#alternatively he is a loyal second in command

[octaviusing]

Consumed by thoughts so bear with me

Ford who fell through the portal as normal, he’s been on the run for 10 years through dimensions.

He’s been in his share of fights and trouble but once they see the tattoo on his wrist they leave him alone, even telling him to “go home”

He had no clue what Bill had put on him and no one would help him translate it after reading it on him.

He figures it out and hunts Bill down, confronting him and making the decision to be by Bills side if only to prevent him from taking over his home dimension.

Ft some closeups too :3

[horizontwinflames]

Horizon AU: Twin Flames - Isaac (Zero Dawn Act) final concept/design.

*texts' transcriptions under the cut after the images*

REPOST, EDIT/USE OR FEED MY ART TO AI ISN'T ALLOWED

Read about Aloy, Beta and Elisabet in this AU [here]

omg... I thought I would never finish this... BUT YAY! Here it is finally! Isaac's final design and concepts!

This AU has an ongoing fanfic! You can read on Ao3: [LINK]

Text transcription:

First image:

Isaac - Roughly 3.2m/10.4' -Unknown age (probably just a few months).

Isaac is an original machine character in this alternative universe.

Isaac is the loyal machine companion of the Sobeck family, serving as both a traveling and battle mount. The sisters unintentionally created him while trying to figure out a way to increase the machine override time. The process they applied in the -back then- simple Watcher rebooted their AI and programming back to its essential functions and disconnected them from their original master, HEPHAESTUS. Once he received his name from Beta, the three family members became his new masters, which he unthinkingly obey to.

Due to his blank AI, Isaac is developing his own sentience and personality by absorbing his masters’ traits and behaviors and learning their morals and concepts. He also downloaded all of the sisters’ Focuses’ data to have some initial communication and works as a backup, so he only knows what they know.

He can speak with anyone with a Focus through its text-to-speech function by sending text messages to them - thus, people who don’t have a Focus only hear his Watcher noises. He can still communicate with other machines normally, so he also works as an information gatherer to help in missions and studies.

Second image:

Once a simple Watcher, now a super advanced mount and best friend of the Sobeck family.

Isaac's customizable body can adapt him to travel in any terrain, even underwater. He's able to reach high speeds at a low energy and heating cost - he's also lighter than it seems. His sleek, almost snake-ish, body shape makes maneuvering more dynamic for his rider.

His propulsors give him the ability to do long leaps and high jumps, helping the sisters get to places they wouldn't be able to reach by themselves. But a repetitive use of said skills in a short timespan can drain his energy and overheat him quickly.

Like his owners, he's not adept at using one single type of weapon. Isaac's tail ranged weapons and armor can be changed to better adapt to the situation. However, he hasn't developed efficient battle techniques yet, as he's still learning with the Sobecks. Note that his Sawtooth's sabers aren't intended to be used to fight but to climb and carry objects.

Melee Tail Weapons: Thunderjaw's tail, Stalker's tail blade, Stormbird's tail (also used to swim), Frostclaw's front paws.

Ranged Weapons: Thunderjaw's Disk Launcher, Ravager's Cannon, Scorcher's Mine Launcher, Bellowback's Snout.

Armors: Nora (stealth), Carja (speed), Oseran (tank), Banuk (damage), Old World (mixed).

Isaac is a mount adapted for two people: One is the rider, and the other is the cannoneer. He syncs with them through their Focuses, so his responses to their commands are more instantaneous. The rider directs Isaac where to go and when and how to use the tail weapon. Meanwhile, the cannoneer controls the ranged weapons and propulsors.

Only those who have a Focus can see his holographic face. The images shown are a collection of emojis the sisters found in Old World Ruins (which they update when they find more). His three "horns" also can move solemnly to make him more expressive.

Being composed of many different machine parts makes Isaac the first machine chimera to exist - still keeping the base shape of a Watcher, but huge. He was customized by the Sobecks little by little through the Cauldrons they visited on their first journey.

He can still stretch his neck like a Watcher can normally do.

His eye received enhancements to better aid the Sobecks in their daily life and journeys - such as infrared, thermic, and ultrasound visions.

He also has in his head a sound device to play audio files, such as music from the Old World, and a holoprojector.

[in1-nutshell]

Hi!! ❤️🇻🇳 ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) love from Vietnam for u writing~

*Mention: A lil kill and violence here ಠ_ಠ*

So, I was cooking, and then...my mind come an ideal for Shattered Glass Au ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

What happen when Megatron Daughter meet SG!Megatron!!

I images that, SG and Origin world got a portal connect two world together.

What reaction when Buddy first see SG!Megs? I think she gonna be scared and hid in her room.

What reaction when she saw SG!Megatron is a great patient, loving dad toward her just like OP?

Will she get close to him and call him "Dad"?

(I think SG!Megs gonna teary when he hear her call him that 🥹, I'm not cry...)

Because SG!OP very violence, to make SG!Megatron fight him in Cybertron.

OP decide to kidnap and kill small sparkling Buddy infront of SG!Megatron.

SG! Megatron: I'm happy...cause you still alive in this world, lil one...

(I'm not crying 🥲...nope...)

And what punishment will happen to Megatron when SG!Megatron hear he, himself in this world abused Lil Buddy while he supposed to cherish and protect her, not be her nightmare 🥲

SG!Megs: I'm sorwy...

Buddy: Not your faul...dad...

SG!Megs: *Tear split out of his eye* I'M NOT DERSERVE YOU!!! WOAHHHHH!!!

Oh!

Oh...

Oh...

Prepare any tissues at hand, they will be used.

This is my interpretation of SG! TFP, it may change in other works if the plot needs it.

Hope you enjoy!

Megatron's daughter with the opposite personality meeting SG! Megatron

SFW, Platonic, Familial, Hurt and Comfort, mentions of violence and death, nothing graphic though, Cybertronian reader

TFP

It was a normal day on base.

Buddy was watching a movie with the kids on the projector.

Bee and Smokescreen had just gotten back from patrol.

Arcee was talking with Optimus and Ratchet about something.

The Wreckers had managed to get Magnus to throw a lob after days of pestering.

Truly a lovely day.

Until the portal spawned in the center of the base.

“Oh, not this again!”--Buddy

Buddy shields the kids with her frame.

“What do you mean again!”--Miko

“Trust me this has happened more times than I would like to have! The travel is awful and the lands are worse!”--Buddy

“And that’s story to tell for another time!”--Ratchet

“How do we stop it?!”--Wheeljack

“You don’t! You either get sucked in or something—”--Buddy

BANG!

The light disappears.

“—something comes out.”--Buddy

There in the middle of the bases floor were three mechs sprawled out, groaning from their rough landing.

Three very familiar looking mechs…

Oh no…

The kids could feel Buddy shake at the sight of the newcomers.

The three mechs stood up and scanned their surroundings.

There was no doubt that they were Megatron, Starscream and Soundwave.

They had different paintjobs with similar frame structure, but that wasn’t what Buddy was focusing on.

She was focusing on the blue optics staring at her.

The blue optics she once looked into when she was a sparkling.

The blue optics of Megatron.

Buddy and SG! Megatron staring at each other.

Optimus and Ratchet immediately get in front of her.

Starscream and Soundwave stand up slightly in front of their leader who was just starting to stand.

Tense silence.

Megatron holds eye contact with Prime.

“We do not mean you any harm.”--Megatron

“And how do we know this isn’t a trick Megatron?”--Ratchet

Megatron looks at Starscream and Soundwave.

All three drop their weapons, surprising the Autobots.

“Megatron?”--Optimus

“As I said before. We do not mean you any harm.”--Megatron

“You are not our Megatron, am I correct?”--Optimus

Megatron nods.

“We come from an alternative universe. You seem to know my name as Megatron. This is my loyal Second in Command, Starscream.”--Megatron

“Two words I never thought I’d hear in a sentence.”--Smokescreen

“And my third in Command Soundwave.”--Megatron

“Hi!”--Soundwave

Almost everyone visibly jumps back.

“Did—did he just speak?”--Wheeljack

“Yeah? I talk all the time!”--Soundwave

“Sometimes more than usual Soundwave.”--Starscream

“Yeah. Sorry about that one time Screamy.”--Soundwave

Starscream shakes his helm fondly as Soundwave scratches the back of his neckcables.

“We come from a world that is near opposite to yours.”--Megatron

“How do you know that?”--Ratchet

“Our chief scientist, Shockwave was experimenting on the latest relic we managed to acquire from the Autobots. There was no telling what they were going to do with such a relic. Shockwave had enough time to tell us some of the basics before the blast came through.”--Starscream

Optimus nods at the new information.

“How are you guys getting back home?”--Smokescreen

“Shockwave was making a failsafe in case something like this happened. In theory we should be back in a couple of hours. But seeing as he was halfway done with it when the flash came in… a week at most.”--Soundwave

Megatron turns to Prime.

“Will you allow my mechs and I a place of refuge until then?”--Megatron

Prime thinks before agreeing.

Optimus in turn begins to introduce himself and the rest of the team.

He named Buddy last.

This certainly had gotten a reaction from the three Cons.

“This is Buddy, our archivist and technical support of the team.”--Optimus

All three mechs stare a bit at Buddy.

Soundwave kneels down and gently pats Buddy’s helm.

“It’s--it’s good to see ya kid.”--Soundwave

He stands back up, making room for Starscream to kneel.

He offers her his servo to shake.

Buddy shakes it hesitantly.

Starscream just smiles.

“Pleasure to meet you Buddy.”--Starscream

Buddy took the first step towards this Megatron.

It wasn’t the fact that he took a step backwards that surprised her the most.

It is his optics.

Fear.

Sorrow.

Regret.

Hope.

What happened to him?

Buddy slowly approached the giant and held out her servo.

Slowly he grabbed her servo.

It was shaky.

Nothing like the strong death grips she had grown accustomed to.

After the exchange it was settled that the three Decepticon’s would stay until their Shockwave got them home.

It was extremely tense around the base.

Starscream, strangely, got along well with some of the bots. This just surprised them when they found this Starscream to be way more tolerable than the one they knew.

For one, he wasn’t trying to kill Megatron ever second.

Starscream was surprised to hear his counter part wanting to do that to his leader.

He would never try and do that to his Megatron!

He was also caring to others, which was another shock to the team.

Bumblebee trips on a stray cube, slightly skinning his knee.

“Oh! Here let me.”--Starscream

Starscream pulls out a mini mesh kit to fix the joint.

Confused Bee noises intensifies.

Soundwave got along best with the kids and younger Bots.

It was only natural.

There almost wasn’t a second where he wasn’t making some sort of noise, whether it be music or talking, much to Ratchet’s dismay.

It was rare to hear him go silent.

He has mixed feelings about his counterpart’s silent but deadly behavior.

Mainly because he can’t stand so much stillness, ironic being the master spy he was.

Soundwave and Miko jamming out to some rock ballads.

Ratchet looking with horror from afar.

“Oh Primus… there’s two of them now…”—Ratchet

Megatron stays mostly by Prime’s side as the two would have nice talks.

He was the slowest to be integrated into the group.

He did ask about his counterpart, but he noticed that no bot would outright talk about his alternative whenever Buddy was in the room.

There were always side glances towards Buddy’s direction.

Worried glances.

One thing each of the Decepticons noticed fast was that Buddy was never left alone with any of them.

Usually, she was accompanied by a bot or two.

But whenever Megatron came, it almost doubled in numbers.

Soundwave was the one who brought it up one day as he plopped down next to her.

“So, Buddy… how’s your Megatron doing? I mean why haven’t we seen him with you?”--Soundwave

“We aren’t exactly… on talking terms Soundwave.”--Buddy

“How come?”--Soundwave

Buddy looks over at Soundwave and the other Con’s nearby.

“I think you might want to sit down for this.”--Buddy

They quickly sat down by Buddy, as some of the other bots sat down close by.

She knew why, but she continues.

She took a vent in before telling them her story from the beginning.

From the moment Megatronus found her.

From the times she remembered being in Orion Pax’s care.

From the times she was snuck into the gladiator quarters.

From when she met Soundwave and the minicons.

From the Senate meeting.

From the last time seeing Orion and Ratchet.

From when the war started.

From when the training had begun.

From when Megatron left, leaving her to control the army.

From Megatron’s return with the Dark energon.

From Megatron’s worsening training and ideals.

From Megatron’s second death and her having to take care of the army once more.

From Starscream’s ideals and the pushing.

From Megatron’s return.

From The Slash.

From the worse training to date.

From Soundwave snapping.

From Soundwave giving Buddy away to Prime.

The Decepticons had gone silent.

Soundwave was the first to reach out for a hug.

It felt familiar, yet different.

Starscream was the next.

Who knew Starscream could give out good hugs?

Then Megatron…

After a pause he asks if it was okay to hug her.

Buddy had leaped into his open arms before he could finish the sentence.

She buried her faceplate into his neck cables hugging tightly.

Megatron hugged tight too but minded his strength and size.

He gently stroked her back.

“I’m… I am so sorry Buddy.”--Megatron

Buddy lightly hiccupping in Megatron’s neck cables.

“I am so sorry little one.”--Megatron

Buddy finally faces Megatron.

“It—It wasn’t your fault. You had—had nothing to do with my Megatron’s actions.”--Buddy

“…”--Megatron

“…Something happened to my alternative, didn’t it?”--Buddy

“…Yes…”--Megatron

That was when he told her about his Buddy.

