#author: cara hunter

[haveyoureadthispoll]

SIX EPISODES. ONE KILLER. It was a case that gripped the nation. In December 2003, Luke Ryder, the stepfather of acclaimed filmmaker Guy Howard (then aged 10), was found dead in the garden of their suburban family home. Luke Ryder's murder has never been solved. Guy Howard's mother and two half-sisters were in the house at the time of the murder--but all swear they saw nothing. Despite a high-profile police investigation and endless media attention, no suspect was ever charged. But some murder cases are simply too big to forget... Now comes the sensational new Netflix series Infamous, dedicated to investigating--and perhaps cracking--this famous cold case. The production team will re-examine testimony, re-interview witnesses, and once again scour the evidence. The family will speak. The key players will be reunited--on camera. The truth will come out. Are you ready to see it?

[probablyasocialecologist]

There is a growing body of physiological, anatomical, ethnographic, and archaeological evidence to suggest that not only did women hunt in our evolutionary past, but they may well have been better suited for such an endurance-dependent activity. We are both biological anthropologists. I (co-author Cara) specialize in the physiology of humans who live in extreme conditions, using my research to reconstruct how our ancestors may have adapted to different climates. And I (co-author Sarah) study Neanderthal and early modern human health. I also excavate at their archaeological sites. It’s not uncommon for scientists like us—who attempt to include the contributions of all individuals, regardless of sex and gender, in reconstructions of our evolutionary past—to be accused of rewriting the past to fulfill a politically correct, woke agenda. The actual evidence speaks for itself, though: Gendered labor roles did not exist in the Paleolithic era, which lasted from 3.3 million years ago until 12,000 years ago. The story is written in human bodies, now and in the past.

[...]

Our Neanderthal cousins, a group of humans who lived across Western and Central Eurasia approximately 250,000 to 40,000 years ago, formed small, highly nomadic bands. Fossil evidence shows females and males experienced the same bony traumas across their bodies—a signature of a hard life hunting deer, aurochs, and woolly mammoths. Tooth wear that results from using the front teeth as a third hand, likely in tasks like tanning hides, is equally evident across females and males. This nongendered picture should not be surprising when you imagine small-group living. Everyone needs to contribute to the tasks necessary for group survival—chiefly, producing food and shelter, and raising children. Individual mothers are not solely responsible for their children; in forager communities, the whole group contributes to child care. You might imagine this unified labor strategy then changed in early modern humans, but archaeological and anatomical evidence shows it did not. Upper Paleolithic modern humans leaving Africa and entering Europe and Asia show very few sexed differences in trauma and repetitive motion wear. One difference is more evidence of “thrower’s elbow” in males than females, though some females shared these pathologies. And this was also the time when people were innovating with hunting technologies like atlatls (spear throwers), fishing hooks and nets, and bow and arrows—alleviating some of the wear and tear hunting would take on their bodies. A recent archaeological experiment found that using atlatls decreased sex differences in the speed of spears thrown by contemporary men and women. Even in death, there are no sexed differences in how Neanderthals or modern humans buried their dead or the goods affiliated with their graves. These indicators of differential gendered social status do not arrive until agriculture, with its stratified economic system and monopolizable resources. All this evidence suggests Paleolithic women and men did not occupy differing roles or social realms.

[djarins-cyare]

✭ Series Masterlist ✭

Languishing in a dull and lonely existence on the forest moon of Endor after travelling there to help salvage Death Star wreckage, a nearly fatal encounter with a mysterious bounty hunter out in the forest heralds an opportunity to utilise long-forgotten skills and develop something more profound than you ever thought possible.

Second person POV, present tense. Set post-season 2, diverges from Canon events before TBoBF and season 3. This is a novel-length, exceptionally slow burn with an original plot, worldbuilding, and fully-developed characterisation. SWU concepts and lore are accurately researched.

WORDS: 405,180

PAIRING: Din Djarin x Female Reader/You

RATING: Explicit (18+)

CHARACTERS: Din Djarin, Reader/You/Female OC, Original Non-Human Character(s), Original Human Characters, Greef Karga, Cara Dune, Leia Organa, Luke Skywalker, Grogu, Peli Motto

TAGS: Slow Burn, Slow Build, Romance, Love, Sexual Tension, Eventual Smut, Smut, Sex, Sexual Content, Explicit Sexual Content, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Fluff and Angst, Light Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Relationships, Healthy Relationships, Canon-Typical Violence, Blood and Injury, Dark Past, Additional Warnings In Author's Notes, Bounty Hunter Din Djarin, Soft Din Djarin, Touch-Starved Din Djarin, Din Djarin Needs a Hug, Smart Din Djarin, Soft Dominant Din Djarin, Ewok Species, Mandalorian Culture, Mando'a Language, New Razor Crest, Thoroughly Researched, Worldbuilding, No use of y/n.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This took me almost a year to write and four months to edit/proof. Each chapter is prefaced with specific tags and (where necessary) warnings, plus word counts. End notes contain translations and comments… this baby is thoroughly researched, so I’m sharing context where appropriate. I’ve also added definitions of in-universe terms so people less familiar with the franchise won’t be left wondering what the hell certain words or references mean. This is a slow burn (adult themes), and although the explicit content only occurs in the latter half, when it does, it warrants the ‘E’ rating. Basically, the first half is a love story, and the second half gets spicy. I hope you enjoy it!

READ THE COMPLETE STORY ON AO3:

(Chapters containing explicit content marked †)

Chapter 1: The Obstacle

Chapter 2: The Interrogation

Chapter 3: The Covenant

Chapter 4: The Snare

Chapter 5: The Strike

Chapter 6: The Groundwork

Chapter 7: The Genesis

Chapter 8: The Progression

Chapter 9: The Hide

Chapter 10: The Beast

Chapter 11: The Adjustment

Chapter 12: The Storm

Chapter 13: The Broadside

Chapter 14: The Intercourse

Chapter 15: The Village

Chapter 16: The Confession

Chapter 17: The Reprieve

Chapter 18: The Fortification

Chapter 19: The Ambush

Chapter 20: The Meridian

Chapter 21: The Homestretch

Chapter 22: The Union †

Chapter 23: The Overture

Chapter 24: The Crescendo

Chapter 25: The Harmony †

Chapter 26: The Cadence †

Chapter 27: The Ride †

Chapter 28: The Veneration †

Chapter 29: The Spree †

Chapter 30: The Tribute †

Chapter 31: The Courage

Chapter 32: The Feast

Chapter 33: The Exhibition †

Chapter 34: The Reward

Chapter 35: The Binding †

Chapter 36: The Synergy †

Chapter 37: The Match †

Chapter 38: The Flag †

Chapter 39: The Foundling †

Chapter 40: The Future †

✨Additional Media✨

@burntheedges has written a spectacular little drabble detailing what Din was up to during the paragraph break near the end of chapter 1 (*SPOILERS* you don’t find this out until chapter 27).

@djarin-desires has created some awesome AI images of a few scenes using Midjourney.

I spent a stupid amount of money on the Hot Toys official Din Djarin action figure, simply so I could photograph him in poses from my fic 🤷🏼‍♀️ This is just a taster of what’s to come, but here he is offering to help Reader climb onto the speeder in chapter 8.

🧡💚 Thank you for reading! 💚🧡

Dividers by @samspenandsword

[the-bad-batch-baroness]

Where's Mommy?

Wolffe x Lilith Sestri (OFC)

Part 13

Summary: Wolffe's wife suddenly dies, leaving him a single father in the middle of a war.

Pairing: Wolffe x Lilith Sestri (OFC)

Characters: Wolffe, Cara (child OFC), Sinker

Tags & Warnings: heavy angst, mention of death, off-screen death, spousal death, grief, hurt/comfort, family fluff

Word Count: 1.4k

Author's Note: Okay, so I know I said that this chapter was going to be the funeral scene, but it is not. Next chapter, I promise. I tried to fit everything into one chapter, but it got way too long, so I split it. While this chapter does not contain the funeral, it is still very emotional as Wolffe recalls memories of his wife. I don't like to exposition dump, which is why information about her has been sprinkled in, but I felt it was time for readers to get further knowledge about Wolffe's wife before we collectively say goodbye. Side note, is this my first chapter with zero dialogue??? Wild. As always, please enjoy 💚

Beta: @beating-a-dead-plot

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Series Masterlist

Wolffe's heart pounded as he led Cara out onto the terrace. She held his hand and walked beside him without argument as Sinker walked ahead of them, hands folded neatly behind his back. He obscured most of her view, but she didn't try to break away from Wolffe's hand to see around him. Instead, as more and more people came into view, Cara shifted to a guarded position and trailed further behind Wolffe. He noticed her hesitation and squeezed her hand to reassure her as they approached the formation that Sinker filed into.

The terrace was full of clones, some in uniform and some in armor, most of whom Wolffe had never seen before, still, there were many that he did know, including the entirety of the 104th Battalion, Commander Fox, and several members of the Coruscant Guard. There were a few Jedi in attendance besides his own, but he ignored them. It didn't matter to him whether the Jedi paid their respects, but he had to admit that if there was one custom he was thankful the Jedi and Mandalorians had in common, it was burning their dead.

Wolffe's wife wasn't Mandalorian, but neither was he, officially. He wasn't trained directly by the Mandalorian bounty hunters, like the Alphas or the Commandos, but he was trained by Alpha-17 who upheld those same traditions and passed them on to the Commanders. Newer clones didn't always understand, and not every commander had the time to instill those traditions into their men. They may be fakes, copies, and imposters, but the culture gave them something to hold onto; something that made them feel like real people.

From what he could see at a distance, the funeral pyre was hauntingly beautiful. The wood was artistically arranged and perfectly level and the wisteria flowers outlining her body added a degree of femininity to the scene that made Wolffe's heart plunge into his stomach with a level of ferocity he wasn't expecting. The authenticity was unrivaled. There was more care and concern put into that one pyre than had ever been afforded to a single clone on the battlefield. He would have to remember to thank Sinker properly for all of his efforts in preparing it.

As they approached the formation of clones in the front, Wolffe sucked in a breath when he saw his in-laws within the gathered crowd. Their audacity to show up to their daughter's funeral after disowning her, cutting her out of their will, and throwing her on the streets, made him sick. When Cara was born, her parents made it very clear they wanted nothing to do with her either; something about the child of nature's greatest abomination being a stain on their superior bloodline. His initial instinct was to throw them out, but he remained calm.

However, his in-law's presence brought memories of their first meeting flooding back. At the very beginning of the War, before 79s was a clone bar, there weren't many places on Coruscant where a clone could get a drink or unwind, but there was one run-down tavern on the lower levels that let anyone in. That was where Wolffe first saw her; messy auburn hair, crystal blue eyes glazed over from being drunk, and skin so pale he thought she would burn under the neon lights. A man at the bar tried to cop a feel but Wolffe decked him without a second thought, and, as a thank you, she threw up on him. It was love at first sight.

After cleaning himself up, Wolffe was able to get a look at her ID and find her address, because there was no way he was going to leave her alone as drunk as she was. It surprised him that someone from the upper levels would hang out in such a dingy bar, but he wasn't one to judge. He hailed a taxi and paid with whatever credits he had to get as close to her address as possible, but still ended up carrying her on his back for the last stretch. She was loud and obnoxious the entire way, endlessly wiggly, and shouted pure nonsense in his ears.

When they finally arrived at her residence, he was greeted by her frantic parents and was subsequently arrested by the Coruscant Guard on charges of drugging, kidnapping, and assault. Without a single chance to explain himself, Wolffe was placed in binders and tossed into a holding cell at the Republic Judiciary Central Detention Center. He sat in that cell all night trying to figure out how he could've messed up so badly on his first visit to Coruscant that his general probably thought he was the most incompetent commander in the GAR.

In the morning, however, it wasn't his general who came to get him, but a woman.  Wolffe didn't recognize her at first. Her clothes were elegant, made of fine linen, her auburn hair was neatly wrapped in a bun, not a strand out of place, and her soft blue eyes shone with compassion against her pale skin. It was her eyes. That's when he realized she was the same woman he carried home from the bar the night before. She was the last person he expected to show up at the Detention Center to bust him out, but he wasn't about to be ungrateful.

She introduced herself and then proceeded to profusely apologize for what happened. Wolffe was shocked when she started crying while explaining how she only wanted to have a fun night out away from her high-class lifestyle and strict parents. She never intended for anyone to get hurt by her shenanigans, especially the man who protected her honor and was kind enough to bring her home after she was too drunk to walk straight. In her eyes, he was a hero, not a villain, and she couldn't let her parent's influence lock him away forever, so she had him released.

It wasn't long afterward that they started seeing each other in secret, away from the prying eyes of her parents and the GAR. One thing turned into another and they both fell hopelessly in love. She knew he was a clone, and that her parents would never approve, but she didn't care. Even after Wolffe protested, saying they should break up, she insisted that she would regret leaving him over something so trivial as family status. So, she professed her love for Wolffe to her parents and they slammed the door in her face. It was the bravest thing Wolffe had ever seen.

She was left alone with only the clothes on her back and the credits in her pocket. Wolffe wanted to help her adjust, but she refused, asserting that she needed to make it on her own if she wanted to be seriously involved with him. Weeks later, when Wolffe arrived back on Coruscant after his first mission, she had a job, an apartment, and the beginnings of her own life. Fear crept into the back of his mind that she moved on and didn't want him anymore, but when he arrived at the coordinates she sent him, she welcomed him home with open arms.

It was that same night when they accidentally made Cara. It wasn't something either of them planned on, but they were both young, in love, and lacked certain levels of education on the matter. They learned quickly though, and even with the options and obstacles presented to them, they decided to keep Cara. They both knew it wasn't going to be easy, and Wolffe felt guilty about letting it happen, but his wife was ever the stubborn woman and she knew that it was meant to be, even if it terrified Wolffe more than any battle ever did.

Their first moments together felt like they happened only yesterday, but now, they were just memories. Memories that Wolffe replayed in his mind as he desperately tried to grasp onto every remnant of his wife he could, afraid that he'd lose her completely if he didn't catch all the pieces. There was still some part of his mind that didn't want to believe she was dead, even as he looked over at the funeral pyre with her form–her auburn hair, blue eyes, and pale skin–lying on top of it, just waiting for him to light the fire and fill the air with her remaining essence.

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Masterlist

AO3

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[cielrouge]

2022 YA Reads by Authors of Color

After life (Blue Bloods) by Melissa De La Cruz:  After defeating Lucifer and sacrificing the love of her life, Schuyler wakes up back in New York, only to discover that an alternate reality where Lucifer is alive and well and she is the only person who can defeat him.

Ain’t Burned All the Bright by Jason Reynolds: A smash-up of art and text for teens that viscerally captures what it is to be Black in America right now. 

Akata Woman (The Nsibidi Scripts #3) by Nnedi Okorafor: 15-year-old Sunny embarks on a mission to find a precious object and return it to the spider deity Udide, but defeating the guardians of Udide's ghazal will put all of Sunny's hard lessons and abilities to the test.

All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir: A story crossing generations and continents and addressing themes of cultural identity, family, forgiveness, love, and loss; told through the eyes of two best friends, Salahudin and Noor, growing up as outcasts and trying to find a way out of a world set on destroying them.

All the Right Reasons by Bethany Mangle: Cara Hawn and her mother go to Key West to join a reality show to pair single parents. There, Cara meets Connor and now she must juggle her growing feelings while helping her mom pick a bachelor they both love.

Almost There: Twisted Tales by Farrah Rochon: A year after Tiana makes a deal with Dr. Facilier, she has her restaurant, but soon shadows begin to gather and Tiana must work with Naveen and Charlotte to set things right or risk losing her soul.

Alone Out Here by Riley Redgate: A thriller set in a future in which First Daughter Leigh Chen and 53 other teens end up on the only ship escaping a dying Earth and must contend with being the last hope for humanity's survival.

An Arrow to the Moon by Emily X.R. Pan: Star-crossed lovers Hunter Yee and Luna Chang must navigate their families’ enmity and secrets as everything around them begins to fall apart. 

And We Rise: The Civil Rights Movement in Poems by Erica Martin: A powerful, impactful, eye-opening journey that explores through the Civil rights movement in 1950s-1960s America in spare and evocative verse, with historical photos.

Anne of Greenville by Mariko Tamaki:  In this contemporary retelling, Anne Shirley, a queer, half-Japanese disco superfan, moves to a town that seems too small for her big personality and where she becomes embroiled in a series of dramatic and unfortunate events.

As Long as the Lemon Tree Grows by Zoulfa Katouh: Set during the Syrian Revolution, former pharmacy student Salama Kassab volunteers at a hospital in Homs. Secretly, though, she is desperate to find a way out. So desperate, that she has manifested a physical embodiment of her fear in the form of her imagined companion, Khawf .But even with Khawf pressing her to leave, Salama is torn between her loyalty to her country and her conviction to survive. 

Ashes of Gold (Wings of Ebony #2) by J. Elle: In the heart-pounding conclusion to the Wings of Ebony duology, Rue makes her final stand to reclaim her people’s stolen magic.

Azar on Fire by Olivia Abtahi: 14-year-old Azar Rossi sets out to find her voice and win her local Battle of the Bands contest. 

Bad at Love by Gabriela Martins: Ever since Daniel moved to L.A. from Brazil to join the band Mischief & Mayhem, he’s become the tabloids’ bad boy. When a chance encounter brings Daniel and Sasha together, Sasha sees an opportunity to get close to Daniel and write a story that will make a name for herself at the celebrity gossip magazine where she interns. But Daniel is surprisingly sweet and extremely cute—could she be falling for him?

Ballad & Dagger by Daniel Jose Older: When 16-year-old Mateo and Chela discover each other and their powers during a political battle between neighborhood factions, they set aside their differences to unravel the mystery behind their sunken homeland. 

Beasts by Ruin (Beasts of Prey #2) by Ayana Gray: Now separated,16-year-old indentured beastkeeper Koffi and 17-year-old warrior candidate Ekon will have to find their way back to each other as they face off against the god of death. 

Beauty and the Besharam by Lillie Vale: Exhausted by Kavya Joshi and Ian Jun’s years-long feud, their friends hatch a plan to end their rivalry by convincing them to participate in a series of challenges throughout the summer. 

Before Takeoff by Adi Alsaid: Two teens, James and Michelle, meet and fall in love during a layover-gone-wrong at the Atlanta airport. 

Beating Heart Baby by Lio Min: 17-year-old Santi Arboleda finally feels settled in his new life in Los Angeles with a growing found family and a relationship with musical prodigy Suwa - until Suwa is offered the chance to step into the spotlight that he has always denied himsel fand they must finally face their dreams, their pasts, and their futures, whether together or apart. 

Beneath the Wide Silk Sky by Emily Inouye Huey:  With the recent death of her mother and the possibility of her family losing their farm, Samantha Sakamoto does not have space in her life for dreams, but when faced with prejudice and violence in her Washington State community after Pearl Harbor, she becomes determined to use her photography to document the bigotry around her.

