#because he trusts his commander in a million different ways | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

lu-lus-duckies · 2 months

Text

Idk what to call this so you make up the title

@huskers-bar x @nunalastor

Tags: enemies to lovers, angst?, eventual fluff, yearning?, soft huskers-bar, both mods are separate people, no beta we die like i do in this fic (not yet though), minor character death, ooc, au: hellaverse (hazbin hotel), nunalastor is head of the marketing department of the hazbin hotel (lucifer grabbed them randomly), jealousy?, huskers-bar is an employee at voxtek, lulu and angie as villains, lulu is a dog

chapter: 1/? Word count: 1,431

Featuring: babygirl anon and (eventually) @xxx-angie . I may add more along the way depending on who wants to be added. I can probably shoe-horn-in a few more characters

For the sake of not tagging people a million times, I will call nunalastor as a single entity nunalastor, traumatized mod dickmaster and cursed mod nun. and huskers-bar just husk. babygirl anon will be babygirl anon. i will be shortened to lulu but I don't appear in this fic yet. Angie doesn't appear yet, but he will be angie.

A/N: anyway this is 100% going to be a huskers-bar harem fic because i can write whatever i want. This first chapter kinda boring but it gets better (source: trust me bro). Lemme know if you'd like to see any changes. Anyway, goodbye for now. I have uni to get to so less frequent posting (sorry dickmaster, you'll have to live without any of my horrid art for a little while)

"Did you know that Alastor made a happy deer squeak during this scene?"

Ah, yes, the words that twist people's dreams into nightmares. Innocent innitially, and maybe even amusing for a good while, but the longer one lingered, the more their skin would crawl with irritation and burn their insides. Especially when one knew the context surrounding this particular phrase. And boy, did Nunalastor know the context.

"Another day, another inbox to slay, another heavenly lord to betray" Dickmaster accessed their and Nun's shared blog, unsurprisingly to hundreds if not thousands of asks invading their inbox, all of which were echoes of different variations of *thumps* and *squeaks*. If Nunalastor hadn't already grown accustomed to such deviancy, they would be horrified. Still, the depraved ideas these people came up with never failed to send shivers down their spine, and not the pleasant kind.

And why do they subject themselves to this? you may ask. It was simple. In exchange for free housing, food and supplies, Lucifer Morningstar, the devil himself and father of Charlie Morningstar had requested their help. You see, originally their blog was not this unfortunate cesspool of deranged demons who wanted to see the devil, overlords and sinners squirm under immense sexual pleasure. It used to be a simple marketing tool for the Hazbin hotel, but as all things in hell, it never goes smoothly. It wasn't like they had a choice in the matter anyway, refusing the king of hell's requests was not an option! His commands were absolute.

Dickmaster took one deep breath, running both hands through their hair and clearing their mind, preparing for probably several hours of torture that was going to be their asks. They poured themselves a drink, setting down in front of their screen. Taking a few moments to relish the silence, they closed their eyes and listened to the soft hum of their beaten up 1950's style computer, courtesy of Alastor's ban on Voxtek products at the hotel. Clicking on their inbox tab, they mentally braced themselves. even if they knew, they could never truly predict the horrors hell had to offer.

"time for #housekeeping" They declared, stretching their fingers, getting their reaction images on the ready and sifting through their own version of digital hell. It would only get worse from here.

As Nunalastor started to clean their digital home, erasing one cursed ask after another, responding to one alastor circus theory after another, One ask in particular caught their attention. It was definitely a surprise, and a welcome one at that. It stood out like a sore thumb, simple yet elegant, divine and a blessing among heaps of cursed messages that would have asmodeus and satan themselves shaking in fear.

"hi dickmaster" - anon

Nunalastor couldn't explain it. They don't know what came over them, but they felt a strange sense of attraction to this one particular anon. They were sweet, they gave them a place of solace from the dread that was piss kink headcanons and cursed deer facts, equivelent of the clogged up plumming disasters alastor had to fix with his bare hands at the Hazbin hotel. It was the piece of gold nugget hidden in a swamp full of moss and dog urine.

Dickmaster stared at the message for a good few seconds, really taking in the plainness and beauty of the two words before their eyes, appriciating all that message was as a small smile made its way up their face. This called for a special occasion. Dickmaster gripped their keyboard, nearly smashing it with the force. Their fingers danced along the keys and crafted a response like no other, one worthy of this random anon that managed to make their day a bit brighter.

"Hi babygirl" - Nunalastor

On the other side of the pentagram, a kind, sweet and not at all deranged huskers was scrolling through hells version of tumblr. Voxtek devices had proven to be quite useful in the underworld. It served as the main source of entertainment and escape for the lonely, not only for husk, but other sinners alike. Besides, being an employee meant he had extra privileges with Voxtek. Regardless, it introduced husk to the nunalastor blog, which was the best moment of their life (or lack thereof, considering they're dead).

They'd quickly grown accustomed to the undeserved hate thrown their way upon their first ever interractioin. Though they didn't understand, they could play along. They found strange comfort in the twisted logic that any form of attention was better than none. After all, being singled out meant they were special in the eyes of Nunalastor, right? that's how husk comforted themselves anyway. And they haven't seen Nunalastor actually reply to anyone with actual love before.

That is... until it happened. Someone who would later reveal themselves as babygirl anon, husks worst adversary and the unfortunate victim of lulu's slander showed up on their feed.

"hi dickmaster" - anon

"Hi babygirl" - Nunalastor

Husk stared at the screen in shock, their eyes widening and heart growing heavy. Countless questions and conflicting emotions swirled within them, each clutching their hold for attention. 'Is nunalastor serious? Do I not want them to be serious? Why can't I be treated the same? What did I do?' And amidst the chaos, one thought rose to the surface, crystal clear in Husk's mind.

'I want to be loved like that'

The frustration of being at the end of every one of Nunalastors verbal spears finally caught up to husk. Every small jab they'd written off as jokes suddenly felt like small pin needles scraping their skin. Unable to deal with the whirlwind of emotions and the confusion of it all, Husk sought solace in the one place they could always trust, the bottom of a bottle.

So they took a swig. And another. And another. Intil there wasn't a shred of emotion left to feel. Not a single thread of frustration left in them, not a nerve of anguish, not a line of confusing verbal spewage...

And not even a speck of self-restraint

"THEY JUST KEEP COMING" Dickmaster exclaimed, more like yelled as their inbox was flooded with more cursed asks at a rate faster than they could answer. At this pace, they'll be there all day, answering these asks like a poor overworked minimum wage employee at a call center.

"They'll run out of ideas eventually" Nun responded, nonchalantly, leaning against a nearby wall, sipping on a drink of their own. Nun watched as dickmaster struggled to find another reaction image fast enough so they could call it quits and leave the rest of the struggles for future Nunalastor to handle, or more accurately when it would be nun's turn to answer all the unhinged people in their inbox.

The hurried clicking of the keys on a keyboard could be heard throughout the entire room, bouncing off the walls, reflecting exactly how much infestation was actually happening in nunalastors inbox by the minute. "it would be great if you could answer a few you know, my fingers are dyin-"

And then it suddenly went quiet. The clicking died down and the unbelievably loud buzzing of their computer, along with the hitched breathing of Dickmaster was the only sound bouncing around the room. Nun of course raised a brow at this. "what's the holdup? we can't afford to take a break you know" they said, as if they were the one answering all of the asks in the first place.

nun walked over, curious as to what exactly had stopped dickmaster in his endless pursuit of emptying their inbox, considering they were always the more enthusiastic one of the two. "are you okay?" nun asked, half sarcastically. Their eyes landed over the current ask in their inbox.

"I wish you'd love me" huskers-bar

and suddenly the silence made sense. the pause had been a justified one.

dickmaster inhaled, followed by a deep and saddened exhale. they didn't want to take their eyes off of those five words. they could stare in awe and amazement at them for hours. it wasn't even the fact that it was just another ask that wasn't cursed, but because it was huskers-bar that sent-

a hand on dickmasters shoulder snaps them out of their daze, being brought back to reality, the pitiful reality. they were in hell for a reason, they reminded themselves.

"you remember our deal, don't you, dickmaster?" nuns voice cut through the buzzing, sounding deep, gruff, threatening and slightly saddened.

"yes of course" dickmaster turned back to the monitor, giving one last look at the ask before typing out what nunalastor has agreed would be the appropriate response.

"you'll get over it. #we are a huskers-bar hate blog"

#i'm kind of sorry but i cant take writing seriously when i called one of yous dickmaster askfdjaslkdfjoasidjgf #huskers-bar x nunalastor #i hope at least. idk i dont read this shit back to myself. my self esteem is low enough already #lulu is delulu #nunwhiskers

90 notes · View notes

moongothic · 6 months

Text

No appearently I'm still not fucking done

Like. No matter how I think about it, Crocodad with the timeline Oda has suggested makes no sense to me, so I genuinely can't bring myself to believe in the theory anymore (mainly because I don't want to get my hopes up tbh)

(Like if the timeline was Revolutionary -> Baby Happens -> Leaves and becomes a pirate -> Whitebeard beats his ass -> Dude becomes jaded and wants to destroy the government -> Alabasta This would make sense. I would 100% buy this timeline But the timeline is supposed to be Pirate -> Shichibukai -> Whitebeard beats his ass -> Somehow gets involved with the Revolutionaries -> Baby Happens -> Transitions while a Shichibukai -> Alabasta I just. This timeline does not make sense to me. But it's the only one we'd have??)

But at the same time I can not come up with a single other explanation to why the absolute fuck Crocodile is still a character with a presence in the story if it's not Crocodad

By which I mean, on an emotional level he has no connections or ties to any other characters that would explain why he's still in the story (compared to like, Enel, who also has no connections to anyone and thus is pretty much just gone). And like, to be fair, sure, he could be just there for fanservice and because he can be used to drive the plot forward in some ways.

But when you compare Crocodile to say Mihawk or Buggy or even ol' CP9 members, they all either have close emotional ties to other important characters (Zoro and Shanks to be specific), or they represent something (the manifestation of the Government and its corruption), meaning these characters reuniting/encountering others has emotional weight in the story

But Crocodile was just some asshole who Luffy beat up, he's not much different from like Moria in that sense and god knows we haven't seen Moria in ages (to the point I wouldn't be shocked if he died offscreen) (Oda please don't kill my beloved goth onion I need him back so bad)

So why the fuck is Crocodile still here, why is he still plot-relevant, who is he supposed to tie to on an emotional basis

Like the theory Crocodile could maybe be Xebec's son would make sense and explain a lot about Crocodile as a character, and it could tie him back into the story if Xebec is alive and is the one hiding the final Poneglyph (this theory is on thin ice mind you), but no matter how I think about it I can't imagine how that would push either his own character arc forward or anyone else's. The plot, sure, but it just feels like it stops there

Especially because althought Crocodile Clearly Has Some Issues, his issues don't seem to be from a bad father-son relationship, it's trust issues and the hatred of the Government, so meeting his maybe-father-Xebec-if-he-is-alive would probably do fuck all to move his character anywhere (and if it did, where??????? World Domination??????? We all know that won't work out tho????????)

(Also if Xebec was his father, then Crocodile's decision to ASSIST Whitebeard in saving Ace, the dickwad who would have betrayed his father, makes EVEN LESS SENSE)

(Sidenote, you could maybe imagine Crocodile somehow tieing into Pluton again but considdering how the Walls of Wano need to come down for Pluton to be released and that can only be done by Zunesha at the command of Momo, I can not imagine Crocodile making a beeline for Pluton right now 'cause he should not be able to get it even if he found out how to access it) (Also while on Pluton, you could argue Crocodile reuniting with Robin could have emotional weight but I'm not sure what that would achieve for either character (also Robin would never in a million years just hand over Pluton to Crocodile), same for Vivi (also IDK how those two would even meet again))

Not to mention I have no fucking idea how Crocodile's past with Iva-chan would even tie into any of that??? I mean sure he could just be trans for the sake of being trans and without it being like an important plotpoint beyond Iva-chan being able to blackmail him at Impel Down, but also??? Is that not a little unnececary considdering there would've been many other ways to convince Crocoboy to behave in Impel Down???

But you know what really would explain Crocodile's lingering presence in the story and would tie his character to someone else on an emotional level in a way that could push either his or someone else's character arc forward???

Fucking??? Crocodad???????

Like boom, you'd immidiately be able to tie his character to our beloved protagonist and the two seeing each other would have like more meaning than just "Luffy encountering the asshole who tried to kill him and now needs to fight again probably". And while I don't think Crocodad would do anything to move Luffy's character ahead (since he probably would not give a shit if he found out Crocodile was his dad, since Crocodile was a dickbag and Luffy doesn't care about blood connections), I think it would do a lot to Crocodile's character

Because like. I go back and I think about Marineford and Crocodile's outburst at Whitebeard. His emotional arc. If Crocodad was real, then right before the outburst Crocodile would've have realized that Luffy was his son and would be currently dealing with the implications of that. Then he'd have to watch The Son of a Binch Who Beat His Ass get stabbed, which would piss one off anyways. But then he needs to remember that Whitebeard's been stabbed by one of his own, while trying to save another one of his sons, and Crocodile might realize how that sight of Whitebeard might be like a cruel premonition for himself, as he goes off to try to protect his own son

And sure, Crocodile made it out of Marineford alive, but god knows, if we get like a Marineford 2 and shit starts going down, if this man is Luffy's actual father and is anywhere near the kid, this binch is dying. He is going to die protecting his son (and arguably, one-up Whitebeard), because as we all know, if you want to protect something ya gotta do it right and if you're not willing to make sacrifices you will never gain anything, even if it means losing your own life

That would absolutely give Crocodile's character an amazing character arc, going from an uncaring asshole who was only interested in whatever benefitted him to giving up his own life for the kid he never was there for (which would also arguably be more than what Garp or Dragon ever did, since one never did as much as lift a finger while the other was going to allow his grandchild to be murdered)

Also Crocodile being Luffy's dad would tie his past with Ivankov to his character really well and it'd be a much bigger point than just him being trans for the sake of being trans

Also him having ties to the Revolutionary Army would then also emotionally tie him to Dragon for some Dragon Lore etc and that could then also tie him into the Revolutionary Army-sideplot if we're lucky

Also. Remember how One Piece goes off often about "inherited will". You know what would be cute. Luffy inheriting his father's dream, his will (of becoming Pirate King).

