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virologikal · 9 months ago

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𝐒𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐞 𝐚 𝐒𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐍𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐚 𝐊𝐢𝐬𝐬

@samediankh requested: ship: Chris && Wesker ⸻ 9: ﹝…in public﹞

Untypical in times of peace, no trepidations remained in this day and age - at the dawn of a new world. Whatever held him back years prior, had it been reason, discipline or dangers he now could only scoff at, all of it had fallen away the moment he let his mask slip in the laboratory beneath the Spencer Mansion.

A lifetime away were the days in the sunlight, of morning coffee and idle chatter between people he had handpicked. His elite soldiers, once destined for something greater. Who he had intended to remain at his side as he ascended, and yet most of them proved to be disappointments. Most, but not all of them.

Amidst the sobering realization of the S.T.A.R.S. failing at the first curveball tossed their way, a select few had prevailed time and time again.

One of them now stood before him, amber eyes burning with a passion not unlike that which he remembered fanning in moments wholly different in nature, skin pressed against skin as they never seemed to be close enough.

An impulse still very much present in the moment, it seemed, as Wesker had exploited a moment of distraction to close in on Chris, his body moving at inhuman speed and with an ease unlike anything he had experienced before the Mansion Incident.

Gloved fingers had closed around the other man’s throat, exerting only a shred of the power living within as he smashed his former subordinate’s back into the next wall, a curl forming around his lips as he could hear the air leave the body in front of him.

Ignoring clawing fingers on his arm leisurely, Wesker pressed himself closer, leather against tactical gear, material creaking under the pressure applied while he could feel the disbelieving gaze of the vermin intruding on their little dance resting on him, wide-eyed. He ignored the woman as he had for most of their fight, him only toying with Chris while tossing her around like a rag doll whenever she was stupid enough to get in the way.

“Take pride, Chris,” the blond near whispered, a strange tone living deep in his voice, almost reminiscent of excitement - an emotional reaction he had never shown this clearly before, “...for a God has favored you.”

Tinted glass obscuring his eyes until this moment were not enough to hide the red hue now glowing in a foreboding, inhuman way; visible to Chris only for a heartbeat at most, before Wesker leaned in even closer in one smooth motion. Hard lips pressed against once soft and pliant ones, now battle-bruised and dry from the fights before, their bow downturned in a clear sign of denial.

It mattered not.

Soon enough, Chris would see the glory into which he had ascended, and he would make him his right hand, his prophet, the one leading the stray sheep remaining on this mortal plane to greatness.

Still ignoring the unwelcome bystander now releasing a shocked gasp at the sight of what played out before her eyes, Wesker pressed ever closer, thus preventing the other one from using his legs to fight him, while his free hand grabbed the brunet’s wrist. Angling his head, he attempted to deepen the kiss - as public a declaration as Wesker had ever been willing to commit to - but hissed when teeth bore down into his lower lip, breaking skin and mixing the iron taste of blood into the connection.

A far cry from the playfulness of days gone by, he pulled back, face pulled into a grimace of vexation and irritation alike, irrational impulses once again taking over as his hand let go of Chris’ wrist and instead connected a fist to his jaw, the cracking sound seemingly finally being enough to pull his alleged partner out of her stupor.

Anticipating the attack before it was even executed, Wesker slinked back into the shadows with another fast motion, snarling as he spit blood onto the floor.

Clearly it would take him some more convincing for Chris to come around, and to do so he would need to get rid of this Sheva Alomar before all else.

#⸻ ⨯ 𝐀𝐒𝐊 𝐌𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐒 ⇨ 𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝.#⸻ ⨯ 𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐏: 𝐖𝐞𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐫 / 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬 #chrisker #chris redfield #albert wesker #resident evil fanfic #resident evil fanfiction #re fanfic #re fanfiction #// this gave me such a headache because - you're right it's very untypical for them to publicly kiss '-';#// I fear this is as public as it gets for now :'D #// hope this is alright!#// thanks a lot for sending this in and also for the sweet compliments ;~;

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designpatternpirate · 2 years ago

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You run an elite site? Don't be a putz Read this!!

I was on a Hotline site today, talking to on of the Admins there, and I was made aware that some people are blissfully unaware of the risks that they take in the warez scene. He was selling an archival CD of his site- only rom images, and being a jerk about the reality of the risks involved, got all pissy, made a few lame arguments & kicked me off his site. In that light I have quickly penned this doc, which I would like everyone to spread all over, so that the Admins can have some idea of the risks they take, and can take proper precautions to cover their asses.

Ignorant viewpoint #1. "I won't get caught." This sometimes translates to "They have bigger things to worry about than me", "There are others doing more/worse", and sometimes even the infamous "but I'm not doing anyhing wrong." The Job of the Feds is to bust lawbreakers. Some of the laws are stupid, and some of the lawbreakers are smart, but if your balls get caught in the vise, don't cry to me. If we're all lucky, nothing will happen, no-one will get busted. But I don't play lotto either…

Ignorant viewpoint #2. "I don't have any warez on my site." It's hard to be squeaky clean. Any illegal distribution of corpyrighted material can get you busted. You. Yeah you. Warez? obviously. Rom carts? Yeah. Nintendo gets a hard-on for that shit. Even if the company that owns the license doesn't sue you, your day in court won't be a good one. Cracks? Serial #'s? Depends on how bad a day the judge has had & what state you're in, Maybe even the lunar cycle. Applying them is illegal, currently having them isn't, but I'm sure it doesn't help your case. MP3's? Probably. I forget how long it is before music copyrights expire, but I'm sure you don't listen to the shit that has. Nudie JPG's? Movies? (AVI's, Moov's, ect). doesn't matter. Feds hate porn. Makes them look even better to bust pornmongers such as yourself. Even if you're only distributing or archiving or backing up or whatever. Legal semantics do not impress a judge who's been told to burn your ass for politics. Unless your argument is airtight and defensable (AND you have a LAWYER), you might as well not have any opinion.

Ignorant viewpoint #3. "I can sell the service of burning the CD." Sure you can. Just as the judge can sell the service of burning your ass. You sell at any price over cost+shipping- that's profit- plain & simple. I mean sure, you have distrubution with intent to sell, You can argue the point in court if you want, but making money attracts attention from the feds faster than you can say "I'm fucked". In case you want a quick lesson in history, the government has never appreciated any profit being made by anyone that they couldn't get their share of. Making a profit off of warez is just like spitting in their eye & saying 'fuck you'. Yeah. Bring your own vaseline.

Ignorant viewpoint #4. "Anyone who mentions Feds is an asshole." No. You're an asshole. Maybe someone's just trying to help your sorry ass out by letting you know that you're taking a risk. Stupid fuck. It's more than a game. It's your ass. You wanna give it away, prepare to have it fucked. That is what most people do when offered some virgin tail.

So what am I saying? Quit spreading warez? Run like a bitch and pack up your shit? Yeah. if you are that's exactly what I'm saying. The warez scene doesn't need you, you add to silly statistics & make the rest of us look bad. Just use your head. Start at the top, work your way down. Make a plan. novel idea that, Thinking & planning? Not at all like leeching and kicking fellow leechers for the ego boost. Very expensive toy, power. Make sure you don't overpay.

Plan #1. I will plan not to get caught. If your door got kicked in right now, would your ass be handed to you? Yeah, you thought your site was private- who the fuck let the feds in? Now your mom is flat on her stomach in her nightgown, cussing, screaming & crying, but do you know anything more than you've pissed your pants & are gonna have a lot of time on your hands? Stupid fuck. Do something about it. if you make a plan to use 10 minutes effectively, you might get a chance to save your ass. Of course no HD that a warez mogul such as yourself is gonna have will format irrecoverably in 10 minutes. Better try harder. Removable media rules. Like the sound of that music? I like Jaz too. Radio Shack sells magnets cheap. Don't consider them a risk, think of them as 'insurance'. CD's are easy to break a few at a time- don't get carried away unless you have a vat of acid nearby.

Plan #2. I will leave no tangible evidence. A record of transfers from the feds incriminates, but a hard drive baked to the gills with wares just fries your ass. Figure something out. Encryption. Passwords. Trojans. Virii. Be clever, and be damn clever. You have to realize they deal with your kind everyday. They'll laugh at any feeble attempt to thwart them, and hold it against you if it fails.

Plan #3. I will leave money the fuck alone. Yeah, we all want it, but you better not take it for warez, dipshit. You might as well be selling drugs. Matter of fact, pretend you're selling drugs, you can only help yourself by being that careful. Donations? fine. Donations for wares? "Hello? Anyone home?" Don't be stupid. You might as well call your wares site a religious shrine with devotional CD relics for all the good that lame-ass ploy will do you. You took money. You gave out CD's. Fuck the paperwork, you can wipe the cum from your ass with it.

Plan #4. I will assume everyone could be a fed. On the internet you don't know who anyone is. Guess what? Feds can actually pretend to be real people. Some have friends, families, and some even did what you're doing now (and might've been better at it too). Anyone you talk to might be the man. Even that girl. And being paranoid about it and acting like an asshole won't make you fed-proof- it just makes you look like a paranoid asshole. If someone is a fed, and you're talking to them, and you know they're a threat, being a putz will just put your dumb ass on the top of the 'balls to bust' list. Act oblivious- not like you're suddenly an amnesiac or evasive, just that everything's hunkey-dorey, ok-fine untill they go away, all the while you're taking care of business. When you pull the plug, you go on a warez vacation. Don't be stupid. The legal process is slow, and if you start hacking & shit in a week you might as well not have bothered- they probably didn't even plan on coming down for a while, & then they're gonna watch for a bit before they kick in your door- but you never know.