Bitter by Akwaeke Emezi: Pulled between old friendships, her creative passion, and a new romance, Bitter isn't sure where she belongs - in the art studio or in the streets. And if she does find a way to help the revolution while being true to who she is, she must also ask: at what cost?

The Black Girls Left Standing by Juliana Goodman: 16-year-old Beau Willet’s world is upended when her older sister is killed by a white cop who claims she was breaking into his house; desperate to find out what really happened, she sets out to find the only other witness who was there that night—her sister's boyfriend.

Blood Like Fate (Blood Like Magic #2) by Liselle Sambury: While struggling with her new role as Matriarch, Voya has a vision of a terrifying, deadly future, and with a newfound sense of purpose, she vows to do whatever it takes to bring her shattered community together and prevent the destruction of them all.

Blood Scion by Deborah Falaye: 15-year-old Sloane can incinerate an enemy at will—she is a Scion, a descendant of the ancient Orisha gods. But when she is forcibly conscripted into the Lucis army, Sloane sees a new opportunity: to overcome the bloody challenges of Lucis training, and destroy them from within.

Bloodmarked (Legendborn #2) by Tracy Deonn: When the Regents reveal they will do whatever it takes to hide an ancient war, Bree and her friends must go on the run to rescue Nick. If Bree has any hope of saving herself and the people she loves, she must learn to control her powers from the ancestors who wielded them first—without losing herself in the process.

Boys I Know by Anna Gracia: High school senior June Chu navigates messy boys and messier relationships.

Boys of the Beast by Monica Zepeda: Cousins Matt, Ethan and Oscar embark on a road trip through California and the Southwest come to terms with truths about their families and themselves. 

Break This House by Candice Iloh: Yaminah Okar left Obsidian and the wreckage of her family years ago. She and her father have made lives for themselves in Brooklyn. But when a Facebook message about her estranged mother pierces Yaminah’s new bubble, she must finally reckon with the truth about her mother and the growing collapse of a place she once called home. 

Briarcliff Prep by Brianna Peppins: In this coming-of-age story, Avi LeBeau juggles navigating her first year at a historically Black boarding school after she learns a devastating secret about her big sister’s boyfriend. 

Burn Down, Rise Up by Vincent Tirado: When an urban legend rumored to trap people inside subway tunnels seems to be behind mysterious disappearances in the Bronx, 16-year-old Raquel and her friends team up to save their city--and confront a dark episode in its history in the process.

Cafe Con Lychee by Emery Lee: A dual pov enemies-to-lovers contemporary romcom following Theo Mori and Gabe Moreno, rival sons of competing family businesses--a Puerto Rican bakery and an Asian American cafe--who form an unlikely alliance running an underground coffee and boba shop at school after a new fusion cafe threatens their parents' stores.

The Chandler Legacies by Abdi Nazemian: At Chandler, the elite boarding school, five teens are brought together in the Circle, a coveted writing group where life-changing friendships are born—and secrets are revealed. 

The Charmed List by Julie Abe: 16-year-old Ellie Kobata’s summer plans to shed her wallflower persona are upended when she is forced to go on a road trip to the Magical Retailers' Convention with her former best friend Jack Yasuda, but what starts out as a punishment turns into an opportunity to find forgiveness and possibly love.

Cherish Farrah by Bethany C. Morrow: 17-year-old Farrah Turner manipulates her way into lives of her Black best friend Cherish Whitman’s white adopted family, but she soon begins to suspect that she may not be the only one invested in engineering a place in the affluent household, and someone else's motives may be more disturbing than her own.

The Chosen One by Echo Brown: Anchored in magical realism, a personal account of a first-generation African-American student's first year at Dartmouth College.

Cinder & Glass by Melissa de la Cruz: In this lush, retold fairy tale classic, Cendrillon “Cinder” de Louvois catches the eye of the handsome Prince Louis and his younger brother Auguste at a royal ball. As Cinder grows closer to Auguste and dislikes Louis more and more, she will have to decide if she can bear losing the boy she loves in order to leave a life she hates.

Cold by Mariko Tamaki: Told in alternating perspectives, Todd replays the events that lead to his death in the local park, watching as detectives investigate his murder and talk to the students responsible for it, and meanwhile Georgia, who does not know Todd, cannot stop thinking about him.

The Color of the Sky Is The Shape of the Heart by Chesil: Inspired by a mysterious message, 17-year-old Ginny Park sets off to find herself as she reflects on her experiences of growing up Zainichi, an ethnic Korean born in Japan, and the incident that forced her to leave years prior.

Confessions of An Alleged Good Girl by Joya Coffney: In small-town Texas, preacher’s daughter Monique embarks on journey toward loving herself and her body, as well as discovering the value of a true friend.

The Darkening by Sunya Mara: Vesper Vale is the daughter of revolutionaries. Failed revolutionaries. When her mother was caught by the queen's soldiers, they gave her a choice: death by the hangman's axe, or death by the Storm that surrounds the city and curses anyone it touches. She chose the Storm. And when the queen's soldiers--led by a paranoid prince--catch up to Vesper's father after twelve years on the run, Vesper will do whatever it takes to save him from sharing that fate.

Daughters of the Dawn by Sarena & Sasha Nanua: Twin princesses Ria and Rani journey deep into dangerous new lands to save their home in this propulsive, immersive sequel to Sisters of the Snake.

Dauntless by Elisa A. Bonnin: Seri, Borderland teen and new assistant to Eshai Unbroken, local commander of the Valiants, may be the only person who can bridge the divide between the People who build their dwellings in the spreading trees and the "beasts" who roam the forest floors.

The Dawn of Yangchen by F.C. Yee: Plagued by the voices of Avatars before her for as long as she can remember, Yangchen has not yet earned the respect felt for her predecessor. When she travels to Bin-Er on political business, a chance encounter with an informant named Kavik leads to a wary partnership. As Yangchen and Kavik seek to thwart the corrupt shangs’ plan, their unlikely friendship deepens. But for Yangchen to chart her course as a singularly powerful Avatar, she must learn to rely on her own wisdom.

Dead Flip by Sara Farizan: 18-year-old former friends Cori and Maz reunite to solve the mystery of what happened to their other friend Sam--who disappeared 5 years ago and has now returned, not having aged at all.

Debating Darcy by Sayantani DasGupta: A life-long speech competitor, Leela Bose loves nothing more than crushing the competition. But when Leela meets the incorrigible Firoze Darcy, a fellow competitor in the state league, she can’t stand him. But Leela’s participation in the tournament reveals that she might have misjudged the debaters - including Darcy.

Deep in Providence by Riss A. Neilson: After Jasmine is killed, her remaining best friends Miliani, Inez, and Natalie plan to resurrect her using magic learned from Miliani's Filipino aunt, but their actions have dangerous consequences that threaten themselves and those they care about.

Diamond Park by Phillipe Diederich: When four Mexican-American teenagers from Houston travel to Diamond Park to buy a 1959 Chevy Impala from Magaña's godfather, something goes very wrong, and one of them, Susi, ends up arrested for murder. Convinced that the real killer is a drug trafficker called Anaconda, Flaco and Magaña head to Mexico hunting for him to clear Susi's name--but in the process of kidnapping Anaconda Flaco discovers how little he understands about what really happened in Diamond Park.

Direwood by Catherine Yu: After Aja’s perfect older sister Fiona disappears when a strange weather event isolates their town, she must put her trust in a vicious but alluring vampire if she wants to see her sister again.

Does My Body Offend You? by Mayra Cuevas & Marie Marquardt: A coming-of-age story told in two points of view, about Puerto Rican teen Malena Rosario who seeks justice after running afoul of her school's sexist dress code, and Ruby McAllister, the white girl who wants to help her lead "the bra-bellion" but must first learn how to become an effective ally; exploring themes of implicit bias, social activism, and female friendship

The Dragon’s Promise (Six Crimson Cranes #2) by Elizabeth Lim: Princess Shiori made a deathbed promise to return the dragon's pearl to its rightful owner, but keeping that promise is more dangerous than she ever imagined.

The Dream Runners by Shveta Thakar: Spirited away to the subterranean realm of Nagalok as children, 17-year-olds Tanvi and Venkat are charged with harvesting human dreams for the entertainment of the naga court--until one of them begins to remember the mortal life she left behind.

Drizzle, Dreams and Lovestruck Things by Maya Prasad: Sisters Nidhi, Avani, Sirisha, and Rani experience romance and coming-of-age while working at their family's inn on Orcas Island.

Echoes of Grace by Guadalupe Garcia McCall: On the Texas-Mexico border, 18-year-old Grace's relationship with her older sister Mercy is fractured when Mercy's two-year-old son dies in an accident, bringing to the surface old family traumas and literal ghosts as the family struggles to heal.

The Empress of Time by Kylie Lee Baker: Half Reaper, half Shinigami soul collector Ren Scarborough must defend her title as Japan's Death Goddess from those who would see her--and all of Japan--destroyed.

Empress Crowned in Red by Ciannon Smart: Witches Iraya and Jazmyne must once again work together as a new enemy threatens Aiyca, even as betrayal lurks around every corner.

Even When Your Voice Shakes by Ruby Yayra Goka: After Amberley is raped by her employer's son she realizes she two choices--stay quiet and keep her job or live her truth and speak up for herself and for justice.

Every Variable of Us by Charles A. Bush: After she is injured in a gang shooting, 17-year-old Alexis Duncan's dreams of a college scholarship and pro basketball career vanish, but, encouraged by new student Aamani Chakrabarti, Alexis shifts her focus to the school's STEM quiz bowl team.

Everyone Hates Kelsie Miller by Meredith Ireland:  Kelsie Miller and Eric Mulvaney Ortiz, rivals for valedictorian, team up on an overnight road trip to the University of Pennsylvania to win back their exes.

Feather and Flame: The Queen’s Council #2 by Livia Blackburne: Mulan goes from a celebrated war hero to a reluctant Empress and must once again rise above expectations and prove she doesn't have to be anyone but herself to save China.

No Filter and Other Lies by Crystal Maldonado: 17-year-old Kat Sanchez uses photos of a friend to create a fake Instagram account, but when one of her posts goes viral and exposes Kat's duplicity, her entire world--both real and pretend--comes crashing down around her.

The Final Strife by Saara El-Arifi: Sylah dreams of days growing up in the resistance, being told she would spark a revolution that would free the Empire from the red-blooded ruling classes' tyranny. Anoor has been told she’s nothing, no one, a disappointment, by the only person who matters: her mother, the most powerful ruler in the empire. But when Sylah and Anoor meet, a fire burns between them that could consume the kingdom—and their hearts. Hassa’s invisibility has its uses: it can hide the most dangerous of secrets, secrets that can reignite a revolution. As the Empire begins a set of trials of combat and skill designed to find its new leaders, the stage is set for blood to flow, power to shift, and cities to burn.

Finding Jupiter by Kellis Rowe: Teens Orion and Ray meet at the local Memphis skating rink and fall fast and hard into summer love, until a mystery from their past threatens to rip them—and their families—apart, even if their love is written in the stars.

Fireworks by Alice Lin: 17-year-old Lulu Li’s summer plans go awry when she learns that Kite Xu, her old next-door neighbor and childhood friend, returns. But how could a K-pop star ever fall for a nobody from home?

The First to Die at the End by Adam Silvera: Strangers Orion Pagan and Valentino Prince spend a life-changing day together after Death-Cast first makes their fateful calls.

Flip the Script by Lyla Lee: Korean American actress Hana Jin she can totally handle her fake co-star boyfriend and K-pop star, Bryan Yoon, who might be falling in love with her. But when showrunners bring on a new girl, Minjee Park, to challenge Hana’s role as main love interest—can  Hana fight for her position on the show while falling for her on-screen rival in real life?

Foul Lady Fortune by Chloe Gong: In 1931 Shanghai, two Nationalist spies, Rosalind Lang and Orion Hong, pose as a married couple to investigate a series of brutal murders causing unrest in the city.

The Genesis Wars (Infinity Courts #2) by Akemi Dawn Bowman: Nami has escaped Ophelia and the Courts of Infinity, and found refuge in the Borderlands; she has spent her days training her body and mind so that when the time comes she will be able to navigate Infinity and rescue her captured friends, and now she has made a breakthrough, gaining the ability to enter minds without permission--the answers she needs are in Prince Caelan's mind, but his betrayal has left her unsure.

The Getaway by Lamar Giles: After a global catastrophe, Jay discovers the world-famous vacation resort where he lives and works doubles as a luxury doomsday refuge for the cruel billionaires he's now trapped with.

The Ghosts of Rose Hill by R. M. Romero: Sent to stay with her aunt in Prague and witness the humble life of an artist, Ilana Lopez—a biracial Jewish girl—finds herself torn between her dream of becoming a violinist and her immigrant parents’ desire for her to pursue a more stable career.

The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh: In this retelling of Shim Cheong, 16-year-old Mina is swept away to the Spirit Realm, where, assisted by a motley crew of demons, gods, and lesser spirits, she sets out to awaken the sleeping Sea God and save her homeland and family from deadly storms.

A Girl’s Guide to Love & Magic by Debbie Rigaud: 15-year-old Haitian American Cicely is excited to celebrate the West Indian Day Parade with her aunt, and voodoo dabbler, Mimose, but when Mimose's dabbling goes awry and she becomes possessed by a spirit, Cicely, Renee, and Kwame, her crush, must find a way to set things right.

Godslayers (Gearbreakers #2) by Zoe Hana Mikuta: Eris and Sona are pitted against each other in the ongoing war between Godolia and the Badlands.

Great or Nothing by Caroline Tung Richmond & Joy McCullough & Tess Sharpe & Jessica Spotwood: A reimagining of Little Women set in the spring of 1942, when the United States is suddenly embroiled in the second World War, this story, told from each March sister's point of view, is one of grief, love, and self-discovery.

Heartbreak Symphony by Laekan Zea Kemp: When Aarón Medrano and Mia Villanueva cross paths, Aarón sees a chance to get close to the girl he’s had a crush on for years and to finally feel connected to someone since losing his mother. Mia sees a chance to hold herself accountable by making them both face their fears. But soon they’ll realize there’s something much scarier than getting up on stage—falling in love with a broken heart.

Her Rebel Highness by Diana Ma (Daughters of the Dynasty #2): High school senior Lei unexpectedly finds love amid the student protests in Beijing in 1989, forcing her to choose between her family and its legacy or her future with a revolutionary leader.

High Spirits by Camille Gomera Tavarez: a collection of eleven interconnected short stories from the Dominican diaspora, centered on one extended family, the Beléns, across multiple generations.

Hollow Fires by Samira Ahmed: After discovering the body of 14-year-old Jawad Ali in Jackson Park, 17-year-old journalism student Safiya Mirza begins investigating his murder and ends up confronting white supremacy in her own high school.

How Maya Got Fierce by Sonia Charaipotra: When her dream of working at Fierce, a popular magazine, comes true, 17-year-old Maya Gera gets the scoop on a huge story, but wonders how long she can keep up the charade of being older than she really is

How to Date a Superhero by Cristina Fernandez: When Astrid discovers that her boyfriend is a superhero, she must learn how to survive their relationship, college life, and figuring out who she is.

How to Live Without You by Sarah Everett: 17-year-old Emmy returns home for the summer to uncover the truth behind her sister Rose’s disappearance—only to learn that Rose had many secrets, ones that have Emmy questioning herself and the sister Emmy thought she knew

How to Succeed in Witchcraft by Aislinn Brophy: Half-Black witch Shay Johnson is cast as the lead in her school musical and must decide between exposing her predatory drama teacher and getting the scholarship she desperately needs.

How You Grow Wings by Rimma Onoseta: Sisters Cheta and Zam's paths to break free of their oppressive home diverge wildly--one moves into an aunt's luxurious home and the other struggles to survive on her wits alone--and when they finally reunite, Zam realizes how far Cheta has fallen, leaving Cheta's fate in Zam's hands.

I Guess I Live Here Now by Claire Ahn: Korean-American teen Melody Lee is uprooted from her life in Manhattan and relocated to her father's villa in Seoul, plunges into a whirlwind of culture shock and family secrets as she struggles to reconcile her identity in a place she's supposed to call home.

I Rise by Marie Arnold: 14-year-old Ayo has to decide whether to take on her mother's activist role when her mom is shot by police. As she tries to find answers, Ayo looks to the wisdom of her ancestors and her Harlem community for guidance.

If You Could See the Sun by Ann Liang: Alice Sun, upon discovering she can no longer afford tuition at her elite Beijing boarding school, teams up with her academic rival Henry Li and monetizes her strange new invisibility powers by discovering and selling her wealthy classmates' most scandalous secrets.

If You Still Recognize Me by Cynthia So: Elsie has a crush on Ada, the only person in the world who truly understands her. Unfortunately, they've never met in real life. But Elsie has decided it's now or never to tell Ada how she feels. That is, until her long-lost best friend Joan walks back into her life.In a summer of repairing broken connections and building surprising new ones, Elsie realizes that she isn't nearly as alone as she thought.

In Every Generation by Kendare Blake: Follow the next generation of Scoobies and Slayers who must defeat a powerful new evil.

Inheritance: A Visual Poem by Elizabeth Acevedo: In her most famous spoken-word poem, author of the Pura Belpr-winning novel-in-verse The Poet X Elizabeth Acevedo embraces all the complexities of Black hair and Afro-Latinidad--the history, pain, pride, and powerful love of that inheritance.

The Iron Sword by Julie Kagawa: Prince Ash achieved the impossible and journeyed to the End of the World to earn a soul and keep his vow to always stand beside Queen Meghan of the Iron Fey. Now he faces even more incomprehensible odds. Their son, King Keirran of the Forgotten, is missing.

It Sounds Like This by Anna Meriano: A sweet and nerdy contemporary YA novel set in the world of marching band.

The Ivory Key by Akshaya Raman: Four estranged royal siblings, each harboring secrets and conflicting agendas, must learn to work together as they search for the Ivory Key, which will lead to a new source of magic.

Just Your Local Bisexual Disaster by Andrea Mosqueda: Following a self-described romantic disaster living in the Rio Grande Valley, bisexual Chicana Maggie Gonzalez tries to figure out whom she wants to ask to be her escort at her little sister's upcoming quinceanera: her charming ex-boyfriend twice over, her first crush and gorgeous best friend, or the mysterious new girl with the romantic baggage?

The Kindred by Alechia Dow: A royal, Duke Felix Hamdi and a commoner, Joy Abara, mistakenly mind-paired at birth, land on Earth after fleeing royal assassins, only to find the "developing" planet might hold the solutions to their divided and unjust lives back home.

Kings of B’more by R. Eric Thomas: Set in Baltimore, a celebration of queer Black friendship as two boys, Harrison and Linus, plan a day of fun and facing their fears.

Kiss & Tell by Adib Khorram: On Kiss & Tell's first major tour, lead singer Hunter Drake grapples with a painful breakup with his first boyfriend, his first rebound, and the stress of what it means to be queer in the public eye.