Also other people have pointed this out but in Chapter 824 Luffy gets to see Dragon's face on the newspaper for the first time and comments how Dragon "doesn't look like him". And like. It could be just a funny little comment of no concequence. Some might even look at the comment to fuel their bizarre "Dragon is Xebec" theories (even though Garp is very explicit about Dragon being his son and the two do look alike actually, like Garp and Dragon have the same nose), but like I think about that comment, and then I think about Luffy making that "I don't know 'cause I'm not a Zoan" comment in fucking Punk Hazard when talking to Momo about using his fruit power. And like. LIKE. MAN. I DUNNO Y'ALL BUT LUFFY'S COMMENT ABOUT DRAGON NOT LOOKING LIKE HIM FEELS A LIL SUS (Also notice how Garp, Dragon and Luffy all have shit on the right side of their faces. Like Dragon has his massive tattoo but Luffy and Garp both have those scars under their eyes. And Crocodile just happens to have a matching scar.)

Also this is absolutely inconsequencial but. Like. Crocodile's favorite food is fucking. Crocodile meat and tomatoes. Fucking. MEAT. Just like Luffy. GOD.

I just. Crocodad would make so much sense on an emotional level for the story. It would make so much sense.

But I just. The timeline doesn't make sense at alllllll

#Moon posting #OP Spoilers #Crocodad #Sir Crocodile #I WANT TO BELIEEEEEVE #Trying to give up on Crocodad because there's no way in a million years it'll ever happen #But #I just #It'd be so good #It would make so much sense #I want it to be real so bad #But there's no way. There's no fucking way.#When will this man release me from the death grip he has me in #Only vaguely related but you know how everyone's been speculating Since Forever that Dragon's Devil Fruit would be like Wind or something #You know isn't it funny how one of Crocodile's iconic attacks is creating a sandstorm. Sand. And wind.#Cute #If anybody has any suggestions as to why Crocodile is still an active character in the story then please go ahead and sound off #He really just could've died off-screen at Marineford or during the timeskip if he wasn't somehow important but here he still is #Why the fuck #Why are you still here #Like I love you but why #There's a part of me wondering if there could be like a twist that Dragon isn't Luffy's father at all and it is actually cis male Crocodile #Who just left Luffy in Dragon's hands for some reason #But I don't enjoy theories that require you to invent new characters (and we'd have to invent a mother in this scenario)#And Luffy does look like Baby Garp a lot #(Sidenote: Luffy Dragon and Garp all have F bloodtypes (our A) while Croco is S (our O))#OP Meta

77 notes · View notes

badassturtles235147 · 4 months

Text

TMNT Strongest Couples

Number two: RaMona

Why Raphael and Monalisa are the second strongest couple in TMNT.

As we know, Raphael and Monalisa's relationship started off with conflict. Monalisa thinking that Raphael and his brothers purposely destroyed her ship, dishonoring her and her commander, while Raphael was thinking that he was meeting another future enemy.

Little did he know he was meeting the love of his life.

Raph did not do like Donnie when he first met April and go, "I see her, I like her, and I want her"

No. It did not matter how beautiful and attractive Monalisa is, as long as she was a threat to his brothers and friends, claiming she will fight them then Raph did not care how she looked. Raph is always quick to assume someone they first meet will end up being an enemy, because that is no doubt how he was raised by Splinter because of their mutation, to not easily trust others.

All of them were raised that way, to not trust strangers, and being the protector, Raph took it to heart but his quick to love-struck brothers, did not, even Leo, who is always lecturing them about being safe and careful during missions.

Raph did not fall for Mona right away, it was only after she punched him and saw how ruthless of a warrior she is, that Raph began to have feelings towards her.

As for Monalisa, it was only after Raph saved her and he completely destroyed the snow monster, saw what an honorable warrior he is, that she began to have feelings for him.

Basically, it was only after realizing that both of them were the same kind of warriors, that their love began to grow. They did not love each other just because of how the other looks but because of the kind of people they are.

Raph never trusted or loved anyone as much as he loved Mona and Mona felt the same way about him. Still, it was more personal to Raph because he never thought in a million years, he would ever find someone. Being a mutant turtle on a world full of humans and all.

Raph was never so open to anyone. Not even his own brothers or father. That is the one thing about Raphael and Monalisa, they never held anything back, they told each other everything. Good times and bad times. Their families. Their dreams. Their struggles. Everything. Monalisa never judged Raph for any of it and he never judged her.

Showing everyone that they trusted no body but each other and Raph hoped it would last forever then...

Monalisa betrayed him. Though she had good reasons, it still did not change the fact that she had betrayed Raphael and hurt him, badly.

Raph was so hurt by her betrayal that he could not even fight to protect his brothers. Raph never in his life felt such pain, or anger. He trusted her, gave her his heart and she squashed it like a bug.

Monalisa tried to apologize but Raph was still angry at her and could not forgive her right away. Monalisa never felt such regret and though she knew Raph would probably never want to see her again.

She was still determined to make things right. If she had just told Raphael the truth, then they could have worked together, came up with a different solution but Monalisa did not want to take the risk when her commander and people were on the line.

As a Salamanderian warrior she is trained to always put her duties first, her people first but Raphael...meant more to her than any of that and she wished she had not given in to her fear for her commander and people so easily.

What she did, was not what she believed an honorable warrior to be. She was determined to make it right, to make it up to Raphael and his brothers, to bring honor back to herself even if it meant die trying.

Knowing this, Monalisa confessed her love to Raphael before going off to fight to protect him. She wished she could have told him under better circumstances....

But for Raphael...that was the best time for her to confess her love and he was all but smiles as he went to fight by her side.

He was still hurt by her betrayal but after she said that, calming him down, he began to realize that it was not all her fault but Dregg's. She did what she had to do, and Raph could not say he would do any different if it came down to his family.

Raph still loved Monalisa, despite everything, and he was willing to try to forgive her then...

He almost lost her. You can see that Raph was scared out of his mind for her. He did not want to lose her, even though he pushed her away and even though he was angry at her, Raph did not want to lose the only person he has ever trusted or loved.

He was pleading to her to hold on, to pull through and he stood by her bedside, until she thankfully woke up. Raph was beyond relieved and when Monalisa tried to apologize again, asking if he could ever forgive her, Raph did not push her away this time. He only grabbed her hand, offering her a smile which said it all.

Raph would do anything for Monalisa, absolutely anything. He loved her so much and her almost dying only made him realize that more. He did not want to lose her, and he was determined not to. That is why he decided to accept her forgiveness and kissed her.

A while later, Raph sadly returned to Earth where he would never be able to see Monalisa for a very long time, but they still kept in touch through Raphael's space helmet.

However, the long-distance relationship was hard on both of them. The missed each other and were very lonely without each other. You can tell that Raph thought of Mona often, every day, every minute, and every second.

He wanted to see her again, to fight with her again, to just be with her again but couldn't because she was miles away fighting in space while he was stuck on Earth, fighting Shredder.

Monalisa's calls no doubt grew less and less overtime, her getting too busy in the army and after so long of hearing nothing, Raph no doubt started to think that their relationship might be over, him saying, "Who needs love, Chompy?! I'm a lone wolf! A rebel!"

Then Monalisa calls and suddenly, Raph's lone wolf act drops, and he is overall excited when Monalisa says she is coming to Earth.

Even after so long of not seeing each other and fear of their relationship ending, Raph and Mona jumped back right where they left off. Their love for each other not lessening one bit.

It felt good to have each other in their arms again, to talk to each other in person and to fight together once more. It felt so good...and neither of them wanted it to end.

It did not matter how strong their love was, though. Raph could not live with this long-distance thing anymore. He wanted Mona by his side forever, he did not want to lose her, especially after he just lost his father. Raphael needed her which is why he asked her to make big sacrifice.

He asked her to stay on Earth with him. To abandon the only home, she has ever known and live on a planet that she is unfamiliar with.

To Monalisa, that was impossible in her mind. How could she abandon her people? Her commander? Everything she has ever known?

Raph knows he is asking a lot from her and would never force Monalisa to do anything she did not want to or hold her back but...he just did not want to do the long-distance thing anymore. It wasn't enough for him. He needed her here, by his side and if Monalisa did decide to return back to her planet then...Raph did not know what he would do.

He would either try to stay with the long distance a little longer, in hopes that Monalisa would one day come to live with him or...he could let her go.

Monalisa knew this, it was hard for her as well and she did want to stay with him but...she did not know what to do. Once again, Monalisa is stuck choosing between Raphael or her duties as a Salamanderian warrior.

However, after fighting by his side again, Monalisa realized that she always wants to be fighting by his side. She was tired of fighting alone and not a moment goes by where she is not thinking about him.

Which is why...Monalisa decided to stay on Earth, making the excuse that she wished to help protect it from future alien threats. Thankfully, Sal commander understood and allowed her to stay, (Though annoying Bishop tried to get in the way but Raph would not let him)

So, yeah, there has been conflict, betrayal, distance and sacrifice on Monalisa's part but like Splinter and Tang Shen's relationship, Raphael and Monalisa did not let that get in their way.

Despite being from different worlds, these two somehow made their worlds become one. Their love was clear as day to them and everyone else. Raphael found his better half and Monalisa found her's.

Hamato Yoshi and Tang Shen RenetAngelo

ShiniRai LeoRai (Worst!)

AprilTello

#tmnt 2012 #tmnt raphael #tmnt mona lisa #tmnt Ramona #tmnt headcanons

43 notes · View notes

spctrsgf · 2 years

Text

“Trust Me, I know.”

summary: black six is dead. because of you.

word count: >1k

warnings: pilot!reader, angsty, language, mentions of death and survivors guilt, kinda fluffy at the end, can either be romantic or platonic

a/n: here’s a lil drabble i wrote in like two seconds because life is kicking my ass and it literally makes zero sense

another a/n: please ignore that leia is kinda rude in this one let’s say its been a rough day and you know she’s just teaching you a lesson

You rocked on your heels nervously, not daring to look up and into the disappointed eyes of your General. You hadn’t taken the liberty of sitting down when you entered her office, so you found yourself towering over Leia. She sighed heavily, finally reaching up to meet your eyes.

“What happened, Captain?” Her eyes were tired and weary.

You swallowed. “I- I veered off course. I thought that maybe I could quicken things up if I went a different route-“

“A pilot is dead.”

You nodded in shame.

“Commander Mera Chun is gone, she’s nothing but smithereens.” You could see the anger boiling beneath her skin.

“I’m-“

“Do not speak unless you are told to do so.” Her eyes bore holes into your skull, the crushing sadness and guilt bubbling over in both of you.

You nodded curtly, holding back the tremble of your chin.

“Mera is dead,” she rounded the table. “Your colleague, your teammate, hell, you could even say friend. Because of you.”

“I’m sorry, General.” Your head fell to your chest.

“Y/n, you’re always so careful. What happened out there?”

“I don’t know.”

Two fingers tucked underneath your chin, bringing you back to meet Leia’s gaze. “You know.”

“I-I can’t tell.” You bit your lip as you tried to restrain, but her gaze was drilling two holes in your brain like she could scoop it out herself.

“It was Poe.” Her words were less of a question and more of a statement.

“No no no no Leia,” you panicked, grasping for an explanation. “He didn’t try to, he normally teases me all the time and I can handle it, but this time I snapped and it’s my fault. The pilot is dead because of me.”

The General rubbed her temples, stepping back. “You’re dismissed.”

“Leia-“

“You’re dismissed.” Her voice was razor sharp.

“Don’t punish him, please. Punish me.” You tried to placate as you backed into the doors.

Leia said nothing, just watched the doors swing shut.

You ran your fingers through your hair, stalking towards your room. A million thoughts raced around your head, making you wobbly and unfocused. You need space, you needed to breath. You needed-

“Y/n!”

Fuck.

You ignored Poe, shuffling quicker. Your door was just around the corner, barely ten steps away— his hand gripped your arm, halting your pursuit. You huffed, turning to meet Poe. The man wore a million watt grin, probably eager to share a joke he’d come up with on the way. “I was thinking-“

“Poe,” you rubbed your temples. “Not the time.”

“You always say that.” His tone was still aloof, so either you had a good poker face or he was just blinded.

Your eyes fell from his and to the wall behind him. “I mean it this time, please.”

He caught on. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, just need..” you trailed off, gaze falling to your feet and then back up with a tight smile.

His eyes narrowed in suspicion. “You need what?”

“I- I need space.”

Poe frowned almost knowingly. “Are you sure? It helps to talk about it.“

You wanted to push him away. You wanted to shut everyone out and curl in on yourself, you didn’t want to burden him with your silly problems. But this wasn’t silly or stupid, this was something that could change your life, your job. It could shatter your sanity in two, and he could help, maybe. Maybe sharing some of the crushing pain you were feeling wasn’t such a bad idea.

You grabbed his arm and yanked him into your room, scaring him but not giving him a chance to pull away. You slammed your hand onto the sensor to open the door and stalked in, not bothering to unpack anything before you flopped onto your bed. Poe sat on the edge of your bed, reaching to untie your shoes as he waited patiently for your explanation.

After some time, you finally felt ready to open your mouth. “I- I fucked up bad, Poe,” you started. “and I can’t take it back now. Someone is dead because of me. Dead. And it’s all because I made that stupid maneuver! I thought it would save us some time, really! I thought it would blow up that carrier and knock out comms, but no, it didn’t. I fucking miscalculated and then killed Black Six and nearly killed myself. And Leia. She’s fucking pissed. I would too, honestly, because she’s gone,” you looked down at your shaking hands. “She’s gone and she’s never coming back. And that’s on me.”

Poe drew back at the ferocity of your words, the pure anger dripping from them. You looked like you were on the verge of tears, but your voice didn’t waver nor break, so sharp you could slice through beskar. He saw you through your own eyes, he saw the pure, gut-wrenching pain you felt, the survivors guilt. The disappointment in yourself and your abilities and how tired you were.

And he hated it.

He hated that you only saw what you did wrong, the bad parts of yourself. He wanted you to see what he saw, the immense amount of things you’d done well, the good things about yourself. He hated that you had to feel the pain of losing someone due to your fault, hated that you were probably going to shut everyone out again. He saw the accident happen, he knew all too well what it was that you were feeling, and it ruptured down into his soul.

Without a word, he wrapped an arm around you and crowded you into he chest. You cracked as he placed your hand over his heart, let you feel the solid, consistent beat of it. I know it hurts, but I’m here, he tried to say. And I’m not going anywhere. He rubbed circles on your back as you cried, letting you get it all out.

And in your room, silent except from the soft sniffles from your tears, he opened his mouth. “Please don’t blame yourself, it’s not worth it. Trust me, I know.”

#we love a supportive poe #anyways im stressed #poe dameron #poe dameron fluff #poe dameron imagine #poe dameron x reader #poe dameron x you #star wars #oscar issac x reader #oscar issac imagine #oscar isaac #oscar issac hernandez estrada

128 notes · View notes

shacchou · 4 months

Text

── ⌜KAIBA CORPORATION'S CHAIN OF COMMAND.⌟

It is important to remember that even though when it comes to the management of Kaiba Corporation and the company's internal affairs, Seto is the highest ranking officer, he does not own Kaiba Corporation per se, but rather, he owns a percentage of it. While it is obvious that the world the Yu-Gi-Oh! manga presents to us differs in many ways from our world, one detail that seems to remain unchanged and rooted in reality is the fact that, just like any other company, Kaiba Corporation has shareholders and a board of directors. This very detail has given way to internal power struggles that have led to pivotal moments in the company's history (e.g. Seto's takeover and Industrial Illusions' subsequent attempt at this very same thing).

