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corazondebeskar-reads · 7 months

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well it's love, make it hurt - chapter three

well it's love, make it hurt series

three: well it's love, make it hurt

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dom!Din Djarin x sub!f!reader

Word count: 4k

Summary: You mess up a hunt and lose the bounty. You panic, afraid you've ruined the tenuous work partnership and blossoming, if unconventional, relationship between you and the Mandalorian.

Warnings: bdsm, bad bdsm etiquette, miscommunication, good intentions, dom!Mando and sub!reader, slightly brat tamer!Mando and brat!reader, protective!Mando, d/s relationship, d/s dynamics, blurred lines, power imbalance if you squint, reader is a badass bounty hunter, pre-purge (and slightly ooc mando), spanking, punishment, discipline, canon-typical violence, wounds, oral (f receiving), explicit consent, aftercare, Din Djarin takes the helmet off but does not reveal his face, playing fast and loose with the Creed

Originally written for Kinktober Day 5 - Body Worship / Facesitting. Inspired by this prompt list from @absurdthirst

also on ao3

3 ABY - Fall

The intel was bad.

You’d been made the minute you entered the cantina, and they even had the smarts not to show it. Playing along, letting you flirt and sweet talk your way to a private room.

The bounty, Skaad Droff, was supposed to be an easy target. A low level spicelord who gambled too much of his profits and got on a few bad ledgers. It was an okay payout, if a bit insulting to a team like you and Mando. You had only accepted it because there were two other bounties here on Kijimi, and it was going to be an in-and-out op. Extra credits for little effort.

It had been your idea to take the puck. The others were enough to pay your way, but if you were going to keep this deal with Mando, you wanted to buy a hammock instead of sleeping on a shitty bedroll on crates in the hull. To Mando’s credit, he had offered you the bunk on the first night, but neither of you had really expected to continue to work together.

But you made a good team. And having the Crest was nice. (And the… other part of your partnership was fantastic).

So. You stuck around.

Droff, like most of the slimeballs you’d met, had a weakness for a sure thing. Mando hadn’t loved the idea but had been willing to defer to you.

Maker, he was going to be so kriffing unbearable if you messed this up.

Which, given how the two bodyguards hidden inside the room had gotten your primary blaster and commlink, seemed likely. You had already missed one check-in, but that was the nature of undercover ops. Mando wouldn’t be worried yet (would he worry at all?), so you still had time to pull this off.

So, three to one in a locked room. They make quick work of patting you down and find your other blaster and explosives. They even take your boots off and find your knife. They do not put your boots back on, which maybe pisses you off more than losing your weapons.

One of the guards is trying to pull your arms behind your back, and look, maybe you hadn’t been trained from birth to be a killing machine, and maybe you didn’t have impenetrable armor, but you still knew how to brawl.

And also bite—something dickhead #2 learned very quickly when he went to wrap a hand around your throat.

Biting really only works the once. It catches them off guard, especially when you have no reservations about going for a chunk of flesh. That’s okay. Once is all you need.

The momentary commotion gives you the opening to yank one arm free, pull the pin out of your hair, and slam it into the guard’s other wrist so he releases you. There's a spray of hot blood when you pull it out.

Okay, where the fuck is Mando? It has to be extraction time.

You scramble to snag your blaster off the long table in the center of the room, but the second guard had recovered his wits and seemed a little mad about the weeping teeth marks around his forearm. He tackles you, and the compact pistol skitters across the table and onto the floor on the other side.

Kriff.

Fine, whatever.

You have bigger issues now, like the man who has you pinned to the stained carpet, one hand over your mouth and the other around your neck. And then you see it—your comm, having rolled off the table in the scuffle but just centimeters from where your arm is awkwardly bent under the guard’s weight.

Rather than trying to conserve your strength for a better moment, you seize your whole body against his and manage to wiggle just enough to wrap your fingers around it. The edges of your vision are boxing in. You had gotten the comm, but now what? The buzzing in your brain drowns your thoughts, the last of the air in your lungs punched out in your fight to get the comm.

If I die here, you think, he’s going to be so mad at me.

“What’s that noise?” Droff snaps.

The guard looks around, easing just a fraction off you.

The static isn’t inside your brain.

It was coming from the comm. In your struggle to breathe, you had tensed, holding down the button and opening the line to Mando.

A detonator shatters the exterior wall, sending debris and chunks of stone into the air. The guard leaps back, abandoning you, and you roll to your feet. From the new, more convenient entrance, Mando has his rifle aimed at the guard but hesitates. You were in his only line of fire.

It didn’t matter. You reach the other pin at the top of your braid and lodge it solidly into the man’s throat. He sputters and chokes before joining his peer on the floor as they bled out.

“Why didn’t you check in?” he snaps.

“I had it handled, didn’t I?” you rsay, turning around—not to look at Mando, but to grab Droff. He was already halfway through the door, fleeing for the crowded cantina.

You lunge but catch your bare foot on a chunk of debris and go down. Hard. Your hand, rather than stopping your fall, gets caught between your body and the debris with a sickening crunch.

It doesn’t hurt, so you push back up, but before you stand, Mando scoops you by the waist and tosses you over his shoulder like a dead womp rat.

“What are you doing? Why didn’t you go after him?”

“Why didn’t you follow protocol?” His voice is sharp and acidic.

Neither of you speak again. You fume, hot tears of humiliation pricking at your eyes. He lowers you only to plop you down on the speeder, sliding in behind you and locking you in place with his thick, armored thighs. He reaches up around you and grabs the handles.

By the time you had woven in and out of the tiny alleys and out of the city to the Crest, your rage had waned. The wind whipping at your face had graciously allowed your tears to disappear, and the few errant sniffles were lost in the rush. He dismounts and doesn’t allow you a moment to do so yourself before swinging you up over his shoulder and stomping up the ramp.

He sets you down on your crate-bed and goes about closing up the ship for the night. You wanted to slink into the fresher and hide until he went to sleep, but now that everything has settled, now that the adrenaline has seeped out and left you shaking, the pain is making itself known.

Your throat is definitely bruised, possibly damaged. You taste blood, but your teeth are all accounted for, and while scraped and bleeding, both of your feet are fine. Your left cheekbone aches from hitting the ground, and a few ribs are sore but not broken.

Your wrist definitely is, though.

Bile burns up your aching throat. This was it, then. You fucked up a hunt, and now you're useless. The thought of being alone again, without a ship, scraping up whatever bounties were available on the same planet just to eat and sleep, sends your heart racing.

Being alone had never bothered you before Mando. It had been such a mistake to get comfortable.

Attached.

Mando jumps back down from the cockpit and stalks over, still burning and ready to yell about it. But when he sees you trembling, staring at the floor with blank eyes, and cradling your wrist, the fight slips out of him.

