#The Far Out Adventures of Team Galaxy

[darkmist111]

A daily dose of a concentrated rush of nostalgia.

#dungeons and dragons #Dungeons and Dragons The Animated Series #gargoyles #digimon tamers #The Far Out Adventures of Team Galaxy #team galaxy #american dragon jake long #ben 10 classic #ben 10 fandom #billy and mandy #courage the cowardly dog #ed edd n eddy #red planet

[gravehags]

the papas and the ghoulettes/ghouls at disneyland

nihil - grumpy old shit that his sons deposit on a bench on main street and abandon for the day. complains loudly to no one how he wishes seestor was there (she refused to come). somehow manages to end up with an enormous waffle cone and makes a kid cry.

primo - loves, loves, loves the people watching. is content to sit on a bench of his own (far, far away from nihil) soaking in the vibes. spends the rest of the day ambling around the park appreciating the variety of plants that are on display. loves the fantasyland dark rides.

secondo - loves the thrill rides in both parks but is especially fond of space mountain. wears a simple pair of black mickey ears all day and commands quite a presence at the carthay circle bar in california adventure (he loves good liquor and a good meal). has several tourists coming up to him for pictures because they mistake him for pitbull.

terzo - adores the energy of the place and like primo, loves to people watch. charms his way into club 33 and texts ridiculous and smug pictures of himself hanging out there to an outraged secondo all day. flirts heavily with the princesses in the most over the top romantic displays. can frequently be found vibing in the enchanted tiki room.

copia - this man is riding haunted mansion on repeat and loving every second of it. loves a good dole whip or a churro (anything sweet really) and will always laugh outrageously at all the skipper’s jokes on jungle cruise. manages to make multiple babies smile and laugh throughout the day, to the utter delight of their families. cries at the fireworks, always.

cumulus - she loves fantasyland - the dark rides, the music, the fairy tale vibes. can commonly be found riding the carousel looking stunning and singing along with the songs. cries openly at it’s a small world while dew and sunshine laugh affectionately. like copia, has a sweet tooth and will never say no to cotton candy. insists on the pack staying to watch the fireworks every night.

cirrus - easily the coolest person in the park, always at cumulus’ side. loves tomorrowland and galaxy’s edge - anything with a space theme really makes her smile. compiles a professional team to conquer smuggler’s run made up of mountain, rain, sunshine, and herself. will sip happily on a blue milk and definitely ends up buying a lightsaber.

sunshine - this girl is a toontown girl!! she loves the fun architecture and delights in meeting the characters (collects autographs too). she and swiss could ride runaway railway all day and the two of them love to annoy their fellow pack members by singing the song from the ride on repeat. will fucking demolish several tigger tails and spends the rest of the evening complaining about her upset tummy.

aurora - the pack princess? you know she’s hunting down her fellow princesses throughout the park - when she finds the other princess aurora she’s beside herself with glee and insists swiss and aether act as her personal photographers. her favorite ride is soarin’ and will absolutely be the kind of person to swing her legs while she’s flying through the air.

swiss - this ghoul insists on the pack all getting classic mickey ears with their names stitched on them and makes mountain take several group selfies with them all wearing them. incredibly competitive (and good) at the carnival games on pixar pier and passes out his stuffed animal trophies to the crowd of kids that comes to watch him.

dewdrop - like copia is a huge fan of the haunted mansion. will ride with a different pack member every time and point out different goofy ghosts while telling them “that’s you”. he learns how to play grim grinning ghosts on his guitar when they get home which delights phantom to no end. loves a good candy apple. will spin the teacup so hard on mad tea party with sunshine they makes phantom puke.

rain - he loves pirates of the caribbean, loves the damp air and the darkness and will happily ride it all afternoon. most likely to make friends with random cast members throughout the park which baffles mountain who asks “how do they all know you?” is a fun little beverage connoisseur but his favorite is the non alcoholic mint juleps they serve in new orleans square.

mountain - wears the oswald ears to make himself look even taller and can frequently be found looming over children and smiling benevolently at them. is the first to offer aurora a piggy back ride when her cute impractical shoes hurt her. loves grizzly river run and the entire grizzly peak area of california adventure (redwoods enjoy redwoods, naturally). his favorite ride is guardians of the galaxy: mission breakout.

aether - the organizer of the pack he has absolutely considered getting those leash backpacks for several of them. big man loves indiana jones and the temple of the forbidden eye and definitely ends up buying an indiana jones fedora. his favorite ride though is big thunder mountain and will always insist on sitting in the back (the best seats, naturally).

phantom - yet another haunted mansion super fan and gleefully drags aurora and dew into the shops to buy all the merch. loves his jack skellington mickey ears and the little magnetic zero he got to sit on his shoulder at all times. like sunshine, collects character autographs in a book and his favorites are dr. facilier and cinderella. gets really into pin collecting and trading.

#nameless ghoulettes #nameless ghouls #primo #secondo #terzo #copia #phantom ghoul #cirrus ghoulette #cumulus ghoulette #aurora ghoulette #sunshine ghoulette #aether ghoul #mountain ghoul #swiss ghoul #rain ghoul #dewdrop ghoul #the band ghost

[monstrousproductions]

Monstrous Productions - audio fiction for the strange at heart

Welcome to the Tumblr home of Monstrous Productions, an audio fiction production team based in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

We have two shows under our belt so far - the now complete Monstrous Agonies and all new Travelling Light.

Monstrous Agonies captured the weekly advice segment of the UK's only dedicated radio service for people of the night and members of the creature community. Over 100+ episodes, it answered questions and offered advice on everything from werewolf boyfriends in the doghouse to fitting in as the new ghoul at work.

While the podcast is no longer releasing, you can still get your liminal fix over at @thenightfolknetwork, and listen to past episodes wherever you get your podcasts.

Travelling Light is our current show, launched in November 2023. It's an epistolary science fantasy that follows the Traveller as they journey through the galaxy, writing letters home and gathering stories for the community archives.

With audience submissions and choose-your-own-adventure decision making, listeners are able to shape the Traveller's story and the world in which it unfolds. Subscribe now on your podcatcher of choice for new episodes every Friday!

To learn more about Monstrous Productions and get to know the team, check out our About page or head over to our website.

#monstrous productions #monstrous agonies #travelling light #travelling light podcast #pinned post

[freesia-writes]

Chapter 1: Interference

During the Clone Wars, the Bad Batch is tasked with a variety of missions across the galaxy. An unexpected addition to their team throws a wrench in the mix, particularly for Tech, who finds a particular connection with this disillusioned Padawan-turned-mechanic named Vel throughout the events in this action-adventure romance.

COVER ART BY @zaana!!

Master List of Chapters

"Steady, Wrecker..." Crosshair said smoothly, lifting his left elbow to bring his sniper to his shoulder plate, "We will be finished in a moment."

"We either do it now, or I go down there and do it myself," Wrecker replied, "This has taken... three times too long! I'm starving!"

"Well, select your next meal, then. Here he is," came the silken retort. The target came into view, a short, fat little politician flanked by two guards. His chin quivered as he walked, bent over his datapad, engaged in an intense discussion on a comlink in his hand. A taxi whizzed by, causing people to hustle to the side. A few choice words came flying after him from the left guard, but there was nothing more to it.

Except that it was the precise gap Crosshair had been waiting for. His finger tightened on the trigger, and he shifted the toothpick to the other side of his mouth.

"Your call, Hunter," he said, in a tone that bordered on boredom, keeping an eye on the target and confirming his sniper set to stun. 

"Take it," came the order.

ZAP! A red beam of light sizzled into the wall next to the politician's head. Both guards immediately leapt into action, activating handheld ray shields that glowed around them and the diplomat. The shimmering ovals flew up from the ground to form a perfect bubble as the right guard called for backup, poised at the ready, eyes flitting to and fro. In one smooth movement, the group disappeared into a nearby building.

"How did you miss? You never miss!" Wrecker shouted, pushing his helmet up to rest atop his head.

"That wasn't me, nitwit," Crosshair hissed, scanning the rooftops with his scope, "That was a live round. Someone else is after our target."

"Crosshair is correct," came Tech's matter-of-fact voice from behind the two, "The shot originated from a rooftop at an approximate angle of--"

"Just tell us where!" Wrecker interrupted.

"There," Tech replied, angling his hand toward a tall building behind them. Before the word had fully left his mouth, Hunter was on the move. He ran swiftly toward the side of the building, taking a flying leap onto a parked speeder bike, launching off the handlebars, and catching hold of the tail end of a ladder dangling off the side of a second-story balcony. He scrambled to the top of the ladder without virtually no effort, disappearing over the side of the railing.

The rest of the team wasn't far behind. Wrecker stopped at the base of the ladder, giving Crosshair a leg up. He was nearly as lithe as Hunter, gliding up the ladder and leaping onto the balcony without a sound. He whipped his sniper from his back and brought it to his eye, adjusting the scope with his middle finger and thumb.

Tech was running toward them as well, typing furiously into his wrist. "I'll fetch the ship to get eyes in the sky; Wrecker can man the rear gun if we need any backup."

"Meet me at the top of the building; I just sent the coordinates to you," Hunter affirmed, "Crosshair and I will flush out this little interruption."

"Affirmative," Tech replied, and was joined by Wrecker as they sprinted back to the Marauder. ***

A pebble slipped from beneath her foot as Vel let fly a word that would have made her father smirk. She shuffled along the balcony, reaching the corner and rounding it swiftly. Finding the ladder down the side, she slid down as quickly as she could, hopping off two stories below to creep along the backside of the building. 

She saw movement up ahead, the flash of a figure crawling up the ladder on the other side and caught a hint of grey and red armor. Figuring it better to stun her pursuer than risk being caught, she pulled her blaster from her hip and furtively approached the ladder. 

Suddenly, a flash of blue light enveloped her, and her ears rang with a deafening high-pitched sound. She dropped to the ground and remembered no more. 

***

"You make good bait, Hunter," Crosshair crooned, stowing his sniper on his back as he smirked at the perfectly-placed stun. 

"Meet me on the roof," came the only reply. 

The Marauder lowered smoothly as the remainder of the team boarded, the passed-out figure thrown over Hunter's shoulder. He dropped her onto the floor under the control panel before continuing up to the bridge. 

"Let's report in and we'll see what to do with her," Hunter said.

With a nod, Tech moved a lever and the stars around them turned into solid blue lines as they disappeared into hyperspace. 

I'm gonna tag you all for this first chapter, but if you'd like to be tagged in the rest (there are 30), please reblog this first one! I know not all of you are crazy about full-length fics with OCs. So no hard feelings if you wanna sit this one out!

Tag List: @wolffegirlsunite @secretthegriffin @littlefeatherr @dystopicjumpsuit @arctrooper69 @foreverdaydreaming1 @stunkbiggu @mxkyrie @starrylothcat @sinfulsalutations @littlemissbshine @atomickidsoul @dreamie411 @skellymom @nobody-expects-the-inquisitorius @followthepurrgil @the-hexfiles @1vlouds @sunshinesdaydream @anxiouspineapple99 @wings-and-beskar @ughhhhfoff @coraex @moonlightwarriorqueen @idontgetanysleep @clonemedickix @gt13tbbart @mary-on-the-contrary

Click here to join or leave the tag list. <3

#the bad batch #tbb #the bad batch fanart #star wars fanfiction #bad batch #star wars the bad batch #the bad batch fanfiction #tech fanfiction #tech x oc #tech fanfic #tech fic #fanfiction #the bad batch fic #the bad batch fanfic #slow burn romance #tech romance #bad batch romance #tech fluff #bad batch adventure #the bad batch tech

[yarameijer]

HI

I hope your doing well

So yeah!! My question is

Does Tenma's parents know about all 5 sector, travel to past, aliens and in space

If yes. How did they came to know

What were their reactions

Also any conversation between Teams coach or any other member with them

Heyhey! Yes, I’m doing well!

It actually differs for each of my stories whether Tenma's parents know about his adventures or not, but specifically in AR, the answer would be ‘’sort of’’. Tenma has quite regular contact with them through phone calls and does tell them a bit about his adventures, but not everything.

For example, in the first season they know Fifth Sector exists and that the Holy Road is a competition to decide its next leader. They know Tenma isn't a fan of the current leader, but they don't know any of the details - they're assuming that the current Holy Emperor is making too strict rules, or not really putting the money where it should go (the soccer clubs), also because Tenma mentioned the Raimon team was in poor state when he first joined. So yes, they know there are issues because Tenma told them, but he also kept out a lot of the details because he wasn't sure they'd take him seriously. 

On the other hand, they know nothing about the time traveling, simply because Tenma doesn't think they'll believe him. Tenma may have told them a few stories, but edited out the “oh yeah this happened 500 years in the past” part. Rather, he's told them he made a new friend (Fei) and that there was a problematic soccer team they dealt with, plus some details about specific things that happened during their travels. While, of course, leaving out the time relevant details.

They do know about the Grand Celesta Galaxy, for a very simple reason: the Earth Eleven players were minors, and parental permission was needed for them to be allowed to be part of the team and travel to space. This was handled by the Japanese Youth Soccer Association, most likely Gouenji himself, in hopes of convincing all the parents. That took quite some effort, not just with Tenma's parents but also those of the other members, but eventually they succeeded.

That being said, Tenma has told his parents quite a lot about his time in space and this time didn't leave out the details, also because they were very interested in what space was like. Since they already know the truth, Tenma isn't worried about them not believing him, so he's quite open about it.

As for their reactions, as mentioned before they don't know the full truth about Fifth Sector, so they were mostly just disappointed for Tenma when he told them Raimon (initially) wasn't what he expected, and supportive towards him during the Holy Road. And, of course, happy and proud when Raimon won and Tenma seemed to have found his place in the team.

Their reaction to the Grand Celesta Galaxy was a lot more dramatic. When Tenma joined Inazuma Japan they were proud, but when they found out about the alien part they were against him going, and very worried even after they did eventually give their consent. They worried the whole time he was away, but once he returned to Earth and told them about space, they were very proud of him. But also sort of unwilling to let him do dangerous stuff like this again (not that that's stopping him, he just doesn't tell them).

As for contact with Tenma's team… no, not really. They trust Aki to be his acting guardian while they're not present, so school issues mostly go through her unless it's very dramatic, and so far nothing has happened that classifies as “very dramatic”; Tenma's grades are okay, he's not a troublemaker in class, there's nothing that really needs their interference. They did meet Gouenji and Kidou when they were told about the Grand Celesta Galaxy, and are aware that Kidou was Tenma's coach at one point, but those conversations were really focused on the whole “aliens are real and we need your son to fight them” thing.

They do eventually meet some of Raimon's members, but I'm planning to write one-shots about that for the AR one-shot collection, so I won't say anything more than that!

#inazuma eleven go #inazuma eleven #ie11 #ina11 #ie go #matsukaze tenma #accidental reverse #raimon #accidental reverse ask

[vibrantbirdy]

Hey lovely!! Could you do a Cassian Andor x (f) reader? I’m a sucker for enemies to lovers. I like the whole “you annoy me and piss me off” relationship that ends up in a situation where they are stuck together for something and end up in a fight where they suddenly realize they have feelings! I love allowing creators to have their own space to create, so if you wanna do something else entirely, please feel free too!!

❤️ take care of yourself

Thank you SO much, this is a great request! I am a sucker for enemies to lovers too. I hope you don't mind, but I had a similar Cassian request from Anon at the same time about Cassian x Reader having to go undercover to Canto Bight as a couple which I thought would work well with yours so I merged them. (Anon, I also hope you don't mind the merging and that you can find this ok as I don't know if/how I can reply to two asks in the same post?)

Also, I want to thank everyone who has interacted with my writing so far.

Requests for Character x Reader fics are currently open in my Asks. Please read the guidelines first. Keep 'em coming.

-Birdy

Title: Charade Fandom: Star Wars Setting: Between Andor and Rogue One Genres: Sci-fi; Romance; Enemies to lovers; Action/adventure; Fluff Warnings: Moderate sexuality; moderate swearing; mild violence/peril; brief mentions of loss of family/friends by Reader. Pairing: Cassian Andor x Female Reader Chapters: 1/1 (Complete) Word Count: approx 10k (oops)

Summary: You and Captain Cassian Andor have to negotiate your personal differences and difficult history when you are both assigned to go on an undercover operation to the Galaxy's playground for the super-rich, Canto Bight, as a married couple.

Prologue

Your first mission as a spy for the Rebel Alliance has taken you to Carida. The objective; to infiltrate and sabotage the Imperial Naval Yard there then get out as quickly and quietly as possible.

As it turns out, the mission is doomed from the outset. An Imperial mole who somehow dug their way into the very heart of Rebel Command on Yavin 4 has alerted the Empire to your plans.

Your team of six hardly made it five kilometers from the rust-bucket of a ship Rebel Leadership had assigned to you when you were intercepted by an Imperial patrol.

The firefight was brief. The Stormtroopers were green, even more so than you. You wondered with a pang of unexpected sympathy whether they'd come fresh from the Imperial Academy which was also based on Carida. There were far more seasoned combatants amongst your own unit and the fight was over before it had really began.

Still, that's when you'd lost poor Lily to a Trooper's blaster bolt. You're not even sure he was aiming at her. She'd fallen against you and you'd twisted your ankle as you'd spun to the ground following a futile attempt to hold her upright as if that would negate the fatal injury she'd just sustained.

Now, as you limp up the ridge of the hill you feel a swell of relief as you see that you are almost back to the clearing where the ship is stowed. But as you catch a glimpse of the hunk of old metal, you realise with horror that you are not out of the woods yet.

The Empire uses decrepit shuttles just like this one for for training cadets at the Academy. That's why High Command had insisted you take it - to blend in. You'd nicknamed it Tenacity because the old girl just wouldn't die and the name had stuck.

The ancient vessel doesn't do anything quickly until it's up in the air. Then she's sharp as a razor. But she has a complicated manual override for emergency take-offs whereby the crew need pump fuel round the engines a few times using an externally stowed generator.

Good for training Imperial cadets for problem solving and how to make the best of old tech. Not so good for spies who need a quick exit.

You're the engineer, it should have been you who hooked the ship up to the generator. But with your injury you are too slow and so the others went on ahead to start without you. You are sure you gave correct and clear instructions, but in his panic, it looks like Rogdul has connected the ports up all wrong. Dangerously so.

