#this girl i used to tutor is now a flight attendant. which is cool

[fingertipsmp3]

Do you ever observe random people you went to high school with on your FB and you’re just like “you really went all around the world and still picked a boy from our hometown? Really?”

[rllysick]

Master list:

This is my master list of fanfics that I enjoy reading! I will continue to add to it as I read more or maybe write my own! Most of these fanfictions are of ao3 or tumblr

Rick Sanchez x Reader:

Ricky Doll by rickssugarplum: You’ve missed Rick for so long and you have a Rick Plushie to fill the void. Rick finds out.

Rest Easy by sammys_lover: You're frightened by a storm that's way too huge for your liking. 

Innuendos by Hoodoo:  You just needed to get some grocery shopping done. Rick turned it into a thing.

Long:

F*CKING YOUNG / PERFECT by baconprincess:  The Smith-Sanchez family meets the new neighbors. (11 Chapters, but unfinished)

Curiosity by PsychoLolita: You get swept into Rick and Morty's lives thanks to a favor from Beth. It isn't until you see Rick using his trusty portal gun that you decide to find out for yourself just what kind of scientist Rick Sanchez is. Along the way, you find yourself falling for Rick's unorthodox ways and personality. Even though he seems disinterested in you, it all feels like a strange deja vu. On the other hand, Rick knows something that you don't, and wants to keep it from you (and Morty) at all costs. Will things go completely awry, or will you settle with what the future holds? (15 Chapters, but unfinished)

Rick Sanchez x Reader (Smut):

...the line broke, the monkey got choked... by Hoodoo: You catch sight of an old guy with a Mohawk. He catches sight of you too, and makes a daring suggestion.

Heat Wave by Hoodoo: It's too damn hot. You decide to surprise Rick in his garage with some sexy times. Maybe that'll cool things off?

Honey, I'm Home by daddyzanchez: You knew the sound of a portal opening in your sleep, could recognise it in a crowd and it made you giddy. Rick being home after a long adventure with Morty meant that he was short on a dose of you, making him a little rougher than usual, and you loved it.

Interrupted Plans by daddyzanchez: Rick portals home briefly (despite having plans) to take care of you. 

Slow Sex or Mushy Pancakes by daddyzanchez: Rick gets pissy about having to choose between sex or mushy pancakes, so he chooses the next best: A quickie and non-mushy pancakes. 

Did You Read It In Cosmopolitan? by daddyzanchez:  Rick is away on adventures a lot, making your sex-life consist of a little too many quickies. You want slow for once - you'll never believe what happens next!

More Than Just A Dance by daddyzanchez: Your apartment is in for a Spring cleaning, so when you are mopping the floor whilst shaking your ass to a groovy beat, Rick sees you and orders a dance for himself. 

Steampunked by Hoodoo: Rick and reader get dolled up, but sneak away from festivities for some naughty fun. 

Good Vibes by rick-frickers: Written from a request: Can you do a Rick/Reader fic incorporating a vibrator?

There’s a first time for everything by ricks-frickers: Written from a request: Please write one of your sexyass female self-inserts of Rick taking a young woman’s virginity

Provocateur by PsychoLolita:  Rick wants to spoil you on an expensive lingerie shopping trip when decides he can't take the heat anymore, and pulls you into a dressing room stall for a little fun.

Hard Candy by PsychoLolita: You and Rick Sanchez have been flirting for months. When you pay him a visit this time, he's working on a "special candy for Summer" that he insists you don't touch. But how can you resist trying one when he isn't looking? You can't- and he's the only one who can quench your thirst after you realize the candy was actually an aphrodisiac.

Tequila Sunrise by PsychoLolita: You're secretly into some kinky stuff, but you're too shy about it to bring it out on your own. Rick C137 knows exactly what to do. 

A Woman’s Place by rehpicllib: Rick’s kind of sexist. But still manages to fuck you up.

You Asked For It by Hoodoo: You make a request of Rick: can you have a night of hardcore fluffy sex? Can he do that? And then contrariwise, what about the opposite of hardcore fluff sex? Chapter 2. Requests from an ask, first chapter fluffy sex, second chapter hardcore sex (with detoxified Rick and Toxic Rick) (2 Chapters)

Up In The Air daddyzanchez: Your job as a flight attendant suddenly gets a little more exciting (and shameful) as a tall, strange man with spiky blue hair gets onboard... (4 Chapters, but unfinished) 

Extra Credit by GoldenSnowflake: As the clanking of plates and silverware gathering food filled the air, a tall, slim figure swept into the room and took the chair opposite of mine. He stared and I blinked at him, my fork in my mouth. "Who's this?""We're partners for a project," Summer muttered as if he should've known better, despite the fact it didn't seem like she warned anybody that I was coming over at all.

Sext by Hoodoo: Rick got a piercing. It's wrecked a month's worth of havoc on his sex life, until tonight.

Hair-pulling+ by Hoodoo: A short, filthy fic about being fucked from behind by Rick, with him holding onto my ponytail. Just some nice hair pulling and dirty talk.

Mint Chocolate Chip by Hoodoo:  It's summer and it's too hot. Ice cream should make it better.

Erotic Advent by Hoodoo:  24 days of new sex toys for Rick/reader!

Zero G by Hoodoo: You always wanted to have sex in anti-gravity. Rick makes that happen.

Focused on masterbaiting:

Tracker by NikkiDoodle:  Rick catches you during your alone time. But how does he know what you're up to? 

Desperate But So Far Away by daddyzanchez: Rick is not able to be reached right now which is a bummer. You have had your hand in your pants for an hour or more but your orgasm was just not happening. 

Better Than Fantasy by NamelyCranberries: Rick catches you masturbating. Lend a Hand by deliciousdeaddove:  You walk in on something interesting... 

House sitter by deliciousdeaddove:  You're watching the Smith's house while they're out of town. Your mind drifts to one of the usual occupants and you become carried away. Then you're caught. 

Caught Rick-Handed by CrazyRaynebow:  Rick walks in on Reader masturbating and well... what else is there to say?

Focused on eating out:

Originality - A New Year's Eve Story by daddyzanchez:  How does one enter the new year with Rick Sanchez? A Slip Of The Tongue by daddyzanchez: It took a moment before you realised what you had just said but when you did, your heart dropped and it felt like a train was hitting you at maximum speed. Distractions by rick-frickers: Written from a request: reader/Rick with reader as Morty’s tutor or something and the tutor and Rick have been flirting (which Morty notices) and Rick goes under the table and goes down on tutor and she’s gotta play it cool so Morty doesn’t notice and Rick’s really into it but also wants the girl to make a lot of noise so she’ll feel embarrassed. And later the reader gets her revenge and does the same to Rick when he’s in the garage or something! 

Period:

Monthly by NikkiDoodle: You're on your period and hate it. But that didn't stop Rick. (3 Chapters)

Bloodhound by Jinkies_Lydia:  This story is about period sex. If that is not your thing turn around now. Takes place after season 2 episode 7, “Big Trouble in Little Sanchez”. The Reader comes onto Rick at her bloodiest time of the month after a wild ride previously with Rick after killing his other clone bodies, drenched in his own blood. 

Monthly by GoldenSnowflake: “She’ll be watching the house while we’re gone,” Beth explained pleasantly.Long limbs draped across the back of the sofa and the coffee table, Rick looked at me with the barest hint of interest. “She’s cute,” he assessed, turning back to the television. “Just make sure she stays the hell away from the garage.” A little odd or not, the Smiths paying to housesit while they're gone is nothing less than perfect timing. Except for the fact that Mother Nature doesn't care whose life she's ruining. Oh, and neither does Rick.

[tjkiahgb]

Episode Recap: 3.10, “The Quacks”

The episode picks up not long after the last episode ended, with Buffy asking her friends just what in the hell that Secret Society scheme was all about.

Her friends, who were super excited to help Walker out last week, waste no time throwing him under the bus now.

Jonah didn’t like the Secret Society stuff.

Cyrus didn’t like the robes.

Andi thinks it was kind of a sick way to ask someone to a dance.

Walker watch out for the bus oh my god he has airpods in he can’t hear us! oh my god!

Buffy reels off a list of the things she didn’t like about what happened: no to surprises, no to being put on the spot, and no to predictability. The candles were cool though.

Andi asks if Buffy still likes Walker and she gives a resounding ehh. Buffy explains that Walker made her shoes like how he made Andi shoes once, a long time ago. Andi thinks that is so wrong. Buffy says it’s his “signature move.” Andi and Buffy imagine Walker’s given shoes to every girl in town.

Am I going crazy here? He’s an artist? He makes artsy gifts for people? This would be like getting mad at Andi for making you a craft gift. It’s what she does! It’s not like Walker’s going around giving everyone cheap store-bought gifts like horrible little gnomes or neon green shoelaces. As long as he didn’t copy the exact mural he made with Andi that one time, what’s the problem? It’s a homemade gift. He had to spend time working on it. It’s still really nice. By this standard, would he have also not been allowed to make a drawing of Buffy as a gift? He’s already done that for Andi so that’s off the table. Find a new way to be creative, Walker. Make a necklace out of discarded soda can tabs or make a headband out of an old belt or something. I know art is your thing, but, sorry, you’ve played that card. It’s over now. Move on.

By the way, Andi and Buffy assume, with zero evidence, that Walker is going around town giving shoes to every girl like an unfixed cobbler in heat. Why?

They also assume all those girls would wear those shoes he gave them as gifts to public places like the school dance, despite not being in a relationship with him. I do feel like most people wouldn’t wear something an ex gave them while currently being in a relationship with another person. That’s so thoughtless. Wear shoes Walker gave you as a romantic gift while hanging out around your current boyfriend? Who in the world would behave like that? That would be crazy. A monument to poor decision making. I simply can’t imagine.

Aaaaaanyway, Cyrus assumes that’s it then. Buffy’s breaking up with Walker. And Buffy’s like, yeah, we’re done. I’m ghosting him. Cyrus tells her that’s not good enough. Talk to him. Break up with him in person.

Feels like Cyrus could save himself a lot of energy by recording a voice memo on his phone that says “YOU HAVE TO COMMUNICATE!” and just playing it for his friends over and over again.

Buffy thinks Walker knows, but Jonah assures her he doesn’t because: “He’s a guy.”

The pinpoint accuracy of those three words rattles Buffy to her core.

At the dance studio, Cyrus... dances?

...has a seizure?

...gets attacked by a swarm of gnats?

...reenacts the Ides of March?

...is possessed by the spirit of an evil marionette?

I’m just not sure.

Amber shows up and asks if he’s rehearsing being electrocuted.

Ah. Damn. That’s a good one.

