#i think they just welded it all together and were like 'ok now you can only upgrade the RAM fuck you'

[halfmoondaze]

I got some angsty angst so one of jacks ex’s sends a video of her jack doing it but it was taken before jack and y/n get together but obviously the reader will be mad or at least disgusted

The Leak

Jack retuned home worned out from a stressful day at the studio. Before he could even close the front door, Y/N walked to the foyer and confronted Jack. 

“Hey-”

“What is this?” hurt and anger was evident in her voice as she took her phone in her hand showing him, the thumbnail of the leaked video from twitter. 

It was a video of Jack and her ex doing it. 

“Y/N it’s not what you think” he said trying to remain calm. “I can explain-”

“Is this how you spend your time when you say you’re in the studio?” 

“Babe, I was in the studio” 

“Bullshit” she said as tears welded in her eyes. “Why did you keep this from me?” 

“We weren’t even together” 

“So, is that make everything ok now? I had to find this through your ex who thought it would be amusing to DM me the video, thinking she was being so kind for giving me a heads up before leaking it” 

Jack ran his hand through his curls. 

“Y/N I’m so sorry you had to go through that” 

“You really thought I wasn’t going to find out, huh?” she crossed her arms. 

Jack didn’t say anything. 

“I thought so” she said before storming to their shared bedroom. 

As the night wore on, Y/n found herself tossing and turning in bed. The room felt empty and cold in his absence and guilt started consuming her as she replayed the argument in her head over and over. 

She was so angry that she didn’t consider Jack’s feelings into all of this. After all, it was his privacy that was being invaded by someone he thought he could trust at some point. If the roles were reversed, Jack would for sure be so protective and reassuring towards her and would be taking action in no time. And what did she do? Whine and cry and make it all about her. To say she was embarrassed was an understatement. 

She quietly got up and made her way to the guest room, where Jack was. 

As she approached the room, she hesitated. But ultimately pushed the door quietly. 

Jack was lying there, his eye wide open as he scrolled through his phone.

Then their eyes met, and to her surprise, there was no trace of anger or sadness in his expression. Instead, he seems like he was waiting for her to come. 

“Jack” she whispered. “Can I come in?”  He put his phone down and turn the bedside table before nodding. 

She quietly sat beside him in the bed as he looked at her. 

“I’m sorry” she said with her voice almost in a murmur. 

He took her hand. 

A few tears fell through her eyes. “I was stupid and didn’t give you a chance to explain and I completely disregard your feelings” she gulped. “This is such a violating situation and at any moment I asked you how you were feeling” 

He reached out for her and pulled her for a hug as she broke into tears.

And he just held her until she calmed down. 

“I know you wouldn’t do it to hurt me. But it looked kind of bad, didn’t it?” he laughed softly. 

Y/N nodded. 

“I’m sorry” 

“It’s ok” he kissed the top of her head as he pulled her into an embrace. “I had already forgiven you” 

They both laid back in bed and in the silence of the night, they held each other close until they fell asleep.

[jo-harrington]

Corroded Coffin Fest - Day 19 - In the Garage

Summary: The boys get crafty...

Word Count: 690

Rating: T

Warnings/Themes: Older!Corroded Coffin (it's the late 90s...), the pure boys will be boys energy, car speak thats probably wrong

Note: Big thanks to @courtingchaos for being a trashcan with me while everyone was asleep.

Check Out the Main Post for @corrodedcoffinfest here! Even if you didn’t start on Day 1, you can still join!

Tagging: @the-unforgivenn at her request.

You can find my masterlist here.

Please do not interact if you are not 18+.

Enjoy!

They’re too old for shit like this.

Hands down. Point blank, end of story.

Still, they’re walking through the Hawkins junkyard looking for all manner of bits and bobs for their newest “project."

They'd honestly all grumbled about it when Jeff told them his idea: building a go-kart. They all had work and other commitments and if they were going to do anything, they should be practicing and working on getting their demo tape finished.

Eddie was the one to hone in the vision, though; not a go-kart, think bigger. Think cooler. As much as he hated to say it, the punk rockers had something going with their rat rods and beaters.

“And it would look so fucking cool in a music video,” Eddie pointed out.

That was all the convincing they needed to build their own car.

Now, Eddie wouldn't consider himself an expert mechanic but he could get by. He'd worked on his van for years, Jeff's car too, and provided tune ups for neighbors every now and again.

But this? This was new territory. This would take time and work and extra sets of hands.

Gareth was the most precious about it, stating that his hands were the money, their bread and butter.

"You do realize all of us need our hands to play," Dave pointed out. "You're not special just because you're the drummer."

"I just don't wanna break my wrist again if it gets smashed under the two ton shitbox we're building, asshole"

"You'll be fine, just lift with your legs."

It also required more time spent back home in Hawkins, but it was a sacrifice they were willing to make.

“For the music video" became their mantra as they imagined themselves featured on MTV amongst flashing images and psychedelic colors as their songs blasted in the background.

Wayne was happy to see them, of course.

He got breakfast with the boys every weekend before they went on their little scavenging missions at the junkyard. From there, they spent the rest of their Saturday at the Emersons, turning the two-car garage that they used to have band practices into some strange auto shop where they learned to weld and install suspension and everything that wasn't just an oil change.

They even leaned into the shitbox-style that Gareth had criticized, and Jeff created a little experiment for making some of the pieces of metal rust and corrode intentionally.

They were Corroded Coffin, after all.

"Just don't get tetanus," Mrs. Emerson warned when she brought snacks out to them.

Unfortunately they all ended up needing a booster shot by the time all was said and done.

Little by little it came together.

They each had their specific vision, using other fictional cars as inspiration--the Monkeemobile and the DRAG-U-LA--but they agreed that they needed to keep with the theme, and in the end they built something reminiscent of a hearse.

A long body with panels that were probably poorly welded together, but they made the best of that, hoping that the Frankensteining of it would look more purposeful. In fact, they ended up naming their rod Frank because of it.

Steady hands from hours of painting mini figs led to pinstriping wherever they could. There were exposed pipes that looked like rib and an extra set of headlights that looked like angry, glowing eyes. Eddie even sacrificed one of his rings and soldered it to look like an earring. Absolutely badass.

"Ok but can it run?" Jeff asked nervously.

They'd gotten it started many times, tested to make sure everything worked...but now it was a real put-your-money-where-your-mouth-is moment of truth for them.

They piled in, strapping themselves into the makeshift, mismatched seats and then prayed that it would all go right.

"Wait!" Eddie cried out right before he was about to start it. "Frank needs a little good luck charm."

From around his neck he pulled his lucky guitar pick--one he caught as his first concert, the one that he'd worn for years--and he wound it around the rearview mirror.

"Alright boys," he breathed. "Here goes nothing."

They all held their breath as he turned the key in the ignition.

And with a vrooom Frank started with a purr.

[cairavende]

Worm Arc 19 thoughts:

Hopefully this is the only time I have more than a month wait between arc recaps. I was distracted.

Not a long arc really, but god damn did a lot happen.

My daughter is no longer eaten . . . ate . . . aten . . .

My daughter is no longer inside of a creature. That's good. Even though I was obviously 100% fine at the end of arc 18. I'm just more fine now.

Big props to Weld for just going swimming in a giant flesh pool and pulling people (and dogs!) out. He's an ok guy.

Based on the weird "dreams" Skitter was having while inside Echidna I am running on the assumption that the clones are pulled from alternate reality versions of the consumed person where said person had died. Well, not the clones themselves really, but the powers of the clones (and possibly their personalities/memories). Not sure it will end up mattering, with Echidna being dead.

But basically I think the dreams were partially visions of alternate realities.

I've been on the "alternate realities are gonna play a big role and are tied to powers and everything" boat for awhile now, but this arc finally brought that all to the forefront of everything. Just with Scapegoat and Scrub's power, clone Eidolon's powers, the door, and such. So that's cool!

Speaking of Scapegoat, I love his ridiculous little power. I saw it coming the second I saw the name and I was enjoying every second of it.

"She’s fucking blind!?" has gotta be one of the best moments in Worm so far.

Skitter finally realizes that Tattletale has been very clearly taking actions to portray her as the leader to everyone else. Cause bad ass lesbian super villain trio is everything.

Skitter hard carried the second Echidna fight. Everyone would probably be fucked if she wasn't there.

Starting off with taking out the teleporter Grue clone. My girl knows rule number 1. First, GEEK THE MAGE!

And of course she was using her bugs to monitor the entire battlefield, but then she starts giving information and direction to everyone. Kept track of clones, preventing any (hopefully) from escaping). And taking out a fair share of them herself!

Fucking just full on use swarm speech to speak to everyone across the battlefield at once! FUCK YES SHE IS BADASS!

I'm sure Shatterbird won't show up again and isn't going to be an issue at all!

And she's the one that sets up the trap to cut Echidna in half and contain clone Eidolon so Miss Militia can take him out! Clockblocker gets partial credit for helping I guess. But still, Skitter saved all their asses 10 times over.

Also Clockblocker is obsessed with my daughter. Kid has it baaaaaaaad.

I love that in the first few chapters there is some teasing of Cauldron's secrets being spilled a little bit, then Legend completely reveals that Cauldron exists but lies about details, and then suddenly clone Eidolon just dumps everything out there!

Faultline and crew - "We…worked on finding info on Cauldron for a year…and…he just…he shouted it out."

And through all of this Tattletale just out here like "I'm gonna tear a hole in reality!" God I love this reckless chaos child.

Gully deserves to punch a few Cauldron people. As a treat.

Lisa "I took one look at you and instantly knew I would take over the fucking city just to see you smile" Wilbourn over here! GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!

SERIOUSLY IT'S SO GAY!

"OH NO LOOK AT THAT POOR TRAUMATIZED CUTE GIRL, I CAN FIX HER!" IS THE MOST LESBIAN THING

Real quote: "Maybe- maybe when the interuniversal trade takes off. Can you imagine? With me and you as the top dogs? The whole world will pay attention to us." HOW CAN SHE BE THIS LESBIAN?

CHATTERBUG CHATTERBUG CHATTERBUG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (SMUGBUG SMUGBUG SMUGBUG if you prefer)

THEY CAN RULE THE WORLD TOGETHER AND I WILL FORGIVE ALL WRONGS DONE TO REACH THAT POINT CAUSE GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!! (Also obviously Rachel will be there too.)

(I'm sure Taylor crumpling the papers from Dinah in her fists at the end of the arc isn't ominous at all.)

Blasto Interlude thoughts:

Sucks to be Blasto I guess

Accord is terrible as always, glad to see more of him. Love his minions.

Colin can't do anything right. Seriously dude you cut Bonesaw in half and still lost! You have magic cut through anything and turn it to dust tech and you couldn't kill her! God.

Dragon is hard carrying this SH9 hunting team.

She got Manton! That's crazy! Good job robot daughter!

I 100% do not expect Siberian to stay gone. I mean outright Bonesaw is gonna be cloning people and she can probably get some of his DNA. But even without that, it was just too convenient, happening off screen like that. I dunno. It's not safe.

Also Blasto, I'm really sorry about what happened to you but also you tried to make a half Simmy clone! God damn that was the dumbest thing you could ever have done. You are so lucky it didn't work (probably), cause if it did it would have been because she planned it. God damn.

Time for the Slaughterhouse 99 or whatever. Gonna really suck for people.

Parahumans Online Interlude thoughts:

Timeskip!!! Shortish timeskip but still! It's been so day to day for so long so suddenly jumping ahead was surprising.

Greg from act 1 is back! And also kinda a dick. And probably has a Thinker 1 power. Tattletale light basically. Fits with what Taylor said about him in act 1 too.

GstringGirl is probably Sveta, that feels right.

Glad to see the Case 53s making their own team, that's a good start.

WagTheDog wanting to work for Bitch is super cute! I'm glad it seems like that is going to work out.

Loved seeing some of the stuff of people talking about Skitter. I've been wanting to see what the general public has been saying about her cause from an outside perspective the stuff she has done seems 10 times crazier than it is, and it is already crazy.

Emma Interlude thoughts:

Fuck this bitch

Sure she went through a really hard situation and she has terrible parents and it is easy to see how she got to where she is, but that doesn't excuse her actions. I still don't like her at all.

I don't know how much more I need to say, except that Alan shouldn't have left his traumatized daughter home alone with the instructions "If you feel like doing something bad please call the therapist who's number I put on the fridge" christ dude. You are worse every time you show up.

Like learning that Alan knows everything about Sophia as well? Just makes him even worse! Probably upgraded from a 3 fire asshole to a 4 fire asshole by now.

[djarindroid]

For the requests, what about Cassian and acts of service? He seems like someone who wouldn’t express his love with words very often, but more so with actions.

(sorry this took so long to respond to, the second I opened up requests life got really crazy) ok ok this is so accurate, you just know Cassian would go above and beyond for you 🥹

Helping Hand

Pairing: Cassian x Reader Summary: Its chaos at the rebel base, but you have a mysterious helper... Word Count: 1236

It had been a grueling day, you had woken to the sound of sirens as ships returned to the base. You’d sprinted down to the hangar to discover, for lack of a better word, a shit show. Multiple ships had returned with smoke pouring out of them and blaster marks littering their sides. You didn’t have time to ask what had happened as before you knew it you’d been swept into the chaos of it all.

That was hours ago, you weren’t even sure how long you’d been working. You’d been making your way around the ships, trying your best to fix what you could. Completely covered in dirt and oil, you groaned as you laid beneath the 4th (maybe it was the 5th) ship. Staring at the mass of tangled wires above you, you could barely focus your eyes and tell where one cord ended and the other began.

Having been in such a rush to get to work that you hadn’t stopped to grab your morning cup of caff. You definitely didn’t have time to go get it now, you rubbed your eyes in an effort to refocus. Before you could reach up to begin working you felt something tap your ankle, you peaked down to where your lower legs stuck out from the bottom of the ship. You saw two feet standing next to your own, and a hand reaching down placing a cup of caff next to you before the two feet retreated.

You slid out as quickly as you could to thank your savior but there were too many people in the area to figure out who’d brought you the cup. You took a moment to savor the smell of the hot caff as you picked it up. You took a sip, the taste instantly made you feel more alert and awake. You glanced around the area attempting to catch a glimpse of the mysterious person. Really it could've been anyone, maybe another mechanic who’s been down here as long as you.

With a renewed sense of determination you dove back under the ship, ready to carry on with the task at hand. The re-wiring was a breeze, you easily completed it in half the time you expected to and you put it down to the gifted caff. 

You moved onto the next job, raring to get stuck in. This one wouldn’t be so bad, it just needed the exterior patching up where the blasters had broken through the shield. You grabbed your gear and clambered up on top of the ship. 

After inspecting the damage you knew you’d just need to weld the exterior together, you reached into your supplies to search for your protective goggles only to find they weren’t there. Sighing you climbed back down off of the ship and jogged over to your station. You searched high and low but with no luck.

