#me: love this playlist wish i had a completed scene for them

[guksfairy]

I’m Tired Anyways

Jungkook x bubbly OC

playlist • original scene •

WC: 2K

In which Jungkook shows you he genuinely cares about you in his own way

💗: HEAVILY inspired by that one scene in ‘When I Fly Towards You’! If you want to see the original scene I based this fic off of I linked it above and it starts at minute 19:32 💗 !

note: I wrote this fairly quick so please excuse mistakes 🥲

You wish you could stare at her with a genuine smile but how could you? There she was standing with your Jungkook! Maybe not yours yet but eventually your Jungkook!

You watched as they stood in front of a stand looking at all the souvenirs displayed on the table along with a variety of other objects.

“Are you aware you’re pouting like a kid who was just told no?” You stare back at your best friend of 4 years and let out a breathy sigh.

“Sua, do you think they’re still close?”

“Considering this is their first time seeing one another after 2 years…no,” you begin to smile, “but who says people can’t reconnect,” and it goes away in an instant.

“You’re not helping,” you say fully turning and staring at the variety of sunglasses on the rack in front of you.

“You know I’m only joking! You can’t seriously be this upset because Jungkook and a girl from his old school are catching up,”

You walked out of your English exam tired as fuck. You looked at the other students walking out along with you and every single one looked tired. Your exam group had to get up at 6 AM for your test which would be from 7 AM to 10 AM.

Not all 3 hours were used but if you wanted a good mark than you better use them. As you walked down the ramp to the exit you catch a glimpse of Jungkook walking back and forth clearly waiting for you at the exit.

“Jungkook!” you run to him with a completely different emotion from the prior. His group was slightly luckier with their test only being 2 and a half hours long.

“I thought your test ended a half hour ago. Were you waiting for me?” you liked to tease him. He wasn’t big on emotions but even a smile would do for you.

“Oh- uh I just came out now,” you can tell he was bluffing but let it go realizing your other three friends weren’t with him.

“Have Sua, Jimin, and Minhyuk not finished their tests?” you question as you watch his eyes trail to the left and stared at the three crouching on the floor.

“She’s so in love with him she doesn’t even notice us,” you hear Minhyuk say as you smile shyly at Jungkook as he lets a barely audible laugh.

The three walk towards you and Jungkook.

“Well I need some food in my system. Should we look up places to eat here?” Jimin’s already taking his phone out before you can all agree but all your attention is quickly taken when you hear a voice call Jungkook’s name.

“Jungkook! Is that you? I thought I recognized you!” it was an older man walking towards your group with a girl who looked your age.

“Mr. Fukutomi,” Jungkook turns and greets the elder with a handshake. He wore a green badge signifying he was a teacher.

“It’s been a while since I last saw you! You remember my granddaughter, Tsuki,” she waves at your entire group and you try your best to keep a smile.

He remembers her?

“I’m assuming you came here to take your annual science exam? How was it?”

“I did and it was fine. I enjoy science a lot,” he speaks as the four of you just watch and listen to their interaction.

“Well it’s almost lunch time. Have you all eaten?” he asks and stares at us all.

“We were just on our way sir,” you hear Minhyuk behind you. You could hear the desperation in his voice for this conversation to end so he could finally grab some food.

“You should let Tsuki show you around town and then have lunch together afterward. She practically grew up here,” the elder suggests making a hand movement towards Tsuki who just smiled.

Again. You hear Minhyuk let a quiet sigh at the thought of doing something before eating.

“Oh we wouldn’t want to bothe-” ”Nonsense! I’m sure you two would like to catch up too!” he cuts off Jungkook before wishing you all a great day and walking away.

You all wave goodbye to him and watch Tsuki walk closer to you guys.

“I know this great sight seeing area but we need to walk a bit far for it,” she says.

“You think we can grab some snacks or something first,” Jimin asks.

“Of course. We can stop at the souvenir shop around the corner. They sell tons of snacks from around the world,” she explains.

“Lead the way,” Jimin replies as she lets out a small laugh and you all begin walking.

You walk shoulder to shoulder with Jungkook before realizing Tsuki was on his other side and they were laughing and conversating so you walk slower to be with Sua who was behind you.

“What’s wrong?” she notices your head slightly down as you wrap your arm around hers. You don’t even realize when Jungkook took notice of you leaving his side as he stared back at you.

You looked upset which worried him. Maybe he’ll ask you when you guys arrive at the shop.

“Tsuki’s pretty,”

“So are you, Y/N,” she replies.

“Tsuki seems smart,”

“So are you, Y/N. Stop sulking before I tell Tsuki to leave. Besides you know how head over heels Jungkook is for you,”

No. You don’t. Often times your friend group would tease you and Jungkook and would always say how in love he was with you but you never fully saw it.

Sure he’s defended you multiple times, has come to your rescue on multiple occasions, and always walks you home but maybe that was just him being nice.

He’d have to do much more for you to feel fully confident in his feelings towards you.

“Stop it. You would never,” you say leaning your head on her shoulder following the pace of the group.

“Tsuki!” you hear her call out and immediately panic resulting in you giving her a minor hit on her arm before staring at Tsuki and smiling at her. You end up making eye contact with Jungkook who also turned around.

“Nothing! Are we almost there?” Sua ask.

“We’re here!” she says pointing the bright shop filled with a variety of snacks.

Jimin and Minhyuk run inside grabbing snacks they know your group would enjoy leaving you, Sua, Jungkook, and Tsuki outside to stare at all the keychains, bracelets, and postcards.

Tsuki drags Jungkook over to a table opposite of you and Sua before she begins picking out random items.

“Got them! Let’s go” Jimin and Minhyuk walk out of the store with 1 bag filled to the brim of snacks for the 6 of you.

Tsuki begins to lead the group once more to a different destination in mind.

This time she led you to a steep hill. Not too steep but steep enough. You felt your legs giving out just from looking at it.

“I told you guys it was a bit of a walk but I promise the sights on the way up are so worth it!” she says with desperation in her voice hoping you all wouldn’t mind.

When you got ready this morning you weren’t exactly dressing for a hike.

Tsuki smiles and begins walking up and was followed by Jungkook and wherever Jungkook goes so do Jimin and Minhyuk.

“Let’s go,” Sua says walking a slower pace then the rest yet you still felt the burn after some time.

“Up ahead is a famous landmark if you guys want to go even further. You can see further out and it’s pretty during the day. Besides it’s a weekday and not many people are around if you guys are up for it,” Tsuki told the group.

You had all been walking for about 20 minutes and had finally reached an area with a bench and a sight.

“Is it the same one that people post all over their Instagram accounts to seem adventurous? Because if so, I am in,” Jimin’s eyes light up

“Yeah I mean we’re already here,” Minhyuk says with energy received after eating a bar of chocolate.

The group begins to move again before you interrupt.

“You guys go ahead! I’m going to rest here and wait for you guys. My shoes are making it slightly uncomfortable to walk,” you voice gets audibly quieter as you speak.

You look at Jungkook whose eyes don’t leave yours for a second watching you lift your leg off the ground just slightly to ease the tension in it.

“I’ll stay with you if you want,” Sua says staring at you.

“It’s fine, really, go enjoy the view,” you say looking back at the group and realizing his eyes haven’t left your face at all.

His expression read worried before his attention was pulled by Tsuki, “Jungkook, let’s go?” she begins walking away and Jungkook stares at you one last time before following suit.

You watch as the rest of the group continues walking uphill and sit on the bench staring out.

It had been about half an hour since the group left and you were growing bored.

As you take out your phone a hand reaches in front of your face holding a carton of strawberry milk with a straw poked in.

Jungkook always does it for you.

“You didn’t go with the rest of the group?” you say smiling up at him and take the strawberry milk from his hands.

“I saw a stand of drinks when we were walking and you said strawberry milk always makes you feel better,” you listen to him as you take a sip of the sweet drink and watch him sit next to you.

“Besides, I’m tired anyways,” he looks back up to where the group originally left from before speaking once more, “…they’re probably going to take a while. Do you want to explore?” he says looking at you.

“Explore?” you stare at him as he smiles at you and begins grabbing your bag and placing it over his shoulder and allowing you to get up before walking a bit further down.

“Tsuki failed to mention there’s a cable car that takes you directly to the land mark,” Jungkook says leading you to the cable car waiting for passengers.

“Oh my god if Sua found out about this she would be so annoyed! She was also starting to get irritated with all the walking,” you say taking another sip of your drink.

He’s staring at you like you hung the stars and leads you to the cable car before the two of you sit and watch the trees pass by as the machine gets higher and higher.

“You’re not afraid?” he says looking over at you and you shake your head.

“There’s nothing to be afraid of when I’m with you,” you say with the biggest smile and he stares away before you can watch his face flush

From there you completely forgot about your friends, Tsuki, and time.

Jungkook led you to other areas he thought you’d like. He bought you both ice cream and even bought you a small plushie to put on your bag because you said it reminded you of him. Eventually you two ended up on the beach collecting shells and staring at the sunset. Afterwards you decided to enjoy the view from the pier.

You watched him staring out at the birds flying above the waters and promised yourself you wouldn’t give up. Even if it took you years for him to reciprocate his feelings you would not be giving up.

When he turned to stare at you it caused you to immediately fluster and face the sea pretending you weren’t staring.

He was the one watching you this time. He was thinking about the carnival that’s coming to your city soon. He was thinking about the fireworks they would be releasing at 10 PM sharp. He was thinking about how you would react to him asking you out.

Would you turn him down? Jungkook was well aware your feelings for him were serious but he was never sure how to make it obvious he too had them.

Would you say yes and kiss him like you had in his dreams?

He would just have to wait and hope for it all to workout.

[dckweed]

THE NEXT THING YOU KNOW, gator tillman

in which gator tillman and his arranged bride figure out life and each other and what a real relationship means to them.

warnings: mentions and depictions of abuse, mentions of bruises, arranged marriages, romance, humor, dead parents, slow burn relationship (not completely but not not), basically we know the tillman men are asswipes so i 100% see Roy forcing gator into this kind of situation for money for his militia, eventual smut with kinks such as thigh riding, gun play, choking, spanking, lots of marking and possible spit play.

guess who's back :) torn ligament in my hand has officially been cleared for normal use (even though i've technically been using it like normal ((shhhhh don't tell my GM that)), anyway..) and im back with my babies!! originally, and you can ask @xxbookdrunkdemigodxx , i had planned this to be a little longer and lowkey include some smutty pieces, but, after sitting down and reading over the whole thing this afternoon i felt comfortable with this just being part six and letting the rest of what i had planned come together for part seven :) we've been working very hard behind the scenes to worldbuild for gator and his pearlie..

also, as a reminder i love receiving asks about these two! i also love recieving maybe some drabble ideas too :) my inbox is always open!

series masterlist here, series playlist here.

PART SIX: the bed, the smack and the date.

The weekend with Gator and his sisters was absolutely blissful compared to what you would probably be going back home to. Your fiancé had taken you home early Monday morning after you had helped drop off the girls, his parents on their way back from their trip, driving your car (which at the time you hadn’t realized was all part of his plan to keep you away from Boyd for as long as he could without it being suspicious) with you in the passenger seat, dancing bleary-eyed to the music playing through the speakers from your attached phone, one of your expensive fancy iced coffee’s (that he had happily paid for) in your hand. He couldn’t keep the smile from his lips as he watched you, something about the moment just so wholly you that he couldn’t help but wish he had more time to bask in it, but he was already pulling down the long dirt lane that belonged to Boyd, the house not too far off in the distance. 

“Thank you for drivin’ me..” You say, reaching up on your tip toes to kiss his cheek. He leans down just the littlest bit to make it easier for you and you can’t help but to blush at the action as he walks you up to the porch, your bag from the weekend clutched in the hand that he didn’t have loosely on the small of your back, guiding you. 

He hums in response, watching you turn your house key in the door. “I don’t have to be at work until tonight..” He says, following you over the threshold. “Figured maybe we could go back to sleep for a few hours..go get a late lunch or something later?” He had absolutely no intention of leaving you by yourself in the same house as Boyd, not after what he knew, and he would do all he could to make sure you were around him as little as possible, without you knowing. 

“..sounds nice..” You yawn, closing the door and shuffling behind him sleepily. You guys had been up awfully late planning the engagement party, set to be held next weekend, and hadn’t fallen asleep until about an hour before it was time to get the girls up, he had insisted on getting your things packed up and the both of you getting out of the house before his parents came back and despite being exhausted, you weren’t going to argue with him, not wanting to have to put on a show or face any questions about the wedding or dress shopping just yet. “Y’gonna snuggle with me?” “Pearl!” The tone in his voice is cause for concern, but for some reason, with Gator here, you don’t put yourself on high alert. “What have I told you abou-” He comes from his office, stepping into the large entrance of the house, eyes locking on the man behind you as you both turn towards his voice, Gator already on the staircase. “Gator, what are you doing here this morning?” He paints on a cordial face, his voice turning pleasant, but you see the way he looks at you. 

Gator puts a hand on your shoulder, pulling you against his firm body though he stands about two stairs above you. “Morning Sir.” The same coolness he uses with his father lacing through his voice, his hand squeezes your shoulder soothingly, as if trying to massage the tension out of it. “We were up all night planning our engagement party, and with my parents coming home this morning, we figured we’d come here to get some sleep..” You’re looking up at him and he looks down, giving you a small smile. “Right hon?” You nod your head, putting a hand over top of the one he has on your shoulder as you give your step-father a small, gentle smile. “Figured we’d go get a late lunch or somethin’ before I head in to work later this evening too..” 

Boyd seems hesitant but clearly doesn’t want to argue and simply nods his head, dropping whatever he was about to yell at you about before. “Right..i’ll make sure you’re not disturbed.” He says, turning to go back into his office. 

You both watch him walk away, leaving the two of you in your slightly awkward embrace. “What was that about snuggling?” Gator asks, his voice playful once the office door is shut firmly behind the man. You roll your eyes at him and turn around, swatting his butt playfully as he chuckles and starts heading up the stairs ahead of you. 

Your bed looks so warm and inviting when you walk in that you don’t even bother to take off your shoes before diving right into the middle of it, breathing in the smell of your favorite fabric softener. “God, i fucking missed this bed..” You groan, stretching. 

“Oh i’m sorry, is my bed not good enough for you?” Gator asks from the foot of the bed, you feel one of his large warm hands on your ankle, pulling your sandal off for you before tossing it unceremoniously onto the floor, doing the same for your other foot before crawling up the bed to lay next to you, his shirt and basketball shorts somehow having been shed and tossed onto the floor as well. 

“Your bed is fine but it’s..such a boy bed.” You say, scooting up towards your pillows so you can get underneath of your fluffy duvet, rubbing against his warm body as you go. “And it’s small..” 

“The hell does that even mean?” He asks, bewildered as he turns onto his side, draping an arm over your waist like he had been doing the past couple of nights to get comfortable. Now that he had done it, he found it awfully soothing. 

“It means that it was very obviously slept in by a boy for its entire life.” You counter, snuggling yourself against his chest, your ass wiggling against him as you pull the comforter up to your chin, his grip around your waist tightens but you don’t question it, happy to be in bed and relaxed. “It’s all hard and lumpy and cold..not nearly as inviting as rhonda..”

He lifts his head up, peering down at you through narrowed eyes. “Pearl you did not seriously name your fuckin’ bed.” He says, absolutely bewildered by you. 

“Named yours too,” You yawn, comfortable as you look back at him. “Steve.” 

“Steve?” He snorts, and you can practically hear his eyes rolling as he lays his head back down. “If anything, my bed is named like..Brock or something..something bro-y, you know?” 

“Brock is such a dickwad name, Steve is much better.” You cackle when you feel him flick the back of your head before swatting your ass when you start wiggling around. 

“Shut up and go to sleep you fuckin’ dipshit..” He says, and you really don’t need any more urging than that. 

Sleeping with Gator is like sleeping with a life sized teddy bear. He’s warm and snuggly, and despite his hard body, he’s quite soft. You’re not surprised when you wake up with your face buried in his chest, your body half slung over his own around four that afternoon. He had woken up first and had just laid there, his hand ghosting up and down your back as he stared at your dresser, hazel eyes focused on the photos smattering the top of it. 

“Gator?” He hums in response, turning his head to look down at you. His hand stops moving, and you miss the soothingness of it almost immediately. “What time is it?” 

A smile tugs at the corners of his lips, the hand that wasn’t on your back going to rake through his messy hair. “We slept all day..” His voice isn’t gravelly like it normally is when he’s slept and you wonder just how long he’s been awake for. “It’s a little after four..” You groan, knowing you’re not possibly going to get any sleep tonight. 

