#and that white ship he sees is just a disaster waiting to happen

[amusingmyselfsblog]

i’m scared to finish the farseer trilogy and i’m scared to finish the mistborn trilogy. there’s so many books to read between those two and i don’t want to read about fitz getting hurt again.

and my fyp has realized my interest in the silmarillion (the sons of faenor particularly) when i haven’t read a single work of tolkein’s yet, so naturally, i’m getting tons of videos about that.

but i’m also 7 chapters into emily wilde’s encyclopedia of faeries and it’s so slow? but i always complain about books that don’t establish proper world-building or mystery so why am i complaining when it’s doing it right? and as much as i like emily, i’d like for bambleby to enter the story so we can get into proper good ole fashion academic rivalry.

[kuwdora]

WIP Sunday Snippet... from the vilgefortz wankery. This snippet remains in my discard pile because how many paintings is too many to be referencing in this fic? I think I'm up to 5 or 6 at this point. I might put it back in though...we'll see. Soooo... Geralt and Vilgefortz are in a wing of the gallery that features some of the more critical artwork.

Sunday Afternoon on The River of Alabaster Bridges depicted a rotting corpse of a dragon floating belly up in the middle of the Pontar. Peasants in the foreground went about their harvesting, scythes in their hands while a small child played naked in the shallows. A small rowboat with two lovers were mid-river, hands joined in a moment of quiet intimacy and indifferent to the decay beside them. The brushstrokes of the water were inelegant, and the usual gleaming color of the river was polluted by the fetid body. The human figures were painted in a dull grey in contrast of the dragon whose golden scales were melting off its body in the heat of the sun. A mage in a deep red cloak stood at the corner of the painting, holding a magnifying glass up to a melted scale he had fished out of the water.

It was the work of Hugo Bluewythe, the only gnomish artist whose work was featured at Aretuza. Born to a Mahakham family, he was a successful metallurgist, had local fame and a family who was proud to call him one of their own. After several decades of monotony, he grew tired of embellishing weapons that he knew would be used to kill. So he picked up a paintbrush instead. His customers and family were unhappy with this change in vocation because he dared to express his vision by other means. But he didn’t allow their criticisms to get in his way and he became quite renowned for his work depicting humanity’s indifference to non-human suffering.

Vilgefortz watched Geralt frown at the painting.

Anyway, this is 100% a riff on Pieter Bruegel's Landscape with the Fall of Icarus and Auden's poem about the painting.

Musée des Beaux Arts By W. H. Auden

December 1938 About suffering they were never wrong, The Old Masters: how well they understood Its human position; how it takes place While someone else is eating or opening a window or just walking dully along

How, when the aged are reverently, passionately waiting For the miraculous birth, there always must be Children who did not specially want it to happen, skating On a pond at the edge of the wood: They never forgot That even the dreadful martyrdom must run its course Anyhow in a corner, some untidy spot Where the dogs go on with their doggy life and the torturer's horse Scratches its innocent behind on a tree.

In Brueghel's Icarus, for instance: how everything turns away Quite leisurely from the disaster; the ploughman may Have heard the splash, the forsaken cry, But for him it was not an important failure; the sun shone As it had to on the white legs disappearing into the green Water; and the expensive delicate ship that must have seen Something amazing, a boy falling out of the sky Had somewhere to get to and sailed calmly on.

[chaosciara]

I mean, to each their own.

Kinnporsche is a show where normal morals and ethics shouldn't really be brought in to condemn or judge the characters because of the genre (mafia/organized crime) and as Apo (Porsche's actor) has said, nothing is easy to define and nothing can be defined as black or white since every thing/one is shades of grey including the characters. The characters all have wants needs, and motivations in their relationship and as people that aren't necessarily healthy from an outside "normal" perspective but it's what they want, ultimately, and who can take that away from them if it's what they want? (reminds me of "what doesn't kill me gives me kinks that are difficult to explain" lmao).

That, of course, doesn't mean that the audience can't analyze and objectively view and recognize that all the relationships in the show are problematic and/or questionable. Because they are. They all are.

None of the relationships have started out as anything short of manipulation and/or coercion, and abuse of power (Kinn, Vegas, Kim) from people in a lesser positions of power and lacking knowledge (Porsche, Pete, and Porchay) even if it eventually turned into genuine love.

I understand that last anon and I get why KimChay-ers get touchy, because let's be real, KimChay are the most tame of all of the ships but I think you will soon realize (in the later episodes) that Chay is the most emotionally intelligent character in the show, even above Porsche, who despite his outwardly soft and naive appearance, chooses himself first before being treated like shit and is absolutely not a pushover (which is why I love his character because its a dichotomy).

Its a fandom meme that Chay ignored the red flags more so that he didn't know or see that they were there because he chose to leave instead of putting up with it unlike the other two (and I say that affectionately for Porsche and Pete).

I also get why KimChay-ers get sensitive about the actors' 9 year age gap (18/27) but to be honest, Barcode's parents allowed him to be there and I don't feel the need to coddle a person just performing their role as an actor. To begin with, his and Jeff's character will never step up to be as intense as KP and VP and that was a concious decision on the directors' part for Barcode's age/age gap because KC are explicitly emphasized in the canon novel as having sex despite them being much younger (about 16ish) than they are in the show...

I don't understand why people project Jeff and Barcode onto KimChay. One are characters, and the other are respectful coworkers. If you see any weird behavior in regards to KimChay or Jeff and Barcode, its usually the fans creating it more so than the actors who have cute sibling/mentor relationship and don't do weird fanservice or yuck it up to promote the ship.

Hope you enjoy the rest of the show ! :)

yea i don’t concern myself with the actual actors and their age I trust to some extent there was consent and agreement between them regarding their roles

this debate is all about the show and within the show’s context

I have no feeling towards kimchay. I didn’t hate them (dislike yes but not hate). I don’t love them. I’m genuinely uninterested in their storyline. whatever happens happens, you know?

thank you for your thoughts anon :)

and I am enjoying the show I love porsche so much he’s defs my fave. he’s such a disaster and gets himself into ten times more trouble than he needs to.

I’m also extremely excited for pete’s continuing arc. cannot wait to see where that goes.

I have 5 episodes left !! I’m ready!

[trek-tracks]

It's an old, well-worn routine.

Whenever Jim says, “you were right, Bones,” Bones quirks that funny half-smile and tells Jim, “I wish I’d gotten a recording of that as proof. I’d play it non-stop to get to sleep, care to say it again?”

And Jim just grins at him and won’t repeat it for the recorder, tells him it’ll go to his head, that he'll just have to wait for the next time; if it ever happens again, that is.

Bones is a man of many opinions, and Jim hates to admit, they're often correct. As he's matured, he's learned to give credit where credit is due.

Plus, he likes it when Bones smiles.

"You were right, Bones," he says, as they beam up from yet another mission where a near-disaster was averted, this time due to Bones' suspicion of the Emperor's head physician.

"That's a balm to my weary ears, Jim," Bones sighs. "Care to record that? I'll layer it on top of my white noise machine and have the sweet dreams of the vindicated."

Jim points out that asking for a recording of one's captain's voice to have sweet dreams to is probably against regulation. Bones rolls his eyes. No recording is provided.

"You were right, Bones," Jim says, handing Bones a glass of bourbon after a heartbreaker of a mission. Two dead, Spock almost the third, now back in one piece after six hours of surgery. He doesn't break out the Saurian brandy; that's for celebratory drinks. This is mourning.

"I'm always right," Bones says. "That's my curse. I wish I hadn't been. But next time..."

"I'll listen," says Jim. "I'll listen faster. I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry, Jim. You did what you thought was right, and it worked in the end. We got the treaty. We saved more lives than we lost."

"You know that doesn't matter when I'm writing to the families."

"Yeah, Jim, I know that," sighs Bones. "But let's pretend I'm right this time, okay? And, by the way, when I get that recording, you can add 'I'll listen' to the end of it. It's a nice touch."

"You're an asshole," says Jim, but he smiles for the first time since Ensign Simons' death.

"And I'm right," says Bones, raising his glass. They both down it in one go.

"You were right, Bones," Jim says, after finally turning down his second chance at promotion to the Admiralty.

"Of course I'm right," says Bones. "Captaining a ship is your first, best destiny. It's who you are. It's what you do. But I can barely take credit for that. Any fool can see it. Which is why I'm surprised the brass offered you that promotion in the first place. They're the biggest fools out there."

"Well, I guess I'm going to wait a while to join them, Bones. Are you ready for another five years?"

"Who else is going to sporadically admit to me that I'm right?"

"This is why I can't give you the recording," Jim says. "You won't need me anymore."

"That's not true, Jim," Bones says, suddenly looking more serious than when he's performing a particularly delicate surgery. He looks Jim straight in the eye.

"That'll never be true. Do you hear me? You told me you'd listen. That will never be true. And I'm right."

Jim’s final mission is a solo trip, requested by the heads of two warring factions, looking to make peace to show their commitment to their planet's application for entry into the Federation.

Bones tells him not to go, that he’s got a bad feeling about this one.

Jim rolls his eyes. “You always have a bad feeling about this one."

"It's an especially bad feeling, this time. And don't you remember? I'm always right. You promised me you'd actually listen once in a while; this is why I need it on record--"

But Jim has a chance to bring peace, so Jim can’t stay. And Bones knows it.

And it doesn’t work.

Bleeding out after tensions erupt, knowing transporters are jammed and it’s too late for rescue, Jim spends his last minutes recording messages for his family and senior crew.

Bones’ message is last, and Jim knows just what he's going to say.

He puts on his most winning smile and says, “You were right, Bones. Next time, I'll listen. And now, here’s your recording as proof. Thanks for everything. I hope you play it non-stop."

After the ceremonies, the speeches, and the handoff of the Enterprise to Spock, Bones finally pours himself a glass -- bourbon, not Saurian brandy -- and watches his message.

"You were right, Bones."

It doesn't give him sweet dreams. In fact, he doesn’t sleep for three days.

He never plays it again.

[thetimelordbatgirl]

It’s very telling where the MCU is in terms of quality when MoM is literally months away from coming out and yet people care more about the cameos rather than the actual plot (not to mention completely ignoring the light-washing/de-aging of America Chavez, an Afro-Latina lesbian woman and the whitewashing of Wanda’s Romani/Jewish heritage that has been going on since AoU)

Not to mention how everything that fans have praised about NWH is things from the old Spider-Man films. Hell, even with Thor 4, there’s more talk about Valkyrie’s sexuality and her “finding her queen” rather than anything about the main antagonist or plot.

And don’t even get me started on the disaster that was the Loki series and how supposed loyal fans can watch Loki be tortured and humiliated and call it “therapy” while they go and worship a female variant of him that’s about as interesting as watching paint dry.

The MCU only cares about putting out as much content as possible just to make a fast buck. It’s honestly sad considering how in Phases 1 and 2 they seemed to care about the characters and making each movie have a unique feel to it. Now everything feels the same, everyone acts the same and there’s no sense of individuality or creativity anymore.

I fully believe that Age of Ultron was the beginning of the end for the MCU, cause that’s honestly where things started to go really wrong in my eyes.

People focus more on Wanda in MoM then they do Strange.....and its his film. Like, I still ain't a huge fan of Doctor Strange's first film, cause whitewashing seems to LOVE this particular set of stand alone MCU films, but like.....no discussion of Strange or Wong or ANY Doctor Strange characters and elements, just Wanda and the cameos and its just....dam, kinda feel bad for Strange Stans right now. MCU be like with ANY character of color at this rate.....mainly oddly the woman of color from comics: "Can we get a whiter version please?" Like, shout out still to the Funko of Miss America for....actually making it worser. Dunno how, BUT THEY DID. And we all know why they suddenly mixing up the Young Avengers ages....given Young Avengers had members who are gay and in Loki's case, genderfluid, but well, MCU won't allow rep to full be seen so already betting we won't even see lesbian Miss America....

And with Wanda, its like......thanks, you failed in casting 101 as she is white as fuck in MCU, has the power to lose her accent and isn't Jewish cause no Magneto means no Jewish twins I guess.....no wonder she's appearing in MoM, she fits right in with whitewashed Ancient One and lightwashed!Miss America. No Way Home's entire hype was literally the old villains coming back. Like, people screamed more at the pumpkin bomb being thrown in trailer followed by Doctor Octopus' appearing with, "Hello, Peter", then the rest of the trailer, and if that ain't obvious that No Way Home was hyped soley on the cameos, then the aftermath of people soley focusing on Andrew's Peter and Tobey's Peter is obvious enough. Given MCU cut Valkyrie's Bi scene....I am VERRY skeptical off chances we'll see Valkyrie romance Jane, but....I'll wait until trailer I guess, but yeah....looking at any hype on Love And Thunder, its just kinda Jane's return and Valkyrie finding a queen....but in all honestly, given the Guardians are also taking over a plot in this film, I dunno what I'd prefer to be hyped at this point.

I hate Loki Show....so much. Like, keep in mind, up until that point, I'd been hopeful for it and TFATWS, cause even from trailer I knew I wouldn't like W/V, and first trailer for Loki? Yes, but watching the actual show? It was suffering. It wasn't about Loki like promised to fans, it was about him being basically secondary to Sylvie's journey and suddenly he's in love with her and while she can just, do whatever she wants without much happening, Loki get's literally tortured as a form of therapy.....and people ship Loki with the guy who did it.....thanks, I hate it. And don't get me started on Sylvie. She's literally an OC, a mashup of the two Enchantresses and....Lady Loki, cause genderfluid Loki was toooooo hard I guess, and she's just impossible to watch cause MCU makes her into a girlboss.....while also sprinkling in some incest/selfcest, but better not go too far....or stans will call me biphobic again for hating their ship.

Yeah, nowadays mcu is kinda just interested in cramming whatever movie or show they can really. Phase One-Two at least seemed to think over the films and such, but nowadays its like, "WANT A HAWKEYE SHOW?! WANT A SHE HULK SHOW?! WANT A CHRISTMAS AND HALLOWEEN SPECIAL?!" like.....its just there until MCU is basically beyond dead....well, more beyond dead then it is already.

[fleet-admiral-hiba]

AN: While Ohana is in quarantine.... I'd like to introduce you to a new One piece yandere series. Of course the Charlotte came back,and with them....a new adventure.

The main characters are Raisins, his dear husband and of course,the rest of the family.

Tw: toxic relationship, mention of abuse,yandere themes

A SWEET BLOODY LIFE

You were a simple man in a simple town. Your family was one of the most famous bakers around the world. You had this special power that made you change things into sweets and food of every kind. But it was not a devil fruit, you were just that special,and so was your family.

You were 20, and you were a simple guy. Or so you thought. But today would mark the day of your descent to hell.

You had to deliver a huge shipment to Cacao Island,and you had to be there to be sure of the client's approval. It was an important patron of the family and losing them now would spell disaster.

So, with your ship you set sail. And that would be the last time you would see your family. Your life was going to be flipped upside down.

You waved at your mother from the railings, your smile slowly fading away as the ship went far. You could not go on like this for much longer. Every fake smile,every clipped cheeriness you expressed, every damn stalling whenever someone asked about your future wife.

It was poison,and it was slowly killing you. To the outside world, you were the son of a model family. No one knew what was hidden behind the mask. It was all a smokescreen, just there to protect the integrity of their honor.

They didn't have a gay son, you were a completely normal child. But that wasn't you. You weren't the puppet they wanted. But you had to be, until you could find someone else to marry, you had to gain time until that fateful day.

Anyway, you shook your head to get rid of those thoughts, you had a job to complete and if everything went well, in two weeks at most.

After arriving, you marveled at the beauty of Cacao Island. Its buildings, the people, everything was like a dream. You waited at the dock for the buyer, when suddenly you saw someone approaching.

It looked a lot different from the usual man you met. Taller, with white hair, piercing blue eyes. His aura was what you felt first. He commanded respect,his presence could be felt all around.

"Mr. Y/L/N I presume". You could only nod. Something caught your eyes, and you weren't able to shake it from you. You were attracted to that stranger, bit there was something.... something that told you that he was far more dangerous than he let on.

You went on with your business as usual, and you were ready for your trip back, when you felt a cloth being placed in front of your mouth.

Consciousness evaded you slowly...until everything faded to black. "I'm sorry beloved, but it is for the best". Truth be told, Raisin had been looking for you since the first time he saw you on the island,when you were just a boy.

