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rjhpandapaws · 1 year

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Outrun the Storm

//TW: Identity Crisis, Mild Depressive Episode, Disregard for personal safety

Deep down, he knows he should have just warped to Hateno. He's only Hylian, he can't outrun a winter storm, especially not one coming down from Lanayru, but it's too late for that now. He's too far from the shrine in the Domain, and on top of that, it will soothe the itch under his skin better if he walks. He needs to wander or he is gong to do something stupid. He may do something stupid anyway, just to get it out of his system. The wind is screaming and the rain is pelting him with the intent to bruise, and it is the best thing he has felt in ages, save for the many nights he's spent talking with Sidon far later than is advisable. In this weather it will take him close to a week to get back to Hateno. Maybe longer in the event he decides to take the scenic route, or if the monsters are particularly dense. The rain makes him think of Mipha. He doesn't remember her, not really, but he knows from Sidon's stories that she his kind, from her own spirit that she was also a Champion, and from every other Zora that she had apparently loved him dearly. He just doesn't know how he felt about her, if he felt anything at all. With the other three Champions there was at least something, but with Mipha it is frustratingly blank. When it rains its worse, and he doesn't know if that is because of Vah Ruta or something else.

He of course has the things Sidon has told him of her. They were childhood friends, or at least as close to it as a Hylian and a Zora could get, and she had marveled at his recklessness. She was a healer by nature, he knew that even before making use of her divine Grace, and he wondered how much of that marveling had actually been worry. It wasn't like he could ever remember her commenting on it; as it was he could barely remember what she looked like. The winter rain had chilled him already despite his Rito armor, but then again it was meant to keep away the cold of snow, not water. He was a quarter of the way down the path out of the Domain, if he could find an outcrop or a cave he could take a break for a moment and start a fire. The thought of being still even for that long aggravated the itch under his skin, there would be no resting here. He'd already stayed in the Domain for too long. Not in the sense that he had overstayed his welcome, he knew that, it was more that he had been in the same place for too long. There was plenty to explore, but after a while it wasn't enough to keep the urge to be lost at bay. He hadn't left when it started getting bad, because leaving meant saying goodbye to Sidon and he hadn't wanted to do that just yet. Being around Sidon was easy, and he'd grown used to it. In the Domain he wasn't a Hero or a Knight; he was just a strange little Hylian with too much energy and not enough to do. He enjoyed running errands for the other Zora, diving off questionably high ledges just because he could, and talking with Sidon until all hours of the night because time felt like it stopped when it was just the two of them. So he had stayed until the need to get out and explore had become physically painful.

By mid afternoon Link is cold enough that it's almost painful. Rather than make a camp of his own he takes over a lizalfos camp and settles by what had been their fire. It saves him some resources and time in that he no longer has to try and fight with the rain to get a fire started. The fight ended quickly but it helped to settle some of his nervous energy. He sits as close to the fire as he can get without risking igniting himself or his armor, he's done that enough times to know it won't help him get warm. As much as it had seemed like it at the time. He pulls out the Slate to try and make a plan, the first step is obviously going back to Hateno. He needs to check his mail in case Zelda sent him anything that requires his immediate attention, or rather had, he's a little late for that now. He'll stock up on weapons and supplies while here's there. Then what? If he heads toward Kakriko he'll be moving on long the edge of the storm, assuming it comes down from Lanayru at all. If it does it will bring snow and that's not something Link wants to be caught in. He could head back to Gerudo Valley, but he doesn't really feeling like getting all manner of sun burnt just to have to dress like a girl. There's not much to explore out that way anyway. Just sand that he won't be able to get out of his armor for months, and heat stroke if he isn't careful. Sidon would love the Kara Kara Bazaar though. The thought catches Link off guard and he stares into the fire for a long moment. Sidon spent a lot of time talking about how much he would love to see the world beyond the Domain eventually. He often asked Link about his travels, and Link indulged him as best he could. He left out most of the dangerous stuff of course, Sidon worried about him enough without Link having to throw that into the mix. He puts a pin on his map in the area he remembers the Bazaar being.

It's well after dark by the time Link is warm enough to get moving again. So instead of doing something he knows will get him lectured by both Zelda and Sidon, he adds wood to the fire and lays down with his head resting on his arm and settles in to get a few hours of sleep. Even now, going on two years after the Calamity, he still can't sleep through the night. He doesn't know how much of that is from it having been dangerous before, and how much if it is from his hundred year nap. He wakes up well before dawn, and even through there is no chance of the fire spreading due to the rain, he still puts out his campfire before moving on. His breakfast consists of a couple of baked apples from his pack. He tosses the cores into the woods for the deer and starts down the domain road again. If he keeps up this pace he should be to the Wetlands stable by this time tomorrow. He'll be able too cook there, rent a bed, and grab one of his other horses to make the trip back to Hateno a little faster. He is well aware that riding a horse isn't going to help him beat the storm, but it could shave a day or so off his trip and that could make the difference between him being caught in the worst of it, and his being able to skirt around the edges of it. If he's lucky of course. The rain has lightened to a light drizzle for now, but it's still bitterly cold. Not quite a fine mist of frost, but close enough that the Rito armor does a better job of keeping him warm despite it's damp state. It would have meant leaving sooner, but as he splashes through yet another shin deep puddle, Link begins to think Sidon had been right, it would have been wiser to leave before the rain settled in.

By the time Link makes camp for the night, he's battered, bruised, half frozen, and frustrated enough to curse the goddess. He clears yet another camp and takes over their fire. For a moment he thinks about taking off his soaked through armor and letting it dry by the fire. It's a bad idea. While he still has his warm doublet, the only decent pants he has are his leggings and they are too thin for this kind of weather. While they would be dry, he would still be freezing. On top of that he's stiff, and changing clothes would be too much effort. He moves closer to the fire and steals one of the roasted bass stabbed onto a stick beside it. The monsters that cooked it won't be able to eat it anyway and he could use something warm. With something resembling dinner had, he lays down to try and sleep for a bit. He wakes up maybe an hour later soaking wet and very fucking cold. He sits up with a start to find that the dry camp he'd taken over has become a rather large puddle. He groans and sends another curse at the goddess. The rest of the path looks to be in a similar state. He resolves himself to another day of being damp and bitterly cold, but if he plays his cards right, he'll get to the Wetland stable today and he'll have a chance to dry off and get warm before continuing to Hateno.

When he finally reaches the stable he spends extra for a softer bed because honestly at this point he deserves it. There's a break in the rain that he takes advantage off by changing out of his Rito armor and letting it dry by the first fire. He takes to the cooking pot after that and cooks himself a proper meal. It's a less fancy version of a soup Sidon made him in the Domain that Link can't remember the name of but it warms him to his bones. With food in his system and his warmest armor dry enough to at least bring inside the stable, Link settles on his bed and looks over his tablet. There is the one pin over the Kara Kara Bazaar, but that won't be enough to cure his wanderlust. He could always go into Castle Town and see how the rebuilding is going, but if he lingers for too long Zelda might try and put him to work, then he would be stuck again. Maybe if he went with Sidon she would leave him be. He shakes his head to chase away that thought and instead places a pin at Tarrey Town , he could make his way there from Gerudo Valley and be on his way back to Zora's Domain after that. It's a few weeks each way, so by the time he reaches the Domain road again the worst of the winter storms should have passed. He doesn't know if the flooding will have gone down enough for him to make it back up, but he'll figure that out when he gets back. Sidon will be excited to hear about his trip, and if he plots the route correctly, maybe next time Sidon will be able to go with him.

Link wasn't sure when he fell asleep, but it’s nice to wake up dry and somewhat warm for a change. He's the first one awake so he gets dressed quietly and slips out of the stable. He takes Rue out of her stall and leaves a note with some rupees behind. She is tall enough that Link has to stand on the fence to get her saddle and halter properly on her, and that's after coaxing her to lower her head. She's the biggest horse Link has ever seen and taming her had been a feat in and of itself. She is as dark as a shadow with eyes that are on the line between brown and red depending on how the light hits them. Link takes a moment to adjust his balance before putting one leg into the stirrup closest to him and then swinging his other leg over. Rue shakes her head in what Link has decided is a show of excitement and they head out on their way. In this kind of weather it will still take him close to four days to get to Hateno, which is better than the week and some change it would have taken him to get there on foot. Rue doesn't exactly seem too happy that they're on the road before the sun has risen and she fusses. Link soothes her and later when they stop he'll giver a couple of his apples as a thank you. He doesn't have a lantern, he rides often enough at night that he probably should, but he's never gotten around to it. Maybe on the way back, if he remembers. He trusts Rue to know where she is going.

When day breaks and Link can actually see where he is going he puts the slate away and clicks at Rue to have her pick up the pace. And goddess above, does it feel good to have the wind howling through his hair again, even if it is bitter and cold and leaves his cheeks raw and stinging. He's missed this. He laughs, it’s a raw, jagged sound that is lost to the wind as soon as it leaves him. In his moment of joy he lets go of the reigns and holds his arms out, something he quickly remembers he shouldn't do while riding a horse at full tilt. Rue's speed and momentum sends him flying off of her back. When he hits the ground, the impact chases the air form his lungs. Rue stops as soon as she realizes Link is no longer in the saddle. When she turns to look at him she almost looks amused. It takes him a few minutes to catch his breath, and a few more to actually get to his feet. He is going to be feeling this one for days. Rue nickers at him as he approaches, and Link rolls his eyes. This technically counts as a stop so he pulls an apple out of one of the saddle bags and offers it to her. She takes it from his hand and while she's enjoying it, Link hefts himself back into the saddle. From now until they reach Dueling Peaks he's going to keep at least one hand on the reigns. He waits for Rue to lose interest in the grass where she'd eaten the apple before getting her back on the road.

He waits until they are in a more open part of the wetlands before he clicks Rue back into a run. The movement reveals that he likely bruised his ribs in the fall, but its less painful and more a persistent discomfort; he's dealt with worse and it doesn't bother him too much. It nearly midday when Link stops Rue again, if falling off of her back counted as a stop. He leads her to the river so she can drink, and for a moment he hopes to see Sidon. That hope quickly withered away though and left Link's chest aching. He was too far from the Domain, and Sidon wasn't going to leave if the storms were only going to get worse. The flooding wouldn't be an issue for him, Link knew that, but Sidon didn't like causing anyone unnecessary worry. Even then, the way the King had lectured him when they got back from Hateno had Link under the distinct impression that Sidon wouldn't be taking anymore surprise vacations any time soon. Link had felt bad at the time, for causing Sidon that much trouble, but the prince had only laughed and promised his father there wouldn't be nay more sneaking out for that long. Rue knocks her very wet nose against his forehead effectively pulling him from his thoughts. He presses his forehead into her face for a moment, just to collect himself before moving to pull himself back into the saddle. They keep going for a few more hours and then find a place to lay low for the night. He'll probably make a camp this time instead of taking one over. He doesn't want to risk Rue getting hurt.

When Link decides to stop and make camp it's closer to dark than dusk than he originally planned, but as far as he can tell they are at the midway point between the Wetland's stable and Dueling Peaks. Another day or so of riding and he can board Rue for a bit. He'd take her into Hateno, but he had Epona at the house and they don't get along. The last time he kept them at the same stable he wound up having to pay for the fence being rebuilt, and he would rather not have to do that for a house he stayed in a few times a year. That and Rue seemed to enjoy stables more than the house, where Epona didn't get on well with other horses for long periods of time. Link would have made a longer trip of this, just to spend more time with Rue if he wasn't feeling so pressed to get out into the world. Once he took care of what he needed to in Hateno he was going to continue on foot toward the desert. One reason being that he wouldn’t have to worry about taking care of anything else, and two because he wanted to explore and that was easier to on foot than on a horse. Rue settled by the fire once camp was set up and Link sat leaning against her to share warmth. It's nice and in a bittersweet way it reminds him of when he first set out to save Hyrule. Before he understood who and what he was, and how many people his refusal to step into his old role would let down. Back before he understood that he was seen as less of a person and more like another Divine Beast. Before he painstakingly tried to carve out his sense of self. Before he gave up and instead covered himself in silence and armor.

Link doesn't sleep much that night. He lets Rue rest but he doesn't sleep for anymore than an hour. Not because he feels unsafe, its quiet and calm, but because there is too much on his mind. As nice as being in Zora's Domain was, he remembers now what brought him there. It's the only place he's a person. Out here in the wilds, in the place that should have felt like home he's a weapon. A tool to be used by the goddess in the form of a princess. A princess who doesn't need him anymore. Out here he is loudly and painfully reminded that he has outlived his usefulness. The Calamity is gone, Zelda is fine on her own. He isn't needed anymore, not really. Which is fine, he never asked to be a Hero, to be denied death and then to outlive his fate. But now that he's no longer a hero, he isn't sure what he's supposed to be, what he's supposed to do. The rain turns to snow and Link wakes Rue so they can get on the road before the worst of it hits. He carefully stamps out what is left of his fire and heaves himself into the saddle. He doesn't work her into a run right away, he wants to have his wits about him more before that. The air is cold enough to sting even at this pace, so having Rue run would be painful, but he doesn't have a choice if he wants to miss the worst of this. He digs in his pack for the Sheika face mask and pulls that on to cover his mouth and nose from the worst of the cold and sets Rue into a run.

The wind still burns his cheeks and he has to squint just to see, but he imagines it would be worse without the mask covering the lower half of his face. By the time he stops so Rue can drink they've been walking for a couple hours. The now came down heavier and there's too much for her to run safely. As she drinks from the river Link scans the water for Sidon. He knows he won't be there, but it's become a habit from his many months in the Domain. In fact, he can almost convince himself he saw a flash of red. He rests his head against Rue's shoulder and sighs quietly. He's torn. The need to wander hasn't subsided, but he misses the Domain as well. Sidon will still be there when he returns, he just has to soothe the itch under his skin first. Maybe he can go after Farosh and try and get what he needs to have Cotera upgrade his tunic. He'll feel better if he does something reckless. Rue bumps her head against him when she's had her fill and he pulls himself back up. The best they can manage in all this snow is a brisk trot, not that Link minds. His bruised ribs still and the bitter cold isn't helping. He can better keep still like this. In about a day they'll be at Dueling Peaks, some one will take care of Rue and he can try and sleep before continuing on to Hateno.

Link doesn't make camp when night falls, he doesn't want to sleep in the snow any longer than absolutely necessary. He loosely tethers Rue to a tree and remains settled on her back. He leans forward as much as he is able to share in her warmth and they stay like that. He imagines Rue is used to this given their time in Necluda, but he doubts she enjoys it anymore than he does. He doesn't really sleep, its more of a break than anything, and their on the road again before first light. After a quick breakfast of course. They reach Dueling Peaks by early afternoon and Rue seems relieved that her job is done. Link rents a normal bed and sleeps until evening. If he walks through the night he'll make it to Hateno by noon. When he wakes up, its pitch black out. The wind has picked up to a tortured scream and what was a mild snow storm is a white out. If Link were smarter he would have stayed at the stable, but he isn't someone who worries over self preservation. He puts his warm doublet on under his Rito armor and pulls up his Shieka mask. If he's idle for any longer surely he'll fall apart. At the protest of both the stable hands, Link sets off into the storm.

Every piece of him that is exposed to the storm freezes numb in moments. He has to use the map on his slate just to make sure he's following the right path. The weather is bad enough he doesn't have to worry about passers by or monsters, it's almost nice. Or it would have been if he could still feel is extremities. His breath is all that's keeping his face warm and it's hardly pleasant, but it's better than being still. When he gets to the fork in the road the snow lightens into a freezing rain which he likes more than the snow. He's still numb and painfully cold. He knows when his body has a chance to catch up with what he's put it through he'll get sick, but he's not worried about that now. He's a couple hours out of Hateno and if he can just make it that far, he'll be fine. He can check his mail, deal with what little responsibilities Zelda needs him to if there's any. Get some supplies and head for the warmth of the desert. The snow in Hateno has mostly become slush by the time Link crosses the village gates. The rain has shifted from freezing cold to just unpleasantly cool. Which is an improvement he'll take because it means he'll finally get feeling back in his fingers. When he gets to the bridge leading to the house he bought on impulse he stops in his tracks. The bridge has been reinforced with stone. It could hold Rue, more importantly it could hold Sidon without creaking under the pressure. Link grins beneath his mask and rushes across the bridge.

When he gets the heavy door open he shouldn't have been as surprised as he was by the pile of mail on his table. He knew it would be bad, but expecting two seasons worth of mail was one thing, seeing it was another. Part of him was tempted just to throw it in his fire place and use it to warm the long cold house, but he knew better. He sighs quietly, not in the mood to do that much reading after two nights of minimal sleep. So instead he heads up to the loft to change out of his armor to get some rest. He'll deal with the mail when he wakes up. It waited two seasons for him to get back, it can wait one more day. It's dark when he wakes up, and for a moment he can't tell if it's because it's night or if its because of the storm. His internal clock steadies itself, and he knows it's morning, just too early for there to be light. Something must have woken him, but for now all is quiet. He walks back down to what acts as both his living room and his kitchen and uses the pole-wick Zelda bought for him to light his chandelier. Apparently shooting off fire arrows in the house isn't safe, but he's never had any issues. His house is clearly still standing. He lights the fireplace next after coming to the realization it was the cold that woke him. He still had his summer blankets on the bed, and they were much too light for this kind of weather. He put a kettle over the fire to eventually make coffee and settled in to try and read through the mail that had piled up. It would give him a chance to see how things had been without him, and how much trouble he would be in if he went through with his plan to fully avoid Castle Town, and by extension, Zelda.

Link settles in the chair closest to the fireplace to warm up, and so throwing away any of the mail he didn't feel inclined to keep would be easier. Cup of warmer than advisable to drink coffee in one hand and as comfortable as his dining chair would allow, Link reached for the envelope on the top of the pile. The last think he expects to grab is an envelope with the Domain seal on it. His name is written on it in Sidon's elegant script and, Link isn't sure how he feels. Sidon would have had to send it days before Link even left the Domain for it to get here in time. He would have had to know Link planned on coming back to the house, but he didn't remember ever mentioning it. Whatever the case, Link finds his hand feels unsteady as he opens it. What could have been so important, or so private that Sidon couldn't have told him before he left? With the envelope open, Link sets down his coffee so he can give the letter his full attention. He unfolds it carefully as he does with all of Sidon's letters, before he even reads it, he knows he is going to keep it. He always does. He doesn't want to risk forgetting Sidon the way he feels he's forgotten everyone else. If that ever happened, he feels like he would actually give up on everything. Heroism be damned.

My Dearest Link, My hope is that this letter finds you well rested and safe. I have noticed your eyes growing restless of the Domain, and I wish that you haven't lingered so long on my behalf. As much as I treasure the time I get to spend with you, I know you are not one to stay in place for long. You travel like a summer storm, never in one place more than a few days at a time, but you leave new life in your wake. As someone with a profound respect for nature, I do not have it in me to contain a storm, so go, see the world, and bring stories should your travels bring you back to me. My father says he is fine keeping the room for you while you are away, both to ease the strain on your coin purse, but in hopes that one day you may stay here. Even he has come to notice how relaxed you are in this place. We mean you no pressure of course, but I have seen you in that House. You keep yourself there because you believe it is expected of you. I would not be so forward as to ask you to leave that place if you are truly happy there, but if you aren't just think about this. May the Wilds treat you well, Your Dear Friend Prince Sidon of the Zora.

He laughs, the sound is rough and he's glad he lives alone. He's certainly not well rested, but he is safe; and he'll take one out of two, so long as Sidon never learns how dumb he was on his way back to his desolate empty house. So unlived in that the summer blankets are still on his bed. Calling him a summer storm is a particularly endearing way to address his restlessness, if it had come from anyone else Link would have rolled his eyes, but from Sidon it's fitting. He carefully sets Sidon's letter aside and moves on to the next one. This one has the Hyrule Crest on it, which means its from Zelda. He skims over it, it’s the usual fanfare, rebuilding is going well, she can still hear the goddess, Link hasn't replied to any of her previous letters so she is going to assume he is out traveling with no plans to visit Castle Town. She is correct in that regard, she closes it wishing him well as she always does, and to send her regards to Sidon since he was headed out this way. He tosses it into the fire, there's no use drafting a reply when it's sat on his table for three months and she clearly knows he hasn’t been home. The rest of his morning goes much the same way. Open, skim, add to the fire; and after a few hours he's through the pile and it's light enough for reasonable people to be outside. He can grab what he needs from the shops without anyone complaining that he woke them up at the crack of dawn, and then he can be on his way. There's no use lingering.

As it turned out there was some kind of unspoken rule about not showing up at shops the moment they open after you've been gone for half a year. They were glad to see him again, and didn’t seem too surprised when he told them he would be leaving again before the day was out. There was a less bitter feeling from it now. Link was a summer storm, and if Sidon wasn't going to try and contain it; then Link wasn't going to try to outrun it anymore. Maybe if he was lucky, the person he was meant to be would grow in the wake of the rain.

#Breath of the Wild #Breath of the Wild Fic #Link #Sidon #Sidlink #Identity crisis tw #minor depressive episode tw #disregard for personal safety tw

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dudski · 2 years

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Tagged by @succdale who did not think I would do this based on twenty years of observed behavior BUT CURVEBALL I'M DOING IT ANYWAY

Three ships:

1. Buck/Eddie 911, THE FIC FIXATION DU JOUR. Sometimes I find a son and I say "my boy needs a LOVING FAMILY" and then he meets a single dad who becomes the person who knows and trusts him best in the entire world, and whose kid he loves like his own, but the showrunners are COWARDS and CRIMINALS and it's just not going to happen, hence: the fic.

2. Buck/Taylor 911. Sometimes cowards and criminals make some points? BUCK/TAYLOR...IT FUCKING RULES ACTUALLY. I am extremely high on them this week because @succdale just watched S5 and Finally I Am Understood. It's fandom and we all know this but HAVING A FRIEND TO SHARE THESE FEELINGS WITH IS A BEAUTIFUL THING!!!!! Listen. I watch 911 with a heart full of love but also rage, constantly keeping a mental tally of a) Who Is Supporting My Perfect Son Buck Who Has Literally Only Done One Wrong Thing Ever And It Wasn't Even That Big A Deal, and b) Who Is Inexplicably Not Supporting Him And Needs To Answer For This At The Hague. AND TAYLOR SHOWS UP! SHE'S DOING THE WORK, FOLKS! IT'S GOOD! IT'S EXTREMELY GOOD!

3. Rich Joe/Poor Joe from 2 Joe 2 Millionaire. (It's not called 2 Joe 2 Millionaire but it should be.) I don't need more people to watch this show for the sake of having there be conversation around this show, because the show is whatever. I need more people to watch this show so that THE WORD CAN GET OUT THAT 2 JOE 2 MILLIONAIRE AUs NEED TO BE A STAPLE OF EVERY FANDOM WE'VE GOT. THESE NEED TO BE THE NEW COFFEE SHOP AU. The Joes can't be 100% honest with anyone but each other? They keep going on group dates with all these women where the Joes have to step away for some alone time so that Rich Joe can talk Poor Joe through an absolute meltdown brought on by this one woman that Rich Joe wishes Poor Joe would see isn't any good for him? They start and end every episode in quiet domestic bliss at THE GENTLEMEN'S QUARTERS? I don't care if anyone else ever learns these men's names but I need that one breakout hit AU to exist so that other people can be like "okay, this is exquisite" and it can become a common premise.

First ever ship: I'm going to say this was Rachel/Tobias from Animorphs. Nine year old dudski lived for that shit.

Last song: Last song I listened to was Liz Phair - Why Can't I, last song added to the rotation was Travis Tritt - Bible Belt aka the end credits song from My Cousin Vinny.

Last film: 12 Angry Men! I said it in tags already but THAT MOVIE FUCKS? Like I knew it was a classic but I was WILDLY invested the entire time.

Currently reading: I'm reading a book a week this year! I'm about to start Blood Sweat and Pixels by Jason Schreier bc the ebook was (and still is) on sale for 1.99. I read Of Mice and Men the other day because it was the end of the week and I hadn't read anything and needed a quick gimme.

Currently watching: Weekly: The Righteous Gemstones, The Gilded Age, The Amazing Race, Abbott Elementary, Joe Millionaire: For Richer or Poorer. Just finished Yellowjackets yesterday, starting My Country: The New Age this week.

Currently playing: Adding this in! I'm in the middle of three games right now which is usually a no-no for me but eh, with these three it works. I take a break between cases in The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles so I don't burn out, Slay the Spire has no story so it's easy enough to balance with other games, and I'm like two thirds of the way through A Night in the Woods.

Currently consuming: Cinnamon raisin English muffin and iced coffee...the breakfast of champions.

Currently craving: I don't really do food cravings BUT I NEED A NEW PHONE

I'm not tagging anyone this is where those years of observed behavior come back in

#me me me #joe millionaire

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thevictorianghost · 3 years

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If you could rewrite legend of korra and make it your own(or just in general better) how would you do it? The villains would stay the same and korra and crew are the same(personalities you can definitely tweak a bit. I would definitely not have any love triangles and make korra and asami happen in the beginning) how would you do it with your ships being canon as well?

Okay so I’ve never actually watched LOK. I’ve heard A LOT about it through watching countless video essays on Youtube and reading Tumblr posts about it. I know the who, the what and the how, I just haven’t wanted to watch it because, even though it looks cinematically gorgeous, the story was written by Bry/ke and there’s a LOT of it, worldbuilding and storywise, that I just can’t bare to watch.

So here goes. This got long. Enjoy!

1) Remove the Decopunk world.

A Decopunk world is a world where technology is 1920s-ish, but very advanced. We have cars, tanks, radio, bobs and faux bobs, cloche hats, short skirts, nice suits, etc. I adore Decopunk. The 1920s are one of my favourite eras. An optimistic way of looking at the world, partying, illegal alcohol, the remnants of the Great War... I love it. I really do. But it doesn’t work in the pre-established world of Avatar. It brings elements that are far too imperialistic and colonial in nature (which prompted the comics to be imperialistic and colonial in nature, with the Northern and Southern Water Tribe, you can find many posts about that), which came along hand in hand with the Industrial Revolution, as this article puts it so well. Please read it, it’s awesome.

Why did they feel they had to denature Avatar’s world? They already had everything they could possibly want.

The Fire Nation could be more Steampunk, which is a little less advanced than Decopunk (First Industrial Revolution vs Second Industrial Revolution) because there were elements of Steampunk in the Fire Nation Army (such as the tanks, the navy and the dirigibles). But it could be for them only. It could show us how Zuko transformed the Fire Nation from a war industry to a steam-powered country. This could be the new way to channel firebending (and please, no more “anyone can do lightning bending”, you don’t need lightning bending to get electricity and it makes Zuko, Iroh, Ozai and Azula weak in the show!).

We’ve seen waterbending used in clever ways in the Northern Water Tribe. How could Katara’s waterbending and Sokka’s engineering influence the Southern Water Tribe to make them use waterbending more? Canals, waterfalls, waterways, etc.? In new and different ways? Could the Southern Water Tribe use hydroelectricity, but in a clean, sustainable way? Why does the Southern Water Tribe port look so... mundane?

The Earth Kingdom already had a working train system in Ba Sing Se. And the postal system in Omashu. Toph could have taught earthbenders how to follow the Badgermoles way and dug tunnels throughout a nation in peace. Then boom. Subways. But instead of machines pushing the people along, you can have benders do it. Instead of messenger hawks, the postal system could run through the entire kingdom instead of just Omashu and be much more efficient. The Earth Kingdom could be praised for its fast postal system that could, maybe, work as telegrams.