Cyrus tells her he has to come up with an original dance for his choreography final and perform it. Wild that he’s already got a final exam. His dance class was like a month long. No wonder it seems like all he’s learned to do is flail his arms about. Amber volunteers to tutor him in the art of dance choreography.

Wait, does Amber know how to dance? I mean, I guess she did at the house party that one time. But can she really teach Cyrus to capture the raw, super strange energy of this performance?

I have my doubts.

Over at Bex’s, Bowie presents Andi and Bex with a surprise.

That’s right! A plank!

Andi wants to know who the Quinns are. Bowie thinks they all will be, after the marriage. Bex isn’t so sure. (Maybe hyphenate?) Bowie thinks it’s important, bonding them all together as a tribe, but Bex also thinks it’s important for everyone to choose their own identity. (Hyphenate?) Mack is part of who Bex is. For example, it’s on her bowling shirt. (Hyphenate. Stitch “-Quinn” right on to the end of that bad boy.)

Andi proposes they mash up their names but they realize that would make them the Quacks and abandon that idea so quickly they never even consider they could also become the Mann family, which is pretty sweet.

Back at the dance studio, Amber asks Cyrus to touch his toes. He can’t, but in fairness, he’s only been at this dance thing for like two weeks.

Amber tries to get him to do some moves but Cyrus says it’s too hard, so Amber hair-slaps some sense into him.

At the gym for the first Spikes game, Buffy watches the opposing team warmup and settles into some depressing fatalism.

Her teammate, who the end credits tell me was named Kaitlin, says the team is well-aware of that because Buffy’s been saying it all week. Kaitlin tries to get Buffy to say something that builds confidence in the team but Buffy’s not interested.

The team’s coach shows up.

Her name is Mrs. Deborah Mendenhall. She’s the guidance counselor. She’s also late to the game, knows nothing about basketball, has the gait and posture of an elderly woman, and is dressed like a flight attendant for some reason.

On the bright side, she brought orange slices.

So at least no one will get scurvy.

Kaitlin points out that the good news is they don’t have enough girls to even play. Buffy’s shocked no one else is coming and wants to know why. Kaitlin tells her it’s probably because Buffy’s spent the entire week telling everyone they were going to lose and be humiliated.

Look, say what you will about TJ as a team captain, but he only went after one player on his team. Buffy recruited this girls’ team, then spent several weeks alienating and insulting them and eventually got 2/3s of her team to quit before they even got to play their first game.

I hope she’s cleared her calendar for a ton of redemption arcs.

Buffy says the loss would have been really embarrassing, but now they’re going to have to forfeit, which she feels is way worse.

I disagree. You can forfeit with some dignity. Floundering around the court while the other team beats you down leaves barely any room for that.

It’s like this. Say you’re going to a party, but right before you get there, you get mud all over the back of your pants. Huge stain. Can’t get it out. Just go home, right? Forfeit the evening. You walk into that party and everyone’s going to think you had a horrible accident. You can desperately try to explain it’s mud, or you can try to own it in some weird way I can’t even imagine, but let’s be honest, all you’re going to get is a mean nickname and an unflattering reputation about town.

The lesson, kids, is if you have a chance to forfeit, forfeit.

Buffy decides, instead, she’s going to try calling the team.

Up in the stands, Andi asks Libby if she’s still planning on breaking up with Jonah. Libby is. She then points at Jonah and mimics him texting like a dope. Jonah, who is good at picking up subtle hints, wonders if these two are talking about him.

Buffy has no luck convincing anyone from the team to come get publicly humiliated. I say call TJ. Tell him to grab a wig and race down to the gym. Worth a shot.

Instead Buffy looks into the stands to try and find a replacement. She spots her artsy friend who’s shown almost zero athletic ability over the years...

...and thinks, yep, there’s the ticket.

So, Buffy drags Andi out of the bleachers and to the locker room to change as Jonah and Cyrus head up to sit next to Libby.

Cyrus greets Libby with sign language.

Oh, by the way, Cyrus also knows sign language now. Where did he find the time? I can barely commit to the 10 minute Duolingo Spanish lessons on my phone.

Jonah asks Cyrus to do some translating. He wants to know if Libby is mad at him. Libby wants him to learn sign language. Jonah apologizes through Cyrus, but Libby walks away.

Cyrus tells Jonah texting Libby used to be an okay way to communicate, but now the two have been going out for a while. Perfect opportunity for him to pull out his phone and play the “YOU HAVE TO COMMUNICATE!” message.

Also, a while? It’s not been like, a couple weeks? Cyrus’s dance class is over already, Buffy’s team is just now having their first game of the season, Jonah and Libby have been dating two years and I’ve lost complete understanding of the timeline again.

Jonah says he hasn’t learned because he’s afraid he’ll be bad at it.

Cyrus says it’ll be enough if he’s making the effort, but I just want to put this back on the table: forfeit the relationship. Take your mud-stained pants and go home.

At Bex’s, Bex approaches Bowie to do some compatibility testing of their relationship by asking some big questions and jotting down some answers to compare.

Bowie asks her about calzones. I’ll take this one, Bex. It’s pizza with excess bread. It’s hard to get a good cook on the stuffing. The toppings are rarely dispersed in a satisfying way. Not worth it.

Oh? Guess Bex and I are more compatible than I thought.

Bex wants to play seriously though, so they jump in. Bex asks if Bowie would ever want to have more kids, to which Bowie is like...

I mean, why not? If it all goes wrong, Celia’s still around, right?

Buffy brings her newest basketball recruit out to the gym so the game can finally begin. Things don’t start so hot.

Andi gets a pass and then takes off running with the ball like a halfback on a football team.

She forgot about dribbling. Bad sign. Dribbling is probably the second rule almost all people know about basketball behind knowing that the ball has to go into the basket to score points. God, I hope she remembers that at least.

Things don’t get much better from there. The public humiliation of the basketball team happens just as it was foretold.

Mrs. Mendenhall, meanwhile, spends time handing out snacks to the opposing team.

I’d normally be mad about this but she clearly has too many oranges. There’s only five people on Buffy’s team. Might as well not let them go to waste.

Andi gets the ball again and immediately turns it over.

Buffy was worried about being embarrassed, but honestly, Andi’s taking the brunt of it here. Maybe stop giving her the ball? Save her from herself.

Buffy mercifully calls a timeout to think things over.

She pulls the team into a huddle. They think she’s going to chew them out, but instead, she thanks them for showing up. She apologizes for being a bad captain and says she’s realized losing is not the worst thing ever. It’s great that those who showed up are there and that they’re in the game.

Or, basically, isn’t it nice to just be alive and doing stuff? Which is a decent message for life but a really low bar to hurdle for team sports. Congrats to us all on not dying.

They start playing again with a newfound, joyous outlook. I’m glad they’re happy with this, but their play is hurting me physically.

Kaitlin catches a pass and goes up for a lay-up from about a foot away from the basket and nearly misses not just the hoop, but the entire backboard.

It thuds off the side of the backboard and makes a noise that’s like nails on a chalkboard to me. This should be a wake up call for Kaitlin to get her vision checked. Or some kind of medical checkup. Something’s wrong.

Andi gets a pass, then, for some reason, spins, runs the wrong way, and hucks a wild shot up from half-court at the wrong basket.

It goes in as the game ends. Everyone celebrates for different reasons. I’m light headed.

Are we really sure that wasn’t worse than just leaving early? Are we really going with the lesson here of: “Kids, it doesn’t matter how terrible you do, as long as you do.” I hope no one growing up to be a doctor or pilot feels that way. Please, do those jobs well or don’t do them at all. No one’s gonna cheer you if you put the wrong organ inside your surgery patient or get lost and crash land into the ocean.

At Bex’s, Bex and Bowie review their answers and find themselves to be really compatible.

I think the biggest sign of their compatibility was that neither of them thought to ask the other any of these big, important life questions before agreeing to get married.

Lack of forethought and an improvisational approach to life problems suits them well, I guess.

Jonah meets Libby outside the school. He asks her to teach him sign language in sign language.

If he really wants to learn, he should hunt down the 5th grade teacher who made everyone else so fluent.

Libby agrees to. She tells Jonah she likes him.

Jonah says he likes her, 2. They seem to have reached a good level of understanding in their relationship. Amazing what COMMUNICATION! can do.

At Cyrus’s dance class, Cyrus prepares to deliver his final. Amber psyches him up, he heads out onto the floor, and...

Guys. It’s no good.

I mean, he’s doing this march walk thing.

And this scuba move like he’s dancing at a party from some 1960s beach movie.

And the robot.

His big finale is the sprinkler, of all things...

...followed by the Glee throw-your-fist-up-and-look-to-the-sky move.

I just don’t see how Cyrus passes this.

How do you watch that as a dance teacher and not go, “That was the laziest collection of basic, stock dance moves I’ve ever seen. Did you learn nothing? Did you even practice?”

Is this all another lesson about just showing up and doing a terrible job and being happy with that? Again, it’s good to have a positive attitude, but that’s not going to save your GPA.

At Bex’s, Bowie sits Andi and Bex down for a new surprise.

That’s right. Another plank!

Bowie probably should’ve learned to get everyone on board with his decision first before committing to a plank. That “The Quinns” plank is basically expensive firewood at this point.

But Bowie wins Andi and Bex over with this one.

And the news that he intends to take the Mack last name. It really was a foregone conclusion. Doesn’t he know what show he’s on? It’s called Andi Mack, not Andi Quinn. There’s already all tons of merchandise. What are you going to do, render that stuff worthless? Pfft. Good luck going up against the Disney Corporation’s profits, bud.

Bex wants to know if he’s sure he wants to be a Mack, and deal with all of the things that come with being a Mack. But Bowie’s in.

So, the Quinn names dies with Cookie. Long live the Quinns.

At school, Buffy takes out her phone and makes a call. The person on the other end of the line picks up. Buffy’s like, hey, last time I saw you, I don’t think I handled things very well and can we please meet up to talk?

And who’s on the other end of the call?

This guy!

Oh, who is this guy again? God, it’s on the tip of my tongue. It was a weird name. The kind of name they stopped giving babies in the 1950s.

I wanna say Harry? Ronny? Ralph? Was it Ralph? I feel like there was a Y in there.

Let’s just call him Not Walker for now until I can dig through the Andi Mack wiki for answers.

[grimdorks]

prompt: they meet at a magic school, Rose is good at fortune telling and dark (not evil) magic, John has a gift for wind magic and Rose helps him find it.

“Yeah it’s exactly like bird school, which is for birds,” John said into his phone receiver, not really expecting Dave to believe him when he told him he was attending magic school, which is for magic, now.