Overhead, you hear the scream of Imperial TIE fighters and you launch yourself into the nearby undergrowth. You count them. Four. They are searching the valley for you. They pass, but they'll be back in less than a minute. It's impossible that they haven't spotted the ship in the forest clearing.

From your hiding place you hear the ship's engines burst into life. Inside, you imagine Rogdul and Anya carrying out hurried pre-flight checks. Baslin is probably taking up position in the gunner's hatch, hoping to see some action.

No, you think. Not like this.

But you can reach the ship and fix the problem. You know you can. The whole thing will blow if you don't and that's not an option.

You dart out towards the Tenacity, but someone intercepts you, slamming into you with a body tackle and dragging you roughly back to cover through the mud. Soon, you're seated up against them, your back pressed into their chest, their arms and legs wrapped around you like a vice.

It's Captain Cassian Andor, you realise, your superior officer and the lead operative on this mission. You'd completely forgotten that he was even further behind the hasty retreat than you, taking up the rear and keeping watch for more Imperial patrols on your tail.

You don't care who it is. You struggle and writhe furiously against him, desperate to get away and stop the impending disaster you can see unfolding before your eyes. But Andor holds you fast against him as if you were a child having a tantrum.

"Let me go, I can fix it!" you scream over the howl of the returning TIEs.

"You can't, it's too late!" Andor shouts back into your ear.

As if on cue, the generator connected to the side of the ship starts to spark wildly, just as you knew it would. You watch helplessly as the fuel cells hidden within the Tenacity ignite with a deafening bang and whoosh of flame as the ship goes up in a hellish fireball.

A second later, the TIEs make their second pass. There's no need for them to bother firing their weapons. The devastation from the explosion is catastrophic.

They do it anyway.

Two years later

You are on approach to Canto Bight, Cantonica's capital city - the Galaxy's playground for the wealthy.

Captain Cassian Andor is in the pilot's seat, following instructions from the flight control tower. You'll sit down in a moment, but right now, you are desperately trying to sort the sticking-up collar of his cream shirt which is made of expensive looking silk.

Irritated, he tries to bat your hand away, but you are persistent.

"Kriff's sake, Andor, just let me do it," you mutter.

"I'm not a child," he says petulantly, but he relents.

There. Now he looks the part in his fine clothes. He's tidied his short beard and moustache so that the stubble is cropped neatly to the sharp contours of his chiselled face. His dark brown hair is neatly parted at the side, although it's perhaps still a little long...

You don't look too shabby either, bedecked in a knee-length silk day dress of sky blue, accompanied by a cloak of dusky purple which is draped elegantly across your shoulders. The Rebellion went to great lengths to fund this operation and they certainly didn't skimp on the provision of suitable attire. It's essential that you fit in.

"I look fine, you look fine, stop fussing," Andor says dismissively, noticing as you smooth out a couple of annoying wrinkles in your dress and swish out the skirt to make sure the fabric is lying properly.

"I think you look lovely," K-2SO, Andor's droid and almost constant companion, pipes up from the co-pilot's chair, "and that Cassian looks like he's swallowed an Endor fire hornet."

"You don't think," Andor retorts, "That's just circuits misfiring randomly in your head..."

K-2 turns to you with a mechanical whirr, and if he had the ability to conjure expressions, this one would read:

See? I told you.

You stifle a laugh and drop down into the passenger seat behind the droid.

The first time you'd met the hulking re-programmed Imperial security droid had been that fateful day on Carida. You and Andor had shivered miserably in silence for hours by the wreckage of the Tenacity as the rain lashed down, making little difference to the fearsome fuel-accelerated flames which devoured the ship. The Empire, in their arrogance, didn't bother to send out a patrol to check the site.

Then, late into the night, K-2 had finally arrived in Cassian's own ship under cover of darkness. With your injured ankle having swollen to twice its usual size, the gargantuan droid had lumbered over, scooped you up, and carried you with surprising gentleness into the vessel. Ever since, you've always enjoyed his company and his sardonic wit.

Your relationship with Andor, on the other hand, has been tumultuous since its inception. He's always been frosty and stand-offish with you. You sometimes wonder if your presence reminds him of the disaster on Carida the way his does to you.

Whatever his reasoning, his uncompromising demeanour has always brought out your worst qualities when you're around him, especially your stubbornness and your dislike of being told what to do. You've never gone so far as insubordination under his command, but when you disagree with him, you have a unique knack for finding your own way to interpret his orders. This always has the infinitely satisfying effect of winding him up.

Anyway, this time won't be like Carida. And despite your personal differences, you and Andor have worked together successfully - though admittedly never harmoniously - many times since.

Your objective is simple enough. You're looking for a business man, Dreylan Balgo. He's not yet thirty, but he's the biggest supplier of Imperial weapons in the Galaxy. You need to obtain his biometric signature and transmit it back to Alliance High Command. They'll then use it to access the designs and blueprints of the weapons his company is designing for the Empire and eventually send agents in as factory workers to sabotage various key elements.

As Andor and K-2 make the final approach to Canto Bight you look out the window. Below you, the dark sea glitters and ahead, the shining spires of the beautiful city glow golden in the evening sun.

You close your eyes as a flash of a childhood memory dances across your brain. You came here with your parents once when you were nine or ten. That's partly why you've been chosen for this mission. You used to move in these circles.

K-2 drops the shuttle neatly on to the landing pad which juts out over the water.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do," the droid quips as you exit.

It's winter on Cantonica. As you step out onto the platform, the breeze is chilly but pleasantly fresh and you can hear the steady crash of waves against the cliffs below you.

At the entrance to the structure, you pause a minute to take in the monolithic doors, ornately carved and inlaid with beautiful coloured glass which catches the light of the setting sun with dazzling beauty. The doors open and you and Andor step into the elaborate marble halls of Canto Bight's most luxurious resort as newlyweds Mr and Mrs Race Pax.

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

The suite you are staying in is as lavish as the rest of the place, but it is small. The coiffeurs of the Rebel Alliance do have their limits.

"What are you doing?" You ask, suddenly stopping your own unpacking to observe Andor throwing an assortment of pillows and blankets onto the ground.

"I'm taking the floor like a gentleman."

"Don't be stupid," you snort, "What if the maid comes in and sees this..." you gesture to the collection of blankets on the floor, searching for a fitting description "...gentleman's pillow fort?"

The most important thing on this mission is that your cover needs to be believable. And, perhaps tantamount to that, if Andor is tired, he'll be even grumpier than usual and you don't think you could deal with that.

He straightens and sighs, repeatedly slapping the cushion he has been plumping with unnecessary force.

One thing you and Andor have never been around each other is shy. Having spent weeks at a time together in miserable, hastily erected camps, cramped transports, and underground bunkers in the service of the Alliance, the necessity of living in close quarters with him stamped that out quick. You've learned to move in each other's personal space with ease and usually without any awkwardness, so you can't fathom why he's making a meal of it now.

He looks at you defiantly for a moment longer before accepting defeat.

"Fine," he says, as he starts to pick up the elements of his makeshift camp bed and throwing them back on the bed, "Fine, but if you snore, I won't hesitate to kick you out."

"If I snore?!"

That was rich.

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

You and Andor are attending one of Canto Bight's seemingly infinite evening soirees for the rich and powerful. A colourful sea of people in lavish dress are engaged in polite conversation and enjoying expensive beverages in one of the grandest ballrooms you've ever seen.

Dreylan Balgo is here, somewhere. Tonight is a chance to observe his behaviour, get to know his habits and make an initial introduction if possible. Anything that could help you create an opportunity to obtain his biometrics over the next few days.

You are wearing a teal halter-neck gown, a drink in one hand while the other rests elegantly on top of Andor's arm. The silk of his plush evening jacket is smooth under your fingertips and you absent-mindedly fuss with it as you scan the crowd for your target.

Someone says your name. Your real name.

Andor stiffens next to you.

Trying to keep your composure you turn and relief floods through you as you realise it's one of your mother's oldest friends, Lady Sen Prya. It's been years since you've seen her and she must be in her eighties by now, but she hasn't changed one bit. She is adorned in the most grandiose yellow satin gown you've ever seen, complete with matching gloves. Her long white hair falls, twisted in an elaborate braid, all the way down to her waist.

Quickly, you take her gloved hand and squeeze it gently, a subtle message you hope she can read.

"Oh I'm sorry you must be mistaken," you say politely and introduce yourself as Mrs Pax.

Understanding flickers across Prya's face. She always was sharp as a knife and time doesn't seem to have dulled that characteristic one jot.

"Ah of course, child. Forgive me," she says tactfully with all the grace and ease you remember from your childhood, "You look very like a dear old friend of mine. It's nice to meet you. I am Lady Sen Prya."

She reaches a hand up and touches your cheek affectionately with a twinkle in her golden eyes. Then, she reaches out to Andor who brings her hand up to his mouth and kisses it gently.

"Race Pax, it's a pleasure," he says, and there is a genuine warmth in his voice.

He appears to have relaxed somewhat and you are sure it's because he probably recognises Prya's name. She has been funding various elements of the Rebellion for years.

"Now, is there anyone you need an introduction to, before I retire to bed like the old woman I am?"

Prya stresses introduction as if its a code word. And it is.

You look up at Andor questioningly. You hate to ask his permission for anything, but he is the senior operative here. He nods once in ascent.

"Dreylan Balgo," you say.

Lady Prya's eyes light up and you can tell that she is delighted to learn who your indented mark is.

"Well then, follow me, young lovers."

Andor gives that rare smile of his, the one you see so infrequently which reaches all the way up to his eyes where they crinkle at the corners. He likes Prya. Everyone does. That's what makes her so dangerous for the Empire.

You wind through the crowd, following Prya as if she is golden star leading you to your destination. You're suddenly nervous and although you'd never admit it, there is something comforting about how Andor's large hand entwines with your own as he follows your lead through the busy party.

"Dreylan! My boy!" Prya's voice is clear as crystal and cuts through the party hubbub with ease.

Balgo turns from a conversation he is having with several other men. He is a handsome man, dressed in an evening suit of black velvet. He is tall and elegant with piercing blue eyes and a mop of sandy blonde curls.

"Ah! Lady Prya! What a delight to see you," he says gregariously, stooping low to kiss the older woman's cheek.

"And you, my lad," she replies with gracious ease, "Now, I want you to meet a couple of newly weds, Mr and Mrs Pax. I'm certain young Pax here would be interested in discussing business with you boys, although I, for one, find it all very dull."

There is a ripple of smug, amused laughter from the circle of men, and you join in only because you know Prya could negotiate most of these idiots out of any of business asset of theirs she chose to.

Balgo turns his attention to you first, appraising you thoroughly before taking your hand and kissing it with an elaborate flourish. You let out a silly little laugh, ensuring your voice carries an appropriate blend of affluence and air headedness.

Less than a minute you've been in this man's company and you can already read him like a holo novel.

He then greets Andor with boisterous joviality.

"Congratulations, Pax, what a stunning creature you have caught in your net."

Andor chuckles amiably, shaking Balgo's hand.

"It's good to meet you," he says warmly.

This time, his smile doesn't quite reach his eyes and you notice that his hand, which has been sitting lightly round your waist, shifts down to just under your hip.

Lady Prya retires to bed soon after, flashing you a wink and a dazzling smile as she sweeps from the room, an ageless vision in yellow.

The conversation and drinks flow. All night, you sense Balgo's eyes on you. Alliance High Command don't officially approve of so-called "honey-traps," and neither do you, but you see no harm in cultivating Balgo's delusion if it opens another window of opportunity. You don't discourage him, directly meeting the furtive glances he casts your way when he thinks Andor isn't looking.

Throughout the evening Andor proves why he is so good at his job. His ability to observe and imitate behaviour is uncanny. He adopts with ease that careless, raucous affectation that only young, wealthy men seem to possess. He hasn't taken more than a few sips of his wine, but he mirrors Balgo's increasingly boisterous body language and bawdy humour expertly.

By the end of the night the two are stomping around the dwindling party with their arms slung around each other's shoulders, swaying and laughing and singing like idiots.

The night has been a success. You've created a rapport with Balgo.

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

"Prya was a friend of your family's?" Andor's voice comes unexpectedly from the darkness, "What happened to them?"

It's very late - or early, depending on how your look at it - and you and Andor have just fallen, exhausted, into bed.

You are resting on your left side, as always, and you hear him roll over beside you, so that he is looking at your back.

You are surprised by how accurately Andor has read into the situation with so little information. You don't see any harm in telling him.

"My father owned an agricultural engineering works. One day the Empire came to his factory and asked him to design and build components for some machine they were building, probably a weapon. He refused. They executed him on the spot and took the factory anyway. I did my best, but we struggled and my mother died a few years after of a broken heart. That's when I left to join the Rebellion."

Andor shuffles, the bed shifting beneath you both and you can tell that he's propped himself up on his elbow. You feel his eyes boring into the back of your head.

"You've never told me that before."

"You never bothered to ask," you reply defensively, "I know what you think, what you all think. That I'm a rich brat who ran off to join the Rebellion just to piss off her wealthy parents."

There's a silence.

"Turns out you're only half right..." you finish with a rather bitter self-deprecating chuckle.

To your surprise, Andor puts a comforting hand on your shoulder. You hesitate for a moment, before you reach across your body to place your hand on top of his, just for a second.

"Goodnight, Cassian," you say.

You rarely use his first name and it feels odd, but not unnatural on your tongue.

"Goodnight."

He rolls back over and is soon snoring softly. You don't fall asleep for a long while, not until you hear the birds begin their morning chorus and the light of dawn starts to creep through the open window with the sea breeze.

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

You and Andor spend the next morning trying to locate Balgo but he's nowhere to be found. You suspect he is probably in his bed nursing a very sore head.

The last place you try is the Fathier racetrack, although you know there are no races on today. You are glad. You can't stand to see these magnificent animals forced to run like that.

Even so, you are unable to refrain from grabbing Andor's hand in excitement and dragging him over to the nearest pen where a mother and foal are resting in a patch of sunshine.

"A baby," you find yourself saying, stupidly.

Andor laughs quietly at the ridiculous, breathless joy in your voice. You wonder if he's making fun of you, but when you turn to him his eyes are sparkling with a mischievous light.

He gestures to a nearby handler, adopting Pax's air of arrogant entitlement with frightening ease.

"My wife would like to see the animal."

"Of course, sir."

The handler coaxes the foal over and it's tall enough already to reach other the fence. You pat the creature on its nose and between its ridiculously long ears and it nuzzles sweetly into your hand.

"Mr Pax?" You say as you turn to Andor and realise he's hovering a few feet back from the fence.

You gesticulate to him to come over. When else will he get the opportunity to interact with such an animal?

"Oh no, I can see fine from here," he replies with a shake of his head.

Surely not, you think, and you feel your mouth twist into a devilish smirk.

"Are you scared?" You tease.

You sidle up to him and entwine your arm in his before stretching up to whisper into his ear so that only he can hear you.

"Captain Andor?"

Unable to resist your direct challenge he offers you his hand with a resigned, slightly nervous grin. You take it, leading him back to the fence. You guide his palm up to the baby Fathier's nose and the creature sniffs it curiously. You then press it gently against the animal's long forehead. When you let go, Andor continues to stroke the animal softly, his face lit up with an expression of childish wonder.

"Thank you, husband," you say when you both turn to leave.

He gives you a subtle wink and you feel a sudden rush of something close to fondness for him.

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

That afternoon is spent sneaking around the resort's service corridors. You are right at the top of the building and the corridors are narrow and low. It's ridiculously hot and you feel stupid carrying out serious espionage in yet another one of the seemingly endless supply of dresses you've been provided. This one is a horrible pink colour that clings all over and you hate it which is why you've chosen it for this dirty, sweaty work. You know you need to wear something suitable for Canto Bight's grand halls in case anyone sees you on your way to or from the job, but it just feels so unnatural.

Hopefully this shouldn't take too long. All you need to do is wire in a small signal booster to the resort's communications lines. Then, when you obtain Balgo's biometric signature, the data pad can send a transmission to a commandeered, disused Republic satellite to confirm that the sample has been collected successfully.

Actually transmitting the scrambled data to the Rebel base on Yavin 4 needs considerably more power which means, at some point, you and Andor are going to have to hike out to Cantonica's main transmitter mast and send the signal manually from there.

You'd flown past the huge pylon on your way in to land at the resort. It's a monumental thing and you feel a rush of nausea at the very thought of having to climb it...but that's a problem for another day, you decide.

Your head is buried in a control panel, and you're trying to explain to Andor why you need to use a slightly different width of cable than originally planned but he interrupts you mid-flow.

"Can you do it, or can't you?"

"I can do it," you snap back.

"Then just do it, I don't care how."

Charming as ever, the morning's hard won truce between you apparently forgotten. He's nervous and so are you, so you try not to hold it against him. He just wants to get out of here quickly.

There's a sound, and with horror, you realise it's the service elevator doors hissing open. A stern male voice follows soon after.

"Lars, If you're up here slouching again, I'm going to dock your pay."

You and Andor both freeze, staring at each other like Loth cats caught in the headlights of a speeder. Then, without warning he grabs you at the back of your knee, hitching your leg up to rest on his hip, his hand travelling further up the underside of your thigh and underneath your dress as he shoves you against the wall and pushes his body firmly against yours. The other hand flies up to your face, his thumb tracing the line of your cheekbone.

Your gasp of surprise is muffled as he crashes his lips hard against yours. It takes you only a millisecond to understand what he's doing and you kiss him back, twisting your fingers tightly through the locks of dark hair at the back of his head.

At this, a soft groan resonates in his throat and you are almost certain this is unintended. You feel a flash of satisfaction that you've managed to affect him in such a way, then scold yourself for being unable to refrain from point scoring with him, even now.

"Get out of here," Andor growls at the hapless employee, pretending he has only just noticed the man's presence.

His voice is low and husky. As he speaks, you feel his fingertips press into the flesh your thigh. Suddenly, the combination of his proximity and his heady, masculine, familiar scent is overwhelming, and you feel something hot and fierce coil in the pit of your abdomen.

Andor - Pax - has broken away from your lips to berate the man, but he hardly deigns to turn his head to look at the unfortunate employee. You take a moment to study the fine details of his face up close. His pupils are dilated, making his dark eyes gleam like midnight. His nostrils flare slightly with heightened breathing. An uncharacteristic blush is travelling up his neck into his cheeks. You can feel his heart slamming against his chest and your own.

