#i keep getting into specific ships and being like “hmm i like this pairing but idk if i see them as romanticcc..."

[milksuu]

RAHHH APHELIOS FANS RISE 🦅🦅🦅🦅

i need… I need him to whimper during sex… idk how… idk when… but I know he whimpers I can just feel it… do with this as u please

❥ prompt: He made a mistake. A terrible, terrible mistake. Aphelios thought since you were such a cute shorty, the bedroom would be his domain. How did he end up being bottom, pinned, with you on top!? ❥ content/warnings: nswf 18+, cute!softdom!reader, teasing, light-bondage ❥ characters/pairings: Heartsteel!aphelios / f!smol!reader (minor implied poly!sett/phel/reader)

He met you on the bustling train. Jammed packed after rush hour. An uncomfortable place to be. With no seats available, he took the reigns over head. Another stop. Another wave of bodily masses rushing in. It sent you colliding against him. He dropped his phone in the process. He wasn't too happy about that. It was too cramped for him to reach down and get it.

"I-I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry," you apologized. With your short stature, you were able to crouch and retrieve the phone. Why was he paying so much attention to your petite hands?

Nevermind. There weren't any cracks on the phone screen. That was good. He merely nodded as thanks. With each bump and sway of the tram, there you went. Like a marble in a pinball machine. With much effort on your tiptoes, he watched as you tried to reach for a free reign, but it was a long shot. It was cute...maybe in a slightly pathetic way.

Aphelios sighed. It was only a matter of time before you were underfoot of some sweaty salaryman. Time for his good deed of the day. He slipped his phone inside his pocket and encouraged you to hold onto him. Stumbling a bit, you took the invitation. You grabbed onto his shirt with both hands. Slowly, you rolled your head up. He made the mistake of looking down.

He hated to admit it, but you were too cute beyond words. The top of your head barely made it to his collarbone. Your eyes were big, soft---absolutely soul sucking. If he was back in 5th grade, to keep himself from admitting he liked them, he'd draw an insect with huge bug-eyes and point it at you.

He forced his sight elsewhere. Your work bag. Attached to one of the zippers was a handful of plushie keychains. He recognized them to be from the same crane game arcade him and Sett went to often. He was a master at those technical grabs. You were probably some casual player. Maybe you had some other guy win them for you. Probably had to spend more than he bargained for. Unimpressive. (This boy is trying real hard not to like you.)

Well, he was wrong about that. You were a professional crane game player. And managed your own business of shipping those adorable plushies overseas to customers. You even had a pretty popular stream going on Twitch showing you doing it all. (Alright, he caved).

When you two started dating, your collection of plushies rivaled Sett's anyday. When his own bed started matching his roommate's, he wasn't sure whether he should be concerned. Again, he gave up. You enjoyed gifting him plushies specifically won for him. And he enjoyed seeing you happy on his bed.

・❥・

"You're so cute like this, Phelly~"

Ah. That was it, huh? You fooled him. Utterly and completely. It should've been the other way around. With him on top, you blushing pink, and shyly asking for him to take you.

But here he was, pinned naked underneath you, mask off, and his chin tossed away. Hating how flushed his own cheeks felt. Hating how his whole body felt like it was melting from your touch. Hating that just on the other side of the room, Sett was fast sleep, back turned. For now, at least.

"Hmm? Wonder how quiet Pelly can really be," you whispered cutely, sadistically. "You wouldn't want us to be caught. Unless...you want to?"

Aphelios swallowed for a breath. Seriously. How did it end up like this? He was the one who initiated. Trying to impress you by getting out of his comfort zone and doing it while his roommate was sleeping. But this was beyond the scope of how he thought this whole thing would play out. He made a mistake. A terrible, terrible mistake.

It was made more apparent when you grabbed the long ears of a rabbit plushie, and tied his wrists securely above his head. Oh no. How did he not notice? His demise was planned from the very beginning. All these plushie's were here to lower his guard. Thinking he was safe. Thinking he had any control of the bedroom in the first place. No, these weren't just stuffed animals—these were your diabolical sex minions. And they served the most cute cruel mistress.

"I won't let you cover your mouth. No matter what. So you gotta be extra good tonight. Okay?" You positioned his tip already glistening with precum to your entrance. His breath hitched. Not a good start. You giggled softly, "I don't think Phelly's going to be good at all. Oh, well~"

You pushed your hips down slowly. Spreading around his shaft till you sat deliciously full. Oh, shit—Aphelios clenched his eyes tight. His hands fisting together till his knuckles turned white. He bit down hard on his bottom lip. He refused to let you milk any noises from him.

Suppressing your own moans, you leaned down, pressing your breasts against his chest. "So cute how quiet you're trying to be. But for how much longer, hm?"

You claimed his mouth, sucking and pulling on his lips. Sliding your tongue into his mouth, you worked yourself on his cock. Covering him with your warm fluids. His pelvis now slick and sticky between your thighs. He heavy panted between your kisses, his breaths shuddering.

At this point, he was getting closer to his edge. Not sure exactly how he'd been able to hold back for this long. He couldn't think of anything but how good your insides felt. So hot and tight.

You slipped off his head phones, abandoned his mouth, and sucked on his earlobe. Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh shit. Your warm breaths and cute moans against his ear sent him spirling. He couldn't hold back anymore. He whimpered, he whined, whatever—he didn't care anymore. He just wanted to come inside you. No, that was wrong. It wasn't a want anymore. It was an unbearable need.

He bucked his hips, slapping against you over and over again. Now you both were whining and whimpering. You jolted, your walls clamping tighter, and tighter. Feeling you swell and come around him so hard, Apehlios thought he saw stars. His cock throbbed and pulsed. He muffled his fluttering cries between your shoulder and neck, pumping deeper, filling you completely up. Coming down from the high, relieved pants filled the finished after silence.

"Geez. Can't a guy get some quality sleep over here?" Sett groaned out loud, turning over. Aphelios almost launched you off the bed when he scrambled to untie himself and cover you both up. "Pfft. Chill out. Nothing I haven't seen or done before," Sett said, rolling back to face the wall. "You guys owe me. I'm keeping you both up tomorrow."

You giggled and rubbed your cheek against his arm. Aphelios groaned. Of course things had to turn out this way.

an: listen listen, yall aphelios degens i just wanna say.... *smooches* thanks for the req. anon.

[demonpiratehuntress]

better

Portgas D. Ace x F!Reader

summary - you think you don't do enough for the crew so you work harder and train harder to be better. Ace thinks you do plenty already, but supports your decision regardless.

warnings - none

a/n: i hope the person who requested this sees it, because me being a dumbass at 3am, i accidentally deleted the reply to the request. i also hope i got it right!

You could admit that you were not the most useful crewmember of the Whitebeard pirates. In fact, you felt completely useless, like you couldn't contribute anything meaningful or helpful. But you didn't want to be that way, you didn't want to be just a burden to them, even if Ace would constantly remind you that you're not a burden and you were helpful. To him, at least.

But you wanted to be helpful to the entire crew. In fights, you wanted to be able to hold your own without being told to go hide or go check on the injured. You wanted to be able to fight without having to depend on your boyfriend to come save you if you were faced with an opponent.

"(Name) are you even listening?" A deep chuckle met your ears, snapping you out of your thoughts.

You turned away from the shop window, smiling at Ace sheepishly, "I'm sorry, just...lost in thought." The way you said it and the way your smile didn't quite reach your ears alerted Ace to what you were thinking about.

"Hey," he took both your hands and brought you a little closer, "If it bothers you so much, I can always teach you a few things." He looked at the items you were eyeing from the shop and smirked. "Daggers, huh? Come on." He tugged you into the shop to help you choose a set.

-

After a very long few hours choosing a pair of pretty yet lethal daggers (Ace was the indecisive one), you both made your way back to the ship. You were staring at the sharp weapons in your hands, marveling at how dangerous they looked and feeling excited to finally learn to be at least a little bit effective.

"Okay let's start with some basic stances," he began, his hand reaching for your hip to position it. "Place one leg like this, and the other like this." He demonstrated his words, showing you how to stand and how to position your arms.

"Ace," you laughed a few minutes later, "I'm pretty sure my butt does not need to be in any specific position."

His beet-red face popped up in front of you, a coy smile on his lips, "Sorry babe, couldn't help myself."

He spent the rest of the afternoon teaching you basic combat moves and acting as your personal hype man, cheering excessively when you got something right just to boost your confidence. It was working, and you were grateful to have such a supportive and helpful boyfriend.

-

After a few more days of this, you were starting to get the hang of it. Your combat skills had drastically improved, and while you still hadn't managed to beat Ace, there was massive progress and you felt it.

But aside from combat, you also wanted to be more knowledgeable in other fields. Like first aid. In case of emergencies, you wanted to know how to deal with injuries and minor wounds that could be fixed right then and there. You didn't want to be an all-out doctor or medic, but you wanted to have at least a little medical knowledge.

So you took to medical books.

You read everything you could get your hands on, even staying up late at night to study. Sometimes you would even fall asleep at your desk, which is where Ace would find you in the morning. It worried him, but he also didn't want to stop you from learning.

"You should read it to me," he suggested one afternoon, while he was lying in bed with you after having to force you to stop when your eyes started to droop.

"Hmm?" You looked up at him sleepily, "Read what?"

"Those medical books you're reading," his warms hands rested on your stomach, putting you at ease. "You should talk to me about what you learn, it could help you remember."

You smiled when he offered to listen to you, "Are you sure you'll be able to keep up?"

He gasped dramatically, "What do you think I am? Stupid?"

"Yes," you teased.

He feigned offence, playfully scoffing, "I detest that."

"I'm kidding," you laughed, shifting so you could bury your face in his neck. "But thanks for the offer. I might just take you up on that."

And you did. Every time you were reading, Ace was with you whenever he could be. He sat and listened to you explain and discuss the human anatomy, how to dress certain injuries and what steps to take if there wasn't a medic around. He really didn't follow along, and he often fell asleep, but you appreciated the effort he was making to encourage you.

"Aceeeee!" You giggled and flicked his nose gently.

"Wha-?" He jerked awake, eyes flitting around the room before settling on you, and a lovestruck smile formed on his lips. "Oh, hey babe."

"You fell asleep again," you pouted, unable to stop your smile.

"I'm sorryyyyy," he apologised, leaning forward and kissing all over your face. It tickled, and the laughs he pulled from you made him smile. "Carry on, I'm listening now."

"You promise?"

"I promise."

[invested-in-your-future]

What are your biggest issues with the first three volumes?

Hmm.

The Vagueness

The show, from the very start, has been way too vague about specific things it shouldn't have been vague about- be it the racism or how ANYTHING works.

Do other countries have military or did all of them randomly dissolve it? If so then why does Atlas still do?

How does anything in the world work? What was the great war beyond few weird snippets?

What can or can't Aura do? What IS Magic?

WoR has some context here and there, but it's also pretty sparse for a lore video. And the show grows sparser and sparser as it goes.

Shaky foundations could be fine if the later Volumes expanded upon the world but...

They really didn't.

The Faunus/WF Subplot.

The milquetoast "violence bad" takes, using WF as generic mooks, the Faunus discrimination overall not being expanded upon, the way team RWBY handles Velvet bullying - it all stinks of ignorance and unwillingness to actually delve into it all at all.

This is basically the depth of RWBY's take on discrimination:

The Faunus are "angry at discrimination" but "being angry and violent is not right, they should protest peacefully and out of sight".

What discrimination? What do we see of that beyond just one school bully instance nobody does anything?

Why do Faunus appear only when the show needs someone to get beat up? What drives them to join WF in such numbers?

HOW do Vale's citizens view Faunus? Is it different from other Kingdoms?

Nothing.

(And yes I know that V2 subplot is just something they lifted straight out of Korra, but Korra had an entire show beforehand showing multiple benders as oppressive and powerful beings that made the world tremble - the idea behind the non-benders being fearful at least makes sense, especially since we DO see benders who exploit others through the Book One)

Heteronormativity

The showrunners, all of them, shouted from the rooftops about how Remnant is an inclusive world and yet in show the LGBTQ+ community existence was reduced to weird gags (sometimes literally going against the "inclusivity" comments like when entire school - all women paired up with men in the background - laughs at Jaune in a dress) or bait (sometimes intentional, like how in V2 commentary Miles talks about how they put in Ruby and Weiss scenes to attract shippers).

And yet the showrunners kept talking about how the gay people totally exist and how the world is inclusive and how they are just planning things and "getting better" at writing while they had no issues throwing in a TON of straight ships into the mix or highlight heteronormative romantic interactions and attractions.

The weird thinly veiled sexism.

