#trusts her crew where she can’t and it’s a small ship and it’s a small crew and it’s just enough to be able to handle without getting

[trollbreak]

Ok horns brain cancelled I’m thinking abt millen and resile and their alternate ways to deal with the stress that comes with the certainty that they’re staring their mortality in the face and ending their days to hold onto each other because they’re a remnant of home and-

#resile distracts himself. always. and sometimes he’s overly careless with his own well being #and millen tries to plan and plan again and go over the details where he can and #holds them gently #also overanalyzes them but. it’s a lot of topic revolving around death so I’m just gonna sit on it for the time being Bc. idk if that’s a #bit too grim rn. but. thinks about them so much #thinks abt how they grew up together and their matron kept resile tucked away in the caverns and he and millen would look out at the stars #sometimes and resile would get so excited that millen had to get excited too and she didn’t even think twice about it until he said that he #was going to join the fleet and their little bubble that had lived in that room where resile was just as jade as anyone else living there #came crashing down and she was panicking by the time he left and he wasn’t going to do anything yet but she didn’t know what to do for a lon #time and it was an impulse decision to stow away on a smuggler’s ship anf it was pure fucking luck that they got away with it and the troll #heard them out and laughed and sent them off to another ship because the captain there seemed determined enough to make sure folks would be #as prepared as they could be and when millen found out that nearly the entire crew had been fleet he panicked and a couple folks got scars #out of it but things got settled down easy enough and now when millen stresses they pace the ship looking for flaws and they run through #routines and they check in on the crew and it’s the details that can be ones undoing so he focuses on the details where he can and she #trusts her crew where she can’t and it’s a small ship and it’s a small crew and it’s just enough to be able to handle without getting #overwhelmed and resile has reached the point where it’s simply just easier to let the universe carry him more than not so he’s more than #happy to (mostly) just do what he’s told and ignore the why because that’s for somebody else to figure out and #millen fisvet #resile argent #gnaws on them like rock candy

[yourheart-inmyhands]

Hey so I have a kinda weird request, you have the right to ignore this of course.

How would Beidou, Yae Miko and Jean react to object of their love would say that they see them like their older sister (basicaly friend-zoneing them)

hi hi! sorry it took me so long to get to this, it took me a bit of sitting on it to get a good response formulated! sorry for the wait :3

Warnings: this post contains yandere-themes, including kidnapping, love potions/drugging, mentions of conditioning/brainwashing, mentions of Stockholm syndrome, and other potential topics. Please read at your own risk!

Beidou:

She’s understandably crushed by this, while she encourages the members of her crew to behave like family and considers them as much, she wants you to see her as more. She’s already an older sister figure to others, she wants to finally mean something more to someone.

Beidou takes a few days to collect her thoughts, skilly avoiding you and holing up in her quarters on the Crux as she contemplates her next course of action. She might be crazy and reckless sometimes, her history can speak to that, she isn’t one to rush in without a plan.

She emerges with a new confidence, her usual swagger in her step as she confronts you once more. She tells you that she wants to take you on a trip and to pack your bags, enough for a few weeks. And no, you can’t decline.

“C’mon Doll, go get packing, an adventure awaits us.” A chuckle follows her words, her hands waving you off in the direction of your home. She follows behind you, helping you gather your things and carry them back to the Crux.

Beidou doesn’t tell you where she’s planning to take you, and the crew’s lips are equally as sealed, but the sudden shine in her eyes, the extra bit of stretch to her grin, and the way she can’t seem to keep away from you, all tell you that it’s certainly going to be something interesting.

Beidou decides to take you on a fairly long goose chase. While she claims you’re headed in the direction of one nation, you’re actually headed in the other. It takes a long while before you notice that you don’t really ever seem to reach a destination, just stopping in at small harbors and cities to restock food and supplies before setting off again. 

Her plan was essentially to trap you on the ship with her, have you sleep in the captain’s quarters with her, and spend every moment you physically could with her. She wanted you to become reliant on her presence, to want her around the same way she wanted you around.

It’s a fairly shaky plan that relies mostly on you developing some form of Stockholm syndrome, but she’s insistent it will work. It has to. She needs you.

Yae Miko:

While she can understand where you’re coming from, it also frustrates her greatly. Of course, she’s very good at not letting it show, but she didn’t spend all this time doting on you and loving you like no other just to be seen as a sister.

She doesn’t let the sudden news interrupt your relationship though, if anything she’s just more insistent in the little ways she loves on you. A hand on the small of your back when you two walk together, tucking stray strands of hair behind your ear for you, the little things. Little things that she wants to make your heart flutter like how you make hers soar.

The longer it takes to win you over the more frustrated she gets, her centuries alive could not grant her enough patience to put up with this. But she remains cordial, acting as if everything is ok and normal. Until she can’t keep up the act. 

“Just hold still darling, it hurts less that way.” Yae smiles as she watches you struggle against your rope bindings, she knows they aren’t comfortable and don’t feel the greatest, that the rough rope bruises and chaffs your skin, but it would have to do for now. She can’t trust you to be free just yet, after all, you haven’t proven your love and devotion to her.

Yae jumps into the drastic route of kidnapping, keeping you confined in a place that only she and a select few others are aware of. She’s with you all day every day for the first week or so and after that, the hours vary. She does still have duties to uphold at the Grand Sakura Shrine after all.

When she’s with you though, it’s time spent conditioning you into new behaviors and mindsets, making you dependent on her and her love to even function. If you cannot open your eyes and see that you do love her, then she supposes she’ll just have to show you herself.

When she’s not with you, you’re given some freedom to explore the strange area, but nothing too grand. You’re kept confined to a room, a door the only break in the walls, with basic decorations and furniture. Yae didn’t spend too much time decorating, she didn’t want you getting too attached to this place, after all, she plans to take you back home someday.

Jean:

Jean is possibly the most understanding about all of this. Not only is she already an older sister, but she’s also a leader and considered like family to a lot of Mondstat. This isn’t to say she’s not upset by this though, it hurts her deeply.

Deeply enough that she spends a few days burrowed in her office, drowning her aching heart out in mountains of paperwork. Eventually, Lisa lures her out with the promise of helping to change your mind, which Jean is hesitant to do.

She respects your decision and your choices, but she simply can’t imagine life without you. So it’s no surprise that she does accept Lisa’s help, who in turn recruits Albedo.

It doesn’t take long for Lisa and Albedo to come to a solution. Between their combined knowledge and power, creating a love potion was simple. Unorthodox sure, but Lisa was confident it would work, nobody would even know. Albedo was in it merely to see how one responds to being under its effects.

Jean is hesitant to give it to you, her hands turning the bottle over and over in her hands as she considers whether or not she wants to do it. There’s a small part of her that feels guilty about it, about taking such a large part of who you are from you, but the large part of her is dying to hold you in her arms, to leave kisses all over your face, to properly call you hers.

It’s almost startling how easily she finds herself giving it to you, inviting you over for some tea to apologize for her absence and her reaction to your rejection. Everything about it feels so normal, what reason would you have to believe your drink has been spiked.

When you take the first sip and it tastes funny should’ve been the first sign something was wrong, but at Jean’s insistence that she was sure she had made it right, you settle for taking another sip, eventually finishing your whole cup. A smile graced Jean’s face when she saw you set the empty cup down.

It didn’t take long for the effects to set in, after all, you’d consumed quite a bit. Seeing you looking at her like she put the stars in the sky like she was the greatest person you’d ever met, melted all of Jean’s doubts. Screw feeling guilty, Jean was happy you finally loved her back.

#genshin x reader #genshin x male reader #yandere genshin x reader #yandere genshin x male reader #beidou x reader #yandere beidou x reader #yae miko x reader #yandere yae miko x reader #jean x reader #yandere jean x reader #beidou x male reader #yandere beidou x male reader #yae miko x male reader #jean x male reader #yandere jean x male reader #genshin yandere #yandere genshin #yandere beidou #yandere yae miko #yandere jean

[imwatchingonepiecern]

Trafalgar water d. law x reader >:3

Summary- You’ve been waiting months to see your boyfriend and once your reunited your feeling up to doing something impulsive. this leads to some spicy time in the bedroom

established relationship, fluff, smut, use of the words cunt and dick, edging

TW: jorts

MINORS DNI 18+

———————————————————————-

guys this is my first time writing and i uggggg

i can’t get this idea out of my head that i’m going feral over and i need to put it down somewhere and maybe you’ll enjoy it

(i’ve just met law so the characterization may be weird but mayhaps i’ll want to write more after this when i get to know him better :) )

anyways enjoy!!

————————————————————————

It had been a long, boring morning on the sunny. Months had passed since you’d seen your boyfriend, Law, and you missed him fiercely.

You were apprenticing under Dr. chopper of the strawhat pirates when the two of you met during one of your misadventures. You hit it off rather fast. The first few times you encountered the heart pirates their captain would be a blushing, mumbling mess around you. You thought it was cute how he stumbled over his words whenever you looked him in the eyes. Or how endearing it was that he would recommend medical books and help you better yourself as a Dr.

Eventually Law got over his nerves and asked you to be his partner. You were over the moon ecstatic. Finally, after months of butterflies in your stomach he asked you! That night he also gave you a necklace he made out of a vertebrae.

Luffy agreed to let you travel between vessels, as an ally to the heart pirates and to apprentice under Law. Every few months you would switch from the polar tang to the sunny, keeping in touch with your lover through letters and transponder snail.

Today, you were moving over to the polar tang at noon. The sunny needed work done after your last battle that required materials Franky didn’t have. The crew decided that it was best to go to Water 7 to get the materials otherwise they may not be able to fix the ship. So that’s exactly where Nami docked her, and exactly where you were going be reunited with Law.

You where pilfering through your closet, trying to find the right outfit to wear to see Law when you heard a nock on the door. You responded with a quick, “Come in.” and Nami opened the door.

“have you figured out what you’re doing when you see Law today?” she asked. “Not yet but i’m feeling really spontaneous so hopefully something fun.” you said, your eyes sparkling with possibilities. If you knew one thing for sure it was that you needed him. Too many nights have past that you yearned for his touch. You had been counting down the days till you got to see him and you wanted this night to be perfect.

You pulled out a pair of emerald denim jorts and a short sleeved black, cropped top. “Do you think this will be a cute fit?”, You questioned towards Nami. She smiled and said, “Yes! Show me your look when you’re done!”. With that she turned around and disappeared out the door.

You quickly changed into the outfit, slapped on some winged eyeliner and makeup, and fixed your hair down. You were too excited to see Law to get caught up in the little details. All besides the necklace that he made you. Once you were ready you went out on deck and showed Nami and Chopper your outfit before leaving. You triple checked the last letter you received from Law as you approached the small business he told you to meet him at.

While you were off in your own world re-reading the letter you ran into something firm. Letting out a small weeze you reeled back, face red, ready to apologize profusely to whoever you just knocked into. But as you looked up you were greeted with deep brown eyes. “Law!!” you exclaimed as you threw yourself into him once again. He wrapped his arms around you and the two of you stood there, soaking up each others presence. “I’ve missed you so much.”

“I have too” he whispered as he rubbed circles on your back.

“Do you trust me?” you said leaning back fromthe embrace and looking him in the eye. He raised an eyebrow and replied with a stretched out “Yes?”

