#this is a crack ship that also isn’t a crack ship at all. I won’t be elaborating.

[lunar-years]

you can walk away, say we don’t need this / but there’s something in your eyes says we can beat this

Part 7/?? of my favorite ships + taylor swift songs | Effie Trinket x Haymitch Abernathy

[caotictimmy]

I was in fear that I was the only one with their brain completely rotted by mouthwashing and swansea appreciation 😭😭 good to know I'm not alone in this

We love Swansea😍😍 but yes guys I’m finally doing his headcanons. I’m sorry it took so long to start making it. I’m still not completely recovered from the side effects from my meds. But I love my man swansea sm. Gonna bit a little bit angsty but mostly happy. Gonna be Just like the rest of my headcanon.

Crushing - Confession

- It’s gonna take a long time for Swansea to like you. I think we all get this. He’s been through a lot in his life.

- Your guys relationship goes through stages before he starts to like you. Like different stages of trusts. But when he fully trusts you. He’s Inlove, like INLOVE with you. GOD I LOVE HIM SM.

- Swansea isn’t gonna be to noticeable he finally figures out he likes you. There will be hints. Subtle hints. But still hints.

- Like curly. He will treat you different. Not that much different. He’d be a bit nicer with you. Nicer with his sarcastic comments. Nicer with his insults. Just not being as harsh on you. He might crack a smile at you.

- Swansea will be protective. Not in a weird alpha male thing. He’s worried about your safety. Let’s say you wanted to help work on the broken vent. He will adamantly say no. He knows how dangerous some of the stuff he works on can be. He’ll let you watch but he doesn’t want you to get hurt. Not even a paper cut. ( doesn’t worry he doesn’t coddle you)

- If you ever do get hurt. If it’s not bad Swansea will help you himself (he’s trying to be romantic give this man a break.). If you accidently got cut put a bandaid or bandage on it. Scolding you for being so ‘stupid’ and getting yourself hurt. (He was really worried, you almost gave that poor man a heart attack)

- He’ll do little things for you. Saving you a seat next to him. Waiting for you to catch up to him. Saving you the last candy bar on the ship (much to Daisuke’s dismay). He doesn’t really mention that he does this stuff. And if you ask him about it he’ll deny and look at you like you’re crazy.

- Swansea is constantly thinking about you. In such a sweet way. Oh this reminds me of them. They would like this. I wonder what their doing right now. He always has you in the back of his mind. He also a romantic but he’s just emotionally stunted. PROVE ME WRONG.

- Swansea is gonna be a bit scared to try again. But you make him wanna try again. You make him feel like he’s in his prime again. So it might take a long time for him to confess.

- I think when he does confess, it would be late at night. You guys would be talking. Laughing the night away. Just having a genuine good time. He’d pause for a moment. Making you confused. You guys lock eyes

- “Y’know you can be a parasite sometimes. Always in my god damn head. You really made an old fool like me fall in love like I was back in my twenties.” He won’t directly ask you to date him but I think you get it

- When you say you wanna date him. He’ll just smirk. Wrapping an arm around you as guys continue your night. (He was absolutely terrified you’d say no.)

Dating

- Another dude he likes hearing you yap. It could be about anything. Be warned he will probably tease you. But he doesn’t do it in a mean way! His sarcasm is just his way of showing you love. But he truly does listen to you talk. Sometimes when you guys talk hell randomly bring up something you talked about like 2 months ago.

- I think his love language for receiving would be quality time and words of affirmation. And I think his giving love language would be quality time and acts of service.

- (receiving) I feel like Swansea likes you around while he’s working. Whether that be talking, listening to music, or just in silence. He likes having you around. I already talked about how much he likes listening to you talk. So that definitely plays a big role. So whether you’re yapping about how Daisuke almost broke his arm trying to get a pack of sugar, or doing your own thing next to him. He just wants you around.

- (receiving) He’s had a rough past. I think we all get that. So I firmly believe he’d love some praise. Whether that you talking about how handsome he is, or complimenting his skill. Swansea will act like he doesn’t care when you do this. But he does. He really really does. He’s not gonna tell you though.

- (giving) Said again. This man loves having you around. He’ll actively invite you to hang out with him while he’s working. Swansea is gonna act like it isn’t a big deal. But he really wants you to show up. So please don’t turn down his offers to spend time with him!!!

- (giving) Swansea will do small things for you. Saving you the last of cereal for breakfast(even after Daisuke begged to have the last of it). Doing your laundry with his, making you some food when he’s cooking. They’re not humongous gestures but he does them frequently. It’s like a second nature to him. Swansea isn’t thinking ‘I’ll wash their clothe cause I wanna be nice”. He just kinda does it. Like an unconscious part of him just makes him do these things.

- This man will always swing his arm around you. Like always. Whether that be walking down the hall together. Wrapping an arm around you during movie night(the crew definitely as movie nights sue me). He always has an arm around you. (GUYS I KNOW THIS IS SIMILAR TO CURLY GIVE ME A BREAK😭🙏)

- Do spa masks with him. He’ll call them stupid but trust me. You will have a lot of fun. It will turn into a gossip night. You can’t tell me this man doesn’t gossip at least a little bit. He doesn’t call it ‘gossip’. But this man is sassy when he’s ’talking shit’. Like Swansea bae… Just call it gossip.

- Swansea defiantly calls you nickname. Don’t get your pitch forks out yet please😔. I think his main nicknames would be toots, sweetheart. And other old timey nicknames.

- Daisuke looks up to you guys. He’s definitely more than once called you guys ‘dad and ___’ (keeping it gender neutral gang).

NSFW - DO NOT READ IF YOUR A MINOR OR UNCOMFORTABLE WITH NSFW (AFAB)

- We know this man is old. I think we ALL get it. So he’s not gonna have that much energy. But what he is gonna have. Experience and knowledge. LOT’S OF EXPERIENCE AND KNOWLEDGE. So your not gonna have to worry if your gonna be satisfied by the end of the night.

- SWANSEA PREP GAME IS ON POOOIIINNNNTTTTTT. He will make sure you are ready! I’ve said before, he does not like seeing you hurt. So I firmly believe he’ll spend a lot of time on prep. If you wanna give him some special thanks go ahead. All he’s really worried about is making it less painful for you.

- I do not believe he’s a selfish lover. No matter what anyone else says. I’ve seen people talking about how he would be selfish during sex. LOUD INCORRECT BUZZARD. Argue with a fucking wall. While he does like getting pleasured. I think he likes a good 50/50

- Cock warming king. Sometimes when he knows no one will bother him. Hell unbuckle his pants and just slide you right on. You guys haven’t been caught so🙏🙏 Try to make sure it stays that way.

- Call you a whole ass phone book ass size of pet names. PUT THE PITCH FORKS AWAY!! Honestly I feel like it just slips out. He’s not fully focusing on what to say. (I’m sorry. No im not sorry. He would not call you baby girl/baby boy during sex,.)

- Swansea prefers having these intimate moments in one of your guys bedroom. He’ll take a risk sometimes if he’s that horny. But he feels it’s more special in one of your guys room. He doesn’t get that thrill of it. (He also prefers the plushness of a bed.)

- Swansea loves holding you after sex. That post nut clarity really hits. He feels so special knowing you’re here with him. Willing to be so intimate with each other. He feels lucky that he has you. That he gets to try again.

- I feel deep in my heart he’s a grunter. I don’t think he’s like a loud one. But you’ll hear a grunt every so often, your gonna have to train your ears to really listen to it

- He talks you through it. ARGUE WITH A DAMN FUCKING WALL HE TALKS YOU THROUGH IT. He gets pleasure from it to, comeing at you that your doing good, that you can keep going, just a little longer. My opinion is better suck my dick.

Authors note: I FINALLY GOT IT OUT. Sorry it took so long but it’s finally out!!!

[aryas-faces]

On a positive note, I am unironically shipping Aegon and Larys

Imagine Larys, a boy born disabled, who is abused by society and his family which hardens him. All he cares about is proving people wrong. People are pawns, they see him as deformed, he sees them as dispensable

And then he sees the King. A young man, trying ti get the small folk to like him and being embarrassed by his Hand interrupting every other minute. He watches as the boy submissively listens to his Hand. Larys thinks this will be easy prey; an easy way to become the second most powerful man in the realm

And then something weird happens: When he approaches, Aegon doesn’t take notice of his feet at all. He doesn’t stare at all. He speaks to Larys like an equal

But Larys starts the manipulation all the same, and it works. But on Aegon’s side, Larys finally gives him strength to fight back against one of his abusers, quoting he doesn’t HAVE to have him as Hand. It was manipulation, but Aegon doesn’t realize that. He sees it as someone guiding him away from abuse

Which is why he so readily believes Larys about Alicent and Aemond. This person has helped him before, and now he is again. Larys got whisper that Aegon was going into battle, and immediately went to manipulate him into staying, or else he might lose his chance ti be Hand. And Larys has this staring up at him:

Big, sad, beautiful blue eyes. And again, Aegon believes him with 0 hesitation. He realizes here Aegon is in way over his head: Aegon is weak, vulnerable, and incredibly naive. Not the kind of person who should be playing the game of thrones. He is preyed on, proven by Aegon naming him Master of Whispers, clueless to the manipulation. But why does Larys feel so weird toward this boy? He uses him as a pawn, but he also genuinely doesn’t want to see his life ended. Why?

And then Aegon gets burnt. He is barely alive. His brother is named Regent. Now Larys gets another chance to be Hand. But Aemond rejects him on a brutal level in front of the rest of council. And he does something he never thought he would: He misses Aegon

But surely it’s just because he misses the extra power, right?

But then he goes to see him, intent on manipulating him and he sees the state he’s in, and something inside Larys cracks. He sees this innocent boy who was in over his head pay the price, and became a cripple. The way Larys was born. And Larys feels not only empathy and solidarity, but a genuine sadness for him. And before he can stop himself, he does another thing he never has before: He shares himself at his most bare, safe in the knowledge Aegon won’t judge nor use it against him. And this is how they’re looking at each other

So Larys tries to save Aegon from Aemond, and when it comes to be the most vital, Larys literally saves him, but Aegon didn’t want to be saved at first. He is broken, and he has no one. It’s not a tragedy if he gets killed. And Larys again:

Tells him he isn’t alone. Again, that not is the face of someone only in it for power. He wouldn’t look so despaired at Aegon talking about how he wants to die and has no one if he didn’t care. He wouldn’t share personal details of himself. He is growing fond of Aegon

Them kissing is more natural development for their relationship than Rhaenyra and Mysaria (which came out of nowhere)

And honestly? I’m kinda here for it

[gatorbites-imagines]

Male Reader spanking zoro after he put himself in danger? But zoro is still defending himself so reader becomes actually angry at zoro for not thinking about himself (or reader and how reader would live without him) and leaves zoro in the middle of the punishment before he says something he regrets and avoids zoro the next few days until the crew is like "this can't go on" and traps them together for an entire day in a room. They both break easily and end up cuddling for the most part (after some creampies)

Roronoa Zoro x male reader

headcanons

I love Zoro so much, its not even funny anymore.

Punishing Zoro was a chore in an of itself, since hes such a tough guy used to most types of pain. This also leads to him being very into painplay, so most usual methods of punishments don’t work on him.

It would take a lot of spanking to get Zoro to buckle, which is why he easily talks back when you do end up spanking him as punishment. Normally you would do something more advanced, mixing it with something else, but this time you are so worked up about almost losing him that you don’t have the energy.

Even as you scold him and tell him what a dumb idea it was to jump into danger like that, Zoro stats resolute in his decision, just squaring his shoulders and stabilizing his stance, letting you take your hand or paddle or whatever you’re using on him.

It ends up having the opposite effect of what you’re going for, since Zoro is probably still running on adrenaline from the fight you just got back from. Instead of making him cry and apologize, it has him shuddering and moaning, eye clenching shut as he tries to push his hips back at you.

But even then, he still defends what he did, even when you say you could have lost him, since its his duty as the strawhats swordsman and first mate.

It makes you so angry and makes your heart hurt so much you know you just need to step back before you say or do something you’ll regret, so you just lift your hands, step back, and leave with an angry exhale.

After being left wanting and shuddering like that, Zoro probably starts to feel kinda petty and wronged too, cuz he doesn’t see why you are so worked up about what he did.

So, you two start avoiding each other, and the ship gets super tense for literally everyone, especially since neither you or Zoro will tell the rest of the crew what is up. They all just know you two probably had a fight, and a bad one at that with how you guys are acting.

It starts to take a toll on the rest of the crew when you guys’ won’t even be in the same room together, or even talk to each other. They know it’s especially bad when you guys stop sleeping in the room Franky built specifically for you two, when you became a couple.

