#and had the 'well the geneticist said...' conversation | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

a-very-tired-jew · 7 months ago

Text

Another Colleague Conversation

I recently had a conversation with a friend and colleague about stuff they shared regarding the rescue operation of the four hostages. They had posted the tweet from the Deeja account that said in all capital letters that Israel used an aid truck. I reached out because 1) I know this person to be reasonable and evidence based, and 2) I knew they were coming from a place of genuine concern that was being manipulated. For context, this friend is a brilliant geneticist that I have know for nearly 2 decades as we did our undergrad together and have stayed in touch ever since. They're a kindhearted person and their work has led to some breakthroughs that highlight this trait as they've worked on certain types of genes that can have detrimental mutations when expressed. As I've said before, a lot of people are empathetic and sympathetic individuals to the plight of others, and those behaviors are being manipulated for nefarious reasons.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Me: Hey G, that thing you shared about the aid truck? Yeah, that's not the complete story or accurate.

G: What?! What do you mean?

Me: It wasn't an aid truck that they used. In fact, only that tweet and Al Jazeera were reporting that initially. All the other sites, including pro-Israel and anti-Israel, were reporting a civilian truck of some sort. Most said a moving/furniture truck.

G: Wait. Hold on. So it was a moving truck then?

Me: Well...we now know it was a soap truck.

G: Why the fuck are people saying it was an aid truck then?

Me: You know the reason.

G: Yeah...okay, admittedly I am not well informed on all this. Thank you for reaching out and correcting me. Do you have any suggestions on how to stay informed? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ (Now this is where it gets interesting because at this point they say something that I knew was a thing on some level, but hadn't really put the pieces together.)

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

Me: Well, I wouldn't share anything from Al Jazeera. All they do is spout Hamas propaganda. I'd also avoid accounts that share from them as well, unless you're really interested in what the propaganda is itself. I'd avoid JVP since they're the Autism Speaks of Jewish groups. And also avoid SJP groups, many of them openly support terrorist groups and have been recently endorsing domestic terrorism. G: Wait, wait, wait. AJ is bad? I've been following them since we were in undergrad.

Me: Since undergrad?

G: Yeah, they were the only ones covering news in a Lefty manner. Like, remember when Occupy Wallstreet broke out during grad school? They were the one of the few news sites that covered it in a left leaning manner.

Me: Ah fuck...that makes sense. Okay. So. AJ is the state media of Qatar, think of it like RT or Sputnik. Qatar has literally hosted the leaders of Hamas for years and they live there in multi-million dollar homes. AJ pretty much acts as the propaganda mouthpiece for Hamas through Qatar.

G: But what does that have to do with how they covered stuff when we were younger?

Me: Well, there was a meeting in 1993 in Philly of Hamas members that was wiretapped. Those wiretaps were submitted as evidence during some trials in the 00s and they revealed that Hamas had planned at that meeting to use the language of progressive Westerners to garner support for their cause and manipulate them.

G: oh

G: Oh, fuck!

G: So you're saying they purposefully set themselves up to be more sympathetic to Leftists and manipulate them through using their jargon and it's on tape?!

Me: Yep. Here's the link (https://extremism.gwu.edu/sites/g/files/zaxdzs5746/files/2023-10/the-hamas-network-in-america.pdf)

Me: Now there's a lot more to that doc. It goes over how they planned to set up research groups to influence academia, political groups for politics, and charity groups to raise money. The latter of which is what the 00s trials were about.

G: Fuck...that's well planned out. I can't believe it's on tape.

Me: Mhm, it's right there. I'm surprised it's been allowed to go on this long though. I think after all the dust settles we might see some Bush Era Patriot Act shenanigans go on.

G: I wouldn't be surprised.

G: Thank you for reaching out and letting me know. I can't believe I fell for that.

Me: It's totally okay, and understandable. If you have questions about anything please feel free to reach out.

G: Again, thank you so much. I will.

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

What G said about Al Jazeera though and how they'd been following it for years stood out to me. I remember when Occupy Wallstreet happened and AJ was reporting on it. I remember so many American news sites denigrating the movement and AJ was one of the few that was actually covering those protests in an objective manner. We didn't have a lot of the Left news sites that currently exist today. It was a wasteland of center and right wing sources as far as the eye could see. But that makes sense for the time period and why AJ is still so prevalent in Left spaces.

As I told G, the 93 meeting documents Hamas members talking about using the language of Westerners against them and infiltrating their spaces to garner support. With AJ being the mouth piece of Hamas and having been one of the few "Left" leaning news source since Occupy...well, they've been grandfathered in to Leftist spaces as "trusted". That's why so many of these Western activists will accept an AJ article with no question or critical analysis, it's one of the go to sources and has been for a long time.

I'm a little mad at myself that I didn't remember the coverage of Occupy and other events in the USA by AJ and how they were framed until G brought it up. I'm second guessing all the times I read articles back then and my reactions. G admitted they're now doing the same. To think that many of us older Lefties have been manipulated for years because we had some friendly coverage of our opinions is disheartening. But then again, how many of us actually knew what AJ was, who was running it, and what the agenda is/was? I mean, hell, I'm a forensic consultant and consider myself well versed on big cases, but I didn't know about the HLF stuff until Vidino's report came out (the doc mentioned and linked above).

The internet has come such a long way since then. I'm hoping that when this is over that many of these news sites, Leftist and otherwise, will reconsider how they interact with AJ and other such groups. It's quite clear that we've been in a long con, and something has to change.

#jumblr #leftist antisemitism #israel #palestine #activism #misplaced activism #Al Jazeera and Hamas have been playing the long con in Leftist spaces #i/p #Seriously who else remembers AJ being one of the few sites to report on Occupy in a Left leaning manner?#Some of the most well intentioned and kindhearted people have been manipulated into sharing antisemitic posts #But that doesn't make them bad people

288 notes · View notes

cami-stuffs · 1 year ago

Text

Pushing Towards You

Chapter 11: Party Night

After a week, Calista was already acquainted with her leading roles at work. Her staff was collaborative, and she was having a good time. During the week, she received a visit from her boss, Rashid Sharma, who invited her for lunch that afternoon.

"I'm sorry for not having visited you before, Ms. Cos'Anto; with our upcoming raising funds party, I had a lot on my plate." They were sitting in the hospital cafeteria, and Rashid started the conversation.

"Please, call me Calista, Mr. Sharma. About the visit, there is no problem. I had a great first week. People here are very receptive." Calista answered him with a sincere smile.

"Call me Rashid, please." He said, bowing his head. "So, are you already adapted?"

"Oh, yes. As I said, people are eager to help each other." Calista said.

"That's great. So, may I expect to see you at our party on Friday night?" Rashid asked with an inviting smile.

"Absolutely. I'll be there with my partner." Calista confirmed.

"Marvellous," Rashid answered. "By the way, an important geneticist will visit us this week. He is an outcast, and his research relies on the inherited outcast's powers. Maybe you would like to talk to him. Outcasts in that high position are rare."

"How interesting! I want to talk to him, indeed. This is a subject that catches my attention." Calista was thinking about Ártemis. "As you know, I have a daughter, Ártemis. She is a shapeshifter, and no one in my family is."

"It is rare." Rashid agreed. "And her father? Was he an outcast?"

"The donor was a normie. Gaia and I used a sperm bank, and according to his profile, he was a normie. But who knows? Many outcasts prefer not to identify themselves." It was the first time Calista thought about the donor. Seeing Ártemis and Larissa together induced Calista to fantasize about many possibilities. Now, there was the donor.

"I dare say you'll have much to talk about them." Rashid smiled. "I am trying to hire him. It will be quite an acquisition for our team. Perhaps he considers it as a possibility to stay around." He confessed his motivation.

"Is he going to be at the party?" Calista asked.

"Yes. He is going to arrive Friday morning. Would you like me to introduce him to you at the party already?" Rashid was beaming.

"That would be lovely. It is not the right place to discuss this subject, but maybe I can call his attention." Calista wanted to cope with Rashid. She had an interest in that research.

"Well...I'm afraid duty calls me. Thank you for the company, Calista. I'll see you on Friday night, them." Rashid stood up and bowed to Calista before leaving.

"See you on Friday, Rashid." Calista bowed back.

Calista decided to google the geneticist and his research at home. This was a chance to understand Ártemis' powers and if she was connected somehow to Larissa. Besides, there was the slight possibility that the donor was an outcast, which would raise questions.

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

Friday came, and Calista waited for Larissa to pick her up at home. At 06:00 p.m. sharp, Larissa called Calista.

L: Hello, my darling. I just arrived.

C: Hey, Riss. I'm coming.

Calista was wearing a suit set with high heels, less comfortable than she was used to but still manageable for a party night after working. Larissa, on the other hand, was wearing a silver dress, a coat, gloves, and heels. Calista was used to Larissa's glamour; she's always been like this. For Calista, it was a mystery how Larissa could be so well dressed for any occasion. Even when Larissa came to spend time with her at home, she wore fancy clothes.

"You are gorgeous, my love!" Calista pecked a kiss on Larissa's lips. She couldn't get enough of Larissa's magnificence.

"Thank you, my dear. You are beautiful, as always. The most beautiful, as your name says." Larissa blushed and kissed Calista's hand just before opening the car door for her.

They were talking about their week when Calista remembered she hadn't heard from Ártemis yet.

"Did you talk to Ártemis this week?" Calista asked Larissa, checking her phone—no messages from her daughter.

"I couldn't find time, honey, I'm sorry." Larissa eyesided Calista. "The first week of classes is busy. Have you not talked to her yet?"

"No. She didn't call or text me." Calista signed. "This makes me have dichotomous feelings. On the one hand, if she doesn't reach me, it is because she is having a great time. And I am thrilled. On the other hand, I miss her!" Calista pouted at that.

Larissa chuckled. "Your girl is growing up, darling." she grabbed Calista's hand and kissed lightly. "Don't worry, she is okay."

"I know. Ártemis has Gaia for sentimental reasons; she has you for the academic ones and has me for anything she wants." Calista listed. "If she didn't look for any of us, I'm sure she is good."

"I can assist her in anything she needs. Not only for academics." Larissa said gently.

"I know, babe." Calista heart was full of love now. "I don't know if she knows that. But I do."

"I'll make sure she does," Larissa told more to herself than to Calista.

"What about Gaia?" Calista was curious about her ex-wife's first week.

"Well... I must say that Gaia is a masterpiece for our faculty members." Larissa was beaming. "I had some feedback from students, and they loved her classes. I'll meet her tomorrow after lunch to congratulate her."

"Wow... This is outstanding news." Calista was truly happy for Gaia. "Nevermore was her life dream. She deserves to be successful."

"You two are good friends, aren't you?" There was no jealousy in Larissa's words.

"We are, indeed. Our relationship started with us being good friends. She was a good partner, and she is a good mother for Ártemis." Calista opened her heart to Larissa. "The fact that it didn't work out for us doesn't mean I want her badly. For romantic purposes, we don't match anymore. But she is a good friend."

Calista stared at Larissa after that speech, and the woman had a soft smile on her face.

"That is why I think she has to know about us first," Larissa said, keeping her eyes on the road.

"Are you not jealous?" That was not Calista's point, but she wanted to make sure her words didn't make Larissa feel uncomfortable.

"Not at all. Not from Gaia. I can see you are good friends. She is the mother of Ártemis, and she has her heart in place. I don't have any reason to feel jeopardized by her." Larissa was being sincere, and Calista could see it.

That mature attitude caught Calista's breath. Maybe twenty-two years apart was what they needed to spend the rest of their lives together. Calista couldn't conceive a life without Larissa anymore.

"We're here, darling." Larissa ripped Calista out of her thoughts.

"Let's show them your beautiful ass, then, my love," Calista smirked, making Larissa giggles and flush.

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

Calista and Larissa were having fun at the party. Calista introduced Larissa to her colleagues as her partner, making Larissa's eyes shine. At some point, they were standing up in front of their table, and Larissa was hugging Calista from behind and sipping her champagne. Calista was moving slightly at the sound of the music, rubbing her ass in Larissa's front. Suddenly, Calista felt a bulge in her back and froze.

"What is that?" Calista turned her head to Larissa without moving her body away from the woman.

"What can I say, honey? Being introduced as your partner and having you grind me awake something down here." Larissa lowered her voice but kept her look at the band, who was playing.

"Yeah...I can feel that awakening." Calista said, making Larissa giggle. "Oh...there comes my boss, Mr. Rashid Sharma. Behave yourself."

"Would you like me to..." Larissa started.

"Nope. Keep it awake. Just come closer." Calista smirked, pressing Larissa's front.

"Naughty girl," Larissa whispered and adjusted herself, putting more pressure on Calista's back.

Rashid approached the couple with a bright smile and was accompanied by a tall black man, unknown by Calista.

"Ms. Cos'Anto. Good evening. Nice to see you." Rashid gently kissed Calista's hand.

"Mr. Sharma. Good evening. I want to introduce you to my partner, Larissa Weems." At that, Calista felt the knot twitch in her back.

"Nice to meet you, Ms. Weems. I'm Rashid Sharma." Rashid kissed Larissa's hand as well.

"Likewise, Mr. Sharma," Larissa answered with a smile.

"Ladies, I shall introduce you both to Mr. Diallo Maina. He is a geneticist and will visit us for this next month." Rashid gave a meaningful look to Calista.

Calista and Larissa greeted the doctor, who answered softly and kindly.

