#finally got around to drawing the results of that poll sorry it took so long 👉👈

[moxie-girl]

two of them

two of them

[babypandawrites]

Allies, Pt. 12

The Siege of the North, Part Two

Pairing: Sokka x F Reader Warnings: Implications of Death, I think that's all? Word Count: 3,286 Summary: With the Fire Nation waging war on the Northern Water Tribe, you didn't expect things of the past to be brought up, but, when do you expect anything at this point.

Note: And here we have, the final part of Allies :') But don't worry- the story will continue in a sequel 👀 Phew I did not mean for this to take so long, but I was having a really hard time with the end and ended up having to change where the reader was towards the end for me to... actually be able to write the chapter. Thank you to everyone who has enjoyed the story thus far! It means the world to me, really. It's crazy to think about how I've been working on this for four months! I hope you guys will stick with me for the months to come while I write the sequel :') I'll be carrying over the taglist to the sequel since it's the... same story just a different name heh. Let me know if you want to be added or taken off! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, and that you all have a great day! <3 Also hi sorry bringing this poll back up bc the results are currently tied!!!

-Navigation- | -Atla Masterlist- -Last Part- | -Allies Masterlist- | -Next Part-

Taglist: @boomeraangin | @brokennerdalert

Eyes blinking open, Y/n slowly came too. Her vision was blurry, and her head was pounding. Faintly, she could hear someone talking, but her head was too fuzzy to make out who it was and what they were saying. Her vision clearing, she could see a rocky ceiling, which seemed… odd. Was she in a cave?

When she tried to sit up, she found that she couldn’t move. Her arms were trapped against her sides, and her legs were bound together. Groaning quietly, Y/n twisted onto her side. Aang was on the ground a few feet away from her, hands bound behind his back. He didn’t seem… present.

Observing the situation more, she noted the figure that stood at the entrance to what she was assuming was a cave. They were still talking, and her head was finally clear enough to make out what they were saying.

“I don’t need luck though, I don’t want it. I’ve always had to struggle and fight and that’s made me strong. It’s made me who I am.”

Struggling weakly against her bindings, Y/n furrowed her eyebrows together. “..Zuko..?”

His head turned to the side slightly, an acknowledgement that she was awake, but he didn’t turn to face her. “Don’t bother trying to get free, I’ll just knock you out again.” He paused for a short moment. “Sorry about that, I just.. I knew you wouldn’t give up. You never have.”

Zuko had… taken her too. Why…?

Grunting, she continued to struggle against the rope, stopping only when Zuko rested his hand on her arm. “What did I just say? Did I knock you in the head that hard?” Sighing, Zuko settled on the ground next to her. “I’d prefer if you didn’t make me knock you out again. You probably think otherwise but I don’t want to hurt you.”

Opting to stay silent, she shuffled in place. He watched her carefully, before awkwardly looking about once she stopped moving. He took in a deep breath, when she started shuffling again. “Are you.. uncomfortable?” Being met with silence, Zuko glanced at Y/n to see she was looking at him with a blank expression. “I can sit you up, if you want.”

Not receiving an answer once again, he let out an annoyed breath. “Conversations usually go both ways, Y/n.”

Still, she looked at him blankly. “I don’t think people typically converse with their captors, Zuko.”

“Well, we used to be friends!” Crossing his arms with a huff, Zuko slumped against the cave wall. “I guess the key phrase is ‘used to be’, isn’t it?” He clicked his tongue, before breathing out a sigh. “I didn’t capture you to turn you in, we could… still be friends.”

Y/n took on a pensive expression. “Then why..?”

“Why did I capture you..?” Receiving a nod of confirmation, Zuko shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t… I don’t know.”

“You don’t… know..?”

“No! Okay?! I just-” Breathing out another annoyed breath, he dropped his head into his hands. “Why? Why did you leave? I thought… I thought we had each other's backs and… and you just up and leave?! Just like that?! No explanation, no nothing!? So why?!” Continuing to stay silent, Y/n grimaced internally at the rise in Zuko’s volume. The more he spoke, the louder he got. It was almost hard to imagine that this was the boy she grew up with.

Zuko scoffed, shaking his head slightly. “Fine then. It doesn’t matter anyways- You’ve chosen your path.” He let out a laugh, one edging on hysterical. “You know, I thought maybe I could sit here and convince you to come back, but I can see that isn’t going to work… The Avatar and his friends have won your favor.” He was silent for a moment, seemingly calming down from his outburst. “Uncle told me that I shouldn’t be mad at you, that I should respect your decision to find your own path. How can I do that when your so-called path is going against me?”

Before Zuko could continue, Aang came too, returning from the spirit world. Attention turned to the boy, when he started to struggle against his bonds. After a short moment of futile struggle, he sat up to face Zuko.

“Welcome back.”

“Good to be back.” Aang spoke with a threatening tone, blinding reaching around with his hands- which were tied behind his back -to try and find Y/n’s wrist. Once he was able to grab onto her wrist, he took in a deep breath and blew Zuko away from them while simultaneously shooting both him and Y/n out of the cave. The two landed in the snow outside, where Aang started to caterpillar crawl.

It didn’t take long for Zuko to get to them, grabbing Aang by the collar and lifting him in the air once he did. “That won’t be enough to escape.”

Suddenly, Appa appeared above them, before landing on the ground. Y/n breathed out a sigh of relief. Katara got off the bison, as Zuko dropped Aang back into the snow. “Here for a rematch?”

“Trust me, Zuko, it’s not going to be much of a match.”

Katara blocked a fireball Zuko shot at her, sending a wave of ice towards him. Once the ice reached him, she encased him in a pillar of ice that she raised high from the ground. When she dropped him, he fell to the ground unconscious.

Sokka jumped off of Appa, rushing over to Aang to cut his bonds. “Hey! This is some quality rope!” He commented, before moving to Y/n to free her as well.

“We need to get to the oasis! The spirits are in trouble!” Aang got up, and ran to Appa, while Sokka helped Y/n to her feet.

Everyone was on the bison, ready for take off, but Aang hesitated on leaving, looking towards Zuko’s knocked out form. “Wait, we can’t just leave him here.”

“Sure we can. Let’s go.”

Y/n shook her head softly. “No, Aang’s right, we can’t leave him. He could die.”

Aang jumped off Appa, and grabbed Zuko to bring him up onto the bison. Sokka watched him with a somewhat exasperated expression. “Yeah, this makes a lot of sense. Let’s bring the guy who’s constantly trying to kill us!”

As they started to fly back to the Spirit Oasis, the moon changed to a blood red, casting a red light over everything. This seemed to affect Yue, who held her head in pain, letting out a groan.

Sokka looked at her concerned. “Are you okay?”

“I feel faint.”

Aang, with a hand to his head, looked at the moon. “I feel it too. The Moon Spirit is in trouble.”

Yue glanced at the moon as well. “I owe the Moon Spirit my life.”

“What do you mean?” Sokka questioned.

“When I was born I was very sick and very weak. Most babies cry when they’re born… But I was born as if I were asleep. My eyes closed. Our healers did everything they could. They told my mother and father I was going to die. My father pleaded with the spirits to save me… that night, beneath the full moon, he brought me to the oasis and placed me in the pond. My dark hair turned white, I opened my eyes and began to cry- and they knew I would live. That’s why my mother named me Yue, for the moon.”

They neared the oasis as Yue finished her story, to find Zhao there- a bag in hand and Momo on his head trying to stop him from what he was doing. The group got off Appa when he landed, sans Yue and Zuko, ready to fight Zhao and the other Fire Nation soldiers in the oasis.

“Don’t bother!” Zhao held a knife to the bag he had, which must have had the Moon Spirit trapped inside.

Aang dropped his staff, raising his hands in surrender. “Zhao! Don’t!”

“It’s my destiny… to destroy the Moon… and the Water Tribe.”

Y/n glared at the man, resisting her urge to attack him. “You’re insane.”

“Destroying the moon won’t just hurt the Water Tribe. It will hurt everyone- including you. Without the moon, everything would fall out of balance. You have no idea what kind of chaos that would unleash on the world.” Aang tried to reason with him, but Y/n wasn’t sure words alone would stop the man.

“He is right, Zhao!” Heads turned to Iroh, as he approached.

“General Iroh, why am I not surprised to discover your treachery?” Zhao spoke in a bored tone.

Iroh lowered his hood. “I’m no traitor, Zhao, the Fire Nation needs the moon too. We all depend on the balance.”

Unsurprisingly, Zhao continued to hold his threat on the Moon Spirit, the knife he held at the bag it was captive in not dropping.

“Whatever you do to that spirit I’ll unleash on you ten-fold!” Iroh pointed a finger at Zhao, before taking on a firebending stance. “LET IT GO, NOW!”

After a moment of stillness, Zhao faltered, lowering the bag. He kneeled and released the fish of the Moon Spirit back into the pond. The red light casted from the moon returned back to normal.

Seeing something move in the corner of her eye, Y/n’s attention moved to the right, just in time for her to see a figure sneaking away. Careful not to draw attention to herself, she followed after them, noting that Zuko was missing from Appa’s saddle as she snuck by. He was taking the chance to sneak away, while everyone was focused on Zhao. If she had anything to say about it, he wouldn’t be getting far.

In her pursuit, the moon fell dark, probably thanks to Zhao. It’s not a surprise that he would try and kill the moon spirit, even after letting it go. Keeping her distance and staying as hidden as she can, Y/n continued to follow Zuko- Only stopping when he did. Eyebrows furrowing together, she watched as he shot a blast of flames to a lower area from where they stood- Which was shot at Zhao.

The man stopped in his steps, looking up at Zuko incredulously. “You’re alive?”

“You tried to have me killed!”

He shot several more blasts at Zhao, which he was able to dodge. When he tried to run off in the other direction, Y/n moved quickly to grab her bow and an arrow, shooting it at the ground in front of him. Both Zhao and Zuko were shocked by this, not having noticed her before.

“You tried to have him killed?!”

Zhao’s gaze darted between the two, before primarily focusing on Zuko. “Yes, I did. You’re the Blue Spirit- and enemy of the Fire Nation! You freed the Avatar!” Pausing, he pointed to Y/n. “And her!” His words dripped with venom.

“I had no choice!”

Zuko fired several more attacks at Zhao, while Y/n readied an arrow- though she waited to shoot it until the right moment. Zhao avoided the attacks, removing and dropping his smoking cloak as they subsided. “You should have chosen to accept your failure- your disgrace! Then, at least you could have lived.”

Returning the fire, the two end up in a short exchange of attacks, before Zuko blasted Zhao in the chest, knocking him down. Having seemed to realize Y/n was waiting for the right moment for attack, Zuko glanced at her. “Now.”

Though she didn’t need his signal- In quick succession she fired two arrows at Zhao, one pinning his sleeve to the ground, the other pinning his pant leg. The two jumped down to the lower level Zhao was, landing on either side of him as he struggled to free his clothes from the arrows. Zuko took on a firebending stance, while Y/n pulled another arrow through her bow. They both waited to attack, watching the man carefully.

Finally wiggling the arrow free from his shirt sleeve, he scoffed, looking between the two. “Two traitors working together again, hm? I’m not surprised at this point.”

Y/n narrowed her eyes when the Admiral quit trying to wiggle the arrow pinning his pant leg down free, quickly pivoting on her heel at realization. Twisting to the side, she narrowly dodged the arrow when he threw it at her. This initiated the fight once again, Zuko sending a relentless stream of attacks. Realizing her bow wasn’t going to get her anywhere in a close range fight, Y/n hooked it away onto her quiver, running at Zhao while he traded fire blasts with Zuko. She grabbed onto his arm as he tried to send an attack at the prince, yanking it to the side so the blast shot to the right. He twisted his other arm to send a fireball right into her face, which she was able to duck away from as she released his arm. The momentary distraction gave Zuko the opening to shoot a powerful blast at Zhao, knocking him back a bit.

Unable to keep his attention on both of them at once, Y/n was able to swipe her leg at his ankles while he was focused on Zuko, knocking him down. Not relenting, Zhao shot a blast at Y/n, catching her off guard and knocking her down. She rolled out of the way of another blast, before Zuko helped her off the ground- While firing at Zhao. The two looked at each other briefly, sharing a nod.

Running at Zhao once again, Y/n twisted, ducked and dodged the attacks sent at her, while also giving room for Zuko to send his own blasts at the man. Once close enough, she started throwing punches at Zhao, taking his attention in the fight. The close proximity of the fight didn’t stop him from using his fire, leaving parts of her clothes to be singed. She ducked when he tried to punch her with a blazing fist, giving the opening for Zuko to send another powerful blast at Zhao, knocking him down once again.

