#right after watching the pilot i made a post about how refreshing it was

[mikimeiko]

Legion | Season 1 (2017)

[xensergal]

Xen "Octavia" Sergal Goes On A Very Stupid And Long Rant About Her Favourite Show Helluva Boss Because She Needs To Get This Shit Off Her Chest ASAP™: The Movie.

This is a long, long ass fucking rant about this show. i will type shit as it comes up in my head. i dont care if my takes are "trash" or "shit" or whatever. its my tumblr and i get to choose whats posted here. ok.

its actually fucking insane how my 2 favourite shows are on near complete opposites to each other on the surface. you have an impossibly perfectly written show with 0 bad episodes and the greatest characters to ever be on TV (Breaking Bad), and then you have a 15-20m per episode comedy/musical/drama on youtube (Helluva Boss). but this isnt about me comparing BrBa to HB, its just about HB.

i have a lot to say about this show. a lot i really, REALLY couldnt get out due to twitter character limits/not really having many friends who watch helluva boss, so tumblr gets my full thoughts, straight from the top of my head. right as theyre being produced. enjoy.

Stuff

the premise of this show is pretty damn cool. a comedy/musical/drama about a bunch of imps in hell who start up an assassination business to make ends meet, while also yknow shenanigans n other shit happens like complicated love trigonometry, bc hey its a show you cant 1 thing forever bc thatd be stale *cough* SITCOMS *cough* and repetitive and would be a shit show, this isnt a shit show. its one of the best ive ever seen. but back to what i was saying. the show has a fantastic premise with good plot and cool characters i will get to in just a moment. i rewatched all of whats been uploaded for this post. to refresh my thoughts and finally, get all this shit off my chest which ive been needing to for all this time.

O YEA OBV SPOILERS FOR ALLLL OF HELLUVA BOSS DUHHHHHHHHHH

Pilot

this is 3 years old and damn does it show. the animation is very stiff (but still, well made) compared to later episodes, and especially 1 which ill get into later. but the pilot does a great job and introducing the viewer to the main characters of the show, those being Blitzo (Brandon Rogers), Moxxie (Richard Horvitz), Millie, and Loona (both Erica Lindbeck). all with weird, and fucked up relationships with eachother. M&M are a married couple (gross), Loona is a complete whore with syphilis, and Blitzo is her adoptive Father whos also a complete perv who stalks M&M at their house. its fun! its a good plot with good characters and its pretty damn funny. theres also a major supporting character introduced in this episode, Stolas (Brock Baker). i love him, youll see why very soon.

the pilot isnt without its issues tho, the pacing is complete ass with flashbacks inside of flash backs and its just, man idk its fucked up dude i dont like it. weird shit.

7.5/10, good shit, good opening to HB

Murder Family // S1: Episode 1

good episode! damn after a year of waiting after the pilot for something new people surely had high expectations and id say E1 followed, its pretty good.

plot wise it follows I.M.P on a job to kill some bitch n yknow shenanigans n whatnot moxxie fucks it up because hes a bitch and people almost die but moxxie saves em in the end its good and i like it!

some stuff changed from the pilot, mainly voice actors. Erica Lindbeck no longer plays both Millie and Loona, just Loona. meanwhile Millies new VA is Vivian Nixon and shes pretty good! Millie has more of a southern accent now which will make sense in a future episode. however Stolas also had a VA change, Bryce Pinkham. its flawless and makes me love Stolas even more, you will see why.

8/10 episode, great shit. much better than the pilot.

Loo Loo Land // S1: Episode 2

words cannot describe how much i love this episode. its flawless.

saying something is flawless is big, really big, but i do feel like this one is. and its all thanks to the opening sequence. the opening sequence makes the audience do a complete 180 about what they thought of a character, no longer is stolas just "a rich, important figure in hell who is extemely gay for blitzo" hes that, plus a loving and devoted father. and the music, its perfection. its the highlight of the whole moment alongside the beautiful visuals and deep character development. and on the subject of characters. Stolas #1 comfort character.

this episode introduces quite a few, the first 2 youll see are Octavia (Barrett Wilbert Weed), Stolas' daughter and Literally Me™, and also Stella (Georgina Leahy), Stolas' arranged wife who wants him dead as hell with NO shoes on in the casket for fucking blitzo. shes hot. very hot. girlboss. shes mean to Stolas tho :(

this episodes plot is cool too. I.M.P make an exception for Stolas and are hired to be bodyguards for the day at a theme park oh joy a theme park how whimsical and fun loving! oh goody! everything is on fire by the end of the episode! splendid!

but like yeaa dude this episode slaps, great plot great characters great shit, O YEA CHARACTERS i forgot about Fizzarolli (Alex Brightman) hes in this episode too, at least a robot version of him. Blitzo and Octavia hate him, thats cool.

10/10, i think this is the best episode of HB released so far. it also has Wally Wackford (Don Darryl Rivera)

Wally Wackford Counter: 1

Spring Broken // S1: Episode 3

oh damn! another banger! lets keep this good episode streak going!

this episodes also great. not as great as E2, but still great.

I.M.P get their parking spot stole by Verosika Mayday (Cristina "Vee" Valenzuela) whos a famous popstar in hell (thats why theyre in hell because they listen to pop and pop sucks listen to metal instead youll also go to hell but for a much cooler reason) and just happens to be Blitzo's ex girlfriend. so Blitzo challenges her to a duel where he bets I.M.P can kill more people than Verosika can fuck by the end of the day an who wins gets the parking spot (spoiler alert blitzo wins bc ofc, plot demands it) and then shenanigans lol.

i really dont have much to say about this one other than i like it, verosika is hot, drunk moxxie is funny, and that hehehoo sex joke. O YEA the musics good too its very good

9/10. banger

C.H.E.R.U.B // S1: Episode 4

i hate this episode. i really really hate it.

nearly everything which couldve went poorly, did. and i dont like that. let me explain.

the plot is okay, I.M.P go to kill a trillionaire. good! thats cool! fuck billionaires and especially fuck trillionaires. meanwhile a competitor, C.H.E.R.U.B, is trying to stop this guy from ending his life. and I.M.P cant have that so they convince him to fuckin die already lol. its fine but how the episode executes this is atrocious. you could easily skip through this one and go onto E5 anyway, this plot adds nothing to the current overarching storyline. yet.

for comedy, pacing and the actual joke is everything. especially if your main writer for this episode (at least by order of appearance in credits) has been doing comedy skits on youtube for many, many years now. no offense to Brandon Rogers, hes phenomenal, but this episodes pacing and jokes are trash. the pacing goes as follows:

Beginning plot development/jokes - meeting the competitors/jokes - joke - joke - joke - fight - joke - end joke. its trash and doesnt work at all imo. the jokes fall flat and its not well paced at all.

however there is 1 more point i want to bring up about not just the episode, but the show in general. regarding moxxie and the things which happen to him. moxxie in this show is essentially a less depressed Squidward Tentacles. this sounds fucking insane but Let Me Explain. the writing has him treated like a fucking punching bag for jokes and/or plot development. in E3, this was for plot development. he got stuffed in a beer keg and nearly got ate by a monster fish. this episode it was for no reason whatsoever. he just, got hurt and thats the joke. the joke is moxxie got hurt. thats it. next episode does it worse, ill get to it.

but anyway, this episode was shit but i liked the fight scene in it, that was cool.

4/10, trash but the fight was good. it also has wally wackford.

Wally Wackford Counter: 2

The Harvest Moon Festival // S1: Episode 5

wow.

when this episode first released, i didnt think much of it. i believe i said it was about an 8/10ish or something like that. rewatching it, i couldnt have been more wrong.

this episode has some fan-fucking-tastic plot. and it just might be the best plot driven episode to date. maybe E7 gives it a run for its money, maybe.

the plot is as follows, Stolas invites I.M.P to the wrath ring for a day off for the harvest moon festival. here we get to meet Millies parents Lin (Su Jan Chase) and Joe (Edward Bosco), but also Striker, whos played by Norman Fucking Reedus from video game kojima. and my GOD he fucking slays the role. besides Bryce Pinkham as Stolas, Norman Reedus as Striker has to be my personal favourite Voice in the show. its fucking fantastic.

however there is 1 character i do have to mention in particular, Sallie May (Morgana Ignis).

Why her in particular? she only has a few lines! yea true, however it gives me an opportunity to talk about the shows flawless LGBTQ+ representation. In Sallie's case, shes Transgender. you can tell the gender of an Imp by the pattern on the horns, millie for example has mostly black horns with thin white stripes, a sign of being AFAB. Moxxie and Sallie however have even sized black and white horn stripes, a sign of being AMAB. but what about other characters?

(these are all from memory so forgive me if any are wrong)

Blitzo is Pansexual

Moxxie and Millie are both Bisexual

Stolas is Gay

Stella and Octavia are currently unconfirmed (i think) tho i headcanon them both as Lesbian because i can.

Striker is also probably Gay i mean have you seen him talking to blitzo like cmon

(also funny side note i should add the VA's for Stella and Sallie, Georgina and Morgana respectively, both ship their characters together i think thats pretty fuckin cool i feel like i just have to mention that somewhere)

theres def a lot more ive missed, however these are the ones which come to mind. their sexuality/gender identity is never forced in your face, its never too painfully obvious that theyre gay for the sake of it, its pretty much flawless representation and i feel more shows should take a thing or 2 from HB in this aspect

Gushing over Norman Reedus amd LGBTQ+ rep aside, the plot revolves around a yearly game of strength in the harvest festival where blitzo and striker (among many others) compete in together. also tangent time

LETS COUNT HOW MANY TIMES MOXXIE GETS FUCKED BY A SHARK

3. thats 3 times. again, punching bad. what did moxxie do to you, anyway tangent over.

anyway striker competes in the games to gain the trust of I.M.P to stab them in the back by killing their gateway into the living world, Stolas. and you wouldnt believe who hired him (at least i didnt when first watching), Stella. anyway moxxie finds out, shit goes down, they fight, striker gets away. moxxie finally gains the trust of millies parents, big reveal, episode end. banger fucking plot and its just so damn good.

remember how i said the animation in this show gets really gooood,,this is the episode i was thinkin about when writing that. this episode has hands down the best animation (aside maybe the finale of E6) overall of any episode. with cool panorama shots which go around the whole charaters, n shit like that its great.

banger song too, striker did a sing and its good.

10/10, a great episode, but still a weaker 10/10 than E2. it also has Wally Wackford

Wally Wackford Counter: 3

Truth Seekers // S1: Episode 6

I barely remember anything from this episode, and at the time of writing, i only watched it five minutes ago.

so the plot is like, blitzo and moxxie get captured by crazy conspiracy guys called D.H.O.R.K.S (haha dorks) and its up to Da Girlz™ to save em meanwhile Da Boyz™ get truth gassed and spill a bunch of plot shit and its good i dont remember what exactly they said but its a fuckin good scene the animation is great with a unique visual style bc theyre hallucinating and OOOOOOOH the hallucination song its a fucking bop i love it (This is a good time to mention for anyone who yet doesnt know Sam Haft has put a bunch of the songs hes wrote for HB on Spotify, they may be just covers, but theyre still fucking great.) but anyway the fuckin, fight scene when millie and loona catch up to moxxie and blitzo is gahhdamn fuckin beautiful its so well animated n shit and then ya just got

Demon Stolas.

because fuck yes.

anyway yea good episode i guess plots good everythings good its just, i forget about this episode so often im convinced its not real

6/10, banger, just wish it wasnt so forgettable

OZZIE'S // S1: Episode 7 - FINALE PART I

rewatching this episode hurts. i cant put it into words how, its just a lot of fucked up shit to take in at once and i really do not want to write about this because its late and im tired so ill keep it fucking simple

Blitzo fucks everything up by using a fake date with Stolas as a cover to stalk M&M on their 1 year anniversary of their wedding, but then moxxie breaks into song and Asmodeus (James Monroe Iglehart) does not like that one bit so he and fizzarolli fuckin rip him a new asshole meanwhile blitzo interferes and gets both him and stolas into shit and my GOD this is where it gets depressing.

this song, despite it being a banger, is depressing as shit. i cant stand it, i cant stand how it treats blitzo and stolas

the shitty choices theyve made...

the people theyve thrown away...

its all coming back to them in song form. and it fucking sucks for them.

but m&m are doin okay ig they fuckin, hit fizz over the head and continued their song after that shit its all good for them tho ig or smthn idk im tired.

10/10, a phenomenal ending to the 1st season of one of the greatest adult animated shows ever written. it also has Wally Wackford.

Wally Wackford Counter: 4

THE CIRCUS // S2: Episode 1

damn i like this episode

i like the blitzo backstory with how he and fizz used to be before they now hate eachother, with how he met stolas and became his first friend. with everything really. its a great episode and like

damn its good idk what to say im tired its just a good episode.

Johnathan Freeman does a good job as Paimon, stolas' dad too even tho hes a shitty dad.

ok yea plot tho, it takes place like ~25 years before the pilot which is neat i like backstories. but like, paimon literally bought blitzo just so stolas could have a friend so he didnt need to be a father to him thats just. man i dont like that. blitzo and stolas are so cute tho i like them. uuuh fuckin, more stella content too shes back still a girlboss still hot, still mean to stolas :( you can tell im tired cant you lemme just say a thing

WAIT I FORGOT THE SONG AT THE END the song at the end is so goood i love it. idk if i like it more than You Will Be Okay but i like it its good i like it thats all i can really say rn. i could say more if i wasnt tired but im tired.

9/10, good shit, good backstory, good good good good episode.

SEEING STARS // S2: Episode 2

i have. so much to say about this. too many words to fit into tumblrs infinite character limit. but ill keep it brief because i want to

you have no idea, how long, i have waited for this to happen. just one scene between Octavia and Loona. just one, and now i have it. i am complete.

i saw this post which talked about star and moon symbolism between octavia and loona and it made me realise, holy shit, there is gonna be so much more octavia and loona content in future episodes if all this isnt a coincidence. and i am ready for it all.

i could talk about the rest of the episode if i wanted too, but i dont. i only want to talk about these perfect 2 minutes between these characters. i do think this is the best moment in the entire show so far. seeing a headcanon that youve had for so long (in this case loona and via being friends) become true, it connects with you in a way that not much else can.

and i dont care about the rest of the episode. not one bit. not right now anyway. i just want this moment, forever.

10/10. a good episode all around, and a truly, perfect moment. it also has Wally Wackford.

Wally Wackford Counter: 5

and damn thats like, all of helluva boss so far. ive been writing this for like 7h now becasue tumblr keeps breaking for me and i keep having to write anything all over again. god im tired. but im so glad to finally get all this off my chest after years of not really having anywhere to gush about this show. it means a lot to me, more than what people think. and i dont know where i would be without it, literally.

"but whats with the wally wackford counter" its there because its funny and hes a funny character.

[lady-of-lyon]

So, I made one post a while back about how awesomely feminist the show Wild Kratts was, with how its two main female characters were women of color in engineering and deserving roles of power, female villains who weren’t motivated by spite or quest for youth, etc, but today I wanted to talk about something slightly different, that I’ve wanted to cover for a while now, because I also think it’s very good - and that’s how the show portrays masculinity, in a way that’s really positive!

First, we have our two main characters, Chris and Martin Kratt. Keep in mind these two are basically self-inserts - and there are plenty of creators, especially males, who have used self-insert characters in really scummy ways - all I have to say is Powerpuff Girls reboot and you know exactly what I’m talking about. Even if they weren’t literal self-inserts, male characters, superheroes especially, oftentimes serve the male power fantasy, being just the strong, stoic, all-powerful person so many boys are told they’re supposed to be. I could get into a whole discussion about how the male power fantasy is present even when males are not (ever look through a fashion magazine and wonder why there are so few men? Sure, part of it is that the industry thrives off exploiting women’s insecurities, and men aren’t as concerned for their appearance, but another part of it is so that the guy, looking through it, can feel like he has no competition for these women - there’s a reason so many comedians have jokes about fashion magazines being their sexual awakening as kids. It’s really scummy) but that’s not what this is about. So, the bros had every opportunity to do just that - make themselves these traditional heroes who aren’t actually really good role models, like batman or what have you. It’s certainly not uncommon for celebrity cartoons to do stuff like that. But Martin and Chris chose a different approach. They’re pretty strong standouts for positive masculinity. They’re openly affectionate - both with eachother as brothers, and with their friends. They cry, sometimes over little things - most of the time when big superheroes cry, it’s ‘cause they lost the girl they loved or their mentor or something like that, only in the big, most agonizing moments do they shed a tear. But here, Chris or Martin will cry just because they’ve had a bad day, or because they’re overwhelmed and overjoyed that someone named a mantis after them! In a lot of shows or movies when a guy cries over something little, it’s usually played for laughs, or to emasculate him, but here it’s casual without being unreasonable or overdone. The brothers cry just ad much, maybe even more (haven’t gone back and counted or anything) as the girls do. Not to mention, it’s a very nice depiction of a loving, healthy sibling relationship. As the youngest sibling myself, it’s refreshing to see a pair who don’t abuse eachother with noogies or cruel and snarky remarks. When they do fight, it’s never a screaming match, and also because they had a conflict of interest or disagreed over a fact, not because, say, one of them stole the other’s shirt or is neglecting the other’s feelings. Kids, being very impressionable, get exposed to a lot of abusive sibling relationships played as normal in media, and start thinking this is how siblings are and should act. For instance, my sister (who is now my best friend and has gotten over all these bad habits over time) when she was younger watched a lot of Kim Possible, a show that is great, but has a bad family dynamic with Kim and her little siblings. The “tweebs” as she calls them are always irresponsible, destructive, and making Kim annoyed to no end. My older brother was one of the most polite, reserved, kind little kids, but she still treated him like he was a brat and a nuisance, because that’s what shows like Kim Possible taught her little brothers were. Additionally, I was always treated like a spoiled crybaby who just wanted attention and got away with everything - I was not any of those things, ever, but that’s what shows teach you little sisters are. Sure, Wild Kratts has a smidge of that, with Chris seemingly being the stereotype of the know-it-all little sibling, but instead of being constantly looked town upon for being too “perfect” like with Hailey Long in American Dragon, Martin often praises his brother for his abilities. Sure, Martin gets annoyed when Chris tries to correct him on things, like in the episode Wolf Hawks, but everyone else does too, so it feels more like a take-down of mansplaining than a sibling spat.

I talked too in the feminist post about how refreshing it is that Chris and Martin more or less willingly put themselves under the authority of Koki and Aviva, two women of color. I don’t think it’s possible to say any one character is the “leader,” they all work as a evenly balanced team, but it’s safe to say that Koki and Aviva make the more responsible decisions. The bros try to get out of their calls a few times, but the show plays it more like they’re being irresponsible, and less like they’re renegade cool dudes who don’t take nothing from nobody, especially not two girls. They are pretty much always punished via karma for their reckless choices, most especially in To Touch a Hummingbird, where their arrogant attitudes blow up in their faces rather spectacularly. We also never see the narrative most present in sitcoms, where the male leads mess up and go out of their way to cover it up and ultimately gets away with it - after all, you have to root for them, right, because sure they messed up and had no consequences, but aren’t they just so lovable? No, here Martin and Chris always have to fix their wrongdoing, and it’s always deserved when they get comeuppance. Another aspect of the show I like is that, many times, when the bros get captured or are in peril, they are saved by the women - and most refreshing of all, there’s never a moment of “wink wink nudge nudge wow I can’t believe I had to be rescued by a GIRL” or even “wow you saved me you’re pretty good honey guess I shouldn’t have underestimated you, you go girl!” No, when the girls save them, it’s just - you know, relief? Because they were saved? It’s never a scenario played as an exception, or any more dire than when the bros need to rescue eachother. The bros are genuinely happy to have them as teammates. The show even did the standard “boys vs girls” episode in the form of When Fish Fly - but instead of being actually girls vs. boys, it’s engineers vs. adventurers. There’s nothing really gendered about it - the girls happen to be engineers, and the boys happen to be adventurers. And the episode doesn’t end with the boys being “wow gosh darn I shouldn’t have doubted you girls are better at everything,” it’s a mutual agreement that both parties have hard jobs. Basically, the bros are very naturally respectful of women. That plays more into their feminist narrative too, but either way, it’s refreshing.

Then, we have Jimmy! Jimmy, the lovable gamerboy pizza man. At first glance Jimmy seems like the stereotypical cowardly, pathetic, emasculated loser. He’s frightened of most things, as of yet has no power suit, and he BAKES for crying out loud! But none of these things are framed as terribly bad traits. Sure, we laugh when he screams and runs from an animal, but though it happens over and over, the crew doesn’t get sick of it. They don’t berate him or belittle him because he’s so gosh darn cowardly. There’s a great scene in Rattlesnake Crystal where Jimmy has to deliver something to the bros alone, in the middle of a spooky desert. He is terrified the whole time, sprinting off after he delivers the goods. When Martin and Chris run into him, they don’t laugh at him for being spooked, they just greet and then bid fair well to their friend. To them, this is just Jimmy, and there’s nothing wrong with it. Jimmy isn’t coddled, but he is reassured many times that he’s a valuable member of the team. I love that little message, that you’re just as important of a person even if you can’t do as much or have greater limits. When his friends do try to get him over his fears, it’s not because they have to, that the day will somehow be ruined by Jimmy’s incompetence p, but because they’re his friends, and want him to experience fun and wonderful things that he would otherwise miss out on. But what Jimmy CAN do is just as important! Jimmy is a gamer, which in a lot of shows, is portrayed as a lazy, useless, mindless hobby. But here, because he plays video games, it makes him essential for piloting the ship and teleporting important items. There’s always the joke that video games improves your hand/eye coordination, but recent studies have shown it has much better effects. It can make you much better at keeping track of multiple moving objects and processing technical but variable information- two traits which, fittingly enough, are really really important for air traffic controllers and airplane pilots! He also demonstrates a lot more courage behind the wheel of the Tortuga, which makes sense - in an impersonal setting, he would have more sense of calm and control and courage, because it’s so similar to a video game world. It’s not all too different with how I feel more emboldened to pick fights with people on the internet, but get crazy anxious if a real person so much as looks at me. So Jimmy’s love of video games isn’t because he’s irresponsible, it has real benefits. A quick last point - Jimmy also eats a lot, but they thankfully don’t make him fat or greedy or anything like that. He never takes food from people, he actually bakes, and shares it with others! Having the baker be a boy is a lovely touch.

I might do another post about the toxic masculinity of the two villains, (or four villains, I guess, if I wanna discuss the minions) but I’ve got other work to do, and this post is long enough already, so I’ll get around to it later. I’ll sum it up with this - Wild Kratts is a show that teaches boys it’s not only ok to be kind, but essential. The brothers protect defenseless animals, advocate for things “icky” and “weird,” like bugs or snakes or worms - not because they’re boys, and boys like icky things, but because they genuinely see the beauty in all life, and are encouraging us to slow down and do the same. The Wild Kratts are heroes who save the world not by being the strongest or smartest or coolest, but by looking after those who are exploited and vulnerable, who are essential to the world, even if they can’t always do everything. In Wild Kratts the only weaknesses a man can have isn’t what he can’t do, but what he does do that he shouldn’t have. Sure, it’s a cute show about two funny guys who have cool powers, but it’s also a show about accountability, compassion, respect and trust. The show says “boys will be boys” in all the right ways - Martin is a lovable goof with a heart of gold, but he still has to get his act together when he messes up, and he’s still creative and smart and openly sensitive. Chris is a bit of a know-it-all show-off, but he can also mess up as much as his brother, and is still bold, brave, adventurous, and can put his money where his mouth is. Jimmy is a cowardly, napping, eating machine video-gamer, but he’s still a valued member of the team, has incredible skills and talents, and will always help his friends, even if he is really, really scared. It is so important to have role models like these, in a world dominated by unhealthy machismo. The Wild Kratts are heroes who save the world - both animated, and real.

All they need now is a canon queer character, and I’ll stan them forever! My money’s on Aviva!!

[smalland-angry]

A Cold Awakening (Wrecker x reader)

This is my first time posting a fanfic on tumblr so be nice! I’m trying my best here. The reader is a female just cus I'm trying to get the hang of this. Hope you enjoy! Also I know what planet Orto Plutonia is from the clone wars, but I mostly just needed an icy planet that wasn’t Hoth for the plot. So don’t get on my case about accuracy *please*.

