#the fight is one of the best scenes of all time and it’s peak character development for John and he’s trying to save his family and without | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

yoiiyoii · 4 months ago

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In honour of the birthday of Giyuu Tomioka the best character in demon slayer (to ME), I will use my free will to rant about the best Giyuu panels in the manga:

Peak. Best of the best. Magnum opus of Demon Slayer manga. This specific moment is when my emotions reach the climax every single time I read the fight.

Giyuu and Tanjirou, one arm each, holding on to one sword, focus on the Rengoku sword hilt. Tanjirou being guided once again by the two hashiras he looks up to the most.

Once again, right after this, Tanjirou pushes Giyuu back and saves his life. A full circle, the lowest of the low for Giyuu, the highest of the highs of striking Muzan together.

Notice that Giyuu unlocked the red blade TWICE, once with Sanemi, his foil among the hashiras, and now with Tanjirou, the one he cherishes the most. Giyuu - always defined by his relationships. Giyuu as an individual character in a vacuum has very little to show. It's just another backstory, a traumatized hashira, just like the other demon slayers. Giyuu stands out in Demon Slayer because he is constantly present, he has developing relationships. The red blade is just another show for that. This panel does this theme of Giyuu justice too.

And, lore aside, the absolute HYPE of this scene. The long drawn fight, the hashiras with lost limbs all down, Sanemi and Obanai come in to attack Muzan and save Tanjirou, but oh-- where's Giyuu again? RIGHT HEREEEEE!!!!!!! LENDING A HAND TO TANJIROU, LITERALLY, AS HE ALWAYS HAS.

Pretty self explanatory. Absolute badass, putting himself between an Uppermoon and someone he cares about, Tanjirou.

It goes into Giyuu's biggest theme of protection. He hates being protected, he wants to protect the people he loves (just like Akaza). He did not want to be a 'useless komainu' to Tanjirou. I don't know if it's stated explicitly but its obvious that Dead Calm was created so he would be able to protect himself without needing the help of others. His fight against Rui was a simpler version of this: protecting Tanjirou (though at the time he didn't recognize him), against Rui, whose whole theme was about wanting to be protected by a family, with elders fulfilling their role of protection.

Here Giyuu and Tanjirou were, dealing with the same theme again, and Giyuu going all out with wanting Tanjirou to survive. It's not that he's been silent about his love for Tanjirou, but this is where he explicitly declares wanting to protect him, in his own words (do NOT take a shot everytime you see the word "protect").

Debating between this or the 4th panel, I chose this as the 3rd because this is MY post and I want to make top 3 posts all about him and Tanjirou.

And boyyyyyy is it about him and Tanjirou. He cant even sit up. Is it not insane to see him being THIS vulnerable?? in public???? Add to the fact that he knows Tanjirou's closer friends are right there in the same battlefield, and yet it was him who couldn't help but want to stay physically close to Tanjirou. If Tanjirou's death had been true, he'd be back at square 1, being useless, never strong enough (quite a recurring theme in Demon Slayer I must say).

Like, look, he's sobbing, he cried like three times during this whole DKT and death deal. When the inevitable Sunrise Countdown movie comes out, I personally would like to close my eyes and ears during this scene.

I admit this could and should have been number 3. But that aside, the coolest panel in the manga award goes to... (to be fair, that can be debated, other panels are just as cool if not cooler for sure.)

Sanemi and Giyuu, peak relationship in Demon Slayer. This moment is the climax to all of the buildup since !!Sanemi's first appearance!! (you see how Giyuu was giving him a whole lot of side eye that scene?)

In a way Sanemi and Giyuu bring out some ~interesting~ emotions in eachother. Who else would Giyuu call a simpleton? Who else would Sanemi pick a fight with, simultaneously trying to understand them? When you go to the AU territory, that's a pretty hefty magnetic pull of a relationship, isn't it?

And this moment - as I said earlier, one of the red blades Giyuu achieved, it's with Sanemi! Sanemi trusted Giyuu with equal strength (as Kanao said that was necessary for a red blade strike), and we've seen them draw before, and that's the ONLY hashira vs hashira we saw! (well, ufotable added a whole bunch, and I'm thankful for that, but I do regard Gotouge's compact and limited version of the story higher. Gotouge thought that Sanemi vs Giyuu was the most important hashira sparring for the audience out of all of them, and for obvious reasons).

All of that, AND the panel calls back to that one picture of Sabito flying over Giyuu. Two of the rough dudes Giyuu has been associated with, which is a nice touch.

And heyyy that's the sword that Sanemi threw at Giyuu!! Which was a pretty important moment right before Giyuu explicitly called himself a hashira (contrasting with Tanjirou, where he stood merely as the protector, the senior, with no regard to their posts and hierarchies). Sanemi gave Giyuu some real good push this fight. Would have loved to see them on a mission together, but alas, Demon Slayer manga is pretty limited with what it shows.

I don't have much to say. It's just cute, alright? Look at him all teeny tiny smiling about the prospect of being friends with Sanemi. What the hell. Why are you so cute. Look at Tanjirou sharing the same dumbass braincell. What's up with these two

Unranked honorary mentions:

10/10. More of 21 trio stupidness, please. And look at Giyuu's stupid face as if he didn't just insult Sanemi in front of everyone. OBANAI, HE DIDN'T EVEN SAY ANYTHING TO YOU-

His crow he's so attached to :,(. I would personally die for you Kanzaburou. And yeah, absolutely, Kanzaburou mistaking Tanjirou for Giyuu. They have the same essence I guess

MURATAAAAAAA and yes, while I do love this because of the whole Murata celebrity crush on Giyuu thing and all, I love how desperate Giyuu was the entire time to save Tanjirou, even in the middle of his own fight again MUZAN HIMSELF. And who better to take care of Tanjirou than Murata, someone who took care of him back when Sabito died? Connected bonds, alright. Sabito already helped Tanjirou with his journey back in Mt. Sagiri, he could also use someone else from Giyuu's past.

Post canon, all of it. The light in his eyes, his journey, he deserves all of the love and peace.

#giyuu tomioka #demon slayer #kny analysis

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ireadwithmyears · 1 year ago

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even if it’s handcuffed, I’m leaving here with you.

Pairing: Commander Fox/fem Reader

Word count: 4.7K

Tags/warnings, smut (18+: (miners DNI) dumb decisions, they turn out alright, slight exhibitionism (they fuck in the back of 79’s and Fox enjoys the idea of being overheard), oral (F receiving), fingering, light bondage, spanking, but like only one, unprotected P in V sex, dom/sub elements, biting/marking (it’s Fox, what do you expect)

Summary: Fox hasn’t been giving you the attention you’ve been craving. The way in which you go about fixing that is highly questionable, but ultimately, a resounding success.

Note: yes, this was 100% inspired by a specific lyric in I’mgonnagetyoubac by Taylor Swift, referred to in the title. I heard it, went Fox bby c’mere I need to do something with this, and this is the end result, which I hope is enjoyable. Also, do these characters have communication issues that they probably should acknowledge and talk through? Probably. Are we not going to acknowledge any of that here for the sake of✨minimal plot✨ yes.

“This, and I mean this in the nicest way possible, is one of the stupidest ideas you’ve ever had.”

To be fair, your best friend is saying this all while she downs a shot, barely containing her smirk behind the glass. She’s already given her rather enthusiastic consent to this idea that she has just declared is stupid

Because that’s what best friends do.

Look, you have to agree, the idea sounds completely outlandish and lacks any sound logic whatsoever, not to mention, there’s no guarantee that it’ll even work. But, lounging around a table at a bar on Coruscant’s Clubbing scene, and with your ride or die best friend perched across from you to egg on your delusions, it starts to sound not as crazy as it had initially sounded when you had first spoke the words aloud.

In theory, the idea is straightforward and simple enough.

Start a fight at the clone bar while Fox is on duty so that you can actually get him alone for more than two minutes.

You’re aware, somewhere in the back of your mind, that these are rather drastic measures for you to take just to get your boyfriend to notice you. But, with your rationalizing, alcohol emboldening you, and your friends immediate agreement to help without hesitation, this idea starts to seem not only reasonable, but solid.

Listen, if you were able to be a normal, sensible couple, and you could just do something like, you know, talk to Fox, you would.

The problem is, though, that Fox has been making that very difficult.

Being the marshal commander of the Coruscant guard carries a lot of weight and responsibilities, you get that. You really, really do. But, when he rarely makes it home most nights because he’s fallen asleep at his desk from overworking himself, and you can count the amount of times he’s touched you over the past two weeks on one hand, you’re starting to go a little bit insane.

Okay, so, you’re horny and so desperate for his attention that you’re willing to do something completely unreasonable, not to mention a little bit illegal, to get it. So what.

The plan, for all of its complete lack of sense and sound judgment, goes a little too perfectly.

The guard often sends some of their own out on patrols during 79’s busiest nights to keep order and ensure that there are no inter-battalion style brawls.

You have Fox’s schedule memorized. So, you wait until you know he’s set to make his rounds, pick a table that is clearly within his eyeline, and then, minutes after he shows up, give your friend the subtle signal.

It starts with raised voices, shouted accusations and glaring until you know you’ve peaked his interest. Even through the tint of his visor, you can practically feel his eyes on you from across the room.

Once you’re sure his eyes are securely glued on you, you allow high school drama and improv skills to take over, letting the fight escalate into something physical.

It’s hard, knowing that your friend is about to take the brunt of this for you, and your equal parts appreciative, and a little bit terrified, that she’s letting you launch yourself at her. But, you think to console yourself, you had practised this. How to make it look convincing, just good enough that it draws the attention of the cori’s, while also inflicting minimal damage because due to the fact that you don’t want your friend to get in heat for this too, making yourself the clear instigator, she’s only dodging, refusing to hit back.

When the thud of boots and the crackle of voices through helmet speakers come, barking gruff orders to break it up, you’re more than a little relieved.

Even with his bucket still on, it’s easy for you to identify that it’s him. Him who pulls you off of her, none too gently. Him, whose rough, gloved fingers enclose around your wrists, smoothly pinning them behind your back before you can even blink and fuck, why was that so hot? Him, who, for a brief moment, you feel the cold and unforgiving plastoid of his chest plate digging as he presses flush against you, voice a low, displeased rumble as he addresses you, voice too quiet for anyone else to hear.

“You know, princess,” he mutters darkly, giving your wrists a squeeze. “If you wanted tonight to end with me locking binders around those pretty wrists of yours, there was no need to go to all of this trouble.”

He knew.

Somehow, he’s figured out exactly what you were doing within seconds and for some reason, this only intensifies the thrill that runs through your body and causes your thighs to clench.

You’re not given time to ruminate on this, though, barely catch the subtle wink that your friend gives you before another member of the guard blocks your view of her as he kneels down to check on her. Fox, reflexes lightning fast, spins you around and immediately begins to usher you towards the back of the establishment, giving the other guard member on duty, you think it might be Thorn, a curt nod to acknowledge that he can handle this on his own.

Your led away to the sounds of low whistles, and many identical sets of brown eyes peering at you interestedly as Fox’s brothers stare at you when you pass by their tables.

Your face, at this point, has the decency to flush with oncoming embarrassment as they watch Fox leading you away.

No time for regrets now, you think to yourself as Fox reaches around you, still keeping your wrists firmly in one hand as he unlocks the door to an out-of-the-way office, frequently used to detain clones who start fights in the bar.

For better or for worse , you have captured his full, undivided attention for the night.

now, you think, it’s only a matter of what he’s going to do about it.

“You know,” he muses, arms expertly caging you in and crowding you against the office wall, “if you’re going to fake a fight to get my attention, you could at least have picked an accomplice who I haven’t already met, and who I am perfectly aware you are on good terms with.”

“How would you know?” You ask, still slightly breathless as his amber eyes catch yours in the dim light, levelling you with a look. “A lot could change in the two weeks that I’ve barely seen you.”

“Is that what this is about?” He asks, voice low and somehow too smooth and even, tilting his head to the side. “That explains why she made the effort to do this.”

