The Sunset Pirates pt. 1

Old Men Series Masterlist <<<

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"Hey I wanted to say something-" Vivian said calmly, the doubt of Alucares words eating into her, Dee raising a brow and nodding in wanting to hear her out. "Shoot-"

• The new shamble crew had been at sea for a few months and truthfully getting along quite well.

• While Vivian still seemed to dislike Alucare the two were civil with each other- Vivian mostly becoming good friends with the twins, especially Dee who had turned into a great friend for her.

• Bee and Alucare had become overnight friends it seemed- Alucare was calm and collected while Bee was a wreck yet the two of them seemed to mix well.

• The crew had fallen into their rolls it seemed as well- Dee acted as a Captian and Navigator, Vivian the Gunner, Alucare the Sword and Bee who was the Explosive expert and General Blacksmith.

• Was it odd? Of course! However they all seemed to work well together and got along great

•For the most part-

"Huh- I never noticed till now" Alucare mumbled as he looked to Vivian who glared at him-

"What?" She snapped, the dark haired teen rolling his eyes-

"You're the only girl here-" He said with a shrug, Taking another bite from his breakfast still half asleep as he ate. Vivian raising an eyebrow at him saying this-

"It's just weird- we need another on the crew to help balance it and make sure it's not weird... No two" He grumbled sipping the burnt coffee as he dozed off.

While Alucare was talking about number of crew mates needing for the ship to not be run weird so two addional people were needed and genuinely didn't mean anything by his words forgetting about them 5 minutes later; Vivians mind was running on overdrive. Was it weird? She was on a crew with 3 guys and the only female- What if they thought their relationship was more then she thought?- What if they expected something from her?

These thoughts circled her mind as anxiety build in her chest the rest of that morning- Even when she went to hang out with Dee.

"Are you okay?.." Dee asked, the two seated next to each other.

A bit hesitantly she rubbed the back of her neck "You do realize we are friends right?.. I don't like you in a romantic way and want to misinterpret our friendship as romantic in anyway" She said as calmly as possible. Dee making a slight choking noise in surprise before chuckling softly.

"Couple of things wrong with that sentence- me being friends with you doesn't constitute me having a crush on you, my brother liking you doesn't mean I have to like you- we are twins but still separate people and lastly you aren't my type-" Dee said calmly and with smile.

Vivian blinked in surprise at several parts of that. First that Bee liked her- second was the utter take down of the illusion she had for him and last was the 'Type'.

Dee nodded at seeing her confusion and gestured to his head the side, Vivian following the motion to Alucare to the left training on the decks....

Wait..

.... Ding Ding Ding! 🏳️‍🌈

"You like guys?" Vivian said in shock and Dee nodded calmly at this. Watching the red head flush in embrassment "I-I am so sorry I didn't know- You never said anything"

"Why does that need to be something I promote? My private interest doesn't need to be involved with what I do as a pirate" He pointed out.

•"...Holy shit I'm a asshole I'm so sorry-" Vivian admitted with a heavy sigh. Dee smiled at this and patted her shoulder.

"It's kinda something that has to be learned since so many people have many different ways of promoting their Sexuality. So it's fine, I can understand the confusion and its forgiven" He reassured, always willing to forgive especially since he was sure she was mentally beating herself up anyway.

"Yeah... I shouldn't have assumed- I'm defiently going to punch Alucare after this.." Vi said with an embarrassed sigh. Dee raised a brow at Vivians words, The red head explaining that Alucare had brought some level of worry of her being the only girl on the ship-

Dee rolling his eyes "Give him one for me too... By the way you dont have to worry about me or Bee, Me for odvious reasons and Bee wont cause he respects women too much and would never stoop so low- It may not seem like it but he is a huge Mamas boy and wouldnt do anything to disappoint our mother or our father in such a way"

Bonus:

"Hey Luffy! Look at this!" Usopp called out, smiling as he rushed to Luffy who was on the deck eating away at some breakfast.

The rest of the crew who had been out and about on the desk. Being the crew of an Emperor of the Sea and King of the pirates had been amazing, the flush of food laid before them all as they all chatted and joked.

They all paused at Usopp running to them with the newspaper and new bounties- Laying them all on the table. Luffy pausing mid bite as he saw Vivian, a grin stretching over his cheeks as he proudly looked at her bounty.

The rest of the crew reading the paper of how they bested the Vice-Admiral Beckman and got away from the Marine Vessel.

"That kid must be related to Mihawk- Look at his eyes.. Gold Gaze" Zoro hummed as he stared at a younger copy of his mentors face in the paper, Others agreeing at this.

"Woah! Is that the Twins that Buggy had?" Sanji said as he remembered the two little squirts from before- Nami nodding in agreement and gushing at remembering how adorable they were then and how cute they are now.

"Who would have thought it would go full circle?" Jinbe muttered, having heard the stories of their parents having sailed together. Two of which were Emperors of the sea and the other a Legend of the sword- Now their child in a crew together.

"Welp!- Sounds like we have to head to the East Blue!" Luffy proclaimed as he jumped up. The crew looking at him confused-

"What for?" Franky asked, Seeing Luffy grin at them all.

"Drop off a Gift- Just like a promised" He said with a smile.

! write with me or fight with me!

you either die by my sword or the most painful head canons imaginable! *merida vc* choose yer fate

just kidding!

 hey there gaymers, i am crissy! i am 22, live in pst, go by she/her pronouns and honestly would very much like a distraction from life -- preferably in the form of 1x1 and rp in general. i am currently doing online school plus trying/failing at adulting, being a crazy pink haired college student living on microwave dimsum with my crazy fluffy demon cat, but that still leaves me with a lot of time and what better way to spend that time then crying and dying, am i right, boys? 

so without further ado ( adieu? idk gusundheit ) here are a list of discomboblulated plot things that have been floating around in my head that i might be fun to do ( plot fragments, ideas, ocs, fcs i like, settings, genres etc )! i’d prefer a message if u liked any of these in the inbox or dm form, my tumblr ims are open and my discord user is mr. worldwide#2918 ( pitbull supremacy ) but if ur shy i will message u and be annoying! 

lastly: i prefer hcing in the dms to replies, however i will do replies/ask memes slowly, i don’t really like making blogs and prefer google docs/discord and i ask ( gently and respectfully ) that minors do not interact.

thank u and happy hunger games! xx

COLLEGE TOTALLY SPIES -- i was really obsessed with this picture right here and i thought that the picture would be a good premise for a little four person group based on totally spies. i was thinking that these three college students/young adults some friends maybe not some enemies or just on completely different ends of the social agenda get bonded together when they accidentally end up roped in a top secret spy organization that is fronted by a record store. the details and flesh of the plot i think would be cute to figure out all together maybe in a google doc or a big discord so we can make the rp to perfect world building specifications. right now i have two spots open! 

my friend lexi over at comradc has taken the cool goth asian girl and is using lyrica okano

i am playing the freckly backwards hat lesbian in the red polo named aj mccallis and i think im using diana silvers ( not sure might switch to tati rodriguez )

we also have the cute blond girl w the dyed hair who is giving me kind of like sydney sweeney energies, blonde girl maybe like lalisa manoban/jinsoul,

and we have the rad black girl with the bandids who i would only accept black fcs for for such as diamond white, ryan destiny, salem mitchell, 

i’d prefer if this stayed kind of sapphic and female and enby friendly. we can def make make npcs and characters but i’d prefer if the characters looked like they do in the picture ( minus the white girls who can be racebent as long as there are vibes ) mostly bc i want the poc people to stay the correct poc! but yeah! if u like this message me specifically!!!!! seperately and hit me w a role ud like maybe an fc an idea anything < 3 im working on a google doc and discord sever

- i really want to play a himbo skater boy evan mock like its my dream i know nothing abt him other than he probably goes by something like mouth or juice or tris or dex or dante but !!!! he has buzzed hair he buzzes designs into, does stick n pokes, hates cops, will kiss anyone, likes to mosh at house shows, smokes a lot and sounds like crush from finding nemo, probably ur parents worst nightmare if im honest rodrick heffley energy -- adopt him for any plot

- i also really am obsessed with simay barlas who is my mascot rn -- i want to play her in some sort of dark academia setting with like gossip girl blair waldorf energies lu from elite and have her be really mean and cold and pretentious and play the cello and probably have secrets and be uptight idk the name mallory is resonating hard w me ( we could even do a gossip girl the secret history type group if people liked that ) 

-ok i also really really want to play streak aka silas montgomery who is like very like sidekick best friend to the golden boy main character, does a kick ass goat impression, class clown, relentlessly hits on like the most difficult person in school, does crazy things for laughs and attention, just wants to make people happy, only wears hawaiian shirts, finger guns, is going nowhere in life, his dad is probably the dean at whatever prestigious school also he is very very depressed and drinks often! love u! a I Feel Like Im The Worst So I Always Act Like Im The Best electra heart baby PINTEREST

also yes his hair is pink reg verse he did it on a dare but hp verse he did a potion wrong and it never came out

SOMEONE DO A LADY HANNIBAL WILL GRAHAM RP KILLING EVE RP W ME! i made this will graham adjacent gal for a genderbent hannigram rp her name is bisexual disaster enida johnson and sometimes goes by needy or will bc her middle name is willamena! has basically all the will things wears flannels is a mess but has a bunch of cats instead of dogs in her woods log cabin and im using crystal reed bc it fits perfect in my head idk if u like her hmu hit me w a lady hannibal PINTEREST

other stuff

ok i really want to do a princess and knight plot but with knight zendaya and princess anya taylor joy ???? ALKHALKSHALK LITERALLY HELLO literally modern or like dnd style i do not care but know i love dnd! we could make it like them goin on some skyrim quests like hi

speaking of dnd and skyrim if anyone wants to do like anything based in dnd stuff or skyrim stuff i am DOWN

jennifers body plot!!!! maybe set in college!!!!! sounds spicy i will do a f/f or m/m version leggo leggo 

UNTIL DAWN UNTIL DAWN!!!! i wanted to do a little like 6 person or mumu until dawn thing where everyone either makes new characters or characters based on the existing six! i made a girl adjacent josh character named riley PINTEREST who i love very much ( fc might change im thinking maybe medallion rahimi ) pls hmu if ur down

i looooooove breakfast at tiffanys!!!! like i really love breakfast at tiffanys we love a call girl broody author ship and i want to play a mishti rahman holly golightly type character so so bad 

pygmalion plot!!! basically like an author and the main character of their book comes to life and the book character is probably from a different period of time or realm so doesnt know how to do modern 2020 stuff like microwaves and the tv! and then maybe they get sucked into the characters book world thats written by the author and have to navigate that! enchanted! w the kdrama! energy!