Though the complete history of Kaiba Corporation is not directly addressed in the manga, Kazuki Takahashi did explain the company's origins in his interview for the character guide. The company was founded by Gozaburo's father and not by Gozaburo (this clashes with a specific panel in the manga where Seto briefly refers to Gozaburo as the company's founder, but for my portrayal I'm sticking to what was directly explained in more detail by Kazuki Takahashi), and was initially named "Kaiba Heavy Machinery Industry". It was after Gozaburo inherited the company that its focus shifted to high-tech, with Gozaburo patenting components like IC chips, while still maintaining the military forces and its respective governments as its target customers. Therefore, Seto was introduced to the world of high-tech through Gozaburo and Kaiba Corporation, and was given access to the company's resources since a young age (which explains how he was able to create his first VR system when Gozaburo was still alive— the same one that would ultimately become the Solid Vision System). It is unknown if Seto had any specific knowledge or liking for technology before becoming Gozaburo's heir (as per my portrayal though, Seto had a predilection for games before he was adopted by Gozaburo, but it was after he was adopted that he saw the opportunity of mixing his love for games with high-tech).

That said, Seto's takeover was successful because he gained the favor of the "Big Five". While it is not said in the manga whether this group bought their shares for the specific purpose of gaining the power to name Seto the company's new representative director, or if they already possessed the majority of shares beforehand, it is established that between them, and by Duelist Kingdom, they owned 60% of Kaiba Corporation's stock, thus they had decision-making power. Of course, I do think that after the events of Duelist Kingdom, there was another shift in power within the company, during which Kaiba Corporation's stock changed hands and the "Big Five" were stripped of their positions within the Board of Directors. All the same, I do not believe Seto to be the sole owner of Kaiba Corporation's stock, nor do I think he owns 51% of it, which is the minimum percentage required to have absolute decision-making power, though I do believe his number of shares have increased exponentially in the last years. Even so, given how massively successful his every business venture has been since Duelist Kingdom, it's safe to say that he rarely faces opposition from the rest of the shareholders, who by this point trust his ability to manage the company and turn in millions of dollars in profit.

The shareholders are, therefore, at the top of the chain. It is the shareholders who, through General Meetings, appoint both the Chairman and the members of the Board of Directors. The Board of Directors, as the direct representatives of the shareholders, look out for their interests by supervising the company's operations and evaluating the CEO's performance. The highest authority figure within the board is the Chairman. And it is both the Chairman and the Board of Directors who select and appoint the Chief Executive Officer. When it comes to my portrayal, Seto is both the Chairman and the CEO (CEO and President, in the context of Kaiba Corporation, are synonyms, though of course this is something that varies from company to company and is merely what I've chosen for my portrayal). Directly below the CEO are the Chief Operating Officer and the Executive Vice President (the position held by Mokuba). We can say those two are the second and third in command when it comes to the company's internal affairs. In practical terms though, their power is almost the same, they simply focus on different areas (generally speaking, the COO focuses on day-to-day operations, while the EVP focuses on monitoring the departments within the company). After them comes the rest of the C-level executives, then the VPs for each department and managers. So, in general terms, Kaiba Corporation's organigram (including outside and inside operators) would look something like this:

Of course, this is an extremely general and basic diagram. It's obvious that it's impossible to summarize a corporation as gigantic as Kaiba Corporation in one image, and each department has it particularities and may or not have more employees with management power in other positions.

All in all, Seto's work and performance as CEO is subjected to the board's supervision, that holds quarterly meetings for this exact purpose. It is Seto himself who presides these meetings, and ever since Duelist Kingdom, his permanence as CEO and Chairman has not once been brought into question. So, in theoretical terms, Seto is neither the full owner of Kaiba Corporation, nor is he the sole decision-maker. In practical terms though, given that he has earned the trust of the shareholders, he is usually given a lot of freedom and power to make the most important decisions.

#❛ ♔// hc.#do not reblog.#// Can you tell that my favorite facet of Seto is his executive one?

11 notes · View notes

lansplaining · 1 year

Note

Why did JGY make trouble for Jim Zixuan on the night Wen Ning killed him by accident? I didn’t understand that part of the novel/cql.

i've talked about this before, but a) I can't find it because tumblr and b) I'm always really excited to talk about it again, because clarifying this moment really made such a huge difference in my understanding of JGY's character. also as soon as i started really digging in, it, uh, became a huge post. sorry.

so my initial instinct was to draw a really sharp delineation between CQL and MDZS, because the second flautist completely changes the tenor of the event. and to a certain extent, it does! CQL JGY had a reasonable expectation that JZX would show up and get killed, because he knew the second flautist could take control of Wen Ning, or at the very least cause things to totally go to hell, hopefully in a way that also resulted in Wei Wuxian being killed. but when it comes to the question of motivation, the two are actually way more aligned than I realized-- it’s simply a case of CQL JGY directing his feelings in a more active (”villainous”) way.

so, CQL first. when Lan Xichen asks if he “singlehandedly” arranged for Jin Zixuan to die, he says (from the Netflix subs), “It’s true I didn’t run into him by accident.” WWX demands details, and we get a flashback to JGY manipulating Zixuan into going after Jin Zixun. I guess we can assume he had a backup plan for getting him there if this very light-touch tactic didn’t work, but it does seem worth noting that he doesn’t even begin to explicitly suggest that Jin Zixuan should follow-- it’s really an amazing display of how JGY has gotten to know and understand Zixuan a million times better than Zixuan (who literally suggests that JGY should have tried to stop Zixun...... Zixuan please have you observed your family dynamics at all) has bothered to get to know JGY. Then we cut to Su Mishan playing the flute as JGY plays the guqin (remote control evil music??) and the implication seems to be that ‘kill Zixuan’ was directly part of the musical instruction Wen Ning received.

okay, so, as Jin Ling immediately asks (and can we give props to the mix of anger and sadness and disbelief and betrayal of the very obvious love and trust he has in JGY in his performance!!!)-- why?

JGY (after tearfully reaching for Jin Ling’s face and then recoiling!!! this scene makes me crazy!!!!) replies: “Why? A-Ling. Could you please tell me why? Tell me. Why do I put a smile on my face for everyone, yet I won’t necessarily receive the lowest form of respect in return while your father, who was arrogant and self-important, was sought after by people? Can you tell me why, even though we shared the same father, your dad could spend the day at home at leisure, with the love of his life and playing with his child, while I had to be deployed by my father by blood to do all the dirty work without even getting the slightest appreciation? Why is it that even though we were born on the same day, Jin Guangshan could host a grand banquet for one son and meanwhile, watch with his own eyes how his subordinate kicked his other son down the Carp Tower? He asked his man to kick me down the Carp Tower from the top of the stairs to the very end. A-Ling, now you tell me, why did all these things happen to me?

I believe this is our first time learning this story from JGY’s own mouth, and the first time we see the flashback of him actually being kicked down the stairs while JGS looks on.

He concludes: “It is not that I do not want to be a good man. To this father of mine, I once had hopes as well. In the past, as long as it was his command, no matter if it was to set Wei Wuxian up or to protect Xue Yang, no matter how foolish it was, how much hatred I would get, I would obey without hesitation. A-Ling, do you know what it was that made me lose hope completely? It wasn’t that in his eyes I was less than nothing to him when compared to Jin Zixuan, or that he took back Mo Xuanyu, or that he wouldn’t even let me hold you, or that he tried every possible way to make me a mere figurehead.”

by this point, he’s totally forgotten about JZX and we’re basically back onto why he killed JGS.

as for MDZS! from the ExR translation because that's uh the screencap I have saved from last time lol

then, WWX asks why, if that’s the case, he had to kill JZX, and JGY gives a sassy reply that basically dodges the question.

so, in typical JGY fashion in this scene, he starts out with the pettiest and most uncharitable interpretation of his own actions, the one he seems to expect people will most readily accept and jump to. but as he goes on, it gets a little more complex.

the thing that he barely touches in either version but is very distinctly present-- and that totally poleaxed me the first time I noticed it-- is that Jin Guangshan had ordered him to kill Wei Wuxian. and his very reasonable response to this is, 'okay, but literally how???'

the CQL version hammers home way more than MDZS, because of where and how it reveals information, that JGY is undoubtedly fueled by envy and resentment of JZX and the fact that he has the life JGY feels like he deserved. like MDZS, this bleeds into thinking about his dad, and MDZS ultimately lays it out for us (if we believe that line of narration) that it was really about hating JGS and not Zixuan at all. i think CQL’s arrangement of information nudges things back a little more to the envy argument, but it does so in a way where we’re given new, sympathetic information about JGY all in a rush, and shown it in flashback so that it can really actively hit. and I think the reactions we get from the characters who hear this are kind of sympathetic! they’re clearly extremely conflicted about this whole situation, but no one is reacting with outright disbelief or disgust. i think this works well in the world with a second flautist (my feelings about that plot device are for a different time, but you can guess, I’m sure)-- more active resentment of Zixuan specifically leads to him deciding more actively to murder Zixuan, not just try and make life hard for him in a way that will likely lead to violence, but not inevitably death.

so this is how I interpret JGY's thought process in the moment he sent Zixuan to follow Wei Wuxian: he has been ordered to kill WWX, and presumably told to use his journey to or time at Koi Tower for the 100 Days Ceremony to do it. JGY recognizes that this is probably impossible, and definitely impossible without causing massive collateral damage. his resentment of Jin Zixuan hits a boiling point at this-- on top of everything else, their father is happy to basically send JGY to his death to attempt this assassination while JZX gets to happily plan a party for his baby and not think about these things at all. he thinks, “wouldn't it be nice if JZX had to deal with these problems for once,” and decides “fuck it, let's see what happens” (or, in CQL, “fuck it, let’s get rid of him”). in MDZS, he has no way of knowing that JZX or indeed anyone else would be killed, though I think he's not so naive as to think that violence isn't a likely outcome-- though one has to say that the form of violence that did take place was pretty unexpected to everyone involved! Zixuan’s a strong cultivator, he could have survived most normal fights, probably even against a normal Wen Ning. but as an active fratricide attempt, it's way too contingent and uncontrolled.

in MDZS, at the end of the day, I think that JGY was just really angry, wanted some petty revenge, and decided to see what would happen if JZX was in his place for once. the tenor in CQL is only slightly different: he actively chooses to try and get Zixuan killed, but the emotional push is the same, and I do think is likewisesomething that just comes together in the moment from a combination of the immediate problem (I’m meant to kill WWX before he gets here) and immediate circumstances (fuck JZX and his nice little baby shower while I have to assassinate the most powerful cultivator in the world).

#book reference #show reference #ask answered #okay also pointing out typos annoys me so i didn't want to do it in the body #but Jim Zixuan made me CACKLE

63 notes · View notes

lya-dustin · 6 months

Text

All is Bliss

Chapter 57

Cw: talks of murder

Taglist:@alexandria-millie @mercedesdecorazon @watercolorskyy @sweethoneyblossom1 @darylandbethfanforever9 @ewanmitchellcrumbs

Aenys’ anointing begins with the welcoming of the Storm lords and the Reach.

For this Aemma is to be let out of Maegor’s Holdfast because Gods’ forbid they realize what state the royal marriage is ---as if it could not be seen already from the neighboring celestial body. She chooses red, a neutral color, over the green and gold dress Aegon had made for her and refuses to wear the jewels Aegon gifted her for the occasion.

She may not be at the anointing at the Dragonpit because she will be declared ritually clean later this morning when it becomes the nine and fortieth day since she gave birth. Not that Aemma is bothered by it, it gave them the opening they needed to take back what is, by law and blood, hers.

She looks stunning and regal, but really, wearing green nor black no longer means what it did a year ago. Fabric dye does not denote loyalty, at least now that Alicent has joined mother in the afterlife.

Aemma could wear green and a seven-pointed star and pretend to be the doe-eyed wife and mother, but she wouldn’t be fooling anyone. Least of all Aegon who looks at Cassandra with unabashed desire.

Not that she cares, he could try and bed her and it won’t make a difference. He could have her when it’s over, maybe give Cassandra Storm’s End and an infertile philandering husband to be merciful and punish her family for their disloyalty at the same time.

“Sacking the witch won’t stop her from killing you and the baby.” Jena continues to pressure her into ordering Alys’ death.

As much as Aemma would like to leave the witch for Syrax for murdering her mother and sister, Aemma knows Alys must’ve put up some sort of safeguard to keep herself alive.

Aegon is fair game, but without an army and under proper guard, he would be harmless.

Not that Jena understands, Jena thinks she should kill her husband with a slow poison via a servant he trusts and then use said servant as a scapegoat.

You know, like she did with her first husband.

For Alys she wants a public trial, after all she murdered two queens and possibly even the king. Such crimes were always punished with very public spectacles.

“What if she kills me and Aenys anyway when we kill her?” Aemma asked her and Jena conceded that. “As Lady Lothson she has a name, a husband and Harrenhal once we get Larys out of the way. It’s safer to give her what she wants than kill her and find out what sort of failsafe she has in place, Jena.”

“And when it is no longer enough for her?” That was the million-dragon question. What happens when she asks for more? But that is a question for another day.

“Are the men ready?” Aemma asks in High Valyrian and the woman nods.

The moment the royal parties returned from the ceremony, they would find themselves swearing fealty to her or die.

Baratheon would be arrested; his men would bend the knee or join their lord in the dungeon and all those still loyal to Aegon would be seized as well. For Aemond and Helaena’s sake Aegon would be spared and live in Driftmark with his sister.

This she had made her council swear to her last night as they agreed on today after Septon Eustace lied to open the door they must now run through.

The plans had changed when Baratheon’s commanders and sergeants realized Daemon had four dragons and their only dragon rider had been arrested for treason. There was no need to have the men slaughtered in the Kingsroad, no need for them to kill more people when they can just end this by noon.

There was also that the smallfolk had begun to stir from the lack of food, the army at the gates and the first cool of the season that settled in last night with dense fog over the Blackwater this morning.

Some blamed Aegon, some blamed her, but most blamed Aegon and his family for starting the war when they could have waited a fucking week to make him king.

They had realized their king didn’t care if they starved. Mysaria and her underlings had then reminded them how little Ser Otto cared for them, how Alicent did the bare minimum for them and the peace they lost thanks to the Greens.

Everything was ripe for the taking. Even better, it would all be done with minimal bloodshed.

“The moment they return to the Red Keep, all your enemies will be gone.” Jena whispers as she helps her into the grey cloak that will cover her from head to toe.

