#ok but literally absolutely delighted to receive this

[justablah56]

Have a character rant about Terry Jr, featuring Ron and some random headcanons about the relationship between TJ, Nicky, and Cassandra! Because nothing bad has happened to any of them at all, what are you talking about (oops, this ended up being long)

Terry Jr absolutely despises the scent of anything "For Men", which makes the soccer changing rooms in hs sensory hell. As a result, all his toiletries are technically marketed at women, but he is willing to pay the pink tax for floral-smelling stuff instead of... That.

(Ron notices how much his stepson hates it, and so also switched to quote-unquote for women products. In his enthusiasm to be supportive, he somehow ends up buying scented sanitary pads)

He still plays soccer, even as an adult. It's just at his local pub's team (which might not actually be a thing in America, oops) but he kept it up fairly consistently throughout his life.

Since being called away for DADDIES missions can really fuck up your work schedule, he works part time as an assistant coach/teacher at a dance studio with surprisingly flexible hours and a very understanding boss. Admittedly, she's seen him break down crying more than once over DADDIES-related shit that he had to explain with half-lies, so that may explain some of her patience with his unruly hours

Mostly he does community theatre though

He actually meet Cassandra before Nicky did! They were on the same drama course at college, got assigned together, and really hit it off. They ended up bonding so much that they considered each other their psuedo-sibling. Since, in this headcanon universe of blurredness, Cassandra doesn't talk to her parents at all, Ron and Samantha basically adopted her when Terry Jr brought her home during the school holidays, which only deepened their sibling bond

Terry's nickname for her is Star, because she shines bright and he was convinced she would make it big time in the acting biz. She has a little custom bracelet that he got her as a wedding present with that on.

He religiously drinks hot chocolate before soccer games, because Ron thought that a "warm up" was a drink to warm you up before a game. He put marshmallows in it and everything, so Terry Jr just happily accepted the bizzare brand of affection and support that so often comes from Ron. The one time he didn't drink it, they lost the game, and ever since that game the Doodlers make sure everyone has a hot chocolate before the game. They never lost since

(Additional headcanon that Grant accidently passed that pre-game ritual to Lincoln)

Since Ron can no longer wear pants, he took to wearing skirts when needed so as to not get arrested. However, due to a lot of the internalised toxic masculinity Willy installed in him, he felt uncomfortable doing so. Terry Jr dragged all the other kiddads thrift shopping for cool skirts and they suprised Ron at the next Oak-Garcia-Wilson-Stampler-Close-Foster-Freeman family BBQ by wearing them. Ron was so happy about them supporting him, he almost cried. Terry Jr ended up keeping skirts and dresses as part of his fashion rotation, and would even wear sports skirts (which have built-in-shorts) on the soccer field sometimes. When Ron disappeared, he stopped wearing them. He still has a gorgeous, corseted, galaxy dress in his side of the wardrobe at the Stampler-Marlowe residence that he hasn't been able to bring himself to wear, but also hasn't been able to bring himself to part with. Scary's seen him taking it out and looking at it longingly, and is definitely not devising a secret plan to get him to wear skirts by making him take her prom dress shopping and making him try on some himself. (She doesn't know why he looks so sad and longing, or why he doesn't wear them when he clearly wants to, but deep down she thinks he should. Terry Jr would start wearing skirts again for her)

Terry Jr and Cassandra both used some theories from Samantha's psychology books to train themselves so they have better coordination and clearer speech whilst drunk than sober (basically, you can remember things better in the condition you learned them in. That includes memorising a list of words whilst drunk. Idk if this actually applies to muscle memory, but for the purposes of this, it does)

Nicky and Cassandra have conspired to test all of Terry Jr's romantic partners, because they are both of the opinion that he only deserves the best and shouldn't put time and effort into people who won't stick around. This includes, but is not limited to, Nicky full on making out with Terry Jr in front of them, and Cassandra walking out into the living room of her and Terry's shared apartment in only a bra and sweatpants. She then proceeds to introduce herself as Terry Jr's roommate, rather than his sister like she usually does, in such a way that she's not outright implying that they have a fwb relationship, just enough to test if they'll get jealous or properly talk to him about why he seemed so completely unphased about her walking around topless (the answer being that she does it often, and it's only a problem when he has friends over who are attempting to be respectful. Grant covered his eyes and dove under the covers the first time it happened, because he didn't want to make her uncomfortable, despite the fact that she knows he's gay as fuck)

Terry Jr and Nicky have a very odd romantic friendship that everyone around them (which is admittedly just the other kiddads, Marco, Cassandra, and Rebecca) act like is completely normal, so occasionally Terry Jr just... Forgets? To tell his new partners about the fact that yeah, he and Nicky occasionally kiss and go on dates and by occasionally he means pretty much every week. Like, genuinely completely forgets that that's something he should mention because they might not be cool with essentially being in a polycule

Honestly, the entirety of the kiddads and spouses is like a QPR polycule

It is a frequent joke that Cassandra's initials can just as easily stand for Cassandra Stampler as Cassandra Swift. It is also a frequent joke that Terry Jr nicknamed Taylor angel, specifically for the irony of him being part demon. As a result, whilst legally Taylor's name is Taylor Alexander Swift, if you ask Terry what his initials stand for, he will without fail say Taylor Angel Stampler. Nicky is not impressed (he secretly finds it hysterical)

Terry Jr wants nothing more than for his friends/family to be happy.

Nicky and Cassandra's relationship was one that would have made a wonderful summer fling that ended naturally, but they both pushed it further than it was meant to live to try and show Terry that they were happy, so he wouldn't worry about them. The fact that Nicky whisked Terry Jr away during the wedding to make out with him should have been a big sign that this wasn't going to work out.

They were starting to file for a divorce, having mutually agreed that the type of relationship they were forcing themselves into wasn't working out for them, when they found out that Cassandra was pregnant. They halted the legal divorce and Nicky moving out, with the agreement to raise Taylor together for the first two years, and then have a 50/50 split of custody. Nicky was going to move back into Terry Jr's apartment when that happened (the betrayal happened before that could occur)

Cassandra often jokes that Terry Jr is more Nicky's husband than she is, since he was with him before, during, and after her

Terry Jr's preferred method of drinking water is not water with some ice cubes in it, but an entire glass of ice cubes with some water in it to stop them from sticking together due to the cold. Outside of sports, he's not good at remembering to hydrate, so he just crunches on ice instead

saw the notification for this , looked at , saw how much I needed to scroll , and immediately let out an absolutely delighted squeal hoLY SHIT ANON AHSJJWKDJND !!!!!! /pos

the terry/nick/cass polycule is something I never knew I needed but now refuse to live without, thanks <3333 truly the definition of this is my boyfriend and this is my boyfriends wife <33 Nick and Cass testing out all of Terry's partners is so fucking funny I love it , ALSO TERRY JUST . FORGETTING TO TELL PEOPLE HES BASICALLY DATING NICK EBJDJSKSKKSS they're just so silly and I will be Thinking™ abt them <333 but Terry meeting Cass before Nick did is actually so interesting to me , they are SIBLINGS your honor !! and the star nicknameee whahdjd 🥺🥺 I love them dearly <33 also the whole thing abt the skirts 🥺 Terry convincing the rest of his friends to wear skirts to support his stepdad 🥺🥺 and then him continuing to wear them ! AND THEN STOPPING ONCE RON DISAPPEARED WOSIHSJSJS 🥺😭😭🥺 plus the bit abt scary deciding that she wants to help Terry be comfortable wearing his skirts/dresses againnnn 🥺🥺 she cares abt him !!!! I just love all of this v much , ty anon I love you dearly<333

#i hereby dub thee tj anon #ok but literally absolutely delighted to receive this #youve made my week anon #this was an absolute joy to read through and i love all of it v much !! #this is all canon to me btw <333 #dndads #dndaddies #dungeons and daddies #terry jr #terry jr stampler #terry stampler #tj anon

[masteraqua]

ok so that post made me want to pull out recoded, and for nostalgia's sake i went into the avatar menu to read all the avatar sector levels i collected back in the day because i remembered them being really funny (spoiler alert they're still hilarious)

but then i started wondering if...those are even common knowledge? the game is more than a decade old now and it was never very popular to begin with so it wouldn't exactly surprise me if people weren't aware of this one obscure mechanic hidden in the optional game mode

so i guess if you're not aware, recoded had a (hugely fun vastly underrated) mode called the avatar menu, whose intended purpose was to let you collect parts for your avatar by connecting with other players via tag mode (essentially streetpass). when you made a connection, you'd receive an avatar sector floor (combat level) that would be added to a library of levels you could play for fun. every level would have the avatar of the person you tagged displayed alongside it, as well as their DS profile

but what if you live literally anywhere that's not japan and finding another human being who owns the game had similar odds to winning the lottery?? what then squeenix???

well not to worry, o friendless teenager, they've got you covered! the wonderful devs in charge of the avatar menu created a whole host of predesigned avatars that could be used collect levels, complete with their own profiles full of delightful flavor text. most of these preset avatars were based on kh and ff characters (even ones that didn't appear in the series like the ff13 cast!) and they're absolutely adorable

the catch is that, in order to collect these guys, you had to use tag mode in conjunction with another Nintendo system. in my case, i connected through one of the channels on the wii, but according to the wiki, you apparently could also use picto chat on a second DS, which i did not know!

the devs probably did not intend for players to abuse this feature and spend hours downloading dozens of avatar sector levels with which to expand their avatar's closet, but by golly that's what 15 year old me did. what can i say, i like dressup games 🤷‍♀️

anyway, that's a brief overview of the secret preset avatars. i'm not sure how many of them there are total but i have about 60 of them in my collection. but i only learned about them from reading forums circa 2011 so, as previously stated, it's probably not super well known info in this day and age lol

anyway here are some of my favorite avatar profiles in my library:

"forced laugher" still kills me

you might want to talk to someone about that my dude

the tina shoutout LOL

NOOOOOOO 😭😭😭 but also nice touch with the 14 trophies

and last but not least, we stan a gnc fashion disaster!!!!

#i had to edit the post on desktop in order to add a read more >:c #anyway this was a fun trip down memory lane #recoded my beloved <33333

[lavender-0-menace]

the people have spoken

so we start with light yagami. top of his school, great family, tons of friends right? well, it definitely looks that way. but if you look more in depth you start to see the cracks in his “perfect boy” persona. he goes to class, studies, and goes to cram school. we really don’t see him with any genuine friends and anyone he seems nice to he actually kinda hates in his inner monologue. the only time we see him hang out with people outside of school is during the bus jacking date and that one time he tried to find misa. it’s most likely intentional since he doesn’t think anyones as smart as him. he’s close with his family, but even then he’s playing the role as the golden child.for example, we are introduced to his mom via her asking him for his test scores, making small conversation, and then leaving him alone. she’s glad his scores are so high and compliments him, but doesn’t even ask about his day or anything. his dad works weird, late hours as a cop as well. he’s close to sayu, but pushes her away as the story goes on.

also, light is incredibly immature at the start of the story (and doesn’t really mature mainly because of the death note. as we all know, he developed a severe god complex and stop maturing mentally since he saw himself as this all powerful perfect diety who didn’t need to change his ideals and how he saw the world). in all fairness, he is around 16-17 when he received the death note. i think his beliefs are better summed up in Where Is The Justice than i could write. i fully believe that had he not received the death note he would have become a very respectable detective, but that is not his story.

to summarize, light is lonely, immature, and think he’s the smartest guy in the world.

until he meets L.

L Lawliet is a weird character. he doesn’t really trust anyone, is off putting to most people, and more importantly, knew light was kira even when evidence pointed otherwise.

it is a fucking delight to rewatch death note just to see L make light squirm. you realize all his weird tendencies were intentional. Light can’t take anything he says at word because L is always two steps ahead of him. i think it’s best shown in the phone scene, where light thinks he can get L’s true name (side note: i love how L’s real name is literally just L Lawliet. that’s so clever, he doesn’t have to worry about kira finding his true name, since he already knows it, kira just needs his last name but doesn’t think of asking because why would someone just be named L? it’s genius) and calls misa, then L reveals he has miss’s phone and fucking talks to light on it. then lights like “ok whatever he didn’t know misa has another.” AND L HAS THE SECOND PHONE TOO! he’s just an absolute genius.

additionally though, L is also very lonely. he doesn’t really have any friends and his only family is fucking watari, who i am sure kept him away from the other kids in the wammy house as a child so he could focus on detective work. he’s incredibly smart but he’s reached that level where nothing really satisfies his curiosity, which is why he takes on the kira case.

somehow along the way, kira and L become light and L, who are actually friends. they understand each other in a way no one has before. the yotsuba arc shows just how well they get along, even if they annoy each other. they aren’t lonely anymore. they have someone who understands thems.

once l dies, however, it’s clear just how much their relationship meant to light. even before they really became friends, their rivalry was amazing. L was the one thing keeping light in check and with him gone light goes completely off the rails. light does some things in the second half of the series (trusting people with the information that he is kira, falling for nears traps,killing takada, and letting mikami use the death note) that he wouldn’t have even considered in the beginning because of how risky it was.

and at the end of it all, it’s not misa or his father or ryuk he sees as he dies. it’s L.

#my blorbos <3 #death note #light yagami #l lawliet #lawlight

[elsecrytt]

Hey i read your posts on OM pet AU, and i just thought “what if reader give him a reward by introducing him to vibrators.”

Its a relationship where Lucifer trusts his owners so much already, so he knows they wont hurt him or do anything he doesnt want, they probably have safewords too, and all that stuff but theyre horny, ok. Theyre both absolutely horny. And Lucifer is a very obedient pet so may be the reader decided to reward them by giving/introducing Lucifer to vibrators/dildo. I imagine the reader is very busy and isnt always around so they give Luci the toy, so he can use it when his *ehem* lonely

(If the reader can have a cock that would be great, but if this is too weird for you or not your thing, just pretend it never happened and toss it to oblivion.)

Thank you so much

awh! reader with a dick isn't my go-to, but i'm happy to try out writing it! your consideration is very sweet, and you're very welcome <3

also i think you've sent in a request before but i was kinda burned out at that point and didn't get around to it ksdfhgkdhg. i'll try to make this very saucy nsfw for ur trouble <3

A warning tho (dark themes ahead!):

this a PET AU. it's not petplay, it's not consensual kink between two equal parties. lucifer is literally a pet. proceed with caution.

[tags: amab reader, implied handjobs/oral (reader receiving), implied penetration (lucifer recieving), casual dehumanization (i told you he is a PET)]

-

-

you're starting to think your pet might need a toy.

you don't really care, of course. lucifer's a good pet, by any standard, and an even better fuck (and though you don't admit it, an excellent cuddler), well-behaved, never complaining.

he keeps your house clean, does your laundry and puts it away, quietly clears any messes or disorder as if he was born to do it.

it's impressive; he's pretty, and you bought him because he was pretty - you hadn't expected him to be useful, too.

but lucifer even reminds you of this or that - a hand on your shoulder, tugging you towards the shower a few hours before bed, a note or errand you'd meant to run that he'd picked up on and prodded you about.

he's a diligent creature, washing himself regularly, but also following you into the bathroom like a dog, trying to shower with you.

his wings fit surprisingly well in there, you have to admit. he folds them up so tightly they don't bump into anything, and the feathers are mostly waterproof.

he delights in washing your hair for you, your back, rubbing you down with soap and carefully rinsing everything away.

hands roaming shamelessly over your thighs, between your legs, up, up, up.

it's not like he doesn't care about getting you clean, but he can never seem to resist the urge to run his hands along your cock, see if he can coax you into hardness before you get annoyed and swat him away, convince you to play along with his schemes.

lucifer isn't shy. he'll grind his own cock against your thigh, toned chest pressing against your back, wings enveloping the shower enough to make it cramped.

when you step out of the shower he likes to dry you off with the towel himself, and fix your hair for you, too, running his fingers through it carefully, fussing over the style and how it falls near your face.

it's not what you got him for, but it's charming, you do have to admit. he coos so happily when he gets to touch you that you can't bring yourself to snap at him, even when it's annoying, strangely compelled to sit still until he's finished.

something tells you lucifer would dress you himself, too, if he had any idea how clothing worked at all.

supposedly he can cook - you don't allow him to use the stove but he will cut fruits (with his claws, which you accept only because you know how meticulously he washes his hands), make sandwiches, bring you water or snacks while you are relaxing at home.

he's so eager for contact, to cuddle, or warm your cock while you work or watch tv, if you'll let him - the perfect pet to keep at home.

but when you leave the house, he's all alone. lucifer doesn't whine, but his disappointment is apparent in his abject delight at your return - and it is always such a lovely face to be greeted with.

actually, it's better if he's lonely, if it means he makes that face when you come back, except...

lucifer has trouble when he's left all alone with nothing to do. you don't know what he'd been put to doing before, but he gets restless, impatient.

you notice in the feathers that are fallen to the floor when you come home.

in the fingers, long and somehow elegant, that roam over you restlessly, how he's always looking at you expectantly; waiting for something to do.

it's fair enough. he's a pet - he needs enrichment.

or... a dark part of your heart whispers with a manic glee -

he wants to be filled at all times. by you, your cock, your fingers - anything you'll give him. why not give him something to play with when you're not there?

so you go. you know demons can... take more than humans. you're not the first owner who wanted to play with their demon like this.

lucifer eyes it for a moment when you first present it to him - confused, no doubt, but you're generous with him, you're sweet to your pretty, exotic, most perfect of pets.

rimming his asshole with a probing finger, maybe two. he's eager when he thinks you'll fuck him, but too clever to think the toy is just for show, shifting awkwardly while keeping your fingers inside him and whining.

but you've lubed it up nicely, and you work the lube into him, stretch him out a bit, watch him bottle up his moans and lean into you eagerly, hands scrambling for your cock, ready and eager to line you up.

and then you drive it into him, watch his eyes widen, shock overwhelming him as he tenses and then relaxes into the new sensation.

lucifer's a good pet. and a sultry one, too, positively whorish for such a pretty, exotic creature. he takes to it like a fish to water.

so you leave him with it, something thick and heavy to keep himself filled with, instructions not to cum but to do anything else he wants before you get home.

when you leave him, he's twitching, face twisted tightly, eyes barely open but still following you up until you leave. he won't show how much it affects him, laying still, but you know the moment you close the door...

well. by the amount of precum dripping from him when you come back, the way his face is flushed and how he's definitely not in the same place you last found him -

how those little droplets are all cleaned up but you can smell him where he rutted himself in your bed, to the pillow you sleep on, how he must have fucked himself thinking of you -

you think lucifer likes the toy you got him, after all.

