#is always a matter of 'is op doing this because they like this ship or because they felt they /needed/ to?"

[shadesofmauve]

UPDATED! I've added a 24-hour caffeination station. We may beat the reapers yet!

(Also added a read-more, because yikes, me)

As well as the beverage bar, I extended the galley slightly, enlarged the baking station, and added another giant pot. Outside the galley I added plumbed-in coolers (but they look like bottle coolers because it's more recognizable). In fact, even the water for the coffee urns is plumbed in. Why not?

Oh, and the industrial stand mixer is bigger. I've always been a little fascinated with those. Other machines change shape and design as they get bigger, but industrial stand mixers are just your Kitchen Aid enlarged until it can take off your arm. Amazing.

Me: "...aside from the people, the most dangerous thing you could accidentally run into on this war ship is the industrial stand mixer." Housemate: "Or, as krogan call it, 'a stand mixer.'"

And @crapeaucrapeau had questions! (yay, I love questions). YET MORE WORDS under the cut.

#Question : there's a ladder opposite the galley that's supposed to lead to the CIC — yet on the CIC map there is no equivalent.#Is this a ladder oversight on the CIC deck or a labeling mistake on the Crew deck ?

Neither! I decided to add it after I posted the CIC, and I haven't updated that post yet. It does fit; it'll come up behind one of the workstations. I kind of forgot that 'where might ladders go' was one of the things I was wondering back when I started this.

And:

#Also : I assume “head” means “toilets + shower” ?

The "head" is what you call a toilet on a ship. It sometimes gets generalized out to the whole bathroom.

#Question : what do you think is the exact purview of a navigator here - esp. with EDI hanging around ?#How would you define Operations ? Moving the ship about ?

That's always the interesting question — how much does EDI do? It doesn't actually impact the design, because as far as the Alliance knew, she was a VI. But the VI and other computer systems are also probably very capable.

Historically (like age-of-sail historically) the navigator was an incredibly important position. Figuring out where the hell you were was specialized and difficult. It was a position of authority/responsibility, not just position-that-does-the-task. Now I imagine computers/VI/EDI do a lot of the heavy lifting in course plotting, but the responsibility of choosing the route is still a human one, and The Navigator still leads the Navigation department, which includes pilots and scan staff.

Operations is loosely "everything not related to missions" (or under another department). It includes supply logistics (food, gear, raw material for repair, did I mention food?) and the galley staff. I could see an argument for including Life Support, but I put that in Engineering. It might also include medical, but on the Normandy Chakwas would be treated as senior staff whether she was a department head or under Ops, so it doesn't matter.

#Sidenote : I really like the little turian and krogan figures peppered across the deck plans for scale.#Stupendous work as always

Thanks! <3 Had to make sure the krogan fit in the places krogan had to be! And I've been reminded that not everyone is obsessed with floor plans, so having little people helps!

Alliance Normandy SR2 redesign: Deck 3

The crew deck sits in the middle of the ship, where the hull is widest. This is where design for a larger crew really comes into play.

Sleeping and other bodily functions

The main bathrooms are roughly the same shape and location as in-game, but people walking by no longer have a great view of the showers every time the doors open.

Enlisted racks

24 enlisted racks line the corridor to the main battery, housing the bulk of the rank-and-file. Bunks are stacked two high, with uniform lockers to one side and coffin-lockers under the mattress.Footholds in between sets of bunks let you can reach the top without stepping on the one below.

Junior officers' quarters

I assume a spaceship needs more technical expertise and less grunt work, so the crew is weighted towards officers and highly-trained technical specialists. These specialists fill non-command roles and bunk with the junior officers. Joker (flight lieutenant) and Traynor (comms specialist) berth here. So does Kaidan, because at the point he came aboard the guest stateroom was occupied by Khalisah Al-Jilani, and bunking with marines would muddy command waters because he seriously outranks Vega.

Bunks are two-high with coffin lockers just like the enlisted racks, but officers rate four inches more elbow room and two inches more to stretch out their toesies. They also get a bit more privacy, a little more storage, and access to the lounge overlooking the eezo core*.

*I gave them a lounge because in ME3 you occasionally find officers chatting at a table in the middle of the bunk room, and if anyone did that while I was trying to sleep three feet away I'd commit murder.

Senior officers' country

Miranda's old quarters, which Liara claims in ME3, are large enough to house the entire senior staff in staterooms, with one extra for guests and a shared head. Each room has one permanent bunk and one fold-out upper-bunk in case of extra passengers.

In Sunset and Evening Star the first thing Shepard does on the Citadel is sign on a first officer**, old navy hand Lieutenant Commander Nguyen. The first thing Nguyen does is fill the missing weapons and ops roles (she heads the navigation department herself, since it's a small ship).

With Shepard in the admiral's quarters on deck 1, First Officer Nguyen gets what would have been the captain's cabin on the crew deck (except while Primarch Victus and his aide were aboard; when she gave up her quarters to the turians). Mukerjee, the head of ops, gets the slightly-larger-than-standard cabin intended for the XO.

Garrus has the 'extra' stateroom, as their liaison with the turians. He keeps the desk folded for space and sleeps crouched in one corner; the bunk is useless to him.

**Shepard delegated something! It's a Mass Effect miracle!

Vital ship functions

Main battery

The main battery looks exactly the same, except Garrus isn't sleeping in the corner or constantly fiddling with the guns. In fact, he's never fiddling with the guns. He and Silva were spending hours re-calibrating the thanix cannon to their own preferences whenever the other person's back was turned, and Nguyen stepped in and banned Garrus from the armory before it moved from passive aggression to murderous-interspecies-diplomatic-catastrophe.

AI core

Access to the AI core is from the battery corridor, not through the medical bay.

Medical bay

The medbay is divided into a front office, the main med bay, and an area for major surgery or isolation. There's also a small private cabin for the two members of the medic corps who assist Chakwas.

Life support

The life support corridor has another four enlisted racks, bringing the total enlisted berths on the crew deck to thirty. Life support itself is basically unchanged, except for some added Important Keep People Alive machines. Like engineering, life support systems are also spread throughout the ship.

Food & leisure

Mess & galley

The mess seats 32. It's also all-watch meetings are held, and occasionally movie screenings. Crew can grab shelf-stable snacks, cereal, or recent leftovers from self-serve areas outside the galley, or collect the meal currently on offer at the counter.

The galley feeds three shifts three times a day each, and one watch's breakfast comes immediately before the previous watch's dinner. About a week out, stores of fresh produce are gone, so a lot of food is frozen, freeze dried, or reconstituted. There's always something to eat; one of the two big pots is almost always full of soup, if not both Bread is made from scratch (flour keeps indefinitely, bread doesn't), and there's a flat-top as well as a six-burner range. The food storage in the galley and nearby walk-in are only what the cooks expect to need for the next two days or so; food actually makes up most of the Normandy's cargo, stored on deck 4.

Observation lounges

The observation lounges, important for crew morale and sanity on longer missions, are differentiated by volume. Starboard is generally used for quieter conversation, reading, solo gaming, or study. The Port lounge is for parties and games. (There is no free wet bar, this is a military ship).

Normandy redesign posts

Intro

Loft

Command

Crew

Engineering

Hangar

[love-is-a-pearl]

Oh, lmao yeah my bad I forgot to mention there were a lot of ships in there. I sincerely think everybody is paired is someone, but I opt to ignore the romance in favor of storytelling and character dynamics. I'm sitting there going "alright. make things worse. make relationships complicated, write ten different kinds of them and then write how they're mended." It's a study on writing to me but I forgot not everybody sees fics that way lol. Some of the things that stuck with me were the conversations adult characters have with each other, but if that content and (definitely more than one pregnancy) is a squick, that's so fair to avoid it. When I was a kid, I used to read those "spy AU" fics a lot LOL, I think my first Pokemon fic was one and it was a Pearlshipping one too. I'm not much of a shipper to begin with, so I'm very easily convinced by others. Ikari tho...Paul is too mean for that, I don't even know where the "troublesome" nickname came from and why it turned into a term of endearment XD It sure is hard to find fics without the main 4 pairing tho huh? Back to relationships tho, since you're on that anime rewatch, if there's any instance of say...oooh, like that episode with Lance and the Gyarados? Ash tried to use the friendship speech to talk Gyarados down, and Lance had to teach him that doesn't work all the time. I think a list of stuff Ash learns from others could be fun. You already got one with the Snowbelle City badge. I've seen a lot of good Ash fics that respect his personality for what it is, and good adults (like Kukui) coming to understand him. Brock and Misty too, I think this thing fics do when they touch upon their family situations and their personal growth is always fun. Hard to write, but really good. I've got one anime only thing you might like, and its this tribute video, type "Pokemon Bonjour Au Revoir" into youtube :3

No worries! And you're absolutely right about seeing ships as character explorations! I am trying to get out of my comfort zone and try other fics since there are some VERY GOOD ones out there that I don't know about because I insist on staying on the ash/dawn; ash&dawn; dawn/zoey or aro ash tags :v

Is not that I hate Ikari, is more that.. If I'm going to read Ikari then it should be from someone whose OTP is Ikari if that makes sense? Not the "this is a pokeshipping fanfic and I need Dawn to be with someone because of compulsory heteronormativeness" yknow? I think I've said it before but.. if you have no strong attachment for a ship, dont include it in your fics... It feels like following a checklist and it's irritating when characters personalities are twisted to make a ship work instead of idk just using those characters by themselves.

Main ikarishippers actually have very cool ideas from what I've seen in the wild (aka fanart). It just bothers me a LOT when every single living being is paired with someone in fanfics... BEING 👏 SINGLE 👏 IS 👏 NOT 👏 A 👏 SIN!

And yeahhhh QAQ there's always a 90% chance Dawn will end up with Paul in Pokeshipping fics, Kenny in Amourshipping and Chloe in Journeyshipping. And I just... ughhhh please please stop, she can be single i beg you Dawn is not going to steal Ash if you leave her unsupervised I prommy orz

Ohh that's a cool idea! There's indeed lots of instances he learns something that he takes with him for the rest of the anime but is easy to miss. Not to mention the other way around (people learning from him) that some absolutely deserve to be remembered and talked about more (Gary's Electivire using his tail just like Bayleef uses her vines my beloved)

And yeah! Fanfics that explore platonic relationships really need more attention. Is one thing the anime rarely focused on but when it did it was really good (Mallow's relationship with both her father and mother is something small but so special to me. I would love more explorations of that family and how she feels having to take the role of mother so young and how she wanted to just have people around her appreciate how much she sacrificed when doing that)

Ohh, thanks for the rec! That was such a GORGEOUS animatic! Is a very cute homage to the OG series indeed!

Leaving it here for anyone who wanna see it btw

[drippyoil]

your most recent fic has me rolling over this TFA concept where like. OP thinks of himself as very plain and unremarkable (even though we, the audience, have eyes and can clearly see he’s hotter than 90% of cybertron’s population) whereas Meg takes one look at him and is like “you look like a fucking blow-up doll. what the fuck. I’m almost offended the autobots would devise such a blatant attempt to seduce me”

AAA thank you so much for reading and enjoying Megatron's Espionage Kink!! I know it's a theory/hc that relies on either 1) oppy not knowing what a mirror is 2) autobots having diabolical standards of conventional attractiveness, but I love the idea of oppy just. not knowing he's a complete and total bombshell. he's basically identical to any other normal Autobot that rolled off the assembly line, sure even fellow autobots joke about his lips a lot, but they're just fucking around and teasing him surely!

But megatron has Optics and he uses them to fully drink in this visage of pure seduction that would only be written about in the most indulgent filthy smutpads, look at his WAIST?! THOSE LEGS?! HIS PLUSH LIPS MADE FOR ORAL?? and though megatron usually jeers at the bright and clashing colors of autobots, he's got to admit the red and blue and silver (and that sinful yellow on his pelvic plating/helm/etc). (I just looked at a pic of cybertronian oppy again and like HIS HIPS HAVE HANDLES??? I've seen amazing posts about TFA meg assuming he stumbled onto a bang bus when he crashed the autobot ship, cause of how sexy the autobots on board are, and this is exactly what makes it so believable)

But like I was saying I really do love meg assuming oppy Was Made To Distract/Placate Him because how else could a bot perfectly to his tastes be travelling around the galaxy? If he wasn't sent to seduce megatron, this walking talking (and fighting, those sleazy autobots really put effort into making this bot appeal) blowup doll would be in the most elite brothel on cybertron.

And I think "canon" tfa meg is too busy trying to retake cybertron and destroy the autobots to stop his evildoing to play with an Autobot, even if they are the hottest bot he's ever laid eyes upon, but I love to imagine that "what if?" what if meg Did pull out the stops to launch a counter-assault (seduce oppy and fuck him stupid).

(bonus semi-relevant shitpost copy pasted from my tf doc under the cut)

Megatron does NOT want to fuck Optimus Prime. It does not matter that this autobot was clearly designed upon Orion Pax, aka the civilian that Megatron has always found most aesthetically pleasing. However, even Orion was a rather conservatively designed bot. Optimus Prime has a large chest and tiny waist and strong arms and long legs and full kissable lips. All of these are further insults, so clearly designed for interface appeal that Megatron must turn his nose up for the sake of his pride. "Do they all think I have no self control? Is this Autobot some sort of peace offering or an attempt to distract me from retaking Cybertron?"

So yes. On some level, Megatron wants to frag that little autobot until he breaks. Fuck the bolts right off his hips. Turn him into a quivering fluid-drenched pile of loosely assembled truck parts. But he is wise and old enough to know that giving in would be a trap, an elaborate trap designed by Autobots who have finally realized that no tactic is too dirty, even if the prudes have to face the unspeakable horror of acknowledging Interfacing Exists.

Whether this is true or not doesn't matter. The f***toy look could simply be what's "in" for Autobots. Look at Bee and Bulkhead & Sentinel and Elita-1.