"Ms. Weems, may I ask you, are you also an outcast?" Rashid was trying to start a conversation.

"I am, indeed, Mr. Sharma. I'm a shapeshifter." Larissa said openly. She knew from Calista that Rashid was a gorgon.

"Wow... You are rare!" Diallo intervened.

"Are you Ártemis' mother? Your daughter is also a shapeshifter, isn't she, Ms. Cos'Anto." And he had it. Rashid took the attention of the geneticist.

"Unfortunately, I'm not Ártemis mother. But yes, she is also a shapeshifter." Larissa anticipated.

"My ex-wife, Gaia, is Ártemis' other mother," Calista explained. "We used a sperm bank, and the donor was a declared normie."

"Is there any shapeshifter in your family?" Diallo was curious.

"No, there isn't, Mr. Maina," Calista answered, looking at the doctor. "I'm a telekinesis, and nobody in my family is a shapeshifter."

"How interesting," Diallo said, looking from Larissa to Calista. "Shapeshifters are rare, and you have two around you, Ms. Cos'Asanto: a daughter and a partner."

"Yeah... I'm a lucky woman." Calista answered, sipping her wine. The bulge became harder in her back.

"How long have you been together?" Diallo asked directly to Larissa at this time.

"Well... We have studied together at Nevermore Academy about 32 years ago. Back then, we were seeing each other, if you know what I mean." Larissa blushed at that. "After graduation, we followed different paths, and we reunited again less than a month ago."

"So, you didn't see each other for 32 years after graduation?" Diallo proceeded.

"School reunion," Calista said.

"Sorry?" Diallo was confused now.

"Ten years after graduation, we've been together at the school reunion," Calista explained.

"And...Have you..." Diallo cleaned her throat and lowered her voice. "Sleep together?"

At this point, Calista felt the bulge disappear, and Larissa tightened the grip on her hips. Calista didn't mention her suspicions about Ártemis' heritage to Larissa. Then, she pressed Larissa's thigh to ease the blonde.

"I'll talk to some investors and leave you here with this conversation." Rashid blushed and left in a hurry.

"I'm sorry if I made you both uncomfortable." Diallo looked ashamed.

"That was my fault, Mr. Maina. Allow me to explain." Calista retrieved her phone from her purse and showed a photo of Ártemis to him. "This is my daughter, Ártemis. Does she remind you of somebody?"

The doctor turned his attention to the phone and then raised her eyes to Larissa.

"Are you sure you are not the mother?" He asked Larissa.

"I would know if I had a child, doctor." Larissa was now offended. "Besides, I'm a woman. That is not even possible."

"Have you shifted?" Diallo asked. The question took Calista and Larissa by surprise. "Have you shifted back then, at the school reunion?"

"I...I....How do you know?" Larissa was embarrassed and looking for answers in Calista's eyes. They talk between whispers in the middle of the party.

"Let me explain more clearly to you, Ms. Weems." He began. "My research is about inherited outcast's powers. I study to comprehend how our powers are passed between lineages. To understand how an outcast is born with an ability different from her parents. You and the girl, Ártemis, are both shapeshifters. And it seems that the bond between you is Ms. Cos'Anto."

Larissa looked puzzled at Calista.

"That is the point, Mr. Maina." Calista was anxious to explain. "We've been together at the school reunion. Larissa...shifted." She blushed at this point. "But, Ártemis was born seven years later, and, well, Larissa is a woman. Even if... You know... She can shift." Calista stopped herself.

"That information makes everything more intriguing," Diallo said. Calista and Larissa looked at him, seeking answers. "This is not the place to discuss this further, but I shall give a small explanation before letting you enjoy the rest of the party."

At this, the three retreated to a quieter corner of the room.

"During my duties, I've seen women shapeshifters being able to get their partners pregnant. They can shift not only their genitals but also the gamete. I mean, from an egg cell to a sperm." He stopped at that, waiting for a response from the women. But Calista and Larissa were baffled.

He resumed the explanation. "That would require a large amount of energy and specific abilities from the shapeshifters, and only girls could born from this. Although the gamete can change, genes remain the same." He paused once more, and yet the other two were in deadly silence. "There is a considerable gap between the last sexual encounter between you two and the girl's birth. But, I dare say there is some connection between you, Ms. Weems, and your daughter, Ms. Cos'Anto."

"But I didn't know I was qualified for doing that. How could that be possible?" Larissa was beginning to understand what didn't make it easier.

"I don't know. But I must say I would like to investigate more. I shall say that the bond is nothing like parenthood because Ms. Cos'Anto didn't get pregnant that night. But I should risk saying that your genes, somehow, are in the girl." At this, he finished and waited for their reaction. Calista and Larissa just stared at each other. "I guess it is a lot of information to digest. I'll leave you both to discuss it with each other. I'll be here for next month, Ms. Cos'Asanto. You can reach me anytime. Have a nice party, Ladies." Diallo bowed and left.

Larissa leaned on the wall and pulled Calista towards her. They were facing each other now.

"How long have you been thinking about that, Lis?" Larissa was astonished by what she just heard.

"I've always thought Ártemis was different from my family." Calista raised her eyes to Larissa. "But since I saw you together, I wondered if you were related. Until now, I didn't have the background to support my hypothesis."

Larissa had her thoughts away, and her eyes wandered around the room.

"Are you mad? About me not sharing this with you?" Calista felt anxious.

"Mad? Not at all, my love. I was thinking about the possibility of having my genes in Ártemis." Larissa had her eyes wide open. "I know this does not make me her mother, but as if she was part of me."

"Maybe she is. Who knows?" Calista gave Larissa a soft smile and the hands around her neck. And, then, the bulge was back. "And what is this now?" she smirked.

"I don't know. The remote chance of getting you pregnant makes me want to practice it." Larissa grinned. "And I have a proposition for you."

"Oh yeah? Tell me what it is." Calista caressed Larissa's neck and gently rubbed the bulge with her lower core.

"What about me making a generous donation now, and then we leave for your apartment so you can help solve this tiny issue?" Larissa lowered her eyes and winked at Calista.

"I have a counterproposition, then." Calista bit her lips. "What about you making a generous donation now, and then we leave for a hotel room here in Burlington?"

"I like the way you think, Ms. Cos'Asanto." Larissa pulled Calista closer, and the bulge twitched. "Wait for me at the exit, my love." Suddenly, the node was gone, and Larissa pecked Calista's lips before she left.

Chapter 10 | Chapter 12

#wlw #f/f fanfic #larissa weems #larissa weems x ofc #lesbian #lesbian fic #original character #wedneday #ao3 fanfic #ao3 #calista cosanto #larissa weems x ofc #larissa weems fanfic #principal larissa weems #principal weems #today on tumblr #smut mention

27 notes · View notes

wobblewokgaming · 2 years ago

Text

Something for a certain AU.

I recently have gained some interest in a Pokemon AU known as "The Masked Vigilante AU", which was made by @shinyhappydigistar. They said that they planned on designing some villains for the story, but only had a solid idea for a character he named Pathos, so I thought it'd be fun to design some villains for this story, and see if they them.

First off, the aforementioned Pathos, who I have made a design for.

Pathos, according to @shinyhappydigistar, was a villain created (unintentionally) by Larry via the Indigo Disk, aka Terapagos, when he wished for a villain to validate his status as a "hero". Personality wise, he's very childish and somewhat whiny.

Now we enter some of the villains I made for the story. First up;

Dr. Generis, formerly known as Gerald Aaron, a Pokemon Geneticist/Mad Scientist who has an intense hatred for Chairwoman Geeta, who he was once friends with during his Academy years. Due to an accident, Gerald attained a volatile sense of hatred against Geeta, along with humanity as a whole. In order to get vengeance, Dr. Generis began to develop serums that infused Pokemon DNA into the bodies of humans, causing them to take horrific forms.

Next is;

Toxic Terror, one of Dr. Generis's experiments. He used a bullied Academy Student known as Harold Harlem, who was an expert on Poison Types. Due to this expertise, the Mad Doctor made a serum that had the DNA of a Muk, a Weezing, and a Ditto. The result was a horrendous, horribly smelling homonculi that was barely similar to that of a human, but could shift into a human form thanks to the Ditto DNA. After the experiment, Harold used his new powers to wreak havoc on the Naranja-Uva Academy, and was seen conversing with the two two faces on his shoulders as he did so. Luckily, Vigilante took him down and gave a thorough talking to the bullies.

Next is;

The Sugarbug, another one of Dr. Generis's experiments that was made up of varying insectoid Pokemon, along with the genes of a Flygon. It seems to have an abnormal vendetta against Geeta, an abnormal attraction to baked goods and acts abnormally calm when around the Exceptional Everyman, Larry.

Next;

Vulcan, formerly known as a well renowned Volcanologist Michael Simmer, a hotheaded Supervillain with a hair trigger temper. This pyromaniac can shoot beams of molten rock from the palms of his hands, which hardens instantly when it comes into contact with the air. Vigilante, with the help from the Water Gym Leader, Kofu, managed to stop him before he could burn down Porta Marinada.

Next;

Jordan "Breaker" Fernando, a former bare knuckle boxing champion, which was overshadowed by the existence of Pokemon and the abilities they had. Due to this, Jordan holds a seething hatred against Pokemon Battling, calling it a "fake sport for cowards" and viciously attacking/grievously injuring anyone who dared to challenge him. It had gotten so bad, that Vigilante had no choice but to intervene. Ever since he had lost to the masked hero, Jordan deemed him his only equal that he ever had, and vowed to get stronger just to beat him.

Last but not least;

Pharoah Phantomb, once known as an Explorer called Sebastian Collins. After his team knocked him out and sealed him in the depths of a pyramid he was exploring (after stealing as much treasure as they could from the tomb), Sebastian met a Cofagreigus that seemed to sense his rage about his betrayal. After many months, which resulted in their bond to one another to become rather great, Sebastian had grown malnourished and dehydrated, growing closer to death by the minute. Not wanting to see his only friend die, the Cofagreigus fused his essence with Sebastian, the two becoming one vengeful being. Luckily, Vigilante stopped him from killing his former colleagues, once he found out where he was going to do the deed.

Hey, @shinyhappydigistar, I hope you enjoy these concepts!

#Pokemon scarlet and violet #Gym Leader Larry #Masked Vigilante au

14 notes · View notes

swaps55 · 2 years ago

Text

A Strange Little Thought on the Similarity of Species

Hello! I love your headcanons, and it’s prompted me to finally stop lurking around tumblr and post something [It’s my first time interacting with tumblr in any meaningful capacity, so forgive if this isn’t how submit a post is supposed to work].

So I’ll start with a little HC (seasoned with a healthy amount of AU) that’s been sticking in my mind since I first dived into the games a couple of weeks ago, here presented as a conversation between several characters sometime in between the events of Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2.

For context: Daniel and Eleanor are human, Decusia is turian, and Tali, unsurprisingly, is quarian. As for what they’re doing on the Migrant Fleet together… well, that’s a mystery for the full fic to answer when I get around to writing it all down.

“Okay,” Daniel said as he took a seat on one of the bunks, a slight grin on his face, “if we’re quite done talking about how my human plumbing works…”

The grin disappeared. “I’ve actually been thinking for a little bit on something like that. After we ran into Sovereign on Virmire and after Ilos.”

“You were thinking about… reproductive systems?” Decusia asked as she scratched her head, uncovered as it was in their enviro-sealed bunk room.

“A little broader than that, Decusia.” Daniel said as he leaned forward. “Think with me for a second, and let’s get into that engineering headspace we did on the Normandy.”

“So,” he began, “think about the races that constitute the major powers in the galaxy. Asari, salarians, turians, humans, and even the quarians. For all our differences, when it comes down to many of the most important parts, we’re largely the same; bipedal, with two arms capped by dexterous manipulators consisting of at least 3 fingers, with a head on top of that body containing at least two eyes for binocular vision.”

“And it gets crazier than that the more fundamental you get. All our species’ DNA also somehow consists of the same nucleotides, and our amino acids are, with some slight exceptions that can be accounted for with modern medicine, largely the same as well. Not only that, but the construction of our physiologies is largely compatible, and with some effort and technology, a child between two species is theoretically probable. An insane leap from merely possible.”

“Of course,” Tali interjected, “the asari cheat the whole child problem by doing what they do with their whole union thing. And that always makes another asari."

She paused for a moment before shaking her head slightly. "But I assume there’s also some point you’re trying to get at here."

"Of course.” Daniel’s gaze swept around those gathered around him. “Before Virmire and Ilos, any biologist worth their table seasoning of choice would likely have written those facts off as the largest scientific fluke in the galaxy. If they didn’t, then they likely would have said that this sort of biological blueprint was just the most evolutionarily advantageous. Now though…”

He paused, the silence on the cusp of being uncomfortably long before he broke it. “Now I can’t help but wonder if the biological paradigm was set up by the Protheans… or the Reapers.”

“Wait a minute,” Decusia said incredulously. “You mean to say that we’re all… engineered to be like this? That someone’s been messing with our developments for tens of thousands of years, just to get… this?”

“Who else could operate on that sort of time-scale?” Eleanor replied, cupping her chin in thought. “The Reapers come around every 50,000 years to do the clean-up, leaving technology that allows life to develop in the way that they desire. And the Protheans are supposed to be master geneticists, if what Liara’s sent us from where she is on Illium is true. They ruled the galaxy for a good chunk of their 50,000 year cycle, enough time to get things kickstarted, at the very least. And there’s the thing that Vigil, that Prothean VI, said to her on Ilos before we had to go.”