The next time the crew needs to restock, its probably Luffy that ends up trapping you guys in your room together, as he doesn’t want his crew to fight, and cuz literally everyone has been walking on eggshells.

This results in you and Zoro being trapped inside your room the entire day as the crew it away getting supplies and whatever they do on new islands.

Theres a lot of tense silence as you both sit on either side of the room, not even looking at each other for a while. I’m not even sure who cracks first and starts talking, if you are just as stubborn as Zoro.

But one of you starts opening up about it, and you end up explaining how much it hurts that Zoro cares so little for his own safety, and that he would just leave you behind so easily. Zoro, whos never really thought about it that deeply, feels his heart break that you thought he didn’t love you enough to want to stay.

Cue Zoro saying some super heartfelt thing about how you mean so much to him, and one of the reasons he tries to hard to keep the crew safe is cuz he loves you so much. He isn’t the best with words, but he gets it out in a way that has your heart warming up.

It ends up with you guys actually talking about your emotions, and with you two tumbling into bed together, kissing like you haven’t seen each other in months. Its surprisingly soft from both of you, kissing and touching and being so loving.

The breath is completely knocked out of you when Zoro starts riding you, because how couldn’t it, having all 198 lb. of muscular swordman bouncing up and down on your cock, his callused hands gripping at your shoulders or chest.

Zoro takes riding you as serious as any of his other exercise, his eye serious and face flushed as he uses just his thighs to lift and lower himself, not even letting you help in thrusting up into him. You just end up holding his hips and groping his torso, going along with the ride.

You guys are probably lucky that the entire crew is off the ship, or else they’d hear how loud Zoro moans when you hit his prostate and take his pecs into your mouth at the same time. You’ll probably end up with a headache from how hard he pulls your hair though, he loses track of his strength sometimes when riding you.

You get exhausted much longer before Zoro does, overstimulation sending electricity through your entire body as Zoro keeps riding you, even when your first load is squelching right out of him around your shaft.

Hes a beast, but he’s your beast, and if being sucked dry like a juice box is what it takes, you’ll happily do it. It just ends up with you feel extra dehydrated and shaky legged. This is why you normally wring him out in the beginning, so you can keep up with his insane stamina.

After Zoro has had his fill and painted your torso white with his own spend, he flops down beside you and buries his face into your neck, just inhaling you and needing you close.

You would end up clinging to him too, mumbling something about how you don’t wanna lose him, to which Zoro replies that you wont if he has anything to say about it.

Cue lots of softer and loving kisses and caresses, sweet words mumbled just between lovers, before you guys fall asleep. Zoro most likely ends up asleep first, for once completely asleep instead of the type of half naps he normally takes.

When the crew returns later, some of them will be able to guess immediately what you guys were up too, especially if your knees are still feeling weak from how much Zoro drained you.

But you guys are talking and back to acting like you normally do, so that’s all that matters. I could see Nami teasing you guys about it though, whilst Robin just laughs a little to herself because its entertaining.

[random-potat]

and they were roommates - kjs. - pt. 4

part 4. moving in (wc. 456)

Packing your belongings that's enough for six weeks in forty-five minutes is definitely easier said than done, but alas, it is not completely impossible. Honestly, you can't really tell if you are overpacked or underpacked. What mattered most was that Bada didn't kill you for procrastinating.

With five minutes to spare, you rush down to the parking lot to store your luggage in the trunk of the car.

The rest of your members come down to say goodbye. Let's just say the dramatics were turned on, that's for sure. 

“I'm surprised you actually packed quickly,” your leader says. 

“What can I say? I'm serious about my cookie dough.” 

"I can't believe you’re leaving me behind,” Ria dramatically wails. 

Rolling your eyes, you pull her in for a hug. “It’s not like I’m permanently moving; I’ll be gone for like six weeks.” You pat Ria’s back and say, "Plus, we’ll still see each other for practice.” 

“That’s only if there is something to practice for.” Eunwoo interrupts, hugging the two of you. 

Bada lovingly pinches Eunwoo. “Don't say that, Eunwoo, we still have festivals to practice for,” Bada says as she joins in the group hug. 

“As much as I would hate to break this group moment, we really have to go now, YN,” manager Woo interrupts. 

After saying what seems to be but isn’t really your final goodbyes to your group members, you head into the car for a long one and a half-hour drive away from the city.

After a long ride that only involved sleeping, you arrive outside of the shared villa that you’ll eventually be sharing with five other people, who also happen to be idols. “Can’t wait to get cancelled,” you thought. 

Manager Woo begins to give you a quick debrief of what is going to happen.  

“Everything is already set up in the house. The producers will be in the hallway guiding you where to go, and you guys will all be entering individually.”

“Wow, this is some Love Island-type shit. Minus the love part,” you quickly look around your surroundings, “and the island,” you respond.

Manager Woo gives you a stern look and says, "After that, everything is going to be directed by the producer. Schedules will be sent to you like normal, but most things won’t interrupt the filming for this show.

You nod your head.

Manager Woo gave a small smile, "Just enjoy the experience, don’t take everything too seriously, okay?”

"Sir, yes, sir.” You send a mocking salute.

Getting out of the car and dragging your luggage towards the house, you take a deep breath in and out. “Of course I’m the first one going in. Well, here goes nothing. A hot new bombshell enters the villa.”

a/n: very subtle love island references cause that was my hyperfixation when i was writing this in the summer :p but other than that hope you guys are enjoying it so far. really just creating this as i go but i do have ideas that i know i want to be in the story, so we'll just have to see where this ends up lmao!! also school has officially started as im posting this so that's really fun :)) much more writing to do although essays aren't fun

synopsis: With long-time K-pop fans asking for another season of the infamous variety show We Got Married, MBC brings it back with a spin-off, We Became Roommates. As a way to bring K-pop fans together, the first season involves six idols born in 2005. With seeing each other every day, doing missions for every episode, making memories, and fans watching and shipping, blossoming friendships and a bubbling romance can't be helped. pairing: idol!jongseob x fem idol!reader genre: idol au, crack, fluff, humour, coworkers to friends to lovers

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[breakfastteatime]

Well, instead of fixing the political landscape of the US and the rest of the world, how about I let everyone take a sneak peek at a fic I'm working on?

This is unedited, untitled and very very very unfinished...

***

Cere stares at Cal.

Cal stares at Cere.

BD, Merrin and Greez stare at both of them.

No one speaks. A faint wind blows across the clearing, carrying the scent of sea salt.

BD twitches. Merrin grabs him before he can do or beep anything. Greez seems to be holding his breath.

A lightsaber ignites, a soft buzz in the dawn light. Cere moves first.

Cal blocks. 

Cere's jabs are short, sharp and accurate. Cal moves fast, single-blade meeting Cere's every time.

BD cheers Cal on. Merrin marvels at Cere's form. She’s so much more refined than Cal, not a single movement wasted. Greez covers his eyes with his hands, then covers those hands with his other hands. He cracks his fingers and peers through.

Cere pushes Cal hard, forcing him to tighten his forms, rely more on real Jedi techniques and less on improvised flashiness. Probably because Cere has his second blade and gave him strict orders not to attempt to pull it from her hand. That, she told him, is a cheap trick and not one he should ever rely on. She is wise. And devious. Merrin admires her greatly.

Cere is holding back; not because Cal cannot match her (although Merrin would absolutely bet against him), but because there is a lesson to be learned here. One perhaps Merrin needs to learn too. Flair is arrogance. A Jedi should not show off. They must set their sights on their target and deal with it as succinctly as possible.

A Nightsister can do the same, but only so when she does indulge, her enemies are all the more stunned by her power and prowess.

Honestly (and Merrin will never share this with anyone), she thinks the Jedi needed to cut loose once in a while.

The fight continues. Cere never falters, her relentless lunges and jabs seeking every gap in Cal's defence. He has the endurance to withstand Cere's prolonged offence, but he doesn't have her experience, and when she does eventually break his guard and land a blow, Cal seems delighted to have held out as long as he did. 

He is a very strange person.

"Can we please have breakfast now?" Greez pleads.

“Of course,” Cere says, looking bright and light on her toes. She pats Cal on the shoulder, returns her borrowed lightsaber, and tells him to put some bacta on the burn, and heads aboard the ship. “We need to finalise the supply list.”

BD’s list of demands is lengthy. Cal nods. “Yeah, that’s what we’ll do first, and I’ll get you the best oil I can find.”

“It’s not all about what you want, BD!” Greez hollers.

Merrin wishes she understood BD. She’d love to understand all that beeping and why it’s making Cal laugh like that.

After breakfast, they head into the nearby town armed with destinations to visit and lists from Cere. Merrin can’t wait. She’s never been anywhere like this, Built into the cliff, the people here have two main trades – fishing and mining, and the mining is largely done at the behest of the Empire. Merrin suspects Cal wants to shut the mines down. She also knows Cere won’t let him. The planet’s entire economy relies on those mines just as much as they need the fishing for food. Personally, Merrin can barely wrap her head around galactic economics, but she knows enough to understand they can’t make things worse for ordinary people. They see it time and time again; planets apparently thriving under the Empire, the people completely unaware of the suffering being endured elsewhere in the galaxy. Merrin cannot understand it. For all the cravenness they see, sometimes she simply has to accept that the Empire is very good at controlling their own narrative and nothing they do will convince people the Empire isn’t the best thing that ever happened.

Sometimes, she truly misses the simplicity of her life on Dathomir.

She also misses the warmth. She’s wearing several layers and it’s still not enough. And then, when they reach the town, there are signs everywhere for an ice rink. Cal forgets his list and the shops Cere told him to go to.

“Merrin, we gotta go!” Cal’s eyes light up.

“What is an ice rink?” she asks.

“You skate! On ice! You’ll love it.”

“Stores and supplies first,” Cere says before Merrin can tell Cal ‘no’. “Potentially limb breaking activities later.”

They split up and go their separate ways with a promise to meet up at the ice rink later. Merrin moves through the streets, staring openly at what she sees. Shops carved into the cliffs, others bolted on and towering into the sky, all of them thrumming with people of all species and genders. Cere specifically chose a busy time of day for them to enter the town so no one would notice them. They’re just another batch of tourists come to marvel at the cliff city of Turrey, mid-rim gateway to the stars (according to all the posters she sees pasted on streetlights and mounted on store walls). She likes this world, likes its energy. The people here are hard-working, proud, honest. She can feel it, is empowered by it. Not that she’ll be wielding her magick for all to see while they’re here. Not unless the Empire decides to do something exceedingly heinous which, given that she has yet to come across a single stormtrooper, seems unlikely.

Once she’s gathered up the supplies on her list (various foodstuffs, some ingredients that will suffice for her potion craft, a local tea she thinks Cere might like), Merrin heads to the local café where they’d all agreed to meet. It’s built into a cave, huge glowing orbs hanging from the ceiling, soft bass music playing under the current of conversation and busy barista activity. Cere is there already, sipping caf and watching the world go by. Merrin orders herself a very elaborate juice, complete with ice, froth and a little umbrella, and joins her at the table.

“What do you think?” Cere says. “How does this world rank with all the others you’ve been to so far?”

Sipping her juice, wincing at the sharp sweetness, Merrin lakeers for a moment. Cliff city, chilly weather, sunny though… “If we can finish what we need to do without encountering a single stormtrooper, it will rank highly.”

Greez, Cal and BD join them a short while later, both laden down with supplies and caf. BD is the first to launch into a lengthy explanation about… something. Merrin still does not understand him. Cal translates.

“The people here kept telling me to ‘mind my droid’ as they tend to be unreliable and prone to malfunctions on this world,” he says. BD blurts out something else. “I know, buddy, you’re fine. No malfunctions detected.”

“Malfunction how?” Cere asks.

“Unreliable memories, a tendency to lie, that kind of thing,” Cal says. “It’s probably why most of the droids we came across in the stores we went in didn’t have vocalisers.”

“Eh, wouldn’t be the first world we’ve been on that doesn’t like or trust droids,” Greez says. “Anyway, enough about that. What’s next on the agenda, and please tell me it’s chilling out and having a good day.”

Cal immediately talks about the ice rink, raving about how it’s actually a large lake on top of the cliff outside the town hall and the river its connected to runs all the way through the mountain and down to the sea. He’s so excited, Merrin feels like she’s talking to someone much younger. She wonders for a moment if this was what he was like as a child, happy and excitable. If he is, no wonder he and BD get on so well.

“…heard anything I said, Merrin?”

She blinks, stirring her drink with the straw. “We will go to this ice lake rink you speak of. I would like to see you skate.”

BD giggles and tells Cal something that makes Cal roll his eyes and jab BD’s chassis. “I’d like to see you do any better!”

They go back and forth, teasing each other, although Merrin can only pick up one side of the conversation.

“We’ll drop everything off on the ship, then come back to watch Cal go flailing across the ice,” Greez says.

