#My fate is entirely dependant on them asking question I happen to know

[cripplecryptid]

THE ONE TIME THAT I AM DESPERATE ENOUGH TO USE CHAT GPT TO HELP PREPARE FOR EXAM QUESTIONS. THE DAY BEFORE THE EXAM.

IS THE DAY THIS FUCKING WEBSITE IS

DOWN??????

[kamiversee]

𓆩 Crown of Sin 𓆪

Segment I Chapter: Three

❀ ~ Synopsis > In which you’re a princess who's given a total of six months to converge & inaugurate a solid plan secure enough to rid you of your fated marriage arrangements to Naoya Zenin. 

❀ ~ Content > language, heavy tension all over the place, lingering touches, stolen glances, taunting, teasing, flirting, etc.

❀ ~ Word Count > 5k

❀ ~ Pairings > jjk men & women x f!reader.

{ chapters m!list }

——Harems are hard work, you know that much from the extensive research you’ve conducted over the years. They were always intriguing to you, the way a man or woman would go around collecting multiple lovers for themself, reasons on why varying from person to person. In your case, you’d like to escape the engagement you’ve found yourself in.

So the first thing you do the next day you wake up, on day two of being an engaged woman, is parade around your home in preparation to leave. Your parents tried to subtly convince you to stay and instead send out letters during breakfast but you brushed off each advance they made on the matter.

You had your heart fully set on this plan. It’s going to work, it has to. Whether or not you stay this encouraged will depend entirely on your first target. He doesn’t know it yet but Gojo will set the mood for the rest of your travels. Should things with him go poorly, you may just turn around and head right back home to accept your fate.

But deep down inside, you know things will go well. Call this cliche but honestly, what’s the worst thing that can happen?

With that mindset, and shortly after breakfast with your parents concluded, you had two people you needed to speak with privately before you left. Carriages were already being prepared for you so you didn’t have much time. 

The first person you set out to talk to privately was your knight. She was made aware of the details of your plan first thing yesterday alongside Utahime since both of them are typically the first people you greet each morning.

Currently, you and Yuki pace down a lengthy corridor with no set destination in mind.

“We should hurry, y’know,” Yuki warns as she walks alongside you, “People will be lookin��� for you to leave soon.”

You wave her warnings off dismissively, “I’ve got an hour at the least. That, and there are a few goodbyes I should like to make before I depart.”

Your knight hums. “To who? You’ve given most of your goodbyes already.”

“Okay well, I have one more goodbye I need to make,” You tell her before turning down another hall. “Right after this, I suppose…”

Yuki raises a brow, still following you closely, “That doesn’t answer my question.”

You ignore her and point to a door not too far off, “There’s a study down this way, yes?”

Her eyes squint to you, “What business would you have with a study at this time? And why do you keep avoiding my—”

Before she can get the rest of her questions out, you’re grabbing a sudden hold of your wrist and dragging her off into that room you’d pointed to. Inside, you shut the door quickly and find yourself alone with Yuki in a vacant, almost abandoned, study.

She looks as confused as ever while she takes in her surroundings, unsure of why you pulled her in here entirely. “You’re acting strange, princess,” Yuki tells you as she folds her arms.

You’d released her wrist and allowed her a moment of space as you stayed by the door for a second, listening closely to something. “Shhh,” You hush.

Yuki throws her hands up defensively for a second.

A couple of seconds pass before you pull away from the door with a smile and turn to her. She’s got this expectant look plastered all over her face, clearly itching for you to tell her what you’re up to. You step nice and close to her and then take her hands into your own.

Yuki’s gaze falls down to the sudden connection and although she’s got a smile on her face, her eyebrows furrow in a quick meet of confusion. “Is everything alright?” She asks you cautiously. 

You nod, “Of course. I just needed a moment alone with you.”

“Were we not alone in the hall moments ago?” She huffs fondly.

“We were but,” You glance off to the side with a shrug, “Anyone could’ve passed by at any given moment.”

She nods at that, her eyes yet to leave your hands holding onto hers so dearly. “Right… So, what did you need this privacy for?”

You lean closer and whisper, “I’ve got something for you.”

“For me? Now?? Why?”

“Why does everyone always have a million and one questions for me,” You sigh, moving to the left pocket of her pants for a moment. You’d asked her to hold something for you earlier in the day and instructed her not to look at it without your permission so, now you pull the item out and hand it to her.

Her eyes follow your every move and then she takes the slip of paper you hand her. “What’s this?”

A smile graces your face, “Open it and find out, silly.”

“You could just tell me, it would save so much time…” She utters to herself as her fingers work the folded-up piece of paper open. Her eyes rake over the paper in one fell swoop before she looks at you, “Why did you hand this to me?”

You’re still beaming, so much so that it nearly makes her nervous. Nearly. “Why do you think?” You ask her almost sarcastically.

“It’s…” Her lashes flutter in clear disbelief whilst she looks over the paper once more, “An invitation to your harem, my lady.”

Even as she says it out loud, Yuki can’t quite believe what she’s holding. Nor can she really wrap her head around why you’ve chosen her first—or at all, for that matter. For a minute or two, she’s unable to do anything more than look back and forth from the paper in her hands to you, constantly finding her gaze drifting downward on each.

“Sooo….” You eventually crack the silence and lean forward without step.

Yuki clears her throat and her brows tense, “You are inviting me.”

You hum, “Mhm!”

Finally, she lets her sights lift fully and settle firmly onto you. “Why?” Yuki asks.

You’re unsure of what it is exactly about her sudden unwavering gaze but it makes your feet shift against the floor slightly, a motion of which doesn’t go unnoticed by your hyper-aware knight. Every faint movement of yours never seems to miss her eye but now it feels… different? It’s almost as though a new light had been cast on you instead of the natural lighting that currently dawns on the study you occupy.

Yuki’s eyes widen with how long it takes you to reply to her and her left foot unconsciously moves as a step closer to you is taken. It was weird but, the mere request of her to join your harem… first, has the knight seeing you differently in a way that is more familiar than ever. Per her own thoughts, it is like gazing upon you for the first time.

The windows to this study are rather large and the light bounces off of the beautiful furniture surrounding the two of you so, maybe it’s a shift of the outside sun that causes you to glow just a bit brighter in her eyes than before. It truly was like seeing you for the first time all over again. Hell, her lips twitch in thought and suddenly she’s recalling the way her breath escaped her and never returned on the day she’d first seen you.

Now, as you stand before her all these years later, proclaiming to desire her, that feeling returns. 

Looking away entirely, “...Does it matter why?” Your voice soon hits her ears again and she barely recovers her recently escaped breath.

Yuki’s right foot takes that last step and she answers you faster than she can even process your words, “Yes.”

“Because I want you,” You practically breathe out once you become overly aware of how close she’d gotten, slowly turning your head to look her in the eye, and swallowing thickly. “I-In my harem, I mean.”

Her features soften and she smiles, the sight enough to make you beyond anxious. “Hah,” Your knight breathes.

Taking another gulp to compose yourself, “Sooo, what do you say?”

Yuki shrugs, “I’m your knight. Joining this would mean that you and I are-, or, would be intimate.”

You stare instead of replying.

To which a breathy laugh of disbelief leaves her lips. Then, as her next question is asked, you notice her tone has changed, “You wish to be intimate with me?”

“I wish for you to join my harem,” You divert with a nervous smile.

Yuki tilts her head and it’s right then that you realize she knows you’re feeling some sort of anxiousness right now, “That doesn’t answer my question.”

You sigh heavily and nearly stumble over your words again, “I-Intimacy comes with joining the harem so—”

“If I may be so bold,” She interrupts, taking a step forward that only causes your back to meet a wall. “Princess, please do not avoid my questions and give me a straight answer.”

“I believe my answer would be anything but ‘straight’.” You tease. Perhaps dragging her into this room alone like this wasn’t the best idea. Maybe you should’ve just told her to shuffle through her pocket on her own time…

“You jest,” Yuki whispers, now leaning forward, “But I need to know if you are serious.”

There’s a slight shake of your head, “Why wouldn’t I be…?”

She ignores your constant avoidance, “I won’t join unless you answer.”

“I…” You trail off entirely and your mind decides then that it’s a good time to blank on you. Thus, you are left at a loss for words and have no answer to her question whatsoever. It is quite hard to find anything to say to a woman of Yuki’s beauty who stands so closely to you and stares at you as if you were bliss personified. “What uh, what was the question again?” You eventually squeak out.

Gently, Yuki allows every word of hers to leave her lips in a way that has you looking down to watch their departure from her tongue, “Do you wish to be intimate with me?”

You’ve had your fair secret glances at her mouth before but now that you find yourself so close, it is difficult to organize your thoughts properly, “Well—”

“Yes,” She cuts off, tipping her head to the opposing side to gain your eyes on hers again, “Or no, princess.”

You first clear your throat and then nod, “Yes.”

At that, Yuki lets herself look downwards on your face and she sighs, “Then I will join.”

“O-Okay..” You stutter, noticing where her eyes have fallen.

She doesn’t say anything and neither do you. Instead, the two of you just stand still for a while and take in one another’s faces. In that time, you both creep closer to one another and you only snap out of your daze of appreciation when Yuki’s hand meets your waist and your entire body decides to react.

A gasp leaves your throat, your torso moves into her touch, and your eyes flutter in surprise at the small touch.

And to top it all off, Yuki finds herself inches away from your lips whispering, “You are nervous, why?”

You force a smile and try your best to remain composed, “We are quite close, Lady Tsukumo.”

“We could…” She tips nearer, “Be so much closer.”

If your breath hadn’t been lost before then it damn sure is now because good lord is the proximity alone enough to make you long for that fated connection of her lips to your own. She’s hardly laid a finger on you and yet you find yourself a wreck within your mind. Words fail you entirely and all you’re capable of doing in that moment is stare at her.

“Princess,��� Yuki breathes out, her soft tone hitting the skin of your lips given how close she is. Then, her other hand lifts to your chin and she urges your head further up, nearly causing your skin to brush over hers. “Can I…”

You’re not clueless, you know what she wants to ask for. And yet, she just lets her words fade off, never deciding to finish that request of hers, which only leaves you hanging off of her every inhale and exhale. 

Luckily for you, you’re both interrupted right then by a knock on the study’s door. Both of you flinch and she blinks out of whatever stupor just came over her, soon turning her head to look at the door and then clearing her throat. “Yeah-, yes?” She coughs out.

“Is Her Highness in there with you?” The voice of a palace guard questions from the other side of the door. He must’ve seen you two duck off into this room earlier.

Yuki scoffs and looks to you once more, “Yeah,” She replies as she slips her thumb upward and past your chin, letting her fingertip rub along the outline of your bottom lip. “She’s riiight here.” 

Your brows furrow and you whisper as you realize what your knight just pulled, “...You teased me.”

She smirks and weighs the pad of her thumb against your bottom lip, tugging it down slightly, and then leaning in to match your tone one last time, “You’ve been teasing me for as long as I can remember.”

“I–”

“Most of the carriages are ready to go, my lady.” That same voice from before interrupts again, “I believe they are packing your last one up but, you should make haste in getting to them soon.”

You puff out a long sigh and pry yourself away from Yuki’s grasp, “I will be out there in a bit. Tell them I have someone I need to speak to before I leave.”

You can’t see it but the guard bows from beyond the door, “Yes ma’am.”

The sound of departing footsteps can be heard and once the sound discontinues, Yuki starts laughing to herself, prompting you to glance over to her. She hasn’t moved an inch from where she almost kissed you but you notice she’s got a hand over her mouth.

You frown, “What’s so funny?”

“Shoulda’ seen the look on your face,” The woman snorts, “Hah. I didn’t know you could make such an expression.”

“What are you talking about??” You question further.

She motions to her face, “You were so flustered.”

With a roll of your eyes, you let off a scoff, “I was not.”

“Oh please, it’s no use to lie.” Yuki argues as she turns to meet your gaze, “Admit it, cutie, you were nervous.”

Your lashes begin to bat in pure and utter disbelief, “I don’t get ‘nervous’.”

At first, she merely hums in response. But when she starts walking toward you again, you end up looking away from her. Yuki now stands directly behind you and leans over your shoulder to tease, “Right, okay. So,” Her hands find your waist and her voice hits the crown of your ear, “This, is fine, yes?”

You try laughing it off as if her touch is no big deal, “Perfectly.”

Then her hands slide up and tread dangerously close to your chest. All while she’s grinning from ear to ear, “And this?”

