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b33zlebubz · 9 months ago

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RECKLESS ABANDON--------

CHAPTER EIGHT - campfire stories

TASK FORCE 141 X READER (PLATONIC)

PREVIOUS CHAPTER || MASTERLIST || AO3 LINK || NEXT CHAPTER

TAGS: gender neutral reader, angst, fluff, slow burn found family, PTSD, trauma bonding, kidnapping, reader is a foster kid in high school, family drama, blood, violence, guns

"After your life falls apart at the seams very early on, you work hard to keep the small amount of peace you still have. Foster care is rough, work is draining, school is a drag...but you eventually find yourself in a good place. All of that quickly goes to waste, however, when your family's unfinished business finally finds its way back to you."

By the time Ghost finds solid shelter, it's snowing.

You're in and out of consciousness the whole time he's walking, your mind fuzzy to the point where you're not sure how far Ghost treks from the lake you fell into. His breathing, steady footsteps, and the feeling of his heartbeat thudding underneath where your freezing hands clutch around his thermal jacket help ease the cold, stubborn hold of panic on your mind. Price checks in on you both occasionally as well, sounding frazzled as he rants to Ghost about the shitshow that was everything that's happened through the comms. With the adrenaline gone, you're exhausted and freezing, and it feels like your heartbeat is pounding in your head as you drift in and out of sleep.

But he does find somewhere safe eventually; setting up a small camp under a small ridge in the forest to ensure you both won't be spotted by the helicopters and planes that buzz above. You think, maybe, he doesn't realize he's doing it, but Ghost says the name of each aircraft that passes under his breath. He does it enough that you're able to identify some of them on your own by the volume of the buzzing in the distance.

“Graves likes his F-16s,” you mutter after one passes overhead, and you smile smugly as he pauses in cleaning your head wound. He huffs a breath, shaking his head at your antics.

“Smart kid.”

He gathers enough firewood around the area to last you the night and sets out his mask to dry whenever the fire's started; and it's then you notice the trail of blood that speckles the snow with his uneven footsteps.

"You're bleeding," you say, your voice still quiet and unsteady as he curses and fiddles with his lighter that doesn't seem to want to light.

"S'fine," he breathes. His hair is starting to freeze to his forehead—and the eye black on his face is smudged to hell across his crooked nose and on the gloves of his hands. He covers the lighter with his hand to block the breeze that carries snow into your shelter. "Just a graze. It can wait."

Still, his lighter doesn't light.

Slowly, you shift your pack off of your shoulders. You dig around inside it until your hands come into contact with cold metal, and you take it out.

"Here," you flick your dad's lighter to show him it works, emitting yellow light that spans across your face before you shut it again and offer it to him. "This one works."

He grunts his appreciation before taking the lighter. Then, his brow furrows. He doesn't immediately reach to light the fire, suddenly interested by the small device in his hand. You watch as he turns it over. He studies what's scratched into the bottom as something flickers in his eyes—confusion, maybe. When he looks up at you again, you can't read his expression.

"Mutt," he says, slowly. He holds the lighter up. "Where'd you get this?"

Your brow pinches at his almost accusatory tone.

"Dad had it," you tell him. "Why?"

His eyes flicker back down to the piece of metal. He flicks it open and presses the small flame to the tent of sticks and evergreen needles. He doesn't answer, not right away, and it's impossible to tell what he's thinking as he successfully lights the fire before flicking the cap shut and sliding it into his pocket. He doesn’t meet your gaze.

Your mouth opens to protest, but it shuts again as a small realization crosses your mind. Your eyes widen as you come to the only conclusion you can even fathom—and even still, it's hard to believe.

"It's your's," you say slowly, searching his expression for any hint of emotion other than practiced indifference. "Isn't it?"

He grunts, finally settling to sit. He lifts his leg to inspect the bloody rip in his tactical pants, "It was.”

“So you're Riley?"

"I'm Ghost."

"That doesn't answer my question."

“Then Riley's dead," he deadpans. "You happy?"

“No. Far from it. Why does my dad have his lighter? Did he steal it? Or—holy shit—" Your eyebrows raise at the realization. "Is Riley my mom?"

He huffs, “You ask a lot of questions.”

“Because nobody gives me answers,” you retort quickly.

A stare down commences. Ghost’s eyes narrow at you, but he doesn’t have a response. Then, he just shakes his head and continues his work. He pulls his pant leg up and takes a knife from his belt, testing the grip in his hand.

“Turn around. Go to sleep,” he tells you. He grabs his mask from the side of the fire and slides it back on, causing his voice to be more muffled when he speaks. “Gotta take the bullet out and I don’t want you watching. You've seen enough today as is."

You're about to argue, but you fall short. Your head hurts too bad to think of a proper response. A huff leaves you before you roll over—pulling the thick S.A.S. coat he had lent you further over your shoulders. It's still damp, but it's enough to quell your incessant shivering for the time being.

It's silent aside for the crackle of the fire and the sounds of Ghost performing impromptu surgery on his own leg. Another surge of contempt fills you whenever he doesn't make so much as a grunt. You envy his pain tolerance.

You also can't sleep.

It feels like all the mental progress you made recovering after the other week has been shattered and stomped on. At this point, you're unsure if your shivering is due to the cold or not, because you can't help but flinch every time another aircraft flies overhead or when the fire makes a particularly loud pop. Every time you drift off it's like you're falling through the air again, and you flinch awake.

It's the sound of Ghost cocking his gun after he's stitched himself up that does you in.

You jump upright, your breath gasping as you scan the area for danger. Your eyes land on nothing except Ghost sitting at the other end of your shelter with his gun in hand, and you let out a breath.

"Fucking…don't do that again," you hate the way your voice cracks as you speak. You roll over, facing the wall again. This time, you're sure you're shaking from anxiety rather than the cold.

You feel his eyes on you, as you lay there; studying you. You count the seconds, waiting for him to grunt and move outside to keep watch. Outside, the breeze howls against the overhang, bringing powdery snow with it that stirs your blanket. The fire cracks and you desperately want to turn over to warm your hands and your face; but you don’t.

Then, he sighs. "Fuckin' hell…"

You hear him shift. Suddenly, he's near you—sitting by your feet with his elbows resting on his knees as he stares at the fire. There's a bloody bandage around his leg, now, and his gloves are gone, leaving his hands stained with his own blood. He scratches at the back of his neck as a few moments of silence pass and he seems to be hesitant about something.

Then, after a handful of minutes, he speaks.

“I was there,” he admits. “In Mexico.”

Your eyes open, but you don't look at him.

"He was already there when I showed up. At that…cartel base. Got the shit beat out of us together, you know." He huffs a breath like he might almost be nostalgic for it. "Hard to forget the man who was forced to bury you."

The fire crackles to your right and you clutch the jacket over your shoulders a little tighter.

"I don't know how much Price told you, but…he had this journal with 'em. Would always talk about some kid. Kept 'em going, I think. Could go longer without beggin' for mercy like the rest of us…and it gave him the courage to try and escape, too."

Another pause. The wind whistles over the overhang. When he speaks next, his tone is grave. Solemn.

"He set that place ablaze with the lighter I lent 'em," Ghost says. "But he got stuck, told me to run. I almost didn't…but he told me he wanted someone he trusted alive to keep an eye out for you. Told me to look for you if he disappeared one day."

You let his words hang in the air for a second. You don't realize you've been crying until your voice wavers when you speak.

"He didn't die that day," you mutter.

"He didn't," Ghost nods in agreement, his gaze still locked on the fire. "And when he did go down, here in Russia, and Price came to me with this mission—I figured this was the perfect opportunity to return the favor for saving my life n' all. 'Tried to convince Price to keep you out of this, made him promise you wouldn't end up dead, but…'guess I should've tried a little harder, eh?"

Suddenly, Price's words from earlier that day make sense—and you rethink every interaction you've had with Ghost up until this point. His subtle avoidance, his hesitancy when you first met, sparring in the training room…the irony of it all. The first person you've met so far that knew your dad personally—and the only one you were scared shitless of.

You sniff and wipe at your face.

"You guys are the closest thing to answers I've gotten since he left," you say, meeting his gaze. "So no, I'm glad I met you. I'm glad I stayed. Even if you are all assholes."

A moment passes where you both just look at each other. He's even harder to read under his mask, and you think he's about to say something before Soap's voice cuts through the comms.

"L.t."

You sit up, holding your breath. Ghost places his hand on the button to speak immediately, "Soap."

“Knock knock.”

“Who’s there?”

A head with a mohawk pokes itself around the side of the cave, smiling as he continues to talk into the comms, “You’re favorite boy.”

Relief hits your body so hard you physically sigh, letting your head fall forwards into your hands at the thought of being saved. Your previous conversation forgotten, Ghost chuckles, shaking his head before he stands to his feet. “Took you long enough.”

@brokenpieces-72 @warenai @karurururu @pertinentpostmortem @kaoyamamegami @hayleybarnesx @nostalgialeech @scuftryo @0alk0msan @synthe4u @stunkbiggu @bebobeboben @enfppixie @lyd14k4y @tlkonthestr33t @raye2000 @shinchanboi @orkwardx0

#kyle gaz garrick #simon ghost riley #john soap mactavish #john price #call of duty #call of duty fanfiction #call of duty x reader #call of duty reader insert #simon ghost riley x reader #kyle gaz garrick x reader #john price x reader #task force 141 #task force 141 x reader

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bonefall · 10 months ago

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BB!TPB Titles

Having some fun just absentmindedly thinking of titles for the BB overhauls of main arc books. I think I'm gonna do it for all of them, because I actually really like renaming these and explaining my thought process

But here's TPB for now, because it's on my mind after that little scene bundle I wrote

Below the cut;

Arc Rename: The Prophecies Begin -> The Forest Four

Into the Wild -> Into the Clans

Fire and Ice -> Thermal and Undertow

Forest of Secrets -> Forest of Flowers

Rising Storm -> Rejected Rites

A Dangerous Path -> The Hunting Trail

The Darkest Hour -> Before the Dawn

The Forest Four

It's the intro to the original four, y'know? Plus, I use this term all the time in Clan Culture entries to specify when something is different about SkyClan from the "Forest Four." Makes sense it's the arc title.