It was now or never.

Aemond is not let out for the anointing. He is ,strangely, given court clothes and a bath even though he is not to beg for his life as part of the celebrations.

When a babe is anointed, a new king crowned or on specific religious holidays, prisoners are handpicked to beg the king for a royal pardon or a chance to take the Black and avoid being executed.

The queen ---or a member of the royal family--- may petition for their lives. Aemma once asked mother to spare a woman who murdered her husband ---and several people who had justification for their crimes--- and succeeded by threatening to turn the court’s opinion against her.

Was it because she wouldn’t hesitate to beg for his life?

He knows she would, she’d never hesitate to jump into the line of fire for those she loves.

Aemond dreamt of her, nothing improper occurred between them as in previous dreams, but there was something as he laid his head on her lap under the weirwood tree.

It was something they’d do as children, sit there together reading or playing with her little dragon.

When they began their affair, such public displays could never happen, but in his dream, she carded her fingers through his hair as she read something to him softly. The soft sunshine of spring filtered through the leaves and the moment never seemed to end.

Figures even his dreams would mock him these days.

“What am I being dressed for, Ironrod?” he asks the Master of Laws who comes as he always does.

This time he brings the Grand Maester, the Seasnake, Ser Steffon Darklyn ---who now serves as Lord Commander--- and a woman.

“I could hardly let you swear your oath to the Gods-Anointed One in your stale ones, One-Eye.” He comes with someone, likely Jena going by the glimpse he caught of the cloak and the red skirts. But Jena wasn’t so tall to stand almost shoulder to shoulder with her husband.

Aemond smiles broadly as Aemma removes her hood. She returns his smile but doesn’t speak, not that she needs to for this.

“Prince Aemond Targaryen, son of King Viserys, rider of the dragon Vhagar and Commander of the Usurper’s armies.” Corlys, Hand of the Queen spoke with an authority to rival the late Ser Otto.

In the Game of Thrones, Corlys had won and yet it cost him almost as much as it cost Otto Hightower.

Aemond kneels at his queen’s feet and swears his oath, the same oath he swore to his brother a year ago.

Only this time, he will not break it.

This time it is sworn to someone worthy of the Conqueror’s Crown.

“I, Prince Aemond Targaryen, promise to be faithful to Queen Aemma and her chosen heir, the Prince Aenys. I pledge fealty to them and shall defend them against all enemies in good faith and without deceit. I swear this by the old gods and the new.”

A/N: a woman was deemed impure for 40 days after the birth and had to be churched, aka do prayers and be absolved from sin by a priest, to rejoin society. Since the Faith loves the number 7, i made it 49 nine days instead of 40.

Aemma also is closer to 60 days than 49, but a male led government doesn't know that.

#aemma velaryon #aemond targaryen x velaryon!oc #all is bliss (in the court of aemma the great)#all is bliss(in the court of aemma the great) fic #aemond targaryen x oc #aemond fanfiction #ewan mitchell #aemmacore

12 notes · View notes

trippygalaxy · 8 months

Note

it is 3am and i have school in 3hrs but i had a thought and i wasn't gonna sleep until i got it out

also this is to make up for the last prince! time piece that i wrote but shh

"The least you could do is look interested," the king chastises, his meaty hand managing to pinch the prince's skin through the layers of fabric that covered his elbow. "The last thing I need is an alliance falling through because your spoiled ass couldn't muster a simple thank you."

Time shrugs him off, leaning into the padded arm of the smaller, less decorated throne. He cushions his chin and cheek with his palm, eyes looking everywhere but the four other bodies that occupied the cold room.

Ignoring the rattling in his chest that comes from defying anything the king says, Time forces a stuttering sigh to leave his mouth and stands. "I feel ill," and restless. His voice carries and echoes despite how quiet he is, and he doesn't like it. "I need to rest." His fingers clench, his nails and overly-bejeweled rings biting into the skin.

His knight is quick to take a stand beside him rather than behind. They offer a hand, waiting for him to interlace their fingers and wrap his arm between theirs for support.

You don't stagger when he leans most of his weight onto you. You were no stranger to it and you'd be a fool to not admit it was a reassuring reminder of his trust in you.

His head finds itself pillowed in the space between your jaw and shoulder despite the awkward angle and position it looks to put you both in.

If you hadn't found yourselves like this a million times before, you'd gently reposition him.

"Less than a dozen citizens are waiting to be seen and we've seen at least a hundred since morning broke, Your Highness," you're quick to say upon seeing the way the king's face reddens. "Surely a break is in line for the prince and the candidates. Would lunch and a moment to recollect themselves not be a good idea?"

The king's lips thin and his eyes darken into a glare, but it all calms when the advisor places a hand on his shoulder. "It would be best, yes." You're quick to lead Time away when they wave you both off, ignoring the tickle in your neck when his ear twitches at their saying "an hour recess can be put in order."

You both know how to play pretend until you reach the privacy of his bedroom. He keeps his breath heavy in the crook of your neck and you force your spine to remain straight under the peering eyes of your subordinates that lined the castle halls.

Time pries himself off of you and collapses onto his bed back-first when you shut the doors. His arms are raised to the ceiling and his hair is splayed out to look like a halo, making him in the likeness of an angel.

He beckons you closer with a flick of his wrist once the undeniable click of his doors locking hits his ears. All it takes is a tug of your arm to make you fall atop him and you couldn't help but be thankful that your commander hadn't made you wear any type of armor under or over your royal uniform.

"All this talk of weddings," he scoffs, one hand coming to rest on the middle of your back while the other knocks your cap off so he can bury his nose in the crown of your head. He takes a deep breath before speaking again, the hand on your back keeping you pressed against him impossibly close. "It makes me wonder what we'd look like in matching outfits of our own."

You hum against the column of his throat, nose bumping against his chin when you lift your head to look at him. "We were matching when we got married," you huff, plucking his crown and turning it in your hands. "You were the one that chose what we wore."

"That's different." The pout on his face is priceless. He turns his head away when you thumb at his lips, still managing to carefully watch when you wipe the near-clear and shiny residue on your own. "It wasn't an official wedding. It was only us, Malon, and Cremia— and we didn't even exchange rings."

You raise a brow and lift yourself until you’re sitting, weight resting on Time's middle. Placing the crown on your head, you undo the clasps and buttons that keep your cape on your shoulders and your coat together respectively.

It's like a practiced dance as you go through the motions to remove the pins, medals, and tassels that keep you from removing each upper part of your uniform as Time busies himself with fixing the crown.

"Is this not a sign of our marriage?" You pull the collar of your undershirt down until he's able to see the small tattoo that sits over your heart. Time replaces your hands, keeping the shirt away and framing the image he had designed himself. "Is my devotion to you not another?"

Time feels the bumps of the pattern beneath his fingertips when he rubs them over the skin. "They are," he mumbles, a pensive look on his face.

"But what?"

"You've heard me say it a hundred times before."

"Why would I have an issue hearing it again?"

He sighs and drops his hands so they rest on your calves. "I just wish to go public with our marriage, that's all."

"One day," you promise, leaning down until your lips touch. The kiss is chaste and he chases you when you pull away, but doesn't do much else other than press a kiss to your collarbone. "Now help me get dressed. I'm sure someone will bring you food soon and the last thing we need is a scandal."

"Whatever you wish, My Grace."

Omg thank you for this maj-

PRINCE!TIME FLUFF YALL!!!!! And i love that he called reader ‘my grace’ and my hear is just so 😭😭😭

ALSO MALON BEING AT THEIR ‘WEDDING’ YES PLEASE!!!!!!

She def helped with sneaking the two away so that they could have little secret dates!!

#trippy answers #tales from the void #☀️sun maj☀️#prince!time #prince! time #(doing both cause i forgot which one i choose #ALSO GOOD LUCK AT SCHOOL MAJ!!!!

7 notes · View notes

trentcrimminallybeautiful · 10 months

Text

thinking about a tedependent qcard au because both options here are good in wildly different ways.

on one hand, ted as q and trent as picard is very funny. trent is just trying to do his job (would he still be a starship captain/explorer or is he just like. a space journalist. because i actually love the idea of trying to make him being some form of space journalist work) and this Actual Fuckin Space God keeps showing up and the only name he'll give them is ted lasso which sounds like a ridiculous cartoon cowboy, and for some reason he is just utterly enamored with trent. of all people. no one, including trent, knows what the hell to make of this. trent is actively trying to be unpleasant but lasso just seems to be even more interested. at first trent treated this situation with the proper caution but by the sixth time he just popped into existence with a bunch of confetti appearing out of nowhere trents just like I REALLY DONT HAVE TIME FOR THIS and ted lasso, actual borderline-all-powerful space being, is just like cmaaahhnn trent dont you wanna see something neato? and trents like i swear to god if youve turned all the chemicals in the science bay into bbq sauce again-- but like while that's all very funny there is also an implied trust there: trent knows that if he yells at ted or gets upset, ted isn't going to snap his fingers and make their airlock doors vanish. and, yknow, maybe they get put into some Situations--trent seeing ted genuinely vulnerable (who knew that being an borderline omnipotent being made panic attacks WORSE not non-existent?) and perhaps a "ted gets turned human and is quite bad at it" sequence, i don't know, but like. trent slowly realizing ted's interest is genuine and sincere and that while he's, well. alien, in the sense that sometimes he just Doesn't Get things (like why he can't just teleport the ship a million light years away without asking first) he means well, and that for all his mischief he isn't malicious, and like. also again this is just really funny bc let's be real the entire concept of q and picard's dynamic is hilarious. local Actual Space God becomes completely obsessed with random middle aged guy who yells at him to get off his goddamn ship every time he shows up. (i mean, picard is extraordinary in his own way, obviously, but like. cmon. it's still very funny.)

on the other hand, the more dramatic angle of trent as q and ted as picard: trent being charged with judging a lesser species and having his whole perspective changed by one bizarre little human and his genuine kindness. trent keeps coming back (ted's first officer, commander beard, is very wary, but admiral welton seems to be encouraging this super dangerous being for some reason?) and ted continues to be kind to him and trent--trent ends up. uh. starting a revolution? on accident? oops?

i've probably got other thoughts but this is all i got for now. spinning in the brain centrifuge

#tvtcau #this isn't even getting into incorporating stuff from i q and q-trilogy #tedependent

9 notes · View notes

wisdomrays · 3 months

Text

REFLECTIONS ON THE QUR'AN: Suratu'l-Baqarah (The Cow) : Part 24

“And when (O Messenger) My servants ask you about Me, then surely I am near: I answer the prayer of the suppliant when he prays to Me. So let them respond to My call (without hesitation), and believe and trust in Me (in the way required of them), so that they may be guided to spiritual and intellectual excellence and right conduct.” (Al-Baqarah 2:186)

God Almighty declares, “I am near to My servants” here, as He states in many other different places, as well. It is absolutely true that Allāh is very close to His servants; however, the servants’ ability to have knowledge of Him depends on their sincerity in prayers and the development of their senses, and so on. It is quite understandable that the Prophet’s knowledge of Allāh and his perception of Allāh in his conscience is not equal with that of any other human being, even if they happen to be among the awliyā’ullāh, or closest friends of God. What is due and important for every believer is to try their hardest to increase in their knowledge of God, to preserve their standing that they have acquired, and to do whatever their position requires. In other words, a person must act according to the requirements of his status in terms of his relationship with God, his thoughts, lifestyle, and conduct. Otherwise, that person may degrade as if falling down to a bottomless pit from the top of a high tower.

In the verse discussed, God’s closeness to His servant is mentioned beyond any terms of quality and quantity and is related to the good news of His quick response to prayers. Emphasized here are the sincere prayer on the part of the servant and a quick response on the part of God, as well as God’s nearness to the servants in terms of His response to their prayers.

Besides, the verse draws the attention to the meta-physical, meta-material, or meta-natural effect of the prayer. That is, the verse shuts the mouths of materialists, naturalists, and even monists who claim that prayer has no use and effect, and it warns them that physical causes and what they introduce as the laws of nature are only God’s creation, and that God’s Will and Power are never dependent on them. It is God Himself Who creates the universe, nature, and physical causes and Who has established the “natural system.” Although He has allowed His servants to be able to infer the laws from the established, constant working of nature, He can change everything whenever He wills, stop nature or some part of it from its regular operation, annul any of its laws, and, therefore, He can answer the prayers of His servants, working miracles or extraordinary, unexpected things.

Apart from this, the verse also reminds us that Allāh is close to His servants, even closer to them than their own jugular veins.[1] He hears every voice and knows even what is kept secret in bosoms or hearts. Therefore, there is no need to pray loudly and exclaim as if someone were explaining something to somebody who cannot hear or know. So we must pray in a decent manner of invoking with an awareness that He is closer to us than ourselves. In addition, according to the last part of the verse, “So let them respond to My call, and believe and trust in Me so that they may be guided to spiritual and intellectual excellence and right conduct,” as long as God’s servants adhere to His commands sincerely and aim at attaining perfect faith in all their acts, then they become able to attain maturity and straightness on their path and achieve their goal. Because, as far as servants take refuge in God, isolating themselves from their own whims, desires, ambition, weak spots, and grudges, they have entrusted their affairs to God. And God Almighty confirms the person by showing His additional favor in a particular manner. Thus, He can create in a moment a thousand times what thousands of causes, natural laws, and specific powers are never able to construct in millions of years.

When the Ultimate Truth manifests Himself with His favor, He makes everything easy;

He creates the means to the thing desired and grants them in an instant.

#islam #allah #quran #muslim #revert #god #help #convert #religion #ayat

2 notes · View notes

dialovers-translations · 1 year

Text

Diabolik Lovers LOST EDEN ー Laito Ecstasy [06]

CHAPTER MASTERLIST

Monologue

I want to invite them over here.

Those words of her,

could only mean one thing from how I interpreted them.

I am aware.

Of her connection with them,

as well as with Kinoーー

ー The scene starts in the big hall at Eden

Laito: I mean, sure?

Yui: Eh?

Kou: ...? What do you mean?

Laito: You know, I’m suggesting we do exactly as she proposed.

Yui: Eh? You don’t mind?

Laito: Nope?

Yui: ( I wonder what has gotten into him all of a sudden...? )

Kanato: One second, please. Are you being serious, Laito?

Laito: I mean, I don’t see why we should deny them. Right, Reiji?

Reiji: Why are you asking me?

Laito: I figured you’d be able to come up with a sound reasoning.

Reiji: Well, I suppose it would entail certain benefits for us as well.

Kino, the man leading these Ghouls, is one of the individuals out to steal your Powers after all...

Laito: It’d play in our advantage if Kino were to come here and join forces with us instead, right?

Ayato: Still...I can’t imagine he’d want to work together with us.

Laito: You think so? We already formed an alliance once in the past, so don’t you think he’d readily accept if we promise to protect him and his Ghouls?