You decided to go back to the ship and think of another way to solve the problem but upon your return you found your goggles waiting for you. Maybe you’d just missed them before but you were sure they hadn’t been there when you left. You glanced around but couldn’t see anything or anyone out of the ordinary, shrugging, you got back to work. 

A few more small things happened throughout your day, a glass of water appearing just as you started to get thirsty, a towel appearing when you spilled oil over yourself, your wrench making a reappearance after you lost it a few weeks ago. You didn’t dwell on it for too long, for all you knew you could be that over tired that all of this was  stuff you were doing. 

There was one job left for you to do, it wasn’t anything major, the head mechanic had even told you to leave it for the day but you were determined to get this done. If you got this done that would be everything back to as normal as it can be, but you were so tired. Everything ached as you tried to figure out what you needed to do. Surely it couldn’t hurt to sit down for 5 minutes, just to reset yourself. That would be ok.

You lowered yourself onto a nearby crate with a groan, your body grateful for the brief break. The busy day caught up to you instantly, the exhaustion washed over you as you battled to keep your eyes open. A battle that you quickly lost, sleep quickly consumed you as you fell backwards where you rested upon a wall.

You awoke suddenly, unsure with how much time had passed but it was now completely dark outside the hangar. ‘Shoot,’ you huffed out, you hadn’t meant to fall asleep, you wanted to get the last job done before you went back to your bunk. You prepared to stand up, when you noticed a large coat covering you.

A smile crept its way on your face, you’d recognise this coat anywhere. Cassian was back. As you pulled the coat closer to you everything from the day started to fall into place, Cassian was your mystery helper. He’d given you that morning caff, your goggles mysteriously appearing, the water, everything was him. 

A metal clang brought you out of your thoughts, you looked up to see him standing under the wing of the last ship. Tears brimmed in your eyes, he was finishing the last job. You couldn’t believe how lucky you were. With a mix of excitement and relief you hurried over to where he was working.

Upon hearing your footsteps, Cassian glanced over to you, a smile gracing his face. The sight of him, disheveled with a slight sheen of sweat covering his face, made your heart skip a beat.

‘Hey,’ he said as you approached. ‘I didn’t want to wake you until I was done.’ 

You closed the distance and wrapped your arms around his middle. Burying yourself in his warmth, you took a deep breath and truly relaxed as he wrapped his own arms around you. 

‘Thank you,’ you mumbled into his chest.

‘Don’t thank me yet, I’m not done,’ Cassian replied.

‘Not just this Cassian,’ you pulled back slightly to peer up at him. ‘For everything today.’

He smirked, ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ he uttered as he looked back up to the ship. You giggled and he looked back down and met your eyes. One of his hands came up to cup your cheek, ‘I know today was stressful, I just wanted to help.’

You lent up to place a light kiss on his lips. No-one had ever shown you that they cared for you this deeply before. What Cassian lacked in words he more than made up for in his actions and you would be eternally grateful for every little thing he does for you. Your heart swelled knowing that he had been watching out for you all day. 

‘Now you’re awake you can help me finish this and we can go rest in an actual bed, not on that uncomfortable looking box I found you on earlier,’ he smiled.

‘That sounds perfect,’ you kissed him lightly once more before the two of you got to work. You knew this would be the quickest job of the day as you wanted nothing more than to retire to bed and lay in Cassian’s arms for as long as possible.

[m4ndysk4nkovich]

Ok, if I was gonna write a Debbie ending here’s what I think might be interesting -

Franny gets a scholarship to a private school because Debbie notices her various talents…(I’m thinking maybe Art and English?) and goes to different schools to see what opportunities there are. She’s quickly offered a full scholarship.

Debbie turns down Heidi’s offer and is determined to focus on herself. She wants a fresh start but it’s not immediately obvious what this should be. (I’ve mentioned this before) she strikes a deal with Carl and Tipping to work at the Alibi with them. She takes day shifts so she can be there in the evenings for Franny. She finds she’s good at doing the books and ordering product, she gets some help with the math from Mickey. She has lots of ideas and I think it would have been cool if she had helped organise the anniversary party with Mickey. Her and Franny and Carl move in above the Alibi and make it a home.

Ultimately, she’s happy with her life and it’s all going well. One of the last scenes we see of her is when she gets a text from Sandy saying something like “missing you”. She takes a long look at it and it’s very ambiguous as to whether she’s going to reply or not. An open ending - life is good for Debbie.

calli!! i love this please forgive how late i am lol😭

i actually thought about that whole scholarship thing before, and i like what you said about it. i could see it being something art related, we learn that franny’s pretty artistic in s11 and also debbie was really artistic when she was younger (she sort of still is at the end, but i think she’s busy with her kid and work so she’s less artistic now). maybe she gets accepted into the school liam went to? i could kinda see something happening where franny struggles to make friends in her school because their parents won’t let them play with her (11x02) and they think she’s weird + amy and gemma are gone, so debbie tries to find a new, better school because again, franny’s talented, and also because she doesn’t want franny to be as lonely as she was growing up.

debbie 100% declines heidi’s offer. it pisses me off that people believe she wouldn’t because if you watch the scene and know her as a character you know that she isn’t going. i actually just started a fic about debbie in therapy, so i totally agree with her trying to focus on/better herself. because jesus christ, s11 fucks her up. i love the idea of debbie helping carl and officer tipping with the alibi, i could see it happening. i personally think she’d stick with her welding/her business, but bartending could definitely be a side gig for her. she’d enjoy it (plus she is infamously horrible at dealing with change, and since she grew up around the alibi, seeing it gone would fuck her up and she wouldn’t want to let it go). i think that they keep the house post-s11 for numerous reasons, but if they were to move out, the space above the alibi would be a cool place for them to live.

i wrote a fic about something like what you said with sandy and debbie, but it’s currently on hiatus, however i love the idea of some sort of ending with sandy and debbie. i would be satisfied if they weren’t back together, but at least them getting back together wasn’t off the table. honestly, if sandy showed up to the anniversary party (she should have- she literally walked mickey downn the isle!) and we got like one frame of debbie and sandy talking i’d be satisfied. that’s all i’d need and i’d be okay with how they ended her story. well, maybe not ok… but not as angry as i am. i really just wish debbie the best because john wells put my girl through constant hell in all 134 episodes and she deserves some happiness. i loved hearing your thoughts on this, calli! ❤️

[chouxtranslations]

Shizun 18 - More side gigs

Jin Yunu’s living expenses were paid for by Long Jingtian. 

Since the customer is the golden goose, he had to put up with it no matter how dumb it sounded. 

Lu Yunzhen was full of professionalism. He first sent an emoji of a polite smile, then strung together a polite refusal. “Thank you, young master Long, for your thoughts. But server exorcisms… don’t have much to do with computers. Do you need reliable programmers?” Before he had the chance to hit send, Long Jingtian sent his next message. “They wanted to provide 200 thousand of incense money… could Master help? 

Lu Yunzhen looked at the number. His brain went empty for three whole seconds. He immediately deleted his draft and replied firmly, “Yes!” 

Fixing servers, exorcising servers, it’s all about the same! Aren’t programmers there to serve the great and almighty Master server?! He can do that! 

Long Jingtian replied happily, “I’ll go set things up.” 

Lu Yunzheng only came to his senses after quite some time. He felt like his face was hurting… It was only this morning that he had announced that he wasn’t going to make money from exorcisms, and yet one landed on his doorstep by the afternoon… 

200 thousand… 

It was enough for years of meat for everyone. 

So what if he loses his face! He’s going to go and immediately renew the business ventures of Wujian peak. Main enterprise: code monkey. Side gig: exorcist. He’s going to march forward on both feet and create a wonderful future! 

Lu Yunzhen excitedly told Mo Changkong of his plans, but then started to feel like he was blinded by money and felt ashamed at his hypocrisy. He muttered, “so there’s actually a lot of evil spirits… I won’t say that kind of thing anymore. We might end up seeing them often… Exorcisms do count as hard work I suppose…” 

Mo Changkong couldn’t help but to smile at his Shizun’s embarrassment. 

“Don’t make fun of me.” Lu Yunzhen thought he was laughing at him losing face as a programmer. He stammered with flushed ears, “I just wanted to get some more money for food for everyone…” 

“En. Shizun is making money for food for us. It’s not embarrassing.” Mo Changkong knew that Shizun had a thin face and immediately retracted his smile. He went on comfortingly, “Exorcisms are hard work. Don’t mind these small matters, after all you’re not a greedy person.” 

Shizun had also spent a long time furiously gathering spirit stones to exchange for various spiritual tools for cultivation. Jinnian had no talent and needed various expensive medicines to wash his veins and marrows. A Sui’s disability also required various treasures to treat. 

All of the spirit stones on the peak were spent on them. 

Shizun always wore old clothes and lived his life simply. He didn’t ask for much and didn’t mind food, only indulging in wine occasionally… 

He didn’t understand when he was little and stuck to Shizun every day, saying nonsense like “Wujian peak is so poor, just wait til I grow up. I’ll take care of Shizun and make lots of big gold chains for you.” 

Shizun had happily replied, “Good.” 

And then, he had made good on his promise, using illusionary fire and black gold to weld chains that he had locked on Shizun’s body. 

He’s not going to mention how he also “took care” of Shizun while making him cry… 

Mo Changkong tried hard to throw his evil memories out of his mind and not think of it again. 

In the age of the gods the realms were separated by ying and yang. People focused on procreation and looked down on men who loved other men. He had wanted to go against fate and do the wrong things even with the world condemning him. Now he has accepted his fate. 

Lu Yunzhen saw that Mo Changkong had bowed his head despondently and asked confused, “what happened?” 

“It’s nothing.” Mo Changkong lifted his head and replied with a smile. “I’m happy that Shizun has gotten a good job and we’re going to make some money for food.” 

“Ok. If we get paid we can split it.” Lu Yunzhen cheered up immediately. “Then we can buy 5 kilos of lamb, braised, stewed, grilled… I feel like you would like to eat that?” 

Mo Changkong replied quietly. “Yes, it’s my favourite.” 

Shizun forgot all the bad things he’s done. 

Everything that he loved had been remembered. 

…

Wujian peak is a proper sect, they had to be professional even if they’re dealing with servers. After all, they have to keep the golden goose happy, give the sect a name for itself, and maybe even get some networking in for future jobs. 

Mo Changkong said that the peak’s typical MO is to drag the evil spirit out and kill it, there was no ritual involved. 

Lu Yunzhen thought about it and decided that that was just too laid back. 

In exorcisms, on the one side are the taoists with their robes, putting up incense, taking out swords, throwing up talismans everywhere, dancing up a storm, then grabbing the spirit and giving it a lecture; on the other side it’s the two of them, wearing t shirts and runners, holding nothing, grabbing onto the spirit and beating it up…

Which side seems to be worth 200 thousand? 

Lu Yunzhen decided to brush up last minute and went on the internet to search up various rituals. Whether it be shamans or fengshui, he jotted down everything that seemed useful. He also downloaded fantasy movies to watch how the various masters acted, hoping to learn from it. 

Haiping university has a fine arts department. 

He knew an upperclassman who graduated from the department and is now working as a prop maker. He went straight to his door to borrow two peach wood swords from when he made a horror movie, along with talismans, spiritual flags, and such. He also asked a nice designer for a Tang dynasty outfit to style simply and add to the gravitas. 

Just in case, he also wore a buttonup below the robes. If the server didn’t have a supernatural issue then he would just take off the costume, be a programmer again, and use his professional knowledge to fix the server. 

Mo Changkong couldn’t find any fitting clothes. But his aura was so overwhelming that it was enough to gloss things over. 

The two packed up and waited for Long Jingtian to pick them up at an intersection. 

Long Jingtian pulled up in a land rover. His face bruises have gone down but still looked black and blue. As he saw Lu Yunzhen his eyes shone and he immediately started praising, “Master Lu is even more handsome now.” 

Lu Yunzhen nodded reservedly. 

Long Jingtian opened the car door for the two like a henchman and drove while explaining the situation. “Do you know the game ‘Hero’? It’s by Panda Tech and the beta is pretty popular. One of their devs died before the game came on the market and strange things kept happening. The server would die and restart randomly. There would be firewall issues and they almost got a virus, things like that.” 

Lu Yunzhen remembered that Mo Changkong had the game. He grabbed the phone and took a look. The game was operating normally, it’s just that there was a lot of male players looking for Jin Yunu. Who knows how many prey that shameless demon had on his hooks. 

He deleted the dms without reading. 

After a short time the servers died again and the forums were filled with rage. 

Lu Yunzhen confirmed, “Things look pretty bad.” 

Long Jingtian took a glance in the rearview mirror and said cheerfully, “That phone looks like the one I gave to Yunu. Master, you have to punish that shameless thief, make him repent with hard labor!” 

“Don’t worry, he’s living in a box in the yard, it’s not that great.” Lu Yunzhen nodded and comforted him. “This morning Changkong got him working before the sun came out, he had to switch skins several times and it was difficult.” 

Long Jingtian was satisfied and kept on chatting about Panda Tech. He had the tendency of veering off topic and took forever to explain the situation. 

The golden goose this time is the daughter of the CEO, who also happened to be in the class next door to him in middle school. She was named He and was a typical rich beauty. This time she’s the director in charge of the game and the future successor to the company. 

This particular beauty has some weird habits… she truly believed in taoism and burned incense at the temple every year. She wouldn’t even look at adopting a dog without looking up its horoscope. 

That’s why, when no one else could figure out the problem with the servers, she ignored all the jeering and insisted on hiring a Xuanxue master to perform an exorcism. 

Long Jingtian’s name isn’t that reliable in those circles. 

The Long family was rather embarrassed by the whole demon incident and didn’t spread it around. Even though Long Jingtian had insisted on the greatness of Master Lu, the ceo didn’t put much faith in his recommendation and had spent a high price to invite Master Wuming from Yanlai temple to also perform the exorcism. 

“I said that Master Lu had summoned an underworld official with copy paper, and she said I was blowing hot air!” Long Jingtian said angrily, “Master Lu, you have to knock her down a peg, and let this senseless woman see your power!” 

Lu Yunzhen replied seriously, “When it comes to Xuanxue matters, everyone has their own specialities, we do not seek to one up one another.” 

He’s just a makeshift master after all, he only knows how to get rid of ghosts, not how to perform rituals. How about he just stay humble and paddle along with Master Wuming?!

Long Jintian complimented him, “Master lu is so full of integrity.” 

“You priase me too much.” Lu Yunzhen had no idea how he came to such an odd conclusion and felt embarrassed at all the praise. But if he had to put up a front he had to do it all the way. 

The car got to the parking lot of Panda Tech. 

The receptionist brought the three of them to a conference room on the 8th floor. Master Wuming and his disciple had already arrived and are shocked at Lu Yunzhen’s age. “Daoyou, which sect are you from? This humble monk has never met you before?” 