“Merrin too unless she’s too scared,” Cal says, sing-song, teasing. BD provides backing vocals. “We can race, see who can get from one side of the rink to the other the fastest.”

Merrin is never one to turn down a challenge.

When they head up to the top of the cliff later, Merrin is amazed at the sights. The town hall is as immense and sturdy as the ground it looks as though it has grown out of. Beyond, Merrin can see the entrances to the mines, the hovertrain lines busy with cargo and passenger vehicles.

“Don’t get any ideas about taking a ride on one of those,” Greez tells Cal. “One train rescue is enough for an entire lifetime.”

“You didn’t exactly rescue me from the train,” Cal says.

“Almost,” Greez says. “We almost rescued you from that train.”

“Wish you had.” Cal’s hand rubs his chest. “I wouldn’t have broken so many bones.”

“Wait, you broke bones?”

The ice rink stands at the heart of the town square, a space easily as large as the swamps of Dathomir. Cal pays for tickets and skate rental. He only pays for himself and Merrin, and he leads her into a small, benched area where people are changing in and out of skates.

“Here you go!” Cal hands her the skates.

Dubious, Merrin stares at the boots in her hand, boots with thin blades bolted to the soles. She stares at Cal, who has already switched his regular boots for these skates. "You have ice-skated before?" she asks.

"Nope! Not like this. I’m not sure I can count sliding down frozen rivers on Zeffo as skating."

BD beeps. Cal scoffs. "No, you haven't! It doesn't count if you're not the one actually touching the ice."

In response, BD hops down and onto the ice. Merrin watches him slip and slide in the ice rink, barely avoiding the skaters. People dressed in warm clothes zip by, some with skill and confidence, others poised like they're terrified they might fall through into the water below.

"I'll have some hot drinks waiting for you when you're finished," Greez says.

"You do not have so far to fall," Merrin says. "Would it not be better for you to go skating?"

He laughs so hard he nearly crashed into the people walking by. "No, no way. This is a young person's sport."

An elderly couple whizz by. Merrin raises an eyebrow.

"They're Human! Totally different." Greez waves her away. "Go on, go! Have fun!"

Merrin looks to Cere.

“Not a chance,” Cere says. “I’ve got the med kit on standby.”

Accepting she has lost this argument, Merrin removes her boots and tugs on the skates, lacing them as tight as she can stand. Cal waits for her on the lake edge, BD back in his usual place. Apparently, he also decided against skating.

“Ready?” Cal asks her, hand held out to her.

She takes it. “If I go down, you are coming with me.”

He laughs and slides onto the ice, tugging her along with him. She keeps her balance, as does he, and she watches the more confident skaters, how they keep their heads held up and move with confidence. She can do that. How hard can it even be?

She releases Cal’s hand and pushes off, movement steady and confident. Her speed picks up, the cold air whistling by. She moves past slower skaters, eyes locked on the path ahead. She can do it. She’s doing it!

A small child whizzes in front of her, oblivious to the oncoming danger. Merrin’s instinct is to teleport out of the way. She resists, instead accepting the inevitable crash. The child, however, is faster than expected, and launches into a twirling leap, trailing glee and pride in her wake. Merrin is impressed, and she skates on.

“You gonna try that?”

Cal’s sudden presence behind her nearly sends Merrin failing to the ice. She saves her balance just in time. Cal cackles. She turns (it is not graceful) and gives him a hefty shove. He slides backward, with more grace than she mustered.

It’s times like she is reminded why she did not like him when she first set eyes on him on Dathomir.

“Go,” she tells him. “Show off. I will practice here and beat you at our race.”

“Didja hear that, BD? Merrin’s still up for the race!”

BD does his own twirl across Cal’s shoulders.

“Let us know when you’re ready!” Cal calls as he glides away.

He even does a little spin.

“The child’s was better.”

He sticks out his tongue as he skates away with the confidence of a pro.

By the time Merrin feels ready to race Cal, the ice rink has quietened down. She meets him on the far end. “I will race you,” she says. “No powers.”

He nods. “No powers.”

“BD? No help from you either.”

Whatever BD says in response causes Cal to laugh. She ignores them both. “On three.”

“One – ”

Merrin crouches, ready for launch. “Two…”

“Three!”

Cal takes off, BD squealing. Merrin digs deep and pushes hard, ignoring the voice in her head reminding her she doesn’t know how to stop. Cal is far ahead, weaving around people with obnoxious ease.

If only she could teleport. Then he’d lose. But she already knows Cere and Greez (especially Greez) would prefer if they kept their heads down unless they really needed to –

The lake quakes. The mood changes from joy to confusion. Merrin slows without stopping. People slow to a stop, looking at each other.

From somewhere off to the side of the ice rink, a voice shouts. “Get off the ice!”

Another quake, worse this time. Several people are thrown off their feet.

The ice cracks with strange twangs and pops Merrin has never heard before.

Cries go out, people no longer skating smoothly and instead flailing, trying to keep from falling off the chunks of ice and into the water.

Merrin falls to her knees, her balance lost. A man ahead of her skids to a stop, turns back and holds out his hand. “Let me help,” he says.

Thanking him, Merrin accepts his help. “What’s happening?”

He shakes his head. “I don’t know. We need to get off the lake.”

They move, hopping from ice floe to ice floe. Merrin catches sight of Cal and BD, Cal on his knees and reaching into the water. Merrin doesn’t have time to see what he’s doing, not when she and the man have to jump over a chunk of ice that has rolled onto its side. Turning to look again, she sees Cal dive into the water. Pulling her hand free from the man’s, she tells him to keep going.

“What are you doing?” he asks.

“I have to help my friend,” Merrin says. “He’s in the water!”

A look of unfathomable terror goes across the man’s face. “It’s too late.”

He flees without another word.

Confused now, Merrin no longer holds back. She teleports to where she last saw Cal, a terrible chill emanating from the water.

A chill and something else.

Something worse.

A presence.

Large.

Angry.

Cal resurfaces, BD on his back and a child in his arms. It’s the same child who’d leapt and twirled across the ice wish such ease earlier, only now they are limp and unconscious. Cal looks, spots Merrin, and thrusts the child at her. “Hurry,” he says, eyes narrowed with a particular focus Merrin recognises so well now. “There’s something in the water.”

Merrin grabs the child. She isn’t moving. She might not be breathing. Knowing Cal and BD can take care of themselves, Merrin teleports herself and the girl off the lake and onto dry land. People stare in shock.

“Help me!” Merrin shouts at them. “The girl needs you!”

A cry goes out and a woman rushes forward. Merrin senses the bond between woman and girl. Mother and daughter. “She’s not breathing!” the mother cries.

Merrin leans over, begins compressions. She senses Cere and Greez approach, but she doesn’t look up, not until the child coughs and stirs. Her mother wails with relief, scooping the child up.

“Thank you,” she says to Merrin. “Thank you so much.”

She dashes off, heading for local emergency workers racing their way. Merrin doesn’t see any stormtroopers. She sees Greez, puffed up, proud, and carrying Merrin’s boots. The sight almost makes her laugh. He hands them over. “You’re gonna need ‘em. Hurry.”

Grabbing them, Merrin wastes no time changing into them. Cere has already moved beyond them, blaster in her hand, headed to the edge of the lake. The water churns, waves slapping the banks.

Neither Cal nor BD are anywhere in sight. Merrin can’t see anyone else in the water too. The rink has nearly emptied out, only a few stragglers hanging around to stand and stare. Something else rings in her mind. That energy she’d felt earlier. The world’s industrious energy. It’s gone, replaced by something new. Something strange.

Whatever it is, she doesn’t have time to dwell. The water’s currents change, all the water pulled into the centre of the lake.

“It’s coming,” Cere says. She looks to Merrin, devoid of emotion. “Be ready.”

“Greez, get these people out of here,” Merrin says.

While Greez does as he’s told, pushing back a crowd of onlookers, Merrin joins Cere. Cere’s hand tightens around her blaster, finger on the trigger as water explodes into the sky. Merrin watches, her mouth dropping open, as three things emerge from the spray.

Cal.

BD.

And a creature out of a nightmare.

Grey and black, covered in thick scales, it resembles a snake, albeit one double the size of the Mantis with teeth as long as the ship is tall. Unlike a snake, it possesses four legs, each one bearing claws that could eviscerate any organic matter with a single swipe. It could probably grab the Mantis and eat it in one bite, and that thought clangs around Merrin’s mind when she watches a blue blade ignite. Cal flips around and lands on the monster’s back, scoring a lengthy wound in its scaly hide. The creature roars, its pain screaming through the Force.

Merrin can feel it, an untamed mind pushing at her own, pressing a sense of calm, of stillness, even as it shakes Cal off. He plummets again, BD’s boosters flaring as he tries to catch up. They’re going to hit the water, and the creature is already turning to go after them.

Merrin wonders if she should be more worried about that, but it all seems a bit far away now. She should just stand here. Stand here and enjoy the sights. She likes this world. It’s so pretty, and the sea is so vast, the mines so deep. What a lovely place this must be to live in.

Cere’s hands rise. She grabs Cal and BD with the Force, slowing their fall, but not enough. They both hit the water, because Cere’s pushing back against the creature, stopping it from diving into the lake.

“Get Cal and BD!” Cere shouts at Merrin, voice straining. “Hurry!”

“If you insist,” Merrin says, although she’s really not sure it’s necessary. She teleports from ice floe to ice floe, keeping her balance, reaching the spot where Cal and BD sank. BD appears first, shaking his head. Cal appears a moment later, looking dazed and frozen.

“We are going,” Merrin announces, grabbing both and teleporting back across the lake. She doesn’t hear either complain about their sudden movement. She doesn’t really hear much of anything except a song in her head that tells her peace, Merrin, be at peace. She reaches another patch of ice, right beside dry land where Cere’s shouting…

Merrin thinks she’s shouting. She can’t hear the words.

Peace, Merrin. Peace.

Something tugs on her arm. She pushes it off. Overhead, the creature resumes its fall, its mouth open wide, teeth splayed, its throat a blackhole.

It’s okay. It’s okay. It’s okay.

She closes her eyes.

Hands, cold and wet, ram against her. She hits the ground hard, a heavy weight falling on top of her. Water smacks into her, so cold she gasps with the shock of it.

The peace shatters.

The quiet too.

Footsteps. Fast.

Hands, grabbing.

“Merrin? Merrin!”

She blinks, looks up, sees the worry in Cere’s gaze. Why? What’s happening? Merrin looks around, finds herself on the ground beside the lake.

“What happened?” she asks.

Cere’s expression tells Merrin that was not the right thing to say. Heart sinking, worry mounting, Merrin tries to get up.

The heavy weight pins her down.

Cere leaves her line of sight. BD’s nearby – Merrin can hear him. He sounds worried. Why? What’s happening? Merrin’s head goes for a loop, pain seeping in. The weight moves, and she’s free to sit up. She does so, bracing herself as the vertigo keeps everything spinning. She breathes through the worst of it, and sees Cere leaning over Cal, fingers checking for a pulse, calling his name.

More footsteps approach, and this time it’s Greez with some locals dressed like medics.

Merrin decides she’s too tired to figure anything out. There’s an alarm sounding out in her head, but whatever’s causing it is lost behind the encroaching darkness. She falls back, only for four arms to catch her.

The last thing she sees is Greez leaning over her.

The last thing she hears is him telling her to stay with him, stay with –

[shenanigans-and-imagines]

hey! hc questions for Astarion & ace! Tav (sorry if some of those have already been answered):

- Who picks flowers for the other?

- Who has a hobby only the other knows about?

- How do they hype each other up?

- How do they express their feelings?

- Who's more protective?

- Who gets jealous easier?

thank you for your work! I always get excited when I see you have posted something new about this ship ^^

Who picks flowers for the other?

Tav does it for Astarion. I know there is some dialogue about him not liking flowers, but it’s different when they’re a gift from his love.

Tav never buy them. They just collect a small bundle as their walking. They then arrange them in a vase or spare cup, accompanied by a story; some local legend or tale about the flowers or just something they make up on the spot, Astarion can never be sure. Still he listens attentively as the story is just as much part of the gift as the flowers themselves.

Who has a hobby only the other knows about?

Tav knows about Astarion’s many tries at different hobbies.

Post game Astarion finally has the time to figure out what exactly he likes to do. Yes, there’s reading, but he figures out he genuinely enjoys embroidering and sewing. Making something with his own two hands and having something tangible at the end is extremely satisfying. Plus, it helps him clear his mind of anything besides the task in front of him. He’s since expanded this to jewelry making and knitting. Although he’ll die before he admits the knitting part.

How do they hype each other up?

Compliments. Compliments all around.

Astarion specifically goes on and on about Tav’s immense musical talent. Tav is already fairly secure in their abilities, but having somebody in the audience they know truly loves their work is heartening.