GOSSIP GIRL PLOT ENERGIES

any sort of the secret history murder society until dawn ahs horror type setting i am on a kick rn 

i still really want a deaf sailor and siren plot bc that is so spicy or even like anything involving sirens like maybe one thats like vegetarian and doesnt like to eat humans so it ariel rescues one and keeps it safe!! or like only men are susceptible to the sirens song but aha! i am a woman! Romance!

anything in the realm of percy jackson i love mythology lets go i kind of want a echo narcisuss plot and i want it to hurt me so bad 

i will do harry potter stuff but only if its completely removed from the current canon like years in the future no existing families also maybe beauxbatons salem and drumstrang plots bc thats what matters

iiiiiiiii really like anime so i will do anything kakegurui, soul eater, ohshc

i kind of like grew up on the hunger games so i will gladly take any hunger games plots like young effie and haymitch is spicy or like a career tribute and one of the weaker poorer distracts enemies to lovers leggo

i have a kind of oc that had their parents die in a factory gas leak that was the governments fault and it turned them into a vigilante assasin that is slowly picking off bootlicker government people one by one pretending to be one of them until bam! gets attached to the rich asshole son or daughter of the head hauncho or one of the higher ups ... drama

rich little celebrity fussy wussy being held captive by the mafia and the tired stoic mafia guard but they fall in love 

i kind of like any plot that involves one person that is really loud or angry or dramatic or whiny and the other one is kind of sweet and gentle or does not talk much idk make brain happy 

speaking of!

no nonsense law student studying abroad in a european country and an artist there falls in love w them and is all romantic and gush and is like ur my muse!!! and they are like Go awAy and they explore the city together and themelseves its nice!

i want to be an avan jogia super villain idk why i need to but i do 

not to be a disney adult bc i am not but anastasia princesses dont kiss kitchen boys 

rival cheer captians? best friends brother? pop princess celebrity singer and like antiestablishment really angry rockstar in a publicity relationship? broody detective and sunshiney diner person that works at the diner they eat at everyday?

idk i will think of more hmu these can all be made f/f or m/m if they arent 

Febuwhump Day 4

Prompt: impaling

Read on AO3

Tally Marks

For Ahsoka, the war never really felt like a war. Maybe it was the fact they fought machines rather than men. Her lightsaber sliced through the durasteel plating of the battle droids as easy as the practice dummies in the Temple. She could pull wires out of their chests and watch the light dim from the bulbs in their eyes and that was about as sentient as it got.

She's only been in this fight for a few months. She has a mental tally of every droid she's personally dismembered, and a physical one on the wall of the clone breakroom next to Captian Rex's. It's a game, in a way. They yell out numbers on the battlefield. Some of the troopers like to use their armor to keep track in real-time. Battles after battles, the tallies creeping down the walls like a life sentence.

At some point, the color of the marker changed from black to blue, and for some reason, she can't get over the idea that their tally marker spent its entire ink supply making only three-centimeter lines, day after day.

Today she reached a milestone. One thousand battle droids laid to rest by the blades of her lightsabers since she joined the war at the Battle of Christophsis. One thousand clankers that don't get the opportunity to fire their blasters again. Ahsoka walks through the center of the now-deserted battlefield with giddiness in her step. A few of the troopers who fought alongside her offer high fives as they pass, congratulating her on her accomplishment.

Ahsoka is beaming. She feels like she is floating, eager to find Master Skywalker and tell him the great news. The young Togruta decides to cut through an alleyway to the next street where she can feel the Force Presences of both Anakin and Master Kenobi. Within the alley, there is a fork, and down the straight path, she can see Captain Rex and Commander Cody standing with their backs to her.

But even so, she stares down the other path. It winds behind the front building to some residential tenements of the small city. Though her Master and friends are ahead, there is something nagging at her to turn that way. Ahsoka senses no danger in the Force, and she taps her fingers against her commlink to make sure it's there. Following her feelings, she goes the other way.

The midday sun provides plenty of light in other places, but the apartments here loom high enough to cast a shadow over her passageway. Ahsoka pulls her cloak around her tighter, glancing into the windows of the evacuated homes.

Broken transperisteel clutters the ground where bombs dropped in the area and blew out the windows of the houses. She steps over the piles of rubble and puddles of who-knows-what until the near groan of pain catches her keen Togruta ears. She stops midstep, tilting her head to hone in on the noise. It's coming from the home at the end of the street. Ahsoka jogs ahead, her heart starting to pound faster as a few drops of blood along her path turns into a trail, and then a continuous line leading straight into the blown down door.

She peers around the corner, and every muscle in her body tenses.

Lying in the far corner of the house is a young boy. His chest heaves up and down in slow heavy draws as his hand clutches his leg. To her horror, a large piece of shrapnel sticks out of his thigh, impaling his leg, and the obvious cause of the blood smeared across the floor. His head rolls to the side, and he stares at her with a glassy expression.

"Hello," he rasps. A casual greeting for such a gruesome scene. Ahsoka finds her senses and rushes forward, falling at his side.

"You're hurt," she says, tearing off a strip of her cloak to tie a tourniquet. As though that fact wasn't readily obvious. To her surprise, he chuckles. Pushes her hand with the strip of cloth away. She looks at him, his big brown eyes filled with what she can only describe as peace.

"It's too late,"

"It's not! I--I'll bring you back to the camp, we have the best medics--"

"No," he shakes his head. "I am ready to die."

Her throat feels like it's closing. She closes the pieces of her cloak in her fist. "You're so young, though."

"Sixteen," he says. "Yesterday, actually."

His face grows paler by the second. Blood is pooling around him, around Ahsoka now, but she doesn't care to move. Instead, she takes his hand, startled by its icy coldness.

"Will you bring them to me?"

"Who?"

"My family."

"Of course, yes. Where can I find them? I'll go as quickly as I can."

He shakes his head. Slowly brings his other hand up to point. Ahsoka follows his direction to a holoimage on the wall. She stands, her knee leaving a clean imprint on the floor before the blood fills the space. She takes the holo off the wall, spotting the boy in the center of a group hug by others with big brown eyes and reddish-brown hair. A mother and father, brothers and sisters with wide smiles and shining eyes.

This is his family home. He is dying in his home.

She brings the picture to him, and he holds it in his lap, staring at the people. Reaching out as though he can touch the holo.

"Where are they?" Ahsoka asks. Hoping, praying they are in a camp somewhere.

"Where I'm about to go," he whispers. His eyes look from the holo to Ahsoka, and he smiles. "Thank you," he says, "for this gift you have given me."

She doesn't tell him she has given him no gift. If anything, she is part of the reason he lies here now. She is merely a bystander in a moment she feels she has no right to be a part of, but yet his cold fingers intertwine with hers. She takes hold of the holoimage that now falls from his other hand, and makes sure he gets to see it the entire time.

Strangely, in a way that feels far too detached to be real, watching the light leave the eyes of a sentient is a lot like seeing the bulb go out in a droid.

She isn't sure how long she sits there. Long enough that when she finally stands again the blood has dried into her pants, and it doesn't flow to fill her absence any longer. She can't stop looking at the piece of shrapnel that tears through the vessels and muscles of his leg.

A piece of a battle droid. A part of the arm, it seems.

Ahsoka feels like everything around her is obstructed by static. Nothing feels real, just like a horrible dream that she hopefully will wake up for at any moment. And yet, when her commlink rings and it's a message from Anakin wondering where she is, she doesn't wake up in her bunk on the ship.

She doesn't know their customs on this planet. Do they bury their dead or burn them? Doesn't even remember the name of the damned planet, which suddenly feels like a pit in her gut. So she does her best. Takes her lightsaber out and cuts the droid arm from his leg. Takes a blanket from the bedroom and wraps him carefully in it, his arms crossed comfortably and the holo pressed between his palms and his chest. When she emerges from the house, the sun is starting to hang low in the sky, the shadow of the alley even darker than before.

And yet somehow, she sees more this time.

She looks through the windows as she passes, not seeing battle anymore but devastation. Ahsoka can see the remnants of what used to be family homes. Holoimages flicker with limited power the faces of the people that escaped the city in the night. They had no time to waste when the call came in, packed nothing but what they needed to survive, and ran into the foothills. Established refugee camps where supplies will be funneled in the weeks to come until their city is rebuilt... though it may never be the same.

Couches covered in soft blankets and pillows where families would curl up on the weekends to watch holofilms. Trinkets lining shelves that probably meant something to someone at one time. Abandoned. Covered in glass and ash. Homes suddenly uninhabitable because of a war nobody here asked for. And as she takes stock of the neighborhood, she also realizes many of the homes have painted names above their thresholds-- a memorial for the names of their dead.

She blinks back tears. Nearly every door has names painted. Many with multiple. Their own tally marks.

Ahsoka runs back to the house of the boy, trying not to look at his bundled body as she searches for paint to at least give him this honor. Her stomach drops when she finds it already sitting next to the door, the brush still wet.

The names of his family already line their threshold.

Jebra

Imi.

Hales.

Yezha.

But as she raises the brush, a sickening revelation makes her burst into tears.

She never learned his name.

My Top 10 LGBT Couples for Once Upon a Time

2 Keep in mine this is my personal opinion and a majority of these will not be canon! So please enjoy let me know what you think and kicking at number 10 

10 Ruby Slippers Aka Red/Ruby and Dorothy

I am starting the list with them because they are the first canon LGBT couple on Once Upon A Time but it is not higher because it took five seasons to get to this point and they were rushed, and we never saw them again and it was a huge queer bait on Adam and Eddie’s part. I do like it because Red has bi tendencies and Wizard of Oz has always had a big LGBT following. So making Dorothy a lesbian makes perfect sense. Still the writing was not good this was rushed and the LGBT community deserves better.

9 Alice and New Robin Hood

This couple is hire because we get to see them develop, in canon but again it took 7 seasons to get a gay couple that actually stays on OUAT but I can’t help but feel that they picked two random white women to put together just to pacify LGBT people and show that “See we can be diverse” when the writers couldn’t give Mulan an Asian bi woman a love interest or have her say the words “I am bisexual and I was in love with a woman named Aurora” (Yes I will always be salty over sleep warrior but that will come later in this post) I am thankful for the rep but at the same the writers shouldn’t have queer baited us.

8 Hooked Charming/David Nolan/Killian Jones

I don’t know why but these two could have been an interesting couple, Two very masuculine gay men and yes I am aware they are happy with their women but they could have been more interesting thatn Captian Swan and they have belieable chemistry not the most romantic but believable chemistry than Captian Swan and I would pick that any day!

7. Frozen Swan aka Elsa and Emma

I think that the females had pretty good chemistry and these two if Elsa would have have been arount longer would have made a great couple. Plus I think making Emma bi would make a lot of sense and Elsa is headcanoned as a lesbian so I think these two would make a great couple.

6. Dragon Queen Aka Malicifient and Regina 

These an evil Lesbian Couple who have soft spots for thier children and they would be totally bad ass together. I am not big on Swan Queen but they makes sense however I love the idea of the Evil Queen and the Malicificent getting together and just reaking havoc! So yeah Evil Girl Power! 

5.Brave Warrior Merida and Mulan

I have a thing for badass warrior women! They could train together go on missions and be a great couple! All though I will Say Merida in her own movie is not that likable but she is fine in OUAT! Mulan and Merida would be unstoppable duo. I also think it would have been a great plot twist if Merrida either turned out to be a lesbian or ace! I also just think Mulan just desrves a happy ending.

4.Mulan Rouge aka Red/Rbby and Mulan

These two had really good chemistry and I just think that they would have made a great couple, Mulan can have a happy ending and they would have been more believable than Ruby Slippers or even the previous ship I just mentioned. Plus it would give Mulan a happy ending and the love she desrves and I think her and Ruby would work really well!

Ariel and Jasmine

These girls both have a knack for wanting to explore the world, both land and sea. I can see them being a wonder lesbian couple despite it being long distance since one live in water and the other lives on land and I also love the idea of Jasmine as a mermaid!

2 Red Beauty Aka the Superior Beauty and The Beast! Ruby/Red and Belle 

Beauty and the Beast with a LGBT twist! Belle means Beauty litterally and Ruby is a werewolf so how could this not be perfect? It would give good represenation in my opinion the community, it would better thatn Lefou as the LGBT  rep and it would get Belle away from Rumple. I also enjoy this couple because of Belle wanted to be there for Ruby but Ruby was afraid of hurting Belle. Plus Ruby also visted Bell in the Pshych ward and they could help each other. It would still be Beuaty and the Beast just without kidnapping of fathers and without all that abusive stuff that comes with Rumbelle! 