"Oh, uhh... yes...of course," the poor employee sounds terribly embarrassed and all the previous managerial authority has vanished entirely from his voice.

"My apologies sir..."

The man actually stands on his tiptoes and cranes his neck to see your face through the tousled mess you've made of Andor's hair before addressing you directly with a courteous nod of his head.

"Madam."

You raise your eyebrows at him politely and give him a ridiculous little wave with your free hand, the one that's not woven through Andor's hair.

You hear the employee blundering off back to the service elevator and the machinery clunks as the doors close and he disappears.

Andor's forehead is gracing your own and neither you nor he move for a moment. It's just long enough to catch the slow glint of recognition in each other's eyes that something new has passed between you and you both know it.

"Sorry," he mumbles as he finally breaks away, running a hand through his hair as if to sweep away the feel of your fingers there, "I didn't have time to ask nicely."

"It's fine," you say, smoothing your stupid dress down and clearing your throat, "Good thinking."

He leans against the opposite wall, arms crossed, as you return to your work in silence.

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

Evening has fallen and Andor and Balgo are talking animatedly at the bar. The resort is hosting another of its grand parties. You sit with Lady Prya at a nearby table. You don't talk about your new life and she doesn't ask, but the conversation is easy and comfortable and you feel a rush of gratitude that your paths have crossed again.

Once Balgo has left to mingle with other guests, you give Prya an apologetic smile and cross over to the bar where you drape yourself around Andor's shoulders. You lean in to kiss him on the cheek. To anyone else, these merely look to be the actions of a young couple.

In reality, you are providing cover as Andor works quickly with Balgo's empty glass. Earlier, he'd lined the outside of the receptacle with a special gel that picks up biometric data. Once settled on a surface, it is almost imperceptible to the touch.

Andor attaches, then tears away the transfer strip from the glass and quickly places it down on the data pad's receiver. A rather sad and weary boop from the device confirms that it hasn't picked up Balgo's fingerprints.

"Kriff," Andor curses quietly in frustration, a muscle working in his jaw.

"Give it to me."

"What?"

"Give it," you hiss.

Uncertainly, Andor passes the various components of the device to you. You snatch them from his hand, shoving the bits and bobs into your pockets and stride away before he can stop you. The satin of your dress swishes a melody to the click of your heels. You hear Andor swear under his breath.

As you walk, your eyes scan the room, searching for your target. There. A flash of golden hair at the other side of the room. You stalk Balgo through the crowd, waiting for the right moment.

You make your approach, taking out a small mirror from your pocket and quickly squeezing a blob of the clear transfer gel onto your finger before making a performance of patting the strange substance on your mouth like lipstick. You snap the mirror closed and move in for the kill.

"Oh Mr Balgo, I am so sorry!" you exclaim, feigning embarrassment as you collide with his shoulder, jolting him arm so that he spills red wine all down the front of his pristine, white suit jacket.

"Please, Mrs Pax, it's no matter, really," he says as he stays your pawing hands and swoops down to greet you with a peck you on the cheek.

"I really am sorry, Dreylan, I will pay for the damage."

"Nonsense," he scoffs amicably, his chest visibly puffing out as you address him familiarly by his first name, "Now, where has your husband of yours got to? The fool surely hasn't let you out of his sight in that dress?"

Balgo is right, it is a nice dress. Your favourite so far in fact. It is tailored in beautiful crimson satin with a full skirt, off the shoulder sleeves, and a plunging neckline.

"Oh, he's around somewhere, I'm sure."

You lean in and whisper in his ear.

"But he's not here."

He smirks back at you and you see his icy blue eyes light up.

"Shall we get some air on the balcony?" He suggests.

Well, what an unexpected turn of events, you think sarcastically as you accept the proposal with an external show of flirtatious grace.

Out on the ballroom's grandiose veranda with Balgo, you look across Cantonica's seemingly endless, dark waters. The sea breeze is cold, and the businessman drapes his jacket round your shoulders. You laugh at the right times, interject an asinine comment here and there as Balgo talks about business, and allow him to explain things to you that you already know without complaint.

When the timing feels apt, and the balcony is otherwise deserted, you reach up and plant a kiss on his lips. He returns it, placing his hands on your hips. Balgo is attractive enough, there's no doubt about that, and the kiss is far from unpleasant... but it's only a means to an end. There's no passion to it, and you can't help but compare it against the ardent fervour of Andor's embrace. The heat of it.

As you pull back from Balgo with a suitably flushed smile, the gossamer curtains behind him shift in the breeze and over his shoulder you catch a glimpse of Andor across the cavernous ballroom.

He's so far away, but you see him clear as day. His eyes are searing holes in Balgo's back before meeting yours with a look of disdain. He downs his drink and slams the glass on the bar's marble counter-top, stalking off towards the elevator.

You suddenly feel a pang of irrational guilt which makes you furious with him. You're doing your job. The one he failed to do.

Balgo's self-satisfied look of victory does nothing for your vexed and flustered disposition. He offers to go and source a drink for you both. Keeping your composure - you are a spy after all - you smile sweetly at him and agree.

When he is gone, you make sure no one else is around before you take out the transfer paper from your pocket and subtly dab it on your lips. Surreptitiously, you whip the data pad out of your other pocket - thank the stars you'd insisted on dresses with pockets - and press the paper against the reader.

You wait, visualising what the signal might look like if it was something tangible and visible. A little bolt of lightning, perhaps, arcing to the closest service hatch, climbing its way up wires and cables, escaping out into the cold night and up into orbit and the decrepit Republic satellite.

Finally, the device gives you a cheerful bleep and lights up green.

Success.

You'd like to see Balgo's smug face fall when he returns to find you've disappeared, but you don't want this to go any further than necessary. You've got what you need and your sudden absence can easily be explained away as a young wife's crisis of conscience. You leave his jacket on a nearby chair and make your way up to your suite.

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

When you get back to the room, you can practically feel the heat radiating off Andor as he rips his shirt over his head dramatically in the process of undressing for bed.

Trying to ignore his silent seething, you turn away from him and lift your hair away from the nape of your neck. He automatically moves behind you to help you unzip your dress and, despite his clear agitation, his hands are gentle. The red gown drops to the floor, leaving you standing in your flimsy under-slip.

You turn back to look at Andor, taking in the familiar outline of his body. He's not a huge man, but the muscles are strong and taut in his torso, back and arms. Littered here and there are scars, testament to a hard life lived dangerously. The moonlight streaming through the bedroom window gives his tan skin an ethereal glow and illuminates the sharp, handsome features of his face.

It's not that you don't find each other attractive. You both know that there's always been some unspoken tension between you. But the tempestuousness of your personal and working relationship has always prevented you from falling into anything that might be a mistake.

You are suddenly keenly aware of the obviousness your own form as your underdress clings to the curves and planes of your body. You can sense Andor's eyes roaming across it in a way you're sure they never have before.

You think - maybe - something changed with that kiss you shared this afternoon. An embrace which began as a charade and ended as something else.

"That was a stupid, reckless, dangerous thing to do!" he finally explodes, interrupting your reverie and bringing you back down to reality with a thud.

"It was a calculated risk," you retort, furious with him and internally embarrassed by your silly romantic notions.

"And," you stretch across to the nearby dresser to pick up the data pad where Balgo's biometric data is safely stored to brandish it under Andor's nose, "And it worked."

"In case you'd forgotten, Balgo thinks you're here with your husband..."

"That's why it worked!" You exclaim, "By the Force, men know so little about their own species..."

"You could have blown our cover, the whole operation!"

That riles you. Why can't he just congratulate you on a job well done? You've just saved this damn operation. You have what you need now. All you need to do is transmit the data and you can both get out of here.

"I know what this is," you say, your voice rising in chorus with your anger.

"Oh please, please enlighten me."

"You're jealous."

There's a heavy silence.

"Jealous?!" Andor scoffs finally, but the strength of his conviction has faded from his voice, "Of what?"

"You can't stand that I kissed him."

Andor steps towards you, brows furrowed, eyes alight with something that's not quite anger.

"He's welcome to you," he seethes, "The last thing I need is some highly strung rich girl playing at being a spy."

The words sting, especially after you opened up to him about your parents the other night. Even as the vague idea of restraint flashes through your mind, impulsion compels you to raise a hand to strike him across the face.

He catches you by the wrist as you lash out, pulling you even closer to him so that his sharp nose is almost touching yours.

"And so what if I am?" He continues and the change in direction is so unexpected that you are rendered speechless.

His tone is low and dangerous and his deep, brown eyes are wild, roaming your face desperately for an answer that never comes.

"What if I am jealous? What if I don't want his filthy, Imperial hands all over you? So what?"

Andor's face suddenly softens, his eyebrows knitting together in an expression of genuine turmoil. It's a display of vulnerability you've never seen from him before. His grip on your wrist loosens slightly but he doesn't let go.

When he speaks again, his voice is barely a whisper.

"What difference does it make to you? Ever since Carida... You despise me."

It's not true, you suddenly realise. It's never been true. Not really.

You want to tell him you've never blamed him for what happened on Carida. The actions of the mole? Not his fault. The failure of that sorry excuse for a ship? Not him either. Somewhere along the way, your perception of him became warped and refracted through the prism of your own feelings of guilt.

You know he saved your life that day. He must have gone through hell in the aftermath too, dragged up in front of various different elements of High Command to explain why only two of his six operatives made it back alive over and over and over again.

More than this, you want to explain that while you were kissing Balgo tonight, you were thinking only of him. You want to say how when you took a shower earlier and caught a glimpse of yourself in the mirror you'd seen the faint, red imprints of his fingertips still lingering like little tattoos on your skin and that you hope they never fade.

But you're just so angry with him for always having to be such a stubborn, patronising, hard-nosed bastard. So you say none of these things.

You know how much it must have taken for him to admit feelings for you, no matter how clumsy and ill-timed the execution. This man who always holds his cards so close to his chest has shown you his hand. He's given you ammunition and all you can think of in this moment is shooting him down with it.

"That's right," you say, leaning in close and whispering spitefully into his ear, "I despise you Cassian Andor."

You regret it immediately. Andor drops your wrist as if he's been burned. As he steps away from you, he looks completely lost. His eyes are cast down at the floor, full of humiliation and hurt. By the time they return to your face, they have darkened like storm clouds.

"Then, I'm glad we understand each other."

You open your mouth to say something, to take back your words and undo the damage you've wrought with your temper. Nothing comes out.

As Andor turns away, you reach out for him, try to catch him by the elbow. He shrugs you off angrily and storms out of the room.

He doesn't come back until late. You pretend to be asleep as he quietly slips into the bed beside you.

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

When dusk falls the next evening, and with Balgo's biometric stored safely on the data pad in your pocket, you and Andor set out for Cantonica's main transmitter.

You want to use the journey time to explain yourself, to apologise to him and admit your own feelings. But you are so ashamed of your careless words the night before that you don't even know how to begin.

Continuing the trend of the day, you walk the ten kilometers together in almost complete silence, trudging in single file along the rocky coastline.

Even so, being out in nature and away from the city feels almost healing to you. Most tourists only see the rugged countryside of Cantonica from the confines of a shuttle. It has a wild, mountainous, windswept type of beauty that you find exhilarating. After days stuck inside the gilded cage of Canto Bight, it is wonderful to be out in the elements, even if it is rather cold and damp.

Night has decsended by the time you reach the transmitter. It is set precariously on the cliff edge, so close to the tumultuous waters below, it seems like a freak wave could wash it away at any moment.

It looks even more imposing than you remember. A huge durasteel spike with a narrow, fragile looking caged ladder stretching up into the sky leading to a high metal gangway which looks just as ancient.

You go first, and as you climb higher, your hands and feet start to feel fuzzy and your breathing becomes rapid, escaping through your lips in short, sharp pants. You've never been good with heights.

The icy wind starts to whip unpleasantly around you and you grip the ladder fiercely with each laboured step. The damp air has made the metal slick and you gasp as your boot slips on one of the rungs.

You catch yourself before you fall, but even so, you are relieved when Andor comes up behind you and positions himself so that his solid chest presses reassuringly against your back as you take a moment to steady yourself.

"Take your time," he says and his tone is gentle, "You're ok."

You nod and exhale deeply. Steeling yourself, you continue your ascent. You can do this.

You finally reach the top of the ladder and crawl up onto the round platform which encircles the pylon of the transmitter to provide access to where the mechanics of the structure are stored.

You think for a moment that this experience is going to be marginally better than the climb up the rickety ladder. That foolish hope is soon proven mistaken. The durasteel grating beneath your feet feels precarious. There are rusted gaps in the metal here and there and your stomach flips every time you look down. The wind is stronger up here, wild and blustery, and you feel horrendously vulnerable. You just want to get the job done and get down from this death trap as soon as possible.

Andor helps you lift the heavy panel off the front of the control box. You sigh with relief. It's a standard set up, one you've seen hundreds of times before and it's easy to bypass. You set to work infiltrating the system and once you're done, you wait in suspense as the data pad blinks text at you.

TRANSMITTING, TRANSMITTING, TRANSMITTING....

TRANSMISSION SENT.

"It's gone!"

Instinctively, you turn to flash a smile of triumph towards Andor, and you are relieved when one corner of his mouth twitches upwards ever so slightly in return. You wonder if, on the way back to the city, you might find the courage to try and make amends for your rough words the previous night.

Your hopeful thoughts are rudely interrupted when, without warning, the gangway you are standing on shifts violently under your feet. The whole structure lets out an ominous and eerie metallic groan and you realise with dread that the platform is tearing itself away from the pylon.

You have no doubt that you and Andor are the first people up here in years, and that your presence has disturbed the structure from its hibernation and reminded it of its decrepit, fragile state.

You grab at one of the rungs affixed to the main pylon intended for servicing the internal mechanisms, but Andor is too far away to reach. As the walkway peels away, he falls with it. The huge hunk of metal stops suddenly at a right angle to the structure, and the now horizontal guard railings catch Andor as he slams into them with a sickening clang.

There's a brief moment of relief when you think the worst is over, but then the structure jerks violently again as another metal bolt fails, and it tilts just enough to send Andor somersaulting over the top of the railing.

Desperately, he scrambles for something to purchase, and he manages to grasp at the guard rail with the fingertips of one hand as he rolls over it, leaving him dangling helplessly over the roaring water below.

Closing your eyes, you let yourself drop down towards him and your body hits the metal railings agonisingly hard. You ignore the pain and, praying that the railings will hold you, you scrabble to grab at Andor, your hands clutching at a handful of material at the front of his shirt just as his own grip fails.

Unexpectedly finding himself suspended in the air, Andor looks up at you in abject surprise. He assesses the situation and his eyes lock on to yours in alarm as he understands what you've done.

Your shoulders feel like they are slowly pulling themselves out of their sockets and your fingers, numb and white, are twisted up painfully in the material of Andor's shirt. You can't breathe properly, the air in your lungs being crushed out of you as you are pressed into the railings by the pull of Andor's bodyweight below you.

You are terrified that at any moment the guardrail will collapse and you'll both plummet together into the angry sea which seems to wait with open maw like a predator beneath you. But you don't know what else to do, and you refuse to let him fall, so you cling on to him in utter desperation.

"Let go!" Andor shouts up at you, and you can tell it's an order.

"No!" You yell back.

Suddenly, the front of his shirt rips and he drops away so that he is now hanging, almost literally, by a thread. The abrupt and unexpected motion causes you to lose balance and you have to let go of him with one hand to steady yourself on the railings and stop yourself from almost flipping over them to join him.

Andor's eyes are wild and fraught now, flicking between the failing structure and your overwrought face.

"Damn you," he growls with renewed urgency, "let go!"

Your whole body is screaming at you to do as he says, but you won't. Tears sting your eyes, whether from pain or fear, you're not sure. You clench your jaw and shake your head at him.

Andor snarls with effort as he reaches behind him and into his back pocket, pulling out his flip knife. He wrenches it open with his teeth.

"Don't you dare, you stupid bastard!" you scream down at him as you realise with what he intends to do.

He looks at you for one final moment and the world seems to stop. His expression is completely open and readable to you, perhaps for the very first time. His dark eyes glint with a fear that you suddenly realise is as much for you as it is for himself.

Then, he sets his face into a mask of grim determination and with one swift motion, he severs the flimsy cord of fabric tying you together and cuts himself loose.

"Cassian!" The vague outline of his name is torn ragged from your throat in an incomprehensible shriek of despair.

Helpless, you watch as he falls, limbs flailing, down, down, down, until he hits the water below with a sickening crash and disappears into the black, unforgiving waves.

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

Unbeknownst to you, the Rebel Alliance have successfully received Dreylan Balgo's biometric signature and K-2SO is already on his way to extract you and Cassian from Canto Bight.

By his calculations, K-2 should reach Cantonica in twelve hours, twenty-nine minutes and seven seconds. Plenty of time to mull over the conversation he'd had with Murdo the flight technician before he'd left the hanger.

"Maybe this time, eh K-2?" Murdo had quipped as he unhooked the re-fuelling nozzle from Cassian's ship.

"Maybe this time, what?"

"Maybe this time they'll finally have admitted their feelings for each other."

"That is a ridiculous observation," K-2 had said confidently, "They dislike each other immensely."

Murdo had laughed and made a comment about the droid having a lot to learn about human relationships which K-2 had thought was quite rude.

But as he barrels through the hyperspace lanes in Cassian's ship towards the Outer Rim and Cantonica, K-2 has time to mull things over.

He thinks about how on missions when the unit has to set up camp on some remote world, Cassian always leaves your meat rations on the fire just a little longer than everyone else's because he knows you like them so crispy that they're almost burnt.

Then he thinks about how whenever he and Cassian return from a mission you're not assigned to, yours is always the first face the droid spots in the hanger when they arrive back, and that once your eyes land on Cassian, you always walk away without a word, seemingly satisfied.

Now that K-2 really uses his circuits to process it, Murdo's conclusion doesn't seem quite so ridiculous after all.

"Humans," the droid muses to himself with an exasperated shake of his mechanical head.

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

Somehow, you manage to descend the transmitter, climbing and clambering down the structure in a daze. You don't bother even trying to mask your shouts of distress and frustration as your feet and hands slip on the blasted, kriffing, cursed metal all the way down.

You stagger the ten kilometers back to Canto Bight in something resembling a fugue state. When you reach the resort, you sneak through the back entry port you and Andor left through and wind your way through the maze of service passages and elevators back to your suite.

