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waitingforsecretsouls · 11 months ago

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#most discussion tends to include C&C and B&L as potential factors in Dior's choice and opinions #but almost never the fact that Doriath just killed a LOT of longstanding allies and potential friends of the Fëanorians #but I guess it doesn't count as additional motivator for them since they're not “kin”(part of my own original tags)

I'm once again thinking about this, and the way it often goes ignored, because it's such a shame. It genuinely takes away so much of the delicious shades of gray of the situation, and doing a disserve to discussions surrounding the perception of Doriath among the wider net of Beleriands factions and peoples, and not least Dior's character, by almost acting as if Thingol's Doriath and Dior's Doriath are two completely separate entities and ignoring the piece of history that connects the two.

I won't claim to be an expert on the discussions surrounding Dior and his aging process, but at the end of the day he was already married and had children at the time of the Battle of the Thousand Caves and Sarn Athrad, in the latter of which he himself fought (called to participate by his father).

At that time Beren and Lúthien yet dwelt in Tol Galen, the Green Isle, in the River Adurant, southernmost of the streams that falling from Ered Lindon flowed down to join with Gelion; and their son Dior Eluchíl had to wife Nimloth, kinswoman of Celeborn, prince of Doriath, who was wedded to the Lady Galadriel. The sons of Dior and Nimloth were Eluréd and Elurín; and a daughter also was born to them, and she was named Elwing, which is Star-spray, for she was born on a night of stars, whose light glittered in the spray of the waterfall of Lanthir Lamath beside her father’s house. Now word went swiftly among the Elves of Ossiriand that a great host of Dwarves bearing gear of war had come down out of the mountains and passed over Gelion at the Ford of Stones. These tidings came soon to Beren and Lúthien; and in that time also a messenger came to them out of Doriath telling of what had befallen there. Then Beren arose and left Tol Galen, and summoning to him Dior his son they went north to the River Ascar; and with them went many of the Green-elves of Ossiriand. -The Silmarillion, Chapter 22: OF THE RUIN OF DORIATH

(Battle of Sarn Athrad ensues)

It's in the conclusion of the battle, and Beren's recovery of the Nauglamír and Silmaril therein, that Dior sets off for Doriath, to take up rule of the ransacked kingdom and return it to its former glory, which is quite an ambitious goal, particularly in post-Nirnaeth Beleriand:

[...] but Beren took the Nauglamír and returned to Tol Galen. Little did it ease the grief of Lúthien to learn that the Lord of Nogrod was slain and many Dwarves beside[...]. Now Dior Thingol’s heir bade farewell to Beren and Lúthien, and departing from Lanthir Lamath with Nimloth his wife he came to Menegroth, and abode there; and with them went their young sons Eluréd and Elurín, and Elwing their daughter. Then the Sindar received them with joy, and they arose from the darkness of their grief for fallen kin and King and for the departure of Melian; and Dior Eluchíl set himself to raise anew the glory of the kingdom of Doriath. -The Silmarillion, Chapter 22: OF THE RUIN OF DORIATH

So the occasional view of Dior as someone "in over his head" (with the implication of youth-related naivete) and not yet "matured" into real adulthood based on his elvish ancestry never seemed very fitting to me. If such was the case I also highly doubt the Lathrim would have been as glad as they were to have him take up rule in Doriath following an unprecedented disaster like the conflict over the Nauglamír, with Doriath open to further incursions due to the disappearance of Melian's girdle. Rather, Dior was a grown man after the years of the Edain, with a family (heirs) of his own, who had just proven himself in a battle to avenge their people and retrieve their treasures, willing and capable of fighting for them, and therefore also hopefully protecting them into the future with force of arms.

The catch being that said conflict, over what the Sons of Fëanor already claimed as theirs and bound their fates to, also involved a party with whom the Fëanorians in particular had a significant history of friendship, alliance and at the very least mutually profitable economic partnership.

Caranthir and his followers were the first of the Exiles to make contact with the Khazâd and we're told that, while there was no great love and arguable mutual disdain between them, they nonetheless established an alliance against Morgoth as their common enemy, with the Khazâd learning much in the way of smithing and metalwork, while Caranthir profited from their resumed trade into Beleriand:

And thus it was that Caranthir’s people came upon the Dwarves, who after the onslaught of Morgoth and the coming of the Noldor had ceased their traffic into Beleriand. But though either people loved skill and were eager to learn, no great love was there between them; for the Dwarves were secret and quick to resentment, and Caranthir was haughty and scarce concealed his scorn for the unloveliness of the Naugrim, and his people followed their lord. Nevertheless since both peoples feared and hated Morgoth they made alliance, and had of it great profit; for the Naugrim learned many secrets of craft in those days, so that the smiths and masons of Nogrod and Belegost became renowned among their kin, and when the Dwarves began again to journey into Beleriand all the traffic of the dwarf-mines passed first through the hands of Caranthir, and thus great riches came to him. -The Silmarillion, Chapter 13: OF THE RETURN OF THE NOLDOR

Curufin on the other hand had genuine friendship with the Khazâd, singled out as the only one of the (first age) Noldor to have had such:

His sons were too occupied in war and feuds to pay attention to such matters, save Maglor who was a poet, and Curufin, his fourth and favourite son to whom he gave his own name; but Curufin was most interested in the alien language of the Dwarves, being the only one of the Ñoldor to win their friendship. It was from him that the loremasters obtained such knowledge as they could of the Khuzdûl. -The Peoples of Middle Earth, Chapter 11: THE SHIBBOLETH OF FËANOR

He furthermore was in possession of the knife Anrgist, crafted by one of the most renown craftsmen of the Khazâd: Telchar (fun fact, Telchar's other most famous works included the Dragon-helm of Dor-lómin and Narsil. As someone who likes the hc that Narsil may have passed to Elros' line through Maedhros, this would make for a fun point of commonality to Telchar's other known works, with the Dragon-helm of Dor-lómin first gifted from Azaghâl to Maedhros, and Angrist as first gifted to Curufin).

Maedhros most established connection to the Khazâd was through his Union of Maedhros, in which:

[...]Maedhros had the help of the Naugrim, both in armed force and in great store of weapons; and the smithies of Nogrod and Belegost were busy in those days. -The Silmarillion, Chapter 20: OF THE FIFTH BATTLE: NIRNAETH ARNOEDIAD

Which is the first and only on-the-field alliance between Eldar and Khazâd of the entire First Age, as it happens. Maedhros acquaintance with the Lord of Belegost at the time, Azaghâl, is not included in the published Silmarillion but detailed as such (including Dragon-helm lore):

But in truth this helm had not been made for Men, but for Azaghâl Lord of Belegost, he who was slain by Glaurung in the Year of Lamentation. It was given by Azaghâl to Maedhros, as guerdon for the saving of his life and treasure, when Azaghâl was waylaid by Orcs upon the Dwarf-road in East Beleriand. Maedhros afterwards sent it as a gift to Fingon, with whom he often exchanged tokens of friendship, remembering how Fingon had driven Glaurung back to Ang-band. But in all Hithlum no head and shoulders were found stout enough to bear the dwarf-helm with ease, save those of Hador and his son Galdor. Fingon therefore gave it to Hador, when he received the lordship of Dor-lómin. -Unfinished Tales of Numenor and Middle-Earth, Chapter 1.2: NARN I HÎN HÚRIN

Azaghâl and his followers were the ones who covered the Sons of Fëanor's (and remaining followers) retreat against the beasts of Angband led by Glaurung due to their greater resistance to his flames:

Last of all the eastern force to stand firm were the Dwarves of Belegost, and thus they won renown. For the Naugrim withstood fire more hardily than either Elves or Men, and it was their custom moreover to wear great masks in battle hideous to look upon; and those stood them in good stead against the dragons. And but for them Glaurung and his brood would have withered all that was left of the Noldor. But the Naugrim made a circle about him when he assailed them, and even his mighty armour was not full proof against the blows of their great axes; and when in his rage Glaurung turned and struck down Azaghâl, Lord of Belegost, and crawled over him, with his last stroke Azaghâl drove a knife into his belly, and so wounded him that he fled the field, and the beasts of Angband in dismay followed after him. Then the Dwarves raised up the body of Azaghâl and bore it away; and with slow steps they walked behind singing a dirge in deep voices, as it were a funeral pomp in their country, and gave no heed more to their foes; and none dared to stay them. -The Silmarillion, Chapter 20: OF THE FIFTH BATTLE: NIRNAETH ARNOEDIAD

Which I've sometimes seen mischaracterized as the Sons of Fëanor cowardly fleeing, leaving the Khazâd to die, or as unwilling human(oid) shields. Something it's pretty clearly not (even leaving aside the glaring parallel to Húrin and Huor's last stand).

Yet fate saved the sons of Fëanor, and though all were wounded none were slain, for they drew together, and gathering a remnant of the Noldor and the Naugrim about them they hewed a way out of the battle and escaped far away towards Mount Dolmed in the east. -The Silmarillion, Chapter 20: OF THE FIFTH BATTLE: NIRNAETH ARNOEDIAD

It's made clear that the sons of Fëanor are the one organizing the fighting retreat and having to continue to fight, "hew a way out of the battle", themselves, while the Dwarves of Belegost under Azaghâl serve as rearguard. In ,again, what's a blatant parallel to Húrin and Huor's sacrifice for Turgon and the forces of Gondolin. Coincidentally, Mount Dolmed also just so happens to be a right next door to Belegost.

The reason I'm so insistent on this being that this entire segment of the post is meant to demonstrate the amicable, long-standing and historically (or in other words, plot) relevant connections between the Fëanorians and the Dwarves of Belegost and Nogrod. It's not an exaggeration to claim that they're one of the most important pillars of the Fëanorians war-efforts in East Beleriand (apart from the Fëanorian forces itself).

So I do resent the implication that relations between Dior (& Dior's Doriath) and the Fëanorians were/should have been a "clean-slate" from their side, with Dior as the only one with legitimate grievances concering how Celegorm and Curufin treated his mother and father, and the Fënorians only, often put into question, "legitimate" grievance involving the Silmaril and smarted pride from Celegorm and Curufin.

Curufin was a true friend to the Khazâd, gifted with one of Telchar's most famous works, who is generally conceptualized as a Dwarf of Nogrod specifically. They fought (and many of their people died) side by side as recent as the Nirnaeth. It was through the theft of this presumed gift and perhaps even memento of a friend, that Beren cut the Silmaril free from Morgoths crown in the first place.

So now the sons of Fëanor receive news that* :

1) Doriath killed all but two of the Nogrodi in Menegroth for daring to ask for compensation for their work, involving their father's Silmaril specifically, which led to Thingol's death in a scuffle (good riddance) after he ordered all of them killed Maegor the Cruel style.

Yet two there were of the slayers of Thingol who escaped from the pursuit on the eastern marches, and returned at last to their city far off in the Blue Mountains; and there in Nogrod they told somewhat of all that had befallen, saying that the Dwarves were slain in Doriath by command of the Elvenking, who thus would cheat them of their reward. -The Silmarillion, Chapter 22: OF THE RUIN OF DORIATH

2) No communications or attempts at mediation came from Doriath for this, as far as the Nogrodi knew, slaughter driven entirely by elvish greed.

"Then great was the wrath and lamentation of the Dwarves of Nogrod for the death of their kin and their great craftsmen, and they tore their beards, and wailed; and long they sat taking thought for vengeance." -The Silmarillion, Chapter 22: OF THE RUIN OF DORIATH

3) When the Dwarves of Nogrod sent a host to avenge this seemingly unprovoked slaughter of some of their best and brightest (craftsmen, civilians), with the main goal seemingly to retrieve the Nauglamír and other treasures (Mablung falls defending the treasury), Beren and his son Dior ambushed them on their retreat and eradicated all of the survivors in order to "reclaim" the Silmaril (they had no claim to in the first place from Fëanorian POV, and definitely not with the blood of their friends and former comrades-in-arms on their hands).

4) as a consequence of this slaughter, those remaining of the Fëanorians oldest allies (those not killed by Doriath, who only ever fought once, before the Exiles arrived in Beleriand) retreat across the Blue Mountains out of fear of further Doriathrim reprisals (despite the fact that they tried to stop the Khazâd of Nogrod from avenging what seemed like a clear-cut crime against them at the time), completely withdrawing from the war against Morgoth (likely reminding the SoF in part of how their positive relation with Finrod and Nagothrond was previously deliberately bombed by Doriath).

Celeborn had no liking for Dwarves of any race (as he showed to Gimli in Lothlórien), and never forgave them for their part in the destruction of Doriath; but it was only the host of Nogrod that took part in that assault, and it was destroyed in the battle of Sarn Athrad [The Silmarillion pp. 233– 5]. The Dwarves of Belegost were filled with dismay at the calamity and fear for its outcome, and this hastened their departure eastwards to Khazad-dûm. -Unfinished Tales of Numenor and Middle-Earth, Chapter 2.4: THE HISTORY OF GALADRIEL AND CELEBORN

(Even if one does not subscribe to this specific "gap filler", the fact remains that following this conflict, the Khazâd disappear from the narrative of the Silmarillion)

And then Dior, who arguably made his name in the Batte of Sarn Athrad, takes up rule of Doriath and receives the Silmaril he previously helped his father fight for.

