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howtofightwrite · 10 months

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What is the difference between fencing and actual sword fighting, exactly? If I were to throw an olympic fencer against a master swordsperson, what would the most likely outcome of such a fight be?

The first and most obvious answer is that only one of these individuals is trained for combat.

The second answer is that only one of them uses (and trains with intent to use) a real weapon.

I’m going to assume this question revolves around an Olympic fencer dueling with a master swordsman with a live weapon and not in accordance with Olympic fencing rules. An Olympic fencer’s best chance at winning is a bout with a modern epee/saber under Olympic fencing rules and it’s also the case where (probably) no one dies or is gravely injured.

Olympic fencing is a sport. As a result of its evolution, it’s pretty much unrecognizable as even a martial form today and, in pursuit of the new requirements for winning, has divested itself of the weapon aspect. While much of the terminology remains the same, the key difference to grasp about Olympic fencers is that they’re not trained to fence around the idea that the sword in their hand is a dangerous weapon (because it isn’t.) In fact, the ultimate goal of winning in their sport (score points) is hindered by that mentality. To the Olympic fencer, it doesn’t matter if they get hit so long as they score first and have right of way when they do. If those at the top of the sport were handed a real historical epee, told to fence, and changed nothing in their approach, the end result would be a double suicide. (Which is ironic because that’s one of the reasons why the epee was restricted historically. When it came to dueling, it was a little too efficient.)

There is no caution here because there doesn’t need to be. Tactics and techniques which will cause a fencer to commit suicide against an opponent with a live blade work exceptionally well once the risk of death is off the table.

This isn’t just restricted to Olympic fencing. If you take any martial art that has transitioned to a sport and put the practitioner up against someone who kills people for a living, even if they are one of the best in their field, they will be at an inherent disadvantage. The requirements for winning according to the sport’s rules are vastly different from the requirements for winning in a life or death situation.

And that’s just the first hurdle.

The next hurdle is the weapon itself.

Duels are specifically between weapons of the same type. This rule is meant to level the playing field and ensure the duel is decided on “skill” rather than weapon advantage. Depending on their point of origin (for the purpose of this question, I’m assuming European) a master swordsman would have been familiar with and likely trained in several different sword styles, depending on era would be a master of their own school or in the employ of a noble house. If you need a comparable profession for a master duelist, think of them like lawyers. Except, the victory was decided by skill with a blade rather than a compelling argument. (We could say that skill with a blade is a compelling argument, but I digress.) One doesn’t get to be a master swordsman until after many years of study with the blade and victories under their belt. Depending on the era of history, the duel requirements of the duel could be anywhere between armored or unarmored, to first blood or to the death, and cover a variety of different swords, each with their own developed styles (and that is styles plural.)

Our Olympic fencer will be fucked by varying degrees depending on the live blade in question but, make no mistake, they’ll be pretty much fucked by any option picked. Running counter to their ubiquitous nature in popular culture, swords are not one size fits all. Outside of common principles there’s almost no training crossover. Every sword handles differently. These variations include length of the blade, length of the hilt, location of the crossguard, the weapon’s weight, the weapon’s weight distribution, the location of its balance point, whether it is primarily used with one hand or two, whether it is primarily a weapon for thrusting (the rapier) or cutting (the saber,) etc. Their grip would be off, and probably wouldn’t be able to hold the sword properly.

The modern version of a fencing “sword” is not equivalent to any of these. Their closest stylistic match up in terms of inherited movement is the 19th century epee, but we’re still miles apart.

Then there’s the mentality issue.

The Olympic fencer hasn’t trained around the idea that death or major injury are accidental. Possible, yes, a risk, yes, but in the same way they are for any other sport. These are surprise, tragic occurrences and not part of regular bouts. For reference, in terms of the dangers of physical contact, a modern fencer faces less risk than a football player. For the master swordsman, the opposite is true. There is no variant of historical dueling which doesn’t risk death in some capacity, whether that’s a confirmed death on the dueling field itself or from an injury or infection later. Those historical circumstances where you see individuals dueling topless is (ironically) for practical reasons and not titillation. Many duelists, victorious or not, died from infection after cloth or other detritus got into their wounds. In this way, our modern Olympic fencer is less prepared than a duelist of average skill, much less a master.

Is the Olympic fencer ready to put their life and body on the line? To risk death, permanent injury, a potential blinding in one eye, in a bout that, at best, involves zero physical protection? I’m not sure. Probably not off the cuff. It requires a different mindset.

Are they ready to inflict damage on another person? Are they ready to kill another person? And even if they’re ready, are they willing to? Are they resolved to? Are they ready to risk their own life in pursuit of it?

The Olympic fencer is on the starting line with these questions.

The Master Swordsman has already answered them.

One of the difficult aspects about writing violence and characters who practice martial disciplines with intent to exercise those skills is internalizing the risks involved and ensuring their a natural part of your character’s mindset and their approach to combat.

Fiction is an illusion. Your narrative’s world is as real as you, the author, choose to make it. Characters are immortal, have infinite stamina, possess skill with every weapon, are unbeatable unless you choose otherwise. Regardless of reality, if you choose to make an Olympic fencer and a Master Swordsman fight exactly the same way with the same skill set, that’s how it is.

I’ve seen plenty of published authors treat swords as universal and modern Olympic fencing like it lends their character any real martial skills. (I mean, beyond excellent conditioning.) You can do it and get away with it if that’s what you want. Personally, I find it less interesting because it cheats the character out of their growth. Also, you don’t need to lean into that approach for “Girls Can Fight” or as a way for a female character to gain combat skills because there were female fencers who trained on the blade.

Ways for the Olympic fencer to win:

Dumb luck.

Yeah. That’s it.

The Master Swordsman should knock the blade out of their hand, take the Olympic fencer under their wing as their apprentice, and wander the world together solving crimes.

10/10.

-Michi

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#michi answers #writing reference #writing advice #writing tips #how to fight write #fencing #writing fight scenes

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cephalog0d · 8 months

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Yeah I'm not done yet.

The thing I keep coming back to is that as much as I'm down to nit-pick things like how characters are written and plot details (and boy are there a whole infestation of nits to pick), what it boils down to is that the basic premise here shouldn't even be happening.

I get they're doing a Thing with Bruce and the after effects of Failsafe and Zur and Insomnia so sure I guess it makes sense to have him acting totally unreasonably. I'm not saying it's a plotline I'm thrilled with, but whatever. This is about everyone else.

You have half a dozen people routinely patrolling in Gotham, who've been doing it for years, who know the city and how it works, who have at least two people who are particularly inclined towards collecting and parsing data for patterns for crime fighting purposes, and none of you noticed anything amiss until Selina called and was like "Hey did you notice my neat new plan I've been doing?"

To that point, in a room full of literal canonical geniuses not a single person has thought to ask any of a dozen very practical questions that occurred to me, a non-genius reader, roughly 10 seconds after reading what The Plan was. Things like, oh, I don't know

How is this going to be a sustainable long-term effort?

For example, what happens when Gotham's wealthiest realize what you're doing and dramatically beef up their security (with tech or with actual people), making it much harder and more dangerous?

Like iirc you, Selina, have definitely had some real dicey situations as a result of your profession, and you're a lot more experienced than these people.

(Hey speaking of which isn't there a whole secret society of Gotham's wealthiest and most powerful who have access to nearly unkillable assassins? Who keeps coming back even though they keep being taken down? You think any of these people might belong to that?)

What happens when the rich folks get pissed and sic the heavily militarized GCPD on you? Don't act like they won't, I'm sure someone's squirreled away stuff from that whole Fear State fiasco.

For that matter, what happens when the costumed villainry figure out who swiped all their henchpeople and decide to object to it, presumably violently?

How many people are we talking here anyway that you're training? How many ultra-wealthy people live in Gotham? How many easily stealable things do they have sitting around to take? (As opposed to, like, other non-liquid fake assets like stocks)

How are you fencing all this anyway? Isn't that a great way to get caught? Or is everyone just stealing cash? (Or did nobody think about the part between "got the valuable thing" and "have usable money from it"?)

How on god's green earth did you ever assume this was going to end in anything other than violence?

Like of course one of your guys got killed. It doesn't matter that you told them no violence, even if they fully buy into that it only takes one panicked reaction when someone's home who shouldn't be, on either side, and there you go.

Look I get what they're trying to do. It's supposed to be a big moral quandary about whether it's right to allow some crime if it decreases other crime, the struggle between Batman being unreasonably violent and unwilling to listen and this new plan of Selina's. First of all that's a weird debate to have when everyone having it is technically a criminal to some degree. And second of all, it doesn't matter, this isn't about the morality, this is about how this plan is fucking dumb and was destined to fall apart even if Batman was still asleep and the fact that any of you are buying it just means there's a gas leak in Gotham somewhere.

#maybe i'm totally wrong and there's some secret behind-the-scene plot happening and the plan as presented is just a front #which would not excuse the way all the kids are reacting but would at least get selina off the hook #maybe i'll eat my words later whe it turns out there was some grand plan that totally ties everything together #but right now i'm fucking annoyed at how LITERALLY EVERYONE is being handled in this and i needed to vent #for the record no i'm not at all morally opposed to the ultra-wealthy getting their shit stolen i think that part is fine #i just don't think you should base a sizeable chunk of the city's long-term economic survival on having that as an income #gotham war #comics talk

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arcann · 1 year

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Gotta talk about Cass and how they have changed a few months after I decided to shift from Book Smart to Street Smart. Updated that old post to take out some of the bits that no longer fit.

- Mystical / Street Smart and if I could give them a third trait it would be Keen Eye. Could equal the temper of a Powerful Build, except when it comes to the supernatural. Mystical kicks in and seeing so much horror stuff makes them prioritize survival over curiosity... but it starts to erode as the week goes by.

- Scars over their right eye and cheek from a bar fight in college. Used to be a feisty kid that lost a lot of fights. Didn't learn until they got stabbed in the abdomen. Developed a lot of chronic pain from that. Didn't get any type of authority involved and never told Vivian. Barely saved that semester so she wouldn't notice. Calmed down by a lot after they got out of college but then grief does that to many people.

- I still haven't decided what they majored in but they hide it since they feel a bit of shame that by working ten years as an elementary teacher they're ruining their chances of practicing their profession. Hasn't talked with anyone about their feelings though, so it's a bit them just catastrophizing.

- Lives in the attic of the house of what seems to be a bunch of ex-frat boys. She doesn't ask why they're still together and they don't tell. Planning on leaving but hasn't figured the how yet.

- Smokes but has been trying to leave it although they did smoke with Isaac to build rapport. So not going well.

- Mystical IS a power and a benefit so I took out Cass having headaches. They hadn't paid much attention to that sensation since most of the dangers they have faced (and rushed head first into) are mundane but then I imagine there are supernatural dangers outside of Scarlet Hollow in this universe and they roam around even inside cities. But guess who hasn't found them out since these unknown horrors don't have a direct blood tie to them??? Mystical says you're welcome :-)

- The way I see it the Street Smart suggestions is the first time it comes to their head and while it would aid them greatly it's not always the most prudent thing to do. They don't have the heart to stop Stella from calling the police in Monday night since they could see how much the man meant to Stella and implying they should leave his body to rot could be something incredibly offensive. They're very normal about how that ended up happening anyway 🙃

- The worst media you can think of? They have probably seen it and ran away with some parts of it. Results may vary. Their favorite jojo is Giorno and when they make a little gal they always resemble Casca from Berserk. Another secret they must keep at all costs. They're hanging with Kaneeka and her respectable anime statues now.

- Decided to change their relationship with Wayne as feeling truly impotent around him. They can't stop him from stalking them or threatening their friends or making Tabitha feel scared. They try to run away and it doesn't work. They try to punch him and it's nothing to him. They're trapped.

Some picrews to end it bc why not

#oc: cassandra scarlet

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psalmonesermons · 1 year

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Holding fast to the profession of our faith

Hebrews 10:19-25

The world is changing fast today, and it often seems that the historical Christian faith is under attack from many directions and worst of all sometimes the historical faith is attacked from inside the church.

When the storms of life spring up, we can seem like ships that are tossed to and fro by the wind and waves and we feel that we are in danger of being shipwrecked. We must remember to hold fast to God’s word and his promises which are like an anchor to our soul and keep us fixed and safe no matter what the storms of life try to do to us.

Talking of 'holding fast' several years ago my son-in-law asked me to join him going on the the world's fastest roller coaster, the Formula Rossa [1] in Ferrari World, Abu Dhabi. I had to hang on for dear life, I lost a shoe, and my hair was standing on end. In hindsight this gave me gave some insight into what it means to hold fast.

What does it mean to hold fast to something?

“Holding fast” in the Bible means to hold your position or fix your gaze and not lose sight of what is true. So this means that our attention -and therefore our actions- are fixed on God. After that, we need to obey His instructions — which is really the next logical step if your gaze and heart are locked on God.

There are a number of scriptures that tell us to hold fast. The key scripture for this study is found in Hebrews 10:19-25.

Hebrews 10:19 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,20 By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; 21 And having an high priest over the house of God.22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.

God has made a new and living way into his presence for believers and encourages us to draw near to him confidently knowing that our hearts and minds have been cleansed from sin.

23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith [2] without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)

Based on these wonderful facts, what must we do now? We must not lose our nerve but rather declare the hope that we hold in eternal life because that is what Jesus Christ promised us and he is completely faithful to his word. No need to waver, no need to doubt because We can trust Jesus, we can trust all his promises to us.