Plus, there's a bit of a thing going on, especially in the later books, where the number of the Clans comes up a lot. Three Great Clans, but only four modern ones, River and Shadow combine to make TigerClan leaving three, BloodClan would make four, LionClan's alliance leaving two...

In BB, they know about SkyClan in history lessons, but Firestar doesn't think about it much until after this arc is done. More importantly, his choice to spare Scourge at the end of the arc suddenly means there's a Forest Four, and a Town One. I just think that's interesting.

(for some reason I also just love Scourge's insult where he calls Firestar a "forest fool" lmao. four forest fools.)

Into the Clans

The book with the expanded intro to the culture of the Clans. I feel like it's more fitting for BB to not call it "into the WILD" because... well, Clan cats DON'T see themselves as ""wild"" like animals. They're in Clans, with culture. They have ranks, politics, family, and even cooking and little kitty tools. It doesn't really make sense to me that they define themselves as "wild" just because their home has nature.

To them, loners are who's "wild," y'know? Rusty isn't totally coming to the Clans because it's wild, he's coming because of the community. Friendships and bonds with cats like Ravenpaw, Graystripe, Frostfur, Spottedleaf, Bluestar, and the sense that he could belong here. That he matters to these people.

This title's the one I'm actually waffling the most on, though. I don't like it very much yet. I don't feel like it captures the feeling I'm going for. It's also really close to a field guide title.

Thermal and Undertow

I've always interpreted "Fire and Ice" to be about how differently Graystripe and Fireheart are as people, and how that starts pulling them apart. The thing that people focus on is their "reconciliation" at the end of the book, but what stands out about it to me is that this is the book where Fireheart's TRULY integrated into the Clan.

His friendship with Graystripe is strained because of the HalfClan relationship Gray gets in, and he starts looking back to his roots for comfort because he doesn't feel like he's completely part of ThunderClan. I love this irony; they're BOTH struggling with loyalty in this broken system, experiencing types of xenophobia that prevent them from having happiness, but not yet wise enough to recognize they have a similar problem.

They're both breaking the law to talk to outsiders. Their forbidden love, both familial and romantic, makes Clan life harder. They're BOTH not doing anything wrong, but the STRUCTURE of their society is setting them against each other.

Graystripe responds, eventually, by leaving. Fireheart thinks he can make a home where he is. They're both wrong. The STRUCTURE needs to be challenged.

And meanwhile, they must go to fetch WindClan after it was driven out. They have to face RiverClan AND ShadowClan when Crookedstar and Nightstar show that power acts through them, as leaders. All the while, they experience the simple truth that love for cats in other Clans makes cruel, bloodthirsty battles like these too difficult to be sustainable.

And that's just canon!! I fucking love this book!!!

So in the rename, I'm putting emphasis on the natural flow, above and below. A wind is controlled by the temperature, rising up into a warm thermal. An undertow is a ferocious current that will pull you into the cold depths. They're not so different, in the end.

Forest of Flowers

And that leads right into canon's Forest of Secrets, where we learn that the older warriors also struggled with those pressures. Fireheart and Graystripe were never alone, cats have been suffering under this cruel system for GENERATIONS.

In BB, this is where I'm dropping the flower symbolism for the three major branches of politics in Forest Four society, which persist and are expanded on for the rest of BB;

Traditionalism, represented by the Honeysuckle, is used to justify the current system. "The Clans are branches of a honeysuckle bush. We fight and strangle each other for the light, and this prunes the weakest sprigs and rewards the fittest. When the winter comes, the strongest branches ensure the survival of the bush."

He also learns, much earlier, of Tigerstar's mentor. He hears the Parable of the Thistle, a story about how a young apprentice was forced to attempt to uproot a bull thistle, only managing to spread its seeds across a clearing, and won a trip to the Cleric's den for the trouble. How Tigerstar, and others, believe the honeysuckle must be challenged.

And meanwhile, he uncovers the story of the Forget-me-nots. A friend group even stronger than his collection of allies, with cats of every Clan, and how ambition drove it apart. How Bluestar looks back at it with both silly shame and deep appreciation.

The kindling ember in Fireheart's chest as he realizes he is the heir of a Forget-me-not, and that surrounding the obvious slash across Tigerclaw's nose, are the subtle pockmarks of thistle thorns.

Rejected Rites

I feel like Rising Storm is the "weakest" book of TPB, because it's where canon's cracks begin to show.

There's still a lot I love about this book. I love the way that Bluestar's cruelty arc begins with her grace and altruism towards other Clans not being returned without a catch. I adore the rescue of Bramblekit and Yellowfang’s guilty, harrowing death insisting she deserves judgement as Fireheart insists she is a good person. Its harsh ending revealing Tigerstar as leader of ShadowClan is a gut punch in an already brutal book, making an excellent mid-arc climax

But I feel its sudden turn towards suggesting the status quo was actually good drags it down.

For example, Cloudpaw is constantly arguing with Fireheart, in ridiculous fights Fire started. He's abducted by humans and returns in the same book, suggesting his uncle was totally right all along and he Totally Promises he won't mess with humans any more. The fact Fire was projecting on his young nephew and denying him answers when he questions their way of life, in a way very similar to the shame Firepaw himself went through, is not addressed.

A lot more of this book than you remember is also dedicated to Fireheart and Sandstorm arguing because the writers think a good romance is when you hate each other but stay together anyway.

So instead, this book in BB focuses more on what I DO like; Fireheart learning to be a LEADER. He's young, inexperienced, and has acted mostly alone up to this point. The Clan is in a moment of SERIOUS tumult as it reckons with how no one saw ANY signs about Tigerclaw.

As he loses his mentor Bluestar to paranoia, he has to learn which warriors are truly trustworthy, and try to win back those whose loyalties might stray.

In this way, Rejected Rites is about the WHOLE Clan. It's Whitestorm throwing his reputation and experience behind Fireheart. It's Goldenflower and how her disgust with her ex-mate blows her mind open and she shifts into Fire's most ferocious champion. It's Mousefur deciding that Tigerclaw was a uniquely bad person and refusing to admit fault with a Clan that supported him.

And of course it's about Cloudpaw, grappling with how Fireheart insists he's his mentor, not his father, not his friend, going back to how he botches the Queen’s Rights on bringing him to the Clan. Fireheart, too, is a flawed person capable of being complicit in damaging systems.

The Hunting Trail

The dog plot barely needs a recap, it's this fandom's bread and butter. But there's a small, VERY popular misconception about; in canon, Tigerstar only uses the dogs at the END of this book with a rabbit trick. Before that, the dogs are practically a natural disaster he has nothing to do with.

There's a reason why it's misremembered. It works better if he's more involved with them the whole time, showing how DANGEROUS he is, how Bluestar's fixation on her war with StarClan is blinding her to reality, and adding to the tragedy and madness by having Swiftpaw getting wrapped up in his father's/stepfather's quest for revenge.

So in BB, Tigerstar's involved MUCH sooner. He freed the dogs.

The title change reflects that. There's a hunting trail and the cats of ThunderClan are its prey, but it doesn't specify who the predator is. In the end, it was Tigerstar's scheme all along and Bluestar sacrifices herself to save her apprentice.

(I also want to take the moment to highlight how short-sighted and impulsive Tigerstar's plans actually are, something I find fascinating about him as a character. He's malicious and intelligent enough to make some incredible schemes, taking advantage of every opportunity. But he never accounts for details like... "what if my dogs don't go right to where I want them to go?" or "what if I'm not picked as deputy after I kill Redtail?" or even "what will i do after my demons kill all the living cats?")

TigerClan is also forming earlier. It begins in THIS book. Stonefur and Mistyfoot are "detained" after leaping into the ravine to rescue Fireheart and Bluestar, it's all the "evidence" Tigerstar needed to accuse them of divided loyalty. To finally start his persecution of HalfClan cats.

Before the Dawn

...In spite of its iconic moments, I'll be honest; Darkest Hour is actually the book that makes me the angriest about the original series.

All arc long, we are shown that the Clans are flawed. They have been, long before Rusty set foot in the woods that day. It NEEDS bigotry to exist the way it does, fostering xenophobia between Clan cats so that love and friendship won't get in the way of violence, encouraging and even rewarding extreme Jingoism, and even setting clanmates against each other for these senseless problems instead of the STRUCTURE of Clan society.

Darkest Hour SLAMS the breaks on that theme, and brings the message to a screeching halt.

FIRST of all, this is the book where it's explicitly stated that StarClan "doesn't interfere," even giving them a moment where they yell at protagonist about free will or whatever while simultaneously barking a vague, ultimately useless prophecy at him. The first of many scenes like it in later arcs. It feels completely and utterly out of left field, instantly turning StarClan from a mysterious, possibly not even fully benevolent force, into THE most annoying plot device ever.

Secondly... BloodClan.

BloodClan is introduced as a TRULY EVIL group of horrible atheists who hate love and friendship, to the point of banning families, and are now here to destroy our glorious society and steal our home. They're depicted as being ruled by fear and brutality, unbound by concepts like "honor" or "loyalty." You cannot reason with them or spare their lives, the barbarians must be killed and kept out, lest they replace us.

(there is even a moment where it's implied that if the soldiers lose the war, BloodClan will come and murder the elders and children too.)