“Sounds great dude actually you know what would be really cool if there actually was a bird school but like instead of the birds being bird sized it’s just a fuckin human sized pigeon in a suit.”

“I think you’re thinking of Princess Tutu,” John said. Did he ever manage to finish that anime?

“Nah dude the bird in Pee Tee wasn’t a teacher he was the big bad god Egbert try and keep up.”

“Right, right, I forgot that there’s only allowed to be one bird per show. Like how Ahiru isn’t actually a duck since the one and only bird role was already full.”

“Hey here’s an idea shut your fuck.”

John laughed, and then his eyes darted to the library door, where a very ooky-spooky looking girl was exiting. “I think my tutor is here, gotta go, bye Dave!”

“Bye John and also if he’s hot give him my number.”

“Wow, gay.”

“Fuck I’m gay?”

“No but seriously I gotta go now.”

John hung up and smiled at the pretty lady, who was indeed approaching him, one of her eyebrows arched.

“You must be John Egbert.”

“Yup! And you’re Rose?” John asked, extending his hand. When she shook it, a resounding fart noise bellowed down the hall, turning multiple heads, and John broke up cackling.

“I see you’re something of a trickster,” Rose deadpanned.

“And I’ve been doing magic tricks for years, so I don’t see why I need a tutor,” John said, pulling out a deck of cards and shuffling them idly.

“All freshman get an upperclassman to help them through things. Think of it like a big brother system that you might’ve had in a fraternity, had you attended a normal college, which is for normies.”

John blinked, mouth starting around a syllable, before losing his shit. “Were you listening in?” he asked, incredulous but not accusatory.

Rose revealed a painfully stereotypical crystal ball. “I like to think that I’m something of a… visionary.”

John gave the bad pun a pity snort and skipped forward a step, smiling at her. “Guess that means I can’t weasel out of our meetings then, can I?” Not that he wanted to. So far she seemed fun, and also pretty.

“Seers are frequently paired with wind magicians specifically for this purpose. You’re a flighty bunch.”

John grinned. “Speaking of which, when do I get a broom?”

“Sophomore year, but…” Rose grinned at him, “if you feel like owing me a favor, I could be convinced into teaching you how to use that wind magic of yours for broomless flight.”

John grinned back. “What’s the favor?”

“Oh, nothing serious, just a bit of mischief.”

“What kind of mischief?”

Rose hummed and pet at her crystal ball like a cat in a movie, a weird, dark, feathery aura lifting off of her like mist. She turned to him and grinned, eyes going white and all her veins protruding and turning black.

“The mischievous kind.”

Now, John was a teenage boy, so he was no stranger to biological functions, but good goddamn.

“Hot.”

In an instant, the shadows were gone and Rose was snorting her own laughter, covering her mouth and nearly dropping her crystal ball.

“You are, um, the first person to ever have that reaction,” Rose grit out, suppressing her laughter.

“Then you’re hanging out with a bunch of morons,” John said blithely, putting away his deck and hooking his arms up behind his head. He was thinking about flying, now. He’d only seen others do it on brooms, but he was cool and windy and airy and whatever and that meant he could do it without a broom and he definitely wanted  to do that. He got to thinking on the magic he already had access to and how he might channel that into making himself lift off the ground, trying to get a feel for the flow of magic and wind and how they braided together, ironing out the seam where the two met.

“…John,” Rose said, eyes going wide and astounded.

“Rose.”

“You’re floating.”

“Yup! Just like you said I could.”

“…oh we are going to cause so many problems.”

[archer3-13]

since @agoddamn has been talkin bout star wars a lot recently, and cause i feel like sharing something i spend a weird amount of time one, heres some of my unedited thoughts on rewriting the prequel trilogy episode 1 below the read me

1

In a time of decline for the galactic republic, strife emerges on the planet of naboo. The nimean trade federation has enacted a blockade of the planet eager to strangle naboos resources and force unfair trade settlements upon the planet. Determined to bring a settlement to the matter and maintain peace and justice in the republic, the jedi council sends diplomats to arrange a peaceful resolution to the conflict. However, they arrive too late as the trade federation have escalated the matter into a full scale invasion of naboo itself.

We open on naboo in the midst of the invasion, the naboo security forces attempting to hold back the droid army but failing miserably in light of superior firepower. Quickly the droid army successfully capture queen Amidala with nute gunray threatening harsh punishments should Amidala not acquiesce to his demands. Amidala says ‘fuck you’ though not in those words, and nute decides to let her ‘cool her head’ well imprisoned [since privately he admits that said punishments would ruin the ‘economic potential’ of naboo since it would require more expenditure on their own part]. Meanwhile the jedi diplomats, quigon jinn and obi-wan Kenobi have arrived at the trade federation battle sphere under the assumption of peace talks.

When the TF attempts to kill them however, jinn had correctly guessed beforehand and that the TF would try to use poison gas in the attempt. Jinn and Kenobi successfully avoid the attempted murder and sneak down to naboo with a part of the invasion force. Kenobi is a brash padwan eager to get into the action to prove his worth, though with a sharp mind for tactics and negotiation as jinn points out. Well jinn is experienced but quirky, respected by the council but equally disliked for his unorthodox methods and tendency to disobey when it suits him. Jinn by nature is a ‘negotiator’ however, skilled as a duelist but most comfortable at the table and trying to encourage kenobis own skill as a negotiator instead of kenobis desire for martial heroisim.

On naboo they sneak into the capital, jinn discerning that if they can get queen Amidala away from naboo and to corecsant they can make a case for more punitive measures against the trade federation. Kenobi is eager for an opportunity to earn a name on the battlefield, convinced that some form of war is on the horizon and that he’ll finally earn his knighthood that way. Jinn however wishes to avoid an escalated conflict, hoping that if they get Amidala down to corescant and the senate then they can force the senate to act definitively and force the TF to back off through heavy diplomatic and especially economic pressures [economic pressures would hurt the TF the most since they value their bottom line over any particular ideology]. However in the process of escaping, queen Amidala ends up taking a fatal wound and dies in transit, additionally their escape flight gets damaged and forces them down to tantooine. [r2d2 shows up around this point as well, as a service droid that obi-wan vents to]

Jinn is at a bit of a loss. Without Amidala wars almost inevitable and they have a responsibility to the people of naboo to inform the republic about naboos plight. If they don’t war may still be put off but naboo will suffer, if they do then war will begin but naboo could be quickly saved. Kenobi well upset by the loss of queen Amidala, since he views it as a failure on his record in that padwan almost knight way, does find himself somewhat expectant for the coming conflict since it means a chance to prove himself and make up for the failure of protecting queen Amidala. Regardless, jinn ventures out to get a new hyperdrive for the ship along with Kenobi and one of the queens remaining ‘hand maidens’, in this case the young girl padme [14].

Padme is fierce and determined, unafraid of speaking her mind when it comes to it. But shes also equally uncertain in her opinions due to inexperience, a more well presented argument being capable of knocking her off balance so to speak even if the opposing argument is weaker overall. Thus well she has the makings of a masterful leader and politician shes untested and a skilled manipulator can easily lead her on. She also has difficulties accepting compromise, again in part due to her youth but more so as a general principle of character.

Padme is distraught over the queens death, but resolves to do whatever she can to not let it be in vain and so traverses moss eisely with them. During this time, jinn observes that padme is quite the thinker and powerful speaker in her own right, good at bartering and negotiating with others. Kenobi and padme strike up something of a retort at this time as well, padme holding a childish crush on the fledgling knight and Kenobi simply fascinated by the oddities in padmes behaviour [even teasing her occasionally about it, though he pushes her away seeing her both as too young, Kenobi being 24 and his age being part of his frustration in regards to promotion, and his duties as a jedi as being more important, which only increases padmes crush as Kenobi being ‘hard to get’ and a ‘cool jedi’].Browsing about for a hyperdrive compatible with their ship, they do eventually find one owned by watto and more importantly find slave Anakin working there [12].

Anakin is quite and mild mannered, shy and brash in equal measure as kids and preteens often are. He finds more joy in making machines and with his mother then in talking with others, and his innate talent with machines means he can be quite immersed in their little world and idiosyncrasies. Hes also an idealist at heart, looking up to jedi through the lens of colourful bedtime stories and swashbuckling tales. He also doesn’t get along with padme, not now anyways. Padme sees Anakin as an annoying kid distracting her from her crush and ‘adult work’ [even though shes only 2 years older then him]. Anakin, childishly, views her as a ‘smelly girl’ who gets freaked out by the smallest things [more so, padme is uncomfortable around machines then her being a scaredy cat]. They do both share something important in common, they both find it immensely difficult to compromise.

Anakin, drawn in by a trailing r2d2 and fascinated by the little droid, r2d2 being top of the line at the present time, overhears their troubles and starts trailing and peppering them with questions. Padme is annoyed, Kenobi is bemused but jinn, jinn seems drawn in. jinns tendency towards the unorthodox is usually derived from a powerful sense of intuition, something he believes is derived from the force and so he has a tendency to be better able to ‘sense’ things out and future events through the force. And Anakin, Anakin is going to be important. Not only is he incredibly powerful, but the force seems to coalesce around him in such a way as if to ‘whisper’ about the monumental destiny this child will have in shaping the future of the galaxy. Convinced that he has to protect this child and tutor him for his eventual destiny, jinn makes a gamble with the force immune watto. If Anakin wins the upcoming pod race, something Anakin had been bragging about doing soon, then jinn gets the hyperdrive and anakins freedom. If Anakin loses, then watto gets jinn as a slave. Watto ups the ante to include the naboo ship, despite padmes protest, since even if jinn is a jedi hes still an old one and a hyperdrive in mos eisly can fetch a lot of cash. Jinn reluctantly agrees to the new wager, assuaging padme and kenobis concerns with a ‘I know what im doing’ kind of nod and wink.

As they leave they notice that it will soon become dark, and traveling through the tantoinne desert at night is dangerous. Anakin offers to let them stay at his place, where they meet anakins mom. Anakins mother is the long suffering sort, a dutiful parent to her child who she sports an almost picturesque relation of mother and son with. Outside of that though shes harried by overwork and the difficulties of not only being a poor parent but a slave raising her own child. Anakin regals her mother with knowledge of Kenobi and jinn being jedi, and excitedly tells her about how when he wins the pod race tomorrow her and him will be freed from that nasty ol watto. Kenobi and padme don’t think too much on this, but jinn internally flinches, making a late night stop at wattos shop. Jinn tries to renegotiate, the mother, Anakin, and the hyperdrive if Anakin wins but watto is unwilling to budge. Either both of the slaves, or one of them and the hyperdrive is as far as watto is willing to go. Grimly jinn acquiesces and returns to anakins house.