A couple quickie no-brainer rules (to help you get caught). - Give out your e-mail address if you want trouble. - Give out your snail mail address if you want trouble. - Post either of the above on some yutz's server. - Use the same alias all the time to be positively trackable. - Download to the same ip all the time. - Mail warez to strangers. - When doing the above, use a return address. - Charge money for warez. - Keep your site up 24/7, never change ip. - Keep all the wares where everyone can see them. - Think your site being private makes you safe. - Think that the Hotline warez scene (or whatever) will last forever. - Remeber: You won't get caught.

I'd sign this doc straight out, but I run a (passably) elite site, & I'm enough of a realist to not wanna piss the feds off by letting them know who it was me that tried to make their job a bit more challenging. Those of you who know my style will recognize my handiwork…

As for the Feds- Shooting fish in a barrel just may have gotten a little bit harder.

| 01 | (globe=)-((lager=)-(buzzing insect))+((chain=)-L)+(hers) | ° | (angry=)+(fly appendage=)-(2x(You)) |__|

#vintage #warez #computers #hotline #1998

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the-sycophant · 2 years ago

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22. QUEST : for one muse to help the other with a task in exchange for compensation. (Arcuris Rilanox)

[Comprehensive List of Scenarios Prompt]

Those in Val Saule craved coin to a despicable amount, no doubt the core reason the trading town continued its downward spiral into over indulgence, petty crime and heartache. Primarily relying on bartering during the War, material goods and services were much more valuable to exchange when gil lost all meaning. Logging, furs, even hunting the odd night creatures that stalked the surrounding woods sustained them for a time...but when the sky port opened again — when the traders, merchants and undeniably sinister visitors returned through the very good and not at all corrupt port authority — it brought coin. And with the coin came the booze, and the drugs, and the crime. The desire for more, for what their neighbor had, for what they saw when the elite stopped to rest. It made people suffer, made her suffer.

Marlowe needed gil just as much as everyone else. She couldn't sustain on the kindness of others, on the meager donations provided to the dilapidated Temple she worked in. Lived in. It made opportunities like this so very hard to reject. The distant echoing thought of suspiciously convenient urged her to stay put for once—

But she needed it. Just as Etoile needed her daily nightcap, as Mr. Harper needed his whores. Though the longer he spoke, it seemed the job itself was not quite so terrible compared to other things she had done. To her pleasant surprise she had been to where he was asking to go many times, and he not only looked like an incredible deterrent to any sort of trouble, he knew how to defend himself.

What luck!

If she didn't have to purchase an additional sellsword, she could attempt to perform another job at the same time. Surely she could cajole him to accompany her further than his destination? Would he abandon her once they were so far out? She'd be sure to force the issue later...that always went well.

Marlowe stared at him, brow knitted in contemplation as she pressed a gloved thumb to her bottom lip, leaning forward over her desk as he continued, distracted.

The size of him! Ridiculous!

She knew many of the return visitors to Val Saule, and he was certainly not one of them. Marlowe already regretted offering him a place to stay in the Temple, to eat in the Temple...the appetite on him was outrageously curious, and she had to literally bite her knuckle to stop herself from saying anything as he ate through what supplies she had.

Her tongue flicked out against her cracked lips, and drooping, tired eyes lifted from the offer laid out before her, "Very well. I can escort you through the ravine." She tapped on the arm of her chair, already feeling giddy with restlessness, eager to get out again. Could he even use a chocobo? He was not as tall as the tallest Elezen, but the musculature was so great, dense. Even through his layers of clothes and peeking armor she knew that much from the way he moved. It wasn't her problem, she supposed.

The young woman cleared her throat, absently rubbing under an eye as she stood, glancing out the frosted window as the rarity of sun peeked through. Puh. "I can leave as soon as you are ready. I cannot, however, supply you with...additional rations." An almost drawling mumble to try and hide the tone of condemnation for something he likely couldn't control. "But I can bring you, and aid you if needed. You are correct in that the storms have brought down many a ship, both pre-calamity and after. You'll be free to dig and salvage to your heart's content." A thin smile, eyes narrowing as she wondered how he planned on retrieving the technology he sought when few others had managed before. She was also interested in seeing what it was exactly he was searching for. "In any case, I look forward to working with you, and the Temple is appreciative of your generous offer."

@voidtekarc - Arcuris Rilanox

#prompts #thank you!!#so sorry these get so long?#if i destroy anyone's characterization in these asks #just know i make it quick and painless #rip yer ocs #/pray #also just realized after posting that i reversed it by accident whoops

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figuramacollectors · 3 years ago

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FULL REVEAL -- ESCANOR VS ESTAROSSA ELITE FANDOM STATUE

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Join the wish list to be alerted as soon as preorders open on FEBRUARY 26TH AT 11:00PM JST: https://tinyurl.com/5ejafvkx

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The highly anticipated second entry in the Seven Deadly Sins Elite Fandom line, Escanor vs. Estarossa immortalizes the fan-favorite duel between the strongest Sin and the most powerful Commandment. Standard and battle-damaged swappable torsos for Escanor provide an even wider range of possibilities than seen in the anime, showcasing a more intense Escanor whose golden armor has cracked after a critical attack. Estarossa’s dual portraits portray either a calm expression or aggressive shout as he prepares to launch his offensive. A pair of bust stands, inspired by medieval architecture, feature the unique symbols of the Lion’s Sin of Pride and the Commandment of Love—perfect for showcasing the alternative portraits alongside the main statue like 1/6-scale busts.

Drawing on the Sun’s power, Escanor charges his ultimate magical attack, Cruel Sun. His intense body heat proves too much for the nearby Holy Knights, melting their discarded armor and weapons into the surrounding rubble. As flames consume the battleground, Estarossa lunges toward his target, prepared to cross his blade with Escanor's Sacred Treasure, the Divine Axe Rhitta. On the backside of the crumbling castle wall, Escanor’s iconic wanted poster hangs charred amidst the flickering fires. A bottle of Bernia Ale and a discarded pair of glasses pay homage to his nighttime appearance, in which Escanor becomes the frail, bespectacled tavern owner of My Sweet Gluttony. Symbolizing the epic clash of Sin and Commandment, the base imposes a stylized sun overtop the demonic powers of darkness.

Each 1/6-scale statue includes an exclusive A3-size art print and autographed Certificate of Authenticity by Figurama Collectors CEO Mr. Shanab and Concept Artist Daniel Kamarudin.

Edition Size: 1007

Series: Elite Fandom

Release Date : Q1 2023

Size:1/6 scale (Approximately H80 x W66 x D55.5 CM / H31.4 x W25.9 x D21.8 IN)

Certificate of Authenticity: Signed by Figurama Collectors CEO Mr. Shanab and Concept Artist Daniel Kamarudin

Includes: 2 swappable torsos for Escanor (pristine armor and damaged armor), 2 swappable portraits for Estarossa, 2 bust stands for Escanor and Estarossa, exclusive A3 premium art print.

STORE EXCLUSIVE: Original Escanor vs Estarossa wallpaper for desktop and mobile.

Materials: Polystone, PVC, LED

Creative Director: Mr. Shanab / Figurama Collectors Development Team

Concept Artist: Daniel Kamarudin3D Artist/Sculptor: Carlos Cruz

Coloring Artist: Figurama Collectors

Retail Price: $ 1,185

Non-Refundable Deposit: 20% ($237)

Payment Plan: Up to 10 months (as low as $94.80 per month)

DISCOUNT: Paying by PayFort or Axes Payment with a secure card (VISA, Mastercard, American Express, JCB) will take $45 off shipping costs

SHIPPING: Warehouses in Asia, the USA, and Europe ensure the lowest shipping rates possible

#figuramacollectors #wearethecollectors #seven deadly sins #escanor #estarossa #7DS #preorder #manga #anime

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starlightinhumanform · 4 years ago

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The Untold Tales of Ba Sing Se

Fandom: Avatar: The Last Airbender

Ship: Sokka x fem!Reader (Romantic Relationship)

Summary: The daughter of an airbender has lived her entire life trying to hide her bending, but upon hearing the news that the Avatar is in the city, she is determined to meet him and learn more about her culture. But things never go as planned, and she finds herself sidetracked by a water tribe boy.

Warnings (in order of strength): None (Please let me know if anything needs to be added)

Genre: Fluff, Meet-Cute

A/N: Well... my hand slipped. This is based on this request and it was so fun to write!!! I’ve never written x reader before so I hope it’s ok! Love you all 🖤✨

Ao3 Fic Masterpost Fic Request Info

It was a dusty afternoon as you tried to walk inconspicuously through the crowds at the top of the middle ring of Ba Sing Se. As the sun beat down and the people bustled into each other, you were grateful for the loose, thin material of your clothes and its light yellow colour which kept you far cooler than the deep greens and browns of the earth nation. Your mother told you that dressing like an air nomad— you had shaved your head and everything in an attempt to follow tradition— was like drawing a target on your back and maybe she was right, but it was so much more comfortable.

The thought of your mother’s chiding turned your mind towards her and guilt began creeping over you. She would kill you if she knew you were here, trying to sneak into the upper ring of the city to meet the Avatar. She was incredibly cautious and, in turn, incredibly protective of you. You couldn’t really blame her, though, given her own experiences as an airbender barely escaping the carnage of the fire nation. She had managed to reach Ba Sing Se and hide her identity almost completely. Almost. Her foolproof plan had one tiny crack in its great structure— her daughter. By either blessing or a curse, you had been born with the ability to airbend like your mother. Unlike your mother, however, you did not have such an easy time tamping down those abilities. You could feel it all the time, the spiritual energy surging through you and all the powers of the sky trapped within your body. You felt like a caged bird, desperate for freedom. And finally, you had the chance to fly. The Avatar could be your way out if only you could reach him.

“Oh, hey! I didn’t expect to see you here!” A boy’s voice only inches behind you startled you from your thoughts. It was rough, with a hitch in the middle and it didn’t sound like anyone you knew.

You felt your heartbeat begin racing as he came up beside you and threw his arm around your shoulders, “What are you doing here?”