Since that day he hoped for your return, every day. Soon his crush became a full obsession, and to say that his family backed him up was saying nothing. Finally he managed to get you here, and he was going to make sure that you would stay there. Forever.

You woke up later, in an enormous room. Your head hurt, and your vision was a bit fuzzy. You remembered almost nothing of that morning. Just bits and pieces. You tested your mobility,but your nausea prevented you from going up and about.

A deep voice then called out to you. Who was this man, and why was he here? " How do you feel, Y/n?". You just whimpered,your head was about to explode. What the hell happened?

"I'm sorry for these inconvenience, beloved. I might have overdosed a little,but you will be fine soon. After we will talk more. Sleep now". Why you put your trust in this man was unknown, but there was this feeling....this voice telling you to do as he said, to just let him take care of you.

In the end, you succumbed to your peaceful sleep. Unaware of the meeting that was to happen. Soon your fate would be tied to this specific Charlotte. Soon even you would be the new addition to the family.

Meanwhile, Big Mama was having a meeting with his sons and daughters. After all,there was a marriage to be held. "Mamamama, Raisin I saw you got the man of your dreams"- " yes mama" - "Good,good, then I'll give you my blessing. You did bring in a fine young man, and he will be useful for us too".

They knew of your gift,and admittedly they were a bit jealous that Raisin was the one that was going to marry you, but that soon changed when you came at the Chateau. He would live there with you, so hopefully they would all be in your good graces. After all, you were quite the man.

Everyone was possessive of each other, but you were on another level. You quickly became their most prized jewel, and they would ANYTHING to protect you.

[greenficsworld]

° Book °

All Of Us Are Dead x Reader

(author : hi umm this would be my first fic of all of us are dead and i was thinking of making this a series and comment who should i ship with y/n 😏ok enjoy ☘️😃

•

•

•

( Reader Pov )

°

I was at the Cafeteria with isak and onjo , they were talking about onjo having a crush on seohyuk and me reading a thrilling book about zombie's , when i was reading isak suddenly screamed ...

" What!!!? "

" shhh " " isak oh my gosh " , me and onjo said to her to calm her down when she calmed down and started talking to onjo again i started reading the book when somebody caught my eye

Gwi-nam

i don't like him and i don't hate him either it just pisses me off when he bullies other students the only good thing is he doesn't bother me nor my two friends who are constantly fighting...

As i was holding my food tray i suddenly saw cheong-san talking to isak about something i really wanted to know when i was next in line , after i finished giving my food tray i chatted with isak why onjo and cheong-san are talking...

We were chatting about onjo having a crush as i see a food tray on the ground and pick it up when i picked it up , i heard students screaming and running , when i saw one of them i asked what was happening he suddenly screamed....

" Zombies!!!!! "

When i look at isak we both screamed ..

" RUN!!!! "

As i was holding isak's hand and the other one with the metal food tray we run and run when a zombie suddenly grabbed me , good thing i was holding the metal tray or i would have been bitten and turned into one of them ...

Isak saw a room with gyeong-su inside saying come here , when we got inside we started breathing properly i look around some student's have manage to escape that horrible disaster outside ...

I stand up and go to the window the scene was like the one i read from the book , people with bloody eyes , veins , and biting each other just for hunger it's like i am in the book wait a minute i thought to myself where is the book , i probably left it in the cafeteria ...

i was lost in my thoughts when i heard banging from the door when i look it was onjo and cheongsan saying...

" Open the door !! " " Open the door we were not bitten "

as i look at them nayeon suddenly say..

" no don't let them in!? they might got bitten "

I look at her in disbelief but calmly said

" Open it trust them "

As gyeong-su opened the door onjo ran to isak and hugged her , as i watch in awe onjo look at me and pulled my wrist to join the two of them , when we ended the hug jae-hyuk comes to the door with white thing on his face

" brother in law please open the door "

i chuckle seeing this guy when that only ended when nam-ra and suhyeok are on the window trying to get as we help them more zombies were coming through the door ...

Is this the end i say to myself ...

°

Author : don't worry guys as i told you this is a series there would be more just wait ok ☘️

Part 2 Part 3

[atlabeth]

everything happens for a reason part 11 - zuko x fem!reader

Memories, where'd you go?

part 10 | masterlist | part 12

a/n: alternative name for this fic: y/n gets a crush on every pretty girl she meets. yue, katara, and now suki. she can't help it (and she questions why they're all connected to sokka in some way lmaoo)

anyways, this is kind of filler but it establishes some more with relationships and finallyyy gets us into ba sing se at the end. i know it's a lil annoying because there's a lot of episode-to-text writing, but i promise it'll get more freeform as it goes on

also i know that i just posted something yesterday but i have literally zero patience. like i cant hold chapters i have to post them as soon as i write them loll

wc: 5.3k

warning(s): some feels over zuko as per usual, but overall a pretty tame chapter

chapter title comes from memories by panic! at the disco!

Zuko could barely sleep anymore.

He didn’t know when his life became so complicated, but he wasn’t a fan of it.

Back when it was just him, his crew, and the open sea — it was simple. He had a job, a straightforward mission. Find the Avatar, capture him, return home to the Fire Nation and regain his honor.

Now, the waters were more muddied than ever. Now on the run from the Fire Nation just like the boy he was chasing, all he really felt nowadays was anger.

Angry at the world for setting him on this path, angry at the Avatar for refusing to see what was necessary, his sister and her friends for turning against him, angry at the waterbender for making things so damn hard.

He didn’t want to hurt her. A part of him wished that she had never come back into his life, if it meant he wouldn’t have to constantly be fighting against her. He hated himself for the thought, but maybe it would have been easier for her to remain a memory of a lover than his active enemy.

Late at night, when he was reaching fruitlessly for sleep that would never come, he saw her face. The carefree energy from their childhood morphed into the shock and disappointment from both the North and their fight with Azula, and…

It made him wonder what in Agni had happened to them.

He—

He didn’t know. The way he felt about her, it was different than anything he had experienced before. Zuko didn’t know what it was, but he understood that it was special. And now… it felt like he had just thrown it all away.

Zuko couldn’t stop thinking about what had happened with her in that town — what he had done to her.

He had burned her to try and get to the Avatar, and he hadn’t even allowed a glance back at the damage he had done. He had heard her cry out in pain, pain he had caused, and he didn’t even look back.

What had happened to them? What had happened to him?

He kept telling himself that the mission was the only thing that mattered. And it was, wasn’t it? Capture the Avatar, regain his honor, get his old life back and finally be enough for his father. He didn’t have time for friends, or for these feelings he had, or— or for anything but capturing the Avatar. Because the Avatar was the key to everything, to his honor, and that was all that mattered.

But now…

Now, he didn’t know what he was supposed to do. He didn’t know what was right, or what was wrong, or what path was the one he had to take.

Zuko just wished things could be like they used to be.

~~~~~~~~~~

She didn’t really know when everything had become a mess again.

It all started out fine, like it usually did. Toph had become fully integrated into the group, any past squabbles put to rest in the name of a stronger friendship emerging between all five of them. Katara continued to work on Aang’s waterbending (oftentimes Y/N joining them in their sessions) while Toph slowly but steadily beat earthbending into him — literally.

They had all been working hard for so long that, by decree of Aang, it was ‘vacation time’. They would all get to pick out places they wanted to spend as a break, and after it was over they would get back to work.

Aang had chosen some sort of field with musical groundhogs, and Y/N had opted to revisit an Earth Kingdom village that she had passed through on her journey to the North. Sokka had complained the whole time about how they were ‘wasting valuable planning time’, but had finally conceded after the promise of ‘all the planning his heart could desire’ from Katara after their mini-vacations were over.

Y/N was actually feeling somewhat relaxed for once, but she had forgotten the golden rule — never let your guard down. Everytime she let her guard down, something bad happened without fail. So it shouldn’t have been any surprise with what happened in the desert.

Because after one trip to the Misty Palms Oasis and a journey into the desert with a professor to a long lost library, Appa had been taken by desert raiders.

It was… less than favourable. During their escape from the library, Professor Zei had insisted on staying behind, and now the five of them were stuck in the middle of the desert with no way out and zero guidance. Add some brewing tensions between Aang and Toph because of her being there when Appa was taken, and they had a recipe for a huge disaster.

And a disaster they had. Multiple disasters, actually.

There was only so much she and Katara could do to hold the group together, but by some miracle, they made it out of the desert with only one Avatar State mishap.

(And an incident with cactus juice, but… she didn’t really want to talk about that.)

....at least they had the information about the Eclipse. That was about the only thing keeping her together at the moment.

They had to get the information to the Earth King so they could formulate an attack with his warriors, but without Appa, they had to resort to more traditional methods of travel. Add in one passport problem, and that was how Y/N found herself braving the Serpent’s Pass alongside a refugee family with a baby on the way.

It was… intimidating, to say the least. Despite being surrounded by her element, Y/N didn’t feel any safer from the challenge that faced them. She took a deep breath, trying to tamp down on her fear the way her mother had taught her, as she followed the group, but her thoughts were soon interrupted.

“Hey.” She turned to see who the voice belonged to and was greeted by the girl that had teased Sokka early — Suki, if she remembered correctly. “I haven’t seen you around; are you with the Avatar or that family?”

“I’m with Aang,” Y/N explained. “I’m from the North, and they offered me a spot with them after they helped us defend our tribe against the Fire Nation. I’ve been with them ever since.” Suki nodded as they settled into a comfortable stride.

“That’s cool. Are you a waterbender?”

She gestured to her waterskin and smiled. “Yeah. I’ve been training with Aang and Katara ever since I left.” Y/N then turned her gaze back to Suki, raising an inquisitive brow. “Your makeup — what’s it for? I heard you talking about the Kyoshi Warriors back there; is that some kind of thing with Avatar Kyoshi?”

Suki grinned, her every expression heightened by the sharp reds and blacks above her eyes. “We’re a group of all-female warriors that use the teachings of Avatar Kyoshi and her partner Rangi to defend our home and the place she founded, Kyoshi Island. I’m the leader of our village section.”

“Wow,” she murmured, her eyes falling to the ground for a moment before finding their way back up to the warrior. “That’s really cool. You’re really cool.”

She laughed and shrugged. “Thanks. I’ve been training as a warrior for almost my whole life, so it just comes naturally. I like being able to protect people, and there’s no better way to pay back my home for all it’s done for me like protecting the whole village.”

“Wow,” she repeated with a small laugh of her own. “That’s really brave. I gotta say, I’m kinda jealous — I would love to see what would happen if Master Pakku met you all. Katara literally had to beat the sexism out of him in order to train to be a master.”

Suki chuckled. “Sounds like what I had to do with Sokka. Guess it’s a thing with Water Tribe guys, huh?”

At the mention of Sokka, she internally laughed. There had to be some kind of connection between the two of them, the way their interests kept aligning. “Sokka�� he’s had it hard. I can’t blame him that much for any kind of attitude he had before he met you. Pakku, on the other hand? He had to have had something better to do than fight teenage girls.”

“You would think so, right?” Suki agreed. “And Sokka… I know. He’s got a heart of gold underneath all that, he just needed a little push to get it out.” As Y/N glanced over at the girl, noticing a slight pink tint under the white makeup, she gasped.

“La’s fins, are you two a thing?” she exclaimed with a grin.

Suki flushed even harder as she suddenly became very interested in the ocean around her, but she couldn’t help the smile on her lips. “No! I mean— yes— but… but—” she stopped to gather her thoughts before making eye contact again with a sheepish smile. “We’re not… really a thing, but… I do like him a lot. I didn’t really think I was going to see him again after they left the island, so this is really nice.”

“Then what are you waiting for?” Y/N asked. “I can already tell that he cares about you — have you seen how careful he’s being with you?”

“Well—” Whatever kind of excuse Suki would’ve made up was interrupted by a rock falling out just under Than, one of the refugees they were with, saved in the nick of time with Toph’s earthbending.

“I’m okay!” he reassured, but no sooner had the words left his mouth before the Fire Nation ship in the distance started firing.

“They’ve spotted us!” Sokka yelled. “Let’s go, let’s go!”

Aang flicked his glider open and deflected the blast, and Katara grabbed Y/N’s hand as they all began to run. Another blast rocked the mountain, causing several boulders to fall just above Suki. Y/N didn’t even have time to shout out a warning before Sokka tackled her out of the way, but it was ultimately more of Toph’s quick earthbending that saved him.

“Suki, are you okay?” Sokka brushed dust and pebbles off of her uniform as he examined her, and once he was satisfied he grabbed her hand and helped her up. “You have to be more careful! Come on!”

As the two of them caught up to Y/N and Katara, she gave Suki a knowing look. The warrior only blushed once again and glanced away.

After hours of navigating the pass, they were only about halfway through. Sokka made the executive decision to set up camp for the night to give everyone time to rest, and then they would get up at the crack of dawn to finish their trip. It only took a few minutes for Y/N to get a fire going, and soon everyone had settled in with their sleeping bags. Sokka got up from his spot as Suki wandered closer to the edge, and Katara nudged Y/N with her shoulder.

“Hey. How are your hands doing?”

“They’re fine,” she answered with a small smile, flipping her hands over as proof. Where there were once red burn scars on her palms only tiny white marks remained — one benefit to healing via waterbending was that most injuries were able to fade away completely after enough sessions. Her burns weren’t very serious and she was able to heal them almost immediately, so both her and Katara were sure that the marks would be completely gone soon.

The mental scars wouldn’t fade as easily.

“That’s good. And you’re taking care of them, right? Like, you’re not beating up people while we’re not looking?”

Y/N grinned. “No. I think I’ll leave that to Toph.”

Katara chuckled and nodded, turning her hands over in a final examination before nodding. “Good,” she repeated. The silence between them, although comfortable, stretched out for a little too long before she spoke again, this time much quieter. “He did this to you.”

“Katara…”

“I know,” she said. “I know you probably don’t want to hear this from me, or really at all, but… I’m worried about you. Zuko isn’t good for you. Every time we’ve run into him, he’s hurt you. And you deserve so much more than that.”

“You don’t understand,” she countered. “You don’t know Zuko like I do. You weren’t there when I was. I know you think I’m insane for still believing in him, but I— I can’t let go of him, Katara. I know the Zuko I love is still in there somewhere, and I have to try and find it. For me and for him.”

Katara’s eyes were full of nothing but sympathy as she sighed — it was obvious she didn’t believe her words, but in true fashion she was still trying her best to be supportive.

“Okay. I don’t understand it, but… I don’t think I can change your mind.” Y/N chuckled sadly and nodded, Katara’s piercing gaze meeting her own once more. “It’s just… Why are you playing with fire when you know you’re going to get burned?”

And for once, Y/N didn’t have an answer for her friend.

~~~~~~~~~

The night went by quickly, which Y/N was thankful for. It meant that the nightmares didn’t last as long.

After a quick headcount to make sure no one had fallen off the pass overnight and an even quicker gathering of their things, they set off to finish their journey.

It went just as well as she had expected — a giant serpent, the namesake of the pass, had attacked them while crossing through an underwater section. Thankfully, she was able to aid Katara and Aang in defeating it with waterbending with no casualties

But in the wake of one disaster there was always another, and before Y/N knew it a baby had been born. She was mostly there for moral support — Katara had it all handled, and Y/N didn’t expect anything less.

But finally, they had made it across the pass, and they were so close to Ba Sing Se that she could almost smell the city air. Sadly, though, that meant it was time for them to part ways — Aang to find Appa, and Suki back to her warriors. After some sad but hopeful goodbyes with Aang, it was time to bid farewell to Suki.

“Are you sure you can’t travel a little longer with us?” Y/N questioned, apparently not above pleading to try and get the girl to stay. “You’re— you’re amazing, and we’d really love to have you with us.”

“I can’t even imagine what travelling with the Avatar would be like,” she smiled, causing Y/N to get her hopes up for just a moment before they fell back down. “But I can’t stay. I have to get back to the Kyoshi Warriors.”

Y/N sighed, her gaze falling slightly downcast. “I get that. I just really wish you could stay. Or that I could meet your warriors. You seriously don’t know how cool you are, Suki.”

“Well, if you’re ever in town on Kyoshi Island, find us. I’m sure we’ll be able to work something out and do you one better than just meeting them all,” she said with a grin. “I think it’d be pretty cool to have the first waterbending Kyoshi Warrior.”

