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what-the--curtains · 3 years

Text

Alliance

Chapter 2 – The Decision

(Mando x f!reader)

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Summary: The child taken, his ship destroyed the only one who can help him? A woman he sold into slavery several months earlier.

Notes: Wow wow wow! Thank all for the likes im glad ive gained some interest lets hope I can keep it! Comment or message to be added to the tagged list!

Tw: mentions of dubcon/sex, depictions of violence and coarse language

Tagged list: @crazycookiecrumbles

Word count: 3.7k

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7 months later

Mandos POV

Using all his wits and a touch of charm the Mandalorian had managed to make his way to a nearby town. Once there he’d likely be able to hitch a ride or win some kind of ship in a game of cards. He didn’t need a good one, just something to get him to Navarro. He makes his way to a more upscale bar, hoping its clients would be more lucrative with their belongings. Scanning the gambling hall he chooses his target carefully, opting for a rich looking idiot who had been trying to impress the man next to him since the Mandalorian had walked in. He takes his seat at the round wooden table amongst a variety of lavishly dressed characters. He had to find the child as soon as possible. If he wasn’t with the empire yet there’s no doubt he would be soon.

“Deal me in” He says, taking a seat between an Iktotchi and an Ortolan.

“Not so fast, what's your buy in?” the dealer asks.

“How about that helmet?” The Ortolan pipes up.

“No.”

“The creature then?” the Falleen across the table ponders reaching out to touch Anya, who had been at his side when Grogu was taken and has refused to leave it since.

“No” he says, batting her hand away and tapping on his shoulder piece “Will this do?” The dealer nods and they begin. In the second hand he ends up winning a ship from his target who was seemingly unbothered by the loss as he nonchalantly tosses Mando the keys, before leaving the table.

Twirling the key on his index finger he makes his way to the bar, hoping to gain some insight on how to go about finding Grogu.

“Quite a game, didn’t know Mandalorians played cards.” The older humanoid bartender stated, shining off a glass. With no response he speaks up again. “Can I help you with something , give me something to tell the kids if I helped out a Mandalorian.”

“If someone was looking to find something lost where would he go?”

“You have any idea what this thing is?”

“Yes.”

“Any idea where it is?”

“No.”

“Tell you what, there was a woman, from a forest planet somewhere on the outer rim. Hair as white as snow, an old language on her body, a face that’s hard to forget. She helped me find my youngest after she was taken by smugglers.”

“Vryssa?” The Mandalorian says slowly, causing Anya to perk up.

“Aye that’s the place. You’ve been?” the barkeep ponders.

“Thank you, here” he says handing over a portion of the credits won in his game of cards to the speechless keeper.

Exiting the bar shaking his head in disbelief, of course the one person who could help him track the kid was someone with a personal vendetta against him. At least he knew who he had to find and where to start looking. Opening the doors to his new ship he gives it a quick once over. It was roomier than the razor crest, but not by much, too fancy for his liking in all honesty. Nicer amenities though and a decent sized bed which Anya had made her way onto, it would be a better place for when he gets the kid back. It had an armoury, but nothing in it, at least not yet. He closes it and makes his way up to the ship's cockpit. Decent enough system, more of a flashy ride than a functional one, made for a decently skilled pilot by the looks of it. Locking in the coordinates for Coruscant he begins his search.

For two weeks he attends black markets around the galaxy until one day he sees him, the man who had bought you. He follows him cornering him in a nearby alleyway.

“What do you want Mando?” The Kel Dor responds.

“I’m looking for a woman.”

“Aren’t we all?”

“She was bought by you a few months ago. Not jogging your memory? White hair, eternal blood.”

“Oh. Her difficult one, had to break her in a bit.” The choice of words was less than favourable to the Mandalorian, but in favor of time he brushed by it.

“What happened to her?”

“ Sold her.”

“ To who?” He says getting impatient

“Gladiatorial ring on Geonosis , she was a big hit, sold her for twice what I had paid, moved into the big arenas quickly. I’ll take you if you want.”

“No, give me the coordinates.” Mando says

“Should be easy enough for you to get her. She's been broken in well, nice and obedient if you know…” He knocks the guy out before he can finish the sentence.

R-16, Geonosis, Outer Rim Territories

Stepping out of the ship it doesn’t take long for him to figure out where you are. Large projections of posters with you line the street, apparently you were fighting today. The sounds of the arena increase as he gets closer, as does the crowd of people awaiting the show.

“A Mandalorian, you here to see the fight? Gonna be a good one. Fan favourite tonight the huntress.” A native geonosian exclaims.

“Is she the girl in the picture? The white haired one?”

“ Yes, and if you like what you see I’m sure a piece of that armour will get you a night with her, I’ve heard the trainer sells her off after fights.” The Mandalorian nods and heads off “How much for a ticket” he ask the seller,

“100 credits”

“For a fight?”

“For today’s fight? Yes.” Begrudgingly he pays the fee and enters into the dome. It is enormous, the revenue it brings in must be astronomical he thinks as he takes his seat.

Your POV

It hadn’t been an easy few months, but you were still alive. The handlers knew if they bled you all at once the value would decrease, and after having you fight and win over the fans, keeping you alive became more economically sound than killing you. Your most recent trainer, an older Duras named San Korliks, had gotten you into a slightly more dubious but very lucrative business. Turns out the rich love nothing more than spending the night with a victor. Between the fights and the suitors you’d have enough saved to live comfortably once you were out. Yes you were close to buying your freedom, 12 fights and a few more rich idiots and you’d be out of here. You’d find a planet with plenty of sand and water and settle down living out the rest of your days in peace. You could hear the crowd cheering from your cell, San would be here for you shortly. You stand up smoothing out the red tunic that had seen better days. It was shorter than you’d like and impractical for fighting, but your handler was right sex sells and it had kept you alive thus far. You move to the drawer of the cell, though tightly watched it was decently large and relatively comfortable. More wins meant better quarters. You pull out the gold plated armour clipping the chest plate, arm bands and shin guards into place before lacing up your worn down brown leather boots. Moving over to the small mirror you dip your hand into a bowl of burgundy paint smearing it down your face and onto your neck then around your well defined biceps. You're admiring your work when you hear a knock on your cell door.

“C’mon darling let’s give them a show” San says, he was nicer than your previous trainers, probably as you were bringing in the big bucks. You walk over to the cell door, he opens it and guides you to the enormous door that would soon open up to the arena.

“Try to let a little blood get spilled tonight, we need to sell some.” You nod, cracking your neck and stretching out your arms. “I also have some suitors lined up, high payers.”

“How many more till I’m out?” you question.

“ Just a few more darling, promise.” He says squeezing your shoulder. You hear the crowd chanting in the background as San leaves. You grab the spear left out for you, tossing it from hand to hand to gage its weight. You bounce up and down on your toes shaking out your body and calming your mind and preparing for whatever they were planning on throwing at you tonight. You repeat the number of days until you're free in your head. You could do this, you’d done it a hundred times now. Not that the killing gets any easier, but in order to survive you had to forgo morality. The doors open and the crowd erupts in applause as you enter waving to the adoring fans.

Mando’s POV

The loud speaker blares out over the crowd “ Tonight a special event, the huntress will take on not one, not two, but four opponents! Now to make it a fair fight, only one will be allowed to challenge at a time, but we have a lovely admixture of beasts and an extra special surprise for you all. The return of another fan favorite. Hang onto your seats folks, this is going to be a night you won’t soon forget” Four versus one, Mando thinks, as he watches you enter the arena, the odds definitely weren’t in your favour. He was prepared to jump in and get you out himself if he had too, you were his only chance at finding the kid after all. He hears a rumble of applause as a door across from you opens revealing a Rancor. He watches you closely, noticing how unphased you seemed by it. In no less than a minute he sees the spear fly from your hand hitting the creature right in its jugular killing it instantly. Not bad, he thinks, but it was just a Rangor, yes they were big, but they weren’t known for being strategic fighters. You pull the spear out of its neck, the crowd cheers seemingly alerting you to the presence of the Nexu that had appeared from the door behind you. It leaps towards you and he watches intently as you tuck and roll out of the way, spear still in hand, thrilling the crowd even more.

He wonders how much of the fight is a performance and how much of it was real. You and the Nexu circle each other, seeing you plant your feet he finds himself curious as to what your next move will be. You kick the dirt up causing the creature to charge again, as it leaps you take a knee lifting the top of the spear up, slicing the creature open causing its guts to fall down on you earning more zealous applause from the arena. He sees you stand up lifting your arms to get the crowd chanting, more showmanship. “What can you tell me about her?” he asks the couple sitting next to him. “Never lost a fight, and she’s beautiful, you need anything else?” They reply. He sees you wiping the creature's guts off your face when a door opens and a Terentatek appears, where the hell did they find one of those things the Mandalorian thinks. He sees your shoulders deflate, more so in annoyance, than fear based on the look on your face. It’s obvious you weren’t expecting a creature so large. After a few dodges and spear swipes the creature has you cornered, he sees you look side to side searching for an out, but there isn’t one, at least none he can see. Its mouth descends on you, seemingly engulfing you whole. The crowd is silent, it’s only then he notices he’s out of his seat. When had that happened? A glimmer suddenly appears from the creature's head as it gets brighter; he sees the spear had sliced through the Terentateks thick hide. The creature collapses and the skin on its head separates as you appear victorious. He sits back down observing you closely as you walk back towards the door from whence you came. The announcer's voice starts up again.

“Now for an extras special treat we’ve brought a fan favourite out of retirement, the demon slayer!” Just then the door opens and a Deveronian in head to toe black armour emerges wasting no time in launching his attack. He throws a dagger which catches you in the arm, the crowd erupts, the sight of your blood enticing them. He watches you intently as you bend over retrieving the knife off the floor and tossing it to the audience. Your opponent’s armour was thick, with very few openings in it. The crowd was getting excited, noticing that you had lost the spear to the Deveronian who had thrown it behind him.

You were the more skilled fighter, but the demon slayer was larger and stronger. He watches you try to make a pass. He thinks you’re in the clear but the opponent grabs you by the hair pulling you back into him as he brandishes another knife bringing it up to your throat. You bite down on his hand giving you just enough time to wrestle the knife from him no doubt slicing your hands open in the process. He doubts that this part of the fight was showmanship, both you and your competitor were evenly matched. It was anyone’s game. Your stunt had given you enough time to retrieve your spear. Just as he thinks you’ve gotten the upper hand he sees a mace extend out from one of the slayer’s sleeves, it sparks with electricity. If it so much as hit you, that would be it. The Mandalorian can feel his heart pounding finding himself wrapped up in the atmosphere of the arena as the creature approaches you swinging the mace. It wraps around your spear, the crowd is silent, they think it's all over, but looking at a nearby screen Mando makes out what appears to be a small smile on your face.

The mace wraps the spear and you pull back on it, hard, drawing the Deveronian in closer. As the electricity hits your arm you release the force from the pulling causing the spear to plunge up in-between the opening between the Devaronians chest plate and helmet killing him instantly. He sees you drop to your knees catching the falling opponent whispering something before laying him down on the floor. The crowd erupts in cheers, flowers and money are thrown to the ground, before picking it up he sees you circle back to each opponent kneeling on the ground for a few seconds before rising and moving on to the next.

“C’mon Mando” the people beside him say “blood auctions this way”. He follows them, but half the auditorium seemingly had the same idea and he was too far back to reach you. He sees you standing with your trainer as the blood spilled during the fight was sold to the highest bidder, the crowd intermittently grabbing at you. You’re quickly shuffled out the room. The Mandalorian exits through a back door, as he does he sees your trainer speaking to a Sephi. He hangs back, close enough to hear the conversation, but far enough away so as not to be noticed.

“Room 801. She’ll be ready for you in a half hour.”

“Perfect, makers, where will I go when she’s free? No one has ever compared to her” the client laughs.

“She’s not leaving, at least not for a while. Far too good for business at the moment. Hope’s what keeps her keen though. I oblige in her fantasies, so she can oblige yours ” The Duro gives the man the key and heads back into the arena. The man exits the alley bumping into the Mandalorian.

“Watch it Mando.” The Sephi says, pushing by him. As he pushes by, Mando snatches the key and makes his way up to room 801.

Your POV

“Hey San, how'd the rest of the auction go?” you ask, wiping off as much slime as you could in the small sink. “Good. I’ve put your cut in the bank for when you’re out. We have a client room 801, penthouse, he knows you apparently.”

“Half the galaxy knows me” you murmur “Do we have to tonight?” you ask, wanting to get out of your gear and go to sleep.

“C’mon he’s rich and not bad looking.”

“Fine” you sigh, not like you had a choice anyways. He chains your hands together and leads you up to the penthouse suite, at least you’d get to sleep in a large bed, maybe get a shower with decent water pressure. He unchains you and ushers you into the room, closing and locking the door behind you. You rub your wrists and crack you back stretching out your arms, you hear a cough. Weird, you think, clients were usually brought up after you’d had time to settle in. “I'm sorry I wasn’t expecting...” you say in your sweetest voice turning around. The tone is quickly dropped. The client was none other than the very person who had landed you in this situation.

“YOU” you shout, not thinking twice before charging at him, slipping a knife out from one of your arm bands and lunging for the Mandalorians neck. He grabs your wrists before they can make contact with him, bending them back causing you to drop the knife on the floor. He tries to restrain you causing you to panic accidentally using the force to throw him back against the wall. He crashed into the wall landing on the floor with a soft thud probably wondering what the hell’s just hit him. His hands quickly shoot up in the air, as you pick up the knife again pointing it at him.