“Do you want to be impulsive with me?” you asked him. He cocked his head to the side and thought about it for a second. “Yes” he replied before quickly moving to kiss you. The kiss was loving and tender, his way of physically saying “I love you”. Law pulled away and you grabbed his hand leading him to a small tattoo shop on the island. Luckily, there was an artist who had openings for walk ins and you knew exactly what you wanted to get. You went over your idea with Law and he nodded in agreement. He sat down in the chair and raised his left arm to you.

You bit the inside of his wrist just hard enough to leave an indentation. Blush crept onto your face as your mind escaped to dirty places. Quickly, you shook those thoughts away as you remembered where you were. The artist turned on their pen and got to inking the bite marks onto your boyfriend. his muscles flexed as the needle penetrated his skin, veins popping from the adrenaline running through him.

You couldn’t help but admire him like this. You hadn’t seen him in so very long and you missed being in close proximity. Once the artist wiped his fresh tattoo and gave him cleaning instructions it was your turn. You sat down and extended your arm towards the man in front of you and he took it in his long, tattooed fingers. You felt electricity everywhere that he touched your skin. He looked you deep into the yes and sensually clamped his mouth over your forearm.

‘ok so we’re both on the same page’, you thought as you couldn’t help but bite your lip at the pain. The artist made their way toward you with the pen and got to it. Law pulled your opposite hand to his mouth and kissed it. He held onto it for the duration of the tattoo, rubbing his thumb over yours.

————————

Once you got back to the polar tang you stopped to greet bepo and made it back to Laws quarters quickly. As soon as the door locked Law was on you. This kiss wasn’t like the one earlier in town. It was needy and full of hunger . You were slowly backed into the edge of Laws bed where you sat and layed down as he climbed over you. “I’ve been thinking about being able to touch you for months” he whispered in your ear. You wouldn’t think it but one of Laws love languages if physical touch. It’s only reserved for those he truly cares for though. It made your heart leap to think that you were one of those people.

He littered your cheek and jaw with kisses, making his way down your neck. As he did this his thumbs circled around your thighs. Heat pooled in your stomach as he touched you. You cupped his cheeks in your hand and pulled him to eye level “I love you.” you said looking deep into his eyes, and you meant it. He crashed his mouth into yours, biting at your lower lip as a plea for you to open your mouth. As soon as you did his tongue slipped through. you let out a small moan as he searched your mouth, getting his first taste of you for the night. The heat in your stomach grew as well as your need for friction. You searched for it as you bucked up into him. You felt all of Law’s body stiffen. He pushed down into you and you slowly started to rock you hips against his. Feeling his cock rub against your center through your clothes. He started to peel your shirt back and over your head. Law paused his movements to admire your bare flesh. His hand quickly found its way to your sensitive breast as well as his mouth. His other hand made its way to your pants and cupped over your clothed pussy. He swirled his tongue over your hardened nipple as he caressed you through the fabric.

He worked his way down and your nerves tingled as his wet tongue trailed along your body, eliciting a mewl. He wasted no time pulling off your pants and underwear. Law stopped for a few seconds to stare in awe at your wet cunt. He quickly pulled your thighs over his shoulder’s, situating them to straddle his face. Bitting down on your inner thigh, then licking and kissing the same spot. He raised his gaze to meet your eyes and then pressed your clit firmly with the letter H. You jolted at the contact and yelped. He smirked and slowly sank the letter A into you with E following shortly after.

Law grumbled out a string of curses as he felt how wet you were for him. “God I can’t wait to be inside you baby.” he groaned. You didn’t have time to think about what he just said as his warm tongue swiped over your clit, sending tingles to every nerve ending in your body. You arched into his mouth as he sloppily drooled and sucked on your pussy. Your body writhed as his fingers pumped inside you, slowly building you up to your climax. There was an overwhelming feeling building up in your lower stomach and just as you were about to tip over Law stopped.

Your protest was stopped abruptly when he reached eye level and kissed you once more. You pulled at his clothes to be removed and he obeyed. You needed Law in you now. You flipped the two of you over so that you were straddling his waist, slapping his throbbing dick against your wet cunt causing it to make a lewd sound. Yearning for more friction you wiggled along the shaft of his cock gaining a strangled moan from Law. He couldn’t take anymore. He lined himself with your wanting hole and you slowly sunk onto him. The stretch burned but in the best way. You wiggled your hips around him and he took this as a signal to start moving. He pumped in and out of you slowly at first but gripped your hips to guide you as he quickened his pace. You felt that familiar intensity in your lower stomach as you felt the curve of his dick hit your sweet spot. Your hips started to match his pace and cause friction on between the two of you and on your clit. “Fuck Law” you let out as the feeling of build up got almost unbearable. He removed his left hand from your waist and started to circle your clit with his thumb. Just as you were about to come he kissed you just as he did in town. Softly, with love. You couldn’t hold it in anymore. You came undone with him still pumping inside of you. Pleasure crashing over you in waves. As you came down from your high you felt Laws dick twitch inside you. He came seconds later with a loud, whiny moan.

The two of you laid tangled in each others limbs until Laws blood pressure returned to normal. You laughed about the adventures you had while you were away. Law spoke of the research he’d been doing. Eventually hekissed your forehead and pulled out of you. “i’m going to go start the shower love, we need to wash these tattoos before we go to bed.”

#one piece #one piece law #trfalgar d law #op law #op trafalgar law #traflgar law #trafalgar law x reader #op law x reader #op trafalgar law x reader #trafalgar law drabble #trafalgar law fanfiction #trafalgar law headcanons

[l-sincline]

Cybernetics - Chapter 30

Amy Rose is a mechanic, plain and simple. But aside from that, she feels utterly alone in a cruel world where she makes just enough to scrape by. One night she’s visited by a mysterious Cyborg that needs his arm fixed, little does she know this repair will change her life.

Flung from the confines of her normal life, Amy finds herself working with Anarchists set on creating a new life for themselves and the poor people of Mobius. The only downside? Seeing who she thought was her best friend fight against her.

AO3 Tags:  Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Amy Rose/Shadow the Hedgehog, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Amy Rose (Sonic the Hedgehog), Shadow the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles “Tails” Prower, Dr. Eggman | Dr. Robotnik, Rouge the Bat, Whisper the Wolf, Cream the Rabbit, Knuckles the Echidna, Badnik (Sonic the Hedgehog), E-123 Omega, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Cyberpunk, Angst, Slow Burn, Partners in Crime

AO3 Link

Previous/Next

Amy had taken Shadow rushing off to last minute check the plan with Blaze in stride. Her and Rouge now sat in their respective seats in the small ship, pointing out at the other Mobians outside. Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles had all gotten similar flight suits- highlighted with the colors blue, yellow, and white respectively. From where they sat, they could see Tails listening intently to one of the technicians with Sonic beside him looking bored, to say the least. Knuckles had been instructed to step inside their ship a while ago after he managed to dent one of the metal floor tiles. 

“You guys ready?” Blaze had appeared at the open door to their cockpit, Shadow in tow. 

“We’ve already been up there and survived once- we can do it again.” Rouge grinned and flashed Blaze a thumbs up as Shadow squeezed past the cat mobian and made his way to his own seat. 

“How come you two get to sit in front?” He questioned.

“Because we got here first!” Amy shot back with a smile. Shadow shrugged and rolled his eyes. 

“Alright, I’ll go check in with team Sonic. You’ll get some last words and a count down from me over your comms system and then you’ll be on your way- got it?”

‘Got it’ the team echoed, nodding their heads. 

“I trust you guys a lot more than them-” Blaze gestured vaguely out the large front window in the direction of team Sonic, “-so I’m trusting that no matter what those idiots do, you three know your objective and stick to it. Okay?” Everyone nodded quietly. 

With a dip of her head, Blaze turned and exited the ship. They watched quietly as she made her way across the large hangar to Sonic and Tails, who followed her into the ship. Resistance technicians rushed around silently, doing last minute button presses and screw tightens. They scribbled notes and nodded confidently to each other. This really was it. 

“What are you thinking, Amy?” Rouge inquired, leaning forward in her seat slightly. 

“Hmm…” Amy hummed, leaning back and looking up to the ceiling, “Just that I can’t believe how much time has passed. Everything seemed to happen so quickly. And now we’re here.” 

“You think we win, then?” She pressed.

“We have to win.” Shadow interjected. Rouge shot him a look over her shoulder.

“I didn’t ask the passenger. I asked my copilot.” She smirked. Amy smiled. 

“I think we win.” She turned to look at Shadow, “Especially since you’re so determined.” 

Shadow’s ear twitched, but he was silent. 

“Listen up, crews.” Blaze’s voice suddenly boomed to life over the speakers. “The time is now. In the next minute your ships will be ejected and you’ll be put on the flight path to dock at Doctor Robotnik’s main ship. Your goal is to take him down from the inside. Once we have this egg head out of our fur we’ll be free to move on with much bigger strides. Don’t fail me now.”

The cockpit was eerily silent as Blaze’s mini speech concluded. It seemed that they were all feeling the pressure, even Shadow- who she noted had shut his eyes and ducked his head down as she glanced behind herself. Amy couldn’t help but notice the strained mouth and furrowed brows, hands gripping his knees tightly- she didn’t take him to be the type to pray, but it certainly seemed like he was talking to someone in the privacy of his own mind. 

Next to her, Rouge looked ahead. She seemed determined, the corners of her mouth quirked up in a small smile. Amy tried to copy her look and looked ahead. Then, the ship shuddered, and started moving.

The Sonic crew’s ship moved along next to them, being carried by whatever rail was beneath them to get to the hatch. They stopped, there was a loud, blaring beep, and then the hatch above them began to screech open. Dirt and rust rained down on the two ships, light pouring into the otherwise dark hangar. 

Then, before she knew it, they were launched out into space. 

The city flew past sooner than she could blink, as did the clouds and the used to be blue sky. Before she had even taken a breath the sky had grown pitch black, dotted with little stars in the far off distance. It was silent and beautiful.

But there was no time to admire it, they had to stay focused. 

Ahead of them Robotnik’s ship loomed, dangerous and brooding. She could see other ships docking and being taken in, that's when she realized she wasn’t even quite sure which one Tails was in anymore. But no one said anything, as if all of space had held its breath just for this moment. Amy’s heart pounded in her chest as the main ship grew closer and closer.

Docking sequence started. 

The ship spoke to them, robotic and female, as she heard the thrusters change intensity. The hatch to the main ship hissed open, and then they landed. 

#sinclines writing #cybernetics #shadamy #sonic fanfiction #sonic the hedgehog #shadow the hedgehog #amy rose #rouge the bat #blaze the cat #cyberpunk au #sonic au

[dyns33]

Flufftober 29 - The Mandalorian

Din Djarin x reader

There had always been several clans of Mandalorians, who didn't really get along.

But all more or less agreed on one point : the Betazorian clan was the worst of all.

Even worse than the Children of the Watch.

Using technology and knowledge that they jealously guarded, they had dared to modify the Beskar, making it more flexible, more malleable, of a dark colour, close to the material of the dark saber, which was nevertheless reserved for the leader, and forging armour and weapons that made them nearly indestructible.

A real blasphemy.

They were known to be violent. Swift, merciless, leaving no survivors.

They didn't really follow the creed, chasing money and power, respecting nothing, only thinking about their own gain, being ready to kill everyone to get what they wanted, even members of their own clan.

Some said they had been banned. Others that they were gone of their own accord. In any case, they had left Mandalore before the purge, and many wondered if they had sold the other Mandalorians to the Empire.

