#the almost perfect world where we would have gotten a different type of romance between Elise and Arno

[ship-garbage-pile]

i am 99% sure the moment every Unity player had gotten the Shay outfit, we all envisioned an AU where he was Elise's Templar bodyguard

[maybege]

Safe And Warm - Part 1

Summary: Din convinces Paz to find the long lost Princess and bring her to her family in Coruscant. What Paz did not expect was her very beautiful companion and the feelings she would wake in him. (Anastasia AU)

Pairing: Paz Vizsla x fem!Reader

Wordcount: 6.1k | Rating: T

Warnings: one (1) tense moment of threatened violence, otherwise Disney-level fluff, also Mandalorians do not wear helmets in this AU

FINALLY! When I start writing this in November of last year I certainly did not expect it to take this long until I would publish it but the writing gods had other things in mind. This is a loose Anastasia AU with a bit of a mixture of like 1920’s fashion/aesthetics set in the Star Wars Universe. It was a lot of fun to write and – in my mind – is like a 90-minute fun Disney movie with romance sprinkled in.

Because there will be two parts of The One posted next week, the second (and final) part of this story will be posted on July 23. Always, feedback is greatly appreciated and I hope you enjoy it!

masterlist | crossposted on AO3

Paz was sure that Din had lost his mind.

To be fair, he had thought that more than once but this time he was convinced that it had finally happened. Din Djarin had lost his stars forsaken mind.

But, as always, Din did not seem to be deteriorated by his friend’s disapproval.

“Valoria has been destroyed a long time ago now,” Paz said, “And everyone on it has been destroyed with it.”

“Yes, except maybe what if it hasn’t?”

Paz scoffed, “I very much doubt that.”

His eyes wandered around the cantina they were sitting in. The bar was packed by what seemed to be the crews of the trade ships, gambling and laughing at their tables, and over on the other side of the glittering gown of the singer caught his eye. Stars, he just wanted one calm evening …

“Paz,” Din grabbed him by the upper arm, “We all know the remaining Valars are Coruscant royalty so to speak and them setting out a price for the lost princess? That must mean she is out there somewhere. And wewill be the ones to bring her home.”

Paz did not say anything. He wanted nothing more than another drink and maybe watch a good fighting match. Stars, maybe even participatein a good fighting match.

But Din did not give up. He never did.

“Think of the money, Paz,” he implored, “That would be more than enough to build a new classroom in the covert and get you one of those fancy new blasters the Armourer has been eyeing – and that would only be with half your share.”

Paz hesitated.

They did need a new classroom. Or at least some improvements on the current one. Last week, some bricks had tumbled down and it had been pure luck that none of the foundlings had been there.

He would have never been able to forgive himself if something had happened to one of his students.

He sighed in defeat, his shoulders dropping and he leant back in his chair. “How do you plan on finding – what’s her name again Thama-something?”

“Thalassa,” Din corrected him with a smug grin on his face. He had probably realized by now that he had captured Paz’s interest. Smug bastard.

“And you’ll be glad to know that I have found her already.”

“Found her?” Paz was stunned, “I am impressed, vod. You never seemed like the planning type.”

Din ignored his jab and set out the map, the galaxy lighting up between them. “A reliable source told me we can find her here,” he pointed to the very end of the map, symbolizing the edge of the Outer Rim, “All we need to do is get her from here to here,” he drew an imaginary line all the way to Coruscant, “Without having anything happen to her.”

“Seems easy enough,” Paz commented, brows furrowing, “So why do you need me for it?”

“There might or might not be a price on her head … from the Imps,” Din admitted.

He knew there had to be a problem somewhere.

“Do you have any idea how many things can go wrong? This is asking for trouble Din,” Paz cursed, clearly unhappy with that tidbit of information, “No credits in the whole wide galaxy would make this worth it. I have no desire to have a run-in with the Imps any time soon.”

“Vod, please,” Din said, “I – kriff, I need the money to get stuff for the kid,” Paz's eyes fell to the little pod in which the green child – his honorary nephew – was sleeping, “I need him safe, alright? And I need your help, brother, please.”

“Alright,” Paz murmured, nodding, “But I already know this will go wrong.”

*

Din’s ‘hot tip’ led them to a planet on the Outer Rim. The very edge of it, to be exact.

They had gotten a ride on a friend’s ship much to Paz’s amusement. Din begrudgingly calling Boba Fett of all people for help all the way from Tatooine was the highlight of his week – month, even.

The Razor Crest was hopelessly broken down and Paz was sure that Din would use significant amounts of his share to get the ship and his home back on track.

They had left Grogu with the covert under the watchful eye of the Armourer, knowing that the mission would be too dangerous and too risky to take him along. That was the moment Paz knew that Din was serious about all of this. For his vod to leave his kid somewhere that was not with him – that was a big step.

A step which both of them seemed to regret as they landed on the planet in question. It was muddy and green and brownish, a wholly unappealing colour palette. The sky was dark or … well, not dark. But it seemed to be a permanent twilight no matter what time it was and with the small drizzle, the rain seemed to paint the whole world a constant grey.

The only homes that littered the streets – or rather trampled paths – were small homes, only distinguishable from the grey horizon by the small fires that lit up their windows.

Paz had never been so sure that there would never be a princess here. But maybe that was exactly what made this the perfect hiding spot.

And so, he hoisted his bag higher on his bag as they trudged through village after village in search for whatever sign Din deemed to be worthy to stop for. As the rain lessened, the sky lightened up a little but they were still wet to the bones and Paz hated it.

After hours of walking, Din finally stopped in front of a small hut.

Children were playing in the space between the houses and the few adults that seemed to be working outside eyed the newcomers suspiciously. Paz’s hand felt the blaster on his hip, a strange feeling overcoming him at being watched.

“I don’t like this, vod,” he murmured, “I really don’t.”

Din hummed in agreement before knocking on the door.

A few moments passed and then an elderly man opened. Both his eyes and his hair were grey, he seemed … worn. Tired and worn. But when he spotted them, and his eyes flew immediately to the weapons on their hips, he tensed. And so did Paz.

Surely this was not the best first impression they could make.

Then again, he was impatient to get away from here.

“I know why you are here,” the man said, his eyes lighting up in excitement as he motioned for them to come inside.

Paz was confused by this but he did not complain. The man did not seem to have any weapons on him and, as surprising as it was, he seemed genuine.

The house they were led into was simple. The downstairs consisted of a single room, serving as both the kitchen and the living room, and a set of stairs led to what Paz assumed to be the bedrooms.

A hearty smell wafted through the air and he spotted a pot hanging over the fire. His stomach growled.

“You are here to bring her home, aren’t you?” the man asked excitedly and both he and Din tilted their heads questioningly, making no secret of the fact that they were surprised by his warm welcome.

“We have been waiting for years but you see,” the man explained, gesturing to the outside, “there is no way to send reliable messages out there without them being able to be transferred.”

A woman came through a backdoor, clearly his spouse. She wore an apron and a suspicious look on her face as she spotted the two intruders. But even then, she did not acknowledge them. Instead, she walked over to the steaming pot of soup and set it on the table in the middle of the room.

Paz heard Din’s stomach grumbling and grinned.

“They are here to bring Thalassa home, darling,” the man explained, looking almost relieved and Paz furrowed his brows. He did not put it past the stranger to genuinely be happy for the girl to get back to her family but somehow, he had the feeling that the man’s happiness had a different reason.

“Where can we find her?” Din asked gruffly, shifting his weight on the other foot, “We want to get going as soon as possible.”

“Why should I tell you where she is?” the woman spat, “I cared for her like she was my own, what makes you think I would so easily give her away?”

“Because she deserves to be reunited with her family,” Din stated drily, “And her family wants to see her. They have waited a long time for this to happen.”

Paz held onto himself to not roll his eyes. Din could always be so dramatic if he wanted to and he hoped that it would work. He just wanted to get on with it.

The spouses looked at each other for a long moment and Paz could tell that they were having a conversation without words.

“Alright,” the woman finally relented, before adding, “But I do have one condition.”

“What is it?”

“I want you to take my niece with you. She – she has been stuck on this planet for far longer than she needed to. She is a good girl, she deserves a chance in the big worlds.”

Paz could feel how tense Din was. His first instinct was to disagree. They would have trouble smuggling one princess across the galaxy but a princess and another random stranger? Besides, who knew how this niece would hinder them on their quest to keep the princess safe?

No, that really was a ridiculous idea.

But Din was better at lying than he was and so he agreed with a reluctant nod. Nothing would speak against just taking the princess with them once they found her, right?

“Where is she then?”

“Oh, they’re just outside, working in the gardens,” the older woman says, wiping her hands on her apron, “You can tell them dinner is ready. You’re invited to stay as well, you won’t be able to walk back to your ship in that darkness.”

Both of them nodded and Paz was happy to set down his bag at the door that led outside. He kept his blaster on his hip though and he knew that Din had done the same. His thoughts were rushing with how quickly they could get Thalassa out of here and how long they would have before any of the Imps had an inkling of where she was.

But as he stepped down the stairs all thoughts left his head because … because …

There you were.

Like the lady had said, you were working in the gardens. You were kneeling on the muddy ground, your hands full of wet earth as you cleaned the plants of any weeds. Your companion was next to you, sitting on a small chair and talking to you. She must have said something funny because you threw your head back and laughed.

You – stars, you were beautiful.

How could people not see a princess when they saw you?

Noticing the newcomers, you raised your head and your eyes grew wide as you saw the two big men walk determinedly towards you. You hurried to stand up, wiping your hands clean on an apron. “How can we help you?” you asked carefully.

Paz did not slow his steps. He felt how flushed he was, even the tips of his ears felt hot as he walked towards you. His chest was oddly warm and tight as he looked at you, your eyes big and your mouth opening with another question.

“Your Majesty,” he murmured, lifting your hand to his mouth and kissing the back of it. You had wiped them clean on the fabric of your skirt and he felt how soft it was and he heard you gasp and oh stars how would he ever be able to forget this very moment.

The other woman seemed to be more excited rather than surprised and he heard her talking to Din in a high-pitched voice. But what did he care about that woman’s niece when you were there right in front of him?

“Oh I – I’m not,” you said, clearly embarrassed. You held your hand to your chest, the one he had kissed and Paz frowned. Shame filled him when he realised that he had made you feel uncomfortable but then he was also confused by your words. What did you mean?

“If anyone’s a Majesty, that would be me,”the woman behind him said, “It’s been time I would think.”

“We’re here to get you back to your family, Your Majesty,” Din said, throwing an amused look to Paz who was still standing in front of you. He looked from the other woman to you and back again. She – she was the princess? And you were the niece?

“We will start our journey to Coruscant tomorrow,” Din announced, “We got a ticket on a freighter ship booked. It will be a long and dangerous journey, princess, but you will see your family again soon.”

“Well, I should hope so,” Thalassa replied, wholly unimpressed, “It’s been years, I almost thought I’d never leave this forsaken place. Oh, is that dinner I smell?”

The princess walked off without another word, leaving the basket and little chair behind as well as Din and Paz looking at each other and realizing that keeping her safe might not be the issue – enduring her might cost them their last nerves.

Paz watched as you kneeled down again quickly putting some of the vegetables in the basket.

With the basket in your hands, you stood up again, looking at Paz for a long while. He felt how this warm feeling came back and nervously shifted on his feet. He could not figure out what it was about you but he – he wanted more. Wanted you more.

You took a deep breath, seemingly gathering your courage for something, and he resisted the urge to take your hand.

“When, uh, when you said you would go to Coruscant did you mean … me too?” you asked quietly and the small hope in your eyes made his heart clench.

Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Din opening his mouth. He knew that look on his face, knew that Din would reject your request just like they had planned when your aunt had first voiced that condition. Din would tell you that they would leave only with the princess in tow. And he was right, probably. Fewer people meant less danger.

But you did not look at Din.

You looked at him with a small smile on your lips as if you did not allow yourself to be hopeful yet but as if you wanted to be. Wanted to be hopeful. Wanted to be excited. Wanted to be on this journey.

He wanted to change that.

“Yes,” he said, already feeling Din’s eyes on him. But when you looked at him like that there was no way he could say no, “Yes, you will come with us too, if you’d like, of course.”

*

To no one’s surprise (and Paz’s excitement), you wanted to come along.

Already the preparations for the trip were eating at their nerves. Thalassa was more than annoyed that she was only allowed to take one bag with her. But Din was adamant and surprisingly patient with the demanding princess and soon she had reduced her luggage to only the essential items. It was not like she would need her muddy dresses in the high society of Coruscant.

Paz felt like he could not wait until the trip was over.

The next morning, they were able to borrow speeders from the family which would take them to the capital of the mud planet. From there, they would take one of the big cruiser ships to Naboo.

It was the easiest method to fall under the radar – by blending in with the large crowds that flocked to the core worlds. Paz had worn his best suit for that exact purpose.

The only downside was that the Imps were slowly becoming aware of that loophole and more and more of them infiltrated the standard ways of travelling.

Already in the terminal did Paz spot a few suspicious-looking people. They were most likely bounty hunters but he was not too worried. The ship they were boarding was enormous and so was the number of passengers. The odds of them crossing paths were very slim and so he and Din decided to not change their plans at the last minute.

You, on the other hand, seemed to be intimidated if not scared. Din has assigned you the space on Paz’s speeder and with your arms wrapped around his middle, you had driven hours on end until you had reached the spaceport. He had liked the proximity, the way you had pressed your cheek against his back and how your arms had sometimes tightened around him.

He could very well get used to it.

Now, even as you were in the terminal, ready to board, you stuck to his side. It flustered and pleased him to have you so close that your arm was brushing against his constantly. But he was also relieved to have you this close because everywhere he looked, strangers were walking towards the gates and he did not want to lose you in this chaos.

And so, he made it a point to make himself seem bigger, pushing out his chest and straightening his posture to make sure that none of the other passengers would stray too close.

You sent him a grateful smile.

A few rows before you, he could hear Thalassa’s high-pitched voice complaining about one thing or another and soon he recognized Din’s dark hair in the masses. He wondered if his brother in arms was even listing to her. Her voice was shrill and she had not stopped talking for one moment since leaving the house this morning so Paz found it hard to imagine that Din could just tune it out but he hoped for his sake that he could.

He did not want to imagine the next few days on the ship.

“Do you have the tickets?” you asked quietly beside him, pulling him out of his thoughts. Paz nodded and rummaged in the inside pocket of his jacket. He brought out two data chips, handing you one.

“Stick close,” he advised you, “It can get a little chaotic, getting through the gates.”

With big eyes, you nodded. He watched how you took a deep breath and then you were separated from him, being pushed towards another gate. There was a sea of people trying to get through the electronic controls and Paz did not like this suffocating feeling that came over him

He pushed the chip in and the gate opened with a beep before he was swept up again by the masses making their way into the hull of the ship. But there was something – or rather someone – missing.

Paz turned around, trying to spot you. When he did not see you, he grew panicked. He could care less what happened to Thalassa but you– he wanted to make sure you were safe.

Hoping that it would help, he shouted your name over the chatter of the other passengers. He turned around, fighting his way back to the gates, pushing against people and getting insulted in more languages than he understood.

A soft hand grabbed his and he froze. He whipped his head around and there you were, looking clearly a bit overwhelmed but smiling at him. He breathed a sigh of relief, his shoulders dropping. Out of instinct, he grasped your hand tighter, rubbing his thumb over your knuckles.

“Ready?” he asked and you nodded with a smile.

Neither of you let go of each other’s hand.

*

Hours later, when the ship finally started taking off, you were settled in the cantina.

The ship had dorms and suites and common rooms, more than anyone could ever count, but Din and Paz had decided that it would be safer for the time being to be in the cantina before figuring out any sleeping arrangements.

“I don’t understand why we couldn’t have gotten a suite,” Thalassa hissed, looking around her with disdain. It was clear that she did not appreciate being around ‘commoners’ as she had called them before and Paz wondered how she had lived her life in poverty and still ended up like this.

Fittingly enough, he could see how Din’s jaw clenched, how his eyes flashed with annoyance, and grinned. When he had thought of credits he certainly hadn’t thought of how annoying royalty could be to deal with.

“It would be too obvious, Thalassa,” you explained gently, sitting next to Paz and a datapad in your lap, “They already explained before. It will only be for a few days. Isn’t that right, Paz?”

His heart skipped a beat at you saying his name. You were already looking to him for backup, as if you trusted him with it, and the way his name rolled off your tongue … stars, he would dream of that tonight.

“Very right,” he replied, “Three days at the most, all of this will take less than a week if we’re lucky.”

“And if we’re not?” Thalassa challenged.

“Then it will take longer,” Din hissed.

Paz grinned. This would be a long journey.

*

When dinner had been served, the group had barely moved from their spot in the cantina.

Thalassa had been busy watching some holovid or another on a datapad and the best part about it was that she was silent. Under different circumstances, Paz might have been annoyed by how loud she was playing the holovid, the actor’s shrill voice sounding all the way through the cantina but he could not be bothered to care when the alternative was to explain to her for the hundredth time why she needed to be happy with the lower standard of accommodation.

Din was sitting next to the princess, thoroughly entranced by studying maps or researching new parts for the Crest or something.

But whom Paz was most focused on was you.

You had started to doze off in your seat next to him for a while now and your head kept leaning dangerously to the side, threatening to fall on his shoulder. Paz was tense. Slowly, he shifted closer to you until your cheek rested fully on his shoulder and he heard you sigh in your sleep and then … you shuffled closer to him.

Paz tensed even more, pretending to read the ship’s safety manual in his hands.

He still felt Din’s amused gaze on him though and he furiously tried to ignore the heat that rose in his cheeks. But you were soft and warm against him, completely relaxed now that your head was supported by something.

He wondered if you were cold. It was drafty in the cantina, maybe he should put his jacket over you? He would be fine with just wearing his shirt and the vest but he would have to move and what if that would wake you?

And how would he get you to your sleeping quarters without waking you? Would you be angry at him? He knew some people had trouble falling asleep on spacecrafts and what if you were one of them and you had finally managed to fall asleep only to be awakened by him and then you would not be able to sleep again and –

“Guess it is time to talk about the living arrangements,” Din muttered.

Thalassa put her datapad on the table with a clatter. “Finally,” she sounded exasperated, “I hope at least our sleeping accommodations will be sufficient.”

At the sound of her voice, you stirred next to him, your brows furrowing. Paz thought you looked adorable, like a loth cat that had fallen asleep in the sun with your cheek squished against the tweed of his suit.

“Hey, love,” he whispered, hoping no one heard how that pet name had slipped out of lips so naturally. He rose his hand to your cheek, gently coaxing you awake.

“Huh?” you murmured, blinking up confused at him before a small smile appeared on your lips.

Then you noticed the position you were in and, clearly embarrassed, scooted away from him.

“I am so sorry,” you mumbled, “That was very inappropriate of me.”

Paz wanted to protest and say that he would hold you in his arms for however long you wanted. He would be gladly at your service should you have need of a human pillow again. But even in his lovestruck state, he knew how ridiculous that sounded and so he managed to keep his mouth shut and only smile tightly at you.

“So,” Din pulled the attention on himself, “We have three beds and four people. One private room for two and one bunk bed in the larger dorms. I’d suggest you girls get the room and Paz and I take the bunk.”

“Absolutely not,” Thalassa protested, completely horrified. Paz furrowed his brows confused over why she was this opposed to something that should actually please her. Having a private room had to be one of the points on her secret lists of requirements, he was sure, why in the stars would she not want to stay in one?

“If people are out there searching for me I want to be roomed with someone who can protect me, not – not her, no offence, honey,” she gestured towards you.

“None taken,” you smiled slightly, then turned to Din, “But Thalassa is right. If people are hunting her like you say they are, then – maybe I should sleep in the dorm? I – surely, it won’t be thatbad.”

Everything in Paz’s stomach turned at the idea of you in one of the big dorms. This was the first time you had ever left your planet and you thought they would throw you into a dorm with a bunch of rowdy passengers? No way.

“Well, then how do we proceed?” Din asked, throwing a knowing look his way, “I guess it is best if Paz would be in the dorms with you, he is intimidating enough that people wouldn’t want to approach you.”

“Intimidating?” you asked confused, turning to look at Paz, “I – I don’t think he’s intimidating at all.”

Paz was positive that he had never been this flustered in his life. You didn’t think him to be intimidating. You were not intimidated by him. You were comfortable with him. Comfortable enough to even share a bunk with him.

“Is that so?” Din asked, hardly able to hide his grin, “Well, isn’t that interesting, Paz?”

Shut up, Paz thought, too focused on how you were still tucked into his side, the sleep barely gone from your eyes, Shut up and let me enjoy this.

*

The walk to the dorm was long and dark and for you, probably quite scary.

Paz was convinced that he had already witnessed at least two spice deals and you weren’t even halfway to the dorm. He was happy about it though because he was not sure what would have happened if anyone thought you had noticed their illegal wrongdoings.

But you were probably unaware of it.

You seemed to make sure never to stray too far from him or the path that you had set out for yourself, your hesitant footsteps echoing around the labyrinth that was the ship. He could see how tightly you were clutching your bag to your chest as he walked beside you and it took everything in him not to put his arm around your waist.

Where did this endless need to touch you come from?

When the door to the dormitory came into view, Paz took a deep breath, shouldered his bag. The weight of his blaster against his hop was a comfort as he braced himself for the worst. Dorms on ships these big … they could be bad.

“We’re bed 32B,” he told you and you nodded your understanding as the door slid open with a creak.

It was a huge room and it seemed endless. Paz could not even see the furthest wall from where he was standing at the entrance. But no matter how big the room seemed, it was absolutely packed with people of all ways of life and it was loud.

You backed up into him, your back bumping against his chest as a sound of fear escaped you.

“It’ll be alright, mesh’la,” he promised quietly, his hands finding your hips as he gently guided you forward. There was a resistance in your steps as he saw you watch your new surroundings. There were several bet games going on and from further down the room he was sure he heard some illegal loth cat races and even more angry shouts at a commotion just to your right.

The bunks that lined the walls each had four levels and Paz was somewhat relieved to find that your assigned bed was on the third one. Far enough up to avoid getting pulled into any of the conflicts. Far enough out of reach that he would have enough time to react if someone tried to come for you.

“I hope you don’t get claustrophobic too easily,” he muttered as he spotted how dark and small it looked. You might be able to sit up fully but he was certainly not.