Ayato: Oi, what do you think, Chichinashi?

Yui: Eh?

Laito: Bitch-chan is the one who knows Kino best out of all of us, isn’t she~?

Yui: Wellーー

( What should I answer? )

Selection

→ We can’t trust him

Yui: If you were to ask me whether we can trust him or not, I’d say we can’tーー

Laito: Well, I figured you’d say that.

Yui: Eh?

Ayato: Anyway, Chichinashi, you want to bring some shady fucker hereーー!?

Yui: I meanーー That’s because the circumstances are as is.

Laito: Right?

→ You can look at it in different ways (❦)

Yui: I think you can look at it in different ways...If we take into account the ill treatment of the Ghouls, then Kino-kun alsoーー

Laito: Heeh. You’re going to stand up for him?

Yui: Eh?

Laito: Oh no, I’m just talking to myself.

Ayato: I just can’t trust that guy...

Laito: ーー But you know, just look at it like this.

Regardless of the Ghouls’ situation, Kino is our brother, remember?

...So don’t you think he only has the right to come here?

I mean, if the Mukami’s are allowed to stay here even?

Yuma: Ah? What? Got a problem with it, mate?

Laito: Don’t get up in my face. I’m only stating the truth, aren’t I?

Shuu: ーー Well...When you look at it like that, I guess there’s really no reason for us to deny them.

Yui: Shuu-san...! Then...

Shuu: Laito. You’re sure that’s what you want, right?

Laito: Why do you need to confirm a million times like that? I mean, I’m not trying to commit any crimes, am I?

Right, Bitch-chan?

Yui: Yeah, you’re...right.

Ayato: ...

Kanato: ...

Subaru: Ugh...

Reiji: ーー Well then, if that is what you want, I shall get everything arranged at once.

Laito: Nfu~ I’m counting on you.

Yui: Reiji-san, I’ll help out as well!

Reiji: That would be a great help.

Ruki: In that case, so will we.

Yui: ( Is Laito-kun really okay with it? I mean, I’m happy with this outcome, but... )

( Something doesn’t feel right... )

( I feel like we’re going in circles or something. )

( But...That’s just the reality of dating Laito-kun which I’ll have to accept...I guess? )

Monologue

ーー To my surprise, my suggestion which was once nearly turned down already,

actually got given the green light by Laito-kun.

Laito-kun justifies his actions,

by claiming that doing this will not only save himself time and effort,

but those in trouble are none other,

than his own brother Kino, the Ravens and the Ghouls under his command.

While I am genuinely happy that Laito-kun has acknowledged them,

for some reason, it doesn’t feel right (違和感).

I cannot help but end up doubting his true intentions.

In which case, nothing has changed at all...

Laito-kun is truly a very delicate individual.

He will go back to being his old self over the most trivial of happenings.

If there is something weighing down on his mind,

then I wish he would just speak up (ぶつけてきて) about it to me.

ーー TO BE CONTINUED ーー

#diabolik lovers #dialovers #laito sakamaki #lost eden #diabolik lovers translation #lelaitoecstasy6

41 notes · View notes

galacticwildfire · 2 years

Text

Illicit Affairs | Obi-Wan Kenobi

Thirteen

Obi-Wan Kenobi x Amidala!oc

Rhea Amidala meets Obi-Wan Kenobi when he and his master come to her younger sisters aid and he discovers the queen's sister was once a Jedi, expelled from the order for her unwillingness to forgo love and attachment. The two stranded together on Tatooine find common ground despite their differences, and above all a hope within the other for something greater than themselves.

He hopes for her to rejoin the order, while she hopes for him to leave, and both are left reeling from their illicit affair, until ten years later he is once again called to her sister's service and they are catapulted into each other's lives by a war that will set them on the same path of secrecy and tragedy.

Word count:5.5k

Tags/warnings: a little fluff then a whole lot of angst

We descend into the atmosphere to find a watery planet consumed by storms and immediately something feels off. There's no need to confirm it with him because I know he feels it too.

"There," I say pointing to a settlement and he finds a landing hub whilst I quickly braid my hair, having a feeling this is definitely going to end in a fight.

Upon landing I stand and secure my weapons belt, only to still when I feel his hand on my arm and look up at him in surprise as he wraps his cloak around my shoulders to protect me from the rain and I smile up at him at the gesture.

"Thank you," I say softly and he squeezes my shoulder with an equally soft smile.

"Come on," he says with a hand on my back as we exit my ship and hurry through the rain to get indoors, him catching my arm as I almost slip and we're both laughing as we head in through the doors.

He's soaking wet but he doesn't seem to overly mind considering the thickness of his robes and I wrap his cloak tight around me as we walk through the entrance and we're surprised to find one of their species already waiting for us.

"Master Jedi," she addresses Obi-Wan. "The Prime Minister is expecting you."

"Expecting?" I repeat and Obi-Wan blinks in confusion, almost flattered.

"We're expected?"

"Of course," she says as if it is obvious. "He is anxious to meet you. After all these years we were beginning to think you weren't coming. Now please, this way."

We share a look to make sure we heard that right, and he keeps a hand on my back as she guides us through the building, something about the very design of the place feels uncomfortably clinical and sure enough the white light is blinding as we're brought into a room where a man who must be the Prime Minister waits for us.

"May I present, Lama Su, Prime Minister of Kamino."

We both bow our heads in customary respect, or at least hoping that's the custom.

"And this is Master Jedi..."

"Obi-Wan Kenobi," he answers and introduces me formally "And Lady Rhea Amidala, General of Naboo."

"I trust you are going to enjoy your stay," the Prime Minister says, inviting us to sit in the pod chairs that are lowered.

I sit with my legs crossed and back straight, having had my lacking regalness of youth quickly beat into me by Count Dooku, while Obi-Wan leans forward with his legs spread, truly commanding attention without even realising it. Even now soaked from the rain, or rather especially so, he truly is a sight. Quickly I pull my eyes from him as the Prime Minister begins speaking.

"And now to business, you will be delighted to hear that we are on schedule." At the next words I go cold. "Two hundred thousand units ready with a million more well on the way."

I gulp feeling a chill wash over me and look to Obi-Wan who struggles to hide his bewilderment. "That's... good news."

"Please tell your Master Sifo Dyas that his order will be met on time."

For me the name is vaguely familiar, but Obi-Wan asks them to repeat it as if he's not hearing them right.

"I'm sorry, master...?"

"Jedi Master Sifo Dyas is still a leading member on the Jedi Council, is he not?"

I know enough to come to the conclusion that he certainly is not.

Obi-Wan glances at me, a brief flash of panic in his eyes before he says "Master Sifo Dyas was killed almost ten years ago."

"Oh," the Prime Minister says, surprised. "I am so sorry to hear that, but I'm sure he would have been proud of the army we've built for him."

The air goes cold and Obi-Wan looks at me as I sit there dumbfounded. This- this isn't the army Dooku's been trying to acquire, he wants battle droids not whatever cloners make.

"Army?" I repeat and try to make it seem like we are aware of it. "I have built an army myself for Naboo, please tell me of the one you have built."

"A clone army," he clarifies and I try to keep my face neutral. "And I must say, one of the finest we've ever created."

"Tell me Prime Minister, when my master first contacted you about the army did he say who it was for?" Obi-Wan asks, likely suspecting what I do, that it's for the Separatists but neither of us could have expected the answer.

"Of course he did," he answers. "This army is for the Republic."

That's when my stomach falls. The Military Creation Act. It's already underway, it has been for years. This attempt might not be Dooku's work after all if the bounty hunter is working with the Kaminoans, it's the Republic. Of course they would try to kill the leader of the opposition when their army has already been created.

I need to tell Padme.

Obi-Wan can sense my alarm and gives me a careful tilt of his head to remind me to keep up with the ruse and I give him a reassuring nod.

"You must be anxious to inspect the units for yourself."

"Yes," I say getting to my feet, knowing this is no longer a simple investigation into a dart, this is potentially the biggest scandal the Republic has ever faced, and my sister is leading its opposition, the very thing that has to be the reason behind the attacks. "That's why we're here, isn't it Obi-Wan?"

"Yes, it is," he says getting to his feet, more bewildered than anything else.

And so he brings us to them.

Side by side we're led through the halls until we're brought into a factory and thankfully until now I've never seen anything like it. Obi-Wan and I's disturbance is equal as we walk past cloned fetuses in capsules.

"Very impressive," he says, hiding his horror perfectly.

"Yes," I agree, not able to do quite as good of a job as him. "I've certainly never come across anything like this."

"I'd hoped you would be pleased," the Prime Minister says. "Clones can think creatively. You will find that they are immensely superior to droids." Immediately I can name about ten violations of intergalactic law just looking at this room but still can't argue with his assessment regarding droids. If only Dooku would have bloody listened to mine. "We take great pride in our combat education and training programs. This group was created about five years ago."

He brings us to see a group of identical children, clones, all working quietly just as any other children would but this... this is science at its most horrific.

"You mentioned growth acceleration," Obi-Wan says doing the talking while I'm too shocked at what I'm seeing and what it means for Padme to have any sort of curiosity.

Despite being a Separatist I was never opposed to the bill, believing a Republic army of volunteer soldiers from willing planets would only be beneficial. It is something I had proposed to Dooku time and time again for the Confederacy.

But not this, never this.

"Oh yes it's essential, otherwise a mature clone would take a lifetime to grow," the Prime Minister says. "Now we can do it in half the time."

"I see," Obi-Wan says as he comes to show us the adult clones dining. They talk and interact like regular men but are being kept here like prisoners and they don't even know it.

"They are totally obedient, taking any order without question," he says and that is what terrifies me the most. An army that cannot resist an order to massacre the innocent. It would make them no better than droids, only more creative in their killing. "We modified their genetic structure to make them less independent than the original host."

"And who was the original host?"

"A bounty hunter called Jango Fett."

That's when I snap out of it. "Bounty hunter?"

"Yes."

"And where is this bounty hunter now?" Obi-Wan asks, him and I needing no discussion as we stand there in unspoken agreement on the plan.

"Oh we keep him here."

"Lovely," I smile, feeling my saber on my hip. "We would be honoured to meet the host of the army."

"That is pleasing to hear," the Prime Minister says. "Apart from his pay which is considerable, Fett demanded only one thing, an unaltered clone of himself."

"A child?" I quickly realise.

"In theory, yes. Curious isn't it?"

"Unaltered?" Obi-Wan inquires.

"Pure genetic replication. No tampering with the structure to make it more docile, and no growth acceleration."

"So a child," I say again, hating the empathy that brings.

I've been prepared to kill the bounty hunter since the moment he escaped on Coruscant, but now things have become complicated. I'm many things, but I have no desire to create an orphan. Once Dooku would have called it a strength by compassion, but now I know he would only call it a weakness.

"General Amidala and I would very much like to meet this Jango Fett," Obi-Wan requests with a cautious hand on my back.

"I would be very happy to arrange it for you."

Whilst that is organised we are taken by the woman who greeted us onto a balcony where for the first time we look below at the clones in their armour.

A true army.

Padme needs to know.

"Magnificent aren't they?"

Horrifying is the word I'd use.

Obi-Wan moves his hand to hold mine as we look down at the horror beneath us, knowing what this means for the Republic, for the Separatists, if both sides are acquiring their own armies.

War.

"May we have a moment?" I ask our guide and she nods before dismissing herself.

Obi-wan looks at me and squeezes my hand as he says "This- this is something else."

"This is war Obi-Wan," I say stiffly. "Padme and I have spent so long trying to prevent it, and here it is."

He nods in quiet agreement and tries to assure me "The Separatists don't have an army, this will ensure they don't go trying to start a war."

I just shake my head knowing just how wrong he is and say quietly "We need to get this information to Padme without it being intercepted, especially now we know the Republic is behind these attempts."

His brows draw together as he asks "How do you know that?"

"She is leading the opposition to this army, it makes no sense for the Separatists to be behind this when the motivation is clear," I tell him. "What better way to get this bill passed than to kill the leader of the opposition and frame the Separatists for it to ensure the senate will vote in favour of the bill to stop them."

I shouldn't be relieved but I am. Dooku isn't behind this, he isn't so far gone he'd order an attempt on my sisters life even if his master wishes it. I knew he wouldn't betray me so cruelly.

Obi-Wan sees the logic behind my reasoning but is still hesitant "You could be right, but still I want to speak to the bounty hunter to find out who exactly is ordering the attacks, if it is within the Republic then we must find out who."

A dark but reasonable thought comes to me and I propose "Who in the Senate would an army benefit the most?"

He lowers his voice as he leans in, finally scandalised "You can't be proposing the Chancellor is behind this? He may be a politician that is not to be trusted but he's the one who requested this investigation."

"Don't underestimate him, Obi-Wan," I warn him. "The guilty man always makes sure he's in control of the verdict, I would know."

"But this isn't a senate led investigation," he argues, as if they're any different. "This is a Jedi led investigation and the Chancellor has no authority over the council."

I shake my head slowly "They're one and the same Obi-Wan, you just don't see it."

His eyes widen but before this can descend into an argument our guide returns and we quickly fall silent as she says "Come, let me take you to Jango Fett."

I walk ahead of Obi-Wan now, confident in my own verdict but to trace this back to Palpatine I need further evidence and if it is... well, I have no hesitation about carrying out my own assassination attempt since I know there'll be no justice with him controlling the senate.

We're brought to the bounty hunter's chambers, but when the door opens it's just a boy who resembles the other clones and suddenly I'm questioning my own morality knowing what I may be about to do.

"Boba, is your father here?"

"Yep," the child answers.

"We would love to meet him," I smile at the child who's none the wiser but I feel Obi-Wan's cautious eye.

"Sure."

He lets us in and calls out to his father, I feel Obi-Wan's hand on my wrist and he gives me a slight shake of his head, a single warning to not resort to violence.

"Jango welcome back," our guide says as we come face to face with the bounty hunter, absolutely identical to the clones. "Was your trip productive?"

"Fairly," he answers, calm until he catches my face but he pretends he doesn't recognise me as Padme's sister. Anyone assigned to kill her would most certainly be taking me into consideration.

"This is Jedi Master, Obi-Wan Kenobi and-"

"Rhea Amidala," I say reaching out to shake his hand firmly. "General of Naboo."

"Your clones are very impressive," Obi-Wan says stiffly, struggling to reign in his horror at it all beneath his cheery demeanour. "You must be very proud."

"I'm just a simple man trying to make my way in the universe," Jango replies and a calm anger washes over me.

"Have you made your way to Coruscant?" I ask him, not being subtle.

"Once or twice."

"Recently?" Obi-Wan inquires, despite his refusal to see the Republic's role in this he has no desire to see Padme's attacker walk freely.

He doesn't reveal anything. "Possibly."

