#i don't think they could catch kira but I do think they would survive

[couldtheycatchkira]

FAQ

Can you put a "Don't know this character/See Results" option? No. This is an active global serial murder investigation and time is of the essence. If you truly don't know who they are, just go by what I'm told are called "vibes". Do not default to "Could not catch Kira, would not survive" simply because you don't know who the character is.

What is the current wait time? About five months, and counting.

I thought this was for detectives only? We're desperate. Why do you think this is a suicide squad?

Do submissions need pictures? Not necessarily, but if you want to, make sure it's at the least an OFFICIAL RENDER. I don't like using fanart! (Nothing against fanartists, I just don't want to search something like "Kermit" and get images of strangely muscular frogs (you can imagine the hell I went trying to avoid AI images for Ramona Flowers)).

If a character was already submitted as a standalone/part of a group, can I submit them as part of a group/a standalone? Yes, however you need to wait the full seven days after their poll goes up. In the event that both are submitted in a short amount of time from one another, I shall personally space them out in the queue so that there are at least seven days between them. This is to prevent a situation where, say, Princess Zelda is submitted in quick succession to "The Triforce Wielders" as a group, and you have two polls with Zelda running at once.

Can I submit a real human? No. Pets aren't allowed because they'd sweep, but do not send me video essayists or the like. I will not put them on the blog unless they, themself, send in their name on an official Tumblr account. I fully doubt this will happen, obviously, so simply do not do this.

Can I submit [ANYONE ELSE]? Baby life is short when you're dealing with a guy who can kill from a distance at any time. You should do whatever you like. Submit a guy who can't separate his darks from his lights. Move to a new city. Find a 200 sqft apartment. Get five roommates. Ghost all of them. Start a company that sells leg warmers for dogs. Declare bankruptcy. Move to a different new city. Enter a torrid romance with a guy who calls himself "The Creature". Cheat on him with a different guy who calls himself "Monsieur Beast", a legally distinct entity unaffiliated with MrBeast. Start an electro-flamenco band with both of your exes. Get trapped in a stupid and gay little maze. Fight your way to the castle beyond the Goblin City and take back what has been stolen from you. Eat a lettuce wrap. Move back to your hometown and tell no one.

[darklight-owl]

Do you think Hershel and/or Phoenix would be able to solve the Death Note Kira case?

*cracks knuckles*

I made a post about this months ago but I think a lot of what I said there was really dumb bc it had been a while since I'd played either series so I'm gonna take this opportunity to correct my past self's wrong and bad opinions:

(Oh also I uh. May have included a few Death Note spoilers in the last paragraph of Phoenix's part sorry. I needed it to prove a point)

Hershel:

Definitely like no question. I originally said no on the basis that he isn't the type to take supernatural things at face value, but in reality he does seem to approach even the weirder cases with an open mind. Most games start with Luke being like "Professa do you really think there could be a notebook that kills people? :o" and Layton answering like "haha I'm afraid I can't really say Luke =|:-)" so I think he'd examine everything from every angle and eliminate every other possibility. He would take his sweet time since getting him to accept the Death Note as a real thing wouldn't exactly be easy, but once he's convinced then the rest would come naturally.

The other question is if he could survive, though. Obviously he would have the tact to hide his real name based on the possibility of Kira's power being real, especially if he's with Luke (which I don't even know if he would bring Luke along for this one considering how dangerous investigating Kira is). He does tend to appear a lot on british newspapers but since Light is in Japan then he wouldn't know about him beforehand. Regardless, Light has found out the names of his pursuers before and if he had Misa with him he could just ask her to write his name down. BUT ALSO. Layton has a tendency to not show his hand until the most convenient time, so odds are that Light won't even know he's pursuing him until it's too late.

Verdict: yeah he'll do great put him in the Task Force 👍

Phoenix:

It highly depends on the circumstances. Phoenix catches killers in court, so we're assuming someone already got falsely accused of being Kira. Light has a lot of followers who would gladly take the fall for him (namely Misa or Mikami) or alternatively lie their asses off to let him walk free. Everyone who's played Ace Attorney knows that you can't really lie to Phoenix without getting exposed though, so yeah.

Regarding the Death Note mechanics... honestly Phoenix works with a spirit medium channeling his dead teacher all the time so I don't see how he would have such a hard time believing shinigami with murder notebooks exist. (Edgeworth would be a completely different story but that's another case altogether.)

Problem is: he wouldn't so much as step into the court before suffering a heart attack. Not only does he not get a chance to hide his name thanks to court proceedings, but Phoenix is a pretty prestigious lawyer and even if he was only locally famous like Layton it wouldn't take long in the trial for Light to realize that this guy is bad news for him. Best case scenario he would try to debate away the accusations thrown at him, then when he realizes he's getting his ass kicked he'd desperately try to write Phoenix's name in that little slip of notebook he has in his watch. That's what he tried with Near, except this time he has the chance to hide what he's doing behind the witness stand and no Matsuda to stop him in his tracks.

Verdict: He could catch him but he would die in the process 💔

[nebulouscoffee]

✦ ✄ and ▵ for ‘Who We Are’?

Thank youuu <333

✦ what was your easiest fic to write & your hardest? - 'Progress' might've been the easiest; it was only about 3k words long (and, unlike almost every other attempt at a oneshot I've made, didn't accidentally turn into a multichapter!) I also just think my desire for Kira Nerys to be happy is a very powerful force. Like I wrote it over one evening😂 Hardest would probably be a tie between 'Butter Through An Hourglass' (Sisko falls through time fic), 'When The Fighting Stops' (the life of Kira Nerys as told through Bajoran prophecy), and 'Live With It' (Sisko & Garak post-canon Cardassia dialogue-only). But since I have posted none of those, I'll admit the last two chapters of 'Who We Are' have been giving me trouble

✄ what’s your editing process? - step one: keep editing things even as you write the chapter so you end up making very little progress. step two: go back and edit some of the previous chapters actually! why not! step three: agonise over tiny little phrases forever, make 204 changes, and then close the doc for two months. step four: revisit it and find like 15 new ideas to incorporate now. step five: only open it again a whole month later and go "hmm this chapter is about 3000 words too long actually! gotta cut it down! time to be merciless!!" and step six: somehow end up making it 4759 words longer instead

(lol okay editing is not my strong suit, but I do have ONE good tip, which is change the font or switch to reading on your phone between edits. Just seeing those same lines but visually different always makes me notice things I stop noticing in the same format!)

▵ pick a fic and I’ll tell you my favorite line - ooooh this is hard, because I know it's from the Trippy Ezri Joining Section but it's all so intertwined I really don't know how to pick it apart! My favourite bit is probably when she sees Benjamin in that cosmic kitchen and talks to him outside of linear time lol, but it's more that whole concept than any one line in particular. Though I do like this moment a lot:

Benjamin is watching her with some undefinable look in his eye. “Memory is a complicated, confusing, and… phenomenal thing,” he murmurs, his voice low and clear as the space between stars. “And yes, it can be poisonous at times. Believe me, I know. It can kill. It can drown. But- Ezri, if you want to survive when the tide comes in-” He reaches out, gently cups the sides of her face, and suddenly, everything feels so simple… “You let it take you.” She lets out a shuddering breath, wishing she could look in his eyes forever. “I’ll die.” “No.” Benjamin smiles. “You’ll soar.”

This friendship means so, so much to me, and I really wanted to capture the way these two characters seem to be like, cosmically bound to each other? Platonic soulmates who will find each other in every lifetime, etc. Ezri is struggling with this massively traumatic non-linear experience, losing herself as 300 years of memories are suddenly being dumped into her brain- and here in the middle of it is the one person who can make it make sense, finding her in the dark. Giving her a safe place to catch her breath, but also the pep talk she needs to stop rejecting the symbiont and get through the joining! And basically, his advice is let go. Don't try sorting things out, don't make sense of things, don't psychoanalyse yourself- and definitely don't try to make Dax's emotions/memories linear. Now, is this a hallucination? Is this the worm telling her to find Benjamin through a half-conscious dream? Is this Benjamin himself, helping her out non-linearly from the Celestial Temple post-canon? Who knows! The important thing is, Ben knows a thing or two about living multiple lives, and how emotions can displace a person from time- and yes, he is going to explain it to her through food metaphors :)

[icharchivist]

Time to wonder if other characters that this blog enjoys could solve the Kira murders

Belial would win. He's the archangel of cunning

Tbh I believe that Siete could do it too. Especially considering Siete isn't his real name, right

They're both gonna outplay Light tbh. Siete for the good of mankind, Belial for his own amusement

Lu Woh could be difficult, I can see it going either way. But he is a clever boy and he is technically kind of immortal, so

Not sure if Sandalphon could solve them, but he would murder Kira

Lucilius would solve them immediately and not tell anyone, because he doesn't care

Do you have thoughts about the FF VII gang in this regard?

ohmygo--

i think you're right, yeah. though also it's easy when most of the characters we discuss are immortal. or Siete.

But i don't even know for the humans characters like say, the dragon knight squad. I feel like only Siegfried would figure out who Kira is and would survive because he always covers his face when he's investigating. I feel like Aglovale and Tor would figure out who Kira is but i don't think they'd survive it, especially with Aglovale being a public figure. Lamorak COULD discover who Light is but he'd try to fix him and offer his help and honestly that's the worst type of options. all the rest i feel would either not figure him out or would easily get killed while trying to find him.