Y/N was unable to prevent the heat rushing to her cheeks as she smiled shyly, once again averting eye contact. “That would be amazing. I’ll have to find my way back there after the war.”

Suki bumped shoulders with her, causing a startled laugh to spill from her lips. “We’d love to have you.”

“Wait, why does it sound like you’re saying goodbye to her?” Sokka questioned as he walked up to the two of them. Y/N winked at Suki and gestured at him with her head, walking off before Suki could protest to find Katara.

The conversation the two girls were sharing was an extremely thinly veiled excuse to eavesdrop on the lovebirds, and when they kissed Y/N actually had to hold back a scream.

Sokka deserved this. She knew how much he beat himself up over every little thing that went wrong, and it was about time he got to relax even for a moment. She only hoped that Suki would be in their corner of the world sooner rather than later.

What could she say? She was already fantasizing about life as a Kyoshi Warrior.

~~~~~~~~~

Although they had parted ways, they soon found themselves reunited with Aang to stop yet another Fire Nation threat.

“For the love of Kuruk,” Y/N murmured as she stared into the distance, her eyes wide at the sight of a large mechanical drill. “That was Ty Lee who just took down all those soldiers. And if she’s here, Mai and Azula are with her too. Guys, It’s one thing to stop this drill, it’s another thing to take those three down with it.”

“The question is, how do we do it?” Aang questioned.

“Why can nothing ever be easy?” Sokka lamented. His gaze remained trained on the drill for a moment before he realized theirs were on him. “Why are you all looking at me?”

“You’re the idea guy,” Aang said.

“Wait, so I’m the only one who can ever come up with a plan?” he protested. “That’s a lot of pressure!”

“And also the complaining guy,” Katara muttered, drawing a chuckle out from Y/N.

“Now that part I don’t mind,” Sokka admitted.

“Well, Sokka— you were a huge help in the North, and you figured out a way to defeat the Fire Nation during that eclipse at the library! Plus, there’s all that stuff that Katara told me you did before I joined.” She patted him on the back. “If anyone can figure out how to take that thing down, it’s you.”

He shrugged nonchalantly, his ego only slightly bolstered. “...okay. I think I can do it.”

“That’s the spirit!” she said with a smile.

Unfortunately, that smile faded as a young guard came running up to the wall. “Excuse me, Avatar and friends — I’ve heard that you’ve dealt with that… that pink girl down there before.” They nodded and he continued. “It would do us a great deal of help if you could come down and look at our injured soldiers, then.”

Y/N and Katara nodded in unison and started to follow the guard, the remaining three trailing after them. They ended up inside the wall, in what looked like an infirmary of sorts with all the cots and soldiers lying around, and the two waterbenders exchanged looks.

“You know what to do?” Katara asked.

Y/N hummed in acknowledgment, and they both knelt down next to separate cots. “This definitely looks like Ty Lee’s work,” she murmured as she bent water up from the pot and molded it over the man’s arm.

“What’s wrong with him?” the general questioned. “He doesn’t look injured.”

“His chi is blocked,” Katara explained. “Who did this to you?”

“Two girls ambushed us,” the soldier said, moving his arm as he regained feeling. “One of them hit me with a bunch of quick jabs and suddenly I couldn't earthbend anymore and I could barely move. Then she cartwheeled away.”

Katara sighed as she bent the water back into the pot. “You were right, Y/N. That was Ty Lee — she doesn’t look dangerous, but she knows the human body and its weak point. It’s like she takes you down from the inside.”

As if struck by lightning, Sokka lit up. “Oh, oh, oh! What you just said — that’s how we’re going to take down the drill; the same way Ty Lee took down all those earthbenders!”

“By hitting its pressure points!” Toph exclaimed with a grin.

The breakthrough brought a steely determination to Aang’s features as he looked out into the distance. “We’ll take it down from the inside.”

~~~~~~~~~

Like everything they did, it seemed so simple on paper. But now that she was actually inside the drill, it felt a lot more nerve wracking. Toph opted to stay outside where she could see and try to slow down the drill with the earth at her disposal, which left the four of them to somehow take it down from the inside.

Sokka led them through a hallway with a myriad of valves and pipes as he thought out loud. “I need a plan of this machine — some schematics that show what the inside looks like. Then we can find its weak points.”

“Where are we gonna get something like that?” Aang asked.

Sokka thought for a moment before he took his machete out and hacked a valve off a pipe. Y/N instinctively took a step back and shielded her face from the hot steam. “What are you doing?” she cried. “Someone’s gonna hear us!”

“That’s the point!” he exclaimed. “A machine this big needs engineers to run it, and when something breaks—”

“Someone will come down to fix it!” Katara finished with a smile at Aang, a sentiment the boy returned happily.

It was surprisingly easy to take down the engineer once he arrived — with a little bit of frozen mist on Katara’s end, they had the plans they needed. Sokka’s expertise combined with the blueprints got them to the beginning of the outer shell.

“Wow,” Sokka muttered. “It looks a lot thicker than it does in the plans. We’re gonna have to work pretty hard to cut through that.”

Katara crossed her arms. “What’s this ‘we’ stuff? The three of us are gonna have to do all the work.”

“Look, I’m the plan guy!” Sokka explained with a gesture to himself. “You three are the ‘cut up stuff with waterbending’ guys. Together, we’re Team Avatar!”

Katara and Aang looked wholly unamused while Y/N chuckled. “Team Avatar. I like it.”

“Thank you,” he smiled. “At least someone appreciates my genius.”

“Tui’s gills, why do you have to keep boosting his ego?” Katara complained. “Let’s just get this done before it gets worse.”

The three of them got in position — Katara and Aang on opposite sides so they could pass the stream of water between them, and Y/N making the point of the triangle to work on the other side on her own. They were hoping it would be more efficient being able to cut through both sides at the same time, but it was proving to be much more difficult than they had imagined — halfway through the three of them were already exhausted.

By some feat of strength they were able to completely cut through the brace, but their hard work didn’t pay off in quite the way they had imagined — when the beam only shifted a few inches she groaned.

“Oh, you have got to be kidding me,” she breathed as she wiped sweat off of her forehead.

“At this rate,” Katara paused to inhale deeply, “we won’t do enough damage before the drill reaches the wall.”

“I don’t know how many more of those I have in me,” Aang said sadly.

A large creak suddenly rang throughout the large chamber, and they all looked up for the source.

“Did you hear that?” Sokka asked, already backing up to make an exit. “We took it down! We gotta get out of here, fast!”

Just as they reached the door on the other side, a crackle followed by the sound of a man’s voice dashed their hopes. “Congratulations, crew. The drill has made contact with the wall of Ba Sing Se. Start the countdown to victory!”

A collective silence hung in the air between them, the threat now even more imminent as their situation sunk in. Mai and Ty Lee had proven effective in taking down any Earth Kingdom threat posed at them, and despite Toph’s skill they knew she couldn’t take down something like this on their own.

They either had to figure out a way to destroy this drill, or the Fire Nation was going to make it into the city.

Sokka ran back over to the brace and pushed against it, putting all his strength into the feat but to no avail. “Come…. on! Move!”

Katara started pacing around in a small circle, crossing her arms again as she tried to think of something. “This is bad. This is really bad.”

“Sokka, that’s not going to work!” Y/N didn’t mean to snap, but the grinding of metal on metal combined with her nervousness got to her. She sighed and ran her hand over her face. “I— I’m sorry. But it’s still not going to work.”

He groaned as he leaned against the brace. “We’re putting everything we have into busting these things, but it’s taking too long!”

Suddenly, Aang jumped up from the ground with stars in his eyes. “Maybe we don’t need to cut all the way through! Toph — she’s been teaching me that you shouldn’t put a hundred percent of your energy in any one strike. Sokka, get in a fighting stance.”

Sokka complied and as Aang talked through his points, he demonstrated it on Sokka. “You've got to be quick and accurate. Hit a series of points and break your opponent's stance. And when he's reeling back, you deliver the final blow. His own weight becomes his downfall, literally.”

As Sokka fell over from the attack, Katara lit up. “So we just need to weaken the braces instead of cutting all the way through—”

“—then I can go to the top of this thing and deliver the final blow!” Aang finished.

Y/N helped Sokka up from the ground, his spirits not dampened at all. “Then boom! This whole thing goes down!”

“Then what are we waiting for?” Y/N asked, flexing her fingers to refresh them for all the bending she was going to have to do. “Aang, Katara and I can handle the braces. Focus on getting up to the top before anyone sees you.”

He nodded and they all met each other with determined eyes. “Everyone inside that wall, the whole world — they’re all counting on us.”

“Here, take this. You need this more than I do. ” Katara took her waterskin off and handed it to Aang. “Good luck. And be careful.”

Y/N noticed a slight blush on her cheeks and she had to hold back her smile. That was definitely something she was going to tease her friend about later — when they weren’t trying to stop the Fire Nation from breaking into Ba Sing Se.

“I will,” he assured. Aang slung the strap of the waterskin around his shoulder and took off, and Y/N and Katara got to work breaking through the rest of the braces.

With the knowledge that they only had to cut through half of each column and the revitalization that came from having a plan, their work went by much quicker. Just when they finished the final brace, it all went wrong.

“Good work, Team Avatar!” Sokka cheered. “Now we— Y/N, duck!”

She didn’t question Sokka as she immediately dropped to the ground, something she was immensely thankful for as a blast of blue fire seared past her. Her eyes snapped up to the source of the attack and narrowed in recognition.

“Of course they’re here,” she growled as she pulled herself back up. “We gotta go, now!”

Katara and Sokka nodded and they all started running. Bringing up the rear, Y/N was able to hear Azula’s words right before they split off into an intersection:

“Follow them! I’m going to find the Avatar.”

Sure enough, when she allowed a glance back, Mai and Ty Lee were closing in on them. She flicked open the cap of her waterskin and bent some out, managing to freeze it at just the right moment to block the incoming daggers from Mai. Still running, she melted it quickly and let it fall to the ground before freezing it again, creating some ice on the ground that would hopefully give them a few more seconds of leeway.

“That should give us some time!” she yelled as they turned a corner, finally turning her attention back to the path in front of them. “Any idea how we’re gonna get out of this thing?”

“Maybe!” Sokka yelled back, slowing to a stop as they came to a dead end, a large hatch the only thing at their disposal. He started tugging on the wheel in an attempt to open it, and when Y/N joined in they were able to wrench it open.

“Slurry pipeline?” Katara frowned as she read the sign on the wall and looked at Sokka. “What does that mean?”

“It’s rock and water mixed together,” he explained as they looked into the rushing liquid underneath the hatch. “It means it’s our way out!”

Katara nodded and climbed in, Sokka following close after. The sound of metal footsteps got closer and closer, and Y/N ducked inside just as Mai’s knives clanked against the hatch. Never before had she been so happy to be floating in a stream of slurry.

The rest of their mission went by surprisingly easy — at least, on their end. All it took was some waterbending — earthbending, when Toph joined them — and encouragement from Sokka (though unappreciated by Katara). Whatever magic Aang was working at the top of the drill had done its job, because soon enough the drill had collapsed in on itself.

And now, they had reunited on the top of the wall overlooking the sunset. After the chaos that had been their day, it was nice to just relax for even a moment. And there was no better way to do so than with her friends.

“I just want to say, good effort out there, Team Avatar!” Sokka exclaimed as he threw an arm around Y/N’s shoulder.

“Enough with the ‘Team Avatar’ stuff,” Katara said dryly. “No matter how many times you say it, it’s not going to catch on.”

“I like it, Sokka,” Y/N smiled. “I’ve liked it this whole time.”

“You always appreciate my genius, Y/N,” he mused. “That’s why I appreciate you.” She laughed and leaned her head against his shoulder as he continued to list off names.

“How about… the Boomeraang squad! Eh? See, it’s good because it’s boomerang, and it has Aang in it—”

“Yeah Sokka,” Toph interrupted. “We got it.”

Aang grinned and scratched his head. “I kinda like that one.”

“The Aang Gang. Ooh, the Fearsome Fivesome!”

“You’re crazy,” Toph muttered as she walked away.

“Wait, Sokka—” Y/N pulled away from him and held up her pointer finger. “Aang Gang — what if we combine it, so it’s just the Gaang? But still with Aang’s name?”

And at that moment, Sokka looked more proud than ever. “Oh, you— you are a genius.”

“Oh, spirits,” Katara groaned. “Why do you insist on encouraging him?”

“You’re just jealous of our name-making abilities,” Sokka said haughtily.

She rolled her eyes but couldn’t stop herself from laughing. “You two are completely ridiculous, you know that? Let’s just get into the city before the trains stop running.”

Y/N and Sokka winked at each other as they all started walking, unable to keep the smile off of her face. She always thought it was amazing — they went through insane things every day, but at the end of it all she was always able to smile because of them. And as her gaze drifted towards the city in the distance, she hoped it would hold true.

She had no idea what Ba Sing Se had in store for her.

-

shit is gonna happen next chapter so i hope you all are READY bc im not

perm tags: @dv0412 @siriuslyslyslytherin @maruchan77

atla tags: @marianne1806 @brown-eyed-thang @akiris

ehfar tags: @chandies-sideblog @zacatecanaaaa @anzanity @randomthingssss @escapingthoughtsandsecrets @shanksfav @shephard17895 @ilovespideyyy @carisi-sonny @selfship-mishaps @i-belong-in-fandoms @ilistentotayswifttocope @i-make-questionable-choices @3leni

[thelordofdarkreunion]

The Worst Planet in the Universe

The “humans are weird/earth is space Australia” stories that are quite famous here usually have aliens reacting to how they think humanity or Earth is really strange and bizarre.  So, I got an idea: what if people could react not to Earth, but to one of the singular worst planets in all of science fiction?  Here, we have some of the characters of the Magnificent Scoundrels reacting to the planet of Krieg and its infamous Death Korps from Warhammer 40k.  

Death Korps is pronounced “death core” not “death corpse.”   Jeicher is pronounced the German way, as “yay-cur”, not “jai-cher.”  

“In life, war.  In death, peace.  In life, suffering.  In death, atonement.”  -Final litany of the Litany of Sacrifice, recited by the Guardsmen of the Death Korps of Krieg when entering battle

The shuttle slipped through the dead and polluted atmosphere, shields raised to their fullest capacity to avoid the boiling streaks of orange lightning.  The occupants of the shuttle stared warily out the window, still nervous even though their craft was in the hands of some of the best pilots in the universe.  

“I still don’t understand why we’re here,” said Commissar Cain from a strapped-in seat in the shuttle’s rear.  

“Well, we’re visiting planets from each other’s galaxies,” replied Admiral Vir from the cockpit as he and Solo desperately tried to avoid the lighting.  

“Yeah, I know that,” snapped back Cain.  “What I don’t understand is why we’re here.  Out of all the planets in the galaxy, you pick this one.”  

“You wanted to know more about populous Imperial Guard regiment homeworlds, and you said Krieg sounded like an interesting name,” muttered Solo as a particularly large blast lit up the cockpit window.  “Starting to regret that now?”

“I most certainly am!” screamed Dr. Kril from inside the heavy clear plastic compartment designed to hold him when accompanying Vir off the Omen.  “And I thought Earth was a death world!”  

“Radiation levels are approaching 3,700 roentgan,” said Vir, crisply reading off the cockpit instruments.  

“We’re all gonna die,” wailed Kril.  

The shuttle’s communication system crackled to life, and a dry, toneless voice sounded over it. 

“Shuttle B-77401, you are clear of the storm in twenty seconds.  Please proceed to landing pad RT-556 at coordinates 66579.  Radiation levels on ground are currently 1,500 roentgan.”  

“I remember reading up on your horrible human disasters, and that’s the level of radiation the Chernobyl disaster had right next to the plant as the fires were still going!” screeched Kril.  “I will not be stepping foot on this planet!  If you have a death wish, that's fine with me, but I won’t be leaving the shuttle!”  He crossed his arms and sat against the container wall.  Vir and Solo didn’t have time to respond.

“Breaking storm now.”  The lightning and horrible, swirling grey clouds cleared, only to reveal a scene of utter devastation.  The land below was an endless expanse of grey and brown.  Entire swaths of earth were covered with grey dust.  Other areas were endless seas of irradiated mud, with ancient and rusted barbed wire, empty concrete bunkers, and long abandoned and corroded gun emplacements sticking out from the infinite brown.  A few ossified trees, long dead, peeked up in places, the only signs of life, or what was once life, on the planet.  