_

You cursed the force or whatever higher being existed for the situation you found yourself in on Orto Plutonia. It was supposed to be a simple mission, that just so happened to go horribly wrong. Hunter had you split up into groups to infiltrate a supposed separatist base, when a sudden snow storm changed things. You and Wrecker found yourselves stuck in a small cave on the icy planet, raging winds and bitter cold surrounding you. You can only hope the other boys have it a little better. You’re currently curled up against the farthest wall of the cave, teeth chattering and body shaking, regardless of the extra layers you had on. Wrecker was a good foot or two away from you, and could tell that you were freezing, while he was, a tad chilly. Even without his helmet on. The large batcher could handle the harsh cold temperatures with his heater of a body. He looked over at you and immediately felt guilty. He wanted to help you, but you were friends and he didn’t want you to do anything you were uncomfortable with. 

“H-hey (Y/N), if ya want, you can sit beside me and I can share my body heat.” His hesitant voice brought you out of your thoughts. You could see a light pink tint across his cheeks but it was probably just the cold. Wrecker was your good friend, and right now being warmer than you were was the first thing on your mind. You tried your best to muster a smile on your semi-numb lips. 

“T-t-thank y-you W-w-wrecker, I w-would ap-p-preciate that.” You were now shoulder to…arm with him. You always thought all the batchers were cute in their own way, but never thought of them as anything more than friends. So why are you feeling so awkward about being this close to Wrecker? You want nothing more than for him to hold you to make you warmer, but just the thought made your face hot. But he’s just a friend! I’m sure he’ll understand though…right?

His arm was so warm, and after much reassurance to yourself, you wrapped your arms around his large one and held it tight in an effort to absorb his warmth. You hid your face in his armor covered arm to attempt to hide your growing blush. 

Wrecker watched as you held onto his arm tightly and hid your face. Looking at you, an unfamiliar warmth filled his gut. You were just so cute. Wrecker always thought you were pretty, but now that you were alone and so close to him, he wished he had this opportunity sooner. A light smile grew on his scarred face and a short chuckle escaped his cold lips. 

“You okay there (Y/N)?” 

Your eyes trailed up to his to find a warm smile on his face and a face playful glint in his eyes. You shoved your face back into the plastoid on his arm. There was something about the way he was looking at you that sent a million butterflies in your stomach a-flight.  

Why is he looking at me like that?

“No I’m still cold.” You grumbled into his armor. A sudden boldness overcame Wrecker and he picked you up effortlessly in his hands and placed you in his lap. He couldn’t help but notice how tiny you were in his arms. 

“Here! This way you won’t be so cold.” Your brain short circuited and you couldn’t find the words to reply. His arms were still holding your back and legs close to him long after he could’ve retracted. He’s just trying to help me and nothing else right? He’s so warm though I don’t think I care. You were suddenly aware of the warmth radiating off of him and lay your head on your shoulder and leaned in closer. So warm. The breathing beneath you stopped for a moment and you quickly realized that your face was nestled into his neck. Immediately you leaned off of him and apologized for getting too close. You didn’t want to make him uncomfortable. 

“It’s okay mesh’la I don’t mind at all.” His eyes couldn’t seem to stay focused on yours and the tint of pink across his cheeks spread across his face. Wrecker brought his arms around you once more to bring you back against him. 

“Thank you, Wrecker.” Your arms lay lightly against his plastoid covered chest. He was very thankful for the fact that his armor covered how fast his heart was beating. So tiny and soft and pretty. 

_

The next morning you were found wrapped in his arms by Omega and the others. You woke up to their snickering to find Wreckers face much closer than you remembered it to be. Your eyes then found your friends above you chuckling to themselves and all the blood in your body rushed to your face. You failed to notice the exchange of credits from one trooper to another. Quickly you tried to squirm out of his arms, but the weight of his body kept you close. He was still asleep, snoring lightly. You looked back at the batchers not doing anything but watching. 

“A little help guys?” 

_

You completed the mission without fail, but since you’ve all gotten back to the ship, you’ve been a hot mess. That night you saw Wrecker coming out of the refresher in just his bottom blacks. Your eyes immediately went to his body of pure muscle and trailed up to his biceps that flexed lightly. God, did he always look like this? The redness of your face startled him, “Mesh’la are you okay?”

You couldn’t trust your voice so with an aggressive nod you quickly turned away and walked past him. That incident on Orto Plutonia did something to you. He was none the wiser, but the other batchers started to catch on. They all noticed how you stared at Wrecker as he was lifting gonky trying to show off to Omega. He was smiling and laughing with her about a joke you didn’t hear. He’s so good with Omega it’s so cute. Your eyes trailed to his large body. There were voices around you but you were too focused on your thoughts. His body was so warm and comfy. I kinda wanna sleep next to him again. His hands were so gentle. It was nothing like he usually is. Would he always be gentle? 

“(Y/N) why is your face so red?” 

Omegas soft voice woke you up from the daydreaming in your mind. Tech was piloting but Echo and Hunter could see what you were obviously staring at. Everything got quiet in that moment, the four of them staring at you waiting for an answer. 

“N-no reason! I hope I’m not getting sick, I’m gonna go lie down!” You scurried away into the back of the ship in attempt to hide your embarrassment. You found the closest bunk and immediately threw yourself onto it and shoved your red face into the pillow. 

What is wrong with me? Why am I suddenly thinking of Wrecker like this?

-

Unbeknownst to you, Wrecker was having his own internal struggle at the same time. Your usual attire consisted of a jumpsuit, which he was realizing hugged you in just the right places. As you walked past him the night before he couldn’t help but stare at the curve of your behind. Did it always look like that? Wrecker was entranced for who knows how long until he shook his head and went to change. That night while you were sleeping soundly across from him, he couldn’t help but stare at your peaceful form. The light breathing escaping your lips. How soft and plush they looked. What would they feel like? His eyes trailed down to your chest that was tight against a pair of blacks you used as sleepwear. His thoughts quickly took a different turn. How would they feel in his hands? Or pressed up against his bare chest as his hands wandered over your soft curves finding anything and everything that made you whimper and whine- 

Wreckers face instantly blushed a dark crimson. He turned himself over to face the wall. He…he shouldn’t think of you like this. Unless…maybe you felt the same way? He tried his best to sleep that night, but his thoughts always came back to the same place. 

-

After you ran to the back of the Marauder, Wrecker became instantly worried. You never did that before. As he dropped gonky and went to follow you, Hunter and Echo gave each other a knowing look. 

“What?” Omega of course noticed the look they gave each other. 

“We’ll tell you when you’re older.” Hunter replied. 

You almost jumped when you felt a large hand on your shoulder. Lifting your head up you came face to face with the one person you really wished it wasn’t.

“Are you okay (Y/N)?” 

Releasing a sigh, you sat up looked into your lap. You fiddled with your hands in anxiousness. 

“Ya Wrecker, I’m okay. I just-“, when you lifted your eyes up to his, he was much closer than you expected. Another blush grew on your cheeks for the 10th time today. He was staring into your eyes with so much love and sincerity you couldn’t speak. Neither of you noticed how your faces grew closer with each passing second. 

“W-wrecker I-“ 

This time you were silenced by him placing his lips hesitantly on yours. It was brief and left you wanting more. As he pulled back he seemed to realize what he just did. 

“I-I’m so sorry (Y/N)! I don’t know what I was-“ 

It was your turn to pull him in by the armor around his neck and kiss him again. Wrecker immediately kissed you back. Feeling bold you opened your mouth slightly, inviting him to turn this innocent kiss into something a little more. He was intoxicating. You brought your hands up to his face and brushed over the scar that ran over his cheek. He groaned lightly and gently pushed you onto the bunk. His hands that wrapped around your waist held you like glass. Always so gentle. You wanted so badly to touch him without his armor, but you settled with running your hands up and down the plastoid on his chest with a whine. 

“You two know this is my bunk right?” 

A voice from behind you made you jump. You immediately broke the kiss and lightly pushed Wrecker off of you to try to make this situation look a little more appropriate. 

“I’m so sorry Hunter! We’ll just um…go.” With a massive blush and pure embarrassment you took Wreckers hand and pulled him away with you. Once you were far enough away, you felt his breath on your neck against your ear. 

“Guess we’ll have to finish that later mesh’la.” Leaving a light kiss below your ear, Wrecker left your side to join the others. 

[anxious-allie-ren]

Miscalculation

Hey cuties! So, I have started writing fanfiction! I have been posting on both AO3 and Wattpad. Both links are in my linktree in my bio! But, I’d like to share my first one-shot here. Let me know what you all think!

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Let's be honest, The Finalizer is boring.

Not a, "Oh, it's a calm day with nothing to do, kind of boring." But more like, "I'm trapped on a steel death ship in the vacuum less mass of space" kind of boring.

Okay maybe that's because you are trapped. You have been trapped for what feels like months. In reality, it's been a few weeks and you're really close to going insane.

It was a small error that landed you here. A tiny miscalculation that landed you on the path of Snoke's little apprentice. Should you have double checked to make sure you had enough fuel to get back to D'Qar? Yes. Did you? No. Instead you waste your credits on some shitty fried food at the docking station on Coruscant and take off. This leaves you stranded on Jakku. Luck was clearly on your side that day because this was the exact day Snoke's dog sent his bitches out on a mission. There you are, in your X-Wing with what seems like the biggest bullseye on you.

It doesn't take them long to sniff you out. You're ripped out of the cockpit by a knight in an all black mask with long shields placed on either side. The knight drops you to the ground and you can immediately see you're outnumbered. Six large armored men have circled you. Okay, so the blaster you're pointing at the one who man-handled you probably wasn't going to do shit. But that doesn't stop you from holding your ground.

"I am not afraid to shoot. I will blast you all right now."

This earns a chuckle from the group. That first knight speaks up.

"You're stranded on this sand pile with no fuel. I doubt you have enough plasma to shoot half of us."

You huff at his comment but stand your ground, keeping the blaster pointed at him.

"Trudgen, just grab her and let's get back to the mission. Master can decide what to do with her."

You take note of that fucker's name as two of the other knights haul you up by your arms roughly. You're dragged to the ugliest ship you've ever seen in your life and thrown in a dingy compartment.

"We'll be back rebel scum. Don't try anything." Trudgen said as he placed your blaster on his belt. Not like he has enough weapons strapped to his body or anything. You roll your eyes and try to sit in a spot that isn't covered in dust.

"No promises."

And that's how you ended up on the Finalizer. You made the journey here hell for the knights. You did eventually learn the rest of their names after eavesdropping on their conversations. When you arrived Vicrul and Ap'lek placed your hands in binders and led you to an interrogation room. After you were strapped into the interrogation chair the knights made their way to leave.

"Uh, excuse me? Where the fuck are you guys going? You can't just strapped me in to this stupid chair, way too tightly might I add, and then leave without saying anything!"

Vicrul and Ap'lek share a look and then turn towards you.

"We aren't the ones interrogating you, scum. Master is interested in you." Vicrul says, shrugging his shoulders.

"I have no idea why. Not much to be interested in." Ap'lek mutters as he turns to leave again.

You rolled your eyes as both knights leave the room. So you would be getting the honor of meeting Snoke's apprentice. Wonderful. From what you learned being in the Resistance, Kylo Ren was an overgrown toddler with a laser sword. So the likelihood of you coming out of this interrogation alive was small.

You probably sit strapped to that stupid chair for hours before Commander Ren decides to stroll on in. He comes through the door swiftly, feet pounding on the ground loudly. He stops in front of you and gives you a quick once-over. The mask finally meets your eyes.

"Are we just going to stare at each other? Or are we going to get this over with?"

Kylo ball his hands into fists and begins to circle the interrogation chair.

"I don't think you are in any position to ask questions right now. What were you doing on Jakku?"

"Your little boy band didn't fill you in already? I got stranded on that shitty planet. Didn't exactly go there by choice."

He stops in front of you again.

"And why did you get stranded?"

You immediately think back to your little error. You feel even more stupid looking back on it. Admitting to it is not something you were looking to do right now. What the fuck was the point of this? Was he really just going to ask you trivial questions? You figured Snoke would have taught him better than this if he's really so powerful.

Kylo leans down quickly, grabbing the sides of the chair by your head. The sudden movement makes you jump, wrists smacking against the restraints.

"I can hear all of your thoughts. It would be wise to watch what you think. Now answer the question."

Of course he can hear your thoughts. He's a fucking force user. Rookie mistake on your part really. But the idea of him actually hearing every thought you think does unnerve you.

"I ran out of fuel. Had to make an emergency landing, okay? Is that answer good enough for you?"

Kylo finally leans back up. He stares down at you and even though he's wearing that stupid fucking mask you can just tell he's got a judgemental look on his face.

"What kind of pilot runs out of fuel?"

You begin to argue back but he stops you.

"Not a very good one. A good pilot would have checked that they had enough fuel to get to their next destination. A good pilot wouldn't have spent all of their credits."

"Listen you fu-"

"A good pilot would have landed near a fueling station, not in the middle of nowhere. But I guess that's my point. You aren't a good pilot. Another useless member of the Resistance. So breaking you down is going to be easier than I thought."

All you could do was stare at him. He read your thoughts. He already knew everything. He wanted to embarrass you, make you feel small. It worked for a second. But if you were going to die today, you weren't going to give him the satisfaction of seeing your embarrassment.

You square your jaw and look right into the eyes of his mask.

"That's where you're wrong, buddy."

Kylo leans down so his mouthpiece is by your ear and whispers, "We'll see about that, little one."

He stands back up and stomps out of the room quickly. Leaving you feeling shocked, angry, and oddly aroused.

____________________________

So to everyone's surprise you did not die that day. Instead Kylo had you placed in a cell and that's where you've been for weeks. Stormtroopers come and feed you or take you to a refresher to bathe. Commander Ren has stopped by a few times since your original meeting. Nothing much has come of those ones either. Mostly him staring at you and asking trivial questions. Which just agitates you.

You can't seem to figure him out. He hasn't asked anything regarding the Resistance. What is the point of keeping you prisoner if he isn't going to get any useful information from you? It doesn't sit well with you.

When he doesn't visit you're left alone. Staring at the same four walls does get boring eventually. You've taken to sitting near the door and trying to listen to the stormtroopers conversations. Sometimes bucket heads spill some interesting tea. You learned last week that General Hux once got a boner after getting choked by the Commander.

That's what you're doing currently. Listening to the chatter when you suddenly hear the distinct pounding of boots. The last you knew, the Commander was away on a mission with the knights. As the footsteps draw closer you move quickly to your feet and back away from the door. Kylo strides through the door, chest heaving and fists clenched. You can feel the anger rolling off of him. So you're guessing his little adventure didn't go so well.

His hand flies up quickly, using the force to choke you.

"How many times do I have to tell you to watch your thoughts?"

Okay, so he heard you. You really gotta work on monitoring that. Wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of a toddler tantrum.

Just as the thought crosses your mind you're dragged across the floor towards Kylo. Your toes just barely touching the ground as you move. His hand wraps around your throat and he leans his masked face down into your own.

"I've given you far too many warnings. Now you're going to be punished."

Your eyes go wide as you look up into the soulless mask. This is it. This is where you die. You're going to die at the hands of this fucker and even worse, you're turned on.

Kylo spins you around and pins you to the wall. He kicks your feet apart using his boot, shoving his knee between your legs. You feel his thigh rub against your core. It takes all your self control to stop yourself from grinding down on it. He can feel the arousal pouring from your body.

He pulls his hand from your neck and leans back.

"I'm afraid you're enjoying this too much, little one."

You take a deep breath to steady yourself, to no prevail of course. You can feel your heart hammering in your chest. But the anger from this whole situation has begun to build. You're sick and tired of being in this cell. You're enraged by his trivial fucking questioning. And now, he's teasing you. You've had enough of it. You are not going to be his toy.

"I'm not enjoying anything. Im stuck in this stupid cell guarded by bucket heads. You've done nothing but ask me useless fucking questions. What is the point of this? Why keep me around if I have no use?"

You watch as he reaches up quickly and yanks the mask off. You weren't sure what you were expecting. But it wasn't that. When you imagined the Commander of the First Order, you pictured some burnt deformed old man. Not a hot ass guy with perfect fucking hair.

He throws the mask off to the side and glares down at you.

"You've certainly got a use and now you're going to fulfill it."

Suddenly, you feel the most glorious swirling against your clit. You gasp and try to squirm away from him. He pins you harder against the wall and begins kissing up your neck. You begin to feel the pressure building just as he starts to remove your shirt.

"Fuck, I don't know what you're doing. But don't stop." You pant out.

Just as the words leave your mouth the swirling stops.

"What the actual fuck?"

"You didn't think I'd just let you cum, did you? This is a punishment."

That is the final straw. You were so close to ecstasy. So close to release. You have had enough of this little twat. You collect yourself and use all the strength you can to push him away from you.

"Enough fucking games. I'm not some toy to be played with. Either show me the reason I'm still here or kill me already!"

Commander Ren is quick. If you weren't aware of his position, you'd think he was a bounty hunter with how fast he can move. So fast in fact, that he has you pinned face down on your shitty cot before you can think. You're bent over with your hands held in his fist behind you. You try to squirm but only end up grinding your ass back into him. Either that's his lightsaber or he's really excited to see you.

"Who is the general of the Resistance?"

The question catches you off guard. Why the fuck is he asking you his trivial questions now? Of all fucking times. He certainly knows the answer to this one, so what's the point of this?

You must have been stuck in your thoughts for too long, because a strong slap comes across your left ass cheek. The sound echoes throughout the tiny cell and you're certain the stormtroopers outside heard it.

"Answer the question."

"Uh, General Organa. She's your mom, right?"

Stupid response. He grabs a fist full of your hair and yanks your head back. He growls in your ear, "I would advise you shut the fuck up. Stop being a little brat and cooperate or this will only get worse."

Kylo releases your hair and holds you down with the force. He yanks down your pants, revealing your slick soaked panties to the room. Kylo looks down and smirks.

"You're drenched. Bent over and pussy wet for the enemy. What kind of pilot would do that?"

He lands another hard slap to your right cheek this time. Giving it a small kneed afterwards.

"Oh that's right. Not a very good one."

You try to move against the force hold but it's no use. He's got the upper hand here. But you're not going to let him degrade you like that.

"That's rich coming from Snoke's little bitch."

His fist is back in your hair and his other grabs your hip, pulling you back against him. He grinds himself into you and groans out, "You're going to regret that, little one."

Kylo pulls himself away enough to pull down your panties. You feel his gloved finger glide through your slick down to your bundle of nerves. You gasp and wiggle your hips back towards him trying to gain more friction.

"What is your squadron?"

Not this bullshit again. He's playing with your pussy and asking you these dumbass questions? He pulls his hand away and lands a slap to your pussy, causing your legs to shake.

"I hate repeating myself, so answer the fucking question."

Your head is spinning and your pussy is clenching around nothing. You have no clue what the point of these questions are but you'll do anything to get him to touch you again.

"Blue Squadron! Fuck."

Kylo's hand comes back to you, this time bare. He begins rubbing slow circles around your nub, applying the perfect amount of pressure.

"Now that's a good girl. Keep answering your Commander and you'll get rewarded."

"You're not my fucking commander." You gasp as he inserts two thick fingers into your needy hole. "My commander is Poe Dameron."

You realize what you've said after it's too late. It's not exactly classified information. But it's certainly not something you should be sharing with the enemy. You've got to get it together if you're going to make it through this little visit.

"Dameron, hm? Interesting."

You hear the sound of his belt buckle and zipper coming undone. He releases his long, girthy cock from the confines of his pants. It lands on your ass as Kylo grabs hold of both your hips.

"Are you ready for your punishment? I'm going to destroy this little cunt."

You arch your back, pushing your ass up. "I really doubt that. But you can try."

With our warning, Kylo buries his whole length in your wet heat. You gasp as he knocks the air out of your lungs, taking you by surprise. He begins thrusting into you at a slow pace, taking his time. You can feel every glorious inch of him, from tip to hilt.

You moan out and wiggle your hips, trying to get him to speed up. "If you're going to punish me, you'll have to try harder than this."

He snarls at your comment, squeezing your hips and picking up the pace. The little cell is filled with the sounds of your breathy moans, his grunts, and skin slapping. You get so lost in the pleasure you nearly miss him speaking to you.

"Where is the Resistance base?"

You almost answer. You almost let that information slide, forgetting where you are and whose cock is buried inside you. But then it all clicks. He's trying to distract you for information. Nice fucking try Commander Cunt.

"Fuck off."

Kylo grunts and releases one of your hips to instead grab a fistful of your hand. He yanks your head back and forces your back to arch further, making his cock reach deeper inside your pussy. Kylo begins pounding into you, each thrust hitting your sweet spot.

"Where the fuck is the Resistance base?"

Your moans are loud at this point. You couldn't care less about the stormtroopers outside hearing you. This all feels too good. But you aren't going to give in to him this easy. The resistance is counting on you. You are not some weak pilot that gives in to this moody bitch.

"Fuck. Off." You moan out in response.

Kylo's other hand leaves your hip and snakes down your front. He begins rubbing fast circles against your clit. You scream as you feel the pressure beginning to build again.

"Tell me where the fucking base is, pet."

You scream out in pleasure and frustration. You're so close. Just teetering on the edge. You so badly want to let go. So you crack.

"Fuck! Fine! D'Qar! The resistance base is on D'Qar! Please just let me come! Please!"

Kylo smirks, knowing he's won. He picks up the pace on your clit and groans out, "That's right, now be a good girl and cum all over my cock."

That was all you needed. You screamed in ecstasy, "Yes, fuck Kylo!"

Your pussy clenched around him as you came, your juices covering him. Kylo grunted, fucking you through your orgasm.

Soon after you came down from your high, you felt his cock twitch inside you. Kylo quickly pulled out of you and yanked you up by your hair.

"On your knees and mouth open, rebel bitch."

You quickly dropped to your knees and did just as he said, closing your eyes. Kylo pumped his cock over your face, using your slick and cum as lube. He threw his head back and let out a feral groan. Strings of his milky seed covering your face.

Once he was finished, you swallow what had gotten in your mouth and began wiping the rest off your face, licking it from your fingers. Fuck he tastes delicious. When you could finally open your eyes, he was already by the door. He had tucked himself away and put his glove back on. Kylo grabbed his helmet and looked back at you.

"Just as I thought. You're a useless Resistance member. So easy to destroy."

You sit there stunned by his words, letting everything that had just happened sink in.

"It has been fun breaking you, little one."

With one last look, Kylo places his helmet back on his head and walks out of the cell.

You stare at the door and replay his words. Maybe you were a shitty Resistance member. Others probably wouldn't have broken that easily, or at all. But with some of his cum drying on your face and a satisfied feeling, you can't find it in you to care.

You're secretly hoping Commander Ren needs more information. You might come to enjoy his little visits.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I hope everyone enjoyed! If you all are interested, I can post on here more. Let me know! 

[bethagain]

@toasty-cowboy mentioned shipping Din Djarin with sleeping a full 8 hours undisturbed. Which led to @fanfoolishness and myself agreeing that that was, indeed, a very good ship.

And then, I couldn't sleep last night. So I took the opportunity to make sure that Din got some rest.

Story starts shortly after the end of Chapter 16.

Somewhere

He picked a system at least 12 hours away and nearly uninhabited, set the nav computer to come out close but not too close to the only planet with a city on it, and promptly forgot the destination. 

He was tired. 

This was just a scout ship, scavenged from the hangar bay of Moff Gideon’s light cruiser. Its two front-mounted guns were a joke, little more than decoration. But it had a hyperdrive, it had fuel, and it had a market value. First chance he got, he’d trade it in for something suitable. 

He was avoiding the question, Suitable for what? 

He had Fett’s comm code. If he wanted to use it. Bo-Katan had not been pleased when he told her that he had, as promised, considered joining her cause. No was not what she wanted to hear. 

Maybe he’d think more about it later. 

Maybe later he’d be able to think.

He re-checked the nav system. The readouts looked fine. No alarms, no flashing warnings. Just a diagram of the hyperspace route and a set of slowly changing coordinates, counting the way to--wherever it was he’d set the ship to go. 

He rose from the pilot’s seat and left the cockpit. It had become reflex to bend down on the way past the passenger seat, unclick the child’s safety restraint, scoop him up and hear him giggle as they slid fast down the ladder to the hold. But the passenger seats on the scout ship were empty. 

There wasn’t even a ladder. This ship was all one level. Its walls and floor met at right angles, clean and smooth. 

