#homeworld is horrible

[midwinterwings]

Fuck the cringe. Begone thot

I'm literally tomura (source mha) and bodily a crow (gryphon) in outerworld.

I'm not that similar to my source, and I don't identify with the name Shigaraki so I'm just Tomura lol. But I'm still Tomura, which is very cringe and 'lmfao you think you're a fictional character' and yes you're right. It's true. And I ask you, so? What's your point?

Life is too short to be your own bigot to your literal identity that you can't even control. I mean, being your own bigot to any part of your identity, even if its controllable, is dumb. Its extra dumb to try to change if it wasnt even voluntary because you can't. -t

[tarre-was-right]

ROUND ONE: MATCH-UP FOUR

Remember, this is NOT about who would win in a fight. This is about who makes the best leader for Mandalore as a whole.

Explanation post

Seeding

Propaganda below the cut! You can submit more on this post and I will reblog it back to here!

BOBA FETT

Anon: Boba The Builder, can he do it? Boba The Builder, yes he can!

@spacetime1969: He grew up in the political game that is the criminal underworld and managed to out manuver all the other groups on Tatooine to take control of the planet. That's not something you can pull off without political and tactical skill.

Anon: Boba Fett Propaganda: - Boba Fett was explicitly raised by his father, past Mand'alor Jango Fett, to be the legacy of his own adopted buir, Mand'alor Jaster Mereel; while this training did seem to focus more on the bounty hunting and mercenary aspects of their work, it presumably included many lessons about working with people and negotiating, both of which would come in very handy - Boba is commonly held to be a classic example of a child who grew up in a cultural diaspora, feeling largely disconnected from his Mandalorian roots; given the climate on Mandalore after the Galactic Empire glassed it during the Rebellion Era, his experience is likely representative of many of the surviving Mandalorians, who likely also grew up away from their traditional homeworlds in the sector, possibly even in hiding as in the case of Din Djarin's Covert - speaking of Din Djarin, the strong respect between him and Fett would likely put Fett in good standing with those traditionalists, who would similarly respect Fett's connection to their people as the son of a Foundling, even if he wasn't raised the same way as them - in Legends, Fett's connection with Goran Beviin and his family really brought him more fully back into Mandalorian culture, and in a way that makes a good story to sell to reporters (and readers, breaking the fourth wall a bit there, lol) - finally, Boba DID become Mand'alor in Legends continuity, and one that seemingly enjoyed popular support!

Anon: You know what? Boba Fett was given a bad hand in life. He’s done some bad things. But you know what he’s shown? Drive. Commitment. Determination. Resilience. Willpower. And a shocking refusal to die when he’s gone up against bitches badder than himself. Thats more than some Mandalorian leaders can say for themselves. He keeps going. And it’d be funny. Here IS how Jaster can still win. - Also I think that he would be pretty chill. Cody prolly couldnt be. We’ve seen him rule a city, maybe questionably.. but he was hot doing it. Fennec would probably help him and she’s hot too. Din would prolly be good with it. Cody’s last experience ruling was being involved in the empire and witnessing a horrible execution after negotiating a surrender. He prolly wants nothing to do with it now. And good for him! Let!! Cody!!! Retire!!! This isn’t a popularity contest.

Anon: Boba Fett Propaganda: Boba Fett literally was the Mand’alor in legends, and he did a pretty fine job

COMMANDER CODY

Anon: Propaganda for Commander Cody: - Cody was a student of Alpha-17, who in turn had been personally trained by former Mand'alor Jango Fett, giving him a strong training lineage claim to the title - Cody's service as Marshall Commander in the GAR gave him a lot of the diplomatic, organizational, and military experience needed to govern a planet like Mandalore

@spacetime1969: This man has led more people at once than anyone on this list.

Anon: Cody should be Mand'alor because it would be unspeakably sexy

@cha0s-cat: Cody has experience with negotiating from accompanying Obi-Wan, he leads a massive amount of his brothers already. Can recognize when there is a need for negotiations vs a need for violence. This would balance out the majority of the two factions (pacifists/traditionalists) excluding the extremists on either end. And with the amount of chaos that he has to deal with when it comes to Obi-Wan and Anakin, this would probably be relaxing.

