#i meant more like. flag or comment on recurring issues.

[bigcats-birds-and-books]

sweats okay so. i sent my monstrously over-long hotel scene to three (3) readers, right??

well. today i received word that the one i trust LEAST with my prose. is apparently doing a Heavy Markup to try to knock down the word count for me. which. i did ask for help with this. but. now i have ~Concerns~ lol

[piccolina-mina]

Our girl is thriving this season, but what the fuck is this Wyatt plot? I need your thinks about this one. I just knew you'd be six posts in on this by now. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

*sighs* For fk's sake, nonny. I don't even like talking about it because I get ranty.

What do you want me to say? Honestly, everything you can imagine I would feel about this, you're probably right. Because you know, I'm that b*tch always getting ranty about racism and stuff.

In short, I hate it. I think it's unnecessary, tone-deaf, random, pointless, lowkey offensive, and illogical. I legitimately find it triggering AF. And it doesn't make sense.

It's Unnecessary. There is a fraction of a chance that it will connect to something more significant, but even if that's the case, I'm confident that end result or connection could've taken place without this random reform racist Wyatt storyline. This series has struggled enough as it is properly utilizing all of its primary characters as well as providing them with decent screentime and arcs. It literally makes no sense to spend any of that time that could be used elsewhere on primary characters on a recurring guest star.

This isn't actually about Rosa, it's about Wyatt. Following up on the previous point, this specific arc caters to Wyatt. Revolves around Wyatt. Rosa is just a passive participant and vessel for this Wyatt storyline. So again, the arc itself is about a recurring character. At least when they did something similarly bringing back Cam to siphon time and arcs away from its main cast they found ways to implement it better and tied her to multiple main characters, so it wasn't a total waste.

The intended Wyatt/Rosa parallel is illogical. I know what they're intending to do with this storyline, drawing parallels between Rosa's experience coming back from the dead after ten years and trying to make sense of that and atone for things before and having this second chance to make things right and go down the right path and so forth and Wyatt losing his memory and his racist ways and having to reconcile with who he was to who he can be and all of that. I understand the concept they're trying to sell. It just doesn't work. Rosa's addiction is not equivalent to Wyatt's racism and violence. Her mental illness isn't either. It's dangerous to invite the comparasions with this storyline.

It's not successful redemption. True redemption is Wyatt knowing and remembering his actions and then trying to atone for them. It's not the convenience of amnesia wiping out his memory only giving him distance from his actions rather than really facing up to them. Because of the amnesia, to Wyatt, it's like he's hearing about another person. It's a cop out. He doesn't Actually have to do the work to redeem himself or atone or learn or grow. IF we're supposed to compare it to Rosa, she knew what she did and remembers and knows how she hurt her loved ones or whatever and she's actively trying to make amends for that as part of her program... a program that Wyatt isn't working or anything BTW.

They've contradicted themselves too much and are rewriting their own work and thus twisting everything up just to make this storyline work and it still doesn't. The timeline is all fkd up... what they established already all of it..The Longs were racist before Kate's death. Kate was racist. To suggest that a 10+ amnesiac blackout clean slates and erases all of Wyatt's racism is just wrong. As in it literally doesn't even make any sense. That is not how the amnesia works but they keep playing both sides of it trying to make it work. To sell us what they're claiming, he would have to have ALL of his memories wiped and have forgotten who he was completely.

Wyatt is behaving like he's shocked by racism in this town but they're also trying to argue that he was born into it. Wyatt was surrounded by racists and his friends come from racist families but he's acting like the very concept of him ever being ingratiated in it is some huge surprise. Wyatt looks affronted by things like Confederate flags. Wyatt being steeped in and surrounded by racism predates his amnesia period.

Kyle mentioned that line about Wyatt putting Whites Only on water fountains, and it sounded like a school prank. It also sounded like something Kyle was reminding Rosa of as if she was alive when that incident happened. Therefore, Wyatt was doing racist stuff before she died. Kyle would've been out of school by then so how else would he know that or why would he bother retaining it?

IF Wyatt and Rosa really were friends before (which holy retcon), then it makes no real sense that he would get psychopathically angry about his "friend" who does drugs getting into a car accident with his sister who does drugs. He would've mourned them both not jumped to severe racism and violence. But both he and Jasmine's family (who are MIA for all of this) did that... jumped to racism. So was Wyatt indoctrinated by his family or indoctrinated by message boards and shit? And if Wyatt and Rosa were friends than why was Kate such a racist bitch to Rosa?

They're backdrafting history JUST to make this storyline that we don't need with a character who isn't even a main one to work.

By not actually addressing that Wyatt has to unlearn racism and giving him an out through amnesia, there is the very realistic issue of that latent racism to come out at any given time. What happens when he's drunk? What happens when he's really angry at a POC?

Tying Wyatt's redemption with his clear affection for Rosa is again dangerous and irresponsible. I know we would all like to think that love is the way and through love it can heal racism, but that puts the responsibility on the disenfranchised person to be "lovable." Because if Wyatt WAS friends with Rosa once then that means the second Rosa did something unlovable she was just another *insert racist slur of choosing* right? It means that there's a possibility that if his feelings for Rosa dwindle or things go sideways in some way there's a chance that he could revert back to those racist ways. Loving Rosa(linda) and pinning all of his wanting to be better on her because of her makes his actively learning to be anti-racist conditional. Right now he's not doing this for him. He's doing it because of Rosa.

This entire storyline has placed the burden of forgiveness on Rosa, his victim. Without him ever having to actually make amends. It's this turn the other cheek BS that means there's nothing too big or harmful that can't result in forgiveness. It relies on Rosa and all that she represents to extend an inhumane level of mercy and grace to their tormentor and oppressor that was never once extended to them. It's such a consistent and problematic thing projected on disenfranchised parties that ONLY benefits the majority and makes them feel good. It's a narrative of meeting someone halfway when the playing field was uneven and the minorities are in actuality doing more work and making a longer trek. Halfway and meeting in the middle only works if both sides were even. They are not. It's the reaching across the aisle both sidesms when one side was clearly and actively more harmful than the other and than calling that peace and equity. It is not.

This storyline was meant to scintillate some viewers with this "what if" notion and teach others a meaningful lesson or be this poorly thought out gateway to exploring a complex storyline but it came at the expense of other demographics who actively have to deal with racist crap. And because of their problematic approach what is simply "just entertainment" to some who has the luxury of not having to think about it beyond that, is just gross and insanely triggering and uncomfortable to others. The others who deal with the reality of the subject at hand.

They wrote themselves into a corner with Wyatt so trying to dig him out of that no matter the cost or logic is absurd. This storyline could've worked better if Wyatt's racism didn't also include conscious, constant, extreme violence. But they spent all of this time making Wyatt the face of violent racism and now are trying to redeem him with no real effort. He wasn't just using slurs or making microaggressions. He wasn't some insensitive or aloof white person. He is a murderer. He has killed people. He technically murdered Liz in cold-blood. He knew she was in the crashdown when he shot up the place. The lights were still on. He beat up Arturo so badly he nearly killed him well after his friends even stopped. He attacked and intended to kill Rosa. And his handiwork was a constant thing, enough for Jenna to comment on it. And now we're supposed to ignore all of that because he has amnesia and has puppy dog eyes?

The fact that we can entertain (and for some succeed) Wyatt in all of his hot white dudeness' redemption after everything he has done slips into the inherent racism of society in the first place and is enraging. Because systemically and culturally and inherently society will bend over backwards to find a way to absolve a hot white guy no matter his actions. Flint and Noah couldn't get this type of redemption... So their intended storyline about evolving from racism STILL plays into the racist structures set up in society.

And because some people like it, there's this slippery territory of NO everyone who genuinely enjoys this aren't racist for enjoying it. But yes, this entire storyline and how it is playing out is at the very least racially insensitive.

In order for this storyline to work they would actually have to show Wyatt doing the work. They don't have enough time to dedicate to such a delicate storyline. It's been a C and D filler storyline with 45 second to a minute scenes. That's not enough time to explore this properly. We would've needed to see Wyatt returning home from the hospital. We would've needed to see Wyatt with his friends and it not feeling right and his discomfort. We would've needed to see Wyatt going through his yearbook and googling himself and the horror and disgust he felt. We would need to see this through his eyes. But we didn't have the time for that and we wouldn't have anyway because he's not a main character. We only get Wyatt through Rosa's eyes and they haven't even dedicated enough time to that for it to work. Rosa isn't conflicted at all. She didn't struggle to forgive him. She was reduced to a school girl with a crush and an insane level of grace and they just threw that at us with no buildup whatsoever. I don't know where Rosa's head is and how she got to this to place. Not really. And the only thing working about this is the chemistry between two actors who are allegedly dating so of course there's chemistry.

It literally feels like another instance of a favorite actor being shoehorned into a storyline just for the hell of it. Just because they didn't want to let Dylan go or something. Just to give him something else to do.

[clairen45]

Digging into Rey and Kylo’s Spotify Playlists- part 1: episode 7 songs

The Shut Up and Dance with Me post really pushed me to go through the songs from the Spotify playlists and give you the lowdown, as I see it. That these lists even exist is beyond me! And, just to be clear, these lists have been released in 2015 pre-TFA. With no modification, even pre or post TLJ. No added material. If anything, they actually removed some songs from the lists: 2 for Kylo and 3 for Rey. I don’t think the changes necessarily meant that the songs were too revealing or, on the contrary, didn’t fit the characters anymore. It might just be copyright or legal issue or some artistic differences or god knows what. But again, the point of these lists were to get to know the characters a little better. Some characters we already knew of course, the big three ( Luke, Leia, Han Solo), but also Obi-Wan and Yoda, a list for Anakin and a list for Vader, Padmé, Mace Windu, Bobba Fett, Chewbacca... Lists for new characters: Finn, BB8... surprisingly no Poe Dameron. By the way, I think the Dark Side’ list is super interesting! And of course Rey and Kylo. Rey’s list is full of pop, girl empowerment anthem kind of songs, with a few romantic ballads, which already meant something. Kylo’s is of course full of angsty rock. I don’t want to comment on the genre. My mission was less on the musical genres than on the lyrics and how they can shed some light on the characters and their fates. Because, sure, a team chose these songs to let us know about the characters but, honestly, guys, I think somebody let them in on the rough draft of the whole ST. Because post TLJ it is obvious that a lot of songs apply to what happened as far as Rey and Kylo are concerned in this movie. And since we have our bunch of ep 7 songs, and a bunch of ep 8 songs, well, it appears a bunch of songs don’t fit either and could very well give us key information about ep 9. Before I get accused again of “reaching” (LOL), let us be honest: I think they put a lot of care into those playlists. So no, I don’t think coincidences are accidental. And yes, I think it’s fair to speculate about episode 9 looking at the songs. So let’s take the journey and crack these songs together.