He didn’t get up this time, rather looking past the two with a horror ridden expression. “It can’t be!”

Furrowing her eyebrows, Y/n turned to see what he was looking at- The moon. In the heat of the battle, she hadn’t noticed it started to shine bright once again.

Suddenly, water rose up coalescing around the bridge they were on, taking the form of a large fish like creature. It reached out and grabbed Zhao, pulling him off the bridge. He struggled against it, before Zuko reached out to him. “Take my hand!”

For a moment, it seemed like he was going to grasp onto Zuko’s hand, but instead drew back- an expression of hate taking over his features. Zhao was taken under the surface of the water, disappearing. Crossing her arms, Y/n looked at the surface of the water in near disbelief.

Silence lingered in the air, it only being broken when Zuko quietly cleared his throat. Looking up from the surface of the water, she glanced over at him. He took a minute, before speaking up.

“Listen, Y/n… I’m… sorry. For everything. I- Ugh, what am I even trying to say here.”

She raised an eyebrow in amusement. “That you’re sorry?”

“Yes- Wait, I already said that..” He breathed out a sigh, holding a hand to his forehead. Laughing softly, she held out her hand.

“Truce?”

He hesitated for a moment, before grasping onto her hand, a soft smile tugging up his lips. “Truce.”

Tugging him a step closer, Y/n put an arm around his neck, bringing him into a hug. Zuko tensed at the action, but returned it nonetheless.

“We can still be friends..” Mumbling quietly, she broke away from the hug. “But I need to get back to them.”

“I.. understand.” He paused. “Actually, no, I don’t. But… I won’t stop you.”

Offering a small smile, she slipped past him, intending to go back to the oasis. She stopped on the way there, however, seeing that her friends were gathered. Katara waved her over, inviting her into the group hug they were currently sharing. Running over, she joined them, a wide smile on her face.

---

Sea water gently splashed up against the sides of the boat, spraying past the railings. The more Y/n sat with her back against them, her head leaned back, the more the back of her shirt and her hair dampened from the water. Eyes closed, she took in a deep breath. With her terrible track record on boats, she didn’t know that being out at sea could be so… relaxing.

“Can’t sleep?”

She shook her head softly in response. “You can’t either?”

Sokka breathed out a quiet, somewhat tense, laugh. “No..” He paused for a short moment. “Do you mind?”

Opening her eyes to see that he was motioning to the space on the deck next to her, Y/n offered a soft smile. “Not at all.”

Muttering a small thanks, he gave a weak smile in return, before settling down next to her. He sat close enough for their shoulders to press together, the close proximity made her heart race.

Silence lingered over them for a long moment, before Y/n spoke up. “I heard what happened… With Yue.”

Breathing out a soft sigh, Sokka tilted his head back, looking up at the moon. “Yeah… I figured you would.”

“I’m sorry for bringing it up but- I just wanted to say if you ever need someone to talk to, I’m always right here.”

“Thanks..” He paused for a moment. “You know, I went to that shop you were working at once when you weren’t there. I was trying to catch you there, that… didn’t work out- Obviously.” He breathed out a quiet chuckle, digging into his coat pocket. “But I did meet that lady you worked for, and she asked me to make sure this got to you.” He held out a bracelet, the one she’d been looking at in the shop before she started working there.

Her eyes widened slightly. “I forgot about that.”

“That’s why she asked me to give it to you. Let me see your wrist.” He tied the bracelet around her wrist, once she held it out to him.

“Thanks.” She spoke with a smile, twisting her wrist slightly causing the stone to glint in the moonlight.

“It’s no problem.” Smirking, he took on a slightly teasing tone. “I didn’t expect you to be a jewelry person.”

Pressing a hand to her chest, she feigned an over exaggerated offence. “Just because I lived in a forest and can fight better than you doesn’t mean I can’t like girly things.”

He looked at her offended. “You cannot fight better than me!” She leaned a bit closer to him, raising an eyebrow. “You wanna test that theory?”

Falling silent, he gulped. “No, I think I’m good.”

They were both quiet, before breaking into a short fit of laughter. Leaning back against the boat's railing, Y/n hugged one of her knees to her chest.

Once again, silence fell over them. After a few moments, a sudden weight was on her shoulder. Tensing slightly, she looked to the side, to see that Sokka had fallen asleep- His head now leaning on her shoulder. She opened her mouth to wake him up, but stopped herself.

Something in her didn’t want to wake him up… The closeness was… Nice.

Letting her eyes fall closed, she leaned her head back, absentmindedly fiddling with the bracelet tied around her wrist. She felt so calm, but still her heart raced, and she wasn’t sure why.

With certain thoughts and memories coming to mind, however, the pieces started to fit together.

And it was in that moment, Y/n realized.

[snkpolls]

SnK S3E16 Poll Results (Manga Reader Version)

The poll closed with 352 responses. Thank you to everyone who participated!

Please note that these are the results of the manga reader poll. Anime only watchers are suggested not to read if you do not wish to be spoiled about certain events! Anime only viewers, click here to view your poll results!

RATE THE EPISODE 338 Responses

This episode gained a lot of positive responses with 87.6% rating it at a 5, with only a couple people not so impressed. Hopefully future episodes will keep up the high streak!

As it stands right now, this is my favorite episode from the anime. How the Beast Titan's rampage was animated was so much more horrific and impactful than the manga, I felt more sympathy with Erwin than I did when I read the manga, and the final series of scenes that depict the suicide charge were so masterfully done I felt my heart grow heavy. Absolutely spectacular. I hope the next episode is even better <3

It was fucking amazing. Perfect game, more like perfect episode

Great job all around the board imo. The rock throwing was truly horrifying either the red mist, and the screams were done perfectly

So far easily the most harrowing, depressing episode of the anime :/

Even though I knew what it is going to happen in this ep, wit has managed to surprise me. Best episode of the season so far with the first one.

Favorite episode of the series so far

It was great, but the poor animation quality really ruins some serious moments in this arc, as many people are dying

Just Perfect, the tension and release were just on point 👌

Took the crown from S2EP6 as the best of the series for me.

WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING WAS YOUR FAVORITE MOMENT? 349 Responses

A lot of attention was on Erwin this chapter and many were moved by his scenes. Most notably, his charge with his soldiers at the Beast Titan led with 28.9% respondents picking it as their favorite moment. 17.8% respondents said Levi kneeling in front of Erwin and vowing to take down Zeke was their favorite, followed by Erwin’s motivational speech at 14.3%.

Bombardment scene was made 30 times better in the anime.

It was the moment we were all waiting for, and it happened and now I'm like a deflated balloon of emotion. Thank you, Erwin.

The imagery of the fallen scouts chilled me and I loved that included Isabel, Farlan, Isle Lagnar etc but my anger towards Annie has been resurged seeing Petra's face. Female titan I'll never forgive you for wrecking Levi Squad!

Erwin and Levi's relationship is one of the most beautiful ones I have ever seen, and I was happy seeing how it was portrayed, finally. With them having cut so many of the moments that showed Erwin as human, I'm glad they took the time to draw the moment of his smile so much. Long live my Commander, I would have followed him to hell.

I was astonished at how well they adapted Levi and Erwin's scenes.  Bravo, the animation was top notch, the voice acting was stellar, like wow.

The bodies on the red background was really dark & was the part that had the most impact on me (as opposed to the manga)

erwin and levi's talk made me a lot more emotional than it did in the manga. the whole team did a pretty damn good job with this episode.

WHO WAS THE EPISODE'S MVP? 348 Responses

Unsurprisingly, Erwin gains the MVP award for this episode. Some think Levi stands out as well.

Erwin is humanity"s greatest soldier. Rest in peace, Commander.

Ono Daisuke is the goddamn mvp

Erwin made me gay

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT CONNIE MAKING A PUN ABOUT THE FALLING HOUSES? 346 Responses

28% of respondents can relate to Connie’s stressful comedic moment, with 27.5% believe he has the right to make jokes. Some are rolling their eyes or think this isn’t quite an appropriate time.

I think Connie´s joke was his own form of mental breakdown. It makes him all the more relatable to me.

WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE DONE IF YOU WERE ASKED TO JOIN THE SUICIDE CHARGE? 345 Responses

If asked to join Erwin on the suicide charge, a majority at 38.8% of respondents would have faith in the commander and hope to survive. 30.1% of participants aren’t sure what they would do, while an equal amount of people are between retreating or surrendering on the spot.

Crack a joke like Connie

If Erwin throw himself from a bridge, I would too! The fuck. Ok but being serious, being in that horrible scenario without a chance to survive, just nod and fight until the end.

Fuck it. I'm going die anyway; might as well go out swingin

cry, disassociate, and die. in that order.

Lads you would not catch me within 1000 miles of a battlefield. I'm less useful than Reiner on a battlefield, and that's saying something.

Pull a Floch and shit myself while crying

I would actually with all my heart follow Commander Erwin fucking Smith with no expectations of survival. Never have I ever encountered a man as compelling as him, real or fictional.

Sorry Erwin but... someone’s gotta keep Floch from being an ass. I’m sure you understand.

Not really but what about trying to hide closer to the wall since zeke will be throwing rocks at erwin and the others... then wait until levi is done with the monkey.

I would have never been stupid enough to join the survey corps to begin with lol

DO YOU THINK LEVI MADE THE RIGHT CHOICE TO FOLLOW ERWIN’S PLAN OVER HIS OWN? 346 Responses

41.3% of respondents believe that there was no other choice Levi could have made except to defeat the Beast Titan. 39.9% think the plan was the better of the two strategies.

It was the only viable narrative choice, but if it was a real battle retreating with as many survivors as possible might have been sensible.

Levi gave Erwin salvation by making the choice for him and gladly transferred Erwin's own burden of guilt and responsibilities onto his own shoulders. Which also why the word choice of "follow" seems iffy. Erwin is a proven master strategist and brilliant tactician, so of course you always go with his plan. BUT Levi didn't just 'follow' his plan, he made an active *choice* to implement the plan. It is Levi's plan as much as it is Erwin's.

Levi let his personal feelings get in the way of determining what would be the best hope for Humanity's survival.

I sincerely doubt Beastie would have let the survivors go unmolested all the way back to Wall Rose, and Levi knew it which was why he said he doesn't really expect anyone to survive this situation. Erwin had to make his last contribution to humanity in that moment, and they both knew that.

i think the plan should have been to stunt the beast, as we know that he doesn't get killed here anyway (obvs they don't know that), just buy some time ans save as many souls as possible.

HOW MUCH DID ERWIN’S INSPIRATIONAL SPEECH MOTIVATE YOU? 345 Responses

A large majority of voters are willing to believe in Erwin’s encouraging words and die by them no matter the risk.

I'LL FOLLOW YOU TO THE GRAVE COMMANDER ERWIN!!

ERRRRWWWIIIINNN!

WHO YELLED THE BEST INSULT TO BERTOLT? 345 Responses

Out of the few distracting insults, Sasha calling Bertolt a “massive pervert lord” was the best out of the three for 69.6% of respondents.

BEST SHOCKED FACE THIS EPISODE? 348 Responses

It isn’t often Levi is caught off-guard, so his shocked expression this episode was favored by 41.1% of voters. 23.3% of people thought Erwin had an expressive reaction as well.

Erwin’s face when he got hit... Wish we could’ve seen the gore though.

HOW WELL DID WIT ADAPT THE CORRESPONDING CHAPTERS? 343 Responses

There were a couple unsatisfied viewers, but overall a majority of participants believe the episode was fairly accurate to the manga.

the suicide charge was perfectly done.

that slow mo scene of the first boulder shower was amazing! and then the red mist of blood, the screams and cries of fear, pain, and death of the soldiers, the shock, despair, the ghosts of the dead soldiers, the emotion of Erwin and Levi’s last conversation, gosh this episode was beautiful in a morbid and heartbreaking way

It was very well done. It hurt, but not quite as much as the manga did.

Incredible adaptation. I’m tempted to call it flawless.

erwins soft smile after levi confirms what they must do was so special, especially since they hung on erwins face for a while

This episode was far more horrific than the manga version - the blood mist and the screams really upped the fear.

WHICH VERSION OF CONNIE'S JOKE DID YOU LIKE BEST? 346 Responses

There were a few different translations of Connie’s joke depending on the medium. 43.9% preferred Connie’s pun in the manga about Eren having a roof over his head again, while 31.8% thought Connie’s “Yeager” pun in Japanese was the funniest.