@skykind: - Has resisted facism and its attendant police/military state at great personal risk (Bad Batch 2.3), which is apparently necessary to successfully govern Mandalore so long as Death Watch is fully armed and also backed by someone more cunning than their usual leadership (Clone Wars 5.15). - Possesses exceptional leadership and organizational ability from his time as one of the highest-ranked Clone officers of the GAR. The Clone Wars and Bad Batch narratives furthermore present him as Obi-Wan’s peer, so he should be interpreted as equally skilled, wise, kind, and unhinged-in-battle as Obi-Wan. Jury’s out on the sarcasm. - Turns to diplomacy before fighting (Bad Batch 2.3). - Has caught a Jedi’s lightsaber mid-battle at least two times (Clone Wars 1.20 and Revenge of the Sith). This is a very useful skill to have as the prospective or current leader of people who keep chucking the darksaber about. - Has returned a lightsaber to a Jedi at least two times. This is a crucial skill to have as the prospective or current leader of people who should stop selecting said leader via darksaber acquisition.

[ckret2]

I sympathize with you wholeheartedly because of how disappointing it is to have to change around the flatland-inspired lore of the fic because bill's homeworld doesn't seem to follow it. I will however say that as someone who was forced to read the book in high school geometry and hated it entirely for its powerful sexism, I'm kinda glad that it's not exactly the same thing, even if I do think a lot of the lore is cool. It was just such a male-centered book and seemed so smug about it, it was really hard to ignore.

The book is satire & critique of Victorian era social conventions, including the rigidity of its class system and how people defended it by saying the nobility were inherently "better" than the commoners (number of sides); the abuses of the poor & disabled, including euthanasia, and how they were written off as inherently stupid & criminal to justify their low position (isosceles triangles & irregulars); and, the way women were trapped, talked down to, treated like unthinking irrational animals, ignored when they spoke so they couldn't prove their rationality and dismissed when they got furious about this as just being too emotional.

In the book itself, the Sphere openly looks down on the Square's society for its disregard of women.

The book isn't smugly sexist; the book is mocking guys who are smugly sexist by exaggerating it to enough of an extreme that even Victorian era men would be able to see how messed up the system is.

And it apparently worked, since in a later edition of the book Abbott had to add in the intro that he doesn't believe those things about women, perhaps Mr. A Square has absorbed too much of his culture's propaganda about women? (Which means it succeeded in riling up readers—and also it sounded similar enough to the extreme end of real Victorian-era attitudes that some readers thought it was the real thing instead of satire, which tells you what kind of culture Abbott was up against.)

The book is openly advocating for increased respect for women's intelligence and autonomy by pointing a light on how horrible their treatment is.

[twistedwonderlandimaginesblog]

hello! <3 i saw that requests are open!

could i ask for headcanons on how jade, malleus, leona and ruggie would react/comfort their s/o when they either slowly come to the realisation or straight up get told that there's no way for them to return to their homeworld? maybe also how they adjust living in this world even past graduating nrc!

i hope that's okay, take your time and thank you so much 💗

Jade Leech:

Jade is quietly pleased that you’ll be staying here in NRC, even if you’re coping horribly with the news of never getting to see your home world again. He supposed he could empathize with the fact you could never go home as if he was told he could never return to the sea, he didn’t think he’d cope well, nor would he be happy about permanently being separated from Floyd. He does offer genuine condolences but promises to not give you a moment to overthink what could’ve been, as there was plenty to do in this world (and almost inadvertently promises to remain by your side for as long as you’ll have him).

Leona Kingscholar:

Leona had contemplated how to approach the conversation long before it had ever been confirmed; he was the type to look ahead and while he couldn't predict the future, he knew there was always a chance of failure. He’s not the type to coddle but even he has tact, telling you to take the time to feel sorry for yourself. Once you’re done, he’s willing to offer you his advice, and a place to call home until you’ve figured it out.

Malleus Draconia:

Malleus feels two conflicting emotions: guilt and relief, both stemming from the fact you would be in Twisted Wonderland to stay. He was ready to pick up all the shattered pieces of you, to take the brunt of your rage and grief, to show you the many possibilities that exist in this world for you. He couldn't completely imagine the grief you had but he wants you to know he can be your home now, providing you with both a home and security.

