#like that is VERY much what would've happened if there had been another option. like writing that was just 'no one here Wanted this'

[internetskiff]

Breen's unfortunately pretty underrated amongst the Valve antagonists, which I suppose is understandable compared to the likes of GLaDOS or The Administrator, but just like those two I feel like there's plenty of things to talk about when it comes to him. He seems like a very conflicted character, especially if you take into account the BreenGrub account and Laidlaw's Epistle 3. First of all is, of course, the leadup to the Black Mesa incident, with the G-Man seemingly making an offer to Breen which seemingly involved overloading the Anti-Mass Spectrometer while processing an extremely pure sample of Xen Crystal - and yes, while it's pretty obvious that the order to overload the systems was very intentional and motivated by whatever deal they struck, I believe that when it comes to the aftermath he may have been sold on a lie. Considering his actions as Administrator of Earth being entirely in the interests of keeping Humanity from feeling the full force of the Combine, I don't think "Becoming the de facto leader of all of Earth" was on his agenda. Perhaps G-Man promised that whatever their deal would entail would bring about a prosperous future for humanity, perhaps all he promised was the possibility of establishing contact with another sentient species (which is something he technically did provide), or perhaps it was something else - there's simply way too much room for speculation there, I think.

A little detail from a HL:A newspaper implies that his position as Earth's administrator wasn't exactly handed to him on a silver platter, instead he had to go out of his way to reach out to the governments with information on how to communicate with the invaders, at which point, already beaten down by Combine forces, they simply gave him the all-clear to speak for all of mankind. This still begs the question of who, or what, gave him the knowledge of how to speak with them - however, it's safe to say if they didn't, Earth would've been left a smoldering pile of rocks and withered carcasses. Once again, he acts with Humanity's best interests in mind, having to choose between the lesser of two evils - it's either enslavement or extinction. He simply chose the option in which Humanity would survive, even if just for a little while longer.

And ever since, we're watching the aftermath. He's trying to talk the last generation of Humanity down, so they may either pass of old age or be absorbed into the Combine - at least if that happens, something gets preserved. Once again, the alternative? They'll just wipe the slate once they get the local teleportation technology they desire. Breen sees no other way than to go along with their demands. He's eventually proven wrong, of course, but he refuses to see the Rebellion as anything but a suicidal march towards the extinction of the human race, and he sticks to that belief up until he is killed by Gordon at the tip of the Citadel. Of course, this doesn't make him a good person. Not at all. This belief has lead him to seek out and destroy anyone who tries to resist. He shows no sympathy to them. He paints them as fools. He himself believes it so. This intense hatred for anyone who resists is seen perfectly in how he treats the Vance family. He views them as fools. As narrow-minded rabble in the streets, senselessly struggling against a tide beyond their comprehension. He's willing to send off a father and his daughter into a world far beyond simply to use them as a bargaining chip. Listening to the two comfort eachother as they're almost raised up to a fate surely worse than death, the only expression on his face is that of pure contempt and annoyance. He's a very fascinating character that I wish Valve would explore again if they ever do another Half Life set during a time period in which he was still alive. He's a coward that easily bends to the oppressor, yet in the end he only does it to make sure something survives. He's cruel to those who resist because he's completely convinced they're going to get everyone killed. He is the Combine's perfect puppet.

haha anyhoo so why was he straight up serving on the magazine covers in HL:A like what was up with all that

[s-brant]

Anything

Now that the council has been made aware of rumors regarding Anakin and his apprentice’s relationship, they’re put under the microscope of a careful investigation and must avoid rousing suspicion at any cost (or part three to teacher’s pet)

9k (18+)

Warnings: smut, p in v, somnophilia, dub-con due to the circumstance but they’re both very into it, choking, dom anakin, inappropriate relationships, unhealthy attachment issues, and strong language.

-

The ceremony itself was a quick, intimate affair.

How they pulled it off, neither of them knows, but they set their sights on a planet far away. Where nobody knew them personally or could know they were Jedi without their lightsabers visible. It wasn't a wedding most would've been satisfied with, but they were. It didn't matter that everyone they cared for couldn't know about it, nor did it matter to her that they couldn't exchange rings. What mattered was the fact that it was happening.

Dantooine ended up being the best option for them. On Naboo, he could be recognized by those who met him years ago when he was ordered to guard Padme's life, Coruscant was out of the realm of possibility for obvious reasons, and as easy as it would've been for them to go undetected in Tatooine, Anakin made it clear he had no fondness for his home planet and suggested Dantooine instead.

Using clothes they had from a mission in which they had to pretend not to be Jedi a year or so ago, they concealed their identities and traveled as quickly as they could. And though she tried to refuse given the fact that they didn't have credits of their own, a lovely older woman working for the man who married them insisted Y/N wear the wedding gown that was passed through her family for generations. In the short time they spent with these people, they learned that her daughter passed away long ago, and though the old woman had no living children, she hung onto the dress since it was the one she wore at her wedding.

When asked about their lives, it was surprising how quickly the lies spilled out of them. It was mostly her speaking while Anakin stood beside her, delighting in the way he could touch her and stand near to her without having to fear being caught there. She spun a tale of forbidden love, of her father promising her to another man and her running off with Anakin for the sake of true love, so it wasn't too far from the truth.

"Are you listening?"

The sound of Anakin's voice snaps her out of her memory-induced daze.

They are tucked away in a corner of the library where no one can see or hear them, leaning against the shelves and standing face to face. He asked her to meet him here before he was needed in an emergency council meeting that Obi-Wan warned him of ahead of time. It was supposed to be a surprise. It was supposed to catch Anakin off guard, but his old master couldn't help himself. There would always be a part of him that looked out for Anakin the way an older brother would. The reason for the meeting, he said, had to do with a troubling slew of rumors regarding him and his padawan.

"I'm sorry, I"—she shakes her head as though it'll do anything to clear her thoughts—"I don't understand. Rumors?"

Anakin's eyes move to look past her shoulder, scanning the room both manually and with the Force to ensure nobody has approached the area before focusing back on her. He steps in closer and says what comes next quietly.

"Obi-Wan didn't tell me what the rumors were specifically, but his meaning was clear. Someone knows about it...about us."

Much like it does whenever Anakin takes her out flying with him at the helm of the ship, her stomach drops at this. Before she can even think of what to say, she's already shaking her head in disbelief.

She mutters, "That can't be true. Nobody has even suspected us, let alone caught us."

He has to fight the urge to reach out to comfort her. His hand flexes at his side as he forces himself not to cup her face in it the way he knows soothes her when they're alone together. It's too risky, especially now after Obi-Wan's warning. All he can do is meet her gaze and offer her a phantom touch through the Force. She feels the presence of an invisible hand brushing her cheek and breathes more evenly in response to it.

"You're right, nobody has caught us. We've made sure of that. But someone does suspect us. I don't know how or why, but they do, and with a claim like that, the council has to take it seriously regardless of where it came from or a lack of evidence," Anakin explains. His expression hardens the more he continues to talk about it. "This is a very big deal, Y/N. If they discover the truth—"

She is quick to interrupt him.

"They won't."

There's a long pause after this, and she takes it as her chance to breech the distance between them.

The feeling of the soft pads of her fingertips touching his arm makes him take a step back at first in retreat, but she doesn't allow him to stray far. With one last look over her shoulder, she moves in close to him and throws her arms around his broad shoulders in an embrace. A kiss would be too daring, but a hug doesn't necessarily prove anything. They've hugged before, albeit after near death experiences during the war, so it could be overlooked again. It isn't the smartest move, but it's necessary. Because as soon as their bodies meet, he lets out a heavy sigh.

As relieving as it is, she's quick to pull away after a moment has passed. Her arms remain locked around his shoulders to keep him close, and the arms wrapped around her waist squeeze tighter as though she'll disappear the second he loosens his hold on her.

Those pretty eyes, a more vibrant blue than the oceans on Scarif, darken the longer he looks down at her.

"I meant what I said before," he says softly, calmly. "Nothing will take you from me."

She remembers that day so clearly. He said it with such conviction despite it only being their second time indulging in intimacy together, and she knew he meant it. It was clear in the way he looked at her as he said it, but it's different now. Now, the implication behind it is laced with something predatory and possessive, not a soft-spoken promise in the aftermath of tender lovemaking but rather a threat and promise tied together with a steely-eyed stare.

Her fingertips play with the sandy brown curls at the back of his neck as she nods and murmurs, "I know."

-

Y/N isn't sure why she hadn't anticipated her presence being requested in the council meeting regarding the rumors of her and Anakin's relationship. Now that she sits in front of all the Jedi masters who make up the council, she can't believe she'd been naive enough to think they would only question her master on the subject and leave her be.

They left the library five minutes apart. First, it was Anakin who left and walked out with a book to make his sudden appearance in the area make sense, then it was her. She counted out the seconds until she was safe to leave. They typically didn't need to take such precautions to avoid rousing suspicion. They had the perfect excuse to spend time together, after all, with him being her master and she his padawan. But now that the nature of their relationship has been put loudly to question, they were better off being safe.

The sun is setting in the distance through the windows of the room, casting everyone in a warm, orange-red light, and she chooses to focus on the beauty of that sunset rather than the nerves that tie her stomach into knots. They've hardly begun, but what has been said is already damning in and of itself.

"This is ridiculous," Anakin says with a straight face, although he is unable to keep the annoyance from shining through in his tone. "Ask everyone we've worked with and they'll tell you that Y/N and I have always maintained a professional working relationship. I care about her as my apprentice the same way Obi-Wan cared for me as his."

Obi-Wan's eyes flutter shut, and a deep sigh escapes from him as he leans back in his chair before opening them again. When they open, it's Anakin they're looking at.

"You forget your place in this meeting. Allow Master Windu to finish speaking, young one."

The inherent condescension present in the choice of words makes Anakin's chest muscles tighten up involuntarily. There are few things that make him as angry as being treated like a child despite being a Jedi Knight with an apprentice and missions of his own. But, he knew deep down, that would always be how Obi-Wan saw him, and he resents him for it underneath it all. In a way, he would always be the reckless and tempestuous boy they discovered on Tatooine all those years ago.

Hidden behind the overflowing fabric of his robes, his hand clenches into a fist with enough force that his fingernails nearly break the skin of his palm.

He has no choice but to keep quiet.

Master Windu watches the interaction carefully, as do the rest of the council, and waits for him to break. He waits for there to be a crack in the facade, for him to look over at her and reveal it all, but he doesn't break.

"As I was saying," he starts, shifting a bit in his seat to look at where she's sat across the room from Anakin, "we got an anonymous report yesterday, but, to be candid, these rumors did not start yesterday. They've existed for a few weeks now, but none of us would've insulted either of you by entertaining them. Not until now."

Her throat is dry, a lump forming at the very back of it, when she asks, "What exactly were we accused of?"

The way she says it is soft and calm, as she always forces herself to be in the presence of her superiors, but Anakin knows her. He can sense the rage bubbling beneath the surface of her skin that begs to be let out, and he's sure the others can too, but they won't mistake it for anything other than anger at whoever accused them. Still, she is told by Master Yoda to calm herself down before they proceed, so she tries her best.

A second passes, then Obi-Wan says as tactfully as possible, "Allegedly, the person who reported this witnessed inappropriate behavior between the two of you outside of the temple recently. At night. We have footage to prove you were, in fact, where they said you were, but none to prove this accusation of inappropriate behavior."

The news settles like a heavy weight in her gut, dragging her down and down until she has no hope of climbing out of this hole they've dug themselves in. They were always careful when they left the temple. Anakin had a keen awareness of where the surveillance cameras were as well as their blind spots, so she knows straight away that the footage they have is nothing more than them walking beside one another.

As if on cue, the footage is projected in the middle of the room.

"None of us are saying we believe these accusations without proof, but the existence of them is concerning nonetheless," Windu says. "Why did you allow your padawan outside of the Temple so late?"

Anakin stammers a little at first, the only sign of his true feelings thus far, before pulling himself together. He holds his head high as he always does and doesn't balk from the intense eye contact with Master Windu.

"It was just a walk. I couldn't sleep, so I planned to go on a walk myself when I ran into her."

"So, you had no reason relating to your duty to be escorting your apprentice into the city at night?"

The retort is fired back at him so quickly, he hardly has the chance to take another breath before opening his mouth to defend himself again. His palm stings from how hard he digs his nails into his skin as he begins to lose his composure little by little.

"Well, not exactly—"

"So, you decided to go for a walk?"

Before Anakin has the chance to respond, Y/N cuts in.

"It was my fault," she says, diverting everyone's attention away from the growing storm behind Anakin's eyes. "He was already outside of the Temple when he spotted me, and when he told me to go back inside, I refused. He stayed with me because he knew I was going to go out by myself if he didn't and wanted to make sure I was safe."

And while it's a perfect defense in comparison to them admitting the truth, it makes Anakin cringe internally all the same because it makes him look weak. It makes him appear as though he has no control over his padawan. Just another reason to deny him the rank of master, he supposes. Another to add to the list of reasons why he's a problem to them.