K-Pop Revolution (K-Pop Confidential #2) by Stephan Lee: She thought that debuting in a K-pop band was the finish line, but it was only the beginning. Because now it's not only Candace Park’s company judging her--it's the entire world. How will she find the courage to stand by her beliefs, even when powerful forces are trying to shame and silence her?

Lakelore by Anna-Marie McLemore: Two non-binary teens, Bastián Silvano and Lore Garcia, are pulled into a magical world under a lake - but can they keep their worlds above water intact?

Lark & Kasim Start a Revolution by Kacen Callender: 17-year-old nurodivergent and nonbinary Lark pretends that they are the creator of a viral thread that their ex-best friend, Kasim, accidentally posted onto their Twitter account, declaring his unrequited love, but living a lie takes its toll on Lark, forcing them to deal with their own messy emotions.

The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School by Sonora Reyes: 16-year-old Mexican American Yami Flores starts Catholic school, determined to keep her brother out of trouble and keep herself closeted, but her priorities shift when Yami discovers that her openly gay classmate Bo is also annoyingly cute.

The Lies We Tell by Katie Zhao: During her freshman year at college, Anna Xu investigates the unsolved on-campus murder of her former babysitter, as she and an old rival have to team up to look into the hate crimes happening around campus.

The Loophole by Naz Kutub: Sy, a 17-year-old queer Indian-Muslim boy, travels the world for a second chance at love after a possibly magical heiress grants him three wishes.

The Lost Dreamer by Lizz Huerta: In this fantasy inspired by ancient Mesoamerica, a lineage of seers defiantly resists the shifting patriarchal state that would see them destroyed.

Love, Decoded by Jennifer Yen: In this contemporary NYC-set retelling of Emma, high school junior Gigi Wong is determined to be picked for a contest that could lead to an exclusive tech internship, but when her matchmaking app goes viral Gigi must deal with the unexpected consequences of helping her friends find love.

Love From Mecca to Medina by S.K. Ali: Adam and Zayneb embark on the Umrah, a pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina, in Saudi Arabia, but as one wedge after another drives them apart while they make their way through rites in the holy city, Adam and Zayneb start to wonder if their meeting was just an oddity after all.

Love Radio by Ebony LaDelle: Clever teen DJ Prince Jones,  always full of love advice for his friends and classmates meets his match in Dani Ford, who is an anti-romance and would rather be preparing to be the next great novelist.

Love Times Infinity by Lane Clarke: 16-year-old Michie is busy with big dreams for college and the biggest crush on the school's new basketball superstar, Derek de la Rosa—but when her estranged mother suddenly reappears in her life, she faces important questions about the chances she's willing to take on herself and her future,

Loveboat Reunion (Loveboat #2) by Abigail Hing Wen: Sophie Ha and Xavier Yeh find themselves on a wild, nonstop Loveboat reunion, hatching a joint plan to take control of their futures. Can they succeed together or are they destined to combust?

Lulu and Milagro’s Search for Clarity by Angela Velez: Two sisters become begrudging partners on their school's cross-country field trip to college campuses as they uncover family secrets, confront weighty expectations for their futures, and discover the true meaning of sisterhood.

The Man or the Monster by Aamna Qureshi: Durkhanai Miangul sealed her lover’s fate when she sent him through a door where either a lady or a lion awaited him. But Durkhanai’s decision was only the beginning of her troubles. Her presumed-dead father comes back with a vengeance, but her family’s denial of his revenge forces Durkhanai to take matters into her own hands.

A Magic Steeped in Poison by Judy Lin: Ning enters a cutthroat magical competition to find the kingdom's greatest master of the art of brewing tea, but political schemes and secrets make her goal of gaining access to royal physicians to cure her dying sister far more dangerous than she imagined.

A Venom Dark and Sweet (The Book of Tea #2) by Judy Lin: A great evil has come to the kingdom of Dàxi. The Banished Prince has returned to seize power and Ning has escorted Princess Zhen into exile. Joining them is the princess' loyal bodyguard, Ruyi, and Ning's newly healed sister, Shu. Together the four young women travel throughout the kingdom in search of allies to help oust the invaders and take back Zhen's rightful throne.

Meet Me in Mumbai by Sabina Khan: A novel in two acts, told 18 years apart; in the first, teenage mother Ayesha grapples with the decision whether to place her daughter Mira for adoption; in the second, her daughter wonders what she will find after discovering an old letter from her birth mother asking to meet in Mumbai on her 18th birthday.

Master of Souls (Kingdom of Souls #3) by Rena Barron: Arrah must decipher the legacy of her past and weave an uneasy alliance between her beloved Rudjek, the Demon King, and the remaining orishas, hoping to restore peace.

The Merciless Ones by Namina Forna: It's been 6 months since Deka freed the goddesses in the ancient kingdom of Otera and discovered who she really is. Yet hidden secrets threaten to destroy everything Deka has known. And with her own gifts changing, Deka must discover if she holds the key to saving Otera or if she might be its greatest threat.

A Million to One by Adiba Jaigirdar: An acrobat, an actress, an artist, and a thief, four girls who seemingly have nothing in common, work together and plot a heist to steal the Rubaiyat off the Titanic. 

Monsters Born and Made by Tanvi Berwan: 16-year-old Korwal, from a family of sea-monster trainers, sacrifices everything to be the first of her caste to compete in a monstrous chariot race in an effort to save her sister's life.

Murder of Crows by K. Ancrum: Tig Torres investigates Hollow Falls' horrific history in this original novel based on the hit podcast Lethal Lit.

My Mechanical Romance by Alexene Farol Follmuth: High school senior Bel Maier has an aptitude for engineering and teams up with robotics team captain, Mateo Luna, but after a rough start together the nights of after-school work lead to romance.

My Sister’s Big Fat Indian Wedding by Sajni Patel: 17-year-old aspiring violinist Zurika Damani must secretly juggle the obligations of her sister's extravagant wedding week with auditions for a prominent music competition—all while trying to dodge her boisterous family's matchmaking scheme with the groom’s South African cousin Naveen—who just happens to be a cocky vocalist set on stealing Zuri’s spotlight at the scouting competition.

The New Girl by Jesse Q. Sutanto: A transfer student and scholarship recipient, sophomore Lia Setiawan is angered when she discovers a cheating ring, but by the time she finds a dead body and shuts down the campus drug dealer, she fears she might be the biggest snake in the Draycott Academy nest of vipers.

Night of the Raven, Queen of the Dove by Rati Mehrotra: After a bloody palace uprising, Katyani, a young guardswoman to the royal family, discovers she is not who she thought she was and becomes a major pawn in the political games of a monster-filled land on the brink of war.

The Noh Family by Grace K. Shim: Chloe Chang travels to Seoul to meet her deceased father's ultra-rich family, but she soon begins to wonder if her new family's intentions are pure.

Nothing Burns As Bright as You by Ashley Woodfolk: A novel-in-verse that tells the story of a tumultuous romance between two queer girls in nonlinear chapters, anchored by a single day where they set a fire and their relationship spirals out of control.

Nubia: The Awakening by Omar Epps & Clarence A. Haynes: In a climate-ravaged New York deeply divided by class, Zuberi, Uzochi, and Lencho, three teens of refugees from a fallen African utopia, begin to develop supernatural powers.

Okoye to the People by Ibi Zoboi: Okoye is a new recruit for T'Chaka's royal guard: the Dora Milaje. But when Okoye is sent on her very first mission—to America—she'll learn that her status as a Dora means nothing to New Yorkers and her expectations for the world outside of her own quickly fall apart.Caught between duty to her country and listening to her own heart, Okoye must find her own way and determine the type of Dora Milaje—and woman—she wants to be. 

Once Upon a K-Prom by Kat Cho: Instead of going to prom, 17-year-old Elena Soo wants to spend her time saving the local community center, and she is determined to keep her priorities straight even when her childhood best friend Robbie Choi--who is now a K-pop superstar--returns to make good on their old pact to go to prom together.

One True Loves (Happily Ever Afters #2) by Elise Bryant: While on a post-graduation Mediterranean cruise with her family, Lenore Bennett meets a hopeless romantic with a ten-year plan who helps her find something she's been looking for--love.

Only a Monster by Vanessa Len: Set in contemporary London, in which a 16-yer-old half-monster Joan must embrace her own monstrousness to stop the boy she loves, who turns out to be a legendary monster slayer, from killing everyone she cares about.

Only On The Weekends by Dean Atta: A romantic coming-of-age novel in verse about the beautiful--and sometimes painful--fallout of pursuing the love we deserve.

Ophelia After All by Racquel Marie: 17-year-old Ophelia Rojas, well known for her rose garden and her dramatic crushes on every boy in sight, begins to question her sexuality and sense of self when she starts to fall for cute, quiet Talia Sanchez in the weeks leading up to their prom and graduation.

The Other Side of the Tracks by Charity Alyse: In the racially divided towns of Bayside and Hamilton, Zach Whitman moves in and befriends Black siblings Capri and Justin Collins, until one of their friends is murdered by police, and the longstanding feud between the towns erupts into an all-out war, with the three caught in the middle.

Our Shadows Have Claws: 15 Latin American Monster Stories edited by Yamile Mendez & Amparo Ortiz: 15 original short stories from YA superstars featuring the monsters of Latine myths and legends.

Pixels of You by Ananth Hirsh & Yuko Ota: In a near future New York City of cyber augmentation and artificial intelligence, Indira and Fawn, two competitive interns in an art gallery, work together on a photography project, turning a rivalry into a friendship and perhaps something more.

Private Label by Kelly Yang: Chinese American Serene who gets help from the new boy in town, Lian Chen, to search for her dad after her successful fashion designer mother is diagnosed with cancer.

Queen of the Tiles by Hanna Alkaf: 15-year-old Najwa Bakri is forced to investigate the mysterious death of her best friend and Scrabble Queen, Trina, a year after the fact when her Instagram comes back to life with cryptic posts and messages.

Rebel Skies by Ann Sei Lin: Kurara has never known any other life than being a servant on board the Midori, but when her party trick of making paper come to life turns out to be a power treasured across the empire, she joins a skyship and its motley crew to become a Crafter. Taught by the gruff but wise Himura, Kurara learns to hunt shikigami - wild paper spirits who are sought after by the Princess. But are these creatures just powerful slaves for the Crafters and the empire, or are they beings with their own souls - and yet another thing to be subjugated by the powerful Emperor and his Princess?

Reclaim the Stars: 17 Tales Across Realms & Space edited by Zoraida Cordova: In this collection of stories by acclaimed young adult authors the Latin American diaspora travels to places of fantasy and out into space.

The Red Palace by June Hur: Set in 1700s Joseon Korea, while investigating a series of grisly murders, 18-year-old palace nurse Hyeon navigates royal and political intrigue and becomes entangled with a young police inspector.

Required Reading for the Disenfranchised Freshman by Kristen R. Lee: Upon arriving at the prestigious Wooddale University, 17-year-old Savannah Howard comes face-to-face with microaggressions and outright racism--but if she stands up for justice, will she endanger her future?

Right Where I Left You by Julian Winters: The summer before he leaves for college, 18-year-old Isaac Martin makes big plans with his best friend Diego that only the reappearance of an old crush can derail.

Road of the Lost by Nafiza Azad: Croi is compelled by a summoning spell leave her home in the Wilde Forest and travel into the Otherworld, where the enchantment that made her into a brownie begins to break, revealing her true identity, her hidden magick, and her forgotten heritage.

The Rumor Game by Dhonielle Clayton & Sona Charaipotra: At Foxham Prep, a posh private school for Washington, D.C.'s elite, a rumor gains momentum as it collects followers on social media, pulling three girls into its path--Bryn, who wants to erase all memories of the mistake she made last summer; cheer captain Cora, who desperately wants to believe in her boyfriend's faithfulness; and shy Georgie, newly hot after a summer at fat camp and ready to reinvent herself--but who can stop a dangerous rumor once it takes on a life of its own?

Rust in the Root by Justina Ireland: It is 1937, and Laura Ann Langston lives in an America divided—between those who work the mystical arts and those who do not. In New York City, she embarks on a mission with Skylark, a powerful mage with a mysterious past, into the heart of the country’s oldest and most mysterious Blight. There, they discover the work of mages not encountered since the darkest period in America’s past, when Black mages were killed for their power—work that could threaten Laura’s and the Skylark’s lives.

Salaam, With Love by Sara Sharaf Beg: Dua struggles to find her place in her conservative family's household, but as she spends the month of Ramadan with her cousin in Queens, Dua finds herself learning more about her faith, relationships, and place in the world.

Salt and Sugar by Rebecca Carvalho: A telenovela-esque rom-com debut that follows the grandchildren of two rival Brazilian bakeries, Lari Ramires and Pedro Molina, who fall in love despite their families' feud while working to win a contest that would save both of their bakeries from being driven out by a predatory supermarket chain.

Scout’s Honor by Lily Anderson: Following a biracial Puerto Rican teen, Prudence Perry, born into a family of highly ranked Ladybird Scouts, elite monster hunters masquerading as a prim and proper ladies' social club who gave up her tea set and daggers after her best friend was killed, but now must return to the scouts to face the biggest monster of all: her past.

A Secret Princess by Margaret Stohl & Melissa De La Cruz: A romantic YA retelling-mashup of A Little Princess and The Secret Garden by bestselling authors Margaret Stohl and Melissa de la Cruz.

Self-Made Boys by Anna-Marie McLemore: Three teens, Nicolás Caraveo, Daisy Fabrega, and Jay Gatsby, chase their own version of the American Dream during the Roaring 20s in this YA remix of The Great Gatsby.

Seoulmates by Susan Lee: Recently dumped high school nobody Hannah Cho must face her unresolved feelings for her childhood best friend, Jacob Kim, when he returns to their San Diego hometown as the newest K-drama heartthrob—and blackmails her into completing his summer bucket list with him.

Seton Girls by Charlene Thomas: The quarterback of Seton Academy prep school wants a state championship before his successor, Seton's first Black QB, has a chance to overshadow him, leading him to take bigger risks, and soon the team's awful secret leaks to a group of girls who suddenly have the power to change their world.

Shattered Midnight by Dhonielle Clayton:  In 1920s New Orleans, 18-year-old Zora Broussard banished after an incident in Harlem, struggles with her overbearing family, magical powers, love of jazz, and forbidden romance with white pianist Philip.

She Gets the Girl by Rachel Lippincott & Alyson Derrick: Alex Blackwood is a little bit headstrong, with a dash of chaos and a whole lot of flirt. She knows how to get the girl. Keeping her on the other hand…not so much. Molly Parker has everything in her life totally in control, except for her complete awkwardness with just about anyone besides her mom. She knows she’s in love with the impossibly cool Cora Myers. She just…hasn’t actually talked to her yet.

A Show For Two by Tashie Bhuiyan: Mina’s ticket to winning a film competition falls into her lap when indie film star—and known heartbreaker—Emmitt Ramos enrolls in her high school under a secret identity to research his next role. They strike a deal to work together, and as Mina ventures across the five boroughs with Emmitt by her side, the city she grew up in starts to look different and more. With the competition deadline looming, Mina's dreams—which once seemed impenetrable—begin to crumble, and she’s forced to ask herself: Is winning worth losing everything?

The Signs and Wonders of Tuna Rashad by Natasha Deen: Following Tuna Rashad, always on the lookout for messages from her Caribbean ancestors who have passed on, as she tries to win over her crush before she leaves for college.

The Silence That Binds Us by Joanna Ho: In the year following their son's death, May Chen's parents face racist accusations of putting too much pressure on their son and causing his death by suicide, and May attempts to challenge the racism and ugly stereotypes through her writing, only to realize that she still has a lot to learn and that her actions have consequences for her family as well as herself.

Slip by Marika McCoola & Aatmaja Pandya: An emotional coming-of-age graphic novel for fans of Bloom and Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me.

Somebody That I Used to Know by Dana L. Davis: Aspiring musician Dylan Woods is forced to reunite with her ex–best friend Langston—who just happens to be the world’s biggest teen star.

Soul of the Deep (Skin of the Sea #2) by Natasha Bowen: To save those closest to her, Simi traded away everything: her freedom, her family, and the boy she loves. Now she is sworn to serve a new god, watching over the Land of the Dead at the bottom of the ocean.But when signs of demons begin to appear, it's clear there are deeper consequences of Simi's trade. With the fate of the world at stake, Simi must break her promise and team up with a scheming trickster of a god.

Spin Me Right Round by David Valdes: Luis Gonzalez just wants to go to prom with his boyfriend, but when a hit on the head knocks him back to 1985, he meets his parents' closeted classmate.

Squire by Sara Alfageeh & Nadia Shammas: Aiza has always dreamt of becoming a Knight. After she enlists in the competitive Squire program, it’s not how she imagined and she’ll have to soon choose between loyalty to her heart and heritage, or loyalty to the Empire.

Strike the Zither by Joan He: As three warring fractures try to gain control of the kingdom, orphaned Zephyr, a strategist serving Xin Ren, infiltrates an enemy camp where she encounters the enigmatic Crow, an opposing strategist who might just be her match.

The Summer of Bitter and Sweet by Jen Ferguson: Demisexual Metis teen Lou is settling in to spend the summer before college working at her close-knit family's small-town ice cream shack with her best friend, ex-boyfriend, and newly back-in-town crush, when a letter from her white biological father, recently out of prison, threatens to destroy everything she cares about.

The Sunbearer Trials by Aiden Thomas: Transgender demigod Teo is unexpectedly selected for the Sunbearer Trials, a fierce competition among demigod heroes where the winner sacrifices the loser to Sol, their blood fueling the Sun Stones that protect Reino del Sol.

Sunny G’s Series of Rash Decisions by Navdeep Singh Dillon: Sunny G's brother left him one thing when he died: His notebook, which Sunny is determined to fill up with a series of rash decisions. Decision number one was a big one: He stopped wearing his turban, cut off his hair, and shaved his beard. Sunny debuts his new look at prom, which he's stuck going to alone. Enter Mindii Vang, a girl with a penchant for making rash decisions of her own, starting with stealing Sunny's notebook. When Sunny chases after her, prom turns into an all-night adventure—a night full of rash, wonderful, romantic, stupid, life-changing decisions.

Survive the Dome by Kosko Jackson: High school junior Jamal Lawson teams up with hacker Marco during a police brutality protest to shut down a device that creates an impenetrable dome around Baltimore that is keeping the residents in and information from going out.

This is Why They Hate Us by Aaron H. Aceves: 17-year-old Enrique "Quique" Luna decides to get over his crush on Saleem Kanazi before the end of summer by pursuing other romantic prospects, but he ends up discovering heartfelt truths about friendship, family, and himself.

This Place is Still Beautiful by Xixi Tian: A story about first love, complicated family dynamics, and the pernicious legacy of racism, following two estranged teen sisters Annalie and Margaret who have no choice but to reunite in their small Midwestern town when their family becomes the victim of a hate crime.