It is SO bad and SO egregious, and it's played completely unironically. It bothers me so badly I've talked about it before. Multiple times, actually

After Tigerstar gets his well-deserved grallocking like a 10-point buck, the endgame villain of TPB is a foreigner and his army. Scourge is a foil of Firestar himself, but THIS one hates the clans and doesn't worship the right god, which makes him dangerous. Firestar is textually stronger than him because of his faith in StarClan.

At the end of the day, TPB, and the rest of the series that follows, doesn't refute Tigerstar's ideology. It even agrees. Weakness IS abhorrent. Outsiders ARE to be distrusted. Split loyalties ARE detestable. It just didn't like that he challenged the status quo.

Foreigners and their leaders ARE less trustworthy and more villainous than Clan cats. Wariness and even violence towards them is necessary, "justifying" the isolationist structure of the Clans. Scourge is only the first in a very long chain; then comes Sol, One Eye, Slash, and Darktail. Even Hawkfrost and Willow Tail can fit into this pattern.

With the death of these evil, troublemaking cats, the Clans return to the status quo. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

The Darkest Hour frames this like a wonderful, triumphant thing, with Firestar noting how the now-leaderless BloodClan fighters look so inferior to Clan warriors, Scourge's evil will never haunt them again (Tigerstar gets to be grieved though), and that with LionClan disbanding, they will all return to their petty bullshit squabbles.

So, BB's renaming.

I had a lot of ideas. I really liked the name "Moment of Truth" because it's the book that really brings together the theme of the arc, ending with Firestar realizing Scourge is right to distrust the Clans and that change is DESPERATELY needed, but the more I thought about it... the more I liked Before the Dawn

Reference to the phrase "The darkest hour comes before the dawn" BB is a much more optimistic story than canon, by tweaking the themes and details while following the major beats. Something is just... idk poetic? About picking the more uplifting part of the idiom. It feels right, like it's almost too perfect to go with any other title

It's a new era for the culture going foward It IS right before a "new dawn." It's the start of major changes to Clan culture, setting the events of the rest of BB into motion. The years and generations that follow are going to see major changes to the code, territory, culture, and philosophy in the universe. The choice that Firestar makes here is going to bring the Clans into a new epoch. Plus the cats are crepuscular now so I can literally have the final battle take place just before dawn because subtext is for CHUMPS

I like the idea of opening up the next arc with Dawn Just because that's really funny to me lmaoo. Something is cute about titles that reference each other. Maybe the first book of TNP could be "Dawn of the End" since the destruction of the forest starts early. Maybe add in some apocalyptic prophecies and such...

#I don't think I will update the tags... not yet at least.#Not until I manage to scrounge together a good summary ... post thingie #Something akin to a masterpost #Btw the Clanmew masterpost broke OTL #I can't edit it with new links so im gonna need to make a new onr #Which is fine i guess since the old one wasnt like... scalable #It was messy #But looooord can tumblr work pls #Better bones au #BB!TPB

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witchofthesouls · 15 days ago

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welp im apart of the carrier kink now but omg the command trine playing *yeet the sparkling* has me wheezing and picturing Starscream yelling first with his over his head and then just tossing the little seeker from a height he flew up and deemed good enough and generous to the bitty, mama carrier just moved their nest outside to catch bitties and out of spite for them throwing bitties.

Hey, those baby birds have to get used to falling. It won't matter who ignited the bitties because Starscream, Skywarp, and Thundercracker will each get a chance dropping the bitties from above since it's like a rite of passage to them. A guide to their first taste of the sky, a prayer/hope for what kind of flyers they would be, and reinforce the bonds of support. Yes, little ones, you'll fall, but you'll be caught by family and flock.

If their grounded carrier tried to move the nest outside, then it would backfire. Skywarp would be delighted since as it reminds of his own sparkling days in the Wastelands. Starscream would be annoyed at 'roughing' it and nitpick at everything from the ambient temperature to the patterns on the thermal sheets to the way the gifts were placed. Thundercracker wouldn't have a preference, only that it's well-defended, has a supply bunker, and has a generator for a shield.

#ask #arcaneexistence #command trine #transformers #transformers g1 #g1 #starscream #skywarp #thundercracker #cybertronian culture #bitlets #sparklings #culture clash #parental relationship #maccadam #my thoughts #look at the proud birbs over their little ones #tf headcanons #im too love with the command trine having radically different backgrounds lol

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an-idyllic-novelist · 1 year ago

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dark schneider with shinobu!reader headcanons - part two

Warnings: ooc, violence, KNY manga spoilers, Bastard!! anime season two spoilers, strong language, violence, mentions of PTSD.

If you are not comfortable reading this type of story, please push the back button and read something more pleasant.

Hey guys, welcome to part two the fluffier version of the yandere headcanons, featuring the handsome, arrogant wizard Dark Schneider of the Netflix's anime series Bastard!! Heavy Metal, Dark Fantasy and the character!reader who is Shinobi Kocho from the beloved world of Demon Slayer aka Kimetsu no Yaiba! The link to them will be here.

For those who just came here and haven’t read part one, please do so before proceeding. The link to part one is here.

As it is portrayed in the series, there will be multiple references to heavy metal bands. I claim no ownership over them, including the lyrics of Operation: Mindcrime, composed by the American heavy metal band Queensryche in 1988 under the album of the same name.

Special thanks to @ccruzmoon, @anniespostssworld, @enryegotrip, and @mitra555 for their feedback and help with making this one of the best sequels I’ve written for a headcanon series in a long while! :)

So, with that being said, sit back, relax, and let's dive back into a world of magic and musical mayhem!

Golems from the ancient world aren’t much different than the ones used today. They are sentient, programmed to perform certain tasks, and able to regenerate themselves should their bodies be destroyed by an enemy. In fact, they were deemed as prototypes of an ‘AI - Drone’. Yoko didn’t know much beyond what her father had shown her in the temple’s sacred texts, but she did emphasize just how lucky you were to have discovered one in a weapons’ storehouse belonging to the Dark Rebel Army, with its parts and programming still in excellent condition. You have had it for over a year, and you can certainly tell that it wasn’t used for thermal optics or firing weapons at opponents from great distances like the AI-Drones were originally designed to do in war.

For one, Led Zeppelin was made of metal dripped in gold, with stubby legs and a long feathery tail as well as wings. It could change its body’s mass from the size of a dumpling to a pillow in the blink of an eye, and had a mouth of razor-sharp teeth that served two purposes: storing items in its body, and showing recordings it took from its point of view. Oh, and biting people who came too close to you, its owner. Apparently, according to the technicians in the samurai residence, Led Zeppelin immediately bonded with you, the first person it saw once they had reactivated its factory settings.

Well…supposed it is still a tad bit rude to keep referring to Led Zeppelin as an ‘it’ when ‘he’ has always been by your side, acting as a personal assistant and a subsequent comfort pet because goldfish have been extinct for the last century. When the night terrors began occurring last month, however, your Zeppelin had been stuck in the mechanical shop for a month because a few of his corroding parts were getting more difficult to find, courtesy of the Dark Rebel’s Army growing power in the country.

But now the remaining safe haven in A-Ian-Maide was under attack by two Samurai Shoguns and a herd of sphinxes, your golem’s role would be more important than ever. He would keep Lucien Renlen safe, along with the women and children and the samurai who are stationed to look after them. When you gave this order, the golem shook his body rapidly - clearly he wanted to follow you into the battlefield outside.

You smiled sadly as you shook your head too, cradling the tiny Zeppelin in your hands. “You have to. If there is anyone in this world who is capable of defeating the Dark Rebel Army and preventing them from reviving the God of Destruction,” You looked up, seeing a raven-haired young man in standard leather armor and about to burst into tears as he looked at you with wide, dark blue eyes. “It is the boy you are protecting. This is my final command as your owner.” When you said this, Zeppelin started weeping. You were startled. Since when golems could cry?

“Ara, ara, come now.” You cooed, wiping away the golden, oily tears with your thumbs. “You must be brave for me, Led Zeppelin. Farewell, my dearest companion.” Pressing a kiss against his tiny horns, you reluctantly took a few steps forward and placed Led Zeppelin on top of Lucien’s head. Giving the golem one final pat on the head, you turned around, ready to sprint from the main lobby and toward what might become your tombstone when a pair of wiry arms wrapped around your waist, squeezing you tightly from behind.

“[First Name], please don’t go!” You couldn’t feel his tears through your leather armor, and yet his voice was cracked. Desperate to keep you here behind the safety of the castle’s walls….even when these walls may come crumbling down the longer you are here. Untangling Lucien’s arms from your body, you turned around and faced him, covering his quivering hands with your own.

“Lucien, I can’t. I need to be there for them, for Yoko. I can’t fail as I…as I had failed the two of you in Meta-llicana, the citizens. If I had only been quicker, stronger….none of this would have happened. And you wouldn’t have taken so long to recover. I’m so, so, sorry.” For a brief moment, you saw a glimmer of recognition in Lucien’s eyes. Perhaps you were already losing your mind?

Shaking your head, you released Lucien’s hands from your grasp….and pulled him into a tight embrace. “Remember this, Lucien. To be born is a blessing. Do not look back in remorse, because nothing good comes from it. And remember to smile, even when it seems like suffering is coming towards you like an avalanche and it’s hard to breathe. But above all else….never forget that you are loved. Yoko loves you, and I love you. You are strong, and even if something happens to me…I know you will keep moving forward.”

Leaning forward, you gently kissed Lucien. This is the same ritual Yoko had secretly been performing when she thought no one was around, oblivious to just how many times Led Zeppelin has caught her in action and you’ve seen it via the recordings. As the high priest’s daughter, she was the only other person left who could perform the Accept spell that would release Dark Schneider. Yet for the last two years, Lucien’s second identity never emerged.