I'm not trying to argue that the preceding conflict between the Dwarves and Doriath was the main reason for the Fëanorians evenual attack, or even a reason. However, it seems like an egregious and disingenuous erasure of established and relevant links made between these groups and the sons of Fëanor to ignore it in the fëanorian attitude and perspective towards the Doriath that Dior inherits, as well as its relevance in Dior's development.

*Because why would the Fëanorians source their news on this specific incident from the Laiquendi rather than their old friends and allies, the Dwarves of Nogrod and Belegost? And it's these versions of the story that the escaped survivors of the Nogrodi of Menegroth told their people. Yes, the sons of Fëanor lived among the Laiquendi, but said Laiquendi have and will show partiality towards the Lathrim prior, with many of them even participating in Sarn Athrad, so it's easy to dismiss them as an unreliable source of information in the matter, the Fëanorians are already primed to think the worst of Thingol and everything in the tale of the Nogrodi confirms their biases/opinions. Thingol IS someone who will steal other peoples labours and heirlooms. Thingol IS someone who will put his pride before the realities of the situation (refusing to surrender the Silmaril despite knwing full well about their oath, having counted on it to dispose of Beren), Thingol IS someone exhibiting prejudices against people he deems "lesser" even when it leads to their death (his intial total refusal to engage with Edain, leading Haleth to have to lead her people through Nan Dungortheb, his canonical last words to the Dwarves of Nogrod) etc.

Not sure if people honestly forget or just kind of ignore how Dior explicitly took part in the Battle of Sarn Athrad one of whose main objectives (or at the very least RESULTS) was to retrieve the Silmaril. As if a huge part of the irony of the run-up to the Second Kinslaying isn't that Doriath are the ones who killed people specifically in pursuit of the Silmaril (that were longstanding allies of the Fëanorians and contributed in the wars against Morgoth as recently as the Union of Maedhros, even potential friends re: Curufin, and whose craftsmanship Beren has to thank for being able to cut the thing free from Morgoth's crown in the first place). Dior's connection to the Silmaril isn't just having it passed down from his parents, he actively fought for it (which I'll grant wasn't necessarily his chief motivation and more important to his father, but the larger point still stands). That's the context in which he refuses to even negotiate with the Fëanorians claim.

#silm #dior #sons of fëanor #battle of the thousand caves #battle of sarn athrad #second kinslaying #Khazâd #I suppose this is something of my “vent post” regarding that whole deal...

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lorspolairepeluche · 4 years ago

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8 and/or 12 from the character description meme for Saraan?? (SORRY she's obviously my fave of yours lol)

8. Their interactions with their significant other

“Boss. You’re an archer. You can’t get in close range; you don’t have the defense for it.” Despite the Iron Bull’s chiding, his hands were incredibly gentle as he cleaned the deep cut in Saraan’s side with an alcohol-soaked cloth that fucking stung.

“That’s -- not usually close range!” Saraan managed to hiss through her teeth. “So excuse the fuck out of me for not knowing exactly how far this kind of dragon can reach with its tail -- fuck!”

“You all right?” Bull withdrew the cloth a few inches, his other hand going automatically to touch Saraan’s shoulder. “Talk to me, Boss.”

“Fine,” Saraan forced out. “I’m fine.” The Emprise’s chill cooled the burning sensation in her wound, and she relaxed. “Just stings like shit, is all.”

Bull smiled at her echo of his own words on Skyhold’s battlement -- was that just a few months ago? “Hey. Saraan.”

Her mouth twitched into a smile at her name from his mouth, and more of one when he leaned up to press their mouths together for a moment. “We’ve got another high dragon under our belts,” she noted when he pulled away. “How’d it feel, The Iron Bull?”

His turn to grin and gently squeeze where his hand still rested on her shoulder. “You’re the best boss, Boss.”

character description ask meme

#just the one for now b/c i scribbled it out in my journal just before bedtime! and now i must do the sleeps #but i will try to get to the other one tomorrow!#maybe i'll make it my tober entry for the day; who knows #AND YOU WERE PROBABLY GUNNING FOR AN IHSARAAN BUT THIS SCENE POPPED INTO MY HEAD AND I COULDN'T RESIST THE CUTES #saraan adaar #saraanbull #THANK U GALEN FOR THE ASK #and i don't blame u for liking saraan so much she is the Bomb Dot Com if i do say so myself #character asks #ourinquisitorialness

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hottpinkpenguin · 3 years ago

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Requests!

Pick a character and a prompt from below.

Please specify if you want:

☑️oneshot vs series

☑️platonic vs angst vs fluff vs steam (I don’t write smut)

☑️any reader characteristics you want

📌I’m open to requests for other characters / prompts

Fandoms/Characters:

LOTR: Boromir, Eomer, Haldir

MCU Avengers: Dr Strange, Loki, Bucky Barnes, Steve Rogers, Bruce Banner

Eternals: Druig, Ikaris

Punisher: Frank Castle, Billy Russo

The Witcher: Geralt, Eskel, Cahir

Shadow & Bone: Aleksander Morozova, Kaz Brekker

Twilight: Carlisle, Jasper, Aro

Star Wars: Orson Krennic, Galen Erso, Kylo Ren

ACOTAR: Rhysand, Azriel, Cassian, Tamlin

Prompts:

Quotes

“What we had was a dream”

“You said goodbye too soon”

“If you’re going to break my heart, at least make me feel it”

“I still care for you”

“I wouldn’t mind death as long as I go out with your name on my lips”

“I can’t decide if you’re my salvation or my downfall”

“You break it, you buy it. That includes my heart.”

“Did you do that for me?” “I don’t do anything for you anymore.”

“There’s no happy ending for us, is there?”

“Even if I had a thousand lifetimes to live, this one with you would be my best.”

“I’m sorry I ever met you because it means I’ll know the pain of losing you.”

“A life without you isn’t a life at all.”

“Don’t make me regret this.”

“Even nightmares end eventually.”

“Look me in the eye when you break my heart.”

“My eyes are the only thing I don’t want to take off of you.”

Tropes A thru Z

Arranged marriage

Accidental kiss

Battlefield romance

Big Bad - lover turns out to be a villain

“Come back to bed”

Conflicting loyalties

Declaration of love/protection/devotion

Divine romance - lover is a god/god-like being

Enemies to lovers

Everyone can see it… except you two

Fire-forged love - you go through hell and back together which cements your bond as friends/a couple

Friendly rivalry

“Glad to be alive” sex

Held gaze

Heroic gesture

Injury & comfort

Inconvenient attraction

Just friends / “just friends”

Jealousy

Killed the mood

Kissing under starlight

Love at first sight

Love triangle

Mistaken for cheating

Mutual pining

Now or never moment

Opposites attract

Old flames

Pleading

Problematic love

Rescue

Royalty

Self sacrifice

Star crossed lovers

Secret lovers

Time travel

Tongue tied

Underwater kiss

Villain with a sad past

“Why can’t I hate you?”

Wartime wedding

Waking up from a coma

“You must be cold”

“Zip me up” / “un-zip me”

much love ❤️‍🔥

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vanderlinde-moved · 3 years ago

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i was gonna die young (but now i have to wait for you)

happy holidays @incognitajones! i was your secret santa this year and had so much fun tackling your prompt. i hope you enjoy what i’ve written up for you!

prompt: a) any kind of alternate SW-universe meeting; b) one of them believes the other is dead, cue angst (with a happy ending) ; c) if you find music/lyrics inspirational, Sylvan Esso's "Die Young" gives me major RC vibes

notes: in this au!verse, the name “erso” isn’t attached to the death star. galen died with lyra on lah’mu for some reason for another. as a result, jyn gets to stay with the partners and saw and this fic can reasonably happen :-)

read it on ao3!

Each step takes more effort than the last.

Her muscles ache and her leg throbs as she forces herself to keep up a slow limp through Tatooine. In the heat of the moment, she hadn’t even noticed the pain until after the fight, but now that the adrenaline has died down, her whole body feels close to shutting down. It’s a hell of a way to end a mission that’s easily landed in her top five worst ops of all time.

She can’t remember the last time she’d slept or sat down to actually eat a meal –– the toll of the past few weeks spent undercover in Jabba’s palace finally catching up to her. If she doesn’t slow down or stop or something, she knows she’s likely to collapse before she even reaches the meeting point.

She presses her fingers to the uncomfortable earpiece she’s wearing. “Saw, where the hell is the extraction team?”

It takes a few seconds for him to respond, the words crackling through after a moment of static. “Patience, my child. He will be there soon.”

“He?” She stops, a frown creasing her brows. For a second, she thinks she’s misheard, replaying his words over again in her mind. “I thought Maia was coming to get me.”

“There’s been a change in plans,” he replies, voice muffled and cut with interference. “Since you’ve been gone –– “ Static. Jyn curses, slamming her palm into the device. “ –– meeting with the Alliance and –– ”

Saw cuts off, the earpiece going silent. “Karking hells. . .”

She stops walking, pulling it out to fiddle with it but she’s in the middle of some podunk town without any tools to fix it. Eventually, she gives up, growling in frustration. For a lack of anything better to do, she glares up at the sweltering sun as if it’s the cause of all her problems.

The best thing she can do is keep walking. If her calculations are correct, then she’ll be approaching the extraction point at the outskirts of town relatively quickly. Whoever’s coming to pick her up can identify her; if necessary, she can find her own damn way off-planet. She tells herself this as she places one foot in front of the other, focusing on staying upright for a few more minutes.

Eventually, as she makes her way to the outskirts, someone catches her eye. A man, roughly her age, slips out of a nearby alleyway and begins following her. She doesn’t know who her contact is, other than the fact that he’s a man, but this immediately sets her ill at ease. Whoever he is, like any normal person, she doesn’t enjoy being followed.

Abruptly, she turns the next corner, slipping her way through crowds to best lose her tail. As she goes, she trades her blue scarf for a green one that she conveniently steals off of a nearby stall, hunching her shoulders to make herself smaller and blend better as she wraps it around her hair and her face.

But no matter how many twists and turns she takes, no matter how much she tries to shake the man following her, he somehow manages to keep up with her without fail. She clenches her jaw, dread curling low in her stomach. Her ride won’t wait forever. If she can’t do this stealthily, then it’s time to take matters into her own hands.

She ducks into a nearby alleyway, flattening herself against the wall and sticking to the shadows. She waits a minute or two before the bastard in the blue parka passes in front of her, eyes darting around as he scans the crowd. He’s good, she’ll give him that.

As soon as he’s within reach, she grabs him by the arm and, in one fluid moment, slams him against the brick with her blaster aimed at his gut. “Who the hell are you and why are you following me?”

Irritatingly enough, he looks entirely nonplussed for being threatening within an inch of his life. “You know, after hearing all about your reputation, I expected you to do this sooner.”

She doesn’t let up, though her shoulders stiffen at the potential of him knowing her. She shoves the blaster harder into his stomach but his face remains entirely neutral. “Who –– ” she hisses, “–– the hell are you?”

“Aach,” he replies. Jyn takes great pride at the wheeze in his voice when she applies more pressure. That’s a fake name if she’s ever heard one. “Alliance operative and your ride off-planet, according to Saw Gererra.”

Saw had mentioned something about the Alliance, but ––

“Why were you following me?”

He shrugs a shoulder. “Out of curiosity, mostly.”

“Give me a better answer or I’ll gut you like a ghest.”

He pauses, looks down at her. “I was ordered to. Like I said, I’m just here to pick you up and take you back.”

Jyn doesn’t know what to think. Even if the man in front of her is telling the truth, that he is a rebel and he’s the man sent to extract her, Jyn doesn’t care much for the Alliance. She takes his words with a grain of salt, waiting for more concrete evidence.

A pause. Then –– “If you’ll ease up on me, I can give you my comm.”

She doesn’t and he winces, changing his tone, lowering his voice. Now it sounds more like he’s trying to corral an injured animal, to ease them out of a corner. “It’s just in my pocket, okay? I’m just going to reach down and grab it.”

Jyn eyes him warily but does as he says with a scowl, taking a step back but keeping her weapon in hand. With his left hand up in the air, he slips a hand into his parka pocket and pulls out a small earpiece, not unlike the one she’d been using earlier, offering it up to her.

Darting forward, she snatches it from his hands quickly, giving it a quick once over to check for traps before typing in a code that only Saw would know. Since this is an Alliance device, they’ll probably have to change it once all this is done, but there’s no avoiding that now. She has to make sure.

Once she’s satisfied with the quality of the device, she inserts it into her ear and activates it. Saw’s voice booms over it almost immediately. “Jyn! Are you all right? What’s –– “

“Some Alliance asshole says he’s my ride.” Aach –– whoever the hell he is –– makes a small, amused noise behind her.

“Ah, yes. Your comm cut off before I could tell you. The past few weeks, I have been meeting with the Council. We have. . .come to an arrangement, so to speak.”

“You made a deal with the Alliance?” she asks hotly, cutting him off. “What’s going on?” What has she missed?