As for Tav, they know Astarion has his vanity and is willing to indulge him, complimenting him on his looks and choice of clothing. And if they throw an “I love you” at the end of it, he won’t say no.

How do they express their feelings?

I’m going to just assume you mean their feelings toward each other since if I went through all the emotions we’d be here all day.

Tav is actually a very physically affectionate person who has been denied it for years. Once they get permission to show their love that way, they don’t stop. Hugs for certain, leaning against him, hand kisses, cuddling, they’re all in. Quality time is next on the list. They don’t care what they’re doing so long as they’re doing it together.

Astarion is more verbal in his affections. He’ll just tell Tav how beautiful, talented, and amazing he finds them. He teases and tries to make them laugh. He can be quite the poet when he puts his mind to it. I’ll also add physical affection to the list. It takes him time, but once he understands he’s safe, he doesn’t want to loses the feeling of having them close.

Who’s more protective?

Astarion.

Not to say Tav isn’t, because they are, but it’s less visceral than Astarion. He spent so much of his life afraid that even when he does get together with Tav, it doesn’t lessen his fear. If anything his more afraid because he has somebody to lose for the first time in centuries. He considers ascending not just to keep himself safe, but to ensure he can protect Tav, forever. He’s never felt this way before about anyone. There’s no telling what he’d be willing to do for them.

Who gets jealous easier?

Hard to say. They both have their moments. I’d say Astarion is more vocal while Tav let’s it build up over time.

If somebody is flirting with Tav at a tavern, he’s by their side the next second with an arm around their waist and a smile that’s all fangs. He can also get real petty if he feels like they’re giving other people too much attention over him.

If somebody flirts with Astarion, Tav doesn’t say anything because they don’t want Astarion thinking he’s trying to control him or “too much”. But it hurts and if it happens too many times they’ll crack and ask if Astarion is getting bored of them. It would’ve be the first time. It’d take a lot for Tav to admit they’re jealous, but once they do, Astarion would have a field day.

They’re both working on getting better about it. It’s not a pretty thing.

[theladyfulcrum]

Come here children. Come here. Sit down. Take my hands. Listen.

Here’s what we are not going to do. We are not going to let them unravel us and leave us in a heap of bawling bodies. They want us to sob until our eyes fall out and we rupture our abdominal organs because they’re heartless and sadistic and part of STAR WARS—shhh, steady—but we are going to remain CALM. Call it denial, call it call it bargaining, call it what you will, but he’s not gone.

Deep breaths, all together now. Crying is cathartic and necessary for coping with the emotional abuse we endure at the hands of Filoni et al., but don’t cry from lost hope. I’m serious. Was it among the worst things we could have possibly been forced to watch? Has a good majority of the fandom been mulling where the hell we are supposed to find the will to go on after that? Of course. But they’ll be back. And Tech will be, too.

Hush, child. Listen to me.

There was a reason he fell into cloud-cover. He could have been falling into anything. Water can be lethal from that height, yes, but let’s all just remember what Hunter pulled in War-Mantle with falling OUT OF A SHIP and down a LITERAL MOUNTAIN and surviving that with JUST HIS KNIFE. HIS KNIFE, KIDS. Tech accepted what he was doing, and he was okay with dying if that was what this meant, but he’s Tech. Once he fell from view he did whatever he could to increase his odds of getting out of it alive. Trust.

Speaking of falling from view— we know the Clone Wars rules. No body, no confirmed death. Forget that— we know the STAR WARS rules. Even if someone gets SLICED IN HALF before your VERY EYES and FALLS AN INDETERMINABLE-BUT-DEFINITELY-NOT-SURVIVABLE DISTANCE, they STILL aren’t dead. Further still, if you had put the two scenes in front of me with no context, I would have said Echo’s death in an EXPLOSION of FIRE seemed more final and certain that Tech falling away from us. And no, I don’t care about the argument that it’s a kId’S ShOW so they wouldn’t show us the body. Go watch Colt’s death and get back to me. Or you know, pretty much any Clone Wars episode.

BUT THE GOGGLES, you wail. I know, dear heart, I know. I see the cracks in them every time I close my eyes. But Hemlock getting his hands on those isn’t confirmation of anything other than what we already know— no matter where he wound up, Tech is having a Very Bad Time™️. Whether he lost them on the extremely unpleasant way down or whether he’s being experimented on in critical condition is hardly a nicer thing to know, but we’ll take just about anything right now if it means we’ll see our boy again, won’t we?

Shhh, I’m not through. We also have that scene with Phee. If it had been a true goodbye, if Tech had shown an ounce of the development he had with Omega about differences in emotional processing and communication, you’d have seen my soul depart through the atmosphere. But no. That scene’s entire purpose was to be unresolved. Was it just to make us incurably sad in retrospect? Maybe. But my gut says no— there’s more he needs to say to her.

On that note, the same goes for Tech and Crosshair. I refuse to believe we’ll never see them together again. I don’t have anything stronger than my refusal, but my feelings on this are rock solid. There’s also the important issue of THE Bad Batch theme— you know how they’ve established a precedent of not using it unless the whole Batch is together? Collectively, we’re going to refuse to believe they’re going to break that now. And there’s too much love for that theme to never hear it again.

Finally, beloveds, we come to our old favorite: story analysis. You know I’m insufferable about this, but listen. If we look at screenwriting, if we look at story structure, if we look at BEATS, this is the old “DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL” for the Batch (and us obviously). It’s the ALL IS LOST. The EVERYTHING IS AWFUL AND THE HEROES ARE AT THEIR LOWEST LOW. It’s the classic “oh my god this second installment is EMOTIONAL TORTURE HOW COULD THEY DO THIS TO ME” that we can point to in novels, shows, and film series again and again. It’s the ESB ending, it’s the Catching Fire ending, it’s the Rebels S2 AHSOKA IS D E A D AND ANAKIN KILLED HER ending. S3 will open as they enter Act III, where they use what they’ve learned to move upwards toward the finale of this particular story arc. Doesn’t that sound like something nice to cling to?

There now. If I’m wrong, I’ll give you all the choice of k!lling me first or tossing me alive out of a plane with no *hard swallow* parachute, jet pack, or functional grappling gun. But I truly believe you won’t have to.

In the year or two we have to wait, cry for his absence, cry for the Batch being more fractured and farther apart than they ever have been, cry for Hunter feeling like he’s failed everyone he loves, cry for all of it, but not because you’ve lost hope that all might not be lost.

Tech will be back.

[devirnis]

Okay, after having a few days to process, I am allowing myself one vent post to get it out of my system and then it’s back to ✨positive vibes✨ only

If I see one more goddamn smarmy post about how “the writing was on the wall the whole time” (with the undercurrent of “you were too stupid to see it, I have the only valid interpretation”) I’m going to lose it

Had we not had 8x05, the breakup still would have bummed me out, but I would have said, you know what, fair, we didn’t see a whole lot of their relationship, a lot of it was fanon and headcanons. We had a good run. But we did get 8x05, apparently some of it filmed out of order knowing a breakup was coming, and what was the point? To be cruel? It felt like a slap in the face to people who liked that relationship.

They could have laid some groundwork to show some cracks in the relationship, but no. Ignoring disingenuous interpretations from people who have been rooting for the ship to crash and burn since day one, 8x05 established Buck & Tommy as a solid couple. Tommy gets along with Eddie, the three of them had great chemistry together. Tommy takes care of Buck when he’s hurt. Tommy thinks the curse is a bunch of bs (as does Eddie) but still went with Buck to have a funeral for a mummy. It’s like I watched someone cook an elaborate, delicious dinner for me and then they immediately threw it in the trash, and other people around me made fun of me for being blindsided and upset because I should have seen that coming.

I won’t pretend the general audience is a monolith who all have the same opinions. I’m sure there are people who don’t care and just shrugged their shoulders that another relationship of Buck’s fizzled out. But I have 2 friends who watch the show and aren’t Fandom Fans, and they are always my barometer for how people who don’t have brain rot (affectionate) feel about the show. One really liked the relationship, the other was neutral to mildly negative on it, and both of them agreed that it felt like the breakup came out of nowhere and made no sense given the context of the previous episode. So please stop pretending that it’s only BT fandom fans who have their knickers in a twist about how it played out.

If this isn’t leading to buddie, then I don’t want to see another love interest for either Buck or Eddie for the rest of the show. Tommy had so much potential to break the cycle of Buck’s love interests (and interviews from last season seem to support that they were aware of this and planning on utilizing that) and throwing it away feels like such a waste.

So yeah, instead of being just bummed, I’m pissed. I do not know if there was BTS drama or if Tim got some other grand idea for Buck’s storyline this season — but given how plots are adopted and dropped at rapid fire pace this season (something I was willing to forgive last season because of the shortened production timeline and fewer episodes), I’m highly skeptical that there’s any sort of overarching plan here.

I’ve never thought buddie would actually happen on the show, but I also never thought either Buck or Eddie would ever be anything other than straight, so I’d be happy to be proven wrong. I’m just a little jaded by seeing people doing a victory lap convinced that buddie canon is imminent when I think that they are giving the writers a lot more credit than they deserve for supposedly crafting this epic love story for the last five or so years when a lot of that is also just generous fanon interpretation. I need explicit confirmation within the show by the end of this season that at least one of them has caught feelings or I’m over entertaining the possibility it will actually happen.

I know the joy will come back. But I really hope the same plot lines playing out ad nauseam for every character stops because I’m getting a little tired.

[marlynnofmany]

The Ability to Smell Beauty

“Do you smell that?” Paint asked, flicking her tongue out to taste the air, just like the orange-scaled lizard she resembled. “That is LOVELY. Where is it?”

I looked around the forest-lined landing pad. All sorts of plants that I’d never seen before waved on the breeze: tree-things shaped like willows that someone had coated in enough hairspray to make them stand on end, bush-things with leaves that snapped at flies, moss and mushrooms and lumps that could have been frogs or seedpods, or maybe oddly-shaped rocks.

“I have no idea,” I told Paint honestly.

“Help me find it,” she said, striding away from the ship with her shoulder bag held tight and determination on her scaly face.

I glanced back at the captain and several others, who were passing time with an alien card game. The person who was supposed to have delivered our next shipment was late. Nothing else to do but hang around and try not to be bored.

“We’re going to look around a little,” I called, walking after Paint. “We won’t go far.”

Captain Sunlight nodded, her own scaly yellow face focused on the cards. “Scream if you need anything.” Then she triumphantly played a card that made Mur flail his tentacles in aggravation.

I said that I would, and followed my shorter crewmate as she waded into the undergrowth with her tongue flicking madly.

“So what exact smell are we looking for?” I asked, wondering if that was the right word. “Smelling for?”

“It’s kind of sharp, but in a good way,” Paint told me distractedly. “Sharp like a good kitchen knife, like string music, like a poignant memory.”

“Right,” I said, taking an experimental sniff. Everything smelled like alien plants, and not like violins or whatever. “Hm.”

“I think it’s this way. Low to the ground.” Paint scrambled under bushes, getting her bag caught on one of the flytrap mouths.

“Do you want me to carry that?” I asked.

“Yes please.” She held it up, still under the bush. Flytraps slapped at both of us, but weren’t strong enough to do any damage, even to my soft human skin. Paint probably didn’t even notice through her scales.

I shouldered the bag that held Paint’s sketchbook or novel or entertainment screen; whatever she’d brought out for waiting in the sun. I’d been about to go back in for something similar when she’d hared off on this quest.

“Over here!” Paint said, sounding more sure. She rustled out the other side of the bush and made delighted noises. When I made my way around the shrubbery, I found her at the base of a large boulder, gathering walnut-looking things into a greedy pile.

“Is that it?” I asked.

“Yes! Smell one!” Paint thrust one toward me.

I took it and sniffed. Not bad. Kind of like cloves, that sort of spicy sharpness that just felt festive. “Huh. Pretty good.”

“Isn’t it amazing?” Paint asked, holding up a double handful and taking an open-mouthed whiff. “Gimme the bag back; I’m taking these with me.”

“Are you sure they’re safe?” I asked as I handed it over. “Do you know what kind of plant they are?”

“Yeah, it’s that one from the store on the beach back home,” Paint said, shoveling eagerly. “The good one I could never find again. I forget the name. Sunlight will know.”

“All right,” I agreed. They really didn’t smell that special to me. It would be interesting to see if Captain Sunlight also treated the things like lizard-alien catnip, or if this was just something that Paint liked. A lot.

When she’d gathered everything on the ground — a few good handfuls — she looked around for more. I spotted one growing from the spindly sapling that poked out of a crack in the boulder, and Paint happily added it to the rest.

“I wonder if there are any other bushes like that,” she said, standing with the bag and studying the trees.