From when he found her in the alley.

From raising her with his friend Orion Pax.

From meeting Starscream and Soundwave.

From the Senate meeting.

From the last time she would see her uncle Orion storm out of the chamber.

From the time Nemesis Prime had arisen.

From the time she had been a shining beacon of hope amongst the soldiers.

From the time she disappeared.

From the time Soundwave and him found Prime holding her by her neckcables, struggling out of his grip.

From the pleas.

From the last ‘love you’.

From the blast of the cannon.

From holding his daughter’s offlined corpse in his servos.

From moving to Earth.

From the continuation of the war.

Buddy only hugged him tighter.

He needed it.

They both needed this more than anything.

It was at that moment the light came through.

It was time for them to leave.

The Cons saying their good-byes to everyone.

“If you ever end up in our universe, wouldn’t recommend it, feel free to ask for any of us! Maybe we can show you the base!”--Soundwave

“I’ll keep that in mind.”--Smokescreen

“Thank you again for your hospitality.”--Starscream

“You’re welcome Starscream.”--Optimus

The Cons turn to Buddy, each giving their own long hugs.

Megatron and Buddy give the longest hugs.

“Stay strong little one.”--Megatron

“Same to you, big guy.”--Buddy

Megatron and Buddy give each other one last look before the three walk to the light and vanish just as fast as it came.

They both knew that the alternative couldn’t replace the other, they lost to time. But it still felt good knowing that somewhere in the universe, one was alive and well.

[m1ckeyb3rry]

── THE GLASS PRINCESS // FOURTEEN

Series Synopsis: You wake up in a strange room with no memories, broken glass at your bedside, and a prince named Zuko as your only chance at figuring out who you really are.

Chapter Synopsis: You use Quynh’s powers to escape to Ba Sing Se once again.

Series Masterlist

Pairing: Zuko x Reader

Chapter Word Count: 4.6k

Content Warnings: complicated relationships (strangers to friends to lovers to enemies to strangers to lovers to enemies to lovers), amnesia, alternate universe, lots of secrets and lying and mystery

A/N: normalize blaming the world’s problems on long feng and captain chhay…public enemies numba one and two !! (blaming the fact that i lowkey hate this chapter on them too ngl)

“Well done, Chhay,” Long Feng said. “As soon as I am named regent, I will appoint you as the captain of the Dai Li. If you agree to keep doing my bidding, I will ensure that your salary is enough to fund all your luxuries.”

“I would’ve followed your commands no matter the compensation,” the young Earthbender said. Chhay had only just joined the Dai Li, and yet he had been singled out by Grand Secretariat Long Feng already, identified as a remarkable talent. Just for the recognition alone, he would’ve done anything. Extra pay was an additional benefit — certainly, he and his wife could use it, so he would not complain.

“It’s for that reason that I’ve selected you, Chhay,” Long Feng said. “It’s for that reason that I trusted only you to kill the king. And it’s the same reason why I’m approaching you with another job.”

“Whatever you ask, sir,” Chhay said. “You only need to say the words, and I will do it.”

“This request is a little more abhorrent,” Long Feng said. “I need you to kill a pregnant woman. Can you handle it?”

Chhay thought about his own wife, whose stomach was just beginning to swell with the beginnings of a child, and then he nodded. As long as it was not her, what did it matter to him?

“I’ll do it,” he said. “It’s as I promised. You’ll find no supporter more loyal, Long Feng. When you are regent, you will serve with me as your right hand.”

Chhay made his way down the hallway, balancing a cup of milk in his hands as he approached the royal chambers. The servants scuttled out of his way when they saw him; no one questioned his presence, even though it was out of the ordinary for him to be visiting the area. He was a Dai Li agent. He could do as he pleased without fear of retribution or questioning. 

Her second pregnancy had been harder on the queen than her first, or perhaps it was the recent loss of her husband that had left her in this state. Either way, she was a depressing sight, sallow and worn, her cheeks sunken and eyes like pits, though she managed to smile at Chhay when he entered her room. He did not return it.

“Thank you,” she said, accepting the glass and holding it in thin, shaking hands. “I didn’t realize that you Dai Li were the considerate sort.”

“We do what we can,” he said. “Anything for her royal majesty, the Queen Regent of the Earth Kingdom.”

She took a sip of the milk, which he had warmed and stirred sugar into. Her nose wrinkled, for she obviously found the drink far too sweet for her tastes, but it was as Long Feng had predicted — she was far too polite to stop drinking it, far too well-mannered and high-born to ever do something as rude as rejecting his gift.

“The baby will be born soon,” the queen said. “Tomorrow or the day after, perhaps.”

“Hm,” Chhay said, not finding any particular interest in the conversation but needing to stay until she had finished and he could take the cup back with him.

“My husband wanted it to be a girl,” she continued. “He made sure to tell everyone he encountered about the news. But you’re new, aren’t you? So you likely didn’t hear him. Oh, he was so excited that we were going to have another baby. He would lay his cheek against my stomach for hours at a time, talking to her — he was convinced it was going to be a girl, you see, he even had her name picked out and everything — telling her how she’d be the most loved girl in the entire Earth Kingdom. He promised that as long as he was there — as long as he was there, she’d never want for anything. He’d take care of her no matter what. Even though he never met her, he loved her so much, to the point that Kuei got jealous of how his father spent all of his time waiting for an unborn baby to kick so that he could feel like she heard him. That's why they went to the zoo together, he hated seeing Kuei so upset, but then…”

She broke down into tears, covering her mouth with her hands and rocking back and forth on the bed as sobs wracked her body. Chhay watched her, waiting for her to compose herself. It took her a second, but eventually, she did so, taking deep, crackling breaths before finishing off the last of the milk and handing it back to Chhay.

“Thank you again,” she said. “I’m sorry for burdening you with all of that. Please be well. If you have a wife, remember to tell her you love her.”

“I will do that,” he said, leaving the queen to continue sobbing alone in the chambers she had once shared with the king. The door shut behind him with a note of finality, and he trained his gaze on the pewter bottom of the cup so that he did not have to look up.

It was fine. Long Feng said that nothing would happen to the child. It was that kind of poison which he had fed to the queen, a rare one that worked in peculiar ways, and so he had no reason to feel guilty. He hadn’t killed an innocent baby. He hadn’t killed anyone innocent at all. He had only done what the Grand Secretariat demanded him too.

The very next day, the queen fell sick. The best physicians in the kingdom were called to look at her, but none of them could discern what the matter was. She held on admirably, he had to admit, struggling to live for just long enough that she could be certain her child would survive.

She died the minute the young Princess Y/N was set in her arms. Chhay had been there, though he had hidden to watch her final moments, employing every bit of his Dai Li training to avoid detection.

“A girl,” the queen whispered, too weak to do anything but let the baby rest against her breast, her arms arranged around her daughter by one of the doctor’s. “So beautiful. You look just like him…”

The baby began to wail as she was abruptly ripped away from her mother, a wet nurse doing her best to soothe the girl. It was futile, though; she continued to cry and cry, as if she understood that the circumstances of her birth had been unfair, as if she could not bear to live without shrieking her frustrations to the world.

There was only one moment when she was silent, and it was when she locked eyes with Chhay. He thought he had been so well-concealed, but there was no doubt about it: Princess Y/N saw through him. Still wet with birthing fluid though she was, he nonetheless felt that, for just that one instant, he was staring at someone who knew what he had done and was judging him for it.

“Quynh!” you shouted breathlessly as you ran into the Den. She was awake immediately, her great head rising as she regarded your countenance. Her nose twitched, and then her eyes widened and she growled.

“Why is there blood on you, Y/N?” she said. “Were you attacked? Are you hurt? Who was it? Why did no guards step in to protect you?”

“No,” you said. “No, Quynh, I was the attacker. I’m the one who hurt someone else. I killed someone.”

“What?” she said.

“Captain Chhay of the Dai Li,” you said. “He’s the one who killed my father, as well as the assassin who came for me while I was in Ba Sing Se. He and Long Feng have been conspiring against my family for who knows how long! I was caught in Ba Sing Se, so Long Feng assigned Chhay to be my guard, but I knew that if I dared to sleep in front of him, it might be my final act. I pretended I had had a nightmare to lure him closer and catch him off-guard, and then I — I — I killed him.”

The magnitude of the act was starting to sink in, and your vision swam the longer you stared at the rust staining your palms. Wiping it off on your dress was futile; though your skin was clean, you were not. You had killed a man.

“Shh, it’s alright,” Quynh said, quick to pick up on your every shift in mood. “It’s alright, Y/N.”

“What have I done?” you said. “I killed him! I killed a person! What does that make me?”

“You did what you had to,” she said. “What would have become of you if you did not? What would have become of Kuei?”

“He must’ve had people who cared for him,” you said, pacing back and forth, rubbing your hands against your skirt. “There must be people who will wonder why he hasn’t come home. Even Chin the Conqueror was someone’s son; doesn’t that mean Captain Chhay was, too? And I killed him.”

“But weren’t you someone’s daughter?” Quynh said. “Until he stole that from you, that is? As you said, he killed your father. He is directly the reason why you have suffered so greatly, why Ba Sing Se has suffered so greatly.”

“I still ended his life,” you said. “Doesn’t that mean I’m a monster?”

“No,” Quynh said. “You cannot be faulted, princess. Understand this now, and understand it well: if you want to save your kingdom, then this will not be the last time you kill. In order to ensure peace, you must mete out death in equal measure. How many men do you think I have torn apart with my claws? More than you can count. More men than years I have lived. If I allowed myself to be lost in regrets, then I would be paralyzed with doubts or dead from indecision. The truth is that if a person threatens me or the people I love, then I cannot allow them to exist. It must be the same for you.”

Captain Chhay had killed your father. Captain Chhay would’ve killed you. He would’ve killed your brother, the only family you had left, the only person in the entire world who you were certain loved you as much as you loved him.

“I could not allow him to exist,” you repeated, the conviction chipping away at your lingering doubts. “When he was so set on my family’s destruction, I could not allow him to exist.”

“That’s right,” she said.

“But I don’t want to be like that,” you said. “I don’t want to kill the people I’m responsible for protecting. I don’t want to kill more men than I can count.”

“You needn’t,” she said. “Sometimes, though, it cannot be helped. I am not telling you to kill senselessly, without reason or justification. All I am saying is that if you must do it, then do not linger on it.”

Quynh was a spirit, and one born of Father Glowworm’s powers to boot. Her morality was tainted by the immense time she had lived and the malevolent source of her power. What did it matter to her if a man died now or in twenty years, when to her, those twenty years would pass in the blink of an eye?

“I will do what I must,” you said. “For my people. For the Earth Kingdom, and also for its king. Yet I do not think I can ever forget how it makes me feel. I do not think I will ever stop wishing I did not have to do it.”

“If you did forget, then you would cease to be yourself,” she said. “I do not want that for you.”

She was right. If you became the kind of person that killed without thought, that murdered without care for the consequences of those actions, then you would no longer be Princess Y/N. You would be another girl entirely, and the very thought made you shudder.

So you would kill, if that was what the situation demanded. If it meant protecting yourself, your home, your brother, or whatever else you deemed to be of import, then you would kill again, as you had tonight. Of course, it was not a decision which was lightly made, but one which was necessary. It was one that only you could make — you, the princess, the bender, the girl who cared for her subjects more than anyone.

“I have to go,” you said. “At any moment, they’re going to find Captain Chhay’s body and realize I’m gone, and I have to be far away by then.”

“Where will you go?” Quynh said.

“Ba Sing Se,” you said. “I have to go back. There’s things I have to do in the city. A person I have to explain things to — after all, I might not ever see him again, not if things go the way I need them to. And then, after that, there’s another person whose help I require, and I must go to him and ask him for it directly.”

It seemed counterintuitive, but the truth was there was no time safer to go to Ba Sing Se than now. Nobody would dare to be seen on the streets, not in the wake of the Dai Li’s brutal suppression of the earlier riot, and you had until the morning before Captain Chhay’s body was discovered. The night was yours to do with as you pleased, and you had to take as much advantage of it as you could before the sun rose and you were once again hunted by Long Feng and the Dai Li.

“You’re risking your life to explain things?” Quynh said. “You’ve already been caught once and already been nearly killed numerous times. Who is so deserving of an explanation that you will go to them in spite of that?”

“You know already,” you said. “But as I said, it’s not just him. The only way I can help Kuei in any way that matters is if you let me do this. I’m aware of the danger. I’m frightened beyond belief. But I have to do it.”

“It’s foolhardy,” she said.

“Yes,” you said.

“You’re drunk on the rush of victory,” she said. “You might’ve been able to catch Captain Chhay by surprise, but do you think you could face the Dai Li if they swarmed you?”

“I don’t know,” you said truthfully. “Perhaps not.”

“Reckless girl. Rash girl. Why must you be so similar to your father? Why do you never listen to those who advise you?” she said. You startled when you saw that she was weeping as she spoke.

Even though Quynh had never met your father, she had known him, as she knew all of those who were descended from Shan. She had loved him, too, loved every one of your family’s members as her children, and she had told you once that she could feel all of your deaths as stabs in the heart. She had felt his death like a stab in the heart.

“The Earth Kingdom was doing alright when my father was its ruler, wasn’t it?” you said. “Maybe things weren’t perfect, but they were okay. Being compared to him isn’t the worst thing.”