#obey me #lucifer #lucifer x reader #pet au #dark au buddies #dom!reader #sub!lucifer #lemon

[sugutoad]

Matchup Trade for @averagetoyakinnie !

# s.black

ஓ๑ I was extremely tempted to pick anyone but Sirius because I have done only one other matchup of Harry Potter and I had chose him too but this man was literally so perfect for you. I’m not necessarily good at convincing others on why I chose a certain person for them but I do hope the following makes more sense to you and possibly even convince you:

ஓ๑ Sirius seems to cross almost all your checkboxes concerning your ideal type. He is absolutely a snarky individual who often goes far and beyond to tease his partner but he does have a sense of awareness of when to stop. Canonically book wise, Sirius is said to be extremely tall — which most of the fandom unfortunately ignores because they focus on the height of his actor. This isn’t really a popular headcanon but I stand on my life that Sirius has soft and chubby hands. Imagine looking at his sharp jaw, only for him to have the babiest soft cheeks. He absolutely loathes them tho. Always being there for you? Check that box for sure! Sirius supports you through thick and thin no matter what! And do not fret the slightest, dear. He visits all your sports events and absolutely spoils you with ice cream if you win or even lose. After a lost game if you are frustrated, he will take you home and sit with you to watch some of your shows. The whole concept of television doesn’t really come to him too well but he loves it. Normally I don’t look much or focus on ideal types, but when I chose him and then saw that you had included an idea type, I was even more excited to do this matchup!

ஓ๑ I understand that your mbti (ENTP) and Siruis’s mbti ( ESTP) don’t exactly go hand in hand with one another because of how similar they are but I think that is the perfect thing. You have a similar way of thinking and that allows you to know how the other person is. And arguments do happen but nothing big. It mostly consists of you scolding him for doing something stupid or bickering like an old married couple about small things (like if pineapple belongs on pizza.). But the both of you are so charming and chaotic with one another that is actually scary to Mcgonagall. Besides the similarities between your mbtis, the N and S helps you to differentiate ideas when presented information. That way, almost no information is not being used as you both have different ways to get certain information. 

ஓ๑ When he first met you on the train to Hogwarts, you looked so cute to him. Awkwardly fumbling your fingers and a distant yet shy demeanour is what had charmed in the first place but was he in for a journey as he began to know more of you. This duo is a chaotic rule breaker type. But at least you try to keep him out of detention so you have your limits to ruler breaking at times. But when you have an interest, he will keep his big mouth shut for hours as you ramble on and on (he will certainly try to get himself into your interest so you both can discuss it. As much as he loves listening to you, he loves talking too.) Someone should have taken a picture of this man's face when his innocent idiot said something sexual :) For visuals, his mouth was slightly open but in a smirk and his eyes were wide opened (don’t forget the single raised eyebrow)

ஓ๑ Though it’s normally you giving him advice and comforting him, especially after a bad day with his family, sometimes it’s switched. He knows how energetic you are but he understands more of you. So when you run off your social battery, he holds you quietly, occasionally saying a joke to lift up your mood or just some sweet words. 

ஓ๑ He is a growing boy, ok? He needs food. Lots of food. So you can imagine his delightment every time you bake or cook him something. 

ஓ๑ Similar to you, one of his major love language is physical touch. This probably originated from the lack of affection he received as a child so now he is pretty much a clingy teddy bear! At first you thought it was cute but sometimes it is overwhelming. You would be trying to study or practise for a quidditch match, he will almost never let go. But no matter how many times he touches you, when he walks past you and your fingers brush against yours, it still makes your stomach flip with butterflies.

ஓ๑ He is actually in love with you. Like seriously (see what I did there?) The way you are a bubbly shine of light that blinded him with your upbeat smile and the beautiful way that you love almost everything, seeing the beauty in everything surrounding you. Even during Azkaban, his only possession was a small photo of you. And when he saw you again, he held you for almost eternity but for him it still wasn’t long enough. Nothing could ever make up for the 12 years he spent without you. 

ஓ๑ Also what do you mean he is dead? (Delusional) Last time I checked, the both of you are married after he escaped from Azkaban and have a son named James Black. 

ஓ๑ Hopefully I convinced you? This is a pairing that most people wouldn’t have seen coming so it is certainly harder to explain my reasoning behind it but I think that is what makes it so perfect. 

Other Potential Matchups: Literally none because my head couldn’t think of anyone but Sirius for you. 

#sazh matchups #harry potter matchups #Harry potter #matchups

[27-royal-teas]

hiii toby!! I just followed you recently and decided to look thru your ao3 account and your bookmarked fics and ended up reading that fic called "just to seal my fate". and it was soooo good. like the writing was great, it was funny, the story was cute, I just loved it. I was wondering if you had any recommendations for anything in a similar sort of style/vibe or a similar story? I haven't read any fanfic at all in quite a while and I'd forgotten how absolutely delightful it is.... nothing like rotating those characters around in your mind in silly little situations is there haha

ANON OH MY GOD ANON I AM KISSING U ON THE MOUTH WIRH PASSION,,,, JUST TO SEAL MY FATE IS LITERALLY ONE OF MY FAVORITE FICS IN THE WORLD. you cannot COMPREHEND my delight at receiving this ask, I love you to DEATH

ok so everything by the author of that fic — jalex_barakarth3012– is absolutely FANTASTIC and it all has that melancholic smoky dramatic vibe, which is something I really really like and strive to recreate in my writing (which you can probably tell if youve read Burn It Up All Night). I’ve recommended this to LITERALLY EVERYONE but my favorite fic in the whole entire universe is also by that author and it is called erode. erode has the same type of vibe and it’s extremely fucking long but the pacing is amazing and the storytelling is incredible and I adore it so, so much, I have left so many comments on it that I think the author probably despises me now lol. so basically if you haven’t yet please read everything by that author and give them ur support because they are so underrated and I love them so much. they have three other DELIGHTFUL fics and I never ever get tired of their writing. if it’s more ATL fic you’re looking for, unfortunately there isn’t too much with the same kind of writing style— believe me, I’ve looked. a large majority of ATL fic is smut and I have no problem w that it’s just nice to get a balance sometimes, yk? anyway the first author that I really love in the ATL fandom is probably bellawritess— or, on here, @clumsyclifford. she excels in tooth-rotting fluff and I believe she’s got 70 or so incredible oneshots in that fandom. she’s good at keeping a story feeling light and funny and in-character, and I basically lived off of her fics all of last year. also, she has friends who also have written fic in the same fandom, which is really nice. specifically, her cruel summer series is the most in the vibe you’re looking for.

ok, so if you want more vibes— idk what fandom you’re looking for but you’ve probably noticed im a big fan of the dark, melancholic, neon kind of vibe, with writing AND with reading. scarredsodeep (@shark-myths) and earlgreytea68 (@earlgreytea68) both write some of the BEST peterick out there if you’re in the fob fandom (I assume you probably are at least a little if ur on my blog). I adore their writing and they’re both also really huge inspirations for my writing style and YEAH, THEYRE JUST REALLY GOOD.

hmm ok I’m also gonna tag a couple of my other writer friends on this blog — @spirallingstarcases, @setting-in-a-honeymoon both write FANTASTIC fic and have their ao3 posted on their blog, I believe. they’re also super nice people and very cool and I’m very lucky to even get to know them slightly!!

ok this was a lot longer of an answer than I anticipated giving, I apologize— if you check my bookmarks, the fics on there I can’t rave about ENOUGH. the authors are all so fucking talented. give them some attention, because they deserve it!! they are lovely writers and even better people!!

I THINK IM DONE NOW. THANK YOU FOR THIS ASK

#toby speaks #Toby’s asks #I think that’s my favorite ask I’ve ever gotten lol #anon u are so sweet I love you to bits I adore you oml #fic recs #rpf #ANY PERSON WHO APPRECIATES JALEX_BARAKARTH’S WRITING IS A FRIEND OF MINE #THEY ARE SO UNDERRATED LIKE HOLY SHIT #im so glad you liked the fic and it’s so sweet of you to go through my ao3 :)) I guess I knew people would do that but it’s nice to hear #it confirmed :))) #also I just posted a new ATL fic recently sooooo shameless self promo ig???

[pocketsizedquasar]

Hi, sorry to barge in here, especially with something that isn't really an ask, but I just had to let you know that you genuinely seem like one of the coolest people I've ever had the pleasure of stumbling across. Not even being employing the slightest bit of hyperbole here - for as much as I love doing that.

Your Moby Dick webcomic is - for lack of better words - rad as hell, and it literally gives me life. The way you adapt the text is frankly inspired, and your art is so beautiful and fitting for the story colour- and style-wise, bursting with life that complements Melville's prose in this breathtaking way. Moby Dick is one of my favourite books, and I usually find that most adaptions flounder, but yours is a beautiful aerialist, gracefully balancing its own soul and the spirit of the original in this perfect way high above the rest.

And as if your art weren't enough to entrance me, I then find your tumblr and discover that you're also just an all-around awesome person??? You have so many utterly based takes that I adore hearing, you're a physicist which is so fucking cool, and your TMA headcannons and art pieces are just… *chef’s kiss.*

I wish all the best for you with my entire being, and I hope that things turn out spectacularly for you, because this internet stranger thinks that you’re absolute amazing, from the glimpses of you they’ve gotten to see (:

(P.S: favourite part of Moby Dick? Figured I should at least ask one question lol)

oh hey no need to apologize hey🥺🥺🥺🥺i had to let this sit in my ask box for a bit bc i genuinely didn’t know how to respond /positive this is. the absolute sweetest fucking thing oughfhfhdhd

i definitely feel you re: most adaptations for MD not really doin it for me fhdhdhdh i’m so glad that you enjoy mine 🥺🥺 i’m trying very hard to keep up the spirit of the original story while still addressing & building on that foundation melville left so it’s really really good to hear that that’s coming across to people💖💖genuinely thank u so much

genuinely this entire ask was such a delight to receive thank you so much !! i cannot express how much this has literally made my whole week like. cjdjdhdhdh im gonna be riding this high for a while this is the sweetest thing thank you internet stranger 🥺🥺💖💖💖💖i also wish you all the best!!!!

and OUGHFFH ok favorite part of moby dick probably changes based on the month lol and i do have a lot of favorite chapters but right now i think. Ough it’s gotta be The Symphony. one of the most gorgeous chapters just for the prose alone; the imagery of the sky and sea all coming together to just oh so gently and lovingly caress and care for Ahab… this narrative loves him so much even as it damns him; ishmael as a narrator treats him with so much love and care and tenderness even though he’s technically responsible for him losing everything and it’s just . ough. and of course the absolutely heart wrenching starhab interactions of ahab seemingly for the first time genuinely reaching out for help and starbuck for the first time genuinely having hope for him but still in the end turning away from ahab, turning away from his reaching out because it’s all too much and he’s helpless and there’s nothing he thinks he can do for him and OUGHDHFJFFJFHFHFHFHFHH

ah.

#quasartalks #ask #bidevoir #i’m actually gonna cry this is the sweetest thing 🥺🥺🥺hfhdhdhdh #thank u thank u aaaaa #easy to. not feel like the Best person sometimes but this is very sweet and i am🥺🥺🥺

[lonestardust]

Its nice ask day!!!!!! Thank you for being such a positive force and I love reading your thoughtful and funny tags!!!

What song do think belongs in a future lone star scene ????

SHANNON I ADORE YOU OK 😖💞 thanks, love, you're the absolute sweetest. right back at you, truly

a music ask aaaaah you know me too well i love a chance to ramble about our show and music and this is a great question. hmmm i literally have an endless amount of ideas that music could create and be its central moving element for different storylines but if i have to narrow it down to one choice and if the music supervisors can go crazy and aren't on a budget, I'd love to see carlos and tk slow dancing to Tennessee Whiskey. and I want it to be at the Reyes ranch with all of its laid back country/blues feel to it, where the music is coming from the inside while they're standing on the porch, tk is gazing at the starry night sky (a beautiful paralleling moment of how far they've come since the aurora borealis)

and carlos coming up behind him, resting his hands on tk's hips and his head on the curve of his neck. tk smiling softly and closing his eyes, inhaling his familiar earthy scent. He says something about missing carlos after this long family gathering and carlos just presses closer to him and his lips ghosts over the shell of his ear and he murmurs something back where TK just shivers in gentle delight and tips his head and his weight back onto his man's warm body. And carlos just wraps his hands around him and starts swaying them slowly.. but I also imagine the rest being them privately at their loft swaying to the slow sultry rhythm of the song in their dimly lit living room after a romantic dinner and carlos toying with tk's shirt, placing a warm wet trail of kisses all over the curve of his neck and slowly undressing him. And tk just.. he melts and tilts his head to receive those kisses on his own lips and they just get lost in the moment, making love with the sexy lazy passional tune setting the mood.. "you're as smooth as tennessee whiskey.. 🎶"

#lsasks #music tag #mutuals <3

[carrickbender]

Your mom still hangs out with your ex wife?

This is an absolute trainwreck of a story, but yes.

So to back it up a long way, my ex and I were college sweethearts. And when we were 18, she got kicked out of her house by her very emotionally/physically abusive mother. She had no job, pretty much nothing(her mother even told her to get her cat in 2 days or she was going to kill it) and my mother, trying to be kind, gave her a place to stay. They formed a friendship, and even when she and I did the, " broke up/got back together/broke up" thing, she and my mom remained close. And when my ex and I decided to get married, she was delighted... eventhough she knew my ex can be a physically violent/emotionally abusive person who can be incredibly self-centered. I'll save the horrible details, but the year and a half following our wedding were mostly awful. A lot of arguments, her getting physical because I didn't want to argue, and even one night where I had to wrestle a knife away from her because she was going to attack my mother...

Yeah...

I left her following a very verbally demeaning argument in January 2010 with literally 2 bags of clothes. Now to complicate things even worse: she, my mom, and I were leasing a farm and living in the same house. So I basically left my mom to deal with my drunk and angry ex and crashed on a friend's couch till I could afford a plane ticket to Kodiak. My mom was so angry with me that I'm honestly surprised that she even called me when her mom died. To be honest, I wouldn't have blamed her- my ex was and is a whole can of problems. But they bonded in some sort of abuser/abused sort of way and even more so, they really bonded when my ex and the dude she was seeing had had a child. She loves being a grandmother to her, and provides probably the only consistent positive role modeling that she receives, which i think is great. My ex is a mental health counselor(please limit your laughter to 3 minutes), and I'm sure that she does an OK job with this. But her dude is as abusive as she is, and she does everything on her own... that is, unless my mom helps, which she does a lot.

But this is where I get mad- we don't ask her to do things for us because she's always doing something for her or somebody else and then complains that she has no time for herself. But then when we do ask her to do something with us, and she says yes, she cancels at the last minute. And that last minute stuff hurts the worst, because the one who is really missing out is Henry. Mess with me all you want, I'm able to deal with it. But mess with my child, who says things like, "I miss grammy", and it infuriates me.