“If you think for one second I’m going to sleep with you, you have another thing coming you stupid tin can, you’re lucky ...” you start but he cuts you off

“That’s not why I’m here.” He says quickly.

“ What?” you say, lowering your knife, but not your guard.

“ I’m here for your help.”

“ YOU want MY help? Makers you’re funny, you know I didn’t know Mandalorians could tell jokes.” you say sitting down on the bed across from him as he cautiously stands up, hands still in the air.

“I’m here to get you out” He offers.

“Why? what do you want from me?” you question

“Your help, the child he was taken I...” he pauses, you feel the sadness emanating off him, but you hold the knife true. “I need to find him before the others do, they’ll kill him.”

“Well should have thought about that before you lost him.” you say snarkily. Standing up you make your way to the door.

“Please, I can get you out of here.” He starts, you turn on your heel.

“Newsflash, I’m making my own way out of here just…”

“ ...a few more fights” he finishes for you. you look at him confused. “There never letting you out of here I heard your trainer he’s not letting you go. Something about being too good for business.” Was he telling you the truth? With the helmet covering his face it was hard to tell. From what your grandmother had told you, Mandalorians rarely lied, and deep down something was telling you to trust him.

“Bastard” you mutter moving away from the door. “Well i'll find my own way out.”

“Please” he says, taking a step towards you, causing you to lift the knife up again. “You wasted your money coming here, leave.”

“I didn’t pay”

“What?” you respond and he looks over to you . “You’re not the client?”

“No” he says dryly, as if the answer was obvious. The tension is cut by a sudden knock at the door.

“Shit, you have to hide” you say dropping the knife and pushing the Mandalorian in the direction of the bed.

“Where should I hide behind a curtain?” he deadpans

“I am not in the mood for jokes right now, get under the bed” you say lifting up the bed skirt.

“No”

“Yes” you say pointing ferociously under the bed.

“No”

“Fine, but you have to go somewhere or we're both screwed.” You say turning around to get the door. As you open it you start “look I can explain.”

“ Explain what?” The Sephi asks, pushing past you taking a seat on the bed. “You’re performance out there was almost as enticing as you” you turn back to close the door looking around the room in an attempt to locate the beskar clad man. “We’ve met before, remember?” he asked, as if you would.

“Hard to forget such a lovely night.” You lie, sitting down next to him realizing you were going to have to talk your way out of this one. “Listen, tonight’s been rough, and I want to be at my peak performance for you, we can reschedule for another night” you say stroking his cheek. The Sephi grabs your wrist, harshly. “ No, I paid for it now so I’ll get it now” . Just then you hear a blaster go off and the guy drops. The Mandalorian appears from behind the curtain

“Seriously.” you say, “I was going to deal with him”

“And I wasn’t going to sit and watch it happen,” he responds re-holstering the blaster.

“They’ll use this to keep me here forever” you say, more sad than angry.

“They were doing that anyway” the modulated voice says. “Come with me” he says reaching his arm out, “now or never”.

Standing up, you push past his hand and walk over to the dead client laying on the floor. Kneeling down you rummage around for his wallet before throwing it to the Mandalorian.

“Let’s get out of here” you say

“Here” he says, taking off his cape and offering it to you. You wrap it around yourself.

“I look like a goddamn Jawa” you say, making note of how long it looks on you.

“Come on before your handaler comes back” he says. The two of you make a swift exit, creeping through the back alleys until you reach his newly acquired ship.

#the mandolarian #mando x you #mando x reader #din dijarin x you #din djarin x you #din djarin x y/n #din djarin x reader #din dijarin x reader #Star Wars #star wars #Alliance #Chapter 2

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heartsofbeskar · 3 years

Text

from the ashes

chapter six | read on AO3

din djarin x oc

WARNINGS: violence, swearing

WORDS: 3.2K

EXCERPT: He extended his other arm to her. Stepping as close as she could, she wrapped an arm tightly around his shoulders. The arm he had held out to her now circled her waist, pulling her even closer. She could feel every curve and edge of his armour through her clothes. His helmet turned towards her.

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Ten couldn’t think of a better sound than the Ursa’s engines finally running again. Decidedly less strained than before, she thought. Though that may have just been wishful thinking.

They’d been sequestered on the asteroid for the better part of two standard weeks. The time they’d lost was valuable, but nothing compared to the time they’d lose if the Ursa bailed on them mid-flight.

On the surface, spending time with the Mandalorian was not too much different than spending time alone. He barely spoke unless he was spoken to, and moved around like a ghost, despite the heavy armour. But there was something … imposing about the man. Not threatening, but Ten could feel his presence in a room, sometimes even feel his eyes on her. It wholly unsettled her— not that she’d let him know that.

Much — well actually all — of their conversation in the recent days had centered around where the hell to go next. It was obvious an Imperial conspirator had inside knowledge of the job and that Ten and Mando were the ones working it. They had a list of contacts from Greef Karga who may have information; to seek out those contacts now would surely be suicide, for everyone involved.

“You feel sure about Ronhar Kraz?” Ten asked. The armoured man sat to her right nodded slowly. Kraz was a businessman who specialized in textiles and linen trade between the core and the Outer Rim. Seemingly benign, but he used those same textiles and linen to smuggle weapons during the days of the Empire. For both sides.

“It feels too obvious,” she mused. “Former weapons smuggler turned Imperial double agent. Why even attach your name onto this if so many people in the Outer Rim know you worked with the Empire?”

“You’re assuming a level of intelligence and foresight I don’t often attribute to Imps,” he said.

“That’s the mindset that gets you fucked over eventually,” she said, rolling her eyes.

“Is that what happened to you?”

Ten turned her head sharply, glaring at him. “You should watch that metal mouth or I’ll find something that will bend beskar.”

She heard a short breathy noise she’d come to known as a laugh processed through his modulator.

They’d almost passed through the outer boundary of the asteroid field, so she focused on steering through the last of the rocks. An itch had settled under her skin in the past few days, an urge to go, go, go, escape the confines of this belt they’d found themselves unexpectedly marooned within. As much as she still dreaded getting tangled up in Empire business, she felt that coursing of adrenaline in her veins that had been escaping her for many months now. That thrill of her life being put on the line of her own volition.

That adrenaline spiked again as they were fired on.

—

“Shit!” Ten cursed, the ship veering sharply upon impact. Din reacted on instinct, seat spinning towards the weapons controls he’d made a point of committing to memory. “They must have followed our ion trail to the edge of the belt. Have the fuckers just been waiting here the whole time?”

Another hit struck them, almost sending Din flying into the viewport. As he lurched, his gaze locked on the ships in front of them, before Ten steered them quickly away in an evasive maneuver. The ships pursued. He wasn’t surprised he recognized the ships, but he was surprised that—

“Those are New Republic ships. That’ll be why we weren’t vapourized on sight.” He paused as he attempted to target lock the ships still following close behind. There were too many asteroids lingering in the belt’s gravitational pull for them to jump to hyperspace. He needed to buy time. “Are you wanted?”

Ten didn’t look at him as she pushed their speed, but he could somehow feel her rolling her eyes at him. “No, I’m not an idiot. Even if I was, the Ursa’s totally off register, there’s no way—”

“Torpedo approaching lower left engine exhaust,” he interrupted. Cursing again, she took them as far right as possible — and right towards a large asteroid. Din braced, but she slowed their speed enough to whip them quickly around its circumference. He had to admit she was an impressive pilot.

“Are you wanted?”

“...Yes.”

“Now why am I not surprised by—”

She was cut off by the incoming communication alarm. They exchanged glances before Ten reached forward and set off the acceptance switch.

“Unidentified vessel,” came the drone of a New Republic officer. “Cut your engines immediately and prepare for boarding.”

“And why the hell should we do that?” Ten snapped, taking them through a narrow gap between asteroids. Din rolled his eyes now beneath the helmet.

“You are wanted for the murder of Jula Lars. Cut your engines immediately and prepare to be taken into custody. Failure to comply can result in—”

Ten slammed her hand down on the controls and cut off the channel. Din noticed her other hand tightening on the steering gears, knuckles going white. The scars he knew to be there were barely visible.

“Those fuckers … do you have a target lock on the ships? I’m going to blast them from the fucking sky,” she snapped.

As lightly as he dared, Din placed a hand on her arm that was closest to him. “They’re only doing their job. Obviously the Imps put them on our tail. No one else knew we were there.”

“Oh and you’re now the sudden pacifist?” she turned her head to glare at him. It felt like ice began flowing through his veins.

“We don’t need to help create more victims to the Empire,” he said lowly. Something flashed in her eyes. She kept eye contact with him for as long as she dared before turning forward to continue steering.

“Fine,” was all she said. A pause. More shots volleying around them, missing the ship as it weaved. “Then we need to go to hyperspace. Now.”

“There’s still too many asteroids we could—”

“Then I guess you’re just going to have to trust me, Mandalorian,” she said, and she was already engaging, then ramping their speed and then— rocks flew past them as superliminal speeds as they were catapulted into hyperspace. Din held his breath the entire time, certain they were headed straight for a rock which, at these speeds, would vapourize them for sure.

He let it go when he realized they were clear. Looking beside him, he saw Ten staring at him, her scarred eyebrow raised. “I told you to trust me.”

He scoffed, still feeling on edge. “Set the course for Leotis IV.”

“Aye aye, captain.”

—

Ten landed the Ursa as discreetly as she could, a few kilometres out from the Kraz estate. Thankfully it didn’t seem the New Republic had any insight on where they were going, only where they had been. But there was no guessing how long that would last.

Mando was in the hold, already securing his blaster into his belt. She recognized a couple other models and … something that didn’t look like a blaster at all. Before she could get a longer look his cloak fell over it.

“Kraz’s estate only has minimum security in place. Security cameras, only two from the back, no motion sensors,” she said, opening up the weapons compartment.

“How do you know all this?” Mando asked, entering her field of view. She looked up from where she was sheathing throwing knives. She shrugged at him.

“You hunt people, I hunt information. It’s my business to know my way around prominent figure’s properties.” Reaching up, Ten finally grabbed her blaster from the top shelf it sat on. She knew she could very likely do this without it, but it would probably appease Mando.

“If he is working with the Empire, he may have increased his security since your latest information,” he noted. She nodded as she hung her own cloak around her shoulders.

“At least then it would make for a challenge,” she said, nodding her head towards the door.

They closed the distance from the Ursa on foot so as not to be seen by anyone on the grounds. The tree cover was just enough to hide it from view overhead. Mando seemed to want to take the walk in their usual state of silence, and Ten didn’t complain.

As they walked, Ten admired the foliage that seemed to grow at mostly knee height on this planet. It bloomed undisturbed in the gaps left by the trees, enjoying the unrestricted sunlight. The rays seemed to bounce off the petals which appeared in every colour.

It made her think of Yaim. The trees there had been much denser, and wider. But the air seemed to vibrate in the same way, the wind so delicate Ten could almost close her eyes and imagine it was tender fingers on her cheek.

She reached out, as she would always do when she was a girl, and felt that unwavering presence, its weight bearing down on her bones and her soul alike. But … less heavy than usual, which surprised her.

Finally, they reached the wall which indicated the edge of the property, It wasn’t high, maybe four or five metres by Ten’s estimation. The surface was uneven, and she grabbed a hold of the texture, testing it.

“This should work. If we can scale to the—” She was cut off by a sharp whizzing noise beside her. As she examined the grappling hook connected to his vambrace, she was absolutely sure he was smirking beneath the helmet. “Or we could do it that way.”

He extended his other arm to her. Stepping as close as she could, she wrapped an arm tightly around his shoulders. The arm he had held out to her now circled her waist, pulling her even closer. She could feel every curve and edge of his armour through her clothes. His helmet turned towards her.

“Hold on tight,” was all he said, and then they were rapidly ascending up, up, past the rough stones in the wall, until Mando swung them onto the top, which was thankfully flat. “You can let go now.”

“Right,” she breathed. Shaking her head, she turned towards the building now filling their view. As she’d planned, the route to the wall had taken them close to the back corner of the property. If her information was current, Kraz only had cameras facing his back and front entrances. “You’ve got a scope on that pulse rifle, right? Can you see the cameras on the back wall?”

Swinging the rifle around to rest on his shoulder, he wordlessly aimed at the building. Ten studied his stance from the corner of her eye. His feet were heavy, planted shoulder width apart. He didn’t sway as the wind picked up, a solid beskar statue in the foreign landscape.

Suddenly he fired once, then twice. Ten flinched at the unexpected noise. Finally, he spoke. “The cameras are taken care of.”

“A little warning next time?” Before he could respond, she flung herself from the wall. She braced herself on her hands as she landed, Mando dropping beside her a moment later. She held up a hand.

After a few beats of silence, she nodded at him. “Seems like they haven’t upgraded security after all,” she noted, moving towards the back entrance. As they got closer, she saw that the cameras were indeed demolished by the shots.

“Don’t suppose you know the interior blueprints as well?” Mando asked at her left shoulder.

“No,” she shook her head. “Those are usually harder to get a hold of. But I have been hired by many men like Kraz. They like to keep their personal offices in the back of buildings, it makes them feel safer for some reason. See that window?”

She gestured directly above them, where the largest window on the back facade sat. It was also the only window inset with what appeared to be rare minerals.

“I agree,” Mando said before she could finish. “That’s a good place to start. After you.”

Ten examined the back entrance, gliding her hand along the smooth edges of the metal. The locking mechanism blinked orange gently, and she recognized an optical scanner. But beneath that … a keyboard override, hidden under an unlocked panel. Perfect.

