#^ has to do 4 more engineering assignments

[lifeintheworldtocome]

the fucking horrors

[gis3lla]

teacher, teacher!

what type of teachers would haikyuu characters be? (Karasuno Ver.)

Hinata Shoyo - gym teacher, middle school

he is the type of teacher to make you run 5 laps at 7 in the morning argue with the wall.

really likes his job and is passionate about it, man takes it SERIOUSLY. (maybe a little too seriously sometimes..)

he's a pretty fun teacher, changes up the lesson sometimes to make it more enjoyable

understands the kids a lot

i think he bonds better with middle schoolers as high schoolers are a bit too mature but elementary school kids aren't able to keep up.

likability: 7/10. (the kids sometimes thinks he is a bit too much, but once you get to know him more he's a really fun teacher)

Tsukishima Kei - Honors Literature teacher, high school

oh man. bad news.

he is that one teacher that assigns so much work, but also is nice in a mean way.. but then again his entire routine and existence runs on caffeine since he doesn't ever sleep.

he is the type of teacher to assign homework every single day, keep the kids on track, but he is really good at his job as he teaches really well.

i think his students like him as a person, but not as a teacher. he's kind of mean when he's in a bad mood.

insanely fast grader. argue with a wall. this man has no life outside of his job.

likability: 5/10. (most of his students don't open up to him because of his humor and his rigorous coursework, but the ones that do find him a nice teacher. honestly I think if it wasn't for him getting fired he would be a lil mean on purpose)

Sugawara Koushi - Preschool teacher, preschool

are you kidding me right now? this man was born to be an adult figure for children

pure angel I swear

the sweetest teacher ever.

the kids love him and he is very patient with his students

loves to host fun parties for his class, and takes class on fun field trips

never raises his voice, and gets the kids to listen most of the time.

parents, children, staff, everyone loves him, he's a pleasant, neat and kind person to be around.

likability: 10/10 (who doesn't like him is the real question)

Yamaguchi Tadashi - engineering teacher, college

honestly I'm not too sure about yamaguchi's subject.

he gives me history teacher vibes, but then again I half expect him to whip out 5 different languages and somehow has 4 degrees as if he's living too many different lives.

well anyways, if he was an engineering teacher, I believe that he would engage with his students a lot.

he cares about his students, and there is a level of respect, but he isn't close close with anyone (like they don't really make small talk and stuff like that)

i am a firm believer he is a SLOW grader.

likability: 7/10 (no one really dislikes him for any reason, but it's not like he is the favorite either so..)

Daichi Sawamura - History teacher, middle school

now this man screams history teacher

specifically history teacher, wears fancy shirts + ties, and has a wife and 3 kids type history teacher

but he is a very fun teacher, hear me out.

he would be the type of teacher to make all of the boring units fun by incorporating acting, watching fun documentaries, and making fun projects

assigns work every single day, even if it isn't a lot.

he would definitely change up the plans if the class seems boring, he really cares about his students.

he is strict at times, but most of the kids like him and don't misbehave, so no one really has a problem with him.. (he's terrifying when he's mad D:)

likability: 9/10 (idk I feel like he's very likable but that one point might be deducted for strictness)

Chikira Ennoshita - algebra teacher, high school

have any of you guys have that one teacher that looks like they want to quit their job? well that's him.

honestly he wanted to be a math professor at some college, but he somehow ended up at the high school

he would teach all levels to be honest

very good teacher, explains things very well, but looks like he hates his life half the time because he's tired

he just assigns work, and if the class finishes early he just lets them do whatever they want..

likability: 8.5/10 (no one hates him because no one causes trouble and he's a good teacher but he seems cold all the time)

Asahi Azumane - orchestra teacher, high school

this man is a saint, the nicest and calmest teacher out of everyone

he is so patient and he rarely gets mad, he is very gentle (no one ever heard him raise his voice at a student before..)

genuinely loves his job, and grades only on effort

rarely assigns tests, but occasionally does

makes the class a very fun environment

many kids look up to him and admire his patience

really good at finding nice pieces

likeability: 11/10. no questions or comments needed.

Tanaka Ryunosuke - band teacher, middle school

honestly he is just cool

he would have a very cool band, and anyone taking his class is considered cool

prioritizes having fun over learning, but his class still gets a lot done

i feel like he would either play with the drums or the electric guitar

he would very vibe with every single kid, even if they are rude to him

likability: 10/10 (honestly I don't have much to say about him other than he's cool because he is..)

Kageyama Tobio - geometry teacher, high school

did you ever have that one teacher that seems like they never know what they were doing? that's him

don't get me wrong, he's trying his best, but he just needs a little bit of guidance

he would be a relatively new teacher too.

he would hold a lot of after school study sessions to be honest

doesn't know what to do, but will give or help get help for his students

a lot of kids like him because of his hard work ethics (and his pretty face)

likability: 8.5/10 (people like him, but maybe not that much)

Nishinoya Yuu - Chemistry teacher, high school

do I ever see him studying chemistry? absolutely not. I don't even think he would be a good teacher.. (no offense I love this man)

but if he did, he would definitely teach a very fun subject like chemistry.

he would assign a lot of crazy projects and encourage his students to be creative and run fun experiments/labs often

honestly a very slow grader, but he is not strict at all

often gives pity points to students..

it's like impossible to fail his class at this point

likability: 9/10 (some kids don't take him that seriously but he is a pretty popular teacher)

Kiyoko Shimizu - AP literature teacher, high school/college

honestly this baddie only teaches the smart kids

she doesn't tolerate any mischievous in her class

the type to just send the kid to the principal's office after a few warnings (miss girl doesn't tolerate or have patience)

she is a very stern and serious teacher, so a lot of kids are intimidated by her, but she loves her students a lot.

the students that do have her do very well in her class, and they are the very smart nerdy kids

she's a quick grader, and a very good teacher

she is the type of teacher that can explain very complicated things insanely well

constant quizzes/Exams/essays/projects in her class

tsukishima kei but make it x100 worse

likability: 5/10 (she is either a hit or a miss, you either like her or you don't, no in-between)

note: hi guys!! I just thought I'd do something fun and different! here are my top 3 teacher choices for Karasuno:

1st: Daichi Sawamura - honestly I love history teachers. all of mine were really fun and sweet, and I feel like Daichi is a very people's person.

2nd: Sugawara Koushi - he's very sweet, next!

3rd: Nishinoya Yuu - honestly I love science, and he is such an energetic person, so that makes it super fun!

thank you all for the support!! Have an amazing day/night <3

[galaxygurlll]

FP1 - Aussie GP 2019 - Part 4

A new team? With two females? This is unheard of and will most certainly shake things up in F1! Meet Y/n Rose-Ocean and Evelyn Match as they get assigned seats into a new team into the F1, Porsche Royal racing. Y/n holds the number 38 whilst Evelyn holds the number 72. The two are introduced as rookies in the 2019 season, but, their area has been yet to be revealed, it being closed by tarps, and the two girls' identities have also remained a secret. Over time, even though she’s one of the youngest, she soon becomes the “grid aunt” and even “grid older/younger sister” as well.

Warnings for this chapter: None

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Previous chapter

Part 3: https://www.tumblr.com/galaxygurlll

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Continuing on...

The atmosphere is immaculate.

Ev and I are walking into the paddock, side by side with Aurel on my left and Urs on Ev's right. The sound of clicking enters my ears and I look around and find a camera pointing towards us and I give a quick wave to it.

With the security around us, we're able to avoid all the press and people wanting to ask us questions and get statements from us which I am somewhat happy about. I mean, I know that after Sunday, it will become a weekly occurrence, I hope.

Our little group passes by some of the other drivers that are just entering their garages and we even pass by Lance who I wave to as well and get a nod and smile in response before he disappears inside Racing Point to most likely talk to his team.

It's only a few more seconds before one of the security people is opening up a flap that lets us inside the Porche garage. "Alright girls, you can head up to your drivers' rooms but make sure to be down here in around an hour or so please," Aurel informs us causing both Ev and I to nod as we take off our hoods and sunnies.

"Sure thing boss and second boss, see ya later!" I call out to the brother as the two of us girls rush up to our rooms and agree to spend time right now in our own rooms, but later on will hang out in one another's.

As soon as I close the door, I practically rip off my disguise and let out a breath of a realise. In a few hours time, I will be driving in FP1 for the first time in F1 amongst the top 10 teams and top 20 drivers in the world. Talk about pressure.

I'm not too great with my emotions, but I've been compacting these feelings deep down and just need to let it all go. But I can't. Not yet at least.

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Small time skip

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As soon as I place my helmet onto my head, I realise a deep sigh and make a quick jog over to my car. Upon taking the steering wheel out, I hand it to one of my engineers to hold onto whilst I hoist myself up and into the vehicle before taking it back and putting it into place.

Now, time for the waiting game.

The garage is still hidden by the tarp, but is about to be revealed for the first time ever. Porche Royal Racing.

And then, the countdown in my headset begins. I'm way too nervous to even look over at Evelyn. "3... 2... 1..." And as soon as that last number was spoken, the garage becomes bright. Sunlight finally able to reach the inside and I can hear the distant cheers of the crowd.

"Alright y/n, wait for the signal to head out onto the track," The voice of my race engineer, Gavern, echoes through my ears and I give him a thumbs up as he turns around to face me before turning back around. It feels like forever until I hear the words, "Alright, you are free to go, follow the people that are instructing you out."

I don't respond back, but I do follow those instructions and wait to be signed out before driving down the pit lane towards the exit slowly before speeding up and heading out onto the track.

It feels so surreal. Honestly. Like, if I was told when I was five that I'd be here, I would never have believed it. Having the air rush past me as I go speeds only imaginable in a casual car on the road. Of course, I had practised in the car before starting in Formula 1 but this is nothing like that feeling.

