#it's almost like he's the main character or something 😅

[windor-truffle]

WHAT DO YOU MEAN THE WORD "ASBEL" SHOWS UP IN MY OUTLINE DOC 1,840 TIMES?????????

[lo1k-diamonds]

How to Choose a Valentine 💜

PAIRING: idol!Jungkook x You (You can also read it on AO3)

SUMMARY: Who knew the best company for Valentine's Day would be a lovely Doberman? And who knew he'd get you a Valentine? Well, sort of.

WORD COUNT: 4.3k

GENRE: fluff and light angst

RATING: Teen (for cussing and drinking)

WARNINGS: drinking, kissing and making out while drunk (consensual), hangover, lapses of memory, misunderstandings, JK handles everything well, Bam is the center of this story, the cutest baby, and maybe a cupid, should fill your 💜 with fluff but wdik

A.N. I wasn't even supposed to write this. This is what happens when I wake up at 4 AM and can't sleep. Then I think, Hmm, I read lots of lovely fics yesterday about Valentine's Day. What would I do if I wrote one? X hours later, here we are. I just roll with it at this point, it's almost a way to deal with writer's block 😅 Enjoy 💜

Masterlist | Scroll my stories on Tumblr | Schedule and WIPs

You snorted at the reel playing on your phone while your hand petted gently between the black Doberman’s ears. One girl smashed the phone camera while repeating ‘Girls don’t want flowers for Valentine’s Day’, while another immediately shyly said that yes, she’d like flowers. You scrolled; another of a guy guiding his significant other over a trail of petals; you scrolled, another of a guy explaining how he asked a girl to become his Valentine. Another, with the type of girls on Valentine’s Day and you smirked. Which one were you? Definitely not the spoiled girlfriend, you were single. Not heartbroken, you hadn’t dated for a while, or a heartbreaker. You chuckled; the only guy in your life at the moment was that sweet Doberman sleeping on your lap and you weren’t about to break his darling heart. 

The next options were single and fine with it, anti-Valentine’s Day, and Galentine’s Girl. You supposed you were fine with it but had hoped not to spend it alone, hence why you were at your best friend’s apartment. What you thought could be a day of eating and having fun together turned into dog-sitting because she needed that favor. Something along the lines of the usual sitter being ill and her needing to find someone to do it, and you were available.

You could think of more depressing ways of spending your day. You put your phone down and petted the short fur between the dog’s closed eyes, knowing he was utterly relaxed under your touch. He was the cutest thing and you had a blast walking and playing with him all day. You checked his training and he was responsive, though testy of the limits, and you made sure he understood that he had to listen to you. During your second walk, he behaved so well and was rewarded so much that you thought he wouldn’t have an appetite for dinner, but he surprised you. And now he was sleeping soundly and you didn’t want to get up, but it was time for your own dinner. Maybe you could cook something up for you and—

Your phone buzzed and you checked it; speaking of the devil.

[It’s taking longer than expected so I’ll eat here. Treat yourself sorry see you soon! 💜]

You sighed. In the end, you were going to spend it with that cutie as your Valentine. You stretched your arms and shoulders, pressing your fingers to your neck before gaining the courage to slide under the Doberman. He wasn’t pleased and adjusted his head to get back on your thigh.

“No, Bamie. I gotta eat something, come on.”

You slid again and turned on the TV as background noise before getting to the kitchen and checking your best friend’s fridge. You decided to eat a bit of everything that you could find and got set to eat on the sofa in front of the TV. Not even five minutes in, you became sort of annoyed — stupid Valentine’s Day ads. You told Bam firmly not to even think about snatching your food before you focused on streaming something instead. A corny and sweet romcom should be fun.

And you had dinner as you laughed and cried with it until a scene came up where the main character cried her sorrows over a bottle of soju and you thought, Why not? You had nothing planned the next day, at least you could have a drink.

You started with a single soju bottle, but as the episodes played and the night passed, you didn’t stop. Eventually, there were empty bottles of beer and soju and you were feeling dizzy, despite being sat down on the couch. Your last reasonable thought was to turn off the TV, the only source of light in the room, before holding on to Bam as if he were a pillow and falling asleep.

It was the sound of bottles clicking that disturbed your sleep, and your instinct was to wrap your arms closer around the fluffy dog, “Bam.”

He was wiggling his tail like crazy, and in your haze, you connected that to the bottles falling over. Not to the extra dip on the other side of the chaise longue.

Perhaps it was the fact that you heard your best friend’s voice in the distance that relaxed you, not quite registering that it disappeared after the front door closed. It was only when a different scent hit your nose that you started connecting the pieces: Bam was squeezed between you and someone else, their hand touched your arm ever so slightly while they petted him, and that musky scent was from a man.

You opened your eyes, confused by your conclusions, but not at the top of your game — a quick nap was not enough to make you sober.

“Who are you?”

Bam’s tail kept wiggling as he seemed busy facing opposite from you, looking at the person who answered you, “Who are you?”

He sounded sleepy and you couldn’t see him properly. The city lights from the window were enough but you were still too hazy.

“I asked first,” you voiced, rubbing your eyes. He didn’t seem willing to respond quickly enough, but you could feel him still petting Bam, so you sulked. You wrapped your arms around the pet harder, “Bamie is mine!”

Instantly, a new set of arms did the same and tried to steal him away, “No, he’s not! I’m his dad!”

“And I’m his mom!” The man scoffed and you raised your chin proudly. “Don’t believe me? Look.”

You let go of Bam and scanned around, seeing where you could put your feet safely in between the bottles. Then you got up and walked a bit unsteadily across the living room, standing next to the window. You could see the shape of the man all in black, including his hair, looking at you from his comfortable position with the sweet Bam happily smelling around.

He could see your expression, your baggy tee shirt falling over you and covered with cartoons, but he only cared about Bam staying in his arms. Because of course, he would.

“Bam!”

He gasped when Bam jumped from his embrace to get to you, frantically wiggling his whole body before lying on his back over your feet. He gaped as his Doberman showed his belly, happily licking your face and squirming under your belly rubs.

“Such a good boy,” you cooed, grinning from ear to ear.

Then you straightened up and snapped your fingers and Bam got up too, easily following you back on the couch and splaying himself belly up in between you and the man.

“There you go,” you murmured, scratching his belly and up his chest much to Bam’s delight.

It was when Bam squirmed that his snout ended up under the man’s chin and you saw him clearly for the first time. Then he spoke and you smiled.

You woke up with a groan, drool all over the pillow, and a headache to make you want to run for the hills. But then you sat up, confusion still scrambling your brain as you eyed the bedroom.

“Bam?”

You waited but the sound of paws scratching the floor didn't grace your ears, so you got up from bed and searched for him. You looked everywhere, calling for him every few seconds, but he didn’t come out and you couldn’t seem to find him. In fact, there was no one else at home but you, which made you befuddled — where was your best friend?

Your hangover was deadly, it was trying to pull you down with a headache the size of the world. And so you beelined to the bathroom and stripped hastily to get your head under the water and try to wake up gently.

But there was no gentleness to be found when suddenly you remember something — there was a man. Yes, but— You— kissed?

Suddenly, you were flooded with the memories of you kissing, his gentle hand cupping your jaw, your trembling breath when your tongues touched. The foreign thing that ended up being a lip ring that you felt with your tongue. The way the kiss deepened, and your legs got tangled even beyond sweet Bam lying in between you.

You were hyperventilating, “What?!”

You did what?!

Did you kiss a random man? On your best friend’s couch in the middle of the night? Or did you hallucinate him because of the alcohol?

Suddenly, it came to you — he tasted of beer, and you told him as much.

You felt him smile against your lips, “And you taste of strawberry soju.”

You remembered chuckling before kissing him again, burying your fingers into slightly overgrown strands of hair that curled around your hand.

You rubbed your face under the water; you kissed him. You were both drunk, and you couldn’t remember everything, but you pressed your lips to—

You stopped breathing.

You were feeling his shoulders and pulling him close when Bam started licking both your faces, which made you both break away and laugh.

“I have to pee,” you had said, getting up.

Before you could be mortified about having said that to a random guy, you recognized that after you went to the bathroom, you forgot about getting back to the couch. Instead, you went to bed on autopilot and fell asleep. Because you were that drunk.

Well, thankfully. Otherwise, what could have ended up happening? You were not in your right mind, you could barely remember his face aside from his eyes and lip ring. You were crazy, nuts, and shouldn’t drink that much again.

You got out of the shower and got dressed quickly with more lenient thoughts. Since only kissing happened, it was okay. No harm no foul.

Your stomach was adding to the problem, but you still decided to take headache medicine before your phone buzzed and you grabbed it.

[Meet me at work and have breakfast with me?]

You agreed and got your stuff to go to her. The subway trip was twenty minutes but it was alright at that hour. The HYBE building was in a very busy area, so to already have a direct line there was a blessing.

You gave your name at the reception to get a visitor pass and went to the floor she indicated, smiling when you saw it was a cafeteria with breakfast all around.

She met you at the door and walked you through it before sitting down and watching you eat your broth carefully.

“Lots of people need caring for this morning. Funny what Valentine’s Day does to some people,” she was amused, though her expression screamed exhaustion. “If they’re in couple they drink together, if they’re single they drink alone. There’s no escape, is there?”

You were looking down apologetically until you could talk, “I’m sorry. I don’t know what got into me. I… raided your fridge.”

She sighed, “I know, I saw the bottles on the floor. Hence why you’re here, to have a power breakfast.”

“What happened yesterday? Why didn’t you come home?”

Your best friend heaved a deep breath, her spirit hanging on by a thread, “My artist went to a friend's dinner last night and got drunk. I got his driver to get him home but they had an accident,” she sighed. Your eyes widened in alarm, but she raised her hand swiftly, “They’re both alright. This all to say that after my meeting got lost into late hours, instead of going home, I had to go and manage that situation.”

“That sucks…” You thought back to the previous night, unsure of how to introduce the topic.

“By the way, thank you for taking care of Bam. My artist and I really appreciated it—”

She was interrupted when a spot of black dashed for you, barking the instant you took a second to acknowledge his presence. You instantly smiled despite the horrid headache the noise was making and reached to pet him.

“No, Bam! No eating!”

“It’s not the food,” your best friend pointed out jokingly, dismissing the manager nearby who tried to admonish the pet.

You were happy to give him all the cuddles that were making him go crazy and whiny; you were happy to see him again too. It instantly pulled memories from the previous night into your mind and you wondered again how to bring it up with your best friend when a voice interrupted your thoughts.

“Bam.”

Bam was licking your hand happily, yet instantly darted away at the call, and you knew before you looked up. It was him. You recognized the longer hair you had gripped, the lip ring, and the eyes. The sweet yet searing eyes.

He got near your table and bowed to you both before starting a light talk with your best friend about the schedule for the day.

And you blinked, wondering why his eyes set on your best friend’s face, or rather why the whole situation felt like a gut punch. He must have been the artist your best friend was referring to, the one she managed. You wouldn’t know, she was secretive about who it was. But the way he was ignoring you couldn’t be mistaken. He didn’t acknowledge you more than that bow, but why would he? You knew who he was.

The moment your lips grazed in a slow kiss while his hand gently supported your jaw came to mind and you blinked in astonishment. You couldn't believe it happened. Even as you remembered opening your eyes the moment he pulled away a few inches to breathe and looked straight into your eyes. It was impossible. Even if you were both drunk, how—

“Excuse me.” The three of you turned to the lady in uniform. “No pets are allowed in the cafeteria,” she bowed respectfully.

It was easy for you to get up, “I’ll take Bam to the rooftop garden.”

You grabbed his leash from the man’s hand without touching him and he let it go, a bit startled. Not that you noticed; you stepped away and called for Bam, who followed you swiftly.

Jungkook stayed behind, eyes still on you leaving with his dog until you were out of sight.

“She’ll take good care of him.”

He turned back to his manager and nodded, “I know.”

His manager was ready to use every argument she had to convince him, so she chuckled, “Funny how yesterday you were borderline going nuts over a stranger taking care of him and now you’re so relaxed.”

He nodded and looked back at where you disappeared with his Bam. You were not a stranger.

“What’s that look?” She asked, eyebrows furrowing ever so lightly.

He pressed his lips and nibbled a bit on his lip ring, but then looked back at her, “When you left me at your place… something happened.”

A mix of fear and ‘oh no’ crossed his manager's face and he sat across from her where you had sat before, ignoring your tray and half-eaten food.

“We were both drunk,” he started, expecting her not to believe him, but she just nodded. “And Bam loves her. We just—” He filled his lungs with air, pushing it back out anxiously as his tattooed hand ran across his hair, “We joked around that I was Bam’s dad and she was his mom. Then, that we were both alone, nowhere close to having a Valentine, and that maybe Bam was our cupid. Instead of meeting and making a baby, the baby— made us—” He became crimson and hid his eyes for a second, then he faced her again, “We were drunk!”

“You said that,” she deadpanned firmly. She was his manager, she needed to know things in black and white. He knew that.

“So we joked. Maybe we should get together, and we kissed.”

Her eyes doubled in size, “Oh no, you didn’t!”

“We just kissed!”

Her features hardened, “Tell me right now. Tell me the truth.”

“It’s the truth! I swear, we kissed— for a while—” His ears were becoming red, “And then she went to the bathroom and I fell asleep.” His manager’s expression had not changed a millimeter, and his eyes became pleading. “You have to believe me. You woke me up and I was alone with Bam.”

“That’s true,” she acknowledged, finally heaving a breath. “Shit, this is my fault. Leave two drunk people alone, and see what happens.”

He frowned, “I don’t just go around kissing people, even when I’m drunk.”

She faced him, “That is also true.” It seemed clear to her, so he relaxed. “So what happened? Why did you kiss her?”

He blinked with wide eyes, startled by the question. “I… I don’t know.”

He looked down, containing the urge to look back at where you had left with his pet. He didn’t even know your name, he knew nothing except that Bam loved you and you tasted sweet.