It was the grief that naturally accompanied vengeance. Your father’s killer was finally dead, but that didn’t mean your father was coming back. He would never come back. Your father was gone, and it was for that reason that Quynh was crying as she opened the door to Ba Sing Se.

“Thank you,” you said, and then, because you were overwhelmed with a bout of emotion from seeing her weep, you said, “I love you, Quynh.”

“I love you, too,” she said. “Go, before you are out of time and Long Feng finds you again.”

You shoved aside your misgivings and began to run as fast as you could down the passageway she opened for you. There was not a second to waste, and so you sprinted at top speed, praying you’d reach him in time, praying he didn’t hate you now that he knew who you really were. He couldn’t, right? After all, he had protected you during the riot. He had found out then who you were, and he had still protected you.

The door deposited you by the fountain, but you did not linger there as you once might’ve. Bowing your head and hunching your shoulders, you scurried down the street, staying in the shadows, though there was no real reason to fret. All of the houses had their doors and windows tightly shut, and the few stores which hadn’t been destroyed in the riot had long since closed for the night. If there was anyone left in the city who could recognize you, they were nowhere to be found.

You reached the tea shop in record time. Recalling that they lived in the apartment above the store, you looked around, trying to figure out where the door was. After all, the tea house itself was locked, and you weren’t about to break in, so you had to find an alternate method of entering that wasn’t the staircase you knew was located by the kitchen.

When your search proved fruitless, you took off one of your shoes, winding your arm back and aiming at the window. It was the only way you knew how to get his attention; however, there was an off-chance that the window was actually his uncle’s, which would be unfortunate. You wavered, suddenly doubting yourself and your methods, though of course you were limited in the scope of what you could do.

You had just about made up your mind to go ahead and throw the shoe anyways and hope that it was the right window, but that second of hesitation was all it took for an arm to wrap around your waist and a hand to cover your mouth, yanking you alongside your invisible assailant as they ran into the alleyways of the Lower Ring. Out of reflex, you screamed, but it was muffled by the attacker’s gloved palm, and though you struggled against their grip, you were not successful in breaking free.

Had the Dai Li found you again? Was Long Feng aware that you were missing? What had they thought of Captain Chhay’s death? What would they do to you now? If you had already proven too wild for a guard, then what fate was left for you — prison? Execution? Assassination? Obviously, that wasn’t something they were above. Would you face the same fate as your father after all?

You had just resolved to bend glass again when you realized that you weren’t heading towards the palace. Instead, the mysterious person had veered down a road that led towards a place you held familiar and dear: the fountain. The fountain! Did they want to kill you somewhere you had been happy? Were the Dai Li interested in poetry and theater to that extent? Because it felt more like a story than anything.

But when you emerged into the firelight of the deserted fountain, you realized that the person who had dragged you all of this way wasn’t a Dai Li agent. It was someone else, someone far more agreeable if not unexpected, and so, as you reached the fountain’s edge and he slowed his pace, you began to cry.

He stopped in his tracks, obviously alarmed by the development, but then he took in your appearance, and though he wore a mask, it was clear that he was horrified by what he saw. Bloody handprints on your nightgown, splashes of the same on your shins, possessed with only one slipper…you must’ve seemed like an entirely different person than the girl he had come to know.

“You scared me,” you hiccuped. “I thought you were the Dai Li. I thought you were going to kill me. Why did you do that? I’ve been so frightened all day, and you only made it — I’ve been so — I thought—”

Your stomach threatened to turn itself inside out as you sobbed, your fingers digging into his back, your tears soaking through his shirt as the world crashed down around you. You had almost died. You had almost died. You had almost died.

“I can’t stay for long,” you said, contradicting the way you could not bring yourself to let go. “I can’t stay for long at all. I’m in danger, and by being in danger, I am putting you in danger, too. I shouldn’t even have come in the first place, but I wanted — that tea shop idiot. I wanted to see him again.”

The Blue Spirit was gentle when he held you, unlike the last time he had tried to comfort you. He was like a wall, something solid that refused to move even as everything else was ruined around it. It was only by leaning on that wall that you could manage to keep yourself together, and so, despite Quynh’s warning, despite how the minutes dragged on, you did not pull away.

“After tonight, I might not ever see you again,” you said. “There’s a chance this’ll be the last time. I don’t know what’s going to happen. To me. To Ba Sing Se. Any of it. Tomorrow’s sunrise could be the last one I witness.”

The Blue Spirit held your face in his hands, cradling it like a glass sculpture, and there were so many things you still had left to say to him. A thousand things. A million things. Or, if you thought about it, really only one thing.

“Please,” you said. “Let me see your face. If this is the last time, then let us meet truly. Let me understand who you really are.”

You weren’t sure what you were hoping to see. Maybe you weren’t hoping to see anything at all. You just wanted to know. Once and for all, you wanted to know. The man who had given you jasmine flowers. The man who had run with you on moonlit rooftops. The man who had saved your life. Who was he really?

He ducked his head towards you, and you raised your trembling hands to untie his mask, your fingers fumbling with the carefully bound knot until it was finally unwound, pushing his hood back off of his dark, shaggy hair, revealing his face to you for the first time.

No. Not for the first time. It was a face you knew so well, for you had spent so long admiring it. Eyes like gold. Extraordinary features, fine and strong in equal parts. And, most notably, a large burn scar on the left half of his face, which you placed your hand against.

“Lee,” you whispered. “It’s you. It’s been you this entire time.”

Quynh had been right, though she had not recognized the extent of it when she had said it. You had always known. There had never been a dilemma, because they were one and the same. The person who saved your life. The person who made it worth living. They were the same.

“You — you say that you understand, but do you accept it?” he said, voice breaking. He was quoting The Mask of the Blue Spirit, you realized, and unbidden, a lump formed in your throat. He was afraid, and so he was asking the same question that the titular character asked Jin. “Now that you have seen how hideous my true visage is, what will you do?”

You tossed the mask to the ground and pushed the hand resting on his scar back, so that it could instead make its home tangled in his hair. Reaching up with the awkward inexperience that came from your many years of solitude, you pressed your lips against his own in a soft kiss.

It was brief. Flitting. Like spun sugar on your tongue, you barely tasted him for a moment before he was pulling back, searching your eyes with his own, disbelief etched on his expression. You allowed yourself to smile at him until tentatively, he smiled back. It transformed his face, that smile, turning it kind and filling it with light.

“Why did you wear a mask?” you said. “Why didn’t you tell me who you were?”

“At first, it was an accident. I used the disguise to steal jasmine flowers for my uncle from a nearby abandoned garden, and that’s where I saw you that first time. But after that…it was because I thought that who I was was someone you wouldn’t like knowing,” he said.

“How could you think that?” you said. This time when you embraced him, your cheek lay against his own instead of the cool material of his mask, and the rise and fall of his body felt natural instead of mechanical.

“I just didn’t want to lose the — the way you made me feel,” he confessed against the skin of your shoulder. “No matter what, I couldn’t lose that.”

Out of the corner of your eye, you noticed that the horizon was beginning to lighten. The sun was beginning its steady ascent, and soon it would be in the sky in earnest. You had to leave now to have any hope of making it to the Upper Ring before the rest of the world awoke, but it wasn’t fair. You needed more time. You needed an entire lifetime with him. How could you lose him so soon after finding him?

“I can’t stay,” you said. “I can’t stay any longer.”

“Don’t go,” he said. “Anyone that comes for you, we can deal with. Stay here and let them try; they will find themselves on the wrong end of my swords.”

“I won’t do that to you,” you said. “I won’t make you fight my battles any longer.”

“Then promise this won’t be the last time I’ll see you,” he said. “Promise that you’ll tell me what happened to you in the palace and why you are in this state. Promise that we will meet again.”

You kissed him once more, and this time, he did not draw away but kissed you back with equal fervor, his mouth hot and searing against yours, burning his desperation, his anger, his sorrow, into you. And this time, it was you who pulled away, pressing your forehead against his, clutching the fabric of his shirt to stabilize yourself.

“I don’t know if I will be able to come to Ba Sing Se again. Not in the daylight, and certainly not for a while,” you said. “But there is a way.”

“What is it?” he said, stroking your cheeks, your hair, your neck and your back, every part of you that he could conceivably reach. “What other way?”

“You can come to the palace,” you said. “You can come see me.”

“They’ll never let me in,” he said.

“They don’t need to,” you said. “There is another entrance. One that only you can find.”

“Quynh’s Door?” he said, his voice ticking up with uncertainty.

“Yes,” you said. “Quynh’s Door. You are loved by someone of Shan’s line, Lee. You can come and go to the palace as you please.”

“I’ll come,” he said, and there was no uncertainty remaining in his voice when he did so. “I swear I will.”

“Good,” you said. “I’ll be waiting. I swear I will be.”

By the time the sun peeked out over the rooftops and people re-emerged to go about their daily lives, you and Lee were both long gone.

Neither of you would ever return to that fountain again.

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[bigidiotenergytm]

Poseidon looked at the tiny human before him, his expression unreadable.

An offer of servitude, huh? That was quite a surprise. As much as he wanted the puny mortal to perish, perhaps this would truly be a better alternative.

After all, killing the king would be too quick and, as such, would bring him no satisfaction.

Servitude, on the other hand, seemed tempting. Especially with how humiliating and humbling it would be for the arrogant Greek.

After a couple of seconds of dead silence, the god's expression finally changed, no longer hiding his thoughts.

A sly smile spread across his lips, his sharp, shark-like teeth shining in the midday sun.

"Hm, that's quite an interesting offer, king of Ithaca. I hope you understand what you are getting yourself into."

The earth-shaker paused for a second, placing his index finger under his chin as if deep in thought. Then, he looked the captain in the eyes. A wide, toothy grin was plastered on his face.

"Very well, I will accept your offer. However, take heed: I will be the one to decide how long your punishment will last."

With those ominous words, the lord of the seas summoned a large wave before allowing it to wash over the ship.

The men aboard let out a few screams, once again worried for their lives. The wave, however, harmed none of them.

Instead, when their panic finally subsided and they looked around, now drenched in salt water, their hearts sank; their captain was no longer.

Where Odysseus stood now lay only his royal belongings, the ones he shed in order to save them all.

The god of tides was gone as well, leaving a tranquil sea in his wake. The king of Ithaca had been taken underwater to serve the lord of the ocean.

Realizing what had happened, the crew began to weep, already missing their loyal king and brother.

After a while, once they had ran out of tears, they looked at the second in command, their eyes hopeful and pleading.

Eurylochus sighed, already aware of what the men were asking. He would have to take on the role of a leader and, worst of all, he would have to tell Penelope that her husband had become Poseidon's servant.

"We'll make it home, Ody, I promise. And I will ensure your wife and son are protected and well taken care of. It's the least I can do for you, captain."

I see you on the brink of death.

Of course it was the BETTER ALTERNATIVE. Odysseus was still handing his life to Poseidon on a silver platter.

Death was easier. A captain joining his crew at the bottom of the ocean. Their souls all but BEGGED for him in the Underworld. He could have given his life to save these remaining 43. Only but to echo the NOBLE SACRIFICE amongst his kingdom. Odysseus would go down a hero. A martyr. A fitting end.

But he can feel her. Feel Penelope. Wrapping her arms around him. The embrace he remembers. The embrace he loves. The embrace he's getting back to.

It doesn't matter how.

Odysseus's head hangs. Peppered locks overshadowing his eyes. Not even looking up as Poseidon finally replies. Finally considers. He doesn't decide right away. No. The Sea God has to make his point. Has to leave that offer in the salty air of his ocean. It has to bury deep. It has to be mocked.

Even when Poseidon accepts it. Eyes meet the God of Storm's. There wasn't another word that's said. His tide becomes an all-powerful wave, its shadow overcasting the ship as it only reminds the mortals on it how tiny their lives truly are. And just how short they can become.

I see you draw your final breath.

Odysseus can only lift his head high, closing his eyes. Accepting what's to come.

The wave overcomes the entire ship. Its water crashing against his skin as its sweeping force forces him to succumb to its raging current. Its pull dragging him into its water and deep underneath the surface. And it hurts. The pressure, the sea's grip, the cold ocean quickly replacing the air in his lungs.

I see a man who gets to make it home alive-

Odysseus struggles. That mortal, indomitable will to survive. A hand reaching out as Helios's influence basking the ocean's surface begins to darken. The surface blurs into a familiar shape. A shape telling him that he can relax. That it can tell he's getting nervous. ... Polities. That shape only joined by another. One telling him she'll stay in his heart. His mother. Then Penelope. Then Telemachus.

Waiting. Waiting. Waiting-

But it's NO LONGER YOU.

Everything goes black.

[ajaxstar]

Mr. Perfectly Fine — Part 2

characters: childe x gn!reader

genre: angst

note: finally able to form a plot for part two after so long!