24 And let us consider one another to provoke [3] unto love and to good works:

The practical results of our unwavering faith and hope in Christ should be that we set an example to the Christian community stimulating each other to show love in action which results in Holy Spirit led good works such as charity, compassion, and kindnesses.

25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together [4], as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

Another practical outworking of holding fast to our confession of faith is that we will actively encourage the believers to assemble and thus be mutually encouraged.

As Christians we need to know what to hold fast to:

1 Thessalonians 5:21 Prove all things: hold fast to that which is good.

Prove all things means don’t just accept everything you hear, test it against the bible, discuss it with people you trust. Once you believe something is true then hold fast on it.

Proverbs 4:13 Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go: keep her for she is thy life.

We receive instruction from the bible and from our pastors/ ministers, we need to grasp that which is good teaching and apply it to our lives for it keeps us living right.

2 Timothy 1:13 Hold fast the form of sound words, which you have heard from me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.

Paul tells Timothy to hold fast to the good doctrine that he had been taught by Paul for it was given in the faith and love of Jesus Christ.

Revelation 2:25 and 3:11 Jesus tells two [5] of the seven churches to hold fast what they have that no one steals their crown.

To the faithful remnant in Thyatira who had not fallen into Satan’s depths Jesus tells them to hang on to receive their great rewards. To the faithful in Philadelphia Jesus says he knows their good works , and that they have a little strength left , they have kept his word and have not denied his name.

Conclusion

The Lord is calling each one of us today to hold fast onto all that is good in our lives.

Hold fast onto the Lord himself.

Hold fast to the word of God in the Bible.

Hold fast onto all the good Christian practices that you have learned over the years.

Hold fast onto your own personal faith in Christ.

Amen

Personal Prayer

Footnotes

[1] Ferrari World Abu Dhabi for example is home to a pair of record-breaking roller coasters, and one of them, the Formula Rossa, just happens to hold the Guinness World Record for the World’s Fastest Rollercoaster — clocking in with a blistering max speed of 240 km/h and traveling 52 meters into the sky in just 4.9 seconds.

[2] Ellicott’s Commentary: Let us hold fast the profession/confession of the (Christian) hope (rather than faith). Hope here refers to eternal life as God’s children and heirs of Christ which we can rely upon since God is faithful to all his promises.

[3] Original meaning of ‘to provoke’ means ‘to arouse,’ ’to excite,’ or ‘to call to action’ our fellow believers.

[4] Hebrews 10:25 The most obvious interpretation of ‘assembling’ is ‘for public worship’ see Barnes Notes on the Bible.

[5] The churches of Thyatira and Philadelphia, respectively.

#christianity #bible study #bibletruth #blog post #blessings #psalmonesermons #faith #victory #hold fast #Hebrews 10:23

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indestructiblelittlefxcker · 2 years

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Izzy Hands: Masculinity, Class, and Queerness

This meta is an examination of how Izzy's internalized homophobia manifests within the first season of Our Flag Means Death. Head's up: this analysis includes copious use of the word "queer" in a reclaimed context as well as references to historical anti-gay slurs. If that's not something you want to see, you should skip over this post. This is my metatextual analysis and informs my headspace for the character in RP and just like, in general.

Massive spoiler warning for all the major plot points in the first season

For the purposes of this meta I will be assuming that Izzy Hands as portrayed in the first season is a queer man. Though we haven’t learned much about his backstory, he is portrayed by an actor known for portraying queer characters, said actor has confirmed that he’s “in love with Blackbeard” and the creator of the show has described Izzy as the “jilted spouse” in the Stede-Ed-Izzy triangle. Additionally, I would go so far as to say that all of the pirates are assumed to be queer by the narrative, based on certain dialogue and the way that the narrative normalizes queer relationships between them.

Izzy has quite a few markers of the familiar queer-coded villains in media. He’s the loyal, cuckolded sidekick to the more impressive Blackbeard, but the romantic nature of his devotion is explicit, rather than subtext. For instance, when Stede hears them arguing and titters about ‘trouble in paradise’, neither of them corrects him. He’s small in stature with a high-pitched voice and off-putting mannerisms. He has a sadomasochistic streak, implied early on when he deliberately drags his fingers through the candle flames on Blackbeard’s desk. He’s introduced as formidable from the get-go via his proximity to Blackbeard’s power, his ruthlessness, and his status as renowned swordsman but neither Stede nor the crew of the Revenge find him intimidating.

Izzy and Stede are like oil and water from the beginning, disliking each other on sight. They read as opposites visually as well, Izzy in buttoned-up black, sturdy leather that, while it’s probably too hot to be real-life practical is at least resistant to the elements where Stead is in fine, jewel-toned fabrics with frilly sleeves. Izzy dismissively characterizes him as a “ponce” (notably not to his face) and Stede’s barbed tongue is constantly lancing him with disrespect, most notably calling him by the wrong name. On Stede’s part, this foreshadows the “passive aggression” skills he demonstrates to Ed in the party episode. In the abusive boarding school culture he came of age in, as a boy unwilling and/or unable to fight, he learned to use his words instead.

The differences between Stede and Izzy are immediately understood then to be class-based and also gender-performance based. The two are inextricably linked, as far as Izzy is concerned. He questions why Blackbeard would be fascinated by someone so bad at pirating—and by extension, bad at being a man. Piracy, we are told by other characters, is a blood-thirsty, dangerous, hard-living profession, typically only undertaken by people who have no other choice. As a result, Izzy seems to take offense at the fact that Stede essentially appears to be LARPing as a pirate. The world of piracy does not appear to be one that leaves room for multiple models of masculinity. You have to be tough, rough, and violent to survive—being soft is a luxury. For Izzy, Stede’s lack of traditional masculinity—more correctly, his overt flamboyance—is a privilege of his wealth and therefore not something to be respected. Stede’s taking on a lower-class profession—and as far as Izzy’s concerned, making a mess of it—by choice.

By contrast, when Izzy rants at Blackbeard that in their early years he was “honored to have the chance to work for the legendary Blackbeard”, he doesn’t speak of other offers he had or people he left behind in an effort to twist the knife. We get the impression, then, that Izzy’s not a man who has been given many choices about what he wants to be in this life.

Yet for every failure of Stede’s, he has a success too. It’s true that he runs his ship aground but he then succeeds in getting the drop on Izzy and the pirates in the woods, even managing to hold Izzy at knifepoint, which seems to garner a momentary, grudging respect. Of course, Izzy later complains to Blackbeard that the ambush was “unprofessional”—truthfully a baseless critique once we learn that one of Blackbeard’s favorite battle tactics is “fuckery”.

Izzy likes rules, even in this messy, blood-thirsty space he inhabits. In fact it seems like he depends on them. To be a proper man you have to fight the proper way, to use specific weapons and follow a set strategy (summarized in a blasé manner as “the usual” following a description of flaying a crew alive). His specialty is swords and through various dialogue, we understand him to be a renown swordsman and duelist(he cuts his own name into Stede’s shirt in a series of swift movements and receives the sincere compliment “you’re very skilled” for his intimidation efforts, which Izzy clearly perceives as mockery). He wears his dueling glove at all times, perpetually ready for combat, even though Blackbeard makes it clear that before the events of the plot, they haven’t had to really fight anyone in what might have been years at this point. Wearing the glove when he doesn’t need to serves to remind people of who he is, and also allows him to keep a protective layer around who he is under it. He’s never totally ‘bare’. He also wears a tattoo of a ‘spade’ playing card suit on his other hand, which traditionally symbolizes swords. His swordsmanship, then, is a central tenant of his identity and by extension, his manhood. Later on, he challenges Stede to a duel for what Izzy clearly perceives to be Blackbeard’s honor and loses on a technicality, which makes Izzy furious. His success in expressions of traditional masculinity and, in his own mind his value to Blackbeard and as a man, are slipping out of his protectively-gloved grip.

His own queerness and his masculinity are also inextricably linked. Kaz Rowe’s videos on historical queerness describe queerness in this era as “less about something that you called yourself and more something that you did”, suggesting that queer identity was not acknowledged as an umbrella but that queerness was calculated in terms of queer acts that one engaged in. Indeed, historically queerness was regulated wholly by the banning of queer acts, specifically sodomy and buggery laws and laws banning “cross-dressing” as well as those banning “vulgarity”(pornography). In the show itself, we are not explicitly told about the sexual nature of the relationship between Izzy and Blackbeard. They are portrayed in turns as a boss and a henchman, an old married couple who are headed towards divorce, and comrades-in-arms, and none of these definitions are made to contradict each other. The cast and creator of the show have confirmed Izzy’s feelings for Blackbeard to be romantic and separately, there are two different scenes where Blackbeard is violent towards Izzy and Izzy visibly appears to be aroused as a result. The first is when Blackbeard angrily pins Izzy against a wall after Izzy degrades him in a vulnerable moment. In response, Izzy strokes Blackbeard’s face and coos “there you are, I’ve missed you” in what is easily the most tender behavior the character has displayed. The second is when Blackbeard cuts off Izzy’s toe as punishment for his disrespect; Izzy’s face is a mixture of pain and arousal in the moment and we later see him limping around the deck with the smug exhaustion of someone who has just been fucked, satisfied that “Blackbeard is himself again”. The question of if the two of them have ever had oral, intercrual or penetrative sex, then, seems immaterial considering the fact that Izzy considers Blackbeard performing violence on him to be a sexual act.

That begs the question though, if Izzy would indeed identify himself as queer. If he has not had what other people would define as sex with Blackbeard, is he himself not “a ponce”? Trapped in the limbo of a long-time pirate partnership with a man who barely touches him, Izzy exists essentially as ‘Schrodinger's’ queer’ throughout the first season.

Perhaps this is why in part he ties his own performance of violence to his masculinity. Izzy is seen eavesdropping on a evening where Blackbeard is teaching Stede how to fence. Hidden behind a mast, Izzy hears Blackbeard urge Stede to stab him, and then the lengthy process of Stede having to pull the sword back out again. The gag, of course, is that all the grunts and moans make it sound like the two of them are having sex, and Izzy’s face goes from shocked to sad and betrayed in a quick sequence. But while the violence is in the moment mistaken for sex, it’s simultaneously clear that for Izzy, violence is both sexual and a stand-in for sex, to say nothing of the fact that he already prizes his swordsmanship. The camaraderie generated between two men who feel comfortable enough with each other to hurt each other is invaluable to him, since in the space that they inhabit it seems to be the only acceptable way for men of their social standing to express intimacy. Also worth noting here that “sword” is commonly used as a term for “penis” in erotica. It’s pretty clear that Izzy is feeling replaced.

Izzy shouldn’t be pitied too much on this point, however. He is absolutely the one perpetuating this cycle of violence after it’s become clear that it’s detrimental to Blackbeard at the very least. He is the one policing Blackbeard’s masculinity and telling him that unless he conforms this uber-violent masculine ideal, that he is not worthy of respect. From the beginning of the season, Blackbeard makes it clear that he’s fed up with his life, that he’s tired of maintaining this draining persona, and that he wants to explore other sides of himself. Though Izzy originally implies that he’s okay with them parting(as long as he can take some power in return), time and again he refuses to let Blackbeard go, betraying them to the English navy in the process. A heart-broken Blackbeard pins Izzy to the wall because Izzy was mocking him for having the absolute gall to have feeeeeelings when ‘everyone else’ (mostly Izzy, in truth) wants him to be an emotionless brute. Izzy’s goading is what triggers the spiral we see Blackbeard in at the end of the season. Midway through the season, Blackbeard reveals to Stede that his biggest trauma is the result of having killed his abusive father, to the point where he had to view himself in that state as a literal monster in order to cope. He cries tears of distress at the memory, at the fact that he’s “not a good person”. One has to wonder, has he ever told Izzy this? Would Izzy have cared?

Although Izzy wreaks collateral damage on Blackbeard and, by extension the crew, he is absolutely the biggest victim of his own toxic masculinity.

Per his expectation that Blackbeard is going to depose Stede and leave Izzy as the de facto leader, Izzy treats the crew like he would Blackbeard’s own with truly unearned authority, giving orders as he would on their ship. He can’t be bothered to acknowledge Stede as a captain—and by his estimation, a man—even for this brief time.

He’s invasive too, skulking around in the shadows to learn more about the dynamics of crew. When he finds Lucius and Pete having just hooked up in the pantry, he punishes the more effeminate one of the pair, Lucius, with duties that both don’t seem terribly necessary at this current point in their journey and are also far outside the scope of Lucius’ normal duties.

While bonding (in at least a partial attempt to skive off said punitive duties) with Fang, one of Izzy’s longtime shipmates, Lucius hears the story of how unusually choppy seas once gave Izzy seasickness so severe that he vomited profusely in front of the crew. Considered an unusual moment of physical ‘weakness’ for him, the incident earned him the nickname “Izzy the Spewer”. Lucius is predictably amused by this and gleefully spreads the story around the crew, rechristening him “Dizzy Izzy”.

When Izzy confronts him about bailing on the work he assigned, Lucius leverages his old nickname—and then the new one— against him. Lucius’ power in the confrontation comes not from having seen the expression of ‘weakness’ himself (he obviously wasn’t there) but in the knowledge that it exists and his willingness to address it to Izzy’s face. Izzy can’t fulfill his role as untouchable authority figure if a newcomer can dismiss him so easily.

And beyond being a newcomer, Lucius has many of the traits that Izzy seems to despise on principle. He’s a man of letters who by his own account “doesn’t do manual labor”. He’s employed by Stede as a scribe, truly excessive on a pirate ship and a testament to Stede’s impracticality and egotism(by comparison, it’s not clear if Izzy can even read). He’s fashionable, flirty, effete, easily startled, speaks with a posh accent and has no apparent respect for authority. He’s opposite to Izzy in every way. For lack of better phrasing, it seems pretty clear that one of Izzy’s biggest problems with him is that he’s ‘too gay’.