“What happened here?” murmured Vir.  

“A tale of tragedy, and betrayal,” replied Cain softly.  “Once upon a time, some 1,500 years ago, Krieg was a massive city world.  The ruling oligarchy decided to turn their backs on the Emperor and rebel against the Imperium of Man.  The commander of the loyalist Guard forces decided that if the Imperium couldn’t have the planet, no one would.  But despite the unleashing of a stash of Dark Age nuclear weapons, the people of Krieg survived, and loyalist fought traitor in a five hundred year long war in the trenches of the wastes.”  The shuttle was silent, imagining how horrible such a war would be.  This singular civil war, on this singular planet, eclipsed even the most horrible of fights from most of their home galaxies.  “Eventually, the loyalists won, and rejoined the Imperium.  Ever since, the people of Krieg have fought in the deadliest of Imperial warzones to repent for their ancient betrayal.”  

“Wait, wait, wait.  There are people that live here?  This isn’t just a military base?” asked an incredulous Solo.

“Yes,” replied Cain.  “They live in massive underground cities, safely shielded from the worst of the radiation aboveground.” 

“My god… there aren’t really words to describe that,” said Vir.  

“Shuttle B-77401, you are cleared for landing,” came the voice of the controller.  “Please wear radiation-proof suits.  Commissar Jeicher will be present along with an honor guard to escort you.”   The brown of mud gave way to a large, circular landing pad sunk into Krieg’s dead earth.  The pad led to a set of stairs, travelling down into a set of heavy, sealed double doors, leading even further down into the ruined planet’s crust.  On the pad were two figures, clad in greatcoats and gasmasks, flanked by a double line of soldiers.  Vir and Solo set the shuttle down.  

In the back, Cain had already pulled the hood of a radiation-proof bodysuit over his head, and attached an anachronistic looking gasmask.  Over this, he donned an old and tattered Commissarial cap and greatcoat.  Vir and Solo also donned much more modern-looking gas masks over their bodysuits, and went to the shuttle’s rear as Kril screeched about the dangers of radiation.  With the quick press of a button, they activated the airlock and stepped onto the surface of the ruined planet.  

Thunder rumbled ominously in the distance as they stepped down the shuttle ramp and came face to face with what they presumed to be Commissar Jeicher.  He was wearing the same outfit as Cain, a Commissar’s cap and greatcoat covering his bodysuit and gas mask.  Behind him was a double rank of soldiers, wearing grey greatcoats and gas masks, clutching their las rifles in the ‘present arms’ position.  Next to Jeicher stood another figure, hands clasped neatly behind their back.  This one was dressed in much fancier boots, and wore a cuirassier’s breastplate.  A brown greatcoat was draped over the figure's shoulders, and Vir assumed it to be an officer.  Jeicher reached out to shake each of the trio’s hands in turn.  

“Admiral Vir.  Captain Solo.  Commissar Cain.  A pleasure to have you on Krieg.  I am Commissar Jeicher, and this is Captain Kust,” he said, pointing to the officer behind him.  Kust offered a single, curt nod.  “You wished to have a tour of the planet, and to see it’s capacity for making war.  I can assure you, gentlemen, that Krieg is one of the finest planets in the Imperium in that regard.  I trust you will not be disappointed.”  As he said this, Jeicher led them down the path leading away from the shuttle and towards the underground tunnels.  As they walked, a series of flashes lit up the horizon, followed by the booming of thunder.  Jeicher raised a gloved hand and gestured in the general direction of the noise.

“About twenty kilometers in that direction, we have the artillery and live-fire drills of the soon to be 712th Death Korps Regiment.  It is the be the newest regiment coming into Imperial service, and the thirtieth Death Korps regiment raised this month.  They will soon be shipping out to Warzone Viclius in the Segmentum Pacificus to break a massive ork siege of the Viclius sector.”  They reached the end of the twin lines of troopers.  

“Right shoulder, arms!” yelled Kust, her voice (Vir could tell it was a ‘her’ underneath the mask now) managing to carry through both her mask and Krieg’s stormy atmosphere.  “Left face!”  The Korpsmen spun to face the heavy blast doors in perfect synchronicity.  Jeicher inputted some sort of code, and, with a great creaking and grinding of metal, the doors slid open.  “Forward, march!”  

The group, followed by the honour guard, stepped into a large white room.  As the doors closed behind them, various nozzles sprayed radiation-retardant foam onto them.  The airlock process completed, the heavy set of double doors in front of them opened.  Despite the decontamination, no one took their masks off.

The halls were quite familiar to Vir, but unlike anything he’d seen as a civilization.  They were long, emotionless white and grey concrete bunker systems, lit by cheap yellow bulbs that still allowed him to see perfectly well.  Endless, emotionless bunker halls.  It saddened him.  What a terrible way to live and grow up.  

Through the long walkways, they passed seemingly thousands of Korpsmen, all wearing grey greatcoats, and staring from behind emotionless gas masks.   They all blurred into one, and Vir was grateful that at least Jeicher, Kust, and their honor guard he could pick out from the crowd.  

They reached another large double blast door, and the two Korpsmen standing guard outside snapped to attention.  The group walked through, only for the three offworlders to stop short.  The entire left half of the hallway was a massive clear window.  Far beneath them, a full division of Death Korps Guardsmen marched through an utterly massive, hangar-sized underground hallway.  It was an endless tide of grey coats and gas masks, the thud of their boots echoing up even past the glass of the observation deck.  Tanks rolled past, along with smaller, two legged armored walkers.  

“That’s the 122nd Siege Army.  Newly formed.  They’re shipping out to the southern part of Segmentum Ultima today,” said Jeicher.  He made another motion, and the group, still followed by Kust and her honor guard, left the observation room.  

They walked through more hallways, still stark and emotionless, until they got to another double door.  This area of tunnels and bunkers seemed to have more Korpsmen around.  Officers, wearing their higher, more polished boots and cuirassiers’ breastplates.  The double doors opened, revealing a much more polished and refined room, made mostly out of metal.  Computers clung to the walls, and workstations were filled with Death Korps soldiers, red-robed cybernetic tech-priests, and unmasked commissars.  

 “This is the central command room of this section of Krieg’s underground cities,” said Jeicher, continuing the tour.  “All the regiments and supplies that are raised and produced in section Alpha-Gamma-551 are tracked here.  As you can see, we have more than enough to outfit the two regiments this sector is raising.”  They went through the room, through another series of hallways, and down multiple sets of solid but plain corrugated steel stairs.  

“Here we have the underground munitions factories of Krieg,” said Jeicher, gesturing through another glass panel on an observation deck.  This time, the windows led onto an utterly massive factory floor.  Conveyor belts led to unknown machines, and churned out endless numbers of what seemed to be artillery shells.  “As you can see, everything is completely on schedule.”  Vir noticed workers, all wearing heavy grey suits and gas masks below.  Some of them seemed to be… off, and it took a moment for him to realize precisely why. 

“Wait a minute… are those children?” he wheeled around and demanded at Jeicher.  He was met with the empty lenses of a gas mask.

“Yes,” replied Jeicher.  “I do realize that many off-worlders not of the Munitorum or Mechanicus find the practice… distasteful, but-”

“Distasteful doesn’t even begin to cover it.  More like abhorrent,” snarled Vir.  

“If you cannot fight, you must serve,” intoned Kust.  “All infertile males serve in the Death Korps.  Most fertile males and infertile females serve in the Death Korps.  Most fertile females and some fertile males serve in the munitions factories.  Children cannot go to waste,” she finished, rattling off the practices of Krieg in a completely toneless voice.  Vir looked like he was about to explode.  Cain put a hand on his shoulder, and nodded towards the honor guard and their las guns.  Noticing the mood in the room, Jeicher went on.

“I think it’s best if we go on,” he said.  The group followed him through another set of hallways, and when Kust was out of earshot, Jeicher spoke to the trio of newcomers.  

“Please don’t antagonize the Kriegers,” he said.  “That’s why they have commissars, actually.  To ease the transition between them and any allied forces.” “They deserve to die,” hissed Vir, still shaking with rage.  Jeicher gave a mirthless laugh.

“Oh, they do.  Their entire purpose, their entire existence, is to die in the Emperor’s wars.  They want this.”

“Why?” asked Solo.  “Why would anyone want this?”

“They are driven by one of the most powerful motivators in the world.  Not anger, not love, not faith, but shame.  Shame of their ancient rebellion.  In the Emperor’s service, the Death Korps will pay any price.”  

The group reached another viewing balcony.  This one overlooked a much smaller room, where a group of children in grey overcoats drilled with small las carbines.  Vir clenched his fist in rage, but said nothing.  

“Present arms!” yelled an adult and fully uniformed drill sergeant from behind his gas mask.  The children held out their weapons in front of them, many with as much or even more precision than Vir had seen of new GA marine recruits.  Most of them looked to be no older than six or seven, making the workers in the factory even younger… 

No.  He did not want to think about that.  

The drill instructor moved along the line of recruits (or children, if you were fortunate enough to not be raised in a post-apocalyptic militaristic hellhole, thought Vir.)  The instructor spun and glared at one of the cadets.  

“P-44271930,” he stated.

“Yes, sir!” replied the cadet, with the enthusiasm of a fresh recruit.

“What is your duty, P-44271930?” asked the instructor.  

“To serve the Emperor’s will,” replied the cadet.

“And what is the Emperor’s will?” queried the instructor.

“That we fight and die!”  Vir clenched down so hard he crushed the balcony bar in the viewing room.

“What is death?” asked the instructor.

“It is our duty!” replied the cadet.  The instructor nodded.  

“Very good, P-44271930.”  He took a step back.  “Right shoulder, arms!”  Vir looked at Jeicher.

“They’re calling them by their serial numbers at that young of an age?” he asked, still fuming.  Jeicher inwardly cringed.  He suspected the esteemed Admiral would not like what came next.  

“They don’t have names,” said Kust, with the subtlety of a sledgehammer.  

“What?” asked Vir, in a ‘please, do try my patience’ tone.  

“None of us have names,” replied Kust.  

“You have a name,” pointed out Vir. 

“You only get a name if you survive long enough to become an officer,” replied Kust.  

“Really?”  Vir wheeled around to face the leader of the honor guard.  “What’s your name?” he asked.

“YH-5577933,” replied the man, in a completely emotionless voice.  Vir threw his hands in the air, completely done.

“Fine.”  He nodded at Jeicher.  “Continue the tour,” he snapped.  Jeicher nodded, and motioned them on.  I have to get off this place as soon as possible, thought Vir.  This is… beyond anything I thought possible.

I hope you enjoyed it.  I find Krieg and the Death Korps are one of the most interesting groups in science fiction.  Motivated by shame, they represent the worst humanity could ever become.  However, they are utter badasses in battle.  If you aren’t afraid to die, you can pull of some pretty heroic things.  If you have any questions, comments, criticisms, concerns, requests, or want me to continue this story, please tell me!  Have a great day!

It should be noted, of course, I do not own any of these characters.  Vir and Kril belong to starr-fall-knight-rise, Cain belongs to Games Workshop, and Solo belongs to Disney.

[crowning-art]

TGCF SPOILERS

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

WHAT?

WHAAT?

LOL is this in even possible?? Can someone roll their eyes out of anger???

Fu Yao was going to roll his eyes from anger. “THEN WHY DON’T YOU LET ME GO SO I CAN TRY, HUH??”

Lol It looks like Xie Lian unknowingly brought down the three tumors (I mean if it counts that Pei Su brought Pei Ming down), unless Pei Ming has smt else?? That's kinda funny lol

no wait

it's not T-T (Wind master my beloved, I think of you every day)

Wait nooooo, wdym???//

Fu Yao puffed a laugh from exasperation and cut him off. “That’s enough! It’s not like no one knows of the personal grudges between you two. Help him investigate? Would he even have the chance to flip this around then? If you want to use this chance to drag him down and laugh at him, just say so instead of acting all fake.

WHAT DO YOU MEAN? THIS IS SO SAD, WHY WOULD U HAVE A GRUDGE T-T I thought Mu Qing stood by him when Xianle fell qflkfnekfj Im so sad WHY DID HE LEAVE

Lmao, I love this, like just imagine a nicely dressed toddler going off at a heavenly official and the official is LOSING lol

Fu Yao glanced at him and taunted, “‘Kid’?”

Hua Cheng returned his respects and mocked back, “‘Junior Official’?”

Fu Yao’s face dropped slightly.

Lmao This was golden

Someone like Mu Qing, even though he’s narrow-minded, petty, sensitive and skeptical, has a bad personality, constantly guessing, doesn’t say nice things, likes to nag, always offending people and has a lot of people who dislike him, has no friends, can remember small, unimportant details for a long period of time…”

“...”

Xie Lian went on in one breath with a straight face, but in the end he concluded with, “...But I’ve known him since we were kids, after all, he’s still got principles.”

“...”

Xie Lian continued, “He might spit in the cup of someone he doesn’t like, but he would never poison the water to harm others.”

“...”

Hua Cheng commented flatly, “Really? That’s still gross though.”

Fu Yao was popping veins. “NO! He would never spit either!”

“Laxatives then,” Xie Lian said.

ok, at this point, if any big reveal happens, it means someone we already know (AND MAY LOVE) will be brought down. In this case..

WHAT THE FU

WHAT THE FUUUU

FIRST OF ALL, FENG XIN WAS MARRIED?? OR ATLEAST IN A RELATIONSHIP???? WHAT IS THIS????

ok in retrospect I should have seen this coming since he had such an aversion to women which means there's obvi some backstory

AND THEN

AND THEN

THE FREAKING FETUS CHILD IS HIS SON???? HE IS THE DAD? WHAT IN GOD'S NAME???? IM REEELING ILFBWILBFILWBF I DIDNT SEE THIS COMING FROM A MILE AWAY???

WRONG??/

WRONG???

I WASNT EVEN CLOSE

OH GOD I WAS SO IGNORANT, SUCH A FOOL BACK THEN GOD THIS IS SUCH A DISASTER, A TRAIN WRECK, AND I DONT EVEN KNOW FOR WHO

what happens to my fengqing ship now :(

Jun Wu, why u being so creepy? Lmao Hualian having a moment and he's just sitting in the corner lol. Plz knock

Ouch...

Xie Lian had long understood that leading people and leading armies wasn’t something he was good at.

Lol why can't Hua Cheng just end the slaughtering himself? Like the final ghost from the 'kiln'. I mean he will be in control once the slaughtering starts, right? and it won't benefit him to have another supreme anyway.

I mean if he does still go out of control, then nvm lol

HE'S SO CUTE

Xie Lian was amazed watching this. He leapt up lightly, hopping out of the window. As he stood among the field full of little earth mounds, it gave him the illusion of being a giant looking down below.

Wow, ok things are gonna go down so fast now, if Jun Wu does end up going to finish the final ghost and Xie Lian is put in charge. I mean how much more messier can it get?

wait no.

Nvm.

It can get worse -_-

NEW INFO

So white-clothed calamity was the worst of the four???? so much so that Jun Wu had to kill him himself???? BRO WHAT DID HE EVEN DO?? AND HOW BAD DID IT GET THAT JU WU HAD TO GET PERSONALLY INVOLVED???

Curious to see what Hua Cheng is gonna recommend as an alternative (and interesting that he's suggesting it, I guess it might be cuz he doesn't want Xie Lian involved with such a messy place as the upper court. Like it was pretty messed before many people were brought down, so who knows how much worse it is)

Also, at this rate, I'm gonna run out of shocked face gifs to add cuz of how many times I need to use them lol

[wavesmp3]

fake title: 'are you happy?'

are you happy? | juyeon x reader | a mess of a concept, vaguely post-apocalyptic(?) | warnings: death, gore

time has a funny way of waxing and waning through your life. it slows and stops for years and years and years. and then it's running past you, a blur of moments painted before you in hues of pink and blue. time was slow when the rekshi came. when they appeared five years ago, stealing the scream from your lips and people from your life. you swear time stopped when they got sangyeon. and sometimes it feels like time hasn't restarted since. like you're still stuck in that moment, the stench of gasoline, the rekshi's screech, sangyeon's. burned flesh smells terrible--you know that now. people, no matter how small, have a lot of blood. you know that too. you learned about amnesia after trauma in a psychology class seven years ago. you wish it'd happen to you already. that you could wake up and forget all of it. every wretched second of the time that hasn't moved since the rekshi took sangyeon from you.

but then again, time isn't always so unbearably still. other time's its quick, like a bullet, like disaster. it's knocking your door down and pushing you against the wall, gun to your head and knife to your throat. time can be faster than any car or ship or aircraft. it's faster than you can run. faster than anyone. but the funny thing about time is that once it does finally start, it doesn't know how to stop.

time re-started, a year after sangyeon and five days after meeting juyeon through a close call with a rekshi that you just barely saved him from. near-death experiences do that to people. bind them together like red threads of fate. "it's a good thing we don't meet a lot of people then," you had told juyeon, five days on the road with him and the soulmate metaphor still falling off his lips.