“As soon as you get back, I will tell you the details,” Saw replies after a practiced pause.

“Saw. . .” she grits out, frustrated. It’s an effort to resist the urge to pinch the bridge of her nose. While. . .Aach has certainly been accommodating enough, anyone can fake an identity if they’re good enough at pretending –– she’s certainly done so on multiple occasions. “Who the hell have you sent to pick me back?”

“Remember when I sent you to Inusagi?” When Jyn grunts in approval, he continues, “Use the phrase from the festival. If he knows, then he is your man.”

“There are ears everywhere, my child. I am glad you are safe.” With that, there’s a few seconds of static before the line goes quiet.

She looks him in the eye, her fist curled around the earpiece and making no move to give it back to him. “Lots of people on this planet talk the big talk.”

Easily, without a hint of hesitation, the man responds, “But in the end, they’re about as threatening as a cloud.”

There it is. Cloud.

Wrinkling her nose in distaste, she hands the comm back to her escort. “Guess we’ll be working together, then.” A pause. She tilts her chin upward, holds out a hand to shake. That’s proper for first meetings on most planets, right? “Liana Hallik.”

“Aach,” he repeats, dipping his chin subtly. His gaze glints with amusement. “A pleasure to meet you, Jyn Erso.”

“Hmm.” She doubts he’ll take her home if she clocks him across the face so she reins in the urge.

“You need to get off that leg,

She narrows her eyes, knowing for a fact that she hadn’t been limping on her way through the marketplace. Unless he had been following her this whole time, long before she’d even noticed him tailing her, then he shouldn’t have. . .

Jyn draws herself up, chin jutting out. Her leg is hurting but she’s done a fine enough job ignoring it so far. While a bacta patch would be nice, she doesn’t usually get the luxury of having proper medical supplies. “You don’t get to tell me what to do.”

At his side, his fingers twitch, her eyes drawn to the sudden movement. “Fine. I’ll be heading back to my ship. You can do whatever you want.”

His face is impassive, almost perfectly neutral. She narrows her eyes as she inspects him again. Maybe it’s wishful thinking but Jyn swears she sees a flicker of irritation in his eyes as he brushes her comment off.

As he turns to leave, she almost doesn’t follow. She hates –– hates –– that he’s her ride off-planet. Undoubtedly, she could find her own mode of transportation, but that would likely be more trouble than it’s worth. She hesitates for a moment before following him, lengthening her stride to match his own until they’re walking in step.

(It feels –– natural to be walking next to him.)

He doesn’t have to say anything –– she can practically feel his smugness as they begin their trek. So he’s human after all, it seems. From her experience –– not that she’s had a lot –– these Alliance folks always need a bit of loosening up before they’re tolerable.

He might take a bit of work, however.

“A deal with the Alliance, Saw?” Jyn bursts out as soon as they’re alone. “Really? There’s a reason we’re not a part of them!”

Saw, if anything, looks amused at her outburst. She resists the urge to slam her palm against the table, to childishly throw a tantrum as if that would make him take her more seriously. All these years, even as his second-in-command and best warrior in his kriffing cadre, he still sees her as nothing but a child.

“We are not insurgents, child,” he says. “We are rebels, just as they are. We are all criminals in the eyes of the Empire.”

“In the eyes of the Empire, sure,” Jyn scoffs. “But to them, we’re no better than that, either!”

“Maybe so,” he agrees neutrally. “But for the time being, they have agreed to work with us all the same.”

“This is a mistake, Saw,” she snaps. “I don’t see––”

“Enough!” Saw barks, cutting her off. “You forget yourself –– you are not in charge here!”

She falls silent, properly chastised, eyes watching him warily.

He paces, stepping around the table to come to her side. When he speaks again, it’s softer. “We cannot topple the Empire on our own, Jyn. Our numbers are shrinking –– we need the manpower that the Alliance can provide.”

“Fine,” she bites out. She may not have to like his decisions but before he is her godfather, he is her superior officer. “Fine. And I suppose you want me to work with them?”

“It will do you good, my child, to meet sentients your own age.” It’s not hard to pick up the sparkle of amusement in his gaze.

At that, she rolls her eyes, muttering, “I know plenty of sentients my own age.”

“Captain Cassian Andor will be your point of contact,” he says finally. “If you cannot trust them –– and I do not trust them, either –– then trust me.”

She mulls over that for a few seconds before nodding. If there is one person in this world that she trusts, it is Saw Gererra.

“Cassian?” she muses absently, a hint of pride coloring her voice as she accepts the data pad that he hands her. “I knew that asshole didn’t look like an Aach.”

Like it or not, Cassian Andor becomes a permanent fixture in her life. Something about bettering the relationship between the Partisans and Alliance to take down the Empire. In theory, it sounds good –– combined they’ll have a better chance.

In practice?

“I hate you.”

“I’m aware.” Cassian’s voice is amused, which makes her all the angrier. She grabs the thick blanket just barely covering the two of them and yanks it up to her chin just to piss him off.

“You’re insufferable,” she grunts out, even though she’s the one that rightly deserves that title. As professional as she is, she doesn’t know how to deal with this, has never been in this situation with a near stranger.

She shivers as the night breeze blows through her still-wet hair and curls up closer to him, pressing her face up against his skin. To counteract this, she repeats again (but with much less vitriol), “I hate you.”

“You’re the one who decided to go out on the frozen lake,” he replies. Is that a hint of crossness she hears in his voice, rumbling through his chest?

“To save your sorry ass!” she shoots back –– but it’s difficult to sound too formidable with her teeth chattering, damp, and swaddled in a blanket like a newborn baby.

Truth is, her brain’s still a bit muddled from nearly freezing to death. She remembers how he’d gone on the ice, yelling at her to stay back and cover him while he chased down their target. But he hadn’t seen the crack snaking out behind him, hadn’t heard how the frozen pond had begun to groan underneath his added weight.

And, truth is, she can’t really remember why she’d gone out after him, why she’d risked her own neck to dive after him and push him out of the way, sliding into the water while he’d just barely made it to shore. Something about –– the fate of their partnership or that she couldn’t work the ship without him or –– or something ––

Now that it’s over, of course, her mind spins through the dozens of ways she could have left him behind but in that moment she hadn’t been able to.

After that, it’s a bit of a blur. He’d pulled her out, clearly, then probably dragged her half-conscious corpse to a nearby inn and dumped her into bed. And as much as she hates it, they both know that the best remedy for the cold is body heat –– and they’re both professionals here, so she hadn’t thought twice when he’d disrobed the two of them and climbed in next to her.

(The necessity of it hadn’t stopped her from shoving her cold feet up onto his calves just to get a reaction out of him nor has it stopped her from grumbling like a child the whole time.)

Her train of thought ends when Cassian pulls the blanket up tighter underneath her chin, tucking it around her head. She cracks an eye open at him curiously, chest tightening at the sudden gesture of. . .kindness?

He pointedly doesn’t look at her. “Get some sleep,” he says gruffly, closing his own eyes. “We’ll get moving again in a few hours.”

She’s reluctant to do anything but rest, let alone fall unconscious in the presence of a stranger, especially not when she’s so vulnerable. For as long as she can, she forces herself to stay awake –– and by the perfect, practiced rise and fall of Cassian’s chest against hers, he’s doing the exact same way.

Eventually, however, the toll of the day catches up; her grasp on consciousness slips until she falls into the darkness.

(Falling asleep in his presence doesn’t scare her as much as it should.)

“Erso.”

“Andor.” After a beat, she adds, “And it’s Hallik now, actually. It’s a shame you Alliance folks have been getting old data.”

Andor’s face doesn’t move, that damn spy façade keeping it locked down, but Jyn swears that his eyebrow twitches. “Hallik, then.”

There’s a pause, and then she asks pointedly, interrupting their staring contest, “Well? Aren’t you going to move out of the way?”

He sighs, stepping to the side so she can board the shuttle. Once aboard, he slips past her, motions natural as if they’ve been working together for a lifetime. As he takes her bag from her hands and places it in the storage rack above her head, he informs her, “We’re leaving in two minutes.”

“Can’t wait,” she responds dryly. On his otherwise neutral face, she swears she sees his lips twitch.

(But it’s not. . .entirely a lie.)

Jyn doesn’t know why she calls him.

They’re not friends but there’s something between them. Something more than just running the occasional mission together. While she can’t exactly define it or put it into words, there is undeniably some sort of gravity that keeps pulling her into his orbit.

It’s annoying –– she’s annoyed that she can’t stop thinking about him in the middle of a solo mission. And if she has to suffer through this, then she’ll be damned sure that he does, too.

Because that’s a partnership, yeah?

“Hey, Andor,” she yawns, running a hand through her messy hair, disheveled by sleep. He doesn’t answer. A part of her is selfish, wanting to hear his voice even if he’s pissed at her, but she’s mostly glad he’s getting rest. Even she knows that he works himself to the bone and she’s not even a part of the Alliance.

The holo-recorder next to her blinks every so often, the soft, red light on the monitor contrasting with the harsh fluorescents on the overhead fixture. “Chrono says about 0400 hours, but it feels earlier.”

A pause. She stretches her arms over her head and then rolls onto her stomach, burying her face into her pillow. Her next words are mumbled into the fabric, probably unintelligible. “You better not be ignoring me in hopes that I’m going to shut up. Because now I’m not.”

The assignment involves her going undercover in a coal mine. The work’s back-breaking and grueling, but that’s not what’s proving troublesome. Every morning, she reminds herself that she only has a month left observing and collecting data on the activities of the Empire here, but the trauma of her past is slowly creeping up on her. She knows it’ll be a while before she feels like herself again, but this –– thinking about what is waiting for her on the other side –– is enough.

For now.

It’s enough because it has to be. If she cracks, if she breaks, the mission will be a failure. She needs some semblance of normality if she’s going to make it through the next few weeks.

“I think my skin’s pretty stained from all this kriffing soot,” she tells him as she forces herself out of bed. “I know I’ve said this before, but I really wish I had a shower with real water. There’s no way this cover would be able to afford it, but stars. . .” she chuckles softly. “It’s going to take me years to wash this off. Bet next time I see you I’m still going to be stained.”

Tugging her shirt over her head and pulling on a new one, she begins to get ready for the day ahead of her, still speaking out loud to herself. While there’s no reason for it, she hopes no one’s bugging her room; if they ever went back and looked at the data, they’d probably think she’s kriffing insane. “Got the same routine again today. I think I might try to get into the medical bay, get some intel there. I’m planning on collapsing, which won’t be hard considering how tired I am.”

As she goes to pull her pants up, she winces as her hands tighten, the pressure of the motion breaking and exacerbating some of her new and opened blisters. Her hands are hardly soft and unworked, but mining for coal with a pickaxe for twelve hours a day has really done a number on her.

“Maybe if I’m lucky, they’ll let me rest for a couple hours. I mean, I doubt Imperial medics are any less of hard-asses than the overseers are but a woman can dream.”

Jyn stays silent while she does her hair, tying it into a low-bun, then secures her cap over it. She very nearly collapses on her bed to put her boots on, wishing that she could just crawl back underneath the covers and fall back asleep.

“I know whatever mission you’re on is probably much more classified than mine is, but it’s been a while since I’ve heard from you.” She chews on her upper lip, then adds, “Can you just let me know if you’re safe? Let me know you’re not dying in an alleyway somewhere.”

That. . .is a little too close to sounding like she cares. Which she doesn’t, of course, so she says, her words a hurried rush, “If I have to get a new partner, then I’m going to kriffing kill someone. I just got used to your hard-ass.”

There. Problem solved.

She stands up, adjusting her clothes as she does, glancing in the mirror to make sure she looks like the part she needs to play. “Lucky for you, I’ve got to go,” she says. “My shift starts in a couple of minutes, so. . .” She trails off, not sure how to end this. “Don’t die?”

With that, she turns off the holo-recorder and plugs it into her data pad. It takes a few seconds for the file to upload; as soon as it does, she sends it Cassian’s way. She slides both devices back into the secret drawer underneath her bed, then heads toward the door with a small smile on her face, flipping the lights off as she goes.

Oh, if he doesn’t survive this, then she’s going to kill him herself.

What in the stars' name had possessed him to throw himself in front of her? For him to throw himself into danger out and almost get himself killed because of it ––

(In the grand scheme of things, neither of them are irreplaceable. The war will go on with or without them. But she –– if he died, she would mourn.)

He’d taken a hit to the head covering for her in the middle of a skirmish with stormtroopers; she’d had to practically carry him back to the ship and has seen enough concussions to know that he likely has one, tripping over her own feet in her haste to do so.

Her face is a blank mask as she tends to him, though she cannot hide the way her jaw clenches in anger. She has half a mind to throw a bacta patch at him and walk out, to leave him to dress his wounds alone. She will not have him die out of some sort of obligation to her, have him bleeding out because he took a blaster bolt meant for her, pushed her out of the way, and took the brunt of it himself on a dangerous mission just so ––

Her thoughts spiral. She shoves them deep down into the cave, locking them away so she can keep her emotions off of her face, but the hatch strains. No matter how many times she turns it, how hard she shoves her weight into keeping it closed, she worries it isn’t enough, that it will break and she won’t be alone when it happens.