You are as bedraggled looking as you are distraught and you are glad that the corridors are as deserted as they were when you departed. You don't feel you could negotiate your way out of anything right now, despite all your training.

Once you've climbed out of your damp and dirty clothes you fall into bed. Andor's absence beside you is a stark, raw reminder of what's just happened and you finally allow yourself to cry. Somehow, at some point, as you wallow in your anguish, fatigue takes over and you fall into a torrid sleep.

When you awake, it's still dark and you have the distinct impression that you're being watched. There's someone else in the room with you. You bolt upright and almost cry out as your eyes take in the silhouette of a person in the moonlight.

The ghost of Cassian Andor is standing at the foot of the bed.

Except he's not a spectre, you realise. His outline, though swaying, is solid. He's flesh and blood. He's alive.

Once you've recover from the initial shock, you don't think you've ever felt relief like it in your whole life. You leap up out of the bed and fly to him, just as he starts to crumple to the floor. You grab for him, but too weak to moderate his own movements, he drops like a stone and his momentum pulls you crashing down on top of him.

He's all sand and salt and seawater and he is shivering violently. His eyes are heavy, like he's struggling to keep them open. You touch his face and his skin ice cold. His clothes are wet through and you're suddenly struck by the urgency of the situation. You need to get him warm. Now.

With great effort, you manage to half drag, half shove Andor towards the shower room. He's so exhausted and disoriented that even this appears to be an insurmountable task for him.

When you finally get him there, you bundle him into the shower, fully clothed. He slumps against the wall as you turn the warm water on. You start peeling off the sodden, freezing layers of his clothing.

He hisses through his teeth as you remove what remains of his shredded shirt and you see that the skin on his torso and back is blossoming here and there in vibrant shades of black and blue. You're not surprised, a fall from that height, these are probably bruises from hitting the water hard. You try to be more gentle.

Once he's free of all his clothing, you slide down behind him so that you are against the wall, and he's sat between your legs with his back pressed against your torso. You guide him to bring his knees up to his chest and he wraps his arms around himself pliantly, curling into a tight ball. He's still shaking uncontrollably.

You ignore your own discomfort as the warm water plasters your nightdress to your body like a second skin.

Trying desperately to aid the shower in its work of returning some of his body heat to him, you rub his back, his arms, and his chest vigorously. Every so often he rests his head on the bridge he's created with his forearms across his knees and you have to coax him gently to sit up.

"Stay awake," you plead, "You need to stay awake for me."

Finally, his shivering subsides and you sit in exhausted silence as the warm water continues to pour over both of you. Your chin is resting on his shoulder.

"Cassian," you finally say into his ear, tucking a stray lock behind it as if that will allow him to heed your words better.

He leans back into you, tilting his head up towards your face, to show he is listening.

"I don't....I don't despise you, I don't..." you trail off, silent tears suddenly mingling with the spray from the shower as they start to fall from your eyes.

Slowly, Cassian turns to you. He rolls on to his knees, and sits upright on his heels. You mirror his movements so that you are face to face and your foreheads come to rest against each other's.

"I know," he whispers, bringing a hand to your cheek, his expression soft and full of tenderness, "I know that."

He trails a series of soft kisses down your face, touching his lips to your forehead, then to the tip of your nose, and finally down until they reach your own. You melt into him.

This kiss is not like the first you shared, hasty and hurried and fuelled by external forces. This is deep and languid and deliberate, as if you are the only two in existence and you have all the time in the Galaxy to spend in this moment.

One of Andor's hands tangles up in your wet hair, the other presses against the small of your back as if willing you closer to him. You can feel his urgency increasing now. His movements are definite and purposeful as he caresses and kisses your skin.

Selfishly, you want him to continue, need him to never stop. But you also know this might not be the wisest way for him to recover.

"Cassian..."

"You told me I need to stay awake," he argues as if he already knows what you're about to say, now tracing kisses along your collarbone, "I'm awake."

"This isn't exactly what I had in mind..." you protest weakly, but the breathy desire in your own voice betrays you.

"Liar," he mumbles as he nuzzles into your neck and you feel him grin against your skin.

The movement of his lips makes his short beard tickle your flesh and the feeling forces a raucous laugh from your chest. It's a loud, unrestrained, joyful sound.

Cassian pulls away to look at you, wearing an expression of wonder. You realise he's probably never heard you laugh like that before. In fact, you can't remember the last time you heard it yourself.

His eyes crease at the corners and dimples appear in his cheeks as he smiles widely at you. That smile, the one you realise you've adored all along. And this one is only for you.

"You're infuriating," you scold, but your voice is light and full of heady exhilaration.

You wrap yourself around him and kiss him hard, realising, finally, that it is impossible to deny yourself the joy of him any longer.

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

You and Andor step off the landing platform of the resort and up into his ship. K-2 wastes no time in piloting the vessel up and away from the city.

Compared to the sumptuous surroundings of Canto Bight, the interior of the ship looks admittedly a little dreary by comparison, but you won't miss life within those opulent walls. Not when you now know just how many of its inhabitants are within the insidious clutches of the Empire.

"Well, I hope you two behaved yourselves," K-2 greets you as you both enter the cockpit.

You and Cassian exchange a glance. He winks at you and you actually giggle, the internal glow of happiness you feel manifesting itself in an embarrassing little laugh.

"I'm taking that as a no," K-2 says, "Murdo will be pleased."

"Who the hell is Murdo?" Cassian asks and he drops into the pilot's chair beside his faithful droid.

#cassian andor x reader #cassian andor x female reader #star wars fanfiction #star wars fanfic #cassian andor fanfiction

[robinchan-hananomi]

So I finally got to watch Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 last night

.

.

.

Rocket has always been one of my favorites. So when I learned this movie was going to be about him I was excited. Because Rocket had already been through absolute hell. He and Groot were bounty hunters, thrown together with Peter, Gamora, and Drax by simple accident. And then Rocket became invested in these people, grown to care about them through their time together. Even after losing his Groot and getting baby Groot, Rocket had seen them as family and because of that he lashed out, tried to push them away because he figured one day they would leave him anyway. Better to get the pain over with.

Instead he befriended Yondu and the ravangers. He lost Yondu, but he gained Mantis and Kraglin. Then they meet Thor and through him the rest of the Avengers. But in the process Rocket looses EVERYONE and for five years the only real family he has is Nebula, who only just stopped trying to kill him, because everyone else he ever loved and cared about is dead.

And some years later he’s got his family again, but they aren’t like they were. Peter, Groot, Nebula, Mantis, Drax, Kraglin, and now Cosmo are beat by the tears and the losses, especially of their Gamora. And they are just trying to rebuild and care for their home, only to have Rocket’s past come back to bite him in the ass.

And Rocket just had to mentally relive the losses of Lyla, Teefs, and Floor. He knows that half of his family are in the hands of his greatest tormentor, a man we see Rocket visibly terrified of. And he just woke up from a coma of over two days, is barley even coherent and has no idea why this patched together family is so relieved that he’s safe, even to the point of temporarily forgetting they are in danger.

So without even taking a moment to contemplate it, Rocket who is still reeling from it all finds himself out in a space craft trying to confront the man who tortured him, who turned him into something else. Who killed and tortured his friends, all to save his family and knowing the entire time that the reason they are in danger to begin with is because this man is obsessed with him.

There were a lot of moments in this movie that caught my emotions, but honestly I think one of the hardest for me was that moment Rocket was in his craft and the creatures were beginning to break through the windshield. The moment when everything up to that point had compounded and Rocket knew that if they got ahold of him, then all the pain and the dangers his family were facing would be all for nothing really struck me.

And at the very end to have Peter and Mantis go off alone, to have Gamora leave to her family. To have Nebula and Drax continue to build Nowhere, which is likely still the Guardians home-base and their actual home while Rocket is now the captain was also a powerful moment.

Because Rocket is back to where he started with Groot. But Rocket has a home in Nowhere and a family, even if they are scattered all over the Galaxy. And Rocket has a whole new team relying on him with Kraglin, Cosmo, Adam, Groot, and Phyla. I am so proud of how far Rocket has come and I hope he continues to lead the new Guardians on grand adventures before returning home to Nowhere and telling Nebula, Drax, and the children all about their grand stories because honestly, Rocket deserves the universe!!!

#guardians of the galaxy #guardians of the galaxy vol 3 #spoilers #gotg3 #gotg3 spoilers #rocket raccoon

[fancoloredglasses]

Star Trek, part 4: The Next Generation (Making the Federation even more Mary Sue)

[All images are owned by Paramount. Please don’t sue me]

The introduction of the Enterprise-A in Star Trek IV opened up the possibility of new adventures of the USS Enterprise, so when it was announced in 1987 that a new Star Trek television series would be starting, fans were hopeful that the crew of the Enterprise would go from the big screen back to the small screen.

They were very wrong.

(Thanks to Great80sTV)

Star Trek: The Next Generation (or simply TNG) takes place 80 years following the original Enterprise’s five-year missions. Gene Roddenberry is once again at the helm of the show, though he is assisted by Rick Berman, who would become the official showrunner following Roddenberry’s death.

The Federation of the 24th century is, if possible, even more utopian than before, having signed a peace treaty with the Klingon Empire (even if more than a few Klingons aren’t happy about it)

The latest ship to carry the legendary name, the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) is a Galaxy class starship, capable of longer missions into deep space. Warp technology has progressed far enough that the formula for warp speed had to be amended. Now (according to fan publications) the calculation is to a power of 5 (meaning that Warp 5 would be 5 x 5 x 5 x 5 x 5, or 3,125 times the speed of light. Using my Alpha Centauri example from my review of the original series, it would take about 9 1/2 hours at Warp 5 to reach Alpha Centauri from Earth, a much more reasonable time frame.

In addition to better Warp and defensive technologies, the Enterprise had a new technology known as holodecks, that made life-like imagery that the crew could touch and interact with, as a way to keep the crew from going stir-crazy. And the holodecks never, ever, ever had anything go wrong inside. Nope. Never. Not even once. (excuse me as I stifle several giggles)

Two other things that were different than previous Enterprises.

(Thanks to April 5, 2063)

Since the Galaxy class was designed to go farther out than was previously possible, crew quarters are large enough to allow the families of the crew to join them on board. Because of this, the saucer section can be detached from the Engineering hull to allow the civilian population to be evacuated in cases of extreme peril.

One other change was in the uniforms.

(Thanks to The Hollywood Reporter)

Starfleet has replaced the uniform used for over 70 years with an almost “throwback” uniform with the uniform color matching divisions (though red is now operations and gold is now service; but don’t worry, we’ll still call the doomed security personnel “Redshirts”)

You will note that the uniforms are all onesies. This will be changed by Season 2 (along with several minor changes as the series progresses, almost as if whoever designed the uniform didn’t plan for the comfort of the wearer)

Now let’s meet this new crew…

The Enterprise’s commanding officer is Captain Jean-Luc Picard (played by Sir Patrick Stewart, a Shakespearean actor who had never seen Star Trek before auditioning) Stewart takes the gravitas he learned on stage and brings it to the 24th century, setting the tone of the series to something a bit more thought-provoking and less fist-provoking (just one question: why is a French starship captain talking with a British accent?)

Picard’s First Officer is Commander William Riker, who tends to be more Kirk-like in his command style. He’s not the type to get into a brawl or anything, but he’s more the smooth-talking type who leads his team when danger presents itself. He tends to lead missions that are away from the ship, preferring the Captain stay within the relative safety of the Enterprise.

The Second Officer and Chief Navigator is Lt. Commander Data (played by Brent Spiner, who previously was known as recurring character Bob Wheeler on Night Court), an android created by Dr. Noonian Soong capable of independent initiative. Despite rumors to the contrary, Data earned the rank he holds. His journey of learning to be as human as possible often puts him at the center of humorous situations (like when he tried growing a beard) He (and it’s been confirmed that he is male, with all of the plumbing to match) is incapable of showing emotion or using contractions, and often gets so wrapped up in what he’s saying that he has to be cut off by whomever he’s talking to due to not knowing when to stop spouting facts.

Some time during the series (it’s never explained in or out of canon when or how), Data acquired a cat, which he named Spot (despite the fact that the cat had stripes) There were four different “Spots” throughout the series and NONE of them looked alike (plus Spot’s gender changed at least once) Spiner has gone on record saying he hated doing scenes that included Spot, as they always took three times as long to shoot due to the cat not cooperating.

The Ship’s Counselor and advisor to the Captain is Lt. Commander Counselor Deanna Troi (played by Marina Sirtis), a member of a telepathic race known as Betazoids (she mainly uses her abilities as an empath, preferring not to use telepathy) Troi is actually half-Betazoid. She previously had a relationship with Riker that ended amiably, which comes back into play every now and then.

Her mother Lwoxana (played by Majel Barrett) is infatuated with Picard, much to his chagrin.

The Chief Helmsman (and eventually Data’s best friend) is Lt. (later Lt. Commander) Geordi La Forge (played by Reading Rainbow host LaVar Burton) La Forge is blind (due to a blind girl wanting a role model on Star Trek and Gene Roddenberry having an ironic sense of humor by making the pilot blind) The object that looks like a banana clip (because that’s what it is!) is a VISOR (Visual Instrument and Sensory Organ Replacement), which is connected to implants on La Forge’s temples that feed his brain sensory data, including infrared and ultraviolet emissions. Starting in Season 2 (following Season 1’s “Chief Engineer of the Week”), La Forge is transferred to Engineering where he remained through the remainder of the series and beyond.

Lt. Worf (played by Michael Dorn) is the first and (thus far) only Klingon to serve on a Starfleet vessel. He was the last survivor when the Romulans attacked a Klingon outpost when he was a boy. A Starfleet crewman found him and raised him. He is still very much a Klingon warrior, though tempered by Federation ideals.

He serves on the Enterprise as…well, I’m not entirely certain what his duties are at the start of the series other than to be the Token Klingon.

[FUN FACT: The prosthetic Dorn wore in season 1 was stolen after the season ended, so a new one had to be crafted but wasn’t an exact replica, which is why he looks different from Season 2 onward]

The Chief Medical Officer is Commander Dr. Beverly Crusher (played by Gates McFadden) Unlike Dr. McCoy, she doesn’t have any memorable catchphrases. Her husband was killed under Picard’s command years prior. She and Picard have unresolved romantic tension throughout the series.

Since families are allowed on the Enterprise, Dr. Crusher is allowed to bring her son Wesley (played by Wil Wheaton, who was previously known for Stand by Me) aboard. Wesley is a child prodigy who…

Look, I’m just gonna say it. I never liked Wesley (though I’ve gotten a lot of respect for Wheaton since he left the series) because he was pretty much a Mary Sue. He knows more about every aspect of the Enterprise than officers who’ve spent years to earn their posts. Despite being a teenager, he refers to the crew as “grown ups” rather than “adults” and (at least in the early parts of the first season) threw tantrums when the people in authority wouldn’t let him get his way.

That being said, he managed to somehow gain the respect of the crew (especially Captain Picard)

(Thanks again to April 5, 2063)

Last, but certainly not first, we have Head of Security and Tactical Officer Lt. Tasha Yar (played by Denise Crosby) Yar comes from a colony that had broken down, now ruled by the strongest. At times it seemed like there could be romantic leanings between Yar and Worf (and there WAS a sexual encounter with Data!) however, this never came to fruition as the season 1 finale will explain.

(Thanks to Frustrated Idealist)

It turns out that Denise Crosby had the same issue that Nichelle Nichols had (her role was essentially window dressing), but unlike Nichols, Crosby didn’t have a famous comedian to urge her to stay so she left the series. With Yar’s death, Worf was moved to her position (which really should’ve been the case from the start, given he’s a Klingon)

In addition to Wesley’s field commission and the transfers of Worf and La Forge (oh, and Riker grew a beard), there were two casting changes for season 2.

Backstage tension between Gates McFadden and the show’s head writer (who had gotten more authority as Gene Roddenberry started stepping back) caused McFadden to be fired. In canon, Dr. Crusher was reassigned to Starfleet Medical (though Wesley stayed aboard for some reason)

Replacing Dr. Crusher is Lt. Commander Dr. Kate Pulaski (played by Diana Maldaur (who had appeared in an episode of the Original Series and was best known for falling down an elevator shaft on LA Law) Dr. Pulaski was far more gruff than Dr. Crusher (more similar to Dr. McCoy, but without the catchphrases), and proved to be unpopular. She was replaced when the writer left and Rick Berman asked McFadden to return for season 3.

Finally, we come to the other Nichelle Nichols story she enjoyed telling.

There was a young black girl who saw Uhura and was amazed there was a black woman on TV who wasn’t a maid (this was the 60s, so that kind of thing was almost unheard of) She would be inspired to become a stand-up comedian, and eventually a popular movie actress. When TNG started, she went to Roddenberry and told him she wanted a role on the show…ANY role!

That little girl’s name?

Whoopie Goldberg, who was given the role of Guinan, the bartender of the Enterprise’s Ten Forward lounge. Guinan is of a race with cosmic-ish abilities (when the Enterprise is involved in a temporal event that changed history, Guinan was the only one who knew something was amiss)

Also over the course of the series we got interactions with Original Series crew members...

Admiral McCoy (retired, now over 130 years old)

Captain Scott (retired, who was suspended in time for over 70 years)

...and Ambassador Spock (well, Vulcans do live over 200 years)

It’s the interactions between the cast members that sets the series apart from the Original Series, and it truly is an ensemble cast; every cast member is given their chance in the spotlight on a number of episodes (particularly Data (in his quest to try to be more human) and Worf (as he tries to find his place between two cultures))

With the Klingons more-or-less friends, Starfleet needed more recurring alien threats to deal with (the Romulans were still around, but were quiet during the early seasons)

The Ferengi are a race that personify the absolute worst a capitalist society can be, prioritizing profit above all else (they even codify it in their code of “ethics” known as the Rules of Acquisition) Unfortunately, rather than being the threat they were intended they turned out to be little more than comic relief.

The Cardassians are a militaristic race bent on conquest (there are certainly a lot of those hanging around in the galaxy, aren’t there?) They tend to be cruel to those they conquer. However, to prevent a war the Federation ceded a number of Federation colony worlds that once belonged to the Cardassians, leaving those who chose to stay to fend for themselves against their new rulers (this may be the first crack in the utopian facade the Federation shows) Many Federation citizens (including a number of Starfleet personnel) formed a resistance group known as the Maquis, who are dedicated to freeing the colonies left to the Cardassians. Both the Federation and the Cardassians treat the group as terrorists.