There are 53 songs for Kylo (I am excluding the original soundtrack every time) and 54 for Rey. Rey’s playlist also has tunes in common with Padmé, Leia, and Luke. 4 songs in common with Padmé, quite a lot: Smoke and Fire, Rich Girl, Fighter, and Bulletproof. With Leia: Smoke and Fire, and the fact that they both have Love is a Battlefield, except that Leia is Pat Benatar’s song, and Rey’s is Jordin Spark’s song. Same title, different songs. This marks Rey as the “heiress” to these two heroines, which is not surprising. I think it is quite remarkable that she shares so many songs with Padmé, as regards the Anidala inversion we always talk about. Rich Girl, in particular, because Padmé was a Queen, so yes, the rich girl, whereas in Rey’s case the song is ironic. Rey also shares 2 song with Luke: Wild by Troye Sivan (I honestly don’t get what this song does on Luke’s playlist, so that must mean something potentially), and Adventure of a Lifetime. With Luke as a mentor to Rey in ep 8, that would kind of make sense that they would share something. I honestly merely skimmed through all the playlists, but Rey and Kylo seem to be the only one who share  songs with other characters (if I am wrong, please correct me). Kylo shares 3 songs, 1 with Anakin (and NOT Vader), Bored to Death, 1 with BB8, Destroy the Map, and one with Mace Windu on You want a Battle (Here’s War). Interesting also. I won’t necessarily comment on that today, because there is a lot to go through, but these are thoughts to save and process later maybe.

Some songs can also fit two, maybe the three, episodes. And also, I have noticed something very interesting in Rey’s playlist: a lot of songs that feature in her playlist seem to be more from Kylo’s POV (like Shut up and Dance). They should normally feature on his list but because they would break away from the others in terms of genre, it is probably how they ended on Rey’s list. I found on Kylo’s playlist 1 song that, to me, should rather feature on Rey’s list, but again, would seem odd in terms of genre.

1.KYLO’S LIST/ EPISODE 7

Kylo’s list also seems way more descriptive about his character, angst, inner conflict, feelings of pain and revenge, than Rey’s list. There is a lot of songs talking about past abuse and family conflict. Sweet Dreams by Marilyn Manson is a good example: “ Some of them want to use you/ Some of them want to get used by you/ Some of them want to abuse you/ Some of them want to be abused”. References to dreams and nightmares in Kylo’s playlist are also quite noteworthy because they tie in with Rey’s visions as described in TFA: she hears voices in her dreams, and when she first sees Kylo, she knows that she has seen him before “in a dream, in a nightmare”. We can also find some parallels with the plot in episode 7: the Jakku massacre, meeting Rey, killing Han... Recurring themes are, without surprise, fire, death, suffering, dreams and nightmares...

This Means War (Avenged Sevendold). That song is packed with so much about his feelings and his introduction in the ST. It goes on and on really. I could quote the whole thing. But here are the highlights :

Hide my face again, harbor in the shadows (duh!) Feel this weight of sin hammering away Die, with the guilt of a thousand AWOL soldiers (The pull to the light) Die, watch the scythe usher me astray (Lor San Tekka’s execution)

The ugly side of me is strong

Carry me to nowhere  (Jakku is nowhere!) Lie!Mask the pain Of a child who's forsaken Lie! To myself Praise the new regime (honestly, did they write the song for Kylo?)

I left me long ago Reasons you'll never know No one to miss me when I'm gone With no more words to say No argument to stay. Another post I don't belong (Lor San Tekka: The First Order rose from the dark side. You did not)

No home to call my own No finding someone new No one to break the fall No one to see me through No name to carry on No promise for today No one to hear the call (Oh hon, hang on, the girl is coming!) Buy into the fear (Rey: You are afraid!) My serpent blood can strike so cold (Murderous snake! again) Another thought I can't control (Force bond much?)

Elements of TFA Plot:

Legion of Evil (OFF): “Break down houses”, “ Mystery crews on a murderous spree” (the opening on Jakku, with his mysterious identity) but also “Retaliation against horrible gods/Treasonous snakes with gentlemen's lies/ Waving a false flag to sell the deception” which of course are reminiscent of his line to Rey about the Resistance: “ You mean the murderers traitors and thieves you call your friends ? “. But can also ironically evoke Snoke’s influence on him: he is the treasonous snake with gentlemen’s lies. Or even to him as seen from Rey’s POV in 7 and at the beginning of TLJ: “a treasonous snake”/ “murderous snake”/ “liar”...

The Red (Chevelle) and Evil Eye (Franz Ferdinand), both emphasize the color red, which is Kylo’s color theme.Thunder and Lightning (Motorhead”, “ Maybe you'll die, maybe you'll fly/ Fire in the sky, thunder and lightning”.  Heart of Fire (Black Veil Brides): “ I feel alive inside I won't be terrorized, I'll take all the blame/This heart of fire is burning proud/ I am every dream you lost and never found/ This heart of fire is stronger now”. Also the attack on Jakku.

The Map plot: R2 where are U (Flying Lotus): it takes both BB8 and R2 to find Luke’s hideout. This song is also on BB8′s list by the way. Destroy the Map  (36 Crazy Fists). Obviously the title is interesting because Kylo gives up on the map and gets Rey instead. The song presents some other interesting points: something that could evoke Starkiller base “ And the clouds don't break when the sun is on empty” , and also something that seems to fit straight into TLJ: “You couldn't hold your mouth to stop the sound/ With all these riches on the tip of your tongue/And I was trying to dampen it all out/You were talking louder than I should here/Producing nothing but all these mirrors”, “ Where the baptized drown/We used to breathe” (Rey in the cave) “This time, our time, we have, we'll last”. So gain some songs can actually fit more than 1 episode.

Failing on Starkiller: beaten up by Rey, never got the intel about Luke... At least I’m known for something (New Found Glory): “ I've figured out my situation/ I am an endless source of useless information/ Give me bad news could be something expecting/ I let my front down/ And I know I will regret it/ /But you don't know that and I'm the one to blame for it/'Cause I'm destined for failure“. More Starkiller: My own Summer (Deftones): “ Hey you, big star/ Tell me when it's over”.

Family and Han:

Refusing his legacy. War on the Palaces (Refused):

I carry history with me I carry hope   (I see you Ben You are My Only Hope Solo!!!!) All the nameless faces before us Let's carry them all

I wanna carry the dead (his attachment for Vader instead of the living members of his family) Wage war on the palaces

Bored to Death (Blink 182): “ And it's a long way back from seventeen/The whispers turn into a scream/And I'm, I'm not coming home/Save your breath, I'm nearly/ Bored to death”. Mene (Brand New): “ My father spoke of prophecy/ To think that I believed is self-centered of me/There was something I was trying to say/ But then I choked on it and now it's getting kind of late” (@madandmisquoted did a meta on how Kylo mumbles “I love you dad”+ “It is too late”). Indestructible (Rancid): “ It's so fake now, everything I see right through/I'm ashamed now to say I ever know you” evoke his scene with Han. I don’t wanna Hear It (Minor Threat): “ I don't want to hear it/ I'm sick and tired of all your lies/ I don't want to hear it/ When are you gonna realize.”. Family and mommy issues: Down With the Sickness (Disturbed): “ It seems what's left of my human side/ Is slowly changing in me”, “ It seems you're having some trouble/ In dealing with these changes/ Living with these changes / The world is a scary place/ Now that you've woken up the demon in me”, “ No mommy, don't do it again/Don't do it again/ I'll be a good boy/I'll be a good boy, I promise No mommy don't hit me/ Why did you have to hit me like that, mommy?”. 

Conflict

Got the Life (Korn): “Hate, something, someway, each day, dealing with no forgiveness/ Why? This shit inside/ Now everyone will follow/ So give me nothing just feel/ And now this shit will follow/ God begs me, the more I see the light, who wants to see?”. Strife (Trivium): “ I reach for calm/ I starve for a balance unknown/ This burden tortures me deep in my soul” ; “ Guilt buries me alive/ In a coffin criticized/ I shouldered the blame and dug this hole for me to lay in”. Duality (Slipknot). The title says it all, but it definitely applies to the scene with Han: “ You cannot kill what you did not create”;  “Pull me back together/ Or separate the skin from the bone/ Leave me all the pieces, and then you can leave me alone” (Can apply to “I’m feeling torn apart”, “I killed your son, he was foolish and weak” ).

The Girl

I know that’s what you’ve been waiting for. There are 2 major songs about Rey in that list and one them has been removed, A Cross and a Girl Named Bless (Evans Blue). That song presents some elements that stretch all the way to 9. I’m including it here, because of the obvious reference to the way they meet on Takodana:

She's holding out for weapons to kill the ghosts inside (She shoots at a ghostlike figure in the forest)

Or at least kill the thoughts she has of killing her mind (Get out of my head!)

She says "I love you" with her hands (TLJ: Smut Hut)

She says "I hate you" with her eyes (You have that look from the forest..)

There's a pretty girl somewhere with a pretty name (What girl?)

But I could never let you know how much this means I swear we'll end this war, because we both know

It wasn't worth fighting for  (Major episode IX spoiler)

She, she said to me I will be driving in the wrong direction Did you ever think that maybe your life

Is heading in the wrong direction, baby? (Throne Room Scene)

There's a cross up on the wall See from the corner of your eye When you're down on you knees...and she's begging please So go and lay back down tonight Because you won't know who you are

Until you're down on your knees...your begging please (End of TLJ, Crait)

The other big song is The Answer (Savages):

Wish me luck This was a hard year And I can't see No brighter future Wish me luck I saw the answer It was a girl (What girl?) Will you go ask her  (Interrogation scene, the girl is all we need) I saw the answer Will you go ask her Love is the answer

Evil (Interpol): “ Heaven restores you in life/ You're coming with me/ Through the aging, the fearing, the strife/ It's the smiling on the package/ It's the faces in the sand” (the abduction, Rey is literally a face in the sand, the smile...), “You're weightless, semi-erotic/ You need someone to take you there/Sandy, why can't we look the other way?/Why can't we just play the other game?” (he carries her in his arms like a feather, You need a teacher!).

There is also a song there that is all about Rey’s POV on Kylo in TFA. Headstrong (Trapt) screams Rey during the interrogation scene. But, again, they couldn’t have put it on her playlist so it features on his instead.

Circling your head contemplating everything you ever said (getting in HIS head) Now I see the truth I got a doubt  (You... are afraid you will never be as trong as Darth Vader!) A different motive in your eyes and now I'm out (escapes the interrogation room) See you later I see your fantasies You wanna make it a reality baby paved in gold See inside, inside of our heads yeah Well now that's over

Back off I'll take you on (Forest duel) Headstrong to take on anyone (Come on, that is SO Rey!) I know that you are wrong Headstrong we're Headstrong Back off I'll take you on Headstrong to take on anyone I know that you are wrong This is not where you belong (Trying to turn him in 8)

I can't give everything away (I won’t give you anything!) I won't give everything away

2.REY’S PLAYLIST/EPISODE 7

JAKKU

There are songs about Rey’s life conditions on Jakku. Poverty in Rich Girl (Gwen Stefani): “ If I was a rich girl/ See, I'd have all the money in the world, if I was a wealthy girl/ No man could test me, impress me, my cash flow would never ever end/ Cause I'd have all the money in the world, if I was a wealthy girl”. Of course the morale of the song is “All the riches in the world don’t mean anything without your love”. To remind us that if Rey has dreams it’s mostly about finding love and belonging. Interesting that she shares this song with Padmé who had the riches + the love and still didn’t get her happy ever after, but more on that later...