Medpack in hand, he kneels before you and pries your fingers away from your injured hand. You hiss through clenched teeth as he carefully evaluates the damage.

“It’s a clean break,” he says, reaching down for a bacta patch.

You twitch but held back from protesting. He adheres the patch around your wrist and wraps it with gauze before applying the spray that would harden the bandage into a cast.

“Should only be a day,” he says.

You still don’t look at him, don’t speak.

“Where else are you injured?”

“‘M fine,” you say to the floor.

He narrows his eyes behind the shelter of the helmet at the croak in your voice. “Lift your head up so I can check, please.”

“I said I’m fine.” What you meant to be a frustrated snap breaks and squeaks, setting your lip twitching into a sneer.

“I didn’t ask. Lift your head.”

Somehow still defiant when cooperating, you jerk your head up and to the side, exposing the blossoming black and purple around your throat. He hisses, reaching a gloved hand up to brush against it, but you flinch away.

“Stop moving. You need more bacta.”

You want so, so badly to argue. Like a dying loth-cat, you want to scratch and bite and snarl. But it hurts to breathe, to swallow, let alone to pick a fight. So you hold still, looking anywhere but him, as he applies the spray.

His eyes rove over your body, noting the other scrapes and cuts, cataloging them to check on later, but not pushing you to treat them now.

Leaving you be for a moment, he moves around the hull to store his weapons. He mixes a bowl of hot water from the steamer with a packet of powder, stirring it into a thick stew, and brings it to you with a spoon.

“No thanks,” you say.

“Fine, then we can start talking about what happened.”

Finally, finally looking up at him, you take the soup. You're glowering, but he takes the win anyway.

He sits beside you on the stack of crates and waits patiently until you finish eating.

“We have rules—protocols, for a reason,” he says after you set the bowl to the side.

“The rules don’t apply out there.”

“You know what I meant. We have protocols for hunts. Not orders, not rules, but a system. It’s for safety—for both of us. We check in. We call for backup. We bail if the situation is out of control.”

“I had it handled.”

“You gonna keep lying, digging yourself into that hole?”

A sigh. “No.”

“Good. Why didn’t you call? Or leave?”

“I thought I could handle it,” you whisper.

“Why was this bounty so important to you? We’ve bailed on bigger payouts before.”

Your heart sinks, self-disgust bubbling over. You used two bacta units. The cost of that alone was more than the bounty would have paid. “Doesn’t matter now.”

“Hey,” he snaps, fed up. He grabs your chin between his fingers and forces you to look at him. At the helmet, at least. “None of this works—not out there, not in here—if you don’t talk to me.”

“Fine. I know. It doesn’t work. Will you at least drop me back on Cantonica since you’ll get the full payout?”

It was his turn to sit in silence, head spinning. The conversation had gotten away from him very quickly. “You want to leave,” he says flatly after a minute.

“Oh yeah, sure. I want to leave. That’s why I was trying to save for a real fucking bed.”

“That’s what this was all about? Why didn’t you just ask?” He's furious all over again. “We could have just taken that out of the maintenance budget. Why wouldn’t you tell me you were uncomfortable?”

You wrench your face from his hand, refusing to openly cry, blinking hard at the floor. “Dunno.”

“Stop lying to me.”

“Fine! I didn’t want you to say no. I didn’t want you to say there was no point wasting credits, that I couldn't stay. Okay?”

He clenches and unclenches his hands, gloves creaking, and takes a deep breath. “Okay,” he says, voice softer. Sadder. “This is my fault.”

“Ugh, Mando, that is not—”

“No, it is. I thought I had made myself clear with you, but obviously, I haven’t.” He peels off the gloves, throwing them to the floor before reaching up to unhook his armor, piece by piece dropping.

You track each one with wide eyes. When he's down to his flight suit and helmet, he hops off your bed and makes room for himself to stand between your legs.

“Do you think I’d do this with just anyone? You think I take my armor off every time I fuck someone?” He cups your face, sending a full-body shudder through you. “You think I take care of someone else like this?”

“I don’t know,” you whisper, sniffling. It wasn’t a lie, but a deflection this time.

“Cyar’ika. I told you the only way this was going to work was if you trusted me. I’m sorry I didn’t show you that it went both ways.”

Whatever you were about to say dies between your lips as he lifts you and moves you over, and begins to peel your blood-stained clothes away, seeking the warmth underneath. You raise your arms obediently and bite your lip at how gently he extracts your injured arm from its sleeve. A firm hand pushes on your shoulder until you lie back on the bed, and you lift your hips when he hooks his fingers into your waistband, yanking your trousers and panties off together.

“I need to know if you trust me,” he say.

You nod.

“I need to hear you say it.”

You look up at him where he hovers. "I trust you."

“And I trust you,” he said, pulling the roll of gauze back out of the medpack. You hold still, confused, but compliant as he wraps it around your head, closing your eyes as he covers them. “I trust you to leave that on until I say you can remove it.”

“Yes, sir,” you say, and flinch at a strange hissing sound. You exhale slowly, willing yourself to stay still and good for whatever he’s decided your punishment for all this must be.

And then he kisses you.

You gasp, but it’s swallowed by his warm, wet mouth, his tongue that doesn’t wait for permission to seek you out. It’s rough and messy, and you reach up to wrap your arms around his neck but get distracted by hair. It’s shaggy, curly, and a little coarse. Your fingers rake through it and he moans into your mouth.

“Wait,” you pant, but he presses forward for another kiss anyway, “no, wait, wait.”

He reels back. “Sorry, I should have—I should have asked.” He sounds out of breath and a little broken.

“No, I... it’s just… your Creed—”

“Can you see me?” he asks rhetorically. He knows you haven’t even tried.

“No, I wouldn’t, I—”

“Exactly. Cyar’ika, the gauze isn’t there because I think you’ll look. It’s so you don’t have to worry about it when I’m making you cum.”

Your hips jerk against his where he straddles you. He takes that as an opportunity to dive back, aching for more. He kisses your lips again and moves down your neck, grinning against your breast as you convulse a little when his breath fans over your nipple.

He takes it in his mouth, practically salivating to taste you, to make you cry for him. The moan that punches out of you when he sucks hard on the bud goes straight to his cock, and you can feel it grow against your bare cunt.

He laves attention to your tits, alternating bites and kisses and murmurs of affection. “You’re perfect, cyar’ika; how could I not want you? Look at you; so sweet for me.”

His words and his mouth make you cry out. He kisses down your stomach and hips.

Then he abruptly stands. “Sit up, sweetheart.”

You do, cautiously, fumbling to hold on the edge of the crate. He helps you to your feet and makes quick work of his flight suit before hopping up on the bedroll and laying down. His hands tug at your uninjured wrist, pulling you over until he can lift you by the waist. You scramble to slide your legs over him and move to grab his cock, beyond ready to welcome him inside you.