Literally most of Jaune subplots pretend to be about how Jaune is in the wrong, and yet it's the women who are in the wrong - "Jaune hit on Weiss and Weiss said no? Oh how evil and selfish of Weiss to not give him a chance!" and all.

Some are okay like the Cardin blackmail idea but the execution just grinds everything to the halt.

Screentime and Focus Disbalance

Jaune gets A LOT of focus, while Ruby gets barely any. Now it would work fine if you assume the show is just building up to her development as she reacts to Fall of Beacon and all that - but the volumes after don't do that and instead keep giving focus to Jaune.

Specific character allusions.

Some character references are...uhhh, yeaaaah.

Like, I love the first three volumes a lot and I love the trailers but there are flaws - I was just more forgiving of them because of the usual growing pains and because there was always that promise of the show doing better going forward which they never fulfilled.

You can like something flawed and derive enjoyment from it. As long as there are things to like and the flaws don't overcome whatever good is left in the story.

[tarisilmarwen]

Rebels Rewatch: "Stealth Strike"

In which, Character Development! and other exciting features.

I mentioned the husband loves Star Wars ships right? This is another one of his favorite episodes, he loooves the Interdictor class.

Always liked this little musical flare at the beginning, already conveys a sense of urgency and danger.

Sato sounds so aggrieved that he has to have Ezra along, lol.

I mean from his perspective Ezra's just an overconfident plucky kid, he hasn't been around Ezra long enough to know how competent the boy is.

Love the staggered Force Theme prelude in the strings there, all broken up and disjointed. Once again Ezra is sensing impending danger.

Still adore the kaleidoscope color effect Rebels uses to mark being forcibly ejected/yanked from hyperspace.

Bbbyyyyyyyy. :((((

Worried Spacefamily be worried.

Hera wisely understands that the best way to infiltrate a top-secret Imperial project is to keep the aliens off the mission lol.

Kanan is being predictably petty about having to work with Rex.

"I sent Ezra... this is the only way." Ouch. I bet Hera is feeling pretty guilty and has thought a lot about this since they learned about it, so you know she's run it through a million times in her head. Probably why Kanan acquiesces to her judgment.

I wanna know the thought process behind the Imps' decision to haul Ezra and Sato in to see Titus. Like, Sato I get, he's the obvious commander of the unit but I wanna know which trooper saw Ezra and was like, "Hmm, he seems Plot Important, I better drag him along too."

Sato still very much Not Impressed with Ezra's posturing.

Hi Brom Titus!

It's hilarious that Ezra's sarcastically used "Jabba the Hutt" so often it's been logged as a known alias of his lololol.

The Giligan Cut between Rex complaining that he'd never wear Stormtrooper armor and Zeb bringing them unconscious troopers to steal the armor from. <3

"I thought it was the same one we used before." LOL. Okay, I gotta stop before I quote every line in this episode.

Can't help it, it's just so fun.

We cut to the shuttle mid-hyperspace and Rex and Kanan are still bickering, but even in the middle of that we get some lovely worried Papa Wolf Kanan hyperfocusing on Ezra as his priority.

I swear it was explained somewhere what the specific codes Rex gives meant but I can't for the life of me remember where now. Pretty sure one of them meant the shuttle was going to explode? Anyway...

Rex seems like he's having just a grand old time. This must feel just like the old days for him.

Lol Kallus getting excited about Ezra's capture and warning Titus "[...]do not underestimate that boy." He knows firsthand how much of a threat and nuisance Ezra can be.

A little variation on the Death Star theme here, kind of appropriate given this is a very similar-feeling kind of infiltration and rescue.

Maybe that's why I like this episode so much, has a lot of A New Hope vibes.

Subtle animation appreciation moment: Chopper's legs jerking as he rolls over the hump in the doorway.

The ANH vibes continue with this turbolift scene, which is just hilarious. From Rex not knowing which button to push to the Imperial officer snarking at our hero duo, it's just... *chef's kiss*

They are a disaster pair and I just love them.

Cut to the troopers that are escorting Ezra to his "secure cell" and I'm sorry, I adore this whole sequence. Ezra being a little hyper-competent badass is my whole jam, okay?

This is so clever. <3333

Ezra makes very short work of his guards, without really hurting them (something that would contrast in S3 after the whole Malachor Loss-Of-Innocence thing) and then immediately shoots his intended rescue party lololol.

I love how smoothly he moves through this whole scene. He's obviously been practicing and of course the Force operates on a principal of "the more at peace and in tune you are with yourself, the greater strength you can channel" so after his whole soul-searching in "Brothers of the Broken Horn" deal he's come to some kind of serenity within himself that lets him be just super awesome here. Love it.

<333333

Chopper immediately rats Ezra out lol.

Kanan reluctant to split up from Ezra, aww.

Subtle animation appreciation moment: The way Ezra raises his hands in aggravation when Kanan and Rex get into it again.

Ezra finally chews the two of them out for all their bickering and takes charge of the mission and you can't even tell me he didn't make Kanan just a smidge proud, with that comment about how, "He takes after Hera sometimes." <3333

No but seriously, fandom of course loves Kanan and Ezra's whole "like my father before me" vibe but let's not forget how it was Hera who first took a shine to him, who saw potential in him, who knew that he wasn't as selfish as he pretended he was, drew out that inner spark of compulsive compassion planted by his parents and has been influencing him on the Rebellion side of things to complement Kanan's Jedi teaching.

Found Family liek woah. :)

Brom Titus looking a little less confident now that the scrawny fifteen-year-old he was specifically cautioned not to underestimate has given them the slip lol.

*cries* He was so TINY!

Very glad Ezra learned binary, it enables hilarious conversations like this.

This is yet another music cue recycled from the Death Star sequence in A New Hope. Like I said, they're really leaning into that this episode.

This little troll I love him so much.

Bit of the "Shenanigans" theme as Chopper rolls up.

Can I just appreciate how well Ezra rolls with blocking shots in zero gravity?

I think Chopper enjoyed all of this a too much lol.

Remember, giving people grief is how Chopper shows affection. :)

Love how they lampshade the terrible vision quality of Stormtrooper helmets.

Sato all ready to square up with this random trooper until he sees it's Kanan.

And his anxious worry over Ezra's welfare is really sweet. Sato does care, he might find Ezra bit aggravating but he's still just a kid in Sato's eyes, someone who was under his protection. (One wonders if Ezra reminds him of Mart a bit.) It's not Sato's fault he's only now learning what a precocious badass Ezra is lol.

This move of Kanan and Rex's is slick.

Lightsaber Naruto run.

I've been told this horn cue is Rex's theme. Makes sense.

Heeeeey remember what I said about Rex's deathseeker tendencies? Yeah.

Subtle animation appreciation moment: The drifting smoke in the hallway from the firefight holy cow. Attention to detail.

"I serve the order you put into place, Captain." Ohhhhhh Imma dent his face in.

*hurts in Order 66 feels*

THEY WERE JUST TOOLS TO PALPATINE, THEY HAD A SINGLE PURPOSE AND HE JUST DISCARDED THEM ONCE IT WAS ACCOMPLISHED.

This Hitchcock Zoom with Kanan as if he's sensing Rex's pain. <33333

Character growth! <33333

Ezra one-manning this hallway with Skill and Confidence. <33333

My gosh look how smooth and effortless this is for him. No wonder Sato was impressed.

Nice to see more classic lightsaber positions creeping into the choreography here.

Ezra being all, "OH HECK NO, THERE WILL BE NO SELF-SACRIFICING TODAY!" over the comms. He's very tired of them doing that lol.

The dolly shots this episode are tight.

Aww Ezra still looks really worried tho.

Don't think about him remembering, "I'll take the next one." and "I'll be right behind you."

Aaaaaaaand Chopper just scored the highest body count on the show, lol. (Up until the finale anyway with the Dome explosion and the purrgil-ening.)

My gosh this show even makes total destruction look pretty.

Yeah, getting a top-secret Interdictor prototype imploded is pretty demotion worthy ha ha.

Love how Kallus is basically perfectly fine assigning all of that chaos to Ezra in particular. XD

KANAN SALUTING REX NOT ONLY AS A SIGN OF FINALLY BURYING THE HATCHET BUT ALSO TAKING UP THE MANTLE OF SOLDIER HE WAS SO RELUCTANT TO AT THE BEGINNING OF THE SEASON.

This is one of the best episodes of the season, no joke. It's fun, it brings the nostalgia without being kitschy, it lets Ezra and Sato have a little bit of nice interaction (underrated relationship, fanficers have let me down), it shows how Ezra's developing in combat, it finishes the whole Rex and Kanan animosity plot, and Chopper murders three whole Imperial cruisers effortlessly.

Love it.

[lychgate]

Oh heck, my apologies (for not proofreading and/or being specific)

I was thinking more about like how do you figure out lighting, colour picking and the methods you use to finish up a piece. I was also really curious about your favourite anatomy tips and how you do so many dynamic poses.

Uhh tl;dr

I am fuckin stupid and I'm sorry

Lighting, colour picking, methods for putting the colours down, anatomy tips, and how do you do dynamic posing so well??

I only draw busts and it's making me mad :D

HMM lets see: I don't color pick unfortunately, it's not a method I use so I can't help u there sadly. As for lighting and shading, I don't really use any tutorials but I just apply the same types of questions to it that I would to any other part of my work while drawing, which are broad question types like : - where is my light source - is this piece calling for any unique light source? (universal/generic lighting is just fine to keep using!) - how MANY light sources do i have, and what are their distances to my figure - what's the MOOD of the piece, is dramatic lighting necessary - if im just here to have a bop and do an art what light source do I want to play with for practice If it was something like a more polished and finished piece I'd definitely be thinking on these questions harder, or multiple revisions and potential references would be pulled up. But normally for references I just refer to my memory of shows that I've seen, since it's a LOT of visual library, and animated or live action, light source is heavily calculated. So you'll get a good display of these ranges you can apply. Lately I've been watching The Bad Batch and I'll always recommend that and clone wars as good examples of environmental lighting, especially given the style of animation they do with how shapely their figures are. It's a good simplified breakdown of the planes of a figure, so paired with their hard lighting choices u get an even exaggerated easier format to look at for guessing light source. (very reminiscent of comics like the more stylized/cartoon you get in art the more u can push and pull these dynamics. or like easier to spot then live action)

SO UHH, im disclaimer: not in any industry and im sure gonna be missing some terminology, but I just nabbed some random images off the google of bad batch to show case a few broad categories of lighting:

Multiple light sources are ur most common type, and to me the most fun especially when it's like Two light sources. U can often play with the fun lighting types like rim lighting, u often have a warm side and a cold side for contrast/directions sake. The distance of the light determines how sharp or broadly lit something will be, and the size of the light can determine how much of that light hits the figures. So Omega here is surrounded by the lights on their ship, there's likely a very broad top light that's gently lighting the entire area, but the reds and blues of the buttons and screens around her are what's shaping the figure more dramatically. You can see the blue is coming from the top/behind her, where the red is more in front/bottom side to her, since it's the way she's facing and looking at you/the viewer. The second one, still on their ship, features the more broad top down lighting, but the screens in front of them are more important as they're all facing it. both lights in this image are broad wide lighting, so there isn't much of a sharp focus.