You’re pretty sure you were unable to hide the hitch in your breathing but hopefully, it goes unnoticed (it doesn’t). “Yuki.” You say rather firmly.

Her lips, as soft as ever, grave the tip of your ear, “Yes… princess?” And suddenly your title no longer sounds like a name of respect and hierarchy, but a nickname instead.

Finally standing your ground again, you just barely manage to lift your head up to its normal hold, regain your posture, and come to your senses. “I invite you into my harem and suddenly you find yourself unable to keep your hands off me?”

Her hands freeze against your sides and then her head dips down. You’d turn to get a nice look at her and the face she’s making right now but the sensation of her mouth grazing your neck drives you right back into that mild frenzy again. Carefully, Yuki inches forward with her head and you release a shaky breath the moment her lips make raw contact with your neck.

Then, she whispers right against you, “I’ve been holding back for a few years now…”

Your jaw falls open and you choke, finding yourself clueless beyond belief, “What?”

Yuki snaps out of whatever came over her there and tugs herself back a bit. Her eyes proceed to squeeze shut and instead of answering you right away, she just inhales deeply—unintentionally getting a strong whiff of your perfume. Behind her shut lids, and hidden from you, her eyes so graciously roll back. Then her grip on your waist tightens, her lips part again, a faint noise nearly escapes her throat, and—

She snatches her head away from your neck entirely and her hands follow suit with your sides. Yuki stumbles back a few inches from you and clears her throat, “W-What?” She stammers.

You start turning to look at her but your motion comes to an abrupt end when she walks past you, “Yuki, what did you say—”

“I’m gonna go ahead and sign this now before I do anything uh…” She tugs that invitation of yours out of her pocket again and waves it in the air, “Yeah.” Her statement ends there, leaving you wondering what exactly just transpired.

You blink. “Are you okay?”

She’s made her way over to a desk and is busy scrambling for a pen to finally sign her name. For a while, she pays no mind to your concern and eventually locates a pen, quickly printing her name where it’s required. Once done, she acquits a tremulous sigh and spins to hold out the signed invitation—confirming her entry into your harem as the first member.

Barely any more words are exchanged between you and her after that. You end up taking the signed invitation with a smile and quiet thank you, to which she soon bows to you. Then, not even a second later, Yuki hurries toward the door to leave this secluded area.

· · ──────── ·𖥸· ──────── · ·

Neither of you addressed what went down in that study after you both left. The walk toward the last person you wish to say bye to is conducted in silence. It’s not exactly awkward or anything, just tense. You can’t define what kind of tension lies between you and your knight but hey, at least she joined your harem…

It feels nice to walk next to her knowing that she’s a part of something you’ll come to hold very dear to your heart. When you really think about it, you could touch her in any way at any given moment and no one would bat an eye. Your eyes can linger on her as you please and not a soul would find it scandalous. After all, your eyes travel over to her as you think, simply gazing at her for a while brings you deep satisfaction.

You’re quite proud to have someone as gorgeous as her as your knight. It’s like a silent compliment to you. People do say that the company you keep is a direct reflection of your character.

With that, a smile spreads across your face and your pace down the hall picks up a bit. If things with Yuki went well, surely things with everyone else will too.

Before you know it, you and your knight find yourself approaching your final destination for the time being. The last stop before you head outside to leave your kingdom entirely, to the final person you wish to say goodbye to, and—

“The infirmary, my lady?” Yuki asks cautiously as she comes to a stop just beside you and stares at the door in front of you both.

You wave a hand out, “Stay here while I head in, this’ll only take a second.”

“But—”

And as usual, before Yuki can spit out any sort of protest, you’re disappearing behind those doors and leaving her alone in the hall. She remains still for a moment before shrugging the entire thing off and turning to properly guard the doors as she typically does.

Meanwhile, as soon as you enter the room, the person you’d been looking to say bye to comes immediately into view. Long brown hair falling down past her shoulders, soft brown eyes flickering up to meet you as soon as you walk in—with those tired bags decorating the area just beneath them, there sits Shoko Ieiri in all her glory.

She blinks more than a few times to take in the fact that it’s really you standing there. Then her hands are moving and she shuffling papers across her desk for a moment as a pen falls from between her fingers, “Oh shit-,” She breathes out, quickly slapping a hand over her mouth seconds later, “I-I wasn’t expecting you to be here today, your highness. God, I–”

“It’s okay,” You murmur gently with a smile that makes her hands slow to an easy halt from their scrambling to straighten up. “Been a while, huh?”

Shoko’s all wide-eyed for a minute, watching as you look elsewhere and take in her workspace. You walk over to some cabinets and scan your eyes over just about everything as curious as ever. Eventually, she nods, “Yeah, yeah it has… Still as nosy as ever, I see.” She teases lightheartedly.

You turn to her and notice she’s stood up. “What can I say, it’s been so long since I’ve been in here.”

“Mhm,” She hums, carefully rounding her desk to approach you. “So what uh, brings you in here now? If you don’t mind me asking, of course.”

“Well, I’m not sure if you’ve heard but…” Your voice fades as you ponder on how you should go about explaining things to her.

“You leave today, right? For some harem thing..?”

Well, that saves you an explanation, “Yeah.”

“Well, everyone knows about that. I’m still confused as to why you stopped here though. You should be leaving, I saw the carriages and everything—”

“Do you wanna come with me?” You blurt out.

She blinks, “Pardon?”

“I’ll be gone for a month or so and… Well, I’m traveling to other nations that I haven’t been to in years and I-, well, y’know anything could happen during the journey so I was just wondering if you wanted to accompany me because you’re the only person I trust to tend to my wounds properly, in the event that I got any—”

Shoko cuts you off with a gentle whisper of your name. Not your title as princess, not any sort of honorific, just… your name. By the time you look at her again, she’s leaned against the wall nearest to you with her arms crossed and her head angled to the right. 

It’s then that you recall why exactly you came to see her. Not only to try convincing her to travel with you but, also to see a childhood friend again. Rarely anyone has the pleasure of addressing you by your name but Shoko? Your name sounds more than perfect falling from her tongue. 

“While I enjoy your nervous rambles,” She starts off, lips curving into that typical tired grin of hers, “You could’ve just said you wanted to travel with me, sweets. And while I’d love to do exactly that… It’s a bit last minute of you to come and ask me, doncha’ think?”

You chuckle. “The trip itself was rather last minute so, apologies if I’m putting you in a difficult position here.”

“Mh. Well,” She pushes herself off of the wall and shrugs, “I’m not sure if I’d be able to pack in time.”

Your brows meet in confusion, “Whatever you’d have to pack that’s not in this room, I assure you I can purchase it for you on this trip, Shoko. I just want you to come with me.”

Shoko lets out a huff and glances elsewhere, “Don’t you already have a doctor accompanying you?”

You tilt your head at the woman, picking up on her clear silent refusal to join you. Resulting in a knowing grin sparking across your face, “If you don’t want to come, you can just tell me, y’know.”

“That’s the thing. I’m not sure how I feel following you along while you collect men for your personal pleasure,” Shoko says as she clasps her hands together behind her back and paces toward you slightly.

“Oh.” You chirp.

“Yeah, ‘oh’.” She scoffs and her feet come to a stop just a mere step away from you, her eyes dragging across the room before landing on you again, “I know it’s ‘been a while’ but surely you haven’t forgotten the feelings I possess for you?” Your friend asks you, her tone softened.

You swallow at the recollection, “I haven’t. But, this isn’t just for pleasure Shoko, I’m trying to—”

“I’ve heard.” She interrupts, “You wanna escape your marriage. But with all due respect, princess, I think I’ll stay here while you do that.”

A deep feeling of disappointment rushes through you and you quickly find your gaze becoming rather downcast. You had high hopes of her telling you she’d join you and now…

“I know you’re not used to people declining your offers or telling you no but, y’know me.” Shoko hums—doing that thing you know her to do where she’ll try to lighten your mood with a gentle reiteration of the truth. “I will stay here and patiently await your return, as I always do. Should you come back with any wounds, even one of the heart, I’ll be right here to patch ya’ up…”

A pout tugs at your lips before you know it and in come those pleading irises of yours, “Sho’.”

“Awh, don’t ‘Sho’ meee, you’ll make me feel bad.” She mocks, taking a hand and placing it on your cheek as she wipes a soft thumb under your left eye.

You lean into her touch and place your hand over hers, “I really do want you to come with me.”

Shoko smiles, “I know. But someone’s gotta teach you a thing or two about not always getting what you want, right?”

“I guess…”

For a moment, she just comforts you with that easing caress under your eye but once she sees that it’s doing little to nothing for you, she rolls her eyes and strips her hand away. 

“C’mere,” Shoko mutters before moving to pull you into a warm hug. Her arms hold onto you tightly and you rest your head on her shoulder, “You’ll be fine without me. It’s just a month, yeah? You’ve gone for longer.”

You sigh, “...Not like this.”

“Hey,” Her hands move again and meet your cheeks, cupping your face in her gloved palms. You practically melt into her but her firm tone keeps you grounded for the most part, “Tell Gojo I said hey when you see him?”

You scoff, smiling a little, “You could come and say hey to him yourself.”

“I’d rather not.”

“Shoko please?” If not for the plead leaving your lips, it was definitely escaping the look on your face, “You know I’m not one to beg.”

“We’ve past encounters that say otherwise, pretty girl.” Shoko teases, “I’m serious about this though, I’m not sure how long I could stomach a trip like that. So,” Her hands drop to yours before she raises your fingers to her lips and plants a kiss across your knuckles, “Just promise me you’ll return in one piece?”

You sigh, “I promise.”

To which she smiles, fully. “Atta’ girl. Now go on before your knight comes in yellin’ at me like old times.”

It’s then that you decide to accept defeat. As much as you longed for her to accompany you, it seems there’s no convincing her. “Yeah, yeah, I’ll see you first thing when I come back.” You tell her while the two of you part ways.

Shoko sends you a wink, “You better, doctor’s orders.”

“Yes ma’am.” You end up waving her off, disappearing behind the same doors you came in from, and leaving her to herself.

The second you’re gone, Shoko tosses her head back and stares up at her ceiling. Raking her hands through her hair, she groans at the way she handled that situation for reasons unknown to you. Then she wipes over her face, stopping at her eyes in an attempt to rub the weariness away. 

When that proves to be unsuccessful, she turns back to her desk and kicks over a small trashcan nearby. Muttering only for her ears to hear, “Fuck…”

· · ──────── ·𖥸· ──────── · ·

After all that, you finally finally make your way outside. You and Yuki ended up jogging a bit to get there since people all throughout the palace had started to call for you. By the time you got outside, you were met with your parents, General Yaga, and some of your maids who sought to see you off.

The goodbyes were rather quick, a few hugs, and ‘be safe’ ‘s given to you before you approached your carriage. There, you found your feet coming to a stop and your eyes drinking in the eye candy you were about to have for the entirety of this trip. Your carriage driver merely tips his hat to you and smirks ever so slightly, “Shiu Kong, at your service, princess.”

Your lashes flutter but before you have enough time to gawk at him, there’s a slight nudge forward given to you from behind.

“We need to get going, now,” Higuruma grumbles to you.

You scoff and nudge him back before taking Shiu’s offered hand and stepping into your carriage. 

There were quite a few carriages but for this trip, it seemed as though you would be sharing one with your royal advisor. Outside would be that fine gentleman of a driver, Shiu, and beside him rode your knight. In another was your things, along with Utahime who wouldn’t dare stay home as you traveled elsewhere—who would help you into your dresses?

And with that, a few more exaggerated goodbye waves, and a tear or two from your dramatic mother (the Queen, mind you), you were headed off to your first destination: The Northern Nation. Home to your first (technically second) target; Prince Gojo Satoru.

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[perfectlyoongi]

SECOND-CHANCE!NAMJOON who asked the stars every night for them to guide you back to him.

SECOND-CHANCE!NAMJOON who was amazed to see you at his door on a saturday morning. you had rang the doorbell without any hope or desire — to tell the truth, you didn’t even know why you were there, why you rang the doorbell, why you waited for Namjoon. but when he opened the door, when you saw Namjoon for the first time after your breakup, you realized — your heart called out for Namjoon. but would that really be the reason? or would you have gone to his house to deliver the shirts you stole from him ages ago? would you have gone to Namjoon’s house just to say goodbye one more time? no, that didn’t make sense, it couldn’t be. Namjoon knew you, he knew you wouldn’t go that far for a second goodbye. so what were you doing there? wait… don’t you say th—

SECOND-CHANCE!NAMJOON who listened to you without uttering a single sound. your every word traveled to Namjoon’s heart, where they basked in a bed of eternal waiting. your every feeling was patiently listened to by Namjoon and weighed on a cosmic scale of opportunities. your every confession was met with pure hope and happiness, as if a new door had been opened for Namjoon’s love. you were in front of him, telling him how much you missed him and how much you needed him. you weren’t looking at Namjoon, but you were there, in front of him, saying how empty your life had become from the moment you separated. that saturday morning, you were there, in front of Namjoon, telling him how wrong it was that you ended your relationship — and Namjoon just listened to you.

