#i debated having her throw a rock at the ship but like

[caffeine-clouds]

What Your Favourite Sonic Ship Says About you! (Part 2)

(Sonuckles, Sonaze, Sonilver) (Part 1 is here - yes, this is the one with Sonadow) FULL DISCLAIMER: Shipping is a hot topic of debate, but this post is lighthearted fun! I'm a multi-shipper, I love most of these ships - and I can see why some people like the dynamics that I might not. This is not a bashing post, this is fun time. So, without further ado-

Sonuckles

So you took Knuxouge off of the shelf, took it to the counter - and you said: "Hey, can I get this kind of dynamic but reduce the amount of fighting and sexual tension a bit to instead replace it with a more friendly rivalry... also make it gay and uhhhh... can you also throw in just a fuckton of bromance? Your entire stock of it?" The result was thusly - Sonuckles. The rivalry dynamic of Sonadow is also appealing to you, but you just prefer dynamics on the healthier side. But does that mean you don't like angst? Fuck no, you love angst. In fact, you won't shut up about how Knuckles is one of the most tragic characters in the series to literally anyone who will listen. You just want good things for the red boy, and that means giving him a boyfriend - and that's so valid. And it makes perfect sense to you, right? Opposites attract - Sonic the freedom-loving hero who's always running free, and Knuckles - the sturdy rock, chained to his island. They're good for each other, aren't they? Sonic encourages Knuckles to get out there and live, while Knuckles teaches Sonic to slow down sometimes and take more responsibility. They improve each other, just like any good ship does. As far as Ao3 goes... you're a hurt/comfort person, right? And honestly, angst and fluff - you can take both on. You're either new to this ship, or you've been here a while and you're just so fucking stunned at the amount of fuel 2022 ended up giving you, but you are so happy either way. For you, there's no greater time to be a Sonic fan.... Anyway, sun and moon symbolism - am I right? Sonaze

Honestly? I think you're fucking based. The more I look at this one, the more it just makes sense. I see you, I absolutely see where your headspace is at. You are a person with taste and class, okay? Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. This ship is like - the pistachio ice cream of Sonic ships. To an outsider - it might seem strange, but as they grow older and wiser - they'll have an appreciation for it. Again - Sonic, free as the wind - cocky and chaotic, paired with the more rigid and formal Blaze? Again, it's the similar appeal of opposites attract - and you prefer a ship where they don't beat each other up as a ritual. And just like Sonuckles - they bring out the best in each other, and encourage each other to try different lifestyles and values. A pair of mutual respect, both can kick ass - and that Blaze/Percival blush in Black Knight? That is all the source of your joy. You still aren't over the Rush series, and you keep returning to see the end of the first Rush game. I looked on Ao3 for tagged Sonaze fics for the sake of this post and you only have 77? Absolutely criminal, I say. You poor shippers are starved, especially with the lack of Blaze content you're getting in canon. You poor things. Let's hope things get better. But let's think about your favourite tropes for a second... destined/star-crossed lovers, is it? Forbidden romance too? You are a fluff enjoyer but you'll occassionally dabble in some bittersweet endings. Seriously, I'm not exactly a strong shipper of this one - but the fic potential this ship has that isn't acted upon baffles me. Like - Sonic and Blaze struggling to navigate a love across entire dimensions? Blaze being a princess, and despite loving her - Sonic wants nothing to do with the royal life? UGH! I came up with that in a literal minute, so the lack of fan content you have? Abysmal. We need to do better. Sonilver

I... apologise in advance because this one I'm not quite so familiar with. Like, I knew this ship existed but I wasn't so aware of it's popularity. Like, there are more Sonilver fics on Ao3 than there are Sonaze - that fascinates me. Although I do have to wonder how many of those are Sonic, Shadow, and Silver poly fics... I'm trying to figure out the appeal and my best guess is that rivalries are nice and all but just not your personal cup of tea - your cup of tea, when it comes to gay hedgehogs ships - is wholesome - and you need a lot of it. What's better than one dork? Two dorks - and that's what this ship gives you. It has everything you need to be happy - and I understand. I get you. But honestly, it's so hard to deduce what your Ao3 preferences are - I do feel as though you are a bit of a wild card. However I do feel as though you're a fluff, hurt/comfort kind of person - for the most part. Either way, you're probably a cool person irl. This ship has flew straight past my radar which means you probably aren't vocal in shipping debates - which means you're not obnoxious. So congratulations on being cool, and so dang self-assured in your preferences. As with Sonaze shippers, I would like to sincerely apologise - because you are also snubbed in the content department.

#sonic #sonic the hedgehog #sth #sonic discussion #sonic ships #sonuckles #soknux #sonaze #sonilver

[dryad-of-the-dogwood]

The Grav Jump Tango Chapter 9: The Temple’s Toll Pairing: Sam Coe x Spacefarer

Despite all the effort Cass had put into picking a landing spot on the sunny side of Guniibuu IV, dusk had fallen and the stars were beginning to paint murals in the sky before she and Sam made it back to the Horizon. At some point, the path carved out of the crater had shifted fully into a gorge half hidden under overhanging rocks, and finally hit a dead end that meant they had to backtrack after all.

As far as dead ends go, it wasn’t the worst one Sam had ever seen, and not only because he wasn’t cornered in it with anyone shooting at him. There were huge crystal outcrops sprouting in the middle and reaching up toward the sky like that little hidden space was this planet’s version of a garden, and the crystals its flowers. A crystalline crust, Cass had said based off the readings on her scanner, and jokingly lamented that the magma that had created them wasn’t doing anything to warm the rest of the planet.

The way the stars glittered as they emerged reminded Sam of those crystals, though. The sunlight filtering down through the rocky overlook had turned them into prisms when the rays struck the crystal facets a certain way. Watching the galaxy slowly fade into light overhead definitely evoked a similar feeling.

Cass seemed to notice him looking and said quietly, “It is gorgeous out here. One of the worst things about growing up in the Well was never getting to see the sky. I used to sneak out in the middle of the night when I was a kid just to sit on the bridge by the lake and watch the stars reflect in the water. Not that New Atlantis is exactly the best view of them, with all the light pollution, but you know. You take what you can get.”

“Somehow I’d never really thought about how it must be livin’ in the Well,” Sam admitted.

“Most people don’t, and that’s how MAST likes it,” she said with a sigh. “They rationalize it that we’ve—they’ve—got everything they need to survive down there. Which probably makes sense if you don’t count any of those pesky little facts like that the MedBay only has Dr. O’Shea and everyone’s packed in like cargo, so any kind of outbreak is bound to turn deadly sooner rather than later. But surviving ain’t the same thing as living anyway, and very few people unlucky enough to be born down there ever really get out.”

He debated asking how she’d managed it, how she’d gone from sneaking out just to see the stars to ending up with the Horizon. But before he could decide whether it was more likely she’d answer or just flip that switch to smirk and deflect, the ship came into view and she picked up her pace with a relieved sigh.

Sam thought he’d managed to shove the way she’d smiled at him to the back of his mind until they’d both hung their spacesuits in the landing bay and headed toward the galley to look for the others. On the way, Cass gave up trying to shake the frost out of her hair and just started unbraiding it to let it dry. It was completely innocuous, or it should have been. If it wasn’t for how he caught himself fixating on the way she gathered her thick waves in her hands and let them fall around her face, and how he had to all but pry his eyes away.

All right fine, so she was attractive, and for more than just her sense of humor or the way she smiled. That wasn’t illegal, even if it might feel like it should be when she flirted with him on purpose just to try to throw him off. It was still an incredibly stupid thing to just stand around letting himself notice when he knew damn well he’d never do anything about it. Even if she kept everyone at a distance for good reasons like he suspected, that wasn’t something he could change.

#starfield #sam coe #spacefarer #sam coe x spacefarer #writing #my writing #fanfiction #fanfic #archive of our own #ao3

[eldritchcreatureofwords]

Because I'm seeing a lot of old Mass Effect and DA posts on my dash

I figured I'd introduce you guys to the Shepard(s) I see as my canons and favorites! I have a few Sheps, as do most people I'm sure, but this is just for the ones I see as my main, my canons, the one(s) I'd bring into an ME 4 if possible. (Five? Andromeda was technical four but it was also technically another chapter so...) We'll do one per post just to keep it digestable.

We'll start with:

Trystan "Bishop" Shepard (call her Bishop or lose your limbs) : My canon femShep. Renegon, alcoholic, earthborn, war hero, complete slut. (Affectionate. )

Mass Effect says you can only technically romance one person but in my canon she is loyal and dedicated to Jack and Thane and has frequently banged basically the entire crew. It's part of how she shows her affection.

In the confines of what the game actually lets me do, she has a fling with Kelly and romanced Thane in ME2, then wound up with Samantha in 3 after he passed.

A tall, burley woman with features too sharp and too severe to be called traditionally 'pretty', but strikingly intense- Bishop is known for her foul mouth and her love of a good fight. Maybe that's why she trained as a vanguard.

She has no tolerance for your bullcrap and no patience for stupidity. Ferociously loyal and dedicated friend, partner, and commander, who thinks of her crew as family mostly due to her lack of one as a child. This is both a benefit and a flaw; she will stand by and protect her crew to the bitter end, but also tends to have a blind spot for bad behavior and mistakes from them, and this intense protectiveness is a glaring weak point.

Protective and giving, anyone who knows her knows she loves the hell out of her people....however bad she may be at showing you that. Because she is. The more she yells and snaps at you, the more she loves you. She's bad at words, bad at affection, and tends to trip over herself and mess up even when she's trying to do or say something to help. She's grown up with very little affection or love, and while she has managed to overcome the instinctive thought that she has to keep herself isolated and cold to keep herself safe, she's very bad at showing it.

Bishop wants the best for everyone around her and will one hundred percent throw herself into the fire to make sure they get it. That said...remember who's in charge. She's open to debate and discussion, but at the end of the day, what she says goes. Like it or not.

The fastest way to get her to not do something is to tell her she's going to do it- or vice versa. She has lost the loyalty of some people (Zaeed, specifically) who made the mistake of demanding she do something and threatening her over it.

All that said, she's actually fairly laid-back and unflappable; she takes hits at her own expense good naturedly and has a sarcastic and childish sense of humor and a playful streak. She loves a good party, loves a good prank, and loves a good brawl. It's her preferred way of resolving tension; she thinks the Turian way of dealing with conflict and stress on a ship is the best way.

Born in Vancouver, she grew up in the system and on the streets; she never knew her father, and her mother was a drug-addicted alcoholic who came in and out of her life. She, unfortunately, inherited the alcoholism part of that parental bloodline. She struggles with it, though Thane and her relationship with him helped; along with helping some of her other less flattering qualities. He slowed her brain down, made it calm and quiet...let her lean on someone rather then being leaned on. Let her look at her problems in a more objective, quiet headspace. His death should have rocked her to her core, but she knew, quietly, that she would see him again. Beyond the ocean. He was waiting for her there.

In the meantime, he would not want her to be alone. It took some time, but she found companionship in Traynor after his passing. Traynor did not give her the rockbed that Thane was, but gave her someone to be strong for, to fight for, to protect.

Also, she was fucking adorable.

Despite being pragmatic and often looking for the easiest solution to problems, she is also much kinder then she wants to be. As such, she saved the Rachni and talked Wrex down rather then just blowing him away then and there.

Her feelings on the genophage are strongly mixed; she very much understands and appreciates the idea and thought and reasons behind it's initial implementation, but she considers it a failed experiment and does not think the Krogan deserve to go extinct over it. While she stayed firmly neutral on the subject, even when dealing with Maelon, when push shoved her loyalty to and trust in her friends and family won out over her reservations, and she cured the genophage at the cost of Mordin's life.

It's that kindness that kept her from destroying the Reapers; instead, she became a part of them, as a part of a things.

In a silly little headcanon, my partner and I imagine that Synthesis Shep managed to return a part of herself to her body, leading to all kinds of shenanigans I may fanfic about later.

#mass effect #mele #me3 #me le #mass effect legendary edition

[enduracarrotchips]

YouTuber AU

Hello welcome to Dating Scandal but with Twitter Involved (nightmare)

A little exposition here: 

Link, Zelda, Sidon, Revali, and Riju are the most popular group of youtubers on the internet and have a huge fanbase that likes to theorize, draw fanart, and write fanfiction about them. Disclaimer, I don’t actually interact with real-person fandoms myself lol there’s just too much potential for drama and misunderstandings & they’re always bound to end in a dumpster fire but that is sort of what this au is about so.

Impa, Mipha, Daruk, and Urbosa are family friends that appear in a lot of their videos/streams. 

(This is an art blog I swear)

enter vidcon 20XX

Link: 

blows stuff up/sets stuff on fire with a side of cooking vids and gaming

most are filmed outside, he does those challenges where you try to cook stuff with limited ingredients/materials

has the largest fanbase of all of them, but not the most…intimidating.

does a lot of collab videos, mostly with Impa, Daruk, and Riju because they have similar interests/channels, but Zelda appears in his videos and is seen filming and the stans read too far into it

simps. i’m pointing at you.

Most popular videos are “shield surfing on rock!—how I broke my leg” “can Daruk eat Impa’s motorcycle?” and “how to inhale ranch dressing.”

Twitter handle is @ arsonistslullabye because he’s a hozier fan

45m subs

Zelda:

theories, analyses, conspiracies, and the occasional e x p e r i m e n t

she once got link to eat a frog for 50 bucks.

most people argue that she’s better than more popular YouTubers because she actually has quality content to give to the world and she has a lot of defensive supporters

She used to get a lot of hate before Urbosa spoke up about it and scared the bejeezus out of everyone

has an actual posting schedule

“Happy Sunday everyone, it’s Zelda Hyrule and today we will be talking about cryptozoology and why blupees exist, you cowards.”

Twitter handle is @ zeldaofhyrule and she is pan. just so you know. One of those calm extroverts that mystify me to this day.

18m subs

Sidon:

fashion/life hacks. Like gourmet troom troom but if they were real people.

Has the 2nd largest fanbase

most of them are girls

Sidon has a boyfriend though, which he told everyone at VidCon a few years ago

cue the drama and shipping and the entire fandom trying to figure out who the boyfriend is. A well known reddit thread emerged that presented the common guesses being Link, Sidon, and Zelda.

“But it can’t be Zelda, Sidon’s gay.”

“I’m not in the fandom but I thought Zelda was a boy??”

“Did you just say Sidon? Is that a typo? Are you saying that Sidon’s dating himself?”

Sidon x Sidon became a fandom joke.

Don’t look at me I’m just setting up all the worldbuilding. every fandom has their weird dark sides and Sidon x Sidon is the Linkcest of the Sidon YT fandom.

Mystery BF is actually Bazz, a pretty inconspicuous guy who appeared in a few of his videos. This was confirmed a year ago, but everyone still ships him with other YouTubers because they’re convinced he was lying to throw them off his scent. He really can’t catch a break and this is why you should not ship real people.

Twitter handle is @ officialprincesidon

says “beguiling” a lot

21m subs ᕙ( ͡❛ ▿ ͡❛)ᕗ

Mipha:

Sidon’s sister, hasn’t posted a single video but just has the channel for show because she appears in so many of Sidon’s videos as a model for his makeup tutorials and whatnot

has 328k for that. Everyone loves her, she’s great. @ mimipha

Revali:

Link’s sworn rival

Link thinks they’re friends

He kept popping up in link’s Twitter threads and making snarky comments until zelda called him out for not even following link (so why was he stalking his acc) which kept the Twitter drama to a minimum

Revali was the catalyst of a few popular memes and that’s where most of his subs come from.

drags link into a few challenges that always get a ton of views because of how competitive they get

“ITS JUST ASININE” is a running joke that everyone tries to get him to say. His @ is itsjustasinine as well

Urbosa is the only person who can win an argument with him

5m subs and growing rapidly. newer to youtube than everyone else.

Impa:

Doesn’t have a channel she’s just a mutual friend of Mipha, Zelda, and Link

Rides a motorcycle, so she is used in a few of Link’s videos.

@ ihaveamotorcycle because she thinks having a motorcycle is a personality trait. the most unruly on Twitter when it comes to replying to fan’s stuff, leaking upcoming videos and generally causing chaos.

Mipha’s girlfriend. That’s how she met Zelda and Link.

Urbosa:

Is actually a model, but she has a ton of YouTuber friends because she’s known Zelda since birth.

when she entered the youtube community she didn’t realize she would be adopting like 15 children

5m subs. her videos are professional & related to her modelling career. @ urbosasfury

I feel like she would do unboxing vids. I’m not sure what she’s unboxing.

