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jaskiersvalley · 4 years

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Hey, I just went through your entire blog in two days only and I wanna say, your writing is astounding! I haven't had a chance to watch the show yet as I can't afford Netflix right now, but you're fics were a truly fine introduction to the fandom Much love and keep being awesome! ~M

It’s you!!! I watched you blast through my blog with likes and reblogs and was absolutely in awe of you. Thank you so much for being such an avid reader and supporter. You single-handedly made me smile so much. And because words of thanks never feel like enough, I give the only thing I can, a ficlet of gratitude!

Education at Kaer Morhen involved a lot of things. Different weapons, physical fitness, hunting, foraging, identifying poisons by scent, even sewing to mend clothes. However, there were a lot of things it didn’t involve. Things that a witcher couldn’t possibly need. Music was definitely one of those things, Jaskier mused because Geralt obviously had zero appreciation of the art. But other things too which were less about being cultured and more about basic skills.

There were moments where Jaskier suspected things but didn’t want to believe them, Put them down to Geralt being Geralt. He obviously preferred information first hand, always seeking out the alderman or asking locals where to find the poster of the contract. Sometimes Jaskier just watched Geralt in front of a board like it was the world’s greatest word search. At times, he’d skip over a contract and Jaskier couldn’t figure out why. But pointing it out usually had Geralt frowning at the piece of parchment and huff out something about it not striking his fancy (as if witchers could ever pick and choose amongst contracts) or it not being valuable enough (as if that had ever stopped Geralt before - the man seemed to thrive on helping the poor). A pattern emerged after a while though and Jaskier didn’t want to think about the implications. The contracts Geralt skipped over didn’t contain the words ‘contract’, ‘monster’, or ‘witcher’. Which led to some alarming implications.

It wasn’t something Jaskier could delicately raise, lead Geralt to realising he knew and wanted to help. Also, Jaskier couldn’t very well corner the man and accuse him of being unable to read. Because if he was wrong, Geralt’s allegedly nonexistent emotions would be very hurt. So, Jaskier did the simplest thing he could. Whenever Geralt went to look at a village noticeboard, he tagged along and pointed at random papers, reading them out loud. Once or twice he fudged up words but Geralt never seemed to realise that the advert Jaskier was pointing at was for a laundry service rather than for a tailoring service he was describing.

“Why are you pointing out such useless adverts?” Geralt snapped.

“Just thought you’d be interested.” Jaskier shrugged and plucked the contract Geralt was looking for from the board. “Here. This is the one you want.” It didn’t have any of the key words Geralt tended to look for. There was no thanks thrown his way and Geralt stomped off, the parchment clutched in a tighter grip than usual.

It went on like that, each time Jaskier got more and more certain he was right, Geralt couldn’t read.

“What do you think of this one?” Jaskier plucked a random advert and pushed it into Geralt’s hand who stared at it with contempt. It was advertising a littler of puppies from a good guard dog lineage.

“What about it?” Vague, carefully eyeing the advert but not acknowledging any of it. Jaskier’s heart broke a little. Given how often he had shoved the necessary contract into Geralt’s hand, it was obvious Geralt was trying to figure out whether it was a contract or not. The price in the corner suggested it wasn’t but the poor couldn’t always pay in coin. Sometimes other goods or services were written down which he would negotiate verbally.

“You’re not tempted?” It was cruel but Jaskier had enough of the song and dance.

“For so little?” Geralt scoffed, hedging his bets on Jaskier not screwing him over by putting something other than a contract in his hands all of a sudden.

Ever so gently, Jaskier took the advert and pinned it back up to try and hide the sound of his heart breaking. “You’re right. I don’t think there’s much for us in the village. Come on.”

They turned away but Jaskier saw Geralt turn back, a small frown on his face as he looked at the advert Jaskier had put back, clearly not understanding. Returning to their room at the inn, Jaskier knew he had to end the farce. He pulled a book from his bag and passed it to Geralt who stared at it, more disgusted by it than any kind of head or guts he’s waded through on a hunt.

“What’s this?”

“A book.”

“I know that. But why are you handing it to me?” Geralt set it to the side, not even glancing at it.

“Given we’ve got a bit of downtime, you’ve tended to your swords last night, I thought you might fancy a bit of a change. Does the title not intrigue you?”

A gruff “no” had Jaskier’s eyebrow raising as he sat down on the bed with a small smile. “You mean, a monster compendium is not something of interest?” He had picked it up a little while ago, intent on learning more about Geralt’s potential enemies, even if the book didn’t have all the facts correct, it was a good starting place. “Or maybe you’d want to go through it with me and correct the mistakes?”

Watching Geralt try and find a way out of it was painful. He frowned, frowned harder and ended up growling in his throat, turning away from the book with a moody “no”.

“I could teach you,” Jaskier offered quietly. “If you’d like to read.”

Silence stretched and Geralt’s back was stiff obviously coiled tight and ready to either fight or flee. “Since when has a witcher ever read a monster to death?” That sounded far too much like something Geralt had learned from someone else and all Jaskier could think of was a young Geralt being denied the chance to learn to read over and over again with such cruel and mocking words. However, it wasn’t a no.

Moving quietly, Jaskier grabbed the book and settled on the bed with enough room next to him for Geralt to join if he so wished. Cracking the book open, he began to read out loud. It took a minute but Geralt eventually joined him, looking angry and disinterested but Jaskier knew better. He was scared, terrified even, of being mocked, of being found wanting. Not breaking his reading, Jaskier adjusted his grip on the book so he could pull his finger under the words as he read them, letting Geralt follow.

They spent a few days like that, Jaskier reading aloud and Geralt watching, listening to how the words sounded compared to how they looked. Jaskier even picked up a few other books, much simpler, suited for children really. He swapped out to one of those books as they sat in a clearing in a forest, away from everyone and everything. Shoulder to shoulder, Jaskier got Geralt to haltingly grit out the sentence “the cat lost his hat”. It was perhaps the proudest Jaskier had ever been and the small, satisfied look on Geralt’s face was worth it.

Months down the line, when Geralt was able to sit next to Jaskier and read aloud from the book of monsters and laugh together about the inaccuracies, there was a soft lull. In fact, Geralt looked nervous as he pushed to book into Jaskier’s hands.

“I’ve got something for you.” Eager, Jaskier sat up, smile wide. He was expecting a kiss, maybe some oil for his lute or, if Geralt was feeling especially romantic, some jewellery. “It’s something I’ve been working on in secret.”

Reaching into his pack, Geralt pulled out a bit of parchment folded in half. On the front of it was a crudely drawn heart, obviously done by someone who wasn’t artistically inclined. It was shoved gruffly into Jaskier’s hands and he opened up what was a handmade card.

To Jaskier,

Thahk Thank yuo.

I lov yuo.

Geratt Geralt.

It was, without a doubt, the most precious thing Jaskier had ever been gifted, spelling mistakes and all. Because while he had gotten Geralt reading, it never even occurred to him that writing would be another skill to teach. All the education at Oxenfurt was something Jaskier had taken for granted until now. With Geralt by his side, he realised it was a gift, one that he was delighted to share with his beloved.

#geraskier #geralt of rivia #jaskier #the witcher #illiterate geralt #tldr: geralt can't read and jaskier puts his education to good use

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argent-vulpine · 3 years

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Where are we Going?

Fandom: Fire Emblem Three Houses

Rating: M

Characters: Seteth/Byleth

Read it on AO3!

It was her prerogative as Archbishop of the Church of Seiros to make decisions regarding the church, its function in society, and its functions within its own halls.

This was what he had to keep telling himself, staring at her open-mouthed as she delivered the news to him. It took him a long moment before her words really caught up with him, and he finally snapped his mouth closed, teeth clicking together. “You cannot possibly be serious,” he finally mustered, staring at her as if to see whether it was still her.

Byleth smiled at him, sly and scheming. He didn’t trust that smile on the best of days - it meant she was up to something. And no doubt that smile had been learned and copied from her good friend Claude… or Khalid, now, King of Almyra. Those two could get into so much trouble when they were together, even now.

“I assure you, Seteth, I am quite serious. Who better to perform the ceremony for Saint Cichol day than you?” she added with a knowing look.

Who better, indeed, than Cichol himself. He could almost hear her thinking the words.

Seteth would not win this argument. It wasn’t even worth trying to argue.

So he simply sighed, and nodded, and went to prepare for the service.

————

Archbishop Byleth did not get out of attending the service. She had to be there, after all, and she sat upon the seat meant for her, presiding over all who’d come to Garreg Mach for this.

But true to her word, she did not lead it, and instead watched as Seteth performed in her stead. And though he felt immensely uncomfortable, he had to admit some small part of him enjoyed it. They were making corrections to the story that Fódlan had been given, a little bit at a time.

Who the saints really were. Who the elites were, and how Nemesis had not been the king that people had thought him to be. It was taking time, but they had agreed early on that the church would be moving forward in truth.

There was a lot to correct, after a thousand years of Rhea and her machinations, keeping Fódlan at bay, stifled, in an uneasy peace of her own design, and locked away from the rest of the world.

Things were already changing for the better, or at least they thought.

Still, he was relieved when the service was over, and he was able to step away from the forefront, accepting the quiet compliments paid him by those of their friends who had been able to attend.

He waited with the congregation as Byleth made her way out of the cathedral, leaving through the doors and no doubt heading across the bridge and back to their suite. When he was certain that his own duties were fulfilled, he followed at a leisurely pace, for once taking time to enjoy the clear skies, the crisp chill in the wind.

By the time he returned to their suite, she had already changed out of her regalia and into something simpler and - she claimed - infinitely more comfortable. She looked up from her book when he entered, giving him a faint smirk.

“I knew you would do well,” she said simply, setting the book down after carefully marking her place. “But now you really know how I feel, in front of all those people.”

Neither of them had been made for the kinds of crowds that they had found themselves dealing with. Mercenary turned professor turned archbishop least of all. He knew it was difficult for her; he had never really appreciated how much until today.

“I hope you do not intend for me to take over all of these services,” he finally replied, moving to join her on the sofa and pressing a soft kiss to her forehead. “But perhaps it is not such a terrible idea, to find others who can be trusted to give services appropriately.”

“Of course not. We have others for other purposes. I just thought it would be fitting, having you give a service in honor of yourself.” She tilted her head up, pressing a teasing kiss to his lips. “But now that’s over with, we can celebrate your birthday properly.”

They hadn’t discussed doing anything special. In fact, she’d very pointedly avoided talking about it at all, and he knew the day itself had a great deal of things church-related surrounding it. So mention of any celebration now was something of a surprise, and he told her as much.

“I wouldn’t leave you to do such an important service on your birthday and not have something to reward you with, Seteth,” she said plainly, shaking her head. “But first, Flayn sent you a letter. It’s on the desk.”

His eyes lit up and he had to force himself to calmly stand and walk over so that he could read the letter from his daughter. She wrote to tell him that she was doing well, and still traveling; that the world outside of Fódlan was quite interesting, and she was learning a great deal. She remarked that her speech pattern had begun to catch up to the times, thanks in some ways to her time as a student, but especially from her travels and listening to all sorts of people.

He was glad to hear from her, to know that she was doing well. And she wished him a happy birthday, and called him Father in her letters.

The day was already perfect from the letter alone. He struggled to find his voice for a long moment. “She told us where to send a letter to for a response. It seems she will be there for some time, so proper correspondence will be much easier for a while,” he finally said, smiling fondly at the letter in his hands.

“We’ll have to write something suitable in reply. I received one from her as well, but I haven’t read it yet. I wanted you to have the first opportunity.”

Seteth returned to where Byleth sat, settling down and pulling her into his lap, holding her close. “Thank you, my love,” he said, voice soft and thick with emotion. “It means so much to me that you did so.”

She leaned back against him, resting her head on his shoulder. “Of course, now I feel like anything else I do today will be greatly overshadowed by Flayn’s letter,” she teased.

His arms tightened around her. “That is very much untrue.” She had his heart, after all, and though he loved his daughter and missed her greatly, Byleth was here with him now. Sharing her life with him, as much as they were able to do for the time being.

“Well, in that case, you should definitely change into something less… stuffy.” She tilted her head slightly, pressing a series of quick, soft kisses to his jaw. “There’s somewhere I want to take you.”

She managed to wriggle out of his grasp, giving him a knowing look when he made a sound of protest, but of course he caved to her request, going and changing into a simple shirt and pants, comfortable and… less ‘stuffy’. Byleth gave him an appraising look, one eyebrow raising slightly before she gave him a sharp nod of acceptance.

Bemused, he followed her as she led him out of the suite, down the stairs and out into the monastery. It took him a moment, but he eventually recognized that she was leading him to Abyss, and he couldn’t stop the look of confusion from creeping onto his face.

Byleth almost laughed at him. Almost. But since he was following willingly, she took him down into the underground town, greeting those they came across as they wound through the tunnels. It looked… brighter, happier, and much more well-kept than it had all those years ago when he’d first followed her into the darkness.

He wondered, briefly, if she missed her former students, those who had been known as the Ashen Wolves. If perhaps she’d had a hand in the restoration of these catacombs. Judging from the warm reception they were receiving, he imagined it must be so.

So lost in thought was he that he almost hadn’t realized they’d left the normal paths and were now in darker corridors winding through the ground. It was oddly warmer here, the stones damp and moss-covered, more and more the further they went, until finally she pulled him through a small tunnel which opened into a large cavern, steam rising in idle wisps from the thermal springs that they housed. Sunlight filtered in from far above.

Byleth had clearly done some preparation, though, as she sent out a stream of magic, lighting small lamps that littered the cave: lounging on natural ledges, resting on the ground, even a few hanging from what he could see were stakes driven into the rock itself. The light cast a cozy, comfortable glow around the cavern, allowing them to see more clearly.

There was no one around but the two of them, not another living soul in sight.

“I thought you might like to relax away from prying eyes for once,” she finally said, oddly shy. “I knew of this place from… before.” Before the war, he heard.

“A certain underground lord told you about it, no doubt,” he remarked, though there was no jealousy in his tone. He knew they were close friends, even to this day.

She laughed, the sound echoing oddly in the cavern, skittering across the water and warping. Still, he loved her laugh, on the rare occasions she gave in to the impulse. “Maybe he did. Maybe he didn’t.” She grinned at him then, mischievous and bright. “So what say you, Seteth? Care to take some time to yourself for once?”

“Not for myself, no,” he replied, leaning down to kiss her softly. “But for us, yes, I would do that.”

There was heat in her gaze as she nodded understanding, her fingers moving to help him out of his clothes, fingertips grazing his skin, mapping the planes of his body, the smooth muscle cording along his arms, his chest, his stomach. She allowed him to perform the same treatment of her, carefully removing clothing, folding them, setting them on a rock ledge away from the water.

They entered the thermal pool together, hands on each other, touching and grasping, exploring. She led him to a submerged ledge that could act as a seat, and he sank onto it, pulling her down to straddle him, letting the warm water swirl around them.

For a time all they did was sit, and touch, and kiss, until he grew hard beneath her, his breath coming in gasps at the deluge of sensation. Smirking, she shifted her position just slightly, guiding him into her and causing a sharp groan to spill from his lips.

She teased him with agonizing slowness, rocking her hips and grinding against him, driving him deep into her at a leisurely pace. Her lips found his neck, licking, sucking, nipping at the skin, drawing out pleasured moans from him.

It was sweet torture, and he allowed it to go until it was too much. When he could stand no more, he lifted her, standing and turning, setting her on a higher ledge and thrusting into her, watching as her nipples turned into hard peaks from the chill of air. They were enticing, and he leaned forward to draw one into his mouth, tongue flicking as he pushed into her.

He moved a hand to cover her other breast, massaging, thumb rubbing until she was melting beneath him, her own moans joining his and filling the cavern.

She wrapped her legs around him, pulling him against her as he pumped, picking up speed as her walls tightened around him in increasing pleasure. He felt her hand reach down, fingers rubbing her clit while his hands were otherwise occupied, and knowing that she was pleasuring herself with himself sheathed so deeply inside her only made him harder, made him want to push faster.

Faster, harder, deeper until she was coming apart beneath him, her cries of ecstasy bouncing around the rock walls, the splashing of water as he thrust into her and his groans the only other sounds in the cavern, until finally he too climaxed, throbbing inside her as her walls clamped around him, as her legs tightened and held him close, so close he found it difficult to discern where his own body ended and hers began.

He continued to thrust into her, drawing out her orgasm until she passed the peak and hit a new one, her body shaking with aftershocks of pleasure. Seteth held her through them, waiting until their breath stopped coming in ragged gasps, until his own heart had slowed to a more reasonable pace, before he finally withdrew, helping her back into the water and carefully helping to clean her as her shuddering slowed.

When they were finally recovered from their quick and intense lovemaking, she gave him another sly smile, pulling him to her for a slow, deep kiss. “Happy birthday, Cichol,” she murmured against his lips.

Something about the way she said it, her tone of voice, had him aroused all over again.

It was quite a long time before they finally returned aboveground, but he had to admit… it had turned out to be quite an enjoyable birthday after all.

#Seteth #Setleth #Byleth Eisner #Seteth BB Week 2020 #Seteth Birthday Bash 2020 #day 7: saint cichol day #day 7: seteth's birthday #spicy #we all know there's thermal pools in Abyss come on #Fire Emblem #Fire Emblem Three Houses #FE3H

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yumeka36 · 3 years

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Thoughts on Rebuild of Evangelion (all movies plus ending interpretation)

*Artwork credited to リオ on pixiv*

Now that Evangelion 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time, the last movie of the Rebuild of Evangelion saga, has been released, I'm finally ready to discuss all the movies as a whole, including my interpretation of the ending...

MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!

I've been a fan of Evangelion for nearly 20 years, starting back in 2002. After hearing the series praised by some classmates, I asked for the DVD set of the original TV anime for Christmas that year. I was 15 years old and a fairly new anime fan at the time, so naturally I was blown away by the show. The Internet was young then, and since there were no fandom wikis or YouTube explanation videos available in those days, I had to rely on a few scattered fan sites and my own resources (mostly bonus features on the old DVDs) to try and figure out the lore and symbolism. Even though many aspects of the series, as well as the eventual "true ending" movie, End of Evangelion, left me scratching my head, I still loved it and it left a long-lasting impression on me. And now, here I am almost two decades later, sharing my thoughts about the new movies...