“Boyd’s not going to be pleased..” You sigh, rubbing your eyes with one hand as you push yourself up with the other, Gator’s hand falling from your back. You don’t notice the pout on his lips as you let out a yawn, running a hand through your hair. Your stomach growls as you stretch, and you let out a gasp, embarrassed. 

“Hungry?” H chuckles, watching you from his perch on the pillows as you quickly crawl off the bed, giving him a nice view of your supple ass. “Go on and get dressed, I'll take you to an early dinner..”

You don’t need to be told twice. You emerge from your walk-in closet merely a few minutes later, a pink co-ord set on. The pants were a sweatpants material, but clung nicely to your legs and sat low slung on your hips, leaving your belly on display, giving Gator a good view of the belly button piercing he hadn’t realized you had before as it gleamed against your sunkissed skin. You hum as you stand in front of your vanity, arms lifting up as you brush your hair, slicking it back so you can put it up into a claw clip. Your top is the same material as your bottoms, only from wait Gator can tell, much thinner. You are clearly not wearing a bra, your nipples standing at attention under the fabric and he wonders briefly if you’re cold or if the material is tickling you..either way, he found himself thinking that he’d be more than happy to help you remedy the situation if you wanted him to. He swallows thickly as he realizes that you don’t have the zip done up all the way either, your tits pushed up and practically spilling out, but somehow, when you turn around to ask him how your hair looks, he realizes that it’s a perfectly innocent outfit on you, cute and almost certainly wholesome to those who might see you around town this afternoon. 

He wondered if you did that on purpose. If you knew you were sexy, but tried to downplay it with the innocent sweetness that always seemed to exude from you, whether it be in personality or your clothing. He wanted to find out. 

“You look fine..” He tells you, smiling gently at you from his spot on your bed. You beam with happiness, and the sight alone made him want to tell you that a thousand more times if it meant you would smile like that again. “I’m gonna go use the bathroom and get dressed, meet me out by the car?” You hum in agreement and he watches you grab your little white purse off of the top of your dresser, where you had tossed it when you walked in. He narrows his eyes but doesn't say anything, did you think he wouldn’t pay for everything? He wondered as he watched you step out into the hallway. 

“I am so fucked..” He breathes when the door closes behind you, letting out a relieved breath as he removed your thankfully thick comforter from his lap where it had been doing a mighty fine job of concealing his erection that had begun to pop up as he was watching you merely do your hair. 

You try to go down the stairs as quietly as you can, wanting to just slip out the door and avoid Boyd as much as you can, though he seems to sense you before you’ve even made it halfway down. 

“Y/N, my office.” He says (though you don’t see him anywhere), using your birth name in a tone of voice that sends shivers down your spine. You wondered if it was too late to turn around and run back up to your room, to lock yourself in there with Gator, where you knew you were safe..

You close your eyes, taking a deep breath as you step off of the bottom stair and onto the antique rug that lay at the bottom. “Yes, Boyd?” You ask softly, stepping through the doorway of his office when you feel confident enough. If you needed Gator, you knew you would only need to scream and he would come running. 

He looks up from his desk, eyebrows tightly knitted together. He’s poised to say something, though it never leaves his lips and instead, he purses them as he zeroes in on your belly. You flush, moving your purse in front of it. You hadn’t told him that you had gotten it done when you turned eighteen. 

“What the hell is that?” He asks, his voice stiff. He was quite the prim and proper man. He disliked piercings, thought they were rebellious and for people who were going to hell. 

“It’s cute, isn’t it?” You say, hoping that you can sway him from his anger. “I got it done on my birthday last year..” He stands from his desk and strides over to you, faster than you had ever seen before. “Boy-” He pushes your purse out of the way and stares down at it. 

“I ought to rip it out.” He says, voice seething. “It makes you look like a fucking whore, Pearl. Is that what you are? Are you a fucking whore?” You figured this wouldn’t be a good time to tell him that you most definitely were not a virgin. “Your mother would be asha-”

 thwack. 

Your hand stung from the force of the blow you had dealt to his face, smacking him so hard that his head flung to the side. “You do not get to tell me about what my mother would think of me.” You say, tears welling in your eyes. “Not when she was alive, and certainly not fucking now..she was my mom before she was ever your wife, you’d do well to remember that, Boyd.” 

You don’t know what came over you, but you had had enough of your mother being held over your head. You knew that she wouldn’t ever think you were a whore. She wouldn’t ever make you feel the way this man did, and she never did, even when she was alive. Even through all of the years of keeping Boyd’s abuse a secret from her, you knew that your mother had loved you, had cherished you. That was one thing that he had never been able to beat into your head, though he never ceased to try. 

You seem to have shocked him into silence for once in his life, and you take it as you winning whatever the fuck this standoff was, triumphantly but still on edge you turn on your heel and walk out, all but running to the front door before he comes to his senses and chases after you. 

You’re crying by the time Gator comes outside a few moments later, you’re standing next to the Jeep when the front door closes. Quickly, hoping he doesn’t notice you wipe your eyes, brushing away the stray tears as he comes down the walk. Even from where you were you could see his eyebrows furrow, the pep in his step turning into a brisk walk as he rushes towards you. 

“Pearl? What’s wrong, hon?” He asks, voice oddly gentle. One hand cups your face when you try to turn away, wiping away tears as they start to fall again. Your hand still hurts from how hard you had hit him, and you cradle it in your other one. “Why’re you cryin’?” 

You shake your head, looking over his shoulder as best as you can. Boyd is watching you guys from his office window. “Not here..please..” You whisper, looking up at him. “He’s watching us..” He looks briefly over his shoulder, his body shielding your own. “Let’s just go..please..” 

He ushers you into the passenger side of your Jeep, opening and closing the door for you before going around to get in, silently starting the engine before he starts pulling down the drive. It’s not until he’s halfway to town that he speaks again. 

“What happened, pearl?” His voice is soft, gentle and calming but you understand that there’s an edge to it. That finding you in tears wasn’t something that was going to easily be let go in his book and part of you found comfort in that notion. 

“I smacked him.” The car stops so quickly that you have to smack your hand on top of the dashboard to keep yourself from being choked out by your seatbelt. “Ow..” You pout, shaking out your still smarting hand. 

Gator turns to face you completely, one hand still on the wheel as he peers at you from the driver's side. “You did what?” A sense of pride swelled up inside of him at your words, but he was so shocked that he wasn’t sure he had actually heard you properly. 

Your lips quiver as you look at him. “He..he told me i looked like a whore because of my belly button piercing..” His hand tightened on the steering wheel. “And i..and then he told me he should rip it out and that my mama would be ashamed of me and i don’t know what came over me but I smacked him..” Tears glistened in your eyes as you looked up at him, pouty lips and all. “Are you mad at me?” 

What kind of silly question was that? “Babygirl..why would I ever be mad at you for standing up for yourself?” He asks you, and you could have started bawling. “I would be mad if you hadn’t hit him for talking to you that way, you know?” He says, his hand coming to your face to wipe the tears falling from your eyes away. You lean into his touch and he presses his hand against your face even harder as if he was trying to soothe your mind. “Pearl, if anyone ever talks to you that way again or in any fuckin’ way that offends you, you give them what's comin’ you hear me? Even if it’s me.” Just thinking about talking to you that way makes him want to smack his own self. “No, especially if it's me.” You give a teary eyed nod and he leans over the console to place a surprisingly gentle kiss to your forehead. “Good, now let's get you something to eat, okay? Make you feel better..” 

You knew it was too late in the day for it, but you finally weren’t too shy to ask him for it. “Can we get an iced coffee, please Gator?” And somehow, just like always when it came to him in the short time you’d known him, you got what you wanted, he even went in with you this time before walking with you to the diner, enjoying the nice afternoon air with your hand slipped in his. 

It was practically dinner time but neither of you had actually eaten anything yet that day, having spent all of it sleeping and neither of you were surprised when you ordered the heaviest things you could imagine. The two of you talked throughout your meals, eating slowly to enjoy the time together without even realizing it, you enjoyed hearing him tell you about his friends and how he couldn’t wait for you to meet them, all the while people were stopping by your guys’ booth to say hello or introduce themselves and congratulate you guys on your engagement. The entire time however, your mind is locked on to one thought, and it makes you quiet after a while (which is fine because Gator can talk enough for the both of you when he wants to). 

“Whatcha thinkin’ about over there?” He asks suddenly, bringing you out of your thoughts. You’re pushing your side order of french fries around your plate, whats left of your biscuits and gravy coating them. “Whatever it is, looks like you’re pondering awful hard on it..”

You open your mouth to answer before closing it again, not wanting to sound..well..you weren’t sure how you didn’t want to sound but whatever it was, you were worried that your thoughts were going to make you sound annoying in some way or another. “Gator, can I ask you something?” You ask quietly, to which he only hums, taking a bite of his giant burger. “Um..when we..you know..get married..are..is it..um..are we going to like..see other people?” You cringe at your own words, surprised when he chokes on his mountain dew. “Gat-”

“What?” He asks, looking at you as if you were a cat that had grown five heads right in front of him. 

“Well, it’s just that.. You know..I know both of us are being forced to do this..” You start wrinkling your nose in disgust at your own words and wishing you could turn time back about fifty seconds so you wouldn’t have to keep living through this. “We barely know each other, let alone love each other..so i was just..thinking that it’s..it’s okay if you want to carry on a relationship with someone else once we’re..married…” 

The look on his face was one of someone who had just seen a puppy being kicked. Hurt and confusion masked his face as he made a strangled noise in the back of his throat. “No.” He says, finally finding his voice after a few long moments. “It’s not.” You look up at him, confused. “We are getting married, Pearl. The only relationship that should be carried on is with each other..I know we haven’t known each other long, but i’m doing my best here to try and..try and date you at least before we have to go and say ‘I do’ in front of the whole entire town..” He scratches the back of his neck, looking out the large window and into the light of the slowly setting sun. “I want us to have a chance, as crazy as it sounds..You deserve to be happy, Pearl, and I suppose I do too despite what our parents seem to believe..I was hoping to give us a chance at that with each other, you know?” 

You were stunned. You couldn’t think of any words to say as he stares at you, wide eyed and skin flushed, as if he were embarrassed. You find yourself sliding out of the bench seat on your side of the booth and sidling up next to him. “Pea-umhf” You kiss him. Both hands on either side of his face, body as close to his as you can possibly get in the tight fit between the table and seat. He seems completely stunned but doesn’t hesitate to kiss you back, his large hand cupping a side of your face, fingers tangling in your hair as he pulls you harder against his side, struggling to turn to face you properly in the small space. 

You have to take a deep breath when you finally pull away, your mind hazy from the lack of oxygen reaching your brain. Your lips felt swollen and bruised from the intensity of the moment and dammit if you didn’t like it. “So..we’re dating?” You ask, cheeks flushed as you situate yourself next to him, reaching across the tabletop for your dr. pepper. You stay sitting next to him for the rest of dinner, his arm over your shoulders, both of you sneaking in little kisses in between mouthfuls of food. 

taglist: @ruth-barnes @justherebecausesafarisucks @daisy-is-a-writer @xxbookdrunkdemigodxx @girlwiththerubyslippers @keerygal @lilllbabyyy @boa-hemian @sweetdazequeen @emilyj444 @whisperingwillowxox @babyqnn @lou-la-lou @aestheticaltcow @finalmoondragon @boxofsmittens @pollyspocketdimension @kassy-munson @frostandflamesfanfic @mysticalstar30 @totally-bogus-timelady @nerdypinupcrystal @emmiecrush5-blog @witchcovenboys @starksbabie @marrowfrog00 @boop369 @lelenikki @xmalfoyweasleyx @girlwiththerubyslippers @keerysfolklore @gothicwidowsworld @palmtreesx3 @sacr1ficial-lamb @kingdomkitten32 @littlelovebug98 @cillsnostalgia @stardancerluv @iamaconfusedpan @cupofjoekeery @underthecanyonmoon

[kaaaaaaarf]

⭐ a very wolfstar christmas playlist ⭐

You'll laugh, you'll cry (I apologize for my actions, I really have nothing to say for myself), you'll be merry and bright.

1. Handjobs for the Holidays // Broken Social Scene

Let me take you on, we'll get high just a little Try to surface the calm, we don't come inside We've got eyes that leave us in places we don't see

2. The Stars Shine in the Sky Tonight // Eels

I can't live in a world that you have left behind Seen a lot, been through too much But this is where I draw the line It's not where you're coming from It's where you're going to And I just want to go with you [...] The stars shine in the sky tonight Like a path beyond the grave When you wish upon the star There's two of us you need to save

3. The Day After Tomorrow // Phoebe Bridgers

I close my eyes every night And I dream that I can hold you They fill us full of lies, everyone buys About what it means to be a soldier I still don't know how I'm supposed to feel About all the blood that's been spilled Will God, on His throne, get me back home On the day after tomorrow?

4. Two Queens In a King Sized Bed // girl in red

I don't have a lot to give But I would give you everything All my time is yours to spend Let me wrap you in with my skin With my skin Two queens in a king-sized bed Like angels in the snow My only wish is one more year And then I want them all Your freckled cheeks, our tangled feet The closer, the better it gets So let's stay right here Until forever disappears

5. The Blood We Bleed // Tom Odell

I walk back home, you're all alone The ivy's grown, it's Christmas Eve I brought some wine, it tastes like shite But it provides the spark we need Come on, let's fight, don't be polite You know the knife that cuts me deep You treat me tough, we call it love But it's your blood, I'm gonna bleed

6. Snow On The Beach // Taylor Swift (ft Lana Del Rey)

One night, a few moons ago I saw flecks of what could've been lights But it might just have been you Passing by unbeknownst to me Life is emotionally abusive And time can't stop me quite like you did And my flight was awful, thanks for asking I'm unglued, thanks to you And it's like snow at the beach Weird but fuckin' beautiful Flying in a dream, stars by the pocketful You wanting me tonight feels impossible

7. Better Than Anyone // Mary Beth Maziarz

For weeks I've been crying too much Ditched my zoloft, still won't be touched By the world moving by, Christmas lights Can you believe it, already again, (I know you can, cause) You know me better than anyone Anyone, ever so far You show me things that I never see Thanks for completing me. . . the way that you do (the way that you do)

8. Christmas Lights // Coldplay

Those Christmas lights Light up the street Maybe they'll bring her back to me And then all my troubles will be gone Oh, Christmas lights keep shining on

9. Pick Up Where We Left Off // Upsahl

We've been through the highs and lows Through the fires and the smoke Only ones that don't let go (Oh, yeah) I could hold in the palm of my hand Yeah, we're dancing in the laugher, swingin' from the rafters Life is moving fast, wonder where it goes Drinking after midnight, I know all your white lies You know I'll still laugh at all your bad jokes Cause it feels like no time's been lost When we pick up where we left off (Ah-ah)

10. Thank God It's Christmas // Queen

Oh, my love, we've had our share of tears Oh, my friends, we've had our hopes and fears Oh, my friends, it's been a long hard year But now it's Christmas Yes, it's Christmas Thank God it's Christmas The moon and stars seem awful cold and bright Let's hope the snow will make this Christmas right

11. Invisible // Zara Larsson

How many nights do you lie awake In the darkest place? How many days do you shed the pain Of your darker days? All I know is If happy lives a mile away A couple steps is all it takes If kindness lives in everyone Then all it takes is standing up Can't touch it, see it But you can always feel it

12. Christmas Is Going To The Dogs // Eels

Well, Christmas is going to the dogs We'd rather have chew toys than Yule logs And things aren't looking very good, it's true So I'll just lay here and chew

13. We're The Lucky Ones // The Marías

I can't wait for Christmas We'll be happier than we have I can't wait for Christmas We'll laugh and we'll dance and we'll cry We've come this far With beating hearts We're the lucky ones, ah-ah

14. Brightest Star // Chris Isaak

I saw a star above the clouds It was the brightest one And I have just begun to understand you You give me reason to believe And though I've doubted you You always see me through I would owe to you Your love

15. Little Things // ABBA

Little things Like your naughty eyes You'd consider bringing me a breakfast tray But there's a price Little things Like that happy noise As a brand new day is dawning On this lovely Christmas morning

16. Song For a Winter's Night // Sarah McLachlan

The lamp is burnin' low upon my table top The snow is softly falling The air is still in the silence of my room I hear your voice softly calling If I could only have you near To breathe a sigh or two I would be happy just to hold the hands I love On this winter night with you

17. Fool's Gold // Lucy Dacus

He'll blame the alcohol And you'll blame the full moon She'll blame the fall of man But I blame the part of you That can't let up on the reigns You've got life in a chokehold You say that it's all the same All glittering fool's gold

18. Happy Xmas (War is Over) // John Lennon

A very Merry Christmas And a happy New Year Let's hope it's a good one Without any fear War is over, if you want it War is over now

[photogirl894]

"Sun and Rain Part 2: Age of the Empire"

Chapter 23

"Mob Funnel"

A "Bad Batch" fanfic!