Lu Yunzhen bowed, “I am the head of Wujian Peak.” 

Master Wuming was a kindly looking monk around 60 years old. He thought about the name for a while and quietly asked his disciple. “What’s Wujian peak? I think I’ve heard of it before? It kind of rings a bell…” 

The disciple was a young Shami of 16 or 17. He shook his head and looked at Lu Yunzhen in curiosity. 

Lu Yunzhen didn’t admit that Wujian peak is in Haiping City, Changming district, Plum street and Date alley… He kept silent with a smile on his face. 

Wuming looked at Mo Changkong who stood behind him, felt a faint sense of pressure, put his hands together, muttered a prayer, and did not ask any further questions. 

The atmosphere in the room was just too heavy. 

Long Jingtian couldn’t huddle that kind of atmosphere and decided to make some jokes. 

Just as Lu Yunzhen was about to crack up, the female director of Hero stepped in with a black pantsuit, high heels, and a disapproving stride. 

She had very clear features with smart makeup and gold rimmed glasses. Exuding girlboxx energy, she immediately handed out her business cards and introduced herself. “I’m He Mengmeng, the director of the game.” 

When she got to passing her card to Lu Yunzhen, she froze. 

When Lu Yunzhen saw her, he also froze. 

“He Xuejie/Lu Xuedi, it’s you?” 

The two of them spoke at the same time and fell into silence. 

He Mengmeng is an upperclassman from Haiping university. Despite the fact that she was two years older and studying economics, they had met and even had a bit of a connection. 

That connection being, the post on the school forum about the hot man with a hard life was posted by her!

[clonehub]

Starting the finale!

It's been quite an uneventful journey I will say!

Oh muffled volume! You don't get that often. The coolest was when mace had his moment in s1

The pause in this clones when he says Kaminos been destroyed :(

"and I will be left here on my own" :((((

Damn crosshair is really down

Oh he's up

Why was it not in AZs instinct to help 😭

I wonder who taught her to swim

Damn is crosshair really this stubborn

This almost sounds like I think the clones theme from tcw??

Yeah being this deep underwater.....nah

CROSSAHIR BE FUCKING SERIOUS

"all those missions together and you threw away" bitch BE SERIOUSSSS

"soldiers follow orders" notice how he didn't say "good"

Ok crossie baby part of the reason they're all nearly dead is bc of you you know that right

They looooove shoulder bumps in tcw

Kinda crazy that AZ can just weld through two feet of metal

No this was driving me insane. All this running bc you knew y'all was finna drown now that you're on the ocean floor in a cracked tube you want to WALK

WALK AND TALK AT THE SAME TIME BETTER UET RUN

How is this the finale and they really had to slow this shit down 😭

"something on your tiny mind, wrecker"

See look. Wrecker getting the emotional development that everyone should have been getting simultaneously

But tech essentially saying Crosshairs severe and unyielding personality is in his nature is rubbing me the wrong way. It's like. Essentialst idk. Like a long that same thread of eugenics that's been undergirding this show more than an actual plot has, saying oh well Crosshairs never going to change he simply cannot help it. Form one PoV this could be tech being just as uncompromising as crosshair is. Another is the contrast between tech and wrecker as a mind/heart thing which theyve been semi doing for this season. But also does this not essentialize his fascist tendencies too. Nooo he can't help being a fascist or having a personality that lends itself toward authoritarianism it's in his nature and you cannot change nature. Which kinda goes against the whole choice thing Hunters been talking about up to this point. Idk.

"understanding you does not mean I agree with you" this line annoys me sorry it just sounds like. Every Single -Ist and -Phobic person I've come across who's like "yeah I ~understand~ you but I don't have to agree!!" Babygirl I think actual understanding at least on the level as deep as ideology (or in my case various positions of marginalization) would require......nvm I can see here that there's two ways to understand "understand" but also the line is still corny soz

WALK FASTERRRRRRRR

Ok if there's a problem why did you stop walking.

"run!" You should been doing that--

Man Crosshairs run was so dumb

Az was strong enough to carry fives I'm sure he could lift omega up some of these places

"where our MUTATIONS were MANIPULATED and ENHANCED"

Stop calling them defective lmao

"you take things too personally" stay on topic crosshair let's talk about the empire leaving you for dead 🧐

"kamino regs the Republic" wild wild wild

"the empire will control the entire galaxy and I am going to be a part of it" see how he's a fascist guys

Why is he having headaches

LMAO not even omega gave up on him

They've got buttons on the inside?

Oh btw omegas 10 which means tbb is like. Probably 7 if she remembers them being created.

AZI :(

NO BECAUSE WHATS RHE FHCKING POINT OF FOING AFTER HIM??? REALISTICALLY OUTSIDE MAKING CROSSHAIR HAVE HIS LIL FAKE OHT MOMENT OF GOOD

I mean at least they have him now 😭

This is the whitest they'll look in this series

"we want different things" I mean. Yeah. But like fascism is kinnndaaaaaaaa

Second use of the word brother in this series lmao

This Forgive a Fascist ass plotline

You don't get a lot of characters with bangs

DONE

Quite uh. I guess uneventful as a finale all things considered.

[nalver]

should i even bother salvaging a compaq 100eu

[nellynee]

The makings of greatness, or why, as a ride or die Treasure Planet stan, I’m glad there’s no Treasure Plant 2

You ever see somethings that makes you unreasonably angry? Yes I understand exactly what I’m saying, and how that indicates that my emotions and opinions on this are exactly that. Opinions. There’s a good chance I have some objective truths mixed in, but that does not make my opinions based on those truths truth. If you disagree or have different tastes or opinions or interpretations, cool, let me know! maybe you’ll change my mind. That being said.

The plot synopsis for the Treasure Planet sequel makes me angry. Not like, actively so, just annoyed enough to be in a bad mood. And now you guys all have to be in one as well. Why?

Reason 1, and probably least important: Disney sequel syndrome.

Ok so Disney sequels aren’t inherently bad. I’ll stan the Aladdin sequels to my grave, who knew Cinderella could world build, obligatory Rescuers Down Under (the first one was better) blah blah blah.

But there is an inherit problem with sequels in general, and that usually has to do with cast and crew. An original piece of fiction has to grab the audience yes, but there’s also freedom in that. Media touches people in different way. The worldbuilding can mean more to some than others. Some are in it for the animation, or the character developments, or relationships. What connects with one person won’t connect with another. The problem with sequels is that different people who worked out the original material might and usually do not work on the new. And those new people are already working on that new material with their own personal lenses and experiences and interpretations coloring the old. The reason sequels (and remakes, and big budget presentations of other materials like books into movies) tend to bomb hard is because you are essentially being forced to accept someone’s fanfiction into the canon material. Usually, there’s a pretty strong correlation between more successful franchises/extension material, works staying true to the core material, original crew working on the material, and the enjoyment of the audience.

And sources say very few of the original crew remained. Some yes, but mostly voice cast. Even worse, TP2 was a DisneyToon production, not even a mainline feature. Now I’m not saying the new people weren’t talented, or passionate about the project, or were lacking in experience. It doesn’t really matter if any of those things are true or not. It’s the warping of their personal lenses I don’t trust. Fanfic I can disregard, meta I can disregard. This would have been canon.

And reading the Artbook makes is abundantly clear that the parts that touched me personally would have been missing. The very core of Treasure Planet for me was the relationship between Jim and Silver (and their exquisite animation budget). However you choose to interpret that relationship, you can not deny that Treasure Planet is a powerfully emotionally romantic movie. It’s quiet moments and emotional resonance shaped my views of intimacy with a sharp and fine touch. Silver and Jim’s bond is as undeniable and powerful as it is compelling and awe inspiring to witness unfold.

And a lot of that is owed not only to  the voice acting of Joseph Gorden-Levitt (Jim) and Brian Murray (Silver), But to animators Glen Keane and John Ripa, who were the head animators of Silver and Jim respectively. Not only did Gorden-Levitt and Brian Murray deliver stunning performances, but made sure to work together and jointly play off each other in ways most voice actors don’t have the opportunity to do. And the Masters Keane and Ripa took an already stellar and carefully crafted vocal rapport and took it one step further. I highly recommend the Artbook as a good read, both Keane and Ripa talk about the journey of discovering who Jim and Silver were with delight, acting out entire scenes together using their own body language to build the characters together, using the same animation reals to animate, tag teaming in and out of the program rather than do it separately, becoming so attuned with their characters attitudes and mannerisms that you can tell they poured entire pieces of themselves into Jim and Silver.

I’m not saying the Sequel would have been inherently bad because it’s a sequel, or because a new crew worked on it, but I am saying I wouldn’t trust it with a ten foot pole.

Reason 2: Thanks I hate it (I’m saying it’s inherently bad because the plot is bad and I hate it)

I’m sorry for the length, but for you to really understand just how bad this is, I actually have to pick through every single line and tell you why it fails critically at some junctures and where it would be so simple to fix. For those of you who were unaware that there was a sequel in the works at some point, I’m pulling these quotes pretty much wholesale from the AnimateVeiws article Buried Treasure: The ill-fated voyage to Treasure Planet 2, specifically the interview with Jun Falkenstein who was set to direct the now canceled sequel. Spoiler warning, I guess?

So, from the begining

“The sequel was to pick up where the first film left off, with Jim Hawkins going to the Royal Interstellar Academy. At the Academy, he is a hotshot “natural,” but he doesn’t follow the rules very well.” - Strong start but then dropped the finish. I think the interstellar academy would be a very compelling starting point. I see no fault in it at least, it’s a good opportunity to world build. Clemence and Musket like to make a point that Jim was crafted to connect with the emotionally wounded and distant youth in a age of divorce, so showing what happens when that youth hikes up their britches and gets to work can extend on that theme aaaaaaand you dropped it. Dropped that strong start. Yes, Jim was more than a bit of a bite back rebel in the film, but that was a reactionary response to the bad place he started in. Jim was abandoned, and tied his self worth into that abandonment. His kickback against society was a reaction stemming from an inability to see his personal worth and any sort of future he could craft from it. He outgrew this, his very character development was about this in the film. His character arc was about realizing his inherent worth, embracing a sense of confidence and learning what he could do. Even disregarding that, bonus material outside of the film shows that Jim has a very strong sense of respect for Captain Amelia, her military career, and the hard work she put into it, and he’s there on her recommendation. Why would he act out in this? He is a natural yes, but the film shows he’s incredibly sharp and intelligent, if unlearned, and more than ready to learn given opportunity.

“Hence, he gets off to a shaky start – especially with his classmate Kate, who is very smart and has a type A personality. Kate’s father is Admiral Blake, the Commander of the Navy. Jim and Kate vie for top of the class but have very different skills.” - So building off this to fix the problem before. I guess the dynamic they are going for is something like “the kind of a jerk hotshit hotshot who’s got it all figured out and the straight laced rule fallowing stick in the ass rival”? I’m not apposed to to a rivalry, but lets tweak this, given how “hot shot natural jerk” isn’t really where Jim settles at the end of the film. Jim is a natural talent, who excels under tutelage, but more importantly, he has practical experience. While the time period spent on the RLS Legacy is not defined, they do sail to a deep and unexplored part of the galaxy, probably well outside of regular settlements, so no small distance, though Jim is young enough that a very long period of time would be noted in physical growth. Given comparisons to classic nautical sailing of the source time, months, perhaps up to a year? That’s a long time to spend, learning the rough and tumble basics, tying knots, experiencing food and water rations, extreme temperatures, playing with the rigging and mechanical aspects of the boat. Jim knows what it’s like to actually sail. Meanwhile, this is the Royal Academy, who probably takes in upper class second born children and pumps out military accolades for well learned mathematicians and strategists. Jim doesn’t fit in because he can visualize, he can think outside of the box, he can weld a damn engine to a hunk of shrapnel and ignite it freefalling against a metal hellscape and outrace a boat in a high adrenaline situation. He adapts where the other’s frantically look through their notes for the answer. Worse yet, he’s poor and not classically educated. Make it a class issue. In this aspect I do like Kate. Being the Daughter of the Commander of the Navy, she probably has a very technical and far more expansive understanding of navel ships, particularly the running of them. In this way Jim and Kate are perfect foils. Jim representing the poor, instinctually and practically knowledgeable crew, and Kate the upper-class, technically knowledgeable command, a dichotomy representing the haves and have nots in their skills, experiences, an class.

I don’t want to post a picture and break the post, but I do love Kate’s design. I do recommend looking up the article and checking it out. that being said, being a feline species, they messed up not spelling it Cate.

“Captain Amelia is dean of the Academy, which has a brand-new vessel: the Centurion.” - I… why, why is Amelia the dean? Additional material shows that Amelia broke ties with the military because she didn’t like their rule stickling ways and red tape. Why would she want a red tape position? She helped with a war and then bailed first opportunity to become a freelance captain so she could fallow her own rules. Even if you don’t know any of that additional material, you do know that she is a freelance captain. Why is she dean? what happened to the old one? Are they dead? Did DisneyToon kill them? Did Disneytoon kill the old dean?

“Designed by Doctor Doppler, the Centurion is the fastest ship in the galaxy.” - HE’S NOT THAT KIND OF DOCTOR!

“B.E.N. is its pilot”. - NO

In all seriousness all three of those statements show a serious problem, in that none of those characters are in fact those things. Amelia I’ve already explained. But Doppler was a debatably youngish bachelor with too much money who was fascinated by astronomy specifically and who suffered from ennui. And BEN was a navigational unit, so maybe it makes sense for him to be a pilot, but why is a robot who was functioning under a galaxy feared pirate for who knows how long given any kind of agency over a brand new incredibly important ship? These decisions were probably made to incorporate as much of the old cast as possible, to not exclude fan faves. But any decision that makes BEN a prominent part of the plot and thus gets more screen time is a BAD one.

“The pirate Ironbeard desires to commandeer the Centurion. This ruthless villain is relatively all iron – almost nothing of whom he originally was, inside and out, is left.” - On the one hand, I have a weird feeling that this would somehow violate the 30-70 rule. Buuuuut on the other hand, the Artbook does describe the decision making process of what and how was mechanical on Silver (my favorite tidbit was the wheel on his head representing his constant thinking and assessing) and states that that they in a way represent the pieces of humanity he gave up looking for Flint’s Trove. Extending that to a pirate who has given up everything could be a powerful thematic tool if used right (or intentionally)

“He leads a group of pirates to hijack the Centurion while Jim and Kate are aboard.” - ok, yeah, I’ll buy that. If they are butting heads constantly, I could see them sneaking off to the new piece of hardware to one up each other on who knows their stuff, or maybe bond over wanting to learn about the said new tech and being frustrated with restrictions.