Now for #1 Sleeping Warrior aka Aurora and Mulan! 

This ship had so much potential only for it to be ruined by hetronormative bullshit! The writing was great it felt so natural for these two get together! I mean they go on a long adventure together, Aurora literally gets her heart stolen by Cora and Mulan is the one to put it back for her. They also had such great chemistry and a great build up and then Aurora gets pregnat with Philip’s baby and Mulan doesn’t get her happy ending. I hate how much potential and organic chemistry these two had only for it to be ruined. With how these two were written if one half of Sleeping Warriror had been a guy they would have been a couple but nope! They could have a thruple polygamy if they wanted Philip in the thing. Forgive its been a while I have watched OUAT but Sleeping Warrior will always be the First LGBT ship I shipped on Once Upon a Time

Relearning to be Me

While sailing to Dunnhouse Cliff, Miekka starts to recover with the help of the Doc and meets a new friend.

On AO3.

Ships: none

Warnings: none really, tell me if I missed anything :D

~~~~~~~~~~~

They watched the Doc as she puttered around her little hospital room. It had become ahabit to look her up and just talk even after daily check-ups were no longer necessary.

The Doc had just re-ordered her station again, when she glanced at Miekka, who had been deep in thought, pulling on their beard. She commented: “It’s getting a bit long.”

“Huh,” Miekka looked up, then they replied, “Oh, yeah, I tried to shave, but still have a slight unsteady hand,” they waggled their fingers with a crooked grin to demonstrate, “So, tragically my dashingly handsome face needs to suffer for my hubris.”

That made the Doc snort slightly as she rolled her eyes. She walked over and inspected their face, before nodding to herself and offering: “I could do it for you, thenwe’ll get to work with some rehabilitation sothat you can turn yourself back into your handsome self in no time.”

“Hey, I’m always handsome, m’lady,” Miekka protested teasingly, then softer they said: “But I would appreciate the hand, if you do not mind.”

“I don’t,” she assured them, “Now go, sit down.”

They sat down on the chair in the middle of the room while the Doc gathered some stuff.

She sat down opposite of them with some scissors and carefully started to trim it, while she did, she asked: “So, how do you want it?”

“I usually have a small beard that fades to the side and a mustache, but if you have big dreams then I shall not stop you,” they answered.

“If I weren’t currently doing this, I would push you,” the Doc said, however she did not falter her movements as she made sure the sides were even, before she got shaving cream and a big brush. Applying it gently, she got to work.

“Where did you learn this?” Miekka asked when she was not holding a blade near their neck.

“I- I can’t recall, if I’m honest,” the Doc replied.

And with that the conversation fell quiet. The only noise was the soft scrape of the razor and their breathing with the noises of the ship fading away in the background. The moment lasted both a century and a blink and before Miekka knew it, the Doc was wiping down their face.

She held up a mirror and Miekka inspected themself in it, tilting their head before smiling satisfied and saying: “I owe you my life, good doctor, thank you.”

“You’re a dramaqueen,” the Doc rolled her eyes.

“And you love me for it,” Miekka wiggled their brows.

The Doc didn’t dignify that with an answer, instead giving them a quill and a little notebook as she said: “Why don’t you write down you name, so that I can see where we are in terms of maneuverability.”

Miekka took the quill with their left hand and wrote their name down with a flourish, instantly smudging it when their hand slid over it.

The Doc sighed: “I meant with your right hand.”

“But I write with my left hand,” Miekka said confused.

“Why didn’t you say so?” the Doc asked.

“You did not ask. I’m sorry, but I don’t understand,” Miekka told her, stubbornness setting in.

With a tensed calmness the Doc explained: “We’re training your new right hand again, it’s kind of useless if you write with your left. I was going to take it as a measuring point, but if you don’t write with right then that is irrelevant.”

“Aahhh,” Miekka started to get it and offered, “I can cut with my right hand?”

“That- that’s something,” the Doc said, “I’m going to get you a dried apple and you’re going to cut it into pieces for me, alright?”

“It’ll be my pleasure, m’lady,” Miekka saluted.

Slicing it without a plank proved harder than expected, even with the practice they’d had working with Nox. It didn’t help either that the Doc was watching their every move closely.

When they were done she nodded: “Alright, you’re doing pretty good already, just have to get used to moving it until in becomes second nature. I want you to do this every day a few times,” she demonstrated the exercise by bringing each finger to her thumb, tapping it then clenching her fist and unclenching it, before repeating it, “Can you do that?”

“Yeah, I should be able to do that with no problem,” Miekka assured her.

“Alright, now onto strength,” the Doc said, “Have you done much heavy lifting recently? What’s the heaviest you carried with you new arm?”

“Not much if I must confess, mostly just pots and pans in the kitchen,” Miekka shrugged.

“A big pot with water is still pretty heavy,” the Doc pointed out, “How did that go? Feel the pull or was it okay?”

“I did not notice anything out of the ordinary,” Miekka told her.

The Doc lit up with that and smiled: “That’s good, that’s good. I gave you some healing salve that is said to be magic, if you believe such things and it seems you’re doing great.”

“Magic?” Miekka asked.

“It’s probably nonsense, just good herbs, but old ladies tend to keep their secrets and call it magic, though for some, I don’t doubt it,” the Doc explained, her voice too fake to be truly that airy, “But that’s the superstitious sailor part talking, more important is you healing up.”

Miekka blinked at the sudden topic switch as the Doc went on: “So, you are able to lift heavy things without it tearing at the connection, we want to keep it like that, of course. We’ll build up slowly again. Can you lit your sword?”

“Uhm,” Miekka got out their sword and moved it up and down between them, “I have confirmed, yes.”

“Good,” there was a slight chuckle there, “Now, I don’t want you to wild, take it easy, but try and train you arm by doing exercise, which is easier said than done aboard a ship, but do try. We want your shoulder to be able to hold your arm. And even though it’s so far so good, we want that to stay, alright?”

“A lot of we for something I’m doing,” Miekka grinned teasingly.

The Doc rolled her eyes and said: “I am sadly responsible for your recovery, so we it is, better get used to it, babe,” she grimaced and added, “It always sounds more natural when Sasha says things like that.”

Miekka laughed and the Doc joined in. When the laughter had died down, Miekka said: “I shall think about good exercises to keep me in good health and ensuring your good name won’t be tarnished, my good doctor.”

“I appreciate that, Miekka.” the Doc replied, smile still playing around her lips as they said their goodbyes and went on with their days.

A day later Miekka was sitting on the deck of the ship, thinking and watching their fingers as they closed them one by one, only to let them go free again. It still felt weird, how they would whir and spin and feel detached from them, while still being a part of them.

They clenched their fist again, but before they could open it to repeat the process they were snapped out of their thoughts by Voyin: “The view interesting?”

Xe was lightly swinging xyr sword back and forth as xe took stabs at the air. Miekka shrugged and xe said: “I have something more fun to do.”

“What, if I might ask?” Miekka replied.

In lieu of an answer xe held up xyr sword and answered: “According to the Doc, you can start building up strength, promise to go easy on you.”

“I assure that won’t be necessary, I am a great fighter,” Miekka told xem.

“We’ll see about that,” Voyin grinned.

Right at that moment Sasha walked by, she was carrying a few maps and on her way to the Captians room when she overheard the conversation. She called out to Miekka: “Wouldn’t be that confident, pumpkin. Voyin is the best fighter we have, xe will crush you.”

This was not the discouragement she thought it was, because Miekka now just wanted to prove themself even more. With a thrill in their heart and a bounce in their step, they drew their blade and got into position.

It was not their brightest moment.

They quickly realized that they were outmatched and their arm started to act up. They wanted to push on, but they remembered the Docs face and warnings and thought the better of it. Stepping back they held up their hand and breathed heavily: “Wait- wait- stop, lets take a break.”

Voyin grinned victoriously and asked: “Giving up already?”

Miekka shot them a glare and answered: “I would have already beaten you easily was it not for my healing arm and the promise to the Doc to go easy on it.”

“Is that so?” Voyin smirked, glad to have someone fierce in front of xem for a change, “Then I will gladly cross blades again when you’re in full health once more.”

They looked at xem for a moment with suspicion, then took the excuse to back out without loss of honor: “I look forward to the day of your demise by my hands.”

And that was that, they shook hands and both were send to work. Miekka noticed a few mates exchange money, but decided not to mention it as they sheathed their sword. They were starting to fit in.

Takes place on the journey to Dunnhouse Cliff

It’s my fantasy world, so everyone knows pronouns magically and Miekka can be androgynous as fuck just because

Also did y’all notice I know nothing about sword fighting lol

Can i request the promt? With erwin

19 21 30..... Idk how n why...its up to u :3 but i just want reader to end died HHAHAHAHAAHHAHA

Feel free to ignore this 😅

-💍 anon

Finally got around to answering it! It was kinda hard to figure out the direction to go with it. But here you go anon!

You Gave Your Heart!

I knelt on top of the wall looking over the area that was once Shiganshina, we made it through Wall Maria, Erwin comes up to me, and I smile, “We’re here...so close.” I sighed, he puts his arm around me and I‘m vividly reminded, this could very well be the end of us. I remembered the day he lost his arm, the day I thought I lost him. I grab his hand, “Erwin Smith.” I said, calm and at ease, but also worried, “I know I can’t command you-”

“Y/N, you can command anything of me.” He promised and I smiled, knowing him to be a man of his word.

“I don’t care what you have to do, you need to promise me you’ll come back to me. Alive.” I demanded and he kissed my forehead, “That’s not a promise.”

“Then here’s one. After this mission, you will be my wife. That I promise.” He whispered in my ear before ordering us to search the walls for Reiner and Berthold. I smiled and propelled down, searching the wall with the others as Eren sealed the first breach in Shiganshina. We found nothing, but Armin found an old campsite with evidence there were three people, who had some idea we were coming. So, Erwin gave him control, and under Armin's orders, we search all over the district again till Armin shot off an acoustic round and told us to search inside the Wallsan argument ensued but the resolution came with help from Erwin.

We looked and looked but found nothing till someone shouted they found the spot Armin talked of and was quickly slaughtered by Reiner. With quick movements Levi lunged for the kill, only managing to wound him, triggering his transformation to the armored titan. And with a thundering crash, the hole in wall maria was sealed by a bolder, launched by the beast titan.

“Looks like this isn’t just to retake Wall Maria, it’s a true fight for humanity. Erwin, got a plan?” I asked slightly nervously, I honestly thought Levi would have killed him, but I didn’t give Reiner enough credit to survive.

“Bait. Let them choose whether or not to go after Eren or kill us. That should at least limit our enemies.” I nodded and delivered the message, Eren jumped from the wall and shifted, steam gushed around as Eren ran back to the wall, his friends with him as Levi stayed with us.

"Levi, the beast titan is yours. You are the only one I trust to take him out. Y/N, join Levi’s squad. Your instincts and Armin’s mind, I trust you to help bring him down." Levi declared looking at the Titan. I grabbed his arm, “I remember my promise. Just know, it’s your promise too.”

“Yes, sir.” I jumped from the wall, swinging over to meet Armin as erne went toe to toe with the armored titan. We watched as I latched a spear to both my arms, “Take the eyes first."

"That's the idea." I nodded as Eren grappled Reiner and was thrown, Reiner pinned him as Eren rolled, "Now!" Hange shouted as she and Mikasa launched, driving the poles into Reiner’s eyes, the rest of us drove the weapons into the nape, moving out of the way as they blew the armor to bits. Reiner's body emerged from the Titan, head blown off and dead. I laughed, shearing a single tear, "YN?"

"We won. Maybe victory isn't that far off?" I missed as I kicked a pebble, but our victory was far off indeed, cause the Titan roared and shook the very building I stood on, "You have got to be fucking kidding?!"