This admission, still halfway true, causes everyone to pause for a second.

Then, Master Windu sets his attention solely on her, and she knows that what's coming next will not be worded as carefully as what Obi-Wan said. It's never been in Windu's nature to be anything other than honest and straightforward. He has always treated them with respect, but he doesn't harbor the same fondness for them that Obi-Wan does.

"I have to ask you directly, for the sake of addressing the severity of the situation, has Anakin ever acted inappropriately with you?"

She stumbles for a second, drawing out the time between when he asks and when she responds, but it's deliberate. If they're going to accuse her of it, she will make them say it and stew in the discomfort caused by it. Let them be tortured just as equally as she is by this.

":..Meaning?" she questions.

The bluntness with which he speaks next knocks the wind from her chest.

"Has Anakin ever tried to instigate a romantic relationship with you?" he asks it with a stony, unbreakable expression, abandoning any attempts at sugarcoating it. "The report itself said he was kissing you"—the discomfort of everyone else is palpable in the air—"and...touching you. They alleged that it happened in a dark area, so they didn't recognize you were Jedi until they came closer. As your master, if this rumor were true, it would be an abuse of his power. To take advantage of a padawan..." He trails off into silence for a second before taking a deep breath to steady himself. "He could never be trusted again."

She doesn't even dare to chance a glance over at where Anakin sits with his face hardened into a mask of neutrality, refusing to give them anything to use against him.

Obi-Wan, in a much gentler way, says, "I know you both well, so believe me when I say I don't believe this to be true, but we must take these accusations seriously. Not only would it be an abuse of power, but forming such attachments is not the Jedi way."

This time, she scans her eyes across the room as though she's looking for all of their reactions, but all she's truly looking for is him. And the small glimpse she gets of him makes her heart ache. He is completely shutting down. His eyes are fixed ahead of him at the middle of the floor, refusing to stray and meet hers. It's all he can do to keep himself under control.

Windu then says again, "Y/N, I need your honest answer. It needs to be shown on record that you both deny these claims."

Without missing a beat, she speaks.

"He has been nothing but respectful and supportive," she says. Instead of looking at it as a lie, she frames it as a performance. She imagines herself as a character on the stage of a theater and plays the part. "Yes, I messed up by sneaking out of the temple, but Anakin never touched me."

In the back of her mind, she sees flashes of their memories together one after the next. His lips smeared against hers, his prosthetic hand clamped around her throat, and his flesh hand slipping beneath the waistband of her pants to feel how wet she got for him. But she fights to keep it under control, to keep the others out of her head as he taught her to.

"So, to answer your question, directly, honestly, and on the record, no. He didn't do anything he was accused of."

For the first time since they've been dragged in here, the members of the council have nothing to throw at them. Without their confession, they have nothing, and she would sooner leave the order than give him up.

Almost in response to this, Anakin looks up from the floor to find her glancing at him. It lasts a mere second, but it strengthens his resolve all the same it reminds him what's at stake.

"Anakin?"

The sound of Master Windu's voice brings his attention away from her. A few seconds pass before he realizes what they're waiting for.

"No. I've never done anything of which I've been accused."

The silence that follows is tense.

Neither of them knows what to do with themselves in the next few moments or so as the council discusses their alleged transgressions as though they aren't in the room with them, but they know not to look at each other. They already got one glimpse already, anything more would be reckless and greedy. After a long back and forth between Obi-Wan and Windu, they seem to come to an agreement.

Master Windu says, "It's settled, then. Y/N, you'll be temporarily removed as Anakin's padawan until we're done talking to witnesses and investigating. In the mean time, Obi-Wan will be your master."

-

It was a disgrace, an outrage.

Anakin's thoughts became poisonous as he was forced to walk out of the council meeting without sparing a glance at her, watching as Obi-Wan whisked her away to speak to her privately as her new master. Maker, even thinking those words made him grimace. There was something inherently wrong with the notion of her belonging to anyone but him. She was his first, he thought, much like a spoiled child having to share his favorite toy. After all, she was his apprentice, his best friend, his wife. How dare they try to keep them apart?

He could hardly process what Master Yoda was saying to him as they walked a little ways behind Obi-Wan and Y/N. It was something about letting the process of justice unfold without harboring any anger for the situation. It was clear in the way it was said that neither Yoda nor the others fully believed the rumors. They all entertained the possibility of them being true, but no one, except maybe Windu, seemed too suspicious of them.

Unfortunately for him, Master Yoda stuck by his side for longer than he anticipated, so he had no choice but to leave her in the hallway with Obi-Wan. If he lingered to speak with her, it would only fuel the rumors about them. He opted for going back to his room to meditate instead, but every time he closed his eyes, his mind became flooded with thoughts of her. Of the meeting, of the night they snuck out, and who possibly could have recognized them.

She, however, was too preoccupied with Master Kenobi.

He walked alongside her at a leisurely pace, speaking freely with her, "I know how upset this whole thing has made you both, but believe me when I say I tried to tell them it wasn't true."

Whether it be willful ignorance or outright denial, she didn't know, but he was being truthful. Of all the council members, he was the least convinced that these rumors could be true, and that was by their design. They've always been extremely cautious in his presence due to his close relationship with Anakin. Her husband taught her how to control her thoughts, to keep from projecting them and allowing the other Jedi into her head, and she practiced it every time they worked with Obi-Wan.

Y/N refrained from picking at the skin around her nails as she often did when nervous and nodded along to what he said.

"If it had to be anyone but Anakin, I'm glad it was you they chose."

"I actually requested it," he says. Upon seeing the confused look on her face, he adds on, "I know Anakin cares for you. I thought that it may ease his mind to know I'm the one stepping in as your teacher."

She can't help but offer up a slight smile in response to this. It was sweet. How Obi-Wan always looked after him, even when Anakin thought everyone was against him or didn't care about his feelings. His old master would always care about him. Later, if she has the chance to see him, she'll tell him about how Obi-Wan defended them to the rest of the council and made sure she was placed under his command.

"I appreciate that greatly," Y/N says. "And I think Anakin would too. He'd probably benefit from a talk with a friend right about now if you're able."

"I'll talk to him as soon as I can, but they'll be questioning me about the allegations in a few moments, so I can't yet. You have my word, though. I will speak to him."

The thought of Anakin being provided with some form of relief is comforting enough to let her contracted neck and shoulder muscles relax.

"Thank you, master."

He simply bows his head to her and offers his goodbyes before turning back toward the council room. In the distance, she sees Master Yoda waiting for him, and all she can do to stop herself from losing what little composure she has left is breathe deeply as she walks the other way in pursuit of the kitchens. Perhaps a light meal will soothe her nervous stomach.

-

It's an hour past the curfew set for apprentices to return to their rooms.

She relies on the light of the lamp beside her bed to read the book Anakin gave to her a few years ago. Annotated in the margins by Yoda, Dooku, Qui Gon, Obi-Wan, and Anakin, she finds it helpful to read a page or so before bed each night to settle her mind after the events of the day and bring her focus back onto what's most important. Her duty.

Every time she comes across Anakin's sloping, cursive penmanship, her face lights up with a giddy little smile. The page is worn beneath the fingertip she runs over the spot where he signed his name, as though this book has been carefully handled and passed down from generation to generation. Her night clothes are little more than a thin, plain shift that falls down to her calves, so she doesn't feel too warm with the sheet pulled up over her body as she flips through the pages to read all of Anakin's annotations.

However, the joy she derived from reading his thoughts along the margins is quickly washed away by worry. Worry as she begins to wonder where he is and what he's doing. Have they continued to interrogate him? Hopefully he's been allowed a break from their incessant badgering at some point. Perhaps Obi-Wan has found the time to speak to him privately already.

She's so lost in her thoughts, she doesn't even sense his approaching presence until the door to her room opens without a sound.

Already, she's flipping the sheet off of her body and tossing the book onto the side table to meet him as he crosses through the threshold to her private dorm. But what he sees when he shuts the door behind him isn't a happy, smiling face, it's an angry one, and he's already being chastised before he has the chance to greet her.

"Please, tell me you weren't seen coming here? What if they find you with me? Then everything we did today would be for nothing—"

The last word dies on her mouth with a surprised "hmmpf" sound when he reaches forward to cup the back of her neck and pull her into a fervent kiss.

Her hands shoot out to grasp his arms reflexively as he traps her in his strong embrace, one arm around her waist and his other raised to hold her to him by the back of her neck, and kisses her the way a dying man gasps for air. As soon as their mouths meet, she knows where he's been. The taste lingering on his lips is that of his preferred form of alcohol, and she grimaces at how strong it is for a second before pushing at his arms to break the kiss.

You'd think she struck him. His brows furrow and eyes widen at the rejection.

"Why won't you kiss me?" he asks with a tired exhale, leaning forward and angling his head as though he's going to steal another from her in retribution.

"Because it tastes like you drank the whole bottle," she says with a chuckle and keeps him at bay for now. "Where did you go?"

He lets out a sigh, overdramatic as ever, and allows her to slip out of his grasp now that he knows he won't get any kisses until he answers her. The walk over to the bed is short for him with his long legs. All it takes is a few strides and he's collapsing onto the mattress with huff. The glove is already being ripped off of his cybernetic hand before he conjures a suitable response for her.

"Out."

A scoff escapes her.

"I gathered that."

"I went to a bar."

Her brows furrow at him.

His hands come up to allow him to rub his eyes as he says, "Not that bar, I went to a normal one."

The casual reference to that bar brings a searing heat to her face. "That bar" meaning the one they snuck out to go to the first night they were together, with the secret back rooms he led her into and had his way with her in front of a few of the sex workers lounging there. He felt it necessary to clarify that he would never go to such a place without her present for obvious reasons. The thought alone of her thinking he would do something like that, putting himself into a situation no married man should ever be in, made his heart ache a little.

She allows herself to smile at him just a little, even though he can't see it, and walk over to where he's laying with his legs hanging off the foot of the bed. Feeling the mattress dip beside him with her shifting weight, he drops his hands back down and looks at her. And even when he's drunk, angry, and worried, he still finds it in himself to look at her like that. Like she's more important than the Force itself.

In return, she gives him the same look. It isn't too hard to summon. It comes so naturally when he looks the way he does right now; effortlessly beautiful with his overgrown hair framing his face and looking up at her through his lashes with a pink-flushed face.

"What did they say to you?" she asks softly.

Her fingertips are feathery-light where they touch his hair, brushing it away from his face in a way she knows soothes him. It causes his eyes to shut in appreciation of it, then, once he's fully taken in the moment, he answers.

"Not much." His body starts to shift to allow him to roll onto his stomach, and he wraps his arms around her hips. In this position, he gets to rest his face on her thighs, placing tender kisses along the soft skin. "They repeated the all same questions just worded differently each time. When they finally told me I was free to go, they were bringing in others we worked in close quarters with."

"Did Obi-Wan happen to talk to you?" she asks. This piques his interest straight away. His head pops up from her lap, his arms unwrapping from her waist to help him sit up to face her. "He told me he wanted to speak with you. To let you know that he requested to be my master in your absence because he knows how much you care for me."

In lieu of a response, Anakin starts to lean forward to nudge her face with his. Their noses brush as he captures her lips in a wet kiss, humming in satisfaction at how she instantaneously kisses back without thinking. Call him what you want for it, but he knows the effect he has on her and how to use to for his own gain. Right now, he's using it to redirect her back to what he wants. Which is, of course, to hold and kiss his wife. He doesn't think he's asking for too much.

She murmurs against his mouth, "Why won't you answer my question?"

His breath is hot against her skin when he pulls away to dip his face down into the curve where her shoulder meets her neck. All she feels is a soft pair of lips caressing her skin followed by the sharp hip of his teeth. He finds a way to shake his head through it all, not faltering for a second throughout the process of kissing her neck and nudging her slowly onto her back.

"I don't want to talk about Obi-Wan right now," he whispers.

With his body now laid flush atop hers, hips nudged between her parted thighs, he brushes his lips against hers softly. It's a sweet, gentle kiss. One she hadn't been expecting with how eagerly he was crawling on top of her seconds ago, but no amount of sweetness can make her forget that he's not in his right mind at the moment. So, she lets him kiss her for a few more seconds, giving him the chance to revel in what he so clearly wanted all night while he was out drinking, before looping her fingers through the soft hair on the back of his head to pull his face away from hers.

He winces at the slight pain caused by having his hair pulled, but they both know it's something he enjoys. His lips curve down into a slight frown as he realizes what's happening.

"Why are we stopping?"

She chuckles a little and cards her fingers through the hair she just pulled to soothe his mortally wounded ego.

"Because you're very drunk, and I'm also quite tired so I won't let you do it until you've sobered up."

His brows furrow.

"You won't let me?"

Her head shakes, a coy smile teasing at her mouth, and this causes him to stop as though in consideration for a second before groaning and rolling off of her. He ends up flopping onto his back on the mattress beside her, causing her to laugh a little at his dramatics before scooting closer to him and cuddling up next to his body. Her arm wraps around his slim waist and pulls tight as though she fears he won't remain here if she doesn't.