“The Navy can’t catch the Centurion, due to the vessel’s speed and armor.”- sure

“Jim and Kate escape the Centurion. Jim decides he needs a pirate to help catch pirates. They find his old buddy Long John Silver in the Lagoon Nebula, where he is running a smuggling ring. “ - So what Jim just goes “I know just the pirate to help us” and then finds him? That journey of itself deserves it’s own movie, anything less is a disappointment. Alternative. Jim and Kate escape onto a particularly lawless planet. Jim has some tricks to keep them safe and fed, maybe he even excels in ways he’s been straight up stop gapped at the academy. Maybe his knowhow is appreciated by others who society also rejects. But Kate is a frustrating fish out of water, getting offended and worked up over things that are big deals to an average citizen but not criminals and pirates. But such reactions are putting them in danger and she needs to get perspective fast. It’s plausible maybe that Silver tracks them down through interesting rumors, but more than that, let it be fate. Neither having any idea the other is there till the second they see each other. Bonus points if Jim and Kate get in a bind and Silver is the leader of the harassers. Better yet lets add some thematic mirroring not only to the scene where Silver saved Jim from Scroop, but directly contrast it to the scene where Silver doubled back and down against the notion of caring for Jim when called out before the mutiny. *kisses finger* Touching and hilarious.

“ Silver agrees to help when he hears about the Centurion. “ -  Silver agrees to help when he hears about the Centurion without Jim even having to ask. Storywise, lets make some kind of deal over how Jim, an upstanding enrollee of the academy, apparently is chummy with a pirate. Tension doesn’t just have to be external, and Kate is the daughter of the Commander of the Army. Maybe she’s recognized and this gets them in trouble. Maybe Kate has issues with her identity outside of her father’s career and need to learn a lesson about being outside of a rigid social structure?

“Jim and Kate receive a tracking signal from B.E.N. – who is currently hostage aboard the Centurion – and follow via Silver’s creaky vessel. They discover the Centurion docked near the Botany Bay Prison Asteroid. “ - While being the fastest ship yet is a good excuse for wanting it to get stolen, my suspension of disbelief breaks a little at any ship, let alone a creaky little pirate vessel, catching up to the fastest ship yet, or the tracking signal being the only way to track it to a guarded prison. Seeing as how I’ve written BEN out of this scenario lets fix it. After the events of the movie, the Royal Military swoops in after to confiscate the debris of Treasure Planet. For those in the know, canon lore states that the Planet was a giant computer, and it and the map were the byproducts of an ancient and advanced civilization. Studying the debris led to the Centurion, notable not for it’s speed, but for it’s stealth. It can cloak itself. Which is why no-one can find it. Meanwhile Silver lets it slip that he snagged the map from it’s pedestal as they escaped the planet as a souvenir. (handwave why the portal was still open with a “the whole thing was exploding, the computer froze). The map is able to track the remnants of said planet, aka the Centurion, meaning Silver has the only means of tracking the cloaked ship

“Ironbeard is using the Centurion to disable Botany Bay’s security systems. Jim, Kate and Silver sneak aboard the Centurion, where Silver reveals to Jim that he wants to take the Centurion for himself. He asks Jim to join him.“ YES. YES YES YES YES YES YES! Understanding that  Jim’s decision to not go with Silver in the first movie is key here. He rejected Silver’s offer the first time because Silver had shown him he had intrinsic value, and Jim finally felt that the natural gifts he had were worth cultivating, that he did have the chance to explore who he could be on his own terms. Jim was comfortable being on his own, because he felt capable. Now, Jim and Silver bring out the best in each other, and the time apart has done them harm. Jim’s strings of social rejections are starting to fell like a glass ceiling he can’t overcome, and is finding more and more comfort in being a big fish in a pirates small pond, and the emotions of of being wanted that come with Silver is a powerful drug. But it’s a one way ticket away from any opportunities he could work towards, not to mention his barely repaired relationship with his mother. Meanwhile Silver has been slowly slipping back into the colder, more selfish self he was, a necessity for his lifestyle, and doesn’t want to loose his connection to Jim and what Jim brings out in him, but is still far enough gone to make the offer and try for the boat anyways, even if he knows it’s not what’s best. It’s an emotionally compelling decision. You want them to say yes, you know they shouldn’t

“Kate overhears this and is horrified, especially since the two have, of course, started falling for each other during the adventure.” - Hate. this I hate. Leaving shipping to they way side, what’s that “of course”? why do they have to fall for each other? Why the Disneytoon sequel love interest? I have a feeling her characterization would come at the cost of it. Why can’t they be rivals? why can’t they develop a mutual respect outside of attraction? Why can’t they both learn an individualized lesson about finding their own place in the world outside of social constraints as foils without macking? I hate this concept. Kate overhears, and is horrified, because Silver is a Pirate which is actually in universe get yourself hanged offense, and Jim is considering this, and they are going to steal a VERY IMPORTANT BOAT and and leave her stranded in a dagerous prison, and are making an objectively morally bad decision.

“Ironbeard discovers the intruders, charging into a fight in which Silver is injured. Meanwhile, the other pirates throw down ladders to the prison below, allowing swarms of elated prisoners to climb up into the ship. Silver, Jim, and Kate exit the Centurion amidst all the confusion. However, Ironbeard shoots down Silver’s ship. They plummet to the prison asteroid below, crash-landing” - cool. Drama. But for my purposes, lets tweak it so Silver isn’t injured yet. But I really want to emphasize that this attack does not interrupt before Jim can react to Silver’s offer. Even something as tentative as “I’m not sure” has consequences. None of this “misunderstanding” BS.

“ Kate is angry at Jim and storms off. “- again, make it clear that Jim showed a real chance of agreeing to steal the ship. if she’s angry before he had a chance to answer that’s contrivance for drama’s sake. Give her a reason to be mad

“ Jim is about to blow her off as well when Silver tells him to give her a chance. He reveals a part of his past through a flashback, when a young (non-cyborg) Silver screwed up a relationship with the love of his life – a decision which directly led to his life of piracy. “ - nope. nope nope nope . I’m gonna put a big old * here because this is reason number 3 why I hate this potential movie, and I will get to that believe me, but here’s me, putting a pin in it. That being said, have Silver selfishly try to double down on getting Jim to join him in a three way argument instead. This is the conflict of the film. Kate, who was learning to grow outside of the strict restrictions of her life and do her own work, make her own way, is being rejected. She is as morally repulsed as she is hurt that she wasn’t included, and hates herself for that hurt as well. Jim is torn between the freedom of what he could be after the academy paired with the strict social constructs around it, and the freedom of a life “full of himself and no ties to anyone” but running from the law and the two friends they represent. Silver is the aggressor here. He likes Kate, he does, but he loves Jim and only has one place in his heart, and has spent his life being selfish. There’s already a crew on board, and Iron beard is hooked into the Centurion. With having the only other means to navigate, they take down ironbeard, the rest will surely fall in line. This is paydirt. A fantastic ship, a bloodthirsty crew, and Jim.

“Silver has a very dangerous cargo with him that he had been trying to smuggle and sell for a fortune, which has the power of a neutron bomb. Jim, Kate and Silver reconcile and work together to fix Silver’s ship and prevent the Centurion, filled with the most evil pirates in the galaxy, from going on an insane robbing-and-killing spree. At the last second, Silver reluctantly gives up his “retirement fund” in order to destroy the Centurion, with Ironbeard and all the pirates on board.” - this entire section needs rewritten. That’s a mcguffin Silver put it away. I have retconned the mcguffin to be the old map, so that is now moot. Now to not blow up the ship. Afterall, Silver and Jim have both already overcome what Treasure Planet represented with it’s destruction. Rather, B plot

If we are that desperate to have past characters in, let’s have Amelia and Delbert back home. When the Centurion is captured, Amelia immediately volunteers to fallow, feeling responsible for Jim and secretly pining for some adventure. Delbert feels the same, and he to a bit of an adrenaline junkie after the events of the first movie, but they have the children to think about and only one can leave. Delbert is the one chosen to help by the navy officials searching for the Centurion. While Amelia bickers with the Admiral Blake over his pragmatic but emotionally distant decisions over the situation of his missing daughter, Delbert is an astronomer, and is blah blah blah science meta, fallow the flashing  and bending lights around the cloaked ship to find it. As in Delbert is helpful. Amelia in a reflation to Admiral Blake, is torn between her family and commandeering her own ship to help. Blake is frustratingly headstrong in his decisions, and the script makes it seem like that emotional distance is disinterests, but reveals to the audience that it incorporates a great deal of suppression of his anxieties and worries over his daughter, and trust in her abilities, though he has issues expressing this pride to Kate herself. Amelia, Delbert and fam make what is probably a poor decision in commandeering a ship and leaving on their own to track the Centurion, the navy hot on their heels.

Back to A plot, the navy is approaching. Jim has to make a decision. He is the only one who knows how to unmask the ship using the old ones tech without training, as it’s based off the map. While Kate and Silver are distracting iron beard, he has to either steal the ship and sail off, or uncloak it for the navy. Iron beard is taken down, but not without Silver getting injured. Jim decides that Silver’s life is worth more than anything, and after agreeing with Kate that she’ll commandeer a doctor and wont let Silver die, uncloaks the ship. The Centurion is retaken in a blaze of naval glory that is the action climax. The pirates fight back up are over run. Maybe Kate gets taken hostage as the Admirals daughter, as an opportunity for a resolution with her arc as Blake’s distant daughter, though obviously said resolution comes at her showing her abilities in taking care of herself and the practical skills she has learned.

“Silver again parts from Jim and Kate, telling them to take care of each other. A few years later, Jim and Kate graduate with honors, while a proud Silver secretly watches from the shadows, smiling” - Boooooo. Kate and her dad make up, and she challenges him that she’s going to one day Captain the Centurion, with him understanding that she needs less a mentor and more an emotional support while she works her way up the ranks. She invites Jim to be her first mate, to which Jim accepts as a navigator, (a thing I’ve pointed out to be his real strength in another post). But to Silver, who has been “pardoned” for his part in retaking the Centurion, the movie hinting that he to would be on the eventual crew there I fixed it fic to come I s2g.

yeah there’s a lot of good there, but it’s so easy to fix the bad it’s frustrating. which brings me to

Reason 3: that little pin

“ Jim is about to blow her off as well when Silver tells him to give her a chance. He reveals a part of his past through a flashback, when a young (non-cyborg) Silver screwed up a relationship with the love of his life – a decision which directly led to his life of piracy. “

Nope nope nope I’ll tell you why.

First of all, sources like the artbook say that Jim is so Important to Silver because he’s the first person Silver has ever let become important. he’s specifically stated to have no family, never married, no children. And that’s something he cultivated actively. His life of piracy, his metal limbs, his loneliness and moral failings were all gleefully accumulated for one reason and one reason only

Treasure Planet.

Treasure Planet was the great love of Silver’s life. It was a lifelong obsession. It destroyed his body, took his youth, his opportunities and nearly his life. He broke Jim’s heart over it.

And he let it go. For Jim.

And Jim understood this

This is the crux of treasure planet’s very themes. This is where Jim found self worth. Another person finally looked at him and said “you matter, you matter more than anything. I like being around you and I choose you first.” and it made Jim realize he’s someone worth choosing.

The treasure was EVERYTHING to Silver, and Silver let it go, for Jim.

That one line there, attributing the start of Silver’s fall to a girl? that actively retcons the entire theme of the previous movie. IT rewrite the emotional linchpin of Silver’s sacrifice of the gold. And actually fuck that. right into the ground. I do not accept. I do not pass go. I refuse. Fuck you non existent movie. That makes me mad. every single time. Hate I shall never let go.

No

[eternally-writing]

grammys grief | knj

genre: fluff and angst

rating: G (no swearing or sexual content)

pairing: Namjoon x reader

theme: idol!au, boyfriend!au, one-shot

word count: 1.5k

warnings: none (Namjoon is pretty sad though)

synopsis: After a devastating Grammys loss, Namjoon comes to you for some comfort.

(A/N: Recording Academy if you’re reading this, I don’t like you.)

banner by me!

--��♡♡♡♡♡♡♡--

“I’m sorry” were the first words you said as you opened your apartment door to see a sulky Namjoon.

“I just didn’t want to be alone right now,” mumbled Namjoon as he tossed off his shoes in your entryway.

You get it, or at least if you don’t get it you try your best to. You don’t know what it’s like to be a part of a chart-topping, record-breaking group that just got snubbed by the Recording Academy. You don’t know what it’s like to have the pressure of carrying the image of South Korea on your shoulders, but for Namjoon you’ll try, and you’ll do anything to take his pain away. 

There was a reason Namjoon always came to your apartment when he was sad. He usually tried to pass it off as him wanting to come over because you had a French press and could make his favourite coffee, but the truth was that being at your place felt like home. The caramel-colored walls and small knick-knacks lining your shelves enveloped Namjoon with a strong sense of familiarity. No matter what judgment seemed to face him in the real world, the four walls of your apartment harbored all his secrets and never told a soul, and you did the same. 

Looking over from your kitchen to Namjoon on the couch and seeing him bundled up into a tiny ball made your heart yearn in pain for him. Namjoon always seemed like a big, powerful leader, and you had never seen him look more small than he did at this moment. You wished you could take a photo of him and send it to the Recording Academy to show them how their terrible treatment of BTS affected them. The Grammys milked BTS for every bit of clout that they could with no remorse, and you hated them deeply for it. Of course the biased judgement of the Grammys was no secret, and honestly if the Grammys didn’t mean so much to Joon and the rest of the boys you definitely would just shun the Grammys all together, but this was Joon’s dream and you wanted to support him in any way you could.

Hearing the noises of your French press machine whirring to life in the kitchen, Namjoon glanced at your frame bustling around the kitchen. By the time you are finished and are carrying a mug of coffee over to your living room, Namjoon has already tucked himself into your blankets and curled himself into the corner of your couch. Looking over at you, Namjoon could see the look on your face that was silently asking “are you okay?”. Before the words could leave your mouth, Namjoon already beat you to sharing his answer. 

“It’s all good,” he mumbled as he shrugged his shoulders.

You sighed as you walked towards him. You had dealt with loud angry Namjoon, quiet angry Namjoon, crying Namjoon, happy Namjoon,  and even more. But you’ve never been around this Namjoon: quiet, frustrated, disappointed Namjoon. 

Taking a seat beside Joon on the couch, you laid a hand on his thigh and looked him in the eye. 

“I have watched you say “it’s all good” for the past 6 hours. Every interview, the vlive, and with the boys too. This doesn’t have to be “all good” Joon. You worked incredibly hard, you were successful, and you were robbed of an award that should have been yours. It’s sad, it really is, and I’m sorry this happened to you.”

You cuddled yourself closer into Namjoon’s side, wrapping your arms around him in an effort to help shield him from the negativity which he was facing. Nestling your head into his chest, you continued on. 

“I’m sorry they used you like that. It’s not fair and it shouldn’t be happening. I’m proud of you yknow? You were right about how amazing it is that you’ve come this far. The first Korean act to ever give a solo performance at the Grammys? That will go down in history.”