"Above, the colossal is coming from above!" I gasped and ran, leaping in the air and swinging away from the impending explosion. But it never hit, I looked back and saw Bertholdt talking with Armin. All I could think was how easy it would be, to end the threat.

I launched the hooks and sped towards him, I could end it, we wouldn't have to worry about the Colossal, "YN No!" Bertholdt turned around and In a split second, I managed to cut his ear, but he blocked the second blade and kicked me off the roof as Mikasa came in for the kill he managed to fend her off. They back off as he ran, I pulled myself back up and sat beside them.

"Was...was that…"

"That was the real Bertholdt. The one we knew...that was a facade." I sighed, watching as he went up, "Shit, get down!" I shielded the two younger cadets as heat blasted from the transformation, before it could register, someone said it.

"Hange squad...they were right next to it…." It didn't sound right, I didn't want it to sound right, but...that was the truth.

"Captain." They looked at me and all I could see was the terror under that mask of courage and anger.

"As of now, he doesn't realize where we are right?" Armin nodded, "We use that to our advantage. From the looks of it, the Armored Titan is still out of commission. Which means, we only have one opponent for the time being."

"A battle of attrition is our only viable option, we cage him here in Shiganshina and regroup with the Commander, let him decide." Armin sighed as we watched the sea of fire grow.

"No." I decided.

"To be fair Hange placed Armin in-"

"She's right. That bastard can set anything in his reach alight. We'd be leading him to the horses and trapping everyone between the Beast Titan and him." Jean supported as I kept my eyes on Bertholdt.

"We stick to script. Wear him out, but keep him to the outer wall. Everyone on Eren, take us to the river and keep your heads down." I demanded Armin nods and looked down, "Armin, listen to me, I've known Erwin for years, I've followed his orders countless times and have come back alive each time, and because of that I trust his judgment. So if he thinks you can think of a way to do this, I trust you can too. Now, quit pouting and start plotting.

The Colossal kept inching his way towards the wall, getting closer and closer to Erwin. I growled as Jean spoke up, telling Eren to scream and draw him back in. But the son of a bitch ignored us.

"Rat bastard.  Eren, stop him, the rest of us jump ship. If these two get into it we're dead meat. Connie, your spear, I'm getting closer, we have to find a weakness to take him out now." We rushed him, Jean, Connie, and Sasha charged the front as me and Mikasa launched attacks from both sides. As we got closer a gush of hot steam blew us back, scalding and burning all of us.

"Damn it... Armin, tell me you've got something for this bastard." I begged as I stood, blood trickling down my cheek from landing against the roof. The kid stayed silent and I worried, 'Was he frozen? Are we putting this kid under too much pressure?' 

"Guys! Reiner's back up!" Jean shots and suddenly our one opponent became two. And I knew that some of us wouldn't make it.

'Its your promise too…' I looked to the wall, where just on the other side, Erwin was fighting to come back and make good on his promise to me. But now I might not be able to...cause I couldn't let these kids die. 

"He's thinner." Armin muttered, "I got it! Everyone, draw the armored titan away! Leave the Colossal to me and-"

"No! As of now I'm taking command. And this has nothing to do with your skills Armin, Jean. You two...you did well. But I'm pulling rank to make sure you see that world you've talked so much about…" I sighed as I stood, "Tell me the rest of your plan, Armin."

"C-Captian…" Armin stuttered before he nodded and quietly explained to me how exactly my life would end.

"Alright, kiddos...let me make this simple, under no circumstances am I to be made a titan, if I die so be it...there are so many others who are better suited for it." They saluted and I smiled, "Take care of Reiner but don't you dare die. And yes, that is an order." They took off as Armin went to wake Eren up and I took a breath as I came to terms with what my last act on this earth would be.

"Erwin… please forgive me…" I whispered and launched myself at the Colossal as Eren fell, that was the signal. I flew up into his face, "Armin, get outta here!" I shouted but all he did...was smile, "You goddamn brat!" I screamed as steam bellowed out. I burnt and I began to lose sight, but I managed to plant my foot into the cadet's side and kick him away as Bertholdt pushed more heat out.

I don't know when but I stopped feeling pain, and all I could picture was what the wedding could have been like, what the ocean looked like, and...what it would have been to be a mother.

“Captian!!” Armin screamed as your body fell from the sky. You were badly burnt, your once flawless skin was now scorched black in places and your uniform was burn scraps, but even though the burns, you were recognizable.

 Mikasa caught you and laid you gently on the roof of a house, “No, No! Please don’t...Captian, Y/N.”

“She’s...gone,” Eren whispered as they took in the brunt form of their captain, everyone gathered there as Eren held Berthold by his neck.

“She did it to save us...for us to see the ocean,” Armin told his friend, “She knew and she…”

“We’re going to end this. Now. For Y/N, for all of them.” Eren growled, tightening his grip on Betholdt’s throat as a shuddering cough came from your throat, “Captian!”

“Mikasa! Armin, get the serum!” They shared a pained look and Eren stared, “Now!”

“No.” Mikasa decided, “She gave us a direct order to stop anyone who tried to inject her.”

“I don’t care! She’s our friend-”

“That’s why I won’t let you disrespect her!” Armin shouted as he pulled Eren away, “She knew this was it, and decided to do it. To save us! Me! So no.”  Eren nodded and they knelt down, as Levi made it back, commander in tow.

Erwin took in the sight of you as Mikasa gave her report to Levi, who nodded and drug the other two away, “Levi-”

“No, Erwin. She already gave her wishes to the others. She said,  ‘under no circumstances’ that includes you ordering it.” The short captain left him alone with you, barely breathing.

“S-sorry…” You breathed as he took your hand.

“Reconsider.” He begged softly, “Please. Don’t leave me.”

“Watch...them…” You coughed, ”They...were...worth it.” He watched your chest relax and knew those were your last words, the last words of the woman to who he gave his soul too.

The funeral was just after the medal ceremony, where Erwin accepted yours posthumously. The few surviving scouts gathered as they paid respects to you, but slowly they left till it was just the remaining members of the 104th cadets, Levi, Hanji, Molbit, and Erwin.

“She told me to watch you, that dying for you was worth it. And after reading the reports...she was right, as always.” Erwin announced, “Armin, you and Levi fought to respect her wishes, to give the injection to someone else, that ended up being Molbit. For that, I must thank you.” He sighed as he hung the medal on the grave, “She gave her heart, will you give yours?” They answered with a salute to the headstone that marked your grave.

What is a ‘Dragon’? (Captian Ed Mercer x Nadira) Part 1

Pairing: Captain Ed Mercer x Nadira (Original Female Character)

Series Synopsis: Nadira is the only Kakorean aboard the Orville and indeed feels lonely no matter how much she denies it to anyone who asks. So Ed decides to reach out to her, hoping to make her feel comfortable. It turns out they bond more than either of them expected.

Author's Notes: This was meant to just be a one-shot, but I didn't want to write a long one-shot, so this is now gonna be a little series. So have fun with that, I guess. 

"Lieutenant Nadira's finished her report about the treaty. She says she sent it to you, Captain." Alara informed Ed, glancing over her shoulder to check if he nodded. 

Glancing down at his comscanner, he received the notification of the document. He nodded "Yep, got it." This was going to be a fun report. It had been a few days since the Navarian-Bruidian conflict and... eventual agreement over Lopovius. 

No one was daring to mention what had happened with Darulio, especially  Ed and Kelly. They were both trying to bang the retepsian. At the same time, the lone Kakorean ran herself silly around the ship to accommodate the two warring species. 

Ed's brows furrowed as he thought about it. "Alara," Ed spoke up, lifting his gaze to the xelayan as she turned to him curiously. "Has Nadira left her office today? At all?" 

"I don't think so, sir. I saw her this morning for breakfast. But once her shift started, she hasn't made a move." Alara's brows as she recalled the movements of her friend, her lips formed into a hard line, slowly nodding her head, confirming to Ed and herself of her thoughts. 

Ed nodded in return, shifting in his chair as he stared at the comscanner. His fingers tapped at the armrest relentlessly. The trail for them was smooth, which was excellent! But it left Ed's head unoccupied, left to swarm with random thoughts. 

The Captain abruptly stood from his chair, telling Kelly that he'd be back soon. The blonde blinked, opening her mouth to question what he was doing, but he was gone before the words could be sounded. With a sigh, Kelly moved to the Captain's chair.

Ed's path was uninterrupted and swift, it wasn't long before he was standing in front of the Relations Office where Nadira resided. He tapped the large button on the screen beside the door. The loud beep earning a hesitant 'Come in.' from the woman inside. Ed stepped inside, looking up to greet the Kakorean. 

Nadira's dark purple eyes shot up from her work. She blinked upon seeing Ed, her scaly ears pointing shooting up to match her expression. "Captain! What brings you here?" She asks, closing her desk screen to give Ed her full attention. 

"Sorry, am I not welcome?" He asked, the corner of his lips quirking upwards in an amused smirk. 

"Huh? No-No-No-No! I just didn't expect--" The Kakorean fumbled, standing from her chair and waving her clawed hands frantically. 

"Nadira. It's alright, I was joking,"  Ed chuckled as he gestured for her to relax. He watched as she returned to her seat, her shoulders slumping along with her wings and ears. Ed found himself smiling softly as he observed the way Nadira would react. It reminded him of Earth's cats, it was cute. 

"My apologies, Captain. Guess I've been tense lately..." Nadira admitted, scratching the side of her head sheepishly. 

"Yeah... about that, uh, do you wanna get a drink? Later tonight." Ed blurted out, quickly shutting his mouth already kicking himself for just suggesting this out of the blue. Was she even comfortable around him? Yeah, he was too forward. Ed raised his hands to dismiss the idea. 

"Drinks? With me?" Nadira interrupted, raising an eyebrow as she gestured to herself. "If I may ask sir; why?" She tilted her head.

Ed sighed, stepping forward to sit on the chair before her desk. Running a hand through his hair, he looked back at Nadira with furrowed brows, while she looked back at him with confusion and curiosity. 

"I feel bad." He said, but Nadira simply continued to tilt her head, subtly requesting that he elaborate. "You, Alara and the rest of the crew were handling everything while I was..." He attempted to choose the right word for what happened, his hands coming up like he was physically trying to build the name. He ultimately huffed in defeat, then shrugging his shoulders "... you know." 

Nadira's lips morphed into a smile, gentle and kind. She spoke softly, "Captain. It wasn't your fault. No one on this ship expected what happened. In fact, I'm still annoyed that I wasn't informed of this, or that the Union didn't know." She chuckled, then shrugging her shoulders. "But that's behind us. Well, we'll remember if we have another retepsian on board."

"Oh, god no." Was Ed's immediate reaction to the idea, surprising the Kakorean. Nadira snorted, swiftly covering her mouth with her hand, but it didn't stop her giggling from being heard. 

"I'm s-sorry, C-Captain," Her wings unfolded from her back, moving to cover her face as she attempted to regain her composure. "That was inappropriate and rude, I'm so sorry!" 

"Hey," Ed stood up, reaching out, placing his hand upon the blue scales of her wing and gently moving the limb away. "It's alright, Nadira. I'm not offended." He offered a little smile. Which grew wider as Nadira's wings to shifted away to show an embarrassing blush on her face. 

Both sat in silence as their eyes shifted, eventually making contact. Ed cleared his throat, stepping back sheepishly while Nadira rubbed the back of her neck similarly. 

"Uh, so are you interested in having a drink?" Ed asked, breaking the timid silence. 

Nadira glanced to the side, then returning her gaze to her Captain. She smiled and nodded. "I am. It sounds nice. Thank you, Captain." 

"Call me, Ed. See you tonight after our shifts. Mess Hall?" He asked.

"Mess Hall." Nadira confirmed, "See you tonight... Ed." His name came out hesitantly like she was testing it out on her tongue. Both smiled at the sound of it before returning to their posts—both anxious for the night ahead. 