But you had hope. You believe that he will return…because he is the handsome, unsaintly, powerful hero of this universe. The show wouldn’t be the same without its main star, and it’s already been five episodes into the second season.

Reluctantly, you took a step back from Lucien and Led Zeppelin, then another before you turned around and blitzed down the carpeted corridor towards the sound of battle cries, spell-casting, and the deafening roar of the sphinxes. A genocide opera almost fitting for an Insect Hashira ready to lay her life on the line….and bring her enemies down with her, no matter the cost.

“Let me out! Damn it you brat, I said let me out! Let me help [First Name] or else she’ll get killed out there! Do you want her to die, or do you want her to live with us as the queen of the world we’ll conquer?!” Dark Schneider screamed inside Lucien’s head, pouring more of his magic through the seal that has kept him imprisoned in this weak body. “I’m ready! I’m strong enough to destroy these bastards now! SO LET ME OUT ALREADY, GODDAMMIT!!”

The rain made the rocks slick, so blitzing from one area of the crumbling castle to another at your speed was almost impossible without slipping and spraining your ankle. Leaving yourself wide open isn’t an option either, especially when one of the Shoguns was using wire to incapacitate his enemies, just like what he had done with Jorg. Making yourself scarce wasn’t your fighting style, but you couldn’t always do what you wanted to do on a battlefield.

Still…the wires….

You carefully thumbed one of them, eyeing it carefully before recognition flashed through your mind. Ah, now you remember! It had been when that girl who fancied herself as redeemable even after she allowed her little brother to kill so many humans and make them his spider familiars! If that’s the case….

You unsheathed your sword, palming the leather handle for a moment before you swiftly swung the blade, cutting down the wires that kept you from reaching the other samurai, Vai leading them. As you walked towards them, it took all of your willpower to not look down and see the bloodied corpses of the men sprawled at your feet.

He was surprised, yelling how it was possible that you could see the threads. His statement made you blink in shock, pausing your treatment of an injured samurai. The wires were invisible, and yet you could see them? How odd. You were sure they could see it too.

Shaking your head, you quickly administered the necessary aid to your patient from the sewed pockets of your haori.

A full vial of Dragon’s Breath to cauterize the wound, dried vermillion petals soaked in alcohol for disinfection, followed by bandages. “Believe me, I wish I knew too, but this is neither the time nor the place, Vai.” You said, helping the patient onto his feet. “All right, let’s get him somewhere where he can lay low -“

That was when you all heard it: a roar that shook the earth, ripping across the air through the valley followed by warmth seeping down your neck. Fear coiled itself in your stomach as the low thudding of footsteps grew closer. Blinking slowly, you turned your head and saw it. A magnificent specimen of a male sphinx, it’s orange mane bristled and teeth baring.

Oh, dear. That is not good. It’s one thing to have a magical creature being controlled by a wizard, but an angry one? Definitely not good. You licked your cracked mouth.

“Vai?”

“Yeah?”

“Can you distract that sphinx?”

“What?”

“I said, can you distract this incredibly terrifying animal long enough so I can strike it from behind?” You said, patience wearing thin. “Can you do it or not?”

Vai faltered for a moment, glancing at the sphinx before he groaned. “F-Fine, but be quick! It’s resistant to magic!” He exclaimed, taking the injured samurai from you and passing him to another comrade.

You grinned. “Good thing what I have in mind does not involve using spells.” Bending your knees, you leaned back and blitzed forward. The sphinx unfurled its massive feathered wings, releasing strong gusts of wind that blew most of the samurai away, and high up in the air. Just where you needed to be. You inhaled sharply through your teeth, spinning your body so you were facing the sphinx, your dominant arm pulled back and holding your gleaming ninichrin blade.

“Insect Breathing: Butterfly Dance Caprice.”

You lunged forward, stabbing the sphinx in its backside and hind legs with the poison you had applied to the sword prior to the invasion as part of your weekly maintenance routine. You could have targeted the chest and behind the ears, but it would have taken longer for the poison to be absorbed into its body. The areas you struck in the male were much more vulnerable simply because they were used to attract potential females through an intricate dance, similar to what certain exotic birds did during mating season, at least that’s what you read in the encyclopedias back in your old world.

Landing on the fractured stones of a destroyed keep, you watched in sadistic satisfaction as the sphinx crumbled into a heap, struggling to stand up for just a brief moment before losing consciousness. Good. It’s working. You thought.

“I’m going ahead!” You yelled. “I’ll take down as many of these sphinxes as I can, and provide cover! If you see any threads blocking your path, tell me and I’ll cut them!”

“How are you even doing this?!”

“Strike first, ask questions later!”

And that was exactly what you did. You struck down the sphinxes who weren’t too high up in the air with your poison and sliced through the wires that weren’t coated with the heavy oil Yoko had released, flying across the battlefield like a butterfly just as you had done as a Demon Slayer.

Who would have thought that one of the people you had saved during an outbreak of purple fever had been a magician gifted in the art of reconstructing an entire object to its original condition, so long as she had a piece of it?

But there was no time for being sentimental, even for a second. The samurai were counting on you to even the odds that were in their favor.

Darting across the ruins of the castle, you heard a maniacal, grating laugh from amongst the sphinx’s roars. Skidding to a halt, you glanced up and saw a figure dressed in white and balancing himself in midair on a wire, holding Joshua captive in a web. Ah, that must be the Sorcerer Shogun responsible for killing Jorg.

Supposed….it’s time to also test that too, hm?

You inhaled a deep breath, closing your eyes as you crouched down towards with your sword by your side. Focus on opening the blood vessels in your legs, pumping oxygen through every muscle fiber and remaining absolutely still until you’re ready. You waited…and then you felt it. The muscles in your legs grew taunt, like a bowstring being pulled back and the faintest trace of thunder crackling beneath your feet. You smiled sadly. Forgive me for using your own Breathing Style, Zenitsu.

[Eye Color] irises snapped open. “Thunder Breathing: Thunderclap and Flash!”

You pushed on your back leg, catapulting through the air as blue-white bolts of lightning swept beneath your feet. You raised your sword, slicing through the threads and allowing Joshua to get free. Because you were ‘running’ at a high speed, you were not able to stop until you collided with the cliffside. You backflipped, using the momentum from your feet and the remainder of the Thunder Breathing technique to propel from the rocky terrain and propel towards the Sorcerer Shogun.

Dark brown hair matted down, half of it covering the right side, with a single red eye widening in surprise as you flew towards him, smiling and inhaling through the mouth again.

“Insect Breathing, Dance of the Centipede: Hundred Legged Zigzag. Thunder Breathing: Thunderclap and Flash!”

Using two separate Breathing Styles at once is almost impossible because of the strain it puts on the body and having complete control over both techniques without it faltering either of them. You zigzagged across the sky, and with the lightning under your feet, it allowed you to close the distance between you and the Sorcerer Shogun, sword aimed at his neck. But instead of putting the poor fool out of his misery, you just grazed his clavicle area.

Still, a graze will allow the poison to seep into his body. Won’t be long before he’s knocked out as well. You thought, landing on the ground on wobbly feet. You blinked, steadying yourself and trying very hard to ignore the black dots clouding your vision. Oh dear, methinks that was a bit too much. Well, can’t stop now. You thought, sheathing your sword just when you heard your name being called. Turning around, you saw Joshua running towards you, his mouth open and….saying something?

Darkness suddenly enveloped you from behind, yet before you could do anything you felt something heavy and furry collide against your back, knocking the air out of your lungs as you were suddenly planted face-first into the ground. You wheezed. You tried to push yourself up, but the pressure just increased. Damn it, you might have broken a rib. Maybe two of them. The deafening roar that pierced your ear told you what was pinning you down. A sphinx. Not the smaller males. This was a female, and it is the larger one of the aggressive species. More than that, she doesn’t play with her food.

If she’s hungry, she’ll swallow you in a single gulp.

Nausea clenched at your throat like a fist, making it difficult to breathe through your nose. Your vision was starting to grow blurry. No. No…I can’t…I need…to get…up!

“It’s okay.”

You froze, startled upon hearing a very familiar voice inside the recesses of your mind. Lucien? Is that…how did you…?!

“Everything will be okay, [First Name]. We’re here now. Just hang tight.”

That was when the smell of sulfur hit you. The sphinx’s paw that had you pinned down was suddenly off, allowing you to roll onto your back and let air enter your body, even as the flames were grazing the sleeves of your haori. You watched with blurry eyes as the magical creature was incinerated….along with the others that were in the sky…by vortexes of red flames that jutted…from the castle’s baileys and rooftops?

There’s only one person in the world who could perform magic on that scale. You smiled. It’s him. He’s back, after two long years.

Dark Schneider is more than a little annoyed right now.

He might have been able to take over after promising Lucien that he will keep [First Name] once he took possession of the body, but the badass comeback he had been planning to make in this series totally got screwed up by that weird-lookin’ peasant! Royal bodyguard? Sorry, no one gives orders to Dark Schneider, he’s the one that hands them out on a silver platter to his loyal servants.

And why the fuck did the Sorcerer Shogun with Yorazashi threads quickly recover from the poison that his queen had personally given him?! No one is supposed to have plot immunity except for him, the gorgeous and saintly protagonist!

He’s scripted to have a flashy battle with these clowns too, damn it! Macapine and Ba Thory are going down. He didn’t care if his salary was going to get cut in this episode, [First Name] needed him, right now.

Raising his hand, the mighty evil wizard summoned the Goa Cyclone spell, followed by Spears ‘o Stone. The last one impaled the Shogun that had bugs in his body. Macapine was sent flying somewhere, and Dark Schneider hoped he would never come back for the rest of the season. Closing his eyes, he began to channel magic into the next incantation; this was a tricky spell, since it required a considerable amount of concentration for him to be able to accurately track down the person he wishes to find.