Part 1 — 🜸 “Mr. Perfectly Fine” (angst - childe x gn!reader)

tartaglia never turns his back to the tsaritsa — ever.

he knows that every order her majesty commands is for the best interest of teyvat. he does not dare speak ill of the cryo archon behind her back; aftecr all, he holds nothing but respect and admiration towards her majesty. she keeps his nation, his home, his family safe in her protection no matter how the cold weather may often cause frostbites. she is the one who bestowed upon him electro in the form of a delusion, who is he to dare be a traitor?

the eleventh harbinger carries out his mission thoroughly and makes sure to finish it as he is the one who starts it.

the eleventh harbinger makes sure he knows everything he must do to fulfill her majesty's orders.

the eleventh harbinger never says 'no', neither does he doubt the plans of the tsaritsa.

unfortunately, even if it involves you.

the second childe has finished reading the new orders written in the letter he received, he couldn't believe it. he, in the first time in his life, thinks of an alternative to carry out the absolute command of the tsaritsa. he's aware that taking action differently than her majesty's strict commands are the same as going against her.

apparently, he was strictly given an order to seduce the heired daughter of one of the wealthiest families in liyue in order for him to have her reveal every single secret and for her to lead him to their home, kill them one by one, and call it a day.

he wonders why the archon who was formerly known as the archon of love can give him an order that disagrees with the whole concept of "love", mostly for the reason that her majesty stated that she's aware of his current relationship and commands him to sever ties with his lover in order to thorougly carry out this mission without fail.

however, he's faced with the confession of the daughter herself and his mind wanders to the letter from the archon and to you. yet before he could at least tell you the truth, he finds himself accepting the confession and the kiss that the heir places upon him, too engulfed by his duties as the eleventh harbinger.

but it doesn't eradicates the disgust he feels towards himself as he moved his lips against someone else's unfamiliar pair, and it certainly does not prevent the loath he feels towards himself when he saw you watch him kiss someone else who isn't you before walking away with tears in your eyes.

the day childe finally arranges a date when he could meet you and talk to you, hoping he'll be able to tell you the truth, he receives intel from his agents that the woman's family hired their own investigator to make certain that he was 'loyal and true' to their daughter. hence, the only thing he could do was act happy and nonchalant about the former relationship he shared with you.

his heart broke and shattered to smithereens as his ever-so perceptive eyes watched your hand almost reach out to his own, only for you to stop yourself. it doesn't lessen the ache in his chest when he knows that the negative signs he's picking up from you are all caused by him and his actions.

it breaks him even more to hear from xiangling that you have been missing work for over a month by now. the fact that he knows he is the reason behind all of this destroys him.

he, in all of him, misses you — dearly. he misses the way you'd hold him, kiss him, cherish him, protect him love him.

away from the prying eyes of the fatui and the investivators, or all that watches him, he had tried countless times visiting your home; knocking on your door with the same rhythm that informs you it's him. despite knowing that you are inside, he never attempts to invite himself in, wanting to respect your boundaries for all the awful stuff he had done to you and your relationship with him.

he wanted to talk, to tell you the whole truth that he never wanted this, he was ordered.

hope blossoms in childe's heart when he sees you open the door and stand in front of him, his wide and shocked-filled eyes staring into yours that he adores so much. he was about to speak before you beat him to it, "please stop knocking on my door, lord tartaglia. i believe that i do not have business neither do i owe anything to the fatui."

he feels a lump in his throat that he pushes down by swallowing thickly, "it..." his voice shakes. "it concerns us."

"i don't have anything to say anymore, childe." your voice softened, and for a moment childe saw the soft, yet saddened look you gave him.

"please, [name], give me a chance."

"for what!?" your eyes shimmered this time, but not with the sparkles he always preferred as tears gathered at the corners of your eyes. you hugged your own arms in an attempt to calm the way your body shook while tears finally fell.

childe's eyes widened and his hands reached out, but you have swatted his hands away from you before his skin could make contact with yours. you know all too well that you'll come undone in his hold, his touch you missed — longed — so much.

on the other hand, he feels his heart ache so much as you brokedown in front of him whilst rejecting him. each word he uttered was only answered with a shake of your head and repeated 'no's in between your sobs. childe knew that you wanted him to leave. with determination and a silent apology in his mind that he neglects your boundaries to not touch you, he reaches out to hold your hand, only for you to jolt back and quickly backed away into your home without even standing up on your feet, shutting and locking the door to his face.

childe's hands continues to shake. he can still hear your muffled sobs against the door, so he knocks.

"leave me the fuck alone!"

he messed up.

he tremendously messed up. conflicted pain and made an unforgivable, unforgettable mistake — he thinks that he may have even caused you trauma — to the one person that accepted, completed, and loved him.

childe wishes to be hopeful that he soon will be able to at least talk to you, explain the truth, and leave the decision to you afterwards. he loves you, wants you, and he needs you. but childe remembers the horrified and guarded look in your eyes despite being covered in tears.

with his back on your front door, he looks up to the star-filled night sky, the same sky you and him would love watching together while tracing constellations, talking about everything, and held close by each other. now, childe looks up to the sky, it's as if the stars are making fun of him, mocking him.

for the first time tonight, he stands and follows your request to leave you alone.

taglist — @jameineliebe @amalthaeya @genshin-impact-writings @tsunotaro-san @r0ttenhearts @valen-nidk @ms-petunia-blue @1-clementine-1 @instantmillktea @ehddsnys @kiryoutann @coffeeoat @cherlynono @chxrry-ig @hanilessa

note: part 3 will be out soon ~

[tachimichishrine]

"never enough"

⫭◦ପଓ◦⫬

tachihara machizou x fem!reader {bodyguard AU!}

warnings: nsfw ; oral (receiving); car sex mentioned; cursing ; idk it's kinda vanilla

he was a spy within a spy within a spy.

first, the hunting dogs; they were not family. they were reminiscent of days, stupid days where he would thrive off of only wet smoke in the early hours of the day and the adrenaline of doing bad, doing something. cracking open safes, breaking into banks and carrying around his own weapons for the fun of it, just to see if he could. and boy, could he get away with it until that fateful day.

he was thrust into a world that was not his own. bloodthirsty, holding some kind of compulsive desire to exact revenge on the fiends and criminals of the world no matter the cost. it was not him, it was never him, but they were the family he was given.

then, the port mafia; his second life. an agent, an outsider among men and women who had dedicated their entire lives to this organization. he never felt like an outsider when he would command the black lizard or be commanded by his superiors. it felt natural. it felt real. too bad they were just a cover, a mission and a statistic among all the other cases and criminals he'd dealt with and would deal with throughout his life.

until the day mori asked him specifically into his office, offering him a third life. it was getting hard to keep track, but what other option did he have? a woman who was near and dear to mori's heart who had been loyal to the mafia for many years as a supplier of weapons. you didn't live in the underground, the opposite really: your toes dipped in crime only through the port mafia, but your entire body waded listlessly in the life of a regular person who was some kind of accountant or financial advisor or something unimportant enough to slip through one ear and out the other as soon as he heard it from the boss. you were good at providing them with artillery, though, and that's all that was relevant.

recently, mori had explained, your identity was leaked and many organizations have been simultaneously threatening to kill and recruit you. you dialed him nearly every evening, begging for some kind of help. for the longest time, that help was under the form of an escort named chuuya, whose presence alone by your side was enough to deter those pursuing you.

however, the executive had more important affairs to attend to for the coming months. a trip overseas, a negotiation, a mistake that needed correcting. sending one of his most powerful tools just to escort a regular civilian home at night was not viable. he would need an alternative. tachihara.

he did not want to be a babysitter. fuck, he was meant for more. besides, what kind of intel could he gather if he was stuck spending his time receiving calls about suspicious characters, begging for him to come and rescue you? he didn't have time for a damsel in distress. he didn't have the patience for it.

the first time, you were nervous, shy even. understandably so. tachihara thought it was funny when you'd eye his gun nervously or gently pull your body away from his whenever he got too close. no wonder people were targeting you; you make it too goddamn easy.

the second time, he was woken up at 2 in the morning with a call. your breathing was heavy and it sounded like you were recently crying from the short sniffling and wavering of your voice. someone was outside your apartment, and they were yelling at the window that they were going to send every limb of yours in separate boxes to 'your old pal mori'. he thought you were scared shitless for no reason. by the time he got there, bodies littered the ground. you were dragging one by the legs, and gave him a look. "aren't you gonna help me with these?"

the third, he had a little more respect, but still remained skeptical. turns out his role as a bodyguard involved more scaring off people and disposing of bodies than it did actual defense. not that he minded, he just didn't understand it. mori seemed to believe you were completely helpless when in reality you carried weapons on you at all times. of course you did. you were the port mafia's largest supplier, after all. he blurted out his question at you; you laughed and said that he wouldn't understand. the conversation ended there.

after two weeks, you were calling him nearly every day. word had got around that chuuya wasn't guarding you anymore, and a lot of people wanted to try to make a move. tachihara was glued to your side as soon as you'd finish work, and would sometimes crash on your couch if he was too exhausted from beating thugs to a bloody pulp on your way back to your apartment. he was beginning to understand that you didn't need protection, you needed the image of it to keep you safe. maybe you weren't so ditzy after all.

a month in, you were ambushed in front of your apartment. tachihara suggested you move, even though you both knew it didn't matter where you lived. blood splattered across his cheek and white shirt when he stepped into your room. he was washing it but it refused to come out. he stepped out to find you in your bra, scrubbing your shirt as well. his eyes met yours and something stupid happened. pants dropped on the floor shirt tossed in the corner boxers torn off his skin. teeth sunk into flesh and fingers running along lines of ecstasy. he did not sleep on the couch that night.

he'd lost count of how many times it had been after that.

his phone would buzz and a pool of excitement would build up in his chest, not knowing if it meant you needed him or you needed him.

heavy panting and the smell of sweat and gunpowder would emanate from the car he'd escort you in. the frame creaking as he pounded you senseless or your hips rocked hard enough to make him see spots of black among stars. he had to keep the collar of his jacket up to cover all the love marks you plagued his skin with, the rest of them vanishing from his thighs and chest. red blooming in stripes along his back from where your fingernails desperately pulled him into you. he'd always be gone by morning and it was never enough.

he didn't know how he'd gotten here.

fucking your thighs, which were clenched together as your face was buried in the sheets and ass slammed against his abdomen with every thrust. one hand was on your hips while the other was plunged between your legs. and he could feel the way you would tremble when his throbbing cock would glaze past your pussy, not close enough to relieve the aching pulse but just enough for him to feel your arousal dripping onto him.

"put it in," you rasped, barely able to wait any longer as his thumb rubbed furiously at your clit, ring and middle fingers too soaked from the way they would pump you up. this was the way it would always go: you would give out the orders and he'd follow through. he would always follow through.

he ran both of his hands along your skin until they were both stationed at your hips, and he tilted your ass further up so he could get a good angle. you didn't like waiting and he knew it, but something made him want to brat a little tonight. he rested the tip against your sensitive spot, but didn't make any motion to push himself into you. he'd already reached his high from your thighs, so he had time before it became unbearable for him, too. although the way you arched your back and tried to back yourself onto him might just prove him wrong.

"you're such a dick," you swore under your breath before pushing your palms into the crumpled sheets and getting up. your back his chest until it was chest to chest and you had him pinned beneath you with a look that meant he was in for more than he could handle. before long, he was paying for his little stunt with the way his lips were sucking down on your pussy, tongue jutting in and out of you as you rode his face. shit, he was hard again.

his fingers left the comfort of your thighs as he kept eating you out messily, hungrily like a man starved, and they soon trailed down his body to relieve himself. except they never got that far— in one swift motion you had his wrists pinned above his head all the while still rocking yourself on his face.

"fucking whore," you grit your teeth, expression sporting a shit-eating grin that had planned for this, but hips twitching and breathing thready like a hypocrite. you were not going to let him out from under you as long as he doesn't work his magic, but he fucking loved it when you took control. if it weren't for the pulsating throb and carnal desire to fuck himself on you, he might've just stayed like this all night.

but you weren't done.

even after you clenched around his tongue back arching head thrown back like you'd never felt this good before, he let his lips rub against your sensitive spot while you rode out your high. as soon as your hips left his lips, he found himself gasping for air but still looking up between your legs like he needed more. you repositioned yourself on him, still holding his wrists above his head, and finally let yourself sink down onto him with a string of curses.

tachihara wasted no time in fucking you from underneath, every drop of your hips meeting the upwards thrust of his own. you let go of his wrists in favour of digging your nails into his abdomen, grip nearly as tight as your pussy around him. he'd been loud all night, but this was the first moment a long, desperate moan escaped his lips rather than the grunting and heavy panting and curses.

you thought he was at his prettiest like this. face smeared with your cum, cheeks red and forehead covered in sweat which made his short strands of hair cling onto his skin. his back arching his hips thrusting into you and every muscle in his body tense as he chased the feeling of you all over him. you wanted to tell him how gorgeous he looked but choked on your own moan as he hit a dull spot deep within you.

it was never enough, but your alarm clock was reading 3:32 and you had called him well before midnight. his skin still had red marks from the way you had him tied up and smacked his ass while he was bent over the edge of the bed. he would never admit it out loud but you knew from the way he would whimper into the pillows as you pumped up his cock that he loved it when you handled him roughly.

even now, as both of you were having trouble breathing properly after going through the most intense of it, you left his length inside of you. you grinded against his body deeply yet slowly, almost imperceptibly so, as you kissed him in the same manner. your hands roamed his body again, until they settled among his tuffs of crimson and pulled his face deeper into yours.

once you grew tired of the taste of his lips, you moved onto that of his jawline, his earlobe and his neck. sinking your teeth into his collarbone, drawing blood only to lick it clean and kiss it all better. he laid down, letting you do everything you wanted. he'd never said no before.

you placed a final chaste kiss against his lips before pulling his face into the crook of your neck and his body into yours. you gently pulled him out of you with a squelch, and felt yourself clench around nothing as the feeling of warmth dissipated.

it was never enough, but it did a damn good job anyways.