Ruggie Bucchi:

Ruggie’s not bad at showing he cares, and your friendship made it so this was something he cared about, but he didn’t know how to comfort you. He supposed it wouldn’t be hard if he just imagined never getting to return to his hometown with people who are waiting for him, but he didn’t really want to think about that. He could offer you a sense of community, his loved ones would be more than happy to meet you and keep you busy, but he didn’t know if bringing that up so close to the bad news is really something he should do. He tried to be considerate of the pain you were feeling, offering you his services free of charge until you started feeling like yourself again.

[dracomelody]

Apparently, Steven Universe has been getting traction again, and unfortunately I've found this out through social media memes saying how bad of a mother Rose Quartz was.

People say she's a horrible mother because the burdens of her past were handed down to Steven. Now, while it's true that he had to deal with her past problems, Rose had NO WAY of knowing that would happen! Let me put things in perspective.

Rose never intended for Steven to bear the fallout of the war. When Rose was still alive, she and the Crystal Gems truly believed the war was over for more than 5000 YEARS.

The only aftermath of it was the corrupted gems that they were capturing, and for a long time, the Crystal Gems shielded Steven from them and didn't let him go on missions.

For 5000+ years since the war, there was peace, and that's when Rose had Steven.

NOBODY on Earth knew about Homeworld's fusion experiments and the Cluster. There was no contact from Homeworld until roughly 12 years after she had Steven, when they sent the Red Eye in episode 2.

I'm so sick of Rose being a scapegoat for all of the show's conflicts that happened AFTER SHE DIED.

[thatfinewine]

THE RICK AND MORTY SEASON 8 FIRST LOOK JUST DROPPED!

( twitter, youtube )

Typed up and added the script to this post just because. :D

- - - - - - - - - - - ✂

(The scene opens with Rick and Morty listening to a true crime podcast in their spaceship.)

Podcaster voice: You're about to learn the horrible fate of the Oak Point High lacrosse team, whose annual retreat took a bloody turn... But this podcast isn't about autopsies or graphic reports or their fascinating murders. We're not here to do that--

(Both look annoyed. Rick turns off the podcast.)

Rick: Too bad, someone else will.

Morty: It's a big market, man.

(The ship gives an alert and shows a model of a large spacecraft.)

Ship: Cryo-Ship detected.

Rick: Ooh, power's still online! (Burps.) What do you think, Morty? A bunch of sleeping beauties? Wanna go tap on some glass?

Morty: That could be fun! We- we haven't done one of those in a while. Think they have a basketball court?

Rick: Basketball court, huh?

Morty: Ball is life!

(They fly to and land inside the cryo-ship. Rick turns on the lights and whistles. They start walking around, looking at the cryo-pods with aliens placed into cryo-sleep inside of them.)

Rick: Holy shit! Look at this place! Damn, Morty! It ain't just your run-of-the-mill arc ship. This thing is gold-plated!

(Morty knocks on the glass of one of the cryo-pods.)

Morty: Wow. Where do you think they're going? Colonizing a new planet?

(Rick accesses the ship's computer and laughs at what he sees.)

Rick: Heh, looks like these guys flung themselves into space after wrecking their homeworld. This'll be like taking candy from a baby... if that baby was in a coma!

Morty: Oh! We're- we're robbing them?

(Rick gestures to the computer screen.)

Rick: They robbed their planet first, Morty.

(The two find a giant sealed vault door and run up to it.)

Rick: Whoa, mama! You see this, Morty? This thing is fancy! Computer said it's got super-rare hyper-coal inside. The planet they left is a husk, Morty! They sucked their marble dry!

(Rick attempts to get inside by pressing a button on the vault computer. The vault computer denies him entry.)

Cryo-ship computer voice: Access denied.

Rick: ...Huh.

(Rick frowns and removes a device from his labcoat and puts it on top of the vault's computer, trying to hack his way in. The vault computer beeps twice, showing he is still denied access.)

Rick: Alright, on second thought, let's just blow a hole in the ship and drag the vault home.