Q (a member of the Q Continuum, played by John deLancie) is an omnipotent entity who appears occasionally to attempt to teach the Enterprise (and more importantly Captain Picard) about the fallacies of humanity and the dangers of What Lies Beyond. Many times his antics are played for laughs, but unlike the Ferengi there is always a dangerous undercurrent to Q’s games. Unfortunately, his antics have gotten Q in trouble with his fellow Q, and at one point he had been stripped of his powers and made human for a brief period.

Q is directly responsible for introducing the Federation to the gravest threat to the galaxy…

The Borg.

The Borg are humanoid beings that have been enhanced with cybernetics and, due to their hive mind, are able to adapt quickly to dangers (a phaser will down a few Borg, but they will quickly adapt and be able to repel future blasts on that light frequency) Any time they encounter a new species, they assimilate the species and their technology into their Collective.

The series ran for 7 seasons, beginning and ending with Q putting the humanity on trial (with the crew of the Enterprise playing the role of defendant for the entire race) The series laid the groundwork for two spin-off series set in the same era (plus at least one that debuted after 2010, so I won’t be covering it), but those are tales for future reviews.

If you would like to watch the series it’s available on Paramount+, PlutoTV, or behind your favorite paywall. If you would like to see an episode reviewed, please let me know!

One quick note before I go: I would like to show the tale of the first Meeting of the Generations (which occurred during the filming of Star Trek V), as told by Wil Wheaton.

[DISCLAIMER: This is told entirely from Wheaton’s perspective, and I’m sure William Shatner has a different take on it, but given all the stories about Shatner over the years, I’m inclined to think this is closer to the truth]

(Thanks to Eric Webb)

#star trek #the next generation #patrick stewart #jonathan frakes #brent spiner #michael dorn #marina sirtis #gates mcfadden #levar burton #wil wheaton #denise crosby #diana muldaur #whoopi goldberg #uss enterprise #fan colored glasses

[leggerefiore]

Familial Resemblance

cw: angst, fluff, Cyrus Hisui AU

pairing: Cyrus/Reader

I'm mentally unwell for him. I apologise.

🌌🛰☄️🌌🛰☄️🌌🛰☄️

Hisui was a strangely nostalgic place for you. The way the uninhabited lands held the charm of what they would one day develop into. Or, the pokemon still those native to the region, yet unbothered and more wild than the ones back in the era you were from.

Sinnoh was your home in your time. A place that could have both a rural, homely charm and a large, modern feel, depending on where you decided to visit. Everything felt exciting and vast, especially when exploring around on some sort of adventure. The underground was always an experience of finding rare and unknown objects, while the surface was packed full of history and wonder.

Your adventure had settled down long ago, however, with you, too. Veilstone having become a permanent residence of you and your boyfriend, Cyrus. While you had been mostly unaware of his affairs with Team Galactic, you worked to stop him after learning of just want his plans were. He swore he would never give up on them, alas, and disappeared away into the Distortion World, never to be seen. Only an ominous message to his commander Saturn to not look for him being left behind.

You did. With much determination, might you add.

Cyrus was your beloved fool, and you refused to let him continue to hide himself away because he was unable to bear his emotions.

Hisui... Had not been what you wanted with that in mind.

You vanished from your apartment and into the vast lands of Hisui while you slumbered, awakening on a beach with a baffled Galarian above you. He quickly helped you get on your feet while you internally panicked about the situation. Hoping it was a dream, you helped him recapture his lost pokemon and lead you to the early established Jubilife.

Him speaking about the Galaxy Team had you convinced this was some accumulation of recent madness into an odd dream parallel even further. That was until you were introduced to the captain of the Survey Corps. It was difficult to admit that you teared up at the sight of her. The captain herself was a bit distressed by your reaction, but you could not be blamed when familiar blue hair and a harsh expression haunted you.

She was at least polite enough to ignore it while threatening you to earn your keep and place in the village. That was just the beginning of all the odd people who could only remind you of those from your modern era. Unfortunately, Cyllene left the largest impact on you for her uncanny resemblance to your lover.

It was not long after the celebration of the quelling of all the frenzied Nobles and stopping the legendary pokemon that you found yourself alone with the captain. Your journey to get to this point had been a long and arduous one, but it felt like you could relax at long last. Many friends had been made, with trust both lost and gained from many parties. Perhaps, that was how the topic ended up being spoken between you both.

Tearfully, you finally broke down over what had happened with Cyrus and how you felt so hopeless being stuck so far in the past. Cyllene was quite shocked as you sobbed about her descendant to her. You excluded the parts related to just what he had done with his organization, however. She did need to be burdened with the knowledge of what Cyrus would attempt to do. A rare softness took over her features as she softly took your hand in hers. Closing her eyes, she promised to support you in your endeavours of searching for a way home.

That later bled into helping Volo begin his hunt for the plates in order to summon Arceus. If anything could ever be able to get you back to the modern day, it would be the creator of all things itself.

It was while on this search that you found yourself wandering around Mt. Coronet. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, you were just observing the wild Rotoms float about nearby ruins. Well, until a loud thud echoed out from higher above. Snow flew up in the air from whatever had landed on the ground. You rushed over in a panic, worried a Galaxy or clan member had fallen.

Instead, you saw familiar grey clothing and spiky hair. It was probably inhuman the speed in which you rushed over to him. Flipping him over, you instantly checked his pulse and breathing, confirming he was alive. You felt amazed and astonished to see him here in Hisui. How had he ended up here? There was little time to worry as you waved down Galaxy members from the base camp to help you.

There was obvious shock and awe among the Security Corps member that came to help and Laventon. It was obvious there was some relation to Cyllene, what with their familial resemblance and him having an insignia much too like the Galaxy Team's own. They quickly carried him to the camp to warm him and check him over for any obvious injury. You stuck to his side, too, desperately waiting for him to stir slightly from his unconscious state.

Yet, it did not happen between your time of finding him and the time in which more Security Corps members arrived to take him away to the village. You trailed after them, afraid that if you lost sight of him, you might truly never see him again. Unfortunately, you were denied entry into the infirmary. Any arguments were quashed when your captain called you into her office to discuss her supposed relative's sudden appearance.

It was quietly discussed and understood that the newcomer was the descendant you had mentioned to her. Closing her eyes, you could see Cyllene ponder the situation. Her Abra tilted its head in the background. “… I suppose, I can ask you to take responsibility for him?” she then shook her head, “… But if he is my descendant as you claim, then he must be mine.” Her eyes came to stare at you.

“… I'd… just like to speak with him first,” you admitted quietly. A contemplation from her followed. Pesselle unexpectedly entered the office to confirm that he was stabilised yet still unconscious, and permitted to allow for visiting. You gazed at the captain with pleading eyes, and she dismissed you. A silent gratitude was shared with her with a curt nod. You trailed past the medic and nearly rushed to the infirmary.

Finding yourself as his side again, you softly took his hand. His sleeping face seemed surprisingly peaceful despite the bandages wrapped around it. Where had he been? Just how did he end up here? You felt overjoyed to see him again. Confirming no one else was around, you leaned over to kiss his temple.

Was he her responsibility or yours? You almost wanted to say he was certainly yours. Getting comfortable, you felt contented to just sit and watch him. Even as the hour grew later and the sky darker; even as Pesselle urged you to head to your quarters, you remained dutifully at his side. You did not even realise you had fallen asleep at his side.

Though, you were stirred awake by a sudden movement. Your head had rested on the side of Cyrus's bed, having been sitting on the floor. A hand came to stroke your hair. You rose up from your position to look at Cyrus. Stern blue eyes gazed at you with mild confusion and disbelief. Tears burned your eyes. You embraced him as best you could from his half leaned up pose.

“Cy…” you mumbled into his shoulder, “Cy… It is you!” His hand came to you again, to lightly push you away. He gazed around the room in confusion. The room was dark, only a single lamp lit. Most of the Medical Corps had retired hours ago, leaving you and the blue-haired man as the only inhabitants of the room.

“Where is this…?” Cyrus's voice was scratchy, like he had not had anything to drink in a while, “Beloved… No…” He shook his head and spoke your name firmly. You pouted at him.

“This is…” you froze. How did you explain your situation to him? “… The Galaxy Team Headquarters.” He shot you a strange look. Likely, Cyrus had assumed you had a misnomer of his team's name. “Not Team Galactic, Cyrus,” you quickly moved to kill any confusion, “The Galaxy Team. The people who established Jubilife.” His eyes went wide.

“I am unsure what game you are playing at, but that building no longer exists,” he sighed, sitting up completely. A soft hiss of pain came as something obvious hurt from the movement. “… Your clothing is strange,” his eyes moved across your Survey Corps uniform, gaze going to your sleeve to examine the logo, “What is this…? I was just in Giratina's dimension.”

Footsteps silenced you both as the trailed in from the hall. More light came with them, shining on to you both. “I thought heard voices,” a familiar, stern voice spoke. You whipped your head around. Cyllene stood with a lamp held in her hand. Stepping closer, you could only watch Cyrus's expression shift to something of pure astonishment. “I am Cyllene, the captain of the Galaxy Team's Survey Corps,” she introduced herself formally, “As I understand, you are romantically involved with my subordinate.”

Cyrus considered her with something of scepticism and bewilderment, meeting one's ancestor seemingly more life changing than summoning two legendary pokemon. “Yes,” he affirmed, “I am dating them.” He shifted his attention to you, obviously wanting you to give him more information as to just what this is. There was no time for that, however.

“They have made claims beyond my imagination, stating they are from the future, and you are my descendant,” she continued after his confirmation, “There is an obvious resemblance between us, and I have received no contract from my relatives of family wishing to come to Jubilife.” Her posture was straight. “Cyrus, correct? Who are you?” Cyllene asked finally.

He seemed stricken with how to reply. Your words about the location of you both compared with her entire existence and confirmation of some temporal dissonance linking in his head. “… I suppose… I will have to confirm their assertion of time travel,” Cyrus relented that fact, “With that logic, then, yes, I am your descendant.” You watched as he held back any information about Team Galactic. She closed her eyes and nodded.

“How… fantastical…�� She sighed. Cyrus seemed in agreement with her words. You felt awestruck at everything. Two of them… Two of a kind… Cyllene opened her eyes. “What a mess,” she spoke without her usual formality, “For now, I would propose introducing yourself as a cousin of mine.” She stepped toward him. “I ask that you refrain from disappearing from them,” her tone was scolding as she looked down at him, “You had them in a horrible state worrying for your safety.”

Cyrus went silent at her shift in tone. With that, she departed from the room with an order for you to head to your home to rest properly. You signed and ignored it. The Galactic Boss closed his eyes to think. At least he seemed to believe you now. There was not a chance you left his side, terrified Giratina would come and scoop him away again.

“… I take it you made no mention of my plans to her,” he spoke once more after a few moments. You nodded. His gaze met yours curiously. “You were upset with me deciding to remain in the Distortion World, then?” Cyrus's hand came to cup your cheek as you sat near him on the bed. Again, you nodded. “… Had I not been interfered with by that infernal pokemon, you would have never experienced those emotions.”  Or any ever, if he had succeeded. You did not dare say that aloud.

“I… I love you, Cy,” you leaned in close enough to feel his breath fan across your skin, “I don't want to lose you again. I hated being away from you… I didn't know if you were even alive!” Tears burned your eyes again as you pressed a kiss to his lips. The affection was unexpectedly reciprocated as Cyrus's hand shifted to the back of your head. When you finally pulled away, you looked deeply into his eyes.

“Beloved,” the familiar affectionate term left him again, “I believe you should follow your captain's orders for now. I assure you I will not disappear, especially not in this circumstance.” You looked at him carefully, still not entirely trusting him. “Trust me,” he said plainly, “Please.” You gave in at that. With one last quick kiss to his cheek, you left the infirmary to head to your home.

Morning came quickly, and you ended up sleeping in on accident due to the previous day's events. By the time you found yourself leaving your home, it was already past noon. You rushed to the headquarters, desperately wanting to see Cyrus again. Inside, you saw a crowd formed slightly outside Cyllene's office. Even Laventon stood among the gawkers. You weaved through, curious about what had drawn them all there.

In the office stood Cyllene with Cyrus on his knees. She stood above him with a stern expression. You walked in, interrupting whatever had developed. Both their eyes landed on you. She readjusted herself to stand more stiffly. What had happened? Cyrus looked completely mortified by her, a rare break in his usual stoic streak.

“… Please — shut the doors,” she gave an order to you and a harsh look to the crowd outside. You quickly moved to do as instructed, and the people slowly dispersed from the hall. She moved to sit at her desk and rested her head on her hand. Cyrus silently rose from his kneeling position. “I am uncertain as to how your parents treated you during your youth,” she glared at Cyrus, “But you simply cannot follow down the path you walk on. As your ancestor, I simply will not allow it.” You felt like you were watching a friend get in trouble with their mom.

“… As I stated, my goal is to create a complete world without strife or suffering,” he refused to face her again. You flinched. Had he told her about what he did with the legendary pokemon? You hoped she had not told him you had those two very ones stashed away in your bag.

“Emotions are necessary, Cyrus,” her tone was strict, “If you feel discontented with your own, it is your duty to work on them.” He flinched at the way she spoke to him. You felt nervous. Was this how his parents treated him? You reached out to grab his wrist. “… Please work under me,” she offered, “You clearly need to recover from your injuries, and we do not allow those who do not work to stay here. I feel it is my duty to help set you on a better path, as well.”

You looked at him. Softly gripping him, you spoke, too. “Cy, please,” you begged him, “I'm working on a way to get us back home. You staying here could have with you a professor and a wealth of information.” He sighed.

“Fine,” Cyrus relented, “... What do you expect of me? You explained that they do field research, but it sounds as if that is not your intention for me.” Cyllene looked at the mess of papers around her and then at him. Oh, boy, you realised.

Cyrus's secretary arc was to begin, it seemed.

#cyrus x reader #pokemon x reader #pokemon cyrus x reader #cyrus/reader #pokemon cyrus/reader #pokemon/reader #i. already have a second part to this fic.

[prismasartworks]

Johnny Test: Power Up! - Show Concept

After seeing @mrultra100 's post about his rendition of the JT cast for Primal Eternity and @rominadrawsart15 about Ultimate Showdown, I decided to do a long followup/post about "Johnny Test: Power Up!" I've already explained about the characters, the new world and the settings of this spinoff in 5-6 posts, but now with lots of redeveloping and brainstorming, I'll give you the redefined concept of the spinoff!

But before I reintroduce the stars as well as the whole concept itself, I wanted to explain the reason on why I came up with the spinoff idea and why I wanted to make it official. My opinion is that Johnny Test has A LOT of potential to shine, but executive meddling from the studio, cutting the budget and overall the infamy from the Internet severely dampened the spark and ultimately became dead. And don't get me started on The Lost Web Series, where the animation looked stiff and cheap. Hell, even when the Netflix revival did some things right (though the theme song was not good), lack of attention and exposure basically sealed its fate indefinitely and extinguishing the spark forever. Which is honestly pretty sad for me, because it had some potential, that needed to be expanded. And this is why I came up with a rather BIG change to shake things up and reinvigorate the series with a cosmic bang!

What's the premise of the series?

So, here's the premise for "Johnny Test: Power Up!":

After a mysterious incident, which involved about a powerful machine and a big mistake, Johnny, Dukey, the sisters and many of their friends, loved ones and enemies, as well as a few strangers get teleported to an unknown galaxy very far away from theirs, inhabited by aliens, anthromorphic animals and a few mystical ones in a futuristic environment. For the main team, it will be in the planet, Lumina, specifically in a futuristc and colourful city, named Starfall City. From there on, the team have to go through (mis-)adventures to find the others, the lost memories and a way back home, while encountering new friends, who would help them along the way and fighting off bigger threats than they would ever imagine. All while forming a new bond, that would last through the cosmos and the chaos, while trying to survive in this new world.

Unlike the last iterations, it'll be a mix between serialized and episodic, striking a balance between the comedic Johnny Test side with some anime slapstick mixed in (i.E., making the characters even more expressive) and the more serious and dark ones, with emotional moments, plottwists and so on. The episodes will be longer though, somewhat between 16-22 minutes of each episode, with the exceptions being specials and movies, which are longer. The series will also take two years after the original and the revival (there has been debate about their ages in the revival, until I talked to Ultra about it), which means the characters will be older and since they will be in a new world, they would be redesigned to fit in the adventurous and stylish vibe. There will be also an in-universe explaination on how they got the redesigns. So, while some familiar elements will be there, an overarching story and a new coat of paint will provide some fresh air.

Let's meet the main stars!

While the cast will be a good mix between returning veterans and newcomers, the show will be mainly focused on the Test siblings, their pal Dukey and finally THREE new characters. The group of seven will be the heart and core of the show, with their own personalities, backstories, flaws, character arcs, etc. So, let's meet them!

Johnny Test (voiced by James Arnold Taylor) - The hyperactive and bright leader of his own team. When he was a kid, he just wanted ot have fun by any means neccesary, despite of how irresponsible he can be. He may be a lazy jerk sometimes, he does have a big heart and courage, which will later be very useful. As the years went on, the usual shenanigans bored him out of his mind, but one day, when he saw a video of some sick parkour moves, he was so amazed, that he and Dukey decided to train themselves some parkour. At the beginning, he struggled without any invention, but as time went on, he became better and better, to the point that he is known for his very quick moves, but also for his cocky attitude. Little did he know, that by the time, he would be mysteriously teleported to Lumina, he would face even more dangerous threats and bigger challenges, this fiery boy would ever imagine and even changing his life forever. On the bright side, this new world allows him to hone more of his parkour skills, while exploring the galaxy, meeting new friends and learning things along the way, which would change his perspective in a new way. However, that means, he had to let go of his old habits and mature, in order to be on par against his new and powerful enemies. When the situation is tense, his demeanor would change into a more serious fighter, willing to go even further beyond to protect his friends, his loved ones and his new home. And together with his best friend, Dukey, his sisters and his three new friends, they'll push through the danger for a better future.