Come, you know that you cannot refuse me

Let me into your mind,

So that we can watch the dragon burn

Beneath the moonlight and stars of Revolution!

Operation Mindcrime!

Purple smoke and sparks of lightning billowed around him, swirling like a rising mist before immediately sinking into the crumbled stones beneath his feet. Dark Schneider’s magic thrummed as it traveled beneath the earth, driven by his desire to seek out the Insect Hashira, looking for the tiniest spec of her own white magic. Once his magic found that thin tendril, he was able to find her.

She was being cradled by Kai’s arms while Yoko kneeled in front of her, the high priestess using her holy magic. Dark Schneider almost snarled at the sight of small lacerations on his queen’s face, the bruises on her hands and the sound of ribs being pushed back into place, eliciting a pained groan from her.

That’s enough. He thought, walking down the stairs, past the onlookers and Mifune, towards the battlefield with Lars tagging along behind him…and [First Name]’s golem. Yeah, the little bastard didn't like him one bit, not with how much he’s growling and snapping his teeth. He quickened his stride, almost blitzing through the carnage towards where the others were….wait, what is [First Name] doing?!

Yoko and Kai were yelling at her as she wobbled unsteadily towards a partially-eaten samurai, his lower half covered with what looked like the same creatures Ba Thory summoned to try to use on him, the greatest sorcerer in the world.

“I appreciate your concern Yoko, Kai, but please let me…see what these creatures are. If they are what I think they are….we still have a chance to save everyone!” She looked at them with wide eyes, tired and desperate. “Please.”

Dark Schneider quickened his pace, almost running towards them with a furrowed brow. “Idiot.” He muttered. What could [First Name] even do in her current condition. Moreover, why is she trying so hard to save nobodies who barely made an impact on the second season of this show? She needed to take care of herself before taking care of others. How many close-calls of collapsing from overworking and suffering from night-terrors is it going to take until she understands that she can’t do everything if she’s weak?

“Hey -” He called out, wanting to know what exactly is going on in this scenario when someone struck him in the back of the head with a fish. Glancing over his shoulder, the wizard felt annoyance and fear coil in his stomach simultaneously as he saw Yoko glowering down at him.

“Late, late, late! You are so late!” She screamed, relentless in her assault as she continued to hit his head. “What took you so long?! What have you been up to for the past two years?! Almost the entire new cast of characters and we’re at risk of getting canceled unless we do something!” Her fists were quickly replaced with a mace that seemingly appeared out of nowhere. “But on top of it all, [First Name] says she can save everyone but we don’t even know how or what she’s talking about!”

“And why should I care what happens to them?” Dark Schneider barked as he rubbed his sore skull, his eyes narrowed in annoyance. “I don’t care about anyone else except for [First Name].”

The high priestess shook her fist in the air. “What was that, you ungrateful little-!”

“That’s enough, Yoko!” [First Name] snapped, kneeling beside the fallen samurai next to Kai. Pulling out a scalpel, forceps and corked vial from her haori.

She made an incision on one of the worms, causing it to squeal and writhe. Kai immediately plunged the tip of her sword into the leech, keeping it still long enough for [First Name] quickly used the forceps, pulling out a slimy, translucent worm about an inch, two inches long, holding it up in the air.

“I knew it.” She whispered. “This is it.”

“What is it?” Kai asked.

“This, my dear friend, is a regeneration worm. Difficult to find due to its rarity, but it is capable of healing wounds that cannot be repaired by magic,” [First Name] shared a hopeful smile with the taller woman. “Maybe…bring back our comrades from the brink of death. Like Schen Karr here.”

“You’re serious?”

“Quite.” [First Name] said. “Yoko! I need him!”

“What?”

“Trust me! Darsh, could you come here please? You too, Yoko!” [First Name] asked, waving her hand up and down in the air as she looked at him, hope and determination dancing in her eyes.

Dark Schneider groaned. He knew that look. She wasn’t going to stop now until she collapses, so why does it turn him on so much? Well….he’ll just have to sweep her up in his arms like a princess and give some TLC later, right? Wait….did she just call him Darsh? He felt his face heat up a little. Damn it. Why does it sound so much better when she says than how Arshes called me that in the past?!

[First Name] quickly explained what he already knew about regeneration worms, and where Yoko’s healing magic comes into play. Kai was all for it and took off to inform the remaining samurai to gather what’s left of their fallen comrades. The high priestess went to work on Schen Karr, chanting blessed spells around Schen Karr while Dark Schneider and Led Zeppelin collected the worms. He had no problems finding the bastard Ba Thory and taking him apart piece by piece to get what his queen wanted, but how and why would a golem help out?

He knew about their storage capacity, nothing else beyond that.

When he saw its jaws open and devour the leeches on the samurai’s body in three bites and regurgitate the worms on the ground in a neat pile by his feet, Dark Schneider withdrew his previous statement.

While the handsome hero and his trusty sidekick Lars helped collect the worms, [First Name] would insert them inside her patients after she patched them up the wounds that Yoko's magic couldn’t reverse. The reddish-orange hues of dawn soon appeared over the mountainside as the heavy rain dissipated into a light sprinkle. The samurai crowded around, hugging each other or rushing around to help the citizens who got caught in the crossfire, bringing them to either Yoko or [First Name].

However, Dark Schneider could see that the healing process was taking its toll on his queen. She kept rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand, trying to keep them focused on her task. She needed to rest, and yet there was still a line of people who needed treatment. He commended [First Name] for being as patient as she had been, because he would’ve snapped the whiny warrior’s neck in half right now for refusing to lie still. No one wanted a weird-ass worm inside of them, but she would never deliberately endanger a patient. Yoko agreed, trying to coax the man that everything will be alright, yet he remained defiant.

Dark Schneider’s eyes narrowed when the idiot slapped his queen’s shaky hand, causing her to drop the forceps and the worm to fall onto the ground. Led Zeppelin gobbled up the little bugger so it wouldn’t go to waste, and [First Name] had the patient pinned down by the throat.

She needed to stop, now.

He pushed past the crowd, walking right behind Shinobu and carefully removing her hand from the bastard, pressing his chest against her back for a moment before he scooped her up in his arms.

“And you’re done! Hey asshole,” He glowered at the sniveling rat. “Show a little more compassion that it was my queen treating you second-rate servants and not me, or you’d be dead already. Actually,” The wizard turned to Yoko. “Let them die if they keep acting like this. The casting department should have more than enough money left in the budget to hire more actors for this season.”

Yoko shook her head, the corners of her mouth tugging into a small smile before someone else, one of the civilians, came forward and offered to take over. The high priestess nodded, with Led Zeppelin reluctantly staying behind as Dark Schneider walked away with [First Name].

“Thank you, Darsh. Although if my memory serves me correctly, I did not say that I am your queen.” The Insect Hashira said, looking up at him with an inquisitive frown.

“So you’re telling me there’s still a chance.” Dark Schenider responded with a grin.He watched in amusement as she just stared at him, wide-eyed before she sighed, closing them as she shook her head at him fondly. “You haven’t changed a bit. Still…I’m glad you and Lucien are all right.”

“Why wouldn’t we?”

“The last battle did take a toll on you, the both of you, Darsh, and if I-”

“That wasn’t your fault.”

“But -”

“You weren’t the one who summoned the Demon Mail and used it to attack Princess Sheila or me. That was Abigail. You did what you had to do to ensure everyone had a chance to survive. What happened to Meta-llicana was not your fault, so don’t you dare say it is or so help me I will drop you right now.” He hissed, halting in his trek to look down at her. “Do you understand?” [First Name] didn’t respond, instead she just blinked rapidly at him, face frozen with shock from the words he said before he scoffed, turning his attention to their surroundings.

It’s not exactly an ideal place to rest, but this area wasn’t too far from the others and didn’t have as much debris lying around. Using his magic, Dark Schneider levitated and transformed two of the largest rocks into a pillow and a small mattress. He remembered [First Name] referring to them as a ‘futon’. He remembered her telling him, as Lucien, the difference between a four poster bed and what she had been used to sleeping back in her old world. This was the closest thing he could create from how she described them

His queen was…well, she was in awe of his greatness. Her hands clenched, fisting and pulling on the fabric of his shirt before he set her down. Well, actually he kept her in his arms as he kneeled down and tucked her under the duvet. “There. All cozy, isn’t it?” He smirked, resting his chin with one hand as he laid on top of the futon while the other stroked the top of her head.

Laying on his side next to her, the wizard smiled as he saw [Eye Color] irises fluttering beneath his touch, trying to fight off the exhaustion when it was already a losing battle for [First Name]. Then all of a sudden, she sat up from the futon and he felt something warm and soft press against his cheek. Her lips. She just kissed him. Willingly. Holy fuck.

[First Name] smiled sleepily. “Thank you…Darsh.” Her serene voice muddled down to a soft, drowsy murmur before she laid flat on her back under the futon, her eyes closing. Five minutes later, her breathing slowed to soft inhaling and exhaling through the mouth. All Dark Schneider could do was stare down at her with a wide, goofy grin and pink cheeks while the dog ears on top of his head wiggled.

[First Name] loves me. She loves us, Lucien! He exclaimed in his mind, the bushy tail behind him wagging in excitement. If everything goes well, we might even hit third base before the second season is over! When all he heard was a disapproving silence in the background, Dark Schneider chuckled weakly, continuing to pet [First Name]’s head gently. Okay, okay, maybe that’s a little too soon, but c’mon, not even a kiss for the handsome hero who busted his ass to save this show from being canceled forever? We gotta give these viewers something!

[Next will be season 2’s famous bath scene 😉 who wants to get tagged?]