He doesn’t back down, doesn’t even look away in any semblance of guilt, which is infuriating. You’re about to tell him so when you’re cut off abruptly, words dissolving into nothing but a short gasp as his head lowers, lips, followed by the sharp bite of his teeth along the much too exposed skin of one of your breasts.

You blink, looking down at yourself, startled. It appears that whilst your friend was engaged in skirmishing with you, she had managed to tactfully pull open a few buttons from your shirt, splitting it just so that one of your breasts is tantalizingly exposed, nipple barely covered by the remaining fabric.

It’s fabric that is quickly shoved to the side as Fox, eyes never leaving yours as he does, takes your nipple into his mouth, tongue rolling over the bud, encouraging it to harden between warm lips.

“It’s almost like this was... planned,” he muses, accentuating his words with a sharp pinch as he tweaks your nipple between his thumb and forefinger, smirking at the way you jolt with surprise. His breath ghosts along the column of your throat as he moves to whisper in your ear. “Wasn’t it, cyar’ika.”

You’re prevented from answering when his teeth nip at your earlobe, causing any words you had in your mind to fall away, giving way to a shiver as you arch into him. A thrill runs through your body, and a pleasant hum has replaced the void where your thoughts used to be. If you had the sense to be embarrassed about how easy it was for him to get you like this, you would be. But right now, pushed up against the wall with him looming over you, it takes all you have to reach for him, fingers trying to find perch’s between his armour plating.

“Fox,” you let out a whine, tilting your head up to look at him pleadingly as you press yourself against him.

“Uh uh,” he chides, quickly extricating your hands. “These stay here,” he orders, swiftly pinning your wrists above your head with one hand. “If you know what’s good for you,” he continues darkly.

“A and what if I don’t?” You try to challenge, but your voice comes out in more of a squeak, wobbling slightly, as his fingers trail down your sides, just teasing at the skin beneath your shirt.

He chuckles, the sound a husky, dangerous rumble in his throat. Abruptly, he drops to his knees in front of you, pulling both your skirt and panties down with him in one harsh tug. They pool around your feet on the floor.

“Oh, meshla,” he coos at you, voice dripping with mock sincerity as one gloved fingertip, tantalizingly featherlight, sweeps through your already wet folds, only grazing over your clit enough to make your hips stutter in surprise before he pulls away.

“Trust me, by the time I’m done with you, you will.”

Your ability to form a quick witted retort to that is greatly impeded, and ultimately foiled, probably intentionally, by Fox lifting one of your legs, manoeuvring it so it drapes over the curve of one of those broad, imposing shoulders of his.

Before you’re given time to react to this sudden shift of balance, he’s leaning forward, his impatience evident in the way he roughly holds your thighs apart as he does. Your clit is suckled into his mouth with an almost unadulterated greed as it’s pulled between his lips, tongue barely fluttering over it before your hips jolt, and the sound that manages to escape you, half in surprise, half a needy whine before you manage to check yourself, remembering where, exactly, he’s doing this to you, sounds just about as uncontrolled as his actions are.

He pulls back, only to give you a deceptively teasing smirk as he tugs off his gloves. “What’s the matter, cyar?” He almost purrs, a now gloveless finger slowly teasing at your entrance, eyes fixated on how you clench around nothing. “Got nothing to say now?”

He evidently finds his ability to have you this riled up with only a few touches amusing, because he’s again leaning forward before you can respond. A series of gentle kitten licks targeted at your clit, as his finger slowly presses into your heat has you forgetting about that fact quickly, the only sound escaping your lips being that of a strangled gasp-moan.

With the way his lips quirk and he lets out a small hum of satisfaction, the vibrations of which run through your body like a shockwave that leaves you breathless, it’s evident that this is exactly the way he wants you, squirming and desperate.

“Fox, I, we can’t do this here ohh.”

You lose track of the point you were trying to make with the smallest movement of his finger, almost gentle as it curls inside you, just brushing over your G spot, causing you to start stammering.

“Mm, why’s that, princess?” He asks, pulling out his finger only so that he can insistently begin to open you up with a second. “I don’t really think you’re in the position to be making demands like that, hm?”

Teeth nipping at that sensitive spot high on your inner thigh silences your retort. “So pretty,” he breathes, almost to himself as his tongue lazily soothes over the mark he’s made, before he’s back on your clit, lips, tongue, and fingers that curl and press and thrust all working to bring you up and straight to the edge.

And take you to the edge, he does. Within minutes that feel like seconds, he has you arching your back, pushing your hips to meet the delicious, constant thrust of his fingers and the targeted, precise teasing of his tongue and lips against your already sensitive clit, breathless begging and pleading because you’re just, you need, you’re almost.

There’s an audible clap as you desperately press your hand against your mouth, trying to silence the high-pitched, feverish whimper that’s fighting to escape your lips because there, right there, rightfuckingthereyoujust...

Then he’s pulling away, releasing your clit with an obscene sounding wet pop as he rises to his feet, calm and totally unfazed in the face of your obvious frustrated desperation, hips still vainly moving in an attempt to find something that’s no longer there. He looks down at you, watching with evident amusement in his eyes as you lose the high that he’s given you, languidly taking the time to idly suck on his fingers, still slick with your arousal as he waits.

He’s patient, simply staring down at your quivering form as he holds you within his scrutiny, deliberately drawing out the silence until the tension has grown thick, and it starts to make you feel disquieted, nervous, almost like you’ve done something you shouldn’t have and you’re now waiting for him to pronounce your punishment.

Only then, only once he sees the realization dawn on your face and your eyes widen slightly does he reach out, lightly tracing one finger over the back of your hand.

Your hand that he told you to stay above your head on the wall.

Your hand that is, right now, still pressed firmly against your half open mouth.

“I thought I told you,” he muses casually, fingers delicately wrapping around your wrist and pulling it away from your lips, “to keep these where I put them.”

You swallow, but look up at him with a falsely innocent expression because fuck it, you’re already out of the frying pan, might as well just jump headfirst into the fire.

“Well, technically you told me to do that only if I knew what was good for me, so... guess I don’t,” you say with a shrug, flashing him a smirk.

“Hm,” he huffs, pondering as he continues to hold your wrist, giving it a squeeze in warning. “So it appears you don’t.”

Within seconds, he’s smoothly spun you around, and pulled both of your wrists behind your back, with a speed that’s so succinct that you don’t even comprehend what’s happening until the heavy, cold weight of the binders settles against your skin, locking your wrists in place with a smooth, resounding click.

Oh.

A hand on your back gently nudges you forward and without question, you begin to walk, only pausing when he’s directed you to stand in front of a desk, the height of which reaches just above your waist. He urges you down, hand pressing in between your shoulder blades until you’re bent over, skin flush against the cool wood.

You jump when his voice appears, low and inches away from your ear as he leans over you, hands delicately scheming down your sides as he speaks.

“Oh, meshla, you misunderstand me,” he purrs, and he can’t resist gently nipping at your earlobe just to hear the small noise of surprise that escapes you and feel the way your body shivers beneath him.

You hear him settle behind you, armoured knees hitting the ground with a dull thump as his hands, warm and rough, ease your thighs apart, holding them wide.

Fingers lazily circle you’re already swollen clit as he continues. “You can cum, pretty girl. In fact, I want you to cum, and I want everyone outside to be able to hear all those pretty sounds you make when you do it.”

Outside, a muffled round of drunken cheering from several of his vode seems to punctuate his demand, causing your heart to quicken, and before you’re given time to really think about it, he’s opening you further, diving back in with his lips and tongue as his hands continue to hold your thighs apart.

For a moment, it’s just hot, heavy breaths, warm air tickling and brushing against your incredibly sensitive clit, the barest sensation and the heat enough to pull a breathless “mmm” from your lips, hips desperately pushing back against his waiting mouth.

You both know that you’re not going to last long, so Fox takes time to relish each moment he spends in between your thighs, every movement of his tongue and lips deliberate and controlled. The firm muscle of the flat of his tongue pressing against you is neither frantic nor fast, but it urges and demands with an almost maddening precision. The slightest role of his tongue over the bud as his lips pull you into his mouth nearly does you in, turning small, gasping whimpers into “oh please I fuck I please,” without any regard to the level of your voice.

Fox hums a response, and after that, you’re done, tipped over the edge by just the slightest nudge as if you had been clinging to it by your fingertips, and were now free falling.

You only come back to yourself when you feel fingernails raking up your trembling thighs, and Fox’s low, husky voice as he stares up at you.

“Mm, good,” he murmurs, running a finger through your sensitive folds just to watch you tremor.

He rises to his feet, and you’re not sure what you’re expecting him to do, if anything. Your mind is so addled by your orgasm that it comes completely unanticipated.

A quick, stinging swat lands against your ass, calloused fingers caressing over the skin as soon as it begins to heat beneath the palm of his hand. It makes you let out of rather undignified, surprised squeak, hands instinctively trying to move to cover yourself, but of course, they’re not going anywhere. The unforgiving metal of the binders cooley nipping at your skin as you strain being a good enough reminder of that.

“But I think you can do better.”

There’s the familiar sound of his codpiece being unclipped, a small clang as it hits the floor and is kicked away without consequence. Fox lets out a low groan, the only evidence to suggest that he’s nearly as affected as you are as he pulls himself free of his blacks, taking his hard length into his hand.

Your head drops to the desk, which is met with an immediate tsk of disapproval, Fox threading his fingers through your hair as he tugs it back up, pulling just enough to ensure that the tingle is painful, a reprimand as sharp as his words.

“Keep your head up, princess,” he orders sternly. “I want everyone to hear the sounds you make when I fuck you.”

He glides his cock through your wet folds, pausing to tease a few circles around your clit with the head as he continues. “And I want everyone to know how good I make you cum.”

The head of his cock lightly slaps against your clit, punctuating his words and causing the already overly sensitive nerves to spark and tingle. The whine that leaves your parted lips is a needy, pitiful thing.

You hear his low, throaty chuckle as he backs off, nudging the glistening head of his cock between your parted lips, smoothly lining himself up at your entrance. With one drawn out, controlled roll of his hips, he’s sinking into you, hands coming to grasp your hips as your tight, warm heat clenches around him.

Once he’s fully seated himself, feeling your walls fluttering around him, he moves, adjusting his angle in several quick, sharp snaps of his hips as he gages your response. When he finds the angle that has you crying out the loudest, and he’s satisfied that his cock insistently nudges against your G spot with every thrust, he begins to move in earnest.

Fox sets an even, measured pace, pulling back only to thrust back in with more power and intensity behind the insistent movement of his hips, cock pressing against all of those spots that need to be touched, caressed, and stretched for him.

Only when it starts to build inside you, because really, after you’ve already came from the talents of his skilled tongue, it really doesn’t take much to bring you back up, only once you start moaning and writhing beneath him does the rhythm change, not stopping, but slowing considerably as his fingers grasp at your hips, pulling you against him and keeping you still despite your squirming and protests.

You can feel his armour plates digging against your skin as he moves, the cold, unforgiving plastoid in combination with the hot slick of skin on skin as he firmly presses your hips against him is dizzying, and sends your head spinning with each gentle pulse of his throbbing cock.

He holds you there, keeping your ass pressed flush against his pelvis, only allowing small, controlled ruts of his hips that brush his cock against your walls, his form radiating patience and authority as he looms over you, watching as you mercilessly struggle for him to give you more than what he’s allowing.

Your hips try to push back, to do anything, but without being able to brace your hands, you’re not getting anywhere fast at all, and your struggle to gain any kind of leverage ends with you throwing your head back, letting out a high-pitched, frustrated whine as you look back at your tormentor, who watches with an almost impassive expression, eyes dark.

He sweeps your hair over your shoulder, littering a trail of hot kisses and sharp bites along the exposed column of your throat as he moves to your ear.

“Got something to say, meshla?” He coos condescendingly, nuzzling his nose against your neck and letting out a warm breath that sends goosebumps down your spine.

Under the full weight of his attention, he manages to scatter the few strings of coherent words that your brain was trying to piece together into something useful. All you can do is moan helplessly, feebly pushing back against him in an attempt to get him to move in vain.

“Hm,” he muses, and you feel the brief scraping of teeth as he runs them along your shoulder. “Guess not. Maybe I’ll just stay here, until you can figure out how to use your pretty mouth to tell me what you want.”