You heard Namjoon sigh and place a chaste kiss on your forehead. 

“I don’t know it’s just - to come this far and not win? It hurts. I don’t know, maybe I’ve been awake for too many hours and am just upset that I got fully dressed for absolutely nothing. But seeing Jimin so upset that he’s barely said a word all day? Hearing Yoongi crying in the bathroom because he wanted the award so badly? I know I wanted this award so badly, but I know the boys really wanted it too. I just feel like I’ve left them down as their leader.”

You could feel the pain in his voice. The rawness. The emotion. 

Kim Namjoon, the love of your life, was in pain and you felt like there was nothing you could do about it. If you could you would craft a Grammy yourself out of your own bare hands, but unfortunately you didn’t have any magical powers or welding skills that would let you do so. The best you could do is be a comforting voice and lend an ear to listen to his troubles.

As much as you wished you could handle this all by yourself, you definitely needed to call in some reinforcements. 

As you pulled your phone out and Namjoon could see you go to open twitter, he groaned. 

“Please no, Y/N. That dispatch article saying we failed was enough media coverage for me today,” he said as he turned his head away from the screen. 

“No I promise this is gonna be good, babe. Trust me on this ok? Give me 5 minutes and then we can stop if you want.” 

Relinquishing his time to you, Namjoon pulled you closer to him and leaned his head on your shoulder to get a good look at your phone. 

Namtiddie_appreciation: To Namjoon, the most fearless leader:  We are so proud of you. You have and will continue to lead BTS to keep breaking down barriers in the music industry, and it’s the Grammys loss if they can’t see your talent. 

shooky_cooky: I hope BTS knows how proud ARMY are of them tonight. They handled everything today with such grace and respect, and I have never been more proud to look up to them. The world needs more BTS!

Army_for_life613: I know BTS may not have one a Grammy tonight, but they are the reason I am alive today. I don’t think that I will ever be able to repay for the love that they have given me but I will keep supporting them forever! <3 

You looked up at Joon’s face to see the most genuine smile on Namjoon’s face that you had seen all day. 

Taking one hand to wipe the tears away from his face, you smiled at him. 

“There’s more you know,” you said, “I could read these to you all day. Probably for a couple days before I even start running out of tweets. But then we could move to Weverse to read the millions of comments over there too”

The sound of Namjoon’s laughter reaching your ears was the best sound you had ever heard. He stared down at you with a look of awe.

“I don’t know how you do it,” he said. 

“Do what?”

“Make everything ok no matter what. I barely knew how to comfort the boys, let alone myself. But somehow you always say the right things, so thank you.”

“You’re making me sound like a superhero, Joon. And as much as I would love to take credit for this, all I’m doing is reading out tweets. You could probably replace me with a robot if you wanted.”

Namjoon pulled you onto his lap and pulled you into the tightest hug. 

“Sure I could get a robot, but where could I find a robot that’s this cute?” he said as he pinched your cheeks. 

Giggling in Namjoon’s embrace, you continued to scroll on your phone, eventually showing Namjoon another set of tweets. 

“Speaking of ARMY though, they lowkey seem like they’re going to start a riot, not gonna lie. You should put out something to distract them or something,” you said with a chuckle.

With a quick nod, Namjoon pulled out his phone to show you the photo in question, ready to go in his Weverse drafts. 

You chuckled at the photo. That definitely is your sexy boyfriend. 

“That’s perfect babe, let them have at it.”

Soon enough, after posting the gym selfie, Namjoon’s photo had caused Weverse to break yet again (you’re never gonna stop making the joke about him breaking the internet). #BigHitclosethegyms was trending yet again, and you both had the time of your lives reading the funniest comments of the bunch. 

Tomorrow would be the start of BTS’s new journey to win a Grammy, but at least for today it was just about you and Joon reading funny comments and drinking French press coffee. And next year, you were sure that they were gonna win.

--♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡--

If you liked this, please interact/follow! Thank you for reading ♡ 

- Emily

[high-functioning-lokipath]

RPF - Tom x Reader - Prompt: GENERALLY: Tom's Audition To Play As Thor - Drabble: 901

Author Note: SO MUCH FLUFF!!!!!! 😍 And freestyle use of the character Sigyn 🤣 Idea basically based off this post

"Ok, Y/N," the Director said. "Remember in this scene Sigyn is just about to meet Loki. She's heard of him and his reputation but had never actually seen him before."

"Right," You replied, with a slight chuckle. "Taika, we've been over this a million and a half times. Sigyn is in the garden and runs into Loki but doesn't recognize him blah, blah, blah. Can we film now?"

"Ok, Y/N," Taika laughed. "Places, everyone! And action!"

Movie scene in italics

"Alone at last! Away from those blasted guards!" You sighed.

"Not quite, my lady," Loki replied, walking out from behind a nearby rose bush.

"Who are you?" You demanded.

"You do not know me?" You shook your head. "Ah, no matter," He said. "I am honored to be in your presence Lady Sigyn."

"How do you know my name?"

"I know everyone in this kingdom."

"Even the mighty Prince Thor?" You asked with a smirk. His features darkened but he nodded. Still not recognizing to whom you were speaking you asked, "And what of his brother? The god of lies? Do you know him as well?"

"He is not the god of lies!" Loki yelled. "Mischief is his speciality," he winked.

"Fine, whatever," You replied, rolling your eyes. "He's a half-witted cretin." Glancing away from him briefly to pluck a flower of it's branch, you saw a bright shimmer from his direction. Looking back you saw he stood in full armor in front of you.

"Is that how you would dare speak to your Prince?" He bellowed.

"Yes, your highness," You said sarcastically. "I'd dare say that to any dunderheaded dolt in the kingdom," You smirked. He glared at you for a moment before grinning wickedly.

"I like you."

"And cut!" Taika yelled. "Beautiful! Perfect! Of course how could it not be! I'm the best director, as we all know!" Tom and you rolled your eyes and the rest of the crew let out a collective groan. "Seriously though," He said. "You two have such perfect chemistry for this part! You'd better not have any major fights while we're filming!" He warned

"No worries," You said. "I don't see any problems in our future."

"Good. Now why don't you two get a little rest before we try to get a jump on the next scene?" You both nodded and headed to your shared trailer.

"Alone at last!" You sighed. Flopping down on the small sofa, still in full costume.

"Not quite, my lady," Tom said, echoing Loki's lines. You laughed, not having realized the irony before.

"My prince! I'm afraid I do not have the strength to get up from this sofa!" You called out dramatically. "Any tips?" You chirped. He laughed and picked you up easily, giving you a quick kiss on the forehead.

"Is that better?" He asked. You nodded and giggled happily. Outside, you could hear Taika calling for others to come on set for the next scene which, thankfully, didn’t include you.

“Chris squared! Get over here! What’s taking so long?” Taika called out.

“We can’t find Mjolnir!” Chris Evans and Hemsworth yelled together. Tom laughed quietly and motioned for you to be quiet. He walked into the bathroom of the trailer and, when he came back out, was welding the mighty hammer.

“You didn’t!” You gasped. He nodded excitedly and ran outside, holding the hammer high.

"I am the god of thunder!" You heard your boyfriend yell as he ran around the lot. Peeking out the window, you could see the Chrises chasing him and yelling for him to give it back. Finally he spun it quickly and threw it towards the set, where it landed safely on a mattress. He took off back towards your trailer and burst in, laughing hysterically.

"Oh my goodness," You laughed. "That was a slight to see! Loki running around with Thor's hammer."

"I could have borrowed a blonde wig too," He mused. You shuddered in mock horror.

"Oh please no! I want my ginger prince," You replied instantly.

"Have you ever seen my original audition tape?" He asked, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Uh, no," You said. He chuckled and started looking something up on his phone. "Should I be nervous?"

"Come here," He said, sitting down on the sofa and patting the seat next to him. He then showed you a video on YouTube from one of his appearances on Jimmy Fallon.

"Oh dear!" You cried, laughing loudly. "That," you paused, catching your breath. "Darling, I love you but that was horrible."

"My thoughts exactly. But think about it this way. If I hadn't completely botched another Disney audition I wouldn't have even gotten a chance at Thor!"

"What other Disney audition?" You asked suspiciously.

"Well, here's the story." As he told you the story, you put 2 and 2 together.

"Don't tell me," You groaned. "Pirates of the Caribbean?" He nodded and you laughed together. "Well in my opinion, you didn't miss out on much."

"Are ye sure ye wouldn't ah wanted to date ah pirate?" He teased in his best worst pirate impression.

"Absolutely. I love you just the way you are, my prince," You winked. He smiled and you leaned over on his shoulder, cuddling up beside him on the couch. He gave you a quick kiss on the top of your head and pulled you closer.

"And I love you, my sweet princess."

Loki Taglist

@lucywrites02

@delightfulheartdream

@serpentargo

@khena

@nyx2021

@kaz11283

@weasley-main-lover

@up-to-mischief

Marvel (all characters) Taglist

@bartv21

@another-crazy-fangirl

@whatafuckingdumbass

@ladylulu143

[sparetimeimagines]

Drabble: Cleaning Out the Attic Brings Back Memories

Daichi Sawamura x Reader

Tags; Fluff, Pregnant Reader, Memories, Daddy Daichi, Police Officer!AU

Masterlist

It had been nagging you for months. Clean out the attic. Clean out the attic. It was the nostalgic feeling of your mother nagging you to clean your room, but this time, you had to be the mother.

Dozens of boxes had gathered dust here over the last few years and you couldn’t tell apart yours from the others, but regardless, some had to go. The thought of items gathering in the attic made you grow uneasy; the clutter close to driving you insane. Finally, you had enough, and the brown boxes gathering dust needed to find a home.

In the order of importance, you began separating the pieces of memorabilia.

When you two moved in together, your junk became his junk and vice-versa. You couldn’t tell who’s junk was who’s, and you needed to make an executive decision.

“You. You’re the lucky winner.” You mumbled to the box before you with highschool written on it.

Daichi helped you pack when you moved out of your parents’, labeling each box accordingly from each source, but it still didn’t tell you who’s box was it.

Peeling off the tape, you found the black and orange Karasuno yearbook, with “Fly” engraved across the front. Oh, the fond memories you had of that school.

Long nights traveling to Tokyo for tournaments; how Daichi begged Coach Ukai to let you travel on the bus since your parents were always out of town and he didn’t want you driving by yourself.

Long days feeling your boyfriend and his friends’ eyes drilling beams into the back of your head, knowing you’ll have to share your notes with them since clearly they weren’t paying attention to the sensei.

Quiet weekend days spent in your boyfriend’s arms watching movies you saw dozens of times, knowing you’ll fall asleep to his heart’s beat on his chest, because let’s be honest, that was your intention all along.

Loud evenings of music, laughter and trash talk when the teammates of your boyfriend’s volleyball team would ruin the quiet time you had because they realized your parents were out of town.

Responsible Daichi kicking them out at a proper time because he “didn’t want to disturb the neighbors” but in reality he wanted intimate alone time with you.

Those muscles chiseled from hours of practice barricaded you many nights in the dark, private moments and breathy kisses shared between the two of you because you knew you didn’t want to spend your nights with anyone else.

You come across a newspaper -aged with time-of the boys you used to know and the success they had from winning another huge game against a rival team. Those young faces bring you to an awe, tears welding in your eyes realizing how long it has been since you have spoken to most of them. 

You sniffle and wipe another tear from your eye, reaching for a trophy Daichi had stuffed away, exposing him to be the owner of the box.

The door on the floor below shuts and footsteps are heard, growing louder as time passes.

“Sweetheart?” Your husband calls, he creaking against the wood below his feet. “Are you up here?”

“I’m over here.”

You wipe the tear from the opposite eye and feel his presence over your shoulder.

“What are you looking at... oh. Hey!” He chuckles with a light smile growing to his lips. “I haven’t seen this in years!” You move to the side with some difficulty, your thirty-two weeks or eight months of growing child making it much harder to move now-a-days. “Hey, what’s wrong?” Instant worry dresses his face whilst he bends over, full examination mode.

“Nothing, Dai, just hormones.” You sniffle eyeing the shiny badge on your husband’s chest. His biceps, in better condition than high school, pull you from the ground and into his arms. 

Being held by Daichi was one thing you never wanted to change. Muscular, gentle arms welcoming you with endless love, there’s no wonder how you got pregnant.

“How’s my princess?” His fingers trace along the bump failing to be hidden by your shirt.

“Kicking. Always kicking.” You expose the newspaper you were holding. “How do you think they’re doing, Dai?” You choke, handing him the paper.

He chuckles again, caressing your tummy with his free hand.

“Hmm, well. Suga is downstairs, the Tanaka’s are down the road... I saw Yamaguchi Tuesday and...”

“The rest of the boys are living their lives...” You let out a sob and cover your face embarrassed.

“Oh, Sweetheart...” He chuckles pulling you into his arms the best that he can, your head on his chest. “They’re ok! They haven’t forgotten where home is. They’re just a little busy now.” He insures you. “Just like you. You’re creating this beautiful miracle inside of you. That’s a lot of work. And in few weeks you’ll be able to stay home with her and I’ll take care of the both of you.”

“You’re just saying that because she looks like you.” You playfully roll your eyes smacking his firm chest.

“Well yeah... but that’s just a bonus.” He grabs your hands. “Don’t worry, Sweetheart. Everyone is doing well.” He presses his lips to your forehead and pulls your hand in the direction of the stairs. “But for right now, Suga found the teal blanket you were looking for and I brought your favorite soba, so come downstairs and stay out of the attic.”

[dinmadness]

Prompt Request: could you maybe do a mandalorian/male reader romantic drabble?

For: @ripariansoliloquy

Paring: Din Djarin x Male Reader/You

Tags: Fluffy, blindfolds, kissing, soft Din, adorable baby Grogu.

I’m so glad you asked for this and I hope you enjoy it! I planned on like just a few hundred words but nah, there 1,020. Oh well. I hope you enjoy soft Din!

Fic under cut!

Perching cross-legged on a stump, Grogu purring contently in your lap, as you enjoy the warmth of the setting sun. Hues of orange and purple wash over the Crest as you watch with interest while Din repairs a small hole in the ships haul. You ran into a small asteroid belt on your way to Tython, one lucky chunk managed to inflict a decent size gouge. Now you are on a small rural planet for the time being.

You don’t mind hanging around on planets with minimal population, it just means you and Din get to spend more time together, just the two of you and Grogu. You’ve never actually talked to Din about what your relationship was but you didn’t think you needed to. Din was a man of few words and even fewer personal relationships. You were the opposite. Before you met the traveling duo, you were a just a guy who wasn’t tied to one person or place.

If you were being honest, your life here, with Din and Grogu, made you far happier.