Taglist:

@sleep-all-day-everyday

@theanimekid

@saltyfruitbat

@ccruzmoon

@cassanderasblog

@technikerin23

@justamegafan

@harame

@mitra555

@nunezs-stuff

@xoxo-shy

@currentlyinhell

@swallowtailcherry

#an idyllic novelist #fem reader #dark schneider x reader #dark schneider #bastard anime #bastard 2022 #bastard!!#shinobu!reader #character!reader #bastard anime 2022 #dark schneider headcanons

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kryptonbabe · 3 months ago

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Superman (headcanon) lesser known biological facts

Ok, I just submitted my final research paper and I'll, hopefully, have my academic degree in Biological Sciences soon so I wrote these for your consideration, my fellow fandom scientists

Kryptonians have a slightly higher body temperature than humans, the heat is naturally generated by their cells, that are highly efficient in storing energy in easily degraded chemical bonds, but will still disperse some of that energy as heat, a natural byproduct of any organic metabolism, so releasing optical rays (heat vision) is a great way of thermal regulating

Contrary to what some people believe, under a yellow sun, when Kryptonians have sex their ejaculation is not impossibly strong, that is due to their evolution, the capability of crossed species fecundation is an evolutionary advantage that would be greatly decreased in efficiency if the ejaculation would hurt or even kill their partner with its release, limiting the genetic spread of this trait, Lois is safe

Kryptonians bodies are too resistant to most kind of poisons, mild ones like alcohol are inconsequential to them, the substances capable of getting them drunk are rare and so chemically unstable that it is damaging for humans and other fragile species to be around it

Due to the harsh biochemistry of Kryptonians digestive system, capable of digesting most (but not all) substances in the universe, it is very hard for bacteria to live in their gut environment, so their poops don't even smell bad (under a yellow sun), when they get to a red sun system they must ingest probiotics for a better digestion (fun fact: Batman carries a little vial of Krytonian probiotics in his utility belt just in case)

Despite their radically different biology Kryptonians are psychologically very similar to humans due to convergent evolution that made our neural networks to function in an analogous way, despite their different biological origins, Kryptonians can process information faster (metabolic efficiency under yellow sun etc), under a red sun their neural capabilities are indistinguishable from those of a human being, but they're always dependent on electrical signals between neural cells to function, that means Superman is capable of empathy just like us, only he's doing it faster

#peer review my scientific fanfic #superman #speculative biology #speculative evolution #biology #headcanon #lois lane #batman #fandom #text #dc comics #dc #comics #comic book science

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freesia-writes · 9 months ago

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Hey!!! So excited to see that you were opening requests for a Bad Batch Valentine's event! I would like to put in a humble request of a one shot with Echo and a female reader. I have no specific details on appearance. For the general vibe, I would like it to make me feel all the happily ever after feels. I love all your work, can't wait to see what you do next!! ❤️ 😍

Yeah baby! I can't ever resist a little stargazing/campfire sort of situation, so here's a fairly generic setting that's just filllllled with his sweetness (and slight sauciness, LOL). Dividers by @stars-n-spice from this post here!

Echo x GN!Reader

970 words

No content warnings

Underneath the twinkling canvas of stars, you and Echo found yourselves nestled around the crackling campfire, the warmth casting a gentle glow over your faces. The air was crisp, carrying with it the faint scent of pine and the distant sound of nocturnal creatures stirring in the forest.

Echo sat beside you, his gaze fixed on the dancing flames as they flickered and swayed in the cool night breeze. His expression was thoughtful, his brow furrowed slightly as if lost in deep contemplation.

"You know," he began, breaking the comfortable silence that had settled between you, "there's something about being out here, under the stars, that just feels... right."

You nodded in agreement, following his gaze as it drifted up toward the glittering expanse above. "It's peaceful," you replied softly, "like the chaos of the world fades away for a little while."

Echo smiled, a small, genuine curve of his lips that softened the lines of his face. "Exactly," he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

As the fire crackled and popped beside you, the two of you found yourselves lost in conversation, sharing stories and memories as the night stretched on. Echo spoke of his time as a member of the 501st as well as his time in Clone Force 99, recounting daring missions and narrow escapes with a mixture of pride and humility. You listened intently, hanging on his every word as he painted vivid pictures of battles fought and comrades lost. There was a depth to Echo's stories that resonated with you, a sense of camaraderie and loyalty that spoke to the bonds forged in the crucible of war.

"I'll never forget the time we were stranded on that desolate moon," Echo said, a wistful smile playing at the corners of his lips. "We had to fend off a pack of ravenous nexu with nothing but our blasters and a few thermal detonators."

You laughed, the sound echoing softly in the quiet of the night. "That sounds like quite the adventure," you replied, imagining the scene playing out in your mind's eye.

"It was," Echo agreed, his gaze distant as he relived the memory. "But it was also one of the moments that brought us closer together as a team. We had each other's backs, no matter what. I felt like a real part of a team again."

As the fire burned low and the sky lay above you as a dark, velvet cover, you realized that this moment was something special. It was a chance to connect with Echo on a level that went beyond the battlefield, to see the man behind the armor and the scars.

"Thank you for sharing your stories with me," you said softly, breaking the silence that had settled over the clearing. "It means a lot."

Echo turned to you, his gaze soft and sincere. "Thank you for listening," he replied, a hint of warmth in his voice despite its wistful touch. "It's been a long time since I've had someone to share them with.”

You felt a flutter of anticipation in your chest, and the air between you seemed charged with electricity, a palpable tension that you couldn't ignore. He shifted beside you, his gaze lingering on your face as if searching for something in the depths of your eyes.

"You know," he began, his voice low and husky, "there's something I've been meaning to tell you."

Your heart skipped a beat at his words, anticipation coursing through your veins. "What is it?" you asked, barely above a whisper.

He reached out, his hand coming to rest on yours, his touch sending a jolt of electricity up your arm. "I... I don't know how to say this," he confessed, his gaze dropping to where your fingers were intertwined. "But ever since I met you, I've felt... something. Something I can't really explain, and something I don’t think I deserve, but… I don’t want to stuff it down anymore.”

“Oh.” Your breath caught in your throat, the weight of his words hanging heavy in the air between you. “Echo… How could you say you don’t deserve it?”

“Cause I’m a bit of an ass,” he said with a grin, breaking the intensity of the moment with some levity.

“My favorite ass,” you teased, heart warming at the humor and relief that softened his sharp features.

Echo looked up, his gaze locking with yours, and in that moment, the world seemed to fall away. His pale brown eyes were brimming with emotion, a new vulnerability and courage surfacing at the same time. You didn’t know how to confess all that you felt toward him as well, feeling utterly paralyzed by the dreaminess of the entire situation -- nestled cozily side by side on the ground beneath the stars.

Without thinking, you leaned forward, closing the distance between you until your lips met in a soft, tender kiss. It was like coming home, a perfect moment of clarity and connection that left you breathless and wanting more. He sucked air in through his nose, freezing for a split second before tilting his head to deepen the kiss. His arms snuck around you, pulling you more closely against him until you were almost losing your balance, and you came tumbling apart with hands sprawling to find the ground and a small chuckle punctuating the passion.

Once you got situated, you snuggled back together, closer than before, tucking yourself against his side. He nestled his cheek against the side of your head, his fingers tracing patterns against the outside of your arm. "I've wanted to do that for so long," he confessed, his voice barely above a whisper.

You smiled, a rush of happiness flooding through you at his words. "Me too," you replied, turning and leaning in to press another kiss to his lips.

Tag List: @littlefeatherr @arctrooper69 @foreverdaydreaming1 @stunkbiggu @mxkyrie @littlemissbshine @dreamie411 @skellymom @followthepurrgil @the-hexfiles @1vlouds @ughhhhfoff @coraex @gt13tbbart @lune-de-miel-au-paradis @ghostperson69 @secondaryrealm @hellhound5925 @thew0nderer2342 @cloneloverrrrr @kashasenpai @clonethirstingisreal @dukeoftheblackstar @kimiheartblade @mooncommlink @stardusthuntress @starstofillmydream @eyecandyeoz @dhawerdaverd @ladylucksrogue @thiswitchloves9904 @tech-aficionado @foodmoneyandcats @eternal-transcience @cw80831 @adh-d2 @techmexicanvieja @ezras-left-thumb @trixie2023 @sleepycreativewriter @nonsenseandm3mes @mlichaelm @nahoney22 @mary-on-the-contrary @sverdgeir @roam-rs @starsaboveclones @falconfeather23435

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spacetimewithstuartgary · 3 months ago

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Dark matter could have helped make supermassive black holes in the early universe

It takes a long time for supermassive black holes, like the one at the center of our Milky Way galaxy, to form. Typically, the birth of a black hole requires a giant star with the mass of at least 50 of our suns to burn out—a process that can take a billion years—and its core to collapse in on itself.

Even so, at only about 10 solar masses, the resulting black hole is a far cry from the 4 million-solar-masses black hole, Sagittarius A*, found in our Milky Way galaxy, or the billion-solar-mass supermassive black holes found in other galaxies. Such gigantic black holes can form from smaller black holes by accretion of gas and stars, and by mergers with other black holes, which take billions of years.

Why, then, is the James Webb Space Telescope discovering supermassive black holes near the beginning of time itself, eons before they should have been able to form? UCLA astrophysicists have an answer as mysterious as the black holes themselves: Dark matter kept hydrogen from cooling long enough for gravity to condense it into clouds big and dense enough to turn into black holes instead of stars. The finding is published in the journal Physical Review Letters.

"How surprising it has been to find a supermassive black hole with a billion solar mass when the universe itself is only half a billion years old," said senior author Alexander Kusenko, a professor of physics and astronomy at UCLA. "It's like finding a modern car among dinosaur bones and wondering who built that car in the prehistoric times."