Too observant for his own good, Cassian’s clever eyes track her expression. “Jyn ––”

“I know how to take care of a wound,” he says quietly, taking the cloth from her hand. “You don’t––”

“Just let me do it,” she snaps, cutting him off.

After a beat, he nods in approval. She smoothes a bacta patch on the cut on his forehead, fingers lingering on his skin for a little too long before she pulls away, standing up and taking a few steps away from the bed he’s sitting on.

She can’t look at him, eyes focused on the door, back half-turned. While she tries to clamp down on it, her voice wavers slightly when she speaks: “Get some rest. I’ll be back in two hours to wake you up.”

“Don’t do this, Jyn.” His voice is quiet and she can’t entirely parse out what he means by this. Don’t do what? “I’m fine––”

“You could have died, Cassian!” she explodes finally, throwing her hands up in the air. “You had the information, you should have gone back to the kriffing ship like I told you to!”

It’s silent for a few beats, her confession ringing in the air between them. Blood thrumming in her ears, she slowly lowers her arms back to her sides, exhaling sharply. She hadn’t even seen him return for her, had been so focused on covering him, on shooting and ignoring the sinking feeling in her stomach, that it had been a complete surprise.

The memory of his arms around her as he tackles her, how he’d rolled at the last second to break her fall only to hit the back of his head against the ground––

“I couldn’t just leave you there,” he says tiredly. There’s exhaustion in his eyes that’s not from the concussion. “That bolt would have killed you.”

“I am expendable!” she snaps back. “So are you, Cassian! It doesn’t kriffing matter what happens to us!”

When he opens his mouth to respond, she shakes her head. She doesn’t want to hear it. “I’ll be back in two hours,” she says gruffly, turning away to leave the room. “Get some rest.”

In the cockpit, when she’s alone, she bites down on her fist to muffle a shout.

A few days later, he brings it up again –– but not in the way she expects.

“I learned a long time ago that it didn’t matter whether I lived or died,” he says heavily, turning to her once the ship has entered hyperspace. “Draven trained that into all of us early on.”

A pause. Then –– ”It doesn’t matter what happens to us so long as the Empire falls.”

“Exactly.”

Though they haven’t talked about it before but Jyn suspects their childhoods are eerily similar –– forced into a fight they didn’t understand at such a young age, growing up knowing nothing but violence and war and subterfuge.

She suspects, too, that Cassian doesn’t expect to live to see the end of the war, either. But why he’s bringing this up now, she’s uncertain.

“It matters to me what happens to you.”

It’s said so quietly that she doesn’t think she’d heard him properly at first. Her heart feels. . .odd in her chest. “What?”

“It matters to me,” he exhales, “what happens to you, Jyn.”

“I. . .” she trails off, not sure how to respond. It’s only been a few weeks since they’d started working together but once she searches deeper, she’s surprised to find that she feels the same.

It’s difficult to properly vocalize those feelings, however. She searches his gaze, trying to let him know through expression alone.

After a beat, he nods; she doesn’t know whether or not he understands but there’s a lightness to his eyes that hadn’t been there before. He stands, tilting his head invitingly toward the cockpit door. “Come on. I think we have a pack of good coffee left. I’ll split it with you?”

“All right,” she agrees easily. “Give me a second –– I’ll meet you in the galley.”

Cassian leaves. Once she no longer hears his footsteps, she looks out at the stars around them and smiles.

This isn’t how it’s supposed to go.

What Jyn has expected, she’s mostly gotten. Shared glances, flirtatious banter with the goal of making him blush, bumping shoulders, and knocking knees. And when it had advanced to something more – secret trysts, sweat-soaked skin, and words mumbled in the crook of each other’s necks – she had been careful enough to keep it at that, to not let it progress any further.

She always leaves eventually, regardless of what happens, slipping out into the shadows. If they’re sharing a bunk, she’ll slip out to the cockpit. On a mission, she’ll mumble some excuse about wanting to check their surroundings. Cassian never pushes her. Despite the bridges they cross physically, there’s an uncrossed bridge between them, present but often left alone, giving a wide berth to the unspoken barrier.

But this – soft touches, gentle kisses, eyes filled with an emotion she doesn’t want to decipher. This isn’t what she’d expected. She doesn’t understand it, either – it’s completely foreign territory, unfamiliar and uncomfortable.

She’s kissed before but never like this.

When Cassian takes the initiative, she freezes for a moment, stilling, eyes widening slightly in her surprise before she softens the smallest amount, following his lead.

She’s never been kissed like this, all tender and loving and warm. People like her, with rough and jagged edges, don’t get kissed like this. She is not made for softness. She doesn’t deserve it. She isn’t ashamed of her past, of what she’s had to do to survive, but that doesn’t mean she has somehow worked her way up to the position where she’s allowed such affections.

(Will she ever get there? She doubts it. There’s a lot of things she has to make up for and has only just begun working to better herself. The war will kill her long before she could ever deserve a happy ending.

But. . .maybe she could be a bit selfish before that?)

As for Cassian… no matter what she feels about him, she won’t let him feel like he owes her something. That he is somehow indebted to her, trapped by her feelings because he is too kind to let her go.

But she can’t deny that there is something about him that keeps her willingly trapped in his orbit; in his presence, it gets a little easier to breathe, like the sun breaking through the clouds after a long winter.

Rather than having any selfish or ulterior motives, she finds herself genuinely wanting to spend more time with him – a weakness that can only be exploited, by him or her or any of their enemies. She has to step back from this to protect them both. He’s one of the most high-profile members of rebel Intelligence – she will not be his vulnerability, will not be the reason he gets in danger.

She lets herself soak in the moment for a second before stepping away from his grip, grin cocky and self-assured when all she feels is the exact opposite. and maybe it is selfish, to step away from him and anything he can give her, but it’s all she knows how to do. This is all she knows how to do.

“You want this?” she asks, brazen and unashamed of herself, cocking an eyebrow and placing a hand on her hip. As she speaks, she shrugs off her vest and lets it fall to the floor, desire clear in her eyes. When she approaches him, he doesn’t push her away. Instead, his gaze darkens as he stares down at her.

“Words, please,” she murmurs primly.

“You know I want you, Jyn,” he says finally, and when he does, his voice is wrecked. Perfect.

“Now,” she tugs her shirt off in one swift moment, stepping back into his space and raising an eyebrow with clear intent, “Don’t we have anything better to do than just stand around?”

Cassian grins in response and walks her back toward the bed, gently pushing her back when her knees hit the mattress. When he leans over her and catches her lips with his own, she forgets everything except for the sound of his name, thrumming through her body like a melody.

Cassian, Cassian, Cassian. . .

When they’re done and the sweat’s cooling on her body, it takes everything she has not to let her mind wander in the following silence. She doesn’t think too much into it when she catches him looking when he thinks she isn’t, or when he pulls her a little too closely into his side (in that case, she most certainly doesn’t think of how well the two of them fit together, almost as if they were –– ).

She doesn’t think about any of that, because it doesn’t matter. Nothing is going to happen between the two of them; her infatuation with Cassian is something that’s going to blow over, just like all of her other hopeless crushes throughout the years.

The two of them? Their relationship is purely professional.

Until it isn’t.

As the weeks go past, she and Cassian become something more than mission partners. They sleep in the same bed, see and fuck each other exclusively, and there’s no one else she would rather be around. It’s not –– she hasn’t told him she. . .but they’re not…it’s not…

She turns away from him, slips out of bed, and begins to gather up her clothing.

“I’m cold,” Jyn announces primly.

He arches a brow, not even looking away from the data pad he’s reading. “And?”

She huffs in irritation, hunching her neck further down in her coat until the collar covers her nose and mouth. She just has to wait him out and then. . .

It only takes a few minutes for him to crack. With a roll of his eyes, he holds up an arm and lets her burrow into his side, wrapping it around her shoulders once she’s next to him. She sighs happily, slipping her hands into his parka pockets, which are much bigger and warmer than hers.

“You are a menace,” he mutters but there’s a hint of fondness in his words.

“I’m a menace whose toes are freezing off,” she corrects, despite the two layers of socks and heavy boots she’s currently wearing.

He snorts. “The innkeeper said the heat would be fixed in an hour. I doubt you’ll lose any limbs before then.”

“Still. . .” she trails off with a shrug. In the back of her mind, she realizes that she’s curled up much closer to him than she would any other partner –– but Cassian isn’t just another partner. He’s. . .an Alliance soldier, for one, but. . .

She can think about that once the heat comes on. She tells herself that cuddling up next to him isn’t selfish but a matter of survival.

(She’s always been good at lying.)

The data chip Cassian had thrust into her hands earlier burns a hole in her pocket as she runs, dashing through alleyways and dodging the busy main streets. Every so often, she reaches down to feel it through the thin material of her pants, making sure that it’s still there. Making sure that Cassian hadn’t sacrificed himself in vain.

Jyn stops to catch her breath, leaning up against the wall in the shadows of a nearby building. She gasps, folds over on herself as she gulps down big lungfuls of air. Her hair is plastered to her forehead with sweat and she wipes it away absently as she straightens. The ship, if she’s recalling its location correctly, shouldn’t be much farther away. The sooner she stores the data inside of it, the sooner she can get back and help Cassian, his whole playing “the martyr” bantha-shit be damned.

As she starts running again, she has to resist the urge to turn around and go back for him. He’ll be fine, she tells herself, but all she can do is replay their last conversation in her head. She sees the panic in his eyes over and over before he masks it into indifference, pushing her away as ‘troopers close in on them.

Force, she’d left him alone. Her heart lurches in her chest. She never should have left him she needs to go back for him who gives a fuck about the information the Rebellion supposedly needs–

An explosion sounds in the distance.

Jyn’s head whips around as she skids to a stop, and all she can do is stare as she watches a cloud of smoke rise into the air from the same direction she left Cassian in. Her breath stutters to a stop as she watches the chaos unfold. There are people running from all directions, screaming and shouts of panic, and she thinks she can hear a siren blaring in the distance, but the sound of her heartbeat pounding in her ears drowns out everything else.

Cassian.

She turns around immediately, sprinting back in the direction she came from. She shouldn’t have left him. She never should have left him behind, despite his insistence to get the data out of there and to let him take care of the reinforcements.

Had that been their last time together? And she had left him without so much as a look back. What the hell has a life with the Partisans done to her, where a data chip is more important than her partner’s life, especially when he’d come back for her all those months ago?

The scene of the explosion comes into view as Jyn turns a corner, blaster in hand. But there’s no fighting in the chaos, just a large pile of concrete in what used to be the building. Her stomach sinks as she realizes that the rubble is where Cassian had taken cover before the fighting.

She shoulders aside the people running away, ignoring those crying and grieving as she pushes herself to the front. There are already stormtroopers blocking off the area, but she uses the chaos to her advantage to sneak past them and get to the site of the explosions.

Others clearly have the same idea; Jyn wonders, with bile rising in her throat, how many people were in the same building and the surrounding area that were killed in the explosion.

She hopes that Cassian isn’t among them, that he isn’t lying underneath the rocks struggling to breathe as she stands here, gaping. She hopes he doesn’t die before she can get to him.

She falls to her knees after she surveys the site and sees no sight of him. Immediately, she starts digging, not caring when her nails break and her hands bleed. She’s not leaving here without Cassian, even if it’s a body. Hysteria almost gets the best of her as she quickens her pace, tears blurring her vision as desperation grips her. Her hopes that she’d find him alive diminish with each passing second. Where is he where’s Cassian did he die in the explosion or had the ‘troopers gotten him had it been quick?

(She hopes it’d been quick. He deserves that, at the very least.)

“On your feet, citizen.” Above her, the sun is cut out by a shadow of a stormtrooper, looming over her menacingly. Slowly, she raises her hands and stands. . .then rushes him suddenly and tackles him to the ground.

Chaos erupts.

It’s all too easy to fall into the rhythm of a battle, her vision narrowing only to the space around her. On her own, she’s a one-woman army –– her and her truncheons doing major damage as she cuts through swathes of enemy lines, ducking, swinging, kicking when they’re down. There are no rules or honor in the heat of a fight, only life or death, punch, hit, crack!

If she takes any damage she doesn’t feel it, only focused on causing as much chaos as possible until someone takes her out ––

Jyn startles at the touch of hands against her skin, jerking away from whoever’s grabbing her while simultaneously tensing for an attack. Her truncheons surge upward, ready to strike, to break bones, to harm. Her blood thrums in her veins, warm and thick, the heat of the battle gripping her still despite the pile of stormtroopers littered at her feet, white armor stained with red.

She doesn’t even notice that there are only two of them in the clearing now, still in that half-awake state induced by the desperate need to survive.

She turns on the balls of her feet, bangs in her eyes, sweat on her forehead, not seeing only feeling, vaguely hearing her name called but not listening, just turning to eliminate the threat who had gotten close enough to put their hands on her, who had somehow managed to sneak past her defenses ––

“Jyn?”