I’ve been caught haven’t, I? They know I’m trying to sneak through the wall. You tried to swallow but your mouth was dry. Your mind began racing to come up with a plausible excuse. The crowd was thick and if you could just break free, it would be easier to hide amongst all these people than it would be to try and talk your way out of this.

You ducked from under his arm, prepared to walk swiftly in any direction away from this situation but he quickly caught your wrist, gripping it tightly.

“Where are you going?” His voice was deeper now, dropping as it had shifted to a serious tone.

Guilt and panic churned in your core, your heart sinking to join the mix as you realized there was no way out of this. You turned to face him, actually looking at him for the first time. He was about your age but definitely taller than you. You could tell immediately that he was from a water tribe, his tan skin and blue clothing giving it away. His eyes were blue as well but what you noticed more than the colour was how sharp his eyes were, like they had been chiseled into his face.

Realization dawned on you, “You’re Sokka, aren’t you?”

He squinted like he was trying to read a small font, “And you’re not Aang, are you?”

The adrenaline still pounding through your body was making your head feel light and at the thought of being mistaken for the Avatar, you doubled over laughing, “No, no, that’s not me.”

Sokka let go of your wrist and rubbed at the back of his neck with his now free hand, obviously feeling self conscious, “Well, uh, sorry about that whole mix up.”

You couldn’t help but laugh lightly at his awkwardness. You had heard stories about Sokka, he was supposed to be a great warrior but he was just… a boy. It was kind of cute, actually, “No it’s fine, even if you did give me a small heart attack.”

“Is there any way I could make it up to you?”

A grin spread across your face, “Take me to the upper ring?”

You grabbed his hand as he led you through to the center of the city, noting the blush spreading to his face as you did so. Oh, definitely cute.

Sokka cleared his throat, “So, uh, why were you trying to get up here anyways?”

Your face turned red, “Was it really that obvious?”

“Oh yeah. And besides, you’re not exactly dressed for stealth,” He gestured at your brightly coloured clothes, “Why do you wear that anyways?”

“Well… I wanted to get up here to meet Aang and as far as my clothes,” You could feel your heartbeat quickening again. You could trust him, right? He was friends with the Avatar and was fighting against the fire nation. He was safe. The crowd was far thinner now as you continued walking, but there were still too many people. Your mother had taught you that even one could be too many if they were the wrong person, “I’ve just always felt a connection to the air nation I guess.”

“Huh.”

You began chewing on your bottom lip at his noncommittal answer. He can tell I’m lying.

“Aang’s not around right now,” Sokka broke the tense silence, “He’s looking for Appa.”

You nodded; you had heard about the Avatar’s missing bison and had been looking for signs of the animal yourself.

“But, you know, you could hang out with me. If you want, of course. Just until Aang’s back. But I understand—”

That adorable awkwardness was showing again as Sokka tried to get the words out. You smiled, “Yes, that sounds great.”

Sokka’s face split into a beaming grinning, “Ok, great!”

————————

The day passed quickly as Sokka took you on a tower of this elite portion of the city. He had even taken you to lunch at one of the fancy restaurants because— as he said, with a wiggle of his eyebrows, of course— he “had connections.”

Now you were sitting together on a hill from which you could see almost the entirety of Ba Sing Se burning with the rays of the sunset.

Sokka was sitting beside you, the sharp lines of his face accentuated by the deep shadows. You had convinced him to let his hair down and now tucked a piece of it behind his ear so you could see his profile more clearly.

He glanced towards you and you were almost startled by the intensity of his gaze. He was an idiot, no doubt about it, but that silliness was just a fraction of his personality, counteracting his fierce cunning. Now all of that intelligence was being directed at you, his eyes sweeping over your body.

“You’re an airbender, aren’t you?”

You turned away, your eyes searching for something to look at in the city below, anything but his eyes that continued to pick you apart.

You couldn’t see his face but his voice softened as he began to speak again, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you, I just—”

“No, you’re right. It’s just… my mother has always taught me to hide my bending. And she’s right, with the,” You lowered your voice, “with the war and all. We’re not supposed to even know about the war here, but my mom told me about it. She told me how she escaped one of the air temples and she taught me just how ruthless the fire nation army can be. She’s right, I should keep it a secret.”

Sokka placed his hand over yours, “You shouldn’t have to keep who you are hidden. You deserve better than that.”

Water was supposed to be cool, but Sokka was anything but cold. His voice flowed over you like a summer breeze and the warmth of his hand seeped into yours, your fingers thin and somehow far more delicate beneath his. And now the warmth was spreading upwards, reaching your face as your eyes began to fill with hot tears.

Sokka reached over with his free hand, gently tipping your chin upwards to face him, “I promise that one day this war will be over, and you’ll never have to hide again.”

You nodded, not sure what to say. The only other person you had ever talked about airbending with was your mother, and those conversations revolved entirely around fear and secrets. This was completely different, “How did you know? That I was an airbender, I mean.”

“Well for one thing your clothes,” He grinned, “I knew there had to be a good reason for a pretty girl like you to wear those big old robes.”

You shoved him lightly, trying to play off the blush rising to your face. You were grateful for the shift in the conversation but still completely unsure of how to react.

“But really, there’s something about the way you walk and move,” Sokka’s eyebrows were woven together in thought, “like your footsteps are lighter than they should be. I don’t really know how to describe it but it’s something I’ve only seen in one other person.”

“Aang?”

Sokka nodded, then suddenly pointed up into the sky, “Look, there he is now.”

You looked up where Sokka was pointing. The silhouette of a glider circled against the fading red of the sky before landing amongst the buildings a little ways down the hill.

Sokka began moving as if to get up, “Do you want to go to talk to him?”

“Wait!” The word slipped out of your mouth before you had the chance to think. You didn’t want to go yet, didn’t want this— whatever this was— to end yet.

Sokka shifted back into a sitting position, leaning lightly against you, “Everything alright?”

“Yeah I’m fine, I just… I just wanted to say thank you.”

He grinned quizzically, “For what?”

“I don’t know. For everything, for today, for showing me that there’s hope for a different future. Also for this,” You leaned forward, pressing your lips against his and feeling him sigh into the kiss.

He broke away after a moment, his cheeks a bright pink, “Oh, that, ok.”

You winced slightly, “Sorry, was that alright?”

“What? Oh yeah that was fine!” He laughed then pulled you into another kiss, one hand holding the back of your head and the other lacing through your fingers.

You melted into it, feeling yourself smile against his mouth. The Avatar could wait.

If you want to be added to my ATLA taglist, just send an ask or reply to this post. If you send an ask, please specify which taglist(s) you would like to be on as I have multiple :)

#sokka x you #sokka x reader #x fem!reader #atla #avatar fanfiction #sokka #sokka x fem!reader #sokka fluff #sokka fanfic #fluff #atla fluff #meet cute #my fics #fic request #starlight writes

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para-imperium · 3 years ago

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The Collapse

In the 25th century PX Centauran astronomers observed a notable dimming in the light from the long-abandoned Sol. When an expedition was dispatched to investigate they confirmed the Federation's worst fears, that the Destroyers were constructing a Dyson Sphere in the ruins of their destroyed home. The expedition was quickly discovered and intercepted by the machines, but they managed to fire off a weapon they'd brought directly from the Star Forge's most hidden labs, a strangelet bomb. The mass of strange matter the device unleashed into Sol triggered a coronal mass ejection sufficient to fry the remnants of the planetary system, reducing the unfinished Sphere to its' constituent atoms.

Unfortunately, the blast front, and the strangelets it carried, did not stop at the heliosphere. As soon as the QComm warning reached Alpha Centauri the Federation began planning to evacuate the Core Worlds. The next four years saw a mad dash through the star gates for the far reaches of the empire, first the elites attempting to secure their own corners of the wreckage, then the greater population once the news leaked. Small wars broke out in the center of galactic civilization between those attempting to escape the radiation by burrowing deep within planetoids, and those who sought to dismantle them for ship materials.

When the wavefront came within one AU of the central gate nexus on the edge of the Alpha Centauri system ships were still streaming through, but the Federal Guard had their orders and weren't going to wait. The wormholes that had enabled Alpha Centauri to spread its imperium to the stars could just as easily carry solar ejections as ships, so to save parahumanity the Federation broke its own backbone. Every wormhole-connected system saw a planet-cracking flash in their skies, but the great distance between gates and stars mandated by the Federation spared the bulk of their populations.

The once unrivaled imperium of the Federation of Parahuman Species is no more. Where once there was a united empire there are now a dozen pretenders reaching desperately through the fragmented remnants of the gate network, and hundreds more stars that feel no fealty to anyone.

But all is not gloom and despair. In the centuries since the Federation's fall cultures and peoples they once stifled have flourished. Quarantined Outworlds build crude chemical rockets to claim their ancestral birthright. Posthumans in their hidden lairs contemplate mysteries unfathomable to mere mortals. And a grainy compressed video allegedly from the Solar expedition gives hope not thought possible for millennia.

Destroyer vessels exploding, several minutes before the radiation wavefront reached them.

#worldbuilding #sci fi

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archinform · 4 years ago

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Lost Chicago Building 4 - First Regiment Armory

One expects to see knights on horseback issuing forth from the gaping arch of the gloomy, forbidding structure, its slanting dark-gray stone lower walls giving way to a deep brick-red upper portion, complete with corner turrets. It seems transplanted from some medieval legend, yet its looming appearance in late-19th-century Chicago’s near south side was carefully calculated.

