#i was forcing her to watch it but her power went out 9 minutes and 24 seconds into ep 2

[umblrspectrum]

SOMEONE'S about to lose kazoo privileges and their head

[ellstinson]

NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE THEORY

One of the questions I had after watching volume 2 of the fourth season was how Ellen Stinson managed to rescue the group from Russia and bring them to the United States/Hawkins. Unfortunately, because of the "Two Days Later" note, we didn't get many answers about this. I gathered some details to theorize and fanficate how this rescue might have happened until their arrival in Hawkins, and how Agent Stinson's contacts in Nellis might have helped;

KATINKA

We start with Yuri introducing his helicopter to the characters, which, according to him, would take them to the United States. Obviously, that helicopter wouldn't have enough power and fuel for a direct flight; Dmitri even tells Yuri that the smuggler's helicopter wouldn't make it to America. In fact, Katinka had never taken off, which is why Yuri said he would make some adjustments.

Joyce had the idea of calling Owens for help. After a few hours, Stinson returns the call, and after Hopper manages to convince her that it was really him, they exchange some information. Most of the dialogue is off-screen, but Stinson talks about Eleven and the Byers, and most likely, Hopper gives a brief explanation of his situation in Russia and asks her for help to get them to Hawkins. I have a theory that Ellen must have asked Hopper to provide a safe address for her to send her people/contacts to pick them up. This safe location would be "Yuri’s Fish N Fly" because the route would be a bit shorter than going directly to Hawkins, the fuel would be enough, and it would be a place already known to the characters and secluded.

NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE

Nellis Air Force Base is a real-life military installation of the US Air Force in Nevada. In Stranger Things, it is mentioned in episode 8 when Eleven decides to leave Project Nina and go to Hawkins. Dr. Owens says that Stinson has contacts in Nellis and that they could reach Hawkins before nightfall.

The cool thing about mentioning that Stinson has military contacts she trusts when needed is that this could be useful again in season 5.

As we know, everything went wrong; Brenner cut Owens out at the last minute and forced Eleven to stay in Project Nina as long as he deemed necessary until her powers were fully restored and much stronger. After that, Sullivan's faction arrives at the Project Nina.

Stinson would use her contacts at Nellis to get a helicopter and send some of her trusted colleagues from Nellis to the meeting point in Alaska, with total secrecy. I think they would use a more discreet helicopter to avoid drawing too much attention.

LEAVING RUSSIA

After the final battle, we saw Yuri and Dmitri arrive with Katinka fully functioning at the prison to rescue Hopper, Joyce, and Murray and get out of Russia as soon as possible. Then Yuri would head to Alaska, specifically to "Yuri's Fish N Fly," the meeting point with Stinson's contacts. Landing there, Hopper got in touch with Agent Stinson, and sometime later the helicopter arrived to take them to Nevada.

To me, those who went with the helicopter to Nevada were Hopper, Joyce, Murray, and Dmitri.

- Hopper and Joyce for obvious reasons.

- Murray would go with them to Nevada but would later head to his home (that same year, he would move to Hawkins and start working at Bradley’s Big Buy, as the filming photos of season 5 suggest).

- Dmitri would go with them because he is now a traitor in his country, so the only way is to follow his life in the United States, in another city. Owens' friends could easily bring his wife and child to the United States and give them citizenship in exchange for secrecy, perhaps (most certainly, we won't see him in season 5).

- One interesting thing is that in the script for episode 9, there is a conversation that didn't make the final cut where Murray says to Dmitri that he could imagine him living in Indiana.

- As for Yuri, it obviously wouldn't make sense for him to leave since he has his established place in Alaska.

NEVADA

Stinson or other agents would receive them at Nellis and accommodate them at their base before heading to Hawkins by car, so they could take a shower, get clean clothes, and learn a bit about what is happening in Hawkins.

A cool detail on Hopper's cap is the embroidered golden oak leaf decoration, the same that officers wear, like on Sullivan's visor, because it has a military meaning. They are also used by ordinary people as a tribute. I imagine Stinson's contacts in Nevada giving the cap to Hopper so he wouldn't be identified

HAWKINS

After that, Stinson, Hopper, and Joyce head to Hawkins, while the other agents in Nevada took Murray to his home in Illinois. After some time, he returned to Hawkins, and Dimitri was taken to his new temporary address, possibly in Indiana or somewhere far from Hawkins.

[mylittlediarys-stuff]

Bite Back Part 8

Part 9- https://www.tumblr.com/mylittlediarys-stuff/754787032385159168/bite-back-part-9?source=share

Well, the girl did hate dinner, but there was one thing she loved doing afterward. Ever since she got her power, she started playing around with it every day after dinner. Currently, she was jumping off walls and shooting webs. She was trying to perfect the act of shooting webs while swinging with them, which was pretty hard to do in her room.

Then a thought formed in her head.

What if I practice in the city?

More room, more space, more freedom to do whatever she wants. She went to her closet to look for clothes to wear during her adventure. As she looked, she thought,

There is always the chance that Bruce will catch me. If he does, I’m in deep shit.

She threw on a black jacket.

Matter of fact, if anyone catches me, I’m done for. They could sell me to some lab or something.

She found some black cargo jeans she hadn’t worn in years.

But this is the best chance to practice. It would be good for me to be good at the spider stuff before I tell Bruce.

Maybe he will be a bit proud of me then. I could join the family business.

She found some old red Converse she used to love to wear, but the material of the shoes might be too thick for her to use her powers.

She switched the Converse for ballerina slippers. The flats were thin enough for her feet to still stick to walls. She somehow found a face mask to cover her face with. She left her phone just in case someone decided to check her location but she doubted anyone would.

Instead of a phone, she brought her old watch that was barely working so she could read the time. She locked the door and put a chair right in front of it, just in case Alfred felt the need to come and check-in.

She opened the window in her room and looked back.

Is this the wrong thing to do? … Nah, I'm just gonna do my own thing.

She jumped from her window, hoping to land on her feet.

-

Amaka had been wandering the city for 30 minutes, trying to find a building she could climb. She had forgotten how scary Gotham could be at night.

That one looks good!

It was a medium-height building, not too tall, not too small. She easily started to walk on the walls, it was like walking on air. When she reached the top, she saw a somewhat beautiful view for Gotham.

Even an ugly city like this could look beautiful.

She sat down on the edge of the building, just taking everything in. If she had her phone, she would start playing some Lana Del Rey songs or something like that.

She had sat there for about 10 minutes when she got this feeling. The same feeling she got before the car crash and before Damian threw that knife. Like something bad was about to happen.

She got up and hurried to find someplace to hide. She found some boxes that looked like enough protection for her. She saw some kind of door open, and three men walked out, two of them pulling a lady by her hair and one with a gun. The men holding the lady kick her knees in, forcing the lady to kneel.

“Listen here, bitch, if you don’t tell me where that money is,” the man with the gun pointed his gun towards her head, “well, all I can say is I love the smell of gunpowder.”

Are they going to kill her? No shit, Sherlock, of course they are.

She reached into her pocket to pull her phone. This was the one time being Bruce’s kid was a good thing.

Shit. I didn’t bring it.

“Look, you know I can’t tell you anything,” the lady said.

Girl, you better say something, or you’re gonna die.

“Then I got no choice.” He is going to kill her. Amaka slowly got up from her spot.

I have these powers, I show put them to good use. I shouldn't sit around and be a coward.

Amaka slowly got up from her spot.

“First of all, put the gun down, and second, I call bullshit. Gunpowder doesn’t have a smell,” Amaka said, lowkey regretting the joke. Her stomach sank when the man pointed the gun toward her.

“And who are you?”

She took a deep breath in, she decided to be a funny hero person so she might as well stick with the act.

“Just a peaceful person who doesn’t go pointing guns at people,” she started pointing her hand at the gun. “I mean you should put that down. That could hurt someone.”

“Usually, when people see a gun, they put their hands up,” the man said.

Oh, I’m definitely going to regret this.

“I have the perfect names for you three: Stupid 1, 2, and 3.”

“Stupid?” The man holding the gun said, visibly angry now.

“At least you’re Stupid 1, not 2 or 3.” At that, she released a web towards the gun and got it. “Stupid for letting me get your gun.”

She took the bullets out and was able to bend the gun into a u shape.

“What the f—”

“Hey, Stupid 1, don’t curse. This needs to stay kid-friendly,” Amaka said. She was having a little too much fun with this.

The other two men let go of the lady and started to run towards Amaka. The man who was holding the gun joined the others. She was thankful to her past self for watching her family practice fighting for hours. She didn't realize she learned so much by just watching.

She mostly dodged most of their hits and gave a few back, (she realized how much she needed to hold back if you wanted to kill the men) and it helped that they were slow and she was just… Superhuman?

“You fellas need to fight over me, it’s enough to go around.” The more she talked, the more she felt like a different person. Sure, she threw jokes around once in a while, but not like this.

In the end, she was able to get them all to the ground and web them up. She grabbed the phone in Stupid 1’s pocket and called the police. She turned to the lady, who looked stunned.

“The police will be here soon, so stay here or leave, I guess.”

“Who are you?”

“Who am I?” She had to think about that. “I don’t really know. I’ll get back to you in two business weeks.”

And with that, she took a risk and jumped off the building. When the lady saw that, she rushed to the edge, thinking her hero just committed suicide. But no, Amaka used her webs to swing to a building.

I bet I look so cool right now.

Extra-

Lady’s POV

The minute the hero left, the lady who looked helpless turned into a different person. She pulled out her phone and called one of her friends.

“Nat, done with the mission that fast.”

“Nope, I got interrupted I’m gonna need to stay for a few more days.”

Nat started to look at the three men who were tied up by these white things. To the women, it looked like thick spider webs.

“Tony, we got a new player in Gotham,” and turned her head away the stupid men.

“What do you mean player? You mean some kind of hero.” Tony replied.

“Yeah, what do you think I mean? And I’m pretty sure they’re not working for the Bat… at least not yet,” she said.

“Really, a hero that isn’t with Bruce?” Tony said. “Nat I’m gonna need you to work your magic and track that hero down. I want them on our side before Bruce gets to them. S.H.I.E.L.D. needs a hero in Gotham that we can trust.”

[skellymom]

"Vagabonds" Chapter 9 "In The Beginning"

Ongoing fanfic Hunter x Reader/Fem Reader/OC

Hunter meets a smuggler Nomaadi Star Woman with a powerful force sensitive teen who changes the trajectory of CF-99's lives...as they ALL try to escape from The Empire together.

ᴛʜɪꜱ ꜰɪᴄ ᴄᴏɴᴛᴀɪɴꜱ ɴꜱꜰᴡ ᴄᴏɴᴛᴇɴᴛ. ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴀʀᴇ ɴᴏᴛ 18+ ᴅɴɪ

To read "Vagabonds" Chapter 8:

https://www.tumblr.com/skellymom/735297232933453824/vagabonds-chapter-8?source=share

Word Count: 900

Background: Flashback sequence.

Warning: Star Wars swears, Earth swears, fear, physical pain, blood, canon-typical violence, mention of human experimentation, and nonbinary/trans clone identity.

(Credit: Cool moving star dividers by @4ngelic-wh1spers )

Recap:

Hunter, still holding his head, could only muster a groan.  Omega was holding him and trying to soothe the pain. 

“Omega?” 

“I’m ok, just worried about Hunter.” 

“On my way over.  Sil...I’m gonna need help getting up.” Mad unbuckled herself out and swung the pilot’s chair around.  She didn’t need to enquire about Love.  Mad could feel Love’s relief and numbness to their injuries.  After these Force outbursts, Love would be in a silent, glazed over state for an hour or two. 

Sil helped Mad stand.  Immediately her vision went starry white as she slipped from Sil’s grasp and fell face first onto the floor...

...where she kept falling... 

...a long way down...into the darkness... 

"In The Beginning"

The Republic Venator blotted out the sun on this distant planet caught in the aftermath of the Separatist skirmish. 

The Nomaadi convoy followed the Republic ships for several weeks, hiding just out of sight. One ship at a time would land on the planet's surface in case they were spotted. The rest of the convoy hiding separately. They picked through the rubble, claiming whatever goods they could later sell to make a living. Occasionally a survivor, or several would be found and taken in.  

"I’m afraid there isn’t much here my love” Paapi Daal turned to his partner. “No luck this time.” 

She, with heavily tattooed skin, stood firm upon the littered soil. Maami Daal inhaled deeply, listening intensely...then turned and scanned the landscape. 

“Maybe...maybe not...” She cocked an ear. Some of the rubble shifted...the tiniest bit. 

She hurried across the loamy soil, bending down, furiously pulling away droid parts and shrapnel. Her partner followed in kind. They cleared away a crude wooden door built into the soil. A cold cellar. 

Paapi dug his fingers under the lip and with a groan lifted the door, pulling it open. The lid fell away. 

He was immediately knocked off his feet and onto his back by a small child. She kneeled upon his chest like a dead weight, scratching at his face, growling like a wild beast. Another child, terrified, grabbed the smaller one. 

“We’re sorry, sir...we didn’t mean....” This one was HORRIFIED. "She is protective." The larger dark-haired child embraced the smaller silver haired one, managing to pull her free, hugging tightly, smoothing her hair, and whispering singsong as she struggled. 

Paapi and Maami Daal watched as the larger child soothed the smaller one. The silver-haired one still bared her teeth at them but settled. 

“Is that your sister? Where are your parents, child?” Maami enquired. 

The larger child kept a hold on the smaller one, pondering for a few minutes before answering. “Who wants to know?” 

The couple glanced at each other quizzically. “We, of the Star People...The Nomaadi.” 

No answer. Just a nod to the now disappearing Venator on the horizon. 

“You’re from THAT ship?”  

The children both nodded. The Daals glanced at each other again.  

“Can’t be...” Pappi mused. “Only clone soldiers and Jedi aboard.” 

“I AM a clone!” Their gaze snapped back to the larger child. “A DEFECTIVE clone.” Defiant expression. “They wanted me to be a battlefield soldier. They wanted me to ‘act’ like a proper man. I told the Long Necks that IS NOT WHO I AM!!!” Tears appearing. 

Maami Daal knelt down in front of the big and the little. “What is your name, child?” 

Terror surged back into the larger child's face. Maami could tell their long dark curly locks had been cut short. Crudely and unevenly done by something other than haircutting shears. A vibroknife? Was this done as punishment? 

Both children stared deep into Maami’s eyes. They saw pools of deep black accented by tiny flecks of silver. As if looking into the galaxy...no, the universe...seeing endless hope and possibilities. They had nothing to fear from these people. In fact, these people had been searching for them and others like them since the beginning of time. 

“Speak your truth, child.” 

They would have a new home; the pain and abuse would finally end. Thank The Force. 

“CT-...” 

Maami slowly shook her head No and whispered, “Your REAL name.” 

They see us. More than a number. Not just an experiment.  

“SHE. My name is She.” 

“And who is THIS clone?” Now peering at the smaller child...still staring into Maami's eyes.  

“NOT a clone. A prisoner.” 

“What crimes do small children commit that The Republic must take them prisoner???” 

“The Kaminoan’s don’t name their experimental subjects. Whether they came with one or not.” 

The Daal’s flinched at this answer. 

"Well...that is over and done." Maami Daal smiled to the children. She gently booped the little one's nose. "Gift of The Force you two are, our family you shall be."

The little smiled back, sticking out her tongue and cooed. 

Paapi Daal chuckled as he used his scarf to blot the blood from the scratch on his face. “You’re a feral little oddling, yes?"

She threw her head back and howled in reply. 

“This one shall be named ‘Mad’.”  

 The Venator ascended out of the planet’s atmosphere. It’s Jedi General meditated in deep concentration; eyes closed. His squad of clone troopers milled around expectantly. When he opened his eyes and all hands snapped at attention. 

“They have been found!” 

A collective whoop went up from the men on board. 

“Let me REMIND ALL OF YOU that WE should NEVER smuggle out ANY MORE children from the Kaminoan Facility! We will ALL be sacked and sorry!!!” With his best cheesy smile and a wink. “I’ll trust NONE OF YOU will share a shred of this to anyone outside of this transport???” He didn’t believe it for a minute. 

The Clone Commander facepalmed “We are SO fucked!” 

“Do you NOT trust your Jedi General? I may have many crockpot schemes, but it’s smoothed over with the influence of The Force.” Side-eyed the Commander and waved his hand. “I won’t worry about this mission. We were successful.” 

The Commander repeated “I won’t worry about this mission. We were successful.” 

A trooper nearby snickered “You know when that finally wears off, he’s gonna be PISSED you did it AGAIN?” 

“He’ll forgive me. He can’t help it!” The Jedi playfully elbowed his Commander. 

His Commander managed an expression of concern and confusion. 

As the jovial banter continued, a group of clones stood around the window, watching the planet recede from view. 

“You think She and Little One have a chance?” 

“Much better than staying on Kamino. The Nomaadi will take good care of ‘em.” 

“Wish I could’a stayed behind. Kriffin' tired of this rat race.” 

“Miss them already...” 

“Shhh...we can’t. At least not right NOW.”  

“Maybe sometime...in the future...” 

“Yeah, younger ones go first.” 

“Gotta be REAL careful if we smuggle any more out.” 

A hush fell among the group as the ship and planet was swallowed up by the cold darkness of space...

PLEASE like, comment, and/or REBLOG!

To read Chapter 10

https://www.tumblr.com/skellymom/743633412345282560/vagabonds-chapter-10?source=share

[buffshipper8490]

Rating Mature

Chapter Summary

Finn, Rose, and the droids activate the Jedi Beacon, projecting Leia's call for help across the galaxy...

Excerpt

Sparks flew as Rose worked on the strange Jedi machinery, a halo of light illuminating the grim determination on her face, looking like an angel, suspended as she was above the floor. 

It had been a full ten minutes since their earlier false start, and Rose was trying every trick in the book to get the ancient machinery working.

He approached from below. “Do you think this thing will work with modern droids?”

Rose finished welding something before dropping back to the ground with a thud. “You’re asking me about the mechanics of a Force-powered antenna.”

“Out of your realm of expertise?” grinned Finn.