Daruk

Just a friend of Link’s, fun guy. yells a lot. once ate a rock and had no reaction.

people are scared of him for that reason

Riju:

yoga & gymnastics & “ha look at how flexible I am its eAsY” videos

you know the type

she also does reactions and is sponsored by save the sand seals charities which she is very enthusiastic about. She’s also Urbosa’s niece and the only minor in the gang (15). I like to think that the champions YT community is actually not creepy so everyone respects her a ton

doesn’t post frequently, she mostly appears in Link’s videos to jump out of airplanes or whatever. And sometimes Zelda’s if she’s interested in the topic. 500k subs, but she’s always really popular when she appears in Link’s videos.

VidCon:

In the months leading up to VidCon, some fans on the internet made a few discoveries: first of all, that the inside of Link’s house is painted green. This is a big deal because all of his videos are filmed outside either in his backyard or on trips that he and the brosquad go on to do…whatever bros do. explosions. idk. The point is he had some announcement about VidCon and filmed it inside. Only the wall and a potted plant were shown.

However, the colour was similar to the the shade of Zelda’s living room. Fans dug through years and years of old videos and found a clip of Zelda walking through a hallway, where there was an open door and a glimpse of a houseplant.

There were 2 types of responses to the theory:

“They could just be roommates guys calm down”

“and they were ROOMMATES?”

others pointed out that Link could just not have a house and had to crash in Zelda’s

Some guy on reddit claimed he had a botany degree and declared that the houseplants in the clips were not of the same genus. Normal people pointed out that the plant would have grown 4 years between the clips and would look considerably different.

#Zelink trended on twitter for a while and people posted other old clips from both of their channels and the frog video blew up again

Impa retweeted a post tagged as #zelink with “rofl” and later publicly apologized for causing confusion.

Fans noticed that in the “can a motorcycle drive over my arm” (it was clickbait he’s fine) episode 2 years ago, Link was eating out of a paper lunch bag with his name written on it in handwriting that a few people claimed to look like Zelda’s, leading people to believe that she had packed him a lunch.

However, this theory was shot down with the counterargument that Zelda can’t cook. although. i mean how much skill do you need to make a sandwich.

No one knows what tumblr is doing at this time

Zelda wore a scarf in her “Save the Sand Seals” video that matched identically to the scarf Link wore when he travelled to Hebra to film a shield surfing video, but it’s been debated wether it’s actually the same scarf or not.

Neither Zelda nor Link has spoken up about the theories, and besides Impa’s one slip on twitter, neither has any of their friends. Zelda received a lot of backlash for the assumption that she was dating Link because he has a lot of delusional fans that didn’t want her to “steal their man” or whatever the hell that type of fan would get mad about

Oh yea and bolson & karson run a zelink fanpage on twitter sorry I forgot about that

after that whole mess, everyone was even more anticipant of VidCon in the hopes that some of their questions would be answered.

The whole batch went to VidCon this year: Link, Impa, Daruk, and Riju are a gang while Sidon and Mipha go together and Zelda & Revali each go separately. Urbosa is there for supervision moral support

Zelda has always been much better at dodging questions that she doesn’t want to answer than anyone else, so her Q&A went without a hitch. When asked to confirm the rumours she said “which one?” and then moved on to the next question (without actually confirming any rumours).

Link is generally a more awkward person but eventually said that he had filmed the video in Zelda’s house because it was nicer and didn’t realize it would cause such an uproar. Fans were disappointed, but Bolson claimed he saw Link and Zelda exiting the hotel elevator on the same floor after Link’s Q&A session. No one believed him.

Fans went back to theorizing over who Link, Zelda, and Sidon were all dating, because apparently they can’t just be dating unknown people and have to be with other YouTubers

Sidon and Bazz got engaged about a week after VidCon, making at least 4 preteen girls cry

actually try 4 million

Sidon x Sidon made a brief comeback but Sidon spoke up about his fandom for the first time ever on twitter and told everyone that no, he was not dating himself. eventually, everyone settled down and accepted that none of them were in a relationship save for a few loud fans.

Link and Zelda still got the occasional “when will you tell us who you’re dating?” comment but most of them were joking and the people who still hardcore shipped them were generally frowned upon. Zelda’s popularity went up after VidCon and she regained the 200k subscribers she’d lost after the first theory dropped.

Two months after VidCon, Link posted a video titled “Zelda and I’s House Tour!” and gave around 45 million people a heart attack

as revealed in the video, they had actually been dating since they were 16 and everyone’s just a fool.

the potted plant is named Hestu.

#listen. listen. youtuber au #idc if u came here to see genderless art this is what I am posting today #genderless art in the future though #anyways I'm so sorry #sidon x sidon trends for a few days and I feel bad for the ppl who have to handwrite the trending descriptions on twitter #like what would it be #reddit user @ steponmeurbosa makes a spelling error and sparks shipping between beauty guru sidon and himself #if someone tries to start discourse about YouTube fandoms on my post I am blocking you #headcanons #opinions #youtuber au #botw #zelink #breath of the wild #legend of zelda #thank god I got this out of my notes app

[tessiete]

TESS! Hope you are well!!!! Prompts prompts prompts! If you’re not already inundated with requests, allow me to add my own greedy submission to the pile: “Who gave you permission to fall asleep?” for Qui-Gon and Obi if you feel up to it! 🤟🏼❤️

WELL HELLO FRIEND!! I absolutely feel up to it. I'm just, you know, bad at time management, so I apologise for the delay. Please accept my many, most sincerest thanks for sending the prooompt in the form of this....thing. What I wrote. SOME BABY-WAN WHUMP, AND DAD-CARE!

You're absolutely wonderful! THANK YOU!

On The Clock

The sun never sets on Coravian Bast. It says so on all their coins, and all their dataries. It is stamped at the summit of every federal building, and pressed into the plastoid casing of every holobook, every datapad, every speeder and tug and ship they manufacture. It is both an astronomical truth, and the rallying cry of a people who, for centuries, have remained proud, and strong, living beneath the ever-burning glory of their sun. But now, that sun is burning out.

It is not by sabotage, or ambition, or folly. It is not brought about by anything more malicious than the passage of time, and it is a tragedy which has been predicted now for many years. And for many years, the government of Coravian has been planning. With the aid of the Republic and the support of several high ranking senators, Coravian has made arrangements for the mass migration of their population to new homes on new worlds. The sun will set on Coravian Bast, but never on her people.

Yet some do not go willingly. Some resist the edicts, and declare they will not leave. Some declare that they do not mean to let anyone else go either, and for this reason, the Jedi Council has seen fit to assign a Master-Padawan pair capable of overseeing the evacuations. Up to now, the population has been peaceful. The protestors have been loud, but cautious. They do not expect anything of note to happen. Master Jinn gives his padawan a sardonic grin and suggests that perhaps someone will give an impassioned speech.

“Coravinians are known for their philosophical debates,” he says. “Nearly every city has an ampitherium. It’s like a park filled with tall platforms wide enough only to stand on, but tall enough to see over the head of a grown wookiee.”

“What do they do on them?” Obi-Wan asks, in awe.

“They talk,” his master says. “Sometimes for hours.”

“About what?”

“Oh, this and that,” he says. “The longest recorded was a discourse on the nature of sentience in ancient korarchetropes of the protopaleo era, four thousand four hundred million years ago.”

“Oh,” says Obi-Wan, his brow furrowed in thought. “Did the korarchetropes leave many written records?”

“No, my padawan,” replies Qui-Gon. “They were a primitive, single-celled form of life.”

“Oh.” There is a pause, longer and more uncertain than before. “Will we have to listen to one while we’re there?”

The master smiles. “Not unless you are particularly disobedient.”

“Then I’ll be on my best behaviour,” Obi-Wan swears with a smirk. “I promise.”

It is not a difficult thing for him to be, his master thinks, and indeed he is the very picture of deference and decorum during the two weeks they are there. Every day, he walks at his side, three steps behind and one to the left. He is unobtrusive, and observant. He speaks intelligently when spoken to, and remembers every obscure custom and tradition that their hosts play out in preparation for leaving the planet, and Qui-Gon is proud. His padawan has come such a long way from the desperate little waif he’d found on Bandomeer, and yet not so far as to have lost that youthful naivety, and trust in the world. He will make a fine Knight, if Qui-Gon is careful enough. If he is restrained enough. And cautious. And aware.

And yet, no sooner does he conclude this than all his plans are torn apart, for the next day, as they stand upon the viewing stage to watch another transport of refuges lift off and head for space, there is an attack. The Coravinians do not fight with words this time, but with bombs and grenades. A sonic blast throws him from the platform before he can draw his saber, and in another instant the remains of the stage goes up in flames and it is all he can do to leap free and regain his bearings.

One of the federal aides is dead, lying torn and bloodied a few feet away. Another staggers forward, coughing in the smoke. Obi-Wan. Where is Obi-Wan?

He searches around him, frantic, but there is nothing he can see except fire and ash. In desperation, he turns his focus inward to pluck at the little strand of light between them, hoping that it may ring out clearly even amidst the chaos. It is still new, and still very slight. The thread tremors beneath the weight of his mental touch, singing its note high and sweet and very much alive.

“Obi-Wan!” he cries out, surging forward, following the thread as it draws him along its path until he comes to a heap of steel and stone. He reaches out in the Force, and with his hands, scrabbling at the pile of debris. With a single thought, he moves a heavy cement boulder, and he pushes back twisted steel and rebar.

“Master!” It’s Obi-Wan, and his voice is strong and steady. “Master, under here!”

Qui-Gon can feel his own fear clogging his throat. It tastes like oil and charcoal, and he spits to clear it from his mouth, working as fast as he can to reach his padawan. A few more seconds, and he discovers a pocket of air beneath the scrap. A pale hand, smeared in soot reaches up through a gap, flailing blindly for purchase.

“Padawan!” he cries, and he falls over the rubble to catch that small hand in his own, feeling the soft palms, and smooth skin, as yet unweathered by age or strife. “Obi-Wan, are you alright?” he asks.

“Yes, master,” his padawan replies. “I think - only, I think I hit my head.”

“Are you bleeding?” He does his best to keep his voice steady. To stay calm. To leave the thread taut and unplucked in his mind. He strokes the back of Obi-Wan’s hand in comfort.

“I don’t know,” Obi-Wan says. “It’s dark down here. Master -?”

“I’ll get you out,” he says. His grip slackens, and for a moment, Obi-Wan’s tightens in reflex, afraid of letting go, but he quickly masters himself and allows Qui-Gon to slip away.

Relying more on brute strength than the Force, Qui-Gon tears at the rock until it falls away, and he can reach inside the cavern to pull Obi-Wan free. Whether Obi-Wan is lighter than Qui-Gon anticipates, or whether his arms are fuelled with terror and fear, his padawan comes out of the rubble with enough momentum that he is sent staggering into his master’s arms, nearly falling to his knees. But Qui-Gon catches him, sets him aright, and is soon crouched before him, running his hands up and down his arms, over his shoulders and back, and along his scalp searching for injuries.

He finds one just above Obi-Wan’s left ear, hidden in his hairline. But even his thick, tawny tuffets cannot disguise the slick of blood, and his padawan winces as his fingers skim over the open wound.

“Anywhere else?” he demands.

Obi-Wan shakes his head. “No, master,” he says, but his legs buckle, and his fingers clench around Qui-Gon’s forearms as he tries to resist the pull of nausea in his gut.

Qui-Gon frowns. “We need to get you to a medcentre.”

“No, master!” Obi-Wan protests. “The bombers. They’ll get away!”

“Little One, there is no chance they are anywhere close enough to be found. That is the purpose of a bomb. Did you feel anything amiss in the Force before it detonated?”

“No,” he says.

“Then you understand,” he replies. “If they were near, they would have surely stood out in a sea of otherwise placid civilians.”

“But still -”

“No,” the master insists. “You must be tended to first. You will not help me if you collapse while in pursuit of ghosts. Do you understand?”

Obi-Wan says nothing, but he nods, his chin dropping to his chest, and his fingers flexing in the folds of Qui-Gon’s robes.

“Now, stay close, and follow me,” says Qui-Gon. He straightens again, peering through the smoke to find salvation. The wind has picked up. The ringing in his ears has stopped. He can hear the cries of dozens of injured people, but none that are near enough for him to help. Some ways away, he sees the ash of the explosion recede and finds sunny daylight beyond. With one hand to guide his student at the elbow, he makes for that.

Obi-Wan stumbles along, tripping over rock and rubble. With each step, he grows more and more uncoordinated. To Qui-Gon it seems as though he is half carrying him before they’ve gone more than a hundred yards.

“Master,” Obi-Wan mumbles, as his toe catches on a stone and his legs give out. He hardly makes any effort to save himself, but his fall is aborted by Qui-Gon’s hand at his arm. “Master, I don’t feel very well. I’d like to lie down.”

“Not yet, Obi-Wan,” he says, between gritted teeth. In the distance, he can make out a mass of emergency responders, all frantically attempting to organise the pandemonium into something civil and orderly. He drags his padawan on.

“M’sleepy,” Obi-Wan protests. And then, as if to prove his claim, his head drops and the full weight of his body swings into Qui-Gon, hinged at his arm where his master supports him still.

Qui-Gon grabs him around the middle, and attempts to prop him up, giving him a little shake. Obi-Wan’s head rolls on his neck, his eyelids fluttering as he fights for consciousness.

“Stay awake,” Qui-Gon urges. Obi-Wan frowns. “Stay awake. Listen to me. Obi-Wan?”

“I’m listening, master…” he insists, but the words come out slurred, and his eyes close again. He slumps forward until his forehead falls against the pommel of Qui-Gon’s shoulder, and his body falls into his master’s arms.

“And yet you disobey me, anyway,” Qui-Gon huffs. He taps at his cheek, trying to make him laugh, or smirk. Anything. “Obi-Wan?” he prods. “Who gave you permission to fall asleep?”

“Mm,” his padawan says.

“Do you remember what I said? About the korarchetropes? You promised to obey me, didn’t you?”

“Yes, master,” Obi-Wan says. His voice is hardly more than a whisper. “You said they talk for hours. M’listening.”

“Then do as I say,” he stresses. “Stay awake.”

He feels him nod against his chest, but his breathing has slowed, and he doesn’t stir himself to reply. Qui-Gon coughs, and begins to speculate.

There is still smoke. Fires burn nearby, hot and stinging. They are not getting any closer to help, and he can feel blood seeping through his tunics. Though Obi-Wan is no longer as slight as he once was, Qui-Gon doesn’t hesitate to sweep him into an embrace, wrapping one leg around his waist, and throwing the boy’s arms around his neck. Like the child he so recently was, Obi-Wan presses close, his head tucking neatly beneath Qui-Gon’s chin, trusting and unresistant to being carried. He has not yet the dignity of adolescence to embarrass him. Nor the consciousness to suggest it. With his padawan held tight, Qui-Gon walks out of the darkness of destruction, and back into the light.

#my fic #prompt fill #asked and answered #obi-wan kenobi #qui-gon jinn #obi-whump #gigglesandfreckles is the bee's knees #and other 20s superlatives #sw #fic #this fic is everything

[jessiebanethedragon]

White Sands Warm the Cold Sea (pt5)

Summary: the reader, betrothed to a disgusting Coruscanti Lord flees her home world and lands herself in a plethora of trouble, a ship of clones, and one pirate captain whose cold exterior needs much more than the tropical seaside sun.

Chapter one

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter four

Warnings: Swearing, takes place in time periods where women have dowery's and suchlike. The readers dad and betrothed are asses.

“Please I am begging you, not Coruscant. Take me anywhere else, do whatever you like, just don’t send me back to him.” You ramble as you're pushed down the stairs from before and forced into a small cell.

“Sergeant's orders,” The clone shrugs. And tears fall freely, whatever awaited you as Nythons wife has now become impossibly worse as a result of your running. You try to stifle them when you see Tech again, and your hands grasp the cold bars.

“Tech!” you screech like a madwoman, “you said you would help me, you said you knew him!” You see him guilty look away, and pull a crate of medical supplies into his arms.

“Wrecker I need you on the deck, Crosshair needs a stim and you know how he gets…” He says to the larger clone, who must go by Wrecker, making the one called Crosshair presumably the one injured in your saving. Wrecker nods and follows him towards the stairs.

“P-please,” You try once more, standing in a cell, with a ruined dress, gunpowder in your hair, battered muscles and tears leaving the only trails of clean skin on your face.

Neither of them even turn to look back at you.

For whatever kind of terrible wife you may have made, you’re a decidedly worse stowaway. You groan at it all, not even having made it a full cycle hidden on the ship before being caught. And the pain from having smashed into the hull of the vessel itself hurts so much, like all of your muscles are stuck in a permanent cramp. You flop onto the wooden floor of the cage the clones have thrown you in, but refuse to cry again.

Above you, an intense argument starts.

“Wield that thing at me again Tech and you’ll lose your hand.” Someone snaps

“It is a stim Crosshair not a kriffing viroblade!” Tech’s voice is easily discernible for that of a clone. You realise it’s softer, and has less of the gritty depth and rather more of a thoughtful comforting sound. So even when he’s frustrated he still sounds kind.

“Wrecker you’re fucking terrible at stealth.” Crosshair, you presume, states.