Taking one of her daggers from her belt, she was able to tear off the cover of the keypad box with her hands. Ten held the dagger up. It was one of her favourites. The handle was nondescript, simple, fitted perfectly to her grip. Its blade was stronger than any other she owned, and she strongly suspected it had been mixed with beskar, though she couldn’t be sure. Maybe she would ask the Mandalorian.

She pried under the edge of the keypad, battling metal on metal, leveraging with all her strength. Finally, as she expected, her metal won, and the bottom edge of the keypad popped off with a satisfying crack. She cut every wire she found lying underneath, one by one until—

The door slid open with a whirr as the orange light went dark.

“Would’ve been faster to shoot it open,” said Mando.

“And set off every alarm they have in this place.” She strode past him into the building. The cement walls echoed her footsteps, but there was no other sound bouncing off them. The overhead lights flickered slowly.

The hallway branched into a T shortly ahead of them, and her and Mando took to a side of the wall. Nodding, they inched over the corner, blasters drawn. Ten found a long corridor on her side, ending in a window. There were no doors. She spoke first, in a low tone.

“All clear here.”

“Here too.”

Relaxing marginally, she turned. The other direction appeared much the same, with another doorless hallway. Ten shrugged.

“Your choice is as good as mine.”

Mando wordlessly started down the hall to the right. She followed, pulling her hood over her head as she did. She ran her hand lightly along the wall. It was cold to the touch. She tightened her grip on her blaster.

A stairway emerged at the end of the hallway, and they followed silently. The next level was similar to the first, though featured more hallways going deeper into the building and an occasional linen draped on the wall. Finally, they came to a wide door, inlaid with the same mineral as the exterior window.

It was empty inside. A large wooden desk occupied much of the room, facing towards the ornate window. The sunlight streamed in freely, casting multicoloured shapes over the room. It reflected off Mando’s beskar as he approached the computer terminal on the desk.

“The communications log should give us enough information on whether he’s working with the Empire.” He called up a projected screen, gloved fingers running over the controls. “Should be … here. Most people don’t even restrict access. We can download it to look at on the ship.”

Ten nodded. She moved towards the window. Closer to it, she could see the small bubbles enclosed in the inlays. It felt rough. She wasn’t sure why she was so drawn to touch today, but it felt as if a live wire had been inserted beneath her skin, the smallest of currents lighting her nerves.

“Done,” came Mando’s modulated tone, pulling her attention. “We should go—”

Before he could finish, the latch clicked in the door. They both watched, unable to do anything, as the handle turned and the door opened fully.

A human man stood there, looking down at his holopad at first. Mando raised his blaster slowly. By the time the man looked up, it was directly in front of his face, and his eyes widened as he took the two of them in.

“W-who the hell are you?” he asked shakily. “You shouldn’t be in here, I …”

“We’re going to walk out of here,” Mando said calmly. “There’s no reason to panic. You’re going to stay in this office for five minutes, and then go about your day. Got it?”

The man’s eyes darted rapidly back and forth between them. Ten tried to soften her eyes, to urge him to listen. She wasn’t sure it worked.

Faster than either of them could react, he screamed out, tripping backwards over himself out of the office. Mando fired down into his leg and he collapsed, screaming more, but it was too late, the damage had been done.

As they sprinted out and away from the office, Ten could already hear the sound of boots echoing off the walls. They’d almost reached the stairs when a group of armed security burst out of a hallway in front of them. It was six on two and damn if Ten didn’t like those odds.

Blaster fire broke out almost immediately. Just as quickly, Ten lost track of Mando in the shuffle, but it didn’t matter.

She shot at the two men in front of her, electing for quantity over quality in her aim. She managed to hit one somewhere in the torso and he crumpled to the ground. After a number of other shots she hit the next man in the shoulder, which worked to her advantage. He dropped his blaster with a shout, but stayed on his feet.

Ten pulled two of the small knives from her belt. Taking a deep breath to steady herself, she aimed before whipping it forehead. It spun in the air before hitting its mark, buried inside the man’s neck. He sputtered as he fell to his knees, then onto his face.

Spinning around, she saw Mando taking down a fifth officer behind her, two others already on the ground. She counted quickly.

“Where’s the sixth one?”

“Doesn’t matter,” Mando grunted, dropping the officer to the ground. He raced toward the stairs and she followed.

It appeared they were mostly in the clear, the branch off to the door just ahead of them. Ten led ahead, turning the corner first.

She was met with a blaster pressed to her forehead. It was the sixth officer, her hands shaking as she pressed the barrel harder into the skin.

Ten couldn’t even consciously control her response. It didn’t matter that Mando stood just behind her.

Her hand reached up in front of her, gripping seemingly around nothing, pushing forward. She pulled on the invisible field which was always with her, calling on it. Slowly the barrel of the blaster moved away and so too did the officer, beginning to cough and sputter as her windpipe closed. Ten panted, squeezing tighter and higher, and now the officer was a good three metres in front of her, feet lifting off the ground, eyes rolling into her head. With a grunt, she quickly jerked her arm to the side, sending the officer flying into the wall. The crumpled figure on the ground didn’t move.

“You just …” came Mando’s voice behind her. She turned to look back at him. “You’re a Jedi.”

“We don’t have time for this but let’s get one thing straight. I am not a Jedi.”

#the mandalorian #the mandalorian fanfic #the mandalorian fanfiction #the mandalorian x oc #the mandalorian x original character #din djain #din djarin x oc #din djarin x original character #din djarin fanfiction #star wars fanfic #star wars fanfiction #star wars #mywriting

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katalicz · 5 years

Note

19 bliban if it tickles your fancy

of course my friend, here you go!!

https://archiveofourown.org/works/17440433/chapters/49387754

“I could kill you right now!”

Blitz has been awake for long enough to realise that he is, once more, in a hospital, when the door to his room swings open and Bandit appears, still in his gear and with a furious look on his face.

“You’re an idiot!” he bites out, striding forwards and throwing himself into the chair by Blitz’s bedside before Blitz can open his mouth to say hello. He can’t even protest that he isn't an idiot, because he isn't exactly sure what he’s done this time to end up here. The painkillers are making his entire body feel horribly fuzzy and his mind is still mostly blank from the anaesthetic, which is enough to tell him that he’s had more than a little fall, at least.

“Hi,” he says – or croaks, rather, since his throat feels as though he’s gargled a handful of gravel, and Bandit scowls before carefully guiding a cup of water he’s procured from seemingly nowhere to Blitz’s lips to allow him to drink.

“What time is it?” Blitz asks when he’s finished, watching as Bandit tosses the cup over his shoulder to land neatly in the bin. It’s very impressive, he thinks, but doesn’t say it for the fear of annoying Bandit more.

“It’s almost seven,” Bandit replies, crossing his arms. Blitz doesn’t have the strength to reach out and take one of his hands, which is a little concerning, but overall, that’s not too bad considering that the raid had started at eleven.

The thought must show on his face, because Bandit closes his eyes in frustration and says, “Seven am. You’ve been here for 15 hours, you idiot.”

Ah. That explains the fury, then, as well as the dark bags sitting like bruises beneath Bandit’s eyes. Knowing him, which Blitz is pleased to say he does, he’ll have been awake all this time, prowling through the hospital ward and making anyone he encounters shy away in terror.

“I feel fine,” he says mildly, and tries to wiggle his toes. They respond after a few attempts, thankfully, and he looks back up to see Bandit watching him with a worryingly unreadable look on his face. “It can’t have been that bad.”

“You don’t remember what happened,” Bandit says flatly, a statement instead of a question. Blitz winces when he has try harder than usual to shake his head no. “And stop moving before Doc sees you and ties you to the damn bench.”

“He wouldn’t do that,” Blitz muses, still trying and failing to read the look in Bandit’s eyes. He hopes it’s just the drugs making him slow; he’d spent a ridiculous amount of time learning to read Bandit’s many, many faces, and really doesn’t want to consider that he’s forgotten any of them. He’d probably earn an award for being a terrible boyfriend, if he had. “He likes me, I’m a good patient.”

Bandit blinks at him once, and Blitz’s heart lurches in his chest as the look fades from unreadable to completely blank in the way it only does when Bandit is shutting himself away from the world and away from any kind of emotion and away from Blitz.

“Dom?” he says, as gently as he can, and forces his arm out to grasp weakly at Bandit’s clenched hands.

It’s the wrong thing to do; Bandit lurches to his feet with a snarl, sending his chair clattering to the floor. His body is wrought with a tension that makes Blitz’s shoulders ache to look at, and he wants to reach out, to sit up and draw him close, but he can’t.

“Bandit—” he starts weakly, not knowing what else to do. For a painful beat nothing happens, then Bandit is turning on his heal and storming away with a cold fury that makes Blitz’s chest hurt to watch.

“You almost died!” Bandit snaps, eyes glinting dangerously when he turns, and Blitz’s breath catches in his throat as the meaning of the words sink in. “You took a bullet an inch away from your goddamn spine, you absolute fucking idiot—”

“I didn’t, though,” Blitz hears himself say, even as his blood seems to freeze in his veins with terror, as his pulse thunders in his ears. “It’s okay, I’m fine.”

Bandit pauses in his tracks to stare at him, and Blitz’s skin prickles under the intensity of his gaze. “I could kill you right now!” Bandit snarls, resuming his pacing of the room, his hands clenched into tight fists that will leave him with a headache if he carries on much longer.

“Please don’t, we spent a lot of time fixing him,” Doc interrupts, appearing in the doorway and smiling wanly at Blitz.

Bandit throws a thunderous glare at him but doesn’t reply, and Doc watches him for a moment before cautiously making his way to Blitz’s bedside.

“How do you feel?” he asks gently, and Blitz closes his eyes for a moment to pull himself together. When he opens them, Doc is watching calmly, the eye of the storm that’s still quite literally raging around them.

“Sore,” he replies, wincing as his voice cracks and gratefully accepting the cup of water Doc offers him.

“As you’ve probably heard, you were quite lucky,” Doc says as Blitz drinks, and Blitz has the feeling that he’d be in for a lecture if Doc weren’t looking so worn out. “It wasn’t quite so bad as Bandit was making out, since he ran off when one of the nurses told him to prepare for the worst, which due to the position of the bullet, we initially believed were paralysis or stroke.”

There’s a distressed sound at that which Blitz eventually realises came from him, and a brief pause in pacing when Bandit appears to trip over his own feet. Blitz inhales deeply, holds it for a count of five to try and stop himself from panicking, and exhales.

“What was it actually, then?” he asks quietly, and Doc smiles wanly.

“The bullet was almost stopped by your armour and ended up lodged four centimetres to the left of your upper thoracic spine. The shockwave from the impact would have done the most damage, and whilst we were worried about the risk of paralysis for a while, the MRIs and ultrasound show no damage to the spinal cord or surrounding structures due to low-velocity and low-calibre.” Doc folds his hands together and shrugs. “We did surgery to remove the bullet, flushed the area to prevent infection, sealed a small tear to your dura, and stitched you up. Easy as that.”

Nothing about it seems easy to Blitz but he nods weakly anyway and closes his eyes again, unwilling to look at Doc’s tired face, at Bandit’s wrath. “That’s good,” he says weakly, and hears Bandit snort from somewhere to his left. “I’m glad it wasn’t a rifle shot.” He’s only half joking, and winces with regret when Bandit curses at him and resumes his stomping with increased vigour.

“So am I,” Doc says quietly, “because then we would be faced with the worst.”

There’s sombre silence for a second, broken only by Bandit’s frantic footsteps, before Doc sighs. “Will you please sit down?” he asks quietly, and the pacing stops, leaving the room uncomfortably quiet. “I’ll sedate you if not; you’re only making yourself worse.”

“Fuck you,” Bandit growls, from much closer now, and a hot hand closes around Blitz’s own. If he clings onto it with enough force to feel the bones shift slightly, Bandit doesn’t seem to notice, and Doc doesn’t seem to care.

He forces his eyes open to find Bandit sat down again, elbow on his knee and face hidden by his free hand. Doc is still watching worriedly, and shrugs a shoulder when Blitz meets his eyes.

“We’ll need to keep you here overnight before returning to base,” he says apologetically, dragging a hand through his hair. “Just to make sure there are no complications from the surgery. Then we’ll do some tests to ensure the nervous system is functioning properly, which shouldn’t take too long.”

Blitz nods, even as fear flutters through his stomach. Bandit’s grip tightens on his hand to the point where it’s almost painful. “How long will it take to recover?” he asks, not really wanting to hear the answer.

Doc sighs. “Not too long, we hope. There will be some muscle weakness due to the surgery but that should pass within a week, and you should be back to normal within a month, with any luck.”

Blitz squeezes Bandit’s hand again and relaxes for the first time since waking up. “That’s not too bad then,” he says, and Doc smiles again.

“Not too bad at all,” he confirms. “Though if you do it again, you’ll be benched from the team until you learn not to run directly into the line of fire like an idiot.”

“I’ll kill you myself if you do it again,” Bandit says hoarsely, peering up through his fingers and scowling fiercely. The effect is ruined by the redness rimming his eyes and the slight tremble to his shoulders, and Blitz’s heart aches for him.

“I’m sorry,” he murmurs, smiling tiredly at the small “fuck you,�� he earns for his trouble, and startling when Doc stands up to stretch.

“Anyway,” Doc says, stepping back and checking the line of machines along the wall. “I’ll give you another dose of painkillers but won’t bother putting you under again so we can finish the tests. And if you can persuade him to at least get changed, we’d all be very grateful.” He shoots a mildly amused look at Bandit, who flips him off half-heartedly, and Blitz wrinkles his nose in sympathy with the medical staff. His gear is still filthy with the usual dust and grime from being in the field, and he probably stinks of sweat and gunpowder too.