SECOND-CHANCE!NAMJOON who waited for you to finish talking to kiss you. when you finished your rehearsed speech, there was a pause. for the first time since you arrived, you were looking at Namjoon waiting for an answer, a reaction, something that would tell you if it was a good idea for you to go see Namjoon. but Namjoon didn’t speak — Namjoon didn’t need to speak. as if begging for air, Namjoon kissed you for the first time in forever. as if searching for the reason for his existence, Namjoon kissed you once again as he had done so many times before. as if giving in to his fate, Namjoon kissed you. “i’ve waited forever for this moment. and i would wait however many eternities it would take to hold you in my arms again.”

SECOND-CHANCE!NAMJOON who asks you two, three times if you’re sure you want to start over. he wanted it, a lot, but Namjoon also wanted you to be happy — and if your happiness came at the cost of his, he wouldn’t mind offering you his happiness on a golden platter. so Namjoon wanted to be sure. would you be ready to start over? should you start over? with each question Namjoon asked, more certainties grew within you. yes, you never forgot Namjoon. yes, you always loved Namjoon. yes, you wanted to date Namjoon again. yes, it was Namjoon. it was always Namjoon like it was always you. and with your certainty and with all of Namjoon’s certainty, it happened. “knowing that your happiness still depends on me makes me feel so good. i know it’s selfish to feel this way, but i was so afraid that you would have found someone else who would make you happy.”

SECOND-CHANCE!NAMJOON who is finally happy. simply that. your return to Namjoon’s life brought pure happiness. that raw, heavy feeling that ran through your entire body and made you move and live; that pure and delicate feeling, which made you see the world in different colors; that feeling he had lost the day he lost you was back. just like you. how was it possible for Namjoon to not just be happy? “my god how i love you. how i missed you so much. how i love you. yes, again. because i always love you.”

SECOND-CHANCE!NAMJOON who promised to give you the entire universe as proof of his eternal love. like an exploding star and a nebula painting the vast nothingness of our universe, Namjoon wanted to shout to the whole world that you were back. Namjoon wanted to make sure your existence was marked in the universe. with your love, Namjoon would build constellations that would forever tell your story. with his love, Namjoon would build a world where the god was only you. pure veneration and devotion was what you deserved. and he insisted on giving you everything, the whole world, the whole universe — everything to make you happy. “and when the day comes when i have to leave, look for me in every creation in the universe, because i am there creating a new galaxy just for you.”

[cdyssey]

the eldest river in "the impossible astronaut" is always so fucking distressing to me in hindsight. the way she knows what's going to happen at lake silencio, but she can't say anything to the people she loves most. she constantly has to lie, always has to play pretend. spoilers. the fate of the entire universe depends on it.

and the doctor, her doctor, doesn't trust her because of it.

because of all the lies. because of what she has to do to necessarily protect them both.

how she has to revisit her ugly childhood and fractured youth and watch it from afar, incapable of helping that scared little girl in a spacesuit, the young woman submerged in the water.

and she watches her husband and parents, too—watches them watching her own making—and they don't even know it.

There's this exchange between her and her mother that becomes all the more harrowing when you realizing that she's talking about herself.

River: I know what you're thinking. Amy: No, you don't. River: You're thinking, "If we can find the spaceman in 1969 and neutralize it, then it won't be around in 2011 to kill the Doctor." Amy: Okay, lucky guess. River: It's only because I was thinking it, too.

and then there's the moment where she catches a glimpse of the Silence in the tunnels and all that pain and trauma comes rushing back to her in an sickening instant, and even when they disappear from her memory, that horror still lingers in her body, but she pretends to keep it together anyway for other people's sake anyway.

in those dark tunnels, she only allows herself five minutes to fall apart away from prying eyes.

and she would have gotten away with it, too, had her father not shown up. he's concerned—even though he doesn't know her very well yet—and he's there, and he's asking all the right questions.

Is she okay? what did she mean when said there's a worse day coming for her?

And River opens up to him in a way that we've rarely seen her do.

River: The trouble is, it's all back-to-front. My past is his future. We're traveling in opposite directions. Every time we meet, I know him more, he knows me less. I live for the days when I see him, but I know that every time I do, he'll be one step further away. And the day is coming when I'll look into that man's eyes, my Doctor, and he won't have the faintest idea who I am. And I think it's going to kill me. 

fucking gutting.

[brucewaynehater101]

Saw the ask about rogues and civilians thinking Red Robin died while he's off on BruceQuest AND discovering he spent years undercover as a sex worker and thus band together to makes entire sections of the city impossible for other Bats to enter

Fuck, how does this affect Red Hood? From Jason's own personal thoughts on Tim and (how much does he learn?) to his reputation

Yeah when Tim's hero reputation is irreparably FUCKED before he does things himself and goes off on BruceQuest, all hell is breaking loose and now a good chunk of Gotham's people and rogues are . . .

As far as they know right after the kid got Smear Campaigned he fucking DIED

Wtf would they even do after that?

Dick-as-Batman is gonna have it horrifically, how are civilians and rogues gonna treat Damian as Robin? Will they try and kidnap Dami to try and save him from Jane Doe's fate?

What does any major character think of this? Individually or collectively?

How does this affect their relationships with each other? Oh God, Alfred; what about him?

During BruceQuest do rogues and civilians alike try to reach out to the third Robin's associates to see if they need help themselves like Cassie

Joker???? What about him and if this is a timeline where Tim was earlier Joker Junior'd? What will he think when news comes out what will he do?

Does Harley decide, after Red Robin returns and it's revealed the kid is alive and well, to go "Joker is objectively 100% awful but he was up to something" and adopt Tim as her own kid of sorts, but without Joker sharing custody and doing it with her owm friends instead like Ivy?

My brains melting, go crazy go stupid

Alright!!! Let's try to answer the questions ^^

For Jason/Red Hood, it depends on how much RH is associated with the Bats. Before the BruceQuest, it might not be well-known that he's allies with the Bats (especially because he's shot at or tried to beat him up). Depending on how public his aggression towards Robin (now RR) was, this might endear him to the areas that are closed off. As far as emotionally, there Jason had to resort to crime and desperate measures just to eat. Dealer's choice on whether he had to resort to selling himself or not. Regardless, I bet Jason throws up repeatedly in horror and distraught after finding out that Tim has been doing that during his time as Robin (not sure when Tim would have started, but at least as young as 15). There's a bit you can explore there with angst and shit (especially since Jason attacked Tim at the age of 15).

I think that maybe Gothamites would believe that Robin has lost his marbles in grief. However, that makes perfect sense due to everything he's been through (as far as what's publicly known of him being a child therapist, Robin, and losing Batman). Despite them thinking it's possible he did lose himself, at least he wasn't putting people in the hospital like Batman did. I think they would be more upset that RR wasn't supported and how hypocritical everyone was.

It's a toss-up on how they would treat Damian. It probably varies between despising the child for taking over R3's place, wanting to protect him, and being indifferent to Batman throwing another child into the line of fire.

Alfred is debatable. How cruel it is to Alfred and how the old man reacts depends entirely on how he acted to Tim during his years of Robin, whether the 16th birthday incident happened, and whether he intervened when Damian said harsh comments to Tim. That would change Alfred's reaction to being either "fuck it's all my fault" or "what more could I have done so this didn't happen?"

Maybe a rogue or two tries to reach out to RR's non-Gothamite associates. I'm curious how Anarky reacts to all of this.

Adding JJ to this AU would be so fucking cruel to Tim, but I'm down for that. That would give him parent issues with 3 sets of parents, but Harley is just a complicated mess of emotions and shit. I think she would take on more of an aunt role to Tim due to the whole JJ incident. There could be some angst there with Tim calling her Aunt Harley

[arcadiabaytornado]

Hi! Happy Friday October 11 lol.

I’ve been hearing some people calling max and Chloe’s relationship codependent, and although I get the vibes, I was wondering if you could give some more in depth insight and explanations if you haven’t already/if you’re interested?

I am SO interested in talking about this! I love Pricefield, but easily the most unhealthy part of their relationship is the codependency they display.

Max will destroy herself for Chloe. I know that sounds like hyperbole.. but when you take lines like "I don't care what happens me. I have to make sure Chloe's safe." into account...it's not. And we see that it's not during the multiple times Max puts herself in danger on Chloe's behalf.

Just off the top of my head, Max: A: Tries to ambush Nathan during the Vortex Club party so Chloe can get her revenge, despite the fact that Max knows how dangerous he is. B: Confronts Frank at his RV to try and get information Chloe wants. C: Follows a weird text to the junkyard to try and protect the remains of someone Chloe cares about...which gets her kidnapped by Mark Jefferson. D: Drives through a dangerous storm to get to the diner so she can have the photo that will bring her back to Chloe.

There are more examples than the ones I listed above, but those are the four that first four that came to my head.

But it's not just herself Max will destroy for Chloe. She'll destroy the entire town. Which...LOOK. I always sacrifice Arcadia Bay. To ME that is the canon ending. HOWEVER...Max does bring a wave of death and destructive over a town to save the life of one person.

More Undercut

It's more complicated than that, of course. LIS is a game that asks the question "How far would you go for someone you love" and then waits for the player to answer. But like...at it's least nuanced core...the sacrifice Arcadia Bay ending is Max choosing mass destruction over letting Chloe go. Which does say something about their relationship that pairs uneasily with the fact that Max would also chose Chloe over herself.

Then we have Chloe. Chloe doesn't have time travel powers so she can't be quite as destructive as Max can...but she gives it a good effort. When Max leaves for five years without a word, Chloe spirals and becomes reckless and borderline suicidal. This is also because of the loss of her Father, but it's clear that Max's absence did a good amount of damage on it's own.

Chloe doesn't let Max go once in five years. She keeps photo's and memento's from their childhood strewn about her room, and when Max comes back, she becomes somewhat possessive over her presence. (EX: When she gets upset that Max answered Kate's phone call. And texting Warren to tell him that Max is off the table if they kiss.)

Chloe becomes just as dependent on Max as Max becomes on Chloe, which puts them in this cycle of dependency that lasts all the way until the end of episode 5. Where, ironically, Max saving Chloe and their relationship continues their pattern of codependency, while sacrificing Chloe breaks it in the most painful way possible.

So what does that mean for Pricefield if their relationship is codependent? Does it make their relationship unhealthy? Well...in my opinion as someone who loves Pricefield...I do think their relationship is unhealthy in a certain way. They're willing put each other before the world and before themselves....which is romantic on paper but when you really start digging into that it becomes not great.

However, I would also argue that their codependency is what makes their relationship so interesting to watch. After all, would it really be as compelling if Max just shrugged her shoulders and let Chloe go without a fight? Because I don't think it would be.

And I think that's really the entire point. Max and Chloe are two people willing to defy time and fate just to be together, and that makes them compelling. It also makes them destructive. But that destruction IS the intrigue.

[daylighteclipsed]

@generatedreflection Hope you don’t mind if I respond to your tags this way, since my og post is already kind of long! So running on the assumption that KH is a video game, or at least fiction/a story, in-universe and the characters are waking up and changing when they’re not “supposed” to…

I guess it depends on when the initial divergence from fate/the narrative/the program happened and how much it affected. Was Riku supposed to be our player character? If so, did Sora and Riku only swap physical places/external roles, or did their writing or programming adjust their personalities to fit their new places in the story/game so as to keep the narrative from diverging too much? Is this the first run through the story, or have there been multiple past loops we’re not privy to and that the characters don’t consciously remember but which still affect their hearts?

I’m thinking of ReCoded specifically, when Data Sora and Data Riku go on this whole adventure that’s similar to KH1 but different enough to shape them into their own people. Even after they’re reset to follow what’s written in the Journal, we know those memories remain in their hearts and in the hearts of their newfound Disney friends from the ‘real’ world, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy. So data KH1 will never truly reflect KH1 as we know it.