The only funny version of connie's joke is the japanese one...

HOW DID THE ADAPTATION OF ERWIN’S MOMENT OF GRIEF AFFECT YOU? 340 Responses

Erwin’s moment of grief was a somber scene for many, and over half of participants feel the adaptation tugged on their heart strings more than when they read the manga. Less than a quarter felt more sympathetic, with quite a number preferring the original manga version better.

There’s something about actually hearing his voice that made me want to cry again

I dunno, I think both mediums had different but equal impact in terms of the actual speech. The anime is very emotionally and viscerally effective, whereas with the manga you take longer to process what's in front of you at your own pace, in the privacy of your own skull. Both very moving.

Can't reproduce reading it for the first time but this was great.

I really liked it, but the manga is still more powerful for me.

Doesn't matter to me. I felt the same sorrow and overwhelmed like in the manga was a couple years ago. Great job WIT, absolutely!

I prefer the scene in the manga because of Erwin having more moments of being himself instead of colder than a summer day in Colorado, as the manga clues in more to him being a sad old man. However, Ono Daisuke’s voice acting was ON POINT. Erwin’s voice cracks like he was going to cry, the distance in his voice, it just made me cry.

I was practically sobbing on the floor, take from that what you will.

The hidden option of: Both were heartbreaking to me

KNOWING FLOCH NOW, WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON HIS BREAKDOWN? 348 Responses

Since RtS, Floch has become a paramount character in the current manga arc. Viewing his breakdown in the episode, 37.1% respondents think the moment was great in humanizing him. 18.4% respondents are less moved and found pleasure in his despair. Several were reminded why they used to like Floch and some gave praise to his seiyuu’s performance.

Back when I read the chapters, I found Floch to be annoying, now with the recent ones I really dislike him more. I still felt the same watching the episode but the seiyuu did a good job

Um, a combination of the above options I think. I was always 'meh' about Floch until his jerkface side began to show. So I never actually 'liked' him, but I certainly empathised with him at this point, and his seiyuu was definitely brilliant!

I have never liked him, really

I don't agree with his mindset in the current chapters of the manga but seeing the fucked up shit that he went through being the sole survivor and even then not being able to revive the Commander. I can see that trauma changed him to just follow Eren's instructions that he would let someone like Zeke live on but give far lesser thoughts to his actual saviour, Levi. As such, in the particular episode and the extent of the anime, I pity him and his VA did an amazing job of displaying a normal soldier's reaction.

Independently from his future actions, I think his breakdown is irresponsible and it doesn't help, given the circumstances.

Floch's a prick, but his VA was fantastic here and actually made me sympathize with him quite a bit. Can't wait to hate him again in a few eps though.

I had a lot of sympathy for him at the time in the manga, and seeing it again has made me think about how he's come to the point he has in the current story. PTSD and survivor's guilt explain a lot.

Hate him with a passion. I had forgotten that Levi actually kinda saved him, and now knowing how he wanted to kill Levi in recent chapters made me hate him even more.

I don’t give a floch

I think there still a hidden motive that Floch has since he is definitely following Eren now. I predict that in his mind he is honoring his fallen comrades by acting the way he is in recent chapters. Might be messed up externally, but I think there is more to Floch since his motives likely match Eren’s who we still haven’t quite figured just yet.

Of course we can have sympathy for someone without justifying their actions. I do sympathise terribly with Floch's trauma as the sole survivor of the suicide charge, but I do NOT accept it as a reason to become a militant ethno-nationalist. (His seiyuu was beyond amazing tho, props)

who the fuck is floch?

MARLOWE AND MOBLIT’S DEATHS ARE COMING UP AND SOME HAVE EXPRESSED THAT THEY WOULD LIKE SOME ADDITIONAL ANIME ORIGINAL SCENES FOR THEM - THOUGHTS? 347 Responses

Sadly, Marlowe and Moblit’s death scenes will be shown within the next couple episodes. 50.1% of respondents believe these scenes are impactful enough to stick with the manga while 36% would want to see the anime had something more.

Additional scene definitely for Moblit!! Poor boi is so underrated :'-(

Marlowe :( :( :(

I would definitely like to see more of Moblit, we have barely seen him this season. I feel like the only scenes we'll see him in are pre-death and post-death (we could see him as a ghost in Erwin's grief scene). Moblit deserves way more than this. Marlowe is adorable and seeing him die will be enough to break my heart, especially when you think that the only person surviving that suicide charge was not a great person like him, but the disgusting scumbag that Floch is.

WHICH SCENE FROM THE PREVIEW ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO? 348 Responses

A majority of readers at 69.8% can’t wait to see the infamous first battle between Humanity’s Strongest and the War Chief. 23.3% are more enthusiastic for Armin’s face-off against Bertolt. Needless to say, it’s going to be an eventful episode.

I AM NOT READY FOR SHINGANSHINA FRIED ARMIN.

Isn’t it wild that next episode we’ll likely see the defeat of all three of the Warriors? Bye Zeke, Bye Reiner, Super-Bye Bertholdt.

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS ON THE EPISODE?

This was the best episode so far that has been aired. The emotions were high, the soundtrack was impeccable, the animation/drawings were fantastic (aka Levi had emotions!!!), and it really did a good job manifesting the hopelessness of the situation to the audience.

I forgot how hopeless the situation was during all of this. The constant narrating on stones in the background and the recruits screams really showed that

My only gripes were the music choice and lack of proper facial expression (Although, maybe that's just because Isayama is amazing at expressions)

That red mist was so horrible and made everything look so gruesome, I was in shock. This episode really hit me hard, I wasn't ready to watch it and now that I have, I'm having a hard time recovering

I was HEARTBROKEN at the end of this episode. Hard enough to read the chapter, worse still to see it on screen. So much sorrow and regret for poor Erwin.

I need that piano ost

Rip Erwin. Shinzou'ed his last sasageyo.

I've never felt something watching SnK until this episode. Erwin's face during the suicide charge was something... That was the real face of fear. He knew he had to let go his dreams for the sake of humanity, unlike previous times where he used this excuse to move forward his dream.

The music and Erwins’s voice actor made it nearly perfect

WIT is playing a dangerous game with the amount of CGI they're using. It hasn't really "ruined" anything for me yet, but they're getting close.

I cried even though i already knew what would happen. Is it normal doctor ?

The episodes have just gotten better and better, and this one might just be my favorite in the series. Definitely top 3. Just fantastic execution all around. It truly managed to bring back that feeling of hopelessness. Daisuke Onoue is an absolute legend. Not ashamed to say I cried about 3 times opon rewatches.

This episode broke me. Literally. I was mourning for Erwin for a while after, still am. I thought having read the manga would prepare me somewhat for the Vow™ conversation, but holy shit. I dunno if this is in the manga but Erwin had tears in his eyes when he sat on the crate. Erwin Smith was *crying*. And his voice (kudos to Daisuke Ono!!!) just. Absolutely wrecked me. Amazing, amazing episode. The kind you badly want to rewatch again and again but can't without bolstering up your emotional strength each goddamn time.

WHERE DO YOU PRIMARILY DISCUSS THE SERIES? 332 Responses

Thanks to everyone who participated! We’ll see you again in a few days!

[lastbluetardis]

Chemical Potential (6/11)

Summary: Slightly homesick and stressed about her abysmal chemistry grade, Rose Tyler meets quirky James Smith, the boy who sits in front of her in their chemistry class. They become fast friends as James makes it his personal mission to help Rose get through the semester.

Ten x Rose University AU

This chapter: ~6000 words, light teen

Notes: This was written for the lovely @thegreenfairy13 as part of the @dwsecretsanta gift exchange.

AO3 | Ch1 | Ch2 | Ch3 | Ch4 | Ch5 | Ch6 | Ch7 | Ch8 | Ch9 | Ch10 | epilogue

Rose was looking forward to her sleepover with James all day. All of her classes seemed to drag by, impatient as she was for it to be four o’clock, the time James said he would meet her at the library.

Finally, hurrying to the library after her final class of the day ended, Rose spotted James’s figure slouched in a cushy chair near the front doors of the library, an open newspaper in front of him. She took a minute to admire him and the graceful curve of his body as he sat sideways in the chair with his legs slung over the armrest.

He hadn’t spotted her yet, so she snuck up behind him and breathed into his ear, “Guess who?”

He yelped far louder than was appropriate for a library, earning them both a sharp glare from the librarian on duty.

James sprang up from the seat, nearly tripping over his feet in the process. His cheeks were bright red, and Rose felt a little bad for startling him so badly.

“Rose!” he exclaimed, breathless. “Hi!”

“Hi,” she giggled. “Ready to go?”

“Yup, let me just…” He hastily folded up the newspaper, not even following the creases, before he shoved it into his bag.

“You performed your civic duty, I see,” she noted, spying the tiny “I Voted!” sticker on his jumper.

“Yep! Got to the polls right as they opened this morning. I’m glad, because rumor has it the lines are impossibly long now.”

He slung his bag over his shoulder, then touched her wrist briefly before he let his hands drop to his sides. It was an automatic response for Rose to thread their fingers together as they made their way outside.

“Isn’t it supposed to be cold by now?” Rose asked as they walked into the late afternoon sunshine and the unseasonable warmth. Across campus, some students were in t-shirts and shorts, or were carrying around jackets that had become unnecessary as the temperatures approached sixty.

“Well… climate change, y’know. The Earth is dying.”

“Very cheerful,” she muttered, reaching over to pinch his ribs.

He squirmed out of the touch, but didn’t relinquish her hand as they walked to his car.

James remembered the way to her apartment, and fifteen minutes later, he’d pulled up in front of her building.

“D’you… want to come up?” Rose asked awkwardly. “I might be a few minutes. I’m an idiot and didn’t pack an overnight bag yet.”

“You’re not an idiot,” he said softly, and while she’d meant it offhand, a piece of her heart fluttered at his immediate protest. “But sure. I’ll come up.”

He turned off his car and exited. He dug through his pockets for a quarter that he fed into the parking meter.

“Will fifteen minutes be long enough?” he asked, glancing at her.

She nodded, then guided him into her building and up the flights of stairs to her floor.

“It’s a bit small,” she said apologetically when she unlocked her front door. “But make yourself at home.”

She was all too aware of James’s roaming gaze as he drank in her flat. It was small, even for one person. Thankfully she didn’t have much stuff, so it wasn’t cluttered. There was a loveseat sofa and a dining table in the living room, but the table was so covered with her art supplies that she often ate her meals standing over the kitchen counter.

“Help yourself to whatever’s in the fridge,” she said as she made a beeline for her bedroom.

She pulled out a bag and stuffed a change of clothes and pajamas into it, then she moved to the bathroom. Her makeup was spread all across the countertop, and she collected them into her makeup bag, which she stuffed on top of her clothes. She then grabbed her shampoo, conditioner, and body wash, which she rolled into a towel. All of that she placed into her pack as well.

After making sure she had everything she would need for staying overnight somewhere, she joined James in the living room. He was towering over her table, and Rose was mortified to see him looking at the various pages of sketches littered across the surface. She knew there were several portraits of him among the pages.

He jumped when he heard her approaching, and his cheeks flamed red.

“I- I’m sorry,” he squeaked. “It was all right out there in the open. I didn’t mean to snoop. I just… You’re very good, Rose. They’re beautiful.”

Her sharp rebuke about invading her privacy died on her tongue. She knew he hadn’t meant anything by it, and if she hadn’t wanted anybody to see, she should’ve put them away. After all, it wasn’t as though she was unused to sharing her artwork; but she was unused to her artistic muse seeing the final results.

“Thanks,” she mumbled, accepting his compliment.

She decided not to draw any more attention to her drawings, on the off chance he somehow hadn’t seen the ones she’d done of him. Instead, she moved to the fridge for the unopened bottle of wine that had been there since her first week in the flat.

James frowned.

“How the hell…? The drinking age in America is twenty-one,” he blurted. “How did you even buy that?”

Rose raised an eyebrow at him, then said slowly, “Because I am twenty-one?”

He blinked. “What?” His voice went high, and he coughed to clear it.

“Yeah. I turned twenty-one last April,” she said. “I took a few years off school before deciding to try uni.”

James nodded, and his throat bobbed. “Good. That’s… good.”

Rose cocked her head. “Why’s that good?”

His cheeks burned redder and he stammered for a moment before saying, “Well, I wouldn’t want you to get into any trouble here on foreign soil is all.”

A lame excuse, and certainly not what he’d meant, but Rose didn’t push it.