Before you could step towards the ladder, however, a bright red arm stopped you, blocking your way. You squeaked and stepped right back into Paz’s chest whose arm came around your waist, holding you to him. He tried to ignore how fast his heart was beating at having you this close. Instead, he eyed the man in front of you who grinned confidently.

The alien’s eyes roamed over you slowly, dragging over every single inch of your body and Paz sneered, pulling you closer.

“Oh, where did you get this beauty, Mando?” the stranger asked, his tongue darting out to wet his lips as he leered at you, “How much for a night of entertainment, girly? I promise I pay well.”

Paz did not even blink as he pulled his blaster and held it against the man’s forehead. “Touch her and you are dead,“ he growled, arm tensing around you.

Instantly, all eyes in the room focussed on the three of you and the charged weapon but he could not bring himself to care. His eyes were cold as he stared the man down, his other and still on you and he noticed how your shoulders relaxed.

The man shifted uneasily on his feet before he lifted his hands in a gesture of peace. “Alright, alright,” he muttered, taking a few steps backwards, “She’s yours, I get it, I’m backing off, you see, Mando? No need to point that thing at me.”

Paz did not lower the blaster until the man had disappeared into the darkness of the room. Soon the other passengers started minding their own business again, the chatter picking back up and the hissing of the loth cats sounding above everything else.

“C’mon,” he muttered to you, gently pushing you towards the ladder, “That one’s ours.”

You climbed into the bunk before him and scooted to the very edge of it to make space for him as well. Just as he had suspected, the bunk was too low for him and he needed to duck his head before he could even thinkof crawling into the small space.

The bunk was outfitted like most bunks he had slept in, a curtain to pull close during the night, a net at the side to store a small bag or other belongings and a dim night lamp. He pulled the curtain close immediately, fastening it at the side so no one from the outside could open it easily. Then he switched on the small lamp, flooding the little bunk with warm light.

The first thing both of you did was take off your shoes and putting them at the very end of the bed where a small shelf was located. Paz decided to store his backpack there as well. It did not necessarily feel very safe but he also did not want you to feel uncomfortable. The bunk was slim as it was.

“I – I still need to change,” you noted, shifting in what he now recognized as discomfort.

Paz felt his cheeks heating up at the implication.

“I’ll turn around and, uh, let you change,” he decided and turned his back to you. The only problem was that in his haste to offer you some privacy, Paz forgot that the bunk was not built for people of his size and smashed his head against the ceiling.

“Ouch!” he cursed, “Kriffin’ bantha –“ he grumbled, holding his head and hearing your giggle behind him.

“I’m sorry,” you managed to bring out between your quiet laughter, “It just looked so funny.”

He only grumbled, his head still pounding but his heart fluttering because you sounded so happy. It was lovely.

He took the chance to slip off his suspenders and unbutton his dress shirt, only leaving him in his Henley and his pants. It would be comfortable enough for a night’s sleep, he supposed.

When he felt you shift and rustle beside him, he took it as a sign that it was safe to turn around. This time, he ducked his head, making sure to not even come near the hard ceiling. You were dressed in your night shift, fiddling with your hands in front of your chest.

“Does – does it hurt very badly?” you asked guiltily, “Maybe we can find a bacta pill or something?”

Even in the dim light of the bunk, Paz could see the unease and guilt on your face. And he rushed to make you feel better.

“No worries, mesh’la,” he assured you, “It was just a bump and I suppose from the outside it must’ve been pretty funny.”

You smiled shyly at him, “It was and … if it makes you feel better, the next time I bump my head, you’re allowed to laugh as much as you want.”

With that, you settled down under the blankets, your cheek hitting the pillow as you expectantly looked up at him and patted the spot next to yours. “Aren’t you going to sleep too?”

He had no words. Not only were you smiling at him like that but now you also wanted him to – to really sleep beside you. No staying on top of the covers. No sitting at the end of the bed and looking out for trouble. You wanted him to sleep.

He laid down, turning so his back was towards the curtain and he was facing you. “It’s, uh it’s a tight fit,” he murmured trying to arrange his arms somehow. You smiled, carefully taking his hand and stars your skin was soft and put it behind you on your waist.

Immediately, his fingers spread out on your back, pulling you closer. The fabric of your nightdress was soft under his fingertips and he wondered if your skin felt like that too. He heard you take a deep breath and then he felt your fingers on the exposed skin of his chest, playing with the buttons of his Henley.

His eyes fluttered closed, enjoying your soft touches on him.

“Are you comfortable?” he whispered, your head tucked into his chest, “the blanket’s not very thick I could try and see if they have some more on -“

“It’s alright,” you cut him off, smiling up at him, “I’m – you – you’re very warm, but what is that?”

You shifted again and he felt something hard brush against his belly. He chuckled and put his finger to his lips to shush you with a conspiratory grin. Lifting the blanket, he revealed the blaster between the two of you.

Your eyes widened.

“Safety’s on,” he revealed, “but I don’t want to take any chances.”

You shuddered, “I’m not used to all this – this danger,” you confessed, your finger brushing against his chest and he made sure his hand didn’t flex too much on your back.

“I worry about it,” you said, “Of the things that could happen. Thalassa and I – we’ve never been anywhere but home and now this – this is so much.”

“It’ll be alright,” he promised quietly, “it’ll be alright. Just rest and as soon as you can blink we’re one day closer to Naboo.”

“W-will you be there when I wake up?”

“Yes.”

[demonslayedher]

Hello! I don't know if you've been asked about this before but I love your analysis and reflections and I'd love to know all your thoughts about Zennezu if you don't mind 👀⚡🎀 Thanks so much for this blog!! 😊💝

Thank you again for your patience, as well as your comments on my fics and stuff in the meantime (even on Bird Fic, kya~ thank you <3). All my thoughts, hmmmmn…. Well, clearly I am a fluffy ZenNezu shipper and ship-content creator now, but I sure didn’t start that way. This may be long and rambling and mixed between analysis and personal taste. (Actually, it turned into almost 4000 words.)

So. First a little background. I usually am not much of a shipper. The very few OTPs I have all ended in horrific tragedy, and when romance is a big focus of something I’m otherwise enjoying I usually end up not paying much attention to it in favor of all the other elements I like. This is so much more the case when you can tell they’re going to wind up happily ever after. So what happened to make me so soft and fuzzy about the Kimetsu ships, when I otherwise usually don’t have an appetite for happy fluffy romantic endings?

Three major factors: 1. I’m obsessed. 2. I love these characters and want to see anything and everything about them. 3. Romance wasn’t actually a big element at all in canon, so it left me with an appetite and curiosity for it.

Even though I figured from long ago that ZenNezu would be end game, initially I was somewhere between indifferent and put-off. As much as I love Zenitsu, and I acknowledge that Ufotable the added the “run around and chase Nezuko” bit and removed the part with Zenitsu adoringly talking to Nezuko through her box, and as much as he can be defended for being lonely rather a pervert, the fact still stands that his level of appreciation for girls makes the characters around him uncomfortable. His most cringe-worthy lines at the Butterfly Mansion are all straight from the manga, and even though he was easily one of my favorite characters by the end of my initial watch of the series, I was very put off by his “girls are all queens” surface-level comments and more disturbing pleasure he took in the presence of girls (especially when he could physically interact with them), not to mention his pathetic introduction bothering a complete stranger and displaying that he doesn’t actually take girls’ feelings into consideration.

All this made me inwardly groan, feeling bad for Nezuko, figuring they were going to wind up together because she’s a saint who can find the patience to deal with someone like that, as he clearly wasn’t going to be desirable to any of the rest of the female cast. Enjoying the series well enough despite this, it didn’t bother me terribly much, pairings happen, whatever, I have a history of ignoring them. But one day, well and deep into caring about this whole cast like they’re all my children, I realized something. Isn’t… isn’t it cute how they both get their strength from taking naps? W-wouldn’t it be cute to see them innocently take naps together? Naps to protect each other? Oh. Oh-h-h-h-h. Oh dear. Oh no, it’s cute. Oh no. OH NO.

And that was how my warming up to this pairing started, it very quickly grew into “I love these children and I want them to be happy, being with Nezuko will make Zenitsu very, very happy, I love seeing him happy, happy Zenitsu” but was still a little reserved about Nezuko. Zenitsu was going to make her happy, right? It wasn’t just going to be a case of Nezuko having gotten fond of him over the course of everything they’ve been though, he is actually going to be her taste and make her heart go “kyun” right? Oh Nezuko, oh saintly Nezuko…

Let’s take a moment to pause here and think chronologically, though, as well as analyze their personalities and tastes. Neither of them are particularly picky, we can start there. Aside from fussy busy-bodies like Aoi, as long as it’s a girl, any girl is Zenitsu’s type. He’s desperate, and he’s painted the whole of girl-kind in pretty similar, not always realistic rosy colors. Even though he’s been used and abused by so many girls in his past, it’s his desire to believe that each new one he meets will fit that rosy imaginary color he paints over them that he chooses to let himself be duped, because he really is that lonely. I’ll give him that, sure, he’s a healthy young man with an interest in physical touch, but his dream in Mugen Ressha gives a good indication of what he’s really looking for: companionship, someone who likes spending time with him, someone who will find him useful and believe in him and look to him for protection, someone who likes him enough to spare him the physical intimacy of simply holding his hand. This is all an extension of what Zenitsu desires as whole, hoping he can better himself enough to be reliable and valued in general. Picturing it in the form of a significant other is one very vivid way to focus all those feelings, resulting in that rosy ideal which Zenitsu probably knows in his heart of hearts is too good to be true. That’s why he probably doesn’t think he’s ever going to find it, and therefore why he’s all over any slightest chance of attaining it.

My gosh, if being abandoned over and over isn’t enough, the fact that none of the girls he dated in the past were ever willing to even hold his hand hurts so much.

Nezuko, though, grew up in a secure family with a good relationship to observe between her parents. She probably always envisioned growing up to be like her mother, the quintessential “good wife, wise mother” (a phrase coined later on in the Taisho period to idealize the traditional roles of a woman). She cooks and cleans and sews and the first fanbook even tells us she was good at using an abacus, so she can handle family finances like a pro. Her traditional values probably made her tastes pretty standard, hoping for a reliable protector, but also someone who might be as kind as her father and her brother. But as for what makes her heart go doki-doki? The extra comic at the end of volume 3 tells us that she does long since have a type, it’s a person who’s like a Hisha.

Hisha: a chess/Shougi piece that can move an unlimited number of spaces in horizontal and vertical directions, and is crowned a dragon when it enters enemy territory.

So, yes, this is the part where we all smile and point at Gotouge and say, “I see what you did there, Wani-sensei.”

I find this reassuring; it tells me that Nezuko can find her heart squeezed at how cool Zenitsu is instead of just coming around and liking him because she was flattered by his affection and learned to see how nice he is and stuff. There are plenty of nice Demon Slayers who are strong and cool protectors, but that ZING that Zenitsu has (when he’s asleep) is something that can make her heart race. I’m all for this. I hinge so much of my ZenNezu feelings on this Hisha comment.

The second fanbook states that Nezuko initially had trouble sorting out her memories, and because Zenitsu gave her two such different impressions, it felt like memories of two different people, but over time the memories overlapped to form one complete person. We could say that she and Zenitsu had two first meetings.

Initially, when she was in the box, her little demon heart did go doki-doki; it was the first time a boy besides her brother had protected her, so even though Oniichan is Number One in her heart for the general duration of canon, this encounter was sure to leave a flattering impression. However, when they met face to face that night, he was just some confusing dandelion yelling and screaming about weird stuff, and then he was just a confusing (and possible bothersome) dandelion wanting to hang around her and give her flowers and stuff. It’s anyone’s guess just how “there” Nezuko was at this stage, as she does seem to gain back more of her own will and thought processes over the course of the series, rather than being guided by very, very simple rules to govern her behavior.

Zenitsu feel in love at first sight, and the second fanbook tells us he asked Tanjiro about her human personality, seeing as she wasn’t fully there. He was initially doubtful that anyone so perfect as Nezuko could exist and figured Tanjiro must had been biased and therefore exaggerating, but can we blame Zenitsu for being a smidge guarded? He’s been let down a lot, after all.

We know from Taisho Secrets and side novels that Zenitsu spent a lot of time with Nezuko during their long recovery at the Butterfly Mansion. Even how much more thought we see Nezuko display in the Train arc, she probably underwent a lot of mental development in this time, and my guess is that due to how much he interacted with her, this is probably when Zenitsu went from being a strange dandelion to a strange companion. She probably focused more on the goldfish and the pretty flowers (which he did take her to see!) and any flattering mention of her brother, though. Zenitsu, I’m relieved to say, seemed to genuinely care about what would make Nezuko happy instead of selfishly assuming something like “she likes me too, she wants to marry me.” But knowing Zenitsu, he probably assumed that her willingness to spend time with him was an indication of being willing to talk marriage once she was more herself again, though.

Let’s pause here and put on our Oniichan goggles, though. Early on, Tanjiro has to insist to just about everyone that Nezuko is still her own person with her own thoughts and feelings. Being a demon has taken a lot of her freedom to act on her true nature away from her, but he knows she’s still in there and he treats her like an equal human being. He had to watch over and over as people see his sister and only think, “demon.”

And then there’s his friend Zenitsu, who looks at her and thinks, “girl. Girl! Girl. Girl. Sweet girl, adorable girl, best girl in the world.” And maybe that’s a little bothersome, but yes, someone gets it!! Someone understands! Even though Tanjiro’s initial concerns are keeping Nezuko from being bothered by unwelcome advances, as long as Zenitsu is willing to respect that Nezuko is not entirely able to speak for herself now, he seems pretty approving of Zenitsu (provided Nezuko decides she likes him back). I’d like to think there was an unspoken promise between bros on what boundaries to follow. Besides that, Tanjiro believes in Zenitsu a lot more than Zenitsu believes in himself, so Tanjiro probably wasn’t worried about the “strong protector” role a future husband should fulfil. Or at least, Tanjiro doesn’t seem concerned once he gets to know Zenitsu, he’d have rejected Zenitsu flat-out on that first meeting. Zenitsu, you are so lucky Tanjiro is so forgiving.

However, for as much as Zenitsu sees Nezuko as “GIRL!! Girl, girl, girl!”, he’s still got his rosy vision that conveniently clouds out any disturbing realities. She is, after all, a demon.

This is something Zenitsu never actually had the chance to struggle with, and I would have really liked to see him challenged by that reality a bit more. He never witnessed Nezuko’s berserker mode, nor did he ever see her struggle to keep from eating someone, he wasn’t even awake to watch her fight like a violent animal/angry toddler on the train. Had there been a scene of Zenitsu forced to face how terrifying she had potential to be, it would had really sold his commitment to Nezuko specifically, instead of only Nezuko as his most likely girlfriend candidate.

On the train, Nezuko has the good fortune of seeing another side of Zenitsu, getting one hell of a doki-doki moment. As she’s gaining more self-awareness back, it probably made those doki-dokis more complex too. While I understand there wasn’t a good opportunity to fit in the pace of the story, I love that Taisho Secret of her concerned about him before he wakes up. Instead of him just being that boy who shows her pretty things and says nice things about her Oniichan, this is when he starts becoming something a little more unique among all the people whom little demon Nezuko has bet and who have been nice to her.

In the months that follow, we don’t get much deviation from this slow development. Zenitsu’s feelings toward Nezuko don’t really change at all, but there’s another thing about this ship: neither one chose the other over anybody else. They sort of just came together, Zenitsu gets hooked on one girl at a time, but what if someone had come along with an interest in him? At what point would he had given up on Nezuko? Probably pretty quickly, if someone was serious enough about him. It wouldn’t have been a break up either, since he was still in the pursuing stages (might be more of a break-up conversation with Tanjiro, who had been tacitly supportive).

Actually, for most of the remainder of the series, the affection that Nezuko and Zenitsu build for each other is done when they’re apart, dwelling on their thoughts of each other. For Nezuko, we see this come out after the Swordsmith Village arc in her sunlit elation to see him again, and her efforts to greet him. She very clearly recognizes him and is happy to see him, a big difference compared to how she was more elated by the sight of a fishbowl before. In Zenitsu’s case, this deepening of his affections and running away with his thoughts and feelings results him declaring once and for all, this is her. He’s found her. This is the girl who he will be committed to his whole life, in his heart she is already his wife.

When human!Nezuko is gaining her memories back, her first impressions are of the boy showing her pretty things and giving her flowers, someone who probably has a crush on her, rather than thinking back to someone who she may have had a crush on. (Those cool impressions probably hit her later, I’m assuming, given the stress of the moment.) Romance is not immediately on her mind, though she does quickly recall having friendly affection for this boy for has always been so sweet to her. And Nezuko, handling his surprising level of affection gracefully, helps Zenitsu off the battlefield while he’s in terrible pain (though she probably was too, my poor girl, that fight with demon!Tanjiro was so rough). But honestly, not only is she probably too overwhelmed by everything to think much about romance, but she probably doesn’t take Zenitsu very seriously initially. She knows he’s got a tendency to overexaggerate, and it’s nice that he’s so sweet to her, but since he acts all fluffy and silly around her she probably thinks he’s not being that serious either. Furthermore, she’s got a lot of people to suddenly care about, Zenitsu has a lot to contend with for trying to get special attention. Hell, Zenitsu was probably awake and causing a racket while she was frantic with worry that comatose Giyuu might die. While she did remake Jiichan’s haori to fit Zenitsu’s later, see spent her time in the hospital mending Giyuu’s haori (Nezuko, baby, doesn’t your hand hurt though!?). While Zenitsu was swept up in happy “Nezuko is human now, we’re totally gonna get married” feels, he probably didn’t even notice that he was only one slice in a very big pie of memories that Nezuko suddenly found in her lap and had to slowly chew and digest.

So… this brings us to the extra post-canon comic in the second fanbook, which I initially did not like very much back when it came out in February. I’ve come around a lot to it, but what really hit me at first was “oh no, Nezuko really is only going to accept this marriage because she’s a saint, he’s not being desirable at all.”

But, treating it with a little more patience and sympathy for Zenitsu… he’s just gotten what he’s always wanted, of course he’s going to stop striving a bit and get blissfully carried away in it. And Nezuko, the ever sweet, isn’t going to stop him.

Some of the other commentary in the fanbook states that Zenitsu, for a time, found himself terrified of how girls could be sweet to his face while hiding their true thoughts about him. But, finding that Nezuko was not at all two-faced, he nearly “died and went to heaven” as the exaggeration goes. He doesn’t like to work hard in the first place (but does, because it will make people like Jiichan proud), so getting away with being spoiled is too big of a temptation to resist. Nezuko is sensitive to what makes the people around her happy or uncomfortable, so she never makes any request of Zenitsu. She’s so grateful to have their new little family that her happiness is everyone else’s happiness, she doesn’t really desire a heartthrob romance, even if being a wife and mother is an eventual goal. And, without being under any pressure to make someone proud, Zenitsu gets swept away and indulges.

Thank you, Tanjiro, for putting a stop to this.

He’s still rooting for Zenitsu, since this is his friend and he knows it would make his friend happy to wind up with Nezuko, but he’s setting himself up for failure, or setting Nezuko up to be cheated out on a good match at this rate (if she were to accept out of being nice). Very, very thankfully, Zenitsu responds well to pressure. By this point Nezuko has gotten so used to sweet but indulgent Zenitsu that he seems she totally accepted that his Hisha side didn’t exist anymore, if it even existed in the first place.

Good for Zenitsu asking for her response a year later (when they’d be getting to the legal marriage ages for the Taisho period anyway), he knew he still had shaping up to do to earn her affection. And Nezuko probably needed time to build some admiration for him again, since the doki-dokis were so gone. Even if he couldn’t use that super cool Thunder Breath anymore, it would probably catch her attention to see him strive again, to put effort into being manly, specifically for her. It wasn’t just the Thunder Breath that gave her doki-dokis, it was the Hisha knight-like attitude too, whether asleep and acting on his inner potential, or awake and bravely defending her based on his own goodness and faith.

I hope that in their married life, Zenitsu will retain that sort of manliness in being a provider for her, even he does get indulged a lot at home.

Now for how this plays into some of my fanwork and headcanons:

You know how I said all my OTPs were tragedies? Yeah, I love a good dose of angst. I did start writing a single-scene fic one time of injured Zenitsu desperately trying to cover Nezuko from the sun while waiting for Tanjiro to find them, and in Nezuko’s panic about the sun she starts losing her self-control over her appetite, and Zenitsu is forced to confront that the girl he loves could very easily kill him. I never finished it, though, and it was embarrassingly self-indulgent.

For my big favorite AU of a monster fanfic, I did add more ZenNezu on the massive edit, because by this point I just enjoy ZenNezu so much that I wanted more of it. But!! What I really like about working with it in this fic is that there’s a conflict: Demon!Tanjiro. In this canon divergence, Human!Nezuko and Zenitsu get to interact more than they ever did while she was a demon, and they both already have affection for each other, but the lingering fact that Tanjiro is technically their enemy gives me some tension and angst to work with.

Yes, I wrote a One Shot of Zenitsu and Nezuko as fresh new parents, but it was a bit of a dark dive into Zenitsu’s feelings of inadequacy. But domesticity comes with some inevitable fluff anyway, and likewise it felt embarrassing indulgent, and I can’t write fluff without a little bittersweetness. M…maybe the reason I’m not a shipper is because I’m easily flustered???

I’d like to think that Zenitsu got a desk job that he worked hard at because he wants to be a provider, and Nezuko does find his hard work attractive. I headcanon it was at an electric company, because hahahaha, electricity. I’d like to think he had a long career in that company (and although his colleagues know him for having a bit of an extreme personality and being obsessed with his wife, they sometimes catch glimpses of a very, very strong side of Zenitsu—like, scarily strong), and that when he’s old and retired in the Postwar Economic Miracle, he buys a fancy camera to take pictures of Nezuko (instead of “say cheese” it’s “Thunderclap and Flash!”), and he takes Nezuko to Paris because that’s the romantic thing to do. Also, I don’t like moustaches as a rule, but I totally approve of old man Zenitsu having a fluffy moustache.