As for the FF7 gang, that's an interesting one. I genuinely don't think most of them could figure it out in general, but they might survive it out of sheer luck. that said they'd help one another so while the surviving odds are low, if one of them figure it out the rest will carry out the revenge if needed.

My exceptions in term of specifics:

-Reeve will figure it out and will survive. He's smart, he knows where to dig, and he hides himself when he's investigating by going under cover under his robot fursona that can't be killed. Genuinely he's the one person i'd trust with catching Kira if he doesn't do an overdose out of caffeine drinks.

-Aerith might figure it out, might not survive, but would find a way to bring Kira down with her. Not really because of investigation reasons but because Aerith can feel when people die and return to the Lifestream and can feel their departing thoughts, so if Kira kills people who have him figured out she may end up learning about it, or she could drive conclusions from the killing patterns. But her name is easily known so if she gets exposed it's over, but i feel like Kira would be blindsided by her and how sweet she looks when she can be cutthroat. And if Aerith gets killed i believe in her ability to influence people to avenge her and/or to fuck Light up in the Lifestream if she has to.

-Vincent might not figure it out unless he has help, but he will survive. He's immortal and fate loves to make him suffer and outlive everyone he loves, so this would be a mess for him. But i don't think he'd manage to get through without help. Hell in his own game Reeve is the one constantly helping him figuring things out DLKJDLKFJ Vincent would NOT do it on his own. Not to mention he usually only investigate things in his area of expertise and i don't think he'd invest himself too much into the case to start with.

-Red XIII/Nanaki will survive, unsure he'd figure it out alone. Might depend exactly at which point you take him from his personal journey because he specifically starts out the game refusing to go by his birthname and letting anyone call him whatever the fuck they want. He still have a strong attachement to his birthname so it's not a case of "new name will override the birth name", esp when he let anyone call him anything. That said late game might be trickier since it's when he reclaims his birthname and make sure everyone knows about it, even if he still lets his friends call him Red. so it may depend. But yeah i don't think he'd investigate alone, and he probably wouldn't be interested with figuring it out if not for his friends asking, so there's that too.

-The Turks would survive by virtue of the fact none of their names are their birthname and those are codenames to start with (it's why in Before Crisis, the game focusing on the Turks all of them are actually refered to by their weapon of choices, or why Cissnei (who goes by Shuriken in BC) also talks about wanting to tell her real name to Zack one day.) But in term of who would figure it out i only really trust Tseng. Though it's not like the rest aren't smart, but they can get easily distracted.

-Sephiroth will not care to figure it out unless Kira starts to get in his way, but i feel like he can use Jenova to try to get to know who it is if he does get in his way -- and probably would try to secure Kira at his sides if not killing him right away. And he would survive out of pure "this guy can't fucking die" energy.

Everyone else i think would not figure it out alone, nor would survive if exposed, and all they can really rely on is on being stealthy but aside from Cloud refusing to talk about himself, all of them either got caught doing things before or are just too loud to not be caught.

so yeah this is my final take--

thank you for asking ;3c

[therealvinelle]

Submasterpost: Harry Potter

Last updated: 24th of December

Thoughts on the books:

Why I don't think they're good

Thoughts on JKR and Meyer's strengths and weaknesses

Were there significant changes in the movies?

How would the Muffin have ended them?

Tom Riddle:

“Burn, baby, burn!” - Tom Riddle, ca. 1970

Tom Riddle: A Reasonable Man Living In an Unreasonable World

Now What’s a Dark Lord Like You Doing With a Crippling Depression Like That?

Lord Voldemort Is The Dread Pirate Roberts

Lord Voldemort Also Flinches Upon Hearing His Name, But For a Different Reason

Tom Riddle Was Not Illiterate

Tom Riddle and Muggles

Why One Should Always Picture Tom Riddle With a Rose Between His Teeth and Poetry Under His Arm

Tom Riddle/Hermione Granger, Misery style

How truthful were the memories Dumbledore showed Harry of Tom Riddle?

BUT WHAT ABOUT THE ‘T’ IN VOLDEMORT?

Because bi not

Why did he go after Harry and not Neville?

What if Tom created Twilight vampires?

What if Tom Riddle was a god?

On Tom Riddle being able to create a horcrux, or: on intelligence and horcruxes

What if Tom Riddle waited for Dumbledore to die before doing anything?

On fanon Tom

Were there anybody he cared about?

Tom’s bogart and patronus

Would Tom enjoy immortality?

Is he more Walter White or Jimmy McGill?

What if the horcrux connection was a two-way mirror, allowing Tom insight into what Harry was up to?

Tom is reborn, and must redo his life. What does he do?

Tom Riddle is adopted by Muggles. Would this change things?

Albus Dumbledore:

He’s misogynistic

How did his time period influence him?

Great with kids

Other characters who don’t get their own category:

Thoughts on Cedric Diggory, Cho Chang, Marietta Edgecombe, and Colin Creevy

Could the cast of Harry Potter catch Kira? What about Tom Riddle and Lily Evans in a buddy cop AU?

Who should have killed Bellatrix?

Madeye Moody lives in a world with Twilight vampires (or thinks he does). How does he cope?

What if Petunia wasn't jealous of Lily?

What if Sirius didn't die?

Worldbuilding:

A History of Magic: Why It’s All Made Up (Featuring Helena Ravenclaw, a Con Artist)

Knights of Walpurhisnicht

Why do they marry so early?

Do wizards understand science?

On turning Muggleborns against Muggles

A fabricated, yet plausible history of magic

Is there an upper limit to magic? What even is it?

Is the DADA position cursed?

Why did no one interfere when Harry was being abused?

The movies:

Anon wants a fancast but doesn’t get one

Ships:

Albus Dumbledore/Tom Riddle:

Could it happen? (NOPE)

The Muffin is forced to write a fic. How would she go about it?

Albus Dumbledore & Tom Riddle:

No, Dumbledore was never going to like Tom

Harry/Peter:

Could it happen? (JESUS CHRIST WHY DO YOU WANT THIS ANON)

Harry/Sirius:

Y/N? (N!!!!!)

Harry/Tom:

What if Harry and Tom Riddle were soulmates?

Hermione/Dumbledore:

Could it happen?

Hermione/Ron:

Hermione/Ron: Boring Boat

What do they each look for in a partner?

Hermione & Umbridge

How was their relationship affected by the end of Order of the Phoenix?

Lily & Petunia:

Explaining their relationship

Movies:

Thoughts on the Movies

Who would I cast as Voldemort?

Other:

What the Hell Is the Cused Child

Art and Meta Combo for How the Muffin Visualizes Harry, Hermione, Ron, Draco, and Tom Riddle

Thoughts on the Death Eater McGonagall theory

What would a CW adaption of Harry Potter look like?

Thoughts on the epilogue

On accents 

One of the main HP characters has a squib child. What shenanigans ensue?

Visualizing Tom Riddle, Cedric Diggory, and Sirius Black

Might the Potters have survived if Dumbledore hadn't taken the invisibility cloak?

What if the prophecy was misinterpreted, and someone other than Harry was the chosen one?

What happens to the souls of those kissed by dementors?

Hermione, Ron, and Harry fight. Who wins?

Harry as the son of Rodolphus and Bellatrix, or: Bellatrix gets an abortion

Crossovers:

Tom Riddle and Light Yagami attend Hogwarts at the same time. Shenanigans?

What does Dumbledore make of the budding Tom-Light friendship?

Darth Vader is transported into the Harry Potter universe

Harry is reborn as Anakin Skywalker

[brydeswhale]

Fics I would be writing if I had the time, energy, or mental space...

Game Of Thrones/ASOIAF

1. The one where Sansa and Robert and Cersei's kid get betrothed. Basically, the idea is that Cersei and Robert's kid from the show lived, grew up in all that dysfunction and Robert wants him to marry Sansa. The two of them get along swimmingly, but canon is going on in the background, and bad things happen. Featuring an OC who cries, a LOT, and people calling Ned on his poor parenting.

I actually want this one because I love Sansa/If Robert And Cersei Had One Legit Kid, but they almost always are written by people who don't like Sansa, or have a very... weird view on events. So they're almost always really unsatisfying.

2. The one where Ned gets Sansa a harp teacher. This would have the harp teacher be part of a family of entertainers, who hide Sansa and Jeyne in their ranks and take her across Westeros, only to find a job they took on includes more than they expected. Features Ned surviving, and a granny who's in deep mourning that Sansa is being wasted by being a princess instead of the incredibly talented musician/composer she could be.

3. Robb goes to King's Landing and Sansa stays in Winterfell. Features an early Queen in the North, a creepy Tywin Lannister, and Robb being horribly traumatized, forced to marry Cersei, and an unknown player, out to destroy the Lannisters.

4. Sansa escapes and becomes the wife of a nice commoner, only to be discovered and forced to decide between the life she's come to love and the life she might have had.

5. Finishing the Five Wolves. Features Stannis being force fed his respect women juice, Grey Wolf living past the red wedding and saving Sansa before Littlefinger gets in there, Vale dire wolves who've been in hiding this whole time, and a puppy.