[shit-taster-connoisseur]

fav ship / character and least fav ship / character? 🙏🙏🙏

favorite ship:

who couldve seen this coming?/j

read more as it's just me taking any excuse to yap BDJD

honestly, how talk abt them to friends sometimes arent my actual characterizations of their dynamic/relationship. But really they're spinning in my head like a microwave everyday, so my interpretation of them of them generally change depending on settings, aus, or just my mood.

The thing that draws me to them is the fact that Fanny seems like a loyal solider(quite literally), but to where she'd definitely throw herself off a cliff for her leader/command(for rachel only really.) Meanwhile Rachel is pretty oblivious to the length Fanny would go for her – and visa versa. They're devoted to each other, yet are scared to repair their fractured friendship at the same time(mostly on fanny's side).

Honestly idk how to explain it xjsb

also the fact Fanny was Rachel's runner up for her GOT fuels me everyday, cause besides this moment, we don't really get too many moments where rachel isn't pissed at fanny for reasons.

could just be her being harsh as it comes with a leader, cause welp, fanny does fuck up a lot. But with these interactions you'd think Rachel wouldve considered ANYBODY else – besides nigel – for her second choice. so 1000000000% rachel had to have ALOT of trust in Fanny to place her as a second in command of an entire global organization, despite her trackrecord of botched missions(which, honestly i believe is why Nigel had been Rachel's first choice, because while nigel had seen mostly sucess in his teams' mission, fanny had gotten the short end of the stick and just faces failure after failure from what we've seen.)

uhhh anyways!! Fanny fell first(unknowingly) amd by the time they become teenagers, Rachel ends up falling harder and depressingly misses her GOT while she's suffering in TND orientation.

TLDR: a shitty anaylsis(barely) on how loyal moonbabes are to one another and they have trust!! I'm not normal about them

If ur curious abt my ranking for ships than here ya go:

1. Moonbabes

2. Lizzie/10

3. Wally/Kuki

4. Kuki/Fanny(or alternatively; Fanny/Kuki/Rachel)

Favorite character?

It's technically split down the middle between Rachel and Fanny, but my focus usually flipflops. So this week we got:

1. Rachel

2. Fanny

3. Chad

4. Cree

5. Negative 362 and Negative 86

Rachel: for reasons, honestly, I loved her since i was a kid. There's a lot to disect about her, and i love that, love her position, her personality, the kind of the role she plays, etc etc idk how to explain any of jt, or the specfics so you get this short ass summary instead

-also headcanon: her relationship with Harvey is rather strained, so Rachel tries to make it up to him by favoring him when it comes to mission assignments when he joined the KND, he also struggles to get her approval by completing them

Fanny: ashamed to admit, i cannot sit through a fanny episode withoht needing to pause and pace around – but like rachel, i like pretty much everything about her, she's interesing to disect as so much of her background is left up for interpretation. Like why did ahe join ths decommissioning squad? Why is she the way she is? Because of the decom squad or her time as a nurse, or just life in general bxns?

-headcanon: Her real name is Francine, and Fanny's a nickname because she thought it sounded less mature and didnt put too much thought in it's meaning in Ireland cuz she didnt live there that long (also her mother didnt have the heart to sit her down and explain it to her at her young age)

other global ops dont bat an eye to it, unfortunately Irish operatives cringe everytime they hear her name.

3. Chad is a loser. A failure. And i love him for that/j but actually, his entire character is interesting, and so much is left in the air for me to dig my teeth into and make up shit for him. One major headcanon i've convinced myself of for him is that he's related to rachel/harvey (cousins???)

-another hc: he's on the aromatic spectrum(shout to friend Amber for the idea cmdb)

4. Cree love her. I can forgive a woman of her crimes always xmsn one reason she's high up on the my list this week is she's interesting(duh), but like all the others she has so much character/info on her but little bits not filled to where i can just make up shit- canonically, i love her role, hsr character, she's an amazing villian/antagonist steals the show everytime - i'd pay warburton with my own money to write what she was like as a KND operative, she is quite skilled from the bits we've witnessed in flashbacks and in the present. One thing that runs through my mind is that Warburton in a Q&A, hinted that Cree probably wouldnt have scouted by the TND, that she was already trekking on a dark path while in the KND. BSJDB

-Headcanon: her and chad and steve have nights where they just hangs out and they watch stuff on Adult Swim. She probably likes South park

5. -362 and -86, got nothing to abt thene beyond they're silly(and possibly evil)

Least favorite Character/Ship

To be honest, i got no hate towards any of the characters in KND, they're all really interesting in their own way.

If i had make a tier list tho-

He'd be at the bottom. Only because he'd definitely call me a slur/j

And for ships, i'm not a multi shipper but i'm neutral to most.

tho fanny x a man will kill me, Cuz man, idk how you can look me straight in the eyes and tell me she's not lesbian,

Just LOOK AT HER

-

Thank you for the ask!!

[scarlettaagni]

I'm assuming you reblogged the 'send me a character' thing with intent, so I will ask about. Cyclonus! please : 3

ye ye! I guess I'll refer to G1 (cartoon) Cyclonus by large

favorite thing about them: the most nuanced bitch this side of the cartoon! Decepticons constantly pull themselves down by only looking out for themselves and being conniving little shits to each other instead of only their enemies (and that's the point) but here you have a complete inversion, a Decepticon (second-in-command, no less) who is LOYAL. not only loyal, but selfless, by their standards?? nothing matters to Cyclonus beyond Galvatron, the Decepticon cause, and combat. he should be a force of nature but is rendered inert by an incapable leader because he just wants to follow. He's a warrior first and foremost but he gets to basically be in charge and isn't dumb muscle, e.g. he knows psychology (or at least how to work a crowd). Cyclonus is one year old and yet feels like he personally met Roman gladiators or something, he's great. A character of visible, textual multitudes in the G1 cartoon, which was notoriously allergic to nuance

least favorite thing about them: bro, the character assassination, like in Headmasters anime or the comics. I know by and large the Decepticons are dumb as hell, but I get like personally offended when chars are just dumbed the hell down for the sake of a joke or to facilitate the plot. If you have to do that, just pick more-fitting character or come up with a justification, fr. you'd think watching G1 five times in a row would inoculate me to this, but no. (for the record, his weird amplified cowardice I'm counting as stupidity) This doesn't apply to like, gag manga, that's the whole point of them

least favorite thing about them pt 2: that last answer felt like cheating so I guess while I like both demon and final designs, I hate how held back his final design is! I joke about the Unicronian legs being fine af, but he had curvier legs and they took them away. His neck is blank and featureless, so is his face. He looks fine this way, but there were so many interesting details they could have kept even when making him look more uniform with previous character designs. I guess I can thank AKOM for once, for letting us see his old design in motion lol

favorite (serious) line: damn. if I gotta pick? I guess for characterization: [out of breath] "It has been too long since I had an opponent that was worthy of my FULL attention..." or alternatively, "Galvatron...!" said like Roger C. Carmel is crying in the sound booth purely just for the line delivery

favorite (silly) line: "Everybody's gotta be somewhere..." [casually waltzes past a guy Scourge just roundhoused through a screen]

brOTP: I used to joke that Cyclonus and Scourge are at most drinking buddies to me, and I learned that's literally how they met in IDW

OTP: G1? CycMags. The rituals are intricate. It's about the symmetry. Two second-in-commands, more competent than their not-up-to-the-task leaders, the Soldier and the Warrior. They pointedly unname each other. They get petty when they're in the same space together. Cyclonus saved Ultra Magnus' life so that he could end it himself. He's sure he'll win but is perfectly open to Magnus ending him. Cyclonus views him as an equal, and despite the attempts on each other's lives, that is what makes it healthier than...

NOTP: Cyclonus/Galvatron. he's down so bad but it's obviously one-sided. he can do MUCH better, he just doesn't want to. Cyclonus won't consider any other options...... unless

random headcanon: he's prone to parroting. if someone uses a particular word or phrase, he'll use it in a sentence soon after, and phrased exactly the same way too. then it just becomes part of Cyclonus' vocabulary forever. which is how you get a guy who uses words like "vanquish" and "insolent" also saying things like "wimps" and "losers"

unpopular opinion: I'm so not with the silly ear interpretation of his horns. It's cute, and I'll make some jokey references to it, or have characters refer to them as such (derisively) but I'm insistent that they're horns. He's based off a demon, the Unicronians are clearly made in Unicron's image, they're horns. I'm a bigger fan of the wings swiveling up and down

song i associate with them: this is more of a song for all the Unicronians as a group, but I just like this one

favorite picture of them: there's some silly ones I already shared but I might as well pick one he looks really good in

in short: I like the him a normal, healthy amount

[wildwinterlunas]

I LOVE those Junker bios and backstories! Are you planning on doing more? Maybe the Overwatch agents?

Oh absolutely!! I've technically done a couple descriptions on how some Overwatch agents would be but they weren't deep dives, it'll also probably take longer then the Junker characters cause there are a lot more Overwatch characters then Junkers. Also because of the fact that the Overwatch and Talon groups have more cinematics and comics I will probably be referencing them in a Mirrorwatch context for some of the descriptions.

Anyway might as well get into it here.

-----------------------

Doomfist - Strike Commander Ogundimu

Honestly he's the easiest to describe as we already know a lot about him from voice lines and interviews. Though his history is still largely unknown, we know that his motivation is largely the same, just changed to the strong must protect the weak. I also think that in this universe, Akande isn't the third Doomfist, but the second, being chosen by Adhabu Ngumi to be his successor. This version of Adhabu Ngumi likely being MW!Overwatch's first strike commander. Personality wise I think he's pretty much the same but a lot more heroic. I think an in game example that would be a good reference is Bonebreaker, another alternate Doomfist who's also a hero. Though despite this more heroic Doomfist, I still think he would have been arrested. Mainly because I doubt that he would have respected the Petras Act, likely continuing his Overwatch work.

Widowmaker - Captain Lacroix

Like Doomfist Amelie is easy to do as we have voice lines for her. We know that she has a high focus of justice and retribution, we know she was close with Ramattra, that her Gerard is still alive (either still an agent or retired) and that her eye was likely shot out by Ana. Interestingly though, she seemed to have a close connection to Sam, which makes sense as Sam and Gerard likely worked together on diplomacy, though it is also likely that Ana trained Amelie in this universe. As the voice lines that Amelie has with Ana not only imply that Ana worked for Overwatch before Talon but they also have an inflection that implies a previous close relationship between the two. It's also shown that Sombra and Amelie are close in this universe as well, and considering that Sombra and Cassidy likely switched places, I like to think that both Amelie and Gerard were both Blackwatch agents at some point. Personality wise I think this version of Amelie is a lot goofier, making spider puns and maybe even helping Sombra with pranks. I also think she's incredibly stubborn and loyal, an absolute beast on the field but her care for the people around her can cause her to hesitate, hence why she lost her eye. Though what's interesting is that Amelie chose to get a prostetic eye and has seemingly gotten augmentations on the other eye as well. Which makes it seems she's insecure in her abilities as a sniper.

Sombra - Agent Olivia Colomar

Sombra most likely started off as a Blackwatch agent, taken in after Overwatch conducted a sting operation against Los Muertos. I still think that she would find out about "The Conspiracy" but that would be something she discovered after Zurich. Likely resulting in her going off the grid until Doomfist was broken out. As I said before she's close with Amelie but I also think she would be close with Echo in this timeline too, recognizing that the learning AI that she has is learning more then just battle tactics. I don't think much would change about her personality wise, she would likely be less prone to blackmail but even that's a stretch.

Echo - Stealth Unit

Created by a Mina Liao that had full given up on recreating the sentience that Aroura had. MW!Echo would have been strictly made for combat, but still using a highly advanced learning AI for maximum efficacy. An unintended side effect of this was that Echo's learning capabilities eventually progressed past battle strategies. This lead to Echo having a more clinical and straight forward personality, not being as excited to learn but intrigued by what else she could be capable of. She was likely still quarantined after Zurich but was saved from Talon hands by Ashe.

Reaper - Gabriel Reyes

I think that the original strike team was likely still the same for Mirrorwatch, especially with the knowledge that Ana was with Overwatch at some point and Reinhardt is being implied to be brainwashed. Though I do think that with Jack and Gabe specifically they immediately joined Talon after the Crisis. Reyes loosing faith in changing the system during the crisis because of public reaction towards Overwatch during the crisis. However that changed as he watch what Overwatch turned into, bringing in pepole like Ashe and Sombra, giving them a chance at a different life. What also helped was his connection to Cassidy, even if their dynamic was strained because of their environment, they were still close, and because of that Reyes has always felt guilt about what he helped Cassidy turn into. That was a big motivation as to why Reyes defected from Talon, seeking out Overwatch to make up for all the pain he caused. During this escape however, Jack chased him down and during the altercation an explosion happened that presumably killed Jack (it didn't, Jack just saw Gabe's defection as a good sign to retire), and left Gabe incredibly wounded. Even with being a super soldier, the wounds were too much. That's when Moira found him and helped him the best she could, but it was not an easy process and Reyes was left permanently changed. It took years for the side affect of Moira's impromptu treatment to be dealt with to the point where Reyes wasn't in excruciating pain all the time. When he was treated though, he immediately set off to right his wrongs, his first act in redemption was saving Dr. Siebren de Kuiper from a Talon abduction with the help of Agent Colomar.