In 1890, the wealthy and socially prestigious First Regiment of the Illinois National Guard erected its own castle-style armory on South Michigan Avenue. It housed a parade ground, office space for all 12 companies and regimental officers, locker rooms, a gym, a library, several small parlors, and a large weapons storage facility.[1]

Designed by the firm of Burnham and Root in 1890, the Armory is an impressive, though rather curious work from their oeuvre. According to contemporary accounts, the building was designed to serve as a true medieval-type fortification, with a heavily protected arched door, firing slits, and battlements. In addition, interior provisions were made for the training and accommodation of the regiment, as well as for its social functions. The ornamental stone and brick mass of the exterior could indeed withstand a siege, if only symbolically. The severe cubic form with battered masonry walls and a great central arch recall the earlier, more sophisticated designs of H. H. Richardson.[2]

What did such a curious, yet outwardly forbidding, structure mean for 19th-century urban America? Such buildings were part of a cultural tradition, not only of military but of urban history. It was only in the 20th century that a corps of reserve soldiers came under federal control, an important part of the country’s military system. Up to then, “state-controlled militias of citizen-soldiers were the nation’s primary resource for civil defense and response to civil unrest.”[3] In the decades leading up to the Civil War, such citizen militias had three primary functions:

First and foremost, it was a military body charged with ensuring both domestic and international peace; second, it was a civic entity whose responsibilities included appearing at both somber and festive public events; finally, it was an elite fraternal organization for members of New York’s middle and upper classes.[4]

Office of Burnham & Root, Chicago, perspective drawing for the “First Infantry Armory.” Microfilm frame 153, Ryerson and Burnham Architecture Archive, Art Institute of Chicago.

“Design for First Regiment Armory, Chicago,” signed P.F. Newberry, Del. Inland Architect and News Record, Vol. 13 No. 7, June 1889, pl. 90 fol. p. 92.

Not apparent at first sight are the darker purposes of such militaristic structures: as expressions of rabidly anti-union, anti-rabble rouser, anti-socialist sentiments of such powerful men as Marshall Field, department store magnate and richest man in Chicago. The building's appearance, fortress-like and commanding, was a product of the fear of class warfare felt by the upper classes of Chicago society. Around 1890, “new specially designed and constructed armories came to mark the urban landscape with distinctive forms.”[5]

The Armory stood guard over the gilded aristocracy of nearby South Prairie Avenue, at that time the enclave of the very rich. Such late-19th-century armories, notes an AIA guide to Chicago, “were fortified like castles to preserve public order against possible workers' demonstrations and other civil unrest.”[6]

The heyday of armory building was between 1880 and 1910. The sponsors and builders of those armories expected that they would be used in preserving the peace and protecting private and public property. Because riots could happen quickly, they also felt that armories should be located near rapid transit, to facilitate a speedy assembly of the militia. Why did prominent citizens ask authorities to spend public funds on an essentially private military building? The answer is that there existed such a degree of labor strife and violence during that period, that society's elite felt a strong threat to its world, which was thought could collapse momentarily unless proper defensive measures were taken.[7]

In Chicago, such outbreaks of labor or anti-industrial violence included the Haymarket Riot of 1886, followed by civil unrest during the depression of 1893, and the Pullman Strike in 1894. The gap between rich and poor grew ever wider during the Gilded Age; an increasingly industrial and socially-stratified society exposed the cracks in America’s economic and social systems, and led groups of wealthy individuals to militarize urban areas against repeats of such violence.

In Chicago, Marshall Field, the department store magnate, underwrote a similar militarization. He donated land three blocks from his home on the city’s “Millionaire’s Row,” an address he shared with fellow grandees like George Pullman and Phillip Armour, for the construction of the First Regiment Armory: “The two upper stories, on top of the massive masonry of the first floor, are crowned at the angles by great bastions, from which an enfilade fire may be directed against any side of the walls,” as a contemporary observer described it. Field and his associates then furnished the police with four twelve-pound cannons, a Gatling gun, 296 breech-loading rifles and 60,000 bullets.

In other words, in the late 19th century, when the Robber Barons wanted a militarized police force to defend their wealth and power from those left behind, they often had to reach into their own pockets to supply the guns and even carry a gun themselves as a militiaman.[8]

Fearing a potentially violent working class uprising, the residents of Prairie Avenue placed political pressure on politicians to construct an armory to protect Chicago’s most prominent businessmen. Daniel Burnham and John Root were commissioned to design the First Regiment Armory at 1552 S. Michigan Avenue.

Sanborn Fire Insurance Map, 1911. First Regiment Armory is at upper right.

Side view: Ryerson and Burnham Architecture Archive, Bldg. 51 Museum Archives

The above images are from microfilm of the original plans by the offices of Burnham & Root in the Ryerson and Burnham Architecture Archive.

Armory plans. Ryerson and Burnham Architecture Archive, Art Institute of Chicago; reproduced in Hoffman, The Architecture of John Wellborn Root, p. 141.

Interior: The Main Hall

Constructed 1889-91, the Burnham and Root-designed structure stood at the northwest corner of Michigan Avenue and Sixteenth Street until its destruction in 1967.

To the First Illinois Regiment Armory John Root imparted the Richardson (or, better, the Romanesque) feeling for great wall spaces and small penetrations. Massiveness and vigor are combined with romantic charm after the manner of a master. The building is wholly without ornament, obtaining its effect, as architecture should, by dignity of proportion and the complete solution of the problem.[9]

The Armory boasted thick stone walls, rounded turrets, and slots for firing rifles when defending military troops stationed inside. The structure stood about 75 feet high, roughly three stories, its sides measuring between 163 and 172 feet. A canted base of rusticated sandstone stressed the building’s solidity, while the upper walls of vitrified brown brick rose 35 feet above this base. The arched opening or sallyport (the only entrance into the ground floor) measured 40 feet wide and 10 feet deep, “scaled to accept sixteen men marching abreast.”[10]

The entrance opened onto a drill floor 150 by 168 feet. The roof featured skylights that provided natural light to the interior. A lengthy description [available in the HABS Report at this link] of the Armory appeared in “Design for First Regiment Armory, Chicago,” Inland Architect, vol. 13, June 1889, p.92. It noted:

A pleasant feature is to be the social life in the armory. The floor of the main hall is of hardwood, highly polished, and will be kept in excellent condition for dancing. With this in view the men will be required to wear rubber-soled shoes while drilling. The only feature requiring criticism is the hanging of the great main door. This weighs twelve thousand eight hundred pounds, and is balanced by a large weight, making the entire strain twenty-five thousand six hundred pounds, which is supported on five single pulleys, attached to a light beam, secured to the ceiling of the second floor.[11]

Root’s design found its source in the medieval architecture of France; it was compared to such structures as the 14th-century keep at Vincennes.

The sandstone masonry was magnificent, especially where the wall returned at the surrounds of the sallyport, a detail reminiscent of the granite angles at the base of the Rookery. In the brickwork, the first register of stilted window openings was beautifully ordered by the relieving arches above and rifle slots below.[12]

Andrew Rebori, architect and writer, described the building as “an individual version of Romanesque,” but in “the free and Romantic style which aims not primarily at elegance, but at an effect of massiveness and vigor, and which has for its first object to break in upon the spectator's apathy.”[13]

The new structure was destroyed by fire in 1893, and immediately replaced, presumably to the original plans. Contemporary photos show the building in what appeared to be in a state of ruin.[14]

Construction (or reconstruction) in the mid-1890s, following a fire which gutted the building.

The anticipated threats to the citizens of Prairie Avenue and vicinity never materialized; the high society crowd instead attended lavish social events at the Armory. The venue hosted auto shows in the first decades of the 20th century, as well as the occasional dog show. It was used for training and assembly of soldiers destined to be shipped off to the Great War. Prairie Avenue itself had ceased to be popular by the late 1890s, hastened by the encroachment of industrial buildings and a “notorious vice district just to the west,” the Levee District, which rose during the 1893 World’s Fair.[15] By the early 1900s the grand houses were being sold off for business space or converted to apartments. In the next few decades, many of the mansions would be demolished.

The Armory was used for multiple types of public events. Left: Auto Show 1906; right: Dog Show n.d.

First World War, 33rd Division 1st Infantry regiment leaving armory, Chicago. Image: https://www.pritzkermilitary.org/explore/museum/past-exhibits/lest-we-forget-doughboys-sammies-and-sailors-great-war/first-infantry-chicago-armory

1965. Richard Nickel photo

Later photos of the First Regiment Armory show a huge painted Chevrolet advertisement across its face, while on one corner a For Sale sign is displayed. Just prior to and during its 1967 demolition, the Armory’s interior and exterior were documented by Chicago architect John Vinci and photographer Richard Nickel.[16]

Above three images: color slide images taken by John Vinci in 1966. Source: Bldg. 51 Museum Archives https://www.urbanremainschicago.com/news-and-events/2019/03/05/a-rare-look-at-burnham-roots-first-regiment-armory-captured-through-color-photographs/

1967: demolition; Richard Nickel photo

Notes:

[1] “Armories,” Encyclopedia of Chicago History. Accessed at: http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/1736.html

[2] “Significance,” Historic American Buildings Survey, c. 1933, HABS IL-1069. Retrieved from: https://www.loc.gov/item/il0108/

[3] Shepard, Cassim, “The Armory and the City: Civic Spaces of the National Guard,” Urban Omnibus. Accessed at: https://urbanomnibus.net/2013/09/the-armory-and-the-city-civic-spaces-of-the-national-guard/

[4] Todd, Nancy L., New York’s Historic Armories. State University of New York Press, 2006, pp. 20-22. Cited in Shepard, Cassim, “The Armory and the City: Civic Spaces of the National Guard,” Urban Omnibus. Accessed at: https://urbanomnibus.net/2013/09/the-armory-and-the-city-civic-spaces-of-the-national-guard/

[5] Encyclopedia of Chicago. Accessed at: http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/1736.html

[6] AIA Guide to Chicago. University of Illinois Press, Cited in: https://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM8RNY_National_Guard_Armory_reliefs_Chicago_IL

[7] Mahon, John K., History of the Militia and the National Guard. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1983, p. 264. Cited in: Nelson, Cristina R., “The Armory Movement,” A Tale of Two Armories: Preservation Politics in New York City. M.A. Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1985, pp. 4-5. Accessed at: https://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/76395/14066875-MIT.pdf?sequence=2

[8] Paul, Mark, “Assault Rifles and Ice Buckets,” The California Fix. http://www.thecaliforniafix.com/thecaliforniafix/2014/8/20/when-militarized-cop-were-charity

Marshall Field owned the land on which the Armory stood and held a 99-year lease on the property:

August 10, 1940 –The land beneath the First Regiment Armory at the northwest corner of Michigan Avenue and East Sixteenth Street is sold by the Estate of Marshall Field to the Standard Realty and Mortgage Company for an estimated $40,000. The sale is subject to a 99-year lease that Marshall Field made in 1890 with the First Infantry Armory Association at an annual ground rental of $4,000. The first armory was built on the property in 1893, but it burned down less than a year after it opened. It was replaced in 1894 at a cost of a half-million dollars, raised by popular subscription….