Sensing this, Anakin turns his head to look at her. His eyes soften the moment they land on her, and he reaches out with his flesh hand to brush his thumb over her lips.

"Sleep," he says quietly. A command, not a request. "I'll be with you. Always."

It takes a lot less time than it usually does for her to fall asleep once she burrowed beneath the sheet and rested her head on his pillow, right beside where his was laid. Part of it is due to him. Not only because his presence is soothing but because he breaks into her mind. She's so used to having him in there that she doesn't notice or care when he encourages her to sleep. For her body to relax far quicker than it usually would due to the soothing presence of his force signature.

For the first hour or so after she goes unconscious, he stays to ensure she doesn't wake. But, then, the boredom gets to him. Not to mention, he reeks of liquor and sweat, so he doesn't see any issue with temporarily leaving her for the sake of freshening up in the bathroom. The spray of the water hitting the floor hardly makes enough noise to reach the door, let alone beyond it into her bedroom, and he keeps checking, using the force to sense if she's still sleeping. By the time he is toweling himself off in front of the bathroom mirror, he no longer feels as impaired as he was when he first arrived.

The substance is still present in his system, yes, but he doesn't feel like everything is fuzzy around the edges anymore. Another hour has passed once he emerges from the bathroom with the towel wrapped low around his hips and his hair damp. What he sees when he lifts the sheet to slip into bed with her, tossing the towel to the floor on his side, halts him for a second.

She must have taken off her thin shift in the time he spent in the bathroom. It isn't uncommon for her to do this, rousing herself to a dazed state of partial consciousness to rip the bedclothes from her body due to the heat causing her to sweat in her sleep.

With the shades pulled shut over their windows to keep the city lights from invading the dark sanctuary of her bedroom, his eyes have adjusted to the darkness enough to see her beside him.

A quick glance at the time projected onto the ceiling in faint red light proves he has been awake far too long, and it's hard for him to not huff in frustration as he rolls onto his side. Facing her...

The curve of her hip juts out in an exaggeration of its usual shape from her laying on her stomach with one of her legs bent up near her side and the other lying flat against the mattress. With the sheet pulled up just enough to cover her ass, looking at her is cruel torment for him. How else is he supposed to react when his wife insists upon sleeping in the nude right beside him? He refuses to feel shame for how his cock stirs to life at the sight of her nearly every night.

Anakin's left hand slides up from his side to grasp the thin sheet between his fingers, gingerly pulling it down until it only covers the lower half of her legs.

At first, his only intention is to touch her. To caress her soft skin, hairless and smooth for the first time in ages now that they're back on Coruscant where she can groom herself, and relish in the fact that she's here with him. There's something so intoxicating about watching her sleep. It occurs to him that that thought, if spoke aloud, would probably creep her out, but it doesn't feel wrong to him. It's nice to see her without worry for once. So much of their time together is spent fearing that someone will catch them, but when she's asleep, she's at peace.

His hand ghosts over the back of her thigh, climbs up the curve of her hip, and keeps going up until he finds her neck. So delicate, so pristine in the way he only finds women can be. Men are so rash, harsh, and unsatisfying to look at to him. Himself included. She, however, is a work of art. Everything about her, from the way her hips sway just so when she walks to how her hair blows around her face in the breeze, is beautiful. He has always preferred them as a sex. After all, everyone he truly cares for, aside from Obi-Wan, has been a woman. His mother, Padme, and, of course, his beloved apprentice and secret wife.

He thinks to himself as he allows his hand to dip down to cup her breast, They make more sense. Everything about them was designed with careful thought. In a way, he envied them. In other ways, he didn't. As his hand grazes down her navel in search of the apex of her thighs, he can't help but stare at her in awe. His fingertips dip into the delicate folds of her cunt. So warm. Soft. Inviting. Begging him to delve further and give her what she desires.

She has done this to him a countless amount of times—woken him up with her mouth around him, sucking hard into the back of her tight throat—so he has no qualms with returning the favor.

It becomes clear to him very quickly that he won't be satisfied with merely touching her. While it is invigorating to see her subconscious response to his touch, her thighs pressing together and trapping his hand there as he rubs her clit, he knows what he truly wants right now.

He wants to take back his ownership of her.

What happened today was nothing short of traumatizing for him. He isn't stupid, he knows what they're trying to do. If he isn't careful, the council will try to take her from him, just like every other woman he's loved has been taken from him. When he was assigned to protect Padme just before the start of the Clone Wars, he lost his mother. Shortly after, he lost Padme too. She refused to be with him in the end, saying she couldn't lie to the senate and the council. He refuses to let the same thing happen with Y/N.

Soon, he begins to feel a wetness seeping out of her. His fingertips dip down to collect it from her hole and spread it over her throbbing bud, rubbing faster. A soft, muffled sound escapes her lips at this, and that's when he loses whatever scrap of patience remained in him.

Anakin slips his hand out from between her thighs to stroke himself a few times. Although he's already hard, he takes it as a chance to spread her slick arousal along his cock to make it easier when he inevitably fucks her. With the stimulation now withdrawn, she begins to fuss a little. It isn't anything like it would be were she awake and aware, but she does writhe ever so slightly in her spot upon the mattress as if instinctually searching for the pleasure that evaded her.

He's careful not to wake her just yet. Since she was so tired, he thinks she should rest for as long as she can before she's woken up by him. So, he's gentle in how he guides her into the easiest position to allow him access. She remains on her side, but he brings her legs up closer to her chest, forcing her back to arch and offer up her soaked pussy to him.

From there on, it's too tempting.

He guides the broad tip, messy with precome, of his cock into her first, waiting a moment to listen to her deep breathing to assess if she's waking before nudging further into her inch by inch. Being inside of her is serenity itself. It's like coming home, and he delights in how responsive her cunt is to him even while she sleeps. Her walls clamp down around the thick girth of him only to relax a second later to allow him in the rest of the way. His mouth drops open in a quiet gasp at how good it feels to bury himself inside of her, pushing and pushing until he bottoms out with his tip nestled close to her cervix.

The hand that isn't devoting it's time to rubbing her clit reaches to cup one of her breasts. It squeezes softly at first, but, as usual, it isn't enough. With the first thrust he makes back into her after he pulls almost all the way out of her, he grasps her breast harder and rolls the nipple between thumb and index finger. Having both of his hands on her—one on her chest and the other anchored between her thighs—gives him better leverage to fuck her how he wants to.

"Feel so good," he murmurs into her bare shoulder, not caring that she cannot hear him say it.

He loses control of himself quite fast. It's all too easy to allow the pace of his thrusts to speed up little by little, but, more importantly, he can't help himself from going harder. He enjoys going slow sometimes, but he never goes easy on her. If he ever did, she would scold him. Most often, she has the control between the two of them when it comes to intimacy, and that's the way he's always preferred it. But now...He finds that he likes having total control over her more than he thought he would.

His lips press gently against the curve of her shoulder to help suppress the load moan that threatens to leave him in response to her squeezing down around him.

The haze of sleep has a strong hold over her still when her eyes begin to flutter open.

At first, she's certain it's a dream. Trapped in the space between consciousness and unconsciousness, her mind has yet to realize that she's slowly but surely coming back to consciousness. Her dreams have always been incredibly vivid, especially when they concern Anakin, so no alarms are raised at the feeling in the pit of her abdomen. It isn't until she feels his teeth graze her skin that she realizes that it isn't happening inside her head.

The light beyond the shut curtains, the only source of light at this late hour, illuminates just enough of her face to allow him the pleasure of watching her react to what's happening. Her brows pinch together, a crease forming in the skin between them, and, then, her eyes open slowly.

Y/N wakes to the overwhelming pleasure of him touching her, kissing her, fucking her—essentially doing anything he can to feel closer to her—and the first thing she thinks to do is reach being her to grab onto him. Her hand lifts from where it laid on the mattress to reach back for him, sliding down the side of his bare, muscled abdomen until it reaches his hip. There, her nails dig into him.

She says, evidently confused, "Ani?"

The second after she says the nickname, a particularly harsh thrust causes her to whine in both pleasure and sensitivity, head tipping back while he finishes sucking a mark onto the back of her shoulder. Even through the fog in her mind, she's thankful that he's only leaving marks behind in places she'll be able to cover. It wouldn't be wise to meet with Obi-Wan tomorrow morning with a love bite visible on the side of her neck.

He pulls his face from her neck to press his cheek against hers, lips pressing a tender kiss to the corner of her mouth.

"I'm not intoxicated," he says as explanation for the euphoric wake-up call. "And when I came out of the shower, I noticed you ripped your clothes off in your sleep..."

This brings a sleepy grin to her face, and she can feel him grinning back at her with his cheek pressed to hers. The fingers toying with his clit continue at that perfect, toe-curling pace that increases the bliss she feels tenfold. That, when combined with how consistently he hits the sweet spot inside of her, is almost too much for her to handle so soon after coming back to consciousness.

"You're acting awfully brave. Aren't you worried I'll have to punish you for it sometime?"

Every word is punctuated with a panting breath as he drives into her harder and faster, her breasts bouncing with the force of it now. The palm he had molded over one of them slides up to grasp the very top of her neck, just beneath the jaw, in a possessive act of claiming.

He shakes his head, pushing hers a little further into the pillow it rests on.

"No," Anakin pants, "no, you won't be punishing me for taking what's mine. You forget that I'm your master."

Knowing how angry it will make him, she says, "Actually, Obi-Wan—"

The hand around her neck squeezes impossibly tight before she can dare to finish the sentence, and his pace becomes nearly brutal in a way it's only been a few times before. After a loss on the battlefield or a man leering at her in front of him. But this is...this is different. She can feel it—his anger, the possessiveness, the jealousy.

A second later, he releases his grip on her neck.

"Take that back," he mutters, seething, and pulls her hair taut from her scalp, eliciting a sound that's a strange mix of a moan and a wince. "Or I won't let you finish. You can do it yourself if you're so quick to betray me."

The mere thought is enough to make her brows pinch together in displeasure, and she starts to shake her head frantically. How cruel of him to wake her like this and threaten not to see it through to the end. Although, it does arouse her even more to think that he's simply using her for his own gratification now that she's "betrayed" him. The tension brewing within her, readying like an asp about to strike, seems to enjoy the notion of that.

And, worried that he'll stop, she cries out, voice breathy and soft, "You own me, master. Just you"—the next rut he makes into her is hard enough for her to gasp—"There's only you, Anakin."

"Yeah?" he asks, turning her face with the hand that choked her a moment ago to force her to meet his gaze.

The eye contact is so intense, she doesn't know what to do with herself when she's pinned beneath him like this. And, of course, everything is heightened by the vitriolic feelings roiling inside of him. He projects them at her without a second thought, letting her in to hear every thought that is practically shouted at her. She can't deny to herself that some of them are quite...disturbing. It's nothing too outrageous, but it's obvious to her that he perceived what happened today as a threat. A threat he will not take lightly.

She nods her head a few times, their noses brushing with the frenetic movement, and he can't help but smirk.

"Good girl," he mutters.

He keeps his lips as close to hers as possible without breaking eye contact with her. The urge to kiss her is heavily outweighed by the power he derives from looking into her eyes as he pounds into her. The whole day, he has felt helpless, mad, and scared, but it's all mended by her. By this moment. Not only due to the physical intimacy, but the emotional as well. He can feel how much she loves him. It's a feeling he wishes he could bottle and keep in his possession forever. He'd get drunk off of her if he could, but he can't, so this is the next best option.

When her eyes flutter shut in appreciation of her impending release, building inside of her like the swell of the sea, he says, "No, I want you to look at me."

Seeing that he holds the power regarding whether or not she'll come, she obeys his command immediately. When her eyes open to find his face so close to hers, the sight of him hits her like a punch to the gut, and that overwhelming feeling of love he felt emanating from her increases tenfold. She takes this time, the few, never-ending seconds before she's pushed over the edge into oblivion, to commit every detail of him to memory. The hair that falls in his face, the healing scar slicing through the outer edge of his eyebrow, and, most importantly to her, those sultry eyes of his.

Even outside of the bedroom, he has a way of looking at her that makes it obvious to anyone who looks too closely that he's undressing her with his eyes, but it's far worse when she's actually undressed and at his mercy. It makes her inevitable peak come on stronger and faster than either of them expected it to, her nails digging into his hip so hard that they break the surface of his skin.

She says breathlessly, looking up at him with wide, teary eyes, "Promise you won't let them keep us apart."

And though he's already reassured her countless times that they'll remain together no matter what, he surges forward through the small gap left between them and kisses her with a hunger that'll never be satisfied. It only lasts a second or so, but it's all she needs to reach her climax.

"I'll do anything," he whispers, kissing her deeply as she begins to tense around him. "Anything."

It's such a powerful, explosive surge of pleasure, she cannot do anything but tense in his arms and surrender herself to it.