“No,” he growls. He grabs your hips and tugs, lurching you forward. “Come here.”

“What?”

“Get up here and give me your cunt. Now.”

You hesitate, and he cracks a hand over your ass, albeit softly. You yelp and scoot forward, balancing precariously. He puts one hand firmly on your hip to help you stay steady.

“Listen to me,” he orders.

You hum, setting your hand against his chest to feel the rumble of his uninhibited voice.

“I want you to stay. I want you to stay and be mine. But if that’s going to happen, I need you to be sure. And if we’re going to forgive each other, if you’re going to forgive yourself, then two things are going to have to happen.”

“I want to,” you cry immediately, “please, I don’t want to leave.”

“Good. Then here’s how this is going to go. You know you need to be punished.”

“Yes, sir.” The sob behind your answer threatens to waver his decision, but no. He has to, or you’ll hold this doubt in your heart forever.

“Why do you need to be punished?”

“B-because I didn’t do what you said.”

“No, sweetheart. Hey.” He reaches up and strokes your cheek. “I promise. Nothing—ever—outside will affect you here. But if, and only if, you really want to be mine like this, then I have to punish you for lying.”

“O-okay."

“Why do you need to be punished?” he asks again, soft.

“I lied to you about being hurt and upset.” It’s barely a whisper, but warm pride brings a smile to his face.

“Good girl.” He rewards you by pulling your hand to his lips for a kiss. You shudder again.

“It’s been a hard day. So what I’m going to do is give you your punishment and reward at the same time. You’re going to scoot over here and let me eat your cunt. You remember your words, if you need me to stop?”

“Yes, sir.”

He takes a moment to look at you, really look at you, bare before him for the first time with no visor in between. Your hair is a mess, half your braid fallen out with the loss of your pins. Your cheeks are splotchy and swollen from crying. “You’re so beautiful, sweet girl. You going to let me take care of you now?”

You nod, and he grasps both hips to settle you over his mouth. He can’t help but lick up into you right away, relieved to find you dripping. You cry out and waver, so he wraps one hand back around your hip and holds tight.

He dives back in. You know he’s never done this before, and he’s certainly sloppy and fumbling, but the voraciousness of his tongue and the almost desperate way he digs in more than make up for it. It’s better than any of the men who’ve bothered to try before.

He keeps going, licking, sucking, nipping at your thighs and lips, and though you’re tense with apprehension, waiting for the first strike, you find yourself on the edge of an orgasm very quickly.

“Please,” you whisper.

You feel his lips curl into a smile, and he breaks away only long enough to grant permission before he’s wrapped back around your clit, sucking hard enough that you see stars as you fall apart. He moans, sinfully loud, and it pushes you into a second, smaller orgasm in quick succession.

His licks get softer, backing off to let you breathe. When you’ve come down, pleasure warming your whole body, he pulls away.

“How many times did you lie to me tonight?”

You try to think through the haze. “Um.” You don’t want to be bad; you want to suffer for your sins and be redeemed through his will. You especially don’t want him to think you’re trying to lessen your punishment. “Um. Maybe six? Or seven? I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I don’t know.”

His thumb rubs soothing circles on your hip, and he raises his other hand to cup your cheek. “That’s okay, cyar'ika. Thank you for trying.” He strokes your cheek. “It was five.”

“I’m so sorry.” You don’t want to cry yet; you know it’ll be harder if you do. You’ll cry in the end, anyway. But you want to be brave.

“I’m going to give you five for each. You know the rules.”

You nod, and he pulls his hand from your face to cup your ass. You jolt in surprise when you feel his tongue again instead. As he licks deep into you, he pulls his hand away and lands a firm spank.

“One,” you gasp. It wasn’t a hard hit, just past tingling, and the combination with his ministrations is making you dizzy.

The next one is harder, as is each subsequent strike. You count, none of the hits reaching the point of real pain yet.

He cups your ass and rubs it soothingly. “Cum, baby,” he murmurs before sinking his teeth in around your clit.

“Fuck, oh fuck.” Your hips jerk against his mouth and he chuckles, kissing and licking you through it.

“Good girl,” he croons into your cunt and brings his hand down hard on your ass.

“S-six,” you sob a little. It definitely stung more, but then immediately, he’s drawing cries of pleasure from you.

He pauses again after the next four, soothing you and bringing you to the edge. He teases a little this time, withholding permission while you squirm, before telling you to cum.

The next hit hurts. You choke back a sob, trying to spit out “eleven.” He delivers the next four rapidly, not allowing each hit to sink in before the next one. When he pauses again and refocuses on your clit, you realize what he’s doing.

It’s working. You’re so dazed from the pain bleeding into pleasure, you’ve started to moan with each strike. The way you burn from each slap makes the orgasm he rips from you more intense than you’ve had before.

It makes you start to cry in earnest. You’re bawling and he freezes.

“Check in, please. Are you okay?”

You nod frantically. “Yes, please, I’m okay, I can take it. Please.” You don’t have the words to tell him you’re only crying because you have no room left in your chest for your feelings.

Later, you’ll ask him if you’re broken. If you shouldn’t feel so safe, so cared for, when he hurts you. He’ll tell you he doesn’t know, but then he must be broken too, since the way you cried for him, the way you gave yourself over and trusted him to catch you, is how he feels safe, too.

The last two sets, the last two orgasms, are a blur. You feel faint, and delirious, like you’re floating away but also being held down tight. Anchored.

When it’s all over, he carefully slips out from under you and lifts you up, setting you up on your knees with your hand against the wall for support. He checks you over to make sure he didn’t go too far, that none of your wounds have reopened. When he goes to get a cream to ease the burn, you whimper.

“Don’t, please. I wanna feel it.”

He hesitates. He just wants to take it all away. “Cyar’ika, you don’t need to punish yourself further. You took it so well; you’re such a good girl.”

You sniffle but nod, and hold still while he takes care of you. He digs around and finds himself clothes, slipping the helmet back on, before gently tugging one of his tunics over your head, mindful of your wrist, and peeling the gauze from your face . Then, he helps you to your feet and opens the ramp.

You open blurry eyes, looking up at him. “What’re you doing?”

“We’re going to get a room for the night,” he says firmly, brooking no argument even though you know it’s not in the budget. “And tomorrow, we’ll go to the market before we leave and look for a bigger bed for the bunk. If you’d like.”

You can’t think of anything you’d like more.

*title from "Bonus Mosh, pt. II" by Taking Back Sunday.