Connecting the Windy City.. http://www.connectingthewindycity.com/2018/08/august-10-1940-first-regiment-armory.html

[9] Moore, Charles, Daniel H. Burnham Architect and Planner of Cities. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1921, Vol. 1, pp. 29-30.

[10] Hoffman, Donald, The Architecture of John Wellborn Root. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, p. 142.

[11] “The Armory of the First Regiment, I.N.G.M,” Industrial Chicago, Vol.2 (Chicago: The Goodspeed Publishing Company, 1891), pp.537-89. Quoted in HABS descriptive data, report ILL-1069, p.4. Accessed at: https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/master/pnp/habshaer/il/il0100/il0108/data/il0108data.pdf

[12] Hoffman, Donald, The Architecture of John Wellborn Root. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, p. 142.

[13] Rebori, Andrew N., “The Work of Burnman & Root, D.H. Burnham, D.H. Burnham and Company, and Graham Burnham & Co.” Architectural Record, vol. 38 no. 7, July 1915, p. 41.

[14] Connecting the Windy City. http://www.connectingthewindycity.com/2018/08/august-10-1940-first-regiment-armory.html

The HABS Report ILL- 1069 confirms that a cornerstone on the building’s southeast corner carried this inscription: “FIRST INFANTRY ARMORY BUILT 1890 BURNED APRIL 25th 1893 REBUILT 1894.”

[15] “Levee District,” WTTW Chicago Time Machine. Accessed at: https://interactive.wttw.com/timemachine/18th-street-and-prairie-avenue

[16] Nordstrom, Eric, Urban Remains. https://www.urbanremainschicago.com/news-and-events/2019/03/05/a-rare-look-at-burnham-roots-first-regiment-armory-captured-through-color-photographs/

Chicago architect John Vinci was there in 1966 (alongside Richard Nickel) to document first hand some of these rarely seen second floor vistas. in color and never previously publicized, these slides show the ornament of the second floor soldiers' rooms, relatively untouched since they were last inhabited by tenants.

#Armory #first regiment armory #chicago #Architecture #burnham and root #gilded age #military #history

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bowenandjohnson · 5 years ago

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Elite Season 3 Theories Masterpost

Since it was announced this morning that Elite season 3 will be released on Netflix on March 13, along with a short teaser and a lot of promotional photos, I thought I would put them all together in a large post of my predictions for this season. If you don’t want to be spoiled, I’m putting them all under the cut!

Season Theme

Under the date announcement teaser trailer, one of the Netflix youtube accounts listed a new synopsis of the upcoming season--which claims that another one of our beloved Las Encinas students will die, and yet another police investigation ensues. The last two lines also talk about “the future” and “the past.” Other BTS spoilers have indicated that the students will also graduate from Las Encinas, most likely at the end of the season, and for them to move on peacefully, most of them will have to rectify their mistakes from the past 16 episodes. Possible character redemption definitely seems possible, especially for Lu, Valerio, Ander, Cayetana, and others!

Other Plot Points:

The Polo of it All

It appears from this photo that the murder case of Marina Nunier Osuna goes to some type of judicial court. It appears (at least to me) that Carla and Polo are possibly giving their own testimonies of that night that Marina died. Unfortunately, since it’s a he said-she said situation without the murder weapon, Polo will probably be acquitted of all charges for the time being. Certainly helps that he’s a wealthy, white teenager too.

Even if Polo gets acquitted of all charges in Marina’s death for the time being, it appears that his time at Las Encinas won’t get any easier, judging from this photo where he’s seen choking Valerio. Rebeca looks like she’s having a hell of a time trying to get Polo to let go. Other observations that I have is that Polo looks severely unkempt and rougher than usual--probably another sign of his worsening mental state.

Once Polo gets acquitted, I would assume that Guzman then reaches out to Polo to reconnect. He’s offering him a beer, and it looks like they’re playing video games in Guzman’s room again. However, I believe that Guzman has ulterior motives for doing this. He’s going to team up with other students, including Samuel, to find the trophy, and finally get Polo nailed for the death of his sister once and for all.

A Possible Timeline of Events

Flashforwards: Graduation from Las Encinas (and the Spanish Scooby Gang’s Master Plan)

It for sure looks like this is part of the graduation from Las Encinas. The hallways are decorated, and in the lower right-hand corner by Valerio, it looks like blue and aqua balloons are scattered somewhere. This is where I also became sure that Samuel, Valerio, and Rebeca are for sure going to help Guzman take down Polo and possibly Cayetana for good. Spanish Scooby Gang assemble!

It makes sense that Samuel would help Guzman, as he still feels an intimate connection to his sister, and how he genuinely loved her in some way. While thinking of possible reasons of why Rebeca and Valerio would aid Guzman in his quest, I again circled back to the theme of redemption. Rebe feels guilty that her mother (and by extension, herself) almost got Samuel killed for involving him in the family business. Valerio feels guilty for the fact that he recorded Nadia and Guzman having sex in the locker room. Helping take down a murderer is certainly on the way for redemption for Valerio, and to get Samuel and Rebeca talking again.

They just gotta get a hold of that missing trophy!

Extended Scooby Gang

The fact that we see Nadia and Rebeca smiling and standing with Lu, who has tormented them in the past, is a clear sign of the season’s theme of looking towards the future, letting go of the past, and ultimately redemption. If Lu helps the Scooby Gang (which would include Nadia and Rebe) take down a murderer to try and absolve her past sins at Las Encinas, it would show a true sign of growth for the character. However, I would like to see her problematic behavior addressed and dealt with before she is completely forgiven. Show, don't tell, how the character has evolved over the course of the season.

Flashforwards: Graduation Party at the Club

After the class graduates, it makes sense that the gang would party together one last time at the club. From this photo, we can see that Omar, Ander, Nadia, Guzman, Rebeca, Cayetana, Valerio, Lu, Samuel, and Carla will all be present at some point. Whatever or whoever they’re looking at offscreen in this photo doesn’t appear welcome. Polo perhaps?

Somebody’s Dying Tonight/The Party is Definitely Over Now

From this photo, it is made clear that someone is not making it out alive of Elite season 3, and the mystery of who it is and why will probably slowly unravel across these next eight episodes. If you zoom in closely on Guzman’s hands, you can see blood on them, which factors into my “who’s dying?” list.

1. Ander - Ander isn’t shown in this photo, which made me immediately suspicious. At the end of season 2, Guzman angrily said to him that he hopes Ander falls and cracks his head open on the ground. Possible foreshadowing for his death? Due to his sorrowful look and his bloody hands, he may regret those words. If Ander dies, it would also make sense to why Omar and Nadia are not present in these photos. Omar is Ander’s boyfriend, and Nadia might be accompanying both of them to the hospital where he’ll be pronounced dead. I do find it hard to believe though that they would fridge a gay man, and one who is a part of the fan-favorite ship of the show. Who knows, however?

2. Lu - Lu’s been a tough character for me to get behind throughout the show’s run. While I do like Danna Paola’s portrayal of her, I certainly don’t condone her actions of bullying, islamophobia, racism, or incest in any form. Getting back on track, she also isn’t seen in this photo, and neither is Valerio, her brother. Lu’s death would also explain Carla’s sorrowful expression, as they used to be best friends. Guzman was also one of her closest friends and her boyfriend at one point, so they once had a deep connection. Omar was also a new friend of Lu’s, so it’s possible that he might have accompanied her to the hospital. Lu’s death might also explain Samuel’s, Rebeca’s, and Cayetana’s look of indifference, as she bullied them all at points in the last two seasons, and their relationships with her were often contentious. Lu’s death may be one way to ultimately redeem the character also.

3. Nadia - As stated before, Nadia is also not shown in this photo, which is surprising as in the other club photo, she is seen standing very closely next to Guzman. She is Guzman’s primary love interest in the show, so that is also why he looks so sad, and the blood on his hands might be from an attempt to keep her alive until an ambulance came. Although if she was truly in peril, I believe that Omar, Rebeca, and Guzman (maybe even Samuel!) would probably go with her to the hospital. However, anything’s possible.

4. Yeray/Malick - We haven’t seen the new kids in any photos from the party so far. Therefore, they could also die. RIP.

Despite Guzman having blood on his hands, I don’t think he’s the murderer. Too big of a spoiler to put in promotional materials. Next.

Love Is in the Air

Guzman/Nadia

Considering what happened in season 2 for these two, where they were filmed having sex and then publicly shamed at school, I’ll consider it a win if they’re standing closely together in a promo picture. I believe that these two will eventually find their way back to each other, and that they’re meant to be. They might spend the season mostly apart, but considering that a magazine also leaked these candids of the two actors kissing, hugging, and talking in these outfits, Guznadia is definitely endgame in some shape or form.

Lu/Valerio/Rebeca/Samuel

Since Valerio ended his incestuous relationship with Lu last season in the finale, it would make sense that he would try to move on with a new girl. And who better than Rebeca, who he’s already kissed at the Back-to-School party? If he makes some kind of play for Rebeca, it might make Samuel jealous and admit some feelings towards Rebe--considering the magazine also leaked candids of Samu and Rebe kissing outside of school in their uniforms.