I’ll come back to the Air Nomads.

Those are just examples from the top of my head. I don’t mean “never allow technology to “””progress””” (I use that word veeeeery loosely because it has huge imperialistic undertones). I mean instead of trashing the fun parts of bending to make way for Decopunk technology that doesn’t need bending, work with it! Get creative! This worldbuilding feels... too easy. When Avatar: The Last Airbender was praised for its worldbuilding.

I adore Decopunk. I enjoy it far more than Dieselpunk and it’s much less known that Steampunk. But it has no place in the Avatar world.

2) That doesn’t mean “remove Republic City”.

First of all, it should honestly have a better name. It’s kind of like naming a city “Democracy City”. Which is way too on the nose. Harmony City sounds better, and that’s the first thing that came to mind. Anyway.

I really like the idea of a city being built in the spirit of Iroh and the White Lotus. To allow the Four Nations to live together in harmony in one city. But why is Republic City literally New York City with an “““Asian””” flair? What is up with that? I know New York is the MOST Decopunk city ever (you can’t encounter anything Decopunk without seeing New York, with its Art Deco buildings, the Harlem Renaissance, the Prohibition, etc.). But they do NOTHING with it! They just take New York, change some names, add some Asian flair, and call it a day.

I don’t want 1920s New York for Republic City. I want Zootopia.

What happens in a city where all the Four Nations are represented? How does Water, Earth, Fire and Air work together? Big cities tend to be quartered in neighborhoods, so each neighborhood could be a smaller version of their nation. We could have a Northern Water Tribe next to an Earth Kingdom next to... you know what I mean? Each neighborhood could be a small-scale introduction to the nation for Korra first, then you can send her to that nation afterwards!

Which leads us to this.

3) Have Korra follow a traditional Avatar’s journey.

I really don’t know why they decided that Korra would learn three elements before the age of sixteen (when that’s the age Avatars usually START their journeys) and then only have her learn Airbending during the entire show. Wasn’t the structure of each Book being about Aang learning one element at a time a good structure? Why go out of their way to NOT do that? Why was it the White Lotus’ prerogative to train the Avatar in the first place, too?

So let’s have Korra know waterbending first (and show Katara teaching her, please!), then she can learn Earth, Fire and Air. By going to the Earth Kingdom, to the Fire Nation, and to the Air Temples. This could help develop each nation and show us how they have grown through the years. And it could lead Korra and the audience to figure out that there’s not only Aang who has had children to represent the Air Nomads, but there were other Air Nomads who survived the genocide and we can actually see the Air Nomads as a thriving culture.

So about Republic City. As I said, we could keep it. But now that Korra is going on a traditional Avatar journey, you could have, say, one episode at the beginning and one episode at the end of each season taking place in Republic City. To show us how each Nation’s neighborhood works and as an introduction to Korra before she actually takes the plunge to travel to that nation.

Please! Build upon the Avatar world at large more! Come on!

4) Stop it with the love triangles.

Many have talked about the Mako, Korra, Bolin and Asami love triangles. I’ve read once that they don’t exactly feel like friends, they’re only colleagues who share the fact they all dated Korra at one point. Which is sad. Knowing that the Gaang is so beloved because they’re such GOOD FRIENDS first!

So work to build strong, healthy friendships first, THEN start thinking about romance if you have to. And please, if you want a ship to be endgame, don’t have it so you have to confirm it on Twitter.

Don’t.

Oh! And also. Bolin and Eska’s relationship was unhealthy as all hell and treated as “funny” and “comic relief” because a woman was being emotionally abusive to a man. That’s terrible. Please don’t do that.

5) Don’t let Katara fall to the side like she did.

Many, MANY before me have talked about how Katara got the short end of the stick in LOK. Where’s her statue? Where’s her recognition as the Greatest Waterbender in the World? Why is she day in and day out in the healing hut, when she said “I don’t want to heal, I want to FIGHT”? Does she even have a waterbending school? Or is that completely fanon? Why does she allow Aang to take one of their children on life-changing field trips while leaving their other kids behind? Aren’t they also Air Nomads by birth??

It’s okay to worship the old Gaang because, well, we all love them! I do love Aang, even if I give him a hard time a lot, but I love the character. I just don’t like the way Book 3 Aang was written. But some characters shouldn’t have everything while others have nothing. Aang is LITERALLY THE STATUE OF LIBERTY. But where was Katara’s statue? And also, what happened to Suki?? What happened to Mai or Ty Lee, too?? Or even Sokka?? He died some time ago and... that’s it??

Which brings us to this.

6) Zutara, Taang, Sukka and Mailee.

I’ve seen that picture of Toph, Aang, Sokka and Katara being edited with Zuko and Katara next to each other, Toph and Aang next to each other, and a (suddenly alive!) Suki next to Sokka. I think that’s so good! It feels so healthy!

Not all relationships that started when people were kids work out. Sokka and Suki seem the strongest relationship at the end of the show and they’re probably the only ones I could see working out in the end. Sokka could become the Southern Water Tribe Chief and Suki could become his Queen when she’s retired from the Kyoshi Warriors.

Katara and Aang would be lifelong friends, of course they would be, but I don’t really see them lasting. Aang was twelve when they started dating. They’d date a few years, then they’d decide they want other things. That’s a good thing to show kids!

I’ve written many metas about Zutara, but Ambassador then Fire Lady Katara would show a changing world, where the Fire Nation, now no longer a war industry but a Steampunk country, is moving forward, with Zuko literally marrying a woman the Fire Nation tried to wipe out. They would be equals and leave an equal mark upon the world. Together.

Toph and Aang would be amazing together. They’d be a great team, working in the Earth Kindom, helping rebuild the old Temples when the Air Nomads came out of hiding, and bringing peace around the world. I don’t think they’d be a conventional relationship. They’d do their own thing for a while, find each other for a while, work together on some projects, then continue doing their own thing. Aang being the Avatar who travels the world and Toph teaching metalbenders and working with the King in Ba Sing Se and Bumi in Omashu and wherever she’s needed. I think Toph would be much more fulfilled than what we’ve seen of elderly Katara. She doesn’t have Katara’s abandonment issues (I’ve talked about them here) and she’s more independent, I believe.

I know I haven’t talked about them much yet, but I want Mai and Ty Lee together in the end. Badass ladies challenging their respective stereotypes and create a new world for themselves. Mai could find herself away from the Fire Nation court (I don’t know what she’d do, but circuses love people who throw knives, don’t they? She could be a circus performer for a while), and I think Ty Lee, in this version, could work at the circus and with Aang to rebuild the Air Nomads. I love the idea of Ty Lee being a descendant of the Air Nomads.

All of them should be shown creating Zootopia-like Republic City. Because of course they should be! They’re the Gaang!

So yeah, that’s how I would see the world of Avatar grow beyond the borders of the original show! :)

#atla #avatar the last airbender #anti-lok #anti-bryke #zutara #sukka #taang #mailee #darkcrowprincess

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mari-beau · 3 years

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GIVE ME A REASON: PART SIX - A Rogue One Fanfiction

This is a shorter installment, and maybe pointless… maybe I’m dragging this out too long… But also, who cares, I’m doing this for fun. I just love playing with them!

Read on AO3

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Part Four

Part Five

Title: Give Me A Reason: Part Six

Genre: Hurt/Comfort

Characters: Jyn Erso POV, Cassian Andor

Pairing: Cassian/Jyn (mostly pre-ship?)

Spoilers: Rogue One; Episode IV A New Hope

Setting: Post-Rogue One AU (Cassian & Jyn live); Also during/post A New Hope

Warnings: Some coarse language. References to wounds. And… Cuddling?

Words: 1,720

Story Summary: Jyn’s entire universe has been turned on its head, so maybe she’s clinging a little too hard to the one thing she feels certain of (strangely enough) as she tries to figure out her place in the galaxy. And maybe she’s being a little overprotective of a wounded captain.

Also can be found on AO3.

The Death Star had come for them.

Again.

But Jyn couldn’t bring herself to care. It did seem a little strange to have been spared the last time only to probably be destroyed this time, barely a week later. But either way, it was the end to her life she now knew to be her fate, or whatever. It just felt right. It just was. Not the Death Star specifically, but,

Jyn Erso would die in Cassian Andor’s arms.

Whether it should’ve been on Scarif. Or it was here on Yavin 4. Or the next day. Or thousands of days in the future.

And there was a sort of peace in knowing that. One that allowed her to climb into his bed, slide her arms around him, and bury her face in his shoulder. He stirred and her heart skipped a beat. It was easier when he was unconscious, to consider how she felt about him, how she’d been attracted to men before, even had something akin to a relationship with one or two, but it had never felt like this.

“Jyn…?”

“Yes, it’s me. We’re on the base on Yavin 4. Safe. In your quarters.” It was easier to preempt any confusion or alarm Cassian experienced when he woke from his heavy, partially drugged, mostly just exhausted from his body’s healing, sleep.

“How long?” he asked, then realized there were static-laden voices broadcasting over the basewide intercom. “What’s going on?”

“You’ve been asleep for 12 hours,” Jyn said, moving closer and partially on top of him to prevent him from trying to get up in a rush and falling flat on his face. Also, she was admittedly afraid on some level, afraid to be alone and facing death. When he was near her, when they were physically entwined in some way, she felt like everything would be okay. Even if she died, if it was in Cassian’s arms, then everything would be okay. Irrational, yes. But that didn’t make it any less her truth.

“The Death Star is here,” she said, once she could tell he was awake enough to understand, not muddled by pain meds. “The Alliance is scrambling their forces to engage. They’re leaving the comms open, since you know…”

“We’re all dead if they fail.”

His arms wrapped around her and engulfed her in his warm embrace. Cassian Andor, a man who, she didn’t think she was wrong to guess, hadn’t received much at all in the way of affection in his life, somehow was so good at holding a person he made the pain of the universe go away, made the entire universe fade away except for his hands on her body, gentle and undemanding but also firm and reassuring, his breath hot on her neck, sending shivers down her spine, and his body beneath hers, so strong despite his injuries.

“Are you okay?” she asked, remembering the physical state of him.

“Mmm… Yes.” His hands tightened their grip on her side and shoulder, reflexively, a gentle squeeze as he murmured into her neck. “Feels good.”

He probably meant he felt fine, but oh, yes, it did feel good. Or maybe he was still quite medicated?

“My weight isn’t putting pressure on your injuries?” Jyn asked. “Maybe I should…”

“No.” Somehow he managed to pull her further into him, her breasts flattening against his chest, her hip practically fusing to his, her breath hitching momentarily and then joining the rhythm of his own breaths...in and out… in and out… in and out...

Cassian sighed, made a frustrated, growling sound.

“I need to use the ‘fresher,” he said, loosening his grip on her.

Jyn rolled off from him, swung her legs around to sit on the side of the cot and waited to see if Cassian could manage to stand. He slid to sit on the edge of the bed next to her and took a moment. She didn’t press him, though an instinct inside of her wanted to offer assistance, wanted to take care of him, wanted to ease the pain and struggle his recovery was.

He stood, again pausing for a moment, then walked slowly across the small room to his private refresher facilities. Apparently, it was one of very few benefits to his officer’s rank, for the small quarters were nothing more than a glorified closet. But she supposed it spared him from having to sleep in a large barracks with a bunch of others, not that it would’ve deterred Jyn in the least from crawling into his bed.

Part of her felt like she shouldn’t watch his laborious movements, out of respect, but she couldn’t look away. What if he needed her?

Force, what if he didn’t need her? Not like she needed him? Aw, fuck. She needed him.

She watched the muscles in his naked back twitch, stiff from inactivity and injury. But her eyes were inevitably drawn to the perfectly uniform lines of small circular marks running down his spine. She knew there was a matching sort of trail along his ribs. Injections of some sort of bacta cocktail meant to speed the fusing of the fractures in his vertebrae and ribs, injections straight into the bone. How painful would that have been if he’d been conscious, she couldn’t help but wonder, couldn’t help but want to wrap her smaller body around as much of Cassian as she could, run her hands gently over his scars, old and new, make sure his wounds were healing and his bruises fading, hear him sigh contentedly against her skin, hold him forever.

As he disappeared into the ‘fresher, Jyn realized she was hopeless.

Cassian Andor had taught her about hope. And had made her absolutely hopeless at the same time.

But why fret about it? What did it matter?

Jyn was used to dealing with life moment by moment, day by day. And she might not have many more moments, anyway.

The loud, static-laden voices crackling over the basewide intercom announced the launch of yet another squadron of fighters, then abruptly switched over to some ship’s communication officer announcing visual confirmation of the target. The Death Star.

Looming on the horizon like a moon, a harbinger of death, bringer of eternal night. Cold, austere, which made it somehow more terrifying, somehow worse than staring down an angry brute about to put a knife in you. It was just so inevitable, indomitable. Made her feel so small, insignificant, so alone.

“Do you mind if I turn this off?”

Jyn startled. How had she not noticed Cassian reappear in the small room? He pointed at the comm, which was broadcasting the prelims of a battle to determine all their fates.

She didn’t want to listen to it either.

“Please do,” she said, already feeling less… alone.

She watched Cassian lean over to switch the speaker off, wincing in sympathy with him as he straightened again, taking a deep breath that expanded his chest and shifted the muscles beneath his skin, mesmerizing her more than a little. His mostly naked body preoccupied far too many of her thoughts.

But what else had she been supposed to do? She’d woken up drenched in sweat that first night in his quarters, had to strip out of the heavy infirmary clothes, found Cassian tossing in his sleep, nearly feverish, removed the sweltering clothes from his body, as well. Little did she know, how enthralling she’d find his lean muscles, the shape of his body, the feel of his bare skin, his-

His hands cupped her face and Jyn looked up at Cassian Andor, his kriffing gorgeous dark eyes fixed on her. His fingers swept some stray hair from her forehead, tucked it behind her ear, returned to swipe gently over the nearly-healed scar above her eyebrow, in her hairline.

“Are you okay?” A knot formed in her throat. Cassian was a good man, despite every questionable thing he’d done and tortured himself over. Of course he would care about her wellbeing. It didn’t mean-

“Ow!”

“Your blaster wound still hurts?” His fingers feathered over her shoulder, not touching the freshly healed injury this time.

“It does when you jab your finger in it.” She grabbed his wrist and tugged his hand away, throwing him off balance so that he fell into her and she managed to catch him and ease him onto the bed, right where she wanted him.

A chuckle escaped him and he smiled, making something flutter inside of her. And then he was reaching for her, pulling her close.

His embrace was everything she’d never known she’d wanted. His hands stroked her back and he buried his face in her neck, nuzzling a sensitive spot just behind and below her ear.

She sighed, wrapping an arm around his middle and burying the fingers of her other hand in his messy, soft hair. She pressed gently as she massaged his scalp down to his nape, eliciting a hum of pleasure from him that vibrated against her bare skin and into her flesh.

If this was to be her last moment, Jyn held no regrets. It was a good moment.

“Jyn?” His voice had a lethargic but happy edge to it, thick and low and sleepy. She could sympathize.

“Yes?” She twisted her finger in a lock of hair curling about his neck.

“Please don’t let me sleep so long this time.” His whisper tickled her ear. “No more than 10 hours. Okay? Please?”

He wanted her to wake him up in 10 hours… Like there wasn’t a battle raging in space nearby… Like he didn’t believe they were quite probably going to die soon, incinerated by a weapon her own father helped design. Like he didn’t believe they were going to lose, after all. Somehow, he believed they would be there, together, ten hours from this moment.

Hope.

Such a man as Cassian… The most unexpected thing she’d discovered about him was his belief in hope. That he possessed any at all after all he had done, all he had seen. And then he’d given it to her.

And again, it warmed her, deep inside, that small seed of hope. She snuggled closer to the man, hoping for something she couldn’t even begin to conceive of. But yearned for it, with every fiber of her being.

#fic: Give Me A Reason #Rogue One #fanfiction #rebelcaptain #my fic #Cassian Andor #Jyn Erso #Cassian x Jyn

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ready-to-obeyme · 4 years

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[OM!] College!AU Zoom University Headcanons

For the 7 Demon Brothers + Solomon

Scenario: Headcanons about how you interact with the demon brothers online during online lectures via Zoom (an online video platform that universities have been using to teach classes) and their habits using it

Notes: gn!MC, Considering most universities (including mine) are all online AGAIN fall quarter and we’re going to be using Zoom forever……. i kinda wish i DID have online classes with the demon boys (and Solomon)

Lucifer

Video off, mic off, no profile pic just the typical first and last name, so you don’t really talk to him but you do see his name pop up in the Zoom chat to ask clarification questions

Accidentally has his mic on sometimes

First time you interact with him is when you private message him “hey, I think your mic is still on” because everyone can hear his brothers arguing in the background

The mic is soon turned off and you get a response back “thanks. Sorry you had to hear all of that”

“Yeah no prob. How many brothers do you have anyways?”

“Too many.”

Thus starts your relationship with him as zoom buddies, asking each other privately what the professor just said and some clarification questions

If you’re shy about asking stuff, he has no problems asking for you; never makes you feel dumb about your questions

first time you hear his voice during midterm season when the professor doesn’t see your messages (“you’d expect them to know how this all works by now” he messages you dryly) and he asks his question out loud before the professor can move on

(lowkey think he’s hot just from his voice)

Then highkey finds out he’s hot when his video is accidentally on for a few seconds when he’s distracted with Asmo or Mammon in the background

Bonus points if you tease him about it

Shows up at office hours when the TA is late and you just talk to him, exchange emails and numbers ;) y’know for homework help

If you’re going to do group projects, he seeks you out first-- god forbid he’s stuck with someone who doesn’t do the work ONLINE

Mammon

Mic is ALWAYS accidentally on until the professor mutes him or tells him to mute himself

“Oh, sorry prof!!! My b!!”

Private messages you on purpose to ask a clarification question because he doesn’t want to seem dumb asking it to everyone or to the professor

You wonder why he chose you but then you realize it’s because you had asked a question yourself earlier in the lecture or answered a question

It becomes a recurring thing-- like EVERY lecture

If you’re not annoyed at him, then you might suggest that the two of you share a document for notes or tease him about just having you teach the lecture if he’s confused

“Actually, that sounds great!” he types to you before you could say jk “that’d help me a lot, thanks!!”

Smh why did you sign up for more work for yourself but oh well, he seems like a nice guy

Is also a very attractive guy, you realize, when you schedule a zoom meeting with him and actually see his face

Realizes why he keeps asking questions is because he plays card games on a split screen instead of paying attention to lecture (same tho)

Invites you to join him by private messaging you a link to join (and you do eventually when lectures gets boring)

Sometimes sends the invite link to the whole class by accident

He admits he wouldn’t even attend lecture and would just watch the recording but you’re always there so he goes

Which means you suppose you should keep going to lecture if anything to have him go as well

Leviathan

Already the master of online classes tbh and has no problem with the format

Finds it kind of annoying when there’s technical difficulties, but he just quickly switches to a tab to watch anime

Probably is just watching anime on another tab if the lecture gets boring or slow anyways

He’s always the first one to answer forum/discussion posts because he’s just very tech-savvy and good at replying to people

First interaction is probably him answering one of your questions on the discussion question and from then on after you start messaging him privately during lecture when you have a question you think he can help with

A little hesitant on helping you, but you’re also just really nice to him so he’s okay with helping you, I guess

Give him your email? Why? So he can send you the book pdfs and previous practice tests of course, why else??

O-Oh, you want to add him on social media? Just to ask for homework questions right? Okay, yeah, sure! o////o

If video is on, you see the reflection of anime in one of his mirrors and casually ask him which episode he’s on

Has never been so shook or attentive in his LIFE

Satan

He is a godsend during every breakout room because he ACTUALLY TALKS instead of leaving you in a quiet room alone with three other strangers

You think you’re lowkey in love with him when he has no problems volunteering to present to the professor and putting his thoughts into words so eloquently

He also appreciate you talking during discussion too, and enjoys the conversations the two of you have while you’re not even sure the other blank profile pics are even there anymore

He’s the one to suggest making a shared doc to share notes and study together-- the man is productive and efficient about this, what can I say?

Manages to convince you to go to office hours with him and meet up for studying hours and ooooh he’s hot

He’s actually a very good study buddy, especially when he’s teaching you something you’re confused about, but also just good to study together with (when you’re not too busy staring at him)

The only reason why you’re focused during class because he’d look disappointed at you if you weren’t-- that’s on you for caring about what he thinks, but he’s just so PUT TOGETHER how do you NOT look up to him?

Finds out that he’s actually just a mess like everyone else when his brothers come in during one of your study session and he says “excuse me,” mutes the mic and goes off screen; you can see some shadows in the back as satan shoves his brothers out of the room and manhandles them till they leave

Is kind of embarrassed he forgot to turn of video too but you just think it’s funny because you relate to the lack of privacy of online classes (and perhaps annoying siblings)

Asmodeus

How the hell does he look awake and lively at a 9am lecture class????

Is that make up??? Is he… wearing PANTS??? (you don’t remember the last time you put on actual pants)

The most functional-looking person in the entire zoom lecture, asides from the professor

Has video on all the time-- because honestly why wouldn’t he? He actually looks good

Definitely not paying attention most of the time, and you see it on his face

Messages you first when you actually wear something nice for once because you’re going to go to the supermarket afterwards

“Ooh, where’d you get that accessory??”

The two of you end up not paying attention AT ALL and instead just gush about each other’s outfits

Definitely is not afraid to ask for your social media so you can follow each other and ask for homework help I guess but MAINLY to talk to each other because online classes can get sooooo tedious

Really really wants to be able to meet you in person someday when it’s safe (“we’d look so cute together!!!”) but settles for facetime or zoom meet-ups

Really does not hesitate to make friends and make the best out of social situations despite remote format bless him

The only time he doesn’t turn on video is after a night of drinking with his brothers (“it was mammon’s birthday” he types into the chat with you, “ugh i’m probably going to go lie down, let me know how lecture goes”)

Beelzebub

Always eating-- even if this wasn’t online, he’d also be the one to bring snacks-- his whole LUNCH to class to eat so this isn’t too surprising

You think it’s hilarious when he actually brings his laptop or phone (whatever he’s using zoom with) to the kitchen and literally makes dinner during the lecture

Sometimes you watch his tiny video of him putting stuff into the oven than the lecture slides and you bet your entire class is doing that too

Sometimes you ask him jokingly what he’s cooking and you’re surprised when he pauses and answers your question mid-dinner making

“Lasagna. You want some?”

“Yeah send it over through mail bro”

You don’t actually know if he’s actually retaining any lecture information, but apparently he’s doing decent enough-- still, if you offer to share your notes, he’d be so grateful

“Where do you live?”

“Ldfjalskjd why are you going to send me food?”

“Yeah. What’s your address? I’ll send you a box of cookies or something.”

Basically he just does NOT care what the entire class sees him doing; he could be cooking, eating, working out-- he’s listening to the lecture out loud but he’s giving you a show (whether it’s a cooking show or a work out video depends on the time of day)

Belphegor

If the lectures are recorded, you’ll never see him, especially if the class is early in the morning LOL

If you do see him during lecture and video is on, he’s always in his pajamas or sleep clothes, a pillow in front of him

During discussion, if video is required, he probably has a screenshot of himself awake as a profile picture so he can snooze away pretending like he’s actually there

You definitely notice because he’s the first video to show up in your gallery and his video is like never moving HAHA

You finally message him when the TA splits you all into breakout rooms when you’re all supposed to be finding the answer or discussing something to be shared later

Kind of awkward at first because he’s like… asleep, but when he wakes up blearily, he does participate-- if only for your sake and for discussion points

“Hey… wake me up if the TA or professor asks us any questions, will ya?” he says as he puts his head down and sleeps

Since you and him are now officially breakout room buddies, you message him when you have a question and know that he’ll probably respond to you by the end of class because he actually knows the material despite sleeping through half of the class

Is actually very appreciative of you that you volunteer to speak on behalf of your breakout room if no one else does because that means HE doesn’t have to do it

Bonus:

Solomon

The one to make the groupchat/slack link and send it to everyone in the class so we could actually help each other in the class

Shares a link to a google folder with resources

Highkey more useful than a TA sometimes

Super helpful, efficient, and charismatic… but suspiciously so

Like where did he get all these pdfs? Where did he get all these 100% test from previous years? And-- is that an answer key??? To what???

Video isn’t on ever, so you have no clue what he looks like… until you’re in the same discussion as him and he turns on his video for breakout rooms

He always, ALWAYS sits at the island in the kitchen and sips coffee whenever you have discussion with him

Responds back to you almost immediately if you ask him questions during lecture (because honestly, why not-- he seems smart and has his life together) but if anyone messages him in the groupchat, surprisingly takes a while to reply… maybe he’s busy?

Anyhow you’re not gonna question it; you’re gonna pass this class and Solomon is carrying everyone to an A+

#obey me headcanons #obey me lucifer #obey me mammon #obey me leviathan #obey me satan #obey me belphegor #obey me asmodeus #obey me beelzebub #obey me #ZOOM UNIVERSITY BABY

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popculturebuffet · 3 years

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One Year Anniversary: Top 12 Ducktales Episodes!

Happy anniversary all you happy people! Yes it was one year ago today I started reviewing animation and it’s been a ride to be sure. I’d always WANTED to be a reviewer: I love going on and on about stuff I love, really digging into it and picking it apart... but I could never get started. I tried youtube but I didn’t have the money for the equipment nor a proper shooting space to record, so my efforts.. were not great. And while I TRIED text reviews, my own looming pile of self hatred meant every attempt I made was shot down when it got hard as me not being good enough.

But one year ago I finally got past that. I’d already been reviewing a bit, doing invididual issues of comics... but got way in over my head trying to do the current line of X-Men comics as it came out, and wisely bowed out of that. But that left a gap: I had nothing to cover week to week and with a demanding new job, I drifted into just doing in charcter chats, little fan fictions script styles. Not bad work, I should do some more at some point and I even got a comissoin once in a while, but nothing I could really live on and not what I wanted to do with my life.

Enter Ducktales. I’d always WANTED to review the show.. and when the double premire happened, I decided fuck it, and put up my thoughts. And then decided.. hey maybe I can do this every week.. and slowly.. my work evolved, getting better and better, getting more and more likes. I picked up Amphibia when that came by week to week.

And eventually.. this went from a hobby, if one I was passionate about to a career. Not a largely paying one, as only one person was really intrested in paying me for it, friend of the blog and our fincial backer @weirdkev27, but .. it’s money and i’m now making about 30 dollars a month due to a comination of comissions and patreon. Other contributers are always welcome mind you, my patreon is here if your curious and comissions are 5 dollars an episode, but i’ts just nice to have money coming in. To have gone from simply WANTING to review things and make a living off it.. to simply doing it.

And it’s been one hell of a year.. and not just because 2020 felt like hell or 2021 began with a full on insurrection. I feel like i’ve acomplished a lot in the year i’ve been doing this: I finished what I started with Ducktales season 3, getting better and better as I went. And I didn’t stop there with ducks: I started covering what brought me to Ducks in the first place, the Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, and while that retrospective has slid a bit on the schedule, I intend to get it back on track this month. I reviewed a bunch of Darkwing Duck episodes leading up to the Just Us Justice Ducks.. chronologically anyway. The actual airing order reads like someone took 50 issues of a comic, made it rain with them, then just started reading whatever ones they picked up randomly. I also covered some of Duck Master Carl Barks work with the classics Night on Bear Mountain, A Christmas for Shacktown and Back to the Klondike, with more to come.