Moira - Head of Medical/Field Medic O'deorain

Moira was made Overwatch's head of Medical soon after Akande took the title of Strike Commander. Which was something that surprised her as her medical research was considered controversial, though those who said that often ignored the key detail that all experiments, she used herself as the test subject. Moira is a person who is fully in the belief that even if she doesn't have the time to be entitled to patience, her research will live on and eventually be picked up by someone else. She is highly aware of recovery time and often dissuades un-needed surgeries because of this. This is a problem when it comes to Amelie as she believes that she needs more augmentations to keep up with Ana and other Talon operatives, a sentiment only increased by Ramattra's death. Moira holds a lot of guilt for the things she's had to do with Overwatch, mainly being forced to do experimental treatments that resulted in less the good side effects.

Sigma - Dr. Siebren de Kuiper

Sigma's story would mostly be the same except he was saved by Overwatch instead of captured by Talon Talon. Which would lead to his mind and abilities being a lot more stable. I think he would still be close with Sombra as well as Hammond, but with the addition of him genuinely being close with Moira and Reaper. I don't think he'd go into the field that often, his powers still being unstable, but he does help out where he can. When he does go into the field though he mostly tries to protect his teammates and assets in civilian rescue.

Mauga - Ecopoint Liberator

I think this Mauga would be largely the same personality wise however morality would be very different, specifically I think this version of Mauga turned against the Deepsea Raiders and helped liberate the Samoan Ecopoint. That becoming his home base until Sombra got in contact with him and asked him to join Overwatch. I like to think that in this universe Mauga and Bapiste meet but it's while Baptiste is undercover trying to get information on what's happening with the Ecopoint to Talon. Mauga being a good way in.

Wrecking Ball - Hammond

Hammond is the same as Winston, basically just Hammond but he landed in Gibraltar instead of Australia. Though one this to consider is that Hammond likely struggled to get the same rights Winston did in canon, due to the fact that Hammond is a hamster and can't talk the same way the Winston can. Hammond becoming an Overwatch agent likely causing more outrage. Also because of this I think Hammond would have been made more of a mascot by the public the Winston was. Hammond most likely hating this. Basically Hammond is motivated to do good because that's what the people around him do, his friends want to do good, want to save people. So he'll follow their lead because even if he doesn't care for the general public, he cares about his friends.

Ashe

I've talked about Ashe a bit already but to summerise it, Ashe's parents where likely into more illegal dealings even before Ashe started her gang, which caused them to act differently when it came to Ashe lashing out. They manipulated her into thinking they had changed their ways and were becoming better people, which lead to Ashe betraying the other Deadlocks and going back to her parents. Which as you can tell, was a bad choice. After Ashe had basically cut off her entire support network Ashe's parents basically became worse then they were before, firing B.O.B and getting Ashe heavily involved with the family business. All the while still not paying her any mind as their daughter, now more as a nuisance they needed to keep an eye on. Until Overwatch took her parents down and offered Ashe a position in Blackwatch. Where she also reunited with B.O.B and Frankie. Ashe lives with a lot of guilt for her past action, guilt only increased when Blackwatch started getting invloved with Talon and she saw what became of Cassidy.

[captainknell]

*BOOK REPORT*

By Command of the Emperor, by SJ Watson

(my copy is plain and blue, but I'm guessing it once had a book jacket like the one on the right)

I initially did not know very much about Marshal Berthier but through @gabrielferaud I began to learn of the abuse he endured from Napoleon and I remembered I had this book.

I was surprised to learn that Berthier was 16 years older than our Emperor, and already had an accomplished life before Napoleon came into the picture.

In 1779,

Alexandre was now twenty-six years old. He had served as a topographical engineer, as a lieutenant in the infantry, and as a cavalry captain; and he was now on the personal staff of an army commander.

By the next year, he was serving overseas under General Rochambeau in the American Revolution alongside Washington and La Fayette! After three years in America, he returned to France.

And so Berthier - a cadet at the age of twelve, a general at thirty-nine and a private at forty - quietly resigned himself to the end of his military career, the more so because he had never held any personal ambitions other than to do his best.

Berthier would have been better off if he had retired at forty and had never met Napoleon Bonaparte. He would have disappeared into obscurity, but fate would have different plans. Alternately, Napoleon was very lucky to have found Berthier. I'm going to go out on a limb and say without Berthier, Napoleon wouldn't have been anywhere near as successful as he was. Yes, he was a great general, a great leader, a genius, but he needed someone who could understand his intentions and make sure his plans were executed with precision. That man was Alexandre Berthier.

For 18 years, Berthier served Napoleon. He was the chief of staff and the first to be made a Marshal of France under Napoleon. He endured Napoleon's temper and unjust scorn. Napoleon called him, "Uninteresting" and "no good" and "in the way". Napoleon hardly ever let Berthier take credit for his success but was quick to blame his own faults on Berthier. But Berthier was loyal through and through. When warned of Napoleon's temper early on, he said, "But remember that one day it will be a fine thing to be second to that man."

It was a very good book with only two things I thought were odd. 1) Napoleon forced Berthier to marry and it was later mentioned that he had two young sons. Nothing was mentioned about his wife being pregnant or the birth of his sons, or even their names. 2) Berthier died from a fall out of a window. The book implied that he was dizzy and fell out or that Caulaincourt (his friend!) had him murdered. I think he either fell or jumped on his own. I don't think anyone - especially Caulaincourt - had anything to do with it.

But all in all, it was a very good and informative book. I learned a lot about Marshal Berthier and saw another side of Napoleon that I am not used to seeing. Like with most books that aren't a general biography of Napoleon, I would definitely suggest having some background knowledge as things that are going on are not always explained fully.

[hopeymchope]

Thoughts about this blog and Danganronpa in light of our current reality

For a long time this blog has been foremostly a Danganronpa blog. I've spent eight years sharing artwork/fic of it, talking theories about it, analyzing the writing, responding to asks about it, and sometimes (all too rarely) posting my own fanfic for it.

I discovered Danganronpa in the back half of 2016. I think that was an ideal time for me to get into it, because it spoke to me on a level that went beyond just its quirky, believable characters and its engaging mystery/puzzle mechanics — it was, after all, ultimately about hope shining through the darkest of times. And in when the end of 2016 hit, things felt pretty dark. Here in the U.S., we elected to power a blatant conman who constantly lied and focused on hate to rile people up. It felt insane to even see this fucker get the nomination in 2016, because I'd grown up in a reality where a man shouting "WOO!" at a rally one time took him from being the frontrunner for his nomination to being a distant loser, because his enthusiasm was "unpresidential" somehow. But hey—at least there were some controls in place in 2016. It's not like the populist demagogue president eight years had the entire government or even his own entire party on his side.

Today, though... Danganronpa's messaging about Hope feels like a very silly sentiment. If I'd only started getting into the series THIS year, I'd have found its messaging incredibly trite and clownishly optimistic.

Over the past 15 years we've seen the entire globe turn farther towards dictators and facism. Look all around: Hungary, Egypt, Italy, Poland, Brazil, and so on. "But there's extenuating circumstances to many of those," someone might say. "Like, Hungary barely had democracy for approximately 25 years, so they didn't really feel a need to fight to keep it." And, I mean... sure? But as a counterpoint, Italy is a country that already endured a dark period of facism that was devastating to them... and felt no need to stop it from returning, either.

Here in the U.S., the man who once seemed like an awful human being in 2016 turned out to be worse than we ever imagined: abducting immigrants' children at the border to be auctioned off for raising by white families, boasting of his dreams of being a dictator, committing almost countless crimes to the point that we couldn't even be bothered to pursue/prosecute many of them. He tore down our early-warning system for infectious agents coming out of China, literally causing us to lose millions to the COVID pandemic. The damage he did to our institutions like Education was going to take my whole lifetime to undo. He was linked to a a child sex trafficker very deeply — and his party didn't care! And despite all this, the people elected him again. This time with NO controls in place. He has the entire government on his side, and he's refashioned his entire party to be 100% loyal to him. His second-in-command is exactly like him. The damage he will do will be far beyond anything we could undo in my lifetime now.

In 2016, we thought people were ignorant. People weren't paying enough attention. That was the opimistic view. It's been 10 years of constant publicity about who this man is now, though, and we now have to accept that the majority of people aren't ignorant: They're disgusting. Awful. There is no way in hell these people haven't seen this man speak out loud after all this time, and yet they still chose him.

The idea that Hope overcomes Despair feels so incredibly dumb now that it's hard for me to keep posting about this fictional reality. Because I can't even imagine ANY alternate universe where human beings are capable of such a thing. Humanity is far too shit for that.

Let me bring up another fictional universe that I find incredibly obnoxious at the moment: Did you know there's a new Superman movie coming out next year — one that is focused on him as a symbol of hope that humanity rallies around? The idea literally pisses me off right now. When I think about someone publishing a fairy tale like that in our current reality, I just can't fathom it. In what possible dimension, what insane timeline would human beings rally around an alien being as a symbol of hope for them? Come ON: We know that's impossible now. Human beings aren't like that. We're hateful little shitbags. We'd throw rocks at an alien like that and call for his death! He's an alien! There's no such tolerance in the nature of humanity. Humanity is a festering disease.

You get the gist. It's hard for me to say much about DR or the fandom on this blog these days, because Hope is a hyper-unrealistic luxury. To pretend otherwise feels like a fundamental failure in our self-understanding—a whitewashing of our truth. You're just trying to look away from what we are. NO. Stare at it until you accept it. Why are we distracting ourselves with comforting, completely unrealistic ideals? I can no longer tolerate that kind of make-believe. Despair is all we've got. It's what we've chosen. It's the only thing we deserve.

[katerinaaqu]

High Fantasy consept art inspired by Iliad and Odyssey (a small analysis of a forgotten character)

So let me be a bit annoying and call your attention for one second for an amazing artist and a great friend whom you can find here in Tumblr as well with the alias @artsofmetamoor. Her work is always a great dedication to detail, paying more attention to quality over quantity and, quite frankly, gaining inspiration of various sources.

She began getting more and more annoying talk from me XD regarding my passion for the classics like Iliad and Odyssey and the talk brought about the armors of Mycenaean Greece and she came up with a masterful piece of art:

Quite frankly we rarely ever see high fantasy armors or clothing inspired by anything else but western europe clothing (mixture between medieval Europe and 18th century details) and we rarely ever see high fantasy concepts inspired by ancient art and much less bronze age Greece that has some amazing pieces not many people know. My friend came up with an amazing concept design of a light armor that was heavily inspired by Iliad descriptions particularly Odysseus's helmet.

As you can see we were heavily inspired by Boar Tusk Helmets

The armor is essentially consisted by a light thorax and a boar-tusk or a horned helmet. Alternatives can be seen here:

Our character seems to be heavily linked to Odysseus. This is Caleb, from the comic series W.I.T.C.H and the animated adaptation but both her and I took a different route on the character creating our own original concepts of him

So why is he like Odysseus?

Caleb in the comic is a Whisperer, a type of plant-looking creature that was created as a soulless servant to a cruel magician Prince named Phobos who ruled with a Tyranical way the kingdom of Meridian. Caleb broke free from his control by seer will and became the leader of Rebellion against his creator to restore justice (much like Odysseus who couldn't avoid the war but did his best in it, Caleb struggles every day for the greater good)

Intelligent and clever. Caleb comes up with the craziest of plans in a second and he can in fact make his risky tactics to work. Much like Odysseus he is a master of survival and can guide his people in the toughest of situations

Team spirit that exceeds expectations. The rebel leader is capable of throwing himself to the fire for his comrades coming forward to save them if necessary

Family man like Odysseus, later in our story after a great ordeal that lasts almost 10 years in total, Caleb manages to return to the love of his life and start a family. He has an only son, whose name is Kai and Caleb will always return to them

Death fears him. No, honestly, Caleb escapes like some crazy situations in his lifetime! Hahaha He and Odysseus have a lot to discuss!

Notorious and Famous. His friends love him his enemies hate him. What more can one say?

Trained by a "goddess"

Well technically a bit of a stretch but Caleb is trained by a huge and powerful woman who also protects his every step. The woman named Dilla, is a warrior of a special Tribe of people (one can say she was inspired by Amazons and Viking warriors among others). She is tall, big and powerful but she has a golden heart and she makes it a goal of her life to protect him at any cost

Dilla teaches Caleb many things from her people including combat and customs and she protects him as his bodyguard. She is also "bright eyed" as you see (gosh Athena vibes being strong!) since she is blind but has hightened senses. She has also a very strong sense of justice and she is often the voice of reason among the crazy adult kid rebels! XD

Second in Command and Opposition

Caleb has also a brother who was adopted by his very adopted father by the name Diego and yup he is our "Eurylochus" in this case. He is loyal to death to Caleb but his often nasty attitude disrupts the team. That however comes from his own unresolved psychological issues, his complicated feelings and his complex personality.

Please consider checking her art out and we are both open to questions! ^_^

She has also created millions of AUs one can use as inspiration back for their own ideas! Trust me! She's awesome!