Dukey (voiced by Trevor Devall) - The voice of reason and the sidekick of the team. An anthromorphic dog, mutated by Susan and Mary, acting as a older brother figure to Johnny, going along with him during their crazy adventures and many activities, with the recent activity being lots of parkour. Despite their close bond going for years, Dukey still freuqently expresses his concern and distain towards Johnny's less intellegent and more dangerous antics and is especially concerned about his health, when it comes to the latter being used as a guinea pig for the twins' experiements, either for finding a way back home or just out of curiousity, due to Luminian technology. After being teleported into Lumina, not only he and the others have to adapt in the new galaxy, but the situation made him even more stressed and anxious than ever. Didn't help, that one of the new friends, he made, is such a impulsive hot-head, who also goes through even more dangerous antics, which means he had to watch out for that. His friendship towards the Tests and the new ones will be tested time after time, as the threats would become bigger and more dangerous while trying to survive in this new frontier. But in the end, if the situation is tense, the mutt will swallow his fears down and stand up against the enemies, together with his best friends, while also learning important lessons along the way.

Susan Test (voiced by Maryke Hendrikse) - One half of the team's brains and a talented scientist. Always seen inventing stuff or swooning over Gil, along with her twin sister. She is known to think a lot more rationally and logically than Mary, but also less open-minded. So imagine her reaction, when not only she gets sent to a different galaxy, along with the others, but one of her new friends being a magical fairy (leading to Susan often being at odds against Serena, due to their beliefs and the latter not approving of her using Johnny as a lab rat, which is the reason, why the fairy dislikes the sisters) , one being a robot with a happy personality being built in and one being a teenage, alien snail, whose rage would make her look like a rational and calm person. On the bright side, the advanced technology allowed her and Mary to experiment on it, trying to emulate it, while also trying to find a way back home. Most of the times, they would fail spectaculary, but they're slowly learning. At one point, after seeing her little brother and Dukey doing some parkour, she and Mary decided to train themselves, in case if they have to take the situation themselves, not knowing that it would happen sooner than she expected, with bigger threats and higher stakes. Armed with smart glasses and many gadgets, this headstrong girl will make sure, that any bad guy wouldn't get away.

Mary Test (voiced by Emily Tennant) - The other half of the team's brains and also a talented scientist. Much like her twin sister, she posesses a high IQ and does everything with her sister together. Either inventing stuff, using Johnny as a lab rat or swooning over Gil. However, unlike Susan, Mary is more open-minded, empathetic, but less outspoken. Also unlike her sister, she is more open to more hypothetical sciences such as extraterrestrials and cryptids, which caused her to be at odds with Susan, but at least one of her new friends, Serena, likes her a bit more than her twin sister. After getting sent to Lumina, seeing the aliens and making friends with a fairy, as well as the advanced tech, made her more determined to recreate Luminian technology for more groundbreaking results. But because she is less outspoken, Mary is often in the background, while the others shine. This makes her yearning for the day, she would be in the spotlight. Unbeknownst to her, the day would come sooner than she expected. Fortunately, with several gadgets, smart glasses and a quicker pace, Mary would do anything to protect those, she loved the most and defeat the enemies.

Schalot (voiced by Brian Doe) - Despite him not really buff lookng (his body type is slim btw), this teenage, pastel pink snail is the strong and fast fighter of the team, ready for a fight. Described as a impulsive, sassy, moody, introverted (as well as chaotic), yet tough and direct individual, this guy is not afraid to show and speak up his opinions, in form of roasts and shouts to almost anyone. Always armed with a scepter, which has a plasma blade insjde that can pop up with the push of a small button and several throwing blades, he is known for his fast moves and devastating attacks. Heck, instead of running away, he wouldn't go down with a fight (though when he's too overloaded with panic, he would simply faint). His biggest character flaw is that Schalot is so sensitive and hot-headed, that even a slight annoyance would tip him off and he has trouble managing his emotions, due to a traumatic event (which was an alien invasion) at a young age, which lead to losing his parents (He would later find his siblings). In other words, outside of his tough shell is a very vulnerable and damaged person, yearning for comfort, company and happiness. But on the flipside, he is not a full blown jerk, as this snail is loyal and caring, like a big brother to the team, who's willing to protect them at any cost, despite him being the youngest of the pastel siblings. In the free time, he would be seen browsing on his phone, adoring cats and overall minding his own business with milkshakes and sweets.

Serena Rose (voiced by Shannon Chan-Kent) - A shy and timid, yet sweet and kind girl, who's at the same age as Johnny. She just moved to Porkbelly with her dad, when they were mysteriously teleported into a new galaxy. Feeling scared, she tried to find her dad, only to meet Johnny, Dukey, Susan, Mary, Schalot and Ziffy instead. (She will later reuinite with her dad) The amber/yellow eyed girl serves as the heart of the group, taking care of her friends and attempting to solve conflicts. During battle, she moves with so much grace and fluidity, because she did take gymnastics classes before. While she may sound like an average sweet girl to some, Serena is far more special than anyone else: She is in fact, a fairy! Inherited from her missing mother, she has magical abilites of flight with her pink fairy wings and casting spells, with a special necklace. Her biggest flaw is, she is too afraid to use her magic, due to an event, where after being corned by some bullies, her fear lead to an unintenional blast, which also hurt a few innocent people as well. Thankfully, after hearing her story, Johnny and the others will help her overcome her fears and embrace her fairy side, inspiring her to train her skills and use them for good. But be careful! If you commit crime and/or hurt her loved ones, be prepared to be the receiving end of a magical punishment.

Ziffy (voiced by Andrea Libman) - A small robot assistant with a very lively and happy personality, ready to help the team out on (almost) any situation, while also making new friends with a bright smile. So much so, that even in the most dire situation, they never give up hope and keep looking out to the light. They're also the glue of the group, often approaching with a neutral perspective and making sure, the team wouldn't break up, while also acting as a n assistant to the sisters. (Fun fact, they and the robots created the T-05 multipurpose communicators, that houses a special plasma tether, known as the Neolink, which allows the user to latch onto targets to pull them in, throw them around and so on. It can also be used as a rope or even a whip. The users can even combine their Neolinks to make a longer beam, a bungee cord or even a net for example. It's a very versatile tool for exploration, combat and utility.) . Despite their small size, they pack a lot of stuff, like many weapons, gadgets (ranging from practical and useful to outright ridiculous), etc, in case they would protect their friends in a dire situation, when they need their help. However, they have the tendency to overload to stress out and being too emotional, due to the programming and the AI not being perfect. Especially, when their friends, including their best friend, Schalot, would cause chaos. This would result in Ziffy taking breaks and recharging themselves during the night. Regardless of their flaws, if you are down, expect Ziffy to cheer you up with a smile and lots of fun!

Meet their allies!

Our heroes will not go through those adventures alone, as several allies, both new and old will assist them throught the journey. The newcomers will also serve to help the others develop, while also having their own arcs. So, let's meet the allies!

Mr. Black and Mr. White (voiced by Scott McNeil and Deven Mack) - Two undercover agents working for the General. While they try to do their jobs, most of the times, they fail out of incompetence, which leads to Schalot calling them "Agents Dumb and Dumber". But when push comes to shove, they will put extra effort against the enemies. The General (voiced by Lee Tockar) - The general in Lumina's Area 2.1. Being appointed out of pure luck, he would do his usual thing, which would make him at odds with his second in command, Cynthia, who is more serious. However, when the situation becomes serious, he wouldn't hesitate to go all out with the fight, even though most of the times, he and the army would fail against the most cunning villains. Cynthia (voiced by Nicole Oliver) - The oldest sibling of the pastel snail siblings and the second in command in Area 2.1. Unlike her peers, she takes her job seriously with her massive experience in combat and cold and strict demeanor, with some paranoia sprinkled in. One that, even Schalot himself is afraid of her on a bad day. On the flipside, the pastel green snail is a very protective and mature person, willing to sacrifice herself for her loved ones. Especially her young siblings, though she is protective towards her youngest brother, who is more reckless and impulsive.

Sky (voiced by Vincent Tong) - A pastel blue snail, who is the older twin of Melody. He is a very creative and generous being, who works really hard in form of his artworks and masterpieces. Sky is also protective to Melody, who can be a bit reckless, but not as much as his youngest brother, Schalot. However, being an artist would also leave him anxious and somewhat of a control freak, but despite all of this, his loved ones and friends would help Sky overcome his fears and bring out more inspiration. Melody (voiced by Kelly Sheridan) - A very lively and energetic woman with an eye for talent and fashion, since she is a musician and songwriter. This pastel yellow snail is known for her melodic voice, fashionable looks and positive personality. Being the youngest twin of Sky, they would often collaborate each other for many projects. Despite for being a drama queen, her heart is in the right place and truly cares for her siblings. Even though she is not a fighter, when the situation is tight and it involves her loved ones, she wouldn't hesistate to try her best to fight.

Sissy Blakely (voiced by Ashleigh Ball) - Johnny's old rival(/possible love interest?) and an incredibly confident, yet sissy girl. Often seen competing with Johnny, along with her dog, Missy, but this time, they would also often compete in parkour, since she saw Johnny and Dukey doing some sick tricks, before they were sent to Lumina, so the ladies decided to take up parkour as well. When she is not competing, she would try her best to adapt in this new world, until she finds a way back home. In the meantime, she would also have a mutual respect towards Serena, though she would (rarely) comment, if the two have a crush on each other, when the two are together, which both Johnny AND Serena vehemently deny out of embarrasment. Speaking of the latter, Serena would be confused on why they are fighting and would try her best to solve the conflict, even though the situation is far too complex to understand. She does come in a pinch to help them out every now and then.

Gil Nexdor (voiced by Andrew Francis) - A tall teenager with good looks and charm, that even girls and even boys would be fawning over. He's slightly smarter in the show and would even interact with the teenage residents in Lumina, after he got teleported there. He is still friendly towards Johnny and meets his new friends at the same time, though Schalot isn't impressed, due to his stupidity. But unlike his past iteration, he would have more depth to his character and be more interesting.

Herbert Rose (voiced by Brian Drummond) - A middle aged man, who is Serena's father. He is described as a quiet, yet smart and empathetic man, who tries his best to take care of his daughter, after his wife, Delia, went missing under mysterious circumstances. Prior to the incident, he and Serena just moved to Porkbelly and he was about to take a job as a teacher, as Herbert learned about education and psychology. Ever since meeting the Tests, everytime when there is conflict, especially that Serena became friends with the Test siblings, he would act as a mediator, trying to solve the conflict. Mind you, this doesn't happen that often, due to a busy schedule. But despite the new chaotic situation of them adapting in a new galaxy, he hopes, that maybe, Delia would be out somewhere, alive and well. Oh and he is aware about his daughter being a fairy (due to Delia also being a fairy) and is okay, but he is concerned about her safety. Bling-Bling-Boy (voiced by Lee Tockar) - A rich and snobby genius, who also got teleported into the new galaxy. As soon, as he learned about Luminian technology, he started researching about it and even incoorporate elements with his own inventions. Despite being Johnny's enemy, who is deeply in love with Susan, he does like his presence and even hang out with him and Dukey for fun times, even occationally teaming up with them against the other enemies and villains. In other words, he has a hidden soft spot for them and even Schalot, Serena and Ziffy, despite them interfering with his plans. Also despite the fact, that Schalot is not afraid to show his dislike towards Eugene, either by roasts or even attacks, which really annoys him.

Jillian Vegan (voiced by Maryke Hendrikse) - A very closed off and rebellious girl, who wants to build her own image and become independent, much to her dad's dismay. Arriving in Lumina away from her family would allow her to follow her dreams and later reuinite with Johnny and Dukey, while meeting their new friends at the same time. When Dark Vegan returned, tensions will grow, as Jillian tries her best to grow up and become more independent. Only time will tell, if she can achieve her dreams. Orion (voiced by Ian Hanlin) - A really wealthy, yet hard working, courteous and chill, lilac snail, originating from Nox, who is never afraid to show his kindness and generosity to the less fortunate. At a young age, he and his mom fled from his greedy and mean dad, who was running a company and went into hiding out of fear. Unfortunately, she became seriously ill and without any money for healthcare or even some form of help, passed away. From this point on, Orion decided to help the less fortunate and with the help of his friends, opened up a company, focusing on wellness products. At one point, he met Schalot, who was haunted by his own guilt, after his berzerk form nearly destroyed Starfall CIty and hurting his friends and loved ones and helped him heal and overcome his demons. His efforts worked, when the pink snail managed to stop Orion's father, exposing his shady tactics and saving the employees and other people from his grasp. Ever since then, he's been in touch with Schalot and became very close friends. But maybe there's more to this, than it seems... There will also be other characters, the heroes are interacting in Lumina, ranging from Spritz (voiced by Cathy Wesluck), an owner of a milkshake parlor, to various Luminians and other aliens. Most of them will be one-offs though, with some exceptions.

As for the villains, I already made a post, right here. All my points about them will still stand, apart from Terios being more chivalrous and noble.

What are the themes and goals?

As I mentioned before, the main goal of "Power Up!" is to flesh out the series in a new way, making complex stories and themes, while also keeping the good things about the series and eliminating its weakpoints, both the original and revival had. It also needs much more needed improvements, like better written characters, a more exciting and fantastical world or in this case, a new galaxy for them to explore, having mature storylines with higher stakes and lessions throughout the way, a connected storyline (i.e, finding a way back home, remembering about the past to improve themselves, etc.) Aside from Dukey, most of the characters are quite bland in the two official versions, so another goal is to flesh them out even more, learning more about the new frontier, while also slowly growing up, having more depth and having different morals and goals. This is also a reason, why I introduce those new characters. They'll help them flesh out even more with their interactions and stories for them to listen and learn. For example, Serena would help Johnny to be more considerate to his surroundings with her kindness, Ziffy teaching the sisters to be more optimistic and Schalot helping Dukey to overcome his anxiety. On the flipside, the veterans would also help the newcomers overcome their hurdles in their lives and mature, as the series goes on.

Also, it needs to be better paced, like even when the action will be fast paced, other times, it should be slown down, so that character development would blossom. Not to mention, remove the toilet humor, make the writing more mature and we have something, that can be enjoyed by everyone. That being said, in order to escape from the low-budget past, "Johnny Test: Power Up!" will have better and stronger writing, with three themes being symbols of their new mythos:

Unity - No matter the race and identity, everyone deserves to work and stand together for a better future. Friendships and famiies, as long as they're healthy and really connected, will stand strong against the odds.

Love - Whatever it is self-love, love towards your loved ones and many more, everybody had to embrace themselves to be unique and proud of who they really are. Not to mention, building up confidence and happiness.

Dreams - Even when the world is against it, never give up following for your dreams and keep fighting for it.

On top with those themes, the characters will be alot more fleshed out for this new frontier, with those inspirations for their looks, personalites, etc. listed here:

Johnny - Sonic The Hedgehog (Sonic Prime), his s1 and reboot versions with a few shades of the later seasons, several design elements from Sonic Boom, Luffy (One Piece), Michelangelo (both TMNT 2012 and ROTTMNT)

Dukey - All of his versions in the entire series, Luigi (Super Mario), Yuunagi Tsubasa/Cure Wing (Hirogaku Sky! Pretty Cure)

Susan - All of her versions in the entire series, Chi-Chi (Dragon Ball Z), Donatello (ROTTMNT), Musa (Winx Club)

Mary - Same thing for Susan, Amy Rose (Sonic the Hedeghog), Timmy (Winx Club), Sunset Shimmer (Equestria Girls shorts)

Schalot - Raphael (both TMNT 2003 and 2012), Escargoon (as a design inspiration) (Kirby: Right Back at Ya!) , Sonic the Hedgehog (Sonic Boom), a few aspects from myself (being an awkward introvert, a phone addict, sensitive side and being the youngest), Batman (but only for parts of the backstory), Strider Hiryu (Strider), Ichigo Kurosaki (Bleach)

Serena - Flora and Roxy (Winx Club), Nijigaoka Mashiro/Cure Prism (Hirogaku Sky! Pretty Cure), Cream the Rabbit (Sonic the Hedgehog), Clawdeen Wolf (Monster High G3), Liko (Pokémon: Horizons), Akimoto Komachi/Cure Mint (Yes! Pretty Cure 5 and Yes! Pretty Cure 5 GoGo!)

Ziffy - Pinkie Pie (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic), Navi (Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger), Frankie Stein (Monster High G3), Auriana (Lolirock), Smash (Power Rangers: Beast Morphers), XJ9/Jenny Wakeman (My Life as a Teenage Robot)

As I said, the premise of the show will take place mostly in Lumina. There will be times, they had to travel to other planets and galaxies for finding the others, doing some errands or just to take a break (Although evil wouldn't let them rest so easily of course, so they have to watch out.) The team will reside in Starfall City, a futuristic and eco-friendly city, filled with skylines, hover vehicles, glimmering fauna, elevators connecting ground and sky level, sleek buildings and many more, all connected with a combination of highly advanced technology and magic. Inspired by mega cities, like Tokyo, Zenith from Winx Club and the Y2K aesthetic, this city will be the new hub and playground for some parkour and extreme sports. Its residents are incredibly diverse with anthomorphic aliens and mythical beings, all with their own mythos and culture. As for Lumina itself, it'll have luscious and sparkling fauna with jungles, seas and so on. It also has a vere breathable atmosphere.

The show will be inspired by Sonic Synergy (basically a very early version of Sonic Boom), Sonic Prime, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Sonic X, Ratchet and Clank, Rise of the TMNT, Power Rangers, Winx Club, Danny Phantom, Glitch Techs, TMNT 2012 and several shonen elements, all while being influenced by the first season of the original and the revival in some aspects.

In conclusion, the themes, ideas, stories and mythos would help the series evolve and adapt to modern times, removing its weaknesses, while keeping the good things about it in a fine balance. This has been a dream project of mine, I really want to make it fully offical and have to keep fighting for it, in order to shine brighter than the stars.

More concept info coming soon and Happy New Year, everyone!

#johnny test #Johnny Test Power Up! #ramblings #spin off series #concept idea #concept #show concept #cartoon concept #futuristic #space #Dukey #Susan Test #Mary Test #new world #logo design #logo #new characters

[queen-scribbles]

Sanctuary

Art trade fic for @vexa-legacy! I wrote ssome Toe Beans circa War for Iokath, ~2000 words

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The meadow was easy to visit.

Its distance from the Jedi temple was no more than an invigorating hike, the solace he found there always more than worth the effort. And it was his. A place where the troubles of the galaxy couldn't reach him, serene, unspoiled. Birdsong and babbling brook a soothing backdrop when he wanted to meditate and cleanse his thoughts.