Optimus has no idea about Megatron's cute little theory and would strip him down for spare parts starting with his spike if he was ever to voice it to him. It would get Optimus charged up, Megatron admitting he considers Optimus so attractive that it must be an autobot plot, but he can and will ignore that too.

Because Optimus Prime does NOT want to fuck Megatron either. This is just Primus's way of punishing him for harmless private 'facing fantasies half a million years ago. It's a bit overboard as a punishment, however. Optimus wasn't even thinking about that stupid giant ancient evil leader of the Decepticons, just imagining a generic "kind of sweet and romantic in a brusque war frame way" faceless Decepticon soldier above him. Megatron? For all his great manipulation skills and that platinum glossa, the mech couldn't charm the panel off a desperate and overcharged speedster in heat.

There is No romance in the giant servos that almost choked Optimus offline and held him around the waist with ease and wrapped him up in his own grapplers. And those tastes of brutality and being overpowered do NOT excite Optimus even more.

[shadamyheadcanons]

For me, Shadow and Amy's dynamic is basically two different types of touch starved in a person

((If any of the gifs on this post aren’t loading for you on mobile--like they aren’t for me--you can download them or check the sources listed. As for desktop, they play just fine, but they won’t line up next to each other like they do on mobile. Tumblr is a comedy of errors.))

Yes! Absolutely. I’ve seen tons of fans say Shadow is prickly and would respond badly to hugs, but canon says otherwise. This is a bad reaction:

[Sonic 06]

Whenever I feel like being sad, I wonder if Bad-Future-06 Silver has ever been hugged.

This is a bad reaction:

[Sonic Unleashed, gif source.]

And I shouldn’t have to say this, but...yeah. These are very bad reactions:

[Sonic X]

[Sonic Generations]

Yikes. I feel bad for both of them.

But this?

[Sonic Adventure 2, gif source.]

This is Shadow’s only canonical hug in the games, and aside from jumping slightly from being snuck up on, he seems to like it just fine.

Just look at that smile! He’s happy. He finds it endearing.

It was a hug from a complete stranger meant for someone else, but he still drank it in--and, given that he’d effectively just lost Maria, he really did need it. It’s the combination of Amy’s gentleness AND her speech that changed his mind. After all, if someone as sweet as her sees something in the humans, maybe they’re not so bad.

My buddy who runs @shadowxamyweek recently reblogged a post about this hug, and their tags sum it up perfectly:

[ID: A screenshot of tags on a post. The tags read:

#official art #4kids #shadow the hedgehog #amy rose #YEAH 😭 #listen I read nothing that has happened with them in SA2 as shippy - and i ship them #THIS HUG? THR SPEECH ON THE ARK? #those are two lonely kids #those are two left behind kids #those are two kids so desperate for affection #for two vastly different reasons #Amy loves with her whole chest and will never stop doing so- no matter what happens #and Shadow does too- that is key to remember- Shadow loves... so fucking much... that it hurts #you are RIGHT op when you say this is probably the first time someone has been gentle with him in a long long time #he doesn't even run away #in the game- when Amy flees- he takes a step after her- a moment's hesitation- a 'wait' #this kid NEEDED a hug #and i firmly believe part of the reason Shadow listens to Amy in the end is BECAUSE she is the only person who showed him gentleness #softness and kindness and affection #if only for a moment #fjdodhdofjgor THIS is what i mean when i say 'be gentle- be kind' #it MATTERS #it FUCKING MATTERS

End ID]

Shadow doesn’t hate hugs inherently; it’s just that no one hugs him in the first place...

...aside from one person.

Amy’s easily the most affectionate character in the cast. It’s cute at first glance, but there’s a common thread to every instance that puts a damper on it.

She’s always, ALWAYS the initiator.

She puts more into each hug than anyone else does.

She’s always the last to pull away.

The most reciprocated Amy hug I know of in canon is this one:

[IDW Sonic issue #22]

Which is absolutely adorable...but Amy still initiated. Because it’s always her job. Even the characters who like affection don’t need it the way she does...with one exception.

And this tiny detail just killed me. The little, “wait, come back 😟”

It’s the only time I know of when someone has actually stepped after her like this. In a game where everyone left Amy behind, he wanted to follow her. Mister so-called-prickly didn’t want the hug to end.

Because he’s the only one who needs it as much as she does.

He wants to be held as much as she wants to hold someone else, and no one else is warm and sincere enough for it. Compare these instances:

[IDW issue #6]

Sonic thinks Shadow is wrong about something, so he grabs Shadow’s arm to stop him, and Shadow aggressively wrenches it away and leaves.

[Archie Sonic Universe #23]

But when Amy thinks Shadow is wrong about something and grabs his arm to stop him, he gently removes her hand and thinks about what she has to say.

Even when he doesn’t want to be touched, he makes the distinction between “don’t touch me” and “not right now, please.” These are from two different continuities, of course, but I think the point stands. Amy’s special. He’s gentler with her than he is with other people, and that’s consistent across all canons.

Side note: how often does Amy get to feel special like that? I actually really like that Sonic doesn’t place others in a hierarchy of importance, and I wouldn’t change that about him even if I could...

[IDW issue #2]

...but Amy does play favorites. I want her to feel like she’s someone else’s favorite, too. I want her to have someone who puts her first and likes her best. I think Shadow’s more than capable of that. I believe he craves clinginess like hers deep down, even if he hasn’t consciously figured that out yet.

I have an entire tag for these two being affectionate. My favorite is probably this one.

Of course, there may be those who say I’m reading too much into one (1) hug. And you know what? Maybe they’re right! We need a bigger sample size. Sega, make more characters hug Shadow, please. Let Rouge comfort him after he confides in her about something. Have Omega give him an awkward metal embrace because he read on the internet that organic beings like that kind of thing. Make Shadow himself pull Silver into a hug when he’s breaking down crying from the stress of always having to be a hero. Show Tails accidentally grab onto him out of fear when they’re trapped in a lightning storm, and when he gets embarrassed and pulls away, have Shadow hold him for the rest of the storm and admit he’s not fond of bright lights, either.

[Sonic Boom]

That scene where Shadow and Amy rescue Cream and Cheese from Cryptic Castle? That easily could’ve turned into a cute group hug.

[Shadow the Hedgehog (2005)]

And I have seen some absolutely adorable fanart where he holds Cream’s hand while he and Amy lead her through Cryptic Castle to make sure she doesn’t get lost 🥺

Have Knuckles give him an empathetic bro-pat on the shoulder when he finds out Shadow’s the last one of his race, too.

[Archie Sonic Universe #89]

Have Sonic try to hug him, and then when Shadow inevitably pushes him away and says he doesn’t do hugs, have Amy arrive and latch onto Shadow instead while he tries to stutter out an excuse as to why she’s allowed to and Sonic isn’t.

The most affection Shadow has in recent history is stuff like this...

[Sonic Prime season 2 episode 1]

...where Sonic tries to hug him and Shadow immediately pushes him away, knocks him over, and tries to punch him in the face. Kind of says it all. Amy stands out as the only one with a good track record here.

[IDW issue #36]

Especially when you have him look at her like this when someone else is on the receiving end of that affection.

So in the absence of further evidence, I have no choice but to interpret this in the most Shadamy way possible. Your move, Sega.

[13knowge]

Hi. For a long time i thought this was pretty weird (?) but after doing more research i found out that many people shared it and it made me pretty happy, i found a part on the internet pretty funny and i want to have fun too.

I'm not very good at English but i tried my best getting a little help.

So, these are my favorite OP characters and some headcanons i have of them of how they are when they are in love or in a relationship.

CW: SFW / KINK

Kaido

Kaido in love can get pretty scary, he knows he's scary and uses it to make fun of you. He also invades your personal space.

When he is drunk he seeks physical contact, sometimes he doesn't measure his strength and you get to feel a bit of discomfort to his grip.

He doesn't care if his subordinates are present or not when he shows his affection towards you, he likes to show you off.

His way of flirting is to take you on his ship to accompany him to eliminate his enemies, he wants to show you how strong he is and the respect his crew has for him.

In intimacy he likes to use intimidation and point out how small you are and that he could tear you apart if he wanted to.

Rob Lucci

He definitely chases you everywhere, no matter where you go, he will follow your footsteps wherever you decide to go. You will never be out of his vision. It's not that he distrusts you, he trusts you wholeheartedly, it's just that his favorite activity is to always be with you even though he recognizes that you need your "space".

He spies and reports on every person who approaches you to know if they are to be trusted. Regardless of your opinion, that is up to him to decide.

It will be better for everyone's sake that no one dares to even draw a tear from you or else he will commit the most violent and bloody murder. Eventually you will realize that this person has disappeared.

He doesn't show you affection in front of others, for him that's too private, but he also doesn't bother if it's you who shows some kind of affection, in that case, he doesn't ignore you.

When it's just the two of you alone, he never lets go, he's a cat that climbs on top of you to lick your neck.

During sex he has absolute control over your body, he knows perfectly where to touch you and how to make you go crazy. He uses his hybrid form to leave marks like scratches and some bites.

On special occasions he likes to be treated as a pet and to wear a collar to dominate him and follow your orders.

Shanks

He is very attentive and dedicated, he treats you with great delicacy and gentleness. Very gentlemanly.

He will always give you the best of the best, you will never be disappointed. He looks for the best treasures to be your property.

He will make you laugh many times, he is a very funny man, especially when he is drunk.

All the time he is talking about you. Even when he fights with his enemies, before finishing them he presumes that he has to leave quickly because he has to kiss someone.

He recognizes your strength and independence but is secretly terrified of something bad happening to you.

In a drunken state is when he is most sexually active and becomes a complete stranger, he is very wild. He has a fetish for smells and is very aroused by the contact when both are sweaty. In the midst of this activity he likes to talk dirty.

Sir Crocodile

It must be a miracle when he says something nice about you. He is not very affectionate, it is very difficult for him, sometimes it seems that he is not even interested in you.

He is a man of very few words, he has peculiar ways of letting you know he loves you and makes sure they are unique and special.

He does not like you to get involved in his work. He will keep the relationship very private and would expect you to do the same.

He is very jealous, as soon as someone wants to flirt with you, Crocodile squeezes your waist with his hook.

He doesn't like to murder people when you are present, he thinks it's something you shouldn't witness.

Although he thinks Buggy is an idiot, he is one of the few people next to Mihawk that he feels safe for you to be with.

When it comes to sex he is rough and gentle at the same time. He makes sure you feel comfortable. After that he feels more open to express his feelings and tell you how much he loves you.

I had a lot of fun writing this hahahahaha, hope you like it <3

[sgiandubh]

Idk about anyone else but it’s interesting to me that a con for Outlander is doing the same thing that Creation Entertainment does with the two leads of Supernatural, Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles. Any other cast member that attends the con as a guest with them has more reasonable prices for photo ops and Q&As and such, but it’s half my mortgage for one (1) person to meet Jared or Jensen?? (Keyword OR, as you have to pay twice to see them both if they’re not together {called the J2 Panel} and my mortgage is ~$2300) yikes. I’ve always suspected these convention companies are just capitalizing on the respective actor’s name, no matter how niche said actor is. I love Jared and Jensen as much as I love Sam, I still keep up with them despite my torrential time in the SPN fandom, but once again I’m grateful I prefer to admire these wonderful talented men from afar because my bank account would be yelling at me otherwise 😅😅

Dear @samsheughan,

Unlike you, this is the first (and certainly last, thanks) fandom experience for me. Paying 25 francs (5 USD) circa 1996 for a laminated, fake FBI agent ID with my photo and name, on behalf of the French X-Files fan club does not count, ahem. Suffice to say this folly just made my entourage laugh like drains (I was a sophomore, back then, mind you) and call me Agent Sgian-dubh for about a year and a half, or so. Embarrassing doesn't even start to describe the reality of it. Especially when you are 18, you think you are Simone de Beauvoir - at a bare minimum-, as you smoke your cigarette and sip your allongé while desperately trying to look intelligent, outside Le Café de Flore.

How we were happy, back then, and in what uncomplicated world we used to live, though! Without any fan events and forced to go to the nearest Internet cafe for the slightest Altavista research, that naive fanzine I received every month by snail mail quickly grew old, as my patience for the 'Agent Sgian-dubh' gleeful quip. Interestingly enough, I still must have that fake ID, somewhere. Last time I saw it, in one of my old wallets, my mother looked mildly interested ('and what the fuck is this, excuse me? an X-Files fan club ID? oh...'), but that entire experience was definitely underwhelming. Even if I secretly did ship Mulder & Scully, without having any idea that was a thing. Too ashamed to admit to it, for all of the above mentioned reasons.

Alas, today is just another planet, where cheap thrills and a pat on the back do cost half a mortgage. As a Romanian saying would have it, 'the stupid one is not the one who's asking, the stupid is the one who's paying'. In S's case, I think the mommies were and will be his demise, if he doesn't quickly get the gist of it and branches out, somehow. I mean, come on, with all due respect and all that #silly interest, this is JAMMF we're talking about, not Lang Lang, tickets to whose concerts don't cost one kidney and a half!

I don't even find it funny, mind you. I find it sad, perhaps because I am thinking about the day this entire circus will be over and done with and completely forgotten. But until then, let's sing and be merry: with one more season to air, the #shitshow is still alive and kicking and the fat lady is nowhere near.

[cokou]

Could you write about OP men realizing they’ve fallen in love with you? I was thinking Ace, Law, and Zoro 👀

—OP MEN REALIZING THEY HAVE FALLEN FOR YOU <3

༄ ғᴀɴᴅᴏᴍ ➢ One Piece ༄ ғᴇᴀᴛᴜʀɪɴɢ ➢ Ace x Reader; Law x Reader; Zoro x Reader ༄ ʀᴀᴛɪɴɢ ➢ SFW // Fluff ༄ ᴄᴏɴᴛᴇɴᴛ ᴅɪsᴄʟᴀɪᴍᴇʀ ➢ Two idiots inlove, nothing much <3 ༄ ᴡᴏʀᴅ ᴄᴏᴜɴᴛ ➢ 1495 Words, 8125 Characters ༄ ᴀ|ɴ ➢ You ask, you get! Enjoy <33 // Do not transfer my works to any other platforms // this is my only account, will not be cross posted to any other sites or apps! <3

ᴀᴄᴇ (566 words, 3,072 characters)

—You joined the whitebeard pirates not too long ago, and with them, you finally found the happiness you once sought for.