Morty: WHAT?!

(Rick ignores him and pulls out a bag from his labcoat.)

Rick: Help me with these charges.

Morty: Rick, I'm fine with taking candy from a baby, but I draw the line at blowing up the stroller!

(Morty grabs the bag of explosives. He and Rick start fighting over it.)

Rick: What the hell, Morty! We're not LITERALLY robbing babies!

(The bag tears and Morty falls backward. The explosives in the bag fly across the floor. One hits the floor and activates.)

Rick: Goddamnit, Morty! Look what you did!

(Rick activates a forcefield to shield them from the blast as the device explodes. An alarm from the cryo-ship's speakers begins blaring as fire spreads from the explosion. Sprinklers from the ceiling turn on and begin raining water down to try to put out the fire.)

Cryo-ship computer voice: Fire detected. Emergency cryo-wake commencing in 30 seconds…

(Morty starts running up the stairs back to the main area of the cryo-ship, and Rick follows behind him.)

Rick: You little shit! You woke 'em up!

Morty: Fine! Let's get out of here!

(Rick grabs the collar of Morty's shirt and yanks him back. Rick types something into the cryo-ship computer.)

Rick: Fuck you! I'm not leaving without that hyper-coal!

(The ship shows a red X over two of the cryo-pods, both on separate levels of the ship. Rick starts pulling his own ears into points to make himself look like the aliens inside of the cryo-pods.)

Rick: Now go find that other pod with a dead guy in it!

(Rick pulls Morty's ears into points as Morty yelps like it hurts.)

Morty: Hey!

(Rick continues talking over him.)

Rick: Sub-bay 18!

Morty: What dead guy?!

(Rick begins removing his own clothes so he's naked like the aliens in the other cryo-pods.)

Rick: Just get in the pod with the bones! Or don't and get thrown out an airlock!

(Rick grabs the skeleton from the open pod and puts it into a box. He puts the box inside of a small chamber, closing the door and hiding the box. Rick climbs inside of the now empty cryo-pod.)

Cryo-ship computer voice: Cryo-wake in 10 seconds…

Morty: RICK!

Rick: You did this to yourself, Morty! Your dumb-ass moral compass has really fucked things up!

(Rick slams the cryo-pod closed. Morty screams in panic and starts running to find the other cryo-pod to hide in.)

Morty: Oh God! Oh jeez!

(Rick and Morty title card.)

[erika-xero]

Anselm Maria "Stenher" Desbois for Heinrike! Anselm is a scientist and an adventurer from an upcoming diesel-punk story by @glatissart. They were stuck in another dimension for a while, missed a horrible war in their homeworld, acquired a magical artifact with quite a unique effect and now have to face the horrible reality of what their homeworld became in their absence!

[melintowriting]

The first Empress-Chapter 3

Hi everyone! Sorry for the wait but writing and translating this chapter turned out to be more difficult than I thought. Hope you'll like it!

Warnings: arranged marriage, smut (+18), mentions of SA (by the Baron on Feyd)

Word count: 5.052

ENGLISH IS NOT MY FIRST LANGUAGE

The spaceship arrived on Giedi Prime after nearly four days of journey, during which Megan and Feyd had tried to get to know each other a little. Feyd had not spoken much about himself: he had simply told her that he loved killing and fighting in the arena, nothing more. As for her, he had discovered more interesting things. The young woman loved reading, riding horses, history and politics, an unusual passion for a woman, he thought. 

His uncle once told him that intelligence was a wasted quality in a woman; but Feyd disagreed. All his life he had only dealt with naive and useless women that were easy to manipulate. He kind of enjoyed the fact that his wife was smart and a woman worthy of his attention.

After that long journey Megan felt tired: many months had passed since the last interspace journey she had undertaken. She had gone to Caladan for an imperial visit to her uncle Leto. That was probably the last time she had visited her mother’s homeworld, but she didn’t know it at the time.

Her husky husband’s voice echoed from behind her as the doors of the spaceship opened, revealing the gray and gloomy sky of the capital.

"Welcome to Giedi Prime, wife." he said with a wide smile, taking her hand.