“All things in the galaxy became Prothean.” Tali said, her eyes. “Became Prothean…”

“And who knows how literally we can take that statement.” Daniel mused. “So, regardless of who it might have been, if it is a case of species engineering on a galactic scale, the questions become…"

"Why?” Decusia asked.

“What for?” Tali added.

“And if it is the Reapers,” Eleanor said somewhat ominously, “how much does it matter in the first place?”

“Million-credit questions, one and all.” Daniel said quietly.

It was silent, a contemplative, somewhat sober thing, before Decusia reached for her helmet. “Well, now that I’ve got the entirety of my species’ existence to contemplate, Tali, is there anything that needs fixing we can work on?"

"Oh, plenty, I’m sure.” Tali replied. “I think that’s enough sitting around for now. Let’s get to work before my head explodes.

This amazing submission comes from @striderincosmos.

First, WELCOME TO TUMBLR! Great to have you here!

I LOVE this, and hope you continue poking at the idea!!!! Thank you for sharing it!!!

#submission #mass effect #mass effect meta #striderincosmos

16 notes · View notes

striderincosmos · 2 years ago

Text

A Strange Little Thought on the Similarity of Species

So, having fallen into that time pit that is the Mass Effect series, I’ll start with a little HC (seasoned with a healthy amount of AU) that’s been sticking in my mind since I first dived into the games a couple of weeks ago, here presented as a conversation between several characters sometime in between the events of Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2.

“Okay,” Daniel said as he took a seat on one of the bunks, a slight grin on his face, “if we’re quite done talking about how my human plumbing works…”

The grin disappeared. “I’ve actually been thinking for a little bit on something like that. After we ran into Sovereign on Virmire and after Ilos.”

“You were thinking about… reproductive systems?” Decusia asked as she scratched her head, uncovered as it was in their enviro-sealed bunk room.

“A little broader than that, Decusia.” Daniel said as he leaned forward. “Think with me for a second, and let’s get into that engineering headspace we did on the Normandy.”

“Of course,” Tali interjected, “the asari cheat the whole child problem by doing what they do with their whole union thing. And that always makes another asari."

She paused for a moment before shaking her head slightly. "But I assume there’s also some point you’re trying to get at here."

He paused, the silence on the cusp of being uncomfortably long before he broke it. “Now I can’t help but wonder if the biological paradigm was set up by the Protheans… or the Reapers.”

“All things in the galaxy became Prothean,” Tali said, her eyes going wide behind her mask. “Became Prothean…”

"Why?” Decusia asked.

“What for?” Tali added.

“And if it is the Reapers,” Eleanor said somewhat ominously, “how much does it matter in the first place?”

“Million-credit questions, one and all.” Daniel said quietly.

"Oh, plenty, I’m sure,” Tali replied. “I think that’s enough sitting around for now. Let’s get to work before my head explodes.

This text started life as a submission to #swaps55, and has been edited slightly here.

#mass effect #AU #headcanon

10 notes · View notes

msclaritea · 1 year ago

Text

Patrick Stewart Calls Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness Filming 'Frustrating and Disappointing' - IGN

Ryan Dinsdale

BY RYAN DINSDALE

UPDATED: JAN 4, 2024 9:50 AM

POSTED: JAN 4, 2024 9:42 AM

Professor X actor Patrick Stewart has called his experience filming for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness "frustrating and disappointing", though may still return to the character for the upcoming Deadpool 3.

Speaking on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Stewart was asked to confirm if he, like some other actors filming for the Marvel Cinematic Universe entry, were actually interacting with their colleagues or just playing the part solo.

"It was alone," Stewart said, shaking his head. "I think the big scene, each one of the leading actors had the same experience. They were shot on their own. It was a frustrating and disappointing but that's how it has been. The last few years have been challenging."

The "big scene" Stewart references saw Benedict Cumberbatch's Doctor Strange appeal to the Illuminati for help, which in this multiverse was made up from the likes of Stewart's Professor X, John Krasinski's Mr Fantastic, Lashana Lynch's Captain Marvel, Hayley Atwell's Captain Britain, and more. Each member of the Illuminati was then cut down by a savage Scarlet Witch, played by Elizabeth Olsen.

Despite the poor experience, Stewart admitted conversations were happening surrounding Deadpool 3, the upcoming Marvel entry starring Ryan Reynold's Deadpool, Hugh Jackman's Wolverine, and seemingly a lot more of the characters from the X-Men films.

Stewart was first asked if he knew how many times Professor X had died in his eight film appearances before laughing at the answer: four, meaning a 50% death rate. "I don't know [what that implies]," he laughed. "But I do now have every confidence that he's still around."

Deadpool himself wasn't around for the Mutant Massacre crossover, but it's a story that would make for good fodder for the next movie. In this story, the X-Men join forces with several other Marvel heroes to prevent Mister Sinister's mercenary squad the Marauders from slaughtering the sewer-dwelling Morlocks. It's a conflict that would pair well with Wade's habit of protecting mutant underdogs. Given how Deadpool 2 and X-Men: Apocalypse have both teased the arrival of Sinister, it's about time we see this twisted geneticist pop up somewhere in the X-Men cinematic universe.

The first storyline on Deadpool's relaunched 2012 comic started the series off on a bizarre note, as Wade had to deal with the reanimated corpses of America's past presidents, not to mention the pesky ghost of Benjamin Franklin. Somehow, the franchise just doesn't seem complete until we get to see Deadpool and Abraham Lincoln go head-to-head in the boxing ring.

When neither Cable nor Deadpool's comics were selling particularly well in the early 2000s, Marvel combined them together and instantly reinvigorated both characters. The opening storyline in Cable & Deadpool set a strong example for the series, pitting the two unlikely friends against one another over possession of a virus that can remake the physical appearance of anyone exposed to it. If Cable is going to stick around this franchise, there are far worse places to look for inspiration.

Deadpool 2 featured a tease for "M-Day," a disastrous event in Marvel's comics where Scarlet Witch all but wiped out the mutant race. Why not lean into that tease and give us a full-blown adaptation of House of M, the story that culminated in M-Day? The bulk of this story explores an alternate reality where Magneto and his family reign supreme. We'd like to see how Deadpool fares in a world like that. That's not to mention the long-term consequences House of M could have on the larger X-Men universe..."

BIG MISTAKE. HUGE, COS.

Why? Because I discovered months ago that the entire Star Trek franchise has been under the thumb of the Cult of Scientology for years. Not sure about the original, but for those who don't know, it had some very subtle Queering, so I'm pretty sure they wanted to fully queer Kirk and Spock in the reboots, but ended up just doing a side character. In addition:

David Birkin, having not one, but two appearances, playing Captain Picard as a child.

Bryan Singer, a known Pedo and serial assaulter, remaining attached to the X Men franchise for years (and they are linked)

Majority of the actors being British, where Scientology and it's Satanic roots come from

Ian McKellen joined in promoting the actress, Ellen Page, as Transgender

IGN, a COS partner, actively engaged in harassment of Benedict Cumberbatch, through negative articles and by repeatedly tweeting a short video, detailing one of the most traumatic events in his life (the kidnapping in Africa)

A character in Strange New Worlds (note, the piggybacking of his mcu character) La'an Noonien Singh, who it seems 'whined' about being bullied because of her 'infamous' last name. Pre-Programming. If they bullied the actor once, they did it a 100,000 times on social media, because of his name

One of the Strange New Worlds writers, also wrote the last project that Tom Holland did, which gave him so much trauma, he decided to take a year off, for which the Cult tried to threaten him using social media

His tormenters also used trolls to accuse the British actor, again repeatedly, of stealing a role, Khan, from BOTH East Indians and Mexicans. After years of this we finally realized that if anyone was guilty of that, it has been Richardo Montalban. He is European Spanish...white European. So, it was another lie

Picard also engaged in that new, strange, activist writing that Hollywood has been into, whereby they ruin an iconic, white male character

They even try AGAIN, to promote Elizabeth Olsen, in this article. Let me make it plain, so that there's no mistake about this, because our group IS privy to info, sometimes and so far, it's usually correct. Elizabeth Olsen wasn't just acting as a meme thirsty actress on DS2. She acted as a SPY for Disney competitors. Now, if any of the COS partners, like Universal or WB want a piece of that chick, they can go ahead.

And ALL THIS, I actually just kept to myself, specifically out of respect for SIR Patrick Stewart. I should know better and if Hollywood doesn't stop pushing these actors to do and say stupid shit in public, they won't have anyone left, worth having any respect for. Good God, he even uses the same narrative that Olsen used during DS2 promotions, where she complained about the Green Screen. What's so ironic is that for an actor to show they can stay in character and work, using a Green Screen is to show real skill in your craft. These two say they can't hack it.

Deeply disappointed in this man.

#BIG MISTAKE #CULT OF SCIENTOLOGY.#Sir Patrick Stewart #Jonathan Frakes #Levar Burton #Hugh Jackman #Ruan Reynolds #IGN THE COS MOUTHPIECE #Doctor Strange #Multiverse of Madness #Shari Redstone #Paramount the house of Scientology #Strange New Worlds #Christina Chong #La'an Noonien Singh #Khan #Ian McKellen #Bryan Singer

2 notes · View notes

slimeywooper · 1 year ago

Text

Labmas AU

Chapter One Part 1 - A Start

Maybe two weeks had passed since a portal, what you later found out was called an Ultra Wormhole, had opened up in your home. Terrified, you cautiously circled it, waiting for whatever may pop out. You certainly weren't going to jump in it yourself. That's when someone came from the other side. A person wearing a ridiculous get up, like some kind of medieval reject. They seemed nervous, but announced they were with Team Plasma and that they were looking to find out more about your world. You were getting ready to hit them with a frying pan when they suddenly sent out a Purrloin. A Purrloin! You've seen them before in a video game…. as crazy as that was to process. You lowered your improvised weapon and decided it would be best to at least listen to what this stranger had to say.

After a short conversation, you were guided through this portal with your new acquaintance to what appeared to be some kind of laboratory. Immediately upon entry, all the heads in the room turned to look at the two of you. A mass of lab coats, interspersed with a few chainmail sporting individuals crowded around you.

"The Ultra Wormhole we opened actually led somewhere! This is phenomenal!" One of the scientists exclaimed. Though you weren't positive he was a scientist, he certainly checked off the criteria of what a stereotypical scientist would wear.

"All right, all right, make some room. We don't want our guest to be overwhelmed. They must have many questions for us." Looking to your left, you saw the source of this new voice. A tall man with blond hair and spectacles. He was also wearing a lab coat, but it looked more formal, like a trench lab coat. As the other people dispersed, he drew closer.

Looking up at him, all you could initially think to ask was "Is that your real hair?"

He seemed taken aback, but smiled. "Of course."

"Even the blue lock?" You added, not sure if he really understood what you were asking.

"Yes. Every hair on my head is, in fact, mine." Smile not faltering from your strange questions, he motioned for you to follow alongside him. As the two of you were heading for the door, he looked over his shoulder, addressing the others. "Go ahead and send a few more grunts through the Ultra Wormhole. They should prioritize contacting government officials." With that, he faced forward once more.

Walking together, you exited the room and entered into a hallway with other doors leading to what you could only assume were rooms meant for different experiments. "Now that we're alone, let me properly introduce myself. I'm Colress, head of the science division of Team Plasma, and its leading geneticist."

You looked up at him awestricken. "Wow, I've never met anyone so smart before!" He beamed, a slight blush forming across his face. "I work in retail, so I usually only come across normal people… That's not to say you aren't normal! Just that---"

"I understand what you are trying to say." He interrupted. "I will take your statement as a great compliment. Thank you." Colress quickly shifted the conversation. "I must ask you if you know the reason you are here, and where 'here' is?" He ended the sentence with a slight tilt to his head.

"Um, well, the guy that appeared in my house said he was from Unova and that he and his team were trying to find other worlds so they can study them." You answered, trying to recall exactly what the young man had said.

"Very good! That is, for the most part, the goal of this excursion Team Plasma is taking part in. Though I'm not directly in charge of the subdivision responsible for the creation of the Ultra Wormholes, I oversee everything the science department of Team Plasma tinkers with, even if it is not in my area of expertise." He readjusted his glasses and excitedly added "I, myself, am much more interested in the pursuit of the perfect Pokemon. If we can manage to manipulate their genetic code so they can become even greater, we could open up a whole new world of possibilities. Not just for Team Plasma, but the entire planet!" He breathed heavily after his hyperactive barrage of words, but quickly composed himself with a single "ahem", moving a fist to cover his mouth.

#ingo #submas #submas au #labmas au #colress #subway boss emmet #hybrid au #subway boss ingo #nobori #kudari #emmet

4 notes · View notes

readingsquotes · 3 months ago

Text

The US National Institutes of Health describes scientific racism “an organised system of misusing science to promote false scientific beliefs in which dominant racial and ethnic groups are perceived as being superior”.

The ideology rests on the false belief that “races” are separate and distinct. “Racial purity is a fantasy concept,” said Dr Adam Rutherford, a lecturer in genetics at University College London. “It does not and has not and never will exist, but it is inherent to the scientific racism programme.”

Prof Alexander Gusev, a quantitative geneticist at Harvard University, said that “broadly speaking there is essentially no scientific evidence” for scientific racism’s core tenets.

The writer Angela Saini, author of a book on the return of race science, has described how it traces its roots to arguments originally used to defend colonialism and later Nazi eugenics, and today can often be deployed to “shore up” political views.