“We shouldn’t go far,” I reminded her. “Gotta stay in screaming range.”

“Sure, sure,” Paint said. “Just a quick look over this way. I think those plants grow near the beach, and I hear waves.”

Remembering Kavlae’s description of the landing pad as being “within dancing distance of the sea,” I put more attention toward the ambient sounds. That wasn’t all windblown foliage after all.

Paint was already disappearing into more bushes, so I hurried after, not wanting to lose track of her. “Slow down! I’m sure they’re not going anywhere.”

“Yes, but they’re so beautiful!” she said from somewhere ahead. “There are whole worlds in that smell. Don’t you think so?”

“It’s okay, I guess.”

“Okay?? It’s gorgeous! I want to decorate my room with them, and smell these every day! You really don’t think it’s that big a deal?” Paint sounded insulted.

“I think my nose just works a little differently from yours,” I said gently. “I’m sure they’re very nice.”

Paint huffed, pushing through the leaves harder and muttering something uncomplimentary about a nose that couldn’t smell beauty.

I had to laugh. “There are plenty of good smells out there,” I said. “And I don’t need my nose for beauty; I have my eyes for that.”

“Really,” Paint grumbled. “If you can’t appreciate this, then forgive my doubts.” She was still grumping about loveliness and the ability to sense it when she shoved through the last of the bushes. “Well, there’s the beach,” she said. “No trees, crackle it. Let’s go back.”

I ducked under a leafy branch to join her just as she turned to go. The view stopped me in my tracks.

Blue waves crashed against a beach made of glittering gemstones, sprawling as far as the eye could see in either direction. Every color under the sun, fist-sized and head-sized and a fine shimmering sand, washed bright by the waves. I could swear that native birds somewhere were singing a dramatic crescendo of a symphony, though maybe that was just in my head.