COMPLEX LIGHTING to me usually just means 'there are many light sources of greatly varying distances and brightness' or that there's a lot of figures in the image so it's got a lot more to organize so that the whole image may look readable at the end. You get a lot of environmental lighting for these types, meaning like hey the SUN is one of ur major light sources. it is super fucking bright but it is also FAR away, it's lighting EVERYTHING. and closer to sunset/sunrise u get more direct, highly saturated light from it because of the angle it's often shining- there's a lot to play with for just an outdoor lighting! The three images I picked here are a more morning shot, a mid day shot, and an evening shot. Talking about the angle of the sun especially at the last image with the grookey on Omega's shoulder, which casts a shadow over her and her friend. But her friend is positioned in a way so that she's not entirely over shadowed, because we're here to look at all three figures, and their faces matter in this shot. VS the middle images which is more about the scene/setting as a whole, and the figures are all more or less equally lit/shaded according to just standing in bright daylight.

there's also this fun lighting type, singular light sources can usually add a WIDE RANGE of emotion to the piece, depending where you flash the light. You've probably seen tons of light study gifs or shots where a face is shown with one light passing around their entire face and it highlighting the different planes that illuminate based on where the light is. So the first image, the classic Morticia Addams eye drama light, is focused hard on the figures, and what they're looking at. The second image of crosshair is another type of foreboding emotion, but instead with the eyes in the dark. Singular light sources aren't always for drama or asking you to focus on one specific thing but I feel like end of the day, the sharper and closer the one light source is, the more the artist is usually asking you to focus on the scene for. There's also some examples here of multiple light sources being used for the same storytelling dramatic effect. There's crosshair's entire front lit up to focus on not just him but by extension the rifle he's holding, with a backlight to catch the edge of his helmet and the barrel, because those are where we want you to look. They're the most important parts of the image, and they wanted to make lighting appropriate for reading that. With the last image there's what's his face (bro i forget my b) looming over him in a common type of dominant lighting. With how the lighting is assigned to this scene his face is shadowed, vs crosshair's who is partially under that shadow. IDK IM RAMBLING NOW i doubt this is the concise easy to read tips anyone's asking for sorrY I am not a teacher. IN SHORT FOR LIGHTING I JUST think about shows I've watched. I won't go into anymore but I think a GREAT example of super well done lighting in all categories of art are the John Wick films. They're both lively, highly direct, and superficially colored to fit the mood of each character and scene. I'll suck these movies dicks i'm obsessed:

Anatomy I always generically recommend people continue loose study/education from skeletal and muscular anatomy cause if you can build a figure from the inside out, the surface is going to be loads easier. And then when I'm too lazy to look up any muscular break down cause I sure don't remember every part at every angle I kind of just fudge it which is super common, like how many of us draw an ear correctly to it's bends and shapes. I sure as hell don't I just like to draw them the way I'm familiar with lining it (unless it's some really polished piece) cause end of the day my ear is still getting interpreted as an ear. So If I can't recall which muscle overlaps the other given a certain angle I just take a guess and usually it's not something blaring if I threw it down confidently enough. Studying not just muscle though, but how all body types sit and tense and move is crucial. Like fat is obviously going to have a much different type of hang and sit on the body, and then there's deciding how much fat to muscle you want on a figure. There's also skin to consider- older skin is looser, scarred skin has a tighter more custom pull to the areas, skin otherwise is just a big elastic band around ur body. So when that becomes overstretched or cut in any irregular way it's going to have a much different look to the muscles and bones it wraps around. Muscle reference I don't have anything specfic to refer other then using actual anatomy charts. Some 3d modelers have made great reference to body parts with full turn arounds i'd suggest. Since big fantasy muscles can be exaggerated so much (and they should!) it's the only reason why id only Lightly suggest for observing other artists individual drawings of buff characters. cause lotta us are fudging parts and u will end up picking up an incorrect anatomical trait (we literally all do it, just a silly unlearning process once ur hand is so familiar and used to drawing something a certain way) I think something specifically that's really helped me slowly gain a very diverse understanding of the fat to muscle ratio is getting into sumo wrestling. (NOT TO PUSH MY FAVORITE SPORT BUT I HAVE SOURCES IF U WANNA HEAR ABOUT IT/FIND A SPOT TO WATCH) In sumo there's no weight division like other forms of wrestling, and because of that you can have a very diverse set of ways to go about your own style of fighting. Entirely setting aside the fighting STYLES, there's broadly the categories of how much fat do you want to put on and the advantages that has against your opponents, vs how much muscle, or where that muscle needs to build on your figure, height and the like also play into it but basically 'what is my body shape, how can i build/ play it to the advantages of how i fight my opponents'

so like terunofuji is a fucking MOUNTAIN of a man, he's the current yokozuna (top banana rank) and his sheer height and weight plays greatly into his fight style. All of them are fucking jacked and watching Sumo has been a great general visual library builder because: - its a huge sport so it has a lot of coverage and footage on high def cameras - they're mostly nude and you're getting incredible displays of muscles in slow mo as they collide, fight, and throw each other. s2g you'll have an entirely new appreciation for the human body and just how many ways it can shape itself from watching this sport.

Always a ton of fucking leg muscle but Takayasu is one of my faves i gotta show him.

with no weight limitations not only are you seeing all the different levels of weight to fat, but you're getting an excellent display of how fat builds and forms on different people. there is no one way to gain fat, its pretty cool how diverse it can form, where it prefers to store fat, how quickly someone might gain weight vs overtime, genetics, what types of fats you're storing, lots of shit to look up on! this last image is ichinojo vs enho who are like usually one of the biggest and the smallest wrestlers, and both play to their size and shape and have become very high ranked. ANYWAY THIS POST REALLY WENT PLACES HUH idek if i answered the questions right i think i gave more questions back but i tried to touch a little on my thought process and where ive specifically gone in the art study journey. For poses I really don't look up anything I just try to think of the figure and do a lot of preliminary sketches. No i don't have the 'picture a perfect apple in my head' noggin i too suffer from looking at a blurry void when i try to think of shit so yes im hitting a brick wall by not utilizing all the model posing references that are probably out there hsuogjdhk

[thesomewhatliterateaxolotl]

001 dungeon meshi or 002 susahao :3

i sense a long post so this goes under a cut

| dunmeshi |

Favorite character: I can't choose for my mental health. sorry. I love them all too much

Least Favorite character: ughgh Toshiro. next question

5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon): ooh...5? Okay so Farcille, Labru (it's not a must-have for me but I like it romantically or platonically), Laios x monsters, Chilchuck's messy relationship with his (ex)-wife, and lastly. Cithis x me

Character I find most attractive: goddd there are so many hot people in this manga and I'm aroace. it depends on the day but top contenders in no particular order are Kabru, Marcille, Laios, Cithis (see above), and Falin. and we can't not love Kui sensei for giving us the Senshi fanservice the world needed.

Character I would marry: I would marry no one but...objectively speaking? OF COURSE Senshi

Character I would be best friends with: Chilchuck !!

A random thought: The moment where Mithrun cries because "even vegetable scraps have their uses" made me feel like I'd been revived from the dead. dunmeshi is so good.

An unpopular opinion: hmm I don't really know?

My canon OTP: canonically no one like. "ends up together" in the super official sense and I'm happy with that! however farcille can count...i think anyways. it's not even coding it's plain as day

Non-canon OTP: like i said, any ship qualifies !

Most badass character: Senshi, because truly what is more badass than caring for the dungeon ecosystem and your friends' health and wellbeing by cooking them a balanced diet out of monsters. all with a single cooking pot too

Pairing I am not a fan of: Izutsumi x anyone. that girl doesn't want a romantic interest nor does she need one <3

Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another): ...no one? I'm gonna finish my reread soon but I highly doubt I'll find one that I'll think was screwed up

Favourite friendship: The whole party warmed my heart. that hug healed me. ALSO honorary mention to Mithrun and Kabru because again the feeling of being restored and learning to feel again is so real. honorary honorary mention to Izutsumi and the rest of the party because that is the cutest thing I have ever seen in my life

--

|susahao|

when or if I started shipping it: "when I fall under your intense gaze..." I very nearly pointed at the screen and went "YOU'RE BISEXUAL!!"

my thoughts: they invented sapphism actually

What makes me happy about them: I love how Haori does not fucking hesitate to keep flirting with Ryutaro upon finding out that he is in fact Susato. what a queen

What makes me sad about them: the fact that their reunion in-game occurs when Susato is coming back, rushed, on what she assumes to be a family tragedy; and what she finds instead is Haori having been through a horrifically traumatizing event in her absence. both of these girls trying their best to study and have careers in Meiji Japan. the world makes it so fucking difficult for them.

Things done in fanfic that annoys me: it's not so much a specific thing done in fanfic as like, an overarching trend that people tend to fluffify them a ton. i get it they're cute and lighthearted but they're also sixteen-year-olds in a world that is unfair to them. that being said, i also don't like the idea of making them 'tragic' for the drama of it all. let them be happy, but also give them depth basically!

Things I look for in fanfic: i don't read a ton of dgs fic these days but i look for good Haori background and characterization

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: Gina, Maria...and that applies to either of them lol

My happily ever after for them: marriage marriage fraud (I can't take credit for this idea, since I first heard it from Seven ofc! but it's so real to me)

[ask game]

[purenguyening]

another fandom ask! B K L

Going to put a cut because it's surprisingly long...

B - A pairing–platonic, romantic or sexual–that you initially didn’t consider, but someone changed your mind.

Hattori Heiji/Hakuba Saguru

Not that I didn't consider it persay, more closer to I didn't have thing to say or add that hasn't already been said. So instead, have a fanart that I think about sometimes. They're both quite silly but there's a lot there to building their dynamic, especially based on the fact they have similar backgrounds....

(This is actually true with a lot of ships, I'd rather listen to other people talk about ships than give my own reason why I think they're interesting)

K - What character has your favorite development arc/the best development arc?

Hashibira Inosuke's arc. It's really satisfying watching him grow from fighting just to prove himself to learning how to fight to protect others.

Watching Inosuke fight King of Demons Tanjirou is really heart-breaking...him talking about how they ate together with Giyuu and Gyomei.

Though every time I bring it up I can't help but snort a bit at the colored version:

Absolutely bonkers to me for some reason "buddies" is in quotes there.

L - Say something genuinely nice about a character who isn’t one of your faves. (Characters you’re neutral about are fair game, as are characters you merely dislike. Characters that you absolutely loathe with the fire of ten thousand suns are exempt, as there is no point in giving yourself an aneurysm over a character that you hate.)

I've been thinking about it more, but I do love the video game's portrayal of Norman from Pokemon, especially in Emerald where you have access to more dialogue where he admits he feels conflicted about you growing up (this dialogue is seen after you get your second badge):

"Hm… Little by little, but also very surely, you're getting tougher, <player>. The stronger you get, the farther and higher you soar from Mother and me… This feeling is hard to explain."

He has a pretty lassiez-faire approach given that he calls you once he hears from Mr. Stone that he asks you to run an errand for him.

But I think there's more to it once you look at his Emerald Team: Vigoroth/Slaking and Linoone/Spinda are both meant to convey different sorts of extremes and he specifically gives out the Balance badge. Vigaroth/Slaking being a metaphor for his energy and the contrast of Linoone versus Spinda (where the former runs ONLY in a straight line and the latter ONLY runs in circles) feels like a metaphor for how he wants to approach you (directly versus roundabout). The fact he gives you the balance badge makes it feels like you were able to do what he couldn't.

Norman really got special treatment with his team and how it's designed to convey a lot of his character in a way I think a lot of the other leaders didn't, but I think that's expected since this is your father.

But I think the general gist is that Norman was basically a father who really was stumbling through fatherhood and really trying to figure out how to approach raising you.

I'm still of firm belief he initially agreed to teach Wally how to catch Pokemon because: one, Wally's situation was very similar to the playing character, so he really wanted to try to help him out; and two, it felt like he really wanted to get some experience in teaching someone how to catch Pokemon before he tried to teach his kid how to do it.

The line after you arrive makes it seem like he was trying to figure out what to do in real time once he realizes you have your own Pokemon and have caught at least one or two on en route: Oh, I see. You're with your Pokémon. Hmm… Then I guess you're going to become a Trainer like me, <player>. That's great news! I'll be looking forward to it!

There's also dialogue with your mother (Your father keeps himself locked away in the Petalburg Gym. He comes home every so often. But he goes back to the Gym when he's eaten everything he can.) and father (You'd better go visit your Mother every so often. I'm going to remain here and redouble my training.) that make it sound like he tries to get his kid to come home and eat dinner with them but just miss them and also he's not being very direct about it.

I feel like one of these days I'll try to write an essay about it, but it goes to say, I do think Norman is a pretty interesting character and he's not my favorite, but there's a lot I can say about him. He really is trying his best to be a good father, hang in there, Norman!

[mediocredoots]

Puzzleshipping for the ship?

001 | send me a ship and I will tell you:

when I started shipping it if I did: this one's definitely new for me cuz I never really spared it a thought tbh not that I disliked it or anything before I was just kinda indifferent about it. but that changed during my most recent rewatching of yugioh these past couple of months. Idk why it took me about the 100th time of watching the series to finally open my eyes to it but actually getting to the last season changed EVERYTHING lol

my thoughts: They run through my thoughts from time to time lol. I think we can all agree whether you strictly believe it's platonic or romantic that yugi came to love atem and vice versa. It's canon. atem got so attached to yugi that he would do anything to keep him safe. yugi is quite literally the light that shone through the darkness that had surrounded atem in the beginning then became the light to guide him the way to himself, his memories and finally his resting place. how fucking poetic is that!!

What makes me happy about them: Everything! Every interaction they had throughout the series. though I do love when Yugi has to take over whenever atem was going murder happy on some characters hfkjdsf

What makes me sad about them: the obvious...atem having to leave so he can finally rest in peace 🤧

things done in fanfic that annoys me: Hm I can't really think off the top of my head rn that's specific to them.

things I look for in fanfic: just general good vibes lol I'm not too picky with this pair I'll read just about anything of them tbh. i do enjoy atem being utterly in love with yugi and pinning to which yugi is sorta oblivious to it lol.