His gloved hand left marks on one of those walls as he used it to keep his balance, to keep from stumbling on the way down the short corridor to the cabin. Inside, two sets of narrow bunk beds took up most of the space. The bare mattresses were encased in flexplast, one end molded to serve as a pillow. They looked clean enough. 

He made use of the refresher in its tiny cubby. On the way out, his left shoulder clanked as it collided with the door frame, beskar pauldron banging into the lesser metal. He really should have stripped out of the armor, checked its integrity, at least wiped the pieces down if he couldn't clean them properly. He really should have cleaned his own body, checked for wounds. 

The thing was, he couldn't decide if, once off, he'd ever put the armor back on. What had it bought him, all these years? The right to chip off bits of his soul with every bounty, and then give the last piece away? 

He gripped the upright post of a bunk bed frame, leaning his weight on it, forehead resting against the cool surface. I don't really think that. I just need to sleep.

A handle set into the wall caught his eye. He heaved his body upright again and clicked open what turned out to be a shallow cupboard. Inside was a stack of neatly folded blankets, with the faint ozone smell of having been recently cleaned.

He laid one over the nearest flexplast-covered mattress and unfolded another to cover himself. He took an unsteady step back to the door to check for a lock, didn't find one, and reminded himself: You're alone on this ship. It's fine.

Then he half-sat, half fell onto the bunk, the familiar clank of his armor loud in the silence. He laid his body out in the narrow space, pulled the blanket over him. And slept.

The scout ship's life support system hummed quiet and steady. Down the hall, the nav computer did its job, guiding the ship through hyperspace, smoothly avoiding obstacles. The ship's chrono kept time.

Parsecs away, the Jedi carried the child on a forest path, toward a low wooden building where comfortable voices were laughing. Grogu reached out in the Force, looking for the shape of his father. He wasn't very good at this yet, but he found him, found him safe and sleeping. That was good.

The scout ship's computer made a tiny adjustment, shifting the trajectory to stay on the safest route. The hyperdrive engine whined louder for a moment, then subsided back to its steady vibration. 

The chrono ticked away another hour.

Far off, along another hyperspace lane, the former ruler of Mandalore and her first lieutenant continued taking inventory. The light cruiser had a wealth of essentials. Weapons, starfighters, rations. It felt like little without the Darksaber. Without a new plan.

Fans whirred in the scout ship's walls, moving air to keep it fresh. The map coordinates changed steadily as the ship slipped on through hyperspace, pinpointing its location even with no one in the cockpit to watch. 

On board Slave I, Cara, Fennec, and Boba traded war stories. They'd talk later about what happened, about the mission and the child and how long to wait before tracking down their friend. For now, they'd respect his own silence and match it with theirs. Not for too long though. A man needed people, even if he also needed space. It wasn't right to be alone.

The scout ship sailed on, computer and engines well maintained and working flawlessly. Moff Gideon's mechanics had known their jobs and done them well. They'd been expendable, anyway.

The ship's chrono counted, two hours, four hours, six, while Din's even breathing added to the steady, quiet sounds.

When he finally began to wake, the chrono marking well past eight hours, the first thing he noticed was the roughness of the blanket against his face. And then, the quiet, and the strangeness of the plain white walls. And then, that he was hungry.

Din sat up, the blanket sliding down from the smooth beskar breastplate. His whole body felt sore, battered, but he could remember now that he was alive.

He needed a shower. He needed to care for his armor, check the electronics in the helmet after the beating it had taken. He needed to eat. 

Food first, he decided, swinging his feet to the floor and, still a little bleary-eyed, using the pole of the bedframe to help pull himself up to stand. There were ration bars in the ship's narrow galley, and potable water. He'd at least had the presence of mind to check that before sealing the hatch and lifting off.

Food first, then get the rest of his body in order. 

And then, figure out where he'd told the ship to take him. And decide what happens next.

[kippykasey]

Grace - Chapter 5: Hydra

Pairing: Howard Stark x F!Reader , Bucky x Reader [Eventually]

Word Count: 3522

Series Summary: A young nurse is recruited by Dr. Abraham Erskine to join the SSR to assist on Project Rebirth. Following her work with the SSR she is drafted into the US Army Nurse Corps in the war against the Nazis...and HYDRA.

Chapter Warnings: violence, torture, bad things because Hydra

Author's Note: Surprise?! I wasn't even expecting to get this done but I literally just finished and thought, eh why not. So here it is! Also I hate hurting my characters so this was a bit eh to write but I hope all is well!

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the gifs they are either found on google or under the gif tag provided by tumblr. Any language other than English was translated using Google Translator, and translations will be posted in bolden italics after. I am not a nurse or in the medical field although I may do some research medical treatment written may not be correct.

Grace Masterlist | Snowdrop Masterlist | Masterlist

Pain. A throbbing, harsh pain echoed through my head from the temple. The throbbing beat opposite that of my heart. The second thing I noticed was how cold and damp it was. After battling with my body to force open my eyes I squint through the dimly lit room. A deep voice spoke in another language… German it was German but my head hurt too much for me to understand it. Seconds passed before I realized that I was sitting on the ground in a cell. The door opened and two men walked in flanked by four additional soldiers than the one that had been watching me.

“Ah Fräulein (L/n) glad you have finally woken up.” Miss.

“Who are you?” I cursed how weak my voice sounded at that moment. Though the man didn’t seem to find me a threat of escape as he spoke. “Johann Schmidt. You see we have a common acquaintance… or, well, had.” The grin he wore made my stomach drop and he didn’t need to verbally admit it for me to realize this is the man behind Abraham’s death.

I raised my head in defiance and although it made the pounding in my head worsen I pushed myself from the ground and stood within the cell. “You’re after the serum.”

“Ah, clever girl. You were Abraham’s assistant when he made the serum.” The second, much shorter man spoke. “Fault in your plans. I don’t know how to make the serum.” Schmidt smiled at me and it took all my self control not to shiver from his intense look. “I was hoping you would say that,” His eyes turned off me to the soldiers. “Bring sie zum Stuhl. Probiere es an ihr aus. Vielleicht wird ein kleiner Elektroschock Ihr Gedächtnis auffrischen.” Take her to the chair. Try it out on her. Perhaps a bit of electroshock will refresh your memory. As Schmidt talked his head also turned towards the shorter man.

I could feel the blood drain from my face as I moved back against the wall. Three soldiers stepped towards the cell. One man opened the cell door before the other two stepped inside to detain me. I managed to elbow one in the face in my struggle but it was useless. The two soldiers dragged me from the cell, out of the room into a brighter lit hall. We were in some kind of warehouse. My eyes zeroed in on a chair that looked right out of a nightmare. Stronger hands forced me into the hard chair and held me down while I was struggling against someone’s attempts to strap me in. My struggling did nothing but get me a slap to the face. The strength of the slap disoriented me long enough for them to strap me in.

The shorter man who followed us now stood next to my head. I could see the reflection of myself in his glasses. “This is only going to hurt a lot, try to hold still.” He instructs lowering two plates down around my face. It was only a few short moments before the electricity forced its way into my head. I had no control over my body as it thrashed in the confines of the chair. An agonizing scream of pain carrying throughout the building went ignored.

That wasn’t my first time in the chair but it was the only time I had passed out in the chair. Spent 30 minutes in the chair 3 times a day, sometimes longer. After a week I had to start muttering things to myself in my cell so I didn’t forget who I was. The Nazi soldiers gave me the bare minimum to survive as far as water and nutrients goes. I cracked halfway through October. I gave the short scientist, Armin Zola, the list of what I would need before I was taken back to my cell after yet another time in the cell. I was given parchment and a pencil to write things down with but it kept coming in flashes.

Nights were the worst. Mouth dry from lack of water, eyes trained on an iron grate in the ceiling. I realized two weeks into my daily chair visits that I had forgotten my brother’s name. When I noticed it caused me to cry to sleep that night. So whenever I could I would mutter to myself facts I could remember starting with my name, rank, and where I was from. The list of facts got shorter every day. Somedays I remembered more than others. There were times all I could bring myself to do was hum Amazing Grace to myself to deal with the pain.

The first time I was in the lab I tried to escape. I was left with just one guard and I thought I could take him. I smashed a beaker using a shard like a knife. I ended up knocked unconscious, my hand bleeding from the self inflicted cuts caused by the makeshift weapon. From then on I was chained to the lab table and three soldiers kept watch. I wasn’t given anything to test the serum on. So I never tested unless I thought it would work because I used myself as a test subject.

I was unconscious for two days once from a failed serum. Others cause excruciating pain. Days came and went and I lost count of days but I knew it was still October. Yet a month was close to passing as November began to be discussed amongst soldiers around me. Pressure was placed on me to recreate the serum. Each day if I didn’t recreate the serum I was sent to the chair for the torturous electroshock. That is how I figured out I had been successful in a recreation. The serum, when tested, did nothing but make me drop to the lab floor in pain. I wasn’t even given time to recollect myself before being dragged off to the chair. I lasted longer in the chair than usual. I heard the instruction to increase the power. I don’t remember what happened after that.

It took me nearly half a day to recover, then as soon as I had I was back working in the lab. Suddenly I was pulled away from my work and escorted quickly back to my cell. “Neue Soldaten wurden gefangen genommen.” New soldiers have been captured. I pressed myself up against the bars for a chance, a glimpse at the soldiers being brought in.

It was silent as the Nazi Hydra soldiers dealt with the new poisoners. Suddenly two soldiers appeared with smiles on their faces. “Komm Mädchen. Zola und Schmidt wollen dich sehen.” Come girl. Zola and Schmidt want to see you. The soldiers yanked me up and practically dragged me to the room where the chair was. My body trembled involuntarily at the sight of the chair. It wasn’t me going in the chair, given someone was strapped in but given the uniform he was American. “Ah, here iz our lovely nurse. You’ve been asking for a test subject. Here you go.” Schmidt waved at the man strapped into the chair. The man lifted his head just barely and my heart went out to him. As soon as the hands left my arms I moved to the soldier in the chair. “What’s your name, soldier?”

“S’rg’nt Jam’s Barn’s,” His voice wasn’t clear but it was clear enough for me to understand what he said. The nurse turned to Zola and Schmidt. “I wasn’t done recreating the serum when you had me pulled from the lab. I will need time to work and he needs time to rest or the serum will kill him.” I tried to give him whatever comfort I could in those brief moments before we were pulled apart. His head rose just slightly and I caught a glimpse of stormy blue eyes as he was dragged out of the room.

I never got to return to my cell that night. As my eyes zoned in on the blue chemical mixture in front of me I felt a haze cloud my mind, it wasn’t abnormal to experience but I also felt like I was losing myself when it happened. Following my own written instructions I was able to continue my work. The only other thing I forced my mind to remember were two things.

I am First Lieutenant (Y/n) (L/n) of the US Army Nurse Corps. Soldier boy is Sergeant James Barnes.

The words became a mantra in the blank canvas my mind was currently in as I blindly worked by instructions of my very own that I don’t even remember writing. My body moved on auto pilot as I was taken to a crude looking examination room. In the center was soldier boy Sergeant James Barnes strapped to the table. As my mind raced to catch up with me, flashes of memories clouded my mind from when Steve Rogers got the serum, the explosion that followed, Dr. Erskine being shot. My body tensed at a passing memory of being in the chair passed through being replaced by the pain I felt giving myself the serum.

A hand pressed firmly in between my shoulder blades pushing me forward. I stumbled to the table catching myself with a hand on his arm. Wasn’t he wearing an army jacket before? My eyes landed on the serum filled syringe in my hands reminding me of what I was about to do. “First lieutenant (Y/n) (F/n) of the US Army Nurse Corps.. You are Sergeant James Barnes.. I’m sorry for what I am about to do. You’ll be okay. I’ve used it on myself. It will hurt.” My voice sounded so… robotic and monotone as I spoke to him. My hands pushing up his sleeve.

My hands worked from memory and out of second nature my mouth moved and the hymn fell from my lips. The melody of the song was the only comfort I could offer as I injected the poor man with the serum that would change his life forever. His eyes looked up at mine until the pain of the serum changing his body caused them to shut tightly. The leather restraints holding him in began to rip as he pulled against them. Discarding the empty syringe I tried to soothe him more but the second my hand touched his head I was shot with a sedative.

【☆】★【☆】★【☆】★【☆】★【☆】

Steve Rogers has dressed up performing on stage like a dancing monkey to sell war bonds since he was given the serum. His first time on foreign grounds and he was performing for soldiers he should have been fighting alongside of. All to be booed off the stage by disgruntled men who just wanted to see a pretty dame.

Steve finally looked away from the rain but not quite at Peggy, “At least he’s got me doing this. Phillips would have had me stuck in a lab.” Blue eyes finally met the face of Agent Carter. “And these are your only two options? A lab rat or a dancing monkey? You were meant for more than this, you know.” Her wording might have been a bit rude but the point got across. There was a moment of silence between the two but Steve had this look to him. “What?” Peggy inquired.

The man was drawing in the rain when a familiar face popped up. “Hello, Steve.” Peggy Carter approached him from behind, making him turn from his drawing to greet her, “Hi.” She mimed his ‘hi’ back before laying her jacket down to sit on while Steve asked, “What are you doing here?” Peggy looked at Rogers and let out a small sigh, “Officially, I’m not here at all. That was quite a performance.”

Rogers looked away disappointed that she had caught the horrible show that happened earlier. “Yeah. I uh, I had to improvise a little bit. The crowds I’m used to are usually more, uh, twelve.” Steve explained looking out at the drenched ground and falling rain. “I understand you’re ‘America’s New Hope’.” Peggy states watching him. “Bond sales take a 10% bump in every state I visit.” Steve comments like a robot. “Is that Senator Brandt I hear?”

“You know for the longest time, I dreamed about coming overseas and being on the front lines, serving my country. I finally got everything I wanted and I’m wearing tights.” Steve kept looking down at his journal then squinting out through the rain. A horn alarmed behind them as a medical vehicle slid to a stop in the mud. Medics ran from the infirmary tent to help unloaded soldiers on gurneys. “They look like they’ve been through hell.” Peggy turned back towards Rogers. “These men more than most.” Steve looked up at Peggy knowing she had more details. “Schmidt sent out a force to Azzano. Two hundred men were there to back up an already injured fleet, they went up against him and less than 75 returned. Your audience contained what was left of the 107th and 34th.” Steve slowly turned his head feeling bad for the men who were lost but his attention snapped to Peggy at the mention of the divisions involved as she finished, “The rest were killed or captured.”

“The 107th?” The confirmation had him darting out into the rain, Peggy following holding her jacket over her head for coverage from the rain. The two ran all the way to the tent Colonel Phillips was sitting in signing condolence letters. “Colonel Phillips.” Steve called for the man’s attention as he approached. “Well, if it isn’t the Star-Spangled Man With A Plan. What is your plan today?” The colonel responded looking up at the pair now standing in front of him. “I need the casualty list from Azzano.” The tone he used was definitely fitting for the role he plays on stage. Phillips however did not appreciate it. “You don’t get to give me orders, son.”

“I just need one name, Sergeant James Barnes from the 107th.” Rogers responded un phased. Phillips pointed his pen at Peggy, “You and I are gonna have a conversation later that you won’t enjoy.” Steve was insistent though and again requested the information he wanted, “Please tell me if he’s alive, sir. B-A-R..” “I can spell.” Phillips cut him off before muttering, “First Stark and now this.” He stood from the table and paged through the letters he just finished signing. “I have signed more of these condolence letters today that I would care to count. But the name does sound familiar. I’m sorry. To the both of you.” Phillips looks from Rogers to Peggy and the woman knew he was referring to her friend from the 34th.”

“What about the others? Are you planning a rescue mission?” Rogers was something else, optimistic maybe. “Yeah, it’s called winning the war.” The look of disbelief that Steve sent the colonel as he spoke might have been the first red flag for Peggy Carter. “But if you know where they are, why not at least..” Phillips once again cut the man off, “They’re 30 miles behind the lines through some of the most heavily fortified territory in Europe.” Phillips was eyeing the spot on the map as he talked about it, even pointing the place out directly. “We’d lose more men than we’d save. But I don’t expect you to understand that because you’re a chorus girl.”

The colonels' dig at Roger’s lack of status didn’t seem to phase the man but it did fuel the plan he was formulating in his head while staring at the map, memorizing it. “I think I understand just fine.”

“Well, then understand it somewhere else. If I read the posters correctly, you got someplace to be in 30 minutes.” The colonel walked past him giving Rogers a very clear view of the map marking out exactly where he needed to go, and where he was. “Yes, sir. I do.” Perhaps the time staring at the map was the second red flag that Peggy noticed. As her eyes flickered between him and the map as he left the tent it all clicked into place and she hurried after the taller man.

“What do you plan to do, walk to Austria?” Peg asked as she entered the tent used as the changing room. “If that’s what it takes.” Steve answered not looking up from where he was struggling with boots. “You heard the Colonel. Your friend, and mine, are most likely dead.”

“You don’t know that.” Steve disagreed as he continued to get ready. “Even so, he’s devising a strategy. If he detects..” Steve cut her off as he put on a brown leather jacket, “By the time he’s done that, it could be too late.” He snatched up his bag and shield and headed for the exit. “Steve!” Peggy called following him to the vehicle he tossed his things into. The rain had stopped leaving the sun to rapidly evaporate the water leaving puffs of smoke in the air. Steve looked at the brunette in front of him. “You told me you thought I was meant for more than this. Did you mean that?”

“Every word.”

“Then you got to let me go.” Steve turned to get into the jeep and started the engine before Peggy was at the side. “I can do more than that.” She told him.

【☆】★【☆】★【☆】★【☆】★【☆】

Peggy hadn’t lied. She got them a method of transport much faster than the jeep. Howard Stark sat in the pilot seat flying a plane with the slight chance his fiancée may still be alive. Stark was devastated when he first found out that the 34th was attacked and that only doubled when the attack at Azzano took out the 107th as well.

“The Hydra camp is in Krausberg, tucked between these two mountain ranges.” Peggy infomed Rogers as she pointed to the map she was holding. “It’s a factory of some kind.” She gave him as much information as she could. “We should be able to drop you right on the doorstep.” Howard called over his shoulder.

“Just get me as close as you can.” Steve called back up to the pilot. He looked back over at the woman in front of him. “You know.. You two are gonna be in a lot of trouble when you land.” He was worried about her getting into trouble for him but she looked at him just as worried. “And you won’t?” Steve dismissed her worries, turning his head. “Where I’m going, if anyone yells at me, I can just shoot them.” There was a small click of a loaded gun.

“They will undoubtedly shoot back.” Peggy surmised. Steve turned to the shield he had been using on stage giving it a knock, “Well let's hope it’s good for something.” Steve turned back to her just as Howard called back, “Agent Carter? If we’re not in too much of a hurry, I thought we could stop off in Lucerne for a late-night fondue.” Howard was teasing the agent, the smile on his face hidden from those being him. Peggy shifted in her seat choosing to ignore him and keep conversation going with Rogers. “Stark is the best civilian pilot I’ve ever seen. He’s mad enough to brave this airspace. We’re lucky to have him.”

Steve however was still not fully over the comment Stark made. “So, are you two… do you…” There was an awkward pause as Steve thought of the proper way to ask if they were seeing each other by reusing Stark’s words, “..Fondue?” Stark tried not to laugh from the pilot’s seat as Peggy simply shook her head and handed him a device. “This is your transponder. Activate it when you’re ready and the signal will lead us straight to you.” Steve took a moment to look at the device now in his hand before calling up to Howard, “Are you sure this thing works?”

“It’s been tested more than you, pal.” Howard defended seconds before gunfire hit the side of the plane. The plane shook as bullets pelted the sides, shaking the aircraft from the force. Steve stood grabbing his shield and heading towards the door. That he opened. “Get back here! We’re taking you all the way in!” Peggy ordered yelling over the wind rushing into the plane. “As soon as I’m clear, you turn this thing around and get the hell out of here!” Steve ordered back over the noise of the wind, gunfire, and the pinging of bullets on the plane.

“You can’t give me orders!” Peggy disagreed.

“The hell I can’t! I’m a Captain!” Steve looked over at her, giving her a smile that made her weak in the knees. He grabbed the goggles from his helmet, lowered them over his eyes and launched himself out of the plane. Peggy watched him fall towards the ground before the red fabric of his parachute was visible in the night sky from the flying bullets. Howard turned back as instructed by the Captain. Now all they could do was wait.

[lunaajade]

Everything You Need to Know about “Shadow and Bone” on Netflix (*UPDATED: POSSIBLE LANGUAGE OF THORNS ADAPTATION INFO)

 Since it’s recently been confirmed that we’d be getting S&B content in a few days (finally!), I thought I’d compile and summarize as much info as I could to refresh everyone’s memories! Please spread the word/share this post to those who aren’t up to date! (I’ve seen some people online who are worried about how it’s going to turn out, and I’d like to be able to hopefully reassure those people)

Now, there’s a LOT of stuff, so there’s always the chance I missed/forgot something. This post will be split up into categories based on type of info, so here we go! I went back and listened to/watched both of the big live streams (NYCC and the S&B Charity Competition), went on the Grishaverse Reddit, etc. to find as much (extra/bonus) stuff as I could. (If I missed anything/got something wrong, please feel free to leave a comment!)

Update: A lot of people have been asking where it was confirmed we were getting content soon. I found out from one of the update accounts I follow.

Thanks for reading, everyone!

General/Key Info About the Show

-This first season will be adapting both “Shadow and Bone” and what has been dubbed a “Book 0″ (most likely meaning prequel/backstory/set-up) for “Six of Crows” -In relation to the above point, the timelines are being brought together for the show. (Normally in the books, the two series are set two years apart)(We don’t know how exactly or what this means for the story, but I have a really interesting theory that I thought up in relation to this, message me if you’d like to hear it.) -Leigh acknowledges and understands that some of us have doubts and are worried about the show, but she has publicly assured us (numerous times) of how much she loves the show and cast, how well she thinks the crew/writers did in bringing the Grishaverse to life, etc. See a later point below in the Facts/Tidbits section -The first season will have 8, one-hour long episodes -Alina has been made half Shu (half Asian) for the show! Leigh stated that was decided on after she and Eric had a lengthy discussion on Alina’s character. -The main cast (as in confirmed to be in all episodes) is comprised of Jessie Mei Li (as Alina), Archie Renaux (as Mal), Ben Barnes (as the Darkling), Freddy Carter (as Kaz), Amita Suman (as Inej), and Kit Young (as Jesper) -Wylan and Nikolai are NOT in the first season. (Nikolai didn’t appear until the second book, and Leigh confirmed that at this point in the story, the Crows had not met Wylan yet.) -Other cast members include Danielle Galligan (as Nina), Calahan Skogman (as Matthias), Daisy Head (as Genya), Sujaya Dasgupta (as Zoya), Luke Pasqualino (as David), Julian Kostov (as Fedyor), Simon Sears (as Ivan), Zoe Wanamaker (as Baghra), and more! -The Darkling will also be called “General Kirigan” in the show. From what we know, The Darkling will be the “enemy” to Ravka (so in essence, General Kirigan is his alias/fake persona (what he’ll most likely be referred to for most of the show), and no one knows that he’s actually their enemy. (Meaning it’ll most likely a super big moment when they learn their general was actually the Darkling in disguise)). -The show was shot on location in Budapest, Hungary. (And additional filming took place this past fall in Vancouver) -In order, the 8 episodes are titled the following: “A Searing Burst of Light”, “We’re All Someone’s Monster”, “The Making at the Heart of the World”, “Otkazat’sya”, “Show Me Who You Are”, “The Heart is An Arrow”, “The Unsea”, & “No Mourners”.