New Americana (Halsey) about survival of the fittest, the daily struggle of poverty, social divide. That one is also interesting because of its reference to James Dean: “ Young James Dean, some say/ He looks just like his father”. There is also the big reveal about Kylo being Han’s son.  I  think it’s probably how they first imagined Kylo, as a hypersensitive, rebellious, angsty youth, a character from East of Eden (another reference to Eden). The character played by James Dean, in Elia Kazan’s adaptation of Steinbeck’s famous novel, is Cal, a rebellious son who believes his father does not love him and sees him as evil incarnate. Kylo much?

Daylight (Matt and Kim) can also be about home and Jakku: “I miss yellow lines in my roads/ Some color on monochrone”, ‘Cause the daylight anywhere feels like home”. In TFA she wants to go back to Jakku. Rey is also used to having to fight for her survival: “ Murder lives forever/And so does war/ It's survival of the fittest/ Rich against the poor/ At the end of the day/ It's a human trait/ Hidden deep down inside of our DNA”.

Some songs talk about Rey’s dreams and her feelings of loneliness.Chandelier (Sia): “I'm gonna live like tomorrow doesn't exist/ Like it doesn't exist/ I'm gonna fly like a bird through the night,/ Feel my tears as they dry”. How she lives on a day to day basis and feels lonely all the time. Wake Me Up (Avicii):  

Feeling my way through the darkness Guided by a beating heart I can't tell where the journey will end But I know where to start They tell me I'm too young to understand They say I'm caught up in a dream Well life will pass me by if I don't open up my eyes Well that's fine by me (stuck waiting on Jakku)

So wake me up when it's all over When I'm wiser and I'm older All this time I was finding myself And I didn't know I was lost

I tried carrying the weight of the world (Literally her job as a scavenger) But I only have two hands I hope I get the chance to travel the world And I don't have any plans I wish that I could stay forever this young Not afraid to close my eyes Life's a game made for everyone And love is a prize

THE FIGHTER

Of course songs about Rey, the independent girl, the fighter... Fighter (Christina Aguilera): “ 'Cause it makes me that much stronger/ Makes me work a little bit harder/ It makes me that much wiser/ So thanks for making me a fighter/ Made me learn a little bit faster/ Made my skin a little bit thicker/ Makes me that much smarter/ So thanks for making me a fighter”. Another song shared with Padmé. I know the song is about a guy that cheated on the girl and lied to her, but rather than about Kylo, this song can apply to a lot of people in Rey’s life: her parents, Unkar Plutt, and all the people she’s had to deal with since childhood. There is Run the World (Beyoncé) that could also be foreshadowing for episode ix. Kelly Clarkson’s Miss Independent, with the perfect title for Rey’s episode 7, but the message about love in this song actually fits better episode 8. Roar (Katy Perry): empowerment anthem, plus Rey looks like a lioness at the end of TFA, baring her teeth and snarling at Kylo. Possibly Piece of Me (Britney Spears).

Confident (Demi Lovato) fits well with Roar. That one screams end of TFA with beating Kylo down.

It's time for me to take it I'm the boss right now Not gonna fake it Not when you go down 'Cause this is my game And you better come to play

I used to hold my freak back

Now I'm letting go

I make my own choice (accepting the saber)

Bitch, I run this show So leave the lights on No, you can't make me behave

So you say I'm complicated

That I must be outta my mind But you had me underrated Rated, rated

What's wrong with being, what's wrong with being

What's wrong with being confident?

 There is the teaser song about Rey’s origin. That’s Not my Name (The Ting Things). Well, in TFA everybody is asking about her identity, about “the girl”, wo that would make sense to have this song. Rey might not even be her name after all, though she is old enough when her parents sell her to remember it; Does it mean we will l get a new name in ix? Maybe. Or just Rey Solo. I think the song is really there for the fun about the possible identity of Rey...

THE ESCAPE

Songs about Rey leaving Jakku and becoming a pilot. Obviously: Starships (Nicki Minaj) because “starships are meant to fly”. Boom Boom Pow (The BEP): “ I'm on that supersonic boom/ Y'all hear the spaceship zoom”. Alive Tonight (Grace Potter), for these lines: “In the dark of the desert/  I saw a man with a sign, it said/ People get ready, 'cause it's all over/ It's all gonna end tonight, well” ( On Jakku, Lor San Tekka is the man with the intel about Luke promising that “this will begin to make things right”, and eventually this sign gets to Rey through BB8 at dusk in the desert). I also like these lines: “ You wanna get in on the action, you want/ Everyone to listen to you, oh/ You're just living in a prediction/ And that don't, that don't make it true, no” which fits the fact that things will not be as simple as Rey thinks. Also about the end of Rey’s time on Jakku, The Dog Days are Over (Florence+ the Machines): “The dog days are over/The dog days are done/ The horses are coming so you better run”.  These lines are great: “Leave all your love and your longing behind you/ Can't carry it with you if you want to survive”, about giving up on Jakku and close to Maz’s line about “the belonging you seek is not behind you”.

MEETING KYLO

Now, with songs that reflect on meeting Kylo... There is Gibberish (Max): “ But then I caught you creepin'/ Secrets that you were keepin”, which could fit the interrogation scene. Or the title could just refer to the fact that Rey seems to understand every language she meets (BB8, Chewie...). LOL. Obviously, the beautiful Yes Girl (Bea Miller):

I got you figured out, you need to have control You think that I don't know you, I know you, I know Trying to tell you now, I've been doing what you want But I won't be your yes girl, no, not anymore

And these even better lines: “ And now you're my favorite sin, oh/ Cause I'm either on your side or you're a mile away” (which fits TLJ better). There is Focus (Ariana Grande): “ I can tell you're curious/ It's written on your lips/ Ain't no need to hold it back/ Go ahead and talk your shit/ I know you're hoping that I'll react/ I know you're hoping I'm looking back/ But if my real ain't real enough/ Then I don't know what is” (again, mood for the interrogation scene). Also like that line: “ Let's find a light inside our universe now/ Where ain't nobody keep on holding us down”. 

That one seems really more to me from Kylo’s POV when Rey leaves for the MF at the end of TFA. We Come Running (Youngblood Hawke):

Headed for the open door Tell me what you're waiting for (Rey is coded as the waiting one) Look across the great divide   (the ground falling apart between them) Soon they're gonna hear The sound, the sound, the sound (Boom goes Starkiller) When we come running Never go where we belong (obviously, they parted ways when they should be together) Echoes in the dead of dawn  (Force bond foreshadowing echoes?) Soon they're gonna know The sound, the sound, the sound When we come running

And also that one: Force of Nature (Bea Miller). That one really fits Kylo in TFA as he starts falling for Rey during their duel on Starkiller: I don't know why but my hands are shaking I can see you coming and I stand here waiting (Didn’t put up much of a fight, honestly) Yeah I get tongue tied in the conversation (Lost the interrogation scene fight) It's an F'd up, bad, sick situationI tried to tie my heart down, board up all the windows Oh but it's too late now (Too late is classic Kylo) I let you get too close (like inside my head) I know I should take cover, hide inside these four walls But baby I surrender, it all'Cause you're a force of nature (Marry Me Face) Look at what you've done I can taste the danger but I don't wanna run So pull me to the ground and I won't put up a fight (End of the fight) I'm a caution taker, but baby you're a force of nature Baby you're a force of natureI feel your lips move in and they take me under (The Force? Mesmerized in looking at her) You know just what to do, how to make me want you And I know I'll be broken when it's over Oh but I can't help but pull you closerI'll be here 'till we collide I don't care if I survive So crash into me one more time

Say what you want, but this beautiful ballad is all about Kylo’s feelings for Rey!

BONUS: THE INVERSE ANIDALA SONG?

There’s an intriguing tune in Kylo’s playlist. Incorporeal (Tiger Army).

I’m gone I died long ago but my spirit still roams (Incorporeal) Unwanted in heaven, forgotten in hell as on earth (Incorporeal) I don't want to stay here, it seems that I'll never be free Oh can you hear me? (no) And so It has come to be that I must wander forever (Incorporeal) Many things I have seen, empires that rise and then fall (Incorporeal) A life you live long is simply a moment to me A tiny drop of water in the sea of eternity There's no place for me everywhere that I go Only seems to bring upset and harm There's one thing that I want and one thing only Release into the great beyond Don't want to remember when I was alive When I held my true love in my arms For like you I once was, and like me you shall be When you Feel a chill in the night perhaps it's me saying hello (Incorporeal) You're so much like my love though she lived in a long ago time (Incorporeal) I long to see her, the day when my soul's laid to rest The peace that I can not find in life, I can find in death

Honestly, this song makes me want to scream!!! Heavy reincarnation theme. Especially when you cross that with Rey sharing 4 songs with Padmé. And with the fact that Anakin (not Vader) and Kylo share a song. And the song  I mentioned, Rich Girl. Rey is the inverse Padmé already, right? She’s the younger one in the couple, and she is poor with a low status. Again, Padmé has everything (the riches and the guy) and didn’t end up happy. By sharing songs, it might be another hint that Rey will succeed where Padmé didn’t.

This is it for 7, guys. It is quite a beast. 34 songs left to go through in Rey’s playlist, 25 for Kylo.

[actuallyvady]

Alright. So.

Every so often I hyperfixate on something and project like hell, shoving all my issues into that thing and inventing meaning that probably wasn’t intended. But. I don’t usually do it without at least having evidence in the text, and sometimes it’s fun to explore that. So without further ado… let’s talk about Coup d’Etat. Because it has embedded itself deep in my psyche and honestly, this video is what the landscape of my mind looks like lately.

Let me start with a disclaimer: I do not speak Korean and therefore none of this is based on the words to the song; I do not know what the words are. All of this is about the visuals in the video.

Coup d’Etat, for those who have not followed my rapid descent into kpop hell, is the title track on a 2013 album by an artist known as G-Dragon. G-Dragon is a member of a band called Big Bang, and is known primarily as a rapper. There are conversations to be had about kpop and appropriation of black culture; I’m not going to get into that here, as I don’t think it comes into play in this particular video.

Let’s start with something easy: the title. I actually saw a comment where a fan claimed that it was a phrase GD had invented. Note to self: do not read the comments. In reality, a coup d’etat is… well… a literal, possibly violent, overthrow of an existing government. It also is used more colloquially as a master stroke, a winning move. Given that the song starts with “the revolution will not be televised” being sampled, I am inclined to believe the political meaning was at least partly intended. That said, many of the images clearly represent his personal experiences, so it’s probably not entirely political.