Pairing: Hunter x fem OC, Echo (more best friend pairing)

A/N: Wow, when inspiration hits, it hits! Cuz here I am with another chapter a couple days after the last one when I had insane writer's block for months! This is nuts!

I hope you all enjoy this chapter because I know I certainly did 😊 There is a scene later between Echo and Lex and, once again, I have more songs for them for my "Sun and Rain" playlist. Parts of the scene were inspired by "I See You" from the movie "Avatar" as well as "Angel Cry" by Corbin Bleu, both songs I enjoy a lot! (Also, if you play Baldur's Gate 3 and know a bit about Astarion's romance storyline, there's a small reference to that in here, as well 😉)

And good news: after this chapter, we'll be getting back to the canon storyline of the Bad Batch show, picking up with episode 7, "Battle Scars"! 😁

Happy reading, my lovelies!! 💜

Taglist: @the-sad-batch , @nimata-beroya , @intrepidmare , @cole-kenxbi , @tech-aficionado , @ladykatakuri , @d1n0-dan , @sammi9498 , @darthzero22 , @scarlettrose9901 , @tech-deck , @thebadbatchscyare , @chxpsi , @ilikemymendarkandfictional , @4pplecider , @locitapurplepink , @l-lend , @nekotaetae , @eternalwaffle , @merkitty49 , @avathebestx , @idoubleswearimawriter , @techs-stitches , @fantasyproductions

《 Chapter 22

》 Chapter 24

All chapters (Part 2) (Part 1)

Explanation: The Bad Batch and Koriena Force work out their escape from the gala and particular members from both squads deal with the aftermath of certain decisions that were made during the mission.

The position Echo found himself in was the last thing he'd ever expected. 

He and Lex had heard the security guards were close, Lex had pushed him up against the wall, saying she was going to take a risk...and now, suddenly, she was...passionately kissing him!

He had expected her to charge and start fighting the security guards on her own. How had it come to this?

His whole body locked up in complete and utter shock, yet his lips didn't fail to respond in kind and kiss her back. Then one of her hands came up to his face while the other pulled his arm around her waist as she kept going, deepening the kiss even more. 

She broke away for a split second to whisper, "Go with me here," and then her mouth returned to his with just as much vigor as before.

With all logical thought having disappeared from his mind--even though he still didn't fully understand how they'd gotten to this point--Echo obeyed without hesitation and pulled her flush against him in his arms. His good hand moved up her back as his lips danced in perfect tandem with hers, losing himself in the kiss. Her arms came up about his neck and pulled him even closer. Kissing her felt as amazing as he dreamed it would be; his heart was about to burst inside him and for but a moment, he forgot why they were even there. There was only him and his Zabrak beauty.

"Hey! You're not supposed to be down here!"

The voice of a guard calling out to them and Lex abruptly breaking the kiss pulled Echo back to reality, much to his dismay.

She turned to face the four guards that were approaching them, but she kept her hands on Echo's chest. Then she feigned embarrassment and cried out, "Oh, we are so sorry, sir. We just...snuck away to be...alone for a few minutes." She snuggled up a little closer to him, which prompted him to bring a hand up around her shoulders. "I'm sure you understand," she added to the guard. 

The guard, however, stated in return, "Even still, this is restricted to guests. Please return to the main area or, if you wish to be alone, you are free to leave and go elsewhere."

"Of course, sir. Our apologies. We'll head back right away," Lex complied. 

She took Echo by the hand and pulled him along behind her. Once the security was behind them and they moved into another hallway, they both heaved sighs of relief at the fact they managed to get out of that situation without having to fight. It was a miracle. 

"I…I can't believe that actually worked," Echo commented, still slightly in a daze as they kept going. 

"Honestly...I wasn't sure if it would either," Lex said back. "I'm as surprised as you are. Come on, let's hurry back!"

They both picked up the pace to get themselves back to the main ballroom. Lex informed everyone over comms that they managed to get away and were going to rendezvous back with the group in the ballroom.

As Echo ran, a single thought ran through his mind: "She's crazy...she really is a lot like Fives." 

Having this thought a second time about her since after Balmorra made it dawn on him that maybe that was why he was so drawn to her; why he felt a deep connection with her. She was just like Fives, someone that meant a lot to him and whom he connected with deeply before. Now, he was seeing a kindred spirit of Fives in Lex. It all made sense to him now. 

He'd been doomed to fall for her from the start. 

He also didn't fail to notice that as they were running…her hand was still holding his. 

"Omega, ensure the child is secure. We're heading to engage a cargo ship," Tech informed Omega over the Aurora's comm system as he and Irys reached the cockpit of the ship and took their seats. 

She responded back through the speaker, “Kida told me the sound of the ship flying lulls Kori to sleep, so he’s sleeping now. Try not to wake him!”

Irys snickered and Tech replied, “Duly noted.”

As Irys continued to fly their ship upward into the sky in the direction they’d scanned the incoming ships, Tech started running an additional scan of the cargo ship’s systems, now that they were getting closer. He needed to know if they had any weapons or additional features on the ship they needed to watch out for when taking it down. 

“Anything coming up on the scan?” Irys asked him.

“It’s running now,” he answered. He waited a few more seconds before the full scan report appeared on the screen. Adjusting his goggles, he quickly looked it over before declaring, “Irys, we need to deviate our course.”

“What? Why?” she questioned.

“The cargo ship has its shields up and they’re too powerful for our guns. Veer off now!” he cried.

Irys jerked the controls, steering the ship hard to the right, and removed themselves out of the way of the cargo ship’s course. Once they were secure, she exclaimed, “Well, great! What are we supposed to do then? Those shields will be up until the ship lands. By then, it might be too late. We risk the ship landing too close to the mansion and, if we destroy it on the ground, that could put our friends’ lives in danger.”

“Indeed. That would be too great a chance to take,” he replied, putting a hand to his chin in thought.

They heard the doors to the cockpit slide open and Omega came running in, her eyes wide with concern. “What’s going on? Why did we suddenly pull away?”

“The cargo ship has its shields up. Our guns will be useless against it,” Irys explained.

“What’s the plan, then?” Omega asked.

“Uncertain,” answered Tech. “We can’t destroy it here and if we let the ship land before taking it out, we risk either the destruction harming the teams on the ground or the weapons getting into the Empire’s hands.”

“That and there’s no way any of our teammates will be able to get to the weapons without being discovered,” added Irys.

Omega, who had been listening closely to the other two, was thinking hard of another solution that could possibly work in their favor. Then an idea came to her. “Tech, would you be able to hack into the cargo ship?”

“If we were to get closer to it, I could. What are you thinking, Omega?” Tech inquired curiously.

"Why not just crash the ship?" she suggested. 

"Crash it?" Irys repeated. 

Omega then explained her plan to them: “It's simple. What if you override the cargo ship’s flight control system and steer the ship remotely from here? You could just crash the ship, both destroying the weapons and controlling where it lands, making sure the explosion isn’t near the mansion so it doesn’t put our friends in danger.”

Both Tech and Irys shared impressed looks. 

“That…actually might work,” commented Irys.

“I agree. If we can make the ship crash a distance away from the mansion, it won’t put our squads at risk, but can still cause enough of a disturbance for them to make their exit from the gala. Remarkable thinking, Omega,” Tech complimented the young Clone, who beamed brightly with delight. “Irys, take us back closer to the cargo ship. Once I’ve hacked into the system, avert our course away from it so we can’t be followed by the escort shuttle.”

As Irys redirected the Aurora, she mentioned, “They’ll be too focused on the cargo ship to worry about where we’re going, anyway.” Then she opened back up the comm frequency with the others and informed them, “Aurora to ground teams: the cargo ship is shielded and we can’t take it out in the air, but we have another solution. Tech’s going to hack into their flight system and orchestrate a controlled crash away from the mansion. It should still cause enough of a scene that hopefully, it can help you guys make your escape.”

They heard Echo respond first, “Copy that. Good plan, Tech.”

Tech replied, “I cannot take the credit for this plan. That belongs solely to Omega.”

Hunter’s voice came through, “Impressive. Great work, kid.”

“Thanks, Hunter,” Omega said, smiling to herself proudly.

With a new plan in motion, Irys kept the Aurora on a steady course back in the direction of the cargo ship, keeping a fair speed to make it seem like they weren't pursuing it, lest the escort shuttle come after them. Tech kept a close eye on the screens in front of him waiting for the opportune moment to slice into the ship's flight system. 

"Just a little closer," he said.

"I'm doing my best," replied Irys.

A brief moment later, there was a beep on the screen and Tech stated, "The process is complete."

Irys cast him a cunning grin and said in return, "Then bring her down, hotshot."

Back in the mansion in the midst of the gala, Kimber was finishing up another song and had requested a quick respite from performing, ducking behind the stage for a short time. She passed it off as just needing a moment to recoup her voice while in reality, she had heard about Tech's plan to crash the cargo ship and was hoping to stall long enough so that, once it happened, she could make an easier break for it with the others. 

She ducked behind a wall where no one else could see her, activated her ear comm and whispered, “Guys, I’m running out of songs here. Do we have what we need?”

“Lex and I acquired the files on the weapons being brought in. That should be about what we need,” answered Echo.

Then she heard Hunter’s voice, “Kida and I have the information about Crassus, as well.”

“The big guy and I caught a snippet of info you’ll want to hear, too,” also added Rina. "Mak Plain, the Banking Clan guy, is the one funding the weapons the Senator is expecting."

"Sounds about right," said Kimber. 

“Speaking of which, sounds like we should be expecting a commotion here soon once that cargo ship goes down,” Rina pointed out. 

“I’m not certain the ship crash will be enough to deter anyone here at the gala,” said Kida. “If I were a party guest and heard a crash like that outside, I wouldn’t want to go anywhere near it.”

Then Wrecker’s voice came through, “She’s got a point. We need something to happen inside that’ll make everyone go running.”

“I placed some detonators in the Senator’s office,” said Lex. “That should definitely freak anyone out. Plus, I’ve got smoke bombs we can use, if needed, to give us some cover.”

"I brought some, too!" added Wrecker.

Rina then said in addition, “If we really wanna add to the panic, everyone just pull out your blasters and we’ll start a firefight. I doubt any of these Empire snobs even bothered to come with weapons, so no one’s gonna want to stick around if they’re not armed. Then we’ll only have to deal with the security guards, which should be a cinch.” 

There was a small moment of silence before Hunter finally spoke, “That may be our only chance at getting out of here. Just everyone be careful and focus on escaping more than fighting.”

“So what’s our escape plan once that happens?” inquired Kimber.

Then Irys chimed in, “There’s a back entrance to the mansion out on a terrace where the Senator keeps his personal shuttle. You can head that way.”

“We’ll want to make sure the rest of the guests don’t go that way, too, though,” Kida put in.

“What should we do then?” asked Lex. 

Kimber came up with an idea right away and suggested, “We go for Mob Funnel.”

“Ah, I was hoping you’d say that, boss lady!” Rina quietly cheered.

“What’s Mob Funnel?” asked Wrecker’s voice.

Kimber explained, “It's a plan the girls and I came up with a while ago. We cut off all the other exits to the mansion except for one, which can be the main entrance at the front. That way, everyone will be focused on finding the right way out of here instead of worrying about anything else. Once all the guests head that way, we’ll all sneak out the back.”

“I can lock all the doors from here,” stated Irys. “The rest of you focus on the rest.”

“Ooh, I do love causing drama,” everyone heard Kida say with glee.

Now with a plan in place, Kimber told everyone, “I’ll make my way out somehow. I’ll join in the chaos once it begins.”

Then she heard Tech’s voice: “Prepare yourselves, everyone. The cargo ship will be making its crash landing shortly.”

“Copy that, Tech. Everyone, get into position,” Kimber ordered. She then went back over by the backstage door and peeked back out at the party, looking for her friends. She spotted everyone where they should be: Rina and Wrecker near the back, Hunter and Kida by the East wall and Echo and Lex, now back in the ballroom, by the West. Seeing they were all ready, she casually strolled back out onto the stage, where a few nearby Imperials began to cheer for her arrival. 

Right then, they heard the distant boom of a crash outside just a few clicks away. Many of the partygoers all gasped and cried aloud as they heard the sound and some could see out some windows the explosion nearby. There were a few groups already crowding by the windows to see what was going on.

The Bad Batch and Koriena Force then heard Tech inform them, “The ship is down and the escort shuttle just landed. I would expect extra company once you all begin your escape.”

“We can take them,” answered Lex. “Ready on your signal, Hunter.”

“All right, go, Lex,” they heard Hunter say.

Immediately, there was another loud explosion from down the Western corridor that echoed through the ballroom, causing many of the Imperial guests to scream out in alarm. The security guards throughout the room all raised their weapons, now on high alert. 

"We're under attack!" cried out someone in the crowd.

Kimber relished in being able to finally fight instead of entertaining the enemy, so she dropped her act, ripped off her heavy sun crown and yelled out, "Party's over, Imperials!" Then she thrust out her arm and threw her crown with great pleasure at the nearest Imperial trooper, hitting him right in the head and sending him toppling to the ground. Then she pulled out her blaster from one of the folds of her dress and fired a couple shots at the ceiling, the sounds of the blaster bolts causing even more of an uproar as people began to scatter and cry out. 

"Rebels! They're here!" screamed a feminine voice. 

Arsin Crassus, who was still close to where Hunter and Kida were, exclaimed in astonishment, "That's impossible! How did the rebels possibly get in?"

Kida came up beside him and stated, "Simple…they got their hands on an invitation." When he turned to face, she grinned proudly at him and then proceeded to punch him right in the throat with her left hand and then, when he was gasping for air, threw another punch with her right square between the eyes. He slumped to the ground right after that. 

"You certainly don't pull your punches," commented Hunter.

Kida crouched down and answered as she pulled a code cylinder from Crassus' pocket, "Nope. Besides…he was incredibly annoying."

Hunter snickered as the two of them pulled out their own weapons and ducked behind a nearby pillar to escape incoming fire from the guards.

Outside, the team on the escort shuttle, now with the wreckage of the cargo ship behind them, approached the outside security. 

One of the guards cried out to them, "We've had reports of an explosion inside! Rebels have infiltrated the gala."

The commander, clad in black armor and carrying a sniper rifle, responded in a snide voice, "Secure the outer perimeter and evacuate the mansion."

"Yes, sir!" replied the guard before they all ran off. 

The commander turned to his squad. "The cargo ship is lost. Move inside and take out the rebels."

"Understood, Commander," responded one of his soldiers. Then they ran off towards the mansion, their commander in tow.

In the ballroom, it was absolute chaos. The guests were running for any door or egress they could find, only to discover they were locked and panic ensued. Wrecker was punching and throwing Imperial troopers left and right while Rina was taking out their kneecaps with her rope dart. Hunter and Kida were still shielded behind a pillar, jumping out from behind every few seconds to blast at the security. Kimber had jumped from the stage and had knocked over a table for cover.

Echo and Lex found themselves back to back, blasting at the guards that were trying to surround them. 

“Looks like we ended up having to fight to escape after all,” Lex pointed out over her shoulder.

“Yeah, not sure we can kiss our way out of this one,” Echo teased, grinning to himself in amusement.

She shrugged. “I mean…we could try, but I’m pretty sure we’d get shot,” she replied. 

Her response surprised the both of them and after taking a couple more blaster shots, they glanced over their shoulders at each other, a sheepish look on their faces as the memory of what happened earlier in the corridor came back to them. 

They heard a grunt and then a thud right behind them as they noticed Rina taking out two more troopers that had almost gotten the jump on them.

“Hey, keep your head in the game, guys!” she chided them. 

With her focus back on the mission, Lex withdrew a smoke bomb, activated it and lobbed it across the room, setting off a cloud of smoke that only made the rest of the guests panic even more. She activated a second one and threw it to the other side, creating a second smoke cloud.

Wrecker saw Lex throwing her own bombs and decided to follow suit. He took out a couple of his own smoke bombs and tossed them randomly through the room, creating even more chaos. Though, as the crowd of partygoers were clamoring to get out of the room, pushing and shoving their way through the crowd, he got caught in the middle of the sea of people. In the midst of the craziness, he then got hit over the head by a trooper’s gun and his mask was knocked off. Lucky for him, before the trooper could see him, Kida saw what happened and shot the guard. 

However, the commander of the escort squad managed to push his way through to the entryway of the ballroom and he saw the larger guest lose his mask. It was a face familiar to him and one he didn’t expect to see.

“Wrecker.”

His keen eyes scanned the rest of the room to try and see where the others he knew would be there were, but the crowd of panicked people pushing and shoving him made it hard for him to focus.

Over their comms, the teams heard Irys tell them, “Make your way to the back entrance now while the crowds are running out. Now’s your chance.”