Other (Fun) Facts/Tidbits About the Show

-Upon seeing Jessie’s audition, Leigh loved her audition/portrayal of Alina so much that she apparently stated that she wanted her to play Alina or she’d be out of the project. She was sent five auditions to watch, Jessie’s was the third, and she said she didn’t bother watching the rest of them. -Leigh stated that she and Eric Heisserer (the creator of the show) said they were on the same page from the first meeting. All other past meetings with producers and companies about possible adaptations had left her with a bad feeling, but she said they’d had the same ideas about inclusion, story, staff, etc. She said she’s loved the respect he’s shown towards the work (and, in a way, to us the fans) -Netflix apparently also has the rights to adapt “The Language of Thorns” , though we’ve gotten no info on that adaptation yet. (UPDATE: I just watched a Leigh Bardugo event from Feb 2019 (a few weeks after the show was first announced, I think): As of  that day, she said that she thought that they were going to use LoT more for "texture” (IMO that might mean worldbuilding?) in the show. And I don’t know if she was talking about LoT specifically because she was very vague, but she said that there were certain things in the show that she thinks readers will be really excited about. Again, this was over a year ago, back when they were still in pre-production and stuff, so don’t take my word for it. Besides this, I couldn’t find anything else relating to a possible LoT adaptation. Maybe they’ll have the stories from LoT appear as actual folk tales told in the show, and that’s the “adaptation”? IDK. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpHnw8Ygw5c&t=1906s)) -Leigh is an exec. producer on the show! I’m no expert, so I don’t know how much say/power she had in the process, but she definitely had some. -There is a RAVKAN edition of the “Shadow and Bone” book that Leigh says makes a cameo in the show! -Jesper’s guns had custom etchings done on them by a Hungarian antique gunsmith! (And they were so good that Leigh and Eric said that it looked like it belonged in a museum--they were also described to be quite heavy!) -Eric Heisserer is the creator of the show, he is an award-winning writer, well known for “Arrival”, “Bird Box”, and more. (If I remember correctly, Leigh said that he’d reached out to her about making the show!) -A DeKappel painting (maybe the one owned by Van Eck?) was confirmed to be in the pilot episode. -Pekka Rollins and Tante Heleen have been confirmed to be in the first season, but their casting has (up to this point) not yet been revealed. -Bo Yul-Bayur is confirmed to be in the show! (Though Kuwei has not) -Leigh will have  a cameo in (I think) Episode 5! She will be wearing a Materialki kefta and will be opening a door, if I remember correctly. -A lot of the crew was also extremely passionate about the project and fans of the books -The “Lives of Saints” book that was published in October is an actual book/prop that is appearing in the show! -I’m personally fine with Mal, but Leigh says that Archie is going to change everyone’s minds with his portrayal! -The costume designer for the show is Wendy Partridge, known for her work on “Thor: The Dark World”, “Pompeii”, and more!  -The composer for the show is Joe Trapanese, known for composing for “The Greatest Showman”, “Straight Outta Compton”, “Lady and the Tramp”, and more! At the NYCC Grishaverse panel, they revealed a little bit of the score (”Grisha Theme”): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFxIEbsHKJA 

Fun Cast/On Set Stories/Facts

-The cast all loves each other, and are all extremely passionate about this show, which is great! (Leigh said that on her second visit to the set, she heard them singing together) -Leigh says that Ben Barnes once snuck up behind her on her first day on set and scared her by whispering “Fine, make me your villain” -Freddy’s favorite Grishaverse book is “Six of Crows”, but most specifically the first line of chapter 2 (”Kaz Brekker didn’t need a reason.”) -Jessie would apparently come to set on some of her days off to support the cast and crew! -Sujaya has stated that her favorite Grishaverse character is Nikolai! (#Zoyalai) -Freddy has become famous/popular with the fandom, one of the reasons being because he often comments on posts/live streams asking something along the lines of “What was it like working with Freddy Carter? xoxo” -Danielle loves Nina and her journey in “King of Scars” -According to a Tweet, Freddy and Leigh said that there had been a scene with “a very pesky gate”--Freddy said that it “wouldn’t be proper to tweet the expletives [he] used that day” and that he thinks he “scarred” Amita and Eric. -Amita’s favorite thing about Inej is her silence, and her favorite Grishaverse book is “Six of Crows” (as of May, where we learned this during a live-stream, she said she’s read it three times and listened to the audiobook twice.) -There was a waffle truck on set on the last day of shooting! -Calahan says that if he could play any other Grishaverse character, he’d want to play Nikolai! -While she did work with the trainer to get more physically fit, Amita learned most of her knife techniques by herself! -Leigh said she cried a lot while on set! (She said there was one scene they were shooting that she has a very clear, vivid memory of writing many years back--based on the context of which she was talking about it, if I had to guess, I’d guess she’s describing the Winter Fete.) -Leigh also said that on one of her first days on set, it was funny/weird to see all the extras in First Army uniforms chilling on their phones, drinking coffee, etc. -One of Calahan’s favorite character dynamics in the books is the dynamic between Kaz and Matthias -There was a moment where Amita was fully in costume and doing amazing, graceful knife work, only to trip and fall when she’d finished. -Amita and Jessie and Sujaya were best friends on set. -Sujaya loved everything about playing Zoya. (Especially her confidence) -Leigh says one of her favorite props was Kaz’s cane, especially because of what it meant to her and the story. -If he could be any Grisha order, Calahan says he’d want to be a Corporalki -Calahan loves Matthias’s journey/arc. -Kit’s favorite Grishaverse book is “Crooked Kingdom”!

Links

-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X65iI1YXrbU (NYCC Grishaverse Panel) -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHou5rVs6o0 (S&B Talent Show Charity Live Stream ft. the S&B Cast!--the IG video got taken down because Archie deleted his IG account and switched to a new one) -https://www.netflix.com/title/80236319 (”Shadow and Bone” on Netflix!) -https://twitter.com/shadowandbone_ (Official “Shadow and Bone” Twitter!) -https://www.instagram.com/shadowandbone/?hl=en (Official “Shadow and Bone” Instagram!) -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRh-Pmbynww (Annoucement made by cast when filming wrapped! (can be found on the social media accounts, but here’s a link to YT)) -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bpY8uLtyB4 (A S&B Cast Crack video by HeartPhantom--it highlights a lot of the inside jokes and memes that we’ve gotten to witness among the cast, and also just generally shows off how hilariously chaotic everyone is (this cast is the definition of chaotic good, lol))

[venusandromedadjarin]

Legend

Ch. 16, A Glint of Beskar

18+, angst, fluff, love, NON CANON, 2k words

****I hope y’all love this one as much as I do xx, I am planning on posting another chapter this weekend too****

You stare at him, the rage plain on your face, but you’re interrupted by the sudden cries of the kid who is currently looking between you and his dad with large black eyes. Before Din can get to him, you scoop him up and climb the ladder to the cockpit, pressing the button as soon as you’re inside so the doors slam shut behind you. The baby screeches and you do your best to comfort him, but the tears just keep coming. Hours pass as you try everything: feeding him, singing to him, rocking him, pointing out creatures on the dock, and stars to him once the sun sets. Eventually, he closes his eyes and falls into a pattern of deep breathing against your soaked shirt. You coo down at him, rubbing the bridge of his nose. 

When the doors slide open, you don’t bother turning around. The pram floats up beside you and you lay his tiny body inside of it, tucking the blanket around him before closing the top. Din is silent, the suit of Beskar unmoving, as he watches you. It’s not until you move towards the door that he even attempts to speak, but you ignore your name as it falls from his lips before disappearing back to the hull. 

The action makes your heart ache, but your mind is reeling with so many questions. Questions he may or may not have an answer to, which is another problem all together. You pace, rubbing at your eyes until you see stars. His boots thud somewhere close to you, followed by small clanging sounds, but your back is turned so you can’t see what it is. You’re suddenly very preoccupied with the weapon cabinet, studying everything inside it while he broods less than five feet away from you. 

Eventually, his ungloved hands come to rest gently on your shoulders, and you can hear his modulated breathing behind you, “Y/n.” It’s not a command of any sort, but you slowly turn to look at him, the anger bubbling inside your chest again. 

“You lied to me Din.” It’s an accusation, and his unguarded chest stills at the words. Without all the Beskar, you realize now that he was taking it off earlier, he looks smaller and more inviting. The visor is pointed at you, which makes you even more angry. “They made it sound like I can see your face. They didn’t wear their helmets. What the fuck does that mean?” Your hands come out to push him away, hitting his chest harder than you meant and he steps back, catching your wrists. 

“Don’t.”

“Don’t what? Don’t question you? You knew and you lied!” Your voice breaks as you try to keep from yelling, try to keep from waking the baby up. 

“I didn’t lie,” the modulator cracks with how quietly he’s speaking.

“Then tell me. Tell me what they said wasn’t true and explain it to me.”

He watches you for a moment before pulling you towards his chest. You tense against him, trying to keep some semblance of a level head, but his body heat makes you lean into him before he speaks again, “What they said was true, but I didn’t lie.” Din is silent, waiting for you to say something. When you don’t, he breaks away from you and grabs two cases so that you can sit and face each other. He gestures towards one and you sink down onto it, brushing at your wet cheeks and trying to stop the tears from flowing. 

Once he’s seated, his elbows resting on his knees, the helmet lifts to look at you again, “I’ll tell you what I know, but it’s not much.

“On Mandalore, there was a legend of lovers who were born to bring balance to the galaxy in times of dire need. The Maker created each person out of dust, reaching into the stars and collecting the strongest elements to craft them before breathing life into their forms. The man would be marked with the sun and the woman would be marked with the moon. The balance for life on each planet. The lovers were said to have disappeared hundreds of years ago, and until they appeared again, the galaxy would be safe. 

“Our families fled Mandalore together after you were born, two years after me. The Djarin clan had been marked by the sun, and your clan was marked by the moon. My parents explained to me that because I was older than you, it was my responsibility to protect you no matter the cost. I didn’t realize it would eventually mean I would lose you for what felt like a lifetime. It was my job to protect you in that cellar, but I left you behind.

“The Children of the Watch took me in and raised me. The boy that I was before I was a foundling died in that cellar with you. He was supposed to. The Creed requires us to forget our names, our faces, our lives. This is the way. 

“There are very few loopholes once you take the the Creed. But after hearing what Bo-Katan said, I don’t know if it’s really true or if it’s all lies. The Death Watch look like Mandalorians and act like Mandalorians, but they are allowed to be people. I was raised to be a machine, a killer. When I found the child, that started to change. 

“The armorer made us a clan of two and deemed him my foundling. He is my son. I gave up everything for him, and in order to help me, the covert all but disappeared. They’ve gone into hiding and I haven’t gone back since before I rescued you. When I found the child, I watched you fight on Arvalla-7. At first, I didn’t believe my eyes. I had gone to the armorer and asked about the legend. I didn’t even know for sure until I saw your birthmark on the Crest. 

“It’s my responsibility to give this foundling the life he deserves, and it’s our responsibility to bring balance.”

You’re silent as you watch him wring his hands, rubbing at the spot between his thumb and index finger. “Is the covert gone or are they dead?”

“I don’t know.”

“Do you know the child’s name?”

“No.”

“What balance are we supposed to bring back?”

“I don’t know,” his voice is exasperated, and you can tell he’s frustrated with your questions. 

“Din…” You take his hands in your own before falling to your knees in front of him, looking up at the visor, trying to find his eyes through it. He doesn’t move as you bring your hands to the sides of the helmet, pausing and waiting for his response. “Can I?”

Din’s hands come up to rest on top of yours, stopping you from moving the helmet off of him, “I-I can’t. Not yet. Please.” You nod, dropping your hands to your lap and biting your lip to keep the tears at bay. He moves to the floor with you so that he’s on the same level, “Riduur, I want to show myself to you, but not like this.” You nod again and fold into his embrace, his strong arms wrapping around you. 

“We need to go back to them. They can help us.”

“I promised I would help them on a mission, when you were in the cock pit. Bo-Katan will give me the information I need when it’s done. I leave in the morning, but it’s already late.”

You stand, pulling him up with you and leading him towards your bedroom. The exhaustion takes over and you pull him onto the bed, not even bothering to undress. As soon as he taps the light switch, you hear the hiss of his helmet and the familiar clink before you both fall asleep. 

Din is gone when you wake, but the child is toddling around on the bed, watching you as he plays with his silver ball. There’s a note and a com link next to the bed. I’ll make contact with coordinates, fly to get me. -Din. A man of few words. With a shaky breath, you realize last night is the most you’ve ever heard him speak. 

“Come here you little gremlin,” he giggles and rushes over to you, tripping on his baggy clothes. You hold the ball out in front of him while he makes grabby hands and baby noises. After about twenty minutes, you decide to risk taking a shower while he plays and slip away to the refresher. The warm water eases the rest of your nerves as you wash your hair and shave, taking advantage of the Crest being in a landing dock. Afterwards, you can’t help but stare at the reflection of your birthmark in the mirror. You run your fingertips over it, remembering the legend that Din told you last night. You braid your hair into a crown and pin it up before finishing getting ready. A faint buzzing makes you dress quickly before running back to the room and clicking the com link on, placing it onto your wrist, “Hello.”

“Where were you?”

“I was in the refresher, where are you?” You can’t hide the smile in your voice. 

“I-I’m a couple thousand feet off the ground right now. In a ship.”

“Coordinates?” You scoop the child up and he giggles, which in turn makes his father chuckle, before climbing to the cockpit. Setting him down, you buckle him up and start flipping switches as you settle into the pilot’s seat. Din gives you his location which you plug in as the engines start up, the Crest rattling as you ease it into the air.

“Make sure the hatch is open when you get here.” 

“Wait wh-“ the com link clicks off and you curse as the Crest jolts upwards. The ship doesn’t take long to locate, and you hover a good distance beneath it before pressing the buttons for the hatch to open half-way. A glint catches your attention on the ship’s catwalk before whatever it is falls off the side. 

With a gasp, you realize it’s Din as his jetpack fires to life and he comes to a hovering stop outside the cockpit, saluting you. You laugh before he dips away and seconds later, the hatch bangs shut below you. You push the Crest upwards and break the atmosphere just as Din comes up to the cockpit, pulling his gloves off before leaning against the other chair and rubbing the kid’s ears. “We’re going to Corvus,” he says matter of factly and you punch in the coordinates before making the jump into hyperspace. The stars streak above the glass and you can’t help but stair up at them. 

“What’s on Corvus?” You spin to look at him and find the helmet is already trained on you. The kid’s big eyes are looking up at him.  

“Someone who can help us with the kid.” He coos at the mention of himself. Din watches you, silently, before reaching into a pouch at his belt. You raise an eyebrow, questioning the bizarre movement but deciding not to press it. The kid also senses something is up and looks between the both of you, his little teeth worrying at his lip. 

“Din, what is it?” You lean forward, ready to stand up, but he stops you.

“I told you that I wanted to show myself to you, I want you to see me… but there’s only one way that can happen.” He breathes in sharply, and you realize he’s nervous.

“Din, I will wait as long as you want. I don’t care as long as I’m with you,” you ignore his previous attempt at halting you and move towards him, trying to take his hands in yours when you realize what he’s holding. Shock rushes across your face as you look into the visor. “Din, I-“

His soft voice cracks through the modulator, “Marry me.”

[iffeelscouldkill]

this is the place that they pull you to

A/N: I would say “my hand slipped” but this actually took me like a week to write xD

This is a post-season 2 episode 1 fic, so, here be spoilers! Basically I was talking to @dragonsthough101 about how I was expecting more emotional fallout on McCabe’s end from all of the conflict and tensions in episode 1 and the putdowns from Arkady, and while I’m sure we will get that in the podcast, it also occurred to me that I could... write that :D and thus *flourishes hands*

Title is taken from Wires by Savlonic, because I was listening to it and I realised it’s actually a very good song for RJ, both under the Regime and after. And now I earworm myself whenever I work on this fic xD

---

Once the door to RJ’s room on the Iris II has slid shut behind them and the red ‘lock’ light has engaged, they let out a shaky breath.

Then, only then, do they allow their lower lip to tremble.

RJ shuffles over to the bed – more like a cot really, but that’s long-haul space travel for you – and drops down onto it. Park’s words from earlier are looping inside their head. “I hope you’re right. But honestly, in this moment, McCabe? I’m glad we don’t have to find out.”

RJ lets out another shaky breath that’s closer to a sob, and blinks back the tears that are forming in their eyes. It doesn’t completely work, and a couple escape and track down their cheeks. RJ smears them away with the palm of their hand. “Get a grip, McCabe,” they mutter angrily to themself. Sure, they might be alone in their room right now, but they know better than to feel like it’s safe to relax or let go. Someone could be by any minute to check on them, or there might be a situation that requires all crew members to come to the mess hall, or the cockpit, and then how will RJ explain their red eyes and wrung-out demeanour?

It’s not safe to let their guard down. It hasn’t been for weeks. Even around Park, the one person on this vessel RJ knows they can trust, RJ feels – off-kilter, like they’re lagging a step behind everything. RJ is still trying to get used to not addressing him as “Agent”, to figure out what they can and can’t say now, to navigate their new relationship. As friends – but are they friends? Does Park even like RJ, outside of the context of them working together under the Republic?

It seems uncharitable to think, and RJ and Park had always had a good relationship as colleagues – they hadn’t been close, and Park had seemed pretty inscrutable to RJ at first, but then they’d got used to his way of working and communicating. Figured out how to make him crack a smile. Drawn some praise from him, even, and realised that underneath everything he was a caring person, and a good boss.

But RJ had also thought – been sure – that Park was loyal to the Republic, so how well did they really know him? Know this Park? And Park has been treating them… warily, especially these past few days. Not coldly or poorly, but a little bit at arm’s length. Like he isn’t sure what they might do. Like he doesn’t trust them, even though RJ trusts Park totally – to the point where they were willing to throw over their whole career, everything they’d worked so hard for, and follow him onto the Iris II.

Granted, they also hadn’t had a lot of other options at that time, but RJ still isn’t sure they would have made the same decision if Park hadn’t been there.

And yet here they both are, and Park is already a fixture in the cockpit, watching the controls when Tripat- when Sana or Krejjh needs a break, having apparently built up some experience as a co-pilot for long-haul transports after serving in the military (yet another thing that RJ didn’t know about him). And he’s comfortable enough with the crew to be on bantering terms with them, to suggest plans involving decommissioned government satellites. Whereas RJ…

“Cram it, McCabe!”

RJ’s lip trembles again, this time in earnest. And RJ would like to pretend that these are angry tears, or frustrated or indignant tears, but they’re really not. RJ wants to be angry, to stand their ground and fire back and give as good as they get and somehow manage to verbally earn the others’ respect; to be seen as a person instead of a suspect or a liability. But they’ve struck the wrong chord every time. RJ is sick of the awkward tension every time they’re in the room; sick of Arkady’s prickly snappishness and Sana’s increasingly weary peacemaking; sick of the unspoken communication between the crew that they can’t parse.

It doesn’t help to realise that the crew must have got practiced at that during the weeks they spent evading the IGR’s scrutiny before they made landing on New Jupiter. At least Park could say he hadn’t been there by that point. But McCabe had, headphones on, straining to parse something from every off-handed comment, every loaded silence.

Park wasn’t there because he was being tortured in Zone Z, McCabe thinks, and abruptly feels sick. Sick at the thought, and sick of themself for – not thinking, for even considering for a split second that Park might be somehow better off. After being imprisoned, cut off from his friends and family, tortured and maimed by a government he’d spent years of his life serving.

The same government that he believes RJ was thinking of selling them out to.

This realisation steals the breath from RJ’s lungs with a whoosh, and all of a sudden they don’t feel sick, or indignant, or hurt – they just feel cold.

RJ hadn’t been able to explain to Park in the moment exactly what they’d been thinking by withholding the information about the Fowleys being bugged and monitored (because of course they were). When the ‘offer’ from Jay Fowley had first come through, the crew hadn’t been desperate enough to seriously consider it, and by the time they were… well, they’d been on the verge of figuring things out anyway. And RJ had been feeling angry, and vindictive, and not in the mood to volunteer anything that would aid the crew; not when doing that had got them into this mess in the first place.

And maybe in the back of their mind, a voice had been whispering that they should keep their options open. It’s a voice that gets louder in the dark, when RJ is lying awake on their bunk, unable to sleep for replaying those moments in the corridor, the way that it felt like the ground was falling out from under them as Goodman denounced them and Park as defectors. It gets louder whenever RJ clashes with Arkady, whenever they catch uncertain glances from the other crew members, whenever RJ wanders the corridors of this godforsaken claustrophobic ship and realises that this is it now. This is their whole life.

But they never thought about how that might look to Park. It’s like in RJ’s head there are somehow two Republics: the one that would be capable of doing such horrible things to Park – to any person, much less one who hadn’t been demonstrably proven guilty – and the one that RJ had dedicated their career to serving, that they had believed was just and good and right.

RJ wants to find him and apologise, to try and explain, to share some of the fears and secret thoughts that have been curdling on the back of their tongue these past weeks.

But Park told them to get some rest, and RJ has enough awareness to realise that there’s a much higher chance of the conversation turning out well if they sleep a while first. So, reluctantly, RJ toes off their shoes and shrugs off their vest, and wriggles underneath the taut blanket attached to the bunk.

Either they’ve reached some kind of peace with themself or they’re more exhausted than they realised, because sleep overtakes them in minutes.

---

RJ is woken by a knocking at the door: light and tentative at first, and then firmer and louder. As always, it takes a moment for their brain to catch up with their surroundings: the hard bunk beneath them, followed by the bare walls of their room, still unadorned (RJ wasn’t exactly carrying any personal belongings when they fled CUI Headquarters, and the ship hadn’t made any stops since. Not that RJ knows what they would put in their room anyway. There hadn’t been much to leave behind on New Jupiter). RJ sits up and rubs an arm across their eyes, then goes to answer the door.

It’s Violet. RJ clamps down on the reflexive urge to say something like, ‘Did you draw the short straw?’, or maybe, ‘Did they send you to manage me?’ Violet doesn’t look like she’s here under duress, and to RJ’s memory, she’s not a particularly good actor.

“Hi,” they say instead.

“Hi,” Violet replies with a little smile. There’s always a weird dissonance – though RJ would never, ever bring this up – that comes from hearing the voices of the Rumor crew come out of the mouths of actual people instead of a recording. “How did you sleep?”

“Uh…” RJ thinks back, and is surprised to find that the answer is ‘well’. They actually feel… slightly refreshed. “Fine.” Belatedly, they tack on, “Thank you.”

“That’s good to hear.” Violet smiles again. She’s never been unfriendly to RJ, but these past several days, she’s seemed more on edge, more prone to sarcastic retorts, less willing to make peace between them and Patel- Arkady. RJ had believed that her patience was slowly fraying, that like the rest of the crew, she was only willing to put up with the new additions to the ship for a certain amount of time and that she’d stop pretending before long. But now, taking in Violet’s looser posture, the way some of the lines around her eyes and mouth have eased, RJ realises it had never had anything to do with them. Violet had been worried about the supplies. About her… medical emergency.

Speaking of supplies… “Did Park tell you what we wanted to add to the list?” RJ asks, figuring they’d better add a bit of verisimilitude to the excuse that Park had used to speak to RJ alone.

Violet’s smile widens. “He did. I definitely agree about replenishing our coffee supplies – though, I don’t know what kind of quality you’re used to, because I should warn you that the black market kind – the affordable black market kind, anyway – is pretty bad. We get non-freeze-dried coffee whenever we can, but out here…” Violet shrugs as if to say, ‘Beggars can’t be choosers’.

RJ manages to suppress a wince at the term “black market”. This is your life, now, RJ, they remind themself for the thousandth time. “That’s okay. The stuff in the IGR breakrooms was basically dreck. I can drink pretty much anything.” RJ is no coffee lover, but they drink it for the caffeine. Pretty much everyone in the Republic has a caffeine addiction or develops one at some point – no way to get through eighteen-hour shifts without it.

Violet chuckles a little. “It was always the same at my lab internships. I guess bad breakroom coffee is pretty universal.”

RJ recognises that she’s trying to bond with them by referencing shared experiences of working for the Republic. It’s not the first time she’s done it. But RJ still has trouble seeing their circumstances as equivalent.

Violet is – had been – a scientist, not an Agent; not one of the IGR’s most loyal, tasked with the defence of the Republic. She’d never had access to classified briefings; hadn’t dedicated her life to tracking down and apprehending insurgent forces. And given that the Rumor crew had deceived her into entering the cryo chamber, she could argue that she’d been duped – and had only co-operated in order to save her own life. Well, the argument would hold water up until Elion, anyway.

It wasn’t the same.

The silence hangs for a few moments, before RJ prompts her, “Did you want to… ask me something?”

“Sorry, yes – I came to tell you that dinner’s ready and uh, we’re about to eat in the mess hall if you’d like to join us.” Violet smiles again, with a touch of nervousness this time. No doubt she’s expecting a caustic brush-off.

“Is it veggie stew?” RJ can’t help asking, with a slight nose wrinkle. They’re expecting a rebuke from Violet, some kind of warning about being grateful for what they have, but instead she laughs.