Rose laughed. “Out of anyone’s realm of expertise. At least, anyone living.”

She gave it a whack for good measure. “I fixed anything I could find in there, but who knows if I got what was actually wrong.”

At that, she walked over to the panel, flipping it closed before hitting the rusted lever.

“Come on,” she muttered, but was only met with silence from the machine. 

“So, is there like an ‘on’ button, or—” Finn began to ask. He was stopped mid-thought by the sound of the machine humming to life, the light igniting within a second later.

Rose’s eyes went wide, lit up by the ancient machine. “If this goes sideways, I just want to say I lo—”

She cut off as the beam of light shot deep into the temple with an ominous rumble, Finn catching her as the ground shook beneath their feet.

Below, C-3PO lurched, his photoreceptors taking in the spectacle as the beam of light connected the spire to the giant kyber crystal on their level.

“Well, in all my years I never…” he trailed off, uncharacteristically speechless.

Artoo rolled forward, projecting a holographic message from the General herself into the datastream.

Another rumble and the beam shot toward the Coruscant sky, bathing the inhabitants on every level in its warm light.

Beings of every species peeked out of their various hidey holes to see the display of light, rumblings of an attack quickly fading into excitement as a familiar figure appeared on every screen on the city planet.

From his spot in the lower levels, Dade looked up toward the sky, a smile on his face. It was happening. It was finally happening.

High above in his chambers in the Capitol, Chancellor Hux watched in disbelief as he followed the beam up from his window, where it where it disappeared into space and traveled lightyears across the galaxy...

New fanfic link! Likes ❤️ and Reblogs 🔁 are much appreciated!

[theamberplumbob]

The Bride of Straud: Chapter 9

The time had a come, the plan was set in motion, it was the evening of her daughter’s 6th birthday, and both her and Vlad arranged a party to celebrate.

The entire community of Forgotten Hollow had arrived that night, as well as vampires from near and afar. Many, many familiar faces that Claudia had gotten to know over the years trickled in one by one to wish the vampiric heir a happy birthday.

The vampires mingled and made merry, all while little Ophelia waddle about amongst them, the vampires fawning over her. Vlad was very proud to be introducing her to the public, and hovered around her to make sure her needs were met.

Everyone gathered in the dining room as Mehdi brought out the extravagant cake that he’d created for the occasion. Claudia picked up her daughter, and both her and Vlad watched as she blew out the candles.

Everyone cheered for Ophelia as she aged up into a child. She was absolutely adorable, and the spitting image of Claudia. Vlad joked that it was better she looked more like her mother than him. Ophelia soaked up the positive attention like a sponge, both from her adoring parents and from the guests.

As it began to get early, the guests filed on home, and the two parents escorted their daughter to her bedroom where they dressed her in her night gown and Vlad read her to sleep. Claudia tucked her in and gave her a kiss on the forehead before the two vanished from the room. Ophelia went to bed peacefully, having had such a wonderful birthday.

Meanwhile, Mehdi was in the bar room, creating a very special concoction. Claudia suggested to Vlad that they have a drink and relax before retiring, as it had been a very eventful day. Vlad was happy to oblige.

Mehdi presented the drink to Vlad, Claudia explained that she’d gotten the recipe for it from Demetrius. A sort of blood cocktail they drink in Bridgeport.

After all these years of being married to Claudia, falling in love with her, siring her, having a child with her, he did not think twice about drinking it. He trusted her completely. Claudia could not hide her malicious grin as she watched Vlad down the glass. She began to laugh.

In response to Vlad’s confusion she explained: he’d just drank the Draught of Reconfiguration. A potion that reverted all of a vampire’s learned abilities, essentially making them a fledging again.

At first he did not believe it, thinking his wife was making some sadistic joke, but he found when he tried to teleport he could not. He demanded to know what the meaning of this was. She explained that she thought of just poisoning him with the vampiric “cure” and killing him as a mortal as a means of usurping him, but that would raise too many questions.

“You’re after my throne!?” Vlad asked, enraged.

Claudia slowly broke into a fit of devious laughter. “Oh, Vlad, I’ve always been after your throne.”

“And Mehdi!? You allowed this to happen!?” Vlad turned to his once loyal butler.

The once young servant had aged nearly fifteen years in a matter of minutes, with Vlad’s powers stripped from him he could no longer keep Mehdi young. It was not an issue to him, though, he could subsist off of Claudia’s power now, and the consequential aging could easily be reverted with the right potion.

“I have only ever been loyal to myself, Vladislaus." Mehdi explained. "You should know that. Claudia’s offer simply seemed more promising than yours.”

Vlad was incensed.

To gain the throne meant that Claudia would need to challenge him to a duel and win, so Claudia requested he meet her in the courtyard in front of the house. There, the new leader of the vampiric world would be crowned. Vlad was forced to walk, while Claudia merely teleported. Mehdi kept quiet watch as the duel’s only witness.

There was no question who would be winning this battle, yet Vlad had his pride, and he would not give up his crown so easily.

The catharsis of the battle was indescribable for Claudia. All those years of waiting, planning, training.

As she fought she thought of all those times she sparred with the Hellions, and what they taught her. Vlad was almost powerless, but he was still a skilled fighter. That was good, Claudia did not want it to be too easy.

Of course, in a matter of minutes, the fight was over and Claudia was the victor.

As Claudia reveled under the slowly lightening sky, Vlad was on his knees, reeling from what had transpired.

“They’ll never except you as their ruler, not after your treachery! The Hellions are loyal to me and me alone!” Vlad spat as Claudia began to walk inside.

She stopped in the doorway to look back at him. “Oh I assure you, Vlad. They will never know of my treachery.” The door slammed behind her.

“Have all the doors been locked?” Claudia asked Mehdi.

“Yes, all of them.” He assured.

“I’ll be retiring. Make sure to stay and watch. We need to be sure he’s dead.”

“With pleasure.”

Vlad looked up at the brightening sky and the horror of what was happening had dawned on him. Without his ability to teleport he could not get inside. All of the doors were locked, and Mehdi stared gleefully at him through the windows.

The sun rose from above the mountains and began to scorch his skin. His body was set ablaze under the merciless sun, and Vlad was forced to surrender to the fact that there was nothing he could do.

In his final moments he thought of his daughter. The Grimm Reaper appeared to take him, to carry him away, just like he had for his countless victims over the centuries. Just like that, Vladislaus Straud was no more.

[coldflasher]

Salty ask list, 9 & 16? 👀

9. Most disliked character(s)?

Dion. Fucking Dion. I hate that bastard SO MUCH. I hate the entire forces plotline and basically all of season 7 but there is something about Dion in particular that I just LOATHE. Tbf when he was first introduced in his first ep I was okay with him but the more they leaned into the all-powerful force god side of things, the more my hatred grew... if Dion has no haters, I am dead

I also HATE that snide reporter (Taylor?) who works for Iris. The ep where she tries to sacrifice that one woman to those terrorists to save her own neck and outs Allegra as a metahuman and then by the end of the ep we're supposed to be cool with her? NO. I HATE HER.

Then there's Nash wells. My least favourite Wells. I hated him sliiightly less on my last rewatch but he's still the worst Wells. He literally led to the destruction of the multiverse because of his own stupidity. Like whyyyy did we keep getting lumped with all these increasingly irritating Wells doppelgangers when we could have just had Harry. And then Harry AND HIS WHOLE UNIVERSE gets erased BECAUSE OF NASH. I HATE THAT MAN.

And you know who else I... not hate, but find highly annoying? Khione. I actually think she could have been interesting if she had been a fusion of Caitlin and Frost and we actually got to see a version of the character that had grown and embraced both sides of herself instead of having these fractured identity states, but instead they just erased them both and gave us the most boring, insipid, flavorless replacement. Khione is such a Mary Sue. She's sooo perfect and kind and powerful with her magic nature powers!! Don't you love her? NO. NO I DON'T. We had 8 seasons of Caitlin and 7 of Frost (in some form) and I found it cheap and disrespectful of both their characters to kill them both off at the last minute and replace them with some wishy-washy hippy version with no personality and expect me to care about her (bear in mind that i haven't seen the end yet and i believe there is a bit more to the storyline that i havent got to see yet but either way i find her so annoying)

I feel in the early seasons there are no characters I actually hate because most if not all of them either had redeeming features or were compelling to watch but the later seasons were rife with insufferable characters who we're meant to like but just absolutely boiled my piss. like of these, only taylor was meant to be a villain and even then she gets a "redemption arc" of sorts but it wasn't enough for me. i wasn't buying it. taylor they could never make me like you

16. If you could change anything in the show, what would you change?

I mean the obvious answer is stop Len leaving, or at least bring him back, but barring that I would make Andrew Kreisberg not be a piece of shit so that we could have stuck with his original vision for the show and had it be good forever. Like. They were setting up some seriously good and interesting shit and there were so many cool plot threads and he seemed to have planned so many things years in advance but sadly he's a diabolical person. the industry is well rid of him for that reason but if I could wave a wand and make him be a good and normal person then I would do that. why are good showrunners so often terrible people >:(

barring that... i'd redo crisis entirely. i think they totally bottled that storyline. having it tied up with oliver was a HUGE mistake, they'd been building up to crisis and barry's disappearance since day 1 of the show and the way it went down was such an unbelievable disappointment and a disservice to the show as a whole imo.

also, i love them but i would seriously cut down bart and nora's role in the show, because it made the dynamics weird and aged westallen way before their time. just give them a spinoff or something. and i would get rid of any and all plotlines related to the forces but that goes without saying

[mica949]

Baby Henry first gets his timeline powers

Warning for hospitals!!

Henry’s earliest memories were of being surrounded by white walls. 

A sickly child, always going in and out of the hospital as doctors frantically tried to treat something that could kill someone so small. He was too young back then to understand the concept of death, just knew that kids from his busy foster home would bring him get well soon cards and ask to take his things if he never came home.

It was incredibly boring. The only thing he could really do was watch the tv that flashed with radio static every few minutes. And sometimes Henry couldn’t help but wonder, if he never left this place, what would his life have been like? A few years with a foster family that never gave him the time of day, followed by years seeing the same scenery, taking painful experimental treatments and surgeries that he didn’t know would work?

More than ‘death’, that bugged him. The idea that he’d never amount to anything, never have anything that was truly his. He’d ‘die’ sad and alone, not even having a taste of life.

It was 9:23 when it happened. He was laying in bed, busying himself with trying to draw on some paper through all the IVs stuck in his hand, when he got a sudden, crushing pain in his chest. It overwhelmed him so entirely that he couldn’t think, couldn’t even try to scream. Small black spots filled his vision, and he briefly called out for help in a shrill voice before the blackness completely took over.

When he opened his eyes, the clock read 9:20.

It took Henry a second to gather himself from what he could only assume was a horrific dream. Was that what ‘death’ felt like? If so, he never wanted to feel it again.

As the noise of the clock ticking in a silent room filled his ears, he looked back to his piece of paper and was struck for a moment with the absurdity of it. He’d been drawing an elephant in his dream. And on the paper was an elephant too, though it was missing its legs. It must have made its way into his dreams… or something like that. Henry gently poked his chest a couple times, testing to make sure that nothing hurt. It didn’t hurt, but there was a certain tightness…

He went back to his paper. He could tell the nurse whenever it was time for an hourly checkup. As he added a tail to the elephant, he had a brief feeling of dread before the pressure burst into severe pain. 

Frick, his dream was coming true. He reached frantically for the button to call the nurse, as he struggled to breathe and things went black again. The clock seemed to taunt him, 9:23 again, several minutes before anyone would be coming. Small hands slammed into the side of the bed, trying with all their might as they shook. Despite how much he was trying, his body grew weaker and weaker until it all went dark.

Henry sat up in bed just a moment later, hand instinctively slamming the side of the bed full force. This time, his hand hit the call nurse button, he could hear the sound from down the hallway. 

It was 9:20, and there was a building pressure in his chest. 

By the time he was even close to calm, a nurse was beside him. She was his favorite nurse, sneaking him shiny coins and never dismissing how he felt.

“What’s wrong, Henry? Do you need to use the bathroom?”

He tried to slow his breathing. It was 9:21. 

Henry didn’t exactly feel up for talking, so he signed at her, “My chest hurts.”

She looked at one of the many displays that he didn’t know how to read. “Your heart is a bit fast… How about I go call one of the doctors and see if they can get you some medicine?”

He shook his head. It was 9:22. 

“Really hurts. Gonna die.” Death seemed so unclear just a moment ago, but now feeling how his very being had slipped away, he couldn’t stand the thought of being alone.

“Ok, ok, I’ll get someone else to call. You don’t need to worry. On a scale of 1-10, how bad is it?”

The clock’s second hand got closer and closer to the top, and despite it only being a 5 at most, Henry couldn’t stop shaking. He managed to hold up 5 fingers. “Hard to breathe.”

For once, he saw genuine worry on her face. That scared the boy even more than the ticking clock. “I’ll be right back, ok?”

He was about to sign a wish for her to stay, when it burst once again. It felt as though his ribs were cracking open, trying to escape his body. The nurse’s voice echoed in his ears, though he couldn’t hear what she was saying. Hands pressed on his hurting chest, but then everything went dark.

This time when he opened his eyes, it was 11:41. He felt groggier than ever, and his body was telling him he’d been hit by a car. 

“Thank goodness you’re alright.” 

As Henry’s vision focused, he realized quite a few people were standing over his hospital bed, including the kind nurse. His hands wouldn’t quite respond to his attempts to move them, so he reluctantly opened his mouth.

“What’s…?”

Voices rushed at him, saying a lot of words he couldn’t understand. He recognized something about side effects, and his heart, and that he was very lucky to be alive. He didn’t know how to say that, for a while, he was certain he was dead.

After asking a few questions, Henry was left alone again with the sound of the ticking clock.

How… odd.

[stenka-razin]

I finally watched Star Wars 9 (aka Star Wars 8) and Star Wars 11 (aka Star Wars 9) along with a rewatch of Star Wars 7 (aka Star Wars 7). They're all bad!

The Force Awakens - I feel like this got by because people assumed it would resolve and pay off and you know, be a movie. It didn't and unfortunately the failures of 8 and 9 directly affect 7 because it leaned so heavy on future installments. It basically balled out on a credit card and episode 9 was the bill. But despite that I do think it's the closest to telling a coherent story in its own right. It's a story called Star Wars 1977 aka A New Hope, but whatever. It's also weird in that it like, double dips. It mocks this series adherence to the past while whole heartedly leaning into that earnestly. At it's best it's like Canonized Spaceballs, at it's worst it's reheated leftovers. But yeah, as soon as they drop that cryptic vision and "a story for another time" crap I know this was gonna blow. It's the guy who made fucking LOST. When will people learn!?

The Last Jedi - Guys this is dumb. Dumb as hell. Dumber than most Star Wars. Even the good ideas it flirts with are rudimentary. But they also botch half the story. Like the entire plot about the escape from whatever could have been solved with a single five minute conversation, and there's really no consequences. Like Holdo looks like an idiot for not briefing her crew... Poe Finn n' Rose look like idiots for botching a mutiny and getting thousands killed. It's so dumb.

Luke kills kids now... guess it's genetic. Like I think there's a small seed of a good idea in here. That Luke, once an anomaly amongst the Jedi, who saw good in a man everyone else thought was irredeemable, is now stodgy and conservative, a natural process that often comes when people are in power for a long time. That's a good idea. But for the first story with the character in years (I don't give a fuck about some stupid book) and we immediately jump to, "I tried to kill a kid cuz his rancid vibes" is bad! Bad writing!

Rise of the Skywalker - Everyone basically went in know this was gonna suck right? Like it had to wrap up a bunch of crap that no one had any plans for. Then it also had to deal with the fact that the Last Jedi kind of dismantled all that crap for a bunch of other crap know one had any ideas for. Like I know JJ and Kennedy are portrayed as villains for cutting down Johnson's vision, but I call bullshit on him having any ideas for a third movie either.

And in spite of that, it introduces a bunch of other stupid crap, too. Yeah this is Episode 2 levels of bad. I totally checked out. I had no idea what anyone was trying to do beyond shoot people. Babu Frik and D-0 were delightful though. Give those two a movie. Oh and it seems like each of these leans heavily on one old guy to breath life into the movie. Anthony Daniels, you may have been the best part of this?

Oh yeah the cast, like in general. They're mostly good, but also like. They don't properly hang out together until Rise of Skyguy and I just find it so odd that the filmmakers decide, oh yeah, they all hate each other? Like even Finn/Poe who were all like Buddy-this Buddy-that, now they're total dicks to each other. I also love that they one up Jedi butchering a love triangle, by introducing like six* potential couplings and all of them fizzling out. Like that's bad but it's even more confusing that they introduce more to fumble in the final installment.

Anyway, in summation. It sucked, and anything good about the first entry was a time bomb destined to suck because no one knew what the hell they wanted to do with any of this. Except make money. They knew that and did. Star Wars sucksssss

[ashes-2-ashes57cba]

The Bad Batch: Valkyrie

Episode 9: Retreival

warnings: child labor, I hate this episode

 Specter leaned back, shaking her hands and letting her eyes readjust. All but Omega worked tirelessly on the skiff, trying to get it in functional condition; Specter took the tedious task of cleaning out each connection port, straightening each wire, and reorganizing the internal computer matrix. Wrecker groaned.

“I’m bored, I’m hot, and I’m starving!” he complained.

“I told you to preserve your rations,” said Hunter. 

“Well…” Wrecker sighed, “...I got hungry.” Specter, rubbing the soreness and dust from her eyes, laughed.

“I’m laughing because if I don’t laugh, I’ll cry,” she explained through giggles. Her exhaustion had brought her to tears. Hunter reached over and rested a hand on her knee in sympathy. 

“Call it ‘battle brain’, starlight,” he muttered. 

“We’re wasting our time. This skiff’s a heap of junk,” Wrecker whined, throwing up his hands.

“Yes, but with a few repairs, it’ll be a slightly operational heap of junk,” Tech corrected. “The energy cells have just enough power to get us to the town on the other half of the hemisphere.”