Looking through my mirrors as I go through turn 6, I spot Ev a little ways behind and send a quick thumbs up to her, hoping that she can see it. "Good pace so far, keep going," Gavern, my race engineer, speaks making me jump for a second from the scare, "Yup, cool," I respond back, "Did I scare you?" He asks making me sigh whilst going through turn 10, "Yes, sorry. I'm gonna get used to that. At some point," As he responds back, he's chuckling making me roll my eyes, "Sorry, good driving though. I'll leave you be for now."

I decide not to respond and keep my eyes ahead of me as I hear other car engines all around the place. Turn after turn, car after car, gear change after gear change. My mind doesn't even get to properly comprehend what I am doing but also it does at the same time as I take each turn so gracefully and precisely whilst using enough oversteer to keep steady and to try not to crash.

This goes on for some time, from what I realise as I have to shake myself back into reality as I got so deep into focus.

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Small time skip

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I stayed out for as long as needed and possible before getting told over radio that, "That's enough information for now, you can pull in and recharge for FP2." And, of course, I listen to the message and pull into the pit lane and see many curious eyes from the other teams garages as I drive by them.

Hopping out of the car after parking the car, I make sure to keep my helmet on before spotting Gavern gesturing me over to him just as Ev pulls in as well and, with a quick wave and thumbs up to her, I hastily walk over towards my race engineer.

Gavern decides to also give me a brief run down on everything that happened during FP1, including the other drivers:

Running wide, Valtteri lost the rear of his Mercedes, narrowly avoiding the wall before executing a nearly perfect hand-break turn.

Alex took a spin exiting turn two damaging both ends of his Toro Rosso, not the start he was hoping for.

Daniel was wearing Aussie themed boots and has a new helmet design but was only in P19 in FP1.

Drivers kept driving through the dirt.

Lewis placed P1 in FP1.

Ev placed P17 in FP1.

And I placed P14 in FP1.

It's now some time until FP2, and I need a rest. I'm all sweaty and puffed out for now. But, I can do this. I'm already up high in the grid, but it is also on FP1 so, drivers could be hiding their true talents.

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Next chapter

Part 5: https://www.tumblr.com/galaxygurlll

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Authors note:

Hey everybody! I am so sorry for being off the grid lately but I started my holidays around 13 days ago and just wanted a bit of a break. But, I am back now and I hope that you enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. The next one will include both FP2 and FP3 so let me know if you lot would like a sneak peak of that once I start writing it! Also, I'll be putting up a poll as well after this, so, look out for that! Anywho, enough from me, cya next time!

Tag list

@chaoswithus

[tantegel]

common haikyuu misconceptions

i might make a more comprehensive list later, but i just gotta get this out now to scratch the itch:

setting errors:

date tech is a vocational school for engineering (as evidenced by hq-bu and its name), NOT a regular highschool - meaning there's a focus on getting actual hands-on experience and the classes are likely specialized to the fields the kids want to get into as soon as they graduate highschool. i doubt any of the date tech kids went to college because of this, as vocational schools fast tracks their students into their respective careers. (it's also why the third years not having jobs is a running gag in bu, bc they very much could start working right after highschool, esp if they don't go to uni)

so far the only member of shiratorizawa's team to have been explicitly confirmed to have passed the entrance exam and was NOT scouted by washijo is shirabu. it's been stated that anyone scouted earns a sports scholarship that lets them bypass the entrance exams.

this gets glazed over because of how emphasized the accents of inarizaki is, but our main cast+anyone else from miyagi almost certainly also have accents, that when localized would also be rural-country adjacent! washijo is localized with a accent written out similar to inarizaki's, but he's actually speaking with a more thick miyagi-ben that's difficult to distinguish in english.

what class number a person has (typically 1-5, but can go higher depending on the school population) can correlate to their general state of their grades (on the lower end would usually get assigned to class 1-2, while those who are aiming to get into competitive unis are 4 or higher) however this isn't always the case but does work for a general rule of thumb. i do have to say being in lower ranked classes doesn't necessarily equal to stupid, just not academically inclined.

if school has academy in the name it's a private institution, whereas -highschool (karasuno, inarizaki) implies it being a public school.

character writing errors:

NO ONE FROM SHIRATORIZAWA WOULD EVER CALL USHIJIMA USHIWAKA. sorry, this one really pisses me off bc the dub reallllllly fucked up with localizing nicknames/how characters refer to each other and is super inconsistent BUT I DIGRESS. it's extremely rude and implies he isn't worth a proper address of either his first or last name, and considering ushijima is implied to be an old wealth type of family with a lot of history to the point where they broke tradition to have waka's father take on the ushijima name upon being married - it's very very insulting. the third years would call him wakatoshi, while 2nd and 1st years call him ushijima/ushijima-senpai. ESPECIALLY SHIRABU HE WOULD DIE BEFORE HE EVER CALLS HIM USHIWAKA (biting my phone in rage at how this shit made it into the dub script)

who uses first names/who doesn't can get confusing, but a character who consistently uses first names, even when absolutely not appropriate is tendo. he even calls washijo tanji-kun which is fucking insane because he's not only an elderly staff member, he's washijo. the fact that he gets away with this implies either tendo's always this rude or they're very close (my personal preference) interestingly he does call semi by his last name, just with the twist of it being an affectionate nickname (semi-semi) which implies closeness considering the only other guy who isn't just [first name] or tanji-kun is wakatoshi (waka-kun)

everyone knows oikawa loves using nicknames, but in regards to how he formulates said nicknames for his team, it seems to be based on making their last names sound as cute as possible. adding an -un (matssun) or -chi (watacchi) or just using -chan, an affectionate term often used for girls or young kids (iwa-chan). the two (technically four) who break this trend is makki (interesting that he doesn't call him hana-chan, which would fit his naming scheme more as that's a very common cutesy nickname) and kyotani (kyoken, which might be a ref to ushijima being ushiwaka as a form of subtle disrespect and may imply that oikawa probably likes him the least out of everyone on seijoh but sees a little bit of ushijima in him) yahaba and kindaichi unfortunately do not have canon nicknames however which is. strange. i personally deign them yahabun (because yahaba is also set to be oikawa's successor and the oyabun/boss of seijoh) daikun (in reference to him low key being built like a radish) daicchan would also be acceptable. the use of last names is verrry interesting tho considering the cutesy-ness of his naming choices would lend itself better to the use of first names, implying there's an invisible wall he's putting up between him and his teammates (writers, make of that as you will)

hinata is sometimes written to be ruder than he actually is, because canonically he's pretty respectful to anyone older/figures of authority, with a notable exception: oikawa. however, you could argue his intent isn't to be rude, rather he views his nickname as cool (similar to his original view on kags' king of the court nickname) though he calls him oikawa-san post timeskip. he's a good noodle 🥺

inarizaki does not have a confirmed vice-captain, however considering all the little context clues given it's verrry likely to be oomimi ren, as he's close enough to kita for atsumu to joke they're married (👀👀👀) and aran, for all his screentime is never explicitly stated to be vice captain when there were plenty of opportunities, esp in the scene where kita was named captain. very much a soekawa jin situation where a character w very little screentime actually had a relatively important role within the team

i put this one last bc it's a nitpick with no definitive answer, but it is highly likely that reon ohira, aran ojiro, adriah tomas, and oriver barnes are incorrect spellings of the intended names of these characters. the correct spelling based on intended naming themes should be leon (lion theming fitting with shiratorizawa's apex predator theme), alan (fox in breton language), adrian (highly likely to be american), and oliver (this one should be a no brainer)

[jellielover]

CORRU OBERBER???

CASTE AND FUNCTION

my main assumption is that the 4 castes originated as specialization for different roles in a hive, such as tir with acid for expansion and kiv for guarding. This does seem to have literal biological implications, those being different abilities that different castes have and the different receptor shapes that they have. More on this later…

if we're really getting into it (sociology major voice) then the closest allegory imo is sex vs gender, where we assign certain physical traits as belonging to a certain sex and then the social roles accompanying those as genders, so caste is probably both a physical thing (tirs with acid and hand-shaped receptors) and a social thing (tirs being kind). I do think there are physical aspects but i wouldn't be surprised if caste implies both a biological and social aspect. Perhaps sex is treated as a medical fact that has no bearing on social gender roles, and so the concept of gender ceases to exist because gender is a social construct, so with no social importance it has no meaning. Translating this to caste, the Obesk are kind of like "yeah we have these 4 castes (sexes) but who give a shit?" except we also assign certain traits to each caste, so in that aspect it is also a social role one can occupy.

As for Obesk, they seem to not give a crap about gender/sex because their main social roles would (theoretically) stem from what one's caste does to maintain the hive/cave-city. my assumption is that Obesk have human-esque sexes but put all the social role baggage on receptor shape instead: we get comments like how Kazki and Bozko are both 'vel-like at heart' and Vekoa being the perfect jut because she's unemotional. I'm also keeping in mind that this is all from Akizet's perspective (and unreliable narrator, but she doesn't have a lot of reasons to hide sociological processes).

From the gameplay end, there's some confusion over which character use what pronouns and why and how and blah blah.I'd like to assert that we don't know if pronouns are on the mindspike end for our benefit or what they symbolize to the obesk. Pronouns in english aren't a hard-ball way to ping gender either: a pronoun simply takes the place of a noun. We don't really know what the pronoun indicates for Obesk in this case, especially because we don't specifically see any sexual dimorphism. Being intersex in humans is as common as a peanut allergy, and technically the drone/queen/worker thing ARE the biological sexes of bees, so we really don't know much because we also don't know anything about Obesk reproduction.

One interesting thing to note is that Akizet refers to people with they/them until proven guilty, seen with Itzil's 'partner' becoming 'she/her' once we talk more about her. If there's so little sexual dimorphism AND this does indicate gender, then how does one tell this information?

PHEREMONES

Obesk is known to be a dark-surfaced moon where most of the sentient life lives in caves together in cave-cities. Obesk also have four different castes with four roles that might come with a functional insect hive: Kiv are larger and guard the nest, Tir have acid and expand the nest, Jut seem to focus on building and structure, and Vel might be messangers and do odd jobs. Over time, Jut became the engineers they are known to be now with the corrucystic revolution, being able to 'teach' corru.