If ReCoded is spelling the big picture out for us, do Sora and Riku only start awakening during the one run of KH1 that we play… or have they been waking up because of one or more resets before that we haven’t seen? Is fate, destiny, the narrative, the program trying really hard to make this story play out the way it’s “supposed” to, but the boys keep swerving, developing more awareness and free will with every reset? Or is this the first run where things are different because of something the Master of Masters most likely set in motion? Or maybe what he set in motion has taken all these resets to come to fruition?

It’s a lot to think about. And I don’t have any answers. Certainly it’s interesting to consider all the different ways the story could go/is maybe “supposed” to go… If Sora and Riku’s roles are supposed to be flipped, with Riku as the champion of light and Sora as the one who falls to darkness… then it’s kind of ironic that they seem to be circling back to that now. Like rather than completely changing or swapping destinies, they just took a detour. They took the long way around, but the road still leads to the same place. Fate is fighting to correct course.

But I also think, you know, Sora could’ve always been meant to be the Hero and embody that archetype even if the Keyblade was not “supposed” to be his. I don’t think the one who wields Kingdom Key Light is synonymous necessarily with the Hero of the story or even the main protagonist. It’s also possible for Riku to pass on the Keyblade to Sora without falling to darkness.

Either way, the idea of Riku giving his crown/destiny to Sora, rewriting the story and essentially acting as the narrative for Sora in this sense, usurping fate, is interesting. Especially when you compare this to Data Riku’s role in ReCoded. He’s the vessel for the Journals, for the entire digital universe they create, and he protects it. He protects Sora’s story, the one we see in the games, which plays out how it does because Riku gives Sora the Keyblade.

The one thing I feel for sure — a lot of this, the story changing and characters waking up/coming alive, comes back to Riku. From what we see of him as a little kid, Riku’s always been more “awake,” it seems, than his peers. Always questioning things and possessing a wisdom beyond his years. It’s like he almost knows (or remembers) things he shouldn’t. As Sora puts it, Riku says “some weird stuff sometimes.” And I think Riku is the one who starts waking Sora up. He encourages Sora to think about things that it doesn’t seem Sora would think about on his own. To ask questions. To see their world differently. And to consider worlds beyond their own.

I think he’s why Sora’s first line in the series is about awakening. “I’ve been having these weird thoughts lately. Like — Is any of this for real or not?” And I think Riku’s why Sora’s able to connect with and awaken/bring to life so many characters in the story. That might even be canon, actually, if Riku encouraging Sora to open his heart to Ventus when they’re little kids is what teaches Sora how to... By empowering Sora, Riku is the catalyst for a ripple effect of change that defies destiny and universal law. And it culminates in his KH3 sacrifice which allows Sora to rewrite how the Book of Prophecies ends.

I think that’s what Riku has always represented: Awakening. Truth. The outside world — whether that means adulthood, reality, new perspectives, or lands yet untraveled. He makes the darkness conscious by bringing it to light. Especially for Sora. Riku quite literally wakes Sora up after CoM and in DDD, and his light pulls forgotten/repressed memories up from the depths. Riku’s often associated with the sun — the kind of bright, harsh light that hurts to look at. That makes it hard, if not impossible, to fall back asleep.

Riku’s the sudden light in your eyes that has you groaning and rolling away when someone has to get you out of bed in the morning lol He’s the rude awakening. The truth is often not pleasant or easy. It often hurts. But inevitably, it becomes known. Inevitably, the sun rises and illuminates the dark. Dawn breaks, and the day and all its challenges must be faced. No slacking off. Chop, chop. It’s time to wake up, Sora. Destati!

Even Data Riku in ReCoded is the one who lifts the curtain for Data Sora and ‘reveals the matrix’ so to speak. “It’s time for you to learn the truth.” Riku offers the truth, perhaps quite literally sometimes if that’s what his iconic outstretched hand gesture represents — and it definitely seems to given how KH3’s tutorial/awakening parallels Sora’s dream in the KH1 opening. But it’s up to Sora to accept the truth. To face it. To take Riku’s hand and awaken. It’s Sora’s choice.

Anyway. Whether Riku is “supposed” to be the Hero or was always meant to be the Rival, he’s not supposed to love Sora as much as he does, and certainly not in the romantic way the games suggest he does… I understand your hesitation about gay intent in KH… But it really feels like the “missing”/unspoken piece here that makes so many people scratch their heads over Riku’s character arc. For Sora, it’s less clear (especially in English), but I do think Riku is in love with him. And I truly believe so much of “destiny” changing and characters awakening, Sora awakening, comes back to that.

Destiny in this case would be the typical formula of Disney fairy tales and the expectations of our heteronormative society. And awakening would be developing awareness of these limitations and smashing them… Perhaps reflected through Riku and Sora exposing the flaws in the Light and Dark binary that’s dictated Keyblade society and caused many of the problems their generation has to contend with.

Perhaps the door to the light, to truth, to awakening IS the closet door, then (insert joke here about Riku literally being the gay awakening)… But it’s a lot of other things as well. Awakening is discovering any truth. Every truth. It’s knowledge of the systems that limit and control you, of any unseen force that holds you back. It’s power to see through illusions and lies, distortions and distractions. It’s free will and independent thought. It’s self-actualization and true freedom. After all, you cannot break free of chains you don’t know are there.

That certainly makes the Master of Masters an interesting fellow… It seems like he wants change. He wants the characters to deviate from the script, to awaken, to develop free will… But at the same time, he’s pulling all the strings. He’s the eye always watching them... Does he truly want freedom, or does he want to be the one who decides what freedom looks like?

[dark-elf-writes]

Imagine being Reborn and Skull. The Reapers are attacking and sure the other mafia is helping but they need guys on the Citadel. You’re doing your job.

Then a kid shining brighter then you’ve ever seen is there. Your Sky. In space. His mother is the woman trying to save the damn world.

You’re gonna do anything you can do to help

Reborn and Skull were sent off planet before the Reapers attacked.

Skull tried not to feel too guilty about it. Tried not to scan the casualty lists for familiar names. Tried to figure out a way for them to live through this that didn’t entirely depend on one woman.

He wasn’t very successful in any of those goals.

And yet somehow with the very fate of an entire galaxy in the balance with untold numbers of dead and dying at every turn, Skull stumbled across a boy with a Sky so vast he felt like he could tumble into it.

Stronger than any sky he had ever seen.

Stronger than Her.

The boy was sitting alone on a bench, a frown playing on his lips as he looked between the C-Sec building and the hospital across the way. It didn’t match his face. Not really. A sky like that was meant to be happy or at least at peace.

So Skull boosted himself on the bench next to him and popped off his helmet to flash the kid a smile. The kid didn’t smile back, most people didn’t these days, but he also didn’t run so that was a plus.

“What’s with the long face?”

The kid pressed his lips together then shrugged. “My brother is sad, but he keeps pretending like he’s not.”

“Why?” Skull knew it was a stupid question the moment he asked it, everyone was sad these days, but the kid didn’t seem to mind too much. Or maybe it wasn’t possible for him to look any sadder.

“Your dad is sick. Dying. The doctors won’t talk about it if I’m in the room, but I think they said it’s incurable.”

Skull winced. With the whole galaxy at stake it was a bit hard to remember mundane horrors like illness still existed. There weren’t many things that couldn’t be cured these days (way less than what he could remember back when he had first been cursed) but that only made the ones that couldn’t that much harder to accept.

“Damn. That sucks.”

The kid laughed, a rough shocked thing that held no actual humor. “Yeah. It does.” He kicked his legs a little harder in frustration. “If I was like mom I could find a way to save him, to save everyone, but..” he trailed off.

Skull didn’t know what to say, how to offer peace to this little Sky that ached with a loss that hadn’t even happened yet, so he slid the kid a card with his net address (a holdover from a time that he couldn’t forget no matter how hard he tried) and told him to call if he needed anything.

He didn’t expect to hear from the little Sky again. The citadel was a huge place after all. But when the call came he saw bright eyes looking back at him and a beaming smile that fit in all the ways his frown hadn’t.

“I think I figured out a way to help, but they say we need a Cloud and a Sun to make it work.”

He didn’t ask how the kids knew he was a cloud. Didn’t even pause to think about it when he told the kid he knew just the Sun and to send him the address.

Finding out that the kid in question was Tsunayoshi Shepard, son of the one woman fighting to save the galaxy and the missing heir to the Vongola, in that cramped hospital room with Thane Krios himself looking at them with barely contained threat really shouldn’t have surprised him as much as it had.

[mask131]

If Middle-earth is Earth in the past, is there any possibility for the magic to return? The magical creatures are probably all dead, but I assume the more spiritual beings like the Maiar and the Valar should still be around, right?

Asked this to a couple of friends that are Tolkien fans and they couldn't answer me.

Now I am NOT at all a Tolkien expert. I will try my best to answer you but I can't recommend you enough to go check actual lore-wise people for Tolkien... I know there are a handful of Youtube channels dedicated to explaining little tidbits of lore and answering specific questions about Tolkien's works. "In Deep Geek" or "Nerd of the Rings" are good starting places for casual Youtube videos about Tolkien lore, to listen in some spare time or just as background.

Now it depends what you mean by "magic" but, taking into account the whole "Middle-Earth is just prehistoric Earth/England's mythology" angle, in this sense, yes you are right about the point.

Most of the fabulous and fantastical creatures of legends and myth are dead or gone, and it is the whole point of Tolkien's work. The Lord of the Ring is literaly the tale of how an entire Age ended. It is something that begins quite early in The Hobbit, with the death of what was the last great dragon, but one doesn't get the full scope until we reach The Lord of the Rings, and by the end of it we are hit with everything. The Elves are fading away, the Wizards have all broken off in various ways, Sauron and his underlings are no more, the rings of power have no power anymore, the Ents are doomed to extinction, even some of the last descendants of the eldritch horrors like the Balrog or Shelob are dead. The great wonders of Middle-Earth are gone, beautiful or horrible, and it is sad and an end - but also a new beginning for a new age. And in this sense, yes, magic is technically gone or going away by the end of the Lord of the Rings.

But, as you pointed out, it doesn't mean "magic" is still disappeared forever, because in the Tolkien universe, magic IS the world. As you said, indeed, the Valar/Maiar are still around, and will always be there until the end of time. They are just out of reach and out of sight: this is one of the big themes of the Silmarillion, since it is the book where we go from "The gods walk the same earth we walk today" to "The gods are nowhere to be seen and work in mysterious ways". The whole point is that the Valar slowly retracted themselves from the universe, isolating themselves in the West, acting less and less in mortals affairs, imposing indirect means of interacting with fate and events rather than direct action... And it is part of the entire aesthetic of Tolkien's Legendarium: the regression of magic is constant, and while the world described in The Lord of the Rings seems like the "magical world" we today lost, when one reads the Silmarillion you realize LotR's Middle-Earth was actually a pretty drab and mundane world compared to the earlier Ages of the World. It is just that the very passing of Ages means that less and less magic and wonders happen - it is the Tolkien's way.

But they are not gone. There is still of this "magic" left around, it is just out of reach, hard to spot, not usually seen - and you have to know what you are looking for. Just like the Valar, who will always be there, but mortals cannot reach them, nobody remembers them, and they don't interact with us anymore. I think it was in The Hobbit that Tolkien literaly began by saying that some Hobbits still lived around England, though they hide away from humans and thus one would need tough chance to ever find them. It was just a "child's story" narrative device, but it still set the tone for the idea that there are remnants of LotR's Middle-Earth in our day and age (well more like in the 19th/early 20th century England), the same way Middle-Earth had by the time of LotR remnants of the first ages of the world (Shelob reminding of the distant threat of Ungoliant, or Galadriel's vial containing a last piece of primordial light).

Plus, you have to remember Tom Bombadil. The guy is definitively still around. And that's his role. When did he get there, we will never know, because he was never born - but he was there at some point, and he was there long before everybody else, and he will be there long after everybody else, and he'll still be around probably until the end of the world. As I said in my previous post, many people dismiss Tom Bombadil in LotR because yes, he provides nothing to the plot - but they miss his importance, that he is here as a symbolic and almost metaphysical character, as a tool not just to worldbuild but also to show the whole idea of this world. Yes the elves and dwarves and orcs are gone, and there are no more great wizards or terrible dark lords... but there will always be somewhere this weird singing guy who is definitively not human and nobody knows where he comes from, with his nature-spirit of a wife, and his grumpy murderous neighbor Old Willow. And I think it is quite important to understand Tolkien's whole approach to the "fading of magic". Tolkien's world is one of constant "degradation" (to the point he even stopped writing his story about a Fourth Age because he realized it would be much too bleak and dark even for him), but it is also one that is tied to his production for children and an interest in fairytale and children stories, and as such it also teaches to go search the real magic today not in immense dragons, or powerful elf-queens, or cursed antique jewels, but rather in a few Hobbits living their life hidden in some shire, or in an excentric Tom Bombadil deep within beautiful old woods.