It’s clear that Izzy has some degree of internalized homophobia based on the language he uses to describe men that he considers to be unsuitably masculine. As previously established, he considers effeminate men to be the result of wealth-based privilege and both are one in the same in his mind, enemies via class.

Lucius, we learn at some point, had a stint as a pickpocket and may not be nearly so posh as he appears, but that doesn’t seem of concern to Izzy, who has already decided that he’s not the ‘right kind’ of man, nor by extension, the ‘right kind’ of queer.

Lucius is joyful in his queerness; he happily flirts with a variety of men onboard, he makes no secret of his proclivities (“I know a little something about keeping secrets—not all beards are beards if you get my drift”, the only overt acknowledgment of homophobia outside of the ship that has been referenced so far), he’s a consistent source of emotional intelligence, counseling Blackbeard and Stede about their feelings for each other through their respective lack of self-awareness.

His strongest skill, however, seems to be his ability to let other men to be vulnerable around him.

After the two of them hook-up, tough guy Pete becomes noticeably kinder, treating Lucius with a gentleness that could be played for laughs in contrast, but honestly just seems really sweet. Given that this character was previously chomping at the bit to “shove hot pokers up (the enemy’s) arseholes” and degrading sewing as “women’s work”, the difference is staggering.

Similarly, Lucius gets on Fang’s good side by complimenting his appearance and expressing an interest in drawing him nude. It’s true that he’s doing this in part in an effort to get out of of work, but his sentiments don’t seem any less genuine as a result. When Fang confesses that “people don’t usually take interest in my form”, Lucius replies with full sincerity “then you’ve never met anyone worth a damn”. Within the narrative, Lucius’ polyamorous sensibilities characterize him not as flaky or fickle, but as someone with a lot of love to give to a lot of different types of people.

Of course Izzy can’t stand him. Lucius’ narrative is completely counter to the way that Izzy defines himself by suffering and misery and subservience. I think it’s important to consider here the historical attitude towards men having gay sex who took did the fucking versus the men who received the fucking. The man who fucked could retain his masculinity while the man who got fucked was considered effeminate, a ‘nonman’, an “invert”. Often dubbed with the slur “Mary” or “Nancy” and later “fairy”. Izzy’s internalized homophobia dances in a fascinating waltz with his desire to be dominated by Blackbeard. He can accept wanting to be dominated by a man, it seems, but only if that man is perceived as the manliest man who ever manned, personified as a red-eyed, smoke-monster demon man covered in guns. The idea of a relationship being built on mutual love and vulnerability seems to genuinely confuse him.

When Izzy catches Lucius with Fang, he tries to blackmail him by threatening to tell Pete of their dalliance, using what he intends to be offensive, feminizing language in calling him “a proper little seductress”. Lucius in turn laughs in his face and calls Pete in to tell him himself and is given an approving “Nice!” from Pete for his efforts. Lucius smugly tells Izzy that he and Pete “don’t own each other”, which is like a slap in the face to Izzy who is shown to be so possessive of Blackbeard that he tells Stede that Stede has no right to call Blackbeard by his given name of Ed.

On the topic of naming, the transition from “Izzy the Spewer” to “Dizzy Izzy” is an interesting one. The former is obviously derogatory, but also gross-sounding and masc by extension in the way it sounds like a title. “Dizzy Izzy” sounds, well, silly, and almost affectionate. It almost sounds like a drag name. The vulnerability it implies must be infuriating to him.

As he has been shown to do, Lucius weaponizes his promiscuity against the other man and asks Izzy if he’s even been sketched, which is understood to be a come-on. Izzy is simultaneously understood to be turned on by the offer and absolutely spitting mad. He has no good answer to this that will let him keep his power or his dignity. “Oooh, daddy” he moans in response, which is presumably supposed to be a mocking impression of Lucius but makes it very clear that he’s lost the exchange.

Honestly, the descriptor I keep returning to for this moment is “juvenile”. It reminds me of boys in high school intentionally making sex noises to embarrass their classmates. As jarring as it is to watch on screen, it fits right in with the scenes of Calico Jack and Blackbeard bro-ing out, where the world of the pirates is portrayed as one big, rowdy, gross fraternity, with all of the misogynism and internalized homophobia baggage implied. Izzy, despite his usual attempts at presenting himself with dignity, is also a product of that culture.

And on the note of youth, I think it’s worth noting that Lucius is consistently referred to as a ‘boy’ by the other pirates despite appearing to be in his mid-twenties. One might infer that he is one of the youngest crew members. His youth directly contrasts with Izzy being firmly middle-aged as another catalyst for their conflict: Lucas has got so much about himself figured out while he’s got his whole life ahead of him while Izzy’s still tortured, trapped and struggling with himself.

Lucius’ youth, softness, and vulnerability are all understood to be advantages by the narrative and the scene ends with Izzy storming out and Pete praising Lucius that seeing him assert himself like that was “hot”.

Izzy’s constant attempts to control the crew with fear, abuse and intimidation result in a vicious cycle of them undermining his authority. In contrast to Stede and his “people positive management style” (which of course still has issues within the narrative), Izzy demands from the crew an unearned sense of authority. No one would be mocking him about being “Dizzy Izzy” if he didn’t insist on projecting such an invulnerable, hardass, drill sergeant persona. Because he’s created an environment where any display of weakness is cause for punishment, he is also inviting the crew to find and exploit that weakness in him, a fact that he seems to be ignorant of. Izzy is the one insisting that a lack of physical fortitude is equivalent to personal weakness and so, with this being the one thing people can exploit about him, they continue to use it against him. When he gains possession of The Revenge as the result of his betrayal, he retitles it “Izzy’s Revenge” to which Wee John rightly states “Sounds like an intestinal condition”—Izzy punishes him severely as a result. Insults are the only leverage that the crew has over Izzy when he’s acting as a veritable tyrant. The power he has over them far outweighs the sting of a few rude words, but as far as he’s concerned, causing him offense is a capital crime. Again, he cannot conceive of being a leader as someone with mutual respect for their crew. It speaks to how, well, weak his convictions in himself are and, all told, renders his previous critique of both Blackbeard and Stede’s leadership skills to be moot.

It’s also worth pointing out that the last time that the “Dizzy Izzy” moniker is used against him, it is in a situation where he has de facto power over the crew, though they don’t realize it. Unbeknownst to the crew, he is about to maroon them on a deserted island. Roach tosses out the name this time, showing just how thoroughly it’s been deseminated throughout the crew, along with a slightly sincere-sounding bid to “take care”. Izzy inclines his head with a stiff smile, at last, as far as he’s concerned, on the verge of getting his revenge.

Of course, Izzy manages to make himself the victim of his ideologies while being completely blind to the collateral damage. In addition to the fact that his ego is worth more than the lives of the crew, the rigidity of his beliefs in masculinity are contributing to destroying not only his relationship with Blackbeard but Blackbeard himself. When he complains to Blackbeard that the man has become “some namby-pamby in a silken dressing gown piiiiining for his boyfriend”, he considers every part of that sentence to be detestable. In being emotional, Blackbeard is being weak, which in his estimation is effeminate, which is linked to wealth already in Izzy’s mind and to the silken dressing gown that was given to Blackbeard by Stede. And of course, the word ‘boyfriend’, an acknowledgement of a formal relationship that Izzy can’t manage to secure for himself as a person who has committed himself to serving Blackbeard. He feels Blackbeard has betrayed him emotionally, and as a result of the method, that he is by extension also a class traitor.

As other viewers have wisely pointed out, Izzy is amazingly unaware of his own whiteness in this scene. While it’s true that both he and Blackbeard are part of this transient pirate class and are implied to have come from low-class backgrounds, Izzy is white and is shown to be afforded a level of dignity by groups like the British Navy that Blackbeard is not. Blackbeard is mourning a relationship with someone who treated him like a whole person and offered him things (physically and on an emotional level) that other people considered him unworthy of, and Izzy is functionally expressing distaste at the fact that he’s no longer acting like a hyper-masculine stereotype and telling him that he’s now unworthy of respect as a result. I can only assume this is the same selfish, horse-blinders attitude that started driving a wedge into their relationship in the first place.

#cw slurs #cw internalized homophobia #Izzy Hands #ofmd spoilers #ofmd izzy

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djcarnationsblog · 2 years

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OC Ramble: Andrez

Hi, yes hello, Time to do an oc ramble of my first bsd oc

Andrez is an AMAB bigender mafioso, going by either he/him or she/her. He comes from a long line of Mafia men and women, everyone in his family tree was apart of the Mafia at some point in their lives. He was born and raised to be a Mafioso.

However, his profession doesn’t align with his personality. Andrez is an empathetic and calm person, very down to earth and even a little sarcastic at times, but he’s good natured. Because of said personality, people would forget the fact that he’s ever even dangerous to begin with, let alone a mafia member.

Andrez is also one of the few black people apart of the Port Mafia, a mix of Mexican (Mother’s side) and black (Father’s side). Andrez is also a very well-respected figure in the mafia, but not because of her ranking, just below executive level, but because of her unofficial title of the ‘Big Sibling’ of the pm.

A nice fun fact about her is that when she was a bit younger, she had a dream of being a college teacher, and still does as a matter of fact. She’s not too active in the Mafia because of this, taking online college courses to earn a teaching degree, and using the things she learned to help other, much younger members who hadn’t gotten the chance to go to school at all.

Even better, as she currently also has a job as a part time model, using the more corrupted side of the industry, like their media, to siphon information when such is needed. Overall, Andrez is a very productive person, and that shows in many ways.

Now, this next bit can and can’t be seen as a backstory!

Andrez was at least two when she lost her eyesight to an eye disease, her vision almost completely unsalvageable. It was also around the time in which her ability first developed, The Promised Islands.

Andrez’ family was rightfully devastated, which spurred on the actions of seeking out someone by any means necessary, specifically an ability user, who could somehow help fix their child’s sight. It took at least until Andrez was seven for them to find someone.

This ability user, a man who could create almost anything that’s not impossible to make, had created a special pair of glasses for Andrez, giving her the ability to see as long as she wore them. It was a huge relief for the family.

But with this, came some complications.

The more that Andrez aged, the more that the limits of his ability became prominent. He could only use it if he was blind, which meant removing the glasses and subjecting Andrez to that emptiness. Andrez, however, wasn’t afraid of this, and honed his ability with diligence and determination, a patience that doesn’t run in the family at all.

Andrez was able to summon and command the spirits on the other side, in whichever afterlife there is, Hell’s Realm, Neutral Space and Heaven’s Gates. Through these spirits, Andrez went on to become the only person in the world who knew what awaited humanity in the afterlife, and hasn’t told a single soul of what it looked like.

Andrez became an official member of the pm at the age of fourteen, working under the manager of the Weaponry and Ammunition department for several years, later on becoming the assistant manager as seventeen. He was a hardworking individual, and much more mature for his age, a thing that happened to all the children in his family.

At the age of fifteen, Andrez lost his leg in a combat mission, resulting in the metal leg you’ll see in his reference sheet. He’s not too fond of how it happened, so nobody really knows how, they simply speculate and gossip rumors.

And, at the age of seventeen is when he met the danger duo; Sokouku.

Actually, it was of Mori’s order that led to their meeting, as at the time, the two had just met at fifteen, and working together was still a new thing for them, so missions tended to get messy really fast.

Andrez worked in the shadows as damage control, as he was best suited for handling the damage of such large properties, so property damage was surprisingly kept to a minimum, at least until Corruption was used. Andrez still hasn’t been able to handle damage control when it came to missions in which Corruption was necessary.

Like Hirotsu, Andrez was there to witness the progression, then subsequent downfall of Sokouku and their relationship, he even took it upon himself to tutor Chuuya and the Akutagawas. Dazai himself didn’t need tutoring, thanks to his intelligence, but Andrez still insisted to at least attempt to give him something close to the mundane experience of schooling.

Even to this day, when their adults and all, Andrez gives Chuuya and the Akutagawas college level education, especially so after graduating from college himself.

Another thing to mention would be the relationship between Andrez and one Sakunosuke Oda.

She and Sakunosuke were good friends, and one could often see them together at Bar Lupin, after Dazai and Ango would vacate. Other than that, there have been multiple times where they’d been to each other’s houses, and Sakunosuke even introduced her to the kids as well. They had a calm and very close friendship between them, although never as close as Dazai and Sakunosuke, not that Andrez minded.

After particularly hard missions, Andrez would be at Bar Lupin, explaining her rough day as Sakunosuke would patch her up. She even felt safe enough around him to remove her glasses, allowing Sakunosuke around her whilst blind.

Of course, no good thing lasts forever, and the Mimic Incident occurred.

Rightfully, Andrez was devastated, but not so much as one may think, especially because of her privilege. She always felt selfish for it, but it was necessary that Dazai never knew.

Her ability saved her grief.

They were still with her, the children as spirits of Heaven’s Gates, and Sakunosuke from Neutral Space. She had Sakunosuke promise to keep tabs on Dazai, as long as she promised in return to not tell him anything of their meetings until the time was right.

Dazai needed to remain ignorant to fulfill the promise he made to Sakunosuke, because as close as he was to the man, there was no garuntee he’d be inclined to leave the mafia, what Sakunosuke knew would be best for him, if he could simply communicate through Andrez’ ability. So of course, everything remained as it was.