Anyhow, this has kinda been a rant, but it's kinda raw with me still. I love my mom, but she really pisses me off sometimes. I often feel like a child of convenience, that person who gets called when a difficult task is at hand and feels morally obligated to do said task because the person asking is a parent. But in reality, the 'parent' often only calls when they need something. Kinda crappy, but it sure feels that way sometimes.

#me #dadlife #this is my life #but seriously #anon ask #i never get asks #betcha know why i dont get asks now #i say too much

[the-iceni-bitch]

Plain to See

Pairing: Single DILF elementary school teacher!Steve Rogers x tattoo artist fem!reader

Words: ~6k

Summary: Your gorgeous, clean cut neighbor needs a favor, and how can you possibly say no?

Warnings: explicit language, explicit sexual content (unprotected vaginal sex, f receiving oral sex, genital piercings, semi rough sex, light choking, squirting, hair pulling, dirty talk, slight breeding kink), single dad Steve (trust me, he’s a fucking warning), reader has tattoos, adorable toddler, fluff, slowish burn, idiots in love (I can’t stop myself), SMUT!!! 18+ ONLY!!!

A/N: This was an absolute monster to finish when I had to work all week but it’s done!!! My official entry for @bemine-bucky’s Sweetheart Diner challenge (prompt in bold), and I messed myself up with this one. I am now fully on the DILF Steve train and if you think I’m not gonna write anymore for these adorable lovebirds, you would be mistaken. Love you so much Sav!! You deserve the world!!

I am no longer doing taglists so if you want to stay up to date on all the latest filth, follow my sideblog @the-iceni-library and turn on notifications!

“Ok Sarah, remember, this is our secret, ok?” You handed the giggling toddler one of the still warm cookies, giving her a big grin as she looked at it with wonder. “No telling your dad, and no sharing with Molly.”

She nodded seriously before taking a hesitant bite, squealing when your sweet mutt shoved her head into the child’s lap to try and steal a lick. You scolded the dog and she gave you a forlorn look before moping off to sink into her bed with a huff at being excluded from treat time. The toddler finished her cookie in record time, and after wiping all the melted chocolate off her face while she squirmed, you gave her a dog treat to give to your poor neglected pup. You couldn’t help but grin when Molly took it from the little girl’s hand as gently as possible before wolfing it down, accepting the child’s tight hug around her neck with a happy wag of her tail.

“I love you, Molly.” God, how fucking cute was she, laying on the dog’s side and babbling that excited toddler chatter while kicking her feet. You made sure to take a picture for Steve, he always melted a little when he saw how sweet your dog was with his little girl.

There was a knock at the door and you yelled it was open, turning to give Steve a big smile when he walked into your house looking a little exhausted. His face split into a grin when he got a look at Sarah playing with Molly’s ears, the toddler screaming when she spotted her father and rising to greet him on wobbly legs.

“Daddy!” She shouted with delight when he tossed her into the air and caught her again, settling her on his hip and giving her a soft kiss on the head while she brought her chubby little arms up to give him a hug.

“Hey bug, did you have a nice time with Y/N and Molly?” He chuckled when her fat fingers grabbed at his cheeks.

“We made cookies!” She clapped her hands over her mouth when she realized she blabbed, giving you a horrified look at spilling your secret.

“Well, I guess we have to share with Dad now.” You shook your head and laughed softly as you reached to grab one of the giant cookies that was still left, handing it to Steve and beaming when he took a bite as you worked at boxing up the rest of them. “Don’t worry, hon, you still get to take the rest home.”

“Thank you so much, Y/N, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it. Apparently on call plumber is part of the art teacher’s job now. Some fifth graders managed to crack one of the toilets and it was a literal… uh… poop show.” He smiled when Sarah laughed hysterically at the naughty word.

“Tsk, language Mr. Rogers.” You winked at him before handing him the container of cookies, ruffling Sarah’s hair affectionately before moving to soak the baking sheets you’d used. “She can come over any time, pretty sure Molly likes her more than me anyways.”

“I may take you up on that, Y/N.” You walked in front of him to open the door since he had his hands full. “Let me make you dinner tomorrow? I gotta thank you somehow.”

“Alright, but only because I can’t say no to your pesto.” You waved back to Sarah when he started walking back to his house, only feeling a little bad about ogling his ass. “Bye kiddo!”

God, that man was fine. And his kid was fucking adorable too. It was like a constant attack on your ovaries ever since he moved in. Your vibrator had never been used as much in your whole fucking life. Goddamn Prince Charming looking DILF.

You weren’t sure how you’d managed to go this whole time without jumping on him. Every time he gave you that gorgeous, aww shucks smile you just wanted to find out if he was hiding some secret kinks under that nice boy exterior. Not to mention when he did yard work and got all sweaty with his sleeves rolled over his forearms. Right now all you wanted was to pour yourself a nice glass of wine and take a long bath while you thought about what he might look like under all those buttoned up, clean cut outfits. Man you were a perv.

The next night couldn’t come fast enough. It took some self control to keep from wearing one of your usual slutty date outfits, choosing a relatively conservative sundress that still showed off your assets. Even though you told yourself a million times you were not going to date your neighbor, you couldn’t help but flirt like an idiot.

“Hi Y/N!” Ugh, he looked so fucking domestic, what was he doing to you? “We’ve been working all afternoon, Sarah really hopes you like her garlic bread.”

“Um, did you know that garlic bread is my absolute favorite?” Sarah hid her face behind her hands and giggled when you winked at her, Steve beaming between the two of you and making your heart swell a little bit. “You better be careful, or I might eat all of it.”

“No!” She seemed adorably horrified at the prospect, tottering away from you when you moved to chase her playfully. “I want bread, too!”

“You better wash up quick then, bug.” He ushered her towards the bathroom, wiping his hands on a towel. His big hands with those thick fingers that you definitely weren’t thinking of sucking on. “She was a little disappointed when I told her Molly wasn’t gonna be joining us.”

“Well, maybe next time.” You handed him the bottle of wine you had brought and helped him set the table, smiling when Sarah wrapped her arms around your leg so you could drag her along with you. “Or maybe I’ll have Molly help me make dinner for you guys. You like dog food, Sarah?”

“Eww, no!” She laughed like you were the funniest thing in the world, squealing when you scooped her up and nibbled on the tip of her nose.

“Oh, it’s so good though!” You gave her a peck on the forehead before helping her settle into her seat, putting her napkin on her lap and helping her cut up her pasta without even thinking. “Maybe even better than your dad’s pasta.”

“Ouch.” Steve laughed, placing a hand on his chest in a mock wounded gesture. “What d’you think, bug? Is my pasta better than dog food?”

“Yes, love pasta!” She slurped some up messily and you laughed while you wiped pesto off her face.

“Alright, you’re the expert.”

The way you engaged with Sarah was so endearing, Steve couldn’t take his eyes off you. She got so happy when you swooned over the garlic bread she almost fell out of her booster seat, but you caught her at the last second and peppered kisses all over her face. You somehow managed to keep her from getting sauce all over herself, having the napkin ready like a pro at all times even when the three of you chatted away about silly toddler things.

Once you had all finished your meal you helped with the cleanup, giving Sarah a hand with drying the dishes while Steve washed them. You managed to sneak a couple splashes at her father when he wasn’t paying attention, Sarah screaming and hiding behind you when he got you back. It should have felt weird as fuck for you to be having such a good time doing the housewife shit, but doing it with Steve and Sarah was just delightful and almost natural.

“Ok bug, let’s wash up and then it’s bed.” Sarah’s eyes were starting to droop, apparently making garlic bread really took it out of you. “Say good night to Y/N.”

“No, want Y/N to tuck me in!” She pouted at the two of you, and how were you supposed to say no to that?

“I dunno, hon, don’t want to take that treat away from your dad.”

“Y/N, you don’t have to.” He was giving you an inquisitive look though, and fuck it, you were having a good time.

“But I want to, Steve.” You relaxed when he did, smiling softly and moving to grab some glasses. “Besides, we still need to break open this wine.”

“Great, let’s get those PJs on, Sar.” He disappeared down the hall with her leaning against his shoulder, her eyes drooping with the pull of sleep even as she fought it.

You finished putting the dishes away while Steve got Sarah ready for bed, coming when she called you to give her a peck on the head and help Steve tuck her in before wishing her goodnight. She fell asleep immediately, allowing you both to sneak out of her room and head back out to the kitchen to have some adult conversation.

“That kid is too cute for her own good.” You poured Steve a hefty portion of wine before filling your own glass. “Don’t know how you don’t just spoil her rotten.”

“Trust me, just because she turns on the charm with you doesn’t mean she isn’t a terror sometimes.” He shook his head before taking a sip of wine. “How’s the shop doing?”

“It’s really good, we just hired a new artist, so hopefully we won’t be booking out as far, but who knows.” You were really hoping you could convince him to come get a piece from you eventually, he always showed a lot of interest in your work, and inking up your sweetheart neighbor would be a special kind of thrill. “You know I’d open up a spot for you anytime you want, though. Just say the word.”

“We’ll see.” He beamed at you when you hopped up to sit on his counter absentmindedly, loving how comfortable the two of you were with each other.

“I’ll convince you one of these days, Rogers.” You leaned back on one hand while you sipped on your wine. “How about you? Aside from shit explosions, how’s the school? You’re kids enjoying watercolors?”

“They love it. Leaves me with a hell of a mess every day but we have a great time.” He moved to pour you another glass when you finished yours, topping his own off as well and settling next to you. “This is good.”

“Yeah. You still have that wedding this weekend?” You could feel your heartbeat speeding up with how close he was, the clean, slightly woodsy scent he was wearing filling your senses.

“Lemme guess, Sar couldn’t stop talking about being a flower girl all afternoon?” He set his empty glass on the counter and brushed his hair out of his eyes with a rueful grin.

“She could not. We had to practice her walk a couple of times, she’s a pro now.” You hopped off the counter and moved to find the wine saver while Steve put the glasses in the dishwasher. “Make sure you take a video of her for me, I’m sure she’s gonna be adorable.”

“I mean, you wanna come with?” He spluttered when you cocked an eyebrow at him. “Sorry, shit, lemme back up. My normal plus one had to cancel and I know it’s so cheesy but I cannot deal with my ex and the rest of my family judging that I haven’t found some sort of mother figure for Sarah.”

“So, I’d be your fake girlfriend?” A little disappointing but you could deal. “Sounds like a blast. How judgey are we talking here? They gonna have issues with you showing up with an inked up chick?”

“Maybe, but what are they gonna do? Make me break up with you?” His smile was tinged with nervousness.

“Well, if it doesn’t bother you, doesn’t bother me.” You gave him a teasing hip bump when you shuffled past him. “How formal is this thing?”

“Cocktail. You sure you’re ok with this?” He was starting to relax a little bit, but he didn’t want you to feel pressured at all.

“Oh my god, Steve, yes, I’m sure.” You gave him a reassuring pat on his tree trunk of an arm, holy shit. “I’ll be the best fake girlfriend ever. Now, I’ve gotta go take care of the dog, but I really had a great time. I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“I’m sure you will.” He walked you to the door, giving you a semi-awkward side hug before you were strolling back towards your house, and he tried his best to not watch the way your hips were swaying in those heels.

Well, he’d had some spectacularly bad ideas, but asking you on a fake date might be one of the top ones. Ever since the first time his kiddo had seen you working in your garden and shyly asked you whether you did your tattoos yourself or if your friends did them, and then you spent a whole afternoon telling her all about each of your pieces like she was the most important little person you’d ever talked to, he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about you. You were beautiful and sweet and Sarah fucking loved you, so why couldn’t he work up the courage to ask you out for real?

Instead he just had to settle for fucking his own fist like a perv while he thought about what you might look like underneath him, how tight you’d squeeze his cock when he hit you deep and what gorgeous noises you’d make for him, and whether you had any more tattoos hiding under those surprisingly sweet little outfits that he hadn’t seen. God, he hated himself sometimes. He wasn’t gonna give himself blue balls though.

He didn’t have a chance to give into his nerves once Saturday hit, mostly because all his energy was focused on getting a wiggling little girl into a fancy dress and keeping her from spilling anything on it. Sarah insisted on walking over to pick you up on her own, practicing her walk as she headed up the walk to the front door until she let him lift her up so she could ring the doorbell.

“Hi Sarah! Look at that dress!” You gave the two of them the biggest grin when you opened the door, locking it behind you and helping her do a little twirl before holding her hand while you all headed towards Steve’s car. “You been practicing your walk?”

She nodded seriously and showed you, laughing when Steve scooped her up and got her settled into her car seat. You winked at Steve when he held your door open for you, climbing into the car and starting a sweet little conversation with the toddler, who was fired up about being a flower girl. He was so grateful you were eager to engage with his girl, but he was having trouble keeping his eyes off the line of your legs in those heels.

As soon as you walked into the venue, his ex was right there, much to his annoyance.

“Hello Sharon.” He gave Sarah a quick peck on the head before letting her toddle over to her mother.

“Steve, hey sweetie!” She knelt down to give the girl a hug, giving you a once over when she stood back up. “Who’s this?”

“I’m Y/N, so nice to meet you.” She ignored your hand when you offered it to her.

“Uh-huh, what happened to Beth?” Cool, always fun to be completely ignored.

“Just didn’t work out.” Steve shrugged uncomfortably at having to jump right into faking it. He relaxed a little when you wrapped an arm around him, leaning into his shoulder like it was the most natural thing and not as horribly awkward as he was worried it was going to be.

“Sure it didn’t.” Sharon handed Sarah off to a bridesmaid and crossed her arms over her chest. “Well, I’m gonna go find Ian. That Sarah’s bag?”

“Yeah.” He handed it over. “I’ll check in before you leave. She’s looking forward to spending a couple of days with you.”

“Me too. Talk to you later.” She walked off without giving you a second glance.

“Well, she did not like me.” You gave a small huff before grinning at him. “Alright, who else do I need to impress here?”

“Obviously, the cousins.” He motioned to the groom, waving when the man noticed him from the small group he was chatting with. “And other than that, just the nosy aunts and shit.”

“Great, aunts love me.” You winked at him and wound your fingers through his. “Let’s do this.”

The ceremony took up most of the afternoon, and then what felt like hours of photos that poor Sarah put up with like a champ. Steve couldn’t have been more thrilled at bringing you with him, actually able to enjoy himself a little since you were a pro at redirecting all the interrogations that his friends and relatives tried to subject him to. Of course, the fact that part of redirecting them involved you engaging in some public displays of affection did a lot to help his mood.

Right now he was watching you do the chicken dance with Sarah, the grin he was wearing falling slightly when Sharon plopped in the seat next to him with a frown on her face.

“So, that’s Y/N.” He took a sip of his beer when she started in on him, really looking forward to her passive aggressively implying there were all sorts of things wrong with you. “Sarah told me all about her pretty tattoos. Guess I didn’t realize she had quite so many.”

“Seriously, Sharon? You’re gonna harp on some ink?” He scowled at her sideways while he kept his eyes on you and the kiddo. “When did Sar tell you about her, anyway?”

“I have to hear about her every time she spends the night. Fucking your neighbor Steve?” Or, maybe she was going to bypass the passive and go straight to plain old aggression. “What’s that gonna do to Sarah when you break up and she suddenly can’t see her apparently best friend anymore?”

“I’m not having a conversation with you about this. You wanna have more say in who your daughter spends time with, you need to be around more. And maybe actually get to know the people I see instead of jumping down my throat about them right away.” He pasted on a smile when you and Sarah came back to the table. “Hey kid! Those were some killer moves!”

“They sure were, c’mere baby.” Sharon propped Sarah on her lap and gave her a peck on the cheek. “What d’you say we go get you some cake, yeah? Then we’ll get you home.”

She let Sarah give you a big hug goodbye reluctantly, trying not to openly growl when you gave her a kiss right on the top of her head. Sarah said her goodbyes to you and Steve and let her mom carry her off, waving at you over her shoulder until she disappeared into the crowd.

“Lemme guess,” you sat down next to Steve and nudged his calf with the toe of your shoe when you noticed the sour look on his face. “Your ex thinks we should ‘break up’?”

“Yeah, I guess someone talks about you an awful lot.” He couldn’t help but smile when you laughed softly.

“I mean, I am pretty great.” You winked and took a sip of his beer when he offered it. “Think she may have a point, though. You are a lousy date, Rogers.”

“Hey, mean!” He swiped his beer back from you when you tried to take another sip, swatting your arm playfully and pouting a little bit. “What did I do?”

“It’s what you didn’t do, Steve. Who comes to a wedding and doesn’t dance with their date at all?” You were still trying to steal his beer away as he held it out of your reach. “And now you won’t even share your drink? There’s no way I’m putting out now.”