6. Robb is separated from Catelyn during an attack on Riverrun in his infancy, floats downriver in a basket and is picked up by a childless riverdwelling couple, part of an ethnic minority of river traders in the Riverlands. They assume he's actually an unwanted baby from a brothel upriver, set adrift in the hopes that he might be picked up by someone just like them. He then grows up, finds Grey Wolf, slays a mountain, goes to Dorne, gets married, and comes home, and meets the Queen In The North.

7. Septa Mordane dies after she and Sansa catch some kind of lung ailment. The new septa finds Arya charming and spirited, while deciding that Sansa is sullen and lazy(bc getting over massive illness). She also declares that Arya is just lovely, and Sansa is almost like a reed with a flame on the end. More of an exploration on how Sansa and Arya's dynamic is more about how they're perceived by the audience and the people around them than anything they actually do. Features Sansa hiding from her Septa in the kitchen.

8. The one where The wolves and the Stark Kids are more connected than people realize, and killing Lady kills Sansa. Sansa and Lady become a Demi-god/fairy duo who wander between the North and the Riverlands, saving lost children, guiding refugees, etc.

Teen Wolf:

1. The one where Scott is kidnapped by vampires, who think he's just the best EVER and almost refuse to let him go. Featuring some characters from when I used to play Vampire The Masquerade.

2. The one where biologist!Scott and momentary film! maker Kira find a coy wolf pup in the woods, raise her to release her to the wild, and get caught up in a battle between Argent Agriculture and Derek Hale's environmental activist group. Features monoculture crops and a snake.

3. The one where Scott rescues a little kid.

4. The one where Scott is captured by a shady branch of the FBI, only to be confronted with a familiar face. Features selkies, cat fairies, and a mer-person. also, teeth.

6. The one where Scott runs away from home after being rejected by his mom. Features found family and people who like trees.

7. The one where people rescue Scott from his friendship with Stiles, AKA you don't have to be friends with ppl who are mean to you.

8. The one where, instead of being stopped by Derek Hale biting her, Victoria Argent is seen by a teenager who records her trying to kill Scott on her cellphone, after calling the police. Victoria is arrested, her family is dragged through the mud, and Scott almost dies, but recovers. Hunters show up, as do other people.

The Untamed

1. The one where Wei Wuxian is raised by the Burial Mounds, who are actually pretty good parents. Features Ghosts and Wei Wuxian.

2. The one where Wei Ying is a recent exonoree from a death row in an unspecified southern state. Features the Lan family healing, and Jin Ling being cared for.

That's it. I wish I could write.

[kuronanox]

Comfort and lost - Gin Ichimaru

"Ichimaru Taicho, I have the papers you asked for." (Your Name) tells him as she sets them on the desk. Gin sat on his chair with a sly smile on his face. "Yer really bustin ya butt for me."

She awkwardly bows her head and takes a leave. "Do I creep ya out?" He teases walking towards her with his hands behind his back.

"No." She says.

He stops walking with the smile on his face. Gin didn't know why he chose her as his third seat but ever since she came into his squad Gin couldn't tell if she enjoyed her time here. He had to admit he was a bit interested in her.

"Taicho?" She calls out bringing him back to reality. "Are you okay?"

Placing her hand on his forehead he goes back to his desk. "Just peachy." He replies letting her leave now.

Looking down at his papers Gin frowns. The only person who showed him affection was Rangiku but that was a different story. (Your Name) was just mysterious to him he couldn't  help but try to converse with her.

"Oo (Your Name)?" Kira says walking out his office, it was pretty late at night about midnight. "Izuru!" (Your Name) exclaims.

"Why are you here so late?" He questions a little suspicious since she wasn't a lieutenant.

"Ah, Ichimaru Taicho wanted me to get him some papers because you were busy all day. I'm about to head to my room, wanna walk together?"

"Sure."

If (Your Name) had to admit the 3rd squad gave her weird vibes. One because the Captain was mysterious, two the Vice Captain was so gloomy and third it was rather quiet and eerie here.

Although a unusual friendship bloomed with her and Kira to the point she used his first name. A part of her thought he was lonely and so she wanted to break his shell.

"Has Taicho been acting weird to you lately?" Kira asks her as they got farther away from the office. (Your Name) side glances at Kira and nods. "You think so too? I thought I was the only one that noticed."

"I think something is bothering him but I can't tell. Taicho is very secretive." Kira admits looking down probably upset he isn't as close to Gin as he would like to be.

That night (Your Name) kept tossing and turning in her bed, the night terrors were occurring often. She didn't know when they started but it happened recently a lot lately.

"(Your Name)!" Her friend shouts out as they ran around the sandy route of rukongai.

"Hurry or else they will catch us!" (Friends name) says from behind.

(Your Name) closed her eyes hugging the loft of bread tightly in her arms. Running faster trying not to get caught they made it to their hide out.

Picking up a boulder they used as a door they set the bread in their 'pantry'. Living in rukongai was a survival game. A lot of them were poor and the crimes were high.

At the young age of 16 her and (Friend Name) both lost their family and decided to live together.

"We have to take from someone else's stall now, they notice when we are around." (Your Name) says and her friends lay down on the dirt ground exhausted.

"Yeah, I'll get the next steal." A smile form on her friends face as they giggle towards each other and enjoy the dry bread.

It had been over an hour already and (Friends Name) still wasn't back. (Your Name) was getting worried as she searched.

Walking past a few stalls they seem busy with other customers but they only stole from this area so where was (Friend name).

A scream from the woods caught her attention as she ran to the area. The blood spilled everywhere as (Friend Name) laid on the floor.

"You brats thought you could steal from me for the rest of your life. It's time to pay for the price!" The seller man screams running towards her with the knife in his hand.

A part of (Your Name) wanted to run and hide but her friend was already gone from this world and it seems like (Friend Name) put up a good fight because there was scratch marks all over the man.

Kicking his shin he fell on the floor as she tried to snatch the knife from his hand as he punched her face. "Owe!" She yelled holding her face.

"It's your turn!"

"Shinso." (Your Name) hears as a long blade plunged through the man's body. Instant death as he fell on the floor lifeless.

"Looks like I found a baby deer." Gin says helping her up. "You should join the academy ya know. A waste to be stuck here! Plus yer friend ain't here no more."

She shutters in fear and looks at (Friends name) lifeless body as she fell to the ground sobbing.

(Your Name) screams throwing the blanket off grabbing her head as a pair of arms catches her shoulders. "(Your Name)?" Gin calls out tilting his head in confusion.

"Ichimaru Taicho?" She calls out looking up to him, the fear in her eyes as she leaned close to him.

"How did you get in here?"

"You've been screaming for the past hour." Gin states as she looks down at her hands. It was weird but she was in his embrace and she didn't want to leave it.

"You've been having night terrors." He then tells her as she lays her head on his chest as he caresses her hair.

Noticing how close their proximity was with each other she kindly separates from him and hops off of bed.

"I'm sorry, I need some fresh air." She tells Gin as he observes her room to see bottles of sleeping pill next to the bed. "Taicho do you wanna join me?"

The normal smile he always had on his face appeared as Gin agreed to. It was silent as they sat on the wood floor looking up at the moon.

(Your Name) couldn't read Gin but he always showed affection by his body movements towards her. There were many nights he had to wake her up and sometimes Kira would be by the door worried.

"I don't know why I keep getting these night terrors." She tells Gin.

"Ya stressed, don't worry about the past trauma." He advised her as she stared at her hands again. The blood that was spilled everywhere was tainted on her body.

The red liquid falling from her face and the sad look in (friends name) eyes as she buried the grave. The lonesome house she lived alone in for the next year and the sleepless nights all shaped her today.

A soft hand held hers as (Your Name) looked up to see Gin looking down at her again with concern. "Yer fine now, I'm here."

"I'm sorry, I keep spacing out. I'll try to stop." A small smile on her face as they saw the sun rise, a heavy body leaned onto her. Gin was asleep. "Jeez I can't really move now."

The night terrors got worse when it was learned that Gin was also behind the betrayal of the Soul society.

She remembered his face the day he left, it was almost as he was asking for help.

A part of her wanted to accept the feelings she had for him but she could never. (Your Name) knew Gin and Rangiku had a special relationship she didn't really know much about, but she wouldn't mess with it.

(Your Name) sadden a little more knowing she could never be his number one.

Kira was feeling down also, it was a sad day for many and a rude awakening for all of them.

"Gin still care for us?" (Your Name) asks the blonde man as they sat across each other with a sake bottle in the middle of the table.

"Taicho told me the day before the betrayal to watch over you." Kira says to her as she gasp.

"Funny because he told me the same thing."

"What was on his mind?" (Your Name) continues as they both toasted over the sake.

(Your Name) didn't like to sleep at night because she knew the nightmares would come again and no one would be able to stop them.

"Maybe I've diagnosed insomnia? I don't sleep much these days, especially since I've taken over Vice Captain duties and Kira took over Captain duties for now."

"My mind is in chaos everyday wondering if the path I chose was right?" Gin tells her as they sat in his office a sunny afternoon day.

"What do you mean??" She calls out but he doesn't answer.