The noises she makes are borderline pornographic, and if he weren't so in tune with her, he would probably think she's faking it. But there's no way of faking her body's natural response to him. As he guides his cock in and out of her at a brutal pace, the sound of their bodies colliding and how wet she is filling the room, he feels every spasm and twitch of her around him. There's no avoiding those guttural sounds, the slack-jawed expression on her face, or the tight cunt milking him with every unyielding wave of her climax.

Anakin's mechno-hand squeezes around her neck with just the right amount of force to restrict her gasping breaths and provide himself the amount of control over her as he loses himself in it all. His thrusts turn sloppy the closer he comes to his end, and he buries himself in deep one last time before spilling into her.

His face falls into her neck with a whine, teeth biting down on her shoulder to stifle the sound. Her constant clenching and unclenching helps him ride out his orgasm, and he continues to fuck into her in small, dying thrusts until every spurt of his release is trapped within her.

Y/N goes limp on the mattress beside him.

Her head has fallen back into its original place on the pillow, and all she can hear is him breathing heavily into her neck. Behind her, his chest rises and falls at a rapid rate against her back. The hand that was around her neck has slid down to rest against her stomach, holding her close as he always does in the vulnerable moments following his orgasm. All the excitement and emotion turns him into a clingy, needy little thing.

They lay like this for so long, limbs entangled in the sheets and racing hearts beginning to fall back into a normal rhythm, that she can't tell if it's been five minutes or ten when he finally speaks up. Sometime in between him collapsing onto the bed with her and now, he pulled out of her and repositioned himself against her. Both of his arms are snug around her waist, and his face is no longer buried in her neck but rather right beside hers. His cheek presses against hers as it had when they were in the midst of fucking, savoring the closeness shared between the two of them.

"I love you," he says softly.

It isn't the first time he's said it, but she always gets the same fluttering sensation in her stomach as though it is. As quickly as the anger and jealousy took control of him, turning him into a demanding and domineering lover, he shifts back into his usual nature with her. It's as though his mind goes on autopilot after having sex with her, exposing the true motivators that drove the anger. Insecurity. Fear of abandonment. Worry.

Knowing this, she doesn't hesitate to say it back.

"I love you more."

The feeling of his chest moving against her back with a soft huff of laughter brings a smile to her face.

"Believe me, that's not possible."

She then starts to shift around in place, forcing him to loosen his hold on her for a second or two until she has flipped over to face him. Those strong arms are quick to wrap around her waist and pull her in again, their bodies flush against one another.

"And why is that?" she asks, a teasing lilt in her voice.

He answers it so quickly, so sure, she cannot take it as anything other than honesty.

"I was made for you," Anakin whispers, reaching up to brush her hair away from her face. "There's no purpose for me in this life without our love."

Her brows furrow in concern.

"That's not true. You have purpose regardless of whether or not I'm here."

He shakes his head, just once, and when she cups the side of his face in the palm of her hand, he leans into the touch. The tip of her thumb caresses the scar cutting through his brow, moving down until she brushes his bottom lip.

He says, "I don't want to know what it's like to not have you in my life. It was easier before. I didn't know what was waiting for me. But, it's different now. If I lost you, I'd lose myself."

Her other hand moves to hold the other side of his face, leaving him with no choice but to look into her eyes and hear every word, every thought, and every feeling that passes through her.

"You aren't going to lose me."

The soft look in his eyes transforms into determination at this, and he allows his forehead to rest against hers as he repeats what she said in his mind over and over again to reassure himself.

-

A/N: It's been a long time, but here's part three! I hope you all enjoyed it.

Tag List: @juniebugg and @riley12.

[jayswritings13]

Total Drama: Alejandro's All Star reunion

Request: "hi! i know you wrote this like forever ago but i was wondering if you could do a pt two? where Alejandro and reader see eachother again during all stars?"

💗Masterlist | WIP Page

In all honesty, you should have seen this coming at some point or another.

Running into any of the old castmates was very easy now that you've been connected with a majority of them.

And that included Alejandro.

Sure, you saw him at the finale, but this felt different.

For the first few days, you were able to avoid him pretty well.

After what happened last time, you didn't want any chance at getting close or vulnerable.

It's All-Stars, after all, so who knows what it will cost you this time when Alejandro decides to plot against you.

Unfortunately, he was just as persistent to talk to you.

"(Y/N)."

Fuck, here we go.

"As you are aware from the last time we saw each other, I wasn't totally honest."

"That's a fucking understatement." You snorted, earning a glare from him.

"Anyway," He said, "I'm sure by now you have watched the season and figured out why I did what I did. I-"

"Oh for fuck's sake, kicked me out." You said, crossing your arms, "You can fucking say it! You kicked me out!"

"Yes, well-"

"You kicked me out because you couldn't handle some god damn teasing from the others." You said, "It was a stupid fucking reason." You sighed, "But, I guess that comes with the territory of it being a game, doesn't it?"

"It was for protection."

"Ha, like you needed any. Everyone loved you. You had a working plan." You said, "It worked for Bridgette and LeShawna. It would've worke-"

"Except that my focus would slip and it risked everything." Alejandro paused, "So, I had to eliminate the risk."

Eliminate the risk

Eliminate the risk

Oh....oh.

Everything you remembered and watched about the season suddenly made much more sense.

You never actually considered the option that whatever was happening between him and you was in anyway real, especially a threat to Alejandro's standing.

After that, you tried your hardest to continue to keep your distance and guard up, waiting for a repeat.

Though, to your surprise, you found that Alejandro was just as hell bent on keeping you close.

Something about wanting to make amends for what happened last time.

For once, he seemed......sincere---which was a bit unsettling for a look on him.

Once the teams merged, you weren't surprised to find that he wanted to form an alliance.

Yeah, sure, that's what we'll call it.

"I guess I get it now," You grinned towards the confessional camera, "Besides, its not like I'm on my top game right now," You paused, "so, yeah, I get it." You then suddenly remembered that you were still in the confessional, "I mean not like I would give him the satisfaction of knowing that. His ego is already so big." You said.

The both of you knew what it really was: picking up where world tour left off

Though, it made it just as ironic that you made it further than him.

Especially since part of it was your fault, voting him out in a pact with Gwen, Courtney, and Scott.

You're sure that he understands.

Even if it meant that you went through the rest of the competition with the same lonely-guilty feeling that he had.

"Was it satisfying? Yes." You said, barely glancing at the camera in the confessional. "Do I regret it?" You paused, "Eh.....?" You shrugged your shoulders, "Do I miss him? Yeah, I do." You sighed, knowing full and well that Alejandro was gonna tease the shit out of you for this confessional, much like you had with his previous ones in World Tour. "But, it had to be done."

[screamingcrows]

Sohreh's demise

It's always struck me as being odd how Sohreh dying is described in the Zandik's legacy note collection.

Read more of my depression fuelled 4pm after working 10 hours thoughts below lmao

Firstly, there's the description of the attack on the group by the killing machine. From Sumeru Investigation Team's Note we get "...We buried Dastur Sohreh and sent the wounded back." Which must mean that Sohreh was either alive during the attack on the group, or the attack happened just after Sohreh passed. Combined with the Ragged Attendance Record which states "...Dastur Sohreh of Amurta has been critically injured under the attack of Rishboland Tigers. In need of first aid..." This puts the tiger attack before the accident, how much time is unclear. (It also makes me wonder what it was Zandik did that is mentioned as the third reprimand, since him being suggesting to bring the ruin machine back happens afterwards). Another option is that they use the tiger thing to cover up what it actually was. The ruin hunter (the flying ones) has a spinning attack and a sharp pointed arm, that could have caused the lacerations implied to have killed Sohreh? I'm continuing with the theory of two separate attacks because I don't have the brainpower to process both options right now, remind me to come back to it.

Now, it strikes me as weird that they'd send the wounded back after the killing machine incident, but didn't send Sohreh back after the tiger attack. This makes me think that they must've happened very close together time-wise, although not too close since they had time to make a note for Sohreh needing first aid. I'm aware that the living cannot carry their dead with them, but them burying her tells me that everyone in attendance for this expedition (or at the very least the sage since he would've had the highest rank) must've found satisfactory explanation for how she passed. Otherwise he should've had the corpse brought back to the matra or whoever does autopsies in Sumeru.

Good, okay. But an autopsy was performed later. Yes and no, the body was dug up and examined but it is referred to as a dissection. It's clearly not an official document used for anything in the Akademiya. If it was, why would it be found outside if Port Ormos? And they would've hopefully used 'autopsy' and not dissection. A dissection is usually more of an open up and look for anything out of the ordinary sort of deal, and it's considered somewhat disrespectful to use for human subjects (even if it would technically be correct). To know where her body was, it must've been someone on the expedition or getting help from someone who attended. I don't believe it would make sense for anyone but Zandik himself to dig her up and keep it a secret.

He finds a fatal injury, a wound on her throat but can't determine a cause of death (a fractured hyoid isn't necessarily fatal, and I'm relatively certain strangulation wouldn't leave a wound. Bruises and fractures sure) Maybe someone tried to stop the bleeding from the wound on her throat and crushed the bone in the process? Like people sometimes break ribs doing cpr.

I know there's a prevalent theory that he killed Sohreh because she learned something she shouldn't and he needed to silence her. But based on the time frame gauged above, she would've had time to communicate that something was wrong.

I don't think Zandik killed Sohreh. If he did, why would he go back to investigate? And why in the first place does he go back to investigate when he was likely there for the tiger attack and certainly for the ruin machine attack? I honestly don't know. Sheer curiosity, while plausible, seems unlikely to me just because of the amount of work and risk involved in pulling something like that when you're probably already under the Matra's watchful eye. I'll continue to stew over what he could be looking for with that dissection...

[f1orza]

The way people are (rightfully) upset about the way people are talking about Oscar rn and in that SAME breath speak that same way about Lando is just ???? Mind boggling to me to be honest

I like both drivers so these situations are honestly tiring because I already know what's going to happen everytime.

Like I will see a post about the hate Oscar is receiving and will agree, like it IS racing and they raced and he pulled it off but yall are being really condescending towards Lando. When it's his fans who are the ones blowing it out of proportion. No matter how much you dislike Lando he is NOT the one who is saying this stuff, so the fact that yall are acting like he did and hating on him in the same post you made about not understanding hating on a driver for racing is...crazy to me. Yall have really normalized the hate and that's why I won't get further into the fandom because YALL ARE WEIRD FOR NORMALIZING THE WAY YOU SPEAK ON A RANDOM PERSON YOU DON'T KNOW!?!?!

If you are just a fan and dislike another driver for whatever reason that's cool. But don't be upset when you see people speak negatively on your driver if you do the same to any other driver. And feeling the need to speak about a driver the way you do and on social media at that is crazy. I have drivers I don't personally like and you wouldn't ever know because I'm not going to waste energy on hating someone I don't like because that's the normal thing to do.

No matter how much yall wish it both Lando and Oscar are good drivers. Both of them have proven to be so. Lando has actually done well for how long he had a shit car with Mclaren. I honestly don't think comparing Oscar's 2 years to Lando's what 5-6 years is comparable because to be honest Oscar has not had a shit car as long as Lando did. So to hold that over Lando's head to "prove" that Lando doesn't deserve to have the car or a chance at the championship, as if he hasn't waited in a team for years (who were not giving him a car worth staying for) for this very opportunity. He had other options and I'm sure if he would've been in another team, he would've been winning.

Yall get on him way to much because there are still drivers on the grid now who've been there for YEARS and have not stood on the podium AT ALL. (Not trying to shade)

If Lando wants to win (unless team ordered) he will have to win by himself but to say that he can't is delusional. Lando is capable of winning and we have seen it. Especially when given a good strategy which unfortunately McLaren can't seem to give either of their drivers.

So please put it to rest now the drivers are good, the team just needs to get their shit together. They both want to race, neither one of them were or will be okay with being gifted a win/want to win on their own merit.

They both know what's best for themselves and they don't need people they don't know speaking for them. Especially when everything you are saying contradicts everything they say.

[charles-simmons]

Very unpopular opinion, but I love the Dsmp canon ending

Specially after we found out they've lived multiple lives (as Eret said, it was like a cycle. Every time it resets, they just start again with no memory). So, PLEASE, let me explain this one

I think a big part of the reason why people dislike that ending is bc it felt like the story was interrupted and there still so much to happen and to develop, but personally, that's part of their tragedy. All of those people, living together over and over again in different complex and messed up lives that they don't quite get an end to.

There was still so much left to happen for those people. So many unsolved mysteries, so many people that never got to heal. It's extremely frustrating to think about it, and there were probably so many other lives where the same thing happened. To me, it adds such a cool layer to their story and it leaves us wondering if in a next live (or in the past ones) they ever got their actual ending. Will their souls ever truly rest? Or are they doomed to never getting closure?

Now, another reason people don't like it's bc of Tommy saying sorry to Dream, which also sounds crazy to me, because that was perfect

It wasn't like was he was forgiving him, or even as if Dream was being redeemed. To be honest, it wasn't even that much about Dream at all.