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: hmm for atem maybe mahad. for yugi he gets along with so many people but if I had to choose probably ryou. two nerds just wanting to play games that got wrapped up into some magical egyptian nonsense 😂 

My happily ever after for them: Yugi winning the ceremonial duel as a draw and since it isn't a loss or a win atem gets his body back and gets to live on with his aibou physically this time around 🥺

who is the big spoon/little spoon: I think they both mix it up here and there depending their mood. Yugi seems like a big cuddler and heat seeker so he probably ends up being the big spoon more than often

what is their favorite non-sexual activity: games!! any kind! I feel yugi would take atem around a lot of world so they can experience different things together.

[ramshackle-dweller]

Introduction + Rules

Nice to meet you, I'm the prefect of Night Raven College's "Historic" Ramshackle Dorm. Which is a fancy way of saying I'm the guy who keeps this busted old building full of ghosts from falling down on top of me and my talking cat. 

According to the Headmage I'm also his "Esteemed Assistant and Unofficial Ward" which is a fancy way of saying I'm his unpaid errand runner. 

You wanna know something specific about one of NRC's oh-so-big-and-scary students or faculty? I've got you! They don't call me the 'beast tamer' for nothing! 

Meet the Prefect! 

♡Hey! You can call me Prefect (They/Them) I’m pretty easygoing and a little bit of an airhead so don’t be scared to approach me, I promise you're not going to fail the social interaction with me! <3 

♡I’m a long time fic and rp hobbyist who's trying to get back into it (aka Twisted Wonderland is dragging me back into it by the ankles) so sorry in advance if I’m a bit rusty!

♡Also!!! Warning! I am not caught up on the game story/all events! I have also not read every available card story etc and I’m a fool who is waiting for new events to hit english Twist before getting deep into them! So if I don’t know about some detail in cannon or something, I apologize! 

♡ No worries about spoiling something for me by referencing it though, I’m not super pressed about avoiding ALL spoilers 100% It’s gonna happen. Just know I might be like “hmm idk how to write about that” <3

Welcome to Ramshackle! 

♡I am +18 so it is almost guaranteed some of what I write and say will not be squeaky clean D*sney approved fun! I’m an adult fan and I don’t own or represent the official Twisted Wonderland game and media!

♡ I’m also GAY and this blog will be full of extremely LGBTQ+ interpretations of the cast! (boyxboy, yaoi, don’t like don’t read!!1! etc etc you get the joke) 

♡ All that being said, I will absolutely offer you a heads up for what is in store for you on anything I write. That way you can stay safe and avoid content you don’t wanna see! 

♡ On the age thing, ANYTHING I write will be presenting the NRC boys as +18 college student versions of the characters. That's how I see them and it’s how I’ll be writing them! 

♡ I will write things about the babies (Ortho, Grim, etc) but it will be strictly things appropriate for the babies! 

♡ I will also write stuff about the NRC staff but if it’s anything romantic etc then it will be about them with other adult non-student characters! No underage stuff or weird power dynamics here, folks! 

♡I also might,,,break down and write stuff with my Twist Ocs here as well,,,maybe,,, they are my blorbos,,,, <3 

Okay kids, cover your ears! 

♡ Romance stuff is cool, Flirty stuff is cool, 18+ silliness is cool.

♡ I honestly can’t say if I want to write anything solidly NSFW here or not. I’m caught somewhere between being pretty shy online and going  “I’m a grown adult I can say and feel what I want as long as it’s safe and in an appropriate space!” Either way please bear with me while I feel out what’s comfortable!

♡  Oh and don’t worry about saying or asking about something that you're unsure about. If I'm not comfortable with something I’ll just let you know and not write about it (boundaries and communication, folks! That's how we interact with other humans safely! If someone as awkward and neurodivergent as me can manage it, so can you! <3)  

This is an all boys school…right?

♡ The stuff I write concerning the reader ('scenario’ type fics etc) will be written gender neutral and if I need pronouns for it they will be They/Them because hey I don’t know you so I won’t assume <3 

Oh no, he’s hot!!

♡ Ships!! I like Ship stuff!!! I will write Reader x Character stuff but also I like Character x Character stuff! Also poly ships!! As far as who I ship with who eeeee idk I think lots of the pairings have potential so i’ll just go ham. Just… no hard feelings if something you like isn’t something that clicks in my head enough to write about it, no hard feelings my brain is just fickle. 

♡ I for sure love Floyd/Riddle, Vil/Idia, Jade/Azul,  Kalim/Jamil and Crewel/Trein mostly because all of them are funny to me, ur honor. 

Off With Your Heads!! 

♡There are a few rules here in Ramshackle, but they're pretty basic, this isn’t Heartslabyul!

♡First off, don’t be rude! I’m doing this for fun just like you are!

♡I will not be writing Yandere or abusive relationships, non consensual anything, anything regarding incest or underage people in relationships, nothing super gross ( a lil blood and violence is fun of coarse, just no guts or gunk outta the body)

Wanna talk to the prefect? 

♡Feel free to send me an ask or tag me in a post! Like I said, don't worry about making a mistake or something! The worst thing thats gonna happen is that I’ll give you a friendly ‘no thanks’ and be on my way! As long as it’s Twist and I find it fun it’s a go!

♡Got a prompt idea? Shoot! Got a scenario or head canon that's rotting your brain? Pass it on over, friend! Wanna yell about silly Twist thoughts? I wanna hear them! Is your Dorm Leader acting weird and you're worried they're gonna Overblot? I’ll get back to you in 2-to-5 business days pal, I need a breather from the last one… 

[tiny-cloud-of-flowers]

📝⛈️☕🎞️ for Lorenza floor that "if your s/i was canon" ask memes?

I can certainly do that for you, friend! Thank you very much for sending all of these in!~

(question source: "Imagine Your Self-insert Was Canon… Self-Ship Asks" by cursedmoon-doll13)

📝: How would your story in canon go? How would you influence the events of the original story? - I feel as though Lorenza's presence wouldn't directly change all that much in the story, in all honesty..? The main parts in which she would be a more prominent character would be anything to do with the Thirteenth for obvious reasons, so that would mostly be the Crystal Tower raids (when she first enters the Source and helps NOAH find a way into the World of Darkness), the Shadow of Mhach raids (for reasons I'll explain later down the ask), and most prominently, the post-Endwalker story. The main thing I would want her to change, if she could change something, is taking Zero back from Zenos during Endwalker itself somehow - but I haven't actually seen that many cutscenes of her as his unwilling avatar yet (I'm pretty sure I skipped some), so I am not sure to what extent that would actually be possible. It'd be nice, though. So I'd quite like it to happen. Of course, crystal verse-wise - which is what I tend to view as Lorenza's default/"canon" version of events - you could argue that she may have slightly more of an influence on the story, simply by virtue of helping keep K'pheli in a much healthier (or, less aether-sick) state than he would have been in without her intervention or presence. But that and anything more than that is largely for you to establish if you so wish, hehe~

🌦️: Would you be accompanied by mostly fluff or angst fanfics? Both? Explain why. - Hmm.. On the one hand, the fact that Lorenza and Zero are separated from each other for so long might encourage people to write lots of fluff to counter that fact. On the other hand, there is always potential for angst, by sheer means of how many painful moments happen in the plot - I can imagine there might be a number of sin eater/Lightwarden Lorenza AUs, for example, because of how poorly she reacts to the First as well as the fact that she's the one who takes on the Lightwardens' Light outside of crystal verse/in my version of events, plus the whole "light vs. darkness" dynamic that this would introduce. Another key angst moment that probably gets focused on a lot would be Zero appearing as Zenos' unwilling reaper avatar during Endwalker, as alluded to above. So, in conclusion, perhaps both? I can imagine anything that gets written being pretty far one way or the other, rather than somewhere in the middle.

☕️: What are the most common plots of shipping fics between you and your F/O? - Hell if I know, in all honesty! The trouble with not reading very much (or hardly any) fanfiction is that I don't have a very good idea of what sorts of things are common for people to write about specific pairings, unfortunately =P I can perhaps imagine that there would be some scenes of Lorenza showing Zero various places on the Source or introducing her to things there, since - although both of them are from the Thirteenth - Lorenza has of course experienced much more of the Source than Zero would have, so she could act as a guide for her, and use that time as a way for the two to catch each other up on what has happened since they were last able to be together. But, that's about the only potential plot to come to mind.

🎞️: What ‘canon’ scenes would the fandom point to as evidence for the validity of your ship? - I tried to write one of these out, once - it's the one where Lorenza confronts Diabolos at the end of the Dun Scaith raid, forcing him to go and report that she is alive to the rest of the Thirteenth, and also to mandate that no harm can come to Zero. While it doesn't technically reveal who she is, it does at least serve as the first major on-screen example of Lorenza referring to her lover, and would probably be what encouraged whoever-was-with-her-as-part-of-the-raid to ask her about her for the first time. This is the only really concrete part of it that I have so far (that isn't just me writing out how the in-game cutscene normally goes), but I still think it stands pretty well on its own, so here it is. Imagine Lorenza holding Diabolos by the neck or something as she's talking at him.

(Technically speaking, Lorenza is not directly connected to Scathach like she's implying here - there's an argument to be made that the Thirteenth consists of what you could call "the Celtic voidsent" and "the Italian voidsent", given the divides in names (other than Diabolos, ironically), and given that her names are Lorenza and Colombina and she literally speaks Italian in the above snippet, it's perhaps evident that she is of the latter instead of the former. Even so, she's still a princess of the void - so of course she would take the throne next in the absence of a queen, right? A wayward princess ruling from afar.)

Other than that, I do think that Lorenza would open up more about Zero at some point on-screen in the story, I'm just not sure when or to whom yet. So, that would also be a pretty clear example of another scene, even if Zero herself isn't present for it. The other example would of course be the actual reuniting of Zero with Lorenza at last, whether that's post-Endwalker or I be self-indulgent and bring her into things early.

Ah, that was rather a lot for one post, but I hope that these answers are alright for you, friend! Thank you very much once again for sending in so many questions, it really means a lot~

[editrevue]

ichie for the character ask game!

ICHIEEEEE [ask] ichie my best friend ichie

Sexuality Headcanon: everyone in revstar is wlw in some way, ichie's no different!

Gender Headcanon: they all deserve a little xenogender treat now and again, and think it would be sooo fun if ichie was idolgender on top of just being she/her

A ship I have with said character: Ichie x Fumi (IchieFumi) primarily, but I also enjoy Ichie/Fumi/Tamao! Ichie and Lalafin could be very cute too !

A BROTP I have with said character: besides Rinmeikan as a whole? hehe. Ichie and Lalafin, Ichie and Minku, Ichie and Tamao/Rui specifically from rinmeikan, and because of Arcana I honestly think Ichie and Michiru would be an interesting pair of friends! there's also futaba as well because of the anniversary illustration poll. :3

gosh ichie just gets along so well with everybody it's hard to narrow it down to just a few, there's also Karen, Mei Fan, Aruru, Suzu, so on...

A NOTP I have with said character: hmm. besides obvious weird ones, I don't think I really have many? the most I could say is Ichie/Shiori but that's not even a thing I see. so! I always assume "notp" to be like bad romantic pairings rather than just dynamics you don't like, which is why I answered all of these a certain way but yknow! because everyone can be friends in a source like this

A random headcanon: I admit I don't have a lot of headcanons for her that aren't already pretty much canon trivial facts off the top of my head, but I asked mod Sun to give me some if she had any and this is what we've got!: "Ichie can fall asleep normally, but can wake up in the weirdest poses that people have to constantly ask her if it hurts (it doesn't!), she's as flexible as a ferret! ichie loves creating challenges for herself to do in front of other people, whether or not she will succeed! Ichie loves trying out of the box candy flavors, and mixing all of them together. and finally, ichie can and will dance to music wherever whenever even if no music is playing at all, sometimes she'll make her own music and encourages others to do it with her" !

General Opinion over said character: WE LOVE ICHIE!!! I relate to her very much and her dynamic with Fumi is literally everything to me, it reminds me of my current relationship and that's so fun for us! I love how she can be serious when she wants to be and put her foot down rationally when it calls for it, but prefers to keep everything positive and carefree. genuinely a fantastic character with some of the cutest cards, and she definitely deserves the attention she gets in the fandom. one of my close friends kins her so I have nothing but love in my heart for the both of them! hehe

sorry about the wait! i've been a little distracted/busy <3

[stargatelov3r]

Welcome, welcome one and all, to our rareship carnival.

I am watching and I can't believe it's happening! I may be giddy and grinning like mad, but there's no actual evidence of that.

Hello sweet Anon 😚 thank you! I am so glad that we planted this seed in your mind. 🧡

And dang it! I thought I was satisfied, full in fact, and then you dropped those delicious Chuck/ Radek headcanons down and I became ravenous. *writes furiously*

Keller/ Cadman

Hmm, I see what you mean… It wouldn't be a messy breakup either. Just a mutual fizzling out.