Just before she cracks down on the person in front of her, her senses click in and she snaps back to the present, chest heaving as she recognizes Cassian in front of her. She takes a step back, then another, putting distance between them just in case she loses herself again.

Her stomach lurches as the familiar voice reaches her ears, but she doesn’t turn around, just keeps digging. Her fingers are getting sliced by the jagged edges of the rocks but she doesn’t care, letting her blood mix in with the dirt. Tears blur her eyes because he must be dead if she can hear his voice. He can’t be behind her, his body has to be somewhere in the rubble in front of her, broken and bleeding and bruised and dead–

“Jyn, it’s me,” the voice urges, grabbing her by the shoulders and turning her around. It’s Cassian, sinking to the ground next to her, cupping her face in his hands. “Jyn, I’m here. I’m here.”

She tries to jerk her head out of his grip and turn back to the rubble to keep looking for him, but his hands are firm.

She stares at him for a second, blinking away tears, before launching herself at him with a choked-off sob. She reaches forward, grabs him by the front of his jacket, and pulls him to her, desperate for some sort of lifeline to keep her from floating adrift. It’s rare for her to show affection in such a public manner but she needs a proper outlet for her feelings, overwhelmed with the amount of emotion rushing through her body.

“I’m here,” he murmurs, as he catches her in his arms to pull her in for a tight hug. His hands rub circles on her back as she tries to catch her breath. “I’m here, Jyn. I’m here.”

“I thought you were–”

When she finally manages to stop crying, she pulls back away from him with a shaky laugh, wiping her tears away roughly. For the first time, she looks him over. He’s got an arm wrapped around his ribs and there’s a nasty gash on his head that’s bleeding down his face. It’s likely that he has more internal injuries but as far as she can tell, he’s alive and sitting in front of her.

“One of the ‘troopers tossed a grenade,” he explains before she can ask. “I managed to get out of the building before it went down but still got caught in the explosion. Luckily, so did they. I think it got all of them.”

There are still ‘troopers gathering around the explosion site, but the two of them aren’t rebels right now, they’re civilians who had gotten caught in the crossfire. She thinks, as long as they keep their heads down, they should go relatively unnoticed.

She shakes her head, reaching forward to cup his face in her hands. He flinches at her touch but doesn’t pull away. “Where are you hurt?”

“I hit my head pretty hard,” he admits, and the fact that he’s not telling her he’s fine worries her more than she’ll admit. “I think I broke a few ribs. And there’s something. . .” he shifts, furrowing his brow. Pain flashes across his expression –– if he’s letting that show, then it’s worse than he’s letting on. “Something’s wrong with my leg.”

“Okay,” she breathes, steadying him. “Listen, most of the medical supplies are on the ship. Do you think you can make it there?”

“Yeah,” he says, but his voice is strained. She helps him up and wraps an arm around his shoulder to support his weight, careful to avoid his injuries. Guilt slices through her whenever he winces, leaning on her heavily. “Did you send the information to the Alliance?”

She doesn’t answer for a beat, then says, “No. As soon as I heard the explosion, I turned around to come back for you.”

“Jyn–”

“Don’t, Cassian,” she interrupts, steeling her gaze forward. She doesn’t want to meet his eyes. “Don’t tell me I should have left you behind. I will never leave you behind, you hear me?”

He exhales, breath unsteady. “Okay,” he says finally, then adds softly, “Thank you.”

Now that the adrenaline has begun to wear over, she can feel the ache in her muscles, the pain of near-misses and scrapes and bruises. She tilts her face, hiding it in his neck until she can regain control over her face once again. Soon, they’ll have to leave and regroup but they can take a few minutes and find comfort in each other.

“ –– I’m glad you’re okay.”

#incognitajones #therebelcaptainnetwork #rebelcaptain secret santa #rebelcaptainsecretsanta #rebelcaptain fic #jyn erso/cassian andor #writing tag

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fruityyamenrunner · 8 months ago

Text

germs, unlike impurity goblins, are real. because they are real you cannot just make up the things you can do against them, like you can with goblins. because they're real, statements about germs hang together into a "theory" rather than lore.

it's not surprising to me because why would you come up with the things that you have to do against germs if you're just coming up with things that work against goblins? you'll get SOME of them right, but not all. and because you're coming about it by means like:

a) galen says so

b) a prophetess told me to

c) it stands to reason

you're not going to get a theory.

Humans seem to have some amount of innate contamination anxiety, so it's really surprising to me that we didn't come up with the germ theory of disease sooner. Was there any culture that held to the germ theory of disease prior to the 19th century?

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soundcrusher · 2 years ago

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🎫 for Flinch, perhaps?

Ooohhh, Flinch? Okay, let me think of something.

---

Flinch has a beautiful singing voice. It’s soft, sweet, and overall nice to listen to. Great for lullabies, but also anything that has a lot of emotions in it.

He often sings when he’s working to help him concentrate on the task at hand. And with him being the communications officer and having access to the ship's wide speakers, the whole ship sometimes gets the chance to listen to him sing.

Flinch doesn’t do that deliberately though. Despite his size, he is extremely insecure about everything he does. Especially his voice, because he was often being mocked for how softly he talked with others by some of the Minibots he lived with. So, the crew of the Neutral Zone learned that, if they wanted to hear him, they would have to make sure that A.) the ship’s speakers were turned on, B.) Flinch wouldn’t know about anything and C.) no-one told the Black Bird that they heard him sing.

One passenger once nearly blew it, as they told Flinch how beautifully his voice was and if he would consider doing it professionally. That passenger then was quickly delivered to the planet he wanted to go to and shoved off board. While others reassured Flinch that he probably just walked past his work place, or something.

There are times where Flinch will sing in front of the whole Neutral Zone though. But that’s mostly during the Karaoke-Nights and after he had something to drink. Otherwise, catching him while working is the only way for someone to hear him sing. Or when he’s singing some musical in his hab-suite while pretending he’s performing on a stage.

Bonus fact!

When I created Flinch, I gave him some nice lips. It just felt natural, and I like to imagine that he and Galen sometimes experiment with make-up for fun. Galen is the one doing the make-up and Flinch is his canvas.

Galen is surprisingly good with a brush and Flinch always comes to him, if he wants something done.

#ask game #tachyon-omlette asks #soundcrusher answers #transformers oc #flinch

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hashtagloveloses · 4 years ago

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Hello!!! I've been thinking of getting into the star wars books, and as a star wars fan, do you have any recommendations? I think I'd prefer the more recent ones but whatever you recommend I will look into!

OOOOO yes ive read a lot of them! ive read most of the new canon (not legends), but im reading chronologically so i havent finished the new republic era, and i havent even GOTTEN to the comics yet, but these are my recommendations:

1. the two padme books (queens shadow and queens peril) and the ahsoka book are TOP TIER shit. TOP TIER.

2. i love master and apprentice with all my heart. it connects well with Dooku: Jedi Lost, which is a full cast audiobook, which i have mixed feelings about but i LOOOOVE dooku so definitely worth your time.

3. The canon Thrawn books (not the old ones) are really phenomenal. The first two in the trilogy are just TOP tier and like....lord Thrawn/Eli is my life even though they’re too cowards to do it, and the “prequel” books to the Thrawn trilogy have started coming out as well (the Ascendancy books). They’ve adapted these into comics as well I think!

4. The Rogue One prequel Catalyst is phenomenal. Some of the best autistic-coded representation I’ve ever seen (not real representation, but still pretty good) for Galen, and really interesting stuff there. The other Rogue One prequel, Rebel Rising, is also decent, although Jyn is not the most compelling character, and I don’t love some implications about Saw (again, a victim of the original film not being written by a woman, and an overarching Star Wars issue politically with Saw, but a good book).

5. Dark Disciple is a wonderful book and lord I love Ventress and Quinlan Vos, but I don’t blame the author for the ending. No spoilers, and I love Maul dearly, but Dave Filoni’s insistence on bringing Maul back to the expense of Ventress really shows here. This book is based on some of the unfinished stuff that was planned for her storyline when TCW was cancelled for a few years.

6. Lords of the Sith isn’t one of my favorites but it is really really good! Same with Tarkin - hateful fucking character but really decent book, and I think there’s a b-plot involving a Rebels Imperial character

7. Most Wanted, the Solo prequel is actually pretty good. Again, a victim of the movie not having much to go on, especially with Qi’ra, but good writing.

8. Lando’s Luck is PHENOMENAL. People don’t talk about it enough because it’s for slightly younger readers but I love it SO SO SO MUCH. (There’s a second book in this series about Hondo Onaka called Pirate’s Price too!)

9. A New Dawn is absolutely top tier shit. What can I say? Kanera is life.

10. A lot of people will tell you Lost Stars is their favorite. It has some really cool characters, romantic writing and interesting concept, but the political implications of it really rubbed me the wrong way. I wanted better. I have a complex relationship with it.

11. The two Battlefront books are shit tier sorry I hate them sorry to people who like them do NOT bother

12. Leia Princess of Alderaan is really good! Although it insists on confirming Leia is straight for some reason. Holdo is in it! And Bail and Breha! It’s a good one.

13. I haven’t read Guardians of the Whills yet but friends who have say it’s wonderful!

14. Heir to the Jedi is just so fucking bad do NOT read it

15. Doctor Aphra is another full cast audiobook and based on a beloved comics character so I haven’t read it yet but I hear it is good!

16. Hot take, I’m really sorry, but the Alphabet Squadron/Shadow Fall/Victory’s Price trilogy is bad and boring and I hated it and I know some people like it but again, some political issues I have and also very boring

17. The Aftermath books are fucking shit tier. I’m sorry. Chuck Wendig I already hate him for various reasons, but GOD they really highlight the MESS that was the setup for the sequels era (which isn’t all his fault), they’re just blatantly misogynist (and RACIST?) at some points, and the omission of certain characters does NOT make sense. Truly a case of when will this man stop writing women. Also a stupid idea to give the BIGGEST Star Wars question “what happened to the Empire after ROTJ” to like ONE man. That being said, there are some good things in there, some little snippets. Cobb Vanth from Mandalorian is from these books! And there’s other little things.

18. Last Shot is PHENOMENAL. Absolutely god tier Hanlando content. Han as a dad. Hijinks. Good shit. Not enough Han and Lando actually being lovers but u know I ask for too much lol. Also L337 is a lesbian in it.

19. Haven’t read Poe Dameron Free Fall or Resistance Reborn yet but I hear they’re good and there’s a tiny bit of Finnpoe food

20. Bloodline.....whew I do NOT like some choices in here. Good writing, tremendous Hanleia content. Some really heart wrenching shit. But bad political implications and some dumb shit involving Ben Solo that’s just illogical. Worth reading though!

21. There is SO little Finn content it makes my heart hurt but make sure you read Before the Awakening!

22. I haven’t read Phasma, Cobalt Squadron, Black Spire, or Crash of Fate, but I hear they’re really good!

23. Force Collector is really good and apparently it got so close to the actual plot of TROS the LFL Story Group had to tell the author to go in a different direction. I think it’s really cute!

i’ve read most of these from my library using Libby, and most as audiobooks. the Ahsoka and Padme books have their original TCW voice actors and are really good. Some other ones the narration especially from men is bad. It’s up to you!

#star wars #star wars books #original post #ask

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morwensteelsheen · 4 years ago

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If Faramir went to Rivendell, how would the whole ttt/rohan plot be different?

A good question that I have spent an unreasonable time thinking about! My first LOTR fic was going to be an attempt to answer this, but then I got so wrapped up in not having the answers that I sidelined it and wrote WC instead. So I think instead of giving you one definitive answer I’ll give you a couple scenarios I think are plausible? If that’s not too much of a cop out lmao? Apologies in advance for the inevitable spelling errors, I did this on my phone and my dyslexia is off the charts today.

I think it’s basically unavoidable that he goes via Rohan first, geographically he’s sort of left without an option there. When he’s there, we get into this issue of whether and how he and Éowyn interact. Worth noting, I think, that the Unfinished Tales has Éomer living in Aldburg by the War, but Éomer does seem to imply he’s around for Boromir passing through. Is this because he knows and already is a fan of Boromir? Maybe! Or maybe Éomer goes to Aldburg after.

But I digress. We have to ask the question of whether Faramir falls in love with Éowyn because he was always going to fall in love with Éowyn, or if it’s because the things he’s gone through immediately preceding it primed him for it. I — perhaps quite cheaply — come down on the side of Faramir always having it bad for her on first sight. And contextually I think that comes from his, rather sweet, enunciation of the way his regard/love changes for her. He says that at first he pities her, and then he gets to know her and he doesn’t pity her anymore, he respects and admires her. That’s an interesting dynamic to bring into play in basically every AU, because you get this double barrel characterisation of his attitude to her changing, and his own character maturing/sharp edges softening.

I think he off the bat he sees that she’s beautiful, and immediately is drawn to her for that. Shallow? Maybe! But, to badly paraphrase my ol fav Victor Hugo quote — love always begins with a glance.