Megan and Jeremy exchanged a quick look. 

What horrible place was that? They had grown up on a green planet with beautiful landscapes, and now they had both ended up in an industrial hell.

The Na-Baron and the Na-Baroness got off the ship immediately after Baron Vladimir, greeted by soldiers’ chants in Harkonnen language. Behind the ranks of the military there were the faces of ordinary people. Men, women, children, all united by the typical features of Giedi Prime.

Jeremy, who stood faithfully behind his sister almost in a protective way, noticed the way they looked at her. They were curious, almost impatient. They looked at her with hopeful eyes. 

-The Bene Gesserit.- he thought -They prepared the people for our arrival. -

Megan walked neatly beside her husband.

She could feel his big hand holding hers.

"Do you like it?" he asked, continuing to walk on the long walkway that would have led them to the fortress.

Megan looked around, unsure whether or not to tell the truth.

"It’s a kind of planet I’m not used to." she decided to say.

Feyd looked at her, amused.

"Is that a subtle way of saying you don’t like it?"

"It’s a way of saying I have to get used to it." the girl promptly replied.

Her eyes inevitably met the ones of the common people behind the soldiers, intent on observing her while whispering.

"What’s going on?" Megan asked, noticing that the atmosphere was starting to warm up.

People had begun to speak louder and the soldiers had begun to arm themselves, ready to protect the noble family.

Feyd raised an eyebrow: he was confused as much as she was.

"Uncle." Feyd said, catching the Baron’s attention.

"This scum!" the Baron exclaimed, annoyed and angry.

Jeremy instinctively approached his sister, ready to defend her from any threat, asking, "What are they shouting?" 

The screams were in Harkonnen language, an unknown language to the twins.

Feyd stopped to look at the agitated crowd, trying to figure out what they were shouting. 

"Na-Baron." 

A slimy and subtle voice caught his attention. It was Piter De Vries.

"It’s not wise to stay out here." he said, trying to keep his cool, "You and your bride must go immediately to the fortress."

"What are they shouting?" he asked, ignoring his recommendation.

And then he heard. He heard what they were shouting and he understood who they were shouting at.

"Liberator! Liberator!" they kept saying, pointing at Megan, begging her to free them.

It was her voice that brought him back to reality.

"Feyd, will you tell me what’s going on?" she insisted, slightly squeezing his hand to get his attention.

"Let’s go." he simply replied, confused and upset by the idea of a riot.

-What’s going on? - Na-Baron kept asking himself while dragging his wife and brother-in-law into the fortress. He wasn’t easily broken down, nor panicked, but an unsettling sensation was creeping inside of him. Never since his uncle brought him to Giedi Prime as a child, he had seen the people in such turmoil.

His uncle did not love the people, he despised them, and he taught him to do the same. Normally people would lower their heads in the presence of the nobles and remain silent in fear. Not this time though.

He couldn’t understand why.

******

A few hours later an extraordinary meeting of the small Council was scheduled.

The trusted nobles of the capital had been invited and Feyd, as the baron’s heir, had a duty to attend.

He left his wife in her apartments with her brother, both still confused by the turbulent arrival on the planet, and he then started to get ready for the Council in his own room. He needed to understand, to know more about what happened.

When he opened the door to his room his harpies were waiting for him, laying on the bed.

As soon as they saw him they began to greet him impatiently and to beg him not to leave them alone anymore.

"We missed you so much, Na-Baron..." they kept saying while kissing his whole body "We can’t be without you."

He greeted them with his usual manner of doing, impassive and icy, letting them praise him a little. He loved the fact that their life depended on him. Being the center of their existence pleased him enormously. 

He caressed their heads almost as if they were obedient little animals and he then ordered the servants to start dressing him up.

When he noticed that his harpies were busy whispering to each other, Feyd slightly laughed. He knew what they were mumbling about. He knew what they wanted to know.

But he decided to remain silent, waiting for them to speak first.

And so it was.

"Feyd." one of them began, showing her black teeth in a wide smile.

"Yes, my darling?"

"What does your wife look like?"

There was a strong note of hatred in her voice.

At the word "wife" the other two harpies almost hissed in enragement.