And now, for a special little guest!

Chitter!!!

This is Chitter, and there’s one thing that’s most important to know about it!

Nobody knows what the fuck it is.

Not even I know what Chitter’s supposed to be, it’s just some kind of unidentifiable creature that has some sort of tie to the cycle of the afterlife, and as a result, connects to Andrez’ ability in a wacky way.

Because of its odd, indescribable tie with the afterlife, Andrez can in fact summon it as normal. The thing is, Chitter can come and go as much as it wants, can practically do anything without the jurisdiction of Andrez. It’s been her companion for as long as she can remember, a circus inspired creature that’s unknown to the world.

Chitter goes by any and all pronouns, as it literally is incapable of caring about what gender it’s perceived as, if people see it with a gender at all. Andrez usually calls it by either it/its or they/them.

The reason why it’s named Chitter, is because that thing can’t stop talking to save its life. It has to make a conscious effort to shut up, or it won’t, and it’s completely normal for Chitter. The only problem? To Andrez, it’s perfect fucking japanese.

To everyone else? Static clown laughter.

It’s chatter actually has the ability to drown out a person’s thoughts, make it completely incapable to think as long as one can hear Chitter chattering. Chitter, because of it’s odd nature, is also the only spirit-like creature Andrez has ever seen from her ability, as her ability obviously requires her blindness, and Chitter doesn’t need that incentive to be summoned.

The only person other than Andrez who can think clearly around Chitter, is surprisingly and unsurprisingly, Chuuya.

It’s mostly because instead of drowning out his thoughts, Chitter drowns out Arahabaki’s voice since it’s the most prominent sound in Chuuya’s brain, and because of that, Chuuya has this weird fondness towards the critter, as Chitter has an oddly strong like for Chuuya.

You can often see Chitter tucked under Chuuya’s hat, too. Chattering away. Additionally, whenever Chitter chatters, it vibrates, almost like a bobblehead, just twenty times more extreme. So Chuuya’s hat vibrates when Chitter’s hangin’ out inside it.

Suffice to say though, Dazai hates Chitter. For obvious reasons.

And Chitter likes Dazai anyways. For not so obvious reasons.

Anyways! Onto Funfacts!

> Andrez is a coffee-addict, as it takes quite a lot of energy to summon spirits, especially much bigger and more dangerous ones.

>Andrez is Bigender and Aromantic, but likes giving platonic kisses to his friends.

> Andrez is 6′8, making him taller than Dazai, and MUCH taller than Chuuya.

>Andrez’ mother miscarried who would have been his baby brother, and wears the choker daily to honor him.

>Andrez nicknamed Dazai ‘The Suicidian’ or simply ‘Suicider’.

>Andrez sometimes sparred with Chuuya when he was fifteen, but Chuuya only really started winning the fights at seventeen.

>Chuuya and Andrez have a very close brother/sibling and student/teacher relationship.

>Akutagawa will sometimes accompany Andrez whilst he does his work, only ever when he needs some form of comfort and won’t admit it. Andrez simply rubs his back his entire stay.

>Lil thing from me, if I hadn’t made Andrez Aromantic and completely uninterested in romance for himself, I would’ve shipped him with Sakunosuke.

>When Dazai left, Andrez would often find his way into Chuuya’s office to subtly check up on his mental condition, then at Bar Lupin would check with Sakunosuke to see how Dazai is holding up.

>Andrez, along with Kouyou, was the one to help teach Chuuya to read, as he was illiterate when he first joined the Port Mafia.

>Andrez finds it funny how Chitter would hop from his shoulder and wiggle their way into Chuuya’s hat when they cross paths.

>Chitter has clung themself to Dazai before, and he almost went mad trying to get the creature off him so he could think properly. Chitter shows no signs of regret.

Aaaand that’s about it for my buddy Andrez! If you have any questions about Andrez or Chitter, feel free to ask!

#DJC Rambles #Oc Rambles #Andrez bsd #Chitter bsd #Bungou Stray Dogs

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templetonsellers18 · 8 months

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Discrimination Training Examples: 6 Common Types

But that’s akin to asking a physician to put in writing a prescription with out first understanding the patient’s underlying health situation. Organizations and societies alike must resist the impulse to seek instant reduction for the symptoms, and as a substitute focus on the illness. Asking staff immediately affected by bias to share their experiences before and after companywide UB training can also help leaders perceive whether or not significant change is happening. One way to do that can be via surveys done simply before and few months after the training. To promote improvements, corporations like Microsoft and Corning publish demographic employment knowledge in public reports annually. Starbucks tracks buyer engagement with employees in different shops, asking whether their efforts are bettering buyer experiences. According to the writer, the reason why anti-racism training fails is because “teaching folks to assume about race can make them more racist.” The rationale behind this assertion is what is dubbed as the theory of ironic processes. According to this principle, the more you try to suppress a specific thought, the more durable it is to truly achieve this. Telling somebody not to think about a pink elephant, for instance, will conjure up photographs of the precise factor you are trying to ignore. Even with one of the best variety training attainable, nothing will be achieved with out altering present buildings that perpetuate discrimination. I’ve devoted much of my tutorial profession to the examine of diversity, leadership, and social justice, and through the years I’ve consulted on these subjects with scores of Fortune 500 companies, federal companies, nonprofits, and municipalities. Often, these organizations have referred to as me in as a outcome of they are in disaster and suffering—they simply want a fast repair to stop the ache. Racism can have many psychological sources—cognitive biases, persona traits, ideological worldviews, psychological insecurity, perceived risk, or a necessity for power and ego enhancement. But most racism is the results of structural factors—established legal guidelines, institutional practices, and cultural norms. Nonetheless, managers typically misattribute workplace discrimination to the character of particular person actors—the so-called dangerous apples—rather than to broader structural components. antiracism corporate Cultivating an anti-racist mindfulness practice is essential to doing and sustaining this work. Challenge participants say The AntiRacist Table Mindfulness Practices incorporated in the Challenge provided an area for them to face hard feelings and to search out compassion. We supply a 30-Day Challenge that has been deliberately curated that can help you be educated; face and get previous disgrace, anger, and blame; and develop empathy—all key components of creating an anti-racist America. Each day individuals receive a daily lesson consisting of studying, movies, podcasts, journal/reflection prompts, and mindfulness practices. Each week individuals work via a subset of our core rules, which we feel are important elements of bringing aware anti-racist practice into day by day life. Participants are then prompted to contemplate the implications of this for the workplace? Thankfully, 2020 has seen Americans pursuing real systemic change with unprecedented voracity — The New York Times called the continued Black Lives Matter movement the largest in American historical past (at least by some measures). Corporate America is starting to step up, and one of the first steps in doing so is partaking in real, considerate conversations about racism in the workplace. Only 3% of all senior management roles are held by Black professionals (for context, Black individuals make up an estimated 12% of the American population). For one other dialog about how US enterprise culture needs to vary, listen to our interview with Chad Sanders, that’s episode 782 titled, What Black Leaders Bring to the Table.

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thegapbetweenmoments · 1 year

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Hello Everyone!

So I’m in a very high fantasy mood. Usually I don’t go this route with my very urban fantasy oriented account but I’ve got some new AU versions of everyone rolling around in my head. Shoot me a message or like this post if any of these versions of my characters seem appealing, or if you have an idea you want to try out: Martin: Former soldier and current member of a well known mercenary guild. Far more interested in coin and living to see another day than serving a more noble cause, Martin’s expert use of earth magic has made him a valuable, and therefore expensive, member of any party.

Luke: The product of a duke’s affair with a demoness, Luke has been kept as a servant in the Duke’s house since he was a young man. The circumstances of his birth and the flashes of demonic presence he shows in moments of intense emotion have kept him apart from many people in the castle, but Luke’s own warmth and kindness always seem to draw people back eventually.

Tom: Having spent years studying advanced rune magic, Tom became interested in some of the more dangerous forms of magic. Against the warnings of his teachers, he began dabbling in the magical essence of life itself, and while he was banished from the wizards’ college for it, he has managed to continue his studies, producing wild and sometimes unpredictable results.

Diana: As a young woman of some status, Diana had a number of different options for how to live out her life. She eventually came to choose the life of a mage, and learned what she could about different types of healing and sealing magic. She now travels from town to town, doing what she can to help the people in the countryside.

Belle: Having grown up the second daughter of a poor family in the capital city, Belle was raised to earn money for the household. She was never expected to do any of the social climbing of a first child, and she knew that her parents would never have the money for her to advance anyway, so she dove headfirst into the profession of her mother and grandmother: weaving. As she became better at her craft, she began to notice that without meaning to, she had begun to infuse her works with spells that could imbue people with small charm effects, like luck or confidence.

Alicia: Having lived for a few hundred years, Alicia could confidently say that this place of hers, running a small tavern in a town along a major road, was the best thing she had ever chosen to do in her life since becoming a vampire. Most of her neighbors didn’t have much to say about her eternally young face, and as long as she made enough money from business, she could afford to slaughter a few pigs for blood. The craving for human blood was still there, but she knew that holding on to what she’d built was more important.

#Wanted Plots #High Fantasy AU #open to anyone

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northseattleorthodontics · 2 years

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The Essentials of Orthodontics

Orthodontics is a specialized within dental care. This branch of medication take care of detecting as well as treating malpositioned teeth and also misaligned bite patterns. Occasionally the work of an orthodontist can include the advancement of a person's facial growth. Other areas of orthodontics are called dentofacial orthopedics. To read more regarding orthodontics, kept reading. Here are some common therapies. And also, as you'll see, it's not just for youngsters. Before beginning your profession in orthodontics, you have to figure out if it's a profession you're enthusiastic about. To further understand the benefits of orthodontic therapy, see page as linked here.

Visit different practitioners, learn more about them, and ask questions regarding their lives. Review as much regarding the field as possible. Then, established goals for your residency. And also, finally, discover an advisor. An advisor can assist you personalize your profession path to fit your passions and objectives. By adhering to these ideas, you can achieve your objectives and also come to be an exceptional orthodontist. For children, orthodontic treatment generally begins at age 7 or 8. The exact age of orthodontic therapy depends on the child's teeth, the growth of the face as well as jaw, and also the quantity of grown-up teeth present.

Unlike in adults, youngsters that go through orthodontic treatment may require to go to an expert later in life. If they do need orthodontic treatment, it is essential to exercise good dental hygiene, as orthodontic therapy can raise the danger of gum and also dental cavity. For small problems, detachable devices are used. These appliances are typically put on the front of teeth, however they may likewise be positioned on the side of the mouth that encounters the tongue. They are generally made from metal, however they can be smaller sized and also much less recognizable than the older metal ones.

The braces are affixed to arch wires that are consistently tightened up. The arch wire is a cord that positions stress on the teeth. Relying on the severity of the problem, the teeth can relocate as little as a few months or a few years. The therapy for orthodontic troubles typically includes the use of various types of appliances. Several of these are dealt with, while others are removable. The major distinction between these two is that taken care of devices may supply higher mechanical control. This improves the therapy result. So, it is necessary to select the appropriate device for your specific case. You can ask your orthodontist regarding the kind of appliance for your certain requirements. For additional information on these services, click this link.

If your treatment isn't sufficient to fix your teeth as well as jaw, you ought to consider a removable appliance. While dental practitioners treat most dental issues, orthodontists focus on remedying teeth imbalance. They will make use of braces to readjust your bite. If you want a gorgeous smile, you ought to go to an orthodontist. These experts are educated to take care of any type of problem associated with your teeth and also jaw. For many individuals, orthodontics is the most effective option to make their smile better. The most effective therapy strategy is one that's customized made for your special demands.

This link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthodontic_indices, sheds more light on this topic. Check it out now!

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idealfarmersbranchwelder · 2 years

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Coming to be a Welder

If you have an interest in a hands-on and also flexible career, think about coming to be a welder. These jobs involve welding anything from rail cars and trucks to pipes and off-shore systems. Welders additionally work with hot steel, which can develop extreme light, which can lead to "welder's flash," which seems like sand in the eyes for a number of days. You might also reach travel to some remote locations. Below are a few of the tasks as well as career opportunities in welding. While this is a high-demand profession, you're most likely to locate many work openings in the next several years. The blue collar labor force is aging, so there will be a lot of work for welders. This suggests that you'll likely have no trouble discovering a work once you graduate. Unlike some degree programs, you will not require a college degree to get a task as a welder. In addition to making a great living, welding jobs typically require taking a trip as well as interesting projects. Throughout welding, a welder will certainly utilize a lantern to apply high-heat arcs to metal pieces. The resulting joint is a more powerful, more sturdy joint than the original base steel. Stress can be used on its own or in mix with heat. A guard needs to be used for safety and security factors, to ensure that a welder can not wound himself. Nevertheless, welding does need a guard. The process is highly dangerous and also requires special training as well as safety and security precautions. A high-school diploma or GED is needed for lots of settings in welding. Some employers need a technical certification and also qualification. Nonetheless, this isn't needed, however can maintain you from getting specific tasks. A lot of training programs take 6 months or much less. The period of the training differs by company, yet commonly lasts from 6 to 18 months. This training will certainly prepare you for the roughness of the job. It will certainly additionally provide you with hands-on experience. The work is literally requiring as well as needs lengthy hrs. It's warm, tedious, and also can be unsafe. A welder starts his day by checking safety procedures as well as using protective equipment. He typically works in shifts or teams. When he's not welding, a welder is in charge of assessing blueprints, gauging measurements, as well as repairing as well as maintaining equipment. In addition, a welder is responsible for the safety of others on the job. A welder uses extreme heat to join metals. He may use different kinds of welding equipment, as well as he/she might likewise repair openings or cracks in metal objects. Generally, a welder services the metal parts of numerous frameworks, including bridges, refineries, and pipelines. A welder can use over 100 various welding processes to collaborate the products. The most typical kind of welding process is arc welding.