However, considering Valerio’s “connection” with Lu, he may have a hard time moving on for good, as seen in the first picture. In my opinion, the picture of Lu/Valerio only serves to further my #LuDies theory. A sweet forehead kiss between siblings/former lovers at the grad party? Spells one word: doom.

Samuel/Carla/Yeray

Samucarla has become a fan-favorite ship for many in the Elite fandom. So seeing this picture of Yeray (played by Sergio Momo) with his arms around Carla may hurt some people’s feelings. It is clear that at some point in this season, Samuel does kiss Rebe, however in the magazine spread of Elite candids, Samuel and Carla were seen talking at the grad party, and Carla had her hand on Samu’s face. Will the two try to move on from another, but eventually pulled back together? I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

Omar/Ander

Fan-favorites “Omander” have no solo promotional pictures so far, but both were glimpsed in the party photo. Their storylines this season may be very spoilery and integral to the plot, which is why they weren’t shown as much.

Polo/Cayetana

Like Omander, the two were in promo shots, but never seen together. This also hints at the two’s dynamic being super important to season 3, considering Polo is a murderer and Caye is now his accomplice in covering up his crime.

These are just my theories for the upcoming season based on what is available to us right now, and I will certainly update them as more material comes out! Feel free to let me know your own thoughts, and make sure to watch season 3 when it comes out March 13th on Netflix!

#elite netflix #elite s3 #polo benavent #guzman nunier #lu montesinos #nadia shanaa #guznadia #samucarla #omander #elite spoilers #long post #there are two many characters to tag i'm sorry

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alri-xo · 5 years ago

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Ship of Dreams (Titanic 1997 AU) | Prologue

Gif not mine

A/N: So this fic has been brewing since last month and I put it off because of the list of fics I had in mind. This is special to me because like... I mean I cry every time at this movie. So I would like to thank the people over at the best GC in the world for basically pushing me to do this, especially @witchymegg I love you all. I'm still gonna call the ship Titanic bc I want to. (This will contain actual Titanic references and a lot of revisions in the dialogues.)

Pairing: Original Character x Reader

Warnings: No page break (I always have to say this bc I am on the app)

"We're here..." Mikhail Petrovna says as the two submersibles lower deep into the depths of the Atlantic. Ruins of a once lively ship gracing the cameras that they controlled.

Jared McKinley took the camera they use for documentation, as other people in the submersibles looked out of the small windows. The ship was covered in sea garbarge as fish swam in and out of its crevices.

"It still gets me every time..." Jared says as he filmed through the window, filling the blurry frame.

Baron and Mikhail chuckled and made remarks on their venture to the sunken ship. Going in deeper and deeper as the clock ticked.

"It still gets me every time... to see the sad ruin of the great ship sitting here, where she landed at 2:30 in the morning, April 15, 1912, after her long fall from the world above." Jared narrated as the submersible navigated down, capturing also deep sea squids, floating gracefully in the murky water.

"You're so full of shit, boss..." Baron Martin remarks earning a chuckle from the two other men as they reached target depth.

"Here we are again on the deck of Titanic," Jared says as he documents the rugged deck, teeming with marine algae and sand, "Two and a half miles down. The pressure is three tons per square inch, enough to crush us like a freight train over an ant if our haul fails...

The video camera skimmed over Jared's face as he spilled information on his monologue, "These windows are nine inches thick and if they go," a short pause in his speech as he spoke, looking up to see how deep they've been going under the ocean, "It's sayonara in two microseconds."

One of the submersibles landed on the deck, and the other some place else to get ready to use another piece of technology they had in store.

After his little monologue, they went to work. Baron slipped on the 3D Electronic goggles and held on to the joysticks to control the ROV.

"Walking the dog," Baron says as he controlled the orange box, suspended with a thick wire connected to the database inside the submersible.

It skimmed through the various ruins inside the ship. Ornate wood carvings engraved the interior of the majestic ghost ship, a piano in pretty mint condition given that it has been underwater since the 1910's. The ivory keys and their desire to separate from the ebony ones but they do not move.

The device moves around the grand chandelier suspended in the once alive ship, it's crystals covered in sea dirt dulling it's shine but only for some parts of it.

It ventures further into the ghostly mansion-esque structure, a glass bottle of what it looks to be champagne and fine china, defining that the ship once carried people of high class.

The device then ventures in with its lights illuminating the eerie scene, a woman's shoe and a porcelain doll's head, devoid of its body, hair and eyes.

It then spots one of the grandest suites of the ship, entering room B-52. Jared scolded Baron a little, saying to go slow and not like the day past. He rogers it and slowly enters the room.

The once plush bed now in ruins, the material draping in the movement of the water, it's probably white color now a dark gray because of it's age. The device then moves in a cloud of grey, a mixture of sand and rust.

It then spots an old tub and broken chairs, however it's not of Jared's interest. As it skims further in the room, the camera spots a wardrobe. In a story like this, a thing like a wardrobe can carry the deepest of secrets, even a blessing in disguise.

Jared asks to see what is under the wardrobe. The ROV deploys its robotic arms as it clears the antiques in its way, "Be careful, Martin."

The man who controlled the orange ROV mumbled an 'I will' as the device lifted up debris and antiques off near the wardrobe. They recovered a dark object, not so dark anymore that the light of the Dog shown on its features.

"Ohh McKinley... Are you seeing what I think I'm seeing??" Baron hoots as they recovered the metal box...

Jared scoots closer to the monitor that shows what the device just saw. A rusty metal box covered in silt and sand.

"It's pay day, boys..."

💎

Inside a net, the locked safe ascended from the Atlantic ocean. Everybody cheering as it boarded the boat. Every person on board gathered around the safe as they celebrated.

Baron wrapped his arm around Jared, "Who's the beeest??" He asked excitedly as Jared rolled his eyes playfully at him.

"You... Baron..." he says with a small smile as Baron pops open a bottle of Champagne, its bubbles spurting all over the men on deck.

The safe was being opened by a sharp turning blade, the hot sparks emitted getting sputtered on the orange specks of light as it the metal cracked open. The noise went down as a warm brown sludge flowed out of the decade old safe, pried open by a chain and a tug.

Jared bent down on his knees, the camera man hot behind him as the lenses anticipated the greatest treasure yet. His hand pulled out books and pieces of paper covered in the mixture of silt, rust and water.

He took out a stack of paper, rather large in dimension and paused for a second. He put it down then dug deep in the safe, but found not diamonds, but sludge.

Everybody fell silent in disappointment. His career as a treasure hunter tainted with the failure of his mission. The money spent, the sweat perspired, to waste.

"No diamonds..." one man remarks at the obvious fact that there is no diamonds. The face of Jared as the realization washed over him like a tsunami.

"Shit."

"You know, Gary's career went down and never went up again because of something like this," Baron says lowly, his words toxic like that of poison ivy as it was bearable, as a man like Jared tried to not get such words get to his head.

The camera was at his face, embarrassment and shame gracing his features as the tention increased. He furrowed his brows, "Turn the camera off."

💎

He went down inside the boat, the technicians working to uncover parts of the Titanic long forgotten, and unknown to the other passengers. Just the riches they know, but not the contents it once held.

"The investors want a word with you, McKinley," Derrick Bay says as Jared barks at the camera men, covering the phone.

"Hey, Ryan? Tyler? Yeah... It's not in the safe..." Jared says to the phone, explaining how it could be someplace else in the ship, to not let the investors down. During his explaining his eyes met the monitor in front of him, showing a view of the water cleaning up a painting of a woman, who is casually nude and young.

The water cleared the drawing's bosom refealing between the valley of the woman's breast holding a big diamond, a diamond in a darker color laced on her neck with smaller crystals, assumed to be diamonds in their infamous colorless crystal color.

"W-wait let me see this," he tuts as he asks for the picture of the treasure he's looking for and compared it to the necklace the young woman was wearing.

They further analyzed the drawing which was made with pencil, seeing the date at the bottom and the artist's initial's beside it, with an erasure at the first letter.

April 14, 1912, J BB

"I'll be God damned..."

💎

"Treasure Hunter Jared McKinley, mostly famed for finding Spanish Gold in the galleons of the Caribbean harnests the use of technology and submergence to find out what priceless valuables the sunken Titanic has in store after 84 years. He's with us via satellite in a Russian research center in the Atlantic. Hello, McKinley..." the anchor says in the news, the small television's sounds slightly audible to the ancient woman working on her pottery.

"Hey, Wendy... See, the Titanic is not just a shipwreck. It's the queen of shipwrecks... The elites stayed there..." he went on telling the story of the Titanic briefly, as questions fired at him from the new anchor.

The old woman stands up, her hair away from her face as her frail body hunches as she straightened herself. She wipes the red earth off of her fingers with a rag as her dog Diamond follows after her, nearing to the television.

"Meg, can you please turn up please, dear?" She asks of her grand daughter, Meg Treville.

She obliges as the sound of the television became clearer for her centennial ears, but she saw the drawing as clear as that in her teens...

"I'll be God damned."

💎

"McKinley, there's a call for you on satellite..." Derrick says as Jared ignores him as he instructs men to lower the submersibles for another expedition in the deep.

"Can't you see I'm working, Bay... Take a message..." he says not making eye contact with the man who holds the answers he's not expecting.

"I swear you don't want to turn down this call, Jared." He pleas, a reluctant look paints Jared's face, "You need to turn your voice up, she's kinda old..."

Jared held the phone in his hand, hesitant to speak to a possible poser, "This is Jared McKinley, Mrs..."

"Treville... Y/N Treville..." Derrick says, battling the whirring of the machines behind them...

"Mrs. Treville..." He says politely to the old woman on the other line...