This Wicked Fate (This Poison Heart #2) by Kalynn Bayron: Briseis races to save her family even as she discovers more about their ties to ancient goddesses and deadly curses.

A Thousand Heartbeats by Kiera Cass: Princess Annika has lived a life of comfort—but no amount of luxuries can change the fact that her life isn’t her own to control. Miles away, small comforts are few and far between for Lennox. For Lennox, the idea of love is merely a distraction—nothing will stand in the way of fighting for his people. But when love, against all odds, finds them both, they are bound by its call. They can’t possibly be together—but the irresistible thrum of a thousand heartbeats won’t let them stay apart.

A Thousand Steps Into Night by Traci Chee: In the realm of Awara, where gods, monsters, and humans exist side by side, ordinary Miuko is cursed and begins to transform into a demon with a deadly touch. Embarking on a quest to turn human again, she must outfox tricksters, escape demon hunters, and negotiate with feral gods if she wants to make it home again.

Three Kisses, One Midnight by Roshani Chokshi & Evelyn Skye & Sandhya Menon: A magical Halloween story pitched as told in the tradition of LET IT SNOW, set in a town reminiscent of Stars Hollow, featuring interconnected stories about three witchy best friends and their romantic quest involving love potions (that may or may not work) and true love's kiss before the clock strikes midnight, 

TJ Powar Has Something to Prove by Jasmeen Kaur Deo: A charming rom-com about high school debater TJ Powar who—after becoming the subject of an ugly meme—makes a resolution to stop shaving, plucking, and waxing, and prove that she can be her hairy self and still be beautiful…but soon finds this may be her most difficult debate yet.

Together We Burn by Isabel Ibanez: 18-year-old flamenco dancer Zarela Zalvidar must work with a disgraced dragon hunter to learn the ways of a Dragador and save her ancestral home.

Tokyo Dreaming (Tokyo Ever After #2) by Emiko Jean: Princess Izumi of Japan will do anything to help her parents achieve their happily ever after, but what if playing the perfect princess means sacrificing her own? Will she find a way to forge her own path and follow her heart?

Travelers Along the Way by Aminah Mae Safi: In this reimagination of the legend of Robin Hood, Rahma al-Hud and her older sister Zeena travel to Jerusalem for a final mission, and on their way they assemble a ragtag band of misfits and get swept up Holy Land politics.

The Turning Pointe by Vanessa L. Torres: Following a dancer in 1980s Minnesota as she navigates complex family expectations, a new romance, and her own ambitions to dance for the Purple One himself, Prince.

Turning by Joy L. Smith: Before the "accident" Genie was an aspiring ballerina, now she is a bitter teenager, permanently confined to a wheelchair, but at physical therapy she meets Kyle, a gymnast whose traumatic brain injury has landed him in therapy--and through their growing friendship Genie realizes that she has to confront the things around her: like the booze her mother is hiding, or the fact that maybe her fall was not entirely accidental.

Twice as Perfect by Louisa Onome: 17-year-old Nigerian Canadian Adanna Nkwachi must deal with an estranged older brother, uncertainty about her future, and helping her cousin plan a big Nigerian wedding.

Valiant Ladies by Melissa Grey: In Potosai, a silver mining city in the new Spanish viceroyalty of Peru, proper ladies by day and teen vigilantes by night, Eustaquia “Kiki” de Sonza and Ana Lezama de Urinza set out to expose corruption and deliver justice after Kiki's brother is murdered and the prostitute he loved disappears.

Vinyl Moon by Mahogany L. Browne: Reeling from the scars of a past relationship, Angel finds healing and hope in the words of strong Black writers and the new community she builds in Brooklyn

We Are All We Have by Marina Budhos: After her mom is taken by ICE, 17-year-old Rania's hopes and dreams for the future are immediatly put on hold as she figures out how take care of her younger brother and survive in a country that seems to be closing around them.

We Are the Scribes by Randi Pink: Ruth Fitz, a black teenager surrounded by activism in a family rocked by tragedy, discovers that she has begun to receive parchment letters from Harriet Jacobs, the author of the autobiography and 1861 American classic.

We Deserve Monuments by Jas Hammonds: When 17-year-old Avery moves to rural Georgia to live with her ailing grandmother, she encounters decade-old family secrets and a mystery surrounding the town's racist past.

We Weren’t Looking To Be Found by Stephanie Kuehn: Dani and Camilla find friendship on their path to mental health in a story of acceptance, recovery, and resilience.

The Weight of Blood by Tiffany D. Jackson: When a viral bullying incident reveals outcast Madison Washington’s secret of being biracial, student leaders come up with a plan to change their image: host the school's first integrated prom as a show of unity. The popular white class president convinces her Black superstar quarterback boyfriend to ask Maddy to be his date. But some of her classmates aren't done with her just yet. And what they don't know is that Maddy still has another secret, one that will cost them all their lives.

Well, That Was Unexpected by Jesse Q. Sutanto: After Sharlot Citra is whisked from L.A. to her mother's native Indonesia in order to "get back to her roots," who—through a comedy of errors and overzealous parents—she finds herself fake dating the son of one of the wealthiest families in Indonesia, and is surprised when she actually starts to fall in love with the boy, with the country, and with the big family she never knew before now,

What Souls Are Made Of by Tasha Suri: As the abandoned son of a Lascar—a sailor from India—Heathcliff has spent most of his young life maligned as an "outsider." Now he's been flung into an alien life in the Yorkshire moors. Catherine, the younger child of the estate's owner, a daughter with light skin and brown curls and a mother that nobody talks about, soon finds solace with Heathcliff. But when Catherine's father dies and the household's treatment of Heathcliff only grows more cruel, their relationship becomes strained and threatens to unravel.

What’s Coming to Me by Francesca Padilla: After the ice cream stand where she works is robbed, 17-year-old Minerva Gutiaerrez plans to get revenge on her predatory boss while navigating grief, anger, and dreams of escape from her dead-end hometown.

Whiteout by Dhonielle Clayton & Tiffany D. Jackson & Nic Stone & Angie Thomas & Ashley Woodfolk & Nicola Yoon: Atlanta is blanketed with snow just before Christmas, but the warmth of young love just might melt the ice in this novel of interwoven narratives, Black joy, and cozy, sparkling romance.

The Wicked Remain (Grimrose Girls #2) by Laura Pohl: At Grimrose Académie, Nani, Yuki, Ella, and Rory have discovered the truth about the curse that's left a trail of dead bodies at Grimrose. But the four still know nothing of its origins, or how to stop the cycle of doomed fates. Can the girls change their own stories and break the curse?

This Woven Kingdom by Tahereh Mafi: To all the world, Alizeh is a disposable servant, not the long-lost heir to an ancient Jinn kingdom forced to hide in plain sight.The crown prince, Kamran, has heard the prophecies foretelling the death of his king. But he could never have imagined that the servant girl with the strange eyes, the girl he can’t put out of his mind, would one day soon uproot his kingdom—and the world.

Wrong Side of Court by H.N. Khan: 15-year-old Fawad Chaudhry has big dreams about being the world's first Pakistani to be drafted into the NBA.

The Witchery by S. Isabelle: Logan came to Mesmortes Coven Academy in Haelsford, Florida, to learn to control her powers, but she soon learns she has a role to play in the ancient curse of the hellmouth--whatever the cost to herself and her new friends.

You Truly Assumed by Laila Sabreen: Three Black Muslim teens, Sabriya, Zakat, and Farah, living different parts of the country start a blog to fight Islamophobia and find friendship and hope as they let their voices be heard.

Zyla & Kai by Kristina Forest: The story of how cynic Zyla Matthews and hopeless romantic Kai Johnson become friends, fall in love, and break up unfolds from their different perspectives.

[crossdreamers]

New study shows that women have been, and are, hunters too.

Science have been used actively to uphold gender stereotypes and gender roles. One narrative that has served this purpose is that in hunter-gatherer societies men hunt and women gather. This division of labor has been seen as inborn and natural, and has therefore been used to defend a society where men work outside the home and women take care of the kids.

NPR writes:

Until now, the general sense among scientists has been that  [the accounts of hunter gatherer societies] overwhelmingly pointed to men mainly hunting and women mainly gathering, with only occasional exceptions, says Robert Kelly, professor of anthropology at the University of Wyoming and the author of influential books and articles on hunter-gatherer societies.

But Kelly says that the views he and others held of the typical gender divisions around hunting were based on anecdotal impressions of the reports they'd been reading, combined with the field work many had engaged in personally. "No one," says Kelly, had done a systematic "tally" of what the observational reports said about women hunting.

Enter the researchers behind the new study: a team from University of Washington and Seattle Pacific University. "We decided to see what was actually out there" on hunting, says the lead researcher Cara Wall-Scheffler, a biological anthropologist.

Wall-Scheffler notes "our goal was to go back to the original ethnographic reports of those populations and see what had actually been written about the hunting strategies."

Their findings — published in the journal PLOS One this week — is that in 79% of the societies for which there is data, women were hunting.

An Awá woman holds hunting bows and arrows in Brazil’s Caru Indigenous Territory in 2017. Photo: Scott Wallace.

The researchers write:

Evidence from the past one hundred years supports archaeological finds from the Holocene that women from a broad range of cultures intentionally hunt for subsistence. These results aim to shift the male-hunter female-gatherer paradigm to account for the significant role females have in hunting, thus dramatically shifting stereotypes of labor, as well as mobility.

To be fair, a lot of researchers have questioned these stereotypes before. The main culprits have been researchers from a field called “evolutionary psychology”, a discipline notorious for its development of pseudo-scientific theories aimed at reinforcing gender roles.

However, the narrative has spread to text books and popularized versions in the media. It fits the prejudices of many and is therefore considered good content by many editors.

"I think that next to the myth that God made a woman from man's rib to be his helper, the myth that man is the hunter and woman is the gatherer is probably the second most enduring myth that naturalizes the inferiority of women," says Kimberly Hamlin, a professor of history at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

It has fueled the idea, she says, that "men are supposed to be violent, they're supposed to be aggressive – one of the core elements in the soup of toxic masculinity."

Read the whole article here.

See also:

The Myth of Man the Hunter: Women’s contribution to the hunt across ethnographic contexts

Shattering the myth of men as hunters and women as gatherers

Do animals have genders? Are there transgender animals? A scientist find some clues among chimpanzees.

Top illustration: Artists depiction of female hunter 9,000 years ago in ancient Peru. Source: Matthew Verdolivo / UC Davis IET Academic Technology Services

[lgbtqreads]

Exclusive Cover Reveal: The Ghost of Us by James L. Sutter

Today on the site, I’m delighted to be revealing the cover of Darkhearts author James L. Sutter’s The Ghost of Us, a YA romance billed as Ten Things I Hate About You meets Ghost that releases from Wednesday Books on June 11, 2024! Here’s the story: Eighteen-year-old ghost hunter Cara is determined to escape life as a high school outcast by finding proof of the supernatural. Yet when she stumbles…

[justforbooks]

Best crime and thrillers of 2023

Given this year’s headlines, it’s unsurprising that our appetite for cosy crime continues unabated, with the latest title in Richard Osman’s Thursday Murder Club series, The Last Devil to Die (Viking), topping the bestseller lists. Janice Hallett’s novels The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels, which also features a group of amateur crime-solvers, and The Christmas Appeal (both Viper) have proved phenomenally popular, too.

Hallett’s books, which are constructed as dossiers – transcripts, emails, WhatsApp messages and the like – are part of a growing trend of experimentation with form, ranging from Cara Hunter’s intricate Murder in the Family (HarperCollins), which is structured around the making of a cold case documentary, to Gareth Rubin’s tête-bêche The Turnglass (Simon & Schuster). Books that hark back to the golden age of crime, such as Tom Mead’s splendidly tricksy locked-room mystery Death and the Conjuror (Head of Zeus), are also on the rise. The late Christopher Fowler, author of the wonderful Bryant & May detective series, who often lamented the sacrifice of inventiveness and fun on the altar of realism, would surely have approved. Word Monkey (Doubleday), published posthumously, is his funny and moving memoir of a life spent writing popular fiction.

Notable debuts include Callum McSorley’s Glaswegian gangland thriller Squeaky Clean (Pushkin Vertigo); Jo Callaghan’s In the Blink of an Eye (Simon & Schuster), a police procedural with an AI detective; Scorched Grace by Margot Douaihy (Pushkin Vertigo), featuring queer punk nun investigator Sister Holiday; and the caustically funny Thirty Days of Darkness (Orenda) by Jenny Lund Madsen (translated from the Danish by Megan E Turney).

There have been welcome additions to series, including a third book, Case Sensitive (Zaffre), for AK Turner’s forensic investigator Cassie Raven, and a second, The Wheel of Doll (Pushkin Vertigo), for Jonathan Ames’s LA private eye Happy Doll, who is shaping up to be the perfect hardboiled 21st-century hero.

Other must-reads for fans of American crime fiction include Ozark Dogs (Headline) by Eli Cranor, a powerful story of feuding Arkansas families; SA Cosby’s Virginia-set police procedural All the Sinners Bleed (Headline); Megan Abbott’s nightmarish Beware the Woman (Virago); and Rebecca Makkai’s foray into very dark academia, I Have Some Questions for You (Fleet). There are shades of James Ellroy in Jordan Harper’s Hollywood-set tour de force Everybody Knows (Faber), while Raymond Chandler’s hero Philip Marlowe gets a timely do-over from Scottish crime doyenne Denise Mina in The Second Murderer (Harvill Secker).

As Mick Herron observed in his Slow Horses origin novel, The Secret Hours (Baskerville), there’s a long list of spy novelists who have been pegged as the heir to John le Carré. Herron must be in pole position for principal legatee, but it’s been a good year for espionage generally: standout novels include Matthew Richardson’s The Scarlet Papers (Michael Joseph), John Lawton’s Moscow Exile (Grove Press) and Harriet Crawley’s The Translator (Bitter Lemon).

Historical crime has also been well served. Highlights include Emma Flint’s excellent Other Women (Picador), based on a real 1924 murder case; Laura Shepherd-Robinson’s story of a fortune teller’s quest for identity in Georgian high society, The Square of Sevens (Mantle); and SG MacLean’s tale of Restoration revenge and retribution, The Winter List (Quercus). There are echoes of Chester Himes in Viper’s Dream (No Exit) by Jake Lamar, which begins in 1930s Harlem, while Palace of Shadows (Mantle) by Ray Celestin, set in the late 19th century, takes the true story of American weapons heiress Sarah Winchester’s San Jose mansion and transports it to Yorkshire, with chillingly gothic results.

The latest novel in Vaseem Khan’s postcolonial India series, Death of a Lesser God (Hodder), is also well worth the read, as are Deepti Kapoor’s present-day organised crime saga Age of Vice (Fleet) and Parini Shroff’s darkly antic feminist revenge drama The Bandit Queens (Atlantic).

While psychological thrillers are thinner on the ground than in previous years, the quality remains high, with Liz Nugent’s complex and heartbreaking tale of abuse, Strange Sally Diamond (Penguin Sandycove), and Sarah Hilary’s disturbing portrait of a family in freefall, Black Thorn (Macmillan), being two of the best.

Penguin Modern Classics has revived its crime series, complete with iconic green livery, with works by Georges Simenon, Dorothy B Hughes and Ross MacDonald. There have been reissues by other publishers, too – forgotten gems including Celia Fremlin’s 1959 holiday‑from-hell novel, Uncle Paul (Faber), and Richard Wright’s The Man Who Lived Underground (Vintage). Finished in 1942 but only now published in its entirety, the latter is an account of an innocent man who takes refuge from racist police officers in the sewers of Chicago – part allegorical, part brutally realistic and, unfortunately, wholly topical.

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at Just for Books…?

[ash-and-books]

Rating: 3/5

Book Blurb:

One Last Stop meets Cemetery Boys in this swoony YA romance from beloved author James L. Sutter.

Eighteen-year-old ghost hunter Cara is determined to escape life as a high school outcast by finding proof of the supernatural. Yet when she stumbles upon the spirit of Aiden, a popular upperclassman who died the previous year, she learns that ghosts have goals of their own. In the wake of his death, Aiden’s little sister, Meredith, has become a depressed recluse, and Aiden can’t pass on into the afterlife until he knows she’ll be okay. Believing that nothing pulls someone out of a slump like romance, he makes Cara a deal: seduce Meredith out of her shell and take her to prom, and Aiden will give Cara all the evidence she needs for fame. If not, well—no dates, no ghost.

Wooing the standoffish Meredith isn’t going to be easy, however. With Aiden’s coaching, Cara slowly manages to win Meredith over—but finds herself accidentally falling for her in the process. Worse yet: as Meredith gets happier and Aiden’s mission nears completion, his ghost begins to fade. Can Cara continue to date Meredith under false pretenses, especially if it means Aiden will vanish forever? Or should she tell Meredith the truth, and risk both of them hating her? And either way, will she lose her only shot at proving ghosts are real?

Review:

How far would you go to prove that ghost exist? Would you strike a deal with the ghost of a classmate to ask out his sister to prom in exchange for him helping you with your ghost hunting show? Cara is an 18 year old ghost hunter who is determined to escape her town. She wants to make it big as a ghost hunter so when she stumbles upon the actual ghost of Aiden, a popular upperclassman who died, she knows this is her chance to finally make it. Ever since Aiden passed away his younger sister Meredith has become a depressed recluse and he can't pass on until he knows she'll be okay. Aiden thinks that the best way to solve his sister's state is by having a cute girl ask her out. Aiden offers her a deal: If Cara can seduce his sister and take her to prom, get her out of her shell, then he'll give her all the evidence she needs to make her famous. Cara knows she has her work cut out for her, Meredith is standoffish and it's not going to be easy to win her over. Yet with Aiden's coaching, Cara manages to slowly win over Meredith... and actually begin falling for her. Yet the happier Meredith becomes and the closer Aiden gets to completing his goal, the more Aiden's ghost begins to fade. Can Cara keep dating Meredith under false pretenses... or will telling her the truth risk her losing everything? This was an overall cute romance read with elements of ghosts and the friendship in it was nice. My only thing was that I really just didn't like Cara all that much. I loved Meredith and Cara's friends Holly and Elvis were amazing, Cara just wasn't all that great. The romance was okay and I enjoyed the friendship dynamics and the sibling relationship between Meredith and Aiden. Overall if you are looking for a sapphic romance with a touch of ghostly mischief, give this one a go!

Release Date: June 11,2024

Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)

*Thanks Netgalley and St. Martin's Press | Wednesday Books for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

[tolerateit]

1 & 20 & 44 & 47 for the book asks 🫶💌

1. Name the best book you've read so far this year - probably Penance by Eliza Clark or the winternight trilogy!

20. Where and how do you find new books to read? - people I follow for book content (mainly on tumblr and a few on ig), recommendations from friends, websites like bookbrowse, literary hub, recs from authors i admire!