I agree, Cadman is 100% that person. With her boyfriends as well, (I headcanon her Bi, I like to think that Cadman keeps her options open. 🤣) Love a tiny marine standing up for her partners 🧡 

I enjoy McKay/ Cadman (despite a couple reservations) specifically because of how they challenge each other. (Eventually I'll get to this pairing on my list but I must go in order because… Compulsions 🤣)

This actually reminds me of how I think Keller/ McKay would go, McKay would get bored of Keller and she would get tired of his abrasive nature. McKay needs a good kick in the butt sometimes, probably one of the reasons so many people mcshepship, and I don't think Keller is up for the task.

Just no fire. No energy. No nothing (will anyone even get this reference?)

Hmm… I'll have to mull over those two some more. It's honestly hard to ship Keller with anyone, maybe hmm… Oh! I need to update the list.

Here's the next one: Elizabeth/ Sam

o.0

Elizabeth/Sam... *breathes deeply*

i... i might have been waiting for someone to ask me about them and I was both scared and excited to answer this one.

let's dive a bit into my past, shall we? and by that i mean 2016/17

I was doing a lot of RPGs with a friend, mostly SG-1, later SG-1/SGA, SG-1/Sanctuary and even SGA/Sanctuary i think. We were basically writing these huuuuuge fics together over what was sometimes weeks! I think that was the first time I came across Sam/Elizabeth. It's funny because it was wayyy before I realized that gay ships where actually an option to actually ship instead of just going "huh okay" and moving on. (don't ask me why it took so long) but uhhhh it also didn't stop me from writing them so uhhh...

fast forward a two or three years. Someone told me that Torri and Amanda didn't get along personally (which, as a hardcore fan of both of them made me incredibly sad) and it kinda put a hold on my thoughts about them as a ship. I know you shouldn't necessarily let what actors do when they are not on screen influence their work performance (unless they are harming anyone) but in this case it did for a while.

But now, slowly and steady I'm managing to leave that behind me and just concentrate on these two wonderful characters, disregarding what might or might not be their actor's relation.

So let's get to the actual question (under the cut)

Yes. I see it. I ship it. I love it.

I might be a tiny bit biased because i just love both these characters so much and I haven't given them a suuuuper lot of thought but just... these two? together? knowing them both so well? knowing what both of them have been through? what shit they experienced working in a men dominated world? and together they can just go "fuck all that" and have a good time and drink wine and feel safe? gimme all of it

*gasp*

i was about to start writing about them being co-leaders of atlantis and then i remembered that i'm basically headcanoning Teyla and Elizabeth co-managing Atlantis after season 3 at the latest and then I was like WHY NOT ALL THREE???? what a power trio they would be!!! all of them together running shit??? hooooly crap.

but uh,,, back to Sam/Elizabeth

I think there would also be conflict involved between them, mostly because Elizabeth is civilian and Sam is military, and both are very firm in their beliefs and in their position. Not they are not flexible, but I think they have different mindsets and different points of view on a lot of things.

But don't forget, they are both adults, and they'd both know the value of the other, they'd know what they have in each other and even if it's not easy sometimes they would want to fight for it (i mean literally, i think they would argue) but they would always try and find a solution.

woah. i think that's all i've got for now and it made me kinda choke up. this is somehow a bittersweet ship for me...

and about all other things you said, I pretty much agree <3

I can't wait what other Radek/Chuck headcanons (or fics? :)) ) you'll come up with!

[justscrolling765]

After the story has ended, I've been wanting to figure out the right question about some things. Yeah, the rewriting was good and all, but I still feel like there were some characters wasted. I don't know, I just feel that way. I mean I get that you were mostly following the episodes in most of them in this rewrite, but...well if there was a minor character who should've been written better, who would it be?

Hmm...I suppose maybe Ludo I mean I didn't get to put him into it as much I did like his ending. I suppose except with the whole Marco and Star balloon figures in the closet that was...something. Maybe if I could even expand more on Nova and Eclipsa's sisterly bond but even then I wanted to keep things vague for those that had a specific idea about Eclipsa's past since it's been shrouded with so much mystery. It's why I didn't expand more on Nova's past I wated to keep things vague for the people to fit in their own timeline of Eclipsa's past.

Star too can be considered due to the whole mess that she was throughout the final seasons oh boy…with Ash and Star I wanted their friendship to be like Star is the extreme version of Ash’s chaotic side only with magic. Ash learned from Marco to more on the tame side trying to calm Star’s urges down she was to show Star how to be chaotic but with limits to know of the consequences of her chaos you could say. When Star tried to help Eclipsa into the role of Queen I wanted the series to show that although Ash and Star are friends they do argue just like any other pair of friends would. But with the writing of the season finale…yeah I can see where Star was left could be seen as messy.

Okay maybe Mina as well I mean I didn't expand too much on her nor Seth since there's still so little we really know about them you know...I guess my final character for all this would actually be Micheal when I was writing him I wanted him to be Ash's love interest but overtime I realized wow I'm just hooking Ash up because people like romance like I wasn't invested with it.

I've read fanfic after fanfic of an oc hooking up with Tom or someone else and I just thought with the messy end of SVTFOE becoming shipping fuel and sort of ruining the series. I wanted to do an Oc that was like yeah no relationships, like their development is all they need and this was mid writing the story. So I had to a whole rewrite for this. I thought it'd be funny to have a protag of a fanfic not to get together with someone despite being in a show known for its shipping.

This changed Micheal a whole lot I had to do rewrite after rewrite having no clear idea where Micheal’s character would go until I came with the idea of them just being friends and him learning he doesn’t need a relationship. Like Ash learned to be more compassionate and more in tune with her emotions thanks to Micheal throughout the story while Micheal himself learned he didn’t need to be in a relationship to be happy, he can be his own person. I suppose you could say Ash learned to depend on people more thanks to Micheal while Micheal learned to be more independent from Ash and that’s why I liked having them remain friends because guess what, girls and boys can be friends and I wanted to show that.

I hope this answered your question Julayla! Thanks for reading my story if you have any other question I’d be happy to answer them!

[moved-to-void-kissed]

Split of Twin Flowers

After being rescued from the realm of darkness, Aria seeks a way to give Ves a chance at living her own life, while also continuing to survive in her own right. Aqua brings her to the scientists at Radiant Garden to see if they have a solution, and for Aria to explain her situation, but the only option available may carry some worrying implications.. (3937 words)

Takes place after the ending of KH3. Content warning for mentions of battle scars, talk of a character being possessed, an event comparable to an exorcism (it’s kind of hard to explain in non-series-specific terms, sorry), and rather a lot of self-insert-focused exposition.

(Comments on and reblogs of my work are always okay, and appreciated, but are by no means required. I recommend reading this piece on the original document, but if that doesn't work, a transcript has been copied and pasted under the readmore.)

tag list: @thatslikesometaldude | @garchompp | @beeon | @tex-treasures | @catake | @tartaglialovemail | @catcao | @lilacslovers | @kissofthemoonrabbit | @vilehusband | @dragonsmooch | @childrenofmeyneth | @kalliopi-ships | @blackbirdcrime | @strawberryshipz (to be tagged in what I make, please click here!)

This is a piece I have been working on for a long time, and am very proud of, so I really appreciate anyone who takes the time to read it. I hope it isn’t quite as heavy as the content warnings may possibly indicate. I’m also using it as my post for the twenty-ninth day of sapphic September; there’s just one more to go!

Document transcript:

The door to the laboratory opened halfway, and a young woman tentatively poked her head around it. Upon seeing that she was not interrupting anything, she smiled and emerged more properly, brushing a lock of blue hair from her face.

“Oh, Master Aqua!” The lone scientist in the room smiled warmly as he noticed her. “Thank you for coming. I’m glad to see you’re alright.”

“Thank you, Ienzo.” Aqua replied, even if she did still in fact look rather tired. The long battle to defeat Master Xehanort and the true Organisation still felt fresh in her mind, and although it was a fight that the light had eventually won, it had still taken quite a toll on her. Not only that, but she hadn’t had the same chance to rest as the others - though thoughts of locating Sora still weighed on everyone’s minds, Aqua had been more concerned with finding a way back into the realm of darkness in order to rescue Aria, her partner who she had so unwillingly abandoned..

Now that Aria was finally free as well, Aqua could let herself relax a bit more, and with that lowering of her guard came much contemplation of everything she had gone through.

“Um.. Master Aqua?”

“Ah!”

She’d been staring off into space again, judging by Ienzo’s worried expression half-visible under his hair.

“Is everything alright?”

“Yes, don’t worry!” she replied, slightly embarrassed at her lapse in concentration. The young scientist did not look entirely convinced, but he seemed content enough to continue.

“I’m the only one here at the moment, but I should still be able to help with what we talked about over the Gummiphone. Did you happen to bring Aria with you?”

At this, the half-open door Aqua had come through continued to swing open as if of its own accord, only to reveal another young woman entering the laboratory with a somewhat nervous expression. She had clearly been through a lot, and the realm of darkness she had reportedly been trapped in for aeons had definitely left its mark on her; several large patches of darkness could be seen spanning her face and body, with one reaching down her left eye like a melting wound.

“Yes, I’m here..”

Her catlike eyes flickered nervously around the room, and it soon became apparent that what Ienzo had thought was a cape were in fact a pair of black feathered wings, both subconsciously curling around her shoulders. It was only upon recognising that Ienzo was the only one present, and that his initial reaction to seeing her was not as negative as she was expecting, that she was able to relax slightly and explain herself from behind a now-steeled facade.

“My name is Aria.” she said, looking up at the scientist from under her messy blonde hair. “Aqua said you might be able to help me achieve something. Has she already.. told you about, well-”

“We’ve already spoken a little bit using the Gummiphone I was given before, but he said it was best for us to come and talk in person to try and get everything clear.” Aqua stepped in after sensing Aria’s hesitation and took her hand to support her partner. “It’s alright - you can trust him,” she whispered close to her ear.

Trusting only in her love’s reassurance, Aria started to explain her intentions to Ienzo, who seemed content to listen even considering the clear presence of darkness she had; this silent gesture of tolerance was greatly appreciated. She appeared hesitant to reveal much of her true nature as a Heartless, but she did what she could to inquire whether the young scientist knew any way for a heart to be released from its current body and inhabit a different one, allowing the dormant self within the original body to reawaken. Unfortunately, Ienzo remained pensive, even after she had said her part.

“So, you’re looking for a way for a heart to enter a new body? I’m sorry, but.. I’m not sure we’ll be able to help you. Any of the resources we could have used - which is to say, the replicas, they would have been perfect for this - were taken by Roxas, Xion, and Naminé’s hearts.”

“Oh. So, there is nothing you can do?” Aria persisted, but Ienzo shook his head.

Then came a flash of hesitant inspiration.

“Unless..” He trailed off and turned to look down one of the corridors leading away from the main lab space. “Could you two come with me, please?”

“Of course!” said Aqua brightly, as Aria nodded in assent.

==========

The three left the main hub of the laboratory to walk down the corridor, which felt as though it was turning downwards into a basement level of sorts. Once there, they came to a tall door which Ienzo unlocked with some sort of biometric scanner, and this opened out into yet another laboratory space with a similar layout to the first - however, this one seemed in a less presentable condition than the other, and its lack of windows seemed to be what was giving it a more foreboding presence. There was a distinct sense that something bad had happened here, once upon a time.

“After you and the other Guardians of Light helped to defeat Master Xehanort,” Ienzo was saying to Aqua, “we went back to the Keyblade Graveyard to see if there was anything to salvage from the battlefield, and we were able to bring this back with us.”

He gestured to a container at the far wall, in which the two Keyblade wielders could now see a strange white figure suspended inside, resembling a featureless mannequin. It appeared to be dressed in some kind of dark robes, of a dull purple colour inlaid with sharp red motifs, worn over pieces of tarnished metal armour. A number of scuffs and dents littered the otherwise-smooth surface, and Aria could sense traces of a dark presence seeping from the container, despite the blank nature of the figure itself.

“What is this..?”

“This is one of the replicas that Even created, back when he was still Vexen, and a member of the first Organisation.” Ienzo explained. “The first twelve were prototypes, initially abandoned as failures, since they were made before his assistant provided the data needed to perfect them, but.. From what I understand, the real Organisation - which Vexen was also a part of at the beginning - repurposed those twelve into vessels for Xehanort’s heart, as backups in case the people they brought through time fell in battle again.”

“That’s right, I remember fighting these now.” muttered Aqua. “But, didn’t they fuse into one form, eventually?”