In multiple conversations, HDF’s organisers suggested their interests were also political. Frost appeared to express support for what he called “remigration”, which Ahrens had told him would be the AfD’s key policy should the party win power.

...

The principal benefactor

Andrew Conru founded his first internet business while studying mechanical engineering at Stanford. In 2007, he hit the jackpot, selling his dating website Adult FriendFinder to the pornography company Penthouse for $500m.

In recent years, the entrepreneur has turned his attention to giving away his money, declaring on his personal website: “My ultimate goal is not to accumulate wealth or accolades, but to leave a lasting, positive impact on the world.”

His foundation has given millions to a wide and sometimes contrasting range of causes, including a Seattle dramatic society, a climate thinktank and a pet rehoming facility, as well as less progressive recipients: an anti-immigration group called the Center for Immigration Studies, and Turning Point USA, which runs a watchlist of university professors it claims advance leftist propaganda.

#eugenics #tech libertarianism #tech bros #substack nazis #settler racism #colonialism #race 'science'

0 notes

a-room-of-my-own · 3 years ago

Text

A while before the latest hoo-ha about Judith Butler, I had just been reading her again. Though she claims her critics have not read her, this simply isn’t the case. I read Gender Trouble when it first came out and it was important at the time . That time was long,long ago. She was just one of the many ‘post-structuralist’ thinkers I was into. I would trip off to see Luce Irigaray or Derrida whenever they appeared.

I got an interview with Baudrillard and tried to sell it to The Guardian but they didn’t know who he was so its fair to say I was fairly immersed in that world of theory. For a while, I had a part time lecturing job so I had to keep on top of it. Though Butler’s idea of gender as performance was not new , it was interesting. RuPaul said it so much more clearly in a quote nicked from someone else “Honey ,we are born naked, the rest is drag”

What I was looking for again , I guess is not any clarity – her writing is famously and deliberately difficult- but whether there was ever any sense of the material body. She wrote herself in 2004 “I confess however I am not a very good materialist. Every time I try to write about the body, the writing ends up being about language” .

Butler from on high ,cannot really think about the body at all which is why they (Butler’s chosen pronoun) are now the high priestess of a particular kind of trans ideology. The men who worship Butler are not versed in high theory. The fox botherer had a “brain swoon” at some very ordinary things Butler said. Mr Right Side of history nodded along in an interview. Clearly neither of these men are versed in any of this philosophy and would be better off sticking to tax law and the decline of the Labour Party. Butler is simply a totem for them.

Butler said in the Guardian interview for instance “Gender is an assignment that does not just happen once: it is ongoing. We are assigned a sex at birth and then a slew of expectations follow which continue to “assign” gender to us.”

So yeah? That’s a fairly basic view of the social construction of gender though I take issue with the assigned at birth thing ,which I will come back to and why I started reading her again in the first place.

This phrase “Assigned sex at birth” is now common parlance but simply does not make sense to me. I am living with someone who is pregnant. I have given birth three times and been a birthing partner. I know where babies come from. There is a deep disconnect here between language and reality which no amount of academic jargon can obliterate.

Babies come from bodies. Not any bodies but bodies that have a uterus. They grew inside a woman’s body until they get pushed out or dragged out into the world.

The facts of life that we are now to be liberated from in the form of denial. Only one sex can have babies but we must now somehow not say that. The pregnant “people” of Texas will now be forced into giving birth to children they don’t want because they are simply “host bodies”. The language of patriarchal supremacy and that of some of the trans ideologues is remarkably close, as is their biological ignorance.

There is no foetal heatbeat at six weeks for instance. When a baby is born , doctors and midwives do not randomly assign a sex, they observe it and they do it though genitalia.

There is a question over a tiny percentage of babies ,less that one percent with DSDs but even then they are sexed with doctors having difficult conversations with parents about what may happen later.

Somehow, though when I read the way in which this is now all discussed it is clear to me that the people talking have never been pregnant, never had a foetal scan, never been near a birth , never miscarried, do not understand that even with a still birth babies are still sexed and often named.

If you want to know the sex of your baby you can pay privately and know at 7 weeks ((*49-56 days from the first day of the mother’s last menstrual cycle). A 12 week scan will show it. That is why so many female foetuses are aborted . I have reported on this.

Talking to paediatricians about this is interesting because they do indeed have to think through these things that we are being told are not real eg. that sex is just a by-product of colonialism for instance. Sometimes pre-conception , geneticists will be looking at chromosomes because certain diseases are more likely in men or women. Males have a higher risk of haemophilia for instance.

One doctor told me “When babies are premature, the survival advantage of females over males is well known throughout neonatology. This is sometimes something we talk about with parents when there is threatened premature labour around 23 weeks' gestation and options to discuss about resuscitation and medical interventions. In fertility treatment (or counselling around fertility in the context of medical treatments) it is pretty inherent to know whether we need to plan around sperm, or ova + pregnancy.”

She also said that if she involved in a birth that “assigning” isn’t the word she world use. “Observed genitals a highly reliable observation, just like measuring weight or head circumference which is also done at this time. “ Another doctor said that anyone involved with a trans man giving birth would be doing the best for the patient in front of them.

Sex then is biological fact. A female baby will have all the eggs she will ever have when she is first born which is kind of amazing. It is not bio-essentialist to say that our sexed bodies are different nor is it transphobic to recognise it.

Except of course in my old newspaper ,The Guardian who are now so hamstrung by their own ideology they have got their knickers in such a twist they can barely walk. They completely misreported the WiSpa incident , basically ignored the Sonia Appleby judgement at the Tavistock. Appleby was a whistle blower ,a respected professional concerned with safe guarding. She won her case. The cherry on the cake this week was an interview with Butler, themselves (?) in which they went on about Terfs being fascists and needing to extend the category of women.

Does anyone EVER stop to think that most gender critical women are of the left, supporters of gay rights, often lesbian and that this is not America? We are not in bed with the far right. This is bollocks. Just another way to dismiss us.

As we watch Afghanistan and Texas ,to say Butler’s words were tone deaf is to say the least. But they didn’t even have the guts to keep the most offensive stuff in the piece and overnight edited it out without really explaining why : the bits where Butler described gender critical people as fascist. Perhaps because the person their “reporters” had defended against transphobia at WiSpa turned out to be a known sex offender, perhaps because someone pointed out that Butler was throwing around the word fascist rather like Rik Mayall used to do in the Young Ones.

All of this is rather desperate and readers deserve better. When I left that newspaper I said that I thought and expected editors to stand up for their writers in public. Instead they go into some catatonic paralysis. I may have not liked this interview but it should never have been cut. Stand by what you publish or your credibility is shot.

But this is about more than Judith Butler and their refusal to support women . Butler is not really any kind of feminist at all. What this is about is the large edifice of trans ideology crumbling when any real analysis is applied. Yes, I have read Shon Faye’s book and there are some interesting points in it and I totally agree that the lives of trans people should be easier and health care better . I have never said anything but that.

What Faye does in the book is say that there can be no trans liberation under capitalism so there will be a bit of a wait I suspect.

Yet surely it is the other way round and what we are seeing is that trans ideology (not trans people – I am making a distinction here ) represent the apex of capitalism .

For it means that the individual decides their own gendered essence and then spends a fortune on surgery and a lifetime on medication to achieve the appearance of it. Of course lots of people spend a lifetime on medication but not out of choice. Marx understood very well that the abolition of our system of production would free up women.

Now it is all about freeing up men. Who say they are women. Quelle surprise.

Nussbaum’s famous take down of Butler is premised exactly on the sense of individual versus collective struggle “ The great tragedy in the new feminist theory in America is the loss of a sense of public commitment. In this sense, Butler’s self-involved feminism is extremely American, and it is not surprising that it has caught on here, where successful middle-class people prefer to focus on cultivating the self rather than thinking in a way that helps the material condition of others. “

Such thinking now dominates academia. There is simply an unquestioning rehearsal of something most of know not to be true thus Amia Srinivasan writes in The Right to Sex “At birth, bodies are sorted as ‘male’ or ‘female’, though many bodies must be mutilated to fit one category or the other, and many bodies will later protest against the decision that was made. This originary division determines what social purpose a body will be assigned.”

What does ‘sorted’ mean here? A tiny number of intersex babies are born. A tiny number of people are trans and decide to change their bodies. The feminist demand to challenge gender norms without mutilating any one’s body no longer matters. What matters now is this retrograde return to some gendered soul. This is not something any decent Marxist would have any truck with . Of course one may change over a lifetime and of course gender is never ‘settled.’ We are complex people who inhabit bodies that often don’t work or appear as we want them to.

But not only is there a denial of basic Marxism going on here , what becomes ever more apparent is that there is a denial of motherhood. Butler said “Yet gender is also what is made along the way – we can take over the power of assignment, make it into self-assignment, which can include sex reassignment at a legal and medical level.”

Self-assignment is key . One may birth oneself. No longer of woman born but self -made. This is a theoretical leap but it also one that has profound implications for women as a sex class. We are really then, just the host bodies to a new breed of people who self-assign.

Maybe that is the future although look around the word and there isn’t a lot of self-assignment going on. There are simply women shot and beaten in the street, choked to death or having their rights taken away. There is no identifying out of this , there is no fluidity here . This is not discourse. It is brutality and do we not have some responsibility to other women to confront male violence ?

Instead the hatred is aided and abetted by so called philosophers describing other women as Terfs. It is utterly depressing.

The sexed body. The pregnant body. The dying body. The body is in trouble when we can’t talk about it . I thought of Margaret Mary O’Hara’s beautiful and strange lyrics and what they might mean. I await my child’s return from the hospital as hers is a difficult pregnancy and thank god they are on the case. The sex of the child she carries does not matter to me at all .

It simply exists. Not in language but within a body.

Why is that so difficult to acknowledge?

#gender critical #feminism #transgender #judith butler #suzanne moore

100 notes · View notes

hercleverboy · 4 years ago

Text

the comfort of rain

spencer reid x reader

summary ↠ spencer reid is her soulmate, isn’t he?

category ↠ angst

warnings/includes ↠ heartbreak, unrequited love

word count ↠ 1.6k

“Do not bother holding on to that thing that does not want you. You cannot make it stay.” — Rupi Kaur

Spencer Reid was her soulmate.

She was sure of it. The pair had been inseparable since she’d started working with the BAU four years prior, practically joined at the hip, never one without the other.

He’d never fail to bring her breakfast on days filled with paperwork, when he knew she’d barely slept and craved nothing more than a banana muffin from the bakery down the road. He simply placed it on her desk with a warm smile, receiving a thankful one from her in return.

Such a small gesture, but it meant the world to her.

He would press little kisses to the crown of her head after they arrested an unsub, a small act of thankfulness that she was ultimately unharmed. An appreciation that she was okay, safe.

For all intents and purposes, they were only best friends. Though she’d been helplessly in love with him for years, and she had an inkling he felt the same. She didn’t want to make assumptions, but then again she was the only person he ever really got up close and personal with. Sure, he’d hug the other team members too occasionally, but she didn’t see him holding Emily or JJ’s hands on the jet home after a case that ended badly. He didn’t give them countless book recommendations, or spend his evenings watching TV shows that she was in love with just so they’d have something else to talk about.

He always offered her his coat when it was cold, or when the rain began to fall heavily and she was only in her shirt and jeans (despite how he’d commented, as he looked up at the sky, that it was likely going to rain based on the colour of the clouds. She never listened to him.)

One of his most treasured memories is the time they were hanging out at his place on a rare Saturday that they didn’t have to go into work for a case. They were watching some eight-part crime series on Netflix that she’d finally convinced him to watch with her, after her complaining about needing someone to talk about it with. The loud clap of thunder cracked through the sky, making her jump up from his couch in excitement, looking out the window as rain began to fall heavily from the grey clouds above. She looked out silently as the rain pattered, watching how people on the street below rushed to find shelter from the unexpected downpour.

Spencer frowned, coming to stand behind her.

“I love the rain.” She commented, noting his presence behind her.

His frown deepened. “Why? It’s cold and wet and- gross.”

She chuckled quietly at his comment. “You’re not wrong there, but I meant more that I love watching the rain. I like the way it sounds. The way it smells. It reminds me that I’m alive. It’s comforting.”

It was quiet for a little, the sound of the rain pinging harshly against the window.

“Pluviophile.”

She turned back to him, speaking softly. “What?”

“Pluviophile. It refers to a person who loves the sound of the rain. They often find a sense of joy or peace of mind during rainy days.”

She bit her lip to stifle her smile and turned back to the window, giving him a simple nod in return. She was always somehow surprised by his never-ending plethora of knowledge.

They stood and watched the downpour together in a comfortable silence.

Spencer supposed the rain wasn’t so bad, after that.

In the recent weeks, she found herself wanting so badly to confess her feelings, but as every friends to lovers story goes- she feared rejection. She feared him leaving. And she’d certainly rather love him from afar than confess her feelings and risk losing him.

He’d managed to embed himself so deeply in her heart that she was sure there could never be anyone else for her.

She was mesmerised by him. Compelled by every word that left his mouth, enthralled by all his random knowledge and infinite number of stories he’d committed to his memory. When they sat on his couch watching Doctor Who, she’d gladly listen to any time travel related ranting he wanted to get off of his chest, without any interruptions or eye rolls. (She could listen to him talk forever.)

She’d often fall asleep on his shoulder, and he’d smile down gently at his best friend, a woman he cared so deeply for.