Feyd smiled even more widely. They were jealous. Oh how much he loved to be desired...

"She is very beautiful." he admitted sincerely, visualizing Megan’s beautiful face in his mind. 

"More beautiful than us?" the other harpy asked with a hint of desperate need for approval from him.

"Yes." he just answered.

He didn’t care if he hurt them or not, it was the truth. His harpies were beautiful for the beauty standards of Giedi Prime, but Megan was more beautiful for his taste. 

A general hiss echoed behind him. 

"So now that she’s here you’re going to abandon us?"

"Don’t leave us Na-Baron, please. We need you."

"We exist only if you are with us."

Feyd turned to look at them amused.

All that despair was feeding his huge ego.

"No, I will not leave you for now. As long as you satisfy me and you are obedient pets you can still receive my attention." he answered as the servants finished dressing him. He dismissed them with a simple gesture.

"Where are you going, our beloved Feyd?" a harpy asked, seeing him walking to the door "I thought you would spend some time with us..." she whispered sensually while the other two almost started purring.

He knew what she was alluding to: usually, as soon as he returned to Giedi Prime after a diplomatic visit to another planet, he visited them in order to satisfy his sexual needs.

But he didn’t have time to do that that day.

"I don’t have time." he quickly explained, looking at his reflection in the mirror one last time.

He still did not know if after the meeting he would have visited them or Megan. 

"Maybe later, if I don’t meet with my wife." he added, postponing the decision.

And after that, in a mix of anger and resentment, they all remained silent while Feyd left the room.

******

The Council Room was a place that invoked memories in Feyd’s mind.

Most of them were dark and hard to forget.

The first memory related to that room was particularly traumatic. Like any seven-year-old, Feyd loved to play. He was always told that playing was a waste of time, that he had to learn how to fight, how to rule and not to invent stupid hobbies. But he was stubborn. He still wanted to play, even though there was never anyone willing to play with him. 

One afternoon he was wandering in the fortress while playing with an indefinite amount of imaginary friends, when he accidentally entered the Council Room, interrupting a meeting.

Vladimir had angrily scolded him, humiliating him in front of all the nobles, and then he had told him that he was going to punish him in his chambers.

Feyd knew what that meant.

He knew what was coming.

Even at the time, despite the typical innocence of children, he understood that there was something wrong with all that. That the way his uncle touched him wasn’t normal, that not all children had uncles like that, fortunately.

From that day on Feyd kept his distance from that room until he was old enough to be ready to sit in the Council.

As much as he tried not to think about it, that room always took him back to that memory. Every time he sat at the long table next to his uncle, he felt such a deep hatred for him that led him to often fantasize about killing him.

He thought about it many times but he never did it. 

-In due time.-  he thought -I will have my revenge. -

"My trusted lords." the Baron said with his hoarse voice, "I think you all know why we are here."

The nobles nodded, visibly upset.

"I leave the word to Piter. He will be able to explain some... things to you better" he said vaguely, inviting the Mentat to continue.

Piter cleared his throat with his usual hasty manner before speaking.

"Well... so, thanks to my Mentat skills, I immediately understood the reason for the turmoil today." 

Feyd rolled his eyes. He hated that Mentat. Nobody cared about his abilities, they just wanted to understand why the people were shouting those things to his wife.

-How much I want to kill that idiot. - he thought, still remaining impassive.

"The Bene Gesserit are involved, I bet." a noble said.

Piter nodded: "Yes they are. An ancient prophecy of theirs speaks of a First Empress, the first woman to sit on the throne. During our visit to Kaitain for our Na-Baron’s wedding I tried to gather as much information as possible about our new Na-Baroness and it seems that everyone believes she is the chosen one."

"Nonsense." commented the Baron to reassure the nobles "All nonsense of course."

Piter nodded again, but that time hesitantly. Feyd seemed the only one to have noticed. 

Maybe his uncle was underestimating the situation.

"The Bene Gesserit, as always, must have spread the word here on Giedi Prime. The people were waiting for Feyd Rautha’s wife, the one who will free them from slavery and from the Laandstrad system, the one who will make them free men and women."