You know what he wants, and it only takes one small, barely there nudge of his hips for it to come spilling out of you, with minimal protest or fight.

“Please, sir, please,” you beg, both cheeks and eyes burning at how unsteady your voice sounds. “Please fuck me.”

“Ah,” he pretends to come to the understanding and that bastard, you don’t have to look at him to know that there’s a devilish smirk on his face as one of his hands leaves your hips, dipping to run along your inner thigh.

“Understood,” he says, voice as short and crisp as if he’s just barking an order to one of his troopers.

With that, he withdraws, unsheathing himself so slowly that every inch of him drags along your walls as he pulls out. Then, without warning, grasping your hip tightly, he slams back into you, pushing against your tightness and pulling you back onto him at the same time. His pace is now brisk, unyielding, and unwaveringly steady as he impales you on his cock, letting out low, breathy sounds, pausing to listen to the mules and moans that leave you in response.

As soon as he starts hitting someplace deep, quick and primal and constant, your back is arching, your ability to form any coherent words seemingly depleted.

Or at least, that’s what you think, until his hand, that had up until this point been squeezing and massaging the sensitive skin of your inner thigh, moves in between your legs, fingers expertly catching on your clit, circling, pressing, and the occasional tap against the overly sensitive bud that has you gasping and jolting in place.

“Fox,” you whimper desperately, hips wriggling even though there’s nowhere to go. “Please.”

Whether you’re saying please to beg him to stop because you can’t, it’s too much, or you’re saying please because you want, you need him to never stop, to keep going because the attention he’s lavishing on your clit combined with the delicious way he’s filling and stretching you on his cock feels so wonderfully good is unclear.

The decision is quickly taken out of your hands when Fox, evidently seeing how close you are, abruptly adjusts his angle, redirecting his focus yet again to your G spot, hips rolling against you as he targets it with small, precise and shallow thrusts.

“Be a good girl,” he murmurs, hand releasing your hip to rake his fingernails down your spine. “Cum,” he orders, giving your clit another tap before he continues his tantalizing circles. “Cum for me.”

You throw your head back, spine contorting as you arch, only vaguely aware of the desk digging into your ribs as you cum, eyes squeezing shut and walls clamping down on him as some sound that you don’t even begin to hear nor control is ripped from your throat.

Only then does his pace falter and does he pull you back onto him to bury himself to the hilt within you, cold armour plating firmly pressing against your ass and your thighs, as he lets out a long, low rumble as he stills within you, spilling his release within your warm, convulsing heat.

You’re aware of your head falling against the desk, finally too exhausted to keep it up as your body trembles with aftershocks. You’re aware of his hand, soothing as it strokes through your hair. You’re aware of him slowly easing himself out, you think you might make a small sound at the loss, judging by his low chuckle, but you’re not sure.

You only really begin to engage with the world again when you feel the rush of liquid leaving your core, causing you to let out a small gasp.

“Shh, little one, s’okay,” Fox murmurs, gathering the mix of his and your release that glistens on your folds with his fingers, slowly pushing it back inside, causing you to whimper.

He guides your legs back into your panties and skirt with tender hands, pulling you to your feet and reaching around you to button up your top.

It’s only when he’s about to steer you out of the room that you realize.

“Fox?” You say with a frown, raising a questioning eyebrow. “Aren’t you gonna, you know, undo the binders?”

He looks at you, hands occupied with snapping his codpiece back into place.

“No,” he responds shortly. “You still instigated a fight. I at least have to play off the charade that I’m taking you back to HQ.”

He sets his helmet back on his head, and even though you can no longer see his face, you know that there’s amusement in his eyes, because even though this was your plan, he still has the last laugh.

“This is still a punishment, and considering I’m letting you off the hook in terms of having to pay a fine, it’s a rather generous alternative, don’t you think, Meshla?” He reminds you lowly, voice clear even through his helmet modulator. “Get moving,” he orders, nudging you forward impatiently.

your mouth drops open as the noise from outside slowly filters into your ears.

He’s about to make you walk through the bar.

Your wrist still in binders as he escorts you out.

Past many of his vode.

With his cum still leaking out of you and the fresh bite marks that he scattered across your neck and shoulders like ornaments.

They’ll take one look at you, and even if they hadn’t managed to hear some of what was going on, which, judging by the dryness in your throat, would be a complete miracle of the force, they’ll know exactly what you did with the Marshall commander whom they all serve under and fuck, the burning twinge of humiliation should not effortlessly combine with some sort of excitement, but it does.

Your cheeks flush, and it takes all of your willpower to start shuffling your feet forward.

Well played, Commander. Well played indeed.

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pleasantinternetperson · 19 days ago

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Okay so I just read Wereworld by Curtis Jobling after watching Wolf King on Netflix, because I found myself intrigued by the concept and heard that the books were for a more mature audience - and I have to day, after reading it, I do kinda wish that the show had leaned more towards the gritty, horror fantasy aspect of the books.

Look, I love me a good adaptation, especially for more underrated book series', but personally, I feel the show would've benefitted more narrtively and visually if it had been geared towards an older audience.

I really think it would've provided a really interesting dichotomy between Drew and his innocent, pure drive for peace for everyone living in Lyssia, and the violence that he has to endure and cause himself to get to that peace.

Because, give me Drew Ferran, young, Cold Coast sheperd boy who adores his mother and is best friends with his brother and loves his father even when he's a grouch, and is quite possibly one of the sweetest lads around, and watch him be faced with horrors of the world as all kinds of people try to tear him down for revenge against the father he never knew he had, and his lycanthropy making his life absolutely impossible.

Give me Drew Ferran stumbling into the Dyrewood with Mack Ferran's wolfshead blade still in his stomach as he reels from witnessing his mother murdered right in front of his eyes by a monster, and then having to live in the most inhospitable forest in the world for six months with nothing and no one to offer him a helping hand, as he's left to fend for himself, cold, alone and without his family, who hate him for thinking he murdered Tilly, and wondering what the hell he actually is when his hands become claws and his teeth feel too sharp in his mouth and he has to abandon his humanity to survive.

Like, I really would've loved to see glimpses of that struggle we see in the books as he tries to get by in the Dyrewood, and then finally meets Witley and Hogan. (Btw its so hilarious the way my guy is entirely oblivious to the fact that whitely is a girl until the very end of the book - peak comedy, 10/10, no notes)

Speaking on the visuals for a second, the show is absolutely stunning to looks at, and I really enjoyed the story book feel to the animation - but again, I feel like it was really lacking in showing how powerful the therianthropes really are by toning down the damage they can deal, because it does get pretty gorey in the books, considering Drew rips his own hand off at one point - badass behaviour from my baby boy I gotta say (don't come at me Drew is slowly becoming my new blorbo)

And my god, the final battle at the end of the first book is truly one of the most phenomenally frightening, high-stakes fight I've ever read, like I was genuinely at the edge of my seat wondering how the actual fuvk Drew was gonna get himself out of this one, and I think the show really puts itself at a disadvantage by not going all out with it - because can you imagine:

The courtyard is covered in fire, and it's casting the entire scene with a burning, orange glow, there's smoke everywhere , and Drew is stumbling back from the Rat King brothers, battered, bloody and bruised after watching another parent die in front of his eyes again, and now he has to fight these fuckers that have killed most of his family and made his life a living hell, with basically no energy, lycanthropy he can barely control, and a dream that it might all be better one day if he can get through this?

Chills. Literal chills.

I've got some criticisms on the book as a whole, but I think I'll go into them another time - but they're fantastic books with such insane lore and world building, it feels real, and that's such an important part of writing a good fantasy I feel like, because a lot of fantasy stories these days don't do much to flesh out the actual the world their characters are in, struggling to strike that balanceof narrative cohesion and having a world that feel livable for your characters to inhabit.

Overall, yeah - I think Wolf King is a good show, but it's really holding itself back from what it could be by being a show for younger kids, and I would really like to see it do well in the future regardless of what I think it could be doing better

#wereworld #wolf king #wolf king netflix #drew ferran #netflix #fantasy #werewolves #And every kind of wereanimal really lol

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noodle-is-unstable · 8 months ago

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The JJK Characters and their main kinks

(Head Cannons)

Ft ~ Satoru Gojo, Suguru Geto, Kento Nanami, Toji Fushiguro, Ryoumen Sukuna, Choso, Takuma Ino, Shiu Kong, Uraume, Yuki Tsukumo, Shoko Ieiri, Mahito Kink ~ Yes, a lot of them Synopsis ~ The main kinks of the JJK Characters Content Warning ~ 18+, a lot of different kinks. Idk adult stuff

Gojo ~

Kink: Praise/Degradation Yes, both. This man wants to be called a good little slut SO badly. Any mix of praise and insult will have him moaning your praises. Pretty little whore, beautiful cum drunk slut, handsome fuck toy. His eyes will roll back instantly

Geto ~

Kink: BDSM Anything to do with BDSM get Geto going. Rope, candle wax, impact play, roleplay, has into it all. Absolutely has a separate bedroom with all this stuff set up and ready to go

Nanami ~

Kink: Submission Nanami loves when you willingly submit. No force, no aggression, just you turning to putty in his hands. If you look up at him through your lashes and ask what he wants you to do he is DONE, COOKED, IN LOVE

Toji ~

Kink: Switch Toji is a switch to his core. He loves to fight for dominance with you before sex starts. It's always a toss up who'll be in charge but he'll enjoy it every time

Sukuna ~

Kink: Primal Play Sukuna is a feral animal at heart and it comes through in the way he fucks. He wants to hunt you down and take what's his. He doesn't want it to be easy and wants you to put up a fight. Let him bite, scratch and growl until his hearts content

Choso ~

Kink: Edging/Overtimulation This poor man wants to be so overstimulated he's shooting blanks and chanting your name like a mantra. It's all about the anticipation for him, the build up, the climb just before the peak. Build him up and take it all away and he'll be crying and whining in the best way

Ino ~

Kink: CBT (Cock & Ball Torture) This man wants to be stepped on. He wants his cock in a cage and a small one at that. He loves the pain and wants his cock top come out black and blue. If you'd allow it he'd wear a cage around all day everyday, only giving you the power to free him

Shiu ~

Kink: Brat Taming Shiu loves to wrangle people and put them in their place. The brattier you are the harder he gets, especially after putting you in your place. While he sits in his car, waiting for jobs to be done he's thinking up new and more fun forms of punishment

Uraume ~

Kink: Wax Play Their wax collection is unmatched. Every colour and shade they will make art on your body. Dripping slowly and methodically to turn you into a literal art piece. They almost cum without being touched when their art is done

Yuki ~

Kink: Domination Anything where she is in control and in charge gets her going. She craves the power, there is no switching, she is always in control. Physically can't get turned on unless she is dominant

Shoko ~

Kink: Roleplay Loves to play pretend and act out different scenes. Her favorite is Nurse and Patient but you're the nurse. She just loves to come up with different roleplays. You've even gone to bars, pretending to be strangers so she can pick you up and take you home

Mahito ~

Kink: Yes That's just it. Yes. Anything. Everything. The more kinks the merrier. He doesn't care what it is, how weird, he will ALWAYS say yes. use him to fulfill your wildest fantasies, he's just thrilled to be apart of it

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greyonelost · 22 days ago

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Have you ever heard the tragedy of Syril Karn and Dedra Meero? It's not a story the rebels would tell you.

I don't think I will ever be over it. I hate what they did to these characters in episodes 7-12 of season two of Andor. I am whining and this is LONG.

Syril and Dedra were established as intriguing imperials they made you root for with relatable flaws. Both were products of the system, the result of a life of brainwashing. They were tragic and emotionally starved, just like Kylo and Anakin. They were firm believers in the empire but you also somehow really liked them. They were some of the most well developed characters in that show. Both were serious, awkward, emotionally damaged, driven, ambitious, intelligent and with no other friends but each other. Both were starved for recognition. Dedra was capable, highly intelligent and underappreciated, but at the same time she wasn't running around screaming at people like Reva or choking underlings like Vader. She treated her assistant as her equal. Syril was a wide-eyed, idealistic, pure, everyday guy, devoid of malice and distictively rebel-like in his belief in and passion for justice. After an embarrassing failure he had to go back to his emotionally abusive mother. We watched him being starved for the validation he never got and looking for it constantly in his superiors by despertely doing his best. Syril was the one you felt for and related to, Dedra was the one you admired. Rooting for them at that point was inevitable.