“Shall we?” she said.

He nodded and reached for the wine, then guided her back to his car.

He drove them to the outskirts of town, to a small residential development. Quaint brick houses lined the streets, and a twinge of jealousy flared through Rose. But she pushed it down when she considered where James had gotten the money to afford a house: he’d probably inherited any money his parents had when they died.

“Home sweet home,” he said, pulling into the driveway of one of the smaller houses in the development. “Oh! Er… are you allergic to cats? I completely forgot.”

Rose shook her head. “I had a few cats when I was growing up.”

He looked relieved. “Great.”

She followed him into his house, and was immediately greeted by the happy, screaming meows of a black and gray tabby.

“This one’s Pippin,” he said, bending down to scratch the cat’s chin. “He’s a love bug. If he gets too annoying, I’ll shut him in my room.”

Pippin purred loudly, then turned to Rose and rubbed himself against her calves and feet.

A few moments later, a brown and tan tabby padded over to them. He wasn’t quite as affectionate as Pippin, but he sniffed Rose curiously then bumped his head into her shin before trotting back in the direction he came from.

“That one was Merry,” James said.

Rose stifled a grin. “Are Frodo and Sam in hiding?”

James giggled, looking pleased that she understood the reference.

“They live with my Aunt Sarah,” he said, toeing off his shoes by the front door. Rose followed suit, and was amused to see his socks had chemical structures printed all across them.

She followed James down the hall and to the kitchen, where Merry and Pippin were circling two of three empty bowls.

“Watch out for Gollum,” James warned. “He doesn’t take kindly to strangers. Or even to me, honestly. He’s a grumpy old man. I should’ve let him drown in the storm drain honestly. But I felt too sorry for the bastard.”

Rose turned at a growling meow, and saw a Siamese cat slinking further into his box on the cat tree.

“That whole tree is his,” James said, shaking his head. “He won’t let Merry or Pippin on it. I had to get them their own tree. And Gollum will sometimes even take over that one, the little shit.”

She watched James move around his kitchen, filling the three bowls with food. He gave Merry and Pippin each a full body stroke before letting them eat their dinner in peace.

“I’ll show you where you can put your stuff,” he said, beckoning with a tilt of his head before he strode down the hall.

He guided her to the first door on the right and stepped into the room. There was a large bookshelf completely covered with books, as well as a long bay window with cushions that looked like the perfect place to curl up for a few hours to read. Judging by the distinct scent of James that lingered in the room, she suspected he spent a lot of time reading here.

Against the opposite wall was a full-size bed.

“My aunt stays in this room when she comes to visit,” James said. “I put fresh sheets on. The loo is directly across the hall. And my bedroom is at the very end of the hall, should you need anything in the middle of the night.”

“Thank you,” Rose said, setting her bag onto the bed. “Your house is lovely.”

He smiled a little awkwardly, as though realizing the very different lifestyles they lived.

“Ready for pizza? Results probably won’t start coming in for another couple of hours. But we can put an order in a while and maybe play something? Do you like board games? Or we could play a card game? Whatever you want.”

Rose’s stomach flip-flopped, suddenly nervous that she was alone with James in his home, and that she would be spending the night here. Not nervous for her safety—never that—but nervous about the implications of it all. Did it mean the same thing to James as it did to her? What did it even mean to her? Was this just two mates hanging out together? Or was it… more?

“I’m fine with anything,” Rose said. “And yeah, let’s order the food now.”

James nodded, and together they walked back to the kitchen. Pippin had already finished his food, and was slinking closer to the cat tree and the full food bowl there.

“Oi, you know better,” James warned. “Do you want to get gutted?”

Pippin continued towards the food bowl though, and just when he was about to snitch a piece, Gollum let out a hiss and jumped on top of him.

“Stupid cat,” James grumbled.

Pippin rolled out from underneath Gollum, and trotted towards James, meowing rather pathetically. When James paid him no mind, he turned to Rose and rubbed against her calves.

“Does he like being picked up?” she asked.

“Mhm, oh yeah. I told you, he’s a total attention whore.”

Rose laughed, then she reached down to scoop the cat into her arms. He nuzzled close to her chest and purred loudly.

“Don’t let that mean ol’ kitty boss you around,” she cooed. “You’re an absolute sweetheart. Aren’t you such a beautiful boy?”

“Toppings?” James asked as he held his mobile to his ear.

“Cheese is fine,” Rose said.

He gave her a thumbs-up, then started speaking into the phone, placing an order for a large cheese pizza, a medium supreme pizza, an order of fries, mozzarella sticks, and two dozen chicken wings.

“It’ll get delivered in an hour,” he said, sliding his phone into his pocket.

“Are more people coming?” she asked. At his frown, she said, “You ordered a hell of a lot of food.”

The tips of his ears went pink.

“Er, well, I like a variety. And I’m starved. I haven’t eaten since breakfast.” He shrugged. “And in any case, I’ll have leftovers for dinner for the rest of the week. Mind if I open the wine?”

“That’s why I brought it,” she teased.

He stuck out his tongue, then rummaged through a drawer for a few noisy seconds before procuring a corkscrew.

“So,” James began as he worked on uncorking the wine bottle. “You’re twenty-one? What did you do between finishing up school and coming to uni?”

Rose nuzzled her nose into the soft fur of Pippin’s forehead, then bent down to set him on the floor. “It’s a long story.”

“Oh. Right, yeah, you don’t have to talk about it,” he said softly.

Rose nearly took the out he gave her. But he’d entrusted her with his grief and heartbreak over losing his family. Not that she felt she had to reciprocate and spill her own personal misfortunes, but he made her want to share with him. He made her want to give him every piece of herself, both the light and dark parts of her.

And maybe she was naive to have this much trust in someone she’d only known for a month, but maybe, just maybe, James was worth it.

“I left school when I was sixteen, after I finished my GCSE exams,” Rose said. James paused for just a moment, but then he continued working at the cork. “I was okay at school, in the subjects that interested me at least. But I was young and stupid and fell head-over-heels in love with my boyfriend.” James’s hands spasmed, and he dropped the corkscrew. “Jimmy. He was my first serious boyfriend. He was a year older than me and in a band. The band was decent enough, I suppose. They had a bunch of local gigs and had a self-made album out.

“Anyway, I thought he was the one.” Rose shrugged, her heart aching at how carefree those early days with Jimmy were. “He seemed to love me as much as I loved him. I didn’t hesitate when he asked me to move into a flat with him. It was a small flat, just one bedroom, but it was just the two of us, and it was ours, so it felt perfect.

“And we were happy. We really, really were. I’d quit school to help out with the bills, and I honestly didn’t mind it. School bored me, and I felt a lot better about myself to have a job and get paid and help out with the rent. My job wasn’t exciting—just working in a clothes shop—but it paid well, and I had steady hours.

“Jimmy’s band had been doing well, too. They’d gotten seen by some producer, and long story short, they were asked to sign a contract for their first real studio-produced album. Of course, all the guys jumped on board. I was so proud of them.

“But they began pulling long hours at the studio. Which was fine. They were busy. But there’d be weeks when I saw Jimmy for only an hour or two.” Rose’s voice died as she remembered the nights she’d go to bed alone, only to be woken up a few hours later by Jimmy’s wandering hands and lips. Sometimes she enjoyed their midnight romps, but other times, she wished he would let her sleep. She’d yelled at him the morning after that first night he’d ignored her wishes to keep sleeping. He’d yelled right back, eventually storming off. He’d called her a few hours later, apologizing and begging her to forgive him, promising that he wouldn’t do it again.

James was looking at her curiously, but without an ounce of pity. She could’ve kissed him for that kindness. He’d finished with the cork, which lay in a few mangled pieces on the counter, but his attention was fixed on her.

“We sort of… grew apart,” Rose said softly, skipping over the details of her deteriorating relationship. Living through them had hurt enough; she had no desire to recall them to memory if she could help it. “I was getting restless. I made decent money at my job, but I knew I didn’t want to be folding clothes for the rest of my life. But Jimmy… well, he thought I should be happy with what we had. And that I wouldn’t need to work once the album was finished, because he was gonna be a famous rock star.” Rose snorted and shook her head. “We got into it over me not wanting to be a trophy girl for him to parade around like a prize. And how I wanted to have a partner in a relationship. I didn’t want to be dependent on someone.”

Jimmy hadn’t taken well to that statement. He’d sneered at her that she was damn lucky to have what she did, and any other girl would be grateful to be in her shoes. But if she wasn’t happy, she could damn well leave and see how far she could get in life on her own.

That had been one of the cruelest thing Jimmy had said to her.

“Good for you,” James murmured.

Rose sighed. “Thanks. Jimmy didn’t think so, though.”

“He sounds like a bit of a wanker. Er, no offense.”

Rose snorted out a laugh despite the crack in her chest. “He kinda was. But I still hadn’t realized. I was still in love with him, and blind to anything he said or did. I figured he was stressed because of the album he was making.” She shrugged. “Anyways, he stopped coming home at a reasonable hour, and there’d be days when I didn’t see him. He and his band would go off partying with other up-and-coming musicians. He started drinking. A lot. His half of the rent went to booze and God knows whatever else. I made good money, but not enough to cover the full rent. We got into huge rows about it, but he always said we’d be fine when the album came out.

“This had been going on for a few months. We’d been together for over a year—which to me, seemed like forever. It was proof that he was the one and we’d grow old together and get our happy ending. I figured we were going through a bit of a rough patch, but everything would be fine when the record came out.

“Well, the album was released, and it was a local hit, but that was it.” Rose smiled wryly. “No fame and fortune for Jimmy Stone. But he still partied like a rock star, still spent all our rent money, and still stayed out ungodly late. He was never home on the weekends. And one day, he just never came back.”

Rose’s eyes burned as she remembered the helplessness of sitting around the flat, waiting for word from Jimmy. She didn’t know if he was performing in a nearby city, or dead in a ditch. Her calls and texts had gone largely unanswered.

“After two weeks, he called me to say he was moving in with this other girl.” Rose shook her head and rolled her eyes. “He’d been seeing her on the side for months. They were in love, apparently.”

Devastation pulled at James’s face. “Rose, I’m…”

She shrugged. “I was left with almost six-months back rent, and all the current utility payments. I called my mum, told her what happened, and asked if I could move home. And that was that. I released the flat, chatted with the landlady to explain the situation, and got myself on a payment plan to pay off the debt. She was really, really sweet about it.

“Mum was nice enough to not charge me anything when I first moved back. I chipped in with groceries when I could, but most of my pay went to the rent. I sent Jimmy a courtesy text, telling him I let go of the flat and to pick up his stuff, but other than that, I wanted nothing more to do with him.

“I worked for a year, then got restless, and went back for my A-levels. It took a bit longer than it should’ve but I was working as often as I could. I’d paid all my debts, but was utterly broke. I saved up all the money I could to pad my bank account and chip in with my mum’s bills. When my A-levels were finished, I started entertaining the idea of going to uni. Mum thought I should keep working. I had a good job, made good money, and if I stuck it out for a few more years, she thought I could probably get promoted through the shop.

“But I’d told Mum I didn’t want to work in a shop my whole life. Which she took offense to,” Rose added, pursing her lips at the remembered argument with her mother. “She worked in a shop her whole life, and she didn’t know why I didn’t think it was good enough. I said I wanted something different with my life. She still doesn’t really understand.

“I applied to universities, hoping to get some financial aid. I’d built up my bank account and didn’t want to deplete it, if I could help it. And this uni gave me the best offer, and I’d always wanted to see America, so here I am.”

Rose’s cheeks burned at exactly how much she divulged. Hearing the story aloud, listening to the way Jimmy had treated her… She was mortified and ashamed. What must James think of her? He probably thought she was the most naive, ridiculous girl who was an idiot to stay with someone who had treated her so awfully. Even her mother had been full of ‘I told you so’s when Rose had moved home.

But James… James was looking at her with the softest expression on his face. There was no judgement. No pity. Nothing but acceptance and sympathy.

God above, she loved him for that. For being here and letting her talk, and not sneering at her for her past mistakes.

He took a step towards her and opened his arms to enfold her in a hug. She went gladly and wrapped her arms around his waist, burrowing her nose into the fresh scent of his sweatshirt.

“I’m so sorry,” he murmured, resting his cheek on the top of her head. “I’m sorry Jimmy was a wanker. But you should be proud of yourself, Rose. So proud. Look at what you’ve done, eh? Look at what you’re doing. You pulled yourself out of a shit situation, and made a better life for yourself. You’re amazing, Rose Tyler.”