The hook includes the words “this is my coup d’etat” (in English, which… is a thing they do) and it is possible that the lyrics use a more personal meaning of the phrase, referring to, perhaps, the album itself as a master stroke or a major victory. I cannot speak to the lyrics, but I will say that the idea of declaring a piece of your own work a coup is… delightfully self-assured. I could call it arrogant, but it doesn’t feel that way, in part because of the visuals in the video. It feels more defiant than cocky.

I’m not going to describe the video shot-for-shot; you can (and should) watch it yourself. Instead I am going to address the visuals that stick with me the most.

The opening shots feature a lifeless landscape, a huge wall, and a lone figure prostrate on the ground. He’s only wearing a sheet wrapped around his legs and a scarf covering his face, but even in the initial shot, a couple of G-Dragon’s tattoos are visible, if you know what to look for. He is dirty, broken down, and shaking. He looks weak. When we see him close up, his skin is wrinkled—but his tattoos are very clear. We are meant to see that this is an old, beaten down G-Dragon. He reaches for a stone. We will hit this image, this figure, several times throughout the video.  

The other recurring image we get throughout the video is G-Dragon standing in some sort of tower, with a wrecking ball above him, hitting the walls, seemingly to bring the tower down. At first he seems unbothered by this.

Early in the video we see several scenes where he seems trapped—and these are the ones I mentioned as relating to her personal experience, as they all seem to relate to his career as a kpop star. At one point he is behind a ticket counter, with the clouded windows making the figures outside almost menacing. Following this he’s in a kitchen, of sorts, cooking money. Then he’s strapped into an electric chair in what seems to be a ruined dressing room—lights around mirrors like that imply some kind of show business—with water on the floor. He also stands blindfolded—a recurring image I’ll address in a bit—before a firing squad. Trapped by the life he leads, he still almost snarls at the camera as he is being electrocuted and looks bored by the shots firing near him; this is not a man who meekly accepts his fate or is frightened by what others do to him.

Now, let’s talk about eyes and blindfolds. Interspersed with the blindfolded GD at the firing squad (with graffiti eyes large behind him), there is a masked GD with only his eyes visible, surrounded by graffiti of eyes looking at him. GD with eyes covered is unafraid. Shortly after that we get an image of him sitting at a table with blindfolded paparazzi—he looks much less amused at being surrounded by the blind than he was at being shot at. The fact that this scene is cut with a shot of what looks like his body being pecked at by ravens says a lot about how he feels about paparazzi—though the ‘body’ is awake and staring at the camera. Again, his eyes feel confrontational.  The broken figure that opens the video has his eyes covered as well, and the ruined statue he stands with at the end of the video is missing the upper half of its face.

The wall of masks continues this focus on eyes; the masks all have their eyes closed, and they cry ink. There’s a lot to unpack there. And then GD stands in front of the white wall of white masks and he is all black. Including his skin. Which makes his eyes pop even more than his usual heavy eyeliner does. He stands in a pool of ink—like the masks were crying—and then, with a smirk, he breaks the mask that had covered his face.

That marks a turning point in the video. The broken down, wrinkled figure from the beginning stands and throws a stone at the wall; up close, he tears at the prosthetics that make him appear old and broken down, revealing the young GD (more specifically, his eyes) beneath. The GD in the tower throws his head back and screams.  

And finally we have a shot of a GD clad all in red, masked but for his eyes, standing in front of red flags. It’s the first bright color we’ve seen in a while and he looks, to my American eyes, like the sort of “terrorist” that has been the boogie man in our fiction for a while. It’s an intensely political image, but I’m not going to guess at the motivation behind it, as that is not my purpose here.

(I realize that I said I was not going to describe the whole video and I seem to have almost done that, though I did skip some early imagery. It’s just that all of this ties in with the point I wanted to make, so.)

My purpose here is to talk about why these images, and this video, have latched onto my psyche and refused to let go.

Let’s start here: I’m trans.

Yes, I’m nonbinary, but I am increasingly drawn to the idea of transitioning to be more masculine; there is not a part of me that wants to be more feminine, just a part of me that doesn’t mind as much.

Right now the world is a garbage fire. Our idiot in chief has been doing all he can to dismantle what little legal protection trans people have, in addition to everything else he has done—which is a lot. There are Nazis again. He thinks they’re fine people. Anyway, recently news broke that he was trying to define trans people out of existence.

It was not long after that that I found this video.

I am a very contrary person, highly motivated by spite. You tell me not to do a thing and my first impulse is to do it more. So that news breaking led me to want to be more out and more loud about being trans, and it made me want to say fuck it and start transitioning right away. But it also frightened me. The world is not a safe place for trans people. Those who hate us are empowered by everything the administration does to try to bring us down. It would be a lot safer for me to not transition, to meekly accept being read as female in public spaces. These are very conflicting things to feel.

Enter G-Dragon.

G-Dragon, confined by the trappings of his life, surrounded by people who are blind to who he really is. Blindfolded and bound for execution.

And defiant as fuck.

G-Dragon, in a world of masks, shattering the one meant for him.

G-Dragon, tearing at his own flesh to reveal his true self.

G-Dragon, beaten down and weak, casting a single stone at a wall and bringing it down.

The more I watched the video, the more I felt like this moment, this scream, was both what I was feeling and what I wanted to feel. Maybe there is nothing I can do to keep the tower from coming down on my head but I will not be silent.

And G-Dragon’s confrontational eyes, which say not just “I see you” but also “you will see me.”

The track starts by sampling “The Revolution will not be televised” but I think it’s the second and third line that matter the most to me: “The revolution is in your mind” and “The revolution is here”

[winchester-reload]

Pairing: Dean/Cas Length: 2.5k Tags: Fluff, Mild Angst, Pining, First Kiss, Canon Divergent   Read on AO3

A special thank you to @braezenkitty for being my awesome beta <3

“You just gotta get laid,” Dean said, reseating the burger beside the pile of fries on his plate, this time with a big bite missing. “Or a decent kiss, at least.”

He crumbled a napkin between greasy fingers, tossed it to the middle of the table. Shoved his shirtsleeves up one more time as he tucked his black fed tie under the table ledge and away from the plate. “It’d loosen you up, buddy. And maybe you’d quit tryna live vicariously through horny eighteen-year-olds.”

This was because of the door-to-door canvas. The couple at the park who’d been all over each other, that Castiel hadn’t been able to stop looking at—even after the old, blue-haired lady at 512 Bakersfield Court had made a comment. “Your partner likes to stare…” like she’d never in her seventy-five years of life seen someone curious about such a thing.

“If only that was the first time I heard it, too,” Dean’d smiled back from her stoop, the sharp sun cooking them both in the stuffy Tennessee heat. A marked jab to Cas’ ribs, and a walk to the nearest pub later, and Dean was bringing it up again, because, of course he was. Why talk about the case?

“I only glanced at the couple in the park,” Cas sighed. “It’s not a recurring issue. It doesn’t mean anything.”

Dean laughed, lipped his beer bottle, and took a stout drink. “Sure,” he said. “Glanced at them. Glanced at those girls holding hands last week—though, I’ll give ya that one. I gave ‘em a couple once-overs too.”

“Dean—”

“Point is, it ain’t the first time, and you’re a damn liar.”

Cas rolled his eyes. “My being, or not being with people has nothing to do with anything—”

“Has everything to do with everything when you’re touch-starved.”

“I’m not starved. I’ve been… touched.”

Dean scoffed, swirled his beer bottle. “Sure, if you wanna count Reaper-Fools-Day.”

“I’ve kissed more people than April,” Cas bristled back. “How about we talk about what you know of touch starved instead?”

Dean snapped shut, cocked his head as a follow-up comment seemed to slip from his mouth quick. He replaced the words with a couple fries and averted eyes. “Fine,” he relented around the bite. “And?”

“And… What?”

He looked back up, eyebrows jumping. “Were they any good?”

“Who? The people?”

“The kissing, idiot. Was the kissing any good?”

Cas’ heart flopped. He slipped a hand down his beer bottle, and then back up again nervously. The motion pulled Dean’s attention in a glance, so Cas tucked the rogue thing back onto his lap instead. Fingers lacing together under the shelter of the slick waxed top where no one could see. “I don’t know. Yes?” he offered carefully.

“Are you tellin’ me, or askin’ me right now?”

“No—I mean… ” Cas cleared his throat, shifted in his chair, and listened to the wood slats groan. “They were fine. They were… wet.”

“Wet?” Dean repeated. “Cas, wet is how you describe a swimming pool… Oregon in the winter, maybe… Not a kiss. Never a good kiss.”

“Then how should I describe it?”

“No, I mean… if they were wet, then they were wet—”

“No, please. You tell me.”

Dean’s face suddenly fell wide in mock innocence. “What? You want me to describe a good kiss to you right now? In the middle of a restaurant.”

“If wet is insufficient—”

“Oh, yeah. It’s like, miles of not-sufficient-ness, dude.”

Cas chewed a smile down and gestured Dean’s way. Crossed his arms, and sat back. He watched Dean waffle before finally sliding back in his chair to think. He splayed wide, elbows up on the armrests and knees hugging the corners. His face caught the dim overhead lights, and the sun-kissed healthy pink of his skin shone back like warm earth.

He had white in the creases beside his eyes where his smile lines had shaded him from the harsh afternoon sun. A little cut of tan at the bridge of his nose where his sunglasses sat after he’d gotten sick of squinting through the reflections of every bright midday door.

“Okay, it’s like this,” he said finally, tapping an erratic finger on the neck of his bottle, and pausing to worry his lip. “A kiss is a kiss is a kiss, til it ain’t. If you’re with the right person, then the tension between you’s gonna be thick enough to cut. It’s gonna feel like you’ve got a firecracker in your gut, and that other person’s just flicking the Bic. The minute the two of you kiss, the fuse lights. That bastard explosive rips up through your chest, and pops behind your eyes, and I’m talking—screw seeing colors at that point—you’ll be so wrecked, you’ll know what they sound like.”

Castiel smiled as Dean came back in with a languid look, and a tongue tip between his teeth. He peeled forward, hovering over the table, so much closer than before, that there was only the dragging smell of his burger all tangled up in his woody cologne for Cas to breathe.

“That’s a good kiss,” he said slowly, and maybe it was Castiel’s imagination, but the sun kiss on Dean’s cheeks had spread to his ears now. “Sounds good, don’t it?”

“It sounds very good,” Castiel agreed. “Very surreal.”

Dean let a long, animated sigh into the room and it mixed happy with the gentle murmur of the busy forks and glasses around them. “Oh, it’s very real,” he said. “Just not very common.”