Then you observed the two sympathetic, unappreciated, traumatised weirdos slowly finding each other. You cheered for them when he saved her, you cheered for them when you saw them happily sharing domestic bliss, you cheered when you saw Dedra stand up to his abusive mom and when you saw Dedra's humanity peak through when she was with Syril. She was becoming softer compared to the Dedra in season one. Living with him and loving him was changing her.

And all that is a thousand times more relatable than the adventures of badass heroes, who do heists and revolutions.

And heists and revolutions aren't relatable to serious, damaged, lonely people because they don't dream of heists and revolutions. They don't have the need to rebel. They don't fit in a crowd to relate to and fight for their cause. People, who don't fit in, dream of connection, of being recognised, of being seen and understood.

And Syril and Dedra were relatable in their flaws and struggles. Much more than the good guys. With the good guys, you can just FEEL being told "this character is flawed but GOOD, this is how you are supposed to think, this is how you are supposed to be, look at them and like them, look at how good and virtuous or cool and badass they are". But they still feel distant and you feel nothing.

Serious and earnest people with emotional damage are more closer to Syril and Dedra than they will ever be to any of the rebels.

These imperials were some of the most well developed characters in the show. More nuanced, intriguing and relatable than all of the rebels, with the exception of Luthen.

Then the tone noticeably shifted in episode seven with Dedra's untypical reaction to Syril asking questions about Ghorman. It didn't fit her character, it didn't fit the Dedra they had established until now. Remember, that she was an intelligence officer who came from law enforcement, she demonstrated she can think ahead and deal with stress. But now that Syril wants answers, instead of just saying she will explain later, when they are alone, at home, her intelligence is turned off and she starts rambling like she is delusional and forces a kiss on him, like a school girl, clearly to his discomfort. Again, this wasn't the Dedra who we saw dealing pretty well with challenges to her authority and loss of control with Blevin and with Eedy. This scene only made sense as a way to get them to that point of Dedra getting screamed at and choked - where again, she was rambling, and where they had to, again, turn off her intelligence to make sure she messes up that conversation too.

Which scene, turns out, has no redeeming nuances. Or at least they didn't matter. She never tried to resist him, she didn't call the guards on him, she never got angry or even upset that he put his hands on her. She let it go immediately like it was nothing. Because she loved him and she wanted him to stay. I thought this was supposed to mean something. That it would be the first step towards her "Are we the baddies?" epiphany But no, it was revealed to be pointless. Just like that scene of her breaking down in the small room after learning about Syril's death. I thought that as tragic as these scenes were, they would be the first steps in her realisation that she has been brainwashed her entire life. But no, it meant nothing.

I thought her trying to back off from the Ghorman project, her giving the order obviously against her will, were all signs building up to the moment when she is finally done with it. But again, it meant nothing.

I thought they were showing her pain and conflict to build up to the twist of her changing sides but it turned out there is no change of heart for her. As the show progressed, the abuse of Dedra Meero only intensified and you realise with horror that the cruelty is the point. The nuance was just left hanging like a loose thread. Which is why I think the original story was different but was later changed. (Season 1 as a whole was much more coherent, season 2 felt like stitched together but that will be a diffent rant.) They dropped hints of her having humanity in the first half of season 2 and then just took it in the opposite direction. It just didn't make sense. And worse, it was cruel. They literally took away her humanity, they denied her humanity. Just think about it for a moment, think about how sinister and personal and spite driven it is - they took away her humanity and all the nuance that made you feel for her to make it acceptable to abuse her. And also her competence. They took away that too. They DEHUMANISED her.

Another thing that makes me think they changed the story was that they said some people will switch sides in season 2. But then it didn't happen. And no, Syril getting his entire worldview shattered doesn't count. He didn't join the rebels, he just got shocked and then killed off in the moment when he finally figured it out and got some clarity.

It'a a cruel and cynical ending for the most pure, imperial character in the show. And he was also one of the most interesting. They put a lot of effort into developing him - showing him being tortured, starved for recognition, believing in doing the right thing and desperate to do better in any way. But in the end none of it mattered. The writers just had him rejected by his newly found father figure on Ghorman, Carro Rylanz, another one Syril desperately wanted to prove himself to. Syril's last words to Rylanz included the line "I mean you no harm." only for him to be dismissed and later executed by Rylanz point-blank.

Syril Karn was like a child. Even the actor said that. Mentally, he is an adolescent. And that was the real reason Dedra didn't tell him about the true goal of the Ghorman project. She knew he was pure, she knew he couldn't take it. She wanted to protect him from her life. He was her truth, her escape from the life of brutality and lies she was trapped into but couldn't escape. And honestly, I don't think the thought of escaping ever crossed her mind. Just like with Syril, the empire was almost her entire personality. Also, they would never just let them disappear, she knew too much and was too high up. It would be like trying to leave the mafia. She would have been killed immediately. Same thing would happen if she refused to relay the order on Ghorman. They would have just offed her and then a quick holo call from Partagaz telling them to proceed would have made her sacrifice useless. She did try to resist taking the project both with Krennic and Partagaz only to be dismissed. So, she was trying to carve out a life for her and Syril. She was doing it for them, for him. She loved him, she wanted him to be happy. That's why she got him the promotions ("You didn't seem to mind the promotions!"). That's why she got that spy gig for him on Ghorman ("It's good to see you happy.") She never wanted to manipulate him. She could have hired anyone. And it would have been easier for her, because she wouldn't worry so much about their safety. She wanted to protect Syril. ("You were careful?", "You need to go home and pack and be ready to leave.")

That's why it's so hurtful what they did to their relationship. He was the only one she made a connection with, the only one who loved her, the only one she loved and they had him scream at her, choke her, leave her and then die and never be mentioned again. In the end, his love and respect for her didn't matter, her love for him didn't matter. He was a character they used to hurt her just for the sake of it.

And then episodes 10-12 took the torture of Dedra Meero to a whole new level.

First, we see her in the last arc finally capturing Luthen, or as the ISB refers to him, Axis. And this is a moment, when again she was acting out of character. Her toying with Luthen, her smug mustache twirling, villain monologue... Again, her behaviour just didn't fit her intelligence and experience. She was not the type to gloat. She did a monologue on Bix but Bix was already in the chair and the monologue had the purpose to intimidate her and make her talk. In contrast, Luthen was still free, on his own territory and could do something, which he did. An experienced hunter like Dedra would never do the mistake of gloating before arresting her target, especially one that is as dangerous as Luthen. She failed to catch him for years, and when she finally does, instead of quickly arresting him, she does this rookie mistake. Again, you can see how the story was adjusted just for this to be a step in her downfall and have Krennic scream about it in her face.

Then there is the backstabbing Heert plotline. I hated that. Yes, considering the cut-throat work place, it is plausible. But still, she was never domineering to her assistant in any way, she treated him as her equal. So, turning the loyal, competent Heert from season one into an incompetent, jealous, backstabbing jerk really came out of nowhere. Another subplot, that felt like the writers came up with just because they needed to somehow take her down. Like the order from Partagaz to arrest her. The same Partagaz who was impressed with her initiative in season one, would arrest her when she finally caught Axis? I doubt that. The Axis job was taken from her because they wanted her to focus on Ghorman but now that the project is off the table, they would have no problems about her stepping over boundaries when she delivers results. She was rewarded for doing just that in season one.

And I can't help but notice that all the men who respected Dedra Meero in season 1, were systematically turned against her in season 2 (Syril, Partagaz, Heert) and shown to backstab, abandon, disrespect and abuse her. Also, these men were given quick deaths, while Dedra was mentally destroyed and turned into a slave. And the second part of season 2 involved men putting their hands on her. They could have picked any supervisor to show how fascism uses and discards people, but they picked Dedra and turned her fall into a prolonged degradation porn with close shots of her being horrified, intimidated, sobbing and breaking down. And if you think this is about making a point about fascism, I have a bridge to sell you.

And lastly, the Lonni thing. Somehow this intelligence agency that excels in investigation, would be too quick to accuse one of their top hunters of being a rebel spy and discard her just because a colleague went through her files? Again, this felt like the writers just needed her to fall. In that interrogation Dedra killed it, there was no doubt she was honest. No commander, no matter how fascist, will destroy their top and most loyal hunter because of a few slips. That scene, like Dedra's entire final arc, was indulgence in cruelty.

The last moments of her on screen were pure torture. Her getting manhandled again and verbally and physically intimidated by krennic while she is getting increasingly horrified... The close shots of her in the arrest, broken, stripped of rank and disheveled... Her completely broken down and sobbing in narkina 5... Make no mistake, she will not survive more than a month before the last shreds of her dignity and sanity are gone and she jumps on one of those electrified floors. By the time she was sent there, she already had lost everything - her position, her love, the empire discarded her, her dignity and any hope. She had nothing left to live for.

It's pure sadism. No one deserves that except Palpatine. Vader and Hux did much worse things and they got a more dignified/quick death.

It's almost as if they surveyed the reactions to the first season and then decided to please everyone - both the part of fandom who wanted a love story between her and Syril and the misogynists who wanted to see her broken and crushed and her relationship with the loyal Syril who admired her twisted into her manipulating him and him putting her in her place. I have seen many mean comments wishing for Dedra to get the EXACT SAME things the writers did to her in episodes 7-12.

Sadly, it won't be the first time they have done it. During the original trilogy, many men complained that Leia was acting like a space bitch, so Lucasfilm put her in those slave bikini in episode 6 to soften her. And Disney did the same with The Last Jedi. The worst part of Star Wars fandom screamed to the heavens that Rian Johnson ruined their childhood and that's why episode 9 was changed.

That would explain why season 2 of Andor feels like it was stitched together while the first one was flawlessly coherent. It would explain why season 2 felt a bit underwhelming compared to the first one. And why some subplots felt redundant and had no connection to the rest of the story or why they were so prolonged. But it makes sense if the original story was something else and changed at some point.

But that's a different, less long rant, I posted it here.

#dedra meero #syril karn #dedril #keero #andor #andor season 2 #andor spoilers #hurt/no comfort #andor critical

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srslylini · 7 months ago

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okay in all honesty Sevika's character is so interesting and one of the things I loved the most about season 2 is watching her.

We see her character as soon as act 1 in season 1 and we also know that she used to be loyal to Vander, but because she is a character who rightfully wants to fight she sees Vander as someone who she can't continue to be loyal to

"Vander had his chance"

she hands the people she follows/gives her loyalty to chances. We see it time and time again with Silco. We see her loyalty waver but we also see it strengthen. She is extremely smart and cunning. She knew immediately what kind of powerplay Finn wanted to start and played along with it, so he wouldn't catch on (letting him light her cigar, dusting of his place before he sits down during that scene with Silco where Finn then gets killed)

But she also made a display infront of Silco to show him her patience is running thin. One of the reasons she went along with Finn is to show Silco that, while Finn isn't the one, there is always others. This also shows how damn respected she actually is, like lets imagine basically any other character having such a severe power play with Silco, she knew that he knew that there was a possibility she could kill him.

Her patience for Silco is also mostly running thin because of Jinx. Not because she genuinely just hates Jinx but more so because Jinx is in fact a disaster (sorry sorry) and DOES get in between her missions. And well Silco basically shrugs and goes your fault have fun cleaning that mess up. If we go and only take season 1 it's actually easy to think that Sevika really dislikes Jinx but with context from season 2 I just don't think that was the case and it was moreso frustration.

and now Silco is dead and she has placed her hope in him and his nation of Zaun. That talk with Jinx in season 2 is genuinely one of the best, if not the best, scenes out of that season. Her and Jinx begrudgingly get closer. She is still loyal to Zaun and well they don't give up their people and Jinx is one of them.