You had been working under the 2nd Divisions commander, Portgas D. Ace. You two were awfully close to each other unlike anybody else. You recalled that almost everyday you would crack jokes to each other and laugh like wild hyena's instead of actually doing the work you were told to.

Either way, work couldn't even separated you two's bond with each other, it either ends with the two of you working together or else one would cause more trouble to the crew, which doesn't make sense, at all.

"I can't comprehend with your dumbasses anymore! Get outta here and do your work before we decide to officially throw you two off the ship!" —Thatch kicked your asses off into an Island and left you two there, you two were standing and was particularly looking at each other confused.

"WHAT was that about?!" You asked Ace with a dumbfounded look.

"HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW?!" Ace looked at you with a more dumbfounded look.

(You two just stormed off trying to figure out what to do.)

It's been hours since you've been kicked onto this Island with Ace, and you two haven't made any progress at all! It's turning night time soon and yet, you still haven't understood a word coming out of Ace's mouth.

"WHAT?!" You screeched at him, "I DID not understand anything!" At this point you felt like giving up with him by your side.

"I SAID, get the logs, we need them to make fire! OR freeze to death!" He was scratching this temple, clearly giving out with your screeches. (bro you're the flame user idk make fire?)

Eventually you two figured out what to do and settled down to make a little sleeping ground, and burned things.

"PUT IT OUT!" You screamed as the weeds get caught on fire, obviously he did eventually put it out and you two settled down near the fire.

"Did we even do anything other than be asses the whole day?" ...Great question, you two did nothing. It's finally night time and you promised that by tomorrow you will be having a huge amount of progress. You only hoped he'd be more serious then.

The silence was ringing and you were staring empty at the fire, and eventually Ace was looking at you, he didn't realize it at all until you asked him if he was okay.

"You okay?" You're shooting me glances like I did something unforgettable" For a second you catched a glimpse of him blushing, and it immediately faded.

"It's just quite cold?" . "You're literally made of fire."

Dumb excuse, and you eventually got bored and drifted to sleep on his shoulder.

—Maybe then, that was how he realized that all the feelings he was experiencing when he saw you, was that he was falling for you. He always believed that he was just a little unusual, but now he realized that he had love you, he doesn't regret it, and he never will. Maybe one day he'd tell you how much he loves you. But for now, he just hopes that this feeling stays with him. He really just wants to be you, it doesn't matter what dumb excuses he makes, just as long as he gets to be with you, alone.

ʟᴀᴡ (510 words, 2,778 characters)

—You may or may not have been close to him because of work..(you did) You had started working into the library with Law that day, that's how you two got close, but unlike him, you actually knew your limits and when you needed to step out of business.

You usually end up telling him that he needs to stop overworking himself and pay some attention on his own mental health, but repeatedly he only responses in cold 'no's'.

"Hey, I'm leaving work early today." Everyday you update him on literally everything that you think will happen to you that day.

In response, he only gave you a nod and didn't even pay attention to what you were saying, his eyes were glued onto the paper work he had obviously been working on. The thing about him that ticks you most of the time is he was dead serious with all the work and doesn't lay any mistakes at all.

You sat a few tables away from him and laid your eyes on your table, it's full of tons of papers, again...Unexpectedly, a while ago you had entered quite late, which made you pretty near on break time.

The silence lingering across the library is making you feel nervous, it's cold and it doesn't fit your type of temperature, so you decided to move place and sat next to the table Law was working on, and you finally got his glance on you.

"Hi, uhm, moving cause it's too cold"

.

"Whatever makes you do your work." His voice added more anxious depth into the cold library. You couldn't take it anymore so you just decided to try and strike a conversation with him.

"soo, what are you planning to do on break?" There was a hint of awkwardness in your voice.

"work" He answered nonchalantly just after you finished asking.

"I mean you should totally like, rest, right?" It's either you think this guy is a magical creature for taking in too much work or he's just severely workaholic.

He ignored your words, staring blankly into the paper, he isn't even reading it, his eyes are particularly drilling holes into it. "No." He continued writing things down.

"Why not? You should just maybe take some time off, with me?" You poured all your nervousness on that 'with me' on your sentence. "..Maybe next time." Your nervousness finally fading as he replied, which made you feel better other than hearing a simple 'no' from him.

"Okay! You promised that!" You rushed towards the exit ready to go on with your break time.

—Law caught himself smiling at the thought of you exiting the room happily and being worried for him. He just doesn't realize that he is happy because he'd be able to have more time with you. His mind forces him, but he simply pushes it away. He doesn't even realize that he loves you. And he probably will resist the feelings until he can't bare it anymore, but for now, he's happy that you're with him, even if it's tables apart.

ᴢᴏʀᴏ (419 Words, 2,275 Characters)

—It all started when you two were children. Zoro kept telling you that he'll beat Kuina and be the worlds strongest swordsman. It had been his dream since then, and you support him even then. You'd watch him do all kinds of training just to be strong, but he just ends up too tired.

"Just watch! I'll be the strongest swordsman ever!"

Practically, You and Zoro had been close friends for about a decade now. You made new friends along the way and had been introduced into the Straw hat Pirates with Zoro. He still had his dream and doesn't look like he'll give up anytime soon.

Just now, you and the whole crew had headed into an Island you discovered, it was a small town filled with houses and buildings. Any how, an hour into talking to Zoro of what benefits you could have from such a small town, you lost track of time and eventually, your steps.

"This is your fault for not paying attention!!" you were yelling at him from the top of your lungs.

"How is it my fault?! You were the one who wouldn't shut up!" You were balling each other with crazy words and eventually stopped when you realized you won't go anywhere with all these fightings.

"How did we manage to get even more lost?!" You asked him looking defeated when you realize you had been circling around the town. In the end, you two ended up asking a local for directions and finally settled onto the deck the ship was.

"WHERE HAVE YOU TWO BEEN?!" Nami stormed and smacked Zoro in the head while screeching that they had been waiting for the two for almost 2 hours on deck.

"We would've left you two if you weren't useful." she stormed off clapping her hands.

"How come I'm the only one she hit?!" . "She loves me" You said flipping your hair.

—Honestly, with you, Zoro feels contented, he knows his heart longs for even if it's the most stupid reasons. It's basically a date but imagine being crazy together, seems nice right? Either way you enjoy each others company and would catch glimpses of each of you looking at each other with the most light blush. It's just two idiots in love without being aware, it's complicated but for sure being together and fooling each other is a date planned between the two of you. Besides, he doesn't know since when he developed these feelings for you. Just take care of him, please.

Cokou 2024, all works belong to me.

[emilyondemand]

I hate that GA and EL art is always on my explore page on IG.. and they always generate so many likes.. I wish elriel was shown that much love 😰

The online fandom feels so big, but in relation to Sarah’s actual readership it’s very small. A few thousand likes on a fan art is a drop in the bucket when she has MILLIONS of readers who do not engage in online spaces.

There are a lot more Elriels out there than you think, I promise, most are just quiet and don’t bother with online spaces because hell look at what happened to Jordin Sparks just last week. She very casually makes a comment about how she can’t wait to see how the Az-Elain-Lucien (exactly what most casual readers are left wondering about) situation plays out (did not mention any ships) and GA’s were running to her comments whining.

Sarah does not care. She is not sitting down with her editor saying “ope, e/ucien got more likes than elriel on this poll of 500 people on fb, better go with them!”

Before HOFAS was released there were a couple of big theorists who were generating huge numbers and people ate up what they were theorizing about. I found some of it interesting, but overall, I knew that the bulk of that was not what was going to happen. It was too complex, too fanon, too much hopes and dreams instead of what had actually been written in the books. But they got everyone’s expectations up so high for HOFAS, only for them to be wrong about..almost everything. Numbers, views, popularity - none of that matters.

And gw*nriel is exactly like those HOFAS theories. All fanon, no canon, lots of keyboard pseudo psychologists diagnosing Azriel and Elain with anything and everything to make them look problematic. People are just looking for a “twist” where they aren’t actually going to get one. And most people don’t feel strongly about ships the way we do, they are just going to be happy to have the next acotar book and trust that Sarah will write whatever it is well.

Hopefully by this time next year everyone else will be seeing exactly what we’ve been saying about elriel when we finally (hopefully) have a book in our hands. 💜💜💜

[rocketinthesky]

Hi! Hope you're having a good time💜 Any opinions the Haasbands? (Kevin x Nico)

OMG HI! Hope you’re having a great time too

As for the ask game

HAASBANDS?!? BOY DO I HAVE SOME STRONG OPINIONS ON THIS !! So sorry op this might be posted a bit late cuz i have TOO MANY THOTS AND FEELINGS OVER THEM OK LETS START:

Obviously, the HISTORY. Ik the most “relevant”/spoken about F1 rivalries are brocedes/lestappen these days but we really have to look into Haasbands cuz they’re THE enemies to lovers story, like actual rivals who fell hard for eo.

We all know about the infamous “suck my balls” comment from Kevin, about Nico and Kevin butting heads on track, how they apparently hated eo till suddenly they’re teammates and they mesh so well tgt that Nico calls it a fucking “romance”.

There’s soooo much nuance to their dynamic to unpack here though. The general consensus is “guard-dog kevin” and “level-headed nico” but LETS TALK ABOUT THE INNER WORKINGS OF THEIR DYNAMIC PRE-MARRIAGE OK. In an interview, Kevin talked about how the “hatred” was one-sided, that despite the hot-headed comment during that interview, Kevin has never disliked Nico, rather he always respected the older as a fellow driver.

This flips the “level-headed nico” characterization on it’s head because look: pre-marriage Hulknussen was basically a one-sided rivalry where Nico was a petty bitch and giving Kevin the silent treatment, whilst Kevin was leaving all the rivalry and anger on the track, more or less wilfully oblivious to the “enemies” narrative. He respected Nico as a person and just was chill with him off track, but on track Kevin fights for his life no matter who he’s up against.

Now post-marriage Haasbands arc brings us two dudes who are much more mature, definitely have a much different perspective in life (cuz of the families they’ve built). They’ve grown as people obv and when they were more or less forced to be co-workers they had to suck it up like real adults and act like professionals.

But when they were actually working tgt, they found that it was easy. They got along on a fundamental level. Kevin always held that respect for Nico as a driver and person and when Nico actually allowed himself to give Kevin a chance, to talk to the guy and see him for the person he is off-track, not just as the aggressive and fearless fighter in the car, he grew a genuine respect and appreciation for Kevin as a person.

Among all the ships, i’d say Haasbands is the most sane one. They go from genuine rivalry/one-sided hatred and one-sided ignorance, to a friendship, mutual respect, peaceful relationship.

Obviously that’s just the brief overview of it but let’s not overlook the INSANITY within their dynamic cuz i am in no way discounting “guard-dog kmag”. He’s a fiercely protective warrior on the track and we’ve seen firsthand how he will fucking kamikaze for fhe sake of nico getting a point, how he will openly speak up about anything unfair that happens with Nico, like with nico and daniel’s crash this year. Kevin is a man in love and he’s a man who will lay his life on the line for it.

NICO. He’s level-headed alright. He’ll very calmly with the sweetest smile on his face threaten any lifeform that harms Kevin in any way. He’s a sweetheart sure but he’s just as nuts for Kev as kev is for him. His raw thoughts on Kmag’s race ban is a prime example of it.

These two are like actual fuckin husbands, they’ll protect eo to the end. And the domesticity between them makes me gag like ok get a room guys we get it yall are in LOVE

the kmag birthday clip? Them watching sports tgt outside of WORK duties? The way they’re constantly complimenting each other without faltering, almost tryna one-up eo in a compliment battle in the driver rankings videos? The compliments outside of those too like they are genuinely obsessed with each other?! I could go on but we’d be here all day so. Just know they’re sickeningly, tooth-rottingly sweet with eo

Welp i’ve rambled long enough lmao sorry if u subjected urself to my disjointed thoughts i just have so many Feelings™️ about haasbands they’re one of my otps lol they’re just so PERFECT they’re THE enemies to lovers like real fuckin enemies to lovers.

(As for my nsfw thoughts i think they’re pure switches but Nico lets his short gremlin male-wife take care of him more cuz he’s very fond and will do wtv Kevin wants THANK YOU)

[bestworstcase]

So having already moved past the idea of Yang as a Maiden - I do suspect the other reason people jump to that conclusion is people getting Raven's trajectory wrong. Yang as Maiden is the obvious conclusion if you think that Raven is going to come back to save Yang and die for it. Which... look, I can see Raven getting badly hurt. But dying - nah. The STRQ team and the Rose-Xiao Long household is not getting any outs from the most awkward family conversation ever. (Though your points about Raven actually being very difficult to kill does mean that the show can have the Spring Maiden get Yang out of a really tight spot without killing Raven or sacrificing tension) But it does feel like the idea has bit at least in some respects of the fandom that way to balance Raven being a coward/bandit and the setup for the untested "Everyone Only Gets One (Save)" rule is for Raven to come in and die for it.

mhm

i think something that is broadly true of this fandom is a general struggle to conceptualize what the narrative can meaningfully do with old-guard characters that isn’t… killing them off. qrow gets this a lot too, he’s nominally ruby’s mentor but she’s outgrown that relationship and is now on a level with him and there’s a persistent belief that it’s only a matter of time before his time is up. but it isn’t just him, i’ve also seen this attitude toward pietro, for example. (including one. memorable post that outright expressed surprise that pietro and maria survived v8 on the grounds that without penny the op thought it was pointless for the narrative to keep them around, because what would they even be doing in vacuo. which is absurd!)

and then raven in particular is a difficult character – fandoms always have a hard time with performative/masking behaviors, rwby is no different, although i do think the specific way rwby utilizes archetype and allusion makes it worse because fandom is also bad at paying attention – on top of also being, in v5, an antagonistic character to yang.