“Power?” Omega said from where she was sitting, perking up from her data pad. “We forgot about Gonky! He’s still on the Marauder!”

“I’m afraid since the thief disabled the ship’s transponder, we will not be able to locate him,” said Tech.

“Not the ship. I mean we can track Gonky,” the girl explained. Specter laughed even harder.

“Oh. Ingenious idea,” Tech said, genuinely.

“Why didn’t we think of that before?” Specter said, out of breath, nearing delirium.

“Try doing a trace on his binary reference code,” suggested Tech.

“On it.”

“Don’t get your hopes up, kid,” Wrecker warned as Omega went to plug into the relay tower. 

Specter kept working, almost losing feeling in her fingertips before she finished her task. She sighed, laying back on the ground, forcing herself to stay awake; the barest of clouds dusted the sky, fortunately indicating there was no storm on the rise.

“You alright, Spec?” Hunter asked, still working. She only raised her arm and gave a thumbs up. “Stay awake for me, love,” he said with a chuckle, to which Specter only groaned.

“Ooh, how cute! You called her ‘love’,” Omega teased, still working on the data pad.

“Wait, what does that mean?” Wrecker questioned before he finally caught on. “Ohh, I see; you two are finally together!”

“Now wait a minute-”

“It took longer than I expected,” Tech interrupted Hunter, “but I figured this was bound to happen. Especially now that you know for certain that you don't share DNA.” Hunter sighed in defeat, knowing he couldn't dissuade them from their prodding. 

“Hey, Tech?” Specter spoke up, still lying on the ground. He hummed in response. “How about I stuff your goggles with sand?” Wrecker burst out laughing while Tech only grumbled. She lifted her head, sending Hunter a smirk.

“I’m getting a reading,” Omega said slowly, “I think I found Gonky!”

“You… what?” Wrecker questioned, still chuckling until he processed what he said. Specter sat up. “You found him?”

“His signal is 100 kilometers east,” Omega handed the datapad to Tech. “If Gonky’s still on the planet, the Marauder must be too.”

“Let’s get this thing running and find out,” Hunter nodded.

Specter made herself as small as she could, but it was no use as everyone crammed onto the dingy skiff. She clenched her teeth with every bump and rattle, watching as clouds gathered and darkened as the sun sank lower and lower, turning the sky green by the time they reached their destination. 

The settlement surrounded a large mine; activity was minimal, but present nonetheless. Specter peered through her rifle scope for any sort of defenses or suspicious characters but pulled away a brief moment to massage her shoulder.

“Gonky’s signal is pinging from down there. I’m reading minimal life forms in his proximity, but an unknown number in the subterranean level,” Tech assessed.

“This place looks worse than the abandoned spaceport,” Wrecker complained. 

“We’ll do a split approach,” Hunter instructed, “Stay alert.”

Gonky honked, unable to stop the boy’s prodding. Since sending Omega his signal, the little droid counted down the moments until his rescue.

“Guess I’ll have to sell you for parts,” the boy sighed. Gonky honked in confusion. “Because you’re useless to me. What am I gonna do with a defective power droid?”

Gonky honked again, this time in delight at seeing the figures looming behind the boy.

“That’s our defective power droid,” Hunter growled, Tech next to him. “Now, where’s our ship?”

“Oh…” the boy crumpled. “You see, the thing is…” he broke out into a run, hopping on his speeder to escape-

Wrecker stuck his fist out, knocking the boy off the speeder bike. He scrambled to his feet but was met with the purple glow of Omega’s energy bow. Specter loomed behind her, holding up her axe. The boy whimpered as they all surrounded him, Gonky drawing near from behind.

“Hey, Gonky, you okay?” Specter asked the droid, who chattered with a positive response. 

“What do you care how that thing’s doing?” the boy questioned. “It’s just a beat-up old battery!”

“Not to us,” Omega insisted, drawing her bow back even further.

“Let’s try that again,” said Hunter, taking off his helmet. “Where’s… our… ship?”

“Can you be more specific?” Specter placed the axe blade by the boy’s head, he yelped.

“The one you stole yesterday,” she hissed.

“Oh, right. That ship,” he suddenly remembered, chuckling awkwardly. “Well, Mokko has it. He gave me the droid as a gift.”

“And who is this Mokko?” Tech questioned. 

“Who’s Mokko?” the boy repeated, incredulously, standing up and carefully avoiding the axe blade. “He runs this whole town! He’s the boss. Your ship’s his now.”

“Yeah, we’ll see about that,” Wrecker growled.

“Take us to it,” ordered Hunter. 

“No way! I can’t help you go against Mokko,” the boy protested. “You don’t know what he’s done for me.”

“Like give you a defective power droid?” said Specter, grabbing her weapon. The boy sighed, seeing that they wouldn’t give up.

“Alright, alright. I can show you where your ship is. But if you get caught, you don’t know me.”

“Techno Union ran this mine during the war,” the kid—Benni—led them to the edge of the mine, “but Mokko took over when they were forced out. He’s kept this operation running ever since.” Specter lay on her stomach, tracking activity through her scope.

“So, you’re an ipsium miner and a ship thief?” Omega questioned.

“Mokko says they’re useful skills.”

“Stealing’s not a skill,” Omega refuted.

“It is when you’re good at it,” Benni pointed out.

“The central portal is ray-shielded,” Tech said, pulling up a hologram of the schematics. Benni reached for the datapad before Wrecker swatted his hand, “and all subterranean entrances appear to be guarded in shifts.” 

“Ah, we’ve stormed tougher strongholds than that,” said Wrecker, crossing his arms.

“You can’t use blasters inside an ipsium mine. You’ll destroy everything and everyone in there! Cut your losses now,” protested Benni. Specter was starting to find him truly annoying; she hoisted herself up, hissing a little from the soreness in her arm. She didn’t notice Hunter sparing her a concerned glance.

“There is one covert infiltration point. From there.” Tech pointed to the smoke stack across the mine, releasing a burst of steam. “The stack has a lower access hatch inside. If timed correctly, we can rappel down between exhaust cycles.”

“How big of a window is there?” asked Hunter, peering through his binoculars.

“Sixty seconds,” answered Tech.

“Plenty of time,” nodded Omega.

“We could probably make it in a single run,” scoffed Specter.

“Glad you’re all so confident, but getting cooked alive wasn’t on my agenda. Good luck! I’m rooting for you,” Benni turned to go before Hunter gripped the boy's arm.

“You can go once we have our ship back,” he growled.

Specter tightly tied the rope to the grappling hook while Wrecker and the kids finished climbing up the tower. She saw, out of the corner of her eye, Wrecker wobble upon realizing how high up they were. Benni took the chance to try and slip away, but Wrecker still caught him and pushed the kid toward the group, shaking his head. 

“Here, you’re all good to go,” she handed Hunter the rope. The team had decided to let Hunter rappel down first and secure the area rather than Specter, whose arm was still recovering. 

“Thanks.” 

“You have a good anchor point?” she asked.

“Yeah,” he pointed to a spot at the edge of the platform.

“How about your grip?”

“It’s good.”

“And you’ll remember to keep your weight distribution in mind? Because if your angle is wrong, you’ll-”

“Specter,” Hunter stopped her, taking her hand. “I’ve trained for this too, and most importantly, I’ve watched you. I’ll be fine, I promise. I’m not that fragile.” 

“Hey, that’s what I said.”

“I know,” he said. She knew he winked under his helmet; he knew she rolled her eyes at him. “Set,” Hunter nodded to Tech.

“On my mark,” he replied. 

“This is a very bad idea,” Benni muttered before ducking at the sound of another blast of steam. 

“Now,” Tech started the timer. Specter watched as Hunter tossed down the rope and—in her opinion—perfectly leaned forward and ran down the inside of the tower, holding onto the rope. He made good time, nearing the bottom before the inner access door opened and a droid exited. Hunter stopped himself, just out of view; Omega turned off her flashlight.

“You said it was unguarded,” Specter hissed.

“It was at the time,” replied Tech. They all waited with bated breath, but time was ticking too fast. “Thirty seconds.”

“He’s not gonna make it,” said Benni, “I’m telling you. You gotta bail before it’s too late.” Selfishly, Specter wanted to agree. 

“We don’t do that,” Omega argued, rolling her eyes. 

“This is not good. This is not good,” Benni repeated, inadvertently knocking the flashlight out of Omega’s hands. Specter gasped as it fell, but Hunter reached out and caught it before it alerted the droid. 

“Hunter, you have to move,” Tech muttered into the comm. Specter rapidly tapped her foot, anxious to see if he would make it in time.

Hunter lowered himself down from the rope, jumping onto the droid and kicking it away, but it quickly recovered.

“Five seconds,” Omega warned. The droid charged at Hunter, he blocked its punches and grabbed hold of it, throwing it to the other side of the chamber before opening the access doors and leaping inside before a burst of hot steam shot up. Specter and the others jumped back before it hit their faces.

“All clear,” Hunter confirmed over the comm, temporarily shutting down the stack.

“You definitely aren’t ipsium miners,” Benni mumbled. 

“What gave you that idea?” Specter scoffed, grabbing onto the rope and sliding down.

“You stole the wrong ship,” said Omega, pointing a finger in Benni’s face. One by one, the team slid down the smoke stack and joined Hunter inside the facility, letting Benni lead, with close guard of course. 

They came to the main shaft—Benni mouthed for them to keep quiet—connected to a central operations column by a series of bridges held together with nothing but rope and wishful thinking. Children traversed those bridges with ease under the red glow of the ray shield, filling Specter with bitterness and sorrow that they were forced to adapt to such conditions. 

“The conditions of this mine are less than ideal,” observed Tech.

“It’s because the ipsium’s become degraded. Mokko had to lower wages just to keep this mine up and running. But at least we’re still working,” Benni explained with a grim smile. 

“You know despite all this, I’m impressed you can still find the positives,” she explained, genuinely impressed at the boy’s tenacity. He shrugged and turned back to the shaft.

“Okay… well your ship’s in the upper garage bay across from the central tower,” he pointed upwards. “Come on. I know a shortcut.”

“No tricks,” Hunter warned before the boy led them away.

“Hey, I’m not trying to get caught either,” Benni said, shrugging Hunter’s hand off his arm.

“Well, there’s your ship,” Benni brought them to the garage where the Marauder looked to be in rough shape. Specter took off her helmet and gaped, half in distress at the state of their ship, half in disbelief that the kids had to resort to such measures. “I held up my end of the bargain, so I’ll be off.”

“Hang on,” Tech stopped him, drawing closer to inspect the damage. “The hyperdrive has been removed!”

“You didn’t ask me what condition it’d be in. How’s that my fault?” Benni asked incredulously. Wrecker only growled at him, making the boy cower, but still defend himself. “Relax. It’s not a complicated fix.”

“It better not be,” Wrecker and Specter threatened simultaneously, walking with Hunter to help Tech repair the ship. 

“Grab the hyperdrive. Let’s make this quick,” said Hunter. 

“What about the ray shield? We still need to shut it down,” Omega reminded.

“You can only do that from the central tower,” added Benni. 

“Well, let’s go,” Hunter nodded towards the door. The boy scoffed.

“No way. You stick out too much,” he protested. 

“He’s got a point, love,” Specter agreed, giving Hunter a once-over.

“If you don’t trust me to go alone, she’ll blend in easily enough,” Benni nodded towards Omega. Hunter and Specter glanced at each other, considering their options, silently communicating. 

I don’t trust him, he expressed with a grimace towards the boy.

But I trust her, Specter countered with a slight incline of her head. He hummed and faced the kids.

“Well, don’t let him out of your sight,” Hunter instructed.

“Transfer the data onto this, and I can access the shield remotely,” Tech added, coming by and handing Omega a data pad. 

“Let’s go,” the girl nodded, taking the pad and eagerly starting to head off before Benni stopped her.

“Not looking like that.” The boy shrugged off his coat and handed it toward Omega; it fit awkwardly on her, but it was enough to hide her energy bow. “Eh, it’ll do. Come on,” he motioned for her to follow him. The Batch watched her go until Specter stepped forward and called-

“Omega!” The girl turned toward her. [If anything happens, know that I’ll come running], Specter signed.

[Thank you. I’ll be careful, I promise], Omega signed back before running to catch up with Benni. Specter didn’t move until the girl was out of sight, letting out a sigh. Hunter came up to her and took her hand.

“She’ll be alright,” he assured.

“I know… it’s just,” Specter paused to find the words, Hunter squeezing her hand, “I’m worried about her mental state. How she’s going to be once we’re out of this.” 

“Whatever happens,” Hunter lifted her hand and brushed his lips against her knuckles, “we’re all going to be here for each other. We’ll all be okay.” Specter smiled, comforted.

“If you two are quite finished, perhaps we can start making progress on repairs,” Tech called them over, standing in the Marauder’s doorway. Hunter chuckled and let go of Specter’s hand, letting her look back to where Omega had disappeared one more time before joining the others in repairs.

“Wrecker, I said the blue-handled socket wrench,” said Specter, sticking her hand out, waiting for the right tool.

“That was blue!” Wrecker protested.

“No, this is green,” Specter ducked out of the hyperdrive cradle, holding out the wrong wrench and using it to point toward the one she needed. “Please don’t tell me you’re blue-green colorblind,” she deadpanned.

“Uh…” Wrecker didn’t answer, rubbing the back of his neck and handing Specter the proper blue-handled wrench.

“You know, that would actually explain a lot,” Specter mumbled, ducking back inside the cradle, finishing her work on getting it primed. “Alright, your turn.” She ducked out again, making way for Wrecker to install the hyperdrive. 

“How’s it looking?” Hunter came in over the comm, keeping guard at the edge of the garage. 

“I can get most of the systems back online easily enough,” Tech reported from inside the ship, “but we are not going anywhere until we get the hyperdrive connected.”

“I’m working on it!” said Wrecker, housing up the hyperdrive. 

“Give him a break, he can’t tell the difference between blue and green,” teased Specter. Wrecker groaned in response.

“The motivator is installed,” Tech announced, “but I still have to connect the primaries to the guidance system and adjust the navicomputer.” 

“Wait, I already primed the navicom’, stick to the primaries,” Specter stuck her head out of the ship. 

“The weapons system’s online,” said Wrecker, hanging from the ship’s underbelly.

“We’re not engaging,” ordered Hunter from the top of the Marauder. “The situation for these kids is bad enough.”

“Mokko’s using his power and wealth as leverage over these children. If we engage, he’ll take it out on them,” said Specter, leaning against the doorway.

“It is a similar tactic used by the Empire. Although, this operation is on a smaller scale,” Tech added. Specter shook her head.

Obviously she had never met Mokko, but she knew right off that he was a small and insecure man. Holding power over the people of the galaxy was one thing, as bad as it was, but exploiting children for one’s personal greed was just plain low. 

“Hey, who are you?” a young voice shouted, snapping Specter out of her daze. It was another kid like Benni with his accomplice standing near the access ladder.

“Uh, Mokko sent us,” Wrecker fumbled for an answer. Specter shifted her stance, ready to spring into action.

“Easy,” Hunter jumped down from the top of the ship, his hands out in an effort to ease the tension. “We’re just here for our ship.” The kids took off, Hunter and Specter were not too far behind.

“Get the engines online!” Specter shouted.

The mining facility was an unfamiliar maze, the kids took advantage of it and got the pair turned around. 

“I’ll go left, you go right,” said Hunter. They split up, looking for any sign of the spies, though Specter knew it was a moot point. By now they could have disappeared and told Mokko everything they saw. 

“The hyperdrive is nearly online,” Tech came in over comms. Specter caught up with Hunter on an outer platform, shaking her head.

“We lost our spies,” he sighed.

“Oh great,” Specter mumbled, spotting movement on the bridge connecting to the garage. “They called in backup.”

Who they assumed was Mokko was flanked by guard droids, with a small group of miners ahead of him, ready to defend their boss. Specter reconfigured her rifle to it’s sniper form, taking aim at the big man.

“It appears we have uninvited guests. Care to show yourselves?” his big voice rang out over the noise. Tech and Wrecker emerged from the doorway, aiming their blasters. “So you think you can come here and steal from me?” Mokko accused.

“Technically, this ship belongs to us,” said Tech.

“Not anymore! And I’d rethink the blasters. One stray shot, and we’re all done for,” the man said with a dark chuckle. 

“We don’t miss,” Wrecker threatened. Mokko chuckled again.

“I believe you, but I think you’ll reconsider.” He looked up toward a broken bridge where one of his droids was dragging Omega toward the edge. Specter gasped, watching as the girl protested and fought back, but to no avail.

“I don’t have a clear shot,” Specter frantically mumbled, trying and failing to get the droid in her scope. Any split second that she did, however, only put Omega in more danger.

“Lower your weapons, or she goes over,” Mokko threatened. The Batch lowered their blasters; Specter and Hunter tried to think of some other plan. 

“What about your grappling line?” she whispered.

“That could work. Focus on Mokko and those droids,” he whispered back. Specter nodded, stowing her rifle and discretely climbing up to another platform, one with a better vantage point.

“Trespassing and attempted theft. Ten years in the mines seems like a reasonable punishment,” the man continued, grinning at Tech and Wrecker, “if you survive that long. Take them below.”

“Stop!” someone cried. It was Benni, emerging from the tower and stepping foot on the bridge.

“Not now, kid. I’m busy,” Mokko brushed him aside. 

“You lied to us, Mokko. The ipsium’s not degrading! You’ve been cutting us out and keeping the profits for yourself!” Benni accused. 

“That’s a lie. Don’t listen to him!” “You never cared about us at all. And I have the proof right here,” Benni held up a data pad. Another kid looked at the data, finding that Benni was telling the truth.

“What’s going on, Mokko? We toil down in the mines while you enjoy the spoils?” he questioned.

“I was taking my share! None of you would’ve survived without me! Don’t forget that!” Mokko was frantic now, red from the glow of molten ipsium and his rage. “Throw her over!” he shouted to the droid holding Omega. Hunter shot his grappling line; Omega saw it and smiled, knowing Hunter would have her back. She wrestled with the droid, leaning back until they both fell, but Omega reached out and caught onto Hunter’s arm as he brought her back to safety. 