There was no evidence, but it was their style.

After they left, there had been many legends about the Betazorians, but no one could say they had ever seen one in person. It was impossible to tell how many there were, where they were, and what they were doing.

O all this, Din Djarin did not care at all.

He too had never met a Betazorian, he was not looking for them, too busy taking care of his own clan, while doing several missions for the guild.

For him, it was just a children's story, to test young recruits by trying to scare them, nothing more.

He had travelled the galaxy for years. If there were any Betazorians still alive, he would know.

For some time, he had the chance to have Y/N at his side to help him a bit. They had met in a small town, he had done her a favour, she had asked him if he needed an extra crew member.

The young woman was quite a good mechanic, clever, avoiding fights but knowing how to defend herself, and most importantly, she was taking care of Grogu when he had to be away, and the kid liked her.

Din liked her too. But he didn't quite know how to tell her. He wasn't sure if he should tell her. Everything was going perfectly well and he didn't want to scare her away.

Then there was a problem with one of his missions. The ship was attacked, the enemies were too numerous for him to deal with all of them, and then Y/N had done something strange.

After getting Grogu to safety, she pressed down on the black bracelet she always wore and an armour materialized around her, complete with a helmet that looked very much like a Mandalorian's.

No weapon seemed to have any effect on her, nor punches, and she crossed the battlefield without the slightest difficulty, killing attackers one after another, until there was no one left.

Din was speechless.

When she took off her armour, Y/N looked a little scared. By him. Taking Grogu in her arms, she asked him not to ask any question.

He didn't.

But he thought for several days about what had happened, about these combat techniques, about this armour, and when he went to see the Armorer to bring her resources, he stupidly asked her if she had ever heard of such technology.

           "... A black armour ? Similar to ours, but stronger, and materialising ?"

           "Yes."

           "You met a Betazorian, Din Djarin. You are lucky to still be alive."

           "... No. She's not... It can't be. They're killers, traitors. They don't ally with other Mandalorians."

           "Maybe your 'friend' has plans for you. Like handing you over to the last members of the Empire, along with the child. Be careful. You can't trust her."

When he returned to the ship, he found Grogu all alone, in his small bed, with food and his favourite toy. Except he wasn't interested by it at all, staring desperately at the door and making strange squeaks when he saw Din, fidgeting a lot.

Searching everywhere, the Mandalorian realized that Y/N was no longer there. He prepared for the worst, expecting an attack from the Empire, but nothing happened. She was just gone.

Despite the pain of this betrayal, Din tried to go on his way as if everything was fine. It was not easy, and it was even less so for Grogu.

The kid really got attached to Y/N. He obviously missed her a lot. He refused to eat, to sleep, running around the ship, throwing his toy, and crying.

           "I can't do anything, kid. She's gone. Eat, you love it."

           "Pato ! Ga !"

           "You have to eat."

           "Pa !"

           "... I can try to find her. But it won't help. She's a Mandalorian, like me. She knows how to hide, and she won't be happy to be followed."

           "Pitalo !"

           "Very well." Din sighed, knowing the kid was stubborn.

As he had expected, it was not an easy task to find Y/N. He was even convinced when if he managed to locate her, it was only because she had decided to let him find her.

She had settled on a small planet, in the forest, far from everything.

Not knowing how she would react, he left Grogu in the ship, closing the doors behind him so the kid wouldn't follow, before heading back to her camp.

Y/N was sitting by the fire. She didn't seem surprised to see him, she didn't move, watching him carefully.

           "I wasn't sure you would come."

           "I wasn't sure you wanted me to come."

           "It depends. Are you following me because you want to kill me, or do you need something ?"

           "... Grogu misses you."

This answer seemed to surprise her. Y/N frowned, as if trying to find out if he was serious.

           "I miss him too." she said slowly. "But you know what I am. What I was, anyway."

           "You could have told me, we could have talked about it."

           "I know very well what the Mandalorians think of the Betazorians. You would have mistrusted me, rightly so."

           "Because I have to be wary of you ?" he asked, tilting his head.

           "No. But the reputation of the Betazorians is not exaggerated. They are cruel, vicious. They were, at least. I am the last. I made sure of it, and I made sure that no one can't find the modified Beskar. I just kept my armour on, just in case."

           "So there are no more Betazorians. Only remnants, and this armour. And the kid who refuses to sleep. You could come back."

           "You believe me ?" Y/N wondered, resuming her sad and frightened expression, exactly the same as when she had used her armour to save his life. "Don't you want to ask me more questions ? Ask me how I know that everyone else is dead ?"

           "Yes. But no. You're not one of them. You're part of my clan."

She looked at him for a long time, trying not to cry. Then she looked down at his feet, starting to smile, and laugh, sobbing slightly. Din followed her gaze and found Grogu, holding his leg as he watched Y/N, visibly pleased to find her.

           "... I told you to stay in the ship."

           "You know he only listens to me." Y/N sighed as she got up to approach, lifting Grogu who began to purr, pressing his face to her neck. "I'm glad to see you again too, little green guy. So you are not sleeping ? You need to sleep. Excuse me, I thought your daddy wouldn't want me to stay while learning the truth."

           "You have proven over and over again that I can trust you. I… hoped I showed you that you could trust me too."

Slowly, Y/N put her hand on his shoulder, and pressed her forehead against his helmet.

Under other circumstances, it wouldn't have bothered Din. But she was also a Mandalorian, so she knew full well what that gesture meant.

           "I missed you too, Din Djarin. Let's go home now."

           "... Yes, Cyare. I mean, Y/N !"

She snickered gently, joined by Grogu, even though the kid couldn't figure out what was funny.

Or else he understood perfectly, since he was the one who had insisted on looking for Y/N, becoming good and calm again only when they were all in the ship, the clan of three finally reunited.

#the mandalorian #din djarin #din djarin x reader #din djarin imagine #din djarin fanfiction #flufftober 2022

[episodicnostalgia]

Star Trek, 106 (Oct. 13, 1966) - “Mudd's Women”

Production order #04

The Breakdown

Captain Kirk sees a small ship flying around that he doesn’t recognize, so he decides to play space-cop and harass it until it’s engines burn out; this results in the vessel’s destruction, while severely draining the Enterprise’s own reserves.  Apparently Kirk’s instincts are correct though, as the ship’s captain is revealed to be a shifty moustachioed tasteless-Irish-caricature, which (in accordance with 1960’s standards and practices) means he is also not to be trusted.  The individual’s name is Harry Mudd (initially going by the alias Leo Walsh), and a quick investigative hearing reveals that he’s a small time ex-con flying without a licence.  While this latest infraction is enough to convict him, it’s Mudd’s “cargo” that creates real complications.  You see, before he was interrupted by Kirk, ol’ Harry was in the process of transporting three TOTAL HOTTIES to some planet where they could find a husband.  These women aren’t just your average babes though, they are so hot that literally EVERY man on board is pitching a tent just looking at them (save for Spock).  Indeed, the men are so horny that they’re unable to form complete sentences; even the ship’s computer notices. 

So what’s causing every male crew-member to reach cartoonish levels of sexual arousal? Perhaps the women are Orions in disguise? Mind control probes? Telepathic manipulation?  None of the above. It turns out all three ladies are just taking pills that bring out their “full sexual potential”, and (as we know) men can’t be held accountable for their actions when in the presence of a leggy dame operating at 100% babe-fficiency. You see, normally each of these women are naturally HIDEOUS …which is to say they’re still gorgeous, but with no make-up, and perhaps in need of a slightly better skincare routine (at most).  Without the drug none of these gals would ever be able to catch a man on their own, since apparently the 23rd century has attained even more unrealistic beauty standards than the ones we presently have.

The rest of the episode follows kirk as he tries to negotiate with some miners for the crystals he needs to power the Enterprise.  Since kirk’s security measures are apparently non-existent, Mudd is able to remotely broker a deal with the miners, bartering his freedom in exchange for his mail-order brides (should Kirk refuse to let Mudd go, the miners would withhold the crystals etc).  Since the miners are all jonesing to get laid, they agree to Mudd’s conditions, leaving Kirk no choice but to play along.  From there things get more ridiculous as Eve (one of the ladies in question) runs off, presumably sick of lying/being treated like a piece of meat.  She quickly gets lost in a sand storm until Ben (the lead Miner) finds her, and brings her back to his place.  But when Eve’s beauty-treatment wears off, Ben is appalled by her slightly dry skin (as anyone would be).  Cue Captain Kirk, who shows up with Mudd just in time to clue everyone in about the truth of the future brides’ condition (using one of the pills on eve as a demonstration of Mudd’s ruse).  It’s only when Eve’s beauty is restored that Kirk reveals the pill had been swapped with a placebo.  We are told that the only thing Eve ever truly needed to be beautiful was the confidence to believe in herself, which doesn’t explain how her acne cleared up in mere seconds, but that’s all we’re gonna get.  This explanation is apparently good enough for her and Ben to talk things out from there, and presumably live happily ever after on a remote planet with no available marriage counsellors, or even other people.  Ben arranges to give Kirk the Crystals he needs to power the Enterprise, and everyone parts ways (except for Mr. Mudd, who will be handed over to the rightful authorities)

The Verdict

There are so many things to unpack in ‘Mudd’s Women’, and I certainly don’t expect to do a thorough job of it here, nor have I the interest. It’s clear that the intention behind this episode is to highlight something about inner-beauty over physical vanity, but it badly misses the mark while spewing forth one outdated stereotype after the next.  Most of the missteps are all pretty obvious, ranging from a depiction of women whose worth are all dependant on finding a husband, to the portrayal of leering men being openly regarded as nothing more than natural and unavoidable (Mudd all but invokes the phrase “boys will be boys”).  Additionally, Harry Mudd’s Irish brogue would almost certainly be regarded as offensive and in poor taste if this were made today, which is doubtless why Rainn Wilson opted to forgo that particular characteristic when he portrayed Mudd on ‘Discovery’.

I will concede that most episodes from a series filmed nearly 60 years ago are bound have some problematic elements, but some are more egregious than others, and ‘Mudd’s Women’ belongs in that categorization.  Perhaps if the episode had been more clever I might have given it points towards entertainment value and creativity, but even there I found the whole ordeal almost as dull as it was silly.  Oh well, you can’t win ‘em all.

½ a star (out of 5)

Additional Observations

This is the first time (according to production order) that we get to see Spock ‘n Bones verbally sparring, which is the only reason I didn’t give this episode a 0 star rating.

Uhuru’s still in gold, and the universe remains as-of-yet out of balance.

The Episode opens with kirk being like “We’re chasing a vessel because it’s suspiciously running away when we chase it”.  But like, who wouldn’t?  Do Starfleet vessels even have the authority to perform random searches of independent starships?  Perhaps they do and I’d just forgotten, but I’d just as easily chalk this one up to a case of “the writers were making it up as they went”.

Harry’s relationship with “his” women feels very human trafficky, which was apparently a concern raised by the studio when the script was put forth as a potential candidate for the pilot. This matter is addressed with several lines of dialogue which establish that each of the women are traveling with Mudd of their own volition, but I’d still characterize their relationship with him as suspicious, at best.