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ghostylen · 2 years

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How I imagine Kai and Nya behave..

|| My headcanons about the Ninjas are all a mix between the show and movie characters ||

Most people do not understand the Twins, Kai and Nya, when first meeting them. Something about their personalities in correlation to their Elements doesn’t feel right. This means that Kai doesn’t act like a “hot-headed Teenager”, and Nya does not always just “go with the flow”, some stuff the public assumes about the Twins based on their Elements.

They both are children of their parents, and if you compare the Twins to the former Elemental Masters of Fire and Water, you might even see that they are not as much like their parents as you would initially think! Most people think Kai is most like their dad, and Nya is most like their mum, but it’s actually the complete opposite.

When their parents were still there, Kai mostly spend his time with their mum, who is the person that taught him how to cook. Kai was genuinely interested in learning to cook, and his mum always made sure to make as much possible for the twins as she could. His mum also very often looked after animals living on the streets of the village. She wanted them to feel safe and know that they at least have some food and water, that they wouldn’t starve. Kai often tagged along with her, interested in looking after animals, but also feeling bad for these dogs and cats living on the streets. This resulted in him being good at handling animals, developing a sort of soft spot for them. He’s a total sweetheart when it comes to animals. (Which is also what helped him when trying to tame the dragons)

Now Nya spent a lot of time with their father, being really interested in his profession as a blacksmith. But not the whole process of making weapons and armour, no no, she was just incredibly amazed by how he made such things out of basically nothing. And this is how she got interested in making machines, robots, all that kind of stuff. She and her dad would be together in the forge, and while her dad was working on another sword, she would be working on a little robot.

Also, Kai only learned how to be a blacksmith, because they had to get money somehow when their parents disappeared, and Nya also really wasn’t the biggest fan of making weapons. So, while she was keeping up with school, while still trying to work on her robots and also help Kai with the Shop as much as she could, Kai was learning to be a blacksmith, disregarding school and his only goal was to try to get enough money so that maybe they both could eat dinner that evening. Only when Sensei Wu found them and started training them did Kai start going back to school. He tried to keep up with everything and genuinely tried to get good grades, but having missed a few years, it wasn’t as easy as he initially thought. With Nya’s and later Zane’s help, he did manage to catch up and understand the basic things. Turned out, Kai is actually pretty decent in biology-

And, if asked, the Team would say that Nya definitely has the higher temper out of the two, she gets dangerous when she’s angry, while Kai only gets annoyed. Nya also does more emotionally driven choices while she’s angry, which ends with her often having to apologize for saying something she didn’t actually mean or storming off and coming back a few hours later. Kai mostly just shuts off towards other people and doesn’t talk much if he genuinely gets angry at someone. You do not want to experience a fight between the Twins, let’s say that much. So, yea, Kai and Nya get a hard time from the public about their personalities. Many don’t even bother getting to know them better, but these two are extremely comfortable with the Team, so it doesn’t bother them as much anymore as it once did.

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Tell me if you guys like these, I still have more ideas about the Ninjago Team ^^

#ninjago #ninjago headcanons #kai smith #zane julien #cole brookstone #jay walker #lloyd garmadon #nya smith

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jasontoddiefor · 2 years

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How would you do a dystopian historical soulmate AU?

If you’re poc and queer most points in history is a dystopia /j

Oh boy now that’s a fun challenge. First of, since you didn’t give a ship or fandom, I’m just gonna go with Star Wars since that’s the first fandom on your blog :D

Okay, I’m a huge fan of dystopias and alternate histories. Then we’re going to need a point in history so how about the 17th/18th century and the Golden age of piracy?

And, finally, soulmates, so hm how about some platonic disaster lineage?

Let’s pull it together, the premise is this:

Not everyone in the world has a soulmate, platonic, romantic - doesn’t matter - and those that do are destined to live or die at their side. Some odd hundred years ago, the heirs to opposing European nations ended up as soulmates, resulting in a conflict that, eventually, threw the whole continent into war that left it burned and bleeding. Soulmates, as a result, are now deeply scorned on the continent, resulting in children discovered with inked names on their bodies to be abandoned or killed. It’s hard to make a living when people refuse to hire one part of a soulmate bond, and thus many resort to crime. Either on land or, as you will, on the high seas.

America, which got it’s independence early with Europe a mess, has taken in many such refugees, though many are not too keen on soulmates either. Anakin grows up with his soulmarks hidden beneath his clothes, his mother never quite speaking of what might have happened to his father. Sailors, by value of their profession being a dangerous one, are not as picky about whether the writing on your arms might be a tattoo or a mark and thus he decides to work aborad a ship. It feels like freedom, and leaves his mother with one less mouth to feed.

Ahsoka is a stowaway on said ship he is hired on, probably also trying to get away to safer harbors. This is not a good time to be black and even less so with a soulmark.

Things get dangerous when, after a few days, she is discovered, a mark carrying Anakin’s name exposed and, were they not attacked by pirates right in the middle of it, surely they’d have been sunken to the bottom of the sea.

Obi-Wan is not so much pirate as that he values independence and has been raised on ships, long since safe harbors for people with marks and wants to be free and protect people. A raid on a ship sailing to the Caribbean delivers him two soulmates he’s honestly never quite expected to meet.

So, how’s that for dystopian historical soulmates?

Send me two (2) tropes from this list + a ship and I’ll describe how I’d combine them in the same story.

#star wars #anakin skywalker #obi wan kenobi #ahsoka tano #disaster lineage #fanfic #ask #kirstenvldfan21

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milfnearyou · 3 years

Text

𝐨𝐡 𝐬𝐞𝐡𝐮𝐧: 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥.

“𝐡𝐞’𝐬 𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐡𝐞’𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭, 𝐢𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮.”

𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐓: 2.4K | 𝐎𝐇 𝐒𝐄𝐇𝐔𝐍 𝐗 𝐅𝐄𝐌!𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐑

𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒: ANGST. CHEATING. BETRAYAL. SUGGESTIVE. THATS PRETTY MUCH IT THIS TIME AROUND. NGL THIS ISN’T MY BEST WORK AND IS A SHORT ONE SHOT, SORRY! CLICK HEADER FOR HIGHER RESOLUTION BC TUMBLR IS STUPID.

VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

“So you just woke up one day and decided you loved me?!”

Your voice was painfully shrill, bouncing against the metal walls and echoing through the elevator shaft. If you hadn't been so furious, you would've cringed at the way you sounded. Considering your behaviour to be completely out of character and rather petty. But it was impossible to think straight. With all the sirens in your mind screaming 'Alert!' causing you to grow defensive. You saw everything as red, wrapped in a series of warning signs. Eager to protect yourself you grew aggressive, fury coursing through your veins and laced with disgust.

The disbelief was evident in your tone, accompanied by the extremely annoyed look plastered on your face. Your eyebrows were contorted together, lightly creasing your forehead as you anxiously chewed on your bottom lip. Your hands were balled into tight fists trembling at your sides as you fought the urge to beat the living crap out of him.

"Fucking answer me Sehun!" You exclaim, throwing your hands in the air. You didn't understand him, not taking any of his bullshit words seriously as a result. Had he been telling the truth, had he truly meant every word he said. Sehun wouldn't have just stood there in front of you with nothing to say. The silence he offered simply adding more fuel to the fire that raged inside of you.

"So now you're silent? You weren't this fucking quiet back when you were professing your so-called love to me?! What's gotten into you now?"

Again, nothing but silence. The tall man simply stands there in front of you with his hands shoved into the pockets of his pants as the elevator continues to rise higher and higher. With every floor, the elevator cabinet passed, the angrier you got and it didn't help that you lived in a high rise apartment. If he continued to act this way you'd be fuming, steam emitting from your body by the time you'd reach your floor.

“Do you even know what it means to love someone? Or do you just throw yourself in any direction that proves beneficial to your selfish well being?” The questions flew past your lips one after another. You weren’t going to hold back either. Pushing yourself towards him, forcing him to explain himself.

You didn't deserve the silence. You deserved proper answers, ones that were absent from the immature man in front of you.

"Answer me right now or I swear to god I'm cutting you off forever," Warning him, you take a step forward to face him closer. Invading his personal space as you stare at him, craning your neck upwards with your arms crossed.

Watching him like a hawk, you attentively wait. Noticing how he seems to take a slight step back, his broad chest heaving up and down slowly. He seems to be nervous or perhaps, flustered? It was hard for you to believe that with all the ways he could've handled the situation this was what he opted for.

Step by step, you get closer and closer towards Sehun until he's got his back pressed against the metal walls of the elevator. It was hard to believe that someone who looked dominant most of the time could be so cowardly.

"I'm not asking again," You state, pressing your index finger roughly against his chest. Physically pushing him around until he's finally had enough. His large hands pressing against your shoulders as he shoves you back, regaining his confidence. Finally, he refutes, silence no longer being an option for him.

“Fuck off! Do you want an answer? Fine, but you don't have to act like such an invasive bitch about things!"

Stunned your eyes widen. You can't tell if you should be offended or impressed with just how much you pushed him but you let him speak. Not saying anything even though he had just called you a bitch.

"No, I didn’t just wake up one morning and decide that I’d fall in love with you! It took me countless days and nights, essentially adding up into months of thinking about nothing except you! Do you know how painful it felt for me? Do you not understand how guilty I felt?!” The tone in his voice is dangerously low as he narrows his eyes at you. It's his turn to match your attitude, fixing his posture and standing tall.

"Oh really? So you only thought about how you felt and not how I would feel knowing about your feelings for me? Sehun, how selfish can you be? You aren't the only person on this godforsaken planet!"

"You don't think I knew that? I know you wouldn't be happy with this but you have to understand that had I kept everything to myself and continued to hang out around you; it would've been both disrespectful to you but also incredibly torturous to me. It was worth gambling my feelings and confessing with the consequence of potentially losing a friend instead of hiding it."

Taken aback, you feel yourself pause and you hate yourself for it. Sehun has a point, he's valid for being upfront about things but there was just one thing that didn't sit right with you. Despite wanting an answer and getting it you curse yourself for falling silent. The hypocrisy of your silence hitting you square in the face but you're not done. You still have one more thing to say.

"What about the fact that you're still dating my best friend? Did you think about how much this would hurt her? No, let me guess, I bet you haven't even mentioned anything to her," Bringing your best friend up seemed to be the major thing standing in between both of you.

Sehun stares at you like he's been frozen in time. His features completely poised and monotone as your eyes scan his face for any sign of emotion. It was still much too hard to accept his words, to trust them and understand that it came from the bottom of his heart. Your anger was now replaced with complete confusion, perhaps even denial as you scoff at him. He was crazy to think you'd ditch your best friend for a man like him.

Sehun only stood there with his shoulders pushed back, his posture relaxed. His orange tufts of hair making him look like a complete clown. His current demeanour was very different in comparison to how defensive he was earlier.

How could he be so hot and cold? None of it made sense with his face being completely unreadable, everything felt bland like a black and white movie. Sehun could scream as much as he wanted but his words would never get through, bouncing behind the screen, staying unheard from the crowd. All these things made it impossible to find the sincerity he had in his words represented in his body language.

The elevator came to a stop with a rather loud ding notifying you that it had arrived on your floor. You take one last look at Sehun battling with yourself on whether or not someone as selfish as him was worth entangling yourself with. But no matter how you thought of it you couldn't accept him. With Sehun came consequences, ones that you weren't willing to risk getting into and that being losing your best friend. Someone who was there for you through thick and thin could never be replaced with a man you'd only known for roughly a year.

He didn't mean anything to you and he wasn't allowed to have any meaning in your life, it just wasn't okay. Betrayal had a greater impact than love, you would be foolish to accept the latter.

Leaving him behind, you step outside of the elevator. Realizing just how much more breathable the air outside the shaft was in comparison to being back inside holed up with your worst nightmare. Your moment of freedom is cut short when you feel his lean arms wrap around your waist pulling you back inside.

He's clinging onto you like a child refusing to let go as he rests his head next to your shoulder. His hot breath brushing against your neck, making you uncomfortable for many reasons that were quite obvious. He just wasn't single nor available and you couldn't let yourself be the other girl.

“Please just—take a chance. I'm willing to cross oceans for you, tear apart anything that stands in my way because I love you. I'll break up with her, she's nothing like you. Why can't you see that I love you?” He rambles, his voice falling soft. Sehun sounds like he's about to fall apart as he speaks into the crook of your neck.

His voice vibrating against your skin, echoing through your mind. Despite his tone being no louder than a whisper, his message came loud and clear. Slowly his plump, soft lips make contact with your skin as you freeze in place watching as the elevator doors slam shut. Moving downwards again you feel like you're slowly descending to hell.

His actions gave you goosebumps as he peppered kisses against your neck. Using one hand to grasp your waist, holding you close to him. While the other cupped your cheek, tilting your head slightly so he could gain better access to your body, his kisses moving down south and landing onto your shoulder. Pushing your shirt slightly aside before gently biting down on your skin causing you to gasp.

Sehun's touch was electrifying and almost hypnotizing, you felt yourself growing dizzy and out of touch with your surrounding. As he continued using his lips to convey how much you meant to him against your screaming mind that yelled at you not to do this to your best friend. But like a fool, you melt into his touch. Lips falling apart, as your chest heaves up and down. The air feels intoxicating as he rotates your head towards him. His lips crashing against yours as you feel like you're about to pass out.