So I rewatched the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy again.

I say trilogy well aware that there are more movies by now but I feel like removing the main charachters and keeping one side charachter counts more as a spinoff. So before we begin I did watch these before once pretty much before they came out. I remember really enjoying the first one and the sequels overall being mediocre. Then over time I forgot why the sequels were bad and remembered a really cool story about magic pirates with a badass female lead. And now I have watched them again and they are bad. But like bad in their own special way. And the fact that they are bad doesn’t mean they don’t tell a cool story about magical pirates. So what I am going to do is go trough each movie in a semi structured way and tell you why they are bad but still tell a cool magical story about pirates with a badass female lead.

So when we start the second movie we get some exposition setting up the main vilian for both movies, It’s this new trading company dude who is looking to get jacks compass for some reason. Also this dude enjoys being an asshole so he imprisons elizabeth and sends will out to see to look for jack sparrow. What follows is what I like to call shenanigans. The pirates movies are not the only movie that employ the shenanigans trope but the trope can be sumarized as any action/comedy/general scene that doesn’t make much sense and does noting to progress the plot in a meaningfull way. (the defintion of the word meaningfull is subjective here but bear with me). The shenanigans the second pirates movie gets into include a very racist 20 minutes of Jack being a king of native canibals and having to be rescued by his crew and Will who was looking for him. Elizabeth gets her own shenanigans as she escapes jail. makes a deal with our main villian. Then in order to find Jack and Will she dresses like a man to tag along a trading ship. In her infinte cunning and wisdom that apperently dissapears because shenanigans she hides her dress on board of the ship. Wich then leads to her pretending there is a ghost on the ship and leading this ship to Tortuga. Now it can be argued both of these shenanigans progress the plot. Will finds jack and frees him. Elizabeth uses a cunning plan to get where she needs to be. Except both of these points rely on A. Jack got captured by natives that are there for no plot relevant reason. B. Elizabeth hides her dress on board of the ship she is hiding her identity and gender on. But ok half an hour into this movie and nothing has happened, fine. skip forward a few scenes and we get to Jack selling will to davy jones, will meets his daddy this is all pretty good. Refer back to cool magic pirate movie. Will escapes eventually and meets with Jack Elizabeth and suprise james norrington, you know the british navy villian from the first movie. (he is introduced earlier and better than I might suggest but this is already far too long.) So the boys fight over davy jones’ heart untill halfway the fight Norrington steals the heart out of jacks jar of dirt. After which the fight actually continues for quite a while. this entire fight can be summarized as shenanigans. So davy jones is angry because his heart got stolen and he sends the kraken after our heroes and something acutally suprising and interesting happens.

See Elizabeth and Jack have this conversation a bit before this, where Jack suggests that Elizabeth will become a scoundrel like himself because deep inside she is a pirate and wants to know how it feels (also this means they are going to make out). She retorts that she will not but that Jack will become a hero one day because deep inside he is a good man and wants to know how it feels. So the kraken atacks because Jack has Davy Jones’ heart and Davy jones generally wants him dead. This is when Elizabeth does something briliant. She kisses Jack and ties him to the boat making the kraken kill him so she can escape. She lost the argument, she became a scoundrel pirate. However Jack in the eyes of the group became a hero, sacrificing himself to save the team. In a way they are both right. Especially from elizabeth’s perspective as a scoundrel, A heroic man is good for nothing but leverage (this is a huge theme in the first movie.) So Elizabeth killed jack, the movie ends with everyone mourning jack at Tia Dalma’s place. Who reveals that Barbossa is alive, and that Jack can be brought back from Davy Jones’ locker. But only if they are willing to sacrifice everything, everyone agrees with an “Aye!” except for Elizabeth, who reluctantly says yes, which makes sense... she killed Jack.

Now why did I write all this down (other than this being the point of the blog), I wrote it all down because the third movie has some issues that facinate and frustrate me to no end. So Elizabeth is now a murderer, pirate, liar, and overall badass worth a milion of Jack Sparrow. But this is a Disney movie and hollywood can’t have women be competent without also being objectified sooo we start the movie with her singing the pirate antem forcing the pirate lords to gather. In order to make a deal with one of the pirate lords named Sao Feng. So far so good she is being cool. But in order to get in she needs to drop her weapons and clothes and Barbossa is there to take the lead. This actually makes everything confusing, Everything up to this point would make Barbossa and Elizabeth equals if not friends for the fact that Elizabeth achieved what Barbossa would have loved to do. Kill Jack Sparrow. But because the movie won’t allow a woman to be a main charachter entirely she doesn’t tell him. So he treats her like shit. We also get to see her weakness in this scene, namely that she still really loves Will making her actually interesting. (I am not going to debate on tumblr if her weakness being attraction to a dude is sexist or not.) So much of the first half of the movie is spent on saving jack sparrow from davy jones’ locker and one thing relevant to my story here that happens is that Elizabeth finds out her dad is dead, which upsets her inmensly and she needs to be stopped from drowning herself. (I am honestly not sure about this scene it makes sense in charachter but portraying Elizabeth this way is just sooo weirdly out of the badass pirate version of her... Whatever.) She eventually gets kidnapped by Sao Feng who thinks she is the god of the sea Calypso, and Sao Feng wants to release Calypso from her mortal prison. This is the same thing Barbossa is trying to do but he knows who Caplypso actually is. Sao Feng dies before this goes anywhere meaningfull other than making Elizabeth a pirate lord with his last words. So now Elizabeth is actually on the same level as Jack. And now we finally get to the scene where all of this comes together. The pirate council scene. All of the pirate lords have come together to decide what to do against davy jones who is now under control of beckett. They fight amongst each other like pirates are expected to do and Elizabeth scoffs at this. She proposes they go to war against Becket’s fleet, in order to flee the scene and live another day, the most ancient of pirate traditions. Jack wants them to stay holed up because he is a coward. Barbossa wants to go to war and release calypso. They figure out the only way to go to war as the pirate council is for there to be a pirate king But everyone always votes for themselves. So there hasn’t been one in forever. Barbossa pushes the vote and because he wants to go to war he votes for Elizabeth, (Also barbossa is a pirate lord for some reason even though he was Jacks first mate in the first movie, you’d think you’d have to be a captian to be a pirate lord?) So elizabeth is now pirate queen. They go to war, some more stuff happend that should probably get its own post but this is all the information required for me to make my point. 

Elizabeth as a main charachter is written as a badass pirate with clear motivation but isn’t allowed to be competent and as such the movies narrative around her gets really confusing. If elizabeth had known about the pirate council and the full scope of the code in the second movie, (which was largely spend on shenanigans and could have done with telling us more about the world the story takes place in, the pirate lords and clear details about calypso do not exist in movie 2)and barbossa’s motivation early in the third movie (easily obtained by gaining his trust revealing she murdered Jack), we could have seen this movie as a pirate exceeding her mentor (Jack Sparrow) fighting for the power required to survive, and provide her fiance (Will) with the means to save his father whilst manipulating and lying like literally everyone else.I am almost entirely sure this arc existed for her at some point considering this is what she builds to in the first movie, she adores pirates for their rebellion and heroism, is appaled by their lack of morals and manners, ends up learning how to manipulate them into doing what she wants. But thats not what happend, instead we spent a lot of time on shenanigans and flip flopping between pirate Elizabeth and emotional rich lady on a pirate ship Elizabeth. 

If you got this far, thanks for reading. This is one hell of a first post for this blog and I have basicly only written about Elizabeth. I feel like the other big thing i want to talk about is something in more movies and needs its own special post.

INFINITY WAR Spoiler talk

Random spoilery thoughts and rating of the movie

Things I liked:

- Thanos. This is his movie. A sad, lonely, yet terrifyingly driven villain. His relationship with Gamora helped humanize him, but he’s still a genocidal monster through-and-through… One of the best MCU villains (though I feel Killmonger is more relatable since his motivation is grounded in our reality, and Loki since we’ve spent so much time with him and witness his struggles) - Loki saying “we have a Hulk” - The various team-ups throughout the movie in general. - Tony butting heads with Dr. Strange, and his continued mentoring of Peter Parker. - Dr. Strange demonstrating more of his mystic arts powers, and going toe-to-toe with Thanos and holding his own quite well. - Ebony Maw is the only member of the Black Order worth remembering…. creepy and intimidating. - Thor managing to remain humble and mostly-level headed despite losing everything he was protecting and fighting for in Thor: Ragnarok. His bonding with Rocket of all people was endearing. - Kevin Bacon in the Avengers - Rocket matured a bit since GOTG vol. 2. He’s still Rocket as we know him, but more willing to step up and “be the captian” now than before. - The Invisible Drax. Stupid… but i liked it. - Gamora’s flashback to her homeworld and meeting Thanos, and her scenes with Thanos on his ship. We finally get to see her confront her father directly, and the dysfunction lends weight to both their plot threads. - Thanos to Quill: “I like you” - Seeing Vision and Scarlet Witch’s relationship play out on the big screen. - Hulk not coming out to play due to the beating he received by Thanos. He’s still got a child-like mind, and it’s totally believeable that he’s pout and whine and not want to come out. Banner still gets some heroism in nonetheless in the Hulkbuster. - Seeing Wakanda again with the Avengers there alongside Black Panther and Okoye. - All the cameos… always good to see Pepper Potts. Peter’s friend Ned. “Thunderbolt” Ross has an obligatory scene. The Collector appears. M'Baku returns to help T'Challa and the Avengers. Shuri gets to banter with Banner. - the Red Skull’s return… even though he has only a brief scene, it confirmed he was only teleported away and not killed by the Tessaract. - The entire battle with Thanos on Titan. It’s just cool to see heroes all battling a single enemy as opposed to another faceless army. - Nebula confronting Thanos on Titan, and her inclusion at all in the film. I hope she plays a bigger role in the next part. - Thor’s adventure with Rocket and Groot to get a new hammer. He is still obsessed with hammers…. - Giant Peter Dinklage… - “Thor, you’re about to take the full force of a star… it will kill you.” “ONLY IF I DIE!” …“Yes, that’s what killing you means…” - “WHY IS GAMORA?!” - Thanos getting more and more somber and depressed as the movie went along, especially after sacrificing Gamora, the only person he cared about. - "Tell them about the dance-off to save the galaxy." Footloose. - Quill’s angry reaction to Thanos killing Gamora and screwing the heroes… it’s perfectly in character. He’s always been an immature man-child, even with the development he received in the previous films. Part of his curse of being raised by the Ravagers. Likewise, who would NOT have an emotional outburst like that? Stark had one in Civil War. - War Machine back in action. Blowing shit up. - Winter Soldier/White Wolf alongside Rocket Raccoon……. - Thanos throwing chunks of a moon at the heroes. Tony: “If you throw another moon at me…” - Thanos’ admiration of Stark. “I hope they remember you” - Later he tries to comfort Scarlet Witch after she kills Vision. If he wasn’t a maniac hellbent on universal genocide with a history of child abuse, he might be an ok guy… - Thor’s heroic return with Stormbringer. Seeing him back to full power was great, though… it takes away a bit from his development in Ragnarok… He’s not a god of hammers… why does he need one so much? - Thor keeps calling Rocket “rabbit” and Groot “tree”. Didnt bother to learn names - “This is my friend, Tree”, “I am Groot”, “I am Steve Rogers” - Okoye + Black Widow + Scarlet Witch vs. Proxima Midnight - Vision sacrificing himself, and Wanda having to witness him die twice. - “You should have gone for the head!” - The ending… the fingersnap. The dissolve into ashes… The character’s reactions to these deaths is what makes it all work, even if we the audience know it probably won’t be permanent. - “Mr. Stark, I don’t feel so good…” and “I don’t wanna go I don’t wanna go… I’m sorry”…… - Knowing what Tony must have felt when Peter disappeared… probably adds a whole new level to his current PTSD… - Dr. Strange clearly playing the long game, even at the sacrifice of himself and half the universe. “Tony, it was the only way”… Witnessing their deaths 14 million times must have been rough. - Cap gets the last words in the movie: “Oh god….” - The simple end credits, playing almost like an “in mermoriam” - The fact that we have no idea where the heck Avengers 4 is going plotwise…. will those who became dust in the wind return? Seems likely since Homecoming 2 and GOTG vol. 3 are filming soon… and like they’d kill off Black Panther after he made ALL THE MONEY before this movie made all the money again. - “Motherfu-”