(i hesitate to describe her role as villainous, because raven’s response to getting backed into a corner was to neatly sabotage salem’s operation; she didn’t help salem under duress, she acted as a double agent on behalf of team oz under duress, and what she did wrong was mainly not communicate this to them. as ever raven is very brave about everything that isn’t having a slightly difficult conversation with someone she cares about. lol)

the point being, raven gets this general difficulty this fandom has with the old guard stacked on top of 1. being a difficult character (as a woman lmao) so a lot of people just don’t like her very much, and 2. being an antagonistic (or outright villainous) character depending on whether one takes raven “joining” salem at face value or not. so a fair amount of “speculation” that raven will die is either character hate in the guise of theory, and i think there is a large share of raven-will-die-saving-yang theories that boil down to redemption-by-heroic-sacrifice thinking.

what’s funny about that, aside from the obvious factor of raven being in vacuo now (and the most probable reason for her to only be in the last section of the epilogue being that she arrived on the refugee ship from vale and the likeliest answer there being that after haven she went to loop glynda in and help out because she knew salem would be coming back for the crown sooner or later), is how pragmatic she is and how desperately in need the heroes are right now of pragmatists – real pragmatists, not “leave mantle to die”-ish cowardice masquerading as pragmatism.

like. raven has been the leader of what appears to be a quite large encampment of bandits for more than a decade now, right, and to all appearances she’s done a great job – they respect her, trust her to have their backs, morale seems high, they’re well-supplied (by non-huntsman standards) and well-provisioned, they’re disciplined enough to erect fairly impressive temporary fortifications surrounding their camps – all of this suggests that raven is skilled at managing problems of scarcity, attrition, morale, grimm predation etc under fairly harsh conditions.

those problems are much larger in vacuo and the branwen subsistence strategy of raiding settlements is off the table, but – raven’s experience managing these sort of challenges in the animan wilderness is invaluable here! (especially if she brought all her bandits with her, because that’s a small militia that can whip up very nice ad hoc fortifications in an hour or two, given materials to work with, and two maidens solves the “no trees in the desert” problem).

and raven is also – demonstrably – someone capable of being very cunning, and turning lose/lose situations to her advantage even under intense pressure. salem’s people strolled into her camp like they owned the place, and raven took a deep breath, went “okay, we planned for this,” and played them like a fiddle! she is the reason salem’s infiltration of haven failed, and had everything gone according to raven’s plan, cinder would have died that night with omen in her back.

without the spring maiden, they’re all going to die. not because of her magical power, but because of who raven is. they need someone who can think and plan like this. they need someone who can evaluate an impossible situation and make tough choices like “i want my brother dead” – given the choice between capitulating or letting her people get massacred, raven bet on qrow not being stupid enough to walk unarmed into an obvious trap without backup, and tricked cinder into letting her tiny infiltration force be outnumbered almost two-to-one by highly trained combatants.

raven is what ironwood thought he was.

and she’s decided to join the coalition at a critical moment when they have zero good, easy choices ahead of them.

it would be absurd and baffling for the story to kill off raven at this point – this is Her Moment! and she and yang get to have their uncomfortable, painful, incredibly fraught reunion after haven in a time where raven has plainly earned back the full trust of the vacuo coalition, in all likelihood in large part by showing the fuck up at exactly the right moment her skillset and perspective were most helpful. which creates a really juicy tension for the personal relationship she has to now build with yang!

[beanghostprincess]

I don’t have many Op friends I can talk about this with but one of my top ship tropes is when it’s established that Luffy is slow on the uptake regarding people’s relationships and even HE knows someone is in love and pining. Like, to make a point at how utterly obvious it is. Sanji cuts food for Usopp into little bite sized pieces? Luffy just asks him something that indicates Sanji and Usopp are in a relationship and the cook almost chokes. Nami tries to write a letter and is getting visibly frustrated at not finding the right words and he just looks over her shoulder like „Say Vivi I said hi!“. He witnessed Shank and Buggy finally meeting at laughtale and there is just a bunch of „I WOULD HAVE FOLLOWED YOU!“ „I never wanted you to leave!“ „YOU WERE A COWARD!“ „Why does that matter now?!“ „BECAUSE I ALMOST GAVE UP MY DREAM FOR YOU!“ and Luffy just looks at this insane display in front of him while his idol does a homoerotic sword vs dagger fight with a clown and just „Are you seeing this shit Zoro?“ like… congrats . You’re being such a lovesick idiot even Luffy is like „Damn bitch you got it bad“

Honestly, this is extremely in character and pretty much not far from the truth. Luffy, despite being a dumbass, is a very perceptive person when it comes to people's feelings. One of his best traits as a main character is that he's empathetic to the point of knowing how people feel or what they want without needing to know the background or the rest of the story. I actually hate when the fanon perception of Luffy gets simplified to "he's an idiot" because yeah, he might be reckless and stupid and he's very silly, but he's emotionally mature to a sickening extent. Savior complex much? (Not that he wants to be a hero, god forbid, he would hate that. I just mean that his constant need to save everyone so nobody he cares about dies on him or gets hurt again has made him really aware of his surroundings and people's feelings). And, well, tbh he has always been like that. Very honest and perceptive, I mean. He might be a bit slow when catching up to some things and he might not know why people feel what they feel sometimes, but he knows what they're feeling. Get me? Like he might be aware of Nami being mad at him, for example, and not knowing why, but being aware that he has to do something to change that.

What I want to say with all of this is that Luffy noticing romance within the crew is extremely canon because he knows how his friends act, and if he notices changes in a person towards someone else, he might be stupid but he's not that oblivious. Like, he knows something's up. And to him the whole concept of pining is so stupid because if you feel something, just let the other person know! But then again, his relationship with Zoro is just different from that, and not everyone can have a devoted long-term marriage without saying a word.

And his reaction towards people pining would be hilarious because the guy would be exhausted from the crew having crushes and not doing anything. A Sanuso trope I love is Luffy going to Usopp like "Hey, confess already because Sanji has been distracted lately, and if he stops cooking because he is sad and pining for you I will be very mad" and he says shit like this and goes away and leaves Usopp alone with that information as if it was the most obvious and normal thing to do. But, you know, Luffy gets things done around here, at least.

[olderthannetfic]

https://www.tumblr.com/olderthannetfic/765221485179731968/writing-about-my-favorite-characters-as?source=share

I'm really sorry to hear you're going through this, anon. I'm even sadder that it's not an uncommon story.

As another trans writer (trans woman, in my case) that's stumbled into other people eviscerating her works for "fetishizing" and being "het in f/f's clothing" I really sympathize with you, dude. The way I look at it is that you cannot try alter who you are for these people. They will always find a way to dislike you because you are their ideological enemy. They dislike seeing trans men in what they see as their ship tags, not yours, so they will always find something they view as a flaw and flog you for it until you either conform or leave.

I've had a similar experience to yours, though not a literal thread dedicated to me. Ouch. I write f/f and sometimes that features non-op/pre-op trans characters because I am personally non-op after many years on E, and I'm always astounded by how it obviously upsets people that otherwise claim to be progressive. I also tag things extensively and I even include some terminology clarifications at the beginning of smut fics so that everyone knows what they're getting into. It doesn't matter to them. It'll never matter to them what you or I do, so why bother trying to coddle them?

There are readers that like my works, but after walking into a fandom Discord's NSFW fic channel, I saw how many people assume that my fics are written by a cis person or the fabled Dirty Fetishizer. It's one thing to intellectually know this happens and another to see your own work - something that you as a trans person created to talk about some part of yourself - ripped apart as this nasty tripe that no "real" trans person would write or read.

To make matters worse, I saw all that after I went through a rather nasty spate of transphobic anons when the fandom was very young. It was so tiring. I was exhausted. Seeing virulent hate in the real world and then having it thrown in my face for writing characters in a way that people disagreed with was just too much for me.

My way of dealing with this was disengaging from my own fandom, turning off anons on tumblr, and blocking anyone I even felt slightly annoyed by just in case it boiled over into something else. It sucks, but it's how I continue to have fun with writing for my ships. I basically never go into my ship tags on Tumblr now, I curate whose fics I read carefully, and I only hang out in one Discord server that's very small. I still read and comment on others' works when I have the mental bandwidth for it, but I avoid most other writers, especially those I don't know just in case they're part of that -phobe segment, and keep the most vocally unpleasant authors permanently muted for my own sake.

Frankly, it is what it is, as thought terminating as that phrase can be, and I gave up trying with these people/this fandom. You could keep trying to interact with the greater fandom, but you should block the assholes that disregarded your lived experience for your own mental health.

It's an isolating process for sure, but that's why I supplemented it with seeking out other fandom friends, most of whom are trans. Maybe we disagree with headcanons, and in a lot of cases we're polar opposites, but we all stick together because otherwise we're all thrown into isolation. That, and I always try to focus on the folks that do like what I write.

--

[stardusthuntress]

Fanboy

Rex x femaleMandoMedic!reader 

Word Count: ~5.7k (I cannot write shorter fics than that anymore, so have a long one) 

Special thanks to @mybrainislostinagalaxyfarfaraway for the inspiration for this one! Link to original post idea, below (but the original idea post and the tumble of the person who posted it seem to have vanished - if you can, please help me find them and tag them and repair my tags and links)! FYI, I did modify the original prompt slightly, but OP approved of the change before I even wrote it, so we are all good! Sorry it took me so long! 

Summary: He’s a fan of your erotica work - he has no idea you write it, and you have no idea he reads it, and yet you work side by side every day! This part ends before the smut so other writers can dream up their own scenarios with details relevant to their works! 

TW: reader writes smutty fics while living onboard the Resolute. Reader has own room (no roomies). Reader has okay relations with family, but not great ones, prefers distance from them. 

Mando’a: Ner = my Mesh’la = beautiful Verd = warrior Shebs = butt/ass 

Other SW Terms: Kark/kriff = both common expletives used in place of “shit” or “fuck” or “damn” Dank ferrik = commom expletive used in place of “oh shit” or “damn it” 

*************************************************

Slowly, the harmless acronyms of your secret writing world began to permeate your everyday war-focused acronyms. 

Memos telling your troopers to keep things G-rated around children became “and remember, anything NSFW that isn’t a part of your standard kit stays on the ship, today’s mission is protecting a large town with lots of families so keep it clean for the kiddos, please!” 

the typical “IP” note to Captain Rex turned into “WIP” when you were tired. He never questioned it, so you assumed it must be commonplace for others to use too. 

Rex never told you where he learned it. He couldn’t! It wasn’t the sort of thing a Captain, of all people, went and told everyone. Ranking officers had a reputation to uphold. Their men looked up to them, especially bright-eyed young shinies who’d yet to be introduced to galactic nightlife. 

And yet, somehow, it was the thing that kept him sane while fighting a war. The thing that reminded him that not everyone in the galaxy was out to get them. The thing that reminded him that the galaxy was worth saving because it was filled with beautiful moments and not just the pain of war. 

The horrors of war had long since left a deep scar in the Captain’s mind, but it was a price he was willing to accept to protect the galaxy. And no matter how hard the worst days became, he would always go back to reading stories about the most beautiful aspect of the people he fought so hard to protect: the way they made love. Besides, reading about making love instead of war every night was the only thing that let him find his way to sleep. War was beyond brutal. 

Rex had long since accepted that very few people would be willing to be partners with a man who did not know if he would live to see the next sunrise. He himself spent every day facing the fact that each battlefield could be his last. And even if it wasn’t, the loss and heart-wrenching difficulties of war had a tendency to leave him as a different man at the end of each one. So, if he couldn’t have a partner in real life with which to share the difficulties, and do all the small, mundane, domestic things, just like the rest of the galaxy, and share the joys of sensual love, then no one could stop him from dreaming about it. And that gave him hope. And hope was an essential part of continuing on in war. 

But he had decided long ago, when he became a Captain, that he would never tell a soul about this. It was his little secret thing. Besides, if his troopers ever did find out, he’d never hear the end of it. 

If Fives ever found out… Rex didn’t want to think about it. This was Rex’s special, secret. And he loved it. 

He always did everything in his power to keep it out of his troopers' hands, and far away from the battlefield. 

And now, now that the post-battle reports were almost done, he could start to let himself think about it a little bit. 

*************************************************

Tonight your goal had been to finish the last WIP you’d started months ago when inspiration had hit between grueling battles. And tonight, you’d succeeded. You proofed the polished piece one last time, took a deep breath, and tapped “post”. 

As you sat back in your seat, a call from Rex came in on your comm, making you nervous you’d posted it somewhere the rest of the ship could see it. 

“Lieutenant, can I get the list of the soldiers your shift deemed medically cleared for duty from you? I’m wrapping up reports, and that’s the last piece of data I need.” Rex’s voice showed no hint of anything other than the same post-battle paperwork as usual, and you loosed a breath you didn’t realize you’d been holding. 

Beside him, his personal datapad beeped and lit up, a banner across the screen notified him that his favorite author had just posted a new work! Rex couldn’t wait to get to it when these last few reports were done. 

“Sure thing, Captain! I take it Kix forgot to send it again.” The normalcy in your voice surprised even yourself. 

“You know Kix, but he keeps everyone on their feet, so I don’t mind having to ask for them. Besides, it’s handy to have you onboard. You have all the same medical clearances he does, and you’re much more fun to talk to.” Rex finished. The exhaustion and potential to read a NSFW story tonight seemed to be making Rex bold, even to his inner dialog. Where normally he’d be all business, tonight he was opening up a little, dare he even consider it flirtatious?  

The voice on the other end of the phone laughed. “That’s sweet of you! But don’t tell Kix you said that, Captain!” 

Rex laughed, “Oh, don’t worry, I think they all know. Everyone enjoys your company in a sea full of identical faces.” 

“Haha, well I hope being one of the few different faces isn’t the only thing I have going for me!” 