While all the nobles laughed, Feyd and Piter looked at each other in silence. Neither of them was laughing. It was at that point that Feyd realized that the Bene Gesserit prophecies were potentially serious things.

"A woman will never sit on the throne." the Baron chuckled.

"Women are meant to make children and stay silent. Can you imagine a woman ruling the Empire? We’d be doomed!" another noble said, making all the others laugh. 

"Here’s what we’re gonna do. We’re gonna let the people love her, think she’s gonna save them, sit on the throne... we’re gonna let them think whatever they want. We will turn all of this in our favor, of course. So that when someone will sit on the throne, that someone will be my nephew Feyd."

Feyd turned to look at him slowly, perfectly hiding the surprise.

His uncle’s fat face deformed into a wicked smile.

"Let that woman believe she can rule and I will make you emperor."

Now all the nobles' eyes were on him.

"Emperor?" Feyd asked, savoring the taste of that word.

The Baron smiled even more widely.

"When she will ask you what happened today, tell her the truth. Fuel her hopes. Make her believe it. If we exploit the support of that mass of beggars, who do you think will sit on the throne?"

Feyd looked him intensely in the eyes, feeling the excitement growing.

"Feyd Rautha Harkonnen!" the Baron exclaimed with a proud look.

"Feyd Rautha Harkonnen!" the nobles repeated in a solemn tone.

******

Giedi Prime was a miserable place.

Nothing about it was pleasant or interesting.

It was sad to think that she would have had to spend the rest of her days there, under a perpetually gloomy sky and breathing heavily polluted air. But at least she wasn’t alone.

Her brother had dinner with her and before he left he had come up with a theory.

"What if what happened today is a sign that the prophecy is true?"

Megan looked at him in silence, analyzing his idea.

They both knew about the prophecy because of their mother.

"I don’t know." his sister replied "The world doesn’t seem ready for a woman on the throne yet... maybe the Bene Gesserit are wrong. Perhaps the Chosen One is yet to come." 

There was disappointment in her voice.

“We’ll have time to see if the prophecy is right.” he reassured her "Rest now." 

"Unless my husband decides to pay me a visit."

Jeremy tried not to show it but the idea of his sister with Feyd Rautha still troubled him deeply. 

"Good night." he said, kissing her on the forehead.

"Good night Jeremy," she whispered, "I’m lucky to have you here with me."

And it was true. Without her twin she couldn’t survive, neither on Giedi Prime, nor anywhere else.

As expected, her husband came to see her.

"Come in." Megan said as soon as she heard a knock. She knew it was him.

Feyd entered the room and closed the door behind him.

He chose to go to her. He couldn’t explain it but the idea of having sex with her excited him a lot more than having sex with his concubines. The newest toy was always the most interesting.

"Did you have dinner, wife?"

"I did." she nodded "Did you attend the council?"

Feyd nodded without taking his eyes off her.

The way she looked at him... she wanted to know, she wanted to ask him what had happened. His ability to understand people was not due to his empathy, but rather due to his attentiveness and meticulous observation.

And just like he predicted, Megan spoke.

"What happened today?" she asked, "Were they shouting at me?"

Why did she ask him such an obvious question? Feyd was certain that she knew about the prophecy about herself.

"I think we both know about the prophecy." he just said, studying her with his piercing gaze.

Megan seemed to frown, slightly tilting her head in surprise.

"How do you know?"

"Bene Gesserit’s prophecies have always seemed like a waste of time to me, but they have the strange ability to spread quickly." Feyd explained, "Our Mentat heard about it on Kaitain at our wedding. Today he only had the confirmation that the people really believe in it. They believe that you will free them from the imperial system."

Silence fell between the two. They looked at each other for a few moments, both intrigued by the other. 

Feyd had expected a reaction from her. He had expected astonishment, surprise... she was a woman after all, and women were always exaggerated and sentimental. He had just told her that people thought she was going to be the first woman to rule... and she just looked at him in silence.

-What a strange little creature. - he thought before breaking the silence with a simple question.

"Do you think they’re right?" 

He had to make her believe in the prophecy as his uncle suggested, and to do so he needed to make her talk.

Megan remained silent for a while, breathing in deeply.