-Before Thrice Upon a Time was released, I hadn't touched Evangelion since 3.33 came out in 2012. I had forgotten many details, and since Evangelion is a franchise that is fraught with nuances and subtleties that can be key to understanding what the heck is going on, I wanted to watch all the Rebuild movies again before watching Thrice Upon a Time. So I plowed through all four movies this week, and I gotta say, after being away from the franchise for so many years, I'm happy to report that I still thoroughly enjoyed it. But I can also recognize that it is definitely not a series for everyone. The drawn-out technobabble, constant introduction of lore jargon with little to no explanation, and the ambiguity between what's real and what's symbolic, can certainly turn off casual viewers (it gives Kingdom Hearts lore a run for its money!) Funnily enough, as I was watching the Rebuild movies, I was thinking, "I understood the lore better 20 years ago than I do now, lol" (maybe it's because I was younger and didn't have as strong of a theorizing mind as I do now!) But after reading through a bunch of pages on the EvaGeeks Wiki, I learned enough to get a gist of the story's vaguer elements. But unfortunately, the fact that information necessary for understanding the plot can only be found by Internet research, could certainly be a turn-off for viewers. But at the same time, for those willing to make the commitment, or at least appreciate the series' other qualities even if you can't follow many aspects of the lore, it's definitely an anime unlike any other. There's a reason it's been such a well-known franchise in Japan for so long.

-Asuka has been one of my favorite anime characters ever since I saw the original Eva TV series, and thankfully, I'm happy with what they did with her character in the Rebuild movies. My only complaint is that I preferred her original backstory that emphasized her relationship with her mother, rather than having a "clone-complex" similar to Rei. However, her character development in this new storyline made up for it. The Rebuild movies really nailed her abrasive, no-nonsense personality that hides depth within. There were also more scenes that showed her "softer" side, something I always felt was lacking in the original series, such as when she confides in Misato towards the end of 2.22 and when she confesses her feelings to Shinji in Thrice Upon a Time. I also felt her initial dislike for Shinji and Rei was a bit more warranted this time; despising the fact that they were able to become Eva pilots purely by connection to Gendo while she had to work hard for it. But again, we get more hints at her kinder side when she makes the sacrifice to help Rei get Shinji and Gendo together. This is pretty contrasting to the original series, where she was always oozing hate for Rei. Even their infamous elevator scene ended differently in 2.22 compared to the TV series, where instead of hitting and yelling at Rei, she agrees to help her (in her subtle, Asuka-way). Asuka and Rei also had a brief scene together when they were at Village 3 in Thrice Upon a Time, and the way Asuka talked to her made me feel like she actually cared about her, or at least didn't hate her. But even with the Rebuild movies giving Asuka more scenes to show her goodness, they still stayed true to her tough-love personality - it's not like she suddenly started smiling a lot, or gave Shinji a passionate hug, or broke out in tears...they developed her character without making her do a 180 change, which I appreciated. Even in her final scene with Shinji on the beach before he saves her (loved that scene, and the shoutout to End of Eva there) she still reacted in her "tsundere" way (though not as harshly of course). I'd also like to mention that they made the fourteen year time-skip in 3.33 very believable in terms of Asuka's growth. I really liked the hardened, lone-wolf, protector role she had in Thrice Upon a Time because it makes sense - fourteen years had passed and she not only matured during that time, but she had spent all those years being the sole Eva pilot along with Mari fighting to protect humanity, so settling into that kind of identity makes sense for her. But yeah, Asuka's always been a great character, and the Rebuild movies made her even more awesome in my opinion.

-When I first watched 2.22 years ago when it came out, I was puzzled that they decided to put Asuka in the Eva that Unit-01 ends up destroying rather than Toji. But looking back on it it now, it worked better since they had a plan for Toji's character that had nothing to do with the Evas. I did kind of miss Asuka's friendship with Hikari though (they could have tied that into her staying with Toji and Hikari at Village 3 instead of with Kensuke). I actually wrote a WYDS fanfic for End of Evangelion way back in 2003 that emphasizes Asuka and Hikari's friendship (that's somehow still on Fanfiction.net!) But she got a friendship with Mari instead, so it's fine, lol (I also liked that they removed her crush on Kaji, which I never thought fit well in the original series). But I do wish we got to see what was going through her mind while she was stuck in the Eva and getting attacked by Unit-01. We know she was aware of what was going on because she knew what Shinji did (that he didn't try to save her or attack) so it would have been nice to see a scene or two of her reactions.

-Misato was always my second favorite character after Asuka, but I wasn't thrilled with the coldness she exhibited towards Shinji after the time-skip in 3.33. I know she probably got hardened after all those years and maybe still felt resentment towards him for initiating Near Third Impact (which killed Kaji among others). But even so, I felt like her coldness was more to keep the suspense rather than stay true to her character (plus she was the one encouraging him to do what we wanted at the time of Near Third Impact). It makes sense for Asuka to be cold to Shinji, since she was always standoffish like that, but Misato was always shown to be a source of warmth and the most "human" of the characters. But at least she made up with Shinji in the end and got to finish her story arc with a bang (literally).

-I'm not sure if it's still a thing now, but back in the day, Shinji got a lot of hate from anime fans for being too whiny and indecisive when confronted with his task of piloting the Eva. But even all those years ago, I always thought those reactions made him believable. Maybe it's because he's compared to anime shonen heroes like Naruto and Luffy, who are always cheerful and brimming with motivation, while Shinji is pretty much the opposite of those kinds of characters. But it makes sense for him to be like that...if I were a fourteen-year old kid who never knew my mother, had a father who abandoned me, and had to live on my own in a crumbling world while witnessing death and destruction all around, I'd be pretty hesitant and scared too. He's definitely not a "wish-fulfilling" protagonist like many shonen and super heroes are, but a protagonist grounded more in reality, representing a disillusioned youth. So it was nice to see him finally get over his insecurities and be proactive with saving everyone at the end of Thrice Upon a Time (compared to everyone giving him the pep talk at the end of the original series). Though I did think his personality shift was a bit abrupt...he was at his lowest point at the beginning of Thrice Upon a Time, but the one kind gesture from Rei seemed to immediately snap him out of it. A little more gradual build-up to his change would have been better, but it's a nitpick.

-Mari was an enigma in 2.22 and 3.33, so I was hoping Thrice Upon a Time would give us her origin story. Unfortunately, it didn't offer much and maybe brought up more questions than not. My main question is, we see that she knew Gendo and Yui when they were younger, yet if she was their age then, that doesn't match up to the age she appears to be when Shinji first meets her. So she must have been afflicted with the "Eva curse" all those years back, which means she must have become an Eva pilot around that time, but it seems too soon. I thought the first Evangelion pilots didn't exist until after Yui died, so Mari should have been older...I don't know, I'm still having trouble figuring out her place in the timeline. But besides that, I did like her relationship with Asuka that we see in Thrice Upon a Time. Again, it makes sense in terms of the time-skip that they'd develop a good friendship after spending all those years being Eva pilots together.

-I don't have a lot to say about Rei, since I feel her story arc is one of the simpler ones (which isn't saying much for this series, lol). The scenes of her in Village 3 in Thrice Upon a Time were endearing, though I knew they would end in tragedy. Actually, that whole part of the movie with the characters spending time in the village was great. The world-building in those scenes was fantastic too - it really felt like what a post-apocolyptic survival camp in that situation would be like. It was nice to see the characters partaking in and reacting to situations that don't have to do with Angels and Evas (spin-off series for this when?)

-And lastly, how did I interpret the end of the Rebuild saga? Was I satisfied with how it ended? Right after I watched Thrice Upon a Time, I wasn't totally sure. But after reading some more wiki pages and watching some explanation videos, especially this one here (it's a great explanation if you can forgive the bad pronunciation of the names), I've realized just how brilliant of a conclusion it is. There's been speculation that the story involves a time loop, with the events of the original TV series, as well as the Death & Rebirth and End of Evangelion movies, being different versions of the time loop, while the Rebuild movies is where the loop ends because Shinji finally overcomes the pain of his past and can restore the world this time (while he had failed to in the previous loops). I don't think it's a time loop so much as a cycle that keeps resetting and repeating. Further support for this theory is that Kaoru acts like he's met Shinji before, since he's reborn in each cycle to meet Shinji only to be killed by him later (all the coffins seen on the moon are for his past/future selves). I think the final movie title is symbolic of this too, with "Thrice Upon a Time" meaning "three times upon a time," the three times being the three cycles of the Evangelion story: the original TV series, the movies Death & Rebirth and The End of Evangelion, and finally the Rebirth movies. But mostly, the scene towards the end where Shinji meets Rei in the anti-verse, and they're standing in what appears to be a filming room while projected images from the Eva TV series are shown behind them. This to me symbolizes that the original Eva series exists in the Rebuild movies as one version of the cycle, and Shinji has now finally broken out of the loop. Once Shinji has saved everyone, the filming room (which symbolizes the old versions of the story, as I believe it's supposed to be the room where live-action footage used in previous Eva works was filmed) fades away and the literal animation around Shinji begins to break down into its purest forms, as key animation, then layouts, etc., - a near 4th wall-breaking depiction of the world resetting. However, Gendo and Yui had sacrificed themselves so that Shinji wouldn't have to, so Mari is able to pull him back into the world, just like she had promised. In the end, Shinji is able to join his friends in the new world that's free of Evas. Without the Eva curse, all the pilots are now their proper ages as well. The movie closes with Mari and Shinji heading off somewhere in their new lives while the environment merges into live-action footage, representing the fact that the story has now transcended animation and is now "real" because the cycle has finally ended and a true Neon Genesis took place. Like many aspects of the franchise, there are many ways to interpret this ending, but this is the interpretation I've settled on.

-While I am satisfied with the ending overall, I do wish the epilogue showed us more of what the other characters were doing, especially the survivors from Wille and Village 3. I know we can assume they're living out their lives as well, but it would have been nice to get confirmation of that with a few quick cameos. But there are some main characters whose fates are uncertain, particularly Misato, Kaji, and Fuyutsuki. I'm assuming the only people Shinji was able to save were the ones whose souls were still bound to Evas, namely Asuka, Rei, and Kaoru. I don't know about Kaji since I'm still not clear on exactly how he died. Maybe Shinji couldn't save Misato because she died "for real" and wasn't just trapped inside an Eva/Angel. But it is implied that many souls, not just Eva pilots, were saved when the world was restored...so maybe she was too? And like Kaji, I'm not sure what happened with Fuyutsuki. Did he turn into LCL because he gave up his humanity in some way, like Gendo? I'm also a little salty that we didn't get a decent shot of adult Asuka at the train station, lol. I'm not sure if the ending was hinting at Mari and Shinji being an item...possibly Rei and Kaoru too, maybe even Asuka and Kensuke. Like many things in the franchise, the eventual pairings, or lack thereof, could be interpreted in many ways.

In conclusion, while there were some aspects of the old Eva TV series and movies that I liked better, the Rebuild movies overall did an excellent job of retelling the story with the same rich lore and thought-provoking symbolism that we're used to for the franchise, but with enough new twists to make it stand out. And as I mentioned in my interpretation of the ending, these movies weren't just a retelling but a redefinition of the franchise as whole, bringing together the previous versions of the story and giving them true closure. Though we could see some spin-off material at some point, Thrice Upon a Time does seem like it was intended to be the final installment of the Evangelion series. While I was satisfied enough with the endings for the TV series and End of Eva movie, having watched the Rebuild movies, I do believe they're the "retelling we didn't know we needed." It's a tad bittersweet to know that such an influential franchise, and one of my favorite anime for years, has come to its true end. So, to translate the text in the below fan art...

"Thank you , Evangelion."

*Artwork credited to リオ on pixiv*

#evangelion 3.0+1.0 #neon genesis evangelion #evangelion #rebuild of evangelion #evangelion spoilers #rei ayanami #asuka shikinami langley #shinji ikari #evangelion thrice upon a time

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rammoram · 3 years

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Kindaichi Yuutarou Analysis

Disclaimer: I am not a professional psychologist in any way. I simply find psychology and reading into characters very interesting. Please correct me if I say anything incorrect.

This is also not an anti-Kageyama post. I'm simply trying to put Kindaichi in a new perspective in the most unbiased way I can. I'm only putting information I found from research into this post. Thank you.

Kindaichi is undoubtedly my favorite character in Haikyuu. He's also one of-what I consider to be- the top most misunderstood characters. No matter the reason for it, a pretty significant chunk of the Haikyuu fandom seems to have a bias against him. And while I can't force anyone to change their opinion on his character, I'd like to try to describe some of his actions and reactions in another perspective.

This is gonna be a pretty long post, so the rest will be under the cut~!

Things I'm going to talk about(in order):

Character Traits

Classical conditioning

Explanation/definition

How it's shown with Kindaichi

Examples, episodes & timestamps

Obstacles

Confirmation Bias

Overconfidence

Examples, episodes

Overview

Basically a paragraph where I repeat everything I explained but with less explanations involved

Character Traits

First, I want to list a few things about Kindaichi that we already know without doing a thorough character study. These are traits that are very obvious and can be hard to miss.

What we already know about him: he's stubborn, emotional, kind of awkward, he can be oblivious, and he holds onto grudges.

Of course, there are other traits he shows that could be easily identified. But these are just some of the more obvious ones.

Some of these traits, specifically being stubborn, emotional and holding onto grudges, can actually help us understand his actions easier.

Classical Conditioning

Definition:

Classical Conditioning: Continuously pairing two stimuli( an unconditioned stimulus and a neutral stimulus) so that the neutral stimulus(which becomes the conditioned stimulus) gains a conditioned response.

Explaining it in simpler terms:

Classical conditioning is basically pairing two things together a lot so that they end up being associated with each other.

(This is definitely not the best definition or explanation. If you're still confused I would suggest looking up classical conditioning for more information)

Defining responses and stimuli:

Unconditioned stimulus: something that will naturally get a response.

Unconditioned response: the response to an unconditioned stimulus.

Neutral stimulus: a stimulus that doesn't get the same unconditioned response as the unconditioned stimulus.

Conditioned stimulus: the neutral stimulus after being continuously paired with the unconditioned stimulus. The conditioned stimulus will get a conditioned response.

Conditioned response: is the same response as the unconditioned response, but it is a response to the conditioned stimulus after continuous pairing.

How it's shown with Kindaichi:

Alright. To explain this, we have to look into what happened during middle school.

As we all know, Kindaichi had a pretty hard time keeping up with Kageyama during middle school. When we first get introduced to them, it's shown that if Kindaichi messed up or reacted late to a toss, Kageyama would get pretty angry and yell at him, telling him to do better. And it's shown that this happened multiple times during games.

From that, we can very easily label the responses and stimuli that would occur during classical conditioning.

The unconditioned stimulus would be getting screamed at and criticized.

The unconditioned response would be Kindaichi feeling hurt or upset

The neutral stimulus would be making a mistake

The conditioned stimulus would also be making a mistake

The conditioned response would also be feeling frustrated and upset.

So basically, what we have here, is that Kindaichi would start associating messing up during volleyball with getting screamed at and feeling extremely upset and frustrated if he messed up even a little bit.

Also yes, I understand that messing something up during a game can cause a bit of frustration, but please consider that a lot of the time during middle school, Kindaichi got yelled at even when he scored points.

Examples of when Kindaichi shows signs of this:

There are three specific scenes where Kindaichi shows subtle signs of classical conditioning, but they tend to get pushed aside as him respecting his upperclassmen tremendously. But this makes sense, considering that these signs are, again, very subtle, and definitely won't stand out unless you're looking for them. (or I just overanalyze everything that has to do with Kindaichi-)

The first scene happens on episode 19 of season 1, right before the first match between Aoba Johsai and Karasuno. During spiking drills, Oikawa says something along the lines of, "sorry, Kindaichi. That one was a bit high."

The normal response to this would be very casual or laid back. But Kindaichi rapidly replies with, "yes! I mean-! No!"

A lot of people seem to take this scene as Kindaichi being awkward. But it almost seems as if he's trying to say, "no! That wasn't your fault!" because he'd gotten so used to thinking everything was his own fault.

The approximate timestamp for this particular scene is Season 1 episode 19- 14:20

The second scene is very similar to the first. It's on the 22nd episode of season 2, where Kindaichi doesn't react to one of Karasuno's spikes in time, and Iwaizumi comments on how stiff he is. Similarly to how he responded to Oikawa, Kindaichi's reply is, "yes! No!"

Again, this seems to be brushed off as Kindaichi being awkward with his upperclassmen, but it's shown that Kindaichi seems to be quite comfortable around them, and only reacts like this when someone corrects him on something. This shows that he isn't used to being corrected in a civil way, and doesn't seem to know how to respond to it.

The approximate timestamp for this is Season 2 episode 22- 16:33

Another thing to consider is that directly after this(during the same episode and timestamp), Kindaichi seems to take a lot of responsibility for the entire team, putting a lot of the blame on himself. This, again, suggests that he believes everything is his responsibility due to the events in middle school.

The last scene is the one that stands out the most to me. It's during the 23rd episode of season 2, in a flashback. During this flashback, we see Kindaichi missing one of Oikawa's tosses during practice. Then we see Kindaichi remember that Oikawa tells him he can ask for adjustments, and essentially has to remind himself that Oikawa will help him before actually expressing concern to Oikawa. This shows that Kindaichi wasn't used to getting treated properly, or getting support, when he wasn't able to hit a ball.

The approximate timestamp for this scene is Season 2 episode 23- 19:12

If we look at these scenes, we can come to the conclusion that, not only did he associate making a mistake with getting shouted at and feeling horrible about himself, but he was also conditioned to think that his setter wouldn't be there for him when he needed it. This can explain a lot of Kindaichi's resentment towards Kageyama, and why he acted so crudely.

Obstacles

Psychological obstacles are pretty much exactly what they sound like. They're hurdles that get in the way of socialization and mental growth. With Kindaichi, two specific psychological obstacles stand out to me. Confirmation Bias and Overconfidence.

Confirmation Bias:

Confirmation bias is an obstacle where people will only acknowledge information that align with their personal beliefs and ignore information, no matter how reliable, that goes against them.

Overconfidence:

Overconfidence is when, as the name suggests, someone is too confident in their beliefs or judgements. These judgments are not as accurate as they may seem.

Examples:

Kindaichi shows a lot of signs of confirmation bias during Karasuno's practice match with Aoba Johsai. These can be seen throughout episodes 6 and 7 of season 1.

The most obvious time we see Kindaichi struggling with this obstacle is when he refuses to acknowledge that Kageyama has gotten better after Kageyama attempts to talk to him.

Another example of this is when Kindaichi first confronts Hinata. He talks about how horrible Kageyama was as a setter, and while that was true for Kindaichi, it wasn't the same for Hinata, or for Karasuno in general. It seems to be a mix of both confirmation bias and overconfidence here, as he ignores the fact that Hinata says that Kageyama's skills were good, while also making judgements that were more severe than reality.