“Certainly not! Like I said, you’re fun to talk to, Sweetheart.” Rex felt the heat rising in his neck, he didn’t usually let himself call you Sweetheart so openly like that… what had become of his filter tonight? 

Rex’s work datapad beeped with a new notification, both of which were audible over the comms, but he didn’t know that. “Thanks for the reports! Talk more tomorrow,” Rex yawned. 

You snickered, suppressing a yawn of your own, and wished him goodnight. 

Rex glanced over the list of names, clicked approve, attached it to his last report and submitted it. 

Finally, Rex had time for himself, time to read his favorite author’s new piece! 

Rex wondered who the mystery author was, no one used their actual names on this site, that’s what made Rex comfortable with using it. There was no way to trace it back to him, except through his personal datapad, so he felt comfortable using it on a republic ship. Besides, he knew there were much weirder things getting pulled up on republic ships, war was rough after all, and he wasn’t about to judge anyone for however they decided to cope with it. 

So, Rex settled in for the night, your cheerful voice on his mind, and decided he needed to picture this new scenario in your voice, with you attached. No matter how risqué that seemed, something about it filled a need for him. There had always been something about you that attracted Rex, though he couldn’t put his finger on what specifically. But that didn’t exactly matter. What did matter was that he finally had someone real who made him feel like he wanted the scenarios he always read about. You! 

The comm next to him beeped again. Rex sighed and looked at it. Speaking of, it was you, again! 

Rex got nervous. “Everything ok, Sweetheart?” He asked hesitantly, and didn’t even notice he had once again used his internal pet name for you. 

Suddenly you were glad you were just on comms and he couldn’t see you, it was hard not to smile when he called you that, and he always did it after particularly grueling battles, like this one. And this was the second time this evening!

“I can’t find my blaster cleaning kit. Did I leave it with you earlier when I dropped off the General’s saber after the battle?” 

Rex silently breathed a sigh of relief and looked around the room. 

Sure enough, there it was! 

“Yup, I have it right here. Want me to bring it to you this time?” he asked. 

“Na, I need to get up and stretch a bit anyways, been sitting at my desk too long. I’ll be by in a minute… if that’s okay?” 

“Sure thing, see you in a minute!” Rex took a deep breath and looked around the room. He could feel the warmth rising in his face. Why had he just agreed to that? He was all disheveled from a post-battle shower, his personal datapad was still right there with the new fic he was starting to read pulled up, and he had nothing to do until you came by. Not to mention that he’d just been thinking about you… sexually… he knew you couldn’t read his mind, but he still felt guilty about it. 

A quiet knock on his door pulled him out of his reverie. Kark! That was fast! Rex shoved his personal datapad under the pillow of the makeshift bunk he sometimes used for a nap in this closet of a space Skywalker and Kenobi had set aside for him. Then he straightened his blacks, scooped up the item you had asked about, and opened the door. 

“Hi, thanks, Rex! Sorry, I hope I didn’t interrupt anything!” 

Rex found himself a little extra flustered when he opened the door to find you standing in your nightclothes - a slightly too large shirt you’d cut the neck out of, and shorts. Probably more of you than he’d ever seen exposed before. He hoped he was the only man who’d see you like this tonight… or any night for that matter. 

“Na, you’re fine I was just…. Uh… reading… before I turn in for the night.” His flustered brain was doing anything except being useful, of course. The one thing he’d been trying to avoid talking about was what he’d just been reading, why did he have to say that? 

“Ooo! I like to read! May I ask what you were reading?” 

“Uh…” Rex couldn’t say no, so he tried to think fast, “Just something new from my favorite author.” 

“Oh! What author?” 

Kriff! He hadn’t thought about that question coming next, but in hindsight, he should have. It’s the obvious follow-up question. 

“Oh, not books, just, uh… short stories!” Rex was proud of himself, this was going OK! Which is to say: better than he’d expected. Was that too low of a bar to set for himself, or too high? 

“Ah, cool! Well, I love to read, but I don’t often have much time anymore either, if you find any good short stories, let me know! I’m curious to know what a strong leader like you likes to read in his downtime!” 

Aaaaaand there went his good luck. The bar was indeed too high. Rex felt the warning lights going off in his own mind, warning him of an imminent crash if this conversation continued. Much to his dismay, he did like talking with you. 

Rex laughed and rubbed the back of his neck, eyes drifting to the floor. “Sure thing!” He lied, and faked a yawn, “but for tonight, I think it’s time for bed for us both! It was a long day, I’ll see you in the morning, Lieutenant.” 

You smiled, nodded, and headed off down the hallway, back to your quarters. 

Rex closed the door and sighed. That was close. Too close. He hoped he hadn’t given anything away. Maybe he should start to think up excuses for when you inevitably ask about what he was reading… but for tonight, there was still a whole fic waiting to be read! 

*************************************************

The next morning, Rex made a point to check in on the medbay patients while you’re on shift. 

He hadn’t told you, or anyone really, but he always planned it that way. He liked to drop by the medbay when you were around. So far, he’d managed to keep it off his brother’s radar and make it appear somewhat random. He just hoped he could keep that up for a while longer. 

“You mentioned that you were up late working on something when we spoke last night,” Rex commented, somewhat worried about you. “I thought you’d finished all your reports and sent them in already, hours before. I hadn’t seen any more come through the pipeline that late in the evening, nor this morning. Did I miss anything, Lieutenant?” 

“Oh! No, you didn’t miss anything. It was just, uh… some personal things. That’s all! Nothing to worry about, Captain!” Your cheeks felt warm. Hopefully, Rex wouldn’t figure out that he was the cause of your suddenly shy demeanor! There was no way he knew he was on your mind when you were writing last night, could he? Wait, how could he, he didn’t even know you wrote things like that! Probably for the best, you didn’t want to imagine how sorry he’d feel for you to know that was how you were satisfying your cravings for lust these days. Then again, this was war. Maybe it wasn’t so unusual on a ship packed full of men with no relief, no break, no love in sight for weeks, months, years even sometimes. But something told you there were only 2 potential reactions to him finding that out about you: awkward curiosity or disappointment, and you didn’t know which was worse. 

“Well, if you need time off to focus on family or friends, I want to make sure you don’t feel bad asking for it. You know I’d grant it. You’re a civilian. I know you need breaks to attend to things at home.” Rex assured you. 

“Thanks, but I don’t need time off. I’m actually grateful to have time away from them. Family is family, but being around them wasn’t helping me figure out who I am. I like being farther away from them, if I’m being honest. Allows me to just be…” your voice trails off for a moment, but your mind returns to his comment. “I was just working on some of the things I enjoy in my downtime. It’s nice to have time for those sorts of things, don’t you think?” 

“Couldn’t agree more. But now I’m curious,” Rex smirks, intrigued but doing his best to keep the comments light and appropriate for a medbay check-in, “What sorts of fun things occupy your time when these rowdy troopers aren’t flirting with you all day?” he gestures to the men in the bunks lining the walls as he refers to them. “What does your mind need to do to slow down and relax after a grueling battle?” Rex’s eyes are beginning to hint at something on the edge of flirtation, but it couldn’t be… could it? Rex isn’t the type to break his Captain’s demeanor to flirt. Your mind races away into the star-streaked black of hyperspace, too many thoughts flashing by for you to grasp at any one at a time. 

Rex nudges you with his shoulder, a raised eyebrow bringing you back to reality. 

“Uh, not that different from you, actually, it seems. Reading, writing, music, a good holofilm. An escape from war. Though the company of this war is better than I’d expected,” you teased. 

“Did you say you write?” Rex zeroed in on the one thing you hadn’t mean to let slip. 

“Uh, not that I have much time to write, haven’t really done it in a while, to be honest,” you babbled, lying through your teeth, trying to detract from his interest. 

“That’s too bad,” Rex’s comment paused your ramblings, “I was hoping I’d get a chance to learn more about you, by reading what you write about when you need a break from war.” 

You stared at him for a moment. He was flirting with you… right? Or was he just trying to be nice and befriend the civies on his ship so they would feel comfortable amongst his troops like any good Captain would? It must be the latter, right? Rex didn’t seem the type to flirt this openly… 

“Lieutenant,” Kix called, “I need 50 cc’s of pain reliever, please” 

“Oh, sorry Captain, I have to, uh,” you pointed to Kix, already moving to the supply cabinet for the pain meds. 

Rex just nodded and continued walking around the room, checking in with his men as they recovered. Unknowingly, giving you the chance to steal glances at him as you continued your work healing his men. Meanwhile, he did the same thing from across the room, pretending he was simply keeping an eye out behind him like any good officer would, but anyone who knew him could tell his gaze lingered just a little too long on a certain medic… 

*************************************************

One evening finds you just sitting with Rex, chatting around a campfire for the first watch of the night after a long battle and hearty meal. It’s just the two of you on watch, for this quadrant of troops, soft snores from nearby tents telling how draining this battle was. 

“Rex, when you said you’d like to read what I write…” you find yourself poking around with a stick in the dirt when you say it, watching him out of the corner of your eye. 

Rex sits up a little straighter, nodding encouragingly. 

“Did you mean, whatever I wrote? Like… anything at all? Even if it’s a little… unusual? Or strange compared to a normal book or story?”

“I don’t just read adventure stories, if that’s what you’re getting at?” He asks, head tilted, curiosity piqued. 

There’s no going back now. 

“Well, what if it was… kind of… uh………” of all the times to struggle with words, this sure wasn’t a great moment for that to plague you. 

“Kind of…” you stalled, mentally shuffling through his previous statements about what he liked to read for hints of words you could borrow, trying to avoid the words you didn’t want to say that were the only things actually populating your mind, like vulgar or lewd. “Wait, are you implying the stoic Captain reads romances and poetry in his spare time?” 

“Well…” Rex suddenly can’t hold eye contact with you as he answers, his shyness peaking through, “On occasion, though, I admit it’s not something I read often.” 

“So what does the fearless Captain read in his spare time, then?” 

Now it was Rex’s turn to search for stall tactics. “Uh, well, I don’t often have time to read.” 

“But you were reading just the other night,” you pressed, glad you weren’t the one under scrutiny again, even though it had been your own comment that put you there, you’d gotten too shy to be able to fess up to a man with as strong of a reputation as Rex, even though you knew his kind side. 

“Like I said, short stories,” he filled in, knowing it wouldn't be enough, “adventure, strategy, and I guess some romances too.” He hoped that would be enough. So he turned the table back on you, “But you brought up the topic about things you write. What sort of… unusual?” he quoted your own words back at you. 

Kark, you were in it now. Damn the dark of night for giving you courage to say something in the first place. Though you knew you could just tell Rex you weren’t ready to talk about it after all and he’d let it go, and act like nothing had happened if that was what you wanted. But, if there was anyone who wouldn’t hate you for it, nor treat you like a piece of meat ready for the taking because of it, it was Rex. On the other hand though, if Rex hadn’t really meant that he’d be comfortable reading anything, if he’d meant that he had limits and that was beyond what he normally read, he’d never be able to look you in the eye or sit at the same table or campfire anymore. You weren’t sure you could take that. 

Apparently you stalled too long, and Rex jumped in, words coming out a bit rushed like he was nervous. “You don’t have to tell me anything, if you don’t want to. I hope I didn’t make you feel like you should tell me anything. I won’t pry. You seem a bit nervous. I won’t ask any more questions about it, I know how it feels to be stuck trying to figure something out. Let’s give it some time so you can think, yeah? If you want someone to read something, never feel bad asking. I want to be there for you in any way that I can. You are welcome to decline that, or accept it, or pretend it never happened if you like. I just want to encourage you if you need it, or be there for you if you need me.” 

“Thanks, Rex,” you smile at the campfire, tucking your hair behind your ear. 

*************************************************

Days pass, battles take their toll, and once again you find yourself needing to write something… especially after another moment with Rex leaves you a little, well… distracted. So you sit down to write one night, and what comes out surprises even you! 

You write a fic heavily inspired by something that actually happened in battle, without revealing too many details… or so you think… 

The fic depicts a simple damsel saves the knight scenario in a woodland, setting the two characters facing off with a wild animal. All in all, a common trope… and after prepping the fic with all the necessary warnings and notes, you click “post”. 

On the other side of the ship, unbeknownst to you, someone’s personal datapad lights up with a notification of a new post from his favorite author. Having finished his work for the evening and searching for a way to fall asleep in his bunk in his tiny little office space, Rex picks up his datapad and starts to read. 

But something about this fic strikes him as oddly familiar. The Deja vu only growing stronger as he reads on, until Rex’s own past takes the reigns and he’s whisked away into his memories… 

Attempting to sneak up on an enemy outpost, alone, during a critical battle, Rex finds himself alone and face-to-face with an unusually large Nexu. 

He’s pretty sure he’s lunch and this is how it ends. 

Until a jetpack-powered shove from his favorite Mandalorian saves his ass and drops the Nexu down a short cliff that curves away and forces it away from the battleground. 

��Never thought I’d see the day the tough Captain of the legendary boys in blue became the damsel in distress…” you laugh, touching down a few feet away, surprisingly lightly considering your heavy armor kit. 

He chuckles, taking the hand you offer to pull him to his feet. “As great as it was to see a badass woman save my shebs [ass], we still have a battle to win.” 

She can practically hear the smirk he wears beneath his helmet as he nudges her playfully with his arm. 

“Then I’m glad you weren’t some wild animal’s lunch. We’re gonna need you to get through this one, Cap.” 

“Then let’s take this tower offline, ner mesh’la verd [my beautiful warrior]!” As soon as it was out of his mouth he realized his mistake. That nickname for you was something he only ever said in his head, he hadn’t intended to say it out loud to you… or ever, really… so, to cover his mistake, he turned and ran off back into the heat of the battle, both blasters drawn. And you follow. Soon, Rex finds himself in one of his favorite spots, taking down droids, back to back with his favorite Mandalorian warrior… 

That was how the real scenario went. 