“Everyone, move!” called Hunter, signaling the others to follow him and head for the other way.

With Kida’s help, Wrecker had gotten his mask back on and the two of them ran the opposite direction of the crowd. Lex and Echo had immediately followed orders and ran after Hunter, making sure to blast any troopers that tried to follow them. Rina joined up with Kida and Wrecker, as well.

Kimber went to follow her friends when something suddenly caught her eye and she found herself unable to move for a moment. In the middle of the crowd of people, she spotted a set of black armor and a helmet with a green visor, even through a faint cloud of smoke. She knew that armor…all too well.

"No…it can't be!"

Echo’s voice crying out, “Kim, let’s go!” broke her out of her brief stupor. She kept her eyes on the other figure for a moment longer as she made her way after her friends, who still was trying to get past the crowd. Finally, she turned away and ran the way her friends were going, her heart aching deep on the inside despite the success of the mission. 

He thought his eyes had been playing tricks on him. Surely, the woman in gold couldn't have been her…but then he'd heard another voice he knew yell for her and he knew right away that he had been right. 

"Kimber."

So Clone Force 99 really had been there at the gala…which would then explain the sudden loss of control on the cargo ship that led to the crash. That had to have been Tech's doing. They had been there and had managed to escape. How had that been possible? He hadn't seen the Marauder anywhere or picked up its ship signature close by. 

He had barely missed them…but Crosshair knew of a way he could potentially find them and was determined to use it eventually. 

The infiltration of the Imperial masquerade gala by the Bad Batch and the Koriena Force proved to be an overall success. Despite the obstacles, they'd come away with valuable information they could pass on to Cid. Once they were back on the Aurora, they all immediately started getting out of their outfits, wanting to be back in either their armor or just regular clothes. For Hunter and the ladies, they also didn't want to have their faces caked in makeup anymore either. 

In one of the refreshers on the ship, Kimber was helping Hunter wash off the makeup on his face. 

"You did amazing tonight, just like I knew you would," he told her as she ran the damp cloth over his cheek, the darkness of his tattooed skin beginning to emerge.

She chuckled. "Thank you, darling. Though, I'm going to say this: after tonight, I don't ever want to wear a dress again!"

"I don't blame you," he said back. 

Then she changed her mind. "Well, actually, that's a lie. I do want to wear a dress for one occasion eventually," she said.

His eyes narrowed curiously. "What would that be?" 

She smiled up at him. "Our future wedding."

Hearing that answer nearly made his heart leap right out of him and all he could do in response was kiss her firmly and with devotion. 

"I greatly look forward to that day," he said quietly against her lips.

Kimber chuckled gladly again and then continued getting the rest of the makeup off his face. Before long, she could fully see his tattoo that she adored on his face. Then she took his bandana that she'd grabbed and wrapped it carefully around his head. The undercover Hunter was now gone and her beloved Sergeant was back. 

"Now there's the Hunter I know and love," she said. 

With that done, he left the refresher so she could finish getting all off of her makeup. However, it took her a moment to get started as her mind was distracted, remembering the figure she'd seen at the last moment of the gala.

“Crosshair.”

He had been there. Her brother had only  been yards away from her on the other side of the ballroom, fighting to get inside. As far as she knew, he didn’t seem to notice she was there. All the weeks she’d spent missing him, sending him secret messages and desperately wanting to see him again and then suddenly, he'd been there in the same place as her and her squad. She could've called out to him at that moment, had she chosen to. It was what she wanted to do more than anything, but she'd found herself incapable of using her voice for it had gotten caught in her throat. She knew him being there was dangerous for her and her friends, but she so desperately wanted to believe that there was still good in him; that he was still the partner and brother she loved.

Why? Why had fate chosen to almost rub that in her face; that Crosshair had been at that gala and she couldn't go to him? Was there even anything she could've done? Most likely not, unfortunately. If anything, it would've put her and her friends in greater danger. The only takeaway from it all was now, her heart was hurting and had to try her hardest not cry. Especially around Hunter. She knew she could never tell him or the other Clones that Crosshair had been there. They wouldn't react well at all. That only hurt her even more, having to keep secrets about Crosshair from them…but it was what she had to do. 

Finally, she pulled herself together, cleaned herself of her makeup, changed back into one of her civilian outfits and met up with the others who had changed already out in the main area of the ship. They all ran through the finer details of the information they'd acquired as well as went over how the mission went in their eyes. Though, a great part of the conversation focused on the fact that Rina and Wrecker could dance, considering how shocked everyone was about it. 

Very soon, Irys landed the ship on a mountainside not far outside a town that was miles away from the Senator's mansion. There, they figured they could rest for the remainder of the night and then in the morning, they could head back to Ord Mantell. 

Most of the group chose to head to bed, but Echo still had something on his mind that kept him from going to sleep just yet. Or rather, someone.

As he spotted Irys heading to her room, he asked her, "Do you know where Lex is?"

"I saw her go outside," she answered. "She's probably admiring the town next to this mountain. She loves to watch city lights at night."

A small grin crossed his face. He found that fact about Lex endearing. "That's good to know," he said.

"Echo," Irys called out as he moved to leave. When he looked back at her, she told him, "I saw what happened with you two outside the Senator’s office. I caught it on the cameras. I'm sure that's why you want to find her right now." He started to appear embarrassed, but she quickly said, "Lex means a lot to me. You know this. And I know she means a great deal to you, too. I know how you feel about her. She's in a tough spot emotionally, but I have full confidence that you can help her out of it. Can I trust you to take care of her the way she deserves?"

With firm resolve, Echo told her, "Yes. I promise, I only want her to be happy. She deserves the whole galaxy and more and if I can give her what she needs, then I’ll do it."

"Good. Then go after her. She needs you," she said, turning her back to him and walking off to her room without another word. 

Echo was glad for Irys’ belief in him. Now, he only hoped that he could get through to Lex. He had tried earlier in the Senator’s office and it didn’t get very far, especially since she was still being stubborn about everything. What didn’t make sense to him was the fact that, not long after that, she had chosen to kiss him as part of a ploy to throw off the guards. What was she really thinking? She acted like she didn’t want to be around him, but then turned around and did that. She was a hard book to read at the moment, but after what had happened, he was determined to have an in-depth discussion regarding their relationship once and for all.

He stepped out into the cool night air and looked around for any sign of Lex. It was times like this that he wished he had Hunter’s ability to track. Though, he did notice some faint footprints leading away from the ship and chose to follow those. 

Outside, sitting with her back against a tree on a cliffside overlooking the city below, Lex was lost in her own thoughts. Her fingertips ever so lightly traced over her lips, her mind wandering back to the passionate kiss she’d shared with Echo earlier in the night. Even sitting there thinking about it, she couldn’t figure out what had possessed her to even do such a thing. Once she knew the guards were coming, it was the only thing she could think of, even though now she knew that it was probably a mistake. It most likely made Echo uncomfortable or, if anything, it probably made him even more confused about her situation now, which was her own fault. All this time, she’d been trying to avoid deepening her feelings for him and then she went and kissed him anyway…now she was confused herself. She didn’t know what she wanted anymore. She didn’t want to risk getting her heart hurt again…but all she could think about was Echo. He made her happy, no matter how much she wanted to deny it. After kissing him earlier tonight, she was beginning to wonder if maybe avoiding him was worth it anymore. Was he worth risking her heart again?

“Hey,” she then heard a mild voice say behind her.

She turned around and, just as fate would have it, there was Echo, standing just a few feet away. She knew she shouldn’t be surprised that he had come looking for her. 

“Hey, Echo,” she said back softly.

“Can we talk?” he asked.

She hung her head, but grinned knowingly. “You probably want to talk about what happened earlier in the corridor, don't you?” she inquired. 

He nodded. “Yeah, I do.”

Her cheeks went hot as she tried to explain to him, “Listen, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have kissed you. It was just the first thing I could think of in the moment to throw the guards off; it was crazy and I'm sure I made you uncomfortable.” 

As he walked over and sat himself down beside her, he responded, “You're right...it was crazy. A crazy risk that I couldn't believe actually panned out. You remind me a bit of someone actually.” 

Lex gave him a puzzled look.

“Someone who was also reckless and a risk-taker,” Echo went on, “but was also loyal and passionate about what he believed in. His name was Fives.” He looked out to the glowing lights of the city in the distance, a reminiscent smile crossing his face. “He was my brother and my best friend. We were both in the same group of cadets, later got recruited to the 501st and made ARC Troopers together, as well. He was always one of the first to get into trouble and he'd drag me in with him. He, too, took a lot of insane risks.”

She listened intently to his words, intrigued by what he was saying about this other Clone brother he’d never mentioned before. “What happened to him?” she asked.

His smile slowly faded. “He was killed while I was still on Skako Minor. I haven't talked about him hardly with anyone.” Then he turned his head to look at her as he told her, “When I found out you saved me on Balmorra and when you kissed me tonight and we got away with it, both times I thought to myself, 'She's crazy...just like Fives was'.”

Snickering at that remark, she replied, “I remind you of him, huh?”

He nodded back. “Despite the things I've gotten into with the Bad Batch, I haven't had that sort of crazy risk-taking in my life for a long time, which is something I didn't realize I missed...until I got to know you.”

The soft, sweet look in his eyes and in his face told Lex exactly where his point was going. Her heart began to race like mad. At this point, she knew what he was going to do or say and she was uncertain of what she could do or say back. Her anxiety and longing were both clashing inside her mind as she anticipated what he was going to say next. 

“Lex, you know that lately, I've felt a connection with you,” he continued, shifting over onto his knees so he could face her fully. “While Kimber understands my past as a slave and she and I have a deep bond through that, no one has ever understood this part of me.” He held up his scomp arm in front of him for a brief second and then lowered it again. “That night I found you alone on Ord Mantell and we talked, I felt...strangely relieved for once in a way I haven't in so long in sharing that part of myself with you.” 

She lowered her gaze and shook her head, tears welling up in her eyes. “Echo...I can't…,” she said, almost begging him.

That didn’t deter him as he went on to say, “I understand if the kiss was just a spur of the moment idea to keep from fighting and didn't mean anything, but I need you to know that it meant something to me. I care for you and I have deep feelings for you, Lex.” 

Her head lifted up to gaze at him. Even though she’d always known he cared for her, it still hit differently hearing him admit it out loud.

He kept going, “I’ve never tried to hide that...but I also won't push you for anything you're not ready for. I only wanted you to know how I feel.” Echo laid his hand on top of hers and grasped it ever so gently. “I don't want you to shut me out and keep me at arm's length. What we have between us is something I don't want to lose and it can be whatever you need it to be. If you want me to only be your friend, then I'll do it. If you…want more than that, then I'll gladly give you whatever you ask. I just can't lose you.” 

Finally, getting overwhelmed with a myriad of emotions, a small sob escaped Lex’s mouth and her tears fell, sliding down her cheeks. She so badly wanted to tell him the truth of why she had tried to shut him out and how she was really feeling. It was killing her inside keeping it from him. He was loyal enough to her that he was even willing to just be her friend if that was what she needed, even though her heart was screaming at her that she wanted more than that. She’d always said he was too good for the likes of her…yet there he was, declaring his feelings for her and his devotion to her. What had she done to deserve someone so kind and tolerant as him?

As she quietly cried, she felt something cold and metallic carefully touch her face. She realized it was his scomp arm and he was brushing away her tears. He was so gentle and caring and she could see in his eyes a look of understanding as he let her cry; his eyes that saw through her almost into her very soul. He knew there was pain and anguish in her heart that he was willing to help her overcome. She could see that he wanted to stay by her side no matter what the outcome. How could she keep pushing him away when he was willing to offer her so much?

Her voice trembling with trepidation, she admitted to him, “I'm afraid, Echo.”

His hand on hers tightened slightly to comfort her. “Why are you afraid?” he asked.

Looking down at their joined hands, she finally spoke the truth: “After what I told you happened with Dune all those years ago...I'm terrified of giving my heart to someone again. He betrayed me so badly that it's taken me years to heal from it. I can't go through that again. I just can't. None of this has been easy for me…because I'm scared it'll happen a second time.”

In that moment, everything about her recent behavior towards him at last made sense to Echo. “Is that why you've been avoiding me?” he inquired for clarification.

With a nod, she confirmed, “Yes. I thought it was the only way to protect myself from being hurt again. I've hated every moment of it.” 

“Lex...do you trust me?” she heard him ask.

She lifted her head, meeting his unwavering gaze. “I do.” 

“Then trust me when I tell you that I will never hurt you the way he did,” he vowed. “I would rather die than hurt you. I promise that, if you choose to give your heart to me, I will treasure it and protect it the way Dune should have. If you let me, I'll do all I can to undo the damage he's done to you and help you truly smile again. I don't want you for any possible gain like he did. I want you for who you are and nothing else.”

There was no lie in his eyes whatsoever; no form of deceit or false promises that she could see. He really meant every word, which is something she’d never believe would happen with any man, not after all the lies and false promises she’d gotten from Dune. Echo only proved to her that good men really did still exist in the galaxy.

“I believe you…,” she replied before releasing a heavy sigh, “...and I want you, too.” 

The incredible relief Lex felt wash over her in finally admitting that out loud was overpowering to say the least. Echo’s eyes widened with joy at hearing her admission after what felt like so long.

She went on to tell him, moving onto her knees, as well, so she could directly face him, “If I had been paired with anyone else for the mission...I would never have thought to kiss them. With you...I wanted to...and like I told you, I took the risk...because I have feelings for you, too, Echo.” She smiled at him widely with gladness at finding the strength to be honest with him about her true feelings at long last. “You've been an amazing help to me throughout my struggles with my new arm and I can't thank you enough for that. After my accident, I thought everything would change for me and no one would ever understand me the same way...until you came to me. I, too, have felt a connection between us since that first night because you do understand me. You made me realize that my life wasn't over and that I was still me, not just a woman who's now part machine. You didn't see me just as a cyborg, but you still saw me for who I am.”

Moved immensely by her powerful and heartfelt confession, Echo brought his good hand up to Lex’s cheek, where she instinctively leaned into his touch. “Of course, I see you. I've always seen you,” he said softly.

“And I've always seen you,” she said back. 

He leaned forward and tenderly touched his forehead to hers, his thumb on her cheek caressing her skin soothingly. “After everything you've been through, you deserve something real. I want us to be something real,” he told her, his voice near a whisper. “I know you're afraid…but I promise I'll take care of you, if you're willing to give me a chance. Though, if you're still not ready and need more time, then I'll respect that and step back.”

He felt her shake her head back and forth until she sat back, removing her face from his hand and declared, “No…I can't do it anymore. I can't keep avoiding you.” Her violet eyes glistened with forming tears again as she told him, her voice full of emotion, “I'm still scared, but…it's tearing me apart to push you away. Every moment, it feels like I'm driving my own vibroblade into my heart over and over again. I'm tired of being controlled by my fear.” She inhaled slowly and then released a steady breath. “I'm ready to open my heart again…because I also want something real…and I desperately want that with you, Echo.” 

No words could describe the pure and profound happiness Echo felt at what Lex was saying to him. He finally knew where they stood and what she wanted and it was exactly what he wanted, too. This wonderful woman he’d pined for shared his feelings and wanted to be with him. There was nothing better he could ask for in that moment. Then without a word, he pulled her into his arms, holding her close and cradling her head against his chest. In return, she wrapped her arms around his torso, holding onto him almost tighter than he was to her. The warmth and safety in being in someone’s arms again; better yet, being in Echo’s arms was already healing her heart immensely. She could feel it deep inside. They both felt they could stay like this until the end of time.

Echo pulled back a little, glancing down at Lex again, and they shared joyful smiles that they couldn’t hold back. Then he told her, “I really would like to kiss you again...this time, not under the pretense of trying not to get caught by guards.”

She let out a tiny giggle and smirked. “ But it's more fun that way,” she replied.

He grinned and shook his head. How he adored her teasing sense of humor. “Oh, Lex,” he sighed fondly. 

Then he cupped the back of her head, bent his head down and sweetly kissed her. This time, the kiss was slower and gentle yet no less passionate as they lost themselves in each other’s arms. Everything surrounding them seemed to disappear like it had before. There was only them on this mountainside and the rest of the world; even the entire galaxy was but a brief, distant memory.

After a moment, Echo broke the kiss and only pulled back a little, his mouth hovering just over hers as he rested his forehead against hers again. Lex, however, eagerly closed the distance and affectionately kissed him a second time, wanting just a little more.

When she came back, she only spoke one word: “Elexiss.”

Echo looked at her, puzzled. “What?”

She smiled adoringly at him. “Elexiss Valen. That's my full real name,” she explained. Then she blushed slightly and looked away briefly. “I've never told anyone that, not even the girls. I just...you told me about Fives, so I felt impressed to share that with you to return the favor.” 