#din djarin x reader #the mandalorian x reader #mando x reader #the mandalorian fic #din djarin x f!reader #kinktober 2023 #din djarin fic #corazondebeskar-reads and writes #make it hurt verse

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piglet26 · 5 months

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Reylo Scenes: TROS Part 2

After a failed attempt at killing Rey and Rey slashing Ren's fighter. He's relieved he didn't kill her. She's relieved she didn't kill him. He emerges looking fucking glorious while Rey tried to stop a ship from flying off cause she thinks Chewie is on board. What the hell are they doing putting a mask on him at this point?!

In the novel from Kylo's perspective, "But his impulse to kill Key had almost ruined everything he had been planning..... but his deepest desire, the thing he wanted most (Rey) would require planning and patience."

"It didn't matter what or who was inside that transport that made desperate to prevent it's escape, he was not going to let her have it. He reached out, felt the massive machinery in his mind, yanked it towards himself."

What's interesting in this scene is Kylo Ren is pushing her and Rey ultimately pulls from anger to best him and keep chewing. That's what always been interesting about Rey is she's the Jedi, but often times she fights with anger, fear and aggression. In the novelization it's revealed that over the course of that year she's been hearing voices. It looks pretty and it's a good shot, but I kept thinking didn't we already see this? Force wise... they're pretty even. While it doesn't hit as hard as the tug-o-war in the TLJ it does serve a purpose. Rey is a Palpatine after all.

In the movie, as per usual, this next bit doesn't make any sense. Ren seems stunned and just let's Rey, Finn and Poe run off. In the novel it makes more sense.

"Kylo Ren watched the freighter rise into the sky, Rey inside it. She had beaten him again (she thought she killed her friend not really a win but you're emo) and yet, he was filled with triumph. He'd been right to push her. She had just demonstrated unbelievable, mind blowing power. Dark power. Sith Power. The scavenger was almost ready to turn. And when she did, they would both kill their light, embrace their darkness, then the star destroyer fleet and the Sith throne would be theirs."

Kylo Ren is a Reylo and is trying to make power couple goals happen and we have to appreciate that.

This is concept art from "The Rise of Skywalker" notice how their costumes mirror each other.

The chemistry between Rey and Kylo is electric whenever they share the same space, so much so that sometimes it feels like we, the audience, are intruding on a private moment between the two.

On board Ochi's ship Rey confesses she has sex dreams about Kylo Ren. Let's be honest they both do and she confesses she's had visions of her and Kylo Ren on top the Sith throne.

Next scene is them in Kijimi. Ren is looking for his future Queen who is trying to find the sithway finder or whatever. Arriving in his pretty cool ship.

In the novel per Zorii, "As the black clad man approached the squads officer snap to attention, "Supreme leader".... the man standing below with his gang od butchers was Kylo Ren himself.....The supreme leader said his voice was tight and calm, but Zorii got the feeling he was barely containing his rage. He looked around almost as if he were sniffing the air. "We have a perimeter around the city." The lieutenant began, but Kylo Ren cut him off, "We're too late, the scavenger is gone." Zorri goes onto describe Kylo Ren having a moment whipping his lightsaber out and going beast mode.

In the movie through the force it's implied that that's how Rey knows Chewie is onboard Ren's destroyer, but in the novel it's different. He interrogated Chewie forcefully (wink wink ha ha ha) to get information on Rey. Rey was able to link mind with Kylo Ren and that's how she knew Chewie was onboard. They should've shown them linking minds more.

Then Rey was in his room, or excuse me, private quarters. Anyone else surprised his room was so white and pretty, if no impersonal. Where's his bed? I saw it in the first movie I think.

"Rey. Wherever you are, you are hard to find."

I'm wondering if at this point that can connect to one another more voluntarily. Rey is always swinging first. Like always. This scene can only really be described as exposition scenes, but there is a nice aspect to it. It's nice to see what they see from one another's viewpoint when they force bond. They just see each other. The dyad is increasing in power, not only can they now touch through the force, they can fight and their spaces even blend. They were together and yet separate. Kylo Ren also seems to be very excited his girl is in quarters and wants to lock down that ship.

In their next scene, again, Kylo tells her the plot of The Rise of Skywalker while wearing that damn mask. I have questions when did Kylo Ren find out they were a dyad?! Why were denied this scene? Obviously they instinctually know they are connected, they just never knew the word to put to it, but were is the exact scene? The thing about Kylo Ren is he uses information to twist it like a knife. He's going to use the truth that they are Dyad, that she is a Palpatine and ultimately the attraction she feels for him to seduce her to the dark side. From Rey's perspective, "He extended his black gloved hand to her, she looked at it, remembered. The last time he extended a hand had been in the wreckage of Snoke's throne room. Their combined power had defeated him. It was true. That together they could do such incredible things. Suddenly, she sensed a weight at her back and along with it... Finn. His presence a bright beacon of light piercing the dark." Ren pulling some MJ Smooth Criminal moves there.

After Rey flees with her crew, in the novel it's gives Kylo Ren's reaction. Her surveys the damage left from The Falcon's engine wash. "Kylo considered it a small price to pay to encounter Rey again. To provoke her into a rage. To say the word Dyad and watch the truth of it wash over her lovely face......he hardly paid attention, he kept seeing her face. The way her lips had parted with surprise. The way her body had canted (leaned) toward him. If the Millennial falcon hadn't appeared she might have come to him. Taken his hand. Kylo really hated that ship.... he'd been so very close, but now she knew the truth. She would accept it."

Yeah, they're horny. It's the first time Kylo described her in such detail and really let us as the reader or audience know..... he wants power, but he wants Rey more. If Ren had the world in his hand it wouldn't mean as much without Rey. This is the first scene in the movie where Rey acknowledges how much she wants to be with him. Interesting, Finn again is really her solid base on the good side of the force.

Side note: Dark Rey is hot.

The lightsaber fight onboard the death star wreckage. I've heard criticism that this fight while beautiful is pointless. I disagree. It's actually a scene that pushes them forward. Rey said, "give it to me" and Ren giving this shudder like he just came in his pants. hmmhmm! Ren likes feral, passionate Rey. He's pushing her and pushing her when she's already at the edge. Interesting enough, Ben can take whatever Rey has to give. All the anger and the fury she's had to hide from everyone else she can express to him. The fight is really about their likeness and yet difference, their passion, how Rey has grown in her lightsaber fighting and fixing the end of The Force Awakens. Ren is fighting at full force capacity, he's not injured and he's not emotional.

The way he is in love

“He sent the thought directly into her mind: I know you. No one does, she shot back. But I do.” WHY WASN'T THIS IN THE MOVIE?!

They fight until Rey is exhausted and when it looks like Kylo Ren might strike the killing blow, Leia reaches out through the force before she passes. In a fit of rage Rey stabs Kylo Ren, but snaps out of it when she feels Leia's passing. She begins to heal the wound she created.