Rex knew. He was there! He was the one whose shebs you saved, and the one that slipped and called you ‘his beautiful warrior’! Just like the character in this fic did when a strong beautiful woman saved his ass from a similar creature… 

And it would seem that 1) you wrote this fic, 2) you had not only caught that Rex had called you that, but remembered it all these weeks later, and 3) perhaps were a little aroused by it… considering that you used it in a fic? 

But that had been many, many battles ago! And by the way that things had gone back to normal since then, you still fought every battle you could at his side, he had thought you hadn’t noticed his slip-up! 

Rex scrolls down a ways, skipping ahead to see if this was going in the direction he hoped it was. And sure enough, this scenario was only the beginning, feeding life into the love depicted a few paragraphs down. 

Kriff, if you were gonna write a fic this steamy about a moment like that staying on your mind… maybe he could think about it in that way too? 

Very quickly, this day turns into the best night in a long while as he imagines you and him in place of the lead characters in your fic, learning about your mind and all the things that one little moment makes you want to do with him! Or, at least, given that you chose a moment with him to inspire this fic, he can only hope you want to finish the scenario with him too! 

As he attempts to drift off to sleep, Rex finds himself ecstatic that you are his favorite author.  

The trick is figuring out how to tell you that he loves your work and would like to make your dreams come true… without seeming like a creepy stalker… 

But, if the little moments between the two lead characters continue to be inspired by little moments with Rex, then he needs to tell you the feeling is mutual, or he will lose his chance with you. 

Since he seems to be inspiring several of your fics, the odds must be in his favor. He just has to make a move. Easier said than done… 

So… how does he tell you he’s your biggest fan without making it awkward and weird? 

Maybe if he starts slow? With little things to make sure he’s reading into it correctly (pun intended). 

So, he tries to replicate a look you described as a focused, methodical soldier, who can see right into your soul, because you mentioned that the look, made you shiver because no one had seen you as clearly as he seemed to in that moment.

When he tries it in real life, your eyes widen slightly and you barely suppress a shiver. You have to look away and clear your throat before answering his question. 

He acts like he didn’t spot your reaction (his men don’t need to know). 

And a few days later, during a moment alone with you, he calls you ‘my beautiful warrior’ in Mando’a again, and smiles when you melt into shyness and look pointedly at the floor, trying not to smile. 

But that’s all he gets a chance to say and do before another few particularly rough battles steal your attention from each other back to the life and death of the galaxy you live in. 

*************************************************

It’s a few weeks before you find yourself sitting across another campfire from Rex as the two of you sit on watch for the night, the post-battle rhythm settling back in, and the need for distraction from the last few battles has both your minds drifting towards the sultry and suggestive. 

After you each share a few flirty remarks and laughs as your watch draws on, he decides it’s time he just went for it. 

“Ya know, I’ve been thinking. You asked me what I read in my spare time… and if it’s romance…” Rex picks at a twig on the log he sits on. 

Your gaze moves straight to him, an eager look in your eye. 

Now it’s his turn to get a little shy as he scratches the back of his neck. 

“And to share it with ya if I’d read any good stories, lately…” He tries his hardest to meet your eyes, even just for a few seconds at a time. 

“Yeah?” You prompt him, careful not to tease, but to encourage, though you couldn’t help but sit up straighter, focusing all your attention on him. 

Before Rex can answer, the sound of approaching boots and laughing troopers draws your attention. You glance at your chrono and realize your shift is over, and it’s time for Fives and Echo to take over the watch. 

Rex offers to walk you back to your tent, and you let him. Echo and Fives are too engrossed in their own discussion to notice that you two both seem a little cozy and flustered. 

Once out of earshot of the duo with a nose for trouble, Rex offers to show you his favorite short story he’d found recently. 

It’s hard not to smile when you invite him into your tent while telling him you’d love to read it. 

In the safety of your tent, with the light dim and high above your head so no one can see your shadows, sitting next to you on your cot, he has no reservations about using his personal datapad to access his little secret site. 

And then he hands it to you so you can see his url and that he’s looking at your fic  - the one where you save his ass from getting eaten, and it’s clearly him. 

You stare in awe. 

The url he’s using… you know that url! You’ve seen it in your notifications! He usually only reblogs them, rarely ever commenting, and now that you know the man behind it you know why. He’s shy and reserved! 

And that’s when the fact that he’s just handed you your fic actually settles in. 

You cover your mouth with your free hand as your eyebrows shoot upwards, stunned into silence for a few moments, struggling to find something to say like a fish out of water. 

Rex is watching with rapture as you process it all. 

And not only is this your fic, but it’s the one that you finally let it be totally inspired by clearly identifiable, real life moments that had happened with him, of all people! 

Kark… so thinking no one will know in real life when you’d finally had 20 seconds of courage to post it might have been totally out of line, in hindsight, but dank ferrik, now he knew and it has become his favorite fic? 

“But I —this… my… you’re [jaigB51]? Of course that’s you!” You finally manage, clutching the datapad tightly. 

“That’s me…” Rex is getting shy, so he tries to push past it, “—and [url] is you, right?” He asks, heat rising in his cheeks. 

“Yeah,” you mutter, still stunned, still staring at the little letters at the top of the page, in disbelief that this is really happening. 

You look up at him, lost and awed. 

He only smiles and tugs the datapad from your hands. 

“I’ve noticed that several moments from real life have made it into your fics. Several moments that were just… us… did you mean that you are attracted to me, or just the moments that we shared? Because if it’s not me, I’ll back off and we can pretend this never happened, if you want, if you didn’t mean it like that?” He covers, fiddling with his own fingers as he asks, suddenly struggling to look at your face. 

You scoot closer and take a deep breath, preparing to say it. 

“I like you, Rex. I did it because I like you, not just the moments we shared.” 

Relief washes over Rex as his eyes meet yours again, “I like you too, ner Mesh’la Verd… a lot, if I’m being honest…” 

He opens his arms to you and you throw yours around him. 

This moment has been a long time coming for Rex. He’d figured it out months ago when you’d posted the fic, but he hadn’t had the courage to say anything for weeks. Now that he finally has, and it’s gone so well, all he can do is hold you close and enjoy the warmth of your arms and the feel of your heartbeat against his own. 

”Oh, Rex!” You whisper into his shoulder as you nuzzle in. 

He chuckles faintly, the comforting grip of his arms, unrelenting. “Would I be correct if I guessed that those scenarios were things you wanted to do together then? …like a wishlist of sorts?” He whispers into your temple, hesitantly asking the question that’s been on his mind since he first read the fic. 

You look up at him with excitement. “Yes,” you whisper as though you’re still not sure this is real. 

Rex decides to prove to you it is real, slowly dipping his head to meet your lips. Giving you plenty of time to move away if you wanted, but you don’t. You hold fast, and let him approach, even closing your eyes and tilting your head back to give him a better angle, as the distance closes. 

And when he lets his lips touch yours, your hand slips into his buzz cut and he groans against you. 

Finally getting to kiss you was heaven. Rex couldn’t get enough. He kept going back for just one more. 

“Let me make your dreams come true, ner mesh’la verd!” His voice is hushed as he whispers it against your skin, his arms secure and strong as he holds you tightly. 

”Yes, please!” You pant, trying to keep your voice low, aware you are in a tent surrounded by Rex’s brothers who need to look up to their commander without teasing him endlessly about it in the morning. 

”I wish we didn’t have to keep quiet,” he winks at you, well aware you like it when you both make a bit of noise. 

You pause for a moment, “Well, when we were on watch, you did say there was a shuttle full of spare parts and equipment that needed a pilot to bring it back up to the ship. Does it still need a pilot or two? I think my quarters are undamaged, we could slip aboard the ship and have practically the whole thing to ourselves?” 

Rex chuckles against your cheek, checking the ship status on his datapad. “It does still need a pilot. I’ll let Cody know the men on the ground are all his,” he wraps his arms around your waist to scoop up the datapad he’d tossed aside and type out a message as quickly as he can, clicking send without even caring if autocorrect changed anything. “Let’s go, ner Mesh’la Verd!” 

*******************************************

The two of you race over to the temporary shipyard, and inform the night guard you and Rex are going to go ahead and bring the shuttle of damaged equipment back to the ship so it’s ready to go in the morning. And off the two of you go, alone in the shuttle as it rises from the planet’s surface and heads into orbit. 

Rex turns to you and pulls you into his lap. 

You giggle, and kiss his cheek. 

”So,” you ask, intentionally suggestively, “I know you said that one was your favorite, but do you have a favorite scenario from my fics that you want to try first?” You can barely believe this is real and you’re actually getting to ask the man you’ve pictured far too many of your fics with the question you’ve always wanted an answer to. 

Rex smirks, “I like the shower scenarios…” his eyes continue to monitor the ships progress as he maneuvers it towards the Resolute, but his mind is racing with a thousand dirty thoughts. 

“Do I have permission to picture you and I in every one of the stories you’ve written, Sweetheart?” He asks, fervently. 

“Yes!” You answer. 

He is interrupted by the shuttle bay manager checking in as he maneuvers the ship into the hold. 

There is little time to answer as you two disembark the shuttle, exchange nonchalant nods with the hangar bay crew, and make your way through the halls to your personal quarters. 

Finally in your room, Rex smiles, “But I think my favorite of the scenarios you’ve written…” his voice darkens a bit as he steps up to you, his eyes finally reflecting his hunger for you as he begins to remove your armor. “Hmm…” Rex playfully debates which of your fics he’d like to recreate first, letting the anticipation make you a little feisty. 

You lend a hand, removing his armor as he works on yours. 

“I liked the one where you had me kissing up your wrist and arm to your lips, down your neck to your breasts, and then down to your legs and thighs and back up… I admit I reread that one most often… ” He asks, scooping you off your feet, effortlessly. 

As he lifts you with one arm behind your back and one hand raising your thigh to his hip, your legs automatically wrap around his hips. Rex pauses and closes his eyes, swallowing hard, and clutching you to him. 

“Oh?” You tease. 

Rex takes a moment to just try to figure out how to breathe normally again before answering. “What’s your favorite, so far?” He tosses the question back at you, though the rise and fall of his chest is far less collected than his voice. Trying to use his Captain’s skill at hiding any emotion in his voice as a cover when he is actually unraveling quickly. 

You laugh lightly as he reaches the bed, tossing the covers back and climbing in with you still wrapped tightly around him. “I think it’s that one too, actually.” 

Rex smirks and his eyes gleam in the low light of the room, “May I, then?” 

“Why would I ever say no to that?” You laugh, though it fades on your lips as his connect with yours quickly in his hunger. 

“I love knowing what you want already, I have a long list of all the items I want to do with you tonight, ner Mesh’la Verd!” Rex pants against your skin. 

“But… I don’t know what you like, Rex,” Your concern for his own pleasure fills his heart with warmth. If he didn’t already love you, he certainly does now. 

Your legs squeeze more tightly around his waist as his lips trail down your body. 

Rex groans, gripping your thigh. 

“I like…” he pants, “the way your legs grip me.” He licks a stripe across one breast and then the other. 

“I love the way your back arches and you cling to me.” He lightly nips at your abdomen as he moves southward, soothing it with a sensual kiss. 

“I love your little noises. And I’m dying to feel you around my fingers, tongue, and cock. And I like the way your writing describes me as protective when I’m on top like this. And I love being able to read about exactly what you want. And I like the feel of your breasts in my hands and mouth. Kark, I could suck on your breasts all day! And I’d make sure to keep it evenly distributed between both breasts,” he teases, moving up to nip at your ear when he says it. 

“So you noticed that, huh?” You blush, shyly. You weren’t expecting to ever have a partner that had read your fics before. You hadn’t thought about what was usually contained only in your mind and never said out loud when you had been writing. 

He chuckles, “Hard not to notice.” He winks up at you. “Why, is that something you wouldn’t have told me otherwise?” His eyes and tone reflect that teasing, fun side he rarely lets show. 

“Maybe…” you admit as he clutches you tightly to him, pressing every inch of skin that he can against every inch of yours. 

“Then I’m glad I read your fics. I like already knowing what’s going on in that beautiful mind of yours as I make love to you.” Rex’s breath is hot on your neck as he begins his open mouthed kisses down your shoulder towards your wrist. 

A shudder racks your body as you realise this might be a long night ahead of you, but it will also be one of the most fun nights in a long time, and with a man worth every second of it all! 

Please don’t steal my work! I pour my heart into these so if you like it please reblog to share instead of reposting it! And NO dropping it into an AI to finish it for me! That’s stealing my work and feeding it to an AI without my consent. It is not okay to give an AI something you didn’t write yourself! 

Taglist: @cw80831

[sbk-zgvlt]

Idk if this is your vibe but with the whole 'Diasomnia takes shovel talk to a whole new level' thing going on with Ace I can't help but wonder how absolutely hilariously baffling the potential of the poly first year squad balongside that would be.

I like this ship mainly because I think it'd be funny if they all dated one-another and just. Didn't say anything. Stuff like 'Vil and Rook wonder why they saw their son Epel kiss ace on the lips even though he was on what was very obviously a romantic walk with Deuce a few days ago' and whatnot happening with all the first years' seniors

(A few of them piece it together and are like 'good for them' and don't tell anyone for whatever reason but mainly because I think it's funny)

BUT anyway back on track I can't help but wonder how Lilia, Silver, and Malleus would be in all of their overprotective glory. Like, Sebek dating Ace? They hate that - but would they be less or more enthused about the additional 'but wait, there's more'. Moment where Sebek introduces the rest of his boyfriends

Again, idk if it's your vibe, but I think it's funny to think about. Abdhsvs have a nice day, keep being awesome, stay hydrated 👍 (⁠~⁠‾⁠▿⁠‾⁠)⁠~

Thanks for reminding me about the water I have not drank in 3 hours/hj

DUDE...just finding out that Sebek has a boyfriend in the first place makes Dia 3 go into a FRENZY. And the thing is, the freshmen mean well in their own right. In fact, if they were INDIVIDUAL, I have a feeling that Dia 3 would be able to accept them, others quicker than most. But having them TOGETHER as a GROUP already spells CHAOS.