Rose smiled into his chest, and felt her eyes prickling at the warmth of his words and the utter conviction in his voice.

“Thanks for listening,” she whispered.

“Thank you for trusting me with your story,” he countered, giving her a tight squeeze. She could’ve sworn she felt his lips press against the top of her head, but it was too gentle and quick of a motion. Perhaps it had merely been a bump of his chin.

He released her and smiled softly down at her.

“Wine time?” he asked, jutting his chin to the bottle.

They took the wine to the living room, where a stack of board games and a deck of cards sat on the coffee table.

As they waited for their dinner, they played a few rounds of War.

When the food arrived, James scooped up Merry and Pippin and shut them away in his bedroom.

“They’re obnoxious around food,” he explained. “They’d be walking all over it, and Pippin would eat half of it, no matter if it made him sick for days. I sprinkled some catnip on their beds, so they should be stoned for the rest of the night.”

Rose chuckled and shook her head at him. He sat down on the floor with his back to the sofa, prompting her to sit beside him as he opened up all the bags and boxes of food.

“What do I owe you?” she asked.

“Nothing,” he replied. “I would’ve ordered this much food even if it was only meself tonight.”

Rose nodded. “Thank you for dinner.”

As they dug into the vast amounts of food, James flipped on a news station and taught her a few of his favorite board games.

Rose had never really played board games before, but she found she thoroughly enjoyed it. He introduced her to Risk, Settlers of Catan, and Pandemic, explaining to her his bastardized rules for two people versus the real rules when more players joined in the fun.

“I had game nights with my mum and dad every Friday,” James told her out of the blue when he moved his playing piece across the Pandemic board. “We would stay up ‘til almost midnight, sometimes playing one game for hours, and other times hopping between a few different games. After they died… I refused to play with my Aunt Sarah. It wasn’t the same with two people, y’know. And- and it hurt.

“But then one night, I’d gone to the kitchen and Sarah was playing Solitaire at the table by herself, and she asked if I wanted to play Rummy. Being the sulky fourteen-year-old I was, I grumbled for a few minutes, but eventually gave in. We only played one round, but it was the first time I’d played something in the five months I’d been living with her. We slowly made our own tradition of playing games. Not Friday nights, though. But special occasions, usually. Holidays, nights I couldn’t sleep—” James tilted his head to the TV, where news anchors were debating the odds of Clinton versus Trump winning the election— “election nights. It became a once-in-a-while thing for me and my aunt.”

Rose swallowed though the lump in her throat. Not knowing what to say, she just shifted closer to where he sat on the floor and rested her palm on his thigh. She felt his leg muscles tense, but before she could retract her hand, his covered hers and he said, “S’your turn.”

Even though it made eating and playing their game a bit harder, she kept her fingers twined with his.

As the night wore on and results started coming in, they called game night quits and instead moved to the sofa, where they continued laying into the wine. The bottle was nearly finished, and Rose’s face was hot as she got tipsier.

“How is it still too close to call?” James screeched at the TV. “How has Hillary not completely swept up all of the votes?”

“It’s only nine o’clock,” Rose said soothingly. “The entire west coast hasn’t closed their polls yet.”

“Hmm, true. California alone can probably steal this election for Hillary,” he mused. He reached out for the wine bottle and frowned when he saw it was empty. “Did we spill some?”

Rose giggled. “Nope. We drank the whole thing.”

“So that’s why the room is all wibbly-wobbly.”

“Wibbly-wobbly? Is that a technical term?”

“Oh, definitely,” he said, setting the bottle back on the coffee table. “I think I should switch to water now, though.”

“Yeah, you’re a bit wine-drunk.”

“Wine-drunk?!” he spluttered. “I am not!”

“Yeah you are,” she countered, sticking her tongue out at him.

He blew a raspberry back at her, then shuffled to the kitchen. When he came back, it was with a platter of biscuits and two glasses of water balanced in his hands.

“Found come chocolate chip cookies in my freezer,” he said, passing her a glass. He then carefully plopped back onto the sofa and set the plate of biscuits onto the table before them.

Rose grabbed one and nibbled slowly. They lapsed into an easy silence as they watched the news. She could feel the tension coming off of James as the time grew later and things were still too close to call.

“What if he actually wins?” James murmured quietly, frowning at the television.

Rose shrugged, not knowing what to say. Instead, she scooted nearer to him under the guise of wanting to grab the blanket that was draped behind him.

“Oh, sorry, is it too cold in here?” he asked.

“Nah, I’m fine,” she said. “A blanket will be enough. D’you need it too?”

His mouth worked for a moment, before he nodded slowly. Perhaps it was the alcohol giving her a boost of courage, but she pressed herself into James’s thigh and threw the blanket over their laps. His body was warm beside hers, and it took every ounce of strength to resist resting her head on his shoulder and wrapping her arm around his waist.

Instead, she mangled the blanket in her fingers and sat perfectly still as they watched the news anchor.

After a few minutes, when it was clear that James wasn’t uncomfortable with their close proximity, Rose let her muscles relax bit by bit. She no longer flinched away when their legs brushed against each other, and she stopped caring if she was half-nuzzled into his side.

Her heart thudded hollowly in her chest as she committed the feel of this moment to memory. She remembered when she and Jimmy would cuddle on the couch. Wrapping herself around the person she loved, leaving no space between their bodies, had been one of the best feelings in the world.

It felt even better to be pressed up to James. The smell and feel of him soothed her and left her aching for more.

She glanced up at him through her lashes—he was utterly entranced by the TV and had shoved half a biscuit into his mouth, making his cheeks bulge out. She watched his jaw work as he chewed, then the way his throat bobbed and flexed as he swallowed. He swiped his tongue across his lips and at the corners of his mouth, getting any lingering crumbs, and his bottom lip shined so invitingly. God, she’d never wanted to kiss him more than she did in this moment.

And really, what was the worst that could happen?

He could freak out and get upset or angry and I could ruin the closest friendship I’ve ever had and never see him again and as a result utterly fail chemistry and get kicked out of uni and have to move all the way back to London where I’m sure to never ever see or hear from him for the rest of my life.

Rose deflated at the tiny voice in her mind. Right. Of course. Stupid Rose. James was her friend. He was her friend who was helping her study for a class so she didn’t fail out of uni. That was it. That was all they could be.

Something deep in her chest cracked, cleaving an ache that left her cold and empty.

She let out a soft sigh and returned her attention to the TV rather than the beautiful boy sitting beside her.

Another hour passed, and as the clock neared midnight, the television finally heralded good news.

“Thank God!” James crowed when Hillary Clinton surpassed the necessary 270 electoral votes. “Blimey, there’s no reason this election should’ve been this close.”

Rose beamed, weak with relief at the outcome.

“Oh, Trump’s sure to go on a Twitter tantrum,” James chuckled. “Wanna see?”

He was already reaching for his mobile, and after tapping a few buttons, he leaned into Rose’s side and held the phone out in front of them. There were a series of Tweets proclaiming all sorts of awkward things about “Crooked Hillary” and “voter fraud” and general insults of the nation as a whole, specifically Democrats.

“What an arse,” Rose said, rolling her eyes. “Thank God that man-child isn’t going to be in charge of a nation.”

“Thank God indeed. Hopefully there are no universes where that imbecile got elected.” James scrunched up his face in an expression of disgust, but Rose cocked her head at him.

“No universes?”

“Have you heard of the theory of parallel universes?” he asked.

“No, but I’m pretty sure the name sort of implies what they are,” she teased, poking her tongue out as she grinned. He pouted, and she couldn’t contain her laughter. “Oh, all right. Tell me about parallel universes.”

James sniffed, but quickly got over his feigned offense.

“It’s the idea that there are an infinite number of worlds all stacked around each other, and that every decision we make branches off a new parallel world where maybe we made a different decision. Like maybe rather than eating a burger for dinner one night, you had the salad, but it was contaminated with E. coli and you had to go to the hospital, where you then met a someone who you befriended then fell in love with, and you go on to get married and have kids and you grow old together.” Rose marveled that he was able to say so many words all in one breath. “Well, there would be a parallel you who ate that burger instead of the salad and you didn’t get sick and you didn’t find your future husband and you’re still going on with your life.

“Therefore, there have got to be universes where Trump got elected president, or where the UK left Europe. Or…” He shuddered. “Or both.”

Rose shook her head at his daft, over-the-top reaction. But her heart stuttered and she couldn’t help but beam at him. He was just… so very James-ish in this moment that her whole body thrummed with love for him.

In an attempt to shove that thought to the side, Rose said, “So there’s probably a universe where I decided to not come to uni in the States?”

James went still beside her, but he nodded, a short, quick dip of his head. He looked so sad that she wrapped her arm around his and hugged it.

“For the record,” she whispered, “I’m very glad I’m living in this parallel world.”

His throat bobbed. After a moment, with a raspy voice, he said, “Yeah. Yeah, I’m glad I’m living in this parallel world, too.”

Kiss him kiss him kiss him kiss him. Rose ignored the little voice in her head and instead hugged his arm tighter. That little voice in her head grew louder as she felt his breathing go unsteady, his head ducking down towards hers. She peeked up at him, and saw his eyes were a shade darker than they’d been before. His tongue darted out to wet his lips, and his eyes flashed to her mouth too.

Oh God oh God oh God.

“Well, it’s late,” she blurted, panicking. “We should probably go to bed.”

“Yeah,” he mumbled, his voice flat. “Yeah, you’re right.”

Rose tossed the blankets off of herself and stood up from the sofa. She nearly ran from the room, but didn’t want James to think something was wrong, so she forced herself to move normally as she gathered up some of the dirty dishes and took them to the sink.

After a moment, she heard James following her.

She turned towards him as he walked into the kitchen. His eyes were shuttered, his face wary.

Shit.

“I had a really nice time tonight,” she said, wringing her hands in front of her. “Really. This is the most fun I’ve had in a while.” She chewed on her bottom lip and squeezed her fingers so hard that she popped her knuckles. Then, before she could even think, she skipped up to him, rocked up on her tiptoes, and brushed a kiss to his cheek. His skin was soft and warm, and his day-old stubble tickled deliciously, and god-fucking-dammit she was making it a thousand times harder for herself to not press herself closer and move her face a few inches to the side to catch his lips straight on.

It took everything she had to drop back onto her heels and take a step back.

“Thank you, James,” she said softly, her cheeks burning. “G’night.”

Then she fled the kitchen before he could even reply.

[goldenhemmings]

Rivals (Part Two)

Part two to the AU where Shawn and Y/N are working on opposing political campaigns. More tension and more spice. Hope y'all like it. 

You can read Part One here.

You checked your reflection in your black computer screen, pulling your loose curls out of the temporary ponytail you had put them in and shaking them out so they fell around your shoulders. Smoothing your black pencil skirt, you stood up from your desk as the clock on the wall hit 3:00. It was time for your scheduled meeting with Mr. Clark and his campaign manager, Thomas. Thomas was a bald man in his late forties, and he was the best in the business. With only a week until the election and polls being nearly fifty-fifty, Clark’s campaign needed to do something to put him at an edge over Dr. Robinson before the debate. The conclusion that his strategists had come to was that the campaign should release a television commercial showing Dr. Robinson in a negative light. Mr. Clark had wanted to keep the campaign as clean as possible, but with so much at stake, something had to be done. The meeting was for you to preview the ad, as Mr. Clark wanted your opinion on whether or not anything should be changed last minute before the commercial was set to start airing tomorrow at eight o’clock in the morning.

You knocked on Thomas’s door, sticking your head into the office to be greeted by Clark and Thomas. Mr. Clark greeted you with the usual, “Ah, there’s my favorite personal assistant!” and you smiled as you took a seat next to Thomas at the small conference table in his office. Thomas picked up the television screen remote, pressing play on the commercial he had pulled up on the screen. As you were watching it, you felt guilty at the thought of the campaign releasing it, but you knew it had to be done. It was definitely effective, highlighting some of the poorest decisions Dr. Robinson and her most trusted campaign staff had made over the course of their long careers. Robinson would likely retaliate with an ad of her own, but it was better that Clark make the first move and be put on the offensive.

“Looks good to me,” you said, smiling. If this didn’t put Clark ahead in the polls, you didn’t know what would.

“You think it’s going to work?” Thomas asked, trusting your judgment just as much as Clark did.

“Absolutely,” you replied. “It may be nasty, but it will be effective. We need something to give us a push with voters for the final stretch. Air it.”