As early as act one she is shown to literally be ready to jump to death if necessary to be of use and like??? they utilized her character perfectly in season 2 before they decided to write her out of act 2 for what ever reason (still salty about that)

Their little found family coming because Sevika is admirably loyal and extremely smart but also just unwilling to relent to anyone and still always the fighter is the best the writers could have done.

edit: lol dumb thing to forget, genuinely I'm tired but the continuity of her gambling addiction and it also being a thing Jinx and her bond over in season 2 because Jinx gifted her a gambling arm was genuinely peak writing. Also there is something to be said how she also gambles with the lives of others (Silco in that scene, cause he HAD no idea if he would survive "where you tempted" "not for a worm like him but there will be others" like OKAY DAMN) and how she ALSO uses her own experiences to guide others, sometimes subtle, sometimes not so much.

just in general, I appreciate her character so much and I hope they don't disappoint in act 3

#there is so much more that can be said about her character #genuinely she has become one of my top characters #welp #arcane #arcane season 2 #arcane season 1 #Jinx #Silco #Sevika #Vander #loyalty #arcane spoilers #i wish i wasn't so tired so i could write more #character appreciation

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myheadhurtscutely · 1 year ago

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i'm craving some fluff with sam monroe rn. sharing my thoughts and curious for yours?? just rambling lol ❤️❤️❤️

listening to music in sam's room with him, maybe getting ready for something? a concert? and fixing his makeup, his hands unable to leave your hips as you work. ofc his eyes are glued to your lips (and occasionally drift down to your tits) and there's just a soft, unspoken connection between you two. i'm imagining he listens to The Cure (idk if it's really his type of music i'm not all into that culture ngl) and it's just a gentle scene. ofc later on after the concert is over (or whatever event) he can't help but wanna make out with you, maybe you're sitting on his lap in his car. maybe there's a bit of tension- but you two make out until the sun comes up, and return to your respective houses with the both of your makeup messed up. i also feel like he's the type to either be too nervous to hold onto you in public when he's sober, but if he's had anything at all he's all grabby and aggressive with it. I think he'd get jealous a lot when he's not sober too. Definitely the type to get into a fight if he thinks some guy is looking at you too much.

idk if it's too in character but i love my emo bf💋

friends to lovers?Sam Monroe x Reader

wc' 878

Warnings! mention of a tiny bit of violence, marijuana use, sexual implications but nothing crazy. crazy amounts of fluff tbh.

LORD HAVE MERCY THANK YOU

i love this.

you and sam are best buds, like comfortable silence type close. You have always gone to concerts together and what not. You were both the social rejects, and that was okay. Because you had each other.

whilst the friendship was cute and close, it was extremely abnormal in some ways like you laying on his chest after school in his room while he showed you some underground pierce the veil and souxie and the banshees. He knew you liked them so he would do everything he could to peak your interest. His odd fixation with your body, lips, and face was not a friend kind of normal either.

You and sam had eagerly been waiting for months. concert tickets ready. and outfits picked and packed. It was your guys favorite band and some how you had snagged tickets a couple months back for a birthday gift to sam. He obviously was overjoyed when you surprised him with this. it gave him a reason to be delusional. he'd often lie awake, listening to your breathing on the other end of the phone whilst you slept, practicing his confession.

Today was the day. Sam came over with his pre rolls, tickets, and his dingy old eyeliner stick. He tried to fix his hair up a bit so he could look good for you guys wouldn't have to loose anymore time getting ready.

You opened the door to your room, guiding him to your bed to sit where he's sat countless times before. "go ahead and light one while i get my stuff ready." Sam might as well been in a trance, not listening to a word you said. you looked perfect. You were already ready to go, make up, hair, outfit, all perfect in everyway.

Sam fumbled with his joint and lighter after finally coming back down to earth and recalling what you told him. You and him both took drags of it as you put your pallets near you on the bed, sitting yourself on sams lap. His head leaned back against the pillow to look at your pretty face hanging over him.

sams hands naturally rested on your hips, like every other time you did his makeup but this time was different. His hands drug up your sides, his mind falling between his imagination and reality. He had done this a million times in his head, though he'd never admit it. He couldn't fathom how soft and beautiful you were sat on his waist like that. He hoped you didn't notice the prodding object growing underneath you. He had always told you it just does that when he's high. You shrugged it off.

His lips were mere inches from yours as you gently smudged his liner, looking up closely to make sure your work was perfect. He couldn't do anything but smile. even with his eyes closed he felt your divine prescence warming up his insides.

Your lips quickly brushed his cheek as you excitedly praised your handy work, urging him to look at the mirror. His face was beat red, almost as if you smacked the fuck out of him and left the imprint of you. He smiled the whole way to the concert.

"have you ever shot gunned before?" you asked him in the back of the taxi with a plotting grin, joint slowly burning in your hand.

the ride back home after the concert was quiet. you and sam had gotten the both of you kicked out.

Some guy had tried to dance with you, and eventually went as far as to borderline grope you. In no world would sam let that happen, so in response, he busted him in the face. you were quick to follow with a swift kick to his gut as he was knelt at your feet. so now here you were. back in the taxi, already on the way back home

Neither of you knew what to say. You felt bad cause it was sams birthday gift, and he felt bad cause he couldn't imagine how distressing that must've been.. and did you see him differently?

your hand slowly slid over to his in the backseat. you both knew peace in that moment. everything was ok. tired eyes met the others as you both give crooked smiles, to further affirm your feelings.

you and sam took turns, brushing each others thumbs the rest of the way.

You and sam didn't wanna go home yet. The taxi driver dropped you off at your car in the lot near home, and you both escaped the frigid air by climbing inside. The backseat was pretty empty except for some blankets and a couple of sams clothes from the last sleepover.

The both of you climbed to the back, seeing as neither of you planned on getting home for the rest of the night, feeling too weary and disoriented to travel any longer, much less separate for the night.

A cold chill shook you against sam as your body laid in between his, propped up against the passenger door. "Cold?" Sam asked, rubbing his hands up your arms, sliding over your goosebumps.

Sam adjusted himself sliding off his oversized jacket, opting to make it a blanket for you instead. As the hum of cars passed you both by, and the rain pattered on the windows of the car, he pressed soft kisses to the crown of your head.

note' i know this wasnt exactly what you had in mind but i loved this idea and i kinda ran with it, tysm!

#sam monroe x reader #sam monroe #hayden christensen x reader #hayden christensen #sam monroe x you #sam monroe fanfiction #anakin skywalker x reader #anakin skywalker

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theoldspark · 29 days ago

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Not the anon who criticized Skybound on the confessions blog, but I saw your reply so I thought I'd send an ask. I'm a fan of Skybound but I can see a lot of valid criticisms wrt pacing (mostly action), a large cast with many characters that don't get enough page time (tho it isn't even That large yet so it's kinda more a TF problem in general imo...), subplots that take a long time to get addressed/resolved (tho I am reserving final judgement on this until #24 comes out which will be the end of DWJ's time as the writer of the series. I started reading Skybound around #14, imo as a binge read it's fine, but having to wait half a year or more for something to get resolved is killer. I never read traditional serialized American comics before the Energon Universe so I don't know if this is typical.) More specific criticisms would require spoilers.

I think whether you'd like it or not depends on personal taste, it isn't perfect but it's fun and the art is gorgeous. If nothing else is peak, the art absolutely is. The contrast between the super stylized and saturated G1 designs next to the super detailed humans and environments is crazy. The preview of the cover by DWJ for #20 (not out yet) is a perfect example of what I'm talking about. Jorge Corona's penciling is also wonderful, the "skinned alive"/tortured Autobot in #8 is SO visceral and expressive. The issue that introduced Beachcomber was similarly breathtaking. The fight scenes are also incredibly dynamic (thanks to DWJ's background with wrestling). Reading it in hand is worth it for the spreads alone. Despite what I said about characters lacking pagetime, characterization is still strong - YMMV but it definitely has one of the best Optimus Prime's, and I'm a HUGE fan of their take on Elita. The humans are also done well! They actively add something to the story.

I guess the main thing is that when I try to think about what Skybound is doing NEW I kind of come up with a blank. Mostly small things so far. It hasn't lasted long enough to do anything crazy yet because it was committed to starting from ground zero. We only got Megatron in issue #18! And #19 was a flashback, so that's over a year and a half before Megatron became an active character. The war on Earth not immediately involving Megatron was very cool (especially if you like Starscream being petty and murderous) but the plot moves slowly. I've only read a bit of IDW so I unfortunately can't compare between the two of them. Idk how far IDW1 had gotten story-wise after the first 19~ issues they published. BUT...if you (general you) enjoy G1 (especially Sunbow G1 which is the "Bible" DWJ is using), there's really no reason why you wouldn't like Skybound? FWIW I only got into Transformers within the last year and watched all of G1 as an adult and loved it, so it's not a nostalgia thing for me, but it's def the closest retread of G1 done in years. Which I personally appreciate, since there's actually a lot of really interesting G1 stuff that never got touched again!.....but that's why I actually slightly prefer Void Rivals, which has the most "Season 3"/scifi stuff in it so far, including Hot Rod in the last few issues. (yay!) We're even getting Wreck-Gar this month.

Apologies for the super long ask! But I hope this was useful.

Thank you so much, anon! I appreciate you taking the time to answer something I commented elsewhere.

To be honest, whether it is said to be good or bad, I always prefer to judge for myself after I've consumed the actual source material and not just people's opinions that may very well be biased.

However, it did seem curious to me that many fans seemed to only have good things to say about Skybound, so I was intrigued by the anon ask that said the opposite.

Reading your ask, I'll say that Skybound sounds like something I would enjoy. Plus G1 (although I haven't watched it all) is one of my favorite Transformers series, so anything closely based on it gets kudos from me. But I do see where the other anon was coming from with the criticism. Slow-paced stories don't always work, especially when you only have 24 issues to tell it. And one thing I'm not sure I'll be a fan of that I've heard of is 'Optimus puts Earth before Cybertron' once again. I've never liked that trope, but to be fair it's not anything new for Optimus Prime's character.

Overall, for the things I know, it's a story worth giving it a chance. It may not be perfect, but hardly anything is in this fandom.

#also you may notice that despite not having read it #I use a Skybound panel for my banner #it's the only thing I've actually read from Skybound and I really loved the depiction of Optimus then #transformers #optimus prime #transformers skybound #macaddam #maccadam's

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ffverr · 1 year ago

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hello I come to you with a request. I watched x men 97 recently and was saddened by how little time the whole magneto in charge of the x men storyline got and I know he does this longer in the comics (I can't say why but the phrase "its seven in the morning max..." lives rent free in my brain) so I wanted to ask if you have any recommendation for comics from that era / any recommendations for comics with mister magnet-os because I want to get into x men comics but comics as always are so daunting

It is my great pleasure to answer this!!

Disclaimer 1, I am still going through a lot of the issues of this era but I will try my best to make it as clear a guide as I can for you!

Disclaimer 2, Headmaster of the school and leader of the X-Men are quite different positions that they kind of fused together in the 97 show so I do want to make it clear that magneto in the "seven in the morning" era is headmaster of the school, teaching young kids, while Storm is leading the X-men team and Scott is leading the X-factor team, so with that said:

Magneto's teacher arc starts in uncanny X-Men issues 199 and 200 (iconic issues containing the trial of magneto that was adapted in the show!) And then he is headmaster of the school in the book "The new mutants" by Chris Clermont, from issue 35 to issue 75. It is A LOT I admit and he gets a more minor place considering the book is about the kickass young class of new mutants that he's teaching. But it is worth checking out! Many consider this to kind of be peak magneto because.... he's trying so hard to be a good teacher and to handle all these kids and it's very humanizing for him!

I mean look at him and his 8 kids!

Now, how to get into Magneto overall? Let's get into it:

I believe it is impossible to get into Magneto without reading his ultimate origin story, Magneto: Testament by Greg Pack. It is a quick intro, it barely features his powers (not an action comic) and it is a very very emotional read. I consider it essential magneto reading!

Next up: Two One shots if you want to get a quick primer on the character pre moral arc instead of sitting through his few appearances in the Stan Lee comics:

A classic one: X-Men: God Loves, Men Kills by Chris Claremont. It is an iconic comic book one shot that can be read out of continuity just to see what his deal is when he's not necessarily on the side of the X-Men but fighting for his own ideals! It's overall a brilliant comic book!