"why's that?"

"everyday is near death."

he had laughed. and you swear that alone made time start again. a distant ticking of a clock buried under the sound of his giggle.

and time hasn't really slowed down since. it didn't slow when you told him about sangyeon nor did it when he told you about changmin. time doesn't even hesitate when you kiss juyeon for the first time, doesn't stop to breathe when he kisses you back. it doesn't pause when you and juyeon meet sunwoo.

and when the rekshi take sunwoo, the same sickening way as sangyeon, time only seems to speed up.

"no one else." you whisper against juyeon's neck one night, a month after sunwoo. a vow to yourself between the lines of your request to him. a vow to never make yourself feel that pain again. "only us two from now on."

"okay." he whispered back, just as solemnly, just as heartbroken, just as lost. "only us."

the mutual promise is broken by you and him five months after that night. but neither of you could turn away when the little girl asked for help, neither of you could walk away when it was so obvious that she had no where else to go.

but even then, time doesn't slow down. time doesn't stop or break or pause when the rekshi get her too, a year after you both found her. time doesn't wait for you to catch up to it. you want to take your fist and shatter the entire concept. you want to take the entire idea of time in your arms and throw it off the tallest cliff in the farthest corner of the world. you want to be something else altogether, something beyond time. unaffected by it.

things change after the little girl goes. a gut-wrenching realization that lands like a rock in the pit of your stomach when juyeon's laugh no longer manages to bury the ticking clock. juyeon laughs, and you can only wonder how much longer you have with him. it's been three years now, almost as long as you had sangyeon before the rekshi came.

you remember what he said to you all those years ago, when you were both still strangers, before you knew his heart like your childhood home, before his name sounded like prayer slipping off your tongue. you remember how he said near-death experiences bind people together like the mythical red threads of fate. is that what means to be bound to someone? is a soulmate, for all its nuance, simply just the person by your side in the face of death? to stare death in the eyes like an old friend with his hand in yours?

you remember what you said after. how everyday was near-death. and when you said that, you thought you had no more than a year left in you. that if you had managed to survive past the rekshi, you wouldn't have survived your own head. give it a year, you had told yourself a week before meeting juyeon, a year before grief wraps me like a blanket and suffocates me with its falsely warm arms. it had been a dramatic sentiment, you were quite dramatic before juyeon. sometimes you still are. but you believed it. and you kept on believing it until a year had passed. sunwoo still alive and you still alive too. grief hadn't encompassed like you thought it would. instead, it slithered away the way the cold does between february and march. a surprisingly warm day. and then another. and then it's may and you're laying in the sand with juyeon under the sun. sunwoo gone, but still not cold. not the way you were after sangyeon at least. you lay beside juyeon, eyes closed and relishing in the light of the sun, and wondering when grief stopped being a weighted blanket that sat on your chest and threatened to crush your lungs. you wonder when grief became a small presence that sits at your feet, unbothered, until you decide to take it your arms and hold the freezing thing against your cheek and heart. you wonder when grief stopped being the default. when it become choice, not one made to feel sad, but rather, one made to remember.

that day, in the sand and under the may sun, you remember turning to juyeon and saying it was more than soulmates. he was more than just bound to you and especially not by some wavering red thread. he was your air. your water. the sound of laughter. a reason to keep on running after time. someone to hand the cold weight of grief to, passing it back and forth like kids playing catch, someone to hug when you held it for too long. someone to remind you to set grief back down and that it's okay to occasionally forget about the lives that were. about sunwoo and sangyeon. someone to catch you when you spend too long staring at the grief by your feet, someone to push your chin up and tell you to look at the sun. look ahead. look at me. someone to say don't go. someone to stay for.

but that was nearly two years ago. that was before the little girl. before he looked at her and saw what you see in him. someone to stick around for. things change after the little girl, but it's less to do with you and more to do with juyeon. more to do with the fact that the girl is gone and you aren't enough to stick around for.

"stop the car." you say one day, abruptly, the words coming out like a confession. he does. as suddenly as you said it. you nearly slam your head against the dash.

you're out of the car immediately. running through a field of tall grass and white flowers. you run and run and run. it's been five years since rekshi appeared, not much less since they took sangyeon. four years since you met juyeon. three since sunwoo died. a little over one since the girl. you run past those memories, collecting them in your arms, carrying each of them, their burdening weight slowing you down because you can't breathe anymore. so you do the next most reasonable thing. you grab the grief at your feet and swallow it, let it inflate your lungs. then you keep running. the field is infinite like time. but you run, never faltering, ripping out the grass accidently, tearing every moment of the past five years apart. and then you stop. at the edge of the cliff. at the rim of the word. you stand in the face of death and beside time itself. finally you've caught up to it. finally you gather it in your arms, fit the seconds between the memories and throw them all off the edge of the world.

you remember a documentary you watched once. you don't remember when you watched it. you've gotten rid of time. but it doesn't matter how recent or long ago you saw it. you watched that documentary once, and you remember it now, at the edge of the world while watching time fall. the documentary was about buffaloes, how they travel in herds and fall off cliffs together. how they must not know what they're doing. how they must be blindly following the buffalo in front. you wish to be like that now. to run and throw yourself off the side of this cliff and have it not be a choice. you've spent so long chasing after time, that now, it almost feels natural to run off the edge of the world behind it. it feels like the only thing left to do. to follow the one before you and fall.

"don't jump!" you hear juyeon scream from behind you.

"i wasn't going to." you whisper, but he can't hear the lie. he's already running towards you, through the field you just tore through, the same one you just stripped bear. he runs to you like he could hear how much you were thinking about the jump--or more accurately--thinking about the fall.

"don't jump." he repeats, breathlessly, coming to a stop ten paces away from you. too far away. he looks scared. hesitant. as if he knows that if he comes any closer you just might. "please. don't jump."

neither of you say anything after that. you stand facing juyeon and your back turned to the edge of the world. you both stand on a field beyond the rest of the world and above time. you both stand like you're the only two people who matter. and maybe that's not just a stupid simile. maybe that's the truth.

"would you?" you ask finally.

a timeless silence follows.

you step towards him once. twice. a third time. he doesn't move. he stands seven paces away from you now, but it feels like worlds apart. like he's at one end and you're at the other.

and despite the world between him and you, you still hear every break in his voice when he chokes out, "it's just been so long."

he falls to his knees.

and you cross the world to get to him. you've always been willing to.

he cries next to the flowers. face half covered by the grass. you stand above him. wondering whether he wishes he was like a buffalo too. wondering if he's waiting for you to fall so that he can follow. for how long have you both been standing at the edge and refusing to fall off for each other?

"juyeon," you kneel down in front of him, "where did you go?"

"i knew her." he sobs. you stare at him. "the girl. she was from my hometown. she didn't remember me. she was so young, but i remembered her. and i knew her mother and her sister. i knew. and it felt like she was untouched by this world, that they couldn't touch her. she gave me hope. like we weren't just sitting and waiting for death, like maybe there's an end to all this. but she's gone. in my head she was invincible. but still, the rekshi got her. and they got sunwoo and changmin and everyone. and i don't want to wait for them to get you too."

you don't say anything. you sit in front of him silently. waiting for the flowers to soak up his sobs. you wait for him. long enough for your memories to have crawled back up from the edge of the world and take their place beside you. the girl was his sangyeon, a tether to life before. you're beyond time. have spent the past four or so year chasing after it, and finally today you caught up and threw it away. all this time, you thought juyeon was right behind you, running after time after you. but you were wrong. he's been stuck in time since the rekshi got her. and before he could catch up to it, you threw it off the ends of earth. you look behind you. you wait for the time you flung past the cliff to crash. and then you wait for a new clock to start clicking. you laugh, for a number of reasons, but mainly to drown the sound of it.

you laugh again because time is a funny thing. you always thought it waxed and waned, slowed down and sped up. but really, time is a circle. and you're in the center. and time is the only thing standing between you and juyeon.

you take the grief at his feet and place it next to the memories beside you. you hold his frozen grief in your hands the same way he's done before with yours.

"deja vu." he mutters, like he can see what you're doing. but he can't. there is no tangible grief for you to hold. it's a metaphor.

"are you happy?"

he sighs. "i was. i am. it's just--"

"no. juyeon." you take his face in your hands, holding him in your palms. this isn't a metaphor. in a world of things that are, this is real. "are you happy?"

he must hear the clock ticking. he frowns. "are you?"

a/n: this piece got a just a bit out of hand.....whoops

[wagner-fell]

Spiders Are Ugly And Other Lies Capitalism Has Told Us (part one)

“Dad,” Astrid called out, shutting the coral coloured front door behind her. “Are you home?”

She dumped her cream tote bag spray painted with the words ‘Washing Machine Heart’ in big, rainbow letters onto one of the stools facing the granite countertop. The rest of the Merry Hoes followed suit. It was weird seeing a person as chaotic as Astrid in such a calm environment.

They were all spending the summer in LA with Astrid and her Dad. It had taken a while for Kevin to convince his family it was a good idea. Especially because he and Blessica had finally put years of pinning behind them. Making out on Kit’s bed at Mina’s third birthday party certainly wasn’t the way they had envisioned it but as the longing was over with, they were happy.

The Chu’s didn’t love the idea of their son living in a different country for three months with his girlfriend but we’re on board once Kevin assured them there was no possible way Blessica could get pregnant.

Kit wasn’t officially sleeping at the Yang’s but at the Institute with his boyfriend. Julian wasn’t so thrilled about the situation but Emma was. She was positively ecstatic about having a training partner as skilled as Kit was, courtesy of Jem and Tessa. Though staying a thirty minute drive away (on the wrong side of the road, Mari noted) wouldn’t keep Kit away for long. Even now he was with them instead of having his own reunion make out session.

Speaking of making out…

Mari rested their chin on the top of Astrid’s head and wrapped their arms around her middle. “Why don’t you show us your room while we wait for your dad to get home.”

It was kinda perfect, Mari often remarked, that she realized her feelings for their best friend weren’t so platonic as she previously led herself to believe at the same time they and Kit realized they were better off as just platonic.

Astrid hit her hand playfully. “That’s not fair!” she whined! ”How dare you take advantage of my constant hornyness when my God-fearing Presbyterian father could be in the next room? Shame! Shame on you, shame on your family, shame on your cow.”

“I’m pretty sure it’s ‘dishonor’”, said Kit, who didn’t even look up from his phone when he addressed her, “but go off I guess.”

Astrid looked like she was questioning all her life choices up to this point. “A white boy knows Mulan better than me.” She shook her head in disgust. Mari could feel the loose hairs of her girlfriend’s ponytail ticking her exposed collar bone. “Mulan.”

Mari laughed before softly brushing their lips against Astrid mop of bleached strands of pastel yellow, pink and blue mixed magnificently with her natural inky black.

“Is hornyness even a word?” Kevin wondered aloud as he observed the knickknacks placed at even intervals utop the kitchen cabinets. Blessica was with him. She was gazing at one of a crab steering a ship when she spotted a slim piece of paper taped below it.

“Ast,” she called. The both looked in her direction, despite Blessica needing the attention of one. “Your dad says he won’t be home till seven. Emergency at work.”

“Which leaves us more than enough time to pack and head over to meet Ty, Dru and Thaìs at the arcade,” said Kit. He finally turned his phone off and shoved it into the back pocket of his ripped jeans. “Marstrid can do the ol’ devil’s tango then catch up to us.”

‘Marstrid’ wrinkled their noses. “I thought we agreed on Astari, Christopher.”

“Astari sounds gayer,” confirmed Kevin, his eyes never leaving the miniature decorations.

“Not to be rude but why does Astari sound gayer?” asked a visibly confused Blessica.

“Because,” answered Mari, unraveling herself from Astrid to slide onto one of the bar stools and reaching into the Jolly Rancher jar, blindly searching for a green, “Astari has ‘star’ in it. Star equals astrology. An obsession with astrology is the price you pay for the gay agenda. Besides, Marstrid sounds like an old southern lady.” Then she furrowed her eyebrows and swiveled to face Astrid. “Southern is Texas, right?” Astrid nooded, a smile so big the Cheshire Cat would be jealous.

Without looking, she stuck her hand in the jar and pulled out a green apple flavoured hard candy on her first try. She held it out to Mari, who snatched it out of her hand with an angry huff.

“Hey, Ast, where do you guys keep the crisps?” asked Kevin when he finished inspecting all the knickknacks.

“Uh, under the barbecue sauce, I think.”

Kit’s eyes lit up. “So I’m sitting there”- Astrid understood what was happening in just enough time to quote- “barbecue sauce on my titties” in unison.

Mari put her head into their open palms, still sucking on the pity candy. “Why is this my type?”

“Are you sure this is the right place?” asked Blessica as Kit attempted to parallel park outside the location Ty had texted him to meet at. Key word, attempt. When Tessa had taught him to drive, he’d been such a disaster at parallel parking she had instructed him to ‘take the underground when tight spaces might be a possibility.’ Which he prided himself in doing. But this was America and the underground was called the subway, so, technically, no rules were being broken.

“Yes, Blessie, I’m certain.”

“Okay. Just checking cause a few turns back the GPS said-”

“Blessie!” He nearly crashed into the car in front of him.

“Right. Shutting up.”

When Kit managed to park with minimal damage and the three were about to exit, the voice of Nicki Minaj boomed from his pocket. Ty was calling him. He accepted the call, putting it on speaker.

“Hello Tiberius.” There was giggling from the other end of the line. A groan soon followed it.

“It’s been a year,” came the annoyed voice of Dru. “Get over your British kink already.” Kevin’s laughter echoed from the backseat.

“Hey Ty!

“Hi Kevin.”

”Hey Dru!”

“Fuck off.”

“Ouch. Why do you feel the need to hurt me so?” Blessica laughed.

“Hey…Thaìs?”

“Here,” replied Thaìs cheerfully.

“Are you here yet,” asked Ty.

“Uh, yeah! We were just getting out of the rental car when you called. You didn’t tell me it was going to be crowded. I had to parallel park!”

“What are you talking about?” interrupted Dru. ”There are only four cars in the parking lot.”

“But,” Ty countered, “there are lots of Billy’s Fun Zones’ around here. You guys must have got mixed up and taken a wrong turn. I could have sworn I sent you the correct location on GPS.” Maybe Ty said more on the subject but Kit could hear anything or see anything except the superior smirk Blessica was giving him.

He covered the speaker. “Not. A. Word.” And no word came out of her mouth the entire ride to the correct Billy’s Fun Zone but the ‘I told you so’ look on her face spoke loud enough.

Kit slid back into the booth next to Ty, handing him his pretzel. Ty kissed him on the check in gratitude.

Dru and Ty were right. About this one being empty. He told him he had heard about it from Alyssa. Her pack frequented it often. They were left alone because, well, there was no one else there to bother them.

“Where are Astrid and Mari?” he asked.

“Fucking. I think. Or maybe just making out. I’ll know which one when they finish.” When Ty gave him a puzzled look he continued, “Astrid describes it all to me in full detail. I honestly don’t know whether she doesn’t have a filter or she just needs someone to scream to about how amazing Mari is.”

“Why can’t it be both?”

“True, true.”

They sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes before Ty picked up the conversation again. “When Thaìs first met Astrid, she had a huge crush on her. They got along great. I always thought they would end up together. Or hook up at the very least.”

“Huh, that’s funny,” observed Kit.

“What is?”

“When me and Mari split, I was planning on trying to set them up with Thaìs. But then I caught her ans Astrid making out in a storage closet at school. Which, in hindsight, was pretty stupid cause they were in there so I wouldn’t be sad Mari moved on when I opened the door in the first place avoiding her to call you.”

“Hmmmm.”

The gears in Ty’s head were visibly turning. Kit loved watching this process. An idea was forming in his boyfriend’s genius mind, he could sense it.