I imagine he stays for a short while, maybe a week, two at most. At this point I think that Éowyn’s basically viewing him as an official guest that she has to entertain, and I think Faramir is, in his own, slightly stilted, slightly wanky way, putting the moves on her. This can go, imo, one of two ways. She can either be receptive to it (which is a nice thought!) or she can be aware of it but mostly ignore it because, really, she’s got lots of shit on her plate.

Either way, he leaves Edoras at some point. The big question is where does his go from there?

One thing I toy around with is that, given his pre-existing relationship to Gandalf, maybe he’s willing to trust the Istari a bit more and goes straight for Isengard? Which, and I think I did the math on this once a few months ago, would have him arriving at Isengard around the time Gandalf’s getting his shit kicked in by Saruman lol. I think this could be a really compelling plot point, but I’ll be very honest with you, I 100% don’t have the imagination or writing skills to figure out how it proceeds from there, so I’m not going to try to.

If he goes the normal Boromir route, he still loses his horse at Tharbad and walks (lmao jesus???) to Rivendell. When he gets there, I think he’s immediately going to have everything he knows put to the test in quite jarring ways. First off, he’s going to be infinitely more deferential to Elrond, Aragorn &c when they’re trashing Gondor. He’ll push back a bit, no doubt on that, but he’s going to be starstruck by Aragorn in a way that Boromir just wasn’t.

No real difference I imagine between Rivendell and Lothlórien, except that he’d definitely be laser focused on palling about with Aragorn, and he’d probably spend more of his time being friendly with Frodo than with Merry and Pippin tbh (not in a douchey way, I just think he and Frodo vibe a little better. Though I bet he and Merry had some interesting chats about pipe weed history).

The underlying question here is what sort of relationship does he have to the ring? I don’t buy this idea that he’s not tempted by it, I just think that what the ring offers him is a bit shit. We don’t know what the ring tempts him with, he’s not clear on that in TTT. I can’t really see the ring being like ‘oh I’ll give you a king to follow’ because that is some intensely nerdy shit, but is somehow the one thing I could see Faramir actually being tempted by. Regardless of what it offers him in this AU, he resists it on the basis that he’s got this mythical king he’s been desperate for, and he’s not gonna risk that for anything.

Lothlórien comes next, and oh my god when I tell you this is the part I genuinely have no answer for. I stopped writing my first fic at Lothlórien because I couldn’t cope. Tbh it probably lowkey fries Faramir’s brain, and for so many reasons. The whole godmoding Númenórean stuff he’s got going on probably interests Galadriel a bit, and so that whole conversation is going to be wildly different than it was for Boromir. But what does she say to Faramir? I have no idea. I really don’t. There’s also probably a million and one things also going on psychologically for him at that point, which makes dealing with this bit difficult. Really difficult. So I’m gonna, uh, conveniently smash cut away.

Parth Galen! Again, another two potential splits here. The first, (from here on out I’ll refer to as Plot A) which I find rather endearing, is that he goes off with Frodo and Sam when Frodo makes the decision to split. I don’t know that I believe he’d do it, but it proves for a very delightful interpretation of his character.

Plot B is that when the Orcs show up, Faramir survives not by virtue of his being a ~ better warrior ~ or whatever than Boromir, but by the terrain surrounding Parth Galen being something he’s far more in the habit of dealing with, and by virtue of his having a bow at his disposal. I know there’s room for an interpretation of Faramir as not primarily an archer, but narratively I think that’s less interesting. So he’s an archer. He’s an archer and also his priority is on Aragorn first and foremost, so Merry and Pip still get taken, and Frodo and Sam use the hubbub to GTFO, which is actually slightly more in line with the movie’s chronology, funnily enough. The three hunters become four, and then go on Merry & Pippin’s trails.

In Plot A, they’re hauling ass across the Emyn Muil, bolstered in some ways by Faramir’s experience as a Ranger. The problem is the issue of getting into Mordor and whether or not they pick up Gollum. I think, in a way that frustrates me immensely, they do end up taking Gollum, not because they need a guide, but because Gollum fulfils this deep psychological need for Frodo, and I think he would have argued for keeping Gollum regardless. Faramir is going to be fucked off about this, but will ultimately, I think, be deferential to the ringbearer.

So they go across the Dead Marshes, but they do NOT attempt the Black Gate first because Faramir’s not a fool. Do they go to Henneth Annûn? I say yes, but with the caveat that in all likelihood Boromir is gonna be there, which is gonna complicate stuff tremendously.

Over to Plot B!

The four hunters go to the Mark! They meet Éomer! Hey! Éomer recognises Faramir! (And he’s probably a little fucked off that he lost his horse lol). But whatever, he knows this guy, so he’s probably gonna be like, uhhh, everything you saw before in Edoras is much worse now. Also my cousin's dead and everything is bad. Here’s some horses, sorry for maybe accidentally killing your pals, see ya! And at this point I think Faramir’s probably having a, hmmm, g e n t l e p s y c h i c c r i s i s, because if he’s still very 👅 for Éowyn (which he is, sorry, he has to be) then he’s going to want to go there ASAP. Obviously though that’s not gonna happen, so: Merry and Pip chasing, Gandalf finding, Edoras arriving.

Which means Éowyn. If, at this point, she and Faramir already have something of an arrangement going on (nudge nudge) then she’s really not gonna give a shit about Aragorn. You know how in TTT it’s not even clear that she actually sees Legolas and Gimli? 100% that vibe with Aragorn too. Théoden’s gonna get his house in order, they’re going to head to Helm’s Deep, and Éowyn’s gonna get named head of house. (Faramir, if he starts off just thinking she’s beautiful, is going to have quite the paradigm shift here, because he’s going to have to start reckoning with her as not just a beautiful woman, but as a very, very intense person. This is how his love for her starts to mature.)

Sometimes I dream about him being like, ‘hey! I have some first hand experience of ruling a kingdom, how about I stay and…….. lend you a hand……..’ to Éowyn while she’s keeping watch on Edoras. This is wildly unlikely, but a delightful thought nonetheless. In the more likely case, which is that he goes to the Hornburg, she’s going to start feeling some strain about this whole war shebang, and it’s going to lead to some difficult conversations. Chief among them is that Faramir, as second son, actually has basically nothing to give her, which is not exactly a great position to be in when you’re in love with the niece of a king. I’m of the opinion that Éowyn’s not fussed by that stuff (she agrees to marry him when he’s prepping to give up a shit ton of power anyways), so she’s probably like, 'no, fuck you, we’re getting married.' And then he leaves, and it starts to emotionally unsettle her more and more.

If they don’t already have a thing, then it either begins at this point OR he gets overshadowed by Aragorn. In either case, off to Helm’s Deep he goes.

Helm’s Deep happens, I think Faramir ends up extraordinarily impressed by how the Rohirrim handle the Dunlenders afterwards, which also begins to soften his harsh opinion of them more generally.

They go to Isengard, Pippin looks in the Palantír, and away Pippin and Gandalf go. Both Gandalf and Faramir here would recognise that it would be batshit insane for Faramir to go back to MT now, because Denethor would read him like a picture book and he’d have to admit to the entire mission of the Fellowship.

Over in Plot A, I think we’re going to have some real emotional complexity vis a vis Faramir showing up at Henneth Annûn with two hobbits, a ring, and Boromir in control there. God, it would just be a disaster. My incredibly generous interpretation of this is that Faramir keeps the plan vague enough that Boromir lets them pass unhindered. My less generous interpretation is… yeah I don’t wanna do it tbh. It’s not pretty. It's also, to be clear: not an indictment of Boromir as a character. His response is entirely rational for someone expected to lead a kingdom and for someone put up against the unbelievable power of the One Ring. The reason Faramir continuously gets to pass largely untempted by the ring is because he's a guy with no actual responsibilities once you take the Rangers away. His understanding of his duty to Gondor is almost entirely conceptual in nature. He can think and talk about defending Gondor as it once was because there are several people above him in the hierarchy defending Gondor for what it is. This is also not an indictment of Faramir. He and Boromir just have wildly different realities to contend with.

They are going to go through Cirith Ungol even though Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumbass both speak Sindarin and don’t cotton on to what its name implies lol. This whole scene is much shorter because Faramir’s significantly more cautious, so there is no Orc capture and Sam doesn't take the Ring. This is where things get a bit complex, and where I don’t think I have the imagination to say much more. Sorry!

Back in Plot B, the lads catch up with Éowyn as they prep to go down the Paths of the Dead. If she and Faramir are a thing, this is where the real emotional distress kicks in for her. All of the men in her life have, at one point or another, functionally abandoned her, and here’s Faramir, love of her life, about to do the exact same thing. Faramir inevitably goes with the Grey Company even though she begs him not to. When she tries to convince them not to go down the Paths at all, he is in the fortunate enough position to throw up his hands and say 'not my call, actually. King’s in charge,' which lessens the emotional conflict there somewhat.

No part of me doubts that Éowyn wouldn’t then immediately go over his head to Aragorn. She would, she absolutely does not give a fuck. And she’s going to get knocked back re: joining them in exactly the same way as in the book, because Aragorn’s take here isn’t actually dependent on her personally, it’s dependent on the duty she’s been charged with, which is taking care of her people. (Also going to be an interesting narrative parallel to a later conversation between Faramir and Aragorn after the Pelennor, which I’ll explain in more detail later.)

Faramir will, perhaps somewhat less dismissively, say this to her. He learns much more obviously the way to talk to her on her own terms, and he’s not gonna fall into the trap of letting her be like ‘you just want me to wait and die after all the men are dead.’ He’s going to probably give her some line about her being the last organised line of defence, and he might even invoke Haleth! It’s not going to work, because Éowyn’s very aware of the apocalyptic nature of all of this, but it’s not going to cause such abject hatred and fury as it otherwise would.

If she and Faramir are not a thing, her emotional distress is as it is in the book, except now Faramir’s trying not to pout in the background. He might even step in to try and soften the blow.

Regardless, she ends up as Dernhelm, she rides to the Pelennor.

Boromir is the one responsible for the Osgiliath retreat, and because it’s heavily implied that Faramir only keeps his seat because he’s got this dumbass Númenor garbage going on ('master of man and beast' — king Beregond), Boromir’s going to get killed by the Witch king here.

This is going to send shockwaves through not just Denethor, but Minas Tirith more generally, because Boromir is fucking adored. Denethor’s going to go high holy crackers much quicker, mostly because Gandalf is a shit stirrer and is going to waste no time at all in announcing that Aragorn, The Rightful King, is on his way, and Denethor will — correctly — surmise that Faramir has chosen Aragorn over returning with whatever Isildur’s Bane is to Gondor. This is the end for Denethor.

Éowyn rides from Dunharrow, slays the Witch king. Faramir and Aragorn show up with the Army of Dead, Faramir does not end up injured, but does end up as the Steward (obviously) and (obviously) aware that Éowyn is in the HOH. And also that everybody else he loves is dead. Yeehaw.

Here’s where I think things get really interesting. I think, counter to the way this is portrayed a lot of the time, Faramir doesn’t go to the Black Gate at all. I think he stays in Minas Tirith, not just to organise the wider range defences (esp the Rohirrim dealing w the Druadan) but in this very grim preparation to lead the retreat from Minas Tirith if/when Frodo & Sam fail. I think he's kind of fine with this for two reasons. The first is that him being conscious to process the death of his father, and it coming hours after the death of his brother means that he's going to have a personal-political crisis, and he's going to have to take the defence of Gondor more seriously than he did before. Second, Aragorn's going to tell him to fucking stay put, and he's going to be fine with it because it means he's going to get to spend the last few days of his life with Éowyn.

He and Éowyn reunite in the HOH, there’s still a lot of deeply emotional stuff going on, but, at least now Faramir’s conscience is clear re: marrying her because, well, he’s the Steward now. Also their reunion is going to take on greater significance because she’ll have killed the thing that killed his brother. So, that’s a lot.

If they are not a thing before the Pelennor, she's still going to drag his ass over to the HOH so she can bitch about being stuck there. But this time he's not a fellow hospital-prisoner, he's having to actually do things, and he's going to use that to his advantage in terms of keeping her from doing stupid shit. I think he's going to try to involve her in some of the strategic questions re: the retreat if the Morannon feint fails. I think he's going to make a point of talking to her to get her help on dealing with the Rohir forces that are in and around the City. I think that's going to go a huge way to helping to ease her misery, and it's going to be such a significant vote of trust in her (even after she's done the unthinkable and deserted her people) that she's going to fall in love with him here, as per. And the contrast between him and Aragorn is going to be all the stronger for it.

So yes. Those are just some of the possibilities I think! Sorry for the word dump!!

#asks #faramir /#lotr /#fgtrau #hc

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wyked-ao3 · 8 months ago

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@thatuselesshuman thank you :) I loved your lines btw

all lines are from my wip "the pirate king of deaths redemption"

“cap’n the sharks were drawn in by the blood.”

Oisìn watched as the pirate ship drew closer to them, he recognized them as belonging to the crew known as redemption.

Luckily the gods had smiled upon them and the pirates were attacked by another vessel..

Daimhín gave the order for Galen to have them fire at will until a white flag flew from the vessels approaching them.

And since I tortured people I'll join in this time on my own

Boarding his ship, Oisìn notified Taz as to what was going on.