And the Duck didn’t stop at just reviews I did on my own: Kev comissioned two MASSIVE retrospectives from me: My first for him was Ride of the Three Caballleros where in just a few short months I covered the boys entire televisied careers together from the movie, to house of mouse, to mickey and the roadster racers, to ducktales (again) and finishing with the wonderful Legend of the Three Caballeros. It has probably the worst Daisy imaginable, but otherwise is really excellent and i’m glad I finally watched it. I also covered Don Rosa’s two stories with the boys as part of it. It was a fun ride and I enjoyed every minute of it... okay most of them again Three Cabs Daisy is the worst. And once that finished Kev started up another idea: Shadow Into Light: a look at Lena’s character arc from start to finish that has gone on to be my most popular series on this blog, and that finishes next week. And there’s more to come as after that there’s a short breather with a look at Lilo and Stitch’s crossover episodes.. folllowed by me looking at all three of season 2′s ducktales arcs. And I fully intend to have covered every episode of the series by this time next year, so stay tuned.

Outside of ducks though I didn’t slow down. I restarted my Tom Lucitor retrospective, covering what i feel to be one of Star Vs’ two best characters, tied with eclipsa, and my personal faviorite as he redeemeed himself, found love and I bitched a lot about the horrible directions the series took and probabably will more as that’s still not done yet. I did what I always wanted to do and started looks at some of my faviorite comics ever, starting with Life and Times and adding in New X-Men and Scott PIlgrim. I also threw in the awesome comic Blacksad. I did pride month for the first time and not only came out publicly, but also did two whole arcs i’m proud of with The Saluna episodes of Loud house and the rednid episodes of OK KO, and generally just had myself a good old fashioned time as an out bi man reviewing childrens cartoons.

I started Season 2 of amphibia with it’s lows of an endlesss road trip and highs of adding Marcy to the cast and giving us more of the silky voiced keith david. And finally Patreon wise Kev’s taken me on a hell o fa journey: In addition to the restrospectives i’ve covered some additional darkwing duck, and a simpsons homage to the duck comics... but also got a bit weird and obscure with detours like the lost animnaics sucessor Histeria, the apocalyptic comedy where Santa dosen’t know how doors work Whoops! and the adventures of Santa’s bratty teen daughter jingle belle. In short.. it’s been a long year but damn has it been fun and there’s more to come. I’d like to thank all of you for reading, thank my Patreons Kev and Emma for supporting me, and thank my family for doing the same. So with that out of the way, I figured the best way to celebrate was to do something i’ve been wanting to do for a long time, something honoring the show that gave me this calling in the first place. And with Season 3 sadly being the last, and enough weeks having passed for me to digest it between the finale and today, I could think of nothing better than my top 12 episodes of Ducktales.

Ducktales is one of the best cartoons of the 2010′s. Brilliantly taking EVERYTHING that had come before, the comics, the original cartoon and every bit of duck media period to craft a masterful, unique and wonderful reboot. It was funny, it was insane, and it had damn good character arcs. By the end every member of the main cast along with major supporting cast members like Fenton, Drake and especially Lena, had changed and signifigantly at that. The show was everything I could’ve dreamed of and more and I miss it terribly, hoping DIsney will do a revivial movie at some point. For now though, Frank and Matt’s run on ducktales, as they called it and I do too since i’m a massive comic book nerd, it’s time to look back on my favorite tales of ducks. So grab your sharks, your number one dimes and your friendship cakes with clear gay undertones and join me under the cut as I celebrate one of my faviorite shows and my anniversary in the best way possible.

12. House of the Lucky Gander!

So as i’ve gone on about before and no doubt will again, Donald kinda got the short end of the stick in season 1. While Frank and Matt had good story intentions, keeping Donald away from adventure since he had no interest in it, in practice it meant a beloved Disney Icon who they and disney HEAVILY promoted as part of the series and whose being here this go round was a big draw for fans of the comics.... was only in a quarter of the season and only got TWO plots centered around him in 23 episodes, with only one being the main plot of the episode. The PIlot and Finale both centered around the family more as a whole if your curious how I counted those so while he got plenty of focus in both, it’s still not a day in the limelight sort of thing.

But unusually for Donald, he lucked out as his one big starring role for Season 1 was both one of my faviorites and one of Season 1′s most inventive outings. A lot of the episodes enegy comes from a one two punch of a great guest star and one of the series best settings. The guest star is of course everyone’s faviorite overly lucky himbo Gladstone Gander. The show adapted the prick perfectly: The original Gladstone from the comics.. was the worst asshole imaginable, utterly insufferable. And for a villian, and Donald’s rival, that’s all well and good.. but his super luck meant he RARELY , if ever, suffered any consequences for being just...

The 87 series simply made him nicer, while Going Quackers simply removed his luck. No adaptation really got how to make this fucker work.. until this one. Here Frank split the diffrence: Gladstone is still smug.. but he’s no longer actively malicious. While he is an insensitive prick to Donald in this one, unlike the comics he’s not constantly bragging about his luck or how great he is or actively BAITING Donald to fight with him or trying to ruin his relationship or a million other reasons he sucks and I hate him.

This version by contrast... is generous. He’s not the most empathetic, because he doesn’t get how life works, but he does share the riches of the casnio with everyone and in a cameo appearance in “Treasure of the Found Lamp” gladly offers his nephews some diamonds. He’s got a nice surface level charm to him that makes you understand why people like him.. but it’s also clear ther’es nothing UNDER that of value, making you equally understand why Scrooge and Donald hate him. Gladstone in this reboot is a perfect example of why we need reboots or new adaptations in the first place: Because sometimes the original got something wrong or something can be done much better by the new writers.

He’s perfectly paired with the setting: The House of Lucky Fortune, a mystical casino with an East Asian astatic based in the country of Macaw and provides two great plots. Donald’s really highlights his character: His understandable jealousy at gladstone earning the boys love through nothing while he struggles to make a living for them, and how he feels like a looser and like Gladstone is simply showing that off instead of just not knowing what empathy is. Having Louie be the one to bond with Gladstone was also just pitch pefefct, as is showing some depth for the boy by having himr ealize his hero is an asshole and be the one to help donald in the end.

The other plot is just pure joy though and is where the setting REALLY shines: Scrooge and the rest of the kids try to leave.. but can’t find the exit. This is where the creative part comes in: The Casino simply morphs to keep people trapped, and caters to them, giving them whatever they want to keep them trapped. In the cases of the kids it’s all hilarious and adorably in character: Huey becomes entranced by a fancy water show, in one of his best bits of the season, Dewey gets a pet tiger who sadly did not come home with him and Webby gets to live the dream we’ve all had of stuffing her face directly in a choclate fountain. Scrooge’s escape is likewise clever: He simply prepares to get a room.. then books it as the check in desk is ALWAYS near the front.

We then find out Gladston’es trapped get the whole mystical contest with absolutely gorgeous animation, i’ll talk about it in full some time but this episode is just a treat to watch, has a great arc for donald and had some memorable gags. I can’t help but smile when I watch it.

11. The Dangerous Chemistry of Gandra Dee! As I mentioned before i’m a superhero nerd so naturally Fenton was one of my faviorite parts of the show. Frank and Matt were just damn good at crafting superhero stories, and like gladstone improved fenton turning him from an awkward donald stand in to an awkward peter parker-esque science nerd who just wants to be a good person and the best hero he can be. He got into science not just because he thinks it’s neat, but because he honestly wants to help people and you can’t help but foot for him whenever he pops up. Lin Manuel Miranda is a large reason for that, bringing his incomparable a-game to the character. While we sadly didn’t get a ton of gizmoduck focused episodes, the fatct we got AS MANY as we did and that Lin didn’t drop out for a minute even with his busy schedule was a miracle and I’m acknowledging that.

As for why this one, I feel it builds brilliantly on the previous Fentoncentric episode Who Is Gizmoduck?! which just BARELY didn’t make this list and uses the fact we haven’t seen fenton in a while as both a plot point and to move some things forward without having to spend screentime they clearly didn’t have. By having Fenton be just burnt out on superheroics it finds a way to both explain where he’s been, he’s been busy with his new job, and give us an interesting angle to the old “superhero is tired of the life” thing. He never once complains about saving people or stuff... it’s just like any job it gets tiring after a while. As someone who has his dream job but has struggled with it from time to time, I vastly relate.

Though while I love my boy and Lin is game as always, the episodes real MVP is my other boy Huey. The episode has moved Huey up from being simply Fenton’s fanboy to being his best friend, and adorable as hell relationship. The two clearly respect and appricate each other and Huey is looking out for his buddy the whole episode. His love of love is also just really cute. Added in the mix is Webby, who in one of my faviorite gags of the series, finds out Fenton is Gizmoduck because Huey is incredibly and insanely blatant with his unecessary coverup. But she of course is game to help while Fenton is trying to play it casual. We also just get a waterfall of great gags as everyone overdoes it wingmanning for fenton: Huey sets up an itallian bistro and tries to purposfully create a lady and the tramp situation, and sings opera (With Manny on acordian), the wonderfully 80′s suit from Fenton’s dad his mom gives him to wear, and Launchpad, who gives us a tremendous list of his exes, and plays my favorite song of the series: It’s a Date, a micheal mcdonnel riff.

This episode also wisely ups Mark’s Beaks game as Fenton’s arch enemy, still keeping him hilaroius, with the guy acting like a bored teenager and guzzling so much nanite jucie he turns into a hulk, as well as said hulk mode leading to a ton of great gags from kidnapping the children (”I got your kids.. are they your kids? I don’t know how this family works), to “take that coach dad” to eating a pie with tins and all and wondering about said tins. But he’s an actual threat now, taking on fenton in one hell of a fight, and having an utterly transcendent scene where he hacks his way past gyro’s security while dancing.. and dabbing because of course he does. It’s a fun, well done character piece that’s mostly here for i’ts laugh but Fenton’s struggle with Gizmo overtaking his life, and finding out someone he truly hit it off iwth only wanted him for that.. it’s really good stuff and Lin’s delivery after Fenton finds out, the pure pain and betryal in his voice, is just excellent. Also that opera scene is poetry.

10. Quack Pack!

One of the episodes that started my career naturally landed here. Not for that reason though: Quack Pack is a fun riff on sitcoms, specifically the tgif ones of the 90′s that Disney Afternoon Kids no doubt also watched, the kinds Disney Channel still makes today, and most importanly the kind the Disney Afternoon itself made like Goof Troop and well... Quack Pack.

Riffs on sitcoms are nothing new and the last year has been FULL of them. 2020 gave us this episode, Beef House and the wonderful “The Perfect House” episode of Close Enough, and this year gave us WandaVision, my second favorite MCU project so far, right behind Black Panther, which used the sitcom deconstruction to create one hell of a character study.

So you’d think with a year having passed and this concept happening as an entire mini series would dull this one.. but no. it’s still damn funny, having fun at the cliches while, again like WandaVision, having one of the main cast be responsible by accident but go along with it. The episode pivots from glorious affectionate parody of cheesy sitcoms, to that plus horrifying “Humans”, and a character piece for Donald. This brings Donald’s hatred and fed up ness with adventure to a head revealing his fondest wish is just to have a normal life and not loose anyone again.

It takes one of his best friends to snap him out of it. Look Goofy is my second faviorite of the sensational seven, an episode with him was already an easy sell for me.. but the episode uses him really well. First for laughs as he’s gentically dispositioned to be a perfect sitcom neighbor.. but also for heart. With his family preoccupied and a bit hurt, i’ts Goofy who cuts to the heart of the issue, pointing out NO ONE is normal and even his normal domestic life raising Max, who we see go to prom with roxanne eeeeee, has all sorts of chaos. Normal is what you make of it and pining for some ideal that will never happen was just tearing donald apart piece by piece and by letting go of that.. he finally begins to grow as a person throughout the season. It’s also a great thematic tie in to the season’s overall plot with Bradford and what Makes donald, despite also disliking the chaos his family gets into, different. Donald accepted it and grew as a person.. Bradford clung to his hate and it ate him alive. Or turned him into a non-sapient kind of vulture. Before I close this part out Jaleel White is also excellent and I wish eh’d get back into voice acting. He’s so freaking good at it. Seriously man i’d love to see him and ben in a sonic property together as a mythology gag. Same with Jims cummings and carey. Just think about it whoever owns the sonic movies.. think about it.

9. The Last Adventure!

Look I knew this was coming, you knew this was coming. But it had to be on here. The Last Adventure is not perfect: The lack of a build up episode like the previous two finales had really hurt this one: even at about 70 minutes, it still feels rushed in places and Huey, one of hte main characters of the season, dosen’t feel like he has a full payoff to his character like Dewey and Louie got.

But despite those flaws.. this episode is just a damn good ending. Almost everyone gets a big moment paying off their character arc, everyone in the party that comes to rescue webby and huey, along with the two themselves, gets a moment to show off, and everything comes together to give us one last epic sendoff. There’s just moment stacked on moment stacked on moment from Launchpads heroic second wind and donning of the gizmoduck armor, to Webby’s tearful confrontation with Beakley, to Huey using the greatest adventure of all line to foil bradford in one of the most deligfhully nuts moments of the series, I could go on for days with just how triumphant this finale felt. While it left a lot of doors open.. that feels like part of the design. It’s the end of the fight with FOWL.. but our heroes will never stop adventuring, never stop going and never stop being in our hearts and the curtain call at the end is now my faviorite bit of end credits ever, perfectly giving the main cast and friends one last chance to take a bow in their own unique ways. I will always miss this show but I will never be disapointed by the note it went out on.

8. The 87 Cent Solution!

Look some episodes are show stoppers, some are heartfelt tearjerkers, some are all this and more.. and some episodes are just clever and hilarious. The 87 Solution is the second funniest episode of Ducktales with me and my go to episode when watching the show. It’s just pure fun and with a clever premise: Scrooge notices 87 cents have gone missing, and already coming down with a cold, goes mad with paranoia as the kids slowly don face masks, something that has become even eeerier given everything, one by one realizing he needs to stop.

While David Tennant is an EXCELLENT dramatic actor, his comedy timing is really something that shoudln’t be ignored and i’ts on full display here as his performance gets more and more deranged, to thep oint he thinks an 8th dimensional imp is repsonsible. He nicely balances the disturbing side of Scrooge’s paranoia, his distancing from his family, with plenty of great gags about it too, the standout being when he offers 2 million dollars to whoever took the money like he’s publicly appeasing kidnappers. It’s fucking brilliant.

But while David is awesome as ever what really, truly makes the episode is my boy, one of my faviorite characters on the show if not my single faviriote FLINTHEART GLOMGOLD. Keith Ferguson is ALWAYS a dream as the character but this is his best performance by far. Part of this is the addition of Zan Owlson, Kev who I mentioned earlier’s faviorite Ducktales character. She’s not only throughly likeable in her own right, but provides the one thing Flinty was missing; a straight man.. or woman in this case. Scrooge wasn’t TERRIBLE in the roll, but can easily step away from his shit or foil it. Owlson has to put up with Glomgold’s nonsense while desperatly trying to stop him from undoing all her hard work with sheer force of jackass. The two jut play off each other brilliantly, Glomgold not getting sh’es not his employee but his equal and Owlson constnatly snarking at him.��

And of course both things hit their peak in the climax with the family staging a fake funeral (Though no one told donald it was fake), and we get the funniest scene in the entire fucking show as Glomgold burts in in a white suit, money shades and full dance number to “All I Do Is Win’, which when first watching this I was convinced the song was somehow accidnetly on in the background but nope. They got it after using it in the test phase and the scene is better for it. Glomgold twerking on Scrooge’s casket, trying to get on it to dance, and having to be placated like ac hild is the icing on this very rich cake

And the reveal scene is also gold as Glomgold gets into a YEARLONG staring contest with a baby, fails to steal more than the 87 cents and, in my faviorite touch, put on an imp costume just to make scrooge seem crazier... then keeps the damn thing on the rest of the time for no explicable reason. The episode is the show at it’s comedic peak while giving Glomgold a chance to be a genuine threat and that’s Glomgood.

7. Let’s Get Dangerous!

Frank’s Rebooted Version of Darkwing Duck is probably his greatest achivment with the show. While this show is a team effort, something I slowly realized as I reviewed the show, it’s very clear from the way he talks, how well he knows the show and how much effort was put into porting Darkwing into the reboot that this was his baby. While redefining ducktales for the 2010′s was clearly a huge dream of his... doing the same for the master of suprise was an even bigger goal. And as a huge fan of superheroes i’ve seen my fair share of half assed takes on laired and complex characters. The XCU alone is one giant grab bag of missed opportunities for me.

So i’ts no exageration when I tell you Frank.. nailed it. In one of the most brilliant moves i’ve seen for a superhero work Frank worked his love of the show into the reboot.. by having Darkwing have been a show, one Launchpad loved.. and so did Drake, who was inspried by the show to become an inspriation himself and while his attempt to do that through a zack snydery reboot failed, Launchpad encouraged him to do it for real. Drake was still himself, but the meta aspect and the toning down of some of darkwing’s more obnoxious traits that didn’t work in a universe that, while patently rediciulous still took it’s characters seriously, he made a BETTER version of the character.

This is where all that comes to it’s peak, and hoppefully convinced Disney to let Frank , and possibly matt, run the reboot. And no, even if Point Grey is producing that dosen’t stop that: Thanks to Invincible i’ve now realized that Seth and his friend Evan producing the show dosen’t mean it’ll be RAN by them, nor unrelated to this. It just means their helping make it and if anything given how lush and gorgeous invincible’s animation is, it’s a VERY good sign their helping out with it if it’s true.

But wether this versoin continues or not, Frank gave it his best shot. Part of his diffrent angle is having Drake as a rookie here and as such here we see him truly struggle: he’s had his origin, he ahs the cape, he has the gadgets (in a brilliant turn thanks to fenton, who he actually likes... but is so far the ONLY person to not get he’s Gizmoduck), and the city.. but no crime to fight and no real idea how to go about his lifelong dream. The events of the episode slowly shape him: WHile he already had the spirit for darkwing, never giving up, looking good in a cape etc, this episode gives him the heart the same way it gave his original it: With Gosalyn. Dimantopolis and Beatriz just play off each other perfectly, as the two go from neimies to slowly bonding as Drake realizes this kid needs him and that he needs to fight for more than just filing the ohle inside, and goes to hell and back to help her get her grandpa back, with one of the best moments of the episode to me being when Launchpad helps her realize how hard he’s been working at it, an exausted drake refusing to acccept that he can’t get her grandpa back because he promised. He grows from simply trying to live the dream.. to surpassing the original. We also see more from Launchpad, who grows into his new family and helps push his boyfriend and newa dopted daughter in the right directions. The episode really evolves these characters from the simple disney afternoon versions, who while awesome were made into fully fleshed out characters. Gosalyn still has her edge but now has a hard lesson to learn about doing the right thing, forced to give up someone she loves for the greater good but finding a new family in the process.

Part of what makes the episode work though as while it is funcitonally one big darkwing duck reboot pilot that’s awesome, heartrending and a joy to watch... it’s still a ducktales episode in parts without either part hurting each other. Huey plays a vital role, figuring the ramrod is too good to be true.. and discovering just how it is, then when captured, slowly unravling why Bradford’s there and being at least in part responsible for outing him as a FOWL agent. While this is largely Drakes story the rest of the cast is still vital to it: Scrooge trusting in huey, Louie serving as his logical counter and Dewey meanwhile bonding with team darkwing and helping Gosalyn, knowing exactly where she’s been and providing a nice foil. The episode is just one long and impressive love letter to the original show while creating it’s own thing and that’s really this reboot in a nutshell. It also has some of the best fights of the series, with the first fight between darkwing and bulba, where our hero, unlike his original counterpart, easily troucnes bulba using his speed and skill, is the standout.

6. Woo-Ooo!

I covered this one recently so I won’t go on for too long.. but I will say I hold this one up as the gold standard for first episodes. In one hour, hell even in jus the first half we get a sense of the whole cast, the tone of the show, and the world we’ve been thrust into. It gets all the table setting out of the way by weaving it into a compelling story of Scrooge getting back in the game, finding a reason to get back to what he does best in those he loves most and setting up the season long arc effortlessly in the process. The worst I can say about the episode is it sets the bar a bit high for Season 1 and a lot of the first half really struggled to reach these heights. This episode is a masterwork and the perfect showcase for what the series would be at it’s height.

5. Moonvasion!

Speaking of Golden Standards, Moonvasion is one of the best season finale’s i’ve seen. it’s not THE best.. but that’s a really high bar to clear and that spots currently taken in my heart by “The Crossroads of Destiny” from Avatar the Last Airbender. But while not the best of it’s kind, it’s sitll the best the series put out and is an utterly satisfying epic that ties up season 2.

While I love the Last Adventure, it had a LOT to tie up and was really hampered by having to do all of that with no direct lead in. Moonvasion by contrast hits the ground running with the Moonlanders arriving on earth and all hell breaking loose, and the episode itself breaking into two stellar plots. Scrooge leading an army of every ally he has against the invaders, and Della seemingly going for reinforcements.. but really just trying to keep the kids safe from it, to their anger once they find out.

Both sides end up going badly: Scrooge looses most of his army as Lunaris was one step ahead of him and is left iwth Beakly and Launchpad, while Della ends up marooned.. and finds Donald. The reunion between the two is the highlight of the special, as the two argue as you’d expect (And Dewey cutting in seemingly to stop it.. only to rant at Donald for costing him “ten years of turbo” is the best gag of the episode), before embracing.

Our heroes naturally find ways to bounce back though. Louie, capping off his growth for the season, convinces his mom they can’t just hide.. and in the second best scene of the episode sings the lullabye she wrote.. one Donald sung them every night

And no sooner than Della gets her step back and realizes that dangerous or not she and her newly reunited family have to get back in there, do the cousins show up on Fethry’s giant shrimp/girlfriend Mitzi, and our heroes head back.

Scrooge’s plot hits i’ts peak though as he’s forced to accept the help of an unlikely and unwelcome ally: Glomgold, who turns out to be exactly what they need: While his plan is as stupid, short sighted and insane as you’d expect, complete with forcing Scrooge to dress up as santa just to piss him off and dressing his sharks in parkas (”I call them sharkas”), the sheer lonacy throws Lunaris off as he dosen’t know how to deal with this and Glomgold not only gets the better of him but gets his company back as part of his scheme. “You were prepared for our best but not our dumbest!” “And i’m the dumbest theirs ever been! Muahahahaha! Wait...”

And of course our other heroes arrive just in time to save things.. and the episode still manages to pull off what many works struggle to, something tha’ts very hard to: a SECOND climax. Lunaris decides to just say fuck it and blow up the earth and i’ts up to our core family to kick his ass in space. Epic space battles, Della’s girlfriend meeting the family and more insues and an emotoinal, action packed and fully satisfying finale is had by all... and it’s all topped with one of the best sequel hooks i’ve ever seen as FOWL makes themselves known to us.. and prepares to strike.

4. How Santa Stole Christmas! This one will also be short as i’ve talked about this one.. a lottttt. The initial review, my best christmas specials list and my best of 2020 list. I stand by all of that: this is a unique and wonderful christmas special, i’ll be watching it every year, and i’ts full of charm, humor and gay subtext. In short it’s this series but on christmas footing.

3. Last Crash of the Sunchaser!

Another one I covered very recently, this episode is a master piece of suspense, slowly building tension as our heroes get closer and closer to the truth about Della.. and to death, the simple but deadly stakes making this an absolute nailbiter from start to finish. This is some of the series best pacing bar none... but what seals it is the ending: the masterful flashback finally explaning whatever happened to Della duck, our heroes lashing out at each other.. all cumilating in the best Scene of the show. I said it might be in the review but no I can confirm: Scrooge bitterly ruminating over things while we find out just how much he’s lost... ending with him tearfully and angrily sitting once again alone in one hell of a powerful shot echoing Scrooge’s first apperance. Damn fine stuff.

2. Escape from The Impossbin Only one episode not only matches Last Crash in mounting tension and atmosphere but suprasses it. With FOWL and Bradford’s true nature now out in the wind, this episode uses that to create tension and rattles it’s two most unshakable characters: SCrooge’s normal boundless confidence is shot, not sure he can win this time against an opponent who knows him as well as he knows himself while Beakly slowly unravels, pitting Webby against the boys.. and pitting herself against Webby when Webby sees her terroizing them is only dividing them. Both plots start out funny enough but slowly escalate in tension and stakes until by the end your on the edge of your seat. The Beakly plot is the standout of the two, giving Bentina the starring role she badly needed, having gotten even better in light of the finale. Everyone is at the top of their game and everything builds up to one hell of a twist ending and one hell of a badass boast from our heroes: Their down.. but their far from out and this is far from over.

1. Nightmare On Kimotor Hill!

I”ll be reviewing this episode in full later this week as part of my Lena retrospective, but I stand by putting it up top. This episode is ducktales in it’s purest form and focuses on it’s best original character as Lena grapples with her self hatred and her past. That core helps anchor an amazing concept: going into the Kid’s dreams and finding out their greatest desires. The results.. are all gloriously rediclous and are easily the best gags of hte series as a whole: Dewey’s high school musical santa claus is going ot high school nonsense from getting a’s in Dewology to running away from the abstract concept of a love intrest, to not getting the sybolism of himself crying a moon made of his own tears. Louie quite literally becoming garfield, and my faviorite scene of the show: Huey, wanting to be the tall older brother..g iving himself horrifcly long leg. While everyone else is just understandably baffled, what makes the scene is the banter between Dewey and Huey, with Schwartz and Pudi at their best as Dewey first freaks out and then asks what the hell man, while Huey defends his weird decision (”I”m not good at imagination stuff okay!”), and then tries to get a jar of pickles. Each dream is just so oddly and wonderfully specific to each kid and each one of the triplests dreams, as well as violets being color coded down tot he backgrounds is a very nice touch. The visuals here are just peak ducktales, using the setting for all it’s worth and the climax is utterly emotoinal and heartbreaking... and Lena’s break from her abuser, finally realizing she has the power now is not only a wonderful metaphor... but also just so damn cathartic. And that’s why this one’s the best to me personally: it just packs so much into 20 minutes: some of the series best and most creative jokes, a gripping emtoinal arc, and so much more. It’s just that damn good and tha’ts why it’s the best... that and starting Huelet for me. Seriously that LIbrary scene is so fucking cute.

Thank you all for reading. If you liked this artcle, join my patreon and help me get to my stretch goal for monthly darkwing duck reviews, a review of super ducktales and more after! Until the next rainbow... it’s been a pleasure.

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kaznejis · 4 years

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Vignettes- Marco Peña x reader

Anonymous asked: just some like cute fluff with marco, maybe like different stages of your relationship. like first date, kiss, first time, just cute lil fluff like that.

Anonymous asked: I feel like you’re one of the few people who write Marco x readers that I love, so can I request your typical how you meet, first kiss etc imagines xx

A/N: Thanks for sending these in, I decided to get through two requests with this one. Sorry that I haven’t posted anything in the last week or so, I’ve been away but I am at home now and promise to be much more active! For those who have sent in a request, expect to see it on here sometime soon. :)

Also, I gave your parents names in order to make the story flow much better- if those are your parents names then lucky for you, haha!