Kenobis awake and waiting for jinn, burning with questions. How does jinn plan to ensure Anakin will win the race, why is he so interested in Anakin to begin with, is it even possible for Anakin to win? Padme, after having a brief comedy scene with Anakin whos quietly tucked away in bed now, follows up by asking why don’t they just arrest watto for slave trading and take the stuff? Slave trading is illegal in the republic after all. Jinn replies by emphasising that it isn’t that simple, tatoinne is in hutt space [padme having revealed a gap in her knowledge about outer rim affairs through her comments as a ‘core worlder’] so republic laws don’t apply here since it lays outside their jurisdiction. Tatoinne being hutt space is also why jinn wont be, or rather cant, help Anakin in the race as jabba the hutt will be attending in person so if jabba catches him using the force they can expect swift and brutal retaliation. Anakin will have to win on his own. Kenobi and padme both aghast ask how jinn can be so confident in this gamble when they have to rely on some slave kid, but jinn cryptically answers “because he can’t lose, the force would not allow it.” Much to Kenobi and padmes confusion.

Race day, and Anakin is off with some advice from jinn to trust his instincts “as they will never let you down”. The race goes as you expect, Anakin showcasing his prodigious skills in a pod racer as his rivals attempt to trip him up, the final burning out stretch, and finally Anakin does it crossing in a healthy first place to the euphoria of the crowd and the shock of Kenobi and padme. Anakin is ecstatic, until the bad news comes, shimi will not be joining them. Anakin is upset, that mean ol wattos up to his tricks and his faith in the jedi is already slightly shaken as jinn doesn’t just bust out his lightsaber. At first he refuses to go, but eventually shimi steps in. Shes scared of the prospect as well, sad at the parting, but she also emphasises that this is the best for anakins future. Jinn approached her the night before, apologizing for being unable to secure a deal with watto for her release and asking for her permission to train Anakin as a jedi. The prospect scared her even then, of not being with Anakin, but the better future it would allow for him was something she was determined to give him. Giving her blessings she has Anakin promise her to be strong, and to become the best jedi in the galaxy, something Anakin tearfully accepts going with jinn and the others at his mothers urging.

On the way back to the ship, darth maul attacks. He had been following them since naboo for some time now, and had finally managed to catch up on tatoinne. Kenobi takes the opportunity to almost immediately duel with darth maul, but quickly ends up on his butt as darth maul proves to be the superior duelist. Jinn is forced to intervene, urging Kenobi to get the others on the ship and get it going as he distracts the zabarak. They do, and in the nick of time as well jinn manages to hold his own with maul its clear that the ferocious zabarak has the upper hand in the duel, opening the hatch and giving jinn a smooth get away. Things have gotten even more dire, a sith lord has just been seen for the first time in over a thousand years.

Making their way to corouscent, Kenobi broods a bit over his falling short against the sith zabarak before being interrupted by padme and Anakin. Padme is there to console her crush, but Anakin interrupts with somewhat frantic questions about who that was, and if the zabarak was the near mythical sith that often get mentioned in jedi legends and tales. Kenobi confirms that yes it was a sith, and a powerful one at that affirming to Anakin for both of their sakes since Anakin is still shaken by parting from his mother and the siths sudden appearance that Kenobi will be the one to defeat the dastardly sith [even though on practical terms neither he or jinn can measure up to darth maul alone].

Jinn meanwhile takes time to inform the jedi council, now that they’re back in republic space and out of danger, as to whats happened on naboo and on tatoinne. The council is understandably shocked, dispersing to inform the senate of what has transpired and prepare the jedi order for whatever actions they may need to take in order to bring the conflict to a swift and decisive end. Jinn also takes the opportunity to inform yoda/mace about his decision to bring Anakin into the order for jedi training. Neither of them are thrilled about jinn once again dropping something like this on their laps, but they agree to atleast test anakins aptitude for the force once hes on corouscent.

Arriving on courescant senator palpatine, representative for naboo and a well loved senator by the populace though more so for the cult of personality hes built around himself then for his policy or voting record which is otherwise suspiciously light. Palpatine has of course been informed of the tragic death of queen Amidala, giving his condolences to padme Amidala the queens cousin which comes as a bit of a shock to Anakin and Kenobi though not to jinn who had already puzzled it out. Padme toddles off with palpatine to discuss ‘matters of state’ and get ready for their upcoming meeting with the senate well Kenobi, Anakin, and jinn head for the jedi temple.

At the temple, Anakin marvels at the temples architecture which has stood for thousands of years, but gets somewhat bored of it commenting on the temple being stuffier then he imagined. Kenobi admonishes Anakin for his disrespectful tone, but jinn laughs it off adding that yes the jedi temple has become rather stuffy these days. Though he takes care to tell Anakin to be on good behaviour for his meeting with masters mace and yoda as they will be measuring anakins talent for the force with what time they can spare. He also adds some encouragement however, reassuring Anakin that he’ll pass with flying colours. Passing through the temple they enter a private room with mace and yoda, who ask jinn to leave so that they can test Anakin.

We cut to padme and palpatine discussing the business of queen amidalas death and having padme relay the events of her struggles to palpatine directly. It’s a tragic blow to be certain for naboo, but palpatine stresses that to the republic senate such an incident will still not be enough to incite them to decisive action. Valerian, though how he does like the man personally he insists, is weak willed and mired in bureaucracy after all, he wont force the senates hand and he will move slowly in order to ensure everything is done correctly and to the letter of republic law. And if the senate does not care, which they will not even for a place as respected as naboo, for what they see as a local system matter, they wont force valerians hand. Padme is despondent at this, she knows naboo needs action now not later, and that time is already short as it is. What can be done to save the people her cousin died for? Palpatine smiles slyly, “fortunately my dear I have a plan already in the making. All you need to do is follow my lead.”

Back in the temple itself, Kenobi is practicing his saber play dueling with other jedi padwans and even upstaging a jedi knight. Regardless, he remains frustrated because of how easily maul toyed with him and is determined to turn the tables in their next encounter. Jinn talks with him to try and get a handle on these emotions, reminding Kenobi that such feelings of superiority and inferiority lead not just to unjedi like behaviour but poor actions in general. Pride is one thing, pride to the point of ignorance is another. Kenobi is not convinced however, annoyed by jinns interest in Anakin and frustrated over his own career, though he keeps such thoughts private and instead lies to his master in order to assuage jinns concerns. Jinn is also unconvinced by Kenobi, but before he can prod further is called away by master yoda. Jinn reluctantly leaves, but not before trying to reaffirm his words to Kenobi and reassure and steady his padwan. Kenobi, is ultimately distracted by his own thoughts however and once jinn leaves, returns to practice with intensity.

At the ‘testing chambers’ door, we see a restless Anakin pacing when jinn arrives. Anakins clearly nervous and frustrated, as master yoda won’t tell him the results of the test and windu left to attend to ‘matters regarding the republic senate’ awhile ago. Jinn helps to calm Anakin down, sharing an amusing anecdote about windu from jinns own past to help make the man less freightning in anakins eye and assuring Anakin that no matter what happens he will be there for him. Anakins touched, thanking jinn profusely but before they can talk more two things happen. First, master yoda calls for jinn to enter, and second a republic senate guard appears with orders to escort the young Anakin to senator palpatines office. Jinn is suspicious about the guard, feeling a sensation of dread in his stomach that makes him momentarily pause. Usually following his instincts on everything, jinn decides to ignore them this one time after a brief pause and watching a now cheerful but confused Anakin follow the guard. He can’t keep yoda waiting and logically he knows that palpatine is a friend of the jedi, one of the few senators who actually listens to them and has helped them out on so many occasions. Hes never been comfortable around the man personally, but logically there isn’t any reason he should be worrying right now so against his instincts, he simply says wishes Anakin to be safe, to return to the temple as soon as possible, and he sweeps into the testing chamber.

Inside, yoda offers jinn a seat to wish jinn graciously accepts with humble reverence. Jinn may be unorthodox, but he greatly respects master yoda and yoda has always personally liked jinn even if he thinks jinns behaviour is troublesome to deal with and borderline worrisome at times. Regardless, they are here to talk about Anakin, and yoda opens up with the good news as it were that Anakin is indeed immensely gifted with the force, perhaps unparalleled in raw talent as far back as yoda can remember. Not only that but Anakin is very bright despite his background, mechanically gifted and well not academically inclined perhaps possessing a sharp wit and creativity. So why so much hesitance jinn asks. Not only is it rolling off of yoda in the force, jinn can tell just by looking at the old master thanks to the years hes known the jedi grandmaster. So yoda spills that neither he nor windu are considering allowing the boy to become a jedi. The boy is unquestionably talented certainly, but such talent breeds arrogance and isolation. Hes sharp witted and creative but inflexible in his mindset and views. Jinn argues that that’s hardly any worse then many of the jedi in the temple, even if its to a more extreme degree. Certainly that’s what training is meant to help anakin to overcome in part. But the grandmaster is not finished, because well jinn is right in his assertions there is another thing that concerns both windu and yoda. Fear. There is a deep rooted fear in the boys mind, one that drives his faults to such extreme lengths. Such Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, and hate leads to the suffering of all. Combined with his age, it all makes for a dangerous combination that both yoda and windu worry will lead to dangerous consequences should Anakin fall to the darkside. Jinn is resolute though, he made a promise, he knows that Anakin will be a turning point in the destiny of the galaxy he can feel it. If training Anakin is a gamble, then it’s a gamble they have to take. Especially with the knowledge that the sith are possibly returning right under their noses, if they let Anakin back into the galaxy without guidance then the sith will simply take what the jedi passed up. Yoda retorts that they have no intention of simply letting Anakin out there with sith running around, instead windu and him both agree that at the next council meeting they will suggest that Anakin should be sent to the agricorps where he can be protected. Jinn angrily says that he made a promise to Anakin, to anakins mother that Anakin would become a jedi so if the council will not deem to train him then jinn will in their stead. Yoda sternly retorts that that is not jinns decision, before dismissing him with jinn angrily storming out.