He poked absently at the pile of cooling fries, and sucked the salt from the end of his finger. The gorgeous smacking sound it made curled red ribbons in Cas’ stomach. “Still, you find someone who’ll give you that, and it’s the kinda thing that’ll right some wrongs. Know what I mean?”

Cas took a long drink, smile falling as the carbonation from his beer prickled reality back into his tongue. “Sure,” he said quietly. “I’ll have to take your word for it.”

Dean’s mouth thinned, and his eyes ping-ponged away uneasy. He tailed and tacked down the waitress, kept locked on her as she floated behind the counter poking something into the mounted LED screen beside the register. “Doesn’t that rub you, though?” he asked, “not knowing for yourself. Don’t you… want that with somebody?”

Cas puffed surprised, and his mouth went dry. Try as he might, the beer wouldn’t wet it. “I mean, yes…” he said earnestly, and the admission ate holes in his stomach.

“Then… how come you ignore all the waitresses I send your way? You’re never gonna get it if you don’t even try.”

Cas was suddenly, and shamefully aware of his attention at Dean’s lips, and when Dean snagged a glance at him, Cas tore his eyes away, shoved them onto the table instead. Focused everything he had on the bleed of condensation below the cool, brown bottle to his left.

“Those people wouldn’t change anything,” he said to the ring. “Colors were never meant to make sounds for some.”

Dean fidgeted the fries again, finally pushed them aside, and brushed the salt off his hand this time instead of eating it. “I guess we better head out,” he said, flagging the waitress. “Sam’s waiting.”

They paid, and headed back out into the melty summer heat. It was sunset, but the air was still laying in the city thick as a wool blanket. Shadows stretched through the streets like plastic-capped Halloween fingers, crowding up in the alleyways and turns, painting the dingy brick walls black.

Cas flared his coat to check his back pocket for his wallet as they passed a couple people with hungry eyes, but just as quickly remembered that he’d dropped his last twenty for the meal, and let the impulse to feed them drift out. Still, he welcomed the brief breeze it gave him, and he wondered if maybe it was getting time to rethink the coat. Grace or not, he seemed to be touchier to the temperatures these days, and it was starting to seem like wardrobe was becoming more important—practically speaking.

Dean shed his own suit coat as if he’d just read Castiel’s mind, and slung it over his shoulder with a hooked finger. His shirtsleeves were still shoved up to his elbows under the blazer, as if he’d put it on after dinner, distracted. “Nothing fancy,” he murmured to his feet.

“Pardon?”

“Hmm—?” He looked over quick, eyes wide, before blinking them back down. “What?”

“I just didn’t catch what you said.”

Dean shook his head. “I didn’t—” But when Cas frowned, opened his mouth to contest, Dean relented. “Oh, you mean the, uh, thing I said out loud…” He cleared his throat, added “apparently” under his breath, and slowed down for some oncoming foot traffic.

“I was just thinking about the, uh, Nichols’ story,” he said, temporarily falling in line behind Cas as a group of people passed. He touched the small of Cas’ back out of nowhere, and kept his hand there. Cas’ chest snagged. “The alibi Brent was peddling didn’t feel right.” His voice was soft in Cas’ ear, almost breathy—but brief, and when he pulled up beside Cas again, sidewalk clear, Cas grabbed a shaky glance, but Dean wasn’t watching.

“You, uh, think they have something to do with the black magic we’re seeing?” Cas asked, and his voice managed to pour out level, despite his stomach coming off that quick rollercoaster dip.

“I mean, the house was a little much for a twenty-hour a week gas-slinging gig at the local area Gas n’ Sip, don’t you think?”

It was the most they’d talked about the case all day.

“Fancy,” Cas reiterated, then, “I certainly never would’ve been able to afford that place when I worked there.” For some reason, the comment pulled Dean tight at the joints. “But I couldn’t even afford hourly motels.”

“Well… the hourlies charge more.”

Cas frowned again, started to ask why when Dean squirmed past it. “But, you’re right,” he said. “Doesn’t add up no matter how you flip the numbers.”

“So, do you suspect they’re the source of the black magic, or victims of it?”

They hopped down the curb, checking the way for traffic, and ended up on the grassy side of Spring Street, just down from their motel. Dean popped a piece of gum in his mouth, balled the wrapper, and stuck it back in his pocket instead of tossing it away.

“I suspect there’s something screwy going on,” he said, “and that’s as far as I’ve got.”

He plucked the gum from his mouth a moment later, and flicked it to the bushes, ran a hand down his face. “Sam’s doing backgrounds as we speak. Here’s hoping there’s a smoking gun in there somewhere. But, ‘til we get that, we’re pulling straws.”

The streetlamps kicked on, buzzing like fireflies in the thick night, the light falling on the street in goldweave strings as they hustled past a defunct sporting goods store—hollow bones brick and mortar now. No one missing what used to be inside.

Dean scanned the streets, watched another few strings of dusk foot traffic pass on the left while he chewed his cheeks.

“Did Sam find anything at the morgue?” Cas pressed, because the silence seemed oddly unnerving.

“No—I mean, uh, I don’t know. Haven’t talked to him.”

“I thought we were meeting him.”

Dean’s attention caught up in a little alcove at the end of the street and he gripped his jacket tighter, tucked his chin and let a heavy breath out. “We are,” he said quietly.

“Not at the morgue?”

“Um, no, he’s at the motel,” Dean said, and he sounded nervous. “Waiting to take us.”

“Maybe we’ll get lucky and we’ll find a hex bag, or—”

Dean suddenly shoved Cas’ sideways, off the street and into the alcove, shadows tangling up in the corners of it, all those long witch fingers bleeding to flat black. Castiel grunted, surprised. “What’re you—” and his throat went dry as Dean pushed him into the stuccoed brick backside of a closed Chinese restaurant, hands curling up on both sides of Cas’ jaw, but fingers combing a soft arc “—doing?”

“Nothin’, if you don’t want me to,” Dean whispered, conviction skippy at best. His body was hot against Cas. Heavy and hard. Nothing like April’s… Meg’s… Hannah’s…

The question—and it was a question—coiled in Cas’ belly like a fever dream, but an answer never had a chance of bubbling back out. Because a response would’ve been moot before it ever left his lips. Castiel’s pause was too long to be a no, and his fingers had already found their way to Dean’s waist. They were making note of the way his blue button down clung to his sides, like the tee underneath had been soaking in all that sudden, nervous heat since before they’d ever even left the bar.

And so, Dean brushed their lips together, not a hesitation so much as dipping a toe, and a rush of butterflies went right to Cas’ head without mercy. Cas whimpered without meaning to, and Dean landed the meat of the kiss, hands falling down Cas’ neck and dragging that unruly sensation through. His lips were soft and his cheeks, five o’clock gritty. He worked Cas’ mouth open with a roll of his jaw, and a flirty burst of mint graced Cas with the pass of Dean’s tongue.

Castiel melted into it, fingers curling around the back of Dean’s head as he tried desperately to get a handhold on something. Their hips rolled together. Cas stole himself a handful of Dean’s ass. Felt Dean hard against him as he moved against Cas’ thigh.

Dean’s breath went rocky, like he was fighting some kind of tightrope walk of heavy and thin, and the sound he made was dirty enough to sin. Castiel nosed him, combed fingers through his hair as Dean pulled back. His eyes fell hot on Cas’ mouth. The shadows ate the flush from his face, but not the burning heat of it.

“Now tell me again,” he whispered, voice licking at Cas ear and coming out like gravy. “Tell me again what a kiss feels like.”

Castiel huffed, tried to catch his running brain. He couldn’t help himself, hands still at Dean’s waist, he held him there. The both of them were hard, and neither of them were in a hurry to do anything about it. “I would say… green makes a helluva sound,” he whispered back.

He watched a wicked smile crawl through Dean’s face. “There it is,” Dean hummed, dragging a chill with his thumb from the skin he’d bared at Cas’ side, and chasing it to Cas’ neck with a soft breath, a kiss. “An’ I’m just getting started too.”

Then, he pulled away, the absence of his sticky heat leaving Cas bare. The gravel chewed under Dean’s heels as he headed for the street, pausing only to stoop for the jacket he’d shed at some point on the way. He shook it off, straightened his tie. “Let’s go! We’re late!”

Castiel swallowed, hand to his stomach, and peeled himself from the brick.

[stillness-in-green]

Human Debris Masterpost (6/12)

So, before we start, yes, I’m as surprised as anyone that Chad made it out of this week’s episode alive.  You guys, I don’t know what I’m going to do with myself if Akihiro, Chad and Dante all manage to survive this.  Could I possibly get so lucky?

Ride, meanwhile, seems destined to coast gracefully out the end of the show on a tide of corpses. I’m like 80% sure that kid’s parents were the first victims of whatever fell powers they bargained with to avert any doom that ever came for their son.  

In any case, this will not be a hugely long post, as there’s not a lot of red-stripe activity in the finale, so lets get on to it, with...

EPISODE TWENTY ONE — To the Place of No Return

Wildly little to talk about with this one.  Akihiro is our only Human Debris character in the whole thing, so just to hit the highlights:

He’s briefly shown in a lookout position with Mikazuki as Gjallarhorn draws closer. 

He’s also having some trouble adjusting to in-atmosphere combat in Gusion.

Mikazuki speaks a language he understand though (it’s body language), and tells him to follow the sensations rather than trying to think about how to manually make the machine do what he wants—in essence to remember that he’s got an Alaya Vijnana system and doesn’t have to think to make the machine do what he wants.  It’s enough to get his shots on target, in any case.

He also gets this delightful little, “I’m allowed to shoot, right?” moment when Carta’s trying to do her speech—which is nice, since it’s typically Mikazuki that gets those moments, and he’s much more certain about it than Akihiro, who asks permission (after the fact, mind).  

The battle goes on as all the red flags around Biscuit foreshadowed it would, and we move on, to…

EPISODE 22 — Not Yet Home 

A random red-stripe appears!  There’s a Random Brunette—not, I don’t think, meant to be Akihiro—floating around the bay on the transport ship, so I guess there are at least a few around after all.   

Akihiro himself is here as well, but hanging around Gusion’s cockpit instead.

There’s also one standing in the rough circle around where Biscuit has been laid out—which makes sense, as we’ve always gotten the idea that Biscuit is a conscientious, sweet guy to everyone. 

Towards the end of the episode, meanwhile, we see a few in the crowd listening to Orga’s speech to rile up the group after Biscuit’s death. 

And that ls likewise it for this one!  Man, this write-up’s going way faster. 

EPISODE 23 — The Final Lie 

Only one observation on Akihiro here: when Carta issues (heh) her challenge to a 3-on-3 fight, Shino is of course all for it, but Akihiro is very ready to throw down as well.  

It’s easy to miss because Azee and Lafter break in to remind them (like good mafia members) that they don’t gotta do a deal with nobody, because they have the entire upper hand here.  But you can just see Akihiro going to crack his knuckles here.