“No one’s going to take what belongs to me! Take care of all of them!” Mokko ordered his droids. They were shot down before they could even take a step; the boys looked to the shadow where the shots had come from, knowing Specter was there to watch their backs. 

“I’ll deal with you myself!” cried Mokko, squaring up as the enraged children began to close in on him. They charged, Mokko wildly swung his staff, only to trip over his own feet and fall over the rail, hanging on for dear life over molten ipsium. Specter had the perfect shot, one blast would have done the trick, but Benni dashed forward and reached for him.

“Grab my hand!” he cried. Specter pulled back, hoping the man would take the opportunity to redeem himself. But as she predicted, Mokko grabbed Benni’s hand but started to pull the kid down with him. Specter took aim again, but Mokko’s foolish grip had slipped. The man fell to his doom, leaving the kids to slouch in defeat from their attempt to redeem him.

Specter gave the Marauder a once over, glad to find it untouched after the entire ordeal. Wrecker gave Gonky a hug, happy their resident power droid was safely returned. Specter gave Hunter and Omega the all-clear with a wave.

“Here’s your stuff,” said Benni as he came around with their gear.

“All of it?” Hunter questioned, raising a brow and crossing his arms. 

“Yeah, don’t you trust me?” Hunter and Omega mirrored each other’s scowl. “Okay, that’s fair. But it’s all there,” Benni assured, taking a bite of fruit while Hunter handled their gear. Specter watched as Omega talked to Benni; the boy had more resolve now. He stood up straighter, filled with hope. She was sure he and the other kids would end up fine.

“You know there’s a story I read back on Kamino” Specter shoved it inside. “It was about something similar to this whole situation. I’ll have to see if I can find a copy, maybe we could read it to Omega.”

“If I remember correctly, Specter, it’s a depressing tale, are you sure Omega can handle–” Tech began, but Omega interrupted him. 

“After all this? I’m sure it’s nothing,” she waved her hand, sitting on the steps of the ship while the crew gathered around. “So, what’s our next move? Are we going back to Ord Mantell?” she asked. Specter glanced down at Hunter, curious for his answer.

“I… don’t know. Let’s get out of here first and decide on the way,” he said. The team nodded, entering the ship and preparing to take off; Specter hesitated, pausing outside with Hunter.

“On the way to where?” she questioned. He smiled a little, brushing a strand of hair out of her face.

“As long as it’s with you all… anywhere.”

[stateofdreaming14]

Ok so there's this post that I've been thinking about a lot that basically amounts to 'i can't believe ppl actually care that Rose was 19 and the doctor was 900' and I've been trying to ignore it bc I don't care that much for starting fights over something like this (can't stress enough that you can go ahead and like whatever ships you want whether I agree with the ship or not. Go off) but, I do have many thoughts on it.

First off, I'm the type of person who just hates doctor/companion ships in general. It's a type of relationship where the dynamics of power are clearly unbalanced. The doctor is always the one in control of their adventures. If they want to go they have to be nice to him, and if they don't want to be stranded fuck knows where then they better listen to him (the doctor might not actually do that but he has threatened it at times like in Father's Day). He is also always the more knowledgeable one and the one they depend on to save them in the majority of situations.

When it comes to Rose in particular, her being incredibly young is baked into her character from the beginning. She is introduced as an aimless 19 y/o with no ambitions, no marketable skills, and stuck at a dead end job (which got blown up like ten minutes in). That's the very reason she wants to travel with the doctor. She feels stuck in this awkward time of her life where she has no purpose. Running away on some adventure, then, becomes her avoiding the growing pains of that precise time in one's life. So when she is forced back into her normal life, she doesn't see the point of any of it. She would rather give up everything and everyone (even her own life) to travel with the doctor. Reminder that holding the keys to the tardis is a big power the doctor has over his companions, and he can (and does) take the privilege away at any time. So for Rose, who gets self esteem and purpose from traveling with him, this power is doubled.

Not to mention that season one reminded us of her age constantly. The big emotional through line for the doctor (besides him dealing with time war aftermath) was his need to keep rose safe. He felt immense guilt at putting her into such dangerous situations. Whenever it seemed like shed died he'd say with great emotions, "she was only 19 years old, and now she's dead because of me. Because I brought her here" (not an exact quote but an approximate recreation of something he said often enough). The first season took her age very seriously. It was only season 2 where that stopped. Likely bc they couldn't pass up the chemistry between the two actors. (Of course even 9 and rose flirted often but they both insisted nothing was between them until the season end kiss).

And, of course, the show messed up by starting comparisons between her and Martha in season three. Martha by comparison is a woman with her life together. She has so many things outside of the doctor, which is why she's one of the few companions who chose to leave on her own. She isn't dependant on the doctor for her self worth. She has her life planned to some extent. The most she can complain about is a complicated family dynamic that forces her to be the mediator. Even more, she is defined by being mature, capable, and intelligent. This isn't a dig at rose btw, but that wasn't her at all. Her strengths were more in connecting with people, and it was often noted that she started to treat their travels like a game as time went on. She was often making jokes and highlighting the fun side of the adventures. All of her moments of going off on her own were characterized by her repeating things the doctor has said or observing things to tell the doctor later. There is even a part where 10 says that he wishes rose was there instead of Martha bc she would have figured everything out, much to the confusion of everyone who I've ever watched that episode with. It might have been the most delusional thing he ever said, and forced the audience to focus on how blatantly untrue that is. She would probably be flirting, making goofy jokes, or, at best, throwing out any idea that pops into her head until something sparked the doctor's thoughts. There is no way she'd be any better than Martha (who has already proved how capable she is by this point).

This isn't really supposed to be a hate post for any character or ship. But it is worth saying that it's perfectly reasonable to hate doctor/rose and also very reasonable to be squicked out by the age gap. Acting like ppl who dislike aspects of your ship are all unreasonable ppl who can't differentiate between fiction and reality is such a cope. Aspects of the ship are bad/weird. If you still like it regardless then just own it. Not everyone CAN just ignore certain aspects and enjoy it without thoughts. I'm sure there would be things I can get past that they can't. Just don't try to pretend you're so prosecuted for enjoying the main ship of three seasons that the majority of the fandom like just bc some ppl can't.

Anyway, rant over. Like I said, the post annoyed me but it's not worth fighting over so I probs won't even add tags. If doctor/rose shippers find it and get offended that's on them.

[dollycas]

Sunday Salon / Sunday Post – A Week in the Life of Dollycas – Weekly Rewind – New Arrivals

The Sunday Salon is a Facebook group that has become an informal week-in-review gathering place for bloggers. It is also a place to share our thoughts about things of a bookish nature. You can also link up weekly on Readerbuzz. The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer ~ It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog, showcase books and things we have received, and share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead. HAPPY SUNDAY EVERYONE! I am not sure what is happening, but lately, I can't stay up as late to read, which is really messing with my schedule. Also since I took July 4 off I feel like I am chasing my tail to get caught up on my emails. Then, on Tuesday I was supposed to have a quick check-in with my radiation oncologist and then have my Zometa infusion to help prevent damage to my bones that can occur after cancer treatments. The check-in went great but when I went to have my infusion I found out my labwork showed my magnesium count was low. So after the quick 15-minute infusion, they started an IV of magnesium which has to have an extremely slow diluted flow so I wouldn't get an upset stomach. More than 2 1/2 hours later the procedure was complete. Missing most of the day put me even further behind. Wednesday I thought I was getting a handle on my work so I wrapped up my day on time to go to Thomas's last baseball game of the season. What a great time. He was so funny. When he came up to bat he shouted to us "I think I have a blister on my foot".  Then he hit the ball like a champ and ran the bases favoring his foot. When he went to the dugout his mom went to check it out and she found he had not put on the right socks. She quickly took off her socks for him to wear. He went to play in the field still favoring his foot, but his next time up to bat he shouted "it doesn't hurt anymore". I wish I had a tape of the funny voice he used. He had everyone laughing. So baseball ended on a high note with a win. Soccer practice started the next day. Both he and Charlotte will be playing soccer with their parents coaching. Those matches should be fun to watch. Friday night we hit the road to watch Remi play in a baseball tournament. The mosquitoes were out in full force. The boys were dancing and swatting on the field even after being sprayed with bug spray. Those of us on the sidelines were doing the same. They lost the game (we are blaming the bugs) but we went back yesterday for 2 more games. It was a hot one, full sun, high 80's, humid, with an occasional breeze. They lost the 1st one 10-9 and won the second 10-4. Remi pitched in both games and with some strikeouts. He also played center field and shortstop. I have to keep reminding myself this is the first year he has played and he is at the same level as the other kids. Mr. Dollycas says he is a natural athlete and Daughter #1, his mom, says he gets the skills from her. No matter where he got the skills he and his teams have been so much fun to watch. This may have been the last games with football starting soon but his coach said they have been invited to a tournament in August. The powers that be will have to decide if they will compete. On the way home from the games Remi and his parents stopped to get Papa John's Pizza and Dunkin' to celebrate and Remi slammed his finger in the door at Dunkin'. A trip to urgent care, thankfully not broken, but sprained, it looks like it hurt. Today, I will be hitting the emails again and taking some more steps to get caught up on everything. How was your week? Weekly Rewind - July 8 - 13, 2024 Monday - Sunday Salon / Sunday Post – A Week in the Life of Dollycas – Weekly Rewind – New Arrivals Tuesday - A Whale of a Murder: A Venus Bixby Mystery by Valerie Taylor #Review / #Giveaway – Great Escapes Book Tour @valerietaylorauthor @ValerieETaylor Wednesday - Cozy-ish Wednesday featuring Murder on Devil’s Pond (A Hummingbird Hollow B&B Mystery) by Ayla Rose #Review / #Giveaway @WendyTyson @AylaRose Thursday - One Big Happy Family: A Novel by Jamie Day #Review @StMartinsPress Friday - Murder by Lamplight (A Dr. Julia Lewis Mystery) by Patrice McDonough #Spotlight / #Giveaway @KensingtonBooks Saturday - Special Guest – Lawrence E. Rothstein – Author of Venetian Bind #AuthorInterview / #Giveaway Plus - Special Guest Nupur Tustin Author of Bearer of Secrets: An Art Heist Mystery (Celine Skye Psychic Mystery Series) #Author Interview #Giveaway @ntustinauthor Have an Awesome Week Everyone! Your Escape Into A Good Book Travel Agent Read the full article

[phoenixyfriend]

Rey Gives No F*cks About the Grandfather Paradox

Okay so since nobody’s suggested a fic under these terms, I ended up expanding on this post on discord and things snowballed. We kept to the basics of the entire plot revolving around Rey really hating her grandad and leveraging her blood relation to not be unalived about it.

With contributions by @atagotiak​, @dracothulhu​, @thepallaspalace​, and several others. The title comes from @gelpenss​.

The basic thing I absolutely need is this: Rey gets thrown back to the middle of the clone wars, and the subsequent plot leans in really heavily on her being, genetically-via-clone-dad, the daughter of the guy running the entire galaxy.

Nobody knows what to do with her.

The timing is mid-TCW for the past (because I want Ahsoka there) and vaguely between Episodes 8 and 9 because I... never watched E9 and don’t want to worry about the timeline. The only things that matter is that Luke is dead (he can die as he did in canon) and that Rey knows she’s Palp’s granddaughter (not the way she does in canon).

We'll say Luke found out from Anakin's panicked force-ghost and just went "well, fuck, okay, I should tell her this before she ends up in a situation like mine and finds out mid-battle or something."

Luke, prior to time-travel: Okay, so, now that I'm dead I know some things I didn't before. Like who your parents were. In the interest of full disclosure because I was in a very similar situation and I don't want you learning the way I did, I'm just going to come right out and say that your father was a clone was Sheev Palpatine. Rey: ... Luke: Are you okay? Rey: I don't know who that is.

(She grew up on Jakku, the history education was a little subpar.)

Setting The Scene

Imagine Rey showing up during or immediately before the clone wars. There’s this phenomenally powerful feral teenager from a desert backwater who tells you that if you ran a paternity test, it would probably pop up the Chancellor. She may or may not bring up cloning. She accuses said Chancellor of being a Sith Lord.

Your other phenomenally powerful feral teenager from a desert backwater, who may not be a teenager anymore but only barely, is very offended by this because Palpatine’s a Very Nice Old Grandfather Figure, but also he’s a little full of side-eye because if the blood test comes back as proof, then Palpatine had a kid and didn’t even know about them, or lied to Anakin, and that’s! Bad! Family’s important!!!

Palpatine hears about this daughter he apparently? Has? And is very confused because the timing doesn’t match up with ANYTHING he was doing, so the kid isn’t natural, and he says as much. (There is an explanation! It’s not a correct explanation, but he does come up with one.)

Finn and Poe and BB-8 all get dragged along because why not have the gang there? Nobody that’s already born, because [handwave] conservation of souls or something, IDK, point is the only person dragged along that’s even remotely close to already existing is Luke’s Force Ghost, who mostly hangs around begging Rey to be less impulsive. Finn is good because he is a nice polite boy, but for actual useful information they need Poe. The unfortunate situation is that the three do not land together. They land at the same time, in completely different corners of the galaxy. This means that nobody is there to curb Rey being her most impulsive self.

Time travel Rey knows two things. Luke’s dad ends up evil. Palpatine has always been evil.

She can solve one of these problems by killing the other, yes?

Rey: Ready to Rumble

See, the initial idea was this: Rey tried to break into the senate to kill Palpatine, got arrested, and then used the "he's biologically my father" card to get out of jail free. (Force Ghost Luke follows her like “please take five seconds to think this through.”)

But.

But.

It would be very, very, very funny if The Force just dumps her in a flash of light in the senate building and she just attacks Gramps on sight. Just a shouted "YOU!" and no-hesitation attempted murder.

Palpatine has no idea what's going on.

Rey took maybe two seconds to get identity confirmation and then started swinging.

[Image Description: An individual in a green metal helmet with an eye slit, holding a pistol. In the upper left, upper right, and lower middle are the phrases “I do not know who I am...” “I don’t know why I’m here” and “All I know is that I must kill.” End description.]

Of course, she gets arrested. There are Master Jedi in the Senate. There are Clone Troopers. Palpatine isn’t the weak old man he pretends to be. Of course she’s stopped.

But she isn’t executed in time for Palpatine to stop her from ruining his entire reputation.

Immediately after Rey fails to kill her Shitty Granddad, Luke's ghost shows up and begs her to not talk about the Sith thing because it will completely undermine everything she's trying to do. Pass off the attempted murder as something else!

Rey, panicking: "that fucker left me on a desert planet for 10 years!" "You owe me 19 years of child support you son of a Hutt!"

The Jedi have to do the investigation, because the girl showed up with a laser sword, and the conversation is, uh... interesting. (“Where did you get that lightsaber?” “I got it from a mysterious old pirate lady I never met before. I don't know, I was being shown around by a smuggler and a Wookie.”)

Interviewer: Why did you try to assassinate the Chancellor? Luke: Say it wasn't assassination. Rey: It wasn't assassination. Int: You weren't trying to kill him? Luke: Assassination has to be politically motivated. Rey: This was, um... not political. Assassination is political, right? Int: You mean this was personally motivated? Rey: Yes. Int: I see. What personal motivation? Luke: Jakku! Rey: He's my grandfather. Int: ... Rey: Possibly father. Nobody was very clear on that. Int: ... Luke: Tell them to run a paternity test. Rey: Oh hey, a blood test would tell us which, right? Int: ............ Rey: I spent ten years as an orphaned scrapdealer on Jakku. He's my father. I'm kind of a little angry. Int: ........... Luke: Good job, kid. You bought yourself some time. Int: I'm going to get a medic to see about that parternity test.

Obviously, it comes back positive. Congratulations, Sheev, you’re the father.

Rey comes with a ready-made built-in excuse for hating Palpatine that nobody can question or fault her for!

Rey, pouring Truth into the Force: I didn't even know I was related to the Chancellor until a few months ago, but it's his fault I grew up the way I did, and he should take some responsibility!

The entire thing is mostly kept hush hush but someone leaks it to the press and Palpatine's ratings tank.

"Chancellor, I think we'll need to waive family visitation until she wants you a little less dead." "I would like to find out why she wants me dead, and indeed, where she came from." "...sir, for your own safety--"

Who would win? A master plan years in the making spanning decades of manipulating and work? or One (1) paternity test

"Okay, so, Rey Palpat--" "Ew, no, I don't want his name." "You--okay. Sure, we can understand that. Is there a name you would prefer to put on the paperwork?" Rey, who would have gone by Skywalker in honor of Luke but can't do that when Anakin is right there and all: "Can I think about it?"

Rey: I don't know what I want my last name to be but I know I don't want his, and most of the people I’d want a name from have famous families like you... Luke's ghost, pointing out the Literal Nobody that she cares about a lot: How about Solo? Rey: ...Solo, then.

(A few months later she runs into Poe again and he offers for Finn and Rey to both take his name because honestly they need SOMETHING but at that point she’s already decided on Smuggler Dad.)

Backtrack a bit. We’ve got a bigger cast.

They all arrive separately. Poe, for one, does better than Rey, who is aiming for a murder, but not quite as well as Finn, who is currently being adopted and hidden like a secret cat by a bunch of Alpha Clones on Kamino. He vibes with the names-or-numbers thing. He doesn’t necessarily tell them where and when he’s from, but he’s very sweet and a great liar and they adopt him wholesale anyway.

The Finn situation is just... "Buir Ti, we need you to hide this man, we've decided he's our little brother but if Nala Se finds out she'll make him leave."

Of course, this leads into Shaak Ti teaching Finn how to Jedi.

Maybe consider Finn needing to almost be tricked into learning Jedi things because he willfully forgets it could apply to him. Finn does not like to think of himself as special, which is super valid, but frustrating for Shaak Ti when it comes to, you know, getting him to acquire knowledge. Finn's training at some point is "here, levitate objects with the Force to entertain the tubies." It’s a lot easier to convince him to practice when it involves the babies.

(Everyone on Kamino looked at Finn and went “oh I love him I’m keeping him and teaching him things.”)

(He’s just very lovable.)

