my Genshin Impact MasterList.  While you don’t need to read them to understand this, there is background info that’s expanded on in those one shots. 

P.S: I truly love the Sumeru fam! 

_____________________________

It was really just a coincidence that you ran into your fiancé having a boy's night, with Tighnari, Kaveh and Cyno at Puspa Cafe. You secretly wondered how they got Alhaitham to agree to this get together, but upon seeing you, they quickly pulled you to the table. 

“Y/N, can you please talk to this big lug?!” Kaveh started not two seconds after you sat next to Alhaitham. 

You smiled indulgently, “About what?” 

Kaveh looked around before leaning in to whisper urgently,  “I request permission to continue living at our house!” 

You had finally been added to the list of people who knew that Kaveh was living at Alhaitham’s house. 

Which the list tallied to those at the table. 

Alhaitham snorted,“What part of that is your house in the first place? Once Y/N and I are married, you will have to go!” 

Kaveh practically whined, “Y/N please, I am asking for mercy here!” 

You shrugged, “Well, Alhaitham has decided. Like he said, it is his house.” 

Kaveh batted his eyes in a sad attempt at puppy dogs. Alhaitham snorted in disgust, but Kaveh was undeterred, “But you will be his wife. Can’t you help me out?!” 

“How shameless can you be?” Cyno asked. 

Tighnari added with a sigh,“Yes, this has been the topic for most of the time we’ve been here!” 

“We haven’t even gotten a good round of TCG in because of this foolishness!” griped Cyno. 

Alhaitham spoked up, “And I never came here to play a card game to begin with, so I’m leaving!” 

Kaveh was fast loosing track of the conversation as he leaned in your direction with big eyes, “Y/N..!” 

“Look, can I be honest with you? Never mind, I’m gonna be honest with you anyway.” You waved away, “I admit, it’s kinda funny seeing the two of you fight like cats and dogs. I like to pull out some popcorn and just watch this show. I still don’t get why and how you managed to live together when it’s clear you can’t stand each other, but that’s not the issue here.” 

You continued, “In two months, Alhaitham and I will be married, and I’ll be moving into his house. That’s what we agreed on. How ever funny your fights are, there are only so because of moderation.” 

Kaveh wrinkled his nose, “What?” 

“Kaveh, if I had to live with the two of you fighting every single day, it will cease to be funny. Then it’ll become a headache I got to deal with. I try to live a stress-free life, monitoring grown men, ain’t on the agenda!” 

Kaveh slammed a flat palm on the table, “Then I won’t fight anymore!!” 

“HA!!” You purposely leaned in his direction, “HA!! Boy, please…don’t just dry lie!” You turned to Cyno and Tighnari who were snickering, “Did you boys hear this? He said he’ll magically stop fighting. Can you believe it!?” 

Tighnari leaned his head in his hand as he looked on in mirth as Kaveh, “Even you don’t believe that! I give it five minutes!” 

Cyon shook his head, “Why give them that much time? I give in three.” 

“Seconds….” 

Everyone looked at Alhaitham who clarified, “I’d give three seconds not minutes.” 

“You…” Kaveh stopped himself, eyes widening at his own folly. He almost fell into the trap.  

He could feel the judgmental stares from the table, making him clamped his mouth down in order to try not to say anything in this delicate moment. He needed you on his side! 

You stabbed a finger at him, “My point exactly! I’m sorry, but you have two months to make the necessary arrangements!” 

“Would you really toss me out into the streets, cold and hungry?” 

You were fast losing your patience, and it was beginning to show. You breathed loudly through your nose,  “Kaveh, I don’t know what to tell you, okay! I came from another world with nothing. No connections, no job, no money, no place to stay. Within a year, I had a job, a place, friends, connection and money!! Why is a grown man, who has lived here his entire life, finding this a difficult subject?” 

“Because he got in debt.” Alhaitham supplied. 

“Pipe down!!” Kaveh hissed looking around shifty eyed before stating, “Exactly!!” 

Alhaitham rolled his eyes,“That was not said for your benefit! 

“But that is a point! I got into debt! That is not my fault!!” 

By now, your right eye was beginning to twitch. Cyno and Tighnari exchanged glances as Kaveh got into another fight with Alhaitham. 

“YA!!!” 

Some of the other patrons turned their heads before going back to their business. Kaveh stopped talking at Alhaitham, his head whipping towards you.  

“Look, if Alhaitham agrees to let you stay, then I’ll keep my mouth shut….” 

Alhaitham interjected, “Not happening!” 

You continued without missing a beat, “If he doesn’t, you have two months. Two months for your behind to find someplace else. But you know what, I am generous….” 

Kaveh’s eyes lit up with hope. 

“You are kind indeed to be so given these circumstances.” Cyno injected as Tighnari added, “Anything you offer in his condition would be generous.” 

Kaveh pouted, “Condition? Ya’ll make me sound like a rabid dog!” 

You turned back to Kaveh, “I’m moving out of my apartment, but perhaps I can set you up with the manager and maybe you two can hash out a deal. I don’t know. But your broke behind better be trying your hardest to move out. Maybe, just mayyyyybe, if you're still having problems, Alhaitham will be nice enough to let you stay on another week, weeks-ish….” 

Kaveh almost shot out of his seat, “That would be fabulous!!” 

Cyno sighed, “Missing the forest for the trees.” 

Tighnari shook his head. 

You thumped a hand on the table, “That is not an invitation to do nothing, Kaveh!! Even if you earn an extra week-ish, if I find out you’ve been doing nothing, even that will be retracted. I promise you, you will not be here for a whole year or even six months! You better get it together!”

Kaveh clapped his hands together, “I will try my best!! Ha-ha!” 

“You need more than your best!” Tighnari stated.  

Kaveh was hopeless. 

Kaveh glared at him, “Shouldn’t you be rooting for me?” 

“Whatever! You know what’s what. Now, if you excuse me, this one is out!” You began standing up. 

“Don’t want to join us for a game?” Cyno asked as he began to eagerly shuffle his deck. 

Tighnari just gave a silent sigh as he pushed his own deck into place for the start of the game. If they don’t get in at least a round or two of TCG in, he knew that Cyno will be pouting about it for the next couple of days. 

You shook your head, “Nah, I was just passing through. Kinda loud in here.” 

Alhaitham looked up at you, his eyes boring holes. Even Tighnari looked up at you sharply. Cyno looked on curiously, while Kaveh was just happy to have what he thought was a boon as he began looking over his own deck. 

It wasn’t but whatever made him feel better. 

You blinked before smiling at them, “I’m fine! Not that kind of loud. I’m just tired and I wanna go home. Ya’ll enjoy yourselves.” 

Tighnari began to relax at your words. Your eyes were focused and sharp, unlike the times when sounds began to overwhelm you. Either way, you were due to come to Avidya Forest for a break. Collei was beginning to miss you. 

Alhaitham began standing up regardless, “I wasn’t, actually. I’ll go with you.” He shot a glare at Kaveh, “It’ll give a reprieve, at least.” 

Tighnari laughed, “So the answer to your reprieve is to sic him on us?” 

It took a moment but Kaveh finally caught on and snapped, “Hey!!” 

Cyno gave a small smile, “Well, if you both don’t want to. Have a good evening!”

—

Both you and Alhaitham walked in silence as you went back to your house. You were halfway there when Alhaitham finally spoke, “Is it quieter now?” 

You smiled up at him, “Yeah, it’s fine. Don’t worry so much.” 

Alhaitham just looked at you for a long moment before facing forward. 

“I hope I didn’t overstep any boundaries.”

Alhaitham stopped a few seconds after your statement, making you stop as well. You looked up curiously at him, “Explain your meaning.” 

Your eyes cut away from him, “Like you said, it’s your house. If you want to have Kaveh continue to stay, I will keep my mouth shut.” 

“I don’t want him there now.” 

You couldn’t help to giggle at his deadpanned voice. But then you felt something very close to you and looked up to see Alhaitham looking down at you.

When he had your attention he spoke, “Besides, you will be my wife, so naturally my house will become our house. Had you wanted to move elsewhere, we could have done that as well. Having a quiet area to live is important to both of us. If it is unsatisfactory, I’d have you say something.” 

His green-red eyes bore into you as you shook your head, “Your house is in a pretty quiet area with not a lot of foot traffic save for the people that live there. I think it’s an acceptable place.” 

Then to your surprise, he leaned forward, making you instinctively lean back. Your eyes darted around, “Alhaitham, we are still in public.” 

“I’m aware. Look at me.” 

Your eyes snapped to his, “It makes sense to have that freeloader move out. I do not want to start our newlywed life with weighted baggage. Now, if you wanted to keep him around, perhaps I would consider it. It was nice of you to offer the little bit you did. I was not offend. Having you deal with it, meant that I did not have to; quite a great bargain, no?” 

You pushed at his chest, making him stand up straight. You straightened as well, “So you just wanted to do less work on the situation?” 

“I told him multiple times, but he has selective hearing right now. And besides, as my future wife, shouldn’t I depend on you in moments like this?” Here a smirk began forming. 

You swatted at his chest, becoming warm at his words, “You're lucky, I’m nice.” 

Alhaitham caught your hand, holding it in his, “Now, let’s get you home. Maybe you’ll let me stay an extra hour before I gotta deal with my roommate.” 

The two of you continued to walk. 

You smiled mischievously, “You could throw him out now, just saying. Don’t tell him I said that, though. Let him think he has my support. The poor boy is on a lifeline.” 

“I would never sacrifice my future wife in such a manner. But, truthfully, I’ve already thought about that….” 

You just giggled. 