The discussion about pheremones originally came from the fact that obesk are assumed to be insectoid, which has a bunch of evidence from how they speak about themselves. They were 'larval' before ascending, and have things like chitin and carapaces. There's also the plain association of the pets and things they have around them, like their dog is a bug (similar to how humans and dogs are both mammals). Obeski also has a ton of parasitization, its a huge theme in the story (especially with secri, zuzucri, and the whole implication that Obesk are parasites of corru itself). Obesk become infected with secri like a wasp laying its eggs inside of a caterpillar and bringing it back to Terrible Life. In addition to this, Obesk blood is always mentioned to be cyan, just like how hemocyanin and hemolymph in bugs appears.

A lot of the evidence for pheromones specifically also comes from the Zuzucri memhole, where they mention being able to smell out castes by pheromone, namely vel and kiv (and tell that they're dead!) and suspecting something is wrong because the unnamed vel has their scent tainted by the presumably metallic zuzucri. Akizet also mentions something about 'trails being dispersed,' which would make sense if they were going from the relatively-sheltered caves to the windy, stormy surface.

I'd like to also point out that there's a ton of funny stuff you can do with pheromone headcanons.

-One comes from those experiments they did where they put ant death pheromones on alive ants to see if they would be taken to the pile of ant corpses (they were). Zuzucri memhole specifically does say that they can smell dead Obesk. Get the picture?

-My personal thinking is that Bozko might resemble a wasp with a very skinny waist, which then brings to mind the danger pheremones they release: they smell like overripe fruit. We know that when Bozko died he was the survivor of a cave-city being infested, and part of the kiv caveguards that had to kill all the husks. Bozko's cave-city post-secri-infection probably smelled like rotting fruit.

[moonbearmeliox]

Basic Guide to Indy Car

I was going to wait to post this until there was actual confirmation that Logan is going to Indycar, but with the recent Williams news, a lot of people have been asking about Indycar and how to get into so here's the Basic Guide I made when rumors started circulating that Logan was going to be out by the end of the year. I started getting into Indycar this year, using it as the filler when there was no F1 on weekends. I'm still fairly new to the sport, and most of the information I got from my dad so if there's anything incorrect, feel free to let me know.

Teams: There are 10 teams currently racing in Indy Car with Prema being the newest team joining the grid in 2025. Some teams have two drivers, some have three, some even have 4. During a race you will not be able to tell who's on what team at first and who's driving which car since a lot of the cars look the same and the leader board shows the driver's numbers, not their team logos(Each team uses a different font for their drivers' numbers, but realistically it's always too small to properly identify what number belongs to which team or the fonts are too similar.) There is no Team Championship so realistically it is better to root for a driver than a whole team(Tho I will say I am an Andretti fan, but only because it's Andretti and 2 of my favorite drivers are on that team)

Drivers: There are 27 drivers each race, except for the Indy 500 which includes around 5 extra driver/team entries. Driver swapping happens more often in IndyCar, so just be prepared if a driver swap gets announced if a driver isn't doing well or if a team is racing at an oval track(teams will sometimes swap in drivers who are better at ovals). The driver's numbers are assigned by what car they are driving/what team they are on. A driver doesn't get to pick their number unless they win the championship(Current Champion is Will Power with his driver number being 12).

The Cars: IndyCar only has two Engine Manufacturers, Chevy and Hyundai and there is a championship between them(it's not very thrilling though when it's just two manufactures competing). The cars need to refuel during pit stops, as Indy races are longer. Also the liveries are sponsored based, not team based, and they can look very similar, as they change almost every race. Mid-way through the 2024 season, they switched to a hybrid engine system. From what I can understand, the cars now have the same battery system that Formula 1 has with drivers being able to charge the battery during the slow parts. The battery also seems to provide the power used for Push to Pass.

Push to Pass: DRS equivalent. Each driver starts a race with 200 seconds of Push to Pass they can use throughout the race that is activated after the 1st lap. Push to Pass uses fuel but gives the driver an extra push to try and overtake.

Tires: Two types of tires, Primary(Hard) and Alternates(Soft). Each driver needs to change to a different type of tire at least once during a race. The tires are provided by Firestone.

Races: Indycar races take place in various US States(and one race in Toronto). They run longer and have more laps than an Formula races, hence why the drivers need to refuel during the race. The only way a driver can be taken out of a race is if the car gets severely damaged or will not restart(unless they're racing ovals, no car restart on the ovals). If a driver spins out or crashes, the car will get restarted and they can get back in the race. Also cars that are a lap down do NOT need to unlap themselves, which can lead to some conflict with the leading cars. Every car that starts the race earns 5 points

There are three different types of tracks that IndyCar races are held on: Road Courses, Street Tracks, and Ovals(Oval and Street races are more about survival).

There will be at least 3 yellow flag every race. One of them will almost always be during the first lap of a race.

In terms of which races are the most important during the Indycar season: The Long Beach Grand Prix and The Indianapolis 500(Indy 500) are the most important. The Long Beach Grand Prix is like the Monaco of Indycar, besides the Indy 500 every driver wants to win this race. The Indianapolis 500 is the pinnacle of IndyCar and is one part of the Triple Crown of Motorsports. 200 laps around an oval circuit with 5 extra driver entries, this is the most important race in Indycar.

Where to Watch: Right now, Indycar is broadcasted on Peacock, NBC, and USA. Going into 2025 IndyCar will be broadcasted on Fox Sports. It is important to note that with Indycar being around a 3 hour races, there are a lot of commercial breaks. You'll get 7 minutes of racing before it cuts to a 2-3 minute commercial break and if a yellow flag happens, they will cut to commercial shortly after(this could just be an NBC thing, won't know until the 2025 season starts). In terms of commentators, going in to 2025 it's unknown who will be commentating for the 2025 IndyCar season since they will be switching from Peacock/USA to FoxSports and the commentators will probably change.

Other Stuff: Before each race there's an evocation, the leader board shows how many seconds behind a driver is from the leader of the race, and each driver has their own pit box so teams do not have to worry about double stacking. There are no subtitles for team radios so it may be hard to hear what is being said. Each driver has a spotter(or more depending on the track layout), which is someone that watches the race from a higher vantage point and keeps the drivers and their teams updated throughout the race. Also there is a driver named Sting Ray Robb

[downins]

✩°｡⋆⸜ 🎧✮yeji dating an engineer student✩°｡⋆⸜ 🎧✮ (college!au)

a/n: yall i have the fattest fucking crush on yeji atm this is crazy ngl like how is she so GORGEOUS and TALENTED?? i'm so gay for her help

non-idol!yeji x engineer!fem!reader

warning(s): suggestive (sort of?),some swearing, mostly fluff, yeji being the best gf ever

listen to : "shibuya, free nationals ft. syd"

how you meet:

you and your dormmate, lia have been friends for what feels like forever and you always see her hang around a group of girls and one girl caught your attention, which is hwang yeji <3

you were more of an introvert and lia always encouraged you to socialise more so you'd feel less lonely. you constantly protested and told her that you prefer being alone and having a small circle

so of course lia being the most amazing best friend that she is, invited you to her friendgroup by frequently asking you to join them

they were really sweet and welcoming which allowed you to be more comfortable. they're really affectionate towards you and ensure you never feel left out during hangouts

how she fell for you:

ever since you started spending time with the girls more, yeji started learning more and more about you

she sees the way you care for her and the rest, for instance, you always lend your jackets to any of them when they need it, you checking up on them in the groupchat and how you're always there to assist them on their assignments

she has always perceived you as a cold, anti-social person but then her perspective changed after knowing you more which led her to slowly develop feelings for you

the incident that really made her fall for you even harder was when the rest of the girls were dead asleep after 4 hours of group studying and yeji was still struggling to understand a certain topic, you didn't hesitate to scooch beside her and rubbed her back, calming her down

"hey it's really alright, this happens to everybody all the time, this doesn't mean you're not smart, here i'll teach you slowly just let me know if i'm moving too fast okay?"

"promise me you won't laugh at me if i asked multiple stupid questions"

"no question is stupid yeji trust me" you smiled at her and gave her a side hug

she loves likes how supportive you are and ever since then you have been her ray of sunshine

dating her:

trust me when i say this girl is always admiring you whenever you're studying or working on your little robots, like you're there getting electrocuted for the 10th time and she's still in awe of you

you coding out a special website for her so she can click it whenever she feels demotivated or when she misses you :(

you also built a tiny robot that accompanies her whenever she's studying or just relaxing in her dorm, she talks to it a lot and plays little games with it

to you, these may seem as if they're small gestures but she literally sobs when she receives your little robots specifically made for her

since the girls hang around you and lia's dorm a lot, she gets to see you in your nerdiest state like i'm talking the LED magnifying glasses, holding calculations papers and blueprints. she loves it SO MUCH

sometimes it's just you and her in your room so you're comfortable enough to just work in your sports bra and sweatpants and you end up doing her instead of your assignments. she gets to see your veiny hands and arms and she traces them when she's trying to get your attention

complimenting you on how hot you look when you work like that and you teasing her "sooo i can walk around like this when it's just me and lia?" "NO absolutely NOT"

her jealous ass HATES it when girls purposely ask you for "help" during classes or lunch breaks like there was once where a girl in your class purposely "dropped and disconnected" her airpods just so she can be close to you and yeji literally stood up with a disgusted look on her face saying "google and safari exists you know, she's trying to focus on her work"

she was so proud when the girl walked away shamefully. you chuckling and giving her a quick peck on the lips. "baby you don't have to be jealous i promise, i'll only ever have eyes for you" she melts everytime you reassure her like that

she loves sitting on your lap whenever you're studying or having group discussions with your teammates. you have your arm wrapped around her waist while she's scrolling on her phone and occasionally giving you kisses

she gets needy sometimes so when your discussions or study session start to feel like it's never ending, she'd turn towards you and start kissing your jaw all the way down to your collarbone, teasing you

there was one time when you were explaining about your presentation to your friends and she used her fingers to make your face turn to her and kissed you all of a sudden causing you to moan a little

"y/n.. WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT??"