If you want a more recent retelling of the first appearances of magneto you HAVE to read X-Men Mythos that retells magneto's major first appearance in the 60s in quite a beautiful and amazing way! It also has an absolutely insane magneto scene that is very memorable! (So this would "chronologically" come before God loves men Kills)

Now for his switch from cartoon villain of the 60s/early 70s to complex guy in the 80s, read the issues 149 and 150 from the run Uncanny X-Men by Chris Claremont. This is THE pivotal moment for "good guy" Magneto

(know that after issue 150, somehow he falls in the ocean from asteroid M, is rescued from a shark attack by Scott's girlfriend Lee Forester. They have a quick relationship where he struggled with his change of morals then he comes to the new mutants)

if you want to continue chronologically you read the issues 199 and 200 that I recommended at the start then go to the new mutants book I talked about earlier!

If you want MORE MODERN comics, then I advise you get right into what's happening at the moment!

House of X powers of X are two series that intertwine (you'll easily find them in the right order) by the same writer, Jonathan hickman!

It serves as a status quo change/relaunch of the X-Men universe. Magneto plays a big part of the story as he is directly involved in building a mutant nation. I'd say it's a bold but quite functional intro to X-Men comics!

Then he appears as a major character in the GREAT series X-Men Red by Al Ewing alongside Storm, a character that meant a lot to him in the 80s, so it's really nice to see again.

In this he is- epic, depressed, suicidal, sassy, it's great magneto stuff! This series is widely regarded as the best X-Men comic out right now!

(if you want context for this book read the event X of Swords, or I could explain if interested)

That's about all I will lay on you ! If this is hella confusing, don't hesitate to dm me! I can detail more cleanly exactly what you have to read and when!

Good reading!

#magneto #erik lensherr #ffverr answers #comics ARE so daunting #but the trick is just to get into it until you piece together what the hell is happening and the history of it all #or in other cases you have me! who can talk about magneto and the X-Men for 5 hours to five you the big picture #x men comics #xmen #marvel #ffverr reading guides #x men #xmen 97

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isavulpix · 5 months ago

Text

Eyes Don't Lie (Part 1)

Jason Todd x Fem!Reader

Eyes Dont Lie Materlist

Part 2 | Part 3 |

Warnings: English isn't my first language so there will be mistakes, I haven't read a DC comic so the characters may be a bit OOC.

I hope yall like and enjoy it <3

isavulpix masterlist

It was one of those days in Gotham elementary school, the season flu was active, and some parents didn’t care about it. Sending their sick kids to school, it reminded you of your own school years. You weren’t the kind to get sick often, but when you did it was bad. Though, school and grades where way too important than a virus in your body.

So, you had double work, beside teaching and taking care of the kiddos, you had to make sure that the kids didn’t get to close to the sick kids. You can manage anything, from kids fighting about a toy to parents demanding their kids to have A’s. But you certainly didn’t want a full class of sick kids, the universe can’t be that cruel...

Jason’s was working on one of his bikes, his been doing this from very early in the morning. The same nightmares coming to hunt him, he learned that it was better to not fight it and just accept that he won’t be able to get drop of rest.

He cleans the sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand when his stomach remembers him that he hasn’t touch food since the day before. He takes the cue and gets ready for the day, taking a hot shower and heating up an instant food that will surely taste like shit. While the food does circle in a box with small amount of radiation, he looks at his phone for the first time in the day. He first looks at the hour it was 2:37 pm, he must have lost the scene of time while in the garage. Then he looks at the notifications, emails about subscriptions he always forgets to cancel, a news of Mr. Freeze again being beat up by Batman and Robin, and some messages from his family that he decided to ignore for now. They didn’t look urgent, what he does read is the only text he has from Roy.

>> Hey dude, I’m in a last-minute mission so I need you to pick up Lian from school. She comes out at 3 pm, don’t be late…she hates it and will make you pay.

Jason smirks at the text, Lian is the only little kid he can tolerate to be more than 10 minutes around. Maybe he will take her out for ice cream to win points for the best uncle title, he was sure he will win against Dick. Jason looks at the time again and his eyes widen, its already 3:00 pm he needs to move fast. He stops the microwave and prints to the garage; he was putting on his helmet when he remembers he can drive with Lian as a passenger and decides to drive to the Manor to switch from the bike to one of the SUV.

In the car he looks again at the time and curses, its 3:30 pm, he was more than late. Lian will not let this go for the end of times, and her old ass teacher most likely will scold his ear off about it. God how he hates teachers, really any form of authority…

You sigh as you look at the time for the million time, it was 3:46 pm and Lian dad hasn’t picked her up which was rare of him. Roy harper was one of the first to pick up his little girl, you where sure that if you let him, he would stay all day here with her. You often heard bad things about him, most things you only would classify as rumors from moms that where peak in high school and crashed in reality after it. God, how you hate parents like that, it was better to drink raw eggs than to deal with them.

Taking a glance at Lian to rest your eyes from the work you were doing in the laptop you see her drawing in a piece of paper you gave her earlier, so she won’t “Die from boredom”. “That a pretty drawing your making, who are the people?” You could pin pont that the red head stick was her father, but the rest was hard to say.

“This is Uncle Dick” Lian points at the black hair guy that was in a cable…in the air? “And this is Jay” She points at the bigger guy with white in his hair and a scowl on his face. Her grandpa? Wait no, if it was, she would have said it. Oh right, you heard some moms talking about a guy called Jason, maybe they are the same person? If you remember the rumors correctly, he was the partner of her dad. Maybe Roy harper likes older men? You almost laugh at the idea, obviously your mind being exaggerating and imagining Roy with a wrinkly old man.

The door of your classroom opens, and your eyes widen, it was a guy…a handsome one…too handsome, like crafted to be one of those sculptures. He is tall pretty tall in fact, surely 6’0 or a bit more, black hair with some white stripes…wait hold on. White stripes? Like Lian drawing? THIS IS JAY? JASON? ROY PARTNER? DAMN. Roy Harper is a lucky bastard.

You watch the man don’t even glance at you and beeline to Lian. No yeah, don’t even offer a good evening and sorry for being late man. Though you can find in your heart to late it slide this once because 1. The sole presence of that msn in earth is a gift, and 2. Lian looks to be ready to bring him hell.

Jason looks at the pouting Lian and knows he isn’t wining points today, but he does have to admit that she looks cute with the uncoordinated pigtails and the pout. After promising her some ice cream for his lateness and tickling her tummy so the frown goes away he and sending her to pack and get her stuff he prepares himself to face her teacher. He turns around to face you and the words he practiced in the car got stuck in his throat. You aren’t an old hag, not even close. Since when teachers are hot? In his time teachers were ugly.

But you? YOU ARE DIVINE, GORGEUS, like one of those people authors take reference to describe their protagonist. Wait...what’s happening to him? Is this some kind of spell? He can’t be thinking like this, well he can but this is Lian teacher he can’t…but then you smile at him, and he is goner. Fuck, pretty face and pretty smile, a killer combo.

You smile at the man feeling a bit awkward since he is just looking at you with a scowl in his face. Don’t tell me he is the time of parent that jokes that the time of the school ending should be 4: 00 pm or you will lose it.

Jaason finally arrives back to earth and clears his throat. “Uh sorry about the time..got stuck in traffic…” He looks at your eyes and something feels weird, not bad…but a sensation he can’t describe almost like his body…turning less tense?

You know the man is lying, the reason why pick up for the smaller kids is at 2:00 pm is to avoid traffic. “Don’t worry, I stay after hours anyways.” Usually, you would have been stricter about it, but for some reason you let it slide.

Jason thinks that teachers aren’t that bad after all, or maybe it only applies to you. Teachers like you where quite rare, he remembers that one of his English teachers where out of the school before the kids. He hopes you get paid well, maybe he can get Tim to hack Gotham’s School Bank account and raise your pay… “Thank, and sorry again. I um, my name is Jason” He offers his hand at you, and you shake it.

How soft. How rough.

He and Lian say your goodbyes and leave the cozy classroom, Lian talking his ear off about what she did that day, but he finds himself looking back at you and notices that something changed in your eyes...they seem less shining? Maybe he is finally presenting dementia.

Jason takes Lian to the nearest Carvel and lets her decide on her ice cream if she won’t tell Roy about his tardiness. He doesn’t want to get his picking-her-up privileges revoked…So, now he eats some brownie ice cream while Lian talks about random things like how your favorite color changes often because you like all of them. Thing that he found peculiar but cute.

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twst-hottest-takes · 5 months ago

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So, I’d say I’m someone who really likes Malleus. I enjoy seeing him pop up in events and the main story, and I’ll go out of my way to enjoy fanart and fanfics about him. BUT at the same time I’m his biggest hater, call me a Leona kinnie because as far as I’m concerned that’s my nemesis fr fr.

Seriously though, while I genuinely like Malleus, I also have a lot of grievances with the way his character is written and utilized whenever he shows up. For a while I had trouble pin pointing what exactly my grievances were, but it JUST hit me.

I was scrolling through some fanart I have saved on Pinterest(my Twisted Wonderland fanart treasure trove) and I REALIZED that all my favorite pieces of Malleus art featured him being emotional and/or really expressive; something we don’t get to see him be all that much, especially not in the main story.

And that’s my problem with Malleus, he’s not nearly as reactive as I want him to be, especially not when compared to the other characters. When it comes to Malleus, there isn’t a lot that can get under his skin and bother him, which is fine on paper but the way it’s executed means that most of his reactions to strange situations - ones that would have any other character panicking - are blunt and subdued.

And, of course, the reason he’s like this is because of ginormous power gap between him and literally everyone else in the world.

Why does Malleus not panic when the VDC stadium is destroyed? When Vil is turned into an old man? When ANYTHING bad happens? Because he can fix it instantly with magic, he’ll even comment on how easy it was. Even without magic we know that Malleus is physically super strong by virtue of being a dragon.

And it’s not just the big stuff, at this point I’m scared that Malleus’ next birthday card vignette will just be him immediately making himself look perfect with magic. Because of his incredible power, I feel like I’m missing out on a more messy, uncomposed side of him.

Like I just want to see this guy realize he forgot to set an alarm last night and he’s late for first period.

However, I’ll admit that this way of characterizing Malleus does have its upsides. That scene in Book Seven when we Malleus yells about the Senate and his Grandmother telling him what Lilia did for him??? PEAK, NO NOTES, BEST MOMENT IN BOOK SEVEN AS FAR AS IM CONCERNED, and I’m not certain it would’ve hit as hard if we DIDN’T have to slog through Malleus’ boring reactions thus far.

All of this is to say that when we finally get to fight OB Malleus and we get to see his backstory, I NEED to see him snap I NEED to see him panic and yell and cry and lost his composurE PLEASE YANA PLEASE.

And if they want to have their vaguely Grim shaped OB monster pose ANY sort fo a threat they better nerf Malleus HARD. Not just magically I need him to be physically weakened please. If this happens the birds will sing, the flowers will bloom, an angel will gets its wings etc

We've been hitting the nail on the head with these Malleus takes lately.

As anon said, he's had his upsides and moments and hopefully with the game moving towards the end (plz?) of Book 7 we can see more of Malleus' emotional range. . .gosh I hope so. Please nerf him. He can't keep being this powerful, if it always effects the weather it's no wonder he's emotionally stunted! BRING THIS MAN DOWN TO OUR LEVEL! (Or at least direct his rage at something worth smiting.)

I can only say, "Malleus is too important for his own good," so many times before it gets stale, but that's the issue in essence. So powerful, noble birth, such status, dragon, very dignified *Wow*. So trying to get him on the level where we really relate to and understand him as a person is awfully difficult for this game apparently. He's not the only character who suffers from the "can't have his image compromised because reasons" thing, but I digress. Malleus does have some fun and silly moments, but there's a lot more potential with him that's yet to be explored. I know that it's not impossible to have a character so far removed from average who can still be endearing and relatable, but the game just hasn't done that with Malleus. His otherworldly aura and pressence makes it hard to think of him as a person, which is very intentional; however, it puts him on this pedestal and has been written into a corner that doesn't allow his character to breathe. It's why he needs friendships like with the MC to help "humanize" him. That's something which the game doesn't do enough of.