“Paint,” I said, not moving. “Can I borrow your bag? I’ll carry it back for you.”

~~~

Further adventures in backstory for this book. More to come!

[moscnios]

Hello! ٩(♡ε♡ )۶ Can I request a headcanon of Sabi, Law and Ace? (separately please) and how they would react to a small sized reader?? With like the cute moments and the feisty ones?

I remember when I was little and still to this day I am always the "little" "cute" and "short" friend that when cusses everybody goes like oooh.. and I'm like Bruuuh.. please.. lmao I hope someone relates to this :')

Also could you please make it a fem!reader? 

Thank you so muchh in advance if you happen to accept the ask!

✸  headcanons  %  with a small-sized fem s/o.

✸    characters! . . .  ace, sabo & law.

✸    cw(s)! . . .  n/a. implied f!reader. no pronouns used. not proofread.

✸    notes! . . .  i sadly cannot relate. growing up i was always one of the tall ones even though i wasn’t really that tall...people were just being dramatic i swear LMAOOO. but thank you so much for requesting !! <333

ace absolutely LOVES you being smaller than him. you’re just so darn cute he could bite you

there is not a second that goes by where he isn’t smothering your face in kisses or doesn’t have his big hands all over you

his go-to pet name for you is fun-sized because he’s SO original and thinks it’s hilarious

you can’t even be intimidating in front of other people. you’ll tell some rude person off and ace is backing you up “you tell ‘em fun size!”

and now they’re laughing at you...

he teases you about your size A LOT. no matter how many times you tell him that you’re not small, it goes in one ear and out the other

he can’t go one day without teasing you

like the time whitebeard let you steer the ship. when you took your place behind the wheel, he was already cracking up

“woah there, ( y/n ). can you even see over the wheel?”

ace thinks everything you do is cute. you could slobber and snore in your sleep, and he’ll still look at you like “that’s my baby🥺🥺”

so even in your gutsy moments, he still views you as the cutest person ever

you could cuss him out to his face and the whole time he’s just love-dazed, thinking about how much he wants to squeeze your cheeks

he’s so in love with you it makes everyone SICK

sabo knows you’re small but he doesn’t really realize how small you actually are until he develops feelings for you

all that time he spends gazing lovingly at you, he starts to notice things about you that he hasn’t noticed before

like ace, sabo loves to tease you about your size. he knows that you can get a little defensive about it.

that’s the main reason he does it, to rile you up a little because teasing you is how he flirts. he thinks you’re cute when you’re trying to pummel his face in, despite barely being able to reach it

“come on, shortcake. you gotta be quicker than that”

he has absolutely no idea where he came up with the pet name shortcake and cupcake, but he hasn’t stopped since

and now everyone has the nerve to call you shortcake and cupcake and it’s all his fault. and he’s relishing every moment of your embarrassment

when you start cussing everyone out, he’s standing behind you like he did nothing wrong, trying to hold in his laughter

oh but you didn’t forget that he’s the one who started this. so when it’s his turn to be at the end of your wraith, he’s completely silent

now it’s everyone else’s turn to laugh

law knows you are small and doesn’t care. it’s not something he pays much attention to, even before the two of you started dating

you won’t have to worry about him teasing you and calling you any pet names with “short” in there

when the others are off teasing you about your size, calling you ankle biter and armrest, law will jump to your defense and tell them to knock it off before he gives you full permission to start whoopin ass

which they definitely do stop seeing the fire in your eyes

law is a petty smartass. all it takes for him to turn against you is one joke about him

“cool it, gremlin”

he admires your persistence, such as refusing to allow him to help you grab things from higher shelves 

but please just let him help you, it’ll only take a few seconds. he’d never forgive himself if you fell and sprained your ankle

if you still say no, he’ll just start moving stuff that he knows you often need and make them easier for you to grab

[wooahaeruby]

Chapter 16: Into The Thick Of It

Chapter Word Count: 5,469 (nice)

Anything in Bold Italics are Korean/Another language.

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“It’s late, Mimi,” you whined into the phone, pulling the blankets over your head, Jihoon giving a scoff beside you, tapping away on his ipad in bed. Pulling the phone away from your ear, you frowned. “It’s midnight here in the Philippines.” 

“ And it’s one in the afternoon here.” She huffed, “ Anyways, I need to know what you are doing after Christmas.” 

“ After Christmas? I don’t even know what I’m doing tomorrow. We fly to Singapore tomorrow.” 

“ Well ask Jihoon, he is there, isn’t he?” 

“Mimi-” You groaned, throwing the blankets back and looking at Jihoon. “ What are we doing after Christmas?” 

He dropped the ipad to his chest, patting around the blankets for his phone and opening his calendar. “ Indonesia on the 28th then the New Years event, then we would be home until we get work done for the comeback.” 

“So busy?” He only nodded. "We are busy until after new years.” 

“ So if we come for a week or two after new years, would that be an issue?”

“Yeah that shouldn’t be a- Wait- '' You pouted your lips in confusion. “Did you save that fast?” 

“ Well-” 

“Oh just tell her, they will tell ‘em anyways!” Papa’s voice was heard in the back. 

You heard Mimi hush him and a small sound of a hit with a quiet ‘ hey!” from Papa. “ Jamie and Kazuki, such lovely boys by the way, I’m so glad you met them. They were so sweet when I went over to your place to get everything finalized with the packing and said they’d lend your grandfather and I the last bit of money to help us fly out.” 

“Mimi- I could have done that, all you had to do was ask.” 

“ Don’t worry about it, sweetheart, it was only a few hundred bucks and we agreed to use their new frequent flier card to give them miles so they can come see you next.” 

“ Of course you all made a deal.” You laughed quietly. Jihoon reached over you, pulling the blankets back over the two of you, tossing his phone, watch, and ipad on the nightstand and curling up. “How about the second week of January?” 

“ Sounds perfect, I’ll book it tonight. And everything should be shipped out to your apartment within the week.” 

“Okay, I’ll make sure the staff know. Thank you, Mimi, I can’t wait to see you. Love you, tell Papa too.” 

Hanging up and tossing your phone aside, you attempted to get comfortable, back to the other. You tug on the blanket that Jihoon was attempting to hog for the fourth night in a row. 

“Come on.” You grumbled, looking over your shoulder only to see the back of his head and back. “Give it up.” 

“ Just move closer .” He shot back. Something playful was thrumming through the bond. 

“And you say I’m annoying.” Tugging the blanket again, he didn’t budge in the slightest. 

“ You won’t win this.”

Your shoulders sagged. Maybe you should start working out to try and win this battle of the blankets… He was a human heater…And you will use that to your advantage if he was going to take the majority of the comforter. 

In the dark and quiet of the hotel room, you scooted backwards until your back met his and the buzz under your skin began to lull you. 

There was a warmth at your back and a weight was around your middle. When you cracked your eyes open to look around, it was still dark outside, no light in the sky that peeked through the curtains. The blankets were snuggly wrapped around you which you appreciated, knowing Jihoon didn’t steal them, but when you shifted, your brain finally processed that it was an arm that was wrapped around your middle. You heard a short intake of air from behind you then Jihoon shifting as he tugged you closer to his chest. 

You were still tired, the warmth he was emitting and the rumbling soulbond was weighing your eyelids down. Being the little spoon was also comforting, bringing a feeling of protection, it was calming overall. In your drowsy state, you didn’t think it was that important, really it was bound to happen eventually. Step one was Jihoon sleeping next to you, step two was him cuddling up to you (then him vehemently denying it if you brought it in any capacity). The third step? You didn’t know what that even was at this point, but you will enjoy sapping body heat and the comfort any given day of the week from him. 

Sitting on the sidelines of the In the Soop filming was interesting to say the least. While the members were technically on ‘vacation’ with this mini getaway, there was a lot of stress they’d still be going home to. 

Almost exactly when you all would return to Seoul, Vernon would be recording and filming for his solo Black Eye. When having the after concert dinner in Singapore not too long ago, Vernon mentioned he had the melody down, all that was left with the lyrics which he wanted to work on while here. You had asked about his solo out of curiosity and got really excited when he said it was going to be more punk pop than rap heavy. When he saw your excitement, he did play a bit of the instrumental that was done, saying that you’d have to have patience to hear the rest of it (which made you pout like a child). 

“ They’ve been working out for almost an hour and two of them are striping.” Hyeji snorted, sitting in the house just off the main property, looking at the live camera feeds that the staff was monitoring. 

You had curled up on a mattress pad on the floor reading a book Wonwoo had lent you from his little collection. Since you were staff, you didn’t need to monitor anything or do much if you didn’t want to. “ And they’ve worked out for longer back at home. Who is in there?” 

“Jihoon-ah, Soonyoung-ah, Jisoo-ah, and Chanie. Soonyoung-ah took off his shirt and Chanie followed not long after.” 

“ Not even surprised.” Snorting out a laugh, you closed the book, using your finger as a bookmark. You focused on the hum of the shared bond, smiling and shaking your head. “ Jihoon feels happy. Stupid gym rat.” 

Hyeji and the man monitoring alongside her gave quiet chuckles. “ Happy they made the Soop team build them a larger gym than last year.” 

“You’ve given into the Seventeen Effect. They get what they want.” 

Turning back to the book, you continued to read, letting the murmurs and idle chatter of the staff blend into the background. This was the first time you’ve been properly away from Jihoon for longer than a couple hours. Since the morning when everyone left, he did text you here and there, but he fell asleep on the ride (he apologized), then your phone died once you arrived (you apologized), and now he was off with the guys. It felt weird, maybe you were a little antsy but you were going to make the best of the situation. 

While you were still tired from the constant travel and your depression was lingering, it was a literal breath of fresh air being back in South Korea and in the gorgeous landscape. For the days you’d be here, the head of production did say that no cameras were in this general area. If you wished to explore you could, just let them know in case you are seen on any cameras close to the Soop sight and they’d edit or blur you out as they did with staff. 

To your delight, the Soop team stocked the kitchens just as full as the kitchen Seventeen was using. When staff started to get hungry, you offered to help the crew members make the prepackaged meals and side dishes to pick at and share. Though you didn’t know much of the staff well, Hyeji was more than happy to help with introductions when the majority sat to eat.  

“ Oh oh! Chaeyoung’s soulmate was an intern at Hybe just before Covid! They had drawing soulmarks. They could draw on their skin and it would appear on the other. ” One of the older women on the sound team, Ji-yu, laughed. “ And now they are off on their late honeymoon, they got married not that long ago, right before the tour started.” 

“Wah, I almost forgot the wedding was back in June.” Hayoon, another woman from the social media and PR crew with Hyeji, looked blown away. “ I’m just over here married to this hunk.” She motioned to the man beside her, Dae-Seong, a man from the video team; tall, well built, kinda reminded you of when Wonwoo stood tall, sleeper build.

“ Ya, you begged me to marry you two months after our bond settled.” His low rumble of  a voice held no bite, but Hayoon leaned against him, smiling wide and kissing his cheek. 

“ Yeah, I did do that, didn’t I?” 

Conversation continued to ebb and flow between your small group at the table. Outside of the bubble of your companions, many others of the staff gathered and ate, some staying to enjoy the meal while others took a plate of food to return to whatever job position that they were in before. It was nice hearing voices that weren’t coworkers or members of Seventeen, not that any of them were annoying to listen to, it was just nice to hear voices outside of them.

“Ruby-ah,” Ji-yu called your nickname and your attention was drawn up to her, continuing to bring chopsticks full of food to your mouth.” Have you and Jihoon-ah talked about anything like that? Marriage? The future?” 

You choked on the rice you just shoved into your mouth. The harsh coughing you let out was helped by Hyeji handing you a water bottle and patting you on the back. From both the choking on food and embarrassment you waved them off, catching your breath. 

“ I- Listen- We have barely talked about the stuff we have going on now- Plus it’s only been two months- And with his career-” You rambled, stumbling over your words, face flushing brighter with each passing moment.

Hyeji snorted, trying to hold in the cackling you knew she was ready to let out. “ Ruby-ah, do you wanna know a secret?” 

Deflating in your seat, the pout that spread on your lips had Hayoon, Dae-Seong, and Ji-yu snickering. “ You are going to tell me anyway.” 

“A little bird in the travel team told me that Jihoon asked if both of you could just share a room during the Japan leg of the tour to,” She made air quotes, “ ‘lessen expenses’.” 

“I’m going for a walk-” Standing up quickly as the table erupted into laughter, you pull your (read: Jihoon’s) sweatshirt hood over your head and scurry out of the backdoor where you left your shoes. 

The cool evening air was welcoming against your heated face. Looking off into the distance, you could see the lights of the buildings from Seventeen’s accommodations, even a few people you couldn’t make out wandering around (but you did manage to spot Mingyu’s tall ass). 

You walked towards the edge of the river, letting the light in the distance and the gentle shine of the moon guide you. Listening to the sound of the water rolling over the rocks, the quiet swishing of wind, and the rustling of the crisp autumn leaves took your mind off the…previous and definitely should be a private conversation between you and Jihoon instead of being asked by practically strangers. Marriage wasn’t something out of the question, the conversation was too early to have. On top of that his mother still doesn’t like you and Jihoon hasn't met your family yet. 

“Ahhh, this is stupid.” Pushing the hood back and running your hands through your hair, you sighed.. “Snap out of it, idiot. It’s not that serious.” 

Finding a larger rock just off the water, you leaned yourself against it, sliding the hood back up and slipping your hands into your sweatshirt pockets, resting atop your phone. You drummed your fingers against your phone case, breathing in the refreshing air that was untainted by the industry surrounding the city. Though it was relatively dark outside, you could faintly see the colors of the autumn woods over the green mountains, loving the ever changing leaves until they all eventually fall to the ground when the time came. 

A shiver shot down your spine, the crunching of rocks and pebbles underfoot caught your attention but you didn’t need to turn to see who approached you. A hand was placed on your back, sliding up around your shoulder as he rounded the rock you leaned against. When Jihoon came into your peripheral view, you let yourself sink into his side, thunking your head against his shoulder. Letting your eyes slide closed, you reached around him and held his waist, scoffing softly as he was only in a t-shirt and joggers.

“ It’s cold out here.”  

“ Mmm, maybe if you wore warm clothes, you wouldn’t be cold.” 

“Can’t do that when you take all my sweatshirts.” 

Faking a dramatic gasp, you shrugged your shoulders up until your chin went into the collar of the very much stolen sweatshirt. “ You keep leaving them at my place or giving them to me so technically it is your fault.” 

Jihoon pinched your arm, making you whine and hit him on the chest. Jihoon mocked your whine before he spoke up. “Don’t turn this on me like you don’t complain that you are cold all the time.”

“Rude but I’ll accept my actions.” 

“ Why did you feel startled earlier?” 

“Oh- it was nothing,” You brushed it off, tightening your hold on his waist. “ I was having dinner with some of the staff I was making friends with and they brought up something and I choked on my food.” 

You knew he didn't believe you fully but he chose not to respond, instead of continuing, you took comfort in basking in the bond's warmth and the tranquil feeling Jihoon was embracing at that moment. The subtle rise and fall of his shoulder with each breath was familiar and just as you did previously on your phone, you drummed your fingers against the side of his waist you held. Feeling his cheek bump against the top of your head, Jihoon yawned, definitely trying to keep it quiet but failed horribly. 

Lifting your head and resting your chin on his shoulder, you could see him look down at you tiredly from the corner of his eyes. “ If you are tired, go back to everyone. You can stop by between things you got going on tomorrow. Enjoy the vacation.” 

Jihoon gave a gruff grunt, the tired pout he typically likes to sport evident on his face. “ I should…I sleep better with you though.” 

“Go, Jihoon-ah. I’m not going anywhere.” 

With much reluctance and a teeny bit of whining (which he denies he wasn’t whining), Jihoon finally placed a kiss to your forehead, muttering a goodnight against your skin. He kept you wrapped in his arms for a much longer hug than he probably intended and you didn’t want to let him go, but he was tired and needed sleep. Giving the final push, Jihoon kissed your forehead once more before he took the trek back to the main houses.