#star trek the original series #star trek production order #mudd's women #retro review #star trek review #Harcourt Fenton Mudd #harry mudd #star trek tos #star trek #captain kirk #james t kirk #spock #bones mccoy #60s tv series #60s tv #60s tv shows #classic television #THAT hasn't aged well #episodic nostalgia

[bumblingbabooshka]

Fake Voyager episode where the ship is invaded by parasitic aliens which take the form of those close to you.

The episode begins like any normal episode but at the very end of the cold open someone appears on the bridge. It’s...Mark? Instead of being shocked Janeway just laughs softly and says something like “I told you not to come onto the bridge while I was working!” and Mark says he couldn’t help it, he just couldn’t wait to see her again! The crew laughs softly. Camera zooms in on Mark’s smiling face as he wraps an arm around Janeway, ominious sting - we know something isn’t right. THEME TUNE! These aliens are telepathic and feed off of desire - with loneliness being especially potent to them. (They can only manifest in a disguised physical form if your desire is for a physical thing Ex: An animal, a diamond ring but they’ll feed on any desire.)This unfortunately made Voyager and her crew a gigantic target for them. They also have the ability to make it so you believe that they’ve always been there. Because of this, no one aboard Voyager finds it strange that their loved ones have appeared. The doctor knows something is wrong (as he doesn’t have a brain to leech off) but the aliens quickly turned him off, saying he was malfunctioning. Seven of Nine is also a complicating factor because while she is lonely she does not have anyone she knows that isn’t already on the ship. I think the aliens would probably just try to have her put in the brig or confined to her quarters. Same with Naomi, who has everyone she’s ever known already aboard. She’s very frightened of her “dad” who has suddenly appeared and who seems to know Naomi knows it isn’t him. Eventually everyone is able to realize that something has gone wrong and fight back against the aliens! Whew. Hey wait where’s Tuvok? Tuvok is a DELICIOUS meal for these aliens. He’s very lonely and fiercely protective of the alien whom he believes is his daughter, Asil, as a small child. The Asil alien quickly becomes stronger and the stronger she becomes the harder it becomes to snap Tuvok out of his delusion.  Like, the more you become attached to the thing the alien’s pretending to be the stronger it becomes and the more it can do to entice you and the more enticed you are the stronger it becomes and the stronger it becomes- Onwards and onwards. The less you believe that the alien is the thing you desire, the less you desire it, the weaker it becomes. The aliens also communicate telepathically so while those under the aliens’ influence can hear/understand them perfectly well - once you are broken free you can only hear a strange shriek and croak sound. This makes it difficult to convince others of anything since you can’t respond to what the alien is saying at that point. So the crew is throwing all the aliens out into space or whatever as they shriek and writhe and croak and Tuvok is in his quarters as some security ensigns approach his door. The Asil alien tells Tuvok that they’re going to kill her - she doesn’t want to die, please, help her. Tuvok assures her that he will not allow that to happen. Fighting ensues. At the climax of the episode Tuvok manages to be convinced by Janeway to let the Asil alien go so that she flies out the airlock, shrieking. However, he does this while still under the delusion (logically, it makes sense to trust Janeway and not what he realizes is his emotions.) and so he hears what sounds to him like Asil shrieking, betrayed, dying. He collapses.  At the end of the episode he and Janeway talk. Janeway tells him that it wasn’t Asil. No matter what he heard or saw, it wasn’t her. Tuvok doesn’t respond/gives a weak response and she leaves. Tuvok goes to some drawer and pulls out a box with pictures of his family. He looks particularly at the ones with him and Asil. Zoom out...zoom out...Episode ends.

#Tuvok #Tuvok art #st voyager #st voyager art #its fun to think about potential aliens~!

[melodyofthevoid]

Expanding on a question I made a while ago about Mariza's parents; If they got away from Varan, where are they now?

Excellent question dear anon. While I haven't fully fleshed out the exact series of events, I have a few things that might've happened. The most likely series of events is this:

-Varan raided the ship, but gave enough warning that the parents fled the ship. However in leaving they left Mariza behind.

-Varan picks up the small child and is like “...ransom? Maybe?” Sailing to the city but making a few pit stops.

-Mariza is feisty and the crew starts to get attached. There’s signs that she doesn’t... really want to go back. She almost goes so far as sabotaging the ship (although she’s like. 4-5 and can’t really do a ton there)

-He puts out a ransom and has it delivered.

-The parents, knowing that they left Mariza behind and that it was, y’know, a pirate that raided them, assume that she’s just dead. Whether they don’t trust the note, don’t believe it, or don’t want to deal with Mariza, it’s a mystery. But whatever the case, they don’t show up to the meeting and are now down a kid. They’re still well off enough so hey it’s all gravy /j

-Varan is just gobsmacked by the whole thing and is thinking about “well I guess I’ll drop her off at an orphanage” but never goes through with that and she’s a permanent member of the crew. 

#melody rambles #ocean idiots

[pingo1387]

Small Beginnings

Secret Santa gift for @justmemorgane! @op-secret-santa 

Also on Ao3! 

“Franky finish giving you the tour?” Sanji asked as Jinbe joined him and Usopp in the aquarium room. 

“Yes, and about time, too,” Jinbe said, collapsing next to Usopp. “I admire his pride in his work, but I can’t say I’ve ever taken an interest in engineering.” 

Usopp laughed and took a bite of one of the mini sandwiches Sanji had brought in on a tray. “He likes to show off! You get used to it.” 

“And how long will that take?” 

“Before that, here you go,” Sanji said, opening the dumbwaiter. He removed the tray sitting inside and presented it to Jinbe. “I noticed you ate a lot of this at the festival.” 

“Ochazuke!” Jinbe exclaimed, taking the small, warm bowl. “Thank you very much.” 

“My pleasure. What do you like most about the ship?” 

“This room,” Jinbe said, sipping broth from his spoon. “It’s beautiful. It reminds me of home.” 

“I guess it would,” Usopp said, swallowing his sandwich. “Do you miss it?” 

“Sometimes. But please don’t misunderstand—I’m very happy to be here.” 

“Don’t worry about it,” Sanji said. He sat down next to Jinbe. “We all miss home sometimes.” 

“Where do you hail from?” 

“I worked at a restaurant in the East Blue before this,” Sanji said. “My old man made me join.” 

“I’m from Syrup Village in the East Blue!” Usopp said proudly. “Of course I think about all my old crew back home, but I wouldn’t trade being a pirate for the world!” 

“Crew?” 

“Don’t ask,” Sanji whispered. Raising his voice, he said, “Yeah, you were pretty scrawny back then.” 

“I was just as strong as I am now! I was hiding it for your sakes!” 

“Yeah, of course.” 

“I wish I had known you all two years ago,” Jinbe remarked, stirring his rice. “Luffy I knew, and it’s obvious he’s gotten much stronger even since he came to Fishman Island. But the rest of you, well . . .” 

“Luffy just keeps finding new tricks to win battles,” Sanji said, smiling. “First time I met him, he saved my restaurant, and then I had to save his ass from drowning.” 

“That’s not surprising.” 

“Trust us, we’ve gotten stronger, too!” Usopp said. “Only recently have I been able to unlock my true power—” 

“He has gotten better at lying,” Sanji said. As Usopp sputtered, Sanji continued, “I wasn’t able to walk in the sky until about a year ago, if that gives you any indication.” 

“I almost wish I could do that trick myself, but I prefer to stay close to the sea,” Jinbe said with a small laugh. “Say, how long has Franky been on this crew?” 

“He was . . . uh . . .” Usopp counted on his fingers. “Counting Luffy, he’s the eighth.” 

“May I ask what vessel you used to sail before he built the Sunny?” 

“Oh. That was Merry.” Usopp clasped his hands in his lap. “She died.” 

“She was a fine ship, but not strong enough for the Grand Line,” Sanji explained. 

“I . . . I see. I’m sorry. I’m sure she was wonderful.” 

“Her spirit lives on in Sunny,” Usopp said quietly. He shook his head. “Do you ever think, if we could travel back in time and face the same situations, how easy everything would be? I mean, Baroque Works would be a snap!” 

“Baroque Works was Crocodile’s old company, wasn’t it?” Jinbe said. “I heard about it after the Navy broke them up.” 

Sanji tsked. “We broke them up. They were trying to ruin Vivi-chan’s country, so we kicked their asses.” 

“And the Navy took the credit? That’s typical,” Jinbe said with a shake of his head. 

“Whatever did happen to those crooks?” Usopp wondered. 

“Some of them ended up in Impel Down,” Jinbe said. “Crocodile included. But they got away during Luffy’s break-in.” 

“Wait—so they’re at large?!” 

“Don’t worry, Usopp,” Sanji said, reaching around Jinbe to pat his head. “You just said they’d be a snap, remember? I bet you could beat Crocodile himself.” 

“I meant back then! It’s been two years! Who knows how strong they are now?!” 

“Hey, what about you?” Sanji said to Jinbe. “You asked us how strong we’ve gotten. Do you feel any stronger after what you and Luffy went through two years ago?” 

“I wish I could say yes,” Jinbe said. He felt his chest. “I . . . went through the same attack that gave Luffy the scar on his chest. It’s healed over, but I still feel it sometimes. And I think to myself . . . if we went through that again, right now, would I be able to protect him better?” 

“You don’t have to worry about that,” Usopp said. “We’re here now. And we’re not going to let it happen again.” 

Jinbe gave him a nod. “Of course. I . . . should have realized that. Thank you.” 

Sanji stood, stretching. “I’m going to start thinking about dinner. When you guys are done, send your dishes up the dumbwaiter.” He headed for the door, and then paused, turning around. “Oh, and Jinbe? If you really do feel that old wound acting up, go see Chopper. He’ll come up with something.” 

Jinbe smiled. “I will.” 

#op-secret-santa-2022 #one piece #opfanfic #jinbe #usopp #sanji #idk how you feel about jinbe so i hope this is okay #writing adventures

[theunboundwriter]

7 Snippets, 7 People

thank you for the tag @tabswrites !!

Tagging (with no pressure) @stick-a-pencil-in-my-eye , @toribookworm22 , @wild-daffodils , @aether-wasteland-s , @kittensartswriting , @autopsy-im-ill , @gailynovelry

The Sea is in Her Blood Taglist (ask to be added or removed): @fearofahumanplanet @marinesocks @parttimeghost @houndsofcorduff @creatrackers

one:

She hummed, deciding something, and turning away from Jesse. June addressed the rest of his crew, “I’ve decided to show you mercy.” Sheathing her sword, she gestured vaguely with both of her hands, “You are all free to go.”

The rest of her crew followed suit, putting away their various weapons and watching questionably as the men that had boarded their ship pulled themselves to a stand. When Jesse did the same, June was quick to snap her fingers and gain Daring’s attention. “Not him,” she pointed at Jesse, where Daring quickly grabbed hold of both his arms, twisting them uncomfortably. 

“What—?” Jesse began to protest, but June cut him off.

“Throw him in the brig.”

Jesse thrashed wildly in Daring’s hold, but it was not enough for the boy to escape him. “You can’t do this!” Jesse argued. “What did I do to deserve this?”

“You insulted me, Jesse. Be grateful I’m not having you thrown into the sea to join your incompetent captain.”

two:

June gripped the cell bars with an iron-hold. “Give it to me.”

“Nah, not until you let me out of here.”

She squinted her eyes at him, “You realize I can just take it from you, correct?”