How did she heal? Oh, you know those books she had in the beginning of the movie? Those book were the sacred Jedi text from Acht-to. She smuggled them onboard the falcon. So they never were actually set fire. Turns out Yoda that they actually were useful.

Rey showing him compassion, healing him, believing in him almost doggedly is so empowering for Ben Solo to return. His parents might be gone, but he still has someone to return home to. This movie has flawed writing but sometimes almost accidentally that land on something that works. The line where she admits she wanted to take his hand is a great line. It's declaration of love for Ben, not a rejection of Kylo Ren. It's her saying, "I didn't reject you. I wanted the best version of you"

After the unconditional love offered by both parents and the selfless, sacrificial love offered by Rey...... Kylo Ren becomes Ben Solo again. We just don't see him for the next 20 minutes as Rey processes her identity crisis and then goes off to fight to Palpatine..... without a plan.

There's also something purely adolescent about Reylo. Even in TLJ, these two throw themselves into one another. Like Rey having a vision of their future together so she goes alone to an enemy ship based purely on belief in him. Now we have Ben Solo, in a moment of pure adolescent "I gotta get to my girl" just needs to be with her on exegol as she faces down Palpatine.

From Adam Driver, "and the thing that we started with for "Who is Ben, then? There's no ambiguity about what it is that he has to do. There's no more seesaw that's happening. For the first time, someone who has never had the answer now finally knows his purpose or destiny. But I don't know that he entirely is sure of what's going to happen from there, nor do I think he cares. I think it's so long as he is with her, he's on the right path. " Adam driver is a Reylo.

Ben solo is back and he's glorious. He's likeable, charismatic, he's funny and he shoots backwards like his dad. People appreciated Adam Driver in an all new way with these scenes. He doesn't say a word except "oh, but you know he's shifted from Kylo Ren to Ben Solo. His physical acting is so strong. The subtlety showed his talented and not many actors can say that.

It such a beautiful moment when finally Ben Solo and Rey connect instead. In the novel and in the film especially so because she reaches for her connection to Ben right before she's going to kill Palpatine.

He acknowledged her and Rey’s lips parted in surprise. The connection was… right. Good. Like coming home. They wasted a precious moment reveling in this new sharing. This is how it should have been all along. A true dyad.

Rey lowered the lightsaber behind her back, as if readying for a massive blow. She reached for the Force. The effort made tears sting in her eyes. [...] She raised her hand ... which was now empty. She had projected her weapon away. [...] The moment Ben felt the grip of Luke’s lightsaber in his palm, he knew it belonged to him, an extension of his very own self. He raised it slowly, relishing the feel of it. ”

It's a beautiful moment where Rey and now Ben Solo have a redo of The Last Jedi. Rey looks at Ben with such love, joy and relief. Ben looks at Rey with such confidence, determination and love. It's the "Are you with me? "Yes, I'm with" Now with them both in blue light.

Finally Ben Solo and Rey are united. These soulmates separate by so much over the course of two movies are finally as they were suppose to be. Palpatine and Skywalker standing together. What it should have been is act of love, redemption and hope defeating evil. It should have been Ben Solo confronting his demons with the woman he loves and fought to be with. It should have been is Rey belonging; a redeemed Ben was supposed to become her new home and/ fulfill her need for a family. It should have been a power couple fighting evil with the Force.

But no. Somehow the two of them coming together empowered the devil. Their power like a source of life itself. Then Ben Solo is chucked off a cliff after draining their energy. Why? Ben Solo should have faced his grandfather's and father's enemy, or his clone. Palpatine confirms all the voices he's been hearing in his head has been Palpatine. He literally made irrelevant to something he is very relevant to.

They fail together, but she succeeds alone after the spirits of the Jedi aiding her?! I hate all this. Then she dies after her energy being drained, or she clutches the lightsaber too hard, I'm not sure it's not described. It's annoying. Ben drags himself up broken ribs and all to get to Rey. He crawls to her when he realizes she's passed. It's a horrible moment where you feel how alone Ben feels.

"He could see her now, collapsed on the floor, and the pain in his chest was suddenly so much worse than that of a couple broken ribs."

Ben initially mourns her until he realizes there might be a chance to save. He heals her like she healed him. Oh also none of the films go into the fact that because of their bond they were able to learn the force, including fighting moves, from one another. "Ben poured everything into her. He found reservoirs he didn’t even know he had. He gave her his whole self"

Then Rey finally takes his hand! She's back! Ben is so relieve that she's there. In the novel, "She was glad to see him. Glad to be with him in this moment. It was the greatest gift she could have given him. His heart was full as Rey reached for his face, let her fingers linger against his cheek. And then, wonder of wonders, she leaned forward and kissed him."

Reylos! We finally get our kiss, they smile at one another, look they're so happy! Probably the happiest they've ever been. A celebration!

Anddddddd he's gone. Seriously. Rey mourns him in the novel like we never see her do in the film. "The girl who had felt alone for all those years on Jakku had been part of a dyad the whole time. And just when she'd discovered that precious connection, that incredible oneness, it was ripped away. A voice came to her through the Force, clear and strong. I will always be with you, Ben said."

It's tragic because there's so much to Ben Solo we just don't see as an audience after 3 films!!!!!! He doesn't have any lines.

This movie was edited until literally the week before the films release. The recall of the artbook, the last-minute editing, Adam Driver recording new dialogue in his closet..... I'm wondering if the original idea for TROS Reylo was, well, this. We know from the editor, they didn't know for sure if they wanted them to kiss until post-production. Much of the movie wasn't decided until post-production.

And then we get to the ending. Rey Skywalker. How are you not Rey Solo after the man you felt kinship with and the man you were in love with?! Like da fuq?!

Moving forward to this Rey 2025 movie. I'd like it to do well. I hope it does well. It probably won't unless Ben Solo returns. Reylo might be controversial (whatever) but it's currently one of the biggest draws this franchise has. Kylo Ren/Ben Solo is the most popular character out of the sequel trilogy. We deserve it and I'd pay to see it.

sigh the ending we should have gotten

This post took me like 4 days

#reylo #ben solo #star wars #finnrey #kylo ren #kylo x rey #rey skywalker #rey star wars #tros #star wars fanart #star wars reylo #kylo ren star wars #sequel trilogy #rey

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happy-beeeps · 5 months

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Day 5: Cold

Summary: you and din get stuck in a freezing cave on Hoth, what better time to start unpacking some trauma!

Warnings: discussions of lost, past trauma, pulling away. Hurt/comfort but ultimately fluff!

WC: 1.1k

A/N: heyyyy this is a day late because I worked all my jobs yesterday, it was going to be smut as a “sorry” but then trauma and hurt comfort so I was like hm this feels like a weird place for smut SO just keep your eyes peeled later ;)

You’re not sure exactly when you knew this would be a disaster, but you were kicking yourself for not saying anything earlier.