Feel free to send in any requests!

Vignette- A brief evocative description, account or episode

“Hey Y/N, grab one of these boxes for me?”

“Sure thing, Dad.” You wiped dust from your hands as you hauled another box that was stacked before the now-empty moving truck.

“Thanks,” He grinned from the doorway, wiping the sweat that clung to his forehead as he did, “Once you’ve moved that into the kitchen I have some bad news for you.”

“Okay,” You spoke slowly, blowing a hair from your face as you deposited the (admittedly heavy) box onto the kitchen floor before joining your dad in the hallway, “What’s up?”

“Your mother contacted some nearby families before we came here; long story short we are eating dinner with one of them tonight.”

“You’re kidding?” You groaned, running a hand through your messy hair as you pictured the state of your appearance.

“You’ll have time to fix yourself up,” Rolling his eyes, your dad had practically read your mind, “Think about it, we don’t even have furniture right now let alone food.”

“True,” You sighed, “When are we going?”

“Six.”

“Wait-” You spun to stare grab your phone and check the time, “That’s in two hours!?”

“Better get moving.” Your dad laughed as you sped up the stairs toward the bathroom.

Luckily, you did manage to get ready in time and at 5:52 your family stood on the porch of a large house only a few blocks from yours. Shifting the bottle of champagne that served as a piece offering into the crook of your arm as you moved to knock on the door, the three of you twitched nervously in anticipation.

Eventually the door swung open and light flooded the porch that had been previously lit by a few dim garden-lights. A thin, dark-haired woman stood on the other side of it- a bright smile adorning her features.

“Welcome,” She laughed, beckoning you all inside, “It’s freezing out here. Come in, come in!”

“Thankyou so much for having us,” Your mum smiled as she took the bottle from you and offered it towards the woman, “We don’t really have anything to cook with but I hoped that this would be enough.”

“oooh Anna, thankyou very much,” She placed the bottle down and pulled your mother into a tight hug- doing so caused her to spot you and your father loitering awkwardly in the hallway, “Oh! I’m so sorry, I should introduce myself. I’m Laurel, Laurel Pena.”

“It’s nice to meet you, I’m Chris” Your father stepped forward, engaging in a side-hug with Laurel before gesturing towards you, “And this is our daughter Y/N” You smiled awkwardly and gave a timid wave.

“Y/N! Your mother has told me so much about you, come here and give me a hug.” She did so, the hug was warm and comforting- washing away any awkwardness you had originally felt, “Now, let’s go meet the rest of the family.”

Turning down the hallway, Laurel led the three of you towards what was presumably the dining room- noise and light erupted from the room as the activity of a family preparing for dinner bustled from it. Smiling reassuringly, Laurel turned into the room and at the sight of guests the family paused- each member turning toward you.

“The guests have arrived.” Laurel cheered, throwing her arms in the air as the whole family erupted into greeting. Laurel quickly jumped to introduce the each of you to the other family and vice versa. As she moved around the table, you noticed a boy around the same age as you watching you, a small smirk on his face. Chewing on your lip in an attempt to calm the nerves the gaze penetrating the side of your face caused, you willed the eruptions of want that sunk into your spine to stop.

Eventually, Laurel placed her hands on the back of the boys chair, “...and this is my son, Marco.” She ruffled his hair before turning to the seat beside him. “I noted that the two of you are the same age so I thought that it would be great that you sit beside him Y/N.”

Cocking his head to the side, Marco stared at you as he awaited your reaction. You simply bit your tongue and let out a harsh outtake of breath in an attempt to steady your voice, “Yeah, that sounds perfect.”

“Great!” Laurel then moved to show your parents to their seats, “Now, I will go and get the last of the food- everyone feel free to tuck in!”

Lowering yourself into the chair hesitantly. you watched as the table began digging into the copious amount of food that littered the table upon different variations of plates and bowls. Marco reached for a dish before him, causing the toned muscles of his arms to flex beneath the short-sleeved shirt that he wore. Turning the skirt of your dress between your fingers and swallowing harshly, you composed yourself before turning to fill your plate with the food that surrounds you.

“She always goes all out whenever we have guests.”

“Hm?” You hummed, turning towards the voice beside you as you hadn’t quite heard what he said.

“My mother,” He smiled fondly, which was a really good look on him, “She always goes all out with the food- we usually have about a quarter of this during normal meals.”

You spluttered out a laugh, reaching to cover your mouth as he grinned at you in triumph, “Well, I’m honoured.”

“You should be,” He snorted around a mouthful of food, “She hasn’t spent that much time cooking in months.” At that, you both continued to converse throughout the night as you both became familiar with each other. You and Marco shared a number of interests and you weren’t going to lie about the fact that you had originally found him extremely attractive anyway- these factors only deepened the feelings you already felt towards Marco.

Apparently, Marco had felt exactly the same.

As the night came to a close and everybody had separated to different rooms in the house, Marco had pulled you aside and asked the question that would start everything, “Would you consider going out with me sometime?”

ii.

You said Yes, of course.

Though the date didn’t end up happening until a few weeks later- you needed time to settle into the new house and become familiar with the local area.

You vividly remembered Marco’s grin when you had gone over to his house and told him that you were ready for the date he had promised you. He had bounded around like an excited puppy, pulling you into a joy-filled hug as his arms squeezed your sides.

“I’ll pick you up tomorrow at 11,” He had beamed, staring down at you as he slowly pulled his arms from around you, “I can’t wait.”

It was now ‘tomorrow’ and you anxiously waited beside your window- every time a car pulled up you would jump in anticipation, even if it was approximately an hour before Marco had arranged to pick you up. Chewing on your nails, you moved away from the window and walked over to the mirror in order to check over your appearance; continuing the cycle you had been performing over the last hour or so.

Just as you begun to settle the nerves that flooded your mind, a car horn sounded from outside the house. Speeding back to your window, you set your gaze upon Marco who was moving to lean against his car. Taking a deep intake of breath and patting down your summer dress one last time, you left your room and headed towards the door.

“Wow!” Marco exclaimed as soon as you stepped down from the entrance to the house, “You look beautiful.”

You laughed, feeling a heated hue of colour filling your cheeks, “You don’t look too bad yourself.”

You weren’t wrong, Marco wore an unbuttoned plait shirt paired with a black top and ripped jeans- he didn’t look too bad; he looked hot. Marco just shrugged his shoulders and opened the passenger door for you, a content grin on his face.

“So what actually are we doing today?” You inquired as you slid into the seat, looking over at Marco as he shut the drivers side door behind him.

“I was going to keep it a secret,” He laughed as he manoeuvred the car out onto the road, “But it’s nothing too big, I thought it would be fun to go bowling and then grab something to eat.”

“Bowling?” You giggled childishly, “I haven’t been bowling in years.”

“Well then,” He grinned at the sound of your laughter, “There’s a pretty high chance that I’ll beat you.”

“Oh, shut up.” You laughed, shoving him softly (mindful of the fact that he was driving), “That doesn’t necessarily mean that I’m bad at it.”

“Well then we’ll just have to see how it goes.”

“Game on.”

In the end, Marco did win the game. It turned out that bowling was a regular for Marco’s family- meaning he had years of experience against your lack of.

After your pathetic defeat, you sat together in a booth within the restaurant that was connected to the bowling complex- each with a burger and a shared plate of curly fries.

“You know what Marco,” You swallowed the abundance of greasy food in order to speak easily, “I had fun today.”

“You did?” He smiled widely, staring at you intently, “Well, I did too.”

“Well I mean, you did plan the date.”

He continued to stare at you for a beat. as if he was contemplating- then once his mind was apparently made up; he smacked a salt-covered kiss to your cheek, “Whatever.” He mumbled cheekily after doing so.

You grinned shyly at Marco, bringing your hand up to brush the area of your cheek that he had kissed, “Ew- You got sauce on my cheek.” Marco broke into a howling laugh that practically crippled his body as you scrubbed at your cheek.

“You’re so cute.” He huffed out as he recovered from his laugh.

“Whatever.” You echoed, twisting your lips bashfully.

“Go out with me again.”

“Slow your roll,” You sipped your drink and winked, “We have to finish this date first.”

iii.

One date turned into two...and eventually three.

Over the two months in which you had now known Marco- you had grown to harbour some intense feelings for the guy. The two of you were in constant contact between dates; texting and calling until the early hours of the morning or simply falling asleep together on facetime. You were adamant that he shared these feelings- giving you the confidence you needed for what you were about to do.

With an arm curled around your shoulder, Marco was walking you home after offering to do so as soon as the movie you had attended came to a close- therefore giving you the opportunity to, well, kiss him.

It had been due to happen since that moment during the first date when Marco had lunged over and smacked a kiss to your cheek- the two of you had been stuck in a limbo of whether or not one of you should make the move. This usually resulted in the end of dates closing on an awkward hug or another cheek kiss.

You were sick of it and taking this much needed step was very much necessary.

“-I just think that the main character should of made a much better choice, do you agree?” Your prolonged train of thought had taken place whilst Marco had gone on a rant about the main protagonist’s moral choices from the cheap, indie movie you had just viewed.

“Yeah,” You grinned up at him as his hands trailed patterns upon your shoulder blades, “I agree.”

“You weren’t listening, were you?” He laughed, though he didn’t seem to be offended nor surprised.

“Sorry,” You snorted out a laugh as he ruffled your hair, “I was trying to listen to you I swear.”

“Well, as long as you tried.” He grinned down at you, moving to encircle his hands around your waist as you came to a stop beneath a fluorescent street-light.

This was it, you thought, as you stared up at Marco’s lips from beneath your lashes under the glow of the light.

Though, it seemed that Marco had been thinking about the same thing. Before you could even begin to lean upward he brought his hand up to cradle your chin with his thumb and forefinger, “Can I?”

You huffed out a soft laugh. “You don’t even have to ask.” And before another word can be uttered, you both met each other in the middle and connected your lips into a slow, sipping kiss that made your heart speed up and your knees weaken.

Eventually the two of you had to pull away for air, as you did so Marco smiled down at you sweetly- with a slight smug look to it, “I’ve been wanting to do that for ages.”

You just smiled bashfully up at him, chewing on your slightly-swollen lip lightly, “Me too.”

“Hey,” Marco spoke, throwing his arm back over your shoulder as you set back onto the path, “Does this mean we’re together now?”

“That’s your way of asking?”

“Yep.”

“Alright,” You giggled, tucking yourself into his side, “Sure, we’re together now.”

iv.

“Are you 100 percent positive that you want to do this?” Marco asked sincerely, running his arm up and down your arm in a comforting manner.

“Yeah,” You nodded insistently, reaching up to brush a stray curl from your boyfriend’s forehead, “I want you.”

Marco gulped, his brown eyes darkening ever so slightly, “Are you sure? I mean-”

“Marco, love.” You laughed, shaking him slightly, “We’ve wanted to do this for weeks and this may be the only time in a while that the house is completely empty for the entire night.”

“Okay,” Marco whispered, closing his eyes and toying with the end of your loose shirt, “I just don’t want to hurt you.”

Sighing, you pulled Marco forward and pressed a sweet kiss to his lips before pressing your forehead up against his, drawing circles upon his cheek with your thumb, “I know you won’t, I trust you.”

“Good.” Marco mumbled huskily, moving to kiss you again as he lowered you to lay back against the pillows at the top of your bed.

“Fuck,” Marco breathed out as you both lay side-by-side, pliant and sweaty against the bed covers.

“Yeah.” You grinned widely, allowing yourself to roll over and cuddle up against Marco’s side as the endorphins and love hormones produced from sex coursed through you.

“That was good,” Marco grinned, kissing you lightly on the forehead as he pulled you into his arms, “Was that good for you?”

“I loved it,” You sighed, not allowing your mind to catch up before you said what you were about to say, “I love you.”

Marco paused, going still and silent for a moment as you could feel his eyes boring right through you- though he pulled himself back together in a matter of seconds as he let out a glee-filled laugh, “God, I love you too.”

Taglist: @mansaaay @yongboxerrr @the-not-so-iconic @sandovalali12

#Marco Peña #Marco Peña x reader #Marco x reader #fanfiction #oneshot #imagines #the kissing booth 2 #the kissing booth #Marco Peña oneshot #Noah Flynn

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rikerxworf · 3 years

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*☆. My Top 50 Worfriker Moments .♡°

We reached 500 followers tonight, yaay!! 🥳 To thank you all and sort some Worfriker scenes for you to check out, I ranked my personal favourites.

It was worryingly easy to find fifty haha. Some are just a few seconds long, while other “moments” are basically whole episodes. I linked posts, because most of them are already on this blog anyway, but I still hope you enjoy them! Also please tell me your favourite moments! 💞

To be clear, this list is incomplete and sorted to my personal taste. Also, I didn’t count the times when they were just standing unreasonably close, side by side on the bridge, in the corridors, on away missions – otherwise we’d be here all day. So, let’s go!

50. First Meeting (Encounter at Farpoint S01E01)

What better way than to start out with the beginning? This isn’t even that shippable of a moment, if it wasn’t for the camera work and music/ sound effects. I know it’s supposed to show off the new bridge and all that, but it reads… differently to me lmao. I love how deadpan s1 Worf is, but s1 Riker is on thin ice in my book…

49. “One of my officers was almost killed! That makes it my concern!” (Firstborn S7E21)

Worf calls out another Klingon character [no spoilers here hehe] for being super-unfriendly towards Riker during a meeting between the three of them. I like how both Riker and Worf subtly but unmistakably affirm their loyalty to each other when the other Klingon questions it. Afterwards, when Worf and he are his quarters, Worf downright interrupts him to say, “Why did you treat Commander Riker so disrespectfully? You were rude!”

48. touching instead of talking (The Last Outpost S1E05)

This is a place holder for all the other times Will Riker has touched Worf on his arm etc. Among other culprits are “The Hunted” (s3e11) and “Q Who” (s2e16) – on a Borg Ship no less. He is a very tactile person, which I adore for his character. Affectionate physical contact between (hyper)male characters is still something of a rare sight in fantasy and sci-fi, so I’m super happy Frakes acted his character the way he did.

47. Power Couple (Q Who S2E16)

A small little moment of them arriving in Ten Forward to confront Q, who talks shit about them as soon as they enter (it’s Q after all lmao). What I love most about this is how neither of them, but Worf especially, gives a fuck. He shoves his body up there like a fucking bulldozer to confront Q, just after Riker gave him a trusting over-the-shoulder-look. True dream team right here. In my opinion, TNG capitalised far too late on this side of their dynamic, but this is an early example of it and I 100% love it, no matter Frakes’ short *accidentally look directly into the camera* moment sdhfjskdskr

46. “You’d be surprised how far a hug goes with Worf.” (The Loss S4E10)

This is a very emotional scene between Deanna and Will. They share a close hug and Deanna is like… “do you do that often?”. And Will tells her about him hugging Geordi and Worf… which… is so cute I can’t;; Also, again, male characters showing physical signs of (platonic) affection is so important, even if we don’t get to see it here with other male characters. But now we know that Will gives great comfort hugs, including to Worf, so… Nice. I Would Like To See It.

45. Honour the Betazoid Tradition (Star Trek: Nemesis)

Nothing THAT special, in this pairing’s case. Just another instant of Riker shamelessly checking out Worf at the thought of them being naked. In good tradition. The fact that he does this as they are talking about HIS WEDDING TO TROI is… wild. Good acting choice, Mister Frakes. Also, I love how terrified Worf seems to be about appearing naked to said wedding. It’s cute!

44. “A werewolf!” (Time’s Arrow, Part II S6E01)

This one made me giggle to no end when I first watched the episode: Mark Twain boards the Enterprise and, as soon as he sees poor Worf, exclaims, “A werewolf!” Of course Worf is Exhausted™ but Riker… in his historical uniform no less… looks interested? Is his Halloween party fantasy finally coming to life? I bet he feels seen sjdfhsdjkfsk

43. Google Earth… always taking pictures (Descent, Part I S6E26)

This is almost completely for the aesthetics, not gonna lie. I love this shot of them by the shuttle, the scenery is just gorgeous. I also love how in-character they are in this scene, Worf doing his job very dutifully and Riker propping up a leg and gazing into the middle distance. Very nice. This has been this blog’s sidebar image since the beginning, and I’ve long given up trying to find one that I like better (´꒳`)♡

42. Battle Sequence (The Last Outpost S1E05)

This is peak 80s cheesiness. The thunder sound effects, the way Riker distracts the Ferengi so that Worf can get ready for an attack – and that amazing line of “I GOT THIS OOONE” just before Riker’s overpowered by a Ferengi, plus Data’s reaction. Oh, and also, Tasha Yar stepping in to end the whole fight (with thunder sound effects of course) and Worf and Riker positioning themselves behind her like the dream team they are. As trashy as season 1 is, I wish more of it was this kind of trashy.

41. Parrises squares (11001001 S1E15)

Another one that shows the amazing friendship of Tasha/Worf/Will that we could’ve gotten more of: Yar and Worf leave for a match of Parrises squares, already in their bright blue outfits. Riker checks Worf out, y’know, the usual. Worf jabs him with a sassy comment, because it’s season 1, y’know, the usual. It’s pretty standard considering the other moments on this list, but I adore it nonetheless, especially because of Tasha Yar ♡

40. Walking Through the Woods And??? Taking Cover(???) (Descent, Part II S7E01)

This is one of the ridiculous ones. Worf and Riker are investigating the planet where Lore and the Borg have trapped the crew and… they have interesting ways of sneaking around, e.g. Riker always staying behind Worf. And yes, they’re overly close to each other, we already know that. But then Riker straight up puts his hand on Worf’s bum when they have to take cover and I’m like… sweety, not THAT kind of “sneaky” lmaooo… It’s like straight out of a parody skit, I love it! (*´▽`*)

39. Fight Scene (Liaisons S7E02)

Another unnecessarily drawn-out moment of physical contact. Riker stops Worf from fighting the alien ambassador after some pretty racist bullshit that Worf had to endure, but in the end they both look rather clueless. I guess this is distilled Himbo Energy™? Anyway, before that there is a cute scene including Deanna in the observation lounge featuring funny Will and grumpy Worf. In general, “Liaisons” just has very good Worf moments over all! (just skip through the Picard scenes)

38. “Nice planet.” (Justice S1E08)

I truly can’t with this one. It’s a classic Worf one-liner, in fact this one started the whole Worf one-liner thing! The writers realised how great stuff like this fit his character and rolled with it. Here, Worf (rather wantonly?) hugs a blonde alien, then looks at Riker, who has been on the planet before, and says, “Nice planet” before burying his face in the crook of her neck again. Which implies?? That he thinks of this sexy planet as Riker’s planet?? Riker’s reaction is even better because he acts weirdly ‘caught’ or something haha! Maybe it’s the sight of cuddly Worf? Who knows…

37. On A Date (The Perfect Mate S5E21)

This is a small thing, but when Data and the alien woman enter Ten Forward, we see Riker and Worf sitting at a table and having drinks. They seem to have a fun little talk, and Worf looks a bit TOO dismissive for my taste when Riker leaves at the sight of the Data and the woman. Did they interrupt their little date? Who knows? Either way, them spending free time together, plus Riker’s soft “I’ll catch up with you later” is just cute (´꒳`)

36. The Poker Scene(s) (Cause and Effect S5E18)

These are casual moments: The senior staff is playing poker, Worf smirks a lot and says his one-liners, Riker does rather suggestive poker faces that scandalise poor Worf, yaddi yaddi yadda. These are cute little moments that every good comfort TV show should have ♡

35. “I have no desire to leave the Enterprise.” (Heart of Glory S1E20)

aka Worf The Liar. After a conversation with a Klingon in the Empire’s military, Worf slowly turns around on the bridge and sees… the whole crew. But Riker is front and center, even Picard isn’t as much in focus as he is. And then Worf says he only agreed to the Klingon’s offer to join the Empire’s forces out of politeness, and then doubles-down on it: “Really, I have no desire to leave the Enterprise.” Except, as we will learn later, if Commander Riker is leaving. Then I’ll leave too. Ciao ciao.

34. saving Will from a phaser (The Hunted S3E11)

Riker and Worf chase the escaped prisoner on the Enterprise, but gasp! He fires at the turbolift when the doors open! Worf reacts quickly and throws himself against Riker to get them out of the firing range. It’s… an interesting motion. They do get out eventually, and the subsequent fight may be a bit clumsy, but at least it’s them fighting together, y’know? This could have been some real whump or hurt/comfort shit if it wasn’t that small a moment. Not that I like to see someone get injured y’know just… the feelings™ of it all 👀

33. Shuttlebay Scene (Liaisons S7E02)

Towards the end of “Liaisons”, we get this cute moment where Worf and the alien ambassador talk about how exhausting eleven hours of holodeck combat exercise are, and what does Riker do? Slap poor Worf on his hurting back;; And then he grins that stupid grin of his!! Thanks for nothing!! For real though, Riker is teasing Worf throughout this episode, and it is kinda funny considering that Worf always just lets him. Amazing.

32. Comedic Duo™ (Sarek S3E23)

This one is similar in a small way to Spot Nr. 34, in that Worf tries to shield Will from the brawl that’s going on in Ten Forward – except this one is funny. Before they enter Ten Forward, Worf is like “No I haven’t noticed tempers going crazy, Commander!” – only to cut to them standing in the opened doors with Thee most priceless expressions when they see everyone inside throwing hands. And then: “Now I see what you mean.” Worf is my favourite comedian

31. Rescuing Alexander (New Ground S5E10)

For a change, a highly emotional one. The whole episode builds up to this dramatic moment: As soon as the crew realise that Alexander is inside the burning biolab, Riker shoots Worf the most concerned look, and they head to the lab together. Worf discovers brute strength when it comes to saving his son, and poor Riker is basically just accessory in this scene. He does rescue the gilvos though. But the fire, the tension, the ticking clock – this scene is so dramatic!! And it should be, this is about Worf and his family! It’s very Klingon, in a way, and I like that Riker takes a backseat to Worf’s and Alexander’s relationship, even though he’d make a perfect stepdad.

30. ♪ should I stay or should I go ♪ (Legacy S4E06)

You know that romantic trope where person A wants to go with B but B is like “stay here, it’s too dangerous”? And then Person A begrudgingly agrees or simply watches B leave in terror? And then B is extra motivated to fight and come back, so that they can be with A again? That is this scene. It’s Worf’s love language of “we go into danger together” vs. Riker’s classic hero shtick of “no, I’ll go alone, it’s too dangerous!” and it’s 100% what I’m here for.

29. Bar Confrontation Scene (Unification, Part II S5E08)

Boy, this scene is a lot. Worf sings Klingon opera before continuing his mission with Riker. They confront a Ferengi warship trader, a rather disgusting character, and Riker’s Starfleet speak doesn’t work at all with him. So, Riker looks over his shoulder, to Worf, who nods in silent understanding, and then Riker just… grabs the Ferengi and threatens him with the words “I will be very unhappy” fffffffff which – c’mon, you can’t tell me that he wasn’t putting on a show for Worf! This is Will Riker we’re talking about! Also amazing how Worf doesn’t even have to say a single word in this whole scene. Love it, real dream team energy.

28. boyfriends taking a golden hour stroll (Descent, Part II S7E01)

Loooove this one, even though it’s basically nothing haha! The dialogue is very dramatic, but if you’re just looking at gifs for example, it looks very calm and soft. Also… the way Worf listens to Riker is just… I want to be looked at that way aaaaah;;

27. “No! For Battle, come to me!” (The Last Outpost S1E05)

Ah, yes. One of Worf’s friends being threatened with death and Worf very lionheartedly jumping in à la “you should rather fight a KLINGON because KLINGONS like fighting they’re WARRIORS arrrgh”. Only this time said friend is Commander Riker, and he orders Worf to stay back, because that’s what a commander does, he tries to keep his officers out of danger. And Worf looks… struck? Kinda? It’s a very cute, very early moment in their history together.

I’m linking a fic rec revolving around this moment here too!

26. Scruffy Bar Scene (Gambit, Part I S7E04)

This scene has cute outfits, badass phaser action from both Beverly and Deanna, sweater paws, and about Thee greatest comedic timing in all of TNG. I love that they put Worf and Will as the dream team who has to do the talking, and I also appreciate that Worf wears red and Will wears blue – aka the colours they look best in respectively (o˘◡˘o)

25. “Even Klingons need love now and then.” (Justice S1E08)

After that “nice planet” incident, this is where the episode is all in on those early TNG vibes. Riker gets invited for a (sexual?) game, in-between a bunch of aliens making out. He declines and instead walks up to Worf, with the widest grin, to talk to him… about sex. Bravo, Commander, very subtle. “Even Klingons need love” shut up just say you want to sleep with him goddammit shdjfsdksk Also the way Worf just casually talks about his sex life… wild. This could only happen in season 1. Also, fun fact, instead of “I better check in”, Riker says, “I’ll beam us back up” in the German dub, which… Do you want a room or something???

24. Worf All Dolled Up (Elementary, Dear Data S2E03)

Another outrageous moment of Riker barely keeping it in his pants. Worf arrives at the holodeck in a Victorian get-up and then has to endure a whole 30s of Riker checking him out, smirking at him, and making innuendo comments. “Nice suit” I could understand as a winky-winky bro joke™, even with the suspicious leg movement, but “You’d be a big hit in London”??? Hello?? Also poor Worf processing what he just heard sdjfsjdkfk! They definitely made out as soon as Picard and Data entered the holodeck!! (Also sidenote: When Picard pops the hat into its correct form, everybody flinches in a very in-character way. It’s very cute ♡)

23. Gay (Eye of the Beholder S7E18)

I’m pretty sure this scene is entirely taking place inside Deanna’s mind, but that doesn’t make it any less great haha! Worf and Will sitting at the bar and smiling at each other, talking about romance very casually… it’s so so cute. And don’t forget Worf trying to ask Will if he can try things out with Deanna shdfjksdfksdksk this scene is especially cute for those who enjoy Worf/Riker/Troi!

(Also never forget the mirroring of the two flirting officers in the background lmao this is iconic)

22. “He wouldn’t…” – “Yes, he would” (Star Trek: Insurrection)

This is honestly such a fun scene. It looks like the Enterprise, in command of William T. Riker, is about to ram the enemy’s ship. “He wouldn’t…” one of the enemy aliens says. Cut to Worf, surrounded by alien guards, saying completely casually, “Yes, he would.” Which makes the first alien panic like “oh shit” and run away from the view screen for some reason??? Lol it doesn’t make any sense, but I enjoy the space action, the comedic timing, and the shot of Worf sitting in-between the enemy aliens. *mwah chef’s kiss.

I have two main ways to read Worf’s relaxed reaction: either he trusts Will 100% to not ram and destroy the ship – or he’s content with dying this way after all, as a hero, in a battle he fought with his commander. Either way, I think this scene shows their deep loyalty and trust rather nicely!

21. “Thank you.” (The Next Phase S5E24)

The Enterprise assists a Romulan ship in need. Worf and Riker are among the officers who are onboard the warbird and help the crew. Worf reports to Riker in a rather scandalised tone of voice bc he doesn’t like the Romulans, and they have a very intimate way of talking in the scene I’m describing – after a cute “aye, sir” Worf shuffles back to Riker to say, “Thank you” in… that voice. And then bumps Riker’s shoulder as he leaves, and Riker just smiles very softly.