[nientedenada]

Mages Guild Morass: A Mix-Up over Vanus Galerion's Final Fate

Also posted on r/teslore. A couple months ago, my friend @akaviri-dovah asked a question about Vanus Galerion's timeline.

Ok so I’m reading up on Vanus uesp page again and apparently there was a point wherein he abandoned his guild and left Tamriel?? […] "Over time, Galerion grew bitterly disillusioned with the contrived hierarchies and sinister political environment that the Mages Guild had become. He grew regretful for establishing the guild in the first place, as it had become monster of its own, and was too late for him to fix. After denouncing the guild, Galerion elected to leave Tamriel entirely to travel to other lands. For many years Galerion wandered around Nirn. Eventually, after long his abandonment of the Mages Guild, Galerion claimed that he had found the virtue of magic in his solitary travels." [This description] probably wouldn’t line up with how he still managed to gather so many mages and Lamp Knights (guild specific) in his battle against Manni right?

This question completely confuddled me at first, because it turned out I didn't know my Vanus Galerion lore very well at all. But now I know a lot more and I am here to share a very niche lore puzzle with you all.

I think we're all aware that when the devs imported lore books into ESO, they didn't always make certain the books' contents fit into the previously established timeline. Sometimes that can be explained by Hermaeus Mora moving books about through time, but often books are edited for ESO but some detail is overlooked. This is what appears to have happened with Vanus Galerion.

Origin of the Mages Guild, written by Ted Peterson, has been in every big TES game since Daggerfall except Skyrim. It’s been edited for different games, but the last paragraph is the same in all versions.

One need not be a member of the Mages Guild to know that this carefully contrived hierarchy is often nothing more than a chimera. As Vanus Galerion himself said bitterly, leaving Tamriel to travel to other lands, "The Guild has become nothing more than an intricate morass of political infighting."

In Daggerfall and Morrowind, that is the last heard of Vanus Galerion. This version is backed up by a role-playing thread from 2001 in which Ted Peterson, posting as Tedders, has an exchange with Vanus Galerion (also played by himself)

Tedders: Thank Mara for Vanus Galerion for freeing the Old Ways and founding the Mages Guild. Vanus Galerion: For many long years I did regret that very deed, as it seems I created just another monster of sinister politics. The virtue of magic I found in my solitary travels, many years after I abandoned the Mages Guild and ventured on my own. Tedders: Poor Trechtus. It's too late now.

Oblivion, though, adds a new version of Vanus Galerion’s fate. In Mannimarco, King of Worms, it’s explained that Vanus never did peace out on the Mages Guild. He actually died leading Mages Guild Lamp Knights against Mannimarco.

They say Galerion left the Guild, calling it 'a morass,' But untruth is a powerful stream, polluting the river of time. Galerion beheld Mannimarco's rise through powers sublime, To his mages and Lamp Knights, 'Before my last breath, Face I must the tyranny of worms, and kill at last, undeath.' He led them north to cursed lands, to a mountain pass.

(Short interlude: this is not quite as bad as Mannimarco's own poetry, but it ain't good)

In this text, Vanus Galerion is killed in the fight against Mannimarco

A thousand good and evil perished then, history confirms. Among, alas, Vanus Galerion, he who showed the way,

This version is supported by Mannimarco’s claim in Oblivion that he had Galerion’s corpse in his possession.

I must say, I expected Arch-Mage Traven, rather than his star pupil. I am disappointed to see that he could not face me himself. I have met so many of his predecessors over the years. I developed a particular fondness for Galerion, ill-preserved though he may be.

So, depending on whose version you believe, Vanus either left the guild calling it a morass or led the guild in a final battle against Mannimarco.

In comes ESO to complicate matters.

The ESO Devs did not include Mannimarco, King of Worms in the game, since Vanus Galerion is still alive in ESO. But they didn’t ignore the text. A lot of the details of Vanus and Mannimarco’s early life from Mannimarco King of Worms are fleshed out in the Summerset expansion via. Vanus’ ESO autobiography: Artaeum Lost, as well as in ESO flashbacks to their time with the Psijics.

However, base game ESO stumbled with their version of Origin of the Mages Guild, which still ends

One need not be a member of the Mages Guild to know that this carefully contrived hierarchy is often nothing more than a chimera. As Vanus Galerion himself said bitterly, leaving Tamriel to travel to other lands, "The Guild has become nothing more than an intricate morass of political infighting."

When you bring this book into ESO, you get the implication that Vanus got into a snit at the Mages Guild, left Tamriel to travel other lands, AND THEN came back from abroad for the events of ESO where he’s very involved in Mages Guild business again.

So to sum it up

Version 1: Daggerfall to Morrowind: Vanus is said to have called the guild a morass and left Tamriel at some unspecified date. That is the last mention of him.

Version 2: Oblivion to Skyrim: It's suggested that story is untrue and he actually died leading the Mages guild in a fight against Mannimarco but many believe he instead left Tamriel after calling the Guild a morass.

Version 3: ESO: Doesn't go into Vanus' death because it's not happened yet but keeps details from that Oblivion/Skyrim Version about his earlier life with Mannimarco. ESO devs miss the detail of the morass line referring to Vanus Galerion's permanent disappearance in both Versions 1 and 2.

I think if we go with Version 3, which is the most up-to-date, we would conclude that he did get into an earlier snit with his subordinates, went globetrotting, and then came back to guide the Mages Guild. Centuries later, someone misattributed the morass remark from the earlier situation to the latter disappearance.

Or you could go with time-travelling books.

Or you could just shrug your shoulders and ignore the obvious developer error and continue with the timeline established by the previous games.

UESP has cobbled all these sources into one timeline: ESO Events -> Morass Remark and Exit from Mages Guild -> Leading the Mages Guild against Mannimarco/ Death. But unless we go with the time-travelling books theory, this doesn’t seem possible.

End of Morass Gate.

[maruiin]

Part 1

Part 2

The air was frosty, puffs of steam escaping from our mouths with each deep exhale. I walked behind Jesper, Kaz, and Inej, looking around cautiously. Until we got away from here, we needed to be very careful. Ahead, as agreed, there was a carriage with horses harnessed. Jesper did an excellent job, unlike the rest of us.

The Sun Summoner slipped from our grasp; we didn't even spend a minute near her. Now, I was sure that none of us had a further plan. Right now, I think we'll head to the city and decide our next move there. Perhaps we'll still have a chance to catch the Summoner, get a million kruge, return to Ketterdam, and continue living a normal life.

Up ahead, the guys are arguing about something, mostly Kaz and Jesper. As we approach the carriage, I look around once again. While Jesper, followed by Inej and Kaz, climb onto the driver's seat, I peer into the darkness, checking if anyone is following us. Getting caught now, when we're almost free from the guards, would be foolish.

"Grace, come on, take a seat," Jesper teases, saying those words with a playful tone because he finds something amusing. I turn my head towards them, inspecting the horses, the carriage, and my friends who have already settled in and are waiting for me.

Yes, I've become quite suspicious. Just ten minutes ago, I killed a person, and even the fact that I saved Inej from her personal sin and Kaz from death doesn't calm me down in the slightest. Now, I sense treachery everywhere, as if there's a threat behind every corner, a Grisha or a soldier. I place my right foot on the step, balance my left foot on the edge near Kaz, and pull myself up using my arms on the roof. I sit next to Inej, tucking my left leg under me and letting my right leg hang down from my side.

Throughout all this, I avoid looking at anyone, keeping my gaze down. I feel Inej glancing at me anxiously, torn between the impulse to take my hand, which I'm currently gripping the edge of the carriage roof between Jesper and Kaz, or to leave things as they are and maybe talk about it later in private. She knows I won't pour my heart out in front of the guys, especially not in front of Brekker. Not my style.

Still, she chooses the second option, leaving me with a genuinely encouraging smile when I look at her. Yes, Inej, you're one of the few who understands me. Jesper is still chatting away to Kaz, until Kaz asks him about the whereabouts of the Sun Summoner. Jesper smiles, as if the fate of the entire world depends on him right now, and releases the horses. The carriage jolts, so I grip the edge of the roof tighter.

Dawn was approaching. Maybe another half hour or so, and the sun would start rising above the horizon, painting the sky in shades of pink, filling the darkness of the night with light. We continue to roll through the streets of Os Alta, checking for any pursuit. Tails are unnecessary now, and changing clothes would be a good idea; dressed as guards, we might raise too many questions.

"Jesper, turn down a less crowded street, we need to change clothes before sunrise attracts attention."

Jesper nods and turns onto another, less bustling street. We tried to head to the outskirts of the city, again, not to raise suspicions from the residents or the guards, since some of them have seen us. We pull under a bridge, and Jesper stops the horses.

"Alright, you guys go first," Inej says, "stuff inside." She pats the roof of the dark carriage. Kaz and Jesper jump down first, getting inside the carriage. Inej and I slowly descend from the roof, stretching our limbs.

I wrap myself in the coat that was part of the guard uniform and exhale with relief. We escaped. Inej approaches me slowly, touching my shoulder. It happens so unexpectedly that I flinch.

"Don't you want to talk about it?" Inej never insisted, not even now, but there was an underlying plea in her voice, like saying, "It'll be easier if you tell." I sigh deeply a few times, swallowing the lump in my throat, and rub my fingertips together. I've always done this when nervous.

- "And what do you want to hear?" I ask quietly because I don't want anyone to hear me at all. After all, I know that Kaz is listening in on us. Inej presses her plump lips together, rubbing my shoulder in support. - "I killed a person, Inej... I never imagined anything like this, never played out in my head how something like this could happen."

Inej listens, nodding humbly at certain moments, and I continue speaking just as softly, not breaking the tone.

- "And I absolutely can't understand myself. At times, I tremble as if with a fever. I remember his body, that dagger sticking out of his head, and a wave of panic engulfs me. But there comes a moment when I don't... I can't..." I pause, interrupting my rapid mumbling, something resembling a confession, and I raise my eyes to Inej. - "I can't imagine what it would be like if you did it... I can't imagine if Grisha had reached Kaz and killed him. And in those moments, I realize that I did everything right, that I wouldn't have done it differently, it wouldn't have worked out differently. And it becomes even scarier from that..."

Tears well up in strong and brave Inej's eyes, I see how much it hurts her to listen to this, but she swallows the lump of tears and says:

- "Why didn't you let me do it?"

- "You yourself said it was a sin..." I smile at the corner of my lips and watch as Suli's face relaxes. - "And I couldn't let you do it."

She smiles, a small tear running down her cheek, which Gafa couldn't hold back. Without thinking about anything or anyone, she turns me completely toward her and hugs me, holding me tightly against her body.

How weak I feel. I'm sure Inej would have held herself together, not showing her emotions, not showing how much she's suffering from what she's done. She would have swallowed it and perhaps forgotten over time, continuing to live on and instilling her faith in everyone. Unfortunately, I'm not Inej...

- "You know what your problem is, Grace?" Inej asks, pulling away from me but not letting go of my shoulders. Our height difference is noticeable now. Not much, but I'm about five centimeters taller than Inej. - "You're afraid that we'll look at you differently. You're afraid that I or Jesper or Kaz will look at you as a killer, accuse you of it. Deep down, you think that our attitude toward you will change, but it won't. It will never be like that."

Inej speaks in a full voice, not afraid to be heard, but apparently, that's so I'll literally ingrain her words into my head.

- "Thank you, Inej..." I whisper words of gratitude to the Suli who looks at my eyes, now full of tears, with a smile. Our brave Suli certainly knows how to move me.

Jesper jumps out of the carriage first, and then Kaz follows, seemingly limping even more on his right leg. I wipe away the tears so the guys won't see. Otherwise, I'd endure a month of Jesper's jokes about women's tears. But even for that, I adore him.

- "Your turn," the sharpshooter rushes to inform us. All this time, he kept looking back, staring at the large chest for belongings attached to the back of the carriage. But I decide not to ask him about it. Who knows, maybe he just imagined it, so I jump ahead of Inej into the carriage, closing the door.