Anakin meanwhile has arrived at palpatines office, still confused as to whats going on. The senate guard leaves Anakin and palpatine to a private conversation at palpatines request. And for the most part its rather innocuous, palpatine simply wanting luke to tell his own version of the events, or atleast what hes witnessed so far, and an opportunity for palpatine to learn more about this fascinating young boy from Tatooine. Annies initially hesitant but gets pulled in to trusting palpatine through the mans charisma and ‘fun grandpa’ demeanour joking along with Anakin and encouraging him. The conversation drifts towards the jedi and anakins excitement about becoming one, and palpatine replies with enthusiasm that some fresh blood like Anakin is exactly whats needed to shake things up in the order. Why, palpatine would know hes a dear friend of so many jedi, hes even friends with dear old master yoda, so he knows that for as good and diligent as they are they tend to be mired in their old traditions. Yes, palpatine assures Anakin, he will be watching anakins career with great interest as anakin transforms the very foundation of the jedi. Anakin is happy, palpatine feeding directly into anakins burgeoning ego and hero complex. Palpatine gets a call from senator serrano, its almost time for the plan to go underway. He thanks Anakin for his time and calls for a senate guard to escort Anakin back to the temple. Work is afoot after all. He bids Anakin goodbye for now as Anakin is escorted back to the jedi temple, smiling disarmingly friendly all the while, before turning to his desk and calling for an escort to the senate chambers.

Finally we turn to the senate chambers themselves. It’s a flurry of activity as senators angrily try and talk over each other, hurl petty insults, cling to rules and planetary identities and generally create chaos on the floor. It’s a discussion over matters of the naboo occupation, images compiled by the late queens guard detailing the horrors experienced. Its compelling evidence and a number of more humanitarian minded senators call for immediate action, those in the pocket of the trade federation or who otherwise dislike naboo or interfering in other plants want an investigation. The undecided are waffling for a compromise. Valrean is failing as a chancellor, trying to instill order but lacking the charisma to do so and getting caught up quoting republic law and procedures to the infuriation of all. The chancellors popularity had already been in sharp decline but this chaos is only serving to foul opinion even further and its been like this since the arrival of the queens attendants. Finally that’s when palpatine and naboos representatives finally take the stand as it were, alongside a dressed up padme. Palpatine though his strength of words and charisma is able to calm things down to a manageable level, before directing their attention towards padme Amidala for an important speech.

Padme is obviously nervous, fiddling with her attire and hesitant to begin. Palpatine reassures her however, reminding her of the people shes striving to save doing this which reaffirms padmes confidence. Padme begins her speech and it is impassioned, briefly detailing the hardships the late queen went through in order to save her people. Padme appeals to republic pride, to humanitarianism, and then she begins the important part of her speech included at palpatines insistence. She begins tearing into chancellor valrean. She drags him through the mud, reinforcing that such a failure of leadership and republic unity has happened on his watch, that his leniency against the trade federation has allowed them to act with impunity, it has fractured republic unity, and that people died because valrean failed. Her speech finished it is met with resounding applause and enthusiasm, much to her disbelief and happiness, and much bullying of valrean by the attending senators. Senator serrano stands, and proposes that a vote of no confidence be held immediately and that should it past, a senator of his peers choosing be given temporary executive power until a proper election can be held. Serrano in the same breath proposing palpatine as a potential candidate with other senators quickly throwing their hats and choices into the ring.

The votes go through simultaneously, a landslide majority to remove valrean and by a narrow margin propose senator palpatine as his replacement. Padme is relieved, palpatine is pleased. The plan went off without a hitch. With his new executive power palpatine approves immediate republic action in the form of a republic security fleet and a jedi strike team being sent to liberate the planet of naboo from an illegal occupation. Again to much applause. The senate breaks so that palpatine can legally enact these actions as the temporary chancellor, and as they leave the senate chambers he praises padme for her brilliance. Padme however is fired up, and she insists on being down there with the security team as they liberate naboo. Palpatine goes one step further, he’ll have her have immediate command of the security fleet on this mission as palpatines representative much to padmes shock. Grateful, padme tells palpatine that she wont let him down, palpatine smiles and says “I know you wont my dear.”

Cut to the courescant docks which is now in a commotion as a jedi strike team prepares to sortie with the republic security. The council isn’t happy about this, since they more so view the jedis role as mediators these days as opposed to the warriors, dare say the hitmen since their role is to capture the TF command on naboo, the senate seems to want them to be. Still, republic security is horribly outdated by this point lacking in both training and equipment so the assurance of having jedi on hand to help out is a comfort to the security forces. Plus with the reappearance of a sith its likely that he’ll be involved in naboo in some manner considering his hunt for jinns group on Tatooine. So, knock out two birds with one stone bringing peace to naboo and hopefully cutting off this sith menace before it gets out of hand.

Jinn will be in command of the strike force due to his familiarity with the situation and his seniority. Aside from him will be his padwan Kenobi and fifteen jedi knights. Republic security will be commanded by captain tarkin, a spoken critic of the jedi order and a military activist in republic politics but one who runs a tight ship and has experience as a commander. Jinn informs Anakin that anankin will not be coming on the assault despite anakins protests due to the danger it presents and that instead Anakin will be in the care of the temple for now. Jinn also informs anankin that a decision on anakins acceptance has not yet been made, but he lies that he feels confident in anakins chances. Anakin pouts and makes a reluctant goodbye and jinn prepares to leave with the strike team, though anankin quickly sneaks away and on board one of the republic security ships which takes off for naboo.

We cut to naboo at last, in a state of disrepair due to TF occupation and the once pristine landscape now being prepared for industrial work and TF factories in which the population will “work diligently to pay off their debts”. Naboo security forces have organized small resistance cells and have been trying to hit the TF wherever they can but they have yet to make a break through, and have been demoralized by rumors of queen amidalas death. They intercept messages however that the republic security forces along with jedi will be coming to naboo in short order to liberate it from TF control once again invigorating the nabooians to begin the fight for the republic. So when the republic does arrive, they arrive to open conflict in the naboo streets much to tarkins irritation. Not only do they have to retake naboo, they now have to do with naboo security forces getting in the way. Jinn proposes they alter the game plan, instead of a first strike to take the capital by surprise the security forces will draw out the bulk of the TF droid army well the jedi strike team will infiltrate and arrest nute gunray for his illegal occupation and shut off the droid army with the captured nutes help. Tarkin begrudgingly agrees despite his own desire to bomb key targets and sweep up as a matter of efficiency when padme agrees to jinns plan. Not to mention that nute gunray has managed to bring a TF battle sphere to the party which means the space battle is likely to be far more intense then anticipated. As such ten jedi will sortie to help in the space battle and the other seven including jinn and Kenobi will arrest gunray along with security soldiers [led by padme at her insistence, which tarkin allows since it makes his job easier not to have her hovering around his shoulder].

So the alarms start blarin and people rush to their battle stations. Anakin is caught having snuck aboard after accidently sneakin on board the shuttle padmes team are using to land in an effort to hide himself. With no time to spare as the space battle erupts into chaos he tags along with padmes team who get separated from the jedi team during the chaos. Each group will take a different route, padmes group making a stop near the prisons and the broadcast system to help rally the nabooian people and the jedi making a beeline for the TF command. Things generally go well, Anakin and padme develop more of a camaraderie and retort during this time as he proves surprisingly helpful both in his mechanical knowledge and his skills with a blaster, and Anakin comes to more so admire padme as she displays her own appreciation of his skills and shows off her own skills. Eventually the jedi and padmes group reconvene in the hanger bay, the jedi having chased nute gunray to here after discovering that the rest of the TF command has moved to the battlesphere in orbit. jinn is upset that Anakin tagged along but glad hes safe and Kenobi frazzled and on edge biting a bit. Before anything else can really happen however, darth maul makes his appearance.

Maul had been serving as something of an enforcer for nute gunray on sidiouses behalf, casually putting down groups of naboo security resistance and being the silent ‘muscle’ to gunrays brains. If only on mauls masters orders. Gunray retreats and gives maul the order to capture padme and eliminate the jedi, one which maul is more then happy to do. Jinn sets up to take on the sith lord with four of the knights and tasking Kenobi and another knight to protect padme much to kenobis irritation. Kenobi at first follows this order, but veers back to the fight shortly afterwards in a moment of ego to the knights panic. Anakin meanwhile sneaks onto a naboo fighter in order to help clear the way for padmes group to stabilize the situation but suddenly finds himself in an automated take off along with other newly activated fighters as they head off to support the space battle above naboo. Padme is panicking herself but remembering that palpatine said hes counting on her marshals her spirits to help direct the battle in the naboo streets as the current available highest ranking political officer.

Meanwhile the lightsaber duel is not going well. Despite being five on one maul is easily toying with his jedi attackers if still pressed on the defensive. Using clever tactics however maul is able to bait out two of the knights further from the others and quickly cuts them down with the opening to the horror of the others, causing a third knight to rush in out of a desire for vengeance but get cut down easily as well. Kenobi attacks maul at this point having witnessed the death of the other knights, forcing jinn from taking a more defensive strategy to an aggressive one despite jinn initially switching to that out of caution. three on one prove to be capable of handling maul for a little bit but maul manages to push Kenobi out of the way and kill the last of the knights before engaging jinn one on one. Jinns clearly getting pressed but hes able to hold his own fairly well against the superior duelist through clever force powers and flexibility as well as using the zabaraks anger against him.

Everything effectively climaxes at once during this point. Anakin panics at first in the space battle but is able to regain control and help land the decisive victory for the republic through his prodigious piloting skills. Padme helps to bring control to the battlefield of naboos capital and keep their forces holding out until the battle sphere is destroyed and the droids lose central command making them easy to mop up. Jinn and maul continue their duel and for a moment jinn is able to gain the upper hand, however Kenobi in a brash bullheaded desire to triumph over the sith rushes into the fight costing jinn the victory as jinn in the chaos of the fight sacrifices himself to push Kenobi out of the way of a lethal blow. Kenobi is devastated and at first tries to overwhelm maul in a rage. Maul being far superior to Kenobi as a duelist is easily able to overcome Kenobi even taking the time to mock and taunt Kenobi in a silent playful manner [the cat enjoying its catch as it were]. Maul has Kenobi on the ropes and is about to finish the job, but a dying jinn takes the time to try and interfere against mal with the force. Kenobi, coming to realize his own foolishness and touched by his masters care and desire to protect him “releases his anger into the force” and calms his mind, allowing him to reengage maul and catch him off guard wounding the sith across the chest and causing maul to limply fall down a reactor pipe thing. Its Kenobis victory effectively but its bitter sweet, as Kenobi grieves a dying jinn who insists that Kenobi take care of Anakin and train him as a jedi before bidding Kenobi a tearful farewell as a master to a student.