I can’t be sure of course, but the whole thing feels to me as if this was Dorn’s and Frakes’ millionth take of the scene and they could barely keep it together shdfjskdfksk very cute!! Also another scene from that episode that almost made it into this ranking: Worf and Riker having to close the damaged doors to eject the core but not being able to do it, despite being literally the biggest guys in the crew – but thankfully Data comes along does the whole thing himself sdfhjskdjfsk

20. “How did you like Command (sexual)?” (The Emissary S2E20)

This belongs to the ones that leave me… kinda speechless? I mean, I understand he’s proud of his Lieutenant, but Riker has nooo business walking up to K’Ehleyr and Worf (both in their Klingon armour) the way he does – checking them out with THAT look on his face, lips falling apart, and asking, “How did you like Command?” – excuse me? Mister Frakes, sir?! But Worf’s reaction makes it EVEN BETTER sdfjskdksk, he looks kinda caught off-guard, understandably! Only to then look over his shoulder to K’Ehleyr like “excuse me, this is my… other partner?” and then he’s simply like… “Comfortable chair”. And K’Ehleyr looks to the ground like she’s trying very hard to hold her tongue sjdfhskjdsk and Riker smirks at them and… yeah. That’s season 2 for you.

19. Sitting Shoulder To Shoulder (A Matter of Time S5E09)

This one’s a classic on this blog already. Two things beside the general physical closeness that I love especially about this scene: a) how unnecessary them sitting like this is (and how the acting directions were most likely “hands where I can see them”) and b) how Riker defends Worf when the historian throws some racist bullshit his way. Even though the historian paints Worf as the primitive barbarian, Riker is far more aggressive than Worf in this scene. It’s a nice little touch, that he would get worked up about someone insulting Worf this way. But yeah, even if you just look at screenshots from this scene, it’s very nice, them sitting shoulder to shoulder and exchanging quiet looks ♡

18. The Second Sickbay Scene (Ethics S5E16)

Oof. I don’t like to rewatch this episode, but the sickbay moments are very good. In this second scene, Riker has the ritual dagger with him but still refuses to help Worf. By now, he has had time to think about Worf’s request and even talked to Picard about it. Here’s where the episode completely destroys me: Picard says, “Klingons choose their friends with great care” and the script really says the word “friend” or “friendship” often in a Worf/Riker context – but what Riker says to Worf in this second sickbay scene, among other things, is “How many people on this ship consider you a friend? How many owe you their lives? Have you ever thought about how you've affected the people around you?” The fact that he separates the “friends” part from the “how you've affected the people around you”, plus that blinking he does right before he says it – makes me want to microwave myself – I’m sorry, this is too much for me too handle. bye

17. “You do this everyday?” (Where Silence Has Lease S2E02)

A truly astonishing scene. Worf and Riker do some combat training/ Klingon calisthenics in the holodeck, which is fun to watch on its own. But after all the enemies are defeated, Worf turns against Riker with some hearty growling and snarling. Riker has to snap him out of his (blood)lust by calling, “At ease, Lieutenant!” – a sentence that will become important later this episode… For real I love this scene so much. Worf says that other programmes are “too personal to be shared” and uses the same calisthenics programme, in the same way, a few episodes later before he sleeps with K’Ehleyr. Like??? Does this even count as subtext anymore??? Ahh!!! Besides that, I also love the way they exit the holodeck – “Coming, Commander?” – “Right behind you.” ♡

16. Tired Dad and Whimsical Dad (Phantasms S7E06)

This is SUCH a good scene. It’s a moment of humour, levity and domesticity, right up until the turbolift doors open. Worf complains to Riker about having gifted Alexander a “music programme”, whatever exactly that is, but apparently it’s robbing Worf of his sleep at night. Riker thinks it’s amazing, of course, because it’s jazz. And because Alexander seems to like it very much. I have… no words. It’s just nice to see them acting as (quasi)dads ♡

15. The First Sickbay Scene (Ethics S5E16)

“Ethics” is a really emotional episode, as pointed out above, but I prefer this scene over the one where Riker outright confronts Worf. Here, he comes in grinning, tilting his head ever so playfully, and greets Worf with “You look pretty good for someone who's been eating sickbay food for three days”, which is cute on its own too. He also has a very soft bedside manner with Worf and says “Name it” in a very Klingon-esque way when Worf asks him for a favour. Of course, the favour is something that completely takes Riker by surprise, in a rather dramatic turn of events. And then Worf looks for words, and what he decides on is “please”. Yeah I’m fine :)

14. The Most Beautiful Sight (Silicon Avatar S5E04)

A simple™ entry on this list: Riker, all beat up and exhausted already, thinks someone is after them, only to realise Worf has come to their rescue. And what does he say to his saviour? “Mister Worf, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more beautiful sight”, Jim Kirk-esque hearteyes and messy hair included. It’s a very soft scene with slight hurt/comfort vibes, which I adore.

13. The Icarus Factor (S2E14)

Just… all of it. It’s making me furious how this episode very openly implies that yeah, Worf is majorly distressed, screaming at his friends and fellow officers etc. because he fears losing Riker. All of this episode is wild, but the scene where Worf comes to Riker’s quarters to talk about leaving the Enterprise together… fumbling with his hands, blatantly changing the subject for procrastination, “Words are not always… easy for me” bitch!! What is this?? Fanfiction?? The angst is sooo perfect in this scene, because of course, Riker doesn’t even want to go. But now another one of his friends asks him to take the assignment, so they can go on some “dangerous mission” together… It’s a lot. I adore it, even though it’s kinda sad to watch. 10/10.

12. “I love surprise parties!” (Parallels S7E11)

“Parallels” is a lot, too lol. It’s a great Worf episode and shows him not only in very serious/dramatic but also funny and even romantic moments. And it’s fun to imagine what OTHER universes Worf might have crossed into… The opening scene with him and Riker is especially great. Worf doesn’t like surprises, but Riker does – Worf doesn’t like that party hat, but Riker does – and the way he beams at Worf… just very cute! Also there’s a more serious scene later in that episode with Worf talking to AU!Riker, who is a captain, and they exchange rather wistful looks in the end…

11. “At ease, Lieutenant, at ease…” (Where Silence Has Lease S2E02)

The callback to the sentence Riker used to calm Worf down earlier this episode. Worf is mad at the ghostly USS Yamato (featuring the brilliant line “One Riker! One bridge!”) and doesn’t even answer to Riker calling out his name anymore. So, Riker turns him around by his shoulder and… well. Worf looks like he’s about to eat him alive. Nice snarling from him, and nice taking a step backwards to the wall from Riker. Worf only calms down when Riker dOmiNanTLy raises his chin. And then, to calm himself, Worf murmurs, “At ease, Lieutenant, at ease” as he walks away – the same words Riker yelled at him earlier this episode. I’m… truly at a loss of words I love this so much sdfjsdkksk. Maybe the kinkiest Worfriker moment.

(The German dub changed it into “Never mind, Commander, I’m all calm now” and I honest to God don’t know how to feel about that)

10. “I will go with you.” (The Outcast S5E17)

To start the Top Ten: a moment from near the end of TNG’s (in)famous “queer episode”. Riker has decided to go down to the planet against Starfleet regulations to save his beloved Soren from her transphobic oppressors, and when Worf comes to his quarters under some pretext, they have a very lovely conversation – Worf knows what Riker is planning to do and wants to go with him, even though he was charactarised as pretty much queerphobic earlier this episode. Seems like he had a change of heart and is willing to risk his career as first Klingon in Starfleet to support Riker.

It’s that situation from “Legacy” – “I will go with you” vs. “it’s too dangerous, I’ll go alone” – only this time Worf wins. Because “a warrior does not let a friend face danger alone”. Boy. Wow. i’m.

As if this episode wasn’t soul crushing enough already!!! Urgh!!! The ending always makes me bawl.

9. “I want to ensure your return to this ship.” (A Matter of Honor S2E08)

Ahh, yes. Thee Klingon episode. I love Riker’s exchange programme to pieces, but Worf as a contrast to the Klingons on the Pagh is very enjoyable on his own. He stops Riker before the transport, to give him an emergency transporter. “Sentiment?” Riker asks, to which Worf simply replies, “I want to ensure your return to this ship”, and they exchange very cute looks.

Earlier Worf told Riker how Klingon officers might kill their superiors, so my read is that he realised he might lose his precious Commander if he doesn’t think of something shdfjsdkfksk. I love this very much. It shows how early TNG!Worf was willing to work his way around his culture’s more toxic (or in this case: deadly) traditions in order to come up with the best result for himself and his loved ones. It’s a trait he sadly loses as the show goes on, but I really enjoy the way it’s playing out in this scene.

8. Cold Opener Scene --- aka The Dress (Liaisons S7E02)

What can I say? I Am Not Immune To “You look good in a dress”. There is little to say about this scene other than I think it’s about as perfect as shippable moments come in Star Trek. There’s alien nonsense, calling out of sexist attitudes, Gay™, and smiley Riker and flustered Worf. What else could you wish for?

7. Worf cradling Will (Conspiracy S1E25)

Ahh… my Weakness. Worf finds Riker unconscious on the floor in-between hundreds of glass shards, beneath a ton of flowers and the starry sky outside – and cradles him, very gently. Exhaling softly when he realises Riker is still alive. Taking MUCH too long to realise that this is a trap of the Admiral. The way he is not at all ready for fighting and 100% in care mode is very telling for s1 Worf. It’s a very soft, Lord of the Rings-esque scene with great aesthetics. I love it;;

6. Frame of Mind (S6E21)

The whole episode, no matter how nightmarish, is a testament to the deep relationships between Riker and his crewmates. Only the last few scenes are “real”, the rest takes place inside Riker’s mind, where his friends represent different aspects of his personality. The episodes implies that Worf is his ‘actions’ or something, but when you read into it (i.e. overanalyse 👀) it seems like Worf is Riker’s sense of security! He’s constantly warning him or wanting to help him get out of danger, which is really sweet considering that this is what Riker truly sees Worf as ♡

My favourite shot in the episode is the one with the pendant above!

5. Worf returns to the Enterprise (Star Trek: First Contact)

During the battle against the Borg, the Defiant is rescued by the Enterprise in what’s easily one of the best scenes in the movie (oops hot take I don’t think First Contact is the best TNG movie 👀). After the rescue, Worf returns to the Enterprise bridge and is greeted by his fellow officers. Riker comments on the Defiant with, “Tough little ship” and the biggest hearteyes ever, which… makes me wonder if he’s actually talking about the ship, y’know.

It gets better when Picard tells Worf he could help at Tactical, and Riker just follows Worf to his console and asks, “You do remember how to fire phasers?” with his signature grin. I’m almost completely sure both lines were supposed to be dick jokes (y’know, ‘cause they’re both men! haha!) but Dorn’s and Frakes’ acting simply doesn’t allow for that reading imo sdfhjskdfsk. I LOVE the ex-boyfriend vibes.

4. ‘Owon Eggs (Time Squared S2E13)

Ahh, Thee domestic scene. It’s so cute, from start to finish – Riker singing as he prepares food. Only greeting Worf when the fellow officers arrive. Messing up the scrambled eggs. Data not even trying them. Worf digging in. And then saying, “Delicious” in that tone of voice. Riker smiling full of hearteyes at the compliment. *mwah true chef’s kiss! Perfect!

Little else to say lmao, except it only got better when an anonymous asker pointed out that Will definitely bought these specific eggs because he knew that Worf liked them. Just… the perfect galaxy brain take to make this cute scene even cuter sdfjsdkfjsk

3. Ending Scene (A Matter of Honor S2E08)

This outrageous episode needs an adequate ending, and boy, do Riker and Worf deliver. Riker, all beat up, is back aboard the Enterprise and Picard tells Worf to accompany him to sickbay. Riker moves toward Worf with that very gay little swing that I 100% adore.

On their way, they exchange a very cute dialogue with casual touches, soft smiles, some more checking out from Riker, and the completely unwarranted and outrageous line “Welcome home” from Worf. Like…………………. sweety…………………………chill No ‘sir’, no joke, nothing! Just Worf smiling at Riker and Riker smiling back and ARGH! I’m SOFT! They’re HOME! (ಥ﹏ಥ) brb i’m emo lmaooo

2. “Aren’t you going to mingle, Mr. Woof?” (Dark Page S7E07)

I loooove this scene!! There’s a reception at Ten Forward and Lwaxana Troi, of all people, starts a conversation with Worf and Riker (who have been standing way too close to just “talk” 👀). When she asks, “Aren’t you going to mingle, Mr. Woof?” neither Worf nor Riker correct her. On the contrary, Riker takes great delight in seeing Worf’s expression, and he sways and grins like a child.

But his expression changes when Worf says he’s genuinely uneasy around the telepathic aliens, like “aww, babe, I understand”. They’re just so cute…! And also a comedic duo: When Lwaxana tells them both that their minds aren’t “sophisticated enough” to be read by the telepaths – their expressions are priceless hjdfksjdskdjsk

1. Peak Performance (S2E21)

Is this a surprise to anyone? I don’t think so lol. There is much to enjoy about this whole episode, from Data’s strategema duel to Riker connecting more to his crew, but more than that… this is also The Worfriker Show. I can’t even put everything shippable about here in detail, it’s too much, so I’ve linked the tag on the blog.

The scene in Worf’s quarters is outrageous on its own (“Join me” – “The honour is to serve”), complete with checking out the naked Kahless statue, then the weirdly intimate Strategema scene (“I will be… irritated”), the whole “I need you by my side” shtick yaddi yaddi yadda what’s all this. What’s “Klingon guile” (affectionate). I don’t even know anymore. My brain melts every time I watch this episode because it’s that much. Peak early TNG – a Peak Performance, you might say. It’s the true season finale imo, and I could write an essay about every single scene in it. Just… perfect! My top spot!

Thank you for reading until now haha, you’re great! ♡

#this felt like writing a guest episode of shippers guide to the galaxy lol #the gifs are all mine that's why there's no extra credit!#i hope you discover some new moments or that your favourite was in here haha <3 #text post #ep. multiple #riker x worf #*#again 500 followers is huge thank you!! ❤️❤️❤️

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kncrowder88 · 3 years

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Voyager and Romance

So, the thing about Voyager and romance that sticks with me is they seem to do one couple really, or more accurately two characters, any real justice overall. And that is B’Elanna and Tom. While moments for that relationship may not be perfect that is rather realistic for relationships, as no relationship is perfect all the time so that is tolerable. This post though isn’t going to be about looking at that particular relationship though but primarily at other relationships. Largely because a discord server I am in was talking about Counterpoint and I realized why I both love the episode but also have weird feelings with it. Which, I’ll touch more on that specifically after I discuss the relationship stuff (as that plays a part).

So, I will preface this with it has been a bit since I’ve done a binge of Voyager and really a full binge of Star Trek in general. As such, I may forget a few relationships on the show and overall, throughout Trek in general. From what I can really toss together … I honestly am beginning to believe that when it comes to Voyager and the other shows (the older ones not the new ones – I am not including any NEW Trek in this) that for some reason the relationship writing with Voyager was rather different. Like, they gave 3 characters active relationships prior to being stranded. That being Harry Kim, Kathryn Janeway, and Tuvok. Out of these three we get Janeway and Tuvok holding onto those relationships in their own way while … it seemed mildly convenient for Harry to mention it when it suited him, I guess (like that time Tom wanted to set them up for a double date or you know when he ended up in that alternate timeline but still wanted back with Voyager even more like). Like, the reason I don’t list Tuvok-T’Pel above is because we don’t actually get to SEE that in full, we just get to see Tuvok’s side of it and his dedication – we don’t see the relationship, we don’t see the couple.

Harry and Tom, prior to his relationship with B’Elanna, seem to frequently do this sort of two bros dating around thing which is fine but like … same time the show used them for that. And once they settled Tom with B’Elanna they used Harry in those plot lines when it worked. Thus the alien STD episode and the “how dare you not get the standard permission from your CO and CMO” line (like they really put that into a Trek ep and I’m still unable to not picture Riker, Kirk, Picard, and everyone other Trek character constantly getting permission for their latest romance – just remember Jadzia and Worf likely had to get permission from Sisko and Bashir if the Trill and Klingon weren’t already approved of in the system just saying, that’s a thing that happened). Anyways … my point is they went out of their way on this. Like, when Kes was with Neelix they wrote Neelix to be that jealous judgmental boyfriend who literally got upset she knew where other people’s quarters where, she was nice to Tom, she was … just yeah. They wrote Tom to come off as a player pulling Harry into it, when Tom settled down Harry seems to pick that up (I mean you got his “omg Seven” phase and the alien STD stuff and lord knows what else I’m forgetting with him).

And to top this off I haven’t even touched on the “Janeway can’t have a romance” stuff yet. Which is where my real problem is. Like, its bad enough they brought in Jeri for the sex appeal (which lets be honest stems from the fact they couldn’t use Janeway for that – which I get, Kate was right in the whole concept of the audience target having to keep respect for a female lead and sex appeal couldn’t be a focal point but they could have balanced it right and regrettably because they couldn’t that meant Jeri got all of the other side of the coin). Many of Seven’s eps center on romance or social stuff and honestly that is a whole other WTF post in its own right because it all leads up to the sudden get with the one person on the ship who didn’t want you here in the first place and who also would have served better as the male adult guidance figure/father figure than as a ROMANTIC partner but hey BS happened behind scenes to cause that chaotic romantic on screen set up. But yeah … this is just another example of the poor Voyager romantic plot lines.

Chakotay’s romantic plot lines are usually – and by that, I mean pretty much always – with these strong independent women. But usually, at least from what I recall, they are also typically the “needs help” (damsel in distress/can’t do it alone/etc.) plot. Like, Riley was strong independent but also set up to need help in regard to getting her little collective put back together on the planet. You got Kellin, again another strong lady who yet again also needed help. At least in the ep she’s in and if I recall much of the info on how they fell in love during that time as well – primarily with getting away from danger at the start and then during the initial romance finding her target. Valerie is the only one who doesn’t fall into the needs help plot and that’s largely because she was being manipulated by Chakotay for information – which honestly just goes to show how well Chakotay was at the whole undercover stuff (which tells us a lot about what he could have been doing as a Maquis). Seska was the plot point of “you once dated her, now she is going to badger you to get with her again and when that fails, she’s going to assault you” …. like all of Chakotay’s romances are literally him either 1) being manipulated (as that’s what Seska and Riley did) or 2) being the kind guy or 3) not an actual relationship (either because its undercover work or because the writers were too cowardly to make him and Janeway canon).

Then you got Janeway. Then you got KATHRYN JANEWAY. You know, the one where Kate Mulgrew said no romance, no sexualizing, no doing that sort of stuff because the audience had to maintain respect for the character. I’m sure someone has the exact various quotes out there. Like … this is why we don’t have JC as canon. But what we do got instead is …. Janeway in Prime Factors being flirted with by the administrator as if that’s going to get him what he wants because “female leader means flirt with her”. We got Janeway and a period drama holodeck adventure in the early years which was clearly meant to be her romantic tête-à-tête early on that never got followed up with. We got “delete the wife” with the Fair Haven plot point (because its totally respectable to see the FEMALE LEAD, the STARFLEET CAPTAIN, just straight up DELETE THE WIFE of another individual - yeah, I get its meant to be humor factor because hologram but come on). You have her whole thing with Mark which we get tidbits off but again similar to Tuvok we literally only get to see her side of it – the only couple moment of theirs we get is the comm call in Caretaker.

But Jaffen? You are correct. We got that lovely and touching and wonderful romance with Jaffen …. Oh wait … they had to remove her from the ship, strip her of her memory, and her autonomy in order for her to have a relationship with another individual. And yes, by losing her memories, by losing what made her who she was as a person, she did lose a sense of autonomy. She entered into a relationship without a full sense of independent choice. The point in which she made a choice in that episode, the point in which she – Kathryn Janeway – made a choice with all of the person, the individual she is, was at the end when she had her memories back and could decide based on the values and beliefs and all that she is. What I’m getting at is the people on that planet deliberately took away who she was, they took her memories and her ability to make the decisions they knew she would make --- they did that deliberately (that’s even established in the episode) --- and as such her decisions while in that state are not truly her full independent decisions but the ones impacted by the state she was forced into.

And while I love Resolutions, while I love all the JC goodies, we get in that ep … Yet again the only time we get to see Janeway in any sort of romantic situation is when they remove her from the ship. When they remove her from command. When they strip her of that setting. This time, though – well the first time – she keeps awareness and has to go through lose of it all in order to even start to let it all happen. I love the episode, I do, but I just find it rather amusing they went “’Hey we gotta strand them what should their tasks be on the planet?” and they immediately went “Well Janeway is scientist how about that” “Okay and he can build, Chakotay can start building. Man builds house, right?” and then like went “oh and then she can start a garden” …. Like really? Really? That’s what you got for me. Oh, and then there is the monkey. That’s the romance this ep. Boat, science, monkey.

Then we got Kashyk. We have dealt with Kathryn throughout this series dealing with various leaders of various styles. As mentioned, Prime Factors guy attempted flirting. Other leaders pulled similar or worse or even dismissed her …. Like the list goes on. Counterpoint is a great episode because it deals with prejudice and is rather dark. The thing is, had Janeway been able to have a healthy romantic relationship on screen to counter this episode this episode probably would have come off better. Episodes like Prime Factor could have been done different (that leader didn’t need to be as flirty for example). One or two eps through the series having creepy dudes she had to deal with, fine, whatever … that be a nice impact for the audience. But when you have to many prior to Counterpoint – even if its minor, small stuff – it makes this episode so much harder for fans. Especially the female fans who deal with this constantly.

See, here’s the thing with this ep…. Some of the fans who watch … we know Kashyk well. We know that character. He is that male leader, that male power figure, who uses the power he has to manipulate those in his control to get what he wants. And Kathryn … Kathryn was in his control. Kashyk is listed as a relationship on memory-alpha. But much like how I view Seska with Chakotay … I do not view Kashyk as a proper relationship. In Devore space, Kathryn did not have proper power. She had people in her command, on her ship, that she had to protect. That she knew she had to protect. Her own best friend … lives in her hand … and Kashyk right there willing to kill them. Willing to snatch them up and destroy them. And he used that power to manipulate her and play her. Yes, she played him right back but … did she truly have a choice? Did she have any other choice but to play his game? What would have happened if she said no? And that … that is why this episode is so unsettling for some people. And why this relationship being considered on is so off putting … that the writers, that memory-alpha, that the fact I’m putting it on this list as one of the ones on here for Voyager says so much … they wrote this as one of her relationships while out there … she had to do what so many women had to do to stay safe, to keep people she loves safe, and that’s not a relationship.

Voyager could have done romance/relationships such better justice.

#star trek #star trek voyager #i had some feelings about things #primarily the Kashyk thing #but that lead to other things #and honestly i am really begining to question romance in voyager #but also like overall in Trek in general #like the more i think about Voyager the more im like oh god they really did seem to fail there #because the only valid couple i can think of is Tom and B'Elanna

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franniebanana · 3 years

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CQL Rewatch - Episode 6

What I learned from this scene: Jiang Cheng is really picky about women and Wei Wuxian is perfectly happy being without a woman (as long as he has alcohol), and THAT parallels what Lan Wangji says later on that he’s fine being alone too. A little thing, but it shows that while Wei Wuxian talks big about all the cute women in Yunmeng, he has zero experience and isn’t really even interested in them. Jiang Cheng, on the other hand, IS interested, but is terrible at talking to them.

Call me crazy, but I don’t actually think Lan Wangji walked in there just to punish them for making noise/disturbing others. By the way this scene is acted, it seems like Lan Wangji is genuinely curious about what they’re up to, to the point where it almost feels like he wants to join in. Like he’s really taken what Lan Xichen has said about making friends to heart. And that all is super cute to me if that’s true. Like he hears the noises coming from their room (maybe he was already going there to see Wei Wuxian anyway!) and thinks, “Sounds like they’re having fun! Maybe I can join.” I don’t think it’s outside the realm of possibility for him to think that way, albeit probably hesitantly. And it’s not like he walks in with a dour expression, ready to throw the Gusu Lan Sect rules in their faces. It’s not until he sees the alcohol/Wei Wuxian asks him to drink with them that he pulls the rules card out.

Lol his look here. DON’T. TOUCH. ME. The phrase “if looks could kill” was made for people like Lan Wangji. He has nailed that glare. But like, how ballsy is Wei Wuxian to suggest drinking? He KNOWS Lan Wangji will not willingly break the rules, and if he doesn’t know, then he’s a dummy!

I love how quickly this whole thing unravels for Wei Wuxian. He thinks it’s so funny at first—stick Lan Wangji with a talisman, get him to do what you say—only he has no idea that Lan Wangji has absolutely zero tolerance for alcohol and his response is to immediately pass out. The sheer panic in Wei Wuxian’s face and voice is delightful to watch, honestly.

I’ve watched this scene so many times in the last week or so. I like it better in the special edition, since we get more wangxian and more drunk Lan Wangji—two things that I will always take more of. The part I like is that it shows how much Wei Wuxian commits and takes responsibility for his actions. He gets Lan Wangji drunk, so he spends half the night making sure Lan Wangji is okay. It’s a very sweet scene: the two open up to each other about their parents and it’s a very unifying moment for Wei Wuxian, finding out that Lan Wangji has suffered, just like him—that he is a human being with emotions, parents, that he’s experienced loss too. Wei Wuxian, up to this point, has dealt with his troubled past by clowning around and being generally optimistic, which is obviously not how Lan Wangji has handled his own past.

Lan Wangji probably remembers nothing of their conversation (or very little) but Wei Wuxian, who can hold his liquor a lot better, remembers all of it. It’s still fun watching them grow together, even after watching this so many times. Every time they experience something together, it just brings them closer. Really calls to mind themes of fate and destiny, though I like to believe that fate had nothing to do with them falling in love.

And here’s where Lan Wangji says he’s fine being alone, to which Wei Wuxian basically goes, “EH?!” in his mind, but instead calls him and his father boring. And then things get a little heavy, since Lan Wangji fully admits that he has no mother (in other words, his mother is dead). I assume (and Lan Xichen says later) that Lan Wangji would never have divulged this information while sober and it’s interesting that Wei Wuxian never lets on that he knows. It’s kind of a shame, really, that they never talk about it again. He only talks about it with Lan Xichen, but it would have been nice to see the two of them really talk about their parents.

In my mind, they slept in the same bed. Like, not that they did anything, because let’s be honest: they passed out. In my movie, Lan Wangji would have passed out again, and then Wei Wuxian would have put him in bed, and then passed out right next to him. It’s sort of strange that Wei Wuxian dragged himself across the room to sleep upright on the floor. He doesn’t seem like the type to do something like that, and why should he care if they share a bed? Especially given the fact that he’s also drunk.

It’s also super cute how Wei Wuxian is only like half-dressed (I say half, but it’s more like three quarters): his overdress is not pulled all the way on. His shock, then laughter here kind of indicates that he doesn’t remember much from the previous night, or maybe he forgot, and then remembered. The amusement is short-lived, though, since as soon as Lan Wangji wakes, up, he flips the fuck out and drags them all to get punished. I kind of wish we’d gotten to see that, although I do love the way they wove in the conversation between Lan Qiren and Lan Xichen.

His fucking face. He goes from, “Ah, Wei Wuxian, that rascal!” to “Wangji, WTF?!” I love that so much. And the thing that makes it funnier is that Xichen was the one to suggest that Wei Wuxian might be a good friend for his brother, and now it kind of ends up biting him in the ass, since he’s KIND OF a bad influence. Obviously, the next scene shows that this hasn’t really had a negative effect on Lan Wangji, since he is willing to accept punishment for something he had absolutely no control over, even when Wei Wuxian chastises him for doing so, and announces to Lan Qiren and Lan Xichen that, in fact, Lan Wangji was forced to drink the alcohol.