“I’ll do my best,” he promises, grimacing as Doc fiddles with the machine hooked to the IV line and sends an uncomfortably cool flood of fluid into his veins. The pain that had slowly been building up between his shoulders lessens immediately, though, and he can’t help the small sigh of relief that escapes him.

Doc rolls his eyes and heads for the door. “You should have said it was hurting,” he scolds, “I would have given them to you first.”

“No you wouldn’t,” Blitz replies mildly, but Doc’s already gone, and suddenly the room feels far smaller.

“Don’t you dare do that again,” Bandit says quietly, voice gravelly and breathing loud. “I’m serious. I thought you were dead, when you went down.”

A painful lump forms in Blitz’s throat. “I’m sorry,” he whispers again, closing his eyes. He’s hit with a wave of exhaustion, the painkillers and emotions and adrenaline getting the better of him, and when he opens his eyes again, he’s unsurprised to find his vision blurred and cheeks damp.

Bandit watches him quietly, thumb pressing firmly into the back of his hand. The empty storm in his eyes is gone, replaced with a tired sort of fear that Blitz is all too familiar with, from missions gone wrong and too many close calls, from nightmares and memories and silly accidents on base that shouldn’t be as frightening as walking into a gunfight but somehow are.

When he’s pulled himself together, he squeezes Bandit’s hand again and smiles weakly at him. “You look like shit, by the way,” he says teasingly. “It’s a good job I can’t smell you or I’d probably be in a coma.”

Bandit rolls his eyes and leans forward to rest his elbow on the bed. “I’ll go and shower when they come and do your tests,” he promises. “The nurses here are a bit nervous.”

“They’re probably not usually, you’re just a bit terrifying,” Blitz yawns. “You knocked over a chair, nearly stomped through the floor, and threatened to kill me. Twice. It’s enough to make anyone nervous.”

Bandit rolls his eyes, presses a kiss to the corner of his mouth, and doesn’t look sorry in the slightest.

#r6s #rainbow six siege #bliban #guess who's back babey!!#if this is bad im sorry i just gotta write at the moment to keep the juices flowing lmao #Anonymous

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chubbyooo · 5 years

Text

Blurred Lines Chapter 21 - Resemblances

Chapter 21 switches over to Terri as we catch up with their venture into another temple (I know there’s a lot of jumping around at the mo but due to the timeline it’s kinda needed)

Terri and Lusari investigate another temple and have a scary experience (it’s a long one boys)

A chuttering sound came from the speeder as Terri began to park it, it was slightly worrying maybe she should check it out later. Terri had some mechanical skill so maybe she could fix it. Lusari had arrived next to her and began parking, her hair was messy and full of small sticks and leaves, Terri wasn’t that surprised with the length of Lusi’s hair things were bound to get caught in it. She promptly grabbed her satchel and picked out a hair brush, Terri tried to hold in a smirk as Lusari tried her best to a least tame her hair.

As she finished she spoke up “ok we got everything for the ritual” Terri checked her many small bags and pouches for her adventuring gear and sure enough she was kitted out and totally rad.

“cool adventuring gear check, super good flashlight check, awesome lightsaber check, you?” she did think the adventure was super cool, she had always dreamed of being like the adventurers in the archives of the sith academy, she was very pleased to be doing it in a less evil way.

Lusari began riffling through her satchel “let’s see ritual components double check, emergency defences check aaaand one very cool holocron check” Lusari displayed her holocron for a second before returning it to the bag. It was cube shaped with triangular corners, the thing was much bigger than most holocrons she had seen but glowing just as sinisterly with a red hue. Apparently it was stuck that way which made sense considering it’s content, still that’s what they were here for to right that wrong.

Terri snapped out of her accidental daydream and responded to Lusari “alright let’s get to it then” she was trying to be more confident in herself and the mission after the talk with Lusi last night, she was hoping it helped.

Lusari nodded in agreement and they headed towards the temple. From what they knew this temple was buried in the side of a mountain but it’s entrance was still out in the open and from their scans the interior was still somewhat intact. As they made their way to the cliff edge they very quickly spotted the overgrown temple entrance sticking prominently out of the rock face it was covered in moss and vines and looked more like a cave than a temple. It looked very dark in there and as they moved closer they could hear echos resonating throughout the temple.

“woah that’s freaky” Lusari said seeming a little uneasy

“yeah we should stick close together, stay in my light” Terri turned on her flashlight and Lusari moved in close

“thanks Terr I’ll be right next to you the whole way” she took Terri’s hand and they began to go into the darkness. Terri was a little scared admittedly but she thought anyone would be, this place was spooky. As they moved further into the temple they could see cobwebs lined most of the walls and a huge amount of dust was caught in the ray of Terri’s flashlight, the dust levels were so high they were making the back of Terri’s mouth tickle. Every now and again they could see a little bit of rubble crumble off the side of the walls, this place would probably collapse within a few months. Terri could also hear a faint dripping sound echoing through the halls, must be water nearby.

Lusari suddenly spoke up “hey Terr do you know the way to the main chamber” Terri was confused the other one had been pretty clear

“no is it different to the last one” Lusi had looked at the maps and planned out most of this ritual, she was the smart one but Terri was defiantly the cool one after her fight with the commander.

“yeah this place is a Labyrinth but I totally solved it, it wasn’t even that well made” Lusi sounded a little mad, Terri knew that Lusi loved solving puzzles and she knew even better how she got mad when she saw a bad puzzle, this defiantly matched that tone.

“do you know the way then? are we lost?” Terri didn’t realise they could get lost in this creepy temple otherwise she would’ve been much more careful

“yeah no I’m fine just checking you knew” good thing too she would’ve just gone in a straight line forever

As Lusari began to lead they heard a creepy echoed voice chuckle. Immediately Terri’s hair all stood on end and she started to tremble, she began to turn around looking for the voice

“u-um Lu-lusi d-did y-you here that” Terri thought about igniting her lightsaber but didn’t want to draw attention to herself, it wouldn’t exactly be covert

“ye-yeah u-um what was that?” oh no Lusi didn’t know what it was that was really bad

“I don’t know um is it the Lady?” seemed unlikely but maybe it was a test

they were both looking around anxiously in the space “n-no she ca-can’t talk while con-contained” Terri kinda already knew that but she didn’t want to believe it was something else

“let’s uh let’s walk back to back y-you know for safety” Terri would feel better if they covered all their bases

“uh huh sure” Lusari backed up to were Terri was and she passed over the flashlight. They began to walk forwards carefully looking around for the source of the noise, Terri was facing backwards and could see little of were they came from without the flashlight but she swore she could see a small glow of blue coming from the end of the corridor. They continued down a few more passageways until they reached a door, Lusari stopped and Terri accidentally bumped into her back letting out a little surprised shriek.

“sorry, there’s a door here I need to concentrate” Terri nodded awkwardly and began surveying the chamber to avoid the embarrassment. She looked around the room for a bit before she found a average size moveable piece in the wall, It seemed too simple to be rubble and it may mean there’s a mechanism behind it. She closed her eyes and used the force to move the rock but then she suddenly felt a force knock her to the ground, what was that? it felt like a bunch of pipes maybe it was a mechanism. She reopened her eyes to see a Kaleesh skull starring at her, she cried out as she quickly moved the skeleton of her.

“ah oh my god oh my god oh my goood there’s a creepy dead Kaleesh here” Terri’s heart was racing, she had never been so frightened in her life but more than that she was confused; Kaleesh weren’t exactly native to Yavin IV so this was not random. Not only that but there still looked to be meat on his bones, but this place was abandoned it didn’t add up. As she looked up though she did see a lever in the hole so at least her wimpy moment wasn’t for nothing. She pulled the lever and as she did she saw that Lusi was still deep in concentration, the door began to lift and she opened her eyes.

“see I just needed a little time” she said with a smile, whaaat this was Terri not her she better not take credit. Terri gestured intensely to the lever “oh... right well um nice job” Lusi seemed a little disappointed but Terri felt it was more important to get out of this horror movie waiting to happen. They continued through the corridors eventually reaching the main chamber where Lusi began unpacking her things on the similar tablet in the chamber.

Terri took a defensive position as Lusari set up the ritual but as they prepared they heard the same echoed voice “hmhuhuhuh two little sith flies falling riiiight into my trap” Terri looked around for the source of the voice igniting her lightsaber for extra intimidation factor.

Lusari looked at Terri concerned but they had a job to do “Lusi get on with the ritual I can hold off whatever this is” she wasn’t really sure of that but she had to be brave and trust in their plan “show yourself” Terri shouted into the chamber as Lusari sat down to begin the ritual, she was protected like that Terri wasn’t sure how.

As her shout echoed around the chamber a blue etherial form materialised in front of her. It was a Male Togruta with a snarl covering his face, his teeth were like fangs and he was covered in some form bone armour. Terri was immediately scared of him what was this guy? an ancient warrior? a crazed zealot? whatever he was he seemed loco

“well well another fool has entered my abode ohohohohoo I’m going to enjoy skinning you” oh no no thank you no skinning, Terri began moving backwards as he talked, what was she supposed to do he was a ghost she couldn't exactly hurt him. Could he hurt her?

her hands shook as she said “stay back I-I know how to use this thing” she was actually pretty good with a lightsaber and probably could take this guy if he was a real person

But in response the ghostly figure just chuckled spitting as he did “go on then I’m dying to see this” Terri tried a proper stab but it just went straight through him, in response he began to laugh in a booming voice

Terri had to regain the upper hand Lusi was counting on her to stall “yeah but you can’t hurt me either right...you ghost” it was true right he could only use the force against her and she was good at blocking that.

“oh but my dear I won’t be doing the hurting” he began to whistle and as he did Terri could here a aggressive shuffling sound coming from the other end of the temple “you best be prepared my Varactyl haven’t eaten in weeeks” oh god oh god what did Terri do she had no idea how to stop this she was going to ruin everything. She could hear the Varactyl coming closer and closer soon they would be here then what would she do, she had no plan and they were counting on her

Suddenly then she heard a familiar echoed voice but this time in her head “Terri get the ghost close to me” close to her what does that mean? close to the holocron, best option she got right now

She quickly shuffled next to the holocron, how was she going to get him over “oh I see how it is not brave enough to fight me yourself, afraid you’ll lose” she could see a little twitch in his face, please say that worked she could hear the varactyls howls very close

he began to step forward “believe me missy nothing would make me happier than flaying the skin off of you myself but” he was getting closer, yes! thank the force, stupid monologuing sith so easy to trick “I’m afraid I’m otherwise impa-” as he was talking his words were almost drained away from him and suddenly his form was being pulled towards the holocron with a chilling energy. Oh my god the Lady is saving her she felt so honoured, she heard a snarling coming from behind her, oh no the varactyl she saw them enter the chamber ready to pounce. She was petrified she had no idea what to do she just closed her eyes and trusted the Lady had a plan.

She could here the togruta screaming as she stood there unable to move “noooo, noooo you will never cage me I will destroy yo-” and then silence Terri could still hear the snarling though, she wasn’t brave enough she had really tried but now she had just froze. But then she heard them whimpering and as she opened her eyes they were running away.

“oh oh oh my god my Lady h-how did you do that” that was soooo coool Terri was sure she had messed it up but the Lady totally had a plan

The voice resonated inside her head once again “absorbing of a force ghost is defiantly a crude and dangerous way to achieve power but none the less effective” absorbing? so all his power now the lady’s? well at least it was with someone who would use it well

“you absorbed him? like all his power and personality wow you’re so powerful” Terri hadn’t talked to the Lady much before, that was more Lusi’s job but she was still very pleased to talk to her

“yes it’s actually not a very hard ritual but given to a naive young force user and it can lead to disastrous consequences for the individual trust me” she sounded so smart, Terri knew that the Lady was quite an old being but her understanding of the force was always so baffling

“Thank you so much for saving me from the Varactyls I know you didn’t have to” Terri felt like she should at least thank her, she hoped it wasn’t rude

“nonsense Terri you’re important to the plan just like Lusari, you’ll realise your part eventually” whaaaat she did have a part to play? she thought she was just helping out, why hadn’t Lusi told her?

“oh um well thank you” Terri felt very giddy after all this praise

“I must return to the ritual I have been away from it too long, Lusari may be getting doubtful” Terri let her go without another word and sat on the wall excitably replaying the events over in her mind. It was dangerous but also so cool not only fighting the commander but a force ghost, her friends would be so jealous. As she sat the room slowly began to glimmer with light, oh yeah she got to watch the ritual this time awesome. As the glimmers became clear she could see many different language symbols all lighting up with a glowing yellow light, as the ritual continued the glowing formed tendrils which branched together all leading into the holocron. The chamber then returned to the darkness it was once in and the room was silent.

Lusari stepped up and turned around “what did I miss” Terri smiled she was gonna be so jealous...

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scarletrebel · 5 years

Note

⭐star⭐ waffle at me about your favourite lines youve written

ohhh friend you have opened a pandoras box and i hope you are ready also thank you aha

so i started…….. picking some lines and made the Executive Decision to just do one fic because i was planning on doing a couple from a handful of fics but turns out im far too prone to waffling about this kind of stuff because i love picking things apart and figuring out why they work because i love fuckign words and the things they evoke and stuff so yeah this is just some fave lines from most recent fic, requital.

this was part of a ‘directors cut’ writer thing and if anyone has any more prompts, feel more than free to send them my way!