Shaking from your thoughts, you lean over to rest your elbows on your thighs, touching your nose to the childs head, puffing your cheeks with air. Grogu reacts to the touch and tilts his head up to look at you. When he sees your face, he lets out a burst of giggles. You laugh as you let the air out, placing a kiss on the tiny area between his eyes. Grogu purrs again.

Your name being called breaks you from the moment, you and the Child look towards the voice. Din has finished the repair and is waving you over. Uncrossing your stiff legs, you stand and go to him, child in arms.

“Nice patch work.” You say with a sparkle of amusement in your voice. You and the whole galaxy knows Din isn’t the greatest mechanic.

The mandalorian looks back at the patch of metal haphazardly welded to the haul before he turns back, giving you side eye. “You think you can do better, tough guy?” He challenges.

You smirk and throw up your free hand in surrender. Din gives a shake of his head as steps closer to you, almost putting you chest to chest if not for Grogu. The child takes advantage of the closeness and grabs Dins chest plate to pull himself over, looking at his reflection. Din carefully slips an arm around you, his hand warm against your lower back, before he turns and leads you three into the razor crest.

Din takes Grogu and places him in his hammock, tucking him in for a nap. The child snuggles down and his eyes begin to drift shut.

Once the door is closed he grabs your hand and spins you around, pulling you flush against him. His armor feels cool through the fabric of your tunic. You sigh as he drags his hands over the flat expanse of your stomach and chest until they come to rest across your shoulders.

You never tire of hearing your name roll off his tongue, so low and soft, it makes you weak in the knees.

“I have a surprise.” He hums, removing himself from you. Your curiosity is piqued, in all the months you have been staying with the Mandalorian and child, he’s never given you a surprise before. Everything he’s ever given to you had a purpose or was a necessity.

“You’ll need to cover your eyes,” he states as he comes around to face you. You look down and he has a black swath of fabric laid across his open palm. You look up to him, eye brow quirked.

“Can I just use my hands?” You ask.

He shakes his head. “Do you trust me?”

Without a doubt, you say in your mind. More than anyone. You don’t say that out loud though, only nod. He brings the cloth up and over your eyes, careful not to tie it too tight. Once he was satisfied, you heard him step away.

“Can you see anything?” A hint of something you can’t quiet pinpoint is laced in his voice.

You give a show of looking around, “can’t see a thing.”

He doesn’t say anything back but you can hear rustling before the noise suddenly stops. You are starting to get nervous now.

After several moment, you are ready to ask if everything is OK but your words die in your throat when you feel the skin of a warm hand ghost over your cheek and into the hair at the nape of your neck. You’re heart is thrumming so loud in your chest you can feel it in your ears and fingertips. Your belly swirls with heat and butterflies.

You open your mouth to try to speak again but you are silenced by hesitant lips connecting with yours. You hear Din sigh through his nose and he pulls you closer like he fears you will disappear. Finally getting your bearings you bring your hands up to thread into Dins hair, paying no mind to the tangles, tilting your head and deepening the kiss. You lick into his warm mouth and he moans, sending a jolt through you. It takes Din a moment to get into the rythm but when he does it makes your head spin.

After a few breathless moments he pulls away, his heavy breath warming your cheek.

“I, um,” the tone is back, you now register it as nervousness. “I’ve wanted to do that for a while. I’m sorry I can’t go as fast as I’m sure you would like, but I want to try...”

“- it was perfect, Din.” You cut him off, placing your hands on his waist. “I would never want to make you uncomfortable.”

You feel him physically relax. He moves from your grip and after a moment you feel him untying the blindfold. Your eyes adjust to the light and you smile up at him, silver helmet right where it belongs. He tilts his head to the side in return. You can’t see his face, but you don’t need to.

[charlieswanwhore]

She (Ginny Weasley x Sapphic! Reader)

notes: can you tell im in love with Ginny Weasley? also my first post in MONTHS im so sorry

masterlist

warning: none :) the end if kind of rushed sry

I'd never tell No, I'd never say a word And oh, it aches But it feels oddly good to hurt

Your soft voice bounced around the stone walls of your dorm. Your hands were raw at this point from playing the guitar and writing for hours. You finally finished the song you had written that expressed your feelings. Humming along while tuning your guitar, you were startled by your best friend and dormmate, Ginny Weasley.

“You’re really good, you know,” her low voice comes from behind you. Looking back at the dorm entrance you saw her coolly leaned against the arch, books in hand, school robes keeping her warm.

Shit. She heard you? You literally wanted anything but anyone to hear it.

Trying to not show too much shock, you muttered a nervous thank you. “Oh, yea, thanks, Gin,” Ginny smiled then ran to the four poster next to yours, sitting directly across from you. “How much of it did you hear?”

“Most of the song, I reckon,” Shitshitshitshit. “Well, I mean, not really. I heard your voice but I couldn’t really hear any of the words since I was just down the hall.” Ginny smiled. She had no clue you were singing a song about her. Thank Godric. Relief washed over you until she spoke up again, “Will you play it for me?”

“Play what?” You were dumbstruck with stress still that your mind went blank.

“The song you were just playing,” Ginny giggled and gave eyes of encouragement. That giggle triggered the butterflies to be let out into your stomach, fluttering around as if it is the first time they have seen day. Her laugh was always one of your favorite things. 

“Oh! Yeah, duh. Um, I-I don’t know. I mean, it isn’t gr-” you scrambled to make excuses but Ginny interrupted.

“Oh come on, Y/N. I know it’s amazing. Besides, I am your best friend, I won’t judge even if it was bloody awful,” she grabbed your hand while talking you up. You stared at your hand holding her paled, freckled one. Now you were more nervous than ever. 

You shut your eyes before sighing, “Fine! Fine! But you owe me a butterbeer from the Three Broomsticks today,” you pointed at her with stern eyes. Taking in a deep breath before going to strum you saw her get comfortable and wear the biggest smile ever. You soon blushed but the nerves flooded you again. “Ginny, are you sure? My throat is a litt-”.

“Y/N!” she giggled before you responded defensively with an ‘OK’.

Ginny was patient as you got into your zone of focus. After what felt like forever for you, your fingers began to strum. You were doing it, you were playing her the song. Out of nerves to start the lyrics, you played the beginning intro a few too many times before the lyrics spewed from your mouth. You saw from the corner of your eye that Ginny grinned bigger as she saw your mouth open.

Am I allowed, to look at her like that?

And just like that, Ginny’s expression changed at the word “her.” It wasn’t a negative expression, just a curious one. A curious look that was almost permanently on their mutual friend Luna Lovegood’s face. Ginny mouthed the word “her” before tuning into you singing the rest of the song.

Could it be wrong, when she’s just so nice to look at?

This was the point in Ginny’s head that solidified the idea that you were singing about a girl and that she didn’t hear you wrong the first time. There was initial shock at first but overall acceptance to her best friend.

And she smells like lemongrass and sleep She tastes like pumpkin juice and peach Oh, you would find her in a Polaroid picture And she means everything to me, oh

That was the verse that you were scared to sing to Ginny the most. 

Your head flashed to the day you and Ginny learned about amortentia with their Potions class. Everyone in the class announced what they smelled, but when it got to you, you had to think fast to cover up your answer which would make it almost obviously that you smelled Ginny. “I smell cologne and... today’s breakfast,” your whole class giggled. 

Ginny poked you in the ribs, “Almost no one ate whatever it was that they gave us for breakfast,” she pondered, “except Ron.” Her eyes went wide when she thought she put together puzzle pieces. “You like Ron!” she whispered, not quiet enough for us to not earn a glare from the Professor, though. You shrugged, you wanted her off the topic. You began to listen to the rest of your class announce what they smell, pretending that what you said didn’t matter. 

And I'll be okay admiring from afar 'Cause even when she's next to me We could not be more far apart

It was true. Although you and Ginny were attached at the hip and knew almost everything about each other, you could not feel more distanced. It wasn’t anything that was Ginny’s fault. It was your own. You were keeping a secret from her. And it wasn’t a secret such as ‘Once I wore your favorite jumper without asking,’ it was that you were in love with her. Hell, Ginny didn’t even know that you liked girls. You created such a large wall to protect yourself and your friendship with Ginny. 

And she tastes like birthday cake and storytime and fall But to her, I taste of nothing at all

Your voice got especially raw at that last lyric. You knew she fancied Harry. You knew she only saw you as a friend. You were never more than a friend. Honestly, you had no clue whether or not Ginny would ever swing your way, but you always assumed that she wouldn’t, you did so to protect your feelings.

Ginny was still grinning. Though she had a curious look on her face, she also looked proud. Which, honestly, you are proud of yourself. You are proud of singing in front of her, for coming out to her, and maybe, if it works out, you’ll be proud of being hers.  

And she means everything to me Yes, she means everything to me She means everything to me

You closed out the song slowly. You emotions were on edge. You were proud, sad, curious, nervous, and happy all at the same time. Once the guitar stopped vibrating with noise, Ginny began to vocalize her thoughts.

“Y/N! That was so beautiful! The lyrics, your voice... and ‘she’? Y/N! Why didn’t I know?!” she jumped to her feet and softly clapped. You sure hope she meant you liking girls, not being madly in love with her. 

Blushing, you messily thank her, “Oh- I- I- Thanks, Gin, I really appreciate it,” you awkwardly said, putting your guitar away as Ginny sat next to you on the bed.

“Don’t avoid the question, Y/N/N” she said staring at you sternly.

“What question?” Now you were playing dumb. You wanted to end this moment as soon as possible, you prayed that your friends would come to the door any second saying that they were ready to go to Hogsmeade. 

Without forcing the harsh question, Ginny tried to guide you into answering patiently. “You know... ‘She...’ Merlin, Y/N, that you like girls!” she rolled her eyes playfully before poking you in the ribs.

“Oh...right. I don’t know, it just never came up?” you tried to dumb the situation down but you knew you weren’t going to get away with it.

“‘It never came up,’ Yeah right, Y/N! We have definitely talked about who we like before. I just thought it was Ron all this time, haha! Ron... Thank Godric you don’t fancy my brother,” she was more happy than you thought she would be. It comforted you, but you knew what her next question was going to be. 

There was a moment of comfortable silence and calming from the laughing. Ginny then broke that silence, quiet at first. “Um, who is it about? Who is ‘She’?”

There it was. The question you absolutely dreaded.

Looking at her was the scariest moment you have ever experienced. She had to be pulling your leg. You name dropped her literal scent and favorite foods. Meeting her eyes made your stomach drop. You noticed Ginny’s eyes holding a bit of sympathy welded into the curiosity. Did she know it was about her and felt bad? Was she going to be able to tell from your nervous facial expression?

Her beautiful eyes were a trance that almost took her out of her nervous and repeating thoughts. The one thing that did was a group of Gryffindors stopping at your door way.

“Ginny, Y/N, everyone is starting to leave for the Hogsmeade, you ready?” a Gryffindor boy you both were friendly with asked, a few other Gryffindors behind him. 

Both of you jumped up and scrambled to get ready, “Yea, we will be there soon, thank you for letting us know!” you said, dressing warm in a quick manner. You were thankful that your classmates interrupted the moment. You wouldn’t mind staring into Ginny’s eyes anytime except for now.

You both quickly headed down to the entrance of the school, meeting with friends. There was tension between you too, nothing negative, just awkward. You tried to wipe the last five minutes from your brain to enjoy Hogsmeade with Ginny and your friends, but negativities swirling in your head made it hard, especially when Ginny kept stealing (what looked like sympathetic) looks at you the entire trip.

***

Walking back from Hogsmeade in the winter was awful. For one, it was too cold for what warm robes everyone had on. On the other hand, Ginny was staring bullet holes into your head the entire time. You couldn’t tell if they were pity or curiosity, but to be honest, you wanted to avoid the situation of finding out as much as possible. 

Dinner in the Great Hall was going to be served in about an hour so everyone freezing down to their bones has dedicated the hour to running to their dorms and warming up as soon as possible. Ginny wasn’t an exception to that, she bolted up the stairs leaving you alone to your slow walking. You planned to walk as slow as you could and take as many detours on the moving stairs as you could. When you did walk into your dorm much later, Ginny, now dressed in warmer clothes and slippers, greeted you.

“Y/N! What took you so long? I thought you would’ve run up here to get warm!”

Your eyes shot down to the floor as you paced your way to your four poster, “Oh, just took the long route,” you shrugged, hoping she’d leave it be. 

“Y/N,” you turn around towards the voice, which has now moved right behind you. 

“Close your eyes,” Ginny said. Nervously, you close your eyes.

It is nothing but darkness for a bit. That is until you feel a tug on your neck from your scarf. That loses your focus before it is on the pair of soft lips on yours.

She was kissing you. Ginny Weasley was kissing you.

The kiss was short and sweet but enough to make you shocked and have butterflies brewing between the two of you. 

After pulling apart, Ginny speaks up, “you taste of... butterbeer and... sugar quills,” she grins softly.

You stared wide eyed at the doe eyed girl. She reads the shock on your face and is immediately filled with regret.

“Oh Godric, the song wasn’t about me, was it? I just thought so since some of the clues connected with me and I have been in love with you for two years so I guess I just assumed. Godric, this is so embarass-” Ginny’s nervous ran was cut off by a kiss between you. This kiss was longer. Your arms were around eachother, breath was running out fast. 

“It’s you, you dork. The song is about you,” you confess before kissing her once again. 

[tanyawritesstories]

Pain In Hurt Places | Fives x Reader

A self-indulgent Fives piece because I always wish he were with me during dark times. If this isn't your kinda thing then scroll past or check out some of my other works 😊

TW!!: Mentions self-harm and depression. Do not read if you don't feel comfortable!!

Word count: 1.9k

Warnings: angst, self-harm scars, past trauma, sadness, fluff, feelings, happy ending, we all need a Fives in our lives (that rhymed ;)

•••

You greeted the troopers you saw along your way to the hangar, stopping to talk to a few of them. Torrent was back from their mission and, as usual, most of the vehicles needed repairing.

As you entered the hangar, you saw your friends. Most of them looked fine, no injuries thank the Maker. You could tell they were worn out and needed rest. Fives was so exhausted that he wasn't even arguing back with Rex, who was giving him a piece of his mind.

You watched them all head off to eat and sleep, giving them a smile to try and cheer them up. Rex walked up to you, "a word please, Y/N." You stepped aside with him. "I don't know if you heard, but that di'kut cost us two LAATs because of some risky strategy he thought of. So he's going to help you repair every damaged piece of equipment from the mission. Can you supervise him, make sure he does his job?"

You nodded, "Absolutely, Captain. Thank you."

You jogged over to Fives, who was leaning against the side of a gunship in desperate need of repairs. “Why don’t you get some rest, bud. Then we’ll get to work. I know your Captain wants you healthy,” you told him. He shoved off the vehicle and walked past, giving you a salute.