His manager waited for a proper response, for any additional information. But when none came, she knew what she had to do. She sighed, “Well. I’ll have to contact our lawyers and draft an NDA. She’s my best friend”, she confessed, rubbing her eyes for a second. “Shit,” was all she expressed before getting up and rushing out.

Jungkook pressed his lips and let her leave. He was confused about the situation, about his actions. He knew so little… Why did he think it was enough?

He put away the trays you and his manager had used while he pondered this. In a way, Bam’s heart meant everything to him. The way Jungkook loved him was unexplainable, he was the only soul in the world he could ever love in such a way. His innocence and instinct were enough, and he listened to you like he only ever listened to Jungkook himself. That shouldn’t have been enough, but it was.

And he was drunk, he sighed, leaving the room. It was his fault, he knew that. He shouldn’t kiss people irresponsibly like that, and now his manager was in a tough spot.

He decided to head for the rooftop and sort this out with you. He didn’t know what to say, but he thought maybe it didn’t have to be a big deal. You two just did it and it was… freeing. There were no inhibitions or second thoughts. It was playful and innocent, and then your lips touched. He didn’t know it would feel like that, he hadn’t thought it through. But it felt so good. It created shivers, made him hot, curious, awake, alive. He had no questions, no doubts, it was like jumping out of an airplane and freefalling. It was like the wind was guiding him to fit together with you, there was nothing in him telling him to fight it.

He got to the rooftop and immediately saw you across the garden sitting on a bench with his manager, and your best friend, next to you. Bam saw him too and raised his head and ears, but he was busy grabbing a stick that had just fallen on the floor and bringing it back to you. Jungkook could have expected him to drop everything to greet him, but Bam didn’t.

His manager was explaining something to you and your eyes were glued to the floor, expression closed except for the line between your eyebrows. Only when Bam brought you back the stick and you threw it again, did you look up. Jungkook was walking closer yet slowly, not meaning to intrude, and you had thrown the stick almost right into his path. That was why Bam happily gave it to him instead, and he crouched to pet his baby while his eyes stayed on you.

Your eyes turned away when you said something. He couldn’t hear it from there, but he knew the words out of your mouth were cold. He recognized his manager trying to have you reconsider or change your mind, but your eyebrows drew closer as you bit something back and just got up and away.

You didn’t look at him as you walked in his direction towards the exit. You planned to pass by him without a word, a mix of emotions inside you that you preferred not to address. And yet Bam was what forced you to change your mind when he lit up at your presence. He looked for a pet from your hand and you immediately halted, unable to punish that sweet pup because of his dad.

Still, the words slipped the seam of your lips somewhat bitterly, “Are you a baby?”

“What?” He blinked, eyes wide as he straightened up.

“You kiss someone and your first instinct is to threaten them with NDAs?” You were frowning with a hint of contempt, but your eyes were glistening. You continued before he could say anything, “I won’t sign it. I don’t care what any of you think, this isn’t normal. You regret it? Fine, but then act like a fucking adult.”

He was at a loss for words and movement behind you had him glancing, and so you turned. Your best friend had a serious expression on her, something you imagined was her work persona. Well, too bad you had no sympathy for it.

“No,” you raised a hand before she could say something. “You’re doing your job, and I’m standing up for my principles. I’ll go to your place and get my stuff.”

You passed by him at a hastened pace and the second he turned to say, “Wait!”, the heavy glass door was already closing behind you, muffling every trace of a sound.

He turned to his manager then, seeing the tiredness, sadness, and frustration all over her face as she heaved a deep sigh and hid the tears in her eyes.

His lips twitched with a question, but she spoke instead, “She thinks I’m choosing my job over her.”

“But you’re not,” he instantly said, confused. “This isn’t necessary.”

She sighed, “I’ll deal with this, ok? Get to your shoot.”

She also passed by him quickly inside and Jungkook looked at Bam, who was lying on the floor chewing on the stick with a hard focus. Why were they so eager to get anything done without a proper conversation?

He took Bam with him across HYBE and got inside the car with other managers and assistants. They were waiting for him to continue his schedule, chatting about Bam. It would be difficult to have him on the set, but they’d contact a sitter on the way—

“Take me to Manager Kim’s place.”

“What?” His manager frowned, “Now?”

“Yes, now. To drop off Bam,” he offered, though he knew it was a lie. His manager agreed though because he knew Bam had stayed there the previous day, and being late to the shoot was fixed with a simple call giving them a warning and an apology.

Jungkook left the car first, saying that he’d go and come back quickly, and the team agreed, to his relief. He was upstairs in a beat in front of the right door, yet before he could ring the doorbell, the door opened in front of him and something crashed into his chest. His heart jumped and his hands darted to support your arms as you recoiled back, and then you looked up at him. Such beautiful big and expressive eyes, and he knew then he would have wanted to kiss you anyway.

You broke away from his arms and moved to go around him. He didn’t miss your frown, but he didn’t hesitate, “Can we talk?”

“I’m not going to sign it,” you insisted as you turned to him, adjusting your backpack over your shoulder. “But you don’t need to worry, that doesn’t mean I’ll talk about it. I’m not like that.”

He nodded once, “Okay. But that’s not what I want to talk about.”

You paused, “Oh.”

Your features smoothed in confusion and he was happy he caught your attention, “Can we go inside?”

You shrugged but walked back inside. You petted Bam gently between his ears then put your backpack down on the floor. By then, Jungkook had released Bam’s leash and closed the door. The sweet baby darted to the water bowl and your lips curved before his dad drew your attention away.

“I don’t regret it,” he said, and your eyebrows jumped. “You keep saying that, but I don’t. And I didn’t ask Manager Kim to do this either, I suppose it’s standard procedure or something. I wouldn’t know. But she’s just doing her best because she feels responsible.”

You were skeptical, “You wouldn’t know?”

“No.”

You found that hard to believe, but you didn’t insist. It had nothing to do with you. “Why would she feel responsible?”

“Because she’s in charge of me, I guess. Managers tend to feel like that even when we are, in fact, not babies.”

Your lips twitched at his choice of words.

“So don’t get mad at her. After this, I’m going to tell her to stop it. I don’t want this NDA thing, and neither do you. It’s not necessary,” he sighed. He had told his manager that before, but maybe if he insisted, she’d get it.

You nodded.

“And thank you for looking after Bam,” he finished with a smile. The Doberman had jumped on the couch a bit carelessly, but he was calm. “He’s usually nervous around strangers, but he loves you. You might really be his Mom for all he cares,” he smirked, watching as you stepped to the side to pet Bam. “And I wouldn’t… separate him from a person he loves. If you’d like to see him again.”

Your cheeks instantly caught fire as you looked at him. He held your gaze calmly, the only hint of nervousness in his fingers fidgeting. You didn’t think you were misunderstanding him, then.

“I can make time.”

He smiled, “Good.”

[yopossum]

ONLY ONE BED

a Din Djarin x gnReader ficlet

Main Masterlist

Rating: T (but whole blog is 18+!)

Warnings: two stubborn characters and one subverted trope walk into a hotel

Idk where this goofy lil pair came from, but I thought it was funny, so here it is 😅

————————————————————————

“Really, Mando?”

A huff of frustration crackled through the vocoder. “It’s what the hotel had available. I’m not leaving you alone on the ship.”

“Just a coincidence there’s only one bed. Right,” you huffed, tossing your pack to the floor.

“Dank ferrik, that’s not… I didn’t…” stammered Din.

“You’re blushing.”

“How would you… AGH!” The hulking mass of metal stomped across the small room, clenching his gloved fists against his thighs. “I’ll be in the fresher. Take the bed,” he growled without turning around, the door sliding shut behind him.

“Don’t need your handouts, you karking lunatic,” you muttered to yourself, shrugging off your jacket and balling it up before turning off the light. “Maker knows what I’d owe you for the favor.” You tossed the jacket wad to the floor to the side of the bed and plopped down next to it, curling it under your head and neck like a pillow.

After several minutes, the fresher door opened, and a slightly shinier Mandalorian emerged, tilting his head and glancing around the room before spotting your prone form on the ground.

“Bed is all yours, rust bucket,” called your lump, which was met with a modulated groan.

“Why… why are you like this?” Din gritted, sounding almost pained with frustration. “The bed is yours. Just… get in the bed. I will not touch you. I’ll stay on the floor.”

“While you were busy getting pretty, I made my choice. Deal with it, Mando.”

You heard the heavy clunk of beskar hitting stone and rolled to your side, peering under the tall bed to see two long Mandalorian legs stuck out, crossed at the ankles

“You’re going to pout now, hm? Tough guy.”

“Isn’t that what you’re doing?”

You’re sure he could see you roll your eyes with his fancy night vision or whatever. That kriffing helmet. “I said I don’t want the bed.”

“Neither do I.”

“Fine.”

“Fine.”

You turned to your back and stared at the ceiling, trying to will your jaw to unclench and your muscles to relax. You were kicking Vanth’s ass the minute you were back in Mos Pelgo. Should’ve known better. “Old friend of mine, great guy, quiet. Needs a hand runnin’ a little errand for me.” You snorted.

“…everything okay?”

“Yes! It’s totally wizard! Now shut it!” you hissed under the bed.

Another beskar thunk, this one against the wall. “You’re infuriating!”

“Don’t lose sleep over it.”

“I won’t.”

“Good for you. Stars, will you let me sleep now? If I don’t get some rest, there won’t be enough caf in the galaxy to make you tolerable.”

“UGH!”

“Shhhh!”

After a few minutes of tense silence, metal scraped down the wall and over the floor, the squeaks setting your teeth on edge. When you looked under the bed again to glare at the noise, you were eye to visor with the Mandalorian. He had slid from his seated position and laid on his back, head tilted to the side to mirror yours.

“You gonna watch me sleep now?” you whispered angrily.

“No! You looked at me,” Din shot back.

“And you were already staring. How do I know you’re not looking through my clothes or something?”

“I can’t even… the helmet doesn’t… Haar’chak! I’m not watching you sleep!” He flipped to his other side, back to you and facing away from the bed, body already aching from lying on the slab floor.

You rolled to face the wall, cracking your neck and trying to find a comfortable position. You should’ve taken the bed.

—

The morning suns painted the sparse hotel room with soft light, revealing a bare floor and an abandoned jacket to one side of the mattress and a bright flare on the other.

Still enveloped in darkness, your body curled into a pair of steely arms, four legs tangled together, nose pressed to cool solid metal and clouding it with warm, steady breaths.

Din woke to the sun’s building heat at his back and attempted to shift his body without success. Blinking away the haze of sleep, he noticed your face pressed to his cuirass, his arms around your waist, your legs bent up against his thighs. He also noticed he was stuck, shoulders and head wedged snug under the bedframe.

You felt a small tickle at your midsection and yawned, heavy eyelids still closed as you straightened up. Tried to straighten up, rather. What you did instead was smash your skull into the underside of the mattress, then crash back down onto Din’s vambrace with a yelp.

“Mando! What the kriff are you doing?!”

“Me!? What are you doing?! I’m… karking hell… I’m stuck! Why did you pull me under here?!”

“I didn’t! You must’ve dragged me! Let me go!”

“I can’t move my arms, mir’sheb!”

“You’re built like a damn freighter! I’m sure you can move a bed!”

With a labored grunt, Din dug his shoulder harder into the frame and pulled his knees up underneath him, using the round of his back to shove the bed up. He took a deep, frazzled breath, and with a growl, he exploded up from his feet, flipping the bed with force against the wall.

You stood and brushed yourself off. “Told you,” you sneered, turning to retrieve your jacket. As you bent down to grab it, the bed frame creaked and swayed, and Din yanked you out of the way as it crumpled on the floor, pulling you to his chest. You both heaved with gasping breaths, pressed against each other, frozen in the fraction of a moment.

“Trying to feel me up, huh?” You pushed off him and shoved your arms in your jacket sleeves.

“What?! I just saved you!” He cocked a hip and threw up his arms, exasperated

“Yeah, from a bed you threw. Super safe, Mando!”

“Because we… you… it’s your fault that…” he rambled.

“Dear guests,” interrupted a robotic voice from the doorway. A short hospitality droid hovered there, briefly scanning the room. “My sensors detect that you have caused excessive damage to hotel property. I must insist that-“

Its droning was cut off by the sizzle of a blaster bolt straight through the head, and it fell to the floor in a heap.

Din tucked his blaster back into its holster and shrugged pointedly at you. “Can we leave now?”

You nodded, nostrils flaring with annoyance. “Please.”

“Don’t trip on the droid.”

“Worry about yourself,” you bit back, hopping over the pile of plastoid and scurrying down the hallway before any more employees arrived. Behind you, you heard a sharp crack followed by a large thud and string of angry Mando’a.

“Did you trip on the droid?!” you shouted back, cackling.

“WHEN WE GET BACK TO THE SHIP, YOU'RE GOING IN CARBONITE!”