Some astrophysicists have posited that a large cloud of gas could collapse to make a supermassive black hole directly, bypassing the long history of stellar burning, accretion and mergers. But there's a catch: Gravity will, indeed, pull a large cloud of gas together, but not into one large cloud. Instead, it gathers sections of the gas into little halos that float near each other but don't form a black hole.

The reason is that the gas cloud cools too quickly. As long as the gas is hot, its pressure can counter gravity. However, if the gas cools, pressure decreases, and gravity can prevail in many small regions, which collapse into dense objects before gravity has a chance to pull the entire cloud into a single black hole.

"How quickly the gas cools has a lot to do with the amount of molecular hydrogen," said first author and doctoral student Yifan Lu. "Hydrogen atoms bonded together in a molecule dissipate energy when they encounter a loose hydrogen atom. The hydrogen molecules become cooling agents as they absorb thermal energy and radiate it away. Hydrogen clouds in the early universe had too much molecular hydrogen, and the gas cooled quickly and formed small halos instead of large clouds."

Lu and postdoctoral researcher Zachary Picker wrote code to calculate all possible processes of this scenario and discovered that additional radiation can heat the gas and dissociate the hydrogen molecules, altering how the gas cools.

"If you add radiation in a certain energy range, it destroys molecular hydrogen and creates conditions that prevent fragmentation of large clouds," Lu said.

But where does the radiation come from?

Only a very tiny portion of matter in the universe is the kind that makes up our bodies, our planet, the stars and everything else we can observe. The vast majority of matter, detected by its gravitational effects on stellar objects and by the bending of light rays from distant sources, is made of some new particles, which scientists have not yet identified.

The forms and properties of dark matter are therefore a mystery that remains to be solved. While we don't know what dark matter is, particle theorists have long speculated that it could contain unstable particles which can decay into photons, the particles of light. Including such dark matter in the simulations provided the radiation needed for the gas to remain in a large cloud while it is collapsing into a black hole.

Dark matter could be made of particles that slowly decay, or it could be made of more than one particle species: some stable and some that decay at early times. In either case, the product of decay could be radiation in the form of photons, which break up molecular hydrogen and prevent hydrogen clouds from cooling too quickly. Even very mild decay of dark matter yielded enough radiation to prevent cooling, forming large clouds and, eventually, supermassive black holes.

"This could be the solution to why supermassive black holes are found very early on," Picker said. "If you're optimistic, you could also read this as positive evidence for one kind of dark matter. If these supermassive black holes formed by the collapse of a gas cloud, maybe the additional radiation required would have to come from the unknown physics of the dark sector."

IMAGE: A James Webb Telescope image shows the J0148 quasar circled in red. Two insets show, on top, the central black hole, and on bottom, the stellar emission from the host galaxy. Credit: MIT/NASA

#science #space #astronomy #physics #news #astrophysics #black holes #dark matter

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sionisjaune · 6 months ago

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98 for brocedes :)

Sensory prompts! 98. low smoke lingering and diffusing to a smudged haze in humid summer air

It’s just Nico and Lewis left by the time the fire has died. Lewis finds himself inhaling the smell of char floating on the warm night air and wincing when it stings his eyes. On the other side of the fire, Nico is bundled up to his chin in a Mercedes-branded thermal blanket. Whoever said a team camping trip would be a good bonding exercise had obviously not taken into consideration Nico’s poor tolerance of non-Mediterranean climates.

“What,” says Nico, sharply.

“Huh?” says Lewis. His eyes are squinted half-shut from the smoke.

“You’re staring,” says Nico.

“I’m not,” says Lewis. “Just—looking.”

“Looking at what,” says Nico, his mouth twisting. Lewis can’t help but recall the sloppy seal it made around his dick in the humid early morning, cloistered inside Lewis’s sleeping bag, Nico’s sweaty palm on the inside of his thigh.

“Just… behind you,” says Lewis. Nico twists around in his camp chair to look. “The stars look—nice.”

Nico untwists, facing Lewis again with a placid expression. Lewis’s throat is dry when he swallows. He wonders if it’s always going to be this good—Nico at his side, whatever it is between them blossoming into something secret and intimate.

“Yeah,” says Nico. Small wrinkles appear over his nose. Lewis can see them even through the smoke lingering above the dying embers. “Nice.”

#incredible prompt anon thank you!!!#picturing this set in 2013 that fateful year before everything went wrong #(also i said i would get to these earlier but would you believe it the crumble is STILL baking... i will take a few more for tomorrow!)#brocedes #sensory prompts

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wofbutgood · 17 days ago

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Finally figured something out for these bastards wings. Good news is now that I know what I'm doing, none of the other dragons will give me nearly as hard of a time. Will probably help too that none of the other dragons wings as nearly as cartoonishly large.

Image description and transcript of text below the cut:

[Figure 1 description: A birds eye view of a skywing with its wings slightly folded, showing off its partially feathered wing. The feathers are a dark grey-purple, and the membrane a dark brown with lighter cream stripes. It's head is curled to look back behind itself.

Figure 2 description: A skywing stood next to a white silhouette of a man, labeled as 6ft. The top of the mans head is just level with the Skywings chin. The Skywing has its wing stretched upwards to show its massive wingspan and the pale cream underside of its wings.

Figure 3 description: A large bust of a Skywing with its mouth open. Its teeth are robust and packed closely together, similar to dinosaur teeth. The lateral incisors are missing, and the central incisors form a large, beak-like shape. Its nose, chin, and neck are a pale cream colour, while its forehead and cheeks are a dark brown with reddish iridescence. Its eyes are green.]

Text Reads:

Skywings.

Anatomy and ecology.

Skywings are the true masters of flight on Pyrrhia. Many are capable of persistent flight for weeks without ever touching the ground, taking advantage of wind streams and thermals that develop over the vast warm ocean for effortless propulsion. Wing types are almost invariably long and narrow, comparable to albatross and frigatebirds.

Skywings colours tend to be a range of brown, black, and agouti feathers, with distinctive countershading and a noticeable red iridescents at certain angles. All Skywiwing have dark sclera, their irises typically shades of yellow, brown, and occasionally green. The bare scales can be any colour; in Skywings, it’s often a dark blue-grey.

With a wingspan of 30ft, Skywings boast not only the largest wing-to-body ratio, but also the largest wingspan of all dragonkind.

This expression of feather coverage is a form of sun protection.

Like all dragons, Skywings lost their lateral incisors, their central incisors becoming large and beak-like.

Skywings are obligate carnivores and primarily piscivorous. They have a varied diet of fish, crustaceans, and small mammals.

Skywings have minimal sexual dimorphism; slightly smaller, brighter males, and larger, dull coloured females. Mating occurs seasonally, and most individuals lack any significant sex drive out of season.

In pre-modern times, females would typically mate with multiple males and breeding pairs would not form permanent bonds. In the modern day, how many husbands a single female has is dictated by wealth and status, and many will go their whole life without mating at all.

#wings of fire #wof #worldbuilding #wof rewrite #skywing #please excuse the fact that the central skywing render is significantly lower quality than the others. i dont fuckign know why #the size of the graphic exactly matches the size of the render #and yet #im too tired rn to actually try and figure it out n fix it #ill work it out for the next graphics i do #most likely seawing next btw

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squidthesquidd · 2 years ago

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masked au!!!! ok so i may actually turn this into a fic and a few comics because im a lil obsessed with it :DDD

heres some sketches of my Emmet design for it!

explaination in the readmore!!

So!! Basically, after Ingos disappearance, Emmet started to hate his reflection cus it reminded him of ingo, so he took to wearing a mask. Over time, that mask became a sort of comfort item for him so now he rarely ever takes it off, and can become very distressed when not wearing it.

Eventually, Emmet gets sent to hisui cus he fought god and arceus was like "This guy is so silly i'll send him to hisui too :)"

So then he falls from the sky in the middle of nowhere

he has no pokemon, no materials, but he still has his mask

after wandering for a very long time he straight up passes out from exhaustion, and later wakes up in a dark cave

turns out, a crap ton of previously undiscovered hisui joltiks and galvantula found him, and because of being shot out of a portal and weird magic, he is absolutely full of weird energy, so the bugs took a liking to him and brought him back to their cave :]

Hisui joltiks/galvantula are fire and ground types! joltiks are like little blocks of coal with legs and leave charcoal EVERYWHERE

Anyway, guess what is relatively close to this hidden cave full of spiders? haha yeah its the diamond clan

So basically, Emmet is just chilling with his new spider besties, recovering from almost dying, and some diamond clan discover the cave!! and they see Emmet and they're like "ah yes this guy is this massive spider’s warden. definitely" and Emmet just goes with it cus why not? they're the first people he sees so he wants to get on their good side

so stuff happens and Emmet is now kinda an "unofficial" member of the diamond clan. he gets a diamond tunic cus hes kinda another diamond warden, but also he kinda just chills in his cave most of the time and will only leave if he absolutely has to. he's still searching for Ingo, but everything is just wayyyyy to much so he's gonna hang out with his spiders

The whole “being sent to an ancient time” thing and just being so very mentally ill caused Emmet to become very reluctant to speak, so communication was a bit difficult since no one in the diamond clan knew modern sign language. There was also a language barrier, but Emmet is a quick learner and manage to learn the language pretty fast :D he mostly communicates in writing since there's still no sign language option

When first meeting people, they asked Emmet to take off his mask, which kinda made a bad first impression on him so he doesn't really like being around people now :/ but his annoyance with everyone around him kind of accidentally made him befriend melli, cus their both petty lil shits that don't like people much

Melli comes over to his cave and they shit talk people together, and Melli is actually one of the first people Emmet become comfortable talking to verbally because of this! they both think the other is annoying but they bond over it :]

literally this is the strangest relationship to ever come out of one of my aus. these two have never interacted ever. Why did I decide Melli was the one that Emmet should interact with?

these twinks are hanging out in a spider infested cave gossiping about people

Also!! Hisui joltiks absorb thermal energy instead of static energy, so Emmet is often very cold to the touch cus his bugs are stealing his body heat. This also makes him very tired a lot so you can often find him passed out in a pile of soot.

pls ask me questions about my au I want to talk about it so much

#masked au #pokemon #pokemon bw #pokémon black and white #submas #emmet #melli #galvantula #joltik #warden emmet #ingo #pla #pokemon legends arceus #au

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femmefighter · 3 months ago

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From A Droid's Point Of View

For Sapphic Ahsoka Tano Week, Day 5 - Master; Sokabine. Amazing gifsets done by the dearest @halepo - thank you so much for these, ori'vod, and for being my first mate in keeping this tugboat sailing.