Things I didn’t like:

- Heimdall again gets kinda shafted… after getting such a prominent role in Ragnarok. At least he got a last heroic gesture by sending Hulk home. - Loki dying so early to be motivation for Thor. Unless he has more up his sleeve in a long play, having him try to stab Thanos in the face felt like sloppy storytelling. What if he succeeded? The Black Order is RIGHT THERE. They would’ve killed both him and Thor anyways. Loki probably knew death was imminent and wanted one last act of defiance and proof of loyalty to Thor and Asgard. I don’t mind him dying early on, but I feel the writers should have been smarter about his actions. - The GotG felt a bit flanderized. I get it though since they need to share screentime here. Quill remains immature and childish and it leads to disaster. Drax merely spouts comedic lines and is generally useless. Mantis is not much of a fighter but at least managed to subdue Thanos a bit. Groot barely registered at all until he makes the handle for Stormbreaker. Groot meeting Captain America was amusing though. - No one during the Wakanda fight calls attention to the talking raccoon… - Cap, Falcon, and Black Widow also didn’t get a whole lot to do. Their fights seemed to devolve into shakey-cam BS. - Vision was nerfed for sake of the plot. Guess he’d otherwise be too OP. - What was the point of Red Skull being there at all… if you replace him with someone else, would it have affected the plot in any way? Why was he floating like a spectre of Death? - Rocket just gives Thor a new eye…. guess they got tired of CGI-ing that eyepatch on Thor. - The fake-out of Gamora killing Thanos in Knowhere… of course they’re not killing the villain in the first third of the movie. - Gamora’s death… when she asked Peter to kill her, I knew she’s probably going to die. Of course not by Peter… the scene of her, Peter, and Thanos was a good one though. - Something about the scene on Vormir felt… heavy-handed. Maybe the music? The silly fade to Thanos’ crying face when Gamora is falling to her doom? Something just took me out of the moment… maybe the awareness that i was looking at a purple, ballsack-chinned, CGI space man crying CGI tears. - The Black Order… generic looking scary alien people… They didn’t amount to a whole lot. Just excuses for more fight scenes. They all die inglorious deaths. - The final battle in Wakanda was another giant brawl with faceless alien monster people… there’s nothing creative about it. - There is no build-up to that battle either… it just happens. Take a page out of Peter Jackson’s The Two Towers… the build-up is just as, if not more important than the battle itself. - Hawkeye and Ant-Man being convieniently written out of the movie… - Where is Valkyrie? and Korg? Not even enough time to give them a mention? Valkyrie might’ve been helpful in the ensuing fight… - Thanos didn’t seem to use the Gauntlet to its full potential despite demonstrating some wild powers. He mostly just shoots purple beams at people… - Thanos is “burdened with knowledge” and thus knows who Stark is…. ok…. what. - The pacing of the movie felt too relentless. Let the movie breathe a bit dammit. - The CGI in some scenes screamed of “reshoots”… Banner in the Hulkbuster comes to mind. Iron Man and Spidey’s Iron suits looked very cartoonish. The Black Order’s CGI looked very off in a few scenes. Could they not have achieved Proxima, Corvius, and Maw using prosthetics? Thanos looked very convincing though, even if his look was a tad simplistic. - The music… you hear the Avengers theme occassionally… but there’s no memorable new music. We don’t hear any of the respective themes of the various characters. No Guardians theme, no Dr. Strange theme, no Iron Man or Captain America or Spider-Man or Thor themes…. Music should factor into this “culmination movie” as much as the characters. Least we got the Black Panther theme when we see Wakanda again. If somehow the different themes get interwoven into a new melody…. plz Avengers 4? -Knowing that this was a part 1 of a 2-part finale sort of robbed the movie of a sense that the deaths will be permenant… but I would like to be surprised in Avengers 4. The question is seemingly “how” they will defeat Thanos and revive their allies, and not “if” they do…

Overall, there is a lot of good in this movie. It’s not as… “fun” as the previous Avengers movies or even Civil War. They tried to be a lot darker, and for the most part they succeeded. The issues I have are mostly nitpicks to the plot, and minor issues with the craft involved.

After two viewings, I don’t feel the need to really watch it again… until Avengers 4 next year.

8.25/10

Let the games begin - Ch. 3

Photo created and gifted by the marvelous: @wonders-of-the-enterprise

Today were taking it back to the Enterprise to see how Jim and Leonard are coping. You get three guesses and the first two don’t count :)

2,364 word(s) of angsty, sad goodness.

Chapter 1 - Chapter 2

I think I have decided on around 7 chapters. SO, if you wanted to be tagged for the rest, yay! just shoot me a message. If you don’t want to be tagged, then shoot me a message and I will try to keep my tears to a minimum, and go to my room until further notice. Be gentle. I am a delicate flower.

Special thanks to: @outside-the-government for encouraging me to write again, and for being my beta and idea bouncer. Also @imoutofmyvulcanmind for being an idea bouncer, yay!

Tags: @star-trekkin-across-theuniverse @feelmyroarrrr @fandomheadrush @yourtropegirl @bkwrm523 @trekkimagines201 @arrowsshootyouforwards @captian-hannah-kirk @hellhoundsandunicorns @kaitymccoy123 @starmission @kilismaiden @malindacath @starr-trekkk

Jim sat in his Captain’s chair, wound up tight, barely hearing all the commotion around him. He had all the crew looking and listening to anything and everything that could possible give him a hint or a clue as to where you and Jo had been taken.

“Were being hailed Captain” Uhura exclaimed as she punched away at a few buttons.

“On screen” Jim ordered, tearing his face away from his hands to glace up.

The face of the Romulan who took you captive filled the screen. Jims eyes narrowed with anger.

“Greetings, Captain Kirk. So nice to finally meet you.” Ajek said, giving Jim a smirk.

“Where is my sister?” Jim asked frostily, gritting his teeth.

“Ah, straight to the point I see. Well, no need to leave you suffering. Your sister is suffering plenty enough for you both.” Ajek said as his face disappeared from the screen and video of everything you’ve been through so far began to flash on the screen.

From Kujeth cracking you in the head, to being roughly examined, to being chained up in the middle of the forest, to you attacking the man, to running from the wolves, to you finally flinging yourself and Jo over the cliff. The video feed cut out and Ajek’s face came back on screen.

Jim didn’t realize he had stopped breathing and his fingers were dug into the chair so deep, that they started to leave marks. His lungs were screaming for oxygen as he struggled to take in breaths, trying not to make it obvious. He had to keep it together.

“As you can see Captain, she is still alive, at least I assume. That tumble off the cliff did look like a long way down” Ajek sneered, trying his best to dig into Jim.

“Who the hell are you and why are you doing this to my sister?” Jim eyed him, barely keeping himself contained.

“Your sister asked the same thing, Captain. I’ll save you the agony of waiting and get on with it. My name is Ajek, but you might be more familiar with my father… Nero.” Ajek finished, reveling in the hushed silence that fell across the bridge.

There was a pregnant pause before Jim leapt up from his chair, yelling.

“You sick son of a bitch! This is about revenge isn’t it?! We offered your father help and he refused! It wasn’t our fault he chose to die rather than swallow his pride. My sister has nothing to do with his decision or his death” Jim spat venomously, hands resting on the back of his chair for support, chest heaving after his outburst.

“Captain…” Spock said quietly, coming in slowly to Jim’s side.

That was all he needed to say to get Jim to realize that he needed to calm down. Jim came back over and sat down in his chair heavily, still trying to catch his breath.

“That doesn’t change the fact that you let him die, Captain. He’s still dead because of you, is he not? You took away everything from me on that ship. Now I have everything important to you!” Ajek sneered “You will watch her suffer until the end. I don’t know about you, but I’m looking forward to it. Until next time, Captain.” Ajek’s face disappeared as the video cut off suddenly.

The bridge was grave silent as they either continued to stare at the screen or stare at the Captain waiting for instructions. Jim sat there staring at the screen before he snapped out of it.

“Trace that call, run algorithms on it, do whatever you need to do. I don’t care what it takes, you find out where that came from. That’s an order”

The bridge came to life with a bunch of “yes Captains, right away Captains” as people returned to their stations.

Jim was still planted firmly in his seat, trying his hardest to keep it all under control, failing miserably. He didn’t even notice when Spock came to stand beside him.

“Captain” Spock began cautiously. He placed a hand on Jim’s shoulder lightly. So lightly that if Jim wasn’t seeing it, he wouldn’t have realized it was there. Jim sat there, staring at the screen where you and Jo were seconds before, barely able to breathe, his mind reeling.

“We will find them, Jim”. Spock promised quietly, staring at his friend in concern.

“You have the conn, mister Spock.” Jim said quickly as he shot up out of his chair and made his way off the bridge.

Leonard. He needed to find Leonard.

Jim had been searching and trying to comm Leonard for an hour to no avail, giving him the time to cool off before he had this talk with him.

“Where the hell are you, Bones?” Jim muttered to himself. Suddenly he had an epiphany. Jim about faced and headed quickly down the hall. He stopped abruptly and punched in the code on the keypad.

As the door to your quarters opened, Jim could see Leonard sitting at the kitchen counter, staring at a tumbler filled to the brim with bourbon.

Jim made his way inside and approached Leonard. “Jesus Bones, how much have you had?” Jim asked eyeing the empty bottles on top of the counter.

“Not nearly enough.” Leonard mumbled, slurring his words, his drawl out in full force.

“Well I think you’ve had enough for now.” Jim said softly as he moved the glass and pitcher slightly out of Leonards reach. Leonard made no movement to protest, only staring at the now vacant spot the pitcher previously occupied.

“Talk to me Bones, what’s on your mind?” Jim asked sincerely, trying to get his friend to look at him.

“You don’t wanna know Jim.” Leonard replied, refusing to look Jim in the face.

“Sure I do. Let it all out, It’ll be good for you.” Jim told him. Leonard said nothing at first and only steeled his gaze at the counter.

“Where the fuck do I start, Jim? I just lost my daughter, she wasn’t even here 12 hours and she gets kidnapped! What kind of father lets that happen?! God dammit, Jocelyn is going to kill me, Jim!” Leonard yelled, then paused for a moment and continued in a hushed cracking voice “Joce is never going to let me see my little girl ever again, Jim.” Leonard finally finished, slouching his shoulders forward in defeat.

“Like hell you won’t, Bones. Joce will have to get through me and Y/N first if she even thinks about taking Jo away from you” Jim said threateningly “Y/N would murder her, she already hates her guts anyway. That would just give her a good excuse”

“What about Y/N, Jim?” Leonard asked quietly, changing the subject. Jim sighed and rubbed his face with his hands.

“Despite my obvious calm, cool, and collected exterior, I’m about to lose my fucking mind Bones. Were all each others got and I swear to God, if they hurt her or Jo…” Jim trailed off, taking Leonards grim demeanor into consideration.

“Bones, if anyone can protect Jo, its Y/N. You should be glad that she’s with her” Jim said, changing directions.