“That’s what I thought, too, from your accounts of the situation.” replied the scientist. “I’m not sure if Sora defeating the replicas in battle made them all separate out again, since they weren’t really designed to be fused, or if this one was already too damaged to combine with the others in the first place. Regardless, it was the only one we recovered.”

He now turned to face the blank figure with a concerned expression. “We’ve been running some experiments to see whether it can be repurposed for anything, but.. There’s a lot of darkness still lingering within it, so it wouldn’t be safe for a heart of light to inhabit without risking it also being afflicted by that darkness. And we haven’t found a good way of destroying that darkness without compromising the replica, either.”

“I could sense the dark power when I saw it, so corruption would seem a likely outcome.” Aria mused. “This would also be darkness from Xehanort, so.. it isn’t that surprising that some part of it stuck around. Persistence did seem to be his only worthwhile trait.”

She had crossed her arms in contempt at this last part, but seemed satisfied enough to relax after studying the replica further. “It shouldn’t matter any more than he did in the long run, though.”

“Hmm..” Aqua seemed concerned about the prospect, but was trying to keep an open mind. “What do you make of it, Aria?”

“Well..” She took a moment to examine the figure with an unchanging expression. “The replica body itself has sustained some damage from the fight, but I don’t see why that would affect my ability to inhabit it - it’s just possible that those injuries would reflect in my new appearance, which is.. nothing I’m not accustomed to. And, if the heart within a replica determines its appearance, then maybe what’s left of my heart - or, I suppose, the heart that I once was - would be able to smooth over those gaps. Though, if it’s the latter, that could mean my appearance ends up changing, which.. is not what I want.”

Aqua tentatively nodded, but Ienzo seemed more visibly confused.

“I’m sorry to interject, but- what do you mean by “the heart that you once were”? You’re saying that that’s different to your heart, somehow?”

“..In a sense, yes. How do I explain this..?” There was a slight pause as Aria tried to gather her thoughts, and it was clear she was still trying to think by the hesitant nature of her words that followed. She had seen right through to the heart of the man standing before her, which glowed with a newly-restored lustre. It was a heart that sought to help people, and sought knowledge in order to do that, though there were visible flickers of a long-seated regret present as well. Still, it was a heart that she judged would not judge her, so she decided to provide it with the truth she hoped would sate it.

“Though I look mostly human to you, this- isn’t technically my body, however much I treated it as such. If I were to let go of this vessel, or be driven out from her, you would see me as I really am - a Heartless, a flowering thing. However, Heartless are created when a heart is consumed by darkness, so.. surely the appearance I would take if I were to possess a blank replica would be that of the person this heart - my heart - used to belong to. Only, I don’t- I don’t really see myself as him, or as Ves. I am different, I am my own- well, person, if I can even call myself that. Yet, when I imagine my appearance outside of this vessel, I can only see myself as a Heartless. Does that make any sense?”

“I think I follow..” the scientist mumbled, though his still-furrowed brow seemed to indicate otherwise. “So, you kept your memories of who you were, even after turning into a Heartless? Kairi had implied that the same thing happened to Sora, but.. I’d just attributed that to him turning the Keyblade of heart on himself to free her, so it wouldn’t have happened to anyone else.”

This claim caused Aria to shake her head. “To my knowledge, the method is irrelevant; what matters is the intention. The more willingly a person opens their heart to the darkness, the more of their mind they keep when their heart is consumed, and they become a Heartless. I believe this is what happened with Ansem, though he actively sought after darkness so strongly that he retained a human appearance as well as mind. The emblem on his chest was the only way an onlooker could tell his true nature. When it comes to my original self, he was a Keyblade wielder, very similar to what I know of Sora, but… though he certainly did not willingly or deliberately let his heart be consumed, he was able to accept his fate in his final moments, and that is what allowed the Heartless formed at his demise - so, in other words, me - to retain some semblance of mind and self. Just.. not as much of it.”

“Oh. Yes, I think that makes more sense now. Thank you for the clarification.” said Ienzo. He was writing something furiously in a book that seemed to appear out of nowhere, then became startled when he realised his blunder. In an instant, he opened his mouth to ask something, but closed it with relief when Aria’s expression reassured him she did not mind him making notes about her.

It was Aqua’s turn to speak up now. “It’s so interesting to hear about this from you, Aria - but, I can’t say I’ve seen that kind of behaviour in any of the Heartless I’ve fought before. Had you noticed it at any point while we were in the realm of darkness?”

“Not that I can recall.” she replied. “It isn't exactly that common of an occurrence, considering most people’s disdain for the darkness. And, not only that, but..” She turned away from the other two here, and her next words came much more reluctantly again.

“Before I took over Ves, I remember feeling that I was losing myself - all I was driven by was this desire to be complete again, to be human again, but that was fading away over time. Then, when I found her, I didn’t necessarily feel more human, but what sense of humanity I did have was no longer fading away. So, if I hadn’t found her or someone like her in time, I probably would have lost my sense of self completely, and become just as mindless as most other Heartless are. It’s only thanks to the type of Heartless I became that I was even able to possess her in the first place, and.. I didn’t start to truly feel more like a person until I met other Keyblade wielders, and they interacted with me.”

“I see, I see.. So you’re saying that, in those Heartless that retain a sense of who they were before becoming Heartless, the remnants of normal heart behaviour - of humanity, if you will - have to be nurtured by others in order to be sustained, and will just be lost to the darkness if not actively encouraged?”

“Yes.”

Ienzo paused to finish hastily scribbling this knowledge down in his notebook, then lifted his head in realisation once he had had some time to think. “I think I might remember something of that from the old Organisation, actually.. Though, the memory is very hazy..”

To stop his mind from wandering as it wanted to, he returned to address the matter at hand.

“From what you’ve said, Aria, it does sound like you’d be able to make use of this replica - and you may well be the only one who could. I don’t think there’s any other solution here for you, and.. I say there’s no better way to find out than by experimenting. Give me a moment to get everything ready, and then we’ll be set to see if it works!”

Aria nodded, content with the proposal, but Aqua reached out to take her hand with a worried expression.

“Aria, are you sure you want to do this..?”

“Of course I am, Aqua. This is why I came here.” she replied. Then she hesitated again. “..Why, is there something wrong?”

“Well, no, it’s just-” Aqua took a moment to settle her whirling thoughts, holding both of Aria’s hands in her own now. “I don’t know what’s going to happen when I use my Keyblade on you. I don’t want to hurt you, or even destroy you. And, if something happened with the darkness infecting the replica, then..”

Aria couldn’t bring herself to meet Aqua’s gaze, but it was clear she appreciated the consideration, and did her best to reassure her love. “If I could leave of my own accord, I would have done so by now, but.. we’ve become too intertwined for me to do that myself. And Ves is not quite strong enough to drive me out from within - it’s enough of an effort for her to stay existing in the first place. So.. an outside force seems to be the only way to separate us. And there isn’t anyone I’d trust to wield that force, other than you.”

Despite herself, Aqua couldn’t help but smile at the last admission, and she felt her normal confidence returning. “..Alright then. If you’re sure about this, then.. I’m happy to be able to help.”

The two embraced for a moment, then there was a pause of silence as Aria took a few steps back to stand in the middle of the room. Once Ienzo had brought the replica out of its container, he carried it around to the other end of the laboratory, closer to the other two. Aqua summoned her Brightcrest Keyblade, then slowly raised its tip to be level with the X on Aria’s outfit. She took a deep breath, then pointed the Keyblade directly at her partner, echoing the movement used to open the paths to new worlds.

Aria instinctively flinched when a thin beam of bright light shot forward from the tip of Aqua’s Keyblade, striking her directly in the chest. She was then forced down into a kneel as an aura of pink-tinted darkness began to escape from her body. Her expression was grim, as if she was in pain, but Aqua caught sight of a hint of a smile before the darkness now emanating much more rapidly from her form started rising up to create something above her. It almost completely engulfed her body as if to pull it upwards too, seeming particularly concentrated around her head and wings, before disconnecting entirely to drop a drained figure to the floor. This left a dense collection of dark pink wisps, amalgamating in the air.

Ienzo was now well off to the side, looking rather alarmed, but his expression was replaced with complete surprise when the amorphous cluster of darkness coalesced, giving way to what looked like a floating mass of pink petals. Eventually, it turned around to reveal a large jagged mouth and piercing yellow eyes, staring with an expression he found difficult to interpret. The Heartless stayed floating in place for a moment, as if disoriented, then suddenly appeared to notice Aqua, staring at her curiously.

“Aria..?”

Her tentative call was clearly recognised by the flowering monster, which began to float cautiously towards her. She still had her Keyblade summoned, and her hand was trembling ever-so-slightly - whether with nervousness, uncertainty, or something else entirely, it was impossible to tell. Then, Ienzo stepped between the two and lifted up the replica body, hoping that Aria still remembered the plan.

“Here!”

It seemed the Heartless remained aware, as she moved forwards more purposefully after this, and collided directly with the empty vessel’s centre. A few petals scattered from the force, but it took only a few moments for the Heartless’ form to disappear entirely, appearing to be absorbed into the replica body. This caused another aura of darkness to manifest, enveloping the blank surface of the replica and making Ienzo recoil from the body - but it caught itself as it fell from his grasp to end up kneeling on all fours. A few more moments passed, as the darkness engulfed the entire body in a shell, before gradually dissipating after a few gold sparks were seen being forced out of the system.

The figure that stood up was slightly smaller than the replica had looked in the container, with catlike ears now poking upwards from a fluffy head of golden blonde hair. As she lifted her head, a cluster of cute freckles were seen scattered across her face, though in what Aqua thought was a slightly different arrangement than before. There were other little differences here and there, as well - the shape of her face, the way her hair fell at the back, how she stood dressed in the unfamiliar clothes from the replica in the middle of the silent laboratory.

But all of Aqua’s worries disappeared when the girl standing before her opened her eyes. Neither the bright, empty yellow of the lesser, mindless Heartless, nor a piercing orange like the seeker of darkness, nor even the harsh cold shade between the two that Aria’s eyes had been before, but a warm and resolute amber was the colour that met Aqua’s gaze, and regarded her with a renewed sense of gratitude and love.

“Aria!”

The Keyblade Master ran across the room towards her partner and nearly knocked her over with the energy of her emotions. Aria was nervous, but comfortably allowed herself to melt into Aqua’s embrace, now able to feel the connection between the pair even more strongly than before. Something felt so much more tangible about her presence now, and the relief coursing through her new body was enough to bring tears to her eyes.

“Aqua, it really worked..!” she smiled, speaking in a quiet voice filled with gratitude.

“I’m so glad you’re alright!” exclaimed Aqua, who also had a few tears in her eyes. “How do you feel? Is everything okay?”

“Yes, it’s all fine, I promise.” she asserted. “The replica’s darkness was not organised; it was just remnants that my presence has removed. I feel.. different, but in the best possible way. I could never have done this without you here with me - thank you, so much, for being here..”

She trailed off, still smiling at her partner, and another wonderful moment came and went. Then, a movement from behind Aqua caused Aria’s expression to take on a slightly fearful quality, and she turned her head to see what was happening. The cause of this movement was the figure left behind when Aqua set Aria free, who was slowly trying to get to her feet, her heart’s light flickering nervously. A bright green eye could be seen darting anxiously around the room from under her hair, but she was too weak to properly move, and quickly fell back to the ground again. Ienzo stepped in to support her, and his assistance was clearly welcomed as she was just about able to stand.

“Please take her somewhere she can recover.” Aria requested hurriedly. “After everything I put her through, she needs every opportunity she can to rest and adjust to being herself again..”

“Don’t worry. We have good facilities here.” Ienzo assured her. “Everything will be fine.”

This did little to ease Aria’s guilt, but the gesture was nevertheless appreciated. “Thank you, Ienzo.”

The scientist nodded, and then slowly helped the girl walk to the corridor. She appeared to be very shaken, and was glancing at everything with apprehension and unfamiliarity, but as she turned the corner of the corridor, she looked back at the couple still standing side-by-side, and met the eyes of both her saviour and her prison.

(For all that you have done to me, I know why you do not deserve forgiveness.

But, this is not the first time we have seen each other face-to-face since that day, thanks to that mirror you found in the darkness.

And ever since that moment, you have sought a way to free yourself from me. To let me live the life you once denied me. To break the hold that any other being you’d call your kind would do everything to strengthen.

You calculated the risks, but you still took them - the risk you would lose everything and the one person you cared for, for the sake of me getting to “get rid of you”.

So, who am I to judge a person - the person you have become - by the actions of the creature you once were..?)

A ghost of a smile flickered over her face, and the long-held vessel finally free again spoke of her own accord for the first time since the age of ancient fairytales.

“Thank you, Aria..”