Mr. Clark nodded at you and then turned to Thomas, agreeing with you. “Alright, you heard her Tom. Send the final copy to the media department. I want this ad everywhere by eight a.m. tomorrow.”

The next afternoon, you finally allowed yourself to check the latest polls online. You didn’t want to check any earlier in the day, fearful that the results would take your mind off of the work you desperately needed to get done. As you opened the internet in search of the latest poll results, you nearly screamed. As of one hour ago, Clark was polling 52 percent, and Robinson 48. Four percent wasn’t a huge margin, but considering it was the biggest lead Clark had had yet, it felt like a huge victory.

Your triumphant elation was interrupted when your office door swung open, to be met with the last person you were expecting to see--Shawn. You were immediately taken aback. “Woah. How did you get back into the offices?”

“Well hello to you too, sweetheart.” You looked at him expectantly, and he rolled his eyes as he answered your question. “Relax. I got into your office the same way I assume you manipulated our sweet little receptionist into getting back to mine,” Shawn countered, turning to close the door behind him. You breathed a frustrated sigh, instantly regretting advocating for that particular receptionist to be hired. But then again, who were you kidding? One look from Shawn and she probably buckled to his pressure without a second thought.

You stood up from your desk, folding your arms across your chest. “Touché.” Shawn turned his back to you, stepping over to the office window by your door. He looked through the blinds, then casually reached up to close them. You frowned, letting out a little huff of air. “Shawn, what are you doing?” He turned around to face you, and damn did he look good. His black business suit jacket hung open to show a white button down hugging his toned chest. The shirt was tucked into black dress pants that fit him just right, and you let your eyes rake down his legs to his black shoes and all the way back up to the perfectly messy mop of brown curls on his head. He smiled, he lips tight as he took a few steps towards you so that the only thing separating the two of you was your desk.

“Remember a few days ago when you confronted me for saying negative things about your campaign to the public?”

You smirked. “What about it?”

“That nasty little TV advertisement you aired today, that’s what,” he replied, running a frustrated fist through his hair.

“What makes you think I had anything to do with that?”

“Oh please, Y/N,” he scoffed, drawing out your name so that it was almost as if he were testing the way it sounded rolling off of his tongue. It made your stomach flutter. “You really expect me to believe that Clark’s right-hand had no say in that commercial?”

You laughed, but he leaned in over the desk so that your faces were only a foot apart and suddenly it wasn’t funny anymore. His face was so close that you could feel his minty breath on your nose, and his brown eyes bore into you so darkly and intensely that you could have sworn your legs, already wobbly from the red stilettos you were wearing, would give out. You took notice of a small scar on his cheek that you hadn’t seen before, and tried to swallow the lump in your throat, concentrating with every part of you not to lose your composure. Shawn leaned in further, his voice low and raspy as he sneered, “Nobody likes a hypocrite.” It sent shivers down your spine, but as his words registered you snapped back to reality. You put a hand on his chest and applied pressure to push him away so that he was no longer as close to you.

“Hold on a second, how am I a hypocrite?” you cried, incredulous.

“You’re the one that stalked into my office to tell me off about talking shit to the papers and then turned right around and released a bullshit TV commercial!”

You couldn’t help but chuckle. “If you think that was me telling you off, I’d hate to see how you react if I ever actually do. I was not aggressive or confrontational at all that day the way you are being right now. And besides, you started that! Releasing negative ads is a common political tactic, but publicly dissing a dedicated campaign staff is not.”

“Look at you getting all hot and bothered,” he smirked as you finished your rant, and suddenly his demeanor had changed, which made you even more frustrated.

“You are unbelievable, Shawn.”

“Mmm, I get that a lot, sweetheart.”

You took a breath, trying to keep your voice even and at a normal volume despite how badly he was getting under your skin. “It may not seem like it to you, but I care a lot about my work and I’m just trying to do a good job. I’m the youngest employee here so I have to go above and beyond to prove myself. I can’t waste this opportunity, Shawn. I’ve been so busy working on the campaign that I’ve had hardly any time to actually check in with Mr. Clark and I just want to make sure I’m doing everything I can to help him, especially with the debate coming up.” After a few long seconds of silence, you put your face in your hands, laughing to yourself and then staring up at the ceiling. “I don’t even know why I’m telling you all of this. I barely know you.”

He took a breath and crossed over to the same side of the desk as you were on as you flopped down into your black leather office chair. He leaned back against the desk, supporting himself with his hands on either side of him. His beautiful eyes stared deeply into yours, and you swore your heart skipped a beat. “I can appreciate that you care so much about your job. I care a hell of a lot about mine too. Which is why I’m a little frustrated that in a matter of hours my candidate has fallen more than five percent in the polls when she was just in the lead.”

“Nobody ever won a campaign by playing nice,” you said quietly, staring off to the side and refusing to meet his gaze.

He smiled, and for the first time since you’d met him he actually seemed genuine. “Yeah. Yeah, I guess you’re--”

He was cut off by a loud knock on the door, and you heard a familiar voice calling to you from the other side.

“Fuck!” you hissed. “It’s Thomas. You need to get under the desk, Shawn. Now.”

“Who is Thomas?” he laughed. “I am not--”

“Shawn!” you whisper-pleaded, eyes wide with the fear of Thomas catching you in your office, blinds closed, with a guy who he wouldn’t recognize.

Shawn sighed, reluctantly tucking his huge frame under your black desk. You straightened your outfit and rushed to open the door. “Thomas!” you greeted, a little too enthusiastically. He stared back at you and narrowed his eyes, easily picking up on your out-of-character behavior.

“What was all the yelling about?” he queried, staring past you into your office. “Bad phone call or something?”

“Uh, no,” you stammered, thinking of an excuse. “I actually just checked the polls for today. I guess I got a little too excited when I saw that we’re up four percent.”

“I see. And what’s up with your blinds? I’ve never seen them drawn before.”

“Just, um, wanted to minimize distractions while I worked. I had a lot to do, and I didn’t want to get steered off track by a bunch of people walking by my window all day.”

Understanding washed over his features. “Well, sorry to interrupt. While I’m here, I might as well thank you for convincing Clark to release that commercial. The polls don’t lie--it was effective with the voters. Thanks for working so hard, as always.” With that, he smiled at you and turned to walk out of your office. You closed the door behind him as you loudly let out the breath you hadn’t realized you were holding. You turned to see Shawn pop out from behind your desk, his perfect lips pulled into that immobilizing smirk of his.

“And you tried to tell me you had nothing to do with the ad. Baldy just sold you out.” You rolled your eyes, fighting a smile as you went to peek out of your closed blinds to see if the coast was clear for you to let Shawn out. “Imagine if he’d seen me in here after hearing you yelling and noticing the shades closed,” he continued. “He’d probably have thought we were--”

“Jesus, Shawn, do you ever stop talking?” He chuckled lowly. You huffed and turned back around to face him. “Okay. You should be good to leave now. Please do your best to get out nonchalantly the same way you managed to get in. I can’t have people seeing you sneak out of my office thinking that I was...Er, that we were...um. You know.”

He chuckled and looked down, and he seemed softer. Cute, even. “I’ll see you at the debate, Y/N. Unless, of course, you decide to take me up on my previous offer of grabbing dinner?”

“Don’t push it,” you giggled. “Still not a good idea. We’re rivals, remember?”

“Yeah, well, it was worth a shot,” he smiled, intentionally brushing his arm against yours as he turned to walk towards the door. Your breath hitched, your heart jumped, and suddenly your entire body was on fire. Shawn stopped and rotated around to face you again. “Oh, and just so you know, you should expect me to seriously retaliate after that ad went out. You said yourself that nobody ever won a campaign by playing ni--”

“Oh my God, Shawn, just get out already,” you snapped, fighting a smile as you gave him a push on the back towards the exit.

He laughed his velvety smooth laugh and opened the office door. “I’ll see you soon, sweetheart.”

[theherowrites]

Recent Senyuu news

Hiiii, sorry, I’ve been slacking on keeping the tumblr side of Senyuu up to date with recent Senyuu news (due to real life running me over real good but that’s neither here nor there) so I’ll do a kind of quick collection/summary of what’s been going on. To be fair, there usually isn’t this much news all at once anymore so it took me by surprise. +_+

First, Senyuu Main Quest Part 2 Volume 6, aka the final volume, is now up for preorder at your store of choice. It’ll be released May 9th.

There is a limited edition where a picture book drawn by Haruhara will be included.

You can check out the link on Amazon Japan here, Kinokuniya US here, and CDJapan has the regular edition up but I didn’t see the limited edition. It’ll probably be there eventually though.

Second, Haruhara made a Twitter poll the other day. It’s already over, so sorry I didn’t put it up earlier with a translation for people to participate in. The content is as follows:

Since all the work for Main Quest is beginning to calm down, I figured I would finally get moving on some of the things I planned and said “I’m gonna do this!”. But just saying “I’m gonna do this!” was a bit too much I suppose, I would like to request your participation for what I should focus on first. “I’m gonna do it!” 

Doujinshi (Alba VS Creasion)

LINE stickers

A second round of acrylic charms

A livetalk

There were over 5000 votes, and the doujinshi won by a landslide haha. By the way, I picked the LINE stickers...!

But these are all things that Haruhara plans to do, the results of the poll only determine what order he’s going to tackle them in. Everyone look forward to it...!

Further explanations on the four choices from Haruhara’s blog post here.

The doujinshi is something that I can’t put into Senyuu+. I’ve wanted to draw the situation where “Between post-Part 4 Alba and Creasion during the time he was running wild, who’s stronger?”. If this scenario was in Senyuu+, I’d have to think of a reason for why these two were fighting and it’d become official and established history in canon. If it’s just a doujinshi, it’d just be “Okay! Bam! Boom!” and everything’s all good. That’s the kind of attitude I want to draw it with.

The LINE stickers are something I never had time to get around to. About two years ago, when I tried making some, I only thought of making the usual ones like “Good morning” or “good night”. But I feel that since probably everyone already has a bunch of those types of stickers, I’d like to solicit help from requests for “This panel in this chapter” or “This scene” and I’ll redraw them in the style of LINE stickers.

The acrylic charms are just what they are. I think making 15 of them was too many, so the number would be less, but I’d also like to make them for characters that I didn’t include last time.

The livetalk is also just what it is. But! Only in regions where I haven’t done it yet! I want it to be an event with real interactions, you see.

And finally, the thing that had Twitter in an absolute frenzy several hours ago: Alba in a wedding dress.

Haruhara was thinking that he’d like to have the doujinshi released before summer, but he realized with a start that he’ll be busy until then with his upcoming wedding ceremony. He and his wife only had a private event before since they didn’t have time, but they’re making the arrangements for a proper one.

The Alba picture is something he drew with the intention of attaching to the invitation emails, but he forgot about it and didn’t use it. RIP. But also congratulations, sensei!!!!!

With that being the case, stuff from the Twitter poll will start being released around mid to late summer, etc etc... Also a new issue of his doodle collection booklets. And of course Senyuu+ will still be updating.

Phew, I think I got everything. Sorry for the long post.

[wizardsnwookies]

Campaign Diary- FOC100517

The “Lady Luck” shifted almost imperceptibly as it dropped from hyperspace, and it wasn’t long after Lady Kara walked into the common room with a datapad and slumped lazily on the couch. In the corner Vrssl stood on a small crate, his hands buried in wire and circuitry of an clone wars era battle droid. He had been working on the two they had pulled from the cave since they left Siskeen, and were just about operational. Next to her Graalbar gave her a the briefest of glances before returning his attention to his Holochess match against the computer. And from the cockpit she could hear Rugor getting to know the ins and outs of their new ship.

“I can’t believe it’s been a month since I last checked the Holonet. Siskeen may have been backwater but not enough to be unconnected.”

“To be fair, we did have other things on our minds.” Vrssl looked up from his work. “What with the Empire and replica droids and whatnot.”

“Still...” Kara didn’t like being out of the loop for too long. In her line of work not only could it cost you jobs, but a lack of awareness could get you mixed up in the latest spat between the Imps and Rebs. She read aloud from the data pad by impulse mostly, but it wouldn’t hurt to keep the rest of the group updated as well.

“‘After the destruction of the Empire’s battle station four months ago the Rebellion had begun a massive push into the Mid Rim, overconfident perhaps but nevertheless they have been successful in taking back several planets and establishing their own outposts in the process. As a direct result Imperial chatter has all efforts currently being refocused in response and the Emperor has personally promised these worlds that order will once again be restored to their region of the galaxy.