And so victory at naboo! Anakin lands his ship to a heroes welcome, padme involved in the celebration and giving an impassioned speech about naboos freedom from TF invasion, and Kenobi grieving over jinns dead body and the fallen jedi on this day. We cut to a quite and somber funeral for the fallen knights and jinn, a previously joyful Anakin and padme saddened by the loss of the man alongside a precision of jedi and a newly minted knight Kenobi. If one sith was capable of this, capable of besting one of the orders currently best duelists [despite jinns protests], then if any more of them exist then the jedi order is sorely unprepared. More stubborn members of the council and palpatine insist that the sith threat though brief has now passed once more and not to worry about it but yoda and windu aren’t convinced and Kenobi is inclined to agree with them, even working past the grief. It is here though, privately, that Kenobi makes lay to jinns last wish. Regardless of the councils feelings on the matter, Kenobi will see Anakin trained. In the future, Kenobi will adhere to the council as strictly as possible and never defy them again if they give him this one time to honour jinns memory, though the validity of that claim is not a certain truth. Windu and yoda still aren’t sure, but they relent as a matter to honour the late jinn and shelter the obvious talents of Anakin skywalker.

Cut again, this time to the celebrations of naboos liberation. It is an intensely joyous affair, fireworks music and banners everywhere. Anakin is clearly enamoured with it, him being one of the people directly honoured by the celebrations, but he is also still sad about jinns death. Palpatine comforts him a little in the grandfatherly way he had previously and expressing his interest in anakins future career as a jedi. Kenobi talks to Anakin about it, expressing similar grief and helping to cheer Anakin up promising to always be there for Anakin. Both as his master and as family though only privately espousing the family bit to himself. Anakin is now able to enjoy the celebrations in Ernest and he and Kenobi enjoy the day together and the promises of a brighter future. We end however with the reminder that this tale will end in tragedy, as the now official chancellor palpatine, thanks to “his victory on naboo”, watches on in bemusement before quietly slinking away into the shadows. “Great things are afoot. Great things indeed.” He book ends with a sinister tambour, and cut to credits.

[ktaebwi]

[TRANS] 150429 BTS - The Star Interview

Source: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 KRN - ENG © ktaebwi

Bringing the theme of the beautiful yet insecure present to their third mini album ‘The Most Beautiful Moment In Life PT.1′, we met with BTS who came back after 8 months. 

JIN 

Known as a passionate collector of the famous game character ‘Super Mario’, Jin was asked to imagine what if one day Super Mario doesn’t exist anymore. He said, “My memories and my hobby that I have been collecting the whole time would be gone. Wouldn’t it make me feel empty and lonely?”. He also expressed the wish to have fun and play like the characters in the game if Super Mario exists in real life. 

Talking about his famous nickname ‘Shoulder Gangster’, Jin said “I have been hearing the same thing over and over again so I don’t think it’s cool” and requested adorably, “Listen here everyone around me. Next time when you see me, don’t start by talking about my shoulder, start by waving hello to me.” 

Jin who emphasized on ‘handsomeness’ himself said glasses are the hindrance to handsomeness. He couldn’t hide his envy, saying “There’s a lot of handsome men in the world. My wannabe style is Kang Dongwon-sunbaenim. I have been liking him a lot since I was young. He… has the face that I really want to look like.” 

SUGA 

Among Suga’s related search keywords. ‘nice legs’ stands out the most. “Nice legs that outshine girl groups? It doesn’t seem good for a man. I don’t know if it’s because of my physique or not, but it won’t improve no matter how much I do legs workout, huhu,” said Suga. 

We asked him the secret to having not only nice legs but also nice skin, to which he answered, “Skin care? Not at all. I’m too lazy to apply lotion to I just use moisturizer. Also, if this is considered any secret, I take a bath twice a week.” 

Suga, known as the ‘Ultimate Lethargic King’ that even beats INFINITE’s Sungkyu, said, “I have a nickname called ‘grandpa’. My studio is a small room about 3.3m2 , I don’t go out anywhere except for the bathroom for 3 days in a row. But it’s fine. For music, I choose the stick rather than the carrot*. My belief is that no matter how lethargic I am, I’ll fulfill all of my responsibilities till the end.” 

Suga shared he wanted to live so that even when he’s over 60, he would be able to exclaim endlessly “Wow! Can I promote like that?”. Somehow, his lethargy reminds us of actor - singer Yang Donggeun. 

*based on the idiom “carrot and stick”. 

J-HOPE 

We were curious where the source of happiness in J-hope, who possesses a positive mind, comes from. He told us how he was a born dancer, “I have that kind of overflowing energy in my body. I liked playing around since I was little, a total mischievous kid back then. I especially liked moving around, that’s why I started dancing. Around my third year of elementary school I think? We had to do morning exercises at school, I personally filmed the dances I made and my friends followed.” 

When asked if he faces any inconvenience because of his bright and positive personality, J-hope answered, “Yeah. When I look a little tired or sulky, everyone asks me if I’m hurt somewhere. A-blood type people are often moody, haha!” 

J-hope is the only one in the group with older sister. As we were asking about her personality and appearance, member Jimin immediately shouted “Pretty!”. J-hope laughed and said, “I don’t know if she’s pretty or not… Personality-wise she’s exactly like me. Her favorite member is not Jimin over there, it’s Jungkook. She often sends me messages about choreography through Kakaotalk and asks me to tell Jungkook, haha!” 

RAP MONSTER 

What if in the future, Rap Monster’s children want to be a singer like their father? “Of course I’ll support them. Whether they choose to be an idol singer or a musician is very important. Would I oppose if my kids do my job? I think there’s no way parents don’t have any influence on their kids. My parents? Please support me, haha!” 

Rap Monster scored 850 points in TOEIC exam in his second year of middle school. He’s nicknamed ‘Sexy Brain Man’, having his IQ recorded at 148 in second year of high school. He also assessed himself to be “good at English”. We asked if there is any member he wants to tutor English, to which he replied, “We need it when doing activities overseas so I want to teach the members and my sister too. My sister wants to be a flight attendant… I guess I’m worried about her.” 

Currently appearing on tvN ‘Problematic Man’, Rap Monster picked Jun Hyunmoo and Tyler as the panelists he looks up to. He shared, “Hyunmoo-hyung is appearing on many programs. He loves working so much that he gets IV almost every day. And Tyler-hyung makes me wonder how far can one get when learning a foreign language. Why America is a developed country, his perfect logic and perspective on the world is like a philosopher’s so I learn a lot from him.” 

He also uncovered the hidden rumor spread among fans for 2 years. They said Rap Monster’s heart once stopped. He laughed and said “There’s a line in the 2nd album’s intro that goes like ‘My heart stopped when I was 9 years old’. It’s actually a metaphorical way of saying ‘I lived a meaningless life as if my heart has stopped’, but fans took it literally. Wouldn’t there be a surgery scar on my chest when I take off my shirt then? (laughs)” 

JIMIN 

Jimin, who turned 20 and became a college student this year, shared he enjoyed Japanese lessons when taking Internet lectures amidst his frequent overseas schedule. He revealed to take extreme care of himself, saying “I’m the type to gain weight when I eat so I became sensitive about dieting. Especially my eyes, lips and cheeks keep puffing up! I’m now on a diet too, I’m trying to eat less and stay away from salty food as much as I can.” 

Looking at fans’ blogs, there are a lot of photos of V adoring Jimin, while other photos capture Jimin having a crush on V. We were curious about the two, so Jimin explained, “We’re the same age, so if there’s anything I find hard to talk about with the older ones, I talk to him and he takes care of me. It’s probably why we seem closer.” 

When asked if there’s any day when his visual is not in its prime, he said “I want so too. If fans think like that, I want to continue to be so.” 

V 

Thanks to V’s good looks, his past photos look so handsome that the fans were shocked. Member Jimin who went to the same high school stepped up as a witness, “It was no joke.” 

“I like making friends a lot, but I wasn’t popular much,” V said. Meanwhile, Jimin made a speechless (?) expression and revealed “There wasn’t any female student that didn’t know V. They all nudged each other and looked at him. Wherever we go everyone knows V!”. 

BTS was chosen as the most prominent group among those debuted in 2013. When asked about the secret to their popularity, the members answered that it’s thanks to V’s stan attracting skill. Suga continued, “The fans like V’s unique charm that we can’t understand. He doesn’t pretend to be cute but he looks cute, haha!” Rap Monster added, “V’s selfie skill is instinctive. He attracts the fans with the so-called unedited ‘boyfriend look’.” 

Even though he has a lot of opposite gender friends, V said he isn’t worried about what the fans would think. He laughed, “I have to receive permission to date from my dad, so there’s no worry of getting into a scandal like others.” 

JUNGKOOK 

Jungkook revealed unlike everyone’s expectation of his growth in terms of height along with music, since he’s the youngest, “it seems like my height stops at 178cm.” He explained the reason behind the big scar on his right cheek, “It’s from the time I fought with my brother on who gets to play computer games first when I was young. Come to think of it, it was just a trivial thing. But I don’t blame my brother. We’re guys, don’t all guys grow up like that?”, showing a manly side of himself.

Nicknamed ‘Golden Maknae’ for being good at singing and dancing, even working out, Jungkook shared “I’m not good at studying. (laughs) But I only got one wrong in the Japanese mid-term exam.” Rap Monster praised, “He doesn’t like studying, but once he’s determined he will do really well.” 

The members revealed Jungkook’s excellent drawing skill, to which Jungkook replied “I’m really confident with real life drawings.” They playfully told him to draw Producer Bang Shihyuk’s face in 3 seconds and he did on the interview spot. (Drawing below) 

On being known as the natural enemy (?) of Jimin, Jungkook explained “We actually get along really well.” Jimin laughed, confessing “Actually I lose all the time too. I’m not confident I can win Jungkook.” He added, “I think you need talent to be able to have muscles too. That’s why I always lose to him, he’s muscular.”

[my-writing-blog-2003-blog]

Nothing Ever Ends

FANFICTION BASED ON ELEANOR AND PARK BY RAINBOW ROWELL

Based on the novel Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell, (who is the creator and owner of all things Eleanor and Park; I just like to hang out with them)

PARK

Sometimes when special people come into your life and surprise you and make you happy and force you to understand things about yourself that you didn’t really know and show you what’s special and amazing and perfect and how good things can truly be, that part of your life- that little moment in time is like dessert at a fancy restaurant, really good dessert that is sweet and special and amazing. My Aunt Wendy calls that kind of dessert Humming Dessert because it’s so freaking good it makes you spontaneously break into song. Then you finish it, lick the spoon and the plate like a greedy child, and there’s nothing left but the washing up. It all ends and goes away and whether it’s a person or a dessert, it just leaves you vaguely ashamed, with a stomach ache and the beginnings of tooth decay. That’s sort of like what happened with Eleanor. I was fine before she fell into my life or the school bus seat to be exact. I wouldn’t have known any different if she just never existed. Hell, I don’t even like dessert. Never eat the stuff. But Eleanor was big and loud, beautiful really. Too big and loud and beautiful and now that she is gone, I just have a big, loud hole where she made her space in my heart and then left it empty. My life had gone back to the way it was before Eleanor. Lonely. She didn't reply to my postcards. She didn't reply my letters or any of my calls. Then a postcard came from Minnesota with only three words, and they weren’t even a promise, more of a pronouncement, a finale.