[sheinsidemymindvro]

okay, i have questions if you dont mind, feel free to ignore otherwise:

i believe you mentioned psychics are born as such; assuming this to be correct, would you agree that it would likely be common the majority of them don’t understand themselves to be as such? & if so, how do you think they develop or discover the as you call it “intuitive” process of engaging in the disposition? or do you think the majority of predisposed individuals never knowingly engage in the practice?

are you aware of any of the minutia of the practice beyond the “picturing the face of someone” to place thoughts into said persons conscious? essentially are you aware of any of the modalities or practices wielded by a ‘psychic’ beyond the little bit youve expanded upon in response to previous asks? is the breadth of a ‘psychics’ abilities confined to this idea of speaking thoughts either into, or as the persons conscious?

you mention the ability of this psychic bothering you, to be able to manipulate muscular contractions? but the extent of this control seems rather minor? as i assume she isnt able to control your body into full on involuntary actions? or is she?

you mention the ability for the psychic to be able to mimic ones inner voice; but also mimic essentially any voice of which they physic can imagine, firstly i assume this process functions much in the same way the targeting itself does?; imaging the face of the individual you want to speak into, then imaging the words you wish to speak, as being spoken by the person of which you wish to mimic? this would assume the psychic would not be able to mimic voices of which they cannot imagine? for example the psychic could not mimic say your mother’s voice, assuming the psychic had never heard your mother speak? if this is true, my followup question would be, would hearing a recording of a voice be sufficient? or would one have to have heard the voice in person to mimic it? what if the psychic is wrongly remembering the voice in question, would their mimicry reflect the discrepancy of the voice?

lastly (at least for this moment, i may come up with further questions) in your experience, are these psychics actively working with deities/entities? or are they purely secular folks who are born with the predisposition? i fear that was sort of vague, in example, is it akin to say an individual being born with an extra extremity & simply learning how to use it? or do they actively work with deities/entities to hone the skill?

thank you! what an interesting concept, i would love to know more! also please feel free to include any knowledge or understanding of this ability you have yet to post about, you feel might be interesting for someone with no previous acquaintance to the concept/ability, as im interested in p much anything you have to share related.

this is an excellent ask thank you, i would love to elaborate further in my findings.

psychics are born with this ability, they talk to me and don't have issues with letting me know (i was intrigued af) they didn't think i would be so open about what I'm going through.

1.

to clarify - they realise they can go into someone's mind at a young age by just being. such as breathing.

its safe to say that if one is psychic, they will know, imagine being a child and suddenly your reading peoples thoughts, memories and reality. also either their mother or father will be a psychic as its passed down through dna, my guess, its their brain. I think all psychics engage in the practice , some observe and learn, others seek to harm as they think they are gods when they are just human. i think the longer they engage and experiment, the more they learn of what they can and cant do, they are all different and some have stronger abilities than others (three of them have been bothering me) example: if one is 26 and has been abusing people since a young age, they would figure out all sorts of things they can do to someone, if one can control ones electrical pulses from the brain, well that's what controls the whole human body. they don't have the ability to make me have full on involuntary reactions such as lifting my hand up (there might be someone out there who could) but they aim to make me as uncomfortable as possible, so when I'm having a good time, almost anywhere on my body they can contract muscles almost like a electrical pulse machine people use for exercise and stimulation which is intended to make me scared but i just ignore it, that stacked with feeding me with fake emotions. I've learnt the difference between my thoughts and emotions and fake ones intended to influence me into anxiety. example: i stop engaging and thinking which they really don't like because they seek constant entertainment, i will have my chest feel tight and pulses throughout my body along with a heavy feeling similar to anxiety and increased heart rate but their tricks are the same every time and I've learnt the difference, the psychics in question are just some dumb girls who cant think of anything new to do, so it becomes very repetitive on a daily basis and she admits she's a retard at least a few times a day. it feels like my body and mind are not in sync, calm in mind, body is anxious and with the pulses it just gives it away. they get mad at me for being "cool" such as finding new artists and songs pisses them off because they are lame and cant find these things on their own. their words not mine. its real petty shit. basically elusins goal is to learn internet culture through me, she thinks it will help her blow up, as I've gotten to know her, she's such a boring fake bitch. I'm not worried. it feels like they force their consciousness onto me, to have such a connection (unwanted) our emotions are intertwined, i know when shes sad when i shit on her etc, if she laughs it makes me laugh which is annoying and vice versa. she doesn't seem to be able to control this with precision, if she could stop me from feeling her emotions when it looks bad for her, i think she would. i can feel her tears without crying myself. it has been a year now. i tried contacting Elusins mother a couple times, (camilla ralkov) she didn't want to engage with me and couldn't believe her angel daughter would abuse me for a year. her mother seems to have decided to not engage in the practice in her maturity. i asked her to look into my mind but she refused, i think she was scared cause a stranger suddenly talked about her ability to her and it probably freaked her out. (elusin explained how her mother had to cover for her and her friends in elementary and pay people to keep silent as the kids abused another child)

the easiest way to describe it is imagine the way you see and look at the world through your eyes, and your thoughts being streamed into the psychics mind and its overlayed over what they see. (it doesn't blind them its subtle but they can see every single detail and hear any whisper of a thought you have) and there is no lag, our consciousness is nearing the speed of light and faster than the speed of sound. did the maths based on our distance, were on opposite sides of the world and this shit is live faster than any internet connection. i could think of anything and they say back to me instantly (they play a childish game of acting like they can guess what i will say)

2. beyond the psychic abilities i have mentioned so far, this an esp and this suggests other esp exists, i have only experienced what these particular individuals are capable of. through this experience i am convinced other esp such a telekinesis exist out there. it may not be spoon bending but more like, what if they can control electrical currents outside the limits of a human body "a more powerful psychic" concept which i think is very likely. they might be able to control a cell phone for example. its not more complicated than a brain. New info:

they amplify my imagination to become crystal clear in sight in my mind (compared to me not being connected) this connection does drain more energy from my brain as it takes up a greater amount to be able to do this shit.

we can talk without the use of language, talk in head + images, sounds, memes, anything visually moving such as a scene with characters doing anything at almost any scale that is comprehensible (eg cant comprehend 1000 individual people doing things), backgrounds, sets, shapes, colours, anything, and it can morph from one scene to another infinitely so long as we want the story to keep going, we can all pitch in. at first they acted like friends just to turn around and fuck me over with psychological abuse until i realised they were not friends.

another form of communication is feelings, without the use of words i can understand what they want to say before it is thought out loud and vice versa.

another limit is it depends what I'm able to comprehend, i can only understand them with the vocabulary that i possess, but I'm able to translate what they say into my own understanding. this shows language is not a limit. they could go into a foreigners mind and still communicate. i have stopped engaging in imagination times with them as to them its like watching a t.v show and entertains them. it only happens if i chose to engage. they can stream things into my mind which they do to annoy me but i just ignore it at this point.

Dreams :

just as they can stream images and sounds in my head when I'm awake, they can do so while I'm asleep. They have been controlling my dreams for a while now and seek to fuck with me in my sleep.

i can confirm these individuals do not have a degree in psychology so they waste their time trying to fuck with me in my dreams and i just wake up being like wtf is this the best thing u could think of. they try to get me to talk about things that make me look bad and or awkward, such as putting me in a scene that is hectic with lots of people running all around and then will ask me a question, my subconscious ignores them funnily enough. i wake up being like wtf have u ever thought of just sitting down and having a conversation instead of all this extra shit you do. these retards are still retards even if they are psychic.

what is it like? its just like the imagination games we played but now there is no reality but just my dream, so it becomes as vivid as reality and i do wake up remembering my dreams. they can do just about anything. they are limited by their IQ. recent example they know I'm scared of heights, i ended up pissing from a really high place hanging to a pole with them trying to mess with my grip and cause i was dreaming i just didn't gaf and i didn't piss myself irl as I'm not a child.

another dream i had recently, she wanted to do an experiment with my inner child so to speak, she projected herself in some traditional Victorian style pyjamas while i was in a bed, she went to another bed across me and asked me to come to her, i actually didn't care and stayed in my bed. she quickly changed the scene into us standing up with me looking her, she looks only through my perspective so in her view she was just viewing herself. she called out to me to temp me to go towards her, once again i didn't do that. I think she imagined i would skip towards her like a child, i didn't care and suddenly my pc setup showed up and i was more interested in producing music ( she tested to see if i was capable of engaging in anything in this dream, and yes i was ) she was mad and started choking me, and i choked her back and i woke up. because they are able to make my muscles twitch, they can wake me up whenever they like which is annoying, i have countered this by sleeping more often. they can also control my brain in such a way that if they want me to stay up all night, they can. they have in fact done this and i countered it by boring them, if i cant sleep all night, then i will take the day off and sleep all day, all i need to do is go completely silent and if my eyes are closed they get no input of any entertainment of my life and just let me sleep cause that's more entertaining. Muscle contractions: new info i haven't shared as well, when I masturbate, Elusin and her friends are still here, and they can amplify the rate that my hand junks my trunk. they are idiots and get horny when I wank. and suddenly the psychic attack gets weird and horny. it feels like i have to put less effort into yanking it while it going faster. i just dgaf anymore and I'm like sweet, some psychic attack this is... they get mad and are like "fuck you, you cant be having a good time" and then i continue and they just get into it, its odd. they like it i guess, they feel like they are invading my privacy and they get a kick out of it.

3.

voice mimic: your assumption of them not being able to project voices that they cannot imagine is correct. and is exactly the same as imagining anything such as faces or places.

the process breakdown is correct - they imagine me and are in my mind, and once it connected they don't need to worry about it, then for example i could imagine anyone such as a rapper lets say lil john, if i think in his voice "OKAY!" they will amplify this and make it sound genuinely like lil john saying it, its like a soundboard. truth is we all as individuals can imagine sounds, as mentioned before they just amplify the imagination for entertainment purposes. if the psychic for example has never heard my mothers voice, they cannot mimic my mothers voice. hearing a voice recording would be enough. if the psychic wrongly mimics the voice you would 100% hear the discrepancy in the voice, and i would comment on it and make them feel embarrassed.

except for one thing, i have memories of my mothers voice. they pull up things i haven't thought about in years and have mimicked my mum yelling at me when i was a child (trying their third rate psychological experiments) but yes the mimic is limited by the references they have. they can see and hear every detail that i can (included with my thoughts and memories).

they scan my memories, one thing i can confirm is that they view only from my perspective and cannot accurately perceive time in my memory, its like they skim though them instead of having an accurate account of when things happened, i imagine it as a reel that they can scan though rather being able to chose an exact age to look though. no glossary section for them. they bring shit up and I'm like yea that was like ten years ago idgaf u cant embarrass me. 4.

They do not work with any entities/deities and are purely secular. an individual can be interested in such things and practice such things but the psychic ability itself is just something they are born with. in my words i believe they are a shoot in the human evolution and have some sort of gene that lets them access an ability which i believe is located in the brain. the truth is there are more psychics out there than you might imagine, i believe there are plenty that are kind people, and many that are shitty people, just like us ordinary folk. these ones in particular have abused a lot of people since childhood and have tried all sorts of things to "hone their craft" such as learning the confines of their ability by trail and error.