"There are times where I feel lost and unmotivated but I care for the ones I love the most."

It was almost like Gin couldn't see her because every word she called out he couldn't hear.

"I'll do whatever it takes to make them both happy again even if it's wrong to love them equally."

"Gin?!" She screamed out his name but he only looked away from her.

"I'm afraid I've broken both their hearts."

"GIN!" (Your Name) screams as Kira was besides her worryingly. "Are you okay?" He asks handing her a cup of water as she drinks it.

"I've been getting nightmares again. Taicho was in it." She tells Kira as he sat besides her. They both are quiet, the air has some tension because they know it's been rough on them both.

"I have to get some medicine, I can't keep waking you up."

"It's fine. We are here for each other." Kira tells her as she looks up to him surprised. He was right, they've leaned onto each other for help and support. It was a healing process for them having to lose someone precious.

"I guess you are right." She chuckles laying back down as he made a futon next to hers. It was a normal thing for them now.

They had no one in their lives any more they were family now.

[the-last-airblender]

Chapter 5: The Siege (part 1)

You gaze after him until he’s out of sight again, the same strange feeling from before distracting you to the point where you only notice the footsteps when they are right behind you.

This is part of the Run series, check out the masterlist for the other chapters

Word count: 9,2k whoops

Notes: Din Djarin x fem reader. As you can probably tell by the title, this is a AU/retelling of the season 2 episode. The whole destroy-the-base-storyline is still there, but I’ve changed the story a bit so that you can have an active role in it instead of simply following Din around. It includes a scene very much inspired by this particular tiktok hehe. I had to post this in two parts since I reached the post limit lmao.

Warnings: violence, swearing, feelinggggsss owyeahh

Summary: Cara Dune and Greef Karga ask Din to help them destroy a secret Imperial base. As it turns out, you’ve just scored an invitation to the party taking place in the mansion the base is hidden beneath.

~

~

You look up from your book when the cockpit starts to get lighter by the minute. A glance outside tells you that you have entered Nevarro's atmosphere and a wide, rocky, volcanic landscape stretches out before you as far as the eye can see. Although Duugan is mostly covered in sand, the two planets are quite similar in their apparent desolation. On Duugan people are forced to settle near the places where water can be found, making agriculture -and therefore survival- possible. You’ve often gone into the desert at dusk to sit on top of a large dune and watch the sun sink into the sea of ​​sand. The beautiful colors the sky had turned in those moments had often put you in such a state of calm and wonder that you wouldn’t return home until it was too cold to sit still any longer. Duugan is a beautiful planet and its inhabitants are warm and hospitable. Too bad your now… complicated home situation will keep you from ever returning. You didn't have many friends there, but there are certainly people apart from Samick and Avlin that you will miss. However, after all that has happened, you aren’t sure if they will trust you anymore. The stories that are undoubtedly already being spread about you don't even have to deviate very much from the truth to scare them off. Certainly not for-

'Kira!' you blurt out.

The Mandalorian startles. 'What?'

'My girlfriend', you sigh, putting your forehead in your hand in desperation. 'Well, my would-have-been-girlfriend. She probably heard of my first escape and now she's going to hear how I killed my father and several guards and fled the planet… '

Din can't stop the wave of disappointment flowing through him and forces himself to say: 'He might have survived, if they got him to a good doctor. It's not like you stabbed his heart. '

The way you slightly shrink in your chair tells him that his remark wasn't quite as uplifting as he'd hoped.

'Still', you say, 'she hates violence and I'm fleeing halfway through the galaxy. Even if I found a way to see her again, there's no way she'd even want me anymore. Ugh, I always do this!' You rub your face in frustration. 'Every time I have a good thing going with someone, my recklessness sweeps in and ruins it. Last time, my ex and I were at a bar and when a girl came onto him, my drunk ass punched her in the face.'

Din silently smiles, for more than one reason. He would pay good money to see you drunkenly punch a flirting girl.

'Also, I ... might or might not have ... thrown a knife at her. If it wasn't for the alcohol, I would've hit and probably killed her. Needless to say, he immediately broke up with me.' You cringe at the memory. 'Luckily, my dad never found out.'

A silence falls as he starts the landing. When you look out the window again, you see that you’re just outside a town that appears to have been dug out of the rocky hills. A gigantic freestanding gate gives access to a wide street that is flooded with people. Vendors advertise their wares under self-fashioned sunscreens and people walk in and out of the houses embedded in the hills. Clouds of dark dust rise up as the Crest touches down and much to your surprise, you appear to be awaited. A dark-skinned man in a long coat and a very muscular woman slowly approach the ship, while Din shuts down the engines and gets up from his seat. You hastily put your book in your bag and hesitantly stop him when he’s about to leave the cockpit.

'Look, I need you to know that I'm eternally grateful for your help', you say, looking straight at where his eyes should be. 'And I'm sorry for everything that happened to you because of me-'

‘None of the things that happened there were your fault’, he interrupts.

For a moment you are dumbfounded, not entirely sure if you agree with him. 'Still, thank you. I was so relieved when you showed up. I don't really know what I would've done if you hadn't.'

'You would've found a way', he says, sounding so sure that you look away, your cheeks reddening. 'Besides, you did the most work in that courtyard.'

‘That's not true, my brother was a great help’, you shrug shily.

For a moment, he doesn't answer. Then he remarks: 'Chavez got away.'

You manage to keep your face neutral. 'I noticed.'

'Do you think he'll come after you?'

'Nah, he's got a city to run. Besides, he wouldn't be able to find me even if I walked around with a big-ass target on my back.'

'Good.'

The pod floats after him as he climbs down the stairs and before you follow him, you quickly wipe the dust off your face and loosely re-drape your headscarf. You throw your bag over your shoulder and climb down the stairs. As you walk through the hull and past the now empty pod to the lowered platform, voices reach your ears.

'And you, come here, little one! Has Mando been taking good care of you, huh?'

You smile at the tone clearly intended for the childs and hesitate for a moment, fiddling with your dress.

'Looks like you two have been busy', you hear the Mandalorian say.

'I myself have been steeped in clerical work', says the other male voice again. 'Marshal Dune here is to be thanked for cleaning up the town.'

Your hand grabs the handle of the dagger on your belt for a moment and with a deep sigh you muster all your courage. Then you step into the sunlight and walk down the platform to where two pairs of eyes immediately turn to you. All of a sudden you are very aware that you’re still dressed in your red wedding dress and that the gold paint on your arms glistens in the sunlight. Even though you've put your jewelry in your bag, you know you're more out of place than a shellfish in the desert. Determined not to show Din’s two friends your nervousness, you stop next to the bounty hunter.

'I knew I saw a beautiful face looking down on us,' the man says jovially, still holding the child, who clearly met him before, in his arms. 'Aren't you going to introduce us to your lovely companion, Mando?'

'These are Greef Karga and Cara Dune', says Din, after which he introduces you to them.

'Nice to meet you', you smile politely.

Dune sizes you up, no doubt wondering why the hell you look so dressed up.

'Where are you from?', she asks.

'Duugan.'

'Ah. How do you know this guy?'

'He... got me out of a bad place. Literally.'

She nods slowly and seems to settle for this vague answer for now. Then she turns to Din. 'Come, I want to show you something.'

As you pass through the meter-high gate, you ask nobody in particular: 'Is there a market here somewhere? I could use a new outfit.'

Karga points to a street on your left.

'There is a bazaar over there', he replies. 'You can meet us at my office when you're done.'

'Thanks! See ya'.'

You turn into the street before you can hesitate, your dress blowing in the wind. The staring eyes of the locals don’t escape you and you suddenly can't wait to get changed. The only other piece of clothing you have with you is your blue dress, which was still in your bag and is no less notable, so you will have to get some practical clothes. When you enter the network of streets full of shops and stalls, where many others are also doing their shopping at the moment, you curiously let your gaze glide over the merchandise. In addition to clothing, the vendors offer beautifully woven carpets, household items and all kinds of food that you’ve never seen before, from prickly fruit to delicious-smelling soup and crates full of strange-shaped nuts. As the chaotic mixture of scents enter your nose, you suddenly realize how hungry you are. A little later you’re, now a large piece of vegetable pie richer, looking at a stall with bizarre fruit, when a rough voice catches your attention.

'What’s a girl dressed like you doing on a planet like this?'

Annoyed, you look back at the messy-dressed boy who is looking at you with a grin that promises nothing good. Wisely, you decide not to dignify his question with an answer and turn back to the fruit, munching on the cake.

'Hey, I asked you something!'

Ignoring the boy, you point to a bright yellow egg-shaped fruit and ask the seller what it is. Just as he starts to answer, a strong hand grabs your pie-arm.

'Don't ignore me, you bitch!', the boy snarls.

Within a second, the point of your dagger is against his throat. His face turns white as a sheet and when the grip on your arm loosens, you calmly take another bite of your cake. He raises his hands defensively and walks back slowly, but you don't lower the dagger just yet.

'No need to get all aggressive', he grumbles, suddenly not so brave anymore.

You snort at his hypocrisy and look at him with your signature penetrating look.

'Don't you dare lay a hand on me', you growl. 'If you get near me again, I will literally stab you in the fucki- oh, dresses!'