Thank you for your take.

#twst #twisted wonderland #twst hot takes #hot take #twst hot take #ask response #twst malleus #malleus draconia #character writing #malleus is too important for his own good

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vadertyrannus · 4 months ago

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The lightsaber duels in the Original Trilogy weren't meant be "worse" then the Prequel duels

This ties into my earlier post debunking myths about Darth Vader's power level (an addendum to my Darth Vader is the most powerful Sith in Canon post), but I thought it was worth it's own post.

Sometimes, when I state canonical facts about Darth Vader's skillset, (primarily that he's the best lightsaber duelist)...

...people will try to cite the differences in the fight choreography between the Originals and Prequels as a counterargument.

The lightsaber duels in the Prequel Trilogy are more extravagant then the Original Trilogy. They're faster paced and more acrobatic, the Jedi and Sith are doing all sorts of flips and spins.

Most people chalk this up to the respective times in which the films were made. They weren't able to make fight scenes as "epic", back then.

As such, they are more then willing to buy Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, and Ben Kenobi being portrayed as more powerful and skilled in other Canon material. It’s downright disingenuous to insist otherwise (at least, if we're talking Canon).

We even see that in Star Wars: Galaxy of Adventures, the Vader and Luke duels are given more gravitas, emphasizing the narrative intent.

Even in the old EU, Vader is an excellent duelist. He is, after all, supposed to be 80% as powerful as the Emperor, according to Lucas.

Despite this, Lucas purists will sometimes point to quotes in which Lucas insisted a narrative reason for the choreography differences:

"We've actually never seen real Jedi at work, we've only seen crippled half-droid half-men, and young boys that learned from these old people. So to see a Jedi in his prime fighting in the prime of the Jedi, I want it to be a much more energetic and faster version of what we've been doing."

But once one does their research, they'll realize that this explanation isn't true to the narrative intent at the time the OT was made.

While it's clear Canon amped up the OT characters back up due to love for them, I believe there's legitimately good reasons to favor this interpretation for the story.

And while “it was originally intended that way” isn’t actually the best argument for why something is a good storytelling choice (after all, Vader being Luke’s father is a retcon, and it’s the best storytelling choice in all of Star Wars), it’s still important to establish this. People often try to cite "George Lucas' Vision" to give their arguments more legitimacy, so it's important to establish how fickle this "Ultimate Vision" actually was.

Now, I want to make it clear, when I say the OT duels are "worse", that's not reflective of my opinion of them, but rather the idea that the OT duels are more tame because the combatants are less skilled.

To divulge into discussion of personal preferences for a moment: I've come to prefer the OT duels far more. The two Vader vs. Luke duels in Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi are the peak of Star Wars lightsaber duels for me.

They're ferocious, yet still grounded enough to feel the stakes. There's weight and power behind each and every lightsaber strike. Far more emphasis is placed on the dynamic between the characters.

The characters were still doing cool lightsaber moves and acrobatics, but it felt balanced. These feel like fights between two badass warriors with supernatural abilities.

The Vader vs. Ben duel is alright. It's not as bad as people say it is, it's sometimes awkward, but there's still cool moments.

In comparison, I find the Prequel duels overstimulating to the point where they actually become boring. When there's 100 lightsaber strikes a second, suddenly each of those strikes become weightless noise. Sometimes I lose track of what's even happening. Who am I supposed to be looking at here?

This doesn't happen with any of the OT duels, in which it's always clear what character is meant to be the focus of the shot, as they're far more character-driven.

But enough of that, let's actually investigate the intent for how skilled the combatants of the duels in the OT was they were being made.

Darth Vader vs. Ben Kenobi was intended to be epic

One need not to look any further then this excerpt from the script.

The amount of flair given to the descriptions of the battle speaks for itself. Lucas goes out of his way to describe the duel in animated ways: "[...] a lightning movement of The Sith. [...]," "A masterful slash stroke by Vader is blocked by the old Jedi [...]," and "The two powerful warriors [...]."

This proves that George Lucas wanted this duel to be fast-paced and powerful.

And keep in mind, the words "masterful", "impressive", "powerful", "skilled", etc. are not used in the context of "for the OT-era". They just are. We're talking about a time when the Prequels didn't exist. Because the script is describing these actions within the context of the sci-fi world established by the film itself, they are impressive within the scope of the Star Wars universe.

This makes sense within the narrative framework of A New Hope: this is the ultimate battle between good and evil. The sinister Dark Lord of the Sith (the Master of Evil) and Master Jedi Knight (the Master of Good). Darth Vader is the ultimate adversary that Luke must aspire to defeat, and Obi-Wan is the ultimate good that Luke must aspire to be. The Bad Father vs. the Good Father.

George Lucas even says this:

"This confrontation with Obi-Wan and Vader— it works just as a confrontation between the good guy and the bad guy. I mean, he’s— Obi-Wan’s, at this point, the strongest good guy. He’s the one that has the most knowledge— the father figure that has taken on Luke. Then you have the bad father figure who is the evil father."

Vader killing Ben is a testament to his power to legitimize him as a threat to Luke, and build-up to that inevitable confrontation where Luke must conquer Vader.

For this to be a pathetic duel between two has-beens drains away all narrative power. It's also just plain dull, conceptually. It wouldn't make sense for Lucas to intentionally make a "lame" duel for audiences in 1977, free of any context from non-existent Prequels.

However, as with many things during the filming of A New Hope, he ran into problems on set. Most prominently, the lightsaber props were incredibly fragile, requiring the actors to not even actually collide them, but stop right before they hit. Once you know this, it becomes somewhat obvious how awkward the strikes are. Even as they cover it up with flashes added in post, you can see Guinness and Prowse are striking cautiously, as if the sabers are made of glass.

Additionally: this fight couldn't have been intentionally "bad" partially because Vader is a cyborg (which is dumb; I don't know why a sci-fi franchise would present cyborgs as incompetent), because Vader wasn't even intended to be a cyborg during the filming of A New Hope!

Originally, during the writing and filming of ANH, Vader was envisioned as a character more like Doctor Doom in Marvel Comics: his face was burned in a volcano, so he wears a frightening mask.

His suit was envisioned as an armored space suit decorated with Sith robes. This suit serves to keep him alive when he moves between ships, in addition to being armor in battle.

In post-production, Ben Burtt created Vader's iconic breathing sound effect. Lucas loved it, and realized it made Vader appear cybernetic. It is then, during the post-production of ANH, that he came up with the idea that Vader is a cyborg. This is when the imagined volcano backstory was revised so that Vader received far more injuries, requiring him to use a life-support suit. So while this iconic backstory was come up with by the time of ANH's release, it took time to develop behind-the-scenes.

This is the primary reason for the subtle changes to Vader's design and presentation between ANH and ESB/ROTJ. The shinier finish, placement of the armor above the Sith robes, additional electronic lights, iconic electronic flange effect to his voice (added to ANH in the special editions) were done to emphasize the newly-imagined cybernetic nature of Darth Vader.

And yet, even then, none of this was done with the intent that his cybernetics made him weaker in the Force or hampered his skills with a lightsaber. Or, at least, this is never mentioned, in any of the pre-PT sources I've read.

This is further proven by the fact that Vader fights better in the next two films then he does in this one.

Simply put, the duel between Vader and Ben was not intended to be a "bad" duel showing how far they've fallen. It was, in fact, intended to be the exact opposite: an epic duel between a master Jedi and master Sith.

The Improvements of the Vader vs. Luke duels

Something that was always apparent to me, which made me immediately see through Lucas' explanation, is that the Vader vs. Luke duels show a noticeable improvement in the quality of the choreography.

It's pretty awesome.

Sometimes, it really feels like when people say "OT duels" in a derogatory sense, they just mean the ANH one. While these ones aren't as "flashy" as the ones in the Prequels, they're still fantastic, and I find them more badass, personally.

There is plenty of evidence, too, that this was intentional. The filmmakers were aware of the shortcomings of the prior duel and wanted to up the ante. Hence the implementation of the usage of telekinesis in the fight, originally planned to occur in the first film.

This is also why they got professional swordsman and stunt actor Bob Anderson to play Vader during the duels. One of the reasons the Vader/Luke duels were improvements upon the ANH one is because Prowse didn't have the proper experience.

Additionally, it's important to note that, unlike the prior fight, Vader is holding back, as he isn't trying to kill his son. He wants him to join him. It is made clear several times in the fight that the Sith Lord is only toying with Luke, testing his abilities, and wearing him down.

"Don't make me destroy you." "Join me and together, we can rule the galaxy as father and son!" -Darth Vader, The Empire Strikes Back

"The challenge with the confrontation between Luke and Vader was to play it like a seduction, a temptation; the audience knows that Luke is not gonna die, so the ultimate hook is the fear that Luke might turn to the dark side." - George Lucas, Star Wars: The Annotated Screenplays

"So it's a slightly one-sided sword fight, where Vader has the advantage over him. Luke didn't know that Vader was his father, for the fight part, so what was happening is he thought he was fighting his bitter enemy, so he was fighting as hard as he could, he thought he was fighting the man who killed his father, fighting the man who killed Obi-Wan Kenobi, fighting the man who would, y'know, personify evil in the universe." - George Lucas, Star Wars Featurette: The Birth of the Lightsaber

The ESB duel was also meant to show that Luke had become a skilled and powerful warrior. He's still below Vader's league, but not as much as fans and Lucas would have you believe, post-Prequels.

"In Empire Strikes Back, it's the first time that the antagonist and protagonist actually fight each other, so that it is a very big fight, and Luke, now, has become proficient enough to be able to face Darth Vader." - George Lucas, Star Wars Featurette: The Birth of the Lightsaber

"During story meetings George Lucas and Leigh Brackett decided that it would be important to turn Luke into a very good swordsman and that that would pay off during his fight with Vader." - Star Wars: The Annotated Screenplays

"[...] because [Obi-Wan and Yoda] think [Luke's] the only one who probably has the power to kill Vader." - George Lucas, The Star Wars Archives: Episodes IV-VI, 1977-1983

The implication of the Originals is that Jedi training doesn't take decades, like shown in the Prequels, at least for someone as Force-sensitive as Luke.

Luke is supposed to be a powerful, skilled saber duelist, not just a novice.

This is especially egregious when there's literally a point in the fight where Vader points out Luke's skills are "most impressive" (when he super-jumps out of carbon freeze), when, in comparison to all of the stuff the Jedi do in the Prequels, it's hardly so.

Furthermore, lightsabers were originally intended to be heavy. Lucas stressed a rule that one must always use two hands to hold a lightsaber, in combat.

"George was adamant that these things were really, really heavy. That we couldn’t take a hand off [the hilt]. We always had to have two. It was like Excalibur, 40 to 50 pounds of weight." - Mark Hamill

"They’re very powerful and have a lot of energy in them… so you worked with them as if they were heavy." - George Lucas, Star Wars Featurette: The Birth of the Lightsaber

Vader is an intentional exception to this rule, so as to show just how fantastic he is.

This nuance is now unfortunately lost, as the Prequels completely went away with this.

A once intentional visual cue testifying Vader's incredible skill was turned redundant, and context is robbed to make what was once far more impressive appear less so.

While Vader is still meant to be more powerful then Luke and is holding back, this is still meant to be an epic duel between two powerful, skilled warriors.

This robbing of context is also true for the ROTJ duel.

It's emphasized throughout that Luke has grown more powerful between the two films to a substantial degree. This is part of the narrative purpose of the sail barge action sequence.

Vader also places great emphasis on it in their scene together on Endor.

"I see you have constructed a new lightsaber. Your skills are complete. Indeed you are powerful, as the Emperor has foreseen." - Darth Vader, Return of the Jedi

If Luke was actually not all that skilled compared to the Prequel warriors, Vader would have no reason to compliment his abilities or call them complete.

This is the return of the Jedi, not a weak imitation of the Jedi. Luke's skills are complete.