“What is their stance on monogamy?” he asked finally.

“Um, fuck, hold on. Mari sent me this whole speech about it.” Kit scrolled through his phone at a rapid rate before he saw what he was looking for. He cleared his throat and began reading aloud.

Mari_da_bisexual_whore, sent 1:52 AM: monogamy is just another lie capitalism has fed us

Mari_da_bisexual_whore, sent 1:55 AM: like, for example, the notion that house spiders are ugly and to be feared

Mari_da_bisexual_whore, sent 1:56 AM: it’s just to sell bug spray

Mari_da_bisexual_whore, sent 1:56 AM: same with monogamy

Mari_da_bisexual_whore, sent 1:56 AM: pointless!!!

Mari_da_bisexual_whore, sent 1:58 AM: in conclusion, if I want to join a polyam cult, who tf is the government to stop me?

Kev-Kev, sent 2:01 AM: mari please go to sleep

Bless-ing_to_the_world, sent 2:04 AM: ^^^^^^^^^^^

Mitski_my_love, sent 2:05 AM: preach!

Mitski_my_love, sent 2:05 AM: go off queen

By the time Kit was finished with his dramatic reading, Ty’s plan was fully formed.

“That settles it! We are going to play matchmakers!”

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

Alyssa, Ty’s friend mentioned is @thechangeling OC, not mine.

@the-blackdale @the-wckd-powers @adoravel-fenomeno @thomas-gaypanic-lightwood @illusions-give-reasons-to-live @ithurielkeepsgettingkidnapped @im-not-ruined-im-ruination @sofiatheskeleton @cncnbr @its-taff @noah-herondale-lightwood @maxboythedog @arangiajoan @shelvesofgold @book-dragon-not-worm sorry if I missed anyone LMK if you want to be added or removed from The tag List!!

[starr-fall-knight-rise]

Humans Are Space Orcs, “A Visiting Delegation.”

Writing on another request I received a few times. I hope you like it.

Government officials filed into the room one after the other speaking quietly. Their voices raised towards the ceiling and echoed off of the walls. Little drops of water glittered in the darkness as the mass of packed bodies caused a heat that disturbed the thin layer of ice which covered most of the room. 

The ice itself lent to excellent acoustics, and the dull roar of voices never seemed to fade as the delegations slowly filed down onto the staggered platform seats.

There was a buzz of nervous energy about the room, emanating from all corners as they sat waiting for the meeting to start. 

Off in the corner a white furred scientist clad in a heavy winter coat sat meekly to the side.

She was very nervous.

It had taken months to convince the Tricarian council that the creature existed, and even with the proof it had provided, things had gone very slowly. Only after the vaccine was synthesised and distributed did they even begin to consider what she said to be true, even then, she knew they didn’t really believe her, and who would. An alien had broken into their polar research fort and handed her a cure for the the plague?

Even saying it to herself seemed crazy.

When she handed over the device to other government scientists, they had managed to make contact with…. someone , but they spoke too well for the leaders to really believe that they were another species. Most just thought it was some sort of elaborate prank or conspiracy.

Either way, today was the day they were going to find out.

Their world was slowly recovering, and now they could turn their attention to other matters.

The first lunar launch would be happening within the week, if all things went according to plan, and if there was something out there… something already capable of space travel, they would like to know about it.

Again she shifted nervously in her seat.

What if this supposed….. GA delegation never showed up.

She, and her colleague were the only ones to have seen the creature in person, and he refused to come forward and speak about it, so that left only her. IF the creature didn’t show up she had no doubt they would have no problem pointing fingers at her and calling her insane.

She glanced towards the window, which looked out over the icy tundra and towards the coast, where large fishing barges were slowly creeping up through the ice, their nets cast into the sea.

No matter how today turned out, it was going to change everything for her.

Either alien would descend from the sky and walk into the council chamber for peace talks, or she would be labelled as a crazy loon committing conspiracy against the government, and her life would be ruined.

She slumped back in her seat, the fur of her chest bunching up under her coat.

She flicked her large ears in annoyance, and wrapped her tail tight around her legs nervously.

Oh please strange alien visitors come and help me.

It was a very strange thing for her to be thinking. The first time she had seen the creatures, she wanted nothing more than for it to go away and back where it had come from, but now, well now she wanted nothing more than to see it again, if not to prove to everyone else that it had been real, but to prove to herself that it had been real.

The noise around her died down, and she looked up to see members of the trichar head council filing in to the other side of the room and taking their seats.

There was some discussion between them for a few moments and then one of them stood and the entire room went silent.

“Brothers and sisters, I welcome you today, today of days, to an unscheduled interanual meeting under…. Very strange circumstances.” He looked around the room, eyes scanning up and down the seats, “For the past few months we have slowly been recovering from the virulent plague that wiped out fifty percent of our population.”

There was a sad murmuring about our room.

“A plague that was well on it’s way to taking ninety percent of us from the face of this planet.”

The mood in the room grew somber.

“Now, I know we have all heard the circumstances around how the cure was discovered…. Or given as the story goes, and I am sure most of you, just like me, are questioning the validity of these statements. Today is the day whether we learn if these are true or not.” He glanced around the room, his tail swishing slowly over the ice, “As of now I am still skeptical that anything of the sort happened.” he glanced over at her and she wilted back in her seat.

“Regardless of what happens today, perhaps we can be assured that we will survive, life will go on and we will rebuild, though we mourn for those we lost.���

There was another soft muttering around the room.

She sensed some anger in the air knowing that the chancellor had failed to mention that the fifty percent of people who had died mostly came from the lower uneducated classes. There were those whisperings in the government, that many didn’t see it as such a great loss. The uneducated masses were gone, leaving behind them only the elite to live upon the face of the earth. They no longer had to think about sustaining such a large and useless population.

Not all of them could be used on the fishing barges, and many of them didn’t have the skill to harvest ice fruit, so what use were they really.

The thought made her sick.

“According to our preliminary discussions with the entity that calls itself the Galactic Assembly, we have agreed to meet today with one of its ambassadors to discuss peace talks and joining the galactic community.”

There was laughter from around the room.

The Chancellor smiled, “I myself am skeptical of course, and the words shock me even as they come out of my mouth. It would be an amazing day if intelligent life existed out in the universe. For it would change our fundamental understanding about how we see ourselves. We would no longer be alone, but If I am being honest with you, I am more inclined to believe that this is some sort of clever and audacious ploy from our enemies trying to take over our power after our sudden weakening due to population loss. If that is the case we must plan accordingly, and since I have seen no aliens up and walk through that door, I am inclined to believe the latter argument.”

There was a chorus of agreement from around the room.

She wilted even further in her seat.

“The agreement was to meet at this time and this place, and our scientists have been monitoring radio activity out of orbit, and we have detected no such alien vessels in or around our orbital ring, and neither have we seen any strange alien ships descending from the sky, no Unidentified flying objects as it were.” He turned his head to look in her direction, and by this time she had sunk so far into the cavern of her coat that only her ears and eyes peered out.

“What have you to say for yourself.”

She took a deep breath and straightened, “Chancelor, I am sorry, but we must give them time. The creature made it very clear to me that it was not meant so readily for cold weather conditions like us. They probably had to make special preparations and lost track of time, I am sure they are going to be here.”

There was a great rumble about the room mostly chuckling from skeptics who thought her to be just another hystric member of the lower class.

She knew what they thought of her.

She had come from the uneducated masses originally and her climb to the top had been arduous.

In many ways she didn’t really consider it to be over.

She stood.

“Please, I implore you, the creatures are five minutes late in arriving and already you doubt the truth of what you saw on that drive. There was information there, images and pictures of all different kinds of lifeforms, and sounds and videos. WHat reason would another government have to fake all of that, especially at a time like this. No one had the resources to be working on such a thing, and when it was given to me much of the world was sure we were going to be dead in the next ten years, it hardly makes any sense.”

As she spoke, voices in the crowd rose and she was drowned out as groups began shouting over each other to be heard.

She curled up tighter inside her jacket, tail wrapping around her legs again in a self soothing gesture as the uproar grew louder and louder. On the ceiling above, decorative ice moldings vibrated and shed water.

This was going to be a disaster.

She melted further into her coat, expecting for them to take her away to a sanatorium at any moment.

And then the door opened.

Clean unfettered light spilled in from the outdoors, and across the ice encrusted floor causing it to glitter like a billion tiny diamonds encased in blue and fractured ice.

The entire room went quiet and then looked up.

Anger was replaced with gasps of shock, as the entire room pushed back in their seats.

She felt a sudden and marvelous wave or relief wash over her as she looked up and saw the strange alien creatures step into the room.

They were tall, almost a foot taller than most in the room, and just how she remembered them, with their long arms, and legs.

When they walked their boots thudded heavily on the ice.

The front rows shied away as the creatures entered in a small group of four.

They were dressed, from head to toe in thick padded gear with artificial fur sticking up around the neck and face.

Their noses and mouths were covered by another layer of covering, leaving only their eyes peering out from the inside of their hoods.

Behind them, the door swung shut.

For the longest moment, there was nothing but silence in the room, until the lead creature slowly reached up and pushed back his hood, causing it to fall over his back. When he did he first revealed the top of his head, covered in a thin and unproductive layer of light yellow fur that seemed to have no other purpose than to rest on its head.

The rest of its face, once it pulled down the front of the mask was clean from hair, and cold air bit at it’s skin as it breath plumed up and around it.

It had no ears of which to speak, unless perhaps, those strange folded…. Things on the side of its head were ears.

As she remembered, the creature itself had a very flat face and a large jewel-like emerald eye. Based on the others standing behind it, it should have had two eyes but one of them was covered.

It turned its head to look around the room, before falling on her with a depression of recognition.”

It showed its teeth at her, teeth surprisingly similar to their own. Sharp teeth for tearing at the front and flat teeth for grinding at the back.

“I am glad to see you well.” it said, and its voice echoed across the room for all to hear and understand,

There was a murmuring of surprise. Underneath the strange voice, she could hear the even stranger grunting and hissing of it’s natural language.

It walked forward with its companions in tow, “Forgive our tardiness, but we had to prepare ourselves for your child weather.”

The room remained silent.

The creature looked around at them and tapped its foot on the ground, “Ok then, introductions are in order. I am Admiral Adam Allen Vir of the Galactic Assembly and United Nations Space Corps, leader of the Galactic  armada, ambassador of the Galactic assembly and explorational representative. A few months ago I was sent by my benefactors to provide a cure to your people and sew the seeds of invitation to the galactic community.” He looked around at them, “Our other delegates apologies for not being able to visit with you today, but your planet is very very cold, and we are the only species that may survive with any sort of….. Regularity on the face of your planet.”

Even as she watched, the skin on the side of the creature’s ears were beginning to turn red, and then purple.

Finally after many long minutes the chancellor stood, staring and wide eyed.

“So it is true.”

“Yes.”

“How can we be sure this is not some elaborate hoax.”

The creature stepped forward over the ice,which popped slightly under his weight. He walked closer to the chancellor who cowered back in his chair.

He paused just before the desk and pulled off the coverings on his hands, and then unzipped the front of the jacket, allowing it to fall open.

WHen he pulled it off, the skin of his arms and hands were bare, leaving only another thin covering over his chest.

He held out a hand.

“Feel for yourself, and tell me if any of your enemies could prejudice a facsimile of life that is so convincing.”

Not sure what to do, the chancellor reached out a hand and gingerly touched the creature drawing back in surprise and some measure of disgust. When he came back again, he took the hand in both of his and turned it over, palpating the structure of the bones and flesh underneath, examining a fine layer of useless hair on the back of the hand and arm.

“I…. see your point.”

The chancellor gave the creature his hand back looking on nervously as the creature began to spasm and vibrate. He pulled back, but the creature shook its head, “Forgive me chancellor, it is very cold here.”

He reached out and pulled his jacket back on, followed by the gloves and pulling his hood up around his ears.

It stopped its strange vibrations a moment later.

“As it is, the GA has invited you to join in peace talks with them. They are eager to trade resources and knowledge for precious combinations of minerals found in your ice. They would provide the means of space travel, or assistance in building your own, and offer protection from unknown factors in the rest of the galaxy. We simply desire to be allies in a far reaching cooperative conglomerate.”

The Trichar eyed him, “And why would your people be so interested, there is nothing that we can offer you that surely you could find somewhere else.”

“We are not so arrogant as to think we have a monopoly on knowledge and experience. For example your ability to live in such cold climates intrigues us. This entire room is made of ice and steel, hardly worth keeping out the cold. Even I cannot remain here for too long. I believe there is much we can learn from each other.”

The Chancellor sat unblinkingly staring at the alien.

“There are many opportunities that we can provide you. There are icy worlds ripe for the picking that much of the GA hasn’t bothered to touch considering their harsh conditions. There is plenty of room for industry and the transfer of knowledge. We would do nothing but benefit from you joining with us. If you so choose we would be willing to take one or a small group of your number to meet with the entire assembly on the capital, though there is no pressure to do so. We also have broadcasting and camera equipment which would suffice for you to meet them over long distances. There are many ends and possibilities, but…. Out of my own experience, I believe you would do well to take this offer.”

There was silence around the room.

She could hardly blame them. A strange alien benefactor seeking peace with them and offering opportunities and a great wealth of knowledge was certainly too good to be true. Also, the creatures were kinda…. Strange looking. In the full light of day and with the sun streaming in through the windows, she would have sworn that she could see little circulatory structures peeking as blue veins from it’s skin.

Almost as if it was partially translucent.

She shivered, it really creeped her out that she could see its interior structures from the outside.

No wonder it wasn’t meant to survive on such an icy planet as their own. Granted it had looked a lot stranger and more intimidating in the dark, but there was something about seeing the whole thing in it’s true form in daylight that still threw her off.

Looking around at the rest of the room she saw a mixed bag of emotions.

Awe.

Disgust.

nervousness .

Excitement.

The alien tilted it’s head casing its wide eyes about the room. She turned her head away, feeling that if she looked for too long, she might fall into that depthless green pool. That was the strange thing about it, though it had a body and physical presence like the rest of them, it seemed so….. Strange and….. Other, as if it was only showing them a part of itself.

That was silly of course.

She was just being paranoid.

And focusing on that paranoia because another part of her was very excited.

She wanted to see what this creature was talking about.

She wanted to experience it.

She wanted to go with them.                        

[karanoid]

LISTEN YOU LOST SOULS!!

I really love joe and nicky but my preference is joe topping, I think it caters more to me from the spooning scene and their personalities but seems like everyone on tumblr doesn’t really like the concept of top!joe and I feel I have no one to talk to. truth to be told these switchers are lovely but these switch and bottom joe talk is not really my cuppa tea... well um... I also feel judged in this fandom... this is really draining, better leave the fandom...

DOES THIS DESCRIBE YOU? JOIN MY TOP!JOE DISCORD AND LET’S FEED EACH OTHER FOOD.

wait there’s a top!Joe discord?

YA! major writers and artists are also there 

cool, I WANT IN

—————————

So, this is the official post that this discord is accepting new members. We are prioritizing people with strict preference and switchers with preference of top!joe. We originally wanted to invite 50/50 switchers/people with no preference but we already invited these people and we decided they can only join by referral only.

How to join: message me, you will be vetted first.

F.A.Q UNDER THE CUT:

Sounds great but even though I prefer top!joe, I want to talk about bottom!joe too :(

That’s okay, may I direct you to these discords (they aren’t affiliated with mine) :

- disaster immortals (18+): https://discord.gg/g2RU3h38W7 

- all and more (18+): https://discord.gg/MdhHZBY (run by @avengernewsb)

If there is a bottom!joe discord, let me know I will put the invite link here.

top!Joe has a racist root, please be aware that you’re racist.

In my opinion, racism is not inherently tied to dynamics. However I can understand how some top!joe writers putting focus on Nicky can make you uncomfortable by the virtue of the white man getting the attention/focus alone, generally, I do agree that people tend to focus on the bottom and tend to whump him and I can see why people can think they’re racist for doing this because the fact that joe is a man of color only serve to highlight the difference. People tend to prefer the bottom because (i’m not saying everyone does this) they tend to be the vessel for the writer. From this point of view, say if this fandom is 90% top!joe, I can see why it makes people uncomfortable. And I don’t blame people taking precautions because it can get out of hand fast.