He choked on his beer when you said that, trying to pass it off as a laugh while he looked at you to figure out if you were serious in any way, shape, or form.

“Well, shit, way to ruin my night, Y/N.” He drank the rest of his beer in one gulp and set down the bottle, taking your hand in his and pulling you after him towards the dance floor. “I think we can salvage it, though, c’mon.”

You laughed lightly when he gave you a twirl before pulling you close, pressing his chest to yours and beaming as he took one of your hands in his and wrapped the other around your waist. He sighed deeply when you gazed into his eyes, losing himself a little bit as the two of you swayed back and forth.

“Better?” He could’ve started purring when you ran your arm up his shoulder until you could wind your fingers through the hair at the back of his head.

“Yeah, you’re a good dancer.” You tucked your head into his shoulder and he couldn’t stop himself from smelling your hair.

“You too.” He spun you a little and goddamn it, that breathless giggle was doing things to him. “What d’you think, want me to dip you?”

“What?” He didn’t wait for you to answer before bending the two of you over, chuckling at the thrilled cackle you let out before he was drawing you back up fast. “Ok, maybe you will get lucky.”

The two of you danced through the next few songs until the DJ called that the night was over and it was time to send off the happy couple. You made your way back to the car once they had taken off, Steve holding your door for you again like a fucking peach. The ride home was filled with comfortable silence, your gaze shifting over to Steve occasionally.

“I had a great time, Steve.” You gave him a small smile while he walked you to your front door. “You wanna come in for a drink?”

Oh god, he wanted to. He didn’t think he’d ever really spent time with you when Sarah wasn’t around, and all he wanted was to follow you inside and eat you out until you screamed his name.

“I should really turn in.” He hated himself. “Thank you again, you really are the best.”

“I know.” You smoothed your hand over his chest and gave him a wink before moving to unlock your door. “Don’t worry, I’ll come up with some way for you to show me just how thankful you are.”

You gave him a peck on the cheek before heading inside, sighing when you closed it behind you and giving your dog an exasperated look when she came trotting to greet you. Guess it was gonna be another long night with your vibrator.

There was a pounding on the door and you turned around with a small frown, opening your mouth in surprise when Steve was standing there looking a little strung out.

“Ste…”

He didn’t give you a chance to finish your thought before his lips were on yours, walking you back into the house and slamming the door behind you before his hands were digging into your ass. You wound your fingers through his hair and let him basically manhandle you into your kitchen, trying not to trip over your own feet until he had you pinned against your counter.

“I, mmph, thought of a way to say thank you.” He moaned when you nibbled on his bottom lip.

“Much better than what I would’ve come up with.” You tilted your head back to let him suck a bruise against your throat while he dragged your dress off over your head.

“Jesus Christ.” He groaned when he got a good look at you. He had been right, there was so much more art under your dress. His movements slowed when he moved to draw your panties down your legs, the colorful bouquet of flowers that covered your hips and the insides of your thighs making his cock twitch. “Honey, you’re fucking beautiful.”

“Steve…” he cut you off with his lips again, stealing your breath before he started moving his lips down your torso. “You gonna let me talk at all, Rogers?”

“Not unless you're begging me.” He winked at you before kissing over the jut of your hip, tracing his fingers over your thigh until he could hook them under your knee and hook it over his shoulder.

The way his shoulders were placed between your thighs had you spread wide open for him, a low growl vibrating his chest at the sight of your throbbing cunt filling his vision. He took a breath to appreciate the view, dragging his thumb over the cut of you slowly until it was slippery with your arousal when he swirled it around your clit, making you moan as you arched towards his face.

As soon as he flicked his tongue out to taste you, he was lost, practically whining against you as he lapped up every drop of slick that was leaking out of you before pressing soft kisses over your puffy lips. When his lips met your clit you could have passed out, your whole body arching off the counter as you let out a sharp gasp.

“Oh god, Steve.” Your fingers scrabbled over the countertop when he laved his tongue over your swollen bud, pressing it flat and massaging you slowly until you gave him another one of those beautiful fluttering moans. “God, that’s so fucking good.”

He just hummed in agreement, shaking his head to force his face deeper before he was thrusting his tongue inside you and curling it against your soft walls. You couldn’t take it when he started fucking you with the thick muscle, your hips rolling into his face and your hands reaching down to wind through his hair and keep him close while you wrapped your legs around his neck.

Steve tried to look up at you through his lashes, but the way your back was violently arching was hiding your face from him. At least until he rose to his feet, keeping his arms wrapped around your thighs so your hips came with him and making you yelp at the change in position.

His lips wrapped around your clit and you keened, especially when he moaned into your pussy once he was finally able to watch how fucked out your face looked. Your toes curled as your core started tightening, warmth spreading through your body as you moaned desperately.

“Steve… oh fuck, Steve, I’m gonna come.” Your whole body tensed up before you were vibrating with your release, soaking Steve’s chin and flooding his mouth with the sweet taste of you while you sobbed with pleasure.

He set you down gently before crawling up your body and pressing his lips to yours, sighing deeply when you wrapped your arms around his neck and returned the kiss. You purred when he wrapped you around him and stood up, his tongue still stroking yours while he curled a hand around the back of your head.

“Gotta say Rogers,” you grinned when he released you, licking your lips as he gazed into your eyes. “Took you long enough, but once you move, you move fast.”

“Fuck, I swear I wanted to take my time, but damn.” He was finally starting to catch his breath. “Once I got a taste, I couldn’t stop myself.”

“So you’re telling me if you had your way you’d have buttered me up first?” You sighed when he lifted you and started to carry you towards the bedroom. “What would that be like?”

“Oh, I’m gonna fucking show you.” He kicked the door to your room open and set you on the bed, cupping your cheek gently as he straddled you. “‘Cause you deserve those sweet slow kisses that are gonna have you melting into the bed and begging me to fuck you.”

“That so?” You dipped your hands between the two of you to start undoing his belt.

“Mmhm.” He ran his thumb over your bottom lip and purred when you nipped at it. “I believe in long, slow, deep, soft, wet kisses that last three days.”

“Fuck m…” You couldn’t even be mad when he cut you off again, his tongue dipping between your lips and curling against yours slowly.

You were completely fucked. Time lost all meaning while his lips were on yours, pulling at them gently with his teeth while he gently slid his tongue over yours. When he pulled away you sucked in oxygen you hadn’t even realized you were missing, keeping a hand around the back of his neck so he couldn’t go too far while you panted into his mouth.

“How was that?” His smirk was wicked as he ran his knuckle over the curve of your cheek.

“You’re a dangerous man, Steve Rogers.” Your brain finally reset and you went back to taking his clothes off.

“Oh, honey, you don’t even know.” He got his tie off and tossed it aside before helping you slide his shirt over his shoulders, making your breath hitch when you finally got a look at his bare torso.

“I fucking knew it.” You reached out to trace one of his hidden tattoos with your fingertips, grinning at the groan he gave you when you leaned forward to brush your lips over the large one on his chest. “What else you been hiding from me, Steven?”

“Just a couple things.” He groaned when you dragged your tongue over his nipple, your fingers working quickly to undo his fly. “Nothing too big.”

“Oh, I dunno, it feels pretty big to me.” You grinned when you palmed his cock, dragging his slacks and boxer briefs down his thick thighs. “Oh, Jesus fuck.”

As soon as you set eyes on his cock your brain broke. He was so fucking long and thick you weren’t totally sure it was going to fit, the perfect pretty pink tip begging for you to suck on it. And to top it all off…

“Steve… Steve? Steve, baby.” He was grinning at your babbling as you reached out to brush your fingers over him. “Honey, you’re fucking pierced.”

“Gotta say, this is one of the more pleasant freak outs this thing has caused.” He moaned when you dragged your thumb over the silver ring that ran through his tip.

“Get that thing inside me, now.” You hissed at him through clenched teeth, grabbing the back of his neck and yanking his face to yours as you dragged him on top of you. “I fucking need it.”

“Yeah, pretty girl?” He growled into your mouth when you wrapped your legs around his waist, lining himself up and plucking at your lips with his teeth. “I’ve got you. Ah… shit.”

As soon as he slid inside you he almost collapsed, burying his face in your neck and winding his arms around your shoulders as he slowly eased into you. The stretch was driving you crazy, your pussy already starting to flutter as his piercing rubbed over your slick walls. He gave a small testing thrust and both of you moaned, your bodies molding together as he started rocking his hips into yours.

It only took a few more shoves of his hips before he was sheathed to the hilt, grinding against your clit and groaning at the snug, wet heat of your cunt flexing around him. Your tiny gasp when he started fucking into you made him growl, wanting nothing more than to draw more of those beautiful noises out of you.

“Fuck, Steve.” You rolled your body underneath him when he nudged against your cervix, whining when you felt his lips suck a bruise against your throat. “Oh god, that’s so good.”

“Knew this cunt was gonna be sweet for me, goddamn.” He ran his nose up the side of your neck until he could nibble on your ear, giving a small circle of his hips and making you keen. “C’mon, honey, wanna feel this pretty pussy strangle my cock.”

“That mouth of yours is something else, Steve.” You purred at the feeling of the smooth metal of his piercing gliding over your soft walls at a rough pace, digging your fingers into his shoulders. “Jesus, right there.”

“That’s it, give it to me.” His breathing was getting heavy as he sped up, grunting into your neck with each thrust and grinding against your clit. “God, so fucking tight.”

He barely changed the angle and you lost it, arching off the bed and wailing as you fluttered wildly around him. Aftershocks were still coursing through your system when you collapsed back into the mattress, his cock still punching into you vigorously as he watched you writhing with bliss underneath him.

There was no warning when he pulled out of you suddenly and manhandled you until you were laying on your stomach, making you scream when he thrust back into you with a deep growl. Your breath was forced out of your lungs when he started rutting into you like an animal, hitting you so hard and deep he was pushing the two of you up the bed a few inches at a time with each shove of his hips.

The change in position was so fucking good you were crying, soaking the sheets with your tears and drool as his piercing slid over every spot you needed it to until you were seeing stars. His fingers were drawing bruises on your hips as he pulled you back onto his cock with each punch of his hips, grunting lewdly as he watched your ass bounce each time he slammed into it.

You whimpered when he wrapped a hand in your hair and curled over your back, yanking your head up so he could scrape his teeth over the arch of your cheek while you gave him more of those pretty little moans. His other hand curled loosely around your throat and your eyes rolled back in your head, rolling your ass back into him desperately as he did his best to draw another one out of you.

“You’re doing so good for me, pretty girl.” He flicked his tongue along the corner of your mouth, nuzzling your cheek and purring when you clenched around him. “Gimme one more, gorgeous. Then I’m gonna a make a fucking mess of that perfect cunt.”

“Jesus fucking Christ.” You moaned at the filthy promise, arching your back until his chest was pressed right against your back. “Steve, please.”

“You want it, sweetheart?” He nipped at the curve of your jaw and ground into you. “Don’t worry, gonna fill you up and fuck it into you so hard, I’m gonna be dripping out of you for the next week.”

All you could do was scream when you felt the ring his that deep spot that made your toes curl, your release gushing out of you and soaking him while trying to find something to grab into as your whole body shook with pleasure. Your pussy clamped around him so hard he couldn’t move anymore, muttering a soft fuck into your neck as his spilled his cum deep inside you.

Steve collapsed on top of you when he was spent, curling his body around yours and nuzzling into your hair while you both worked at catching your breath. You turned your head so you could peek at him over your shoulder, smiling softly when he pressed a gentle kiss to your cheek and rolled until he was spooning you.

“Shit, Steve.” He was still inside you as he brushed his lips over the curve of your neck and sank into your mattress. “If this is how you end a fake date, what are you gonna do when you take me out for real?”

#natalie writes #1k sweethearts diner writing challenge #steve rogers #steve rogers x female reader #steve rogers x reader #steve rogers x y/n #steve rogers x you #chris evans #chris evans character #eighteen and over #eighteen plus #fluff #steve rogers fluff #sav’s 1k writing challenge

[yeluki]

Hi!! I really apologize for not talking in a while 😞

But!! I saw you'd really like some Yttd requests! May I request Sara, Ranmaru, Ranger, and Midori with an s/o who is affectionate, but especially physically so? Like lacing fingers, tracing circles on the back of their hands, hugging them close with no real reason, etc! It sounds so cute 😞

Tysm 💓💕💖💗!! I may come back to request more ;))

SARA, RANMARU, RANGER, AND MIDORI WITH A PHYSICALLY AFFECTIONATE (S/O)

a/n: aw,, hello!!! it's wonderful to see you again,, it's ok!! dw about it >:D!! and yes of course you can!! gahhh,, ranger is so underrated it pisses me off,,, sadly there's like no ranger content,, but now i can fix the issue myself haha dw ranger stans im here for y'all >:'D characters included: sara chidouin, ranmaru kageyama, rio ranger, and midori warnings: physical affection, ranger midori and ranmaru (they're all insane),, swearing

work utc!

#sara!?

sara is generally pretty reserved, so at first she'll be a bit stiff, and might not respond well to your love. not in a lashing-out way, but she sorta just stands there all stiff and uptight while you smother her in physical love.

overtime,, however,, she starts to get used to the love and affection and is sort of willing to give it back, although she doesn't know quite how lol

she tries though, and that's all that matters.

but sara absolutely adores the affection you give her. like i said, she'll stand stiff for a while, but on the inside she's squealing and relishing in every touch you graciously give her.

she especially loves reassuring handholds. she loves them whenever, but they work best after the main games. when her hallucinations creep up on her, you always seem to swoop down from the heavens and rub her hand,, reassuring her that you're there and unharmed.

sara just loves hand-holding in general,, but you didn't hear that from me

#ranmaru!?

WSJFSAJDOIEJFDP

ranmaru LOVES your physical affection. and i mean LO-

he'll tend to get really flustered at times, especially when you give him kisses in public,, and it's adorable. his pale cheeks will heat up and he'll get all bashful and cute and i <333

but when you're hugging him or holding his hand (basically just not kissing him),,, once he gets accustomed to it he'll just kinda stand there and not mind while you drown him in your LOVE

and btw,, he doesn't stand there to be a dick. he stands there because he doesn't wanna interrupt you,, and i mean,, you wanna dote on him anyways...,,.,,.

right?

wait

RIGHT!?

*ahem*

#ranger!?

same lol.

ranger is literally the same, and he loves it whenever you dote on his moody ass <33 im joking i promise

but for real, he actually does love it. jokes aside, ranger's kinda sick of being used as a tool. he craves love and affection,, and is delighted that you're willing to give it to him.

he's obviously never been in a relationship before, and you giving him so many hugs and kisses means the world to him. <33

his favorite form of love is probably hugs. he likes how warm you both feel when you embrace each other, and they can last forever or be short and sweet :)))

i miss ranger

#midori!?

haha basically same as ranger.

midori, like ranger, and playful and stupid. he's always got his hands over you, and now you've got your hands all over him,, so it's a win-win

he's always happy to receive and reciprocate your affection, whether it be hand-holding or hugs.

his favorite form of affection is probably the pats on the back, because sometimes he needs those,, as "tough" as he is.

sometimes he'll just bitch to you in order to get some extra reassuring pats on the back,, so beat his ass if he bitches </33

oh midori you pretty piece of shit

#sara x reader #sara chidouin x reader #midori x reader #sou hiyori x reader #ranger x reader #rio ranger x reader #ranmaru x reader #ranmaru kageyama x reader #msuri ☆ post #yttd #yttd x reader #your turn to die x reader

[firstofficerwiggles]

Chapter 4: A Rather Indecent Proposal

Links to other chapters: Chpt. 1, Chpt. 2, Chpt. 3 Chpt. 5

Pairing: The Mandalorian x female reader

Rating: T

Warnings: Jealous!Din, a little bit of canonical violence

Word Count: ~9900 (I know it’s long, but it felt better as one chapter instead of split into two.)

Author’s note: Happy Mando Monday! I hope you enjoy this new chapter! First though, I need to apologize if the man you love or you yourself are called Eugene, but please don’t hate me for thinking it’s an unsexy name. Also, apologies to skinny men everywhere, you might not be my type, but I’m sure someone is into you.

“Do you think you could come with me for a business meeting? I could use your language skills.” Mando surprises you with his request. So far, he’s always conducted any business on his own, and except for a few weeks ago when you asked him about his bounty, he hasn’t shared any details of his work with you. But as always, you’re eager to help him if you can.

“Of course, I can. What do you need?” You’re actually kind of excited at the chance to accompany him.

“The client comes from the Unknown Regions and I hear he prefers to use Sy Bisti when possible,” Mando explains, “He’s also known to be very particular, so anything that can impress him would be helpful.”

“Absolutely, I can be your interpreter,” you agree, “When is this meeting?”