“Why is that, Jim?” Leonard asked, still looking the complete opposite of glad. Jim sat down next to Leonard, not looking forward to this conversation.

“I know I’ve told you some of our past, but never any details” Jim started, wringing his hands slightly.

“Details of what?” Leonard asked, finally looking over to Jim, knowing where this was probably headed.

“Tarsus IV.” Jim said quietly “this is going to require a lot of alcohol...” he trailed off as he made to grab  Leonards full tumbler. Leonard sat in silence as Jim drained the glass in a few long pulls. He sat the glass down softly and refilled it, placing it back in front of Leonard. Leonard ignored it, giving Jim his full attention.

“You know the surface details, all the stuff in the news and the articles. What you don’t know is the lengths we had to go to to survive. Jim said as he began to stare at the place Leonard was staring at previously, trying not to concentrate too much on what he was saying.

“They had put us all in a group, all the children. The ones who were too young to be of any good, just a waste of resources. They led us out into the woods, and we knew what was coming. We had heard the previous screams and gunfire, despite them trying to keep us separated in a building. As they led us out into the woods, Y/N and I made a break for it, a few of the other kids followed our lead. Thankfully it was getting dark so it was hard to see, but still some of us didn’t make it” Jim closed his eyes trying to keep it together, taking a breath before he continued.

“We were out there for two months, give or take. Y/N was the only girl and the youngest to make it in our little group of eight. She had to work twice as hard for everything, fighting, hunting, climbing, getting enough to eat, you name it”

Leonard was completely silent, eyes wide, barely daring himself to breathe. Jim and Y/N never talked about Tarsus IV, and here Jim was, spilling his guts, trying to make him feel better. He felt a twinge of guilt but decided to ignore it. He wanted to know, he needed to know.

“And boy did she ever. The first month was hard, we barely had enough to eat, almost froze to death multiple nights, or almost eaten by predators. The other kids would pick fights with Y/N over food, sleeping space, anything and everything. Even though it sucked, it ended up helping us, by the end of the first month, Y/N could outfight any of the others, hunt better than any of them, and climb trees faster than anyone. That’s when we decided to go off on our own, and spent the last month just the two of us. Y/N kept us both alive for the most part, Bones” Jim paused, staring vaguely in the distance, as if in another place.

“Jim...” Leonard said softly, trying to bring Jim back to himself.

“Sorry Bones, that’s enough of that” Jim said crisply, making it clear that the subject was closed “so Bones, if anyone can take care of Jojo, and keep her safe, its Y/N. She would do anything for that little girl” Jim finished, grabbing Leonard’s ignored glass and downing it in one long pull.

“I know, that’s what I’m afraid of Jim.”  Leonard replied softly, picking at the edge of a mat on the counter.

“What do you mean?” Jim looked up at Bones confused, sitting the glass down softly.

For a moment Leonard didn’t answer. When he finally went to speak, his lips parted but no words came out.

“Spit it out, Bones” Jim encouraged.

Leonard sucked in a deep, jagged breath. “I love her, Jim” Leonard finally spat out, looking Jim in the eyes.

“YOU WHAT!?” Jim’s eyes went wide in shock, practically leaping out of his chair.

“I love her, Jim.” Leonard repeated, the words tumbling out more freely this time.

“HOW, WHEN, WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME?!” Jim proceeded to flip out, trying to think back and figure out when this all started and how the hell he seemed to miss it.

“Jim, calm down, please.” Leonard asked softly. Jim placed his hands on the back of the chair and lowered his forehead to rest on the edge of it.

“You love my sister?” Jim suddenly calm, lifting his head and slowly allowing a glare to overcome his eyes.

“Yes Jim, I do. I have for a while, mostly since working together in med bay. There’s just something about her, Jim. She’s like my rock. She keeps me calm, cool and collected when all I want to do is freak out. She makes me feel more like myself when I’m with her, more than I have in years. I don’t know what I’d do without her. I don’t know what I’ll do if we can’t get her back Jim, or Jo. I can’t lose them… My baby girl... I can’t…” Leonard confessed as a tear fell down his cheek, giving him the most heartbreaking look that Jim had ever seen on his face.

Any anger that he had for his best friend falling in love with his sister, immediately dissolved. If anyone deserved his sister, hell, it was Leonard. Jim poured Leonard another glass and handed it to him. Leonard took this one without question and quickly downed it.

“We’re going to get them back, Bones. I swear to you, we’re going to get them back” Jim said resolved “The whole crew is working on it. We all want them back”. Leonard just sat there and wiped his cheek with his hand.

“Alright, Bones. I’m cutting you off for the night” Jim said as he took the tumbler from Leonards hand.

“I know, you’re right, Jim” Leonard said defeated, not even arguing with Jim.

“Want me to walk you to your quarters?” Jim asked, moving to help Leonard stand.

“No” Leonard said quickly “I’d like to stay here”

Not having the heart to refuse his friend, Jim just nodded in agreement. “Alright Bones, go get some rest. I’m going back to the bridge to see if anyone has found anything yet.”

Leonard only nodded in reply as Jim clasped his hand on his shoulder and gave it a slight squeeze.

“Hang in there Bones.” Jim said softly as he turned to leave and headed back to the bridge.

As the doors swished closed quietly, Leonard let out a large sigh and took a look around your empty quarters. Tears prickled at his eyes once more as he ran his hand over the back of the couch, where you all sat barely two days prior.

Leonard lowered his head in silent defeat as he rubbed his face with his hands as he staggered into your bedroom, maybe he did have enough he thought, as he leaned against the door frame for support. He slowly made his way over and crawled into your bed. He traced his hand over the sheets where you usually lay, still ruffled slightly from where you had slept last before leaving the ship.

Leonard looked over to your end table and saw Joanna’s favorite teddy bear that he got her for her fourth birthday sticking out of her backpack. He reached out for it and took it in his hands, looking into the teddy bears eyes for a few moments. He then placed his hand on the teddy bear’s head, feeling its softness, and closed his eyes. He pulled it close to him, squeezing it tightly, as the tears finally began to fall and soak into its soft fur. He buried his head in your pillow and inhaled deeply, letting your soft scent calm his frazzled and bourbon soaked mind as he slowly drifted off into a restless sleep.

Subject: Aiden Memory: #31520

Aiden looked to the older redhaired Italian, both leaning back against the wooden wall waiting for their parents to get out of another meeting. The girl looked over to him and laughed softly. 

“What?” He crosses his arms.

“You look so damned grouchy.”

“The groups were supposed to behave, now Grandpa and all them have to deal with this bullshit attack on Duncan of all people. This isn’t right, Ma can’t go back to fighting, neither can your father.” 

Ava’s look softened slightly. “I know you didn’t grow up dealing with this side of it, but this is better than it used to be. Your ma and Jack will be just fine, no one is going to go fighting anyone yet. Most of them are dead by Ducan’s sword anyway. Your Ma only is in there to make sure he is healing right. It’s a politics thing.”

“That is bullshit and you know it. They agreed to stand down and stop the war. They aren’t. When grandpa, Marcus, and Ma die, they will just start right back at what they were doing. Then what? Ally already was attacked once, it’s our turn Ava. We are the next line to show them they can’t push the armistice.” 

“Scamp, you forget I was part of this already. Your ma and Ally nearly died defending me turning the wars that lead up to the Armistice. Ana, us, and Ally’s expected child, we are the legacy, not the next line. The group pushes at the armistice because they are testing us, that is not enough to start another war. Our people have been at war for hundreds of years, let us just have some peace.”

“We aren’t at peace, we have our hands tied. We are getting pushed around and they won’t do anything about it because at least they can’t force chicitos into training camps anymore, and they don’t hold enough power to actually overthrow it, and we can’t abuse the new power we have. God damn it Ava can’t you see this is temporary unless we fight back now, while they can’t overthrow us? It’s a matter of time until they start everything back up again.”

“Aiden-” Ava went to say something when the door opened. The two teens stood as the adults began to walk out. Marcus stepped out of the room, eying his daughter and Aiden. 

“Eavesdropping are ya?” He jokes, wrapping his arm around Ava’s shoulders. 

“No Papa, just talking.” Ava flashes him a smile before glancing at Aiden. Aiden just nodded and she sighed before leaving with her father. Jack and Lily walked out, Lily looking tired. Aiden went to them. 

“So?” 

“Mijo, I know what you are going to say, but it isn’t that simple. Jack can’t just order those who are loyal to us to start fighting after promising them peace. Even if we decided to declare this a breach of the Armistice, we would need to get the other Captains to agree to it. Right now we just have to let them test the line and be thankful they haven’t fully declared war again.” 

“That is bullshit. You were the greatest captains and crew on the seas, now your scared of a bunch of land-loving snakes!” 

“Aiden. We didn’t have as much to protect then. We had nothing to lose that hadn’t already been put at risk. My decisions nearly killed my sister, your ma, Marcus’s kids, we nearly lost every child close to us. Imagine now what would happen. How many people would get hurt that hasn’t agreed to any of this?”

“How many people have been hurt anyway? I lived my first 10 years not knowing anything about this because the groups wanted me and my ma dead. Tell me again who this is keeping people safe, you couldn’t even keep her safe-”

“Aiden Antonio Ponderosa, you do not speak to him in that way. What happened before is not his fault, nor anyone’s but the groups and mine. Apologize and go make yourself useful in a way that gets rid of that attitude.” Lily says, grabbing his arm. 

Aiden scowls and glares between them a moment. “Lo siento senor.” He glances at the floor before Lily released him to walk away. He made it to the deck before Ava grabbed his arm and dragged him off onto the dock and away from the ship. 

“Ay, Frailecillo where the hell are we going?”

“Hush, just shut up and follow me alright? Sam and Thomas came all the way here to talk with us, but your ma can’t know.” 

Aiden blinks and follows her without question. As they approach a building, Ava and Aiden are yanked into a side alley. Aiden struggled against the arm locked around his neck, a spell forming on his lips as his hand locked onto the man's forearm. 

"Easy Rat, it's just me." Thomas chuckles. 

"Then get your arm off my throat you queen's codsucker before I blow your arm off." 

Thomas releases Aiden, pulling him into a hug, which was begrudgingly returned after a moment, Aiden seems to relax in the embrace. The two pull away, Thomas clasping Aiden on the shoulders. 

“Look how big you have gotten, how strong you are. It’s only been what, a few years?” Thomas smiles softly before looking over to Sam and Ava, who looks like there were in a bit more of a scuffle. Thomas releases Aiden and walks over to the other two. Aiden goes to Ava, brushing her disheveled hair away from her cheek to see the scrape. He shot a look at Sam, earning a laugh from the man. 

“What brings you all the way to Italy? I thought you two didn’t leave Britain much sense Ma returned to the Captians?” 

“We don’t. To be honest, I’m not even sure we should have come down here, after all, Mouse hasn’t made an appearance in years, and her loyalty clearly has changed.” Sam responded, looking a tad bit upset, despite the attempt to bury the look of betrayal.

“We aren’t here because of your Ma’s loyalty. I have little doubt she would come if we called, even if she isn’t in a condition to run missions for us. We are here because of you two. Your loyalty to our group and the Captain’s put you high on our list of importance. As such, I think it is important for you to know the Groups, who have begun to call themselves the  soldiers, spies, anything as they can.” 

Coalition instead of the Dark and White Half immortals and are acting as one group under one new leader, have been making waves in the hidden groups. They are gathering as many Aiden looks to Ava pointedly. “They are building for war. I told you.”

“That doesn’t mean anything. They wouldn’t dare do anything.” Ava says with a roll of her eyes. Thomas shakes his head. 