Poe, meanwhile, buys the trust of Anakin Skywalker via R2D2 declaring BB-8 the absolute most baby of droids. R2D2 met BB-8 three hours ago but.

"Hey Obi-Wan this is Poe I met him like five days ago but R2D2 says he checks out because his droid is a baby." "That's nice, Anakin, did you know the Chancellor has a daughter who tried to assassinate him in broad daylight yesterday? Because guess who had to stop the Chancellor from getting assassinated by his daughter in broad daylight yesterday."

A summary so far:

Finn, on Kamino: Hey, um, I don't know where this is, but it's not where I was a few minutes ago. Do you think you could get me a comm? What's your name? Poe, on [dice roll] Denon: Oh, hey, you're General Skywalker? Nice to meet you, I'm so sorry about my droid, she's a little excitable and thought your R2 unit looked like a friend of hers-- Rey, on Coruscant: DIE, GRANDFATHER

Finn: [Peacefully vibing on Kamino, unaware of the chaos and bonding with the clones] Poe: [Trying to explain how he knows someone who tried to kill the chancellor and defend Rey] Rey: [Arrested for trying to kill the chancellor]

Just... just...

Anakin: Some guy ended up lost on base yesterday with his droid, how’s your day going? Obi-Wan: I had to stop someone who claims to be the chancellors daughter from murdering the chancellor after she seemingly blinked into existence in the Senate building. Poe: 😐

(Poe: Oh, so that's where Chaos^2 went.)

Poe: In her defense, she is his... well we don't know if she's his daughter or granddaughter, but she's definitely related to him, and she definitely grew up in a shitty situation that was his fault, so...

(Poe is trying very hard to explain this and not get arrested on the military base.)

As you’ve probably guessed, what's especially funny about all of this for me is the fact that Palpatine is fully aware that this girl shouldn't exist, but can't find a single piece of evidence about where she came from. He didn't start any experiments that could result in a female child, and he didn't have sex in that period of time, so where the hell--

Rey spends so much time in jail... BUT they do eventually assign her a Jedi Master. Possibly before she actually proves her evil grandfather is in fact evil. Most votes went to either Plo Koon or Obi-Wan. Plo, because he’s dad-shaped, and Obi...

"Obi-Wan, you already raised one feral desert child with implausible amounts of power, you handle this." Rey in return is very "Sweet, you vaguely remind me of Master Luke," and nobody knows who the hell she's talking about. Obi-Wan is NOT on board with this plan, she'd really be better off with Plo or like........ Mace.

Reunion Tour

What I need out of this is the eventual Finn and Rey reunion scene that is just excited screaming while someone in the background explains to Shaak Ti that yes this is apparently Palpatine's terrifyingly force-sensitive daughter who hates him.

(Finn senses Rey’s approach and just. Gathers the everyone to wait. He’s just :D REY MY FRIEND REY GUYS MY FRIEND REY IS COMING.)

Anakin shows up with Poe--just a guy who signed on to the military, no big deal--and then Poe and Rey are EXCITED and everyone's just like "Cool, how do you know this literal terrorist child?" And Poe has to scramble and "Uhhhhhhhhhhhh she saved my droid from a scrapheap once and BB-8 is basically my child so I owe her one."

Rey knows that Anakin ends up evil so she’s maybe not actively hostile but definitely very “I’m watching you.” That said, she vibes with him on a lot of things that he maybe doesn’t actively notice.

Rey picks up a snake, snaps off the head for venom avoidance, and starts biting off chunks. Obi-Wan's reaction: [undisguised horror] Anakin and Ahsoka: Ooh, where'd you find that? (Obi-Wan: And now I’m up to three feral children.)

What Does Palpatine Even Do?

OBVIOUSLY at a certain point, Palpatine is just phoning up every ally he has to figure out who broke protocol to synthesize a daughter for him.

So of course, Palpatine blame Plagueis.

She'd have been born five or so years before Naboo, just a few years younger than Anakin. It's such an EASY theory to build a conspiracy around. It is ENTIRELY WRONG, but it’s plausible! And anyone who might have been involved to say otherwise is probably dead!

A random bio-kid shows up you can’t possibly have contributed genes to? Maybe it’s the evil bio spark that did it.

Palpatine tries to placate her with the ‘my genes were stolen for an experiment and I didn’t know’ thing. It doesn’t work because her actual main complaint is he’s evil in her future but he tries.

It'd be a struggle to even get access to her, because of the aforementioned “maybe don’t try to talk to the daughter(?) that hates you” thing, but you know who Palpatine does have access to? The Chosen One.

Rey kind of decides on her favorites early on (she gravitates to Dad Energy and Sad Old Men so Plo and Obi-Wan are on her list, and that means decent time around Anakin and Ahsoka). It's really easy to talk Anakin into helping to some degree because "he'd like to connect to a daughter he never knew" and "a child of her power on a planet like that, you'd know her struggle, my dear boy" and so on. Anakin tries to connect! He tries to play up Sheev’s kind political work and how it can’t have really been his fault! It doesn’t work. Rey does not believe a word of it. Mostly she doesn’t even seem to hear him.

Rey's just like "...oh right, you're the melted mask that Kylo Ren was always ranting about," which means absolutely NOTHING to Anakin, but he mentions it to Palps, who loses his goddamn mind trying to figure out what she's talking about, because it also means absolutely nothing to him.

Here’s the thing: Rey’s already decided that Obi-Wan is cool, because Luke said so, and Plo Koon is dad-shaped, and she also gravitates towards earnest kindness in general, like she made friends with Finn real quick, so Ahsoka? Already getting along great.

She doesn’t dislike Anakin, really, he isn’t evil yet, he’s just... meh. She’s a little suspicious and she likes him less than the others but... Anakin.

Rey, to Anakin: You are my least favorite. Anakin, to Palpatine: YOUR DAUGHTER HATES ME???

And he goes from “she’s a lil standoffish” to “she doesn’t like me” to “she hates me” as is normal for Anakin.

It’s just an escalation of this one time Palpatine wants Anakin to not have rifts and trust issues with a person, at least not until later, because he needs information.

Meanwhile, that very moment, Rey is just like "huh, nobody here is listening to me about how make a sixth-hand carburetor work, where's Luke's dad?"

Anakin is venting to Palpatine about how hard it is to talk to Rey, and she's over in the Temple just like "Hey, that guy was useful last time, I should ask him," but also she only ever thinks of him as Luke's Dad.

(At one point, Obi-Wan is having a bit of a break down, and then Anakin starts having a breakdown about that, meanwhile the clones are (badly) trying to hide Finn behind their backs, Rey is watching Ahsoka practice and being like "I want two lightsabers," and Poe is trying to keep R2 from stealing BB-8 and Force Ghost Luke is just face palming in the background.)

(Rey deserved a saber staff, maybe one that can detach and turn into a jar’kai set. Possibly a pike. Mostly I just wish she got more chances to whack things with a big stick.)

[infinitesuckuyome]

What kind of Genjutsu would the Uchiha men put their S/O into?

Requested Prompt from @passionateuchiha​

This is the first request I’ve ever done so bear with me. Also, today’s focus will be on Obito Uchiha bc he’s best boy & I play favorites

18+ content, Minors do NOT interact:

◉ As a genjutsu user, Obito is extremely proficient. He was personally trained by Madara Uchiha, so even though Obito was a bit of a late bloomer, he’s a quick study and becomes incredibly powerful over the course of his life.

◉ A few instances of his proficiency: 

At 16 Obito summons and controls the 9 tails, making it wreak havoc in Konoha.

At 22 Obito places Yagura Karatachi, 4th Mizukage & perfect Jinchuriki under his control, making Obito the de facto Mizukage at the time. It was previously thought that Jinchuriki were immune to genjutsu so the fact that Obito was able to brainwash Yagura for years is basically unheard of.

At 31 Obito uses Izanagi to literally reshape reality to survive Konan’s 600 billion paper bomb attack then compels her to reveal the location of Nagato’s Rinnegan. It’s safe to say that Konan would never have willingly revealed that information so, Obito’s ability to extract the truth is pretty much S tier.

◉ The Sharingan’s base abilities grant the user powers of hypnosis which include putting people to sleep, replaying memories, and creating illusions. Obito’s mastery of the Sharingan far exceed these base capabilities, meaning he’s a force to be reckoned with. Not even his precious darling would be able to escape his hypnotic gaze~  

There were very few things left in this life that Obito looked forward to, being able to see you was one of those last remaining things. Playing the idiot was annoying and inconvenient but for some reason, you never seemed deterred by his obnoxious antics or childish façade. You were a brilliant ray of sunshine, warming his frozen guarded heart with only your smiles and kind words, which did more for him than you’d ever know. He tried to make the most of the sparse moments he had with you; every touch, charged glance and bit of conversation embedded itself into his mind. He lived for these rare occasions, letting everything fall away as he hung on your every word, reveling in any affection you offered. There was a longing deep within Obito that wanted you to know the truth, to see him, not the person he had to pretend to be.

At first he thought it would be enough to merely take on the role of your protector, silently watching over you from the shadows as you made your way to and from work, fixing any locks or windows that happened to be damaged in your home & on occasion he’d even leave extra money around for you to find. The more he watched you, the more he came to realize that what he truly wanted was to be the reason for your happiness, a person you relied on for all your needs... all of your desires. As his missions became longer and increasingly demanding, Obito’s anxiety about your well-being also grew. He couldn't stand to be away from you, unsure if you were safe and healthy. What if something happened to you while he was away- what if you needed his help and he was a minute or even a second too late? These were the thoughts that kept him up at night, fidgeting and pacing as he went back & forth in his mind about what to do.

You were simply too good for this callous world; he knew that if he did nothing, eventually it would snuff out even your brilliant light, so he decided to safeguard it himself. With him you’d be safe, if anything, he was the only one who could truly protect you and when he succeeded in creating the perfect world, you’d be the first to bear witness to it. 

◒ Obito is a total Yandere~ He’s lovestruck, overprotective, obsessive, possessive, self-sacrificing and definitely not afraid to get his hands dirty if anything happens to his darling - ya know, like when he went on a rampage after Rin died and singlehandedly massacred dozens of mist village ninja. 

◒ Without a doubt, the type of Yandere to kidnap you- this is the first instance he’d use genjutsu on you. He’d put you into a deep tranquil sleep then whisk you away to the Akatsuki base or into his own Kamui dimension.

◒ He’d make sure to fill your mind with calming thoughts to help you “adjust to your new surroundings”. 

◒ During combat, Genjutsu is mostly used to create false images that trick the mind into thinking the body is experiencing pain- though Obito has no reservations about doing this to others, he has better things he’d want projected into your mind. He’d much rather use this tactic to enhance your pleasure during intimate moments. 

◒ He’d use his visual prowess to convince you of his love. Literally taking your face into his hands, telling you that he loves you, will protect you and that you’re safe with him. Obito would never tire of telling you these things, until he was sure they registered in your mind, reaching the center of your being. 

◒ As an expert in extracting information, Obito can get the truth from even the most adverse foe. Compelling his darling to tell him the truth would be a simple feat- he doesn’t want you to sugar coat anything or be afraid to speak your mind so he’d do this with the intent of knowing what was really in your heart of hearts.

Warnings: Language, NSFW, Oral Sex, Yandere Behavior

“You lied to me! And brought me here...” You gestured vaguely around yourself, unsure of where “here” actually was- not holding onto much hope that you’d be getting that answer anytime soon. You grabbed at a fluffy looking pillow, hugging it to your chest for comfort as you grudgingly sat down on the large tidy bed in the center of the room.

“Please hear me out, Y/N- I can explain.” He could easily take all this anger from you, transforming it into soothing thoughts that left you with a light heart, but deep down, he knew that he deserved your fury. Obito felt that your anger was yours to wield as you pleased, even when directed towards him. 

“You couldn’t even be bothered to tell me your real name!” You shouted, throwing your hands up in frustration. “I t-thought you cared about me...is there anything you haven't lied about?!”

“I never lied about how I feel about you” He replied quickly. “I know I haven’t been honest, but I swear I’ll never lie or keep anything from you again, I...I love you, Y/N!”

“How am I supposed to believe that- why should I believe anything you say?” Tears welled up in your eyes, a few weeks ago you would’ve believed him... you would’ve welcomed his confession but now- you weren’t sure what to think. 

Obito clenched his fists at his side, heart aching from how desperately he wanted you too see the love he carried for you. “My feelings for you are real! I’ll prove it to you, I’ll do whatever it takes just...please give me a chance.”

A whirlwind of conflicting emotions ran through you, it was hard to tell which was the most prevalent. Anger and frustration were at the forefront, but there was also a part of you that wanted to reach out to him- this was the first time the two of you had been alone... it was such a shame that it had to happen like this. “Gods! I’m so mad, I could hit you.” you spat bitterly. 

“I know & I won’t stop you. Give me all of your anger, use me as you see fit, Y/N- you can do what you’d like.” Obito’s visible eye gave off a subtle red glow as he spoke. Though it pained him to keep his distance, he didn’t want to upset you any further, and most of all he didn’t want you to be scared of him. 

You shook your head, momentarily losing your train of thought, his words slowly making their way into your mind. “It’s just a figure of speech- I’m not actually going to hit you.. but if I'm being honest, you do deserve a good slap to the face.” You huffed, wiping away a few stray tears. “Besides, you said I could do what I wanted right? Well then I want to go home, right now.”

“Anything besides that- please understand Y/N, I brought you here to tell you the truth but once I do, you won’t be safe on your own. I can keep you safe here, I’ll protect you no matter what.” Obito’s head dipped in defeat- he could handle your anger, but he couldn't bear the thought of being away from you, not for one second more so, he stood firm in his decision. 

You scoffed at his response, feeling mildly insulted that he thought you were so helpless. “You know what, maybe I will slap you... a-and take off that damn mask so I can do it properly.” You cast a sideways glance at him, awaiting his response. As frustrated with him as you were, you couldn’t help but wonder what he was hiding beneath that thing. After all the secrecy and lies, you wondered if he’d finally share this part of himself. 

“My mask?” Obito repeated, bringing a gloved hand to touch it, almost as if he’d forgotten it was on.

“Let me guess, anything besides that?” You quipped, irritation flaring. 

“Not at all, if you want me to take it off, then I will.” He replied, walking towards you. “There shouldn’t be any other secrets between us, My Darling. I’ll do whatever you ask to ensure you stay by my side.”

Before you could say another word, he swiftly removed the mask. You were speechless- heat rising to your face upon seeing his. 

“Go ahead” Obito said calmly, kneeling in front of you. “I’d welcome any touch, as long as it came from you.”

You raised a shaky hand, bringing it down on his cheek with a feather light smack. “I guess I don’t really want to slap you- but that doesn’t mean I’m not still mad at you... Obito.” You left your hand on his cheek, stroking the skin beneath it with the pad of your thumb.

Obito sucked in a quick breath, that was the first time you’d said his name & he loved the way it sounded on your tongue. He placed his hand over yours, leaning into your touch. “I-is there anything else you want me to take off?”

You looked away, unsure if you should say what was going through your mind. 

“You can be honest, tell me what you want, and I’ll do it, Y/N.” Obito’s eyes bore into yours, the tomoe in his iris spun, causing your vision to become unfocused for a split second. You nodded as your inhibitions fell away, “Your cloak- isn’t it too hot to be wearing something like that anyway?”

“I guess you’re right” Obito agreed, flashing you a nervous smile.

You unconsciously twirled a lock of hair around your finger, eyes roaming over his frame as he removed the bulky cloud covered cloak. “This too” you pulled at the end of the tight black shirt he wore. 

Obito’s eyes widened slightly, cheeks warming as he realized you wanted him to keep undressing. He quickly pulled the shirt over his head, casting it aside to await your next command.

You bit the inside of your cheek to prevent your lips from twitching up at the corners- reminding yourself that you were supposed to be mad right now. Though your expression remained mostly neutral, your eyes kept finding their way back to ogle him. You made a small noise of frustration- trying to get angry, upset, frightened even, but desire crowded every other emotion out of your mind.

“I can put it back on if you’re uncomfortable” Obito tried, not knowing what to make of your sudden silence. 

You didn’t respond, instead patting the spot next to you. Obito perked up instantly, taking the hint to sit beside you. “I’m still upset... but you should kiss me now b-before I change my mind.” 

The second those words left your mouth, Obito pulled you into his lap, kissing you with such need it nearly took your breath away. Your lips were so soft, softer than he’d ever imagined- he licked and sucked at them, heart thumping wildly in his chest. 

You parted your lips, deepening the kiss as your hands came up to tug at his hair, earning you a needy moan from Obito. “Touch me more” you whispered as you rolled your hips against his hardening length. 

He groaned at your words, hands coming down to knead at the plush flesh of your ass- thrusting his hips up to meet yours. His eyes rolled back at having you pressed up against him, head spinning at the sensation. “Fuck, Y/N you feel so good like this; I want to make you feel good too please, please tell me what to do” Obito babbled, pupils blown wide with need. 

You bit your lip, eyebrows drawing together as heat rushed down to your core. There was something so arousing about the pleading edge to his tone, like there was nothing more important to him than pleasing you. “Ya know... it’s really cute when you beg me like that, do it again.” you purred, raking your nails though his hair. 

Obito’s head dipped back in delight, cock twitching in his pants. “Please Y/N, tell me what you want- anything you want.” his crimson eyes held your gaze, never wavering. 

Your back arched reflexively, that alluring glow lulling you deeper into a euphoric haze. “Use your mouth to make me cum”

“Lay back Y/N” Obito rasped, mouth watering at the thought of getting to taste you. He watched as you shimmied out of your panties, swiftly flinging the dress you’d been wearing up & over your head. This was without a doubt, Obito’s new favorite memory, he paused for a moment to properly appreciate the sight of your bare body before him. 

“Are you just going to stand there staring at me or are you going to put that lying mouth of yours to use?” You teased, giggling at the pout he made.  