He smiled back at her as he replied, “Elexiss is a beautiful name...but Lex suits you better.”

With a light chuckle of amusement, she said back, “I definitely prefer that, anyway. Especially coming from you.” 

“Thank you for trusting me enough to share that with me…and for opening your heart to me,” he said.

She nodded. “I know you've been incredibly patient with me through all this…and I only ask that you continue to be patient with me,” she calmly requested. “There may still be things in the future that will be a struggle for me because of my past with Dune, but I want to try and move beyond it all. It'll still take time, though.”

He fully understood what she was asking of him and he carefully nudged her head forward, tenderly kissing her brow both for comfort and acknowledgement. “I understand. I promise to be patient and I'll help you in whatever way I can,” he told her.

“Thank you,” she responded. 

Echo reached down and grasped Lex’s hand with his own and she took his scomp in her robotic hand. Then he said with a pleased grin, “I also want to say: you were an absolute vision in that dress you wore tonight to the gala. I never wanted to take my eyes off you.”

She grinned back. “You looked like quite the catch yourself. Why else do you think I was wanting to kiss you all night?”

He found himself enamored with this new, flirtatious side of her. He knew he definitely could get used to that and he would enjoy it immensely. “The feeling was mutual...and it still is,” he said back, nuzzling her nose.

Needing no further encouragement, Lex took Echo’s face in her hands and eagerly returned her lips to his as he pulled her close in his arms once more. After a long time of going back and forth regarding how they felt about one another, they had at last been open and honest with each other and now, they were beyond overjoyed to finally be together. 

They shared many kisses over the next few minutes until finally, they both sat back against the tree, his arm around her and her head on his shoulder--while being careful not to poke his face with her horns--and they just watched the nightly horizon of colorful city lights. Echo began to wonder if they should go back to the ship for the night…but he didn’t want to go back. Not yet. The only thought on his mind was Lex. He could still feel her lips on his, her hand on his cheek, the warmth of her body mingling with his own. The night had come to a wonderful conclusion and he didn’t want that all to be over just yet. He’d waited for what felt like forever to finally be with her and he still wanted more. He didn’t want this night to end.

He then spoke in a quiet voice, “I know we should probably get back to the Aurora…but after all this, I can’t be apart from you right now. Not yet. I need you still in my arms. Please, Lex…will you stay out here with me a while longer? I…I hear you love watching the city lights at night. We can stay and admire them together.”

Lex smiled fondly to herself. She didn’t know how he’d found out about that fact--though she had a hunch as to who might’ve told him--but she found it so sweet that he wanted to stay there with her just because he knew it was something she liked. Already, she began to wonder how she got lucky to have him. She also realized that she was in the same predicament as he was: she didn’t want to go back to the ship; she didn’t want to be away from Echo yet. She wanted to stay in his arms for the rest of the night. It felt amazingly freeing to let another man she cared for into her life and to allow herself to be vulnerable again. Whatever Echo wanted, she wanted it, too.

She snuggled up closer to him, nuzzling his neck, and answered him, “Of course, I will, Echo.”

Now more content than he had been, he turned his head and placed a kiss on her temple. Then there, the two of them stayed, resting up against the tree, taking in the quiet stillness of the night in the warmth of each other’s arms.

Echo stirred awake at the sensation of someone lightly shaking him. He realized that he had fallen asleep outside and was still sitting up against the tree. Lex was still asleep and her head was resting in his lap. Though, feeling him shift when he woke up caused her to wake, too. It wasn’t her that had shaken him awake. Who was it then?

Then he heard a female voice he knew all too well say above him, “Well, well, well…!”

His eyes shot open and he looked up to see Kimber standing there with a knowing grin on her face and her arms folded across her chest. 

“Kim!” he cried out, making Lex jolt awake, too, as they both scrambled to stand up.

With a hearty laugh, Kimber commented, looking primarily at Echo, “You know, this seems incredibly familiar…as if I’ve seen this particular scenario before…but if I recall correctly, the roles were reversed, weren’t they, Echo?”

Echo’s cheeks were turning red and Lex appeared a little confused.

“To clear things up for you, Lex,” Kimber went on to explain, “in the early days of mine and Hunter’s relationship before we even got together, we too fell asleep outside together one night and Echo was the one who found us.” She cast him a devious smirk. “Then he proceeded to tease me a great deal about it afterwards.”

He gave her a half-smirk back. “So you’re out here for revenge then. Is that it?” he asked.

Her grin widened. “It’s as I told you before: I have a whole year’s worth of teasing to get back at you for…and this is only the beginning.”

While Echo, still seemingly embarrassed, ran a hand over his face, Lex simply chuckled in amusement at seeing him like that and at the idea of Kimber teasing him relentlessly.

Then her teasing grin turned into a genuine smile as she glanced between the two of them. “In all seriousness, though…I am truly happy for the both of you,” she told them.

“Thank you, Kimber,” said Lex.

“Now, are you going to tell the others, as well, or are you also going to be like Hunter and want to keep this a secret for a while?” Kimber asked Echo.

He shook his head and smiled. “I don’t think I could even if I tried.” He gazed back at Lex and took her hand in his. “I’m too happy to hide anything.”

Lex happily smiled back at him.

Kimber saw this and wanted to scream and hug them both, but figured she’d play it cool for the time being. There’d be time for proper celebrations later. “Well, I came to tell you both that we’re getting the ship prepped to leave soon. Take your time, though. We’re in no rush.” She gave them a wink and then just turned and walked away, giving neither of them a chance to protest. She glanced back over her shoulder a few seconds later and, sure enough, they were sharing a good morning kiss, which made her quietly squeal with excitement. She made her way down the hill where she saw Irys waiting for her. 

“Were they together?” Irys asked.

“Oh, you bet they were,” Kimber replied.

“Good. It was about time the two of them realized their feelings for each other,” Irys commented.

Kimber said back, “About time, indeed.”

“I had hoped that having them paired together for the gala would give them the push they needed to face the truth. I don’t know everything that happened, but apparently it was enough. For that, I am glad.” 

“As am I. They’ll be good for one another.” Then Kimber laid a hand on Irys’ shoulder. “You’re okay with this?”

Irys nodded. “I trust Echo to care for Lex the way she needs. Her heart will be safe with him.”

“I believe so, too,” Kimber agreed. “It’s been a long road for them and now…they can walk it together.”

Satisfied with the outcome they were hoping for with their two friends, Kimber and Irys walked back to the Aurora to be with their squads, knowing Echo and Lex would be along to join them when they were ready.

[lunas-otome-blog]

Luna's Review: Jack Jeanne

Official Summary:

Kisa is about to give up her dream of becoming an actor when she is given the opportunity to enroll at the prestigious all boys Univeil Drama School that she has always admired and dreamed of attending. She is granted admission with two rigid conditions: be chosen as the lead in the final performance and hide her identity as a girl!

Competition at the school is fierce and the rivalry is real! Will Kisa be able to forge powerful bonds with her all-male classmates while competing against them?

Will she be cast as the lead in the final performance at the end of the year all while keeping her secret?

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Luna's Thoughts (Spoiler Free)

I don't particularly like rhythm games or stat building games — I'm more of a straightforward visual novel kinda girl. But I chose to play Jack Jeanne because I read a glowing recommendation on another game blog.

I admit, I struggled with this game at the beginning. The impetus for the protagonist joining an all-boys school was, in my opinion, too fast, poorly explained and lazily written, and I feared the whole game would feel that way.

But I was pleasantly surprised as the plot unfolded. Subtly charming, Jack Jeanne is a rare otoge that doesn't feel the need for epic events or contrived details. The straightforward plot follows the protagonist through a full school year during which she become confident in her skills as an actor, charms her fellow classmates and works toward her ultimate goal of catching up to her brother.

Once I got used to a few things, I found myself enjoying this game immensely. The character development is slow, natural and gorgeous. Every main character gets at least one satisfying arc, including the protagonist. The cast is complex and enjoyable — even the side characters are pretty well fleshed out. And I cannot believe how many side characters get full sprites, cgs and sometimes even character arcs themselves. Fitting to a game about theater, Jack Jeanne features a true ensemble cast.

This is a pretty unusual otoge, as the majority of the plot is common route, with some special scenes mixed in depending on who your affection is highest with. You don't get into a "route" until pretty close to the end of the game. When you do, though, the final performance is highly customized based on your love interest character.

The first time I heard the songs in this game, I didn't think much of them. During my second playthrough, I caught myself humming a few. After the third time, I downloaded the whole playlist onto my phone lol. Some of them are absolute BANGERS. I didn't particularly enjoy the rhythm games, but I acknowledge that's just a personal preference. The game does not penalize you for playing on super easy mode — thank god — so that's what I did most of the time. Even hard mode is pretty easy for the most part.

The game arcs are broken up into sections depending on what play/musical is being performed. Jack Jeanne does a great job of showing you rehearsal scenes without completely giving away everything about the story, so you still get to enjoy the play yourself during the performance. And every sprite gets a new, gorgeous costume for EVERY play. It made me genuinely excited to get to that portion of the game each time.

I do want to talk about the art in this game. The cgs are lovely, but tend to feel ethereal as they are painterly and many lack backgrounds, creating the illusion that the characters are floating in space. I liked them but they are a different art style than the sprites, which felt inconsistent. Add to that a rather adorable cel-shade chibi style, which is used for the stat-building scenes, and you have three completely different art styles used for this game. I'd have preferred some consistency.

I also wish Kisa had a sprite on screen, because we don't get to see what she looks like except in cgs. It's a bummer because she's so cute~

Other than that, all my other complaints have to do with the format of the game. Due to the nature of it being a stat builder, the pacing of the relationship pursuit feels off. You get these really lovely occasional heartwarming scenes with the character you're pursuing when they're triggered, but then they're not acknowledged in the next scene. It interrupts the flow of the plot. But if you're used to stat builders, this will probably not be a problem for you.

Gripes aside, Jack Jeanne is a thoughtful, delicate and delightful look into a group of students doing their best to advance their skills and follow their dreams. I highly recommend checking it out.

Here are a few spoiler-free tips of things I wish I knew before I started the game that will help you through it if you decide to play:

As this game is SUPER LONG and mostly common route, you'll be doing a lot of skipping after your first playthrough. Unfortunately, as there are lots of scenes that are gently customized based on your love interest, you can't just leave it skipping for long intervals. I recommend finding something else to do while you're skipping and just keep an eye on the game so you can breeze through the common portion.

You don't have to start at the beginning every time. For the first two performances, try to maintain equal affection and stat levels for each romanceable character before summer break, and then save. You can use this as a flexible save file and pursue your character of choice from here.

When you're ready to aim for a route, only take lessons in that character's stat until you get to level 30. It will take almost the entire rest of the game. Only see that character during days off until you max out affection. If your character isn't available during days off, go to Mona Star School and raise their stat. You need to get to level 30 to unlock a special post-game scene for each character.

"Weekend with Ion" is just a way to get extra rhythm game practice and you don't have to do it.

If you're playing the game right (IE not failing the stats or rhythm games), there aren't any "bad" choices; just choices that give you affection points for certain characters. When you get onto a specific route, choices are just flavor. Feel free to pick different things each time and see what happens.

Please find below my thoughts on the protagonist and each romanceable character in the order I pursued them. Don't read sections marked with spoilers if you want to avoid them!

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(Spoilers) Kisa Tachibana (protagonist)

Kisa Tachibana is one of the best otoge protagonists I've ever played. I have a lot to say on her, so I'll get the bad out of the way first.

I was a little disappointed with Kisa's writing at the beginning. We know she looks up to her brother Tsuki and wants to be an actor like him, but she's given up on even going to high school because she needs to support her family. But the opportunity for her to attend Univeil comes up so quickly that her struggle and longing are not really fleshed out.

We also don't get an explanation on why her brother was allowed to go to a (seemingly expensive) drama school, nor why he isn't using his success to send money back to the family. In fact, the game just casually mentions Tsuki has vanished without a trace, and nobody seems that concerned about it. Kisa is sad but doesn't seem to question where he is or what he's doing, and nobody asks her about it, even after figuring out she's related to him. And no, this is never addressed, even at the end of the game.

Anyway, onto the good.

Kisa is an amazing otoge protagonist. She goes through not just one, but many character arcs, learning from and responding to her classmates (and even other classes) and becoming not just a better actor but also a better friend and teammate. Unlike a lot of otome game protags, Kisa doesn't get a lot of down time to reconcile her thoughts. Instead, you're left to largely understand her thinking and feelings through dialogue, making her feel less like the game's protagonist and more like a regular character. I didn't like this at first but I came to appreciate it as the game went on.

Every character teaches Kisa something about herself and something about acting. She learns how to feel comfortable in the spotlight, but she also learns it's just as important to prop up other actors. And she gets to go through different arcs depending on her romance choice.

She also has to learn how to perform as a Jack (male character) and struggles with this in a way that felt natural. She even ends up overcorrecting and finds it hard to go back to playing a woman.

My absolute favorite arc of hers is when she decides she has to embrace her femininity in order to make a show a success. This, to me, is the culmination of the whole game, as Kisa decides to risk being discovered in order to help her classmates shine. Of course, if you play all the routes, you realize she actually isn't doing a great job of hiding her gender at all lol. But fortunately she's endeared herself to her classmates so much that they don't mind.

Overall, 10/10 otoge protagonist.

.

(Spoilers) Kai Mutsumi

I chose to play Kai's route first, because tbh I thought his sprite was ugly and I wanted to get it out of the way lol. I did warm up to it eventually. And I regret playing his route first because Kai is an utter cutie patootie and I fell hard for him.

He tells you really early on that he only sees himself as a way to highlight the Al Jeanne (female lead). So his character arc is about him acknowledging that he also wants the spotlight, and Kisa helps him by highlighting him.

Though Kai is usually quiet, contemplative and reserved, once he and Kisa have acknowledged their feelings for one another, he starts getting jealous, both of Fumi (as a rival) and of Tsuki-nii (as Kisa's inspiration.) It's heartbreaking but really satisfying to learn that Kai feels emotions just as intensely as everyone else but didn't know where to direct them. I love him so much!

Kai also gives you one of the only laugh-out-loud moments of the game during the common route. I won't spoil it but it involves a certain weasel in the forest.

Kai's is one of the more intense routes, so I would perhaps save it for a bit later if you're wanting to get the lighter stuff out of the way first.

.

(Spoilers) Suzu Orimaki

Suzu is the genki character of the game, and the senpais make fun of his dancing at the beginning, so I thought the running gag would be that he sucks. But I was pleasantly surprised. Suzu is shown to be committed, a good actor and surprisingly quick with memorizing his lines, though he does make some stupid mistakes throughout. I adored him as the Sleepless King.

Suzu's route is the one I would call the most generic as far as otoges go. A lot of his route is him struggling with his feelings for Kisa. He starts to like her before he's sure she's a girl, and once he knows for sure, he has a really hard time hiding his feelings. To his credit, he also discovers Kisa is a girl on his own, showing he's smarter than we're led to believe.

If you wanted something more nuanced, maybe Suzu's not the character for you, but I really enjoyed it. The more a character struggles with their feelings, the better, imho lol. The cutest scene is after Kisa gives him sweets for valentines day, and he just can't handle how happy is is. You can't help but love Suzu!

You do actually get a lot of character growth as far as acting goes in Suzu's route — just not with Suzu himself. It's Kamiya — one of the side characters, who fanboys over the amazing Tanakamigi, one of Kisa's rivals in a different class — who gets to experience his own arc this time. While it doesn't feel totally resolved in the end, it was nice to see the game highlight some other characters as a result of the decisions Kisa has made.

I also really loved Mare-chan's little arc, as he learns to appreciate standing on stage with his brother. Actually, all the first years are highlighted in this route, which was fun.

Unlike Kai's route, Suzu doesn't confess to Kisa until the very end of his route — but it's very sweet when he does. Overall, Suzu's route felt like a very normal otoge route, but not in a bad way. He's very kind and protective of Kisa. It's hard not to like him.

.

(Spoilers) Soshiro Yonaga

Sou shows obvious signs of being into Kisa, even during the common route, so I figured I'd get a nice little bit of angst in his route. I normally play the childhood friend route closer to the end, but while I really enjoyed Sou's role and growth in the common route, he was such a little jealous bitch in Suzu's route (lol) that I decided to play him next. He pissed me off so much haha. I thought it would be over when he punches Suzu after Suzu discovers Kisa is a girl — something like a send-off to his rival, knowing he can't compete. But he proceeds to be whiny and annoying throughout all the rest of Suzu's route, and this made me want to get his route out of the way.