ELEANOR

Park called, texted, emailed, snail-mailed but I never responded. People might think that I am a terrible person because of how I seemingly shunned him. I never answered but I had a really really good reason. I wanted, no, I needed  to pretend nothing had ever happened with Park. There was no Park. That way I could try to live and never go back to the hurt and pain that was my life before. It was so brutal. So bad. The only glimmer of good then was Park. He was more than good, he was everything. My savior, my beautiful boy. But now it's all gone-all the brutal and the little bit of way too good- and it hurts me to say this but I would rather be here without him, than there with my psycho creeper stepdad and my completely worthless mom. I miss him. But I don’t regret my decision to leave. I needed to escape and get away from that cesspool. I had to move on. There were better things ahead. Park was in the past with all the rest of history and he would just have to stay there. It was for the best, but it didn’t make it easy. Nothing ever seems to be easy. At least Uncle Geoff was a good guy and had helped with, Jeez, what hasn’t he helped with? He’s the reason I’m alive, him and Park. He is what a grown up is supposed to be. Thank God for him. He took me in and saved me from that rathole. He’s given me so much and apparently just because he wants to and because I am his niece. New clothes, food, a bedroom and a bathroom of my own, he enrolled me in the best high school in town and got me a tutor so I’ve been getting my grades up. He even got me an interview with the Dean of Admissions at UVA, because they’re old friends and he went there. Apparently, I didn’t suck, they were really nice and they offered me a scholarship. So I get to go to college. Everything is changing and it’s all good now. I’m not going backward. I can’t, but I can’t really forget Park. I can’t say goodbye, can I? I have to. Jesus. Maybe college will help me with that. New people, new place.  I am going to UVA.

PARK

It has been three days since I sent my last letter and five minutes since my last unanswered call. Nothing since the postcard with the three word pronouncement. Had she given up on me? Was it really over? Until now it felt like there was still an ounce of hope that I might see her again. Now I’m not so sure. What the hell was she thinking? So frustrating. I wasn’t sure of it before, but it’s becoming clear to me that I am actually pathetic. I just woke up this morning feeling like I needed to try to move on. Eleanor had probably moved on too. Everything is changing. Summer is almost over. Orientation for college is right around the corner. Mom is already trying to buy me enough shit to fill freaking house, when I’m going to be in a tiny little dorm room with a roommate (ugh) who will probably be a jock who likes beer pong and pop music.

ELEANOR

“Bye, Uncle Geoff!” I said. “Thanks so much for letting me stay with you. For everything, really.” I felt a lump grow in my throat and my eyes started stinging.

“Anytime, Eleanor, anything you need. I am here for you. I just wanted to say how proud I am of you. After everything you have been through, you landed on your feet, you are so resilient. You will always have a home here, your room is your room. I love you, Eleanor.” And just like that, I got out of the car and was walking alone at the airport on my way toward the future. With my boarding pass in one hand and my duffel bag in the other, I start to walk towards the sliding doors. There was a time all my stuff would have fit in this duffel, hell probably would have fit in a lunch bag. This one just held the things that I wanted to keep at home and carry with me. All the rest of my things were already at college. My uncle sent boxes of my clothes and books and stuff for my dorm room ahead to the college, and apparently I was just going to be able to have it delivered to my dorm room and unpack when I get to school. I exhaled a big breath to try to collect my thoughts and settle my nerves. Then out of the corner of my eye, I see a boy. A good looking Korean boy in the check-in lane. My heart attempts to run out of my chest. I turn towards him staring like an idiot and standing there a few feet away from me is Park. My legs start to move without my permission and then I stop just a few feet from him and realize it is not Park. He turns to look at me, apparently sensing this crazy redhead stalking toward him and I turn away and walk quickly inside, not looking back. When I walk inside the airport doors,  a soft cool air rushes over my face. I look around, people everywhere. This many people all around always scares me, the staring, judging, and criticizing. I've always liked being alone more than being with people. Park was the only person I ever felt comfortable being myself around. But Park is not here. He is in the past. And I have to get on with it, I guess, so I put up my hood and start walking into the sea of unfamiliar faces.  When I get to the gate, I separate myself from the other people and sit by the window. I close my eyes. And they don’t open until the overhead speaker calls out my flight. At the gate, there is an older woman in the starched crisp navy blue uniform. She smiles kindly at me and takes my boarding pass. I walk onto the plane and don’t look back. I slip into my seat and put my headphones on. The Smiths start crooning their unique blending of melancholic lyrics and upbeat, driving rock. “There is a light that never goes out…” I block out the crying babies, the people pushing down the plane into economy seats behind me, the snotty flight attendants with their tired announcements, and slowly drift off into my own world...

PARK

Her name is Lilly. Lilly’s Mom is Korean and her Dad is from Nebraska, just like my parents. Her parents and my parents have been friends for almost 15 years. I’ve known her since she was 2 and I was 3 and our parents used to put us in the same play groups, take us to the playground and sit us next to each other at all the family dinners and parties and cook outs. She was at my house as much as she was at her house growing up and I feel as attracted to her as I might to a desk or a two by four, you know? Like a sister if I had one. I mean she’s not ugly or anything, just picture any petite Korean-American girl, porcelain skin and jet hair, and you’ve got a pretty good idea what Lilly looks like. Also Christian but not devout, and smart and disciplined, Lilly is an accomplished violinist and destined for the Ivy League. All starched white collars and dress pants. Not for me. But my Mom and Dad were starting to really lose it about my obsession with Eleanor, threatening me with therapy and antidepressants, looking at each other with furrowed brows and whispers and I needed to show them that I didn’t need to be on suicide watch. So to save myself a trip to some shrink and prozac, now I am “dating” Lilly, which is perfect cover for her too. Both our parents are overjoyed at the thought of us as a couple. I’m guessing our Moms get together and talk about baby names and wedding cakes or some shit, meanwhile I get to appear to be “over Eleanor” and Lilly can continue to date her “best friend” Ella, the first Cellist, without anyone the wiser. It’s win-win for everybody. Besides, college is starting soon, and with Lilly a year behind me and Eleanor a ghost, I will soon be alone to start a new blank slate, or to wallow in peace over Eleanor, which seems more likely.

ELEANOR

I arrived at school three weeks before freshman orientation, because my work study job was with the campus bookstore, and I needed to do job training before the influx of new students buying their shiny new textbooks and supplies. I couldn’t imagine it would really be that busy. I mean who other than me buys books anymore? Everything is on the internet and people can download their syllabi and notes to their eReaders. In high school senior year, everything was on my Chromebook. But nonetheless, I was assigned to the bookstore and told to report three weeks early for training, so here I was.

Somehow I won the equivalent of the dorm room lottery jackpot, as I happily discovered that I was assigned to a coveted single. It’s exactly what I wanted, but I heard that freshmen never get one. They are as rare as unicorns or something. After I got settled in my room and found that Uncle Geoff had paid someone to bring in my boxes and unpack for me, even filling a tiny refrigerator with drinks and stuff. My room was ready and stocked with everything I could possibly need, thanks to Uncle Geoff’s dorm room fairy. The campus bookstore, Chapter One, was in the middle of the old campus in downtown Charlottesville. The bookstore manager was a nice old man named Joseph who I instantly liked. Joseph and I got along immediately. Joe was my first friend at college. He listened to me. He didn’t judge me for the way I looked. He made me laugh. He would run his fingers through his sparse hair, scratch his head and smile with his eyes, seeming to always have more to say but choosing not to say it. I can respect that in a person. It seems much more challenging than letting every vapid thought just spill from your stupid thoughtless mouth all the time, like all those mean-spirited bullies that Park rescued me from back in Nebraska. Things are often better left unsaid, at least that’s been my experience.

I feel so fortunate to have landed this job. I can’t imagine what other jobs I might have had for work study, but I keep having to shake the horrifying image of myself in a hairnet and apron. Hell no.  

The bookstore is perfect. For training, I work there everyday from opening to closing until school starts and then when school starts, I will work 3-4 shifts per week. People come in there all the time. There is never a dull moment. People who don’t even go to UVA come into the store and just wander around and buy sweatshirts and t-shirts and bumper stickers and stuff. It keeps me busy and entertained watching the steady stream of people passing through this place.

I know it is a stereotype, but in my experience, it's certainly true that Asian boys are into engineering and math and science. I say this because every single Korean boy that walks into the bookstore seems to be buying the catalog of engineering and math textbooks and they all remind me of Park. Some of them more than others. I was freaked out a little at the beginning but now I am at least to the point where I don’t jump every time I see them. I know Joseph noticed, even though he hasn’t said anything about it. He probably thinks I’m prejudiced against Asians, or men, or Asian men, but he is polite enough not to ask.

After about a week, I had walked the campus a lot in my free time, and was already starting to get comfortable here. I had to be at work in about an hour so I decided I’d stop at one of the coffee shops. I ordered my vanilla latte and sat at one of the tables and I realized Korean men were literally everywhere, not just in the bookstore. And what was even more unsettling was that they all resemble Park in some respect. But every time I saw a Park look-alike, there was something that told me that it wasn’t him. After the unfortunate incident at the airport where I nearly touched that guy, I’ve at least had enough sense not to be too obvious about my staring fits. Partly that I was in Virginia and Park was still in Nebraska. But it was also the feeling in my gut that it wasn’t him. If he were here, I am sure that I would simply know. I got up and threw my cup away. When I got to work, Joseph was waiting for me with his kind, agreeable smile. He had a whole bunch of work for me to do. So I just got straight to it.

PARK

We were finally in Virginia. The road trip had taken forever. Being in a car with my parents and my brother for 17 hours had to be equivalent to spending time in purgatory. My Mom barely made it to Missouri before she insisted we stop for a snack. By the time we stopped for the night in Western Kentucky, I was ready to hitchhike the rest of the way with a total stranger. My parents are the kind of people who sing sappy love songs to each other. Hearing your Dad serenading your Mom with “Endless Love” is about as nauseating as life gets for an impressionable disaffected guy like me. I listened to my playlist over and over to block out the horror, I might have given myself permanent hearing loss. Guess that’s better than the ear bleach required to get that shit out of my brain. My brother played video games and Lilly read To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. I don’t know how she doesn't get car sick but she never took her face out of that book, except to look up and smile at my parents being idiotic with each other. Seriously. Just. No.