World War Two, though… I’d like to think that if his job had him in the city, he was extremely reliable when it came to protecting his family in case of bombing. I’d also like to think that this was when the Kamado family moved to the city, because Nezuko was worried about Kanao and her nieces and nephews, so Zenitsu made sure they were all together. Inosuke might had taken the opposite route and taken his family to the mountains to shelter out there in the wild.

AAAAHHHH, listen to me being so self-indulgent with headcanons, I pride myself on sticking close to canon in my fanwork, I will never produce this, AAAAHHHH, I’m embarrassed~~~~I---I’m not a shipper! No! I don’t have a shipper’s bone in my body! Who needs romance, it means nothing to me, I don’t get swept up in happy fantasies about young newlywed Zenitsu and Nezuko, really I don’t, I take what canon gives me and I stick with it, I’m here for bromance and comradery and fights to the death, I—I don’t need disgusting fluffy feelings, ew, ew, no, really-----ahhh, too flustered, too flustered, too flustered, no, no, no, no, no, no, WHEN DID I BECOME A SHIPPER, nnnnnnnnhhhhjjjj

Which is all to say that Zenitsu and Nezuko as a pairing really grew on me, even though it is essentially a fluffy happy pairing that only got surface-level interaction and was never seriously challenged. It’s got some shadows lurking in there, especially diving into Zenitsu’s heart, but in general this was a slow build-up of mutual affection between two characters with pretty simple desires of their own, and most of all, a desire to see each other happy. That makes it a good comfort ship.

And they’re both are sleepyheads, hNNNGGGHHHhhhhHHHHHHHHHHH

[ultrahpfan5blog]

Retrospective Review: Casino Royale (2006)

So after thinking about it, I figured that with No Time to Die coming out soon, the Craig Bond era Bond movies deserve a post per film. Casino Royale is the film that got me into Bond. I had seen some of the Brosnan films by then, but they didn't really stick to me much. Perhaps also because I was reasonably young when the Brosnan films came out. But Casino Royale came out during my teen years, where I was starting to get into more dark and gritty movies. To me, this movie and Batman Begins, are cut from the same cloth. Both rebooting characters that had gotten too campy in previous iterations, both brilliant origin stories, and both grounded in reality and gritty. Its no wonder that both version of these characters ended up being my favorite versions. Casino Royale is still easily my favorite Bond film to date.

Truthfully, to me this film is near perfection as an action-thriller. For classic Bond fans who have grown up with the franchise and want specific things like Moneypenny and Q and various gadgets, this film may not be as endearing because it very specifically goes away from being gadget heavy and doesn't give Bond a support staff other than Mathis. I think the most high tech thing in the movie was a portable defibrillator. But this film had me from the very beginning in the black and white sequence and how it showed Bond's two kills to become 007 and how it reimagined the classic opening shot of Bond shooting and the blood red soaking over the screen. I just new we were in for something special from the very beginning. What's amazing is the pacing of this film. This was the longest Bond film since OHMSS at the time. I have watched all prior Bond films and I have felt restless at times while watching them, but not when watching Casino Royale. There is constantly something happening and it keeps you engaged. Not once was I bored in the movie.

The action in the film is absolutely high class. I think its the best Bond action that I have seen. The most classic scene of course is the incredible Parkour chase. Its incredibly exhilarating and major kudos to the guy who did the stunts for the bomb maker. You also get a real understanding of what a brute force this Bond is. While the Bomb maker chooses to jump through the window, Bond will burst through the wall. The Bomb maker will climb construction rods, Bond will just drive a bulldozer and destroy the construction and climb up. When the bomb maker throws the gun at him, Bond just catches it and throws it right back. Little things like that give Bond a personality that is different. But this is only the first great action sequence. There is the Miami airport truck sequence that is also brilliant. You have to love the smug smile on Bond's face when the bomber accidentally blows himself up. There is the staircase fight which is brutal and visceral. Then there is final fight scene in Venice which is emotional and tragic and is the true making of Bond. In between it all, there is the Poker game which is surprisingly entertaining given it takes up quite a chunk of time. There are also some incredibly tense sequences which are laced with humor, like the Bond poisoning scene where Bond almost gets killed and then returns with a classic one liner to leave Le Chiffre dumbfounded. There is the torture scene which is hilarious because of how Bond reacts to the torture and eggs him on in a way. The film never lets up in the action and the thrills.

An enormous part of the success of the film is the casting of Mads Mikkelson as Le Chiffre. I had not known Mads from anywhere before this, but he is immediately compelling and enigmatic. More importantly, rather than just being an all powerful villain to foil, he feels like a human. The tearing blood is a great, sinister gimmick, but you feel like he is on the edge when he loses money in the stock market due to Bond. You feel his desperation in some of the Poker scenes, as well as when the african fighters find him at the hotel, and then when he is torturing Bond to find the location of the money. I am not sure whether I like him more than Bardem's Silva or not, but its telling that the best Bond movies of Craig's era have the best villains. This film put him on the map for me and I loved him as Hannibal, saw him Dr. Strange, and I want see how he does as Grindelwald in the next Fantastic Beasts movie.

However, what elevates this film beyond any prior Bond movie is the casting of Eva Green as Vesper Lynd. She is the best Bond girl ever put to film and the romance between her and Bond is one of the most heartfelt and tragic romances that I have seen. The chemistry between the two actors/characters is electric from their very first scene in the train. The film gives them everything. There are deeply intimate scenes between the two which are not remotely sexual such as the tender shower scene where Bond comforts Vesper after the stairwell fight, many instances of witty repartee, scenes of romance, and then the bitter tragedy of her betrayal and her death. Even her death scene is picturized in a way where you really feel the connection as you can tell that Vesper can't bear to live with what she's done. The film doesn't flinch when showing her drown so it engulfs the audience in the same horror and sadness that Bond is feeling. In general, you experience the same emotions as Bond does as you can't help but fall in love with Vesper and just at the point of happily ever after, it all turns to ash. Its a phenomenal character arc and it also does a great job of establishing how Bond became so cold. Its a fantastic performance from Eva Green, and yet another instance of an actor who put herself on the map in my eyes.

And then there is the man himself. Yet another actor who I knew very little about. At that point everyone thought Craig wasn't good looking enough, not tall enough, not charismatic enough etc... to play Bond. But boy did he just blow expectations away. He is my Bond for sure because his performance is just exceptional in every way. He is built like a tank and is a force of nature, but Craig brings a tender vulnerability, perfectly suited for a young Bond. He looks dapper, is charismatic, is great in the fight scenes, and you genuinely feel he could beat the crap out of people. As I have already mentioned, there are so many touches to his performance that is unique to him. The brutality he brings in the fight scenes, the smirk at the end of the Miami scene, the heartfelt tenderness in the shower scene, the twinkly eyes humor, the rage when he is betrayed, the devastation at Vesper's death, and then the coldness that comes after that. He gets to show a full range, and he delivers every aspect with perfection.

One of the major carryovers from Brosnan era, was Jud Dench as M. And she gets a lot more to do during the Craig era. She is phenomenal as she always is. The dynamic between her and Bond is slightly more stern maternal in the Craig era compared to Brosnan and their interactions are great. Jeffrey Wright brings Felix Leiter back into the fold for the first time since License to Kill and he's a welcome presence as always. Giancarlo Giannini is also pretty great as Mathis and I'm glad he came back in QoS. Jesper Christensen has a quiet presence as Mr. White, who makes recurring appearances in the future.

I feel not enough people give Martin Cambell credit for what he has done. Twice he has launched Bonds successfully. GoldenEye was really good and Casino Royale is just outstanding. I have never paid much attention to the Bond song but the song for Casino Royale is pretty great. Again its telling that the two songs that I remember from Bond movies are from Casino Royale and Skyfall. Anyways, Casino Royale is a near perfect movie, especially for someone who is new to Bond. It really launched Bond into the modern world and got him away from the cold war era type plots. If I had to quibble about something, I would say some of the scenes in the Bahamas are a little slower and maybe 5-10 minutes can be edited down but even those scenes are great character scenes and we get a new origin of the DB5. A 9.5/10 for me.

[shikai-the-storyteller]

I absolutely didn’t go back through and edit this at all and hardly any of this is verbatim but I tried to take notes on some of what Mae Catt said during her stream if anyone is interested!

EDIT: Here’s a cleaner post with most of the Q&A.

She says she doesn’t want to yuck anybody’s yums re: ships. She seems Arcee and Grimlock more as friends, but she didn’t say they can’t be in a relationship

They fell in love with Perceptor so they wanted him on the “End of the World fighting the Quintessons” team

They had to dedicate a lot of effort into Dead End b/c it takes time to send in info for modeling a character and deciding on their alt mode

She was pitching Obsidian from Beast Machines really hard. She didn’t know what his personality would be it was just a “Look how cool he is!” sort of thing

Thought it’d be fun to have someone pessimistic like Dead End be on the team

“According to us, Drift did not make it, but I fully endorse whatever you want”

“The brand team had grown up on the toys as we had grown up on the toons, so we just wanted to make the best thing imaginable.” That’s nice 

Rodimus was never considered for the show “it’s been covered to death”, but they were adamant about portraying Hot Rod as someone who wanted to be a leader

Hot Rod is someone who is learning to be a leader

“Please don’t tell JRO I forgot about Whirl” re: talking about why they chose each character for the “Anti-Quintesson” team

Q: Re: Why did Drift try to kill Roddy A: They said they needed a double-agent and they needed someone who would (seemingly) kill Hot Rod

She loves that Optimus is just trying so hard to rebuild Cybertron, I just want society to start rebuilding

Q: Since you mentioned Optimus's death... he didn't seem to have a plinth in "our" Matrix realm. Does that mean the list of Primes works differently? Like are the 13 more of a dynasty, rather than all being a group together?  A: They decided Optimus would be in the Alt! Universe matrix because they wanted to show he was dead. Logical backflips because he needed to be among the 13 to talk to Windblade. 

She says Starscream’s death hurt her most

They didn’t want to kill people off willy-nilly for shock value

"The audience will fall in love with Slipstream so she has to die" LMAO

She almost wanted Starscream to emerge from the Judge heads untouched but she’s ultimately glad that idea got shot down

Dead End’s eyes are white

She’d love to have a MTMTE Magnus / Minimus included. She wished and prayed to have Frenzy and Rumble

They wanted Jazz to be a lady!!!!!!!

These characters are like grown ups (kinda) with their own lives that we don’t see. Lots of stuff happening between episodes

“Rumble and Frenzy are always considered in my heart, but there wasn’t enough time or space or assets to do so”

“Alt Soundwaves also had their own Laserbeaks. I wonder if the scientist would’ve taken them out. He might’ve just gotten rid of them.”

“A lot of intelligent life is inherently mechanical” explaining why so much of the life we saw in the show were robots

She would’ve liked to have the other shows show up (TFP, TFA, G1, Shattered Glass) but they don’t have those assets or budget. “This will quickly become unclear to audiences who aren’t (you people).” They couldn’t have all these references when some of their audience wouldn’t get it

“Why does anyone collect what they collect? That’s a really angry dad who’s got five children and he plays music. Gotta have that” --re: the Scientist and Soundwave

Knock Out was considered but every Transformer under the sun was discussed at some point in the Writer’s room. 

Developing Sky-Byte’s character was simultaneous with Jetfire’s character, "We knew we wanted Sky-Byte to be a poet, and we wanted him and Megatron to be chummy”

From the getgo they didn’t want any humans distracting from the Transformers

Q: Is Megatron dead? A: “In discussions we wanted to kill him. Wanted to do a reverse Optimus death. However, in the final product, I kinda enjoy the ambiguity rather than the final decision. Can’t remember if we were decisive about that in the script.”

She wanted them to have IDW Tarn in there “OBVIOUSLY (the perfect decepticon) should look like this guy. A faceless mindless Decepticon that only serves Megatron”

Q: Is Dead End a good boyfriend? A: Dead End is a work in progress, but maybe Percy is patient enough to get him there

Q: Is Astrotrain a good boyfriend?” A: “No, no...he’s not a good person, really”

“When I was desperately trying to save Starscream’s life even though I brutally murdered Slipstream--” LMAO She wanted Starscream to have amnesia and she says she wanted to have a redeption arc. She wanted him to have a Windblade shard and have it be kind of like Castaway, where he only talked to it (and the shard only had 5 phrases it could say) and eventually Bee would befriend him Wanted to write Starscream as an abuse victim who expected the worse of the Autobots, but she wanted him to warm up slowly

Wanted a Starscream and Optimus episode where he’s like “you did your best and that’s what counts”

Q: Is Percy a good boyfriend A: “Absolutely--WAIT HOLD ON. He’s very blunt, he doesn’t mince words, if you can handle his bluntness then you’re good. He is what he is and you have to deal with him.”

Q: Is Soundwave a good boyfriend? A: Soundwave is not a good boyfriend. He’s a good casual romance but he’s not a good boyfriend. Soundwave would be a terrible listener. He hears a lot but he’d tune you out.

Percy did permanently take over Mac’s bar

She really wanted Obsidian and Transmutate to be in the show.

If Thunderclash was in the show he and Jetfire would HATE each other. Thunderclash would be a rival reality star (maybe) to Media Fire

Fave Episode was “I Am the AllSpark” b/c of that Megatron and Starscream dialogue Also S2 04 Soundwave and Shockwave

Transmutate would be more like the uprising version (?) but modeled more on the BeastWars version

The Starscream & Megatron beatdown was super severe and they were like “holy frick they’re really going for it” when they saw the boards for it

She likes the Windblade / Slipstream ship

Her favorite VA is Jeremy Levy, he’s a really cool guy

She thinks Starscream and Cheetor could become (not necessarily friends, but connected?) because of their connection to the All Spark 

Describes Starscream as an “Awful gremlin” several times

They say Megatron didn’t actually kill Starscream, just really beat him down hard

“Don’t take things I say as the end all be all”

She doesn’t think Bee would be a Prime, Windblade and Hot Rod would be a better Prime. He wouldn’t want to be a Prime. He’s the #2 to Primes!

With unlimited budget combiners could’ve been included, but it doesn’t seem like they thought about it

Astrotrain and the Insecticons are from Megatron X’s universe

Megatron’s priorities changed when he saw his doppelganger. Realizing he was a horrible tyrant, that scared him enough to return and not kill Optimus and make peace no matter what.

She thinks Cliffjumper and Bee wouldn’t get along, solely because of the IDW2 comic stuff

Got 26 episodes for season 3 because they got the 4-part movies

Megatron cares about his troops but not in a way that we would notice that care

Wasn’t a HUGE die-hard TF fan when she got into the series but she was a bigger GI Joe fan, she reread a bunch of things and did a lot of research

Cut joke: S2 E5 Megatron and OP finds the All Spark Decepticons and Autobots popping all over the world, Soundwave pops into Brazil where there’s a music festival and he’d crash the concert and hang out. He likes EDM the most?

The Titans want to be cities. They want citizens. They want to be lived in, that brings them joy (ouch)

Q: How did the Decepticons learn to stream? A: Because they’re deceptive! He knew he should dedicate some time to winning the hearts and minds of humans. Starscreams’ funeral was not the first time they streamed Optimus would use the official media channels, not a streaming service. Megatron would try to speak more directly to the people.

From the conception, the show wasn’t going to have humans

She thought people would ship Dead End / Percy but it wasn’t until she saw art that she started shipping them

Q: Is Optimus the type of streamer who would take 10 minutes to figure out how to un-mute his microphone A: Optimus is a dad. He has no idea what’s going on re: streaming. Optimus would say embarrassing news while Bee and Hot Rod are in the middle of streaming

Doesn’t ship Bee with anyone, she sees him as a little brother

Randolph put Rack ‘n Ruin in the show.

AcidStorm is genderfluid

Cold Construction doesn’t exist in this show. Maybe there’s one jet mode all the seekers really like

We have Mae Catt to thank for Whirl

Percy didn’t transform because not a good time to turn into a microscope while you’re trying to save your planet from Quintessons

If she were a transformer she’d want to be a stealth bomber. She’s 5′3 so she says she’d probably actually be a motorcycle like Chromia

They killed Prowl because it was Shadow Striker doing the killing and he’s a self-sacrificing lieutenant.

Enjoyed writing Starscream most, Clobber and Hot Rod became a joy, S2 E4 was her first one, it was fun getting into Hot Rod’s voice. She said it was hard doing Optimus’ voice, she’d always pass it off to someone to look at it.

She loves the idea of Wild Wheel robbing Astrotrain in train-mode, totally wild west-style

One of her proudest things was turning Lugnut into a gal

They wanted to include more female characters

They love Cosmos, she has a little toy of him. R2D2 but a transformer! They loved having her in the show

Blurr really was the fastest

Maccadam looking like a buff Rung was just a strange coincidence 

Q: Megop rights?  A: “Oh absolutely, duh”

Says we absolutely SHOULD write fanfic. Fanfiction made her into the writer she is today, she says you should write it

There’s a lot between episodes, people living their lives and characters living on the ship that don’t pop up in the show

She wrote non-stop Matrix fanfic from 12-20 years old, she learned a lot thanks to writing fanfic

Uses “They” pronouns for Rack ‘n Ruin but they both use “he”

Sad that Skywarp didn’t get a speaking line

Re: Starscream’s redemption arc: She wanted Starscream to have amnesia if they went the “he comes out of the ruins of the judge totally fine”. “A redemption arc needs to be facilitated by a character acknowledging that what they did was wrong. He would have a laundry list of excuses for everything, even if there was all that evidence to the contrary, but needs to acknowledge that reasons don’t matter because people got hurt. Needs to intend to do better. Let them try and let them fail, they don’t need to 180, it’s hard work to be a better person.”

Shadow Striker is taller than Optimus or is his height. She loves the gender-neutral designs for a lot of characters

She’s not going to say whether Ratchet finished medical school or not Laughed at the  "i don't believe that man has ever been to medical school" comment

Q: How would you feel about a female Optimus Prime? A: [GAY LAUGHTER] “So do you turn Optimus Prime into a woman, or do you take characters like Elita One and uplift her? I would want to lean more into giving Elita One more oomph, I do love how Optimus doubts himself and if he’s worthy of being a Prime.”

Says Rack ‘n Ruin are probably the Prime in that one weird universe lmao

Loves the idea that Transformers have siblings / families

She doesn’t think Cybertronians celebrate birthdays. “Why would you celebrate being alive for 4 million years that sounds like a nightmare.” She says that people would be celebrating milestones if nothing else

She’d kill to have Perceptor meet the other stunticons

She says she doesn’t post fanfic as much anymore. Sends them to Natalie as love letters (Ghost Busters fics specifically)

In a world where you had unlimited budget it’d be fun if Cybertronians were constantly shape-shifting and changing their forms, they’d like having Transformers who “grew a beard” and decided to “shave it”

Re: Ratchet and Medical school: she wants a “I choose to believe Ratchet has never been to medical school” shirt

Natalie (her GF) said hi 

She doesn’t understand cycles or astrocycles, she doesn’t understand the weird Transformers time stuff. (mood)

Natalie explained how ghost traps work and it was a delight "You're basically making a pocket dimension, that's how you capture ghosts" “The Technology for a ghost trap is like magic and science” 

Maecatt's bringing all her TF toys over to the camera 

Q: Elita prime when? A: All the time, in my heart! 

Q: Why are you so mean to Percy? A: He's so mature and pragmatic that he can take it, and is willing to take one for the team bc he understands that it's what he needs to do. Yes, he’s calmly feral.

Yes to the hurt/comfort Deadceptor fanfic joke answer

She jokingly says she's willing to buy Cyberverse fanart prints

“Arcee was fun to figure out because there’s an extra bit of pressure to develop a female character, there is extra pressure to do it well since it’s representing a different community (not that women are different species) more representation is needed. “What kind of woman can our Arcee be?”” Scared to write her poorly, but they realized she could be a fun dynamic duo with Grimlock, someone who could keep up with him, not a “girl” version of him, but someone who could stand on her own two feet

Collecting Soundwave because Soundwave is COOL. Wouldn’t you collect a single father of 5 who carries them around in his chest?

Shockwave altered his vibes to have maximum bad vibes to destroy the All Spark

Rebooting the franchise: she’d maybe do beast wars or something

Skullcruncher is a lady! She misses Mac but Percy takes good care of her

She loved Beast Wars Inferno, she loved that Inferno called Megatron a Queen. It was played as a joke because the 90s weren’t very socially conscious, but she liked that Megatron never corrected him or beat him down

She wanted to have Lightbright and Nickle in the show 

"Maybe Drift is alive, maybe he's rethinking his decision and he'll come back later" 

She said it's hard talking about writing a show because you're designing the experience and you have to make sometimes what sounds like cold and pragmatic decisions (eg: "we need a cold and spunky female") which sucks, but they need to balance out the show. She says she'd never do that just for the sake of doing it, but it's part of something that they do need to be aware of while working on a show “Starts from a weirdly cold pragmatic place, but we try and put truth in it”

Q: Is Skullcruncher Percy's bouncer now that he's running Maccadam's? A: Oh totally

She felt bad about the writing thing because she says "you could throw a rock in California and you'd hit a writer / director or whatever" but she says she really likes being an authority on things now, even if it’s weird

She said Drift would've been helpful in S3 for sure, maybe he'd come up with Repugnis

Q: If Tarn is the perfect Decepticon who's the perfect Autobot A: Someone with a Firetruck alt mode, Autobot insignia as a face. Nat and her talked about it a lot. She says Optimus SHOULD be a fire truck, it makes the relationship between him and Ratchet a little more fun since Ratchet is an ambulance, and Optimus has an AX. It just makes sense! She agreed that the perfect Autobot would be Thunderclash after the chat said that

“If you put the proverbial budget-gun to my head, I’d keep Unicron in planet-mode because it’s more mysterious, but I want both alt modes”

Her favorite Megatron is Beast Wars Megatron

They didn’t want to go the Unicron route because everyone goes that route

Q:  What sort of documents DID Optimus work on in the archives? A: Probably historical archives and working on all the Primes. Something like the French / American revolution equivalent, which informed his speech writing for Megatron and his own ethics. (NICE)

She doesn’t like Sky Lnxy’s design, it’s creepy. “He talks in the G1 episodes and the voice makes it worse.” She can’t get over his face

“Found” the social awkwardness for Optimus. Optimus depicted as a father figure in S1 because it’s from Bee’s perspective, S2 / S3 they were able to explore more and found the limits and found it was hard to maintain that level of heroic dialogue. Optimus would feel awkward about it too. Randolph did an impression of Optimus’ speech. “He can’t not be in war-mode” :(

Q: Were Optimus and Megatron friends ever, or did they just work together on the speech stuff? A: Oh hell yes, I think [the story] is always enhanced when they’re friends and when Optimus really believes in what Megatron was working on. Optimus’ rejection of Megatron is what pushes him over the edge, his best friend rejecting him pushes him into a place where he becomes a tyrannical person.