————————

Some tags for the Din Bin

@whocaresstillthelouvre @grogusmum @sawymredfox @yourcoolauntie @newpathwrites @all-the-things-2020 @artsy-girl-76 @ak-vintage @timelordfreya @littleredpandanaps @joelalorian

[queenie-official]

Okay so you’re one of the only ones I’ve seen mention AJ recently so I wanted to come to you with this thought. You know the ‘write a prisoner’ website it went around tiktok for a little? Well I was thinking, in a universe where his ending is different (no spoilers just in case your other followers haven’t watched it) reader finds him on the write a prisoner site and they become penpals. You’re able to develop a genuine connection with one another and he’s able to talk and vent to you about everything that’s gone wrong/right in his life and you’re able to do the same thing. He ends up writing you sappy little poems and love notes eventually cause he realizes you are more than just a penpal to him. At some point you end up surprising him with an actual visit and it just solidifies his feelings being able to finally see you in person. If we’re going off of the mafia!au for him, then maybe he ends up having some of his men on the outside start to keep tabs on you..solely for protection purposes of course not because he wants to make sure he’s the only guy you’re talking to. There’s a couple videos I saw where the girls were still able to be surprised with flowers on the doorstep somehow by their penpal and I definitely feel like he’d do the same thing. There’d be a line in one of his notes afterwards of like ‘Did you get my little surprise, sweetheart? Just wait till you see how much I can really spoil you once I’m out of here.’ Ahhh maybe it’s just me that gets all giggly at this idea. Idk just a little thought 😅

main masterlist

OMG STOP I LOVE THIS SM!!

okay so ima break this up a bit because it’s easier for my brain to focus 😭 will start with looking at it from Aj’s character and then from if it was Mafia!Ani

(i’d also like to state idk how the ‘write a prisoner’ website works exactly but i feel like it’s pretty self explanatory so ima just roll with how it works in my mind)

Aj: becoming pen pals with a prisoner and bonding is a lot easier then you went into the website thinking, you only really go in with the fact you’ll be speaking with a criminal. once you see his photo your interest is peaked (i mean how could it not look at him)

anyway you guys start off with simple topics when messaging like favorite hobbies and Aj mentions to you that he has a love for playing the piano- (idk about you guys but there’s nothing hotter then a man who can play an instrument and play it well) maybe he even makes a promise to you that when he gets out he’ll play for you.

and Aj is such a sweetheart he so would write you poems maybe he starts off with something simple and sweet that can be interpreted in a friend way because for as confident as a guy he is you make him nervous. he only started writing you poems once you two where close enough for him to feel safe and be open with his thoughts and how he got into this situation. and honestly you don’t think he’s to bad of guy after all he never went out of his way to kill anyone during a heist and he always made sure to donate a percentage to charity organizations, so you’re able to push the fact he’s a criminal aside.

as your relationship with him progresses and his friendly poems slowly turn into something more you realize how badly you want to visit him. to see his pretty face in person (even if it is behind a glass frame) and to hear the voice you’d been imagining in your head. so with all the courage you can muster you do some digging and make plans to surprise him. Oh boy are you grateful you went through with it- seeing him in person was almost surreal. somehow he was more handsome in person and furthermore his gravely voice was definitely hotter then you ever could of imagined. he’s a smooth talker, seemingly more bold in person then he was through a screen (which shocked you since with most people it’d be the opposite). oh and when he sees you… sees your smile- the way you flutter your lashes when listening to him speak- he knows he’s done for, knows that there’s no one else he wants more in his life and even more importantly he cannot wait for his release date.

you make the effort to visit him as often as you can…

Mafia!Anakin: we all collectively agree Ani is a possessive man- even if he doesn’t always show it but Mafia Ani, oh that man isn’t afraid to show he’s possessive in fact as far as he’s concerned he owns you. so to no one’s surprise he 100% has men on the outside looking after you. making sure you’re safe, single unbothered by those around you.

Anakin has connections everywhere, i mean he’s the top boss. so if he wants to surprise you with something he will, and he’s got the money for it so honestly what’s stopping him?

waking up and getting ready to start your day only to here your doorbell go off, opening your front door to see a huge bouquet of flowers. it really confuses you at first- i mean you don’t really talk to other guys (probably because every time you did they suspiciously disappeared- if you had their number and messaged them all they’d say is they moved away) so who are they from. taking them inside and seeing a note on the ground that must of fallen out of the bouquet your question is answered.

‘Hope you like them Pretty girl’

it’s not even signed but you know exactly who it’s from. of course you confront him at your next visit, and once you do all he does is give you a sly little smile through the glass as you both hold the phone next to your ears.

‘just wait till you see how much i can really spoil you once i’m out of here’

ugh that resonantes with me sm 😩 he 100% would say that and then swiftly move the conversation along as you blush silently, something about how he said it or maybe it’s the look in his eyes that leaves you flustered.

i think i ranted a bit to much about this 😀 my apologies huns 😭 but anyways you’re so real for this and thank you for dropping it in my asks 🫶🏼

you’re actually my first ask too so 🤭🤭 thank you for the absolute serotonin boost this gave me Xx <3

[yumeka-sxf]

My thoughts on Spy x Family: EYES ONLY Guidebook (English ver) - part 3

Continuing from my previous two posts, this will be my last post discussing the English version of the SxF manga guidebook "EYES ONLY." I'll discuss some of Endo's and Lin's comments on specific chapters, some of the included concept art for the series, all the Twiyor tidbits the book has to offer, and conclude with a couple things the English version of the book omits.

Endo's and Lin's comments on specific chapters

There's at least one comment from Endo and/or Lin on every chapter of the manga from when the book was originally published (up to chapter 61). Unfortunately I can't cover every single comment, but I did want to highlight a few (more will be covered in the Twiyor tidbits later on).

So Bond wouldn't have actually died from Yor's cooking then? Good to know her cooking isn't that bad, lol. Also that's a good question, Lin, maybe you should ask Endo? 😅

Lots of great info about the cruise arc. Makes sense that they had to plan it out many months in advance and keep revising it to patch up plot holes. All that work definitely paid off! Interesting that they almost considered not having Loid on the ship at all. Glad they didn't because otherwise we wouldn't have gotten one of his best outfits! 🤣 (can't wait to see this piece of work in color in the anime!)

Incidentally, the scene Endo mentions where he "managed to make Yor look pretty cute" is this one (she does look pretty cute here).

My favorite comment of Endo's about any chapter has to be this one for chapter 56. Never change, Endo 😂

And lastly, some good comments about chapter 59 (Becky visits the Forgers).

This is one of my favorite stand-alone chapters so I'm glad it was well received. Funny how they kept going with the joke instead of ending it "normally"...but when you have such great characters and setups, good comedy writes itself!

Below is Endo's commentary about Henderson, not a specific chapter, but thought I'd point it out since he mentions Henderson is the only character he's done a shower scene for...not anymore!

Also, while not related to a specific chapter, I do like what Endo says below about Loid and Yor's "dark sides."

He enjoys drawing them this way, which is cool, but he's also cautious about not overdoing it and saving those expressions for important situations.

Concept art

Most of the pre-serialization character designs included in this book were also in the exhibition pamphlet, which I already discussed thoroughly here (wish I had remembered these were in the fanbook so I wouldn't have put so much effort into trying to read Endo's scribble notes). So I'll just mention a few of the most notable things.

As I discussed in my post about the pamphlet, Franky was at some point intended to be the uncle of the family. Though I do think it would have been fitting to make him the uncle, I also like the main focus being on just the "nuclear" family, with the uncle and other characters having supportive roles.

An interesting note about the beta version of Yor is that she seemed to be more like Fiona - she was in love with Loid right from the start, to the point of trying to eliminate Anya! I doubt this is something she would be doing all the time as it would have been difficult to make her a likable main character if she was always trying to kill her daughter...in all likelihood, she would have tried to kill Anya at first before eventually learning to love her as a daughter. While I see how this could work for an intriguing character arc, I'm glad Endo decided to make Yor a loving mother to Anya right away, and not make her feelings for Loid an obsessive "love at first sight" kind of thing.

Twiyor tidbits

Being the shipper that I am, I tried to see if I could pinpoint any Twiyor subtleties throughout the book, as vague as they may be! 😂

Below are excerpts from Loid and Yor's character pages where we're given info on their current stance about each other.

Love the emphasis on their bond of trust ❤️

Below are excerpts from chapters 14 and 35, probably the most Twiyor-heavy chapter pages in the book.

This confirms that Loid did indeed interpret Yor's kick as her not having any romantic feelings for him.

Below are comments by Endo and Lin for chapter 30, where Fiona is introduced.

Endo's line is a little ambiguous here, but I think he's saying how people sympathize with Fiona because she's "doomed to lose," which is...telling �� (does Fiona's loss automatically mean a Twiyor win?)

Endo says he likes the "You're strong, Yor" conversation, one of the most Twiyor-ish scenes in the series so far! 😊 Lin also mentioned how they got to use that theme again during the Becky chapter.

Weird that he chose to highlight this line of all things as Loid's "Family Comment" for chapter 10. Could this and chapter 79 be more foreshadowing for an eventual "Twilight vs Thorn Princess" showdown? 👀 Or maybe he just likes teasing fans because he knows it's something they fantasize about.

English version omissions

There's an additional Endo interview that's missing from the English version of the book: an interview with him and Kazumi Takayama, a former idol of the group Nogizaka46.

At first it seemed very odd that they would leave out just this interview, but after discussing it with others on Discord, I realized it's because it has to do with an idol. Apparently getting licensing rights for anything that has to do with a Japanese idol group is very difficult, which is further hindered by the fact that Takayama isn't even part of that idol group anymore, which makes getting the content green lit for official release overseas even more taxing. So probably Viz decided it wasn't worth the trouble and just left out that interview. But thankfully u/Nemshi on Reddit posted a fan translation of it, which you can read here. They talk a bit about SxF, but most of it is just general questions they ask each other.

And the other thing missing from the English version that I really can't understand is the inside cover! Another great 4th-wall breaking joke from Endo (I added a quick translation of the Japanese version below).

Unlike the Takayama interview, I have no idea why they didn't include this. They include the inside cover as an extra page in all the English volumes, so why not here? Very weird.

---

And that's all I'm going to share for the "EYES ONLY" fanbook! Honestly, there's so much great content in the book that I didn't touch on, like info about East/West relations, about Eden Academy, Endo's comments on all the designer chairs for the volume covers...and lots more. So definitely get a copy yourself if you can! It's a must-have for any SxF fan 😁 Books like this aren't officially released in English very often, so the fact that Viz thought it was worthwhile to make this proves how much of a hit SxF is!

<- Return to Part 2

[synnamonroll666]

Gladly Devoured

Prompt 10: Predator/Prey Pairing: Syzoth X Fem!Reader Description: Syzoth walks in on you when you are getting changed for bed. He was never the type to do something so bold and forward, so you were quite shocked by this sudden change in in his demeanor. But little due you know, it's mating season, and Syzoth intends on making you pleasurably aware... Warnings: Humiliation, NonCon In The Beginning (Syzoth Walks In On You Naked, You Are Embarrassed At First. 😅), BlowJob (Female Receiving), P In V, Unsafe Sex, Creampie, Syzoth's In Heat... Word Count: 1.7k Main MasterList: 🖤 Kinktober MasterList: 🖤 Synny's Angels: @lorebite, @mornandil, @queenkhepri, @bihansthot.

⭒⛥⭒⛥⭒⛥⭒⛥⭒⛥⭒⛥⭒⛥⭒⛥⭒⛥⭒⛥⭒⛥⭒⛥⭒⛥⭒⛥⭒⛥⭒⛥⭒⛥⭒⛥⭒

I laid out my nightgown on my bed, preparing to put it on so I could go straight to sleep afterwards. I was pretty exhausted from a long day of work, and the heat did not help one bit. That was a part of the reason why I was almost hesitant to put on the gown before me. I was already naked, and it did make quite a difference to my body's temperature; I didn't want to change that in any way.

I stood there for a moment, contemplating what to do. Then a sudden, uneasy feeling fell over me—a feeling that something unexpected was about to happen. And that's when Syzoth busted into my room unannounced, throwing open my door without a single knock ahead of time.

"Syzoth!" I cried as I quickly grabbed my nightgown and covered my body with it. "Have you ever heard of knocking?!"

Syzoth was a polite man, making this very out of character for him. I expected him to quickly avert his eyes away from me and stammer out several apologies as he stumbled backwards out of my room. Even though accidents can happen, I still expected some kind of guilt for his sudden boldness. But instead, I got the exact opposite.

Syzoth's eyes grew wide as his eyes slowly roamed down my form, along with his pupils dilating more by the second. I swallowed thickly as he stared at me intensely, and I began to realize that this was way more than a "deer caught in headlights" situation. Hell, if it were, he most likely would have disappeared by now.

His eyes were stuck on me like magnates, making me feel smaller and smaller by the second. Then his chest began to raise and fall quicker and quicker with each breath he took, and his skin became flushed quite deeply than it normally would when he was embarrassed.

"Y-You look so—so good!" His voice came out like an inhuman hiss as he slowly began to approach me.

With each step forward he took, I took one step backwards. That is, until my back hit the wall, trapping me from any escape. His hands slammed on either side of me on the wall—caging me between them—and his face drew near my own as his eyes roamed over my features. I tried to wiggle free, but his body pressed against mine roughly, pinning me in place as he drank me in. And when he did so, I felt it—the erection growing within his pants.

"I could smell you all the way down the hall. I just had to see if you looked as appealing as your scent was. And I was right!" He hissed deeply, and I visibly shuddered as a chill went down my spine.

He then backed away, and for a moment, I thought I was free to leave. But a part of me didn't want to—a part of me wanted him to continue on and make me feel things I had been craving for so long. So instead of leaving, I walked over to my bed and calmly laid down, spreading my legs wide as I did so.

His eyes broadened with desire as they studied my form. I felt so exposed—so embarrassed being spread out for him like this—but it did so well to ignite the heat within me, striking up a small fire that was just waiting to grow into the explosion it was meant to be. When his tongue darted out to swipe over his lower lip slowly, I knew I was done for.

He jumped on top of me as he let out a feral growl, and my lips parted with a gasp. He held me down firmly, his nose dragging along that spot right under my jawline as he inhaled deeply to take in my scent.

"Smells so perfect!" He snarled lowly before slowly dragging his tongue along my throat. "Tastes so perfect too! The perfect meal for me!"

I glanced up at him shyly to see him staring down at me with intense eyes as he firmly clenched his teeth. For a moment, I expected him to bite me. Luckily, he didn't though. Instead, he slowly crawled down my figure until his face was right in a more forbidden area. And it was then that I knew I was fucked.

He lowered his head and buried his face between my thighs, inhaling deeply to take in my scent. Right after, he quickly began licking and suckling my throbbing mound, earning a loud moan to escape me as he devoured me like a starving animal. His fingers dug deeply into my thighs, causing my blood to well up below his nails as they cut into my flesh. But I didn't mind at all—I was too focused on the pleasure of his forked tongue working away at me.