Jesse folded the map over itself, folding it and folding it until it was a small fragile square that he could fit between his fingers. He held it up to his lips. “Try it, and I’ll swallow it.”

three:

“How can you say you love me?” June’s eyes snapped back to him. “After everything I’ve done to you?” 

His gaze drifted over to her. Her amber eyes were as bright as the sinking sun outside. “I—” he tried, unable to think of a definite answer. “I can’t explain it. I just do.”

“And that makes you stupid.”

four:

June wanted to scream. She wanted to break through the walls of her cell brick by brick with her bare hands and cry all at the same time. This was for his own good, why couldn’t Red just see that?

“Convincing you to let me stay on the ship, telling you about my past so that you would trust me, trick you into falling in love with me so that I could gain control of your ship and crew, it was all planned. Every single moment we spent together was calculated and plotted and it fulfilled some greater purpose that you wouldn’t understand. So, no, Red. I didn’t love you. I can’t, and I won’t.”

five:

“You thought you could run from me?” He bellowed, laughing at the pitiful form of his former first mate crumpled on the ground. Her amber eyes stared up at him with a seething hatred he had seen before, but this time they were etched with fear and it made his heart dance in his chest. A smile forced its way onto his face. “You’re clever, clever enough to know there’s nothing you can do to disappear somewhere I can’t find you.”

June’s throat was dry. How could this have happened? She thought she had evaded him long enough that she would never see his face again. Yet, here he was, in all his egotistical glory towering over her and casting her in his shadow once again. The town burned around them as they stared at one another, booms and screams echoing in the distance. The smile on his face was enough to make her tremble, but she would not allow him that satisfaction.  

She forced herself to a stand, never taking her eyes off the monster in front of her. June reached down and helped Raleigh to her feet. She would never admit it, but fear throbbed through her veins. 

six:

“I’m sorry,” was the phrase Red finally chose. Two words that made June’s skin crawl. 

“What for?”

She saw the confusion flick across his face, and when he hesitated to answer June said, “You’re not sorry. It’s just something you're expected to say.”

June stood to leave, having come into his quarters to get all of this off her chest and having nothing left to say to him. She began to collect the materials she brought with her, carrying the bandages and cloth in a heap in her arms. As she turned to go, Red grabbed hold of her forearm, and she expectantly waited for him to say what he needed to say to make himself feel better.

“I am sorry,” he told her. “I’m sorry you had to live this life and it made you think you need to put up these walls around you to keep everyone out. I’m sorry for everything that has happened to you—”

“Don’t be,” June interrupted. “There’s nothing you could have done.”

Red’s eyes softened, “And I’m sorry about that too. I’m sorry I didn’t meet you sooner.”

seven:

“You wouldn’t understand!”

Red stared at her, taking in every miniscule detail of her face. The freckles that dotted her nose, the stray hair that cascaded down her face, no matter how many times she tucked it behind her ear it refused to stay. He examined the bruise that colored her left cheek, dancing up to her eye and down to her jawline. The scar: the faintest white line he had ever seen that traveled her forehead and disappeared beneath her brow. His eyes lingered on the bandage on her neck, the red irritated skin that peeked out from the edges. He saw the devastation in her eyes, an emotion he now saw that she had masked with anger. 

“You’re right.” He told her, “I don’t understand. Not yet at least. Will you help me understand?”

June was the first to break eye contact, instead fixating on a mark in the wood. “I don’t want to talk about it. I don’t even want to think about it.”

A sigh from Red. “I want you to know I want to listen if you need someone to talk to. I won’t force it out of you.”

“Why are you taking care of me? What did I do to deserve your help?”

It was a question Red was not anticipating. His brows furrowed. “It’s incredibly sad that you feel that you have to ask that, you realize?”

#wip: the sea is in her blood #original story #writeblr #7 snippets 7 people #tagging game #tag games #tag game #ocs #writing #creative writing

[amelikos]

Some character and episode notes from HZ003, which I’m writing down for future reference.

- The fact that Friede and his crew were literally hired to be Liko’s bodyguards wasn’t something I expected but it makes sense in retrospect! They could have gone to the school and ask where Liko was like Amethio did in the first episode instead of looking for her, which is fun that the antagonists had a more professional approach than them. I wonder if Liko’s mom is a bit like Friede in the way that she doesn’t think of bringing up important information. Either way, I like that Liko still thought about whether she could start trusting Friede and the others. 

- That being said, I wonder if Liko comes from a well-off family if her parents can hire bodyguards? I expected Amethio to be more the “prince” type who comes from a rich family, but perhaps Liko is? Liko does seem very polite (she was seen bowing and apologizing when there was trouble in HZ001 and HZ003), so she might have been raised being conscious of manners. Liko mentioned in HZ001 that she wasn’t going back to her place for the break because her parents would be busy so I assume that they have jobs which take most of their time so they wouldn’t be able to spend lots of time as family? And if her grandmother passed away, she probably would prefer staying at school for the break since she wouldn’t really have anyone to spend time with at home? Liko also mentioned that she never traveled outside Paldea before going to Kanto for school for the first time, so I wonder if she used to spend a lot of time with her grandmother in the past, if her parents were too busy with work to go on holidays. I’m very curious about her background. 

- Small bits I liked: Liko casually making small talk with the girl whose Rokon got hurt at the Pokemon Center. Liko might have a bit of a difficult time to approach others (like at school) and be more on the introverted side, but it doesn’t mean she can’t make small talk with people she doesn’t know. These kinds of details make her feel more rounded and real, I think. 

- Liko using Nyaoha’s Leafage as distraction to run away is good. I like that they aren’t forcing a battle to happen and that she is thinking strategically. She did the same in HZ001 and thought about how she didn’t necessarily need to win against Zir, but needed to buy time. Friede cutting the battle with Amethio short, too. We could expect someone like Friede to want to “honor” the deal until the end and conclude the battle but he didn’t really need to in this situation since Nyaoha was saved. I do wonder if Friede will help Liko train, though.

- Something I found interesting: Liko being worried Nyaoha was treated badly and that something could have happened to it, and the scene cutting to Nyaoha being properly fed and having toys to play with. Amethio then brought up that he didn’t intend to use Nyaoha as a bargaining chip and it stood out to me that he mentioned “doing this in his own way.” He doesn’t seem to want to hurt Pokemon or get outsiders involved in his mission, and it makes me wonder if there will be a time when his superiors (one of the people he was reporting to in the preview) will give him orders he doesn’t necessarily agree with or conflict with his way of doing things? Perhaps a drastic way of getting the pendant that would endanger people and Pokemon alike? Liko noticed in HZ002 that the Pokemon on Friede’s ship felt relaxed and at ease, so it meant that Friede and his crew might not be bad guys. Which makes me wonder if this will be a plot point between Liko and The Explorers eventually? Her noticing that they seem to care about their Pokemon? Or someone else from The Explorers taking over the mission to get the pendant and using more violent means that hurt Pokemon, which makes The Rising Volteccers notice that something is off? (I could see Friede noticing that Amethio is usually not like that so something is off, for example)

I’m just very curious how the dynamics will evolve going forward. Liko is perceptive about Pokemon and began to form an opinion on Friede and the others by the way the Pokemon around them were acting. So perhaps something similar will happen with The Explorers in the future.

- Amethio’s composed facade crumbling a bit is interesting to see. He appeared very professional at first, but it’s cool to see that there are some things that get under his skin? In HZ002, he felt like he was being underestimated by Friede. And now, he fell for Friede’s whole “are you afraid you’re going to lose?” thing. Like, his eyebrow twitched a bit there so it looks like it annoyed him a bit to hear that w

#character notes #episode notes #hz003 #amethio #liko

[quitereal]

thoughts on the Ark season 1, there will be spoilers, it will be long

I’m gonna start by saying I like it. It’s a bit campy, the science is not all there, there’s some stuff that bugs me, but overall, I like the show, I’m gonna watch season 2. 

I do hope they get a writer with a basic understanding of science for season 2 though, because even if the sci fi rule is “it only needs to sound legit” I don’t feel like this passed the bar? I’m sorry, treating an FTL drive like a USB you can just plug and play from ship to ship is just... not it. And they did have the temporal problems but even the solution for that was not great, in my opinion. I need the crew to be more competent too, there’s just too many instances where it feels like they got screwed because they didn’t bother to test something before trying to use it in the field. For instance, the FTL bubble shield. They literally pulled a mutiny on the basis that the shield was going to protect them, and they didn’t even turn it on once before they needed to use it? Like you’d test a used car more than that before you’d buy it, and yet we have a ship full of supposed experts who didn’t think to test it ONCE before counting on it to save their lives.

The biggest thing I want, though, is for them to make the villains LESS INSANELY EVIL for no actual reason. Seriously, the human race is dying out and instead of just threatening the other Arks (which are carrying some of humanity’s best and brightest) to get into line and follow her lead, Maddox just destroys two thirds of humanity on the off-chance she might kill Trust along with them? I need a real explanation for why they hate one another so much, because two people who are supposed to be the smartest humans in existence should be able to get past it in order to save humanity. I know the point is like “people like them are the reason we were wiped out” and they want Garnet and the others to show there’s a better way, but I just need their evil to make some small amount of sense.

As for ships... I’m all in for the slow-burn, enemies to lovers with Garnet & Lane. They have chemistry, the actors are both great, I really like that Garnet has a second in command who doesn’t just agree with her or trust her blindly, I love the mutual respect they seem to have established. Looking forward to seeing some consequences of a Captain/Subordinate relationship, really hoping they don’t do a Janeway and make it so Garnet can’t have a relationship with anyone now that she’s the Captain. 

I really like Brice & Ava as individual characters, and I do ship it, but I wish it had gone a bit more slowly? All for them jumping into bed right away, it’s in character for Brice and I feel like Ava needed it too, but they went straight in for a committed relationship a lot faster than I would’ve liked. Ava’s boyfriend literally just died what, a few months ago? So while I could see her jumping into bed with Brice, her admitting that she’s fallen for Brice so quickly really struck me as forced. Coupled with the fact that she really betrayed Brice in a very bad way --like, she didn’t JUST drug him, she had sex with him THEN drugged him-- I don’t think he should’ve forgiven her so easily? It really strikes me as a violation of trust, if nothing else, and I wanted them to hash it out more, build the trust back before they admitted their feelings. But seeing the ending, I get that they wanted to finish the season with a very much in-love couple so they could tease Ava’s death as a high stakes cliffhanger, but I feel like this diminished the whole ship. That said, they totally give me B’Ellana & Tom vibes (sorry for all the Voyager references, if you haven’t watched it, you SHOULD) and I love them for that, so I really hope that Ava isn’t dead and that in Season 2 we’ll get to see the consequences of them getting together so quickly, maybe have some trust issues from Brice come up, basically, I want some more angst over here.

Alicia and Angus really don’t do a thing for me. It might just be that they seem so young, or that the idea that the nerds have to fall in love is boring to me, but I don’t see the chemistry. I do like the character development we’ve seen so far; Alicia coming from someone who was smart, but obedient, to someone who will disobey orders she doesn’t believe in and can think outside the box to save the day, I hope to see her become a really strong character. As for Angus, I’m glad at the end that they seemed to hint that he has some lasting trauma from his experience with Kelly; if they just write off his being kidnapped and sexually harassed by her I’ll be pretty disappointed. I’m not mad they didn’t get into it more, there wasn’t time for them to do it justice and I really want this to be well-handled, but we need to see Angus getting to process what happened to him.