For a few minutes, we don't get out of the carriage, adjusting our clothes and rearranging our weapons. Inej mostly has knives, both long and short, for close and ranged combat, each with its name. I, on the other hand, stick with the usual: a pistol, bullets, and two daggers. One was given to Inej, the other gifted by Kaz.

The spot where Brekker's gift used to rest was now empty.

We jump out of the carriage and approach the guys who are discussing something.

- "We need to find some tavern, stay there for a while, and come up with a plan for our next actions," Kaz says, inspecting Inej and me for readiness, pausing his gaze on my hand that now rests on my thigh with an empty sheath for the dagger. Kaz doesn't reveal anything; he doesn't even frown. He just raises his eyes to me, and we exchange glances.

- "We passed a tavern not far from here; I think we could stop there," Jesper suggested. In the meantime, I shift my gaze from Kaz to Wylan, as I can't withstand the intensity of his penetrating eyes. At another time, sure, we might have even competed in staring contests, but right now, I'm just a couple of steps away from remembering my recent conversation with Inej and bursting into tears again.

- "I think that's a good idea," Inej agrees, already turning towards the carriage.

- "Agreed," I nod approvingly because I don't see any other options. We all head towards the carriage, and then I notice once again how Jesper keeps looking in the direction of the chest. - "Jesper, what are you peering at over there?" He only grins slyly, looking first at me, then at Kaz and Inej, and then shifting his gaze back to the chest.

- "Oh, just making sure we don't lose anyone else's belongings along the way," we all look at him in surprise, I even raise an eyebrow in confusion, - "you never know, maybe the cargo is too valuable."

- "You can check it yourself later." Kaz scowls, responding to Jesper's words with a grim expression.

- "Of course, we will make sure to check..."

I can only smile, shaking my head from side to side. It's always fun with Jesper around; if it weren't for him, I can't imagine how our heists would go without his presence and his sense of fun for everyone.

And above the rooftops, the sun of a new day was already shining brightly.

[getvalentined]

Has anyone asked about Seem for the character ask game?

HIGH PRIEST SEEM OF THE GOLDEN ORDER

🎟️ SEXUALITY HEADCANON: Seem is completely and totally pansexual. Sex and gender don't matter to her at all.

⚧️ GENDER HEADCANON: This depends on which version of her I'm working with, but generally I read Seem as some flavor of nonbinary. The devs refer to her with she/her pronouns, while the only pronoun ever used for her in-game is they, which is pretty distinct—particularly for a game that came out in 2004.

💕 A SHIP: Jak/Seem is my #1 top favorite pairing in the entire series. The progression of their canonical relationship is one of my favorite things, because it takes the entire game to get to the point where they admit any kind of reliance on one another, and at that point they're so comfortable with each other that neither of them question the other—I don't think it's much of a jump to assume that could develop into something other than a platonic relationship with more time.

🖇️ A BROTP: In canon, Seem+Daxter for sure. The idea of the two of them taking turns dragging Jak away from his more self-destructive behaviors, conspiring with each other to make sure he eats and sleeps and slows down is one of my favorite things. In a different world, I love love love the idea of Seem and Gol Acheron getting to know each other. I've RP'd and plotted out multiple AUs with this concept, generally resulting in Gol referring to Seem as "the little Light Sage." She's studied his research for her entire life, so she has a healthy dose of respect for him, megalomania notwithstanding.

🚫 A NOTP: Would you believe people used to ship Seem with Veger? Not like...a lot. But it happened. That one gets a yikes from me.

💭 A RANDOM HEADCANON: Seem is Onin's granddaughter; Onin was the leader of the Order when Praxis had the Precursor monks banished from Haven following the fall of the holy district, but she apostatized in order to be allowed to stay and continue to provide guidance to city leadership—because that's what she was supposed to do, Onin is omnipresent in time due to overexposure to light eco in early adulthood, so this wasn't an act of selfishness but an acceptance of fate. (Y'know Everything Everywhere All At Once? Onin is kinda like that, but it's less of a constant jumble.) Seem was obviously very young at the time, but given that her mother died in the aforementioned destruction of the Sacred Site, that made her the next in line to become High Priest; regardless of her age and inexperience, not to mention the fresh trauma of her mother's death, Onin allowed Seem to be thrown into the wasteland to die along with everyone else. The fact that she not only survived but thrived, reuniting with Damas and reclaiming the Order's oldest temple, is irrelevant to Seem with regard to her feelings on the situation. She's never forgiven Onin for this, and she never will.

🗣️GENERAL OPINION: Favorite character in the whole series. I named a cat after her. I love her more than I can express.

[santalsaburablog]

The adventures of Santal. Chapter 19: The First Mission

Sometimes it's harder to accept help than to offer it.

A suspicious incident! The esteemed Chancellor of the Republic invited Santal Saboura to a tea party! And then he went down to the lower levels of Coruscant with her in order to see if she could be used for his own purposes. However, everything did not go according to plan. After a while, Master Mace Windu approaches Santal, wanting to ask a question...

"What kind of question?" Santal asked, looking up.

"Who are you?" The magister asked.

Santal found the question very strange.

"Doesn't he know my name?" she wondered. And then I thought that this was probably a philosophical question. And she replied:

— I'm Santal Sabura. A ten-year-old girl. Yunling. Originally from Ryloth. I'm studying in the Dragon Clan.

"Go on."

"A man." I do not know what else to say.

"You're not a Yongling anymore. Santal felt a chill in her stomach. Had he found out about the outing with the chancellor at the club? "You're my padawan now." The Council agreed.

Today, but a little earlier

On that day, the supervisors of the younglings submitted reports on their groups. When it was Terah Sainube's turn, he showed up at the appointed time and said:

— So, I am glad to inform you that almost everyone has passed the tests. I would especially like to highlight Green Pine, Landa Selmura, Max Navarre and Santal Sabura.

— Are you implying that...

— They are quite ready. I have complete confidence in them. Of the entire group, these four are the most prepared, both physically and spiritually. As their supervisor, I can assure you that although they don't know much, I have nothing to teach them.

Then the members of the Council began to think who should be given which teacher. The discussion dragged on for a long time. Choosing a teacher is not as easy as it seems. Too much depends. Teachers and students converged for different reasons. Sometimes a teacher might spot a potential student at a Padawan Tournament. Sometimes the teacher, wanting to find a pupil, asked his colleagues if there was a suitable one in mind. And sometimes the fate of the master and padawan brought together from early childhood.

But still, it was a Jedi Order that listened to the personal opinions of the knights. So, if a teacher chose a student, no one had the right to refuse him. Only as a last resort. Conversely, a student could either accept or reject an offer to become a padawan of a particular Jedi.

"I feel in the Force that the time has come for Santal Sabura," Yoda said, closing his eyes. — It's time for her to move on to the next stage. Follow the path as a padawan.

— Do you have any suggestions who might be a worthy teacher for her, Master Yoda? Ki-Adi Mundi asked.

"Don't forget that she might be... chosen,— Seshi Tiin reminded her. — So, it's worth taking this issue as seriously as possible.

"As far as I know," Plo Kun said, "there haven't been any problems with her lately.

—That's right,— Mace Windu agreed. — In this regard, she is much better than Skywalker.

"Nevertheless," Mundi added, "I must remind you that she was also noticed for serious violations.

"You mean her escape after Master Dooku?" Korun asked.

— Not only that. But of all her misdeeds, this is the most serious.

— That's why it's so important that the incident doesn't happen again. This girl definitely has a lot of potential that needs to be developed. She needs a strong and experienced teacher who will guide her and keep her in line.

"In that case, I'll be her teacher." Mace Windu stood up from his chair. — Who agrees?

As a rule, if a teacher wanted to take on a student, then no one could refuse him. So in this case, no one objected. The decision was approved unanimously.

—And now let's get to the point,— said Seshi Tiin.

A hologram of the planet was activated in the room.

"A high—frequency signal was received from the planet Nazuus last night. Anonymous message. Here, listen to this.

The Jedi pressed a button, and a quiet male voice rang out in the room. "Hello. Excuse me... I... don't know.... How can I say... I really need your help. I can't tell you everything, but on the planet Nazuus, everything is not as you think. This is not a heavenly planet! That's a lie! Anyway, I can't say everything... I'm being watched. Oh, what is it?!"

Then a startled cry was heard. The recording stopped. The Jedi Council sat in silence for a while, apparently considering what they had heard.

— I feel despair and fear. We have to find out the whole truth," Yoda was the first to leave.

— I agree. That's why I'm going to this planet," Windu said.

— It's dangerous to fly alone. Take the Jedi who are free with you. Help would not be superfluous. And take your padawan with you.

—Magister, won't it be dangerous?" This is her first mission. And we don't know for sure what to expect on Nazuus.

"Don't worry. My Padawan will always be with me. If anything goes wrong, I will contact you immediately.

"Have it your way, Magister.

present time

"Padawan?" Santal couldn't believe her ears.

- yes.

—I... don't know what to say."

The girl did not expect this. No, she was sure that sooner or later this day would come. But for now... At a time like this... And this time, she didn't choose the teacher, but he chose her. He made the decision himself. And her right is to submit. Santal somehow doubted that she could refuse. Maybe he'll miss the chance. Moreover, Mace Windu is a member of the Council with training experience, and she also heard that he was friends with Master Dooku.

Apparently, the magister thought about the same thing and said:

"Well, from now on, I'm your teacher, and you're my student.

—I'm very glad,— Santal said, deciding that she needed to say something, too.

— Now get to the point. We have a mission.

Another surprise. Right away and into the thick of it. Mace Windu briefly explained to Santal what was going on. They have to fly to a distant planet to find out what happened. A signal for help was received.

It was decided to leave immediately. The newly minted teacher and student went to the Temple intendant, who gave them all the necessary equipment and equipment for all occasions.

Santal remembered from her lessons what every Jedi should always have with them. But it was useful to refresh my memory. For the trip, the girl chose a special backpack, where she put everything. She also received her first auxiliary belt, which included a comlink, grappling hook, breathing apparatus, portable holoprojector, holocards, A99, and a beacon transceiver. Also, a lightsaber, food rations in the form of capsules, a glowing wand or flashlight, and tools for repairing lightsabers were considered indispensable in any mission.

On top of that, Santal ran into her room before the mission. She attached a lightsaber created by her own hands to the left. Excited about her first task, the girl activated it, admiring the turquoise glowing blade. How beautiful he is! Looking at it, the girl remembered that she also has a memorable kayber crystal. A parting gift from Master Dooku.

Santal opened the desk drawer and pulled it out, carefully locked with a key in the casket. Tears welled up in her eyes. After looking at it for about five minutes, the girl decided to take it with her and put it in her pocket. Let it be her mascot. Until another sword is created. But it won't be soon.

Then she remembered about the hat she had bought, pulled it out from under the bed and put it on. The Jedi were forbidden to own anything special, so she decided to hide it just in case after the purchase. But now, while you have a minute, you can admire your reflection in the mirror.

The girl mentally digested her new status. Padawan Santal Sabura. It sounds more impressive. But she didn't feel like she was taller or more mature yet. Nothing has changed. But, apparently, everything will change after the first mission. Santal was nervous. She hadn't participated in missions before. The very word "mission" says that this is something important. But on the other hand, she has a teacher by her side who will protect her from everything.

Moreover, unlike other Younglings, she managed to visit some planets. No experience at all.

Santal automatically put her hat in her backpack and hurried to the teacher.

"I hope that the life of a padawan will teach you punctuality,— the teacher said sternly.

The girl was scared. Am I really too late?

"Come on."

Mace Windu led Santal to a hangar where there were various transport ships, starships, interceptors, and stopped near an ordinary shuttle.

— Since there are no flights to Nazuus, pilots hardly fly there, so we will fly there ourselves.

The teacher took the helm, and Santal sat next to him. The shuttle smoothly took off like a bird and flew forward.

It was going to be a long flight. After all, the two Jedi had to travel to the territory bordering the Outer Rim and Unexplored Regions. But everything is fine as long as there is hyperspace. That's what Windu did.

With a few hours left before boarding, Santal decided to study all the available information about Jesus and meditate to calm her thoughts. But if Santal coped with the first task perfectly, then with the second one she got a maximum of three.

The girl didn't stop being nervous. Not only because for the first time in so many years she flew to another planet legally and accompanied by an adult Jedi, but also because of that anonymous message. From the very beginning of the mission, she had a feeling of foreboding. She kept thinking that something was going to happen, something bad.