“As soon as we get to Canto Bight in a couple of hours.” He tells you. Oh, you look down at your lounging-on-the-ship comfy clothes; you’ll need to get yourself pulled together for a business meeting.  

“I better go get changed into something more presentable then. Can you watch the little guy?” You ask him.

“Why? You look fine.” Mando is such a guy sometimes. You just give him an incredulous look with a small raise of your eyebrow as if to say really? “I mean, sure, I’ll watch the kid if you want to change.”

“Thanks. But, yes, I definitely need to change before we meet your client,” you reply and head down to the hull; you’re almost out of earshot when you hear him mutter to the child, “Don’t get it, she always looks fine to me.” It makes you smile to yourself that he thinks that, yet there’s a part of you that’s eager for him to see you dressed a little nicer for once.

For about the millionth time you tell yourself that you shouldn’t have a crush on Mando, but that voice is getting drowned out more and more by another one that keeps telling you to enjoy it. After your trip to Crucival, you know that he finds you attractive at least. And Maker knows you’re even more attracted to him now that you know him even better. Plus seeing him almost naked was hard to ignore! So what if he considers you just a friend, as long as you don’t let things get out of hand, or say something stupid to him, you might as well have fun with your silly little fantasies.

You rummage through your clothing and pull out a nice black dress. It’s stylish but without being too fussy and you think, it will be perfect for a meeting with a client. Besides, if you’re going to Canto Bight, you know most of the women there will be dressed to the nines so you want to make sure you’re helping Mando give off a good impression. You take the time to style your hair and put on some make-up too. You give yourself a once-over in the small mirror in the fresher and, even in the harsh industrial light, you have to say that you look pretty nice. You knew that being a nanny to a toddler was never going to be a glamorous job, but the chance to clean up like this is fun every once in a while.

“We’re landing soon, you need to come sit down!” You hear Mando calling to you, so you quickly make your way back up to the cockpit.

“Thanks,” you say as you get back to your seat, but before you sit down, you turn to Mando with a little flourish and say, “See, much more presentable for your client now.”

Din stares at you in the elegant dress; you’re literally taking his breath away and he can’t even speak for a few seconds. Finally all he can think to say is, “You look good.” And he immediately chides himself for not being able to come up with a better compliment. Thankfully, you seem pleased with his pathetic words and just give him a happy smile before buckling yourself in. He’s still staring at you, taking in the pretty hairstyle you’ve created and looking at whatever it is that you’ve done to make your lips seem redder and fuller. It isn’t until a sensor on the control panel starts beeping loudly that Din snaps back to reality and focuses on landing the Crest.

“Wait, what about the child, do we bring him with us?” In your excitement, you’ve forgotten your primary job, as you’re getting ready to head out into the hustle and bustle of this flashy city. You look at the little one’s big eyes and like his father, he also seems to be fascinated with your done-up appearance.

“Sure, I have a satchel he can ride along in. And he’s plenty old enough to get into the casino; the age to get in is 18.” Mando chuckles as he maneuvers his 50-year-old toddler into a small brown shoulder bag. Mando’s cape partially obscures the little one making him less noticeable. You suppose he’ll be all right, it’s only a meeting in the restaurant of a casino; it’s not as if you’re taking the little one to the gaming tables. Although if you’re honest, you wouldn’t be surprised if Mando said that was perfectly ok too, so long as he’s safe. You give his tiny hand a squeeze and he coos back at you seemingly eager for your little adventure.

You follow Mando off the ship and through the throngs of men in sharply tailored evening jackets and women beautifully attired in chic gowns. Everyone looks very cosmopolitan especially against the stunning background of the decadent casino. You have to admit that you were expecting something a little more garish based on the descriptions you’ve heard of Canto Bight, but this particular establishment is quite nice with marble floors, crystal chandeliers, and unique modern art pieces strategically placed throughout the large lobby. With Mando in his beautiful beskar armor and you in your fashionable dress, you make a dashing pair as you pass by the colorful lights of the gaming machines.

Din leads you to a restaurant entrance and tells the maître d’ that he is here to meet a Mr. Omseki. The man seems slightly taken aback by the presence of a Mandalorian but when his gaze lands on you, his face softens and in a crisp accent he says, “Right this way, Madam” and then he barely glances at Din, as he says, “Sir”. It’s not surprising that the man would rather keep his eyes on you with your eyes shining in delight as you take in the scene around you. Din’s never cared much for Canto Bight and its rather pompous atmosphere, but he’s finding some charm in this place as he watches your reaction to it all. Not to mention, Din knows he would have received a much frostier welcome here without you by his side and he’s very glad you came with him. As you reach the client’s table, this feeling is renewed, as Mr. Omseki is all smiles as you greet him in the unusual language. Despite not understanding the words, Din can tell by the man’s animated speech, that he is positively delighted at the prospect of meeting with a beautiful woman and not just a Mandalorian bounty hunter. The man also seems happy to see the child and he gives him the flower from his lapel to play with as a small gift. Din listens as you interpret the client’s words and you all begin to exchange some welcoming small talk. Greef Karga had been the one to pass on this client to Din as a lucrative off-the-books bounty, but the man he described was temperamental and moody. Mr. Omseki is anything but moody tonight and if Din didn’t know better, he’d swear the man was flirting with you. He doesn’t love that idea, but if it helps this meeting go smoothly, it will be worth it.

Mr. Omseki is a charmer and he is thrilled to be speaking to you; he’s told you several times how pleasant it is to talk business in an ‘appropriate’ language and how overjoyed he is to speak to you. You suppose it must have been a while since he’s had the opportunity to speak Sy Bisti and perhaps that’s why he’s enjoying himself so much now. You’ve felt a little abashed at times, as you’ve interpreted his rather flowery praise of you to Mando although at least some of it has also extended to him. However, this client seems more interested in just chatting with you than he is in talking business with Mando. You try to steer the conversation back to Mando’s work, but each time you do, Mr. Omseki manages to ask you another question about yourself. Mando must sense your worry that you aren’t doing a good enough job and he drops his hand down to cover yours where it is sitting on the table. He gives you a reassuring squeeze and you continue making polite conversation with the client. You figure this must be part of his business negotiations.

Din leaves his hand covering yours in a clear message to the client that you belong with him. It’s a subtle gesture, but one that Mr. Omseki is shrewd enough to understand as shortly afterwards he shifts the conversation to the bounty that he wants Din to capture. He listens carefully as you interpret the details and he begins to formulate a plan for the hunt. Din almost has all the pertinent information, when a sudden commotion interrupts the conversation. He immediately pulls his blaster and shields you behind him. A man in a disheveled suit is pushing past the maître d’ and several waiters as he stumbles towards your table. Din realizes disappointedly that this man looks exactly like the quarry that was just described by Mr. Omseki.

“Mr. O-Omseki, I have it, I have all your m-money and the in-interest,” the man stutters out as he begins pulling out bags of credits from his coat.

“Well, well, Mr. Sanditore, looks like this is your lucky day,” Mr. Omseki drawls out, “I was just about to send this Mandalorian off to kill you.”

“Th- thank you Mr. Omseki, thank you, I promise you won’t have any trouble from me again.” The disheveled man is practically shaking with gratitude.

“Well, I am sorry Mr. Mandalorian, it was delightful to meet you and your most lovely interpreter, but I am afraid I no longer have need of your services.” Mr. Omseki says to Din. Then he turns to you and speaks in Sy Bisti in a soft voice. Din obviously can’t know what he’s saying but the mild look of surprise on your face is enough to raise his concern. Whatever it is though, you handle it gracefully and end the conversation with a pleasant tone before shifting back to Basic to say good-bye. As you exit the table, you reach for Din’s arm, threading your hand around his elbow. He is surprised by your touch but says nothing as you walk towards the large bar near the center of the restaurant.

“What did he say to you?” Din wants to know.

“He asked me if we were romantically involved, because if we weren’t he wanted to know if I was free for the rest of the evening.” You reply looking a little embarrassed.

“What did you tell him?” He really wants to hear this answer.

“I lied and said that we were. It seemed like the best solution.” You’re slightly looking away from him as you say this as if you’re worried about making eye contact.

“Good.” Din’s pleased you lied, and it’s petty, but he likes the idea of that rich man thinking that Din has something that he wants and can’t have.

“I’m sorry about the job though,” you’re saying to him now, “I know you must be disappointed.”

“It’s alright,” Din sighs a little though, “these things happen.” He sees you look around the bar area with a wistful look and realizes that you’re not ready to leave. “Besides, now we have time to stay and have a drink, just the two of us, well, us and our little sleeping bundle here.” The baby has curled up and is napping in his little satchel.

“Really?” You look so pleased that it makes Din smile to himself. You settle into one of the stools at the bar and Din motions to the bartender to order your drinks. He orders one for himself too, asking for a straw in his.

“Wait, so you do use straws?” You ask with a small laugh.

“Sure, it’s the easiest way to drink in public.” He shrugs matter-of-factly, but that just seems to make you giggle more. “What’s so funny?”

“I don’t know,” you say between giggles, “but there’s something so cute about you using a straw.”

“Cute?” He says, sounding slightly insulted.

“Oh stop, I mean it in a good way,” you say and light push his shoulder in a playful fashion, “It’s probably just because I’ve never seen you use a straw before.”

“So when you see me do something new, it’s cute to you?” Din is playing up his affront to the word cute because he’s enjoying teasing you.

“No, not everything new.” You roll your eyes at him. “It’s just when you do something ordinary, I guess, because I tend to think of you as extraordinary.” You let your lashes flutter a little as you say that last word, flirting with him.

“Extraordinary, huh?” He cocks his helmet to the side as he looks at you, “I like that better than cute.”

“Whatever, you’re still cute too.” You give him a wink and then turn to the bartender who has your drinks. Both glasses have a straw and you make quite a show of using yours, so much so that Din can’t help but let out a laugh. You’re both enjoying the moment so much that neither of you notice a thin, lanky man approach you.

“Ex-excuse me?” The man is trying to get your attention. Mando shifts back into alert mode almost instantly as he says, “Yes?”

The man is about as tall as Mando with very fair hair and pale skin. He looks to be in his mid-thirties and seems a little out of place here in a casino. Although, like the other men here, he’s wearing an expensive suit, but everything about him looks slightly uncomfortable and it’s as if he doesn’t quite know what to do with his body, like the way he holds his shoulders and moves his hands looks anxious.

“I’d like to hire you for an evening,” the man says, but weirdly he looks at you instead of Mando, but you figure that’s because he’s probably too intimidated to look directly at the Mandalorian.

“What sort of work do you need?” Mando asks in an even tone.

“Oh?” The man turns and looks at Mando directly, “I- I didn’t mean you. I want to hire her for an evening.”

Mando’s reaction to this statement is so swift you almost miss it. He instantly pulls his fist back and punches the man square in the face, knocking him to the floor. Mando looks down at him and grits out in an angry voice, “She’s not for sale.”

Well, this is a first. You thought you looked pretty nice tonight, but apparently, you look like a prostitute.

“Wait, wait, I’m s-sorry, I didn’t mean it like that.” The man cowers on the ground but tries to explain himself, “I didn’t mean to insult her, or you.”

“So what did you mean?” Your curiosity has gotten the best of you.

“I just need a beautiful woman to pretend to be my girlfriend for an evening, that’s all.” He says.

“Exactly how is that different?” Mando is still towering over the man in a very threatening manner.

“Just to attend a party with me, and help me look good,” the man says quickly, “I promise nothing s-sex related at all.” He holds his hands up in a defensive posture. He looks back to you with pleading eyes, “I can pay you really well, and all you need to do is go to a party and wear a pretty dress.”

You admit you’re intrigued by the idea and you know that with Mando losing out on this latest bounty, any extra funds would be helpful. You put your hand on Mando’s bicep in what you hope is a calming motion as you say, “It can’t hurt to hear him out, Mando.”

“Are you serious?” Mando asks you in a low voice.

You shrug, “If we don’t like what he has to say, you can punch him again.” The man on the floor lets out a little whimper at that, but Mando gives you a small nod and backs away from the man.

Tentatively, the man picks himself up off the floor and extends a hand out to you, “I’m Eugene DeWitt, I own a company that creates high-end gaming machines and I develop algorithms for those machines.”

You shake his hand briefly, and give him your first name. “So, Mr. DeWitt, why do you need a pretend girlfriend to go to a party?”

“Please, call me Eugene. It’s the annual celebration for the casino owners and it’s my best chance to network with them. I’ve been to the party the last three years, but I haven’t been able to barely get a word with any of the important owners.” He explains.

“What makes you think I’d be able to change that?” You’re not sure what effect your presence would have on his ability to do business.

“I need to find a way to catch their interest and impress them, and I think a woman like you would be the best way to do that.” He tells you.

“I’m flattered, but I think you might be overestimating my appeal,” you reply, “besides, why don’t you just ask out a woman you want to date?”

“I’ve tried,” Eugene admits, “but honestly, even if they’d said yes, I know they wouldn’t have the same effect as you; you’re drop dead gorgeous.”

“He’s right,” Mando says softly, almost under his breath. Your head snaps to the side to look at him after that comment. You don’t have any time to process it however because Eugene is still speaking.

“I’ll pay you 20,000 credits just to go to the party with me and pretend to be my girlfriend.” He offers.

What?!? Is he serious? Suddenly this job has real potential. But you’re still skeptical that he wants you to just attend the party, it feels like that amount of money would come with additional stipulations.

“Let me get this straight, you want me to just go to the party with you and pretend to be your girlfriend, but you’re not expecting sex or any other sexual favors?” You state this outright because you need everything to be clear.

“Yes,” he confirms, “I would need you to be affectionate towards me, but only in an appropriate way in public.”

“Define what you mean by affectionate.” You want to make sure you know precisely what he wants.

“Hold my hand or arm, let me put my arm around you, dance with me, maybe let me give you a small kiss?” He suggests.

“No kissing.” Mando interjects all of a sudden.

“O-Ok, no kissing,” Eugene agrees, “But would you be alright with the rest of that?”

“Yes, I can do that.” His terms seem reasonable and honestly, that much money to just attend a party? You’ve had way worse jobs.

“I’m going too,” Mando states and from his tone of voice this is not up for debate, “I’ll be your bodyguard for the evening.”

“That’s a good idea,” Eugene is intrigued by the prospect; “A Mandalorian bodyguard would also be impressive.”

“Good, then you can pay us 40,000 credits for the evening,” you counter-offer. You know it’s ballsy to ask, but truthfully Mando’s skills are worth a lot and he should be paid as well.

“That was uh more than I was hoping to spend,” Eugene says.

“Maybe so, but now you’re getting both of us to help you impress these future clients,” you smile flirtatiously and look him right in the eye holding his gaze.

“I can do 35,000,” Eugene offers.

“Alright, 35,000 and you buy me a new dress and shoes for this party.” That last part is really only because you don’t own any other dresses that would be suitable for his event, but also part of you wants to see if you can get him to give in to you.

“Can the dress be red?” Eugene asks.

“Sure, I’ll get a red dress, if that’s what you’d like,” You’re totally fine with that.

“We have a deal.” He says.

“One more thing,” Mando speaks up again, “Pay her half the credits now.”

“How do I know you won’t just take my money and leave?” Eugene asks.

“You have my word as a Mandalorian.” His tone is serious and just intimidating enough that Eugene capitulates. He takes out a holopad and asks for your information and just like that, 17,500 credits are in your account. It’s more money than you’ve ever had.

You finalize all the arrangements for tomorrow, with Eugene offering to have his mother watch the child for the evening. Mando is a bit reluctant at first to have someone else watch the kid but he realizes it will be hard to pull off looking like a bodyguard with a baby in tow. Likewise, you can hardly play the role of trophy girlfriend if you have the little guy. You wait until Eugene takes his leave of you for the night before you turn to Mando to exclaim over this crazy turn of events.

“Oh my, Mando, can you believe it? 17,500 credits for each of us, just for one night of going to a party?” You can’t help the excitement in your voice.

“Hmm, yes, it’s a lot,” he says, with a lot less enthusiasm, “but it’s all your money.”

“What?” He catches you by surprise, “No, Mando, I’m going to split it with you.”

“He only wanted to hire you,” he states firmly.

“Yes, but I was never going to do this without you. I was going to suggest you come too but you beat me to it.” You explain to him.

“Were you really?” He sounds a little skeptical, but there’s a small note of hope in his voice too.

“Absolutely. I’m not so naïve that I would agree to go to a party with a total stranger without you there to protect me.” It feels so natural to you now that of course he would be there to watch over you. “Besides, I know that you being there will keep Eugene from getting too handsy.”

Mando makes a little snorting sound, “Yeah, I could do without the affectionate part.”

“Don’t worry, I can do just enough to make it look believable without letting it get out of hand.” You link your arm through his and lean a little onto his shoulder, “C’mon, Mando, be a little happy about the money with me.”