Again. The freshmen have their good qualities. They care for each other and love each other. But as a GROUP??? They encourage each other's shenanigans. Their good qualities are immediately overtaken by the fact that they are teenagers and that they mostly get in trouble. And knowing SEBEK, who is (mostly) a rule-abiding guy, mingling with a group like the first years will send Dia 3 to an early grave.

It's great that Sebek is making friends with them!!! They love that. But it's the fact they always get him involved in their schemes. And it sonly a matter of time before they start rubbing off of Sebek, and getting in trouble will start becoming a daily occurence to him. The first time they were called by one of the professors because Sebek APPARENTLY blew up a classroom with one of the first years while trying to make a potion PAST CURFEW made Lilia faint. THEY DIDNT EVEN KNOW HE WASNT IN THE DORM???? HOW DID HE SNEAK OFF (it's very easy.)

Dia 3 do not like Ace as a romantic interest, let's establish that first. But the whole FIRST YEAR GANG as romantic interests??? Theyre STRESSING. They cant tell whats better or worse (its worse for them) (better for Sebek). They have to constantly keep tabs on Sebek AND the other first years to make sure theyre not dragging Sebek into their little "hang outs" which end with the whole gorup getting detention.

The others do get confused at first. They're cheating on each other,,,with EACH OTHER??? (They havenever heard of polygamy) (Half of the first years didnt either) (Ace, Sebek, and Yuu rectified that).

The only people who knew were Riddle (GOSSIP QUEEN 🗣️🔥🔥🔥), Rook (He's Rook.), and Idia (You know that one post where op finds out they feel left out in their friend group because it turns out they were all dating each other??? Ortho reporting that to Idia 💀)(The first years make sure not to leave out Ortho when they hang out after that).

[bronx-bomber87]

Happy Wednesday wonderful readers :) Holy hell can’t believe we're at the finale already. Granted only ten eps but still haha They really made these ten eps count. Can only wonder what a full season would’ve been like. But we can’t live in that realm. This finale minus the Monica crap didn’t care about was real good for our ship.

Also SO excited I got to mainly use pretty gifs from our wonderful gif makers in this one. They create them for us to use and I'm forever grateful. I love that I have the option to use my own if I need it. But much rather use these beautiful gifs if I can help it. First one in awhile been able to. Also proud of myself for getting this out right before my road trip. Moving to another state is a struggle. You hate all your belongings towards the end lol Also with Tumblr being a dick and erasing my edits twice.... But here it is despite all that . Let’s get started.

6x10 Escape Plan

For the sake of GIF space, and wanting to focus on the Chenford in this ep, I'm not going to do GIFs of her UC mission. I will do a quick rundown of what went down. Lucy’s priority is to get evidence linking Blair to Monica. They end up getting that link through Blair herself because of Nolan. Lucy finds out about the hit at the laundromat Monica is paying Batista for though. She is offing a former ally cause she's the absolute worst. Lucy is no longer needed as a Nanny after this with the family taking off.

They've decided to go to ground after this. Lucy is convinced it'll be easy to collar them though. Which leads us to this fantastic little moment. Lucy folds into the OP since she isn’t needed as a UC anymore. Tim does not take his eyes off her from the moment she enters the scene. It’s unreal. Be more in love with her Timothy I dare you. Look at that man above. This mini moment is so soft. The wording, the heart eyes, and how Angela is looking between them.

She knows they’re still in love with each other. Anyone with eyes can see that. It literally pours out of these two without them even noticing. Angela sure notices hehe She is the fandom in this moment watching this exchange. Melissa and Eric are damn treasure to make such a mini moment so soft and perfect. Got me squeeing to death over here. You can see he’s much happier with her apart of this OP. It’s so lovely. Brief but beautiful. Love our ship.

This scene is the second best of the episode. It’s the first time they’ve really had alone time together since the breakup. Now this isn’t the adult convo they need to have here. BUT this is a HUGE development in terms of communication. Especially from Tim. He’s the one to start and share. He’s grown so much I could cry. This conversation just shows how far he’s come and he is respecting Lucy’s boundaries in the process of this convo.

He’s opening up to her but also doing it on her terms. He doesn’t want to dump his feelings all over her. Because he lost that right when he broke them up. What he is doing is being vulnerable so Lucy knows what an impact she’s made on him. It’s a massive massive growth scene for Tim. It starts out with him sharing he took her advice about therapy. Lucy looks closed off as she should be at first. Saying and?

Tim makes a crack about her being a blackmailing psychopath. Because the jokes help him be vulnerable with her. We all know how much he hates to be that even with Lucy. So this is such good progress for him. Lucy lets him know that’s not normal what happened to him lol I've had two and that most definitely has not happened to me haha You can tell she’s excited he’s gone and doesn’t want him to sour on it cause of Blair. This convo alone proves how much it’s done for him so she wants him to know that. Always watching out for him, no matter what I love it. *happy sigh*

It's fascinating to watch Lucy soften the more he speaks about it. She remains cautious, and rightfully so. But she is intently listening and absorbing everything he’s saying. Tim letting her know the irony was she was a good therapist. And she was there was no doubt about that. She got him to go and I’ll be forever grateful to her for that. After being in therapy and having it continually make my life better I so relate with his replies.

How she opened doors to things he didn’t even know was there. You can see he is pensive but lighter as he says this. When you unearth stuff and give it room to breathe. Process what it is. You feel so much better. For me always starts out with this uneasy pressure and fire in my belly. The anxiety and uncomfortableness of it.

Then by the time we’re done dissecting it that feeling is gone and I feel noticeably lighter. Guarantee you was the same for him. You can tell by how he talks about it. Look at how Lucy is looking at him as he speaks. She can sense it too. Gah it’s so good. She is so impressed and proud of him. Look at her face in the first two gifs. It says it all to me. Melissa, like Eric, has a remarkable ability to convey so much emotion through her eyes. Why we have a super couple everyone. Our actors who portray them are superb.

Tim goes on to say now those confessions are being dissected. Up in the cloud for some FBI IT guy to come un-encrypt them. I hate that so much for him. No doubt the confessions he had were very raw and vulnerable. To have them exposed has to be so violating. I know I would be feeling incredibly violated if mine were leaked. It’s supposed to be a safe space to work your crap out. Be emotional, vulnerable, and talk your feelings out. Which is so hard for our boy.

Wish we could've seen his sessions. But they didn't have time with ten eps. Maybe S7? Tim continuing on to say how they’re going to be analyzed for evidentiary value. I hate that so much. Tim is putting a light spin on it. But we know deep down how much that bothers him. If they were in a better spot or even together he would voice that. But they’re not there yet. Lucy looks at him with a soft smile though. One betraying her feelings for this man. Telling him she’s sorry. Because she really is. Last thing she'd ever want for him.

Lucy then asks if he said anything revealing about her? Because of course he did. There’s no way in hell that man didn’t talk about her. She was one of the main reasons he sought out therapy. But there’s nothing to be done about what he revealed at this point. What’s done is done as they say. His joke had me cracking up so very much. I know it was misinterpreted by some. Wondering if he was deflecting.

He was not. He clearly said intimate and personal things in his sessions. Like I said earlier supposed to be a safe space to do so. But given where they are right now. The fact that this is their first real convo in almost four episodes he keeps it light. Maybe someday when they’re back together they can dip their toe back in but that time is not now. As I said in the very beginning of this scene. He is respecting her boundaries in this moment.

Doing this for couple reasons. One making light of it because he’s feeling vulnerable in this moment. Two he wants to lighten the mood because this is a serious subject. I wanna cry at how much he’s grown to even be vulnerable enough to share this with her. Her reply reminded me of 5x21 when she asked Tim if he missed her? It’s so cute and such a light hearted way to end this scene. This scene represents significant growth for him and for their relationship. They’re on the road to slowly healing and I’m here for it.

The hit was pops off. Tim sees one of the guys taking a truck to escape. He pursues him alone and jumps in back. Luckily his wife sees this and takes off after her man. Doesn’t waste anytime going after him. I love it sfm. When the chips are down they are just there for each other. I’ll forever love how fiercely protective they are of one another. Makes my heart swell with shippy happiness. Angela joins Lucy in the pursuit of Tim.

We watch as Lucy is having a panic attack watching Tim struggle. He is losing the battle quickly and she cannot just sit there and let him get hurt or worse. The love of her life is being demolished in this fight. She physically can’t stand it and tells Angela to take the wheel. Angela is floored by her determination to get to him. If you weren’t already impressed with the BAMF Lucy Chen has become. You will be now. Look at how she jumps onto that truck.

The music once again perfection as the scene unfolds. She is fueled by the need to protect her person and some adrenaline to go along with it. I love Tim’s face when she appears. So thankful she is there because he was NOT I repeat not winning. He was upside down so quickly. It’s why Lucy is there saving him. They immediately fall back into the well oiled machine they are in the field. Taking down this guy together. Always say they look like poetry in motion at work this scene is continual proof of that.

I love the looks they share in the cab. Tim’s far more telling than hers. Looks like he’s falling in love with her all over again For the second episode in a row. Floored by the cop she’s become. How amazing she was to make that jump and save his ass. He is forever in awe of this woman in front of him. Saying so much with just a look there Timothy. You are at work put those heart eyes away haha Actually don’t I love it so much. You can see the utter reverence in his eyes for her. Does my shippy soul good to see it.

The look Tim gives her outside the truck is EVERYTHING. She just risked her life to save him. That man is in shock. After everything he did. The fact that she would risk her life for him like that.... He can't believe it. That’s the face of a man astonished by the woman standing before him. She did it because she still loves you my silly goober of a man. But we will get there I’m sure of it. Like I said earlier this is a slow healing and I’m ready for the ride. I really am.

So much is being said with these looks and no words are even spoken. That’s the beauty of our ship right here. That silent communication only they have. How they can convey so much with just a look. God I love this ship. There’s a reason they’ve had a stranglehold on me for years. Tim cannot take his eyes off the woman in front of him. I love it so much.

T.O. Tim would’ve lost his mind at her action. In love Tim can’t stop being in awe of her for it. I can’t get over how he is looking at her. It’s so telling. Lucy is reciprocating will a look of her own. Their instinct to reach out to each other but they hold back. *sigh*. Such a an incredible fight scene. Our ship got back to back finales with bad ass fight scenes. I love watching them in the field. That’s where their roots begin. Why I love it so much.

We start off the glorious elevator scene. (And fantastic song in the background. Can't praise the music department enough.)We get back to back goodies in this space too. The scene we’re about to embark on is beautifully done. Eric and Melissa doing what they do best. Knocking it out of the park with their skills and chemistry. I love Tim’s 'Lucy smile' being in full force as she walks up to him. *happy sigh* That man could not be more in love with her if he tried. Lucy isn’t holding back with the heart eyes when he’s not looking either. Her being the one to crack the joke is precious. Lightening the vibe instantly.

Making a crack about his injury. Her way of showing she cares without it getting too personal. Because they just aren’t there yet and ya know that’s ok. This is going to be a slow burn to reconciliation. I’m actually pretty excited about it. Tim returns her affections with a joke of his own. Saying slacker is his middle name haha Ever the gentlemen let’s Lucy go on first. They settle into the elevator with some charged energy. Lucy retreats into the back of it. Not ready to be standing that close to him yet.

Wanting to keep whatever this interaction may be brief. She’s still hurting and it shows. Also, knowing the magnetic pull of theirs too strong for her to tempt fate by being closer to him. Tim feels this too as he settles in. Doesn’t push it. His spatial awareness around her remains considerate. Stays out of her bubble for the most part. The growth train with Tim continues. I’m floored by this scene everyone. Just floored. Also proud and astonished by this man. Opening up to not once but TWICE in the same episode.

Let us delve into this wonderful scene with how Tim opens it up. His back to her still. Respecting this physical boundary she has set up. I wanna start by saying watch Lucy in the background as he speaks. He only slightly turns his body so he can’t fully see it. The look of apprehension present? Yes. She is like a wounded animal, not sure if she can trust the man in front of her fully. But she cannot for the life of her keep the love and reverence out of her eyes. She does it the entire scene.

Just because she can’t trust him yet doesn’t mean she isn’t still madly in love this man. Her actions in the OP proving as much. Tim leads off with her saving his life. Blatantly stating she saved his life. Who are you and what have you done with Tim Bradford? Lucy deflects because she doesn’t know how to handle this new Tim. One who is graciously giving her credit. Lucy is feeling vulnerable herself and pushing it away. Telling Tim he had him. Honey, you don’t jump onto a moving truck out another vehicle in motion if he had him lol

Tim refuses to take ANY credit for this. Telling her basically how fucked he was in that moment. Reminding her of his predicament. Letting her know how much he DID NOT have him. He knows he screwed up in his approach and she saved him from his mistake. The growth here makes me wanna cry. They are happy tears don’t worry. The more I go through this season the more I’m glad we had this all happen. I know you must think I’m crazy for saying that. But it’s true.

Can you imagine S1 Tim acknowledging his mistake and showing gratitude to Lucy for saving him? Hell, even S5 Tim, who is madly in love with her, couldn’t share the credit in 5x05 for her saving his life in the pilot. This is a much different Tim Bradford we are looking at folks. Despite all the crap with Dr. London he has grown. Their fallout brought him to a place where he could. To the point where he is thanking her for saving him. No bravado. No tough Tim. Just vulnerability plain and simple. Not only that but sincere gratitude.

Lucy can see the vulnerability he is displaying to her. She can feel how sincere his words are because she knows this man. Back in 6x09 she asked John how he sounded. Because she can determine everything about where is by the tone of his voice. Lucy can’t even see his face really but can tell how sincere he is being by his voice.

That’s why we get this incredibly soft look from her. Heart eyes galore as she tells him ‘You’re welcome.’ As I stated earlier she may not trust him right now. But god is she is so in love with this man. It’s written all over how she is staring at him as she replies above.