Din was in one of his moods—had been all morning. In fact, during the cold, biting trek across Hoth he had been even more stoic and quiet than normal. As if it was even possible. He’d been like this; reserved, determined, bitter, since the Jedi had left with Grogu. That had been two weeks ago. Two weeks of aimless wandering, without his foundling, without his creed.

He hadn’t hardly touched you since, save for a small brush of his hand on your skin or a sharp tug when you almost wandered into something sharp. You were reeling from the loss too but, admittedly, he had felt it more.

And so you ended up in moments like this. Stuck in a shallow ice cave on some random spot on Hoth, teeth chattering against the bitter cold, while Din tried to start some sort of fire. All the way, the puck blinked red, on and off. Close enough to pick up on transmission but far enough that you had decided to camp for the night.

“C’mere,” his voice cuts out through the cold air, and he moves just minimally from his spot, opening your view up to the small fire he’s started. “Anyone would be crazy to go out in this blizzard, figure we’re fine to rest here for the night.”

“Crazy like us, right?” You tease, moving to sit near him. When he doesn’t give you the half laugh he’s been giving the last few days you look up, concerned.

His head is in his hands, his shoulders slumped. You almost move to check his pulse if it weren’t for the heavy, ragged breath coming through the modulator. “I’m sorry I’ve done this to us.”

“Din, done what?”

“I’ve put us in danger, put you in danger. I should’ve known the blizzard would’ve been too much, we could’ve found an outpost or something.”

“This is nothing, we’ve got our packs, we’ll be fine, remember when we first started traveling together, and I started gambling with that guy on Kijimi-“

“This is nothing like Kijimi.”

Your eyebrows cock up and you move to put a hand on his shoulder, “how is this not like Kijimi?”

“Because I was able to protect you, to protect our family, on Kijimi.”

Ah. There it is. The words he hasn’t spoken for weeks are finally slipping through, and all you can do is hold his back and press your head to his shoulder. “Grogu leaving us has nothing to do with you not being able to protect him.”

“But he wouldn’t have fallen into Gideon’s ship in the first place if I had.”

“And the Jedi would have found him anyways. Din, you’ve lost so much. You can’t let all of this fall on you.”

It’s his turn now to attempt to joke and he sighs, lifting up his helmet and discarding it on the ground. “Watch me.” He’s smirking, but the joke doesn’t make it to his eyes, heavy with an emotion akin to sadness.

“There you are,” you move, cupping his cheeks with your hands. You’re envious of the thin layer of sweat that’s on his face, remembering how warm his helmet has been the few times you’ve had it on. “You can’t keep holding this all by yourself. Your family is bigger than Grogu.”

“It’s also the covert,” he starts and you move up on your knees to press a kiss to his forehead. He closes his eyes at your touch immediately.

“It’s also me.”

The two of you sit in a comfortable silence after that for a while, not wanting to break the bubble of peace you’ve found for a brief moment. It works, Din relaxes a bit against your touch, his breathing finding its way to your neck and his lips pressing themselves against the juncture of your jaw. “Don’t deserve you sweet girl.”

You shake your head softly, fidgeting against his arms to face him, “you deserve all the softness and sweetness this world can give you. And then some.”

The kiss he responds with is gentle, longing, and you lap it up instantly. He’s warm and soft against your lips, and the two of you take turns breathing life back into one another. He nips at your bottom lip for a moment, then settles on pulling back and just sitting there for a moment, breath softly fanning across your cheeks. You don’t move to initiate more. He’ll come back fully in his own time. For now you just breathe him in, feel the taste of his lips on yours, and just exist.

He pulls back after another moment, and moves towards the pack he’s been carrying. You’re bundled up in your (and his) thickest winter gear, so while you’re bitterly cold, you don’t think you’re at risk of losing a limb. You hope Din would be able to at least sense that. You watch as he pulls a blanket from the pack, laying it down against the snow covered ground, near enough to fire for warmth but not quite close enough that you’d be at risk of hurting yourself, as you are want to do.

He fishes another, thicker blanket from the bag and motions you towards the pile, opening his arms to you. You move to happily claim your spot tucked in his side right below his neck, but he pauses, reaches and passes you his helmet.

“It’ll keep you warm.”

Your mouth opens and closes like a fish in response, and he rolls his eyes before unceremoniously plopping it on your head.

“Lose heat fastest through your head and your feet.”

“But… it’s your helmet.” Your voice comes through modulated and even, it hides the small cracks from the sheer sentiment of the gesture.

“I don’t think I can be made an apostate twice.” Again, the joking smile returns, and again does not make its way up to his eyes.

You relent, and spend the rest of the night against his arm, tucked in warm thanks to the helmet and the blankets. You drift off into an easy sleep, filled with dreams of the two of you, the Razor Crest, and a little green baby.

When you awake the next morning, his helmet is back on, and the light is blinding off the ice walls of the cave. You’ve both survived (limbs in tact) and the whole world seems brighter. Perhaps Din notices it to, as he helps you up and holds you for just a moment longer. You look straight past the dark T of his visor as if to look in his eyes, and press a hand to his cheek. You can’t see his eyes close against your touch but you know they do, the two of you united as you step out into the bright, cold air.

#star wars #the mandalorian #din djarin #din djarin x reader #din djarin imagine #the mandalorian x reader #sw imagine #dincember 2023

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writing-positivelyexisting · 1 year

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Warm Bodies

The Bad Batch. Bad Batch/Reader. | writing-positivelyexisting🫧

For the 50 followers celebration, I give you this fluffy Bad Batch/Reader! Thank you guys! <3

Sent on a mission to the frozen planet, Kijimi, the crunch of snow was becoming a white noise to you. You trekked behind Echo, desperately pulling your arms across your middle and into your body, trying to contain as much body heat as possible. You weren’t built for this. You grew up on Tatooine. Snow was not your element.

You looked over at your comrades in their winter armor. Not a single shiver or a drippy sniffle. It boggled you completely. How in the galaxy did they stay warm? Genetics? Maybe it was part of their enhancements. Whatever was keeping these men warm would stay a mystery, and it made you envious.

A gust of particularly strong force blew past the group and you felt every fiber in your body jitter. Your body was wracked with a violent shiver to the point where it made you stop moving.

Crosshair, who was walking behind everyone, stopped to look at you. He heard your chattering teeth and had to keep his chuckle in the back of his throat.

“Cold?”

If you weren’t so frozen in place you would have hit him. “No. I was just about to strip, it’s so hot.”

“Be my guest,” he teased, his cruel and taunting smile hidden behind his helmet.

“For the love of – Hunter! Can we please set up camp?”

The leader, farther than the rest of you, stopped and looked back. Seeing you a miserable cold mess brought out a pitiful sigh from him. He comm’d back, “The first sign of shelter we will. Need an extra coat?”