Suddenly, you’ve forgotten all about the creep and you walk right past him to the stall on the other side of the street, while he looks at you in confusion and then quickly runs off. With your dagger still in your hand, you admire the simple but practical-looking clothing on display. The green-skinned salesman is watching you nervously, happy with the interest but a little afraid of your weapon. Just as your gaze falls on a long, dark green skirt, a warm smile reaches your ear. To your right stands a blond-haired young man wearing a light blouse and dark brown trousers, his hands in his pockets. The smile on his face is entirely different from that of the other boy, yet you don't put your dagger away just yet and you stay where you are.

'You'd think people were smart enough not to mess with heavily armed women’, he says, amused.

You give him a smile. 'There are stupid people on every planet.'

'I'm sure you're right.' He strolls over and holds out his hand. 'I'm Hal.'

After a moment's hesitation, you put the dagger back into its sheath and shake his hand.

‘Our friend handled it quite badly, but he asked the question that the whole town would undoubtedly want an answer to', Hal says as you put the last piece of cake in your mouth, wipe your hand on your dress and pick up the skirt to get a better look at it. 'Don't get me wrong, you look... beautiful. But… well… why?'

You raise an eyebrow at him and he awkwardly rubs the back of his neck.

'Sorry, I phrased that wrong. You're clearly not from around here and you look like you're dressed for some kind of occasion. I just...'

You decide to put him out of his misery for both your sakes.

'This is traditional Duuganese bridal attire.'

'Oh.' Hal blushes and unconsciously takes a step back. 'In that case, congratulations.'

'I didn't get married,' you say, just a little too quickly, smiling encouragingly. 'They couldn't make me.'

'Ah, well, good for you', he says with relief in his voice. 'So that's what brought you to Nevarro, then? You escaped?'

You almost cringe and force yourself to nod.

'Yeah', you sigh. ‘And that's why I desperately need new clothes. I didn't exactly have time to pack my bags.'

'Sounds like you've been through a lot, lately', he responds softly.

You absently rub your thumb on the fabric of the skirt in your hands. 'I guess I have.'

Then you quickly pull yourself back to the present and hold the pleated skirt in front of you. It falls mid-calf and appears to be your size.

'You could probably use something fun to put your mind off things', says Hal, while you grab a baggy white blouse from the stall. 'How about you keep that beautiful dress on for a little longer?'

You pay the vendor for the skirt and the blouse and then take a good look at Hal. You can't deny you find him attractive and he seems very aware of the fact that he shouldn’t get on your bad side if he doesn't want to meet one of your weapons.

'What do you propose?'

~

As you enter the small building where, according to a friendly local, the magistrate resides, you hear a familiar voice, which tells you that you’re in the right place.

'And you wanna mop up the last of the Imperial force before they do.'

'Mando, I just want them off my planet.'

'If we could take out that one last base, Nevarro would be completely safe', you hear Dune say. 'We could be a trade anchor for the entire sector. And the planet would finally be free. We just need a way into Mayweather's place.'

You walk into the room and Dune quickly clicks away a projection, but your attention is already drawn.

'Did you say Mayweather?', you ask curiously. 'As in Tomas Mayweather?'

Dune and Karga exchange glances. It’s the latter who answers.

'You know him?'

'Yeah,' you say, putting down your now very heavy bag, 'or, rather, my father does. Say about him what you want, but my dad sure was well-connected. I only met him once, years ago, when he came to Duugan for business. I didn't know he was from Nevarro. Why do you need to get into his house?'

'There's an old Imperial base hidden underneath his mansion', Din replies. 'We need to take out the skeleton crew stationed there.'

'What stopped you guys from kicking them out before?'

'Mayweather is an influential and wealthy man', Dune explains. 'Most of the businesses in town are his. We can't just waltz in there. Besides, we don't have the manpower or the watertight proof for it.'

'Why would he even hide them?'

Dune shrugs. 'Presumably, he gets paid handsomely for the protection his status gives them.'

'So you need a way in', you repeat with a straight face.

Karga squints suspiciously. 'Yes, we said that.'

You dramatically put your hands together in a thoughtful gesture, visibly enjoying the little play you're now putting on.

'If only there was some kind of big event to keep him distracted', you muse exaggeratingly. 'Something that would make him feel secure and not suspect that people are coming for him...'

'What are you getting at?', Dune asks, unable to hide her curiosity.

You spread your arms.

'A little birdie told me he's having a party later', you reveal with a big grin. 'And guess who's invited!'

~

'Nothing yet?'

The modulated voice in your ear almost makes you jump as you lean against the city gate, your hands behind your back and your jewelery softly jingling in the wind. You’re not quite used to the communication device hidden in your ear, which creates a non-stop connection between you and the Mandalorian’s helmet, since you need to be reachable and it would look highly suspicious if you were constantly sticking your finger in your ear to switch it on and off. Besides, you wouldn't even know how -Samick had often teasingly called you “technologically challenged”. The fact that Din can hear what you are doing and saying at all times makes you more nervous than you care to admit. Before you left, you made sure to go to the toilet and you don't plan on drinking anything all night, lest he has to hear things neither of you want him to. However nervous you may be, his digital presence does reassure you somewhat. After all, you’re about to go to the lion's den with a boy you barely know, who was supposed to pick you up at the city gate five minutes ago.

'No', you mutter with a sigh.

You look around again, but no trace of Hal. To be honest, you also have no idea how he’s planning to pick you up, so you don't know what kind of vehicle to look out for. Mayweather's villa is located in the hills outside the city, which means walking is not an option.

Hal had mentioned that guns are not allowed at parties like this one, but you’ve casually ignored that. You did leave your blasters behind, as well as your daggers, but your six throwing knives -which can also be held and used at close range- are attached to your legs. Dresses really do lend themselves well to hiding things on one’s legs. Few have the guts to search there without good reason.

Your gaze lands on the Razor Crest, which is parked a stone's throw from the gate. A couple of figures scurry around the ship, probably busy with some maintenance or refilling the fuel tank. For a moment you consider checking with Mando, but then you decide against it. He probably has better things to do, like preparing for the operation. 

The plan had sounded pretty simple: you infiltrate the party and make sure that Mayweather doesn’t get wind of what goes on beneath his feet, while Din, Karga and Dune sneak into the base and place explosives, after which you set a small fire and ensure that everyone clears the villa before it blows up. Not everyone at this party will be an Imperial sympathizer, so you made sure they added that last part to the plan. If you can help it, you don't want more innocent blood on your hands. Plus, everyone will be so busy with the fire that no one will pay attention to what's going on downstairs. Mythrol, a nervous man with blue skin and fins on his head, will take the others to the base with his landspeeder. The tension between him and Mando had been palpable; they've undoubtedly met before and given Mando's profession, you can probably guess why Mythrol was so nervous.

'Are you sure Mayweather won't recognize you?'

'No,’ you admit, 'but it's been at least ten years and I don't exactly look the same as I did then. And even if he recognizes me, it's still not the end of the world. I can't imagine he's already heard about my… actions. '

'Let's hope so.'

'Where's the kid, by the way?’, you ask.

You don't remember seeing him in Karga's office.

'School', is the short answer.

You blink, confused about the lack of context, still not quite used to how frugal the Mandalorian is with his words. Not that you can blame him; he probably used to be alone most of the time and the child is not exactly a great conversation partner, as he never replies -not in a language you or Din speak, that is. You’re not quite sure whether he actually understands what people are saying to him. Though, he seems to listen to Din. When he wants to, anyway.

Then a yellow two-person speeder enters your field of vision. It’s coming straight for the city gate and after a while, you recognize Hal's blonde hair.

'He's coming', you announce softly, while standing up and waving at him.

Your heart starts beating faster and for a moment you feel guilty for abusing his kindness. 

‘It's the right thing to do’, you silently remind yourself. ‘This is best for Nevarro.’

'Alright’, the man's voice sounds in your ear again. And, a moment later, as if he was hesitating, he adds: 'Be careful.'

A strange but warm feeling seems to wrap you in an invisible blanket, but the speeder is already so close that you can’t react without being noticed.

'Hey, Hal', you greet -partly to make that clear- when he comes to a stop right in front of you.

'Hey, sorry I'm late!', the young man shouts cheerfully. 'Jump in!'

You climb into the speeder and while Hal smoothly gets the speeder moving again, you mumble, only audible by the gods thanks to the sound of the engines: 'Oh Adur, give me strength...'

~

'How close do you want me to drop you off?'

Mythrol nervously eyes the area as he maneuvers the speeder through the pass, half expecting stormtroopers to show up at any moment to turn him into a smoking pile of blue pulp.

'How' bout the front door?', Karga says coolly.

'It's a little close for a civilian, isn't it?', he protests cautiously.

'I got two choices for ya’', Karga says sternly. 'You take us in and I knock a hundred years off your debt.'

Mythrol isn't sure if he wants to hear the other option. 'Or?'

'Or I leave ya' out here to walk home with whatever's left in your humidity vest and maybe the stormtroopers won't kill your blue ass before you dry out.'

'It's not much of a choice, is it?', the blue man grumbles under his breath.