You can't give in, you can't betray your best friend and yet, you feel yourself kissing him back. Your tongue tangling with his, exchanging dirty, secretive kisses. Turning around to face him better you fall into all the places you knew weren't right and that was right into the arms of Sehun's. Intertwining your fingers with his, holding onto him tightly as if the only chance you'd have with him would be taken away.

Now you knew what it meant to be selfish and just how delicious it tasted.

The elevator is filled with the lewd, smacking of the shared kisses between you both. His body grinding into yours as you feel yourself growing heavy. Developing a strong heartbeat where your filthy desires lay. You felt yourself growing wet, shifting your thighs uncomfortably together. Feeling his hand snake down towards the waistline of your skirt, tugging on them.

"You just have to say the word and I'm dropping everything and everyone for you," He says in between kisses as you tilt your head back in pleasure when you feel his fingers slipping past your skirt. Hovering dangerously over your soaked heat. "Do you want to run away with me?" He asks.

You want to say yes. Your body having a mind of its own would rather speak for you but you just can't bring yourself to go through with it. The image of your best friend is hung up in your mind and even though the damage has already been done, you still don't think it's too late to stop.

“I can’t and you know I won’t,” You reply, wincing at how your voice cracks. You didn’t want to seem weak in front of him, you needed to show him you had control over how you felt. That you were sure you didn't want him but it was all a lie. A lie you told yourself and in return had the truth spoken out loud by the actions of your body.

Sehun knew of this and yet, his peppered kisses come to a halt. The grip he's got around you loosening as his hand slips out of your skirt. You step out of his grasp feeling ashamed, not daring to look at him. Turning around and staring at the doors instead. Fixing your shirt you crane your neck from side to side trying your best to calm down. Bringing a shaky hand towards the elevator buttons and clicking for your floor.

You can feel Sehun's gaze boring holes into the back of your head.

"I don't understand. Why can't you just let me love you? It's not that hard to just give me a shot. I can give you the world, give you all the happiness and security you need in life."

"--Let me be the man that protects you, that cherishes you. I know it's hard because of her but...don't we deserve to be happy?" He pleads, his voice wavering. If you had turned around to face him you'd see his lips quivering. His dark, brown eyes are glossy with tears threatening to escape from the tiny apertures of his tear ducts.

But currently, it's your turn to fall silent. All because you know that despite him falling at the seams, begging you to love him you know that he'll only go back to being the same once he's got you twirling around his dainty fingers. His norm being the same silent person as always, emotionally unavailable and confusing as always. Plus, who's to say he won't just ditch you like he's doing to your best friend?

"It's your turn to answer me," He pleads but you ignore him. Thanking the timing of the elevator for opening right at the end of his sentence.

Quickly stepping off you pray that he doesn't snake himself around you again because if he does, you don't know if you had the power inside to fight him off again and thankfully he doesn't. Sehun leaves you alone watching you get out of his view, the sound of your Chelsea boots clicking against the hallway floors until suddenly you're just gone. A wave of heartbreak washing over his feelings as he realizes that he just can't sit here and do nothing.

He won't go back to your best friend, he doesn't love her and in fact, he never did. It wasn't his choice to hurt her like this but he couldn't help but fall in love with the wrong person. So he chases you, chases the love of his life eager to satisfy his selfishness and have you by his side.

The consequence of dealing with your best friend could come later but first, he needed to convince you once and for all that he was the only good thing in his life. Your best friend was to be replaced.

𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐑𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒 𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐄𝐑𝐕𝐄𝐃: 𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐅𝐍𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐘𝐎𝐔©︎

#this was ass: not proofread properly.#oh sehun x reader #sehun angst #sehun x reader #oh sehun angst #oh sehun suggestive #oh sehun smut #exo angst #exo fanfic #exo x reader #i don't know tags: bye!#lmk what you think.#solange is in the mountains: queue!#sehun smut #sehun suggestive

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dancingwiththeplanets · 3 years

Text

An Angel Amongst Demons - chapter one

Boba Fett x fem!reader

chapter 2 / masterlist

Summary: Boba tries to shield you from the dark side of his life. In his eyes, you are too innocent and pure for the harsh realities of the work that surrounds him. So when one day you stumble upon a meeting gone wrong when you were supposed to be hidden away, Boba’s afraid you won’t like the pieces of him he’s tried to protect you from, or worse, that now you’ll fear him.

A/N: My first fic in like 6 years, I'm nervous! haha This is kind of an AU I think?? Takes place after the events of season 2. I’ve added in two OC Mandos to the entourage because I love me some of that tribal brotherhood devotion. Also.. considering making this a series?

Warnings: soft!Boba (like, REALLY soft!Boba) protectiveness, maybe over-protectiveness? small character death, nobody important, two new sexy mandalorians (we’ll learn about them later), not much to be honest.

Word Count: 5.7k+

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There’s a lot to Jabba’s palace that most people don’t know about. A lot’s changed since the esteemed Boba Fett took over the throne and claimed ownership over the fortress in Tatooine. Castle might actually be a better word for it. Somewhat modest and ordinary looking on the outside, the true magnitude and vastness of the castle is hidden underground, even past the comfortably sized throne room.

What lingers further down the sandstone hallways are an array of rooms and staircases, mostly leading down in different directions. There’s a library and a kitchen and even a ballroom, which never has and probably never will be put to use. There are guest rooms that are more suitably described as luxurious suites, for the grand total of zero guests that Boba will allow to stay in his sanctuary.

There are permanently standing rooms for only a handful of the staff: the maid, Ada. Fennec, of course. And the two newest members of Boba’s trusted, elite team, Enzo and Raul, who arrived shortly before you did. The two are a pair of dutiful and truly impressive Mandalorians who serve at his beck and call, courtesy of Boba Fett’s ally and only recognized leader (not that he’s ever told what to do), Mand’alor Din Djarin.

Past the staff rooms and further down an open and beautifully lit hall, is the communal area of the palace, the center, if you will. Fully equipped to socialize and entertain guests with comfortable seating, a fireplace, and charming embellishments around the room. A warm and pleasant area of the palace that likewise, does not get as much use out of it as it should.

And finally, behind the common area, which in its own way, serves as a magnificent entryway, is Boba Fett’s private chambers. Home to the respected and feared bounty-hunter turned ruler, and you, his haven.

You. His cyare. His beloved. The ruthless king had fallen in love with you and your delicate heart, seemingly untampered with and somehow not left scarred by the harsh realities of Tatooine. He saw in you light and tenderness, and you gave him joy and true unconditional love. He spent many, far too many, late nights in Mos Eisley, at the cantina you worked in as a waitress. At some point visiting you every night to walk you home at the end of your shift, though you assured him you always made it home perfectly fine on your own. But Boba secretly lived for those extra few minutes he could spend with you walking you to your residence. Not to mention, he couldn’t fathom why it didn’t scare the bantha shit out of you to be walking around Mos Eisley alone at night, unarmed. That fact that you did sure as hell scared him.

On most nights he walked you home, you invited him in, unless you were absolutely too spent to spend another moment standing. But it was on those long nights that poured into the early hours of the lovely Tatooine sunrise that you and Boba grew close and eventually professed your love for one another. Soon after, he hopefully, and quite timidly, asked you to live at his palace with him. Though you’d never been before, you knew exactly where it was, and for that matter, who he was.

The new king of Tatooine had a reputation for being ruthless, unforgiving, and dangerous. And you didn’t miss the way people cowered away from his presence, especially when he wore the armor. Though, by your own calculations, every other patron who marched their way through these lands was just as feral as the Boba Fett they all believed they knew, and not one had ever been as kind or as gentle, or captivated your thoughts, the way he did.

He knew these things. More than most in the galaxy, he knew what a cruel fate such a pure being could meet, and if truth be told, he wanted to escape with your kind soul and shield you from this harsh planet before anything could harm you.

When he asked you again to go with him, you met his hopeful and loving gaze, eyes filled with devotion and admiration, and the corner of his lips pulled up just slightly in the most endearing of grins, you couldn't help but to instantly wrap your arms around him, leave a kiss to his neck, and tell him nothing would make you happier.

“Besides,” you teased, nuzzling into his neck, “I always wanted to be a princess.”

Boba chuckled and wrapped a strong arm around your waist, pulling your face back and tracing his thumb under your chin. “Believe me, mesh’la. You already were one.”

The next day, you found yourself and what little you owned in possessions, situating in your new home. Like everyone else, you had shockingly inaccurate presumptions about the size of the palace, soon learning that what lay hidden behind the throne room and down the sandstone halls was a modest castle to get lost in. No matter, you adjusted to your new environment and routine, though still unused to the respect and coddling you received on a daily basis, you adored every extra moment spent with your king.

Which is how now, five months later, you lay quiet and still as a mouse in bed, gazing dreamily at a sleeping Boba next to you. The early morning light casting a light blue hue over the room, as the suns hadn’t quite risen just yet. You were fortunate enough that your bedroom, the top floor to your two story chambers, was one of the few rooms in the palace with a proper window, the rest of your home and castle being underground.

A low grumble from the man next to you causes you to hold your breath, eyes not daring to leave his form as he breathes in a deep sigh. “You know,” he begins drowsily, “the moment you wake up and opt to stare at me instead of closing those lovely eyes again and getting some more rest, is the exact moment that I wake up too.”

“You don’t have to wake up,” you smile teasingly.

“I can’t help it.” He grumbles, eyes still shut heavily against the apples of his cheeks. “If you’re up, I’m up.”

“For all you know,” You retort, “I’ve been staring at you, awake for hours.”

At this, Boba’s unimpressed gaze turns to you, eyes now latched onto yours. “You haven’t been.” He says.

“And how would you know?” You giggle back, “I haven’t moved a hair. I woke up facing you, and didn’t move anything but my gaze. So unless you can detect the vibrations from my blinking, you couldn’t know.”

“I know.”

It’s your turn to look unimpressed, “How?”

“Because,” He leans in close to you, your noses lightly touching and a devilish look in his eyes, “If you’re up, I’m up.”

“Mm.” You hum unconvinced, eyes fluttering closed as he leaves a kiss to your nose then pulls away to sit at the edge of the bed. You follow his form as he stretches to a stand, joints popping as he twists his back and arms around, the result of a body having gone to war and back countless times. You sit up tiredly and lean against the headboard, watching him pull on his under armor, then latching on the Beskar. Piece by piece his body is decorated with more intimidating and handsome armor, slowly shielding your eyes from the scarred but lovely body of his that you admire possibly a little too much.

“You stare any harder and I might decide to take it back off,” Boba quips, a smirk rising on his cheeks.

You blush, shaking your head and looking away, gaze now pointedly out the window.

“Mesh’la,” He says, grabbing your attention again, his hands now occupied tugging on his gloves as he takes a few strides towards you. He smiles at the pink tint to your cheeks and your guilty smile, the remains of having been caught admiring him still plastered on your face. “I have important business to attend to today. But I’ve arranged for those workers to come and paint the library in a couple hours, would you mind overseeing it?”

He lifts a hand to lightly brush his thumb along your cheek, looking down upon you quizzically.

“Of course.” You nod eagerly. You've slowly been tending to every inch of the palace, erasing all remnants of the Hutt’s and adding in touches of comfort and warmth wherever you can. You wouldn’t say decorating is a passion of yours. But this is your home now, you might as well fill it with things you admire. Plus, Boba said if you didn’t take over the project, he’d just paint everything grey and toss out the old furniture without replacements.

You shiver as you untuck yourself from your velvety comforter. For a fortress built on possibly one of the hottest planets in the Outer Rim, this place can get cold. Probably due to the fact that it’s rooted so deeply underground.

Happy to have something to do, you head to the fresher for a quick wash before Boba leaves to his duties. You exit your chambers together, Enzo and Raul already waiting in the common area for you both. Upon seeing them, you turn and leave a gentle kiss to the cheek of Boba’s helmet for a final moment of private intimacy before you descend the staircase, hearing him chuckle fondly at your action as he follows.

“Good morning Fett, my lady.” Enzo bows lowly, turning to you. You laugh and shove his shoulder upon reaching the pair of them. You can hear the hint of amusement in his voice as Raul shakes his head beside him.

“Good morning gentlemen.” You smile.

Boba huffs coming to stand beside you, “Gentlemen.” He scoffs at your words.

Raul clears his throat, “Crane should be here soon, boss.” He says, visor trained on Boba and arms crossed over his chest, gaze briefly turning towards you before meeting the boss again.

You look towards your partner, “Your meeting today?” You ask.

“Yes.” He says, giving a quick nod.

“Alright,” You say, glancing at the suspiciously still trio of Beskar-clad men, “I’m going to the kitchens to have some breakfast. Then I’ll meet up with those workers in the library.”

Boba nods again, confirming your agenda.

You stare up at him, waiting for him to sputter out whatever it is you know he’s wanting to say.

“...Then,” You go on, “I guess I will, do some reading or...baking or...stare at the wall or something.”

“Sounds like a riveting afternoon,” Raul says after a more than comfortable silence.

“Okay,” you smile, chuckling a little and taking a step back, choosing to dismiss yourself now before the awkwardness has a chance to develop. “Have fun with Mr. Crane.”

Boba clears his throat as you turn towards the kitchens, stopping you with a hand on your arm. “Mesh’la,” He says, glancing pointedly at Raul and Enzo, who move to wait for him a few paces away. “Could you do me a favor?”

You tilt your head suspiciously, urging him to go on. “You’re acting rather strange Boba Fett.” You tease.