I reached both hands down and buried them within his soft locks, pulling at the roots as I buckled my hips into his face. He responded with a feral growl, sending the vibrations of his voice through my mound and straight to my core.

I cried out and writhed beneath him as forbidden arousal built up within, clouding my mind from comprehending anything but the pleasure I was being given. It felt too good—too good to care about morals and just let my gaurd down for once; it was exactly what I needed.

Soon, I was screaming out as my climax hit me fast. My eyes rolled into the back of my head as I experienced a high like nothing I had ever felt before. It was like I had died and descended to heaven—I could see the light flourishing before me.

After coming off my high, my chest rose and fell quickly as I attempted to catch my breath and gather myself. I let out a breathy laugh, astonished by how the night had turned from so calm to so wild so fast.

"That was wonderful." I breathed while slowly and gently running my fingers through Syzoth's soft hair. In some ways, it was less for him and more a way for me to calm myself.

Then he pulled away from me, a trail of my slick mixed with his spit still connecting me to his lips until the line finally broke when he was far away enough for it to do so. Merely seconds later, he began slowly crawling up my body, licking his lips as he did so. And as I began to finally come out of my post-orgasmic daze, I saw the predator look in his eyes.

He leaned down until his hot breath fanned my ear and he let out a scoff. I swallowed as I realized that I was a fool to think I was getting off easy, and upon realizing that, Syzoth made his intentions painfully clear.

"Oh, you think we are done?" He let out an almost mocking laugh, and my eyes widened at his words. "Sweetie, we are nowhere near done here!"

After those words were spoken, I screamed out as I felt something long and thick pry my walls open. I must have been too distracted by his teasing words to realize that he had his member out and ready for entry. Tears pricked the corners of my eyes as he shoved it deeply into my hole, each hard inch stretching me out wide until his tip was bruising my cervix.

My body began to tremble violently as I clenched around his girth, adjusting to his size as quickly as I could. But I barely had time to do so, as he was quick to withdraw himself from my core before shoving himself back in. Within seconds, he was repeating his sloppy pattern at a pace that seemed impossible.

With each jerk of his hips—each reentry—I was pushed closer and closer to the edge, destined to fall over once again. Without even realizing it, I began writhing against his touch, since the pleasure was growing far too intense for me to handle a second time.

Syzoth flashed me a wicked grin—like a big bad wolf would to his prey—and his hands slid from my now-ripped bedsheets to firmly hold me down against the mattress below me. His voice came out deep and course—like a feral growl to symbolize his hunger for me—as he rutted deeper and deeper into my core.

Then—with a loud roar like the beast he is—Syzoth released his seed within me. The pressure of hot, thick ropes of his cum spilling into my sweet spot and filling me to the brim was more than enough to shove me spiraling over the edge. I screamed and cried out as I came undone beneath him, squirming and shaking as much as I could with him still pinning me firmly.

I was surprised when Syzoth lowered his head to my collarbone to sink his teeth into my flushed flesh. The sting of his sharp canines cutting into my skin only added to the ecstasy clouding my mind, causing tears to spill from my broadening eyes.

I came to when Syzoth collapsed on top of me—the Zaterran was too weak to support his own weight. Instinctively, my hands found purchase on his head, fingers burying within his dark locks, and my nails raking gently over his scalp with each slow stroke. My actions earned a soft grumble to emit from his chest as his arms snaked around me to pull me closer.

He nuzzled his nose into the crook of my neck, inhaling deeply to take in my scent as he relished basking in my post-coitus heat. Then he lowered his head to press a few soft kisses on my collarbone before darting his forked tongue out to gently lick the blood off of the fresh wounds he had caused.

I sighed deeply as the warmth of his tongue soothed the stinging pain of the bite, and my eyes fluttered shut as I melted into a moment of pure relaxation. I felt so calm and at peace.

After licking me clean of my blood, Syzoth returned his face to the crook of my neck. Nuzzling against my sweat-soaked flesh, he released a pleased sigh. In that very moment, I heard him whisper so quickly that it was almost inaudible—words that would stay engraved within my mind forever—words that I would look back on several times throughout the years to yearn for the excitement and pleasure that I had once felt:

"My sweet, beautiful prey—how I've enjoyed devouring you."

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[cocoapowderpictures]

To Melanie MacAfee, does it ever occur to you that Randy, your best friend, is hiding secrets from you and everyone else? 🙁

February 16, 1962.

Randy has been acting weird recently. And not his normal kind of weird, either. It’s almost as if he’s sick or something. He’s leaving work early after every shift and is constantly avoiding any kind of small talk with others. Yesterday, I found him in the dressing room mumbling something to himself. It sounded like he was talking to someone but he was the only one in the room… I’m worried about him. I’ll try talking to him tomorrow.

-M

Wz hglpzk ogh ho iz s ysl izhhzl rvsl hwsp spb oy gj wsk zfzl vqsxvpzk.

———————————————————

It’s been a solid amount of time since I’ve updated the Cast Chronicles lore 😅. I’ve got a whole bunch of super interesting asks that I’m excited to answer (I’ve just been procrastinating a bunch haha).

Thank you @starmilkshakekitty for the amazing question!!

For those unfamiliar, these characters are part of my Cast Chronicles AU, an Indigo Park AU set in the 1960s. In this alternate reality, the main cast mascots are human employees who worked together at Indigo Park. As the story unfolds, we delve into their roles within the park and the friendships they form. However, things take a turn for the worse when they begin to mysteriously disappear, one by one.

In an effort to honor their memories, the park introduces new interactive mascots, each bearing a striking resemblance to the missing cast members and serving as memorials to keep their spirits alive within the park. Yet, guests can't help but feel like there is something… unsettling about these new mascots. 

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

One small pet peeve I have about Chapter 7 is that it's making Maleficent look like "a victim." This is a personal thing but I always considered the Evil Queen to be Disney's most evil villain, but the title has Maleficent being considered "evil incarnate." And I understand, she has powers and transforms into a dragon. What a cool thing. But on several occasions I feel that content creators who partly work for Disney do not respect that she is an evil being and end up softening her character, either giving her a tragic background or making her a mother. Going back to TWST, the part that bothers me the most is right at the beginning of the chapter, when Yuu dreams about Maleficent and the only option to choose implies that they feel bad for Maleficent for not being invited. And it's like WHAT? Didn't you see that she cursed a baby? Or better yet, why didn't you feel bad for the other villains? And seeing the theories of the most recent update, with the inclusion of the senate and seeing that almost the entire fandom hates them, it makes Maleficent's descendants seem more like victims (which they partly are). Sorry, this is something personal that I wanted to share with someone. But in conclusion, no other medium outside of the original film can well portray Maleficent as the embodiment of evil that she is supposed to be. And yes, I know the Draconia family is not Maleficent but they are still related.

Disclaimer: I’m coming at this from the POV of someone who has no attachment to Maleficent as a character and is frankly confused as to why she’s the Big Bad that Disney chooses to promote as their villainous icon 🤡 so take my opinion with a grain of salt!🧂

To quickly correct something before the discussion: Malleus being a relative or a descendant of Maleficent is NOT canon. It is a popular headcanon, especially during the early days of the TWST fandom when we didn’t have a lot of lore about the Draconia family. From the way Malleus speaks about the Thorn Witch, she is considered a separate ancient entity and not someone he personally knows or has blood ties with.

Knowing that, it somewhat detracts from the points made in this ask 😅 since it seems like the Anon was trying to draw a parallel between Maleficent and Malleus… Conflating Maleficent with Malleus may be the result of mixing up the dreams with the differing mediums and presentations of Maleficent and Malleus in the context of their own works. I feel they can be treated like two entirely separate cases, and with different intentions behind them.

Maleficent has been written as a tragic antihero in the live action movie(s) of the same name. That is one interpretation of her, just as the Descendants Maleficent is much goofier in attitude. They are Disney’s properties and so they are free to twist Maleficent however they wish to suit the circumstances or to chase a modern trend of redemption, even if it’s different than the “mistress of evil” she was introduced as. In my opinion, there is nothing inherently wrong with this (although that doesn’t mean you’re obligated to enjoy or to agree with every iteration of Maleficent or the new direction she’s being led in). This doesn’t automatically make her a “victim” (for lack of a better term) either, she feels more… “girlboss” to me, if that makes sense?? Tragic things do happen to her, but they don’t define Maleficent as an individual (if I recall correctly, she acts on her own and rises up + regains power in spite of humans hating her). I think it’s just a different way to spin a story. However, I can see why maybe this doesn’t bode well to some people who like her for being evil and not for being redeemable.

Malleus is the “final boss” of a gacha game. The intention behind his design is to endear the players to the character so they’re willing to roll for him. That’s why Malleus in particular has a “special” role compared to the other boys, and why they try to establish a friendship with Yuu early on in the main story. He is treated differently in the narrative because of that. We may not necessarily like it or find the method effective, but that’s the design TWST went with. (I’m personally not a fan of this either, it grants Malleus specifically a lot of grace and favoritism that I’m not on board with 😅)

I also want to point out that when the other villains were introduced in Yuu’s dreams, it’s not really in situations that would immediately warrant sympathy. The Queen of Hearts is unreasonably mad, the King of Beasts is plotting against his brother, etc. It’s not that Yuu doesn’t “feel bad” for the others, it’s that the others didn’t give Yuu anything to “feel bad” about right away. For the dream with Maleficent, it’s different: Yuu first learns that she is “unwanted” and THEN she casts her magic. Yuu then fixates on the reason behind Maleficent’s curse (because at this point in the story, we’ve seen 6 cases of how one’s motivations and past fuel one’s actions in the present). The other villains don’t get similar scenes or lines to show off the potential reasoning behind their behaviors (no showing of how the Queen of Heart’s rule benefits her people, no jeering at Scar, etc.) so of course Yuu won’t be as gracious about them.

We should also consider that each of these dreams is prophetic and ties back to the current OB boy’s troubles. In Malleus’s case, loneliness is a huge issue and he’s been Yuu’s “friend” since book 2. These will naturally play into Yuu feeling more sympathy towards Maleficent, who resembles Malleus and is left out like he is. The other OB boys didn’t have this “special” connection, and their issues don’t center so strongly on wanting companionship. If you refer back to Yuu’s dreams of each villain, Yuu’s reactions to each reflect the ongoing dilemma of each boy and their dorm mates, such as wondering why the card soldiers don’t intervene and not understanding why Scar used the methods he did.

That being said, I’m not sure if I agree with the use of “victim” to describe the Draconias. The term’s definition varies by person (and I’m not sure what the asker’s own definition is, so there may be some disagreement here), but personally I see “victim” as a binary. It puts one person in a weak and passive position—with them being the one acted on—and the other person in a position of power—the one doing the acting. It creates an easy “us vs them” narrative. I don’t believe this is the case for any of the TWST characters; to call them “victims” implies a lack of agency to act and a clear good vs evil worldview.

Back to the Draconias. Yes, bad things have happened to them and some of those bad things were the result of the senate’s decisions. That doesn’t make the Draconias (or even Maleficent, in my opinion) “victims”, and certainly not “victims” to the senate alone. There are so many other factors to consider in Malleus being isolated and turning out the way he did. These include, but are not limited to: Maleficia being too busy to spend time with him, his parents being absent, Malleus still managing to meet and interact with Lilia anyway, Malleus himself being so powerful/high status he scares his servants and peers, royals having duties to tend to and thus limited freedoms, previously existing tensions with humans, etc.

TWST does do a lot to make you feel bad for and to pity Malleus. From the moment we first saw him, the “loneliness” of Malleus was a major part of his character. Many factors outside of his control compounded as an unfortunate situation that… wasn’t very conducive for him to grow up feeling normal and loved. It’s not that he was just now made a “victim”, it’s that we’re now getting all the context for why his character is the way it is—and it’s a whole slew of traumas and personal experiences. I would argue the same happens for all the OB boys; this isn’t something exclusive to twisted Maleficent, Malleus. TWST is trying to present these issues with more nuance than the classically evil G7 they were inspired by; the OB boys in general they aren’t defined by their “victimhood, but rather how they respond to and cope with those experiences.

[nalyra-dreaming]

The person thinking they should have had a Nickistat wrap:

a) Yeah, even if Nick is a significant supporting character next season, they're not going to put him front and center like that: Loustat is the central romance, and it will remain the center of marketing. Nothing else makes sense or corresponds to what the show is doing. I could see Gabrielle being a big part of marketing next season, especially if the actress is well-known, but Nicki is a less significant character in the series overall than Armand.

b) They're still promoting season 2 at this SDCC, they're just teasing season 3--NEXT summer will be promoting season 3 in earnest.

Okay, if this is a hint of what's to come with s3... 😅 (I see this is another high emotions topic...)

Yes we are still in s2 marketing. As them having the unholy family on the wrap clearly shows. It's also something else than the poster wraps last time (as pointed out in a previous ask). Nicki might be on posters for s3, but IF he is, then more like the posters wraps we got for s2, imho:

Because the actual image for s2 was this one:

and this

And with these two the focus is actually very clear, right?

Louis front, Lestat looming and facing the camera, Claudia and Armand at the same level (smaller). It... speaks, volumes.

And I would actually argue that we see a similar setup here.

As this is still s2 promotion - but after s2 - it makes sense to "reduce" to the characters that are - and will remain - main.

And those are Louis, Lestat and... Claudia. Almost the same size.

If you know the Chronicles, then you know that Claudia literally haunts the narrative. Rolin Jones said they had not put a "bow" onto her chapter yet, and with Delainey's comment re the "book club" she is in with Jacob and Sam I do believe we will get to see "ghost Claudia".

As such, this is a rather ingenious way of promoting not only what was... but what is to come, too.

THIS is what the chronicles - and this show - are built on. Loustat... and the ghost of Claudia.

And it makes sense that there would be no "other", or "supporting" characters on it as well, imho. Not now. Not on that "photo poster".