The speeder quickly soars between the rocky walls towering over them, to where soon a large metal door emerges: the deserted-looking entrance to the Imperial base. Mythrol brings the speeder to a halt.

'All right, we can't go any further than this', he declares.

When the others get out, he stays seated, looking around and ready to fly away at the first sign of danger. Dune takes a look at the control panel next to the door, which is large enough to get a sizable spaceship through. Din scans the area, but the software in his helmet shows no signs of immediate danger. If he listens carefully, he can hear music coming from above them, where the party in the villa is clearly already in full swing. He had noticed that you didn't leave all of your weapons behind and he feels relieved for it. Judging from your story, Hal isn't the one he's concerned about. The question remains whether Mayweather will recognize you -and more importantly, whether he knows about the events on Duugan. If he has been warned about you, he also knows that you came with a Mandalorian. What conclusions he draws from that information is anyone's guess.

'We have a problem.' Dune's voice pulls him away from his pondering. She points to the panel. 'I recognise this technology. This security takes ages to override and if we do even one thing wrong, it'll send off an alarm.'

'And then our element of surprise is blown', Karga grumbles. 'They'll be way more on guard after that.'

'All right', Mythrol interrupts, starting the speeder again. 'I'm headed back. Hit me up on the comm, we can set up a rendezvous time. '

Karga whirls on him, losing his temper with the nervous employee.

'You park your gills right there until I say otherwise', he snarls.

'I'm starting to dehydrate, boss', Mythrol whines.

'Okay, how does thirty more years off your debt sound?'

He frowns thoughtfully and then sighs. 'Can you at least be quick about it?'

'We could be a whole lot quicker about it if we could get our hands on an access key', Dune says, with a meaningful look to the Mandalorian.

He understands the signal and unmutes his end of the comm. 'Can you hear me?' A clearly fake cough tells him you can't talk. 'We need a key to get in without alerting anyone. It should look like a thin bar about half the size of your hand. Can you get us one?'

You cough affirmatively and he mutes himself again.

'Are you sure that's a good idea?', Karga asks.

'She's our best shot', Din says evasively.

'Why was she traveling with you, anyway?', Dune wants to know.

He looks at her and carefully formulates his answer. ‘She needed a way out and I got caught up in the situation. We got away eventually. Got my ass handed to me a couple of times in the process, though. '

Dune gives him a wicked grin. 'I would've loved to see that.'

He wisely refrains from dignifying that with an answer. The cuts you caused in Lossith have not yet healed and still hurt with certain movements. You’d known very well where to hit him. By now you’d offered to bandage them four times, but he’d politely declined, insisting that you had every right to defend yourself. Besides the fact that the Creed wouldn’t allow it, he can't stand the idea of ​​your touch on his skin for some reason. The thought alone is enough to spark something deep inside his chest.

Suddenly he misses the sound of your voice in his helmet and he thinks back to the ride here, during which he was listening to how you told Hal about the Duuganese gods.

‘On Duugan we worship four gods', you’d explained. 'We have two suns and one moon. Dedis is the largest sun. He is the god of wisdom and the harvest, because his light allows things to grow. Adur is the smaller sun and Dedis' younger brother, as well as the god of dawn and strength. He goes down first and rises first and often quarrels with his brother, who always has the last word - that's why he goes down last. When they’re gone, Qalla, the goddess of the moon and water, appears. She watches over the dreamers at night and keeps the nightly travelers safe. Finally, you have Yris, the goddess of the ground under our feet. She gives life to all that breathes on Duugan.' You laughed shortly. 'Admittedly, there aren't many of those on such a dry planet -you know how it is- but still. All four of them protect us in their own way. That's a very comforting thought when you’re fleeing through the galaxy. '

His gaze travels up to the mansion again and a silent prayer floats up to the sky as well.

'Maker, keep her safe.'

~

Seemingly casually, you lean on the handrail that prevents you from falling off the gallery. From the open second floor, which wraps around the large courtyard, you can see just about the entire party. Nevarro's contemporary fashion is a true spectacle to behold: women are wearing brightly coloured dresses and they’ve created the most bizarre and elaborate braided updos with their hair, while men walk around in loose-fitting and equally colourful clothes. Their hairdos are even more striking: apparently it is a trend among the wealthy to grow a big mustache and sculpt it into curly shapes -the races that can do that, at least. In addition to humans, you have also recognized a Rodian, whose green reptile skin and antennae are unmistakable, and a beautiful female Twi'lek with copper-colored headtails. An energetic group of musicians is playing cheerful music and a couple of guests are dancing to the beat. Your eyes slide over the dozens of guests and land on Mayweather, who is busy talking to a small group of men. His red hair stands out against his bright blue robes and on his hands, with which he gestures enthusiastically, a number of large rings sparkle in the sunlight coming through the skylights. Luckily he doesn't seem to have noticed you yet, clearly busy with his job as host. Moreover, you’re positioned somewhat concealed behind one of the columns that carry the roof above your head and the storey you’re standing on.

Who would have a key to the hidden base? Mayweather, of course, but it would be too ambitious and dangerous to steal his. The various waiters, their beige robes a strong contrast with the colorful guests, probably have no business going down there. The security, on the other hand...

You push yourself up from the balustrade and hurry towards the stairs, the heels of your shoes clicking on the turquoise tiles covering the floors. Hal has been getting you something to drink for about five minutes now, so you have to be quick if you want to avoid him. Fortunately, even in this dress, you don't stand out too much from the rest of the attendees. Once downstairs, you move smoothly through the partying crowd, making sure you steer clear of Mayweather, towards a hallway that you suspect leads to the private part of the villa. In any case, that you’re not allowed to go there becomes clear when you catch a glimpse of a Zabrak security guard, recognizable by the numerous small horns on his head. You take a deep breath and then quickly stagger into the hall, grabbing your stomach and panically waving at the guard.

'Ma'am, you are not allowed to come here', he says immediately, taking a step in your direction.

You spot the key instantly, clipped to his belt with a ring. Bingo.

'A bathroom!', you cry. ‘I need a bathroom, I don't feel so good! What kind of food are you guys serving here?! '

The man looks at you hesitantly while you say this and before he can respond, you throw yourself into his arms, wailing dramatically. He manages to catch you, but almost falls over in the process. You take advantage of his instability by grabbing the key from his belt in the kerfuffle and hiding it in your hand. Only then does the hole in your plan dawn on you: your dress has no pockets.

The Zabrak awkwardly pushes you away. 'The bathroom is that way.'

'Thank you, good sir', you squeak. 'I'm gonna go puke now.'

You quickly turn around and place the hand with the key on your chest in a dramatic gesture, stumbling back down the hall.

'Hey!'

You keep walking, even though you start panicking for real now, but you hear his footsteps coming after you. Silently cursing, you try to figure out where to hide the key and make a mental note to have pockets made in your dresses and skirts.

'Did you just steal my key?!', the guard snarls, firmly grabbing your arm. 'Give it back. Now. '

You open your mouth for a really ill-prepared defense, but then you hear a familiar voice behind you.

'What's going on here?'

Hal walks into the hallway and glares at him.

'She stole my key, Mr. Mayweather', the Zabrak replies.

The blood in your veins goes cold. Mayweather? Hal is Tomas's son?

'What?' Hal turns to you. 'Is that true?'

Your hand is still on your chest, just above the collar of your dress, and suddenly you realize there is only one place to hide the key now. As you turn toward Hal, you let the thin bar slip down your dress and pray to all your gods that no one sees it. Much to your relief, it doesn't immediately fall out of the other end of your dress and instead get stuck between your boobs, safely out of sight under the red fabric.

'Of course not', you pout, grabbing your forehead. 'I'm just looking for the bathroom, I’m feeling rather unwell.'

Every trace of suspicion disappears from Hal's face and with a short gesture he orders the guard to let you go. He reluctantly obeys.

'Can't you see she's sick, you idiot?', the boy barks. 'Look at her, she's white as a sheet! You just lost your key somewhere.'

You have no intention of telling him why you’re really turning white and you let yourself be supported by a concerned Hal. He accompanies you to the bathroom and then offers to get you a glass of water. You nod and enter the ladies room, but ignore the toilet.

'Hey,' you whisper as soon as you hear him walk away, 'I have the key.'

'Good', the warm voice of the Mandalorian says almost instantly. 'Can you get to the balcony on the east side?'

You noticed it when you were on the second floor earlier, so you respond affirmatively. Quickly, you open the door and when the coast turns out to be clear, you slip towards the stairs. Your braided bun wobbles up and down on the back of your head as you run upstairs, past a man and a woman who had clearly hoped for some privacy in the closed stairwell. Your headscarf falls down on your shoulders, but you ignore it and turn right twice, into a narrow corridor that opens onto a beautiful, gracefully domed balcony hanging many meters above the pass below you. It offers an amazing view of the volcanic, hilly landscape, but that doesn’t interest you very much at the moment. Panting, you put your hands on the balcony edge. What now?

Then you hear a strange, motor-like noise and the next moment, the Mandalorian appears in front of you. You almost let out a scream and step backwards.

'How are you doing that?', you hiss in bewilderment, staring at the man floating in the air.

'Jetpack', he answers shortly. 'Where's the key?'

It's his turn to be baffled when you put your hand down your dress and pull out the key. Suddenly he’s very glad that you can’t see his face.