"I was just wondering if you found the 'Heart of the Ocean' yet, Mr. McKinley?" She asks, her voice aged and wise as the two men shared looks of shock.

"I told you don't want to miss this call," Derrick beamed as Jared mustered up a small smile...

"Okay, Y/N... You got my attention... Now, tell me who is the woman in the picture?" Jared asks, as if taunting Y/N... But Y/N was taught at a young age not to lie.

"Oh yes... The woman in the picture is me."

<- Previous | Next ->

A/N: aaand SCENE. So this is the prologue to my very first Avengers series... I hope you enjoyed reading this... and yeah... I hope I did it justice... Stay Safe

-Alri

Taggies 💕

@witchymegg @theaussiedragon @amisutcliff @luna4501 @likeit-or-leaveit @underworldqueen13

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amydemetria-blog · 5 years ago

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coyotescribbles · 5 years ago

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The Warlord’s Daughter #7

For a few moments, everything seemed to blur together into a darkened, muddled blur. It wasn't the lack of strong lighting - Jeanette's eyes needed no time at all to adjust to the dimness - but more the speed at which her physical orientation was changing paired with the relative... lack of physical details around her.

And then, suddenly, she was no longer restrained, and was landing very nearly chin-first on something semi-soft and yielding. Reflexively, she dug her fingertips into the velvety material and clambered away, neither noticing nor caring about what she might be heading towards. At the same time, she pushed her upper body up, flinging her weight to the right as she turned over onto her back - or, rather, attempted to. Because as soon as she did that, her hand found not the solid ground she'd been expecting, but empty space.

Once again, she was at gravity's mercy as she toppled to the side, and landed in a tangle on the floor.

Her elbow and shoulder smarted from the impact, but she paid the sensation no heed as she righted herself and scrambled back, eyes immediately seeking out her captor.

He stood a short distance away, arms crossed over his chest as he watched her impassively. His expression was hard to read, but there seemed to be a hint of curiosity - or maybe amusement.

"You're certainly spirited enough," he finally said, tilting his head, "but you're neither as coordinated, nor as imposing as I'd been expecting, for a Demon."

Yes, he certainly seemed amused by all this. And what did he mean, "demon?"

"I am no demon! I am twelve!" Jeanette blurted out defensively, voice cracking and rising an octave - and that certainly seemed to catch his attention, as his head tilted back in the opposite reaction and his posture straightened slightly.

"Twelve?" He repeated incredulously.

"I-" Jeanette found herself faltering, "...I think?"

"You think."

Now she mentally kicked herself for revealing even that much information. Especially when she genuinely didn't know if it was true or not.

"I do not know how long I was in that place!" Another outburst, but instead of faltering this time, she let herself be angry and frustrated and afraid. "And why does it matter? You are only going to kill me, anyway!"

"You think that I intend to kill you?"

He let his arms drop to his sides and took a step forward, his boot clunking heavily on the tiled floor. Jeanette's instinctive response was to scramble away, but without anywhere to go she found herself seeking shelter in the narrow space between the wall and the end of the bench she'd been dropped on. It hardly qualified as "cover," but it still provided some measure of security - even if it was entirely an illusion.

This was a Covenant ship, after all.

The Elite stopped only a couple of steps away, and knelt down to regard her curiously once more; she bristled and bared her teeth, drawing back as far as she could and gathering herself as if to spring. But although he still loomed over her, he made no further moves towards her, he simply rested his forearms on his knee and cocked his head.

"...What an odd little thing you are," he murmured after a long moment, seemingly more to himself than to her.

Then, without another word, he rose back to his feet and turned away. There was the sound of heavy footsteps, followed by the hiss of the door opening and closing as he swept out of the room... and then, silence.

#The Warlord's Daughter #Jeanette-B315 #Khyl 'Voramai

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askthegemgrumps · 5 years ago

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Okay so,,, Im just getting into this and I have no clue what’s happening can you help me with like backstories and such? Idk man

@dinah-kitty-52

Okay, 1? I love you, and I wish you luck surviving in this content desert.

I’ve scrolled through some of my old posts to jog my memory, so I’ll give you the best rundown that I can for not having used this blog in a while and having a computer with none of the old CG files. Most of my headcanons or speculations for this au line up with the general consensus for backstory and characters, but little things differ here and there.

Also, please note that some of this au’s content... didn’t age well... From my scan of the Crystal Grumps blog, a few people have technically been removed from this au (which I support) but I will do my best to report things as they were.

Arin: I think he’s a pink rhodochrosite? He was a gem technician on Homeworld and was tasked (I believe by Orange Diamond or Blue Diamond) to do experiments on fusing shattered gems. Arin quietly objected to the work at first but he did his job and made many half-formed abominations. However, he did have one truly successful experiment on Homeworld: the fusion of two gems named Sunshine and Zyanne. Two halves of two gems combined to make someone entirely new: Suzy. Arin defected with Barry and they landed on earth together (I’m pretty sure)

Barry: Orange Diamond. In this au there is no large revolution, but Barry leaves behind his life on Homeworld for reasons that I can’t entirely remember. I think he just wasn’t happy? Also, there was some messed up stuff going on behind closed doors (ninjas, Arin’s work, etc.). He befriended Arin over some time on Homeworld and they escaped together. I don’t think anyone ever made any content about Barry faking his own death like Rose Quartz from the main show, but he may have done it?

Brian & Dan: Brian is a bloodstone and Dan is a Cummingonite because we had to. They are elite warriors, specially produced gems made for their ability to move undetected and to strike before their enemy knew they had company. Dan and Brian are ninjas. They always come in pairs (I think that is well accepted but I can’t remember), so Dan and Brian have been together since the very beginning. However, ninjas have a more nefarious purpose beyond the murder on the tin- ninjas are supposed to kill so thoroughly that there is never a chance of their target reforming. Ninjas shatter and eat other gems. It’s thrown around here and there that ninjas need to eat gems but its honestly just used for angst. These boys can get real sad.

Holly: was a commander in the past? Uh, I’m pretty sure she was shipped with Ross because this was all like 3 years ago so things are very different now.

Kevin: Ok so Kevin was supposed to be some sort of Prophecy Gem? He was a special boy or something. For some people, he was shattered and the two halves of his gem were combined with other stuff to make Matt and Ryan of Supermega, but I never got on that train.

Jacksepticeye: Green Diamond. I can’t remember much about him but he was there.

Jontron: Was Blue Diamond. Slightly malicious but just missed Barry. No longer included in some of the main au sources and has no replacement.

MatPat: Peridot equivalent. I can’t remember how much actual characterization he had.

Mark: He was an amethyst soldier, Jasper equivalent. In some of my writing, he previously commanded Matt and Ryan.

Matt and Ryan: In my writing, they are a pilot and a soldier respectively. Other people had them as halves of the Propechy, created by Arin (I think) after Kevin’s death. People are weird around them, especially Barry as he and Kevin were so close.

Pewdiepie: Yes, I know. He was White Diamond and is no longer included in main circles of the au. I never touched him in the first place. No thank u.

Ross: Remember the ninja partner thing? here’s where it gets sad. Ross was a ninja, left in a kindergarten by mistake for a while with another gem who became his sister. They were ninjas without knowing it, and they were there as partners. However, Ross’s sister’s gem was defective and cracked, and eventually she shattered. He keeps her shards with him when he leaves the kindergarten to live with the Grumps. Dan and Brian figure out that he is a ninja and both try to protect him from the horrors of what he was supposed to be and at the same time try to keep him in check for his safety and everyone else’s. I also did some toying around that he had persuasive powers and that he could (unknowingly) influence gems with his emotions.

Suzy: Like I said before, a fusion of two broken gems from Homeworld. She doesn’t really remember either of her past selves and is pretty stable.

Also NateWantsToBattle is there? I don’t remember much about him.

I have to cut this off because I need to leave for class here in a minute, though I’ve basically covered everyone? Other people try to include other YouTubers of note, but I never did. This au needs a lot of polishing (get the joke?) to fit to 2020 game grumps and everything that has happened in SU/SU: Future (even though we don’t follow that source material too strictly) but I hope you enjoy whatever content is out there now!

I can’t cover the fusions today bc there’s a ton and I don’t remember most of them but they’re there too.

#ask #dinah-kitty-52

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alexsfictionaddiction · 5 years ago

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Review: Anna K by Jenny Lee

I’ve noticed that there is currently a spawn of YA contemporaries that focus on socially elite teens and the crazy dramas that they find themselves in. Apparently these books are like crack to me, so I was delighted when I was approved for yet another one on NetGalley.

17-year-old Anna K is at the very top of NYC society. Her life revolves around her two prize-winning Newfoundlands, her fantastic grades and her perfect but dull boyfriend Alexander. Her Korean-American father couldn’t be more proud. However, Anna’s brother Steven and his girlfriend Lolly are embroiled in a sexting scandal. Lolly’s sister Kimmie is trying to piece her life back together after her ice dancing career comes to an end. Steven’s best friend Dustin is battling his unrequited love for Kimmie as well as trying to keep his family together. And amidst it all, Anna is harbouring a secret desire that if pursued could shake up her whole world.

I had no idea that this book was a take on Anna Karenina until the very end because I haven’t read it. The Russian classic has been on my ‘someday’ TBR for a long time but I’ve never found the time to truly dedicate to it. However, Lee’s new rendition has bumped the source material further up my list and I’m considering reading it over the coming months. Thinking back over the plot of Anna K, I can clearly see how it could resemble an epic 19th century romantic coming-of-age novel.

There are several instances where the stark differences between how boys and girls are treated by society are explicitly pointed out. As more terrible things unfold, the contrast between the treatment of male and female parties of the same scandal reach truly shocking but completely believable levels. Of course, this is an issue that has been very prominent since the dawn of time and Lee does a great job of illustrating just how little has changed.