You and Fives had been friends since he joined Torrent as an ARC trooper. You had been a new mechanic at that point, shy but good at her job. A few of the more experienced mechanics had made fun of you one day and Fives had overheard them. He told them off and ensured they would never bother you again. The two of you became fast friends after that. You hung out every chance you got, talking, playing sabacc, fixing things. Fives even taught you how to use a blaster just in case you ever found yourself in a dangerous situation. Over the months, you had grown quite the crush on your best friend. You knew it was one-sided, Fives was an ARC trooper, a busy one. He had better things to do than waste his time loving you.

You got started on the repairs, knowing Fives would join you when he was rested.

~~~~

You had been working for a few hours when you heard footsteps approaching from behind you. You stopped your welding and turned around, seeing Fives standing nearby. “Reporting for duty, sir,” he said sarcastically.

You walked over to him. “Did you get enough sleep?” You asked, shining your flashlight around his eyes, he still looked tired. “I never get enough sleep, you know that,” he replied. "Ok, well let me know if you need to take a break," you said. You knew he never would, he never had before. As much as you always wanted him to not be so hard on himself, there wasn't anything you could do.

You both got to work, repairing and improving the gunships, speeders, and walkers. Rex came by once to check on your progress, but other than that it was you and Fives working in a corner of the hangar. You took water breaks to cool down, all the physical work making you both sweat. It got to the point where Fives ditched the top half of his armor and blacks. You tried your best not to stare at him but you were failing. The way his muscles flexed and moved beneath his skin, the grunts and groans of exertion, and the drops of sweat rolling down his toned chest were very distracting.

"Cyare, you've got to be dying in that long-sleeved shirt," Fives commented. "I'm ok," you replied, keeping your eyes on your work.

You had taken off as much as you could, except your boots, long sleeve shirt, and your pants which you had rolled up to your knees. You could feel the sweat soaking the back of your shirt, making it stick to your skin.

Fives put the back of his hand on your forehead, pulling it back when he felt the moisture gathered there. "You're on fire, at least roll up your sleeves." You shook your head. "I'll be fine, I'm not as hot as I look," you joked. "I think you are.." Fives mumbled as he returned to his work. You forced yourself to pay attention to your work, in the process missing his hushed confession.

There was no way you could roll up your sleeves, not around anyone, especially not Fives. You couldn’t let him see the disasters of your past that chose to display themselves on your forearms. If he saw them there was no way he’d ever speak to you again. He would know that you had issues and that you were weak, you couldn’t lose him. Just the thought of losing your best friend was enough of a reason to slice into your skin again, but you pushed the urge away. You had been clean for two months, the last time being when you were certain Fives didn’t love you and only saw you as a friend.

“Hey, I’m going to the mess to get some ice. The cold water just ain’t cuttin’ it anymore,” Fives announced. You nodded in acknowledgment and watched him take off. You worked for a while before taking a break. You looked around and saw that you were alone, you wiped your forehead on your sleeve before cautiously rolling it up. The thin, light colored scars stared hauntingly back at you, a constant reminder of your failures, fears, and weaknesses. You ran your fingers up and down them, knowing the situation and story behind each one. You were so caught up in your thoughts you didn’t hear the silent footsteps approaching.

You were facing away from the gunship doors when Fives approached, carrying a bucket of ice. He didn’t announce his presence like he normally did, once he saw you sitting down in complete silence. You had your sleeves rolled up and now that he was thinking about it, Fives had never seen your sleeves rolled up. No matter how hot it was, you never showed your arms and Fives didn't know why. He quietly set the bucket of ice down and slowly crept closer to try and find out.

As he got closer he was able to see the scars on both your forearms, the skin littered with lighter colored lines, some older than others. He was immediately horrified, then worried, then sad. Why would you do something like that to yourself? Did you hate your life that much? Was it you, was it him? Whatever it was Fives wanted to make it disappear. He didn't want you to be in pain or upset, he loved you too much for that. You only ever treated him like a friend and he was afraid that's all he'd be to you. He wanted to be the man you loved and spent every moment with. It hurt him more than he realized to see that you were in so much mental pain that it caused you to physically harm yourself.

You sniffed in front of him and he couldn't resist putting his hand on your shoulder. You screamed and fell off the crate you were sitting on, yanking your sleeves back into place. "Maker, Fives. You scared the life out of me," you said, a hand over your chest.

"How long?" He asked.

"What?"

"How long have you been doing that?" He motioned to your arms. "Oh, that's nothing, don't worry about it," you brushed it off, turning away. Fives wasn't about to let this go and gently grabbed you, pulling you back to him. "Like hell it's nothing," he scoffed, "I've seen those marks far too many times on my brothers. Why are they on you?"

You looked at the floor trying to will away the tears welling up in your eyes. Fives turned your face to look back at him. Once you saw the sadness in his eyes you couldn't hold it in any longer. You broke down, tears spilling down your cheeks as you buried your face in Fives' neck. He held you against him, trying not to cry himself. “Shh, shh, it’s ok. Here, let’s sit down,” he consoled.

Fives never let go of you as he sat you both down on the floor, pulling you close to him. He held you until you stopped crying, running his fingers through your hair and rubbing your back. “I’m sorry, Fives,” you said, sadly. “Can I ask why you made those?” You nodded, the least you could do was tell him why you had been hiding from him.

“I started when my parents were killed two years ago,” you explained, “I’ve been doing it on and off since then. Whenever I feel the urge, really, or if I get sad enough.”

“Why didn’t you come to me? You know I would’ve helped you,” he said, taking your face into his hands again. “I didn’t want to bother you,” you sniffled out. Fives sighed. “Cyare, you could never bother me. I want to help you. I can’t stand seeing the woman I love so distraught.”

You pulled away, did you just hear him correctly? “You l-love me?”

Fives realized what he just said. “Kriff it,” he mumbled, “Y/N, I’ve loved you since we started talking more often, since you sat with me in the mess. Since I first saw you, I just knew I had no chance with someone like you, so I never-”

You silenced him by putting a finger to his lips. “Fives I’ve loved you since then too. Since you stood up for me when I was the new mechanic, since you would sit and tell me stories while I worked. I love you too, Fives.”

He smiled at you, love and adoration in his golden brown eyes. You cupped his cheek with your hand, brushing your thumb over his cheekbone. “May I kiss you?” He asked. You nodded and whispered a ‘yes’ meeting him as he leaned in. Your lips met his, soft but passionately, love infused into the action. You both stayed connected until you needed air, pulling away to find one another both smiling gleefully.

"Promise me you'll try not to hurt yourself again. If you ever feel the urge, come to me and we'll get through it together," Fives pleaded. "I promise," you agreed, "I'll do it for you, darling." Fives smiled, "Good, now I need you to do one more thing for me. Kiss me again."

You laughed and brought Fives in to connect in another loving kiss.

"Ya'know, the reason I took such a risky maneuver was because of you?" He said, leaning back against the gunship wall. You rested your head on his shoulder, one arm around his waist. "What do you mean?" Fives pulled you tighter to him. "I couldn't bear the thought of not seeing you again, so I risked half our transports to make sure I got back," he looked at you, "so I could see you again." You beamed up at him. "I'm so glad you did, I get to see you again and now we're together. I couldn't think of a better decision you've made." You both laughed, glad to finally be together and happy, something neither of you had been in a long time.

[free-pancakes]

A Fire in the Shadows

LeviHan - Avatar the Last Airbender AU fic

Characters: Levi, Hange, Erwin, Mike, Nanaba, Moblit, Kenny, Zeke, Sasha, Jean, Armin, Kuchel, Porco, Pieck

Summary: Levi, the nephew of a fire nation captain, stumbles upon a ragtag group of 5 known as the Scouts, formidably known for foiling the plans of local fire nation control, living in the forests a few miles north of Ba Sing Se.

Chapter 5: Interconnected Chapter 4: The Fire from the Shadows Chapter 3: Bonds  Chapter 2: Trust  Chapter 1: The Scouts

(crossposted to ao3)

CH 5: Interconnected

A 10 year-old Hange sat by the edge of the river running right outside her home, listening to the happy quacks of little turtle ducks swimming by. She smiled as she molded the fire in her palm into a small ball of flame, tossing and kicking it back and forth to herself. Erwin walked quietly towards the river, and stared at Hange from afar. He couldn’t help but watch, mesmerized at the finesse of her movements—she was a natural, more adept than even the adult firebenders he knew, at just 10 years old. She was just a kid, but she was skilled beyond her years. He was so proud of her, but admittedly, a little jealous. He looked down at his hands, sad that he wasn’t gifted with the ability to bend an element. He lowered them and shook his head—despite this, the pride he had for his best friend far outweighed any sadness he felt being a non-bender. He’d always stand by her side.

“Hange, I got the stuff you asked for.” He pulled off his backpack and shook its contents onto the grass—a metal funnel, metal clamps, and wax adhesives. Hange’s eyes glowed with fiery excitement as she squealed with joy. “These are perfect!” She gathered the supplies and ran towards the house. “Come on Erwin, race you back to my room!” She sprinted ahead, and Erwin laughed as he ran to catch up with her.

Hange ran into her home, tracking dirt all over the wooden floorboards. “Hange dear, come on, I just mopped the floor!”

She disappeared into her room and yelled, “Sorry, Mom! I got a super-top-secret-urgent project to work on!”

Before she could ask Hange to come back and clean up her mess, she turned around to find Erwin already sweeping up the dirt.

“Oh Erwin, you’re so sweet, you don’t need to do that!” She gently took the broom out of his hand and ruffled his hair. “Go join Hange, don’t worry about it,” she said softly.

“Thanks for having me, Mrs. Zoe,” he politely nodded his head and walked into Hange’s room, closing the door gently behind him. He looked down to find Hange busy producing a tiny fire at the tip of her index finger, welding the metal to the rest of her contraption. Erwin knew better than to talk to her while she was engrossed in conjuring up her newest invention, so he put his backpack down on the floor and sat neatly across from her. He stared up at the wall, at the same picture frames he always looked at whenever he waited for Hange to finish her latest project. The picture was that of a man who resembled Hange’s father, his arm around a young Avatar Roku and a few other people, all of them smiling together.

According to Hange, the bespectacled man in the painting was her great grandfather, a good friend of Roku. Beneath this was a picture of Erwin’s grandparents arm-in-arm with Hange’s grandparents and all of their friends. The picture below that was one from a few years before either Hange or he was born, showing his and Hange’s parents laughing together, and in the center, a beautiful woman with long, black hair and the most gentle eyes. Generations… lifetimes of the most powerful firebenders, yet the most kind people were displayed there before him, and it was almost crazy to think that he and Hange, along with their new friends, Mike and Nanaba, were probably next in line to join that wall—a wall displaying both genuine friendship and deep loyalty to the peaceful and harmonious land the fire nation once was. Erwin smiled as he remembered his father’s words to him one night not too long ago—“Friendships really do transcend lifetimes.”

“Success!” Hange held the contraption in her hand, a mess of metal tubes swirling into a metal funnel at the end. Before he could ask what it was, Hange was dragging him by the hand and climbing out the one window in her room. “Hurry up ya slowpoke! Before my mom or Moblit hears us!”

They ran towards the small barn marking the halfway point between their houses. Hange walked along the edges of the barn to a spot in the dirt marked with a small scarf of hers. “Here! Help me dig, Erwin!” They used their hands to scoop piles of dirt out, deep enough to fit the end of the funnel under and inside the barn.

“Ok! Can you stay right here and listen to me through the pipe? Tell me how clear the sound is.” Hange ran around the corner and into the barn, and began to speak and whisper, alternating between the two. Erwin’s eyes widened in shock at the clarity—even Hange’s whispers were audible through the pipe. “How did she even manage to do this?” he thought to himself. Now they could listen clearly to their parents’ secret meetings, and he was quite excited with their new tool.

“From the look on your face, I take it that the acoustics are perfect, no?” Hange smiled deviously, and Erwin returned it. The two friends happily bumped fists. “Now we can hear about their next mission without taking turns pressing our ears against the wall!”

Ever since she and Erwin stumbled upon a meeting about a year ago, their minds became hyper-fixated on discovering their parents' work and uncovering the secrets behind it all. Since they were probably the two most dangerously curious kids of all the fire nation, it was only natural that they’d figure it all out eventually. They had spent the past year trying to listen to the group meetings in the barn, and learned all about their missions. Ridden with curiosity, the two eventually found years of hidden documents containing information on their families, kept in boxes under faulty floorboards of their homes.

When Avatar Roku mysteriously died nearly 100 years ago, his group of friends awaited their friend’s reincarnation as a child from one of the air temples. But after the fire nation attacks on the airbender monks, they feared the worst. The world began to tip out of balance, and when no avatar seemed to appear in the earth kingdom, they wondered whether the avatar was gone for good. But among Roku’s friends, hope was not lost—they passed down their stories from generation to generation, and as the fire nation grew in power, the Zoe family was the face of those defending from the inside, attempting to do what they could to restore balance. They became the crux of movement within the shadows of the fire nation, thwarting plans of conquering villages and cities of the world, keeping as many citizens and innocent people safe from fire nation soldiers’ violence. Their numbers have dwindled over the years from fighting for their cause, and most of them eventually moved into the earth kingdom colonies to help out the villages more closely, though a few stayed behind in the fire nation to continue retrieving intel from the inside and kept correspondence with any information gleaned.

Hange was quite keen on listening for more every week, confident in her desire to follow in her family’s footsteps. As much as Erwin shared Hange’s excitement, part of him was deeply concerned about Hange’s safety. Out of the families that moved out into the earth kingdom colonies, she was the only firebender in their generation, and he was afraid that she’d have to take on too much responsibility and carry the brunt of the work in order to live up to their families’ names. But they were only kids, right? He waved away his own worries—it’s not like they’d have to join in on this right away. Their parents didn’t even know that we found out about all of this yet.

-------- When the sun just began to set, the two friends snuck their way back to the barn under the calm, orange glow of the sky. They crouched down at the spot where they lodged Hange’s invention through the ground and listened in—but to their disappointment, the adults were simply chatting and enjoying each other’s company. “Booooring,” Hange sighed. “Maybe we should just call it a night, huh Erwin?” As Erwin readied himself to walk Hange home, he overheard the quiet closing of a door and a new voice sound through the pipe. They locked eyes and quickly threw themselves down to press their ears close and listen.

“Kuchel!” Hange’s mother exclaimed, and they heard the soft sound of sniffles and happy cries of the reunion.

“KUCHEL??” Hange exclaimed loudly.

“Who’s Kuchel?”

“My mom’s friend! Her best friend!” Hange clasped her hands together and jumped around in excitement. “Oh I’ve always wanted to meet her, she sounds so nice and—“