[dystopicjumpsuit]

Stars Beyond Number - Chapter 24

Lost Kingdoms

Rating: T (rating varies by chapter; mature content will be tagged; regardless of rating, minors DNI)

Pairings: Echo x Riyo Chuchi; Gregor x OFC Cerra Kilian

Wordcount: 2.5k

Warnings and tags: weapons; language; angst; minor spoilers for upcoming "Boil & Trouble" chapter.

Suggested Listening:

Summary: News arrives from an unexpected source.

A/N: This story shares continuity with Martyrs and Kings, "Double, Double Boil and Trouble" (part 2 here) and "Do It Again," but all the fics can be read as stand-alones.

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In this hollow valley

This broken jaw of our lost kingdoms

—T. S. Eliot, “The Hollow Men”

The second Cerra drew her blaster, every clone in the garage followed suit—except Rex. The newcomer’s face twisted contemptuously. He leaned casually against the door jamb, arms crossed over his chest, not making a move for the dual blasters holstered to his thighs.

 “Nice to see you, too, Cerra,” he said. 

“Stand down,” Rex commanded.

Cerra growled. “How the hell did he find us?”

“I told him we were here,” Rex replied. 

“What the kriff?” she asked, shocked. “You?” 

“I’m as surprised as you are, trust me,” Rex said. “But he said he had urgent intel. Now stand down. That’s an order.”

The rest of the clones lowered their blasters, but Cerra refused, clenching her jaw stubbornly as she kept her weapon aimed at the intruder. Her pulse hammered, adrenaline coursing through her veins. 

“Didn’t realize you needed an attack dog, Rex,” the clone said.

“Who says this is about Rex?” Cerra snarled. “I’ll blast you just for my own satisfaction.” 

“Same old Cerra,” the clone said. “You’re loyal, I’ll give you that.”

Rex reached out and rested his hand gently on Cerra’s shoulder until at last she complied and holstered her blaster. Gregor and the rest of the clones stared alternately between Cerra and the newcomer, confused and unsure of the situation but trusting Rex’s orders.

“What’s going on?” Fireball asked. “Who is this?”

“GAR’s biggest dickhole,” Cerra replied.

Rex sighed. “Everyone, this is Captain Hart.”

Judging by the blank expressions on the clones’ faces, the name meant nothing to any of them—except Nemec, whose eyebrows shot up. “The Captain Hart? I thought you were just a myth the shinies made up to give themselves hope after their first battle.”

“Oh, I’m real.” Hart glanced around the garage. “Quite the operation you have here, Rex, old man. Aren’t you worried a repair shop full of clone troopers is going to attract attention?”

“This deep in the lower levels?” Cerra asked. “Nobody cares what happens down here.”

“You might be surprised,” Hart replied, sauntering closer to the group. “I’ve stayed off the scopes of the Empire and the Republic for a long time, and I didn’t do it by being this careless or stupid.”

“You always this charmin’?” Gregor asked, arching an eyebrow.

“This is him at his most charming,” Cerra cut in. 

“Why are you here, Hart?” Rex asked. “You’re making me regret agreeing to this meeting.”

“Hospitable crowd,” Hart replied sardonically.

“You got a bounty on your head yet?” Cerra asked, quickly running out of patience. “I could use the credits.”

“Wouldn’t surprise me,” he shrugged. “You definitely do, though. Congratulations, Cerra. You’re wanted for murder and treason.”

Shocked silence descended abruptly on the garage as every gaze snapped toward Hart. Cerra’s breath stuttered to a halt, her mouth feeling suddenly very dry.

“What are you talking about?” Rex demanded. “Where did you learn that?”

“Got a lead on a new agency—Imperial Security Bureau, they’re calling it,” Hart replied. “Doesn’t matter how I know, and I’m not revealing my source, so don’t bother asking. They sent me this.”

He tossed a datachip to Rex, who plugged it into the holotable. A datafile flickered into view. Cerra stared into a hologram of her own face, accompanied by a brief but damning wall of text.

IMPERIAL SECURITY BUREAU Case #21118378 Suspect Identification Name: CERRA KILIAN Chain Code: NONE Occupation: SOLDIER - DESERTED Wanted for: MURDER; TERRORISM; TREASON Status: AT LARGE Criminal Profile Criminal Activity:  Abandonment of post; murder of Imperial officer; impersonation of an Imperial officer; destruction of Imperial property; theft of Imperial property; aiding and abetting a Jedi fugitive; seditious activities; spice running Arrest Record: ISB #4212187 - DAIYU Known Associates:  Admiral (retired) Shoan Kilian - uncle, estranged (see interrogation record #57047195) CT-7567, Clone Captain "Rex" - DECEASED (disputed, see casefile #5127066) CT-5555, ARC Trooper "Fives" - DECEASED CT-5385, Clone Trooper "Tup" - DECEASED CT-5597, ARC Trooper "Jesse" - DECEASED CT -6116, Clone Medic "Kix" - MISSING IN ACTION Remarks:  Suspect has extensive combat training and experience. Consider armed and extremely dangerous. Escaped custody after killing an ISB interrogating officer and stealing an Imperial shuttle. Linked to suspected terrorist organization - if possible, apprehend alive for further interrogation. Current Location: UNKNOWN

Cerra’s heart stood still as she read “Shoan Kilian - uncle, estranged (see interrogation record #57047195).” Please, Maker, no. She couldn’t bear the thought of Shoan being subjected to the ISB’s interrogation methods. He was a tough old man, but for kriff’s sake, he’d suffered enough.

“Not a half-bad holo of me,” she said with a forced laugh. “You know, for being taken in a holding cell.”

“Karabast,” Rex said grimly. “I guess this confirms our intel about the secret intelligence agency.”

“Oh, I got confirmation firsthand,” Cerra replied, gesturing toward her bruised, battered face. “Just hadn’t had a chance to tell you yet.”

“Anything in that datafile true?” Hart asked.

The group fell silent as they all turned to Cerra, awaiting her response.

“They’re half right,” she replied uneasily. “It’s not murder when it’s self-defense, though I doubt the Empire would agree. Can’t say they’re wrong about the treason part, though.”

“And the rest?” Hart pressed. “Terrorism? The Jedi?”

“No idea what they’re talking about,” she lied. “Making kark up for propaganda.”

“What propaganda?” Hart demanded. “This is an internal ISB datafile. Nobody is supposed to see it.”

“I don’t kriffin’ know,” she snapped. “Maybe they think I’m someone else. Or maybe somebody with a grudge is finding a way to justify the resources to hunt me down. Or—or—I don’t kriffin’ know!”

No way in hell was she revealing to Hart what Yularen had told her about Ahsoka Tano. Rex might trust him—Maker alone knew why after the shit Hart had pulled—but Cerra wasn’t taking a chance. Particularly not before she told Rex; he’d been close to the young Jedi, and he would want to know she had survived the carnage of Order 66. How the hell did everything fall apart so quickly? What the kriff am I supposed to do now?

“It doesn’t matter. The question we should be asking is what we’re going to do about it,” Rex said, as if he’d read her mind.

Cerra licked her dry, chapped lips as she considered. Rex was right. This changed things. With the ISB hunting her, she’d be putting the rest of the team at risk if she stayed at the garage. They couldn’t take that kind of heat. Her heart gave a painfully hard thump as she realized what this meant.

“It’s not like this is a surprise,” Gregor said, meeting Cerra’s eyes. “The Empire was never going to just let you walk away. Besides, you’ve been wanted for years.”

“This is different,” she argued. “Nobody was that interested in tracking down a nat-born deserter. But with these charges? They’re interested now.”

“They’re offering a bounty,” Hart interjected. “Sixty thousand credits.”

“Fierfek,” Nemec muttered.

“We can handle a bounty hunter or two,” Gregor said.

“It’s not going to be that easy, and you know it,” Cerra replied. 

“There are options,” Hart said quietly, and if Cerra hadn’t known what an absolute dickbag he was, she would have thought his voice held a sympathetic note.

Nemec jerked his head toward Hart, his eyes growing hard. Cerra forced herself to keep her breath at an even pace even as her palms grew damp and her heart raced so fast she could hear it thundering in her head. She fought down the rising tide of panic as she silently ordered herself to hold it together. 

“No.” Rex’s voice was firm. “Not a chance.”

“Hart is right,” Cerra said hollowly. “I’m endangering everyone else by staying.”

Her eyes stung and her vision blurred. She inhaled carefully through her nose to try to force the tears back down.

“Cerra?” Fireball stared at her, distress and confusion in his eyes. “What are you saying?”

She turned to Rex, her eyes begging him to give the explanation that she couldn’t bring herself to speak aloud.

“Hart has… connections,” Rex said slowly. “He’s been helping clones disappear from the GAR and the Empire for years.”

“What do you mean, ‘disappear’?” Gregor asked. “Go AWOL like us?”

“Not exactly,” Rex replied.

“I’m not that sloppy,” Hart cut in.

“Kriff me, you really are a dickhole,” Gregor said without heat.

“Call me whatever you want,” Hart shrugged. “Doesn’t make me wrong.”

Rex steered the conversation back to the point. “When Hart extracts someone, he sets it up so no one will ever come looking for them. If they were on active duty, they’d go MIA during a battle, or they’d end up listed as killed in action.”

“And then?” Gregor asked.

“Then, nobody would ever see them again,” Nemec said. “So the rumors really are true.”

Gregor glanced back and forth between Rex and Cerra. “How long have you two known about his little operation?”

Rex hesitated, so Cerra replied, her voice coming out in a hoarse croak. “A while.”

Gregor was silent for a moment. “You’ve used him before, haven’t you?”

“Believe me, we wouldn’t have if there’d been any other way,” Rex said.

Gregor waited expectantly, and when none of the three seemed inclined to elaborate, he asked, “Are you going to tell us—”

“No.” Three voices snapped simultaneously.

The commando shrugged. “Worth a try.”

A tense, uncomfortable silence descended. Nobody seemed eager to break it, but inevitably, Rex turned to Cerra.

“I can’t order you to stay,” he said slowly. “But, Cerra, you don’t have to go.”

“It’s the smart move,” she said quietly.

“Banthashit,” Gregor snapped. “Everyone in this garage is either wanted or presumed dead. What makes you think you’re so special that you should be the one to leave?”

Cerra stared at the floor, refusing to meet his eyes. Her stomach churned, and for a moment, she thought she might actually throw up.

“It’s a little harder to fade into the crowd when there aren’t millions of people walking around with the same face as you,” Hart pointed out.

“Are you really going to stand there and pretend you need to sacrifice yourself to protect the rest of us?” Gregor continued inexorably, ignoring Hart’s interruption and stepping closer to Cerra. “We’re soldiers, for kark’s sake. We can take care of ourselves. And there isn’t a clone in this room who’ll agree to this.”

“Gregor—” Cerra began, still refusing to look him in the eyes.

“Ask them!” he exclaimed. “You think Fireball is just going to let you walk away? Nemec? Fuck, Cerra, do you think I’m going to let you go?”

She looked up, and the abrupt motion finally caused her tears to overflow. She inhaled shakily. “I—”

Gregor rested his hands on her shoulders and turned her to face him. “I know your head is all twisted up because your family rejected you when you needed them most, but we’re not them. We’re not going to turn our backs on you.”

Her chest felt tight; her throat too tense to speak. Her head ached with the effort of holding herself together when the galaxy was falling apart around her.

“Can someone make a Force-damned decision soon?” Hart demanded. “I don’t have all day to stand around watching a holodrama.”

“Leave, then,” Gregor replied, not taking his eyes from Cerra’s. “Nobody here needs you.”

Hart looked impatiently at Rex, who frowned. “It’s her call.”

“The hell it is,” Fireball blurted. “She belongs here.”

“She’s not going anywhere,” Nemec added.

Something deep inside Cerra’s chest cracked and crumbled, and she gave a pained gasp, her eyes darting around the group as she realized something she should have known from the very beginning: she wasn’t alone, and she never had been.

“Well?” Hart asked impatiently.

She turned to him, her gasping desperately as she tried to formulate a response.

“You’re not—” Fireball swallowed hard. “You’re not going with him, are you, Cerra?”

She wiped her tears ruthlessly away with her clenched fist, and at last, she spoke. “No, Fireball. Not today.” 

“Not ever,” Gregor said firmly. 

“Don’t say I didn’t try,” Hart muttered with a resigned expression. He rummaged through his pockets and eventually pulled out a scrap of flimsi, which he handed to Cerra. “If you change your mind.”

She glanced at the card. “A fortune teller?”

Hart nodded shortly. “Ask for Tas. Tell her I sent you. She’ll know what to do.”

Cerra tucked the card into her pocket and finally asked the question that had been bothering her since Hart had shown them the datafile. “Why are you helping me?”

He almost smiled. Almost. “We used to be friends.”

“So this is, what, nostalgia?” she asked. “Seriously, why did you come here? You could have just sent us the datafile. Why risk it?”

He observed her for a moment, considering his words before he replied. “In case you hadn’t noticed, it's a damned time bomb out there. We don’t stand a chance on our own. Kriff, we might not stand a chance together, either. But it’s worth a shot, don’t you think?”

“You want to be allies now?” Rex asked. “After everything?”

“Wouldn’t be the first time we’ve put aside our differences for the greater good,” Hart said pointedly. “Look, I don’t expect you to trust me, at least not any time soon. But the time might come when some of you will need to escape the Empire’s attention for good. When it does, you know how to reach me.”