Pristine.

Quiet.

Paradise.

Through all his training, all his adventures, it was a ready sanctuary when he needed the space to breathe. And he visited it often as he could. After defeating Bengel Morr, after dealing with Darth Angral and mourning Master Orgus, when he was freed from the Emperor's control. Always alone, with only his thoughts and the Force for company--except for the one very special time he shared it with Kira.

It was even easier to reach now--a memory no more than a thought away when he needed to retreat, to breathe, thanks to the Empire's assault on Tython so long ago.

He had needed it a lot. Fighting Arcann was draining, the demands and decisions hung on his shoulders with the mantle of commander a weight to carry, no matter how willingly he assumed the role. Fighting Vaylin was even more arduous--her flame may have burned out faster than her brother's, but it had burned hotter as well, claiming lives with the reckless and voracious hunger of wildfire. And even now, the lull between storms, as his feet tread Odessen's wilderness paths, his mind was in a far-off hideaway on Tython.

Centering himself on the babble of a remembered stream as he passed between trees. Hearing the faint birdsong as his steps finally slowed. Almost able to smell the long-lost flowers as he settled himself on a large boulder.

The picture of it was crystal clear in his mind as he slipped deeper into meditation. The Force whispered around him and made it all the more vivd. He wasn't sure how long he'd been there, aware of the wildlife around him while also visiting the secret place he would never again see in person, before his comm beeped. A couple hours, at least, judging by the sun.

He let the idyllic slip from his mind, returning to reality as he unclipped his comm and answered it. "Yes, Lana, go ahead."

"We've received some information that should be discussed, Commander." The connection feathered static on the edges of her accent. "Information regarding Iokath. How soon do you think you can return?"

He sighed, straightening his legs and pushing off the rocky seat. "Give me an hour, I suppose. Is it really that important?"

"Let's say I believe it should be acted on as quickly as possible, and leave the rest for when you're back."

If she was being this evasive on a private comm channel on the Alliance's own planet, it must be serious. "Of course, I'll be there soon."

Corrus started walking, leaving wilderness real and remembered behind.

---

Lana's news was indeed big--an anonymous tip giving rough coordinates of a superweapon on Iokath. Something you might want to investigate, the source added vaguely.

"Not a lot of detail," Theron muttered, and Corrus had to agree. It sounded almost like a trap; just enough information to catch their attention and make it seem they couldn't pass it up, without specifics to make it more solid.

"Do you think it's credible?" he asked Lana.

"Credible enough to investigate," Lana said with a firm nod. She pulled up a holo of the planet, a small orange marker hovering over a location. "It's rough coordinates, not exact, but if such a weapon truly exists, I don't think we can afford to leave it unclaimed."

She had a point, and both men nodded. Given their previous experience with Iokath technology, a superweapon from there was not the sort of thing to just leave figuratively lying around.

"And the radiation has receded to safe levels," Lana continued. "If we send a small team to investigate, I don't see any real danger." She keyed up the planet's stats and the levels, sure enough, had just dropped below dangerous.

"Alright," Corrus said with a nod. He studied the planetary information still scrolling across the holo. "Who do we send?"

"Oh, I can handle it," Lana said briskly, hands clasped behind her back. "You have quite enough on your plate, Commander."

She wasn't wrong there, either. The saying might be "No rest for the wicked", but the good didn't seem to catch any more of a break.

"Awfully quick to volunteer," Theron drawled in a tone of friendly prodding, leaning back against a console with arms crossed. "Feeling cooped up, Beniko?"

"Perhaps," Lana said, faint smile pulling her lips. "Perhaps I'm curious to see this mysterious superweapon myself."

"Whatever the case may be, I think you can handle it," Corrus said wryly. "Go ahead. I'll want status reports."

"Of course." She nodded, already heading for the exit. "We'll work out how frequent once we see what's waiting for us."

---

What was waiting for them, in the long run, was a clusterfuck. The Republic and Empire had received the same tip, the planet was still rife with homicidally protective droids, and the superweapon was--as Theron so eloquently put it--more akin to the apocalypse than a mere weapon.

"No one should have this," Corrus said grimly, and then set about making it so, even if the Republic's backing in the endeavor was more to keep the Empire from getting it rather than agreeing.

Still, he and Theron fought more droids than Imps as they worked their way across the planet. Scouring droids, like they'd faced on their last (unwanted) visit, caretakers, remotes, they all seemed to still regard any organic life as an infection to cleanse. That would weight less on his conscience than human life, at least.

He wondered what Kira would think of this place--all metal and angles and apocalypse weapons. There'd be some deadpan commentary for sure and he wished she was here to give it. He closed his eyes briefly as the tram whisked along and the image of her face lingered, followed by his meadow; natural beauty in sharp contrast to the mechanical austerity that surrounded him.

He only had a moment to dwell on the person and place he missed most before the tram lurched as it came to a stop and it was time to deal with reality.

"Theron, I've reached the superweapon command..."

Determination and Jedi focus carried him through the initial rush of energy as the throne controls reacted to his presence. Through his confrontation with the machine god Tyth and the revelation of a traitor in the Alliance. But the rush of power unleashed as Tyth's rage boiled over under the Fleet's bombardment proved too much and the world went white.

---

It shouldn't have been a surprised where his mind went when overwhelmed.

He supposed it wasn't.

The meadow, of course, looked exactly the same as the last time he'd visited in meditation. And the time before that, and the time before that. The same as it always would.

"Hey, handsome."

He spun at the familiar voice, heart leaping in his chest. "Kira."

She pushed away from the outcropping she'd been leaning against. "First things first, you know this is a dream, right?"

"Considering this place" --he trailed his fingers gently over flower heads--"is no more than a crater now?" He sighed and nodded. "Yeah, I know." He walked closer, leaning in with a smile to kiss her forehead. "But it's a good one, so let me enjoy it, huh?"

"Oh, fine," Kira(but not really Kira) grinned. "I suppose heroes are allowed occasional breaks. Though it really shouldn't take getting shocked unconscious for you to let yourself have one, you big dummy."

"Hey, that's hardly my preference, either," he protested. "You know how it goes; dangerous business being a hero, and there's only so much I can do to fight an electrical surge," he said with affectionate teasing.

"Yeah, well, do a little better will you?" Kira arched a brow and tugged on the collar of his armor until he bent toward her. "I need you healthy, Toe Beans." She kissed his nose and he laughed.

"You know, no one's called me that in months," Closer to a year, maybe, "Guess they all think it would be too informal a way to address the Commander. Or they just don't know about it."

"All the more reason to have me around," Kira joked, though her tone was just as wistful as it was playful as she traced her fingertips along his markings. "I'd fix both of those in a jiff."

This laugh was a little sad. "I'm working on it. Awful big galaxy to be looking for one person. But I will find you, Kira."

She grinned and winked. "Not if I find you first. Can't expect you to do all the work, handsome."

"Whatever gets us together faster," he said glibly. "I'm happy to let you win that race."

"Aw, come on, Cor, its not fun without a little competition," Kira teased. She let her fingers trail down his jaw as she let him go and turned to survey the meadow. "Y'know, I miss this place a surprising amount for only visiting it once. Can't imagine how it feels for you."

"Why do you think I'm here now? I've accepted the real thing is gone, but the memories are still there to visit when... when I need to."

She cocked her head. "You're not the type to run away."

"Not running away." He tugged her in, back to his chest, his arm loosely around her shoulders. "Call it a strategic retreat. A sanctuary to clear my head and better process my thoughts so I can plan. A lot of people depend on my plans, y'know."

Kira snorted a laugh at the exaggerated gravitas. "I do know, Battlemaster. Speaking of people depending on you..." She reached up and squeezed his arm before stepping away and turning to face him. "Shouldn't you be getting back? If I know the sort of trouble you like getting yourself into, the fun's just starting."

He hummed almost-a-laugh. "I should. Though you don't need to make it sound like I go looking for trouble. It just always finds me."

"You don't hide from it very well, though, love." She traced her fingers down his jaw once more, before putting more space between them.

"Once we're together, I will," he promised, then smirked. "At least for a little bit. Then we'll go find trouble and kick its ass."

Kira grinned. "You do know how to make a girl feel special. I'll hold you to it." She winked, blew him a kiss, and stepped out of sight around the outcropping.

"Kira-" He followed, but she was gone when he swung around the rocks. He should've expected it; he could feel reality imposing itself over his retreat.

He still looked, even as the sun flared brighter, soft beams that had lit the space now dazzlingly harsh, until it was overwhelming--harsh and clinical and washing away the meadow.

---

He was barely given time to miss Kira or the meadow when he woke, barely given time to adjust from almost dying. Pulled into conversation about what happened, who betrayed you, what should we do now? with a headache still banging behind his eyes. He was used to it. Sometimes you had to just keep moving forward to maintain your momentum, deal with problems before they spiraled out of control.

Once they settled things for Iokath and he had a moment for himself, Corrus found himself dwelling on the long lost meadow and Kira's smile in almost equal measure. One was lost forever, but that only increased his determination to see the other again. I'll find you, Kira. Somehow, in all this mess. I will.

He'd almost swear he heard her chuckle. Not if I find you first.

He could find sanctuary enough in that smile. Deal.

#queens fic #toe beans #art trade #he was v fun to write #enjoy!! #swtor #swtor fic

[saaandy]

REUNION

The music sounded for the raccoon, who was sitting on the steps of the Nowhere bar. His favorite place, where he could observe all the residents and everything that was happening around him. He had to be attentive, especially since a reunion would take place that day: Peter had kept a communicator since he left for Earth, several months ago, and said communicator gave way to a distant-galaxy-far conversation. Rocket was the one who did not separate from it since the first days but when he began to accept missions from the Guardians with his new team, he learned to cope with his nostalgia.

But there were moments of weakness, which began with him waking up from a long night and clutching the Zune Quill had given him, with millions of archaic tapes of music bygone but iconic to Peter, and now to Rocket.

Due to the headphones he had on his tiny ears, he did not hear the comlink vibrate that day, but after a mission out, he caught a glimpse of a flickering light.

From there, he tried to communicate with Peter for the first time since he had seen him leave, and upon hearing his voice on the other side of the comlink, Rocket jumped into bed overjoyed.

They caught up, both: the human recounting his reunion with his grandfather and household chores, and the raccoon his adventures and the harshness of being the new leader. The shocked laughter turned nostalgic for Quill, who did not hesitate to remind Rocket that he needed to see him to bring him new music. The technology had advanced too far and the cassettes were outdated, just like Peter and Rocket, though they agreed to catch up on Earth technology.

How? A visit.

Peter would return to Nowhere for a few days and that alerted Rocket, who, at the end of the call, went out to give the news to Nebula and Drax, these being the high commands of the city and, above all, of the education of the children who they rescued months ago. The voices spread, mostly Groot's, and he made Mantis also find out thanks to her other communicator, through which she had contact with her brother.

The day had arrived and Rocket kept looking at the ceiling from time to time while the music changed from one track to another. He was looking for ships coming through the airlock, more specifically, Quill's. The preparations for that day were polished in his mind: from showing Peter how the city had evolved to how his new team worked, of which he was proud.

The infant raccoons they rescued scampered through the streets, distracting everyone who came across them, including Groot, who made a beeline for Rocket after petting them.

"I am Groot." Rocket removed a headphone from his ear, leaving it hanging from his neck.

"I'm chilled. I just wait." Groot stared at him in disbelief and the raccoon only responded with a tail wag. It was a tick.

"I am Groot!" Groot sat next to him, making the raccoon look three times smaller. The tree had grown quite a bit, becoming an adult that accompanied Rocket with pride of being his leader and father.

"I'm not going to cry when I see him. It's not like someone died." His ears twitched in sign of weakness. He was still stubborn and presented a strong and sarcastic character but Groot understood his father's feelings at that moment and his goal: to show Peter that he had left the team's legacy in good hands.

Something that was inevitable to deny.

The music was still playing in his right ear, but hearing thrusters approaching, he paused the player.

Rocket ran on all fours to the hangar as he saw the ship land as crowds gathered in the plaza to welcome Peter.

When the door opened and Peter came out everyone cheered and Rocket went straight for him, this time on two legs. Straight and with the intention of giving him a paw in welcome, but what he didn't expect was for Quill to bend down and hug him with an enormous force that made all his skin crawl.

"My goodness, how much you have grown!" Rocket let the joke about his poor height slide for once, wrapping around Peter's neck following the hug. He wasn't going to cry, but he had missed him.

The reunion was the most anticipated: Peter repeating the height joke again, this time with Groot; Mantis coming in a ship with his three tamed creatures; Nebula and Drax introducing each child to Peter and these, drawings that they made shortly after they were saved. Gamora couldn't come, but Peter was relieved, having gotten over lost.

Rocket did not stop smiling all day, telling jokes, inviting Adam to sit with them and drinking alcohol at the usual bar.

Everything had gone back to the way it was before.

After the celebration, everyone was falling asleep, the laughter went out as well as the lights and soon only Rocket and Peter were left at the bar, the latter looking at the Zune that Rocket kept with himself.

"I'm glad you're still listening to that tape. New music from Earth is quite…” Rocket pulled out the Zune and put it on the table.

"What?" Rocket looked at him curiously.

"You have to hear it for yourself." Peter smiled and pulled out a state-of-the-art cell phone and wireless headset, offering one to Rocket. Once on, Peter hit play and it only took five seconds for Rocket to look at him seriously.

"Quill, what the fuck is this?" Peter roared with excitement.

“They call it K-Pop. Everyone listens to it!" Hesitating was what Rocket hated the most but seeing Peter smile, he played along, enjoying the good old days.

“HA! And what happened to the bongos and the catchy AND understandable lyrics!?” Peter shrugged humorously. "Earthlings... You are crazy." Rocket drank from his cup.

"I'm going to put them all on tape, there's an antiques store near my house, and they give me a discount for saving the galaxy!" Rocket shook his head in amusement.

“Keep your modern music. I prefer the prehistoric tapes a thousand times.” Peter shook his shoulders and looked at him for a moment. Even though he had the Zune in his hands, Rocket made a wiring arrangement all over the city and the tune that Peter had proclaimed as his favorite could be heard very low. A melody that stirred the feelings of longing in everyone, who were silent for a few moments until Quill stretched out in the chair talking to him.

“It feels good to be back and see what a great job you've done.” Rocket looked down. It was what he wanted to hear, with him out of Nowhere, the raccoon had to manage to lead missions while the city was rebuilt from within. Cosmo offered to take care of the baby raccoons that he rescued from the ship but he always found a way to get his attention and teach the little animals of his own species weapons. Moments where he could be alone with the thoughts of him and the souls of Lyla, Teeth and Floor.

"It's not the same without you." He murmured downcast. He said it with a double meaning, since he still thought about his childhood friends but Peter had also been a very important part of his life, just like the Guardians.

“Have you softened up?” The raccoon stretched to prove him wrong, holding back tears of joy that he wished Peter hadn't seen.

"NO WAY! I'm still the most sadistic raccoon in the galaxy." Peter raised his cup melancholic and happy that his friend was still the same as always despite everything that happened.

"That's how I like it. For a protected galaxy!” Rocket raised his also smiling.

"For the Guardians of the Galaxy!"

Taglist: @love-for-faeries-go-burrrr

#rocket raccoon #gotg #gotg vol 3 #guardians of the galaxy #gotg spoilers #peter quill #raccoons

[freesia-writes]

Chapter 6: Interest

During the Clone Wars, the Bad Batch is tasked with a variety of missions across the galaxy. An unexpected addition to their team throws a wrench in the mix, particularly for Tech, who finds a particular connection with this disillusioned Padawan-turned-mechanic named Vel throughout the events in this action-adventure romance.

COVER ART BY @zaana!! And this was my first fanfic ever, y'all! :D

Master List of Chapters

This chapter has fanart!! :D

Vel was lounging on the bridge one day when she decided to go down to her quarters. As the door slid open, she noticed Tech on the opposite side, performing some incredibly procedural calisthenics in an open corner. At the whoosh of the door, Tech stood up, momentarily pausing his routine.

"Ah, excuse me," he said, wiping a light sheen of sweat from his brow, "I assumed you would be upstairs for a longer period of time." He bent to pick up his armor, wearing only his black base layer. "Sorry," she said, waving one hand in front of her dismissively, "Don't mind me, keep doing your thing." Pausing for a moment to discern between any possible self-consciousness at being observed and the importance of maintaining his fitness routine, Tech watched her walk to her bunk. Returning the armor to the ground near a crate, he moved slightly to place a tall cargo pile between himself and her before continuing.

Vel saw him drop down out of the corner of her eye and found herself unable to resist a surreptitious glance. Was he... hiding? She smirked, a mix of cynicism and a shocking bit of warmth, and turned down to her book. She read for a moment, listening halfheartedly to the various quiet rustling sounds and occasional grunts coming from the opposite corner.

Finally, she could resist no longer, her curiosity far outweighing her desire to read. She stowed the book and stood, moving sideways until she could see Tech through a gap in the cargo. He was swiftly moving back and forth in some strange crawling motion, holding his body in a rigid plank while bringing alternating knees up to his chest before flipping onto his back and performing a similarly complex routine. Entirely without her permission, she found herself noticing a surprising agility and strength she hadn't seen before. She marveled at the fluidity of his movement, not being familiar with this sort of exercise, when her unabashed assessment was interrupted by his awareness. "Unlike Wrecker, I do not enjoy being observed while exercising," Tech stated, pausing his movement and sitting up on his knees to look at her. "I can continue later."

"No, sorry," she said, wincing at her own obviousness, "I just..." Just what? She paused, hating the feeling of being exposed, but decided to admit her curiosity. "I just haven't seen anything like that before."

"Of course not," Tech replied, with a hint of pride in his voice, "It is an adaptation of Noghri combat forms, blended together to provide a challenge for every muscle group of the human body. Some may criticize its lack of bravado or showiness," he continued, and Vel mentally replaced the "some" with "Wrecker" as he spoke, "But it is highly effective when executed correctly." She found a small smile on her face as he rolled up his sleeves, adjusting his goggles and regarding her with patience. When she realized her expression, she quickly dropped the corners of her mouth to nonchalance. "It looks hard," was all she could say, lowering her eyes to his forearms, unremarkable yet indescribably pleasing to the eye. She followed them down to his hands, splayed on the tops of his thighs as he sat on his knees. He noticed her gaze, lifting a hand to the back of his neck for a quick rub that belied his discomfort. "Sorry," she said again, "I'll let you get back to it." But before she could decide her next move, their planetary arrival was announced. "Coming out of hyperspace," came the voice from the bridge, and Vel braced herself for the inevitable forward jolt. The ship lurched to a cruising speed and Kashyyyk came into view. The planet was impossibly green and dazzlingly blue, peppered with rich tones of brown and red. As they dropped low over the tree line, Vel pressed her face to the window, eyes wide. She had never seen such a place.