This shows that, while Kageyama did greatly impact him, Kindaichi had a hard time with psychological obstacles. They messed with his judgement and accuracy and ended up slowing down his mental healing in the process.

Timestamps: Season 1, episode 6- 5:50

Season 1, episode 7- 10:12

Overview

After taking the time to analyze Kindaichi's character, we can see that he's more than the "angry guy who hates Kageyama." We can clearly see that he was conditioned to associate making a mistake with being treated unfairly and feeling crappy, and that he wasn't used to being treated in a civil way. Kindaichi also appears to deal with psychological obstacles, which slow down the healing needed to let go of middle school. This also suggests that Kindaichi thinks with more emotion and let's that guide his decisions. He's a very complex, relatable character and should be viewed as such.

#kindaichi yuutarou #kindaichi yūtarō #haikyuu #character analysis #i love this boy so much #he's so precious

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gravelyhumerus · 4 years

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Criminal Minds College AU - Chapter 2

Fandom: Criminal Minds

Title: “I may just take your breath away”

Relationship: Jemily

Summary:

Jennifer Jareau is having boyfriend troubles. Emily Prentiss tries to help and offers her cookies.

Slow-burn Jemily college AU where they live across the hall and despite all odds, the universe pushes them together. AKA they’re silly gay babies who pine after each other for months.

Read it on AO3

Tumblr: One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen, Fourteen, Fifteen, Sixteen, (bonus scene), Seventeen, Eighteen, Nineteen, Twenty, Epilogue

Jennifer Jareau tossed her phone down onto her bed and grit her teeth.

“What do you mean I can’t come visit?” He had texted her, “I’m your boyfriend.”

JJ huffed. She couldn’t deal with this right now, it was too much. Classes were kicking her ass, and she barely had enough time to breathe let alone entertain her long-distance boyfriend.

She glanced at her whiteboard calendar, noting how the next week was absolutely covered in deadlines, tests and games all written in different colours in her small, neat handwriting.

She had this essay to do tonight, a midterm to study for tomorrow, close to two-hundred pages of readings and a dozen other commitments. On top of that she had promised her friend that they would apply to work in student government next week and she had some applications to fill out for that.

He didn’t seem to understand that she was balancing her increasingly challenging full course load, playing varsity soccer and trying to maintain her friendships with people who were actually still in the same city as her.

Finding herself working up to a panic, JJ realized she needed to calm down or she was going to have a full-blown anxiety attack and that was the last thing she needed.

She was alone in her dorm room, feeling particularly alone without Penelope Garcia’s cheery presence on the other side of the room to keep her company. Penelope was currently at the library, working on some sort of group coding project and JJ didn’t expect her home until much later.

She rubbed her eyes and took a deep breath through her nose, held it in, and then let it out through her mouth.

She reached under her blankets and retrieved her stuffed animal, a bunny she had named Fluffy when she was little, and clutched it to her chest, falling back into her bed. While she debated bringing him to college, JJ hadn’t slept a single night without the toy by her side, and she wasn’t about to start any time soon. She still remembers the time Rosaline helped her sew a shirt for him to wear. After her sister died, JJ found herself clinging onto Fluffy as much as she did when she was a kid.

She stared at her ceiling and her rows of fairy lights twinkled back to her. To her left, a photo of her and William LaMontagne Jr. smiled mockingly at her. He had his arm thrown casually across her shoulder, and she was leaning into his chest. It was from prom. Her hair was in long curls and a deep navy dress made her feel like a princess. Will matched her pocket square. He was looking at her with utter adoration while she smiled into the camera.

Things were so much simpler in high school when she had one goal, one focus: getting out. Last year was a rush of excitement, with everything feeling new and exciting that she blamed all her relationship problems on being overwhelmed with the transition. She promised Will, back when she was home this past summer, that things would be different this year, that they would have more time for each other.

What she meant was that she would make more time for him.

So far, she had not held up her side of the bargain. It was already October and she had not come home once, despite how she had promised to visit whenever she had a spare weekend. He was right to complain that he was always the one to call her, and not the other way around.

Now Will was coming to visit her, and despite her placating words, she really wished he didn’t. She couldn’t handle it.

She bit her lip. Why couldn’t she just be happy with her nice boyfriend who springs surprise visits on her? She understood why he was upset with her. He already bought his ticket and JJ did say that she wanted him to visit.

But now that it was happening she felt overwhelmed with the prospect.

She had noticed the weight lifting off her shoulders this fall, as she spent more and more time away from home. Away from him.

Which was so, deeply, incredibly selfish of her. They were nearing two years. Two perfectly nice years together. He always dealt with all of her baggage with such grace, her family loved him, and they had all these mutual friends who were talking about how JJ and Will were definitely going to get married.

Here, at college, JJ was just JJ. She wasn’t JJ and Will or JJ with the dead sister. He tethered her back to her life, her town. What she was desperately trying to get away from.

A hot, angry tear fell out of her eye and dripped down her cheek. She sat up.

Pulling a zip up sweater over her current outfit of sweat pants and a sports bra, JJ decided that tea would make her feel better. She tugged her long, blonde hair up in a high ponytail, wiping the last of the wetness of her face with her sleeve. She put her lanyard with the key around her neck, not really caring how she looked.

She needed to get back to her essay as soon as possible. She had wasted too much time on her fight already. Tea would help. Tea would get her brain working again and calm her down.

Whenever she couldn’t sleep, or she was up late studying for a test, her mom would always knock on her door, softly, and smile as she brought in a large cup. When she sent JJ off to college, it was with a bright pink tin full of assorted tea bags and a new mug with a rabbit on it. Holding onto it made JJ smile.

Walking down the hall in her socked feet, with her tea, mug and packets of sugar in her arms, JJ made her way to the communal kitchen. JJ found that she was quite angry with herself for not listening to her mom and buying a kettle so she didn’t have to leave her room for hot water.

She made a mental note to order one online.

In the meantime, she passed through the common area and walked into the kitchen, which smelled amazing.

The air was filled with the warm scent of freshly baked cookies. It surrounded her like a hug, reminding her of baking with her grandmother when she was little.

She looked around the tiny kitchen, which was on the smaller side, populated with a round table, a couple of fridges, a microwave, the oven and stove top and the old kettle, which was the target of JJ’s visit.

JJ opened the oven and peered in, peeking at the beautiful cookies which looked about halfway done. Not quite golden brown yet, but definitely melting into shape.

She wondered who would be baking cookies at—she checked her watch—eleven at night on a Tuesday, but I guess it was college and anything goes here.

Seeming to answer JJ’s question, the kitchen door opened, revealing her neighbour Emily, who was wearing a baggy black shirt that was for a band that JJ had never heard before and colourful, cat patterned, PJ pants. She seemed startled to find JJ gazing down into the oven.

“Admiring my handiwork?” Emily said, and JJ pulled back from looking longingly at the oven.

“It’s a bit late for baking, isn’t it?” JJ blurted out, then immediately kicking herself, worrying that she may come off as rude.

Emily took her comments in stride, laughing and sitting down at the table. JJ turned and began to fill the kettle with water from the sink, flustered at her own accidental hostility.

She hadn’t seen Emily for a while, since that house party last weekend, despite their dorm room doors facing one another.

The other girl was a bit of an enigma to JJ. They travelled in similar circles, at least the ones that didn’t revolve around soccer. But, by some twist of fate, they had only really talked beyond pleasantries for the first time outside of that bathroom.

“No,” Emily retorted, “Midnight is the perfect time. I usually have the kitchen to myself.”

“Oh sorry,” JJ said, feeling bad for interrupting and kicking herself for being so bold, “I just need the kettle, then I’ll be out of your hair.”

“I don’t mind a visitor,” Emily said, “I just meant that this floor is always so busy and loud during the day. It’s peaceful at night.”

Emily was right. Their floor, while not that bad of a party floor, had really thin walls and people were typically more than aware of each other’s business. JJ found that with some people, she either had overheard enough of their conversations or had been told most of their business by her very nosey roommate, Penelope.

But Emily seemed to keep to herself, mostly. Her room was decorated with band posters, a few photographs that JJ had always been a bit too far away to examine in much detail, and a fun tapestry hung over the head of her bed. She knew she often heard loud music from her room, long past quiet hours, but never too loud that it was annoying. She mostly saw her hang out in Derek Morgan’s room, and wondered if the two were dating. Their relationship looked a lot healthier than JJ had with Will, at least, whatever they were.

JJ clutched her tea cup as the kettle heated up, leaning against the counter. JJ bit at her lip as she realized she had left her phone upstairs, mid-fight with Will. The sinking feeling that was overwhelming her upstairs was beginning to settle back into her stomach after the momentary distraction.

“What’s wrong?” Emily asked.

JJ didn’t realize that her expressions were that easily legible.

“I had a fight with my boyfriend,” JJ admits, surprising herself with sharing the information.

Typically she likes to lean into the put together perception that people have of her. JJ liked to keep the messy details to herself.

But, even in the cold glow of the fluorescent flights, there was something warm and friendly about Emily, despite her edgy aesthetic, that drew JJ in. Maybe it was the smell of cookies surrounding them that made her relax.

“Oh!” Emily says, “I’m sorry. What’d he do?”

“ He didn’t do anything. He’s wonderful,” JJ explained, “Uh- He’s too wonderful. He booked a surprise visit for next weekend but I have a midterm that Monday.”

“Ah shit,” Emily commiserated.

“There are a couple people who he knows in town so he wouldn’t be bored or anything, I just worry that I wouldn’t be able to focus on school if he was here.”

Emily nodded.

“I just wish he checked first.”

He did that a lot. He made decisions for her, all in the hopes of making her happy or making her life easier, and often at the expense of her plans or feelings. She just wished he had spoken to her beforehand this time.

The kettle boiled.

“Do you want any tea?” JJ asked Emily, secretly hoping she would be offered a cookie in exchange. “It’s uh-” she checked the label “-sleepy time.”

Emily smiled and nodded.

“I think there’s some spare mugs here,” JJ said, retrieving one from the drying rack.

JJ filled the two mugs, letting the hot water mix with the fragrant tea, watching the water turn a warm and rich brown. The slightly minty blend of chamomile and various other fruity teas competed with the cookies for JJ’s senses.

“That smells amazing,” Emily commented. “What kind of tea is it again?”

“You’ve never had sleepytime tea?” JJ giggled. “I feel like my mom made me and my sister drink it any time we had bad dreams or were up past our bedtimes.”

“I didn’t know you have a sister,” Emily said, trying a sip of her tea.

“Yeah,” JJ said, sipping her warm drink and bracing herself for the other girl’s reaction. “I did.”

“Oh,” Emily said, stunned. “Oh gosh I’m so sorry.”

Emily’s phone went off, her alarm for the cookies blaring through the tiny speakers, interrupting the pity before it started. Emily smiled at JJ softly before waking over to the tiny oven and lifted the baking sheet out, using a bunched up dishcloth as an impromptu oven mitt.

“So why cookies?” JJ asked, changing the subject. “Is there a bake sale or something?”

“No reason,” Emily replied, “They’re better than the cookies from the café. Sometimes you just gotta do things that make you happy.”

JJ nodded.

“Anyways it lets me de-stress. An hour out of my room when all I have to do is make sure I don’t burn cookies.”

“That is important,” JJ said, “I would rather not have to stand out in the rain in the middle of the night because someone burnt some cookies down here.”

“I would never,” Emily said, “Scouts honour. If I set off the fire alarm, I’d do it with something better, something more interesting, like actual arson.”

JJ choked on her tea, giggling at the other girl.

Emily was funny. And nice. She never got the chance to thank her for helping out at the party last week, getting her teammate Kennedy some water and keeping JJ company in the hallway.

Emily grinned, scooping the cookies off the tray and onto a small plate. She returned to the table they were sitting at and placed it in the middle of the table, tilting it towards JJ, offering her one.

“For me?” JJ asked.

“It’s the barter system,” Emily said, “tea for cookies. We’re making our own economy here on floor two.”

“That makes sense,” JJ said through a mouthful of cookie. They were delicious, gooey and chocolatey and oh soo warm.

“Good?” Emily asked.

“Very good.”

“So,” Emily said, “What are you going to do about your boyfriend thing?”

“I have no idea,” JJ admitted, “I don’t think long distance is working.”

Emily nodded, and JJ could feel her eyes watching her, waiting for JJ to say something.

“He was my high school sweetheart, you know? I didn’t want to do what all the other people going away to college and just break up because we were far away. I thought we could do it.”

She sighed.

“Sometimes,” Emily said softly, “People just grow apart. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

JJ looked into her cup of tea. Maybe she and Will were just growing apart. Maybe that’s what it was. He was at the police academy and seemed to have endless free time. He was always calling her, checking in, his focus was entirely on her and JJ felt so torn. She wasn’t just busy, she felt like she was missing out on her new life here every time she spent the evening on FaceTime with him.

She sighed, it was too late to be thinking about this too much, she still had work to do, she still had to get some semblance of a night’s sleep before her practise the next day.

“What really matters,” Emily continued, “Is if you enjoy spending time with him.”

JJ looked away.

“I mean,” Emily said, “Isn’t that the point of dating someone?”

Her heart thudded with the feelings that tied themselves into knots in her stomach. Did she even want him to come? Did she even miss him?

The answer was clear to her, but she wasn’t sure if she was ready to admit it.

“Thank you for the cookies,” JJ said with a smile.

She stood up and collected her things.

“I should probably go back to my fight with him.”

Emily opened and then closed her mouth, visibly confused.

“I am currently mid-fight,” JJ explained. “I left my phone in my room. I just needed a break.”

She paused and sighed.

“I also have an essay due tomorrow morning that I have to finish.”

“That's a lot,” Emily said frowning in sympathy, “Another cookie for the road?”

JJ accepted the gift and left Emily with her cookies, hoping that she didn’t bother the girl too much with her relationship drama. Emily waved at her as she left.

She went back to her room and found her phone buzzing with missed calls from her boyfriend. Gone was the peace and calm that surrounded her in the kitchen as she ate cookies with her new friend Emily. JJ fell back into a pit of frustration as soon as she picked up her phone.

Her thumb hovered above the call button, as she instinctively went to call him back. She hesitated, and instead, she turned off her phone.

Placing it on her night stand, JJ opened up her laptop and began to edit her essay.

#criminal minds #criminal minds tv #criminal minds bau #jennifer jareau #emily prentiss #jemily #jemily cm #emily prentiss x jennifer jareau #gravelyhumerus cm college au #college au #queerminal minds #criminal minds au #my post #yes emily stress bakes #yes emily has cat pjs #yes emily did check out jj in a sports bra it was hot #feel free to picture jj in an unzipped sports bra and sweat pants in this looking like an absolute snack #sorry this one is shorter i needed to actually make them get to know each other a touch before getting into the content

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graham-cheshire · 4 years

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Study & Theories for the Finnari

Hello once again dear readers. For those of you who haven’t heard of @starr-fall-knight-rise I suggest visiting them and reading their stories, as they are some of my favorites and they form the basis of this post here.

I was very pleased with how well received my last post like this was, in which I covered the known facts for the appearance of an alien species of starr-fall’s (the Gnar’lak), as well as provided my own theories and speculations regarding what I thought their appearance might be. Today I will be doing the same but for the species named “the Finnari”.

This is a species that I’ve been interested in for a while now as they are described as seeing in infrared (seeing heat) and that in the written universe of starr-fall-knight-rise they are one of three alien species that enter into interspecies relationships with humans (something that intrigues my romantic tendencies).

I had initially intended to do this species before the Gnar’lak, but then realized that it would provide some necessary details do to the Gnar’lak first as that species would’ve had a large impact on the Finnari (for more details on how please read starr-fall’s stories).

Same as last time I will start by providing the confirmed facts about their physical appearance provided by starr-fall’s stories & answered questions, then I shall list what we can infer based on those facts & other details, and finally wrap up with my own theories that seem the most plausible.

Before I start here are some disclaimers: First: I want to give thanks to starr-fall-knight-rise for allowing me to do this and for receiving my last post positively, I in no way own the Finnari or make any claim to doing so & am doing this simply because I love starr-fall’s stories & want to contribute in some way to the fandom. Secondly: I am by no means a biologist & most of my research comes from the internet, if I am wrong please do not bash me hard and simply provide clarification in the comments. Thirdly: I will use reference images to help describe my thinking and theories, I in no way own or take credit for these images.

The Confirmed Appearance Details

In this area there is not much to go on, no true concrete facts like with the Gnar’lak, the most obvious will still need clarification in the next section, but I will give them here to start you off with a vague idea of the appearance.

“The radio signal intercepted him on his posterior receptors, & he turned to face the speaker.”

“-lowered his third limb from his infrared receptors.”

“-smiled at the little Finnari.”

The Inferred Appearance Details

“-rate each species from weakest to strongest”... “Vrul/Gibb, Bran, Finnari, Iotans, Teraski,-” = Taking this in combination with their stated small size (described in context with a human) I would say we can infer that they don’t have any exceptional musculature.

“a prey species” = With this I think it’s a fair bet too infer that they do not have the typical predator characteristics such as large fangs, claws, etc.

“-different races rank in terms of instantaneous speed?”... “Humans can outpace everyone else”... “Teraski, Vrul, Celzex, & Finnari have no chance.” = In combination in their size this can infer that they have no specialized running muscles or traits such as digitigrade legs & the like.

“-back in the old days when they weren’t at war with each other the Gnar’lak kept Finnari on farms.” = With this we can infer that the Finnari might give birth to multiple young as this is a typical trait of a species that is farmed like livestock. Taking into consideration that this is a species that garner the attraction of humans I’d say we can infer that they also follow the trend of the Drev & the Teraski and give birth to live young.

“How many rounds it takes to kill-”...”a 22 round” = With this we can infer that they likely do not have tough skin, shells, or shock absorption, and may even have softer bones than humans.

“Which species use farming-” ... “The Finnari” = From this we can infer that they have prehensile limbs and appendages for manipulating tools & picking crops, and thus are likely herbivores with the mouths for such.

“Infrared and thermal sensors within his eyes ” = This is one that I will go into more in the section for theories, but the basic thing we can infer from this is that the Finnari likely cold-blooded, because if they were mammals or avians they would likely blind themselves by looking at each other.

“interstellar communication tower” ... “Finnari rocket technology” = This is another detail we can use to infer that the Finnari have appendages with the dexterity for manipulating tools.