Which brings me to the punishment scene. I like this scene a lot too. I love Lan Wangji’s tenacity here, how he refuses to try and get out of the punishment even though he drank the alcohol against his will. I love how Wei Wuxian immediately comes to his defense to try and get Lan Qiren and Lan Xichen to stop the punishment for Lan Wangji. This is a good contrast to earlier scenes when Wei Wuxian would not admit to breaking the rules and was always trying to make an excuse for himself. Here he doesn’t do that at all. He fully admits to breaking the rules and to dragging Lan Wangji down with him. I know Lan Wangji is upset here, but I think he’s mostly upset with himself for allowing himself to break the rules (even though he really had no choice in the matter).

Another great Yunmeng siblings scene. Wei Wuxian complaining about being punished and Jiang Yanli just keeping it real: you shouldn’t have broken the rules. She’s such a good big sister, though, because while her speech has a touch of disapproval, she’s still very sympathetic to their injuries. I do feel like she’s a little harder on Jiang Cheng, because she knows he’s better than that and he has to be better than that if he’s going to be a clan leader someday. As usual, she’s softer with Wei Wuxian, who she just has an abundance of sympathy for. And I don’t see that as a bad quality at all—I think she and her father are willing to see past some of his behavior because overall he’s well-intentioned and, as is discussed later on, he’s not going to be clan leader. His job will be to support Jiang Cheng, not to run the place, and he’s a fierce friend and extremely loyal to the Jiang Clan.

But anyway, this scene is cute how both Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng tell Jiang Yanli that they need more protein to heal and she should really add some lamb to the soup.

A few minutes ago, he could barely walk, and now he’s literally running down these steps. Maybe you don’t need that cold spring, after all.

RIP that other shoe that he originally kicked off right into the spring.

I love all of Lan Wangji’s expressions here and his responses to Wei Wuxian’s advances (I can only call them that, because he’s such a flirt here). You can totally read this scene that Wei Wuxian is just teasing and taking the piss with Lan Wangji, but I’m not going to, and I’m assuming, if you’re reading this, you aren’t either.

Wei Wuxian was delighted when he saw that Lan Wangji was also at the cold spring. He clearly went there for his wounds, but I think the wounds are all but completely forgotten as soon as he sees Lan Wangji.

I also love how shy Lan Wangji is, that as soon as he hears him coming, he immediately dresses again. He doesn’t leave, but he doesn’t want to be seen without his clothes on. That’s incredibly endearing to me that he is so modest. And then you have Wei Wuxian, who threatens to take off his clothes several times (although this is the only time he does it for reasons outside of teasing Lan Wangji). He does not care—he’s seemingly not modest about his appearance at all. I really do love all the contrast between these two characters—it’s not that they’re opposites of each other—it’s not that simple—but there is a lot of contrast which I think just keeps things interesting. I have nothing profound to say about it (or anything else, really), but I just find it really enjoyable to watch. And a side note, the contrast between Lan Wangji and Wang Yibo constantly leaves me in awe; it’s hard to believe that Yibo pulled off this character so well because he was such a goof on set.

Wwx: A lot of benefits come with being my friend.

Wwx: [immediately starts undressing]

I see what you did there, writers/directors.

But ironically, it turns out that a lot of not-so-beneficial things come from being his friend. Because Lan Wangji becomes so devoted to him, he ends up getting in a lot of trouble within his clan and without. Obviously he’d do it over and over if he had the choice, but the fact remains that Wei Wuxian becomes a pariah and, to a lesser extent, Lan Wangji was headed that way as well. Really, if Wei Wuxian hadn’t died, Lan Wangji might have ended up living with him in Yiling. That would have been quite interesting, actually.

I don’t care how many times I’ve seen this episode—this scene will kill me with its cuteness. Wei Wuxian so wants to be Lan Wangji’s friend here! He’s adorable! “Don’t leave me alone!” and “Come to Yunmeng, and I’ll pick lotus seeds for you!” and “There’s cute girls at Yunmeng!” Oh, wait, Lan Wangji doesn’t care about cute girls haha. I just love the change in the relationship. Wei Wuxian approves of and respects Lan Wangji and wants to be closer to him. It’s not just an interest or a fascination now—it’s something deeper. It’s the shared experience at Biling Lake, it’s the drunken confessions about their parents, it’s the 300 hits of the bastinado, and the secret cold spring pond where they can heal together.

Note how long it takes Lan Wangji to actually try to leave here. That’s telling enough on its own, how long Lan Wangji tolerates Wei Wuxian. He’s willing to put up with the jabbering and the endless chattering from Wei Wuxian. This is so much progress!

I have absolutely nothing to say here, other than that Yibo looks so fucking hot in this scene.

Because other than him and of course the headband, I find the stuff with Lan Yi to be kind of boring. I like her and all, but it’s just like, meh on all this Yin Iron stuff. I read about how this is just a big trope in cdrama, so it is what it is. Personally, I found the book to be compelling without all these shenanigans, but I understand that the written word doesn’t always translate well to the screen (especially when you are censoring the relationship between the two main characters).

Oh, and the rabbits are also fucking adorable. The more rabbits, the better.

Aaand now you’re married. Thanks, bye. Other episodes: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |

#wei wuxian #lan wangji #wangxian #cql #the untamed #mdzs #mo dao zu shi #jiang cheng #jiang yanli #lan xichen #lan qiren #wwx #lwj #cql rewatch

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queenmylovely · 3 years

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Helloo i was wondering could we get a smutty roger blurb pretty pleasssseee maybe due to the recent pop quiz videos 🙄 like he's on the show and youre watching in the audience as a friend and his team losses + he's hella annoyed so he's determined to get home asap so he can relieve his frustrations but you decide to come home with him to cheer him up but you don't know what you are in for because he can't resist you when he's in this mood 😍

1st Holiday Advent post yay! (send me a request here and check out the explanation here) Anyway, this has been in my inbox forever, so thank you for your patience anon, I reward you with a honkin’ 2.5k words (warnings are smut, 18+) Masterlist

☆☆☆

You were attending the taping of one of the episodes of Pop Quiz that Roger was on. He had invited you the week before after you had mentioned that you always caught the episodes when they aired and liked answering the questions yourself. It wasn’t totally clear if this was a date or not, but you were fine with either. Not that you didn’t really fancy Roger, you just were okay with it being a friendly invitation as well. The two of you always flirted and were touchy, but you knew you were just a flirt in general and Roger himself was touchy with all of his friends.

The idea of asking him out had been something you were toying with, but whatever was between you and Roger seemed like something that would develop on its own time and in its own way. You knew it wouldn’t be a conventional sort of relationship, which you were totally okay with, so you figured it’d be best to just let everything happen the way it was going to.

Sitting in the front row of the studio audience, you had a great view of the stage other than what was obstructed by the cameras. Luckily, Roger wasn’t obstructed so you could watch him all night. At the beginning, he would wave to you during commercial breaks or mouth things when the other team was answering and he was sure he wasn’t onscreen. He made you laugh a lot with all of his faces and you had to stifle yourself to keep from interrupting the taping.

Unfortunately, as time went on, it became clear that Roger’s team was losing and by three quarters of the way through, they were too far to come back and win. You could tell Roger wasn’t happy. You would’ve bet money that no one else could really tell the difference in his behavior, but having been his friend for quite a while and seeing the way he acted in the studio, you could see the slight differences. His hand was tucked into the collar of his shirt and you could see his fingers underneath the fabric moving underneath like they were tapping out a quick rhythm. His answers to the questions became short and gone was the funny banter and quips that he was usually known for. He probably wouldn’t have been so upset, but his team was doing poorly mainly due to a few mess ups on his part, and he felt guilty and stupid for getting the answers wrong.

Roger kept his composure through the rest of the show, but as soon as it was done, he was finding you to leave. The host tried to invite the two of you to the pub with everyone else, but Roger waved him off saying it wasn’t a good night for it.

Once he got to you, Roger grabbed your hand a little roughly and pulled you next to him, saying with a gruff voice, “Let’s get you home.”

He led you out of the studio quickly, to his car that was parked in the garage. Roger let your hand go so you could both get in, turning on the car and then practically speeding out of the garage. As soon as he got to the highway, he pushed the accelerator hard, going well past what you knew the speed limit to be.

“Roger, Roger, slow down!” you cried out, gripping the door next to you and subconsciously pressing your feet into the brake pedal you wished was on your side.

“Don’t worry love, the street’s empty,” Roger assured you, keeping up the speed.

“Well, what if someone else gets on?”

“Then I’ll slow down,” he looked over to you to make sure you accepted his answer and when you nodded, he turned back to the road, increasing his speed further.

A little less worried, you started paying attention to where he was going and realized he was taking you home.

“You’re going to my house?” you asked in confusion.

“Yeah, I said ‘let’s get you home,’” he reminded you shortly.

“Oh,” was all your reply, disappointed because you knew he was planning to just drop you off and be on his way. You had been looking forward to the rest of the night with maybe a drink or two and lots of good conversation with Roger.

It wasn’t long before you arrived at your house, Roger stopping in front of your driveway and putting the car into park.

“Sorry I kind of ruined the night. ‘m just not in the greatest mood after the shit that was that show,” Roger said, looking down at his hands on the steering wheel instead of up at you.

You put your hand on the closest of his and he looked up, “You know, it wasn’t all on you. And besides, it’s just a bit of fun for a show, right?”

Roger moved past just feeling the warmth of your hand on his to answer, “Yeah, I guess.”

Rolling your eyes fondly, you suggested, “Why don’t you come in for a drink or something. I hate to send you home without having cheered you up, even just a little.”

The earnest look in your eyes and how close you were to him made Roger eager to say yes to your suggestion. But he thought again and wondered if he should because he knew that whenever he got in this mood he was prone to doing whatever he could to relieve the frustration. That often included sex with whoever was around and willing, but he wasn’t sure that the possible risk to your friendship was worth the fuck he wanted just to release some steam.

Roger also knew there was something between the two of you and wasn’t sure that now was the time to expand on it, without practically any patience on his part. He was about to decline your offer and just drive home to work his irritation out on his drums when you let go of his hand.

Before he could react, you shut off the engine and pulled the keys from the ignition, unbuckling and throwing open the door of the car. You got out, shut the door, and ran, stopping about ten feet into your lawn.

“If you want them back you’ll have to come in first!” you shouted to him. He watched you in surprise, which quickly turned to shock and then a fire low in his belly when you tucked the keys into your bra with a laugh.

He got out of the car, almost slamming the door shut and you tensed in anticipation. He started like he was going to start running and you bolted a couple steps, but he was just messing with you. So you watched him again, and he walked, slowly this time, until he was five feet away. When you were least expecting it, he lunged for you, but you were just far enough away to stay out of his grasp. You made it to the door and unlocked it before he got there, leaving the keys in the lock to slow him down before continuing into your house.

Roger watched you disappear into your house, shaking his head as he pulled your house key from the lock and walked in, shutting the door and locking it behind him.

“I’m going to get those keys,” Roger announced to you as he sauntered into the kitchen where he already knew you’d be.

You held out a drink for him, whisky, neat, that you had poured from the bar cart in your kitchen.

“Not for awhile you won’t,” you replied as he walked around the counter to you, leaning back against it.

He took the drink you held out to him, and the two of you cheersed before taking a sip, looking each other in the eye.

“So what do you suggest we do until then?” he asked, swirling his drink and cocking his hip to the side.

“Well, we’ll have to finish our drinks, of course,” you reasoned, moving a step forward and taking another sip.

Roger, on the other hand, downed his drink all at once, then looked at you and said, “What next?”

“We could listen to some music,” you suggested, getting another step closer.

“Not really in the mood to listen to music,” Roger muttered, setting down his empty glass on the counter; you did the same with your still mostly full one.

Rolling your eyes, you took the last step until you were right in front of him and then waited until he looked down at you before speaking, “What are you in the mood for?”

***

There was a moment of silence and tension before you rushed together, meeting in a fervent kiss. Roger gripped you by your waist and you held yourself steady by wrapping your arms around his neck. That steady was knocked off balance as Roger flipped the two of you around, pressing you against the counter with his hips. You moaned and parted your mouth when Roger’s tongue ran along your lower lip. As he deepened the kiss, his hands slid down to your ass, squeezing it before using his grip to lift you onto the counter.

Laughing, you widened your legs and used your heels to pull him closer until you could feel his growing hardness pressing against you. The kiss made you feel hot all over and you shrugged off your jacket. Roger let his fall to the floor before moving his hands to the buttons of your blouse. He undid it as you nipped at his neck, but when he tried to undo your bra, he couldn’t.

“Oh, it’s-- it’s in the front,” you explained and undid the clasp between your breasts. Then, when you did, Roger’s keys fell to your lap.

The two of you paused for a second before you burst into laughter and Roger dropped his head to your shoulder, his breath tickling your skin.

“I--I told you I would get them,” Roger told you through chuckles.

“Shut up and kiss me,” you replied as you tossed his keys to the side, and he did.

As the kiss got more intense, you raked your fingers through his hair, pulling roughly at the ends. Roger groaned deeply in his throat, pulling back to mouth at your neck, using his hands to feel your breasts. As a spike of heat travelled through you, you pushed him back a little to hike up your skirt (which you were grateful you wore) and pull down your underwear as quick as you could.

Roger did the same, kicking his pants off all the way before pulling you to the edge of the counter. You reached between you and ran your hand along the length of his dick, getting a sense for it and making sure it was ready, the moan that came from Roger’s lips just being an added bonus. He reached between your thighs and swiped his thumb up through your folds, gathering some wetness before rubbing your clit in tight circles.

“Fuck. Mm, just fuck me now, I’m ready,” you said breathlessly.

Nodding, Roger let you guide his cock to your entrance, pushing in slowly until he bottomed out. Giving you a second, he pulled out just as slowly then started fucking you for real. His pace wasn’t too fast, in fact it was just right and hit you in all the right places as you gripped onto his shoulders and used your legs for leverage. His thumb stayed on your clit and that matched with his sharp thrusts made your pleasure grow faster than you expected.

It wasn’t long before you couldn’t keep quiet, telling Roger all the ways he was making you feel and how good he was fucking you. Roger was just as loud, but with moans instead of words and each of his sounds sent another bolt of pleasure through you.

“Roger, fuck, fuck, I’m gonna co-ome, keep going,” you said, your voice breaking.

In return, he snapped his hips into you with each thrust, and as you clenched around him, his shaky moan was all it took for your orgasm to take over. As your muscles tightened and your eyes closed, pleasure waved through you, making it almost hard to breathe with how good you felt.

Roger kept going, and even as you came down, showed no signs of stopping. You could tell that he was working off some frustration, and it honestly made you feel heady that he was using you for it. Luckily you weren’t too sensitive, and despite already coming, each thrust still gave you pleasure.

Wanting to help him along, you clenched around him, at the same time moved to kiss his neck. You kissed until you found the spot that made him groan, deciding to suck and nip your way to leaving a hickey there.

Before you knew it, you began to feel another orgasm building, and you moaned against Roger’s neck as a particularly strong wave of pleasure went through you. You kissed your way up to Roger’s mouth and kissed him again, reveling in the feeling of his tongue against yours.

But then you felt his fingers on your clit again and you broke the kiss to tell him, “Oh Roger, oh my gosh, you’re gonna make me come again. Fuck me.”

“Already am, but I can sure go harder,” Roger joked, voice a little uneven.

“Yes, that, do that,” you agreed, nodding quickly.

Roger complied, and as his thrusts grew harder you keened at the feeling. His free hand went into your hair, pulling your head back enough so that he could lean down and get his mouth on your breasts. He kissed his way to one of your nipples, bringing it between his lips as he sucked.

One of your hands went behind you to keep you up but the other went to the back of Roger’s head keeping him in place. And then Roger tugged at your nipple lightly with his teeth and you were cumming, tightening your grip in his hair and moaning brokenly at the feeling.

Even as the hot pleasure ran through you, you could feel Roger’s hips stuttering and the change made you whine. Just having caught your breath enough to talk, you grabbed Roger’s shoulder, “Come, I need you to come.”

“Where?”

“I’m on birth control, inside me, please, fuck,” you pleaded, a little because your sensitivity was getting stronger, but mostly because you wanted him to reach that high too.

And just a few thrusts more, with the clench of your walls around him, Roger came into you, moaning into your chest as his thrusts slowed down. When he stopped, he stayed inside you, and you ran your fingers through his hair as he came down.

Breath still heavy, Roger started pressing lazy kisses up your chest and neck before finding your mouth and kissing you slowly. After a minute, you pulled back and smiled at him.

“So that happened,” Roger said, his smile matching yours.

“Yeah, finally,” you said with a laugh. “Guess we should thank Pop Quiz for adding the last bit of frustration that made it all boil over.”

“Yeah, guess we should,” Roger muttered, leaning in and kissing you again.

★★★

tagging bc its sooo long: @riseetothesun @drowseoftaylor @caborhapch @queenlover05 @johndeaconshands @stardust-galaxies @theblossomknows @buckyluvrs

#first thing I post in probably months and its at 12:45am my time #well I like it so I hope y'all do too!#yay for dec 1 #queen #roger taylor #roger meddows taylor #queen x reader #roger taylor x reader #smut #blurb #queenmylovely #holiday advent

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writers-thoughts09 · 4 years

Text

True Mind, True Heart

Act 1 Chapter 1

Title: True Mind, True Heart: Act 1 Chapter 1 Word Count: 9.6k words Pairing: Zuko x Oc (or reader, however you wanna look at it) I zon’t own Avatar Rating: PG, sometimes I’ll sprinkle some 13 to add some spice ;) Warnings: PTSD, a wink of abuse of power (not caused by Zuko, though I am using his season 1 roughness. I won’t make him abusive in this story, we don’t vibe with that). A/N: I’m baaaack, sorry for any grammar errors and taking so long. I really wanted to make sure I was getting what I wanted to get in with purpose. I started it a few weeks before Zuko spots the avatar, but I still go through episode 1. Enjoy please like and comment if you wish. Next chapter is based off episode 2′s plot.

|Prologue| 1 | 2 |

Act 1: Salvation

“Sometimes life is like this tunnel. You can’t always see the light at the end of the tunnel, but if you keep moving, you will come to a better place.”

- Iroh

Panda Lilies. One of the rarest flowers in the Earth Kingdom. Grows only on the rim of volcanoes, usually found on Mt. Makapu, and holds deep meaning. Although its black and white color is simple, panda lily petals are as soft as velvet. Its stem is such a vibrant green I’m sure it’d rival the Earth King’s jewelry and robes. Even though it may not be the most unique in appearance, for some reason I can’t help but find it enraptures me. So small, rare, fragile even; but enduring…

As a child, I always wondered what panda lilies meant. I’d often see my father come home with it behind his back after a long trip from the northern Earth Kingdom to surprise my mother. He’d present it to her in such a way it reminded me of Chan -the little five-year-old that used to live next door- childishly. My father had such a child-like admiration for my mother. I always found it comical, and sometimes a little embarrassing with the things he’d do for her attention…even though they were already married. Yet my mother would always gasp in delight, smile, take the flower from him, and plant a panda lily of her own on dad’s lips. A kiss. She'd do this every year when he’d bring one home.

Yeah, my dad said let’s set the standards uncharacteristically high for the other people back in our town.

Of course, as I grew a little older, I finally understood the meaning behind panda lilies. It was a symbol of the love my dad held so deeply for my mom. I guess over time, even after they married, my father never lost his passion for her. To me that’s beautiful.

Usually, the flowers are used to win the hearts of those we have affection for. A crush so to speak. So, it was like my dad used the flower’s tradition to tell my mom every year, “Hey, I loved you then, I love you now, and I still want your heart.” Did my mother know this? Yes. She was actually the one who told him about those flowers in the first place way before I was born. Did she play along with my dad’s antics? Of course, because she loved him just as much.

I wish I could go back to when times were simpler, brighter. I wish I could go back to when my mother would teach me about flowers and the other nations. I wish I could go back to when my father would tell me about the different elements of bending. I wish I could go back to before-

Knock

The sound of knuckles rapping on metal echoed around her quaint quarters as a curt voice jarred her from her thoughts.

“Servant girl, where’s the general’s tea? He’s already above deck waiting!”

Two hands scrambled to shove everything away under her mattress. The journal she used to write in, along with the ink and brush that she, borrowed, one night from a crewman’s room while everyone was above deck. With everything hidden, Lila scrambled up from the edge of her bed and rushed to the door with shaky hands. Tanned fingers strained as they jerked the heavy hunk of metal open and came face to face with none other than Lieutenant Jee, a senior officer on this ship. The tall man held nothing but a frown on his face as he looked down at her.

Lila thought back to her first few days aboard, she considered him to be middle-aged by the state of his graying hair. A good few feet taller than her. An accomplished military man he was…and an accomplished singer too. Though she doesn’t dare tell him the last part.

As the lieutenant stared her down, expression unreadable, Lila couldn’t help but curl in on herself. Her good eye staring up at him sheepishly as he huffed out an unimpressed sigh.

“General Iroh’s been waiting for ten minutes now. Hurry it up if you know what’s best for you.” It was meant as a warning, and Lila knew better than to take her time and make the General wait any longer.

Quickly sliding out of her room, the door shutting behind her with a loud slam, and into the dimly lit hallway the girl squeezed out a, “Yes, sir I’ll get to the tea right away”, and hoped her words sounded as firm as the lieutenants. Though the only indication she got was the quirk of an aged brow before he swiftly turned away to walk back up the stairs that led to the main deck. No doubt to tell the General that Lila was on her way with his tea. Once the lieutenant was out of view, Lila spun on her heels and borderline ran through the dingy halls to get to the kitchen. All the while praying her tardiness wouldn’t result in any form of punishment; even though she’s never been on the receiving end of one during her time on this ship.

As she rushed through the halls of the ship's lower deck Lila knew it wasn’t the lieutenant or any of the other crew members that intimidated her. It wasn’t even the General. If anything, General Iroh was the nicest one to her compared to the others here. No, it was the person in command of this ship who truly frightened her. She’s seen the intensity of his rage when directed at his men many times throughout his three-year search for the Avatar.

Although he wasn’t much older than her, he still carried himself in a way that you wouldn’t think of him as someone younger. In Lila’s eyes his mere presence was imposing and domineering enough that she thought he could pass as a Fire Nation General. Maybe even an Admiral. A force to be reckoned with. Although he was exiled, he didn’t look at all like a banished prince.

All Lila knew was that she didn’t want to start slipping up now. From what she experienced firsthand, the Fire Lord’s family and his military were truly terrifying.

When her boots rounded the corner to the kitchen’s entryway a stifled gasp flew from her lips as crewmen, specifically the firebenders, ambled out of the mess hall. The majority of them shoving past her without a second thought, knocking her off balance, their heavy fire nation armor clanking as they passed. Swiftly but awkwardly Lila caught herself from falling. Her back bumping the wall as her hand latched onto the door frame. After the last helmeted soldier left, she righted herself and set off to brewing Iroh’s usual. Jasmine tea. Once she was in the kitchen, she gently set down a pot of water to boil as her good eye ringed with a dark circle glanced about the empty kitchen.

Deeming the area fully empty, broken fingernails ghosted over the cloth covering her other eye. Memories from long ago, ones she didn’t want to remember forced their way to the forefront of her mind.

Visions of fire.

Men in red uniforms.

A burning house invaded her thoughts.

Until the image switched as she remembered the Palace Gardens along with a girl dressed in fire nation clothing and forehead tattoo. She was hurling bursts of flame after flame, cackling as a young Lila ran through the fire lily bushes screaming crying out-

“Stop it.”

The one-eyed girl whispered. Shaking her head, jagged fingernails toyed with the edge of the cloth.

Just like that, like dunking someone in cold water, Lila resurfaced from her haunted daydreams once she heard the boiling water bubble and hiss for her attention.

“Oh my goodness!”

With her seeing eye, Lila snatched the pot of water, grabbed a clean teapot from the dish rack and hastily prepared the rest of Iroh’s afternoon tea all in one motion. This was all routine for her, except today she was late. Now panicking, Lila arranged everything on a serving tray and scurried as fast as her legs would allow without spilling, or worse, dropping anything.

The sound of her baggy uniform pants rubbing together and her dark boots tapping against the metal floor could be heard as she raced through the torch lit corridors. Past her sleeping quarters, and up the main flight of stairs leading to the ship’s main deck.

“Oh spirits, I’m extremely late!” Lila anxiously cried to herself as she slinked up the last few steps, forcing her rushed pace to a normal walk. On this ship she always had to make sure she kept her composure around the others. A habit she developed from her service in the Fire Lord’s Palace.

When she came out into view on deck, the afternoon sun shined brightly over her features. If it were any other place besides the south pole Lila would’ve appreciated the sun’s warmth, but it wasn’t. The subzero temperature seemed to overpower the sun as the cold hugged her through her heavy servant garbs anyway. A slight shiver crawled up her body after a particularly strong gust of southern wind blew past.

With her head bowed Lila made her way toward Iroh and his pai sho table. The old man was seated in the middle of the deck observing both his game and the banished prince’s training. Peeking up to look a few feet past Iroh, Lila caught sight of prince Zuko and the men he trained with. Another shiver traveled down her spine. One of fear.

Judging by his lack of clothing and sweaty face, the prince seemed to have just finished his training session once she walked on deck. Prince Zuko grabbed a towel from his uncle and wiped down his face and chest. Without sparing anyone a second glance prince Zuko marched off toward the command tower, barely brushing Lila’s shoulder as he went. Memories of her tardy punishments given by her last master flashed by. However, when prince Zuko didn’t stop to question or berate her for her late appearance, Lila released a breath she didn’t know she was holding.

Once certain that prince Zuko was completely gone and she wasn’t in trouble, Lila continued walking and closed the distance between her and General Iroh. Once she reached the old man’s side, Lila bowed in respect, a few wispy curls tumbling from her bun as she kneeled beside him. As always, every day for the past three years, the chubby man welcomed her with a bright smile and boisterous laugh. Now Iroh was a pale portly man with long grey hair and bright amber eyes to complement. Even though they never properly talked, he was always kind in greeting whenever he saw her around.

“Ah! There you are, I wondered where you were. I was scared you got lost on the ship.”

Knowing that Iroh was joking, Lila cracked a carefully practiced smile as the old man joyfully laughed.

“No, no, I didn’t get lost. Though please accept my deepest apologies, I hope my tardiness didn’t upset you, sir.”

Professional and sweet her words were, but rehearsed in nature. Iroh could tell, but he watched with kind eyes anyway as the young girl placed his tea on the table with steady hands. He was pleased to see she didn’t tremble near him like she did with his nephew. Unbeknownst to the blinded girl, prince Zuko’s uncle always noticed her reactions when it came to the boy. He’s always wanted to know why she’d become so small and nervous every time Zuko was near; but he knew better than to out-right ask.

The retired general quickly took a sip from the cup she placed before him, the wondrous taste of jasmine tea dancing along his taste buds. This girl knew how to make it just how he liked it!

“You know Lila, that is your name, right?” Iroh questioned casually. The young girl stiffened in response as she awaited his next words with bated breath, “after three year of being on this ship together, we have never really sat down and talked over a nice calming glass of your tea.”