“Just take the needle vod you need it!” a deeper set voice chimes in.

“Give it to the girl, she hit the hull hardest, not to mention the iron hold Hunt’er must have had on her.” You hear him sigh after that.

“Cross don’t start something…” Tech warns,

“It’s Volim -kriffing- Nython.” He seethes. “Maker forgive us if we give her back to him.”

“I was not aware you had suddenly become so religious…”

Tech.” Crosshair cuts in, “He used to collect Lekku for fun-”

“I know.”

“And Zabarak horns.”

“I know.”

“How many of our brothers did he kill?” “Crosshair I Know!” You hear Tech shout before everyone falls quiet. You hear mumbling next but can't make out what's being said. “Take the stim or don’t, see if I care.” You hear him slam something down before you hear and see footsteps approaching.

Tech makes his way back down into the brig, walking past your cell to put the medpack back on the furthest wall. And you let him walk by you again before saying something.

“Tech?” You croak out, thinking he will keep walking up the few steps back onto the bridge, except he stops, does not turn to you, but stops nevertheless. “I do not know much about Clones…” You admit gulping. “But at least I thought mandalorians had more honor.”

“And do we look like mandalorians to you?” He counters, not with malice but almost as a genuine question.

“Your armor did.” You say and you watch as he turns. Blocking the light that's coming in from the door, his auburn hair and curious eyes that he knows usually get the better of him. And underneath the baggy pants that are tucked into his boots, you see a flash of the under most shirt, a faded symbol on his chest beneath the white layers of loose fitting cloth.

“How do you know what clone armour looked like, and yet not know anything about clones?” He enquires earnestly.

You take a deep breath thinking about how to phrase your answer, and considering you’re on borrowed time you think it's best to keep it short.

“Lekku and Horns weren't the only things he collected.”

His face plummets before he bolts out of the brig.

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The Captain of the havoc Marauder has just about finished his first flask of whiskey when one of his soldiers comes bursting through the doors to his private rooms.

“Have you ever heard of knocking Tech?” Hunter Inquires, his heavy coat draped over his sleeping area and his hat thrown somewhere amongst his pile of clothes. Leaving him in rolled up sleeves, his red bandana and threadbare pants that desperately needed replacing. From here tech can see his traitor branding on the inner arm and the pirate sigil necklace that he’d nicked from Hondo some years back.

“Captain - Sarge…” Tech says quickly knowing his brothers are probably nosing their ways over here sooner rather than later. “I want to propose an alternate route.”

“To Coruscant?” Hunter asks with a raised eyebrow.

“The Alderaanian trading post.” He states firmly. “We’d be there in a matter of rotations, the wind and the currents are in perfect conditions. She’d be out of our hair in days…”

“I’m not harbouring a fugitive, soldier.” Hunter cuts him off glaring.

“She is not a fugitive.” Tech argues, turning around as Crosshair and Wrecker join him in the captain's quarters before turning back to his captain. “That woman has done nothing wrong.”

“He’s right.” Crosshair says agreeing with someone for once. “The Corellian Run is a straight shot to Alderaan.”

“This is not up for debate soldiers.” He grits out.

“We are not giving her to that monster sarge. We’re just not.” Everyone turns to Wrecker in shock, despite his appearance and love for all things gunpowder, Wrecker is always the one to follow orders, to do what needs to be done - never challenge the hierarchy of power.

“Is this a mutiny?” Hunter threatens,

“This is us not throwing an innocent woman into the hands of Volim Nython!” Tech exclaims and even before Hunter can respond the room erupts.

Well, Clone Force 99 was never really known for its teamwork skills anyways.

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You cast your eyes towards the boards that make up the ceiling of the brig when the yelling starts. For all the subtle differences between each Clone it becomes impossible to pick out who is yelling at whom and what they are arguing about.

Well, given your current predicament maybe it was not too hard to pick out what the crew is shouting about.

With a soft sigh you lay flat on the floor of the ship and close your eyes, rocking with the creaking of the hull and your ruined dress splayed out creating a wonderful contrast to the dark wood floor. Perhaps the sea was not as terrifying as you thought. Your fingers explored the wooden floor, gently as to not catch any splinters. Cracked nails brush over hardened wood and cascade over a cold nail. And you stay suspended in what could be your last moments of peace.

After a few moments of trying to block out the shouting your brain catches up to itself. And you roll to one side, fingers moving quicker now as they try to find that same spot. Where everything else is flush, flat barely a difference between warm wood and the cool metal circles of nails firmly embedded one stands taller than the rest.

You stop your frantic hands before they make contact with the rusty nail, it’ll be tricky to work out of the dry wood, and your likely to cut yourself or start an infection through a split fingernail. So you pivot on your bottom, put your hands behind your back for stability and give the nail a calculated kick.

Your foot does little more than bend the thing, and push your skirts up in an unladylike manner, but with this new angle you can safely work the chunk of metal out of the floorboard. And later rather than sooner you are now sitting on the floor, one rusty nail richer.

The obvious call to action is to pick the lock and you doubt your abilities before quickly realising there’s no better plan in sight. And so you push yourself against the steel bars and crock your arm at the worst angle to start working on the lock. Every large wave threatens to snap your shoulder from its socket. Your knees are bruised, your arm hurts so much, and with every fall you were reminded of the not too pleasant experience from earlier and how much your ribs still hurt. And in some combination of luck, movement of the nail, a crash of a wave and maker only knows what else, that final wave sends the nail into place and you crash through the door to the cell as it swings open.

Tags: @the-mandalorian-clone-lover @peacefulwizardfox @rex-meshla @s1st37 @and-claudia @kamino-mermaid @thelambandthewolffe @starwarsmeninhelmets

@bronvin @myeternalsin @sweetsunflowerkisses @loverofclones @beizm @gunsmoke-blu

@logina6 @wondergal2001

#rex clone wars #clone rex #clone wars headcanon #the clone wars fanfiction #clone wars x y/n #the clone wars x reader #clone wars x you #clone wars x reader #star wars fanfiction #clone trooper hunter #tbb hunter x reader #tbb hunter #tbb wrecker #tbb crosshair #tbb omega #tbb tech #tbb echo

[malereader-inserts]

Just Another Ordinary Day

Fandom: Avengers Pairing: Avengers & Male!Reader Summary: You see, birthdays are suppose to be happy and special, but to you, it’s just another ordinary day. Word Count:  1,250 A/n: My birthday is coming up this Sunday (17th May), so y’all gonna get some birthday stories

“Get a grip of yourself! Look at (Y/n), he’s eighteen and I don’t hear him complaining!”

You tilted your head to the side, “I’m nineteen?”

They looked at you, your eyebrows knitted tightly together as you were confused. Like a lost puppy, you didn’t seem like it was a big thing. You don’t do birthdays so you weren’t offended really however everyone in the Avengers look like you just murdered their pet.

“What are you even arguing about?”

You had walked into Tony and Steve arguing with Peter, whilst Clint was snickering as his eyes continue to look at the television playing on the game console with Thor, whilst Natasha flickers through her magazine and Bruce trying to take a nap. Sam was trying to throw popcorn into Bucky’s mouth whilst Wanda was on her phone.

“Peter wants to go to a party,” Tony says as if it was explaining everything making you even more confused.

“Shouldn’t you be asking May about that, Pete?” You asked, noticing that Thor lost against Clint, smoothly taking the controller to have a go with Clint.

Clint obviously excited for a new challenger. 

“Well, he wants to go in his Spiderman uniform to prove that he knows Spiderman,” Steve continues as you let out an ‘Ah’

“Well, that’s not my problem, buddy,” You responded as you were focused on a different thing.

Peter huffed as he sat down on the armchair whilst Steve and Tony was relieved that Peter let go of the topic at hand, for now, the two joining the team to hang about in the living room. Though despite no one really talking and just the audio from the very big flat screen tv. The rest of the Avengers could not help but dwell the fact that they had missed your birthday.

“What did you get for your birthday then?” Clint asked after a while, whilst watching Thor and Loki go head to head on the game.

You looked up from your laptop then back down, shrugging your shoulders, “Money and a cake.”

“Nothing special from your parents?” He tilted his head and once again met with you shrugging your shoulders.

“Not really, we don’t tend to celebrate birthdays. They do plan to do a big 21st birthday, but that’s two years away so I’m not that bothered. It’s just a regular day to me.”

Clint looked at Natasha who raised an eyebrow, “Well, we’re different,” The woman said as you scoffed.

“Don’t bother,” You replied, scrolling through your laptop, “It’s been a week since my birthday, there’s no point.” 

Clint and Natasha did not like that answer as well as Loki and Thor who was listening to the conversation. You hummed as you continue your day, unphased and unbothered by the topic at hand.

Peter had even dropped his pleads to go to a party in his superhero uniform because he didn’t like how you talked about your birthday. So, you don’t want a party? Or big announcements or such like that. Fine, the team had agreed silently by sharing looks to each other’s way whilst you obliviously turn away. They’ll treat your birthday as just another ordinary day, just with a sprinkle of special.

The next day you woke up with Clint, Sam and Bucky hitting you with pillows. You groaned as you smacked all of them with a pillow in the balls. Rubbing your eyes, you see three full men groaning on the floor. You rolled your eyes as you kick them out, getting ready for the day. 

As you walked into the kitchen, you see Steve cooking up breakfast with Natasha. Serving you pancakes and milkshake, you raised an eyebrow because Steve always go on about how they should be healthy and consume less sugary stuff.

“Everyone is entitled to a cheat day,” Steve plays it off as if it was no big deal.

You say nothing afterwards as you dig into your food, not complaining and eating it before Peter comes and complains about it, he still does as he sees Natasha slapping down another pancake on your plate as you were about to say you were done. You kept your mouth shut when you saw the glare on her face. 

You went on your day as normal, sitting at the dining room table as Tony slides in, proclaiming he over bought some laptop stickers and seeing that you had some on your laptop, he let you pick them. They were splayed over the dining room table, you excitedly took your pick of the litter whilst Peter came rocking in the room with a bag full of recently ordered clothes.

“Why do you have so much?”

“I forgot to take some of them out of my basket and Mr Stark let me use his card to pay so you can take some of my order - I’m not really keen on most of them anyway, so take them before I ship them back.”

You don’t say anything but you, Peter, Tony and eventually Bruce helped pick out clothes from Peter’s bulk buy, turning a blind eye when the other three share a look. You looked marvellous at the new stuff before packing them away in your room.

Lunch came about and Clint was cooking, as he had been travelling the world before SHIELD, he had picked up some great recipes when he was over as Asia. You have a splendid lunch, as Clint kept topping up your plate.

“You’re gonna make me burst in a minute, Clint,” You joked.

“What if that’s what I’m trying to do? Might stop you from beating me in all my games.”

You rolled your eyes but continued to eat, as you offer to wash up. Wanda shoos you away to the living room where you see Sam and Bucky arguing about what video game to play. You sat in between Loki and Thor, the two bickering as always.

“Cool ring you have there, Thor!” You exclaimed as you looked at his ring that was on a chain. 

Loki smiled slyly behind you, glad that you took notice of their plan to give it to you without exclaiming it was a birthday gift. The two bothers took turns, and argued, about the tales the ring had been through before Thor unchaining it and allowing it to slip it to your desired finger. As you were about to slip it off, Loki stops you saying that you should keep it.

You looked starstruck before Sam and Bucky calling you over to their sofa. You give them a smile before hopping to the idiots’ sofa, comfortably sitting between the two, before they start throwing hands at each other.

“Four player Mario Kart?” Bucky says, leaves you with no option for debate as he throws you the wheel.

Clint jumps the back of the sofa and seating next Sam, whilst Bucky promptly lobs the fourth wheel towards him. As the race started, everyone had started to file into the living room, Tony proclaiming he’s ordered takeaway from multiple different places. 

Soon, the game between the four of you had started to be a competition between the Avengers. It was a long shouting afternoon that faded into the evening. As everyone started to get exhausted, you get up, exclaiming you were off to bed. As you were about to leave the room, you stopped at the doorway.

“Thanks for a nice birthday.”

You disappeared as the team smiled to themselves, they really can’t fool you.

#avengers #avengers imagine #avengers x male reader #x male reader #platonic #steve rogers x male!reader #tony stark x male!reader #peter parker x male!reader #Thor odinson x male!reader #loki x male!reader #bucky barnes x male reader #clint barton x male!reader

[vanillann]

this town (s.w.)

a/n: first ever sam fic and i lowkey really like it

sam wilson x gender neutral reader

word count:

sam wilson masterlist

I dropped my bag in the passager seat as I raced to Sarah’s side, letting my hands grab the box that was slowly slipping from the top of the pile in her hands.

“Oh thank God- (Y/N)!”

I smiled, taking my place beside Sarah as we walked to an open table that had a few men from the docks I remembered from years of coming by.

“You know, gravity is still a thing, and what you were trying to do is damn near impossible,” I placed the box on the table and let my arms wrap around her shoulders tightly.

“Don’t you go talking about impossible, you managed to keep this place in check for five years with no help,” Sarah pulled back, taking my face in her hands while she quickly looked me over. I rolled my eyes but felt the pride swell in my chest.

The five years within the blip was hard, very clearly, but I and two other boat owners managed to keep the place in tack until everyone came back from God knows where.

“I’ve missed you.”

Sarah smiled, her eyes twinkling in the sunlight while it beat down on us in the Louisiana air. It would’ve close to perfect if it wasn’t for the strong scent of fish and men yelling over boats, but it was just like it had always been. My family debating with the Wilson’s over who made better sweet tea while Sam and I would throw sweet potatoes at one another, it wasn’t a fun game but a game nonetheless.

“I’ve missed you more,” Sarah pulled me back once more before the roar of an engine dragged us from our sweet moment. I looked up, seeing the tail lights of a truck I haven’t seen in years flash us as it came down the dirt path.

“Sam’s here?”

“Apparently,” Sarah placed a hand on her hip, her sisterly glare still in tack after all these years as Sam’s truck parked and the door swung open.

I wasn’t prepared to see him in all his ‘superhero’ glory, but I suppose I never would be as his smile was brighter than ever. He hugged an old family friend, his arms wrapping around them like a warm blanket on a cold evening and I wondered how I haven’t thought about him in so long. How had I forgotten his remarks and his checky little laugh?

“There she is!”

I considered running around the tent that had been set up and hiding until I could safely run to my car but I heard one of Sarah’s boys yell out my name and suddenly most eyes were on me.

“There is my favorite boy!”

I leaned down to hug him, I wanted to run and hide but I wasn’t going to ignore him, the price of love.

“(Y/N)?”

I cringed, holding on to the boy in front of me a little tighter before he let go running to his uncle. A goofy smile was on his face as to he almost fell running but Sam only smiled, looking me over once, before his nephew gained his attention.

I could count it outright, make a run for it maybe and never have to see the boy how I almost waited for once he joins the Air Force.

“Will you help me?”

I turned around, an older man struggling with some boxes and he couldn’t move them all. I sighed, walking over with my best smiling and sliding the box with the older man while we made it to his ship. Once we were done he gave me a large smile and handed me a five-dollar bill, when I tried to give it back he refused.

I spun on my heels, frowning when I spotted Sam walking in my direction.

I could’ve made a run for it, I know I could’ve made it.

“(Y/N), what are you doing here?”

“I could ask the same thing, Sam,” his name felt foreign on my tongue, let a broken promise that I refused to speak of, that’s exactly what he was.

“Well, I came to see Sarah!”

He still had the gentle charisma he had as a kid, his goofy bright smile that ran in the family, and his perfect brown eyes you never want to stop looking into.

“Well, great minds think alike,” I rocked back and front, wondering how we went from everything to nothing without barely a letter in between.

“Yeah, yeah I suppose.”

The awkward silence felt like too much as I watched his brows crease and his eye scans me up and down like an unknown force. Is this really what we had become?

“Still living in the farmhouse?”

“No, I got my own place now,” I wondered did I mention it wasn’t far from Sarah’s place so I could help out with the kids, but when his name was being called I decided not to say a word.

“Coming! Are you bust tonight?” Sam’s finger almost hit my chest as he waited, his leg bouncing, for my answer.

“Y-yeah-”

“Great, let’s get dinner!”

I didn’t have time to come up with a sad excuse before he was jogging away, falling into conversation with his sister as if nothing had ever happened to begin with. As if he didn’t asl his high school sweetheart to dinner years later.

I should’ve stayed home.

I walked through the door of the old restaurant, Sam didn’t have to tell me where he wanted to eat as it was ‘our place’ when we were kids. I spotted him in a booth not far from the large window, a dark blue turtle neck that made him look more handsome than I ever remembered him.

I slowly went around tables and chairs, careful not to fall as I found my way to the other side of him. As soon as his head lifted I knew I was done for it, the glitter in his brown eyes and his perfect smile was the same it had always been.