The surreal, multicoloured blur of hyperspace peeked through the teeth of the purrgil as the T-6 was parked on the space whale's tongue. Huyang had finished his story from his archives, having chosen the story of when the first Nightsister had managed to tame and ride the purrgil from one planet to the next. The ronin Jedi in the pilot seat was a surly quiet, and Huyang’s instruments told him through the Togruta’s heat signature, heart rate, and eye movement pattern, that she was preoccupied with other thoughts.

Huyang replayed the memories in his circuits to himself, going over the last few days’ events that led them to their current predicament, and Ahsoka Tano’s current mood.

The benefit of being a droid, his interactions were all data that he could record and store. Every once in a while, he’d cypher through the millennia of memories he had, download the ones he found were no longer of use, and would store them on chips he kept in his office. He never got rid of any data permanently; experience had taught him that with the ebbs and flows of the galaxy over time, priorities change, and so do the lessons that need revisiting.

He replayed the first night that he and the Lady Tano had spent in Lothal, when Lady Wren had been injured. It was not standard operating procedure for Lady Wren to contact the droid for combat support anymore, but he had supposed it was because she and the Lady Tano hadn’t mended their bond yet.

Besides, Lady Tano was deep in conversation with General Syndulla at the time, a discussion the latter had asked for some private from the droid. Lady Tano, like all masterful Jedi, was often very stoic in times of pressure and stress, however Huyang had noticed the slight widening of the Togruta's eyes, the tone of her voice revealing an inner turmoil she was wrestling with, and the bio-readings his thermal scanners picked up showed that the Jedi's fight response had kicked in.

When they'd reached the comms tower, Lady Tano had raced straight to the unconscious Lady Wren’s side instead of giving chase to the other Force user and her HK droid. That decision had not come as a surprise to the professor droid. What did surprise Huyang, however, was the sullen response Lady Tano was having to Sabine's decision to hand over the star map.

The decision for Ahsoka to take Sabine Wren on as a padawan had always puzzled Huyang. The Togruta and Mandalorian's relationship was as close and intense as any master and padawan relationship Huyang had ever witnessed, but he presumed that it was born from a mutual personal affection neither women knew how to process properly.

They didn't need to assume the roles of teacher and apprentice to have an excuse to spend time together.

But the two women were determined to make it work, and their commitment to their duties and each other was admirable.

Until that day when it had all come crashing down...

Huyang had stopped trying to replay and assess that day on Endor, when he'd come out of his office because he'd heard shouting, to see an utterly devastated Lady Wren flee the ship, tears streaming down her face and her breath a sobbing wail, and finding a similarly distraught Lady Tano having locked herself in the cockpit, curled up in a corner on the floor by the door. He had never seen the Jedi so controlled by her emotions before, overwhelmed and inconsolable. It had taken days before the droid could coax what had happened out of the clearly heartbroken Ahsoka Tano, and even then she had given him a very brief summary of the event. He had agreed with Lady Tano's decision to distance herself from training Lady Wren for fear of the Mandalorian's wellbeing, with Sabine being so caught up in her anger and her grief, but even Huyang's programmed emotions had been saddened by their separation. Although he and the Lady Wren often misunderstood or frustrated each other, he had enjoyed her presence aboard the ship, and appreciated that she was a capable warrior and an effective Fulcrum agent.

What he had missed about her most, though, was how happy she had made the Jedi.

"You are still agitated," Huyang finally broken the silence. Ahsoka turned her head sharply towards him, a clearly vexed yet confused expression on her face.

"Your mind still troubles itself over Lady Wren's decision," he prompted.

Ahsoka sighed audibly through her nose. "How can I not be? She gambled the fate of the galaxy away with a selfish decision." The Togruta fell quiet again for a few moments, and just as Huyang was about to pry further, she continued. "You say for her, it might have been the only decision. But it wasn't. Her intellect fiercely outstrips anyone I know, she could have thought of another way. What this decision suggests of her state of mind, to her current way of thinking, it concerns me."

"You cannot criticise her too harshly, considering you own recent decision," Huyang spoke up in the Mandalorian's defence, and the Togruta turned to look at him again, her wides wide in bewilderment. "Explain," she ordered tersely. Blinking his amber, robotic eyes at the Jedi, he elaborated. "Only days ago, you also gambled the fate of the galaxy for the sake of one person, when you ran to Lady Wren's aid outside of the communications tower, instead of pursuing the mercenary and the droid. You knew they were escaping with the map."

The Jedi straightened in her seat, no doubt miffed at the droid's observations. "I had no other choice, Sabine was gravely injured!" Emotion was creeping into the Togruta's voice, with even the mention of that night triggering a release of distress. "You had options," Huyang countered firmly. "You could have given chase to the enemy, and you would have caught up to them. A single HK droid and the dark sider apprentice would have not been a match for you. You would have recovered the map and we would have regained the initiative of the situation, rather than being on the back foot and still giving chase. I could have attended to Lady Wren in the meantime. It would have only delayed getting her medical attention by a few minutes, and due to the location and cauterising nature of her wound, she had those minutes to spare."

Ahsoka stared at the droid, her face slack with shock. "I know you feel there was no other choice, because your programming would not allow you to choose any differently. The same can be said for Lady Wren's decision on Seatos," he finished off, satisfied with his logic.

The Jedi held the droid's gaze for a few moments, before turning to look out the windshield again. Her voice crept out again, this time quiet and raw and wholly vulnerable, as she stared unseeingly through her reflection.

"I love her, Huyang," Ahsoka finally admitted.

"I couldn't leave her there... I love her..."

I know, Huyang thought. "Have you told her that?'

Again, lekku flicked around as Ahsoka snapped her head back at him, staring at his question. Her blue eyes were watering, and after a few quiet moments, a couple of tears crept down the Togruta's face. Her gaze began to dart around as she searched her own memories, wanting to find an affirmative answer to his query, her mouth starting to drop open as she couldn't. "I..." she gave a false start, a small sob escaping her lips before she tried again. "Not in those exact words, but..."

"Those exact words are what Lady Wren would need to hear," Huyang bluntly cut her off. "You show your care through your actions. Lady Wren shows it through her words, and with who she gives her time to. You have not spoken to her in years, nor given her any of your time." Ahsoka had sunk into her seat, looking smaller in stature and energy. "I think about her all the time," she confessed, her voice just as defeated as her posture. "She is my first thought when I wake, and the last one I cling to when I fall asleep. I've tried so many times to cast her from my mind, but I can't. I cannot let go of my attachment to her. This is why I'm a failed Jedi. What hope did Sabine even have when her own master couldn't practice such a critical component of Jedi teaching?"

At last, Huyang had gotten Ahsoka to expose the underlying fear she carried. It made perfect sense, considering what had happened to her master. Ahsoka would not have grown up with the best examples as to how relationships grounded in love should be handled. Her own master formed unhealthy attachments with his love, squeezing his attachments so tightly in fear of losing them that it consumed him.

Ahsoka was misunderstanding the Jedi meaning of attachments and love. To love was to connect, whilst to become attached was to try and deny the flow of the Force through control.

"You are not your master, Lady Tano. Through all the pieces of his story we've collected over the years, we know Anakin Skywalker could not let go of his attachment to his secret wife, which led to his fall. In comparison, you pushed Lady Wren away for the greater good at the cost of your relationship and happiness. Selflessly you let her go, knowing the pain it would bring you. You are allowed to miss her. And now, the Force has brought you back together. My suggestion is - don't fight it. You two are better together. The only thing you need to let go of is your fear of your own failure."

Silence tears were now flowing unchecked down the Togruta's face, and she sat curled in on herself for a long while, processing Huyang's words and sniffing back her running eyes and nose. Huyang sat with her, staring out into the darkness of the purrgil's mouth. When her breathing had calmed and her face mostly dried, Huyang spoke up again, this time making sure his voice offered more kindness rather than matter-of-factness. "You should go rest. You're still recovering from your prolonged time in the Seatos ocean, and you'll need your strength for when we reach our destination." A nod accompanied a sigh, and the Togruta slowly rose from her seat. "I think I'll run through some forms first, and then I'll get some sleep." She let a hand linger on the droid's shoulder - her typical gesture of appreciation the droid had gotten used to, before she walked with heavy energy out of the cockpit.

Huyang knew, however long their purrgil-enabled journey would be, that his Jedi companion would spend most of it releasing years of pent up emotional trauma into the Force through movement and meditation. Ahsoka was finally healing, and hopefully she would be recovered enough to mend the bond between her and her beloved padawan.

In lieu of having lips to smile with, the droid's wires sparkled with hope.

He was looking forward to having the Lady Wren back again.

#ahsoka tano #sabine wren #star wars #sokabine #ahsoka series #star wars wlw #ahsoka #star wars sapphics #halepo #sapphicahsokatanoweek #sapphicahsokatanoweek2024 #master #collab

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