I love Felix, but honestly, I cannot understand why they gave a white man a samurai sword. Swords in space are cool, but if you want a samurai in space, they should be Japanese. Like this isn’t hard guys, basic diversity 101. That said, I love that Felix is a gay man who isn’t effete or any other stereotypes, I love that he’s the character that has a child he’s been separated from and feels guilt for it, although it does bother me how abruptly they killed off Robert. I’m really hopeful that they have something more interesting in mind with Katherine, since we don’t know what happened to her yet. I’m hoping they do something with time travel here, because I don’t really want them to bring an eight year old onto the ship, but I definitely want more family-angst for Felix.

Kabir is a fantastic character, in my opinion. I love her relationships with literally everybody, how Felix helped her with her addiction --and how the addiction is being shown as an ongoing thing, not just a one and done issue-- and Cat betrayed her trust later on. I like that she’s a mentor-figure for Alicia, and just a confidante for everyone. She’s the character that’s everybody’s best friend, and honestly I can’t even hate her for it. It would be so easy to have had her be the perfect maternal role, but they threw in the addiction and it really fleshed her out, in my opinion.

I really hope they stay completely away from anything further with Cat & Trust, to be honest. I like Cat, I find her really interesting and compelling and I love that she lets people think she’s just a vapid celebrity when in actuality she has depths that she hides under that blonde wig. I don’t like Trust, but I realize we’re not supposed to like him. I do want them to get more into what exactly the “Juno Project” is all about, it honestly sounds pretty eugenics-y so I’m hoping they’re real careful with this.

Honestly, the show’s got a lot of potential from here. The characters all have room for growth, the ships have room to go places, they set up some hooks for future plots and I’m very hopeful. It really reminds me a lot of other sci fi shows, like Star Trek: Voyager (as evidenced by my references) but also Stargate: Universe and I just love the vibe of it. This got real long, I won’t blame anyone if they don’t want to read all my thoughts, but I don’t have anyone to talk to about this show so I just wanted to get them all out while they were fresh. I’m really looking forward to season 2, and so grateful they already announced it’s renewed.

#this is just a lot of thoughts honestly

[xivu-arath]

vit, on quesh

“Become a Republic privateer, they said. It’ll be profitable, they said. Funny how no one mentioned the visiting toxic warzones part in the pitch.”

“You can just leave,” Akaavi points out from where she’s leaning against the wall of the hangar. “You seem to bear no love for the Republic.”

“Don’t say that too loudly, or Corso will pout.” Thankfully, Corso himself isn’t close enough to hear the jibe – he’s still involved in a game of sabacc with Bowdaar, and has been stuck trying to beat the Wookie for the last hour. “Anyways, it’s not every day that someone offers me their entire fleet if I bail them out of trouble. I’m a simple man, and I like the simple pleasures in life – ships and credits.”

For some reason, she doesn’t look like she’s buying that last line. For someone with no eyebrows, Akaavi is very good at giving the impression that she’s raising hers.

“Don’t let the Captain fool you,” Risha says, lounging gracefully despite the fact that she’s sorting through some of the latest cargo from Balmorra. It’s a talent he still hasn’t managed to pick up, and he’s banged his shoulder – once, memorably, on C2 – a few times trying. “He’s got a selfless streak buried underneath all that charm.”

“Hardly a streak. More like... a soft spot. A very small soft spot, okay?” Vit says, trying to defend whatever shreds remain of his tough spacer reputation. At least Bowdaar’s busy or he’d be fending off exaggerated stories of getting tame bogwings down from trees. “Anyways, these guys have ships and credits and if I don’t come through for them, no one else is going to.”

“Not the Republic?” Akaavi asks, and he twitches his lekku in restrained contempt.

“The Republic only steps in with us when we’ve got something it wants. It won’t rescue some deniable assets with an Imperial target on their backs.”

“Smart,” Risha says. “And ruthless, of course. That’s the trouble with working with the big players – they know just how much you’re worth, and they can always throw you away and get a few dozen replacements.”

“And that’s why I don’t trust ‘em, pretty ideals and all,” he says firmly. “If you’re not entirely with them, you’re not worth all that much.” It’s something he almost hopes Corso won’t ever figure out for himself. Sure, his automatic support of the Republic’s a bit naive but he’d rather have him hold on to that and maybe be proven right sometimes than have a rude awakening at the worst moment.

“So helping them means you’ll be risking your life.” That’s Akaavi again, and Vit doubts she actually cares about the privateers in the first place – she’s just trying to figure him out, staring as if she’s about to bore a hole in him with her eyes alone. Fair enough. It’s not as if Balmorra was a good opportunity for either of them to get to know each other.

Well. He did get very well acquainted with her penchant for dropping in unexpectedly and killing people. No one should look that attractive while whirling that oversized mace around. And heshould have more survival instinct than noticing that when people are shooting at him.

“Risking my life for credits, Akaavi. I do that all the time anyways, no matter what some might imply about my intentions.” He can feel Risha rolling her eyes at him and flips his lekku back at her. “But it being worth it doesn’t stop me from complaining about, again: toxic warzone.”

“Complain too much and the Imperials will find a new target to shoot at,” Akaavi says, which... might be a joke or serious. It’s hard to tell, with Mandalorians.

“And that’s why I’m taking you with me. I get to complain, you get to bash people over the head, we both end up happy.”

He can’t be sure, but he thinks that gets her grimly murderous expression to lighten up to grimly stern instead. Well, at least he knows how to keep his crew satisfied.

“I know you don’t know how to be careful, but try to come back alive,” Risha drawls. “It’d be a shame if we had to go in and rescue you. Poison is terrible for my complexion.”

“Yeah, and Bowdaar would need to take a bath for a solid week,” he jibes back. Akaavi is still watching them, with the intent focus of someone listening to a language they don’t know very well. “I’ll do my best to not get shot. C’mon, Akaavi – let’s go earn ourselves a fleet.”

#wip days #my words #vitnako #awww I should have written more with vit #he's fun

[elementalladymallorie]

Small Moments and Small Gestures that Make a Home

Strongest Suit

So first new work in a little while, and not what I was really expecting to work on next, but here it is! This is going to be a little mini (?) series based off of trivia from the SBS answers

AO3 Link

Word Count: Almost 1K

Clothing is one of many ways for a person to express themself, from the styles, the patterns, and down to the color choices.

It's always nice too, when some gets you something to wear because they see it and think of you.

Nami took a great amount of pride in her ability to find a deal no matter what she was shopping for. She would admit, though, that her two biggest money drains were also her biggest frustrations. The biggest was, of course, the food budget, feeding ten normal people on a ship, and keeping enough food for extended trips would be enough of a task. Feeding her own crew, with Luffy’s appetite alone, was an endeavor that would stump many. She’d managed somehow while still managing to keep a significant amount for the other needs of her crew, and herself, of course.  

The next was, surprisingly, the clothing budget. They all got into so many fights, fights that were only getting stronger and more dangerous as they went on. And the fighters that get closer and more physical almost always have some kind of clothing damage. It could range from anywhere from minor tears, burns, and stains that wouldn’t disappear to the garments becoming nothing more than scraps that were barely hanging on their frames.  

None of them tried to avoid it. Luffy didn’t care, nor did Zoro, really, and it’s not a priority really when one is fighting for their lives. Still, it miffed Nami just a bit that she had to replace more shirts and sandals than she really should have to.  

Most of it gets curbed though by the fact that some of the damage can be mended by a simple needle and thread or a patch or two.  

It’s the ones that can’t be repaired though that leads part of her shopping trip today. They’d docked on a small island, big enough to get enough food that Sanji has a list for and his allowed budget and to restock on other necessary supplies. 

Such as new clothing, needles, thread, and fabric rolls or yards.  

Nami’s handling this trip herself. Usopp and Franky are looking for new tools or scrap to build with, Robin and Chopper are getting medicine and books, and she’s unsure of where Luffy and Zoro are while Brook and Jinbe are on the Sunny.  

Nami wouldn’t trust most of her crewmates to buy the clothes if she’s being honest, some like Robin and maybe Usopp or Sanji if it was small things she could allow. The others? They all had… difficulties when finding things like this. 

Besides, she has the best ability to find deals! And she has all of her Nakama’s sizes memorized at this point, so she’ll have no problems doing this fun solo. 

She manages to get a decent haul after only an hour or two of shopping. Nothing too fancy and more on the durable side than anything. She’s allowing herself to try on a few of the nicer things, as a treat for all her efforts, but not planning on buying anything. She’s turning to look and see how the dress she’s trying looks in the back when a blue tie catches her eye.  

It’s a pleasant shade of a deep blue, like the ocean can be some days, and a simple pattern. It would look good with plenty of Sanji’s button ups and suits too.  

Nami stops, staring at the tie, thinking the price over and what she’s willing to spend when a pink scarf nearby stands out amongst the others it’s sitting with. It would probably look good on Chopper and he would appreciate it. Then she notices a black pocket square with white pinstripes in the same section. Brook could likely use something like that. 

She can’t help but to start looking more closely now, picking up the items she’s already seen and adding it to her purchases. She’s finding other things now, a truly gaudy light blue patterned shirt large enough to fit a cyborg, a green undershirt perfect for working out in cooler weather, a set of bangles colored purple that shouldn’t be obtrusive, a yellow set of suspenders that would look striking, an ochre shirt with a more subdued pattern for a fishman, and a red hoodie with a zipper that should be roomy enough for a rubberman to stretch in..  

All things in her friend’s favorite colors and styles, things that will make them smile and brighten their days hopefully. 

She manages to also find herself an anklet with an orange gem studded into it, and she manages to haggle and charm her way into deals enough to not make her balk at the price.  

She quickly gathers her bags and takes her prizes back to Sunny. Most of her Nakama are still out at the time so she can easily distribute her haul the way it’s intended into everyone’s personal stores. 

It’s not long before Nami’s finds start showing up on the ship. Jinbe wears his new Hawaiian shirt on one of his more casual days. Brook’s pocket square is front and center in his shirt the same day Sanji’s wearing his new tie and being more attentive as a thanks. Zoro comes down from the crows nest after a workout and is tackled by the youngest of their lot once they catch sight of green. Usopp tugs on his suspenders as he gets ready to tell a new tale for his audience of Luffy and Chopper, a scarf tied around his antler and sticking out like a flag from where he’s tucked into Luffy’s half zipped hoodie.  

Nami smiles, proud and coy to herself when out of the corner of her eye she spots cyan as Franky places out a table for her and Robin, and she hears bangles clinking together as Robin turns a page of her book. She stretches out, ready to lounge in the sun, new anklet glinting in the light.  

Nami may not like spending a lot of money, even less so if it’s not entirely necessary, but she does enjoy treating her friends occasionally. More so when she can actively see them enjoying it. 