“You came,” his voice was light and airy as he watched me slip in across from him, his hand almost reaching across the table but he stopped and grabbed a napkin instead.

“You know I wouldn’t pass up free food.”

“Who said it was free?”

I felt the laugh boil over, the carefree demeanor r he always had run through me easily as he watched me like old times.

“So, how’s everything been here? I haven’t seen you since,” his words trailed off and we both knew what he was going to say.

The Air Force ripped our relationship apart before we even realized it had even begun, but I suppose it always seems to go that way.

“Been good, the blip was hard on everyone but I managed to pull it off,” I played with a loose thread, my fingers finding safety in the repeating motions.

“Yeah, yeah I get it.”

I was scared the silence would come back, the awkward pain of watching someone who knew me inside and out forget how to even speak to me.

“I order you a lemonade, I know it was always your favorite.”

Suddenly I was in junior year, laughing with Sam about my math grade and the joke Sam made with the football team. How could he do it?

“Still is, I’ve never been good with change.”

“Oh I know, trust me,” he wiggled his eyebrows in my direction as the waitress left the drinks on the table and hurried off, most likely to ask her co-workers if that who she thought it was.

“So, Avenger?”

“Don’t start with him,” he rolled his eyes, the straw stuck between his lips as he gave me a pleading look.

“I thought you were staying in D.C. and suddenly your sister is calling me that you’re on T.V.!”

“When Cap says help, you help,” he set his drink beside mine, his head resting on his shoulder and his eyes burned into my skin.

“I suppose,” I trailed off, smiling when I noticed him smirking under his arm.

“What now?”

“Remember when I told you we have something special?”

I felt like a stuttering mess and I search from the right word, trying to figure out where to go from here. How do I turn back now?

“Yeah, um, freshman year,” I took the straw between my teeth and let the cold lemonade rush down my throat that was suddenly dry.

“I was really bold back them, huh?”

“Yeah, never knew when to shut up,” I smirked with the straw between my lips as he rolled his eyes. Did anything ever change? Was I still ‘his girl’ or was I just a girl?

“I can’t believe you actually agreed, I ran into Sarah’s room after and just talked about you for hours.”

My heart was slamming against my chest, the feeling that I felt as a kid was definitely still there as he smiled at me with this wondrous look in his eye.

“Sarah probably wanted to kill you.”

“Nah, she loved it when I gushed about you. Called us soulmates,” he shrugged, waiting for me to fill in after but I had no words anymore.

“Too bad, huh?”

“What’s too bad?” Sam’s arms reached across the table, his fingers inches from mine as he looked up from under his eyelashes at me.

“We weren’t,” I paused, “Soulmates I mean.”

Silence, that’s all I heard as the waitress came back and placed two plates in front of us. I opened my mouth, ready to tell her we hadn’t ordered, but I was left speechless as I looked down at the place.

A plate of Mac and Cheese sat in front of me, just like when Sam would make me when I was sad in high school. He could never make anything else and I never had the heart to tell him I wasn’t a huge fan, but by graduation, it was my comfort food.

“Mac and Cheese?”

The waitress was skipping away, my doubt following her as I looked up to Sam’s face. His eyes were wide as they waited for me, his nerves clear as day.

“I know how much you liked it-”

“I didn’t,” I felt my smile slowly find its way to my lips, “not until you made it for me.”

“Really? You let me make you mac and cheese all that time and you didn’t even like it?’

I shrugged, smiling like a psycho as I waited to find the right words. I wasn’t letting him walk out of this restaurant without me this time.

“You must have really loved me.”

“I do,” I finally looked him directly in the eye, surprise when the gentle sparkle of them made me sink farther into the seat.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” I grabbed my fork, smiling when his hand laid on top of mine.

“Should’ve told me before I made a fool of myself.”

“You’d still do that somehow.”

Bless this town for bringing him back to me.

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[gardenofkore]

The Theory of the Sicilian Origin of the Odyssey refers to a particular trend (particularly fashionable during the 19th century) according to which the true author of the Odyssey was a young woman from Trapani, who took inspiration from people and places familiar to her to write this famous epic poem. The postulation was made especially renowned after Victorian novelist Samuel Butler published his work The Authoress of the Odyssey in 1897 and is still debated nowadays. The main reasonings who could support the theory of a female writer are the fact that, in the Odyssey, women are depicted as more reasonable and positive than men, who act almost mechanically and aren’t as exalted as their female counterparts. While Iliad’s women are creatures who need to be protected, Odyssey’s women rule, counsel and protect. When Ulysses reaches Scheria, Nausicaa advises him to plead for help from Queen Arete rather than King Alcinous. No woman in the Odyssey is made fun of, and almost everyone of them is treated with respect, except if they committed a serious crime (like Penelope’s unfaithful handmaidens, who are showed no mercy) while men aren’t considered trustworthy and able. Also, the text is peppered with small errors (about navigation, the structure of a ship, the shape of a weapon etc) which no male author could have made.

Who, then, was she?

I cannot answer this question with the confidence that I have felt hitherto. So far I have been able to demonstrate the main points of my argument; on this, the most interesting question of all, I can offer nothing stronger than presumption.

We have to find a woman of Trapani, young, fearless, self-willed, and exceedingly jealous of the honour of her sex. She seems to have moved in the best society of her age and country, for we can imagine none more polished on the West coast of Sicily in Odyssean times than the one with which the writer shews herself familiar. She must have had leisure, or she could not have carried through so great a work. She puts up with men when they are necessary or illustrious, but she is never enthusiastic about them, and likes them best when she is laughing at them; but she is cordially interested in fair and famous women.

I think she should be looked for in the household of the person whom she is travestying under the name of King Alcinous. The care with which his pedigree and that of his wife Arēte is explained (vii. 54-77), and the warmth of affectionate admiration with which Arēte is always treated, have the same genuine flavour that has led scholars to see true history and personal interest in the pedigree of Æneas given in "Il." XX. 200-241. Moreover, she must be a sufficiently intimate member of the household to be able to laugh at its head as much as she chose. [...]

Lastly, she must be looked for in one to whom the girl described as Nausicaa was all in all. No one else is drawn with like livingness and enthusiasm, and no other episode is written with the same, or nearly the same, buoyancy of spirits and resiliency of pulse and movement, or brings the scene before us with anything approaching the same freshness, as that in which Nausicaa takes the family linen to, the washing cisterns. The whole of Book vi. can only have been written by one who was throwing herself into it heart and soul.

All the three last paragraphs are based on the supposition that the writer was drawing real people. That she was drawing a real place, lived at that place, and knew no other, does not admit of further question; we can pin the writer down here by reason of the closeness with which she has kept to natural features that remain much as they were when she portrayed them; but no traces of Alcinous’s house and garden, nor of the inmates of his household will be even looked for by any sane person; it is open, therefore, to an objector to contend that though the writer does indeed appear to have drawn permanent features from life, we have no evidence that she drew houses and gardens and men and women from anything but her own imagination.

[...]

Richly endowed with that highest kind of imagination which consists in wise selection and judicious application of materials derived from life, she fails, as she was sure to do, when cut off from a base of operation in her own surroundings. This appears most plainly in the three books which tell of the adventures of Ulysses after he has left Mt. Eryx and the Cyclopes. There is no local detail in the places described; nothing, in fact, but a general itinerary such as she could easily get from the mariners of her native town. With this she manages to rub along, helping herself out with fragments taken from nearer home, but there is no approach to such plausible invention as we find in Gulliver's Travels, Robinson Crusoe, or Pilgrim's Progress; and when she puts a description of the land of Hades into the mouth of Circe (x. 508–515)—which she is aware must be something unlike anything she had ever witnessed—she breaks down and gives as a scene which carries no conviction. Fortunately not much detail is necessary here; in Ithaca, however, a great deal is wanted, and feeling invention beyond her strength she does not even attempt it, but has recourse with the utmost frankness to places with which she is familiar.

Not only does she shirk invention as much as possible in respect of natural features, but she does so also as regards incident. She can vilipend her neighbours on Mt. Eryx as the people at Trapani continue doing to this day, for there is no love lost between the men of Trapani and those of Mte. S. Giuliano, as Eryx is now called. She knows Ustica: the wind comes thence, and she can make something out of that; then there is the other great Sican city of Cefalù—a point can be made here; but with the Lipari islands her material is running short. She has ten years to kill, for which, however, eight or eight-and-a-half may be made to pass. She cannot have killed more than three months before she lands her hero on Circe's island; here, then, in pity's name let him stay for at any rate twelve months—which he accordingly does.

She soon runs through her resources for the Sirens’ island, and Scylla and Charybdis; she knows that there is nothing to interest her on the East coast of Sicily below Taormina—for Syracuse (to which I will return) was still a small pre-Corinthian settlement, while on the South coast we have no reason to believe that there was any pre-Hellenic city. What, she asked herself, could she do but shut Ulysses up in the most lonely island she could think of—the one from which he would have the least chance of escaping—for the remainder of his term? She chose, therefore, the island which the modern Italian Government has chosen, for exactly the same reasons, as the one in which to confine those who cannot be left at large—the island of Pantellaria; but she was not going to burden Calypso for seven long years with all Ulysses’ men, so his ship had better be wrecked.

This way out of the difficulty does not indicate a writer of fecund or mature invention. She knew the existence of Sardinia, for Ulysses smiles a grim Sardinian smile (xx. 302). Why not send him there, and describe it with details taken not from the North side of Trapani but from the South? Or she need not have given details at all—she might have sent him very long journeys extending over ever so many years in half a page. If she had been of an inventive turn there were abundant means of keeping him occupied without having recourse to the cheap and undignified expedient of shutting him up first for a year in one island, and then for seven in another. Having made herself so noble a peg on which to hang more travel and adventure, she would have hung more upon it, had either strength or inclination pointed in that direction. It is one of the commonplaces of Homeric scholars to speak of the voyages of Ulysses as "a story of adventurous travel." So in a way they are, but one can see all through that the writer is trying to reduce the adventurous travel to a minimum.

See how hard put to it she is when she is away from her own actual surroundings. She does not repeat her incidents so long as she is at home, for she has plenty of material to draw from; when she is away from home, do what she may, she cannot realise things so easily, and has a tendency to fall back on something she has already done. Thus, at Pylos, she repeats the miraculous flight of Minerva (iii. 372) which she had used i. 320. On reaching the land of the Læstrygonians Ulysses climbs a high rock to reconnoitre, and sees no sign of inhabitants save only smoke rising from the ground—at the very next place he comes to he again climbs a high rock to reconnoitre, and apparently sees no sign of inhabitants but only the smoke of Circe's house rising from the middle of a wood. He is conducted to the house of Alcinous by a girl who had come out of the town to fetch a pitcher of water (vii. 20); this is repeated (x. 105) when Ulysses’ men are conducted to the house of the Læstrygonian Antiphates, by a girl who had come out of the town to fetch a pitcher of water. The writer has invented a sleep to ruin Ulysses just as he was well in sight of Ithaca (x. 31, &c.). This is not good invention, for such a moment is the very last in which Ulysses would be likely to feel sleepy—but the effort of inventing something else to ruin him when his men are hankering after the cattle of the Sun is quite too much for her, and she repeats (xii. 338) the sleep which had proved so effectual already. So, as I have said above, she repeats the darkness on each occasion when Ulysses seems likely to stumble upon Trapani. Calypso, having been invented once, must do duty again as Circe—or vice versâ, for Book x. was probably written before Book v.

Such frequent examples of what I can only call consecutive octaves indicate a writer to whom invention does not come easily, and who is not likely to have recourse to it more than she can help. Having shown this as regards both places and incidents, it only remains to point out that the writer's dislike of invention extends to the invention of people as well as places. The principal characters in the "Odyssey" are all of them Scherian. Nestor, Ulysses, Menelaus and Alcinous are every one of them the same person playing other parts, and the greater zest with which Alcinous is drawn suggests, as I have said in an earlier Chapter, that the original from whom they are all taken was better known to the writer in the part of Alcinous than in that of any of the other three. Penelope, Helen, and Arēte are only one person, and I always suspect Penelope to be truer to the original than either of the other two. Idothea and Ino are both of them Nausicaa; so also are Circe and Calypso, only made up a little older, and doing as the writer thinks Nausicaa would do if she were a goddess and had an establishment of her own. I am more doubtful about these last two, for they both seem somewhat more free from that man-hatred which Nausicaa hardly attempts to conceal. Still, Nausicaa contemplates marrying as soon as she can find the right person, and, as we have seen, neither Circe nor Calypso had a single man-servant of their own, while Circe was in the habit of turning all men who came near her into pigs or wild beasts. Calypso, moreover, is only made a little angry by being compelled to send Ulysses away. She does not seem to have been broken-hearted about it. Neither of them, therefore, must be held to be more fond of men than the convenience of the poem dictated. Even the common people of Ithaca are Scherians, and make exactly the same fault-finding ill-natured remarks about Penelope (xxiii. 149-151) as the Phæacians did about Nausicaa in Book vi. 273-288.

If, then, we observe that where the writer's invention is more laboured she is describing places foreign to her own neighbourhood, while when she carries conviction she is at or near her own home, the presumption becomes very strong that the more spontaneous scenes are not so much invention as a rendering of the writer's environment, to which it is plain that she is passionately attached, however much she may sometimes gird at it. I, therefore, dismiss the supposition of my supposed objector that the writer was not drawing Alcinous’ household and garden from life, and am confirmed in this opinion by remembering that the house of Ulysses corresponds perfectly with that of Alcinous—even to the number of the women servants kept in each establishment.

Being limited to a young woman who was an intimate member of Alcinous’ household, we have only to choose between some dependant who idolised Nausicaa and wished to celebrate her with all her surroundings, or Nausicaa (whatever her real name may have been) herself. 

[...]

 The fact that in the washing day episode, so far as possible, we find Nausicaa, all Nausicaa, and nothing but Nausicaa, among the female dramatis person, indicates that she was herself the young woman of Trapani, a member of the household of King Alcinous, whom we have got to find, and that she was giving herself the little niche in her work which a girl who was writing such a work was sure to give herself.

[...]

At the same time I think it highly probable that the writer of the "Odyssey" was both short and plain, and was laughing at herself, and intending to make her audience laugh also, by describing herself as tall and beautiful. She may have been either plain or beautiful without its affecting the argument.

I wish I could find some one who would give me any serious reason why Nausicaa should not have written the "Odyssey." For the last five years I have pestered every scholar with whom I have been able to scrape acquaintance, by asking him to explain why the "Odyssey" should not have been written by a young woman. 

Samuel Butler, The Authoress of the Odyssey

#historical women #women #history #historicwomendaily #women in history #the authoress of the odyssey #samuel butler #Greek Sicily #trapani #Province of Trapani #people of sicily #women of sicily #historyedit #myedit

[vermilionwinds]

14. Commend

"I was just about ta ask on both counts. Seemed a sensible enough place ta store me axe. Ta be honest, the thing is probably worth ten o' me, so I'm a little protective."

“No selling yourself short. I’m sure it’s a nice axe. But you’re a really nice you, too.”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Remeraux runs into a tall leg on a warm night in Ishgard, while she was pretending she was a dragon running away from the gallant Ser Rosamonde. The leg kicks her aside, and she yelps as she’s knocked into the cobblestone. “Watch where you’re going, you brat!” She hears a rough voice bark, and she rubs her eyes and watches the man adjust his cravat. “Tch. Of course a whore’s daughter would want for manners.”

As her mom rushed out to look at her skinned knee, she asks her mom what the man’s words mean.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

She struggles and she kicks and she tries to bite, but the Temple Knights on either side of her wrench her arms backwards and drag her through the crowds of the Jeweled Crozier, and force her to her knees in front of a man dressed in blue velvet. Her father throws himself on his knees of his own volition. “Please, milord, have mercy… She’s just a child, she don’t know no better… It won’ happen again, I’ll make sure of it, so please.” He was begging. He was begging. The man above them all huffed, and smoothed his red mustache. “You better watch that wretch of yours, or before you know it she’ll be taking a long walk off the Witchdrop.” Her father starts to blubber, and kisses the man’s boots. Remeraux knows just enough to be disgusted.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Remeraux can feel the knife pressed against her cheek begin to saw against her skin from the rock of the waves. It didn’t help that the pale hand holding it was trembling. “You will grant me safe passage, or I swear I will send this wretch to your Twelve.” The man sneers the words and punctuates the word Twelve by pulling his blade across, opening her flesh like an envelope. As Remeraux bites down hard on her tongue as blood begins to pour down her face, a shot rings out in the captain’s quarters. The hand at her face drops the knife, and the man crumples over. Xavier Folchambres blows the smoke from the barrel of his pistol, and turns his ice cold stare on Remeraux as she clutches her face and howls. “What were you thinking, you damn fool girl?!” He growls, and Remeraux can’t find an answer worth telling.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Remeraux couldn’t explain why her hands went slack and let go of the rope. The wind pulled hard rope burns into her palms as the storm wrenched the mast away, and her fellow Sirens groaned in frustration. They didn’t sting as bad as the sight of Rhoswen Leach storming towards her, eyes like fire. “That’s the bleedin’ fifth time you’ve fucked up big on my ship!” The woman barked, and despite Remeraux nearly seven malms of height she felt so small. “An’ you said you were Squallbreaker… I’ve got no time for girls who can’t pull their weight. If we can even make it back to port, you’re gonna fuckin’ stay there.” The captain spat on the deck. “Girls! Say yer bleedin’ goodbyes to miss Rem, here.” As Captain Leach stormed off, Remeraux was just thankful it was raining.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Please, Tadi.” Remeraux is tapping her foot as she swallows her own tongue before the lalafellin man sat across from her. “Ya gotta have some kinda job I can do.”