Q: Does Maccadam know we love him? A: *puts hand over heart and looks into the distance* Yes

“Who knows where Dead End ended up” then backtracks and says “Wait that sounds flippant”

Soundwave’s favorite Earth song is Despacito

Q:  What's the best selfie Arcee's ever taken A: Mae Catt loves the one with the giraffe. She likes the idea of Arcee having a bunch of human friends

Q: What do the Transformers think of the Florida Man? A: They can’t really tell the difference between humans, they don’t really get it. It just sorta looks like all the normal stuff they see on Earth (or something)

Q: Who's the Florida Man of the Transformers A: Rack ‘n Ruin or Skybyte. But he’s too nice hmmm.

Leaned into the wackiness of Wheeljack because of the VA

Q:  What does Optimus do when he's not giving speeches / being a leader when they were all hanging out on the ARK? A: I think he reads, he seems like a heavy reader. It’d be cute if he read really bad Earth romance novels. He seems like a guy who needs a break from everything.

Q: Does Optimus have hobbies? A: Not to borrow from Rung, but doesn’t it seem like Optimus would make model ships? Very quiet, very focused detail-oriented hobby. Oh duh, he also plays basketball.

“I’d love to see more jets [who aren’t our usual gang] and find out all jets are kinda snobby”. Kaon and Tarn would be fun, it’d be cool to make up places.

(Someone asking if Optimus would read 50 Shades of Gray, someone else saying “They’d take it the wrong way because Transformers turn gray when they die”)

Everyone on the Autobot side are friends with each other.

Q: Does Megatron do anything for fun or is he too angry? A: I want to say he’s too angry, he has fun beating people down but I don’t think he’s had fun for a long time

Q: Were you surprised that Jake Tillman was in his 20s listening to his Optimus the first time? A: Jake Tillman was a vine-r she listened to a ton. She’d heard him when he was in his teens

MaeCatt loves that Shadow Striker saved Windblade’s body and kept her safe

Q: what was most important to you personally to put out in each episode? like humor/characterization/arcs A: Wanted to make sure she didn’t write dialogue that was condescending, wanted to be true about the character. Needs to be true to the characters (and gay) 

Transformers probably don’t know what memes are. They know what they ARE, but they don’t get it. They wanted Hot Rod to be super into Earth culture (winning races and driving off before humans could realize no one was in the car), but they never had time to really get into that.

Wound up in the Cyberverse writer’s room thanks to her agents, says she was the only person who gave a crap about GI Joe stuff, the executives were so sweet and let her chat, and they said she wasn’t a good fit for the current live action project so they sent her to the animation side, they sent her to Michael Howzer and they hit it off talking about GI Joe stuff. She was a post PA, someone who helped editors finish things for TV, got a call with an offer. 

[pandastern]

Gravity (Bakugou x OC)

Part 3: A Step too far? (past)

Bakugou x Vigilante!OC

Warnings: angst, explicit language, violence

Word count: 2200

Genre: enemies to lovers ; angst ; romance

When a new student makes an entrance, Bakugou has a real bad feeling. There is something about this girl that just doesnt feel right. From the flaming hair to the calculating glint in her green eyes, everything about her just pisses him off.

Little does he know that his fate is intertwined with the person he despises so much, defining his future path in a way he would have never expected.

Maybe it was because class 1A knew Bakugou better than Artemis did, or maybe it was because the little scene she’d caused in the cafeteria hadn’t gone unnoticed, but as she slowly made her way into the ring, all her classmates seemed to hold their breath.

All except for the ash blonde pissy pomeranian with anger issues. Bakugou looked ecstatic.

“Oh, I'm gonna kick your ass so bad you won’t be able to walk for a week!” he hissed.

Judging by his murderous eyes, she figured she was heading straight to a situation any normal person with a normal sense of self-care would want to avoid. Tough luck, though. She wasn’t a normal person. Sometimes she wasn’t even sure if she was a person to begin with.

“Now, now. That almost sounds like a proposition,” she chuckled.

Bakugou’s expression changed. Now he just looked like he wanted to tear her throat out. Lovely.

“Artemis.” Aizawa’s voice interrupted her little moment with Mr Anger Issues. “Neither you nor Bakugou know the other’s quirk. Why is this a perfect example for what you can expect as a Pro Hero, and why is it a good lesson?”

Tearing her eyes away from her opponent, Artemis focused on her teacher again. 

She scoffed. “We need to be ready for any type of quirk because we often go into the field blind. You cannot choose who to face on the battlefield.”

Her nonchalant tone made a brow rise on Aizawa’s usually bored face. A few hairs on the back of her head started to rise. So, her first impression of this man had been correct. He was a dangerous one.

“Correct,” Aizawa replied, pulling out a tablet. “Let's see how you pull your weight, newbie. Begin!”

Artemis took a deep breath and turned her attention back to her opponent. A devilish smirk had spread across Bakugou’s face. He was ready to throw down.

“Come at me!” he roared, his voice booming with confidence. “I'll show you what a real hero can do.”

She narrowed her eyes. The air around her was rather dry, so not much water could be drawn out of it. There were no fountains or bodies of water she could use, nor had she brought any herself. There were, however, trees and grass close to the ring. So, how best to start this?

Judging by what she’d seen of Bakugou, he was so full of himself that he probably didn’t expect much of her. She could draw out the water from the vegetation, but that would turn them into dust. Artemis shook her head. No, Aizawa probably wouldn’t appreciate her destroying school property, even if it was to defend herself.

Her best bet was to move fast and punch Bakugou as hard as she could. Preferably somewhere it really hurt.

Artemis moved. Keeping herself low to avoid exposing an opening, she rushed forward, swinging for his ribs on his right side. Bakugou was quick to read her movements and dodged, trying and failing to grab her by the scruff of her neck. She brought her foot forward and spun out of the way, plunging her elbow into his abdomen. At least, that’s what she thought she was hitting.

Something exploded in her side, sending her flying several feet. White pain exploded in her head as she hit the ground like a sack of flour, too shocked to roll her own body to avoid a harsh landing. The blast had knocked the wind out of her.

What the hell had just happened?

Bakugou’s laugh rang in her ears as she forced herself back onto her feet. Then it dawned on her. The weird scent of nitroglycerin in the cafe finally made sense.

“How’d you like that, fucking loser? Is that all you got?” Bakugou spat at her.

“So, an explosion quirk, huh?” she growled.

“Yeah so what? What do you think you're doing by not using your quirk against me? Do you think you can win like that? I’ll grind you into the dust, just watch!”

The familiar feeling of anger bubbled up in the pit of her stomach. This guy was really starting to piss her off. But he was right. Going against a power that could literally blow her up wasn’t really something she should take lightly. 

Grinding her teeth, Artemis shrugged off her singed jacket and rolled her shoulders. It looked like protecting school property was out the window, then.

“You want my quirk?” she growled. “Fine. Suit yourself.”

Bakugou charged at her, his speed boosted by another blast of his power, but this time Artemis was prepared. Reaching out with her powers, she spun to the side, evading his fist before grabbing hold of the water molecules in the air, a couple of trees and the grass surrounding her. She concentrated the liquid into a powerful blast and sent it racing towards her opponent.

Bakugou was caught of guard, the powerful blast pulling him off his feet, encasing him in a whirlpool and swirling him around like a shirt in a washing machine before smashing him back on the ground on the other side of the ring.

Watching him sputter and shake himself like a doused poodle, Artemis couldn't help but smirk.

“What's wrong, blasty boy?” she cooed, pulling the water back to herself, swirling it around her body like snakes. “Can’t swim?”

Bakugou glared at her, eyes blazing. Artemis could see that she had struck a nerve right there. Perhaps he wasn’t into her nickname. The swirling wisps of water separated from her body and morphed into needles of ice that surrounded her, their sharp spines pointed at Bakugou.

The palms of his hands started to smoke.

“I'm gonna kill you,” he hissed.

Artemis charged. Water and heat clashed as they exchanged blows, explosions scattering her ice needles before she hit him with another blast of water. They couldn’t have been more opposite in character and fighting style. Bakugou moved with the aggression of a hellflame while Artemis danced away, spinning, dodging his swings and landing her own blows in between blasts.

That was when she noticed something: the angrier this guy got, the hotter and faster his blasts came. The downside to her quirk was that she never had an infinite amount of water to draw upon, unless of course it was raining or she was fighting in a body of water. With every blast of Bakugou’s explosion more and more water evaporated. Damnit. If she didn’t get him on his knees soon, she’d run out of a means to protect herself, let alone attack. She had to admit, Katsuki Bakugou was an outstanding fighter.

“Where the hell do you think you’re looking?” A booming voice behind her ripped her out of her thoughts. How the hell had he gotten behind her in just a split second?

White light and heat exploded right in her face, hurling her through the air for a second time. Her body hit the ground with a nasty smack and she wheezed. The impact of her fall had squeezed the air out of her lungs and for a moment the world went blurry.

Bakugou breathed heavily as he watched the flame-haired girl writhe on the ground,struggling to take a breath. He had to give it to her, she was tough. Her quirk was something he’d never seen before. Where had she got all that water from in the first place? Then he noticed the dried up trees close by, along with big patches of dried up grass. Even the ground was cracked as if it hadn’t rained in years. Had she pulled it out of her surroundings like that? 

He heard Artemis curse as she struggled to her feet, and he narrowed his eyes. That last blast should have been enough to give her a proper concussion, and yet here she was back up on her knees, trying to steady herself. The water around her sprung alive again, swirling around her body protectively.

Her red hair had sprung free of its hair tie, falling wild and messy around her face. Then he noticed a good patch of the right side of her hair had been burned off by the heat of the blast.

He watched as Artemis slowly pushed a hand into her wild locks and pulled a good chunk of melted hair out of her bird’s nest.

Laughter bubbled up in his chest. “Well, seems like you finally got a nice haircut! Keep this up and you won’t have to worry about that crazy colour of yours.”

Artemis didn’t move. She just stared at the chunk of hair in her hand as if she were struggling to process what had just happened.

“What’s wrong, carrot head?” Bakugou taunted. “Have you had enough? Are you gonna cry about it like a little bitch?”

For a moment, the whole world seemed to stand still. Slowly, the girl rose to her feet. Then her eyes met his.

A chill ran down Bakugou’s spine, and he took a step back. There was a look in her freaky green eyes that made his stomach churn, as if a switch had been flipped and in front of him was no longer a 15 year old girl but something different, something wrong. Artemis’ eyes held no emotion. No humanity. Just a cold and endless void. There was death in her eyes.

His death.

A strange sensation bubbled up in his gut, making him shiver. Run… He had to run. Everything in him screamed to turn away and forfeit the fight, yet he couldn't move. He was like a deer in headlights waiting to be charged.

Suddenly, the ground beneath his feet started rumbling. The concrete cracked, then broke wide open as water tendrils shot through the stone, grabbing at him.

“Fuck!” he gasped. 

He propelled himself into the air, trying to evade whatever hell this girl had summoned. The water followed him up, encircling him like a snake, wrapping around his body, choking him, crushing him, extinguishing his explosions and rendering him helpless. Was she gonna drown him?

Then his eyes met hers again. Artemis was standing calmly where he’d last seen her. Her eyes were completely focused on him with a determination that made his blood freeze. In her hands was a bow made of swirling water, and she was aiming an arrow right between his eyes.

Bakugou tried to struggle against his restraints, tried to break free. He knew Artemis would shoot him without hesitation. This girl wanted him dead. Fear made his head spin. There was no way out, no way out!

The sound of a bowstring being released and an arrow slicing through air made his stomach drop. As if in slow motion, he saw the deadly projectile race towards him, ready to split his head like an overripe apple. All he could do was close his eyes and wait for the impact.

“Enough!” 

Aizawa’s voice echoed through the training ground.

The feeling of a sudden vaccum of power made Artemis’ stomach turn. Her knees buckled and she sank to the floor, shaking.

The red mist of rage that had made her feel so incredibly hazy started to clear, and slowly feeling returned to her. The sound of human voices, the echo of hearts shaken up by fear, pounded in her ears.

What had happened? The last thing she remembered was Bakugou’s blast sending her flying, the pain of having the wind knocked out of her, a handful of burned hair… and rage. Cold, deadly rage.

“F-fuck,” she rasped and curled up, trying not to vomit.

When she finally managed to look up, her eyes met the red ones of her teacher.

“This is a training session. A non-lethal training session!” he snarled.

She didn’t know what to say to that. Disgust bubbled up inside of her as she looked around and saw the carnage she’d created. Somehow in her rage, her quirk had taken control of the water that was running underground through pipes and had burst them, forcing the water upwards to attack bakugou.

The ash blond boy was on his hands and knees, sputtering and gasping for air.

Artemis realised that she’d gone too far.

She needed to get out. She needed to get away.

“I-im sorry… I… I’m sorry,” was all she managed to stutter.

Bakugou was being helped back onto his feet by a boy with spiked up red hair. His eyes met hers. The look in his crimson eyes told her everything she needed to know.

Artemis’ heart almost stopped. If Aizawa hadn’t stepped in, then she’d have… No… No.

“The class is dismissed,” the teacher growled. “Everyone go home. Bakugou, go get yourself checked out. As for you…”

But Artemis was gone. Aizawa’s eyes scanned around, catching a glimpse of red hair just before it disappeared behind a building. A groan rumbled in his chest. He’d have to go after her later. For how, he had to explain to the principal why the training grounds were in shambles. Fun. Why did he always end up with the most troublesome kids?

Something stirred in his gut as he remembered the look in Artemis’ eyes before she’d snapped. There was no denying it. Something wasn’t quite right with that girl.

[zigtheeortega]

“’cause we're collectin' moments; tattoos on my mind”

pairing: raleigh x mc

@choicesmarchchallenge

word count: 2,071

song inspiration: sometimes - ariana grande 

tag list: @violinet​ ; @bloodxbound​ ; @dadrianraines​ ; @mentallych-ill-desi​ ; @adrixnrxines​ ; @roguemal​

author’s note: the lyric (that’s the title) from sometimes inspired this fic! i love raleigh sm. also sorry for the double post it just lined up that way lmfao. also sorry if this is an unpopular opinion, but i dont care for the platinum mc so i decided to make her more of what i thought raleigh’s type of girl would be (lmao). anyways, hope u enjoy!!!

She tripped over a large crack in the sidewalk, almost wiping out completely, but Raleigh’s strong grip managed to keep her going.

“C’mon, Dom, they’re gaining on us!” he laughed, whisking her through the street, cutting through an alleyway.

He stopped abruptly and pulled her close, a mischievous grin on his face. He held a finger to her mouth, and cocked his head in the direction of the street.

The paparazzi sprinted by, not even glancing in the direction of the dimly lit alley. The shuffling of their feet faded into distant patters.

Raleigh tiptoed to the opening of the alley and peeked his head around the damp brick wall, before jogging back to the shadows, the smile from before still lingering on his lips. “Coast is clear.”

“So what now, genius?”

He chuckled, hugging her close with one arm draped lazily around her shoulder. She could smell the cheap tequila on his breath, a reminder of their rendezvous at the sketchy bar.

She leaned into his touch, the buzz not quite wearing off yet. The alcohol weighed her head down, and before she knew it, she rested it on his shoulder.

“Well, I haven’t done anything truly reckless in a while. Gotta keep the bad boy image up,” he said, sliding his arm down to her waist.

“Are you gonna explain what that means exactly?” she laughed.

“You might not think it now, but I used to be a goodie-goodie,” he started, guiding her towards the opening in the alley. “When I first started in Sunset Skatepark, I was supposed to be absolutely perfect, and tattoos were a huge part of that, believe it or not.”

She rolled her eyes. “You’re lying.”

“Honest to God, I’m not lying. I wanted them so bad that I got any old stick and poke that was offered to me, which I don’t recommend at all,” he shook his head. “Obviously they’ve been covered up since then by these beauties,” he gestured to the arm wrapped snugly around her. “But I miss the spontaneity.”

“You, Raleigh Carrera, miss spontaneity? Mr. Publicity Stunt? Mr. Dating to Get the Tabloids On His Side?”

“I know it sounds crazy, Dom, but I miss being kind of secretive. Getting a tiny stick and poke where no one could see was exhilarating.” She looked up at him, and his face was bright.

His face was reminiscent of the past, a hint of gratification that she knew he hadn’t felt in a long time. Raleigh had always struggled with being truly content with his life, and she knew that their whirlwind romance was something to fill his void, as harsh as that sounded.

She couldn’t imagine what he’d been through. She’d gotten a taste of the high life, and she was exhausted. Knowing that, she didn’t mind being the person to fill in the cracks, clinging to the pieces to keep it together.

He used chaos as escapism, as a way to outrun the parasitic tendrils of the industry, the burden that came with being a household name, and the inevitable role model title that came with it.

She knew he was chasing a high that he could never sustain, and if feeding into his law-bending fantasies was the way to bring out the best in Raleigh, she would do it no matter the cost.

“So you want us to get party tattoos?” She finished, and his features twisted into a sheepish expression, one that was foreign on his face. He wasn’t one to get beaten to the punchline, so he seemed surprised by her willingness to match his energy.

“What do you know about party tattoos?” He smirked, his curiosity piqued.

“That’s for me to know, and for you to find out… eventually.”

He quirked a brow and leaned back, glancing at her lower back.

“I’m not saying a word,” she giggled, grabbing onto the hand draped around her waist, intertwining their fingers.

They rounded the corner and spotted the neon sign of the tattoo parlor down the road from them.

“You sure about this? Tattoos are permanent, you know. Plus we’re not exactly in the right mindset for this.”

“I’m sure.”

They walked in silence for a while, the only sound between them the tapping of her heels on the concrete sidewalk.

He pulled on the handle, and the small silver bells attached to the inside of the door jingled, and a gruff-looking man covered in tattoos looked up from the magazine he was reading. Luckily enough, it had to be Raleigh’s most recent cover.

His eyes widened, and Raleigh stopped him almost immediately. “I’d really appreciate it if you could keep this between us. We had to outrun the paparazzi a few minutes ago, and we really wanted a night to ourselves.”

The man looked starstruck, so Raleigh continued. “I’ll pay extra to rent out the shop for an hour or two.”

He shook his head, finally finding his words. “No need, Mr. Carrera. I’d only request an autograph, and maybe a picture to show my wife, if you wouldn’t mind. She’s a huge fan.”

Raleigh flashed him his most charming smile. “You got it.” He grabbed a sharpie and the magazine, while the man switched off the open sign and locked the front door.

“You want me to make it out to anyone in particular, sir?” He asked, signing his name with a flourish.

“Yeah, could you make it out to Linda?”

“Of course,” he smiled, a few strands of hair falling in front of his face while he concentrated on the message he was scrawling.

The man led them to a back room, and sanitized his station before sliding on a pair of gloves.

“How do you want to do this?” Excitement glimmered in his eyes, and warmth spread throughout her chest.

“I thought it could be a surprise,” she said, already locking in on an idea.

“You read my mind,” he grinned. He stripped his shirt off quickly, his lean torso flexing as he shimmied off his top. She tried diverting her eyes, but to no avail. He caught her staring, a hint of hunger in his look.

She sat just outside the room on a small leather couch, thumbing through Raleigh’s magazine shoot and interview to keep herself company while the needle buzzed in the other room. The interview was alien to her; he was keeping true to his public image, but it was so different than the side of Raleigh he’d allowed her to see.

She pitied the public who’d never get Raleigh to be truly candid and vulnerable with them.

Soon enough, he was done, and it was concealed from her eyes by the small bandage.

“I have an idea of where I want it, but I’m not so sure what I need to do…” she trailed off, not knowing how to approach an underboob tattoo. Was it appropriate to keep the shirt on? To take it off? Should she just take her bra off?

“If it’s anywhere near your chest, you’ll have to take your bra off. You can keep your shirt on as long as you keep it above the area we’ll be tattooing,” the man said professionally, and it eased her mind.

Raleigh watched from the doorway as she unhooked her bralette and slipped it through the arm of her shirt. His eyes were trained on her as she laid down on the table, lifting her top to right underneath her nipple. She didn’t mind him watching her; a heat bloomed in her stomach when she truly realized how her body commanded his.

“Go sit down,” she said, shooing him away. He chuckled, raising his hands up in front of him, before plopping on the same leather couch she had sat minutes before.

She described the tattoo to him, and he looked at her like she was crazy. It was simple, but so reckless. Something she wouldn’t have even entertained the idea of a few months prior. But something that seemed so natural and… right.

The machine punctured her skin, stinging in a way that was a comfortable pain – therapeutic, even. She winced, sighing as the needle passed across her rib bone.

“I have to go back over it one more time, and I’ll be done. You’re doing great,” he said under his breath, intently focused on maintaining the steadiness of his grip on the machine.

She gritted her teeth as he passed over the tender skin again, sucking her breath in.

“You okay?” Raleigh called from the other room, concern laced through the raspy bass of his voice.

“I’m great,” she replied, gripping her shirt above her bra.

“You’re all done,” he said, rubbing a thin layer of a sticky substance on her skin before taping a small bandage over it. “I’m putting petroleum jelly on this. Don’t take the bandage off till this time tomorrow.”

Within a couple of minutes, Raleigh handed over cash and a hefty tip to the artist, and they were out of the door.

It was nearly 2 a.m., and her thoughts seemed clearer, the cloudy haze of tequila beginning to fade. They walked leisurely down the empty road.

The street lamps were illuminating small patches of the road, the stretches of darkness more prevalent than light. The apartments and small shops were closed – they were the only people outside.

He stopped her underneath the bright bulb of the lamp nearest to them, and grinned. “Were you planning on showing me what you got at some point?”

“Yeah, but only if you do it first,” she replied, barely able to think straight. Her eyes grazed over his features as he looked down on her, taking in the soft shadows left on his tanned skin, his jawline and exposed collarbone looking especially sharp under the yellow light.