The metal is still warm from your skin when you put it in Din's gloved hand.

'Go and blow up some stormtroopers for me, will you?', you say with a smile.

'Will do. Thanks.'

With those words, he flies away again. You gaze after him until he’s out of sight again, the same strange feeling from before distracting you to the point where you only notice the footsteps when they are right behind you.

~

Read the next part here.

Tag list: @buckysalefty @dark-academics-and-florals

[voidwaren]

I know you don't exactly do Sterek anymore but that's what brought me to you in the first place so for old time's sake “You’re not the boss of me" with Teen Wolf

WHOOPS I DID NOT GET A NOTIFICATION FOR THIS wtf Tumblr why is mobile such shit

oh god, I didn’t even think anyone was still around for Sterek/TW. I’m so sorry

my Sterek stuff will be out of hiatus hell eventually I swear

you didn’t ask for Sterek specifically but it’s got. like. a teeny bros-y taste of Sterek to it.

“You need to stay here,” Derek starts, leaning against the table on outstretched fists like he was some seasoned hit man in a knock-off Mission Impossible movie, when Stiles knows for a fact he’d been digging a bullet out of his bicep not even two hours earlier. Dodging things was still a survival skill Derek hadn’t quite yet mastered, but he was getting better.

“Uh, what?” Stiles says, and Scott echoes him with a, “Oh, I thought you meant me.”

“There could be dozens of these things swarming, we don’t have time to keep an eye on you.”

Stiles gives Derek a very firm point of the finger. “Screw you, Hale.”

“Who’s screwing me now?” Peter says, popping out of the woodwork. Derek waves him off. “Well, at least remind them I like to cuddle after,” he mutterssardonically, and Kira chokes on a giggle. He smiles at her. Derek ignores them both.

“Why do you always act like these are a negotiation?” Derek pulls back from the table with a grunt. Stiles thinks it’s only so he can throw his hands out in a gesture that’s probably meant to make Stiles feel bad for arguing the same matter he always argues, but that wasn’t going to work on him. Derek should know by now that it was inevitable if Stiles was being left out of an equation. “We don’t have time for this, Stiles,” Derek pushes. “You can pull your old tricks next time.”

Stiles throws Scott an incredulous look, but Scott only shrugs weakly.

“Oh, no. You are not taking his side on this,” says Stiles accusingly.

Scott holds his hands up. “Hey, I’m just going along with things here. This isn’t my area.”

Peter gives him a frown. “You work under our Emissary. How is this not your area?”

“You’re not the boss of me,” Stiles protests, bringing the conversation back before Scott can make an ass of himself with that one. Derek’s head whips in his direction, one dark eyebrow arched high. “You’re kind of the boss of me,” Stiles relents. “But Peter’s the boss of you, so that makes him more of the boss of me.”

“I don’t know how I feel about being the head of this operation when I only just got here and no one’s bothered to fill me in yet,” Peter says. Stiles thinks that’s kind of mature of him, given his track record.

“Since when do you listen to either of them?” Scott asks with a strong hint of incredulity.

“Peter is not the boss of me,” Derek argues, like he thinks he’s getting the last word. Stiles is starting to think he really doesn’t ever learn.

“I’m older than you,” Peter points out. “I might not be your alpha, but I’m still your uncle.”

“You stopped being the boss of me when I turned eighteen.”

“I was catatonic when you turned eighteen, I think I get some make up time in that department.”

“Is this really how you guys figure out your problems?” Kira chimes in from the corner of the room.

“Oh, trust me,” Stiles says. “Usually, we don’t even get this far.”

Derek’s holding his head with one hand. Honestly, it makes him look more like the leader of the ragtag group of idiots they were than anything else he’s done thus far. Before, he just looked like he was one of them. “Does anyone care that we’re on a time crunch here?” he asks no one in particular.

Peter raises his hand like he’s in class. “Uh, yeah, I don’t even know what we’re fighting.”

“Sylph.”

“Ah, well. Derek’s got a point then. Humans have to sit this one out, you’re blind to it.”

“What!” Stiles throws his arms wide, just barely missing Scott’s face with his wide arc. “I can be useful! What if someone needs a getaway car, huh?”

“We have the Camaro,” Derek declares and, unfortunately for Stiles, it really is the last word that time, because he doesn’t have an argument for it when his Jeep currently had a problem with rattling when hitting anything above sixty.

“Fuck me,” he grumbles as everyone files out of Derek’s stupid studio, leaving him desolate on the couch.

Scott pokes his head back through the doorway, looking (rightly so) guilty. “You could call Lydia over.”

“There’s a reason she wasn’t here. She’s working on something for Deaton,” Stiles informs Scott when he gives him a confused look.

Scott only looks more confused. “Why am I the last one to know anything about Deaton’s projects? I’m the one who works with him.”

“Don’t worry about it, dude. Go kick some sylph ass, I’ll be here to congratulate you when you get back.”

That earns him an apologetic look. He gives Scott a half-assed wave as he retreats again.

“We do this for your safety, you know,” Derek says from behind him. Stiles nearly jumps out of his skin.

“Jesus! Do I need to put a cat collar on you? Make more noise when you move!”

Derek gives him a patented Derek Hale eye roll and frown combo. “You saw me walk over here and didn’t see me leave. Where did you think I was?”

“This might come as a surprise to you, but I don’t always pay attention to your every move.”

Derek huffs a laugh. “Okay, fair enough.”

“Don’t laugh at me, I’m mad at you. What are you even doing here? I thought you were,” Stiles drops his tone, sounding nothing like Derek, “on a time crunch.”

Derek returns to frowning. “I don’t sound like that.”

“Answer the question, Hale.”

“I needed to make sure you didn’t follow us. I’ll catch up with them in the Camaro in a minute.”

“For the love of—” Stiles throws his head back and winces when it hits the back of the couch a little too hard. “I’m annoying, not stupid.”

“That’s debatable.”

Stiles shoots him a glare. “I know when I’m not wanted.”

Derek goes quiet at that. Stiles can hear him tapping his fingers against something—probably the table. “It’s not that,” Derek says.

“Shut up,” Stiles retorts, because they were not having that conversation.

“Sprites are particularly dangerous this time of year, okay. We don’t know enough about them to be sure they wouldn’t do something we can’t handle.”

Stiles twists around in his seat with an alarmed look. “What? I should be there, then! You guys might need all the backup you can get—”

“To you,” Derek corrects, sounding far more exasperated than Stiles thinks the situation really warrants. “We don’t know enough to be sure they wouldn’t do something to you that we can’t handle.”

“Oh,” Stiles says lamely. Then, in a move Stiles definitely doesn’t see coming, Derek closes the few steps between himself and the couch and presses a hand down on Stiles’ shoulder. Stiles is too caught off guard in the moment offer any choice commentary on the action.

“We’re not leaving you out to be assholes. You know us better than that.”

“Peter would leave me out to be an asshole,” Stiles mutters, but he knows that Derek is right.

Derek barks a laugh. “Peter would include you to be an asshole.”

“I don’t know. He’s been kind of fatherly lately. It’s weird, actually. If he starts offering to play ball with me, I might have to break into Deaton’s sedatives and put him back in that coma.”

“I don’t think you’ll ever have to worry about that,” Derek replies, but he looks unsure. His eyes dart to the clock on the wall, and his shoulders square. His hand drops. “Gotta go. I don’t trust Scott or Kira to know how to handle Peter’s orders without me to translate.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll be here, waiting for my husbands—and wife—to return from war.” Stiles reaches out and touches his fingers to Derek’s arm as he passes around the couch. “Just … come back in one piece, okay? And not, like, a dead piece. I want heartbeats, even on Peter.”

Derek looks at him for a long moment, his strange gray-green eyes piercing holes into Stiles’ soul without his consent. “Yeah,” he finally replies, quietly. “Okay.”

Then, with a flash of blue eyes that Stiles decidedly hates, he turns and absconds into the night.

[what-a-strange-thing]

Don't let them see you kill

(...at least not yet)

While scrolling through some pages on Japanese culture I came across the concepts of shame and guilt culture. I immediately thought of Light and Soichiro as I read it. So let’s see how this applies to these Death Note characters.

(This is my very first meta, so please don’t be harsh with me. I’d like to hear what you think about this. For @lux-mea-lex. Hope you enjoy!)

Most Western countries are labelled as guilt cultures; mainly Middle East and Asian countries count as shame cultures. The concept itself is disputed and was established by Ruth Benedict in her book on Japanese culture, “The Chrysanthemum and the Sword “, a study which was meant to help the Americans defeat Japan in World War II by gaining a better understanding of their enemy's society. In a guilt culture, you (are expected to) feel guilty if you did wrong, no matter what other people think. Even if other people are convinced of your innocence, you feel bad regardless. By contrast, in a shame culture wrong-doing is sanctioned not by the self but by other people. You will feel shame once your misbehaviour is discovered. If no one knows you did wrong it's okay because you are not openly shamed and dishonoured. Though innocent, you can still be shamed by the belief of other people. (If you're interested, you can read more here.)