You groaned, but nodded to his offer. You trudged up to Hunter as fast as your icicle-legs would allow and took the heavy parka Hunter packed.

“Thanks,” you huffed, shoving your arms through in greed. Zipping up the jacket, you felt a little difference. It would have to do for now.

Hunter gave you a look over, wanting to be sure you were alright to continue. He could hear the increased rhythm of your heart and felt his own pang in helplessness. Offering you the jacket was the best he could do for you now.

He looked over at Tech beside him and tilted his head, “Can you scan for shelter?”

“Certainly,” Tech tucked his data pad away then looked up, holding onto his goggles as he searched the horizon. “There appears to be an abandoned Kessel mining shaft three klicks north.”

You felt some relief knowing it wouldn’t be too long. “Thank the stars. Let’s get going.”

The trek took almost an hour, but when you finally made it inside the mine, you were quick to plop onto your butt. You took your pack off and looked at the men who were starting to unpack. Bringing your tired body to move, you took out your sleeping bag and unfurled it.

What you saw next you really had no words. There was a hole. Big enough for a really fat Tooka cat to crawl through. Perks of being government property. You shivered and felt like crying. This mission was going great.

Hunter came by with Echo and they both saw your sleeping bag. “Oh, cyare.” Echo came to you and you huffed, trying to keep a brave face.

“I’ll figure something out.”

You stood up and went to help Wrecker with building the fire. He welcomed your presence, bringing you into a comfy side hug. You felt the heat he provided and if you could purr, you would. He let you go with a soft kiss to the top of your head before giving you the lighter.

He asked you how you were holding up on the mission, knowing full well your inability to handle such freezing temperatures. You frowned, kneeling to the fire kit and setting it ablaze.

“Not well. My sleeping bag has a hole in it. So, I’m royally screwed.”

Wrecker frowned at you, “You could always sleep with one of us.”

“I know, thank you.”

Wrecker was right. You had your boys and any one of them would be more than happy to give up their sleeping bag or have you cuddle into their side for the night. Sometimes it still blows you away to realize you’ve got five incredible men at your back, who care for you, who are there for you, who love you.

You smiled at the thought and a little bright idea came to you.

As the sun set on Kijimi, the winds gusted through the mine with ferocity and the temperature dropped to the negatives. While you ate the rations you packed, you couldn’t stop the death-biting shivers that wracked your body. It was becoming unbearable so you looked around the mine and found Wrecker sitting opposite of you, his back against the wall.

You moved, sitting next to him and snuggling into his side. The man grinned, moving his arm to bring you closer (as if it was possible). “Maker, you’re warm…” You looked up and saw the others happily smiling at you two. “It could be warmer, though,” you said wistfully, hoping the damsel-in-distress tone would work.

It did.

Hunter moved in to your other side, pecking your temple. You smiled and thanked him, letting the two men warm you up from either side of you. It was nice, but your little plan had yet to be finished.

“I think… I could be warmer, hmm.” You innocently put your pointer finger on your cheek like you were thinking about how to solve your problem. You glanced at Tech and Echo and winked.

Both of them rolled their eyes at your silly ploy, but gave in regardless. Echo laid on your right thigh while Tech laid on your left, each reaching up to place a kiss on your cheeks. With four out of five brothers, you looked at the sniper whose back was facing you. He had his firepuncher propped up next to him and was ready to take the first watch.

You weren’t satisfied with that.

“I still think it could be way warmer,” you spoke exaggeratingly loud and Crosshair moved to glance at you over his shoulder. His eyebrow raised when he saw your ‘come-here’ hands. Not daring to ignore your cute plea, the snarky sniper got up to take the last spot available: in between your legs.

“Could have just asked, darling,” he breathed against your lips before he kissed you.

It made you giggle and you happily wrapped your arms around him as he settled in on you. “Oh, I know. This was more fun, though.”

The men chuckled, filling you with warmth greater than any sun. As the night was breaching late hours, one by one each of you fell into a comfortable slumber. You were kept blissfully warm through the night and your tiny smile never left.

word count: 1,136.

Beta read by: @beating-a-dead-plot (If you’re looking for a beta reader, she’s an excellent one! Give her a message!)

Tag list: @dangraccoon (comment or send me and ask if you want to be tagged!)

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rezwrites · 2 months

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Shin hati brainrot

Shin Hati/Reader

Summary: Shin gets injured on a mission, luckily you’re there with her.

Warnings: injury, blood

a/n: slight au where shin gets off of peridea, and works as a mercenary instead of joining thrawn.

The wind harshly blew through the forest trees, crisp, dry air biting at your nose and fingertips despite the thick furs covering you. Snow crunching under your footsteps, muffling any sound coming from you and your blonde companion.

A few moons ago, she boarded your ship, seeking your services for her mercenary work. She rarely spoke, but you soon found solace in the quiet late-night games of holochess or cards; enjoying the way her eyes danced across the board, strategizing her way to win.

Her work took you across the galaxy, from the Outer Rim Territories to the lower levels of Coruscant. This current mission brought you to Kijimi, where Shin was returning spice to some Pykes in Kijimi City. Usually, Shin would leave you on the ship, but this time she handed you a small blaster and insisted on backup. Despite having seen her skillful handling of a lightsaber, disbelieving she needed help, you followed her up the mountain.

Unexpectedly, backup was needed. At the drop-off point, you were ambushed by thieves and heavily outnumbered. As you were fleeing, a stray bolt ricocheted off of a crate hitting Shin’s torso. Carrying her through back alleys, you finally reached the mountainside and descended to the ship.

Shin's ragged breathing and the blood dripping onto the snow were worrying. Wind picking up as she fell to her knees. "We're almost to the ship, Shin. Just a little bit longer," encouraging her, yet, she collapsed.

---

As you finished bandaging Shin, she startled awake.

"We're in the ship, you're safe now," you assured her, gently stroking her arm. She took in the familiar surroundings of the ship.

“Where are we?” She attempted to sit up, but halted when you lightly grazed her shoulders. Her face flushing as you laid her back down.

Upon her query, you explained, "I landed us on Kinyen for safety, in case anyone was following us." As you disposed of the bloody bandages, Shin relaxes and covers her eyes with her arm, both of you breathing a sigh of relief.

“I’m sorry about your mission,” Sitting on the edge of her bed, you covered her with a blanket.

"There will be more." As you started to leave, she lightly gripped your wrist, hesitating, "please stay with me." Her plea touched you deeply, her eyes holding much pain and vulnerability, it broke your heart. Lying down she rested her head next to your shoulder, hand softly brushing yours. You both soon fell asleep together in the comforting silence.