#one piece #one piece nami #cat burglar nami #fluff #writings #nakamaship #I think i have all the right tags #but let me know if anything else needs to be added

[teatitty]

Sparbossa Brainrot Part 8: Long Suffering Husbands

If you didn’t believe me before when I said this is a monstrous movie to dissect well you’ll be pleased to know you only have two parts left after this and then we can pretend I’m a perfectly normal person over this trilogy

Anyway picking up right where we left off last time we have Jack swinging over from The Endeavour to The Pearl, with The Pearl’s crew already leaning over the railing and expecting him to make his glorious return to the ship. Naturally, Barbossa still manages to look the least surprised out of everyone here

Though when it looks like Jack may have gone overboard he does seem to cuss quite loudly. There’s no audio though so I’m just guessing

Pushes in front of everyone to get to where Jack was first

And on top of being the first one to see where Jack is, he also does a double take to make sure of it. Even after all these years it seems these two keep surprising eachother and truly the only reason Jack is posturing like this is to be a show off lol

The point I’m making is that even without discussing anything beforehand, Sparbossa had complete and utter faith that they would both make it out of their respective situations and where Jack knew that The Pearl would blast The Endeavour and it would be his sign to leave, Barbossa instinctually knew (along with the Crew of course) that Jack would use his usual rope swinging trick to get back to them. Subtle details that are easy to miss but oh so juicy!

And then Hector becomes an aggravated spouse storming off in a huff because Jack made him think something bad had happened but he was actually fine lol

Jack did this with Barbossa earlier that same day so... Barbossa - Elizabeth parallels perhaps?

This decision is what gives her the crew's respect if that wasn't obvious before

Will straight up forgetting he's dealing with the escape expert himself. Do have to wonder how long Jack's been sitting there watching him do this. Anyway we've been long overdue a mentor moment between them and so here it is!

“My disappointment is immeasurable and my night is ruined. I thought I taught you better than this”

Jack gives surprisingly good relationship advice which is a stark contrast to Barbossa who can't even "speak as if to lover" to free Calypso which has always tickled me

Dying did indeed reshuffle Jack's priorities - it also reshuffled Barbossa's which is why they ultimately go after The Fountain of Youth at the end of this movie

Jack has officially given his compass to both Will and Elizabeth to use in order to complete his own ends. I'll be honest when I first saw this I thought he was gonna kiss Will and throw him overboard as a callback to Elizabeth's kiss with him in DMC but alas this is still Disney

Welcome to the club William they have meet-ups every Thursday

This is a pretty good shot to show how they differ in captaincy: Jack actually mingles with the Crew and creates a personal rapport with them but Barbossa keeps himself distant, only allowing a small number (in this case, Pintel and Ragetti, since he trusted them with the eye) to get somewhat close to him

I see this take a lot so I'm going to put it to rest right now: Calypso isn't threatening Barbossa with death she's threatening to bring back his Aztec curse - permanently, this time, which is why his hand turns skeletal. A threat of death wouldn't work considering she actually needs him alive to free her and besides the Curse would be a fate far worse in comparison

Course Barbossa doesn't take such threats lying down. As much as these two quite plainly hate eachother they have no choice but to work together for the time being. It’s fascinating to think that Calypso gets along with Jack who, like her, was betrayed by the man he trusted most (before you get on my ass about Calypso not showing up for her date, a broken promise is not the same as a betrayal. They both hurt for very different reasons), but doesn’t get along with Barbossa, who was the betrayer

Jack may not have been able to hear what was going on, but he still watched it all unfold. Whether he’d already figured out Tia Dalma was Calypso already or if this is when he fully connected the dots is up to interpretation but it’s fun to see his undivided attention on Barbossa regardless

If you wanted more proof that it was the curse she threatened him with, he clenches and unclenches his fist a couple times to make sure it's back to normal and looks, for a rare case, panicked

Clap it up for Will taking a leaf out of Jack's book with that innocent "you didn't tell him” much like when Jack said a similar comment about Elizabeth in the Locker

I know this is a Sparbossa thing, I know, but how could I not include the most heartbreaking Calyavy reveal

Jones "wants" Calypso dead and Beckett "wants" Jack dead. Exes man. What can ya do. Anyway Will is speaking in similar airy tones to how Elizabeth does which is a cool detail

Appreciation for the design of Shipwreck Cove because goddamn thats cool

It's cute how often Jack and Barbossa stand side by side even though they really don't have to

A wordless side-eye between them 

Barbossa did the summons so he's taking charge but Jack choosing not to sit at the table and just kind of lingering in the back messing the the swords is the biggest autism mood

The humour in AWE simply hits different I don't know what else to tell you

Sao Feng may not have known Jack was a Pirate Lord but everyone else - or, at least, Villanueva - does. More importantly this is when Barbossa learns what Jack's Piece is and then files away for later! Interesting that neither of them knew what the other’s Piece of Eight was until this scene but both are aware of their shared Pirate Lord status 

Smug son of a bitch it's a wonder Barbossa hasn't punched him yet honestly and absolutely no surprise that Sao Feng did

Swirls my drink. Do I even need to say it anymore

They do another one mere moments later

Jack of course knows this already and is doing his best to make sure nobody figures that out. Of everyone, Barbossa is the one most likely to either figure out at least some of what's going on soooo his narrow gaze flits to him

I just think them standing like this is cute and a nice setup for when Elizabeth is elected for being in charge and we see The Mentors standing either side of her

Appreciation point for Jack being a slut and showing off partial tit while looking at Hector Like That

Very easy to miss since the camera is putting him out of frame now but as Barbossa starts to talk about Calypso, Jack leans back to keep him in line of sight as he circles the table, similar to when Barbossa kept moving to keep Jack in sight back in the Locker

Jack doesn't actually disagree with Barbossa's points, is the thing. He's simply keeping an eye on the reactions of the other Lords because he happens to have his own plans this time

There's zero reason for him to lean so far into Jack's space when he returns to the head of the table. Look how much room there is between himself and Elizabeth in comparison

When the Lords start laughing at the idea what do these two do? A head turn towards eachother eugh

NO THE SUBS MISSED OUT THAT HE SPECIFICALLY CALLED THE BEARD "SCRAGGLY" THAT'S THIS IS THE WHOLE REASON HECTOR THE CAT IS SCRAGGLY TOO

This is the closest, I think, Barbossa has come to wanting to murder Jack on the spot in a long time. Meanwhile Jack is busy holding back laughter

Best line in the entire movie

Barbossa just has the best eye rolls

Davy kind of a snack with or without the tentacles ngl

WHOO THE CALYAVY AND SPARBOSSA PARALLELS IN THIS ONE LINE ALONE 

Her heart is the maelstrom he falls into when he dies at the end, for those who didn't make that connection

Barbossa has officially Had Enough and I thiiiiink that is in fact Jack holding up the sword in the back. Supportive husbands!

All looking at Barbossa’s hanging balls -

Jack looks Barbossa up and down for some reason before glancing off to the side which is true horny gay shit

Do I make another balls joke or should we just leave it as is

Barbossa's only reaction to Jack being between his legs and interrupting him is to give another big eye (and head!) roll and then climb down to bicker with him. Please also appreciate all the people watching these two like they're a morning cartoon

Jack is literally just doing this to fuck with Hector and Hector knows it

What's funny is that these guys actually move when he shoos them off lol

When your ex decides to embarrass you in front of every single person in the room just for giggles

Her men might be ready to stab him at any moment but he does give her shoulders a rub and she seems okay with it so... Jack's good at shoulder rubs confirmed?

He's so done with Jack's shit. But hey look another shared trait: their ability to work a room

Jack mentioned she is a woman scorned and not only is Barbossa thinking "oh shit" because Jack has most definitely figured out who she is but also because he is, ya know, turning the room in his favour now

Jack is very smart to put himself at the opposite end of this table (they're both the "heads" of the table now) because Barbossa would for sure leap for his throat at this

#potc #long post #meta post #you can pick through the brethren court scene with a fine-toothed comb #and learn so much about all the Lords here tbh #shame I'm not here to be doing that #anyway just two parts left lets get this bread!

[underfiends]

Ahoy Devin

Here's a Sea of Thieves based story I'm currently writing in collaboration with @hannrenn

This is just a lovely little blurb born of our brainstorming. Enjoy!

The Sea of Thieves is rife with dangers; the undead claiming any land not overrun by humans, sirens stalking the depths for anything that breathes air, unnatural hurricanes and storms following any ship they deem worthy of sinking, giant sharks ready to bite into a ship while krakens wait to sink them. Yet despite all of these horrors, the most dangerous foe will forever be another ship. Many a pirate crew have been lost to the waves, courtesy of their own kind.

This unforgiving life has bred into it harsh, angry pirates far too slow to trust. A Captain is as likely to be killed by their own men as they are to be gunned down by another ship. A crewmate’s position is as uncertain as the motives of their bunkmates. To a pirate, nowhere is safe unless you are alone.

The first mate is reminded of this harsh truth when she is shot while calmly holding an empty chicken crate. The iron round tears through her right eye, her back hitting the ground with a thud that would be painful if she could still feel it. Her eyepatch flutters to lay discarded tatters beside her head. Blood soaks into the ground, bringing the tiny pieces of bone and brain matter into stark contrast. Her other eye stares unseeing at a retreating body of animated bones.

Her body lays there, in the hot sun, strewn across the boardwalk of Ancient Spire Outpost. Senior trader Mildred, the resident Merchant Alliance company liaison, watches on as the first mate groans and sits up.

“Back from the dead already, are we?” Mildred asks.

“Ya know I don’t stay down fer long,” the first mate looks around with a touch of nervousness, “Say, ya didn’t happen ta see where me shooter went, di’ja?”

The disgruntled lady points up the island, towards the tavern. With a nod, the first mate makes her way to Colin’s building, this Outpost’s clothing shop. When she enters, she does so with a firm hand over the right side of her face. It does nothing to disguise the smears of crimson down her neck and stains on her clothes.

“Whatcha lookin’ for, lass? I gots just about- good gods! Wha’ happened t’ ye?” Colin stares at her with wide, concerned eyes, taking in all of the blood.

She waves her free hand in dismissal. “Nothin’ ya need ta worry about. Just need a new patch fer me eye.”

“O’ course, right away. Lemme see here, I gots one I’m sure ye will like. One o’ a kind, can’t get it anywhere else. Aha!” Colin turns around, a dark eyepatch clutched in his hands.

She takes the strip of sturdy black leather, turning it to see the golden eye staring back up at her. The eye of a kraken, a young one no doubt. Certainly a rare article of clothing, and not one that comes cheap.

“Colin, ‘tis wonderful, but ya know I can’t afford something like this.”

“Pah! I’ll take tha’ usual price. Can’t have me favourite customer runnin’ ‘round without one o’ these.” He taps a gloved fingers to his own golden eyepatch, grinning.

The first mate flushes, touched and embarrassed. She turns her back to the old man, after moving her hair to cover the bullet’s exit, to hide the gruesome sight of her gaping wound as she secures the eyepatch in place. Then she turns back around, eye downcast and shoulders hunched despite the small quirk of her lips.

“There. No one’ll forget tha’ pretty face o’ yers anytime near. Now go get tha’ rat who’d done this t’ ye.” With a wink, he shooed her from the shop.

Outside, she makes her way to the far side of the island. Despite Colin’s words, she’d really rather not run into the one who shot her. Besides, she’s fairly certain it was a skeleton; odds are she spooked it somehow, or offended it. No one around her was screaming or shooting at it, so it must be at least mostly friendly. Just not towards her. Which is fine! Not everyone is going to like her, she knows that. She just wishes it didn’t have to involve her getting shot.

She reaches the far docks, set at the base of the larger rock formation that holds winding rickety rope bridges leading to the outpost’s tavern. Glancing around warily, she begins to rifle through one of the many barrels left around for any to pillage. She’s just pulling out a fire bomb when she hears the unmistakable clack clack of moving bones.