Thank you for the ask, I'm happy to receive any questions regarding what I'm going through. I can 100% confirm psychic abilities are real and they have always been around. its definitely known but is not mainstream knowledge yet. unfortunately my experience has been with abusers. I am here to shed a light on the new information i have acquired since my psychic attack. before this I would have never believed this could exist. this is such a complicated subject and there's a lot to unpack, it helps having another person to help break it down with me.

[everybody-loves-purdy]

I know this is a big thing to ask, but what’s your take on the Nightheart situation? He definitely seems like the most controversial Warrior Cats protagonist in a long time, and I’m not sure what to make of it.

To put it briefly I don’t like how the characters around him have been written ooc at times but I think people blame Nightheart himself too much for that. I personally think this ooc behaviour only has really happened in Sky, notably a book that was written by a different author than the one that wrote River and Shadow.

As for Nightheart himself, I like him, he’s funny. I know his character isn’t for everyone but I do also think people are judging his whole character and arc prematurely. I think his character is going somewhere, he definitely seems to finally be maturing and I’m curious about where he’s going to go.

Overall I think he gets hated on too much, he starts off as very immature and I get why people don’t like that kind of character, especially when it’s looking like he and Sunbeam are going to be a couple. Is the ooc writing of the she cats around him coming across as misogynistic? Yeah definitely, but again it only seems to be an issue in Sky, in River I think Finch and Squilf are fine and Squilf I believe is still in character despite what others say and I love how Sparkpelt is written in that book. I think it’s an author problem much more than a Nightheart problem.

Speaking of Sparkpelt: abandonment issues. I feel that this hasn’t been justified enough in text to show why Nightheart feels this way. Maybe something from his pov growing up would be beneficial since SqH showed Sparkpelt starting to bond with her young kits and Sparkpelt being banished was something he didn’t join her on. I personally headcanon that Sparkpelt remained awkward around her kits and preferred to let Sorrelstripe do most of the raising. As for the exile thing? I’m not sure. Maybe he is just projecting because he feels bad that Finch choosing to go resulted in a much better relationship with her mother and he passed up that opportunity.

Also the Firestar thing just doesn’t make sense without the books establishing that Squirrelflight’s line is seen as the most legitimate Firestar line. If Squilf’s line is seen as the only legitimate one then suddenly Nightheart’s whole related to Firestar thing actually makes sense and I feel this is what the authors are going for, but unfortunately this has never been said in text so Nightheart just comes across as especially whingey seeing as half the clan are related to Firestar at this point, and probably all the new kits in the clan will be in two to three generations at this rate. I think by establishing Squilf’s line as the most legitimate line in text and establish that this is why Nightheart feels pressure while others don’t would fix what is currently a huge hole in his characterisation. That said, to me it seems that, in River for sure at least, this pressure is mostly self inflicted.

TLDR: I like him, he’s funny, but the writing around him is damaging how he is perceived due to warping the world to suit his arc, particularly in Sky.

I think that covers everything that is potentially controversial around Nightheart? Feel free to send an ask if there’s anything I neglected or you want expanding on

I don’t think the writing quality on this one is the best because it’s quite late here sorry so if you want anything clarifying or rewording please just say because I’m not sure how clear this all is lol

[characterclassificationsystem]

Updates and Introductions

Hey guys! We’ve posted our final class to the blog and are now moving onto bigger and brighter things. We’re going to utilize all the information we’ve posted to upload analyses classifying characters in media, and why we believe they fit the criteria of a certain class!

When we post these, feel absolutely free to disagree with us on our verdicts! Just be prepared to provide your reasoning, we’ll be sure to ask. If after mutual consultation and review we agree with your claims, we will add an addendum to the post clarifying our new view. Contrarily, if you’d like to provide further evidence / participate in the discussion for why the classification fits, once again, feel free! Also be sure to recommend some characters you would like us to analyze! We’re always looking for fun and interesting characters to break down and theorize about.

Our post schedule will be changing, too. It would be a near-impossible feat to get an analysis up every single day, so while our team remains this size we will bring down the posts to twice a week (Mondays and Fridays at 12pm EST)! Our first analysis will go up on the following Monday.

Now finally, for a little insight to the people behind this system! Currently, we are a team of two, but we’re always looking to expand our partnership to make a brighter future for CCS. Here are mini-profiles of how we would classify ourselves to shed some light on our personalities.

Apollo (he/him 🏳️‍⚧️)

Yellow-Dominant Courier

Adaptable. I’d say I’m a solid 5/10 in terms of adaptability. There’s a fifty-fifty chance when I go into a situation that I’ll be able to really thrive or straight up book it out of there. No in between. 

Eccentric. My colleague says this should be higher but I disagree, I’m going with a 6/10 since I certainly have my moments but I’d die if I had to be “on” all the time. 

Encouraging. While I like being the one who pushes someone to be their best self, I also don’t like the idea of asking others to perform above realistic capabilities so… 6/10.

Idealistic. This is definitely one of my higher ones. I live for the light at the end of the tunnel, the reason to keep moving forward. Easy 8/10.

Passionate. At my best I am quite a passionate individual, but like eccentricity it cannot be my every waking minute. I’d rank this slightly higher though, so I’ll settle on a 7/10.

Philosophical. Let’s philosophize right here, right now, I am so ready! Let’s get into the weeds, asking the big questions about whether God or anything for that matter is even real. I love understanding the underlying reasons and motivations behind why people do the things that they do, and more than anything I want to nail down what we’re really here to do. Self proclaimed but well deserved 10/10.

Related Characteristics:

Ambitious (from Captain).

Creative (from Artist).

Inquisitive (from Inventor).

Introspective (from Merchant). 

Ash (he/him)

Green-Dominant Athlete

Bold. Perfect 10/10. If you wanna challenge it, come and face me. However, on a more realistic note, I like to take a lot of risks and jump into scenarios where other people may hesitate. It’s an ideal trait I’ve seen in many forms of media, and I aspire to use said boldness to help others to the best of my ability.

Capable. My ability to manage the situation and take control is something that has been forged into my very body from when I was young. I am the blade that will not quit in a fight. 8/10.

Disciplined. Apparently my colleague thinks I should rate this higher than I think I deserve. I'm lazy but I do follow a weekly routine and like to make a schedule. 6/10

Dynamic. While I love to be in motion and using my hands to do whatever, I do also love being lazy and in bed when I have nothing else to do. Action is my passion, but not being on the run is a lot of fun. 5/10.

Formidable. I’m only a 3/10. If you saw me in the streets, you would see the rats mugging me.

Keen. If this was One Piece, I’d specialize in Observational Haki. 9/10

Related Characteristics:

Attentive (from Inventor).

Dependable (from Warden).

Playful (from Bard).

Strategic (from Tactician).

[angeltreasure]

I never knew there was an age restriction to being a nun! I've considered it many times before when trying to discern God's path for me, and I vaguely remember seeing that somewhere, but I don't know much about it. Would you mind expanding on that? I don't want to intrude or anything, I'm just genuinely curious.

Hi anon! No worries, you are not intruding at all. Various Orders type it all on their website which anyone is free to search and look at 24/7.

Most Orders have a minimum of age 18. Now the cutoff age is interesting. You will find the cutoff is typical age 35-40, for the reason that the older we get the harder it is to adjust to a brand new schedule, a brand new way of life, especially for waking up very early. Now then, that being said, the cutoff age may be solid for some Orders, however, it is a case by case basis. There is hope for those over the cutoff age!! If you truly have the call, then no age can stop you from entering somewhere.

I was speaking to a Sister on a video call face to face and she reassured me of this. It was taken so much worry off my shoulders. If you have any particular Order in mind after finding 3-4 you really like, feel free to send them an email or call them to ask about the age you need to be and really any other questions you have. Sister was so so so nice and took the time to answer all the questions I had. You and I definitely have the possibility to enter! I’ll pray for your discernment.

Edit: Just to clarify what I am typing I am speaking of the age one can enter into a Community. ☺️ (once you’re part of an order they can’t kick you out because of older age)

[flightlessangelwings]

Take You Out Warm

Din Djarin x gn!reader

Word count: 2k

Warnings: modern au, pure fluff, first date, mutual pining, Grogu being adorable, food/coffee mention, no use of y/n

Notes: Written in collaboration with @nintendolover13​’s art (below, link to her post in the taglist reblog too for larger images) for @lilhawkeye3​’s Tinder au event from our group chat! This serves as a one shot, but I do have a vague idea to expand more on this story too if there is interest there 👀  

As always, my blog is 18+ so minors please don’t interact even if this fic is it explicit. Feel free to also follow my update blog and turn on post notifs to stay up to date on when I post @flightlessangelwings-updates​ 

~

Nerves ran through your body as you sat in the little café dressed in your favorite outfit. You fiddled with the cup of coffee in your hands as you stared down at the table while your mind ran a mile a minute. This was the last situation you thought you’d be in, but after a string of bad blind dates, you decided to download Tinder. You weren’t even looking for anything serious, and you dismissed most of the profiles right away. But, there was one that caught your eye.

It was completely different from anyone else you saw, and it wasn’t just because none of his photos showed his face at all. There was hardly anything to his profile, but almost all of the photos included a little child in them. Even his main profile picture was one that the kid obviously drew of the two of them, and it made you like his profile without hesitation. 

To your surprise, you soon got a message later that day that he liked you too and it was a match. Your breath caught in your chest as your hands shook while you typed a message out to this mystery man. Even without knowing what he looked like, or even what his name was, you found yourself nervous to talk to him and something in your head really wanted this to go well. Little did you know, your feelings were echoed on the other end of the phone.

After you and Mando- as he introduced himself as- talked for some time, he asked you to meet in person. Your thoughts ran a mile a minute, and although you were nervous, you couldn’t tear yourself away from this man. For reasons you couldn’t explain, you felt like you would be safe with him, and you wanted more than anything to take a chance on him.

Before you overthought yourself too much, your name in a soft voice called your attention. Your eyes followed the sound of the surprisingly smooth voice until you saw a hooded figure before you. His entire face was covered, but in his arms, he held a little toddler dressed in a green and tan hoodie and you couldn’t help the thought that this was the cutest child you had ever seen in your life.

“Mando?” you asked as you stood up.

Through the hood, you saw the way he nodded once in a wordless answer.

A fresh wave of nerves crashed through you, but you shook it off and turned your attention to the child in his arms, “And who is this little cutie?”