It's about Tommy. Because no matter how much people hurt Tommy, he genuinely believed no one truly deserved dying. The only reason he was even doing that plan was because he thought killing dream and punz was the only option left. So when he realized that maybe there could be another way, he instantly regretted his decision. He was apologizing for taking away their lives, taking away their chances of changing. It's really not about if they deserved it or not (like, c'mon, dream did abuse him), it's about how Tommy died trying to believe there could be good in people, even people who did terrible things. And that shows so much about him. How even after all that trauma, the hope never left him. You might think that's just being naive, and it probably was, but it's something in Tommy that survived through everything. It's a huge part of his character that never quite died, even after all his deaths.

He and Dream becoming friends in the next life was also interesting, and it would've been awesome to see how that went. In better situations, did Dream ever got to the point he previously had? Are people really inherently bad or toxic, or could've they grew into a healthy friendship? Also, did Tubbo and Tommy got close in that life too? They did stay together until the end of the world, but after that?

Seriously, it had potential. It's a shame we didn't get that sequel, but even without it, I don't think the ending is as half as bad as people say it is. It's not perfect, but it's still kind of awesome.

Well, if you hate the ending and still read this, a particular thank you to you. Also, if you disagree with what I said, feel free to give your reasons, I'll read them too :3 /gen

[raayllum]

I’m sorry how is arc 2 not about aaravos? Everything about the show leads back to aaravos. The whole lore of the show is centered around aaravos. And it is absolutely titled the mystery of aaravos because it does plan on dealing with the mystery of aaravos in every possible way, and that has infact been confirmed by the showrunners on multiple instances. Aaravos is just as, if not more of a main character than rayllum in the ways that count because everything going on revolves around him. 

And since he’s an EXTREMELY important character, how is it not justified for fans of him to want more screen time of him? 

I’m sorry but not everything about the show revolves around rayllum and you shouldn’t call people out just for wanting to see more of their favorite character.

God forbid something about aaravos is actually about aaravos and not rayllum for once 💀💀

Actually I can and do call people out for wanting to see more of their favourite character when it causes them to be entitled / unfair to the broader story they want to tell. If you haven't been doing those things, then that post wasn't about you, but given the way you put your best foot forward here, I might go out on a limb and guess this might be behaviour you display sometimes, and it may be worth reconsidering.

As a bit of background:

My favourite character in a TV show was once a side character who was in 1/4 seasons, and one episode in the final season, and then he never showed up again. which was Okay, because he was a Side Character and it would've been pretty silly for the show to bend over backwards to include him more. Granted, there were opportunities (him and another character were travelling together, then she showed up at a Plot Relevant location without him and it was never addressed) but the show wasn't bad or wrong for not including more. I wasn't owed more screen time just because he was my favourite character, and while any character can Technically be Levelled Up for more screen time and plot relevance, sometimes characters are just there to serve more minor specific purposes, and that's Okay. It's all about adjusting your own expectations and not being an asshole.

Furthermore, given that I posted my personal opinion on my personal blog and only used my personal tags for it, you had two options for finding this post:

It got sent to you, presumably meaning you had someone else to be salty with in a private manner that would've been far more appropriate

You follow(ed) me, in which case you are more than encouraged to unfollow or block me if I have a post/opinion you find annoying or uncouth. Please do so rather than doing whatever This Is in my inbox in the future, it'll likely save you not only time but also embarrassment

The fact you thought going into the inbox of a Virtual Stranger and getting upset about me not thinking your favourite character is the Most Important Character in TDP Ever — because he isn't — in one (1) post is truly baffling to me in terms of 1) curating your internet experience and 2) interacting appropriately with strangers directly online. I've seen a lot of shit opinions in my day, and I vent in private to my fandom friends about it 99.9% of the time, thank you very much, or post about it in my personal tags on my own blog rather than making it someone else's problem.

In the nature of analysis / debate, though, let me clear what I meant considering 4+ people got their trousers in a twist about the idea that Aaravos isn't a main character.

That said, a few quick disclaimers: Aaravos is a very interesting character to me, and I like him a lot. I've written a fair bit about him in regards to how he's a thematic opposite to Harrow, his view of children, what I think happened to his chest piece, speculation on his banishment, his parallels to Finnegrin, his mythic connections to aspects of the Fae + Egyptian and Greek mythology, his foil relationship to Rayla, his characterization and motifs/symbols. So it's not as though I don't enjoy him or don't think he's important to the story. He is, he's just not a main character nor the most important. Moving on:

Secondly: it seems maybe my meaning of macguffin is getting misconstrued. A story Macguffin is a plot device that drives the story forward. Sometimes it's a character (R2D2 in star wars has to be transported from one dangerous location to safety because he has blue print plans), sometimes it's an object (the one ring, fetch quests, etc). Either way, the story is centralized around 1) characters competing for ownership or safe guarding of said person/thing and 2) through that competition or competing needs, the characterization of the main cast is revealed.

In Arc 1, Zym is the plot Macguffin. He overall has very little personality even once hatched beyond being sweet, occasionally helpful, and scared. He is the titular character, and his existence matters, but mostly because he serves as a motivational point for the characters. Claudia, Soren, and Viren want to stop Zym from getting back to Xadia; Rayla, Callum, and Ezran, want to help him get back.

Zym himself does not drive episodes forward. He rarely makes decisions that impact the main group. His existence or fears cause them to make decisions (they go looking for help because they dropped his egg; Rayla and Callum have to go after Nyx because she stole him) but he is not likewise making decisions for the group. S4 definitely levelled Zym up into him making 1) more independent decisions and 2) having more of his own interior feelings, particularly about his father, but Callum is the one who decides to send him up into the trees; Ezran is the one calling the meeting for Zym to come to Katolis. A couple of exceptions (he has a mini arc about his mom for 2 eps, he has an arc in s2 with Ezran) do not suddenly make Zym a "I'm making decisions that heavily push the plot forward every episode" kind of character.

You'll also note, if you actually read said post you're referencing, that I specified "'the mystery of aaravos' (esp these past two seasons)" and that I never mentioned lore, either, even if I have likewise written about lore extensively (one of my more recent metas on it was about 4.8k words on lore alone, for example).

Aaravos' plot impact was a lot heavier in S2 and particularly S3 than it is in S4 or S5, as he influenced Viren's decisions more heavily and eventually came into more direct conflict with the core protagonists. This is likewise reflected in Aaravos in S2 and S3 being in multiple episodes (half the season in s2, and almost every episode at least a little in s3).

Meanwhile in Arc 2, Aaravos could effectively, unknown to his pawns drop dead after giving Claudia her final instructions pre-S4, and nothing would be affected plot wise, because Arc 2 thus far has mostly been characters fearing his impending release (the main cast) or dealing with the fallout of his actions from S3 (the Sunfire elf plot line). The only thing we'd lose on that level from a "Claudia believes Aaravos is alive and is trying to free him, but he's not actually" is Callum and Rayla's possession plot line, ironically enough given your apparent dislike of them, until the very very end of 5x09 in which he tries to goad Viren into killing SS.

I'm excited for and expecting that to change in S6 and S7, but that doesn't change what S4 and S5 currently are, either. Same thing for Amaya and Janai more so being main characters, Janai in particular, in S4 and S5, but they were not main characters in the first three seasons. That doesn't mean they're not good, meaningful, and important characters for the story, but I'd be a very poor meta writer / have very poor media literacy if I tried to claim that Janai is a main character in arc 1 over say, Callum.

For another example: everything in Avatar: The Last Airbender revolves around Team Avatar wanting to stop Ozai, but Ozai is not a main character in the show. He's there to be a minor character, an endgame big bad, and to affect his children / embody the conflict the characters are up against. The fact that TDP has so many antagonists that are also Main Characters throughout the whole show (Viren, Claudia) is actually pretty rare in media, particularly for children.

The Legend of Zelda games usually revolve around Link wanting to save or free Zelda, and while certain games flesh her out and make her more developed into a main character, the central character of the narrative is Link, because he's the character we follow the most.

Additionally, the Importance of a character in a narrative has no bearing on whether they're your favourite, or even necessarily whether they're a 'good' / 'well written' character. Rayla, for example, is my personal #1 favourite character in TDP. She is a main character; she is not The main character. That's not an insult to Rayla; she's there to be a foil, one hell of a narrative lancer, and our main elven character. But I can't (nor do I want to) magically change her role in the story to claim that it's something it isn't.

The central main character of TDP is Callum. It always has been, it always will be.

He is the character who shows up in every single episode, he's our central mage character in a show all about magic, he has the most developed relationships out of everyone, he is the POV character we follow the most. That doesn't mean he's your favourite, that doesn't mean he has to be your preference, you don't even have to like him. But he is The Main Character. The majority of the story revolves around him and the people in his life. No amount of liking another character more is going to change that, whether you're clamouring for Rayla, Aaravos, Sol Regem or anyone else.

While there are shows where I think the side lining of characters feels off (Gus and Willow in The Owl House come to mind) that's mostly because 1) that sort of side lining usually happens to characters of colour, as it did there and 2) there's no real reason for the story to sideline them considering everyone lives in close proximity and there's a s1 emphasis that the main character has never had friends before and that she desperately wants some. Therefore, she should be thrilled to have best friends for the first time, but we barely see them. See the disconnect?

Aaravos is a minor character and big bad who is well utilized in the overall minimal screentime he has, especially thus far in S4 and S5. That doesn't mean he's not important to the story, and that doesn't mean he can't or shouldn't be your favourite, but your assertion doesn't miraculously make him our main core protagonist of the entire show, because 1) he's not our central pov character and 2) that's about the only requirement a main protagonist has to have, and 3) that's just not how stories work.

I also have no clue why you brought up Rayllum as a ship, given that I didn't mention them in my OG post at all, but given that you seem to think "this character isn't a main character" is a moral or value statement, I'll assume you said it to ruffle my feathers — that doesn't really work, given that I agree with you that not everything in the show is about Callum or Rayla individually or as a relationship, because it Isn't. Even if I hated them as characters or as a dynamic, however, that wouldn't change the fact that they're two of the core 3 characters (alongside Ezran) and that their relationship has the most screentime out of anyone in the show.

And if the show decided to tone down their screen time to give other characters more time, I'd be okay with that — because I don't need my Personal Favourite to be the most important character in the source material / screen time ever in order to feel secure in liking them, thanks.

[hisonlyreid-er]

School Girl Crush Pt 3

Part 1| Part 2| Part 3| Part 4| Part 5| A new BAU member appears and Spencer sees her as a little threat to his status of boy genius. Being unable to get comfortable with each other causes some issues within the team. Will they be able to move past it and work together?

Spencer Reid x FemBau!OC Warnings: a little angst, minor swearing.

Cold stung at my nose, flushing my face red. My coat wasn't providing enough shelter from the chilly environment. The small walk from the SUVs to the hotels reception was freezing. My trainers carried me quickly towards the door in hopes of returning some feeling into my everything. I glanced at my team. Morgan had nothing more than his jacket on and he looked totally fine. Stupid Morgan.

The lobby of the rural hotel was heating me back up, the feeling in my hands finally returning. Leaning against the wall, I watched Rossi and Hotch talk to the receptionist. My to-go bag was sat by my feet, waiting to be directed to a room for the night. It was our first night on this case so the rooms we got now would most likely be 'home' for the next week. It was past 12 so we were all pretty exhausted and it showed. The usual banter was nowhere to be seen as the team stood around, waiting to be assigned a bed. Hotch and Rossi walked back towards us, a strange look on their faces. "We've got some rooms." I waited for the but. "But, there's only 4 so we need to share." Hotch breaking the news erupted a series of groans. Decisions had to be made and they had to be made quick. JJ and Prentiss would clearly pair up. Rossi had a room to himself if he could and considering the number of keys in Hotch's hand, that was possible. My options were slim. I could either share with my boss, with Morgan or with Dr Reid. I needed to decide quickly before it was decided for me. I spoke up.

"Bagsy Morgan." He looked over to me, a little surprised. "Wow. I'm flattered Colesta." I pulled a disgusted face as I looked at him. "Garcia's not going to be a happy lady." Prentiss sounded tired but the humor was evident in her voice. Wanting to lighten the mood, I joked back. "She'll be fine as long as I send her some pictures." I wiggled my eyebrows at her, causing some chuckles from the group. Morgan seemed utterly appalled at my words, opening and closing his mouth like a fish out of water as he looked to Hotch for backup. Even Hotch seemed a little amused. His face didn't show it but you could see it in his eyes. "Agent Colesta, do not take photos of your sleeping colleagues." It seemed like such a stupid thing for my serious boss to say but it brought a happier mood. "Fine." I gave in, rolling my eyes but the smile stayed on my face. Dr Reid ended up sharing with Hotch. All of us headed towards our rooms. Morgan hadn't started walking yet. When the girls and I passed by, I whispered to him quietly. "I'll just take a video." Before he could respond I followed after JJ and Prentiss.