Requital, Chp. 1:

His honesty, wrapped tightly underneath a chivalrous act; a throwaway comment to soften the exposure of such a question, draws her closer.

She kisses him, and hopes that even though the motion is countless in the amount of times they’ve come together, that the answer is plain enough. A claim, she hears her own words in her head, tasting the tobacco of his morning cigarette on her tongue, the warmth of the pull at his hands on her hips.

so whilst i cant say this section was directly inspired by the ecdysis book, what i can say is that there is definitely some influence going on here, in particular these two lines from the page ‘synesthesia’:

“Wu Ming is a bonfire in the darkness, and she crawls toward his warmth.”

“Wu Ming leaves his questions by the wayside as he is drawn inexorably into the gravity well of her desperate honesty.”

and thats not something i realised until i was writing the final draft, and im pretty pleased with myself considering not only is requital going to examine some of the similarities between avia and drifter, but also the fact that ecdysis is probably my favourite book. i mean…… ‘drawn inexorably into the gravity well of her desperate honesty’ what the FUCK KIND OF LINE its gorgeous i cant deal with it or this book or this page or how desperately gorgeous the tragedy of drifter and orins relationship is

also…… look. im a hopeless romantic. always have been, probs always will be, so when i say avia and rook are soulmates i mean it in the cheesiest way possible. right before this is rook feeling a bit self-conscious about the whole awoken engaging thing, and theres no way avia can actually put into words how irrevocably in love she is with rook. so she kisses him, and hopes beyond hope that she can put those feelings into motions if not words. i also enjoy the small bit of possessiveness that came out of her too, because the whole ‘claim’ thing with the awoken was there since the first draft but this section came in the final edit, she thinks of it so casually but when she goes on to say that she’d actually duel anyone who came between them i…….. would not put it past her to be 100% down to do that.

rook isnt a bonfire in the darkness, he’s an anchor in the deep, a solid tether when the sea becomes a storm.

(ayyy where the FUCK WAS THAT WHEN I WAS WRITING THIS)

Requital Chp. 2:

Here’s the thing, if you’ve gone through the trouble of decrypting this (a fortified certain-eyes-only encryption that took me a couple of hundred years to perfect, thank you very much), it at least means you’re interested, so hear me out.

i like this line a lot, for a few reasons. drifter knows avia well enough at this point to be well acquainted with her temper and lack of time for dealing with his nonsense. it’s the first flick of the coin between the two of them, drifter laying the proverbial gauntlet down and at the end of the day, its up to her whether or not she picks it up.

and she does, avia asks levi to decrypt it, and the first thing she sees is drifter acknowledging that shes done so and asking her to at least hear him out. he’s kind of caught her out, and she can respect that even if thats not at the forefront of her mind. avia also has her own brand of curiosity when it comes to people like the drifter, so this is kind of the first inkling of that. and it also (i hope) makes you wonder if drifter is aware of that curiosity that she has, if he sent the message decrypted on purpose to get her interested.

She smiles at the note, throws her legs over the bed and stretches around a yawn. Five minutes later, Levi puts her in her armour.

“Are you sure you don’t want to stick around?” The Ghost asks. “We don’t have anything urgent to do. There’s breakfast here.”

Avia hums, considering. She moves into the kitchen, glances over the fridge, the cupboards. She looks then onto the sofa, the sprawled pillows, untidy blankets. Suddenly the armour on her body feels heavy, out of place, like the metal has no right being somewhere like this.

“No. I’m not hungry, let’s go.”

“Okay,” Levi says in that tone of voice that lets her know they aren’t buying it. “Should we walk, or transmat?”

Avia notices the balcony door is still open. She walks over and closes it, the streets barely alive as one or two civilians walk to and fro, glancing idly at each other as they pass. “Transmat.”

avia immediately makes an comment about being all domestic with rook in chapter 1. its just not something that suits her in her own mind, and that line (even though i havent waffled about it bc dear god theres too much here already) was something i immediately knew i wanted if i was going to write a day of domestic bliss with her and her fiance, because i knew it’d be a hard thing for her to just get on with like a normal person aha.

so, we get this part in chapter 2. the domestic bliss is over, and what avia knows best, what shes always known best, is a set of armour and getting back to work. however this part of herself contradicts that which she’s experienced for the past day, and especially the line ‘Suddenly the armour on her body feels heavy, out of place, like the metal has no right being somewhere like this.’ i put in to really reinforce that idea. its not the metal that feels out of place in this scene, its the person in the metal. and her eagerness to transmat straight to the tower rather than walk through the peaceful city streets shows her tendency to run from such thoughts.

this part came really naturally, actually. its a small snapshot into a bigger struggle avia has with herself (especially given the dreaming city, the reef, petra and now potentially going back to the worst part of the shore with drifter) of where she belongs, and more importantly, if she deserves to belong. which is why levi talks to her in that tone because they know what shes doing, theyve seen it so many times before – avia in a scenario that resembles something normal and running from it with no one around to stop her, because in her subconscious she doesnt believe she deserves it.

“Ada-1, I believe, has fully settled into the Tower. She becomes more and more tolerable of the Guardians by the day. And with the discovery of Niobe labs, her mood has been favourable.”

i had no idea how fun scarlet was to write until i got to this part. she almost has her own language, really. writing ‘im really proud of ada because i spent all morning with her and she was only snippy with like two guardians and shes been really uplifted and im really happy for her since they found niobe labs’ in scarlets own ‘okay but heres the relevant information’ way of explaining things is a challenge but FUN. like, really fun??

because scarlet wouldnt be mentioning adas mood if she didnt care, ya know? and its not that she cant say that longer thing about being proud and stuff, its just that she doesnt see the sense in it and its not important information. like, if avia and eden were to spend a dedicated amount of time whittling her down she would absolutely say ‘i am so proud of ada and also i wanna smooch her face how do i do that as an exo’ but its just not a thing for her. but part of the reason why ada and scarlet being together was an idea that i had was because i imagine that line of thinking probably suits ada.

“It was at Ada’s request. I had more knowledge of the area in its current state, and felt more comfortable talking to Ikora and her Hidden agents than Ada did…”

supportive exo girlfriends. that is all. man ive gotta write more about these two

“Hmm,” Ada wears a concerned stare masked behind a formal rigidity that Avia knows her Warlock teammate best for.

if im being honest, i just really enjoy this line. i imagine its hard for exos to show concern, esp a character like ada and my girl scarlet, so avia has spent a lot of time dissecting certain facial cues and yeah im proud of how this description came out aha

…as if she hadn’t spent the past few months clipping sidelong comments and threatening him when his Gambit veered out of the realm of her control.

avia is a control freak. plain and simple, and i wanted to make that as obvious as possible considering this sentence is only a few away from avia choosing to go and talk to drifter.

there’s a certain amount of ‘i need to understand this thing that i have limited knowledge on so i can predict/control/plan for it in the future’ in how avia views drifter in general, its a kind-of warlock way of thinking about things but the big difference is avias need for control in these situations is a) selfish and b) only applies to things that she knows she has a good chance of understanding/taming. shes not going around learning about the hive because she has a good understanding that thats a cosmic threat that can only be defended against until it comes. drifter on the other hand is on her doorstep.

i also really loved the contradiction in putting ‘gambit’ and ‘control’ next to each other in a sentence, i kinda hoped it showed how conflicted avia is about going and talking to drifter, and maybe even how naive it is of her to think that it could turn out okay.

She was incensed, maybe, at the way he spoke to Ada, needed to go and stomp the idea out of his head but he got her talking, like he does

i like this line bc its avia acknowledging that she knows how shes viewed. she knows everyone sees her as a hot-head, she knows her anger veers away from her sometimes and whilst she’s gotten better at getting a handle on it, it’s still an aspect of her that people who dont know her well enough find it hard to get past.

i also enjoy how new people to this fic/avia in general might not know that this is a big part of her? so she’s trying to use it as an excuse, ‘well no one can blame me if i say i got really mad because thats what i do’ and it (hopefully) tells new people about that aspect of her character without having to show the worst part of it, the convo with ada being an introduction to it i guess – especially since the past few scenes have seen her a lot softer than im used to writing aha.

“Dammit,” she mutters under her breath. And walks towards the Drifter before she can make a better decision

fun fact – this line was originally ‘and walks down the corridor before she can make a better decision.’

i changed it because i wanted to make it more obvious that avia is making a conscious decision to choose drifter, that she’s walking towards a path that she knows is not a good idea. it provides foreshadowing for the allegiance quest and referring to him as ‘The Drifter’ cements it as an idea that she’s walking towards and not necessarily a person.

#ask thing #thanks buddy!!!#this was really fun #im such a fucking nerd someone put me in the bin honestly ahahaha #jadeisadork.txt

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brobi-wanwrites · 6 years

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Out-Dated Review: Iron Man

A decade ago life was a bit more simple. I was turning 15 and besides finding time to play GTA IV and high school I didn't have a care in the world. My birthday was never a big deal but earlier that year I got my first PS3 and was desperate to start a Blu Ray collection. I told my mother the one thing I wanted for a gift that year was Iron Man. She delivered. That night after reading the case over a dozen times me and my best friend would sit down and watch the movie that jump started the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

At the time I knew as little as you could about Ironman. I spent most of my time reading Spider-Man, X-men and Batman comics so the only things I really knew about Tony Stark was that he was a rich alcoholic and was really prevalent in 2006s Civil War which was in my backlog of comics. Going into this movie I really had nothing to go on besides the great reviews it was getting and that I was always excited to see a comic book character get their chance on the big screen. After credits rolled like many people my expectations were blown away. I watched it again and again enjoying every minute of it. I then dove into my comic backlog and read Civil War and any other Ironman story I could find. It’s safe to say that the first Ironman reinvigorated my and many others love for comics, all while starting a universe that would have as deep of lore as the comics they adapted from.

So ten years later, does Ironman hold up?

(SPOILERS)

Lets start things off with the story.

We’re introduced to Playboy Billionaire Weapons Designer/Manufacturer Tony Stark and he’s just as much as cocky jerk as you would think he’d be. Skipping out on an award presented to him so he could gamble, sleeping with a reporter who’s writing a hit piece on his company and giving little care to the crew of his private plane as he arrives late for its departure. Couple this with how he almost gloats at the amount of death and destruction his weapons bring you would be safe to assume that Tony is unremarkable cliche villain, except he’s not.

I don’t know if it’s his charm alone, his acting chops or how relatable he is to the character but Robert Downy Jr. makes Tony Stark probably one of the most believable and entertaining personality in the MCU. He brings so much life and fun to Tony even before his good guy turn in this movie. Easily stealing every scene he’s in, RDJ was undoubtedly destined to play Tony Stark.

Speaking of good guy turns.

Things go astray for Tony after a weapon presentation in Afghanistan as he’s fatally injured and kidnapped by a terrorist group known as The Ten Rings (more on them later). He awakes in a cave with a car battery attached to his chest, powering an electromagnet that’s keeping the shrapnel away from his heart and other vital organs. Parties amirite? He’s made aware that The Ten Rings are his “loyal customers” and have been using all his weaponry and is then forced to build them his latest weapon. Tony reluctantly agrees and uses the supplies and resources to build something a bit more powerful, a miniaturized Arch Reactor. An invention of his fathers that’s used to power a factory, Tony designed his to be a little more compact. It has enough power to keep the magnet [in his chest] charged for a thousand lifetimes or something big for ten minutes.

Thus Ironman is born.

Even for ten years old at this point, the CGI still holds up. The suits in this movie, whether it’s the Mk I, II or III all look fantastic and just completely seamless. I never once even questioned if they built an actual prop suit or not, it looked so good i assumed they did. Coincidentally the first Ironman is the only movie they actually built the full suit, every subsequent movie they used mo-cap primarily.

After 3 months using only weapon parts and presumably some scrap metal Tony builds the Mk I and kicks some serious ass in his escape. He’s quickly reunited with his friends and coworkers back in the States and damn does he want a burger. Also he announces very publicly he’s done with making and selling weapons. This is Tony’s big turn, he realizes the real cost of him profitting off war with his weapons and decides he is alone responsible for making things right. His business partner and his deceased fathers long time friend Obadiah Stane advises him to lay low for awhile after crashing his companies stock with his big announcement.

The Stark Employee Roster.

RDJ may steal the whole show but Ironman boasts a pretty big and talented cast. Gwenneth Paltrow as the remarkable and composed assistant to Stark Pepper Potts, she’s a joy to have on screen and perfectly bounces dialogue off RDJ. Terrence Howard plays Stark's best friend and military liaison Colonel James “Rhodey” Rhodes, Howard plays this character really cool and I have a hard time seeing Rhodey as much as I see Terrence Howard. His chemistry with RDJ is phenomenal off the bat though, something that takes Cheadle & RDJ about another movie or so to get right. Paul Bettany lends his soothing voice to articulate Siri knock-off known as JARVIS. While his role obviously becomes more expanded upon in later films, Bettany brings a simple yet appealing approached to the A.I. here that pairs well with Tony’s persona. Rounding it out you have the rugged Jeff Bridges playing Tony’s mentor and eventual madman Obadiah Stane. Bridges brings something to this role that I can’t quite put my finger on, he just fully leans into this character and I can feel his presence on screen. He does however have a very sudden change of character entering the third act, he goes from conniving business man to super villain so abruptly I may have whiplash (wink) now.

Bored and nothing to do.