Watching him leave, you chuckled silently. For the first time in at least two weeks, you’d be sleeping on your own away from him. You got used to the bond being so close, to his rhythmic breathing that lulled you to sleep. It made you feel secure, knowing that both you and Jihoon were safe, comfortable, and able to sleep through the night. Hopefully you both could sleep through the night without an issue, him more than you if his small comments and the outwardly denying love for curling up in bed beside you, holding you to his chest. Maybe you’d be a little cold tonight, maybe you were glad you had stolen a sweatshirt that definitely smelled like his cologne.

You stood tall and stretched your limbs, yawning and grunting out in the pleasant feeling of tension leaving your body. With Jihoon gone, a cold shiver went down your spine and the chill of the night started to settle in your bones. Shuffling your feet over the rocks carefully, you made your way back to the staff house, slipping in through the backdoor that you left through earlier. Much of the house has settled down but Hyeji and Ji-yu were at the table, passing phones back and forth, laughing at something they saw occasionally. When they heard the door close, both turned to look at you and both of their expressions were soft and inviting.

“ Ruby-ah, come sit with us again.” Hyeji motioned over and you lazily shuffled over, sliding into the seat adjacent to the both of them. 

Ji-yu hummed, “ Sorry for the teasing earlier. Seemed a little too easy.” She gave a wink and you shrugged. 

“ I plan to just go with the flow with Jihoon. If the conversation comes up, it comes up. If it doesn’t, we can sit down together and talk about it when the time feels right.” 

“ Very mature of you,” She placed her phone face down, focusing all her attention on you. “ When we were told that Jihoon-ah had found his soulmate and you’d be joining us, many of the crew from Pledis were a little protective. Bringing other staff in is fine but a soulmate? We’ve been working with them for years, they are a part of our little family.” 

“ At least you guys were nice about it. Don’t even get me started on when I met his mother.” You dropped your head against the table, laughing at yourself. Hyeji snickered and covered it up with a slap of her hand to her mouth. Ji-yu raised a brow, not fully understanding and you took the time to explain exactly how that horrible lunch went. 

“ So you are a well accomplished person and she still thinks you aren’t worthy? Typical mother-in-laws.” Ji-yu rolled her eyes. “ My mother-in-law wanted me to be a housewife and have a bunch of kids. My soulmate and I didn’t plan on having kids and she did not like that one. She holds it against me and it’s been ten years.” 

Hyeji chimed in, “ I hope my soulmate’s parents are never like that because if they are, I’ll scream.” 

“And like I told Jihoon, she should be lucky I’m caring for his ass. He can barely cook and I’m finally getting him on a proper sleep schedule most days. Maybe I’ll teach him how to bake for fun.” 

“That’s what you get when he spent his teen years in a dorm with other teenage boys. We should be happy some of them can cook now.” 

“ Amen.” Ji-yu leaned back in her chair. “ Vernon-ah can barely follow directions in a package. He’d live off toast and beans if no one fed him.” 

“ Do you know how many times the maknae line has shown up at my apartment just wanting food?” You were exasperated, huffing and shaking your head in no particular direction. “ I started to have them buy the groceries because they eat out my fridge.” 

“What about Jihoon? He has a bottomless pit for a stomach.” 

“Don’t remind me.” Groaning, you rested your chin on your hand, “ I told him that he is also eating everything in my fridge. He just smugly handed me his black card and said food shopping was on him now.” 

“Already sounding like a married couple.” Hyeji added.

Ji-yu pouted, “You are making me feel old.” 

“I feel like I've aged ten years since I’ve settled here because of Seventeen.” 

“ Join the party, Ruby-ah.” 

It didn’t take long for the three of you to branch off for the night. You took the mattress pad from your haphazard spot on the floor and found a corner of the main room that was free to curl up in for the night. Pulling to the collar of the sweatshirt up to your chin, you tucked into the comforter provided, closing your eyes and letting your breathing slow. Soon you were twisting and turning to get comfortable. The mattress wasn’t uncomfortable…you simply got used to a certain body heat resting beside you until you passed out. Pouting, you turned flat on your back, staring up at the ceiling. 

Most of the crew had settled in for the night, the house was quiet. You didn’t know how long you were just lying there, staring. Hyeji was knocked out on the couch, you could hear her quiet breathing and the quiet snoring. Under your pillow, you felt your phone buzz, and fished it out. You hissed out in pain at the blinding brightness and quickly lowered it to protect some of your sight. 

With quick tapping to find the notification, you smiled to yourself at the text you received. 

[Jihoonie 11:49PM] I can’t sleep. [To Jihoonie 11:50 PM]  Yeah, me too.  [Jihoonie 11:50 PM] Come here. 

You scoffed quietly at that.

[To Jihoonie 11:51 PM] I’m not gonna walk all the way over there to sleep then trudge my ass back here in the morning, idiot. We can go a few days without sleeping next to each other.   [Jihoonie 11:51 PM] You suck. →_→ [To Jihoonie 11:52 PM] No u ←_← Goodnight, Jihoon-ah. [Jihoonie 11:52 PM] →_→ Fine.  Goodnight.  Not like I need my sleep or anything.  Totally don’t. 

Taking a deep breath, you pinched the bridge of your nose but still managed a silent laugh, shaking your shoulders. Part of you wished to post this on instagram to expose the childish behaviors of your soulmate as a joke. If only Carats knew all the silly, childish things Jihoon subjects you to on a daily basis. Just this morning before you were to head out to Hybe, he wanted to make a blanket fort with the couch cushions and watch a movie. An absolute dork.

[To Jihoonie 11:53 PM] ←_← I’m changing your name in my contacts.  You changed Jihoonie to Twerp #1  There we go.  [Jihoonie 11:54 PM] ￣へ￣  Jihoon changed Ruby to Rude

You could feel he was tired through the bond, you could also feel that he was happy. Shaking your head, you typed out one final message. 

[To Jihoonie 11:55 PM] Goodnight, Jihoonie. Sleep as well as you can.  [Jihoonie 11:55 PM] (￣o￣) . z Z Goodnight, Ruby-ah 

By the third day, you had finished the book Wonwoo gave you since it wasn’t a long read and moved onto one that Minghao suggested. It was another short read, this one on the importance of inner peace and it sounded like a nice thing to find with the depression you’re coming down from. You had curled up on a seat outside, dressed in another hoodie of Jihoon’s (You brought three) and a blanket that was in the closet you peeked in earlier. 

When you raised your head, hearing Soonyoung and Seokmin in the distance, you tried to hold in the laughter that followed. There they were, standing on a rock in the middle of the river, with one of the other members standing on the edge of the water. 

“ Just jump!” You heard Jeonghan and you instantly knew this was all his idea… 

Standing up and closing your book, you left it and your phone in the seat, walking over to stand just off camera to watch the chaos ensue. You nearly fell over cackling when the two jumped in and scrambled to get out. You did squat down and hugged your knees laughing, covering your mouth to keep quiet when the oar floated off and Soonyoung swam to shore. Jeonghan tossed a towel over Soonyoung, walking off further from shore to wait for Seokmin. 

“ Ya! Ruby-ah! I lost a bet!” Seokmin called from the canoe, noticing you off to the side. 

“ Ahh~ Ruby-ah, come here!” Jeonghan called out, waving you over when he and Soonyoung moved towards the camping tent. 

Jeonghan waved the cameraman off that was filming in the distance and once more motioned for you to come over. Catching your breath finally, you stood back up from crouching and hurried your way over. When Seokmin managed to get off the canoe and onto dry land, he sprinted over, ready to take a towel. On your trek over, you could see Soonyoung and Jeonghan talking to Seokmin who’s back was turned to you. As you got within a few feet of the trio, the three of them were looking at you with the most evil glint in their eyes. 

“What?” You questioned, tilting your head to the side before Seokmin and Soonyoung were charging at you with wide, mischievous grins spread on their faces. 

The panicking fight or flight response had you running as fast as you psychically could away from them. Sadly, you weren’t close to being fast enough from getting away from whatever their plan was. 

Seokmin halted your fleeing, wrapping his arms under your armpits while Soonyoung joined in grabbing your legs to pick you up. You yelled out in protest, trying to kick your feet and wrangle yourself away. These assholes were laughing and moving as quickly as they could towards the fucking river . 

“Don’t you dare!” You yelled, screamed , and they didn’t stop. “ Stop it! Assholes!” 

“We are going for a dip, Ruby-ah!” Soonyoung cackled . 

They were high knees running in the water at this point and when it was deep enough, you went under with them. They instantly released you once you hit the water and you thrashed for a few moments before you surfaced and your feet found the rocky river floor below. Panting for air, you stood with scrunched up shoulders and murder in your eyes. 

“ You have…two seconds to run…before I kill you…” You took a forced breath of air in. “One…” 

And they bolted. 

Soonyoung, while agile on land, couldn’t get away fast enough in the water. You tackled him into the water, placing him into a sloppy chokehold to not hurt him but ended up giving him a noogie when he was back above water. You tossed him aside and waded your way through the water towards Seokmin who was catching his breath, standing knee deep in water. 

“ Lee Seokmin!” You yelled out, grabbing Seokmin by the arm and pulling him back. He lost his footing and fell back with a gasp, cushioned by the water behind him (and you making sure he didn’t actually get hurt). 

He whined so you knew he was fine, and ignored any complaining from either of them as you exited the water. Jeonghan, probably the mastermind behind all of this, was waiting for you with a wide smile, his phone in hand recording, and a towel. 

“ Ruby-ah?!” Jihoon’s panicked voice sounded out of breath in the distance. You could feel the bond warming but it only added to the boiling anger that pulsed in your veins. 

“By the river! They’re fine, Jihoonie.” Jeonghan scoffed, yelling over his shoulder. “ Just wet and very very angry.” 

“ Do you want to join them in the water?” You asked, pulling the sweatshirt over your head and sighing at your shirt clinging to your body uncomfortably. 

Jihoon closed in on the two of you (four but dumb and dumber in your opinion were still in the water), panting to catch his breath and groaning in frustration. His clothes were disheveled, same with his hair, and he took the towel from Jeonghan, dropping it over your head and helping you dry your hair. 

“ You need to stop scaring the shit out of me.” He spoke flatly, sighing when a shiver ripped through you. 

Your teeth started to chatter together causing you to huddle closer to Jihoon. “ Blame those three. Seokminie and Soonyoung-ah chased me down and threw me in.” 

“ Sorry~” Jeonghan snickered, tossing towels over to Seokmin and Soonyoung as they started towards the main houses to change. 

“ Sorry, Ruby-ah~!” Seokmin said in a sing-song tone, but there was a shake in his voice from the cold. 

“ Let’s get you back to the staff house.” Jihoon wrapped you up in the towel, took the soaked sweatshirt and walked back with you. “ I’ll deal with them later.” 

“ ‘m sorry.” You managed to get out albeit shaky. “ Jeonghanie called me over after I saw Seok-Soon jump into the river. I thought it would just say hello but they had other plans.” 

“Never trust when Jeonghan-hyung and Seokminie are together.” 

Laughing now, you took Jihoon’s hand to warm your freezing ones.  He flinched at the feeling but didn’t pull back from the touch. “Noted. Seokminie is Jeonghan’s prodigy after all.”

When you walked to the backdoor, Hyeji was already standing there with a fresh towel and a sympathetic smile. “ They got you good.” 

“ Shut up.” You huffed, taking the new towel and shuffled inside to find your suitcase. 

“ Don’t just stand there, come on in, Jihoon-ah.” The door closed not long after that. “ Go take a shower, Ruby-ah, I’ll keep your soulmate company~” 

“Why am I friends with you?” You threw a glare over your shoulder, grabbing a fresh pair of clothes from your bag. 

“ Because you’d only have thirteen idiots as friends here in Korea.” 

“Hey-” Jihoon furrowed his brow, dropping himself on the couch. 

You did end up taking a short shower, happy for the hot water running over your skin and hair, quick to warm up the numbness in your limbs. You tossed on the third sweatshirt of Jihoon’s that you brought along and a pair of sweatpants before making your way back to the living room. Hyeji was sitting at the table on her phone and Jihoon…Well he was asleep again, only now on your mattress pad. It was kinda early for him, he did stay up all night with the guys from what one of the camera guys said this morning. 

“ It’s kind of funny,” Hyeji caught your attention, side-eyeing you as you shuffled over towards him. “ I’ve known Jihoon-ah for a while, he isn’t outwardly affectionate with words or physically, but when he talks about you, looks at you…He is definitely in love with you.”

You blinked once, twice. She just said the L word. You hadn’t even thought about that word because everything has been moving a million miles a minute.

“ Don’t think about it too hard. Maybe take a nap with him, both of you look like you need it.” She stood up and shoved her hands and phone into her back pockets. “ I’ll wake you up later if you sleep too long.” Hyeji walked out the front door of the house, humming to herself.

You graced her with a hum and scrambled out the door to grab your book and phone before returning to lie down beside Jihoon. Unlike the typical arrangement you’ve fallen into, you had the perfect opportunity to be the big spoon in this cuddle session. When you pulled the comforter back, Jihoon was curled up on his side, facing the wall and corner you picked last night. 

You slid in behind him and dropped the blanket over the both of you, slinging an arm gently over his waist to get comfortable. He stirred in his sleep but the slow sounds of breathing didn’t change. Pressing your front to his back, you rested your forehead against the back of his neck, snuggling up close. It didn’t take long for your own breathing to fully even out and fall into the same, slow rhythm that Jihoon had. 

With your eyes closed, you basked in the peace you’ve surrounded yourself in. Things were difficult, you’d worry about Jihoon, he’d worry about you, but being able to hold him (or be held) like this, all the worries went away. In moments like this, it was just you and Jihoon, two souls bound together by the strings of fate. You reminded yourself that if Jihoon was beside you, you could face anything together. It was soulmates against the world, and if you were being honest, you’d like to think you were kicking ass.

[borzoilover69]

“Ok Borzoi so why don’t you like Dirkjohn” - somebody, who didn’t ask, but I want to ramble. 

I guess it’s funny as a crack ship but in actuality, i feel it would fall incredibly flat and only be viable in an unhealthy way. Canonically, they've got little to nothing to do with each other, and their relationship branches on bullshit in the epilogues and HS2 which just isn't a good judge of Dirk and Johns character so much as a butcher of it.

First, lets get their characters down. Dirk, very introspective to the point of destruction, who’s prone to rambling, overcomplicating and accentuating things in a way to keep up his aura of coolness, of being “totally in control and all knowing”, and sort of socially awkward, failing quite a few times to read jokes as jokes. 

John, upfront, more likely to push forward without really thinking, keeps things simple and asks not much, and very much a protagonist figure. He’s blunt, he’s teasing in his humour, and he likes to take the mic out of people and make his own fun. 

Dirk is very active. He's willing to go through many hoops and talk around himself, and he needs a conversational partner willing to spar him on it, however, John is anything but that. He's upfront, he brings a hypothetical hammer down into the bush that dirk is walking around. Jake will indulge, so will a lot of the alpha kids, but the beta kids by far are more blunt and straight forward. John would see whatever bullshit Dirk is pulling and think it's stupid and ornery, and shut him down..Dirk would go "okay" and then either try to counterpoint to be shut down, or walk away.This conversation is a relaly good point of reference for how it would go. Note how roxy is going through the general alpha kids bullshit theatrics and ornery, and john instead of getting it, cuts it down with "no thats stupid", and doesnt get the joke.

This conversation is a really good point of reference for how it would go. Note how roxy is going through the general alpha kids bullshit theatrics and ornery, and john instead of getting it, cuts it down with "no thats stupid", and doesnt get the joke.

dirk wouldn't know how to handle someone actually being completely straight up and refusing to humor him, being open about not giving a shit about whatever tangent dirk is on.  it might humble him which he definitely needs sometimes but most of the time itd just make him go "ok. whatever man im going to jake's"

(art by my boyfriend) 

Nobody puts up with dirk and jakes bullshit as much as dirk and jake do each other

DIRK: "I'll get this blue gumball son of a bitch this time. He's gonna be so perplexed by the bullshit im about to spew he's got no idea the storm that's wafting in on the wind."

 and then john says ratio and dirk is reduced to ash. 

John and Jake also have a bad habit of comparison in a negative sense, like how he did with davesprite. Jake does it out loud with no regard for others, and John is the type to drop a single “x has already made this joke” because his preference of Dave is so much stronger than Dirk. Dirk wouldn’t be able to beat Dave to the ironic punchline because most likely, Dave has already said it in a language John understands, and John has made fun of him for it already. John doesn’t have patience for long winded games, if he’s not in the mood he’ll just fuck off. 

Personally feel like John would be acutely aware that Dirk hates when he shuts him down, but he just genuinely cannot sit here and listen to a “worse version of dave talk like hes pretending to be rose. I just cant.i don’t have it in me.” 

I mean I think they’d be funny somewhat, but they would not be happy together at all it would be awkward as hell. Dirk needs someone to pull him out of his bullshit but John just won’t do that. He won’t consider it really that much. They could have funny moments, but the toxicity of their potential relationship sours most of it for me. Dirk is pretty fucking intense in a lot of ways, and hes prone to being a lot. 