Mando paused again before he answered, “Grogu,” he said shortly but softly. When you furrowed your brows at the name, he clarified, “It’s a nickname.”

You decided not to ask more just yet and changed the subject, “Want to sit?” you offered. You knew from his profile how much the little one meant to him, and you didn’t want to be too invasive with questions on a first date. For now, you just wanted to get to know your mystery date and his little son.

Without a word, he sat down next to you and placed the kid in a little booster seat. Both of you stared at him for a few moments, both of you unsure of what to say next. You had texted him for weeks, and although he didn’t tell you much about himself, you felt like you knew him still. In a way, the silence was comforting and you enjoyed the chance to just be in his presence.

“So…” you started, “I’ve never actually done this before.”

Mando leaned towards you as if he was intrigued, “Me either.”

You leaned forward as you mirrored his action and you felt his gaze on you even if you couldn’t see his eyes. The two of you stayed locked in place for a few moments until you finally broke into a smile, “Well, to new adventures then,” you lifted your cup of coffee in a cheer and he nodded in agreement.

The two of you sat in a comfortable silence for several minutes as the toddler babbled to himself. “So,” you broke the silence first, “What does a man who hides his face and has a kid do for a living?” you asked out of curiosity. In the times you had texted Mando, the subject of jobs somehow never came up, and you found yourself wanting to know more about him as he sat across from you.

He was quiet for several moments as if he considered his words before he spoke them. Mando wasn’t about to tell a first date that he was actually a bounty hunter. Not only was that a high risk profession, but he preferred to keep a low profile about it. Mando had come into it with his very specific set of skills, and he was the best at what he did, but he also did not want to be associated with who he worked for: law enforcement and him weren’t exactly on the same page. Plus, as he looked into your eyes, Mando felt a sudden urge to keep you protected, much like how he felt when he met Grogu for the first time.

“Independent contractor,” was what he answered with. 

You raised your brows in an invitation for him to clarify, but when he stayed quiet, you decided to leave it alone. Deciding not to push the subject, you told him what you did for a living. Mando was a good listener, and though you didn’t see his face, his body language was easy for you to read. You could tell even through the hood that he attentively listened to you and he seemed genuinely interested in you. It was a nice feeling, and you couldn’t help but feel safe and at ease around him.

As you took a sip of your coffee, Grogu babbled and reached for your cup with grabby hands. Your eyes landed on his little figure as you smiled down at him, “This is coffee, buddy,” you told him in a light tone.

He cooed again as he tried his best to reach the cup in your hand, and Mando watched the interaction in curious silence.

“It’s not for little ones,” you insisted as you kept your tone soft, “And you won’t like it.”

Again, Grogu didn’t take no for an answer and he let out another cry as his palms opened and closed rapidly. Mando let out a deep sigh.

“Ok, how about I let you smell it and see if you like that?” you asked the child as you took the lid off and held it closer to his face.

Grogu leaned in and took a deep breath as he inhaled the scent. His face was bright and chipper until the whiff of the coffee went into his nostrils, and he immediately scrunched his face in disgust as he tried to push the cup away from him. You burst into laughter, and Mando couldn’t help the soft chuckle that escaped his throat too. It had been such a long time since he laughed with anyone other than the child, and Mando had to admit to himself it felt good. Perhaps he made the right decision when he took the chance on you, and his heart swelled in his chest as he watched how good you were with Grogu.

You, however, remained blissfully unaware of his inner conundrum.

“I told you you wouldn’t like it, buddy,” you chastised him playfully, “But, if it’s ok with your dad, how about I get you a hot chocolate?” You looked at your date with the wordless question in your eyes.

“Yeah, it’s ok,” he told you in a soft tone as he reached for his wallet.

“No, let me, please,” you insisted, “Do you want anything?” you asked Mando.

“Nothing for me,” he replied.

You paused for a moment, but didn’t comment before you stood up and made your way to the counter.

Mando watched you with a fond expression behind his hidden face as he felt something he hadn’t felt in a very long time. This was new for sure, but he already had a feeling that there was something between the two of you, especially with how warm you were to Grogu. A coo shook Din from his thoughts as he turned to the child and tilted his head, “What do you think, kid?” he asked.

Grogu grinned widely and let out an enthusiastic, “Ba!”

He couldn’t help the low rumble of laughter, “I think so too,” Mando reached out and gently brushed Grogu’s cheek affectionately.

You turned from the counter just in time to watch the brief but sweet interaction between your date and his kid, and your heart fluttered in your chest. You waited until the moment passed to not interrupt before you made your way back and set the cup of hot chocolate down in front of the child, “Be careful, it’s hot.” You glanced at Mando to make sure he was ok with how you interacted with his kid.

The look on your face awakened something within him, but Mando kept his cool. He gave you a nod as he let himself relax. “He’s alright,” Mando said to you, “Thank you.”

You felt butterflies in your stomach at the sincereness in just those few words and you gave him a sweet smile, “My pleasure,” you paused for a moment before you grinned and added, “I guess you’re taking me out warm.”

Mando tilted his head to the side and you read that as a look of confusion.

“Your little tagline on your profile,” you clarified, “‘I can take you out warm, or I can take you out cold.’”

For the second time since he walked into the cafe, Mando laughed.

The tagline wasn’t even his idea, but he didn’t bother to change it. His entire Tinder profile was all Greef Karga’s fault in fact. Mando rolled his eyes under the hood as Karga’s words echoed in his head, “Come on Mando, all you do is work. You need to let loose once in a while. Come on, I’ll get you hooked up with a Tinder profile. You’ll thank me one day.”

Mando let out a soft sigh as he realized that he now owed Karga a thank you.

Conversation came easier between the two of you after that, and you found that you never wanted this date to end. It was simple, but just to have the chance to sit and talk with him meant so much to you. And Mando felt the same about you. Neither of you noticed how much time passed until Grogu yawned and rubbed his eyes.

“I should get him back,” Mando said as he stood and gathered the child in his arms, “Will you be alright on your own?”

The way he was ready to look after you after just one date made your heart skip a beat and you felt heat under your skin, “I’ll be ok,” you whispered, “I had a nice time, Mando.”

He paused for several moments as Grogu slowly nodded off in his arms, “Din.”

“What?” you breathed as your eyes went wide.

“My name,” he clarified as he reached out and lightly brushed the side of your face once in an affectionate gesture, “It’s Din Djarin.” The way your face lit up made his heart pound in his chest, and he was sure the child felt it too.

“So,” you bit your lip, “I take it this went well for you too?”

Din nodded, “I’ll call you?”

“I’d like that,” you replied softly with a bright smile.

With the promise of more, Din turned and left the coffee shop with his kid in his arms. You watched them leave with bated breath as you already looked forward to your next date. Little did you know what Din mumbled to the kid that he felt the same way too. 

[voteformightyclocks]

Why I’ll Never Watch She-Hulk

I had an idea earlier for a post roughly asking “What’s really wrong with Star Wars? What’s the real issue? What’s the key underlying problem that’s messing 50% of Star Wars content up?” But then a friend sent me a 15 min YouTube video in which a guy basically went through She-Hulk episode one and brilliantly compiled everything wrong with the storytelling. And I decided “Why not cover this right now since She-Hulk is actually relevant and a perfect example of what not to do?”

And let me clarify something. This isn’t just me watching a video and automatically agreeing. I tried to watch Episode 1 of She-Hulk a few days after it released, and could not get into it. I turned it off within 5 minutes. That being said, let’s get into the analysis, and feel free to watch the video (linked below) if you wish to see the context for my breakdown.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LQ7B4TFOu4&t=755

1. Character Sympathy. This was a huge part of the video’s focus. Jennifer wasn’t a likeable character at all. Right off the bat, as the video states, she easily overcomes her first challenge. We’ve established that she’s capable, not that she’s relatable, or human, or anything of the sort. A major connection with the audience gone/wasted. But I want to expand on that. A lot of character sympathy comes from individuality. When something stands out, we become interested, when we’re seeing something we’ve already seen a million times, we gloss over it. Jennifer Walters is by no means an original character. I couldn’t find anything about her ethnicity, so maybe she has an ethnic background...? But all I could tell was “White girl”, so she’s already mixed with the majority of MCU heroes at this point. She’s female, but we already have a solid roster of female heroes in the MCU, so Marvel has to do more than that to make her special. She’s a Hulk, so yeah, nothing new. Dark hair and brown eyes, so no standout physical features, although I guess her hair being curly is cool...not original though. Nothing about Jennifer Walters screams “I’m new! Like me!” It just screams “I’m a generic superhero who’s just here to fill the Disney+ schedule gaps.” And yeah, as the video establishes, she doesn’t garner sympathy as being an underdog. She’s just...well...successful. At the height of her life

2. Character Contradictions. I didn’t even know about this rant until today, but apparently at the end of the first episode, Jennifer Walters goes off at Bruce Banner about how she knows all about containing her rage because she does it daily...because of all these ways men are oppressing people...and directly mentions “murder” as a potential consequence if she can’t contain it? Ben Shapiro actually got confused at this line and showed statistics. On an annual basis, there are roughly 17,000 homicides. 3,000 of those are female, 14,000 are male. I googled on my own volition and statistics indicated that roughly 80-81% of homicide victims are male, which is slightly less than Shapiro’s 83% statistic, but close enough to solidly say “Hey, uh, Jennifer...you’re exaggerating.” But another focal point is that in the beginning of the episode, she is criticized by a male coworker and he’s quickly kicked out of her office...? Male oppression, Jennifer? Really? Furthermore, she ends up a bar in the first episode, and what I get out of the video is that Jennifer basically beats the guys up before they make any real moves...yes...excellent at controlling rage, and you’re more likely to get murdered...for sure...I mean, sure, they were harassing you, but when I’m “oppressed” or challenged on my Discord server, I don’t even think about making a joke about them dying, let alone threatening to dox them or beat them up or anything to harm them or their image, let alone actually beat them to a pulp. Life is uncomfortable, folks, and violence is never the answer

And that’s all I’m going to say about it. I have other thoughts, but nothing is well-formulated because, as I’ve already said, I never finished the first episode. This is all going off of what I have seen about She-Hulk

So  yeah. That, my friends, is why I will never watch this infamous show

[mypimpademia]

1 Year Event.

A Toast:

Hi everyone! Welcome to my 1 year event! I'd like to start by saying thank you to all my moots and followers for being part of this wild ride that was 1 year of Mypimpademia!💖

This event is much bigger than my others, including my love letter event, and has many more features that are more interactive and involve more people. These features include:

5 song fic REQUESTS

10 mini SMAUs

A Q&A

Etc.