Stark finds himself in isolation and does the only thing his obsessive brain lets him do, work. He begins designing and testing an updated version of the suit he escaped imprisonment with. The Mk II is a thinner, shinier and more airborne suit than its predecessor. It just isn't up to snuff for Tony though, so after a quick flight test with some icing issues, he completely redesigns the suit. After seeing on TV that someone is throwing a party without him, Tony decides laying low just isn’t for him and crashes the party. Thankfully the party is hosted by Stark Industries so Tony can just walk in with no real problem. It’s here that Tony learns that his mentor and friend Obadiah Stane filed an injunction against him and is trying to force him out of the company and may be dealing weapons under the table.

Tony decides take the moral high ground and hops in his new suit the MkIII which must be the coolest getting dressed montage I’ve ever seen, then flies for 6 hours back to Afghanistan. He proceeds to just ruin the Ten Rings day by destroying their weapon caches, which include plenty of Tony's own weapons. After surely making the locals think he’s some sort of alien or metal angel he flies back home, only to be intercepted by two fighter jets. What ensues is an entertaining little game of cat and mouse for a minute until Rhodey, whose job is seemingly just to be convenient to Tony shows up and Tony informs him he is in the suit that the fighters are chasing. Rhodes clears everything up as a trainig exorcise and Tony makes it home.

It’s here our big reveal happens, Obadiah is a bad guy and he hired the Ten Rings to kill Tony but they didn’t like the deal, so they altered it like Vader. Now they want to alter it even further and have Obadiah build them Metal Soldiers like the one Tony escaped with. Obidiah smiles and politely kills this faction of the Ten Rings and figures he might as well build his own suit with his own arch reactor.

Back at the factory while speaking to his team of scientists about their inability to replicate Tony’s miniaturized Arch Reactor, Jeff Bridges delivers the best line in the movie.

“TONY STARK WAS ABLE TO BUILD THIS IN A CAAAVE, WITH A BOX OF SCRAPS”

After this everything starts to happen real fast. Pepper finds a video that directly incriminates Obadiah, he panics and politely tries to kill tony, Rhodes shows up to try and save a dying Tony but he already saved him self. Once he catches his breath Tony hops in his suit to go find Obadiah. Terrence Howard takes a look at the MkII and decides it’s better that Don Cheadle gets to use it. Pepper while accompanied by some agents finds Obadiah's lab only then to be ambushed by Obadiah in a what can only be described as the offspring on the hulk-buster armour and war machine, Iron Monger.

Tony flies in with no time to spare and saves Pepper. A street fight ensues between Iron Man and Iron Monger with them chucking cars at one another. This fight seems oddly small scale now, having been spoiled by the massive fights we’ve seen in recent MCU movies. The smaller scale and one on one fight does feel more personal though and given that this is Iron Mans first outing it makes sense.

The fight goes airborne after Tony realizes he’s no match for the strength of the Iron Monger suit. Much to Tony’s surprise Obadiah has upgraded his suit as well and its now able sustain flight but as a call back to earlier in the film, the Iron Monger suit has an icing problem in higher atmosphere. Tony's suit begins to lose power as they fall back to the roof of the Stark factory. Tony sabotages Obadiah's suit so he cant shoot straight and Obadiah squishes Tony's helmet. Rude. The two men begin to fight with there wits and the bare minimum of their suits. Tony tells pepper to overload the Arch Reactor beneath him and Obadiah and after Tony begs she pushes the bug red button. Boom. Obadiah's suit short circuits and he falls to his death into the Arch Reactor causing it to explode.

I am Iron Man

I gotta give credit to this movies ending. Setting itself up like Tony is going to become your average secret identity super hero but in perfect Tony Stark fashion it subverts that by Tony declaring to the world he is Iron Man. It’s easily one the most memorable moments in all of the MCU. We also get our first name drop of SHIELD here, which at the time blew my mind because up until then super hero movies were so self contained. Credits roll and a Marvel tradition is born as the credits finish and we’re given another scene as Tony walks into his house to see a someone standing in his living room. NICK MF FURY.

“Think you’re the only super hero in the world? Mr.Stark you’ve become part of a bigger universe, you just don’t know it yet.”

One of the single most important lines in all of the MCU. When I saw this my 15 year old brain melted and while at the time I was ignorant to who owned what in regards to film rights my mouth foamed over the idea of all marvel characters existing together in a shared movie universe. It only took ten years and a couple billion dollars but all the marvel are finally gonna share a universe together.

Does it work?

With full retrospective Iron Man is your cut and paste Phase 1 MCU origin movie where the bad guy is basically just a different color pallet than the good guy, which is totally fine. There’s a reason they use that formula, it establishes characters perspective and personality along with their skill set to the audience. It could be because it was the first or just the combination of Favreau and RDJ and all the other cogs in the machine but no movie uses that formula better than Iron Man. I’m in awe of how much fun I had with this movie, I highly recommend going back and watching it again if you haven't recently. It holds up as it’s own movie but with the added benefit that you can clearly see how the whole MCU evolved from the style of Iron Man.

VERDICT

You should already own this, go make some pop corn and watch this./10

#marvel mcu #marvel #iron man #infinty war #mcu #review #movie review #tony stark #robert downy jr #shield #nick fury

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bbybaphomet · 4 years

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COLA | cory.

If there has been one thing to stand out about Cory Osada, best known by the moniker Cola, it’s his tenacity. From the beginning of his roller-coaster career, Cola has met controversy, hate and hyperscrutiny largely with witty retorts and a self-assured insistence on keeping forward. Cola has grown up in the public eye, evolved from a precocious teenager mumble-rapping love songs in his bedroom to an international pop star, with over a hundred song-writing credits to his name and a kingdom of his own in form of Chapel Records, a label collecting the misfits of the Korean pop industry and giving them their deserved platforms. Many love Cola, many hate him; but one can not imply he hasn’t put the work in- from his debut album in 2015, he’s put out a full-length record every year since- until 2020.

“2019 was the best year of my life until it wasn’t.” Cola said in an interview earlier in the year. And it certainly did seem like everything had finally come up Cola. He Has been nominated for Best Male Soloist at MAMA 2019- his first ever nomination, and his pre-singles for his fifth full album were skyrocketing up the charts. The fifth record, ‘Richer Than God & Twice As Pretty,’ was all set to be his third in a row to score a number one on the charts- Until, almost immediately after it’s release, 10 out of 12 tracks eligible for single release were banned from radio and broadcast with no option for alteration- and for reasons largely considered vapid by fans and the general public alike. And unlike previous instances of controversy, Cola had no smirk for the cameras, no wink nor nudge. Cola’s TV appearances to promote the record were brief and his spirits appeared broken, and he publicly wrote a message online to state that he was on the verge of giving up completely. His angry performance at MAMA later in the year was only punctuated by his loss of the award. Cola looked, and would later describe feeling, like he had finally been defeated by the industry that seemed so against letting his hard work and undeniable talent be rewarded.

And so, come July 2020, after dedicating the first half of the year to the star’s push into acting and directly following his performance of a bombastic 33-song setlist at Lost Land 9 times over three weekends, Cola has once more pushed against convention as he drops his sixth record and first ever mini-album, simply titled ‘cory.’

‘cory.’ contains five songs, including the track ‘La Vie En Rose’ which had been made available on streaming services ahead of his festival tenancy, and ‘So That’s Where Your Face Went,’ which was performed as untitled throughout his set list. However, despite the EP dropping in the wake of the most public dark patch in the young singer’s career, ‘cory.’ carries a largely hopeful overtone; ‘I Got Hope (Cause Yesterday Is All Over)’ dares to look at the future as it celebrates what is perhaps Cola’s biggest personal strength- his ability to stand up, dust himself off, and keep going.

Cola will not be promoting ‘cory.’, and no single from it have been sent to radio. “I wrote it for myself,” said Cola. “Because I needed to remember that this entire career I have started cause I just love to write music. It’s really, really fun. And it’s gotten me through a lot tougher things than what I’m going through right now. And I wasn’t going to put this record out, cause it was just... therapy? But performing at Lost Land, I saw kids in the crowd crying as they sang along to my songs. And I think, more than any award or number one single, that validated me. And then, I dunno. I guess I remembered who the fuck I am.”

tracklist

i. La Vie en Rose ii. So That’s Where Your Face Went iii. Dreamlove iv. Waltz v. I Got Hope (Cause Yesterday Is All Over)

EXCLUSIVE: Cola gives a track-by-track explanation of cory.

LA VIE EN ROSE

La Vie En Rose was the first song I wrote out of the five on this EP, and I knew straight away that it had to be the sort of... intro to the record? I’ve recently had a huge episode of poor mental health, and that was worsened by both the way that my last record, Richer Than God, was... kind of sabotaged by people with more power than me. But on top of that, I also saw the end of my first real serious relationship. The negative side of experiencing the type of, like... intense, meaningful, love- the kind of love where you’re like “Okay, I thought I had but I’ve definitely never been in love before this” is when it all comes to an end, and then you have to realise “okay, I thought I had but I’ve definitely never fucking had my heart broken like this.” And so I was in a really dark place, where every day I’d wake up and before I opened my eyes, my first thought was that my heart was broken. And so I think I wrote La Vie En Rose in response to how low I was feeling, because it’s such a peaceful song. La Vie En Rose translates to The Life In Pink, which is a very Me phrase, but it’s also a saying similar to “looking through Rose-coloured glasses.” The lyrics reference that idiom, because I think above anything else, La Vie En Rose is a song about choosing to look on the bright side. It’s not as easy as just choosing to be happy, but wanting to recover is the only way you can start recovering. In the bridge, there’s a line about “crafting my new armour.” Ive grown up in the media, and so I definitely built up a tolerance to negativity. But for some reason, the Bans from last year really, really hurt me. They wounded my spirit, and for a while I was ready to just throw the towel in, especially as it sparked up all the old accusations of noise-marketing and doing things for shock value. It’s only been seven months. I needed some time to breathe and let myself feel what I was feeling and figure out how I deal with it this time.

SO THAT’S WHERE YOUR FACE WENT

This is a difficult one. So That’s Where Your Face Went just kind of happened, as a song. I think I came up with the melody of the hook in the car, and I just started singing “It’ll pass, chill. Stay alive, it kills.” This was the last song I wrote for the record, and it almost wasn’t going to be on it because I didn’t think I’d finish it in time. I think I was very influenced by the character I played in the drama True Beauty. I saw a lot of myself in that character, which is a really difficult thing to feel considering how his storyline ended. And so I think a lot of this song is complicated emotions. I’m definitely singing to myself up until the last little outro. But I think like... to sum it up, the song is strange and weird and I don’t really know how to explain it succinctly, but it’s ultimately about being in a shitty and scary situation and dealing with that in unhealthy ways.

DREAMLOVE

Dreamlove is definitely one of the sweetest melodies I’ve ever written. More than anything, it’s about the honeymoon phase of a new relationship. I’m not in a new relationship, and actually, I’m currently getting over a breakup of a long term one. But it’s more of a metaphor of where I’m at in life now. I think Richer Than God and everything that came from that, for better or worse, marked a turning point in my life for me. It’s been a really rough few months ever since, but I’m at at the start of a new chapter and I’m excited, which is why I wanted to write a honeymoon phase song. I had my first heartbreak but it’s healing now, and I’m pretty excited about the future. Even if things inevitably get hard again, I’m enjoying feeling hopeful.

WALTZ

Waltz is an escapism song. It’s kind of similar in sentiment to my song “Barbie Jeep Getaway.” It’s about just wanting to run away and separate myself from everything going on around me. I think I’ve been craving that more than ever. I promised myself a break after what happened with my last album, but then while I guess I gave myself a break from music, I totally worked the entire time. Waltz was kind of this... wish fulfilment that I could just run away and not look back for a while, because I don’t feel good enough and want to be relieved of that pressure, at least for a little while. “I just wanna waltz around it, then it never hurts” is kind of the attitude I’ve had to all the negativity I’ve had to face in my career. I haven’t really given myself a breathe to deal with it, and last year a straw broke the back on that camel. Laughing it all off and basing my image around how much I don’t care about what people think of me may make me look really cool, but it doesn’t do much for my mental health.

I GOT HOPE (CAUSE YESTERDAY IS ALL OVER)

I think the title of this song is pretty self-explanatory. I think that this song is the one that kind of best delivers the thesis of the album in the same way En Rose does. Which is why I knew as soon as I wrote it that it had to be the last song on the record. This EP is about a rough patch, and a broken heart and a sabotaged album that I poured my soul into, but it’s not negative because I think I started writing this as a means to cheer myself up. Performing at Lost Land the past weekend really showed me that no matter what, I do have worth as an artist. That’s what I was struggling with. I was considering never releasing another song again because I didn’t think there was space for me in this industry anymore, and when all those songs from Richer Than God were banned, I felt like I’d been essentially told to just give up. Lost Land really reminded me why I love this, and having all those people sing along to all the songs I wrote, to see faces in the crowd crying because I had made them feel happy, that meant more to me than any number one or any award I might have gotten had I been allowed to promote my album properly. I think the theme of this EP is just... I’m still hurt. I still have a lot to work through, I still need time to heal, but as things stand right now? I feel a little bit better. And I’m willing to count that as a win.

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twh-news · 7 years

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Film investors’ fear of the Bard is burying my Richard II, says James Ivory | The Guardian

Veteran director claims financiers think he’s crazy for attempting Shakespeare adaptation

[on the photo: Eddie Redmayne on stage as Richard II at the Donmar Warehouse. Photographer: Johan Persson/Publicity image from theatre company]

He directed Merchant-Ivory classics such as The Remains of the Day, Howards End and A Room with a View, but American director James Ivory is struggling to interest investors in his latest project. The problem, it seems, lies with his writer: William Shakespeare. For more than five years, Ivory has tried in vain to raise money for a cinema adaptation of Richard II.