"I'm surprised you chose to share with Morgan. I would've thought you'd share with Spence." I looked over to JJ as she spoke. I could kind of understand where she was coming from, Dr Reid and I were close in age, shared some interests. Shaking my head, I sighed, preparing to confide in my colleagues. "I don't think he likes me very much. Any time I talk to him, he brushes me off." My shoulders slumped in defeat as I finally admitted to what had been bothering me for the past 4 months. "Reid is just weird with new people. He'll warm up to you eventually." Prentiss patted me on the shoulder as we came to a stop outside our rooms. I had heard that same thing so many times from Garcia but it was too late to argue, so I just nodded and smiled politely. The two of them bid me goodnight and entered their own room, laughing with one another. All I could do was hope that in time, I'd be as close with the team. The key turned easily as the door to the room opened. Just before I walked inside, I just so happened to glance down the corridor. Dr Reid came around the corner, head down staring at the floor. His hair was a bit of a mess and cardigan disheveled. I just wanted to be friends with him. Was that too much to ask?

After I shut the door, my first, very grown up action was to launch myself face down on the bed. Very mature of me. My limbs were spread out over the duvet as I shoved my face into the pillow. God, it was like being 15 all over again. I didn't move when I hear the door open and heavy footsteps enter. It was obviously Morgan based on the fact they had a key and had the same weighty gate as the door kicking FBI agent. "What's up with you, mate?" He was so annoying sometimes. I didn't bother lifting my head from the pillow before speaking. "Why does Dr Reid hate me?" A loud laugh made me shoot up and glare at him. Such an arsehole. "Do not laugh at me Derek Morgan." He held his hands up in faux surrender. "Boy genius doesn't hate you." Rolling my eyes wasn't enough to prove my point. It was so obvious that he hated me, anytime I tried to talk to him I was met with one word answers and annoyed tones. "Feels like it." I roll onto my back, staring at the ceiling with self-pity. Morgan drops down onto the bed next to me, dipping the mattress by quite a bit. "Give it time." I couldn't take this anymore. Pushing myself to my feet, I grabbed my to-go bag while making a beeline to the bathroom. "If one more person tells me that I'm going to lose my rag." That man laughed at me, again. The mocking I was sure to get later didn't matter. This was so stupid. I don't know why I cared about what Dr Reid thought. I didn't need his approval.

Luckily, our case was over within a week. I got along great with Morgan but I couldn't survive one more night sharing a bed with his snoring. God, the man sounded like a tractor. It wasn't ideal to be packing away at 10pm but we all just wanted to go home to our own beds. I stood in the reception area at the hotel, patiently waiting for the rest of the team to hurry their butts up. My fingers intertwined as I rocked back and forth on my feet. Footsteps sounded behind me, they were light and uneven. Dr Reid appeared in my peripheral as I stared at the doors to the hotel. No words were exchanged for a moment. It was the closest I had ever been to him. A slight scent of coffee reached my nose. Weird, there was also the smell of old books and leather, probably from his satchel. "I don't hate you." The sound of voice made me jump in surprise. Then the words processed. I looked over at him, my mouth slightly agape in shock. He didn't hate me? "What..How did you..?" The sentences weren't forming properly so I just spat out a jumble of mismatched syllables. "Hotch and I were in the room next to yours and the walls are pretty thin." My cheeks flushed red with embarrassment. God, he must think I'm so pathetic. Good job Lyn. "You never want to talk to me. I've been here 4 months and this is probably the longest you've tolerated me." I let out a bittersweet laugh as I spoke. Now it was his turn to look shocked. The receptionist must think we're insane. How long does it take the team to grab their bags? "I'm sorry." He sounded so genuine, it caught me off guard.

We didn't talk after that. The rest of the team joined us and it was as if nothing happened. On the flight back, I run over the interaction again and again. Maybe things would be different from now on.

It was around 1 by the time we could leave the office. My brain was lagging behind as I trudged towards my car. "Bye Colesta." Prentiss went her own way, as I dug around my bag for my keys. They were in here, I knew they were. I was always checking on my keys, too paranoid to risk it. My fingertips brushed the cold metal of my house keys. Relief. For some unknown reason, I glance over my shoulder. Dr Reid was there, clearly on his way home. Our eyes locked and he raised a hand to wave at me. I didn't even think about it as I waved back, smiling at my coworker.

It was only when I was halfway home that it clicked. He waved at me. That was a friendly interaction. This might actually be the start of a change. It made me feel giddy. That was weird. Why did I care? I went to a British all girls school, I was use to people disliking me. But the idea of him not liking me made my chest hurt. Strange. I just wanted to get on well with my coworkers. That was it. It had to be. I was still thinking about it when I entered my dark apartment. It was still on my mind as I lay in my own bed for the first time in a week. I was tired, I should have fallen asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. But the thoughts kept me awake. Oh god. My heart dropped as I realised. I had a crush on him. Every time I thought I felt uncomfortable around him or nervous when we spoke, was me getting butterflies. How could I let this happen? I was beginning the career I had always dreamed of and now I was acting like a giddy school girl around the coworker I thought hated me until about 3 hours ago. Lyn Colesta, the stupidest woman in the world. I pressed my face into the pillow and yelled while thrashing my arms and legs. It was like being in high school all over again and I had a stupid school girl crush. Going to work was going to be fun. I was just settling into my role in the team and now I was going to ruin it by having a silly little crush on the resident genius.

Goddamn Spencer Reid.

[imthepunchlord]

Possibly How It Should Have Been

Gosh, I've just thought about it sometimes, as I'm largely trying to turn my creative focus onto something more enjoyable than ML (hence less writing for ML fics), but sometimes I just can't help but focus on it. Cause it's a great concept and it's butchered and that bothers me so much.

And there's SO MUCH that could've been done to improve it. Some of which could be easy tweaks. Some of which needs massive overhauling. Some of it is just picking a lane, staying in that lane, and you follow the road to progress.

It's a great concept with a LOT of possibilities and ways it could've been done. I've actually thought about possible ML Rewrites a few times, I even reached out to a friend to try and help develop a Rewrite that we could've collabed on cause I was struggling to much to decide, and we both just got stuck cause there's so many options for characters and what could possibly be done as we could see so many pros for each option.

And of course, part of the pondering that came to my mind was seeing promising improvement with kwami swaps.

Like, Marinette and Adrien may have developed better if they had each other's miraculous. Plagg could've been the ideal foil to Marinette as he's the opposite of her in every way, addressing her overworking herself, prioritizing others over herself, and caring so much about her responsibilities that it just weighs and stresses her out. And with Adrien and Tikki, she could've helped him develop as an actual, step up in responsibility, learn to take on duty, to care about others over himself. She also would've helped him get the plot rolling, as Adrien is a stagnant character but Tikki is not. She's going to get him involved into the Agreste plot whether he wants it or not, and in turn, he's going to get Tikki to learn to be more attentive and considerate of her holders cause things can go south for Adrien very quickly if she pushes too much.

Gosh, another great kwami swap that could've been done that could've improved a lot was switching up who are the leads. I always wondered if Tikki and Plagg TRULY would've picked Marinette and Adrien, also if they were even the right picks now that we know that Fu doesn't know everything and is running on limited knowledge. As far as we know, they ARE the wrong picks for these two. And considering there was an ep of Tikki and Plagg picking their own users, I now wonder if Alya and Nino should've been our actual leads.

How Alya was initially as Scarabella screams to me that it would've better served in the Origins as a starting hero. Alya also has promising potential arcs as a starting hero, especially as being a superhero is her living her dream:

There's the struggle of balancing her civilian and hero life, she can learn that the civilian life is just as important.

She can learn that being a hero isn't all glory and isn't always easy.

She can learn the importance of secrecy, and what happens if she exposes herself to the public or to a friend (probably Marinette).

And a lot of the lessons Tikki is involved with would make more sense with Alya, who does get tunnel vision and isn't good at listening to others and isn't so considerate and can be very pushy with her own agenda. Alya naturally aims for the leadership position and Tikki wants her Ladybugs to be leaders, so Tikki can help guide Alya to improve as a leader. Lastly, Alya will challenge Tikki on her call outs, which could at certain points help established that Tikki isn't always right and is open to learn and adapt too. And Alya could busy herself looking into HM, making her theories and being nosy about his identity, which Tikki would readily be apart of and encourage. Which Alya should've done in the show than recklessly trying to expose the heroes identity to the public and help HM win. Which, if Adrien wasn't a hero, maybe that should have been his role instead, which Gabriel could encourage and Adrien is even more excited cause he thinks his father is taking an interest in what he does which can be some later Adrien angst for you.

With Nino and Plagg, the BIGGEST plus is that it would actually give Nino SOMETHING outside Alya and Adrien. It would've prompt him to get more focus, and based on what's seen, he's 2nd to Marinette in having the most friends, meaning he can be more engaging and present with what happens to his classmates. Plagg also could bring some needed chaos to his life. You can even expand upon what's seen in Horrificatr where Nino can be controlling, strict, and harsh so Plagg can work on that. Nino does have some similarities to Marinette where he does care a lot for his friends and is hardworking, so there's something there to make Plagg a bit of a foil to him. To expand on Nino's role as Alya embraces being the big hero and savior, could even do the fandom popular idea of him getting Guardian training.

With those two taken, this nicely opens up others getting the Five.

Marinette can work with either Bee or Fox. If you want to work off Chloe vs Marinette, it works best if Marinette has the Bee. Though I think Pollen's personality should be overhauled, but if not, at least there's a perk that yes man Pollen going to force Marinette to take initiative and decide things for herself instead of seeking advise from her kwami. And with Fox, that can work off Marinette being a meddler, schemer, being creative, and her more inclined to work from the shadows. There could also be a fun twist to explore with Marinette not liking liars and she has a miraculous tied to deception, plus her and Trixx could've been an interesting pair to see interact, especially if working off what's seen in Sapotis where Trixx is very observant and manipulative, but also a bit of a chaotic gambler (from what I've seen, later seasons seem to ruin Trixx as a character). And of course, Marinette having Fox could work off her vs Lila, you could even dabble in her vs Felix.

Arguably, Chloe MAY grow as Alya and Nino would NOT have been so tolerant of her unlike Marinette and Adrien, so Chloe could've gotten the Bee and actually be a good hero and character for it. But that can also come down to preference and how you want Chloe to go.

Adrien could've gotten the Turtle, which I think could've been one of the best miraculous he could've gotten as he naturally likes to be a protector, and this miraculous works off that while also giving him protection. Wayzz also could've maybe addressed Adrien readily sacrificing himself, help him learn to be more cautious instead of rushing in, or at least think and be smart about how you go forward. There's even a possibility of Adrien having Turtle full time, as Nino could share his suspicions with Fu about Gabriel, so Wayzz could be there as a spy to check things out, which would have Adrien eventually get involved in his own plot, but still allow things to be at a slower pace. And as Wayzz, ideally, seems to be serious and dedicated but also playful and open minded, I think he would be very engaging with Adrien, which in turn could mean that when Adrien needs a call out, he would listen to what Wayzz had to say more (as most of the time Adrien ignores what Plagg says).

As for the leads, both would have an equal neutral involvement in the plot that can explain why things don't resolve quickly (looking at you Adrien who won't even ask questions about the suspicious book your father has). Alya would be a hero and lead for glory and self-righteousness, Nino would be to genuinely help others. Neither would have a super close tie to Gabriel, allowing him to sit under their noses for a while.

Also, gosh, you even could've had a lot of fun with color coded rivals/foils/personal antagonists for Alya and Nino.

If you really wanted to do Alya vs Lila, let Lila actually have the Fox or maybe she bought the Fox in Volpina, and this has Alya and Lila having the miraculous the other is color coded for. She could work off being a hero initially for the wrong reasons, just like Alya who starts for the glory too, as well as integrity vs deception.

Something could also be done between Nino vs Felix, with Nino really color coded for Peacock while Felix is color coded for Cat. Could play off both being ambitious to a fault and being selfish and nosy, but Nino cares more for others vs Felix is more exclusive.

And if expanding to others...

Of course could do Marinette vs Chloe if Marinette has the Bee, Chloe could have the Mouse, which could be funny to see Chloe deal with herself. That might humble her.

As for Adrien... could do him and Max being foils, work off Max getting Horse while largely wearing green, and I think Adrien is most color coded for Horse. Could work off both being perfectionist and could delve into the shared interest of gaming, with Max trying to bring out the competitiveness in Adrien. Could be thinking vs action.

Either way, ML is frustrating cause it's a show with potential and great concepts and it's irritating that it got butchered so. And the most frustrating thing is that there is just so many options to how it could've been done better. And kwami swap wise, these are my top two picks that would've been better.

Thank you for coming to my TED talks.

[midnightsunnyday]

So, once again, here I am at 2 AM with another hot take, this time on Lucifer.

If you really look at it, from the very beginning of the story, Lucifer isn't that horrible to us. You might think this is my Lucifucker bias kicking in, but for the first few chapters of the story, Lucifer is somewhat amicable to us being there. Authoritative, autocratic, patronizing, kinda scary, and well, prideful (duh), but otherwise...tolerable and leaves us to our own devices, for the most part.