“They are planning to attack the Captian’s. Soon, within a few days. Dana, Marcus, Maria, Jack, Lyra, Duncan, all of them. On their list of targets also is Ally, his wife Isabela, Ana, Lily, and you two. As you know, Ally and Lily were part of our group as well, but refuse to see us, especially since Lily returned. We are supposed to be neutral, and the only reason we came to tell you is that we owe your family for being able to run how we are with the armistice in place, and for the continued loyalty. The hidden groups cannot help you with this. If it comes down to it, we can help hide you two, Ally and his family, and Lily. But that is all, I am sorry.” Thomas looks to them apologetically. 

“You are telling me they are setting up to wipe us out and you cowards are going to sit back and watch? After everything they have done for you?”

“Aiden-” Thomas’s gaze softened, but Aiden already had turned and walked away. Ava glared at the men a moment before following after him. Ava had to jog to catch up with him. 

“Scamp, wait. Please, Aiden, we need to talk about this. Sam and Thomas came down all this way because they wanted to help.” 

“Sam and Thomas? So that’s what you two run off and do now? Ava, you were raised better.” The familiar voice froze both of them for a moment as they looked over to the man leaning against the dock post. 

“You joined him too Ally, you don’t have much room to talk.” Aiden shot back.

“What would your parents think you two? I know Papa wouldn’t be too happy with you, and Lily very clearly told you not to continue talking with them Aiden.” 

“Fuck off. They are helping us.” Aiden snaps. Ava gives him a small shove and looks to her brother. 

“You may have left them, but we made our own choices. the hidden groups are different then what they used to be, most are loyal to the armistice or the grey. Tell the Captians, I don’t care. They couldn’t stop Lark or Mouse, they won’t stop us.”

Ally grit his teeth standing up and looking between the two of them. “That person doesn’t exist anymore, neither of them do. Sam and Thomas might help, but Komodo and Lynx will kill you without a second thought. You may have been raised by them, but I know who they actually are.“

“You don’t know them, you are scared of them,” Aiden growls softly before pushing past the older man. “If if they scare you, then we certainly should,” he muttered.

A Star Wars Fanfiction

Finding Freedom

Chapter 22

The days between her arrival at the Resistance base and the small reconnaissance sent out to check on how reliable her information was, seemed long. In that time Xalaina confined herself to a single room for most of her days.

The fact that most of the Galaxy had seen the message by her father almost guaranteed that a good amount of people, including rebels would know who she was. Though from the small time she spent walking through the base it seemed they either didn't care or actually hadn't seen the message.

Either way, Xalaina was in no hurry to do any sort of meet and greet. Instead, she waited for General Leia to come to her and express some sort of trust.

Xalaina couldn't blame the General for being cautious and until her team comes back from their mission, she probably would not be willing to allow Xalaina to join anyone on any of those plans.

But eventually, Xalaina hoped she would. She was not content to sit idly by forever. She wanted to help her father fall in all ways that she could. She was happy that she had been able to escape and bring her information to people who can make a difference, but she didn't plan to stop there.

She might not be the one to ultimately kill her father, but she was happy enough knowing she was behind the team that does.

Ren was another issue. He'd helped Xalaina escape, this was true, but beyond that, it was hard to say what might happen. When they meet again they may be enemies, but Xalaina wanted to be prepared for that.

She would train hard. All those years she'd spent running from her training, being idle while traveling the universe are over. She would return to training herself to be the warrior her father had been trying to mold her into, only this time she would be in total control.

If she should come face to face with Ren and they are indeed enemies she would not hold back. She would not hesitate. He will have chosen his path as she did hers.

There was a tightness in her stomach at the thought of Kylo Ren's death. She pushed aside the thought and went back to thinking of everything she knew.

While she'd been telling Leia her information, Xalaina had begun to remember other things that could be useful as well. So she began to ponder back on her life, on the places she'd seen in person or on some console screen. Trying to pull conversations from her mind that she might have overheard but at the time given no heed to. Every ounce of intel she could muster was more valuable that any thought of the future.

Now was not the time to think of what could be, but rather how to achieve it.

XxX

Leia sat looking over the paperwork in front of her. For some, it might seem overwhelming, but to her, it was a welcome distraction. It wasn't the usual office papers of course.

Maps of the systems throughout the Galaxy, of the planets themselves, sat rolled neatly in a basket on the floor while others lay open beneath some of the papers on her desk.

The paperwork was more research than anything. The information provided by Xalaina was making it easier to narrow down the many bases the First Order had. It gave a hint to which planets may be aiding them or captured by them. How far their reach truly was.

She'd been getting regular coded message back from the small team she'd sent out to scout some of the information. So far everything held up as Leia hoped it would.

There was something about Xalaina that seemed genuine, but also cold and calculating. She wasn't here to simply help them win this war. She wasn't here to save them. It was clear she had her own agenda. Leia was unsure if this agenda would work in the Resistance favour or not, but she couldn't condemn the girl after everything she'd brought them.

Some in the Resistance who had seen the intergalactic bounty announcement placed on Xalaina's had already expressed their concern to Leia. That she would be more trouble than she was worth.

Others refused to believe she was a victim and judged her solely based on the fact Xalaina was Snoke's daughter.

Leia couldn't judge her that way. Not when her own son worked for the First Order. Leia knew how manipulative Snoke could be. He preyed on Ben, feeding him lies and convincing him to turn on Luke, on his family.

Xalaina was shrouded in shadow, and Leia somewhat felt sorry for her regardless of not knowing anything about her on a personal level. Leia may not be as one with the Force as Luke, but she sometimes felt things. Speaking to Xalaina, Leia felt sadness and longing.

Leia wanted to ask more about Ben. How close had Xalaina been to him? How had he been acting? Had the death of his father changed his mind whatsoever? Leia had thousands of questions and held her tongue on them all.

No one in the Resistance knew what happened to Ben. Leia had kept it a secret. She'd hoped that he'd come back to them and when he did she didn't want judgement passed. The Dark Side was a strong seduction, perhaps even an addiction.

That's not to say anything Ben has done isn't his fault but as a mother, Leia just wanted him back. She wanted a second chance to make it right despite the wrongs he's done.

She was sure that Ben would feel his own turmoil and grief at his actions some day. She wondered if Xalaina might have been someone Ben would have opened up to.

Still, she couldn't ask. She didn't want to risk anyone finding out. Rey kept it quiet and even Finn promised to say nothing. Xalaina also promised to keep her lips sealed even though Leia hadn't even brought it up.

Lies and secrets. That was how she'd lost Ben to begin with. How it made him easier to be manipulated by Snoke, and here she was still keeping secrets.

Leia shook off the thoughts and looked back to the papers. She needed to concentrate.

XxX

The thought of tea was odd to Xalaina. A chat over tea seemed like something friends might do, not an informant and her General.

It had been a week and a half since Leia sent her team out regarding some information Xalaina had provided. They had returned. Despite keeping to herself in a room, for the most part, she also kept her eyes open and sometimes slipped from her room late at night to at least assess her situation.

Xalaina was not surprised to see the General at her room door only hours after the ship had returned, but she was surprised to receive a invite for tea so that they might have a discussion.

Xalaina watched everything around her as she followed General Leia back to her office. The desk had been cleared off and in its place was a platter adorned with a tea set. Xalaina sat in a chair opposite Leia while the General poured the piping hot beverage.

Xalaina added honey and milk and then lay the tea aside to cool. "I take it your team brought back good news." Xalaina began not enjoying the silence that had followed since Leia's invite.

"It did." She smiled. "But that's not why I invited you here. Tell me more about yourself."

Xalaina paused all thoughts to stare at the older woman. She evaluated her answers before deciding to avoid answering at all. "We can skip these pleasantries if all your hoping for is information regarding Ben."

Leia's expression did not change as she shook her head. "He is not here, you are. I can't help but wonder what happened to bring you here. Not just the final fight between yourself and your father but before then."

Xalaina had told Leia about Snoke's grand scheme to use both herself and Ren to produce a Force Sensitive child. She had not told her much else regarding her relationship with Snoke and she had no real desire to now. Only Ren knew how deep her scars ran and it would stay that way.

"Poe tells me you were captured alongside him during the raid on Jakku." Leia nudged her for information and Xalaina sighed in annoyance.

"I was. Up until only recently, no one had a clue who my parents were. They had no reason to. I was a thing my father kept close only because one day I might have worth. While Snoke decided what to do with me I was off wandering the Galaxy. Anything to stay far away, but unfortunately, he caught up with me by accident on Jakku. I chose to be captured only because it was my best option at the time." Xalaina shrugged.

"So his men didn't know who they captured?" Leia seemed surprised by this.

"Neither did Ren." Xalaina frowned. She always found it odd that her father hadn't at least told his pet about her, but then again her father, as of late, has proven to be unreadable in many things.

Leia paused to consider her words. "So Snoke doesn't hold him in as close a council as Ben believes." There was hope hanging on her tone.

"I am sure my father sugar coated it when he was forced to explain." Xalaina picked up her tea and began to sip it as she waited for another question. She'd enlighten the General at least a little on her curiosities.

"You said your father was waiting to find a use for you?" She clearly disapproved of Snoke's parenting.

"He did find a use for me, sort of. As a way of motivating his beloved Captian Hux to succeed in his mission to build a super weapon and target those who oppose the First Order, he promised Hux that he could marry me. I was a barter between men. It's of little matter now. All thoughts of a marriage to Hux disappeared when Snoke thought of his new plan to breed me." The disgust that appeared and disappeared on the General's face said it all.

Xalaina couldn't blame her. It was a very disturbing situation now that Xalaina had time to really think it over.

"He doesn't treat your son that way. He's manipulating him, yes, but he knows there is a limit to what he can get away with. Ben gets away with things I could never have dreamt of." Xalaina didn't know why she wanted to bring Leia some relief, she just did.

As much as Leia wanted Xalaina to believe this conversation wasn't about Ben, it really was. Even if it was only deep down subconsciously. The General lost her son and then her husband to the man her son had become. The Resistance was all she had left and hope.

"Do you think it's too late for him?" Leia gave in to her curiosities.

"It's never too late unless you are dead. I told him that before leaving. The choice is his, it always has been. There are times he shows signs of impatience and rebellion, but I wouldn't put my hopes in those moments.  They were few and far between and usually fuelled by an event that caused him to be angry."

Leia nodded. "I'm glad you got away," the General reached across her desk and touched her hand to Xalaina's. Xalaina had the urge to haul away but resisted it. Instead, she looked the former princess in her beautiful brown eyes and exhaled a strange sigh of relief.

She'd never had anyone give her such an honest look before. She'd never had someone touch her with such a gentle reassuring gesture. It gave Xalaina a flood of emotion that for a moment told her she was going to be okay.

A loud frantic knock on the door interrupted the moment and Xalaina was glad for it. She pulled away from Leia's touch just as the door opened without permission.

"General, a ship has a flown in..., it's the Millennium Falcon!" Poe Dameron grinned from ear to ear as did Leia.

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