She stuck by him throughout everything, and she never sugar-coated things. If she thought he was being petty or overreacting slightly in a situation she was the first to bring it up, to call him out. And he’d listen, too, because he trusted her more than anyone and it’s likely she was right about it. She took care of him, in a way that no one ever had before. It was unspoken between them that they’d essentially die for one another, two souls destined to be one another’s everything.

When he confided in her one night that he was afraid that he should’ve amounted to more, she was quick to soothe his worries. She held him as he sniffled into her shoulder, with hushed reassurances that he was already doing incredible things, and that his work was making the world a safer place, one case at a time.

She was particularly close to JJ, the woman who had become like a sister to her. She told JJ of her feelings for Spencer, and the blonde had just smiled at her in response, as if it had been obvious.

“You should go for it.”

“Really? You think so?”

“Think so? I know so. We’ve all seen the way he looks at you. You mean everything to him.”

That conversation was the final push she needed to decide that it was time to come clean about her feelings.

With the nervous pit in her stomach being overwhelmed by the excitement she felt, she tried to clear her thoughts. She could only hope this went well. She was meant to meet Spencer at his place for the evening, and so knocked gently on the door when she arrived, taking deep breaths to prepare herself.

The door swung open, Spencer flashing her a smile when he saw her. “Hey! I’m glad you’re here, I have something to tell you.”

She grinned, making her way past him into the apartment. “Oh god, what did you do this time? Did you misplace your phone again?” She joked, sliding off her jacket.

Spencer shook his head, biting his lip to supress his smile.

“Okay. Then what is it?”

He smiled then, and it was a smile she’d hadn’t seen him wear before. One that was so much bigger than the rest, one that reached his eyes and made them glimmer with hope and glee.

“I- um. I met someone.”

and just like that, her face dropped.

“Her name is Maeve, she’s a Geneticist. We’ve been talking over the phone for about a month now. I know what you’re going to say, and I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before. I just wanted to see if it was going to go anywhere-“

Her ears stopped tuning in to what he was saying. She could only hear the pounding of her heart filling her ears, tears burning her eyes as she tried her best to keep them at bay. That’s the smile he’d had, the one she couldn’t quite place at first. She recognised it now. The realisation hit her like a train.

Lovesick.

Spencer had stopped talking, looking at her with concern. “Are you okay?”

She snapped her head up to meet his eyes.

No, I’m not okay. I’m in love with you.

Is what she wanted to say.

Instead-

“Sorry, Spencer. I think I’m gonna have to take a rain check tonight. I’m feeling a little sick, so I think I’m just going to head home.”

“Oh, are you sure? You can always stick around here for a bit, I could take care of you. You know, technically I am a doctor.” He grinned, attempting a joke.

She didn’t laugh, but gave him her best fake smile, one she could only hope he didn’t read too much into. She hoped he couldn’t see the tell-tale profiler signs of devastation on her features that she was so desperately trying to hide.

If he did notice, he said nothing about it.

She shook her head. It was taking everything in her to hold herself together, but she’d be damned if she ruined his happiness because of her own pitiful feelings.

She remembered the smile, his beautiful, lovesick smile. It was for Maeve, not her. It made her heart ache in a way that felt like it was trying to claw its way out of her chest.

“It’s okay. I’ll uh- I’ll text you later.” She mumbled, grabbing her coat before leaving the apartment, leaving a confused Spencer behind.

However, all was forgotten when his phone started buzzing, Maeve’s name flashing across the screen. He smiled.

Outside in the car park, she sat in her car as the thunder cracked above her, the treacherous rain coming down in harsh hits against her windshield.

She found herself grateful for the rain in that moment, as the dam holding her emotions back broke, tears flooding down her cold, pink-tinted cheeks.

She placed her head in her hands and began to sob, her uneven breaths and heartbroken cries being slightly muffled by the patters of the rain hitting the gravel outside.

She felt comforted by the sound.

It was as though the sky was crying with her.

Yes, Spencer Reid was her soulmate.

But she just wasn’t his.

Tag list - @beyonces-breastmilk @pinkdiamond1016 @itsmyblogandillreblogifiwantto @thelovelyrose @averyhotchner @cynbx

#idk what this is #plot who?#i don’t know her #spencer reid #spencer reid one shot #spencer reid x reader #matthew gray gubler x reader #matthew gray gubler #mgg x reader #mgg #criminal minds #spencer reid angst

502 notes · View notes

usermoreid · 4 years ago

Note

what would the unsub maeve story line be like? talk about it!

god im so happy you asked me this. it got so long so it's under a cut but im akfhdh i love unsub maeve arc

okay so she reaches out to spencer because she's been looking for a way to get to the team for a while now, and spencer posting to forums about his migraines was the perfect opportunity. she starts slow - introduces herself as a geneticist, asks to see the brain scans. spencer's so desperate for help he doesn't even ask for credentials, he just sends them to her. what's the worst that can happen, right??

she says she has some ideas, but she needs to talk to him; she needs to get a feel for what sort of lifestyle he's living so that she can figure out the best way to work with it. spencer's immediately overjoyed - someone has an idea of how to help him?? wonderful!! exactly what he needed!! so they start writing letters. she asks about any trauma he's been through in the past. he thinks it's to see if there could be any psychological or physical underlying issues. it's actually so that she can use it against him if need be.

talking about these things just feels so good to him - he's never been able to be so open with someone. but it's for medical purposes, he reasons, meaning that it's not like he's actually talking about it. and then they start talking on the phone. she suggests some vitamins - things she knows won't actually help him with his migraines but also won't hurt. during these phone calls, he pretty much starts using her as a therapist of sorts. and then he learns that she really is incredibly smart and wow she's so funny and oh my god she let's him ramble on and on to his heart's content and oh she's literally perfect.

his headaches become a little less severe. he pins it on the vitamins and the changes in diet and the exercises that she has him doing. he's not necessarily wrong, it is making him healthier. but it's actually due to the decrease in stress. he's not bottling up his emotions anymore. it took a little bit of time but he reaches a point where if he has a difficult case, he picks up the phone and calls maeve, whose credentials he still never asked for because why would he ask for proof when he's literally evidence of her capability himself??

this goes on for a while. spencer partially does actually develop feelings for her, but he mostly just starts associating the lack of pain with her, along with the relief that comes with it. he doesn't realise. she does. it's going exactly to plan.

she tells him about her stalker; says that he's the reason they can't meet; says that it's far too dangerous to get spencer's team involved because i don't want to hurt you and spencer believes it all. why wouldn't he?? he certainly has no reason to believe that they actually can't meet because her plan isn't ready yet, or that the team can't get involved because they'll see beyond the veil that spencer's insecurities have casted and immediately spot the red flags. no, she has no reason to lie to him, why would he ever doubt her?? he loves her, she helps him. and she loves him too, she said so herself. she wouldn't lie to him.

and then one day she gets kidnapped. there's a voice saying zugzwang and she can't answer the phone and oh my god he's going to have to tell the team. so he does. he musters up all the courage he doesn't have and stumbles marches his way into hotch's office, trying to project an air of confidence that's greatly diminished by the overwhelming anxiety coming off of him in waves and he tells his boss everything, from their first meeting to their last conversation.

hotch is skeptical, spencer can tell, but they go through with it anyway. they treat it like a regular case. they think it's the ex-fiance and oh god why didn't she say she was engaged and then they think it's the guy's new girlfriend and they've found where they are, they've figured it out let's go get her!!

and when he gets there he's told to blindfold himself and he does and then he's strapped to a chair and he needs to see her and he finally does and—

i told you we were going to make blindfolds fun again, he hears.

she's standing alone. two bodies in the back - bobby and diane. she had to kill them. bobby was going to expose who she really is and why she really had to disappear from her academic circles and maeve couldn't have people finding out that she was forced to leave after stalking someone to the point of almost getting a restraining order, not after she fought so hard to keep it quiet. and diane - ugh, diane - who stole her boyfriend and wore her clothes without even knowing they were hers. they both had to go.

he stares in shock. he doesn't understand. he came here to save her why is she free why is she stood in front of two dead bodies why is he strapped down to a chair what's happening??

she tells him. she tells him that the bau ruined her life. she tells him that they killed her parents - her real parents, the ones that weren't related to her by blood but through love, the ones who took her in when she was a child who ran away from home. they were serial killers, sure, but they loved her and she loved them. but then the bau came along and ruined their big finale. they didn't get the chance to blow up the people they were meant to, so they blew themselves up. suicide, it technically was. maeve calls it murder. the bau murdered them.

she takes spencer's gun from his hip and fires a shot into the wall, knowing that the team would come running. spencer can't tell them not to, they wouldn't hear him in time. they pile in, seeing maeve holding a detonator in one hand and the gun in the other and they realise, only moments after spencer, that she's rigged the place to blow.

she makes them all put their weapons down and throw them over, as she holds the gun to spencer's head. once the weapons have been dealt with, she throws the one she's holding over with the others and waves the detonator higher, making sure everyone can see it. she tells them that her cells have been dying ever since she returned to her birth parents, never having told them where she was for months and they didn't care enough to ask, because that was the moment she decided she was going to kill herself. she said it happened to her parents too - spontaneous cell death, she called it.

then derek lunges forward. it has such a small chance of working, but it's either this or they all blow up. either way, there's a strong chance they won't make it out. may as well give anything a shot.

he gets the detonator out of her hand by some miraculous luck but before anybody has time to celebrate, she grabs a gun out of the pile and points it to her own head whilst derek's is next to it. if the bullet gets shot, it would kill them both.

it doesn't get shot. spencer's gun does. the one he hides in his ankle holster. the one he grabbed as hotch untied him during the chaos. the one he never told her about because it was such a subconscious act that he never even thought to mention it. he's grateful that he didn't, but not until later. no, right then he doesn't feel anything as his bullet rips through the skull of the woman he loves. or as the gun clatters noisily yet silently to the floor. or as his knees give in and he falls down, staring at the blood pooling from the face he'd never seen in person. she was as beautiful as he had thought. the most beautiful girl in the world. and he had killed her.

#this got SO long #but jesus christ i love it so much i really love unsub maeve #finn answers #taiposting #tw suicide #unsub maeve

107 notes · View notes

dreamingaboutreid · 3 years ago

Text

Hospital Bed Confessions: Chapter 6

*Continuation*

It had been 2 months since you had joined. It was just you and Spencer in the office late at night, which seemed quite normal for the both of you.

Spencer had grown to appreciate that he was never the last to leave or the first to come in.

In fact, you would arrive earlier than he did. He was always curious to what time you really came in, or if you were pulling an all-nighter every day. He would always see you in your office when he came in, and by the time he had gotten his coffee and came back to his seat, you would be back at your desk right in front of him.

You had insisted that you worked alongside the team out in the pit. You explained that you liked the vibrancy in the pit and felt isolated in the office. He noted that you only went in there to look for cases or when everyone left the office and you stayed back. You soon took the once empty desk that had been luckily placed in front of his desk.

Whenever he stayed late, there was a sense of calm in him knowing that you would be right there, with your lights on and your intense scribbling. Sometimes, he would stay late just to read another book or play a game of chess. And whenever he did, he knew you would ask about what he was reading and bring in the same book the next week to read or join him in a few rounds of speed chess.

Today was a particularly long day after an intense case. Everyone left early, eager to take a shower and reunite with their families or with their beds. But like always, you stayed late to get a head start on other cases. Even Spencer was tired and ready to go home. Despite wanting to stay longer and finish his book, he started to pack up.

“Do you want a ride home?” You said while still looking at a file.

He looked up quickly, quite surprised that you noticed and by the sudden question.

“Oh, I don’t want to impose,” he replied even though he finally had an excuse to spend a bit more time with you.

“It’s no trouble. I was going to head home now anyways,” you said as you stood up to pack as well.

“Besides, I don’t think I’d be able to sleep if I didn’t know you got home safely. It’s a bit dangerous to ride the metro this time of night,” you said.

He smiled, appreciating that you were not only considerate but was worried about him.

“If it’ll make you sleep better than I suppose I’ll take you up on it. Thanks,” he said as you both put on your bags and headed out the door together.

The car ride was comfortable as you and Spencer talked about your favorite bookstores in the area. It didn’t take too long after you joined the team for Spencer to realize that it was always comfortable with you.

“Capitol Hill Books has a better selection, but Solid State definitely has a better atmosphere,” you said.

Spencer nodded in agreement and couldn’t hide his grin.

“Have you ever been to Bridge Street? They’re very selective with the books they sell, and they have a great array of poetry authors too,” he replied.

“No, I’ve never been but I’ll definitely check it out now,” you said.

“I can take you sometime,” he said with a lot more confidence than he thought he could manage.

“I’d like that,” you replied fondly, and Spencer couldn’t help but feel a slight jolt in his stomach. A feeling he hadn’t felt in a long time but was starting to feel familiar with whenever he was around you.

This feeling quickly faded when he caught a glimpse of a picture hanging in a small circle frame on the rearview mirror. It was of you and a man, cheek to cheek, displaying wide smiles.

He didn’t know why the picture caught his attention now. He had been in the car for 15 minutes, but he was so engrossed in the conversation that his acute observational skills were momentarily hampered while he was talking to you.

You seemed catch his eyes staring at the dangling picture.

“His name is Terry,” you said, somehow telepathically answering the question he had asked in his head.

He simply nodded at this new information, not sure how to ask if Terry was your boyfriend.

“He’s not my boyfriend. Or at least, he’s not my boyfriend anymore,” you replied, again reading his mind.