He reaches up and pats your hand where it holds onto him. “Alright, since it means that much to you, I’m happy.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day you are in a swanky boutique recommended by Eugene where you are on a mission to find a red evening gown for tonight. You tried to tell Mando that his presence was not necessary for this, but he insisted on coming along with the child in tow. It’s been an adventure already because as you were looking over possible dress choices with the saleswoman, the mischievous toddler managed to climb out of his satchel and onto a table in the lingerie section. When you caught him, he was playing in a pile of lace thongs with one pair dangling off his ear. Even more amusing was Mando who was trying to extract the kiddo from his panty pile while trying hard not to touch any of the thongs. Thankfully, the saleswoman thought it was all utterly charming and laughed right along with you. Now Mando and the little guy are sitting together looking only slightly out of place on an elegant velvet sofa while they wait for you to try on dresses.

It’s been so long since you’ve shopped for anything this fancy, you were feeling a little intimidated at first. Yet the more you viewed the beautiful gowns, the more excited you became at the prospect of wearing one for the evening. The selection in this shop is lovely and since you know Eugene is paying, for once you’re not worried about the price. You slip on the first dress and can’t help but smile at your stylish reflection. This first one is a slinky satin gown that hugs your curves. You step out into the main area of the dressing rooms where Mando is waiting and where there is also a large three-sided mirror.

“Oh that looks very nice on you,” the saleswoman says.

You turn to look at yourself in the multiple angles offered from the mirror, “I’m not sure, what do you think, Mando?”

“It’s fine,” he says flatly. Well, with that lack of enthusiasm, you know this dress is out.

The next dress is more of a ball gown style and it’s kind of a lot with a beaded bodice and a full tulle skirt. Still you figure you should see it in the better mirror for the full effect.

“Oh no, I look like a red powder puff!” You say in dismay.

“I like it better,” Mando says, and then under his breath you just barely hear him say, “You’re more covered up.”

“I can’t wear this and be taken seriously.” It’s on to dress number three.

As you adjust the straps for the third dress, you find your face heating up at your reflection. This dress screams trophy girlfriend as it is super sexy. The deep sweetheart neckline shows off a lot of cleavage and there are thigh-high slits on both sides of the skirt.

You’re barely out of the dressing room when you hear, “Absolutely not.”

You can see Mando’s visor trained on you and it feels like that black T is boring a hole into your body.

“I don’t know, I think I look really good in this one.” Wow, when you turn around you can see that this dress is practically backless.

“You look fabulous! Very hot!” the saleswoman coos at you.

“Go change.” Mando’s voice sounds deeper somehow and he’s using his this-is-not-a-request voice. A little naughty part of you wants to argue back with his demand, but you did tell him that you didn’t want Eugene to get too liberal with his definition of affection, so you figure Mando’s probably right.

When you head back to the dressing room, you’re down to just one more dress and as you slip it over your head, you know that this is the one. It’s made of a soft, floaty chiffon with a bodice that accentuates your bust and your waistline. The skirt flows down your hips and legs gracefully and while there’s a slit in this dress too, it’s more hidden and only offers a glimpse of leg as you move. When you step out of the dressing room this time all you hear is a soft murmur of approval from the saleswoman.

You smile at your reflection as you twirl a little in the mirror and imagine how nice you will look with your hair styled and with your evening makeup.

“This has to be the one,” the saleswoman is saying to you now, “Doesn’t she look enchanting?” and she turns to Mando for his approval.

Mando nods his helmet slightly, but remains quiet. You didn’t really expect him to say much, but you were hoping for a bit more than that. At least he isn’t disapproving of this gown though.

“I have the perfect shoes to go with this dress. I’ll be right back!” The saleswoman tells you.

Din waits until she is out of earshot and then says softly, “You look beautiful.” He watches as your face lights up with his compliment and you thank him, reaching out to grasp his arm briefly as you do. That seems to be a thing you do now when you’re particularly pleased with something he’s done. You turn back to the mirror to inspect the dress more and he lets his gaze roam over you.

The truth is Din thought you looked beautiful in all of the dresses, even in the silly puffy one. He didn’t want to encourage you too much with the first dress because although you looked great it in, the style was fairly revealing and he disliked the idea of Eugene seeing you in it. But then, that third dress, Maker, he almost had a heart attack when he saw you in that. It was so sexy he wanted to rip it off you right there in the middle of the store. There was no way in hell any other man was going to see you in that. This dress you’re wearing now is more sophisticated and gives off more of a sensual elegance than outright sexiness. He still hates the idea of Eugene seeing you in it and what’s more thinking that you chose the dress special for him. This whole job is stupid, but he can’t deny the money is too good to pass up. Still he doesn’t trust Eugene to have such pure intentions as he claims and he knows he won’t let the man have a single moment alone with you if he can help it.

You’ve finished choosing the shoes and now you’re heading back into the dressing room to put on your regular clothes. Din breathes a sigh of relief at seeing your normal self again and he feels himself relax a bit. He follows the saleswoman to the register station and watches as she carefully places the gown in a garment bag. You’re about to give the woman Eugene’s account information, when Din hands over his own credit chip to pay for the dress and shoes.

“Mando, what are you doing? Eugene is going to cover the cost of this.” You voice conveys your confusion at his actions.

“I’m not letting another man buy you a dress,” Din mutters.

“Why not? It’s only to wear for this party tonight.” You’re looking at him completely perplexed.

“Because I want to buy it for you,” he says more firmly this time. Din sees a flash of something in your eyes that he likes; it’s a mixture of respect and awe, and perhaps a touch of desire too if he’s not being too hopeful.

“Well, if you’re certain,” you reply softly still looking at him in that new way.

“I am.” Din takes the garment bag from the saleswoman and motions for her to charge everything to his chip. “You’re sure you didn’t want the big puffy dress, though?” And even though you can’t see the smirk on his face, he’s fairly confident you can hear it in his tone.

“Thank you, Mando, but I think this is the best choice.” You let out a light laugh and give him that beaming smile again that he loves to see. You follow him out of the store and then grasp his arm again as you say, “I really do love that dress, thank you for buying it for me.”

“You’re welcome,” Din tells you, wishing that it would just be the two of you going out tonight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“You’re sure you want to do this? We could still turn around and leave.” This is the second time Mando has asked you that. The first was when you came out of the fresher after finishing your make-up and he saw your completed look for the evening. He didn’t compliment you again, but the long pause he took to look at you and the way he tilted his helmet to the side made your insides flutter nonetheless. Now you’re standing outside Eugene’s door and it seems he’s still having second thoughts.

“It will be fine, Mando. Just remember that this money means you can take a break from hunting and spend some extra time on finding the Jedi for the little guy here.” He sighs in response and knocks on the door.

You shift the toddler in your arms and you look down at him. He’s been having fun playing with the soft material of your dress and he’s got a big handful of your skirt in his little claws right now. The only worry you have is about leaving him with a stranger tonight. Eugene’s mother will probably be fine, but you’ve grown so attached to the child you’re feeling more anxious about being away from him that you anticipated.

“You’ll be a good boy tonight, won’t you, buddy?” You say to the child as you carefully extricate your dress from his little hand. “Mando and I will miss you but we won’t be too late.”

The door opens to reveal Eugene in a tuxedo with a red flower on his lapel and next to him, a cheerful looking older woman.

“Good evening, you look spectacular,” Eugene greets you enthusiastically.

“Thank you, you look dashing yourself,” you respond with a slight flirtiness to your tone. You figure you might as well get used to your role now.

“Oooh! Is this the sweet little baby I get to watch tonight?” The woman seems kind and the child coos at her with interest.

“Yes, thank you for doing this,” you respond pleasantly. You give the little guy a hug and a kiss on his forehead before handling him over to her.

“What a little charmer! You don’t have to worry about a thing, my dear. I’ll take good care of your baby and you take good care of mine.” She says with a wink towards Eugene.

“Th- thank you, mother.” Eugene sounds embarrassed and you try your best not to snicker. “We should get going.” He extends his arm to you and you lightly thread your hand around his elbow.

This whole time Mando hasn’t made a sound and is standing so still you’d almost think he was a suit of armor on display. But when you take Eugene’s arm, Mando lets out a little grunt that sounds like disapproval. You turn to look at him and mouth, “It will be OK” and give him as encouraging a smile as you can. The nod of his helmet to you is slight, but you know he understood.

Eugene leads you out onto the city walkway with Mando following close behind. The party is being held in the largest casino and it’s a short walk from Eugene’s home. Once again, the streets are filled with fashionable people ready for a night on the town. You feel the soft swish of your skirt against your legs and smile again at how nice it feels to be dressed up like this. You make small talk with Eugene, getting comfortable with him so you can make this look like a real date. You resist the urge to turn back and look at Mando though because you know if you do, your feigned interest in Eugene will falter.

By the time you reach your destination, you’ve managed to perfect a nice light laugh at Eugene’s jokes and you feel comfortable enough to lean into him in an affectionate way. As you enter the opulent ballroom of the casino, you paste a brilliant smile onto your face as if you’re simply delighted to be there. Eugene has told you he wants you to help draw the attention of various men in attendance so you figure you’ll sort of openly flirt with the room and see who notices. You catch the eye of a well-dressed older gentleman, and your technique works wonderfully as he comes right over.

“Good evening, I’m Mr. Belvers, the owner of this casino; it’s so very nice to have you here, my dear.” He greets you with a small bow and flourish of his hand.

“Why, thank you!” You respond warmly, “It was so nice of my boyfriend to bring me here tonight. You must know him, Mr. Eugene DeWitt of Advanced Gaming Enterprises?” You introduce Eugene with a smile.

“Oh yes, of course, Mr. DeWitt, how nice to see you again.” With the introductions made, Eugene launches into conversation with Mr. Belvers. You listen as best you can to the business talk and smile and nod like the perfect trophy girlfriend. It’s boring, but really easy when you realize that not much more is expected of you. Finally, with a promise to dance with Mr. Belvers later, the conversation ends and you breathe a small sigh of relief that if anything at least you got Eugene a few minutes with the owner of this place.

“That was incredible!” Eugene is saying excitedly, “I’ve never even met the man before but he acted like we were old friends. You are fantastic!” He gives your hand a squeeze and pulls you a little closer to him. He steers you deeper into the ballroom, eager to make another contact. You turn your head to look at Mando and give him a smile and a subtle nod, which he returns.

The pattern continues throughout the party, you spy an older man, make eyes at him, and reel him in for Eugene. When you’re between conversations, Mando has taken to checking in with you to make sure everything is going well. All in all, it’s about what you expected and you have to admit that Eugene was right; apparently, these men are all easily swayed by the look of a pretty face. You’re please to see that Mando’s presence is having a good effect too. These bigshots are very impressed that Eugene has a Mandalorian for his private security. Several of them have even asked Mando if he’s available for future security jobs too. Who knows, maybe Mando will come away with some business contacts of his own at the end of tonight.

As the evening continues, Eugene seems to be growing more confident, and you’ve noticed he’s taken to placing his arm around your waist. It doesn’t bother you, but occasionally his hand does seem to be a touch low. He also leaned in just a moment ago and let his lips brush your cheek. It wasn’t really much, but still you’re surprised he dared to try it.

“I said no kissing.” Mando’s voice is hard and direct, causing Eugene to flinch and instantly put more space between the two of you. “Keep your hands above her waist too.” Your heartbeat stutters at Mando’s protectiveness and you look at him with a grateful smile. When you’re sure no one else is looking, you give him the flirtatious look you’ve been using all evening and then top it off with a wink. You notice that he clenches his fists as you do this and then gives you a deeper nod in response.

I hate this, I hate this, I hate this. Din’s mantra for tonight is not a pleasant one. He’d much rather be hunting down a bounty right now than having to watch you flirt and simper to every man in the room. He’d rather be slogging through a swamp or crossing a frozen tundra to catch a quarry than have to watch yet another man ogling you or touching you. And then, there’s Eugene; Din would like to punch him in the face again. The man keeps getting bolder as the night progresses. Din’s caught him staring at your breasts and your ass several times, and he’s clearly getting too handsy. The only thing making this night remotely bearable is the way you keep looking over to him with such sweet glances, as if you’re sharing a secret with him. Although the way you looked at him just now made him want to sweep you up in his arms and haul you out of here as fast as he could. If you do that again, he doesn’t know if he can be responsible for his actions.

Din groans to himself, and prepares for this night to get worse because Eugene is leading you out onto the dance floor. There’s no way for him to follow close to you while you’re dancing and he’s willing to bet that Eugene takes advantage of that opportunity. In an attempt to stay in Eugene’s eye line as much as possible, Din stalks around the dance floor following your swaying movements. He can’t help but watch the graceful way you move as you dance, noticing the soft arch of your back and the delicate glide of your feet across the floor. As he sees Eugene’s arms pull you in closer, Din feels a deep burning anger in his stomach and once again thinks about breaking Eugene’s nose with his fist. This is the worst job ever.

Dancing with Eugene isn’t so bad you decide. It’s a nice break from all the forced flirting and extremely dull conversations you’ve had to put up with all evening. And despite the fact that you’d much rather be dancing with someone else, it’s still a pleasant activity. Moreover, after Mando’s warning, Eugene is back to being a gentleman and keeping his hands in polite territory. He does seem to be enjoying the dancing himself, quite a lot by the expression on his face, although every once in a while his confidence seems to fade for a moment.

“May I ask you a personal question?” Eugene looks at you quizzically.

“Alright,” you agree, curious.

“Are you and the Mandalorian involved? Romantically, I mean?” He looks nervous as he asks this.

“Do you think I would have agreed to this date if we were?” You deflect his question somewhat because you find that you don’t really want to admit that there’s nothing between you and Mando. Especially because it feels like you’ve been growing closer. You think about when he insisted on buying you the dress earlier today, and how special that felt, definitely not something a friend would do. Even tonight, there is this energy between you and Mando that you can’t deny, nevermind that you’re technically on a date with Eugene.

“He seems extremely protective of you.” Eugene replies.

You shrug lightly, “He is.”

“You know, if you wanted something else, a different life, I could make that happen for you,” Eugene looks at your earnestly, “After tonight, I’m going to be an even wealthier man. I would treat you like a princess.”

“Eugene,” you sigh, “I appreciate the offer, but-”

“Don’t answer yet,” he insists, “Think about it. Please.” He pulls you in closer to him so that you’re dancing cheek to cheek. You know he means it to be romantic but you feel nothing. There’s nothing to think about.

When the music ends, you feel relieved that you can put some space between the two of you. You’re turning to look for Mando when unexpectedly you hear a loud crash followed by blaster fire. As if he materialized out of nowhere, Mando is at your side pulling you to the floor and covering you with his body.

“I’ve got you,” Mando says, holding you close with one arm as the other holds his blaster. Your heart is racing and you hear the commotion of many people shouting, rushing feet, and general mayhem. You pull yourself tighter under Mando, squeeze your eyes shut, and try to keep as still as you can. Suddenly, Mando lifts off you slightly and fires three shots in rapid succession.

“It’s alright,” He tells you, “I took care of them. Everything is alright.”

“You’re sure?” Your voice comes out shaky and high-pitched.

“Hey, look at me, come on, look at me” Mando’s voice is soft and comforting, and you tip your head up and open your eyes to look at his visor. “You’re safe, no one will hurt you.”

“Thank you, Mando,” you breathe, feeling relief flood your body. Even though you can’t see his eyes, you know he’s looking back at you and it’s soothing.

“You have to let go of me now, cyar’ika, so I can help you up off this floor.” His voice is still soft and you can hear a lightness to it now. You hadn’t realized but you have a death grip on the material of his thick protective shirt on the side of his body. Chuckling weakly at yourself, you release him and he climbs off you before reaching down to pull you back to your feet.

“That was incredible shooting, Mando!” Eugene can’t hide how impressed and excited he.

“I’ll say it was!” the casino owner from before, Mr. Belvers, is coming over to offer his praise to Mando too. He gives Mando’s hand a hearty shake and then raises his voice to address the party, “Folks! Everything looks to be all safe now, thanks to this heroic Mandalorian!”

The partygoers erupt in applause and for the next several minutes, people are coming up to thank Mando personally. You’re glad to see Mando get appreciation he deserves for saving everyone, but from his body language, you think he seems a bit embarrassed by all the attention.

“Who were they?” You turn and ask Mr. Belvers.

“Some thugs who have been plaguing the casinos for weeks now. I think they came here tonight trying to rob people of their valuables. By the way, there is a reward for their capture and I’ll see to it that those credits are yours, sir.” He says this last part directly to Mando.