“Alright, that’s fair.” He pulled up his shirt, before peeling back the tape and the bandage with it. He’d gotten a tiny cloud tattooed right above the paragraph of text on his ribcage.

“What does it mean?”

His eyes glimmered despite the dim lighting. “You’re the only person in this world that makes me feel like I’m more than what I pretend to be. And you’re the only person who’s really seen the real me, and makes me feel like I’m… worth something, you know? I feel like I’m weightless, like I’m floating when I’m with you. Like I’m dreaming. Like my head is in the clouds, but in the best way.”

He reached out to stroke her cheek, and she leaned into his hand. He pressed his lips against hers softly, and she chuckled once. He pulled back, eyeing her. “I never thought I’d see this side of you, but I’m so glad it’s my secret to keep.”

He grinned, and reapplied his bandage, gesturing for her to take her turn.

She pulled her shirt and bra up, just enough for the bandage to be free. She lifted the tape, revealing two letters: R.C.

His eyes widened. She could tell he was momentarily stunned, so she jumped right in.

“My whole life I’ve felt average. Just another girl chasing a dream that she’d never achieve because she sounded and looked like every other girl that she was competing with. You changed my life. One in a Million was my ticket, but you were the one who gave that to me.

“I never wanted to be ‘boring’. I was just cautious. Comfortable. Safe. You’ve brought out a side of me that I never thought I could be, because you believed in me. I could spend a lifetime thanking you, but I wouldn’t even know where to start.”

“So you branded yourself with my initials?” He said, still stunned, but the look on his face had softened significantly.

“And you got a tattoo inspired by me, too. What’s the difference?” She smiled and sniffled, scrubbing at her eyes with the back of her hand.

“I guess we belong to each other now,” he said, before sweeping her up into his arms and kissing her fervently, the distant sounds of the city keeping them grounded.

----

[thebiasrekkers]

Make It Right [BTS Mafia!AU]

Plot: “It’s always darkest before the dawn…” It’s a dog-eat-dog world in Seoul, South Korea. One has to dwell in the shadows in order to reach for the light. What are you willing to sacrifice in order to feel the sunlight on your face? What will it take to drag you back into darkness? How long will the journey be to make it right?

Rating: NC-17 // NSFW

Genre: Series | Mafia!AU | Crime!AU | Angst | Romance/Fluff

Pairings: Jin x OC | Taehyung/Hoseok x OC | Yoongi/Jungkook x OC

Warnings: Graphic Violence, Heavy Language, Angst, Slow Burn, Smut

Previous Chapters: Prologue 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

Links: FAQ || BTS Masterlist || Admin E’s AO3 || Admin E’s WP || [ REQUESTS ARE OPEN ]

Word Count: 2,327

Chapter 24: Moving On

“Back then I thought this was a big place. But my ambition grew too big.”

© thebiasrekkers (Admin E). All rights reserved. Reposting/modifying our work is prohibited. Translations are not allowed. Plagiarism/stealing is not tolerated by any means. Legal action will be taken in instances of theft.

Seoul – Hannam; Yongsan District South Korea

There were things in this life that some people just did not deserve. There were some things in life that they did. Everyone deserved love, life, and the pursuit of happiness. Everyone didn't deserve to be treated like the slop of swine and kicked to the curb like yesterday's garbage. People deserved to be treated the way that they want to be treated. They didn't deserve to have their most cherished possessions taken from them. Everyone was allowed to have at least one miracle in their life. No one deserved to have said miracle denied them.

Namjoon sighed, thinking back on all the things that the Golden Jackals suffered through, as well as accomplished. It was nothing to spit at, that was for sure. A lot was done in a seemingly short amount of time. They were finally getting to a head with all their hard work. Sacrifices had been made, bounties were gained, and dreams were soon to be obtained.

Finally, it was all going to come to a fruitful end.

The quietude of the office brought solace to Namjoon’s heart. Nothing pleased him more than to be surrounded by books, especially those telling bold tales of far off worlds – places he could only dream about. It was a shame, really, what limitations the human mind was succumbing to, as well as what lengths society was willing to go in order to snuff out the beauty of something so mystifying as magic, science fiction; as any form of literary art, really.

Beside him were four thick textbooks concerning various histories in several different eras of socioeconomic growth from many regions, not just Korea. In fact, he’d managed to secure one book regarding the Military-Industrial Complex of America. While he had no interest in being a lobbyist or securing funds through militant means, Namjoon knew there was probably a way to formulate a plan in the corporate aspect to help further their goals. As well as foresee any pitfalls that were sure to crop up at any point during their transition into legality.

History of any kind, real and fantasy alike, were realms in which Namjoon liked to dabble and explore of his own volition. Nothing brought him more pleasure than studying the past, because studying the past meant correcting current mistakes, as well as preventing future ones from occurring altogether.

Because predictably, history had a way of repeating itself. Namjoon wasn’t about to let that happen anytime soon.

Namjoon set his pen down with a satisfied smirk, pleased with the stack of completed paperwork he’d just fought his way through. The end of their arduous road was fast approaching. Tensions were high for the last few days, but it was necessary. Things needed to be put into perspective and while it hurt to have it thrown in their faces in such a way, he knew that Jungkook was right. They all did. They hadn’t thought that far ahead in advance, so focused on the finish line and not the aftermath that would ensue had they not properly gotten things lined up like they needed to.

His phone buzzed and rang with life beside him, causing him to jump slightly. He saw it was Seokjin and answered.

“Hello?”

“Ah, Namjoon-ah?”

“Yeah?”

“Where are you?”

“I’m on my way back now.”

“See you downstairs. The others just got back home.”

Namjoon hung up the phone and gathered up all his notebooks and folders, exiting his room and making his way downstairs. He’d barely made it to the main floor of their house when he saw Jungkook appearing from the basement area. He saw him drying his wet hair with a towel, presumably finishing his workout and showered. When he remembered how Jungkook looked after Yoongi brought him home a few days ago, it was clear that Jungkook would always be the type to bounce back from any injury like it was nothing.

From shaky legs to solid jabs. The recovery level of that boy was astonishing.

“Hyung?”

Namjoon blinked, looking at Jungkook as he stared at him with a slightly perplexed look on his face. “Huh?”

“Is everything alright?” Jungkook draped the towel across his neck. “You look like you want to tell me something.”

He grinned, shaking his head. “No, it’s nothing.” He reached his hand out to clap Jungkook on the shoulder. “You’ve really become a man these last few years, Jungkook-ah.”

The younger man blinked, then shyly scratched at the side of his nose. “…Hyung, cut it out.”

Namjoon wrapped his arm around Jungkook’s shoulder just as the others started filing into the main living room. There was a platter of fruit set out in the middle of the table and Jimin was getting ready to uncork a bottle of champagne. Taehyung was about to tell him to be careful just as he popped the cork, Seokjin already grabbing a champagne flute to catch whatever alcohol managed to spill from the mouth of the bottle.

Seokjin handed everyone glasses and they all waited until Hoseok held his hand up to present a toast.

“We’ve finally done it, my brothers,” he said, giving a wistful smile, “it took us a long time to get here, but we’ve made it.” Hoseok shifted his gaze to Jungkook, his brows furrowing slightly. “Forgive your Hyung, Jungkook-ah, for neglecting those who were willing to sacrifice everything for our dreams. They have dreams too and I shouldn’t have forgotten about that.”

Jungkook bit his lower lip, averting his gaze from Hoseok as his arm holding the glass lowered slightly.

Hoseok looked at Namjoon. “Did you get it all squared away?”

He nodded, holding up the notebooks and folders in one hand so that everyone could see. “I made sure that every single one of our Jackals will have job security in our new businesses, and those that want to simply take their earnings and return home to their families can do so. If any of them want to start their own business ventures, I made sure that they could get in contact with us for any assistance.”

Namjoon saw Jungkook lift his head up, looking between Hoseok and then himself, until finally his eyes settled on Hoseok. “H-Hoseok Hyung…”

“We’ve made it. It’s time we shared the wealth.” He raised his glass and everyone else followed suit. “To leaving the dirty and dark road behind!”

They all clinked their glasses, smiles on their faces. It was the first time in years they could all smile in relief. A heavy weight was thrown off their shoulders – a proverbial mountain they’d been lugging around all this time.

Three Months Later Seoul – Hannam; Yongsan District South Korea

There was a throng of reporters and curious pedestrians that gathered around in front of the large building in Yongsan’s central district. Flashbulbs exploded from cameras, several corporate board members standing on the other side of a large red ribbon made of silk. Namjoon and Seokjin stood on either side of Hoseok as he held a large pair of scissors in his hands. Everyone held their breaths in excitement, waiting for the moment when the shears would cut through the delicate fabric.

And then Hoseok’s arms moved, the snip sound almost lost in the seemingly endless chorus of shutters from cameras as they continued snapping photos.

It was a way to usher in the New Year.

That was what Seokjin suggested, pushing back the unveiling of their greatest achievement. Golden Star Tower Hotel was their crowning success and it deserved every single aspect of respect regarding its perfection. Namjoon hesitated at first, not sure whether it was a good idea to push the unveiling back. In the end, Seokjin’s eye for reading the market never failed them. Waiting until the holiday aftermath trickled down was smart. While everyone focused on families, festivals, and all the holiday push and pull, the focus on their hotel would have been lost.

Everyone cheered, the press rushing in to ask Hoseok questions, to which he readily answered. He’d been grooming himself for this for years now and all their preparation was starting to bear fruit.

The rumble of the Underworld was but a soft vibration under their feet. They no longer had to concern themselves with keeping their ears to the ground. The Golden Jackals were no more. What the criminal society decided to do with that information no longer concerned them. It was a fight they would no longer be a part of.

Nevertheless, Namjoon kept a keen ear out in case trouble decided to stir in the wake of their absence. Trouble that would, in a sense, try to drag them back into the darkness. He wouldn’t hear of it. Not when they were finally starting to feel the sun on their faces.

There was talk, of course, and repercussions for their actions. It came with the territory. Tabloids spread rumors that their money was dirty, and they were attempting to erase their dark pasts. Hoseok answered these accusations with the professionalism and charisma of a foreign dignitary. He didn’t hesitate with his responses and this threw the press for a loop. Within a few short weeks, the negative articles that were written about Hoseok and his gang of Golden Jackals were a thing of the past.

Every step that was taken was a step they were prepared to take. More than prepared.

Namjoon and Yoongi would help Hoseok with the hotel management – both regarding foreign and domestic visitors, as well as financial structuring. Seokjin handled the Golden Star investment firm with Jimin. Gaining Anastasia as a financial advisor had been paramount in tying up loose ends – finalizing their last few steps into legality and away from the criminal underworld. Seokjin sang her praises, as was customary with someone whose skills he valued. There were whispers that he and Anastasia were getting a little too close, according to Jimin, but it wasn’t something that anyone in the group really needed to worry about. Both Seokjin and Anastasia were professionals and kept their personal lives as far away from their business personas as much as possible.

Taehyung and Jungkook handled things regarding the entertainment aspect of things. While they sold a good portion of their nightclubs, the Golden Star label, while small, would focus on up and coming artists who thrived in the Indie Underground. With technology advancing as rapidly as it was, it was no secret that there were young and talented artists all over the country. And not just in music, but in theatre and art as well. Some were starving artists, wanting to hone their skills at the sacrifice of having to live on the streets.

Jungkook was particularly empathetic toward these cases, personally reaching out to help them achieve their dreams – one step at a time.

As they led the press inside to give everyone a grand tour of the hotel, Namjoon felt his phone buzz with life. He pulled out his cell and spied on the screen. It was Yoongi relaying a message that things were quiet at the investment firm. They’d left things in his hands since Seokjin’s presence was required at the grand opening of the hotel. He shot him a quick text back, saying they were going to be wrapping things up soon.

“Is Yoongi bored?” Seokjin asked, sidling up next to Namjoon and bumping his shoulder slightly.

Namjoon looked at him, eyes wide, before he craned his neck in varying directions to ascertain where Hoseok was. He took a breath when he saw that he was being surrounded by reporters as he showed them the many different check-in kiosks – built to help with the reservation process. They both watched Hoseok smiling and explaining things to the letter, not missing a single beat when more and more questions were tossed into his lap.

Seokjin nudged him again, causing him to stumble to the side slightly. “Well?”

He laughed, bumping his shoulder against his as well. “He’s fine. Probably just worried.”

“Should I go back and relieve him?” Seokjin grinned, shrugging. “It’s not like these people actually care about us. Hoseok is the star of this show, it seems.”

“Looks like it,” replied Namjoon, shrugging one shoulder as well, “if you want to head back, you can. I can handle things from here.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, go ahead.” Namjoon grinned, narrowing his eyes playfully at Seokjin. “Besides, I know you’re wondering what a certain financial advisor is getting into.”

Seokjin scoffed, rolling his eyes. “Don’t start.” He looked at his watch. “We’re all still meeting up later, right?” His gaze lifted back up to meet Namjoon’s. “For the party?”

He nodded. “Yeah, I believe so. Taehyung and Jungkook should be finishing up their business by then.”

“Good.”

They both turned to see Hoseok was moving a little bit further into the large, main lobby of the hotel. He met their gaze, smirking at them, before returning to answer more questions that others were giving him. Namjoon shook his head while shoving his hands into his pockets. Seokjin patted Namjoon’s chest, brushing past him to exit the hotel.

Just as he was about to return to Hoseok’s side, his phone buzzed once more. Turning over the cell in his hand, he saw the message was from Shownu. His eyes narrowed, craning his neck to see if the sender was in the hotel. When he saw that he wasn’t, Namjoon’s gaze returned to the phone to read the actual message this time.

Shownu: Congratulations, Namjoon-ah. Don’t let the sunlight blind you.

He slipped the phone back into his pocket, not bothering to reply. There was nothing for Namjoon to say. No. They weren’t part of that world anymore. What the Jade Fangs did now no longer concerned them. They wouldn’t go back. No, they couldn’t go back.

After clawing their way out, there was no way they were going to let themselves get dragged back down to hell.

[witwerlove]

What do you think about Deacon and Sarah's relashionship in days gone? I personally think that it's the cutest love story ever, like, imagine live your live thinking the love of your life is dead and then you find out she's not.

First off, I am really sorry that I am answering this over 2 months late. I actually started writing my response awhile back and it turned into a long rambling mess because I was in my feelings. But then I forgot about it and life just got so busy and stressful.

But here it is, if you or anyone is interesting in reading it. I may have gotten a little too caught up in it it, but it is what it is :)

_______________________________________

I LOVE DEACON AND SARAH!!!!!!! Their relationship is one of my favorite things in Days Gone, but I do have my gripes about them. I think there should’ve definitely been more development between them. I mean we got their “meet cute” and glimpses of their relationship, but since it was mostly via flashbacks and in pieces, it felt very….underdeveloped to me. I understand it’s not the main focus of the story, but it’s definitely a driving point of the narrative for Deacon. I just enjoy my ships having complete sequential narratives, rather than broken pieces that jump around and only give me brief glimpses of the relationship. 

But I get it, the structure of video game story telling is completely different than tv shows and movies that get the luxury of telling a developing story over the span of many hours (or over the span of years). I’m not really a gamer so I feel like that’s the wrong mindset to have by…not necessarily penalizing the writing of a video game, but being aware that there’s going to be an obvious difference in story framing for different types of media.

However….outside of the narrative structure (or lack of), I really did enjoy Deacon and Sarah’s relationship for what it is. It definitely exceeded my expectations in the fact that Sarah played a much more significant role than I ever thought she would. She wasn’t heavily featured in the marketing for the game, so I just assumed she was just going to be a device for Deacon’s broody man pain. I expected her to be killed by or because of whatever caused people to turn to freakers. But that wasn’t the case at all. I will admit that Deacon’s optimism of Sarah still being alive after everything that happened was one of the best things about the character. His resolve and determination is very admirable.

Because even though the world had fallen to shit, that hope was what had driven him to survive for as long as he did. But in a way, it could also be seen as as a weakness because in a way it felt like a crutch. I think back to the scene when Deacon and Boozer get into a physical fight and Boozer says “Where’s your old lady, Deek?” and Deacon replies “She’s dead, Boozer.” And Boozer says “She’s been dead a long time. So don’t you think that you’ve mourned her long enough?” That exchange really struck me because it showcases the difference between the characters of Deacon and Boozer. Which is kinda irrelevant to this subject, but it shines light on how strong Deacon’s love for Sarah was….versus how insensitive Boozer was (or came off to be) to his friend’s emotional attachment of his wife. And it was also sad to see Deacon admit defeat. Because he’d been going on all these quests seeking any bit of information on finding Sarah alive, only for it to lead to nothing (until it doesn’t). Because that optimism kept her alive in his heart and he didn’t want to admit to failure by having to face the tragic truth of his loss. That’s no way meant to be an insult to Boozer by the way. I love him and the Deacon/Boozer relationship is actually my favorite in the game.

But I do have to say, at first I honestly wanted Sarah to actually be dead. I thought that would’ve had a much greater emotional impact on Deacon and it just seemed to fit the story better in my eyes. When it reveals that she’s alive, I was so disappointed when I first saw it. But now that I’ve had time to digest the story and sit on it for awhile, I’ve had a change of mind. I think the reason it disappointed me so much at first is because the reveal and their reactions to seeing each other again after so long felt so underwhelming to me. Sarah is a key element of what was driving the story. 

And while the fact that she was alive was not what I expected (or initially wanted), the reveal of it was extremely underwhelming the first time I saw that scene. But I think that’s due to buildup of my own expectation. That if Sarah was alive and Deacon found her, I wanted it to be a more “fairytale-esque” reunion where boy and girl fall into each other’s arms and kiss and cry because I’m such a hopeless romantic in that way. But I‘ve since rewatched their reunion scene and I changed my mind because that element just doesn’t work in this setting at all. In fact, it was beautiful the way it is. Because it’s more realistic. Obviously their story isn’t going to pick up right where it left off. Yes, they’re still in love with each other, but there’s been a lot of time and trauma between them that it would’ve been more satisfying to me if there had been more awkwardness and tension between them. And they’d have to sort of relearn everything about each other because they’ve probably undergone personality changes from having to adapt to the way they world is when they reunite versus how they were when they left each other. 

In the grand scheme of things, what happened in game much more enjoyable than if it had been all sunshine and rainbows between them like I’d wanted to in my own personal fantasy.

But because we are seeing the game through Deacon’s eyes (and because there’s a time skip between flashbacks and present time), we don’t get to see how Sarah coped being separated from her husband and how she came to terms with Deacon’s “death”. When they were alone and she let her guard down, she kept repeating that Deacon is dead and he’s supposed to be dead because she’d obviously moved on with her life, as opposed to him still holding out hope and actively searching for her. Their kiss in that scene was perfect because she’s the one that initiates it. Sarah being alive feels more satisfying to me now because with Deacon being the point of view character for the story, it’s like a…..reward? Like how at long last, the consistency and longevity of his hope that she wasn’t dead and will to find her was worth something. How even though everything was against him and everyone, including his best friend and perhaps even Sarah herself because she herself had given up on him, wanted him to give up on her still being alive. 

Going back to what I said about it not being all “sunshine and rainbows”, I greatly appreciate the fact that they don’t jump right back in to the romance like nothing happened in those 2 years they were apart. Deacon tried to do just that when he takes Sarah’s hand and attempts to whisk her away from the camp being the “romantic hero” (maybe he wasn’t thinking that highly of himself, but the archetype weirdly fits that perspective), but she refuses. Deacon obviously had a “hopeless romantic” outlook on the situation’s outcome. It’s nice to see when that side of him comes out. But it just makes me wonder if he ever daydreamed about finding Sarah, being the hero rescuing her from danger, and they’d ride off in the sunset together picking up where their story left off. And in the end we eventually do get that “fairytale ending” for them, but not without bumps in the road. Mainly their difference in ideology is what creates tension and distance between them. But in the end, it’s almost as if they fell in love with each other all over again. And it was beautiful.

I also have to point out that the chemistry between Sam and Courtnee Draper is beyond beautiful and everything that makes Deacon and Sarah’s relationship worth being invested in. It’s not a bland and boring run of the mill seen it all before heterosexual romance that I initially thought it was going to be. I thought Sarah more or less was just going to be a footnote in Deacon’s story. A tragedy in his life that shaped him into the cynical person hardened by harsh life experiences. A part of his backstory. And yes, all that *IS* true, but Sarah was so much more. She is a very important piece to the narrative. You put the pieces together and she is in fact the true catalyst to the main story of how the freaker virus was created and spread. Deacon takes the audience to Sarah, but she is probably the most important character because she and her occupation is what establishes the conflict and is the driving point of the narrative (and Deacon’s motivation) up until the point that he finds her.

All in all, Deacon and Sarah’s relationship is so much more complex than I initially thought. And now that I’ve processed some thoughts and put things into perspective, I love and appreciate it more than I did before now.

I did not expect this to turn into some kind of essay analyzing their relationship, but once I started writing, I couldn’t stop. Mostly because I’ve kept my deep thoughts about Days Gone to myself and haven’t really expressed anything in lengthy detail. So it just came spewing out of me. 

But it really helped me put my thoughts into perspective and I enjoyed writing this. I hope it all makes sense. Thank you for the thought provoking question that I’ve completely spiraled. And I’m sorry it took me so long to reply. My love for Deacon and Sarah has grown so much more now. I hope there will be a sequel that’ll hopefully deliver more on my shipper’s pipe dream of romance between them. Or there can be more angst. I’m down for that too. :)

[cover2covermom]

Goodbye April & hello May!

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel & I’m running toward it…

April seemed to drag on despite the days flying by.  Does that even make sense?  Like I’ve mentioned before, my days are filled with homeschooling, home projects, mask making, and reading.  I’ve been doing my best to fill my hours to ease the COVID-19 anxiety.

I received the notification that I will be returning to work next week, which was welcome news.  I’m ready to get back a little bit of normalcy in my life.  Thankfully, our library system is reopening in phases.  Our first phase will be employees only (3-5 employees in the building at one time) and offering curb-side service to our patrons.  As of now, we will not open our doors to the public until June 1st at the earliest.  At that point in time, we will be limiting the number of patrons allowed in the building.  It is definitely going to be a learning curve to see what my new work normal is going to entail.  I’m looking forward to adapting & rising to the occasion.