“Unfortunately. On the bright side, though, it’s only for a couple more days and then we’ll be able to have actual flavourings again.”

RJ almost smiles, and is surprised when they catch themself. And – they were going to decline, make an excuse about continuing their nap, because they’re still feeling off-kilter and they doubt that Arkady will be thrilled to be spending time in close quarters with them so soon, but – they think about Park’s talk with them in the hallway. About how they’ve spent the past few weeks dodging any kind of connection with the rest of the crew, anything that will put them past, in RJ’s mind, the point of no return – and where exactly that’s got them.

“Sure,” says RJ. “Just let me, uh…”

They put a hand up to their hair, realising that it must be sticking up in all directions after their nap. Short hair is gratifyingly easy to take care of, but it sure does have interesting ideas about gravity.

“I have a comb you can borrow, if you need it?” Violet offers.

“It’s fine,” RJ declines automatically. “Park-”

They catch themself, wondering why it feels like such a concession to accept even this tiny piece of help from someone other than Park. They think about their bare room, empty of any personal possessions.

“I’m okay right now,” they say slowly. “But… is it too late to add something to the shopping list?”

Violet blinks, clearly surprised, and then smiles brightly. “Not at all.”

---

Five minutes later, hair tamed and clothes straightened, RJ makes their way towards the mess hall, which adjoins the kitchen. They haven’t spent much time in here so far – there’d been a couple of communal dinners at first, which quickly gave way to the reality of shifts ending at disparate times and the need to simply grab food however and whenever people could, something RJ had been grateful for.

Once, on their way to the kitchen, they’d walked in on Violet and Arkady having what looked like a picnic at the table in the centre of the room, just the two of them. That had been awkward for everyone. Since then, RJ has taken to finding their food and snacks at times when they know most of the crew are otherwise occupied.

Everyone else is already there and making more noise than you would think a group of six people could generate. Brian is in the kitchen, ladling bland servings of stew into the uniform polypropylene bowls that they’d found stacked inside the cupboards. Krejjh stands next to him, loudly enthusing about the virtues of the stew to anyone within earshot. Violet and Sana are waiting to be served, while Arkady – who has just been handed a full bowl by Brian – rolls her eyes and makes sarcastic comments as she carries it through to the mess hall. There, Park is sitting in one of the bolted-down chairs, watching the whole scene with a slightly raised eyebrow and waiting, if RJ had to guess, for the general hubbub to die down before he goes to get his food.

RJ pads over and slides into the chair on the same side as Park’s good eye. Park turns his head slightly, giving them a quick once-over, almost too brief to catch. “Hi,” he says quietly. “How was your nap?”

RJ hesitates over what to say. “It helped,” they reply. “Park, can we… talk? After dinner?”

The tiniest of frowns creases Park’s forehead. “Sure,” he says. “Everything all right?”

RJ nods, drumming their fingers on the tabletop and meeting Violet’s gaze as she comes over to sit next to Arkady, giving RJ a friendly smile. They don’t quite return it, but… it’s not as unwelcome as it would have been, before.

“Yeah,” they say to Park. “It’s fine.”

[asilentguardian]

My Thoughts on Gotham

My mom and I finished watching Gotham on December 29th, and this analysis has been sitting in google docs since then. Some of this is a bit incoherent, some of it I wrote as I was watching, and some of it I wrote after finishing the entire show. So here it is. 2,000 words or so of rambling about Gotham. 

My thoughts on the show as a whole: Gotham changed my opinion on a lot of Batman’s villains. I used to be indifferent towards Penguin, now I love him. I used to hate Firefly, now I love her. While there were one or two decisions that I disagreed with, the portrayal of these characters was satisfying and the tone of the show as a whole was refreshing. The writing was good for the most part, however there are issues with sexism and homophobia that I personally noticed.

And now I’m going season by season cause I’m a nerd.

Season One

Season one is a bit of a mixed bag for me. It seemed to me that the show writers and the younger actors were still trying to find their footing and decide what kind of world their Gotham was. Some episodes are slow, but overall it’s intriguing and I was invested after a couple of episodes.

The pilot has a lot of moving parts and it still works. They did a good job of intertwining all of these characters before starting them all on their own paths.

I can’t imagine anyone else playing these roles. I am really happy with the casting choices for this show. Jim Gordon, Harvey Bullock, and Bruce Wayne especially.

Fish Mooney is an interesting but welcome edition! To be honest, the first time my mom and I tried to watch Gotham, we hated her. The second time around, however, I LOVED her and her role in the rise of Penguin.

Having Edward Nygma start at the GCPD was a really cool idea! I think they executed his descent into madness perfectly. I wanted Ed to prevail and to be a goodman just as much as I wanted to see the Riddler emerge.

Speaking of the GCPD, the corruption and the conflict within the precinct is very believable and compelling. It’s easy to believe that Jim Gordon is a young and optimistic detective who believes wholeheartedly in doing good. I also appreciate the fact that Jim Gordon doesn’t lose that drive for good throughout the show. I also don’t find it too cheesy, even if it’s a common trope.

The Batman universe is huge so I was expecting references and easter eggs at every turn, and I was half right. There's plenty of references and cameos but they work and they aren’t essential to the plot which helps casual fans keep up with the story.

A lot of seeds are planted during this first season, and it’s rewarding to see them pay off. I don’t feel as if the first season suffers from the thing that a lot of movies do where they are clearly trailers for the next part in the franchise. 

I think my favorite episode of this season is episode 20 “Under the Knife.” The stakes are high and the story line with the Ogre is definitely unexpected and horrifying but in the best way. Also Ed kills Dougherty and it’s very satisfying.

Season Two

Rise/Wrath of the Villains!

Theo Galavan and Hugo Strange were the big bads of this season and I think they were written and acted very well.

Something I’ve noticed about some of the villains on this show and their interactions with children and Bruce in particular is that they’re... unsettling. I suppose that’s intentional and I definitely think it makes some of the villains more intimidating, but it’s really creepy. There are a lot of adults that are preying on Bruce’s innocence in this show. 

Theo Galavan was not my favorite. He was intimidating for a bit, but I kinda grew bored of him. I did enjoy the nod to Azrael. 

Hugo Strange! I was kinda indifferent to him when playing Arkham City but I enjoy him in this show! Loved when he showed up again in subsequent seasons and you immediately knew some Fucked Shit was happening.

So Mr. Freeze. I’m not too sure how I feel about Gotham’s take on this story. The casting is solid, but killing Nora? Not the move. Actually very angry about that to be honest. The Mr. Freeze episode could’ve been so much more compelling and emotional but instead it was a way to move Lee and Jim’s relationship forward :(

They managed to make Firefly not annoying, but I only found Firefly annoying before because of that stupid boss fight in Arkham Origins. But I liked Bridget.

Penguin and Nygma’s relationship is very fun in this season! More on them later, but at least in season two it’s very enjoyable to watch them learn to trust each other. My mom and I adored their story line.

I LOVE Nygma’s character arc in this season. His interactions with Gordon are some of my favorite bits from this season. They are very rewatchable and I find their relationship to be one of the more intriguing ones in the show.

Overall season 2 was decent. Some of the villains were forgettable, but the relationship arcs and character arcs that were compelling kept me interested.

Episode 15, Mad Grey Dawn, was one of my favorites this season. Seeing the Nygma v Gordon thing play out was so so so fun. I really loved being able to follow Nygma’s logic and feel Gordon’s frustration at being framed.

Season Three

Mad City/Heroes Rise!

There’s A LOT I have to say about season 3. I liked it. There’s a couple of big issues I have with season 3, but overall it was compelling and I enjoyed it.

While I’m not usually one for the “this character has a darkness inside of them” trope, I really didn’t mind it with Gordon. I thought it was believable and interesting enough to be engaging. bounty hunter Gordon was pretty fun, too. And hot. Anyway.

The Mad Hatter v Jim Gordon stuff is intense. Episode 6 where Gordon is forced to choose between Valerie and Lee is where the “dark side” trope lost me a little but I do like that they make a point to have Gordon always make his way back to the light. Valerie’s exit felt very rushed and sudden? I don’t know if the actress was written off for some reason, but it felt very weird.

So. Penguin and Nygma. I don’t know if I would necessarily call it queer-baiting, but it definitely doesn’t sit right with me. Here’s the thing about Gotham’s queer representation: it’s not good, but it’s not bad. There is 100% an issue with making all of your queer characters villains. And there’s a HUGE issue with having Barbara’s attraction to women only be present when she’s a) acting as an antagonist to Gordon’s work at the GCPD (Montoya in season one) or b) on the side of the antagonist and framed as crazy (Tabitha in season two). Also, notice how in season five she’s “sane” when she’s with Gordon. It’s homophobia luv.

However, in the case of Penguin and Nygma, the added layer of Penguin’s love for Nygma makes their arc a little more interesting and compelling (there’s still an issue with queer love being framed as toxic and obsessive in this show, but if I don’t stop talking about that this post will be miles long).

The Ivy thing is certainly a new plot device, but I don’t hate it. Took a bit to get used to, but older Ivy makes sense and to be honest, I wasn’t a huge fan of child Ivy. Not that her character was bad, but I personally found her a tad annoying.

SEASON 3 EPISODE 14. THE GENTLE ART OF MAKING ENEMIES. I HAVE A LOT TO SAY ABOUT THIS. Bruce’s character development in this episode made me extremely happy. I haven’t talked a lot about Jerome-Joker yet, but I really like him. Joker is one of those characters you can take a lot of liberties with and it can either really work or really suck (looking at you Jared Leto). Gotham’s version of Joker, while a bit rushed, is a good fucking Joker.

The reason why I like s3e14 so much is THIS is what the Joker vs Batman relationship is about. This is why they are perfect foils. Batman always has a reason, a method. Motivation and a cause. He believes in Gotham and he believes that EVERYONE has the capacity for good. Joker does things just for the hell of it (i.e. kidnapping Bruce). His point is anarchy and chaos. His point is that everyone has darkness and that they are “one bad day” away from giving into that darkness (subtle nods to The Killing Joke, very nice). This is illustrated SO beautifully in this episode. However, I do see an issue down the line of Joker knowing who Batman is instantly, but I digress.

The birth of Riddler! The development of Penguin and Riddler’s animosity! mwah!

Also. Bruce standing above Gotham in an early version of the suit. There’s no ears or cape but my mom and I were VERY excited. I felt so giddy.

Bruce’s vow not to kill was beautifully framed, props to the DP on that one. It felt nice to hear a live action version of Bruce Wayne say that. (Note from the future: yes he breaks it. Sorta. I’m mad about it, but I explain my feelings in depth later).

Season Four

A Dark Knight!

Alright. Season 4. To be honest, it took me a while to warm up to this one.

Scarecrow. Love his costume. Love his escape. Scarecrow is one of my favorites because he’s creepy and cool and terrifying. Well done. The episode where Jim goes after him is really brutal. He goes there alone, not even Harvey by his side, and he is forced to stare his biggest fear in the face. I loved it!

The Pax Penguina. I’m easily won over by references to old literature and history. This show has made me actually like Penguin. I used to find him annoying and didn’t understand why he was people’s favorite, but this show has proved him to be a competent and cunning villain. I love to hate him. It’s fun seeing him at the top of Gotham.

Riddler’s escape and Nygma’s return. His friendship with Lee and Grundy (Grundy!!). Ed and Lee was certainly an interesting choice. I didn’t hate it, it just seemed really odd. I enjoyed Lee’s rise to power though! 

Sofia Falcone. Not really a fan tbh. Didn’t trust her from the start and it was SO satisfying to see her get shot in the head. Talk about a ruthless mastermind. To be fair, I did love to hate her in the beginning, but then she kinda got on my nerves? The actress that played her was really good though!

Captain James Gordon. Yessir. What a legend. One step closer to Commissioner. But also ouchie he had to go behind Harvey’s back. That subplot hurt so good.

Professor Pyg is. A lot. Gotham is a mature show, but it’s hard to like Pyg even as a villain. He’s unsettling and his episodes are a bit too much. I tolerated him but it just got to be gratuitous. I will say that I am relieved that they weren’t heavy handed on the cross-dressing thing. Would prefer not to see that played for a joke anymore, and this show does not need to vilify queerness more than it has.

Jerome and Jeremiah! ahhhhh!!! What wonderful interpretations of the Joker! Jerome was great, but I think I’m partial to Jeremiah. Maybe because his costume looks so much like the Joker from the animated series and Mark Hamill will always be my Joker. Either way, I LOVED their story line in season 4.

Kinda love Barbara being involved in the League. Very sexy of her. Also very sexy of her to not be dead. 

Alright. Here we go. Ra’s Al Ghul and Bruce Wayne. I have mixed feelings about this. So Bruce kills. Technically he’s not Batman yet, and obviously Ra’s didn’t stay dead, but he already took the oath. I have a hard time staying with any adaptation that makes their Batman a killer, but this one wasn’t awful? And then technically Barbara uses Bruce’s hands to kill Ra’s in the finale. I’m upset that they went with a “what if Batman kills” story line in the first place, but the resolution wasn’t too terrible.

Those last three episodes of season 4. Wow. My mom and I couldn’t stop watching. The nods to The Killing Joke were cool but not too on the nose. The stakes felt high and I was so deeply invested because this story line in particular was very well crafted and planned out and it definitely shows. There’s so many loose ends at this finale, and somehow it works and you still have hope. But holy shit, those bridges coming down, the utter panic and confusion as you’re wondering “is X person okay? what happened to X?” wonderful, chefs kiss.

Season Five

Legend of the Dark Knight!

Oh gosh. I have so much I want to say, but I don’t know how to put it into words. I loved this season. I loved the post apocalyptic vibes of Gotham. Loved the rise of the villains into the people who will one day face Batman. Loved Gordon’s leadership and rise to Commissioner. There’s a few things I have issues with this season, but I’m just so in love with that finale. What a beautiful send off.

I loved how the finale was crafted, how we didn’t see the full Batman suit till the end. I did, in fact, cry when that thing was revealed. The score was beautiful. It felt so much like an episode of The Animated Series, yet so unlike any other piece of Batman media. It was so refreshing to have everything wrapped up nicely, so refreshing to have hope and satisfaction in a finale.

Overall, this version of Gotham City feels like a living, breathing thing that is lived in and flawed. It is wonderful. The set designers did wonderfully and it feels so timeless in the way that the Animated Series did as well. I think that’s part of the reason why I loved this show so much. It made me feel the same way that the Animated Series did.

I know I’ve missed a lot of details and plot lines, so if for some reason you are interested in my thoughts on a particular thing in this show, my inbox is open!!

[myimaginesandrp]

Kylo Ren x Reader

Part one: While Kylo is interrogating you (a resistance member) he discovers you’re force sensitive.

Words: 2k 

Summary: After escaping from The First Order on a stolen TIE fighter, you crash land into a desert planet in hope of sending a distress signal to the resistance.

Thank you to everyone who takes the time to read my work ^.^ This is for those 3 people who liked part 2 I hope you enjoy!

You’d never thought you’d see the day when you returned to the Outer Rim. In fact, after you joined the Resistance you never imagined you’d find yourself anywhere near the unknown regions. Yet here you were, speeding through space, blurring through the star charts, hoping to find a way back home. You were not alone though, and you had to thank commander Ren for that.  The flash of another ship in the distance was the last thing you needed right now. In fact the five before that one appeared were also unwanted, but hey at least you had lost two. Escaping the first order was turning out to be a lot more difficult than you bargained for; especially with that lunatic coming for you. 

The TIE fighter you’d stolen proved to be a challenge on its own. You could barely pilot the darn thing. What you wouldn't give to have someone else with you, shooting back at them. Boy were these guys adamant on taking you out. You’d been chased halfway across the galaxy before you could start shaking them off but they just kept coming, and now you were running out of fuel. The screens in the cockpit began to blink rapidly before you. A star system was near. Great. You prepared yourself to make the jump. The poor ship was giving you all it could even after all those hits it had taken. Just one more jump and you’d be good to go. Here goes nothing. You breathed out a sigh, pulled on the lever  and watched as the stars blurred around you. Had you been holding your breath? The ship sputtered forward and in place of stars, you found yourself in the middle of an asteroid belt. You cursed as one of them scraped the left wing. They were too close, and the TIE wasn’t gonna last any longer. Come on, just make it to a planet. The ship rocked as a sudden blast hit the damaged wing. Wonderful, more company. 

The first order pilots were a lot more skilled than you, that was a given, but all you needed was to lose them in one of these rocks. The screens began to flash a red light, and you spun forward as you got hit again. You could see the smoke from the side now, clouding your vision as you were vacuumed into the atmosphere of the planet the locator had chosen for you.  Just a little more. The whole viewport was covered in dust and smoke, no way to see where you’d be headed. One more hit and your ship began to spiral through the sky. Here we go. With one last sigh you pulled back on the control lever before pressing the eject button. In an instant you were thrown from the ship, sailing through the sky until your body made contact with the ground. You rolled over a couple of times until a large sand dune stopped you, the sound of ships speeding above you filled the air until a loud explosion in the distance made your ears ring. You coughed and spit out sand from your lungs as you tried to regain control of your limbs. That could’ve gone better. 

After your throat decided it would stop tasting like metal, you slowly pulled yourself up into a crawling position. The sand was hot, the air was hot, this whole place seemed to be on fire. You squinted your eyes and looked to the distance at the growing tower of smoke coming from the ship, or what was left of it anyways. A group of TIE ships encircled the remains. They would be here soon, it was time to move. With the little strength you had left, you pushed forward trying to get as much distance between you and the troopers as you could. 

A dark circle of ashes was all that was left of the stolen TIE fighter. Not even pieces of rubble were scattered around the crash sight. No footprints, no witnesses, nothing. After the first report of the prisoner reached the star destroyer, Kylo was sure he’d have them back in no time. That wasn’t the case. The incompetent stromtroopers had failed to acquire the prisoner again. It didn’t surprise Kylo in the slightest, but it did anger him anyways. Now, it was prime day and he’d finally reached the planet only to be met with empty hands. He stood up from the crouching position he was in as he examined the crash. One thing was also missing from it, a body. He knew the resistance scum was alive, he’d sensed it as soon as he entered the planet. The medic was impossible to miss, now that they'd learned of their ability to use the force. How they managed to deflect him still lingered on his mind. Supreme leader Snoke had ordered for him to destroy anyone who could manipulate the force, but once again he was conflicted and this time for a whole new reason. He’d seen into their mind, but they’d also looked into his. None of the other force users had managed such a feat before. This medic was strong with the force, too strong. The things they could achieve with the power of the dark side, with the right teacher... He pushed the thought from his mind. First he had to find them, and now as he marched towards the city with a small battalion behind him, they  didn’t stand a chance of evading him again.

It had been exactly three planetary rotations since you’d arrived and you were nowhere near getting out of this place. The first night was fine. The town was big enough so a traveler wouldn’t cause attention, but by the second day people were starting to give you second glances. Now as you sat in the cantina looking for work, you were sure every eye lingered on you. Maybe fighting with the local bounty hunters wasn’t the best idea, but what could you do? Turns out you’d found yourself with a large bounty on your head. The sum was so large you were half tempted to turn yourself in again. Maybe next time. It wasn't easy to aquire just about anything out in the middle of nowhere, but you managed to scrape together enough credits from the stormtrooper suit to get yourself some lodging. If you could just manage another job, you’d have enough credits to bargain for a ship.

 As you stood to leave out the back exit, a large crowd was forming near the front of the establishment. You were about to dismiss it when the familiar sound of voice amplifiers froze you in place. Two Stormtroopers stood blocking the door, asking people for identification. No no no… Not this now. You ran out the back and carefully walked back towards the east outskirts of the town. You had hoped to be out of here before they eventually made their way into town, but now it looked like a whole fleet of TIE fighters had made this planet their new home. The sand was starting to pick up as you finally got some distance behind you. Two stopped you just before you could get on a speeder but now that you realized your powers came with the ability to force your will onto people, the encounter went by without an incident. It was strange, feeling such a connection with everything around you. It was like you could see the whole world at once, but now all you could see were more ships landing in the distance. The place was crawling with stormtroopers, it was a miracle you’d managed to get out this far. After a few minutes of fighting through the wind, you found yourself right outside the scavenger post. No doubt about it now, there was a storm coming real soon. According to what the locals had said, you were running out of time before you were engulfed in it. 

They had about 4 ships near the scavenger post, but only two that would make it out of here. The place was nearly deserted except for a few Jawas running back to their Sandcrawler, so getting to the ship was easy. After overriding the security system the door hissed open. This was beginning to be too easy. You almost hesitated before coming into the ship, but the howl of approaching wind gave you no choice. So you stepped into the ship and watched as the ramp closed behind you, just before the outside world began to blur into a flurry of sand. 

After a brief inspection of the ship you stood in the refresher, tending to your growing collection of wounds. Your wrists were still in bad shape, but now you had a leg injury to worry about after your crash landing into the planet. The ship rocked gently as the storm passed. Maybe you could use the time to send out a signal to the resistance. The cockpit was larger than you intended it to be, but somehow you managed to play around with enough buttons to catch frequencies passing through the galaxy. You zoned in on one specific frequency before inputting a code into the communicator. Soon a hologram flashed in front of you, there were a lot of messages in there. You sat down and watched as Poe himself relayed the message you’d been waiting for. You hadn’t seen him since you left for your mission so long ago. 

SEVEN TRANSMISSIONS ACQUIRED

Y/N we received intel that the first order are near the jungle planet you’re camped at, please evacuate immediately!

END OF TRANSMISSION

The droid has been retrieved by the resistance successfully. The general says we are close to victory once Luke is found. Good job team!

END OF TRANSMISSION

We lost a lot of good people, please contact base immediately. Not everyone is accounted for...

END OF TRANSMISSION

Y/N if you’re out there please make contact with us. We don’t know where the order took you, but we know you were taken prisoner...

END OF TRANSMISSION

His voice was softer now, defeat in his eyes. The messages were garbled now, distant. He wasn’t at base.

Y/N I led a search party to find you, but all attempts to make contact have been intercepted by The First Order. Please be okay ...

END OF TRANSMISSION

Y/N I don’t know if you're alive anymore. You’ve been gone so long. Please send me something...

END OF TRANSMISSION

The last message was sent out about  a cycle ago. He had tears running down his cheeks, he choked on the last word.

Y/N you were my best medic, and my best pilot. I am so proud of everything you’ve ever done. You kept the spark alive. I hope we see eachother again.  

END OF FINAL TRANSMISSION

A ragged breath escaped you. You didn’t even notice you had tears pooling in your eyes. Of course they thought you were dead, but they tried to look for you. You sat for a minute letting the pent up emotions of the last weeks wash over you. Turns out imprisonment, nearly avoiding execution, and accidentally killing two people really took a toll on a person. Once you could breathe normally again, you sat up and recorded your own transmission hoping it would reach someone somewhere. They hadn’t given up, neither would you. Once the storm passed you’d take this ship and go straight home. Maybe you’d hide in a cave for the rest of your life, but at least you’d be safe. Safe with your family of friends. 

“How touching” The voice  that echoed throughout the ship sent a chill down your spine. No, you were sure you didn’t hear it, surely your mind was playing tricks with you. Could it be  that you’d actually walked yourself straight into a trap. No you weren’t imagining things. You could sense him; he’d been there the whole time. You turned around to see him standing by the entrance of the cockpit with a smug grin on his face. His tall frame took up almost the entirety of the doorway, and his hand was plastered to his saber. You stared at him in disbelief as dried tears began to settle on your cheeks. He wasn’t wearing his mask but you knew it was him. He looked just as he had in those memories you’d seen not so long ago. A little different now, but every trace of the young man he used to be. 

“Commander Ren” you managed to choke out. 

Part 4

Thanks for reading! :) Requests are always open

@treestarrrrrrrr​ @chewymoustachio​ @country-cowgirl-101​

[drshebloggo]

Ask box: JUSTICE FOR LANE KIM, a breakdown.

Anonymous asked: Do you know why Lane disappeared from the show as Rory's best friend over time? She appeared every now and then, yeah, but it has always bothered me that she slowly faded from being Rory's best friend to nobody... am I remembering things wrong?

I do not know! The Palladinos make decisions that sometimes are simply beyond my comprehension.