Strangely enough, the landing went smoothly. The Jedi ship landed without any problems. Santal was about to run out when the teacher stopped her.

— You can't just run out to a new planet. It's indecent. And dangerous, too. It was not uncommon for a ship to be blown up upon landing. Therefore, it is necessary to go out calmly, but not skipping or running. This way you'll attract less attention from outsiders. And don't let your guard down.

Santal slowly stepped off the ramp onto solid ground, not forgetting to look around. The planet they landed on turned out to be quite beautiful, but at the same time quite strange.

The first thing that caught the girl's eye was the outlandish structures in the form of cubes. And, apparently, they were made of transparent glass. Santal could clearly see the reflection of the outside world in the wall. Tearing her gaze away from him, the padawan scanned the surroundings. There was a kind of pond near the cube. And to his left is a sheer cliff.

It was only now that Santal noticed that they had not landed on the landing pad. Why was this done? Apparently, the teacher thought it would be better this way. And the girl is not used to arguing.

Santal turned her attention to the pond. There were a few greens floating in the water, but overall it was clean. At least that's what Santal thought. Although it was difficult to judge because of the fog that lay a meter above the ground.

"Teacher, what are we going to do?" Santal raised her head, looking hopefully at the teacher.

"Listen to me carefully, Padawan. Mace Windu got down on one knee in front of the girl. — I have no confidence in this planet. Like yours, for sure, too. Although some members of the Council were very skeptical about the anonymous message, I feel that it is not worth ignoring it. Now we're going to look for the locals. Anyone we meet can help us get to the truth. We will be very lucky if we can do this quickly. Forward.

The two Jedi set off. Santal huddled close to her mentor all the way, looking around every five minutes. It was too scary for her to walk through unfamiliar terrain. And in a blue-tinted fog. It won't take long to get lost.

The girl shivered. Well, no way. She's already been lost once. Enough. She sincerely hoped that the mission would go more or less smoothly, without stupid adventures.

Santal had a desire to take the teacher's hand more than once to make it easier. But she didn't dare. After all, Master Windu is strict. He is a lifelong member of the Council for a reason. And Korun must have sensed her excitement, since he decided to break the silence.:

— Tell me, did you study the information about Nazuus before we arrived?

- yes. But, unfortunately, there is very little information there.

"That's not surprising. The planet is located practically on the territory of the Republic, but its inhabitants keep to themselves. The anonymous message we received is their first contact in the last hundred years. There is a danger that this is a trap or a trap. But it's still very strange. And our goal is intelligence. Therefore, you should not attract attention to yourself.

After the briefing, Santal began to understand the situation better. Their task is to understand why the signal was sent. And in general, get fresh information about this mysterious planet. Well, this is her first mission. She'll do her best.

Thank the Force, the city was two kilometers away from their ship. The girl walked and was amazed at the sudden change in the landscape. There was just a natural landscape, and everything changed to a city. Nothing to do with Coruscant. It was completely covered with tall buildings, and nature was only in parks, but here it was just a vivid contrast. Although this is only her first mission, and who knows what outlandish worlds still await her in the future.

The teacher and the student entered the city, and Santal was immediately taken by the hand.

"I hope you won't get lost this time,— Master Windu said. "Otherwise, it'll be harder to find you this time."

The girl herself was glad not to leave the elder Jedi and even involuntarily snuggled closer to him. She was scared. And not because the city was scary, no. An ordinary city. Except that there are cubes everywhere, as if made of glass. Although, no, there were normal houses in the distance, more similar to Coruscant. First of all, Santal was afraid of the fact that the streets were completely empty. The city seemed to have died out. Although... maybe it's because they arrived at night, which means the residents are asleep.

— What are we going to do, Teacher? "What is it?" the girl asked.

— We need to find a place to stay.

Santal thought that the teacher would decide to find a hotel, but he decided to return to the ship. The man turned around and suddenly stopped dead, causing the girl to bump into his back. A girl stood in the middle of the road with her feet shoulder-width apart and her arms at her sides. She was dressed in a gray nondescript suit, had pale skin with a bluish tinge and very short black hair. Only the presence of breasts and a waist gave her away as a female being.

The girl was silent, her lips were compressed, and her light gray eyes expressed nothing, and this scared Santal off. The mysterious stranger walked straight towards them. The girl squeezed the teacher's hand harder, feeling the calmness in the Force in response. Like, don't panic, we still need to figure out who she is and what she is like.

Coming closer, the girl spoke in a slightly mechanical voice, which only made the horror worse.:

— Hello. My name is Vajunvi. I have been instructed to show the newly arrived guests to the Campus. As I understand it, you are. Please introduce yourself.

"My name is Mace Windu, and this is my padawan Santal Sabura. We represent the Jedi Order.

— Name the purpose of the visit.

— Did you say "newly arrived guests"? Did you know we were coming?

— Name the purpose of the visit.

— Establishing diplomatic contacts. Recently, your planet has become isolated from the entire galaxy.

"Everything is safe on Nazusa. Everything is for the common good. Security is a good thing. Come on, I'll give you a tour. And then I'll show you the house where you're staying.

Junwi led the Jedi to an unusual object. Also made of glass. And he was on wheels. It looks like everything here was made of this stuff.

During the trip, the woman was not silent for almost a minute. All attempts to tactfully interrupt her or change the subject of the conversation ended in failure. During the trip, Santal began to think even more that this woman was a robot.

At first, the girl honestly tried to listen with interest, but it quickly faded away when it became clear that her story, like the man, consisted of sixty percent water, and the lady was saying about the same thing.:

— Our planet has two main zones: the Green Wilderness and the Single City-State in which we live. It is through its streets that we are driving now. I'll show you everything. Cubes surround you on the left and right. These are homes for the simplest people, whom we call "ides". They made it out of Altrazanian glass, which is manufactured by the Altra Zanna company. The largest and only one on the planet. She makes everything here: furniture, dishes, houses. It was founded by our Benefactor. And

it was built by two hundred thousand ides.

— Why do you have such a shape at home? Santal asked, leaning forward.

The teacher looked at her. However, Junwi was not at all embarrassed and replied:

— That's what our Benefactor decided. The ruler of our State. He believes that houses should be ideal for all residents.

— But the houses here are different. For example, I see high...

— These are specialized buildings. In general, our city is divided into three main districts. There are additional ones, but I'll tell you about them later. So, the first district that we passed through is a Residential Area. The second district is the Educational and Consumer Zone, where all the important buildings are located. Shops, schools, universities, and more. They were made by order of our Benefactor. A hundred thousand Ides built them. Look, this is one of the tallest buildings on the planet — the Museum of Antiquity. It contains exhibits from the entire history of the planet! It took almost a hundred years to build it! It was made by order of our Benefactor. And finally, the third district is the State District, where the most important residents live. Including the Benefactor's House. But we're not going there.

- why?

— The Benefactor's house is closed to the public. Illegal entry into its territory is punishable by law. Now we will return to the first district, where I will show you where you will stay. I must warn you that men and women live separately in our country.

"She's my student. And it will be easier for us....

— Men and women live separately, regardless of their social roles.

I had to give in. Santal only hoped that she would not be placed too far from the teacher. But her hopes were poorly realized. She was moved out a few blocks away.

— I hope you like the accommodation.

— Yes, the house is quite cozy and spacious. Please tell me, can we talk to your Benefactor?

— Unfortunately, you can't just see the Benefactor. He's very busy. His task is to manage the best City in the world. Thanks to him, there is order and tranquility everywhere. Now get some rest. You must be tired from the journey. It's not breakfast time yet.

The teacher thought for a while and asked:

"Don't worry, Vajunvi. We are not tired. It will be much more useful for us to walk around the neighborhood. So we'd better explore the city.

— I will be happy to accompany you wherever you go.

— I dare to object. In this case, we will do without an accompanying person.

— Strangers on our planet are strictly forbidden to walk alone. Besides, I won't bother you. I just don't want to be a bad guide. What do you want to see?

Santal couldn't stand it and yawned. To tell the truth, she was already tired and she wanted to sleep. And Junwi noticed it and turned to Mace.:

— Maybe you'll rest after all? In the meantime, I'll show you your house. And then you can go to breakfast. The woman led the magister on.

So Santal was left alone. At the cube house. She felt creepy again, even more so than when she was with the teacher. Having no alternative and not wanting to get lost, she went into the house. She wanted to take a nap, but then she remembered what she was taught: first you need to study everything and look around. The importance often lies in the little things. Even a minor detail can give a clue. That's what she decided to do.

The house turned out to be unusual. Rather, relatively unusual. It reminded her of her room in the Temple. Here, too, only what is needed, and nothing superfluous. But there were differences. And the first thing that caught my eye was that everything was made of glass. Walls, floor, furniture. All. And that made the girl uncomfortable. The city was visible through the wall. On the one hand, this is good. You can study urban life from the comfort of your home. But on the other hand... you're in the palm of your hand. Everyone can see what you're doing. At least that's what Santal thought. If that's the case...

Going to the window, the girl noticed the curtains. Great, I can cover myself up somehow. Santal then went to the bed and sat on it. That's not very gentle. Although a Jedi's bed is not an airy cloud either. But it's still better at home.

The girl yawned and lay down. She couldn't find a blanket, but she didn't really need one. The climate was more or less warm.

Santal was very tired and finally decided to sleep for a couple of hours. She hoped that nothing would happen during this time, and if it did, the teacher would call her and warn her. Precisely! I need to get a comlink.

Rummaging in her backpack, the girl found what she was looking for, and lay down again, curled up in a ball, putting the communication device next to her and closing her eyes.

But I couldn't get enough sleep. Not only because of the bed, but also because the girl was nervous all the time. The feeling of danger did not leave her.

It seemed to Santal that about ten minutes had passed, and she jumped up. There was silence all around. Inside, everything went cold, shrunk.

The next second, there was a loud sound. The girl jumped in surprise. The sound was repeated. Bammm... Bammm... Bammm... the sound was quite ominous, cold, so Santal did not immediately realize that it was a watch. They beat systematically, creating a monotonous rhythm. The blows reverberated throughout the room, filling it with anxious anticipation. With each new blow, the tension increased, and the sense of danger became more tangible.

The clock struck seven. Immediately, a huge number of Nazuussians poured out of the houses. Santal was amazed at how much everyone was... the same. The same clothes. The same hairstyles, or rather the complete absence of them in men and very short, combed back without bangs, hair in women. Looking more closely, she noticed that all the residents were leaving their houses one at a time. It turns out that no one lives in houses in twos or threes?

Santal felt like she was about to burst. She was bursting with curiosity. She really wanted to talk to the teacher. The girl took the comlink and dialed the number. Fortunately, the teacher answered right away.:

"Padawan, how are you?"

— Oh, Teacher, I have so much to say!..

"Not here. I'll meet you outside at the following coordinates.

The teacher named the numbers. The girl took her things and ran to the right place. They were already waiting for her there. Mace Windu took the girl away from the residents and asked:

— So, what do you think about this planet?

— Everything is very strange. I have so many questions. What is this Junwi? Why is she acting like this? Why are houses transparent...

—Patience, Padawan. If you want to find answers, you need to be able to listen, see clearly, and keep emotions under control. Learn to observe. Sometimes the answer lies on the surface, sometimes you have to wade through a web of deception or distractions to see it.

"What are we going to do, Teacher?"

"As difficult as it may sound, we're going to have to split up. You try to clarify the situation among the children, and I will clarify it among the adults.

"But you said...

—I know,— the teacher interrupted. — But sometimes plans have to be changed. So, I'm absolutely sure that the guide was sent to us so that we wouldn't see what we shouldn't see. She's also obviously hiding something. Our task...

— Oh, you've already packed. How glad I am! — Junwi appeared literally out of nowhere.

—Yes, we decided to take a walk," Mace Windu, although annoyed, did not show it.

— I will be happy to accompany you anywhere. The girl bowed slightly.

"And your planet is very hospitable," Santal decided that such a phrase would be appropriate.

A wide smile spread across the guide's face. It was obvious that she was absolutely delighted. — We offer guests the highest level of service. So, first of all, would you like to eat? There's a canteen just nearby.

— Well, we won't refuse.

Junwi led the Jedi into a gray one-story building. It immediately became clear that children were eating separately from adults. The teacher and the student had to split up. Santal didn't like the idea very much, but finally the teacher gave her hand a little squeeze, which had a comlink on it. A little encouraged, the girl went to the table where children about her age were sitting. As it seemed to her.