‘In local news the election of the planet representative to the Empire between Polski Marr and Traad Aaran has been heating up. Marr trails only slightly in the polls due mostly due to his public absence. About a month ago Marr inexplicably began running his campaign while in hiding from “vicious and unsubstantiated rumors that has put his person in danger.” His platform changed which was famous for an aggressive Neutralist stance, has seemed to have taken a far less inflammatory route. Aaran on the otherhand is using the Mid Rim push to his advantage, stating “the so called Rebellion and their militia of thugs and thieves have proven to sacrifice any and all lives they deem necessary in pursuit of their cause. Nar Shaddar will not suffer their occupation under ‘proper’ representation.” Recent polls show that planet residence aren’t quite enamored with either candidate and hopes for a third option are high.’“

Graalbar frowned at the computer’s move and looked up at Vrssl, barking in Shriwook.

“Me? I think that might draw too much undue attention. We’re still technically wanted for a prison break.”

“’Technically.’“ Kara smiled at Vrssl. “Well, what do you know...”

“What?”

“Well, I sent out those encrypted ransom messages to the two politicos like you asked for.”

“You got a response? Great, which one paid?”

“Neither, Marr is basically trying to weasel his way out of it. Wants to negotiate.”

“And Aaran?”

“No official reply. However, I did have something pop up on the black net that is rather interesting. A ten-thousand credit bounty for our friend Erd and any data pad or slug that can be found on his person.” Kara smirked. It seems that Aaran had a splicer dig into her message and found the trail leading to their Ithorian friend.

“Good luck with that. He should be on his way back to Kessel by now.” Vrssl allowed himself a satisfied grin and continued his work.

---

“Ahhhh, Kara. So good to have one of my flock return to me.” Graakus was nothing like the stereotypical Hutt...except for the crime syndicate. He spoke clear and near perfect basic, sat perched on a chair of mechanical spider legs, his arms were lean and muscular as opposed to fatty, and around his neck hung a gleaming necklace of strange silver cylinders that only Vrssl and Graalbar recognized as lightsabers.

“I hear some are calling you and your company the ‘Kessel Five,’ but I only make four...”

“We had to ditch the Ithorian, more trouble than he was worth.” Vrssl replied stepping up next to Graalbar.

“Hmmm, understandable I’m sure. So, it that it?” Graakus motioned to the large chest in Graalbar’s arms who immediately shifted the weight so that he could reach out a hairy palm. Although he spoke only Shriwook, the gesture said all it needed to.

Graakus nodded to the finely dressed Twilek at his side who in turn passed a small box to the wookie. Lowered it down to his height, Vrssl opened to find a pile of credsticks. After a brief count, he closed it and nodded to Graalbar.

“Ahhhhh thank you.” Graakus eagerly received the chest and opened it with reverence. “I’m sure you’ve heard of my collection? Not a single being in the galaxy has one like it I assure you. Well...perhaps one other, but even I do not seem to have his funds.”

Reaching inside the chest the hutt pulled out the dark stone amulet and inspected it. Vrssl hoped he wouldn’t question the size differential between the chest and it’s contents. He had decided to keep the strange tome for himself to inspect, even at the risk of angering a hutt.

“Lovely specimen. Was there anything else? Tell me about the cave.”

“Not really, just a pair of broken down clone war era droids.” Vrssl did his best to put off an air of nonchalance. “The cave itself seemed like it was some kind of Sith proving grounds. Each chamber had a challenge you had to master to continue forward. The key to the chest was in one of the battle droids. Then there was the surprise waiting for us outside.”

“Surprise?”

“Some asshole named Nik, wanted to claim the job for his own. Nearly killed Kara in the process.”

ROWWWRK! Graalbar barked at Vrssl, motioning to the lightsabers around Graakus’s neck.

“My friend here wants to know if those still work?”

“Heheh, but of course. All of my artifacts are in working order. Even my Jedi Holocrons. I may not be able to open them yet, but my inspections have found them to be in perfect condition.”

ROW WROW ROK. Graalbar pointed to himself, then at the hutt’s neck, before finally making a swinging motion. This time, Vrssl didn’t dare translate but instead replied in shriwook, hoping the Hutt was not fluent.

“You do realize that is a VERY bad idea. Even if he was willing to part with one, there are some very bad people around the galaxy. If they see you with one of those on you’re hip...”

Graalbar shrugged but didn’t press the matter. He didn’t know what the big deal was. He was a mighty warrior as it was, if he had one of those, no one would be able to stand in his way.

“Hmmm. Your Wookie friend might do well in my arena games.”

“YES.” Graalbar’s vocoder box spoke for him in tinny basic. He only had a few choice words and phrases programmed into it, but it got the job done when he wanted to speak for himself. “YES. I AM MIGHTY WARRIOR.”

“Ha ha ha. I am sure you are. If you are interested, my assistant will take down your necessary information. I look forward to placing a large sum of money on your victory.”

“Speaking of money. We were kind of hoping for long-term relationship out of this.” Vrssl cleared his throat slightly, he wasn’t planning on being quite so blunt but, it seemed as good an opportunity to broach the subject as any.

“As re claimers?”

“Sure, or anything else really. We’re not picky.”

“Hmmmm.” Graakus took the group in. A strange bunch these were. The gungan surprised him most, but then again, if the emperor was any indication, Naboo bred strong individuals. “Perhaps. For now there is something you can help me with. Call it, a trial period.

“You mentioned that Nik was aware of your whereabouts, and purpose on Siskeen. That is, most troubling to me. As you can imagine, my occupation requires quite a lot of personal caution. One of these measure is a very strict policy in terms of the information I allow outside of my organization. For someone other than yourselves to know the details of the job indicates a leak within the chain somewhere. I cannot allow this.”

“Sure, so you want us to...’plug the leak?’“

“Precisely. But first, I need to know how far it goes. Find Nik and-”

“Oh, he won’t be a problem.” Vrssl laughed. “Let’s just say he learned the hard way not to carry a thermal detonator in your pocket.”

“Hmmm, still. I need to be sure he did not talk to anyone of this matter. I also need you to have a conversation with my jobs broker. He is the only one outside of the organization who has that information. Make sure Nik was the only one he leaked the information to. Once you have what you need from him...” Graakus gracefully trailed off. The implication was clear.

“You got it.”

---

Vrssl sat in a rather uncomfortable chair pushed up against a battered table. The worn felt top spoke of endless nights of illegal Sabaac games. Kara and Rugor leaned up against the wall patiently while Graalbar took his position just behind the door of the back room of their third Huttown cantina of the evening.

Graakus’s job broker was the same man Kara had been working with for years, short, frail, human by the name of Charmer. The name was a rather cruel self-deprecation of the scarred flesh that covered his face. It was a lifetime reminder not to cross the people you work for, which made it all the more strange that he had made the ill advised leak of sensitive information.

The door clicked and slid open to the backside of a rather awkward looking human. In each hand he was juggling his meal and a tall glass of ale while the key card on his hip had been maneuvered to grant him access to the private room. Taking a sip of ale he turned around and nearly choked with surprise.

*KOFF* “Mmm, oh sorry. Didn’t know I had someone waiting. Give me a second to catch my bearings will you?” Charmer set down a steaming plate and took one last gulp before flanking it with his glass. “What can I do for you?”

“Well, I’m looking for some credits and I was told you could help me with that.”

“Yeah, yeah. No problem. I’ve got some jobs lined up, get you paid plenty if you’re willing to put the work in.”

The door behind them shut as a hairy paw brushed against the controls, and Charmer glanced back to watch the two-meter tall wookie slowly advance from his place.

“Oh hey...I didn’t uh...know you had a friend.” Charmer blinked. “Kara? Hey, how’re things?”

Kara ignored the question as did Vrssl, who continued the conversation as if nothing had ever happened.

“Well, see that’s the thing. What if I were to say, I didn’t really feel like doing all the leg work? Perhaps you have a few jobs currently underway that I could...take over?”

“Ok, yeah. I see where you’re getting at.” Charmer shifted slightly, the Wookie was imposing, especially since he had never seen one before. But he was all business now with the current implications being placed his way. “What you’re talking about isn’t kosher. I don’t do that kind of thing.”

“Really? That’s funny, because a friend of mine said you were the guy to talk to.”

“What? Who?”

“A man by the name of Nik.”

“‘Nik the Dick’...of course.” Charmer slumped back into his chair. “Listen, I’m sorry but Nik is an asshole OK? He’s the only scumbag I know who does business that way.”

“So why would he tell me you would help me out?”

“I don’t know, because he’s a Dick. Look...” Charmer leaned in, his annoyance and frustration washing away all caution. “I did something I wasn’t supposed to, OK? It was a one time deal. If Nik is going around telling people I am loose lipped he could get me killed. So you can tell him from me, that if he doesn’t shut it right quick, he’s going to find a blaster bolt in his back.”

Vrssl tried to read the man as best he could, something wasn’t adding up. It was seeming more and more like Charmer had put himself in deep well against his own common sense.

“OK, no problem...but if it’s such a big deal, what do it at all?”

Charmer sheepishly looked down at the table. “You know how it is. You get carried away at the tables, you start owing people money...”

Vrssl shook his head slightly, thinking on where that same addiction had landed Erd. With a little help from them, of course.

“So, he paid you?”

“He offered me a cut. Said he had another buyer for the product you guys were retrieving. Someone willing to pay big, and who wasn’t about to take ‘no’ for an answer.” Charmer gulped his ale, his mouth was starting to get dry. He was getting nervous now, and the wookie looming up behind him didn’t help.

“Did he say who?”

“Naw. I don’t ask too many questions. It’s bad for your health.”

“Fair enough.”

“So, yeah. That’s neither here nor there. I can’t help you if you want to swoop in on someone’s gig. That information’s privilaged. But, if you want your own job...”

“Sure, let’s see what you got.” Vrssl let the conversation take a more casual tone. Charmer was getting worked up, and pushing too hard might tighten his lips. The small alien reached out his hand for the datapad but was met with a shake of the head.

“No, no, no. It’s all in here.” Charmer tapped his temple with a finger and closed his eyes. “Security reasons, only one copy of the information. Now, let’s see.” He leaned back and Vrssl could see his brow furrowed slightly.

He looked up at Rugor in against the wall who seemed to be having the same thought and was looking over the back of the human’s head. Internal neural computers were still in their infancy and weren’t quite yet to the point where all the components were completely internalized. If he had any biotech in him, there would be evidence somewhere, but as far as they could tell he was clean.

“Since you’ve already done a retrieval job, I’ve got a couple for you if you’re interested. Only scant details until you take the job. Again...security reasons.” Charmer seemed much more relaxed now. He was working, and as long as he was working, he was alive.

“I’ve got a bot hunt, and a repo job. Bot hunt is galaxy-wide bounty, replica droids. The repo job is right here on Smuggler’s Moon. Pretty self explanatory, grab the merchandise, get out, bring it back in one piece. You interested?”

Vrssl looked over Charmer’s shoulder at the rest of the group. They had gotten a lead on the leak, but he wasn’t ready to plug it just yet. They would follow up with Charmer later, but for now, they were all ready to make some money.

“Sure. Sign us up.”