He grunts, “I’ve had a lot of trouble with Calendei Crane. He’s not a very loyal man, nor do I consider him a good one. He’s had a lot of chances to make up for the problems he’s caused me, but recently he went too far, and we’re not going to be having a charming reunion just now.” He sighs, “What I’m trying to say is... he didn’t necessarily come here by his own accord. And he won’t be very happy that he is.”

“I understand.” You nod.

Boba frowns inside his helm. I don’t think you do cyare.

“Alright then,” he says, “That said, I would really appreciate it if you would stay away from the throne room today. At least until I send Fennec or Enzo for you or something.”

Out of the corner of your eye, you notice his hand opening and closing nervously by his side. He thinks you don’t know what he means. Oh Boba.

You reach for his hand as you step closer to his form. “Boba,” you whisper, leaning up towards him with a small smile, “You are the most kind and gentle man I’ve ever known. But I know that you are a man of business and principles. You do whatever you have to do. If an employee of yours is out there making a mess under your name, I would expect nothing less than for you to handle it.” You say, hoping to reassure him.

You raise your free hand to rest against the cheek of his helmet, “But I’ll busy myself back here until you’re done.”

He lets out a sigh in relief, hand reaching up to grab yours and giving it a gentle squeeze. “Thank you.” He says, before tenderly tapping his forehead against yours and turning to get on with his day.

You shake your head at his retreating form. Despite all of the darkness and dirt and the scum that surround Boba in his everyday life, he really does try everything in his power to not let it touch you. It’s almost as if despite the late night confessions and raw conversations you two have shared about your lives don’t translate to reality for Boba. As if he somehow believes you don’t truly know what it is that he does and who he is.

He seems to forget that you yourself have grown up with the same scum that populate this planet. In the nearest city to here in fact, where all the mudscuppers of the galaxy would stay and wreak havoc when this was once Jabba’s palace. You’ve seen things. You’ve experienced things. Some things that, shamefully, you haven’t yet shared with Boba. But what you can say with the utmost of certainty is that you know exactly the kind of people that like to deal in underworld business. And you know that there are many cruel beings out there. But Boba, he certainly isn’t one of them.

You sigh, turning to pass through the empty dining hall to the kitchens. The light tapping of your shoes echoing in the desolate space. A part of you wishes you had said to him, ‘Oh Boba, when will you learn that you don’t need to protect me from yourself?’

A necessary conversation for another time, you decide.

Shaking away your thoughts, you wander into the kitchen, making yourself a quick breakfast and giggling a while with Ada, as she begins preparing a stew for all staff members taking up a residency in the palace. She often prepares meals in substantial quantities, making enough for herself, you, Boba, Fennec, and the two other Mandalorians to all enjoy in your respective chambers.

“Take some of these to go dear!” She calls out, chasing after your form as you exit the kitchen. “You had better be eating a balanced diet.” She chides, handing you a towel with some berries on it.

“Thank you Ada,” you smile, leaving a peck to her cheek and making your way to the library.

When you arrive, the workers still aren't there, and you hum glancing at the clock. They should have already been here and working at least for an hour by now.

Expecting their arrival soon, you busy yourself with cleaning dusty bookshelves and making piles of the previous inhabitants' furnishings and decorations you’d rather not have.

You plop down on the floor after sorting through your ninth bookshelf, sighing after attempting to categorize everything by genre. Even opting to make a pile of books to get rid of, because really, nobody needs handbooks on slave trading and dealing in the dark business of the underworld. They’re just not something you’d like in your home.

You glance at the time again. “What on Tatooine.” You mutter, stretching to a stand. You’ve officially been bailed on, because you've been sitting in this dingy library for four hours and if nobody’s shown up yet, you doubted they would be.

Looking around at the mess you’ve made, you decide to finish tackling this task tomorrow, and head back down the hall towards your private chambers.

You pause to lean against the wall with your eyes closed, letting out a great yawn. It’s barely past noon and you’re already beat.

A voice calls your name just in front of you, startling you in the dark, candlelit hall.

“Ada!” You jump, with a hand to your chest.

“Mm, I’m sorry sweet one.” She frowns. “You had better go check on your Mandalorian.” She says sternly, wagging a finger up at you. “He sounds angrier than a farmer whose fresh crops have been raided by Tuskans.”

You furrow your eyebrows at her words, frowning. “Does he sound alright?” You ask, concerned.

“Too riled up.” She chides, shaking her head as she continues to pass you in the hall, grabbing a hold of your arm “Go straighten him out, lecture him on that temper of his.”

“Ada,” You sigh, “He’s dealing with a trying issue right now, and I promised that I’d stay away from this meeting.”

“Peh,” She waves her hand in dismissal, “Fine, your decision. But I did see a couple of those workers you were waiting on looking rather frightened up in the throne room. Go on and fetch them and get on with your project. You left quite a mess in there for me to deal with.”

“What?” You look disbelievingly at her, “Well why didn't you just send them my way. I waited all morning for them.”

She shakes her head, looping her arm through yours as you continue walking side-by-side. You roll your eyes at the nerve.

The sound of sudden, unmistakable shouting, coming from much further down the hall and up the stairs ascending to the throne room stops you instantly. Your eyes widen a bit as the voice carries on, rather menacingly. You wouldn’t want to be the one receiving the tail end of that conversation. Boba truly does sound pissed. You wonder how long he’s been with this Crane fellow.

“Ada,” you whisper, the lower tone seeming appropriate, “Don’t you go trying to get me into trouble.” You say, pulling her back as she tries to urge you forward.

“Young lady,” She scolds, looking up at you in a surprisingly threatening way. “I have much work to do. I need my good broom which I left up those stairs, and you need your painters or carpenters or whatever it is those fellas up there are. So, let us ladies get on with our business and fetch our things.”

“If you’re already heading up,” You say through slightly gritted teeth, “Then why don’t you just go up there, grab your broom, and do me the favor of nudging down my workers while you’re at it.”

“Because I have a bad leg. Now either accompany me up stairs so that I don’t fall or go on and get those things for the two of us at last!”

“Maker, Ada fine!” You say, losing your temper. A part of you knowing she was just stirring up trouble. You start up the first step and turn to her with an obvious empty threat. “And I’ll be sure to note to Boba that our maid has a bad leg leaving her incapable of climbing our palace full of stairs.” You mutter disbelievingly.

“Mm, you do that.” She counters.

You sigh, shaking your head as you quickly make your way up, hearing Ada walk away behind you.

That woman knows far too well that we would never replace her, you think.

Your focus shifting back to the surprisingly silent throne room just up and down the hall, you walk wearily, suddenly a little nervous.

You notice as you near the room, your steps silent down the hall, that there is a hushed but heated back and forth taking place.

“-swear Mr. Fett I-I d-didn’t know they were-”

“-What?” You hear Boba’s ominous voice interrupt. “You didn't know what?”

His form comes into view as you peek your head into the room, watching him descend the steps of his throne and approaching the accused slowly. You take a half step back, hoping to further hide your position, seeing as before, you were concealed behind his back. But given his new stance, the flicker of his gaze upwards and Boba would be met with your sinful and curious eyes.

Raul, you note, leans comfortably against the wall across the room behind Boba, observing the scene from afar, but seemingly more interested in fixing a mechanism on his Westar-35.

Fennec, who, based on the fearful gaze he glances up at her with, was obviously the one to retrieve Crane, staring down at him with a daring look in her eyes, as if challenging him to try and escape this situation. Enzo stands on Crane's other side, blocking most of your view from the accused and his state. You also note that there is no such broom or fearful workers around. Ada.

“Mr. Fett-” He whimpers.

“Sod it.” Enzo growls, raising his weapon to shove against Crane’s neck, hushing his pleas instantly.

You observe the creature as best you can from your corner. You don’t want to peer out any further for fear of alerting Boba of your presence. He wasn’t human, but not terribly strange looking, a blue being, probably a humanoid, but with claws for nails that were certainly not cute. He’s on his knees, head bowed forward in obvious shame and fear, and hands tied firmly behind his back. This guy looks like he’s had a pretty bad couple of days, but you still can’t tell if you feel sorry for him or not.

Boba reaches Crane in the center of the room, and in a manner so menacing and calculated, that exerts a level of dominance that frightens even you, he crouches down on his heels, meeting Crane eye-level.

Boba slowly pulls his blaster out of its holster and lifts it to Crane’s ducked chin, using the barrel to tilt Crane’s face up to meet his.

You don’t even realize you’re holding your breath until you feel yourself running out of air.

“You didn’t know what Crane?” Boba repeats in a tone so hushed you could barely hear. “That you were selling information to an enemy of mine? That you were betraying the trust that I had put in you? That you stole my property, weapons, and money to give to people who wish to do me harm?”

You can’t help but to feel anxious and on edge. Knowing very well you are not supposed to be in here observing the scene in front of you. Wondering if at this point, you should even try to make your silent leave.

Crane, seemingly breathless, and having accepted his fate, nods in defeat. “I’m sorry Boba.” He whispers.

“You violated the terms of our agreement Crane.” Boba says, rising up and adjusting his belt. “I gave you opportunity after opportunity to make it right. I told you that this was your final chance. I even gave you the kriffing option to leave!” He finally shouts.

You watch his chest heaving in rage as he continues to stare down at a defeated Crane.

Boba scoffs, “What did you expect would happen?”

The crippled man on the floor does what you least expect, his gaze lazily lifting up to meet Boba’s as he chuckles carelessly, his laugh soon transforming into a truly mad howl.

He looks like an absolute maniac.

Your eyes furrow in extreme discomfort as you watch the dramatic change in scene, and despite the obvious upper-hand that Boba has, you feel the urge to stand between him and this disturbed creature.

“I-I guess,” Crane breathes out between spouts of laughter, “I held out hope. Hope that the famous Boba Fett, oh-” he croaks out another laugh, “I’m sorry, that the-the King of Tatooine, would finally meet his demise like he should have all those years ago in the sarlacc. Oh, Boba, we were all so pleased when we thought you’d met the maker that day, but you...you son of a nerf herder, you lived. And WHY should you get to live while the rest of us died off! TELL ME BOBA FETT! Because you know something? You of all beings do NOT get to cheat death. You think you’re better than the rest of us, trying to make amends for your crimes against nature? Against the galaxy?”

Crane leans his head forward nearly slamming it against the ground as he violently spits out, “-No, no, no, no old friend. You are the worst, most foul kind of scum to EVER have walked these lands. You are no worse than Jabba, don’t you kid yourself. And if I have played any part in your demise, I’ll have avenged my brothers who have died at your hand. Your end is coming Boba Fett! You will fall, and so will anyone who tries to prevent your end!” He carries on, doubling over while spitting out the most ludicrous threats between maniacal laughter.

A wave of pure fear plunges your heart, leaving a sickly feeling in your gut at his words. You don’t even realize that your longing to protect Boba has unconsciously pulled your body a few steps in his direction. Your error not evident to you until Raul moves from across the room, capturing your attention. You glance at him only to see the gaze of his visor already locked onto yours and his body making quick strides towards you.

“Boss-” Raul says hurriedly, but not before a shot rings out, causing you to jump and gasp, hands flying up in front of you in instinctual defense.

You open your eyes and turn your head to face Boba just as his gaze snaps in your direction. Even with the visor covering his face you can see he’s taken aback by your presence. His arm lowers quickly with his blaster, holstering it. Everyone’s attention seems to be on you.

Nobody moves for a moment, and still frozen, your gaze flicks down to the dead being, monster, who lays thankfully slain on the floor.

Seeing movement out of the corner of your eye, you avert your gaze back up to Boba, whose arm shifts nervously at his side.

“Ner- ner cyare.” He whispers, his tone strained and unlike you’ve ever heard before.

You take a step towards him, but don’t go much closer when Enzo shifts to exist as a barricade between you and the bloody mess to Boba’s side.

“What are you doing here?” He says, seeming to struggle with every word.

“I-I can’t remember.” You say after a beat, nervous again suddenly that you’ve poked your nose into business you told him you’d stay away from.

He stands frozen, panicked behind the harsh mask of his visor. His absolute worst fear being realised as you stand in the aftermath of an execution he himself carried out, right in front of your eyes.

Cruel. Unforgiving. Dangerous. Vile. Sadistic. Merciless.

All words he imagines were running though your sweet mind behind those wide eyes.

“Boba.” you utter, taking another step towards him, hesitating at first then succumbing to your hearts needs and taking up a speedier pace.

Your hands, which at some point started shaking, matching your more obviously quickened heart rate, raise up slowly to rest on his chest, and you swear he flinches at the contact.

“Cyare-” He mutters again, heart beating undoubtedly twice as fast as your own, fear and desperation clinging to the word, but he stops when your suddenly tear-filled eyes meet his gaze and you cling to the sides of his helm.

“Boba, are you okay?” You whisper frantically.

At that, he lets out a shaky exhale, body loosening and head tilting slightly at your words.

“What?” He asks, stunned.

“Are you alright?” You say, searching desperately through the dark visor of his helm for his warm, brown eyes.

“Am...am I okay?” He repeats.

“Yes I-I heard everything he said.” You stutter, head turning to meet the deranged creature's corpse covered in his own blood before Boba finally and frantically grabs a hold of your cheek to gently avert your gaze away from the scene. “He-he was absolutely maniacal.” You let out a shuddering breath. “I’m so sorry I came but I-I heard shouting and A-Ada said something I can’t even remember what but I ended up here somehow and please don’t be mad but maker I just didn’t expect this-” you pause, tempted to glance at the corpse again but your cheek stays steadied in Boba’s hand, “-this monster to be here, threatening you and maker I know you’re alright, you’re always alright, but I desperately wanted to be standing between you and him to do anything to shield you from his threats I-”

“-Mesh’la.” Boba says, more of his confidence appearing in his voice and his movements but still weary nonetheless.