“-the humans themselves were beacons of radiance allowing heat to pour off their skin & into the atmosphere. It was a wonder they could keep themselves running at all losing as much energy as they were.” = This is another detail that leads into inferring that they are cold-blooded and might also be another reason they are likely to get into relationships with humans.

“-the creature gave a confused look” = this is a detail that infers expressive facial features that humans might be able to recognize, such as brows or the wrinkling of a nose.

“The Finnari whistled amused” = Whistling is a sound made by the puckering of lips or positioning of the tongue along teeth, or in the throat among animals, so we can infer that there is a possibility that they have lips.

“nodded & scurried off” = This detail is a little more vague, but generally the motion of “scurrying” brings to mind a creature moving quickly on all fours such as a mouse or other small animal, even though the actual definition does not include that. I’ll go more on that in the theory section.

Those are the main items I intended to cover in the Inferred section but now I’ll also cover the items from the Confirmed section to give an idea of what they imply.

“The radio signal intercepted him on his posterior receptors, & he turned to face the speaker.” = This is a complex one, as radio signals are a technological term that would imply that the Finnari have a form of biological “walkie-talkie” for communication through “prosterior” receptors that would be sensory organs that face backwards. Given the amount of interference that might come with this when around technology that gives out and receives radio signals, particularly human technology, I think the more likely thing this infers is a piece of equipment the Finnari was wearing but I will cover this again in the Theory section.

“-lowered his third limb from his infrared receptors.” = With this we can infer that the Finnari likely have more than two arms or possibly a long prehensile tail that can reach and cover their eyes. I’ll go more on this in the Theory section.

“-smiled at the little Finnari.” = This is actually possibly the most concrete bit of physical description we have for the Finnari as it is from an adult human male to an adult female Finnari, inferring a height disparity that puts the Finnari as being noticeable smaller than humans.

Theorized Appearance Details

To start this section off let’s look back on two details from before about the Finnari, them being cold-blooded and being prey species, for which I would likely theorize that they are lizard-like reptilians for the following reasons:

Animals that fall under the “cold-blooded” attribute include: Reptiles (snakes, lizards, turtles, tortoises, alligators, crocodiles, etc.), some insects, amphibians (frogs, toads, salamanders, etc.), & fish.

We can rule out the Finnari being insects due to the fact that humans would need to find them attractive.

We have no indication that Finnari require water or inhabit water so we can rule out them being fish.

Having tough skin or hard shells would’ve interfered with the Gnar’lak feeding on the Finnari so it makes sense they wouldn’t resemble turtles or tortoises.

Factoring in that they are a prey species and thus likely herbivorous it’d make sense for them to be reptiles as multiple reptiles are herbivores while amphibians are generally carnivores or omnivores.

Referring back to earlier about the size of the Finnari I’ll say that is another trait that would pair well with being cold-blooded, as larger creatures require more body heat. However regarding specifics I’d imagine them being somewhere between 2ft.-4ft in height, small by human standards but not so small that being in a relationship with a human or being fed on by the Gnar’lak would be impractical.

To add on some attributes for being cold-blooded let’s talk about ways the Finnari could absorb heat. Being lizard-like reptiles they could warm themselves using insolation (the absorption of the sun's rays ) and conduction (absorbing heat from the ground or other hot surface), though I think the later has it’s disadvantages and is unlikely as the Finnari are at least bipedal and thus wouldn’t be able to warm themselves properly without lying down. With the first option however the proper technology can be used to replicate the warming effects of the sun’s rays.

This can factor into appearance traits as they could use a technique similar to the frilled-neck lizard (see image below) who use impressive frills to create more surface area to absorb heat and helps to keep warm.

For the Finnari a theory and adaption of this trait could be that they use frills on their backs to absorb heat adequately in a manner similar to below:

Another alternative is that they could do what some lizards have done and adapt to be able to change color, turning darker colors to absorb heat better and turning lighter colors to cool down.

Moving on to more obvious physical traits let’s go over the options for the “third limb”, which as stated before could mean either multiple arms or a prehensile tail. To cover the simpler option, a prehensile tail with a fan-like frill (see images below) could work properly in the context of shielding eyes, while also tying into the above discussion with an additional frill for absorbing heat.

The other option is having multiple arms, for which I’d theorize as having four to avoid having too many limbs while also keeping the number even and the physical layout symmetrical, which is another trait humans typically consider attractive. For this there are many options for the positioning of the arms but I’d like to tie it in with a topic I touched on briefly in the Inferred section regarding the “scurrying” motion and how it often evokes an image of a creature running on all fours.

When thinking of this I theorized that the Finnari could be a variant form of facultative biped, which is a creature that is capable of walking or running on two legs in spite of normally walking or running on four limbs or more, albeit only for a limited periods of time, with the variant being that they do so in the reverse if possible of normally being on two legs and running on four or more limbs. And when thinking of the body structure that could facilitate such a thing with the possibility of four arms taken into consideration I happened upon a creature from the Star Wars: Clone Wars series called the momong (see images below) that seemed to have the perfect body structure to use as reference, though with possible longer legs even if the short legs would tie into the lack of running speed.

For the head and mouth structure I’d theorize that it’d resemble something like an iguana, chuckwalla, or uromastyx (images in respective order below) as those the most common herbivorous lizards, and a snout-like head that positions the eyes on the sides is a common trait of a prey species. We should also remember from the Inferred section that they might have lips for whistling and muscles in the brow and nose with more range of expressive motion than human lizards.

Now let’s discuss the Finnari’s most notable feature, which is their infrared vision. While one might think that this would equal an easy to determine physical feature of having eyes similar in appearance to a snake’s, research actually proves that wrong. Stated before in the Inferred section with the “Infrared and thermal sensors in his eyes”, this is different from snakes who have holes on their faces called pit organs, which contain a membrane that can detect infrared radiation from warm bodies:

Of the cold-blooded animals that see infrared the most notable one that actually uses its eyes to do so is the bullfrog. So the Finnari might actually have an eye appearance like so:

And finally I’ll wrap up with the most difficult trait to research and come up with a proper theory for, which is the posterior receptors for radio signals. As stated having this would be a rear-facing or back-mounted sensory organ that would function as a biological “walkie-talkie”, which would definitely pick up a lot of interference around technology that utilizes radio signals/waves, like another form of hearing that receives constant noise, and thus would be impractical, and there is no example of an animal using this on Earth. While one can take some artistic liberty for it & say the Finnari possess such a sensory organ there is no accurate example that I would feel alright providing. For my theories I’ll simply think that these radio receptors are a form of technology rather than biology.

I apologize for taking so long to post this collection of studies and theories and hope that it is informative and close to the mark of what starr-fall imagined. I honestly don’t know which species I’ll do next though I have considered doing the Tvek. If any readers have tips on where they think I could improve in my writing please comment.

#starr-fall-knight-rise #alien #fan theory #research #species #just speculating #sci fi #romance option #Studies & Theories of an Alien Species

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lieutenantcharleslorem · 4 years

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Chapters: 1/3 Fandom: Star Trek: The Next Generation Rating: General Audiences Relationships: Data/Geordi La Forge Additional Tags: daforge - Freeform, AU, Alternate Universe - Steampunk, Goblins, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Mermaids, Pirates Summary:

The Corsair ship Enterprise is not exactly a pirate ship, but they do what they have to to get by on the high seas. Without someone knowledgeable in steam mechanics that becomes even harder. Data is a gear filled robot who can be wound like a watch, and Geordi is merman who cannot see above water. But perhaps this odd friendship could solve some of their problems.

Hi! This was written for a commission for @datalaur. This takes place in a weird vaguely steampunk, D&D type universe where certain alien species names are interchangeable with mythological names like trolls and goblins, and everyone calls Data a robot. The world building isn't perfect, but I still think it's a good time. 💜 (Here’s a link to chapter two)

CHAPTER ONE

The sea rippled in the wind, and the ship creaked as the sails were turned.

“Captain,” said the first mate, “We can’t go on like this.”

“What do you want me to do, Will? Stop and ask for directions?”

“It’s not just that. When we go into battle, we can’t have you and the rob’ut shoveling coal.”

“There’s so much more to it than that.”

“Well then? That’s my point. We’ve got to replace O’Brien. I know you were holding out hope, but when we dock at the ninth port again, sure he’ll sing songs, and welcome us like old friends, but he’s not gonna be convinced to go back to the life of a corsair. Not now that he found someone who could love that ugly mug of his.”

The Captain sighed. “You’re right. But Data knows this ship better than anyone—”

“The rob’ut can’t fix himself, Picard,” Riker spat. He steeled himself and tried to speak more respectfully. “We need a new crew member. Even if he doesn’t know the engines, if he’s got a mind to learn, if he can figure Data’s gears, he can pick up slack. Because we need you both on deck, sir.”

“Captain, I’m afraid I have to concur.” The gears in Data’s shoulders creaked as he turned the wheel and changed their course. “Not only that we need an extra crewman, but that we should stop and ask for directions.”

“Data…” Picard said, frustrated, “Who do you suppose we ask. A siren?”

“I propose we anchor along this approaching landmass,” replied Data. “There are signs of life.”

Picard removed his spyglass from his pocket and took a look at the approaching shore. There was smoke in the distance and a path cut through the trees. There was no way to tell if these people were friendly, but they were certainly people.

But Captain Picard was nothing if not an adventurer. If he had been afraid to meet new and mystical species on faraway shores, he never would’ve found Data, or Worf. Even Troi was half Elvin, and they’d all learned to live with her mind trickery. While the old girl, Enterprise, was just beginning to take on this diversity, Picard suspected there were pirate and privateer ships in which humans were the minority.

When they anchored a few hours later, the crew was informed to sit tight while the Captain and Worf sought out the people to make sure it was safe.

The first thing Worf noticed about the locals was that they didn’t seem all that mysterious. They looked human. The only difference being that his humans kept themselves better trimmed.

“Trespassers,” said one of the men.

“We mean no disrespect,” said Picard, putting his hands up to show his open palms. “We’ve only lost our way. We don’t mean to intrude.”

“You have a Klingon with you,” said one of the women.

“This is Worf,” said the captain. “He is a friendly Klingon. He wasn’t even raised on the mountains of Kronos. He was raised among humans.”

Worf nodded. He resented his trustworthiness being equated with how human he may be, but now was not the time to be offended.

“What are you doing here?” asked the man.

“We’re lost,” said Picard. “We’ve been tasked to find the Goblin homeland. They’ve stolen some inventions—”

“They’ll gut you for your latinum.”

“Alas, we have none at the moment. We will be paid for retrieving the machinery.”

“They won’t stop to find out what’s in your pockets. They’d sell the clothes off your corpse.”

“We are familiar with the goblins, and their confrontation tactics,” said Worf, “Money is no doubt the reason for their thieving, not a hope for technological advancement. However, were they to sell to an enemy, the human government would not be pleased.”

“I see. Privateers then?”

“You could say that,” said Picard with a smile.

“Hmm, the kind of privateers who are also pirates, or the kind with a certain code of conduct?”

Picard and Worf shuffled their feet.

“It depends on your definition of pirate,” said Worf. Picard shot him a look that told him to keep his mouth shut.

“We definitely have a code of conduct,” Picard assured them. “You have nothing to fear from us. We’re only asking a little help…”

“You’ve gone too far,” said the woman.

“Excuse me?” asked Picard, wondering what he could have possibly said to prompt this response.

“You’ve gone too far,” she repeated. “That’s how you got confused. You went too far north. It happens. Goblins are southeast of us. We could maybe mark it on a map, but can’t say how accurate it would be. None of us are cartographers.”

“If you’re willing to look at a map that would be great. But you’ve already helped. Thank you,” said Picard.

“You look weary,” said one of the men.

“You might stay,” said the other. “Assuming you are not pirates.”

“Oh, oh that’s very generous, but we should be on our way,” replied Picard.

“Suit yourself, but Jeham used to live the ship life, and any chance to spend a moment on land was cherished later when the chances didn’t come. If you would like to stay a short while we would not object.”

“Well… I don’t know how much time we can waste. But we will tell the crew that they are free to explore for the time being.”

“Explore?” asked the woman.

“Would that be a problem?”

“No,” said the man. “But there are some areas that are… not as safe.”

Picard nodded, not wanting to make a fuss. “Worf, why don’t you go back to the ship and let the crew know we’re welcomed.”

“But Captain—”

“I’m sure I’m safe with our new friends, Mr. Worf.”

Worf looked back and forth between them, nodded, and disappeared through the trees.

“I never asked your names. I am Jean-Luc Picard.”

“I mentioned Jeham,” said one of the men, pointing a thumb to the other. “And my name is Di.”

“And I’m Reese,” said the woman.

That evening they sat around a large fire. Some stood, some walked around, but they fit nearly 200 people into a clearing, Picard’s salty crew mingling idly with this sandy group of families. The doctor had disappeared somewhere. The Captain hoped she was having fun. Data stood very close to the circle around the fire, wanting to be included, but not wanting to take a warm place to sit from someone who would be comforted by it.

“May I ask you a question?” said Data quietly.

“Only if we can ask a few back,” said Reese.

“Of course, please do. I was wondering, you do not look terribly different from us, and you speak human, but—”

“We are human,” replied Di.

“This is only a settlement,” said Jeham. “I used to work on a ship too, but I’d been looking for an out for a while when my ship stopped here. I decided to stay, after I met everyone.”

“Most of the originals came to get away from the black fog of the big cities. We live a little simpler here,” said Di.

Data’s face fell, if only minutely, and he said, “You came here to get away from machinery.”

“Perhaps, you could say that,” said Reese, “But we have no problem with machines. Only the smell of industry.”

“What are you?” asked Di, standing up to look more closely at Data’s skin, “A robot?”

“Yes.”

“Who made a thing like you? Is he with the crew?” asked Reese.

“No. My creator was lost at sea many years ago.”

Di reached out and ran a finger along Data’s forehead and down his nose. “You’re not like any robot I’ve ever seen.”

“I wouldn’t imagine we’re up on the latest trends, Di,” said Reese.

Di continued trailing his finger down Data’s face, and Data resisted the urge to shudder when he reached his lips. Though he would’ve preferred Di ask permission, he couldn’t deny that in some ways Data enjoyed the stimulation to his- his what, he wasn’t sure. He had speculated that he had artificial nerve endings, but it was far beyond the realm of any science in the land. There were rumors on the ship that Soong had not just used engineering, but magic to bring Data to life. But if it was true, that didn’t change that the robot still needed to be wound.

As the feel of Di’s fingers on his neck suddenly became absent, Data realized he had shut his eyes. He opened them abruptly and whispered. “I am… one of a kind.”

The captain cleared his throat. “Perhaps we should do a little exploring in the morning before we leave. Get some exercise before we have to be cooped up on the ship. If you could suggest any trails…?”

“We could take you to look at some pretty areas, but you shouldn’t go off alone,” said Reese.

“Oh, I’m sure we could handle any animals that might come our way.”

“It’s not that,” said Di. “You don’t want to go very far from shore. You don’t want to get near the water.”

“Water?” asked Worf, “What do you mean near water but away from the shore? That does not make sense.”

“There is something of a lake, but it drains in from the ocean and it is quite deep.”

“Everyone on our crew can swim… Except for Alyssa,” said Data.

“It’s not about that either. This is the good water.” Di gestured behind him. They couldn’t see the shore through the trees but knew it was in that direction. “It’s mighty shallow. Just stay away from the rivers and estuary. They’re deep.”

There was an awkward silence as they tried to figure out if they should keep asking questions, and then there was another voice in the darkness.

Troi walked up to the fire seemingly out of nowhere. Her skin appeared to glow in the fire light, and they could see the smallest bit of her brazier at the opening of a men's collared shirt that was a little too big for her. She whispered, “I get the sense you don’t actually want us to know why we shouldn’t see these deep waters.”

“It’s the creatures,” said Jeham.

“Jeham,” warned Di.

“What kind of creatures?” asked Picard.

“I’m sure you’ve heard of sirens,” said Reese.

Data cut in, “The captain mentioned them this morning.”

“Then you know.”

“I know of myth,” said Picard. “I know of imaginary creatures,”

“I doubt you’re so cynical. With a Klingon, and your mechanical man. You would question the possibility that sirens exist?”

“An entire race that is solely female and dedicated to killing sailors? I’m afraid it does cast some doubt.”

“They aren’t only female,” said Jeham. “And they’re not sirens… They’re merfolk. They’re just a species like any of the ones we’ve seen. We’ve all met groups of people that seemed scary,” he glanced at Worf, “and we’ve all met people with a special ability or two.” Now he looked at Deanna but looked away when she caught his eye.

“Well, now you make it sound like they’re just new friends to make.”

“No,” said Di. “People have tried. The merfolk seem friendly sometimes. But this is where the siren myths come from. They’re intelligent. They make you feel things. They can control your emotions.”

“I have no emotions,” said Data.

“Excuse me?”

“They could not possibly control my emotions; I am not capable of feeling emotions, as I am a machine.”

Di sighed. This conversation had gone on longer than he would have liked.

“Fine,” he said, “Chance it, Robot. But don’t blame me when you are dragged into the sea.”

“Well, perhaps if we have time,” said Data.

Troi slid into the circle and sat down in front of the fire. “Now what are the chances that you lovely people happen to have marshmallows?”

Things had stayed friendly and hours later, after everyone had agreed to call it a night, Data sat in front of the dying fire.

Since he didn’t sleep, he was often presented with extra time to occupy while those around him were unconscious. On the ship he usually continued navigating.

There was a pull on the gears of his ticking brain. Almost a tingle to his mind. He wondered, if he were human, would this be the need to be rebellious? After all, he was never a child, neither a teenager.

He needed, like an unquenchable curiosity, to go find the deep waters Di and the others had spoken of. He wasn’t afraid of what he might find there, for he couldn’t feel fear. Even if he could, he also couldn’t feel pain, so there was really nothing to be afraid of.

He got up quietly after the fire had gone out. He didn’t want to ruin their fire pit by extinguishing it or leave it unattended while burning. But now, in the light of only the moon he got up quietly and crept beyond the clearing, heading away from the shore.

It might have taken a biological being a few hours to navigate through the many trees and over jagged rocks, but Data did not tire, and found the estuary before sunrise.

The water here seemed different than that which he had sailed on for many years. This was eerily calm, and the moon shone off it in such a way that made it appear to glow.

Data sat down at the edge of the water, and waited. Nothing happened, but that was okay. He thought about navigation, and the mission they were on, and watched the sunrise.

Just as he was thinking perhaps he should return to the clearing, something in the water moved. Slowly a dark face emerged, with completely gray eyes, like nothing Data had ever seen.

“Are you waiting for someone?” the being asked.