“And why should I. To supply you with more drinking money, hm? Do you need a new blouse?” The man balked, and if Remeraux wasn’t truly desperate she would have clocked him right in those gold teeth.

“Nald teaches not to spend above your means. Or above your station. And yet you come to me again like a beggar, for the second time this moon.” “I ain’ too proud ta work…” Remeraux bows her head before him, clenching her gloved fists, swallowing down those last dregs of pride. “I’ll do anyfin honest….”

“I don’t work with wash-ups or burn-outs, dear. Let your growling stomach remind you how to manage your coin.”

Remeraux watches him go, and hates that it’s a debate in her head on whether to spend her last bent gil on food or drink that night.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------ “No selling yourself short. I’m sure it’s a nice axe. But you’re a really nice you, too.”

With a last perky grin Severine gives a little wave and turns to let herself out of the office. “Meet you out there!”

As she closes the door behind her, Remeraux just stands there in silence for a second, processing those words. They make her so giddy that she doesn’t find it in herself just then to argue.

#ffxivwrite2021 #ffxivwrite #RemerauxWrites #severine #mentions #also because xiaohu mentioned on hers I also felt like it was relevant to mention #remeraux and me both are pro-sex work #but as you can imagine this is not the majority opinion in Ishgard and not many of her mom's Johns had any kind of respect for her #or Rem for that matter

[gladerwolfstarkimagines]

Tea Shop Part Four: Zuko x female reader imagine series

Zuko joins the group and everyone is soon sick to death with the two of you bickering. You finally manage to put your differences aside long enough to help Sokka sneak into a fire nation prison to look for his dad but once there the fighting starts again and gets you both in serious trouble...

Part one here

Part two here

Part three here

Your POV

After your argument you and Zuko weren’t speaking apart from petty comments or mutterings that turned into arguments, both of which happened a lot! You glared at each constantly making the atmosphere very tense and the gang were not appreciative.

"Anyone else get the feeling y/n and Zuko just need locking in a tent for the few hours?" Sokka asked one morning after you’d just made Zuko leave the room with a well timed quip. Toph smirked, Katara and Aang smiled but you frowned "what? Why? We'd end up killing each other". "Ow it’d get physical" Sokka agreed and you scoffed throwing a rock at him. Sokka was under the insane impression all this tension was because you and Zuko had left things unresolved in Ba Sing Sei and so he was trying to nudge you two together constantly but it wasn’t working. "Don’t you think you're being a bit harsh on Zuko?" Sokka tried again and you glared. "Want me to start on you too pretty boy? Don’t get on my bad side". Sokka just stared at you in reply "you think i’m pretty?" he asked and you rolled your eyes and walked away as the rest of the gang all laughed.

The next day

It annoyed you how the others all took to Zuko so easily, as if they’d forgot everything he’d done. You were determined not to be so easily won over and so kept a close eye on him. While you were having supper you noticed Zuko and Sokka whispering away from the campfire. You tried to assess what was going on but couldn’t make anything out. Sokka having secrets with Zuko worried you, what is Zuko hurt him? Zuko could NOT be trusted and so you decided to get involved. That night you kept watch outside the temple incase Zuko tried anything and sure enough you saw him appear in the dead of night. He crept towards Appa and you followed him. "I knew you were up to no good!" you cried before pausing "Sokka?". Zuko was there but he wasn’t the one who’s been sneaking around, that was all Sokka and they seemed to be going somewhere. "Hi y/n" Sokka smiled "erm so i don’t suppose you can forget you saw us?". You shook your head "nope, why are you sneaking around with the traitor prince?". Zuko glared and you just smiled. "Erm prison...". "Good turning Zuko in?". "Look i know you have a problem with me...” Zuko started. "Ow wow you're clever" you retorted and Zuko cried out in frustation. "You are so annoying" he glared and you laughed "Really? Okay lets weight that up so i’m annoying and you’re a traitor, which is worse?". Zuko went to argue and Sokka stepped inbetween you "enough you guys are so loud you’ll wake everyone up! I’m going without either of you". "No" you and Zuko said simultaneously before glaring at each other. "You can’t go on your own you don’t know where it is" Zuko called. "I don’t know where you’re going but there’s no way i’m letting you go alone" you added. Sokka glared "the two of you can’t both come, you’ll argue too much, you can’t work together". "Then just take me" Zuko shrugged. You went to argue and Sokka groaned "no i want both or neither! I am not getting involved in this". You frowned and let out a large sigh, you knew Sokka wouldn’t change his mind when he spoke in that tone. So you either sent Sokka into the firenation alone or swallowed your pride. You debated the Sokka alone plan and couldn’t see a way it happened without him dying so grudgingly huffed. "We won’t argue and give away our cover" you told Sokka "i promise to stop". Zuko looked up at you in shock while Sokka beamed "you will?". You nodded purposefully not looking at Zuko "i promise". Sokka turned to Zuko who frowned "i promise too". Sokka smiled "yay road trip!".

To keep your promise you just stayed away from Zuko. On the ship you stuck to opposite ends and when you got to prison you found the guard helmet covered his face making your anger lessened. The plan to break Hakoda out was on track...and then Zuko got caught impersonating a guard and got you dragged down with him. Needless to say you were furious. As soon as you were let out of your cell you spotted Zuko and stalked towards him. Zuko was expecting this and sighed “Y/n...”. “You just love annoying me don’t you, did you plan this the whole time?”. “Of course not!” Zuko cried “but maybe i should’ve...”. You glared and got ready to argue again when Sokka appeared. "Look i know this isn’t ideal" Sokka tried and you laughed "yeah no kidding". "What was i suposed to do? Let them catch Sokka?" Zuko asked. "No but leaving me out of it would’ve been nice". "Ow like i meant to implicate you" Zuko snapped. "Guys!" Sokka cried "you promised". You frowned seeing Sokka pout and nodded "sorry". "Sorry" Zuko mimicked you and you raised an eyebrow. "Okay so this changes things but i have a plan" Sokka cried and you focused on him and just blocked Zuko out.

The plan was Zuko would get supplies from the freezer but to get him there he had to cause a disturbance worthy of such a punishment. So Sokka proposed he start a fight and you watched Zuko provoke one. The fight went as Sokka planned and Zuko and the other inmate fought before guards intervened. Zuko’s fire bending caught their attention and he stopped to let then arrest him but they didn’t seem keen on taking him so willingly. You watched as one grabbed Zuko’s arms while another snook up behind him. The guard raised his baton against Zuko aiming right for the back of his head and Zuko couldn’t see him coming. "Stop" you cried using earth bending to trip the guard making him fall over into the other guard. Zuko jumped and turned avoiding the man and looked at you suprised. People laughed and the guards glared "you!" he said spotting you. "You were going to hurt him!" you shrugged "i was just trying to make you stop". One of the guards grabbed your arm and Zuko frowned "hey get off her" and yanked the man off you. The man tried grabbing you again and the other guard joined in too. With Zuko’s help you outmanouvered and tripped the two of them again. The guards fell over harshly and glared. The main guard looked furious and called for back up. Immediately more guards streamed into the room and spotted you and Zuko as the trouble makers. They seized you both and forced your hands behind your backs. "Benders" the man spat at the floor "they both need some manners, a night in the freezer". That made you stop struggling in shock, he couldn't put you, an earthbender, in the freezer too. "But i’m not a fire bender!" you cried "I'll die if you do that". "Not my problem" the guard smirked and you and Zuko were dragged away. You tried resisting and Zuko was determined to help you too. He broke out of his restraints and attacked your guards. Not managing to get them off you he clung onto you instead. Not sure what his plan was but not wanting to be seperated you grabbed onto him too and the guards couldn’t seperate you. You caused so much fuss they pushed you both into the same freezer just to get you in there and slammed the door shut. "Let me out!" you cried "i’m not a firebender let me out i’ll freeze" you yelled beating your fists against the door. "Y/n trust me they dont care" Zuko frowned. You ignored him and kept at it. Zuko left you to get your anger out for a while before sighing "y/n stop that". "I can’t i have to get out" you gasped feeling the smallness of the room closing in on you "i can’t stay in here". "Y/n stop" zuko said grabbing your shoulders "they aren’t coming, the only thing that’s doing is wasting your energy and annoying me, we’ll only survive this if we’re smart". You frowned "so what do we do?". "We have to conserve our enevery...we need to huddle" Zuko said and when you rolled your eyes he rushed to explain "my body temperature is warmer than yours! The only way you’ll survive is by sharing my body heat". "I bet you’d like that" you scoffed and Zuko blushed "it’s not like that". "Either way i’m not touching you" you retorted and Zuko frowned "fine then freeze!" and turned away. You went back to banging on the door and lost track of time when you suddenly and shockingly felt your energy ebb. You grabbed the wall and realised your hands were so cold you hadn’t even noticed they were bleeding. The red and blue contrast of your hands made you feel dizzy and you held onto the door tighter. "Zuko..." you said softly and immediately Zuko was there “Y/n?”.You turned showing him your hands and in response Zuko just tugged you into him. You were scared, your skin looked blue-ish to you and you felt numb. Zuko folded your arms into him and wrapped his own over you. "Put your hands against me" he told you "bury your head in my neck and try to think warm thoughts" he commanded. He rubbed your shoulders and arms alternatingly and it felt nice and warm...for a while. "It’s not working" you stuttered feeling the freeze and Zuko shook his head "no, no way i’m letting you die". He frowned and sat down tugging you with him. You were so cold you didn’t even object when he pulled you onto his lap. He tucked your feet under his legs and put your hands aginst his chest. "Keep rubbing your hand together" he told you and engulfed you in his warm bulk again. You fully rested your face in the crook of his neck and tried to tuck your limbs in as much a possible. Again Zuko rubbed your back and arms to keep you warm and even breathed fire surprising you. "I didn’t know you could do that" you stutted and Zuko looked at you "conserve your strength, don’t talk". You smirked at his tone but winced to feel the numbness spread. It was getting worse despite Zuko’s efforts, you didn’t want to give in but the cold was so inviting. You just had to do one thing before you went....you had to say goodbye. "Zuko if i don’t...i don’t think i’m going to...". "Don’t even say it" Zuko cried and he spat more fire warming the air slightly. "Take slow deep breaths and remain calm, you’re fine". "Zuko if i don’t...". "Y/n" he scolded you but you carried on "i’m sorry Zuko...for wasting time being angry at you, i was just hurt and i...". A tear fell down your cheek and then promptly froze. Zuko shook his head "y/n stop it" he frowned "you won’t make it if you don’t try". "I just want you to know i regret wasting that time with you...I wasn’t really angry at you, I was just hurt" you cried "i like you Zuko". Zuko breathed in sharply. “I have since Ba Sing Sei and I should’ve told you earlier but i was confused and i....but i wanted to tell you before i...". "You're not dying" Zuko replied shakily "i’ve seen you fight pleanty of my decisions before y/n don’t fight this one and i...I like you too so you just have to keep trying, you can make it". "Zuko i can’t..." you sighed growing tired and Zuko shook his head "y/n please". When your eyes started to close Zuko panicked "y/n!" he cried shaking your shoulders. Zuko yelled your name but got no response. Running of out of ideas Zuko held you face and yelled your name. He was shaking in frustration and fear but tried his last gambit. He yelled your name and then kissed you. He hoped, one it would warm you and two shock you into waking back up. It did both. Against your cold skin his lips were practically painful but you didn’t care. If you were going to die, kissing Zuko after telling him you liked him seemed like a good enough way to go. "Y/n please for me keep trying" Zuko whispered kissing your forehead. You blinked and breathed slowly but nodded "okay". Zuko smiled and tucked you back into his neck. Zuko chattered constantly to make sure you stayed awake and just spoke about random stuff. His uncle, turtle ducks, the palace gardens. Everything and anything and it was sweet and kept you awake. You even smiled as he explained the time a duck bit him and were feeling warmer when the door snapped open. "Aww how cute" one guard commented and the other snorted "wow she’s still alive, well lucky for her your presence has been requested, the both of you so get up".  Zuko helped you to stand and you practically clung onto him as the guards pushed and pulled you faster than your frozen legs could manage. They thrust you into a room and you almost fell but Zuko caught you. He helped you into one of the two chairs and knelt down beside you. "It’s warm you smiled and Zuko nodded rubbing your hands "still regulate your breathing though, you’re not in the clear yet". "I feel fine" you argued and Zuko raised an eyebrow "you’re still ice cold, your hairs frozen and your lips are blue". "Well that’s your fault for only focusing on my hands" you commented and Zuko shook his head but smiled. "Don't worry i’ll get round to it". You grinned as he rubbed your arms and smirked at the serious face he was making. "What?" he asked noticing you watching him and you smiled "nothing". Zuko blushed glancing at you and you grinned. The door opened suddenly and Zuko shot up towering over you. You used the chair to stand up too and noticed Zuko step closer to you as soon as he saw who it was. You frowned and peaked out from behind Zuko to see it was the dark haired fire nation girl. Zuko’s ex girlfriend if you’d read the signals right. From her glare you did. "I told you to bring him, not her too". The guard frowned "sorry we'll take her". "No" Zuko said shielding you protectively, he knew if they sent you back into the freezer without him you’d he dead in minutes. "You won’t touch her! If you send her away i won’t say a word, if you want to talk to me you’ll keep her right here". The girl glared and time seemed to drag on before she glanced at you and sighed "fine". The guard asked it she was sure and she nodded before they shut the door leaving the three of you alone.

To hear Zuko arguing with his ex after you’d just kissed and admitted your feeings to each other was awkward to say the least. His girlfriend was pissed he’d left and nothing Zuko said made it better. You kept your eyes down trying not to listen but couldn’t help it. You chair made a large squeak suddenly and you looked up. Mai fixed her eyes on you and tilted her head to one side "you’re the beach girl, the one Zuko stood up for, aren’t you?" she asked. "Well usually people call me y/n but beach girl works too". Mai raised an eyebrow in disgust "i bet you feel so special having him protect you, having him stand up for you...it won’t last, he’s good at betraying people". "Mai leave her alone" Zuko called but you weren’t intimidated. "Really you're trying to scare me off him? This bickering didn’t do it so i’d save my breath if i were you, i don’t care what happened between you. For all i know the problem was with you not him and based on what i’ve heard about you that’s a safe bet". The girl’s eyes twitched and her hand went to her sleeve. "Mai no!" Zuko called "you’re mad at me leave her alone! It’s between me and you not her". "If she doesn’t shut her mouth..." Mai glared. "She will" Zuko assured her and fixed you a look as you went to protest. You sighed but obeyed. "Atleast you have her trained" Mai commented. You glared but didn’t reply.

Zuko and Mai carried on talking, or well arguing, when a guard appeared informing Mai there was a riot. He offered to be her body guard and opened the door. Zuko met your eye as the door opened and you got his subtle hint. "I don’t need any protection" Mai explained and Zuko nodded "she doesn’t". Mai frowned and Zuko gestured to you. You stepped closer to him when he suddenly threw the guard into Mai and grabbed your hand. Zuko dragged you out of the room before slamming the door closed. Mai’s face appeared on the other side of the door and she looked pissed. "I’m sorry Mai" Zuko frowned "i really am but we have to go" and he turned to you. “How are your legs feeling? Can you walk on them?”. “I can do more than that and I think we’re going to need it” you replied and set off in a run for the meeting point you’d arrranged with Sokka.