Still kneeling, Lila released a breath in relief and couldn’t help but look at him with slight confusion but quickly remembered her place and schooled her expression into poised neutrality. She glanced down before murmuring, “Well, with all due respect sir. I’m a servant placed on this ship by my master. I didn’t think it was expected of me to dine and drink with you and your men.”

Remaining quiet Iroh regarded her as he took another sip. To Lila, it seemed her answer didn’t satisfy him as he shook his head in disagreement. Afraid she spoke out of turn, Lila fidgeted slightly with the empty tray in her hands.

Remember your place.

Mentally shaking the voice from her head, she began to rise from her spot beside the general. Before she could fully stand, Iroh’s voice cut through.

“Of course, it’s expected of you. You are important to this ship, just like how prince Zuko and his men are important to each other. Every person on this ship has a purpose and a duty that benefits us all. Just as you have yours. But before you go, sit. Have some tea with me, you deserve a moments rest.”

Her eye, ladled with exhaustion, widened in surprise at his bold comparison between the prince, the crew, and herself. Especially prince Zuko. All she did was fulfill orders and make sure everything on this ship was clean. Lila was nowhere near as valuable as the Prince of the Fire Nation, banished or not. Years at the Caldera Palace has surely taught her where her place was, and it wasn’t on the pedestal of fire nation royalty.

Even with that reminder, it didn’t stop the dust of pink from tinging Lila’s ears while she adamantly refused his words, “Sir, you mustn’t say such things-”

The retired military general smiled, kindly interrupting the stuttering girl’s babbling, “Please, sit. I’d be graced by your kind presence if you’d give an old man like me some company on this lovely day.”

Seeing that Iroh wasn’t going to relent, Lila let out a small sigh and sat on her knees before him on the other side of the pai sho table. Back straight and hands polieltly placed on her lap. Over the rim of his teacup Iroh peeks at her and couldn’t help but feel pleased. Like a chink in a wall, a little part of her mask breaks without her even noticing.

Once fully situated across The Fire Lord’s brother, Lila couldn’t help but still feel incredibly small and vulnerable. Never in her life has she ever been requested to sit with someone of such high nobility before, as equals, even if they were banished. For a while, they sat in complete silence. An awkward one on Lila’s end and a serene one on Iroh’s. Lila watched as Iroh wordlessly played pai sho and sipped his tea. Crisp south pole air blew past every now and then, gently running through Lila’s dark curls like invisible fingers. Genuinely the girl was at a loss of words so she stayed quiet and waited until Iroh had something to say, chosing to watch the tall walls of glaciers slowly drift by. While Lila was distracted by her captivating surroundings, Iroh threw back the last of his tea like nothing and let out a loud long sigh of satisfaction.

“So,” He chirps, “Where are you from if you don’t mind me asking?”

Remember your place

“Well, I come from a small town near the Fire Nation Capital and served the Fire Lord and his family growing up,” Lila responded without missing a beat. Though she doesn’t miss Iroh’s unconvinced look as he cocks an eyebrow at her. Lifting the teapot, he pours himself a second cup.

“No offense, but if you’re going to lie, at least make it a little more believable. Not laughable…although some good lies are pretty funny…” he quips. An aged hand coming up to stroke his chin.

‘He caught my lie,’ defeat briefly colors her face and Lila wonders if it’s okay to take off her mask, even if it’s just for a moment. Can she trust him?

“General Iroh-”

“Just Iroh or uncle Iroh is fine, I’m retired. You don’t need to keep formalities when you’re with me,” the old man laughs as he pours a cup of tea for Lila. The warm assurance Iroh gives off disarms Lila, even if she didn’t want that to happen, allowing her to relax just a little more. Her mask slipping from her fingers.

“Okay…Just Iroh,” Lila teases.

It came out a bit awkwardly, but she peeked her eye up anyway to gauge his reaction at her failed attempt of a joke.

However, she’s pleasantly surprised when she sees the stale joke earns her a guffawing laugh and she had to fight off the beginnings of a grin that wanted to push past her lips, “why do you want to know?”

“Just curious, but since you asked,” passing Lila her cup Iroh playfully narrows his eyes, “you don’t look or sound like you’re from the Fire Nation capital. Don’t get me wrong you’re a very beautiful girl,” Iroh clarifies, “but your facial features are different from the people in the capital. You also have a slight accent. Not only that but Lila isn’t a name commonly used in the Fire Nation.”

As Iroh spoke, each sentence had Lila’s eye lower, all the way down to her cup on the table. This man figured her out in a matter of seconds! To Lila part of her felt embarrassed for thinking she could out-smart a military leader. Retired, but still. An experiensed military man no less.

Though she knew he didn’t mean any harm by what he said. He claimed to just want her company, and she was trusting that he only wanted to get to know her. No one has done this with her before so this was new territory, and Iroh has never given her a reason to fear or distrust him before during these three years, so she decided why not? And let her mask hit the floor. She looks at Iroh and he catches her good eye soften.

Words roll around her head for a moment before speaking, “My mother was born in the Northern Water Tribe, but she left. In her travels she met my father who lived in a small town not too far from Omashu. They married a few years after meeting. My dad really helped her out when she had nothing and no one to help her.” Iroh’s lips curled up into such a wide and infectious smile at the girl’s words, and funnily enough Lila found herself mirroring him, too.

“Wow, that is wonderful! Two completely different people, from completely different parts of the world meet and fall in love. That’s rare,” Iroh gushed as he teasingly added, “On top of that they made such a soft and gentle spirit too!”

Giggles, that were actually quite loud, erupted from Lila as she flushed at this witty old man and his compliments. “How do you know I’m soft and gentle?” She asks, taking a large gulp of tea, the warm brew filling and puffing her cheeks. Slowly she guzzles it down, cheeks deflating, before adding, “I could be really mean in reality.”

Golden eyes worn with years of life crinkled in amusement at her newly surfacing playfulness, “I have been around for many years. You can tell when someone has a genuine spirit and when someone doesn’t. You, miss Lila,” said girl freezes at the respectful use of her name. No one’s ever used ‘miss,’ or her name, at all when talking to her, “have a very soft and sprightly spirit, when given the chance to bloom,” Iroh declares with satisfied finality. To show he was set on his opinion, Iroh sat with his eyes closed, blocking out any protest Lila might’ve had as he reverently drinks his tea and moves a pai sho tile.

‘Miss Lila’ in turn sits in stunned silence, her brow deeply lined with thought and her mouth agape. Genuinely she couldn’t see what he saw in her but didn’t have the heart to correct him. It’d be futile to argue against him and win. So instead, she shyly thanked him, and awkwardly filled her cheeks again with more tea to distract herself.

For the rest of the afternoon and well into the evening, as no one seemed to need Lila’s assistance, she got to know her first friend since little Chan from her village. They went back and forth talking about many things. Lila discovered that during his younger years Iroh learned and observed techniques from the waterbenders which in turn helped enhance his firebending. He regaled her with many stories of what he learned and how he learned it. A smile etched deep into Lila’s face as she tried to absorb everything he was saying. It was heart warning for Lila to see someone from another nation appreciate her mother’s culture. She also found out that he’s a decent tsungi hornist and can’t tell the difference between certain tea plants and the poisonous ones.

Iroh learned some things about Lila, too. He discovered that she had vast knowledge about plants and flowers from all over the world. Even the ones about tea! Thanks to a book about flowers her mother gifted her as a child. He also found out that under her pillow she keeps an earth kingdom bracelet her father made and can play the kalimba. They even taught each other songs native to their nations. Both of them found such wholesome companionship with each as other they kept this up every day for a few weeks during Iroh’s afternoon tea.

One day as the two friends sipped on a new tea Lila decided to try her hand in making, ginseng tea, Iroh decided it was time to discuss his nephew. However, the tea was too good for him to just leave it half finished. ‘I’ll begin once I finish this cup,’ he said to himself. So, they sat together in comfortable silence. In the background the rowdy voices of the ship’s crew could be heard, they too took a moment to relax from today’s work. Prince Zuko seemed to be on edge more so than usual so the men were taking in all the peace and quiet they could from their makeshift break.

Back to the main pair though, the clink of Iroh’s teacup being set on the table barely registered in Lila’s ears. She was currently taken by her surroundings as she watched a piece of ice fall from a passing glacier. A chilly breeze brushed and caressed her cheeks. Usually she’d shiver at the winds touch, but it seemed that over the past few weeks of Prince Zuko navigating these waters, the southern climate didn’t seem to bother her as much anymore. It was still cold though.

Feeling ready to talk Iroh clears his throat, “You know, I don’t really think you have much to be afraid of when it comes to my nephew Zuko.”

In an instant Lila’s revere for the beautifully cold landscape is broken as she meets Iroh’s steady gaze in surprise and discomfort. This was definitely a topic she wanted to avoid.

“I know Zuko is a very coarse person and rough around the edges, much like the rocks back home. But he really isn’t as bad as people make him out to be. Though he may be banished, he is still very honorable,” and for a moment Lila sits there taking in his words. She didn’t really know what to make of it. Her perception of the Prince vastly opposed Iroh’s. Although she understood why Iroh would say that about his nephew, he did seem to have a love the boy. Lila tries to muster the courage to say something but again she hears that voice,

Remember your place

Echoing in the back of her mind. After moments of her struggling to gather herself and Iroh waiting patiently, Lila stammers out, “Sir, I assure you I’m fine I do not fear-”

To which uncle Iroh chooses this moment to remind her, “Lila, you don’t need to be so formal with me, nor do you need to hide yourself. You know me. You can tell me how you really feel.”

Again, she hears that same phrase, remember you place, but louder this time attempting to drown her out. She tries to push back a little harder so the voice would go away, but to no avail. Lowering her eye in submission, specks of brown glinting in the sun’s rays, Lila quietly chokes out, “I shouldn’t say anything at all negative…concerning the Fire Lord or his children. Whether they are banished or not,” the rehearsed tone Iroh heard when he first spoke to her returned. The man could clearly see the internal struggle warring within her. The deep line crinkling between her brows, the downturned tilt of her lips, to the flicking of her eye as she couldn’t look at him dead on. It was like he was watching a two headed viper fight itself.

Choosing to divert his attention to his game he allows Lila the time she needs to fight the thoughts that overshadowed her. Once he noticed she’s calmed down a little he quips, “But, I’m not the Fire Lord nor am I the Fire Lord’s child.”

“I know,” Lila squirms a little and averts her gaze to her hands, “but you are the brother of fire lord Ozai and the uncle of prince Zuko. It would be rude of me to say anything negative about anyone from that family…and I don’t want to get in trouble with prince Zuko.”

Taking in the sight of his friend, her fingers fidgeting softly, Iroh gently counters, “I just want to know how such a soft and gentle soul like yours, has become so scared and broken.”

For a while, Lila sits in hesitant contemplation. Many times, and many ways Lila has only tasted pain and hurt her entire life. One of her eyes has complete loss of vision for goodness sake! No one ever bothers to give a passing glace to those seen as lesser than themselves. To peasants like her. No one cares for little servant girls…but Iroh does. Iroh, out of every person she’s ever met in the fire nation, has been the first and only one who’s truly treated her like she’s worth more. Worth more than a servant. Iroh always treated her like a human and a friend. In his eyes, she is a friend. Iroh is, someone she can trust…regardless of his bloodline. With that, her mind was made up. Like a baby bird spreading its wings to jump, Lila opens her mouth to speak – but closes it and freezes once she spots prince Zuko emerge from his quarters. The usual fire nation uniform adoring his body.

Red uniforms.

Just like that, the flower that Iroh saw trying to bloom, closed in on itself once more.

Saddened by the state of his friend, amber eyes close as Iroh shakes his head. Looking at his last pai sho tile he places down the fire symbol. ‘How ironic’, Iroh thought.

Finished with his game Iroh looks toward his nephew, a wide goofy smile now replacing the disheartened look before.

“Hello nephew, nice of you to join us on this lovely day! The sun is out, a nice breeze is blowing. Miss Lila here has even made a new delicious tea for me to try today, you should have some.”

Unphased by Iroh’s excited suggestion, prince Zuko maintains a cold and silent expression. As he makes his way next to his uncle his sharp gaze cuts through everyone on deck. Immediately his crewmates stop what they were doing as Zuko examines each person, silence being the loudest noise on the ship. Once his glare shifts to Lila for a moment her eye darts away, avoiding eye contact.

Prince Zuko then begins barking orders at the crewmen who were idling about. “Lieutenant Jee, care to tell me why all of my men are not where they’re supposed to be?”

Sensing the rapidly brewing eruption that was about to explode, Lila cautiously rose from the little table she and Iroh occupied. Yeah, she fully intended to creep away from the banished prince’s tirade and busy herself with work, until she felt a calloused but tender hand hold hers. Her eye shot to Iroh as he encouragingly motioned for her to sit back down, “If my nephew really needed something from you or felt like you weren’t doing your job right, he would’ve said so already. You’re okay, either way you don’t need to do anything until dinner time…which is in another hour.” He stated smugly. After those weeks of getting to know one another Iroh memorized her schedule like the back in his hand. Lila knew Iroh again wasn’t going to let her win this round, again, so she slowly sat down.

Once prince Zuko was done ordering -well more like yelling- at his men to get back to work he looked at his uncle, completely ignoring Lila, and rigidly mentioned, “If you need me uncle, I’ll be in my room meditating.”

“Good, good! Practice your breathing, it’ll help you with your control.”

Judging by the upturned eyes and smile Iroh gives his nephew, completely disregarding his attitude, Lila could tell he held a deep love for the prince. For her, she didn’t hold any of that. Prince Zuko was part of fire lord Ozai’s family. She just didn’t understand.

Then just before he turned away prince Zuko’s piercing gaze finally caught Lila’s as if finally realizing she was there.

“You. Servant girl”, his voice was hard as stone. His inflection unwavering and clipped, while hers was wavering and small.

“Yes?”

With prince Zuko’s attention fully on her, Lila’s brown eye flitted between his intense stare and her hands. The discomfort of being trapped under his gaze grew too much for Lila as she squirmed and tried to keep the fear from taking hold. He only acknowledged her presence, that’s it. ‘I don’t think I’ve done anything wrong today’, she rambles to herself, prattling off anything she might’ve done for him to call her name in such a way.

Cutting through her mental check list, terse words, “Get. To. Work,” are spat from between the prince’s teeth. His scarred face now inches away from her. Up close Lila could vividly see his raised skin, burnt red and irritated, marring the left side of his pale face. The disfigurement of the scar left his eye squinted in comparison to the other eye. Thoug she had to admit, the eybrow that wasn’t burnt off was perfectly arched. Within his amber gaze, Lila could see the anger that always seemed to linger there. However, she knew better than to test his already thinning patience.

With a breathless, “Yes sir,” Lila clambers to her feet, collects Iroh’s tea set as fast as she could and rushes away from the two. Heart pounding within her chest. Faintly, she could hear Iroh complain to prince Zuko about how he didn’t need to scare off his friend and how he should’ve tried the tea she made. To which Zuko yelled, “I don’t care! She doesn’t get special treatment just because she made you tea!” That, she heard loud and clear.

Lila powers through the corridors below deck and even though it’s an hour early she decided that she might as well help the chef prepare dinner since she did all her work earlier. This time as she rounds the corner, teacups clanking with every footfall, she smoothly side steps any shipmates that may be bustling out of the kitchen. ‘Don’t want a repeat of before,’ she notes to herself.

Upon entering the kitchen, she sees the chef and he raises his knife in greeting before continuing with the meat cutting. Last week prince Zuko docked at a nearby harbor to restock on any necessities the crew might’ve been running low on. Specifically, hygienic items and food supplies. “Servant girl!” the chef calls, keeping his eyes on the task at hand, “You’re just in time. I need you to start on the rice.”

Offering a timid smile, which he didn’t notice, Lila carefully placed the tea set in the sink, rolls up her sleeves and stands beside him to start on the rice. Like clockwork they quickly but efficiently finish dinner for everyone on the ship, with Lila scooping the last bit of rice into bowls to deliver to the prince and his uncle. Soon enough the rest of the men file in for dinner. Lila attempts to give one last smile to the chef, which again falls on blind eyes, before tiptoeing out of the now lively kitchen and right into lieutenant Jee.

“Lieutenant Jee!” Lila gasps in startlement, “I’m so sorry I didn’t see you there!” She bows as best as she could while balancing the two trays of food. Jee waves it off with his hand, “You’re fine, just be careful next time.”

As he starts to make the line for dinner Lila haltingly calls his attention once more, “Um, mister, Lieutenant Jee, sir…” he hums. “Just to be sure, do you know if the prince and his uncle are in their rooms? I don’t want to be late again, especially with prince Zuko.”

“Yeah, last I checked that’s where they were.” Jee dissmisively responds before laughing with the other men at a joke the chef said. Lila’s presence completely ignored.

Laced with a hint of despondency, Lila whispers, “Thank you,” and continues her trek up from the lower decks, up onto the main deck, and to the command tower. All the while balancing the two hefty dinner trays. The tower was where those in charge slept. Reaching her first stop, Lila found herself in front of prince Zuko’s room. She began to feel her hands shake and quickly but carefully placed Iroh’s dinner tray down by the door. No way did she want to drop anything in front of her leader’s door and really risk getting punished for the first time. Reigning in her nerves Lila breathes out deeply and knocks.

No words of entry could be heard.

Trying her luck, she knocked harder one more time but still received no answer. Usually on any other day he’d call for her to enter and she’d place his food on his table, but this is the first time he hasn’t responded. Which leaves Lila at a crossroad. She wasn’t really sure what to do, she didn’t want to leave his food outside, but she didn’t want to just barge into his room. His privacy. And anger him. Then again, standing in front of his door doing nothing wasn’t going to solve anything either.

“I guess we won’t know until we try,” she sighs wearily.

The door squeaks as she apprehensively opens it and cautiously peeks her head in. The room is in its usual state, clean and very minimal. No elaborate decorations, just a few fire nation banners on the wall, a mattress in the corner of the room, a weapons rack, and a rug. The only time Lila would go in the prince’s room was when she’d do her daily cleaning rounds and food deliveries, like now. Then, her eye catches sight of him with his back facing her. Candles sit in front of him on the table, the flames rising and falling with every breath she hears him take.

“Prince Zuko?” Lila slips a foot past the door as she shakily squeaks, “I have brought you your supper, do you want me to place it where I usually-” a loud huff escapes prince Zuko’s mouth, flames shooting up in tandem sharply.

“If you wish I could come back later with-”

“You really seem to have forgotten your manners, haven’t you? I’m meditating.” Prince Zuko drawls, irritation filling his voice as he maintains his meditative position. Lila stares at his back in puzzlement, she didn’t mean any disrespect to her prince, she was only doing what she thought was right in this situation.

Even though Lila knew prince Zuko couldn’t see her she still bowed her head in apology, rushing out, “Please forgive me my prince. You didn’t answer when I knocked, a-and I didn’t want to leave you without food-”

Like a bomb, prince Zuko’s aggravation toward her initial interruption and her rambling explodes, “I don’t care as to why you felt the need to come in my room unannounced! You see I’m in the middle of something, and just because I’m quiet doesn’t mean you can start talking like I gave you permission to, when I didn’t! I’m not my uncle. You’re a servant, remember your place!”

Lila stands in stunned silence at Zuko’s verbal barrage, she was doing so well with her streak of staying on his blind side. Although she knows his words are nothing compared to what he’s said and done to his other men, tears still flood and gloss over her eye. Violent scenes she repressed played through her mind as clear as day. Mocking her.

Remember your place

Remember you place

Tears of pain and anguish flow down her burning cheek. The intensity of the man’s punch could still be felt as she cradles the side of her face. Sobs heave from the little girls mouth as she watches the flames engulf her home. When suddenly a large hand yanks a fistful of her hair. A shrill scream ripping through her busted lips as he drags her closer to the carnage he and his men waged. All dressed in red uniforms. She could hear her parents yelling her name from somewhere afar, and she tries to tear away from his grasp to find their voices. Though the vice like grip in her hair harshly jerks her head back, causing the girl to whimper in pain.

“Ah! Mommy, daddy! Where are you?” She can’t see them, but she could hear them fighting in the background. The sound of the other men in red wrestling with her parents could be heard too and it amps up the fear seizing her heart.

Tiny nails dig into the hand on her head, scratching and hitting the with all her might to escape. Though her attempts failed as she is aggressively thrown in front of the burning house, the heat of the flames licking for a taste of the child. Suddenly a blood curdling wail, that could be heard all around her terrorized village, shreds from her raw throat as searing pain erupts all throughout and within her eye. Vision becoming an all-consuming black.

The words, “Remember your place, you little brat!” Are roared in her face.

Finally, the tears silently bubble over her cheeks like a stream of water. Stifling any noise, Lila bites her lip and bows deeply, even though prince Zuko barely gives a sideway glance over his shoulder.

“I am, so, sorry my prince,” she chokes out hoping to the heavens above that he wouldn’t punish her or hear the strain in her words. She can’t be crying like a fool in front of her leaders, that’s not what she was taught. Serving was what she was there for, nothing else. Her master before made sure she knew that. Swallowing all the sobs she could without a sound, Lila carefully places his food by the door and quickly leaves shutting it with a soft click. All the while a slight frown could be seen on Prince Zuko’s lips. He caught sight of the tears falling from her eye.

Outside Lila takes a few deep breaths and leans against the door, the muscles in her lips twitch as she tries to stop the upcoming torrent of tears; but the dam breaks. Smothering her mouth with the sleeve of her shirt, her other quivering hand covers her face. Lila starts bawling. Muffled sobs and gasps wrack her body as her eye squeezes in grief, hot tears spilling even faster. Now it wasn’t necessarily Zuko’s words that made her react like this, even if they were hurtful. It was what he inadvertently triggered. Memories too painful that she didn’t want but was forced to keep. After a few minutes of her trying to keep her mourning silent, she hears a door creak up ahead at the end of the corridor. With hitched breaths Lila drops her snot and spit stained arm as the hand covering her face quickly retrieves Iroh’s forgotten dinner tray. It was a little cold, but nothing a firebender couldn’t handle. Lila sniffles and schools her features back into a poised appearance and continues to her last stop. A trail of quiet tears streaming in her wake.

Upon reaching Iroh’s room, Lila wipes off any evidence of her crying and knocks on the door. This time around Lila hears a tired, but nice beckon to enter. Opening the door, she sees Iroh sitting on his bed and he beams at the food Lila has in her hands, until he sees her face. As quickly it appeared his smile is gone as he takes in her damp sleeve, tear stained cheeks, runny nose, and wet eyelashes. Iroh had an idea of what might’ve happened.

“Sometimes, life can be like a hurricane. It’s harsh and unforgiving at first, but they always end and the sun shines after. No matter how bleak the storm looks.”

At that, Lila breaks down again. Crying all the while, she fully enters the room and places her friend’s food on his bedside table before rushing to hug him. As she engulfs him, Iroh gently rocks her from side to side, rubbing her back. The motion reminds Lila of her father when he’d rock her to sleep, her arms tightening around Iroh. She missed her dad deeply. Softly her old friend began to sing one of the songs he taught her a few weeks ago.

“Winter spring, summer, and fall. Winter spring, summer and fall. Four seasons four loves, four seasons four loves.”

Although his voice wasn’t perfect, it still pulls Lila to join in, sniffling. Iroh’s voice strong and comforting, while Lila’s was weak and quiet. They sing it a few times until Iroh sees her tears and hiccups slow.

Feeling slightly better, Lila breaks from the hug and sits a few feet from Iroh.

“Thank you. I really needed that,” she croaks and rubs at her teary eye. The patch on her other eye was pretty damp so she knew before bed she’d have to clean it.

“Of course. As your best friend it is my duty to make sure you’re okay and laughing.” To which Lila giggles.

“How about this?” Iroh offers, “I tell you more about what I learned from waterbenders and you teach me more about the flowers you know?” Lila tiredly nods in response; her crying drained all her energy for the day. The two friends share dinner at Iroh’s behest, saying how she shouldn’t skip her meals, and chatted for a few hours. They talked about flowers, tea, and history -mostly Iroh teaching her what he knew- until Iroh noticed how exhausted Lila was and urged her to get some rest.

The next day was like any other day for Lila. In the morning she’d wake up at dawn, do her shower routine, clean her teeth, and tend to her eye. After that she’d set off to make breakfast with the chef for all of the shipmates. Deliver breakfast to Iroh and prince Zuko, and luckily for her today the prince wasn’t in his room. She only found a note that said he wasn’t hungry. Then once all the men were at their usual posts Lila would go ahead and tidy up all their sleeping barracks. By the time she’d be done with cleaning everyone’s rooms she’d have an hour or so to herself, which was filled with journaling or writing all Iroh has told her about waterbending, until she had to help prepare lunch. After she’d finish that, there’d be a fifteen minute window of nothing to do before Lila would make Iroh’s afternoon tea. Which was what she was doing right now.

Again, like before, Lila make her way from the kitchen, through the corridors, past her room, and up the stairs to get to the main deck. However, instead of sitting across from Iroh Lila places herself next to him as he greets her with a joke. Thankfully he doesn’t mention what happened last night as they laughed and talked as they usually do. Today Lila was trying to explain the differences between the white jade bush and the white dragon bush to Iroh. The white jade bush being a poisonous flowering plant. During her explanation, Lila couldn’t help but notice Iroh somewhat dazed off, and she snorted as she thought, ‘I really hope this doesn’t bite him in the butt’ when a question flickered in her. Checking her surroundings to see where prince Zuko was, she saw him a good few feet away facing the front of this ship. The scarred boy looked to be distracted with his own thoughts, so Lila figured it be now or forever hold her peace.

“Hey, uncle Iroh?”

“Hm”, he grunts, liquid gold eyes ever so focused on today’s particularly tricky game of pai sho.

Lila’s already soft-spoken voice lowered to a whisper, “Why did you agree to go with prince-”

Unexpectedly, from far away, a huge ethereal beam of light shoots up into the air, cutting through the sky! The beam cast a blue shadow over everyone and everything in the south pole, blue ripples rippling across the sky. Lila literally falls back in wonder from what she’s witnessing at this moment. No one on prince Zuko’s ship has ever seen anything like this during their three year search. When she looks to see if anyone else is seeing what she’s seeing her eye catches the banished prince’s reaction. Prince Zuko himself is also snapped from his own thoughts by the sight of this strange but amazing light. His jaw dropping in awe, but realization dawns as his features shift to one of aggressive determination.

“Finally,” he growls. Turning to Lila’s companion, who’s surprisingly unphased by what just happened, prince Zuko continues, “Uncle, do you know what this means?” His words seemed to be filled with something akin to…dare Lila say, hope? Desperation?

While keeping his eyes on his pai sho table Iroh asks, “I won’t get to finish my game? And Miss Lila won’t finish telling me about the…what was it called again?” Being in such close proximity to the prince after what happened last night, Lila wasn’t sure if she wanted to answer with him so near.

However, Prince Zuko answers for Lila declaring that the beam of light means his search for the Avatar it about to end. Though not sharing the same optimistic thought as his nephew, Iroh shakes his head and places down another pai sho tile. Still unwilling to relent, Zuko points to the shinning beam and snaps,

“That light came from an incredibly powerful source! It has to be him!” Looking back, he sees the light disappear, causing the blue shadowing that was cast over everything to disappear as well.