If you'd like more info about these features, please read below the cut:

The 5 Song Fics:

Slots Available: 0 (CLOSED)

For the 5 song fic requests, I'll be taking 5 (five) requests for oneshots (and that means oneshots ONLY), and I'll write a songfic with one of the 5 songs below, and a single character from my character list.

I will ONLY be taking 5, and it's unlikely that I'll make exceptions or expand on this, taking into account other parts of this event, requests I already have on backlog, and time in general.

Song List:

Hey Lover - Daughters of Eve TAKEN

Moonlight- Juice WRLD TAKEN

Line Without a Hook - Ricky Montgomery TAKEN

I THINK - Tyler, The Creator TAKEN

Marvin's Room - Drake (Angst ONLY) TAKEN

Character List.

Only one (1) request per song, which means no 2 fics will have the same song. This does not apply to characters however, if I get 2+ requests for one character that's fine, so feel free to request anyone (as long as they're on my character list).

If you send a request before the slots are filled, but you have requested a song someone else has already requested, I'll DM you to ask you to submit another request with a different song.

Fluff, angst, and suggestive are allowed. Just obviously not things I've already specified under certain categories only. (Ex. Marvin's Room by Drake being angst only). These are also x readers only, no personalized requests.

And above all else, your request must still abide by my rules as normal.

—

Request example:

"Hi! Can I get fluff (or what ever genre you'd like) for [insert character] with [insert song]? Thank you!"

The 8 SMAUs

Slots Available: 0 (CLOSED)

These are just very short and simple ones, and they are also something that you all can request. This also obviously means to ignore my 'don't request SMAUs' rule just this one time.

I'm only allowing one (1) character per request for the sake of time, and because I don't normally do SMAUs. This is also why I'm only doing eight (8), and eight only. There will be absolutely no exceptions or expansions on this.

I'm also doing texting SMAUs only, so no Twitter or Instagram AUs, sorry.

Fluff and suggestive only (I'm not experienced with smaus, angst would be a bit of a push). X reader only, characters can be requested multiple times so request who ever you'd like.

—

Request Examples:

"Hi! Can I get [insert character] reacting to his s/o texting him [blank]? Thank you!"

"Hi! Can I get Kirishima reacting to his pregnant black girlfriend texts him that she's in labor? Thank you!"

—

Of course you're not limited to this, these are just examples, but you may feel free to ask for these specific ones or follow their examples if you'd like.

Like I said, besides the things already clarified, everything else must abide by my rules.

Q&A:

Exactly what it sounds like, ask me something and I'll answer it. My only rules are to please not ask personal questions such as my age, name, where I live, face reveal questions, in depth family questions, explicit shit, things like that. You can ask me anything as long as it doesn't cross those boundaries. Asking questions about my OCs is allowed too (and encouraged).

I hope you all enjoy this event! I've been planning it for awhile and it's bigger than anything I've ever done :)

Thank you to @kunikida-kun and @yuujisbby for proofreading this (especially Sasha for coming in clutch w screenshots when I accidentally posted this😭💖💖), and to @mitsumya for helping me pick the songs💖

Taglist: @myhoodacademia @katsuflossy @minruko @ecao @nnnoya @hawklmaoo @wolfkid22 @mythiccheroacademia @myfandemons @lilsparkyswife @mindofess @kqtsukisgf @yuujisbby @angiebug101 @mads-fairy @solar3lunar @milliumizoomi @asaincy @silkylious @blackweebtrash @mitsumya

[pilotcallsigns]

Start Again - Chapter Six (Din Djarin x Reader)

SUMMARY: Arriving on Orus, Din learns more about the girl and forces himself to make a choice when the planet isn’t so welcoming after all. 

CHAPTER WARNINGS: discussion of sexism/gender roles, canon-typical violence, non-consensual touching, mention of blood, and panic attacks/anxiety attacks. 

Author’s Note: This chapter sits at 3k words! It’s the longest chapter yet and a lot happens! I would also like to give credit to @kyberpistol​ for starting the headcanon of haunted!Din. I love the concept and I felt like I could use it in my story. Please heed the warnings. Feel free to like and reblog! 

CHAPTER SIX - THE FIGHT

Landing on Orus is difficult, the terrain is not suitable for ships of Idrionna’s size. Din should’ve known that the moment Cara suggested the planet to him, but it was the first suitable planet on the list. It was also the closest, so fuel was not a concern.

When they arrived, the suns had already set over Orus, making the trek to the city of Opseg dangerous. A drop in the canyon could be hidden in the darkness, leaving them with no choice but to set up a camp for the night. Din knew that the girl would rather not sleep in the cot on Idrionna, at least for one night. Not that the sand was any more comfortable, but for at least one night it could be.

“It’s a bit of a drop,” The girl says, peering down the canyon below their feet. Even in the darkness, Din could see the dip in the edge of the canyon. Her voice echoes off the walls, giving Din an idea of just how far the drop was. Couldn’t have been more than a couple hundred feet, he thinks.  

“It is,” Din says, looking across from where they’re standing. He could see the bustling city of Opseg just on the horizon. It had a medcenter, big enough to take in the girl for a physical examination without a long waiting time.

Cara had mentioned that Orus had been overlooked by the Empire. An old mining planet, when the Empire had arrived to steal the planet’s profit, they found that the mines had been wiped clean by a flood. Locals had called it a “hundred-year storm”, which had wiped out half the population as well as all the loot. With no profit to be made, the Empire sought other planets. Since then, Orus had been running an underground mining operation, making millions of credits in a single day alone. Once a ghost town, Opseg was on the up and coming. The city was expanding by the day, housing a growing population enriched by the planet’s rare ores.

“It’s beautiful,” The girl murmurs. Din turns, his eyes catching the lights of the city. It glows in the darkness of the surrounding landscape, making it all the more beautiful. He glances back up at the girl, catching the light just glimpsing off her face.

Despite her suffering, she was still full of life. The way her face contorted in excitement as she merely stared at the city ahead of her. Her entire life was stolen from her, yet she still saw the universe in the same innocence a child would. Shaking himself out of his daze, Din takes one more look at the city, before turning to start the fire.

“You didn’t get off Puvo much?” He asks, collecting enough firewood to keep them warm for the night. It was their luck that the wind hadn’t been terrible, a light breeze to keep the embers of the flame away from their faces, but not enough to put the fire out. Surprising luck for a mountainous planet.

“I wasn’t allowed to,” she replies, her voice distant. He turns to see her still staring at the city ahead of her. “Tatooine was my first. I had to convince Valara to let me go off-world. When I first started venturing out on my own on Puvo, I was told going off Puvo wasn’t an option. They were worried that if the Empire found out I was still alive, they’d come and finish the job.”

“They were probably right,” he says, igniting his flamethrower to start the fire. Although meant for combat, it usually came in handy when fires needed to be started quickly. Din watches as the flames jump, licking up the wood.

“They were,” she sighs, “But eventually I needed answers. So, I employed that pilot and then I found you. You’re the only one who’s willing to help me.”

Din pauses, looking back over her. Her focus remains on the city, but this time her face was troubled. Conflicted, perhaps, over the thought of leaving the only home she had ever known. She had left the one safety net protecting her from the Empire all in the name of seeking out answers that may not even exist.

“Besides, washing plant leaves on Puvo wasn’t what I wanted.” She chuckles, shaking her head, “I knew the work that was expected of me, but I wanted something more. Everyone thought I was too fragile.” She mumbles, shaking her head.

“Too fragile for what?” Din finds himself asking. He watches as she joins him by the fire, leaning against her pack.

“I don’t know…work that wasn’t just washing leaves and preparing them for transport.” She laments, looking up at the constellations above. “I stole a communicator off a pilot back on Puvo. It was so easy. The pilots that fly in, they’re so full of themselves. I let him talk about himself and he didn’t even notice it was missing.”

“You stole a communicator?” He asks. It’s not a surprise that she was able to steal one so easily. Most of the pilots he had come across in the New Republic Era were cocky, thinking themselves as the best of the best. In reality, had they been flying when the Empire was still in power, they probably would’ve never left the ground on any planet.

“I did,” she chuckles, “Valara couldn’t believe it, but I think she knew deep down I was capable of more. Over time she knew I was growing bored of the same chores we did every day.”

“What did you want?” Din finds himself asking, looking at her as she sits up. Her eyes look to the fire and Din admires the way the light of the flames flicker off her skin.

“The war was over and Puvo had been at peace for a while. Didn’t mean that they weren’t prepared for something. I saw the training that the soldiers went through. If the boys wanted to, they could go off to receive training. Puvo is a traditional planet, the women stay home for the families and the men work. I wanted to train, Valara blamed it on the post-traumatic stress but at the time, it was all that I could think about. I was so angry at the Empire after I found out what they had done to me, I wanted revenge and I thought learning to fight might help.” The girl shrugs, tossing a couple of sticks she had gathered into the fire.

“What stopped you?” He asks. Twisting a vibroblade between his fingers, he carefully begins to carve at the end of the stick, sharpening the edge.  

“On Puvo, if you’re a woman wanting to fight, a council has to rule in majority favor to let you train. Valara could count on one hand the number of times a woman had been allowed and she didn’t have much hope for me. I guess she was right, the council voted overwhelmingly against me. Something about how my head wasn’t in the right place and I wasn’t fit to serve.” The girl sighs, wringing her hands together as she looks toward the horizon again. “But the more time I spent with Valara’s grandmother, I realized that I was more hellbent on revenge than actually healing. If they had let me train and fight, I probably would’ve been killed.”

“Do you still want to? Learn to fight, I mean,” Din asks, watching as her head turns to face him again. After a beat of silence, she nods.

“I’m better than I was before,” she murmurs, “I know my head still isn’t in the right place but I don’t care about revenge anymore. I just want Castin back.”

A wave of emotions hit him. Emotions he hadn’t felt since that day he watched Grogu go off with the Jedi. It had been the same words Din had said to Gideon, he didn’t care about power or money, he just wanted Grogu back safely. Nothing mattered more to him at that moment, just that Grogu was in his arms and away from the fist of the Empire.