There’s also three red-stripes in with Yukinojo (rather a first; I assume he’s pulling help from whoever’s available, since he doesn’t have his full usual crew) right as the ending credits start cueing up—one of either side of the screen, and one behind his shoulder.  Actually, looking back on it, this might be because they’re dealing more with mobile workers than mobile suits.  Mobile suits seems to take a bit of literacy to optimally handle, whereas mobile workers may not, and given the kind of work CGS seemed to do back in the day, I’m sure all the ex-Human Debris are extremely familiar with mobile workers.  

And I think Dante and Chad might be back next episode, maybe, so lets move right along. 

EPISODE 24 — A Future Reward 

We open after a time skip of three days, to find Tekkadan badly hurting but hanging in there.  When the mobile suits catch a break, Mikazuki comments about finally being able to eat something, to Shino and Akihiro’s disbelief.  I think it’s a little interesting that neither of them, but Akihiro in particular, hasn’t actually learned this tendency, of eating when you can.  But then, perhaps Akihiro’s gut instinct is more attuned to only getting food after a successful battle, not right in the middle of one.  Certainly food deprivation seems in line with e.g. how the Brewers treated their Human Debris.  

There are a number of group shots in Orga’s big speech in this episode, and I do not see a red stripe anywhere among the listeners, not a one.  There are likely some members of Tekkadan too injured to stand outside and listen to a lengthy morale-boosting speech, but I think it’s likely that any Human Debris brought to this encounter acted, as they often do, with such willful disregard for their lives that if any of them survived, they’re definitely in that too-banged-up-to-walk category.  

Finally, though, in the final push, as the Tekkadan group on the bridge is getting stomped, Eugene shows up with reinforcements, including Chad and Dante—the first time we’ve ever seen either of them actually hand-piloting anything this season, though of course we know from the very first episode (and certainly the Turbines arc) that Dante was capable of it, and could assume Chad was as well. 

Them, I remembered.  You know who I totally didn’t remember showed up here, though? 

It’s these two!  Aston and Derma, the two surviving Brewers kids, here to fight for their place/pay day.  Which is interesting in light of their earlier and later characterization—it’s a little reversed, perhaps, than what you might expect.  But then, I’ve always been of the opinion that Aston cares far more for his comrades than he was willing to accept he did, and Derma may be fronting somewhat, happy in the moment of playing Big Damn Heroes.  And hey, I’m sure the paycheck is an interesting novelty for him.  (I don’t buy it as his primary motivator, though.) 

Anyway, this reinforcement probably single-handedly saves Ride’s life, and that kid will be pulling like three times his weight next season, so good job, team!

Most of the rest of the episode is, of course, dedicated to Ein being an unholy terror-beast, so lets move on, to the final episode of season one. 

EPISODE 25 — Tekkadan 

I don’t often include the robot shots, but here, have this one, showcasing the results of Akihiro’s completely off-screen battle with no less than four Grazes, which he fought solo, and, well… 

I particularly like that he’s nicked someone else’s sword to hold, and may well have beaten a dude to death with their own arm. 

He’s gotten kind of nose-bleedy about it, which could be from an injury, but more likely means he had to wring a bit more than he was used to out of the Gusion himself.

The bridge group’s battle draws to a close with the sighting of a ceasefire signal flare; Chad calls Eugene’s attention to it, and we also get this shot of Dante cracking open his cockpit (very bravely, too).  I’m thinking that’s Aston in the background there, a bit too distant to see the scar.

And then we cut to the wrap-up material.  Akihiro we find hanging out with Eugene and Shino.

The two are talking about finally going home, and the ones they lost being able to rest in peace, which draws one of these rare non-fighty smiles out of Akihiro. 

After some wrap-up with our two main characters and their respective most significant side-character relationships, we come back to the Tekkadan group as a whole for Orga’s series-closing speech.  And throughout this, we get both our last shots of our named red-stripes, as well as, for the sharp-eyed, confirmation that some unnamed ones survived as well! 

The first one we can see was probably in my hypothesized ‘too injured to walk around’ group, as we can see by the huge full-limb cast on his leg and the cane he’s holding.  (Look just to the right of Barbatos, and down, to the left of the blond dude.) 

There’re also the two on the right here, looking much more intact.  So it seems we have a fair number of red-stripes after all, thankfully. Of course, we never got any distinct recurring character designs for any of them other than our named ones, so by the time next season and the new, unstriped uniforms roll around, we will lose any way to track them.  Ah, well. At least Dante and Chad will have more (far more) to do.

Speaking of, here’s our last shot of our main character red stripes, with Chad looking either slightly off-model or like he’s had a bit of a haircut while he was here.  And so serious, Dante!  Don’t worry; you’ll get plenty of time to grin (and lots of time to not) soon enough.  

And, as if to foreshadow people who will also be getting more to do next season, we get a shot of Aston and Derma as well. Aston’s solemn about it; Derma looks a bit like this is the first time he’s ever heard such a great inspirational speech.  

And at least as far as the Human Debris cast are concerned, that’s a wrap on season one! I hope everyone’s enjoyed this first half of the tour, and will continue on with me into the next season, which offers no shortage of opportunities to point and yell about the red-stripe cast, particularly as they start getting enough attention that those less-eagle-eyed viewers/reviewers are finally forced to start noticing them.  Bless.  

[texanredrose]

@makas0ul, part 2, because why not. More arranged marriage miscommunication shenanigans.

Part 1 / Part 2 (here) / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6 / Part 7 / Part 8 / Part 9 / Part 10

Yang drew in a deep breath and let it go slowly, trying to keep herself calm and centered. The steady plodding of her horse's hooves over the worn dirt road helped, as did the rhythmic creaking of her saddle, and she focused all her attention on the subtle music of a small army on the march. It was a trial as of late- she'd always been quick to anger, especially regarding matters close to her heart- but one she was weathering like so many battles over the past decade or so. When the war between the clans first started up and her father became the dreaded Defender of Patch, she stayed one step behind him, learning to fight and lead in his shadow. She wasn't as good at that later part as her sister, she thought, but Ruby had left on some mad quest as per her usual the moment everyone was behaving, leaving the blonde to bear the crown alone. Her father refused to take it- the future belonged to the youth, he'd said, and he trusted his daughter's judgment- but now she wished above anything that he had ascended to the spot in her stead. The job itself wasn't so bad most days, seeing as the various clan leaders respected her authority and themselves were grateful to have a reason to lay aside their weapons and come together once more, but there was always some little detail that proved to be a thorn in her side.

For the past few years, that thorn was the kingdom of Atlas, seemingly hell bent on making war with the Valen provinces. It was a meddlesome annoyance but, seeing as it relied on combat prowess, Yang had triumphed time and time again simply by outlasting her opponents. The Atlesian soldiers couldn't adapt to Vale's warmer climate quick enough and she exploited their recurring dehydration issues to drive them back from the shores. But now, they were at peace with the kingdom across the sea, and her newest headache came in the form of her wife.

Queen Weiss Schnee was a force to be reckoned with in her own right, but in ways that completely blindsided the warrior. Some of it was to be expected in hindsight- they'd grown up half a world away, surrounded by differing customs and values- but she hadn't quite anticipated just how persistent the other woman could be. They were raised differently, they dressed differently- complete opposites. The Atlesian was all long sleeved, high necked dresses, riding side saddle with a straight back and a tilted chin, the absolute picture of grace, while Yang was more comfortable in trousers and an open faced vest barely tied together with a leather cord, sitting astride her big bay with a slight slouch, ready for anything but relaxed all the same. They were already starting to acclimate to one another, though, and the results were... interesting.

It wasn't a bad thing all the time. Ever since her comment about having the thin blade she called a sword but being unable to wield it, Weiss had taken the slight criticism to heart. Valens were warriors by nature, after all, and she thought it a deficiency that she couldn't even begin to hold her own in a fair fight. Luckily, that was easy enough to fix; although he was soft spoken, Yatsuhashi was one of the best swordsmen in Vale and a patient teacher. Where she could not possibly hope to match his strength, Weiss had become quick and flexible, and she was now skilled enough to make even Yang seriously doubt trying to challenge her to a duel even in jest. And, despite the two of them speaking Atlesian when alone- which, if the little smiles she earned were any indication, the blonde was getting better at speaking; at least her wife wasn't suppressing a cringe at her accent anymore, anyway- Valen spilled from her wife's lips in a way that made even some of the older warriors blush and wonder if they were doing it wrong this whole time. That crisp, almost haughty dialect Weiss used just made the words sound so much better and she'd caught a few of her personal guard imitating the accent when they thought no one was looking.

All that was fine. Yang actually found it really amusing, honestly.

What wasn't so amusing, however, was when her own words came back to bite her in the ass.

Weiss had taken it upon herself to learn the language and customs of Vale; unfortunately, Yang had only focused on the former of Atlas. She'd conveniently missed how the foreigners measured their unions and had already paid a bit of a price for her ignorance. Their first week together, spent at Fort Beacon, was rife with cold glares and bristling anger, all because the blonde had refused to consummate their marriage.

She hadn't meant any offense, of course. They were practically strangers and, while she'd seen enough of the woman's character to determine her course of action in trying to win Weiss over, it made her intensely uncomfortable to think about... intimate encounters that didn't feel too dissimilar from a night spent with a prostitute. The expectation that they would just... do it, without taking time to really connect on an emotional level, wasn't something the warrior could wrap her head around; it felt cheap of her to simply assume that she would have the ability to touch her new wife in such a way without earning that privilege first. She thought she was being considerate.

Atlas, however, was different, and Weiss saw their separate bedding arrangements as an insult, apparently.

"Hey, Blondie." The blonde blinked, shifting her gaze from the horizon ahead of them to look at the bear of a man riding beside her with a massive club strapped to his back, his black eyes glinting with mirth. "Your wife's at it again."

Almost dreading what she'd find, Yang turned further in her saddle to look further back along the convoy. She was riding near the front, as per usual, as much out of habit as so she could be one of the first to lay eyes on her hometown again. The Atlesian vacillated between riding at her side and further down, often having spotted something that needed 'correcting' as she put it. The Valens weren't nearly as strict about their marching order but the blonde didn't interfere; the warriors who'd accompanied her as a wedding party would learn first hand that Weiss was not a woman to be trifled with and word would spread quickly if she allowed things to play out. There were a few who had spoken out against the marriage, seeing no reason to shackle Vale as a whole to the kingdom across the sea, but they would likely mind their tongues if rumors started flying that Yang's bride was equally terrifying when incensed.

And, honestly, she was beginning to wonder if the woman possessed any other state of being.

"What is she doing?" Although slightly exasperated with her wife's antics, Yang couldn't help the way her lips curled into a small, dopey grin. Yes, it was something of a headache remaining a step or two away from the woman to ensure she didn't accidentally get in over her head- the blonde had made it abundantly clear that anyone even thinking to harm even one hair on Weiss' head would be sorry- but she honestly got a kick out of watching the prim and proper Atlesian trying to whip the lax Valen into some semblance of order. It was like watching a mountain lion herd cats, but the results were obvious. Everyone sat straighter in their saddle or marched together with a sense of decorum, and though she personally was never addressed about her own poor posture when riding, Yang couldn't help but try her best to emulate her wife's poise. That just meant there were others she could address instead, though.