the alpha kids in general are just way intense due to their fucking isolation whatever thety smoked in those years made them volatile like fucking potent like a chili peppers but thats words for another ramble.

John just isn’t able to match Dirk. He doesn't think enough, he's just going with the flow and dirk needs someone who can either match him on an intellectual level or someone who can match him in an interest way. John just wouldn’t take the relationship seriously enough, which would lead to Dirk trying to figure out something that isn’t there to really figure out. John matches well with someone who has known him for a while and doesn’t have a specific way they want things to go. 

[astromechs]

a slightly late (but still within february, at least in my timezone, so it still counts!) fill for fluffbruary prompt 25: twilight | sweat; cassian is so incredibly stupid in this fic and i enjoyed writing every minute of it ❤️ also on ao3!

In sum: Plaorm, a jungle planet at the edge of the Kamdon system, is not a candidate for a new base.

That had been obvious from the moment they’d landed here nearly a standard week ago, when sheer luck, more than anything else, had just barely allowed Cassian to maneuver the ship away from crashing into a tree. While a near-constant cover of clouds would make it difficult to track anything, providing an admittedly significant advantage, it’s also not feasible to work with in practice; little visibility, at best, means no one can reliably take off or land, and those aren’t conditions under which to operate anything. More often than not, those clouds also bring heavy rain for days at a time, which is only a further complication.

All of this could be worked around — if not for the fact that the Empire had gotten there first.

Between the thick cover of clouds and jungle, no scanner could’ve picked up a settlement or life signs, but that’d been no excuse for his guard being down, for not hearing steps through brush until it had nearly been too late. Pain from his back, aggravated by the humidity, hadn’t been an excuse, either; he should’ve had his blaster aimed and ready, and the Imperial should’ve been dead before he’d even turned around. It should’ve never gotten to the point of actual blaster bolts in their direction, but it had, and as a result, Cassian had stepped in, shoving Jyn out of the line of fire before he’d been able to manage three decent shots.

That had happened more than half a day ago, and Jyn hasn’t spoken to him since.

He hasn’t seen her, either; even in the small space of the U-wing they had flown here in, she’s managed to keep her distance, to keep herself well-hidden. Considering that she has particular skill in disappearing when she doesn’t want to be found, that shouldn’t surprise him — and it doesn’t. It makes the oppressive air of the planet as a whole feel even more oppressive on his lungs, certainly, ties his chest in knots and has him so tense that any given muscle might snap, that his teeth might crack from how hard they’re grinding together, but surprise him? No.

By this point, Jyn’s behavior isn’t hard for him to predict, even when he can’t read the intent behind it.

Outside the viewport, through a still-constant curtain of rain (if their tracking is correct, it won’t clear enough for them to leave the planet for another two days), light is beginning to fade; night will fall soon. It won’t be long before he’ll have to push himself up out of the pilot’s seat and check that the ship’s systems, which have mostly been switched off for the day to preserve energy, will be operational while at least one of them sleeps.

Admittedly, he’s prolonging that inevitability, for a few reasons — the most obvious being that the combination of the humidity that’s seeped in from outside and the durasteel of the chair he’s been in for hours have been hell on his back, and he knows that any movement will aggravate it. But he knows what’s really keeping him here: if Jyn is insistent on this silent standoff, he’s not going to be the one to blink first, even if just by happening to encroach on her hiding space while moving around the ship, entirely without meaning to.

No, she can come to him when she’s ready for an actual conversation.

Folding his arms across his chest, he huffs out a sigh; it’s barely audible over the sound of rain clanking on durasteel above.

It’s a sound so loud, in fact, that he nearly misses the footsteps coming in from somewhere behind him.

Caught off guard for the second time in one day, Cassian nearly falls backward in his chair.

He manages to keep himself upright, though, turning slowly, breathing slowly, even as his heart jumps into his throat and won’t right itself again. Even as the tension that’s filled the space around him, in him, is pulled so taut that he might actually fracture. As it has since the moment they’d landed here, sweat beads on his forehead, drips down the side of his cheek. The air on this planet has never felt more oppressive to breathe than it does right now; not even trying to make it through the jungle at the height of the day’s heat, with all the humidity and the exertion of having to shove underbrush with every step, can compare.

Jyn, for her part, appears almost completely unaffected as her steps come to a pause a small distance away. Strands of hair are sticking to her forehead, but otherwise, he’d never know just by looking at her that she’s existing in the same conditions as he is. Her face is stone, inscrutable, and her jaw is set.

The gaze that meets his is cold; the voice that aims one word in his direction is even colder.

“Why?”

In the immediate aftermath of that one word, the first that has passed between them in well more than half a day, something in him, reflexive, snaps. His eyes narrow, a mirror, an equivalent exchange; his voice is the tip of a vibroblade. “You’ll have to be more specific than that.”

They both fight with the necessary weapons in their respective arsenals. That’s how they’re still alive.

Her jaw twitches, then; her mouth curls into something dangerous. His eyes don’t leave her face, but if he had to predict, at least one of her hands is curling into a fist, too. At least until —

“I could handle that.” Her arms cross over her chest as she takes another step forward, closer. “I had it handled.” He notes that her fingers lay flat; no need for fists when her words are doing enough. “I don’t need that from you.”

Cassian scoffs. “He was shooting —”

“Which I knew!” Her voice, raised for the first time, bounces off the walls of the ship, echoing to the point of being piercing. “Not the first fucking time I’ve ever been shot at.”

“So, what?” It’s then, finally, that he stands. He doesn’t take his time with the motion — and the agony that he’d been asking for with his carelessness sears down his spine — but he doesn’t care about that. His eyes, and the entirety of his attention, are locked on Jyn; she doesn’t blink as she’s locked on him, in turn, watching him step closer. The toes of his boots nearly bump into hers. “If someone’s shooting, I’m not supposed to cover you?”

What a stupid question, he thinks, folding his arms to match her, to even have to fucking ask. Ridiculous. This whole argument is ridiculous, and she’s the one who’s made it that way. He shakes his head, breathing out a quiet laugh with no humor.

Her fire had already been burning, noticeable and steady, but that seems to spark it to another level; with one more step, she practically collides into him, grabbing him by the shirt to force him to bend as she rises on her toes, until their faces are centimeters apart.

“I don’t need you to throw yourself in front of a blaster bolt for me when I’m more than capable of getting myself out of the fucking way!” There’s no distance between them, but she’s still on the verge of shouting. “Why would you do that?”

Without thinking, without breaking his gaze, he matches the volume. “Because I love you!”

Only then, only after the words explode out of him, and hang in the air between them, can Cassian truly absorb what, exactly, he’s just said. As if by recoil from a sniper rifle, he draws back, then freezes, breath caught halfway to inhale, heart firmly in his throat.

The last echoes of their voices reverberate, and then fade. Aside from the residual ringing in his ears, all he can hear is the pounding of his own heart as he drops his eyes to the floor.

It’s not as if he’s never orbited around the thought before; it’s not as if the thought hasn’t been as constant as the rain still falling outside, as constant as breathing. It’s hit him like a blow to the chest, knocking the wind out of him, every time she’s caught his eye across a room and allowed him to see a smile, soft and small and oh so achingly beautiful, tug on her mouth. With every brush of hands, of lips, he’s felt it, intrinsically, a lightness, an ache, and a terror all at once.

But it’s not a thought he’d planned to give voice to — and certainly not like this.

Whatever tentative thing that’s formed between them will only wilt now, and it’s all his fault; he’s pushed it, pushed her, too hard.

Nothing can be unsaid, but the least he can do is give her the grace of being the first to back away, of telling her, even if he can only manage just barely above a mutter, “Forget it.”

Somehow, though, he can’t bring his own feet to move. Out of all the things he’s done, this has be to be one of the worst, on account of its pure selfishness.

His head hangs, heavy, but —

Gentle fingers graze his cheek, and a thumb tips up his chin. In spite of himself, his shaking breaths ease, and his heart settles back to where it’s supposed to be. Under Jyn’s gravity, he’s back on his axis.

“No.” Her voice is as achingly soft as her touch, and the last of any resolve to try to step away crumbles; his eyes flick back up, searching her face. The hard lines and cold fury from just minutes before have completely vanished, leaving only the smile that he knows (that he loves), the light that’s steadily fading outside casting it in a glow that makes it something new.

He loses his breath.

When she kisses him with the same certainty that’s in everything she does, she gives it back to him.

It’s an answer, unequivocal, to an unspoken question that’d still lingered even as he’d tried to retract it, and far more than he’d ever deserve to have.

And yet — when their lungs are burning and they’re forced to break, she murmurs against his lips, “I love you, too.”

[moldypoff]

I NEED TO GET THIS OUT BEFORE SOMEONE BEATS ME TO IT

Crack Mouthwashing AU where Jamboy gets sedated and we give him one of those procedures once Anya tells you instead of Cap’n abt being pregnant (still pre-crash). Or- idk, I mean you and Daisuke (because it’s a crack au and nobody gives a shit)

This is also an AU purely based on a conversation I had with @bananamaxpng

Anywho, this AU will be called

SEA HORSE MOUTHWASHING AU

Is this original? No, technically @bananamaxpng made it but I would like to build on it! (Thank you so much for the idea dude, I dunno if you want to take it seriously and make it your thing but if you do I’ll gladly stop my thing!)

I WILL BE MAKING FANART FOR THIS AU

Random headcanons and OG convo I had with bananamaxpng under the cut

I wanna say it happens somewhere after the birthday party fiasco (I need to refresh my memory on the Mouthwashing timeline)

Things are tense, Curly dearest ain’t really doing much about the growing situation so Anya turns to someone else for help, you!

Good thing your a surgeon or whatever because, oh my gosh, your trained in this really fucking specific procedure

Anyways, you get Curly in on it, he gives you the greenlight, and you fucking get Japist into the Medbay and knock him tf out only to then knock him tf up (terrible wording I need to work on that)

You might be wondering, or not, because it’s pretty staightforward, “Is this legal?” HELL NO. Honestly though? What is he gonna do about it? Tell the police? Listen,

There’s no way he explain that the procedure wasn’t consensual, just like how we can’t prove Anya’s pregnancy wasn’t consensual/an accident

Jimmy can whine and complain all he wants but the company won’t do anything and the law can’t really nail anyone because there’s no concrete evidence to go off of.

For the rest of the trip though I THINK it can be somewhat smooth sailing

Everyone know’s Jimmy’s pregnant, yk what that means

A. He’s suffering, B. He’s bitching about it, C. He has to have a chaperone because he’s unstable and, well, with child, they’re not about to let him do much by himself

His routine is, as of now, consisting of eating, sleeping, bitching, getting checkups, minimal piloting, and- idk, leisure time

I know, it sounds like pampering, I get it, MUCH more than he deserves, but liiiiike, it seems like a fix no? He’s a burden, sure, but he

Can’t crash the ship because he has someone to accompany him all the time

Is kinda at the mercy of everyone because he’s tired, nauseous, ect.

a little dumber than usual (I saw a yt short about this from that one doctor guy, the brain shrinks a bit to help mama, or in this case dada, connect with baby once they’re born)

Will maybe be a better person because good soup (provided by Swansea, he know’s how to take care of someone when they’re pregnant he has kids), physically being at a disadvantage, and kinda being relieved of part of his duties might fix him.

But we know Jimmy, he literally craves power so you bet your ass at the very least he is going to try and tell everyone what to do because he’s WiTh cHilD (This is further down the line, at first he’s still going to try and do things himself but later I’d imagine he embraces it and tries to use it against everyone else)

His is renovating the ship because he is NESTING

Everything has to be cleaned, which is hard because the Tulpar has DECADES of grime to scrape away, if that feet were even plausible

He’s annoying, you can tell him to shut up but I think he’d cry, sorry (lots of stress isn’t good for this motherfather so like, you don’t need to appease him at every turn but try manipulating him into thinking you’re doing something for his sake and he’ll probably zip it then.)

Random note but he’s going to be fairly pretty in this state, something about everything inflating? (Pregnant glow, hair looking fab af, skin being clear af)

But yeah, that’s all I can think of at the moment. When the baby’s finally born- I dunno, chances are Jimama’s gonna give it up for adoption or get Anya to pay for child support/try to get her to take care of him and the kid because he’ll be hooked to pregnant princess treatment lmao (I swear if he becomes those people that keep making babies but can’t bother to take credit of them- we’re tying his tubes, on golly.)

Anywayssss, that’s all, it’s very late and I am very tired, this is poorly written please do not take this seriously.

(Og convo, as promised!)

[dangermousie]

Farscape rewatch: Look at the Princess Part 2, 2x12

I just love this shot of Crichton:

Farscape summed up:

This ep has one of my favorite scenes: Crichton in space, out-crazing Scorpius, and rescuing himself through sheer insanity. He goes full-on unhinged, using the fact that yes, he is willing to die rather than submit, than be tortured and experimented on.

He takes this and runs with it...and it’s probably the most unhinged we’ve seen him so far tho not as unhinged as he’s going to get and just...

The whole scene is miles more unhinged than my few caps can do it justice but also, only Farscape can get away with rotating between dark despair and pure unhinged hilarity at the speed of light - I mean here is John forcing Braca’s gun towards his right hand yelling “kill my sex life!” UMMM god this show!

PS They are literally gonna have this as ep title later.

Also, yet another instance where dark humor is his lifeline and coping/defense  mechanism. He never loses it, this is how he keeps semi-sane.

This is the first time he hears the chip, isn’t it? That scene is amazing, and heroic, and all sorts of heart-breaking. Because it saves him now but also this is a small appetizer of what it will be like for John to have the voice of his torturer control him, to remove volition. Crichton’s will is extreme, can-move-mountains kind of quality and the chip will strip it from him, just as it will force him to go against all his instincts and feelings and it’s going to be a horror.

Of course, what Scorpius, who has notably recognized John as another individual by now, even if that recognition is in shape of wanting to triumph over him, it’s still a step up from ‘lab rat’ view of the rest of the world, what Scorpius isn’t reckoning with, yet, that Crichton would rather die, literally, than surrender himself, so he better find some other lever, because threatening his life would never work. He eventually does, in s4, Aeryn, and I always found it telling that Grayza, overall nowhere near as brilliant as Scorpius, figures that lever out faster because Scorpius is hampered by his considering any genuine emotion as not worthy of consideration.

But yeah, this really does put Crichton through a ringer and I really love that his falling apart does not make him weak, it makes him human and makes any triumph all the more worthy.

I find myself both understanding Aeryn in this ep, and being very frustrated by her. She wants all these things from Crichton, but she won’t give an inch, or a hint, or a hope in return. The only reason this marriage bugs her is because she loves him because from every other vantage point, it’s a good good thing, and it’s not as if she is from species which believes you can’t marry without romantic love. And Crichton can fight even when broken, as he proves over and over, but he needs something to fight for and now he doesn’t have anything and she is not willing to provide it. The scene where he wants something - some hint that she will return his feelings and she can’t give it to him due to her own demons gets me. He is at a low point and he has nothing to cling to and she can’t give him that something because she herself is not sure she can survive giving any piece of her heart away.

I do love her ‘diplomacy’ with Katralla and Jenovia:

And the awesome putdown line to Casanova guy of ‘it’s not you, it’s me. I don’t like you.’ Heh.

But she didn’t even show up at the wedding. Oh Aeryn. So brave in battle, so good at running away emotionally. And D’Argo is being an awesome friend in this one - willing to back up John in whatever,no agendas (unlike Rygel and Aeryn, tho those two have them for different reasons) and his ‘good news/bad news’ cracks is one of my fave things ever but also really does leave John on a happy note going into a crazy situation:

and John bitchslapping Prince Clavor and the story with Zhaan and Moya and Pilot that makes me cry in the sheer defenseless peace and resignation of the ship and pilot and righteous rage of Zhaan.

In conclusion. Yeah, it’s Farscape all right.