It's also heavily implied within this line that building your own lightsaber is a sort of right of passage for a Jedi Knight, and a testament to one's power. Meanwhile, in TCW08, younglings are shown constructing their own lightsabers.

Additionally, while Vader is now emotionally conflicted, thus his skills are hampered, he's still very powerful. For the majority of the duel, he is either winning or at a stalemate with Luke. Vader is fighting just as fast and ferociously as Luke is.

This is meant to be a great climactic duel between two masters of the Force and lightsaber combat.

However, once again, these lines, as well as the fight itself, are now dampened in impact because of the Prequels.

Luke isn't meant to just be a novice, nor Vader just a "crippled half-droid half-man". At least, not originally.

"So what's the problem?"

While this kind of thing might be alright for fans of the super extra (and IMO, ridiculous) duels of the Prequels, to me, and likely a lot of other people who prefer the OT and it's characters, it just comes off as insulting.

It's retroactively undermining the OT and it's characters to the point where it damages the storytelling and the stakes.

There’s a massive difference between a good and a bad retcon.

Darth Vader being Luke’s father is a great retcon. It adds drama and tension, and gives both characters way more depth.

Telling us the fights and characters in second trilogy actually suck in comparison to the first trilogy… doesn’t.

First, it’s really dumb from a general story structure standpoint. You don’t make everything in the second half of the story lamer then the first. Investment is gonna tank. Escalating stakes is important. It'd be like if Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame came out before the rest of the Infinity Saga.

Second, again, it’s insulting to the second half of the story, the characters within it.

These films were designed for Darth Vader, Ben Kenobi, and (eventually) Luke Skywalker to be badass, capable warriors.

They're designed for you to be terrified of Darth Vader, intimidated by his mighty power. The ultimate instrument of the dark side of the Force. His cybernetics make him superhuman. Not to be like, "Awww, poor cyborg, he's only a shadow of what he could've been."

He's the villain of three whole movies for a reason, and it’s not so you can only feel sorry for him. There's a tragic element to his character, yes, but it has nothing to do with his power-level. He's tragic because he sold his soul for power, became a monster, and lost everything he cared about because of it.

They're designed for you to think of Ben Kenobi as a wise, experienced master Jedi, a relic of the height of the Jedi, and the idol that Luke must strive to be. Not be like, "Lmfao, look at that lame old man trying to do a spin, he's so much worse then he used to be."

They're designed for you to be in awe of how fantastic a warrior Luke Skywalker has become. His training is the legitimate training of a Jedi Knight, and he finally becomes skilled enough to face the mighty Darth Vader. Not be like, "He's alright, but not as cool as those other dudes from the Prequels."

It's like if you're playing on a playground as a kid, you've got your great characters and storyline, and some other kid comes along and is just like, "Yeah, you like those characters? Well mine are actually way betterer and strongerer then yours in every way! And if you think otherwise you're just coping! So suck it!".

I'd far prefer it if the OT characters weren't retconned into being lame. Especially if it's to prop-up characters that I, frankly, don't care as much about. And even if I did still like the Prequels (I was a fan of them, once), I still wouldn’t like the idea of dragging the OT characters into the mud.

People don't like to be told the characters they love actually suck. And it seems Disney caught onto this and is rectifying it.

#star wars #star wars canon #star wars original trilogy #luke skywalker #darth vader #obi wan kenobi #lightsaber #star wars prequels

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jbaileyfansite · 1 year ago

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Interview with the Los Angeles Times (2024)

“This is where all the cruising happened.”

Jonathan Bailey and I are standing in Pershing Square on a bright, blustery spring afternoon, nearing the end of a homemade queer history tour of downtown L.A.: One Magazine, Cooper Do-Nuts/Nancy Valverde Square, the Dover bathhouse, the Biltmore Hotel and this, the city’s former Central Park, a haven, since before World War I, for “fairies” and “sissy boys,” servicemen on leave and beatniks on the road.

“Is it still happening now?” he asks.

“Probably not as much,” I venture.

“Well, you let me know if it’s happening,” he teases, a mischievous smile lighting up his face.

Bailey understands the uses of the charm offensive. As Sam, the handsome Lothario of Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s delightful pre-”Fleabag” curio, “Crashing”; Anthony, the romantic hero of “Bridgerton’s” second season; and John, the jerk of a protagonist in Mike Bartlett’s love triangle play “Cock,” the English actor, 36, has swaggered up to the precipice of superstardom. With roles in such studio tentpoles as “Wicked” and “Jurassic World” on the horizon, he may just break through. Yet he delivers career-best work in Showtime’s queer melodrama “Fellow Travelers,” as anti-Communist crusader-turned-gay rights activist Tim Laughlin, by leaving behind the self-assured rakes and tapping a new wellspring: soft power.

Tim may be, as Bailey puts it, “an open nerve,” but as it turns out, the devout Catholic and political naïf — who falls for suave State Department operative Hawkins “Hawk” Fuller (Matt Bomer) just as Sen. Joseph McCarthy tries to purge the federal government of LGBTQ people — is formidable indeed.

Stretching from the Lavender Scare to the depths of the AIDS crisis, in scenes of tenderness, cruelty and toe-curling sex, Bailey’s performance communicates that little-spoken truth of relationships: It takes more strength to submit than it does to control. The former demands discipline, courage, trust; the latter requires only force.

“In ‘Bridgerton,’ [Bailey] is like a Hawkins Fuller character — he is very sexy and has lots of power, has that kind of confident charisma that absolutely is not Tim at all,” says “Fellow Travelers” creator Ron Nyswaner.

But any doubt about Bailey’s ability to mesh with Bomer, who boarded the project early in development, was put to bed with the actors’ virtual rehearsal of a meeting on a park bench in the pilot. “‘Well, that’s a first,’” Nyswaner recalls an executive texting him. “I cried in a chemistry read.”

‘Am I inviting people in?’

Bailey grew up in a musical family in the Oxfordshire countryside outside London, and this, coupled with an appreciation for the morning prayers, choir practice and Mass he attended as a scholarship student at the local Catholic school, fed his precocious talents. (“I loved the performance of it,” he laughs. “Not to diminish the celebration of religious process, but I did love the idea of wearing a gown.”) By age 10, he’d appeared in the West End, playing Gavroche in a production of “Les Misérables,” an experience he now recognizes as an encounter with a queer found family — albeit one shadowed by the toll of the AIDS crisis, which peaked in the U.K. in the mid-1990s.

“When I’m asked about my childhood, there’s so much I don’t remember, and I think that’s true of anyone who’s been in fight or flight for 20 years,” he says. “I would have been in a cast of people whose friends would have died in the last seven years. I think of where I was seven years ago. I had all my gay friends then. It’s only retrospectively that I can retrofit a real gay community around me [in the theater], that I just wasn’t aware of [then].”

During the late 1990s and early 2000s, American and British culture presented queer adolescents with a bewildering array of mixed signals. As beloved celebrities came out in growing numbers, and the battle for marriage equality became a central locus of LGBTQ political organizing, the media continued to propagate harmful stereotypes of gay men as miserable, lonely, perverted or worse — and, Bailey remembers, callously turned George Michael, arrested on suspicion of cruising in a Beverly Hills restroom in 1998, and Irish pop star Stephen Gately, who revealed his sexuality in 1999, fearful he was about to be outed, into tabloid spectacles.

No wonder Bailey, like many LGBTQ people of his generation, should feel the “chemical” thrill of “validation and acceptance” during London Pride at age 18, then embark on a two-year relationship with a woman in his 20s.

“Dangerously, if you’re not exposed to people who can show you other examples of happiness, you think that’s the easiest way to live,” Bailey says. “It’s funny. You look back and you can tell the story in one way, which is that I always knew who I was and my sexuality and my identity within that. But obviously at times, it was really tough. I compromised my own happiness, for sure. And compromised other people’s happiness.”

Disclosures about his personal life have become particularly thorny for the actor since the premiere of “Bridgerton,” the blockbuster bodice-ripper from executive producer Shonda Rhimes.

“The Netflix effect does knock you off center completely,” he says, recalling the experience of finding a paparazzo waiting outside his new flat before he’d even moved in. “Suddenly, you do start having nightmares about people climbing in your windows... Even now, talking about it makes me feel like, ‘Am I inviting people in?’”

He is also critical of the media for churning out headlines about the smallest details of celebrities’ private lives, often detached from their original context. In an interview with the London Evening Standard published in December, Bailey described a harrowing encounter in a Washington, D.C., coffee shop in which a man threatened his life for being queer — and, in recounting the experience, offhandedly mentioned the “lovely man” he’d called, shaken, after it happened. Although Bailey acknowledges that the original story handled the subject with aplomb, he felt dismayed that more attention wasn’t paid to the intended warning about rising anti-LGBTQ sentiment: “The only thing that got syndicated from that story was that I had a boyfriend, and it wasn’t true,” he sighs. “It was kind of depressing, if I’m honest.”

Still, Bailey, who once turned down a role in a queer-themed TV series because it would have required him to speed along revelations about his personal life he wasn’t ready to make, is prepared to embrace the power of vulnerability when it feeds the work. Although a member of his inner circle expressed doubts about “Fellow Travelers’” steamy sex scenes, for instance, the actor intuited that they were what made the project worth doing: “I was like, ‘I’m telling you, they are the reason why this is going to be brilliant.’”

‘He’s changed my trajectory in my own life’

To those who would complain about the state of sex in film and TV, “Fellow Travelers” is the perfect riposte. All of it matters, from Tim’s first flirtation with Hawk to the finale’s closing minutes, because the series, at its core, is about the importance of soft power: the strength required to bend, but not break; to adapt, but not abandon oneself; to survive without shrinking to nothing in the process.And depicting that through sex, specifically gay sex, makes “Fellow Travelers” radical indeed.

Bailey understands that baring so much comes with certain risks. When I tell him that research for the story has filled my algorithmic “For You” feed on X (formerly Twitter) with speculation that his onscreen relationship with Bomer has a real-life element, he notes that “shipping” fictional couples and costars alike has long been part of Hollywood fantasy. But he bristles at the implication that he and Bomer are anything but skilled actors at work.

“I would love for people to know that the success of our chemistry isn’t based on us f—. It’s actually about us leaning into the craft,” he says. “It’s a vulnerable situation to be in, talking about it on record. I don’t want to rob people of their thoughts. But I do have a set of values, and as an artist, you don’t need to be f— to tell that love story.”

Underlying that craft, Bailey adds, is the confidence to speak up, as with one scene in “Fellow Travelers” that was adjusted because he said, “I don’t want to be naked today.” He learned to use his voice the hard way: In his early 20s, he recalls, he was once “bullied” on set when “someone was threatened” by him and vowed to himself, “I’m never going to do that to someone. I’m never going to allow that to happen.”

This impulse to direct his influence in support of others has blossomed further with “Fellow Travelers.” On the day of our interview, Bailey enthuses about an upcoming meeting with legendary gay rights activist Cleve Jones and shares his idea for a docuseries recording the stories of elders in the LGBTQ+ community while they are still here to tell them. He describes lying in a hospital bed on set on World AIDS Day, in character as Tim, surrounded by gay men who had lost friends and lovers during the crisis, and finding himself thinking, “What do I want to leave behind?”

“I think he’s changed my trajectory in my own life,” Bailey says.

This is, perhaps, the most common reaction I know to diving deep into queer history — the understanding that we, like our forerunners, are responsible for shaping the queer future, whether in politics, society or art. No one is going to do it on our behalf.

As we stand on the nondescript corner now named for her, I relate the story of the late queer activist Nancy Valverde, who was arrested repeatedly while a barber school student in the 1950s on suspicion of “masquerading” because of her preference for short hair and men’s clothing, and later successfully challenged her harassment by the police in court.

“What a hero!” Bailey exclaims, wondering at Valverde’s bravery. “The thing that’s so interesting with power battles is, ultimately, identity is the thing that gives you the most strength and power in your life, isn’t it?

“Because that’s one thing people can’t take away from you: who you are and how you express yourself.”

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#jonathan bailey #jonny bailey #interviews #interviews:2024 #LA times interview 2024 #LA times #fellow travelers #NEW!

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