Sou on his own route is a lot better. He actually impressed me with how straightforward he is. He's the first character (that I played) who confirms he is properly dating Kisa on his route, and his confession was really brave, direct and passionate. It's sad to think that he loves Kisa in every route but won't tell her. He even followed Tsuki to Univeil just to see her again T_T

I was very excited to see we'd be getting some Momonashi context in this route, because he's easily the most mysterious character in the game. You never really understand his motivations, and he always hides his thoughts with a smile. It excited me that he was chosen to be Amber's Al Jeanne this time around, and he is every bit as dark and horrifying as I wanted.

This is also the first route (I played) in which Kisa does not get the lead role by default. I nearly had a heart attack and thought I failed the route because it was so different from Kai's and Suzu's routes. Rest assured, this is what's supposed to happen and it all works out ok. Mitsuki's subtle understanding of the things going on around him is also critical in this route.

But back to Sou. He actually goes through a few different arcs in his own route. While I thought it ultimately ended up ok, I would have liked to see the version of Sou infected with Momonshi's darkness for a little longer. He's only there for a little bit before Suzu's anger snaps him out of it. The back-and-forth of Sou's route felt a little disjointed, and in some places too similar to his plot during the common route.

But ultimately I was very proud of him when he pumps up the crowd during the final performance. Sou comes a long way and his route ends with the promise that there's more to come. Good for you, Sou-chan!

.

(Spoilers) Mitsuki Shirota

Mitsuki is the standoffish character, so he's the only romanceable character who is outwardly rude to you at the beginning of the game. I sometimes have trouble with this sort of character, so I was a little worried about him. But I didn't need to be — ultimately, he became one of my favorites.

Mitsuki is the most observant character in the game. He notices subtle changes and tells Neji to back off when he's putting too much pressure on people. And he's the first to tell Kisa he'll accept her no matter what. Mitsuki is so important to making this game work.

He knows he's good at singing, but when he's put in a starring role, he crumbles under the pressure. Obviously Kisa helps him stand up again, but it was really gratifying to know his aggression comes from a place of fear.

While learning to enjoy the spotlight is part of his common route arc, doing a Mitsuki playthrough really adds to this, as you learn how much Kisa's secrecy is weighing on him. He knows something's up right away, and as he comes to trust and admire Kisa, he begins feeling sad that she doesn't trust him enough to unload on him. There's a particularly poignant scene where he undresses in front of her — something we know he's afraid to do for anyone else. Mitsuki's cutscenes really emphasize his words to Kisa on stage as Rukiora and Chikachina, roles that parallel their own experiences.

I will say that, like Mitsuki himself, his route is very subtle as he quietly influences those around him. You don't get a lot of Amber students in this one, as his focus is more on the second years of Rhodonite and Onyx. He quietly fires them up, and it's so sweet to see how the second years, previously in the shadow of Tsuki Tachibana, become determined to do their best because of Mitsuki.

My only gripe for this route was that we didn't get any more Mitsuki background. His mother appears in a really intense cutscene toward the beginning of the game, so you know he's got family stuff going on, but we never really get any more elaboration on that.

Anyway, I love this boyee so much and I just want to give him a hug.

.

(Spoilers) Sarafumi Takashina

Honestly, I shipped Fumi with Kai more than with Kisa. They had such a nice and supportive relationship.

Fumi is calm, confident and pretty. He tells Kisa he likes her early in the game. He's a mysterious character under a lot of pressure, but you wouldn't know it unless you participate in his cutscenes. If you pay attention, you'll notice he gives nearly everyone nicknames.

Fumi's main game arc involves him growing complacent with the theater because nobody can match him. It's up to Kisa (with help from Sou) to fire him up again.

I tend to have trouble with flirty characters, but Fumi is so confident and kind that I liked him quite a bit. Because he's so aware of his own skills, I was wondering what his next arc would be in his route. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it's Kisa who gets to experience the most growth in Fumi's route as she struggles with the pressure of working alongside Quartz's star.

While perhaps not as dramatic as some of the other routes, Fumi and Kisa work together to understand each other, both on stage and off, and do their best to become suitable partners for one another. Fumi is also grooming Kisa to be the next star of Quartz, so there's a bittersweet dynamic of passing the baton here, too.

There weren't any dramatic twists and turns, but Fumi's route felt natural and gentle. It was a good conclusion for these two. He's also the only character other than Sou who confirms he's dating Kisa by the end of the route, which I appreciated.

.

(Spoilers) Neji Kokuto

Neji is the least serious character in the game acting-wise. He's silly and jokes around, and never gives himself a huge role in any of his own plays. But he's ultimately the one pulling the strings, and he seems to have an extremely good grasp on every character's strengths and weaknesses. He's also the only character who doesn't get his own arc in the common route.

However, I was disappointed with some of his cutscenes during the common route. While I appreciate that he deals with the deep trauma of losing his father with humor and spontaneity, I thought it was an oversimplification for him to say he's afraid of women. The resulting scenes don't feel serious enough and it didn't feel natural that Kisa would fall for him.

If he were simply afraid of falling in love, which is what ultimately led his father (allegedly) to losing his creative flow, I could understand that a bit more. But to have him attend an all-boy's school just because he feels like all women are a risk seemed like a strange move for a game that has been really inclusive about gender so far. It felt very off-putting for Neji, who often puts himself into a female role, to fear women.

But once he realizes Kisa is a girl — once he realizes he knew it all along and was trying to block it from his mind — the tone becomes very dark and sad. My heart was pounding as I felt the weeks go by with no script for the final performance. It was thrilling simply because I didn't know what to expect. It's so different from the other routes.

But I wish Neji was able to express his emotions a bit more. In the end, even as he was contemplating throwing himself into the sea, he wasn't able to be completely serious. I would have appreciated a scene where his walls fully break down, in which he's able to fully embrace Kisa as a woman and appreciate the weight of his own feelings.

I also never felt like Crowley, the character Neji plays in the final performance, was suited to be a main character. He never opens up or shows any weakness. He's just a silly guy and didn't feel like the lead at any point.

I did like how Neji ultimately decides to move forward, even being unable to write. But of course, at the end, Neji is suddenly able to write again. I knew it was coming, but it was a rather convenient ending.

Ultimately, I felt Neji's route was the least successful. I wish he got more growth in his own route. I did love him proposing to Kisa at the end though. It felt very in keeping with his character.

.

(Spoilers) Kisa Route

This is the route you get if you choose not to spend Christmas Eve with anyone, and it's the closest this game gets to a true ending.

Boy, does it deliver. It ties in all the themes from the game into a really strong ending, where every character feels valuable and Kisa gets to lead Quartz to a strong finish. We also finally get an explanation for the title of the game, as Kisa takes on a special role — neither male nor female, just the protagonist who everyone falls in love with.

A fantastic final route for a fantastic game!

[azems-familiar]

Ok but then you obv have to do Cal, so…

My first impression

honestly i don't really remember my first impression at this point. i played jfo back when it came out, i got it as a christmas gift, and most of what i remember from back then was being annoyed we couldn't choose to join Trilla and thinking i'd be way more invested in Cal if he was a woman. the curse of lesbianism i guess /shrug

My impression now

baby boy. baby. give any Jedi a corruption arc and mental illness and i will be on top of that shit like a fly. i spend way too much time thinking about him. and writing about him. he's kind of murderous and deeply flawed and i love him so much actually

Favorite thing about that character

hmm. his determination, i think. it's definitely a double-edged sword, which is most of what Survivor was about, but even when he's almost completely lost hope he keeps going forward and doesn't let go anyway. that's not exactly always a healthy quality - i've struggled with it before myself and can confirm - but it makes him a really interesting character, and very fun to put into Situations:tm:

Least favorite thing

hm. not sure i have a least favorite thing? characters have flaws, that's what makes them good, and to take them away would be to minimize the character. i could sure have some Least Favorite Fandom Takes, but i won't go into that here, lol. and i think you know those already

Favorite line/scene

oh this is a hard one. probably my favorite bit from him in JFO is when he faces Ninth Sister on Kashyyyk - the evolution from "trash, just approved trash" to "how about a Jedi?" is really good for him starting to come into his own, and let's be real, that whole sequence is very badass. (my favorite scene in JFO doesn't really involve Cal at all, though, honestly.) for survivor.... it's harder. probably the scene where Cal confronts Denvik for the first time on Nova Garon, because it was sooo fun watching him succumb to his rage and be an absolutely cold-hearted bastard when he yanked Denvik's blaster away. also Denvik's a bitch and i was cheering.

Favorite interaction that character has with another

i really love, honestly, his whole interaction with Rayvis on the Shattered Moon when we do that boss fight and kill Rayvis in Survivor - Rayvis has some great lines and is a fascinating character and overall it's a really great way of showcasing Cal's slide down, especially the bit where he talks to BD on the way back from it, asking how he's actually any different from Dagan. really good stuff. i also love....honestly all of his interactions with Cere in JFO

A character that I wish that character would interact with more

the low-hanging fruit is Bode tbh because i just wanted to spend more time with Bode casually, outside big plot events, but honestly? i wanted to see more of him with Cere and especially Cordova in Survivor. i know Cal wasn't really in a great place to be getting mentorship from them, but it would've made Cordova's death hit harder, and i just love Cal and Cere's relationship, so of course i want to see more one-on-one scenes with them.

Another character from another fandom that reminds me of that character

....one of my OCs from a different era of star wars, honestly. uhhh, totally different fandom, let's see... okay i wouldn't entirely say reminds me of but when i made the playlist for him and Bode i pulled a bunch of songs off my Revan playlist and my Wei Wuxian playlist, so i think. thematic similarities between both.

A headcanon about that character

i think i've probably talked about all of my headcanons for this man already, especially in my fics, but the low-hanging fruit is that he feels like fire. and the chronic pain headcanons - beyond general joint problems i have him have gone through a really bad accident on Bracca when he was 14, where he saved Prauf's life but in doing so his right ankle was shattered in multiple places and broke the skin. because he couldn't afford to get medical care, he had to splint it and wrap it on his own and then just let it heal, which means his ankle is alllll fucked up. the game, ironically, supports this headcanon, by making one of his idle animations rolling out that ankle. no i did not remember that when i gave him the injury.

A song that reminds of that character

i have an entire long spyscrapper playlist with some great songs on it but here's one of my favorites:

(if you want the playlist link itself, just send me an ask, people-who-aren't-senket, i'm happy to share it!)

An unpopular opinion about that character

hmmm. i don't like merrical and don't think they work well together romantically? that's not really about Cal though, let me see. OH! he was not ready to be knighted when he was in jfo; Cere absolutely shouldn't have done it, and didn't really have the right or authority to do it, and it's harmed him. i also don't think he actually should've gotten a kyber crystal on Ilum - the way it was portrayed in the game, he didn't have to go through an actual trial to get it, he didn't overcome his fear of failure or his survivor's guilt or any of that, he wasn't ready and it shouldn't have happened.

narratively, for the game's story as a video game, i understand why both scenes happened, and i actually like them and i think it's fun to explore the ramifications, especially of the premature knighting, but yeah. that's how i feel

Favorite picture

i like this edit i made a lot because he looks like Anakin and it felt, uh, appropriate hahaha

[teeswrites]

C.L- Never be the same

Masterlist

Synopsis

Playlist

Chapter 1

-----------------------------------------------------------

Sneak peak: chapter 2- airports and dirty dancing

Charles had his eyes off the phone for less than a second and the first thing he saw was her. She was smiling, laughing at something and the place she was sitting on didn't make him any happy. Nor her behavior with her new "chair". His gaze landed on Lando's hands: one was resting on her soft thigh and the other was feeding her with a doughnut. Huh, what a disgusting thing! The doughnut and the scene. Which became even worse when he noticed her fingers running through the McLaren's driver's hair, caressing his curls as if it was an ordinary thing.

He couldn't feel less dirty: on his phone screen he had his girlfriend wishing him a good flight along with heart emojis and a warm 'I love you' and even so he was jealous of a person who didn't belong to him. But he would give up tons of things for it to be the opposite. And it got even uglier when he replied to Alex with the same warm 'I love you'. Did he really mean that?

"When did this happen?" he questioned himself "When did I become that person?" he continued, before greeting Pierre and Yuki. He knew that he must forget about it, but he couldn't help but feel annoyed with them acting like that "Where's Esteban by the way?" "He left yesterday" Pierre said, quite relieved "Oh! What about Daniel?" "I have no idea" Yuki answered focused on his videogame. She stretched herself "Hey, Charles, am I invisible to you now?" "Oh, I wish" he thought "No! I was just about to greet you. Both of you, beautiful couple" he leaned and kissed her face, tapping Lando's back, friendly "We aren't a couple" "Sure," he said with a disbelief tone "we really aren't" "I believe you guys" "she is taken already" Lando joked. Charles' heart stopped "With her job, of course" "That's true" Charles exhaled the air he was holding and said "Yeah! Me too. Not with my job, with a girl. A woman..." "We already know that..." Lando continued "Yeah, just reaffirming" 'More to myself than to you guys' He completed the phrase in his mind only. Charles talked in a rush, he sounded breathless, like he had run a marathon, but it was only the anger taking control of his body at the same pace her nails lightly scratched Lando's nape "Charles, are you okay?" "Yeah!" he said almost shouting, out of control "I just had too much energetic, yeah!? I just need to sit a bit" he placed his bag on the floor and sat down. "Hey" Yuki started "hum?" "Will you be joining us in Abu Dhabi?" "Not Abu Dhabi, Dubai" "What are you doing in Dubai?" "I decided to take my ass on vacations" "So you are going on vacations and decided to spend your time with 4 guys in an airport lounge?" "I didn't ask for that" they looked at her "I mean, the lounge and waiting part, I like you guys" "Why don't you join us at a night out tomorrow?" "What night out?" Lando asked "The one I am inviting you to. Pierre?" "I am there already" he said while eating his peanuts "What about the two of you?" "Well, I heard is close to Abu Dhabi" she grabbed her phone "Oh! Very close. Count on me, I'm a party animal, babe" "If she's joining, I'm in" "Charles?" "Hum… oui! Porquoi pas" Yuki looked at Pierre "Oui is yes, right?" "Yeah" "Great!"

[seth-burroughs]

for the ask game how about both seth and yomi?

MY BOYS >:))))))) THE BOYS

Seth:

favorite thing about them

I can't. fucking. The poncho that tricked me into believing he's a short king but he's like fucking 5'9. The glowy hood belts. How he looks like he's gonna keel over any minute. The bouquet. Him needing to use a megaphone since he just mumbles me too buddy I was pointing at the screen saying "me too buddy" when Yomi was being Yomi about his voice ME TOO BUDDY (it's fine I forgave him). Him taking bribes from the Nail Man because his boss told him to and how he saw nothing suspicious about it. Him ALSO trying to make a deal with the detectives when they get close to finding out. Him being a literal saint compared to all the other peacekeepers (what is wrong with them) and kiiiiiiiind of actually doing his job. His monocle. That shit eating smile. The green. Him existing in (and making) the best chapter in RC. Him getting hit with a helmet so hard he bleeds (guess by who). Him getting progressively less intimidating and more pathetic and cringefail with every scene he's in. The concerning Burroughs family loading screen trivia. Him being good at chess and liking wind instruments. Him hating untuned instruments. His birthday being in pride month. His winx enchantix form in the ML. Should I keep going

least favorite thing about them

How he appeared completely unannounced out of fucking nowhere to be the best character in the game in like 4 scenes total and they then just. hauled him off.

The disrespect is unbelievable I was in denial the whole game every chapter I was waiting for him to show up again. He's not even the only peacekeeper that shows up out of nowhere and then we never see them again, hello Swank Guillaume & Dominic. Dare I say MDA:RC should have been longer - not as in, more cases but like. More downtime between chapters to get to know the Guys more. Please

favorite line

"You need to get your watch repaired. Oh dear... the watchmaker is currently detained as a suspect. Just throw away that piece of trash then." you just KNOW he was so fucking satisfied with himself after that he was giggling internally the whole time. What if I killed him

brOTP

Seth & Guillaume nominated for Kanai Ward's most toxic friendship. I hope you die I hope we both die (platonic)

OTP

Seth x therapy and a different job best ship

nOTP

Seth/Yakou I just don't vibe 😔

random headcanon

Most polish man in Kanai Ward he pickles fucking everything. Goes mushroom picking every autumn and dries all the boletes and boletuses to use for pierogi filling. Always makes his own pierogi store bought are disgusting. Puts atrocious amounts of frozen dill on all his surówkas and mashed potatoes. Cucumber soup enjoyer. All of these are about food. I love food I wish I could eat it

unpopular opinion

Don't have any. I agree with mostly everything they're are saying about him here I approve of the RC tumblr community Seth opinions👍👍

song i associate with them

Hmmmmm.......... Sometimes by Nick Lutsko - You see with Yomi I could make an entire playlist, but there is literally only 1 song in the whole world (that isn't like. an instrumental lmao) that reminds me of Seth. My music taste is fucking Sethless.

favorite picture of them

I don't care what the masses say his phantom fucking slayed. People are being so cruel to him fr calling him cabbage head. I mean they're right but

Yomi:

favorite thing about them

How he's so terrible and evil and so fucking sexy about it. Every single time he appears on screen gets a fake zilch zombie esque response from me

least favorite thing about them

I legitimately cannot think of a single bad thing about Yomi

favorite line

I have three!