[starlightrows]

The Lady’s Guards

Pairing: Boba Fett x reader

Word Count: 3.5k

Warnings: Mild blood and injury, some hurt/comfort, lots of domestic bliss and fluff, I really just like writing Boba with a feisty little wifey

Summary: Din brings Grogu to visit you and Boba on Tatooine, but you run into some trouble when you try to take him out for a day of shopping

AN: Lots of people really seemed to like my OC’s Tems and Rhys, so I wanted to write a little more with them! This can be read as a stand alone or a part 2 to The Lady of the House

You return to bed but find that you’re no longer tired enough to fall back to sleep. Instead you just enjoy the warmth of Boba’s skin and the gentle rise and fall of his chest as he breathes. When you can’t stand to lay still any longer you shift carefully out of his embrace and slip out of bed.

It’s not often you’re awake before him so you take advantage of this rarity. You put your robe back on, and sneak out of your chambers heading down to the kitchens. The maids are scurrying about preparing breakfast, and prepping for the larger more substantial meals later in the day.

“Good morning,” you call out softly from the top of the stairs. Everyone stops what they’re doing and turns quickly to address you. A small chorus of “my lady” and “good morning”’s greet you as you descend the stairs.

“I was hoping to help make breakfast and serve it to my husband in our chambers this morning if that’s alright,” you smile. You’re welcomed into the kitchens and allowed to help as one of the maids makes the batter for hot cakes. When the cakes have finished baking, you garnish the tray with fresh fruit, and fresh brewed caf.

Fearing for your ability to carry all of this food, you recruit one of the maids just to help you carry everything up to your chambers, and thank her for her excellent help before dismissing her and pushing through the doors.

Much to your delight Boba is still asleep when you come in. So you have time to set the table with the hot cakes and caf before climbing back onto the bed to kiss him awake. When he’s roused enough, he returns your kisses and mumbles out a good morning.

“Made you breakfast,” you nip at his cheek “and hot caf”

“Hmm, you made it?” He asks, sitting up a bit to glance over your shoulder at the table, laid out with breakfast as promised.

“Mhm, woke up a bit early, decided I wanted to spoil you my love,” you tug at his arm, pulling him with you to get out of bed. He indulges you, sitting at the table and accepting the plate full of hot cakes and more importantly the steaming up of caf.

Over breakfast you recount the events of last night, about the guards alerting you to the intrusion, the alarm on his ship, and Din hailing over the coms.

“Hmm, did he hail twice?” Boba asks draining his mug of caf

“No, just the one as far as I know” you reply, using your finger to collect a drop of sweet syrup from the hot cakes and licking it off.

“Then it’s not an emergency. Would you mind returning the com after we’re finished here? I’ll see to the intruder,” he places his plate back on the tray and reaches for the bowl of fruit. You’ve just about finished your breakfast and stack your plate as well.

“Of course darling,” you answer, kissing his head as you pass behind him to pick out something to wear for the day.

“Which guards should I see about the intruder?” He asks abandoning the fruit bowl in favor of following you to get himself ready as well.

“Oh, sorry my love, I’ve been sworn to secrecy on that matter,” you throw him a teasing look as you hold up one of your more comfortable day dresses, while he begins putting on his own robes for the day. You glance in the full length mirror, deciding that this was indeed what you wanted to wear today.

This pulls him up short, and he gives you a quizzical look. There are no secrets between the two of you, at least, not like this.

“Keeping secrets from the King of Tatootine my lady? That’s a dangerous game to play,” he’s only half dressed himself but he stops to watch you undress, and struggle with the front fastenings on your day dress.

“I’m well aware, my love but nevertheless, I gave them my word. Just go down to the dungeon and ask the guards on duty to see the one and only prisoner we currently have,” you walk towards him, and throw up your hands begging for his help to secure the ties. He didn’t expect you to hold firm on your secret, he honestly thought you’d been joking the first time.

He takes the ties and knots them properly with his surprisingly nimble fingers “Cyare, why can’t you tell me?”

“They asked me very specifically not to tell you,” you shrug. His hands still over your hips when he’s finished, holding you in place.

“Why?”

You laugh placing your hands over his and removing them gently, so he can get ready too “My darling, even your staff are intimidated by you. The pair of them were absolutely terrified you’d tear their limbs off and feed them to the rankor if you found out they entered our chambers,”

“I pay them to alert me to security breaches!” He grumbles pulling on his tunic, and beginning to secure his armor in place with your assistance.

“That’s what I told them. Promised them you wouldn’t be angry. They wouldn’t hear it, practically begged me on their knees to keep quiet about it,” you shake your head, securing his vambrace on.

“Better to be feared than loved,” he gripes, you lean up on your tiptoes and kiss his cheek.

“Hmmm... lucky you are both feared and loved,” you smile sweetly. He grins, catching your chin between his fingers and tilting your head to kiss your lips. Tasting the remains of the sweet syrup you’d spread over your hot cakes.

Later while Boba is seeing people on business, you take the time to sit down and hail Din over the coms. He answers after a minute or so of waiting and switches on the hologram function. A massive black eye comes into the viewfinder.

“Too close ad’ika,” Din pulls Grogu away from the camera, and places him in his lap as he sits down. Grogu waves, seeing your face on his end of the screen.

You wave back and smile brightly, “Hello my little green bean!” You coo

“Sorry about last night,” Din says sheepishly “Forgot about the daylight difference between Tatooine and Mandalore. I hope I didn’t wake you guys up or anything,”

You wave him off good naturedly. “Oh don’t worry about that. I was just worried something was wrong,” you say, lightly prompting him to explain the reason for his late night call.

“Nothing is wrong, really. I just have a couple things I need to talk to Fett about. And I was hoping to bring Grogu for a visit in a couple rotations,” he admits

“Absolutely! I’ll have to check with the big man, but I’m quite sure none of his appointments for the next couple days are urgent enough to take president over a visit from the Mand’alor,” you joke

“Well let me know if he says otherwise, but we’ll be there in two days time,” Din tells you, taking Grogu’s little hand and manually waving it at you.

“Will do. Bye baby! I’ll see you soon,” you give Grogu a little wave before shutting off the com.

Boba has no objection to Din and Grogu coming for a visit, and he delights in your enthusiasm to spend time (and spoil) your nephew. And in two days' time, they arrive on Tatooine as promised.

Immediately you confiscate Grogu from Din, and whisk him away to play and explore the palace, leaving Boba and Din to talk business and catch up.

The second day of their visit you ask Din if he would mind if you took Grogu out of the palace and down into the city for a day of shopping and fresh air. Din doesn’t seem to mind, trusting you wholeheartedly. But Boba insists you take guards for your safety as well as Grogu’s. It’s a small measure to ask and not an unfounded request given the type of people that still hang around Mos Eisley, so you accept his request.

“Why did it have to be us?” Tems moans as Rhys starts up the land speeder.

“You’re not even a little excited? The Lady chose us herself! That means she likes us!” Rhys says “Plus we get to drive the boss’s speeder. Tell me you aren’t at least a little excited about that,”

Tems actually is kind of excited, it’s a really nice speeder. But it does not outshine how nervous he is at the thought of being responsible for the safety of not only Boba Fett’s feisty, headstrong little queen, but also the son of The Mand’alor.

“We just have to be careful Rhys. The safety of the Lady and the child is way more important than a cool speeder,” Tems says sliding into the passenger seat. Rhys brings the speeder around to the front to the palace.

“I know that,” Rhys snips at him, coming to a stop at the palace door where you wait with Boba. Tems gets out of the speeder and holds the door open for you. You quickly press your forehead against Boba’s helmet and slide into the speeder, holding Grogu close in a wrapped silk scarf against your chest.

Tems gets back in the passenger seat, and the speeder pulls away from the palace. The trip down into the city doesn’t take very long, and thank goodness for that because Rhys is having a hard time holding his tongue. He wants to ask you a thousand questions. Instead he places all of his focus on driving carefully, listening to you softly speak to the child.

Upon arriving, Tems gets out and opens the door for you again. Tems and Rhys follow behind you at a respectful distance as you Grogu to various stalls and booths at the open air market. Making pleasant conversation with the merchants, buying Grogu snacks and little gifts he shows interest in, splurging on a few items for yourself as well.

As the afternoon goes on, Tems notices more eyes than usual trained on you as you walk from stall to stall. Eyes with ill intent. Something feels wrong, and it’s not just his anxiety. He nudges Rhys and gives him a look. He senses it too, all semblance of the distractible and energetic man he’s used to attempting to corral is gone. Replaced by a headset face, and a firm hand on his blaster.

“My lady,” Rhys addresses you directly. You’re in the middle chatting with a merchant over a purchase, you turn and smile at your guard.

“Yes?”

“My lady, we need to-” he doesn’t have a chance to finish his statement. A shrill cry of a man jumping out from behind a booth wall brandishing a vibroblade towards you cuts him off. Rhys pushes you down, shielding your body with his. While Tems tackles the man to the ground.

You don’t see the exchange, Rhys makes sure of that. He drags you off the floor behind the counter with the shopkeeper, who is cowering in fear. Grogu is whimpering and clinging to the front of your tunic, you hold him securely and try to murmur comforting words to him. You take great care to cover his massive ears, the sounds of your assailant and bodyguard fighting one another fill the tiny stall.

Onlookers in the market either flee screaming, or crowd in to watch. Rhys placed himself between you and fighting. Finally the sounds of the fighting stop, there is nothing besides Grogu’s sobs and the heavy breathing of the victor of the fight.

Rhys gives your shoulder a gentle shake. You look up at him and find his face comforting but stern. “I’m sorry my lady, but we must get you back to the palace,” he takes your arm and pulls you off the ground “now”

Rhys draws his blaster keeping it ready in case it’s needed. You look to see Tems standing at the entrance to the merchant stall, splattered in blood and shouting for the crowd to get back.

“Watch your step, my lady,” Rhys says, tugging you away from the body of your would-be attacker. You draw Grogu in a little closer, and make a point to step around the body.

The pair of them hustle you out of the market, shouting for people to get out of the way and making a show aiming their blasters at anyone that dared get too close.

The speeder trip back to the palace does not take long, Tems looks back on you and asks if you’re injured. You shake your head, and continue trying to comfort Grogu, who’s no longer crying but whimpering pitifully and unwilling to be detached from you in any way.

When the speeder pulls up to the palace both guards disembark and escort you down into the throne room, regardless of whatever business is transpiring down there. The guards on duty seem to realize you will not be kept from the throne room when they see you dirtied and disheveled, escorted by equally disheveled and bloodied guards; they let you pass without question.

The throne room has more than a few guests discussing trade and wage with Boba and Din, with Fennec providing on site security. At the sound of your foot steps descending the stairs, Boba looks up and takes in your frightful appearance.

“Get out, all of you,” Boba’s voice is sharp and clear. The other occupants of the room seem to hesitate, also caught up in the shock of seeing the queen looking so battered.

“That wasn’t a suggestion, leave” Fennec bashes the hilt of her blaster into the duracreet, making a resounding noise that jolts Boba’s guests out of their stupor. They all scramble to disperse, exiting the throne room as quickly as possible.

You quickly move deeper into the throne room, and extend Grogu to Din who’s approaching you anxiously with Boba at his heels. Grogu goes to his fathers arms without complaint and seems to settle almost immediately once he’s placed against Din’s shoulder.

“Take care of your son,” Boba says as carefully as he can manage. Din only nods and disappears down another hallway leading to guest rooms. Boba’s hand jute out, grabbing your chin and tilting your face from side to side checking you for wounds physical or otherwise. Your hand closes over his wrist, and you give him a squeeze and a nod. “Come cyare,” he whispers to you, leading you away from the throne room.

Tems and Rhys have been standing at attention the entire duration of this exchange. When you and Boba leave, they relax slightly. Rhys is ready to bolt, Tems is ready to wretch. But Fennec keeps them rooted on the spot.

“He will be back,” she says “and he’s going to want answers that are clear and to the point. Do you understand?”

They nod.

In your chambers Boba rips off his helmet and frantically checks you again for injuries. Needing to see with his own eyes. You assure him up and down that you’re perfectly fine thanks to your guards.

“What happened cyare?” He asks, holding you close despite your dusty clothes tainting his clean ones. You recount the story to the best of your ability, but you admit he would probably get more useful information from your guards.

“They saved my life,” you say honestly “and Grogu’s too. They’re good men, and they deserve our gratitude,”

Boba draws you in closer still and rests his head on top of yours. He’s reluctant to even let you out of his embrace, but you pull away.

“Go speak to them my love. I’m safe in these walls. I promise you, I won’t leave our chambers until you come back,” you tell him, cradling his handsome face in your hands. It bothers him how unphased you seem to be, though he knows you rather well, and can recognize that this will be something you process and need help with later on.