» Be Not Far From Me by Mindy McGinnis

As per usual, Mindy McGinnis puts out another harrowing YA book.  I love survival stories, so I enjoyed this story about a girl that has gotten lost in the woods.  Be Not Far From Me was uncomfortable to read at certain points.

» Here in the Real World by Sara Pennypacker

*3.5 Stars*

This was a sweet story about two kids that form a friendship while hanging around an abandoned lot.  The first half of this book didn’t grab me and moved far too slowly.  I enjoyed the second half of this book a lot better than the first half.

» Keeper of Lost Cities (Keeper of the Lost Cities #1) by Shannon Messenger

An awesome MG fantasy!  I cannot wait to continue on with this series.  I’d recommend this to fans of Harry Potter.

» Separation Anxiety by Laura Zigman

*2.75 Stars*

I read this for one of my book clubs.   I think the author was attempting to write a book that would charm readers with eccentric characters & a humorous plotline, but don’t think it delivered.  Instead of being funny, the story felt odd & forced.

» A Wolf Called Wander by Rosanne Parry

I think the author did a tremendous job writing a book from a wolf’s perspective.  You can tell the author did extensive research into wolves & their behaviors.  While I think this animal perspective was very well done, I didn’t think the plotline was all that entertaining.

» The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Oz #1) by L. Frank Baum

I’ve decided to challenge myself to read more children’s classics in 2020.   To kick start this challenge, I started with The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.  This was a delightful read!  I was surprised to learn that the slippers were actually silver instead of ruby red… mind blown!

» SHOUT by Laurie Halse Anderson

This is a must read for fans of Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak.  While you don’t HAVE to read Speak to read SHOUT, I feel like it makes a bigger impact if you read Speak prior to this.  If you didn’t know, SHOUT is Anderson’s memoir told in verse.

» Loveboat, Taipei (Loveboat, Taipei #1) by Abigail Hing Wen

*4.5 Stars*

This is a guilty pleasure type of read.  Actually, it reminded me a bit of Crazy Rich Asians a bit.  It is a tad racy for a YA book… So I’d probably recommend for older YA readers that are 16+

» Exile (Keeper of the Lost Cities #2) by Shannon Messenger

I am LOVING this MG fantasy series.  While these books are a bit chunky, don’t let the page count deter you.  I flew through the first two books in this series this month.  Also, I’m happy to report that this second installment does NOT suffer from “second book syndrome.”

» Nooks & Crannies by Jessica Lawson

Nooks & Crannies is an excellent MG historical mystery.  Some of the elements of this story gave me Matilda mixed with A Series of Unfortunate Events vibes.  The audiobook is well narrated.

» The Penderwicks (The Penderwicks #1) by Jeanne Birdsall

This is the perfect book to pick up during the summer months.  It really gave me modern Little Women crossed with The Secret Garden vibes.  The ending was so heartwarming it almost brought me to tears.

Goodreads Challenge Update: 46 books!

*I know it says 47, but I finished The Last (Endling #1) on May 1st*

March 2020 Reading & Blogging Wrap-Up

April 2020 TBR

Childhood Classics 2020: TBR

Most Anticipated Books of 2020 (May – December)

Mini Book Reviews: April 2020 – Part 1

Mini Book Reviews: April 2020 – Part 2

If you were ever curious what a bookworm’s quarantine stress shopping spree looks like, here you go…

» The Guinevere Deception (Camelot Rising #1) by Kiersten White

There was nothing in the world as magical and terrifying as a girl.

Princess Guinevere has come to Camelot to wed a stranger: the charismatic King Arthur. With magic clawing at the kingdom’s borders, the great wizard Merlin conjured a solution–send in Guinevere to be Arthur’s wife . . . and his protector from those who want to see the young king’s idyllic city fail. The catch? Guinevere’s real name–and her true identity–is a secret. She is a changeling, a girl who has given up everything to protect Camelot.

To keep Arthur safe, Guinevere must navigate a court in which the old–including Arthur’s own family–demand things continue as they have been, and the new–those drawn by the dream of Camelot–fight for a better way to live. And always, in the green hearts of forests and the black depths of lakes, magic lies in wait to reclaim the land. Arthur’s knights believe they are strong enough to face any threat, but Guinevere knows it will take more than swords to keep Camelot free.

Deadly jousts, duplicitous knights, and forbidden romances are nothing compared to the greatest threat of all: the girl with the long black hair, riding on horseback through the dark woods toward Arthur. Because when your whole existence is a lie, how can you trust even yourself?

» Song for a Whale by Lynne Kelly

The story of a deaf girl’s connection to a whale whose song can’t be heard by his species, and the journey she takes to help him.

From fixing the class computer to repairing old radios, twelve-year-old Iris is a tech genius. But she’s the only deaf person in her school, so people often treat her like she’s not very smart. If you’ve ever felt like no one was listening to you, then you know how hard that can be.

When she learns about Blue 55, a real whale who is unable to speak to other whales, Iris understands how he must feel. Then she has an idea: she should invent a way to “sing” to him! But he’s three thousand miles away. How will she play her song for him?

» Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik

Miryem is the daughter and granddaughter of moneylenders, but her father’s inability to collect his debts has left his family on the edge of poverty–until Miryem takes matters into her own hands. Hardening her heart, the young woman sets out to claim what is owed and soon gains a reputation for being able to turn silver into gold.

When an ill-advised boast draws the attention of the king of the Staryk–grim fey creatures who seem more ice than flesh–Miryem’s fate, and that of two kingdoms, will be forever altered. Set an impossible challenge by the nameless king, Miryem unwittingly spins a web that draws in a peasant girl, Wanda, and the unhappy daughter of a local lord who plots to wed his child to the dashing young tsar.

But Tsar Mirnatius is not what he seems. And the secret he hides threatens to consume the lands of humans and Staryk alike. Torn between deadly choices, Miryem and her two unlikely allies embark on a desperate quest that will take them to the limits of sacrifice, power, and love.

Channeling the vibrant heart of myth and fairy tale, Spinning Silver weaves a multilayered, magical tapestry that readers will want to return to again and again.

» Girls Like Us by Randi Pink

Set in the summer of 1972, this moving YA historical novel is narrated by teen girls from different backgrounds with one thing in common: Each girl is dealing with pregnancy. Four teenage girls. Four different stories. What they all have in common is that they’re dealing with unplanned pregnancies.

In rural Georgia, Izella is wise beyond her years, but burdened with the responsibility of her older sister, Ola, who has found out she’s pregnant. Their young neighbor, Missippi, is also pregnant, but doesn’t fully understand the extent of her predicament. When her father sends her to Chicago to give birth, she meets the final narrator, Susan, who is white and the daughter of an anti-choice senator.

Randi Pink masterfully weaves four lives into a larger story – as timely as ever – about a woman’s right to choose her future.

» The Island of the Sea Women by Lisa See

Set on the Korean island of Jeju, The Island of Sea Women follows Mi-ja and Young-sook, two girls from very different backgrounds, as they begin working in the sea with their village’s all-female diving collective. Over many decades—through the Japanese colonialism of the 1930s and 1940s, World War II, the Korean War, and the era of cellphones and wet suits for the women divers—Mi-ja and Young-sook develop the closest of bonds. Nevertheless, their differences are impossible to ignore: Mi-ja is the daughter of a Japanese collaborator, forever marking her, and Young-sook was born into a long line of haenyeo and will inherit her mother’s position leading the divers. After hundreds of dives and years of friendship, forces outside their control will push their relationship to the breaking point.

This beautiful, thoughtful novel illuminates a unique and unforgettable culture, one where the women are in charge, engaging in dangerous physical work, and the men take care of the children. A classic Lisa See story—one of women’s friendships and the larger forces that shape them—The Island of Sea Women introduces readers to the fierce female divers of Jeju Island and the dramatic history that shaped their lives.

» The Weight of Our Sky by Hanna Alkaf

A music-loving teen with OCD does everything she can to find her way back to her mother during the historic race riots in 1969 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in this heart-pounding literary debut.

Melati Ahmad looks like your typical moviegoing, Beatles-obsessed sixteen-year-old. Unlike most other sixteen-year-olds though, Mel also believes that she harbors a djinn inside her, one who threatens her with horrific images of her mother’s death unless she adheres to an elaborate ritual of counting and tapping to keep him satisfied.

But there are things that Melati can’t protect her mother from. On the evening of May 13th, 1969, racial tensions in her home city of Kuala Lumpur boil over. The Chinese and Malays are at war, and Mel and her mother become separated by a city in flames.

With a 24-hour curfew in place and all lines of communication down, it will take the help of a Chinese boy named Vincent and all of the courage and grit in Melati’s arsenal to overcome the violence on the streets, her own prejudices, and her djinn’s surging power to make it back to the one person she can’t risk losing.

» Escape from Aleppo by N.H. Senzai

Nadia’s family is forced to flee their home in Aleppo, Syria, when the Arab Spring sparks a civil war in this timely coming-of-age novel from award-winning author N.H. Senzai.

Silver and gold balloons. A birthday cake covered in pink roses. A new dress.

Nadia stands at the center of attention in her parents’ elegant dining room. This is the best day of my life, she thinks. Everyone is about to sing “Happy Birthday,” when her uncle calls from the living room, “Baba, brothers, you need to see this.” Reluctantly, she follows her family into the other room. On TV, a reporter stands near an overturned vegetable cart on a dusty street. Beside it is a mound of smoldering ashes. The reporter explains that a vegetable vendor in the city of Tunis burned himself alive, protesting corrupt government officials who have been harassing his business. Nadia frowns.

It is December 17, 2010: Nadia’s twelfth birthday and the beginning of the Arab Spring. Soon anti-government protests erupt across the Middle East and, one by one, countries are thrown into turmoil. As civil war flares in Syria and bombs fall across Nadia’s home city of Aleppo, her family decides to flee to safety. Inspired by current events, this novel sheds light on the complicated situation in Syria that has led to an international refugee crisis, and tells the story of one girl’s journey to safety.

» The Two Princesses of Bamarre (The Two Princesses of Bamarre #1) by Gail Carson Levine

Twelve-year-old Addie admires her older sister Meryl, who aspires to rid the kingdom of Bamarre of gryphons, specters, and ogres. Addie, on the other hand, is fearful even of spiders and depends on Meryl for courage and protection. Waving her sword Bloodbiter, the older girl declaims in the garden from the heroic epic of Drualt to a thrilled audience of Addie, their governess, and the young sorcerer Rhys.

But when Meryl falls ill with the dreaded Gray Death, Addie must gather her courage and set off alone on a quest to find the cure and save her beloved sister. Addie takes the seven-league boots and magic spyglass left to her by her mother and the enchanted tablecloth and cloak given to her by Rhys – along with a shy declaration of his love. She prevails in encounters with tricky specters (spiders too) and outwits a wickedly personable dragon in adventures touched with romance and a bittersweet ending.

» The Lost Kingdom of Bamarre (The Two Princesses of Bamarre 0.5) by Gail Carson Levine

In this compelling and thought-provoking fantasy set in the world of The Two Princesses of Bamarre, Newbery Honor-winning author Gail Carson Levine introduces a spirited heroine who must overcome deeply rooted prejudice—including her own—to heal her broken country.

Peregrine strives to be the Latki ideal—and to impress her parents: affectionate Lord Tove, who despises only the Bamarre, and stern Lady Klausine. Perry runs the fastest, speaks her mind, and doesn’t give much thought to the castle’s Bamarre servants, who she knows to be weak and cowardly. The Lakti always wage war, and the battlefield will give her the chance to show her valor.

But just as she’s about to join her father on the front lines, she is visited by the fairy Halina, who reveals that Perry isn’t Latki-born. She is a Bamarre. The fairy issues a daunting challenge: against the Lakti might, free her people from tyranny.

» A Crack in the Sea by H.M. Bouwman

An enchanting historical fantasy adventure perfect for fans of Thanhha Lai’s Newbery Honor-winning Inside Out and Back Again   No one comes to the Second World on purpose. The doorway between worlds opens only when least expected. The Raft King is desperate to change that by finding the doorway that will finally take him and the people of Raftworld back home. To do it, he needs Pip, a young boy with an incredible gift—he can speak to fish; and the Raft King is not above kidnapping to get what he wants. Pip’s sister Kinchen, though, is determined to rescue her brother and foil the Raft King’s plans.   This is but the first of three extraordinary stories that collide on the high seas of the Second World. The second story takes us back to the beginning: Venus and Swimmer are twins captured aboard a slave ship bound for Jamaica in 1781. They save themselves and others from a life of enslavement with a risky, magical plan—one that leads them from the shark-infested waters of the first world to the second. Pip and Kinchen will hear all about them before their own story is said and done. So will Thanh and his sister Sang, who we meet in 1976 on a small boat as they try to escape post-war Vietnam. But after a storm and a pirate attack, they’re not sure they’ll ever see shore again. What brings these three sets of siblings together on an adventure of a lifetime is a little magic, helpful sea monsters and that very special portal, A Crack in the Sea.

» The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

A bizarre chain of events begins when sixteen unlikely people gather for the reading of Samuel W. Westing’s will. And though no one knows why the eccentric, game-loving millionaire has chosen a virtual stranger—and a possible murderer—to inherit his vast fortune, one thing’s for sure: Sam Westing may be dead … but that won’t stop him from playing one last game!

» Ballet Shoes (Shoes #1) by Noel Streatfeild

Pauline, Petrova and Posy are orphans determined to help out their new family by joining the Children’s Academy of Dancing and Stage Training. But when they vow to make a name for themselves, they have no idea it’s going to be such hard work! They launch themselves into the world of show business, complete with working papers, the glare of the spotlight, and practice, practice, practice! Pauline is destined for the movies. Posy is a born dancer. But practical Petrova finds she’d rather pilot a plane than perform a pirouette. Each girl must find the courage to follow her dream.

» Wishtree by Katherine Applegate

Trees can’t tell jokes, but they can certainly tell stories. . . .

Red is an oak tree who is many rings old. Red is the neighborhood “wishtree”—people write their wishes on pieces of cloth and tie them to Red’s branches. Along with her crow friend Bongo and other animals who seek refuge in Red’s hollows, this “wishtree” watches over the neighborhood.

You might say Red has seen it all. Until a new family moves in. Not everyone is welcoming, and Red’s experiences as a wishtree are more important than ever.

» The Library of Ever (The Library of Ever #1) by Zeno Alexander

With her parents off traveling the globe, Lenora is bored, bored, bored–until she discovers a secret doorway in the library and becomes its newly appointed Fourth Assistant Apprentice Librarian.

In her new job, Lenora finds herself helping future civilizations figure out the date, relocates lost penguins, uncovers the city with the longest name on Earth, and more in a quest to help patrons. But there are sinister forces at work that want to destroy all knowledge. To save the library, Lenora will have to test her limits and uncover secrets hidden among its shelves.

» Chains (Seeds of America #1) by Laurie Halse Anderson

As the Revolutionary War begins, thirteen-year-old Isabel wages her own fight…for freedom. Promised freedom upon the death of their owner, she and her sister, Ruth, in a cruel twist of fate become the property of a malicious New York City couple, the Locktons, who have no sympathy for the American Revolution and even less for Ruth and Isabel. When Isabel meets Curzon, a slave with ties to the Patriots, he encourages her to spy on her owners, who know details of British plans for invasion. She is reluctant at first, but when the unthinkable happens to Ruth, Isabel realizes her loyalty is available to the bidder who can provide her with freedom.

From acclaimed author Laurie Halse Anderson comes this compelling, impeccably researched novel that shows the lengths we can go to cast off our chains, both physical and spiritual.

» The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill

Every year, the people of the Protectorate leave a baby as an offering to the witch who lives in the forest. They hope this sacrifice will keep her from terrorizing their town. But the witch in the forest, Xan, is kind and gentle. She shares her home with a wise Swamp Monster named Glerk and a Perfectly Tiny Dragon, Fyrian. Xan rescues the abandoned children and deliver them to welcoming families on the other side of the forest, nourishing the babies with starlight on the journey.

One year, Xan accidentally feeds a baby moonlight instead of starlight, filling the ordinary child with extraordinary magic. Xan decides she must raise this enmagicked girl, whom she calls Luna, as her own. To keep young Luna safe from her own unwieldy power, Xan locks her magic deep inside her. When Luna approaches her thirteenth birthday, her magic begins to emerge on schedule–but Xan is far away. Meanwhile, a young man from the Protectorate is determined to free his people by killing the witch. Soon, it is up to Luna to protect those who have protected her–even if it means the end of the loving, safe world she’s always known.

The acclaimed author of The Witch’s Boy has created another epic coming-of-age fairy tale destined to become a modern classic. 

Which books did you read in April?

Have you read any of the books I read or hauled this month?  If so, what did you think?

Did you buy any books?  If so, which ones?

Comment below & let me know 🙂

April 2020 Reading & Blogging Wrap-Up + Book Haul #BookBlogger #Bookworm #Bibliophile #BookHaul #Reading #Books #WrapUp Goodbye April & hello May! I can see the light at the end of the tunnel & I'm running toward it...

[salvatoreschool]

Legacies EP on Hope's Latest Sacrifice and Vardemus' Jaw-Dropping Reveal — Plus, Find Out Who's Visiting Freya

Thursday’s Legacies revealed that someone at the Salvatore School is not who they appear to be — which is saying a lot, considering a good portion of the student body is made up of literal werewolves.

While Lizzie and Hope battled their way through an alternate reality based on the hits of the 1980s (killing a minotaur in the process!), their fellow classmates navigated a different type of battlefield at the Salvatore School’s ’80s decade dance. Most notably, Josie and Landon almost had sex for the first time, though Josie pumped the brakes when she discovered a song Landon wrote for Hope in Penelope’s magical spy journal. (That thing just keeps coming in handy, doesn’t it?)

Meanwhile, Sebastian tricked Wade into freeing his physical body from its tomb of desiccation (no thanks to MG and Kaleb), and Headmaster Vardemus was revealed to be — wait for it — Clarke in disguise!

Below, executive producer (and this episode’s co-writer) Brett Matthews breaks down the week’s biggest twists, from Vardemus‘ Buffy-esque reveal to Josie’s impending meeting with… Freya Mikaelson?

TVLINE | This was one of those episodes that proves Legacies can get away with anything. Where did the inspiration for the video game world come from?

I wrote the episode with Thomas Brandon, and we’re both kids of the ’80s. As soon as we knew we were doing a decade dance, we thought, “This is the era we’re most comfortable with.” And once that concept crystalized, we tried to infuse the episode with as much of it as possible. Evan Warner, who cut the episode and is a brilliant editor on our show, really pushed the video game aspect of it. Between him and Barbara Brown — who has directed some wonderful episodes of ours, including the musical one last year — we just really went for it. A lot of the stuff skews more towards movies of the ’80s, and that’s because Thomas and I are products of that. We’re in this business because of the movies we saw in the ’80s as kids.

TVLINE | Plus, the game gave Hope and Lizzie perfect outfits for the dance.

Yes. Actually, this was all a long ploy to get Matt Davis into an Indiana Jones outfit. The world needed to see that.

TVLINE | And we thank you for it. Hope and Lizzie made for an interesting pair. What made Lizzie the perfect person to remember Hope first?

The perfect person is often the worst person, right? We asked ourselves, “Who is in the most complicated and interesting scenario if they remember first?” Given everything that’s going on between Josie and Landon, Lizzie was the perfect person. Hope is her frenemy and she has an allegiance to her sister, so putting Lizzie right in the middle of that scenario just felt right.

TVLINE | I love that they hugged at the end. Any chance for that friendship — or at least that truce — to stick?

I think so. I think they’re friends. They’re combative and whatever, but that’s just high school. In my mind, they’ve always been friends, but they’re reluctant to admit it. I’ve enjoyed watching the evolution of that relationship, and it’s one that will continue to evolve.

TVLINE | I’m into the idea of Hope and Rafael. Any chance we’ll explore that relationship now that Hope is letting Josie and Landon do their thing?

It’s complicated. Raf does have feelings for Hope, and in a world where Hope is seemingly free and available, he would want to explore that, of course. The question going forward will be whether she can truly move on from Landon. That will take place over the course of the next few episodes.

TVLINE | Take me inside Josie’s head. Is she worried Landon is developing new feelings for Hope, or is she just starting to put the pieces together?

She’s starting to put the pieces together. It’s very much on the front of Josie’s mind, and it’s something she feels she needs to get to the bottom of. Heading into the next episode, you may see Josie go as far as to New Orleans to solve this burning question. (Editor’s note: I guess we’ve finally ID’d the person Freya was talking to in that first-look photo!)

TVLINE | Switching gears, are we to assume that Vardemus has really been Clarke this whole time?

Yes, he has!

TVLINE | I was pretty shocked by that. Were there hints I missed along the way?

Pretty shocking, right? It’s something we’ve known all along, and there was the occasional breadcrumb, but the reality is that Clarke has done a good job infiltrating the school. His plan will be laid bare over the next couple of episodes. In our minds, you’ve never met the real Vardemus, only Clarke.

TVLINE | Does he have the power to absorb people like Malivore?

Well, what do we know about Clarke? We know he’s, in fact, the son of Malivore. Why he’s in the state he’s in, as well as what that state exactly is, will be a question that gets answered in the very short term.

TVLINE | Another person I don’t trust is Sebastian. Will he harbor a grudge against MG and Kaleb for not helping him?

I think Sebastian harbors a grudge against the modern world. That’s really his story. The fun of this character is that he’s a vampire that’s kind of from the old show; Sebastian and Damon Salvatore would have had beers and been totally cool. The world has changed so much, in many ways for the better, but it’s also gotten worse in other ways. He’s sort of a character from The Vampire Diaries, but the world has shifted under his feet. What it means to be a vampire on this show is not what it used to mean in The Vampire Diaries. This show is not a gothic romance, but Sebastian is ripped from that world, so his frustrations lie in the modern world. That’s something we’ll dive into. You’ll learn a lot about Sebastian, including where he comes from and why he feels the way he does about the world.

TVLINE | And will any of that involve him continuing his relationship with Lizzie?

A lot of it will. That’s going to be a really important relationship this season. They have amazing chemistry, and Thomas Doherty is a pleasure to work with. We’ll find out how he really feels about her, as well as how she really feels about him. Lizzie’s very conflicted about what he means to her and to her mental health.