Getting me all in my shippy feels and igniting my excitement. I have no doubt Tim feels she doesn’t love him anymore. If he turned around and saw her revealing look of love he would know. But he doesn’t. Being respectful of her space in this moment he keeps his back turned.

It’s here we see Tim internalizing everything. Gathering up the courage to turn around and tell her what’s been on his heart. Something I’m sure has been rattling around in his head since he started therapy. Their hug in this very elevator likely intensified these feelings even more. The kindness and empathy she showed him. Even though he felt unworthy of it. It stirred something up in him. Realizing again what he once had that he so hastily threw away. Once again Eric be killing me with his expressiveness. Tim finds the courage to turn around and speak his peace.

We watch him be vulnerable and open up to her for the third time in this ep. Second time just in this moment. Once I was shocked and proud enough. But three all together? I’m damn right giddy at this point. He starts off STRONG. Admitting he knows he ruined everything. This is HUGE. Finally admitting fault to her. The fact that he knows this and is acknowledging it. *screams into a pillow* It's everything we've waited for. It’s an incredible start to this part. So many were mad at him in 6x07. It wasn’t fair or just to Tim. He needed time to get here. Lucy may need her own therapy and growth. But is little more evolved in the emotional game than Tim.

Also it's WHY he needed therapy in the first place. Wasn’t fair to expect that out the gate for him pre-therapy. You don’t get his character if that’s what you expected IMO. Sorry if that’s harsh but it’s true. It’s what makes this scene even more satisfying. To watch him make the journey to this moment with her. To let her know he screwed up royally. That he wouldn’t have blamed her for turning on him. He made it easy to. This second line showing he still has growth to do. To get to the place where he knows Lucy love him through anything. But he’s a WIP as we all are lol

Lucy isn’t sure she is ready for this conversation. We can see that she struggles to even make eye contact with him. Like I said earlier, she’s having a hard time trusting him, let alone accepting this newer side of Tim. It’s a lot for her to take in post OP. She’s also still harboring a lot of anger towards him. You can see it percolating all over her expression. Tears forming in her eyes. Threatening to fall at any second. Melissa out here trying kill me with her amazing acting.

That anger is ever present and hasn't really had a chance to breathe or surface at all. I mentioned in 6x09 that she hadn't really dealt with the trauma of their breakup fully. Her reaction above is proof of that. This is why she’s letting him know he doesn’t have to do this. Because, deep down, this is what she’s wanted, but she isn’t sure she is actually ready for it. She hasn't sorted through her own feelings and anger fully about all this. Fingers crossed s7 does that or she is there by then. Also Lucy is trying to give Tim an out he is REFUSING to take with her reply.

Tim isn’t going to let this moment pass by without saying this. He is trying to repair them with something he should’ve done long ago. Communication. Honest communication with her. It’s on his heart to do this and nothing is stopping him. It’s here he says a line that makes us all swoon. Makes us all wanna kiss him for. Also, it's making me incredibly emotional in the process. He’s just so god damn sincere it’s making my heart ache in the best way. Letting her know she will never know how much he appreciates her kindness.

Because to Tim he felt so unworthy of it. He felt that way before they broke up. Her continuing to be the same caring empathetic person to him afterwards? Blowing his mind. Also reminding him of this incredible person he let slip through his fingers. It’s an epiphany he’s having here in this moment. What he’s really thanking her for is far more than just the truck and their elevator hug.

She’s shown him her kindness and big heart since the start of their relationship. When he was a dumpster fire and all she could see was his good heart. The man that was beneath all the damage. Lucy has been a constant source of joy, positivity and love in his life. He would be remiss not to thank her for all that she has done for him. This is extending for their whole relationship IMO. His words holding extra meaning in that regard. Thanking her for their entire relationship.

This next part is friggin EVERYTHING. This is Tim acknowledging he took her choice and voice away in 6x06. He is giving her all the say in this moment. Letting her know he will spend the rest of his life trying to pay her back. Which makes my heart happy on so many levels. Wanting to EARN his spot back at her side. Not just waltzing back in. He wants to demonstrate his commitment and win back his place in her life. Gah it’s so good.

I can't wait to see what does for his small doses in s7. Also, there’s something so beautiful about Lucy just being Lucy that reminds him why he fell in love with her in the first place. About what he has lost as well. Knowing this incredible person needs to be earned back. He then follows it up with whatever small doses she allows. Which is now on HER terms. He’s giving Lucy her voice and choice back.

Things he robbed her of in their breakup. Took away her agency when he did these things. Beautiful thing is he recognizes this and is letting her know. Not only does he have a lot to make up for, but if she allows him to, it’ll be fully on her terms and say. You’re dead inside if you weren’t tearing up in this moment. I was a mess. Also If you can’t see the enormous amount of growth this moment represents I can’t help you lol

Lucy’s guarded but softened look says everything. How she is longing to let him back in but can’t just yet. Almost like how a rescue animal would react. The need to want to trust is there. But it hasn’t been rebuilt yet. She is hesitant to truly trust in it. Lucy is floored by the man standing in front of her though. The myriad of emotions coursing through her is reflected above. Just look at her eyes alone. It’s here we can see her soften a little. Defrost a bit. She’s not there yet but she will be. We all love Lucy for her loving and forgiving heart. I don’t see why she wouldn’t let him back in if he continues this growth. This desire to make things right between them.

Working on himself to be better. Regaining his place in her life. Something he wants so badly but realizes he needs to earn back. There is a great quote from Ted Lasso that fits perfectly here. "I hope that either all of us or none of us are judged by the actions of our weakest moments. But rather by the strength we show when and if we're ever given a second chance." I remember there being a small faction of people being nasty about Tim still. How they never wanted Lucy to forgive him. It was those same people who were terrible about his mental health crisis too. Showing their emotional immaturity once again. Made my blood boil.

I avoided the Chenford tag because couldn't take the outrageous takes they were spewing. Here is what I have to say to those people. One. I hope you never make a mistake in your life then. Because the way you want this man to be treated is with zero empathy or compassion. I highly doubt you'd want that for yourself. Second refer to the quote above. No one should be defined by the actions of their weakest moments. That's not who Lucy Chen is. There is no way she would hold this against someone she loves forever. Tim is going to earn her back I guarantee you that. He is going to show strength when given that second chance. Mark my words.

Tim gives her the sweetest Lucy smile before he turns back around. Feeling better having shared a piece of himself with her. Proud of himself for being vulnerable with her even though scared him to death. Written all over his face in the second gif. But he couldn't let her leave that elevator without letting her know he was going to put the work in. Going to try and fix what he so hastily broke.

It’s once again how Lucy is looking at him when he turns back around that gets me. That longing to reach out to him but keeping herself from doing as such. Keeping herself rooted to that wall in an effort to stop herself from reaching out like she longs to. If you were wondering if she was still in love with him look at her. That is the face of a woman who is still so in love with the man before her.

Tim tops it off with bidding her good night. Nothing more nothing less. He said what he needed to say. It’s up to Lucy to accept it or ignore it completely. It’s her prerogative either way. Which is the impression he wanted to leave her with. Lucy keeping that longing but questioning look up as she follows him out below. We can see her starting to see the change in him as she does. First he tells her he's gone to therapy and now this. I saw a something the other day it said 'An apology isn't one if there isn't changed behavior.' Tim is exhibiting changed behavior here.

Lucy is feeling torn between staying mad or starting to heal. Wanting desperately to believe in his words. That is written all over her face as she exits the elevator. We see her face change into a small smile at the end. It's not in this gif but she does. This was the start to healing everyone. Also was the perfect way to end the season for them IMO. Why you ask? Because it didn’t need to more than this. Anything more would be been a disservice to this SL they created. Would’ve made breaking them up pointless. It had to have a purpose and this was it. Growth. Also this scene is a promise for s7.

I know some wanted a frantic hook up but it wasn't right to do so. They are not ready to be back together yet. Both have a lot of work to do before we get there. How they ended them for the season was *chefs kiss* It ended with Tim acknowledging the wrong he had done and what he’s going to do to make it up. That’s what makes s7 so exciting. I think he will continue therapy. I really do. I also think we’re about to see a determined Tim driven in his quest to make amends. Get to see a side of him we haven’t seen before and that excites me to no end.

Because Lucy Chen brings out the best in this man. And s7 is going to reflect that. As much as this season ripped my heart out. Truly I haven’t been this devastated by a couple in half a decade at least. If not a little more tbh. But rewatching this and having a better insight to it. I’m glad they did this. We all love Lucy rebuilding him and loving him into a better version of himself. Don’t get me wrong I love that. She changed his life dramatically for the better. Thing is she was his safety blanket emotionally.

I said this back in 6x07 that it was Tim’s journey to go on not Lucy’s. It was his problem to fix. She couldn’t fix what was wrong inside him. Only therapy and putting in the work was going to get that done. Their breakup was an eventuality without Tim growing. When they get back together (which they will) we will be grateful for the painful growth this season gave them. Said this before. Rather have them evolve snd grow as characters than be puddle deep like Bailian.

We’re going to get a stronger and even better version of Chenford in s7. Better version of them as characters as well. I cannot wait for the slow burn of their reconciliation. Going to make all the hurt worth it. Because it wouldn’t be right or realistic to rush them back together. I’m ready for the slow burn of s7. I really am. It's going to make when they get back together all the more sweet. I’ll be excited when we lose our minds collectively when it does. Also enjoying the journey it’ll take to get us there. I might do minis for s7 too. I’ll post something when we get closer to that if that’s someone people want.

Until then remember our ship is the best ship on this show. They’ll find their way back to each other. When they do it’s going to make it all worth it ❤️ Also the link above is for the song in the elevator. Whoever is in charge if music is truly gifted at what they do. Every song was lyrically perfect or just musically apt for the moment it was in. Thank you to everyone once again for the likes, comments (please leave comments haha I love them sfm) Reblogs they make all The effort so worth it. Shall see you all in s7 :)

~~~~

Side notes-Non Chenford

More creepy waking up with Bailian. I don’t get get them as a couple. I really don’t. Like watching paint dry.

Loved Aaron's mic drop of a moment with Dr. London. Well done sir. Shall miss you. Come and visit eh? Maybe for a wedding...

[parkminijiminie]

This fandom is fucked now. No one comes forward to correct anything about the translations. I do believe that op was lying about the translations now. People told her in comments too that she was changing the subtitles 2 days later and lying but it just irritates me so much that no one comes forward to give the exact correct translation who knows Korean too...lol she wasn't even coming forward by herself to tell those who are saying she is lying to confront them. If she's lying... someone should come forward to tell us that who wants to know and don't understand the language. That op was also a jkkr. There is no one on twitter on any social media who is ot7 and a true person who can give us the correct translation without any manipulation?? It sucks. No one you can believe really. They all are manipulators according to who they ship and it makes you feel like a puppet when you don't know the language.

( i just wanted to know bcz I'm curious otherwise I don't think it's gonna change anything when jk also said...."we wouldn't met either if it's not for this show..." So I don't think a line will change anything when he literally said this next)

I agree on this. I have many asks in my inbox about the translation, but I don't know what to tell you guys. I don't know who to trust, and I am not a Korean speaker.

The official translation was: "When you were busy and I was free, you never called me. When I was busy and you were free, I never called you. " Which means they didn't meet up because both of them didn't put the effort. To which JM replied: "I called you."

Since JM said he did call, that led people to believe it was actually JK who didn't stay in touch, which makes JK's previous statement like he was trying to make it seem like both of them were at fault when in reality it was more him.

Now, if we are to believe people that the translation is wrong, things do change somewhat.

People are saying JK actually said this: "When you were busy and I was free, you didn't call me. When I was busy and you were free, you didn't call me. " It sounds a little bit confusing and like he is repeating himself, but in fact he is trying to point out that whether JM was busy or free didn't matter, in either case Jimin didn't reach out to him.

This translation actually makes a lot more sense in the context of everything else we saw at the time - JM working and hardly mentioning JK. JK alone at night and always mentioning JM.

Both translations mean that they didn't look for each other a lot, but in one case, it was a mutual fault, maybe more on JK (because JM said he called) and in the other case, JM was the one to blame. I am sort of inclined to believe the new translation as it makes more sense with everything else. It would explain JK's body language and attitude in the car. He makes sense for him to be more abrasive if JM had put him on the back burner for months. He seemed a little bitter.

One more thing that sort of proves it to me is the fact that JK said with a serious face that they were supposed to meet up for a drink, to which JM replied with a laugh "staff like this happens". It leads me to believe there was, at some point, an arrangement to meet up, but for whatever reason, JM canceled it, and it never happened. If you look at JK's face at that point in the conversation, he definitely looks peeved. More than once, he sounded accusatory to JM. It seems like JM called from time to time (JM said that he did), but not enough for JK and it didn't lead to anything more.

When JK said, "we wouldn't have met if it wasn't for the show." Everyone took it as confirmation that they didn't want to hang out with each other, or JK didn't at least, but why would JM travel across the world for a little weekend if this was true? Why would JK agree to it this proposal so out of the blue amidst his crazy schedule unless he wanted it (or was forced by someone, but JK is a guy who can't really be forced into things)?

To me, when JK said they wouldn't have met, it sounded more like he meant given the schedule he knew was ahead of him and JM's own ignorance of keeping in contact. I think both of them realized this physical distance wasn't doing them any favours, and since it was JM who was maybe more at fault for it, if we believe the new translation, it was also him who decided to resolve it by taking a chance and going to NY.

When JM said the "this is why I came", I believe he meant exactly this. He knew it was time for him to do something or they would have drifted seriously apart. Especially that by this point in time, JK shedules were just beginning and MS was coming up, and even if they were already thinking about enlisting together at that point, which is debatable, they didn't know for sure. From JM POV at the time JK was getting busier, MS was approaching where they could be separated for 2 years and their relationship was in danger, so the first chance he actually had and was free, he acted.

And it seems this was exactly what JK was waiting for. That's why he responded with "I know. You're here. You're here. You're here. Finally".