“I suppose I was waiting for you,” replied Data.

“I've never heard your voice,” he didn’t look directly at Data as he spoke. “You don’t live here.”

“No, I’m a corsair.”

“I… I’m afraid I don’t know what that means.”

“I sail… on an independent ship.”

“You’re a pirate,” said the man in the water.

“… We don’t like to hurt people.”

“I’m not here to judge you.”

“What are you?”

“Isn’t it obvious?”

“You are a merman?”

“If the name suits you.”

“Do you have a name?”

“Do you?”

“My name is Data.”

“A name befitting a mechanical man.”

“You knew I was a robot?”

“I can hear your body tick.”

“But you cannot see me.”

“Merpeople don’t see the same way land folk do.”

“Oh, I understand.”

“Mm, I doubt that.”

“Well, it is true that I probably cannot imagine how you process sensory input, but I also can’t imagine how any biological being does such things.”

“You experience your senses differently than everyone you meet, don’t you?”

“I have yet to meet anyone like me. Other robots do not…”

“They do not compare.”

“I suppose not. Some people think my creator was a genius. Others think he was mad. I’m sorry to say I am sometimes in the latter category… You never told me your name.”

“Geordi.”

“Is that a common merfolk name?”

“Not particularly.”

“I understand that you see differently than humans, but it appears as though you do not see me at all.”

“I saw you when I approached, but we are adapted to the water. We lose certain things above it. But others change. Everything is louder above water as well.”

“If I were human I would get in with you.”

“Excuse me?”

“I would hold my breath, and swim with you, so we could see each other properly. But I can’t get water in my gears.”

“Sailing seems like an odd job for someone who can’t get wet.”

“Well, I can get a little wet. But it could be troublesome to be fully submerged. It’s correct that if I fell overboard, I would most likely die, but that is true of most of the crew when on the high seas.”

“You’re quite the interesting device, aren’t you Data?”

Data didn’t respond.

“I’m sorry,” Geordi said suddenly. “That was rude.”

Data smiled even though he knew Geordi couldn’t see it. Just acknowledging that it was possible to be rude to him was more than some people gave him.

“I’ve been called worse than a device,” said Data. “And definitely worse than interesting.”

“Well, you are. Interesting, I mean.”

“I find you fascinating as well.”

“I’m really interested in mechanology. I hope you don’t mind me saying. It’s just, that sort of learning is limited when you live in water.”

“I would imagine.”

“I’d love to get a look inside you. I mean… that came out wrong.”

“You do not have to worry about offending me. I have learned over my time as a corsair, that it is not the words, but the feeling behind them.”

“Well, I mean, I can’t really get a look.”

“Figure of speech, I assumed.”

“Yes, well, I’m sure it would be terribly invasive to… to…”

“Examine my mechanics? If it were something you would enjoy, and you would not change anything—”

“Oh, of course not! I would never tamper with you without your permission.”

“Then you may open the compartment on my back,” Data said, unbuttoning his doublet. “I only ask that you dry your hands first.”

Geordi’s eyes widened. “Yes, yes of course I will.” He floated awkwardly for a moment before scrambling to get up onto land with Data. He fumbled as he couldn’t see the edge of the rock. Hands reached out and took hold of him around the waist. If he hadn’t known any better, he would’ve guessed them biological hands. The only sign that there was a difference was how effortlessly Data lifted Geordi out of the water, and sat him gently next to him.

Geordi’s tail hung off the edge and into the water but the rest of him was visible, and Data took in the details before handing Geordi a handkerchief and turning away from him.

He pulled the silk shirt he’d been wearing under his doublet over his head, not bothering with the buttons. Geordi finished drying his hands and felt out in front of him. He slid his hands down Data’s smooth back, finding in the middle, something like a key.

There was that feeling of Data being touched again, but this time it was invited.

“Does this keep you going?” Geordi asked, fingering the key.

“Yes, turned clockwise it winds my gears, but if you turn it counterclockwise—”

“I can unscrew it and open this hatch. And it won’t cause you any problems?”

“No.”

Geordi did as Data said, placing the key off to the side, and sliding open a door in his back. Data had of course been worked on and examined before, but this was somehow different. Geordi had to feel the parts to understand what was in front of him and Data could almost feel it himself. Geordi’s soft slick hands running along the springs and wires.

“There’s lots I could do back here,” Geordi said lazily fumbling over some screws. “Are you always so trusting with people you’ve just met?”

“No,” Data replied, eyes closed, “Never.” And it almost sounded breathy to Gerodi’s ears.

“Well, I’ll take this as a compliment… Ow.” Geordi pulled his hand away abruptly.

Data glanced back and saw Geordi put his finger in his mouth.

“You have burned yourself.”

“Nah,” said Geordi. “Just hurt for a second.” He went back to his examinations. “I see, so you breathe to keep this cool right here.”

“Yes.”

“It’s like you’ve got a little engine roaring away inside you. It’s amazing.”

“Do you… know anything about engines?”

“A little. I’d love to learn more.”

“Data!” said a voice in the distance. It was the captain.

“I have to go now,” Data told Geordi, like he was telling a playmate that his mom said dinner was ready.

Geordi nodded and shut the compartment. He felt around for the key before fumbling to screw it back in for Data. Once it was in he kept turning.

“All wound up.”

“Thank you,” Data whispered.

“Data?” shouted Dr. Crusher.

“I am here,” replied Data pulling on his shirt. “No need to go any further, I will come to you.”

He buttoned only a few of the buttons on his doublet before going to stand, but Geordi stopped him while he was still on his knees. He reached out and took Data’s hand.

“Will you be back?” Gerodi asked.

“Back?”

“Will I see you again? I’ve never met anyone like you.”

It wasn’t lost on Data that the merman called him one instead of thing. Data had to admit that though he had only known the being for all of 20 minutes, he wanted to promise he would be back. But it was not a promise he knew he could keep.

Data debated whether he would be overstepping a boundary for .3 seconds, and then decided to place a hand on Geordi’s cheek. “I will try,” he said honestly. Geordi shivered. “You are cold. You should return to the water.”

“Data, please inform us of your location,” said the captain.

“I will be right there, Captain.”

Geordi stayed on land for a few more moments to listen to the sound of Data’s footsteps as he walked away.

Beyond some rocks in the thick of trees and vines, Data found the captain and the doctor searching for him.

“I apologize for the inconvenience, Captain.”

“Out looking for mermaids, Data?” said the Captain with a smirk.

“Of course not, Captain. I would never go looking for something someone told me could be dangerous.” Data had recently begun to master facetiousness. He found it easier than sarcasm, because it didn’t require the same bite.

“Oh!” replied the doctor with a smile, “Of course not.”

“Well, I hate to interrupt our recreation, but we’re trying to get some maintenance done as quickly as possible so that we can be back on the sea before noon.”

“Captain, will we be coming back?” asked Data.

“Back?”

“To this shore…”

“There were no plans to. I know this is no concern of yours, but it depends on where our next meal is coming from.”

“I understand, this little village, of sorts, is not particularly profitable.”

Data was silent for the rest of the morning as they prepared to leave. He spared one passing glance at the shore as he steered the ship back onto the high seas.

With the locals’ changes to their maps they were able to find goblin territory faster than they expected. They came into port in the late afternoon as the sun was setting, and they had a plan before midnight. Goblins were ruthless, but they were also easily scared.

They would beat them at their own game, and retrieve the technology from right under their noses. Under cover of darkness, the captain, Riker, Data, and Worf, crept through the city. They took along a few crewmen who were new to the seas but could provide a little muscle. All of them pulled up their hoods against the rain. They’d been told before they came that it never stopped raining in goblin territory. But they hurried despite their discomfort. They could not be seen under any circumstances. This was not a place they could blend in. Their height alone would make them stand out to any goblin.

They inched into the building where they’d heard it was being held. They were fairly certain the goblins they’d interrogated were telling the truth. It had taken what little latinum they had left, but every goblin has their price.

Inside there were many locking mechanisms, but it was nothing Data couldn’t handle. Though he hadn’t been designed for theft, thieving from thieves brought exceptions. Being a corsair brought oh so many exceptions.

Coming down a hall, lit only by a torch, was the final door. Behind it should be the stolen machine. It was wood, and shorter than human doors, as had been all the doors in the building. It was covered in chains which the goblins no doubt thought were strong. Worf took a chain in hand on one side, and Data took it on the other. Pulling against each other like they might play tug-o-war, one of the links near the middle gave way and opened, and the chains fell apart.

The captain pushed the door open and ducked into the room. The device’s silhouette was monstrous in the darkness of the room, but Picard could tell they could get it through the door if they carried it on its side. After all, the goblins had to have gotten it in here somehow.

Squeezing it through the door and down the hall with the strength of a robot, a Klingon, a Bolian, and 3 humans was easier than expected. They shuffled out of the building, and were almost home-free when they heard a footstep.

A little clay colored boy with the biggest ears they’d ever seen screeched and pointed at them. Suddenly the sound stopped and the boy was on the ground. Worf had put down his corner of the device and hit the little goblin in the back of the head. He flinched as he looked at him. No one on the ship enjoyed when their adventures came to such things. Stealing and defending oneself was one thing but hurting innocent people never felt good.

“He should be fine,” whispered Data.

Worf nodded and picked up his end again and they were able to get it onto the ship uninterrupted.

As they rushed out of dock, wind in their sales, it almost seemed too easy. The simplicity was almost dreamlike, being so unsettling and anxiety inducing, that it was almost a relief when they heard goblins shouting in the distance. Something about profit.

And then, there was just enough light from the moons to see a ship gaining on them. It was a strange looking ship, with little cohesion, different colors and shapes that reminded them of other races they’d met along the way. It was almost as if the goblins had built the ship from spare parts of other ships they’d come across, purchased, or robbed.

The word Ferengi was messily painted on the side. It must’ve meant something in the goblin language, but they didn’t know what, and didn’t have time to think about it.

There was yelling and swift conversations as they heard cannons go off. Were they out gunned? Could they call someone for help? Goblins had always seemed so cowardly, but there had been a feeling in the air, and now it seemed inevitable that they had underestimated them.

While people on the Enterprise were loading cannons, Riker took the wheel, and the captain told Data to go change the direction of the sails. Data nodded and ran to the ropes. Just as he was finishing, he heard Troi shout, “What’s going on?”

“The goblins,” he replied. “Help with cannons!”

Looking at her when he spoke, he was caught off guard when the entirety of the Enterprise shook with a particularly well aimed cannon ball. The ship lurched, and Data tried to grab onto the rope, but his hands missed it by a centimeter. Data went toppling into the water, Troi running to the railing after him, but knowing there was nothing she could do.

“Data!” she shouted at the top of her lungs.

He could hear faintly the water muffled warbling of Troi explaining to someone, “The robot, he’s gone overboard!” before he became waterlogged and shut down.

Data assumed this would be the end of his experiences.

-Chapter Two-

#star trek the next generation #data #geordi #daforge #faniction #Star Trek #Star Trek The Original Series #ST:TOS

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sailorportia · 4 years

Text

Femslash February 2020, Day 2

Fandom: Little Witch Academia Pairing: Diana Cavendish/Akko Kagari Prompt: Pining

approx. 1,700 words, rated T

also available on AO3

Summary: Diana Cavendish is not *pining*, nor is she *yearning* or *mooning.* She simply wants to spend more time with her *friend* Akko. Is that too much to ask?

Tags: Pining, Fluff

It had been a day and a half since Diana had last spoken to Akko. Precisely speaking, it had been thirty-six hours and thirty-four minutes—Diana had been diligent in noting the time at which she had apprehended Akko attempting to steal from the school's pantry yet again. They had exchanged greetings since then, but that hardly counted as a proper conversation. She did the same with teachers. She wanted to talk to Akko.

Diana fiddled with the food on her plate as she gazed across the length of the cafeteria to Akko's table. The energetic girl was shovelling food into her mouth, occasionally stopping to speak animatedly with Lotte and Sucy with her mouth still full. It was shockingly impolite, utterly unbefitting of a student of Luna Nova Academy. So why then did Diana wish so desperately that she were the one Akko was speaking to?

Would it be peculiar if she walked over to Akko's table and struck up a conversation with her? She had no pretext for doing so. It would be rude to interrupt Akko when she was eating and already speaking with her other friends (though it would be nice if she were to do those activities separately). Diana didn't want to make a nuisance of herself, but she didn't want to wait until after classes or, Nine Olde Witches forbid, until tomorrow to talk to Akko...

"She's definitely pining," Hannah said.

"Like an evergreen," Barbara agreed.

Diana's fork scraped against her plate in an ear-grating screech. "Pardon?"

"We were talking about Avery," Hannah said. "She's totally yearning for Amanda."

"It's totally obvious," Barbara said. "The way she's mooning over that delinquent is almost as bad as Hannah."

"Hey! I do no such thing!"

Diana tuned out the sound of her roommate's squabbles to reflect on her own thoughts. She was not pining, nor was she yearning or mooning. That was ridiculous. Admittedly, she was fond of Akko, and her feelings bordered onto that of an infatuation, but whatever she felt for Akko was easily reined in and in no way affected her behaviour. She wasn't some lovesick fool, and she certainly wasn't pouting over not getting to talk to Akko as often as she'd like.

But if that were the case, then why had she been afraid that Hannah and Barbara were talking about her?

Diana pinched the bridge of her nose. She was being foolish. If she wanted Akko's attention, she would simply strike up a conversation with her. There was no point in lingering on those feelings and doing nothing about them.

She quickly finished her lunch and stood up from the table. "If you'll excuse me, girls, I have something I need to attend to." After making a quick detour to put her dirty dishes in their proper place, she made a beeline for the Red Team's table. As she approached, she could hear them talking.

"What do you mean we had homework for Magical Linguistics?" Akko shouted.

"Finnelan said it three times," Sucy said. "Looks like you're going to get detention again."

"Um, you can copy off mine," Lotte offered. "But this is the last time, okay?"

"Lotte! You're a life-saver!" Akko threw her arms around her bespectacled friend.

Diana, only two tables away from them, stopped dead in her tracks. Her heart thudded painfully in her chest, almost jumping out of her throat. Tendrils of envy snaked around her body and squeezed tightly—just the way that Akko's arms never did.

She turned around and went back to her own table, hoping that Akko hadn't seen her aborted walk to her table. Hannah and Barbara seemed surprised that she had returned so soon, but one look at her troubled expression was enough to deter questioning.

In all her life Diana had never met anyone as openly affectionate as Akko. Hannah and Barbara were at times just as brazen, but only with each other. Akko was clingy with everyone. Everyone except Diana, it seemed.

As pitiful as she felt for admitting so, it bothered her. It wasn't as if the two of them weren't friends—Akko had insisted upon it. However, Akko still considered her a rival of sorts. Perhaps that explained the gulf between how she acted toward Diana and how she treated her other friends. Ordinarily Diana disliked those who had no regard for the personal space of others, but now she found herself wanting Akko to invade hers.

Akko could very well hug whomever she liked, but that didn't mean Diana didn't feel left out. She had to mentally berate herself after she caught herself keeping a mental tally of how many times she saw Akko hugging someone who wasn't her. Honestly, she ought to be ashamed of herself. She couldn't ask Akko that she be treated as special among her friends, but she found it agonizing that she was being set apart from the others.

She watched despondently as Akko left the cafeteria with her friends. The object of her affections turned around just inside the door and the two of them made eye contact. Akko flashed one of her adorable, goofy grins and waved. Diana looked away in embarrassment, as if she'd been caught doing something disreputable. By the time she recovered enough to look up again, Akko was gone, and she felt all the worse for it.

That settled it. Diana Cavendish was, indeed, pining.

Just because Diana acknowledged her own feelings and that she was, in fact, yearning for attention from Akko didn't mean she had any idea what to do about it. Would it seem needy of her if she asked Akko to spend more time with her? Would she be bothering her by asking for a hug? After all, surely Akko had a reason for never hugging her. Was it possible that the two of them weren't as close as Diana thought? The idea was unbearable.

Unsure of what to do, Diana limited herself to unproductive pining. She wanted to be closer to Akko, but the prospect of even physically closing the distance between them was daunting. She kept Akko at arm's length, even as she felt the pain of not being at her side as others were. On one occasion when her crush invited her to join them, Diana stiffly made an excuse to be elsewhere and cursed herself the second she was out of the room. Her feelings were making a complete fool out of her, and she didn't know what to do about it.

Diana hid in her room as much as possible, justifying her cowardice by catching up on some extra-curricular reading. After three days she had accumulated a stack of library books which she only dared to return under the cover of night, lest she unexpectedly run into Akko. She slipped over to the library just before curfew and placed the books on the desk where they belonged. When she turned around, she saw the library's only visitor sitting at one of the tables.

"Akko?" Her voice ratcheted up an octave. "What are you doing here so late?"

Akko grinned. "I'm doodling goatees and devil horns on the witches in the textbooks."

Diana blinked. "I'm going to get Professor Finnelan."

"I'm kidding!" Akko yelped. "I was reading this doorstop about magical theory." She slapped the heavy tome. "I didn't understand something in today's assignment. Um, I still don't, but I'm trying!"

"How diligent of you." Diana felt a powerful urge to sit down with Akko and explain the topic in intimate detail, perhaps feigning exhaustion so she would have an excuse to rest her head on Akko's shoulder... Diana came to her senses. "Make sure you return to your dorm room before curfew." She turned to leave the library before her feelings got the better of her.

"Diana!" The shout was followed by the scraping of a chair against the floor.

"Akko, please. We're in a library. Could you keep your voice—" A pair of arms circled Diana's waist and she shrieked from sheer surprise.

"Keep your voice down," Akko murmured against her shoulder. "We're in a library."

Diana should've been offended that Akko of all people was telling her to be quiet, but her brain had stopped working. "Wh-why are you hugging me?"

"You looked sad! You've been moping for days!"

"I have not been 'moping', nor have I ever 'moped.'"

"Nuh-uh! You look miserable like someone stole your Magical History notes." Akko hugged her tighter. "Tell me what's wrong!"

How could Diana possibly verbalize her thoughts under these circumstances? Admitting her feelings, the source of her dismay, could have unpredictable consequences—she didn't know how Akko would receive them, given the distance Diana perceived between them. She settled on the simpler, incomplete truth. "Why haven't you hugged me before now?"

"Eh? Well, I noticed that you aren't really touchy-feely with anyone, not even Hannah and Barbara, and sometimes you get all wigged out when I get really close to you, so I figured you didn't like hugs." Akko paused. "Uh, should I let go?"

"Most certainly not."

"So that's how it is," Akko giggled. "You were jelly because I wasn't giving you any hugs!"