“Well, well, well, what do we have here?” Hange and Erwin spun around to see Hange’s dad staring at the two of them and eyeing their little listening device. “Eavesdropping now, are we? You might have made something where you can hear us loud and clear, but did you consider the possibility that we could hear YOU loud and clear from the other side?” Erwin and Hange nervously laughed at his words—they really did forget to consider that. He bent down to look at Hange’s creation and his facade of playing “bad cop” parent melted away quite quickly, and he turned to his daughter and chuckled. “So how did you make it?” As the two Zoe’s babbled on about the intricacies of Hange’s ideas, Erwin continued to listen into the barn.

“Oh yes, Kenny’s alright, as annoying as ever, telling me we should give up on all this and that my son and I should just move out here with all of you. But how else would we get more intel without me on the inside?”

“But you can move in with us! We can adjust. Our plans can change! Kenny’s right, it’s probably safer for you to stay here. On top of that, I’m sure your son would love to meet Erwin and Hange,” Hange’s mother answered.

“I’m sure he would. He’s very quiet and doesn’t really have any friends. But I have no doubt they’ll all meet someday.” She smiled at the thought of Levi making new friends, but her smile slowly transitioned into a concerned frown. “It might have to wait a year or two, though. I don’t know if I trust Zeke anymore...”

“Well what do you mean by that? Hasn’t Zeke proved himself to us?” Erwin’s father asked.

“I’ve seen him spend some more time with Ozai recently. I can’t put a finger on it... but I think something in him has changed. I think we may be able to trust him for now, but we’ll have to see.”

The doors of the barn slammed open, revealing Hange’s father holding Hange in one arm and Erwin in the other. “I think we found our culprits!”

Mike and Nanaba’s parents burst into laughter, while Hange’s mother and Erwin’s father darted looks of deep disapproval at their children.

Hange’s dad playfully threw the two down into the pile of hay that the horses were working on, who seemed to neigh at them in disapproval. Hange and Erwin lost themselves in a fit of giggles that simply lightened up the room from the bleak conversation about Zeke. The rest of them began to catch up again and reminisce about the “good old days” while Erwin and Hange pet and fed the horses.

A few hours later, Kuchel made her way over to them, and the two suddenly felt shy, falling quiet.

Erwin’s eyes widened in recognition as she sat close to them. “You’re the beautiful lady in the picture,” Erwin accidentally whispered loud enough for Kuchel to hear.

Kuchel laughed, “You’re Erwin, right? You’re the spitting image of your father, and from what I hear, the only person smart and strong enough to keep this one under control right?” she said as she looked over to Hange.

“What, me?” Hange questioned. “Yes, you! Come here, dear,” she waved Hange towards her and gently pulled her glasses off, and wiped them clean with her sleeve, and carefully pushed them back onto Hange’s face. “And you’re the infamous, reckless Hange Zoe, correct?” She laughed, and Hange was simply mesmerized by her kind soul and the loving twinkle in her eyes.

After warming up to each other, Hange soon begged for stories from Kuchel about how all their parents became friends and both she and Erwin eagerly listened. The three of them talked for what felt like hours, until Erwin and Hange could barely keep their eyes open, their sheer curiosity and interest in Kuchel the only thing keeping them awake enough to listen.

“So that’s the sign of you all being undercover firebenders right?” Hange asked sleepily as she pointed to the little charm peeking out from pocket of her skirt. Kuchel was startled by her question, and sighed in defeat. “Well, neither of you should know anything about this until you’re old enough, but it was silly of me to think that you two wouldn’t figure that out by now being the nosy little kids you are,” she said with a small laugh. She pulled out the charm to show them. “When the time is right, we’ll all pass them down to you. It might not be as significant now—it was once used to prove that you were one to be trusted, but now that there’s not too many of us left...” Erwin noticed the hint of sadness that showed in her eyes.

“Well, it‘s still important, something to remember who you are and where you came from. Whenever you look at it, I hope it brings you peace and reminds you that it’s our responsibility to bring back stability and light to our nation, no matter how dark it may become. But who knows, it still might be important in recognizing who is a friend or foe someday. Whoever holds one is someone you can trust—I can promise you both that.”

Hange asked, “Kuchel, will we ever get to meet your son?”

“I have no doubt you will,” she said with a smile. “Hopefully soon. I think you both would be really good influences on him.” With a yawn, Hange asked one more question.

“What’s his name?”

But before they could hear Kuchel’s answer, both of them were fast asleep. Kuchel smiled lovingly at the two. She gently pulled off Hange’s glasses, pocketed them before picking her up. She chuckled at the sound of her snores as Hange’s face leaned against her chest— “Just like her mother,” she thought and suppressed full-on laughter. She then whispered quietly into Hange ear, hoping it would somehow register in her heart, despite her being asleep. “It was a pleasure to meet you, Hange. And.... I can’t wait for you meet Levi someday. Don’t let his little scowl fool you—he has a good heart.” Kuchel beckoned Hange’s mother over to pick up Erwin. “Come on, let’s go put these two to bed.”

-------- Levi could not believe Erwin’s story. But... there was no denying the description of his own mother.

He remembered the day before his mother died, and her words that morning echoed in his mind, “Levi, did you know that some friendships are strong enough to transcend lifetimes?” He wondered if that applied here—an explanation as to why his bond with Hange ran so deep, and why he felt like he’d known Erwin, Moblit, Mike, and Nanaba for much longer than he actually did.

They had been interconnected this whole time. As much as it frustrated him that knowing this would have made their meeting 3 years ago much easier, he felt a wave of happiness fall over him, and he was absolutely overwhelmed from head to toe.

“So, you’re Kuchel’s son.” Erwin remembered her kind eyes and gentle voice, and began to laugh.

“Oi, what the hell are you laughing on about?”

Erwin continued to laugh and started to wipe tears from his eyes. “I was just thinking about how you’re just...well let’s just say I never thought Kuchel’s son would turn out to be such a small, angry man.” He laughed, along with Nanaba and Mike. Levi grumbled but couldn’t help but let out a tiny smile.

After their laughter died down, Levi let the information sink in a little along with the situation at hand. “I didn’t know you met her...” he sighed. It seems there was a lot he didn’t know, and he wished he could turn back time and ask his mother everything.

Mike asked, “What did happen to your mom anyway? I know you said she was gone but...”

“She died after she saved a child from a house fire. My uncle and I were gone training for a weekend. I was only 12 at the time,” Levi said as he stared down at the ground.

“Since you and Hange are the same age... that must mean she died around the same Zeke betrayed everyone and had fire nation soldiers kill our parents,” Nanaba said quietly.

Each of them held their parents’ charms tightly in their hands. All was silent except for the rustling of leaves in the gentle breeze and the crackle of logs from their campfire. Dusk quickly fell upon them, the glow of the moon peeking through the light cloud cover.

Erwin’s eyes softened as he looked at Levi. “Well, we got some work to do, don’t we? Hange and Moblit are in trouble—I can only imagine what Zeke wants to do with them.”

Levi looked up at Erwin, noticing a minuscule flicker of worry in his eyes. “My bet... is using an Agni Kai versus Hange as public display to destroy anymore hopes of internal rebellion.”

The other three furrowed their eyebrows at this, gritting their teeth in anger.

“And... killing the last firebending Zoe would be the ultimate symbol of crushing any hope that may be left.”

Levi stood up and looked out into the horizon, in the direction Zeke and Kenny escaped the night before. He had a good idea of where they might be, but the exact coordinates of that base was kept hidden from everyone except for high ranking officials. However, knowing Hange, he had utmost confidence that she marked a way for them to find her. They'd just have to figure that out—and soon.

Levi balled his hands into tight fists and fierce determination flickered in his eyes.

“Well, we’re not gonna let her face Zeke alone, are we?” he whispered, not taking his eyes off the horizon.

--------

As Hange’s screams grew silent, Armin breathed a sad sigh of relief—either they stopped torturing her or she finally just passed out from the pain. Either way, she at least had some respite. He looked at the thick wooden bars of their cell, cross hatched like a solid net, trapping them inside. He could only assume that at least one guard was standing watch outside the metal door about 8 feet away from their cell—the only exit point in the room. How in the world were they supposed to get out of this mess? And more importantly, why were they targeting Hange? Where were the rest of the Scouts, anyway?

He turned back towards Moblit, “Hey so... what happened? How did you get captured?”

Moblit used his sleeves to wipe at his tears, revealing his swollen eyes, filled with a terrifying swirl of anger and hopelessness. “They ambushed us, Zeke and Kenny. They set everything on fire and we didn’t stand a chance—and they told us...” He looked down, tangling his fingers in his hair anxiously, like he was trying to pry the memories out from his mind.

“Told you what?”

“That Levi led them to us, and...that he was a firebender and... that he’s Kenny’s nephew.”

Sasha and Armin’s jaws dropped at the news, and Jean looked away, as he knew Levi’s secret. He wrestled with the possibility that he might have made a mistake in trusting him. “No... there’s no way I made the wrong call,” he thought.

“I’m not sure if I believe it, though. Hange was very adamant that we should trust Levi.” Happy memories of his relationship with Levi came rushing relentlessly into his head. “No, I don’t think we should stop trusting Levi.” He paused. “After that, the next thing I knew, I woke up restrained on the komodo rhino, and then saw all of you.”

“Moblit, why did they only take you, and no one else?” Sasha asked.

“Well Hange and Levi were in Ba Sing Se that night. And I think they were just using me as bait.”

“But why not any of the others, why just you?” Armin asked. “It doesn’t make any sense. Couldn’t they have just taken Erwin since he leads the Scouts?”

Moblit sighed. “I guess I better just fess up and explain everything, right? All of this would be easier if we were just on the same page.”

He fished a small, metal keychain from his pocket, a fire nation emblem etched into it, matching the one stitched into the red tapestry behind him. He held it up for them to see.

--------

A dull pain ached against the left side of Hange’s face, the skin around her eye throbbing alongside her steady heartbeat. She felt a warm hand pressing a dressing over her left eye, and saw strands of black hair hanging over her. She blinked her right eye, confused as to why she wasn’t still in the barn back home, laying in the hay next to Erwin and Kuchel.

“K-Kuchel?” Hange croaked.

She was answered with a soft whisper, “No, I’m sorry, I’m not Kuchel. My name is Pieck.”

“Oh…” Hange sighed, wishing she could return to dreamland, back to her old, yet comforting memories.

A harsh, gruff voice sounded from the dark corner of the room, “Kuchel’s been long gone, dearie.” From the shadows, Kenny stepped out into the light next to Pieck. “My dumb sister died saving some stupid kid a long time ago.” He peered down at Hange and scoffed. “Didn’t think she’d go that way, to be honest. I thought she’d at least have gone doing the pathetic work your parents and her other friends got into.”

“…Sister?”

“Yeah, my dumb old sister. What, the genius Hange Zoe hadn’t figure it out yet?”

“Sister… then… you’re Levi’s uncle??”

He let out a chilling laugh and began clapping—pathetic applause at her realization. Kenny stepped closer and bent down, staring right into Hange’s face. “Zeke told Porco to do much worse than what he ended up doing to you. You’re lucky I happened to walk in and stop him—what kind of self-respecting uncle would let his wonderful nephew’s girlfriend suffer right in front of him?”

Hange felt her brain short-circuit at his comment. “Oh I know how my nephew works, I saw how he looked at you after your cute little group took down that fire nation camp in the forest. All of you trying to be like your parents—their work was pathetic and so are you.”

Hange tried to make sense of everything and it was difficult to concentrate against the throbbing pain in her eye, but she quickly focused on the situation at hand—no need to show him weakness at anything he decided to say to her. She wasn't sure if she could trust him, though his tone seemed genuine underneath the rough exterior. She laughed to herself--she knew how to read and communicate with Ackermans.

“Their work wasn’t stupid, you pathetic old man,” Hange retorted.

Kenny laughed. “I told my sister not to get into that business. World’s gone to shit anyway, why not just live for yourself at this point?”

Hange began seething at this response. The only reason why she didn’t burst out flames at Kenny was because she was completely disoriented to her surroundings. Sadly, she figured she’d kiss her left-sided vision goodbye. Plus, she didn’t want to injure the girl next to her, as she was clearly very kind, tending to enemy’s wounds. “Maybe if you actually joined your sister back then, you could have helped them!”

“Well maybe if they all just gave that up, none of them wouldn’t have died and left you all as orphans. Have you ever thought of that?”

She stared back at him and spat as she spoke, “Well if you’re arrogant ass is ‘living for himself’ then why the hell do you care about that, and why would you decide to lay your loyalty to Zeke?” Kenny stepped away to make sure no one was within hearing range in the corridor. He walked quickly back towards Hange and leaned down close to her face.

“Listen here, little girl. My loyalty is to no one but myself. Zeke is simply offering the best deal I’ve gotten over last few years—we’re protected among his crew, plus the money’s good. And don’t get all disrespectful now, you’re lucky I didn’t let Porco take out that other eye of yours!”

“Or maybe you did it to keep Levi safe too, you DO care about him don’t you?” Hange teased.

Kenny scowled and grumbled at her comment—Hange stifled laughter as she now knew where Levi got it from.

“You’re delusional, Zoe. You’re just like your parents.” He turned around and slammed the door behind him—the metal reverberating around the walls of the room, the force causing her sensitive eye to throb again. Hange winced in pain.

Pieck held a cold compress to Hange’s face, and she sighed in relief. “Thank you,” Hange breathed out.

“Of course.”

Hange looked curiously at Pieck—“So, why are you helping me, anyway?”

Pieck answered softly, “Hange, I know what Zeke wants to do with you. But I don’t want him to go through with it.”

Hange held back the fear in her heart. She abandoned her curiosity at Zeke's plans with herself for a second--she needed to clear up other information with Pieck first.

“Why?”

“We’ve been friends since we were kids, and… I think he’s truly lost himself. This isn’t him, and it hasn’t been him in a long time. A lot has happened, Hange, and I think you’re just unfortunately stuck in the midst of it." She peeked out the doorway for any listening ears, and sat back down, whispering to Hange.

"There are guards everywhere though, and I can’t just let you out, plus your friends are still trapped somewhere in the building, and I don’t know exactly where. All I know, is that we have a decent amount of time before Zeke returns. In the meantime, rest.”

Hange breathed a sigh of relief—she was ridiculously lucky, she thought. Her mind scrambled to put together all the information she’s gathered and started on mustering up a plan to get everyone out of here safely. But one thing was really bothering her—was being friends with Zeke enough for this girl to help her, a Zoe, a target of the fire nation? There had to be something else--could it be?

“Pieck, can I ask you one more thing?”

She nodded, inviting her to continue.

Hange nodded back, “Is there any more reason why you’re trying to help me?”

Pieck smiled—Hange was just as sharp as the rumors told. She reached into her pocket and held out a luck charm, identical to everyone else’s, the fire nation emblem shining brightly back at Hange. Hange closed her eye and laughed, feeling nothing but hope and happiness. She wondered if Levi felt the same way at this same moment--after all the events of the past few hours, she thought it'd be quite likely that Levi, Erwin, Nanaba, and Mike were likely revealing their charms to each other right around now. It was about time.