Today, she seemed fixated on keeping the 'bannermen' marching in time, their burdens carried aloft proudly rather than resting against their shoulders. Yang had only brought them along because it seemed proper- like something out of those old fairy tail books her sister loved- but now it seemed like the group might actually have some idea of how to properly do the job before they reached Patch. Each carried a flag with a different design attached to the long poles, depicting the eight major clans that remained more-or-less intact now that the war was over.

Junior offered with a helpless shrug. "She's something else, huh?"

"Yeah," the blonde replied with a fond sigh. The whole lot were teens on the verge of adulthood, far too young to be veterans of the civil war and the defense against Atlas. They were largely too intimidated by the crowned Dragon of Vale to think about refusing her wife's orders, but they were a good bunch.

"You gonna go save 'em?"

"They're fine." She turned back around to face the horizon. "But, make sure they get an extra dessert tonight, would ya? I think they deserve it."

"As you wish, my liege," he mockingly said though she didn't even think to take offense to the tone. Junior was one of the men she'd fought beside during the largest defense against the Atlesian army during their initial invasion just south of Patch. It was the site of the thickest fighting, when Atlas was at the height of its power and motivation; breaking the invasion turned the remainder of the war in Vale's favor and she couldn't have done it without the man's club bashing down those who refused to fall to her fists.

Idly, her gaze fell to Ember Celica, once again adorning her wrists and catching the midday sun. Once their week was up, they'd traded weapons back, but in the meantime they'd established a sort of ritual. Yang was never allowed to drape the thin swordbelt around her waist herself; that was Weiss' duty and hers alone. Likewise, the blonde carefully strapped her cestus onto pale, thin forearms with reverence. Now, the process was reversed, of course, and she took a bit of pride and a larger amount of happiness in being able to slip her arms around the woman's waist to fix Myrtenaster in place on her wife's smaller frame. Whether or not that same amount of care was returned depended on Weiss' mood, which seemed to be growing more sour as of late, harsher tugs on the leather fastening her cestus in place.

It wasn't until last night, just as they'd made camp on the other side of Forever Fall and a day's ride from the shore, that Ren had explained the situation to her, at least in part. A fearsome fighter in his own right, the young man was much more suited to studies than war and had taken the liberty of bribing a member of the Schnees' entourage in exchange for a few scrolls on customs and courtesies. When he finally got to identifying and translating the segment regarding marriage customs, the young man immediately brought the issue to Yang's attention, having correctly guessed she was not as informed on the subject.

Just as it had hurt Yang to consider having her weapon returned to her, there was a similar dishonor in refusing to consummate their marriage. The blonde had no idea and Weiss had yet to say as much outright but that had to be it; in trying to pay the woman proper respect, she'd unintentionally insulted the Atlesian.

"Junior, we should get in just before sundown, right? You think the ferries will still run?"

"The bigger ones, no, but I'm sure there's a fisherman or two willing to make a few trips. Some of us would have to stay behind with the horses, though." He shrugged again, shifting in his saddle impatiently. Riding always made him antsy, for some reason. "You that eager to be back home?"

"Yeah, actually," she said, glancing over her shoulder again. With Weiss riding beside them, the little retinue of banner bearers looked like proper soldiers, their burdens lightly flapping in the breeze. "I definitely need to be home by tonight."

"Then you will be," he replied simply, nudging his steed to move a little quicker. Those on foot would be able to keep up so long as they didn't hold the pace too long and Yang found herself focusing intently on how she would approach the matter. Honestly, she'd prefer to wait, but if that was viewed as a problem for her wife, then there simply was no other way around it.

She had to do something.

Twilight in Patch was always a treat. The softly lapping waves slipping along the shore brought with them a cool night breeze that smelled of salt, the occasional gull calling in the distance a counterpoint to the low drum of the city market. A dense copse of trees were all that separated the Xiao Long home from either, tucked away from sight in a small clearing. The house itself wasn't too impressive- before the civil war erupted, they farmed their own food and hunted game, and every beam was set in place by a member of her family, none of whom were above a basic skill set- but it was sturdy, cozy, and much quieter than their makeshift camps and Fort Beacon.

Yet, Yang couldn't find it within herself to accept the calm. Her father was off in the village proper, entertaining the visiting clan leaders for the night so the newlyweds could have some privacy. Both of them would have to weather their steady stream of congratulations at yet another feast the following day- while her wife likely wouldn't see it as such, the attempted invasion was the best boost Vale could've hoped for towards healing, not only uniting the kingdom against a common enemy but providing additional supplies whenever Atlesian cargo was captured, which meant a lot of celebrations before winter hit and they would have to use their own stores- before seeing to a few administrative duties the blonde was already dreading. Leading a kingdom into war was certainly easier than managing it at times of peace, or at the very least it was more entertaining.

"Is there a particular reason you're staring aimlessly out the window?"

Blinking, Yang shifted her attention towards the doorway, noting her wife's stiff posture as she raised a single pale brow in askance, arms crossed over her chest. "I was just thinking about tomorrow."

And avoiding thinking about tonight, she mentally added while turning to face Weiss properly. It was strange, returning to her childhood home as not only a Queen but a married one besides, and briefly she considered if her father's subtle present of a new, larger bed was more appropriate than a new room would've been. At least then there would be no memories to distort; she half expected Ruby to come dashing in any second, jumping up onto her bed to hear one more bedtime story before retreating to her own room.

"I'm surprised they didn't attend the wedding," the Atlesian said, her voice even and expression neutral, but Yang was getting better at reading her wife's posture. Weiss was tense and wary, as if expecting something ill in response.

"I didn't want to risk tempers flaring." Furrowing her brows, the blonde took a few steps away from the window, slowly closing the distance between them. "While I know attacking Atlas would be a dumb idea, some of the clan leaders are still angry about the damages done to their villages, their people. We might be less strict in our courtesies in Vale but we're also not above offense; having a bunch of drunk warriors with grudges in the same room as their former enemies when none of us know each other's customs as well as our own... it just seemed like a recipe for disaster."

Lilac eyes were trained on her wife's form, expecting at least some of her stiffness to slide away- and it did, just barely. However, the woman seemed more inclined to accept the answer for what it was and turn herself to other things. "I suppose my room is down the hall-"

"No," she said, her heart rate picking up slightly as she spoke. It still made her nervous, because to her mind she was asking for something she'd yet to earn and that always made her anxious, but all she received was a flat look at first.

"Ah. Then I'm in this room?"

"Yes. With me." She tried to sound resolute but broke at the last second, hunching her shoulders slightly. "If that's okay?"

That seemed to break the metaphorical mask Weiss perpetually wore, surprise flashing across her expression before it was shoved aside. There was no hiding the little bit of hope that seemed to take up residence in those blue eyes, though. "Why now?"

"What I said about not knowing each other's customs- that's something I'm guilty of." Her gaze lowered to the wooden planks beneath their feet. "I spent so much time learning your language, I forgot to even find out what Atlas' marriage customs might be like, to compare them to our own. That's my fault and I apologize. You only asked of me to treat you as my wife and, though I felt like I was doing that right by Vale standards, I wasn't by yours because... we... well-"

"You haven't bedded me yet." The woman supplied, saving her fumbling for the word. It was a blunt and crass way of putting it but Yang suspected that was at least in part for her own benefit; the informal language did seem to hint that her wife might not be as cross with her as she'd assumed. "You aren't wrong. By Atlesian standards, we aren't wed. But this is Vale-"

"And you are a daughter of Atlas." The blonde raised her gaze to meet those peerless pools of blue and edged forward a little further with that interjection, still mindful of any sign of retreat from the other woman. It still felt too soon, too abrupt, but she didn't want to continue hurting Weiss, or forcing the woman to disregard her heritage. "I want to respect that. Even if it still... makes me uncomfortable."

"You're not the first to say so." Initially, the non-sequitur threw Yang off, but she quickly realized what the problem was when her wife's hand moved unconsciously to brush beneath the scar that neatly bisected her left eye before catching herself and looking away.

It suddenly hit the Queen of Vale harder than a warhammer. The night of their wedding, she'd lead both of them to their temporary room, which was just one of the nicer lodgings at the Fort that was spruced up a bit for the ceremony. Her headdress was already off but Weiss hadn't removed hers until after they were in the room and before Yang brought up their separate sleeping arrangements. Honestly, she'd almost forgotten how to speak Valen much less Atlesian when confronted by the beautifully pale features of her bride, how her white bangs fell across her forehead like tiny wisps of moonlight, how her eyes shone like gemstones, and that cute button nose that hindered the severity of her expressions only slightly. The scar- faded and uneven- was an after thought, something she noticed and immediately did her best to ignore, but not out of disgust. An injury like that, after all, could've just as easily taken the woman's eye or worse, and the thought was more distressing than she would've guessed possible. The thought of her hurt... even if they hadn't even known the other existed at the time, it made her sick.

So, not only had she failed to heed one of Atlas' customs, causing Weiss some amount of grief, she'd also mistakenly lead her wife to believe that the unintentional rejection was caused by something the Atlesian obviously felt ashamed of still.

"No, Weiss, that's not what I meant." Throwing caution to the wind, the blonde stepped up and lifted both hands, cupping the other woman's cheeks softly. Aside from outfitting the other for the day, physical contact between them was sparse- again because she hadn't felt like she'd earned that privilege yet- but there were only so many ways Yang could think of to offer comfort and reassurance, all of which required touch. "You are beautiful- you- you're-" She cursed, unable to find the right words and switching to her mother tongue to save them both. "Please, believe me; you are like a legend come to life, a Goddess walking among mortals. The sun is jealous of your radiance and the moon of your composure; you put the stars of the night sky to shame. I'm so sorry I made you think otherwise. It was never my intention."

There was a moment of silence, skepticism showing plain in her wife's face before blue eyes flicked to hers, shoulders dropping ever so slightly as tension slid away. "Then... what did you mean? What... what about me makes you uncomfortable?"

They were both using Valen now and, at this point, Yang felt it was easier to simply roll with it rather than switch back to Atlesian. "It's not you, Weiss. Well, I suppose that's not- what I mean is." She took a deep breath and let it out, trying to center herself. "Weiss, just because we're married doesn't mean I can touch you without your permission. I don't believe that." She rubbed her thumbs lightly along the other woman's cheekbones in an attempt to soothe and almost distractedly happy when she felt slim hands come to rest on her hips. "When we left the feasting hall, I didn't even know if you'd be willing to stay with me, much less have me touch you. I didn't want to pressure you into anything; we'd hardly met, you were forced into this, and I'm... I'm not the one you would've picked, if you were given a choice in the first place."