“Sorry... I won’t make you wait any longer” he husked, using his teeth to remove the glove from his hand before kneeling between your legs. Your warmth and scent drew him in like a moth to a flame- unable to hold himself back any longer Obito eagerly dove in, fervently licking at your glistening entrance. He moaned at your taste; flattening his tongue, he nudged it between your lips to open you up, dragging it from your entrance up to your clit. Sealing his lips over your little nub, he sucked at it harshly- rhythmically pulling it in & out of his mouth. 

“Ah aah- Obito!” you whined wantonly.

“Say it again, fuck- please say it again!” Obito murmured against you. You cried out his name, hand finding its way into his hair- pulling at the ebony strands as your hips ground against him.

He hooked your legs over his shoulders, holding you in place to lave over your clit, swirling his tongue around the shape of it. Obito was nearly frantic in the hungry way he lapped at your pussy, hips rutting aimlessly against the mattress. 

You twisted & turned your head, heat rapidly pooling in your core as your brain receded into a scarlet fog, hardly able to think straight. Behind the darkness of your eyelids, spinning commas and flashes of red propelled you forward, into an abyss of blinding pleasure. You came with a scream-like moan, writhing as Obito held you firmly in place, greedily drinking you in, like a man dying of thirst. 

You twitched with over sensitivity, keening out breathlessly while he continued to roll his tongue over your little bundle of nerves. “Too much... it’s too mu- aah!” You mewled, cunt fluttering as he plunged his tongue into your scorching heat. 

“Are you sure? I’d be happy to keep going...” he groaned, looking up at you with pure adoration. 

“Uh-huh, ‘m wanna play with your cock now, so take those off” you said, gesturing at his pants. 

Obito nodded happily, making quick work of ridding himself of any remaining clothing. 

“Now you lay back” you cooed, eyeing the heavy way his length slapped against his stomach as you knelt in front of him. You ran your thumb over the slick surface of his cockhead, tracing every dip & curve until it shone prettily with his arousal. 

“So cute” you praised, smearing that arousal across your bottom lip. Obito whined, hips twitching forward while his dick throbbed against you. “Promise you’ll be a good boy for me?”

Obito propped himself up on his elbows, eyes gleaming vibrantly. “I promise Y/N, I’ll be good- I’ll be so so good!” The sweet heat of your mouth made him want to unravel at the seams; the teasing way your tongue worked his length drove him absolutely wild, the etheric sight of your rosy cheeks & bobbing head, even more so. His head subtly swayed back and forth, in time with the slurps and sucks of your pillowy lips.

An animalistic growl rumbled in Obito’s chest, everything you did filled him with such carnal lust that it was almost overwhelming... he wanted to share it with you, to show you how deeply you affected him. Placing a hand on your head, he tugged gently at your hair, not wanting to harm a single precious strand, “Look at me Y/N.”

Your eyes fluttered open, dreamily drifting up to his waiting gaze; vision blurring around the edges, peripherals darkening until only he was in focus. A stifling wave of arousal crashed over you, making you waver slightly, hands coming up to clutch at his muscular thighs for support. 

“Do you feel what you do to me?” he grunted, languidly bucking his hips, admiring the sinful way your reddened lips stretched around his girth. “See yourself through my eyes, Y/N.” he husked, projecting the image and mirrored sensations of your actions directly into your mind. 

Obito’s voice echoed all around you, bouncing around the inside of your head, everything falling away into oblivion. You were looking up at him, yet you could also see yourself- “Mmph!” you cried as another dizzying wave of passion hit you. Hallowing your cheeks, you instinctively took him deeper into your mouth; something between a gasp & moan falling past your lips, sending shocks of bliss throughout Obito, which you felt in tandem. A furious blush painted your face at the phantom pleasure being sent to your core, making you so delirious that you tongue lolled out as your quickened your pace.  

Placing a hand over the one Obito had on your head, you pushed down a few times, hoping he’d understand your silent plea. “Does My Darling want more?” he asked in a low whisper. You whined, nodding your head as he gathered your hair into a makeshift pony tail, guiding you up and down his length causing drool to run down the corners of your mouth. 

“Aww f-fuck, mhmm” Obito’s head dipped back, drowning in the pleasure you’d so graciously offered him, dragging you down with him as he fell further & further into a bottomless euphoria. Your head swam with a flurry of images and sounds that swirled all around you. Do you feel what you do to me? When he’d first spoken those words, you weren’t sure what he’d meant- too distracted by the fog of lust that hung over you... now though, you felt him. You could sense the intensity that resided within Obito; it was palpable & scalding, like a raging wildfire that consumed everything in its path- you could feel how deeply he craved you, adored you, needed you.

“Y/N! You’re go-gonna make me cum, p-please can I cum?” he stuttered between moans. You nodded enthusiastically, feeling that same tight coil building in your lower abdomen which had you very nearly seeing stars. Your moans mingled together, essence running down your trembling thighs as his release shot down your waiting throat. 

Obito hauled you onto the bed, cradling you against him while you both caught your breath- showering you in praises and thank yous. You sighed in content, slowly coming down from your high, absentmindedly tracing the scars covering the left side of his body, “Is this why you always cover yourself up so much?”

“Not exactly, that’s a long story... one that I will share with you & only you.” He said, kissing your hand. 

You smiled to yourself, knowing that he meant it. “Obito..”

“Yes, My Darling? he lifted his head, giving you his full attention.

“I think someone owes me an apology.” you shot him a pointed look. 

“I’m so sorry Y/N, I truly am.” he said immediately. 

You tutted, putting a finger up to his lips, silencing him. “No, no. I want an apology from Tobi- and no hiding behind the mask this time.”

“Y/N please...” Obito’s cheeks flamed with embarrassment.

“Fine, I guess you really were lying when you said you’d do whatever I asked” you remarked slyly. 

Obito sighed, burying his face in your neck, giving himself a moment. “Please forgive Tobi, Y/N-Chan! Tobi will be a good boy from now on, promise!”

You erupted into a fit of giggles. Obito whined, hiding his face as he hugged you tighter against him. “Are you satisfied?” he grumbled.

“For now...” you hummed, petting his dark locks. 

[pilothusband]

All Hail The King

Rating: Explicit (18+)

Pairing: Frankie Morales x f!reader

Warnings: Alcohol, oral sex, p in v sex, praise kink. I’m a horny bitch, okay? This is purely indulgent.

Word count: 5k

Author’s note: Special thanks to @wyn-dixie​ for reading this over before I posted it and for enabling this filth. ❤️ This idea entered my brain randomly and I had to write it out. Please let me know what you think! I want your feedback. If I had Photoshop I would have made an edit of Frankie with a crown for this but I don’t have it so here’s this gif instead.

The bar is humming with activity, but the table you’re nestled at in the back provides enough shelter to allow you all to converse without having to yell at each other.

You’ve been nursing a glass of water for a while now, since you’re the designated driver this week. It doesn’t bother you, though— you’re just happy to be out with your friends.

Every once in a while you steal a glance over at Frankie, who’s sitting diagonally across the table, next to Santiago who is directly across from you. Benny is to your left, his large body crowding you into the wall, and his brother Will is at the head of the table.

“Hey Fish,” Benny claps a hand on his shoulder. The force of his hand jostles Frankie’s solid body backwards a little, but to his credit he doesn’t flinch. “How are things with that girl you were seeing? Jennessa? Jennifer?”

You take a sip of your water and look down at the table to mask your interest at the sudden change in conversation.

“Jessica,” Frankie clears his throat. “They aren’t. We didn’t have much in common so she broke it off after a few dates.”

Queue the internal cheering. Jessica was a bit of a wet mop, to be honest. She never had anything to say when Frankie brought her around and she would scoff at everything that was slightly unsavory in her eyes. Deep down, you had to come to terms with the jealous twinge you felt in your gut every time she would squeeze Frankie’s shoulder affectionately, her immaculately manicured nails pressed harshly into his jacket.

“I’m sorry, Fish,” Benny said, slinging his arm around the man, the clumsy movement knocking his hat slightly askew. “Her loss, brother.”

“Here here,” Santi agrees, raising his bottle in the air. “To the king!”

Benny cheers clinks his bottle against Santiago’s echoing his sentiment. Will huffs out a laugh and Frankie groans, hiding his face in his hands.

You gape at the two men in question, but they just giggle like a couple of school girls.

“I didn’t realize I was in the presence of royalty,” you say, trying to figure out what they’re talking about. You look over at Frankie as he takes an impatient sip from his drink.

Benny just about spits out a mouthful of beer onto the table.

“Shut the fuck up, guys.” Frankie warns his friends. “Seriously.” Santi and Benny give him an innocent look. Will focuses his gaze on the bottle he’s holding, picking at the paper label, damp and curling at the edges from condensation .

Santiago leans towards you, his breath hot in your ear.

“We call him the pussy eating king.”

You thank the powers above you weren’t mid-sip, because the choked sound that emits from your throat was both involuntary and sudden. Heat blossoms in your stomach and your thighs clench together as you make eye contact with Frankie. He looks away nervously, embarrassed even. 

“So was this a self coronation or..” You trail off, grinning at the flush on Frankie’s cheeks.

“It was that really talkative chick he was seeing for a while,” Benny says, turning to you. “Brianna?”

“Brenda,” Frankie sighs.

“So Brenda crowned you the pussy eating king?” You ask Frankie, who still refuses to meet your eyes.

He grumbles in response, waving off the subject.

“Yeah, she went on about it in detail for the whole night one time. I think you were away for a work trip or something” Santiago is absolutely smirking, loving the way Frankie is physically shrinking under the group’s attention. “Come on Fish, don’t be so modest. You’re a beast in the sack, it’s a good thing!”

You smile, but it doesn’t quite reach your eyes. You remember why you weren’t there. It was because you couldn’t stand seeing Frankie so happy with another woman, so you feigned sick.

“Well, I can see why things with Brenda didn’t last,” you respond, knowing Frankie was kind of a private guy. “But hey, at least she can tell all her friends she got the royal treatment while it lasted.”

Benny, Santiago and even Will all roar with laughter, fists banging raucously on the table. Frankie huffs out an embarrassed laugh, despite himself.

“Yeah, yeah,” he takes a swig of his beer, emptying it. “I need another drink.”

“Hey Ben, what time is your fight next week again?” Will calls over to his brother. You’re grateful for the change of subject. Frankie’s had enough torture for one night and you aren’t sure how many more details about Frankie’s sexual prowess your nether regions can take.

Benny turns towards Will to talk about his upcoming match and you take a sip from your glass to try to hide how flustered you’re feeling. Did this bar get hot all of a sudden?

The glass lands back down with a dull thump and you look up to find Santiago studying you, his eyebrow raised.

“What?” You don’t mean to sound aggressive, but his gaze is unnerving, as if he’s trying to suss out something you’re hiding.

“Nothing, nothing at all.” He smirks and tips up his beer, taking a long gulp. You roll your eyes at him and look down to pick at your nails.

A few moments later, Frankie returns with a fresh beer and you can feel Santiago turning his face in your direction again to read your body language. You school your reaction, fingers digging painfully into your pint glass. Sometimes Pope is too fucking nosy for his own good.

He must lose interest after a moment though, because he turns his attention back to Benny, who’s still talking about his upcoming fight.

The topic doesn’t come up again, thankfully, and you’ve dropped all the boys off at their separate destinations, save for Frankie, who lives the closest to you.

The car ride alone with him isn’t as tense as you were expecting, since his tongue has been loosened with the fair amount of alcohol he’s had tonight. You both chat easily about the upcoming week and how much you’re dreading going back to work on Monday.

You can’t resist one smart remark though, as you pull up to Frankie’s house.

“Your castle awaits, my liege,” you quip, trying and failing to hide your amused smile as you look over at him.

Frankie throws his head back and laughs freely, opening the car door with a wink.

“Goodnight, my queen,” he bows exaggeratedly before shutting the car door.

The butterflies don’t tamp down until you’re securely inside your own apartment, locking the door behind you.

That night was a month ago, which means it’s been a whole fucking month since your brain flew the coop. Every time Frankie does just about anything with his mouth, everything else around you ceases to exist.

Take last Thursday, for example. Frankie dropped by after work to help you change your porch light, since the fixture is too heavy and the light is too high up to easily reach.

He steps up the ladder with ease, unscrewing the fixture and holding it with his left hand. He puts the screwdriver in his mouth so he can hold onto the ladder as he gingerly hands you the fixture. You grab onto it and hand him the replacement bulb so he can swap them out.

He gets the lightbulb in and gestures towards you to hand the fixture back, which he screws back in before stepping down.

“Blegh,” he wipes his mouth on his sleeve, an action that has your last two brain cells screeching to a halt. “Screwdrivers taste awful.” 

His statement is cute, self-deprecating, and you try to respond appropriately but all you can do is gape at him like a fish out of water.

‘Get your shit together, he’s wiping off the taste of rust, not your pussy,’ you try to mentally shake yourself out of your stupor, but it does no good.

He turns back towards his toolbox to drop the screwdriver in and close the lid.

“All set,” he says, dusting off his jeans. He sounds a little uneasy, probably because you’re acting like a complete weirdo.

“Thank you so much, Frankie. I really appreciate it.” You find your manners and pull him in for a hug, secretly reveling in how good he smells.

“Any time,” he tells you as he wraps his arms around you and squeezes softly.

Before he pulls away you make a spur of the moment decision, and reach up to give him a small kiss on the cheek. He’s so impossibly warm and so inviting, you can feel your heart flutter in your chest. The sparse hairs on his face tickle your chin. 

Frankie clears his throat and ducks his head down, mumbling a hurried goodbye before he heads back to his truck, toolbox in hand. You don’t miss the way his lips are turned up and the crows feet make an appearance in the corner of his eyes, nor do you miss the brilliant flush that spreads over his face and down his neck.

It’s Saturday now and your torment knows no end. You decide you’re too tired to go out and opt to invite the guys over for a movie night, to which they all agree. 

You decide you’ll just have to look away every time Frankie takes a sip of a drink, or eats a handful of popcorn. Or God forbid, if he licks his lips.

The group chat has been a nightmare, with everyone trying to come up with a movie to watch. Benny wants to watch The Expendables, Will mentioned something about wanting to see Dunkirk for ages now and Santi is playing devil’s advocate, disagreeing with all of their choices but not coming up with one of his own.

Frankie has been quiet in the chat, besides initially agreeing to come over initially.

It’s 9:00 PM, you have a 30 rack of beers in the fridge and some popcorn set out for everyone. All you have to do now is wait for the guys to arrive. Your phone chimes with a notification from Benny.

Benny and the Jets 🥊: Sorry lady, I got called in for a last minute practice. Raincheck?

Ironhead 🦸🏼: I gotta duck out too. The lady wants to have a date night. Sorry!

You type out a reply to them, a little disappointed but bidding them a good night all the same.

A knock sounds on the door and you rush over to answer it. The door swings open to reveal Frankie, wearing the softest looking navy blue hoodie you’ve ever seen, along with his Standard Oil cap. He looks as unsure as ever, holding a bottle of red wine.

You chirp an over-enthusiastic greeting, internally cringe at it, and step aside to welcome him in.

“I know you like red wine, so I got some for you on the way here. I hope it’s the kind you like.”

You accept the wine and look at the label. It’s a California Zinfandel. You can’t believe he remembered your favorite wine.

“I love it, thank you so much.” You pull him into a hug, nuzzling into the soft material of his sweatshirt. He returns the hug just as enthusiastically, pulling away to kiss your forehead.

“Is Santiago on his way?” You ask, padding into the kitchen to grab a glass from your cabinet. “Do you want a glass? Or I have some beer if you’d prefer.”

“Beer is perfect, thanks,” he says a little breathily as he looks over at you. “Santiago said something came up and that he’s sorry.”

Something feels a little fishy with the three of them ducking out all at the same time, but you don’t mention it as you hand him a beer and search through your drawer for a bottle opener. A few minutes later, you’re both set up on the couch and are scrolling through Netflix for a movie.

“I have no idea what to watch. Do you?”

“Want to watch Civil War? I know the guys will bitch we’re continuing the rewatch without them but they can deal.”

You tip your head back and laugh, navigating over to your Disney+ app.

Frankie takes off his hat and sets it aside while you spread a blanket over your laps, braving a chance to scoot closer to him. He takes the hint and wraps his arm behind your shoulders, nestling you closer to his chest. You settle in and try to pay attention to the movie, despite the wild fluttering that is taking place in your stomach.

Frankie shifts uncomfortably and winces a little. You can tell he’s trying to hide it, but little does he know you’ve been watching every single movement he makes like a hawk. Or a nervous lap dog.

“Does your back hurt? I can move,” you start to get up but Frankie grabs onto your wrist and pulls you back in.

“No, stay. I just need to find a comfortable position.”

You make a soft noise of surprise when he lifts you up and pulls you towards him, settling back so he’s spread out on the couch. You’re settled on top of him, your legs stretched out over his with your back to the cushion, half draped over his torso.

This position has your heart thumping hard in your chest. His face was just a few inches from yours. All he’d have to do is tilt his face towards yours, and you’d be practically kissing.

Focusing on the movie is harder than ever. Your left hand rests on Frankie’s chest and your right is near his head. Without even thinking, you reach out and start stroking your fingers through his soft curls. He hums contentedly, the pleasant sound rumbling through his chest.

A hand makes its way up your arm leaving goosebumps in its wake, landing on your shoulder.

You brave a glance at Frankie and feel your heart stutter in your chest when you realize he’s been looking at you. His eyes are as dark as ever, twinkling against the flicker of your TV.

He closes the gap and captures your lips in a tender kiss. His lips are warm and soft, melding to yours perfectly. The brush of your mouths together is intoxicating. Your tongue darts out to lick at him and he complies, letting out a guttural moan at the sensation as your tongues meet languidly.

You shift your leg so it slots between his and both of your hands find his shoulders and squeeze them, eliciting a soft mewl from Frankie’s mouth. His hands are hot on your back and he slides one down to your ass, kneading the soft flesh over your leggings.

Your hips press into his, rutting into him, soft pants falling from your mouth– mingling with his. You need to be closer, closer, closer. He tightens his grip on your ass in response and rolls his hips so you can feel how hard he is against your belly.

“Fuck, baby,” he rasps, breaking the kiss, words tumbling out between his ragged breaths. 