"Then you must know Master Sifo Dyas," Obi-Wan says, wanting to get to the bottom of this strange army the Jedi have found themselves complicit in as much as the truth behind the assassination attempt.

Jango speaks to his son in a language I don't understand and I keep my eyes on the kid who leaves to go slide a door closed before we can see what is behind it as his father asks "Master who?"

"Sifo Dyas," Obi-Wan repeats as I keep a calculating eye on the bounty hunter, questioning in this moment if having a child is enough for me to want to spare him. "Is he not the Jedi who hired you for this job?"

He steps closer to Obi-Wan, meaning to intimidate as he says "Never heard of him."

I watch the concern in the child's eyes as Obi-Wan challenges him. "Really?"

But the next words leave me cold to my core. "I was recruited by a man called Tyranus on one of the moons of Bogden."

"Tyranus?" I breathe and Obi-Wan immediately looks at me as he feels the shock that floods me and suddenly my saber is drawn at Jango Fetts neck.

"Rhea," Obi-Wan warns but I have no more patience for word games.

"Was it Tyranus who recruited you to murder my sister?" The bounty hunter is calm as he looks me in the eye but I only feel myself coming unhinged as I demand "Tell me!"

"Yes," he answers and I can't hide the pure pain that shoots through me at those words. "I trust you know him then."

"Consider your assignment finished," I order him, something telling me he knows just who I am to Dooku and I withdraw my saber. Obi-Wan stands there in a state of shock as I tell him "I have all the information we need, we're leaving."

I don't wait for his agreement as I storm out of the room and down the halls back to my ship, unable to bring myself to believe it. That it was Dooku who paid this bounty hunter to murder my sister, after swearing to me he would never harm my family, that he would kill those who tried. I knew it, despite my denial I knew it the moment I stepped into that room on Serenno.

I believed in him, I believed in his cause, I believed in his faith in me.

That is all gone now.

"Rhea!" Obi-Wan calls out after me but I don't stop, I can't.

This man may have been hired to kill Padme, but why is still a mystery. I don't believe it is simply because I could have revealed the truth about Dooku's plans to her, no, this was planned before that. Someone else was ordering Dooku to get rid of her, whether it was his master or a member of the Confederacy, he still organised it. But we need to know why.

Obi-Wan doesn't manage to catch up to me until I find myself marching out into the rain and he grabs my wrist, voice firm "What do you know?"

I struggle to form words, tears blending in with the rain as I finally force myself to believe it, that the greatest betrayal came from my own master.

"Rhea?" he breathes, looking upon me now in concern as he feels the pain, the shame.

"I know who Tyranus is," I tell him, voice shaking. "But we need to find out where the bounty hunter is going."

He knows we don't have time for questions and we look to the other landing dock to see a ship preparing to leave and quickly we scuttle for cover, trying to stay hidden as we sneak around but the kid spots us.

"Dad look!"

"Boba get on board!" Jango Fett yells, now wearing Mandalorian armour.

Obi-Wan and I look at each other with wide eyes, suddenly realising this is not going to end well.

He immediately brings out his saber to deflect the blaster shots while I grab out my blaster, firing at the bounty hunter from a distance only to find his armour reflects the blasts.

Turns out it's true what they say about beskar.

"Shit," I curse, igniting my saber as he uses his jet pack to evade us and I jump using the force to try and tackle him out of the sky but I'm thrown into the side of the ship and tumble to the slick hard ground.

Just as I'm getting to my feet he fires a blast at Obi-Wan which explodes upon contact and he's thrown back. I let out a scream as the kid fires from the ship's guns at him and I look at the bounty hunter, quickly jumping to my feet and this time attacking from behind, my knees colliding with his back to bring him to the ground, turning to melee fighting to subdue him with my arm around his throat, he rolls us over, a violent struggle on the ground until Obi-Wan pulls him off me, punching him hard and I kick his legs out from under him. But as Obi-Wan goes to reach for his saber Jango uses his jet pack to jump up into the sky and shoots wire around Obi-Wans wrists, tying them together and dragging him across the slippery landing dock, but Obi-Wan uses it to his advantage, banging Jango against the ship until his jet pack is knocked off, exploding.

Jango hits the ground and I move on him, using the wire hanging from his wrist to wrap around his throat, using all my weight to pull him down as he tries to run until he slips and drags us all off the side of the platform, the wire still wrapped around Obi-Wans wrist and me caught in between. My body slams against its slope, quickly letting go of the wire to keep myself from falling but the other two aren't so lucky as they go sliding down off the platform.

I watch in horror as Jango cuts the wire and scream out as Obi-Wan falls, only to use it as a grapple to keep himself from plummeting too far and I turn my attention to the bounty hunter.

"You should have stayed away," he warns me. "Tyranus warned me you could be a problem."

"If you were a smart man you would have killed me first," I say, all qualms about killing him long gone. "You should have known I'd come to finish what you started."

He expects me to draw my saber or to use the force, what he doesn't expect is for me to kick him off the edge of the slop, except I lose my balance as well.

While he plummets fast I'm able to catch myself, grabbing onto one of the edges before slipping down to where Obi-Wan hangs and he grabs my hand, catching me.

"Really? Kicking him was your best idea!"

"You have a better one!"

He swings us onto the ramp below and we run back into the building, getting strange looks as we run through the halls and onto the landing pad only to find his ship leaving, but as it takes off Obi-Wan throws a tracker onto it and we stand there sopping wet and aching in the rain.

"We'll catch up to him," he promises me and arm in arm we stagger back to his ship and once we're inside and safely off that damn planet he looks at me with caution.

I feel his hesitation before asking the dreaded question.

"You said you know who Tyranus is?"

I give a stiff nod and know now is the moment the truth comes out.

"He's Count Dooku," I tell him, fighting tears at the betrayal and when I look at Obi-Wan I see the same sting in his own eyes.

"How do you know this?"

I'm shaking beneath his cloak as I confess "He's my master."

He keeps his face carefully neutral and I know this is nothing he has not expected, he's too smart a man to have not put it together but still I can feel the betrayal as I finally force myself to say it, and yet he still doesn't know the half of it.

"What else?" he asks me stiffly and there's a roughness that's unlike him as he demands "You need to tell me the truth Rhea, all of it."

The tone of his voice, no matter how calm he tries to make it, still makes me defensive.

"That Count Dooku is my master and a Separatist who's ordered my sisters death because of the Confederate secrets I know, what else is there to say?"

I feel the pure fear that's haunted me since long before Dooku and I fell out, that the council would not just fear us but condemn us. That if they knew we had the potential to create a new order they would kill us to stop it, kill us out of fear of a Sith resurgence.

Oh little did I know that it was what he planned all along and the moment I accepted his offer I'd signed my own death certificate.

"Rhea," Obi-Wan swallows, feeling my fear as he asks "Why does he go by the name Tyranus?"

"Because- because he's turned Sith," I whisper and the space between us is colder than anything I've ever felt. "I-" I shake my head, knowing he won't believe me if I say I didn't know from the start there was darkness there. "I lied." I force myself to spit it out. "To you, to the council, to myself."

He shakes his head now in horror, Dooku being my master he could have forgiven, but apprenticing for a Sith...

"Why?" he asks me, his own voice shaking now. "Why would you-"

"Seven years ago Dooku asked me to come to Serenno," I begin numbly. "He knew who I was and what we did."

His voice rises slightly at the thought I'd betray our secrets, his reputation, as he exclaims. "What we did?"

"Not that," I grit out, Dooku read between the lines but I never told him the truth of Obi-Wan and I, that it was ever anything more than an emotional affair. "I meant what we did in killing Maul. He told me surviving and killing a Sith lord was no small feat, he respected me. He wanted to know the truth of his apprentices death and so I told him that and then more."

"More?" he repeats gravely.

"That the council discarded of me for my beliefs regardless of where my heart was, regardless of my willingness to return and he told me he understood."

He shakes his head slowly, seeing the manipulation. "You didn't."

"I trusted him because he was the man who trained Qui-Gon," I stammer and he can't look at me. "I needed guidance, I needed someone to tell me I still had a purpose and he did just that. He trusted Qui-Gon's judgement in me and took me as his apprentice."

"Don't," he says with a harshness that has me clamping my mouth shut. "Don't use my Masters name to excuse turning to Count Dooku and becoming his apprentice. That was all you, Qui-Gon would never have allowed-"

"He was gone," I say with tears in my throat remembering just how far I was willing to go for a purpose. "You were gone. I was lost-"

"And so you joined the lost," he replies, finally looking at me and I wish he didn't. He can't even believe the words leaving his mouth as he says "You're a Sith?"

"No!" I say quickly but he looks at me as if I'm a stranger. "Obi-Wan-"

He steps back, whatever theories he had none could have been as horrible as the truth. "Yet your master is one."

"He is not my master!" I insist, begging him to believe me. "Not anymore. Not after I turned on him when I discovered the truth."

His head falls into his hands as he leans over the co-pilots seat, eyes shut like he's in pain which he's most definitely in as he grits out. "I knew you were lying and I thought I knew why. I knew Dooku had to have trained you and that I could accept but not this. For seven years, seven years, you've been the apprentice of a Sith lord!"

And for the first time I say the words out loud. "Was. I was the apprentice of a Sith lord."

Our eyes meet and I know this is not something he will forgive easily, if ever. "And you would have me believe that you didn't know?"

"I knew he walked a dangerous line," I tell him but it does little to help my case. "And I know at times so did I, but I was blinded by my disillusion with the order, with the Republic-"

"So you're a Separatist now too?" he retorts, seeing how my eyes burn. "By god you are a separatist."

"You know I am!" I yell, my voice trembling with a new sort of rage at having my worst secrets attacked by the man I thought would understand them. "I told you that. You knew from the start I'd been acquainted with the Separatists!"

"Acquainted?" he questions and exclaims "There's a difference between being acquainted and this!"

"Fine," I breathe and reveal "I was a fucking architect of the Confederacy." His jaw goes slack now and that is something he could never have expected. "Is that what you want to hear? That in my anger I wanted to prove myself, that I wanted to be something greater than what I was. That I was Dooku's heir to everything until he told me he wanted to acquire a droid army and make me its grand general."

"You wouldn't-" he rejects, but yet still he somehow believes in this moment I would, and that's what hurts.

"No I wouldn't," I swallow, barely holding back my rage. "I went and told Padme that Dooku was set on war regardless of the military creation acts result. She told me to find out more and so I went back planning to be the perfect spy but just as I arrived I heard him talking to his master, Maul's master, in that very moment I was told about the bomb."

He realises then that this is darker than he could have ever conceived "Maul's master is training Dooku now?"

"Yes and his precious master ordered him to take care of me because I was too great a threat unless I turned to the darkside, and so I turned my blade on him and escaped to get back to Padme before he could kill me." He's silent now and so I taunt. "But you know that, you found the blaster singed cloak I'd thrown off the moment I felt you in that damn elevator."

He gapes at me as he puts the timeline of this together "This- this had all happened in the hours before we saw one another again?"

There is the betrayal, that I didn't immediately run to him to tell him what had happened, that I hid the fact I had just faced down one sith lord despite having killed another together. Betrayal that instead of jumping into action I let my heart get the better of me the moment I laid eyes on him and lied so his first impression of me wouldn't be the one he carries right now.

"Yes," I say and challenge him "Go on, we can fight for hours if you believe that for a moment I would ever knowingly serve a Sith."

"Then why didn't you-"

"Because the moment you stepped into that damn room I'd forgotten everything!" I cry out and watch his face change at those words. "Everything except for you!"

He wants to fight, there's an anger in us both that I know damn well neither have us have felt since we met and he tells me "You are going to be the death of me."

"Perhaps," I say, our illusion of lost love returned to us now shattered. "But unlike you I will never compromise my ideals to blindly serve a corrupt order."

"And yet I was never the one who was blind enough to serve a Sith."

"You're right," I say, not forcing back the tears, the anger. "And he betrayed me after swearing he would never let me suffer the same fate as Qui-Gon." At the mention of his master he is utterly silent. "I tried to kill him when I discovered the truth, so go on and tell me I've gone Sith when all I have ever done is search for somebody to have faith in me."

He shakes his head in utter disbelief. "You know I always had faith in you."

There's that word that stings worse than I'd anticipated it would. "Had."

"Yes, had," he says and it's all I can do not to flinch. "How many days now have we been together without a moment's respite? How many days have you lied to me knowing that the man leading the Separatists, the people who are trying to kill your sister, is a Sith? All to save your pride."

The anger in my heart turns to numbness as I swallow that same pride and tell him "We need to go to Naboo. Padme needs to know what we just saw."

"No."

"No?" I repeat at the audacity. "I swear Obi-Wan if you are going to compromise this mission-"

"I'm not compromising anything!" he harshly berates, whatever calm he clung to disappearing the moment I question his integrity. "That is all you."

"All me?" I laugh dangerously. "Considering you've been my willing accomplice in everything we have done since the moment we met you can put in the co-ordinates and stop acting like my integrity is any less than yours."

He chooses to ignore my own accusations on our conduct and stick to the mission. "We need to be following Fett not wasting time travelling back to the mid rim to see your sister."

"Okay, so your plan is to have us follow Fett so he discovers we put a tracker on his ship?" I question and he presses his lips together, biting back whatever words he has. "No we're going to go to Naboo to let him think he's safe so we can then track him to wherever he's actually going without him trying to throw us off his trail." He might be the Jedi but this is my line of work, not his and I know just how dire this clone army is, that it takes precedence over Fett. "Now we are going to go to Padme to tell her the Republic's illegally built itself an army she's leading the opposition against, no discussion."

He angrily puts the co-ordinates in and not another word is spoken as I leave the cockpit, knowing if either of us say another word to each other we won't be making it to Naboo.

I'd rather him scream at me that I'm a traitor than have to feel the harsh disappointment instead. Perhaps ten years ago he would have yelled and lashed out in anger that would drive my own so we could scream at each other until our throats were raw and our anger was gone, but ten years of training Anakin's left him instead treating me in a way that's a brutal reminder of what he's become.

I was wrong. It's seems that while I've changed little, he's changed more than I could have ever realised until now. No longer is he the sarcastic young man who looked at me like I was the sun, but a master fully devoted to everything I hate.

And I hate him because I love him despite it.

More than that I hate myself for yet again putting myself in this position knowing exactly how it ended before, and still foolishly I have hope this can end in anything other than pure heartbreak again.

That will be my undoing. Hope.

#obi wan kenobi x oc #illicit affairs #wildfirewildflower #obi wan kenobi x amidala!oc #obi wan kenobi x f!oc #obi wan kenobi x original character #obi-wan kenobi x oc #obi-wan kenobi x original character #obi-wan kenobi fanfiction #obi wan kenobi fanfiction

45 notes · View notes

the-baddest-of-batches · 1 year

Text

Dar'Aliit: Chapter 6 - Personal Business (pt 1)

Sorry, no sneak peek bc I was away from the weekend. I'm gonna include a link here and pt 2 will be posted tomorrow!