The worst thing that could happen is people solely talking about Nicky and completely ignoring Joe. But, the fandom is already pretty even when it comes to top/bottom, and therefore who gets the whump/attention, etc. TONS of people are switchers already and a lot of people prefer bottom!joe. Whump!joe content is not non-existent. Imo, at this point, you are just arguing with top!Joe people for the sake of arguing. Preferring Nicky over Joe (which is the case for some top!joe shippers) might be rooted from racial biases that permeate society AT BEST, we don’t disagree, however saying it’s racist and treating the shippers like they are plague and disgrace to the society is taking it way too far. You might think that preferring Joe to top and Nicky to bottom are also rooted from racial biases, we don’t disagree. However, there’s also another factor that comes into play that’s called (this is just my opinion) heteronormativity which some people might think are equally bad. Just because you don’t like Nicky to exclusively bottom and and cannot see why he should, does not mean you are right in making any assumption about why some people prefer Joe to top and Nicky to bottom. The same way why we think bottom!joe shippers are just being politically correct and/or whump!joe is even more racist but you know that’s not true. I’m sure all of this is just a preference. Please know, yes there are top!joe people who are all about whump!nicky and some of them are very loud in expressing their love to Luca and therefore, Nicky. but not all. A lot of them are just neutral and just prefer Joe to top and Nicky to bottom. However, people preferring Nicky and to whump Nicky are very normal. It’s normal to have a one sided preference in your ship. You’re putting words into their mouth just because you feel uncomfortable with it and you disagree with their interpretation of the characters.

If you are afraid we’re gonna turn the entire AO3 into bottom!nicky fest, calm down, it’s not happening. I just think top!joe shippers deserve a place in this fandom. We are not gonna harass switch and bottom!joe writers. All we ask is to be left alone. I think people minding their own business is the best option this fandom can have.

You see I think it’s pretty weird that you made a discord solely for top!joe?

Not at all! People preferring one dynamics over the other is common. Anyone who’s been in a fandom know top/bottom discourse is a thing. Top!x discords are super common especially when the dynamic is not popular/susceptible to abuse. It’s a way to gather people with likeminded interest. Also this discord is created because fandom toxicity. If people just minded their own business, I wouldn’t have made this discord.

Why not just join the other discords? It’s not like they are not allowing top!joe?

You are right, however talking to switchers are very different from talking to people with same wavelength and probably share one braincell. Some members of this discord are in other discords and they said they prefer my discord... so that’s something.

I think they will switch since they’re 900 years old and it’s just much more realistic!

Oh nobody’s disputing that. We just want to talk about the moments joe tops. Or you know Joe could have tried it and he didn’t like it. Besides realistically, I don’t think they have sex anymore after 900 years old. Nobody understands the mind of 900 yo grandpas. Nobody has lived for 900 years. We all could be wrong for what it’s worth...

Top!joe is still problematic :(

well ok then

[chaseatinydream]

pirate king (8) || atz

“Shit.”

It takes you a few seconds to register the words leaving Seonghwa’s mouth, but before you can even think about what you should do, the pair spring into action.

Yeosang downs his captain’s noodles in a single gulp, tosses the bowl aside and grabs you by the forearm, hauling you up the stairs the main deck, Seonghwa’s footsteps thundering behind you.

The god awful sound of the bell is still ringing in your ears, but it’s nothing compared to the chaos of the main deck. Pirates sprint back and forth, powder monkeys dashing to and fro carrying bags of gunpowder. You watch as the pirates at the gunwales move like the cogs of a well oiled machine, cleaning the long barrels of the cannons with a dry rammer, before charging them with bags of gunpowder. Other pirates start arming themselves with weapons and donning armour, putting out the torches on the main deck and plunging the entire ship into darkness.

But you already see it.

It must have slipped here, under the cover of night, a massive three masted frigate that almost towers above the Treasure. With snowy white sails and the royal emblem of the Crown, a single red rose, painted on its main sail, there is no doubt to you what this is.

A Royal Navy ship.

You turn to Seonghwa in horror, but you can barely make out his face in the pitch darkness, the only light coming from the half moon in the sky. Yeosang’s hand is still gripping yours tight, but otherwise from that, he is merely a dark shape silhouetted against the night.

Terror almost consumes you whole.

“Hyung, what do I-” You try to ask Yeosang, but the navigator shushes you urgently, pressing his lips against your ear. You can feel his heart pounding against your arm as he whispers to you in sharp, calm tone.

“Don’t make a sound. When it starts, I want you to run for the sickbay. San won’t be there, but don’t worry about him, he’s just getting to the wounded. Bolt the door and don’t open it till San comes back for you. If the enemy breaks down the door, don’t fight back. You don’t have the experience yet.”

You nod, your breaths coming out in near hysterical pants. The Royal Navy is here. They’re armed with cannons. They’re going to kill you, and probably destroy the whole ship too. They’ve already hit the ship. By now, water must be pouring into the bilge and in a matter of minutes the ship is going to sink-

Seonghwa envelops you in a tight hug.

“Don’t worry.” His voice is comforting, soft and gentle in contrast to the way your mind is screaming at you to escape somehow, to bolt before the Navy can fire the next cannon. You want to ask him how on earth he wants you to not worry, but then he strokes you on the head like he does after your cooking lessons for a job well done and the screaming in your mind fades to white noise. “We have Hongjoong’s blessing on our side. Trust us.”

You try to say something, but it comes out as a choked whimper. Your hands are trembling, but Yeosang squeezes them gently. You clear your throat and try again.

“What about the two of you?” You manage against the dry sobs. “What are you going to-”

“Fire!” Mingi’s voice rings out across the silence of the night.

This time, you almost forget to clap your hands over your ears again and all at once, a series of cracks threaten to split your eardrums and from the right the sound of wood splintering like twigs rings across the sea, acrid smoke filling your lungs. Coughing furiously, you barely hear Yeosang shouting for you to run over the screams of agony from the enemy ship which you realize is already a looming shape in front of you, his hand ripping apart from yours.

You try to reach for him, but he’s gone.

You’re completely alone.

“Starboard battery, fire!”

The entire ship rocks to one side as the iron projectiles smash into the side of the Treasure. There’s the sound of wood smashing, the cries of the wounded filling the air, and the smell of gunpowder forcing violent coughs from your lungs and your eyes to water. You stumble forward almost blindly with your hands in front of you, feeling the deck of the ship pitching and rolling violently beneath your feet as you rush to the sickbay.

You’re almost there when disaster strikes.

All of a sudden, the ship heels to the left and your fingers slip from the latch, you’re thrown violently across the deck only to smash into the barrels kept at the port side of the ship.

Something whistles above your head and by some form of sheer dumb luck you dive to the ground, rolling to the side as the barrels you have been crouching behind burst into splinters. Your hands instinctively fly up to protect your face, but the flying wood chips tear into the material of your shirt and graze your skin.

You can’t help yourself from looking back at the wreckage. There are two iron balls, connected by a thick chain lying amidst destroyed barrels and some shredded rope. Your heart pounds like you’ve just run thousands of miles. You can only gulp at what would have happened if you had been a fraction too slow.

“Hold tight, they’re about to hit us!” You hear Mingi scream over the chaos and you turn to stare at the rapidly approaching ship in horror. Then the quartermaster’s words finally register in your head and you’re diving for one of ropes of the mizzen mast’s rigging before you can even think about what you’re doing.

And not a second too late, because the moment your hands clamp around the rope in a vice grip, there is a grating sound of wood against wood that makes your very bones shudder, the entire ship groaning as the Royal Navy ship pulls up along the starboard. You’re thrown literally head over heels by the insane force, rolling over the ground of the main deck. For a moment, you’re straining against the rope as your fingers desperately try to hold on.

There’s screaming all around you, and then the ship tilts back the same way it came from, back towards the starboard, and you’re sent tumbling back across the deck once more like a limp rag doll. Every inch of your body shrieks in protest at the repeated battering and bruising, but then the rope lengthens and you find yourself very nearly thrown over the gunwales of the ship.

Then you scream. Very loudly. Because the upper half of your body is dangling over the bulwarks and your grip on the rope is slipping.

Beneath you is the inky black, bottomless expanse of the ocean. Once you fall in, it will consume you like it has so many others, slowly depriving you of the air you breathe until you finally give up, sinking to the bottom of the seabed where crabs climb over your dead and bloated corpse and pick at your lifeless eyes.

Then you see the crew of the Royal Navy ship on small skiffs and boats, armed to the teeth with muskets and sabers and grappling hooks.

One of them spots you and raises his gun.

Your heart drops in your chest as he prepares to fire.

Someone’s hand grabs you by the back of your collar and roughly yanks you back onto the deck as the wooden railing in front of you splinters from the musket ball, right where your head had been.

You turn to stare at your savior in wide eyed horror, your breaths coming out in ragged pants as you desperately try to recover from your near death experience. To your shock, it’s the younger battlemaster from earlier this day, Jongho, primed musket in hand. He gives you a questioning look and raises the firearm to point right in your face.

“Wait-” You panic but then he shoots to the left of your head, and you whip around to see a Navy officer who had been climbing over the bulwarks fall backwards with a bullet in his head. The maknae curses and draws his cutlass, shearing through the grappling hook and you hear the scream of another officer who had been climbing the rope as he plunges into the sea, never to be seen again.

“What are you doing here?” He snaps at you, as he primes his musket again, eyes locked on the enemy ship looming behind you. There’s another round of booming cannon fire and you almost shriek in alarm once more, getting ready to dive to the ground, but then you hear the screams of agony from the crew on the deck of the enemy ship.

“Grapeshot.” Jongho mutters under his breath as he holsters his musket in his belt, eyes scanning the complete mayhem around you. You don’t know what the word means. “Good job, Wooyoung-ssi.” Then he turns back to you, a hard glare on his face.

“Shouldn’t you be in the sickbay or something? How did you end up at the main mast?”

Main mast?

You glance around in shock. In the confusion and pandemonium, you’ve somehow ended up further from the sickbay than where you started. You open your mouth to reply, but your words are cut off by screaming from the stern area.

“They’ve boarded us!”

Jongho spits out another curse, grabbing a knife from his belt and sending it flying at an officer that had been aiming his rifle at you in one smooth motion. Your hands fly to your mouth and you watch with wide eyes as blood spurts from his neck, his knees buckling beneath him and his body falling to the ground with a soft thump.

You force the bile in your throat down at the sight.

The young battlemaster glances between you and the stern, where the fighting is taking place. More and more Navy soldiers have started to board and they’ve organised themselves into a wedge formation, defending the grappling hooks so more of their fellows can join them.

Grinding his teeth, he turns to the bow, only to watch the fabric of the top mainsail get shredded by a bar shot and the resulting splinters fly everywhere, showering the deck in a deadly hail. Nowhere is safe, especially not for a tiny slip of a thing like you.

Then he makes up his mind and shoves a musket into your hands. “Here.” Drawing the dagger that Yunho had given you that morning from your belt and thrusting it at you, he grabs you by the hand and yanks you forward by the wrist towards the stern. “Stay behind me and don’t get in the way.”

You open your mouth to question what exactly he intends for you to do with the musket, since you have no idea how to use it, but then the two of you are in the thick of fighting and you don’t have the brain capacity to form words anymore.

Jongho keeps one hand around your wrist as he pulls you forward through pandemonium of the main deck. Swords flash from every direction and the air is sour with smoke from the gunpowder. For a moment, you wonder if you’re going deaf from the repeated pounding of cannon shot.

Suddenly, a Navy soldier looms out of the darkness in front of you, blade drawn. You barely have time to scream and duck before Jongho jerks you to the side by the arm, his own cutlass curving down in a deadly arc, splitting the man from shoulder to hip. Your eyes and mouth close on reflex as still warm blood splatters across your face and front, but you have no time to panic as Jongho continues moving aft once more. The coppery tang of blood fills your mouth and you wipe the blood from your face, only to nearly gouge your own eyes out with the dagger you’re holding as the Treasure suddenly heels, the bow turning away from the enemy ship.

You spit the blood from your mouth.

“What’s going on-”

“Hongjoong-hyung’s trying to move away from the enemy ship so we can fire explosives instead of resorting to hand to hand combat.” Jongho grunts, flicking the blood from his sword. “I need to get you to the sickbay before I help the crew out, so get moving.”

The threatening tone in his voice kind of terrifies you.

The two of you continue your mad dash, ducking beneath swinging axes and gunfire. It reminds you of your run from the harbor, except this time the ground is rocking back and forth under your feet. And if you thought Jongho was talented, you had obviously never seen talent before, because the young battlemaster fights like an actual demon.

Somehow, with one arm on you, he still mows through the soldiers like a battering ram, scattering enemy left and right. His cutlass dances a deadly tango, flickering like a snake’s tongue, darting in and striking through his opponent’s guard. You’re left in awe of his skill, but he doesn’t really give you much time to appreciate it

.After what seems like an eternity later, you finally reach the stern. Huffing from the exertion, your fingers fumble with doorknob and to your immense relief, the door swings open. For a moment, you panic when you see that San isn’t there, but then the ship suddenly lurches to the side once more and you’re thrown against the door frame violently.

Your fingers slip over the trigger and the deafening sound of a musket shot echoes in your ears.

Your head whips backwards in horror, only to find the lead shot embedded in the chest of a Navy soldier who’d been engaged in a fight with Jongho. The man crumples to the ground, a pool of red spreading beneath his body, but then you see the blood seeping from Jongho’s shoulder where your bullet has grazed him.

The maknae turns to give you a deadly stare.

“I’m so sorry.” You gulp, honestly starting to fear for your life.

“You troublesome-” Jongho begins, but you never get to hear what he was saying as Mingi’s shout tears through the bedlam on board. “We’re pulling away! Clear the deck! Starboard battery, switch to explosives!”

When you glance back at the starboard, the Royal Navy ship has indeed gotten further, much to the relief sagging in your chest. Captain must have managed to outrun the enemy.

You see Yunho rally a team of pirates and they bear down on the soldiers in a pincer formation, forcing them overboard. Other officers, seeing their advantage rapidly being lost, throw themselves over the side rather than face the tall warrior in a berserker’s rage.

“Starboard battery, fire!”

The deck of the Royal Navy ship is bombarded with shot that burst into flames the moment they make contact with the wood. But a single cannon ball slams into the hull right above the waterline, punching a hole in the side of the ship.

Your mouth falls open. That’s where the storage hold of the ship is, where the stocks of gunpowder are kept.

Then the ship is engulfed in flame, a mass of burning wreckage in the distance as the Treasure pulls away, leaving the sinking ship and its dying crew in its wake.

[chaotic-super]

Back To Krypton - Chapter 3

Read Back To Krypton on Ao3 here!

Nia clutches at her armrests so tight that her knuckles have gone white from the pressure. Her breath feels like it has caught in her throat, and she wonders how much longer she will have to put up with this, it’s practically unbearable. It makes her worried for her favourite tiny human, so she turns her head as quickly as she dares without vomiting to sneak a peek.

She makes direct eye contact with Esme as she was already looking at her, as was everyone else, bar Brainy as he was driving. “Are you ok auntie Ni-Ni?”

She swallows thickly. How on Earth, or not on Earth anymore, is everyone just sitting normally as if nothing is happening at all?

Nia doesn’t even attempt to answer but luckily she doesn’t have to because her boyfriend, Brainy, shouts down from his position to explain. “Naldorians are commonly known as very bad time travellers. They are known to get sick very easily from it, in fact. I would suggest some deep breaths until we have successfully manoeuvred through the time stream. Once we are in the correct time then you will be perfectly fine, just a few more minutes.”

“Does it take longer the further back you go?” Lena, ever the scientist is of course trying to figure out how time itself works.

“Not exactly, but the timestream works in strange ways, it discourages you from entering certain times, around critical dates, such as 1978 in the Rao solar system. We are going for four months before krypton was destroyed and the time stream deters anyone from going within a couple of years before a cataclysmic event such as this, it’s its way of protecting itself is our best guess. Even Coluans don’t have a true understanding of it.”

“Great, our plan includes doing something that even time itself doesn’t want us to.” Alex is always ready to see the darker side of things.

“Well, that is not exactly true, as long as we don’t make any waves then the timeline will remain intact, and we won’t have any issues.” Lena does not want anyone to start spiralling before they had even made it to Krypton.

Kara is sitting catatonic in her own chair, staring despondently at the console in front of her. The seats are angled in such a way that nobody can really get a good enough view of her to see the state that she is in.