You barely made it but thanks to Suki’s fighting skills and suprisingly Mai’s help you made it out of the fire nation prison successfully. You stood on the air ship watching the prison fall away in disbelief. You were trying to comprehend everything that had just happened when you jumped feeling something behind you. "Sorry" Zuko said when he saw you flinch "didn’t mean to scare you". "It’s fine" you smiled "you saved my life i don’t think i can be angry at you again". "I’m sure that’ll last a week at most" Zuko smirked and you shrugged but knew he was right. "Thank you" you said placing a hand on his arm making him look at you "if you hadn’t taken care of me....i’m still sure you enjoyed it somewhat...but either way thank you". Zuko blushed looking down "of course i didn’t enjoy it you were almost dying!". "So you didn’t like the close contact...the kiss at all?" you asked smirking. Zuko’s face went bright red "no, you were in pain, i was too worried about you to enjoy it much". "That’s a shame, it was pretty good from my perspective" you smiled. "I’m glad for you, that was my intent". You laughed "well next time i’ll make sure you enjoy it too". "Next time?" Zuko asked and you nodded "yeah if you meant what you said". "I did" Zuko nodded and you blushed "good so did i". Zuko smiled at you and your blush grew "you know next time could be sooner than..." you started when Zuko, already ahead of you, kissed you for the second time that day. "Now?" he asked and you nodded kissing him again. Zuko held you tightly against him, your hands were against his chest as he pressed closer to you and you didn’t mind the lack of space, you forgot you needed any so lost in it. "Zuko the ships..." Sokka’s voice suddenly cut in jolting you out of it. Sokka stopped his sentence seeing the two of you, his jaw hanging open as he stared. "Ow my god where did you find the time for this to even happen!" he cried. Zuko narrowed his eyes putting an arm around you protectively but you smirked turning to face Sokka "in the freezer". "I knew it!" Sokka cried "you guys are so obvious". "If you knew it then why did you disturb us?" Zuko asked, still pressed close to you. You smirked at his angry face and turned back to Sokka "what’s wrong with the ship Sokka?". "I don’t know i need you to work that out if you’re not too busy". Zuko raised an eyebrow but sighed “fine” and followed Sokka away still glaring.

When you reached camp and explained everything to the others Zuko caught Katara and brought her over to you. "Katara can you check over y/n, her hands are pretty bad and she was in the freezer for so long...she seems okay but i’d feel better knowing you made sure" Zuko said and you rolled your eyes. You let Katara heal and then wrap your hands in bandages carefully. You waited as she examined you for any signs of frostbite or muscle damage and shot Zuko a smirk when she announced you were fine. "Your body seems fine just tired, well done Zuko you managed to make sure no long term damage was done". "Pretty heroic" you smirked and Zuko blushed "i’m just glad your okay". You smiled up at Zuko, both of you obviously smitten and Katara froze "wait....are you two...?". You and Zuko looked at her and she grinned "i knew you liked him! This is amazing!! I should’ve been able to tell from how you’re not glaring at each other anymore! You’re still looking at each other a lot but it’s different now” she trailed off before realising she was embarassing you “i’m so pleased for you both" she cried and hugged you. "Thanks Katara but we kinda need to talk about it so mind giving us a sec?". "Of course" she nodded "sorry" and backed out of the room. "We need to talk?" Zuko asked worried and you shook your head "nope, i just said that to get rid of Katara, can anyone in that family read social cues?". Zuko smirked "you’re the best". "I know" you smiled "but you’re pretty good too". You frowned and looked at him "but while we’re here...Zuko i want to apologise for everything i’ve said to you over the past few days, i was just so angry but that’s no excuse for what i said to you". Zuko frowned "y/n its okay i said things too". "I know but you tried apologisng first and now i think of all i did to provoke you, you’re not a traitor Zuko, you’re not a bad person and i don’t hate you, i’m sorry for ever implying i did". Zuko smiled and took your bandaged hand "thank you for saying that but i knew you didn’t hate me, you don’t hate anyone you’re too kind...plus that kiss definitely was not hate". You blushed "in my defence i thought i was dying"."Hmm that explains why you were just as eager on the ship then?".  "Zuko" you whined and pushed him playfully. Zuko smiled and realised that was the first time you’d said his name, his real name, without sounding angry or upset. It was the first time you said it in a good way and he liked how it sounded. You realised he was staring at you adoringly and blushed. "Today was pretty awful but this is the best thing that’s happened to me in a while" Zuko said smiling at you. You were still blushing but nodded "me too, i’m just annoyed it took us this long". Zuko shrugged "we can make up the time now" and you smiled agreeing. “The sooner the better” you smirked and Zuko agreed leaning in to kiss you again. 

____

That’s it!! I skipped the whole taking over the capital because I liked that as the ending. Thanks for all the support :)

#zuko #zuko imagine #zuko x reader #atla iroh #prince zuko #avatar #avatar the last airbender #avatar the last airbender imagine #prince zuko x reader #prince zuko imagine #avatar zuko #atla zuko #ba sing sei #boiling rock #fire nation #air nation #air acolyte #atla imagine #aang #sokka x reader #katara #toph #mai #azula #western air temple #fire nation royalty #atla sokka #atla mai

[ohnopoe]

Alone, Together | Din Djarin

Ship: Din Djarin x Reader Summary: Sometimes it’s the strongest people who just need someone to be strong for them. Word Count: 2.2k+ Warnings: Spoilers for the season 2 finale!! Angst. Author’s Note: This was meant to be hurt/comfort... I failed miserably... enjoy your angst and heartache! I also have not proof read this in the slightest... I am lazy and sorry

The silence echoed through the command centre, holding a weight upon your chest that felt akin to drowning. It seemed as though time itself was standing still as you stood there, engulfed in what had just happened, in the anguish that was threatening to creep in.

Of course, you had half expected something like this from the very beginning, it was the plan, after all. Grogu was with his kind now, with a jedi who could train and protect him so much better than you and Din ever could. You’d spent so long trying to convince yourself not to get attached, to enjoy the moments you shared with the curious child with a safe protective layer between you, but that was never really going to work, now, was it?

From the moment you had joined the Mandalorian on the Razor Crest, the duo had captured your heart, no matter how hard you tried to convince yourself otherwise.

It had taken a surprisingly short amount of time to truly feel apart of the odd little crew. With such a stoic being as Din leading the charge, and a fifty year old child enamoured by his every shiny movement, you had thought it would simply be a job, just another in a long line of careers you had dabbled in throughout the galaxy. But it was so much more.

Looking after Grogu had been so much more than a job, it had been a delight, even in when he was determined to throw a tantrum when you all desperately needed sleep. It wasn’t long before the child became something akin to a friend, albeit a small, incoherent, gnawing on anything that shouldn’t go anywhere near a mouth, friend, but a friend nonetheless.

And somewhere along the line, the Mandalorian followed.

It was in the soft utterances that were barely heard, the gentle actions that weren’t necessary, but were always welcomed with a beaming smile. He wasn’t one for words, but he would show how he cared day by day.

A fruit you enjoyed on a random planet just so happened to be amongst the groceries after you exclaimed your joy upon tasting it. A new pillow was sitting on your bed a few days after he noticed you rubbing your stiff neck in the mornings. And when he found you nervous to be left alone on the Crest on a particularly dangerous planet? Well, suddenly there was time to take a day off to make sure you were comfortable with not only the weapons to defend yourself, but the controls of the Crest should you need to get yourself and the child out of there.

Yes, somewhere along the line, you had forged something of a friendship with the very same man who had unintentionally frightened you silent upon your first meeting. And if at some point your feelings for him had started to slip to something less platonic, well, that was neither here nor there.

Especially now, as you stood by his side in that same pained silence that still echoed through the Imperial ship.

Now, he needed a friend.

His helmet had been removed for the child, he had destroyed his creed, and, as tempting as it might have been, you had kept your gaze firmly on the ground the entire time, determined to respect his beliefs right down to the end.

The pain and anguish you felt at the sight of those gigantic sad eyes as Grogu had left was incomparable, but, even in your pain, you knew it was nothing compared to the hurt the Mandalorian at your side must be feeling.

There were too many in the room, battle hardened warriors each one of them, and you knew words of comfort or sympathy would do little at such a time, so you did the only thing you could think of.

With your gaze still firmly fixated on the floor, you pushed the pain aside, something to be addressed later, when you were alone, when you didn’t have to be the rock for the same man who had unknowingly been the same for you time after time in his own resilient manner.

Your hand barely moved, slow and subtle as you reached across the small distance to him. Unhurried, gentle, as if trying not to scare a wild animal, your fingers found his, curling into his hold in a silent show of camaraderie that had the heartbroken man turning his head towards you.

With your gaze still focused on the floor at your feet, you didn’t see the way those deep brown eyes took you in, savouring the sight, awed by the way you remained diligently refusing to glance his way. You didn’t see the years of pain and heartbreak that swam in that tear stung gaze, didn’t see the anguish that flittered there, fighting against an unwavering affection for you that seemed to have made its home there long ago.

But you did feel the way his hand clasped around yours, large and warm, even through the leather of his gloves. It practically engulfed your own hand, and yet, the desperate hold almost made it seem small, uncertain, as if this one action, your hand in his, was the only thing keeping him together as his world fell apart once more.

Time that had moved so slowly seemed to suddenly fly into overdrive. Boba was back to pick up Fennec, Bo was, begrudgingly, focusing on what could be salvaged from the Imperial ship, Cara was setting off with Gideon, and, while you certainly seemed to be taking in whatever was thrown your way, it still felt a world away.

A decision had to be made, and before you knew it you were walking behind Cara and her new prisoner, still hand in hand with the Mandalorian who hadn’t dared let go of your hand since the moment you had offered it.

Somewhere along the way you had made it clear that you would remain with the Mandalorian, no matter what was to come, although you weren’t entirely certain the words had ever actually been spoken aloud. But any alternative was practically laughable. How could you possibly leave him now? How could you ever?

And then you were on the ship, when had that happened? And Gideon had been silenced once more with a hasty gag that was a desperate plea for what little sanity your little trio had left to not run astray (and possibly to keep Cara from killing him before she could make it to the New Republic). And then? Well, then was now wasn’t it? Alone in the cramped personal quarters of the shuttle, truly alone for the first time in weeks.

There was a time when being alone felt rejuvenating, refreshing even. The quiet solitude a haven from the chaos of so many busy planets, of so many people. When had that changed?

With a sad smile, you almost scoffed at the question the moment it flittered into your mind. You knew damn well when.

Silence had never lasted all that long on the Crest, no matter how tired you and Din might have been, the little green eared monster was determined to run amok, causing a clamouring of sounds in his wake. It was so easy to find it irritating when you were woken from only two hours of blissful sleep after days of being forced awake. It was easy to sigh and grapple with the playful child and remind him that this was sleep time, not play time, and if he wasn’t going to get some rest he had to at least let you get some.

But now, in the eerie silence of the Imperial shuttle you had commandeered in an effort to save the frog eating little bugger, you longed for those sounds. The chaos and cacophony of Grogu was a part of what had become your home, and now, yet another part of it was gone forever.

You couldn’t say when the tears had begun, or when they had slipped from silent streams to harsh sobs that wrecked their way through your body. But, curled up on the militantly neat bunk bed you had claimed as your own, you couldn’t have cared less.

Finally, you were alone, after hours of planning and debating, hours of being the solid rock for the man you had come to care so deeply for. Now was your chance to grieve everything you had lost, in the solitude of the clinically white cube someone had deigned appropriate to be a bedroom.

Visions of green ears and large eyes swam through your mind, memories entangled with daydreams as you thought about what had been, and what was to come for the small child you had grown to love.

But he was gone now, along with the Razor Crest that had become your home, although, thankfully, in a much less dramatic fashion.

Would that just be the way for all the things you loved? Would the same soon follow for Din?

A sound, far harsher than a sob, rattled its way from your chest at the thought. Surely he would be the next to leave, returning to his old life or helping rebuild Mandalore… either way, he no longer had a need for you now, did he? What use would he have for a glorified babysitter with no baby?

The sound of your tears would have been harrowing, were it not for the safety of those Imperial walls that surrounded you. Sobs and groans slipped from one to another as your tears soaked the stark white pillow beneath you. Curled up into the smallest ball you could manage, you let go.

That pain you’d pushed away earlier? Well, it was back, tenfold.

This was why you had never meant to get attached, this, right here, the aching hole that wanted to consume you, yet seemed to echo out from your very chest. It was a pain like no other, grief mixed with fear, sorrow mixed with a loneliness you could never put into words. A profound war of emotions that had your body shaken, and your mind so lost in its anguish, that you didn’t even hear the way the doors slid open, or the heartbroken sigh that followed.

Din was used to being alone. Even with you and Grogu aboard the Razor Crest with him, he would often find himself focused on a job while you distracted the little womp rat in the hull. It was just a part of life, until it wasn’t. Until he found himself working down there alongside you, until he found himself seeking out the joyful sounds of you playing with the child who was somehow older than either of you.

But even still, he was used to your absence, no matter how desperately he wished he weren’t.

So, as much as he desperately wanted to follow you when you claimed to need some rest, no matter how much he wanted to cling to your hand, to the intense amount of comfort such a small gesture had given him, he had let you go.

But that was nearly an hour ago now, and he couldn’t bare it any longer, and a small part of him hoped beyond all things that maybe, just maybe, you couldn’t either.

As the door slid open, and the broken sound of your tears perforated the air, a small sliver of what was left of his heart broke.

You had been so strong, had remained diligent and determined, had been the support he could never ask for, but desperately needed in his dark hour, and here you were, breaking apart alone.

It wasn’t until the harsh mattress beneath you shifted that you even realised you were no longer alone. Turning quickly, panicked and wide eyed, you gazed through blurry eyes at the foreign site before you.

Din still had all his armour in place, his helmet having returned to his head long ago, but his very being looked so different. It was in the way he stooped forwards, his elbows balanced on his knees as if the weight of the world was quite literally weighing him down. It was in the way his head hung low, but still faced you determinedly, as though he couldn’t decide what was worse, watching your broken wails, or turning away from them.

A harsh intake of breath. A desperate rub of your sleeve against your eyes in some plea that it might somehow make you look somewhat put together. You couldn’t meet his gaze, even behind the wall of his visor, but you would do what you had to in order to try and appear composed.

But he was shaking his head, slowly, reassuringly. You couldn’t be certain he was even aware of his actions as his hand found your leg, squeezing gently.

“Don’t,” his voice sounded harsher than usual, as if it had been filtered through sandpaper on its way through his helmet, and the rough sound had him pausing once more, as if startled to hear his own voice.

But he persisted nonetheless, pushing past the way his throat felt dry, past the ache each word brought forward.

“It’s ok to cry,” his voice was quieter now, an attempt at softness even through the pain he felt. “You don’t need to hold it in, not for me, not for anyone.”

#din djarin x reader #din djarin #the mandalorian #the mandalorian x reader #star wars #my fic

[thicctails]

Summer Of Whump Day 30[Crying/Lashing Out]

Reunited at last!

Omega leaned against a tree, her injured leg lifted off the ground slightly. Despite the pain that radiated from various points on her body, she was buzzing with excitement. Today was the day that they were going to meet up with the rest of the Bad Batch and Rex!

 They were just getting ready to leave, Crosshair going off to hunt something down so that they had extra provisions. Cal was laying down in the soft grass, rays of sunlight shining down on him as he slept. Omega felt a flicker of sadness go through her when she realized that Pillow was missing out on enjoying the planet’s nice warm environment.

 Crosshair had explained that Pillow, for some unexplainable reason, had cocooned himself in crystal. Omega hadn’t believed him at first, but the older clone had carried her back to the ship so that she could see it for herself. She’d spent the better part of half an hour just talking to the hunk of crystal, hoping that Pillow could hear her in there. She couldn’t sense him in the Force, which upset her. Crosshair said that he wouldn’t be in there for very long, but she could tell that he’d only said that to make her feel better. Truth was, nobody knew how long Pillow would be stuck in the shining purple chunk of rock.

 Omega could only hope that he was okay in there.

 “Hey.”

 Omega turned her head, surprised at who she saw.

 Chex shifted nervously, his arm resting in a sling. He looked like he had just rolled out of bed, his hair messy and his eyes still holding the remnants of sleep. He looked the way she felt, the two of them having just recently recovered from their fevers. She tilted her head slightly, not exactly sure why he had approached her.

 “I just,” He scratched the back of his neck with his free hand, “I wanted to say… that I’m sorry. I was angry and hurting, but that was no excuse to act the way that I did. You’re actually really cool.”

 Omega felt his sincerity and guilt through the Force, and she gave him a half smile.

 “Thanks. You were pretty cool too, taking on that creature by yourself.” She replied. “Just try to avoid swinging that lightsaber at me, and we’ll be good.”

 Chex flushed red in embarrassment. “Yeah, that was one of my stupider moments.”

 “Yes, it was.”

 Chex whirled, gulping when he saw Crosshair standing behind him. The clone glowered at him, his golden-brown eyes narrowing dangerously. A large, furry beast was draped over his shoulder, a trickle of blood dripping down his armored chest. Omega stifled a laugh at the way the padawan visibly seemed to shrink, his shoulders hunching as he tried to make himself seem as small and nonthreatening as possible.

 “So, you’re the one that attacked my adiik.” He growled, and it was as if a thunderstorm had formed inside his chest.

 “Uhhh…” Chex squeaked, somehow becoming even smaller.

 “Crosshair, I think you’re going to give him a heart attack.” Omega giggled.

 “Good.” Crosshair rumbled, still making direct eye contact with the cowering teen.

 Omega rolled her eyes and gave Chex a little shove, causing him to snap out of his terror-induced paralysis and dash away as fast as possible.