With that, he turned and stalked toward the exit. Rex walked with him, and as they reached the landing platform, he drew a deep breath.

“Spit it out,” Hart ordered.

“How is she?” Rex asked quietly.

Hart froze, then turned to Rex with an icy glare. “She is none of your business any more, and she never will be.”

Rex clenched his jaw and looked away. Hart stared at him for a moment before he sighed and relented.

“She’s fine. She’s… with our mutual friend at the moment.”

Rex’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “You mean—”

Hart grunted, mounted his speeder bike, and without another word, he was gone.

Inside the garage, the group relaxed slightly. Howzer and his men milled about somewhat awkwardly, while Fireball and Nemec showed signs of wanting to celebrate Cerra’s return at last. She cast a longing glance toward the refresher, fantasizing about the shower that she still hadn’t gotten, but before she could excuse herself to go get cleaned up, Gregor tugged her behind a stack of crates for privacy. 

He traced his fingertips along her jaw, tilting her head to meet his gaze. “You all right? That was a hell of a welcome home.”

Home. The word echoed in her mind, and she leaned close to Gregor, burying her face into the nook where his neck met his shoulders. He wrapped his arms around her and held her in a comforting embrace.

“Your fight isn’t over yet, Cerra Kilian,” he murmured. 

She shook her head slightly. “It’s a big fight, Gregor.”

He kissed the side of her head softly. “Good thing I’m here to watch your back.”

---

Next chapter

Thank you so much to @nika6q for the stunning mugshot of Cerra! I appreciate you more than words can say.

[eriexplosion]

God IDK if I'm prepared for Solitary Clone again tbh

Weak for the design of Desix really, I just love this fully enclosed city style thing

And GOD am I weak for Tawni Ames, like. My lady. I'm particularly weak for her in her mask with the voice modulation. Forget taking the dude hostage she should have just shot him. I had to look up his name (Grotton) because I refuse to call him the governor he's just some bitch that showed up suddenly.

CROSSHAIR THOUGH. THERE HE IS. He somehow looks even worse than Return to Kamino and several months (presumably) of recovery from his 32 rotations on an open platform. Terrified to think of what he looked like right when they found him.

The food has upgraded, now instead of merely 'cylinder' we also have 'Drumstick' and 'orb' not that Crosshair gets to eat any of them.

God I'm sorry it is so funny to me that Crosshair has managed to get less popular like it's awful for him obviously but like. He was always dreadfully unpopular HOW did it get worse?

I have a working theory that it's perceived favoritism. Like, he apparently has a bare box for a room and he sleeps on a slab without a blanket but it IS a private room. He gets called on personally by the Admiral, even though the audience knows it's pretty much just to be disrespected. They didn't bother going back for him on Kamino for 32 days but they DID go back for him and that's more than most clones get.

Alternate theory is that his vibes are just that bad because he's so desperate and lonely. Poor bastard sits silently at the end of the table and STILL gets abandonoed.

The way that Crosshair spends so much of this season in a variety of depression jammies

Rampart just casually like BTW HOW LONG DID WE LEAVE YOU FOR DEAD? JUST REMIND ME. I WANT TO KNOW WHY YOU'RE SO DESPERATE THAT YOU'RE STICKING WITH US AFTER THAT.

Seriously the fact that he can be like 'wow this clone is so loyal he forgave us for leaving him for dead' and instead of appreciating what he has he has to needle Crosshair about it. Just. "Left for dead and yet you still came back... why?" Smug faced bastard man.

"I'm a soldier of the Empire" because "I LITERALLY REJECTED EVERYTHING ELSE I HAD FOR THIS I DON'T HAVE ANY OTHER OPTIONS" doesn't play as well.

I really want the batch to know about this but I don't think he'd ever tell them. If there's one thing Crosshair is good at it's, for whatever personal reasons, choosing to present himself in the most unsympathetic fashion possible at every opportunity.

I wonder again if Crosshair was ever officially promoted. He still has a CT prefix rather than CC, and Rampart's super casual about putting him under someone else's command, referring to it as 'not ready to play commander again' it's like the entire title was just a good behavior courtesy rather than an actual promotion and so no official changes have had to be made. And now it's clear that Crosshair doesn't need good behavior courtesies or in fact any courtesy whatsoever to try desperately for approval, so why bother?

Really thought that he'd act out more against Crosshair over the false report thing but there's something so funny about the fact that he was doing this LITERALLY just to be a bitch because Rampart just is like that.

CODY

Crosshair looking at Cody's exact markings skeptically until Cody pulls his helmet off because the color is just as important as the design. Why aren''t you YELLOW?

"You're lucky I was available." I love that it takes literally 1 second for Crosshair's completely deadpan snark to come back when faced with Cody because what was he doing before this other than being miserable in his box of a room?

Cody probably is surprised but not because the batch went AWOL but because Crosshair didn't go with them. He doesn't know about the chips and Crosshair was the LEAST likely to follow orders before, not the most. Cody's experiencing Opposite Day over here.

Goddddd the musical cue after 'then they're traitors, like the Jedi' as Cody realizes that Crosshair is NOT safe to pressure on this anymore. I don't think he'd ever actually turn Cody in tbh but Cody can't know that. He's seen a LOT of clones act in ways he never thought they would after all. He's acted in ways he never thought he would.

Crosshair really seems to have dropped his attitude about regs like he uses the word once but he's completely chill with the new squad. Downright chatty practically, he's even said MULTIPLE sentences.

"He saw it coming. The galactic empire." Yeah fun thing about that Tawni, he DID see it coming true because that was. The plan.

I do love that they give people multiple outlooks - Serennians hate Dooku for obvious reasons, on Desix they don't really know how corrupt he was, so Tawni is almost admiring of him. In the end, Dooku and the Republic were corrupted and everyone is suffering for it but they can only see their piece of it.

Can't be mad that Tawni shot them down, Crosshair was told to come here and shoot her pretty much so like, her instincts were Correct.

Off to check the crash for survivors of which there are several literally no crash has ever had no survivors in Star Wars apparently.

Crosshair is so excited to get to shoot things again finally something he's good at.

The way he says "Trust me" just damn. The voice. The voice is so good.

I'm still not over Crosshair sitting COMPLETELY STOCK STILL WHILE BEING SHOT AT, ZERO FLINCHING LIKE THE RISK OF SHRAPNEL ISN'T EVEN REAL. And the shot straight down the tanks barrel, GOD.

The way that if things went different in all of this Crosshair might have actually found some acceptance with a squad but since the universe demands that Crosshair be as miserable as humanly possible as often as possible, that is not to be.

Love how they actually made the droidekas intimidating by bringing them into such tight quarters. Also the sound design on their rolling is done FANTASTICALLY.

Still, RIP Wyler :c

Seeing the tactics play out is so good. Yes I know our boys are on the side of evil but you don't have all the facts. (I love them.)

CODY SCREAMING NOVA'S NAME WHILE CROSSHAIR HAS TO PULL HIM OUT OF RANGE OF THE EXPLOSION.

Stairwell Scene Stairwell Scene STAIRWELL SCENE. Genuinely loved how they framed the fighting here, sticking them into interesting locations where they get to use the environment just. Adore.

POV: you still haven't bothered to train your hand to hand skills

Just yeet the puck into the air it's fine Crosshair will manage it's good. This shot is so completely impossible and improbable but you know what's more important than that? It is extremely cool.

"Nice throw." "Nice shot."

TOO BAD THAT EVERYTHING IS ABOUT TO GO VERY BADLY INDEED

THE CALLBACK TO MINA BONTERI GETS ME

The thing is that Crosshair was ordered to kill Tawni like, straight up ordered to kill her, and yeah he still has his rifle raised at this point but he was letting her talk, he was letting Cody actually negotiate, and when he was told to lower his rifle he did.

I remember right after this came out there was a lot of things about how Crosshair was BLOODTHIRSTY and FINE WITH KILLING HER and like he didn't jump to the task, not even when Grotton ordered her execution, he didn't do anything until Cody was threatened with consequences.

Crosshair isn't bloodthirsty, but he will do anything for people he cares about, including taking a shot that he knows Cody never would before Grotton even finishes saying 'consequences for disobedience'

The way Cody tried so hard though just, I love him, I adore him. All he wanted was for everyone to get out of that room alive.

THE WORST PART IS I think Cody fully understands why Crosshair took the shot too. The timing is obvious. And that makes him feel worse, because he did NOT want anyone to die for his sake. He didn't want Crosshair to kill her for his sake either. This whole thing was just too much.

I feel like his last moment with Crosshair in front of the memorial was him still trying one last time to get through to him, let him have a chance to say anything that might make this better (or make it seem like Cody has the option of trying to get him to leave the Empire with him) and Crosshair failed THOROUGHLY by doubling down on orders.

They both have to live with their choices and it's agonizing actually I am in PAIN.

Crosshair lying awake all night and then staring at the helmet when he wakes up.

GOD I am never over the absolute venom in Crosshair's voice when he's forced to spit out Cody's CC number to get Rampart to acknowledge it. It's the way he never argues his own number or his own treatment, but disrespecting CODY is different.

Also Rampart looks completely Disgusted that clones are out here having names still after all this.

His face on 'Problem?' is the most punchable thing I have EVER looked at.

Anyway I really do want to see Cody again post going AWOL but I would also be fine if we don't catch up with him until significantly later and he shows up in Kenobi season 2 or something. Unlike many people did when this aired I don't think they ever wanted to imply anything other than that Cody did in fact go AWOL, so I don't think we'll be seeing him as a CX clone or anything.

God this episode is still so good.

[wildlyglittering]

made up title- "I would never fall in love again until I found her"

Hello!

Before Christmas I asked for people to send me a fic title and I would say what Nessian fic I would write for it. Here is the one for 'I Would Never Fall in Love Again, Until I Found Her.'

Read under the cut!

Key word here is ‘again’ so I’m taking that to mean that Cassian was once in love with someone before.

This would be an alternative Prythian. Cassian is an Illyrian warrior but these Illyrian’s don’t have wings though they are considered fae and very long living. In this version of the world, Cassian is sent on a mission through Illyria which takes him months – the purpose of which is to find a witch who lives in the isolated regions of the Illyrian mountains.

Cassian doesn’t know why he needs to find her and what the purpose is but he’s loyal to his Commander and, at this time, a foot soldier who does what he’s told. There is another group, this time of fae, who are also seeking the witch for purposes unknown and there is a bit of a set-to on the mountains between Cassian and this group and Cassian is injured.

Although Cassian is slipping out of consciousness, he is fully aware of a figure standing over him looking pretty pissed off. When he comes to, he realises he’s in the bowels of a cave system but in a chamber which has been made to be pretty cozy.

His companion who saved him on the mountains is a young and beautiful woman, highly Nesta coded who is irritated because Cassian essentially fell into what was one of her cave gardens.

She recognises him as Illyrian and isn’t happy about that and admits she hoped he would die on the mountains as she’s taken a vow to help anyone injured. Because Cassian is alive but harmed, her vow means she had to take him in and take care of him.

Cave contained hijinks ensure.

By this I mean Cassian is attracted and riles her ups as much as possible and it’s clear the witch is also attracted and gets riled up way too easy. Cassian heals, she does the healing and Cassian recuperates in the cave while Nesta continues to look after him and live her day-to-day life.

They grow closer and Cassian shares his troubles about growing up an orphaned Illyrian and she tells Cassian that she is the last of three witch sisters, of the previous two one was killed and the other inadvertently summoned a demon resulting in a rather destructive possession. Said demon possessed second sister is still alive, whereabouts unknown.

She also says that when witches die they remain dead for a hundred years but depending on the nature of the witch, they may be reincarnated into a new form.

They get all sorts of romantic obviously but the time has come when Cassian needs to leave. He goes with a promise to the witch that he will return and won’t say a single word to anyone about having found her.

When he returns to the Illyrians, he makes up some story about surviving alone on the mountains which they seem to believe.

Cassian heads back to the mountains encountering another group of fae on the way, this time he gets the upper hand and kills the group but as one lies dying, he tells Cassian to not let the Illyrians find the last witch.

Turns out the fae want to find the last witch in order to seek her help from multiple Illyrian attacks in their Court and in turn offer her protection but they could never find her.

Cassian returns to the witch’s cave where they both embrace but – uh, oh – some stealthy Illyrians who never believed Cassian’s story have followed him and discovered her. They both try and escape but are eventually surrounded.

Turns out the Illyrians have the demon possessed sister who has been working with them all along, utilising magic to make the Illyrians more powerful and to help them destroy the fae cities and homes.

The witch manages to kill her sister but knowing the demon will want to take possession of her, she allows it too but performs a heroic sacrifice resulting in her death and the demon going back to hell.

Cassian grieves and is shunned by the Illyrian’s, cast out for eternity but he eventually settles in one of the fae cities and befriends a group of fae living with them as happily as he can.

Over the decades, the fae cities grow and the Illyrian boundaries shrink. A new species called ‘humans’ are discovered with an even smaller boundary but the fae and humans have a political relationship where they work together.

Just over a hundred years have passed (let’s go with 125 for fun) and Cassian is present when a new envoy of human emissaries from the regions arrives. They introduce themselves in order and the final one removes her cloak and introduces herself as Nesta.

Cassian is startled by the physical resemblance she has to his lost love and as their eyes meet, her face slips into one of recognition...