"I—that's not—" Diana was thankful that Akko couldn't see her face from this angle. "We need to return to our respective dorm rooms imminently."

"Awww, somebody's shy!" Akko gave her another squeeze. "Wait, I have to put my book away. Don't leave without me!" She let go of Diana to take care of her business.

Diana smoothed out her unruffled uniform and willed her face to cool down. By the time Akko made it over to her at the library's entrance, she had recovered her composure. "Shall we?"

"Let's shall!"

Akko walked unusually close to Diana as they made their way through the hallways. "Y'know, if you needed a hug, you could've just asked for one."

"I didn't need a hug." True enough; she wanted a hug, which was much more difficult for her to admit.

"Don't be silly. Everybody needs a hug sometimes. If you don't get enough skinship, your body gets depressed. That's science!" Akko reached over and grabbed Diana's hand. "If you need some love, don't hesitate to ask!"

Diana turned away so that her hair would shield her from view. She gave Akko's hand a gentle squeeze. "I'll keep that in mind."

#little witch academia #lwa #diakko #diana cavendish #akko kagari #fanfiction #my fanfiction #yuri #girls love #femslash #femslash february #FauxGhostsFSF

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youngjusticeslut · 4 years

Text

Center Stage (Chapters 2 and 3)

Fandom: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power Characters: Adora, Catra, Glimmer, Bow, Mermista, Sea Hawk, Kyle, Perfuma, Frosta Ships: Catradora, Glimbow, Seamista, Kygelio, Scorptra Rating: T+ AO3

“That’s where I know you from! The audition,” Adora explains. It takes Catra a moment to connect the dots, but she remembers the other blonde and bristles slightly. The cute blonde was… Adora. Peachy. “I’m so sorry, I meant to introduce myself then, but I was just so overwhelmed— You get it, don’t you? One day you’re the top of your class at your shitty ballet school and then suddenly…” she trails off, flushing pink. “Sorry. I ramble when I’m nervous.”

Shit. She’s cuter when she rambles. “It’s okay,” Catra waves her off. “Sometimes I can’t believe it either.”

A Catradora Ballet AU

Catra leans against the windowsill of Scorpia’s dorm room, holding a freshly lit cigarette and watching the fresh flock of students arrive. Move-in day. The start of a new year, and for some, a new life. As mutually agreed upon by both her and Octavia, the day she moved into Bright Moon was to be the last day of her foster arrangement. The day she’d been looking forward to since moving to New York City was finally here, and for that, she couldn’t be more grateful.

So why isn’t she shiny and smiling like the rest of the people pouring into the school? Catra pulls the cigarette to her lips, taking a long drag before blowing out the smoke into the air. She should be excited. She is finally here, a chance at the opportunity of a lifetime, and finally away from the shitty place she called home. She should be bouncing off the fucking walls with glee.

Per usual, Catra doesn’t have an answer. Instead she just hangs out of the window, glancing upon these people’s lives and pretending they were hers. Unlike her, most of the arriving students boast several belongings to their name, with parents helping them drag everything inside. Everything she owned had fit quite nicely into her ballet bag and one backpack, clothes, shoes and all.

From her position, she can hear a myriad of conversations, though they all carry the same general context. It was all ‘Honey come help me with this’, or ‘Mom, stop being so embarrassing, I’ll be fine’. Catra tells herself she doesn’t care, despite the pit in her stomach telling her that she obviously does.

“You haven’t left that spot in an hour, Wildcat,” Scorpia notes from her bed, turning the page to the magazine she was reading. “You about ready to tell me what’s up?”

“Nothing’s up,” Catra mutters. She finishes off her cigarette and stamps it out on the windowsill before joining Scorpia at the end of her bed. “People are just obnoxious, is all.”

Scorpia chuckles. “The ballet types are… a lot, but you get used to it.”

And what if she doesn’t? Catra huffs out a sigh and pulls her knees to her chest. She is nothing like the other girls, it didn’t take more than five minutes of being here to realize that. There must have been some mistake in her acceptance, she obviously doesn’t belong.

“Hey,” Scorpia nudges Catra with her foot. “It’s just the first day. Don’t get in your head.”

“I’m not.”

“Yes, you are. It’s all over your face.” Scorpia sits up, crossing her legs. “What are you thinking about?”

What was Catra supposed to say? That the place that she thought would make her feel most confident actually left her feeling more insecure than she ever had before? That now she had no home to go back to and nothing but her meager belongings to her name? Scorpia had been there for her through everything, shouldn’t she already know? A good friend might have let her barriers down and engaged in some ‘girl-talk’. Catra isn’t exactly what she’d consider to be a ‘good friend’.

“Just… how new this all is. I still don’t feel like it’s real,” she admits, because that much is true. Catra knows what would happen if she told Scorpia the truth. Scorpia would immediately start being her amazing self, offering advice and reassurances and all the words that would make Catra want to gag. She didn’t need that right now. Not from Scorpia.

Scorpia hums to herself before nodding, tracing a finger over Catra’s palm. It was a thing they did when they were younger, in ballet class. Back when things were equally as shitty, but simpler. “We can make it real, you know,” she says, grinning at Catra. “Your roommates are probably here by now. Let’s go meet them.”

Catra rolls her eyes, moving her hand away and burying it inside her thick nest of hair. “So you’re my mom now? Pass.”

The bed creaks as Scorpia laughs.“It’ll be fun! I’ll help you unpack, we’ll play some music, and make sure you get top bunk.”

It was definitely an option. Meeting her roommates would definitely make everything more real. Unless they were horrible, and stuck up, then that would be a little too real and Catra isn’t sure if she’s ready for that yet.

“I don’t think so,” she replies, wishing she’d stuffed more than one cigarette in the pocket of her jeans. She really needs better hindsight, because now she wants another cigarette, and it’s far too much work to dig through all her shit and find the carton. “I don’t need to be babied.”

Scorpia scoffs, inching closer and laying on her stomach so that she’s right across from Catra. “I’m not babying you. Just… wanna help you out. The first day in a new place can be rough on anyone.”

“I don’t need help,” Catra says, but with a smile. “I have two bags, it’ll take me all of ten minutes to put my shit away and that’s barely three shitty songs, or two good ones. Don’t worry so much,” she sighs, but appreciates her friend’s concern nonetheless. “I’ll be fine.”

“I know you will be.”

Catra lets the silence hang in the air for a few minutes. “You sure you can’t be my roommate?” she asks, softer than Scorpia has ever heard her voice before. It would be a hell of a lot easier if Scorpia was her roommate. They got along, most of the time. Knew the way the other worked. “We’ll do an illegal switcheroo, or something. I’ll bribe her.”

“You have like, ten dollars in your bank account.”

“Maybe she really likes coffee. If someone bought me a coffee, I’d take it as a bribe.”

Scorpia reaches forward and tucks a loose strand of hair behind Catra’s ear. Without words, Catra knows what she means; she would if she could.

Catra sighs, cracking her back before climbing off the bed. “Alright, I’m going.”

“Sure you don’t want me to come?” Scorpia asks, the slight whine in her voice betraying that she really wanted Catra to say no.

“I’m sure,” Catra says anyway. “I’ll be fine. If it’s just some stuck-up brat I’ll show them who’s boss. I’m a nightmare, remember?”

Scorpia grabs her magazine again, shaking her head with a smile. “You’re not a nightmare.” She pauses, not opening the magazine immediately. “Hey, Catra?”

“Yeah?” When Catra doesn’t receive an immediate response, she turns towards Scorpia, both bags on her shoulders. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing! Nothing’s wrong, at least…” she chuckles, her cheeks tingeing pink. “Look, every year, the ballet company hosts a gala on the first weekend of the school year. It’s a whole show, and then a party afterwards.”

Catra adjusts the bags on her shoulders, making sure she has everything before looking back at Scorpia. “Cool.”

“Yeah, it is. Cool, I mean.” Scorpia clears her throat. “I just thought, maybe you’d like to go together?”

She fights back a grimace. Galas are stuffy and boring— or so she’d heard, at least. Not like she’d ever attended one. “Is attendance mandatory?”

“Kind of.”

“Then sure. Better than going alone, I guess.” At least if Scorpia was there, she wouldn’t have to go and talk to people she really doesn’t care about.

“Cool,” Scorpia repeats, grinning to herself a bit. “That sounds good. Text me later?”

Catra heads for the door. “I’ll think about it,” she says, lugging her bags out as she leaves. A gala meant that she would have to buy a dress. She’d considered throwing her stained blue formal dress in her bag this morning, but she’d left it at the bottom of her closet. In retrospect, she really shouldn’t be allowed to make decisions before nine am.

She follows the hallway of the girls’ dormitory to room 1130. It wasn’t hard to find again; she’d lingered just outside earlier today, but hadn’t wanted to face it just yet. Instead she’d just hidden like a coward in Scorpia’s room. This time, however, the door was open.

In the room stood a petite blonde girl, humming to a song on the radio and unpacking her things. At least she was alone. Catra takes a deep breath, steadying herself before entering the room. “Room 1130?” she asks, pretending she didn’t know where she was in an effort to make conversation.

The girl startles and turns around, but smiles at Catra. “Looks like you’re my roommate.” She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear, holding her hand out. “I’m Adora.”

Catra glances downward at the outstretched hand, hesitating for a second before she ends up taking it, giving it a light squeeze. “Guess I am. Catra,” she answers. There’s something familiar about this girl, Adora. Something that she can’t put her finger on just yet.

Adora figures it out first, after she pulls her hand away. “Do I know you from somewhere?”

“Don’t think so.” Catra throws her stuff on the top bunk, relieved to see that it’s unclaimed. That’s one confrontation she doesn’t have to have.

“No, I definitely do. I’d remember those eyes,” she explains.

Catra blinks, turning back to look at Adora. “My eyes?”

“Yeah,” Adora replies, shrugging as she continues to unpack. “It’s not every day you see someone with one blue and one hazel eye.”

“Most people find it intimidating.” The words come off harsh, but Catra doesn’t mean them to be. When she was younger, kids, teachers, foster parents, you name it, had been afraid to look her in the eyes. She’s used to it by now. Catra unzips her own bag, figuring that now was a good time as any to start unpacking. Might as well, if Adora was already doing it.

The two cross paths on her way to the dresser. Adora laughs a bit, looking right at her. “Sorry. I know New York City rooms are famous for being small, but this is…”

“Ridiculous,” Catra finishes for her, unable to help the smile that forms on her lips. “You from New York?”

“The Bronx, born and raised. You?”

“Brooklyn. Past seven years.” Seven years. Catra can’t believe that it’s been that long already. Feels like just yesterday she was still just a little twerp on the Subway, trying her best to navigate the map herself.

Adora lights up. “That’s where I know you from! The audition,” she explains. It takes Catra a moment to connect the dots, but she remembers the other blonde and bristles slightly. The cute blonde was… Adora. Peachy. “I’m so sorry, I meant to introduce myself then, but I was just so overwhelmed— You get it, don’t you? One day you’re the top of your class at your shitty ballet school and then suddenly…” she trails off, flushing pink. “Sorry. I ramble when I’m nervous.”

Shit. She’s cuter when she rambles. “It’s okay,” Catra waves her off. “Sometimes I can’t believe it either.”

“Are you kidding? Your dancing is incredible. I knew they’d take you in a heartbeat, even if you were late.”

“What can I say?” She smirks, unable to help herself, shooting a wink at Adora. “I like to make an entrance.” Maybe she’d judged her too harshly. If this is how it was going to be, she can get behind this whole ‘roommate’ thing. Catra brushes past her, moving to rustle in her bag for another cigarette. She pretends not to notice Adora stiffen as she does so.

She also pretends not to notice Adora’s eyes on her, watching her every move as she lights the cigarette. “I thought dancers aren’t supposed to smoke. Body is a temple, and all that.”

Catra’s smirk only deepens, taking a long drag and blowing out the smoke. This girl had balls; for years, Scorpia had danced around her displeasure of Catra smirking. Adora had called her out in minutes. “My body is a temple,” she notes, leaning against the back wall of their room. The tension melts away as the dose of nicotine settles into her system, so she’s able to play it cool, relaxed. “Want a drag?”

“I’ll pass.”

She plays it coy, tilting her head to the side. “What’s your drug of choice?”

Adora doesn’t respond right away, mulling the question over as she continues to unpack her things. “Empanadas,” she admits with a cheeky smile. “And anything with vodka.”

“Svedka?” Catra teases.

“Please.” Adora waves her off, turning to face her before crossing her arms over her chest. “I can drink anyone under the table.”

Unlikely. They both seem to be around the same age, so unless Adora has a super great fake ID, there’s no way anyone was legally letting her drink. Plus, Adora is hardly taller than her, and weighs a hundred and thirty pounds at most. She’d be a lightweight for sure. Still, Catra finds her attempt almost sweet. “Is that so? Well then, maybe one night you’ll have to show me.”

Adora gives Catra a wink of her own. “Count on it.”

“Uh, hey.” Catra and Adora both turn to the new voice. In the doorway stands another girl, staring at them both quite warily. She looks at the room number outside, as if to confirm she’s in the right place, before settling her gaze on her future roommates. “I’m Glimmer. Guess we’re all roommates.”

Catra hadn’t even taken notice that there was a single bed, off to the side. Three roommates, one tiny room. Perfect; figures that Bright Moon would cut corners on something. The girl, Glimmer, doesn’t seem too thrilled either. Her face is nearly as pink as her hair, light and flush. Judging by the two huge suitcases beside her, she was a total princess type. Just her luck.

“Don’t sound too excited, Roomie,” Catra simpers, hoping to convey that she wasn’t to be trifled with. “We promise we won’t harsh your mellow.” She takes extra pleasure in the chuckle Adora tries to hide behind a cough.

Glimmer nods, swallowing nervously before lugging her suitcase inside. “...Right.”

Adora recovers from her chuckle, extending a hand to Glimmer just like she had with Catra. “I’m Adora, and this is Catra. This is our first year at Bright Moon.”

“Obviously.” Glimmer pulls her suitcases over to her bed before she takes Adora’s hand. “I know everybody else.”

“Everyone? Even the janitors?” Catra asks, unable to help herself from egging this girl on. If she didn’t, she was certain that this ‘Glimmer’ girl would try to stake her superiority over them. Catra had seen it before, with older foster siblings.

“Even the janitors.” Glimmer sighs and turns to Catra with a wary expression. “I’ve been here since I was nine. I can introduce them to you, if you want.”

“I’m good,” she mutters, focusing her attention on puffing a strand of hair out of her eyes.

“Wait, nine?” Adora sits on her bunk, crossing her legs. “That’s nuts. Did you grow up here?”

Glimmer hums, nodding as she thinks it over. She opens her suitcases, revealing an impeccably sorted array of every item a dancer could ever want. “Yeah, kinda. I’ve been in the kids program, and then graduated to the upper levels. My parents own the school,” Glimmer explains, pulling out each perfectly pressed leotard and placing it in her dresser. Catra can’t help the twinge of jealousy in her stomach. She barely had two leotards to her name, and this girl seemed to own the whole catalogue. Her hand twitches and the previously forgotten cigarette slips, burning her. Shit. What a fucking waste of a cigarette.

She mutters to herself and yanks her bag off her bed, rummaging around until she finds her tiny ashtray and the carton. The burn on her leg bothers her, but she’s had worse. It would pucker up and scab in a couple of days. Once Catra puts her cigarette out, she immediately sets to lighting a second one.

“What are you doing?”

Catra looks up, noticing that both Adora and Glimmer’s eyes were on her. “What does it look like I’m doing?” She places the stick in her mouth and takes a quick drag, trying not to laugh when Glimmer’s face changes from pink to red.

“You can’t smoke in here,” she grits out. “It’s against the rules.”

“I won’t tell if you don’t.” Catra looks to Adora for assistance, but the blonde has made herself neutral in the situation, unpacking her things as if the conversation isn’t happening.

“I’m serious. If you want to smoke, you have to do it outside.”

She sighs, shaking her head. Of course this girl had no sense of chill. Glimmer was probably born with a stick up her ass— Catra really shouldn’t be all that surprised. With everyone’s eyes on her, she walks over to the window and cracks it open, sticking her hand holding the cigarette outside. “Satisfied?” she cooes, smirking all the while.

“Do you think this is a joke?” the pink-haired girl shrills. “I’ll call security.”

Under normal circumstances, she wouldn’t even give her request the time of day. It’s on the tip of her tongue to tell her to fuck off, until she remembers that Glimmer mentioned that her parents owned the school. One word to Mommy and Daddy and Catra would find herself on the street.

She stands up straighter, her shoulders tensing. “Fine.” Catra glances back at Adora. “You coming?”

To her credit, Adora very much looks like she wants to go. She looks between Catra and Glimmer before rubbing the back of her head. “I should really stay and unpack.”

Catra shrugs. “Suit yourself.” She turns on her heel and leaves the room without another word. Despite being disappointed, she can’t blame Adora for staying behind. Picking Glimmer as an ally would serve her far better in the long run. She can respect that.

Even so, now she’s alone. She doesn’t really feel like going outside, but it would hurt her pride to simply put out the cigarette and go back to her room. Scorpia wasn’t an option either, she would judge her if she went back to her so soon.

“Please tell me you have another one of those.” She whirls around, nearly bumping into the boy who had spoken. “Sorry,” he says quickly, rubbing his neck with an awkward chuckle. “Guess that came out of nowhere.”

“No shit,” Catra mutters.

“I’m Bow. And I would just about die for one of those right now,” he continues. In a strange moment of kindness, Catra hands over the cigarette. Bow accepts it gratefully, taking a puff and blowing out the smoke to the side.

Catra watches him, slightly amused. “So… Bow. Is that your real name?”

“It’s my stage name. Because, like my dancing, I’m sturdy and yet ever so graceful.” He winks at Catra and hands back the cigarette. “What’s your stage name?”

“Don’t need one.” Catra places the cigarette back in her mouth and inhales, savoring the smoke before she blows it out. “I’m Catra.”

Bow grins. “An individual, I like it. You’re new?”

“What, is it written on my forehead or something?”

“Something like that. The returning students kind of all know each other, it’s a small class.”Catra nods at the response. A small class means more talent. So why the hell was she here? “Oh hey!” Bow exclaims, his face lighting up. “Come meet my roommates. I think you’ll get a kick out of them.”

She grimaces before she can stop herself. Meeting new people and making friends wasn’t too high on her list of priorities at the moment. Or, well, ever. “I was just going to head outside and smoke. Apparently it’s not allowed in the dorms.”