"NOTHING NO NO SORRY I HIT MY ARM"

"GIRL STOP LYING YALL GETTING FREAKY THERE LETS JUST CONTINUE THIS TOMORROW"

yeji laughed and ran her hand through your hair while you whined about the incident

"aww i'm sorry baby, i'll make it up to you okay?" she kissed you again

[creatureprofessor]

For day 5 of @terroryuriweek - alternate universe

(click for better quality!)

Portrait of arcane navigator Le Vesconte and saint-guided navigator Fitzjames, who were assigned as core navigators for the expedition tasked with mapping out the spatial anomaly known as the "Northwest Passage". Taken in 845 A.C. near the skyport of New Greenhithe, colorized.

More about them and this AU under readmore:

This is the Skyship Navigators or simply Navigators AU, which exists in a universe I created a couple years ago, and just plonked the Terror guys as women in there. Actually, there are 2 stories taking place in this world before this AU which have nothing to do w The Terror, but more on those at another time.

In a nutshell, this universe is somewhat similar to our Earth, yet the rules of magic, science and such are different. No machine more advanced than a steam engine can really exist in there; at least, not in a large scale because of Anomalies.

Centuries ago, an event called the Seven Days of Calamity happened, which then made advanced machinery unusable, and caused pocket disturbances all over the planet (think of the book Roadside Picnic or the Divine Cities trilogy). These Anomalies vary in shape, size and abilities, but they essentially made land travel very risky and travel by sea nearly impossible. This is why humanity uses skyships for trade and travel, and the role of navigators has changed as well.

Because in the aftermath of the Calamity, new powers entered the picture: the fae, the arcane and saints which each existed before, but on a much more obscure scale. Also, there is no Christianity or Catholicism here they way it is in our world, it all works differently as the saints don't pray to God to grant miracles or to save someone, they themselves help their navigator.

There are 4 types of navigators: the Faeguided, arcane navigators (commonly known as ‘conduits’), saint-guided navigators (c.k. as ‘vessels’) and the Comedians, a rogue faction relying on lost then unearthed knowledge. Their job is to ensure the ship takes a safe route through the sky, with some help.

For brevity’s sake, arcane navigation relies on harnessing arcane magic to find safe paths, but it is highly addictive, and prolonged usage will lead to loss of sensation in the limbs and then to gradual paralysis. This can be mitigated by using arcane yet again to regain feeling, but this will make it all worse in the long run. But it’s the most powerful navigation type, as a conduit can also protect the ship itself from outside damage by conjuring shields.

Saint-guided navigators, as the name suggests, rely on the guidance and protection of their patron saint, each navigator having one. It is the “safest bet” of navigation, and the most prestigious. The Aerial Admiralty, who issues out navigators and deals with their training prefers it over the others.

Now for Dundy and Fitzjames:

Henriette Tamsin Dundas Le Vesconte (or Dundy to her friend(s)) is a middle-grade, but competent and reliable arcane navigator, assigned to be the core navigator on HMS Erebus alongside Fitzjames, with HMS Terror having saint-guided navigators Garnet Gore (originally from Erebus, a last-minute change) and Johanna Irving. Dundy is easy-going and easy to like, yet under the surface she can be quite headstrong and selfish, and can sometimes treat people with elegantly disguised impatience. She and Fitzjames have known each other since their early days at the Admiralty, had a thing back then, split while remaining the best of friends, but still land in each other’s arms from time to time.

Now, “She Who Lights the Way”, James or Jamie Fitzjames (she uses both) is the poster child of the Admiralty, the ideal saint-guided navigator. Her patron saint is Saint James the Unblemished (partly why she decided to stick w James), whose jawbone she keeps sealed inside a compartment in her helmet (many vessels do this with relics). Normally, a prolonged patronage of a saint leads to the loss of individual identity, hallucinations and dissociation, but so far James remained largely unaffected. Graceful, decisive and brave, she is often first in line to protect the ship and has been employed on warships before, earning a gilded reputation. However, she keeps her past battle injuries a secret and her presence can be somewhat of an annoyance with her seemingly endless anecdotes. She never said it out loud, but losing Dundy would be a great tragedy for her, as she remains her best, and perhaps only friend.

But much will change during the course of that fateful expedition…

[shikariiin]

Here I am again!!! I hope you'll notice 🙏🙏🙏🙏Because I NEED your responses again 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰 If you would be so kind 🥺I'll start again in order:

About AU:1.Why was the experiment with Thomas necessary? What was the plan to do with him next? Why was it necessary for Gresley and Furness road?2.Can a locomotive die from "human" injuries incompatible with life? Can you tell more about the differences between industrial type and biological type?

About Alice:1.Did any of the locomotives, besides Molly and Spencer, work with Alice for the army?2. Did Alice and Spencer work on the front lines or on the home front?(probably a stupid question, but I'm a bit not sure how it's work)3.How did Spencer, Alice, and Molly react to the end of the war?

About Spencer:1.Did Spencer enjoy working for the military? Would he like to go back to them again or did he enjoy working for the Duke more? What are his thoughts on the military orders and system? If Spencer could, would he want to put Thomas in a military academy to get him to stop being cheeky?Does he like having a military rank in his current life, and how has military service and war affected his behaviour?2.Everything is clear with tormented Alice 😓 But was Spencer happy in his marriage? Did he wish he didn't have that forced relationship too, or did he not care/he was in favour? Did he have a mistress? And how did the marriage affect him later in life, if at all? Was it hard for both of them to agree to the marriage, to sleep(🌚) together(how did they even do it ×.×) and to get along together at all?3.Does anyone know (besides you, of course, heh) that Spencer's cane is a weapon, and are there any laws restricting him from using it? What part of this cane is dangerous?? So interesting ×^×4.How bad is Spencer? I mean, is it something like "overly arrogant patriarchal psychotic bastard" or is there something else about him? Something good, or something even worse? Could he have hit Thomas or any other child? Outside of his relationship with Alice, has he behaved decently to other people?5.What is Spencer's attitude towards diesels? There are a lot of them on the mainland after all o.O

We'll go over this again oh Im excited!!

About AU :

1. I'm assuming this is about the arranged marriage, BIOFORGE, the company who started all this hybrid engine, was the one who initiated it for the sake of making more hybrid the faster way, Only early Industrial engines was made with a reproductive system due to the shortage of materials somewhere down the line, is why it was necessary.

2. No Hybrid can die due to normal Human injuries (stabbing, gunshot, etc), An Industrial engine is more durable and more efficient, they are made without a digestive tract so does not require food, Biological engines takes a more human body, with complete set of organs, this draws a set back to them if they get stabbed, they won't bleed put but there will be complications, the only way to make them fully dead is by smelting/Scrapyards.

About Alice :

1. There's quite few more that works with her, but they make mo significant to her storyline, aka mostly just background characters :p

2. Alice is on the frontlines as a Medic/Medics transport, while Spencer is just transport

3. They all were assigned to other things (the duke, etc etc) but mostly relieved

About Spencer :

1. He liked it enough, but as a grand engine he much preferred being with the duke

2. He has no feelings towards the system but is supportive of any decisions Bioforge made.

3. No he wouldn't, he love his son despite the circumstances, and his current weird situation with them ajdhsjskw

4. He was happy, deep inside he had regrets, but his Ego got the best of him, force or not he loved Alice dearly, but he's not the best for her.

5. He flirts around, but he doesn't have a mistress (which was, surprisingly, his choice)

6. It severely affected Spencer, both on his torn emotions and Reputation

7. They got along in few moments, how they slept together is in with consent from both of them, is anyone was worried about that ajdhssj

8. No one knows his cane is a weapon, no laws restrict him from using it, and the dangerous part would be the sword imbedded within

9. His character is a gray area leaning towards evil, he wants to be kinder and loved, but his ego make him irredeemable.

10. No he wouldn't hit Thomas, or any other children (unless those children are in his way ig).

11. No he has not behave any decently andhsjs

12. I made most of the diesels (not all) work for Spencer, like an underling :p

Thank you so much for the ask! Sorry it took so long,,,

🩵🩵🩵

[noona-clock]

Encounter - Part 2

Genre: Star Trek!AU, Enemies-to-Lovers Lite

Pairing: Chanyeol x You (Female!Reader)

Warnings: Depictions of a vehicle crash, Mention of injuries/blood

Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 | Words: 2,268

"You're flying this thing?" you asked, doing nothing to hide the shock and skepticism in your voice as the door to the shuttle closed. No one else had embarked after you, and to your knowledge, Chanyeol had been the only other one on board before you.

It was just the two of you on this mission? I mean, yes, your commanding officer had told you that someone from Engineering would accompany you, but you'd figured she simply hadn't thought to mention the pilot.

"Yeah," Chanyeol replied with an amused scoff. "Don't you remember how I aced every single piloting course at the academy?"

"No. Why would I remember that?"

With a chuckle, he replied, "You were a little obsessed with me. Why would you not remember?"

Your jaw fell open.

"I -- !" you stammered, not bothering to lower your voice since it was only the two of you in the shuttle. "I was not! What --! No! I was not obsessed with you! What are you talking about?!"

"I'm talking about how you always seemed to show up even when we stopped having classes together and always seemed to know my grades," he answered with a smirk. "Listen, we're old enough now. We've been out of the academy for years, you don't have to be embarrassed to admit you were a stalker."

It took you several seconds to gather your wits and calm down enough to be able to speak normally to him.

"I was absolutely not your stalker. I was not obsessed with you. I was very much annoyed by you, and I still am!" you assured him.

Chanyeol simply turned to look at you, his smirk still taunting you, and winked. "If you say so."

Was there anything worse than telling someone the truth only for them to insist otherwise?

Honestly, the only thing worse you could think of right now was being stuck on a shuttle away mission with only Chanyeol for company!

Once you got all of your equipment settled, you plopped into the seat next to Chanyeol's and let out a frustrated huff.

"I can't force you to believe me, and I'm not wasting any more of my time, so just get going already," you muttered.

"Yes, ma'am," Chanyeol replied, and out of the corner of your eye, you saw him salute you.