Your thoughts on this week’s Legacies? Did anyone else get Buffy vibes (“Ben is Glory, Glory is Ben!”) from that big Vardemus reveal? Whatever’s on your mind, drop it in a comment below.

[ethansoft]

Strawberries and cigarettes part 2 (ED)

The morning after y/n gave Ethan her phone number at the beach, all he could think about was how soon was too soon to text her. He sat staring at her contact information in his phone, wondering if she’s waiting for the text, as much as he’s waiting to send it. He doubts it. As always, Grayson is there to interrupt his deep thought, smacking the back of his head, “just fucking text her, you nerd,” Grayson laughed. “Shut up, Gray. It’s not that serious. I’m not nervous, I’m just... thinking,” Ethan replies. He’s lying, and it’s obvious. “Wow, when did my brother turn into such a little bitch?” Grayson asks rhetorically as he pours the milk in his cereal.

Ethan tapped the text app, and typed her name into the “to:” field. He felt his heart rate quicken. “Hey, it’s Ethan. Got anything going on today? I still want to go pick out a book at the library and you said you’d help. I’m holding you to that.” As he pressed the send button, he immediately clicked the lock button on his phone and turned it face down so he couldn’t see when her response came through. Rejection is one of Ethan’s bigger fears, he had dealt with it all too many times growing up. Before he could let his mind wander to a place he didn’t want it to go, he decided to get up and rinse his bowl out and load the dishwasher, he didn’t want to seem to eager to answer y/n’s text message, if she had even responded in the first place.

After the kitchen was swept, the dishwasher loaded, the food in the pantry organized, and all appliances and countertop space was washed down, Ethan finally decided to check his phone

Y/n: hmmm, not too busy. But Ethan who? I don’t know an Ethan.

Ethan rolled his eyes and let a chuckle out. He really likes her. He barely knows her, but he really does like her.

Ethan: the really handsome guy who approached you at the beach last night. Super funny and charismatic, talked you into giving him your phone number by some divine miracle. Ring any bells?

Y/n: hmmm, I guess maybe a little. Meet me at 3 at the library.

Butterflies fluttered in Ethan’s stomach as he reread the text over and over before replying.

Ethan: that’s perfect. I’ll see you then.

He replied and then set his phone. Rubbing his face with his hands, trying to figure out how the hell he would release the anxious energy he had before 3 o’clock. He looked at his phone to check the time. It was only 10:30 in the morning. He let out a heavy sigh. “This is going to be a long day,” he said to himself.

********

It’s 2:30, and Ethan has cleaned the entire apartment from top to bottom, went for a run, showered and organized his closet. Of course now, he was ready for a nap, but he had to head to the library to meet y/n.

Upon arriving, he sees y/n sitting on the steps outside of the library, nose in a book, which he’s coming to realize must be a normal thing for her. As Ethan approached her she looked up from her book, then back down to stick her bookmark in to mark her page. Ethan silently wonders why she still reads paperbacks when there’s a whole world of electronics out there that wouldn’t require her to bookmark her page or make the trip out of her house every time she wants a new book, but that’s a question for a different day. “Hey,” Ethan is the first to speak. “Hey,” she responds, putting her book inside her purse and standing up.

“So, what are your interests?” Y/n asks as they aimlessly wander through the library aisles. “Uh, I like lots of stuff...,” Ethan responds racking his brain for a good answer. “Uhh, well, okay then...,” y/n responds. “I like, well...,” Ethan looks around to see if anyone else is around them and then proceeds to whisper to her. “Romance. I haven’t read a book in a long time, so I can’t say I particularly love romance novels. But when I’m alone, I do find myself watching more romantic comedies than I’d like to admit.,” he can’t believe he’s telling her this. This is something that he has always kept between him, and his Netflix account. “But I like anything full of action too, because you know, I’m tough... and a man.” Ethan says while flexing his arms as if to show her he’s strong. “Interesting,” y/n says hiding a smile. “I like that. Okay. I think I can help you out. But first, check your fragile masculinity at the door.” Ethan laughs at her response.

After about a half hour of searching for the perfect book, y/n hands Ethan a copy of the Great Gatsby. “Here,” she says. “It’s romantic, and interesting, and a classic. I think you’ll like it.” Ethan flips the book around and reads the description printed on the back. “Hmm, sounds good. I’ll give it a try.” They sit in an awkward silence for a minute. Ethan is racking his brain to find a way to make this last longer. He needs to spend more time with her. But he can’t find a good excuse to keep her from leaving the library and he’s too nervous to flat out ask her if she wants to go get food with him, or go for a walk, or just let him watch her browse the library for an hour. Although he would happily do all of those things. “Well, you’ll have to let me know what you think of the book. I’ll be curious to see how you like it. It’s one of my favorites. The newest film adaptation isn’t all that bad either. I suggest you watch that as well, after you finish the book of course.” She shifts back and forth between the balls of her feet and her heels and Ethan can tell she is a little nervous as well, which brings his anxiety level down just enough to where he could speak again. “Cool, thank you for all your help. Maybe we can watch the movie together?” He asks, while wondering where his courage came from. “Yeah, maybe...” y/n says with a wink. “I’ll see you later, Ethan Dolan. Enjoy your day.” She said walking away from him.

*****

Ethan found himself doing nothing but reading the entire evening, he looked at the clock and it was almost midnight, and he had two chapters left. His emotional attachment to characters he’d only known for about 7 hours had him absolutely baffled. The way he felt for Jay, the way he couldn’t decide how to feel about Daisy, his frustration but love for the story in its entirety was something that was beyond his comprehension. He never knew how much he could enjoy someone’s storytelling. He wanted so badly to text y/n and express how he was feeling, knowing she would understand. But at the same time, stating his feelings had never been his forte, even explaining feelings about fictional characters intimidated him.

It wasn’t that Ethan was hard, or unfeeling, it was just that he had to grow up faster and live a harder life than most people. That in turn, had transformed him into the person he was today. Someone who worked hard, and did what he had to do to survive. It had always been him and Grayson against the world, ever since he could remember. His parents had been completely nonexistent during their childhood, they had been ripped from their home, placed in foster care, separated on numerous occasions and things didn’t come easy to them and they had gotten used to fighting. Fighting to stay together and fighting to live a decent life, and now as young adults, they had no one but each other, and a small group of friends that had become almost like family. But through all of that, Ethan had acquired a tough exterior, one that intimidated people even when he didn’t want to. Inside he was soft, but he wouldn’t admit that to himself; let alone the world. And texting a girl his feelings about a book that he had binge read, was a little too soft for his liking. But that’s what y/n did, she made him soft. He barely knew her, but from the moment they exchanged their first words, he knew that she could get him wrapped around her finger just as easy and she had gotten him to come over and talk to her. It was terrifying and exhilarating all at once.

As Ethan laid in bed that night thinking about Jay and Daisy, he was overcome with emotion and had so much to say. He needed to talk to someone about this book and the way it made him feel. And he needed to see her. Somehow he missed her presence. They had had a nice day, and he needed to feel the way he felt around her again, this instant. It couldn’t wait any longer. God, how did this girl he had known a total of 24 hours have this much power over him already. He couldn’t understand it, but instead of trying to do so, he conjured up the courage to text y/n.

Ethan: hey, you up?

Y/n: yeah... what’s up?

Ethan: I’m coming over. Meet me outside in 15 minutes.

Y/n: my roommates and I are having a girls evening in, no boys allowed, sorry pal.

Ethan: no reason to apologize, I’m not asking to come in. I’m asking you to come out. Finished the book. Need emotional support.

Y/n: I wish you could see how hard I rolled my eyes at your text. Surprised they aren’t stuck there. Come to the back alley. I’ll try to sneak out.

Ethan: on my way.

A/n: I promise from here on out it’s going to get longer and better, but I just wanted to update for the people who have asked! Let me know what you think, feedback is encouraging and makes me want to write more because I’m a dumb bitch who needs validation anyway ily guys goodnight

[docholligay]

Aino’s 8: Chapter 4--A Diamond Chip Charm

This was meant to be published yesterday, but I was feverish and so parts of it, um, didn’t make sense, so I fixed it this morning and here we are. If you would have told me Usagi was going to get her own section, I would have laughed openly. BUT HERE WE ARE. Sponsored by @yamadara87 PLEASE THANK HER IF YOU LIKE THIS (also, Rachelle, your beloved, “Michiru pampering Usagi” is here). All of Aino’s 8 is here. 

“There is, I am afraid, another matter.” Michiru looked over at Rei as they sat, a small dessert between them that Rei knew Michiru had no intention of touching.

There was always another matter with Michiru.

Rei studied her face, trying to figure out what she could possibly mean. With Michiru, it could be anything from needing to borrow a pen to needing to blow up your apartment, and there seemed to be little difference to her, other than the paperwork involved.

It was difficult, dealing with an heiress.

“What?” Rei finally growled, going over in her mind what else there could be to bring up in a conversation that had covered the already-loaded topic of Minako Aino and what had transpired between her and Rei, all those years ago. She would have thought that was the whole of the “other matters.”

“I find myself rather in need of a lovely and....organic, shall we say, type of distraction. Someone with both innocence and charm--” Rei looked at her suspiciously, but she simply inclined her head to the side, as if it were the most obvious thing in all the world. “Well, Rei, I do regret to inform you that those attending are mostly familiar with my charms. Any attempt to distract might be met with an equal parry, but, someone with a bit of a different angle..”

Usagi. It came like bolt into Rei’s brain. But how did she know Usagi? Michiru never hung around here, it wasn’t her sort of place, and Usagi was certainly not her sort of people. There was a time Rei herself might have said that Usagi was not her sort of people, a chipper and emotional girl with a soft body and bright eyes who slung noodles at the shop around the corner from Rei’s apartment.

But time had softened Rei to certain things, and with the considerable disappointment of her own Robin Hood having been less virtuous than she had imagined nestled in her chest, Rei had opened up to the kind girl in the noodle shop, the one who always recognized her despite a hoodie pulled high over her head.

“No.”

It was as much impulse as anything else, and Michiru simply gave a small sigh of irritation, as if she simply could not find a parking spot.

“Let’s us--”

“How do you know who she is?” Rei was leaned over the table now, having quite remembered herself. “Have you been following me--”

“Oh, as if I have the time to gad about--”

Fresh off remembering herself, Rei managed to remember Michiru. “Have you been having me followed?”  

“Now, there is a bit more specificity,” she took a sip of her wine, “what a charmless way to put it, but it does have a touch of brevity I appreciate.” She shook her head. “I was not, as you say, having you followed. I merely make it my business to know where my most valuable associates are and with whom they are associating. She does seem a particular sort of girl--”

Rei scowled. “She doesn’t want to be involved.”

“Doesn’t she?” Michiru leaned forward. “I do seem to recall that she had designs on attending some sort of photography school. Could that be the art school in which my family holds a board position? I simply can’t recall, you’ll forgive me my absent-mindedness.”

Rei looked at Michiru and saw her smiling. Michiru was teasing her, in the only way she knew how. And perhaps she was right. A night’s work for Usagi, getting a share of the take, and if Michiru was being truthful about her willingness to get Usagi a space in the school...This was something Rei had never been able to do for Usagi, not over the few years she’d known her. She lacked Michiru’s above-ground connections, and she couldn’t simply donate her way to admission without raising alarm.

Even if it wasn’t the school her family held, she could donate a building and slip Usagi into the school with little question.

Being friends with a billionaire heiress was aggravating and helpful, all at once.

But there was always the chance of going to prison, when running a job. It lurked in the darkness like a monster, and while the light of Michiru’s money and power had mostly kept them from being snatched, the idea of it happening to Usagi was enough to give her pause.

“Don’t let her go to prison.” She wagged her finger at Michiru, who smiled appreciatively.

“My dear, I have no intention of allowing any of us to go to prison.”

She crossed her arms . “You can let Mina go back to prison.”

___

Usagi was sweet, and eager to please, and, above all other things, she was an utterly distracting human being, which was precisely what Michiru needed. Someone without much grace or careful airs, someone who would manage to flummox them all by the very nature of her inability to blend.

“Now, Usagi,” Michiru walked next to her on the street, “there is a question of backstory. Why are you there? What possible reason might you have to be at such a gala?”

Usagi thought for a moment, which at least gave Michiru hope. She could not hope to be spoonfed the answers to these sort of things. Lying was merely about thinking on your feet. It was improvisational acting, in its most harrowing form.

“I’m there with someone!” She perked up, and then furrowed her brow again, rubbing her chin thoughtfully, and then her eyes grew wide again, “Like as a paid date!”

Michiru gave a laugh that half seemed like appreciation. “A call girl, a splendid idea, it will explain both your beauty and your lack of high manners,” She looked at Usagi, shaking her head, “This is not to say I have not know a great many women of various entertainments in possession of great learning and whom with I have had many spirited conversations, but, popular ideas endure.”

But Usagi’s cheeks were flushed and her eyes were starred, hearing scarcely anything Michiru said after declaring Usagi a beauty.

Michiru was like nothing Usagi had ever seen before. She knew Rei worked with all kinds of people around the world, and that a lot of them were rich, or undercover, but most of the ones she had seen skulking about Rei’s apartment wore hoodies and ate burritos or were tall men in suits. But Michiru smelled of flowers even on the streets, her hair curled and dipped in elegant teal waves that were both perfect and effortless,her dress seemed to not be worn but instead flow around her as if the fabric had simply decided it wanted to be in her company, and she spoke like a governess from one of Usagi’s romance novels. When she had appeared in the alleyway behind the noodle shop, she had looked like a piece of classical art, leaned against the bricks of the dark byway, something that utterly didn’t belong, something that almost made you feel you were party to a crime to look at it.

And she thought Usagi was pretty.

“You will require a new sort of wardrobe, but that can be easily had,” She gestured to the designer stores surrounding them, “off the rack. At my expense, of course, and you certainly may keep it after, I have no need of it.”

Usagi thought for a moment. ‘I thought I wasn’t supposed to be classy. Did you say that?”

Michiru smiled at her in a knowing way, as elegant as if posing for a portrait,. “My darling, sophistication and money are in no way synonyms. There are quite a few things in the world which manage to be both indicative of wealth and terribly garish. We require you to appear a lapdog, not a show dog. The sort of girl a man might bring simply because he enjoyed your excitement at the idea.”

Usagi was not entirely certain that was meant to be a compliment, but it was hard to tell how anything was intended, the way Michiru said it. Everything she said was half puzzle and half poem, and Usagi was excited at the prospect of working with her, even unsure of what she had gotten herself into.

Maybe moreso because she wasn’t sure. She had always been Usagi Tsukino, a crybaby who was never good at school and loved food, nothing remarkable about her in the slightest. But this, when Michiru had offered her this, she had felt a strange sense of power, as if there had always been something inside her, waiting to be released, and only now could she feel it. Here, among these fine clothes and shoes and with the help of her strangely distant yet knowledgeable guide, she felt transformed into something else. Something wonderful.

Michiru took her into a small store with a name Usagi had never encountered, breezing into it as if it were a Daiso.

“I’m afraid we have no time for couture,” she gave a slight wave of her hand, “But I suppose we are molding you to be the kind of girl who might never wear couture anyhow, and these are perfectly accessible off the rack.”

Usagi looked around at the gowns, the most beautiful things she’d ever seen, covered in lace and flowers, sheer in spots and ruffled in others, and her mouth involuntarily swung open as she stared around the spare elegance of the showroom. Michiru looked less impressed as she eyed the gowns, but clicked delicately toward the center of the showroom as a woman approached her, head high and attentive.

“We will, of course,” She said, looking back at Usagi, “make arrangements for your casual wear, but the matter of the gown needs be settled quite immediately.”

Usagi nodded, still caught up in the rapture of pinks and blues and flowers and spangles.

Michiru turned back to the woman in front of her. “I am afraid we have a matter of some urgency, but I am certain you will be able to assist me. This young lady,” She inclined her head to Usagi, who had walked up next to her, “is in need of a formal gown, and right away. I assume you have some sort of tailor available to hem in the coming days.”

Usagi was not quite sure if the woman recognized Michiru as the heiress Rei had said she was, or if she simply exuded the sort of power that made people want to obey her, but in any case, the woman nodded quickly and smiled at Usagi in masked politeness, giving her Hello Kitty sweater the once and twice over.

“And what might you be looking for today?”

Usagi looked at the gowns again, uncertain of how to answer. They were all beautiful, all far beyond what she’d ever imagined herself in even in her wildest dreams. She walked slowly toward one of the dresses, blue with embroidered flowers down the whole of it, two lace puffs descending down the sides, floating like clouds down a mountain.

Usagi touched it reverently, quieter than even she believed she could be.

Michiru nodded, and the shop woman quickly took a measuring tape out of her pocket, measuring Usagi quickly.

“I was hopeful,” she said, looking at Michiru, “That you might be looking for a gown, as well.”

Michiru crossed her arms delicately. “I was rather hopeful that you would pay attention to the customer with which I’d provided you.”

Chastened, she turned back to Usagi and gave a closed-mouth smile. “I will see if we have your size in the back.”

Michiru stepped toward Usagi and touched her shoulder with genuine kindness. “You realize you are permitted to try as many as you like. I admit, I wish for you to wear something in this style of gaudiness,” the attendant wrinkled her nose, but Michiru paid her no mind, “But I should also hope you rather like it. It will be yours to keep for as long as you wish to own it.”

Usagi looked at her. “Can I try on all of them?”

“I would be delighted if you did,” she turned to the woman, “and I am certain she would love to assist us. I could use a chair and a glass of sparkling, if you’d be so kind.”

The woman hustled toward the back, and Michiru sat down in the plush velvet chair, looking at Usagi, who was already staring at herself in the mirror with a sense of beauty and wonder. She looked back to Michiru, puffing out her chest in a bit of bravado and trying to smile.

Michiru crossed her ankles, and set her hands delicately on her lap, looking at Usagi warmly.

“I should hope you will give me a proper fashion show. I’ve hardly seen this collection.”

Usagi beamed.

[thesffcorner]

Truthwitch

Truthwitch is the first book in the YA fantasy Witchland series written by Susan Dennard. We follow 4 perspectives: Safi, a domma of Cartorra who happens to be a Truthwtich, one of the rarest form of witchery in the land; Iseult, her Nomatsi best friend and a Threadwitch; Aeduin, a monk and Bloodwitch; and Prince Merik of Nubrevna, a Windwitch. These 4 characters are all brought together in a conspiracy threatening to destroy a truce between the different kingdoms, involving piracy, magic and kidnapping the Emperor's betrothed. 