[cybertronianlovenest]

The bitch named Karma: Section 9

I sighed as my fingers ran over Prowl's lower belly that had taken quite a bit of my old frame to replace. I just hoped that he wouldn't do it again. A low groan reached my audios just before his spike panel slid aside to allow the mostly hard length to stab at the air. "Gettin hot just from meh rubbing yer belly?" A hand caught mine, tugging it to his lips to kiss as he held me closer. "The new plating is still very sensitive after just being applied. My systems are working over time to intergrate them into my neronet." My optics flicked up to him before my free hand traced a circle around the base of house spike making him squirm. "Kinda cool to think ahm part of ya now Prowl." His optics flickered a few times before staying dark as he pressed up into my touch. A grin formed on my face at the light encouragement, he didn't let me get touchy that often. Speaking of which. "Ya know... " My fingers lightened up till I was barely tickling over his housing and he groaned, rocking his hips up, seeking my attention. "Never did get meh groon..." That got his optics back online, looking quite eager if I did say so myself. "I believe you're right. Come on." He patted his lap and I hopped right into it, letting him tug me up his chest. The need clouding his optics was something I was going to do my best to see a lot more often. Warm vents tickled over my face as a hand gently pulled my helm closer to his until our lips were only an inch apart. Then they touched. My vents caught as Prowl's glossa gently stroked over my lips until they parted allowing him in. It was a strange feeling that had liquid polling between my legs out of instinct. Memories flooded into my mind of Prowl's frame covering mine as his spike slid clear to the hilt inside me and my valve cycled down on itself even without the exquisite arousal. My fans kicked up a notch as he kissed me a little deeper. Fingers ran over my sides and belly drawing a soft keen from me before I caught him. "Frag Prowler... Keep doing that an yer gonna have meh in recharge long before ya get an overload." He chuckled softly in my audio, pecking a kiss there as I nuzzled into his chest. "I really have missed having you around Jazz... Having to see you like that twisted my spark in ways I can't undo. Even if she had kept you from feeling the pain..." I swallowed hard. I didn't want to think about it. Who I am and who I was were at war with each other in my spark and mind. Prowl was my only safe spot, the only sure thing. He had been there before and he loved me just as much now. The longing for my carrier was there without a doubt, but so too was the fear. What if he found out who I was? Would he kill me again? Could he still love me if he knew? My mind was so jumbled with worry I couldn't even think straight. "Jazz...? Are you well?" I shook my helm side to side before curling as tightly into him as I could. "No... Ahm scared..." Prowl POV: I sighed as Jazz darted around the lake. He at least wasn't so distressed anymore. His peds slid against the grass and he went tumbling into the water below with a splash. His helm popped up a few seconds later with some grass stuck to the top of it. I chuckled as he grinned and scrambled from the water and into my arms. "We should come back here tomorrow! Ah love swimming!" It was good to see him so happy again. "Oh I don't think there'll be a tomorrow. For either of you. Worthless Autobot!" I growled, jerking around to where the voice came from as I shifted Jazz behind me. *May need assistants. Apparently one of your mechs didn't get the memo.* *I'll be right there!* I data burst the location to Megatron as Jazz whimpered behind me. "Prowl!" "Stay! I can handle him, I just need you out of the way." His vents hitched as the mech fired a shot off that I ducked under and rushed him. The mech laughed, taking a swing that I dodged easily and took out his legs. He snarled, firing off another shot that gave him an opening to get to his peds. "No one has taken me from my peds and lived to tell the tale! I'm going to rip your relay and use your sparkling as a pleasure bot while you watch!" A shot was fired towards Jazz and I dove in front of it. "Get back to base! I'll keep him busy!" My left arm wasn't going to be much use to me now and I knew if I had any hope of winning like this, I was going to have to shift. "Prowl!" "Now Jazz!" My frame unfurled from that of a mech and I watched as the mechs optics got bright. Something hit my legs and I jerked my optics to see Jazz clinging to me. It proved to be a mistake though. I was grabbed suddenly by the mech, fingers digging into my neck until I managed to sink my claws into his middle and get free. "Jazz!" I grabbed at him but it gave the other mech a chance to kick me hard enough to make my helm swim and I went down. He didn't let up though, his ped impacted my back and I knew he snapped something. I was forced to let Jazz go as I spun on the mech. My back legs wouldn't move though, they were just hanging limply behind me and he easily dodged. *Anytime, Megatron!* *I'm almost there! 2 kliks at most!* The way things were going, I might not have that long. Jazz screamed at me and lunged at the mech only to get caught by his neck as the mech laughed. "Let him go!" My front paws dug into the dirt and I lunged at the mech managing to catch his arm in my jaws. He screamed and dropped Jazz. I wasn't about to let him go though. My fangs tightened and I ripped him back to the other side trapping his legs under my ped as I yanked my helm back tearing his arm off. He screamed so loud he glitched his vocaliser. The ground shook suddenly the mech was yanked away from me and tossed to the ground. Jazz rushed to my side worrying over me as his carrier watched us in shock. "Prowl! Ya OK?!" His hands went to my face wiping rapidly as tears ran from his optics. I grunted, pushing myself up onto my one good ped to nuzzle him. He pulled me back down though until I finally flopped over and wrapped my leg around him. *I will be fine as soon as I get a medic here Jazz. I didn't wait on you nearly 10 vorns just to leave you now.* More tears ran down his face as he latched onto me just as tight as he could. The mech that attacked us screamed suddenly and I jerked my optics in time to see Megatron crush his hip under a ped. Jazz saw it too and I could feel the fear leaking into his EM field. *Megatron! Let him go!* His optics jerked around to me as he snarled. *I don't know what the frag is going on but he will pay with his spark for hurting you both!* He aimed his canon at the mechs middle. *No! Megatron, listen to me! I'm not exactly a friend to that mech but Jazz is already scared after remembering! I'd like to see him dead just as badly as you but if you do this, think of what it will do to him! I don't want him anymore stressed than he already is! Think about it Megatron.* He snarled, optics jerking to the downward mech and back to me before he finally powered down his weapon and stepped over. "You are going to explain this as soon was we get back!" Jazz's tensed up and hugged me tighter. *Nothing to explain. I'm a mechashifter. I don't make it a point to show it because most think we're monsters. Before you Jazz was the only one to know.* He grunted as he knelt to take stock of the damage. "I know you're a far stronger fighter than this. What happened?" *Jazz. He refused to leave as directed and I was too worried over him being in the way to think clearly. He's very distressed right now. I'll be fine, take care of him, Soundwave will need to come out here to fix my back struts before I can move on my own.* He heaved a vent even as Jazz struggled to get free from his arms. He looked so terrified and I really felt bad for Megatron. I knew Jazz meant just as much to him as he did to me, and I knew I couldn't handle having him look at me like that. "Jazz..." It came out as a whimper, but he spun as if he understood. His arms reached out as he cried until Megatron set him against my side where he tried to bury himself. *I am sorry. I know how much it must hurt, for what it's worth, I'm sure that it will not last forever. I know Jazz better than anyone and he isn't prone to holding grudges.* *I would hardly call this a grudge. I offlined him, he knows it, and I can not blame him for being scared.* I sighed, curling around my shaking bundled as best I could. *Tell him that. Tell him you know. Tell him you love him. Tell him that it makes no difference who he used to be. That's his biggest fear. That you'll find out and stop loving him. Offlining doesn't scared him nearly as much as losing the love of his carrier.* Megatron clenched his fist before landing on his knees to pull Jazz out of hiding once more. "Bitlet... There is nothing that could ever make me stop loving you... You're my sparkling. I made a mistake Jazz... I knew long ago who you were, I knew what I did to you too. I never wanted you to find out, because I knew this would be the result. That you would hate me... Please?... I have never been scared of anything in my life, Jazz. Losing you scares me though, and I don't think I could take it." Jazz didn't even act like he heard. He just laid there trembling against his carrier until Megatron finally set him back down. Jazz held tight though, his little fingers anchored into the seams in his carrier's arm. "Ah don't hate ya... Ah love ya carrier... More then ah could ever say. An it hurts so bad to think ya might not feel that way for meh cause of who ah used to be..." "Jazz you have nothing to worry about! Bitlet I knew long before you who you were and I didn't care! I don't care now! I just want you to go back to being my happy little mech that runs around the base hunting for what ever mischief you can get into!" He cleared away some of the tears running down his face before hugging him tightly. Megatron's optics meet mine and I smiled, shifting forward, only to cringe as pain I'd been too busy to feel made itself known. *I do hope you're not growling at me.* *Not at the moment. Just registering the pain, I can't shift back until my struts are fixed.* He inclined his helm. "Soundwave is on his way, he should be arriving shortly." A low growl escaped as pain slithered down my back at each little move I made. *Think you can take my pain receptors offline for me?* An optic ridge arched up. "You trust me to do that? Could take any information I wanted." *I'm sure you won't. Not for any lolality to me, or Optimus, or any of them. I know without a shadow of doubt that you wouldn't risk giving Jazz anymore reason to distrust you.* He snorted. "You think you're very smart Prowl. That doesn't mean you'll always be right." *I don't take chances when I have any doubts. Trust me, if it weren't for Jazz, I would never allow you to do this.* My leg was stretched out to him and after the few seconds it took to find my data pretty through my fur, he jacked in. Skating around my coding until he found the ones for pain and triggered them off. "There. You're still not as smart as you think you are." *Thank you. I hope Soundwave will hurry.*.... Jazz POV: My optics felt far too hard to keep online. My vision kept flickering out but I wanted to be wake when Prowl was finally brought back online. "Jazz should rest. Prowl will still be in stasis for another groon to receive the needed repairs." I glanced up to Soundwave but arms curling around my middle made me look to see carrier as he lifted me into his arms. "Come. You've been fighting recharge too long already and I'm sure Soundwave will let me know the klik he is ready to bring Prowl back online." My hands pushed against his until he loosened his hold, looking hurt. It didn't last long though since I only used the space to turn around and get comfy. "OK... Hungry though..." He nodded softly, fingers rubbing gentle circles over my back. "I will get you something to eat. Then you need to rest." That did sound good... "Promise we can be here when he wakes up?" "Promise." My optics finally slipped offline for good even though I was still fighting off recharge. Something was pressed to my lips and the sweet taste of candied energon tingled my glossa. It slid down my intake smoothly and I searched for my meal as it was taken away. "Easy, I need to shift you around some." My carrier's hand pressed to my back lightly and I felt myself move before my fuel was given back. Little gulps were trickled into my mouth making sure I swallowed it all before he gave me anymore... It took nearly a breem to get the whole thing down but he finally took the cube away. "Alright, nap time bitlet." Warmth surounded me and I cuddled closer to it, my frame already powering down..... Gentle petting over my back roused me from my recharge once more, to see carrier watching me. "Prowl will be waking soon. I told Soundwave to wait till you woke." A sleepy smile tugged my lips up and I curled tighter into his arms. "Thanks carrier. Ah slept better than ah have since going to the other base." "I should hope so, I'd hate to think I'm so easily replaced." I grinned wide. "No one could replace ya!" He chuckled lightly and stood from the bed, taking me with me. "Lets go see your sparkmate. He's been under for an unnecessary 3 extra groons. You recharged longer than I though you would, but you needed it." "Ah really slept that long?" "You really slept that long."... The medbay doors opened smoothly and we stepped in. My carrier placing me on Prowl's chest while sparker brought him back online. For a few seconds nothing happened. Then his optics finally flickered online and he smiled as he saw me. "Ahm really sorry! Ah should have just gone like ya told meh to!" He blew out a vent, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me flush with him. "You should have, next time I expect you to do so. Everything is ok now." I sure didn't feel like it was ok. He'd nearly offlined because of me. "How do you feel Prowl?" "Much better than a few groons ago. Thank you." Fingers rubbed over my back lightly and I didn't understand how he's wasn't mad about getting hurt. "Come on. Let's go get you some treats. Maybe your carrier will accompany us to the lake since it didn't go so well last time." "Ah don't wanna go back... Ah wanna stay here and cuddle. Ya can't get hurt that way!" "You just worry about you. I'll be fine as long as you listen next time there's a threat. I can't fight if I'm worried over hurting you, Jazz." His hand smoothed down my helm some, but I still didn't want to leave so soon after his accident. "Just wanna go to our room... Still never got that promised groon. Something always comes up." I looked at him and he smiled softly. "That's OK. Come on, you can have your groon." He slipped from the table with me in his arms and made his way to our shared room.... Prowl POV: My frame arched off the bed as Jazz's glossa traced the rim of my valve after he managed to get me cuffed to the bed. "This isn't funny! Jazz!" He chuckled as his optics slowly came to mine, another broad lick being placed over my clenching valve. "Ya keep saying that... But ah think ya like this... Look at ya Prowler. Yer running so hot and ya already overloaded 5 times just while ah was enjoying meh treat..." A finger slipped into me and I couldn't help the broken sob that escaped as he stroked over far to sensitive nodes. My whole frame felt like it was on fire as he shoved me through yet another overload. If I didn't soon get free I was going to drop offline from over heating. "Jazz please! You need to let me go!" A finger tapped his chin lightly a few seconds before he smirked. "Ah don't think so. Ya promised meh whole groon, it hasn't even been half yet..." "But Jazz I'm over he-!!" His glossa dove back into my valve suddenly and the rest of my sentence was drown under a scream.... My vents caught and hitched painfully, though Jazz didn't seem to notice since he was rather preoccupied with fitting half his arm into my valve. These fragging stasis cuffs had knocked out all forms of communication and my vocaliser had glitched out a while back. My frame was so hot I knew I wouldn't be able to stay online much longer, not to mention I'd burnt through nearly everything in my tank. I was running on fumes and if I slipped offline I'd likely never wake again. The door opened suddenly and I prayed to Primus that who it was would know something was wrong. It was Starscream. My vents caught hard and his optics brightened before he had me out of the cuffs and was carrying me towards the medbay at a run....