“Are you okay?” You repeat desperately, cradling his helmet firmly in your hands again.

“I’m-yes. Yes mesh’la, I’m alright.” He stutters out, “Are-are you not afraid of me?”

“Afraid of you?” You breathe out, taken aback. “Never, Boba. I-I could never fear you.”

Boba’s completely stilled in your arms. It feels like hours, your wide eyes looking at him with that familiar tenderness and devotion. You almost forget about the other’s, standing completely motionless around you, until Boba suddenly turns you and urges you forward with gentle hands on your waist, his form practically shielding you, quite fruitlessly, from the scene he guides you away from.

When you reach the hallway, he allows you to pull him next to you instead, as he opens the door to the closest chamber in sight and ushers you into it, closing the door behind you both.

The dimly lit room casts a warm glow on you both as you turn to face Boba, whose back is slumped up against the closed door. He heaves in slow, heavy, deep breaths.

You stand, unmoving, only a few inches from him. Gaze locked on his visor, you wear a concerned expression on your face, your own breaths silent but speedy as you wait for him to explain his behavior.

He finally says your name, both his palms rising in a pleading request for you to take them.

You place your hands gently in his, and he cradles them to his chest, looking down at them. So small and clean and innocent in his dark gloves that carry the stains of countless victims.

You hold your breath when you hear a choked sob escape from his modulator. Your mouth falls open a bit, eyes flitting down to where he stares at his hands caressing your own.

“Boba?” You mutter.

As if prompted by your voice, a more obvious sob falls from Boba’s lips, and his hands release your own, finding purchase on your hips as he falls to his knees before you.

You gasp out a breath of disbelief as you watch your partner, your warrior, your Boba, cling to your waist. Silent sobs shake his body as he hesitantly pulls his hand from you and places it under the lip of his helmet, tugging the armor off and letting it topple to the floor beside you.

Tears spill down Boba’s face, following the same trail left behind by the first few that managed to fall. You grasp his face in your hands, thumbs sweeping across his cheeks and erasing the tears that slid down his scarred skin.

Your vision blurs as your own eyes well with tears. “My love,” You whisper, “What’s wrong?”

His forehead tightens and brows furrow, making him look like he’s in pain. “Mesh’la I-” he stops to compose himself, his eyes looking down though you hold his face in your palms. “You- you do not fear me?”

“I could never Boba.” You assure him, you voice cracking as you say the words. “I trust you more than I’ve trusted anyone in my life. You...being with you, makes me feel safer than I ever thought I could feel.”

Your hand leaves his cheek to smooth out the worried lines on his forehead, and you bring your index finger under his chin, urging him to look up at you. “That creature, monster, whatever he was,” You start, “He was disloyal and foul and cruel. He wanted to hurt you. Which means he wanted to hurt me. I couldn’t bear the thought of something happening to you. You’re my everything Boba.”

He stares up at you, vulnerable, more unsteady than you’ve ever seen him, but you go on, “I know who you are Boba Fett. I know that you were a bounty hunter. I know that now you rule the underworld and that sometimes you do unpleasant things. I know that you have regrets and I know that you have a past. I have one too. But most importantly, I know that you are a good man, worthy of my trust. And I will stand by your side every day for as long as you want me here, because I love you. My mind, my body, my soul,” you whisper, tears flowing down your own cheeks now, “-they’re yours Boba. All of me is yours.”

Tears well in his eyes again as you speak, but he doesn’t hide from you as he frowns against the tears threatening to spill again. “I love you so much.” He confesses almost fearfully.

You reach down to unlatch his hands from your waist, though you’re met with mild resistance, before you kneel to be level with him. You lean forward slowly and kiss him, passionately and desperately and devotedly. He cups your face in his hands, pressing you to him as close as he can before releasing you.

“You,” He whispers, leaning his forehead against yours with closed eyes, “You are too pure for this galaxy. An angel living amongst demons.”

“And I suppose you think you’re a demon?” You shake your head, smiling at the absurdity of it.

“Me?” He grins, “A fallen angel? Most definitely.”

#an angel amongst demons #Boba Fett #boba x reader #boba x you #the mandalorian #book of boba fett #din djarin #mando #jabbas palace #soft!boba #king!boba #boba fett x reader

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shepherds-of-haven · 3 years

Note

Lena, who would be drift compatible in a pacific rim AU?

Hmmm, good question! I don’t think I’ve ever done a Pacific Rim AU post, so let me give it a try (all Shepherds work in the Jaeger program):

Blade: a powerful but vengeful and brooding Jaeger pilot who’s known for being one of the few pilots to solo-fly a Jaeger for several missions. Has refused to take on a co-pilot since his older brother (his first co-pilot) was killed beside him in battle. Known for using lightning/plasma attacks, making him popular with the public--however, he refuses to appear in any public-facing PR campaigns, preferring only to fight and kill kaiju. 1st Jaeger: Coyote Lightning

Trouble: a reckless and headstrong hotshot pilot known for having a death wish and zero fear of kaiju. He was born into a family of Jaeger pilots and is eager to make his name distinct from his father’s, who is a veteran war hero of the First Contact Wars. His Jaeger is specially equipped with more explosive weapons than most. He was voted to have the best smile among the Jaeger pilots for three years in a row. 1st Jaeger: Atlas Striker

Tallys: a solemn and no-nonsense pilot known for her refusal to employ flash and cool maneuvers in battle, and for her refusal to join the celebrity culture surrounding Jaeger pilots. Few know this, but her family was killed by kaiju during the First Contact Wars and she joined the program out of revenge. She is motivated solely by bloodthirst for kaiju, and her Jaeger employs long-range attacks, making her an effective defensive pilot. 1st Jaeger: Echo Hydra

Shery: like Mako Mori, she is the daughter of the current director of the Jaeger program and therefore relegated to secretarial and administrative duties only. In the academy, she became known for her abilities to drift with almost any partner; however, she freezes in combat situations until she is paired during an emergency crisis with Riel, whose ruthless determination forces her into action.

Riel: a scientist and financier of the Jaeger program, he uses his vast wealth and expertise to work to develop better and more efficient technology (and weapons) for the Jaegers. He knows every Jaeger’s components from top to bottom and would be an extremely efficient and tactical pilot, but is adamantly a non-combatant until the kaiju attack the outpost he’s staying in, necessitating his becoming a sudden pilot alongside Shery as a last resort.

Chase: a former thief/criminal who had his prison sentence commuted in exchange for becoming a Jaeger pilot. He was initially forced to fly solo because other pilots didn’t trust him and thought he would either run during battle or would refuse to put himself in danger to save innocents. However, he is one of the most popular “Jaeger Idols” in the public eye, earning fans everywhere with his sense of flash, fashion, and flair. He pilots as if he has a death wish, and his Jaeger has two blades installed into its forearms. 1st Jaeger: Lucky Corsair

Red: initially a scientist and academic who wanted to study kaiju behavior and the Breach from which they came, he was eventually recruited to the Jaeger pilot program due to his excellent combat abilities and due to the wishes of his friends, Pan and Neon, who became their own drift-partners. He is working with Riel to develop technology to allow Jaegers to either become invisible or to teleport very short distances. The prototype of this technology has led to the development of his signature move in battle, the Flashstep. 1st Jaeger: Garnet Dawn

Ayla: a headstrong pilot initially known for deviating from orders, she was also known for developing friction with her partners, leading to a never-ending roulette of pilots who would join up with her and then quit shortly afterwards. She is famous for a technique in which she spins her Jaeger at such velocities that she creates devastating whirlwind attacks. It’s rumored that she was trained in a secret Jaeger facility in a foreign country and later defected, leading to supposed assassination attempts by rival government agents. She always carries a bo staff with her in the Jaeger outpost, even in the canteen. 1st Jaeger: Cyclone Banshee

Halek: one of the first-ever Jaeger pilots, he initially flew and fought with his twin, Naolin, as his co-pilot. However, their many fights took a toll on Naolin’s body, leading to him retiring from the program. However, Halek continues to fly (even to the detriment of his own body) in order to avoid returning to civilian life, where an arranged marriage to a wealthy socialite awaits him. Thus, he is desperate to take on any partner, leading to... well, you’ll see down below. 1st Jaeger: Willow Titan

Briony: one of the most resilient and powerful Jaeger pilots to exist, she is known for fighting so effectively that she can push her body past the limits of most other Jaeger pilots. Her signature move is a superpowered punch that can send a kaiju flying more than a mile away. She performs body slams, punches, kicks, and whirling chain sword attacks with her Jaeger. However, she can have trouble controlling her own strength and momentum, a flaw little-known to the public until the strength of her will accidentally overrode her co-pilot and wreaked massive damage on a city she was protecting. As a result, she has become hesitant and fearful of her own piloting, as well as afraid to fly with others. 1st Jaeger: Valiant Orion

Lavinet: a surprise Jaeger pilot and former model, she is the heiress to a massive construction empire: her father is in charge of building the Pacific Wall, a last-ditch effort by humanity to protect the coastlines from the invading kaiju. Although she could live in peace in one of the few safe zones left on Earth, she has decided to throw her hat in the ring and become a Jaeger pilot, attracting media attention and fan adoration everywhere. Due to her father’s fortune and massive donations, her Jaeger is one of the fastest and sleekest to exist. To the horror of her superiors, she ordered her warmachine to be painted in pink and lavender. 1st Jaeger: Wildcat Renegade

Croelle: a Jaeger pilot who professes to only be in it for the money. Despite his selfish attitude and mysterious background, he is one of the most skilled and powerful pilots in the program, allowing him to stay on despite his loud insistence that kaiju will ultimately destroy the world. Few can manage to pilot with him for more than a few weeks due to his utter lack of respect for others. However, he proves his valor while running am (ultimately unsuccessful) mission to destroy the Breach, earning him a medal and a promotion to being the liaison between pilots and the people who run the Jaeger program. 1st Jaeger: Crimson Rogue

MC: idk who they would fly with, but my headcanon is that they would be a new pilot of mysterious origins who turns out to be able to communicate with and/or control the kaiju. Turns out they were developed in a secret genetic lab to be the first-ever human-kaiju DNA hybrid!!! And they have mutant superpowers as a result!!!

Drift Partners:

Blade-Briony: It turns out Blade’s total sense of control and dominating precision is a good match for Briony’s chaotic and uncontrolled power; her bubbly and almost indomitable determination also thaws his aggressive solitude and stoicism. Their Jaeger is named Coyote Sakura and its signature attack is charging a chain sword with plasma lightning and launching an all-out flurry of superpowered moves!

Tallys-Lavinet: Despite an extremely rocky beginning, these two mature and tactical pilots form a well-coordinated team focusing on long-range defense and rescue, with Lavinet handling close-quarters combat and Tallys handling ranged attacks. Despite their extremely different backgrounds, their measured ways of thinking and steely determination give them a lot of common ground. Their Jaeger is named Lattice Electra and its signature attack is throwing a huge Jaeger lance that is strapped to its back, spearing two kaiju at once!

Trouble-Chase: Trouble is the only pilot fearless enough, reckless enough, and daredevil enough to take on Chase as a partner without caring about his criminal background and reputation. Together, the two of them have a balanced mix of bravery and evaluation, although they are also both impulsive enough to completely disregard orders, leading to a friendship for the ages. Their Jaeger is called Spitfire Eden and specializes both in blades, fisticuffs, and guns!

Red-Ayla: Red is patient and well-mannered enough to tame Ayla’s brash temper and abrasiveness, forming a powerful and balanced team that becomes known as one of the fastest-moving Jaegers in the program. With Red’s speed and ability to teleport, paired with Ayla’s agility and wind attacks, their Jaeger is named Whirlwind Dawn, and they are often called in to rescue or defend the coastline.

Halek-Croelle: Although Halek is initially paired with Tallys, his general passivity and laziness chafes against her thirst for revenge. He floats from partner to partner, eventually being informed that the next partner will be his last before he is ejected from the program. To his horror and dismay, he is paired with Croelle, and they get on like cats and dogs. However, Croelle’s utter lack of fear and pleasure in violence activates Halek’s berserk battle-rage, causing them to become an extremely formidable (if violent and unpredictable) team. Their Jaeger is named Redmoon Danger, and they are only called in as a last resort, as they will not stop fighting until every kaiju in the area is dead.

Riel-Shery: The kaiju discover the Jaeger outpost in which the team resides, developing a two-pronged plan that requires keeping all of the active Jaegers away from base and preoccupied in battle. In the meantime, more kaiju attack the outpost base, threatening to destroy all of the superiors who run the Jaeger program, as well as all of the non-pilot personnel who reside on the base. Left with no fighters and reinforcements and faced with no other option, Riel and Shery climb into a Jaeger under repair, becoming pilots when they drift together for the first time. They manage to repel the Jaeger attack single-handedly and later join the team without academy training, meaning they are only deployed as a plan B. Their Jaeger is named Fox Spirit Rho and is known for its excellent analysis capabilities, targeting a kaiju’s weak spots and deploying a swarm of drones to help attack while the Jaeger fires powerful laser-cutter beams usually used in the construction of rockets.

(That was fun, I hope you enjoyed reading!)

#Shepherds of Haven #Pacific Rim #Pacific Rim AU #AU #all characters #jaeger #kaiju #anon

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