44. The book(s) whose stories have become part of your very makeup - elena knows comes to mind immediately, but also beautiful world where are you, averno, the housekeeper and the professor

47. What are the last three books you read - is my current read included? that's severance by ling ma, and recent three were murder in the family by cara hunter, the witchwood knot by olivia atwater, and games and rituals by katherine heiny!

Thanks for asking ♥ ♥

[wipbigbang]

WIPBB 2023 - Fic & Art Master List (S - Z)

Below is the master list of all the bragging rights/posts that were posted to Tumblr and Dreamwidth, organized alphabetically by fandom from S to Z. Please go show these people some love for all the hard work they did!

Star Trek

Deep Space 9

Free Advice Is…: Fic | Art (Odo/Quark)

Way Harsh, Ziyal: Fic | Art (Julian Bashir/Elim Garak, Jake Sisko/Tora Ziyal, Jadzia Dax/Kira Nerys)

Discovery

How We Remember: Fic (Art Is On AO3) (Keyla Detmer, Joann Owosekun, Airiam, Sylvia Tilly, Michael Burnham)

Novels (Beyer)/Prodigy/Voyager

The Universe to Mend: Fic | Art (Denzit Kathryn Janeway/Q, Hologram Janeway/Maquis Chakotay)

The Next Generation

Begin to Hope: Fic | Art (Beverly Crusher/Deanna Troi, Implied Data/Geordi La Forge)

Star Wars

Legends

The Book Of Kenobi - Part I: Fic | Art (Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi/Original Female Character(s), Obi-Wan Kenobi & Original Characters)

Original Trilogy

Scoundrel: Fic | Art On Dreamwidth | Art On Tumblr (Luke Skywalker/Han Solo)

Prequel Trilogy

Cabur'ika: Art (N/A)

Entrusted With This: Fic (Art Is On AO3) (Jango Fett/Obi-Wan Kenobi, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker, Jango Fett & Jaster Mereel)

I just want to go home: Fic (Quinlan Vos/Obi-Wan Kenobi)

Rebels

The Last Fear: Fic (Art On AO3) (Jenson Kallstrom/Eagle Eyed Dan, Kallus/Zeb)

The Clone Wars

Ahtehn: Art (Dooku | Darth Tyranus/Quinlan Vos)

GFFA: Fic (Quinlan Vos/Fox, Obi-Wan Kenobi/Cody)

Where do you run when you’re at your limit: Fic (Kit Fisto/Obi-Wan Kenobi, Cody/Mace Windu/Quinlan Vos, Depa Billaba/Luminara Unduli)

Sequel Trilogy

Color Coded: Fic/Art (Kylo Ren/Rey)

Death Comes To Call: Fic/Art (Kylo Ren/Rey)

The Gray Between Black and White: Fic/Art | Art (Kylo Ren/Rey)

The Mandalorian

Pyroclasts: Fic | Art (Din Djarin, Grogu, IG-11, Peli Motto, Cara Dune, Original Droid Character)

Stargate: Atlantis

Roundabout Way to a Family: Fic | Art (John Sheppard/Laura Cadman)

Stargate Atlantis/Stargate SG-1

Journeys all Start Somewhere: Fic | Art (John Sheppard/Cameron Mitchell, Evan Lorne/John Sheppard/Cameron Mitchell)

Stranger Things

Love’s Such an Old-Fashioned Word: Fic/Art (Jonathan Byers/Steve Harrington/Nancy Wheeler)

Supernatural

After Apple Picking: Fic | Art (Dean Winchester/Sam Winchester, Castiel/Dean Winchester/Sam Winchester, Mentioned Dean Winchester/OCs)

I’ll Find Him Through the Depths of Space: Fic (Still Posting) | Art (Dean Winchester/Castiel)

One Last Curse: Fic (Dean Winchester/Castiel)

Supernatural/Black Mirror

Hang The Author: Fic | Art (Castiel/Dean Winchester, Amy/Frank)

Teen Wolf

A Pauper's Prince (Revised): Fic (Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski)

Better Off Bread: Fic On Dreamwidth | Fic On Tumblr (Art On-Site) (Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski)

Hands Off, He's Mine!: Fic (Art On AO3) (Peter Hale/Stiles Stilinski)

Hunting the Hunters: Fic | Art (Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski)

Intarsia: Fic | Art (Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski)

the family you choose: Fic/Art (Peter Hale/Chris Argent, Background Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski)

Under My Skin: Fic | Art (Stiles Stilinski/Jackson Whittemore, Stiles Stilinski & Lydia Martin, Stiles Stilinski & Derek Hale)

Untitled Swan Stiles: Fic | Art (Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Allison Argent/Isaac Lahey/Scott McCall, Danny Māhealani/Lydia Martin/Jackson Whittemore, Vernon Boyd/Erica Reyes)

Ted Lasso

Load of Whites, Hand-Wrung: Fic (Art On AO3) (Nathan Shelley/Bex, Secondary Ted Lasso/Rebecca Welton)

The Hunger Games

Every Spot Reminds Me of You: Fic (Art On AO3) (Katniss Everdeen/Peeta Mellark)

Feed the Beast: Fic (Katniss Everdeen/Peeta Mellark, Minor Effie Trinket/Haymitch Abernathy)

The Legend of Korra

Legend of Korra - The Winter Soldier: Art (Korra/Asami Sato)

Starvation Paradise: Fic/Art (Iroh II/Asami Sato)

The Wheel of Time (TV)

stars fading (but i linger on): Fic (Art On AO3) (Rand al'Thor/Mat Cauthon)

Word Of Honor

look who i found: Art (Wen Kexing/Zhou Zishu, Han Ying/Zhou Zishu (pre-relationship), Han Ying & Wen Kexing, Han Ying & Siji Ducklings, Han Ying & Zhou Zishu, Han Ying & Zhang Chengling)

to the roots of something greener: Fic | Art (Wen Kexing/Zhou Zishu, Han Ying/Zhou Zishu)

Yuri!!! on Ice

Light At The Edge Of The Galaxy: Art Post 1 | Art Post 2 (Phichit Chulanont & Katsuki Yuuri, Katsuki Yuuri/Victor Nikiforov)

[nomorerww]

There is a growing body of physiological, anatomical, ethnographic, and archaeological evidence to suggest that not only did women hunt in our evolutionary past, but they may well have been better suited for such an endurance-dependent activity. We are both biological anthropologists. I (co-author Cara) specialize in the physiology of humans who live in extreme conditions, using my research to reconstruct how our ancestors may have adapted to different climates. And I (co-author Sarah) study Neanderthal and early modern human health. I also excavate at their archaeological sites. It’s not uncommon for scientists like us—who attempt to include the contributions of all individuals, regardless of sex and gender, in reconstructions of our evolutionary past—to be accused of rewriting the past to fulfill a politically correct, woke agenda. The actual evidence speaks for itself, though: Gendered labor roles did not exist in the Paleolithic era, which lasted from 3.3 million years ago until 12,000 years ago. The story is written in human bodies, now and in the past.

[…]

Our Neanderthal cousins, a group of humans who lived across Western and Central Eurasia approximately 250,000 to 40,000 years ago, formed small, highly nomadic bands. Fossil evidence shows females and males experienced the same bony traumas across their bodies—a signature of a hard life hunting deer, aurochs, and woolly mammoths. Tooth wear that results from using the front teeth as a third hand, likely in tasks like tanning hides, is equally evident across females and males. This nongendered picture should not be surprising when you imagine small-group living. Everyone needs to contribute to the tasks necessary for group survival—chiefly, producing food and shelter, and raising children. Individual mothers are not solely responsible for their children; in forager communities, the whole group contributes to child care. You might imagine this unified labor strategy then changed in early modern humans, but archaeological and anatomical evidence shows it did not. Upper Paleolithic modern humans leaving Africa and entering Europe and Asia show very few sexed differences in trauma and repetitive motion wear. One difference is more evidence of “thrower’s elbow” in males than females, though some females shared these pathologies. And this was also the time when people were innovating with hunting technologies like atlatls (spear throwers), fishing hooks and nets, and bow and arrows—alleviating some of the wear and tear hunting would take on their bodies. A recent archaeological experiment found that using atlatls decreased sex differences in the speed of spears thrown by contemporary men and women. Even in death, there are no sexed differences in how Neanderthals or modern humans buried their dead or the goods affiliated with their graves. These indicators of differential gendered social status do not arrive until agriculture, with its stratified economic system and monopolizable resources. All this evidence suggests Paleolithic women and men did not occupy differing roles or social realms.

[kaysfanficcorner]

Out of This World Chapter 3: Bittersweet Symphony

Author’s Note: Hi everyone! Thank you so much for the support thus far, and for your patience! It took a moment for me to find the groove with this chapter, but it’s finally here! Looks like I was just in time with the return of our beskar-clad love on the 1st. This will be the first chapter with a tag list, so if you’d like to be added going forward please let me know!

Summary: As complicated feelings persist, the Mandalorian and his new ship mate continue to learn more about each other as they head off to Nar Shaddaa for one more bounty.

Pairing: Din Djarin x Female Earthing Reader

Warnings: cursing, mentions of sex, and mentions of emotional childhood trauma. This story is eventually going to have NSFW scenes so please no one under 18 interact. If you are under age, you are prohibited from this work of fiction.

Music Inspiration

AO3

*****

As Din Djarin is coming out of the fresher on the Razor Crest, feeling a little like a new man after taking a much needed shower, he hears a soft melody coming from the second floor. The kid’s nowhere to be found, nor are you and nor is the cat. Curious, he climbs the ladder to see what you’re doing up there and the light music grows louder the closer he gets.

Now he recognizes your voice, singing along to one of the songs on your primitive personal device with the accompanying music softly playing in the background. He finds the sound of it to be one of the loveliest things ever to grace his ears, despite the fact that the music itself is unlike anything Din has heard prior to meeting you.

Din is also acutely aware that the tone of your voice sounds very sad, and disquiet washes over him. 

He enters the cockpit, eyes immediately landing on the back of your head. You’re sitting in your usual spot with both feet on the seat and both knees hugged to your chest, looking out at the unmoving, purple tinted star field and rocky asteroid belt. You hair is pulled up into what you call a “messy bun”, and you’re wearing Cara’s hand me down clothing. A long sleeved black tunic with diagonal straps going across the chest and a red line going down the side of each arm, as well as a pair of grey pants with dark red pockets and straps going down each leg. Black boots sit beneath your chair, but your socked feet are obviously not in them. These clothes have seemed oddly fitting on you as of late, making you look more like a citizen of the galaxy to Din, while still looking entirely like yourself. It’s a good look, if he’s truly being honest. 

You stop singing when he comes further into the room, and Din finds himself disappointed by it’s sudden cut off. Even dispirited, you sound so beautiful. The device playing the music remains to do its job, laying nearly forgotten on the floor beside your boots. The kid and the cat are both sleeping together in the other passenger seat, nestled against one another. 

“Hey, Chrome Dome,” you say with even more sadness in your voice. 

Din moves in closer, coming to face your right side. You don’t look up at him. 

“Is something wrong?” He asks, genuinely concerned. 

“I don’t know how to answer that,” you reply with a shaky voice. 

Din feels incredibly uncomfortable seeing this sudden change in your otherwise pleasant demeanor. You don’t sound like the you he’s come to feel so friendly towards, and it bothers him. In this current moment he can’t explain to himself as to why, but he wants desperately to take the sadness away from you. To see a smile grace your plump lips again. He knows logically that he can’t just remove an emotion from another person to just to replace it with another, but he wants to all the same.

It’s because you care for her, a voice that sounds a lot like his says in the back of his mind. He ignores it and focuses his attention back to you.

Moments like this have always been awkward for Din Djarin. The tight-lipped bounty hunter has rarely showed this much emotion in front of another person, not at all since entering into adulthood, and seeing someone else openly wallowing in throws of despair is uncharted territory for a man like him. He has no idea how to conduct himself, but in spite of this he still feels this tugging urge to help you feel better coming from somewhere deep inside his belly. 

“You’re clearly upset,” Din says, mentally kicking himself for how unhelpful that probably sounds. 

You sigh, “I just get like this sometimes. I think a lot of it comes from having a lack of a normal childhood and growing up in a generally unaccepting society. At least that’s what I’d been trying to figure out with my therapist back on Earth.” There’s such a lack on enthusiasm in your voice as you speak, shrugging your shoulders as you say the last sentence. 

“What’s a therapist?” Din inquires with a slight head tilt to the left, ever curious about the world you come from. 

“A mental health doctor, or healer rather. They try to help you figure out what’s going on in your head and give you healthy ways to deal with it.” You explain, adding on with, “I don’t know how to explain why I suddenly feel like shit. I don’t feel like I’m at my lowest or anything, but I don’t feel great.” You begin to hug your knees even tighter, burying your face into your thighs to try and hide your obvious tears from him, but Din sees them. 

He’s at a loss for words. He has literally no idea what to say, but maybe saying something isn’t what he needs to do right now. Perhaps what you need is to get these feelings out of you, to know that someone is there and someone is listening. 

Without truly understanding himself, the bounty hunter succumbs to an impulse and removes his gloves, letting them drop to the floor before kneeling beside you. Tentatively, he places a bare hand at the base of your exposed neck. You flinch slightly, before relaxing into his warm touch a little by pressing back against his palm. Din takes this as permission to keep his hand where it is, your soft skin driving him mad somewhere deep inside. 

Then words seem to come to him after all. Not many, but enough to communicate the necessary information. “My childhood was ripped away from me without my consent. I may not experience the same feelings that you do, but I might be able to understand. You can trust me.” As he says this Din begins to gently squeeze your neck, lightly massaging around your vertebrae. His other hand turns the music on your device down a little so that he can focus on your voice. 

You take a deep breath, “I wasn’t treated with a lot of respect as a child. I was born to parents who got pregnant by mistake when they slept together at some party and I was the end result. They got married because more often than not in my culture if you got a girl pregnant it was your responsibility to marry her, even if you couldn’t stand each other. So they grew to hate each other, like a lot. Whenever they fought I always felt to blame for existing, even though I never asked to be a part of their shitty little lives in the first place. To them I was just this constant burden they had to bare and I was the reason that they never got to have the lives they’d dreamed of. Which is such bullshit. They could have done anything they wanted to with their lives, I was just an easy target for blame.”

Pausing for a moment, you catch your shaky breath again and continue, “My grandparents on my dad’s side might as well have been non-existent. My grandmother on my mom’s side is horribly judgmental and controlling and I could never be myself around her. If the family as a whole was not meeting her standards then she would rain hell upon anyone and everyone to get her way. Everything had to be perfect on the surface with her, even if all of us were dying inside. The only person in my family that I’ve ever felt close to was my mom’s father. My grandfather was a great man.” Your voice hitches every few words as you softly weep out this explanation.

Din’s hand never stops rubbing circles into your neck and the other grabs hold of one of yours. 

You squeeze it for dear life. 

“You said your grandfather was one of the few who got to break your planet’s atmosphere,” Din says, letting you know that he remembered your mention of the family’s patriarch. Letting you know that he’s listened to every word you’ve ever said to him with respect.

Nodding, you continue to tell Din about the father figure you’re clearly missing. “He worked for my government’s space program until they kicked him out for theories about human life in other parts of the universe. They thought he was crazy, and so he lost everything. My grandmother left him and I was forbidden from seeing him anymore. But I broke the rules all the time, and I spent a ton of time at his house until I finally got caught one day. After that I had zero freedom until I was old enough to move out on my own. I started seeing him again once I detached from the rest of my family. I was pretty much disowned at that point, so he let me move in. Shortly after that he disappeared and then five years went by without a trace of him. I looked everywhere. Well, at least I tried. He was eventually declared legally dead, with a funeral and everything. I refused to go because I wasn’t ready to admit that he probably is truly dead. I refused to think that he would just abandon me on purpose. The only person who ever understood me, who didn’t make me feel like I had to pretend to be someone else, left me without a single word. I’ll never see him again.” 

Your crying becomes increasingly more emotional, shoulders shaking violently as your voice takes on a new layer of pain. “Fuck, I just wish that he could have at least found out that his theories were correct. He’ll never get to know he was right and that everyone else was wrong.”

“That is unfortunate,” Din agrees, still feeling uncomfortable and unaware of what to say. 

“Screw those assholes. Screw my family. Screw Earth. Part of me doesn’t even want to go back there, Mando. I’ve barely got any friends, and the ones I do have are out living their best lives. Marriage, kids, careers. It feels like I blinked and suddenly we were all thirty and I couldn’t relate them anymore because my life didn’t keep moving forward past school. I don’t have a real family to go back to. I don’t even know who I am anymore, Mando. Maybe I never really knew to begin with.”

Sharply, you sit up then and Din’s hand slides down your back. While letting out an uninhibited noise of frustration, you gesture to the cockpit window where the stars and small asteroids sit serenely in space. “Why the hell would I want to go back to a boring life without this?” 

Then your voice dips down to nearly a whisper, outstretched fingers slowly curling back down into a tight fist that you slam against your own thigh. “Fuck, its so fucking beautiful that it tears me apart inside.”

“You don’t have to go back,” Din says after a beat, meaning every word even though it scares him a little to say it out loud. He’s not sure where he finds the words, but they come regardless. “You could start over, make a new life here. Go anywhere in the galaxy. Become anyone you want. It wouldn’t be easy, but you could do it. There’s nothing stopping you.”

You look at him then, cheeks wet and nose slightly runny, and even so he’s struck by how raw your facial expression is. Although wrought with hard emotions, Din thinks you look stunning. 

“I feel like I’m stopping me,” you say with a small sob, whipping your nose on your sleeve and your cheeks with your palm. Your other hand is still clutching his tightly. “I can barely do anything for myself here. I’m completely reliant on other people. On you. I have to let you do everything. You hunt, you make credits, you fight, you cook, and you fly the ship. All I’m good for is watching the kid. Back on Earth I was completely self-sufficient because I had to be. Sometimes I love it here and I never want to leave and sometimes it’s so frustrating not being able to take care of myself.”

Din moves his hand back up to your neck, pressing his thumb and forefinger to the base of your skull. Your eyes slip closed as if experiencing a small moment of pleasure. Din argues, “Why do you have to be completely reliant on me? You can learn how to do anything that I can do. I’ll teach you, or at the very least I can try.” 

“I already intrude on your life enough as it is, Mando. Ugh, fuck, I’m literally a burden on everyone I ever meet. Maybe my parents were right. I know you had no interest in taking me on, and I’m sure I’ll overstay my welcome at some point.” You huff, prying your eyes open to look at him again. 

There’s so much pain behind your irises that something in Din’s chest crumbles at the sight of it. The need to fix this becomes entirely too strong to control but he can tell you're not done expressing yourself, so he lets you finish. 

Your voice is laced with the same pain from your eyes, “Then I’ll just be on my own again. I’m so fucking tired of being alone.”