How did he manage to be so infuriating?

"Sensors and shields fully functional, weapons armed," you stated in your perfectly practiced professional Starfleet voice.

"Coordinates set," Chanyeol answered. "Thrusters engaged, setting engines to Warp 3."

It was strange how, when you were both actually doing your jobs, you could barely notice the tension between you. Although, I guess it wasn't strange since neither of you would be here if you didn't know how to be professional. It was really only strange to not feel the tension.

Once the shuttle had cleared the shuttle bay doors and exited the Solstice, you studied your screen and announced, "ETA in two hours, eleven minutes."

Not even a minute later, Chanyeol looked over at you, eyebrows raised. "You go ahead and sit back, relax. I'll take it from here."

A single, astonished Ha! escaped your lips before you said, "I don't think so. The away mission started as soon as we left the shuttle bay. I was assigned just as much as you were; there's no way I'm going to let you take credit for anything simply because you thought yourself in charge of the shuttle."

"I mean, we've got clear space ahead of us. I can practically put this thing on autopilot for the next two hours, but... suit yourself!"

That sentence reminded you of one thing in particular that really irked you about Chanyeol, so you pushed your chair slightly away from your console and swiveled to face him. "Is everything always just that simple in your mind? Sensors show clear space now, so you can just put the shuttle on autopilot with no worries? We interacted a handful of times when we didn't have classes together, so I must have been stalking you?"

Chanyeol chuckled softly, shaking his head to himself as he answered you. "One thing I learned very quickly in Engineering is that the simplest answer is almost always the right answer, so yes. Everything is always just that simple in my mind unless I'm proven otherwise."

"One thing I learned very quickly as a student of science is that everything in this universe is made up of trillions of atoms and cells, and the only truly simple things are single-celled amoebas. So, as far as you and I and this shuttle are concerned, nothing is ever that simple. Everything is far more complex than you realize."

"Or everything seems far more complex, but it's actually far more straightforward than you realize," Chanyeol retorted in a somewhat playful, jovial tone.

It was like arguing with a brick wall. The two of you could go back and forth until you were blue in the face, and neither of you would give into the other -- that much was obvious. So, you just scoffed, rolled your eyes, and turned back to your console.

"But, hey," Chanyeol continued. "One thing about you is you're smart -- always have been. You know when to give up because it's clear I won."

Oh, you wanted to scream.

Somehow, you held back. You pressed your lips together tightly, closed your eyes, and slowly exhaled through your nose. And when the urge to yell at him passed, you focused on your console and the sensor readings in front of you.

Not even half an hour into your journey to the uninhabited planet you'd been assigned to travel to, explore, and collect samples of, you'd started a countdown of how much longer until you were back on the Solstice and away from Chanyeol.

Honestly, knowing that you were just barely 2% of the way through the away mission was daunting, but it at least gave you something to calculate and think about. If you forced yourself to focus on gathering data on the area of space surrounding the planet (and continuing to gather data when you were actually on the planet) when you weren't calculating how much time was left, your mind would be so busy that it would be easy to ignore You Know Who and maybe -- somewhat -- enjoy yourself.

At least, technically.

With just ten minutes left before landing on the planet, you already knew that would be much easier said than done.

Chanyeol had started asking you every few minutes to check the sensors for anything out of the ordinary, and despite the fact you kept telling him everything was within normal parameters, he continued to ask you.

"There's nothing!" you cried. "What do you think is out there?!"

Chanyeol exhaled slowly before saying, "I don't know. Just... something doesn't feel right."

"Nothing is showing up on the sensors, Chanyeol, I don't know what to tell you," you replied.

Of course, he asked you again a few minutes later.

But just before you opened your mouth to ask why he was the way that he was, you...

Well.

Unfortunately, you noticed something.

And no matter how much you didn't want to tell him and admit he was right, you knew you had to.

"Wait," you mumbled.

"I knew it! What is it?"

When you glanced over at him, you saw he was gripping the steering wheel more tightly than usual, and his smile didn't quite reach his eyes.

He was nervous.

"I -- I'm not sure," you answered as your gaze flitted around your console screen. "I can't tell if it's some sort of gravitational disturbance in the planet's atmosphere or an energy surge from a nearby nebula or --"

You didn't even get a chance to finish your sentence before the shuttle lurched forward and dropped in elevation.

"What's happening?" Chanyeol called out, raising his voice over the raucous sounds of the shuttle.

"I don't know!" you cried. You did your best to focus on the sensor readings, but you just couldn't quite make out what you were seeing. "Shields are failing! Diverting auxiliary power to the shields --"

Everything inside the shuttle flickered, and your stomach twisted into knots.

"I'm going to have to make an emergency landing, and I'm going to have to do it blind," Chanyeol announced.

Steeling yourself, you tapped on the communications button on your console and said, "Polaris to Solstice," using the name of the shuttle instead of your own since you were on an away mission.

When no one answered within five seconds, you tried again. "Polaris to Solstice, do you read me?"

...Still nothing.

"Polaris to Solstice, come in!"

"We'll try after we land," Chanyeol assured you through his clenched jaw. "Make sure the shields have enough power to hold for this landing."

You wanted to snap at him that you knew what you should be doing, but to be honest, you were too scared to even be mad at him. So, instead, you simply replied, "I'm on it."

You diverted every ounce of auxiliary power you could to the shields, all the while holding onto your console for dear life and still trying to figure out what these sensor readings indicated. You had certainly never seen anything like them before, but you were also still fairly inexperienced -- the answer had to be out there, and once you landed safely, you would do whatever you could to find out!

After a few nerve-wracking and turbulent minutes, Chanyeol yelled, "Brace for impact!"

Not even a millisecond after his instructions, though, you noticed the auxiliary power failed and the shields began to drain. "Wait!"

But it was too late. Chanyeol landed the shuttle, and without the full (or even partial) strength of the shields, the emergency landing turned into more of a crash landing.

You were able to grip the sides of your console in just enough time to prevent any severe injuries, thankfully, but you were still knocked around quite a bit. The force of the landing threw you against the console and knocked the wind out of you. Just when you somehow managed to sit back up again, the shuttle lurched enough to toss you sideways, and your forehead collided with the corner of your headrest.

Eventually, the shuttle came to a stop. It seemed like it took three hours, but it came to a stop, and an eerie silence settled over you.

That is, until Chanyeol sputtered and groaned, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," you coughed, still trying to catch your breath. "You?"

"I think so," he answered.

You attempted to stand up and look over at him, but the motion made you lightheaded and stars flashed across your vision, so you sat back down.

"Whoa," Chanyeol breathed just before you heard the clattering sounds of him getting out of his seat. "I don't think you're okay, you're bleeding."

Before you even had a chance to assure him you were fine, you felt his hands take hold of your face. Your breath hitched in your throat, but that was definitely just because you were still winded from the landing.

"Shit," he hissed. "Hold on, let me grab the med-kit."

"It's okay!" you called out after him, though your voice wasn't quite strong enough. "Remember the head bleeds more."

You immediately decided not to tell him about the lightheadedness and 'stars in your vision' thing.

Within a minute, Chanyeol was back in front of you with a dermal regenerator.

"Keep still," he murmured as he took your chin in-between his fingers. "And close your eyes. The cut is right on your temple."

You did as he ordered, holding your breath as much as you were able and closing your eyes gently enough to not wrinkle the cut but tightly enough to keep the light from the regenerator out.

The soft but high-pitched buzz of the regenerator filled the shuttle for several seconds, and then you felt Chanyeol wiping the side of your head with a cloth.

"Done," he said quietly. "How does it feel?"

"It's fine," you assured him as your eyes fluttered open.

You almost jumped back, startled to see Chanyeol not only standing so close to you but also looking so concerned. The thought briefly flashed through your mind that he looked quite handsome, but only briefly.

Very briefly.

"I'm fine," you said. "...Thank you. For helping me."

For some reason, you expected Chanyeol to be modest and simply glad you were okay.

That was your mistake, obviously!

His signature smirk tugged at his lips, and he gently tossed the regenerator up in the air, letting it flip before he deftly caught it. "Hey, did I mention I also aced my medical classes? Or did you remember that from your stalker days?"

"Shut up," you scoffed as you rolled your eyes.

You stood up then (carefully) and headed over to the console by the door to check the atmosphere of the planet and where, exactly, you'd crash-landed.

As your eyes scanned the screen, you heard Chanyeol attempting to contact the Solstice -- but he ended up having the same luck you had earlier.

No response.

"Can we send a distress signal?" you asked.

"We can... but no one will receive it. Long-range scanners are down."

Oh, great. You let out a deep sigh and turned around so you could lean against the wall next to the console. "Well, the atmosphere is breathable. Some signs of radiation, but nothing damaging. So, it looks like we'll be gathering data on the planet and trying to contact the Solstice. Or anyone in Starfleet."

"Or anyone," Chanyeol added, eyebrows raised.

Part 3

[ninjagobythenumbers]

Ninjago Character Search Engine

I made a tool where you can search Ninjago characters by name, type, allignment, species, gender, season, or a combination of all those factors. If you want to play around with it here's the link. I compiled all of the data myself so there's likely a few errors. I've already corrected where I had accidentally labeled Zane's dad as a serpentine. Please let me know if there's any problems!

How to use it

Basically, you just input the criteria you're interested in seeing. For instance, if you wanted to see all of the nindroids in Ninjago, you would do a search as follows.

An important thing you may notice here is I not only input "Nindroid", but I also input "New." I did this because my index has a new entry for each character each season. If you choose not you choose not to put "New," the output will include 21 Zanes, which is great but may not be what you're looking for.

Another thing to note is that if you're not searching by name, you need to make sure the name box is completely blank or you will get 0 results like in the following search where I left a space bar in the Name box.

If you are searching by Name, make sure the name exactly matches the entries or nothing will show up.

You can either view the entry in the index on the next sheet, or you can just find the person by inputting the proper criteria.

I also left some comments on the sheet with some useful tips! Feel free to ask any questions!