"I think you sell yourself short, Yang," the Atlesian said, her voice soft. "You... possess a certain kind of charm that would be entirely alien in Atlas. Had we met in my court instead of yours, my opinion of you wouldn't necessarily be a poor one." Tentatively, Weiss moved her hands, gloved fingers tracing across the skin left exposed by the blonde's vest, delineation in muscles earned from years fighting and riding. "You're strong and kind, firm and gentle, powerful and sincere. These things... do not often come together in my homeland."

The blonde frowned, lilac eyes drifting to the faint scar as worry filled her. "No offense, but your people sound a little... barbaric." Somehow, that brought a chuckle out of the other woman, which was enough of a boost to her confidence for Yang to move a little closer, allowing her left hand to drop down to her wife's shoulder. The right remaind, though, her thumb tracing the bottom of the scar. "Will you tell me one day how this happened?"

"I'll tell you right now." Weiss closed her eyes, any trace of amusement absent as she continued. "It's my father's belief that children should be seen and not heard, and even then only when called upon. It was a lesson I... forgot once too often."

Yang instantly felt her blood boil, absolutely livid at the implication, but she had to be sure even as heat suffused her being. "Your father did this?"

"Not personally, but it was on his order." The Atlesian turned her head, away from her touch. "It was years ago. Old news."

She wanted to argue, clenching her jaw for a moment to keep the words on her tongue and set her right hand on the woman's shoulder. Even if she itched to regain the former contact, she wouldn't push, at least for the moment. It took a supreme amount of effort but she managed to go for a different approach, though there was no hiding the anger lurking in her tone. "Your father's never allowed near our kids unsupervised."

Blue eyes turned to her, half of a laugh out of her mouth before it was cut off. Even if she'd managed to keep from expressing her rage in a direct manner, there was one way it always showed through. "Your eyes..."

"I'm upset," she said, as if that was all the explanation she needed for suddenly sporting blood red pupils. It was something she'd noticed over the years warring with Atlas, yet another difference between their homes. The kingdom across the sea relied on steel, bulk, and advanced weapons to win their battles while Vale's warriors focused on skill, camaraderie, and the development of their inner chi. The blonde's always manifested with a surge of heat and blood red eyes, somehow empowering her to weather blows that would tear weaker souls to shreds.

Weiss seemed to notice her higher body temperature a moment after her eyes, appearing somewhat surprised, but she didn't draw away. She did glance at the hands on her shoulders, though, making a thoughtful noise in the back of her throat. "I... suppose that explains why half of Atlas is convinced you're part dragon."

"It's just my chi. It tends to flare when I'm hurt or mad." The warrior pulled in a deep breath, trying to center herself. "And right now I'm just... I'm so angry. What sort of father would do that to his own child? Why weren't you allowed to speak your mind?" She was going in the wrong direction, her voice beginning to raise the more she spoke, so she cut herself off with a growl. "He was probably just jealous you're smarter than he'll ever be."

Perhaps insulting the man wasn't the best move but it certainly went a long way towards cooling her temper. Had she known before the wedding, venting her frustration might've included at least one punch, but she suspected that's all it would've taken. The soon-to-be former King of Atlas looked as though he was made of broken glass, all jutting edges poorly smoothed over by an unsteady hand. One good shot might've crushed his skull in and she didn't feel particularly remiss for having that thought.

What remained of her rage was snuffed out in the blink of an eye as she became abruptly aware that Weiss was moving. The blonde expected her wife to draw away, gain distance, as most often did when she became peeved. Instead, the woman moved closer, the hands that spent most of the conversation tracing along the grooves of her abs slipping around to her back and pulling her closer. It was exhilarating; Weiss didn't often initiate contact between them, and even that was limited. A touch at the shoulder or elbow for attention, a brush of hands in reassurance, or a playful swat after a bad joke or a particularly awful pronunciation were about as far as the two had gotten.

This was actually their first hug and all the tension keeping Yang's shoulders rigid flowed out at that realization, her own arms encircling the Atlesian to hold her gently as she bent her head down to whisper in her ear. "No one else is going to hurt you like that, ever again." She felt emboldened by the positive contact and gently pressed her lips against her wife's temple. "I promise."

"That's a difficult pledge to make," Weiss replied, though she didn't seem perturbed by the kiss.

"So? I'm the Queen of Vale and the Dragon of Patch." She closed her eyes, soaking in the feel of the smaller woman pressed against her. "It doesn't matter how hard it is; I'll do it. You're worth protecting, Weiss."

At that, her wife drew back ever so slightly, a silent request for her to open her eyes and look. The moment she did, the blonde saw the slight wonder sparkling in those blue eyes, as if some part of the Atlesian was unable to process her words. Finding herself suddenly lacking the willpower to resist- and hoping she wasn't overstepping her bounds- Yang quickly snuck in another kiss, this time aiming for the scar. The reaction was immediate- a slight jolt that passed through her wife's frame- but no motion was made to push her away or discourage her. Instead, the moment the blonde drew back to reaffirm her promise, a slim hand quickly slipped up to cup her jaw and guide her into a proper kiss.

This time, it was the warrior's turn to jump, shocked slightly at how good it felt and how her eyes slipped shut seemingly of their own accord just before she pressed into the contact. There was a bit of pride welling in her chest at having gotten this far, earning this little bit of glorious affection from the Atlesian, but that would be something she could reflect on later. The matter at hand was keeping up with the woman as she suddenly drew back, trying to hide her sudden shortness of breath by surreptitiously inhaling deeply. Seeing as Yang's arms were still wrapped around her, though, it was a futile effort, and one she abandoned completely when the blonde let out a breathless laugh, leaning forward to rest their foreheads together.

"Well, that was... something." Weiss offered, obviously flustered for perhaps the first time in their all-too-brief relationship.

"Yeah." The blonde smiled. "But, the choice is still yours, you know. We could just sleep. It was a long trip and a night in a proper bed will do us both some good."

Her offer seemed to be carefully considered before blue eyes flashed with determination. "I would rather we consummate our union, Yang. Some part of me thinks my father might be foolish enough to try taking Vale again, either by brute force or subterfuge. I want there to be no doubt where my loyalties lie."

"With me?"

The Atlesian drew back enough so Yang could get the full effect of how she rolled her eyes. "Yes, you dolt, with you."

"I'm just making sure," she replied, trying to sound at least a little annoyed but failing miserably as a wide smile split her features, to the point she was sure her cheeks would start hurting if she held it long enough.

Although she was already missing the contact, the blonde stepped back so she could begin undressing. She was quickly stopped by her wife, intent on tackling the task herself. First went her weapon, each cestus laid with reverential care on the desk pressed against one wall, and then her vest, followed by her trousers, which were all relatively simple. However, lithe fingers slid them away from her body with such deft precision that Yang almost had to wonder how often her wife had undressed another before settling on the more likely explanation: she was simply too meticulous to fumble with the simple buttons and ties. When the tables were turned and the warrior was faced with the task of removing the dress- which laced up the back and how did Weiss even manage to dress herself every day anyway?- she found the other woman's calm instructions easy and offered with only a little teasing lilt to her voice.

Unlike the Atlesian, who had remained almost clinical during her turn, Yang couldn't help but let her fingers wander across newly exposed skin. She didn't need the aid of a mirror to be aware of the scars crisscrossing her own back, barely hidden by her luscious hair now that her vest was removed, and she could see well enough the ones on her arms and knuckles from more battles than she could count. In contrast, her wife's skin was smooth and unblemished, except for the mark marring her face, and further cementing in the blonde's mind that she was, in fact, blessed enough to have married some forgotten deity trapped on the mortal plane. Everywhere she touched, a shiver followed, until finally Weiss refused to allow her exploration to continue and lead both of them to the bed. Only once they were both laying down, underthings discarded with far less care than the rest of their respective ensembles, was the blonde allowed to continue.

It was slow going, especially at first. Committing to memory a thousand responses, touching and touching again to see if the same reaction would come or if it was just surprise, and once her wife even commented on it.

"At this rate, we'll need days to finish this, you know."

"Then days we'll take," she replied, ensuring she met the woman's gaze as a small smile curled her lips. "I'm in no rush."

It wasn't perfect. They were learning together what worked and what didn't and the Atlesian was reluctant to speak up on some of those things, so Yang had to read her body language, the pitch of her voice, the hitch in her sighs to determine her pleasure. The blonde was easier, more straight forward, but she kept in the back of her mind to not ask too much. Then they moved together, out of sync but eventually finding their rhythm, giving and taking in equal measure. There were still some rough spots but, for a fight night together as a wedded couple, it certainly wasn't bad.

When they finally came to rest late into the night, covered in sweat and curled up together, the Queen of Vale felt peace descend on her much easier than it had in the past six months, and she hardly had the presence of mind to draw a blanket around them before slipping off to sleep.

The morning light streamed in through the open window, birds singing their song loudly for all to hear. Faintly, she could remember waking before the sunrise in this very room, rushing downstairs to help her father with breakfast for themselves and Ruby before following him out to their small garden, and cutting wood when she got older to take to market. The simple joys of a life filled with hard work, before the wars and the blood and the crown she now bore, and she sighed slightly at the mental acknowledgement that she'd already overslept. No doubt her father or one of the clan leaders would come banging on the door soon, calling her to the town square to introduce her wife to each of the grizzled old warriors and those set to take their places, but the moment she started to shift, a voice cold as ice froze her in place.

"Don't. You. Dare."

Blinking the world into some small semblance of order, Yang noticed that her arm was loosely curled around Weiss' waist, pulling the smaller woman's frame against her as they lay together. Suddenly, all the memories from the night before came rushing back and there was no stopping her from carefully leaning over and pressing a kiss to the Atlesian's cheek. "Morning."

"Yes, it is morning, very astute observation." Her voice was thick from sleep and her eyes remained closed but there was nothing subtle about the way her wife pressed back against her, one arm laying over the blonde's. "Now, stop moving. I want another hour, at least."

There was a cheeky comment on the tip of her tongue about having tuckered the woman out so thoroughly but the woman did have a tendency to be a bit cranky early in the morning. "Kept you up with my snoring, huh?"

"Actually, you don't snore when you sleep on your side, I've noticed," Weiss replied, snuggling under the covers a bit further. "I'm simply comfortable and we just finished a long trip. Is an extra hour too much to ask?"

"Nah, not at all." Closing her eyes, the blonde inhaled deeply and let it go, happy to lounge in the morning with her wife for a while longer yet.

The worst that could happen would be the clan leaders starting the celebrations without them and, honestly, that was fine by her. Everyone would soon know of the Atlesian one way or another and she didn't doubt they would all be as awestruck as she was. Unfortunately for the lot of them, she was the one lucky enough to be married to the woman.

So, that was a thing. *shrug* I may come back to this eventually. No idea what I'd do with it but fluffball-warlord-uxorious Yang is a lot of fun to write. There’s now a Part 3.