It’s been awhile since I watched Gilmore Girls in its entirety (and I kind of selectively ignore a lot in the last two, three seasons) but I don’t think you’re remembering things wrong. I will say, though, that the show faced a challenge with all of the Stars Hollow supporting ensemble when Rory went off to college. It’s these kind of problem-making focus shifts that I find really interesting, and they are UBIQUITOUS across teen/high school shows when a character or ensemble graduates.

Most of them that I can think of are done poorly, maybe with the exception of Friday Night Lights. But in defense of these shows, it’s HARD. How do you embrace a fundamental shift in the entire premise of your show? How do you deal with the new geographies of this shift, and the way they ripple into beloved character dynamics? How do you evolve a character through an engaging and meaningful arc without abandoning the foundation on which they were built? And how do you still capture your audience’s attention when there’s a risk that you’re leaving behind the magic that captivated them in the first place? IT’S HARD.

So in the case of Gilmore Girls, Rory at Yale is the shift that moves the show into a new paradigm, and it’s a big one. She’s separated from Stars Hollow and slowly beginning her emancipation from Lorelai, which is, on principle, painful for the audience because it’s directly against the show’s premise. (It’s no coincidence that the Palladinos starts seriously building the Luke-and-Lorelai-of-it-all once Rory’s away at college. Give that empty-nester some new story!)

Of course, Lane is right behind Lorelai in the list of People in Stars Hollow that Rory is Leaving Behind. How is Lane supposed to stay a part of Rory’s story when Rory is in a new context, and Lane is not? But, truth be told, Lane was ALREADY in this role. In seasons 1-3, LANE, not Lorelai, was #1 on the list of People in Stars Hollow that Rory is Leaving Behind. Ultimately Gilmore Girls is a story of two worlds, and Rory going to Chilton begins her passage across the into the New (Old, with Baggage) World. Lane is already being left behind, to some degree, and in seasons 1-3, there’s still room in the show’s universe to address those issues and give Lane some good storylines of her own, especially in conjunction with Rory.

So it’s possible that the issue is not necessarily one of screentime or setting. Whenever I hear the rebel cry of JUSTICE FOR LANE KIM resound in my heart chambers, I mostly think of the kinds of storylines that befell her in the later seasons, not simply in their detachment from Rory. Heeding her mom’s insistence that she attend Seventh Day Adventist college. Fracturing her relationship with her mom in order to pursue her dreams. Getting kicked out of her home. Living with her two boy bandmates who are very stupid and very messy. Never really getting the band off the ground. Her first sexual experience being terrible. Her first sexual experience being terrible AND yielding a pregnancy with TWINS. Why do the Palladinos hate Lane Kim!!! The only thing I wholeheartedly love about Lane’s later storylines is Luke hiring her to work at the diner and then being completely overwhelmed by her sheer competence.

It’s probably important to note that the mere construction of Lane Kim’s character is a bit tragic. The Palladinos are VERY good at building conflict and tension into what seems like simple character descriptions. Here’s this girl that loves rock music to an obsessive, encyclopedic level, wants to play drums in a band, and she’s from a strict religious household where she can’t express any of that. The description itself inherently means that things are going to blow up for Lane at some point. That’s okay, to some degree - that’s conflict, that’s drama, that’s good story.

So if we look at Lane’s arc pre-blow-up, and post-blow-up, the satisfying thing would be for Lane to experience some kind of happiness or success living unstifled in her dreams, to offset the trauma that her family relationships are ruined (at least for the time being). But the Palladinos don’t even do that! It’s encapsulated in the incident that tears apart Lane’s relationship with her mom: she goes to play at CBGB, her mom finds out and kicks her out, and the band doesn’t even get to go on!! The Palladinos love PAIN.

And okay, fine, there’s still some defense that that is well-designed drama and story. (And Lane and her mom do reconcile eventually, and it was at least very affecting, from my memory.) I guess you could argue that Lane IS happy with how things turned out after the lifelong lie she’s lived completely unravels and she’s able to just exist, unguarded. But also... the Palladinos wrote her that way??? And regardless, for me, the issues arise more down the line with Lane essentially staying in Stars Hollow. Wouldn’t unshackling herself from the yoke of her mother mean that she’s free to pursue her dreams? And wouldn’t pursuing her dreams necessitate her to ALSO leave Stars Hollow, like Rory herself? Would she not try to scrape together money to move with the band to New York City and hit the big time? (Bear in mind, I have no idea how the music industry works.)

Ultimately, Lane’s story in the later seasons puts the writers in a Catch-22. If she leaves Stars Hollow and goes somewhere else to pursue her dreams, she’s almost certainly written off the show. She’s a supporting character, and they can’t open up a new world beyond Stars Hollow and New Haven, just for her. On the other hand, if she stays in Stars Hollow, in keeping with the geographies of the universe, she stays on the show, and just... gets really disappointing storylines. I’d be inclined to keep giving Keiko Agena a paycheck. 

(Now, the fact that WB threw money at a backdoor pilot for Jess Mariano to go to California and open up a new world for a weakly-premised spin-off, and did no such thing for Lane Kim, is some bullshit. Literally “moving to the big city to live a dream” is SUCH a well-worn trope that all the storylines are essentially handed to them, and it’s almost inherently refreshed because Lane is a Korean-American woman and not a brooding white guy or a quirky white lady. You FOOLS, you could’ve made that show with your EYES CLOSED.)

Anyways.

I’m going to meander my way further off the main point for a moment to kick up some dust on JUSTICE FOR RORY GILMORE as well. When you write ten paragraphs lamenting Lane Kim’s eternal relegation to supporting role, it’s hard not to be cranky about affording world-opening and story-building for a main character instead. (Spin-off Jess very much deserves the crank, though.) But, frankly, the unyielding walls that the Palladinos built to construct their very effective Two-World Universe don’t do a lot of favors for Rory Gilmore either, in the end.

Basically, this construct of Stars Hollow ensemble and New Haven future means that Rory is the only one who will “get out” of Stars Hollow, because she is structurally decreed to do so. It’s the massive conflict that the Palladinos smartly built into their little generational premise: Lorelai fled her parents’ world, and Rory will slowly be lured back into it. Pain ensues. This is good drama. This is good story. This is story that will last seven seasons and six-hour revival.

But it also inadvertently makes Rory the Chosen One, in a story that doesn’t need one. This is not Joseph Campbell’s Hero with a Thousand Faces, and I’d like to believe that even Paris and Rory wouldn’t want it to be, much as they love the Power of Myth. Lorelai divests her entire life into Rory’s success; the town of Stars Hollow wants Rory to spirit out of their small town and Be Great; Rory’s grandparents expect her to follow in Richard’s footsteps and also carry out their orphaned dreams for Lorelai. And then the Palladinos choose little things that further this: Lane doesn’t ever leave Stars Hollow; Paris doesn’t get into Harvard but Rory does; Luke interrogates any boy that comes near Rory because no one is good enough. (I confess, I’m charmed into forgiving the last one.)

It’s much too much to put onto one character and leave unaddressed!!! It’s also why some audience members just really hate Rory, in a really unfortunate knife-twist on an otherwise-winsome main character. They hate the unwillingness of the narrative to acknowledge this very obvious dark and specific underside to Rory’s specialness, and the unwillingness of people within the narrative to name this very obvious dark and specific underside about Rory. But to paraphrase Jessica Rabbit: she’s just DRAWN THAT WAY!

Rory’s storylines never really confront the idea that she has had FAR too many unrealistic expectations put on her by literally everyone that’s ever existed in her life, and what it might mean if she doesn’t live up to them. What does it mean if she’s not Christiane Amanpour? What does it mean if she’s scared of disappointing people? What does it mean if she’s trying to live up to other people’s standards rather than examining what she really wants?

The Palladinos completely ignore this, and simultaneously give Rory multiple meltdowns (cheating with Dean, being cowed by Mitchum Huntzberger, stealing a boat, quitting Yale, an aimless/struggling career) and they never QUITE dig into the complete dark and specific issue at the core of Rory’s character construction... which just exacerbates the Rory hate. Rory has no self-awareness; the writers give her no self-awareness; we go in circles, and every few years there’s a slew of thinkpieces about how selfish and awful Rory is.

What makes it worse is that those questions outlined above are essentially applicable for two other women on the show: Lane Kim, and Lorelai Gilmore II, herself. Lane, like Rory, doesn’t quite bust through and answer them wholly. Lorelai, however, comes into the show having already answered them, years before, when she was a headstrong and tenacious teenager. The idea that neither Rory, her actual daughter, nor Lane, her spiritual inheritor of Parental Disapproval, are ever able to grapple with those concepts in a real way, and blossom into self-defined adulthood the way that Lorelai did is maybe the bottom line on where Gilmore Girls went “wrong.” Lorelai’s legacy is not that she’s hyperverbal, loves junk food, and got pregnant young. It’s that she rejected the expectations of her forebearers and carved out a place in the world for herself by her own definition, for better or for worse. It’s why Lorelai comes out of the narrative like a Super Mom, when in fact she’s still just as deeply flawed as Emily or Rory, and why Stars Hollow is overall magical and cherished despite it serving as a small-town hometown for Rory to leave behind. And it’s why A Year in the Life was SO satisfying for Emily Gilmore, because she proved it’s never too late to answer those questions and break through to the other side. Perhaps we’ll get enough revivals to see the same happen for Rory, and for Lane.

But enough dust about Rory. I think, after all this nitpicking, there were two options for the best way to have handled Lane Kim after Rory went off to college:

1. Give her a backdoor pilot and spinoff to Band Dreams NYC. Which, of course, was not in the Palladinos’ control, so, y’know, fine.

2. Keep Lane in Stars Hollow and give her a chance to answer those questions about self-definition and live out a few years of Lorelai-like hard-but-happy independence (and better sex) before saddling her with Zach and two babies (if you MUST). Bonus points if she moves in with Lorelai and they bond over being fundamentally disappointing to your parents and also missing Rory. A very good obvious choice.

Secret option 3. Just let Lane move to New Haven and live with Rory and Paris off-campus, and give me the goddamn roommate comedy of my dreams. Honestly this is what they should’ve done. Forget everything I said. This is my answer.

Tiny footnote: I cannot BELIEVE, that after twenty years, I am just now realizing how on-the-nose it is that Lorelai escaped from the clutches of New Haven and started a new life for herself at a place called INDEPENDENCE INN. Truly, it was right there in front of me and I didn’t even notice. This oversight might weaken the integrity of the thousand-paragraph essay I rattled off above...

[disfordevineaux]

I don't know if you've done this before. But, do you have any Chase headcanons about his childhood or early teens? I'm kinda curious about how my favorite disaster boi could've been like back then 🤔

Chase childhood/teen/early 20s headcanons

I actually answered an ask I will link HERE with a little bit into what I think about his whole ‘growing up’ situation, if you can even call it that. I’ll delve a bit deeper into my hcs but I recommend you read that post I linked. It establishes my thoughts on his childhood to where a lot of these hcs will spawn from. So essentially this is a Part 2 of my Chase childhood headcanons. Going to focus on his late teens and early 20s.

As stated in my previous hcs Chase was an ‘orphan’ until his uncle (his mothers older brother) who magically showed up to adopt him for the government checks. His uncle was a long haul fisherman or something along those lines. This is where he officially received his last name of Devineaux once again.

I have a feeling his name wasn’t originally Chase. That being most likely his middle name or one he came up with which he changed to be his first, either shortened from something or just as is. He seems like an Alexandre to me. He would have negative connotations towards that name and preferred to decide a name a for himself rather than keeping the given name from a mother or family who didn’t really want him. He would have changed it once he left home.

No matter the living situation he was in, there wasn’t a lot of money around and if there was it wasn’t shared with him.

The majority of his teen years or the years that sculpted him into who he is now were in a town North-West of Paris along the coast. Somewhere like Dieppe, a fishing-port town.

You’d think by looking at him as an adult he was a bully or one of those ass hats at school who tried to be cool by being a dipstick or forcing a ‘class clown’ motif. In reality, he did everything in his power to blend into the shadows as he hated school, especially the social aspect of it.

Still, he was a sarcastic little shit when needed.

Spent a lot of his time outside or working dead-end jobs. Sometimes couldn’t return home or had to get into his house through a window instead of the front door.

Didn’t have many valuable possessions but had many crazy experiences like witnessing a flock of birds attack a drunk man, and won.

Was strangely optimistic about his future. Couldn’t get any worse than this, yeah? Yeah, it can and it will buddy.

Did watch Footloose religiously and intensely enjoyed it. *Wink*

He was reasonably good at school and tried to fast track it and graduate a year early. His application was accepted even with the few blemishes on his school academic report thanks to a few fights he partook in.

He was best at literature, English studies and writing in general. He was the top English and writing student and once even tried joining the drama club but the second he walked in the door he was instantly annoyed with everyone inside and did a full 180 out of that hellscape.

He then tried out for the sports clubs and teams but didn’t have time between work after school.

Chase actually made a friend during his last few years at school who managed to be the school’s main weed dealer (Chase draws chaos to him enough said). They actually were a good duo and Chase developed a serious attachment to him. His friend had a lot of money thanks to his business and often would get Chase to be his ‘bodyguard’ when selling to older clients.

They were both weird guys with different levels of intensity over random things. Both had that ‘dudebro’ vibe who would listen to Abba but in reality, the type of dudes who sit right next to each other in a hot tub, no need for 5 feet apart.

Somehow both comfortable with their sexuality which is refreshing. But, that won’t last long :(

They never got to really developed their relationship further before Chase left but it was a silent agreement between them that they liked one another on a physical and emotional level. They rekindled and I guess, ‘officially’ date when in the Air Force when training together. (Lovers in the military trope don’t @ me it fits him PERFECTLY.)

He and his friend were actually going to join the Air Force together. And they did. Chase first and his friend later.

Dude did some stupidly impulsive shit. Especially once he had a friend. Antics? Yes, many. Young, bored lonely boys with repressed feelings do stupid shit to fill the long hours. Jumping off things at high speed? Yes. Buring stuff? Yes. Smashing stuff? Yes. Listening to Green Day? Unironically, Yes.

No doubt they once burned down an abandoned house while trying to hotbox in one of the rooms. Nearly replicated the incident with the school DURING CLASS in the janitors closet. Boys just wanna get high and kiss okay?

Chase was born strong physically but mentally? Nar. Could fight a bear but would crumble under an anxious moment.

Never wanted to appear weak. It was what everyone expected but he never backed down from a fight or rivalry to his detriment. Stood up for himself no matter the circumstance. He always stood up for his boyfrie- SORRY I MEAN FRIEND.

He was an angry guy, mostly because people constantly tested his patience and intelligence and his home life was always a tense situation where there was no time to be soft or delicate.

Did get into many fights with one particular guy during school and out of school hours.

He was an attractive teenager. I like to think (like is a strong word) he was targeted by this one particular asshole because of their pent up feeling towards Chase. Chase either rejected his advances which set it all off or you just got that vibe from all their exchanges. Either way, at one point the tormentor made his feelings cryptically clear and Chase made sure they weren’t reciprocated.

One particular final fight between them, Chase wound up with a bat to the face which broke his nose badly.

The nose never really healed the best or back to how it was originally. This was something that scared him forever, becoming more resentful and unable to let things go. A lot more guarded from then on.

Chase used to be the pretty buff tall boy but the nose downgraded him to just a tall buff boy who has hints of a pretty boy in him.

Worked a few jobs during most nights. Needed money, mostly supported himself financially. Worked as a dish boy in a local restaurant and at the cinema as a cleaner. He always seemed to get the cleaning jobs.

Chase used to skateboard. He was pretty good at it too.

He started smoking young, around 15-16. And thanks to his companion, would often smoke weed supplied to him by his friend.

Loved going to the dentist when he could. He started eating those strong cheap dusty mints when he smoked as it was a cheap form of keeping his breath fresh after he smoked. Also, he thought it made him look cool and ended up getting addicted.

He wasn’t a joyless kid or teen, He just wasn’t one who smiled a lot.

Chase never really trained for his driving license. He just went for his test at the police station. They made him drive around the block once and they just gave it to him.

Chase: the aspiring pilot.

Chase wanted to be a pilot ever since he was young, specifically the French Air Force. No real trigger set that dream in motion, he just liked the idea of piloting a high-speed plane and seeing the world from up above. Moving fast is his ultimate goal.

He studied and prepared early to join the École Militaire de l'air (Military Air Force before it folded into the Air School). But you have to be over 18 and with his plans to complete school early, he would spend the year until then in basic military training, then would transfer over. All of this was to increase his chances of being accepted along with the examination, which he passed thanks to his passion for it.

Of course, things don’t always go to plan and even though he was on a path to graduating early a huge final brawl broke between him and a longtime bully halted this.

He had always fought with him specifically and this time, after years of building it all up, it hit the fan.  The incident put a hold on his plans and wasn’t able to graduate a whole year early.

Fast track forward and due to home pressures and school weighing him down he decided to just leave school and home and when he left, as one last ‘fuck you’ to his tormentor, his friend helped him break into his house and stole his car and drove it straight to Paris, abandoning it in the countryside just before. No one ever knew it was him and it is by far his greatest victory, as he knew how much he loved that car. Major mood. Chase was tempted to push it off a cliff in spite but couldn’t find one.

Chase still went into the general military before transferring to the Air Force once over 18 and acing his entrance evaluations.

Chase and his ‘friend’ managed to get in at the same time. Que, LLLLLLLL LOVERS!

They made sure they were in the same dorms, ‘classes’ and that their schedules lined up. They even swapped around so they had the same duties.

Chase thrived and was a great pilot. He achieved his pilots’ license and began working his way to completing the 2 years here then moving on to a higher position. His friend focused more on the engineering courses.

For someone spontaneous in an impulsive way, he liked the regimented schedule. It gave him purpose and meaning

Chase ended up getting kicked out after a massive brawl incited by an argument with another cadet about the particular notion of his relationship with his ‘friend’.

It was made clear to him such behaviour receives no second chances and was forced to leave, meaning he never officially completed his 2 years and was never allowed back in the foreseeable future.

Chase was desolated and once again hardened by this turn of events.

His 20s in a nutshell

Chase sought employment in the police force thanks to his military origins. He did, in fact, complete the basic military training aspect so he was a front runner for the police force.

He needed a job as all his money was wasted on a fruitless dream.

Spent the first few years of his police force employment as a ‘beat cop’ until his arrest numbers/success and work availability sought his promotion to a detective quite early in his 20s.

Chase was used to working full time and all the time at odd hours from very early on. He started his work career young.

They say you have 10 years in the prime of your career and Chase used that up instantly, shooting up the police then detective ranks fast due to how hard he worked, non-stop. His obsession and dedication with keeping busy and solving cases made him unmatchable.

Chase was physically skilled despite his smoking habits and mentally quick too, even if he acted dangerously without foresight sometimes.

He was very successful as a detective. It was his true calling

Chase has seen some nasty things and is a very good shot with a handgun.

Has he killed anyone? You decide. Personally? Yes, obviously. This has never and will never phase him.

He has been through so many police issued cars he now gets the second-hand cars due to how reckless he is.

Perused criminals with crazy car chases even when he was just a lowly beat cop. It got worse when he became a detective.

No doubt he kept and took home case files (sometimes even evidence) and didn’t give them back even when he became an Interpol liaison. He worked on those cases, he solved them, they are his. He keeps them all either at his apartment or in a storage unit.

Work became his life. His only vice.

Opted out for a partner as it wasn’t a department regulation just a personal option if wanted. Don’t need someone wasting his time, slowing him down or possibly taking away his shine.

Developed obsessive tendencies.

Detective work is competitive. You end up running around trying and fighting to get the best brutal murder homicide case as it will look great to your superiors. It was all a race to see who was the best. Chase was one of the best thanks to having no outsider life to distract him.

Somehow Chase wasn’t a suck-up his those above him. You would think he would be but Chase just enjoyed working and solving, completing things.

You are measured by your achievements and you have to be sure of yourself and your capabilities to survive in the race.

For work that was on the outside very heroic and selfless. Most detectives he worked around and ‘with’ were selfish, heartless and egotistical. The successful ones were anyway. Chase one of them.

He hated them all just as much as they hated him.

Ended up not caring for normal citizens and fellow employees disdain for his abrupt nature. Developed a superiority complex as a result.

But he remained composed and well mannered when dealing with victims and witnesses.

He was very susceptible to the alluring nature of the egotistic know it all.

All of this aged him rapidly. I have no doubt he is only in his early to mid-30s (in the show) but has aged himself visibly with unhealthy working hours and lifestyles.

(I’m not going to go too deep here as at this point I might as well insert my dam fanfiction. I have a whole story planned for what I think his detective days were like. I’ll give you a hint, it’s dark.)

Final relationships.

In regards to his love life? Don’t have one. One night stands? Eh, maybe very occasionally but he isn’t the sort of person to get wrapped up in such things. He is very professional and despite being touch starved he can live without physical relationships easily. They also make him uncomfortable now due to certain events.

His ‘friend’ asked for Chase to wait for him, that once he was finished in the Air Force his partner would come find him. Chase did for the entirety of his 20s and pretty much would for his entire life. First loves are hard to forget.

They only met up again once when Chase was in his late 20s and his friend no longer felt that way towards him or that kind of way anymore. He had a family. Chase sort of understood that his lover realistically would have moved on and blamed himself for not looking for him instead. He became obsessed with his success with work after all.

He couldn’t comprehend why his friend would finally contact him after all these years just to tell him he didn’t love him anymore. He always assumed it was to tie up loose ends or to make fun of him for waiting. To hurt him.

Chase was physically and mentally devastated to say the least. Especially when the last interaction they ever had was his old friend handing him a goddam conversion camp pamphlet.

This really dragged on and I’m sorry I really went off there. I hope it was at least relatively what you were after.

[azwriting]

The Last Jedi (Forget Me Please, Kylo Ren x Fem!Reader) - Chapter One

A/N: Okay so here is my mini “What if” series about Forget Me Not! Hope you guys enjoy ;)

Summary: What if the reader never forgot her past, what if instead of eleven years its only been seven, and what if Palpatine is on the rise.

Warning(s): Mild violence, me retconning the fuck out of TROS, unedited because it’s three in the morning and I just want to post this

Word Count: 2353

“Endor?” General Organa’s voice boomed through the cockpit of the Falcon. Rey sighed, nodding even though her Master could not see her. The young Jedi in training was still deeply buried underneath the debris of shock that had caved down on her only hours before. Her chest was still tightly wound as it had been in the hangar of the Star Destroyer, standing across the man who delivered a revelation. Her heart began to race just as it had then as her mind replayed his gentle words over again.

“I never lied, your parents were nobodies, but you’re not. Search your feelings, you know it’s true.” Rey shook her head in protest, tears gathering in her eyes as she was unwilling to admit the truth to herself. Her eyes drifted over to the stormtroopers that had gathered around them, weapons drawn and aimed at her. How had her life gotten here? She was once a simple Scavenger, lonely and lost, and now she stood before the Supreme Leader of the First Order, the only person who unfortunately seemed to understand her. Rey heard the gears of his mask unlock and involuntarily she winced, looking back to his face. The face of the long dead Ben Solo, the man she had hoped would turn. Yet, the pain that she could feel tearing him apart held onto him with a menacing grasp. She could feel the torment that wreaked havoc onto his soul over what he had done to his father and she could feel the most unbearable white hot pain that burned his heart over the unknown. It was too painful to pry into and he had buried it so deep, Rey could never see what had broken him.

“Think about it Rey, you were born the year I went off to train, the dark already manifesting inside me.” Rey turned away from his words taking a step back, she did not want to hear this. “The Force knew others would not be able to balance me and the only one who could…” He paused and the young woman could see him trembling, bottom lip quivering as he tried to hold it together. His eyes began to gleam and Rey involuntarily felt a surge of empathy over the unknown that was causing him to break down before her eyes. “... would die.” His jaw clenched and his adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed the thump in his throat. Rey felt his mourning as if it was a fresh wound, oozing fresh blood, never healing. Who had died, that had left such a gaping hole in him? Someone who was attuned to the Force? She knew better than to believe it was Luke, although Kylo did not hate the man, she knew he hated what happened.

Over the roaring wind coming from just behind her, Rey heard the familiar creaking of his leather gloved hand clenching into a tight fist. Whatever agonizing memories had surfaced were vanishing, leaving a cold and hostile Kylo Ren in its wake. “Admit it.” He snapped suddenly and Rey felt a tear slip down her cheek. 

“The Force created me.” Her voice was barely above a whisper, but Kylo nodded stiffly in response. The words felt foreign on her tongue: unfamiliar, wrong, but also true. 