You can feel yourself throbbing for him, wetness rushing to your core as his hushed baritone makes your head spin with need. Somewhere in the back of your mind you’re convinced this is a dream. That there’s no way you’re dry humping the man of your dreams on your couch right now.

You duck down to hide your expression, not wanting to ruin the moment with your anxiety and doubt. You’ll take whatever this man gives you, even if it’s just this moment. 

You busy yourself by peppering small kisses on his neck, trailing them up to his jaw.

“Hey,” he slows your movements and holds your chin with his thumb and forefinger, tilting your face up gently up to look at him.

“I want you. I want this. Do you?” 

You feel the urge to look away, his gaze is intense and laser-focused on you. Eye contact has never been your strong suit, so this was a lot for you to handle. But you fight the urge to flinch and stare back, searching to see if there was anything that will give away any trepidations. His expression remains hard set, serious but not unkind. It’s just like Frankie to have eyes as clear as day, giving away all of his secrets. They’re just like him— strong, unrelenting in their hardness and softness.

“Yes,” you reply. Your voice cracks a little, thick with emotion. “I’ve wanted this, wanted you, for so long.” 

You feel embarrassment wash over you with the admission, but Frankie doesn’t let it last long before you crushes his lips to yours in a searing kiss. He breaks it off after a moment, lips swollen and pink.

“Baby, you have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to hear you say that.”

He strokes a hand down your jaw, his thumb caressing your skin as a goofy smile blooms over your face.

“I want to make you feel good, baby,” he whispers, his thumb catching on the swell of your bottom lip. “Will you let me make you feel good?”

You blink and swallow heavily, a fresh wave of arousal flooding to your center as the deep rasp of his voice utters those words, smooth as caramel– dousing over you like kerosene on a fire.

You nod, not trusting your voice at this very moment.

“I need you to say it out loud, honey,” he says, his lips brushing against yours ever so lightly.

“Yes, Francisco,” you breathe out. “Make me feel good.”

He bites your bottom lip and tugs, then growls playfully before he grabs your shoulders and flips you over. You let out a delighted shriek, giggling as he lifts up the hem of your shirt and kisses every inch of skin that’s revealed.

“Wait,” you call out. He stops his movements immediately. “You first.”

Frankie grins. You want to press your fingers into the dimple that appears and feel the scratch of his beard under your nails. He leans back and lifts his sweatshirt over his head, the grey t-shirt he’s wearing sticks to the inside of it and he rolls both garments down his arms. 

His chest is bare to you now, smooth except for a smattering of hairs in the middle of his chest, and a patch leading down into his jeans. You want to reach out and run your hands down the planes of his torso and follow the path of hair,  but your arms aren’t long enough to reach. 

You remove your shirt, leaving you in your leggings and bra. It’s a soft lace number, a delicate pink with no underwire. You watch as his hungry gaze roams over your chest. To your surprise, he doesn’t motion for you to take it off. Instead, he leans over you, pressing a soft kiss to your lips.

 He moves downwards, tongue darting out to taste the salt of your neck. He continues his path and mouths between your breasts, one of his hands reaches out to squeeze the plump flesh in his large hand. You nipple instantly pebbles under his ministrations and he pulls the fabric aside to tease it with the pad of his finger. You moan softly at the sensation and yelp in surprise when he sucks it into his mouth and bites it, soothing the sharp sting with a flick of his tongue.

 “Mmm, love how responsive you are already,” he hums, moving down. Your back arches as his mouth makes a hot trail down the rest of your torso. You look down and notice he’s left wet patches where his mouth has been, coating you in saliva and leaving goosebumps in his wake.

 He reaches the waistband of your leggings and pushes them down, letting out a strangled groan when he gets an eyeful of your panties, the same shade of pink that matches the bra you’re wearing. 

“So fucking sexy,” he breathes.

He peels your panties down your legs and pulls them off along with your leggings, leaving you completely bare from the bottom down. You start to cross your legs to hide yourself, feeling self-conscious at how exposed you are, but Frankie grabs your thigh to halt the movement.

“You better not hide this pretty pussy from me,” he says, licking his lips.

You half expect him to dive in, but he takes a moment to look at you. He’s resting a hand on your hip. His pointer finger makes a path down, tracing an invisible line up and down your slit. You hiss at the ghost of his touch and thrust your hips towards his hand, seeking out more friction.

Frankie lets out an amused chuckle at your reaction and leans forward to plant a wet kiss to your inner thigh. You let out a shaky breath in anticipation– your heart feels like it’s beating out of your chest. He kisses up your thigh until he reaches the apex between your legs, then licks a stripe through your folds with the flat of his tongue, pulling a surprised gasp from your parted lips.

He sucks your clit into his mouth and you can’t help it– you buck up into his mouth and grab onto his hair and tug at the strands. He grabs onto the flesh of your hip and whimpers into your pussy. Despite being almost dizzy with need, you feel a rush of power knowing you have this effect on him.

“You taste so fucking good. So wet for me,” he punctuates his words with bold licks up and down. “Never want to stop.”

He changes patterns, making tight circles on your clit with his tongue. The sudden switch has you mewling and your legs clamp around his head involuntarily. Frankie grabs your thighs and wrenches them apart, hooking them over his shoulders as he latches onto your pussy. His hands are on your ass, holding you up as your back arches off the couch.

All you can do is scramble at the cushions below you for purchase as Frankie buries his face into your cunt, lapping at you with abandon. His tongue licks into you with an intensity you’ve never experienced before; it has you seeing stars.

You have no idea how he knows exactly how to manipulate your body to pull the pleasure from you so naturally. Every lick feels like it’s searching for treasure, every suck hits somewhere deep inside, reverberating through the muscles of your thighs and up in your abdomen.

He gently places you back down to the cushions and rubs at your entrance with his pointer finger, looking up at you for permission.

“Yes, please–“ you whimper brokenly. He complies immediately and plunges it into you, following with a second finger, and curls them up. His pace is slow at first and he flicks his tongue out to play with your clit at the same time. He’s soon spurred on by your moans and sets a brutal pace. You once again feel the urge to clamp around him to increase the pressure, but Frankie uses his broad shoulders to hold your thighs apart.

 Seeing his shoulders, bare and perspiring from his intensive movements, so wide and flushed, coupled with the furrow of his brow, his eyes pinched closed, makes something primal within you awaken. You barely have time to feel your orgasm coming before it’s hitting you– thighs shaking, back arching, hands in his hair. You don’t even realize it, but you;’re shrieking his name, chanting it like a prayer. He’s groaning in reply, milking you through it with his fingers and tongue, lapping up your release, syrupy sweet and indulgent.

 He doesn’t stop until you’re flinching from overstimulation. He kisses up your body lazily, taking his time before capturing your lips. You kiss him back, licking into his mouth and tasting yourself on his tongue. He grinds into you, his jean-clad erection rubs against your aching cunt and rekindles the fire, molten heat shooting through your entire body.

 “Wanna fuck you so bad, baby,” he says, panting the words into your mouth.

 You moan and break the kiss.

 “Want to take this to my room?”

 He doesn’t reply, but instead swings his body off the couch and picks you up bridal-style. He stumbles a little with the first steps and you both laugh, kissing each other with each step he takes towards your bedroom.

He tosses you onto the bed softly and you let loose another delighted giggle when Frankie flops over you dramatically, caging you in his arms. Your tongues tangle together in an impossibly sensual kiss. He’s momentarily distracted, caught up in the feel of your body underneath his with the soft touches of your tongue, and you take the opportunity to roll him over and straddle his hips.

Frankie is looking up at you as if he’s in awe, like he can’t believe you’re here right now, naked from the waist down and grinding down on his hard cock, tenting his jeans.

You move down his body and zip his fly down, pushing down the denim along with his boxer briefs. His cock springs free, hard and hot and leaking at the tip. You can’t help but lick the bead of precum, and a broken whine rips from Frankie’s throat. His hands are clenched into the sheets, knuckles white with how hard he’s gripping the mattress beneath him.

You’re bobbing your mouth up and down his length, tongue licking around his shaft and cheeks hollowing out. His moans are loud, constant. He’s babbling praise, telling you how fucking amazing your mouth feels, how badly he wants to fuck you. It’s a heady feeling, bringing a strong and quiet man to his knees like this. You love that he’s letting you know how much he’s breaking for you.

Your tongue finds its way down to his balls and you suck them into your mouth, moaning at the musky taste. His moans are high pitched now and his hand is squeezing your shoulder.

“Baby, you gotta stop,” he grabs onto your hair to pause your movements. “I need to feel you.”

You give him one last broad lick up his shaft and shift back up, and look down at Frankie to catalogue the number you’ve done on him. He’s absolutely wrecked– brown eyes blown wide, chest rising and falling rapidly with his uneven breaths.

 You remove your bra, stretching it over your head and throwing it to the side. Frankie follows the movement and lets out a needy, staccato moan at the sight of you, completely bare before him.

 You reach down and kiss him soundly on the mouth, lining his cock up with your entrance.

 “I’ve got you, baby boy,” you coo, sinking down on his length.

 “Fuck,” he grits out between his teeth.

 You give yourself a moment to get used to his size and rock into him. His hands fly up to your chest, squeezing lightly and rolling your nipples in between his fingers.

 “So fucking big,” you pant out. “So good for me.”

 It seems Frankie loves praise as much as you do, evidenced by the twitch of his cock inside you.

 Your pace is agonizingly slow. You’re trying to tease out the moment, stretch it out so it lasts forever. It doesn’t last long– you can’t stand it anymore. You bounce up and down on him, snapping your hips when they meet his.

 “So fucking perfect,” he pants out. “Wanna fuck you from behind.”

 You breathe out a moan and stop your movements. Frankie mistakes your pause for hesitation and reaches up to brush the hair out of your face.

 “We don’t have to,” he says, voice gentle, brow furrowed in concern. 

 “No, fuck. No, Frankie. I want to.”

 You gingerly get up and whimper at the loss when he’s no longer inside you. Frankie sits up, shoulders rocking forward and cock bobbing with his movement as he settles onto his knees. You watch him and bite your lip, getting on all fours and lifting your ass up in the air to present yourself to him.

 Frankie can’t help the groan that falls from his lips and sinks forward to lay an open-mouthed kiss on your pussy from behind before he lines himself up. He enters you without hesitation, hips slapping against your ass rhythmically, setting a decisively fast pace. 

 All you can hear is the filthy sounds of your wet pussy as he pounds into you, along with your strangled moans, and his heavy breathing, laced with whispers of praise you can’t discern. The waves of pleasure are too much, too strong. You can feel the familiar build up of an orgasm. Your head is in the clouds as it climbs and climbs– then crashes.

 His fingers on your clit is what does you in. Your whole body shakes and all you can do is whimper and moan around his cock while he fucks into you. The strong, practiced rock of his hips become sloppy as he chases his release, muttering words of adoration into the air as he pulls out and cums, spilling onto your back. He pulls every last drop out of his cock before collapsing over you, forehead resting on your spine as he catches his breath.

 “Fuck, baby,” he says, once he’s caught his breath. “Should have done this ages ago.”

 You both laugh and Frankie gets up to grab a wet face towel from the bathroom

A little while later, you’re both in bed, blissed out and wrapped up around each other. The movie, drinks and snacks are all forgotten. All that matters is here and now– your breaths mingling together as you kiss each other lazily, tongues probing slowly. 

In the other room, both of your phones ping on the coffee table with unheard notifications.

The first text is from Santiago.The other boys follow suit, not a minute apart.

Pope 🤦🏻‍♂️: 👑

Benny and the Jets 🥊: 👑

Ironhead 🦸🏼: 👑

Neither of you see the texts until the next morning.

 The following weekend, it’s Santiago’s turn to be the designated driver. He’s parked outside of Frankie’s house, waiting to pick both of your asses up. He starts to tap his fingers impatiently against the steering wheel after the first 15 minutes. 

“What the fuck are they doing in there?” He asks Will and Benny. They all know the answer, but don’t say anything.

Meanwhile, Frankie has you crowded against the front door, your sundress is hiked up and his face is buried in your pussy. Neither of you can hear the sound of Santi’s impatient honking over your moans.

And if you end up going to the bar sans panties because you can’t find them before Santiago is pounding his fist on the door, well that’s just a secret you and Frankie will have to keep.

Taglist: @tenderclio @softdin @darnitdraco @freeshavocadoooo @recklessworry @wyn-dixie @manalg14 @codenamewife @comphersjost @princessxkenobi @manalg14 @comphersjost @a-skov @sheresh0y @greeneyedblondie44 @blackmarketmummy @brandyllyn @gracie7209 @bootyliciousbilbo @dobbyjen

[mochegato]

Even the Losers

Chapter 9

Chapter 1     Chapter 8

Marinette stopped a few feet from the corner of the restaurant at which M. Wayne had made their reservation in order to collect herself. She checked her reflection in the restaurant’s darkened windows to make sure nothing had changed in the past few minutes. It wasn’t that she wanted to impress M. Wayne, but she didn’t want to make him think less of her either.  She wanted to be perfect for him and yeah, maybe, she wanted to impress him, make him want to stay… this time.

She brushed her bangs out of her face a little rougher than she intended to, trying to force those thoughts out of her head and punish herself for thinking them in the first place.  This wasn’t about making him like her.  She lived this long without him.  She didn’t need him.  She’d be just fine without him.  She had been so far.  It didn’t matter if he didn’t love her.  It didn’t matter if he didn’t like her.  It didn’t mean she was unloveable.  

She watched as her reflection deflated.  It just meant that one of the two people who were biologically programmed to love her no matter what, didn’t.  That he fought through biology to brush her off. She shook her head and stood straight up again.  But! But, that didn’t make her unloveable.  Jagged did the same to Luka and Juleka and they were two of the most amazing people she knew.  They weren’t unloveable, and neither was she. They repaired their relationship and so could she.

This was about adding to her family, not filling a hole in her life.  There was no Bruce Wayne shaped hole in her life.  His opinion of her didn’t matter.  His opinion of her didn’t change who she was.  She was going to be who she was around him and if he didn’t like it, she lost nothing.  She would still have an amazing family.  She would still have amazing friends.  She would still be loved.

This was about him fitting into her life.  Not the other way around.  This was about her deciding if there was a place for him.  If she wanted him there, to give him a chance or not.  This was about getting answers so she could make those decisions.  She took a breath.  This was about giving him a chance to speak and for her to listen to what he said.

She nodded to her reflection resolutely and pushed through the doors to the restaurant’s waiting area.  Her eyes widened incrementally seeing the lobby. It screamed luxury and exclusivity. Only certain people were allowed here and Marinette was confident if she hadn’t been meeting Bruce Wayne, she wouldn’t be considered one of those people.  The maître d’ eyed her with a sneer that looked so at home on his face it must have been his normal expression.

She gave him a nervous smile.  “I’m here for a reservation under the name Wayne.”  The maître d’ looked her up and down and gave a curt nod.  He walked toward the doors to the dining room without saying anything to her.

Marinette smoothed down her hair one last time as the maître d’ led her through the doors to the dining area.  She clutched her purse so tightly her knuckles were turning white.  She really hoped Tikki had found a different spot to hide in, because otherwise it had to be incredibly uncomfortable for her. Marinette was focusing all of her tension into her hand and forcing the rest of her body to relax so she wouldn’t appear as terrified as she actually was.  Now if she could just get her heart to start beating in a regular rhythm, she’d be all set.

She gave a nervous smile to Bruce as he stood to greet her and struggled to remember any part of the pep talk she had just given herself a few minutes ago. Because as soon as she saw his relieved and excited face, she started forgetting.  It was not about wanting to see that expression on his face and knowing she was the cause.  This was about her.  She should not be filled with anxiety about making him lose that expression and wanting to walk away.  He was proving himself, she wasn’t proving herself.

“Marinette!”  He gave her a warm smile and held his hand out to shake hers while she went in for a cheek kiss greeting at the same time.  He chuckled awkwardly and quickly shifted his hand to her arm as he kissed her cheek as well.  He nodded to the maître d’ and pulled her chair out for her.  As soon as they were alone, he sat down anxiously.  “Thank you again for agreeing to meet me.  You look nice.”

Marinette smiled and nodded to him.  “So do you.  And thank you for agreeing at such short notice.”

He chuckled nervously.  His eyes darted between her, his glass of wine, the menu, really anything as he searched for his next words.  It shouldn’t be this hard.  He spoke to boardrooms of hostile and dangerous businesspeople.  Speaking to his daughter shouldn’t be harder.  She wasn’t going to destroy a city.  She wasn’t going to undermine entire groups of people just so she could make a few more dollars.  She wasn’t dangerous… well, not to anyone but him.  With him, she had the power to destroy his heart with just one word.

“I ordered a merlot if you would like some.  If not, I can call someone in…”

He started to get up to call someone over, but Marinette lunged at him to get him to sit down and not draw attention to them, knocking over his glass of merlot. Marinette’s eyes widened in horror. “Oh no, no, no, no,” she whimpered helplessly.  She grabbed a few napkins to clean it up.  Why?  Why did her clumsiness have to act up now?  In front of M. Wayne.  Why did she have to be such a klutz?  She could feel the tears stinging her eyes as they tried to escape.

“Marinette,” Bruce cooed gently.  He gently gripped her wrists and pulled them away from the table.  “Marinette, it’s okay.  It happens.  You should see a normal dinner at the manor.  If there isn’t at least one spill or something isn’t broken, we start thinking someone is sick.”  She finally looked up at him apprehensively and he could feel the breath leaving his chest. His eyes softened and he tried to give her an encouraging smile.  “It’s fine. We can just move to another table and I’ll leave a big tip.”

Her eyes widened even larger and she looked around.  “We can’t just…”  She stopped when she noticed the empty restaurant.  It was prime dinnertime, or at least it was in France.  Maybe a bit early, but not uncommon.  But this restaurant was completely empty.  Not even families with kids.  And there was no way M. Wayne would choose a restaurant that nobody liked.  “Do Gothamites eat dinner really early?  Or really late?” she whispered, not wanting to break the silence that engulfed them.

“Hmm?” Bruce hummed in confusion.