“I'm going to parlay with the captain…hopefully we can come to an agreement so we can sail away from this.”

Oisìn chuckled at the reminder of the excuse his last opponent had used.

looking over, Oisìn was surprised to see it was one of the prince’s who had interrupted the meeting that was about to turn into an execution

“under the circumstances that's a brilliant idea why send another unit on a suicide mission when I have one about to be executed.”

Many moons later

“I know I'm just the cook but are you sure that's a good idea sir?” Mal asked her voice filled with concern

“not everything is as it appears.”

Except she sent them out into the front lines. What did she expect? It's not like they could do their mission and avoid the pirate's everytime; it was not feasible.

Sharks in the area were already circling the vessels, their fins a harsh darkness against the glittering surface of the Ocean.

“come aboard and we can discuss that.”

Eric said, “ay captain, the sails will be set

Noting that he was around six foot tall, his longer brown hair and chocolate brown eyes that looked amused at the moment

Twirling out of the way of the incoming fist.

My words: cold, bioluminescent

Your word:hell

Np tags @the-golden-comet @gioiaalbanoart @jev-urisk @sunglasses-in-the-bentley @moltenwrites +open tag

WIP Anagram Tag

Thank you for the tag @wyked-ao3

My word: BIOLUMINESCENT <- DEAR LORD WYKED??

Your word: COLD

B: Barely a day in and I'm already doing worse than the entirety of the 72nd, Jem thought bitterly as he stared up at the bright morning sky.

I: It's like his body was dead set on reminding him that he almost lost his life yesterday.

O: Once again, Jem hated that Katniss was actually observant.

L: Let the Hunger Games begin!

U: (there's no U sentences)

M: Miraculously, they managed to move on from that and began planning what they would do.

I: "I thought it was water, imagine my surprise when it was blood."

N: "Not always," Jem answered with a small smirk. "Sometimes I just don't answer at all."

E: Everything was the same, down to Jem having no idea what to do with himself the morning of.

S: She handed it over, focusing on getting the blood out of her hair as Jem cleaned the weapon.

C: Combined with Nuts and Volts, Katniss and Peeta, and Johanna, I can tell we're all going to get along beautifully! Jem thought sarcastically.

E: "Everyone wants the two lovebirds to survive," Haymitch said like it was an admission.

N: No one outside the Capitol had tattoos, so it was odd for Jem to have them even though he had been living in the Capitol for the last few years.

T: "There's no point in going after any of the other Tributes until we're sure we won't die from starvation," Jem said, the other two nodding.

That took forever.

+open tag

#the pirate king of deaths redemption #my current wip #writeblr tag games #TPKODR #anagram tag game

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minimatzo · 4 years ago

Photo

Kink Alphabet Ask Meme

A = Anal: Is Anal more fun than frontal penetration? The Omega birthing organs are meant for exactly that: breeding and birthing. Only silly sluts keep them otherwise out of greed for attention -- which, incidentally, sets the Omega Rights acts back a few decades. So the answer is yes, it’s not only more ‘fun’ but also more appropriate, for the mature Omega.

B = Brat: How obedient do you like people to be in the bedroom? Is disobeying fun? I don’t care for the terminology but I like my bedroom partners obedient. I prefer them well-trained or being trained. Infractions should be met with stern reproval. Disobeying is not fun, or cute.

C = Cum: Turn on, turn off, or favorite? Messy and a trial to deal with. It serves a purpose but aside from that I don’t care to play with it or wallow in it. Lubricants are far more pleasant and I find them more effective as well.

D = Denial: How long can you edge before it can’t be taken it anymore? Denial is an extremely effective training tool. Aside from that it builds character and staying ability. Santiago should thank me for Isaac having the stamina and control that he does. I myself enjoy some judicious edging but not to the point of self-indulgence.

E = Exhibitionism: Do you like being seen getting off? Ever done anything explicitly hoping to get caught? I don’t believe in impropriety of that sort. Leave that to more conceited, vain, shallow creatures.

F = Fucking Machines: Have you ever had a chance to ride a fucking machine? Would you? I’ve tried them. Galen is a marvellously inventive man, after all. I quite enjoy them, fine-tuned to my specifications and used on my lovers as well as myself.

#orson mini #guess he DID wanna answer #orson meme

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0itmelex0 · 4 years ago

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my favourite three boys for the ot3 ask game?

Who sleeps in the middle?

Ivan most of the time. He doesn’t want to admit it but he loves the cuddles from his husbands

Who is the best cuddler?

Probably Galen. He’s just a tol boi who is just naturally warm regardless and Fedyor and Ivan love the warmth of him

Who gets hurt the most?

Well..... that’ll be answered in chapter one fhdhdh

Who acts like the baby?

None of them really? Not really much of a thing for them

Who teases the others the most?

Galen and Fedyor just team up and tease poor Ivan. They know Ivan is secretly a soft boi despite acting all angy all the time

Who proposes?

Probably Ivan. They’d all of course be all alone because that’s how Ivan is when showing affection to his boyfriends and Ivan being the way he is, he’d legit take Fedyor and Galen by surprise with the proposal.... should they actually be married though clary 👀

Who is the most protective?

They’re all pretty protective of one another however I feel like naturally Ivan and Fedyor would be protective of Galen because while they can fight at a distance as heartrenders, if Galen wants to fight as a healer he generally has to be up close and as a result he’s more in danger

Who is the closest to the child? (Whether it be a fur baby, scale baby, or human child.)

They would totally have a fur baby that’s a cat and Ivan would be the closest. He would totally be like the dad that doesn’t want the cat but after a week, he’s caught sleeping on the couch with the cat curled up in the crook of his neck and would also get the cat a nice salmon filet as a special treat once in a while

Who gives the best advice?

Probably Galen. With the way he is, he just naturally is good at that because he can actually sense what people go through

Who is like a therapist?

Galen once again for the same reasons above

Who sings B and C to sleep?

Secretly Ivan. He has an amazing voice and Galen and Fedyor love it

Is the relationship healthy?

Absolutely. In some ways people don’t think it is because of how Ivan is but they never get to truly see the Ivan that Galen and Fedyor see.

Do A and B have a stronger bond with each other? Or do C and B or C and A have a stronger bond? Or are A, B, and C close together [equally]?

I’d say it’s pretty equally. In small small ways Galen and Fedyor are closer and have a stronger bond because they were together first before they both fell for Ivan but for as long as the three of them have been together, all three have a strong bond together

Who can be trusted to be left home alone?

Absolutely none of them

Who cries the most?

Probably Galen? He can get overwhelmed kinda easily if he’s in a large crowd with being able to sense emotions and his way of dealing with being overwhelmed is crying however Ivan and Fedyor help calm him down as long as they’re there with him

Who is the softest?

It’s so difficult to chose between Fedyor and Galen

Who is the shortest?

Technically Fedyor however him and Ivan are really close in height at 5’11”

Who is the tallest?

Galen my boi at 6’2” but he also commonly wears boots that make him just a lil taller. If he’s wearing those boots, he’s probably rocking 6’4”

Who likes cuddles the most?

Secretly Ivan, especially from Galen because he’s a naturally warm boi so both Ivan and Fedyor love cuddling Galen and feeling all warm and toasty, but Ivan really loves them

Last of all, who sings terribly in the shower?

Galen. He can’t sing even if his life depended on it

#0itmelex0: answered #oc: galen kaminsky turgenev #galen: ask #ot3: corporalki husbands #i love my bbies sm #my corporalki husbands right there

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bobasheebaby · 5 years ago

Text

Phoenix Found: Interviewing the Heir [Fluffy ABC’s]- Cordonian Ruby

Pairing: Ruby Rys x Beau Larkin; Ana DeLuca

Word count: 3,493

Warnings: pure mushy sweetness that will rot your teeth it’s all fluff

Summary: Ruby and Beau are interviewed by Ana.

A/N: Based off of @pixelburied’s fluffy ABC’s. Modeling after @blackcatkita’s Ana DeLuca interviews. With the entire country thinking the heir dead and her returning with a spouse I thought the best way to really introduce them to the public would be a sweet fluffy Ana DeLuca interview.

A/N2: A major thanks @sirbeepsalot for all your graping and prereading. I love you boo! Thank you to my snippet readers @loveellamae and @burnsoslow who screamed appropriately.

A/N3: I know this is so incredibly late and I have no excuse other than I’ve been in a crazy funk and even just pushing ‘post’ was far too much for me.

Series warnings: character death, blood, surgical procedures done by non medical personnel, may go NSFW in the future. May contain gun violence, knife violence, threats, not sure how dark this will go. By requesting to be tagged you acknowledge you are at least 18 years of age.

Let me know if you want to be added or removed from the taglist.

Disclaimer: I own Ruby, Galen, Lovett, and Beau, I’m borrowing Bastien and Olivia from PB.

A – Anger (What was their first fight about? Any big or recurring arguments?)

Ana DeLuca smiled as she sat, smoothing out her charcoal pencil skirt.

When she had first received the call from the blocked number she was positive it was nothing more than a cruel prank. By the end of that call she was one of few trusted with a secret that would change everything in Cordonia.

She stared at Ruby seated across from her, her blonde hair pulled back in a perfect braided chignon, hands folded neared in her lap. She was truly an understated vision in ivory lace shift dress.

Ana was blown away with the grace and dignity she portrayed at twenty one years of age. The way she’d greeted her and politely objected to any use of titles for both herself and her husband was impressive, looking at her now she could almost believe she had been raised in the palace instead of on the run.

Beau, Ruby’s husband and true prince regent sat next to her looking slightly less comfortable than Ruby. He didn’t look out of place per say, but the slight grimace in his smile wasn’t lost to Ana. She looked down at her tablet, quickly reading over her encrypted and password protected notes taking note they’d come from Texas; it was likely that Beau was new to the world he was thrown into. She didn’t doubt that Liam’s daughter hadn’t be able to find someone who could adapt quickly to the new life and media circus that came with it.

“Your Ma— Ruby, Beau, I’d like to once again extend my gratitude to your willingness to speak to me and allow the readers and country get a glimpse into your life.”

“Please Ms DeLuca, don’t mention it. We are honored that the same woman who interviewed my parents would be interviewing us, and traveling outside of Cordonia to do it to boot.”

Ana nodded, making a note that the country’s true queen was as modest and kind as her father and mother had been. “Please tell our readers what your first fight was about, do you have any big or recurring arguments?”

Ruby smiled, glancing at Beau, “we don’t really argue, mostly it’s just small disagreements over things that really don’t matter.

It’s usually just silly things that are easily resolved and soon forgotten.”

B – Best (What would they say is the other’s best trait?)

“What would you say is the best trait your partner possesses.” Ana queried.

“Her selflessness,” Beau said, taking her hand into his, “she was ready to break up with me so I wouldn’t have to leave my family behind.

She doesn’t like to cause anyone else pain, unless it’s on the mat, she would endure every ounce of pain so others wouldn’t have to if she could.”

“His kind and understanding heart. He listens without judgement. I don’t think there is anything I haven’t been able to tell him over five years together.”

C – Camera (How do they document their relationships? Who likes to take pictures? Or videos?)

“How do you document your relationship? Who takes the most pictures?” Ana asked.

“Beau for sure, I have a few selfies of us on my phone, a shot or two of just him. Mama and Papa didn’t really take a lot of pictures when I was growing up.”

“My parents took all the pictures and RuRu sometimes yells at me that I’m taking too many pictures.”

D – Dates (What are their dates like?)

“What do your dates look like?”

“They are pretty laid back, a picnic here and there, stargazing, he took me shooting a few times, we’ll do movie dates …”

“Movie dates at home, I learned the hard way you can’t take her to the movies.”

“Oh,” Ana arched one perfectly sculpted eyebrow, “why is that?”

Beau’s cheeks turned beet red as he realized her assumption, “nothing like that. She talks during movies, a lot, to the point we got kicked out.”

E – Early (What was the first month of dating like?)

“Please tell our readers what your first month of dating was like.” Ana requested.

“Oh god, it was awkward, at least to me.” Ruby replied, fighting the urge to bury her face in her hands.

“I was sixteen and Beau was seventeen, our first date he took me shooting on his grandparents farm.

I was tempted to downplay my skill but I didn’t.”

“She not only outshot me, she was better than my cousin’s too.

When I praised her ability she tried to deflect, something that she only did with me.”

“He called me out on it, told me I could be proud of what I could do. After that it got a little easier, but it was still nerve wracking for me.

Beau was my very first date. I was nervous as hell, but Beau was just so sweet and comforting that eventually I was dreading the day my parents would decide we needed to move and leave him behind.”

F – Friends (How is their relationship with each other’s group of friends?)

“What is your relationship with your partners friends? Do you get along with one another, or are you at odds with each other?” Ana questioned.

“I was still the new girl at school mostly sticking to myself when I met Beau. The other girls couldn’t understand why I’d purposely get sweaty so it was easier to stick to making friends at the dojo.”

“My friends were quickly won over. I think they were more afraid of Ruby kicking their ass than me if they didn’t.

But they get along well, they teased us both equally for marrying so quickly.