We will get other posters for s3. These will feature other characters, too. But this is not that - not yet.

[buddiebeginz]

WHY DID THEY SHOW EDDIE WATCHING BUCK REPEL DOWN THE CLIFF?! Choices and so early on too 😩

I'm assuming you're talking about this gifset I reblogged. Honestly I think that Eddie was supposed to be queer from the beginning. I know people think Buck was but I'm not sure if that was necessarily the writers intention. It might have been Oliver's intention to play him that way, I can't remember what he said word for word but I think it was something about how he's always seen Buck as bi. But I think in scenes like the season 1 tapeworm episode where Buck seems to bond with the gay couple it's supposed to come off more like Buck is just being his himbo self more than anything else. I mean I do think when we're looking back on the show there are definitely signs of his bisexuality (the tapeworm scene being one) but I don't know that the writers wrote him at the time with that intention.

But I think there's a good possibility that they brought Eddie in always wanting to have him be a character that comes out eventually. I mean look at how we're introduced to Eddie. Then look at how everything with Shannon was handled. They easily could have kept her around longer and turned their relationship into a will they/won't they. They could have made it so we saw how in love with her Eddie has always been but that's not what happened. They let us know right away that the main draw to that relationship for Eddie was familiarity and the fact that Shannon is Chris' mother. These factors have continued to come into play in Eddie's other relationships too. Like with Ana there was a familiarity in that she was Chris' teacher and Eddie was mostly looking for someone to fill the mother figure role for Chris.

While I think that Eddie was always intended to be queer I don't think they wanted him to come out immediately like they did with a character like Michael. I think the plan was to tell his story slowly and have him come out later. The Ana storyline I think was supposed to be the lead in to having Eddie come out. The main reason I believe this (apart from just look at how that storyline was handled) is the person on twitter with inside info to the show said as much.

I also think that around s3 they started to really notice the chemistry between Buck and Eddie and how much people were shipping them because that's when we got scenes like "there's no one in this world I trust with my son more" and "you want to go for the title" and the grocery story fight which totally read like a lovers quarrel. Or how they had Eddie seeing images of Buck flash in his mind when he almost died in the well. Or having Buck scream for Eddie when he almost died in the well.

I think by the time they got to season 4 there were serious discussions about putting Buck and Eddie together. We know from Oliver that the plan was originally to have Buck come out in s4 and presumably Eddie in s5 along with Buddie going canon. But Fox put a stop to that. If you go by what the insider said and by how season 4 was handled especially the shooting (which is incredibly romance coded) there's no way that Buddie wasn't in the plans by this point.

Plus you had Tim leaving around this time likely at least in part because he was frustrated with how Fox was stifling his show. You can also see remnants of where the story was supposed to go in s5. All that stuff with Eddie and Ana and the panic attacks and Buck being worried about him that was definitely supposed to be a part of Eddie's coming out arc I'm positive on that. I also think that Taylor (when she came back in s4) was originally just supposed to be a friend who helped Buck figure things out but instead Fox pushed for her to be a love interest. This would explain Oliver's dislike of the relationship and complete lack of supporting it. Similar to how he's been with B/T.

Anyway sorry I went off on a ramble. I could talk about these guys all day. 😅

Oh and I leave you with this anon Eddie in s3 checking out a hot guy's ass. (and Chimney clocking him doing it😝)

[motley-cruelty]

POV: I try writing a story lolz

A/N: I’m thinking of writing a story on Wattpad or A03. This is just a glimpse of how the relationship between Nikki and the main character will begin. Let me know what you think 😅

It Had to Be You

I was a little upset to say the least. Don’t get me wrong, I loved Heather, and I was excited to be living with just her while the boys were on tour. But there was something so special about living with the boys for the past few months that brought comfort into my life. I was going to miss them more than anything. Even Nikki…

No.

Especially Nikki.

Sitting on my bed, I tried to concentrate on my book, but was distracted by the flooding thoughts of the boys leaving, and my own humming of a random song that I couldn’t put my finger on.

But even my humming and thoughts were interrupted by my bedroom door flying open, revealing a disheveled looking Nikki Sixx.

He stood in my doorway for a few seconds too long, staring at me, not moving.

I didn’t say anything for a while, unsure of why he wouldn’t have knocked, and why he looked so disordered.

“What do you want, Nikki?”

He took a step forward, finally opening his mouth as he pointed a finger at me.

“Listen, whatever this is can’t happen anymore.”

I stayed sitting on my bed, closing my book and placing it beside me.

I raised an eyebrow at him, giving him a clear sign that I was confused.

He took a few more slow steps even closer towards me, standing right by me beside the bed.

“I know that you don’t hate me, so stop acting like such a bitch and admit it.”

My eyebrows furrowed now, and I sent him a small glare.

“Don’t call me a bitch.”

“Then stop fucking acting like one. I’m leaving tomorrow and I don’t want to do so until we make amends.”

I stared at him, wondering why he suddenly cared so much about whether or not we got along.

Our banter was brutal, to say the least. Anyone who saw us bickering probably would’ve wondered why either of us hadn’t filed a restraining order on the other yet. We fought like brother and sister. Except Tommy, my brother, and I never even fought like this.

But I enjoyed the tension.

“Personally, I can’t wait for you to leave tomorrow so that I don’t have to deal with your attitude anymore.”

Lie.

I enjoyed when Nikki got fired up enough to put me in my place.

“Stop fucking lying to me, Y/N.”

He was strict. He was dominant, and I wanted to provoke him more.

“I’m not lying. I can’t wait to get away from your annoying ass. I’m going to miss Vinnie the most.”

I flashed Nikki a grin.

He knew what I was doing. I could tell by the way he ran his tongue along his front teeth, crossing his arms over his chest.

To be honest I was going to miss Vince, he had become my best friend. But I only brought that up to spite Nikki.

He leaned down, getting even closer to me.

“Don’t tease me.”

I leaned in closer too, smirking even bigger.

“What are you going to do about it, Sixx?”

He grabbed my face harshly, smashing his lips into mine as he climbed onto the bed in front of me. I gasped into his lips, closing my eyes as I took it all in. All of the tension between us was finally getting released.

His lips melted with mine hungrily, like he had wanted this for so long. Unbeknownst to me, he had.

My hands made their way up into his hair, I tugged lightly at his roots as I gently bit his bottom lip.

He groaned into my mouth.

“Play nice.”

I smirked against his lips, and felt his tongue finally slide into my mouth.

It tasted like he had just brushed his teeth, which he probably had, considering it was nearing bedtime.

We kissed for a while, my hands exploring his hair, his shoulders, his chest, his back, as his hands caressed my waist and my face.

I had never felt a kiss this intense before.

He began to slow down, my lips almost hurting from how passionate Nikki and I had been kissing each other.

He finished by pulling my bottom lip between his, and lingering there for a while.

He pulled away, and I sat there a moment longer, keeping my eyes closed to soak it all in.

“Now I really don’t want to leave.”

[fullmoonandstar]

Sending this BG3 idea to a bunch of different blogs to see what they do with it: Tav uses edging and/or orgasm denial on Raphael to get him to give up the hammer without giving him the crown. (Enjoy! I hope... 😅)

I think I have even read some stories like this xD

The main problem I see is that the only way Tav could succeed is by tying him up, and he would not agree to that. Not on a first time, at least...

Tell me how you like the story, anon :3

Everyone else can say something too, if they want

Devil's Den

Raphael x afab!Tav Fandom: Baldur's Gate 3 Rating: R Word count: 5.1 k Cw: (temporary) major character death, second-person perspective, light Dom/sub, Restraints, Sub Raphael, Orgasm Delay/Denial, Angst, Heartbreak, Cunnilingus, Woman on Top, Pegging, dom reader, Blow Job

“So, the devil’s den. Tell me, are you such a frequent customer that they gave you your own room, or do you take clients here?”

Raphael laughed.

“This place attracts all kinds of people, and deals come easier when everyone is in the right mindset.”

“Hm, sounds to me like you're avoiding the question.” You made sure to give him an obvious once over, ending on his eyes. Raphael held your stare, and a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. It was almost as if at any second now, sparks would start flying between the two of you.

In the corner of your vision, Astarion wrinkled his nose and said: “That’s my cue, I’m leaving.”

He turned on his heels and disappeared through the door, not even looking back to see if anyone would follow.

“What are you doing?” hissed Wyll in your ear, but you just waved his question away. 

“Go ahead to camp, I'll catch up later,” assured him. Your companions followed Astarion, but not without glaring at the devil and giving you looks of bewilderment. When the door closed behind them, you were alone with Raphael. 

“You’re quite brazen, little mouse.” How ever much he liked to play coy, Raphael liked the attention, it showed in the way he held himself. He stood a bit straighter, chest puffed out; he reminded you of a peacock, all made up, trying to impress his potential mate. 

“Well, you always say you’re fond of me; and I” — place a hand on his chest- “wonder just how much.”

You looked up through your eyelashes and hoped that the devil’s flirting had some substance. For a heartbeat, Raphael was at a loss for words, and you wondered if anyone else ever tried this. They must have, man is nothing if not charismatic, a trait that got him plenty of souls, so there had to have been some advances in the past. 

“It’s not my usual way of dealing with clients,” he said in a low voice, subconsciously leaning in. His hand came to rest on top of yours.

“I’m special,” you said, leaning in closer. 

Heat radiated off his body, under your palms, the unholy fire of the hells was burning, inside his veins and even in his human guise could not suppress it entirely. 

“You really want to bed a devil?” His tone was a mix of astonishment and disbelief.

“What else am I to do in the devil’s den?” you breathed. “Not any devil, you.”

His hand cupped your cheek almost lovingly, and you leaned in, finally closing the distance. His lips warmed your whole body with their soft feel and their determined movement. You didn’t feel like pushing your luck and let him dictate the pace of the kiss. It was surprisingly slow, but then again, he was someone who played the long game. You ran your hand over his chest and around to his back, pressing your body into his.

The bed had clearly not been used recently, but the sheets were quite lavish. To your surprise, you didn’t land on your back, instead Raphael lay down and waited for you to follow. You crawled on top of him.

The whole camp piqued up when you enter the door to the rented rooms on the top floor of the Elfsong Tavern.

“You’re alive!” Jaheira shouted from across the room. Her voice was a mixture of relief and anger, like a mother who just found her child wandering back home from a night lost in the woods. Now everyone knew you were back, and they swarmed to the door. A winged figure turned the corner and crossed her arms.

“Oh, you didn’t?!” Hissed Mizora. “You fucked Raphael?! You clearly have no taste.”

“You’re just jealous, she didn’t do you,” Shadowheart said.

“Fuck off, Mizora,” you said and waved at her to go away. She wrinkled her nose, and in a flash, she was gone.

“What in the hells were you doing?” Gale asked. “You slept with a devil and not just any devil but Raphael? Have you gone mad?”

“Trust me, I know what I’m doing,” you said. “I need to go to the Red Boutique tomorrow.”

“What’s the Red Boutique?” Wyll and Gale at the same time, and Gale added, “This really isn’t the time to go shopping.”

“It’s a toy shop.” Shadowheart grinned. As a fellow Baldurean she, of course, knew of this particular, but that Wyll didn’t seem to have heard of it struck you as odd.

“What?”

Gale’s utter confusion was almost comical, but Astarion rolled his eyes.

“Toys to use in bed, dear. Definitely not for kids.” Addressing you, Astarion added: “So you plan to go back?”

You nodded. Gale’s face twisted in silent shock and disbelief.

“And there is something else I need.”

Gale had not recovered from the fact that you not only had slept with Raphael and planned to go back. You touched his hand to get his attention. 

“Gale, is there a way to bind a devil?”

You went back to the devil’s den a few days later, with your newly acquired toys from the red boutique — a selection of differently sized phalluses and a harness — and as expected, it was a great hit with the devil. If your first encounter had taught you anything, it was that Raphael liked to let others do the work, and you indulged him.

Shadowheart sat down next to you, and you knew she wanted something.

“What is it,” you asked.

“So, you have been visiting Sharress’ Caress quite a few times.”

This was where this was going. Astarion appeared seemingly out of thin air to listen in on this conversation. 

“What is it like to sleep with a devil?”

“Erm…”

You thought about how to put it.

“He’s a pillow princess who lets you do the work” you said finally. “but…”

You hesitated. Talking about your intimate moments was a bit embarrassing, even you didn’t feel it while doing them.

“But what?” Astarion asked with an annoyed edge in his voice.

“I like taking charge and, well, the ridges on his …”

You bit your lip, already regretting having revealed as much as you had.

“You fucked him in his true form too?” Astarion exclaimed.

You didn’t say anything.

“How long will you keep this up?” Gale asked after you got back from one of the encounters with Raphael. “We have to do something about the brain. We have to take the crown and end this.”

“I have to wait for the right moment.”

“The right moment?”

“Yes,” you said. “If I asked him to put on the thing too early, he may get suspicious and burn me to a crisp.”

Gale nodded slowly, but his face spoke volumes of his worry.

“It’s a very dangerous game you're playing.”

The sun was setting over Baldur’s Gate and you were on your way to Wyrm's Crossing. You and Raphael had never set a schedule, you had just shown up at the brothel, and sometimes he had been there, other times the devil's den had been empty.

You entered Sharress’ Caress through the main door and Mamzell greeted you.

“He is waiting for you.”

She handed you a bottle.

“What is this for?”

“Well, it’s for you.”

It was a wine you liked, but you didn’t know what to do with it. 

“Thanks.”

“Have a stimulating evening.” Mamzell cooed and you made your way upstairs.

From the moment you entered the door, you felt that something was different. You looked around but didn’t see Raphael, what you did see however were candles, but they had been placed around the room not for just light, no, it looked more intentional. They had been placed for aesthetic. The fresh flowers in the vases that were arranged on the around the room filled the air with a sweet and fresh aroma.

“I had a feeling you would come today.”