Criteria

I think it's important I explain how I created and employed my criteria as it can be pretty subjective.

Type

Type is one of my more subjective criteria. The options are Main, Supporting, Recurring, Guest, or Ensemble and I agonized over some of these placements. For instance, did Mr. F fulfill a supporting or Recurring role during season 9? Very difficult to say. Still, generally, these were my definitions. Main: Ninja (usually) or someone who significantly contributed to the plot and had a large percentage of screentime (it takes a lot for me to demote a ninja from main, but I had to in DR) ex: Lloyd in season 4

Supporting: A character that has a significant degree of screentime, their own personality/backstory, and helps another character push the plot along ex: Garmadon in season 4

Recurring: Pretty much any character that speaks in more than a few episodes ex: Chope and Kapau in season 4

Guest: A character with personality who speaks or otherwise makes a mark in only one episode that season ex: Morro in season 4

Ensemble: A character that's only in the background and/or has no personality of their own and/or is just sort of filling out an army ex: Acidicus in season 4

Allignment

Allignment is also a very tricky category. I had to make a choice about whether neutral or good would be the default for characters I don't know much about. I went with good as I feel like it fits the tone of the show. Thus, I assume for instance that Mara from Nya's class is a good person even though she's done nothing to demonstrate that.

Good: Default. Also, if you help save the world, I usually let it overshadow previous bad behaviour. ex: Arin in Dragons Rising (S1)

Neutral: You have to be pretty morally ambiguous to get this designation. I generally assigned it to influencers, anti-heros, somewhat redeemed villains, and members of morally unclear societies. ex: Agent Rodrick Allen in Dragons Rising (S1)

Evil: I generally assigned this to all antagonists, even if they weren't actively trying to destroy the world. ex: Rapton in Dragons Rising (S1)

Species

Here's a list of each species I included in my index.

Human Nindroid Demigod Skeleton Dragon Serpentine Beast Oni Ghost Djinn Hunter Construct Formling Munce Geckle Islander Merlopian Devonian Tide Unknown Miscellanous

Most of this criteria is pretty objective, so I'll only clarify the less obvious ones.

Beast: Any animal, monster, or creature. ex: Krag from the Ice Chapter

Construct: I applied this to any character created by another whether it be through magic or engineering. I excluded Nindroids because they're a large enough sub-category. ex: Bonzle from Dragons Rising or MiniPix Seven from Crystalized

Unknown: This just applies to the Forbidden Five as we don't know much about them but they don't appear human. ex: Nox in Dragons Rising

Miscellaneous: I only applied this in rare categories where not only was their species a bit unclear, but they appeared to be the only member of that species on screen. ex: Benthomaar from Seabound

Gender

Oh no, it appears I accidentally created a gender cascade. Anyway, I based character's genders primarily off of the gender of their VA , but I also took into consideration the pronouns other characters used to refer to them. I didn't do a thorough transcript search though, so let me know if I've made any errors. I designated some characters as unknown, usually because they neither spoke nor were spoken about.

Season

Season, like species, is also pretty objective but I'll clarify some of my choices. I only used titles for Day of the Departed and the Islandbecause they don't really fit into the numbered seasons. I used numbers rather than season names for the most part because they're more concise. I designated Dragons Rising seasons 1 and 2 as 16 and 17, primarily because that's how I view them, but also for this conciseness factor. I split season 17 into two seasons (17 and 17.5) because they're two unqiue arcs that different casts of characters, some of which have changed their allignments/types between part 1 and 2. I may do the same for 11 and 16 in the future.

New/Old

I put a new entry for each character so it was necessary for me to designate whether this was the first entry of the character or a repeat entry. Having multiple entries allows you to view how characters changed over seasons rather than only being able to see their initial criteria. It also allows you to see the full cast breakdown for each season.

That's pretty much it! Here's the link again. Please do play around with the search and let me know if you find anything cool. The link also includes all of my previous spreadsheets so peruse that at your leisure if you're interested. Thanks as always for reading this far and let me know if you have any feedback, made the exact same thing previously (looking at you @agenericplaceholdername ), or have requests for new spreadsheets or charts. I have a lot of options now that I've created this tool and I've very excited to use it!

[homestuckreplay]

💙 John Egbert's Glorious Return! 💙

(page 843-847)

JOHN IS BACK!! HI JOHN I MISSED YOU <3

He is not doing so hot though. On top of making the dangerous, precarious decision to fight with an impressively bouncy weapon on a small platform above a bottomless pit, he’s clearly outmatched by these two giant ogres. The infinite loop of this animation is really well done, it genuinely feels like these two teams could stay in this stalemate for a while – until Rose gets back online and turns the tide, perhaps. And I laugh every time the grainy ‘Sassacre’ gets stamped over the otherwise very clean art style.

I’m really looking forward to Rose entering the Medium, so we can find out what’s specific to John’s game and what’s general to Sburb. For example, is it part of the game that a sprite will try to protect their assigned player? Or is it John’s nanna specifically (or the harlequin doll, I guess) who has that instinct? Do all sprites have the same powers (eye beams that destroy imps and heal players) or do the powers vary based on what’s prototyped?

I also want to know more about Jade’s predictions; it’s a fun narrative trick to have the reminder on her finger transition into another character, but has she literally seen a vision of this event in the same way that the Wayward Vagabond might watch this moment through a screen? (If so, is it possible she has these visions via her strange holographic computer?) Or does she have more of a vague understanding of things she shouldn’t, just ‘happening’ to be right as she does with the memory modus and the gadgets she’s created, a general sense of ‘John and his benevolent guide will have a challenging battle’?

I am DELIGHTED by the return of ‘Years in the future…’ followed by GameFAQs, and the fact that different characters have taken over these pages to mark a different act. In Act 2 we eventually learned that WV and Rose were in the same location; in Act 2 we already know that the Peregrine Mendicant and John are in the same place. I barely know the Peregrine Mendicant but I think they are so cool. They met a giant metal worm and got so angry when it ate one of their mailboxes (!) that they immediately reached for their sword, which incidentally is the first cool sword in Homestuck (not sorry, Dave). The cross on top of the sword looks like the cross usually found on the king in a chess set, so this must be a powerful sword from the dark kingdom, while PM is from the light. Could this be a clue to what happened in the battle of light and dark in John’s Sburb game?

Page 845 (incidentally one of my favorite pages in the comic so far) is the first time we’ve seen longform writing from John, and it’s a WHOLE new side to him. His character voice is a little different in this medium, but still recognizably John. And he is SO SO SMART, I apologize for everything I have ever said about John being bad at things and not sticking with them, because it turns out that ‘You like to program computers but you are NOT VERY GOOD AT IT’ (p.4) was just John’s low self worth and dismissal of his own skills, like here when he says ‘wow ok that pretty much looks like shit, but you get the idea’ about his cool ASCII art. Like, the John of page 843 is not in his element, he’s fighting two gigantic deadly foes when before today he’s never seen worse combat than being pied in the face, but the John of page 845 knows his shit, has reverse engineered some pretty complex mechanics from just a few punched cards, and is explaining it in terms easy to understand. And he’s making all these really clever leaps and he does brag about his ‘leet haxxor cred’ and he’s clearly excited about what he’s writing about, but I still feel like he doesn’t have much confidence, as he ends by deferring to Jade’s skills. I love how these two John pages are juxtaposed, and I cannot describe the pride I feel in seeing John really shine at something.

Goth queen Rose Lalonde has gone from cat mausoleum to vast, ominous green science lab full of uranium and/or slime, and I’m happy for pages like 840 and 847 that are primarily atmospheric, something I don’t think we’ve seen much of before. The lab’s logo reads ‘SN’, not the cool S, but one with an atom symbol in the upper curve and a spirograph in the lower – both familiar symbols, as both appear on Jade’s shirt (p.794), the atom appears on some of her inventions such as the wardrobifier (p.793), and the spirograph has appeared regularly as a symbol of Skaia. Could SN be SkaiaNet, developers of Sburb, first mentioned on page 114? If so, could Rose’s mom have something to do with the development of Sburb, potentially explaining why Mom knew to build a tunnel from the mausoleum to the lab if she’s had some visions similar to Jade’s. I think that would suck for Rose, as she’s worked hard to be independent from her mom and have her own interests, and to find out that her mom has been controlling her life in a pretty major way the entire time would probably be really hard to come to terms with.

I have been having loads of fun with this punch card calculator; more great work from Gankra, who has programmed several of the interactive pages including p.253. I would punch so many cards if I had a designix.

> John: Take another look at that rocket pack.

[arimiaromage]

Strange house - DGM doujin fangame guide book scans

so in January I found a physical copy of a 2010 d.gray-man doujin visual novel called Strange house by the doujin group MOONLIGHT CAFE. the game is a romance visual novel where you play as Lavi and can date Kanda while out on a mission with him to, you guessed it, a strange house.

the game is completely in Japanese and almost all mention of it online has gone away as it's a 14 year old game, so suffice to say finding anything about this game has been difficult. it won't be a complete mystery now though as I have the game and the guide book!

so... let's look inside this guide book!

before we crack it open, here's the scans of the DVD cover slip. the outside is similar to the guide book (see above) but the inside is an adorable collection of chibis.

now let's look at the guide book! all of these scans are at a high dpi so open them up in a new tab if you'd like to see them up close. also, most of this is in Japanese and I won't be able to translate a majority of it. if you'd like to translate it, please feel free to and add it to the post!

D.Gray-man LaviYu Only

Windows only sound novel type adventure game

(side note- visual novels are usually called adventure games in Japan. sound novel is another term for them that was more popular to use years ago)

The next two pages go over the system menus- the main menu, the CG gallery (where you can view cut scene artwork), in game menu, save & load, and the options menus.

Now that we've gone over the system, it's on to the character bios! Lavi is up first as he's the player character followed by Kanda and the finder Doma.