Bow scoffs and takes her arm, already dragging her towards the stairway. “Don’t worry about it. My roommates are cool. They don’t share their goods, but they’ll be fine if you bring your own.”

“Just like that?” She purses her lips and has to fight to stay coordinated with the way this Bow kid is dragging her. “No narcs?”

“No narcs.”

Not like Catra has much of a choice, but she figures that Scorpia would be proud of her if she reported back that she at least made an attempt at being social, so… why not?

—

When Bow opens the door to his room, he and Catra are greeted with a rather unusual sight. A Britney Spears song blasts full-volume from a laptop, one boy is doing a rather enthusiastic set of squats in a set of shorts that are way too tight for him, and another is hanging up anime posters, wearing earphones.

Bow’s cheeks flush as the two stand in the doorway, and he shoots Catra a look of apology. “I was hoping they’d be more normal, by now.”

Catra stares at the odd scenario before breaking into a grin. She can work with weird. “I can see why you went out for a stroll.” She means it in good jest. Actually, she much prefers whatever is going on here to the tension in her room. “Are you really hanging Naruto posters up right now?” she calls out to the boy wearing headphones.

He jumps at her accusation, taking out his earphones. “Uh… yeah?” he stammers, looking between her and Bow, clearly intimidated.

“Catra, this is Kyle.” Bow walks over to the laptop and hits pause on the music. “And this is— “

The exercise enthusiast quickly turns around, shooting a wink at Catra and leaning on the desk. “They call me Seahawk.”

Bow groans. “Not this again,” he mumbles under his breath before pinching his temple. “Sebastian. His name is Sebastian.”

“But I want to be called Sea Hawk.” He props up a leg on his bed, striking a pose. “For I am swift, and my dancing is known to intimidate my prey.”

Over in the corner, Kyle shakes his head. “I’m pretty sure that’s not what sea hawks do—” He doesn’t get far in his thoughts, for the alleged Sea Hawk dashes over and covers his mouth.

“Like I said,” he continues, a little out of breath. “Swift and intimidating.”

“Sea Hawk, huh?” Cigarettes forgotten, Catra enters the room and plops down on the desk chair, sitting on it backwards and leaning on top of the backrest. “I’ve heard worse.”

The boy, now known as Sea Hawk, sidles up to her. “Do you think it’s cool?”

“Oh, no. Definitely not cool.” Catra grins at his disappointed look, tilting her head to the side. “But it is memorable. So… what the hell, Sea Hawk it is.” Sea Hawk beams so hard he looks like he’s going to hurt himself, and Catra almost regrets giving him the compliment. So instead, the glances at Kyle. “What’s your deal?”

“Deal?” The smaller boy finally wrestles himself out of Sea Hawk’s grasp, fumbling a bit and stumbling backwards onto his bunk. “No deal. I don’t have a deal.”

It’s a wonder how someone so nervous and intimidated by her very presence ended up as a ballet dancer. Catra twirls a loose strand of hair around her finger, deciding to play with him a little bit. She likes having the upper hand. “Let me guess. You’re from a small town. Only ballet dancer in your area by miles. Somehow, you lucked out into attending one of the best schools in the country.”

Kyle flushes red, unable to meet her eyes. “Something like that.”

Bow, the peacemaker, offers him a life raft and takes over the conversation. “Kyle and I have been roommates for… what, three years now?” When Kyle nods, Bow turns back to Catra. “He may not look it, but Kyle is super light on his feet. Gives some of the girls a run for their money.”

Though she has no reason to doubt Bow, Catra still finds herself wary. The kid looks like he weighs no more than a hundred and fifty pounds, and that’s if she’s being generous. His arms are small, and she wonders how he’s able to hold up a dance partner; the last thing she needs is to be paired up with him.

To push the thoughts out of her head, she finds something to distract herself with on the desk. A few notebooks, Sea Hawk’s laptop… but her interest is piqued at the photograph taped up to the side. “Is that Rogelio Andrés?” Catra asks, scooting closer to get a better look.

Rogelio Andrés may be Bright Moon Ballet’s newest company member, but his performances have been talked about by many. Every year, Catra would scrape up enough money to attend Bright Moon’s student showcase, and Rogelio’s pieces always stood out. It was no question that he was offered a spot in the company after graduating from the academy.

“He’s a legend,” she muses to herself, backing away from the photo.

Kyle grins. “He’s my boyfriend.”

“Shut up,” Catra scoffs. There is no way that a guy like Rogelio would ever give a boy like Kyle the time of day. “I may not like men, but even I know that’s a load of crap.”

Off to the side, Bow snickers. “When are you gonna come off it, Kyle?”

“I’m not making it up!” Kyle’s face is red as can be, and he crosses his arms across his chest. “We’ve been dating for over a year.”

“It would appear hard to believe…” Sea Hark drawls. “You’ve never mentioned him before.”

“Because we like to keep things private. Everyone is always in everyone’s business here,” Kyle explains, moving away from Sea Hawk when the boy rests his head on his shoulder. “And technically company members aren’t allowed to date students. So we don’t talk about it.”

“Yeah, because it’s bullshit. You’re making it up,” Catra concludes.

“I don’t need to prove anything to you guys. Believe what you want,” Kyle sputters before sliding into his shoes. “I’m going out.”

Bow hides a giggle under his palm. “Don’t hurt yourself, buddy,” he calls after Kyle as he storms out. Once he’s gone, he shoots a wink at Catra. “He’s pretty fun to mess with.”

“Noted.”

“Bow, did you happen to catch a glimpse of my sweet Mermista while you were out?” With Kyle gone, Sea Hawk spreads out on his bed and makes himself comfortable. “It has been ages since I last saw her. My heart yearns for her presence.”

Catra chokes back a laugh. This guy can’t be serious. She’s about to call him out on the act, but upon closer look, Sea Hawk appears to be entirely committed.

“Haven’t seen her.” Bow nods to Catra. “Mermista is his on-again, off-again girlfriend.”

“Which is it now, off or on?” she asks.

Sea Hawk smiles sheepishly. “Off. We may have gotten into a little tiff in the tunnel of love at the amusement park last month, but no matter! I shall win her back posthaste.”

Posthaste? Who even says that anymore?

“Suddenly I see the need for a smoke,” Catra mutters. Still, she would take this over-the-top geek and the anime-loving compulsive liar over the princess back in her room. She messes a bit with her bangs before looking at Bow. “Say, you know anything about a girl named Sparkles?”

“Sparkles?” He cocks his head to the side, trying to figure out if he knows anyone by the name before he lights up and chuckles. “Do you mean Glimmer?”

“Sparkles, Glimmer, same difference.”

A flush appears on Bow’s cheeks, and instead of answering he gets up and starts rummaging under his bed. After a few moments, he pulls out a guitar. “We’re friends,” he says, playing nonchalant as he tunes the guitar.

There’s obviously more to the story, but Catra’s pushed enough buttons today, so she keeps from pressing further. “She’s my roommate,” she explains, messing with her fingers. “We didn’t exactly get off on the right foot.”

Bow nods thoughtfully, checking the strings to make sure they sound right before he proceeds to strum. “That doesn’t surprise me. Glimmer can rub some people the wrong way.” He bites his lip, stopping to play. “You just need to get to know her.”

It’s probably good advice, especially coming from someone who knows Glimmer personally. At the moment, however, Catra’s still licking her wounds, so she’ll let the Princess be the one to make amends. After all, it’s the least she can do.

They sit in a comfortable silence after. Bow plays on his guitar. Catra plays solitaire on her phone. Sea Hawk lights up a cigarette and they all share it. Even Catra has to admit, this isn’t too bad. She can get used to this.

—

After Catra left, there was a quiet, awkward tension in the room as Adora and Glimmer proceeded to unpack. Every attempt that Adora made at conversation, Glimmer politely shut down. After a while, she stopped trying, getting the hint that Glimmer needs some time to herself. For the most part, Adora regrets not going with Catra. It’s been an hour and she hasn’t returned, and she can only imagine what kind of things she’s getting up to. Anything is better than dealing with this uncomfortable silence.

Once Adora finishes unpacking, she climbs on her bed and debates how to spend the rest of her day. Exploring the school is an option. Better yet, she can take her class schedule and map out the perfect route to all of her classes, ensuring that she’ll be early to each one. Yeah, that doesn’t sound so bad.

In the middle of making these plans, her stomach growls. A quick glance at her clock tells her that it’s lunchtime; with all the excitement of moving in and the little confrontation between Catra and Glimmer, lunch was the last thing on her mind. She longingly thinks back to the muffin she’d eaten that morning and had been too nervous to finish. Stupid nerves.

She quickly glances over to Glimmer, who throws the last couple of things in her dresser before zipping up her suitcase. One more attempt couldn’t hurt, right? If the three of them are going to be roommates, they may as well be on good terms.

“I think I’m going to get some lunch,” Adora says, getting off her bed and stretching a bit. “Do you want anything?”

Glimmer looks at her, eyes wide, almost as if she’d forgotten that Adora was there. She looks as if she’s about to say something, but before she can, her stomach growls. The two laugh a bit, and Glimmer rubs the back of her neck. “Lunch actually sounds pretty good right now. Would it be okay if I joined you?”

“Not at all. It’d probably be easier if you direct me to the cafeteria anyway,” Adora notes, grabbing her student ID and sliding into her sneakers.

“Yeah, trust me, you do not want to get lost here.” Glimmer follows suit and exits first, holding the door open for Adora to follow. “I guess it’s not as big a deal today, but when classes start, being late is a huge no-no.”

“Good to know.” As Glimmer leads the way to the cafeteria, Adora notes to herself to go on that mapping-plan as soon as lunch is over.

They walk in silence for a few minutes, navigating the halls and narrowly avoiding students carrying their bags and various belongings. On the whole, it seems like most people have been at the school for a while; new students seem few and far between.

“Are you and Catra close?” Glimmer asks once they’ve made it past most of the chaos.

“We just met.” Though it certainly felt like they’d known each other for longer. There was something about her that Adora just couldn’t explain, but they’d clicked within minutes. “But she seems pretty cool.”

Glimmer sighs, sticking her hands in her pockets. “I’m sorry, about earlier. I didn’t mean to piss Catra off, and I really didn’t mean to come off so… uptight, I guess.” She pauses, blowing some hair out of her eyes. “It’s just that my parents own the school. If they suddenly walked in and my room smelled like cigarettes…” she trails off, biting her lip.

As Adora mulls it over, the worse she realizes the situation could have been. “No, yeah, that’s understandable,” she says. “I think she was just taken aback, is all.”

“No, she was rude,” Glimmer huffs before shaking her head and taking a deep breath. “It’s fine, I’ll get over it. I just don’t want us to be fighting all year.” She glances sideways at Adora. “Truce?”

Adora nods, resting a hand on Glimmer’s shoulder. “Truce. I’ll talk to Catra, get her to come around. I’m sure we’ll all be friends in no time.”

“Friends, right.” Something in her expression leads Adora to believe that she seriously doubts that, but she plays it cool and doesn’t press her on it. They arrive at the cafeteria, and for the most part, it’s pretty relaxed. Most people must still be in their dorms, unpacking.

Adora’s eyes immediately gravitate to the several dining options available, but because Glimmer heads towards the salad bar, she follows her. Better to stick to the status quo, at least for today. Maybe she can make some more adventurous choices for dinner.

Still, as she loads up her plate with mixed greens, she can’t help but think of the chicken Mara had been marinating last night for this evening’s dinner. Maybe she could sneak back home? No. No, that was ridiculous. Adora belongs to Bright Moon now, and Bright Moon dancers eat salad, apparently. Most of the other girls seem to be eating various forms of the same green meal, so she sucks it up and attempts to load her plate.

By the time she’s finished and has paid with her student ID, her plate holds twice the amount as Glimmer’s. Glimmer glances over at her plate, almost with a look of longing, but she says nothing as she scours for the perfect place to sit. “I think I see some of my friends over there,” she notes, waving to a group of girls sitting at a table by a window. “Do you mind if we sit with them?”

Adora shrugs. Meeting more people is good. Meeting the competition is even better. “Sure. Makes no difference to me.”

“Great.” They head over to the table. The closer they get, the more at-ease Glimmer appears to be. Her shoulders relax and her steps grow slower. By the time they reach the table, she seems like a completely different person.

“This is one of my roommates,” Glimmer introduces, gesturing to Adora before sitting next to a blonde girl.

“Adora.”

The blonde speaks first, offering Adora a kind smile. “I’m Perfuma. Are you new this year?”

“Guess it’s kind of obvious.” Adora takes a seat at the end of the table, on the other side of the blonde.

There’s two other girls, but they don't seem nearly as interested in Adora’s introduction. One has earphones in, only half paying attention to the conversation. When Perfuma kicks her, she groans and presses pause on her phone, reluctantly taking out a headphone. “It was just getting to the good part.”

Perfuma clears her throat, a tight smile appearing on her face. “Your murder mystery podcast can wait. We have company.”

Podcast girl glances at Adora. “I’m Mermista. Welcome to Bright Moon, or whatever.”

Mermista is a fitting name; part of Adora wonders if it’s a stage name. Her hair is a dusty turquoise color, almost as if she really were a mermaid. It’s on the tip of her tongue to ask about it, but judging by her short temper, Adora figures it’s probably best saved for another time.

“And I’m Frosta.”

Adora glances at the girl sitting next to Mermista, balking a bit. She’s a kid. “You go here?” she asks, her eyes wide. “You can’t be more than ten.”

Frosta narrows her eyes. “I’m eleven and three quarters.”

A course of laughter rings around the table. Glimmer shakes her head, resting her chin in her palm. “Frosta’s a prodigy. She’s part of the youth program.”

“But she talks like a sailor and can dance around us anyday, so we think she’s cool,” Mermista adds, nudging Frosta’s shoulder. This earns her a grin from the little girl, before she turns her gaze back on Adora with a smug expression.

“Problem?”

Adora holds her hands up in apology. “Sorry, my bad. I’m still trying to get my footing around here,” she mumbles, digging her fork into her salad.

Someone rests a hand on her shoulder— it’s Perfuma. “Did you get settled in okay? The first day can be kind of… a challenge.”

“And that’s without classes,” Glimmer agrees.

“Yeah, it’s been a lot. But I’m sure it’ll be better once I get into a routine.”

Mermista scoffs, dashing Adora’s hopes. “Don’t think that a routine will solve everything. Things are crazy at this school.”

“Mermista,” Perfuma chides, but the blue-haired girl just shrugs.

“Just being honest.” She glances down when her phone chimes, scowling immediately. She stuffs it in her pocket before tossing her braid behind her back. “I’m going to block his number, I swear.”

Glimmer raises a brow. “Sea Hawk again? I thought you guys were back on at the end of the year.”

“Yeah, we’re off again. For good this time.” As soon as she says it, a chorus of snickers rings out around the table, and Mermista slams her hands down to emphasize her point. “I mean it this time. We’re through.”

“That’s what you always say,” Frosta says before rolling her eyes.

“Sea Hawk is Mermista’s boy— sorry, ex-boyfriend,” Glimmer tells Adora once she sees her confused expression. “Give them like ten minutes, you’ll be as sick as the rest of us.”

As they continue to argue over Mermista’s dating situation, Adora busies herself with her salad. Her mind spins, and she can’t help the overwhelmed sensation building in her throat. It’s a little all too much. New school, new room, new people… she knew it would happen, but she thought she��d be introduced to them all a little slower.

Adora thinks about Catra, for a moment. It was easy, meeting her. Maybe it’s because Catra’s new too, but everything felt a little better when she was talking to her. Like she understood her, or something. Here, among all the girls who already knew everything, it’s a little too easy to let it get to her head. “Hey, you okay?” Adora looks up from her salad, only to find the table staring at her.

She chokes down her bite of salad, laughing nervously. “Yeah, I’m fine. Perfuma was right, the first day is just kind of a lot.”

“It’ll be better once you start dancing,” Frosta pipes up. She spears a piece of baby corn onto her fork, waving it around as she talks. “When you start to wipe the floor with people, you’ll feel better.”

Adora can’t help but laugh at the thought. If anyone is going to be wiping the floor tomorrow, it’ll be Catra. For some reason, the thought puts a smile on her face.

—

Catra doesn’t return to her dorm until long after dinner. She ended up tagging along with Bow and Sea Hawk on a McDonalds run, where they bought far too many french fries and returned to the dorm to watch that night’s episode of Grey’s Anatomy because Bow insisted he could not miss it.

All in all, it wasn’t the worst day she’s ever had. Spending time with Bow and Sea Hawk took the bitter taste out of her mouth, and Catra finds herself looking forward to classes the next day.

She fully expects Adora and Glimmer to be asleep by the time she unlocks the door. As soon as she opens it, however, she finds them sitting on the floor, waiting for her.

“Hey! You’re back,” Adora greets with a smile. “We were getting worried.”

Catra nearly snaps at her, a jerk reaction, but she catches herself right before she says it. “Thanks for the concern. I’m fine, I was just… out.”

“Did you eat? We brought back brownies from the cafeteria.” That explains the smell. For some odd reason, Catra is one of the few people in the world who detests chocolate. It’s too sweet, almost cloying. Whenever she eats it, she gets a headache. Probably explains why she’s so bitter.

“I ate already. But… thanks.” It’s the least she can say, considering the effort. She’s sure that it’s all thanks to Adora. Glimmer would probably rather she choke.

Catra keeps her back turned as she changes into her pajamas and lets her hair down. There’s an uncomfortable silence in the room, clearly brought on by her presence. For the most part, she ignores it. After years of practice, she’s grown rather good at it.

At some point, while she’s brushing her teeth in the ensuite, she hears Adora and Glimmer whisper. Glimmer yelps in pain, before she hisses something back to Adora. When she enters again, Adora has her arms crossed and Glimmer appears apologetic. “I’m sorry, if I was… too harsh earlier,” Glimmer says reluctantly. Catra finds her apology amusing. Her face is nearly as pink as her hair, and it’s clear that she’d rather be anywhere else but apologizing to her. “Next time I’ll be more considerate.”

She pauses, as if waiting for Catra to apologize in return, but Catra offers nothing of the sort. Instead she just grins. “Good. So, can I smoke in here?”

“No! Are you insane?” Adora rests a hand on her shoulder, keeping her from continuing. Instead, she takes a deep breath. “Look, we don’t have to be friends, but we do have to live together. So can we at least, I don’t know, be civil?”

Instead of replying to Glimmer, Catra glances at Adora. “This your doing?”

Adora scoffs. “No.” When Catra’s look doesn’t waver, she pouts. “Maybe. But she’s right. It’s a new year, and I don’t want to start it with roommates fighting. If Glimmer agrees to chill a little bit, do you think you could ease up on the teasing?”