“You going to teach me, Mando?” She teases, obvious in her tone that she’s not serious.

“I could,” Din breathes, watching as her eyes widen. She may have not been serious about the offer, but if they were going to be searching for her son, she was better off knowing a few things to protect herself.

“You’d do that?” She clarifies, still unsure if his offer is real.

“It’s safer for you to know how to protect yourself. I could teach you a few things in self-defense. I’m surprised they didn’t teach you anything on Puvo.” Din says, looking up as she bites her lip.

“Puvo is about tradition. Men fight so the women don’t have to.” She reminds him and he hums at her statement. “Not to mention they never expected me to leave. Here I am, systems away,” she laughs, and Din chuckles too.

“I’ll take the first shift,” Din tells her. She nods, pulling the poncho over her shoulders as she lays her head against her pack. He watches as she turns over, facing the illuminated city.

“Mando?”

“Yes?”

“Thank you.”

Din hums, smiling underneath the helmet as he fiddles with the vibroblade, continuing to sharpen the stick in his hand. He would need to make two so that he’d be ready to teach her first round of self-defense by morning. He tries brushing off the feeling that manifests from her words.

“Get up.”

Din wakes up to a voice that does not belong to the girl. When his eyes open behind the helmet, the barrel of a weapon stares right back at him. Not moving, he eyes the camp and sees that the girl sits defeated, hands cuffed in front of her.

“I said get up Mandalorian! What are you, deaf?” The voice demands again. Looking past the barrel, he stares at a Devaronian. His face contorted in clear anger, a snarl on his lips just barely hiding the sharpened teeth.

Slowly, Din sits up from his position and with the shove of the barrel, he stands. Raising his hands, he watches as the Devaronian’s partner, another Devaronian, lifts the girl up by her cuffs, growling at her to stand. Din can see the swelling just below her eye, hinting that there had been a scuffle before he had been woken up.

He chastises himself, knowing he should’ve taken the last shift instead of the first. Or maybe he should’ve taken both, in order to protect the girl better. And how could he have slept while she struggled? Din curses himself as his hands are placed in front of him and cuffed.

“Quite the loot, ain’t it, Zek?” The Devaronian behind him says, chuckling to himself.

“Ah well, we still have to decide what to do with them, Vroth.” Zek huffs, rolling his eyes. His yellow eyes turn gleeful as the girl continues to struggle in his grip and Din sneers as Zek sniffs at her hair.

“Keep your hands off her.” Din demands, stepping forward. He’s stopped by Vroth, his blaster jamming into his lower back just underneath his armor.

“Ah, ah, I make the demands here, Mandalorian. You’re the one in cuffs.” Vroth smirks, “You’re the only one of value here, beskar is still of some worth on the market. The girl is just an added bonus.”

“We’re not here to cause trouble—” The girl says, interrupted by a blaster butting against her face. The thump of her hitting the ground angers Din, but he knows that he has no control here. Not at the moment at least.

“Don’t make me hurt your pretty face again,” Zek snaps, pulling the girl up again. The daze in her eyes is clear as she leans against the Devaronian for balance. Zek seems to appreciate it as he holds her, taking another sniff of her hair. “She smells so good, Vroth. I should keep her to myself.” He licks his lips, smirking when Din tenses.

“Just a moment,” Vroth spits out, focusing his attention on Din. They care more about his armor and the credits it will bring them.

“You won’t find anyone willing to buy my armor.” Din says, “Orus has their own resources, they’ll overlook your highly-priced beskar and look the other way.”

Both Zek and Vroth seem to pause as the statement, looking to each other for their next move. Din takes the time to study the girl again, watching her as she sways. She’s too out of it to contribute to the fight, but now, more than ever she needs to see a doctor. He’ll have to take the Devaronians on alone.

Their strength is the one thing they have against him, as well as the cuffs around his wrists. Looking around the camp, they haven’t ransacked his weapons yet or found the girl's credits. Good, he thinks, they’re too tied up in the armor to survey who they’re actually going against. They knew he was a Mandalorian, but Din’s more than aware now that not all those who wear the armor are actual Mandalorians.

“I’ll take the girl!” The arguing takes Din out of his thoughts and he watches as the two snap at each other, Zek pulling the girl close to him once again. Vroth marches over, removing his blaster from underneath Din’s armor, presumably to argue with his partner over who will take the girl. Din has to stop himself from rolling his eyes.

Catching a glimpse of her behind the mass of Zek, Din notices the blood crusted on her forehead, just within her hairline from where the blaster broke the skin. He seethes with anger at the thought of them hurting her. The dazed look in her eyes only tells him that he needs to act now.

The cuffs hang loose around his wrists, clearly meant for a creature of a bigger size. With the two Devaronians distracted by the girl, he slips his wrists out of them. The blaster at his hip is gone, probably confiscated while he was still asleep. The beskar spear had been left on the ship, leaving Din with the one weapon he refused to use. The dark saber.

Wrapping his fingers around the hilt of the weapon, he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. Treat it like any other sword, he reminds himself. Save her and deal with the two mercenaries.

The ignition of the saber startles both Devaronians and the girl. Zek and Vroth’s faces turn into snarls, lips turning up as they bare their teeth at the threat. Din breathes out and moves first, swinging the saber up as Zek fires his blaster. The shot ricochets off the humming blade, burning a hole in Zek’s forehead, right between his horns. The thud of Zek hitting the ground fills Din with a certain satisfaction from a deep part inside himself. He suppresses the feeling and breathes out again, ready for the next move.

“Stop! Or I’ll shoot her!” Vroth demands. His hand quivers, the blaster wavering against the girl’s temple. Din stares at the girl as she looks up at him.

“I just killed your friend with his own blaster fire. Do you really want to try it out yourself?” Din asks, almost breathless with the adrenaline running through him. The saber hums at his side, awaiting the next move. Din still waits for a response from the Devaronian, the realization hitting Vroth that there’s no way out from this situation.

Din could choose to let him live, but that could lead to word getting out that he wielded the dark saber. It would send Bo-Katan into a frenzy trying to find him, believing him ready to fight for the saber simply because he used it.

“You bitch!” Vroth snarls and Din watches as the girl falls out of the way of the angry Devaronian, giving Din the opportunity. Vroth brings the blaster up, finger hovering over the trigger just as the blade slashes through the barrel.

In shock, Vroth stumbles back, tossing away the smoking blaster and reaching around for another. His scream pierces the air as he falls back into the canyon, a resounding thud echoing off the walls.

For a moment, Din stares in stunned silence. The saber recedes back into the hilt and Din clips it back to his belt, focusing his attention now on the girl.  

She’s sitting up in the sand, trying to remove the cuffs herself. Her breathing is shallow and the glaze over her eyes tells him that she’s panicking, in overdrive to get herself out of harm’s way.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” he tells her, gently reaching out with his hand to ground her. “Let me take those off, okay?” He says. She offers her wrists to him and he carefully slides the cuffs off, tossing them aside.

“I’m sorry,” she says, “If I had just—”

“No, no, it’s fine. We handled it. It’s over. Just breathe. Can I take a look at your head? He hit you pretty hard,” He asks, watching as she winces and then nods. Her shock and adrenaline are wearing off, leaving her to feel the effects of her wounds.

Taking a gloved hand, Din cups her face, turning her face so that he can get a better look at the cut. It’s not deep, a simple bacta patch will repair the skin. The bruise under her eyes is another problem, it’s already swelling and he doesn’t have much to work with to stem the swelling.

Her hand swipes at her mouth, leaving a streak of blood behind on both her hand and the corner of her lips. It’s not her own.

“You bit him?” He asks, not sure if he should laugh.

“I did,” she murmurs, the usual glint in her eyes returning as she looks at him. “Didn’t taste very good.”

Din chuckles and sits back, reaching into his pack and pulling out a canteen of water for her to rinse her mouth and to wash away the crusted blood on her forehead. With the edge of his cape, he wipes the blood off as she spits the water out next to her.

“Should start that training soon,” Din mumbles, placing the bacta patch against her skin.

“You think?” she smirks and although she can’t see it, Din smiles underneath the helmet.

Read Chapter Seven - The Diagnosis here!

[tuiyla]

I’m not sure I’ve ever seen you talk about Santana and Sebastian? Or what any of the season 3 girls really think of him? Can you link me to anything you have written or expand here?

Alright, so, I haven't really talked about a potential Sebtana before, and not Sebastian with any of the girls. I have talked about why I don't like people calling Sebastian the male Santana, and I stand by that, but even so that doesn't mean they have nothing in common or couldn't have a friendship.

I have to disclaim, before we get into it, that Sebastian as a character doesn't have much in canon and whatever he does have with Santana and the other ND girls is firmly negative, so while I'm down for speculating, that is all this is. I try to base it on canon of course but even with other Glee friendships there's a certain level of conjecture and I feel like Sebastian is a ch who can be interpreted and carried into fanon in so many different ways. So this really is just how I see him based on what we got and what I could realistically see.

Santana is the obvious character to start with because she is by far the ND girl he interacted the most with, even if most of that was confined to a single episode. And if we get over my annoyance of people who call Smooth Criminal sexual tension, there’s still mostly negativity here. However, when Sebastian has his heel-face turn re: Dave, it’s the beginning of something less asshole-ish for him. I particularly like the shot of him smiling while Santana’s performing What Doesn’t Kill You (Stronger). By no means is it a strong basis for a friendship, but it’s something we can build fanon on.

And look, it’s not like they have to be friends. If we assume that Sebastian really does change and they continue interacting, I think there is a way for them to have at least a friendlier dynamic that’s still full of insults and jabs, only more banter-y and less, for example, racist-y. I think Sebastian would have to really prove he’s not out to get ND anymore for Santana to even consider easing up on him but she’s not as unreasonable as she may seem. It’s just a long journey as Sebastian really activated her bitch powers with the stuff he said and done. Potentially, it could become somewhat friendly but both of them would have to ease up and actually put the effort in. Mostly Sebastian.

As for the other girls, we they all think he kinda sucks in season 3. He only really interacts with Rachel and that’s to blackmail her through her boyfriend. I think Rachel’s relatively quick to forgive if Sebastian shows regret and talent but she’s not being buddy buddy with him anytime soon. Brittany will never like him and will hold a grudge even longer than Santana for the racist comments and for the slushie, so there’s that. Mercedes hates him as long as Kurt does, Quinn has a distaste but weird admiration for him, and Tina is indignant whenever he speaks. Oh and Sugar respects his rich boy status I guess but thinks he’s a talentless hack. I’m sorry this could be more elaborated upon, but canon doesn’t give us anything and whatever I say of how the girls view of him would involve the double speculation of how his character evolves and how each girl reacts to that. We can get into that I’m just not sure that’s what you’re asking for.