Thomas, my best friend, feigned being hurt that she never gave him a chance to steal her away.”

G – Gifts (Do they like giving each other gifts? What kind?)

“Do you enjoy giving each other unexpected gifts? If so what kind of things do you give each other?” Ana inquired.

“Beau gives me wildflowers out of the blue, just a few blooms, but every time I press them in a book to preserve them. I have enough that I could have used the pressed flowers for my wedding bouquet.”

“Wait, you saved them all?”

“Mmhmm, only my parents knew so when I saw that your mom incorporated pressed wildflowers into the place cards I was surprised at first.

Your mom also asked for all the ones I saved and said she’s going to use them for our wedding album.”

“I can’t believe you saved them all.”

Ruby shrugged, “they were gifts from you and I couldn’t bear to see them wither and die. Now they will live forever in our wedding album.”

H – Hugs (All things involving hugs)

Ana tapped her Stylus against her tablet as she looked at the next question. “Affection, how often do you hug one another?”

“Ruby is more of a cuddler than a hugger.”

“You are just so cozy. Beau tends to hug me from behind and rest his head on mine.”

“We aren’t overly affectionate, at least not in public, when we are at one of our houses though we are almost always touching in some way.”

I – Inside Jokes (Do they have any?)

“Do the two of you share any inside jokes?” Ana questioned.

“The only one that comes to mind includes Papa.

Beau accidentally cracked two of my ribs when we were doing duel training. So occasionally when Papa will hear Beau telling jokes he will say ‘jokes better be the only thing you’re cracking’ it’s so stupid but also funny because Beau felt so horrible after that he offered to allow me to crack his ribs.

I just brushed the injury off, if I could continue to compete with a broken nose and a bloody gi I could handle a few cracked ribs.”

J – Jealousy (Who gets jealous easier? How do they show their jealousy?)

“Who gets jealous the most often and how do you show it?” Ana asked.

Beau and Ruby shared a quick look. “I don’t think either of us has ever been jealous before.

I believe part of loving someone is trusting them. I love Beau more than anything and trust him with my life.

I truly feel if either of us ever did get jealous it would just mark the beginning of the end of us.”

K – Kiss (How do they kiss? Who usually initiates?)

“Next question, who is the one to initiate kisses more often?”

“I’d probably say Beau. He likes to kiss the top of my head, my forehead, just little reminders he loves me.”

L – Love (How do they first say those three words?)

“Love, please tell us, how did you tell the other and who said it first?” Ana requested.

“Beau did, we were stargazing in the back of his pickup truck and when he said it, I was surprised. Not because he loved me, but how nervous he was.

His palms were all sweaty and he probably was terrified I wouldn’t feel the same way, we were young, he was eighteen and I was still only seventeen.

When I said it back, he just stared at me stunned.

I don’t know why he was so shocked, he’s just this sweet, amazing guy.” Ruby tucked a stray blonde curl behind her ear. “It’s one of my favorite memories actually.”

M – Movies (What kinds of movies do they watch together? Is it a regular Netflix ritual?)

“What kind of movies do you enjoy together? Is Netflix a ritual for you?” Ana inquired.

“Beau hates watching movies with me. I’ve taken taekwondo since I was five years old and developed a passion for the martial art. I even wanted to be a stuntwoman when I was younger. I always point out any inaccuracies in the fighting scenes and it can be a lot sometimes.”

“Don’t hate watching movies with you, at least anymore. I certainly had to get used to how animated you get during action scenes, now I just think it’s cute.

Ruby likes action packed movies, I love thrillers or anything scary really. One time my younger sister AnnaBeth somehow convinced Ruby to watch some sappy chick flick, Ruby’s words, and it didn’t go well.

Mostly we just pick something that we can both enjoy and avoid the rom coms.”

N – Nicknames (Things they call each other)

“Do you have any nicknames for each other?” Ana asked.

“I call Ruby RuRu, she hates it. I only use it when she’s in her head or worrying it always makes her stop and laugh.”

“I don’t really have a nickname for him.”

“You called me honey bun.”

“Once and as a joke. I was hoping it would make him stop calling me RuRu, it didn’t.”

“You know you secretly love it RuRu.”

“I’m not dignifying that with an answer.”

O – One (Tell us about the moment they realized they were with the one.)

“Could you tell our readers the moment when you realized that your partner was the one?” Ana questioned.

“When I proposed to Ruby I told her that if I had to pinpoint exactly when she stole my heart it would probably be our first date.

When I actually realized it was much later. I actually think I realized how much I cared for her when I struck her too hard with the practice sword. She barely blinked even though you could tell it hurt like hell. I was so upset that I offered to let her injure me back.

I’m pretty sure it was then that I realized I would do anything for her, we’d only been together for a little over a year and were still young so I didn’t think about it too hard, but I just knew she would be the only woman I’d ever love.”

“I realized I loved you the same day.

You were so upset you hurt me, frantic and begging me to hit you back, I remember looking at you and just thinking that I couldn’t ever cause you harm, even accidental.

The way you worried and cared about me, I just knew I wouldn’t find anyone else I’d love the way I love you.”

P – Pizza (What is their favorite food to eat together?)

“That is just adorable.” Ana said, “what is your favorite food to eat together?”

“Ruby will eat just about anything. She’s never afraid to try something new.”

“Beau is more of a creature of habit, he will try new things but prefers his favorites. Pizza is something we share a lot, although he’s particular about his toppings.”

“Pineapple is not a pizza topping!”

“It is and it’s delicious.”

Q – Quit (Do they break up? Almost break up? What happened?)

“Was there ever a time when you broke up, or nearly broke up? What happened to make you question your relationship together?” Ana inquired.

“While I thought we would have to break up, we never did.

My parents moved us around a lot, Texas was the longest we ever stayed in one place. We moved there when I was fifteen and a half and we didn’t leave again until we came here.

My parents saw how happy Beau made me and decided that we were safe enough to stay.”

“You keep talking about moving around, how often did you do that?”

“Every two to three years or so.

When I was younger I found it exciting though I didn’t understand why we always had to move, now I know it was just to keep me hidden and safe.”

R – Rainy Days (How do they comfort each other on dark days?)

“How do you comfort each other on a dark and rainy day?” Ana asked.

“We just started living together since we left Texas. Mostly it would be little texts or if one of us was really down Beau would stop by.

We started keeping a pillow and blanket in the downstairs hall closet for when he stayed over. Sometimes I’d be in such a crappy mood that we’d fall asleep with him holding me, usually on the couch, sometimes in my bed.”

S – Soft (Something one of them did that turned the other into absolute mush)

“What is something your partner has done for you that turned you into mush?” Ana requested.

“Ruby very rarely turns to mush.”

“I really don’t,” Ruby nodded in agreement, “I’m not overly sentimental, with the exception of keeping all the wildflowers.

Your proposal, the way you refused to see my title as the end of us when all I could think about was that I couldn’t take you from your family, that turned me to mush.”

T – Texting (Do they text each other a lot? What do they usually talk about over the phone?)

“When you are apart how do you stay in touch, do you text or talk on the phone more often?”

“We started dating when we were still in high school so we spent a lot of time apart.”

“We’d send texts between classes if we couldn’t walk to the next class together.”

“We also sent a text at night if we couldn’t call.”

U – Unique (Tell us about some of their odd habits that surprised one another.)

“Do either of you have any unusual habits that may have caught the other off guard?” Ana questioned with a raised eyebrow.

“Well, we met in high school, most of the girls were all boy crazy and obsessed with the latest fashion. Ruby didn’t really care about what the other kids thought, she wore what she found comfortable, I’m pretty sure most of the time she had her hair up in a messy bun with zero makeup on and still blew all the other girls out of the water.

It was the way she didn’t allow all of the high school bullshit to change who she was that really surprised me.”

V – Vanity (Something they’re proud of in themselves and their partner)

“What is something that you are proud of in yourself and your partner?”

“The way Ruby will change her entire life just to help others.”

“Beau …”

“What? No one expected you to save an entire country, but you took on the problem without a second thought, you just care so much about people even those you haven’t met, I love that about you.”

W – Wedding (Tell us about your wedding head canon if they’ve gotten that far. Or if not, have they talked about it?)

“We know you got married before returning home, could you tell us a little about the ceremony?” Ana asked.

“It was small, very simple.”

“We held it on Beau’s grandparents farm. We were married outside under an arch of wildflowers. Only close friends and family.”

“My mom planned it.”

Ana’s piercing blue eyes widened in surprise. “You didn’t plan it together?”

“No, Mama Jo has been supportive of us going to Cordonia from the beginning, the only thing she wanted was for us to get married before we left. She knew that Beau and I would be busy trying to find any weakness to exploit so she offered to plan the wedding for us.

She took such care in weaving both of us into a laid back farm wedding — you could really see that she put all her love into planning our wedding for us.”

“Do you feel like you missed out by allowing Beau’s mother to plan it for you?”

“Absolutely not. She planned that wedding in a month, I never could have done that myself. Plus it was even more special, she really took in account both of our likes and wove them into this beautiful wedding.”

X – X (Something they hate about the other)

“Is there anything that bothers you about the other?” Ana questioned, poised to jot down the answer.

Ruby pursed her lips in thought, “Beau’s a little messy.”

“I’m not messy, you just like everything perfect and precise and I’m more casual in my cleaning.”

“I’ve seen your room! You have clothes all over the place!”

“I just forgot to put them away.”

“Oh so is that why our room in the suite looks like a hurricane came through on your side?”

“Okay, fine I’m messy. But you have to admit you are super organized and get upset if something picked something up and didn’t put it back exactly right.”

“You’re actually neater than Galen, if I can live with him living with you will be a cakewalk.”

Y – Youtube (What are they like online? Do they post about their relationship constantly?)

“You are both rather young, what is your online presence like? Do you post a lot about your relationship?”

“Ohmygod no. You would think that maybe having parents who constantly make sure your safe would make you rebel and go against them but I’m really a very private person.”

“Ruby doesn’t have any social media account. I have a private Instagram account that I barely use.”

Z – Zoo (Are they into animals? Do they want pets? What kind?)

“Okay, last question, what are your feelings on pets? Do you have any? Want pets? What kind of animal would be the perfect pet for you?”

“Ruby hates animals—”

“I don’t hate animals, I just don’t want a pet. Your golden retriever Sampson would be my only exception.

Mama and Papa never let us have any pets as children, and it never bothered me. I would probably go crazy with all the shedding.”

“Does that mean that the future princes or princesses will forgo pets?”

Ruby felt annoyance bubble up at the roundabout way Ana asked about having heirs. “We are still young, and while we do want to have a family some day we aren’t worried about it at the moment.

Personally I think the pressure put on all newly married or engaged couples to immediately have children to be ridiculous. The pressure put on royal couples is that much worse, everyone watching and waiting for that telltale bump, claiming the stability of the country is counting on a child.

My parents are proof that an heir doesn’t secure your country, they were killed because an egotistical tyrant who held a centuries old grudge couldn’t handle hearing ‘no’.

To answer your question about having pets, I would be perfectly content not having any, but I could probably be swayed to consider having one.”

“Thank you, it was wonderful to learn more about Cordonia’s heir and her husband. I’m sure our readers will love getting to know the long lost heir and her husband in such an intimate light.” Ana stated, gathering her things up to leave. She glanced down at her encrypted notes, in a few days time she would be releasing the story of the century ...

A/N: I would love to say the next chapter will be next week but I’ve been in a funk where I can’t be bothered to read or write so I can’t make any promises. I have finally been making some progress on the next chapter this past week and I hope it continues but no promises of when I’ll be posting.

Feedback fuels me, please like, comment reblog or send an ask. Feel free to scream, I promise I can take it.

Masterlist can be found in my bio.

@speedyoperarascalparty @liamxs-world @annekebbphotography @itsstillnotwhatyouthink @ao719 @stopforamoment @akrenich @gardeningourmet @daniv2278 @bella-ca @gibbles82 @choiceslife @blackcoffee85 @sirbeepsalot @cheeto-choices @dcbbw @alicars @desireepow-1986 @mfackenthal @bhavf @indiacater @drakesensworld @kingliam2019 @walkerswhiskeygirl @ladyangel70 @jovialyouthmusic @edgiestwinter @rainbowsinthestorm @janezillow @sleepwalkingelite @texaskitten30 @traeumerinwitzhelden @bbrandy2002 @jared2612 @blackcatkita @darley1101 @innerpostmentality @lolablackwrites @fullbeaumonty @hhiggs @itsalliepg @smalltalk88 @littlegreenmoo @mynameiskaylabella @bobbersb @imma-winchester-addict @cordonianroyalty @loveellamae @marshmallowsaremyfavorite @katedrakeohd @forthebrokenheartedthings @super-secret-fandom-blog @burnsoslow @queenjilian @bebepac @datynasuha @malvolari-take-my-soul @hopefulmoonobject @queen-arabella-of-cordonia

#ruby rys #beau larkin #ruby x beau #ana deluca #trh au #the royal heir au #the royal heir#phoenix found: interviewing the heir [fluffy abc’s]#cordonian ruby #CoRu #fluff #maleficent writes #long post #read more

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