Raphael’s voice came from the back area where the bed was, and you walked over to see him doing something at a dresser. He gave you a brief look over his shoulder, flashing a smile. Everything about him took you by surprise. His smile was not the usual smirk of self-importance and superiority, but it was warm and struck something in you. He wasn’t wearing one of his usual outfits either, but a flowing, silky robe the colour of fresh blood that was held in place by a belt of the same material. Even on a normal day, he was handsome, but today you were too stunned to move or say anything.

He turned around and came closer. Even though you had seen him in various stages of undress, the way the robe hugged his body and exposed just the right amount of his chest, made your heart beat faster.

“Give that to me.”

He reached for the bottle, and you pulled yourself together enough to hand it to him. On the dresser, stood several glasses, and he poured you some wine while he took the small glass with a dark reddish brown colour liquid.

“What is that?” you asked, curious what he was drinking. “Can I try it?”

“It’s whisky. From home.”

“Oh, no.”

Baator whiskey was said to burn as hot as Avernus and as sweet as the touch of a lover, but mortals didn't take well to it. Raphael smiled again, and your stomach twisted with how filled with affection it was.

“Here.”

He drank everything in one go, set the glass down behind him, cupped your face in his hands and kissed you. You could taste the drink on his tongue, the diluted whiskey added a feeling to the kiss that you hadn’t experienced before. If you hadn’t known better, you would have guessed it was some sort of aphrodisiac. A fire filled your body, an arch that reminded you of the anticipation of being with someone. You melted into Raphael’s arms, and you lost yourself in the kiss.

You could not tell how long it took until the feeling faded, but when it did you pulled back just enough to take a deep breath. Your head rested on his chest and he planted a kiss on the top of your head. He had never done that before.

“Looks like you rather enjoyed that, little mouse”

He said, against your hair. “But don’t try to drink it.”

You ran your hands over the fine robe, exploring his back again and still ravelling in how good he felt pressed against you. Wouldn’t it be nice to wake up next to him? Your hands stopped. Oh gods, let's never think about that again, you thought. The day had come, it was time to execute your plan.

“I won’t. Promise,” you said and pulled out of his embrace. “But it was … stimulating.”

He laughed and your heart jumped. What is up with me today? Get it together.

“I’ve brought you something, maybe you want to try it out.”

“Oh?,” he smiled, intrigued. “What is it?”

You pulled out a pair of manacles, he lifted an eyebrow and took them from you. He inspected them, turning the dark metal in his hands, and a worry gnawed at you that he would see right through you.

“You want me chained up and helpless at your mercy?”

The dangerous edge in his voice made you stiffen, and you opened your mouth to say anything, but he didn’t let you. “That’s very much like you to enjoy something like that. Well, I do rather like when you take charge.”

He handed them back to you with an easy smile.

“I’ll indulge you, pet. How do you want to have me?”

“You have to work today,” you purred, covering up your moment of fear and ran your finger along his jaw. “Show that you deserve what I’m going to give you and if I’m pleased- ”you grabbed his chin and caressed his lower lip with your thumb, “-  I will reward you.”

He nodded, his pupils blown wide open like a cat about to roll in Nepeta cataria. This night would end badly, but until then, you would enjoy having Raphael wrapped around your finger.

“Should I lie down?”

“No.” you drew out the vowel and slapped away the hand that was reaching to undo his robe.

“Kiss me.” You said, and he obliged. His soft lips moved sensually against yours, and you let your hands roam his body. Your finger followed the hem of his robe down his chest, dragging your nails lightly over his muscles and teasing at the band that held the robe in place.

You pulled away from the kiss, and Raphael followed your movement, not ready to lose contact just yet. You gave him a peck on the lips and used your hand on his chest to hold him a bit further away.

“I like your kissing, but I wonder what else that tongue of yours is good for.”

He exhaled audibly. You stepped back and removed your all clothes except your underwear.

“Now, be creative, pet. If you make me come, you get to be on the bed.”

A smirk flickered over his face at the nickname that was replaced a moment later by an expression that you could only describe as unadulterated lust. He kissed you again, but this time with new-found intensity, desperate for something. His lips didn’t linger for long on yours, but moved along your jaw and down your neck, eliciting a shiver from you. His hands roamed your body and landed on your chest. He took your breasts into his hands and massaged them, teased the sensitive nipples to come to a point.

“I know what you want from me,” he whispered into your ear, and you froze. He stepped back with a mischievous glitter in his eyes. “But don’t tell anyone. I have a reputation to uphold.”

His hands were on you again, slowly dragging your panties down and you step out of them. The underwear went flying and a moment later you saw what the thing was, shouldn’t tell anyone about. He sank to his knees in front of you, looking up through his lashes, and peppered your exposed stomach with kisses.

His hand guided your right leg to rest on his shoulder before kissing further down. When his clever tongue made contact with your clit, you grabbed his hair. Raphael moaned into your skin and closed his eyes, fully concentrating on the task at hand. His tongue moved to your entrance, circling the sensitive skin but not dipping in. He covered your clit with his mouth, sucking and flicking his tongue against it.

“Oh gods,” you whispered. The pleasure was building inside you like steam in a kettle, and you were almost ready to blow. Your hand had a firm grip on his hair, ready to get him in line should he even think about pulling back. Your legs started shaking in anticipation, and the only things preventing you from falling were Raphael’s hands on your hips. He sucked your clit and your whole body stiffened as a wave of bliss rolled over you.

After you reached your climax, he slowed down, licking and sucking diligently until you loosened your grip on his hair. He moved his attention to your entrance, making you moan as his hot tongue made contact with your sensitive flesh. He lapped up the signs of your release, and a low groan rumbled in his chest.

You gave his hair a light tug and he pulled back. You swallowed hard at the sight of him, kneeling, face wet and looking up as if there were nothing else in the world but you. You took a shaky breath and removed your leg from his shoulder.

“And why exactly have we never done this before?” You wondered out loud, brushing a strand of hair out of his face.  Raphael leaned into your touch, and you combed your fingers through his soft hair.

“Let’s clean you up.”

You turned and walked on wobbly legs over to the wash basin. You picked up a wet cloth, returned to Raphael who still sat on the ground and cleaned his face.

“There you go. Now, lie on the bed for me. On your back and get comfortable.”

He followed your request, and you chained him to the metal hoop that perturbed from the wall. You stepped back to commit the image to memory. Raphael lay on top of the covers, he had disrobed, but the red silk was draped over him to cover his private parts and his chest. It looked a bit as if he were bleeding from a wound in his left shoulder, and the stream of red had run down his body. His arms were held up by the manacles, but they had enough slack to so he could rest them against the headboard of the bed.

You ran your hands up his spread legs and crawled onto the bed. Both of his forms had their charms, but you loved how soft his skin felt in his human guise, the little hairs tickled your palms so nicely. You planted open-mouthed kisses along the inside of his thighs and were pleased with the shiver that ran through his body. Pushing his knees-up revealed a nice surprise for you.

“Look who came prepared.”

That was the first time he didn’t smile that overconfident smile of his, instead his eyes were dark with lust and an uncertainty that you had never seen on his face.

“What would you have done if I hadn’t come?” you taunted and moved further up his body until your arms rested on either side of his handsome face, and you looked down on him. “Walk around making deals while you had a plug in your tight little ass?”

His eyes gleamed, and he finally said in a small voice: “Yes.”

“I do like preparedness.” you said. “I think you deserve a little treat.”

A brief kiss elicited a soft moan from him. From your backpack, you produced a harness and an array of dildos you had bought from the Red Boutique. In previous encounters, you had noticed a pattern of what Raphael’s favourites tended to be, and you held up the three most likely candidates for tonight.

“What is it going to be?”

When he glanced at the objects, his erection twitched under the folds of the robe.

“The glass one.” 

His voice was more casual, as if he was ordering food in a tavern, not choosing the instrument that would penetrate him soon. You put the other toys back in the backpack and slipped into the harness, adjusting then numerous straps to fit your hip and offer enough support for the hefty phallus. The solid glass toy had been the most expansive thing you had bought for your adventures with Raphael, and he enjoyed the cool, ridged surface of the handcrafted item. You guessed it reminded him of someone.

The glass dildo hung heavy between your legs as you walked over to the head of the bed and positioned your hips at eye level with Raphael. He stared at the toy, and with a raised eyebrow up at you.

“What do you want me to do?”

“Oh, your mouth did so wonderfully already. I think, it can do more.”

Neither the dildo nor the harness provided any friction, but the sight of him could ignite your arousal again.

His lips closed around the glass, his breath briefly condensing on the cool surface. You rocked your hips back and forth slowly, watching as the toy slipped a bit deeper into his mouth and back out again. Your fingers tangled in his hair and you pulled lightly. He moaned around the toy and closed his eyes as you gently fucked his mouth.

“Look at you, little devil,” you said. “You take my dick so well.”

The praise encouraged him to take more into his mouth, but he was too ambitious and gagged a moment later. You pulled out.

“You’re doing so good today,” you praised. “but don’t get too cocky.”

“Whatever do you mean, I’m a picture of modesty.” Your laughs echoed around the room.

You positioned yourself between his legs and without ceremony you pulled out the plug, leaving him nice and open for what was to come.

With a more lubricant, the glass dildo slid into him with little resistance. As much as you loved the stretch and friction of riding him, this position was empowering. You held his thighs pressed against you, for no other reason than that you liked how they felt in your arms, thick, powerful and hot. The pillow positioned under his hips made it easy for you to rock your faux cock into his heat.

His hair stuck to his forehead and a thin layer of sweat covered his body. In his true form you had never seen him sweat, but it always happened in his human form and you loved it. His mouth hung open, and his brows were furrowed, little gasps escaping him when you thrust into him just right. He flexed the muscles in his arms, helpless to change his position to get more friction.

A wave of affection washed over you, seeing him struggle so beautifully. You let his thighs go, and shifted your position until your lips captured his and your tongue pushed into his welcoming mouth. He moaned into your kiss, pressed his body up at you and arched his back. Your hips halted, the glass cock buried as deep inside as possible.

“Don’t stop!” Raphael whined. “Why did you stop?!”

“Who said you were allowed to come yet?”

His eyes went big, a look so very unlike him. You laughed and planted a kiss on his lips, then you pulled out.

“I want to have my fun too.” You said and loosened the straps of the harness.  Raphael’s eyes followed the movement of your hands, but his gaze wandered around your body. He was desperate for stimulation, but you let him wait. Washing the toy in the basin right then was not necessary, but the effect it had was precisely what you had hoped. Raphael whimpered and rattled his chains, but he wasn’t desperate enough to use his powers to break free.

You dried the toy and threw it back in your backpack. The hardest part was yet to come, and that surprised you. Raphael, though charming, was a devil, he did evil things to all kinds of people, so why was it hard for you now to go through with your plan?

“Are you done yet?”

He tried to sound commanding, but it came off as desperate.

“Why? Do you miss me?” you taunted. Raphael clenched his jaw and looked at the ceiling. You couldn't help yourself, it was so easy to tease him in his current position. In your backpack, you found a book that you had forgotten was there, and you opened it, reading a whole two pages before Raphael sighed.

“Yes, I miss you. Now come back.”

You raised an eyebrow. 

“Please.” he grumbled. 

“Well, if you ask so nicely.”

His head sank into the pillow again when he saw you walking to the bed. The wait had drained his erection, exactly as it should be.

When you straddled his hips, Raphael sucked in air sharply. He hadn't found his release yet, and it was starting to get to him. He buckled his hips, searching for some friction, desperate, so very much unlike the smug in control devil he was the rest of the time. You indulged him and sighed when he got hard again between your legs, dragging his length through your folds. Your core throbbed, and your insides twisted with want. For you too, it had been hard to endure teasing him, seeing him helpless, so at your mercy and hearing him moan and whimper at your touch.

You took him into your hand. With a few strokes, he was full hard, and you couldn't wait any longer; you sank down on him. He cursed. Even you didn't understand what he had said, in that tone it could hardly be anything else.

As much as you loved the overwhelming feeling of his ridged cock when he was in his true from, his human guise was a bit easier on your body. You rode him slowly, rolling your hips and taking note when he pressed into you just right and when Raphael moaned. His voice was really the thing that pushed you over the edge.

You dragged your nails over his chest and abdomen, feeling the muscles harden under your touch, and heard his desperate noises. You rocked your hips and the tide broke, sweeping you away again.

Raphael whined when you stopped abruptly. You had got way off course, but by some miracle you still had him where you needed him. He licked his lips and said breathlessly: “Don't you dare stop again, mortal.”

His breathing was heavy, and he strained against the chains. Raphael could break them. You were afraid he may yet do so if you teased him more, so instead you raised an eyebrow and said mockingly : “At your service, oh mighty Raphael.”

You said a slow pace, and he closed his eyes, concentrating. This was it.

You reached out and touched both manacles and said the last words of the incantation: “Potentiam exhauri et liga.”

The metal started to glow, but it felt like ice under your fingers. Raphael was engrossed in the feeling of you on top of him, that there was a noticeable delay between you uttering the words and his eyes snapping open.

“What did you say?”

He searched your face for context but didn't find any answers. His eyes fell on the chains and he grimaced.

You expected him to thrash, to throw you off, but for a few heartbeats he just lay there under you, still connected.

“Give me the hammer.”

“What hammer?” He asked coolly.

“The Orphic hammer.”

“If you want it, you'll have to give me the Crown of Karsus. That is the deal I offered.”

“No.” You grabbed his chin and his eyes widened. “You will tell me where the hammer is, how to get it, and you will get one thing. You get to leave.”

To make your point, you rocked your hips and as expected, he sucked in air sharply.

“If you think you can extort me with torture, you are wrong.”

You didn't believe a word he said. He was close to breaking, you could feel it, he just needed a push. You pushed yourself off him, letting him slip out of your warm embrace, and savoured the feeling of superiority when he clenched his jaw tight to stop any sound from escaping.

You brushed a lock of hair out of his face as he stared into your eyes, willing you to finally let him come undone.

“Give me the hammer, and I'll give you a hand.”