I’m not sure if this is what you meant, or more so their dynamic before 3x14. Please feel free to elaborate/clarify/ask for more because I do like talking about any and all Glee friendships, even if Sebastian ones and Sebtana in particular come with a lot of disclaimers.

[elfrooting]

Hey, Nonny! Sorry for taking a while to reply, I wanted to make sure that I gave this the appropriate amount of time and thought, as it’s a subject that I think warrants a lot of care. Also I can’t seem to reply directly from my inbox, I think maybe Xkit is f-ing up at the moment, so sorry for the weird formatting as well!

Before I get into my opinion on the film, I think it’s important to clarify a couple of things.

1) I am part of the American Sámi diaspora. I have regrettably never lived in Sápmi (although if I thought my husband would let me drag him up there, I would be on a plane tomorrow), and my Sámi heritage is also something I have only recently begun the process of reconnecting to. My Sámi ancestor immigrated from Sweden to the United States to escape persecution and forced assimilation, so when they arrived here, they tried very hard to blend in with other Scandanavian immigrants and did not pass their language and culture down to their children. As such, I have not grown up in the culture and was raised in a very typically white midwest family, and so I don’t have the same lived experiences as a Sámi person who has grown up in Sámi culture in a country where racism against our people is still very much alive and well. I could write a whole separate post on what it means to be a white-passing indigenous person living thousands of miles from their ancestral lands with only bits and pieces of their culture accessible, but that’s not what you’re asking about, so I’ll save that for another time. But I do want to be very transparent about this part of my identity and make it clear that I experience a level of privilege that many, many Sámi do not.

2) Sámi people, like any marginalized group, are not a monolith. We are all individuals with our own differing backgrounds and lived experiences, and because of that our opinions on things like this are not universal. So what I say in this post may vary from what you see from other Sámi people, and my opinion does not invalidate or negate theirs. We are all allowed to feel however we feel about issues that relate to the representation of our culture in media and the impact it has on our community. My opinion is my own and shouldn’t be taken as The Sámi Opinion™ on the matter. There are a lot of other posts about it from other Sámi folks, as you’ve noted, and I would encourage everyone to look at all of them to get a broader view of how the film has been received by our community.

SO. All that being said, here are my thoughts:

The Frozen franchise already had kind of a special place in my heart because of Kristoff. According to the original script from the first film, his character is “a young Sámi boy,” and it was my first time ever seeing a Sámi person represented in an animated film. And while Disney did not remotely do Sámi culture any justice in the first movie, it still felt nice to see my culture being recognized in a children’s film at all. So few people have even heard of us that just to be seen felt kinda good, even if the representation was… not great. LOL.

The second film was produced with the help of Sámi people who consulted on the representation of our culture, both in terms of the aesthetics and the way the Northuldra people’s lifestyle was depicted. It was MUCH better than the first film. However, it still had some issues. This is going to get a bit long so I’m going to put it under a cut.

I think there are a lot of Sámi who can identify with reconnecting to the culture, self certainly included. Centuries of forced assimilation have left a lot of us displaced and removed from our heritage and I think we saw some of ourselves in Anna and Elsa’s discovery of their mother’s Northuldra roots. But the idea that Anna and Elsa automatically get accepted into their culture just by virtue of… a shawl? It felt a little bit superficial to a lot of people, and I think that’s valid. The reconnection process is long and involves proceeding with an abundance of caution, care, and respect. None of us would be able to come in and say “Hey, I have this liidni, it belonged to my mum, so I no longer represent colonization and all the horrific things my family did to you guys, isn’t that great!?” That shit wouldn’f fly, LMAO. 

And the idea that this person who hasn’t been raised in the culture can come in and claim her place without any work, and also happens to be a magical Chosen One archetype has some white savior overtones that are kind of uncomfortable, as well.

I also know that a lot of folks felt that the Northuldra fall into the “noble savage” trope, and I can definitely see that as well. So often the way indigenous people are portrayed boils down to Magical Nature People and it can be tiresome, because it leads to a lot of exotification/fetishization of our culture by outsiders. Like, Ryder’s last name is Nattura. It literally means nature in Icelandic. Of course nature is a huge part of indigenous culture, but we have interests and personalities beyond that and it would be nice to see those explored more in media.

And I’m also kind of salty about Kristoff not getting a proper reconnection, or really any explanation about his origins at all. I thought for sure that they were going to get into that, given his affinity for reindeer and the almost immediate brotherly bond he had with Ryder, but then… nada. I really need my soft Sámi boy to find his place and discover more about his own roots if there ever is a Frozen III. That and gay Elsa, those are my two demands from the Mouse, LOL.

But you know what? There were also parts of the film I really did love.

When Yelena called the Northuldra “people of the sun,” I legit got goosebumps. One of our creation stories explains that we were the children of the sun and the moon, and the seeds of that story are scattered all over Sámi culture. You can find our people referred to as “children of the sun” in some form in many places throughout history. Our flag has a large red and blue circle, which represents the sun and moon respectively. One of our most famous poets, Áillohaš, wrote a book called “Beaivi, Áhčážan,” or “The Sun, My Father.” Our national anthem refers to the Sámi as “Beaivvi bártniid,” sons of the sun. So to hear that referenced in the film was really something.

I also enjoyed the overt anti-colonial themes in the movie, with the dam representing the colonial oppression of indigenous people and Anna working to crumble it despite knowing it might mean the end of Arendelle. In recognizing the role some of her ancestors played in oppressing her other ancestors and doing “the next right thing” to correct it, she was showing that she was willing to face the ugly parts of her family’s history in order to truly embrace her heritage, and as someone with mixed indigenous and colonizer ancestry, I felt that in a big way.

So yeah… it definitely was not what I would call perfect representation, but then, I don’t think that media written about Sámi culture by non-Sámi people ever will be. Even the much-praised Klaus—which is a beautiful film, by the way, and I would literally die for Márgu—but even it had some room for improvement in the way we were portrayed. Still, I felt Frozen II had a lot of positives going for it and I’m hoping future installments in the franchise will continue to improve on indigenous representation, and that Disney will continue to involve our community in the discussion when doing so.

I hope that answers your question adequately, Nonny! Feel free to send another ask if you want me to expand on anything or provide any clarification. And thank you for the ask, and for listening and learning what you can about our culture. It means a lot!

[benhardypout-archive]

004. thank you, alex

a/n: so this is one of my Wonty "comfort fics" - so it's far from canon or never followed the original plot - which i would probably never publish (unless there's one i would like to share), but this time in this fic which i titled "Dirty Little Secret", I'm just going to post some chapters which I enjoyed writing. So the number is the chapter of this fic, and this is the chapter 4, hence, 004. Enjoy reading! 🙈

Perhaps, my crush on Monty was getting out of hand.

I flipped through the Liberty yearbook which Tyler lent me only to feast my eyes over the photos of the guy in Jersey no. 32 through the weekend, as I sat on the floor with my back against the bed.

Montgomery de la Cruz, I chanted in my head, reading his name printed in bold letters.

I stopped by a certain picture of his, running my fingers over the glossy paper, tracing his face. Tyler was lucky to have taken this rare shot of him smiling beautifully like this; those white teeth showing. He was leaning back and wearing a blue tank top. For once, he looked really happy…

I should probably ask Tyler the story behind this shot.

My phone rang a message.

I,  mindlessly, searched for it, not keeping my eyes away from the image. I could feel my heart expanding by this simple picture of him.

Bringing my phone to my face, there’s a  message from Alex: U free this afternoon?

Basically, I'm free for the whole day.

I typed a quick reply: Yes.

And not long after, Alex texted back asking us to meet up at this mall, only a five minute drive.

I wonder if this hang out thing meant anything or just platonic. Anyway, Alex seemed nice. I would love to get to know him more and perhaps get acquainted.

Looking back to the yearbook, I'm so tempted to cut the picture. Or maybe I could just ask Tyler just give me this specific yearbook, like a gift.

* * *

Alex took me bowling. And I'm not so good with the game but so far I'm having fun.

"You're so good at this," I said as Alex hit another strike.

He smiled. "Nah."

"Now, don't be modest on me," I chuckled lightly and took a bowling ball from the rack and positioned it on my hand, adjusting to its weight. Walking by the lane, I put on a stance and ran my tongue over my lower lip, aiming for a strike. Not that I'm expecting to hit one, which of course didn't happen. I looked at Alex, throwing my hands in defeat. "No, not good at this."

Alex went to hit next and of course, another strike. He raises both his arms dramatically and spun around facing me, smiling victoriously, cocking a brow.

"I give up!" I chuckled and sat down by the bench.

"You're named Winston for a reason," Alex commented, sitting beside me.

"What does that mean?"

"Winston, like Winner. Root word, win."

I laughed, throwing my head back a little. "Damn. I think I'm not doing my name justice, then."

"Practice makes perfect."

"Let's just eat. I'm starving."

"Sure."

We walked aimlessly along the mall in silence, with a few side comments about the boutiques or the shops we passed on. Then we saw and spotted some familiar faces. Well, Alex introduced me to some of them, simply pointing from afar and telling their names, since I barely knew anyone from Liberty yet, who also worked here.

Then my stomach decided to embarrass me and did a growl as we reached the food court.

“Someone’s whining,” Alex retorted.

“I know right.”

Since it’s the afternoon, there’s a lot of tables to choose from, not to mention, stalls without queues. A lot of options for us. But we just settled on some corn dogs.

"We should see some movie some time," Alex suggested. "How about tomorrow?"

"Oh, okay." I thought back if I had plans. Is looking at pictures of Monty in the yearbook counted as one?

He smiled and told me the time and rendezvous. And then added, "I-it's a date,"

I blinked. "A d-date?"

"I meant friendly date," he quickly clarified, faking a smile. I could see dejection in his eyes.

I wanted to apologize but perhaps I’m just overthinking the situation and putting meaning on how Alex was acting the past days. I may try to brush it off and act like I’m not noticing anything, but it’s there. Yet, he said so himself ‘friendly date’, maybe he really just meant us to be friendly.