“You and I are equals in the Force, join me and we can destroy Palpatine.” His gloved hand extended out towards her and Rey’s eyes drifted down, uncertainty clawing at her. “You know what to do.”

“That’s what the translation of the dagger said, the coordinates were for the moon Kef Bir.” Poe responded tying a strip of fabric over his injured arm. Rey broke away from her memory, eyes lifting back to the view of hyperspace in front of her. Over the past year she had accepted that her parents were no one, that she was a nobody, but she had learned that she had a rightful place in this story. But now, with the confirmation that she did, it was a little unsettling. The Force had created her to bring balance, balance that was in disarray from the fall of Ben Solo and the emergence of Emperor Palpatine. While pondering the balance of the Force, Rey’s thoughts drifted to who Kylo’s original balance was, the one who died. He had to have known them, for it to have such a heartbreaking impact on him. Rey thought of someone strong with the Force, strong enough to get underneath Kylo Ren’s skin, someone strong enough to balance him. What had happened to them? Rey sighed, there was no use in worrying about someone who could not help. She was now the balance and Kylo was right, she knew what to do.

“Before you go to Kef Bir, stop on the Forest moon. We have an ally there who could be of great help.” Leia’s voice instructed through the radio. Rey turned around to face Finn and Poe, the three sharing a look of surprise. An ally? Was another former General hidden away on Endor? Chewie gargled in return and the General’s laugh bounced around the Falcon. “No, it's not the Ewoks, this time, but our ally is hidden amongst them.” The young former Scavenger smiled to herself, imagining what it must have been like all those years ago… She could envision Han jumping into the not so beat up pilot chair and dictating a string of orders to Chewie. She could hear Luke running down the halls of the ship heading for the quad laser access tube, while Leia retaliated to something Han said with a quick whip of sass. All of them young and in their prime, together and hopeful.

The Falcon stuttered out of lightspeed as Rey questioned, “How do we find this ally?” Her voice was full of curiosity and confusion, wondering how exactly this ally could be of help. They were short on time, they could not risk wasting any of it. 

She could almost hear the smile that was no doubtedly on Leia’s face as she answered, “Oh don’t worry, they’ll find you.”

Exiting the Falcon, the group of Resistance fighters were greeted by towering thick trees and a refreshing brisk breeze, the perfect neutral after the blistering hot deserts of Pasana and the biting chill of the rough and rocky terrain of Kijimi. “Stay here and rest big guy, we’ll find the village ourselves.” Finn chuckled clamping a hand down onto Chewie’s upper arm. 

The Wookie protested mildly before finally relinquishing at Poe’s addition. “You have to watch the droids too, Threepio doesn’t remember anything and we don’t need to deal with that right now.”

As the trio trudged through the thick forest, Rey smiled up at the tree line, enjoying the shift in scenery. After years of scavenging on Jakku, she was always thrilled to see the different climates. The lush greenery that surrounded her made her regret leaving Jakku sooner, but she reminded herself to be content with the fact that she never had to set foot on a desert planet again. After all the hardships she faced on Jakku, fighting to survive everyday, why would she ever want to face that again?

With every step she took, Rey felt a great swell in the Force. She could feel the energy flow through each and every living thing with an intensity unlike anything she had felt before. She had not felt so consumed by the Force since Ahch-To, yet this was not a planet connected to the ancient Jedi. No, this was a planet from an old war, no tethers tying it to the Force Sensitive. Yet there was no denying what she felt. It was as if the Force had manifested itself onto this quiet deserted planet with great energy at the center of it, drawing her in. It was overpowering, almost blinding her senses in its wake. Rey glanced around at her surroundings searching for the allure, her eyes catching ahold of Finn’s. He stared back at her, looking just as perplexed as she felt. Her lips parted, mouth opening to question if he felt it too, but the sight ahead caused the words to die on the tip of her tongue.

Ahead of them hidden up in the dense branches of vibrant green leaves were small huts and a plethora of wooden bridges connecting the tiny civilization together. Rey and her fellow Resistance fighters all marveled at the view, unaware of the observant eyes.

With an almost silent thud, a figure flipped down off of a hovering bridge, and landed before them. It was a woman wearing various shades of brown, dark green, and white seemingly blending into their surroundings. A faded grey mask covered her face besides for the open visor where sharp eyes glared back at them. She crouched down, eyes locked onto the three of them as if they were her prey. Yet, it was not the most startling sight, oh no, it was the two lightsabers secured tightly in her hands. A vibrant blue in one hand and a violet purple in the other. Rey gulped lowly she had never seen a purple saber before, the Jedi texts only referring to the color as exceedingly rare. The masked ally, radiated pure Force energy, as attuned with the Force as Kylo and Master Skywalker. 

“Rey…” Finn whispered and the young woman focused back onto the mask in front of her. She could sense that any moment she would spring and in response she pushed Poe and Finn to the sides. They had no part in this.

The woman was quick, lunging forward with a ferocious attack. Rey ignited Luke’s saber in record time and lifted it up to deflect. The three sabers clashed together with an odd screech and Rey winced at the noise. The cold determined eyes peered down at her through the visor of the helmet, each eye reflecting the vivid hues of blue and purple. The sight made her want to cower in fear, deep down her insecurities rising. She had always felt strong willed when going against Kylo, but this was different. It was not a fight, it was a competition. Rey jabbed her shoulder into the masked woman and swung her saber forward, only being met by the quick flashes of the opposing blue and purple. The woman was obviously highly skilled in combat, in lightsaber fighting techniques, Rey noted as the woman swung her sabers forward, spinning into the assault. Rey could not help but find a sense familiarity in it. In the way she moved, it was almost feral, unhinged but strategic.

In her distracted daze, the woman’s sabers came crashing down onto her, this time locking her saber in place. The young Jedi tried to pull her saber free and attack, but it was secured tightly in between the two sabers. Before Rey could put an end to all this, tell this “ally” why they were here, a swift kick to her abdomen sent her to the ground. Luke’s saber was kicked to the side as the woman dropped down onto her with disturbing and mildly aggravating fluidity. The purple saber hovered a mere inch above her throat while the blue one was stretched backwards: a barrier for Poe and Finn, with their blasters already raised, not to step any closer.

“Who are you?” The voice was deep and modified through the mask, transfixing (Y/E/C) eyes glaring down at Rey. 

“We’re with the Resistance! General Organa sent us!” Rey spit out, eyes wide with a sense of fear she could not deny. She had not feared for her life since the throne room, where Kylo had saved her. Who would save her now? The woman blinked harshly, surprised by her words, yet Rey could easily sense that she was searching her face for any sort of lies. 

“Why?” The question was curt, voice lower than it had previously been. 

“We need your help, Leia said you’d help us.” Poe cut in, taking a cautious step forward, eyes gauging the proximity of the blue lightsaber. Rey watched as the woman seemed to slip away from the present, eyes clouding over as she disappeared deep into thought.

Suddenly the two sabers were turning off as the woman glided back up into a standing position. She tucked the lightsabers into her black belt and outstretched a hand for Rey to grab. Rey hesitantly accepted the offer standing back up as well. She quickly released her hand and went to brush off the dirt on her clothes, eyes watching the peculiar helmet. Who was behind the helmet? Who wielded the rare purple saber? Who had dominated her with such ease?

“Who are you?” Finn beat her to the question, the trio all gawking at the unknown and unanticipated ally. The woman ignored him, her hand outstretching as her eyes closed for a brief moment in concentration. Rey’s eyebrows narrowed in confusion, what was she doing? She could feel the Force swirling around them before something sped past her. Rey jumped, scanning the area for whatever flew by, eyes landing on the hands of the ally. Cradled in them was Luke’s lightsaber, the one Rey used until she completed building her own. The woman turned the black and silver hilt around in her hands, letting out a half amused hum. Rey looked up to the helmet in shock, lips parting at the glimmer of amusement in the focused eyes.  

“I’m no one.” She finally answered, handing Rey back the saber. In a state of utter confusion she accepted it and clipped back onto her belt.

“Come, let us discuss.” The masked woman turned swiftly on her heel and headed into the center of the treetop village, leaving the three Resistance fighters stunned. They all shared a look, more so the two men looking to Rey for answers as to what just happened. Rey could not give them an answer, deep down one they all knew already. Her eyes followed the camouflaged figure, admitting the painfully obvious truth to herself.

The woman before her was the last Jedi.

Taglist: 

@2heures​ @thephantomwriter​ @thefandomzoneisdangerous​ @carol-chann​ @gambitsqueen​ @pancakefancake​ @zaneholtzwrites​ @moonmama03 @siren-queen03​ @dixonsbugaboo​ @keithseabrook27​ @sporkedloser​

[maliby]

Aperture (M) | kth

↬ Pairing: fan/photographer!Taehyung x idol!Reader ↬ Story Genre:smut, slowburn ↬ Warnings in this chapter: explicit language, explicit sex scene, spanking, hair pulling, biting. ↬ Word count: 9.6K ↬ Summary: You met Taehyung at a fansign and you knew right away that he was trouble, are you willing to risk it all for a fan?

It has been 3 years since you debuted in a 4 member girl group along with Bo, Serena and Nari. The group is called Aperture, the name being taken from the ‘aperture’ - the part of a camera where the light passes through to capture the picture. That particular name was chosen because you wished to act like an ‘aperture’ to your fans and capture all the moments in life in your songs, letting your fans relate to you through their experiences.

You were the lead rapper, lead dancer and the oldest of the group. Bo was the leader, main vocal and visual of the group due to her big puppy eyes and pouty lips, Serena was the lead vocal and main dancer, and Nari was the maknae and main rapper.

Your group had had a rough beginning (due to not having that much success) but that all changed with the last album you had released - ‘Light and Dark’. The album had darker and more seductive tones than your previous girly concepts, your group and your company feeling like you should change up all your concepts to try and catch the eye of the public.

The title track for this album was called ‘Boudoir’, which is a lady’s bedroom but can also be a type of photography to value feminine beauty, usually done in said bedroom. The song basically talks about how women should value their beauty and shouldn’t be scared of being sexy.

The MV was one of the most daring ever made in the kpop world. It had 6 different scenes: 1 individual scene for each member, and 2 choreo shots. Serena was in a bathtub with pink water, Nari was laying on a black fluffy rug, Bo was sitting on a red couch and you were on a bed with red silk sheets and wearing black lacy lingerie. The choreo shots were filmed in 2 different sets: one where fake rain would pour on you guys, and the other with lots of fire surrounding you.

You liked the change of direction your group took, but you were a little scared that people would find your whole new concept too much, however to your surprise your popularity skyrocketed. You even managed to get your first win on music show programs, along with 2 other wins.

The demand for your group started to get bigger and bigger, with variety shows, fan signs and events and even your very first big concert in Seoul. You and your members were so excited that day that you even cried during the concert, making your makeup artist very angry.

After having that first concert in a big venue your fan signs also moved to bigger venues, due to bigger demand. It was at one of those fansigns that you first saw him - Taehyung. You were the last member in the line and you were busy signing the album of a very sweet girl when Nari, who was right next to you, whispered in your ear: “look at the hottie that’s about to come in.” You looked at the line of fans and saw him standing there, waiting for his turn to meet you guys. When your eyes met his you felt like he had stolen all the air in the room from you. His dark chocolate eyes connected with yours, pulling you in, his light brown fluffy hair making you want to run your fingers through it, the chest peeking through his white unbuttoned shirt making you want to commit the sweetest sin of them all. You had a personal rule of not dating fans but he was so mouthwatering that he seriously made you want to break every rule in existence.

“Eonnie I love you so much, you’re my bias! Can you please sign my album?” The voice of one of your fans said, waking you up from whatever trance state he had put you in.

“Of course sweetie, what’s your name?” You tried to give her your whole attention, but you couldn’t help but glance at him as he made his way to your bandmate Bo, the first in the line.

“Minji.”

As you signed your photocard and all of your photos from the photo album for Minji, you couldn’t help but feel an extra pair of eyes staring at you. Fans came and went yet the only thing you could focus on was the growing tension as he got closer to you.

He was now in front of Nari (who was right next to you), you knew because not only were you taking a peek every once in a while but also because Nari made sure to warn you by insistently tapping your leg under the table.

You couldn’t help but feel bad for the fan you were currently with because you couldn’t pay attention to her once so ever. It was like you were acting on auto-pilot: your exterior was smiling and talking to her, but your brain just kept reminding you of how close to you he was, making you look even more forward to talk to him.

“Bye sweetie, good luck on your exams!” You said your goodbyes to your fan and drank a little water to refresh your body as you waited for Nari to finish signing his album. When she said her goodbyes to him and he made his way to you you felt your heart beating a little faster, the moment you had been waiting for for the past 10 minutes finally arriving.

“Hi.” His deep voice made you curse at the heavens for making this much more harder for you. How was it fair for him to look like that and, on top of that, have that panty-melter voice?

“Hi! What’s your name?” You were smiling so much your cheeks were starting to hurt.

“I’m Taehyung,” he said smoothly as he gave you his album for you to sign.

“Hi Taehyung! I’m Y/N,” as soon as you realised what you had just said it was already too late, he was already laughing and your cheeks were already burning in embarrassment.

“I know, you’re my bias.”

If your cheeks were red before then now they must be like a tomato. You hadn’t even thought of who his bias was, but now that he made sure to tell you you were his favourite you couldn’t contain your excitement.

“Thank you so much for choosing me as your bias Taehyung,” you said as you signed his album.

“Well, if I’m being honest I didn’t choose you. You were the one who stole my attention and I had no chance but to give it to you.” His tone now was different, a touch of darkness lacing his words.

You didn’t know how to respond to him, so you simply chuckled and looked back to his album, making sure you were signing the right place.

“If you don’t mind I wanted you to sign two more things,” he added.

“Sure, what is it?”

“Well, one is your photocard and the other is a photo I took of you at your concert,” he said as he reached for his back pocket for the photos.

“You took a photo of me? Oh, let me see!” You didn’t know what you were expecting, but when he showed you the photo and you saw its level of quality you were completely shook. Not only was it obvious that he had used a very high-quality camera, but the pose he had captured you in, was a very intimate one. You knew that your choreo was very erotic, and truth be told, when you were on stage and the music was on you just felt so sexy that you’d completely let go, but seeing one of those moments where you were crouching on the floor with your legs open, hands running up your body and head tilt backwards captured by him made you feel like he had seen you naked - not that you would’ve minded.

“It’s one of my favourite photos of you, you look so free, empowered and sexy like there’s no one else on that stage.” When you were finally able to take your eyes away from the photo and look at him you swore you could feel your panties getting wet; he had this dominating stare like he wished for nothing more than to take you right there and then despite the sea of people present.

“T-this is a great photo Taehyung, are you a professional photographer?” You tried to distract yourself from his presence by continuing to sign his stuff, but you feared there was no going back now.

“Well, I’m a freelance photographer and I have my own website, but I also like to take photos of things that captivate me during my free time, and that’s how I started a fan page of you.”

“You have a fan page of me? What’s it called?” You had thought he was just a casual fan, but the fact that he had a fan page of you where he posted all the photos he took of you told you that there was a very high chance that you would see him again.

“y/nmymuse.”

Your heart beat faster once more as the words ‘my muse’ ringed in your head. All you could do was look at that stupid handsome smirk he had on his face while you sat there speechless.

“Y/N, I know he is super hot but you need to hurry up, you’re holding up the line,” Nari said in a hushed tone so only you could hear.

“Sorry Taehyung, but we need to move along because the line is getting big,” you picked up his signed belongings and handed them to him, “thanks for liking me so much and taking wonderful pictures of me.”

“You deserve all the attention in the world.” When you thought he couldn’t make you blush any further, he took your right hand and pressed his soft lips to it. “Until we meet again,” and that’s when he turned around and left, leaving you completely dumbfounded.

“What was that?” Nari whispered in your ear. “We’ll talk after the fan sign, now it’s best if you get back to signing or the manager is gonna be pissed at you eonnie.”

It had been a month since you’d seen Taehyung in person. You felt like he was plaguing your mind, every time you had a schedule with fans you hoped he would be there, but much to your disappointment he never showed.

After that fansign, you went searching for his fan page and weren’t that surprised to see that he had thousands of followers. The photos he shared on his page though weren’t as provocative as the one he had asked you to sign which, may you add, you couldn’t find anywhere, making you wonder if he had grown to dislike the photo.

You found that his page was like a dark hole that you couldn’t really get out of; you found yourself scrolling for hours watching his photos and reading his descriptions: ‘she looked like an angel in that white dress’, ‘the way she is smiling brightens up my day’, ‘the most beautiful girl in the world’, and so on. It got to the point where your members had to take away your phone and send you to sleep.

You wondered several times if you should send him a private message but the thought that someone might read it or that he might spread it around and start a rumour scared you to no end. The truth of the matter was that you didn’t know him and you couldn’t risk your career and your member’s careers like that, it was too dangerous.

Aperture was getting ready to have your first Asia Tour with 4 big concerts: Seoul, Bangkok, Manila and Tokyo. You were so excited about your first big tour but also a bit scared; would people come to your concerts? Would people from other countries also love you? These were the kind of thoughts that kept plaguing your mind, but there was another that kept popping up every once in a while. Was Taehyung gonna come? Would you be able to spot him in a crowd? To be honest, you didn’t expect him to follow you around for the whole tour, you just wished he would come to the Seoul concert.

Thankfully for you, you didn’t have a lot of time to let those thoughts consume you, not with the amount of time you’ve been spending on practising and getting everything as perfect as you can.

“Girls are you all ready?”, one of the staff said as you were all fixing up your mics to go on stage and kick off your tour.

“Yes,” your leader Bo said as she turned to all of you and put her arms around yours and Nari’s shoulders, signalling all of you to form a circle. “Okay girls, this is our first stop in the tour and I just want to say how proud I am of us for getting here. I know you are going to do great because I saw how hard you all practised and how bad you want to give a good performance for our fans, but remember that if you end up failing it’s okay, mistakes happen to the best of the best; just remember to get back on your feet and keep the show going, and remember that I love all of you. Ready? 1,2,3, Aperture!” You all joined her on your chant and group hugged before you went on stage to the roaring crowd.

The concert went by in a flash. When you noticed it, you were already on your last song (which was a party song to get everyone moving) and you were walking around the stage to greet as many fans as possible.

You had already searched the crowd to see if you could find Taehyung but had failed to do so. Thinking he had missed this concert you stopped your searches and fully focused on your performances. Since you had given up on the idea of seeing him tonight the feeling of surprise that came over you when you spotted him in the crowd with a smile on his face and his camera pointed at you was immense.

You had just finished giving a concert to thousands of people, yet you suddenly felt shy just by noticing his presence. You smiled at him, you couldn’t help it, he was just so damn...ugh, you couldn’t even explain it, he just brought all these feelings to the surface.

You noticed you had probably been staring at him for a long time now so, wanting to avoid the suspicion of fans and the rise of rumours, you quickly waved in his general direction and moved along waving to other fans before you and your group said your goodbyes, thanked the fans and left the stage.

After the concert, you had a hi-touch event with the fans which you were so excited for because you wanted to see him again, even if it was for just a few seconds. For you, it felt like the roles were reversed like he was the idol and you were the fan wanting to have a chance to be close to him and touch him.

You stood in line with your members, plastered a smile on your face and stuck your hand out to greet the fans passing by. You were the first one in line this time, eager to be the first one to greet him.

Faces started to blur together as time went by, fan after fan after fan but there was no sign of him. As soon as you thought he wasn’t going to show up your eyes met with his and time seemed to stop.

“Hello,” his voice was as deep as you had remembered.

When his hand touched yours you felt a tingling sensation that dissipated up your arm and made your heart beat faster.

“Hi,” you managed to respond before he was being pushed by the fan behind him.

You tried your best to give all of your attention to your other fans, but you just couldn’t help but exchange glances with him until he eventually was out of the room.

The faces of the fans passing by you started once more blending all together. You became so lost in thought that if one of the fans was naked you probably wouldn’t even notice it.

When the event was over and you got home you went to take a shower and went to bed; as you snuggled in the comfort of your blankets you took your phone and went to check if he had already uploaded any new photos to his fansite. The website had no new updates, so you kept on refreshing it until, eventually, the photos started to appear. His usual comments had you already smiling like a fool, but there was one photo that caught your attention: it was a photo of the moment you noticed him and were looking straight at him with a smile on your face. When you looked at his comment though, that’s when your heart completely stopped: ‘All the stars in the sky are nothing compared to the ones in your eyes.’

You read that sentence over and over and it never felt like you’ve had enough, your heart feeling warm with the joy. Were you crossing into dangerous territory? Was this crush you were developing good for you or your career? Yes, he was hot as fuck but you knew nothing about him. What if he was a sasaeng? What if he was going to hurt you or take advantage of you in some way? The truth was you had no way of knowing without going closer to him and finding out, the question was: were you willing to take the risk?

The second stop on your tour was Bangkok, in Thailand. This was your first time in Thailand (in fact it was your first time anywhere besides South Korea) and you were so happy to be able to share the experience with your members and fans but one part of you kept thinking about Taehyung. You wished you could see him at the concert but you were conscious that he probably couldn’t afford it.

You spent your entire concert looking out for him but to no avail. You even thought that maybe, just maybe, he’d be at the hi-touch event but it seemed like luck wasn’t on your side.

“Eonnie are you alright? You didn’t seem well during the concert today,” your leader and roommate Bo asked as you both went to your shared hotel room.

“I’m sorry Bo…” the first thing you did as you entered the room was to sit on the bed and check his fansite to see if, by any chance, he had really come but couldn’t afford the hi-touch, but the lack of new updates confirmed his absence.

“You know you can talk to me,” she sat next to you and rubbed your back in a comforting manner. You knew she wasn’t just talking as the leader that is worried about how your disposition may affect your performance and, consequently, the group’s performance but also as your friend and ‘mom of the group’ that is concerned about your well being.

“You remember that guy from the fansign before the tour that kissed my hand?” You locked your phone and threw it to the fluffy pillows that decorated your bed.

“That extremely attractive one? Yeah, how could I forget?” She had a dreamy expression on her face as she remembered his very attractive features before realization dawned on her, “wait, you’re not messing around with him, are you? Did he hurt you?”

“No,” you chuckled at the way she had rolled up her sleeves like she was ready to kick some ass. “It’s complicated...at the fansign he told me that he had a fansite dedicated to me where he posted pictures of me, so I started stalking him and reading everything he wrote about me and I kind of developed a crush on him.

I saw him at the concert in Seoul and then at the Hi-Touch, and then I kept thinking that maybe he would be here today, even though I know it would be highly unlikely, but still…” you looked down at your hands, a little scared of looking at her reaction. You knew she would always support you, but you also knew that this situation was dangerous.

“Eonnie, I know this is complicated for you and I totally trust your judgement and know that you would never do anything to put our carriers on the line, but you need to be careful.” Her voice was soft like she was talking to you with all the care in the world.

“I know Bo...I know the risk...but he doesn’t seem like the type.”

“Well, he wasn’t here tonight so I guess he’s clear of the sasaeng title,” she joked, trying to cheer you up.

“Fuuuuuck, why does he have to be so freaking hot? Like, he could be a fucking idol with those looks. I bet he could sing like a goat and people would still buy his albums,” you sighed loudly and let your upper body fall on the bed.

“Oh sis, you got it bad,” she rubbed your knee noticing the level of despair you were in.

“You have no idea.”

“Well we have 2 options here: either he makes you go crazy or you can make him go crazy, if you know what I mean,” the way she was wiggling her eyebrows let you know exactly what she had meant.

“That’s great and all, but how do you suggest I do that? I can’t give him my phone number nor can I DM him ‘cause it might somehow go public.”

“Hmm...maybe you could share one of his photos on our Twitter and thank him. That would show him that you are paying attention to him and maybe things will unfold from there.”

“That is a great idea actually! Thanks, Bo!” You got up and pressed your lips on her chubby cheeks.

“You’re welcome. Now go and take a shower, you stink!” She pinched her nose and frowned her face in disgust.

“Alright my leader,” you saluted her as if you were a mere soldier taking her orders.

You thought long hard about the photo situation, should you just log on to your group Twitter account right now and share his photo? Or should you wait for a time where he comes to the concert again? On one hand, if you waited for him to post new photos of the concert it would look less suspicious because you would be sharing new photos, but on the other hand, you didn’t know when he was going to go to a concert again and you might lose the moment.