He took a shaky breath. His erection looked painfully hard, and your hand caressing his chest only worsened it. He closed his eyes, and you knew you had won.

You closed the door to the devil's den, after telling Gale's mirror image how to get the hammer from the House of Hope. Raphael was still tied to the bed, fuming, but very much not undone. You sat on the bed next to him with a warm wet cloth and cleaned his cock while he hissed.

“What are you doing?”

You tossed the cloth in the direction of the water basin and took him into your hand, stroking him back to full hardness.

“Even if this negotiation didn't go according to your plan, I intend to uphold my end of the deal.”

Before he could say anything, you closed your mouth around his tip and threw his head back. This would be the last time you heard that wonderful voice of his sing for you in ecstasy, the last time his body trembled under you as he released approached and the final time he arched his back off this bed, and you savoured it. Licking the under side of his cock, sucking and swirling your tongue around the tip. His hips buckled, and he poured himself into your mouth.

Raphael stayed silent while packed your scattered things and got dressed. You sat down on the bed afterward, and kept an eye on him. The chains robbed him of his powers, but he hadn't got this far in his life by just his charms. If he broke free now, he would kill you and then your companions in his house.

“Why didn't you just give me the crown?” He asked finally.

“Why?!” You shook your head. “Do you really need an explanation?”

“You have already caught me with me pants down, so humour me, cheater.”

“Fine.” You snapped. “If gave you the crown, what would happen? Maybe you would conquer the hells or maybe not. Mephisto didn't use it to overthrow Asmodeus despite having it for ages and hating the ruler of the hells. what does that tell you?”

You waved the hypothetical question away.

“Let's say you make it, let's say you actually make it all the way to the top of the food chain. What then, Raphael?” You didn't wait for him to answer, and continued: “do you really think you will lounge on a throne in Nessus for the rest of time? You? No, Raphael, that could never be you. You will take over everything you can until all the planes in existence are under your rule.”

“I would n-”

A knock on the door silenced him, and you walked over to see who was there. Lae'zel held a silver hammer in her bloody hands, a determined expression on her face.

“We have it.”

You gave her a weak smile.

“I'll tie up some loose ends and meet you at camp.”

She nodded grimly, holding the hammer tightly, and vanished into dawn. You closed the door and picked up your backpack, rummaging in it before finding what you were looking for and carefully pushed it in your back pocket.

“The heist was successful.” Raphael said bitterly, but his grimace changed into confusion when you straddled his chest. You ran your fingers over his warm smooth skin from his temple along his jaw to his chin. 

“For what it's worth, I'm sorry, Raphael.”

You planted a kiss on his soft lips and rammed the dagger into his heart. 

Check my Masterlist for more

[lukecastellanshandholder]

Hey everyone, it’s been far too long! (I’m truly sorry, life has not been fun lately 😅) But I’m back to rant about something!

Why… just why did someone try to tell me that "just because Luke felt bad about what he did, and died in the end, doesn’t make him a hero"??

Like, I beg your finest, top-shelf, pardon???

Number 1, please for the love of any deity listening, gain some media literacy and use it! Number 2, what do you mean he wasn’t a hero??? That’s literally the whole point of the end of The Last Olympian! He’s literally named a hero! Percy Jackson, the main character, says point blank that Luke was the actual hero in the end!

"But he did so many bad things and killed people!" Yeah, his body did, ya know when it was being controlled by Kronos! But who did Luke, fully in control and totally unaffected by Kronos, kill? Oh, that’s right, NO ONE!

He did ATTEMPT to kill Percy (even though he actually didn’t want to) but he didn’t succeed. Am I saying that it wasn’t bad that he hurt Percy? No, I’m not. But I’m also saying that if Kronos weren’t manipulating and forcing Luke to do his bidding, then Luke would have never hurt Percy or other demigods unless absolutely necessary.

And if the god’s would’ve just treated their demigod children and the other minor gods better, then Luke wouldn’t have even had to consider siding with Kronos as a legitimate reason.

And speaking of that, the reason that Luke is considered a hero is because he was the one who defeated Kronos. Without him, they wouldn’t have been able to destroy Kronos. Luke was never really the true threat that had everyone worried. Luke was never the true villain, it was Kronos (and the gods). Kronos was going to rise again even if he wasn’t successful in manipulating Luke to fight on his side. Kronos would’ve just found another demigod to manipulate, and it would’ve more than likely been Percy if Gabe’s stench wouldn’t have hidden Percy so well.

But really, to say that Luke wasn’t a hero in the end is just telling me that you read the books with your eyes closed. I just really think that it’s sad that the complete first series of books have been out for almost 15 years now and most people still can’t comprehend Luke’s character.

[yuurei20]

Hi Yuurei!! 🤗 Sorry if this formatting gets all squished on tumblr! 😭

I admit this is a bit of a passion question here, but Ace’s clubwear DUO voicelines felt like they had different meanings (and are a little rude) in the English version. I wanted to get your opinion if you have time!

JP + my interpreted translation

Jamil: 「焦る決めるなよ、エース」 (Don’t make any hasty decisions, Ace)

Ace: 「分けってます、ジャミル先輩」 (Got it, Jamil-senpai)

EN official

Jamil: Stay cool and land the shot, Ace.

Ace: I know, Jamil To my understanding, “wakettemasu” in THIS context is more in the vein of, "I understand/I am acknowledging your advice as my senior and listening to it.” It sounded a bit jarring in English to me, like “I know, you don't need to tell me" even when they're in the middle of a game.

JP + my interpreted translation

Ace: 「サポートあざっす、フロイド先輩！」 (Thanks for the support, Floyd-senpai!) 

Floyd: 「ミスすんなよ、カニちゃん」 (Don't make a mistake, Crabby) 

*I used to think he was saying “Don’t miss,” so I defer to the official translation. 😅

EN official

Ace: Back me up, Floyd!

Floyd: Don’t screw up, Crabby.

I personally don’t like Ace’s "Thank you" (azassu) being taken out because he is normally the type to thank others, in any situation, even for humor. The rewording makes it so Ace is demanding Floyd back him up, but the original dialogue sounds like Ace is thanking Floyd for backing him up during a game (maybe even without being asked). I think Ace would get squeezed if he ever thought he could boss Floyd around…hehe.

Anyway, I could be way off on my interpretations before they got translated to English. Semantics and 1:1 translations are elusive, but it'd be nice to have better understanding of club members' relationships as they were intended. 🥺

Hello hello! ^^ Thank you for this question!

Your translations are very good!!

Jamil's original line is 「焦らずキメるぞ、エース！」 and I think both your interpretation of "don't be hasty" and EN's "stay cool" are correct! ^^

Literally translated it is close to, "without hurrying / without being impatient / without rushing," as in Jamil is telling Ace to stay calm and composed.

「キメる」 is an example of how context-dependent the Japanese language can be! Literally it is just "to decide" or "to set," but in the context of Jamil's clubwear we know that he is likely telling Ace to make a precise, confident choice and/or shot, as in waiting for the perfect moment to shoot for the goal and/or to strike.

Since this is a battle line he could be taking a shot for either a basketball hoop or taking a shot at an enemy! EN's "land the shot" goes both ways, much like the original JP ^^

Ace's response of 「わかってますよ、ジャミル先輩！」 is, I think, actually very close to the EN interpretation!

It might sound a little harsh in English, but it is also borderline impolite in Japanese! A polite response would be わかりました in the past tense, to indicate that Jamil has explained something that Ace didn't know, but now Ace understands and is acknowledging such.

By using わかってます in the present tense Ace is giving the vibe that he didn't need Jamil to tell him, because he already knew.

This is very characteristic of Ace's speech patterns with his senpai ^^ He walks a thin line of politeness/over-familiarity almost all the time, as a part of his character!

I absolutely agree with your evaluation of Ace's line! ^^

While he is speaking in a slang-like way that you would normally not want to use with your senpai, he is still thanking him, and EN-Ace's translation sounds like he is giving an order to Floyd when he isn't!

I recently reviewed the JP main story from the prologue to 7-4 while collecting all examples of the characters saying "please," and it has been very interesting to match up to EN ^^

Characters like Ruggie, Azul, Jade, Sebek and Silver (in Book 7) are saying "please" just all of the time in the original game, which EN sometimes carries over, sometimes reinterprets into different forms of politeness like "sir," and sometimes drops, as in this case with Ace and Floyd! So interesting ^^

[miimo96]

Thoughts on My Adventures with Superman S2 episode 7

This was really the Best thing to happen to Waller, She already hates Superman as it is and has been trying to find a reason for Exterminatie him all season, So to have with Kara show up and Destroy the city last week, this was literally the perfect opportunity for her to label Superman and his kind as threats, and get to finally carry out her plan; but by initiating this H.D.C. program thing She isn't really making herself look all that good either, having giant mechanized robots Patrol the city and labeling it as "Protection" Isn't actually protection, and is giving off more of a Fear rather than Safety vibe, also are we Not going to talk about how she literally "silenced" that guy for trying to Expose her, like she really wants people to believe that Superman is a problem and is willing to go through Disturbung lengths to keep it that way, She really is effing crazy no matter what adaptation she's in

Alight Jimmy olsen is Officily the Best character in this series, not only did he literally just waste his entire Bank account in order to Save his best friend, without hesitation mind you, but he also was able to completely talk lois out of trying to Kill kara, which in my opinion would have ended horribly for her, also the fact that lois was even able to think like that, felt like she was sounding more like her Father; Also *Gasps* what's this, Livewire and Heatwave are a THING!? ^w^

I find it so funny that after traveling the multiverse and nearly almost dying to another version of themselves, they just act like nothing happen and casually decide to have brunch in the park with Jimmy afterwards like what do you think Jimmy's reaction was to that, probably something along the lines of "wow, must've been some hell of a Honeymoon huh" 😅

Livewire: "if something goes wrong, we switch to plan B" Lois: "And what's plan B?"

PLAN B: *CHAOS*🤣🤣🤣

I totally love the Take on Livewire for this series, while people Normally compare her to be Basically like Superman's version of Electro, she really feels me more like his version of Shocker in my opinion, for example instead of her using her powers to Simply cause chaos and Destroy superman, she instead uses them to Rob banks and take on odd jobs for people, kinda like how shocker does in both the Spiderman series and games, not mention her feelings towards super heroes is more align with Shocker view of Spiderman, where as Electro is unstable and Just Wants to Kill Spider man, Livewire is completely the opposite when it comes to facing Superman, and would prefer avoiding him in general, similar to how shocker is about spider man, while They don't necessarily HATE their Hero, they just find them really Annoying to deal with, she isn't a Super Villain in this Show, just more of a Petty thief, also her motivation is completely 1 to 1 with Shockers, with both of their main goal being to simply gain wealth and live a comfortable life; Also can we all agree that her powers in this show are really Freaking cool, Not only can she generate and summon lighting at will, but she can also create a force field, turn herself into freaking electricity, and give herself the ability to effing Fly, like she's seriously OP, and she chooses to rob banks

Ok Is it me or is lois completely dense because WHAAAT!? What'd you mean you were afraid that he would leave you, I mean sure I get that you have abandonment issues considering the relationship between you and your father, but c'mon the guy has literaly been right by your side since Episode 1 and was afraid that YOU would leave HIM instead when you found out who he was, Saying that the reason you broke up with him was because you got scared and thought he wasn't gonna Love you back is Freaking understatement because if you don't call him literally complimenting you every chance he gets Day in day out, treating you the way he does and how he was even ready to Stand up to your dad when he was treating you like a little kid again Love, then idk what is to you, *sigh* but I'm glad she realized her mistake is ready to get back with him after this is done

Also ladies and gentlemen we have our New Power couple, and They're so cute Omg!! >_<

Ok I'm officially dub this Ship as "WaveWire" fight me

I really don't enjoy the rivalry between Lex and Slade, like I get that he's still young and therefore isn't the Slade we all know from the comics, but c'mon he shouldn't really come off as more of like a dick in this Series, like I hate how smug he is and how he is always trying to please waller every chance he gets, like you're telling me that that this the Guy who took defeated the Teen titans, was the main Villain for ARROW, and was truly a force to be reckoned with!? Like this Isn't Deathstroke he should be more badass instead of always trying play the rules, he needs to be more Cool and shouldn't really care about Waller at all, he shouldn't feel like some lap dog who is desperate for attention, I see what they're doing by having Luthor slowly being his replacement, but in my opinion it's just Not how I usually View this character, as much as i love to give this series praise, Slade is the only thing I really don't like about it

JIMMY x KARA!!! ^_^ I hope we get to see these 2 together by the end of this season, Now that Jimmy is in the mix I feel like we'll be more or less seeing the relationship unfold between Jimmy and Kara Next episode, maybe even get to see an Argument between lois and Kara

Apart of me kinda wonders if These shots are ment to represent the viewers seeing the perspective of Kara from Jimmy and lois, with the last episode being from Jimmy's perspective, seeing a girl who is misunderstood and mistreated by her father, Someone who is just looking for their place in the world, unaware that they're being manipulated by a Machine Who just want's to use her as a weapon, while in this episode we get to see her from the perspective of lois, Seeing the person who kidnapped her boyfriend and tried to conquer the planet, I hope this really is the case because if so that's freaking Genius, I can't wait to see what they have in store for us Next episode (also I'm sorry but without the Cape, Kara's suit just looks boring to me, the cape really brang it together balancing out All the black with the red)

[antianakin]

I don’t know if you’re actually watching the Ahsoka series or not, but I was very curious on your thoughts on the newest episode, and the confrontation between Anakin and Ahsoka.

Bro traumatized her again. Lol. 😒🙃

I’m actually kind of satisfied that she showed a little resentment, but I still don’t like that she didn’t cuss him out or something.

Anakin not apologizing is infuriating at first glance, but I also think it fits his character.

It’s funny, if I think about it in a certain way: I wonder if Anakin himself views his “redemption” kind of the same way his fans do. He’s just like, “Why are you still pissed at me? I died stopping the Emperor, didn’t I?” 🙄

The only one I think he’d actually feel sad about is Leia, because of course he’d want his daughter to like him, but she never will now, because he fucking tortured her and blew up her planet.