Despite 50 years of critical acclaim and Oscar recognition, plus British actors Tom Hiddleston and Damian Lewis lined up to star in his production, financiers are refusing to part with their money. “They look at you like you’re crazy,” he said. “There is an assumption that there is no money to be made from such an investment.”

This is despite the proliferation of royal dramas on our small screens in the past couple of years, from Wolf Hall to Victoria, to more modern versions of the British monarchy such as The Crown and an imagined future in King Charles III. Even the frenzy around Richard III since the discovery of his skeleton in Leicester five years ago has failed to ignite enthusiasm for the other Richard, it seems.

Ivory’s screenplay is written by Chris Terrio, who won an Oscar for Argo, Ben Affleck’s 2012 thriller about the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis. Potential investors praise the script and describe the project as a “terrific idea”, said Ivory, “but nobody comes forward with the money”.

He needs around £15m, which he says is “nothing as far as movies are concerned these days, but no one seems to want to take the risk”.

This is not the first time Ivory has tried to get Richard II off the ground. It appears that Kenneth Branagh put the kibosh on a previous production in 1992, around the time Merchant and Ivory were making The Remains of the Day.

“I had another cast. Daniel Day-Lewis as Richard II and Kenneth Branagh as Bolingbroke, or Henry IV as he becomes, and Emma Thompson as the queen,” said Ivory. “And then, unfortunately, Branagh said ‘I couldn’t play Bolingbroke, I’d have to play Richard’.

“We were about to make another movie anyway, so I let it go and we didn’t proceed with it.” Actor Damian Lewis is all set to star in Richard II, if James Ivory can find the money to fund the film. Actor Damian Lewis is all set to star in Richard II, if James Ivory can find the money to fund the film. Photograph: Gary Gershoff/WireImage

Ivory, 89, founded Merchant Ivory with his production partner, the late Ismail Merchant, and collaborated on many films with screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala.

Celebrated for literary adaptations, their films became well known for visual beauty and period detail. As well as established stars such as Maggie Smith, they cast young actors such as Daniel Day-Lewis, who played Cecil in Room with a View. The 1992 film Howards End, based on EM Forster’s 1910 novel, won three Oscars. It has just undergone a new 4K resolution restoration for its 25th anniversary.

Merchant died in 2005, but Ivory said: “Had he been around, [Richard II] would have been made. We don’t have a really good producer like Ismail.” Ivory is enthusiastic about the casting for his proposed film, describing Hiddleston and Lewis as “wonderful actors”.

Both have extensive experience of Shakespeare. Hiddleston, who starred in the BBC’s award-winning The Night Manager is playing Hamlet this month in a Branagh stage production. Lewis appeared with the Royal Shakespeare Company before television dramas such as Homeland, Wolf Hall and Billions.

Ivory knows exactly how he would adapt Richard II for the big screen: “It would make a fantastic thing visually to do a medieval film in 3D. We know very little about the medieval age. You read books about it. You go to museums and see the armour and so forth, but that’s really all we know about it. When it’s delivered as a film, you learn a lot.”

He would shoot some of it in Westminster Hall, whose magnificent hammer-beam roof – the largest medieval timber roof in northern Europe – was commissioned in 1393 by Richard II.

Producer Stephen Evans was not surprised to hear of Ivory’s struggle to finance his film. He encountered “much scepticism” from potential investors in making Henry V with Branagh. It was only through friends in the City that he could fully finance the movie. Despite Oscar nominations for Branagh as best director and actor, and great reviews, the film did not do well at the box office. Despite his 50-year record, James Ivory cannot persuade investors to support his film.

Evans’s 1993 film, Much Ado About Nothing – again directed by Branagh – “fared better”, he said, primarily because Branagh and Thompson were now major names and the cast included Denzel Washington, Michael Keaton and Keanu Reeves.

“Without them, the film would certainly not have been made,” he added. “It was well-received and worked better as it was a comedy.”

He said: “Investing in Shakespeare is a labour of love. So many investment funds are frightened of the financial potential in making Shakespeare. The last Shakespeare released, Macbeth – despite having Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard as the two leads and being well received – only did middling business.

“It is clearly very difficult. I do think that, if Shakespeare was around now, he would be in LA writing scripts for Star Wars and the like. There is so much good stuff that has been done on Shakespeare, it will take a new generation to rediscover his works and try to put new angles on his genius.”

#tom hiddleston #Richard II #james ivory #damian lewis

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ruffsficstuffplace · 7 years

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The Keeper of the Grove (Part 74)

Note: This chapter was codenamed “Winter Has Come.”

Alarms were blaring all over the Valley, millions of Fae all running through the streets, shuttering up and barricading homes and businesses; hauling their valuables, animals, and loved ones to the Tree of Life; or fortifying the streets and bridges, setting up turrets, shields, and elementals, be they for traps or to bolster their forces.

The watchers flew all around on the backs of giant birds, calling out to each other and warning civilians, airlifting to the young, the elderly, the disabled, and the sick, to safety, or providing air-support and visibility should worst comes to worst and the communication crystal arrays went down.

Civilian use of the Tubes was restricted, the coordinators working overtime to get as many watchers all over the Bastion as possible, with Ruby and Weiss as priority passengers; they stopped for a brief kiss, before off they went, to the Watcher’s Roost and the Heart of the Maker’s Forge.

It was still noisy as ever in that underground foundry, only instead of work songs, it was panicked shouting and barking orders. Makers slaved over the assembly lines triple-time, hurrying to produce as many munitions as possible, emergency supplies, and materials for repairing and rebuilding the Bastion.

Weiss ran straight through the organized chaos and to the Thumper, not even aware of the sweltering heat for the pounding of her heart, the sweat already pouring down her skin. She skirted around a large congregation of Fae all desperately praying to the statue of Talos, or lining up to get their slips for their last wills and testaments.

There was already a bullet waiting for her this time, watchers waving their arms and calling out for her to hurry.

She got into it along with a handful of other weavers, before down they went, into Abner’s laboratory.

The normally quiet and peaceful halls were already swarming with makers, weavers, and watchers; Weiss was rushed through the crowded halls as they all helped bring Abner’s golems to life, armed themselves with salvaged and hybridized technology from the human territories, or secured and protected the most vulnerable and valuable of Abner’s equipment, supplies, and experiments.

She finally ended up in the observation room for giant prison cell, like the Raucous Room, except the walls all glowed with the ethereal gold-white of 100% pure etherite. She had to shield her eyes until Abner’s spider limbs handed her a protective mask and water.

Weiss put the mask on, and began to drink. “What the hell is all this?” she asked in-between much-needed sips.

“How we’re planning to save your sister AND the Valley at the same time!” Abner said as he manned several controls at once. “This, my dear, is the ultimate in prisoner confinement: a nigh indestructible cell that will be impossible to escape from, physically or magically, and will happily absorb the very worst Winter can do with the Mk. IV, and then some!”

“Are we going to just keep her here?!”

“Up until you can convince her not to annihilate us all, at least!” Abner replied. “We CAN forcibly remove her from the Shepherd Suit Mk. IV, but as I’m sure you suspect, it will be MUCH more difficult, risky, and costly than if you can convince her to surrender.”

Weiss nodded. “Can we get someone to get something from Keeper’s Hollow?”

“Well, it’d have to be EXTREMELY important, I’ll tell you that!”

Under the mask, Weiss smiled. “Trust me, it will...”

Meanwhile, at the Watcher’s Roost, Ruby was in full-gear and being lead straight to the heat-map, the entrance to the Valley flashing bright red with Winter’s armoured face atop it. Things had quieted down as most of the watchers had already deployed, but the mood was tense and grim, the senior watchers all huddled over refining their strategies and monitoring the progress of the others out in the field.

Ruby waved at Qrow, he grabbed her hand and pulled her straight up to the chair specially reserved for her. <What’s the plan?> she asked as she stood on the seat, leaning on the edge of the heat-map for support.

<The plan is that you stay here while Qrow engages Winter,> Glynda replied via holo.

Ruby’s eyes widened. <What?! She’s going to vaporize him! I’m the only one that can stand a chance against her!>

<We know,> Qrow replied, <which is why the plan isn’t to fight her, it’s for me to distract her long enough for us to set up a trap.>

The heat-map disappeared, to show a schematic of a barren crater somewhere far away from the Bastion or the rest of the Valley’s settlements, with live-feeds of weavers hurriedly making a giant teleportation circle in the very center of it, infusing it with magic before they as much as they possibly could to hide the signs that they had ever been there.

They explained the rest of the plan such as Abner’s cell, Weiss being there to calm her down, and worst comes to worst, how they were going to forcibly remove Winter from her suit, hopefully without killing her from the trauma of the spine-jack’s removal.

<And what if it doesn’t work, and she gets away and kills you...?> Ruby asked.

Qrow pulled out several teleportation charms. <Then that’s where these come in. They’re connected to my vital signs—I get fried, all your gear comes straight back to you, and hopefully you can get her on the second try.>

Ruby reluctantly pulled her mask and cloak off, then handed them to Qrow. <Why are you doing this, Uncle Qrow...?>

Qrow smiled. <Killing your girlfriend’s older sister isn’t exactly the best way to win her over,> he said before he put on the mask.

Ruby’s eyes moistened. <I love you, Uncle Qrow,> she said as she wrapped her arms around his waist, buried her face in his chest.

Qrow grunted as he felt her horns digging into his chest, before he hugged her back, burying them back into the old, familiar scars under his clothes. <I love you too, Ruby… I’ll try not to get horribly murdered out there.>

<You better not!> Ruby cried as she pulled away.

Qrow put on her cloak, a pair of fake reindeer horns and ears, before Ruby handed him the Keeper’s scythe. He hurried on the Roost’s wellspring with a group of watchers; it was all going fine until he suddenly felt horrible pain shoot up the arm holding the scythe.

<AGH!> he cried, clutching it with his other hand, trying to get it stop it from shaking.

<Qrow! What’s wrong?> one of the watchers barked as their mender ran up to him.

Qrow grunted, shook his head. <I’m fine, let’s go!>

The others didn’t look like they believed him, but it wasn’t as if they had much of a choice.

“Please...” Qrow whispered to the scythe as the weavers prepared him for the trip and fortified him with last-minute spells. “Let me protect her… just one last time, I swear!”

He felt pain shoot up his arm again. He stiffened, bracing himself for more agony, before it faded away into nothing. “Thanks…” he whispered into the scythe. “… And I promise I’ll mean it this time.”

The weavers cleared him to go, and Qrow jumped into the wellspring.

Winter’s ride to the Valley was quiet, taking a rover to conserve her suit’s power, the two specially modified Tinmen she was bringing with her currently shut down to the same. She passed the time reviewing her suit’s newly added and modified systems and weapons, optimized for the unique conditions of the Viridian Valley, and of course, her main target.

At the very back were all of the crates of plushies she had brought from the Plushie Palace less than a month ago, sans Eluna for obvious reasons.

“ETA at five minutes,” the rover’s AI said.

Winter shut off the holos in her HUD. “You can come out now,” she said as she spun her chair around to the back. “I won’t report you—I’ve got better things to do with my time.”

One of the crates opened, and out climbed an AFA soldier in full combat armour, a sword in its sheath attached to his belt alongside the one sidearm and his comm-crystal. His foot caught on the edge, and he went ungracefully tumbling out onto his back.

Winter didn’t comment. “What’s your rank and name, soldier?”

“Ah—Private Jaune Arc, ma’am...” he muttered, debating if he should stand at attention, or take off his helmet then stand at attention.

“What are you doing here, Arc?” Winter asked. “You know where this mission is taking place, what it’s about, who we’re fighting, right?”

Jaune passed. “Uh… were those rhetorical questions, ma’am, or did you want me to actually answer them...?”

“Take a guess, Arc,” Winter replied as she spun her chair back around, looking out the windows of the rover to see the twin mountains of the Viridian Valley looming ever closer.

Jaune sighed heavily as he walked up to the seat next to her, sitting down with his head hung. “I’m a disgrace to my family name, ma’am. I’m the latest in the line of the Arc family, and every single generation, at least of one us was a soldier or a war hero of some kind—except me.

“I’m just a failure...”

“You had to have passed the entrance exam, didn’t you?”

Jaune paused. “… I faked my records, ma’am.”

Silence.

“… That’s a very serious crime, Arc. The test is there for a reason—it proves you’re capable of surviving out there, of protecting others when the time comes. What if someone has to rely on you, and you both find your skills lacking?”

Jaune groaned. “I know! … That’s why I stowed away. If I come back, I can live with myself and happily take my dishonorable discharge! If I don’t… well, at least I’m sure I make pretty good bait.”

“Heroes don’t throw themselves into battle hoping to die an honourable death, Arc,” Winter said. “They do so to protect others, to fight for what they believe is right, to stand up when no one else will. The act of sacrificing yourself for others is not inherently good—sometimes, it’s just an unneeded, avoidable casualty that causes more problems than it solves.

“I’m not going to use as bait, Arc! You’re a human being, not a worm.”

Jaune raised his head up and smiled a little. “Then maybe I can hold her off for a while with this...” He said as he pulled out the sword on his belt, revealed the sheath to be a shield, too.

“That looks like a First Settler relic...” Winter muttered as she examined the intricate detailing on the metal and the hilt.

“It’s because it is,” Jaune replied. “It’s been passed down to every Arc who goes into the AFA as a good luck charm—even when we reinvented guns, it’s helped us all survive.”