“Fuck it,” a sudden wave of courage passed through your body and made you just grab the phone and take action. You went to his page and saved the picture where you were looking straight at him and smiling, then went to your group’s Twitter page and posted it.

Aperture @aperture_official I’m in love with this photo from our concert in Seoul! Thank you so much @y/nmymuse <3 #Y/N #Iloveitsomuch #Ihavethebestfans

Bo was already sleeping in the bed next to yours, but you just couldn’t fall asleep. Your mind kept spinning around wondering if he had seen the post or replied to it, and you knew that you wouldn’t be able to sleep until you checked your phone again, so you took your phone from the charger and logged on to Twitter, went to his page and checked if he had responded. When you spotted his username right at the top of the responses you felt a wave of happiness washing over you.

Y/N is my muse @y/nmymuse @aperture_official thank you for being my inspiration, I wish I could take pictures of you all day.

Your heart was beating frantically while your mind ran wild with thoughts of him photographing you; it all started with simple and innocent photographs he would take of you at concerts and then suddenly you were both alone in a hotel room and he was photographing you in lingerie doing inappropriate poses.

The scenario created by your mind was making you hot all over and soon enough your hand was travelling south and slipping under your underwear. You looked to the side and called for your roommate to check if she was still sleeping, when you got nothing but snoring as an answer you started rubbing your clit.

The pleasure emanating from between your legs only served to fuel your fantasy further: you both were now completely nude and he was on top of you leaving kisses all over. You were starting to pant now, a soft ‘Taehyung’ leaving your lips, so you turned on your belly and muffled your mouth with your pillow so to not wake up Bo.

Your imagination grew wilder and wilder having Taehyung do all kinds of dirty things to you, but it wasn’t until he bottomed out inside of you completely raw that you dipped your fingers inside of you, a pool of arousal leaking out.

Your fingers were nothing compared to the real deal, you could only imagine, but this was all you had right now. You wanted to feel his lips, you wanted to feel his touch, you wanted to feel his hard cock inside you, you wanted to hear him say your name, fuck you wanted all of that and so much.

The pleasure was building up, and soon enough you were cumming so hard that you had to bite down your pillow so Bo wouldn’t wake up.

As soon as your heart calmed down you got up and went to the bathroom to clean yourself up. You looked in the mirror and saw how much of a mess you were in: your hair was all over the place, your nipples were poking through your shirt and your panties were completely soaked. If Taehyung hadn’t even laid a finger on you and you looked like this, how the hell would you look if he had? All you knew was that you just had to have a taste of him and you weren’t going to give up until you did.

The third stop of your tour was in Manilla, in the Philippines. You weren’t expecting him to be here, since he hadn’t gone to your concert in Bangkok, but you had decided that you weren’t gonna let that bring you down - you were gonna go on that stage and give the best you could to your fans.

For the tour, all the four members had created a solo stage (yours was dancing to a choreo you made for the song ‘Partition’ from Beyoncé) which allowed the other members to rest a bit in between and get ready for other performances.

As Serena was on stage doing her cover of ‘Love On The Brain’ by Rihanna you and your members got your makeup touched up, Bo and Nari for your group performance later on and you for your solo stage, which was the last of the four solos.

“Eonnie you won’t guess who I saw in the crowd during my stage,” Nari grabbed your arm to get your attention.

“Who?” You were genuinely curious, as you were in a foreign country and didn’t know anyone there and neither did she.

“That hot guy from the fansign. What was his name?”

“Taehyung,” Bo responded, a smirk splattered all over her face.

“Oh my god, are you sure that was him? How do you even remember his face?” Your makeup artist had finished working on you, so you got near the maknae as if pressuring her to answer faster.

“Eonnie, you think I’d forget a face like that? Absolutely no way.”

“Where was he? I didn’t see him during our group performances.” You were going to perform as soon as Serena was done, so you wanted to know his exact location so you could give him the best show possible.

“You know that bald security guy? He’s right next to him, in the first rows. He’s wearing a black shirt.” Her makeup artist had also finished working on her, so she went to sit on the couch next to Bo who was also all ready.

“Oooooh I know that look on your face eonnie, you’re going to give him a special show?” Bo said in a teasing tone, her eyebrows wiggling.

“I’m offended that you think I’d have favourite fans. I love all my fans the same and I give my best performance every time for all of them,” you placed your hand on your chest to give a dramatic effect to your statement.

“Mhmm,” Nari and Bo hummed in unison. “I’ll just pretend like you don’t want to give him a lap dance,” Bo added, as she flipped through a magazine.

“Y/N-ssi, you’re up in 1 minute,” a member from the staff who came in a rush to get you said.

“Girls, keep your eyes on the screen and watch how eonnie does it,” you flipped your hair and turned to leave for the stage.

“Make him drool eonnie!” Bo yelled just before you left the room.

“Make who drool?” Serena asked when she joined you all backstage, the staff immediately running to her to change her clothes and fix her hair and makeup.

“Nothing baby, see you later girls!” You blew a kiss to your members and made your way to the stage.

The choreo started with you sitting on a chair with your back to the crowd and the stage in total darkness. When the lights came back on you got off from the chair and turned to the audience, you couldn’t spot him at first but when your choreo required you to move a little bit forward to the edge of the stage you almost instantly locked eyes with him.

The choreo had become like second nature to you at this point and you were glad for it because if you had to rely on memory with him looking at you like that you’d completely embarrass yourself on stage.

You were moving your body with precision, throwing the sexiest expressions you could make and exaggerating the already sexy moves. You wanted to impress him; you knew that he was your fan, and therefore liked you, but you wanted to go that extra mile, you wanted to make him go absolutely crazy.

Right now it was like there was no one else at the venue, it was just you and him. He was down there admiring you and capturing your movements and you were up on the stage casting your spell of seduction.

You were so involved in the moment that you even decided to end the choreo a little different from the usual: you turned your back to him and did a middle split, looking back to look at him while biting your lip. He went completely crazy - you knew this because not only were his hands clutching his camera harder but he was also biting his lower lip so strongly that you thought he might start bleeding.

You couldn’t wait to see the pictures he had taken just now but more importantly, you couldn’t wait to read what he had to say about them. You could only imagine the type of thirsty ass comments he’d have to give you, and they were already making you hot and bothered.

Needless to say, you were on fire for the rest of the concert, his presence alone was giving you so much energy that you were making all of your fans scream loudly.

“Y/N what the hell has gotten into you today? Whatever it is, keep it up, you completely brought the house down tonight!” Your manager joined you backstage as you were getting ready for the hi-touch.

“Nothing has gotten into her...yet,” Bo said low enough so only you and she could hear it. Her teasing statement earning her a smack on the arm by you.

“Shut up Bo!” You whispered back to her as your manager turned around to get a bottle of water.

“Well girls, it’s time for the hi-touch. Come on, come on, I want big smiles on those faces!” Your manager was now gathering you all on a line and pushing you to go meet your fans.

When you got there you saw that the line was already formed, and after taking a better look you saw him standing like 10 people in. Suddenly you were nervous as all these crazy scenarios that would never happen crossed your mind.

“There’s your boyfriend eonnie,” Nari whispered as you all stuck out your hands to start greeting your fans.

“Yeah, I see him.” This time you were the last in line so you would have to wait a tiny bit more to touch him.

Since he was fairly in front of the line it wasn’t long until he was passing by your members and making his way to you. Anticipation was building and your heart only beat faster as the distance between you shortened.

The soft touch of his hands was a big contrast to the hard and intense look he had on his face. You wanted to talk to him but you couldn’t even say that simple ‘hello’ you were so used to saying to your fans at these events. The tension in the air was so thick that you could cut it with a knife; you could actually feel electricity being conducted from his body to yours, it was all so intense that you wondered if anyone else could feel it.

“See you in Tokyo,” he said right before he turned around and left, giving you no time to process his words.

You were left stunned, your brain spinning around with possibilities. He was going to go to Tokyo, there was no question about that, but the way he said it, with his deep and lustful voice, made you think that something else was going to happen. You didn’t know exactly what, but you knew that it was going to be fucking amazing.

As soon as you entered your shared hotel room with Bo you dropped your bag on the floor and sat at the edge of the bed, instantly pulling out your phone from the pocket of your jacket to go check out Taehyung’s page.

“Did he upload anything yet?” Bo said as she sat right next to you. She was so excited that she spent the whole car ride to the hotel telling you all about how he kept looking at you during your final performances and even when he was high-fiving all the other members in the hi-touch.

“Wait…” you opened up Twitter and clicked the search bar but you didn’t even need to type because Twitter immediately suggested his page due to you searching him so much. When you opened his page the pictures were already there, but the ones from your special improv from your solo stage were nowhere to be seen. “Huh, he didn’t post them…”

“Post what eonnie?”

“That improv move I did during my solo, I was sure he was taking pictures but he didn’t post them. Maybe they were crap?” You were feeling a bit down because you were so fucking excited to read his thoughts on the view you had provided him (and all the other people) but he didn’t publish the photos.

“Sweetie, I can guarantee you that even the lowest quality photo of that pose you did is high quality for anyone, especially him,” she started rubbing soothing circles on your back to make you feel better.

“Then why didn’t he post them?”

“Why don’t you ask him yourself in Tokyo?” Bo winked at you as if her question wasn’t on the nose enough.

“What?”

“Listen, this guy has been after you since he brought his sexy ass to that fan sign. He came all the way to Manilla after you posted his picture of you and now he made sure to tell you that he was also going to be in Tokyo. Now, you, him and I all know that after Tokyo it’s going to be a while before you’ll be able to see him like this so you’re gonna have to do something if you want him.”

She was right, you had to do something. You knew it was a difficult situation but you just had to try, you just had to have him. “You’re right. But what should I do? It’s not like I can stand on that stage and say ‘Taehyung if you wanna tap this come backstage’.”

“Don’t worry eonnie, I have a plan.”

You had always dreamed of going to Tokyo since you were a little girl; you wanted to go eat sushi, see the cherry blossoms and watch the view from the Tokyo Tower but now you had another thing to add to your list: be with Taehyung.

Bo refused to tell you what her plan for you and Taehyung was, a fact that scared the hell out of you because who knew what the hell she was cooking? The only thing she told you was to do your thing normally and she would take care of the rest. So you did as she said and performed as usual, always paying attention to Taehyun in the crowd.

Now, you were standing in the line for the hi-touch and you were feeling nervous. This was probably the last chance you were going to have to get to him, so whatever plan Bo had come up with she’d have to do it now.

You turned to your left to look at Bo and see if she’d tell you anything that would ease your mind. She saw your worried face and grabbed your arm to calm you down, “don’t worry eonnie, everything is in motion. Just stand there looking pretty and don’t let him leave right away.”

“What?” Before she could explain what she meant the line of fans started moving forward and you all stuck your hands out for them to greet.

This time Taehyung only showed up about halfway through the event, making you a bit nervous and wondering if he’d show up or not. Once again you were the last one in line, the order being Nari, Serena, Bo and you, so when he greeted Nari Bo turned to you and winked.

When he got to you he fully stopped, a smile grew on his lips and a look a full adoration was shown as he stared right at you. Before he could say anything you heard screaming from your left and noticed that Serena had fallen to the floor.

“Oh my god, Serena are you okay?”

A crowd of people was starting to form around her, all of them wanting to know if she was alright but as soon as you got closer to her you felt Bo grab your arm.

“Give this to him,” she said in a hushed voice so only you and she could hear. When you looked down you noticed that there was a piece of folded paper in her hand.

“What? But Serena-”

“Serena is fine, she’s faking it so you have an opportunity to bang him.”

“Oh, okay...What is this then?” You opened up the paper and saw an address written down.

“It’s the hotel room where you’re gonna meet in, now give that to him before I kick your ass.”

Bo might be a sweet person, but if she threatened to kick your ass she’d most definitely do it, so you got near Taehyung (who was also checking to see if Serena was okay) and discreetly handed him the piece of paper.

“What’s this?” He did as you had previously and unfolded the piece of paper, reading what was on it.

“Meet me there at 11 PM.” The smirk on his lips made you want to just grab his hand and run away with him to the hotel room. “Oh, and bring your camera,” you suddenly remembered the fantasy you had the other night and you just couldn’t let the opportunity pass.

“See you there then.” Everything about him right now was full of sinful promises: his smile, his voice, his eyes, his scent - everything.

“See ya.” You were completely spellbound by him, even as you stood there watching him leave. You just kept imagining everything you wanted to do to him and everything you wanted him to do to you.

Your schedules were over at 9 PM, so that gave you enough time to take a shower and go buy some condoms and some fancy lingerie (because you had to show him the best).

You arrived at the suite Bo had booked for you about half an hour before the time you had told Taehyung to set everything up; this could very well just be a one-time thing, but damn it did you want it to be fucking perfect.

The suite was breathtaking: it was located on the 48th floor so it had a beautiful panoramic view of the city, including the Tokyo Tower, which you could easily see due to the big ass windows that went from the roof to the floor; it had a white king size bed that was on top of a black platform; it had a big living room right next to the bedroom, separated by traditional white Shoji doors and a bathroom that had a big ass bathtub. Bo must have spent a fortune just so you could get laid in style and you made a mental note to give her a nice thank you gift.

You were feeling nervous. You thought of a hundred possibilities of how everything would go down but all the thinking was just making you more stressed, so you decided to open up the bottle of wine you had brought in your bag and watch some TV in the living room to distract yourself until he arrived.

It wasn’t long until you heard the knock on the door - your heart beating hard with excitement. You turned off the TV, checked yourself up on the big mirror behind the sofa, adjusting the cleavage on your tight black dress, and made your way to the door.

When you opened the door and looked at him you felt like there was no more air left in the room for you to breathe. His soft hair was a bit messy like he had been running his fingers through it in nervousness but he looked so confident and assured like he was coming to get what he wanted and no one could stop him.

“Hi,” he said first, making the usual butterflies his voice made you feel appear in your stomach.

“Hi,” it was hard for you to respond since you were so distracted admiring the bit of skin he had exposed by unbuttoning 3 buttons off of his white dress shirt.

“I brought wine, but I see you’re already served,” he lifted the hand that was carrying the bottle showing you said bottle.

“I see we both thought of the same thing.” You noticed he was checking your body out and that made you 10 times more confident.

“Yeah, we did.” Silence filled the air as tension grew and you looked at each other.

“Come on in Taehyung,” you finally said.

You locked the door, just to be sure, and went to meet him in the living room where he was putting the bottle of wine and a black bag that, incredibly enough, you only noticed he was wearing until now.

“What’s that?” You asked while pointing at the bag.

“It’s the camera you asked me to bring.” He started to unzip the bag and remove his Canon that you were so used to seeing him with. For a moment you had totally forgotten you had requested him that so when he mentioned it the plans you had made for tonight immediately surfaced in your head.

“And what’s that?” You pointed inside the bag, noticing another camera inside.

“Oh, it’s a Polaroid camera I brought just in case, girls always like those ones.” He took it out and handed it to you. You waited a bit and as soon as he got distracted checking his other camera you took a picture of him, the paper immediately coming out from the machine.

“Hey, that’s not fair. I wasn’t ready!”

“How is that not fair? You take pictures of me all the time and I can’t have a picture of you?” You shook the paper so the photo would reveal faster, and when the image appeared you couldn’t help but stare in adoration.

“Fine, you can have the picture. But only because it’s you.”

Time stopped. Everything stopped. It scared you how much power he was starting to have over you, like one look and he could have you on your knees. One sentence and he’d have you weak. You wanted to kiss him, you wanted to feel his lips pressed against yours and his hands running up your body. You wanted to go all the way, and you wanted to do it now, but you knew that if you gave in to the sweet brown-haired temptation in front of you that you wouldn’t be able to stop and you wouldn’t be able to fulfil your fantasy and give him the surprise you had prepared, so you decided to just get it out of the way.

“Taehyung, the reason why I asked you to bring your camera was because I wanted to give you a little surprise.”

“A surprise?” He was intrigued by your statement, the frowning of his eyebrows making him look extra cute.

“On Twitter, you said you wished you could take pictures of me all day, so…” you placed the Polaroid on top of the table and started to take off your dress so you’d be just in your recently bought lingerie. You kept your eyes on him as he watched you undress - he was totally awestruck admiring your body. “I want you to photograph me, like this.”

Your dress fell to the floor and you stood there in your sexy lingerie like a mannequin on display for him. His eyes were running along every inch of your body and the way he was biting his bottom lip was making you weak, an urgent need to jump on him and claim that lip as your own was emerging from within.

“Are you sure about this?”

The fact that he even asked made you feel much more at ease and erased all the little doubts you had before about pursuing one of your fans.

“Yes.”

“Get on that bed then.”

He didn’t even have to ask you twice, he could command you to go rob a bank with that tone of voice and you would do it - that’s the power he had over you and your body.

At first, he maintained a little distance from you and the poses you were making came off a little shy, but as you looked at him through the lens and started to connect to him you started to get even more daring with your poses.

At some point, you felt like moving things along so you took off your bra and threw it to his feet. His whole body tensed up, his jaw was locked and his eyes burned with an intensity of a thousand suns.

He came closer and closer until he was on top of you with the camera pointing straight down at you. The intimate shots he was taking reminded you of the ones he had taken of you during your solo and never published and you just couldn’t help but ask about them.

“Why did you never publish them?”

“Publish what?”

“The photos you took of my improv during my solo. I did that move just for you and I wanted to see the pictures but you never posted them,” he slowly lowered the camera, allowing you to see him smiling at your confession.

“I didn’t want to post them.”

“Why? Were they bad? Did I not look good?” All the worries you had about those photos suddenly came flooding in.

“What? No.” Seeing your insecurities and doubts taking over he put the camera down on the bed and placed his hand on your cheek in a tender gesture. “You looked absolutely perfect, as you always do.” His face was getting closer to yours and you couldn’t help but admire that face constructed by the Gods up close. “The reason why I didn’t publish those photos was because I didn’t want to share them with anybody else; I wanted to be the only one seeing you like that, I wanted to have you all to myself.”

His words were making all your blood rush down south, wetness starting to ruin the only piece of clothing you had on. “Well...here I am.”

In 2 seconds his lips were on yours and you knew right then and there that you instantly got hooked. It all went so smooth, it seemed like his lips knew every little way yours moved, like you had kissed a thousand times before - only you hadn’t.

Soon enough his boner started pressing down on your abdomen, a sign of his desire for you. His lips started moving lower until they were marking your exposed breasts.

“Taehyung…” you moaned as he sucked on your right nipple while pinching your left one.

“Fuck, my name sounds even better coming out of those lips then I could ever have imagined,” his hand slipped between your bodies and under your panties to tease you even more. “You’re so fucking wet baby, moan my name one more time,” he inserted one of his long fingers inside of you, giving you no choice but to abide to his request.

“Taehyung...”

“You’re so fucking tight, look at that pussy just swallowing my whole finger. You have no idea how many times I beat my cock to your photos,” he added another finger and started pumping harder and harder. “I would imagine how tight you were in real life, how well you would take me,” when you were about to cum he removed his fingers and shoved them in his mouth so he could suck your juices, “hmmm, how sweet you would taste.”

“Taehyung…” you moaned once more, his words acting as gas to your fire.

“What is it baby?” His lips attached once more to your skin, this time taking their sweet sweet time on your neck.

“I want you,” you whined.

“I know baby, I want you too, more than anything, believe me, but first,” he started to strip down naked, freeing his cock from the cotton prison that was his underwear, “I need your pretty lips around my cock. Can you do that for me?”

His hand was on your chin, bringing you closer and closer to his lips.

“Yes,” you kissed him slowly and passionately as you reached for his boner, the contact making him groan.

You turned him around so he was laying down on the bed at your complete mercy. You lowered your head and started giving little kitty licks on tip of his dick, the teasing act making him protest. “Fuck baby, don’t tease.”

You complied and practically swallowed his dick whole, his hands instinctively grabbing you by your hair and pushing you as further down as possible. You were choking and had spit running down your chin, but you were in pure bliss due to the sounds of pleasure he was making.

“Fuck yeah baby, you’re doing so well. Look at you taking all my dick in your mouth like that.”

When you started to feel your lungs burning from the lack of air you emerged back up from between his legs to recuperate your breath and then dived back in, this time to properly suck the shit out of him.

You were so into it, bobbing your head up and down and fondling his balls that you felt like you couldn’t stop. It wasn’t until he grabbed your head to make you stop that you came into your own.

“I’d love to cum in your beautiful mouth, but tonight I really wanna fuck you as soon as possible, and I can’t do that if you keep on sucking me like that.”

“Sorry, I couldn’t control myself,” you said as you wiped the extra spit off of your chin with your hand.

“You make me go crazy on a daily basis, but when you say stuff like that...I just can’t control myself.” He was back to kissing you, but this time it was all more raw and needy.

He turned you around so you were now the one laying on the bed and he was the one on top of you. All of your body was burning with anticipation and you really couldn’t wait any second longer for him to just pound you into the mattress.

“Grab the condoms,” you said in a breathy tone.

He moved to reach the bedside table, where you had placed the condoms previously to his arrival, took out one and placed it on his swollen cock.

He got back on top of you and started rubbing his tip up and down your folds before entering you completely. He looked at you in the eyes as he felt your walls clenching around him, both of you taking in the pleasure caused by each other's bodies.

“Fuck…you feel so good baby,” he started leaving a trail of kisses from your ear to your neck as he slowly moved inside of you.

“Tae-” he didn’t even let you finish moaning his name before he was picking up his speed and almost drilling into you.

“This cunt is mine now, do you understand?” His voice was almost animalistic, like he was truly marking his territory.

“Yes,” you moaned.

“You are mine,” he grabbed your right boob and bit you on your neck.

“Fuck, yes.”

Your answer fueled him even more, his hand immediately reaching for your clit and making you scream.

“Cum,” and like you were obeying his commands you instantly came hard, his name spilling out of your mouth like a mantra.

“You look so beautiful like this, coming undone on my cock,” Taehyung slowed down and helped you ride out your orgasm.

“Now get on your knees and let me see that sexy ass baby,” he said as he removed himself from inside you.

“Yes sir,” you joked as you obeyed, yet again, to one of his commands.

You turned around and got on your knees, sticking your ass up in the air for him (quickly earning yourself a hard spank on the ass).

“I swear you were carved by the gods, look at that ass,” you felt another spank, this time on your other ass cheek, which turned you on so much that you were able to feel your arousal sliding down your pussy. “How much wetter can you become? You’re like a fucking faucet, just spilling those delicious juices for me,” it was then that you felt him spread your ass cheeks and give you a big ass lick from the bottom to the top, making you shiver from the sensitivity of your recent orgasm.

“Ohh fuck…that feels so good.”

He then stuck his fingers back inside of you, pumping them in and out until you were screaming in pleasure once again in your second orgasm of the night.

“Fuck, I think I’m addicted to making you cum.” He stuck his dick back inside of you and, without giving you time to recover, started fucking you at full speed.

You couldn’t even think straight anymore, you were so completely lost in pleasure that the only thing that mattered to you was the good dicking you were getting. “Taehyung I’m not gonna last long.”

Taehyung pulls you by your hair so your bodies could meet and latches his mouth to your neck once more. “You can cum baby, I got you.”

You didn’t last much longer, spiralling down on your third and last orgasm of the night that also triggered Taehyung’s orgasm, the both of you cumming almost in unison.

Both of you fell on the bed panting from the mind-blowing sex you just had. When you opened up your eyes you noticed Taehyung was staring at you with a fond look on his face, “you’re so fucking beautiful,” he said.

“Tae…” you were completely blushing, as if you hadn’t just shared the most intimate moment two people can share.

“It’s true,” he gave you a sweet kiss on the lips and then got up to go to the bathroom and get cleaned up.

You almost instantly fell asleep (the concert you had had and the sex taking a toll on your body) only to be woken up moments later by the sound of a camera taking a picture.

“What are you doing?” You turned around and saw Taehyung with the Polaroid camera in one hand and the photo he had just taken in the other.

“Getting inspired by my muse,” he said with a proud smile on his face.

“Let me see that,” you got up from the bed and took the picture away from him to properly inspect it. You had never seen your ass like this, but you had to admit that it did look pretty good.

“So?”  He asked.

“It’s amazing, maybe we should schedule again to take more,” you said with a teasing tone.

“I’d love that,” he got closer to you and kissed you, his soft lips making your heart race once more, but definitely not for the last time.