He wasn’t exactly satisfied with the answer. He shouldn’t have been surprised that you have, or had, a boyfriend. You were beautifully smart and physically beautiful. Even without his 187 IQ, he’d know that any guy would be lucky to have you has their girlfriend.

“He was my first boyfriend. We met in high school and were together until our second year in college,” you said.

“Why did you guys break up?” he asked, questioning why his picture was still in your car despite not being together anymore.

“Well, we went to different colleges, so we were long-distance for a while. One day during winter break, he was coming back home to meet me. On his way there, he was hit by a drunk driver and his car skid across ice on the road. He passed away on impact,” you said quietly.

“There’s always a part of me that feels guilty thinking that he died because of me. If only he wasn’t visiting me that day or we decided to meet another time, maybe he wouldn’t have been in the accident. Anyways, I never got around to taking the picture down, and it’s kind of become a reminder that keeps him in my memories and to always stay safe behind the wheels,” you finished.

No matter how fast his brain was moving,

“Oh,” was all he could answer.

Your sudden revelation caught him by surprise. Not by your past, but how much alike you two were.

You had talked to Spencer quite a lot over the past 2 months, but you had never disclosed much about yourself.

Sure, he knew how you took your coffee or what your favorite book genre was, but you seemed to veer away from topics talking about your time in high school or college or the military. He had always just assumed that you were like him, where you felt out of place growing up and finally found your spot in the FBI.

But, at that moment, he realized exactly how much you were alike to him. You had both lost someone you loved.

Not wanting you to feel exposed after sharing something so private and also feeling safe to share his own personal story, he finally said,

“Me too.”

You looked, for a quick second, at him as if to encourage him to continue talking.

“I mean, I didn’t lose a boyfriend. I lost my girlfriend. Her name was Maeve,” he said.

And he told you everything, not forgetting any details. How he first met her as a geneticist. How they had weekly calls on the pay phone. How he felt to almost meeting her for the first time and then actually meeting her to only lose her on the same day. How he dealt with her death and how he’s been handling it ever since.

It was the first time where he could get everything off his chest and didn’t feel guilty about it.

By the time he had finished his story, you had already parked in front of his apartment building.

“Thanks for listening to all of that,” Spencer said.

“Thanks for telling me. And thanks for listening to me too,” you said.

There was a feeling of consolation and intimacy he couldn’t quite describe into words.

“Does it ever get easier?” he asked.

“ ‘What we have once enjoyed we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us’,” you quoted.

Like always, it seemed like you knew exactly what to say.

“Helen Keller,” Spencer replied softly.

In that moment, he didn’t know what came over him, but it only felt right to lean over and give you a hug. You quickly reciprocated his embrace and tightened your arms around him.

After the affectionate gesture, he collected his bag and stepped out of the car.

You gave a smile and wave as you rode away from his apartment building.

He walked into his home, feeling a bit lighter and a bit brighter. As if your radiance rubbed off on him.

#spencer reid #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid x y/n #spencer reid angst #spencer reid fluff #criminal minds

44 notes · View notes

bioshock4k · 3 years ago

Note

i genuinely have no idea what bioshock iz about so if u want to explain im all ears 👂

umm ok so!!! ignore how bad this formatting is going to be and how all over the place it will also probably be . im bad at keeping those coherent

so first game first, bioshock! the game opens in an airplane with the player character saying 'son, you were born to do great things. and you know what? they were right.' (important later i prommy) the plane then crashes in the mid atlantic ocean and you, jack, are the only survivor. after resurfacing you find a lighthouse (for some reason) and swim to it. inside this lighthouse is a bathysphere that takes you down to rapture, an undersea (attempted) utopia. on the way down you see some fish (gif of said fish below) and overhear a conversation between atlas and johnny. johnny dies as soon as the bathysphere docks (is that the word????? idk), but atlas speaks to you over the shortwave radio that is kept inside of the bathysphere, and helps you out of a few sticky situations

i thought i had more than just that gif saved. oh well

okay um anyway. at first your main objective is to help atlas and his family escape rapture (i dont think he ever said he'd take you with him? which could have been foreshadowing actually). his family is trapped in the bathysphere in the smuggler's hideout in neptune's bounty, unfortunately when you do finally end up reaching the bathysphere it explodes, assumedly on andrew ryans command. sorry for not introducing him sooner. um he himself is introduced in the tutorial level hes the 'king' of rapture, he founded it and everything. very important character . moving on

after atlas's family is murdered yor objective changes. your goal is now to reach hephaestus and kill ryan. it takes a good bit to get there, but when you finally do, you learn that jack wynand is not only andrew ryan's son (i can elaborate on this later if u want, im skipping over like. a lot. im just going on major plot points here), but he is also not a free man. his entire journey here has been lead by atlas, and every time atlas requested something of you, it was always headed or followed by the phrase 'would you kindly', which is a trigger phase for jack. obv any request with that phrase he much obey yada yada u know the trope or w/e. jack is actually a 4y/o mess of genetic experiments and mind fuckery. after killing ryan and using his genetic key to stop the self-destruct on rapture that ryan put in place, you learn yhat atlas is actually frank fontaine who is. another character i forgot to introduce. hes supposed to have been dead for like 2 years at this point. anyway hes the big bad and ur objective changes yet again ^_^ now ur goal is to kill fontaine and escape rapture

after being knocked out by a fall, you wake up in tenenbaums safehouse. tenenbaum is yet anoyher character that i forgot to introduce yippie ^_^ shes um a geneticist who helped in the creation of jack and the little sisters youve heard me ramble abt them . ill explain more if u want. but now tenenbaum is helping u and shes undone the wyk trigger from jacks brainmush and now he is mostly free of fontaine's control yippie ^_^ umm after yet another long trek across rapture you reach fontaines lair and then kill him yahoo!!!! and depending on ur choices of wether or not to save the little sisters you get an ending where either jack and the little sisters have all left rapture and end up living full happy lives or jack kills all the little sisters and um? nukes the world????? idk. its weird.

ok i was gonna do bio2 but tumblr is starting to glitch bc of the length of this post so!!! if u want more just ask for more ok ^_^ this was a very bad explanation but i hope it makes a little sense

#azkz #bio pozting #sasha dont look #sunny dont look #child harm ment

3 notes · View notes

vs-redemption · 4 years ago

Text

Crime is Common. Logic is Rare. (Ch.25)

Chapter Twenty-Five: Lazy Morning (HawksxGN!Reader)

From Cindy: I’ve decided to continue this story to go through the war arc in the manga. Because of this, I’ve had to rethink some plot points and story lines which takes time. Thank you for your patience and enjoy the chapter. It is really fluffy!

Plot summary: As a quirk geneticist, you never really imagined yourself getting involved in hero work. Of course, you never imagined catching the eye of a pro hero either. What starts as a great career opportunity turns into a relationship built upon mutual secrets and trust.

Warnings:

⚠️This story contains spoilers from the manga.

⚠️Some events and plot points have been altered from the original manga

⚠️ Fluff!!!

Tag List: @gayforkeigo @marshmallow-witch @redflannel @toyo-shiro @elsasshole @astronomyturtle @iambashfulperson @omiwashere

Next Chapter : Chapter Guide

Waking up next to Hawks was a whole new experience when there wasn’t a rush to head to work or an imminent looming crisis about the secrets you both were currently keeping. With your arms securely wrapped around his body, you unbury your face from his chest and look up to admire his features which looked completely relaxed for one of the very few times since you’d met him. A smile tugs at your lips as your eyes scan over his feathery eyebrows, the black markings around his eyes, his cute little nose, those kissable lips, and finally to the few small hairs growing on his chin. He was gorgeous and you can’t stop yourself from stretching up to place one small kiss on the exposed column of his throat before tucking you head back into the warmth of his chest.

A few twitches from your boyfriend’s wings and a small groan told you that even such a small movement had been enough to disturb him from his sleep. You glance up at his eyes again which remain closed even though one of his strong arms slides over your waist to pull you closer.

“Good morning,” you say quietly.

“Mmm morning,” Hawks’ voice was a bit gravelly as his eyelids finally flutter open to reveal his beautiful golden eyes. “Throat’s dry…” he mumbles.

“Well, nobody told you to go that hard during karaoke,” you laugh softly as memories from the night before resurface in your mind. You wouldn’t mind if life was that relaxed and carefree for you both more often. Seeing Hawks acting open and goofy had reminded you what had drawn you to him in the first place.

“Don’t be mean,” Hawks pouts. “I had to impress your friends, didn’t I?”

“You impress them just by existing,” You assure him before humming contently at the soothing circles he starts rubbing on your back with his thumb.

“That’s right,” he sighs dramatically. “The only person immune to my magic face is you.”

“I’m not immune,” you correct him with a smile. “It’s just that there’s plenty more to like about you besides that.” A mischievous glint blooms in Hawks’ eyes and he raises his eyebrows curiously.

“Oh really?” He asks, “Care to elaborate?” You let out a dry laugh while slipping one of your arms free to reach up and run your fingers through his hair and then cup his cheek in your hand.

“Hmm, nah,” you tell him. “I don’t think so.” Hawks groans at the teasing before dipping his head down to kiss you on the forehead. You close your eyes and enjoy the moment for just a bit longer. As lovely as the morning snuggles were, the thought of the villains intruding in on such an unguarded and intimate time kept you from being able to relax completely. It reminded you of the conversation the night before, when Hawks had admitted to still having some secrets.

It was frustrating because, despite it being scary and stressful at times, you’d really grown to care a lot for the winged hero during your time together, and you wanted to be closer with him and know him completely. Whatever you didn’t know must be very sensitive though, and could probably be used against Hawks if the villains found out. You knew he’d tell you if he could, but until then, you supposed you’d have to bridge the gap between you both as best you could yourself.

“We should get up,” you mumble into his chest and he groans again. “I’ll make you coffee.”

It took a few minutes to convince him to get out of bed, and you had a feeling it was his own inherent need to move that finally motivated him in the end and not your coffee bribe. After all, he could probably send a couple feathers to prepare whatever he needed from the small hotel kitchen anyway.

“So, what’s on the agenda today?” Hawks asks, leaning against the counter in only a t-shirt and a pair of boxers as he waited for the coffee to brew. You did your best not to let your eyes wander, but hey, you were only human.

“I was thinking about what you said last night,” you hum while reading through a pamphlet of the hotel’s services, wondering if it was worth it to order something to the room for breakfast or if you should get dressed and head to a nearby café. “About learning more about each other by getting to know the important people in our lives.” Hawks looks over at you with cautious curiosity and you smile to assure him you knew to be careful about asking questions he couldn’t answer.

“I know you have to fly back to Tokyo today,” you say just as the coffee machine beeps. Even though you had told him you’d make the drink for him, his feathers set to work before you even had the chance to jump in. “But since the holidays are coming up, I thought it might be fun if you came with me to my family’s Christmas party.”

Hawk’s eyes go wide and his feathers falter just a bit, thankfully managing not to spill coffee all over the floor. “Family Christmas Party?”

“Only if we’re both able to get the time off work, obviously,” you shrug while putting the pamphlet down and shuffling over to stand next to him. His feathers deliver a hot mug of coffee into one of his hands while the other goes around your waist to pull you closer. “What do you usually do for the holidays?”

“Uh, not much,” He admits. “Most of time I’m on call at my agency in Kyushu, just in case there’s any trouble.”

“I was afraid of that,” you admit with a frown. “You said before that you don’t have contact with your own parents, or any really close friends either. That’s why I thought it might be nice to share mine with you.”

“That’s very sweet,” he smiles. “I’ve never had anyone want to introduce me to their parents before.” There was a playful tone to his voice, but you could tell the idea made him a little nervous.

“Don’t think of it like that.” you nudge him. “My parents are chill. They’re not like my boss who’s already planning our wedding. If you can handle her, you’ll be fine with my family.” Hawks hums in thought while sipping his coffee. It was hard to tell what he was thinking.

“It was just an idea,” you poke him in the ribs, making him flinch and almost spill his coffee for the second time. “We could always spend the holidays just the two of us. I have more than enough love to smother you with.”

“Smothered in your love,” Hawks grins. “Now that’d be the way to go.”

“Stop,” you try to poke him again but he swings his hips to the side to avoid your finger.

“You must be pretty serious about me,” He teases, “If you’re already wanting to bring me home to your family.” Apparently he was already over the nervousness from before. “Aren’t you worried I’ll embarrass you?”

“No,” you deadpan. “I’ve already told them how weird you are, so they’re prepared.”

“Oh jeez!” He groans dramatically, “You’ve set me up for failure. Am I even going to have a chance of coming off as respectable now?”

“Probably not,” you sigh and shake your head regrettably.

“That wasn’t very nice,” Hawks lets out a laugh. “Didn’t you say everyone in your family is a genius like you?”

“I’m not a genius,” you say modestly. “But yeah, we’re all members of the scientific community in some way. It kind of runs in the family.”

“Shouldn’t you be dating a rocket scientist or something then?” Hawks challenges you with a sly smirk.

“Nope,” you shake your head resolutely. “And even if I wanted to, I wouldn’t be able to because I love you.”

“Aw,” Hawks coos your name while setting his coffee mug down so his hands are free to pull you into his arms. “Come here, babe.” You gladly accept the affection and return the hug. “I love you too,” he mumbles before placing a kiss on your temple. “And I’m sure I’ll love your family too.”

“I knew I could convince you,” You say victoriously. “Now let’s get dressed and go find somewhere to have breakfast.”