“I’m surprised you’re not worried it’ll break in combat!’

“Pfft! These can withstand pretty much anything.”

“What is it made of…?”

“That I… really don’t know. I’d say it was etherite but it doesn’t glow. It is pretty light, though—well, for an ancient sword and shield, at least.”

“ETA at less than a minute.”

Jaune sheepishly looked at Winter. “So does this mean you still want me on this mission, or should I just stay in the rover?”

Winter stood up and put a hand on his shoulder. “Get ready, Arc,” she said as walked past to power up the Tinmen.

Jaune nodded, and held his head up high. “Yes ma’am!”

The rover began to slow down as it reached the entrance of the Valley, managing bumps and rough terrain until it was simply faster to walk.

As the Tinmen booted up, Jaune noticed the markedly different designs of them, like they were just power cores on legs. “What’s up with those Tinmen, ma’am?” he asked as the inside of the rover was filled with the bluish-purple colour of Candela’s wellspring.

“They’re more power banks for my suit than fighters,” Winter replied as she headed to the hatch. “Watch yourself, Arc—if one of those things blow, you do not want to be anywhere near it!”

Jaune gulped. “I will, ma’am...”

The rover stopped, and they all stepped out, the Tinmen first. To make up for the complete lack of offensive systems, the androids were producing a powerful repulsion barrier all around them; even several feet away, Jaune could feel himself being pushed away.

“That is a LOT of power...” he muttered as he pulled out his sword and shield, held it close to him.

“We’re going to need it,” Winter muttered as she readied her weapons systems.

At his request, Jaune took point, the Tinmen between them, and Winter taking up the back.

She was fine with the arrangement, up until she found him screaming from, wary of, and stopping for every last noise and suspicious movement, becoming more frequent and dramatic the thicker the foliage and the trees around them got.

Winter sighed. “Halt!”

Jaune screamed, jumped into the air, and spun around, his shield and sword raised. He couldn’t see her exasperated face as he sheepishly lowered his weapons, but he could just tell.

“Arc: retreat back to the rover, and stay there until I return, or go back to Manor Schnee evening the next day if I don’t. The emergency rations will be more than enough for you.”

“Sorry, ma’am, but I’d rather not… I’d feel a lot safer with you and your lasers around. Besides, the Keeper might come for me and kill me while you’re away...”

“Assuming you don’t end up getting killed by all the other horrifying shit that lurks here in the Valley...” Qrow said from just behind him.

Jaune froze.

Winter raised one hand. “Duck!”

Jaune dropped to the floor.

A huge chunk of the tree behind him exploded into ash.

“Missed me!” Qrow cried from a tree branch above them.

Winter gritted her teeth, activated her wings, and rocketed off after him.

The Tinmen rushed on after her, Jaune got up and clumsily scrambled on after them.

“Wait!” he called out, before he tripped on a root and fell on his face. He picked himself up, spat out the leaves in his mouth, and continued running, a little more carefully this time. “AGENT SCHNEE! WAIT FOR ME!”

Animals big and small ran, branches and leaves exploded, the night was lit with flashes of blue laser-fire. Qrow continued to evade her, using his own natural speed and the cloak’s teleportation runes to just barely avoid getting vaporized. Winter’s helmet sensors were going crazy like the cameras at Manor Schnee, crackling and spiking with magic and error messages, not to mention the sensation of a plasma knife cutting into her brain and twisting all about…

… But she wasn’t letting that stop her.

All the while, everyone at the Roost, the Tree of Life, and Abner’s laboratory watched through spy cameras, or figures on the maps as they got closer and closer to the trap.

The Tinmen thundered through the forest with ease, their hoof-feet and reverse-jointed legs managing any terrain they found themselves in, if they didn’t come crashing through the bushes and vines, crunching roots underfoot.

Jaune panted for breath as he followed the path of destruction they were leaving, tripping and falling into a ditch that the Tinmen easily jumped over.

Qrow burst out of the trees, and into the crater; he teleported down to the ground, just before a giant laser almost scorched him into non-existence.

Winter shot out of the missing chunk of forest soon after, her shoulder-mounted cannons smoking as she flew up into the air. “STAY STILL AND LET ME KILL YOU, DAMN IT!” she cried as she fired a barrage of missiles, explosive orbs raining down on the crater.

“HOW ABOUT I DON’T?!” Qrow yelled back as he flashed in and out of existence, the magical rose petals he left exploding into blinding crimson clouds.

Winter screamed in frustration, blind firing into the fog, before she flew in.

“It’s working!” Abner cried, laughing. “It’s working!”

The Tinmen reached the edge of the crater, stopped as they detected the fighting going, redirected power to their shields and linked them together. Jaune smacked dab into their expanded and reinforced barrier, getting knocked flat on his back.

Inside the fog, Winter had realized her mistake, her optics completely failing from the overload of magic in the air. “Do you think this is going to work?!” she screamed as she prepared to fly back out.

“Yes~” Qrow said from just beside her.

Winter fired a blast there.

“Missed me!” Qrow said from her other side.

Winter fired another shot in that direction.

“Nope!” he said from in front of her.

Winter cried out as she thrust her hands forward, energy blades extending from her wrists.

“Jeeze, did they lower the standards for Queensguard or something…?” he said from behind her.

Winter whirled around with her blades, Qrow just barely avoided getting slashed.

“I don’t need to see you to kill you, you know!” she cried.

“Well might want to open your eyes, honey, and see what you’ve found yourself in.”

The red mist cleared. Winter looked down, finally noticed the glowing lines of power radiating from all around her, the circle in the center that she was standing smack dab in the center of.

Tendrils of magic erupted around her, wrapping around her body, and her HUD spitting out all manner of errors and warnings as she began to float up into the air.

Qrow casually strode in front of her, casually took off the mask, and smiled.

Winter opened her visor to glare at him. “You mother-fucker…!” she spat.

“You’ll thank me later, Ice Queen!” Qrow chirped as he casually saluted her goodybe.

Jaune’s shield came flying in from the side, slipping onto space between the ground and her feet. The tendrils were chopped off as the shield began to spin round and round like crazy on top of circle as the metal disrupted and absorbed the magic.

“AGENT SCHNEE!” Jaune cried as he threw himself at her.

Winter flew off from the circle, Jaune taking his place; the shield flew up and rejoined its owner, the tendrils wrapping all around him, instead.

Everyone watched in horror as they pulled Jaune through a rip in reality, and spat him out into the center of Abner’s etherite containment unit.

All was quiet everywhere in the Bastion.

“Well...” Abner muttered. “WE’RE FUCKED!”

#white rose #rwby #fanfic #the keeper of the grove

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pregnantinpalestine-blog · 7 years

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Jordan: 18 Lessons Learned

Sometimes we make plans, sometimes we don’t. Sometimes that works, sometimes it doesn’t. Our lackadaisical approach to travelling in foreign countries did not work in our favour on this particular trip to Jordan, unfortunately. So we have compiled a list of lessons we learned. Read on.

Lesson 1) Jordan is far. Google maps does not work in the West Bank, meaning the routes shown often go around it. The roads outside of the West Bank are generally better anyway, but we seem to always underestimate how long it takes to drive places here. After about 4 hours we reached the Israel-Jordan border crossing at Eilat.

Lesson 2) Israeli rental cars can’t leave Israel. And the border patrol won’t believe that you own a car that has a huge Avis sticker on it. So, park car, lug bags, walk across, get taxi.

Lesson 3) There is a fair bit of “rent” money paid in Jordan; for instance, if you ever arrange for a taxi to pick you up beforehand, the driver will have to pay the taxis waiting at that spot for jumping the cue. As we had our Wadi Rum tour guide organize a taxi for us, we saw this happen. And again at Petra and pretty much everywhere that taxis are waiting for business.

Lesson 4) Wadi Rum is awesome. It is a desert valley (‘Wadi’ means valley in Arabic) that has been home to Bedouins for centuries. It has become a tourist destination where you can go with a Bedouin guide in a 4x4 truck into the desert and sleep, eat and enjoy the incredible peace. It was seriously one of the quietest and beautiful places we have ever been. And that sunset!

Lesson 5) There are very few people native to Jordan. The majority of people in Jordan are Palestinian refugees. There are only 5 Bedouin tribes native to Jordan. In that sense it is similar to the United Arab Emirates, accept immigrants can obtain Jordanian citizenship whereas in the UAE you can’t.

We first went to the Bedouin village of Wadi Rum, had tea at our guides home and then traveled through the desert to his camp. Many Bedouins have a primary residence today and travel around the desert using that as a home base. They used to be fully nomadic, but are usually considered semi-nomadic now.

The camp was simple, clean and comfortable, with a main tent with a sitting/eating area and individual, raised tents for sleeping. The quiet and cool temperature in the night made for a great sleep for all three of us!

Lesson 6) Keffiyeh’s can look boss! We met and hung out with these Spaniards at the Bedouin camp and again in Petra.

Lesson 6) At this point, we realized that Jordan is very expensive. Though we had been warned (Carling and Joyce!) we were still shocked at how entrance/exit taxes, getting around, food, and admission to destinations cost so much. The JD is valued at 2:1 per Canadian dollar. It is worth more than the USD, Euro and the British Pound. That makes Jordan one of the most expensive places we’ve ever travelled.

Lesson 7) Related to 6, buy a Jordan pass at the border. It gets you into Petra, Wadi Rum, etc, for a discounted rate, but is not advertised so you have to ask for it. Entrance to Petra alone is 50JD ($100CDN) per person for one day, so a Jordan Pass is worth it if you plan to visit Petra.

Lesson 8) You can ride a horse through Petra, which is by far one of the coolest experiences possible and an amazing way to explore ‘the forgotten city’. There are very few safety mechanisms in place, and the guides are happy to let you fly if you can ride. A slow camel ride will also do. Again, it will cost a lot more than they tell you initially (you are hassled to tip). But definitely worth it.

Lesson 9) Tourism is peoples’ livelihoods here. That means you are endlessly hassled to buy souvenirs, donkey rides, drinks, etc at places like Petra. That said…

Lesson 10) There is no Daesh (ISIS) presence in Jordan. Locals lament how tourism has suffered in recent years because Europeans and Americans are afraid to come. Really, people should do credible research and recognize that Jordan is a very safe country with many amazing opportunities for hiking, rock climbing, sky diving, and rafting. Ecotourism is becoming big in Jordan, especially in the north.

Lesson 11) Jordan is hot. Quite possibly the hottest place we have ever been. So if you decide to come, wear sunscreen, drink lots of water (bottled, you cannot drink the tap water outside of Aqaba), blah, blah.

Lesson 12) Both parents being sick with a baby, while exploring Petra, in said extreme heat, is next level parenting. Both of us got food poisoning (likely from the salads we ate at dinner). Sparing all the gross details, we both know where every bathroom in Petra is and gave our taxi driver from Petra to Aqaba a big tip for making frequent roadside stops.

Planning only to stay for two nights in Jordan, we extended to three and got a hotel in Aqaba (near the boarder), as neither of us were able to drive. Or walk. Or move. Buttttt, someone always had to attend to the little girl, which is difficult when all you want to do is curl up in a ball.

Lesson 13) There is an organized chaos to the hospitals, but the care is excellent. Since Helena is still breastfeeding Anaija full time, dehydration due to food poisoning was a concern. So once again we experienced an international hospital, complete with IV, antibiotics, anti nausea meds, etc.

Lesson 14) People here are very helpful. Our taxi driver was so accommodating, stopping when necessary, calling hotels in Aqaba, blasting Celine Dione and the AC in his car, etc. The hotel receptionist took us to the hospital, filled our prescriptions, paid when we didn’t have the cash on us, brought us to a supermarket to get some yogurt and bananas, held Anaija, etc. Thankfully we were feeling much better by the next morning and could explore Aqaba a bit, then continue back to Israel and Palestine.

Lesson 15) There is no tax in Aqaba; Aqaba is a port city on the Red Sea and Jordan would like to see more foreign investment flow into the country via Aqaba. Lots of resorts and a great but lower key seaside destination

Lesson 16) US warships have been docked Aqaba, unloading tanks and armoured vehicles for the last few months, staging them at the Syrian border. It looks like Jordan will be a conduit for a land based, US intervention in Syria.

Lesson 17) The photo that has been shared many times on FB, insinuating that King Abdullah went himself to fight Daesh is propaganda. His father, King Hussein did fight on the front lines (alongside Saddam Hussein), and was loved by Jordanians. King Abdullah is less well liked; more specifically, his wife and her family have apparently allowed corruption to infiltrate the country. Jordanians accuse Queen Rania of a lifestyle of extreme luxury, and her family using her connections to grow incredibly rich while the citizens of Jordan suffer.

Lesson 18) Unrelated, we are certain that our little Anaija is very resilient, tolerant, loves to explore, and can already manipulate us. When we were sick, both lying on our hotel bed, we ignored her cries for attention as she fussed in between us. She didn’t like that. So she pulled her cry-to-eyes-closed-coughing fit act. As Landon was on ‘Anaija duty’, he looked up to make sure she was okay and saw her look at him with one eye open, recognized she now had his attention, and smiled a big sly smile. She has us wrapped around her little attention loving finger, that girl.

All in all, we had a great trip to Jordan, minus some expensive and food poisoning set backs. We highly recommend traveling here, especially for adventure seekers and would love to come back to hike the Jordan trail, which covers over 600km of the beautiful Jordan landscape. Just do your research, and if you have questions, feel free to ask. We have numerous contacts now.

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