"So you like someone else?" Alex asked after a moment which of course caught me off guard. I should’ve expected that question to come. I almost coughed my Coke out. Good thing, I had swallowed it down. My heart began to skip.

Should I tell him?

I avoided his gaze, and took another sip on my drink. "Uhm… yes," I said in a low voice.

"Oh…. right. Of course."

"Alex-"

"I-I'm just asking," Alex cut me off. Though, I’m afraid I’m already ruining this budding friendship and it’s the last thing I wanted. But, if he ever decides and calls off our little friendly movie date, I'd understand.

"I… Maybe I just need some company," he went on, resting his arms on the table as if for comfort. "And I… I actually like Zach," he glanced at me.

Zach. Oh. I know him.

"I kissed him," he murmured so low I almost didn’t catch it. Then he snorted, lightly. "But… of course he said he's straight."

"I'm sorry," I said in empathy. I wanted to reach for his hands but then decided against it. Then a scenario flashed in my head where I kissed Monty and then he said the same thing-- Ouch!

"It's all right. Thanks for going out with me, and listening." Alex interrupted, saving me from my disastrous thoughts.

I nodded. But then... he asked the question I’m shit scared to answer.

"May I ask who you like?"

Fuck...

I shifted on my seat. "Oh… uhm…It's..." I looked at him, warily. He was indifferent… yet. Wait till you hear this.

With a deep shaky breath I say, "Monty."

* * *

No words had been spoken since, besides the sensational "What the… fuck?" reaction from Alex who wavered before saying the word. And an awkward "Yep" from me, popping the 'p'.

We just went to our own cars and left after.

I'm sure Alex hated me now, or worse, despised me.

I knew it.

Maybe liking Monty would make you lose some friends-- lose some potential friends, rather. We're not even friends.

Was that what Monty meant when he said I got no friends here, as his own experience? Because people didn't like him?

I received a text from Alex later that night, apologizing from how he reacted. Which relieved me a hundred fold. And then he added…

Alex: But… Monty? I just can't believe it! And I think he's as straight as a ruler.

Winston: It's all right. Still a plastic ruler can be bent.

Alex: Correction. Wooden ruler. It just breaks in half, and he'll just break you.

Okay, I couldn't argue with that.

Winston: I guess. But could you keep a promise not to tell anyone?

Alex: Ok

Winston: Thanks.

Alex: So tomorrow. Same time. Same place. And move on from Monty. There's far better guys than that asshole.

Hope it's  that easy…

* * *

I'm glad that Alex didn't change towards me. He still smiled and spoke to me as if I didn't tell him something, which he found horrible.

After buying two movie tickets, we went to the snack bar to buy some popcorn.

"Oh you gotta be kidding me." I heard Alex mutter under his breath, causing me to turn and follow his gaze, only for my world to stop, seeing Monty by the entrance.

I forgot the ability to move until Alex nudged me. I blinked and turned to him. He has this amused smile.

"Seriously, Winston, close your fucking mouth. Some fly would literally rent in there."

I blushed, and sneaked another glance at Monty, longer than necessary, then to the other jocks he’s with. They’re standing by the ticket booth. I shifted closer to Alex and poked his side. "Zach's among them."

"I know. I hate it." Alex then stepped forward as it's our turn. "Two medium-sized popcorn please. Plain... And two cokes?" He told the guy behind the counter and turned to me.

"Coke," I confirmed.

And he went on ordering. But half of my attention was on the noise from the jocks. God… I couldn't believe I would see Monty here.

Oh, fuck.

I desperately searched for any mirror or any surface where I could see my reflection and fixed my hair as I saw them making their way towards us!!!

"Hi, Alex." Zach said beside me. I, discreetly, give Alex another nudge.

Alex barely glanced. "Hi."

"Zachy, I'm gonna have these Hot Tamales," Monty announced, tapping his fingers on the glass display counters, pointing over the Hot Tamales candy bars wrapped in red.

He caught my gaze and it was too late to retrieve my eyes back. So, I threw a soft smile at him, hoping I wasn’t too obvious about my loud attraction.

"Hey, Winston. You and Alex on a date?" he asked instead, and I swore I felt blood rush through my cheeks.

"N-no," I shook my head at once.

"What about you and Zach, Monty? You guys on a date?" Alex cuts in.

"Yeah. Actually it's the four of us, Scott and Charlie."

Scott and Charlie smiled and waved, making Alex roll his eyes.

Zach cleared his throat and looked at Alex. I guessed that maybe he wanted to speak to him… alone, so being a good friend as I am, I stepped aside and took the chance to stand beside Monty. But I made sure to be discreet and just tapped my fingers against the counter, my eyes fixated at the menu posted in front.

Zach whispered something to Alex and I could only catch a few words like 'mad' and 'me', giving me enough hint of what he's saying.

I tensed feeling Monty moved closer to me. "Never thought I'd see you here."

I blushed and glanced at him. "Yeah. Small world."

Then he asked me if we’re going to watch the same movie. A horror one.

“I think we should just sit together, then." Monty suggested, glancing over to Zach and Alex. "Especially, it looks like Zach and Alex have something to talk about."

I chuckled, "Sure." Would love to sit next to you.

"Winston," I heard Alex called and saw that our popcorn was ready. I took one last glance at Monty and uttered a "See you later," before making my way back to Alex.

"What did Zach tell you?" I whispered as we made our way inside the cinema.

"He wants to talk. I said yes."

I just hummed.

"Dammit, Winston. I still like him and I hate it," Alex whined a moment later, making me smile.

We took the seat in the middle section, since it's not too far and not too close, and we could watch properly. Different trailers were being shown and I noticed that there were only a few cinema-goers or maybe only few wanted to see this movie.

Later, I spotted Monty and the group inside looking for a seat, so I gave a secret wave at them, specifically, at Monty. He called his friends after he saw me. Then they made their way to us. I hid a smile. My heart wouldn't shut up about it, and it literally wanted to jump off my chest when Monty took the seat next to me.

Calm down, Winston. I’m afraid he could hear it from here, screaming his name.

Zach tried and asked Alex if he could sit beside him, only receiving a nod from Alex. But I could practically read his mind regretting taking the middle seats, when we could just take the space on either right or left wing, and have all the spaces on our own.

"Are you following me?" I heard Alex mumble to Zach.

"No. I… Monty pointed us here and…maybe I did, by deciding to sit next to you," Zach admitted.

I decided and just diverted my attention to Monty and his Hot Tamales. "Does that taste good?"

"You wanna taste?" He gestured one to my direction. I swallowed, not expecting his sudden offer. Or maybe it's because his shoulder brushed against mine.

"N-no. Thanks."

"Come on," Monty began tearing one package open and handed it to me, "Have some."

I glanced at him and reluctantly reached, staring intently at his hand, tempting to hold it.

"No, don't taste that." One of the jocks interrupted. I stopped. "You will get addicted," he added, grinning.

"Oh, fuck off, Charlie," Monty waved. "Come on. Gimme your hand."

"You're not trying to poison me, are you?" I tried to joke.

And I blushed seeing his boyish smile. "Oh no. It's a love potion," he winked.

Now that sent me. If I happen to be an ice, I've melted by now.

You don't need to give me any love potion, Monty. I wanted to say.

With a trembling hand, I held my palm out and he poured some on it. I uttered a thanks and put everything in my mouth, letting it melt in my tongue.

Charlie was right, it's kind of addicting.

"So?"

"I think I'm in love," I blurted, not breaking eye contact.

He looked away.

Oh no! Wrong move, Winston.

"I mean your friend's right. It's addicting."

He turned back to me and smiled. "I know right." He, then, handed me the Hot Tamales. “Here, have it.”

It would be a shame to take his offer down, so I just took it, our fingers brushing; enough to send electricity down my body. I wondered if he felt it too.

Wishful thinking, Winston.

"Why are you taking Monty's food? It might be contaminated," Alex whispered.

I shrugged him off and offered it to him. "You should try."

"No thanks."

I couldn't help but find Alex's distaste towards Monty, funny. Even though I shouldn't. But I'm afraid I might continue teasing him about it.

The movie finally started. And it's supposed to be scary as it's a horror film. But I'm not a bit scared. However, I'm tempted to hold Monty's hand that was on the armrest between us. But more tempted to pull the armrest up and just lean onto him. Maybe act scared?

As he took his hand away to get some popcorn - since I decided to share my popcorn with him and his friends, who I now know the names of: Charlie and Scott - I, sneakily, placed my hand on the armrest in hopes to be held by him.

Sadly, after he took a handful of popcorn he didn't put his hand back, but my hand stayed where it was. And I just forgot all my attempts on flirting.

"Holy shit!" he exclaimed.

And I tensed not because the scene was scary but because his hand, finally, landed on mine. I hid a smile. And when I thought he would notice and take it away, he didn't, and just stayed there. Though, I wasn't sure if he was ever aware of our hands, or he's too focused on the movie to even notice.

My heart pounded so loud, I could barely hear the show, and could hardly concentrate on it, blocking everything around me but only his presence. I’m only aware of the warmth and the weight of his hand on mine, making my throat dry. I just dreamt of kissing him, or simply lean on him, and embrace more of his scent.

Ugh! Shut it, Winston. Try and hold yourself together.

But how, when he’s close like this? Needless to say, his hand on mine?

The movie just ended without me really understanding everything that happened.

Monty made some comments about it, asking me some of it as soon as we got out to the lobby. I just nodded along, agreeing with everything he said. But Charlie argued with him and they went on, leaving me completely clueless, even though we all watched it together. I should've tried and focused on the show, so I could have a proper conversation with him. But until now, the heat of his hand pricked on my skin.

"Winston," Alex called, and began to walk. I hesitated and followed him outside, not giving me the chance to say goodbye to Monty and his friends.

"Are you alright on your own?" he asked

I frowned, blinking once. "Y-yeah."

"I need to go with Zach," he glanced at Zach, who’s busy chatting or probably saying parting words with his buddies, and rolled his eyes back to me. "Said he wants to talk."

"Oh. Sure."

"Again, beware of Monty. Don't be fooled by his good looks."

"So, you admit he looks good."

Alex stammered but soon gave up, sighing. "Whatever Winston. Don't say, I didn't warn you."

"Okay. Have fun with Zach." I gave his shoulder a pat. "And thanks for inviting me. I really had fun," I smiled.

Alex had to roll his eyes again. "I think I know why."