Part of you hoped you weren’t rushing things too much with Hawks, but the fact of the matter was that you were serious about him, and wanted him to know that it was okay that there were things he couldn’t tell you right now. Your relationship could still progress, and even if it was a little one sided at the moment, there would be plenty of time later for him to catch up once his mission with the villains was over. You were really looking forward to the day you’d be able to go out with friends or spend a lazy morning with him without any fear of saying or doing the wrong thing. Hawks’ past was still a bit of a mystery to you, but it seemed like he hadn’t been given many opportunities to build close relationships with people. You couldn’t wait to show him all the joys of the things he’d been missing out on.

#hawks x reader #keigo takami x reader #bnha x reader #mha x reader #hawks #keigo takami #bnha #mha #Cindy's Writing

38 notes · View notes

hrtiu · 4 years ago

Text

Worthy of Devotion Chapter 6

Yeah so... obviously I didn’t stick to my weekly update schedule 😅 But hey, Chapter 7 is already halfway done!

https://archiveofourown.org/works/28259979/chapters/72995721

Kaminoan breakfast was not to Riyo’s taste. It was all raw fish, squid, and shellfish chopped up and mixed together with some kind of acidic syrup and, as a native of a marshy moon with no oceans, Riyo found it disagreeable. Still, she dutifully slurped down the food and nodded along to Prime Minister Lama Su’s unhurried conversation.

“As you can see, our facilities are state-of-the-art, and the Republic is reaping the benefits of our skilled army,” he said.

Riyo nodded and picked up the last spoonful of her breakfast, hesitating only a moment before putting the tentacled mystery in her mouth. The food they fed the clones at the cafeteria had looked different, like a nutritional paste or some kind of fortified starch. This seafood hash was no doubt a delicacy meant to honor her visit, but she’d honestly prefer the paste.

“This is quite an impressive operation you have here, Prime Minister,” she said. “I look forward to discussing the future of the Republic’s relationship with Kamino at the summit.”

She set her spoon down and left her napkin on top of her plate, signalling that she was done with the meal—finally. She’d spent most of the previous night making last-minute preparations with Maja, and she didn’t think she could handle another moment of small talk and crustaceans.

Lama Su inclined his long neck. “Shall we?��

He rose to his feet and Riyo, flanked by Maja, Captain Rex, and Commander Fox, followed him out of the dining hall and into a spare, white conference room. Nala Se, Senator Burtoni and several other Kaminoan dignitaries were already seated inside, and the Prime Minister showed Riyo to her seat at the head of the table. Rex and Maja found their own spots at the far end of the group, and Fox stationed himself at the door.

Lama Su took the chair next to Riyo and cleared his throat, drawing the eyes of all the attendees to him. “I want to thank Chancellor Chuchi for visiting with us today. I am eager to discuss Kamino’s role in the Republic’s military moving forward, and to build upon the foundation of goodwill and trust that we have already established.”

“Thank you for having me, Prime Minister,” Riyo said. She waited for him to extend his welcome to Rex and Maja, too, but he moved right on to business.

“I’ll begin with the basics. As we on Kamino have provided the Republic with an excellent military in the past, no doubt contributing greatly to the Republic’s victory in the war, we believe the Republic would be amenable to extending our contracts. Perhaps the Republic no longer has need of such a large army, but surely some standing military force is necessary for the defense of our systems, and we are also in the process of developing new technologies and personnel specializing in peacekeeping and violence deterrence.”

Riyo’s mouth twisted. The phrase “peacekeeping” had been too-often used throughout the war to justify acts of aggression, and was he really going to completely ignore the clone legislation the Senate had just passed? Senator Burtoni had to have told him.

“The Republic does indeed owe a large debt of gratitude to its clone army,” she said, gesturing to Rex, “who protected citizens and defended our sovereignty at the risk and often expense of their own lives. However, you must understand that, given recent legislation involving the legality of pressing clones into military service, we cannot continue to use your services in the same way.”

Lama Su leaned over the table and laced his long fingers together. “Yes, Senator Burtoni informed us of this legislation. I fail to see why a practice that ensured the Republic’s victory in the war could so conveniently be deemed illegal after the fact.”

“The criticism is valid, Prime Minister, but unfortunately we cannot change the past. We can only try to move forward in a way that is consistent with our values, and creating sentient life only for it to be forced into military service is not consistent with our values.”

Lama Su’s giant eyes narrowed ‘til only a thin slice of grey iris peeked through. “What are you proposing, Chancellor?”

Riyo inclined her head towards Rex.

“All production of clone soldiers needs to end immediately,” Rex said. “The Republic has already paid, so it’s no harm to you. The Republic won’t commission any clone soldiers in the future, either.”

“This is outrageous!” Senator Burtoni said, addressing Riyo and ignoring Rex. “It is an insult to our relationship with the Republic!”

“The Senate’s vote is final,” Rex said. “Kamino is free to do what they wish, but all member systems of the Republic have to abide by Republic laws, which now prohibit the enslavement of any sentient beings for any reason.”

“Where was all this talk of slavery when the Republic ordered the army?” Senator Burtoni demanded. “I must say, Chancellor, this law feels rather pointed. If Kamino is to be singled out like this, perhaps we would not wish to remain-”

Lama Su held up a hand and Senator Burtoni closed her mouth, nodding in deference to the Prime Minister. “Chancellor Chuchi, we of course would wish to remain in the Republic, but you must understand how much our economy is tied to the cloning industry. We have invested decades of education, technology, and infrastructure into this endeavor. What you are asking is not so simple as turning a switch from on to off.”

Riyo nodded sympathetically, though it irked her to no end the way they continued to ignore Rex. “I understand your concern, Prime Minister, which is why I have already negotiated several agricultural contracts on your behalf. The nerf industry is very interested in your work isolating desirable genetic traits. Etrat Industries is also willing to hire Kaminoan geneticists to develop more drought-resistant grains.” Riyo passed a datapad to Lama Su and gave him a moment to look it over. “The current value of these contracts is about 75% of what the clone army generated for Kamino, but I believe these contracts can grow into a sustained economy that does not rely on one product, and no longer requires widespread war to be profitable.”

Lama Su’s dark eyes darted across the screen and he nodded thoughtfully. “We will need time to consider and speak with these contacts of yours before formally agreeing, but I find your proposal to be a compelling one, Chancellor.”

Riyo held back a sigh of relief. Maja had insisted that Kamino valued membership in the Republic enough to play hardball, but Riyo still hadn’t been sure the agricultural contracts would be tempting enough to soothe any hurt feelings. And as abhorrent as she found the Human factory here on Kamino, Riyo still didn’t want the Kaminoans to leave the Republic. For one thing, leaving the Republic would leave them free to create clone armies for other people.

The summit moved on and they first went through the new clone legislation and what exactly it meant. No, cloning wasn’t entirely illegal. Yes, cloning sentient beings for servitude was illegal. Then they went through each of the agricultural contracts line by line and Lama Su and his advisors discussed which ones they could easily take on with minimal capital expense. Lama Su was difficult to read, but Riyo thought she could see a pleased glimmer in his eye as he examined the proposed quotes for each contract. She made a mental note to throw a party for Maja later for pulling so much of that together.

“Well,” Lama Su said after several hours of debate, “You are our customer, so of course we will halt production as you requested. We are tentatively willing to commit to never producing clone soldiers again, but it will take some time before we can formalize the agreement. This was, as you know, the foundation of our economy for some time. We wish to remain in the Republic, but leaving is an option if we feel we are not being treated fairly.”

“I can assure you, Prime Minister, we will do everything we can to ensure that all citizens of the Republic—Kaminoan and Clone alike—will be treated fairly,” Riyo said.

“Excellent. That brings our summit to a close-”

“One more thing, if I may,” Riyo interjected.

Lama Su looked up at her, a frown of mild indifference on his face. “Yes, Chancellor Chuchi?”

Riyo’s eyes darted quickly to Rex at the end of the table, then over to Fox. She hadn’t had a chance to consult them about this part, but she was reasonably sure they’d approve. “As the price for the clones’ production and cultivation until adulthood has already been paid for, the Republic is willing to assume responsibility for the care and raising of all clones aged zero to three effective immediately, and for only half the cost the Kaminoan facility would have spent on their training.”

The grey brows above Lama Su’s eyes rose. “What do you mean, for only half the cost?”

“Your people would pay the Republic to take over the raising of these clones half of the estimated cost of training them here on Kamino. You would still come out ahead, financially.”

Lama Su’s nostril slits flared slightly and his eyes turned over to Senator Burtoni.

“They were created for the Republic. I suppose the Republic can claim them at any time,” Senator Burtoni said.

Lama Su’s expression remained impassive, but years of experience in politics told Riyo what he was thinking. He didn’t like the idea of capitulating to yet another Republic demand, but he was counting credits, and she knew the calculus would end up in her favor.

“If you insist, then of course we are willing to oblige our loyal customer,” he said. “It will take time to sort out logistics, so let’s say tentatively the handover will take place in six months-”

“I’ve already worked out most of the logistics on my end. We should be able to pick up the children in one month.”

A brief silence filled the conference room at her words, and Lama Su stared down at her. “As you wish, Chancellor.”

They closed the summit with all the necessary formalities, and Riyo walked from the room, her shoulders tucked back and her chin held high all the way until they reached the safety of her rooms. Then she let the tension of the negotiations go and her placid expression dropped.

“Oh my goodness, I wasn’t at all sure that was going to work, Maja.”

Maja patted her shoulder. “I told you they’re desperate to stay in the Republic. As an extragalactic planet, the Republic is vital in connecting them to trade and the political life of the rest of the galaxy.”

“Yes, but I really thought demanding all that, plus the younger clones—I was worried they’d reject us just out of spite.”

Maja smirked. “Pride is one thing, but credits are king.”

“You, my friend, are a genius.”

“Who am I to contradict the Chancellor?”

Riyo laughed, but her laugh quickly morphed into a sigh. “And now the work begins. Can you call back our contact with the Child Services Agency on Coruscant? And get in touch with those other agricultural conglomerates we haven’t heard back from yet.”

“On it, boss.”

Riyo started for the office near the back of her quarters, but a low cough turned her attention behind her. Commander Fox was standing there, helmet on and blaster still in hand, his posture stiff and formal. Next to him was Rex, helmetless, with a warm smile on his face.

“Yes, Commander? Captain? I’m sorry, I probably should have asked your opinion on this, first. I just had so many holo calls to make to work things out, and I couldn’t find either of you anywhere-”

“It’s not a problem, Madam Chancellor,” Rex said. “Thank you for caring. I know it means a lot to the boys.”

Riyo smiled at him. “Of course, Captain,” she said, then her smile fell. “After coming here, I couldn’t do nothing. I… I had some idea what it would be like here, but nothing prepared me for actually seeing it.”

“We’re clones. How else do you think we were raised?” Rex said.

“I know, it’s just… different when you actually see the trichbasa stuffed.”

“The what?”

“Oh, it’s a Pantoran phrase. Sometimes you don’t want to see the messy details of how something gets made. It’s… easier not knowing.”

“I’m glad you were willing to stomach it for us, ma’am,” Rex said.

“Ma’am?” Maja said, poking her head back into the hallway from the study. “The Chief Administrator of the Child Services Agency is on the holo.”

“I’ll be right there!”

She bade the two clones a hasty farewell and threw herself right into work. Committing to finding safe and nurturing permanent homes for thousands of young clones had meant taking on a huge amount of logistics in a short time, but she was determined to succeed. The clones deserved nothing less.

---

Riyo and Maja toiled late into the night and hardly slept before their scheduled departure the next morning. Riyo spent almost the entire flight back to Coruscant drafting up letters looking for donations and support for the child clones. She’d found enough backers the night before the summit to make the ask, but there were still so many more details to work out and more funding never hurt.

About halfway through composing a letter to a wealthy philanthropist from Bespin, Riyo’s eyes began to droop. She was so tired, if she just rested her eyes a moment she could finish this up. Yes… Just a moment was all she needed...

“Ma’am?” A gloved hand gently tapped Riyo on the shoulder, and she opened her eyes only to find her face smooshed up against the transparisteel of the observation window. She blinked blearily up at Fox, identifying him as the tapper.

“Yes, Fox?”

“We’re starting the landing sequence, Madam Chancellor.”

“Oh…” She sat up and rubbed at her eyes, then hastily swiped at the puddle of drool that had collected on her datapad. “Why didn’t anyone wake me!”

“We were informed that it would be unwise…” Rex said.

“I told them if they did I’d murder them,” Maja said from where she sat in the corner, her gaze never budging from the datapad in her hand.

Riyo laughed, then buckled herself in for landing. “And that’s why I picked you as my assistant.”

Maja raised the stylus she was holding and tipped it in Riyo’s direction. “Exactly.”

They landed and Rex offered to escort Maja to her apartment, which Riyo appreciated. Maja didn’t get the same security detail that Riyo did, but she could just as easily be targeted by political enemies.

Fox and Riyo took the high-speed lift up to Riyo’s secure apartment in Coruscant’s upper levels, and Riyo’s focus wavered as the lights of the city blurred by through the lift’s transparisteel windows.

“...Madam Chancellor?”

Riyo shook her head to rouse herself and looked to Fox, concentrating hard to make sure she wasn’t dreaming up his sudden desire to talk. “Yes?”

Fox’s helmet was clipped to his belt, but his expression was as opaque as ever. “Thank you,” he said. Then he spread his arms to the side, letting them hover awkwardly away from his hips.