Eventually Boba does leave you so you can run a bath and get yourself cleaned up, and he can go get the full story from your guards. Fennec has perched herself on a high stool that sits behind Boba’s throne. A vantage point for her to survey the room. Meanwhile Tems and Rhys have been wringing their hands and coming down from their adrenaline highs.

“We saved the lady,” Rhys mumbled under his breath, excited once more but teeming with nerves. This is worse than the other night, when your eyes pierced his soul and scared the daylight out of him.

“We almost got Lady and the Mand’alor’s son killed in one afternoon” Tems couldn’t help his pacing back and forth across the sandy floor. His clothes were hot and sticky covered in the blood of the man he had killed. And he would gladly do it again for the good queen.

Boba’s presence reappearing in the throne room reignited both Tems and Rhys anxiety and adrenaline responses. But they stood at attention and awaited their fate with knocking knees and chattering teeth.

Boba surveyed the two men. Both strong capable young men, though one had definitely worked here longer. Something seemed familiar about these two, something Boba couldn’t place, though he had a suspicion there was a reason his wife had chosen these two particular guards to escort her down to the market.

Boba sits heavily on his throne, clears his throat and beckons them forward.

“You’ve defended my palace, protected my beloved wife and nephew, and served me well. You both have my gratitude and my respect. Any reward you desire, name it and it’s yours” Boba says “All I ask of you now it the truth. Tell me what happened today,”

At first neither man speaks. Tems finally breaks the silence, but can not find it himself to look Boba in the eye.

“In the market today. I noticed a man following us. He went into a secluded market stall carrying wares the lady seemed interested in. He tried to attack the lady with a vibroblade. I killed this man,” Tems says “It’s been a long time since Tatooine was ruled by a fair and just hand, my Lord. I have lived here since the Hutts ruled the Dune Sea and promoted the slave trade. I am honored to serve you and your worthy cause my lord. I ask for no other reward”

Boba nods, and casts his gaze over to the younger man.

“If I may sir. I took your wife and nephew to safety while my partner dispatched the attacker. I would have willingly given my life to save theirs,” Rhys bows his head in respect, but looks up again to ask his favor “If you are willing to offer a reward for what happened today, I only have one request. I have a younger sister, Talece. She’s smart and responsible, but struggles to find work due to her inability to speak. I humbly ask for her to have a place in your palace. She can cook, clean, serve in whatever way you ask of her, my lord”

Tems shifts his eyes over to his friend. He didn’t know Rhys had a mute sister, or a sister at all. He’d have to ask about it later.

“I’m sure my wife can find use for another maid, bring her tomorrow. If the lady of the house has a need for her, then she is welcome to stay,” Boba nods. He looks back to Tems but addresses them both “Your service and dedication today will not be forgotten. But for now, you are both dismissed and relieved of your duties for the rest of today,”

Tems and Rhys bow low and thank Boba Fett for his generosity, before scurrying away to get clean and unwind from this whole ordeal.

Boba dismisses Fennec as well and tells her to cancel all of his remaining appointments for the rest of the day. He goes back to you in your chambers to find you clean, wrapped in a dressing gown and drying your hair while sitting on the bed.

He removes his armor at record breaking speed, and climbs onto the bed pulling you down with him regardless of your wet hair.

“I suspect I’ve discovered which of the guards came into our room the other night,” he says, stroking your arm. You nod, there’s no point in lying to him about it if he’s already figured it out.

“I like them,” you say “They’re good guards, and good men,”

“The younger one. He’s got a sister, asked me to give her a job,” he tells you

“And?”

“And you’ve got a new handmaiden if you’d like. If not she can join the kitchen staff,” he continues stroking your arm. At this you pull away from him a bit and prop yourself up on his chest to stare down at him. Meeting his deliciously dark eyes.

“For all the fear you strike in the hearts of others, you do seem to have a tender heart underneath your glare and beskar,” you tease him, dropping your head down to kiss his lips

[soft-din]

i’ve been the archer (i’ve been the prey)

summary: You have been traveling with the Mandalorian for a while, and one day you notice something that will change the course of your relationship forever.

pairing: Din Djarin x reader

warnings: None that I can think of! It’s just a fluffy soulmate AU.

word count: 1.9k

ao3 | masterlist

You had been traveling with the Mandalorian for a while now. It sometimes seemed like it had been forever since you had been alone without the elusive warrior and his little green son at your side. As you sat in the cockpit of the Razor Crest and watched Mando pilot his ship to some new destination, you couldn’t help but admire him. You had to admit that after some time of this lifestyle - going system to system as Mando hunted his bounties and you helped with his child - you had come to care for the man in beskar in a way that transcended partnership or friendship. But in a world where one’s soulmate was dictated by a tattoo on their body that the person meant for them shared, it was difficult to start a relationship, especially without knowing who they themselves were destined for. You sighed a little, adjusting the small child in your lap and catching a glimpse of the hand where your own special tattoo was. It was in the shape of a target, and placed in between your thumb and forefinger.

You were taken out of your thoughts by the piloting Mandalorian. “We’re gonna touch down for repairs soon. Nothing major this time; I should be able to take care of it.”

“Okay,” you replied. “Where are we stopping?”

“Nevarro.”

Upon hearing this information, your mind immediately recalled the day you and Mando had met, which was on the very same planet. You allowed yourself to fall into the memories.

*****

It had been a spring afternoon, the weather nice if a bit warm. You worked at a cantina on Nevarro, serving customers and trying to keep your head down. Even though you were new there, you knew it was a shady joint, frequented by ruthless bounty hunters looking for their next job. But sometimes, a person has to do what they have to do to get money, and this was as good a place as any for that. That fateful day, the Mandalorian walked into the cantina, and once you got over the shock of seeing a real life Mandalorian, full armor and all, you were charmed by the small companion with him.

He sat down next to a man who you had often seen here, giving the hunters their work. You had heard him be referred to as Greef Karga, who then called you over to take his order. When you did so, you couldn’t help but smile at the sight of the green baby in the pram next to the table.

“Is he yours?” you asked the Mandalorian, being friendly purely on instinct and not thinking about how he would react.

The man had nodded after a moment of silence. “Yeah, he is. A foundling.”

“How sweet,” you said, putting two fingers into the floating pram to gently pet the child’s head. “What’s his name?”

“Grogu.”

“Hi Grogu,” you cooed.

Karga then cleared his throat, interrupting your baby talk. “So, to business. Long time no see, Mando.”

You took that as your cue to leave, your face flushing slightly in embarrassment as you walked back to the bar you were supposed to be working at. Even after the adorable child and his Mandalorian father had left the cantina, you couldn’t help but smile at how cute Grogu had been.

A few hours later, you were just about to start wrapping up your shift when the Mandalorian came back. This time, however, he didn’t sit down to talk with Karga, who had also gone by now. He approached you instead, the child still with him. 

“How can I help you?” you asked curiously as you wiped down the counter in front of you.

“Are you good with kids?” he said, answering with a question of his own. 

You were a bit taken aback, but responded easily nonetheless. “Yes, I think so. I’ve always had a connection to the little ones. Why do you ask?”

“Well, I’ve been looking for another crew member. Someone to help take care of Grogu. I can’t always take him with me when I go hunting.”

Was he asking you to join him? To essentially be a live-in babysitter? You considered the offer. You really had nothing to lose, and his son was absolutely precious. Looking back, you couldn’t have stopped your next words from leaving your mouth even if you’d tried. 

“I’m in.”

*****

That had been months ago, and now you were in deeper than you ever expected to be. The Mandalorian could often be cold and quiet, but over time he had started showing you a softer side of himself, a side that he usually only reserved for Grogu. He would check on you every night without fail before he went to bed, just to make sure you were okay. There were times when you would swear that his helmet had been looking in your direction before you turned to see and he looked back again. It was this part of him that made you glad that you had accepted his offer, and it was this part of him that made you realize that you cared for him - maybe even more than you knew.

Now that you were touched down on Nevarro for repairs, you scooped up the child and stood. “I’m gonna go stretch my legs for a while,” you told Mando. “I can take the kid with me, and I’ll be back soon.”

He nodded in your direction and you set off, happy to be distracted from your thoughts and breathing in the fresh air. Before you left, you saw the Mandalorian begin on his repairs outside the ship, trying to see what was wrong with it this time. You smiled a secret smile at the sight.

After you finished your walk, you returned to the Crest, holding Grogu and still grinning. But when you approached the vessel, you saw a sight that you never expected to see.

Mando was still working on the ship, but his gloves were off, presumably to allow him to work easier. It was the most exposed skin you had ever seen from him, and you couldn’t help but admire them a little before realizing something. He had a tattoo.

It was in the shape of a target, and placed in between his thumb and forefinger.

Oh. Oh. This meant something that you had admittedly considered, but never really thought could be a reality: the Mandalorian was your soulmate. Though you liked to think you knew him pretty well after all your time traveling together, there was still so much to learn. Not for the first time, you wondered what he looked like when he rolled his eyes or smiled or any other number of expressions. And now, the day that you would find those things out suddenly seemed closer than ever. Taking yourself out of your thoughts, you decided to wait til Mando was done repairing the Crest before saying anything. But then what would you say? That thought echoed in your mind as you finished walking up the ramp of the Crest, still holding the kid.

You and Grogu entered the cockpit, and you sat down with him. “Okay, little one,” you said, chatting to him as you always did. “When your buir gets back inside, I’m gonna tell him what I saw. I don’t know what he’ll say, but I’m sure it’ll end up fine,” you said, not sure if you were convincing him or yourself. He cooed up at you, as if he could understand what you were saying.

After several more minutes of this, you decided to lay the womp rat down for a nap as he had started to look sleepy. Once you returned to the cockpit alone you sat down and laid back in your chair, intending to relax and calm your thoughts before the Mandalorian came back. It wasn’t long before he did, joining you in the pit.

“The ship’s fixed well enough,” he said, the sound of his voice causing your heartbeat sped up even more than usual. “It should get the job done, for a while at least.”

You nodded, sitting up straighter in your chair. “Great. The kid’s taking a nap right now; he was getting tired.”

“Okay.”

Taking a deep breath, you realized now was as good a time as any to try to tell him what you had seen. “Hey Mando?”

“Hmm?” he hummed in reply, making his way to the pilot chair.

“I, um, need to talk to you. When I came back from my walk with Grogu, I...well, I saw something. Something you need to know about.”

The Mandalorian’s footsteps halted. “What was it?”

Just spit it out, you thought to yourself. “I...I saw your hands. You had taken the gloves off to work. And...I saw your soulmate tattoo.”

Mando let out a breath, the sound echoing through the modulator of his helmet. “Is that all? You don’t need to worry about that, people see each other’s tats all the time…”

“But it was the same as mine.”

That caused the Mandalorian to reconsider what you had just said completely. If it was the same as yours, then that could only mean one thing. And even the idea of that one thing caused him to feel something in his chest that he wasn’t used to feeling. It was a pleasant sensation, one that, in recent times, he had only ever really felt for the kid, and you as well. He always assumed it didn’t mean anything, that it just meant he cared about you, but hearing you admit what you had seen made the feeling blossom in him as if it were an explosion.

After hearing nothing but silence for a few moments, you spoke again. “I think we’re soulmates, Mando. As crazy as it may seem, our tattoos are the same. We’re...tied to each other, in a way. Maybe you inviting me on your crew was the universe’s way of getting us together.”

The Mandalorian turned to face you completely. “You...you don’t have to call me Mando. It’s Din. You should know that.”

Hearing this information caused something to stir inside you, as if the stars themselves were aligning. “Is that your name?”

“Yes. My name is Din Djairn.”

The name sounded as sweet as honey coming from his rich voice, and you smiled widely. “That’s a nice name. It fits you.” Din chuckled, which caused your smile to grow even larger. You then showed him your hand, specifically the target shaped ink there. “See how they’re the same? I always wondered why mine looked like this; it never really felt like me, you know? But it all makes sense now, knowing that my soulmate is a Mandalorian,” you said, letting out a soft laugh. 

Din observed your hand for a moment before taking off his own gloves, pulling them off his fingers delicately and revealing his own tattoo. “You’re right. They are the same.” He then instinctively reached out with his bare hand to grab yours, and when he did so the sensation was unlike anything you had ever felt before. It was if every missing puzzle piece in the galaxy had suddenly connected at the same time, and the person that would help you reconnect them once they fell apart again was right in front of you.

“Nice to meet you, Din Djarin,” you said, grinning and enjoying the way the name felt on your tongue. The mysterious man in front of you was suddenly so much more than your traveling partner. Now you knew that he was your soulmate, and you finally knew his name. The universe worked in strange ways, but you wouldn’t have it any other way as you sat there in the cockpit of the Razor Crest and looked forward to all the experiences you would have with Din in the future.

It was an adventure you were looking forward to more than anything.