 Omega couldn’t hold it in anymore. She burst out laughing, her throat still a bit rough from her illness. She wiped at her eyes as Crosshair continued to glare at the retreating padawan, a toothpick clenched in his teeth.

 “You should have left him to cower, it was amusing.” He grumbled, giving her a small smile.

 “Cal’s gonna be so mad! He wanted to see you do that.” Omega wheezed.

“He should have stayed awake, then.” He said simply. “Come on, let’s get going.”

 She waits until Crosshair has woken Cal up before she moves. She limped forward, accepting Crosshair’s arm when he offers it. She knows that, if she asks, he’ll carry her back to the ship, but she wants to try and do it herself. She’s tired of feeling weak.

 Together, the trio made their way back to the ship. Crosshair threw his catch into the cold storage while Cal and Omega strapped in. Omega claimed the co-pilot’s seat, and Cal didn’t have the heart to fight her for the prized seat while she was injured. Resigning himself to a seat farther back, he curled up and went back to sleep, trying to ignore the throbbing pain in his chest.

 “Ready?” Crosshair asked, sliding into the pilot’s seat.

 “Ready!” Omega replied enthusiastically.

 Crosshair stared out the windshield with a determined look on his face.

 “Then let’s go home.”

    Hunter paced back and forth, stopping every thirty seconds to listen for the sound of approaching footsteps. He stared out at the open sky, wishing that his sight was as good as his hearing so that he could see if a ship was coming in. Upon seeing nothing and hearing nothing, he resumed his pacing.

 “Hunter, for the love of the Maker, please stop pacing!” Echo groaned, shooting Hunter an annoyed look. “Walking back and forth isn’t going to make them arrive any sooner.”

 Hunter huffed, crossing his arms. “They should have been here by now. What if something went wrong? What if Crosshair’s chip activated again?”

 “It’s been an hour since we got here. Give them some time.” Tech said, but Hunter didn’t miss the way his eyes flicked towards the sky.

 “Ugh, we’ve given them time.” Wrecker, who had been laying on the floor lifting boxes, sat up. “I say we go lookin’ for ‘em.”

 “That could draw unnecessary attention to ourselves. We’re staying put.” Rex replied.

 Hunter opened his mouth to argue, but stopped when a new sound reached his ears.

 Footsteps. One set was steady and calm, one was hesitant, and the other was uneven, like the person was limping. He turned his head, staring directly at the doorway.

 “Someone’s coming. A few someones.” He said in a hushed voice. Hope made his heart rate pick up, but he also knew to be cautious. There was always the possibility that whoever was coming down the hall wasn’t friendly.

 The group rallied around them, and the air was thick with tension. Hands rested on blasters as the footsteps became audible to everyone.

 They waited.

 There was silence for a moment, the approaching people pausing, hesitant to enter the room. Then, a familiar mop of blonde hair appeared from around the corner. Soft, honey-brown eyes locked onto them, and Omega’s star-bright grin lit up the space around them.

 “Omega!” The Bad Batch yelled, running over to her. She had barely stepped forward when Hunter reached her, scooping her up into a tight hug, ever careful not to touch her scarring burns.

 Omega’s face disappeared into Hunter’s neck, her own smooth skin brushing up against his stubble. The scent of damp earth and clean rainfall fills his senses, and Hunter takes a moment to absorb it, to take comfort from the fact that their ad’ika is back in his arms and that she’s alive and okay. Her limbs shake as she wraps her arms around his neck, almost choking him with how tightly she’s holding on. He doesn’t care. Omega is back, and that’s what matters.

 But she’s not the only family member that has returned to them today.

 Still holding onto Omega, he opens his eyes to see Crosshair standing in the door frame. His vod looks… tired. The skin beneath his eyes is dark, and in his cognac brown eyes Hunter sees a frightening mix of bone-deep exhaustion, deep-seeded guilt, and wavering fear, like he doesn’t know if Hunter is going to hug him or strike him.

 “C’mere, Cross’ika.” The nickname is one that he hasn’t used since their early days of life, but it still rolls off his tongue like smooth honey.

 Crosshair stiffens at the name, and Hunter can practically see the shock going through his mind. He hesitantly steps closer, still uncertain of Hunter’s intentions. Once he’s close enough, Hunter grabs his younger brother and pulls him into his chest, wrapping an arm around his back. He shifts Omega in his arm so that she’s still sitting comfortably while he holds Crosshair as close as he can.

 Before Crosshair could even register the sensation of being pulled into a hug, their other vode joined in, practically smothering Omega and Crosshair with affection. Tech wiggled his way close to Hunter’s side, throwing his arms around Crosshair and tucking his face into his shoulder. Echo was closer to Omega, eagerly offering the now teary-eyed girl a hug when she spotted him. And Wrecker? Well, Wrecker used his enhanced size to hug them all.

 Crosshair blinked, the weight of his vode bringing back fuzz-tinted memories of days long gone. He blinked again, feeling the unfamiliar sting of tears prick at the edges of his eyes. He took in a shuddering breath, the fear of rejection slowly bleeding out of him.

 “Welcome back, vod.” It was Echo’s voice this time, kind and heavy with relief.

 “’s good to be back.” He whispered, resting his chin on Hunter’s shoulder.

 Suddenly, there’s a noise. A shifting of feet on a metal floor makes Crosshair pull back, remembering that it wasn’t just him and Omega that had walked down the hall.

 “Cal,” He called, turning back towards the doorway. “come on out, ad’ika.”

 The Batch and Rex, who had come over once he’d realized that someone hadn’t revealed themself yet, peered curiously towards the doorway. Hunter could hear a small heartbeat increase as the hidden figure slowly poked his head out of the shadows. Startlingly green eyes broke the pattern of light browns, the boy glancing nervously at the group. He shuffled in place, looking like he wanted to bolt.

 They stared at him, he stared at them. All was silent.

 “Is that the kid you stole?”

 “TECH!”

 The kid’s face crinkled with amusement when Crosshair smacked Tech upside the head, scowling at him.

 “Yeah, I’m his stolen Jedi kid. Took me out of my jail cell right as I was getting comfortable.” He joked, laughing when Crosshair lightly smacked him on the head.

 “Shush, you little womp rat. If you were stolen by anyone, it was that Jedi.”

 “She would’a gave us back.”

 “Debatable. You and Omega are very likeable.”

 Wrecker laughed at the conversation. “Aw, Crossy’s gone soft.”

 “Wrecker.” Crosshair warned, bristling at the nickname.

 “Crossy?!” Cal, Rex, and Omega asked, trying not to laugh.

 “Do not call me that!” Crosshair snapped, his cheeks burning red.

 “Softie Crossy! Softy Cros- hurk!” Wrecker started to tease, but was cut off when Crosshair gave him a hard shove. The second-oldest clone let out a playful yell and pulled Crosshair down, wrestling with him on the floor.

 “Ori’vod, help me out!” Wrecker yelled, trying to wrangle Crosshair. The younger clone was too slippery, however, and Crosshair soon managed to wrap his legs around Wrecker’s neck, squeezing just enough to cut off most of his airflow.

 Hunter laughed, an actual, full-belly laugh. It had been years since he’d done that!

 “Tech, here,” He said, passing a giggling Omega off to his youngest brother, “hold this.”

 Tech accepted the armful of child, smiling at her and planting a kiss on her forehead. She leaned into him, tucking herself under his chin.

 “Hello, sarad’ika.” He said softly, taking a moment to fully realize the fact that Omega was back, that his inability to protect her hadn’t ended in her demise. “Gar cuyir bid kotir, ad'ika.”

 “Tech,” She whined, wiggling a bit to get comfortable,“I don’t know what that means. You guys need to teach me whatever language you’re speaking.”

 “We will, little one. I was just saying that you’re very brave, even when you were faced with a terrible situation.” Tech said, giving her an apologetic look. “I’m so sorry that I couldn’t keep you safe when you needed me to.”

 “It’s okay, Tech. I’m actually glad I got caught. Otherwise, I never would have met Cal.” She said, looking towards the redhead. He was cheering Crosshair on, Echo carefully watching to make sure he didn’t accidentally get dragged into the playful brawl.

 “Ah yes, our surprise addition.” Tech said, turning to look as well. “We’re going to have to build a new bunk.”

 “Me and him can sleep on Crosshair’s ship.” Omega said.

 Tech tightened his hold, almost looking distressed at her suggestion. “No. You aren’t allowed to leave our sight, not again. We can leave that Imperial scrapheap here.”

 “No we can’t! Pillow’s still in his weird cocoon thing.” Omega protested.

 “A… cocoon?” Tech questioned.

 “Yeah. He put himself into a big crystal!” She said, spreading her arms out as if to emphasize how large the object was.

 “An amphibian creating a cocoon is bizarre, but a crystalline one? That’s unheard of.” Tech muttered. “I need to analyze it. Would you like to come with me, or stay here?”

 “Stay with you.” Omega said, tucking herself back underneath Tech’s chin. She didn’t want to be put down, didn’t want to be without contact right now. The Force sang happily around her, pleased by her reuniting with her family.

 Tech chuckled and adjusted her so that he was holding her with one arm.

 “Very well then, let’s go see our crystallized friend.”

#the bad batch #star wars #star wars the bad batch #omega bad batch #hunter bad batch #tech bad batch #crosshair bad batch #wrecker bad batch #echo bad batch #summerofwhump #summerofwhump[30] #crying #this one is soft #fluff #whump #captain rex #rex clone wars

[kitkatopinions]

The only way I can see RWBY recovering in quality is if the island arc in volume 9 ends with seemingly days passing in the island world and a time skip in Remnant. The world of Remnant and their friends have moved on from the loss of RWBYJ in Atlas and have been dealing with Salem for 3 years or so. Gives the world time to heal from the damage RWBY+ caused in Atlas and with the broadcast and realize how much they fucked up following Ruby Rose blindly. Solves the age gap debates of Rosegarden if that's the ship they want to go with for Ruby and Oscar. Let's Sun move on from Blake organically and allows Blake to come to terms with any romantic feelings she had for him and how that chance is long gone. An opportunity for Salem to take control in a way that might not have been possible were it not for RWBY+'s actions in Atlas. Shows that the protagonists can fuck up and suffer consequences.

Ahhh, see, I specifically don't want a time skip because I think it likely will be a way to remove the affects of a bunch of the stuff that I want pay off for. You say that having the world have time to heal from RWBY + actions would be a good way to show the consequences, but I disagree with that. I think that'd actually be the quickest way to make Ruby's actions not matter and not seem important. Having her forced to see the full effects of her actions as the suffering is unfolding in front of her would be a way to get her to actually see for herself that maybe she's made some massive mistakes.

Can I paint a picture for you?

Ruby, Yang, Blake, Weiss, and Jaune get back from the island quickly, only a day having gone by for the people in Remnant. The refugees have just arrived in Vacuo, they lost tons of people trying to get through the desert, everyone is staggering with exhaustion as they move through the Vacuo streets, parents carrying their sobbing children, there are people throwing rocks at Winter and people trying to beg her to save them because they saw her fly through the gates and guessed that she was magic, there's sirens over a comm system in the city, trying to alert everyone to remain calm that's been going on for the hours it's taken to try and get everyone in and calm-ish in the first place. On top of that, the gates are flooded with guards working around the clock to keep Grimm out of the city, some of the exhausted Atlas hunters have gone there as well, Ren and Fiona and Team SSSN are desperately defending the last few hundred stragglers as they arrive. Ruby, Yang, Weiss, Blake, and Jaune are shocked, dismayed, they manage to get to the Academy where Nora is there with Oscar and Theodore, Theodore trying to get in contact with the Vacuo council in clear distress. Oscar tells them that everything has gone wrong, that everyone is panicking, that Vacuo was already struggling with keeping the Grimm away from the city when Ruby's message came, and with the addition of the refugees, the Grimm are coming in by the hundreds - by the thousands - almost more than the Vacuo authorities can fight back. Ruby is so confused, she'd been trying to reunite the world! But she just brought panic instead, and she now has to contend with that while seeing the immediate aftermath. She knows Qrow is missing, she tries calling him on her scroll, hoping she just missed him among the refugees. She and Yang are going crazy with worry, they think he might've been stuck in Atlas, he might be hurt, he might be dead, he might get captured by Salem, and they both have to face that. Being assigned by Theodore to help get refugees to the homes they've been temporarily assigned to squeeze into, Ruby is confronted by grieving families who lost everything, parents who tell her their daughter was one of the Atlas soldiers who died fighting on the front lines at Atlas, a couple with four kids spit at her and refuse her help because to them, her broadcast felt like a death sentence for Atlas while she called for hope for the rest of the world like they didn't matter. As she's traveling, Ruby runs into Neon and Flynt. They're angry and bitter too, coldly telling her that Ivori and Kobalt died in the fight against Salem. Ruby leaves that encounter wiping away tears. She wants to break down, but then gets assigned her next family to move and has to push it down and get back to work trying to do her job. Meanwhile Weiss has to deal with a brother who still clearly needs someone to help and take care of him when their relationship is somewhat rocky. Nora and Ren have to have distance and sort through what they want in their relationship and we see that and the immediate affects of their breakup. Salem has two Relics and Ruby has to explain that to Ozpin and maybe admit some mistakes and apologize while it's still relevant enough to matter to him. Emerald sees the affects of a lot of what she's done and has to contend with the fact that Mercury will be in Vacuo and she has to choose whether to try and help him or fight him instead. Mercury and Tyrian have to react in real time to the fact that the Atlas plans went completely sideways and now there's tons of people from Atlas here ruining whatever plans they have for Vacuo. Team RWBY work with Team SSSN while his and Blake's relationship is still clearly going to matter to him and he wants to continue where they left things and she has to explain her shift in feelings. Oscar is still contending with the fact that he and Oz are going to merge someday, asking questions about that. Salem must regroup now with so few people, and Cinder is going to have to try and keep up her lies in real time. Neo (if she survived the

island) is going to actually have to either get scrapped as a character or grow beyond her motivation of just wanting revenge. Winter is dealing with powers that are still new (remember, Maidens being 'new' is supposed to mean something) and having her whole world crash around her, while also maybe finally interacting with the family members outside of Weiss who have just had their entire way of life gone and now must adjust to sudden poverty. Qrow, Robyn, and the Ace Ops might have a storyline where they deal with what just happened themselves, maybe launching rescue for some of the people who didn't make it through the portals (like Pietro and Maria.)

These are all really important things that we should be expecting pay off for that should get focus and development. Ren and Nora's relationship problems, Oscar dealing with merging with Oz, how Cinder is going to regroup now, what will happen with Mercury, what the Schnees will do now they've suddenly lost everything, how Emerald is going to go on from her 'side switching,' how Qrow and Robyn reacted and where they'll go from here, whether or not Vacuo can even take in refugees, what the people think of RWBY and what consequences they've had to go through, and especially RWBY seeing the aftermath of the things instead of being allowed to just move on to the next thing and write it off as a victory like they did with Haven... All of that is something that we're likely to miss if we have a big time skip.

What I really don't want is for everyone to get back to the world after three to five years have passed only to see that it's doing pretty okay right now. Vacuo thriving with the Grimm population under control, and everything a little crowded, but most of the Atlas population settled in their new homes at this point, many of the important relationships of the side cast have been solved off screen and Maria, Pietro, and Qrow are already in Vacuo and have already adjusted to their various losses (both real for Pietro and believed for Qrow,) while (like you suggested,) Sun has just moved on from his dead former love interest he never got closure with that he promised to see again, because it has been years, and BlackSun fans like me see him in some relationship with someone he's never had any growth at all with (or maybe Neptune, which is... the preferable option over someone Sun's never actually talked to before.) Now Ruby doesn't see that her choices have caused major problems, instead she sees a city doing fine and if anyone is angry at her for causing them problems three to five years ago, they're mean. She's been supposedly dead for years and that person is just fine now! How can they yell at her? Now she doesn't see people suffering and Grimm flooding, she sees that her plan worked out in the long run, everyone just needed to hold on and have faith. She doesn't see a giant economic crash and families uprooted and soldiers dead and Pietro's reaction to the death of his daughter and people panicking over Salem... Ruby sees people talking about Salem as common knowledge, amassing troops to go after her now that the 'hard times' have started to pass, and she's validated. She knew it would turn out, she knew if she just believed, things would start working out!

I don't think the writers could save this show with a time skip, I think they'd just use it as a way to jump past the immediate affects of Ruby and her group's actions and avoid organic growth and problem solving while 'not being unrealistic' about it. If they brought RWBYJ back to Remnant within days, weeks, or even months, people expect real repercussions for the things that happened in the previous couple of seasons. They won't be able to just pretend none of it happened - or they might, but then most people will (hopefully) realize that's stupid.

So their choices are 1. just waving everything away and pretending there aren't any consequences to actions, 2. bring RWBYJ back in days, weeks, or months and address and deal with problems in a way that feels natural, 3. have a time skip so they can bypass the affects and consequences and avoid giving pay off for much of the things that fans have been expecting and waiting around for.