“There aren’t any… It just isn’t as crowded as I would expect,” she explained. “Not that that doesn’t work in my favor in this case.”

“Oh,” he nodded his head in realization and gave her a soft smile. “No, not as crowded as the place usually is.  I rented it out.”

“You rented out the entire restaurant?” she whispered incredulously. “At the last minute?”

Bruce’s smile widened at the astonished look on her face.  “I didn’t want people gawking at us all night or taking pictures and the manor is rather hectic.”  He grimaced slightly at the thought.  “Not to mention, we’d have just as many gawkers there.  And I wanted this first meeting to be just between us.  So I made sure we had some privacy.”

Marinette shook her head.  “Right. Forgot.  Rich.”

Bruce chuckled too.  “Yeah, I forget sometimes too.”  He sat at a table next to the one they had been sitting at.

Marinette scoffed lightly and joined him at the new table.  “I doubt that.”  She slapped her hand over her mouth, her eyes going wide as she stared at him. “Sorry.  I’m sorry.  That was… so rude,” she stuttered.  She dropped her eyes quickly.  She mentally berated herself for sabotaging this so efficiently.  She doubted she could do it more effectively if she were trying.

Bruce shook his head.  “No, not at all.  You’re not wrong.  And a lot more polite about it than Jason would have been.  Or Stephanie.”

Marinette looked back up at him through her bangs.  “Oh… um… okay.”

Bruce squeezed his eyes shut behind his menu.  He was screwing this up so badly.  Instead of making her feel more comfortable, he was making her increasingly nervous and doubtful.  He pursed his lips as he searched for anything to talk about to lighten the mood. “I hope you like it here.  The food is really good.”  He had to stop himself from physically slapping himself for that terrible non-sequitur.  His entire job was to say things in an engaging, elegant way.  It was a skill he’d started honing decades ago.  Where was that training now?

Marinette opened her menu as well with an anxious smile.  “Great.  I’m starving.”

“Hi Starving, I’m your father.”

Marinette blinked a few times at him, trying to catch his eye but he was staring blankly at his menu.  “Did you just…”

“I admit to nothing,” he answered flatly, still staring at his menu.  

Marinette continued to stare for a few seconds before breaking down into giggles, the tension that had been building since she entered the restaurant breaking with his joke.  “I… I can’t… believe you sai… said that,” she gasped out between laughs.

He watched her with an amused glint in his eyes and a relieved smile.  “Do not tell your siblings.  Dick will pout for a week that he wasn’t here to hear it.”

Marinette let her giggles die down and nodded.  She looked up at him with a much more relaxed smile.  “Not known for your sense of humor?”

“No, definitely not,” Bruce shook his head with a grin.  He set down his menu to focus on Marinette.  “Jason used to tease me mercilessly about it.”

Marinette quirked her head to the side, an amused smile pulling at the corners of her mouth.  “And was Jason a comedian or he just liked to tease you?”

“A little of both.  Dick is more of our comedian.  He’s usually the first to make a joke… to lighten the mood.  Stephanie will make a fool out of herself to get you to smile, or herself.  She likes being over the top.  But Jason, when he was a kid, was excited about everything.  Everything in life was new and exciting.  He was constantly smiling and bouncing from thing to thing. So optimistic.”  Bruce’s eyes unfocused as he remembered the first year after Jason came to the manor.

Marinette furrowed her brow in doubt.  Not a single one of those words were ones she would use to describe Jason from the time she’d spent with him.  Maybe her translation of the words was wrong?  “Jason?  Jason Todd. Your son Jason.”

Bruce chuckled wryly.  “Yes, that Jason. “  A pained expression flashed across his face morphing into a sad frown he didn’t even try to hide.  “A lot changed over the years.  Some… things happened about eight years ago.  It changed all of us.”

Marinette let out a dry laugh as images of Hawaiian shirts and rock giants flashed through her head.  She turned back to her menu to avoid his eyes.  “I can understand that.”

Bruce furrowed his brow, a guilty frown settling on his lips for a few seconds before he plastered on a smile.  “Now he’s more likely to make a sarcastic remark than a joke.  But, he’s fiercely protective of his family, maybe more than any of the rest of us.”

Marinette thought back over their interactions and slowly started nodding. “He seems like it.”  She paused when the waitress came in to take their orders. She smiled politely while the waitress was in the room, acting the part of a dutiful, happy daughter rather than a temperamental stranger who took her frustrations and insecurities out on him without letting him explain.  And that’s what this was about, letting him explain.  But before he could do that, she needed to make sure he knew she wasn’t mad. Well… that she wasn’t going to attack him anyway.

As soon as the waitress left, her shield was gone.  She could no longer hide behind the façade.  Now she had to face him.  She looked down and squeezed her eyes shut.  She took a beat before she looked back up at Bruce.  “I wanted to say sorry for how I behaved when you came to my hotel room.  I wasn’t being fair to you.  I only found out about you a few days ago and then the world found out and then you were at my door.  It was a lot all at once and I did not handle it well, so I’m sorry.”  

Even with half her face hidden from looking down as she spoke, Bruce could see the shame radiating from her expression.  When she finally looked up to make eye contact he had to force himself not to gasp at the guilt and pain in her eyes.  His heart clenched at the sight.  He hated seeing her look like that. He’d do anything to keep that look off her face.  That was his job.  That was the entire point of what he’d done.  But he failed.  He might have failed at it so far, but he was going to make up for it now… if she would let him.

His hand shot out almost too quickly to see and gently squeezed hers, hoping that at least that level of intimacy was allowed.  “No, I invaded your space.  I forced a confrontation before you were ready.  I knew I shouldn’t do that.  Sabine… your mother warned me not to do that and I did it anyway.  I’m sorry for that.  I didn’t… I didn’t want to lose my chance to…”  He looked down at the table and frowned trying to get his words in order.  

“I didn’t want you to leave before I could talk to you, to try to connect and explain.”  He looked at her almost desperately.  “You were here, right here.  So close. I couldn’t let you slip through my fingers again, not when I knew you knew.  Not when I didn’t have to keep it a secret anymore.”  He frowned and looked down at his glass, pulling his hand back into his lap.  He suddenly chuckled wryly.  “If there was ever a good reason to begin with.”

Marinette sucked in a breath not ready for this conversation yet.  She thought they’d ease into it.  Get comfortable, then get into it.  But apparently M. Wayne’s approach was to rip the Band-Aid off. Dealing with uncomfortable situations was definitely not an inherited trait because her method of avoiding any uncomfortable conversations in increasingly unlikely and embarrassing manors until the entire thing festered into a debilitating, unnecessarily explosive fiasco, was not a technique she picked up from her maman either.

Bruce looked back up at her with a determined look.  “Marinette, you had a right to react.  You had… have a right to be upset or hurt or both.  I deserved it.  Believe me, I understand that.  I’ve gotten worse from your siblings for less.  Don’t feel like you have to apologize to me.  However you react, I can take it and I’m not going to walk away again.  But I am hoping that you being here means you want to move forward, you want to try.”  He looked up at her questioningly, an edge of fear in his eyes.  “Do you?”

Marinette let out the breath she’d taken in.  She looked down and pushed a strand of hair that was still in place behind her ear, letting her fingers linger so she had something else to focus on for a moment.  When she looked back up, there was a more determined look in her eyes.  “Yes.  I… I want to listen.  I want to understand.”

Bruce nodded with a grateful smile.  “Thank you.  I know this is a lot and it hasn’t been fair to you and I’m sorry for… everything.”  

Marinette nodded.  “Thank you.” They both sat and looked in the vicinity of each other uneasily, both waiting for the other to say something first. Marinette tapped her fingers together while she waited for him to continue speaking, to give the explanation he’d promised.

Bruce was waiting for… he wasn’t sure.  Inspiration maybe.  He’d thought through what he wanted to say.  He’d gone over it all, but somehow seeing her in front of him, looking in her eyes and seeing her vulnerability laid bare, none of his excuses seemed like enough.  None of them seemed valid, but then again, they never were.

After a few minutes of silence, he finally spoke up.  “When you were born, I was younger than you are now and I didn’t think I’d be able to be a good father.”  He frowned at the table.  “And in my head it was better for you to not be with me at all.  I thought I’d bring you down.  But your mother…” he gave her a wan smile, “she was always strong and good. I knew she would be an amazing mother… without my interference.  I thought you had a better chance away from me and Gotham and in my idiot mind that meant cutting off all contact.”

“But you took in other kids,” she pointed out timidly.

Bruce nodded and flicked his eyes up to hers before looking back down in guilt. “I didn’t intend to.  I came across Dick about awhile after your mother took you to France.  He lost his parents.  They died, were killed in front of his eyes, like mine had been.  He was angry and violent.  He needed someone and I thought I could help.  I might not be a good parent, but I could help him… keep him from becoming… me.”

Marinette’s brow furrowed sympathetically.  “Would that be bad?”

Bruce cringed slightly, remembering how he was at the time.  “Yes, it would have.  Anger and desperation?  They can do bad things to a person.”  He looked at her pointedly.  “Makes you make terrible decisions.”

Marinette nodded in understanding.  She understood how far desperation could drive a person.  She understood how dark some people could go. She understood how bad things could get if they continued unchecked.  She’d fought those people.  She’d helped defeat one of them.  And no matter how bad the battle was, it was always harder handling them after they were defeated, when all they had was their grief.

“Jason… he came a few years later.  He was alone and on the streets.  He was tough and smart and so excited about life, but he was never going to get the opportunity to do anything on the streets.”

“And you wanted to help him too,” Marinette finished his unfinished thought.

“Yeah. He needed someone to let him be a kid, let him be passionate, to love him like a parent should.  And I couldn’t leave him there.  And Tim… he kind of snuck in and declared himself family.  He wasn’t wrong.  He is.  He came along after Jason… was gone.  He filled a void I didn’t even know I had until he stepped in.  And I hope I’ve done the same for him.  He didn’t have the best childhood either.  And now… I can’t imagine the family without him.”

Marinette gave him a small smile.  “Sounds like he adopted you.”

Bruce nodded absently, his eyes taking on a far-off focus as he remembered the past. “Sometimes children are smarter than their parent.  In the case of my kids,” he looked up at her meaningfully, “all of them, it’s true.

“They didn’t have a better choice… you did.  And in my idiotic self-destructive mind, I was helping you.  I was convinced for more than a decade that the best thing I’d done in my life, the most selfless, was walk away from you, not force you to have to suffer with dealing with me.  But I was just afraid and selfish.  I made a stupid choice.  By the time I realized how monumentally I’d screwed up, Jason was gone and by the time I got my head back on right, Damian was here and Damian needed all my attention.”

“You didn’t have Damian since he was a baby?”

Bruce shook his head.  “No.  I didn’t even know about him until he was ten. Then his mother just dropped him off with me.  His childhood…” Bruce let out a long breath.  “His grandfather taught him since birth that he needed to earn love, or as close as he’s capable to love.  Damian’s mother told him he was better than everyone else… so you can imagine the kinds of issues we had for quite a while.”

He gave a proud smile.  “He’s made such a big change since he came.  He’s grown so much.”

“You sound proud,” she observed poignantly.

Bruce’s smile turned bittersweet.  “I’m proud of all of my kids.  You’re all amazing people.  I don’t know how I ended up with so many amazing kids.”

She smiled and hoped it didn’t come off as awkward as it felt.  “So what about Duke?  And I think Jason mentioned sisters.”

Bruce nodded.  “Cass is the only one I adopted.  Stephanie is just around enough that she’s essentially a child.  Same with Barbara.  I ran into Cass while I was travelling.  Her parents were mentally and physically abusive to the point that she didn’t speak until she was a teenager.”  Marinette gasped.  “She’s a lot better.  She communicates with us a lot, mostly through sign language.  And Duke… Joker tortured his parents because they saved me once.”

Marinette gasped and grasped his hand, squeezing it.  When he met her eyes she gave him another encouraging squeeze and a warm smile.  “They’ve all come such a long way.  I’m sure a better parent could have done more but somehow we’ve all become a slightly dysfunctional family.  Watching them… It’s amazing to see how far they’ve all come.  They’ve all had to fight so hard, go against so many obstacles.”

“It sounds like you’ve done a lot of work with all of them.  And they’ve grown amazingly with you watching over them. They were incredibly lucky to have you,” Marinette said quietly a strained smile on her face, no longer making eye contact with Bruce.  She took back her hand to take a drink of her wine.

Those were valid reasons.  She could admit that and she didn’t begrudge them the better life being with M. Wayne afforded them, but still…  She fought frowning at her lap.  It all made sense.  Every step made sense.  They needed someone and he could provide, so he did.  From an objective perspective.  It made sense.  Did it make her a bad person if that didn’t make her feel better?  What did it say about her that she was still hurt?  That she still was angry, felt betrayed?  That it wasn’t enough?

Bruce’s face fell as he watched her change in demeanor.  His chest clenched.  “I never stopped thinking about you and how you were doing.  I never stopped loving you.”  He reached out for her hand but let his hand dropped when she didn’t offer it readily.  “I know you don’t feel that way about me, you just met me, but I’ve loved you from the moment you were born.  And I know it’s hard to see and I don’t show it well… at all… but I’ve always tried to make sure you were taken care of, that you never wanted for anything. I’ve kept up on your life to make sure.

“And I need you to know it was never because I didn’t want you.  It was never that I thought my other kids were better than you in any way.  It was never because I didn’t think you were good enough. I didn’t think I was.  I thought you deserved better than I could ever give you, better than you could get in Gotham.  But running away wasn’t the way to do that, and I realize that.”  He was unsure how to interpret the wide eyed look Marinette was giving him, but he plowed on, needing to say it anyway.

“I really did intend to try to connect.  That’s why I went to your final showing.  I showed pictures of your work to someone on the fabric project and said I happened to see you there.”  He chuckled lightly and shook his head.  “I thought I’d have to do a bunch of conniving behind the scenes to get Lucius to use you.  But as it turns out, he’s just as excited to get you on the project as I was.  He mentioned you to me after you spoke with him.”

Marinette smiled.  It was small and self-conscious, but significantly better for Bruce to see than the strained smile she’d had earlier.  “M. Fox is a very nice man.  I liked speaking with him a lot.”  

“And he is quite fond of you.”  Bruce smiled fondly at her but his smile quickly turned conspiratorial.  “I think he likes you better than he likes me, actually.”

Marinette straightened up in her seat.  “I plan on accepting his offer to consult on the project.”  She looked up to make eye contact with Bruce.  Her body tensed slightly in preparation for her next words.  “If… if that’s okay with you.”

Marinette gave a small, uncertain smile when she saw Bruce’s brilliant smile. “Yes!  That’s great to hear.”  His face turned serious.  “What does that mean for… do you want to…”

“I was hoping to take you up on the apartment offer as well… if that’s still an option.”  Marinette looked down again, her anxiety back.  “It will help Max while he settles in and I thought I could use it while I figure out how the project is going to work and what the requirements on my time will be.”  She tapped her fingers together, unable to control her fidgeting.  She looked up nervously.  “I thought it would also give us a chance to see each other more and your other kids.”

“Absolutely.  It is absolutely still available.  If you want your own apartment, I can get a penthouse for you.  Or you’re welcome to stay at the manor,” he rambled excitedly.

“M. Wayne,” Marinette interrupted.  Bruce immediately sobered at her serious expression.  “I don’t need special treatment.  I don’t need you to buy me things.  And I don’t know how long I’ll be in town.  Adrien and I are trying to figure out where we want to set up and I’ll need to start taking commissions again.”

Bruce nodded.  “I understand.  Sorry. I got excited and got carried away. Rich, you know… it’s how we show love.”

Marinette’s face immediately soured as she thought of Adrien’s and Chloe’s childhoods. “That’s not love you’re showing. I’m staying to get to know you and your family, not get things.”

Bruce blinked at her a few times.  “Right. I know that.  I never thought it was,” he assured her awkwardly.  He took a sip of his wine and glanced around the room. He suddenly perked up.  “Speaking of commissions, I was hoping we could finally commission you… if that’s okay!” he added quickly.  “I don’t want to put pressure on you.  I’ve just been waiting to get something made by you for years.”

Marinette blinked a few times and looked down.  Her brow furrowed.  She fought letting out a sigh.  “No, you’re right.  I should.”

“We’ll pay you, of course,” he insisted.

Marinette rolled her eyes.  “I’m not going to charge you to make something for you.”

Bruce shook his head.  “You run a business.  I’m commissioning the business.  I can cover our commission.”

Marinette huffed and narrowed her eyes at him.  “Compromise.  You pay for materials.  Nothing more.”

Bruce narrowed his eyes back at her.  “Materials and time.”

Marinette huffed out a laugh.  “Okay fine.”

Bruce grinned.  “I’m excited to work with you.  I wasn’t kidding.  I’ve wanted to commission you for years.  I’m a fan of your style and art.”

Marinette opened her mouth but closed it quickly when the waitress came back in with their food.  Bruce leaned back so she could set the plates down.  “Speaking of, how would you feel about going to the art museum tomorrow and then maybe get some lunch after?”

Marinette nodded.  “Oh yeah, there was an exhibit that looked interesting.”  She nodded to the waitress and thanked her.  The waitress lingered for just a moment before leaving the room.

“Would 9 work for you? Oh, no wait.” He scrunched his face in annoyance.  “I have a meeting at 10.  It should be done by noon though.”  He looked up and gave her an earnest look.  “I’ll make sure it is done by noon.  How about lunch then art museum?”

Marinette smiled and nodded.  “That sounds good.”

“Great.  I can bring the keys for the new apartment.  Now, I’ve done all the talking.  Tell me more about you.  Tell me about your friends.”  He took a bite giving Marinette his full attention while Marinette talked about her friends and how they had all met and some stories about their time together.  

She started out slowly, building up more confidence as she spoke.  The more she spoke the more comfortable she was with what she wanted to say.  The quicker she was able to filter out what information she didn’t want to share. She wasn’t ready to give him much yet, not enough to do anything with, not more than he could probably get from searching Instagram or Tik Tok, but it was a start.  A start to what exactly, she wasn’t sure.  But it was a start to something.

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