“Or, it’s just the celestial lights,” Uncle Iroh suggests, lifting his arm to the sky with a tile in hand to further prove his point. “We’ve been down this road before, Prince Zuko. I don’t want you to get too excited over nothing.” The absent-minded tone is apparent in Iroh’s voice although he means well. He’s just looking out for his nephew. For Lila, well she had a whole cauldron of mixed feelings. If that light really was from the Avatar then they could all finally go home. She should be happy, right? Three years of searching finally over. Except, she has no home, all that’s there waiting for her in the fire nation is a cold and malevolent palace. Nothing good was waiting for her there.

Again, Lila is pulled from her thoughts by Iroh, “please, sit. Why don’t you enjoy a cup of calming Jasmine tea Lila so kindly brewed?”

Like an awkward, and slightly uncomfortable middleman, Lila’s honeyed eye worriedly gauges Prince Zuko’s increasingly riled posture. Her eye slowly shutting to a cringe; she could tell the prince was about to explode from the continuous dismissal of his claims.

She was correct.

Prince Zuko barks in exasperation, “I don’t need any calming tea! I need to capture the avatar!”

As he ordered the helmsman to set a course for the light, Lila withdrew back to her thoughts. In a small way, she kind of understood why he was being so snappy. Though his attitude was usually foul. Still, he’s trying to go home after three years of banishment. Everyone on this ship wants to go home. Even if she had no place to call home, Lila could empathize in a way with why he’s so rude, and somewhat desperate, when speaking to his uncle the way he does. The Avatar is his ticket home.

Suddenly the wind picked up, whipping the dark hairs that fell from Lila’s bun. Turning to Iroh as he puts down his last pai sho piece, an air nomad symbol, Lila can’t help but blurt, “What does this mean?” Her words uneasy as she watches Iroh imploringly. Brown eye dancing over his form.

Iroh turns to her and gives a meaningful smile before laughing out, “It means our days of tea and pai sho together are coming to an end.” Lila looks on in confusion, “It’s almost time for you to help with dinner. Go, and make sure you bring some roasted duck for me tonight!” He jokes.

Later that night Lila finds herself repeating the same delivery process as before, rushing up the main deck and to the command tower. However, when she goes to knock on Iroh’s door she sees him coming from around the corner, “Oh uncle there you are. Where were you?”

“I was just coming down from the observation deck trying to tell Zuko he needs rest. Of course, my brooding nephew wouldn’t listen.” Iroh sighs dramatically as he walks to his door. However, all Lila can think about is the discomfort she feels with the possibility of being alone with prince Zuko again…and the stairs she has to climb to reach him.

“B-but, that’s a lot of stairs though…”

“Ha! How do you think I feel? An old man like me shouldn’t have to do workouts like that anymore!”

Iroh smiles when Lila giggle in response. Opening his door, he turns to his friend and gently takes his dinner tray bidding her goodnight. Left alone Lila continues her walk to find prince Zuko. “Up the stairs I go…”

By the time she reaches the observation deck she’s winded and breathing a little deeper. Her heart felt like a drum about to beat out of her chest, she did climb like four flights of stairs. Leaning against the opening of the door to the observation deck, she sees prince Zuko there with a simple night robe draped over his sleeping attire. He stood alert and focus despite it being dusk. Unlike him everyone else was getting ready to retire for the night. A little hesitant to address her presence in fear of repeating what happened last night, Lila waits for the scarred prince’s permission to let her speak. A few minutes pass and a breeze flows by, stray pieces of curls tickle Lila’s neck as the prince still stands in silence.

“Pardon my intrusion prince Zuko, but it’s dinner time and I have your food ready for you…”

Looking over his shoulder at her for a moment he simply rasps out in a gruff voice, “I’m not hungry…” before continuing to watch the darkening horizon.

“But, you haven’t eaten anything today, are you sure?” Regardless of the fear prince Zuko strikes in her heart, he’s still human and needs to eat.

Again, like yesterday an aggravated and abrupt huff leaves his mouth as he deeply drawls, “What, did I just say?”

Wanting to avoid another outburst tonight Lila timidly stammers, “You’re not hungry…” as the feeling of embarrassment from being talked to like a child washes over her.

“You may leave my presence.”

Lila turns and was about to head back down to the kitchen before a thought struck her. Quickly but silently she takes the bowl of rice and the bowl of roasted duck meat and pours half of it onto the serving tray, before leaving it near the doorway. That way if prince Zuko changes his mind the food will be there. Satisfied with herself, Lila walks down to the now empty kitchen, grabs a pair of eating utensils, and eats what was left in the bowls. “Well I’m not letting the food I made, which I know is good, go to waste,” and the food really was good too.

Once she was done eating, Lila washes the tray and grabs a cup filling it to the brim with water. Double checking the empty kitchen Lila carefully makes her way to her servants quarters. She takes gradual and slow steps in order to keep the water from spilling over.

In the safety of her room, Lila closes the door with her foot and nimble fingers lock it behind her. She sets the cup down in the middle of her room and goes to get the journal she’s been writing in from underneath her mattress. Lila pulls out the journal and returns to where she placed her cup. Sitting down with her legs crossed, she flips to the pages filled with information she wrote from the times Iroh would tell her about waterbending. Lila takes in a deep breath, holds it as if she were underwater, then slowly exhales through her mouth. Closing her eye, her hand reaches up and unwraps the cloth covering the other side of her face.

The cloth falls in Lila’s lap as her hand hovers over the cup of water, beginning to practice her waterbending. Although as she tries lifting the water from the cup Lila feels no connection to the energy inside of her. Her control is weak and shaky as the water spills over. Shutting both eyes Lila tries to concentrate harder, but all she can see are the memories from her past burned deep within her mind.

Fire

Screams

Laughing

Fingers

Eye tattoo

With a shuddering breath Lila drops her hand and sighs in disappointment.

Remember your place.

The next morning Lila is on the main deck with Iroh, Prince Zuko, and some of his men. At Iroh’s invitation Lila watches as the prince does his firebending training, though she didn’t know as to why he wanted her there. The young servant had a very deep fear of fire, every blast of fire prince Zuko or his firebending companions made, memories of that little girl in red would flash by. Screams of her younger self and cackling of the little girl ring through her ears. So, Lila stood by the railing of the ship a few feet behind Iroh, not too close to prince Zuko and his fire but not too far in case they needed anything. With her eye on the ground Lila watched in fascination of the elongated shadows the morning sun created around her, until she heard Iroh begin to lecture prince Zuko on his firebending.

“No. Power and firebending comes from the breath, not the muscles,” Iroh clarifies. It’s clear there’s a tinge of stress in his words as Zuko failed to truly grasp what his uncle was trying to say.

“The breath becomes energy in the body,” Iroh continues and begins to demonstrate each point of his explanation, “the energy extends past your limbs and becomes fire!”

Lila gasps at Iroh’s last demonstration. A strong but controlled and precise stream of fire shoots from Iroh’s fist at prince Zuko who stood unflinching. The fire dissipated inches from the prince’s face. At the sound of the small noise Lila made, Zuko’s eyes flicker to hers for a quick second before settling back on Iroh. She could see how the prince’s muscular shoulders began to tense as he walked menacingly toward his uncle, so she tuned out the impending argument and turned to look over the ship's railing. The morning rays glistened over the water lapping at the ship below, creating a lovely twinkle. The shimmering water looked like diamonds to Lila as she mulled over the words Iroh tried explaining to his nephew.

Vaguely she could hear him call his nephew impatient in the background, but Lila’s mind was still committing what uncle Iroh said to memory, “patience,” she softly whispered to no one in particular.

Power comes from the breath…not the muscle.

Lila glanced behind her and saw that prince Zuko was still arguing with his uncle as some of the firebenders looked on. Zeroing in on the sea water once more, she suddenly felt a small beckoning from below…

Breath becomes energy in the body

With her hand extending over the railing, her heartrate picked up and her body tingled with nerves when she realized she’s really going to try this in front of firebenders. The ones who once tried to wipe out her people…but the push and pull of the water was too enticing, its seductive call too strong to ignore…

With a flick of the wrist-

The energy extends past your limbs and becomes-

Water!

Water shoots out in the form of a wave away from the side of the boat. In no way was it a large or impressive wave, it was actually very small. However, it was enough to make Lila laugh and light up in elation. A huge smile decorating her lips. A smile she hid behind her hands. However, when she tried to recreate what she did, nothing happened, the feeling…the connection, was gone. Her smile dissolved and fell, the light in her face dimming as she turned back to the men on deck.

Her honey colored eye widened in surprise at seeing both Iroh and Prince Zuko’s golden gazes pinned on her.

“…Um, hello.” Lila shyly breathed with a small wave of her hand. A twinge of fear twisted in her heart at the off chance of her getting caught waterbending.

“I was just telling my nephew how even you have more discipline and patience, and you’re not even a bender,” Iroh says bellowing a loud laugh. The imaginary weight on Lila’s chest disappeared as she awkwardly forces out a laugh too -in relief- before catching the sneer on prince Zuko’s lips. His hands closing into a fist, Lila was sure he probably didn’t like that comparison.

“I mean, but sir I’m just a servant it doesn’t matter what I have or don’t have,” Lila responds as she lowers her gaze. Iroh opened his mouth to object but the young servant girl beat him to it, “anyway, if you are in no need of assistance,” she casts a look between both Prince Zuko and Iroh, “I must go help with lunch. If you’ll excuse me.” Demurely Lila bows her head and turns to go.

With Prince Zuko was back to sparing with the other firebenders, Iroh took the chance to call out, “Wait.”

Lila turns and regards him curiously as he begins to pour a cup of water, “Here, have this before you go. You might need it if you get thirsty.” He carefully hands her the tin cup. It looked like it was about to overflow. Lila looks at him questioningly but all he gives her is a knowing smile that she couldn’t quite place.

Later, after she finished helping the chef with lunch, Lila made her way back to her room, the cup still in her hands. She only took one sip from it today, either way she was going to meet with Iroh for afternoon tea soon, so she didn’t think much about it. Once inside she sat at the edge of her mattress and placed the cup on the floor in front of her. Resting her elbows on her knees, she folds her hands and places them over her lips as she stares at the water. A thought struck her, debating whether or not she should try bending again.

“I shouldn’t, I can’t even properly control it!” Lila hissed to herself.

Until Iroh’s words about breath and energy filtered through the back of her mind. Then another image appeared. The image of prince Zuko meditating with the candles in his room a few nights ago. Releasing a sigh Lila gave in and sat on the floor in a crisscrossed position, straightening her back like how she saw prince Zuko do it. Like the night before, she untied the cloth covering her face and closed her eyes. The palms of her hands braced on her knees. Deep breath in, she inhaled, and a deep breath out, she exhaled. Slowly a sense of calm and peace crept over her. Concentrating on her breath and the energy inside that she couldn’t really feel yet. Lila repeated the technique over and over, and even though she didn’t see it, with every breath she took the water rippled.

Thank you for reading, let me know what you think in the comments. I hope you enjoyed it.

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imreallyloveleee · 3 years

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thoughts on 4x15

another good one!!! it’s almost annoying how enjoyable this 4x14 - 4x16 stretch is, because it’s proof that they can make this show watchable for more than 3 minutes at a time, if only they put some effort and planning into it. anyway

- this episode addresses the eternal question, “what the actual fuck is wrong with Alice Cooper?”, and the answer is: everything

- how much fun do you think Mary had going “don’t answer that Archie. don’t answer that Archie. don’t answer that Archie” in response to every single question FP asked him in the interrogation room

- i love Toni’s expression when Cheryl apologizes for calling Jughead a hobo, twice

- Hermosa shows up in at least 3 scenes to be like “ho ho ho, guess what Veronica, i used my incredible private investigator skills to discover [thing]”. i am literally writing this 20 minutes after watching the episode and already cannot remember a single thing about this plot other than it exists

- oh, and that Hermosa gives Veronica a fake passport that must be made of tissue paper, because Veronica shreds it into quarters with absolutely zero effort

- lest anyone’s memory start convincing them that Donna and Bret are a couple of criminal masterminds: the two of them have a loud conversation in which they discuss Jonathan smearing Jughead’s blood all over a rock, with the door to Bret’s dorm room open. lol

- speaking of Jonathan, the Bunny Corcoran of Stonewall Prep: Donna clearly killed him for some perceived slight. WHAT WAS IT?

- Reggie’s brief talking head scene is so great

- Kevin’s, on the other hand, is not. “Betty and Archie are predestined...but even Betty isn’t crazy enough to date Archie if Jughead were alive.” what does that even mean, Kevin

- Sweet Pea is in this episode. unnecessarily aggro as usual. do we know if he’s back in season 5? i hope not

- Hiram shows up at Jughead’s funeral to fire FP. L O L. this guy.

- imagine you’re a random Serpent attending Jughead’s funeral, and then his girlfriend starts reading a scene from a Sherlock Holmes novel about two men wrestling one another over a cliff.

- it’s a “Serpent tradition” to have your closed casket funeral in your living room, fyi

- watching Donna slap Bret in the face is great! i’d like to see more of that.

- Cheryl goes to find Veronica in the bathroom because she “deserves to hear it in person” that Betty and Archie were kissing, even though Cheryl just sent a blast text of it to the entire school that somehow magically excluded Veronica, Betty, and Archie only

- watching that scene where Veronica pretends to be angry at Betty and Archie, i realized we’re going to have to watch that scene all over again in the prom episode, only the emotions will be amped up and real this time. i hate it. i hate it so much

- but back to things i love: Donna goes all the way across town to Riverdale High just so she can tell Betty what a nympho she is to her face. 12/10

- THERE WERE THREE MILKSHAKES, BRET!!!! Donna is just so fun in this episode. she’s got a lot in common with Jughead, who is also prone to falling down conspiracy theory rabbit holes that then end up being correct

- Betty and Jughead in the fuck bunker, omgggggg. she made him a new beanieeeeeeeeeeeeee. that’s gonna come back and punch us in the heart, guaranteed. the way they look at each other in this scene just melts me.

- I’m very happy that Jellybean was in on the conspiracy, because it’s too heartbreaking to imagine her really thinking her big brother was dead the whole time, plus she probably had a lot of fun hiding secrets from Alice

- this episode ends on Jughead getting really excited about some info Veronica found about Donna (is that what Hermosa was talking about earlier? i just tune out everything she says) and turning to the murder board, which has now migrated to the fuck bunker somehow. it’s so delightful. we missed you Jughead!!!

#loveleee rewatches riverdale season 4 #riverdale

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kinetic-elaboration · 3 years

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September 17: 3x07 Day of the Dove

I am incredibly discombobulated today—usual weekend nocturnal shenanigans I guess! Anyway it’s somehow midnight. Gonna try to write up these note on the Classic episode The Day of the Dove in as efficient a manner as possible.

Hmm, a planet with wavy pink Fraggle plants. I like it already.

But where is Spock? Very suspicious.

I really appreciate Kirk giving a little speech to set up the overall question/issue for us. (I know he does this all the time with the Captain’s logs but this is out loud and so… more obviously expository.)

Oh no, it’s our old friends…the Klingons.

I will admit that this ONE TIME, the Klingon is being reasonable. Like, it is reasonable to think that Kirk and the Enterprise attacked his ship, given that his hip WAS attacked, and who else would it be?

Three years of peace between the Klingons and the Federation? That is inclusive of the show so all this tension must technically be “peace” and also implies there was something more like a direct war going on, like, right before Kirk got the captaincy.

Zoolander voice: What is this, a colony of the INVISIBLE?

“We have no devil. But we understand the habits of yours.”

No takers? No takers on the torture? No volunteers to be mercilessly tortured by the Klingons?

Star Trek Beyond could have had Kirk and Chekov bond over being brothers! I mean, to other people.

They’ll kill 100 hostages at the first sign of treachery. He does know there are only 400-some people on the ship right? Maybe you should pace yourself, Kang.

Kirk’s so badass he needs MULTIPLE guns trained on him just to use the phone.

Oh-ho secret message to Spock. Which version of the iPhone will be capable of doing THAT?

The Klingons are “suspended in transit” is an awfully nice way of saying they’re just dematerialized atoms in space. Philosophy major and/or Bones nightmare fuel.

How did Kang not see this coming, by the way? Like, he just says “I’m taking your ship now, me and my 6 men versus your 400-some men, and I’ll do this by simply declaring it to be so. Now let’s beam up to your ship, where I’ll be greatly outnumbered, and there are armed security guards all around me.” Guess he’s been reading The Secret!

WIFE AND SCIENCE OFFICER

Aka the most important part of this whole episode.

Kirk’s face is very ?????? You can have both????

It’s legitimately not even important for her to be the science officer tbqh. Like that is so gratuitous. That’s just in there to drive me insane.

"We're prisoners, somehow, after I demanded to come on the ship, assuming they'd just give it to me without any kind of fight. How DID this happen?”

Federation death camps lol—someone’s been watching Fox News.

I do kind of wonder… is this an actual rumor that goes around the Klingon homeworld or is it something that the alien entity put in her head specifically to make her angrier right now? I mean it really could be either.

I also appreciate this episode for being pretty much the only one to actually attempt to give the Klingons a reason for being as they are. The Romulans… maybe aren’t well-described, but they do have a sort of regalness to them, appropriate for being related to Vulcans, and you can kind of imagine that they are the way they are because they’re Vulcans without the intense self-control. Plus they’re literally only in 2 TOS eps and in the second, the Federation are the aggressors. But the Klingons show up a half-dozen times only to be depicted each time as just like Cartoonishly Bad, aggressive, violent, and selfish for basically no reason. And I mean, some people really are!! But TOS has so much nuance in other places, that it always seemed a little disappointing to me that the Klingons are really just like ‘well we’re just bad and we hate everyone and we really like killing I guess.” At least in this ep there’s a little more added to that: that there is poverty on their world, that they feel aggrieved, that they feel unprotected, that taking and conquering is how they look after themselves…

I think that’s later in the episode though.

He’s detaining them in the LOUNGE lol. With their favorite dishes available to them to eat. Absolutely barbarous conditions.

I can’t believe Chekov is hanging in the elevator with the cool kids. Like, one of these things really isn’t like the others.

Kang is officially sure of himself for someone currently imprisoned in the lounge, that most fearsome of Federation death camps.

Hmm, could the glittery light alien have taken over??

You know what, that's a lot of tasks for Johnson to do all by himself: search the whole ship, fix the engines, and free 400 people.

Sulu would love this: everyone gets a sword!!

“Bridge. I gotta show this to Sulu immediately.”

Klingons have maintained a dueling tradition. That’s interesting. Finally some characterization going on.

Spock is really living up to his logical nature today. Everyone else has gone off the emotional deep end and he’s like “have you considered this completely rational explanation that accounts for the actual, observed facts??”

Whoops Chekov is actually an only child. Scratch that previous Beyond headcanon. (Interesting that his dead brother does really resemble Sam though—killed on a research colony??)

Love that Sulu knows that about him though.

Oh, that’s a pretty schematic picture of the Enterprise. I want that on a t-shirt.

Lol the pan out to the armory, now filled with… swords!!

Do ALL of these men have a fetish for swords? Sulu and fencing, Spock displaying swords in his quarters, and Kirk in his San Francisco apartment, and Scotty salivating over this Scottish blade.

“Klingon units.”

Finally Sulu gets his sword! It’s what he deserves.

Love that the shiny light alien also has a fetish for swords.

Oh no, it’s our old adversary, an alien life force.

What is the alien’s purpose? Um, I’m pretty sure its purpose is to start shit.

“An appropriate choice of terms, Captain.” I don’t even remember what this is referring to but I think it’s pretty clear that Spock is enjoying himself during a crisis again.

Bones, being so dramatic. Were there atrocities? He’s talking about the Klingons as if they were literally hacking off limbs—it’s a few stab wounds here and there, chill.

Oooh, time to behave like military men—strong words. (But I thought it wasn’t the military?? @ S**** P****) (This might not even be my best argument, given the context of this episode, but I’m sticking with it.)

This is like a giant game of capture the flag.

AU that’s just about the Enterprise crew playing capture the flag with the Klingons.

Sulu in the background standing guard with his sword

Damn, turning on Spock with the slurs now!!

Spock was absolutely ready to kill him. Like he would 100% have taken him out with a blow to the head. And he’d been doing such a good job of not feeling the alien’s effects so far! Admittedly, that was a strong provocation though.

Honestly, I really like this scene. It’s uncomfortable and tense and you can really see how the alien is bringing out the worst possible influences of their respective races. And I liked how Spock was definitely full on pre-Reform Vulcan for a minute there. It was a more effective portrayal of what that might have looked like than All Our Yesterdays tbqh.

A result of… stress?

Kirk got himself out of it first. He’s so strong. He knows himself so well, he cannot be outsmarted by any alien.

“We’ve been taught to think in terms other than war.”

“The alien brings out the worst of us—patriotic drumbeating…even race hatred.”

He’s so sad; he can’t imagine thinking like that about Spock :(

Sulu in a Jeffries tube! A man of many talents. It’s okay bb, take credit for turning on the lights.

The alien must have been getting bored. The Klingons must have been doing too well, and the playing field needs to be leveled for maximum shit-stirring.

“Let’s find that alien.” That’s how I ALWAYS feel.

Oh, Kang, you’re so close—“What power supports our battle but thwarts our victory.” So, so close to getting it.

ALIEN DETECTED.

Spock takes his sword, of course.

“Jim.” Obligatory Jim moments hit differently when they’re not so obligatory.

“Jim—stop hitting my protégé. And put that sword down.”

Kirk looks so sad, picking Chekov up to carry him bridal style.

Also in addition to ‘race hatred’ I think we need to add ‘rape-y tendances’ to the bad stuff that the alien is inspiring here.

“A brief surge of racial bigotry. Most distasteful.” Spock winning for understatement of the year.

They're assuming the alien is trying to test out their relative powers but I think it just wants entertainment. I mean, doesn’t it look like a naughty little thing?

Mara’s outfit is… little shorts? Interesting. Usually not my style but she makes it work.

Spock doesn’t even look at Johnson as he falls lol. Another one bites the dust.

“It exists on the hate of others.”

What does this remind me of? Oh, the Vast of Night and the whole “aliens made us do every bad thing ever” conspiracy theory. At least this one makes more sense, in part because it is not quite so overwhelmingly broad!

All hostile attitudes must be eliminated, he says, and there's Mara right behind Kirk giving him a death stare lol.

Kang is so obviously posing. Google Earth, always taking pictures.

Only a few minutes before drifting forever in space becomes inevitable? Good thing Kirk works well under pressure.

“Well… do whatever you can, Scotty. You know the drill.” Doesn’t even bother giving real directions anymore. We’ve been in this scenario before.

“So we drift in space, with only hatred and bloodshed aboard.”

And the 392 people below just get to…live in Enterprise prison, I guess.

Star date: Armageddon. So dramatic!

I’m not even making that up; that’s an actual quote. Can you imagine being an Admiral listening to this?

“Stop the war now.” An actual line, really aired on television.

Spock wants to threaten the wife lol. That's the old pre-Reform Vulcan seeping through. Surak who?

Damn, Kang is cold. “Eh, she gets the concept of being killed in battle.” They’re gonna need marriage counseling after this.

“There is another way. Mutual trust and help.” Yes that’s my hero!!

“No one can guarantee the actions of another.” Can’t remember the context of this entirely anymore, but great line.

The entity is loving this—multi-person choreographed sword fight!!

"Those who hate and fight must stop themselves. otherwise it is not stopped.” Another baller line. Spock has a lot of deep thoughts today. And so does Kirk. And Kang.

Kirk tries to reason with the alien. Nice try.

“Shoo. Shoo, alien. Off the ship, go away.”

Omg that last moment—Kang slapping Kirk’s back way too hard, Spock’s completely ridiculous wide-eyed expression when he does, like some sort of combo of amusement and confusion, and then Sulu just passing on by in the background….

Then the alien just yeets itself into space. And that’s the end!

Always feels weird when there’s no wrap up on the bridge.

Also, what are they going to do with the Klingons? They have no ship. They really did come out of this a lot worse than Kirk and co. No ship, huge casualties—and no one to blame even, but the alien.

I feel like the alien messed up a little in killing so many Klingons. Like, it could have accomplished its purpose, angering the Klingons and turning them on Kirk, by attacking the ship a little less violently—you know they’d react to 5 deaths pretty much the same as 400, and then there would be many more people to fight forever and produce that sweet sweet anger!

Maybe the alien’s powers aren’t strong enough to influence 800 people though. Also it wants equal forces and 800 people wouldn’t fit on the Enterprise, one assumes. So it still makes sense.

That was, of course, an excellent episode. 100% agree with is classic status, even though the main things I remembered going in were the wife + science officer bit, and everyone laughing at the end in a really forced, fake way, in order to make the alien go away.

I thought the Klingons were a lot better/more interesting today than usual. First, I think Kang is a better character, or a better actor maybe, than the others; he has a certain way about him that is… more watchable, more sympathetic. And he’s always saying these really dramatic things that make it seem likely he writes patriotic Klingon war poetry in his off time. Also, including his wife made them seem more… not human obviously, but normal. Not just cardboard cut-out villains. And of course the actual lightly specific motivations I earlier mentioned helped too.

Also, the plotting was very good: it built up slowly but surely over time, so at first the alien’s influence wasn’t that obvious, and then it became more so, and then it became horrifically obvious and extreme. And then you had to re-evaluate earlier moments: was that the alien changing facts in their heads, or a real part of the animosity between humans and Klingons? And it wasn’t always clear, which I appreciated. The tension when the people were at their worst wasn’t overdone, like in that moment with Scotty, Spock, and Kirk—or even in Chekov’s assault on Mara, tbh. The various strategies of the different sides were very entertaining too; there was never a dull moment, and they fit in a lot of straight-up actions and twists into 50 minutes.

The possible threat was truly terrifying, also: stuck in a space ship, forever, unable to die, feeling the worst possible emotions all the time, besieged, angered, despairing, fighting a war that can’t be won, being injured and suffering only to recover and fight again, and it never stops… A perfect nightmare mixture of insanity and violence and pain. And the alien, in encouraging hatred and anger, doesn’t discriminate between sides: they turn on each other just as much as on the Klingons, breeding paranoia and infighting. For eternity.

The episode also felt much more strongly anti-war than I remember tbh. Like it was not subtle. Kirk literally says “stop the war” in so many words. He has a part in his speech where he talks about the possibility of other aliens out there, encouraging other wars. And while I do think “maybe the aliens are making us do it” is a cop out explanation, or would be if it were real, the scenario gave the show a lot of room to say, like, pretty ballsy things: to include “patriotic drum beating” along with “race hatred” in a list of corrupting feelings they were experiencing; to show how the same instincts that lead to warring also lead to sexual assault and the aforementioned ‘race hatred;” to reveal the true horror of an endless war by making the participants unkillable and sticking them in a singular space ship in the middle of nowhere; to imply that the combatants of war gain nothing from it, but outside or third-party entities will pull strings of their own design to profit from the conflict as long as possible; even to make an impassioned plea to camera to stop the endlessness of the conflict. Like I can’t even totally unpack this but it is a lot!

Finally, it was also a great Kirk episode, which of course is my most important factor. He’s smart; he’s strong; he’s so sure of himself and his values that he cannot be manipulated to mindless hatred, he represents the values of the Federation, and the show itself; he treats even his enemies with basic respect and humanity; and ultimately, he saves the day.

Okay I was not efficient in writing this up at all! It is very late!!

#the year 2021 #2021: star trek #2021: fandom thoughts #star trek tos

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