Whilst everyone has noticed that Kara hasn’t uttered a word since the ship took off, they all just assumed that she was either stressed about the mission, taking some time to think something over or just a nervous flyer. After all, she couldn’t possibly be nervous to be returning to her home planet, she always says that she misses it when it gets brought up.

Kara holds more trauma for Krypton than anyone could possibly, reasonably comprehend.

“Please tell me that we are almost there.” Nia is white as a sheet by this time.

Her question is not answered verbally but by the abrupt smoothness of their flying. The time turbulence seems to come to an abrupt stop, the ship can now stop shaking, and so can Nia.

They make it through the timestream and come out the other side. Gone is the vision of a swirly green mess of time and in its place is the most decadent shade of red they have ever seen.

Krypton.

Its aura seems to shine bright with a hope that it can’t sustain, to glimmer with a disaster waiting to happen and to glisten with an innocence that will soon be shattered.

Somehow, it was still the most beautiful thing they have ever seen.

“It’s incredible,” Lena whispers under her breath, looking to find Kara, finally understanding. It is only fitting for someone so beautiful to come from a planet that shines with its own beauty.

When she looks around she can see everyone gasping in awe at the glory of Kara’s home planet but can’t find Kara herself, just the back of her chair, hiding her from view.

“We will have to stay here for a few hours so I can prepare for landing, I suggest you all go and rest while you still can.” Brainy interrupts everyone’s infatuation and shoos them out of their seats and out of the cockpit.

Once Lena is out of her seat she heads right on over to Kara, a bad feeling brewing in her stomach. Something isn’t right.

“Kara?”

She doesn’t get a response.

Lena leans over the side of the chair, taking in the state of Kara for the first time.

“Kara, are you ok?” Kara simply stares right ahead, not registering what is happening around her at all. “Can you hear me?”

The commotion draws Brainy near. “Oh no, I had feared this would happen.”

Lena whips her head up to him. “What the hell is that meant to mean?”

Brainy leans closer to Kara’s face, snapping his fingers in front of her, simply just assessing.

“There was always the possibility this would happen, although there was a higher probability of it happening once we had actually landed than before.” Lena looks at him blankly. “Kara is having a physical reaction because she hasn’t been processing her emotions properly. Her body has temporarily shut down to help her cope with the overflow of trauma this mission has brought up for her.”

Lena flounders. “But- but she was coping, we just had a conversation about emotions not that long ago and she was alright.”

Brainy gives her a sympathetic pat on her shoulder. “This may have been caused by the recent stress but her real issue is deep-seated trauma from Krypton and we just brought her back to the root of all of her pain. Based on her reaction times of her blinking to my snaps, she has been like this since we entered the timestream. Her body went into defence mode to protect her mind.”

Lena wipes her hand down her face. “I’m going to get Alex. She needs to go to the med bay.”

“Negative. This is not a medical emergency. She will come out of it on her own, I suggest grounding techniques will draw her back to reality much quicker than to leave her.”

She can practically feel her blood pressure rising. “What do you suggest?”

“We will move her to the ground, you sit and hold her. The stability of the floor will bring her back to reality and the comfort will ease her mind.”

He sounds so sure that she doesn’t even question him, just follows his instructions. Together they get her on the floor, which is an easier task than expected since Kara still held her own weight, allowing herself to be led to the ground, sitting with her back to Lena’s front.

Lena wraps her arms tight around her middle as her head sinks back on her shoulder.

She simply squeezes her tight and waits.

 -

 She doesn’t know what happened. One second she was trying to picture Krypton from her childhood memories, preparing herself for what is to come and the next…nothing.

Her mind just went completely blank, she doesn’t remember the trip. She doesn’t remember somehow getting out of her seat. She certainly doesn’t understand how she ended up on the floor, between the legs of Lena Luthor no less.

She is warm. She can feel her steady breaths against the back of her neck and the comforting pressure of her hands, one pressed into her collarbone, her forearm pinning her and the other wrapped slightly looser across her stomach.

She doesn’t understand so she just leans back further and breathes deeply, sucking in a breath she didn’t realize she needed.

Lena seems to pick up on her sudden rush back to reality and tightens her grip, pulling her back more, despite there being nowhere for her to go as they were already pressed flush against one another.

“L-Lena?” She croaks out, her mouth is dry, and her tongue feels too big for her mouth.

“Shh, don’t try to talk yet Darling. Just take some more deep breaths for me, don’t worry about anything else.” Kara doesn’t think she has ever heard Lena talk so softly and she is enchanted, she can barely find it in her to care that she clearly just passed out in some way.

At some point, Lena must have begun rocking them gently until they are interrupted by Brainy and Alex.

“Kara! What happened? Are you alright?” Alex is quick to kneel before her, tilting her head back to take a good look at her face.

“I don’t know what happened, I don’t remember anything.” She croaks out. Brainy is quick to hand her a bottle of water.

“I was correct in assuming that you would be requiring water upon your regaining of consciousness, that gives me more confidence in my calculations that you just had a minor mental shutdown.”

Alex shoots him a glare, “Excuse me?”

“Well, that is the easiest way to describe it. You couldn’t cope with the stress and trauma of our trip, so your brain temporarily locked you out of the metaphorical driver’s seat to protect itself.”

 “I guess I should have scheduled some mental breakdown time into the mission then.” Kara chuckles awkwardly, not knowing what to do under the watchful gazes.

She begins to try to lean forward when she becomes aware of the fact that she is still leaning her full weight into Lena, but she is simply pulled back. “Don’t try to move yet, just rest for as long as you can.”

Brainy’s expression goes blank for a second as he begins to do complex calculations in his head. “We will be proceeding with the landing in seven hours and forty-three minutes. I believe that it would be best for Kara to move into one of the guest rooms until that time, if you move with haste, you may even fit in five sleep cycles instead of four.”

Alex and Lena share a look and within seconds, Kara finds herself being manhandled, each woman has wrapped one of her arms around their shoulders, pinning them in place with a hand at each wrist and she finds herself doing the closest thing to floating that is possible under a red sun.

“My legs do work.” She grumbles.

“They barely did a few minutes ago so you’re going to humour us and go take a nap or I’m pulling the plug on this whole mission.” Alex is giving her the big sister glare which means that she won’t be taking a no for an answer.

She doesn’t complain again but if she tilted her head more towards Lena for the rest of the trip as she pouted her way to the guest room that she will be staying in temporarily then who could really blame her?

Between the two of them, Lena and Alex convinced Kara to lie down on the bed. She made a show of settling down for a nap so that they would leave the room and consequently, her alone.

As soon as the door shut she stood back up, feeling a little bit woozy but not willing to stop on her endeavour. She stumbles on the way to the window, tearing at the blind so she can see her home. Except it’s not, not anymore.

It’s just as beautiful as she remembers. She feels a little bit jealous that the others got to see it before her but then again, life is unfair.

She longs to touch the surface and can feel the magnetism of the planet drawing her near, like an old friend coming to visit, to get reacquainted.

She whispers to Krypton, “Hello again, old friend. I’ve spent many a night longing for this moment.”

She smiles to herself, but it doesn’t reach her eyes, she can’t lie even to herself. Coming back to her planet is worse than never seeing it again. Now she just gets to lose it twice. She will be living with the knowledge that with each step she takes, she is one step closer to losing it all once again.

It may not be the same this time, she will have a home to go to and her family on Earth, but the pain still bleeds free, a fresh wound not yet stitched.

She stares for as long as she can take it, half expecting it to obliterate before her eyes, just as it does in her memories, but it remains steady. The calm before the storm.

Kara eventually staggers back to the bed, today’s event having drained all of her energy. She falls into a fitful sleep, both nervous and excited to finally be back on her own planet.

 -

 Lena knocks on the door lightly so that she doesn’t startle her friend. She’s spent the last few hours trying to do anything other than come and check on Kara, she understands that she needs her rest and her privacy, but she is most definitely shaken from the earlier events.

“Come in.” The voice on the other side sounds strong, confident even.

She breezes into the room, finding Kara in the centre of the room, cross-legged on the floor with her eyes closed.

“I’m doing some meditation to strengthen the mind before we land. It feels really good to be doing it back under Rao’s light again. Would you like to join me?”

She eyes her for a second, trying to determine what state she is in.

“Sure, can you show me?” Lena steps closer, unsure of herself. It’s not often she comes across something that she doesn’t know how to handle.

Kara pats the floor next to her, never opening her eyes. “I can feel you staring, just look ahead and close your eyes.”

Lena mimics Kara’s position next to her. Facing the open blinds and sitting in the red light. It’s oddly calming, she wasn’t sure what reaction she would have to the red sunlight, but she decides its warm tingly embrace is pleasant, much like Kara’s own embrace. It’s fitting.

She does as she’s told, waiting for further instructions. Kara speaks in a low whisper. “Clear your mind and just imagine you’re surrounded by candles, burning brightly. Imagine they smell like a forest, like pine and something floral. We’d usually actually have candles, but I only brought one and it’s in my travel pack.”

Lena does her best to picture it and finds the image much quicker than she had anticipated. She has tried to mediate before but never actually succeeded because her mind wanders.

Somewhere in the background, she hears Kara speaking in Kryptonese in the background, her low voice echoing around the room, filling up her senses.

Her mind is filled with pictures of tall trees and beautiful meadows, autumn leaves crunching beneath her feet and a warm wind circling her, dancing with the warm rays of a red light that peeks out between the leaves.

“Find the strength in your mind, in the image you see.”

Lena sees the strong trunks of the trees and the flexibility in the flower stems, bending in the wind but never breaking. She sees the leaves refusing to burn in the sunlight, instead feeding off its energy. She feels the ground, the soil movable but indestructible, she finds herself in all of these things.

“You are the strength you see, Lena.”

She sees the picture change and suddenly, she can see herself, there is a mirror on every tree, and she can see her reflection. She is smiling, dressed not in a power suit or a fancy dress, just simple jeans and a flowy green shirt. She’s smiling. Happy. Strong.

“I am the strength you see too.”

She disappears from the mirror and sees Kara instead. Soft eyes, no wrinkles from stress or pain, every feature relaxed and a serene look upon her face. The super suit is nowhere to be seen but her crest still sits upon her chest. She’s wearing a baby blue dress in a cut that is clearly a Kryptonian style. Lena has never seen her look so beautiful.

“Our team is our strength. We’re stronger together.”

One by one the team appears behind Kara, some in their suits, others in ordinary clothes. All the best versions of themselves. All the embodiment of strength and serenity. All standing together as one.

“El Mayarah.”

The image fades and the air begins to clear, she loses the scent of the forest and opens her eyes, coming back to reality.

Lena turns to face Kara, finding her smiling softly at her. “Well, I feel much better now. How did you find it?”

“I don’t know what sorcery you have but that was incredible. Thank you.”

Kara stands slowly, offering Lena a helping hand and pulling her up. “Don’t thank me, thank Rao’s light.”

“I never took you for the religious type.” Lena keeps her voice low, unwilling to break the calming tone of the room.

“I was when I was a child but lost it over the years. I can count on one hand how many times I’ve meditated since becoming Supergirl, it’s never been the same though. Nothing can compare to being under Rao’s light, something that I’m sure you can understand now.”

Lena takes her hand, both of them staring out at Krypton, basking in the light of Rao.

 -

 Kara walks with a skip in her step, Esme giggling as she clings to her back, her little hands around the base of her neck. She deposits the little one into her chair and buckles her in, tucking her teddy bear in next to her tightly and pretending to buckle him in too to garner a laugh.

She knows that the news of what happened has reached Kelly and Nia too, Esme being the only one oblivious since she is still too young to understand. She also knows that they are all watching her like hawks.

She feels much better since her meditation session with Lena, but she knows it isn’t a fix-all solution. Hopefully, the team hasn’t lost faith in her or the mission.

They all sit back down, ready to begin descending. Nia swapped seats with her at Alex’s insistence, and she can’t blame her big sister for being worried, so she doesn’t fight it. It actually makes her feel a little bit better now she has a clear view of her big sister from her seat.

Brainy gets ready to allow the ship to begin its descent. He shows Kara where to input the override codes. “I’ll let you know when to start inputting the codes. We want to make the system kick in at the very last second as planned.

“Thanks, brainy, I practised a few times back in the tower and it took me between three and a half to four seconds to input the code each time, however, I would add an extra second on that since we will be in the middle of a very shaky crash landing when I will be trying to type it out.”

“I like the way you think.” He heads over to Esme and double-checks her seat belt. “Are you ready Miss Esme?”

“Yes!” She grins at him. “My moms said it will be scary, but I will be brave.”

Kelly and Alex turn their heads to watch the interaction.

Kelly leans out of her seat a little to get more into Esme’s view. “Remember what I said, if you get too scared, close your eyes and squeeze your teddy bear, we’ll all be able to give you cuddles when we land to make you feel better.”

“I know, I’m ready!” Esme wriggles excitedly in her seat as if they were about to be on a roller coaster ride.

Alex’s head swivels between Esme and Kara, unsure of who to keep her eyes on but her eyes snap shut once Brainy begins to career them down into Krypton’s atmosphere. The lights go out and the only light is coming from the control panel as the emergency display shows up, the ship fighting against a crash landing as it takes some minor damage from the entry.

They make it through the atmosphere quickly and the ground become visible very quickly, getting closer by the second. Kara’s hand is poised to input the codes, looking at the fast-approaching ground and praying that Brainy’s calculations are right as she awaits his command.

“Now, Kara!” He shouts as the ship whines.

Her fingers shake a little with the adrenaline as she tries not to mistype the code, something she wasn’t scared about doing until this exact moment.

The second she hits enter the lights flick back on and their speed dramatically begins to decrease but they can all now see the large stretch of desert that they will be smashing into very soon.

The sandhill doesn’t know what’s about to hit it. They do. Hard.

They all jolt forward harshly when they make impact.

Every member of the team prioritises one person, so they all unclip their seat belts and turn to check on Esme. They expect her to be frightened or hurt from the landing but instead, they find her giggling to herself and kicking her legs excitedly. “That was fun! Can we go again?”

They exchange smiles between them, Brainy and Nia standing close with their arms around each other’s waist and Kelly and Alex hugging Esme between them once she is out of her seat.

Lena places her hand on Kara’s arm, silently asking her if she’s alright.

Kara places her hand on top of Lena’s, showing her that yes, she is.

Brainy then begins pressing buttons and switches, making sure that the ship can’t be tracked. “Alright, we landed within our target zone so we should be safe. I will direct you on which way to start heading from the ship but from there you will be on your own, good luck team.”

They all head down to exit the ship. Kara exits first, stepping onto Krypton for the first time in decades.

“Honey, I’m home.”

The team try to suppress their smiles.

“Can you try to be less cheesy? We have to put up with you for several months you know.” Alex throws Kara’s pack down to her.

“You all love it really.” She heaves the bag onto her back, pulling her jacket over her arms more, she doesn’t feel like coming back from the mission sunburnt.

They all drag their belongings onto their backs, Alex and Kara splitting Esme’s between them. Esme has a little backpack with her teddy and a lowered power Mp3 device Lena had made for her so she can listen to stories whilst they are travelling. Brainy joins them down on the ground briefly, lecturing them about wearing their hats to protect them from the sun and telling them which way to start heading.

“See you in a few months’ time.” They all hug him and give him and Nia a couple of minutes to say goodbye.

Alex, Kelly and Lena take the time to check on Kara before they officially begin to head off. “How is it?” She looks at them confused. “Being back on Krypton?”

“Honestly…I don’t know.” She thinks about it a bit more. “It hurts, but it also feels like coming home.”

“Sounds pretty reasonable to me.” Kelly smiles warmly at her.

Nia scrambles over the sand towards them, tears in her eyes as she wraps her hands around the straps of her pack. “Let’s go people, it’s a nine-hour walk to get off the desert into the grassland and I really don’t want to wake up tomorrow with sand in my crevices.”

Lena tries not to laugh. “Me neither.”

And so, they set off, ready to take on the day.

They walk for almost an hour over the sand before someone other than Esme talks, the little one has been rattling to them all since they left. She’ll definitely keep their spirits high.

“I’m now just realizing that it was probably a mistake to not train for the amount of walking we are about to do,” Lena complains as her feet sink into the sand as she tries to walk up the slight incline.

Kara offers her arm to help her up wordlessly.

She takes it with a smile.