1. "That's even more impossible than a chance meeting between an umbrella and a sewing machine on an operating table!" what is wrong with him.

2. Not a single line but like. The conversation he had with Yuma when they were alone for a few minutes after we talked to Huesca where Yuma just tries to break the awkward silence with "umm" and Yomi just hits him with the "WHY DO YOU EXIST. WHAT IS YOUR PURPOSE"

3. [after Makoto says he has a duty to watch over Amaterasu and Kanai Ward as a whole] "... What? What have you ever done for Kanai Ward? All you do is look down on it from high. The peaceful order you see when you gave upon it is thanks to my righteous justice. I'm the one guiding these lazy fools! I brought civilization to this place! I don't need you messing with the proper order of my city!" :]] I'll leave it without comment go make up your own mind about it~~

brOTP

Him and Fake Zilch. Not because I see them as platonic but because Fake Zilch was like... literally the only bro option that exists for him lmao

OTP

How dare you make me choose between Fake Zilch, Makoto & Yuma

nOTP

Yomi x Martina. I remember when he got introduced and right after he sent Seth to the electric chair, spat on Yakou then left I thought to myself "well at least he's a big wife guy" hoo boy.

random headcanon

Has two beds in his apartment. One shaped like a cool racecar where he has sex with Martina, and one three days grace themed four story bed where he has sex with everyone else. He doesn't sleep in either of them because rest is for soyboys and omegas. Speaking of omegas h- *audio cuts off*

unpopular opinion

Yomi haters are WEAK as FUCK Also he should be allowed to do whatever he wants actually I cheered and clapped when he hit Vivia right on the face with his whip you and me both Yomi you and me both.

song i associate with them

I have an entire playlist for that lmao so I'll limit myself to five: Dear Dictator by Saint Motel, Autotheist by Baby Bugs, Digital Silence by Peter McPoland + The Reason They Hate Me by Daughters. If we're talking about his relationship to Makoto then Want by Recoil and Men by The Dodos are PEAK makoyomi I beg you to listen to them. Pleas e

favorite picture of them

Sigh *pulls out the Yomi folder and starts picking them out extremely carefully*

[wrongcaitlyn]

ok maybe this was mentioned when ttpd came out, but i feel like peter is SUCH a pollen song for tyt. like specifically from darren’s perspective, as like they broke up but they both still held onto hope that maybe one day, once everything died down, they could be together again? but then kayla came along and it just wasn’t really possible anymore and they just had to give up

i know we dont know a lot of the tyt pollen lore yet but i just feel like they fit peter

OHMYGODDDSJFK YOU'RE SO RIGHT. it literally is from darren's perspective😭 - when i listen to songs i'm always trying to match them with nico or apollo because they're the only actual singers, but i completely missed this, you're just so right😭😭 god this is gonna make me cry they're so </33

gonna do a lyric breakdown again bc i fucking love peter

The goddess of timing Once found us beguiling She said she was trying Peter was she lying My ribs get the feeling she did

goddess references??? and also, just, timing really was the majority of the problems between them :/ they were so right person wrong time and it breaks my heart😭

Are you still a mind reader? A natural scene stealer I've heard great things Peter

STILL A NATURAL SCENE STEALER AS IF THAT ISN'T THE MOST APOLLO THING EVER. he literally is. and hearing these great things about when he comes back to his career, how he's taken in will, how he's doing so much better in life, whereas darren will never, no matter what, be able to get back to his peak as an athlete - but apollo seems to be starting fresh, and darren's wondering if he's the same as before, just as breathtaking

You said you were gonna grow up Then you were gonna come find me

this one's obvious, but yeah - this is 100% the vibe that was going down with their breakup. i think darren didn't think that that was the end, he kept hoping that someday things would change, whereas apollo was convinced it was the opposite - miscommunication, i KNOW, i hate it, but ugahsdflkjsdlkfj

they make me so depressed i love them

And I won't confess that I waited But I let the lamp burn As the men masqueraded I hoped you'd return With your feet on the ground Tell me all that you'd learned Cause love's never lost when perspective is earned And you said you'd come and get me but you were 25 And the shelf life of those fantasies has expired Lost to the lost boys chapter of your life Forgive me Peter, please know that I tried To hold onto the days when you were mine

literally the entire bridge. like. that's just. that's DARREN. and apollo WAS FUCKING TWENTY-FIVE LIKE ARE YOU KIDDING HOW DID I MISS THIS

and just the "when perspective is earned" and "tell me all that you'd learned" in the idea of apollo completely changing, finding this new life, and darren wishes he could be a part of it but he just. isn't.

anyway i feel like i need to make a pollen playlist at this point with both pov's bc ughasdlfkj darren's pov is also so interesting (and heartbreaking) (part of the reason i want to write a oneshot with both their pov's)

thank you so so much for the ask!!

[naturally-recklessly]

What advice would you give to a new RPer? What does your URL mean?  How involved are you in your rp community?  What do you do when you get writer’s block? What has made you completely lose your chill? 

⨳ — MUNDAY

1. What advice would you give to a new RPer ?  My best advice would be to just have fun ! To truly experiment around your blog —write all sorts of plots that bring you joy, post little things about your muse(s) (be it edits, headcanons, playlists, etc...) or even customize a template that really fits your muse. Just never feel pressured to do things only because the majority of people are also doing them — what matters is if you enjoy them ! Otherwise, you might find yourself burned out pretty quickly. Speaking of which, whenever you feel like writing is more of a chore than something that brings you pleasure, by all means take a break — the rp partners that truly value you will understand. And last but not least, never be afraid to communicate and reach out ! As an introvert, I know this is better said than done, but trust me that for the most part, you'll only end up regretting the times you didn't. 😊

2. What does your URL mean?  Back when I started this blog in 2019, I only had two muses — Nana (an OC heavily inspired by Ai Yazawa's manga and its respective anime, which was and still is very dear to me), and Rupert (a canon muse from the movie "Sex Doll", who was so mysterious in his source material that I had to rely on headcanons to build his backstory 😆). So the url and blog's name was a direct reference to them & their personalities — Naturally Nana, Recklessly Rupert.

3. How involved are you in your rp community?  I'd say that at the moment I'm not too involved in the rp community — I only rp on this blog and keep a small circle with meaningful interactions (mostly because I've recently came back from a hiatus and I'm taking baby steps before venturing any further 😆). But speaking of meaningful interactions, I'm the kind of partner that gets super invested in our muses' little universes and absolutely loves to create edits/moodboards & playlists for them ! I also run a memes and resources blog for the rpc — Mimi's Memes — which has been somewhat inactive lately, but I do plan on starting to create things again. 😊

4. What do you do when you get writer’s block?  Most of the time, I just take a break and try to entertain myself with other activities. More often than not, inspiration will come, sparkled by a scene from a movie/series or some lyrics from a song. 😊 Speaking of which, I find it really helpful to write listening to some music ! I've got a few songs that I associate with the muses (mine and/or my partner's) or the scene I'm working on, and it really helps setting the mood and getting those replies flowing !

5. What has made you completely lose your chill?  I must say that in all these years, I've been lucky enough to avoid any unnecessary drama and toxicity, and therefore my experience has been mostly positive. So thankfully I don't really have anything to comment on this topic. 🙏

( Thank you so much for sending these, @niragixpsych ! I wish you a wonderful week ! 💖 )

[lydiaas]

holy shit - Entertainment Weekly has released youtube videos where the cast and show creators break down parts of each episode! I love it so much.

(though imo there is definitely a difference in how both Rudy and Madison talk about the JJ x Kiara scenes :/ )

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJrTdKdDFMcM8O8iTlqsSwKCN_Ssk-SxQ

I love that they did this and wish they we had it for every scene! I want to know everything.

Madison is a hero honestly, she's carrying the jiara promo on her back. I can tell she gets it and she appreciated their journey. I can also tell she has thought deeply about Kie and her relationship with JJ. She deserves all the praise she gets and I completely understand why she thinks this was the best season for her.

I try not to be that alarmist about Rudy (because it ruins my own enjoyment) but his hesitance to talk about jiara as a romance is definitely strange at times. It absolutely sent me when in The Bells recap he basically said the jiara reunion hug was about the Pogues being back together again as though there is no romantic subtext there. Yes, JJ still has so many issues and yes his whole life is the Pogues but he was also part of a romantic arc this season so can he elaborate on that. How does he interpret JJ's feelings for Kie? We can see so much in his performance but I'd love to hear him actually talk about it more.

I do tend to think that Rudy's preference would be if the show explored all of JJs trauma first before putting him in a romantic relationship (valid) and so maybe he has struggled with reconciling the sharp turn into romance with what he thinks JJ is ready for? Unfortunately, he is on a teen drama so the writers are always going to move at a certain pace.

In saying all that, I think both of them always deliver in the actual scenes and so despite all the dust the promo kicks up I'm really not concerned about S4 jiara in the slightest.

[normalsnails]

Oho~ I hope you don't mind if I send a lot! 3, 6, 18 for Ein, 31 for Aikawa and 44, 48, 49 and 50 for both! :D

Aaa i dont mind dww! Ty for asking :DD

Ein ♥️

3, what first drew me to her.

Before Ein and Aikawa my favourite was Aohara, but it quickly changed to adoring Ein, What really drew me to her is her dress actually. I thought “wow her dress is cuteee I’m gonna pay attention to her more” and i fell in LOVE.

6, do i have any petnames / nicknames for her

YES. I call her prettygirl. It stemmed from me rambling about her in class whilst i was persuading my friend to read and watch hri (success, gonna persuade her to join tumblr next >:D). She called her pretty so i was like “yes yes she is prettygirl” so now i just call her prettygirl whenever i talk about her irl XD.

18, do i prefer angst or comfort, or both (for her)

ANGST. Im sorry ein but <\33 i cant resist.

A little comfort is nice at times but angst all the way.

Aikawa!!

31, am i ashamed of liking him?

Sorta, i had a few old friends (just to preface this by saying i didnt leave the friendship because of a manga 😭) that were like “doesn’t he like eugenics 😬” and i told them “yeah i obviously don’t support that hes insane i just like his character” and then I realised that maybe aikawa wasnt the best silly of choice for my brain.

BOTH!!

44, what season do they remind me of?

For ein, definitely spring, 100%. When i think of spring, i think of flowers, and Ein reminds me of flowers for no reason.

For aikawa, id have to say late autumn, specifically late. I dont know why but its so fitting 😭

48, my favourite feature of their designs!

OO OKAY.

So for ein, its the dress and bow. I ADORE lolita fashion sm!!

For aikawa, id have to say his hair, its similar to mine (the type of hair not style) but mines thinner than his. AND HIS HAIR IS SO FUN TO DRAW!

49, favourite personality trait!!

For ein, its her childishness. Its hard to explain but its so cute how she was excited by the rain and scared of thunder 💞. And also the manga panels where shes swinging her legs when she’s sitting on the railings aaaaaa.

For aikawa, its how smart he is. Im not sure if I dreamed about this or something but i so clearly remember him talking about a hypothesis about the lightning power, talking about ionising and stuff like 😍😍 in a world where people die 24/7 he’s casually just making hypotheses about stuff i love him.

50, fav song / playlist / quote / headcanon for them!!

So ein, my FAVOURITE headcanon that people can PRY off of my cold, dead hands is that shes not 12 like the wiki says 😭 have you seen how tall she is shes atleast 14-15.

And also, some lovely quotes:

“Boom” - ep 9 anime

“When enemy comes, you are in my way” - 152.5, extra chapter. (Can be found on tenkuushinpan.com)

ALSO BEFORE SHE COULD SPEAK THE LITTLE NOISES SHE MADE 💞💞💕 cutie pie 4ever.

I dont think i have any songs for her apart from “angry too” by lola blanc (ein revenga au btw haha) and, i dont know how to explain it but Melanie Martinez’s “crybaby” album suits her sm!

And!! For Aikawa, my favourite song i like for him is “oh ana” by mother mother!

(Songs may be slightly ooc but its kinda them)

And some aikawa quotes just because :

“This calms me down like no other.” - ep 9, again. We all know that one scene XD

“Since im inferior, i’ll bleed to death. Fair’s fair. That’s completely in line with my doctrine.” - direct quote from chapter 204

“I wish i could see my mom.. just once more before i die..” - chapter 204, again.

[just-jordie-things]

your writing is so so good do u have any tips? hope u have a great day! ^^

i’ve never been asked this before! i had to think about it!

a biggie take your time finding your style- as you can see on my masterlist i have a looot of shit on there from years of writing fanfic and experimenting. getting out of my comfort zone can be kinda hard for me personally, but with writing it was so worth it bc you can really see a metamorphosis there of when i was writing just to write and when i was writing with a drive.

don’t be afraid to ignore the rules of grammar. run on sentences are beautiful. i’ve found that especially so when the plot is driven by someone’s stream of consciousness as though they’re narrating it. thoughts are messy, they’re long and sometimes awkward and there’s no such thing as grammar in your mind !! of course spelling and punctuation are important and i’d recommend editing tho (idk her 😳) but get creative with it!!

thesaurus.com is my bestie 👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩 i often find myself using a lot of the same words and i don’t want to bore readers with repetitiveness! and also it’s just an easy way to expand my vocabulary too. (in person i stammer and have the reach of a fourth grader lmfao so i always want my writing to be concise and make the reader feel exactly what i want them to with my language)

also something i’ve started doing recently !! when i’m away from my wip and daydream about it, i write it down right away! in my notes app or on sticky notes or even my hand hehe. sure if it’s a significant enough plot point i’ll probably remember… but there’s no time like the present!! i want A to look at B a little differently in that one quick scene? i want to make them eat something different for foreshadowing? little details like that can be huge in your writing !! something a reader might gloss over but then realize later it was all a part of a greater scheme?? yes. so take note of those thoughts and daydreams you have !! even if you don’t end up adding it to your work, it’s better than having a profound, fic changing idea that you forget before you get the chance to write it!

this one is simple but a biggie- think about what you would want to read. i’ve been trying to keep this in mind as of late, especially when writing longer pieces where i want to make y’all suffer. find new ways to build the tension in your plot. give us different points of view, give us an untrustworthy narrator that thinks they’ve got it all figured out. throw in extra conflict. fanfiction is the melting pot of whatever the fuck you want !! so go stupid go crazy and make it something you love, and you should be good to go!! not to be cheesy but as long as you love it then you’re solid. doing something you love over and over will naturally lead you through growth and finding your style. don’t be wrapped up in notes right away (yes it can be a bit of an issue on this app- but none of has have control over how people enjoy your work- so you might as well focus on enjoying it for yourself) because as long as you’re doing something you’re passionate about and sharing it with us, more people will soon flock to enjoy it with you <3

lastly i just enjoy making mini playlists for whatever i’m currently working on. they don’t have to correlate completely with your plot. sometimes the sound of a beat is good enough for me to throw it on. if it gets me excited and planning out scenes i haven’t gotten to yet then it’s good enough for me!! i will listen to the same song on repeat in the name of ✨vibes✨ even if the words themselves have nothing to do with the plot i’m writing. that’s probably lazy basic advice but it works well for me and i love listening to music so !!

i hope this helps, and i wish you all kinds of luck as you explore this hobby for yourself !! it can be so freeing to get lost in your own work, and tbh sometimes i feel a little cringe about writing fanfiction but… i just adore it. it’s my favorite thing to do and when i think like that i stomp it down bc i’m proud of my work! i’m proud of how far i’ve come and i’m eager to see what i can push myself towards next!!!

happy writing, happy reading, and if you ever need more help i’m happy to do the best i can for ya! this goes for anyone, please always feel free to reach out even if you just want to talk brainrot. making friends thru this hobby is amazing bc like-interests are 💞🩷

xoxo ~ jordie

[moonjxsung]

Staaarr I have a somewhat funny story to share, plus I need advice sorta?

I have this 15 almost 16 year old cousin and her mom thinks she’s a ‘troublemaker’ cause apparently dating as a teen means you’re a bad kid. There was this whole thing during Christmas where she told the entire family she lost her virginity, which was true but it happened a while back, she just chose to say it during Christmas cause she wanted to cause a scene lol

ANYWAY after new years her mom messaged me and asked if I could try and talk to her, make her a better kid, cause I was a bit bad when I was a teen (aka I dated) but I turned out so well (aka I don’t date anymore) and she was like oh you could make her like those Korean bands you like so she won’t have time to act out. I personally took that as her telling me I get no bitches cause I like kpop.