Canopies of trees stretched out as far as the eyes could see, interwoven with simple rope ladders that branched out like a spiderweb. Sparkling rivers flowed beneath, lined with reeds and bushes, weaving throughout the massive forest. The Marauder came to a smooth stop on a landing platform as Tech finished assembling his armor. Helmet under his arm, he moved toward the lift. 

He had seen her gaping at the scenery, and he understood her awe -- it was a fantastic ecosystem and unrivaled by most of the planets he had seen. It had been months of missions to Outer Rim deserts or greasy Core underworlds, and this was a disproportionately refreshing sight.

"Would you like to see Kashyyyk?" Tech asked, his hand hovering over the control panel for the lift. 

"What makes you think I haven't?" Vel replied, guarded and cocky by default.

"Your face," Tech answered bluntly, regarding her solemnly from his bespectacled helmet, "When we entered the atmosphere."

Vel laughed, caught off guard by his seemingly complete ignorance of her sarcasm. She felt herself let the walls down a little, surprised at his genuine honesty and intrigued by the invitation. "Sure," she shrugged, trying to seem nonchalant but feeling a growing sense of eagerness in her stomach. She joined him on the lift and the doors whooshed closed.

***

Their stay on Kashyyyk ended up stretching into days and then weeks as the team waited for their cargo to be ready. They coped with the extended stay in their own ways, from excessive exercise (Wrecker) to target practice with the locals (Crosshair). Tech found a local archive of the region, full of everything from mythology to botany, and set to work expanding and updating his own files.

Vel took some time to herself, meditating in the forest which was an entirely new experience. She tried to reach out to the Force but felt nothing but a dull ache. She strained to move a pebble, and it teetered onto its side after a valiant wobble. She let out a breath of frustration, flopping onto her back under the shady canopy of trees.

No wonder she had failed Jedi training. The only time she felt even remotely connected to the Force was in perfect moments like this, surrounded by lush nature that was an undeniably living, breathing entity on its own. When it came to the nuance, the precision, the rules, the complexity... She didn't have the focus. Once again, didn't have what it took.  Sunlight streamed through the boughs, casting little dancing reflections off of the bugs and dust that swirled through the air. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, folding her hands behind her head. She had no idea what she was doing. Was the plan to just cavort around the galaxy with this ragtag band of defective clones, like some kind of pathetic pit droid, fixing the ship and anything else that was needed? A crunch of leaves behind her startled her to her feet, and she swung a large stick toward the intruder without ever consciously picking it up. Holding it in front of her like a sword, she squinted as he stepped through the foliage. Even with both hands in the air, one of them still held a datapad, and Tech took another step closer.

"If you would be so kind as to postpone my impalement," he began, hands remaining in the air as he approached, waving the instrument, "I found something nearby that I thought would be interesting to you."

She lowered her arm, casting the stick off to the side. It landed among some bushes with a swish, "Sorry," she said, "Old habits. What did you find?" "There is a geological cache approximately two clicks east of here," he said, pulling his visor down as he continued to enter information for his scanner. "You told me about a part you used on the ion cannons of a cruiser that drew power from a particular mineral that is found on only two planets, of which this is one. I'm curious if the same process could be replicated on a smaller level to provide a boost to the hyperdrive when it begins to fail." "There's only one way to find out," Vel replied, brushing off her pants, "Lead the way."

***

The geological cache ended up being a fascinating wealth of history and information about hundreds of minerals and elements. Vel found herself feeling childishly giddy, an age-old love of learning awakening within her, a curiosity she hadn't felt since she was young. She was still young, technically, but her life experiences left her feeling a million years old, and the voracious delight of discovery had faded long ago.

But here, it was different. Somehow, being unable to do anything else and being forced into a world as captivating as Kashyyyk had brought back some old yearnings, and in the dusty third level of the geological cache, Vel was pressed close up against a glass case containing a variety of minerals and describing the possible reactions between them all.

"Tech!" she exclaimed, pressing a finger into the glass, "Look at this!" He sidled up behind her, raising his visor to examine the text she was indicating toward. After a quick skim of the words, his eyes squinted behind his goggles.

"I would have never guessed," he said simply, regarding both the glass case as well as Vel with a newfound curiosity. There was a different sense about her suddenly, a disarmingly genuine enthusiasm for the content of their exploration. It was a refreshing departure from her typically morose behavior and borderline annoying apathy, and he found himself intrigued.

"It says there is a botanical archive as well, a sister site that can be accessed here," Vel said, reading a map at the end of the exhibit. "Can we look?" she asked, turning to look at Tech and realizing her appearance. She stuffed down the girlish delight and set her mouth in a casual line, "I mean, it would be smart to check it out, since the Syren plant's fibers are worth a small fortune if we can extract the pheromones." Tech did not miss the sudden change of composure, but it didn't seem to invite conversation, so he simply nodded in agreement, entering new coordinates on the datapad and pointing to an exit.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

EEEEEEEE LOOK! FAN ART!! :D

Tag List: @merkitty49 @vimse @arctrooper69 @dystopicjumpsuit @starrylothcat @ghostperson69 @dreamie411 @savebytheodoresnonjosestuff (If you're on my regular tag list, let me know if you want to be tagged in this; I didn't want to spam ya!)

Click here to join or leave the tag list. <3

I need to add these photos so that your mental images are closer to mine! This is what I had in mind when writing Tech working out 😘

#the bad batch #tbb #star wars fanfiction #bad batch #star wars the bad batch #the bad batch fanfiction #tech fanfiction #tech x oc #tech slow burn #slow burn romance #tech #tech fanfic

[deviiancetv]

Upcoming Indie Projects To Look Out For 🎥

2023 has been the year of indie animation going FULL SPEED. I’ve been hearing about some very intriguing and honestly amazing concepts for shows.

Here’s a list of some that I really like and I hope you all check them out and support them:

✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯

Boxtown (Series)

Synopsis: Boxtown is an indie animated noir buddy comedy about a con man detective (played by Alex Hirsch, creator of Gravity Falls) who teams up with an innocent, true-crime-obsessed orphan with a hidden murderous side (played by Tara Strong, known as the voice of Twilight Sparkle & Timmy Turner).

Twitter || Instagram

Defenders of Alodia (Series)

Synopsis: Defenders of Alodia is an upcoming indie animated web-series that follows the adventures of 15-year-old Rebecca Winstead, who one day gets transported to the magic world of Alodia, where she must journey to return back to the real world.

Twitter || Instagram

Lumi & The Great Big Galaxy (Series)

Synopsis: Lumi and the Great Big Galaxy is an indie animated series about six aliens traveling the galaxy to help a young lost star return home.

Twitter

Pritty (Film)

Synopsis: Pritty is an indie animated short film that takes place in Savannah, GA. Jay sticks out for all the wrong reasons. He's dark-skinned, quiet and skinny; and likes to wear flowers in his hair. The opposite of his masculine and charismatic older brother, Jacob. Their differences peak at the community pool until Jay befriends a charming boy named Justin.

Twitter || YouTube

The Lovers (Film)

Synopsis: The Lovers is an animated indie thriller that follows Sara Lim Baylon, a reluctant seafood chef from Binondo, Manila. Sara faces the daunting pressure to live up to her late father's reputation and keep the business afloat. When the governor's inauguration dinner is planned at the restaurant, featuring a Siren as the centerpiece, Sara finds herself drawn into a dangerous affair with the mythical creature.

YouTube || Instagram

Far-Fetched (Series)

Synopsis: Far-Fetched is an indie animated series following a rock band of misfits called Sesamoid, an overly-anxious girl named Rue and her chaotic canine creature, try to survive the town of Veilport. Becoming tangled up in a world where science is at odds with monsters & the supernatural.

Twitter || YouTube

Among The Others (Series)

Synopsis: Among The Others is an epic science fantasy adventure, about a group of misfits that discover the reemergence of an ancient reality bending energy. This thrusts them into a bunch of larger than life threats, one of which is a ‘cool, suave undead hippie’ and his cult.

Twitter || YouTube

Please Stay Tuned (N/A)

Synopsis: Please Stay Tuned is an upcoming psychological horror about a sentient TV man from the toon town of [REDACTED] that wants to be watched.

Twitter || YouTube

The Not-So-Secret Academy (Series)

Synopsis: The Not-So-Secret Academy is an action comedy series in 8-bit/visual novel format. The series follows Bryan, a secret agent sent to an academy to learn how to be a proper secret agent.

Twitter || YouTube

Camp Cryptid (Series)

Synopsis: Camp Cryptid is an upcoming indie animated series created by Celeste McGee about a young Thunderbird attending an all cryptid summer camp run by Cthulhu.

Twitter || Instagram

Playground (N/A)

Synopsis: Playground is a horror project created by Rodrigo Sousa. Its a stunningly well animated trailer that captures the feeling of being lost in a bizarre playground, and your imagination takes over to make things even more scarier. I REALLY recommend supporting this if you like horror and abstract animation.

YouTube || Instagram

Belphegor’s Traveling Circus (Series)

Synopsis: Belphegor’s Traveling Circus is an adult comedy series featuring a demon who must travel out of Hell to the mortal realm to organize a space traversing circus to pay off a monumental debt to his devilish boss.

Twitter || YouTube

ScreenTime (Series)

Synopsis: Screentime is an indie animated show about three artists balancing life with trying to succeed in a social media focused world.

Twitter || YouTube

The Will of Monsters (Film)

Synopsis: The Will of Monsters is a a YA action fantasy film about two scarecrows, Scarecrow Pumpk and Cham, team up with a young witch named Pai, to survive the terrors of their world.

Twitter || YouTube

Everlend (Series)

Synopsis: Everlend is an indie animated series that takes place in the land of Everlend, following Lydia, an optimistic teenage girl, who meets a llamagon named Vel, and a bird-like creature named Ollie. Though Everlend isn't without its dangers, Lydia must face not only the unknown truths of within this world, but herself as well.

Twitter || Instagram

Hey. (Series)

Synopsis: Hey. is an upcoming adult animated sitcom created by YouTuber, ToonrificTariq. It’s a story of two people, Marcus and Shania, that really love each other while trying to learn how to love each other.

Twitter

The Carsons! (Series)

Synopsis: The Carsons! is an upcoming animated mockumentary sitcom, about a young black cartoonist named Steve Carson, trying to make it in LA with his new family. Which includes his wife, Katie, their baby, Nicole, and Buddy, a washed-up R&B singer now demoted to family dog

Twitter

Bit Wars (Series)

Synopsis: Bit Wars is an animated series inspired by video games about how experience is our greatest weapon!

Website || Twitter

Quartz Quest (Series)

Synopsis: Quartz Quest is an independent animated series following two best friends, Lyra and Snobelly, as they travel across the world in search of exciting adventures.

Twitter || YouTube

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Stay Tuned & be sure to follow ALL of these amazing upcoming creators for their amazing projects on the way. ⭐️

If you liked this post, don’t forget to follow me & leave a tip to support a small artist/content creator!! 🫶🏽

#cinema starview #indie animation #indie animation day #indie project #animation industry #animation news #animated shows #animated movies

[weenwrites]

Hiii! Sooo :) I keep imagining the tfp team prime having a peaceful day for once and suddenly their surroundings/reality starts to crack like a shattered mirror before an opening breaks through and a teen reader is thrown out of it. Apparently reader is a universes traveller who has no control over the portals they suddenly open when they're scared and get pulled into, they have been lost for a long time trying to get back to their own universe with little success. With smokescreen, wheeljack, optimus, ultra magnus and ratchet. Thank you!!

You're a universe-traveler? Smokescreen's going to ask you all about it, from all the different universes you've seen to all the adventures you've had. Oh and then he also asks you about your powers. How did you get them? Was it through some sort accident? Or were you born with them? And then he hears that you've been trying to return to your universe for a long time. He understands the feeling of wanting to go back home, so he can comfort you there if you ever feel homesick. If the two of you happen to become good friends, he will begin to think more about the portals you open. You say that you don't have any control over them, so at any time you could just disappear one day and never come back. He does hate that he'd have to say goodbye to you, but he does hope that if you do disappear, you'll return home. And who knows, maybe you'll get better control over your powers and you'll one day come back to say hi.

Wheeljack could relate over being a traveler. He never really stays in one place for too long (up until finally joining Team Prime, that is.) He's been places far and wide all across the galaxy, and he doesn't really feel any homesickness. But he does miss his friends, like Bulkhead for example. So perhaps the two of you could share stories about your travels, and relate over missing friends and such.

Optimus would want to keep you safe from the Decepticons, because your powers would definitely pique their interest. If you ever suffer from homesickness, he'd be there to console you because he can understand and relate to that feeling. He longs for Cybertron and the way it was before the war. The more he learns about you, the more concerned he is. He’s worried about how long you’ve been trying to return home for. If you have any friends or family back in your universe he worries about how long they might’ve been worrying sick over you. If you ever need someone to talk to, he’ll be here for you. He hopes that you'll be able to return to your home some day.

If you had actual control over your abilities and used them for mischief, you'd definitely give Ultra Magnus a migrane. Apart from that, Magnus works to ensure that you're safe from the decepticons. He doesn't ask anything about your abilities because it's none of his business. Granted, he is curious about how you came into possession of such powers, but he wouldn't ask. If you ever felt homesick, he isn't the best at comforting people, but he can say that he can relate because he, too, misses his home planet.

Ratchet's rather fascinated by your powers. If the two of you happen to become friends, he'd offer to help you better understand them when he gets the free time to do so. Heck, maybe with enough time and after several hundred tests, he'll finally help you learn more about your abilities and how to control them. Maybe then you could finally return home.

#tfp imagines #tfp headcanons #tfp x reader #tfp smokescreen #smokescreen x reader #tfp wheeljack #wheeljack x reader #tfp optimus prime #optimus prime x reader #tfp ultra magnus #ultra magnus x reader #tfp ratchet #ratchet x reader #x reader #self insert #reader insert #weenwrites

[dailycharacteroption]

Races Among the Stars 7: Gray

The vastness of the Starfinder setting cannot be exaggerated, an entire galaxy of mystery and exploration. It is so big that it’s no wonder that there are plenty of things left undiscovered out there.

Unfortunately, some of those mysteries are not content to wait to be discovered, and instead come to do some investigations of their own.

A classic staple of alien theorists in the real world, the grays, the slender creatures with short statures, large heads and eyes have been lingering in the pop culture zeitgeist for decades, and have in fact already appeared in one of the later bestiaries of Pathfinder First Edition, alongside the likes of reptoids, hobkins gremlins (based on the Hopkinsville Goblin), the mothman, and other aliens and cryptid homages in the system and setting.

However, whereas the grays and other alien beings are often a case of fantasy having to face off with sci-fi in Pathfinder, Starfinder is a game of science fantasy, where the characters are packing spaceships of their own.

Even with that, however, the grays remain mysterious, hiding their activities from the rest of the galaxy. In fact, most do not know if they exist at all, almost all of the knowledge about them is hearsay and rumor, with anything concrete carefully guarded by powerful organizations.

What exactly the grays want, if they indeed act under one banner, is hard to say. Most seem content to observe and test, abducting people to run tests and returning them with modified memories, though nightmares and strange surgical implants or scars tell a different story of otherwise seemingly uneventful nights.

Which is why it’s actually a bit weird that they grays are a playable option! Having a gray actually be playable would imply that the answers to these mysterious beings can be in their hands… But unless the GM comes up with some answers, they don’t exist in any one consistent answer in the setting so far.

As such, playing as a gray should be done with some forethought. The easiest answer to a gray living among a typical band of adventurers is that they do so in disguise, their allies not realizing what and who they travel with. If they do know, the gray might be under a vow of silence to not reveal their people’s secrets, else the GM will have to answer those questions.

 Much of gray outward appearance is similar to the classic stories. Short, slender, with large round heads and eyes, with small, nearly atrophied mouths. Beyond that, very little is known about their physiology, though some sources claim that their flesh is mostly undifferentiated, that they have no discernable organs or even muscles or internal tissues. How exactly their biology functions if this is true is unknown.

 Much of their society is unknown as well, though they do have leaders that command research teams and such. While there have been some groups primarily interested in researching other species physically or with psychic probe interrogations, others have canonically attempted to create conspiracies of cloned replacements within the infrastructure of the Pact Worlds. Regardless, it is abundantly clear that as a general rule, the grays have little understanding or concern for the autonomy of other sapient beings. Perhaps they believe they are above them, or perhaps they simply have no conception of it beyond the general unwillingness to cooperate with their tests and tasks?

Additionally, the strange out-of-phase nature of the grays and the abilities that it grants them suggests they might be from a parallel Material Plane, or their homeworld might exist in some sort of dimensional flux.

 As their tiny slender bodies imply, grays are frail and weak physically, but their minds are quite powerful.

They also have surprisingly good night vision as well.

Additionally, their minds are powerful weapons, letting them daze and communicate long distances with others, as well as mentally assault foes.

Being partially out of phase, while not as strong as others of their kind, means that these mysterious beings can sometimes let attacks pass right through them, though it’s a fairly low chance.

Naturally, they also have limited telepathy, which they favor over speaking audibly whenever possible.

 With their high intelligence, grays are well-suited for any science-y role you want to put them in, making biohacker, mechanic, and technomancer natural choices, especially given that most encountered in the setting are researchers. However, others might choose a different path. Those in a bodyguard for such expeditions might have any manner of combat classes, though they’d naturally favor ranged options such as ranged soldier and solarian, as well as vanguard. Nanocyte and evolutionist feels a bit thematically off since they typically experiment on other species, rather than themselves, but the possibility is there with their advanced tech. Additionally, the usefulness of gray operatives and stealthy envoys cannot be understated. Finally, they can make use of the mystic, precog, and witchwarper classes with not inhibitions, and would represent powerful psychics among their kind.

 That about does it for today, but tomorrow, we’ll look at our final entry of the week, another callback to Golarion and human folklore in one package!

#starfinder #race #gray #alien #Alien Archive