The only time he begins to show hostility is when he starts to suspect us of having ulterior motives for making pacts with his brothers and getting too involved in his family's business. The two times where he does attack us may seem unwarranted to the player, but narratively, makes sense in regards to Lucifer's characterization.

So yes, it's time to get ready for...

Me analyzing the two times Lucifer tried to kill the ever loving shit out of us because I'm a simp, but also one who can read (somewhat):

So, let's look at Lesson 6 or the first time Lucifer tries to murder bomb us. We, the reader, know that Luke, despite his feelings towards demons, wouldn't intentionally do anything to harm the brothers and obviously, had no idea what he was holding was a grimoire. He was a lost kid who unfortunately, stumbled across something he shouldn't have touched.

Yet from Lucifer's perspective, he sees an angel (beings who he's shown to hold bias against...for obvious reasons) trying to "steal" the very book that if in the wrong hands, could put his entire family in danger, along with the human who's protecting him (who he's shown to be already skeptical of), and his own brother, who hid the angel in their very home and allowed him the opportunity to do so.

Right now, he's not looking at the situation like we are because we already have that information. We know why Luke is in the underground tomb. We know why Beelzebub tried to hide him. But for Lucifer, all he sees is the enemy invading his home. This is the first time we see Lucifer enraged past the point of reason, so much so that if not for Diavolo, he would've killed MC.

Remember the beginning title of Lesson 6: There Are Some Wounds Time Can't Heal. Lucifer's reaction may not have been logical to us, yet considering what we learned about the secret room, about the brothers being former angels and fighting in the Celestial War and Lilith's death from Beelzebub two chapters earlier, it was logical to Lucifer and Lucifer alone. It doesn't excuse him from doing it, but it's an important part of his characterization and purposely done to show how these events still affect him.

The same is true with Lesson 12. Lucifer tries to straight up dead us again, yet only after learning that we disobeyed his warnings about going up into the attic and conversed with Belphegor. Add that with him finally beginning to trust us (even developing small hints of a crush, flirting with us more than once) and the rather heartwarming bonding moment before it and Lucifer's trust is completely broken. Considering we learn later on why Belphegor was locked in the attic and what really happened to Lilith, Lucifer's reaction is not surprising. Not great, but not surprising.

It's then you begin to understand the basis of Lucifer's rage. Before making his vow to Diavolo, Lucifer states that whether demon or angel, he will always stay true to his convictions. Right then and there, we see what truly matters to Lucifer. His love for Lilith, his family. Even if it means sacrificing his pride and serving Diavolo. Even if it means becoming the bad guy to his brothers. He did, especially with the lack of options, what was necessary to save his sister. In turn, said decision also saved his brothers.

And so we see that the only two times where Lucifer is ready to attack is due to the perceived threat against his family, going so far as to risk Diavolo's goals of uniting the three realms not once, but twice, something that he surely knows the consequences for.

So yeah, I write all that to say that you can dislike Lucifer all you want. You can argue about how he punishes his brothers, especially Mammon. You can argue how he's a stubborn ass with the emotional communication skills of a sun-dried turd. You can argue that he's too subservient to Diavolo, to the point where he takes for granted his brothers wishes or feelings (arguments in which I do have opposing opinions on, but to do so will make this post longer than it needs to be).

Yet to call him evil is to ignore so many pieces of his characterization that shows otherwise. How vulnerable he can be, how affectionate, how silly, how he truly loves his brothers and will go out of his way for them, etc.

But to call him good isn't quite right either since well...he has no qulams about killing people, threatening them, attacking his siblings in a rage induced tantrum, lying, locking people in attics...

He's the well-intentioned extremist. The lawful evil. The noble demon. A rabid dog who snaps and barks at the slightest threat but pet him once and tell him he's a good boy and he'll melt in your hand.

Like, I know this shit is long, and I could go even further, but for now I'm going to defend the fact that Lucifer is just...he's a good character, ok? A good, complicated, mess of a character.

And I absolutely love him for it.

[ghostsandfools]

Time for science :]

WARNING: There's science under the cut. If you don't like to think about the expanses of the universe and wonder about astronomy and physics and the beginning of the universe and stuff like that, you probably shouldn't read it, it is long.

If you could assign star power and negative star power a real life counterpart, what would you say? There are a surprising amount of options I've realized.

I was watching a video about space and heard the word 'antimatter', which I had no clue existed in real life but it does! And it's FASCINATING! And it reminded me of negative star power, just from the name alone.

The issue though is that there's actually a lot of weird dark/negative space stuff that I did not know about. I actually feel kinda dumb for not knowing about this stuff, I wanna be a rocket scientist I should've already known this jesus-

So if negative star power were real, what would it be?

The first candidate is antimatter. Antimatter is just regular matter but with the opposite electric charge. So, remember learning in school about protons, neutrons, and electrons? Well, antimatter is just like those, but instead of negative electrons, there are positive electrons, also known as positrons, and that goes for protons and neutrons too. There are lots of anti-particles and anti-quarks. You'd think that matter and antimatter would be equal, but there is much much more matter in the universe than antimatter. If there were equal amounts of both, the universe itself wouldn't have been able to form, so we're lucky that matter came out on top. Scientists actually don't know what would've happened if antimatter was more prevalent, and it's pretty hard to study, but matter and antimatter are pretty similar so the universe might not even be that different at all. All that matters is that there's more of one than the other. This one's and interesting candidate because it's basically how dark star power is described. It's just the opposite of star power. Star power goes in, dark star power comes out.

The second candidate is dark matter. This one's interesting because it actually does exist in the TSAMS universe. Nexus makes Dark Sun a dark matter generator and Dark Sun used it to generate a witherstorm and a pocket dimension. So you'd think that clears it up, but not really. In real life, dark matter is a form of matter which scientists can't really observe because of how damn dark it is. It doesn't interact with light or the electromagnetic force at all, so you can't really see it or know it's there, but it does have a gravitational effect so we can assume that it exists. Dark matter and antimatter are NOT the same thing, as dark matter actually makes up most of the universe. It's literally just invisible stuff. It also slows down the expansion of the universe.

The third candidate is negative matter. Negative matter is a form of matter with a negative mass. If normal matter has a mass of 1 kg, negative matter would have a mass of -1 kg. For the time being, it's completely hypothetical, but it could exist. Although it sounds similar to antimatter, they are different, but negative matter could be another form of dark matter. I don't really know how to explain this one very well...

The fourth candidate is dark energy, not to be confused with dark matter. I know these names are confusing, scientists really need to start being more original. Dark energy is the energy that speeds up the expansion of the universe. That's basically all it does. The universe is really goddamn big and it keeps getting bigger and gravity should hold stuff in place but it isn't, and scientists needed a name for the force that's making the universe get bigger so why not name it some cryptic shit like dark energy. This one's kinda interesting because the whole think with dark star power is it makes the end of the universe come faster. When the universe expands, it also gets a little colder. When the big bang first occurred, the universe was so unbelievably hot that our human brains can't fathom it, but now it's cooled down enough to support life, and space is actually pretty cold. If the universe expands too much, which dark energy makes it do, it will get to cold, hence the heat death of the universe, so maybe this one's not too far off?

But that's dark star power. What is star power itself? This one I actually might have an explanation for. Star power first appeared in TSAMS when Moon made the neutron star, which are actually real! A neutron star is an incredibly dense type of star. Despite not being very big, according to google, on tablespoon of 'neutron star material' would weigh around a billion tons (very heavy). Neutron stars in real life sadly can't let you control the entire universe, but they are cool. A neutron star is the collapsed core of a supergiant star. When an extremely large star runs out of fuel and energy, it will collapse in on itself, forming either a black hole or a neutron star. Due to the intense density, most of the protons and electrons will come together to form neutrons, hence the title. Within neutron stars is strange matter, a form of matter that contains strange quarks. Despite the awful name, strange matter is its own type of matter, not jut any matter that's weird. Strange matter is hypothesized to be in the cores of neutron stars, and some scientists hypothesize that over time these neutron stars could become 'strange stars'. The extreme pressure of the neutron star allows quarks inside to become strange quarks, which then form strange matter.

I am not smart and I don't know what strange matter does, but the fact that it's related to neutron stars at all intrigues me and i feel like star power could in some way be tied to it, but let me know what you guys think. If you're smarter than me and i somehow accidentally got all of this wrong and am spreading misinformation, PLEASE PLEASE CORRECT ME. I still have a lot to learn.

[moongothic]

To be honest I can kinda see how having a hook instead of a hand prosthetic has its benefits

Hook is easier to mantain than a hand with lots of small moving pats, especially when you don't know shit about it. If something happens to it and it gets broken, it's much easier to replace a hook, even with all layers and poisons

And depending on when in time Crocodile lost his hand he may have just got used to it already

But also yeah, Crocodile is just the type of guy to choose a hook instead of a new hand because looks and aesthetics lol

(sorry for typos btw)

Crocodile's hook is kind of fun because it's a reflection of so many things in the story. Like there's the in-universe lore and character stuff we can look at, but also we can look at it from a meta perspective

Like we know Oda wanted to give certain important characters in the story the Iconic Pirate Traits; the peg leg for Zeff, the hook for Crocodile and an eyepatch he has seemingly been saving up all these years for a special someone (my money's on Mr Burns but that's a different subject). And so Crocodile having the iconic hook is a part of an old pirate-y "vision" Oda wanted to fulfill with One Piece, an OG "goal" from waaay back in the day

But another thing is that Crocodile is very much from The Olden Days of One Piece, more specifically, very much pre-what I'd call the sci-fi era of OP. I'd say One Piece started truly dwelling deeper into that genre and its tropes during Punk Hazard, but Oda didn't even really dip his toes into it until the CP9 Saga (with the introduction of Franky and the namedropping of Doctor Vegapunk). Sure, Oda did already hint at the existence of Vegapunk and his scientific developments back in Alabasta (when Miss Merry Christmas explained that Lassoo was a gun that had eaten a Dog Dog Fruit, this being "the Latest Science from the Grand Line"*), but One Piece was still very much in its more classical fantasy element/genre at this point in the story, so the science fiction that was to come years and decades later was not even present at this point

*(Thinking about it, honestly, how the fuck did Mr 4 get his hands on Lassoo if Lassoo was created by Vegapunk?? Was he a gift from Vegapunk/the WG to Crocodile, maybe????? That Crocodile just secretly gave away to Mr 4????)

In other words, in hindsight it might seem odd Crocodile wouldn't have taken advantage of his position as a Warlord and gotten a prosthetic arm to replace his hook. But Crocodile is a One Piece character from a different era in the story, when advanced prosthetics, cyborgs, robots, clones and so much more were nothing but a twinkle in Oda's eyes. So expecting Crocodile to have lived up to the sci-fi future One Piece wasn't originally going to even get to would be unreasonable.

But the fun thing is that we can actually look at Crocodile and his silly little hook, and spin it in a way that does actually complement his character. We can find in-universe reasons for him to have stuck to a hook over an advanced prosthetic, and they make sense. The most obvious would of course be that Crocodile does not trust anyone. It would be very much unlike him to go to Vegapunk and/or the World Government requesting to be given a prosthetic, because that would mean 1) Leaving himself vulnerable for a period of time so that Vegapunk could actually give him a prosthetic (dangerous) 2) Knowing the WG they would not just give out something like that for free, surely they'd want something from Crocodile in exchange. And, while we know what would become of Kuma eventually (a fate so cruel I'm sure even Crocodile could not have imagined) I'm sure he could have suspected the WG could want to use him for a science experiment or two, something I'm sure Crocodile would never have agreed to. Or maybe the WG/Vegapunk would've wanted Crocodile to pay them an obscene amount of money in exchange for a prosthetic, and/or have him do some other favors. Whatever the case, I'm sure none of these options would have seemed worth it in his mind.

And yeah, what you said.

Maintaining and taking care of a hook would be easier, like if Vegapunk's prosthetics ever broke or malfunctioned for any reason Crocodile would have to make a horrifically long hike all the way from Alabasta to Marijoa, cross the Red Line (to be fair his Shichibukai Status would allow him to go over which would be more convenient than passing through Fishman Island), go to Punk Hazard (or Egghead later on), and then hike aaall the way back to Alabasta again. And Vegapunk's inventions didn't always work as intended, the man had to refine and develop his creations to get them to work the way he wanted them to.

So if the option get a prosthetic was ever brought up to Crocodile by the WG like 10+ years ago, he might've been far more cynical about Vegapunk's ability to actually create a decent prosthetic that worked and wouldn't malfunction/have issues etc. And as you suggested, by that time he probably would have become used to his hook, to the point that he didn't mind keeping it.

And yeah, it would be just a big ol' Luffyism if he preferred the giant, golden, gaudy-ass hook

[justpeaxchy]

Todoroki gazed at your sleeping form, soft snores coming from you. He thought he shouldn't be looking at you like this in such a vulnerable state, but he couldn't help it. Your features were exquisite to him.