She’s about to say no, but there’s something about Adora that makes Catra’s words lodge in her throat. It’s that damn pout. No matter how hard she shakes it, it’s just too damn cute.

Catra sighs. “Fine. Truce.”

Adora’s look of utter relief almost makes the agreement worth it. Almost. She climbs up onto her bed, taking her phone with her. Bow’s sent her a text, wishing her a good night’s sleep before tomorrow. Right, classes start tomorrow. Her roommate problems may be dealt with, but classes introduce a whole slew of new ones.

Catra rolls over to her side, letting out a shaky breath. She’s earned her place here. Or so she tries to tell herself. Tomorrow, she’ll find out for certain.

#spop #she ra and the princesses of power #she ra #catradora #catra #adora #ariel's writing #ballet au #center stage

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insphoeration · 4 years

Text

Cool as Ice

Fandom: ATEEZ ATINY

Pairing: Prince!Yunho x NonRoyal!reader

Summary: Someone catches the eye of the future king and it isn’t his future queen. [Fluff but some angst because it mentions death as something more desirable than something] Part 1 here

Warnings: This part contains offensive language (more than normal) which may be disturbing to some parties

Word count: 1.7k

You couldn’t blame her for worrying, Yunho cared for you last time as well and everything still went to shit. Jihyo never really mentioned his private life in her letters, just that he took the throne without a bride. He didn’t seem lonely, or maybe he was and no one noticed. But countless people tried setting him up and he would turn every single one of them down. He didn’t want anyone else by his side. Would it be simpler now that he was a king instead of a prince? Could things be different? But most importantly, did you love Yunho enough to risk getting your heart broken again?

Yunho went to the feast with good spirits, he didn’t like that the sleazy count was going to be in the same room as you but he would have to deal with that for the sake of not starting a war with the northern kingdom. Above that, he didn’t like that he couldn’t talk to you privately after he found out you and Seonghwa weren’t actually together. He spent ten minutes in the mirror, adjusting his tie, trying to figure out what he would say to you. If it were up to him, he would marry you on the spot but according to Hongjoong and Seonghwa, you’ve grown and Yunho doesn’t want to hold you back.

He smiled when he pictured you working in the stables, spending time with the animals, or hanging out in the kitchen, learning to cook from the chef. He pictured you during the time you tried to make something for Hongjoong for his birthday but failed miserably and ended up with cake ingredients all over you. He wish he was there to see it, but even more he wished he was there to support you. He sighed, straightening his tie once more, once the count was gone he would pull you aside and talk to you like an adult, an adult who really hoped you liked him back.

The dining area was decorated extravagantly, to woo those who came from the northern kingdom. You took deep breaths remembering Yunho claiming you were his guest, that meant you didn’t have to sit with the count right? You let Jihyo go in first, saying you were going to take a moment. She eyed you suspiciously at first before someone walked up beside you. Yunho held his arm out,

“So sorry for being late m’lady.” You couldn’t help yourself from smiling back at his smile. You placed your hand on his arm, immediately relaxing on contact, Yunho wouldn’t let anything happen to you, right?

Yunho walked in with a grin on his face, knowing he had the most beautiful woman in the world on his arm. He pulled your chair out for you, not caring if that was a servants job, and sat down to your right. Although he was supposed to be seducing the ambassadors from the northern kingdom, he couldn’t peel his attention away from you. Every time you said something, he would smile and every time you laughed, he would smile even wider, it didn’t help that there was copious amounts of wine at dinner on top of the wine he drank with the boys earlier.

The count eyed the blush on Yunho’s cheek, knowing that it was more likely you than the wine that was causing it. He put down the cup he was about to take a sip of, not able to hold himself back.

“Congratulations your highnesses,” He said raising a cup to Jihyo and Mingi. “His royal highness told me about your upcoming nuptials.”

“Thank you.” Jihyo smiled brightly, despite the counts tone putting her off.

“Although,” he placed his cup back down and faced you and Yunho. “If I didn’t know any better, I would think it was the two of you getting married.” The comment made you shy but not having the same affect as it would have coming from anyone else. “Tell me, are you two…?”

“Uh, no,” Yunho said, clearing his throat. “We’re, um, close friends.” He hissed almost as if warning the count to back off.

“No I didn’t think so.” The count laughed. “Silly me, I forgot court ladies mean nothing to someone like the king, although I didn’t think you’d bring one of your mistresses to a dinner where you’re supposed to be impressing us.” The nobles from the northern kingdom chuckled amongst themselves, while Yunho’s people went dead silent, Hongjoong even choking on his drink.

“Excuse me?” You sneered. Mingi placed his hand on Jihyo’s to keep her from bending her fork in half.

“That’s right! You’re not even a lady of the court anymore, you’ve left the court isn’t that right? You’re nothing more than a common whore.”

“Count!” Yunho said, through gritted teeth, clenching his fists. “That is no way to speak to a lady.” He warned.

“My apologies.” The count smirked.

The rest of dinner was tense and quiet. The count had moved on like nothing happened but the only thing stopping Yunho from jumping across the table and beating him to death was your hand in his under the table. Everyone had looked at you for confirmation at some point but all you did was shake your head, one douche was not worth raising tensions with the northern kingdom even more. Eventually, holding your hand wasn’t enough to calm him and he intertwined your fingers with his. All he wanted to do was kick the count to the curb and hold you in his arms.

“Your majesty,” the count called, gaining his and everyone else's attention at the table. “I would like to thank you, for our stay here has truly been lovely.”

“The pleasure is all mine.” Yunho nodded with a fake smile. “Soon I’ll send our ambassadors to the north, and through your hospitality maybe we can see the good faith between our kingdoms.”

“Yes, of course! Anytime, in fact we would love to have Lady Y/N join us in the north.” He grinned at you.

“Unfortunately, that won’t be possible as lady Y/N is not part of the political side of court.” Yunho was back to talking through gritted teeth, in fact, if he tightened his jaw anymore there might have been a risk of dislocation.

“I know.” The count said simply. “I didn’t mean she would be coming for political reasons. Although she would definitely be considered when making a peace treaty, that is, depending on how peaceful she is” The count’s eyes roamed the parts of your body he could see, imagining the parts he could not.

“Viscount! I hope you do not mean-” Jihyo was shocked when the count merely raised his hand to shush her, a queen.

“You want peace. I want the girl. It’s a simple trade, besides what’s another whor-”

Yunho slammed his fist against the table. “That’s enough!” He yelled, demanding silence among the room. “Guards, take him to the dungeons, I want him executed tomorrow. The rest of you can get out.” He said like it was nothing. Guards came forward, lifting the count out of his chair. He looked around shocked.

“You can’t do this, you idiot, you’ll start a war!” He roared. Yunho scoffed, shocked that the count thought he could get away with his behaviour. The rest of the guards came to escort the remaining nobles out.

“I trust that the rest of misogynistic assholes can pass along what happened? Or should I have you wait until tomorrow and send you back with the count’s head to make sure your king really understands?” The guys looked at him in shock, never thinking these words would come close to coming out of Yunho’s mouth. “On second thought, take them all to the dungeons, I’ll figure out what to do with them later.” He snapped, before walking out. The guards dragged the men out of the room leaving only you and your friends.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen him like that.” Mingi said, rubbing the goosebumps on his arm. You stood up, tossing your napkin on the table, turning to find Yunho.

You intended to check his room first but you heard crashes coming from the king’s chambers, you kept forgetting he wasn’t merely a prince anymore. You pushed the door open gently, Yunho was leaned over a chair breathing heavily, nearly everything in the room was tossed around, trunks were overturned, pictures were ripped and the mirror was nearly shattered completely.

“Yunho…” You said softly. “What have you done?” He looked up, his expression changing into something you were not familiar with. He was in front of you in a few long strides, and his lips were on yours even quicker. He was strong, his kiss was strong, filled with so many emotions. After a few seconds he relaxed, letting himself enjoy the feeling of your lips against his, and you in his arms. “You idiot.” You said breathlessly. He nuzzled his forehead against yours.

“You’re right, I’ve been such an idiot. The stupidest thing I’ve ever done was not fight for you. I won’t make that mistake anymore.” He whispered, kissing your lips again. You wanted to say what you had to but you didn’t have the resolve to push him away.

“That’s not what I meant but I’m not going to argue.” You giggled, making him smile. He kissed you again, it was like he couldn’t get enough of you. “You’re going to start a war-”

“Be mine?” He breathed. “I’m in love with you and I want you by my side- no, I need you by my side for the rest of my life. Stay here. Stay with me and be my queen? For I would start a thousand wars for you. What do you say?” He asked hopefully.

“I want to say yes, I wanted to say yes a year ago but the count is right, since I left court I’m nothing but a commoner now.” You sighed, staring to drop your hands from Yunho’s neck.

“Fuck that guy.” He said, pulling you closer, tighter in his arms. “What the kind says goes, and I am never letting you go.”

“I can’t offer you land or riches,” you say, unable to hide your smile.

“The only thing I need from you is to forgive me for being so stupid last year. And a lot of kisses.” He said making you giggle.

“Are you really going to have the count executed?” You asked. He hummed to himself, thinking for a moment.

“Light torture?” He offered.

“Yunho!” You smacked his shoulder.

“The fate of the count will be decided by the queen.” He grinned, swooping down and catching your lips in his once more.

THE END

#ateez drabbles #ateez fluff #ateez reactions #ateez imagines #ateez scenarios #jeong yunho imagine #jeong yunho fluff #jeong yunho fan fic #jeong yunho fic #ateez prince au

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partykeet · 4 years

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Tag Game!

Tag 10 blogs you want to get to know better!!

Thanks for the tag @cool-ninja-sharpshooter!

I ain’t got 10, but I’d like to tag: @quackspot @kittymewmyu @kunaigirl @king-nala @mind-if-i-scream @homeofhousechickens Of course, you don’t have to if you don’t want to. ^^

Name: Rin

Gender/pronouns: Nonbinary - They/Them

Sexuality: Demi-pansexual

Height: 5'0 TT_TT

Favorite animal: Birds! All of them! But especially Pigeons, Cockatiels, and Parakeets/Budgies

Average hours of sleep: Lol, I had to go to my FitBit app for this one. Looks like it’s 8-9 hours.

Current time: 1:14pm.

Cats or dogs: Definitely a dog person. I’ve had dogs all my life up until recently. It’s much harder with one being in an apartment with conflicting schedules with the people who can take it out and feed it. After giving my previous dog all the love I can give until she passed and I gave myself time to grieve, I have a Pigeon now. He’s a much simpler little dude.

Dream job: Uuhhhhhhhhhhhhh......

When i made this blog: Oh god, I don’t remember. Back in 2016? I had a blog before this one, but I kept getting viruses on the thing. That was back in 2012, I think.

Why i made this blog: Like I said, my past one died, skipped a couple years, then revived my horrible self on a new one. I don’t remember the exact reason, but Tumblr’s a safe space for me and I wanted to be back. Despite what people say, it’s incredibly easy to stay away from the toxicity and just be my own person here. Twitter and Facebook, not so much. There’s also like-minded people here in regards to the fandoms I like and it’s nice seeing other nerds out and about.

Reason for url: Haha, long story short, back in 2015, my camp counselor name was Parakeet. I came down a trail to a firepit where some students were at and I had a bunch of glowstick stuff on me and a flashlight with a strobe effect on and one of the kids yells “Yeeahh, go Partykeet!” and it’s stuck with me ever since. Of all the improvisions of that name that week, that was my absolute favorite!

#Yay I love these things!#thanks for the tag!#tag game

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thisselflovecamebacktome · 3 years

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Dancing With The Devil…The Art of Starting Over first listen thoughts:

General album thoughts:

As a whole I enjoyed this album. In fact, there were aspects, most notably the collaborations, that I enjoyed far more than I expected to. It was definitely different sonically than I was expected it to be with mixed results. I do also wish that Still Have Me, Commander In Chief and I Love Me made it onto the album, even as deluxe tracks. As it stands, I think I’d place it 3rd in my subjective Demi Lovato album rankings behind Tell Me You Love Me and DEMI, and 2nd behind Tell Me You Love Me for a more objectively better put together album. In saying that, I could definitely see that changing as I have more time with these songs.

Individual song thoughts:

Anyone: I’m going to be honest, I feel like I have not liked this song as much as the rest of the fandom from day one. Not to say it’s a bad song, but I just have not fallen in love with it like the fandom seemed to and like I have with other songs. In saying that, I’ve found it has somewhat grown on me, especially when I’m in the right (or wrong I guess seeing as I have to relate to it) mood. Today is not one of those days. I will however say that I think it was the right choice for the opening track, especially with how well it contrasts the closing track Good Place.

Dancing With The Devil: It’s kinda funny, I love the production to the album version of this song better than the live one but there’s something about the way Demi sings the live version that makes it flow better in my opinion. Like especially the “but I was lying” lyrics. I don’t know if that makes sense, but yeah, hopefully one day we get the best of both worlds. Either way this is definitely a top half track for me and I think it’s probably my favourite vocal performance on the album at this point.

ICU (Madison’s Lullaby): I thought I was going to cry on my first listen when I first found out this was going to be a track. I barely did not, but it was very close. Honestly, I don’t know how often if at all that I will listen to this song because it reminds me of my estranged sister and is just generally painful. But, in saying that, I think it’s potentially the most important track on this album and I can completely understand if it becomes a fan favourite because it is a fundamental Demi song.

Intro: I’m gonna be honest, I feel like this was a bit unnecessary. Like I get that it’s meant to be the breaking point/clear indication of where her ‘old life’ ended and ‘new life’ began but yeah, it just feels like it repeats ICU and The Art Of Starting Over.

The Art Of Starting Over: This is one of the tracks I didn’t love as much as I expected to. It has a good meaning behind it and like in theory I should love it, but sonically it isn’t my favourite and lyrically I guess I just expected more.

Lonely People: This is another track I’m not really feeling at the moment. To be honest, lyrically it just sounds like an edgy teenage song up until the outro and sonically it’s just not my thing.

The Way You Don’t Look At Me: The fact Julia Michaels worked on this song should surprise no one. It is very Julia Michaels. Thematically it kinda reminds me of Tolerate It by Taylor Swift. I can thankfully say that while this is something I’ve related to in the past, I no longer do, but that past experience has definitely made it one of my favourites on the album at this point.

Melon Cake: This song is one I feel will grow on me. Like I wasn’t immediately drawn to it but it has sonic aspects that I liked and could see growing even more on me and lyrically it’s relatable. So yeah, I guess we’ll see how it goes but don’t be surprised if you see this jumping up my song rankings in the next few weeks.

Met Him Last Night: When I heard we were getting an Ariana collaboration, I was kinda nervous. It would have been so easy to place Demi and Ariana on a pop track and tried to make it a number one hit when both their voices are more suited to this kind of sound. So I’m glad they went the direction they did. Though I’m not a big Ariana fan, and realistically think that collaborations usually take away more than they add, this one really works. Vocally, Demi and Ariana support each other really well and I love its production. It is currently my favourite collaboration and one of my favourite overall tracks of the album.

What Other People Say: This is another track which is good, but I feel like I’d enjoy more if I related to it more. I mean I can definitely relate to the idea of not being who I wanted/thought I’d be as a kid, but honestly? For me that’s more to do with societal things outside of my control (the economy, job market, my family falling apart, mental healthy etc) not because of other people’s opinions. If anything, I feel like I care far less what people think of me now than when I was younger. So yeah, there’s a bit of a disconnect on that front, but like I said, it’s a decent enough song nonetheless and I probably wouldn’t skip it if it came on shuffle.

Carefully: This is definitely a top track for me. There’s nothing in particular that makes it that way, I just love the production, Demi’s vocals and the lyrics and think they go really well together. It’s also super relatable.

The Kind Of Lover I Am: Again, I am unsurprised Julia Michaels worked on this. This is a track that I could either see growing on me or getting old very easily with no in between. Like it feels similar to Melon Cake in that the production feels it could grow on me but lyrically it’s not my favourite and I really am not feeling the outro voice audio at this point. It is nice to get an explicitly queer song though.

Easy: This is another collaboration that worked better than I was expecting. Lyrically, I feel like this was one of the simpler songs, but it really works not just for the production and vocals, but given the song is about something seeming easy when in reality, there’s so many pieces that makes it harder/bigger than it actually is. It is also really relatable and I can see myself listening to it for years to come.

15 Minutes: This song encompasses the meaning of an ‘okay’ track. Like it’s not the worst thing I’ve ever heard and the general meaning is relatable, but I just don’t really see myself going back to it and honestly? I think it’s by far the weakest track of the album. And maybe that’s somewhat the point, to acknowledge someone, but not give them the energy they crave past that. Either way, it’s personally not for me.

My Girlfriends Are Boyfriends: This is probably my least favourite of the collaborations, but that doesn’t make it a bad song. It feels very 2000s throwback to me and I could see myself listening to it when I’m in the mood, but I’ll have to be in the mood. One of my first thoughts was I do hope that Little Mix covers it at some point though because it feels very much their style and I’d love to hear the differences.

California Sober: To be honest, I had the feeling when this song was announced that it wasn’t going to be a favourite, and it isn’t. The verses and bridge are good lyrically, but production wise and chorus I just found myself bored if I’m honest.

Mad World: I wasn’t expecting this to be a cover, even when I saw this title in the tracklist. I find it interesting that Demi placed it here and not earlier in the album. Either way, as per usual, Demi vocally slayed it.

Butterfly: This song is another track that I feel is good and cute but I think I will truly love when I relate to it. Though I was expecting a song about her father in the album and perhaps some talk about the ways she is alike to him, this is definitely a lot simpler/happier/at peace than I was expecting. And obviously that’s a good thing and feels very right coming after Father. But yeah, like I said, I am definitely not at that point myself and don’t feel like I will fully appreciate this song until I am.

Good Place: As I said, this song is such a good contrast for Anyone and works extremely well as a closer for the standard version of the album. It is very relatable and honestly a vibe. Again, there’s not one particular part of this song that stands out to me, the production, lyrics and vocals all just work together really nicely.

I’m Sorry: I haven’t listened to the deluxe album yet so I can’t talk about Change You yet, but I did hear I’m Sorry when it leaked a few months back. Personally it’s one of my favourites of the unreleased Demi tracks I’ve heard and while I no longer relate to it in a way I have in the past, I’m really glad it made it onto an album because I could see it helping a lot of people getting out of toxic relationships of all kinds.

#demi lovato #Dancing With The Devil…The Art of Starting Over #dancing with the devil the art of starting over

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