When we mercifully and finally pulled onto campus and found my dorm, my parents and Lilly helped me move in and get settled. Mom insisted on making my bed.  Josh disappeared to the basketball court with my ball as soon as the car eased to a stop and probably already made a team full of friends in the time it took me to unpack my toothbrush. Moron.

Finally, we went out when Mom was satisfied that the room was perfect. My parents wanted to stop at Chapter One, the campus bookstore because Mom was determined to buy one of everything emblazoned with the school name and logo, and I also needed my textbooks. However, everyone was tired and needed a break and some food first. We walked for a little while around the campus. We ate lunch at the cafe right outside my dorm and continued to meander about like a busload of demented senior citizens without a clue between them. We finally found the bookstore. My brother stayed outside on a bench.  When we got inside, we all separated. I went over to the textbooks and grabbed everything I needed. The coursework and texts were available online, but I prefer real books. Guess I’m old fashioned that way. I called for my parents but they were too busy shopping for useless crap to decorate my already filled dorm. I am certain that whoever my roommate turns out to be, their first impression of me as a person will be “hoarder.”  Lilly was browsing through the hoodies and tshirts. I went back to organizing the books I’d selected into a pile I could actually carry. Looking over again, I saw my mom picking out a pink ‘University of Virginia’ sweatshirt for Lilly. Lilly shook her head no. Ha. Lilly hates pink. She looked over at me imploring for me to come save her from girly hued spirit wear, and my overbearing Mom. I lifted my unbelievably heavy mound of textbooks and headed toward them. I dropped the book pile on a conveniently placed bench.

“Ma, what about this blue one for Lilly?” I said congenially,  “You know, since blue and orange are actually the school colors and all.” I grabbed it from the rack and held it up in front of Lilly’s petite frame and she smiled up at me appreciatively. Mom and Lilly began negotiations over the color and style and I eyed that bench with all my books. I couldn’t see my dad. So, I sat down and closed my eyes.

ELEANOR

I was stacking books in the back when I hear the bell ring on the door. I don’t bother going out because I know Joseph is up front and will be happy to help them. I finish and walk out of the back doors with the empty boxes in my hands. I grab a box of UVA shot glasses and walk into the third aisle, where all the coffee mugs, beer glasses and cups of every variety are shelved. I start stacking shot glasses and all of the sudden there is a big shadow over my body. My hands freeze where they are and I look up. Suddenly my hands are shaking and my heart is beating. I don’t blink or breath. I am speechless in shock from the man I see in front of me.

“Eleanor?” the man says gently with equal surprise.

“Mr. Sheridan?” I stutter.

“What are you doing here, sweetie?” He responds.

“I-I, I w-work h-h-here.”

“Oh really? Wow. We just brought Park today, for freshman orientation. School starts for him next week.” Mr. Sheridan turns around and calls, “Oh, Park! Park! Look who I found.” He says. I, like the chicken shit I am, turn and sprint for the back room. Park’s Dad is turning back and forth between where Park and his Mom are standing at the sweatshirts and the space that was occupied by me moments before. Had I still been standing there, I’d have seen the frown and confusion in his face at my sudden disappearance, but I was busy hyperventilating in what amounts to a closet. All these days of fake Parks and I was getting really used to not missing him or thinking about him every second of every day and he’s right here in freaking front of me with his family. What the-

I peer out the small round window like a super pathetic spy on my tiptoes from my sanctuary in the back room and sure enough, there standing a few feet in front of me is Park. Oh my god. My Park. I watch him in wonder. He holds a red hoodie up to the front of a tiny perfect Korean girl while his Mom looks on and perfect Korean girl- girlfriend??- smiles adoringly up at him. Noooo.

“I like this one, Parky! What do you think, Mindy??” the girl gushes.

I can’t explain what comes over me, but I exit the back room and walk straight over to them. Mrs. Sheridan sees me, and Mr. Sheridan smiles and shoves Park gently on the shoulder. And I watch as confused, he turns in my direction. I watch as his face pales and then my attention is turned to a musical female voice. I turn to face the perfect Korean girl.

“Oh, hi! Oh my gosh! You must be Eleanor. Right? I’m Lilly. Wow. Park?” It’s like she can’t stop saying things but everyone else is just silent.

“Eleanor, what time do you get off work? Do you want to join us for some pizza?” Park's Dad offers politely. I feel my eyes getting wet and can’t answer.

I don’t say anything. A wave of emotions rushes through my body. Despondency. Rage. Hurt. How long did it take him to meet her? The complete opposite of huge, loud, awkward and ridiculous red-headed me. I want to cry or hit something. But I don’t, I hold all my emotions in. I can’t believe he has moved on. Park’s Mom pulls me into a warm hug and I feel like I’m about to die. I have to get away from them and I don’t know- what do you do when the love of your life shows up with a perfect Korean girlfriend and reduces you to a nauseated distraught mess.

“Eleanor? Eleanor! How are you doing?” Joseph says, interrupting this train wreck just in time to stop me melting down in front of Park, his parents and the perfect Korean. “You are needed on the phone, why don’t you take it in the back room and I will help these nice people make their purchases and go?”

Joseph must have put it all together from everything I’d confided to him and like the gallant knight, he swooped in sans white horse to rescue me from total humiliation. I looked once more at Park, who still hadn’t spoken a word and then turned and walked back to the storeroom where there was in fact, no call holding for me. Bless Joseph.

I look out the window again from my haven in the back room, l watch  Park and see the sweet Korean boy that I love with his sweet and completely perfect Korean girlfriend. They have paid for their purchases and are exiting the store with his parents behind them. I turn around and crumple on the floor and finally come unglued. My face turns hot and sweaty and I cry and don’t stop for I don’t know how long, until Joseph comes back to ask what I need. “Eleanor?”

“Nothing.” I blubber.

“Well obviously not nothing. How about some tea?”

I wipe my eyes and look at him, getting up off the floor. “no thank you.” Then he just wraps me up in a comforting hug and I fall again into waves of sadness and loss.

PARK

What the -*&%^$#* Are you #&@*ing $( #&ing me with this mother*@## *#ing $#!t How the &^$&? What is happening!!? *(%(& !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ELEANOR

Joseph reluctantly went home for the night after I declined all of his generous offers for aid, it was my turn to close. The best thing I can do for myself now is go to sleep and wake up from this nightmare tomorrow when I can drop out of school and move back to Uncle Geoff’s and work at Starbucks. I’m nice, I might even make manager some day. Shit. I’m not going anywhere. This is my future! That’s why I’m here. And no Park and his stupid perfect Korean girlfriend changes any of that. Joseph wanted to stay but I insisted he go home to his family. I had stopped crying after a while. I can’t believe what happened today. I still think it might have been a dream except for the fact that my eyes burn from the tears. I grab my jacket, keys and wallet and shut off the lights. When I go outside, I lock the doors and out of the corner of my eye I see a shadowy figure of a man on the bench across from the store. I look back to the doors, double check the locks and start walking toward my dorm. Startled, I feel a tap on my shoulder. I quickly spin around and it’s him. Park.

*START GRADING HERE

PARK

So I took a little longer to regain the power of speech than the average guy, maybe. But what do you expect? I was absolutely blown away seeing her there in that bookstore looking all exquisite and just like always. How the hell is she here? Dad said she told him she worked at the bookstore? Is she going to college here? What are the odds? What if she hates me? That look she gave me when she saw me there, she didn’t even speak and then she was just gone sequestered in some back room by her boss who seems to know all about me. What if I can’t ever see her again? What if she disappears again and I never get to tell her everything I have in my heart. Who am I kidding, she has my heart. She has had it since I watched her walk into her uncle’s house all those months ago. But now it is awake again in my chest pounding for her. Eleanor.

I sat speechless while my family and Lilly ate pizza and talked as though nothing had just happened. I couldn’t eat or talk or think about anything but Eleanor. My family planned to stay the night at a hotel near the campus, take me to breakfast tomorrow and then head back home in the morning. I stood up from the table.

“I have to go. I’ll see you tomorrow.” I said. Lilly winked at me and I kissed my Mom goodnight, walked away from the table and out into the crisp Virginia air to my destiny.

Sitting on this cold hard unforgiving bench across the bike path from the bookstore entrance, I was beginning to feel a little dubious. I didn’t think too much about this before rushing over here to confront her with a grand romantic gesture. But I am not a grand romantic guy and the cold setting into my ass and spine could have as much to do with my completely wavering confidence as it did with the chilly air. What if she hates me? I mean, really, if she wanted to talk to me or be with me or know me at all, why all the months of radio silence? Seriously, one hastily written post card with three words on it is hardly the foundation of undying love. What did she even mean by it anyway.

Park’s legs were stiff and his hands were cold. His cheeks were frozen, his back hurt, and he was beginning to question everything. Why did I come to UVA? Why is it so freaking cold here in September? Why didn’t I eat a slice of pizza for goodness sake? And then the lights went out in the bookstore and he saw her open the door, lock it and double check the lock.

Park stood up and couldn’t believe how stiff and uncomfortable he felt. He wasn’t sure it had anything to do with the weather. Eleanor was starting to walk away. His brain was still analyzing his choices and trying to come up with a plan, when his feet courageously took a step toward her. He tapped her shoulder and she spun around.

“Eleanor-”

ELEANOR

“Eleanor.” he breathes.

“Park.” I start-”Park.”  I stand there staring into his eyes, seeing sad empty confused longing eyes. There is nothing of the warmth and kinship I remembered there. It was like looking into the depths of never-ending darkness combined, cold and tired, his breath visible in the unseasonably chilly night. Dark eyes and rosy pink cheeks. Conflicted. Unspeaking. Beautiful. “Park!”

“Eleanor, I-” Park started. His voice a miracle. His body warm and near. “I’ve thought for months what I would say to you if you ever picked up the phone or came back, or answered any of my letters or emails, and then I just thought you were never ever going to come back or answer me. Why didn’t you answer me? What are you doing here?” and then I pushed his body into me and melted into him and I kissed me. He kissed me back and the tumultuous day melted away from us. He was mine here with me right now and whatever might happen tomorrow or five minutes from now, I was happy being in this moment with Park. This feeling of joy right now might hold me through when it came to an end. But I felt in that space of love and closeness and joy that it wouldn’t end. That I had simply had to wait for it and Park would find me in the future, and save me again. This was us-perfect warm comfort. Park found me, and as long as I was alive, this moment would never end. He held me slightly away from him and looked at me, relieved and smiling. Then he moved in closer to me again and his perfect lips pressed softly against mine sending a familiar warm drift over my body. I had been saved but lost without him, and now here with Park’s cold, chapped, beautiful lips against mine, I am here, I am home.

TO BE CONTINUED…