Din decides to be honest and firm, but in no way intended to hurt your feelings. “It’s true, you may overstay your welcome one day. It’s also true that I didn’t want to accept this arrangement and I feared that this would quickly become tiresome.” 

Your face contorts into a tiny look of agony so he squeezes your hand tighter, taking on an even firmer tone of voice as he says your name to really get your attention. “Don’t focus on the pain, focus on me.” He’s not sure if what he’s saying is helpful, but he feels as if he’s got to say something. As new and strange as this is for him, he truly wants to help his friend. 

Din waits for you to blink at him and nod slowly before going on, “I do not regret this. It didn’t become clear to me that I’ve missed having a friend around until a few weeks ago. I’ve been alone for a long time, and I’m tired of it too.”

When Din says that final sentiment, your face softens considerably and you let out a new kind of sob that almost sounds like relief is lacing its tone. You dive into him with such speed and force that he lets out a surprised yelp as he’s knocked on his ass. You’re clinging to him with nearly crushing force. Arms around his waist, your face burrows into him as the rest of you curls up on the floor between his sprawled legs.

At first he just lets you squeeze him with his own arms awkwardly outstretched on either side of you. After a moment, Din’s arms tentatively come to circle your upper back, one hand cradling your head slightly. This is all so foreign, but at the same time he can’t help but think that it feels entirely right to be in this position with you in his arms. 

“I’m here,” he soothes, and you sob until you have nothing left in you.

Somehow Jupiter and the kid sleep through all of it.

*****

When you finally calm down enough to dislodge from the mandalorian, you scoot back until your back is pressed to the side of the red seat. Throwing your head back with inflamed puffy eyes squeezed shut, you rub at them with your hands as you start to take more even breaths. You know a splitting headache isn’t going to be far behind a good cry like that.

“Fuck,” you exclaim. “Sorry that was kinda intense.”

“You don’t need to apologize for expressing yourself.” Mando says sternly. 

You feel incredibly awkward after being so vulnerable in front of someone so stoic like him, but he let you get out several months worth of pent up feelings. “I just feel like that was a lot,” you say, feeling as if it’s necessary to make further excuses for yourself.

Looking back over at Mando, you watch his silver helmet shake in the negative as he speaks. “Well you don’t have to. Thank you for trusting me.”

“You’re welcome, near bursha. Did I say that right?” You demeanor is shy as the foreign words leave your mouth.

“It’s ner burc’ya, but you got close.” He pronounces it slowly, tone low and warm.

“Ner burc’ya,” you repeat softly. 

Mando stands then and holds a bare hand out to you. You sniff a little, trying to clear your stuffy nose as you look at his skin and stop to really register that it had been exposed for most of that interaction between you. The way in which he’d rubbed your neck while you cried your eyes out  had been so soothing, but you’d been so caught up in your feelings that its not until now that you really realize how long you were feeling his warm skin touch your own. 

You take Mando’s hand and let him pull you up easily, wobbling a little as you come to your feet. A hand on his beskar chest plate steadies you, his own hand holding your elbow for extra support. 

“I feel woozy,” you say with your other hand to your forehead. The throbbing in your skull is already beginning its painful rhythm.

“You need to hydrate,” Mando says matter of factly while leading you to his seat at the front of the cockpit. “Sit. I’ll get you water.”

You comply, sitting in the pilot’s seat of the Razor Crest for only the second time since the ship became your sort-of home. It definitely feels more worn than your own seat, having way more give in the cushion. Obviously your mysterious friend didn’t have a lot of passengers prior to you. Pulling your feet up and laying your head on your knees, you breathe in the comforting aroma of the Mandalorian surrounding you for a few moments as you look at the stars and asteroids surrounding the ship. 

Behind you the baby stirs and makes a little yawning noise. 

“You slept through a shit show, green bean.” You say, turning to see his huge black eyes blinking awake at you.

“Language,” Mando’s voice reappears in the doorway, “His first word is going to be something awful thanks to us.”

You roll your eyes with a small grin, “You are dramatic. Is that a mandalorian thing or just a you thing?”

He hands you the cup of water, shaking his silver head at you. “Just drink.”

As you take a few sips he comes to stand next to you, leaning slightly on a buttonless section of the control panel with his arms crossed at the wrists just at the base of his abdomen. His right hand is holding onto his left forearm slightly, and even in the state you’re in you can appreciate how attractive he is to you. The visor fixes on you and you feel slightly unnerved by it, your system still all over the place after coming down from the extreme state of dysregulation. 

Feeling an awkward need to break the silence, you say, “So we’re landing on Nevarro soon?”

“Yes. Before we get there, would you like to practice flying the ship?” His voice is even as he says this, and you’re dying to know what his face is doing on the other side of the beskar. He can’t be serious, can he?

“Uh, what?” You say almost dumbly, features scrunching. “Don’t think I heard you right.”

His head tilts to the side slightly and his arms shift. “You heard me right. If you want to feel more self sufficient, you’re going to need to learn how to live in this galaxy, not just exist in it. That includes flying. Besides, it would take some of the strain off of me if you could man the controls as well.”

Some of your normal snarky personality is starting to resurface as you quip back, “I was just thinking the other day that if there was an emergency and you needed me to fly the ship we’d be screwed.”

“Exactly,” Mando agrees.

“I was being sarcastic, but that’s cool too.”

“Would you like to learn to fly or not?” His tone, although playful for him, has a seriousness laced within it.

You decide to take the hint, looking at him seriously. “Yes, please.”

The Mandalorian shows you a few very basic controls and how to steer. Watching his gloveless fingers dance across the controls effortlessly is mesmerizing. Maybe its because his hands are the only part of him you ever get to see, but damn are they lovely. 

As he explains navigation and thrusters, you realize how intimidating a ship like the Razor Crest really is. So much goes into flying these ships, but seeing as the craftsmanship is far beyond anything Earth has ever come up with you're not really surprised. It’s definitely not like driving your shitty old Honda, that’s for sure. This vessel is designed for deep space, not driving to the mall to get cheese fries and a new t-shirt from Hot Topic. 

After he shows you what you need to know for very basic maneuvering, Mando steps back and picks up the kid. Jupiter has since jumped down from the chair and is circling between Mando’s legs. They come to your side, the foster father and son who are slowly winning your heart, and and any nerves you felt up until this point slowly fade away. You feel a little more confident as you reach across the controls, clicking on the few buttons he’d showed you before grabbing the left and right joysticks meant or steering.

Just as the ship begins to move, your forgotten iPad changes over to the next song and “Bittersweet Symphony” by The Verve starts to play. It’s so faint you can barely hear it, but you can’t imagine a more fitting soundtrack to this moment. 

You steer left, then right, feeling the Razor Crest glide exactly where you direct it. You speed up a little, dipping up and down then back and forth. A feeling of joy rises to your chest, and if you hadn’t just cried out everything your body has to cry, tears might have formed again at the experience of getting to fly a spacecraft for the first time. But they don’t, so you just allow yourself to enjoy this moment. This confident feeling of freedom is unlike anything you have experienced, like you really could tackle anything you put your mind to.

“How do you feel?” Mando asks as you slow down to a stop and release the steering, grinning up at him with bright eyes.

“Like I can do anything,” you reply honestly. “I could get used to this.” 

The kid reaches for you then, so Mando passes him over. Your bare fingers run across his as you take the child into your arms, skin tingling where his touch had once been. 

*****

The stop on Nevarro is intentionally quick, with Din demanding that Karga give him the biggest payout bounty on his list as soon as he arrives in his office. You’ve taken the child off to see Cara and visit with her until Din comes to retrieve you both. 

“Well hello to you too, Mando,” Greef Karga says with a raise of the brow.

“I need to focus on the mission. On the child. Hunting that last round of bounties took up too much time.” Din says matter of factly. “If I could get one big payout, enough to last us a couple of months, then I can take care of the matters at hand.” 

Karga shakes his head, “You know better than most that the biggest payouts are the most dangerous. Are you willing to put the child and the girl at risk?”

“If I do my job correctly, there will be no risk to speak of.” Din replies evenly, unappreciative of Karga’s tone. “I’d like to be done with this for a while.”

“There is always a risk, Mando. But frankly, with Nevarro becoming such a prosperous and respectable planet I’d like to move away from this kind of work myself.” Karga agrees before changing the subject all together, “How is the girl doing on the Razor Crest, anyway? You never dropped her off back here and it’s been well over two months, so I assume that I was correct and the arrangement has been beneficial for you both.”

Struck by how much the idea of just dropping you off and likely never seeing you again truly bothers him, Din doesn’t answer right away. When he first met you he’d been willing to do that at a moments notice, but now the thought of it isn’t something he’s willing to consider. After learning more about you he’s aware of how cruel it would be on his part, and he would miss your presence. He would miss the feeling of you making him laugh. 

But Din knows that a part of Karga is just trying to distract him in order to haggle, so Din decides to change the subject back. “She’s well, and the arrangement is indeed beneficial. Now about the bounty.”

The two of them do this verbal dance for a little while longer.

*****

At the same time the Mandalorian is arguing over bounties at the desk of Greef Karga, you’re sitting across the desk of Marshal Cara Dune. She’s playing with the child as you fill her in on the events of your life since you last saw each other. 

After a few minutes of letting you ramble, Cara suddenly stops waving her hands in front of the kid’s face to grin widely at you. It’s distracting enough that you forget what you were just saying. 

“What’s that face for?” You ask.

“You have feelings for him,” she replies, completely sure of the statement she’s making. 

“What?!” Heat floods your cheeks, “I have feelings for who?”

“Don’t play dumb, it doesn’t look good on you. You like him. It’s clear as day when you talk about him.” Cara looks so pleased with herself that you want to throw something at her. If only this were Earth and she had papers strewn about on her desk, you’d wad one up and chuck it at her face.

Instead you just sigh and hang your head, “Is it really that obvious?”

“Painfully so,” the warrior woman says, still grinning. 

Between you both, the child is looking back and forth at each of you with a curious look on his tiny face and you briefly wonder if he understands what you’re talking about.

“Why are you so happy about this?” You groan out, sinking into your seat.

Cara shrugs, “Because you have a pleasant air about you that I’ve never seen before. It’s nice to see.”

You look over at her to confirm that her face looks as honest as she’d sounded and it does. “Aww, that’s actually a very sweet reason. I’m a little less embarrassed now.”

“You’re embarrassed?” She asks with a slightly raised eyebrow, “Why?”

“Because I feel like an adolescent with a crush. What if its just a result of being cooped up with him for over two months or I’ve just gone too long without sex?” You ask with a groan, leaning your head back to look at the ceiling. The baby makes a noise and your eyes flick back down to him, remembering that he’s there and he’s listening to you. “Whoops I shouldn’t have said that last part in front of the kid.”

“I’m sure he’s scandalized,” Cara quips sarcastically. She leans both of her elbows on the desk and rests her chin in her hands with a smirk playing at her lips. “Do you really think that’s the reason, or is it possible that you’re actually compatible with each other?”

“I mean, I like his personality. He’s funnier than I would have ever expected him to be. His voice is sexy, he’s got a nice laugh, he’s been teaching me how to do stuff around the ship and that’s been nice. I’d like to learn more about him, about his life. He’s my friend, Cara. This is so conflicting and complicated. I don’t know what to do.” You answer your friend honestly.

“Does it have to be complicated?” Cara’s question is blunt and to the point. 

You shrug, “I guess not, but when it comes down to the fact that I’m not from this Galaxy it feels like it does.”

Cara fixes you with a serious stare before asking, “Do you even want to go home anymore? From what you told me, your life back on Earth wasn’t much of a life. Instead of focusing on trying to get back to a place where you weren’t happy, why not build a better life for yourself here? Your chances of going back are slim to begin with. Would you really want to waste your life looking for something that could never happen and miss what’s going on around you?”

You counter with, “Honestly I don’t want to leave the galaxy anytime soon, but a crush on man is a dumb reason to build my life here. I wasted a lot of time on men back home and I promised myself I’d never make decisions about myself for a guy again.”

Brow furrowed, the little tattoo by her left eye wrinkles while she narrows her gaze and looks even more stern with you. “I’m not saying stay because of him. It would be because of you. Sure, see where things with Mando go if you want to, but if you stay in this galaxy do it for yourself. You need to live life for you, and you alone. All I meant was that a connection with someone can’t hurt either.”

“You make excellent points, Cara.” Her words ring true for you and you can’t help but agree with your friend, nodding. “When I first came to Nevarro I was desperate to go home because I’m so out of my element here, but now I’m starting to realize that I don’t have to be. Maybe I can find a new element. I don’t know if or how I’ll act on my feelings for Mando, though. Can Mandalorians even,” you pause while making eye contact with the kid so your voice drops down a few octaves while you wave your hands around, “you know what I mean?”

Cara shrugs, “ From what I understand, yes. As long as you never expect him to take that helmet off. And as for making a move, just let it come naturally. It’ll feel right when it’s supposed to. He might even make the first attempt if he feels the same way. Do you think he does?”

“I don’t know. He’s not cold towards me anymore, that’s for sure. I expected him to barely talk to me at first but we actually talk quite a bit. He’s opened up around me a lot in the last few weeks.” Thinking back on earlier that morning, laying in his arms as you’d cried your eyes out, you add, “He’s been there for me when I needed a friend.”

“Well that sounds like a start to me,” Cara approves of this, nodding.

“A start to what?” The Mandalorian’s voice is suddenly behind you and you stomach does a flip inside your body. 

Dread fills your brain as your heart speeds up, but Cara stays cool and recovers for you. “Our friend here was telling me that she’s been learning some new skills thanks to you,” she says.

“Yeah I told her that you’ve been teaching me to shoot a blaster,” you add, turning to look back at him. Seeing him just solidifies the conversation you just had with Cara. You want him. Badly.

“She’s not awful,” Mando says with a nod.

“Gee thanks,” you reply sarcastically with an eye roll and a laugh.

“Just being honest,” he quips back with a shrug.

Cara looks back and forth between you before sending a smirk in your direction. “I think it’ll end up working out,” she adds this just for your benefit and you wonder if Mando is confused by her phrasing. 

Oh well, you think. He comes to stand beside you, a hand coming to the back rest of the chair you’re in. Cara waggles her eyebrows at you and you fight the urge to wave her off. Instead you focus on him, and ask if he’s done with bounty business.

“Yes, I settled it. We are going to go grab one last bounty and the payout should last us long enough to focus on the kid for awhile.” Mando looks down at you and nods his head towards the doorway, “Is it alright if we get going? You two can catch up more when we come back. This one should only last a few days, a week tops.” 

You nod back, standing at the same time as Cara. She comes around the desk to give you a hug. “Thanks for the advice,” you say. 

“Of course. Be safe out there. See you soon.” Cara says, nodding to Mando as you grab the child and turn to follow him back to the ship.

Outside, Mando waits so that you are walking in stride together. “What advice did she give you?” He asks sincerely.

“I was telling her that I’m not sure if I want to leave this galaxy any time soon.” You say honestly, and he stops for a second to look down at you.

“Was her advice useful?” His tone takes on a certain vulnerability for a split second, but you hear it.

“Yes, I think so.” You reply with a smile, and the walk back to the Razor Crest resumes.

*****

The bounty turns out to be hiding on Nar Shaddaa, the moon of Nal Hutta. The Smuggler’s Moon. Nal Hutta being a green marshy planet with rings on which a race of large slug-like beings called Hutts reign. The moon, where your little group on the Razor Crest are now headed, is covered completely in urban sprawl and criminal activity. Making it the perfect place for a very wanted person to lay low. 

Yes, of course you have to make a Pizza Hut joke when Mando explains all of this to you. The two of you are standing in front of the little weapons locker on the first floor of the ship, and his confusion is adorably worth it.

Then he hands you a spare blaster, and tells you that he is hoping that you’d be willing to help him hunt the bounty. Both terrified and thrilled, you take the blaster and hold it in both of your hands as you look at him with skepticism.

“‘Smuggler’s Moon?’ This place sounds incredibly dangerous. Is me tagging a long such a good idea?” You ask genuinely.

Mando nods at you, “This place is very dangerous, but the worst of it is at nightfall. During the day, the street market that we are going to is fairly harmless. I want to try to lore him out, and I want your permission to use you as a sort of bait.”

“Bait?!” Exclaiming incredulously, you narrow your eyes at him and hold the blaster back out to him. For a moment you imagine yourself dangling on a fishing hook. “I thought we were friends, Mando.”

“We are,” he says pointedly, gently pushing the blaster back towards you. “I would not ask you to do this if I wasn’t sure I could protect you. I promise.”

You look at him and huff, “If I die I’m allowed to haunt you.”

“Deal,” Mando sticks his gloved right hand out to shake yours and you begrudgingly take it. “I have a theory about something. If I’m right, this could end the hunt that much faster.”

You shift your footing and cross your arms over your chest. You’re nervous but he’s trusting you a lot, so you want to hear him out. “Okay, shoot. Tell me what this idea of yours is.”

“The bounty is an Anzat.” He says this as if you know what he’s talking about, and you roll your eyes so hard you nearly get dizzy. Mando must notice this, and continues speaking before you can take the opportunity to be a smart ass. “The Anzati are a humanoid people who survive on soup.”

No you’re sure he’s fucking with you, so you scoff. “Like potato soup because their planet can only grow potatoes?”

He sighs, “No. Soup is what they call the brains of the living beings that they murder for food.”

Stomach dropping to your feet, your mouth forms an “o” and you do not interrupt your friend again.

Mando goes on, “They look like normal humans most of the time, but they have these proboscises that retract and extend from their cheeks. They snake up the nostrils of the victim and suck out the soup.”

“You’re not making a good case as to why I should be involved. This brain vampire guy sounds terrifying.” You say, growing somewhat anxious.

“They can smell the soup even from miles away, and the Anzati only ever go hunting for the most delicious smelling soup. Or the most rare. Even though you are human, your body chemistry is going to be slightly different than mine, or that of a human from another planet. Your brain will likely smell unique to an Anzat.” Mando explains this cooly, and you can’t help but think that it makes sense.

“Alright, go on.”

“So the plan is we go to the market during the day, in the area he was last spotted, and just pretend to shop around for an hour. Then we come back to the ship, I lock you inside of it so tightly that nothing can get in, and then when he comes sniffing around I grab him. They don’t need him brought in alive according to the puck, so worst case scenario I kill him and we just freeze the body.” The Mandalorian finishes telling you all of this by placing a hand on your shoulder and sighing heavily. “This does sound like a stupid idea now that I’ve said it out loud. I’ll just hunt him the old fashioned way.”

“What if we land the Crest closer to him than you think and he can smell me anyway?” You counter, looking over to where the kid is happily eating something with tentacles. “And what about the kid? He’s got a rare brain too, Mando.”

“I thought about that. We’re going to put him down for a nap and we’ll keep him locked up in the cot until things are safe.” Looking off into a corner of the ship, Mando sighs again before adding, “I regret this idea. Karga was probably right about it being too dangerous with the both of you involved. Even five years ago I would have taken this bounty with a small team, I don’t know what I’m thinking trying to do it alone.”