(somehow Kanda ends up in a bridal gown in this game)

(she has doll arms and legs? it says she's the other guy's sister)

(I have no clue what her name is suppose to be. Yuno Moreta? Yunoo Moreeta?? I'm guessing it's trying to be like Yu Kanda??? Allen's bio here mentions him being the 14th and that he doesn't appear much as he wasn't assigned to this mission)

(Lenalee's basically says that she's an exorcist and Komui's younger sister, but mentions that she might be seen on the mission in front of Lavi? the guy on the right was apparently meant to be something like a love rival in the MVP [think beta build] for the game)

after the character bios is the route guides!

while not every visual novel has choices or multiple endings, visual novels that do have multiple endings refer to them as "routes" or "scenarios", i.e. the series of choices you make to reach each ending. this game has 4 routes, each with a different artist.

scenario A is called Dolly and written by 響夜 and illustrated by Guriko.

scenario B is called Coming Home and written by 響夜 and illustrated by Seiko and others.

scenario C is.... something about a bracelet? it's written by 秋吉 and illustrated by Bonnu.

scenario D is called lonely travels / loneliness while traveling and is written by 木花 and illustrated by ネコ科ノコ.

to be honest this is a lot more than I was expecting! we're already at 7 team members and haven't touched the programming or music aspects. I also have no clue how long this game is - there's only a few choices listed here to get each route so each ending could be 5k words (short) or over 50k words (long).

now onto staff!

sadly, I won't be able to translate these as it's a majority kanji, but here they are.

and that's it! there's a lot of cute art here that I hope will be saved on the internet now that the sites for MOONLIGHT CAFE's games are mostly defunct.

personally as a visual novel developer I find it amazing that they were able to not only make such a good looking fan visual novel in 2010 with multiple endings but to get so many people on board and make it all work out. and then to make a physical release of it! (side note- I'm still unsure what engine this was made in! I'm thinking kirikiri but I'm not sure)

I have the game set up and am able to play it, so at some point I'll share some footage of it on this tag on my blog. I'm hesitant to put the exe online as this was a paid game at one point and the doujin circle seems to be disbanded, but I might if there's interest (is this considered a no-no for doujins? I'm unfamiliar on etiquette for doujins, so some advice on that would be appreciated if you have any)

[sebstanaddict]

Midnight and The Light

Vampire!Bucky x Reader Story

Summary: James Buchanan Barnes is a vampire detective working for the London police to cover up murders done by his own people. One day his world turns upside down when a female detective is assigned to work with him.

James and reader are running away from the hunt of his leader, Draven, when they run into vampire hunters. When reader managed to kill one, the act traumatized her deeply, sending her into a panic attack and James is forced to do something to calm her down.

Warning : violence and murder depiction

Word count : 2.5k

Chapters : 4/10 (May add more)

Chapter list >

---

As they left the sprawling streets of London behind, the landscape around them slowly transformed. The dense cityscape gave way to the wild, rolling English countryside. Dark clouds loomed above, stretching like shadows over the fields, with the occasional patch of moonlight casting an eerie silver glow on the farmlands and forests they passed.

The road wound through ancient villages and sleepy hamlets, their stone cottages huddled together as if to ward off the night. Every so often, they would pass a centuries-old church or an abandoned manor, its silhouette stark against the sky, giving the countryside an unsettling, almost haunted beauty. An endless silence accompanied them, broken only by the hum of the car engine and the distant rustle of leaves as the wind swept through the trees.

The weight of their escape, paired with the bleakness of the scenery, hung heavy between them. Every flicker in the shadows felt like a pair of eyes watching, a hunter's presence close behind. The moon sat low and full above the trees, casting long, ghostly shadows on the road.

Inside the car, Y/n kept her gaze fixed outside, taking in the scenery but feeling the tension rise as the darkness deepened. She wrapped her arms around herself, and though she knew James was sitting right beside her, the silence between them only added to the strange emptiness she felt. She had so many questions, but the words seemed to escape her every time she tried to speak.

After a while, James glanced at her, breaking the quiet. "It feels different, doesn't it?" he said softly, his voice nearly blending with the murmur of the tires on the gravel road.

Y/n turned to him, meeting his eyes briefly. "Everything looks... different. It feels heavier somehow. Like there's something in the air I can't place."

He nodded, a hint of understanding in his gaze. "The supernatural has a way of altering the world around it. Places that have seen enough magic or violence take on a life of their own. You'll start noticing these things more as you become more aware of the world we live in."

The words stirred something in her—a thrill mixed with unease. She could feel herself drifting farther from the life she once knew, and as they drove deeper into the countryside, it felt like they were leaving behind any semblance of safety.

They fell into silence again, each lost in thought, as the landscape continued to shift. The narrow road led them past dense patches of forest and sprawling fields framed by stone walls, the occasional signpost pointing toward long-forgotten destinations. The weight of the journey settled over them like a shroud, making the miles feel both timeless and endless.

Hours passed, and finally, the dim glow of a rest area appeared ahead—a lone island of light in the dark expanse. As they pulled into the lot, the rest area seemed almost deserted, save for a few shadowy figures scattered near the entrance. Y/n's gaze lingered on them, feeling the piercing eyes of strangers upon her.

They parked, stepping out into the cold night air. James gave her a nod as she headed toward the restroom, his posture tense as he scanned the area. She could tell he was on edge, just as she was, and as she walked away, the feeling of vulnerability only deepened.

The restroom was dim, sterile, and cold. She'd barely turned to leave when she noticed a movement—a man, barely a shadow in the flickering lights, rushed toward her. She gasped, stumbling back as he closed in, his grip on her arm iron-strong.

"Filthy leech," he spat, shoving her back against the sink. Panic surged as she struggled against him, heart pounding wildly.

"Get off her." James's voice was a sharp command behind them, and in one swift motion, he threw the man back against the wall with a sickening crack. James grabbed her hand and led her out the restroom's back exit.

They stepped into the cold night air, but Y/n's relief was short-lived. Figures emerged, creeping out from the dark, silent and lethal as they encircled them. Six hunters, all armed. Y/n felt her breath hitch, panic clawing up her throat.

James's tone was a hard whisper. "Stay close. Hunters—they know vampires on sight, smell, movement. We're like a beacon to them."

A hunter sneered. "Think you could hide, leeches?"

She felt a surge of rage and fear, her heart hammering as her muscles coiled, ready to defend herself. A hunter rushed her, and she dodged, barely conscious of her own speed, her fists striking out on instinct. Her hand slammed into his chest, sending him back a step. Before she could process it, another lunged forward, blade in hand, and she caught his wrist. Their strength matched as she shoved him back, only for him to charge again.

Something in her snapped. An instinct, a raw, furious power surged. She swung with all her might, her hand connecting with his chest in a violent blow. She felt the snap of bone under her fist, and he dropped instantly, crumpling lifeless at her feet.

The world slowed as she stared down, her breath catching. He was dead. Her chest tightened, and her heart pounded as she looked at her hands, the limp form on the ground. Her vision tunneled, horror filling her.

"I... I killed him," she whispered, voice barely audible, her body shaking as the weight of what she'd done sank in.

The remaining hunters moved in, but James acted quickly, dispatching them with cold precision. His movements were swift, controlled, as if his own emotions were locked away in a place she couldn't reach. She was numb, unable to move, the image of the hunter's empty, staring eyes etched in her mind.

"Y/n!" James's voice broke through, sharp with urgency as he took her hand, pulling her toward the car. She stumbled, legs barely obeying as he ushered her inside, his grip firm. She clutched her knees, breaths shallow and erratic, her heart racing out of control.

James sped from the rest area, his gaze flicking toward her, concern etched into his face. Her chest tightened, hands trembling as the weight of what she'd done crushed her.

"Look at me," he said softly, pulling over at the side of the road. He turned to her, reaching for her hands, grounding her in his steady grip. "Breathe. You're safe."

"I... I didn't mean to," she stammered, voice barely a whisper. "I didn't want to..."

James's grip tightened slightly, his eyes calm but filled with understanding. "Hunters like them—they wouldn't hesitate to kill us. They live for this. You did what you had to."

She could hardly speak, the memory of the hunter's lifeless body heavy in her mind, pressing down on her chest. "But I killed him, I felt it, James... please, I don't think I can do this. Just take me back to London."

James' expression softened when he saw the fear and uncertainty in her eyes. "Y/n, it's too dangerous to go back now. They know what you are—they'd find you no matter where you tried to hide."

Her breathing grew shallow, the reality of it closing in on her. "I don't care. I just... I just want my life back," she whispered, tears brimming in her eyes. "I didn't ask for any of this. I don't want any of this."

"Y/n, look at me," he said firmly. But she was too far gone, her chest rising and falling in quick, erratic breaths, her hands gripping the seat so tightly her knuckles were white.

"Please, James... please take me back." Her voice was almost a sob, and hearing it hit him harder than he'd expected. "I just want everything to be normal again..."

"Hey..." he murmured, leaning over. He brushed a hand along her shoulder, gently, but her anxiety only seemed to build, her face turned away, trying to hold back tears.

"Y/n," he said, a note of urgency in his voice. "It's okay... I'm here. You're safe with me."

But nothing seemed to reach her, her fear too strong, her breaths too shallow. Desperate to break through the wall of panic, he moved closer, tilting her chin toward him. And without another thought but only guided by instinct, he pressed his lips to hers, letting the kiss do what words couldn't.

The kiss was firm yet gentle, grounding her in an instant. At first, she stiffened, surprised by the unexpectedness of it. But as the seconds passed, the panic ebbed, her breathing evening out as she became aware of his warmth, his hand steady against her cheek.

He pulled back, watching her closely, his thumb tracing her cheek as he murmured, "I won't let anything happen to you. Not now, not ever."

She took in a shaky breath, and for the first time since the attack, she met his gaze fully. "James..." Her voice was barely a whisper, her eyes still wide with the rawness of the moment.

He gave her a small, reassuring smile, his voice soft. "I'm right here, okay? And I'm not going anywhere."

A tiny, hesitant smile broke through her fear as she nodded, finally feeling a sliver of calm settle over her.

"Better?" he asked, his voice low, his gaze intense but concerned.

Y/n nodded slowly, her fingers brushing over her lips, still feeling the lingering warmth there. "Yeah... better," she managed, her voice barely above a whisper.