I should probably add a disclaimer here. I’m not one to root for unfaithful partners or illicit relationships and this was the only real issue I had with the story. However, I fell in love with Vronsky’s love for Anna -if that makes sense! He notices every tiny detail about her face and the way she carries herself and I couldn’t help but be enthralled by it.

I have no idea how realistic it is that a playboy like Vronsky would really think all of these things but he actually made me fall in love with her too! Before this point, I actually found Anna to be a bit of a cookie cutter perfect rich girl with not much about her. However Vronsky painted her in such a vivid and romantic way that I began to see her through his eyes and I warmed to her. She begins to realise how much more there is to the very small, mapped out life she had and I gained a lot of respect for her as a young contemporary woman.

Dustin and Steven’s friendship was one of my favourite aspects of the book. I love reading about mutually beneficial male friendships because it’s such a refreshing change from the cool guy and sidekick dynamic or the cold distant non-friendship that we’re so used to seeing between men. I also loved the realisation that at first, their lives seem so different but as the story goes on, it transpires that they actually have a lot in common. Both have uneasy relationships with their fathers, both have a little way to go in learning how to be with women and both are in need of a close reliable confidant which they find in each other.

Kimmie’s story definitely produced a few tears and anger at the injustice of it all. Lee developed her character so well and I felt hugely protective of her. I shipped her with Dustin immensely and I was beside myself with desperation for them to get together. Kimmie’s narrative has many shades to it -at times very dark shades- and it was all dealt with in the healthiest, most hopeful of ways, which I have to congratulate Jenny Lee on.

Anna K is a true celebration of feminism in all its forms. Whether you’re a successful, independent Anna, a kind, forgiving Lolly or a fierce fighter like Kimmie, life will work out for you. Women are solely in charge of their own lives and their own destinies, no matter what role they choose to take.

Despite there being a huge amount of tragedy, serious subject matter and enraging social issues, I finished Anna K feeling truly empowered as a young woman. There are a lot of characters to keep track of, which took some getting used to but they’re all so distinctive and well fleshed-out that it didn’t take long to figure everyone out. It has a touch of Crazy Rich Asians about it -not just in substance but in style too. I was back in the heady fug of the trials and tribulations of elite society that gives me much more satisfactory escapism than a lot of actual fantasy does nowadays. Now to crack open the Tolstoy, I guess!

‘Love is not overrated or a waste of time.’

#anna k #jenny lee #ya #anna karenina #books #book review #review #bookworm

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acerosu · 6 years ago

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Learning: A Whellow Short

This was going to be an intro to smut, but I kept adding it became super CUTE?? So now it’s a lil stand alone thing.

White and Yellow are trying to improve the empire after CYM. They’re having a bit of trouble.

Era 3 had truly begun. Soldiers wandered the outer colonies, free from war. Pearls, scholars, guards, and elites alike all mingled and talked about their futures. But not everything could transition smoothly. There still needed to be infrastructure and repairs; small jobs that a required a workforce. Not to mention the logistics of running a society spanning hundreds of planetary systems.

After the Diamonds returned from Earth they set up an open forum; gems could gather and suggest improvements to the new empire, the first of its kind. The idea attracted the gratitude of many gems, but none were brave enough to step before the Diamond Authority and speak plainly. After days of waiting, only White and Yellow remained, Blue having left to take care of the gems she had taken from Earth to work in the Zoo.

“I should leave as well.” Yellow sat in her throne beside White, gaze distant. “My colonies need direction as much as Homeworld.”

White smiled at the ever determined Diamond. “We can monitor them here if you wish, as we wait.”

Yellow grunted, bringing up a single screen to stream data in front of her eyes. “It’s been 3 rotations. I fear our reputation is going to precede us for another few centuries.”

White frowned, recalling just how brutal she had been. They all had. It was a long road ahead.

“I gave them 5 rotations.” She glanced at the open gates standing empty. “As my first decree, I want to set an example, so we wait.”

Yellow said nothing, letting her fingers tapping against the hovering monitor be her answer. There was so much she could be doing to help the changes along. From the data she could see stunted production, inefficient transportation lines, and throngs of messages asking for instructions.

“Stand up.”

Yellow tensed, rising to her feet involuntarily after her long life under White’s command. The screen was dismissed as she waited for further orders. Gentle hands rest against her shoulders.

“Oh Sunray.” White couldn’t help but grin at the work starved Diamond. “No need to be so formal.” She reached out past Yellow’s face, gesturing to the floor. “Let me help you.”

The ground lit up, beams of light converging until they formed shapes. Planets, colony complexes, and data streams were all projected, taking up the great hall. Yellow’s eyes went wide. Everything she needed to lead her colonies was there at her finger tips.

“You’re letting me use your personal control program?” Yellow circled the holograms, taking in information while simultaneously organizing the tasks that lay before her.

“Of course, what’s mine is yours now.” White watched Yellow get straight to work. “Blue has the same access if she requires.”

Yellow cracked a smile. “Thank you.”

The pair studied each colony, discussing logistics and setting up tiered plans for each troubled area. Though not having worked together in centuries, they took to it like old business owners; understanding every aspect and building off the other. They were in the middle of adjusting material flow between planets when a small voice interrupted their thoughts.

“M-my Diamonds?”

Both glared down, their usual demeanors taking over. That was, until they saw their visitors. An Era 2 Ruby stood in the doorway, her small frame leaving her a tiny speck under the oppressive glare of the Diamonds. She stood in a salute, visibly shaking. Behind her stood an equally nervous Amethyst guard.

“Um- I- I.” The Ruby stuttered, backing up into the Amethyst who tried to stay strong in support.

“Well, hello there.” White gave her best, friendly greeting, smiling wide. It had the opposite effect.

“Sorry! Y-you look busy, we can leave.” The Amethyst spoke up, voice cracking as she picked up the Ruby and turned to escape.

“No, wait.” Yellow leaned down, trying her own welcoming face. From the Ruby’s expression, she guessed they really needed to practice smiling more. “Are you here to state a grievance?”

“Y-yes?” The Amethyst set the Ruby down. They exchanged glances. “We prefer to call it a small suggestion, my Diamond.”

White stepped closer. The visiting gems bounced against the floor despite her being careful with her feet. She leaned down besides Yellow, offering a hand out.

“No need to fret.” She tried a softer grin this time, trying to make her voice as tender as possible. “Come. We’ll hear all you have to say.”

The two gems froze, staring at the opened hand. Swallowing hard, the Amethyst carried the trembling Ruby on board, her own expression unsure. White gently lifted them to chest level, allowing both her and Yellow to fully hear them.

“Um.”

Faced with both Diamonds, the two gems cowered in each other’s arms. White beamed down.

“Take your time. We’re listening.”

At length, the Ruby spoke up, her voice a yell from the building fear.

“We propose a place for gems to learn!” She paused, realizing she had way more to explain. “Gems can gather and teach each other. We all know how to do different things! This can help us find a new purpose!”

The Ruby finished, breathing hard from the effort. White and Yellow exchanged glances.

“Uh. Yeah.” The Amethyst spoke up, staring down at White’s long nails. “Like, I’d really like to learn to do repairs on ships and fly them.”

They stood in silence, avoiding the glowing eyes of the powerful Diamonds.

“What a brilliant idea.” Yellow shook her head in agreement. “We can set up complexes along the colonies as well. Gems can volunteer to teach.”

White raised an eyebrow. “Fascinating. We’ll have to start on implementing this right away.” She brought her other hand over the gems, giving them a gentle pat. They trembled, but soon relaxed, realizing they were not going to be pulverized into dust. White smiled. “Thank you for your input.”

She leaned down, returning them to the floor. Stunned, the pair gave a quick salute and exited at a full run.

“That went well.” Yellow’s tone was dripping with disappointment.

White shot her a glance. “I think it went great.”

“Yeah. They were so terrified I thought they were going to lose form.”

“Mmm.” White looked at the floor where the visiting gems once stood. One tiny step towards her empire trusting her again.

Both Diamonds stood staring out the gate, the great expanse of Homeworld laid out before them. So much has changed yet everything appeared the same. Both knew no one else would be coming in for a nice chat. Yellow gave a shrug.

“Maybe we were too forward?”

White shook her head. “I dismissed all the guards, the chamber was open.” She turned. “Perhaps the thrones are a bit intimidating?”

White stood in her sparkling cape next to the armored, glaring Yellow. All around them, massive crystal structures and gleaming, metal surfaces presented their regal perfect authority. A long bridge that would have dwarfed even the largest soldiers led up to the towering gates. Between the two of them, they couldn’t work out the problem.

“I tried smiling like Steven said.” Yellow tapped her foot. “Ah. Perhaps that will help.”

White glanced over Yellow’s shoulder as a screen was brought up. “What will?”

“I’ll call Steven.”

Yellow ran a call program, waiting it to connect to the gem line far away on Earth. The Crystal Gems left it open for Homeworld communications since their last visit.

“Um, hello?” The zoomed in face of Peridot flashed on the screen.

Yellow stood in front of the monitor as White leaned over in the background behind her. She was about to speak when Peridot ran off, her shouts still reaching the microphone.

“Steven! The Diamonds are calling you. You better take this. I called Yellow a clod once!”

Yellow pursed her lips, trying to keep her anger reigned in. Steven’s face soon appeared.

“Hey guys! How you doing? Did you try my idea?”

Yellow held her normal, authoritarian gaze as if she was taking one of her millions of calls. “We are on day three. Only two gems have taken up the offer. That’s why we called.”

White gave a little wave, unsure what to do as she stood behind Yellow. Steven waved back.

“Ok. What do you need?”

Yellow narrowed her eyes. “Can you explain what ‘empathy’ is again?”

“Oh boy.” Steven clasped his hands in front of him, ready for a long chat with his new family.

#fan fiction #steven universe fan fiction #su fan fiction #my writing #whellow diamond #yellow diamond su #white diamond #i can't add smut after this #they are so cute #thanks to dragona for the steven call idea lol

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