#fluffy shin my bby #shin hati x reader #shin hati #divider by saradika

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poelya · 12 days

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it's been a hot minute, and honestly I'm trying to use social media less, but talking to @dameronalone last night about Poe spurred on a lengthier thought process/analysis of him today, so I want to talk about Poe Dameron and emotional neglect.

That sounds heavy as hell! It really does, but it's been on my mind recently while re-examining Poe while I come to terms with a new neurodivergency(tm) of mine, and it's really changing my whole perspective on him as a whole.

So what is emotional neglect? Well, according to ScienceDirect, it's this

Emotional neglect can be defined as a relationship pattern in which an individual’s affectional needs are consistently disregarded, ignored, invalidated, or unappreciated by a significant other.

At which point you're probably thinking "okay Nym, but Poe doesn't have a significant other" which is true! But Poe's emotions do get neglected quite often. Let's examine it below the cut shall we?

So what spawned this thought process of mine, was my partner mentioning that Poe probably is feeling a little bit "he was my friend first" about Finn in TROS, in regards to his jealousy. Whether you want to look at things from a romantic lens, a platonic lens, or a queerplatonic one, I think it's safe to say we can all agree that in TROS Poe is feeling left out.

"You mean when Poe's not here" he's clearly bitter and angry about being the odd man out, that they're keeping secrets from him (even if they also don't know everything about him), and can't let it go even when they're about to be executed. Poe is usually the one to get left behind, so there's a lot that he's not privy too - not just in the sense that Finn and Rey both have the Force when he doesn't, just in the sense that there's a history there that Poe doesn't know.

And - to no fault of their own - I don't think anyone's attitudes in the film is particularly helping Poe's sense of isolation and alienation. He gets held to a particularly high, nearly impossible to reach, standard at every turn. He attempts to save everyone's life aboard the Falcon, and is at first clearly compared to Rey (although I don't understand Chewie, I think the "Rey wouldn't be doing this" translates extremely well considering Poe's follow up of "well Rey's not here, is she?"), and then his accomplishment of getting everyone back alive is completely dismissed because he trashed the Falcon doing so. Again, he's held to a standard he cannot meet. Every time Poe does something, it's treated as not enough.

As much as we might joke about the fact that the TROS visual dictionary implies he has a praise kink, the fact that it points out that "yeah well, I got us back didn't I?" is Poe seeking acknowledgment, one that he doesn't get in the slightest, leads into I think the most telling thing about how much Poe's emotional needs are neglected: Zorii.

By all rights, things should be way more complicated between them than they are, from Poe's perspective. Regardless of how nuanced the actual circumstances were, the fact of the matter is that things ended awfully between them two of them (not that it started well between them, when Zorii tricked Poe) and the last time Poe saw her, they fought physically as enemies despite being friends that occasionally made out just a few short hours before.

And we do see some of that "complicated" initially. Poe drags his feet about going back to Kijimi (and I think a little of that is due to him not wanting to lose any 'standing' with Finn and Rey, if they find out something less than great about his past, then perhaps their opinion of him will drop), and he's guarded around Zorii - up until the rooftop scene.

As much of it is likely latent "I think I might have loved you once upon a time" feelings, I do think Poe jumps so quickly into opening up around her, because she unintentionally fills an absence/lacking that Poe feels around everyone else, and especially around Finn and Rey (who at this point seem to be the people he's closest with). Zorii gets Poe in a way neither of them will be able to, on several layers, and I think that might be a little bit also why he's even able to open up to her. If Poe's already feeling left out, the having somebody abruptly ask him to run away with her because she wants him around and wants to include him, and then acknowledges what no one else has/is able to ("I don't believe you believe that"), then I can understand why Poe in the next few minutes is asking to kiss her.

But it's also indicative of...a recurring trait of Poe's, as well. Because Poe has a tendency of becoming ride or die for people, upon being offered...the bare minimum?

Zorii shows him a small amount of vulnerability in lowering her visor so they can speak, then admits she wants him around, and hears him out about his fears and points out that she knows deep down that he doesn't believe that. And it's enough to make Poe ask her to come with them, to kiss her, and then later give her bedroom eyes across the clearing on Ajan Kloss.

But - it's not just romantically that this happens. The same thing happens in Before the Awakening. Yes, Poe absolutely would have joined regardless because of what happened to Muran, but I personally think Poe becoming immediately ride or die for Leia, has a lot to do with the fact that Leia listens to him.

He mentions that he's never felt so heard before in his life, and it moves him enough that I think it has a lot to do with why he's immediately personally loyal to Leia and willing to do anything for her.

Even prior to any romantic feelings for Zorii, he projects a bit on her in Freefall because they're of similar age, and winds up loyal to her because of the fact that they bond a little bit because of their similarities - in terms of age, of feeling older than they are because of trauma, and feeling the weight of their respective family legacies. Again, it's the bare minimum of being heard, that draws Poe in.

(I think you could make a small argument, also, for Poe being so immediately ride or die for Finn, because the latter saved Poe's life and then rescued BB-8.)

Considering the continuing trend of Poe throwing himself at the next problem so he doesn't have to stop and linger on his problems, I think his emotional neglect is partially self-inflicted, but I do think there is a larger habit of the people around him on occasion forgetting that he has those emotional needs as well.

He is the Leia of the sequel trilogy, in the sense that I think everyone looks at how strong and competent he is, and forgets that he needs the same amount of emotional care as anyone else. And unfortunately, unlike Leia, what Poe doesn't have is a Han to beat it over his head that he needs to be taken care of just as much as the Resistance does.

It all rounds back to the "everything's easy for Poe Dameron, no need to dwell" in issue #14 of the Poe comics. And you'd think that, since after TLJ Poe is no longer hiding behind that cheerful, cocky flyboy facade, that things would actually be easier for him, but it isn't - his emotional needs are still being neglected, routinely both by him and the people around him because it seems like he doesn't need them as much, WHILE also feeling left out and held to impossible standards he seemingly can't meet no matter how hard he tries or whatever he might accomplish.

And it's hard to say what might have prompted this - it could be the strain his and Kes's relationship took due to Kes falling into a depression and being unable to meet Poe where Poe was at in his grief. It could (and most likely) have something to do with his mother's former coworkers telling Poe he was more trouble than he was worth and that Kes would give up on him someday. It could be from spending a year and a half/two years of being put down for his idealism by Zorii. It could be from years in the New Republic, being told he was a problem for being who he was and standing up for what he believed in. It could be all of the above, as well as Poe's own mental health problems.

But it's safe to say that I want to curl up around him like a protective little dragon and hug him for a long time and make that boy feel so loved that the bare minimum doesn't get hearts floating around in his eyes ever again.

#nym speaks #my meta #editor note: this is from a mostly objective perspective and is not dragging any character mentioned in this essay #poe dameron

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