Your nose wrinkles as you think about it for a moment, and then you look into the T-shaped visor nestled between the beskar covering Mando’s face and you square your shoulders thinking that the two of you could be a team. A great team, even. That has a really nice ring to it. “If I am going to consider living here for the foreseeable future I need to learn what it’s like to be in possible danger. Let’s try your plan. An hour at the market, and then I lock myself in with the kid until you get back.” 

The helmet turns sharply to look at you, his voice sounding surprised. “You’re sure?”

You nod, “Why not? I trust you. I can be your team for this one, at least a little bit.”

The Mandalorian visibly relaxes slightly, tense shoulders loosening as his arms drop a little. “Thank you, ner burc’ya.”

Feeling braver about your feelings after your conversation with Cara, you place a hand to his forearm just above the vambrace. “You’re welcome. I know I’m probably crazy for agreeing to this though.” 

“Perhaps,” he chuckles, and your heart swells at the sound of it. You might follow this man anywhere just to hear that pleasant noise rumble out of his armor plated chest.

You think for a moment and then you recall something that Mando just said. Excitement suddenly floods your system. “Wait, hold up. You said Nal Hutta has rings? I’m going up to the cockpit to look at it. My favorite planet in my solar system has rings and I think it’s the most gorgeous thing ever.”

“You’re going to love this one, then. It’s a handsome planet.” He says, and from the tone of his voice you like to think he’s smiling. 

*****

Din is attuned to your presence every moment that you are out of the Razor Crest on Nar Shaddaa. Things are going as planned thus far, but he is on high alert all the same. He knows how much of a risk he’s created and he intends to keep his promise that you’ll be safe. To your credit, you’ve listened to his every instruction and followed them perfectly. You’re taking this extremely seriously, causing a newfound respect for you to blossom within his already blooming garden of feelings regarding you.

You’re dressed in galaxy fashions a la Cara Dune, and your face is hidden behind a low hanging black hood. The old blaster he gave you is strapped to your right thigh. You’ll blend in perfectly in the impossibly huge moon-city. 

Din looks you over as you finish coming down the ramp of the ship, glad to see that you’d followed his advice on how to dress. “There are so many people here that it doesn’t matter who you are in a place like this, unless the wrong people are looking for you. Good call with that hood. You’re a beautiful woman, you might draw too much attention to yourself with your face fully exposed.”

Beginning to fan yourself, you throw the other hand to your forehead while donning some sort of terrible accent. “Why, Mr. Mandalorian, did you just call me beautiful?” 

“I did,” He says matter of factly, tilting his head with a hidden smirk.

Batting your eyes at him a bit you respond with, “Well thank you. I bet you’re handsomer than hell under that beskar, but I’m fine with never finding out.” 

Din’s eyes widen, a smile creeping up his cheeks in place of the smirk. “I like to think so,” he says honestly.

You put a hand to your chin and pretend to think for a moment. “So the man who hides his face from the world is vain after all?”

“All I’m saying is that I don’t have a problem with the way I look.” Din just shrugs, and the little giggle you let out guts him with a jolt of joy.

The little smile playing at your lips also does Din in a little as you speak. “Your confidence is nice. I wasn’t sure how you felt about yourself in that regard and it never seemed polite to ask.”

Din looks you up and down, deciding to open up more of the wall he has put up around others for most of his life. “My choice to become a Child of the Watch and wear this helmet never came from a place of dissatisfaction with my face. I wanted to be a part of the people who saved my life when droids destroyed my home and killed my parents. I wanted to be a part of The Tribe, to know The Way of The Mandalore.”

“I think its nice that you were able to find a group of people to rely on after your parents died, and something that you feel so strongly about to help guide your life forward. It’s beautiful in its own way,” you say this sincerely, “I am sorry about your family, though. And I meant what I said, I don’t care about not seeing your face. As far as I’m concerned, this is you.” You gesture up at the helmet.

Din didn’t realize that this little banter would turn so serious, but he’s genuinely thankful for how much respect you show his way of life. He dips his head in a nod, “Thank you for saying that.”

“You’re welcome. Thank you for opening up to me.” You grin up at him before covering most of your face with the hood again. “You ready to go shopping?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be.” Din shuts the ramp of the ship, making sure she’s locked up tight with the precious cargo inside. He then turns and holds out a hand to you. “Hold out your wrist.”

You comply and he fixes a small watch-like device to your arm. “Is this a com-link?” You ask.

Din nods, “Correct. If, and I mean if, we get separated we’ll be able to communicate with each other. Hopefully you won’t need to use it, but I’ll show you how it works.” 

*****

Nar Shaddaa is gorgeous in your opinion. Sure, it’s definitely got a crime infested shithole kind of vibe, but its like New York City only ten times bigger and ten times more interesting. You’ve always been a city person, so you can’t help but see the charm in this sprawling urban moon. It reminds you of Bladerunner and The Fifth Element, being practically out of a big Hollywood movie. Neon lights everywhere, even in the daylight. Sky scrapers so tall you can’t really see the top. Thousands of people from all kinds of species wandering around either on foot or little hovering vehicles. Some even walking strange little creatures clearly meant to be pets on leashes. Droids scattered here and there. Seedy or not, this place is full of life and it fills you with a little bout of excitement.

Despite this, you remain very serious as you stay close to Mando through the crowds. This is not the time nor the place to be cracking jokes at the risk getting yourself into trouble.

You stop at a few stands here and there. The Mandalorian instructs you to shop and act naturally. He even gives you a few credits to buy some items you need just to make it seem even more natural. So shop is what you do. 

It’s more soothing than you expect it to be. Shopping like this reminds you of going to street fairs back home to look at crafts, or the farmers market on Sundays to get fresh produce.

You do end up looking at the fresh foods first. Being somewhat of a vegetarian, you buy yourself a few things from the produce stand before moving on to meats of all kinds of alien varieties that do not look appetizing. Mando grabs a few of the meats for the kid, and you buy yourself some sort of grilled vegetable on a stick from a street cart when you realize how hungry you’ve become. It’s odd, but tasty all the same.

Then you move on to clothes and handmade items, trying not to get too friendly with anyone while also being polite. At one stand you pick out a black sweater with bell sleeves, cropped at the waist. At another you grab a set of dark purple leather-like suspenders with a removable blaster holster, and a pair of what look like an odd kind of cargo pants. Black, of course. Purple and black are your two colors of choice when actually given one.

It’s coming up on one hour when a particular item catches your eye. It’s a necklace on a small, thin gold chain. The tiny pendant is only one centimeter long, and it’s clearly a small rendition of Nal Hutta as some sort of obvious touristy product. There’s a light white-green stone with a gold band wrapping around it as the planet’s ring. You could care less about having a souvenir from this place, but damn is it a pretty piece of jewelry. You’re not the biggest jewelry person, but you know for a fact that if you had that little planet necklace it would never leave your neck. 

“A pretty necklace for a pretty girl?” A croaky feminine voice pulls you from your small trance. You look over to see the shop owner sitting on a little chair behind the table of jewels. She’s definitely some kind of alien, but what kind you do not know. Instead of hair, she has two very long fleshy tubes attached her head like pigtails. Her skin is green, and she seems rather elderly.

“Oh, me? I mean I love this piece but it costs more credits than I have unfortunately.” You say, grabbing for Mando’s forearm to push him along. For reasons you don’t understand, you get a weird vibe from her and you don’t care for it. 

“Why not let the gentleman buy it for you?” The old woman persists, and you feel uneasy still. 

“The gentleman has already spent enough on her today,” Mando replies cooly, noticing your discomfort and scooting you forward in front of him. Under different circumstances you would have been titillated at the slightly possessive way in which he spoke of you.

This unpleasant old woman gives a sneer and her once kind face morphs into one of ugly distain. “Suit yourselves. I would have cut you a deal, you know.”

“Yeesh,” you say once far enough away, unaware that she can hear better than you think. “I didn’t like that lady.” 

“Neither did I,” Mando agrees. “That necklace would have suited you, though.” 

“Why thank you, Mr. Mandalorian,” you say in that terrible American southern accent again and he actually groans a little. That’s a new one for him.

“For kriffs sake. Let’s get you back to the Razor Crest.” 

You sincerely hope that he’s rolling his eyes as you fix him with a little smirk. He nudges his shoulder lightly into yours and squeezes your hand for a moment in a gesture which you take as a slightly intimate one. He’s letting you know his physical presence is there with you, even in a huge crowd where he’s probably not willing to do more than that.

*****

Ranik A’kazz, the same Anzati man with a very steep bounty upon his head, notices your presence on the moon of Nar Shaddaa shortly after the moment that you set foot onto it’s surface. He is struck suddenly with a scent that he’s never once in his long life ever experienced. Ranik has travelled through all of this galaxy’s outer rim and through most of its inner rim planets, and not once has he ever smelled a soup such as yours.

It’s absolutely foul.

Ranik is disgusted by the rank scent of it, fighting back the urge to gag the closer he gets to the human woman it belongs to and her Mandalorian companion. It’s a powerful scent to be sure, but even more powerful still is the faint scent that accompanies the one which he finds so offensive. 

This second scent is utterly delectable.

“The force,” he finds himself whispering with a small gasp when he’s able to pinpoint why his mouth is watering so much. He’s dipping in and out of shops, stealthily following the two individuals who do not carry this scent themselves, but have faint traces on their person.

Thanks to the rise of the Empire and the fall of the Jedi, it’s been so long, decades even, since Ranik has been lucky enough to feast on a force sensitive individual and enhance his own force sensitivity. This one feels powerful. Unlike anything he’s felt before. His skin tingles at the thought of ingesting such a meal, and so he follows the unpleasant scent until the trail goes cold.

He doubles back to the jewelry stand where he saw the woman admiring a necklace, and he goes straight to the elderly Twi’lek sitting behind the table.

“The Mandalorian and the girl. Where did they go?” 

“What’s in it for me?” The old crone asks with a skeptical eye.

Ranik drops a small sack of credits in front of her, and the old woman snatches it up faster than a woman at her age normally moves.

“They went back to their ship. I think I over heard the Mandalorian call it the Razor something.”

“Crest. Razor Crest. Ex-military gunship and patrol model. Thank you for your services, madam.” Ranik says, dipping his head politely as he exits the jewelry stand. 

Then he heads for the docks, the hunger in his belly growing all the while.

*****

Next Chapter

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Masterlist

*****

Taglist:

@luc-k-y | @theslytherinwriter |

[the-kittylorian-writes]

"Priceless"

Type: One-shot

Pairing: Din Djarin x Omera

Rating: General Audiences

Summary:

Din takes Omera to one of his most memorable getaway spots, inspired by fond memories with his adoptive Mandalorian father. But once they’ve reached Niamos, Din starts to regret taking his soon-to-be-wife there… 

[Written for (extended!) Mandomera Week 2022, fifth prompt: “Vacation”]

read it here or on AO3 (with author's notes)

Priceless

“Call it a birthday present!” Greef Karga prodded, his face ruddy with elation over Din Djarin’s latest visit to Nevarro. It hadn’t escaped his attention that Din had brought a very lovely lady friend as well. 

Din’s voice was flat. “You don’t know my exact birthday.”

Greef cleared his throat, unbothered. “Well, is it today? Is it tomorrow? Was it three weeks ago or will it be three months from now?” He heartily chuckled over his own wisecrack. His beefy hand cordially patted Din so hard on the back, Din sucked in air, tightening his core to keep himself from toppling over. “It doesn’t matter. Call it an advanced or belated birthday gift. I insist! You know I’ll always be your good friend, Mando. And… won’t a good friend be further graced with the honor of an introduction?”

Karga’s grin widened and his eyes softened as Din followed the older man’s gaze, which landed on a resplendent Omera by his side. Din’s heart always did ten riotous backflips whenever he’d land his own gaze on her. Under the Nevarro heat and sky, she was as radiant as ever. Her dark hair was knotted in plaits that cascaded down her back, and her skin the shade of nutmeg was bronzed so beautifully in the fading light of day.

Din sighed. Before he could even make a move to introduce Omera, Greef had excitedly taken him aside, with a polite nod to Omera, and began singing Din his praises, how he’s missed his best bounty hunter “but that was old times,” and how he’s missed “the little green baby with the magic hand thing,” et cetera and so on. Greef was extraordinarily chatty and in very high spirits. Half a standard year had passed since they’ve had their last crime committed on Nevarro, and it hadn’t even been a grave offense. It was a miracle streak unheard of in these parts before.

“Marshall Dune’s been busy,’ exulted the magistrate earlier. “She’s wanting to extend her reach to one of Nevarro’s moons to clean up so I’ve sent her there. Cara’s stationed herself there awhile, and she’ll probably ignore my message of your visit until she’s done. Laser focus and all that good stuff. It’ll take a few days. I’m sure you’d want to preoccupy yourselves in the meantime!”

Thus, Greef Karga had offered an all-expense paid trip to anywhere among the galaxy’s hotspots; there was a ceiling to the amount and distance, of course. Even then, Din had thought it seemed too bloated an offer. While already generous, Greef was making an offer for a trip for two. Magistrate Karga was very indulgent, especially when Din had chosen to visit wearing only light armor… and with a bare face. It was a giant leap of faith and act of trust, so Greef bounced off the walls, basking under the honor the Mandalorian had chosen to bestow on him.

…Which arrived to this moment when Omera—after noting Din’s tongue-tied dilemma, naked face beet-red, and giving Greef a bright, tender smile—stepped forth, extended a hand, and introduced herself. “Omera,” she said in companionable ease, her musical voice like rich, mulled wine, “from Sorgan, magistrate Karga.”

Greef was over the moon. Omera giggled when he’d planted a gentleman’s kiss on her knuckles, and gave her hand a warm, fatherly pat. 

Din nearly choked on his own breath when Karga concluded their reunion, and sealed the deal regarding the trip with a: “All right then—I’ll call it an advanced wedding present!” 

The magistrate roared out a belly-deep laugh, sending Din further into a silent and red-faced oblivion.

****

Niamos.

It’s been more than twenty years since he’d been to the planet, and that was when he was a young teenager by his adoptive Mandalorian father’s side. 

Greef Karga had allowed him time to decide on a destination. Omera wasn’t very well-traveled, and that alone sent Din’s mind into paralysis at the presence of so many options. Din, in stark contrast, was very well-traveled, at least to the outskirts of the Mid Rim and to most of the Outer Rim. 

Din was seventeen when his buir had taken him on an exposure trip to Niamos with the Tribe’s permission (not easy to get). It was what his father dubbed a “working vacation.” While Din’s buir scouted the planet for future client prospects who could use the services of skilled warriors for tasks that needed heavily armed manpower, Din only accompanied him when needed, but mostly, Din kept to his own devices. At the end of the trip, however, they had quality time as father and son, just the two of them—and it had been such a wonderful time, a fun interlude from Fighting Corps training, that it had lingered willingly in Din’s mind. To this day, it remained one of his fondest memories with his buir, and with Niamos by association.

Din recalled the tall palm trees that skirted the beaches for miles and miles. It was paradise where only a few wealthy personages made their sojourn. There had been nothing on Niamos then that spelled the lavishness of Canto Bight or the chaotic extravagance of the likes of Coruscant. 

The air was fresh and the waves which kissed the shores were clear. There had only been two main hotels miles apart from each other, one of which Din and his father had stayed for a full week. Niamos was only beginning to flourish as a hotspot. The various fauna didn’t shy away from the vacationers; the flora sprung aplenty. Din had even felt so much grass on his toes on his way to the hotel once, when he’d taken off his boots to wade in the ocean water.

There were also mountains far away. A seeming lifetime ago, Din could see their solid outlines from where he’d stood on the beach. 

Now, the outlines of those peaks only appeared at a certain time of day, when the smog abated from the worsening traffic. 

He and Omera hadn’t set foot on Niamos for an hour, and Din was already miserable.

“It was nowhere like this the last time I’ve come here,” Din muttered, darkly disappointed.

Omera laid a compassionate hand on Din’s arm as they elbowed their way through the thick crowds of tourists milling across the cramped and noisy beaches. There was crass laughter, yelling and tomfoolery, and the blaring of loud, bludgeoning music everywhere. 

Din was devastated, tempered to remain in his best behavior while in Omera’s presence. “There’d been no trash by the shoreline,” he grunted low, appalled. “Vendors weren’t even allowed this close to the coast. You can only take food as far as the amphitheater. Hardly any garbage to sweep at the end of the day because people actually knew what they were doing. Spoiled rich kids aside—they actually cared about Niamos…” then he finally sighed, defeated. “…once.”

Omera’s voice was soft and kind when she sought conversation with her beloved. “Wasn’t that during the time of the Empire?” 

They had mustered the sacred closeness of being able to confide in matters once so sensitive to the other. 

Din shook his head once, crestfallen. “That was before the Empire had fully sequestered it. The wealthy were still able to buy the Imps off, until one day, deals didn’t fall through. Good thing my father had brought me here before things went down. I just—“ He shook his head again, sullen and speechless. 

He should have known. The brochure Din had acquired over the HoloNet was rife with false advertising, only showcasing images from when Niamos was still mostly pristine, from how Din had remembered it. He should have known before he sold the idea to Omera.

And dearest Omera… she had agreed whole-heartedly. She seemed so excited; this was a frontier experience for her. But the ugly contrast of the Niamos of his adolescence and the Niamos now, post-Empire, had crushed him. This is what happens, Din thought, when he gives in to sentiment. This was not the same place he and his father had gallivanted on, all those years ago. 

He should have known.

“Did you want to go back to the hotel, love?” Omera suggested amiably. Din flinched at how his beloved was taking everything in stride, gathering special pains to cheer him up, when it was he who should be bringing her joy during these moments of supposed solace.

Not when he’d found the courage at last to propose to her.

Here, in Niamos? In this tourist trap that was once a crystal blue paradise? He swallowed hard. 

Din released a breath, letting tension melt away. Omera’s touch was very reassuring, comforting. He draped a hand over her own which was clutching at his arm like the felt-coated claws of a sapphire-blue Niamos seagull. 

Din shook his head in response. He’d take this responsibility. Besides, it’d be disrespectful to Greef, who’d probably spent most of his own magistrate’s salary to make sure Din and Omera had a great time. They couldn’t just up and leave, cut the trip short and say that because things on their chosen destination have changed, they’d decided to give up on this gift.

“We’ll try to make the most of it,” Din whispered so close to Omera that their foreheads met, as they strolled past a group of rowdy Rodians in the middle of a toast. “If… if that’s what you want…”

Din could almost see Omera’s sweet dimple crest over her cheek as his beloved spoke. “Yes, my love,” she acquiesced. “I’d want that… as long as it’s with you.”

****

Din couldn’t find the appeal in the blaring casino chambers, or the fun in the light-up dance floor that could conjure up a seizure for the most unsuspecting and sensitive of individuals, or even the small cocktails Omera had picked for them with tiny, glimmering umbrellas, which barely had a kick. It was watered down, bland and cheerless, and it had cost twenty-five credits each.