Long story short I casually showed my cousin some girl groups and she hated them, but she liked TXT and she especially liked SKZ 🙃 like a lot. Her bias is Hyunjin and she already bought like 3 of his photocards, made a fucking beaded bracelet with his name and sends me Hyunjin edits on TikTok all day.

She came over to my house yesterday and after making me watch a playlist of her favorite Hyunjin fancams, she told me she started reading fanfic 🤠 and I’m so torn cause the stuff she reads she really shouldn’t be reading but like I’d be a hypocrite if I told her that cause I did the same shit when I was her age but at the same time now that I’m 25 I understand why MDNI exists so 🫠 I really don’t know what to do, I’d love to know your opinion about this 🥲

Anyway Stray Kids saving the youth apparently!!

~🌷~

OHHHH MY GOSH THIS WAS WILD TO READ….. first of all I REMEMBER when you said your cousin was going to reveal she lost her virginity at Christmas dinner (I still cannot get over how chaotic?? GIRL😭) and I’d been wondering how that went 😭 I do think it’s unfortunate parents think we’re going through some rebellious phase when we’re just dating, especially because when you swear off dating in your 20s, you don’t stop getting hit with the whole “when are you bringing a boyfriend here?” LIKE??? And the way they lowkey implied you get no bitches because you like kpop HELLO???? PLEASE 😭😭😭😭 that is SO my parents I completely get it

I’m glad she’s taking interest in kpop content and loving fancams and photocards and all that!! But the fanfic part… 😕😵‍💫 unfortunately that’s such a sad part about getting into reading fanmade content at such a young age because you will inevitably stumble across the nsfw content and it’s so hard to control as an adult once the young people start frequenting those sites! I mean I was reading badddd smut at the tender age of 13 and it was…. Not good for my development in the slightest. I would maybe just warn her, and even suggest some sfw fics or authors on the sites she’s on if you know any. Maybe even just having a talk about how adult content isn’t made for kids and that it’s not healthy for her to be consuming could scare her off a little? I think at some point when kids have a phone or a computer, there’s so little we can do, but at least just conveying that adult content is for ADULTS can be a little productive. I never had anyone sit down and tell me that, but I think I would have been more scared of those sites if I had been told they were bad for me 😭

I wish you the best of luck pookie and I wish there was more we could do to protect kids 😕 hopefully she at least loses interest or something and moves onto the next thing! Like girl go watch cartoons and be a kid for as long as you can :(

Sending you sm love, let me know how it goes!! 🩷🫶💖💕💗💓⭐️

[squishosaur]

jj ramble!!

^ tags from @cygnusswan

favorite character:

UWAH I LOVE THEM ALL... even the side characters (except chui and his posse they kinda freak me out tbh)... my favorite love interest is probably fumi because i played his route first or shirota because i relate to him the most ✌️ but they're all nice, and i also want to shout out kisa because i was worried that she'd be a super blank slate with no personality, but she had so much depth and i love her immensely, she's definitely a completely fleshed out character and she's strong in her own right, so i'm really excited to play her route too! to me, her struggle with her gender and her identity is so real. like, even though she's a cis girl, the way she's written feels so??? i dunno. it's relatable to me.

favorite performance:

I'M SOO OBSESSED WITH MARY JANE... sneak peek of my phone background ⬇️

BUT.... the one i keep coming back to is oh rama havenna????? THE MUSIC IS SO GOOD... chichi and rukirora are so important to me okay.... AND THE CUTSCENES WERE SO GOOD IN THAT ONE??? god... when kisa started crying at the end i also started ugly crying. also shout out neji's massive fake honkers in the confessional mv. why were they so big. how did that work. i got scared. his strappless dress was crazy. especially since he was the main focus. (pictured below: two havenna scenes that had me in tears)

and cessia (shishia??? I DON'T REMEMBER HOW IT'S SPELLED) was also good. but i wanna see all the versions before i form a final opinion on it 😭😭😭.... i still think i'm going to like adra as the love interest the best. it feels right to me... ajdnndnd I SOBBED BTW...

BUT ALL OF THE SONG AND DANCE NUMBERS ARE SO GOOD FROM EVERY SHOW... they're all in my driving playlist ✌️ even ms. robin. which is literally such a goofy song to me.

routes:

i did fumi's first (drew a commemorative something here) and i'm playing mitsu's now ✌️✌️ I REALLY LOVE FUMI'S ROUTE THOUGH... the way he definitely fell first and pretty much immediately (i think he has a thing for tachibanas idk man ajsjsns) AND he knew all along that kisa was a girl but protected her identity all year without her even having to ask. AND!! AND!! as soon as kisa told him, he went to calling her a beautiful girl and using feminine terms to describe her... it was so reassuring(???) because he obviously cared about her identity and knew she was uncomfortable with the thought of being outed but also knew that she still identified as a girl despite having to put up a front, so using her proper gender and stuff even in private meant a lot yk??? after a year of hiding your gender identity a really pretty guy asking you to be his girlfriend seems like a w to me. obsessed with how he was confessing since his first weekend event ajdjdjd,,,

surprises/wishes:

WAS NOT EXPECTING THE BEACH EPISODE BUT I DID WELCOME IT WITH OPEN ARMS... all of their swimsuits were so goofy... I LIKE THAT KISA'S OUTFIT CHANGES SLIGHTLY IN THE CUTSCENES??? also. big fan of whatever the rhondonite first years were doing. they slayed.

I ALSO DID NOT EXPECT THE SAUNA... and why was it like. pee yellow... HELLO.. 💀💀

WISHING FOR A DLC WHERE I CAN GET WITH KASAI OR KIITO.... please please... head in my hands.... they're so silly... also would never happen realistically but poly suzu/sou/kisa when....

I GOT THE GAME LIKE TWO WEEKS AGO MAYBE and i have not stopped thinking about it.... i don't think i will check the hours i'll get scared. i'm not an otome girlie though, so i did not expect to like it for that. i got it because i'm a musical theatre kid, certified thespian, and awful bad rhythm gamer it appealled to me... i was actually very skeptical about the "girl at an all boys school" concept but it was really well excecuted imo ajdndn,,, i'm glad that there's varying amounts of romance in the different routes. i've triggered different cutscenes for suzu, mitsuki, and fumi and so i appreciate that it doesn't all feel like forced romance?? i dunno how to describe it.. anyways!! 10/10 i think there is something for everyone here ✌️ (silly guys and gender shenanigans)

[la-folie-a-deux]

Force of Gravity (Din x Reader)- Chapter 2: Turning the Page

A/N: Happy Valentines Day! I got the inspiration to write this chapter after a discussion with @kyberblade who gives the best advice for any of my worries. Of course, please go check out Shatter and give it all the love it deserves. The dividers I use are all from @firefly-graphics and I must admit that I’m in love with them. I wrote this very spur of the moment, having wanted to get this scene out as a little gift to y’all for stupid cupid day (as my mother endearingly calls it) so it is not yet fully edited but rest assured, I will come back to fix any mistakes present at a later time. Xoxo, Dee💕

CW: panic attack, fear of being taken advantage of, hyperventilating, a nice steamy scene for the holiday 😉

NOTE: I do not own the Star Wars franchise, the dividers, the gifs, or Ti Jyrr, I just love them and wanted to make something with them. Please support their original creators.

Word Count: 2,275

Masterlist | Previous | Next | Spotify Playlist

Now listening to: The French Library and Moonlight Sonata

It’s been over an hour since you first spoke to the Prince, though he asked you to stop calling him by his title two dances in. You remembered hearing Vanth refer to him as “Mando” which wasn’t uncommon to hear brought up in conversations around society but you couldn’t ever place the name to the man standing before you know until this very night. The name he gave you to call him though was not the alias the others bestowed upon him but was his first name. It felt right on your tongue.

Din.

After spending this long with him, it felt like his name was the only word you wanted to speak while his voice was the only song you wanted to dance to. That spelled nothing but danger. You had to get out of there before you did something that you’d come to regret.

You feel your skin start to crawl as reality sets in and you feel all the pairs of eyes piercing through your skin. Din was acting as your armor this entire time, a shield to keep you in the moment with him and now you’ve woken up from the dream and oh maker, what are you doing?! You can’t stay here, you can’t stay in this blissful bubble with him forever no matter how much you wish you could. This is bad. This is bad. This is-

“Ti..?” Din’s voice floats through the screaming happening in your head causing you to tilt your head up to meet his worried gaze. It’s only then that you realize that you stopped talking mid sentence and dropped your eyes to stare down at his handkerchief that resides in his coat pocket. “Is everything alright?”

“Oh… yes,” you say, sounding highly unconvincing to your own ears but holding out hope that maybe he doesn’t know you well enough yet to have the ability to tell. “I just realized how parched I am… I think I’m going to fetch myself a lemonade.”

His eyes look disbelieving yet he asks, “Would you like me to retrieve one for you?”

“No!” You answered a bit too fast for it to be considered casual. Clearing your throat as if that erased the frantic tone to your voice, you continue, “No, thank you for the offer but I can go myself. I’m sure you would enjoy a small break from dancing as well seeing as you haven’t done so in quite a while. If you’ll kindly excuse me.”

Din nods his head with some hesitation, but you take the opportunity to give him a small curtsy before making your escape. You walk with your head held up and with even strides, knowing plenty of people are probably still watching your every move as you stop by the drink table to grab a glass. You stand idly by the table for a minute until the next song starts and there’s less attention on you before you slip out of the room.

As soon as the door to the ballroom closes softly behind you, the sight of an empty stretch of hallway greets you and you take it as a sign to make your hasty journey to somewhere you can be completely alone. With quick steps, you get lost in the maze of turns and identical doors but you couldn’t care less about what kind of dilemma that could cause you once you got your mind back together. Right now, all you needed was to escape prying eyes and his presence.

Luck was on your side as you turned a corner and met a short hallway with one single door at the very end. As if it were a flame and you were a moth, you rush to the door, trying the handle and pushing the door open just wide enough for you to slip through it. You quickly pull the door shut behind you, pushing your back flush against the wood to catch your breath. Your heart and thoughts are racing in a tizzy, feeling like a complete moron for being so easily lulled into putting your guard down. You just spent ages talking freely while dancing continuously with someone.

Not just someone.

A stranger you just met.

You tilt your head back, closing your eyes tight with a heavy sigh on your lips. You’ve gone and done it now. You really are a moron. You should know better than to trust the first person that engages a conversation with you yet here you are.

Wait, where are you anyway?

You reopen your eyes and straighten up before looking at the room in front of you. From the very peaks of the tall ceilings to the bottoms of the floorboards stands a forest of sprawling bookshelves filled to the brim. You were sure it’d take multiple lifetimes to read every book in the room but you’d love to try that challenge one day. Maybe today was a good day to start.

You take a few steps, the sound of your shoes being muffled by the ornate carpet while you walk along one of the many rows of shelves. Trailing your fingers delicately across the spines of many works while you browse, your eyes land on a book you’ve read at least a dozen times already up on a higher shelf than you could easily reach.

While you could look for something to help you retrieve it or even make a different book selection that was easier to grab, now that you’ve seen the copy sitting in plain sight you knew it was the right one to start on. Keeping your eyes trained on the cover so you don’t lose track of it while you make your way to the shelf, you attempt to stretch tall enough to take hold of the novel but to no avail. Even on your tiptoes, you have no luck.

In your state of being concentrated, you failed to hear the noise of the room’s door opening and closing again. It isn’t until you feel the press of somebody’s broad chest against your back and you see a large hand reach above you to snatch the book from its home that you realize you’re not alone.

You close your eyes in preparation for something bad to happen to you. Afterall, you were removed from the event, no one else was anywhere near the library that you were aware of, this person was obviously much bigger than you, and you were so caught up in trying to clear your thoughts that you stopped paying attention to your surroundings for the second time tonight.

You must have a deathwish.

A low voice spoke behind you, making you jump slightly at the sound. “Pride and Prejudice?” It took a handful of seconds for your brain to catch up and recognize that the very person you fled from was who came to your metaphorical rescue. Oh Maker…

“It’s my favorite novel at the moment…” Your voice is fragile and as soft as a mouse’s might be. You feel like you’re suffocating before you hear him telling you to breathe. The feeling of his chest rising and falling with each of his breaths while still being pressed against you helps you find a rhythm to sync your own to. Once your chest stops burning from your panic, he takes a small step back to give you more space. “Why are you here, Din?”

“You were acting off and left so abruptly, I was worried. I watched you go over to the table before Vanth came over to speak with me and the next thing I knew, you vanished. Thankfully, this is where I come to escape so I thought I’d check here first.” Din hands you the book which you gratefully take with a quiet thanks. His eyes skim over your form, lips forming a straight line. “I think the better question is why are you here, Ti?”

“I needed some fresh air.” He looks around the room that is enclosed and crowded with shelves, disbelievingly. “I.. got lost?” You say more like a question than the truth. “Everything was getting to be… a lot…”

He looks at you, his features softening at your vulnerability. “I can understand that. I only hope that I wasn’t the reason you felt the need to leave without telling anyone where you were actually going.”

“Oh, no. Well, not really at least. I got overwhelmed by all the eyes on us while we were dancing and I felt trapped which is not a feeling I handle well so I needed to get out as soon as I could.” You turn around to look at him, seeing warm eyes looking down at you from even closer than they were while you danced with him. So close it would surely cause a scandal should anyone see you two like this. “You made me forget there were others in the room with us and when I finally remembered, it felt like the weight of the world crashed down upon me. I panicked.”

“I made you think that we were completely alone?” He asks, his very existence surrounding you completely like a blanket. You nod, almost hypnotized by him. His face cracks into a slight mischievous grin as he steps forward into your space, causing you to take a step back but you forgot that you had been right in front of the sheves when he first made his presence known physically. “What about right now? Do you think we’re completely alone?”

“I’m not sure,” your volume fades to nothing as you answer him. You can’t take your gaze off of him, getting to admire him with so little between you is an experience that you’ll think about for the rest of your days. You were sure of it. He looks like the most enchanting sins and most blasphemous dreams in one tall, handsome package and you were sure that you would rather live only a day longer with him near you than to live for decades without him. He has bewitched you, body and soul.

He backs you up against the bookcase, his hands coming up to cage you in place, not that you would try to escape. Ducking his head down to be level with you, his voice flows out of his mouth and encompasses you. “Do you want us to be completely alone, mesh’la?”

“Yes.”

Din moves his face closer, brushing his nose against yours delicately before you hear a faint noise in the background. “That’s a shame. The book keeper is still here.” He pulls back and takes a good few steps away from you before the librarian comes around the corner.

“Oh, Mando. I didn’t know you were here.” The librarian says, not particularly surprised that he left the ball in favor of spending the evening there. “You brought a friend with you?” She eyes you curiously from where you were still propped up against the shelf, the novel clutched in your hand and your face flushed with a great deal of emotions.

“Actually she wandered in here on her own to escape the gathering but yes, she is a friend. Peli, this is Ti.” Din gestured to you with his hand as if he hadn’t just practically pinned you in the most scandalous way possible to the bookcase behind you with the very same one.

“It’s nice to meet any friend of Mando. He has so few but I think that’s because of his attitude. He scares them all away just by opening his mouth,” Peli jests as if Din is merely an old companion and not the Prince of the country.

You look at Din in confusion, feeling like your mind is being tugged a million different directions. With a chuckle, he supplies, “Peli was my governess when I was young and I got stuck with her for life. Now she just likes to make my life harder.”

“Well, it’s a great pleasure to meet you as well Peli. I hope that one day, you’ll be able to tell me all the embarrassing tales about Din you remember,” you look at her, with a smile and playful glint in your eyes. If Din wanted to mess with you, then two could play this game. An eye for an eye.

Din looked like he was about to object but Peli beat him to the punch. “I would love nothing more. You would not believe the stories I have about him,” she said impishly. “The next time you come by, please stop in and I’ll tell you whatever you want to know.”

“This was fun but we should be returning you back to Cara. Come along, Ti.” Din says before you can respond to Peli properly, grabbing your free hand and pulling you towards the door leading from the library and back into the hallway.

“I’ll be sure to do that. I hope to see you again soon Peli!” You call out with a wave of your hand that she returns before Din blocks your view and closes the door. You look up at him, smirking. “You started all this, you know? You teased me and now you have to deal with the consequences of your actions.”

“You didn’t seem very upset with my actions when they were happening.” Din remarks, ushering you further from the library so you couldn’t turn right back around to go speak to Peli again.

“Well I would watch out, Din. I believe in paying back actions tenfold.” You keep walking forward, leaving him standing in the hallway a few steps away.

“I look forward to it, Ti.”

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