A hint of relief softened his features, but an awkward silence settled over them as they looked at each other, neither quite sure what to say.

"Sorry," he muttered, pulling back slightly, looking embarrassed. "I just... I didn't know what else to do."

"It... it's okay," she replied, her heart still pounding, though now for a very different reason. "I... appreciate it." She glanced away, a small smile tugging at her lips despite herself. "It worked."

James nodded, a faint smile playing at the corners of his mouth as well, though he quickly masked it. "Good," he said, starting the engine again, his voice a little gruffer than usual. "Because we're still a long way from Whitby."

As they merged back onto the road, Y/n stole a quick glance at him, feeling an unfamiliar warmth in her chest. The panic had subsided, but the memory of the kiss lingered, sparking something new between them, something she hadn't anticipated.

As they drove through the winding, empty roads toward Whitby, Y/n's mind still reeled from the attack at the rest area. The image of the dead hunter haunted her despite the distraction from his kiss, and a gnawing fear settled in her chest. After a long stretch of silence, she broke it with a hesitant question.

"Who... who are these hunters exactly?" she asked, her voice barely louder than a whisper. "Why are they after us?"

James's gaze was fixed on the road, but he cast her a sideways glance. "Hunters are a group that's existed for centuries. Some of them come from families that pass down the mission, generation after generation. They believe it's their duty to rid the world of anything supernatural, especially vampires."

"Have they... always been around?" she asked, trying to keep her voice steady.

He nodded. "They've hunted us since the first vampires walked the earth. And they're relentless. It's more than just a job to them—it's a belief, a purpose. They see us as abominations."

She swallowed, staring out the window as the rolling hills blurred past. "How... how do they know who's a vampire and who isn't?"

"Hunters train to spot us by our movements, our habits. Vampires have a... certain aura that they can sense. Some hunters develop heightened senses or even magic, though rare. They learn to pick up on subtle things, things we often don't realize we're doing."

"Like what?" Y/n asked, glancing over at him.

"Well," he started, a small smile tugging at his lips, "there are little things. Vampires tend to move with a certain grace—an unnatural fluidity. Even our posture can give us away, a certain stillness in the way we stand. It sounds subtle, but trained hunters notice."

She listened, fascinated despite herself. "I didn't know it was that... precise."

"It's one of the reasons why, in places like London, we have to be even more cautious. The hunters there are used to blending in, watching for us in crowds."

She let out a shaky breath, absorbing everything he said. "But... there are others too, right? I mean, other beings... I've heard stories about werewolves and faeries."

James's expression softened as he nodded. "Yes, they exist too. Werewolves, faeries, witches, and a few others—all different communities. Most stay hidden, some in remote areas, others right under humans' noses, blending in with ordinary lives."

"Have you met them? Other... beings, I mean?"

He chuckled. "I have. Werewolves, mostly. They're territorial, and they have a deep bond with nature. They're a lot like us in some ways—strong, secretive, and fiercely loyal to their packs. But they're also... well, a bit more volatile."

She raised an eyebrow. "More volatile than vampires?"

"Maybe that's unfair," he admitted with a small grin. "They have a closer tie to their emotions. It's the animal instinct, the connection to the moon. But werewolves can be allies, especially when it's in their interest."

Y/n found herself leaning closer, captivated. "And faeries? What are they like?"

He looked thoughtful, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel. "Faeries are... hard to describe. They're beautiful, ethereal, but they have a darkness to them too. They're fiercely protective of their realm, and they're notorious tricksters. It's easy to fall under their charm, and they know it."

"So they can't be trusted?" she asked, a mixture of fascination and apprehension in her tone.

"Not exactly. Some faeries are helpful—wise, even. But their help usually comes with a price. They have their own rules and rarely care about what happens to us. They consider themselves superior, especially compared to vampires and humans."

She shivered, picturing the eerie beauty he described. "It sounds like there's this whole world hidden in plain sight."

"There is," he agreed, his tone somber. "But it's not like a secret society with a membership card. It's more... fractured. Vampires keep to themselves, mostly. Werewolves are hidden in their packs, and faeries in their realms. Hunters target any supernatural creature, though vampires are their main focus."

Y/n gazed out the window, trying to picture the world James described—a world of ancient power and deadly alliances, existing right alongside her own. She had always thought of the supernatural as the stuff of myths and stories. Yet here she was, part of that world now, bound by blood and by powers she didn't fully understand.

"Does it ever... get easier?" she asked quietly.

James looked over at her, his expression softening. "It does. The world changes, but you adapt. And you're not alone in this, Y/n. I'll help you learn, to control what you can do. You'll be stronger for it."

They fell into silence, his words lingering in her mind, filling her with a tentative sense of hope.

The night turned into the pale light of dawn as they finally reached Whitby. Y/n's heart twisted with a mixture of anticipation and nervousness as they pulled onto a familiar street lined with quaint stone houses. It had been years since she'd been back here.

James parked in front of a modest house with ivy crawling up its walls, the morning light casting a soft glow over its edges. Y/n took a deep breath, steadying herself as she looked at the house that held her childhood memories.

"Ready?" James asked, watching her carefully.

"Not really," she admitted with a small, nervous smile. "But... let's do this."

He gave her a reassuring nod, his hand resting briefly on hers. Together, they stepped out of the car and walked up to the door, ready to face whatever answers—or new mysteries—awaited them.

[utilitycaster]

Voting sticker was sent via DMs because it's shaped like the state I live in lmao. Also, if someone reading this is in Fly Free or Die by some minuscule chance, please look away now; there be spoilers ahead.

The character I'll tell you about is RH-1/Istra Gryffis/Cassiopeia Wulfren/Stellasa Drith, a Human Replica Droid in an SW5e campaign. Originally an Imperial Agent, she was sniffed out by the scientist she was monitoring on her very first assignment, subdued by him, had her programming jailbroken and a teleportation device installed in her chest, and was then just turned loose on the galaxy to make her own way.

She still believed herself a tool of the Empire, but a broken one, who failed in her mission, and couldn't bring herself to go back to her handler/creator/mentor so spent a few years just roaming the galaxy aimlessly doing small time security work.

Eventually, a smuggler she was contracting with (one of her party members) got into a Situation with a crime syndicate, and the pair had to run off into corporate bureaucratic hell to escape their eyes--or rather, the smuggler did; she suggested that specific approach because the last she knew the scientist who jailbroke her had been planning to go work for that corporation. With danger pushing her toward decisive action for the first time in years, she took that as a sign to go and hunt him down to bring him back to the Empire and get back in its good graces. And, perhaps, demand to know why he shoved a unique piece of tech into her chassis then just left her to do what she wanted with no guidance whatsoever.

Regardless, working for this corporation put her and her smuggler buddy into the party, working shipping as contractors for a major corporation. The details of our current, first arc are, while interesting, also mostly unimportant to what I want to talk about regarding party dynamics/info.

Essentially, the party (who don't know she's a droid) includes her, the smuggler (always getting himself into situations), a clone (hates droids), two droid-specialist engineers (one who just unreservedly loves droids and the other who isn't exactly pro droid rights but wants to rehabilitate their image), and a (secret) Jedi. Various dynamics:

The smuggler is someone Cassioepia's decided she's responsible for the well-being of, because she develops strong loyalties very quickly (great trait for a spy).

Thus far, there have been multiple arguments over droids and how much they matter (she comes down on the side of "just tools, and unreliable ones" like the clone does, if less adamantly).

The clone appears to be coordinating at least a few small rebel groups, and is very anti-Empire, as well as looking to her as essentially his second-in-command.

The clone and one of the engineers are on opposite sides of idealism-cynicism, and she's had to mediate a couple times now.

Finally, in the most recent session, the Jedi used Sense Force (equivalent to Detect Magic) on her. Said Jedi sensed nothing from her since she's a droid, EXCEPT the teleportation device in her chest, which sucked the Jedi's perception in, knocked her out, gave Cassiopeia a heart attack essentially, and knocked her out (also granting her, a droid, Sense Force as well) and that's where Cassiopeia left off.

Word count (after the 1st paragraph since that's unrelated): 518

(Quick note: if you're reading this, yes, DM-ing me the sticker/proof is an option if the sticker reveals more about your location than you wish to share (whether it's that you don't want to share your state, or whether you have a county or city-specific sticker, or what); I will not tell people where you live.

so I do NOT know a ton about SW5e (I saw Starstruck Odyssey and I have seen. the original trilogy and like. 4 other Star Wars movies, none comprising a full other trilogy?) but I love when a character has complicated and conflicting loyalties and a strong sense of duty, which she clearly has, and that is a GREAT cliffhanger that seems primed to absolutely blow your party's collective mind and reveal a whole lot of messy truths, and that's really the best possible thing you can hope for in a TTRPG!

[vibrantbirdy]

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

❤️ take care of yourself

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

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

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

-Birdy

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

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

Prologue

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

No, you think. Not like this.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

They do it anyway.

Two years later

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

See? I told you.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"If I snore?!"

That was rich.

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

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

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

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

Someone says your name. Your real name.

Andor stiffens next to you.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Dreylan Balgo," you say.

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

"Well then, follow me, young lovers."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

He then greets Andor with boisterous joviality.

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

Andor chuckles amiably, shaking Balgo's hand.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"You've never told me that before."

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

There's a silence.

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

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

"Goodnight, Cassian," you say.

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

"Goodnight."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"My wife would like to see the animal."

"Of course, sir."

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

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

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

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

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

"Are you scared?" You tease.

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

"Captain Andor?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"I can do it," you snap back.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"My apologies sir..."

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

"Madam."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Give it to me."

"What?"

"Give it," you hiss.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

You lean in and whisper in his ear.

"But he's not here."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Success.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Oh please, please enlighten me."

"You're jealous."

There's a heavy silence.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

TRANSMITTING, TRANSMITTING, TRANSMITTING....

TRANSMISSION SENT.

"It's gone!"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"No!" You yell back.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Maybe this time, what?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Cassian..."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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