I wonder how to get food here? Santal watched. It looks like the algorithm is the same as in the Temple. Is there a queue of children moving their trays along the serving line? But the Nazuusa canteen couldn't boast of a variety of food. Unlike the temple. On this planet, food fell out of the pipe, rumbling, and landed in small cubes on a plate. Solid geometric shapes! And the food itself is strange. It's not clear what it is. The color is also so nasty. Gray-dirty brown. What's going on? But everyone ate and didn't choke. Of course, they got used to it. Maybe it doesn't taste so bad?

When Santal sat down at the table, having received her portion, she picked up a piece with a spoon and put it in her mouth. And instantly regretted it. God forbid anyone should experience such disgust as the girl experienced! Ignoring the people around her, Santal spat back onto her plate. Only it didn't help much, because the sensation on my tongue remained.

We urgently need to eat something else to kill. But what? Santal packed a couple of candy bars, protein capsules, and, of course, water. But all of the above, as luck would have it, remained in the backpack in the cubic house. What should I do? Maybe we should wait until it passes by itself? I guess I'll have to. Or...

Santal gently patted her neighbor on the shoulder. — And here, besides... this, they don't give you anything else?

"Aren't you from around here?" — the boy asked in surprise and quietly, as it turned out.

With their clean-shaven heads and unformed bodies, it was very difficult to tell who was a boy and who was a girl.

Santal's neighbor carefully studied the girl from bottom to top and said, "Well, definitely not a local."

The other children also began to exchange glances. Apparently, they heard and became curious.

— Breakfast is over. It's time for class," a mechanical voice said.

A large gray droid with human proportions approached the table. Instead of eyes, there is a screen, instead of a mouth, there is a sound wave on the screen.

The children stood up in silence, formed up in pairs and headed, probably, to school. Santal tried to leave, but an iron hand suddenly grabbed her.

—Stand still. You have classes right now. Go to the classroom.

—P-p-wait... There must be some mistake. I'm not a schoolgirl. I'm a guest. My teacher and I have a mission...

— Don't try to deceive, — some kind of tip with a taser came out of the side of the droid and shot the girl. It didn't hurt much, but it was unpleasant. Santal hissed.

The girl tried to pull away once more, but the grip turned out to be literally iron. Then she looked at the children who were looking at her pityingly. And suddenly she had an idea. She stopped resisting and the droid paired her with the boy she was trying to find out about the food. This time, she noticed that he had a gold plaque on his shirt, about opposite his heart, with a set of numbers and the letter: L-69543609845. The girl was surprised, but there was no time to find out.

As the procession of children with the droid at their tail moved towards what appeared to be the school, Santal felt extremely uncomfortable, as if she was trapped in a box and the walls were shrinking by the second. She felt like she was being hammered into a coffin and nails were being driven in. With every step she took, she moved further away from the teacher. She's all alone. There's no one else to count on, and who knows if she'll be able to complete her mission. But they hope for her.

***

The Jedi ship stood unattended against the backdrop of nature. That's who wasn't afraid to stand alone far from the city. But is it just one?..

Burn! Someone flashed through the trees like lightning. Burn! A shadow passed by the stone mountain. Another shadow, another...

A hand in a black and blue glove rested on the raised ramp and began to feel how to open the entrance. Finally, the ramp descended.

A man wearing a terrifying mask decorated with a shaggy mane boarded the Jedi ship. Someone looked around and waved his hand. Two men dressed in a similar way, but with more modest masks, ran up to him. Then the leader gave a sign, and the two ran off in different directions. Obviously, they were looking for something.

The "masks" acted as quickly as possible. Finally, the leader got into the control room. He sat down in the pilot's seat and began to study the device. It's unusual, but you can figure it out.

The leader in the maned mask carefully studied the buttons and levers. The main thing here is not to make a mistake. Otherwise, you can turn on the alarm by mistake. It's better not to take any chances.

The leader took out a small device and ordered:

— The second one, how do you hear? Call the third one.

Two minutes later, both of them came running, one of whom began to "conjure" over the keyboard. Five minutes later, the ship rose smoothly into the air.

[everett-fornow]

kinda random but what exactly is the star killers lore??? Like what’s the plot what happens I wanna know

first off, tysm for the ask!! I love ppl getting interested in my weird little guys <3

second, I'm sort of still asking myself the same question 😭😭 when I began creating these characters, I didn't really plan them with a specific plot in mind but more so just wrote out their entire lifetimes instead.

I do plan on revealing some of the plot when it comes to the book I'm writing about it, which i plan on hopefully making a series, so I'm not sure how much I want to reveal on this blog for spoilers sakes, although some specific moots do know some of my plot secrets due to long night ramblings 😔😔

to give an elevator pitch esque blurb about the general vibe about it: the starkillers are a gang of people from various backgrounds all given unfortunate fates and turned to wickedness for their own personal agendas, that could be sadism, an outlet, to provide for themselves, etc. they find comfort in each other and depend on each other in their escape of the law

I hope to get my first book done by the end of the year, but thank you SO MUCHH for the ask!! feel free, everyone, to send more asks if you have any more questions!! lmk if I did a good job explaining!!

[matan4il]

Good morning, sweet Alice. I want to write and comment every day! But my mood fluctuates from anger, sadness, rage, and disappointment that sometimes it's hard to find the right words or tones. Especially because it can feel petty in regards to what you are actually living through.

So I thought you know what I couldn't share anything new with you. Why don't I tell you a story back??

This has been an interesting few weeks in my corner of CA for how many people are actually paying attention now. I don't think Iran expected Hamas to succeed this far and now........ it's fucking out there. In ways that show their evil to normies that can't be ignored. In reference, especially about the baby in the over.

I had one friend call me to ask, what exactly is Hamas and for once listen to me about the answer.

I had a younger family member remove their palestine river to the sea post from a year ago and actually call me. To ask questions.

On a sad note, I have one friend whose little sister is leaving her college and coming home at the end of the semester. We can't be there to help her, but we have been door dashing and locals checking in on her. She's terrified to leave her dorm. With that, though, it's actually opening people's eyes to the leftist extremist on college campuses. At least she can come home and be safe with friends and family. She's not the only one!!

People are finally asking questions and paying attention. I think it will get uglier before it's better. But it's a loud disingenuous loud. There is push back finally. People can not comprehend the evil acts that Hamas executed. And they won't be shamed into moral equivalency it.

I hope you're all staying safe!!! Thank you for always updating us!!!

My darling friend! *hugs*

Thank you so much for this. For all of it. Your words are always kind and meaningful, and simply knowing that you wanna write daily is so beautiful, I feel blessed that you found my blog, and I got to meet you! I felt that way even before this massacre, and I feel that even more since... <333

IDK what Hamas and Iran expected. The amount of ammunition and weapons that Hamas brought with them was meant to allow them to hold entire town hostage for way longer than the 24-36 or so hours that they did (depending on which town we're talking about). I heard estimates ranging from several days to a month. Either way, they came prepared for longer than they lasted. So, did they manage more than they expected, 'coz at first they did get to kill so many defenseless civilians with no interference, as they managed to neutralize the security forces? Or did they succeed less than expected, since they lost control of Israeli towns faster than they intended? I don't know.

I do believe that Hamas (and maybe Iran as well) expected Israel to strike back, but without taking down Hamas, which is what happened in previous cases. In 2014, they kidnapped and murdered three Jewish teenagers. But for a while, the fate of those boys was unknown. The Hamas launched rockets at Israel for arresting their terrorists as Israeli security forces tried to find out what happened to the kidnapped boys. Then, by the time the bodies were recovered, dumped in a field, Hamas used the terror tunnels that they secretly built into Israeli territory in order to kidnap and kill Israelis. I'll never forget the tunnel they dug into a kindergarten. They only managed to kidnap the bodies of two Israeli soldiers. No living hostages. Maybe they thought that if they got away with that whole sequence of events, they'd get away with this, too. Maybe they really believed Israel didn't take down Hamas back then because we're cowards, not because of the cost in human life to both sides.

But as for the west's reaction, I find it incredibly reassuring to hear from you that some people have not become SO radicalized, that the massacre of Israelis is something they can justify, ignore or deny. That's comforting, but IDK how representative it is. Because I don't remember people being this bold in their antisemitism in the past, either. I don't remember that people just flat out said that Jews deserve to die for something we are not. I do not remember Jewish students being this scared on college campuses or in their own homes before this false narrative that casts Jews as colonizers of their own native land. And while I'm glad that there are people waking up, I think others are sinking even deeper into the pool of Kool Aid. I've seen people who I hadn't seen posting against Israel before doing just that, and I have seen people shamelessly denying the atrocities of the massacre... And I have no way of knowing what's happening more, people being shaken out of their apathy to the well being of Israeli Jews, or people even further de-humanizing us.

I'm so grateful for your dose of optimism! I am very much embracing it to my heart, and keeping it close to me, and I will pray with all my might that at the end of the day, people are kind, and they do recognize the reality of the threat that Israel is facing. I'm even more grateful to you for speaking up, and educating others, making sure to pass on our voices to those we can't reach. What you're doing is truly essential, and I wish I had a way to show you just how thankful I am.

Sending you all my endless love, always! xoxox

(for all of my updates and ask replies regarding Israel, click here)

[the-bloody-sadist]

Hi! It's been a while and I realized I didn't follow you on my other account. I hope you've been well. I have some questions relating to my writing project that I want your insight on.

Do you think a character that is human experimented on could have their curiosity sparked by the experiments and pursue knowledge in that area? I don't want it to just look like "the torture was good actually".

How would you go about adding stakes in a story where the main characters are basically immortal?

Is it possible to instill negative traits into a story in a way that still feels intentional? For example, looping to my second question, I want to have the feeling of "these monster attacks and exploding orphanages are getting boring and it's boring because the villains wont die", but without outright chasing the reader away.

Thank you for your time and I hope you have a good day! 🐋

Hi Lil Whale!!! Good to see you again!! Here's some answers for your questions:

Absolutely. If you think about it in terms of trauma, a good deal of trauma survivors will repeat certain behaviors of the trauma they suffered, as a means of controlling the circumstances around what happened to them. This is a coping method as well as a possible self-destructive behavior, depending on how it's used, so going into the experiments after surviving being experimented on could offer the victim a chance to process what happened, nail down the details of what was done to them so they can have closure, and continue in the field as someone who experiments instead of getting experimented on. Or, perhaps, they're also getting experimented on, or experimenting on theirselves, which is just another way to put themselves in control of the abuse they didn't have control over in the past. If they define how much is enough, what they'll do to themselves, and so on, it can lend a feeling of overcoming that past abuse. Now they're in charge, and now the person in their past cannot hurt them.

This is not as tough a concept as it might initially seem! When stakes are not based on life or death, there are plenty of other (and imo infinitely better) stakes you can raise. First off, though, you can always create a method in which immortals CAN be killed, still. Lots of good stories about immortal characters do this! Take Heaven Official's Blessing, for example - all of the characters are either gods or ghosts, but there are still methods to disperse their remaining souls. For instance, the ashes that remain of a ghost's dead body are forged into items that the ghosts hide. If these ashes are found and destroyed, that destroys the ghost for good. For the gods, who are humans that have ascended into immortal beings, their bodies are technically still alive, they just regenerate. Because of this, the main character suffered a worse fate more than once because he CAN'T die, which I believe is far more powerful than death stakes. Because he couldn't die, a mob stabbed him with swords over and over. Because he couldn't die, he tried to commit suicide and could not after his parents' deaths. Because he couldn't die, he was locked up in a coffin where he survived for ages. This is infinitely more terrifying in my opinion than simply dying. Other than this, you can also give the characters strong emotional stakes. Friends, someone they love, etc., and losing these friends by betrayal or other circumstances out of their control. I'm not sure how much help you would need on that subject though, so I'm assuming you were going for my first answer on the immortality stakes!

I'm not entirely sure if I have the right idea on what you're asking on this one, but I THINK I do, so I'll try!! If you mean that you want the readers to know you ALSO think it's boring to have the villains not die and keep returning to bomb orphanages, you must mean that you'd be doing that to build up to a better thing that's not boring. That's absolutely doable, and it won't scare the reader away as long as you hint at that growing thing, not spend TOO much time on the boring things, and make it clear through your writing voice that you're fed up with the villains not dying, too. I hope that makes sense. It's a bit of a nuanced thing and easier done than said for me, but as long as you have the subtle promise of something on the horizon creating tension in the readers, you'll be able to keep them. That's literally ALL it takes, if your writing is good enough!

Thank you for the ask, and I hope you have a great day too! <3