Riyo furrowed her brow at him. She’d had way too little sleep in the past 48 hours to believe she was interpreting this correctly. “Fox?”

Fox cleared his throat, a ruddy flush spreading across his cheeks. “You can hug me, if you want.”

“Oh. Oh!”

That certainly woke Riyo up. She stood dumbfounded for a moment, then saw in the twitch under Fox’s eye that if she didn’t do something quick he might break the lift open and jump out. She fell forward into what she now recognized as open arms and wrapped herself around his torso. Her fingers barely met around the bulky backplate, but she would not be deterred.

Fox’s gloved hands rested uncertainly on Riyo’s shoulders, and she smiled into his chestplate. Not too long ago Fox had been alone and untouched in one of those awful nurseries on Kamino, just like all of his other brothers. She wasn’t about to let that travesty continue.

“I only wish I could have done more,” she said, her voice muffled by his chest.

He didn’t respond for a beat. Riyo was glad he didn’t lie to her, didn’t tell her that she’d done more than enough. There was still so much to do, so many wrongs to right. And she’d only been able to rescue the youngest clones.

“There’s still time,” he said eventually.

She squeezed him tight, her arms full of unyielding plastoid. Through all the armor, though, she thought she could feel a beating heart.

---

“But where are we going to get the money? This is the question nobody seems interested in but me,” Senator Taam said.

“Maybe because we are more concerned with sentient lives than with credits,” Senator Organa snapped.

Fox suppressed a sigh behind his helmet. These Armed Services Committee meetings got things done, but the process was painfully slow. Palpatine had been one evil piece of Sithspit, but at least he’d been able to move quickly. If he’d wanted a fully-funded clone retirement program he’d have just called a meeting, made a few benevolent threats, and been done with it.

“Concern doesn’t pay for programs! The budget does, and I want to get this bill funded as much as any of you. So we can actually provide something to these clones.”

“Whenever we needed new flagships we managed to find the money from somewhere-” Senator Organa said.

“Ok, ok, we’re not getting anywhere arguing,” Chancellor Chuchi said. “Senator Taam is right—it doesn’t matter how great our ideas are if we can’t fund them.”

“Exactly-” Senator Taam said.

“But Senator Organa is right that we can’t use that as an excuse for inaction. This is going to cost major credits, and the budget is going to feel it. So we need to make sure that the public sees it as the necessity it is.”

The table fell silent and the committee exchanged apologetic glances. The corner of Fox’s mouth turned up. Palpatine may have been more efficient, but moments like these reminded him of why he preferred Chancellor Chuchi’s methods. Aside from the obvious fact that she didn’t abuse his brothers and send them to their deaths.

“In my experience, the more civilians know about us the more they’re willing to support us,” Rex said.

Senator Organa nodded. “That’s an excellent point. Up until now the GAR has been used for propaganda, but soldiers have mostly been portrayed as distant, heroic figures. We can run a publicity campaign that highlights your individuality.”

“As well as your practical skills,” Senator Paulness said. “Clones should find more employers willing to hire them and invest in their training if they understand the clones’ unique qualifications.”

Chancellor Chuchi tapped her stylus in her assistant’s direction. “Maja, have Talia Tantipani draw up preliminary ideas for a publicity campaign, would you?”

“On it, ma’am.”

“That’s all well and good, but publicity alone won’t be enough,” said Senator Taam.

“You’re right. We need to also demonstrate the ways in which a retired clone army can benefit the populace,” Senator Paulness said.

“Plenty of the systems we fought on are in desperate need of reconstruction. The locals already know us and most are friendly to us—they might be open to clone workers coming to help rebuild,” Rex said.

“Hmm…” Senator Taam said. “We could expand the Relief and Recovery Agency and have it give hiring precedence to former clone soldiers.”

“I can work on incorporating more job training into the Relief and Recovery Agency, too,” said Senator Organa.

The senators began talking excitedly amongst themself and the energy in the room lifted. Fox recognized a breakthrough when he saw it, and he found himself tuning the chatter out. A twinge of guilt nudged at his conscience, that he wasn’t paying more attention to legislation that would affect the livelihoods of so many of his brothers, but there was only so much of this endless talk he could force himself to focus through. Besides, he had other things to worry about.

Like Daw Saetang. He was an agricultural lobbyist, and though he’d attended several meetings with the Chancellor already, he was slated for a one-on-one right after the Armed Services Committee finished up. One-on-one meetings called for more thorough background checks, and though Saetang’s check hadn’t raised any red flags, something about him still bugged Fox. Was it his smarmy smile? Or maybe the way he didn’t have face tattoos like all the other Pantorans Fox had met. Not that he’d met that many…

“Ok then, Senator Taam will reach out to the Relief and Recovery Agency, Senator Organa will focus on the publicity campaign, and Senator Paulness will head up our contacts in various employment and job training organizations.” Captain Rex said.

The senators all nodded their agreement, and Chancellor Chuchi started gathering up her datapads. “Excellent. I know progress can seem slow, but we need to give our veterans support as soon as possible.”

The meeting adjourned and Fox waited while Maja and Chancellor Chuchi chatted and collected their supplies together. The Chancellor was close enough to her assistant that Maja must be able to smell her perfume—a citrusy scent that Fox only knew because his damned helmet filter didn’t work very well any more. He’d have to request a new one, which would be a royal pain now that his position fell outside of typical command structures.

Yes, he’d have to get it replaced. That way, if the Chancellor ever wanted to hug him again, he wouldn’t be cursed with the memory of her perfume following him around all day. Though, who was he kidding? Why on earth would she ever want to hug him again? He’d been as stiff as a clanker. He’d heard the Kaminoans describe the clones as “droids but better,” before, and thinking back to his painfully awkward hug, he believed there might be some truth to it.

Maja and the Chancellor left the conference room and Fox trailed them a few steps behind. They followed the well-trod path to the Chancellor’s office, where Saetang was already waiting outside for them.

“Madam Chancellor! An honor to see you again,” the tall Pantoran man said, holding his hand out towards Chancellor Chuchi with confidence.

“It’s good to see you, too, Mr. Saetang,” the Chancellor said.

“Please, it’s Daw. And Ms. Joyo, always a pleasure,” he said to Maja.

“Likewise,” Maja said.

Saetang ignored Fox, which suited Fox just fine.

They stepped into the Chancellor’s office and Fox stationed himself by the door. He prepared himself to tune out yet another circular policy argument, but Saetang and his skeezy smile drew his attention. He kept his eyes locked on the Pantoran man and scanned for unusual traits that might signal some sinister motive.

Saetang’s eyes flitted to Fox, and for a moment Fox could swear the man could see his gaze through the tinted visor. But that was impossible.

The negotiations continued, and Saetang had a way of getting what he wanted while making it seem like he was losing that got under Fox’s skin. Still, he trusted Chancellor Chuchi to be able to deal with snakes like Saetang. She’d been around the Senate long enough to recognize the type.

“I’ll be sure to communicate your terms to my colleagues,” Saetang said smoothly. “We’ve had our eyes on that Kaminoan gene selection technology for some time now, and I’m sure we can strike a mutually beneficial deal with them.”

“Thank you, Daw. I very much appreciate your time,” Chancellor Chuchi said, rising to her feet to signal the end of the meeting.

“The pleasure was all mine,” he said. He stood, but made no move towards the door.

“...Is there something else, Mr. Saetang?” Chancellor Chuchi said.

“My apologies, Madam Chancellor, I was working up the nerve to ask you… I nabbed a reservation at Pantiat Ichi for tomorrow and was hoping you might accompany me.”

Fox’s hands held his blaster a little too tightly, and he had to make a conscious effort to loosen his grip. It was just an invitation. Why did it feel like a threat?

Chancellor Chuchi’s eyebrows rose. “Oh! I’m afraid I’ll be busy tomorrow evening. It’s such a shame, I’ve heard they have the best Pantoran food on the planet.”

Saetang offered her a rueful smile. “I understand, it’s so last minute. If your evening frees up, though, please let me know.”

“Of course.”

She walked him to the door of her office and he bowed over her hand before he left, bringing a bluish blush to her cheeks. Then he left and the door finally shut on the bastard.

When the Chancellor turned back to her desk, Maja was grinning at her like a tooka with a convor.

“Stop it!” Chancellor Chuchi said, and she shoved Maja playfully.

“Stop what?” Maja asked, eyes wide with innocence.

“He’s just a smooth-talking lobbyist. It’s not a big deal.”

“You know I actually could carve out time for dinner for you tomorrow night.”

The Chancellor eyed her friend doubtfully. “Are you serious?”

“Why not? He seems nice enough, and I’ve heard Pantiat Ichi is to die for.”

“He’s a lobbyist!”

“Yes, there are rules you’d have to follow, but I can make sure everything is square. Really, Riyo, why not get out and have a little fun? You haven’t taken a single personal day since taking office.”

“I… I suppose I could…”

Maja’s smile grew. “You want me to send him a message?”

Chancellor Chuchi threw up her hands. “Fine. Why not?”

“That’s the spirit!” Maja said, rushing the Chancellor for a surprise hug.

Chancellor Chuchi laughed and pushed at her friend, and soon Fox could no longer make out exactly what they were saying. He sighed and commed Thorn through his helmet’s built-in system. His helmet might be old and falling apart, but at least it was still soundproof with the dampers on.

“Thorn? Can we get another background check on Daw Saetang? Dig a bit deeper this time.”

---

The first human Bacara ever killed couldn’t have been much older than he was. At least, biologically. If he just went by years then Bacara was likely at least a decade younger. Regardless, the Twi’lek man Bacara shot in the chest was too thinking, too breathing, too sentient for comfort.

Bacara had never before thought to be grateful to be fighting droids, but he had to admit it was much easier to blow a clanker’s head off than a Twi’lek’s.

“Sir, the remaining Separatists have been cleared out,” Solus told him over the comms.

“Do a thorough sweep of the area. I don’t want any stragglers to catch us off guard,” Bacara said.

General Mundi joined Bacara at the top of the ridge overlooking the wooded battlefield. “Excellent work, Commander.”

“Just doing our jobs, sir.”

“Still, I know fighting against sentients isn’t quite that same. You’ve adapted well.”

Bacara nodded and put his hands behind his back. “What’s our next move, sir?”

“Once everything’s sorted here, we only have one more assignment before returning to Coruscant.”

Bacara smiled. He’d get to see his batchmates for the first time in months. And more importantly, he’d be able to tell them what he’d learned about their inhibitor chips.

“It is difficult to be away from the ones we love, isn’t it?” General Mundi said.

Bacara’s smile faded. He didn’t like when the General said things that seemed to respond to the thoughts in his head, especially not when his thoughts strayed too close to the inhibitor chips. “Captain Peke’s waiting to report in the command center,” he said, ignoring the General’s question. It had been rhetorical, anyway.

“Excellent,” General Mundi said, and together they headed for the command center, a collapsible durasteel bunker that had seen plenty of wear in all different kinds of terrain and atmospheres.

They stepped through the automatic doors and Bacara immediately sensed something was wrong. The doors slammed shut behind them and the lights extinguished. When they turned on again the General was surrounded by insurgents, one of them with a blaster held to his head.

“Don’t move! Or the Jedi gets it!” the man said, dirt and blood on his face and desperation in his eyes.

“Let’s just stay calm…” Bacara said, slowly setting his blaster on the ground.

“I tried to warn you, sir!” Captain Peke said from across the room. He was tied up to a chair, and another one of the insurgents held him at blaster-point.

“Everybody quiet!” the man with his blaster to Mundi’s head said.

Peke shut his mouth and Bacara slowly rose from his crouch, his hands held high with his palms open.

“We don’t want trouble with the Republic,” the lead insurgent said. “And we aren’t with the Separatists, either. We just want our planet to be in peace, we just want to live free without Republic interference.”

Bacara’s eyes darted to General Mundi’s, but the General seemed unconcerned. “This is not something you want to do, son.”

“Shut up!” the man shouted. “I know all about your Jedi tricks, and that won’t work on us!”

“This is not going to end well for you. If you leave now we won’t follow you,” Mundi said.

“We’re not leaving until you order all Republic forces out of this system!”

“This is your last warning.”

“Kriff you and your warnings! I’m the one with the blaster!”

With a sudden whoosh of power, General Mundi pushed outward from himself, knocking everything away from him in a perfect wave of energy. Bacara fell backwards and scrambled to grab his blaster before any of the rebels could get to it first. He grabbed the grip and rolled onto his back, aiming up at whoever might have followed his movements. But there was no one there.

General Mundi stood in the middle of the room, the blue glow of his lightsaber illuminating the carnage around him. The insurgents were dead. All of them. Eight bodies lay scattered around the room, burning wounds bearing testament to their singular cause of death. General Mundi looked down at their prone bodies, his mouth turned downwards and his eyes sad.

“...General? Are you alright?” Bacara asked.

General Mundi turned yellow eyes to Bacara. “Yes, Bacara, thank you. It’s just a shame.”

“...Yes, sir.”

“Well then. Let’s free Captain Peke, shall we?”

Bacara got to his feet and he and General Mundi untied Captain Peke from the chair. Bacara called for help with cleanup through his comm, and in only a half hour they were debriefing in that very same command center as if nothing had happened. All throughout the debrief, though, Bacara could see the shadows of the bodies around the room.

#foxiyo #commander fox #riyo chuchi #star wars #fanfic #tcw #the clone wars

21 notes · View notes