Omera wanted to use the more well-maintained freshers; she had told Din, reluctantly, that getting into those cleaner facilities had cost her fifteen credits. Din insisted; he only ever wished to make her stay on Niamos comfortable and—by the gods—sanitary. They would have opted to return to the hotel, but the blinking fee sign at the freshers’ had caught Omera by surprise that she had been ambushed to pay by a Mon Calamari custodian before she could head back to Din.

The seventy credit’s worth of sandwiches lacked flavor. The fifty-credit dessert was too cloying; Din sadly left half of it uneaten. His palette had changed greatly over the years after long periods subsisting on ration bars.

When a waiting Toydarian doorkeeper had charged them both to pass through the back alleyway, which led to the less unruly areas of the city proper without having to go around the coast had they exited from where they’d initially come in, Din had had about enough.

“It won’t be long until they’ll start charging for the very air we breath,” he grumbled, frustrated and quite emotionally tired. Not only were they charged every step of the way, they were charged an obscenely expensive amount.

Omera shushed him, soothed him; she laid her plaited head on his arm. 

“We’ll head back to Nevarro tomorrow, love,” she suggested, bearing no judgment in her tone. “I’ll tell the good magistrate everything. In fact—“ her smile widened, pearly teeth in full view, and Din was mesmerized. “Greef might even arrange a full refund of our trip, knowing we’ve been deceived by the advertising. He’d probably even issue a rain check for another trip; he seems a man of his word where it counts, love. You’ve also told me many times that he does have powers of persuasion!”

Din sighed again, a bone-deep one. He closed his eyes. He planted a soft kiss on Omera’s head, still leaning towards him in loving proximity borne out of trust.

He didn’t deserve all of Omera’s patience, kindness, fortitude… not while all he did was complain and wail over spilled milk. 

Those amazing memories he’s had with his father—that was all they will ever be, not that his buir was long-gone. Niamos wouldn’t suddenly transform magically into the old paradise overnight just to accommodate his whims.

Only memories now… He and his buir racing the entire length of the shoreline in full Mandalorian regalia and with no one batting an eye as their booted feet added real challenge to the run… with him reaching the finish line out of breath and so revitalized, laughing until his sides ached as his father caught up, winded and jokingly growling out obscenities… And that memory of him and his father in the shooting gallery by the vibrantly lit carousel—now since dismantled—hitting each target and winning each prize, their helmets glinting under the bright crimson and spring-green lights; they’d donated the prizes to the waiting line of delighted children behind them. 

There was he and his buir locked in their hotel room distracting themselves with a game of Cubikahd as they fleetingly shoved food in their mouths with their helmets left unshed, and they’d also slept with their helmets on. One can never be too sure even within the privacy of a public resort.

But there was one particular memory which Din had held the most dear to his heart.

It couldn’t have been too sullied like the Niamos coastline, which held most of the infrastructure and bulk of activity. The sun was setting and trash piled in the amphitheaters. Din shuddered. He didn’t want to stay along this tarnished shoreline another minute longer. He’d take the gamble. He was ballasted by the solid feel of the tiny felt box buried deep in one of his trouser pockets.

“Omera,” Din offered, voice firm. “I—I’d like to take you somewhere… and cross your fingers that it’s still somehow the way it was since I’ve last seen it.”

Omera giggled. She closed the gap as their foreheads met. “Okay. Lead the way, Din.”

****

The hover-shuttle trip cost a hundred kriffing credits, and to Din’s dismay, the stop was still a mile away from the foot of the mountains—where he had gained the last of his sacrosanct memories with his buir on their final day on Niamos, before Din headed back to Fighting Corps training with Paz Vizsla and the rest.

“Upsy-daisy,” Din urged Omera with a glint in his eye as he bent low enough for her to clamber on his back for a piggy-back ride. “It’s going to be a hell of a walk, Omera, and I wouldn’t want you too tired before we reached the top.”

“Oh, quit that,” Omera chided him, blushing hard. But Din was being too endearing; with some reluctance, Omera gave in. “But just for half a mile. I’d walk through the rest,” was the bargain. Din agreed.

There was no one else around. Tiny roadside lamps were the only source of illumination that snaked from the lone shuttle station to the mountains. It seemed deserted enough… perhaps no one else had the mind to give up the creature comforts of the capital for a grueling hike in the middle of nowhere. This was a part of Niamos Din hoped the damning hand of enterprising civilization hadn’t smitten yet. 

The trek to the mountains was made in comfortable silence, with Omera resting her head on Din’s back as he diligently trudged forward. His breathing was unstrained, making Omera further realize how physically fit Din was. She herself was no dainty glass doll, and can withstand hard labor… but Din was indeed something else. He was a tank when it mattered.

Omera buried her face further into the folds of Din’s rough-spun tunic, taking in his woodsy scent. She held him closer; Din’s breathing hitched a little, and she smiled.

As promised, by the half-mile mark, Omera climbed off the piggy-back ride. She made a jest of having Din clamber on her back for a ride this time, and Din had chuckled so hard Omera wished the day wouldn’t end. The sun had already set, in fact. The brilliance of Niamos’ moons filled the expanse; the tall rock formations glowed like upturned icicles under pale moonlight.

“This mountain’s peak is called the Rainbow Shard,” Din began, breaking the silence as they plowed forward the rest of the mile, hand in hand. For Omera, this was more than she could ask for—a great improvement from a Din who would shy away from affection and touch, and now—sans helmet in the duration of the trip, welcoming of her touches and embraces—Omera only marveled at his tremendous transformation. Patiently, she listened on. How she loved her noble-hearted Mandalorian.

“My father had egged me on to race him to the top. It’s actually not a tricky hike, but it had its obstacles. He made sure I used a good amount of grappling cord before I barely beat him to the Rainbow Shard. I’ve won by six seconds.” The fondness in Din’s smooth baritone was like a calming song. Omera dared not break the spell. Din chuckled. “To this day, I still believe he let me win.”

“Why is it called the Rainbow Shard?” Omera inquired, genuinely curious and reverential to Din’s treasured memory.

There was a smile in Din’s voice. His head was bent low. “You’ll see.”

“Din,” Omera said at length, “you’re not making me piggy-back on you again while we get to the Shard…”

Din fought off a playful pinch on his side from Omera’s vengeful fingers when he’d responded with a, “…then we’d never get there.”

But they did reach the peak, with Omera holding Din close again in piggy-back as he tirelessly hiked up the mountain path which led to the Rainbow Shard. 

He set her down, and she climbed off; there was no sound but the soft whistling winds. Even at the top, the climate was mild. There was a traceable chill in the air. 

“Niamos has moons that reach their dark cycles every five years’ time,” Din explained. “And we’ve made it just in time before another dark cycle begins. When my father and I visited, the moons had just gone through their dark cycle, making way to full moonlight in turn, for a few years. It was a timely trip, and I’m pretty sure my dad scheduled it that way so I can have a glimpse of the Shard in its glory—“

As if on cue, the moons reached a majestic summit so that a huge rush of brilliance filled the place—and then, the glimmering sandstone in the rock beds began to reflect the light, and in the process, broke light apart into a thousand spectrums, and minuscule rainbows shimmered all around them.

“—just as how you see it now,” Din punctuated, and he held back a moment’s desire to preen. He did hit perfect timing, and Omera was agape in ceaseless wonder. 

She walked a few paces away from him so that she could absorb everything; she held her hands aloft as if to cradle the thousand glittering rainbow lights. They reflected on her bronze skin, over the silkiness of her hair, and when she looked up at Din—and that took Din’s breath away—those tiny rainbows danced in her eyes, enough to move Din close to tears of joy.

The last time he was ever this emotional was when he’d given up Grogu to the Jedi in the meantime for his schooling, but his son had reunited with him since then. The child and Winta were safely tucked in Sorgan; Din and Omera had time in their hands for each other, even for a little while.

Din stilled his quivering breaths as he reached for the felt box in a trouser pocket as he carefully made his way to Omera. He wanted to commit her enchanting smile to memory as she giggled like a child again, letting the lights play on her open palms. 

He had taken the box out of his pocket, and he was moving closer, closer. 

Omera continued to be blissfully distracted by the wonders of the Rainbow Shard in full force, under encompassing light of the moons.

“Omera…” Din finally called her attention.

Omera lifted her crystalline-agate eyes so that they met his… and her brows furrowed for a split-second before she discovered that Din was much lower than her eye level—as the man was on the rock, bent on one knee, and was holding up a newly opened jewelry box…

Omera’s head spun. Her world was in a standstill. She held her breath, and her heartbeat pummeled her from within with a wondrous, euphoric force.

Din had posed the question so steadily; he had built his nerves and she had rewarded him with a yes—of course it was a yes!—and suddenly she was sobbing. She flung herself into Din’s arms just as when he had slid the many-faceted bejeweled ring of mixed beskar onto a finger. He had hinted to her months before that Mandalorian wedding rings were forged from pure beskar should they choose to wear them. Many Mandalorian marriages of old had held strong and fast, wedding rings or none. When a Mandalorian had made up their mind on matrimony, it was a lifelong vow, so much like the Resol’nare in deep respect for their chosen spouse.

Omera was still sobbing, chanting her yes’es like a mantra, eyes shut as her tears flowed freely.

Then they hungrily leaned into each other for a lingering kiss, one passionate enough to render them both breathless. It was a slow and relished dance of mouths, noses, and physical maneuvers, hands boldly venturing and exploring in a tangle of sighs and quiet laugher, until Omera was gleefully in tears again. She’d embraced Din once more.

Din held Omera back ever so tightly. He’d almost completely forgotten his horrible experiences earlier over at the Niamos’ capital, where everything had a price, and one thing would cost so much more than the other.

Here, upon the Rainbow Shard, no price can ever be placed on this hallowed moment. He’d pay a billion credits ten times over for it—but thankfully, all Din had to pay was the hover-shuttle back to the capital, so he and his beautiful fiancé can celebrate quietly in their hotel room, and if he can teach Omera some makeshift Cubikahd while savoring dinner in bed—why not?

****

Greef Karga had fallen into a flurry of misty-eyed babbling that for a moment, Cara thought he’d instantaneously burst out in huge tears as soon as Omera showed him the engagement ring.

True to Omera’s word, she and Din did return to Nevarro the next day, and sincerely relayed their not-so-grand experiences on Niamos to the good magistrate. Greef had been graciously dismissive over the affair; so once more, Omera had been right—he had been issued a partial refund, at least, but that was better than nothing. Greef made a swift holo-call, and was very terse yet pleasant over the proceedings. Cara admitted she wouldn’t have kept her cool once she’s realized she’d been ripped off by a trip which a brochure boasted was completely worth the time.

In hindsight, although their Niamos trip was cut short… Omera and Din couldn’t deny that in spite of the setbacks, the trip had indeed been worth their hard-earned time, breaking away from responsibilities of krill farming and child-rearing (among many others) for a precious instant.

“Congratulations!” Cara beamed, and she’d gathered both of them in a crushing hug (much to Din’s chagrin). “So… are we having the wedding now, while we have a weeping magistrate at our disposal, you two lovebirds you?”

Din aired out a rather uneasy chuckle. Omera seemed to have understood him completely, so she replied for him with a dimpled giggle. 

“Maybe after we’ve saved up a bit more—we mean, not just for the wedding but… for married life in general.”

Cara’s own dimpled smile was aglow. “Of course. Not that I know anything about marriage and all that jazz… but really, what you and our dearest buckethead boy have with each other—it’s surreal. It’s damn priceless!”

*****

[caranox]

I'm Cara Nox, a queer disabled indie author.

I write about mental health issues and various disabilities. If you want to check them out, you can read the first three chapters for FREE when you sign up for my newsletter. Plus get bonus content like serials, side stories, and more on my Patreon!

📚 Books: caranox.com/books

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💎 Patreon: patreon.com/caranox

THE THIRTEENTH KEY

new adult science fantasy

In a fractured fantasy world advancing into the future, technology has replaced most of what’s left of the magic that once brightened its dark corners. Now with darkness looming over the horizon once again, Noa, a killer-for-hire, has been charged with unlocking the special vault that can bring magic back. The catch? There are thirteen keys scattered throughout the world that she’ll have an easier time stealing than convincing everyone she’s worthy of the task.

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TRICK

new adult urban fantasy

Evie Thatcher is an exhausted, resilient third-year college student dealing with the recent loss of her clock-tinkering grandfather. So when she accidentally manages to rewind a small moment of time, she uncovers that he neglected to share a family secret with her—one that ties her to fate-orchestrating secret society behind the curtain of her previous reality. And someone lurking within wants her dead.

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A HUNT OF BLOOD & IRON (Coming 2024, early teasers on Patreon)

new adult achillean romantasy

Grey is a shut-in hemomancer—a blood-manipulating magic-user who sacrifices life for life to use his power—with a troubled past and questionable future. So when that fae-laced Calling grips him in the middle of the night and takes him to the obelisk he's been seeing in his dreams, he believes he's finally started to find his purpose—until he realizes there are five other mancers there, and the obelisk bears all their marks.

That can only mean one thing: the fair folk are demanding another Wild Hunt, and Grey is one of their prey.

Right as he's cornered, he's rescued by the one sacrificial member of the Hunt he least expects: an iron-wielding macharomancer, known for their hostility against his magic, named Noel. In order to find a way to break free of their binding ties to the Wild Hunt, they must work together to find something worth more than their lives to trade with the fair folk or perish at the hands of the bloodthirsty hunters waiting for them in the Otherworld.

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THIS DARK EMBRACE (Patreon Serial)

new adult achillean urban fantasy

Devyn Kinsley is a witch—a male witch—with little power in his matriarchal coven. In one of the last neutral-territory cities, filled with creatures that can offer him more, he's managed to keep his head down in favor of living right by his family. The problem is that ever-present pressure to marry a girl from his coven to ensure he doesn't fall prey to the temptation of binding himself to something far more vicious.

So when Devyn has a chance encounter with a mysterious, heroic stranger called Lonán, who Devyn assumes is a wizard, he falls head-over-heels, thinking that he's found a way out of a loveless coven marriage. But Lonán may not be exactly who he seems...

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[senatushq]

Dionaeia

NAME/ALIASES. UTP AGE & BIRTH DATE. Prehistoric & Unknown SPECIES. Aspect GENDER & PRONOUNS. Female & She/Her or She/They AFFILIATIONS. UTP OCCUPATION. UTP FACECLAIM SUGGESTIONS: (must be asian, hispanic, or native american) Davika Hoorne, Cara Gee, Lucy Liu, Tanaya Beatty, Adria Arjona, Jessica Henwick, Amber Midthunder, Diane Guerrero, Priscilla Quintana, Jessica Matten, Anna Lambe, and Jamie Chung.

History

First daughter of Eden, like the others, Dionaeia was created by the artisan Prometheus. Given life by Titania and Ulthar, blessed by The First Dionaeia, was declared an archdruid and tasked with the protection of Eden. Guardian of the Two Trees: Laurelin and Telperion. Like her siblings, Dionaeia was born basked in the light of these trees and would someday serve as a vessel for The First when they entered Uthenera. Of her siblings, Dionaeia was the most suited for conflict. Precognitive, Dionaeia could foresee events a few moments before they occurred, enough to react, enough to save. It was this power of foresight that kept her a cut ahead of her compatriots. The elements came to her, creation in the palm of Dionaeia’s hand as she conjured lightning and fire at her fingertips, invoked the earth itself or summoned tidal waves from the very air. In those early days Dionaeia’s discontent was always clear, she saw the garden of Eden for what it was, a paradise that was not the utopian realm that the Gods spoke of. This garden was not for them, but for others. 

At the rebellion of angels, the archdruids were tasked with the protection of humanity. The Two Trees destroyed, their light forever lost, Dionaeia remained a stalwart protector - one who took to the task of destruction with both ease and aptitude. Hunter of dracaenae, feller of serpents, Dionaeia’s reputation was a formidable one. The First faded and Dionaeia waited, waited for the day when Oztalun would come for her but it never arrived. It was said that wherever Oztalun traveled, a storm would follow, to this end she came to hate the rain and the thunder. Nettelia’s corruption led Octavian and Dionaeia to do the unthinkable, the necronomicon was forged from countless druids, supernatural lives bled onto its pages. Even with the chimera destroyed the book was not so easily dismembered, instead the archdruids’ resigned to seal it away where it would not be found, where it could not be misused. The siblings never spoke of the events that transpired that day, instead Dionaeia waited for the inevitable call of Oztalun and quietly began to look forward to it: the reprieve from her endless cycle of life and death. She came to resent her duty and the vows she’d made, held contempt for the races of humanity that Dionaeia was sworn to protect. Octavian was next to fall and somewhere within the world Aren slumbered still, Dionaeia walked the earth alone, unaccompanied by the siblings who’d fallen away one by one, all the more resolute to her fate. Oztalun did not come, but The Eye did, found her at the turn of the twentieth century and imprisoned her deep within the shifting sands of a desert. A facility buried beneath the earth where they poked and prodded with each leap in advancement, when Dionaeia freed herself, she looked upon the suffering of mortals and turned away.

Connections

Octavian: Elder brother, Octavian and Dionaeia were once forced to kill their sister Nettelia together. Octavian would later fall to this same corruption while Dionaeia’s soul slumbered.

Nettelia: Younger sister and author of the Necronomicon, Nettelia’s actions forced Dionaeia to cut her down, while the chimera was killed, Dionaeia has always known that Nettelia’s soul lived on in the necronomicon.

Aren: Eldest brother, while Aren’s soul slumbered, he missed the corruption of their siblings, it fell to Dionaeia to tell him of Nettelia but she was captured before she ever told him of Octavian. 

Eve: Captured by The Eye, Eve could have destroyed Dionaeia but instead she kept the archdruid alive, furthering The Eye’s understanding of druidic powers and their limitations.

Abilities

Extrasensory: A sixth sense that allows them to acquire information by means independent of any of their known senses or previous experience.

Elemental: Ability to create the elements out of nothing, including electricity.

Archdruid: As an archdruid, Dionaeia has the ability to turn into any animal that matches her born traits. An archdruid only has to look at a creature for a short while before understanding their habits.

Immortal: As a druid, Dionaeia will always reincarnate after she dies. Her lifespan lasts for up to five-centuries before she will inevitably begin to fade.

Weaknesses

Mortality: While durable, Dionaeia’s body is still mortal and she can be killed by mortal means. However, as an archdruid she will reincarnate a short while later.

Binding: Several witches, druids or fey can bind her soul in place if killed.

Animal Binding: Several witches, druids, or fey can bind her to an animal form if banded together.

Lycanthropy: As an archdruid, Dionaeia cannot be turned into a lycan, their bite however is poisonous to her and would prevent her from using her magic until recovered.

THIS SKELETON IS CURRENTLY CLOSED.