The first mate freezes, fire bomb held out in her hands. Slowly, she turns her head so her good eye can see the rest of the wooden walkway. There, one red eye peeking out from the brim of a tattered black tricorn hat, stands a skeleton. She quickly stows the bomb away, unwilling to let it be seen as a show of aggression, and elects to simply stand there still as a board. The skeleton sways left to right, head tilting to and fro as its fingers twitch from where they rest near a sharp blade and a familiar flintlock.

The skeleton waves.

The first mate blinks, startled. It waves again, then jumps a few times and takes a step forward. She stumbles back, struck with a sudden chilling terror that vanishes as quick as it came when the skeleton freezes. Taking a closer look, the twitching fingers no longer seem as threatening. Instead, it’s as though the skeleton is nervous.

It waves. She waves back. It’s jaw chatters, head bobbing excitedly and both hands coming up to wave now. She lets out a quiet laugh, then waves back just as enthusiastically. When it jumps, she jumps. And when it pulls out a concertina, she pulls out her hurdy-gurdy. The sweet melody of the well known ‘Be Calmed’ shanty lifts into the air, a little choppy and missing the voices of many a pirate, but good none-the-less.

After the last note rings out, the first mate hesitates. She can still feel the gaping wound beneath her eyepatch, but the skeleton seems quite friendly now and she really does need to get back to her Captain. So with another wave, she begins the walk back across the island. When her captain’s ship is in sight, she turns to see if the skeleton is still in view, only to see it running after her. She freezes, torn between curiosity and terror.

It stops a few paces from her and tilts its head. After a moment, she begins to walk again. Now she can hear the clack clack of the skeleton following her. Sweat beads over her neck. She gives a salute to Mildred and calls a farewell to Colin, all while trying to ignore the animated bones that never stray too far from her.

What if it tries to kill her Captain? What if it follows them all the way to another island and steals their ship, or takes their treasure and shoots them? What if-

“Oh! Who’s this?” The voice of her Captain breaks through the fog of uncertainty.

He’s carrying the chicken crate she’d forgotten to grab after being shot. And she’s looking at the skeleton behind her, all open smiles and welcoming friendliness. She turns to the skeleton, unsure what to say. Before she can say anything, it crouches down and drags a finger through the sand.

D E V I N

“Devin? Is that your name?” When the skeleton nods, her Captain smiles even wider. “Nice to meet you Devin! I’m the Captain of this here ship. I’m afraid we can’t stay to chat though, we have quite the adventure to embark upon.”

With that, they wade out into the water. Without hesitation, the first mate follows closely behind him. She can see their shoulders relax when he notices her, and they reach the ship soon after. They would have docked by the boardwalk, only there had already been another ship there. Now, she can only assume that the ship belongs to Devin.

Clack clack follows them as they descend below deck to stow away the chicken crate. They turn, finding Devin standing there.

“Uh,” she begins, “I’m not sure we got room fer another on the ship. ‘Tis built fer two.”

“It’s fine! Devin here can just enjoy the sailing. You’re plenty free to tag along.” The Captain makes his way up to the stern, a jaunty tune to her step.

After a nervous glance at Devin, his first mate follows. With practiced ease, she begins the task of raising the anchor. Halfway through, there’s a clack and suddenly the work becomes much easier. She glances up to see Devin at the other end of the capstan. The anchor is raised in record time, and she quickly lowers the sails, again with help from a certain skeleton. When all is said and done, the ship sailing cleanly over the waves as the Captain takes the helm, she turns to Devin.

“Thank ye.” Devin tilts his head at her words, then nods and makes his way below deck.

She follows, making her way to stand next to him at the map. He begins to move his finger around, with no clear destination in mind, simply wandering over all of the islands that the Captain and his first mate have found. She reaches a finger up and points at one island in particular: Chicken Isle. Devin stares at her finger, then turns to go back above deck.

The first mate stands there, nerves growing with every passing second. She knows her place is here, at the map to track the ship’s progress towards their destination, but she can’t help wanting to rush to her Captain’s side. Her fears are only assuaged when Davin comes clacking back down the steps. This time, a bright red parrot follows him.

The first mate’s eyes light up, hands coming as if to reach for the small bird before she stops herself. Devin chatters his jaw, then gestures towards the bird. With the invitation now freely given out, she crouches down and bends her arm. The bird gives a short squawk, then hops up onto her forearm. She straightens, stiff as a board, staring with wide eyes at the small creature. It shimmies along her arm until it can reach her shoulder, then nuzzles its feathered head into her jaw. She lets out a gasp of delight, flushing a moment later when Devin’s jaw chatters in response.

She stands there for who knows how long before the bird flaps its wings and hops over to Devin’s shoulder, nuzzling in the same way it had to her. She turns to the map, shakes the excitement out through her hands, then races above deck to her Captain.

“Devin has a bird!” She keeps her voice in a low whisper yell. “I got ta pick it up; it’s so cute!”

Her Captain chuckles, giving her a knowing side glance. “See? Devin’s not so bad. Seems like quite the friendly skeleton.”

She flushes again, bowing her head. “Aye, that he is.” She pauses, taking in their heading. “A wee bit more ta the East, Cap’n.”

“Right, adjusting course.” The Captain handles the helm with an almost fumbling finesse. The way her steering looks awkward and refined all at once, truly something only her Captain could achieve. They always get to their destination though, and truly that’s what counts. “Why don’t you head back down there and spend more time with Devin? You know he’ll leave off when next we make port.”

The first mate nods, overcome with a sudden sense of longing. She shakes it off easily enough and goes back down below deck. She finds Devin standing at the map again. Instead of joining him, she heads to one of the openings in the hull serving as windows of sorts. She pulls herself up to sit on one of the sills, her legs dangling out over the water. Devin joins her with a clack clack of his bones.

They spend the next while like that, just sitting and staring out at the waves. Devin’s parrot hops between them both, sometimes flying out into the air before circling back to land on one of their shoulders. It’s nice, peaceful. The time passes easily with company, even if nothing is being done, and soon her Captain is giving out the call of land.

She hops back down and rushes above deck, taking her post at the sail length cleats. As they approach Chicken Isle, she begins the process of raising the sails. With that done, their momentum slows considerably. Once the ship is in the correct position, she begins to lower the anchor. Once again, Devin helps here, making the strain of lowering the anchor slowly less considerable.

Finally, they are able to get off the ship and catch some chickens. The first mate is first off the ship, taking no time to jump into the water in preparation for her Captain’s descent. Suddenly, a shot rings out.

The first mate flinches and cries out in alarm, ice sliding through her veins at a horrible realization. Devin is alone with her Captain. She’d allowed herself to become comfortable and complacent, and now her Captain may be dead. Another shot rings out, this one making contact with the sand at shore.

She blinks. At shore? The first mate turns in the water, looking at the shore of the island to see a Skeleton Captain aiming a gun in her direction. Yet another shot rings out, this one catching the Skeleton Captain in its shoulder. The glowing pile of animated bones clacks angrily, retreating into the dense brush that coats this part of the small island.

Devin hadn’t been betraying them, he’d been saving her. With that realization, she feels a rush of relief and guilt. She’d thought wrongly of him. He’d shot his own kind to help her, and she’d thought those horrible things of him. As her Captain begins his descent with the chicken crate in his arms, she resolves to not make the same mistake again. Devin is good, truly good. He is a friend.

Together, the first mate and Devin clear the island of skeletons. The Skeleton Captain’s head is removed to turn in to the Order of Souls, and a treasure map is retrieved from another skeleton. She follows the map, then points to the spot that must be dug up. Devin digs until he hits the surface of a chest, then together they pull the chest from the sand and lug it back to the ship. Two times they do this, then another when Devin races over with a supply chest full of preserved food.

When the Captain comes over triumphantly carrying a red speckled chicken in the crate, they swim back out to the ship and set off again. After ensuring that they are headed in the right direction, the first mate once again leaves Devin at the map to talk to her Captain. She makes her way to the helm, standing there and watching the waves as a sort of peace settles over her.

“So we got what the Merchant Alliance asked fer?” She asks her Captain.

“...”

An oppressive silence falls over them both. “Cap’n?”

“...I may have, er, misplaced the bounty.”

“Ye misplaced the bounty.” Her voice is hard and accusing.

“Yes?”

“So we don’t know what the bounty be askin’ fer. Which means we may’a gotten the wrong chicken.”

“Yes, precisely.” They nod, chin tilted up and grin firmly in place. Only the slightest strain shows her nervousness.

The silence descends once more, choking them both. The first mate can feel anxiety and shame clawing at her bones. Then a thought occurs to her. Devin just voyaged with them this whole way, and they may have gotten the wrong chicken.

“Cap’n.”

“Hmm?” The Captain ignores the sweat beading on his forehead, trying to pretend the ice in her first mate’s voice isn’t real.

“If we dock at the Outpost, an’ we got the wrong chicken… I be shootin’ Devin.”

“What? No! We are not-!” He glances down in a panic, realizing their words will carry to the skeleton below them. She quickly lowers her voice. “We are not going to shoot Devin. It will be fine. We can send him on his merry way and then get the right chicken.”

The first mate takes a deep breath, trying to calm down. Her cheeks feel hot and her hands are shaking. “I’d shoot ‘im fer the embarrassment alone.”

“Well, we ain’t gonna shoot him at all.”

She takes another deep breath, forcing her body to relax. With a firm nod, she makes her way back down to Devin. She tries to ignore her Captain’s stare, relieved when she is hidden from view.

Devin looks up, then waves cheerily. She feels a rush of guilt at even suggesting shooting Devin. She wouldn’t have killed him, just downed him long enough for them to escape and never ever run into him again. Perhaps they’d even flee the Sea of Thieves. Yes, that seems like a good plan. If the chicken is the wrong one, they will shoot Devin and then sail away to never return. He’ll be just fine.

She sits back down on the window sill, Devin once again sitting beside her. The air feels oppressive this time, weighing heavy on her mind and crushing the breath from her lungs. She pretends to not notice the worried glances Devin is giving her. The ship can’t reach the outpost fast enough.

When finally the outpost is sighted, she leaps to her feet and races above deck to be free of the crushing weight. Once again she goes through the familiar motions of docking, trying to ignore how happy it makes her when Devin helps with the anchor. Having help really is quite nice.

She retreats below deck to grab one of the treasure chests. When she comes back up, she deposits it at Devin’s feet. He tilts his head at her.

“This be yers,” she points at the chest, then at him, “Ye helped collect two chests, now one be fer ye.”

He glances down at the chest again, then tentatively picks it up. When she nods, he clacks happily and descends the ladder. She goes back down to retrieve the second chest, going down before her Captain and swimming along beside him. They go separate ways once on land. She heads to the Gold Hoarders tent, cashing in the contents of the chest in exchange for proper gold. Then, she and Devin head towards Mildred to see how the Captain is faring.

His shoulders are hunched. She walks up to them, stopping beside them and giving Mildred a tight smile. The Captain is still holding the chicken crate.

“It be the wrong chicken?”

“Aye.” She glances at her nervously.

Behind them, Devin chatters his jaw and then clacks as he steps closer.

“I’m gonna shoot ‘im.”

“No!”

#own writing #Sea of Thieves #colin #senior trader mildred #oc #captain #first mate #devin #queer character #pirates #friendship #skeletons #tw #cw #blood #gore #minor body horror #death #temporary death #talk of killing #guns #firearms #thalassophobia #Do Not Repost