#rwde #anti rwby #rwby bashing #rwby hate #anti crwby #anti ruby rose #rwby criticism #rwby critical #I know this is all just speculation btw #but I have no faith and that's not my fault lol

[newswcanonprompts]

prompt #37 - Jedi are like Magpies and love their clones

sorry we haven’t posted in forever! to make up for it, i’m posting one of our longest and detailed prompts (maybe even the longest)- this came from a LONG discussion a few weeks back, and it was a lot of fun. this idea morphed a ton, and it became this huge thing. this is personally my favorite one, so hope you enjoy!

Jedi collect trinkets and wear them!!! Hand them to others as a very important gift

The Clones dont really get it, but they are happy

The jedi make them things like jewelry, keychains, little beaded things, colored strings, they’ll give them feathers, you name it 

Its another way to show that they are individuals, and that the jedi know them specifically 

The veteran clones have long keychain type things and the shiny clones want them very much and it’s something they look forward to 

The padawans hand the commanders things and being sad when the CC’s tell them they can’t take them into battle 

Krell gets found out earlier.

“Okay, look, i know krell is… well, he is *something* and i don’t want to accuse a master of the order but have you looked at his men?! where the hell are their keychains?!”

The padawans stage a protest at the senate because how else are they going to make sure that their troops know they are loved and get their trinkets 

This idea can get angsty really quickly (finding trinkets after battles, in ship crashes, or post-order 66), but we won’t do that because of how angsty this server already is, we need some fluff sometimes

Palaptine can commit self delete 

Clones will paint armor for padawans cause that is how they show honor and stuff 

The clones, upon figuring out what they mean, give their jedi trinkets also

Mirialan padawan holding armor they got: “ITS GREEN LIKE ME!” 

There are little figurines, some painted rocks, some little shiny things found on the battlefield

The clones who aren’t as good with their hands singing songs or telling stories

The jedi record them and keep them on little datachips that they keep on them at all times

Barriss doesn’t go bad because this is happy time

The jedi padawans start a riot / protest outside the senate building because some clones got their trinkets taken away by asshole civilians because they’re “not human”, just copies

The (now very pissed off) jedi sprung into action

If a snooty senator(s) takes away a clone’s trinket, the jedi just sit back and grind to a halt. Because if the clones, the PEOPLE WHO PROTECT THE REPUBLIC, are gonna get treated like that, the war can wait 

The jedi knights and masters just meditate wherever the padawans are protesting

This is done to ‘keep the peace’

If anakin hears a snooty senator degrade the clones, he starts ranting and shouting about their individuality and accomplishments, while pointing at each trinket.

Someone live streams this

Luminara joins in (barriss is right behind) 

Aayla too 

Luminara, anakin, aayla, tag teamed shouted speech 

Ahsoka and barriss are being held back by the CC’s (ahsoka is making some very crude hand gestures and barriss is like “i can name every bone in your body as i break it” - cause barriss has all that healer knowledge) 

Once these three are done, mace windu comes along with the council. They think mace is going to scold the three of them until mace starts shouting at the senators too. The council just lets mace do all the talking. 

This is the most watched live stream this year. It’s very funny and starts a ton of memes (obi wans face, yoda meditating, the look of “oh shit” on the original snooty senator’s face, the look of surprise on everyone when mace starts shouting too - there is also a gif made of the council looking at the situation, looking at themselves (mostly mace) and then they all step back to let mace do the talking, the clones faces when they see that three jedi and then the jedi high council are defending them)

Mace, rolling up his sleeves: “okay let’s do this” 

The senators: backing away in fear 

Obi wan might commit a war crime right now because no way people can talk about his troops like that

Obi wan: “am i allowed to kill a senator?”

Cody: “General, do not-”

This whole thing leads to a massive debate and overwhelmingly good PR for the jedi and clones

Shady sheev doesn’t like that. Good PR for the jedi? No thank you. But since this is a fixit he gets his ass kicked later on so everything’s fine (skeevy sheev has to scramble to try to fix his plans though) 

All the padawans from that one lightsaber episode (the one on ilum where the younglings got their kyber crystals) are there and SHIT’S GOING DOWN

Petro in particular is very close to kicking someone’s ass 

Caleb dume is there also.

“Master depa said we should never raise our blades in revenge or anger. But this is not revenge.” this is war, this is justice, this is defense of a defenseless group 

Padme also joins in all of this (but much more calmly)

She also might make some passive aggressive comments about the snooty senators trash outfit 

She and all her senator friends are gonna blacklist the original culprit 

Padme and bail organa (they also got help from many jedi) put in the clone rights bill the next day

In the halls outside the debate chamber, padme threatens to gut people with her hair pins if they don’t vote in her favor

sure, it’s *technically* extortion, but come on, who’s gonna stop her? those pins are pointy y’all

Anakin tried to help draft / present the bill but he spent most of his time ranting about the injustices the clones have to face (leia had to get it from someone)

Anakin, out of breath: “AND ALL YOU SENATORS JUST SIT HERE, DOING NOTHING, WHEN THEY’RE OUT THERE DYING FOR YOU-” 

Padme: “okay ani i got this, drink some water please” 

Ahsoka also jumps in 

Plo, who’s watching the debate: “little ‘soka, please don’t hurt anyone” (but he’s not about to stop her, after all these are his sons we’re talking about) 

If someone said “well they’re not slaves?” anakin would go OFF. if you thought he was angry before… you got another thing coming.

“I AM A FREED SLAVE! I KNOW WHAT IT IS LIKE! THESE MEN HAVE LESS RIGHTS THAN I DID AS A SLAVE!” 

If the public doesn’t know about his childhood before, they do now

Imagine the shock 

Padme: “Ani, deep breaths, it’s gonna be okay.” 

Also padme, to the other senators: “well i mean he’s not wrong you assholes”

Padme is also making very well timed comments and suggestions. It’s the most successful day she’s had since she became senator

She’s also revealing all the senators’ dirty secrets

Padme: “oh, senator so-and-so, i released all your finances and your voting history on the holonet. I’m sure your supporters will love that you’re embezzling funds. Oh, you lost your support? Tragic.” 

The jedi also have dirt on everyone and they just casually let everything slip like they weren’t secrets 

Shady sheev Palpacreep is in his little podium thing during the debate, and he is very pissed, because his plan is getting ruined, but he can’t let it show or else people will discover the truth about him

Anakin: “isn’t it great that we’re finally doing something about it?” 

Sheev, pained: “Of course-” 

This whole debate is still live streamed - and it’s very popular

The senate who made the original comment and started all of this is #cancelled 

This is the greatest thing the galaxy has ever seen / watched because drama 

If a jedi dies, and they aren’t brought back to the temple, they are burned with the other dead on the battlefield. Young padawans take their master’s trinkets in remembrance, wanting to follow their path and have tangible proof that the master passed into the force but that they left their mark in the world

You do not burn the trinkets. Krell tried once. It almost started a jedi civil war (maybe that’s how he gets found out) 

Or maybe krell was found out because he gives zero trinkets to his men, and everyone caught on and were like “hey wtf man” 

But if you wanna make it angsty ( cough cough umbara ) then krell tells the 501st to remove / burn / throw out their trinkets or he’d do it for them 

He gives them an example by slicing a very special one that anakin and ahsoka both gave to rex 

Krell also slices one of dogma’s. It was the only one dogma had because  he was newish to the battalion at the time and wasn’t sure if accepting the trinkets was against regs or not. Krell slashes it and dogma doesn’t say anything but there were tears in his eyes 

All the jedi who find out what happened replace all the trinkets so fast. They also give krell’s men a shit ton of presents.

Krell’s men have no idea what to do with them, but they are so touched a few shed tears when they get them 

The clones get small tattoos of patterns that the little padawans drew for the men

The tattoos are small because some of them *might* just be random squiggles but the padawans looked so happy the clones just had to get them tattooed

Anakin orders japor wood with padme's bank account to make snippets for the clones because it’s not only a jedi thing, it’s from anakin's homeworld - and that’s like the highest praise you can get from him

The clones might not know exactly what it means but they know its super special 

Padme figures out a way to buy japor wood in bulk. Anakin is very touched by this 

When snooty senators start badmouthing clones, yoda just sits there and meditates to drive the senators nuts

“Sitting, i am, because stand you bitches, i cannot” 

Padme gets many trinkets from the 501st because they all *know* about her and anakin

Any trinkets that she gets she likes to incorporate into her outfits (like the warrior fashionista that she is) 

She embroiders some of them into her dresses and hairpieces 

They both get a TON of trinkets when the twins are born

Padme also gives trinkets to the 501st, some of the 212th, and all of the coruscant guard. Especially fox cause she sees all the work he does and the senators he has to deal with 

She’s besties with the coruscant guard. Like yeah, she knows the 501st and they know about her and anakin (and she’s one of them because of it) but the guard is who she’s always with

She probably wore red on debate day to represent them

#star wars #padme amidala #anidala #anakin skywalker #clone wars #tcw #the clone wars #obi wan kenobi #mace windu #palpatine #ahsoka tano #commander cody #aayla secura #luminara unduli #barriss offee #501st battalion #501st legion #coruscant #coruscant guard #plo koon #wolfpack #Luke Skywalker #leia organa #clone troopers #clone culture #jedi #jedi order #jedi culture #pong krell #captain rex

[retvenkos]

rolled up messages | n.e.

Blades of Light and Shadow - Nia Ellarious x platonic!MC!Reader, slight angst, fluff requested by @brokenandheadoverheels

tw: mentions of death, seasickness, grief

word count: 1.7 (okay, but in my defense, this is nia, we’re talking about.)

song: message in a bottle - the police | 🔍

Summary: The sea worked in mysterious ways. This time, it brought you someone to grieve with.

When you had been little more than a child, your work knee-deep in the earth and all your life in your small and calloused hands, one of your favorite fantasies to spin was being a pirate. Kade had heard plenty of stories of life on a schooner, and seeing as you had never seen the sea, it was the most beautiful daydream your mind could concoct and escape into. It was a world beyond anything you had ever known. It was a romantic and daring vision - full of sea spray and gulls, the bright blue sky and the enchanting waves.

Life aboard The Wraith was anything but the stories Kade had once told. The hypnotic sway of the ship kept your mind in a constant and muted haze, and the endless skies muddled your sense of direction. Mostly, the days were dull, but on occasion, something more sinister lay within. Restlessness seeped into your veins - slowly, then all at once.

Only a handful of times in your life were you equally as rattled as you found yourself, now, and in each life-changing circumstance, what grounded you was working - the steady drudgery of tilling the earth, the resolute swing of a hammer, the clang of iron against an anvil. But here, there was no task to complete. There was just the open ocean and the ceaseless sky and the insanity that slipped in slowly. It was an itch, and soon, it would grow into a scream.

Most days, you sat around, waiting for things to happen. On occasion, the Captain - the fearless and headstrong Imtura - threw some meager task your way. You almost hated the way you jumped up, eager for something to do. The last thing you wanted to be was a dog begging for someone else's scraps. 

The sea was lawless in its corruption; you would be damned if you let it turn you.

If Kade were here, he would have known what you were thinking before you were able to put it into words yourself. He was always perceptive like that - annoying, too, because he knew it. He would have teased you about your restlessness, and before you could register the stir-crazy feeling in your belly, he would have told you stories about how the sea could charm you into doing her bidding. She'd cut you down slowly and carefully until your will was broken and your mind was jelly. Then, she'd use the rhythmic sway of the boat to hypnotize you into becoming her servant.

Was Kade somewhere out there, now, being drawn and quartered, broken down by the shadow and being built up again, against his will? Was he sitting in the cargo hold of a ship or a dusty cell beneath the ground, insanity visiting him in the night? Was Death a new companion of his, gnawing at his skin until he was foaming at the mouth? If you found him, would the shadows cling to him the way ghosts once did? If you discovered him alive, would Kade beg you to end his suffering?

And would it be a mercy to give him what he desired?

The sea was churning your stomach, the acid within burning up your throat. The world - a flat blue that couldn't divide sky from ocean - spun. You needed a quiet place to sit down. You needed a moment alone to grieve.

You stumbled your way below deck, gasping for air. The ship rocked to one side, and you staggered to a wall, throwing one hand out in front of you, catching your breath. You couldn't think about Kade, but you couldn't damn well forget about him either. Not when—

"(Y/n)? Are you alright?"

You snapped your head to attention and found Nia blinking back at you, her delicate features sculpted into light concern - mouth turned, eyebrows knitted. On her lap, she held a leatherbound journal, one hand holding a pencil, paused in its scratching. 

You closed your eyes, forcing yourself not to grimace. 

"Yeah, I'm alright," you breathed. You could hear the irritation in your voice. You hadn't meant to direct that at her. "What are you writing?" you asked, trying to smooth things over - steering the conversation to a place you could handle. "Keeping a harrowing account of our journey?"

Nia stiffened like a child caught when acting out. If you weren't so seasick, perhaps you would have waved your question away, content to sit in baited silence. But you needed a voice in the din - something to take off the edge - and you knew Nia would comply.

"Not exactly," Nia said slowly, worrying her bottom lip. "I'm writing a letter."

"To who?"

"Oh, umm... you'll probably laugh, but Scholar Vash." Her words hit you like a bullet. In all of the chaos surrounding your quest, you had forgotten about the loss of Scholar Vash. When had your company ever allowed Nia to truly grieve? You had spared her a few moments after the shadow took him, but you hadn't given her such mercy since. You should have never been so thoughtless in your mission. Nia let out a breathy sort of scoff and shook her head. You wondered if she was blinking back tears. If the light were better, would you have recognized it when you first came down?

"I just want him to know that I'm well and that I'm staying true to my faith," Nia played with the ends of her long, red hair. The shimmer of her dress caught in the orange lantern light. She looked like an angel in mourning. "I also thought that I'd write down the questions I still want to ask him. Maybe somehow - through the Light - he'll be able to send some kind of answer."

"Kade and I used to do that with our parents," you commiserated, your voice choked. "Write them letters, I mean. People in Riverbend thought it was a way for orphans to appease the spirits of their parents. Connection. We used to send our notes in glass bottles down the river."

Nia looked at you and gently smiled. Her expression turned wistful, something that made you draw nearer, sitting on a crate next to her. You were closer, now, and you could see the tears welling in her wide, brown eyes.

"We used to do something similar in Whitetower. On days when we were left in the archives for studying, we'd all gather around and write notes to would-be kin. Of course, we didn't have a river, so our letters were tied to the feet of birds. Little rolled up messages saying 'I'm here. Don't forget me.'"

For a moment, Nia's voice drifted away. The ship continued to rock, but in that time, it felt like a mother rocking a cradle, soothing the weeping child within.

"Most of us are adopted by the Temple of Light when we're infants," she sniffed. "I guess it's universal to want to know where family might be." 

Nia touched the journal before her, where loopy cursive graced the page and spelled out the name of Scholar Vash. You hadn't known the High Preist long, and while Nia spoke of him often, she was brief with her words. It was as though, on occasion, she forgot all that transpired, and she talked about him when she thought of it, only to have the abrupt realization that he passed, and his final moments were spent doused in shadow. Vash Vallerin had been more than just a teacher - the Scholar had become that of a father, the only one Nia had known. You could see the way the loss gripped her. It reminded you too much of the way you felt about the kindly farmer who took you in, of the little life you had created in the heart of Riverbend that was slowly fracturing - falling apart.

You grabbed Nia's hand - gently, at first, but squeezing it tightly when you got a firm hold. "You are here, Nia, and Scholar Vash may be somewhere out there, but I've known too many ghosts, and I know he won't forget you."

A tear fell down Nia's cheek, and you could feel your own doing the same. How comforting this was - feeling how deeply your grief ran but sharing in its bittersweet bite.

"It's only the living that struggle with forgetting those that we love. The dead have memories that outlive eternity and infinity - at least they have that on us."

Nia laughed - a mix of a chuckle and a sob.

"Scholar Vash will get your letter - no matter how you choose to send it - and I believe he will find a way to answer."

Nia squeezed your hand before letting go and dried her tears. She looked down at her journal to find a tear had wet the page, and she laughed. "I think Scholar Vash would have liked it better that way."

You smiled and wiped your own tears with the palms of your hands. You waited as Nia finished her letter, standing up and digging through the cargo in the hold to give her privacy. You found a bottle of good spirits and took a long drink. You debated on whether or not to offer the priestess some, but you decided it would be better to spare her the headache of refusing and made a mental note to give some to Mal later.

Nia finished writing her letter and tore the page out of her journal carefully. "I think a bottle would be the best way to go," Nia said, rolling up the parchment and turning to you.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," Nina affirmed. "It'll wash up on shore somewhere and—"

"And maybe the world will know we were here?"

Nina smiled. "And maybe they'll know we were here."

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