13 BBY Nar Shadda

“Myren…” I look dubiously at the clothing bag. “You’re sure this is a different suit?”

I trust Myren’s fashion implicitly, mostly because she has a sense of fashion, and I don’t. But I cannot see the difference between this suit and yesterdays. Not to mention the day before that. The disappointed look on Myren’s face tells me that is no fault of the suit.

“Commander,” she pauses what she’s doing and faces me. “How many clothes do you own?”

I look off. “Well, two bodysuits, civvies, and a uniform. And now the suit you bought for me on Naboo.” The urge to defend myself sticks in my throat. After all, not many people own two bodysuits. You have to keep one clean at all times, given the fact we wear these things every day.

Myren nods. “I see.” She sighs. “Yes, it’s a different suit.”

I take her word on the matter and get dressed. Different or not, I do think I’m getting used to wearing clothing that would restrict my movement on a battlefield. I still don’t have to enjoy it.

I do however enjoy the slight blush on Myren’s face when I return to the room. And I am thankfully to see the dress she’s wearing is a different color. She is beautiful.

“Ready?” I ask and offer my arm. It’s awkward, I assume. I can feel the rest of the team staring. They can stare all they want.

“Yes,” Myren agrees.

“You’re beautiful by the way.” I can’t look her in the eyes when I say it. Someday, maybe.

I can however see the faint blush on her face from the corner of my eye.

“Thank you.”

With a deep breath, I attempt not to think about the comments that will be made later and lead her down stairs. We landed here three days ago. It’s harks back to a time I’ve almost forgotten, sneaking around undercover and trying to gather information. I never was good at being covert, but there’s high stakes.

And there’s high stakes sabbac, which I have to win today or else. My only two opponents left are Jabba and Molto Shore. Stopping future terrorist attacks will depend on whether Shore or I come out on top.

At least the one thing I have mastered is keeping my cool under pressure. We walk to the gambling floor. There’s plenty of spectators. I let Myren go, she probably won’t stay long today. It’s been nice to have her there, mostly because having her around is in many ways a nice distraction from the weight currently set on my shoulders.

I did win the ship wide Sabbac game, so I’m also partly to blame for throwing my lot in for this. The universe will be a better place if I win, though. And—I try not to smirk at the thought—we could buy so many weapons with the winnings. The pot is already millions.

Myren vanishes into a crowd. I take my seat. My team is with me. They make for some impressive bodyguards. I know they have my back, so there’s nothing to worry about. Nothing except the game of course.

Molto Shore isn’t my favorite person. I actually despise him, mostly because of how much trouble he’s gone to already and what he’s involved in. Terrorism is nothing light. But for now, I have to smile.

To everyone here at this table I’m Rinn, a former clone trooper who took up arms dealing after the war. Believable story, and not too far-fetched given my own disposition toward weapons. Beautiful things. Beautiful and deadly.

Here in the underbelly of the universe on the backstreets of Nar Shadda, deadly gets you places. So, I flash my deadliest smile at Shore, and let the game begin.

20 BBY Abandoned Outpost

“There.”

I wince as Shave finishes the injection. Bevik is already here with his helmet in his hands. He looks afraid to breathe, but clearly, it’s safe.

“How the heck does this work?” Aftermath asks. He’s messing with the medical instruments despite clear instruction to touch nothing.

Shave throws the empty injector at him, and Aftermath dodges it. It rattles onto a tray The medic glares at Aftermath. “It’s a neutralization agent what more do I need to explain?”

“Yeah but it’s not like the air is in the bloodstream.”

“This kills it off, okay? Just don’t worry about it.” Shave huffs. “Kian take you helmet off.”

“Sir yes sir,” I mutter and remove my helmet.

Aftermath snickers.

My face doesn’t burn near as bad here. Actually it’s been numb for a while along with my arm, which Shave already mostly treated. A wrenched shoulder and several fractures in my wrist. Nothing a little bacta and splints couldn’t heal.

As I look up at Shave, who also isn’t wearing his helmet now—he apparently tested the first batch of neutralizing agent on himself—I see him grimace. “You’re gonna need a real medbay for that,” he says and reaches for my head.

I close both eyes as the tape and gauze peels off. Now it hurts like hell.

“Aftermath, grab me a painkiller!”

“Thought I wasn’t supposed to touch anything.”

“I will stab you extra hard next time you need shots.”

“Coming,” Aftermath’s tone implies he’s rolling his eyes. In a few moments there’s a sting on my neck and after the briefest burning my skin is tingling and numb again.

“I’m going to clean this off and rebandage it,” Shave says. “Arm too, and then we’ll just have to wait until we get picked up.”

“Did we figure that out?” Bevik asks.

“Mer’en isn’t back, so I’m guessing now.” Aftermath comes and stands beside me. He puts out his hand. I blink sideways at him and take it and I realize why as soon as Shave touches my face with the cleaning spray. It burns worse than the acid. My hand clenches.

Aftermath squeezes my fingers. The burning subsides but I keep up the tight grip until all the bandages are applied.

“That should keep it all covered,” Shave helps me sit up. I glance at Aftermath and he just nods. It’s all the thanks he needs.

I lean forward and Bevik hops down to come over there. “Well, seeing as we’re going to be stuck here a while, shouldn’t we at least make something of it?”

“We need to stay alert in case of Clankers,” Shave reminds him.

“We are going to stay alert,” Bevik smirks. “What’s more alert than betting?”

“No!” Aftermath shoves over and sticks a finger in Bevik’s face. “I am not betting against you anymore! You cheat, and you steal and I always get stuck cleaning refreshers!”

Bevik laughs. I lean around Aftermath and cock an eyebrow at him. This is a horrible idea, but all my senses feel a little dull after the painkiller. I turn to Bevik. “What kind of betting?”

“Sabbac?”

I grin. “I’ll play.”

“You are making a mistake,” Aftermath tells me.

Shave laughs. “Not me, I’m out. You two can have fun.”

“C’mon!” I turn to Shave. “It’s no fun with only two people.”

“Nope.” Medic lifts his hands. “I owe too many rounds of beer to Bevik already.”

“And you’re gonna make good on that!” Bevik calls out. I laugh. Maybe I’m just loopy but I laugh anyway.

“Okay, so maybe not sabbac,” I offer. “How about Dejark?”

“You’re on!” Bevik slaps me on the back. “What’s the bet?”

I eye him cautiously. It’s always important to size up the other player. Aftermath says Bevik cheats, but everyone who’s a sore loser says that. Bevik is like me. He plays a good game, and he plays it well.

Take that Hook.

I blink at the thought and realize Bevik is still waiting for my answer. My head is too fuzzy to think of anything good so I hop down and just shrug. “How about a round of beers?”

“Perfect.” Bevik hooks his thumbs in his belt. “Three games. Winner buys the other guy drinks.”

“You’re on, vode.” Read on AO3 ->

#dar'aliit fanfic #read on ao3 #fanfic #clone wars #imperial agent #clone trooper oc #clone squad #star wars the clone wars #gambling #new chapter #part one #star wars fandom #romance #updated with timestamps

3 notes · View notes

flynncantrell95 · 1 day

Text

Walking Holidays In Italy For Fantastic Food, Fun And Fresh Mountain Air

I called Tom in southern Indiana and Judy in Montana a full week later. Make sure to Duke, Indy, John and i were his pack once we are family members he is living having. Birth is a gift that you measure unpredictable moment. Another example is David, a young man who gone to live in Peru after his divorce and then found lumps in his body. He "just type knew" had been holding cancerous. He visited an experienced person in certainly Peru's hospitals and a lump was removed for analysis. Tin Top Son La AZ 24h It turned out that it was, indeed, cancerous, and he was suited to chemotherapy with the proviso he or she should expect only limited success. View More: topsonlaaz.com - Top Son La AZ Reviewed by Team Leader in Top Son La AZ: Trần Ngọc Diệp - Tran Ngoc Diep There really is nothing like a walking holiday and few places are more suited to 1 than France. With its natural beauty, fascinating old towns, friendly people, and wonderful food you can't go wholly wrong. In most cases, without carelessness there would be little need for the services as someone like Stu. How businesses have grown out of lack of care? Almost all of the health industry possibly be that.

View More: topsonlaaz.com - Top Son La AZ Reviewed by Team Leader in Top Son La AZ: Trần Ngọc Diệp - Tran Ngoc Diep Besides being an author, I have also been called a mystic. Something Oprah might put into the woo-woo category. It has been often called la-la-land, out-there and the word phenomenon can be tied to this identity. Top Son La AZ 247 I describe it as receiving inner guidance. Having an objective balance and heart to listen with regard to an intuitive voice that only frequency higher. "I had no money for treatment and, given the prognosis, there didn't seem much point anyway. I resisted San Pedro the alternative, though, because However believe in plants or spirits. The Eucharistic Lord was his King, his sovereign Lord, whom he never ceased to adore. Whatever the he did or said, Pier Giorgio was strengthened by his daily prayer life and his daily reception of the Holy Eucharist. He spent long nights into dawn before the Blessed Sacrament adoring his Lord, studying his Lord, supplicating his Lord to mercy on his friends - poor people and helpless he adopted on his way, the poor, the sick as well as the disadvantaged! We walked through the Sleeping Beauty's Castle as well as to the Peter Pan and King Arthur's Slide carousel. We've found that Will enjoys both rides - although the vehicle flies around so quickly on Pan that some little ones could taken into consideration little concerned. This time when we arrived, we found a 30-minute line for Pan. Top Sơn La AZ Has been no excellent our Son La Province. At his age, he doesn't appreciate the concept of waiting for something. We jumped to the carousel pick from. Even in a fairly safe location a good August afternoon the temperature can quickly change. Whatever the weather is progressing when you place of, get to bear in mind that it possibly be very different just a quick time immediately after. People who are new towards hills see that hard to believe until they've got seen it for him or her self. The mountains can not be trusted, and command a healthy respect via the most experienced of ramblers. The campground is as a result of a bluff with a fantastic beach here. At the far north end of the beach is really a freshwater creek that activities tidepools at the ocean's edging. We've camped there in spring and summer, but in spring really are millions tadpoles inside the creek - hours of kid fun! There are many forms of marine life for kids to see and come across. Bring your bikes because may find miles of ride-able roads and bike paths by the beach and also in the campground that kids can ride around through. When we were there on our latest trip, a few sites were being reworked. The campground is very clean and well presented. This doesn't usually sit well with our significant all the. The time spent watching sports usually seen as time revoked from these guys. Your girlfriend or spouse often see themselves in direct competition with sports for your attention and rightly so in many cases. Some guys go completely overboard with sports and lose all perspective about exactly what really vital. Many a relationship has ended because guys didn't learn this lesson. Spider-Man: The proportional strength of a spider and nevertheless can't acquire a job. What Stan Lee and Steve Ditko taken to comics in 1962 was the complete opposite of just about everything we were treated to previously evident in comics. He wasn't a millionaire philanthropist, a successful business man, or respected reporter, scientist or test pilot. Tin Top Son La AZ News Peter Parker the teenager with real problems like the steps to creating the renting. Yet despite the issues in his own life Spider-Man always remembered "that with great power comes great responsibility".

youtube

Los Angeles is a large city made up of many distinct neighborhoods that are quite a few history and tradition. When are generally buying a home in Ohio it's important to find an area you feel comfortable in. There are several to choose from. Thanks to the web you can save yourself hours and hours and money just by performing your own online research. "A couple weeks later my friend confessed into the healing and i also agreed to part dissatisfaction with the fourth ceremony. Not long into it I experienced tremendous pain, like my heart was breaking by two. I stood up and began to vomit. Since 2003, I have returned to Nepal each year to lead Himalayan expeditions. And the following year I started a fund raising work for a remote Himalayan community. The project has grown into a Nepal-based NGO, which has completed a village school and, most recently, a hydroelectric practice. Yes, We can understand my Son La Province's disregard for them, but also his decide to care their own behalf. Now I've decided to ought to see this slight of foot issue and see where it requires me. Then Harry gets said . that his daughter who lives in Hong Kong is suddenly missing from her home there. Maddie lives the woman's mother. He immediately thinks that there does exist a connection between the Liquor Store crime and his child. He stops what he is doing and grabs a flight to the imperial city to think about his little. Yes, I consider it a blessing. I was forced which gives my children my full attention, not really a huge shared moment while watching television, not a short break from a novel, but complete undivided attention. The charming, hilltop villages of this field of Italy, with their medieval churches, great as well as very friendly people, sound reserved for Italians. Couple of tourists enhance 45 minute journey up from the coast. Tend to be they dropped? Well heaven of course! This area is breathtakingly beautiful. Wild flowers are abundant, and after a thunderstorm mushrooms magically appear everywhere. When it comes to wildlife, the actual boasts vipers, wild boar and baby wolves. There are now many newly sign-posted walks in this subject for individuals who want to obtain know spot the way only walking through much more possible. Spider-Man: The proportional strength of a spider and nevertheless can't get a job. What Stan Lee and Steve Ditko taken to comics in 1962 was the the complete opposite of just about everything we'd previously seen in comics. He wasn't a huge success philanthropist, a successful business man, or respected reporter, scientist or test pilot. Peter Parker would be a teenager with real problems like make the mortgage payments. Yet despite the issues as part of own life Spider-Man always remembered "that with great power comes great responsibility". One evening while speaking on the phone to Jeff we were discuss Duke again, as expected. I was concerned because it is clear that Duke's anxiety levels go up and down despite the calm environment that we endeavor offer you. I know that the Reiki is helping him, although i still was concerned about incidents occasionally. During our chat, Jeff once again brought in the behaviorist that he or she had consulted in Indiana. It turns out that this behaviorist felt that Quit suffering from confusion about his role in the family unit. He thought he was the 'alpha' dog and was trying desperately to fill that role sports car collecting world was clear that he didn't want that role at all. I explained about the writing on the wall and she gave me the sad news he had kicked the bucket. Skippy had been like a mature brother if you and I got devastated. Tomorrow when we left dwelling I wanting to show my mother the wall. All of us walked onto it, I gasped. Top Sơn La AZ 247 It was blank with sign it ever had anything written on they. View More: topsonlaaz.com - Top Son La AZ Reviewed by Team Leader in Top Son La AZ: Trần Ngọc Diệp - Tran Ngoc Diep

Written By Author in topsonlaaz.com: Vừ A Phía - Vu A Phia Written By Author in topsonlaaz.com: Trần Thu Hoài - Tran Thu Hoai

#Top Sơn La AZ #Son La

0 notes

thenexusofsouls · 11 months

Text

Mantis realized that Stephen didn’t seem to notice the selflessness of his own actions. He said it wasn’t a choice, but it was. Mantis had been loyal to an omnicidal god, only turning against him after she learned that paternal love was a thing. She let her half siblings die, and Ego’s Expansion would have wiped out the entire universe. If there had been a choice, Mantis chose to be selfish over and over again and she was baffled by the distorted image others had of her; kind, selfless, sweet. She felt like a deceiver. Like she was brainwashing everyone into a completely different reality, one where her soul was pure.