This book took me so long to get into; I started reading it the summer of last year, and then put it down 40 pages in. Then I tried again last month, got about 80 pages in and put it down. I knew I would like the book if I just committed and actually gave myself time to read it, but I kept not wanting to pick it up, until I finally did and… finished it in 2 days. There is a reason why it took me so long to get into the book, and that’s the writing. Susan Dennard has a very specific style of writing that’s hard to explain. In her plotting she has the ‘everything, but the kitchen sink’ approach; she throws a lot of concepts and ideas at the reader all at once, and it’s mostly left to us to piece it all out. In just the first chapter we are expected to understand who the characters are, why they are being chased by a Bloodwitch, what a Bloodwitch even is, how this magic system works, and on top of all that we have to follow a tense action scene with knife-fighting, and explosions and diving off a cliff. I had no idea who anyone was, where this was taking place, who was related to who, who was royalty and who was an outsider, and to make matters more confusing, since we follow 4 different perspectives, as soon as I got used to one character, I was forced to meet and care about a different one. It was frustrating to orient myself, because especially at the start, not all the characters were immediately likable or immediately engaging. Merik was the strongest example of this; it took me chapters before I cared about anything he was up to, and he wasn’t irrelevant in the first 100 pages either. The other issue, was writing itself. Just to give you an example, here’s a couple of sentences from the opening: ”Thirty-two thrice damned guards, with thirty-two thrice damned crossbows” pg. 12 ”Wind kicked at Iseult’s dark hair, lifting the wispy bits that had fallen from her braid. A distant gull cried it’s obnoxious scree scr-scree scr-scree! Safi hated gulls; they always shit on her head.” pg. 13 It’s a style choice all right. Once you get used to the writing, it’s actually really fun and fast paced; I love how precise Dennard is with her language, going through the trouble of using proper names for everything from the types of swords to the types of fabrics and clothes the characters wear. The use of words like hyefor yes, or the specific sayings and sea shanties that the characters only in this universe have makes the world feel more authentic, and I like the mentions of different languages, accents characters have in those languages, etc. However, at the start, I was so confused, and it took me a while to get used to Dennard’s stylistic choices. I akin the reading experience of Truthwitch to that of Nevernight; as soon as you get through the first 100 pages, you are in for a ride. Which is exactly what this book is; a ride. It’s a non-stop action packed chase across seas, mountain passes and city streets, and even the quiet moments, are only quiet in that no one is getting stabbed. It’s such a fun book; it’s like a well executed pirate film, with all the sea-faring, boat-sinking, treatise-respecting elements. I’ve heard this book called Game of Thrones for kids, and I really don’t agree with that; the politics of this world is so simple and straightforward that it can’t in any way be compared to even the who version of Game of Thrones. Most of the court intrigue is set-dressing for the action, which for me went in the book’s favor. I liked the action, and the book was best when it focused on our small group of characters and their adventures. When it tried to expand to include the war and the politics, I found it wasn’t very deft at it, and I think Dennard knows that, because the focus of this first book was pretty narrow; fulfill the contract, get from A to B. The parts of the book that I enjoyed most, were the magic system and world-building. The magic system is very cool; it involves Origin Wells which are each connected to a type of elemental magic: air, earth, fire, water. The people who have these abilities range in both power and skill; they can be Earthwitches who specialize in botany, or iron or glass. We even get an example of this with Merik and his Threadbrother Kullen; Merik is a weak Windwitch, who can control only wind, but Kullen can control all kinds of air from winds, to storms, to people’s breaths. The background of the world with the dying wells, the prophecies about their reawakening, the Voidwitches were all really fun concepts that were set up here, and I can’t wait to learn more about; I think it was a good choice to only briefly set things up in this book, and focus on the magic more as the series progresses. Speaking of the plot, it was not perfect, but it kept me engaged. I wanted to know who were all the players involved in the mystery, I wanted to see what would happen when and if the girls make it to Lejna, and I was curious to learn who the Puppeteer is. We get some answers to these questions, and while I can’t be too angry at the book for not wrapping up well, since it is just book 1 in a series, I did want a more conclusive ending. As it stands, we are left with more questions than answers, and I’m not sure if some of the elements in this book will ever get resolved. The thing that I had some issue with too, were the decisions the characters made. I can’t possibly go over everyone; there are dozens of characters in this book, but we can talk about the main 4, starting with Aeduin. Aeduin was the characters we learn least about, and he has the least amount of PoV presence in the book. I found his powers really cool and well developed; he can smell people’s blood, control it, even in his own body to regulate bodily functions like fatigue or oxygen consumption during running. He also heals super fast, even from fatal injuries. His powers are similar to blood-bending in Avatar: The Last Airbender, which a really interesting concept. As a character, we get bits and pieces about Aeduin; he is impatient, he is conflicted about his loyalties, and he’s very good at what he does, which is essentially being a mercenary. There are hints of romance between him and Iseult, and if done right, it could be an interesting dynamic, but in this specific book, he was only set up as a future lead, rather than being a proper lead. Iseult is a Threadwitch, and like Aeduin I found her powers infinitely fascinating. She can see bonds between people, and the threads that tie them to everyone around them, including threads between some animals. Based on the threads, iseult can see emotions; she can also build and manipulate threads. All the threads are different; she and Safi are Threadsisters, meaning they owe each other a life-debt, and they have the closest bond of friendship. There are also Heartthreads which are romantic attachments. As a Threadwitch, Iseult has trouble understanding emotions and interpreting what she feels, because Threadwitches can’t see their own threads and are meant to be logical and impartial; they also can’t form Heartthreads. Iseult also faces a lot of bigotry, prejudice, and racism; she is a Nomatsi, a traveling tribe which I’m going to guess is based on the Romani. As such she is hated everywhere she goes; people yell slurs at her, they sometimes attack her, and she’s not even allowed to be present in specific parts of the city. The prejudice I think was done well, but what I found lackluster was how Iseult felt and dealt with it; namely she doesn’t. The book tries to present it as something she’s used to, since it follows her around everywhere she goes. While it’s believable that someone would be used to extreme and violent prejudice against them, if they’ve dealt with is for that long, Iseult would still have feelings on the matter. She would still feel hurt, or sad, or wronged, or angry, but the book doesn't give us anything to work with, other than once scene where she tries to get Safi to back down from attacking some bigoted soldiers, because Safi’s attack only makes the abuse stronger and harder for Iseult to deal with. I think this is a real missed opportunity on Dennard’s part, which I hope will be better explored in the latter books. There are a lot more things that are set up with Iseult’s character, but not much is truly explored with her. She also spends almost the entire second act incapacitated, so we don’t spend as much time with her as we do with Merik and Safi. The parts I enjoyed most was her friendship with Safi, but unfortunately, so much of the book sees her unconscious or the two of them apart, that I really wish we could’ve gotten more from them. We desperately lack strong female friendships or bromances in media, and this one has all the potential, but just not excellent execution. Merik was the character I struggled with the most; I found him pretty bland and boring at first, and later just incredibly annoying. His playing at being a Prince and Admiral was very childish and annoying, the way he treated Safi was incredibly disrespectful and grating, and he’s never called out on his behavior by anyone. Yelling at your subordinates that you are their Prince or their Captain doesn’t make you a good leader, or a leader in anything other than rank; I think Dennard missed a solid opportunity to explore what being a true leader really means with his character. The fact that he is a weak witch was something that I’ve already seen explored with Rhy Maresh in the Shades of Magicseries, and while I didn’t like what Schwab ultimately does with Rhy in that book either, I think she did a much better job of exploring Rhy’s internal conflict of being a Crown Prince with little to no magic. Here, like Iseult, Merik just kind of seems used to it, and it never really factors into the plot, except for the one scene where he explains why his sister has his father’s favor. His devotion to his Threadbrother Kullen was nice, but overall I found him to be a nuisance of a character. He improves slightly towards the latter half of the book, and I did like the chemistry he has with Safi. They have a good reason to be kept apart, and I found both of their conflicting emotions written well and justified. I also liked that the romance was present, but it always took a back seat to the main plot and the more pressing issues the two characters faced. However, I did have major problems with the way Merik treated Safya and the power imbalance in their relationship. Safya being his prisoner for most of the book, and him constantly demanding that she follows laws and orders she has no choice on or even has to since she is royalty herself was maddening. Dennard does try to show that even when she’s in chain Safya is still defiant and at least spiritually his equal, but that doesn’t change that fact that she is LITERARY his prisoner the whole time they are together. She was kidnapped by her uncle and then Merik, and though Merik claims that he would make sure Iseult survives, neither Safya nor the readers have any way of knowing he’s being genuine or could even make it happen, no matter how much he believes it. Safya was entirely justified in doing what she does to help Iseult, and what Merik does to Safya going completely unpunished and consequence free, not to mention being awarded with a make-out session by Safya was D&D level bad plotting (maybe that’s where the GoT comparisons come in). Safya was my favorite character, in spite of the make-out session. She made the book for me; I loved how spirited, impulsive, brash and brave her character was. She was a lady with training in the courts and in street smarts, she could fight, she had a mouth on her, and she never backed down, unless she had a good reason to. I loved that she dove headlong into conflict to protect the ones she loved, that her cons didn’t always work, and that she felt genuine guilt and remorse when she put people in danger. She has a lot of internal conflict, and internalized hatred because of everything she has been constantly told; that she’s weak, that she’s not cut out for leadership, and that she’s a pawn in people’s games. She was a very well rounded characters, and to top it off she too had cool powers. The way her Truthwitchery worked was interesting; she can detect lies in statements, whether hers or others, but not also what the truth is. She can also be fooled with the right phrasing of sentences or if the person really believes in the lie. Her power was as imperfect and faliabe as she was and I’m interested to see if she can train it to serve her better and what people would have use for with her power, or at least with how her power is presented to work. While I don’t like the decision she makes at the end of the book, I am curious to see how she navigates the new status quo. Her character, if we stick with the GoT comparisons, is a blend of Arya and Sansa, so it will be interesting to see how she navigates more courtly plotting. It’s rare for me to like the lead character as much as I liked her, and so I’m interested to see what she does next. Overall, this is a solid starter book to the series. Like a lot of first books, it sets a good foundation, but I can’t say that it stands very tall on its own. It sets up a lot of the world, and it is a fun, action packed ride, but I have a feeling once I get further into the series, it will be the weakest of the books.

goodreads

[thequeenofcronuts]

Secret Santas Part 2

Four Part Series

Catch up! Part 1

Choices: THe Royal Romance

Characters: TRR Gang (MC is Kristina, horse is Enchanting Fate

Type: Fun Fluff, Christmas Related, Game

Word Count: 1,854

A/N: In this four Part series play along with the TRR Gang and see if you can guess who their Secret Santa is along side them.

Pixelberry Studios owns these characters, I just have fun with them.

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Friday morning Liam makes his way into his office. Opening the door he sees a festively wrapped box on his desk. An excited grin crosses his face. Liam studies the gift before picking it up. The wrapping paper is exquisite, but there wasn't a ribbon or bow, it’s just elegant. A card type and printed out is addressed to him from “Your Secret Santa”. Already Liam was enjoying the mystery. What would it be and from whom. He gently picks up the box and feels its moderate weight. Not really getting any clues, he opens the gift to find a gorgeous bocote wood and bubinga wood chess set. It's obvious that this chess pieces are hand carved and the board is beautifully inlaid wood.

He immediately sees that the Cordonian Crest has be carved into the middle of the board. When he picks up a piece and turns it in his hands to admire the craftsmanship he sees that the bottom of the piece has also been carved with the Cordonian Crest. The same is true for all the pieces. Liam sits down in his chair and looks at the set which is a work of art its own right. He imagines a game with one of the guys as he has a glass of scotch. He thinks that maybe it won't be too hard to figure out his Secret Santa.

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Kristina has had a very, very long Friday. She’s extremely tired, and wants a glass of wine and her husband. As she walks down a long hall to her and Liam's royal apartment, she sees something on the floor at the front door. With caution she begins to move forward to see a plain green wrapped present with a bright red bow. She looks to the guard who nods as if to say it's safe. She picks up the gift and reads the tag which is in handwriting she doesn't recognize, which simply reads, “Your Secret Santa”. She had been focusing on her hectic week and finding the perfect gift for her secret Santa gift she hadn't even realized that she didn't receive her gift yet.

She takes the square box, which fits in her hands, into the apartment and excitedly sits on the couch. Not one to contemplate the whole “What could be inside thing” or “How the person wrapped the gift” she rips it open. She finds a beautiful blue leather box that is obviously for jewelry. This just keeps getting better, she thinks. She opens the box to see a striking vintage Art Deco Hamilton cocktail watch. The white gold is as bright as the day it had been originally purchased. The beautiful bracelet band rested at the top and the base of the unique and distinctly Art Deco square watch face. Where the band and face of the watch met, there were three delicate scrolls of white gold each with a round diamond in the center. Kristina couldn't take her eyes off it. Finally she see a note in the box, “A vintage working watch from a renowned American watch maker given to the new Cordonian-American.” She simply cannot wait for the next Christmas event.

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Hana had been waiting for her gift form her Secret Santa all week. She loves this time of year and every aspect of it. She loves giving more than receiving, but this game is too much fun not to get into. Since it's Christmastime she was more than happy to accept Kristina's invitation to stay at the palace so Hana wouldn’t have to travel between there and Valtoria for all the holiday events. It was late in evening that Friday night when she hears her phone ping. She looks at the screen and the message is from “Secret Santa” telling her to look outside her door. She cracks her door to see a package in gold glittering wrapping paper with a matching gold glittered ribbon and bow. She cannot contain her excitement, and picks up the gift bouncing her way to her bed.

Leaping onto the bed she places the gift down and studies it. Every side, every bit of ribbon and bow. She notices the seams meet perfectly and how the tape is virtually invisible. She really doesn't garner any other information or clues from her assessment. Either one of the ladies wrapped it, or one of the guys had it wrapped for them. If it was one of the guys, she wasn't sure that Drake would pick the wrapping even if he didn't have to wrap it. Of course, she knows every aspect of the wrapping and the gifts she will receive tell which friend is her Secret Santa. Hana never guesses, she figures out all puzzles.

She opens the gift so delicately, really only the way that could be done by Hana. After unwrapping and opening the box she sees matching glittering gold tissue paper as the wrapping. She thinks to herself if this is one of the guys they obviously had a lot of help, or is an extremely thoughtful person. Once she pulls back the tissue paper she knows from one glance she loves it. She pulls out a shimmering gold tee length, A-line dress. The sleeves are three quarter length and the neckline is a perfect V-Line. It was designed by the Parisian designer Lancelin St. Claire! She tries it on, and it fits perfectly. The bodice is slightly formfitting, but just right for Hana tastes. She feels like she just stepped off the screen of a 1950’s movie, and she adores it! It’s a beautiful, tasteful dress which is perfect for the holiday season.

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Drake is heading out to the stables to check on the temperature for the horses, and checks in on Kristina's Enchanting Fate. Out of the corner of his of his eye he sees a large, but not skinny, long box wrapped simply in brown paper and tied with twine. He goes over to it and takes it out of the stall and sees written directly on the paper of the package, “From your Secret Santa”. Drake knows the writing, it's Leo’s. Leo has come for a holiday visit and he seems to have gotten himself roped into some Secret Santa’s antics. It's too obvious for it to be Liam. He guesses it could be Hana, she would know the perfect way to wrap a gift that fits his personality. He stops, and thinks to himself what the hell is he even doing. I’m not at all interested in this crazy Maxwell FriendFest or whatever this thing is. He goes on to do what he came to the stable to do.

Before he leaves he sees the box and can't help remember his birthday at the western themed bar with his friends. He still kinds hates admitting it, but it was nice to have them to celebrate things with. He sighs and goes to the box. The twine is tied in a plain old bow that he easily undoes. He unwraps the gift to see another “Leo note” taped to the top of the box which has written “Brown paper packages tied up with string, here's something new for your favorite things.” He opens up the box and sees a brand new fishing rod, line, a full tackle box, and a set of fishing tools. All top of the line quality. This is the nicest fishing equipment he's ever owned, and the gift wasn't whisky, so someone really took the time to figure this all out.

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Olivia received a note from her Secret Santa to be at the boutique at 4pm. She saunters in at the appropriate time only to find it empty. She waits for fifteen minutes, which was fifteen more minutes than she intended to. Oh, real funny Secret Santa, she mutters out loud. As she turns to leave something near the changing rooms catches her eye. She walks over to the red package with a black bow and sees on it, “Yours truly. Secret Santa.” She thought it would be smaller. This is too big for jewelry. It's the size of a shoe box. She rips the paper and opens the box to find a ton of tissue paper. So much that while she pulling it all out she almost missed the red velvet pouch. This is more like it she thinks to herself. She opens the pouch to find a bracelet with the most brilliant black and red stones. The bracelet is an intricate horizontal sword. Engraving on the back reads, “Never underestimate the power of Olivia, fools.” The clasp is easy and she as the bracelet on immediately. Her face is absolutely beaming, until she steps out of the boutique composing herself.

Walking down the hall she is amazed that her Secret Santa actually did a semi decent job. Ok, she admits only to herself, they actually did a damn good job. Definitely someone who knows her well, isn't a screwup, and has taste almost as good as her own. She looks at the tip of the blade of the sword as she admires the bracelet again. Hmm, this is actually sharp, I can use this as a weapon and a piece of jewelry. She smirks as she continues down the hall.

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It’s late and Maxwell needs a snack. Everyone knows, of course, that his go to late night snack is ice cream. Mainly because he tells everyone. When he gets to the palace kitchen and moves toward the freezer he sees an eight and a half by eleven envelope taped to its door. On it is purposefully written chicken scratch which simply reads, “Maxwell - S.S.” Maxwell is now completely fired up. He snatches it and opens it as fast as he can. He pulls out all sorts of paperwork and some pictures which he can't look quick enough. He reads all the pamphlets, certificates, and looks at each picture.

He can't even begin to contain himself and yelling at the top of his lungs, “BEST.SECRET.SANTA.GIFT.EVER.” He looks at the certificates again, each one reading the same way, “We thank you for your love of one of the world’s most amazing creatures, the hippopotamus. We are delighted to let you know that a hippopotamus has been adopted in your name and will be protected by the support of you and others like you.” Each certificate has a different name for a different hippo, five in total. Maxwell scoops all of it up while he runs yelling, “My Secret Santa is on Point!!” He stops running, spins around, and goes back for his ice cream, then heads out with a bounce in his step.

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Next week, Part 3 is the second week of gift giving. Do you, dear readers, have any guesses as to whose Secret Santa is whose yet?

Go to Part 3 here!

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Series Tag: @jyreusser85

[uomo-accattivante]

For the entire run of Charles Soule’s Poe Dameron comic book series, readers have gotten the chance to experience the wit, bravery, and unselfish nature of the best pilot in the Resistance. We also have been introduced to Black Squadron, a muscular Hutt, and a compelling new villain. With a new storyline coming this May, StarWars.com e-mailed with Soule about what makes Poe Dameron unique, his Black Squadron copilots, and why Agent Terex is the perfect foil for the titular character.

StarWars.com: Ever since fans were introduced to the characters in The Force Awakens, people have been drawn to Poe Dameron. What is it about the character that you find so compelling, and how do you channel that into the Poe Dameron series?

Charles Soule: I won’t lie — writing a swashbuckling expert pilot with charisma for miles won’t ever be a drag. Poe the character brings an energy to his scenes that’s pretty undeniable, like a feedback loop of fun and focus. Now, I know I’m writing about a fictional character as if he’s a real person, making me just the scribe jotting down his adventures as they happen, but sometimes it feels like that. Poe is sort of a force of nature.

StarWars.com: While Han Solo and Poe Dameron are a type of foil for one another, and both use unconventional methods at times, they are more dissimilar than they are alike. Compare and contrast the two pilots and what makes them tick.

Charles Soule: I’m tempted to do this in terms of Dungeons & Dragons alignments, but I don’t want to mash together too many fictional worlds here, so I’ll stick to Star Wars. Han is just a darker guy in general than Poe. You can rely on him, if he decides you’re worth his time and energy, but that’s not a foregone conclusion. I don’t think you’re ever quite sure where you stand with Han Solo, which is part of what makes him a great character. Poe is a more selfless character, just in general. I don’t see him ever trying to cut and run as long as there’s still someone he might be able to help. That said, Poe’s rampant idealism and self-confidence absolutely gets him into trouble, much the way Han’s sense of self-interest causes problems for him, as well. They’re both pretty awesome, though!

StarWars.com: Let’s look at your incredible run on this series so far. The series is initially set before the events of The Force Awakens and has taken Poe on a number of adventures. What stands out to you from your run so far, and what have been some of your biggest challenges as a storyteller?

Charles Soule: I’ve been really happy with the new characters we’ve introduced to the Star Wars universe, especially Poe’s nemesis Agent Terex, former Imperial stormtrooper and sometime officer in the First Order Security Bureau. He’s always a blast to write, almost a negative-image of Poe himself. Suralinda Javos and Oddy Muva are standouts as well, but even fleshing out characters from the films like Snap Wexley and Jess Pava has been fun, too. As far as challenges… I’d say the biggest thing was creating a compelling, strong adventure for Poe and Black Squadron that fit within what’s really a pretty small window in the Star Wars timeline — directly before The Force Awakens. We knew where the story ends, to a degree, so finding drama in the journey to get there was a tricky proposition. However, as is often the case in writing, solving the challenges was not just a great time, but resulted in a better story.

StarWars.com: Agent Terex is not the traditional “bad guy” in a First Order uniform and is much more than an archetypal villain. And, despite Captain Phasma’s best efforts, he seems to have an iron will. How much fun is this character to write, and what can you tell us about his character arc?

Charles Soule: Right — Terex! As I mentioned, he was an Imperial stormtrooper, even present at the Battle of Jakku. He became a galactic crime boss in the intervening decades, a truly ruthless man, but he was always pining away for the lost Empire, which he thought was a pretty cool institution. So, when he heard rumors of this thing called the First Order, he signed up, offering his immense network of contacts and favors owed to them. For a while, that was fine, until he began to tangle with Poe, as they both searched the galaxy for the missing explorer Lor San Tekka, in the hopes he could lead them to Luke Skywalker. Poe can be a frustrating opponent, and we’ve seen all sorts of things happen to Terex on his journey in the series. Personally, though, I think he ends in a really good place, and I’d love to see him pop up elsewhere. We’ll see!

StarWars.com: Through this series, we have also gotten to know the elite pilots of Black Squadron. What makes them such a perfect complement to Poe, and how do they keep one another “grounded,” especially considering how gifted they are at what they do?

Charles Soule: Black Squadron has evolved a bit over the course of the series, as any cast of characters should. We began with Poe, Temmin “Snap” Wexley, Jessika Pava, Karé Kun, L’ulo L’ampar, and their loyal(ish) ground tech and aspiring pilot Oddy Muva. We lost both L’ulo and Oddy, as well as more than a few astromechs assigned to Jess, but a new member joined — the one-time journalist and New Republic Navy veteran Suralinda Javos. Snap and Karé got married at the end of #25, too, which was a storyline I built for a long time in the series. I think they all love each other, and would do anything for each other, but these are fighter pilots. They’re competitive. Still, they usually manage to channel those tendencies into the fight against the First Order, where it should go.

StarWars.com: We also meet Ivee, the incredibly brave astromech (see Poe Dameron #25) that has a rather strong bond with BB-8. What inspired this storyline, and what has the response been like?

Charles Soule: It’s been so fun! Ivee and BB-8 clicked immediately, becoming extremely fast friends, connected in a deep way that organic beings probably can’t completely understand. I thought it might just be fun to give BB-8 sort of a… well, I don’t know if you can call it a romance, exactly, but certainly a very close friendship with another droid. The response has been strongly positive. It’s sort of amazing to me what you can do in comics, and storytelling in general, to imbue a hunk of metal, plastic, and wires with what really feels like “humanity” — whatever that means in a universe filled with all sorts of non-human sentients.

StarWars.com: You clearly have a talent for finding the voice of so many iconic Star Wars characters, and nowhere is it more apparent than when you write Leia Organa. It’s a tribute to your writing prowess that you are able to add to her wonderful legacy. How do you maintain the nuance of this character and keep her so fresh and engaging?

Charles Soule: Leia’s awesome, and really, writing her is not that different from writing any of the characters in any of my Star Wars projects. I just do my best to put myself in their position and let them talk. Leia is a master politician, incredibly empathetic, but also wry and funny. She’s faced with the re-emergence of an evil force she thought she’d defeated decades before, and now she’s doing everything she can to prevent it from taking over the galaxy. She’s under enormous stress, but she handles it with charm and grace. She also takes zero crap from anyone — that’s a big part of writing her, too.

StarWars.com: The “Legend Found” arc features a poignant conversation between Poe and Lor San Tekka in which they discuss the nature of the Force. It’s a great way to see the Force from the perspective of non-Jedi characters, but also teaches us a bit more about this mystical energy field. What do we learn from this conversation?

Charles Soule: The biggest thing, I think, is the way a character like Lor San Tekka who’s been studying the Force his whole life views the “hero Force-wielders.” Jedi and Sith, essentially. Lor understands why they get all the attention, as agents of the Cosmic Force, but he knows they’re just a small part of the immense whole that is the Living Force. For Lor, and for the vast majority of beings in the galaxy, it’s all about the Living Force. I hadn’t seen The Last Jedi yet when I wrote that sequence, but now that I have, I think it’s pretty fair to say that Luke Skywalker would probably agree with Lor San Tekka’s point of view, at least in part.

                    The cover of Poe Dameron #27, coming May 16.

StarWars.com: In May, you have a new arc in store for readers. What can you tell us about it?

Charles Soule: The bookends of Poe Dameron issues 26-31 are set moments after the events of The Last Jedi. I don’t want to suggest that it’s a direct mini-sequel or anything like that; the story is told as a flashback in a conversation following the Battle of Crait. It just gives fans a taste of where things are after the film wraps up. It also takes a look at both The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi from the point of view of characters we didn’t necessarily see in the movies, and will catch us up on what Black Squadron was up to during Episode VIII in particular. I can’t wait for these issues to begin coming out — they were so much fun to write!

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