Din thanks the man and gives him a small card with his guild information, explaining how best to pay him. Now that the danger in the room has cleared, quite literally by casino workers who’ve come to take away the bodies of the dead men, people are starting to go back to the party. These people are so wealthy and spoiled that these violent men and the Mandalorian who dispatched them are already just an amusing anecdote to be shared over cocktails. He is so ready to leave this place. Din looks over to you and sees that while you’re calmer now, you are still visibly shaken from the intrusion of the would-be robbers. He wonders sheepishly if maybe he scared you a little too by yanking you to the ground so quickly, but it was pure instinct to protect you. Nitwit Eugene is rambling on about what an exciting evening it’s been to whoever will listen, completely oblivious to your discomfort. Din decides Eugene’s gotten more than his money’s worth and he’s taking you home right now.

“It’s time for us to leave.” Din’s voice is stern as he steps closer to you and Eugene, not caring that he’s interrupting the man.

“So soon, the party is still going-” Eugene tries to protest, but when he sees Din’s rigid posture, he trails off.

“I am rather tired, Eugene,” you say, and then lower your voice “Besides, it will be better to leave them wanting more.” Din watches as you bat your eyelashes at the man and give him a soft smile, and then like magic, Eugene is agreeing to leave. Din does have to admire your skill at using your feminine wiles to get men to do your bidding. He also knows that if you ever choose to try that with him, he’ll be putty in your hands. He smiles at the thought, but it’s short-lived as soon as he sees Eugene slide his arm around your waist again as he steers you towards the exit. Din tromps after the two of you, at least this stupid job is almost over.

You’re close to Eugene’s place and you’re feeling quite glad that this fake date is almost over. You just want to get the child and hurry back to the Crest so Mando can fly you away from here. Eugene is wittering on telling you how great you were and what a wonderful pair you make, but you’re only barely listening to him. Blessedly when you get to Eugene’s door, Mando is all business.

“It’s time to make the final transfer of credits,” Mando tells Eugene.

“Of course,” Eugene replies, taking out his holopad and completing the necessary functions. “Thank you again, you were both very impressive.”

Eugene opens the door and you and Mando wait for a few minutes until he returns with the little one who is sound asleep. He hands the child to Mando and then turns to you, “I’d like a moment alone to speak to you before we say goodnight.”

“Eugene, I think I did everything you wanted tonight, but our fake date is over.” You say pointedly.

“Please, it will only take a moment.” He looks at Mando, “Please.”

“Fine,” you say and give Mando a small nod. He doesn’t exactly give you any privacy, but Mando does take a few steps away and turns his body slightly so he’s no longer facing you head on.

Eugene takes your hand in his and says in a soft voice, “Please, tell me that you’ve thought about my offer?”

“There’s nothing for me to think about; I belong with them,” you tell him as you pull your hand from his grasp and gesture towards Mando and the child.

“But there’s so much more I can do for you, I can give you more than he can. I can give you a safe home, beautiful clothes and jewelry, you’ll never want for anything.” Eugene must think you’re completely shallow and nothing but a gold digger. “And, I would worship you.” He’s really piling it on thick now.

“Eugene, you don’t even know me, and if you did, you would know that I’m not interested in that life,” you state firmly, “I think it’s time to say goodbye. I wish you all the best with your business.” You turn to go but Eugene reaches out for your arm. Fortunately Mando is already back at your side and he brushes Eugene’s arm away roughly as he says,

“She said no.” Din turns to escort you away, placing his arm around your waist, mimicking Eugene’s earlier touch. It means he’s holding you much closer to his body than he has before when he usually just places a palm on the small of your back. He feels you relax into his touch and for the first time this evening, he feels a sense of rightness. Still though, Eugene’s words I can give you more than he can are ringing in his ears and his self-doubt makes him sigh.

He waits until you are far enough away so that Eugene cannot hear him and in a small voice, Din forces himself to ask you, “You’re certain you don’t want to stay? He did make you a good offer.”

“What? No, I absolutely don’t want to stay with Eugene.” Your answer is swift and a bit shocked.

“I would understand if you did.” Din says, his voice still soft and trying to hide his emotion.

“Mando, do you want me to stay?” You stop and turn to face him so you can look directly at his visor, your face openly displaying your displeasure at his words.

“No,” he says strongly, “I don’t. Not at all. But it would be wrong of me to hold you back if you wanted to leave.”

You slip your hand into his and look at him with soft eyes as you say, “Mando, I don’t want to leave you, or the child. I’m happy with you both, happier than I’ve been in a long time. Eugene is wrong; he doesn’t know what you can give me.”

Din’s heart pounds at your words, as he says, “I’m glad,” he pauses just for a second before he tells you, “I don’t want you to leave us.” He gives your hand a small squeeze and turns to continue walking.

“Besides, there’s no way I could stay with a man I’m not attracted to in the slightest.” Your voice has a lighter tone to it and it breaks a bit of the tension.

“He wasn’t that ugly,” Din shrugs and you laugh in response.

“No, it wasn’t really about his looks, just the overall way he carried himself. I prefer a man with more confidence.” You say.

“Confidence is attractive.” Din agrees with you.

“Yeah, it is. I like a man who can walk into a room and earn everyone’s respect just by the way he holds himself. That’s incredibly attractive.” You give him a slight side-glance as you say this. “But if we’re being shallow, then I also wasn’t physically attracted to Eugene either.”

“Why not?” Din’s curiosity is peaked.

“He was much too skinny.” You wrinkle your nose a bit as you say this.

“You like chubby men?” Din chuckles, and while he’s not chubby, he thinks of his own stomach which isn’t quite as flat as it used to be when he was younger.

“I like bigger men,” you clarify, “Men who are broader, more muscular. Although chubby is cute too. When I cuddle with a guy, I want something to cuddle in to.”

“Is that so?” It’s not lost on Din that what you’ve just described is essentially him and he can’t deny how much he likes hearing that. Plus, now he’s imagining what it would be like to cuddle with you. He doesn’t have time to dwell on that thought however, because you’re giggling at something.

“Well and then there was the worst part, his name,” you say rather playfully.

“What was wrong with his name?” Din’s never thought about a name being part of someone’s attractiveness.

“Honestly, I don’t think I could seriously moan out Eugene in a moment of passion.” You’re consumed by giggles at the idea.

Din is stunned by what you’ve just said and all he can think about is what your voice might sound like if you were to moan out his name, his real name. Fortunately, he doesn’t seem to need to respond to you as you’re still wracked with laughter.

“Oh no!” You stop laughing and gasp, “I didn’t think.”

“What?” He has no idea what could be bothering you.

“Your name isn’t Eugene, is it?” Your eyes are wide as you look at him.

Din lets out a loud laugh at how comically horrified you look at the prospect. He’s still chuckling as he tells you, “Hell no.”

“Thank the Maker,” you mutter under your breath, making Din laugh again.

You’ve made your way back to the Razor Crest now and it isn’t until you have to let go of him so that he can open the ramp, that you realize you’ve been holding Mando’s hand this entire time. It felt so natural and easy to walk holding his hand, and you hope he felt the same way. You watch as he tucks the child into his pram for the night. You should probably go get yourself ready for bed, but you want to keep talking to Mando.

“May I ask you a question?” You say as he turns back towards you.

“Of course.” He nods to you.

“Why were you so adamant about no kissing tonight? I mean not that I wanted to kiss Eugene,” you make a face at the idea, “But, it seemed to really bother you?”

“Oh” Is all that he says and then he looks away slightly. You wait patiently but for a while it seems as though that might be the only answer you get, until he finally says, “I didn’t want to see him kiss you. I don’t want to see any man kiss you.”

The air between you feels suddenly charged, and you look into his visor where you think his eyes are, and you can’t help yourself from asking, “Why not?”

“Because I can’t kiss you.” Mando admits.

“Do- do you want to kiss me?” You can’t believe you’re daring to ask him that but you need to know.

“It doesn’t matter what I want,” he says and you can hear frustration in his tone, “I shouldn’t and I can’t.”

“I would like to kiss you, but only if it’s something you want too,” you admit to him softly.

“I do want to kiss you,” Mando sighs and he moves towards you slightly but then holds himself in check.  

“So Mandalorians don’t kiss? I just want to understand, I don’t want to pressure you to do anything you don’t want to do or that goes against your beliefs,” you explain, wanting him to understand that you respect his creed. You can’t deny how much you want to feel closer to him and show him how you feel, but the last thing you want is to make him uncomfortable or do something he’ll regret.

“They do, there are… loopholes, but I- I’ve never-, I want to, but-” Mando shifts his feet and looks down.

“It’s ok, I understand.” You’re quiet for a moment and you think perhaps you should just drop this. But then you can’t stop yourself from asking, “What about the Keldabe Kiss? Didn’t you say there was something softer?” Your face heats up as you remember that moment well; you’ve thought about it often.

“You remembered that?” Mando says in a low voice.

“It was pretty unforgettable, Mando,” you reply with a smile.

“There is a softer version. I could show you. If you’d let me.” His voice sounds hopeful.

“I’d like that.”

He steps closer to you then and seems to stare at your face for a long moment until you decide to close the distance between you two. You’re so close you can hear him breathing. He reaches up and places his large hands on either side of your face, holding you still, as he slowly brings his helmet down to touch your forehead. When he finally makes contact, you hear him let out a shaky breath. You bring your hands to his waist and pull him in a little closer to you as you maintain contact with him. While this isn’t what you pictured when you thought of kissing him, you can’t deny how intimate and special it feels. Just from the deliberate way that Mando is holding you, tells you how important this is for him. You stay like that holding each other and feeling suspended in time.

“I know this isn’t the same as real kissing,” Mando says, “but I like holding you like this. I’ve thought about doing this a lot.” His voice is so soft you almost feel like you imagined his confession.

“I like it too,” you tell him. You’re about to tell him how much you’ve thought about being held by him as well, when suddenly the child’s cries fill the air. Just like that, the moment between you and Mando is gone and you hurry over to pick up the little one and soothe him.

“I guess I should go get us on our way. Besides, he always sleeps better when we’re in hyperspace.” Din takes a step towards the ladder, but then pauses before coming over to you and dropping his helmet down onto your forehead again for just a few seconds. It’s a small gesture, but his heart soars at being able to do it. He gives the child a comforting pat on the back before turning away and heading to the cockpit, his head full of thoughts of you.

P.S. Don’t think that you missed hearing him call you cyar’ika, you’ll be sure to ask him about it later ;)

--------‐------------------------------------Thank you for reading! Here's the link to Chapter 5 Please let me know if you’d like to be tagged in later chapters.

Tag list: @im-the-nerdiest-of-them-a11 @theravenreads @nicotinebirds @boomtownboy @nova646 @wandering-storm-lost-shadow @becks-things @sleepwithacommunist @mackycat11 @som3thingcr3ative @punkdalek @pinkninja200 @s-unflowxr @ladyjenny19 @peppywitch @haley7242 

#the mandalorian #the mandalorian x reader #the mandalorian fanfic #din djarin x reader #din djarin fanfic #the mandalorian x female reader #din djarin x female reader #the mandalorian fanfiction #din djarin fanfiction

[aerois]

Remarried Empress: Sovieshu Contextualized and Navier the Unreliable Narrator (SPOILERS!)

So recently I started reading Remarried Empress on WEBTOON. Honestly the whole premise wasn’t my cup of tea and I was solely reading it because it was part of an event where I could get free coins (lol). But then... I got hooked. I got invested. Started drinking in chapters whenever and wherever I could, and even now I still crave more. I wanted Navier to have some semblance of a happy ending (and, let’s be honest, I wanted to drag that precious little bitch Trashta by her fucking hair across the yard). At first it was mostly that. Raging at Trashta and her Simperor, pondering at Heinley’s true intentions, drooling over Kaufman. 

And then, I noticed something odd. I noticed-- the strangest thing-- Sovieshu seemed to be... not as enamored with his mistress as meets the eye. And there was even some hinting that his feelings for Navier weren’t what we assumed.

I have to preface this: I don’t condone Sovieshu’s crappy actions. He’s an idiot, and acts very poorly as a husband. And there’s no excuse for cheating. Absolutely not! So I don’t want this post to come across like In Defense of Sovieshu, because it’s not. But I do think that our view, the reader’s view, of Sovieshu, is warped. And this is mainly because we see the story through Navier’s eyes of course, but we forget that every individual person is fallible. Every person, at some point, harbors false assumptions that color their concepts of truth and reality. Put shortly, Navier is human, and therefore is not a reliable narrator at some points. Especially concerning her husband. We see Sovieshu entirely through the eyes of his wronged wife in the webcomic. Pin that: in the webcomic. Did you know the webcomic is actually based on a mobile game? Yes, it is! And I downloaded it! And I’m playing it! And... I’m actually... hating Sovieshu less?????????? 

Ok, ok, put the pitchforks down! Hear me out! I’m not saying any of the stuff he did was okay! But Navier’s narration of the story paints him as this cold, detached man who grew to hate his wife so much that he flew into the arms of some hussy for warmth and then just cast his wife aside and deliberately acted like a jerk just because he wanted her to suffer.  And there’s a grain of truth to that. There are points where Sovieshu feels bitter and does or says something waspish. But it’s not as black and white as you might assume. I played the mobile game, and decided to take Sovieshu’s route out of spite. I opened this app, saw it was an otome with this garbage-fire, cheating sack of shit for a romance option and thought “Hah! The nerve. Probably some semi-abusive dirtbag route aimed to appeal to girls who like men who treat them badly. You know, that mutually abusive relationship appeal that some girls like because drama.” And I needed to rack up in-game currency anyway (it’s like usual mobile games, where when you wanna make cool choices you gotta cough up cash unless you “diamond-mine” on crappy stories to save up the meager bits of free currency the app gives you for playing) so I figured I’d blast through the Sovieshu route and skip onto my darling Kaufman in playthrough 2.

And then the smoke genuinely compelling character development got me. So I could run y’all through Navier’s version of the events, but you already know that. For Sovieshu though? Here’s the kicker: this idiot has had a raging passion for his wife slowly building up for years throughout their entire lives, and only realizes it about halfway through the events of the story. This idiot, this buffon, this absolute brain-dead dolt... didn’t even realize he was pining over his own wife until he was about to explode from the desperation from it all. God, I wish I was joking. Lemme break it down for you:

Sovieshu’s POV: He and Navier are introduced as kids and are told they’ll be married someday. Life partners. They are raised in tandem to respect and care for one another. Kinda smacks of grooming (go mom and dad!) but whatever, that’s the background. These kids are mentally regarding each other as spouses their entire conscious lives. And Sovieshu, as he grows, quickly comes to realize his intended is a selfless girl who holds everything inside. The first spark of his affection for her is wrapped in this: that Sovieshu longs for Navier to take off her “perfect princess” mask and let herself be vulnerable with him. He admires her intellingence, her grace, and her devotion to her country. He looks at her and sees someone that inspires him. He craves the opportunity to comfort and protect her. He waits, and these opportunities come in small instances. But they get older, their burdens get heavier, and like most young women, Navier gets better at pretending nothing is wrong with her and putting everyone else first. Sovieshu feels more distant from her. But that desire to break through her wall still stands.

They marry, but Navier, in her infinite wisdom, makes the assumption that this marriage is entirely political (despite...the fact... that they were raised together??? they were literally best friends their entire lives??? are y’all seeing how this could be confusing for him???) and that there are absolutely no feelings involved on Sovieshu’s side. Expect there’s that little problem. That little problem. Of Navier’s absolute inability to be vulnerable. And so she starts this marriage all Elsa-Conceal-Don’t-Feel convinced that her husband (whom she is secretly in love with, shocker) holds no warmth for her because she’s never received any from him. 

Now I’ll acknowledge that this is a two way street, where Sovieshu fails as well. Should Navier have made a mature decision and asked for love and support when she needed it? Yes. Should Sovieshu have offered anyway, despite not knowing that she wanted it at all? Yes. They’re both in the wrong here. They’re both too passive, too afraid.

So the first few years of their marriage pass by like this. And Navier kinda melts into more of a depressed state over it, while Sovieshu becomes frustrated. But he doesn’t know why. He hasn’t quite put his finger on the fact that HE’S IN LOVE WITH HIS WIFE, GEE WHAT A SURPRISE BUDDY. And then... the little ingenue comes in. Trashta, with her crocodile tears, oversharing of emotions, co-dependent as all get-out. You see where I’m headed, right? It’s not just that she’s the opposite of Navier that gets Sovieshu hooked. It’s that she gives him that opportunity to unburden all this pent up romantic frustration. He can comfort, and protect, and wipe away the tears of a woman who loves him... And for a while, it’s intoxicating. That itch is finally being scratched.

Or so it seems. Because sooner or later, Sovieshu realizes that this woman is not his wife. And she’s a bit clingy, and clueless, and she’s... well, she’s not his wife. She’s not his wife. 

“Oh, dear God...” the idiot finally realizes. “I don’t want this hussy. I want my wife!” 