You know… I don’t really view Anakin’s final moments as a true “redemption” in the eyes of the galaxy. George Lucas has a quote where he says parents are redeemed in the eyes of their children. I guess you could argue that Anakin redeemed himself in Luke’s eyes, but not the galaxy’s own.

And then there’s Leia, who will never forgive him or think of him as her father.

In a way, it’s almost fitting for Anakin, that each of his children represent something for him.

Luke represents forgiveness, and how it’s never too late to do the right thing.

Leia represents his mistakes and sins. As long as she lives, he’ll always look at her and remember the damage he’s done. She’d never let him forget it.

Which is funny, when going back to the recent Ahsoka episode, and how he was acting like a dick to Ahsoka.

Personally, I think he was purposely trying to piss her off to make her fight to not die.

Still though: he’s such a jackass. 😒

Anyways, I guess my main point is that I don’t view Anakin being a Force Ghost shows that he was “redeemed.” I view it more as a type of salvation. Like the Bible story where Jesus is on the cross with two other men next to him. And then one man decides to “believe in him” or whatever, and his soul is saved by the skin of his teeth.

This is kind of how I view Anakin’s act of saving Luke. His soul was saved, because he did a heel face turn at the last second. So The Force was like, “Good enough, I guess.” *Throws up hands*

Anyways, sorry for the long rambling. I hope you don’t mind the message. Haha. 😅 I just have found your blog really therapeutic, because while I like Anakin as the fascinating character that he is, it still just kills me how fandom woobifies him and blames the Jedi for their own genocide.

I don't mind this message at all, thanks so much for sending so many of your thoughts, this was great! It's going to be a long reply back, though, since there's so much to respond to and if you've been going through my blog, this probably won't surprise you.

I AM watching the Ahsoka show, I'm just putting my thoughts about it on a different blog to this one (this blog was created for me to be negative so I usually only review things on here if I KNOW I'm going to be negative about it, but I was hopeful I'd have positive things to say about the Ahsoka show lol).

I think I'm feeling RELATIVELY mediocre about the show. Like I don't hate the whole thing, I can see why it appeals to people, but it's not really hitting at what I would've wanted from a narrative perspective. It seems to be relying on fan service and pretty visuals rather than genuinely good writing to get them through. If you happen to be the fan being serviced, you probably like it fine. But if you are someone more like me, then you might be noticing that there aren't a lot of stakes, the character motivations are weak or missing, the two storylines aren't being spliced together very well, and the dialogue's just not that great. There's also several more nitpicky things that are really pissing me off about the show (the way they're treating Force sensitivity, Sabine being a Jedi at all for no good reason and how her character is being butchered, the very distant and aloof acting I feel like we're getting from everybody, and of course the requisite anti-Jedi bullshit that we can all expect from Filoni at this point).

But as for how I felt about Anakin and Ahsoka's scenes in the latest episode this week, I am personally of the opinion that it WASN'T Anakin at all. I know it's left ambiguous, so if people feel like it was truly Anakin in some way shape or form, that's fine, but I think it makes more sense to me personally that it wasn't. This is Ahsoka's manifestation of Anakin in a moment where she's literally drowning and emotionally at something of a low point and has to decide if she's going to live or not and that conflict plays out in her head the way we see it. I'm also open to the idea that this is one of those things where the Force "tests" the Jedi not unlike what we see happen on Ilum and Mortis and the Force is just utilizing Anakin's visage to bring Ahsoka's deepest fears out into the open.

What makes it interesting to me is that then we can look at the interactions as THIS IS HOW AHSOKA SEES HIM. Whether she thinks about it that deeply or not, THIS personality is how she remembers him. The immediate choice to be violent with her and test her fighting skills rather than talk to her more gently, the dismissive attitude he has towards her, the flickering back and forth between Anakin and Vader because she doesn't truly know which one he was most. He wasn't necessarily a great teacher and his way of teaching wasn't very Jedi-like, it's ruthless and merciless and unkind, and we see that reflected in their interactions in this episode, which could be a really interesting look at how Ahsoka still remembers him even if she didn't see it negatively at the time.

So him not apologizing isn't like... an indication of how Anakin might actually handle this interaction if it were truly him so much as just... Ahsoka being unsure sure if he WOULD apologize because she has no idea how much of him was Vader the entire time and Vader would clearly never apologize. I think the Anakin we see by the end of ROTJ probably would apologize at SOME point, especially if we're supposed to see him as redeemed and acknowledging/accepting of his sins, etc. But Ahsoka doesn't know that. Ahsoka probably kind-of knows through Luke that he turned back in his last moments, but she wasn't there for that, she didn't get to see it, and she obviously still has no idea what caused him to turn on the Jedi and become a Sith to begin with. Why did he come back for Luke and not her? Was it because she abandoned him? Did he just not care about her the way she thought? Was there something intrinsically wrong with her that he recognized from the beginning?

There's just too much uncertainty perhaps for Ahsoka to know if he'd actually apologize and she doesn't even necessarily need or want an apology so much as she just wants to UNDERSTAND. Because of course it leads into her doubts about HERSELF and whether being his apprentice (even for as short of a time as it was) has somehow influenced her to be more like him and if she should be worried that she'll go dark or cause a student of hers to go dark. If she doesn't know why HE made that choice, how can she trust herself? It's not entirely dissimilar to the statement she made at the end of the Wrong Jedi arc where she claims she's leaving the Jedi because if the Council couldn't trust her then she isn't sure she can trust herself, either. And now with Anakin going dark, she has to wonder if the Council saw something of that in her when no one else did, saw a future for her that she hadn't been able to see for herself yet.

I think personally I'd just rather look at this episode as the closest we're going to get to a "deep dive" into Ahsoka's psyche and character rather than try to analyze it as like "what does this say about Anakin." It's not Anakin's story anymore, it's Ahsoka's. Or it's supposed to be, anyway.

That all being said, I don't think it went far enough and I do dislike that we didn't get to dive into OTHER aspects of Ahsoka via other relationships in order to round out who she actually is. I don't think we know any more about her at the end of the episode than we did at the beginning. I don't think she really grows or changes through the episode at all. I don't know what the whole "choose to live" thing was about or how it connects to her overall arc because while, yes, she's obviously literally drowning in the moment, "choosing to live" is not something they've been exploring as an issue for Ahsoka throughout this season so far, so it didn't feel like this cool end to her character journey so much as just a really shallow one-liner made to sound badass without anything particularly profound behind it.

I think gffa said that one of the things you can tell about this show is that it's been percolating in Filoni's mind for so long that there's things he's leaving out because they're just totally obvious to him now and he's forgotten that the audience won't know some of it without being told or shown. If Ahsoka was depressed or suicidal or something like that, it never came across in the first four episodes. She barely seems to be struggling at all to me, personally. So maybe that's what Filoni wanted us to understand about her, maybe that was the intention, but it just didn't quite make it from his head into the writing or onto the screen.

And I keep going back to the Obi-Wan Kenobi show and the way they handled his character arc. They started him at a really low point where he's so CLEARLY depressed and just moving through life without actually living or finding any way to be happy. They spend so much time showing us how OUT of character Obi-Wan is in order for the pay off by the end and the slow growth of his character throughout the six episode story to feel satisfying. And while he's out of character in his depression, it's done in such a way that that's the POINT. We all know WHY he's out of character, we know what's causing him to be that way, it doesn't need to be explained because it didn't happen off-screen, it's literally the plot of an entire trilogy of films. It felt like a pretty natural extension of the state we last saw him in and it allows him the ability to actually have a journey that makes sense.

We've gotten NONE OF THAT for Ahsoka. Her relationship with Sabine is nonsensical and comes out of nowhere with zero explanation. Her weird thing about Padawans comes out of nowhere with zero explanation. Her aloof attitude is coming out of nowhere and does nothing to help us understand the state of mind she's in. She never seems to be acting SO out of character that it tells the audience how much she's struggling, but she's also SO flat that she no longer feels much like the Ahsoka everyone knew and loved from The Clone Wars. They're inventing new problems for her to have that make no sense instead of giving her a journey to actually deal with the problems she already had and hadn't gotten any resolution for. And they're unable to actually connect her problems from before into the Rebels storyline in a way that makes any real sense or feels genuine and meaningful for either Ahsoka or Sabine, so both storylines are getting half-assed and butchered in the attempt.

Personally, I think Ahsoka should've had a season set closer to ROTJ or even before it, just after she gets off of Malachor and 2-3 years prior to ANH, to explore her immediate reaction to Anakin's betrayal and have her overcome that on her own. Use original characters primarily, throw in Bail Organa or something if needed just to give her a quick plot, but let it be about AHSOKA. And only once her journey to finding herself is complete do we then move on to the Search for Ezra, which should be focusing WAY more on the Rebels characters than we're actually getting and should not involve any of the Rebels characters (except maybe Jacen) learning to be Jedi. Ahsoka would be a side character in this story because she has now had her story told and we can let Sabine and Ezra and Jacen and Hera be at the forefront of the story. (I also think we could've done something with Sabine that wasn't being a Jedi or her entire family being murdered off screen so she has an excuse to do a characterization 180 and act like a bratty teenager all over again.)

If I had to just change THIS episode a little, I have a few alternatives I've been thinking about. For one, I do just think we should've gotten to explore OTHER relationships beyond Anakin to emphasize the other things that Ahsoka is that aren't just "Anakin's Padawan." Rex, Barriss, Plo Koon, even Kanan or Ezra to try to make that connection to Rebels. She's been a friend, a commander, a rebel, a student, a mentor, an ally, a Jedi. She's been so many things that have nothing at all to do with Anakin and I think that might've been nice to explore as well. Yes, Anakin was important. Yes, she's fucked up about it. But that's not ALL THAT SHE IS. So I think starting off with her fears about Anakin is great, but then have her move on and sort-of go through it a little like Charles Dickens' A Christmas Story to show that she's more than this, too. This probably would've worked better if it had been a two parter thing rather than one 30-40 minute episode, depending on how many characters you wanted to throw in.

I also would've appreciated seeing her break and shatter at seeing Anakin. I wanted her to be ANGRY, to refuse to forgive him, to throw his betrayal in face. And then by the end of the episode, she lets it go. She's seen that she doesn't need to hold onto that anymore and it doesn't matter what choices Anakin did or didn't make, she's her own person and can make HER own choices. And so Anakin comes back at the end, and she's no longer angry. She can forgive him. I also would've wanted her to have been more snappy and frustrated and angry earlier in the season, as well, so we can TELL there's something simmering underneath that she's trying to keep repressed until it finally boils over in this episode.

The other alternative I came up with was the OPPOSITE idea where Ahsoka is basically just kind-of... in denial about it. She isn't acknowledging her own anger and pain and betrayal at all and she just wants to spend this time with Anakin the way they used to and Anakin is sitting there provoking her and trying to get her to break so she can let it all out. Eventually he gets her to admit it and get angry and yell at him and acknowledge her own pain finally so she can see how it's impacting her relationships in the present day. She's been trying up until now, but as Yoda's always said, sometimes trying isn't enough, and you just have to do or do not. She doesn't reject him at the end of this, but she can at least acknowledge what he did to her and how it's made her feel. You could even include some of her anti-Jedi bullshit in this and have her justifying Anakin's betrayal by saying the Jedi failed him the way they failed her and Anakin pushing back on that idea so that by the end of the episode, she can recognize that she's been blaming the Jedi because she's been uncomfortable with her inability to understand Anakin's choices and it was easier to blame the Jedi than live with that uncertainty.

I've discussed my feelings on Anakin's redemption a lot and they're definitely not in the majority. Personally, I just don't think he's redeemed at all. My definition of redemption is along the lines of "you can fix/undo the thing you broke/damaged" rather than just... "you decided to stop breaking things even if there's no way to fix it." It doesn't mean Anakin can't keep being a better person if he'd lived, or that he can't find redemption in more specific places (like Luke forgiving him for chopping off his hand), but that there is no redemption for what he did to the Jedi, to the clones, and to the galaxy at large. None. It doesn't matter what he does, it doesn't matter that he stopped himself and Palpatine, it doesn't MATTER. The Jedi and the Republic are still gone, the clones were still enslaved, the galaxy is still in shambles and traumatized from 25 years under the Empire.

You aren't the only one who's chosen to separate your definition of "redemption" from something else to make it make more sense. Someone else went for redemption being different from an absolution wherein you are just immediately forgiven of all of your sins because of one act or whatever, while redemption is the process of doing better. If that works for you, go for it. Personally, I just think Anakin isn't redeemed. He cheat coded his way into being a Ghost and the Ghosts don't make any sense anyway. I think it's definitely intended to represent his redemption IN THE NARRATIVE, like that's the point of the visual, but it just doesn't work for me, so I choose not to see it that way. It's ambiguous enough and the Force Ghost lore confusing enough that it's not that hard.

Your interpretation of Luke and Leia as the two sides of forgiveness is intriguing. I do think Leia could get to the point of forgiveness that basically looks like letting go of her anger because the man's dead anyway so there's no real point staying angry and understanding the history that may have led him to become the monster she knew, but that doesn't mean she has to LIKE him or ever consider him a father.

I think you could kind-of throw Ahsoka and Obi-Wan in there as different reactions to Anakin, too. With Ahsoka as someone who sort-of clings to who Anakin used to be and can't truly reconcile the two versions of him that she knew, and Obi-Wan as someone who rises above. Unlike Leia, he did know and love Anakin, but he is also able to let go of his anger and betrayal and accept Anakin for what he is now rather than pining for someone who no longer exists. And Ahsoka is the opposite of Luke as someone who also knew Anakin and loved him, but struggles a lot MORE with the revelation of who he was and his impact on her life. Everyone approaches Anakin and his relationship to them and his choices in a different way.

I wish the Ahsoka show wanted to explore any of that at all lol.