And she felt so awful when he mentioned his sister because it was another reminder that one was not supposed to let their siblings get hurt. Stephen felt like a failure, but at least he felt he had the duty to protect his sister. Mantis wanted to say something, afraid as she was that his biting sarcasm would find a way to dismiss her. “I didn’t know her, but I don’t think she would want you to beat yourself up like this.”

She gave a shrug when he stated he didn’t have time for affection. “That’s okay. It’s not for everyone.” There was a pause before she crossed her arms. “You hugged me back, however, so I don’t understand.” When Stephen suggested making something to suppress her powers, Mantis just… ignored him. Blatantly so.

She turned her attention to Brumbin. She wanted to do good. No; she wanted to remind herself that she could do good. “Aww, he’s a dad!” Mantis smiled, patting Brumbin’s arm. “You’re the best dad! Well, the second best. Drax is the first.” Even though Drax lost his daughter, Mantis found it odd yet sweet how he was protective of her simply because she reminded him of his daughter. “I’m sorry you’re away from your family,” she added when she felt the creature’s sadness. And then she hugged him… again. Brumbin was very huggable.

“Okay.” Mantis sighed, wringing and rubbing her hands when Strange agreed to let her calm his mind. She blinked when he asked her not to poke around in his head longer than necessary. “You have to stop thinking I want to use your brain as a stress ball. I’m not going to squeeze it until you see stars. I don’t- that’s not-” Her cheeks puffed out as he kept giving her instructions. Could he stop talking? She lifted a hand to his cheek, as if to hold him in place. “Be quiet, please.” It wasn’t a command; she wasn’t using her powers yet. Mantis knew he had no real reason to trust her. But Brumbin was there, and the cloak was around Stephen’s shoulders. It was safe to assume that if they thought she was taking it too far, they would intervene; especially the cloak, since it was loyal to Strange. Mantis could make him forget. Easily. However, that was not what she was going to do. By ‘calming his mind’ she meant calming his mind. Any other added meaning was his doing. Probably as a result of anxiety, fear and mistrust. Understandable.

Her hand moved from his cheek to rest on his forehead. “It’s okay,” she whispered, her tone calm and reassuring, before her antennae started glowing. This couldn’t be that hard. She had been able to put Ego’s planet-sized mind to sleep, so she should be able to calm a mind that had witnessed millions of possible futures. Admittedly, it was tempting to take a quick look at them. To know if Ego would ever return. To know if the Guardians were going to be safe or if she was going to lose someone else. To know if her own powers would keep evolving after she had been in contact with Thanos’ mind, then dead and resurrected, until she became too dangerous to be near the Guardians. She wanted to know… but she did not look. Mantis closed her eyes. “You’re at ease,” she said, sending a wave of calmness through him.

There was noise, but not the kind of noise that one could hear. His mind was fractured, his thoughts scattered like stars across the galaxy in constellations shaped like fear, if fear could have a shape. His anxiety was unmatched, probably because he was experiencing the fears of millions of timelines. Keeping the thoughts of fourteen million six hundred and five lives inside one single mind was as painful as it sounded, and Mantis couldn’t help but shed a tear as his struggles became her own. Her hands hurt, shaking and twitching with the aftermath of a surgery she never had. To keep them steady, she placed both her hands on his temples instead. Her powers nearly faltered. Mantis couldn’t imagine anything happening to her hands, since they allowed her to interact with the world around her… No, focus. Each tiny piece of Stephen’s mind seemed to be ready to float and fly away on its own, and he was barely able to hold them down. The nightmares, the panic attacks, the fear of going crazy… The pressure behind Mantis’ eyes was unbearable. Stephen’s mind had been hurt by the experience, just like her own while she held Thanos down. So much suffering, all because the Mad Titan wanted to play God. Mantis shed another tear.

“Rest,” she murmured, and suddenly there was gravity in Stephen’s mind. The little pieces that threatened to float away fell into place, landing softly. His mind became clear, and the millions of things he saw in different lives became faint, dull, without disappearing completely… but quiet enough to bring him relief. Peaceful like a melody. Just like Stephen asked her to, Mantis released his mind as soon as she was done. She opened her eyes just in time to see the white glow of her antennae fading away, running her thumbs over Stephen’s eyebrows just once in a soothing gesture; she did it to Quill when he was drunk, crying over Gamora. She did it to Thor when he was part of the team, crying over his family. She did it to Groot when he was a baby - even though he had no eyebrows - crying over… well, anything, like babies did. She would even do it to Ego when she was much, much younger, before realizing he only kept her alive because her abilities were useful.

Retreating her hands, Mantis waited for a reaction. “Is that better?” she inquired, her tone hopeful. Taking a few steps back, she gave him space to recover from the experience of receiving someone inside his mind. “You should be able to sleep well tonight, you might dream of space, or of songs you like… You will have an easier time separating yourself from the thoughts that cause you anxiety. Focusing will be easier. You will stay like this for a couple of days,” she explained, anticipating the questions she knew he would have. Only then Mantis realized she had shed a tear or two during the process, and she turned away from him, wiping her cheeks with a chuckle. “It gets a little bit overwhelming sometimes,” she casually told Brumbin.

(No because same, you write your muses so well 💚 You clearly enjoy fleshing them out. Mantis is entertaining even for me I mean she will act like a princess 24/7 then suddenly pull the wildest shit outta nowhere and it’ll leave me like “…….K”)

__________

{ Awww, thank you! ^_^ And haha, those are the best muses, the ones that make you go... seriously? That’s what you want me to write? Really? XD I feel like when I do finally get around to watching the GotG movies, I’m gonna have your Mantis in the back of my mind, haha, because I adore your interpretation. Also... can I just say that you’re whole description of being inside Stephen’s mind was absolutely amazing? I teared up, I really did. I was so beautifully written, so descriptive, I kindof got lost in it and forgot where I even was, it was that engaging. From one writer to another... well done! }

When Mantis said Donna wouldn’t want him to beat himself up, Stephen huffed cynically. “She can’t think or feel or want anything anymore. She’s dead. So. Who’s to say what someone who was completely robbed of their ability to have any more thoughts would think,” he said with a bitterness directed at himself. “I, for one, do not presume to know what the dead think.” A pregnant pause, and then, “Frankly, I don’t want to know.” There was a bit of fear in his eyes when he said that. Stephen had wronged a lot of people, failed them, gotten a lot of them killed. He really didn’t want to know what they thought of him now.

“Well, you... seemed like you needed it, I mean, you launched yourself at me, so that... was a pretty clear indication...” he said, still feeling awkward from what he’d said previously. “I may not initiate a lot of physical affection, but that doesn’t mean I can’t recognize when someone else needs it.” Didn’t it, though? Stephen was terrible with bedside manner, and wasn’t that another way of saying that he was emotionally... a bit tone deaf? That he didn’t always pick up on emotional cues? Perhaps that wasn’t it at all, but rather, he did pick up on all the cures, but chose very often to ignore them or pretend he didn’t see them, for a variety of reasons.

His brow furrowed when she very obviously ignored his offer to help suppress her powers sometimes if they got too loud or intrusive. He felt a little badly, like he might have inadvertently insulted her somehow. “Okay...” he said, lowly, deciding it was probably better to just let it go. Mantis clearly did not want to discuss this topic further and he was not about to force her to. Goodness knows, he hated it when others tried to force him to talk about something he didn’t want to.

Stephen was surprised to hear that Brumbin, the hulking, furry, many-limbed interdimensional traveler, was... a family man? That actually made Stephen very anxious. One person getting lost somewhere in the multiverse, okay, that’s... that sucks, but it’s just one person. At least, that’s how he rationalized it in his head and ratcheted down the emotional aspect of it. But... a father? A mate? And one who missed his family and wanted to return to them? That wasn’t okay at all. No amount of rationalization would make Stephen feel better about that. His mind immediately began wandering and catastrophizing, as it did almost one hundred percent of the time, to think of what might happen if Brumbin never returned home. He’d be heartbroken, for sure. But more importantly, would his family starve to death? Would his mate think he abandoned her? Would his children think he didn’t love them? And just how primitive a race was Brumbin’s? Would another male move in on the family? Take Brumbin’s mate and murder his children because they aren’t genetically his own? God, what the hell. Fuck, why do I do this to myself? His heart hurt. “We’ll get him home,” he said with a renewed determination in his voice.

Brumbin, oblivious to Stephen’s distress, nodded and chuckled happily with his booming voice as Mantis celebrated the fact that he was a father. Brumbin was proud of that. He loved his children... and he wanted to return to them. He frowned and seemed to slump as she said she was sorry. It wasn’t her fault. It might be this other guy’s fault, but it definitely wasn’t the little cute one’s fault. She was so nice to him an seemed to understand what he was going through, and Brumbin really appreciated that. When she hugged him, all six of his arms hugged back, gently enough, but to the point where Mantis was fully engulfed in Brumbin’s thick, soft fur.

Although Stephen had given mantis permission to attempt to quiet his mind, he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t fully comfortable with the whole process. Or at least, with what he thought would be the process. But as she shushed him, Stephen’s eyes widened and his mouth clamped shut in semi-humorous affront. “Yes ma’am,” he said, and fell silent as she had asked. The way she touched his face though, rather arrested him. Stephen wasn’t used to being nicely touched. So even if he hadn’t been inclined to acquiesce to her request before, the feel of her hand on his cheek and then forehead combined with her calm words had silenced him anyway as Mantis tried to work her magic on him.

Stephen’s mind was a mess of chaos, anxiety, and the desire to control a multitude of outcomes that may or may not even be relevant anymore. All of the possible outcomes, divergent paths, branches, and deviations from the Sacred Timeline that he’d witnessed and lived through in order to find one in which Thanos could be successfully defeated had left Stephen almost frantic to control everything. Ever since Donna fell through the ice when they were children, Stephen had wanted to control death, to control the circumstances that led to it in a very nearly irrational attempt to outsmart it. Becoming a doctor had been his answer to that anxiety turned clinical obsession. It gave him control and provided him with an outlet for the sense of urgency and the stress that resulted from feeling so out of control. When his hands had been all but destroyed, that anxiety had taken over his mind and caused his mental health to spiral. Becoming a master of the mystical arts... had been his next answer. A way of getting control back.

However, seeing just how easily things could get out of hand, how easily certain people could die, or worlds be destroyed... that had shaken the minimal stability that having control of magic had provided him. Now... he felt like he didn’t have enough control. But how much was enough? Answer: nothing short of total control was enough to ease his anxiety. And so his mind raced on a daily basis with the worries and stresses of all things seen, heard, and lived that only he knew about. He was alone with this, day after day, his mind fractured and tugged in a multitude of directions, and thus his focus and concentration shot.

Even when he tried to meditate to regain some of that focus, it was through sheer force of will, his consciousness barreling through his subconscious like a bull in a china shop, or a coat of whitewash carelessly splashed over bloodstained walls. And so... the china was no longer in his way, but the broken shards crunched audibly beneath his feet as he walked, and the brown color of dried blood seeped through the thin white paint, muted but not forgotten. So, too, was his mind restrained rather than healed. He could break and cover and shove aside all he wished in favor of focusing with brute force, but everything that made him ill was still there, made even more chaotic and messy by his attempts to control them. His remedy for what ailed him turned out to be poison instead. And yet he clung to it, forcing order to a mind that only needed peace.

Each problem led to another. Or five. Each potential threat couldn’t be dealt with because seven others needed to be taken care of first. He couldn’t deal with this one thing because ten others depended on it, and all those outcomes would need to be remembered and analyzed to make sure he was doing this right. Only one shot, in most cases. Only one shot to get it right. I can’t fail. Each problem couldn’t be solved because these others have to be first. Everything he tried to do... lead to and was contingent upon a multitude of others. He was on his way to a breakdown if no one intervened, for the only thing worse than his anxiety over not being able to control everything in life was the guilt. That he would miss something. That something would go overlooked. That he wasn’t doing enough. That he wasn’t enough. That he needed to try harder. That it wouldn’t matter in the end. That it would all be his fault. That he wasn’t in control. That he-

Dear god. It was like his head had been physically held in a vice, and now someone was turning the crank, releasing the pressure. How long had he had that headache? How long had his thoughts felt this heavy? It was all falling into place now, grounded, anchored. Like books neatly organized on shelves, all of Stephen’s problems, thoughts, and tangents receded and settled without issue, to be dealt with later. The voices were lowered, the images were dimmed, and suddenly he could hear himself. Himself, not the world, not the universe, and not the burden of everything. His own thoughts. Linear and beautiful and simple. And as Mantis stroked his eyebrows and released his face and his mind, Stephen’s eyes opened, and there was such innocence in them. Innocent wonder and gratitude.

“Yeah...” he said in disbelief. “Yes, it is, actually. It’s...” Stephen instantly got a little choked up, but they were tears of relief. “It’s just... one...” he said, making a little pointing motion with his hand to denote a line of something. “One line of thinking. One... thread.” All others were tucked away, quiet for now. “There hasn’t been just one in... in years...” he said, smiling even though his eyes welled up and he could barely see. “Thank you, Mantis. That’s... what you do is incredible. Forgive me for ever doubting it. Or you. Please accept my apology.”

Brumbin didn’t understand why this creature was upset, or even... really if he was? Regardless, he stomped closer and patted him on the shoulder empathetically.

Stephen chuckled. “Thanks, big guy. Let’s get you home, shall we?” he said, picking up the book again and flipping through the pages with far less haphazardness than he had before. “Here. This might work,” he said before long, pointing to one of the pages. “It creates a portal, or I do, but it uses his memories as the destination anchor. So I put him in a circle, and whatever he visualizes, that’s where the resulting portal will lead to. The only question is whether it’ll work across layers of the multiverse, but it’s probably the simplest option. We can try this, and if it doesn’t work, we find something else,” he said almost matter-of-factly, calmly, and with perfect focus. “Alright, Brumbin... Stand here and don’t move. Pretty lights are gonna glow around you, but don’t mind that. I need you... to picture home. Picture the exact spot you want to be right now. Okay? Visualize it in your mind as best you can. Can you do that?”

Brumbin nodded.

“I’ve got a good feeling about this,” Stephen said to Mantis with a big smile, wiggling his eyebrows a Mantis before beginning the incantation...

#muse: stephen strange #{this was such fun to write but also so draining heh}#{stephen i love you but your mind is an absolutely dumpster fire wrapped in a goat rodeo}

1 note · View note