Soichiro and guilt culture

"No matter what people think of me"

Soichiro is a dutiful police officer who pushes himself to limits for "justice". In many instances, he acts according to what he believes to be right with no consideration of the way other people view his behaviour. For example when he learns Kira is suspected among his family he doesn't argue that monitoring is unacceptable like his Japanese colleagues do... he even demands putting cameras and wiretaps everywhere before L says so. He doesn't want to shy away from the truth. This also becomes clear when he talks to Kitamura later in the story (ch. 21) and straightforwardly (and obviously pained) tells him that Light is the main suspect (but he asks him not to tell anyone... simply for the investigations sake, because L told him not to tell anyone... or, most likely, he saw it as his personal failure?). Another interesting thing to note about this scene is Soichiro's reaction to Kitamura stating that the public believes L and the police to be incompetent. He is outraged.  

Soichiro is angered not only because his team's competence is questioned but apparently also because Kitamura seems to care more about the public opinion than about what's really going on (people sacrificing their lives to catch Kira and a team short on staff, not on skill), typical for shame culture. Soichiro, on the other hand, is again devoted to truth, he "fights the accusation" if we apply this to the guilt cultural concept.

Just like in a guilt culture, he doesn't need other people who perceive his actions as wrong to feel bad about his choices. After Sayu's kidnapping and the notebook exchange, Soichiro immediately decides to resign from the police. He sees himself as no longer fit for the job because he put his daughter's survival first when ideally he should be ready to leave her to die so he does not have to hand over the Death Note (he demands inhumane behaviour of himself, I think). Light tries to talk him out of it by telling him that it seems as if Soichiro tries to escape responsibility. He doesn't, Soichiro wouldn't run away from responsibility knowingly (and Light should and does know. Is this his -failed- attempt at manipulating his father? Making him believe that he would assume responsibility not by leaving but by staying with the police?). In this situation, Soichiro could have easily gone along with what Light said... and make himself believe a comfortable lie. But he doesn’t.

Soichiro’s internal moral compass is extremely strong. In this case, his “audience” would have never judged him for killing Mello (which would be like a carte blanche for Light but more on that later). Soichiro can’t kill to save his life...

...but to take it. Soichiro as his own judge would also hand out his own punishments. Light actually believes his father would kill him and then himself if he turned out to be Kira, just like L suggests and Soichiro doesn’t contradict  (ch. 35). In this (fake but could be real) shooting scene, there’s no one for Soichiro to justify his actions for. He does it, to quote him, because it’s his “responsibility as a parent [...] and as the chief of police”. (Btw this reminds me strongly of Seppuku, a form of suicide for samurai as a punishment). Attitudes on death penalty are interesting, too - both Light and Soichiro seem to see it fit as a punishment; Soichiro is more “consequent” about it as he would also consider applying this punishment to himself.

Light and shame culture

“If we catch Kira, he is evil.”

I remember how much this statement confused me in the beginning. What difference does it make on how morally right or wrong Kira’s actions are if he’s caught or not? I just couldn’t wrap my mind around it. To me, moral standards are a fixed thing. Not to Light. What matters most to him is how other people see and evaluate his actions, very much fitting with shame culture. It’s also obvious in his speech in the warehouse.

This goes along the same line of thinking. It’s about “the people’s will” that Light, Kira had to win. Light’s main goal is that people won’t “condemn him as evil”. Other people’s opinions? Extremely important to Light. Near deconstructs Light’s dream world in which he is admired as a God by all without his killings being questioned/seen as wrong.

These panels illustrate it beautifully... what Light fought years for, being perceived as perfect, falls apart as he is quite noticably openly shamed. Look at the disdain in their eyes (and Light can’t bear it and looks away). (More about these panels and great meta on Light’s issues with perception that ties in quite well with the shame cultural concept here by lux-mea-lex.) Another panel that fits this well is Light being stripped bare, exposed as Kira in front of an audience. The shaming - something Kira!Light tried to change into an act of admiration, respect, maybe fear, if he ever “came out” as Kira to the world (which he would willingly only do in his “ideal world”, if ever). Maybe Demegawa isn’t wrong when he says “if public opinion denies Kira, Kira will disappear by himself” (ch. 77).

Remember? Even if you’re innocent, you can still be shamed by suspicion only. “There's no smoke without fire", suspicion can taint your public image irremediably.

It’s interesting to note that there’s a point where Light’s in a situation that mirrors Soichiro’s and Kitamura’s in ch.1. Light’s “boss”, a teacher, throws chalk at him to get Light to pay attention in class and says: “We’re counting on you to make us look good!”, which sounds very shame cultural, and Light actually complies and apologizes to his teacher (personal comment: what the heck?!).

When you take the concept of shame culture a bit further it fits well with the concept of Honne and Tatemae (your true face vs. the socially acceptable front you put up) or Light’s use of masks and disguises - because it’s what’s on the surface that matters most, not the truth. This supports the reading of Death Note as critique of the Japanese society.

Light would never self-apply a punishment like his father does. In the anime as he stumbles down the alley after his second “successful” use of the Death Note, he says this in his internal monologue: “It won’t be overlooked.”  (Ep.1) Either he is talking about God/s recognizing his wrong doing or it’s a sort of irrational fear that people will be able to tell that he has killed. Again, it’s about the perspective of something other on his actions, judging them. And considering how easily Light considers killing someone for a small offense (I here go along Light’s reasoning of criminals “deserving to die”, this is not my personal opinion), he can’t be talking about his own opinion in ch.1 when he says: “of course, these are lives... that can’t be easy.”

However, there is one scene that sticks out because Light takes a step in a different direction.

L asks him to think on the question if it was Light’s will or not that the Kira powers have been passed on... and Light answers honestly, “it was Light Yagami’s will”, essentially fueling the suspicion of him being Kira after talking himself out of facing the truth of his weirdly discontinuous memory the whole time in the Yotsuba!Arc prior to this moment. It shows us potential in Light’s character development to becoming a more honest version of himself but this sprout never gets to blossom during Death Note as Light regains his memories and plots L’s death as Kira.

[halekingsourwolf]

I know you don't like to talk about her much so totally feel free to ignore this but after that description I'm really curious about what what you originally thought or wanted Malia to be like?

It’s ok, anon. When she first started, I’d hoped that the show was really going to emphasize how young she was mentally and emotionally. Having been nine years old when she shifted, there would be a lot of very basic things she didn’t know about the world and life in general that the teens would all be up to date with –– and not to mention all the technological advances and world/social media events in the eight years since. The car accident would have happened in… what, 2003? (Eight years before 3B, which took place in the fall of 2011) and she’d been nine years old. So show her wrapped up in an oversized blanket after a bad day, catching up on episodes of Lizzy McGuire. Show her trying to “look cool and grown up” like Lydia and digging out an old stretchy tattoo choker from her jewelry box.

Show her failing in school, if they even put her there at all. And not in the “hm, AP Calc is kinda hard” way they did in canon. Show her being completely lost after one day, like crushingly “I’m gonna go running back to my woods sanctuary with my sister’s doll and never come out again” lost (and btw did we ever even see that hugely important plot point doll again?) Then make the characters help her through that by showing her that she doesn’t need to go to school with the rest of them (there’s literally no logical way to let her survive in high school, considering her background) and help her find a way to be home schooled. Lydia will help, Kira will bring studying snacks; the girls can bond that way.

But seriously though, Malia should have been a kid. A teenage-looking girl, yes, with the mind and emotional development of a nine year old. And yes, there would be a layer of toughness cut through that, an independent survivor streak because she did spend eight years out in the woods alone, eating smaller animals for food, but the show introduced her as very much still a scared child –– hiding out in the woods, caught in that paralyzing belief that she’d murdered her family, clinging to her sister’s doll for her one connection to humanity and sanity. And much the same way that I think Derek was emotionally paralyzed for a long time after the fire, that in some ways he comes into canon very much still the sixteen year old he was then, Malia should have been very much the nine year old she was when she turned. (And moreso, because Derek was at least partly out in the world for the six years post-fire. He had Laura to keep him active and force him to try new things. He had a chance to grow a bit here and there, have the occasional social interaction, watch the news and generally keep somewhat up with the world. Malia was literally an animal hiding in the woods, doing nothing but finding food, hanging around the crash site, and mourning. For her, the world stood still. She didn’t have a chance to grow at all.)

So yeah, basically she should have acted a lot more like a kid. She should have been looking to the others for clues on how to act on things, subconsciously seeing them as the “big kids” she was getting to hang out with. She should have been marveling at things like internet speeds and cartoon/video games graphics and that you can like… order pizza online now. And her vocab, style, and pop culture references should have been dated as hell.

I think that the one area where she’d act like an “adult” would probably be doing things on her own –– ex: after eight years on her own I don’t think she’d think to ask her dad (Mr Tate, by the way, who should have been a MUCH bigger character and central to at least her initial arc) permission to leave the house… which would probably drive him crazy because his daughter disappearing at all hours after just getting her back would pretty much be his worst nightmare. But beyond that, beyond acting independently because that’s just how she’d survived the last decade, she should have emotionally been a child and I think there could have been so much interesting character building and bonding moments in helping her grow, learn, and play catch-up.

But instead they just decided Stiles needed a love interest and tried to press her into that role, no matter how awkward, nonsensical, and uncomfortable it was.