You were studying together but he figured you must have gotten exhausted, it was close to midnight after all, yet you insisted on staying with him. He wasn't mad, not at all, in fact he was relieved that you were resting. He just didn't expect it to take place in his dorm.

For a moment longer he stared, taking notice of the way your back would rise and fall. Your head rested against the notebook you were writing in and if he was being completely honest, you looked pretty comfortable.

He sighed, slowly getting up from his seat and debated what he should do. It wasn't everyday that the person he secretly admired slept in his own dorm. If he brought you a blanket it would be fairly simple but would it make it seem like he didn't care that much? Usually in movies he sees the person sleeping be carried into bed. The thought flustered him more than he expected. Quickly shaking his head, he figured the blanket was the best option for now.

His steps were quiet, soft as a feather one might say, as he reached for the blanket on his bed. He silently thanked himself for washing it very often, it would've been embarrassing if it were otherwise.

Once he settled it down on your shoulders he took another moment to admire your features. He really didn't want to seem creepy in any way but he was like a magnet when it came to you. Always finding himself crawling right back to you. He kept trying to distance the relationship you two had but you never gave him the full opportunity to do so.

You were a stubborn one indeed.

He chuckled softly, a smile forming on his lips. Perhaps that's why he was so drawn to you. The fact that you didn't want to let go of him despite all the attempts he's tried to run away.

He watched as you snuggled closer to the blanket, his heart beating faster than normal. He noticed that often happened whenever he was around you. He thought it was something you did at first but after a while he thought something was wrong with him.

It took a lot of explaining from midoriya and a few others to get it in his head what that all meant. He was stubborn to admit it for a long time.

But as his eyes remained glued to your sleeping form, he knew that it was impossible to deny it now.

He was in love with you.

[justsigma-bsd]

Everything Seems Small (From High Up)

Basically what happened after Sigma left the note and before Chuuya showed up.

Also me trying my hand at a different writing style-

TW for survivors guilt (I think), implied/mentioned starvation (it's small but there), a lot of injuries being mentioned and their causes.

@fukuzawa-armeddaddyagency may I perhaps interest you in seeing the aftermath of "lost one son to save another"? (ngl it would've probably happened anyway)

He doesn't remember how he managed to get there. The entire way is a blur. He doesn't remember how he managed to climb down, just that he somehow managed to slide down the gutter without falling.

In hindsight, he's more surprised he managed to hold on. His hand and arm ached from the effort of carrying his own weight, which the whole incident had reduced by quite a bit, but he barely cared. He just prayed that neither stab nor bite opened, and went on his way. 

Sure, both are wrapped tightly in bandages, along with pretty much most of his limbs, leaving pretty much all of the bites and stabs and cuts he'd endured hidden from prying eyes, but it'd be a pain to rewrap them all again... and he doesn't want to bother Chuuya with this. 

It's his own fault anyway, he dug his own grave, and now he may as well lie in it. 

His legs ached all the way, but he barely paid it any mind. He just walked and walked and walked, until he barely even knew where he turned left and where he turned right. He just had his destination in mind.

And his legs still ache, an hour later, when he's finally sitting where he'd wanted to go. 

He stares down, and for a moment he remembers falling from Sky Casino. Remembers the terror of thinking he'd die. Remembers the air whipping past his face, howling in his ears as if he'd been caught in a hurricane.

His legs, aching and stinging from bites that hopefully haven't started bleeding again, dangle down over the edge. He fidgets with his hands, plays around with the bandages wrapped around one of them. The bite underneath hurts as well. 

Everything hurts, if he's honest with himself. 

His legs hurt, courtesy of the dogs who'd dug their fangs into his flesh. 

His hand hurts, from when another dog bit it and dragged him back into his room- back to Mori. 

His face and arm and leg hurt from the cuts and stabs Other Kris had left on him. 

His knee hurts, and he can't remember that one clearly, but he thinks a bullet grazed it. 

His back hurts, from when he'd fallen down the stairs.  

His throat hurts, and he wishes desperately for the bruises to fade so he can stop wearing turtlenecks. 

He lets out a sigh and watches the city. From so high up, everything looks so... small. Insignificant. He knows his friends are down there. His family. His love... yet part of him think that maybe, just maybe, they'd be better off if he stayed here. 

He'd left a note. Granted, a very vague note, but he did... god, who was he kidding? Everyone's a mess right now. Everyone's in various stages of grief and dealing with it better or worse. Everyone's mourning, and what is he doing? Running from his problems. 

He lets out a breath, tears gathering in his eyes. 

It's his fault they're mourning. What was it that Fukuzawa had said? Ah, right. He'd sent Dazai to get him out. He'd weighed his options and lost one son to save another. 

He feels like screaming. Like crying. Throwing something, breaking something, tearing something apart and crying over that as well. 

It's his fault, start to finish. 

He'd started all of this with petty revenge that had been entirely pointless, and to what has it led? To Dazai dying. 

Fukuzawa should've made the right call. He should've left him to rot instead of sending help. He wasn't worth another's life. Hell, he isn't even an actual person- just some writing on a page. 

Karma was right. He's useless. He's useless and incompetent and he still doesn't know the reason- but he can see why he'd hate him. He wonders, silently, how many people hate him and are just too polite to say it to his face. 

It should've been him who died. Would've been better for everyone... or no, scratch that. He really just should've stayed in the desert. Less pain and suffering for everyone involved. He should've stayed away after Meursault, at the very least. 

... well, too late to prevent that mistake from happening. 

So he sits, high up above the city, and watches. Watches while everything looks so small and distant insignificant, and he silently wonders why he ever thought he could be a part of that without ruining it. 

[anneapocalypse]

On "friendly competition."

One place I do think Dawntrail fumbled the ball (and I have a few, though I did love it overall) is I still feel like the setup for the Scions working for opposing claimants was too glib. I know a lot of people loved that scene in 6.55 because Thancred and Urianger, and yes, they're great together and have fun chemistry. But once you know what they're actually talking about it does leave a bad taste in my mouth. They (and the other Scions when they find out) are effectively treating the governance of a sovereign nation, something that will have longstanding political ramifications and affect the lives of a lot of people, as a game where they get to spar with their friends.

The Scions have witnessed firsthand the damage and upheaval that power shifts can entail, and none of them really know that much about the situation in Tural before arriving there; they can't know that it's going to be a smooth transition with no unrest or bloodshed. (And guess what! it isn't!) Thancred, Alphinaud, and the Warrior of Light especially know this, as they were all at that banquet, and latter two also got to witness a major power shift in Ishgard and everything that came with that. They all saw Garlemald, and the twins especially have spent a lot of time there. And then there's, you know, (gestures to the entirety of Stormblood). Urianger may not have been present for a lot of these events directly, but he knows what happened and he's seen the impact on his closest friends.

The Scions understand that politics aren't a low-stakes game, is what I'm saying. They have to know that things have the potential to go very wrong here, and that this "friendly competition" could turn anything but. We know now that Koana and Wuk Lamat care too much about one another to turn on each other directly, but there's no way any of the Scions could have been sure of that at the time, and it also doesn't account for the actions of the other two claimants, which the Scions definitely could not have predicted.

So I think this is a place where the "We're all going on a fun vacation" vibe of the lead-up to Dawntrail does take away from the story a bit. I personally enjoyed the tone shift at the midpoint, and had been pretty sure something like that was going to happen, but I think maybe some minor writing adjustments could have made the setup work a little better. The obvious fix is like, just don't have Thancred and Urianger know that others are working for Wuk Lamat. The Scions are officially disbanded, they may not all be sharing their plans, no one expected Estinien to show up in Tural either, so whatever, we can suspend our disbelief. The other option would be to give the Thancred and Urianger scene a more serious tone, while still keeping the details vague, but that might've stepped on the overall tone they were going for with DT's marketing (though I don't know that it would've been any more of a giveaway than showing the cyberpunk areas ahead of time).

It's a small thing; I imagine it probably didn't bother a lot of people at at all, and it certainly didn't ruin the experience for me! But it is one thing that felt off to me and which I'd probably rewrite a little if I ever want to do anything with it.

[rokusinari1]

☆ﾟ⁠.⁠*⁠･⁠｡ﾟLuna x Saturn's Moon! Reader☆ﾟ⁠.⁠*⁠･⁠｡ﾟ

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☆ﾟ⁠.⁠*⁠･⁠｡ﾟCan be viewed as platonic or romantic head cannons ☆ﾟ⁠.⁠*⁠･⁠｡ﾟ

GN! Reader

_______________________________________________

If I must start this off, you and Luna are best buds! You're very close with him(⁠*⁠˘⁠︶⁠˘⁠*⁠)⁠.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡

Though your first meeting with him wasn't so great...

As one of Saturn's Moon, he often didn't pay attention to his other moons other than Titan and some others (I think? Or is it just Titan?) I mean he had over 120+ moons! He can't remember them all. Which was perfect for you to sneak away without him noticing and venture on to meet the Rocky planets!

Yes you heard of the Rocky planets from Saturn and it made you yearned to see them. Soon you made it to the asteroid belt, but to your disappointment you couldn't see any planet at all? That's not right... There should be a planet, unless they left their orbit? Let's say you got hyped up for no reason, best option is to head back to Saturn and be absolutely forgotten...

"Hah! I win again! That's another point for me!"

Huh? You thought there was no one but you surely heard a voice. You then found yourself heading closer to the voices and soon enough you found what you always wanted to meet!

The Earth! And Mars, and Venus, and and... Wait is that a moon?

Oh you forgot, apparently only two out of the four rocky planets have moons and Earth is one of them

What was his name again? You honestly don't know but you could just ask?

"Psst, hey!" You tried to get the attention of the moon but failed miserably

That's alright! You can try again! You'll be able to get his attention soon enough!

How many times has it been already...? 19? 20? 21? You weren't counting but this was taking longer than expected...

"No worries... I can try something else, just keep calm and think..." You murmured to yourself, and then you got the perfect idea!

Throw an asteroid towards him!... Wait what...? What are you even thinking!?

Too late... You had grabbed the nearest asteroid next to you and threw it as hard as you could

The moon was minding his own business till he looked behind him to find an asteroid going full speed at him!?

He managed to move quickly out of the way but that asteroid was so close that he would've sustained a bad hit... Not to mention that his life flashed before his very eyes

"Oh heavens! I'm so sorry I didn't mean to throw that asteroid so hard towards you! I'm truly very sorry..."

The moon who was still shocked and processing what just happened look at you for the very first time

"Wha...? Another moon!?"

_______________________________________________

•Tbh you're relationship was kinda rocky at the beginning with the moon but hey it got better!

•You started calling him Luna after his sentence "STOP CALLING ME EARTH'S MOON!"

•A little secret, he loves it when you call him Luna instead of Earth's moon(⁠´⁠ ⁠.⁠ ⁠.̫⁠ ⁠.⁠ ⁠`⁠)

•You two actually got to spend a lot of time together since Saturn doesn't really notice

•If Luna ever has an argument with Earth, you're there to help him and show the right or wrongs

•It makes him feel better that he has someone to talk to

•The way you talk to him? It makes him melt and feel fuzzy every single time

•Honestly he gets sorta tired of you talking about the rocky planets

•Its not rocket science that you like them or anything

•Though he wishes that was him you'd talk about... WHAT WHO SAID THAT WHO SAID THAT!!!

•Yes Luna has been warming up to you lately

•Your friendly and cheerful personality is what makes him so allured to you

•A delightful moon indeed! You were too perfect for this world- *Cough cough(⁠゜⁠o⁠゜⁠; *

•Earth began to realize Luna's sudden disappearances and was pretty displeased about it

•That is until Luna finally reveals you to Earth after you begging him for days non-stop

_______________________________________________

"Really? Awh thank you so much Luna! You know this means the world to me!" You chirped with such excitement and cheerfulness, you could feel the uncontrollable smile appear on your face.

"Yeah, I mean I had to or else you'd keep bothering for decades" Luna said with a pleased smile. He totally didn't do it to see you happy... Hahahaha...(⁠.⁠ ⁠❛⁠ ⁠ᴗ⁠ ⁠❛⁠.⁠)

You tilted your head(?) at him before getting closer so you could whisper something into his ear(?).

"I'll cherish this forever, I promise..." You spoke with a graceful tone and then left him by himself. The poor moon was left in awe struck by you.

You'd mean everything to him and he'd do anything to make you smile again... Wait why does he feel his face heating up?

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IM FINALLY FREE!ᕦ⁠[⁠ ⁠◑⁠ ⁠□⁠ ⁠◑⁠ ⁠]⁠ᕤ I'm so sorry that this took a long time to post. School is basically jail for me༼⁠;⁠´⁠༎ຶ⁠ ⁠۝ ⁠༎ຶ⁠༽

I'm also going to say that I've peaked a little bit of my interest in Solarballs again but it probably won't last longÓ⁠╭⁠╮⁠Ò

I hope you can enjoy this while I yippee (⁠人⁠ ⁠•͈⁠ᴗ⁠•͈⁠)

A/N: The end kinda cheesy tbh(8/9)