Ding ding ding! You did it! And it only took you--what? 20 years? After all this time, Sovieshu (and the audience playing his route) realizes. He’s not cheating because he’s bored, or because he hates his wife, or because he’s Inherently An Asshole And That’s What Assholes Do. He’s cheating because he’s using this woman as a stand-in for his wife. He’s been looking straight through this woman and seeking his wife the entire time. He’s cheating because he’s stupid and repressed and misguided and human. And again, that doesn’t excuse it. He still cheated, and that’s something he needs to spend a life-time making up for. It’s a mistake, and a big one. But it’s not fueled by a malicious hatred or a desire to hurt her. It’s fueled by confusion and fear. And, strangely enough, a desire to perform love for his wife.

So anyway, this stupid dweeb finally wakes up and realizes that no matter how much he plays around with the Town Skank, it doesn’t slate that thirst for the woman he’s spent his life growing to love. And that he actually, truly loves her to begin with. Now at this point, Navier was away travelling, doing queenly stuff. And he gets a message from a servant-- his wife is home. This boy books it. This man throws down what he’s doing, sprints across the imperial palace, to stumble at the feet of his wife; red-faced and breathless, absolutely undone. This man is screaming for his wife on the inside and now nothing he can do will quiet it. And his wife, ever the perfect pinnacle of a monarch, just raises a perfectly manicured eyebrow at him and wonders what’s got him in such a tizzy.

This is where the difference between the narratives hits especially hard. Navier has absolutely no clue that her husband is a hair-thin thread of self-control away from all of this just completely spilling out of him. She looks at him and sees a tormentor; someone who’s treating her like a used doll. And he sees this Goddess that’s been hiding in plain sigh the whole time. He sees his sins and repents before this, his wife, his almighty Goddess. But he doesn’t know what to do. She’s still been hurt by him, Trashta is still in their lives, and damn it all, he’s still frustrated. He still feels bitter and abandoned because even after everything, even after the years of marriage, his wife just seems so unaffected by him. This is where Navier’s “perfect queen” image that she tries so hard to curate really bites her in the ass.

These two dumbasses are hopelessly in love with each other but they’re deadlocked in an endless cycle of letting their prides get in the way. Navier doesn’t want to be vulnerable. Sovieshu doesn’t want to compromise, doesn’t know how to not lash out in anger when he’s really feeling sad. Unlike Navier, he can express emotions-- but not in a heathy way. So he says something mean, does something kinda shitty. And Navier thinks it’s because he delights in her suffering. So Sovieshu’s over here in his head like a cranky little child that’s mad at mommy because she’s on the phone, and Navier is over there in her head wondering why on earth her husband can’t notice a love that she’s never actually expressed to him. And it’s just terrible. But kind of hilarious. Mostly sad and terrible. But defintely hilarious.

To further illustrate this: even a lot of Sovieshu’s actions, for that matter, get warped by Navier’s unreliable narration. WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD. THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE! In the chapter where Trashta is stabbed, Sovieshu immediately screams for guards to surround Navier. So I’ll sum up their thought processes here.

Navier: Oh my God, I can’t believe this asshole. Calling the guards? He really fuckin thinks I did this?! Jerk! Asshole! He really thinks I’d arrange for a pregnant woman to be stabbed!! He’s probably deliberately framing me too, so he can get me out of the way and live happily ever after with her!

Sovieshu: OH MY GOD, MY BEAUTIFUL WIFE COULD GET STABBED NEXT SOMEONE HELP well actually maybe she had something to do with it? nah. prolly not. but even if she did idgaf I LOVE MY WIFE, I’LL COVER FOR YOU BABY I’LL FORGIVE WHATEVER. GUARDS, FIND WHO DID THE STABBING SO THEY DON’T STAB MY PERFECT WIFE NEXT

Like I wish I was joking, but that’s how it read. Anyway, I’m not done with the comic or the game yet. But Sovieshu’s motivations aren’t all as they seem. And while he’s not a perfect husband, he has the capacity to mature, let down his pride, and make steps toward atoning to his wife. I honestly and genuinely believe this marriage could be salvageable if they could come clean with each other. A lot of people want to root for Kaufman or Heinley, and I get it. Those two would probably treat her well. But the fact stands that these two are married, and surprisingly, they both actually still hold a spark of love for one another. If Sovieshu could genuinely repent, and demonstrate this to Navier, they would attain the happy marriage with each other that they both strive for. Anyway, I find myself surprisingly hooked on the story now that I see Sovieshu’s POV. He’s not a hero in this story by any means, but I’m somehow, against my better judgement, rooting for him. I’m rooting for him to make the right choices and repair his marriage. 

It’s a bold strategy, folks. Let’s see how it pays off.

#remarried empress

[a-kind-of-merry-war]

Omg I hadn't read the Lark story before. Omg Geralt is the BIGGEST fool sometimes. Like, massive brain, absolutely does not use it. Thinks he uses it, doesn't have a clue. Lark, ah yes, a song bird. I feel there are better birds than that to describe Jaskier, but I yearn to be close to him. May I also use these pet names? Meanwhile Jaskier is over there like "holy shIT Oh KAYit iS HAPPening!!! It'S HappENING I had BETTER PUT ON my most TransLuCENT TOP and nothING on BOTTOm!!!" And Geralt is like, well damn, I've been a fool, I can never be close to Jaskier again. I may as well drown myself. And Jaskier is in the room like: you have PREPARED for this moment Jaskier, you have PRACTICED, do not Fuck This Up Jaskier!!! And Geralt gets back and he's like, I am a monster. And Jaskier is like, god, pls, fuck I know, I have seen that dick before but I am a PROFESSIONAL and will get that in my throat, it is NOT a problem. And Geralt is like, you hate me, I hate me, the world hates me, but pls, I just- even just to be your friend would be enough. Meanwhile Jaskier is already bending a knee like, wait, wat? And Geralt is like, wait wat? Priceless. (Ok so I read some things into the story, but you get my drift.) ALSO, the absolute suprise and delight I receive each time Jaskier is caught off gaurd by Geralt being the one to perfom a sex act that Jaskier had thought HE would be performing is palpable. This story really had it all.

dkjfskfd ANON. I'm glad you enjoyed it! 💖

Honestly you're not reading into it at all, that is EXACTLY how I had intended it to be read. Geralt just destroying himself with guilt and feeling awful about everything ever, thinking that he's accidentally gone and forced himself on Jaskier and wallowing in self-doubt, while Jaskier has been pumping himself up for Geralt to return literally since the moment Geralt left, going right okay OKAY WE GOT THIS, PANKRATZ. This is the SINGLE most important blowjob of your life ALRIGHT?? No pressure or anything!!

And then of course Geralt gets on his knees and Jaskier's like "hold on this isn't how I had planned thi----- you know what never mind carry on"

#asks #larking #nsft

[night-filled-mountain]

⚡️- favorite yasha moment

👁 - favorite fjord moment

🤜🏽 - favorite beau moment

wild card: do whichever emoji ask you want to talk about that hasn't been covered yet!!

thanks for doing all of these! They are brightening my day to read them :-)

 Aw, no problem!! 🙂 Sorry this one took a little longer; I’m doing most of these during my lunch breaks at work.

⚡️ - favorite yasha moment

Oh, absolutely the pit fight with Kal Dimmins, the dwarf woman, in Rexxentrum. “Finish it, champion.”

Like...I know Ashley as a D&D player, ok? Because Ashley is me. Outwardly shy and reserved; hesitant to initiate things, RP-wise; lots of good ideas, and even a healthy amount of chaos in her soul, but improv doesn’t come to her naturally. And her long absences certainly haven’t helped. So it’s not often we get to see her 100% take the reins, do her own thing, and engage in RP that blows the minds of the entire cast and audience alike. And that’s what happened here. 

Seeing Yasha work out her guilt and anger in this violent, self-destructive, totally unexpected way? It was complicated, it was terrifying, it was really disturbing, and yet also weirdly hot?? It was everything. I’m so glad we have Ashley back full-time now, that she’ll have so much more time to get comfortable with her characters and all storylines going forward, and that there’s a chance we might get to see many more scenes like this.

👁 - favorite fjord moment

“I pull the blade back and throw it.”

That whole scene is gold, actually. It’s the culmination of Fjord’s entire arc up until that moment, and we couldn’t have gotten a more satisfying climax. First we get the pirate arc, which Fjord spends flirting with darkness (figuratively and literally...), tasting power, and ultimately choosing to let it go. To keep the final cloven crystal, defy Uk’otoa, and go home to pursue his teammates’ goals instead of his own. Then he’s haunted by increasingly threatening dreams, taunted by brief losses of power, all while frantically holding onto the web of lies he’s spun for his found family throughout the campaign...and then this.

The final dream that caused him to snap. “You need me more than I need you.” Plunging the sword into his own chest before finally, agonizingly, choosing to pull it out and pitch it into the lava. The fact that all of this went down at one of the Wildmother’s shrines. The fact that Caduceus was right on the verge of getting a new (well, ancient) sword re-f(j)orged for him. The fact that Fjord and Travis were so obviously hesitant throughout this scene, so uncertain about whether they really wanted to go for it--and then, in a classic Fjord/Travis move, they did. The dizzying catharsis of the immediate aftermath, with Fjord immediately waking Caduceus up to heal him, dropping his fake accent, confessing everything to the party and receiving their unconditional love and all the weapons they had to offer...

I really, really love this moment, anon.

🤜🏽 - favorite beau moment

Oh, this one was hard.

I think I’m going to have to narrow it down to a top three? In chronological order, as always:

(1.) Molly’s eulogy. Honestly, this might win out as my #1. Marisha acted the hell out of this scene. It was devastating, it made me sob like a small child, and it also had such a profound effect on Beau’s character development, on the whole group’s view of Molly, and on the way they used his memory to help define themselves and their mission going forward.

“Do y’all remember what Molly said a few weeks ago when he told us that he left every town better than what he found it?...And I told him this story of ruining a couple’s lives by extorting them because I fucking could. Because I fucking felt like it...And I’m not going to do that again.”

(2.) Talking to the Plank King on Darktow after the Avantika fight. I know the “I......wait?” moment was the obvious choice here, but this is the payoff for that moment: Beau fully growing into her role as an expositor, speaking up when no one else knew what to say or do, choosing to flex her diplomacy and deception skills instead of her fists...and then getting to flex her fists as well.

“I'm with a secret order of the monks from the Cobalt Soul...”

“You have sixty seconds, but I have more knuckles.”

And the final consequence of her magic fists and Avantika’s silence:

"I hope your sea god, or whatever it is, is very merciful on the other side.”

Caleb might have cast the Wall of Fire, but Beau was the MVP of this whole stunning encounter, and it was a delight to witness.

(3.) Addressing King Dwendal and the Cerberus Assembly right after the cathedral fight.

And if you’re noticing a pattern, then yes, I think that Expositor Beauregard, brilliant and respected secret agent of the Cobalt Soul, is the hottest thing in the world. Not only because she gets to prove how brilliant and respectable she is, but because she always takes advantage of her position of power to get in some kind of dig below the belt, whether it’s punching a pirate captain in the face or counter-snarking at the King of the Dwendalian Empire for snarking at Caduceus (“my educated guess,” she says, knowing that he mocked the mellow, slow-talking firbolg for saying it, but he wouldn’t dare do the same to her).

Aaaand I’m editing this because I realized I forgot the wild card!

wild card: do whichever emoji ask you want to talk about that hasn't been covered yet!!

I’m gonna go with:

💕 - favorite cr show other than the campaign

And it’s “Between the Sheets.” I love Between the Sheets. Live interviews normally make me so nervous, like too nervous to watch them. So Brian’s ability to put me at ease with this show, to make me feel like everything will definitely be totally safe and chill and free of secondhand embarrassment, even as the cast members and guests unveil so many deeply personal memories and feelings and make me cry every single time...it’s kind of the best.

#asks from the askbox #critical role #yasha nydoorin #fjord #travis willingham #beauregard #marisha ray #mollymauk tealeaf #caduceus clay #between the sheets #brian w. foster #yasha #beau #mollymauk #molly #caduceus

[rottenbrainstuff]

I saw the Green Knight last night! (spoiler-ish discussion towards the end)

What a great big pile of stuff to think about. I haven’t been this surprised by a movie in a long time. It’s a very strange movie in almost every single way, incredibly interesting, and it’s received really glowing critical reviews. I’m torn though. Although it is a striking, strange movie, I feel a lot of the strangeness is style over substance, and amounts to strangeness for the sake of being strange, and I don’t think the movie is able to tie its themes up in the end to make a really emotionally coherent journey. It felt a bit like watching a student film (with a big budget), where it’s this totally fresh, exuberantly experimental thing that is so interesting and different… but needs a bit more polish on the plot to make it an actual story in its own right and not just a stylish experiment. A basic summary: if you want to see something totally different, this movie is for you, just don’t go in expecting an easy, polished Hollywood thriller.

Setting: gorgeous. It’s anachronistic medieval England, and despite the fact that it’s not trying to be historically accurate at all, oddly I feel it captures a better medieval vibe than anything else I’ve seen, period movie or medieval fantasy. At least in terms of the supernatural aspects??? The location: gorgeous. Absolutely gorgeous, haunting shots of trees and forests and countryside. (why are there so many shots that are way too dark though?) Sound design: Amazing. Beautiful. I can’t remember a movie that made as much or as effective use of quiet. The scoring is incredibly strange, a mix of haunting vocals of medieval songs, and spooky thrumming sound design. Quite striking. Quite interesting. (the intertitles are an interesting idea but I think they could be more effectively integrated, especially in a movie with so much visual creativity - thinking of, for instance, the subtitle joke in The Man who Killed Don Quixote)

But let’s emphasize one thing very clearly: this movie is in a surrealist style, and that’s not going to be for everyone, it just isn’t. I think it either “clicks” with you, or it simply doesn’t, and that’s ok. I like surrealism. My brain gets it. It’s a fantastic way to tell a story, and creates ambiguity that means everyone who watches it takes away something different. And here, a surreal approach is SO suitable because it’s based on this very old… story, mythology, fairy tale, whatever you want to call it. These old stories do have a strange, absurd, surreal quality to them. It’s perfectly fine when a modern adaption smooths out the strange corners of a story into something that feels more familiar to a modern audience. But it is DELIGHTFUL to watch a movie instead try to embrace that strangeness. I’ve never seen a movie that felt as much like an old fairy tale as this one does. It’s delightful.

HOWEVER.

As I said I’m not 100% sure it all works in the end. It’s a movie that looks absolutely gorgeous, certainly. It’s a movie that is different in almost every way from every single Hollywood movie I’ve seen in years and years, certainly. But without a stronger focus and ESPECIALLY a much tighter ending, I feel it really loses itself in its own strangeness sometimes, and becomes a series of very cool scenes that are fun to think about… but not really a solid story that people will go away talking about. And that is a huge, huge shame, because there IS a strong story in there that wanted to be told, that could have been told with just a little bit more finesse.

And here’s my last big surprise with this movie (spoiler discussion below):

This movie subverts the plot of the original story in an extremely interesting way, but here’s the dealio: I think this movie relies on the audience being familiar with the original plot. Although I don’t know for sure, I would be willing to bet that a significant portion of the audience will not be. I would say probably even the majority. The only reason I actually know the plot of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is that it was a story included in a book I bought for my kids a few years ago. So like. First of all, how can you effectively subvert a story, if a portion of the audience doesn’t even know how it differs? Maybe that’s fine in the end. Even if that’s fine though, there’s like. Great! Big! Huge! Plot points!!! that do not get explained or addressed! There will be a lot of people who have no idea that in the original story, the lord Gawain stays with is actually the Green Knight, who has been transformed by magic. His entire stay there is going to have an ENTIRELY different context to someone who has no familiarity with the story. The Lady’s brilliant and disturbing monologue about how she hates green and what the colour represents to her will have an extra layer of significance for a viewer who knows she is talking about her husband, and what that says about their relationship. The belt! The freaking green belt!!! It is extraordinarily surprising that Gawain decides to take it off at the end! If a viewer doesn’t understand exactly what the belt is supposed to do, that it DOES really, literally protect him and he absolutely WOULD survive the axe blow with it, would they understand how significant it is that he decides to take it off?

I think you COULD make a movie that doesn’t require the audience to know the story… I think you COULD make a movie where the two audience groups will have two very different experiences and each experience will be satisfying in its own way… I just think they didn’t pull it off in this case.

So.

I think there’s a really great story hiding in here about what makes an honorable man, what makes a meaningful life, and how a real man may or may not compare to a fairytale hero. I think there is a very very interesting and very different movie here that was really delightful to see, in a time when movie studios are churning out the same slick and safe formulaic crap. I think it has great performances, great production values. I just can’t necessarily say that it is a *good* movie.

#movie nerdery #the green knight