"I don’t know."

Feyd sighed. 

-What a disappointing answer.- 

Seeing him unsatisfied with her answer Megan added, "All men are still too dull to accept a woman’s power."

-That is an interesting answer. -

"All men? You’re assuming I am too?"

"Isn’t that right?"

"No."

To be honest Feyd never thought of a woman as a ruler. He had always been taught that women were just about having children and being good wives, but he had never had a maternal model to learn from. He killed his mother a long time ago. As soon as she had tried to stop the Baron in his attempt to bring Feyd to Giedi Prime to raise him as a true Harkonnen, Vladimir had ordered the little Feyd to kill her. And he, a simple child with a knife in his hand, had obeyed without really knowing what he was doing.

Did he regret it? No.

Or maybe.

But there was no point in thinking about it anymore: his mother was dead and he had found a strange pleasure in killing. 

His wife raised an eyebrow in an unconvinced expression.

She didn’t believe him.

-You’re more stubborn than I thought, pet. -

"Men are all the same."

Feyd looked intensely into her eyes. That sentence annoyed him. He was not like all men. All men wanted to be like him, to be precise.

"And tell me, what are men like?"

"Frightened by a strong woman." she explained with a firm tone.

Feyd smiled in amusement.

"And you think you are?"

The girl inhaled deeply, nodding without hesitation.

"It’s a fact." and then she went on "That I really am what people say I am doesn’t matter now. There’s still time to figure it out. But one thing is certain: I always frightened men. My father was terrified that I would open my mouth to any event with guests."

The Emperor frightened by a girl? It was both absurd and funny.

"Why is that?"

"Because I didn't agree with him on a lot of things and I wasn’t afraid to say it."

Her answers, always accurate and ready... Feyd was sincerely amazed. But he did not show it.

And then he thought -If she’s so proud and stubborn it might become a problem for me. I’ll find a way to tame her. -

"In what ways did you disagree with him?" 

He was really interested in finding out.

"I think the whole Empire is based on injustice and that an Emperor should rule differently."

Now Feyd could understand why her father preferred her when she was silent. Her confidence was unbearable, yet amusing.

"How?" he teased her.

"If I truly am the First Empress, you will see."

Feyd immediately became serious, taking a step toward her.

"Another husband would have already punished you for your insolence."

Just like before Megan didn’t get upset.

"If you do, you’d prove my theory that men are scared of confident women."

-Now it’s too much. -

He had to make things clear, that insolent little creature had to figure out who was in charge.

"I’ll prove something else." he whispered, approaching her, "That I can make you shut up for as long as I want. Or rather... that the only thing you’ll be able to say is my name."

Megan smiled, looking him in the eyes.

"We’ll see." she replied.

Was it possible that the fear with which she looked at him the first time had already vanished?

Feyd sat on the bed, ordering her to kneel before him.

"Now I’m gonna teach you something, pet, and you’re gonna have to listen carefully."

The girl nodded, kneeling between his legs.

"Look how obedient you’ve become now that you know you’ll get my cock." he grinned, caressing her cheek.

Without needing to be told Megan took off his uniform pants, freeing his half hard manhood from his clothes.

His dark eyes watched her fingers running along the numerous veins down his length before wrapping her hand around it, squeezing slightly.

During the journey from Kaitain to Giedi Prime, they only managed to have sex twice. Feyd had dragged her into a small room on the spaceship and made her his with impatience. And  Megan also enjoyed those moments. The embarrassment and awkwardness were slowly abandoning her, leaving room for a constant curiosity and desire for him. 

If during the first time with him she had been afraid that he might hurt her, now she knew how much Feyd was able to make her feel good instead.

Megan understood what she had to do, something she’d heard about but never done before.

"What if... I hurt you?" she asked, looking up.

-What a stupid question.- she mentally said to herself, seeing Feyd grinning. She already knew the answer.

"I like pain, pet. Both to provoke it and to receive it." he explained to her while slightly pushing her head towards his now hard manhood.

Megan breathed deeply, getting closer.

Her tongue licked the base and then ran up to the tip, following a large bluish vein. She then focused on the tip, licking it, making her tongue swirl around it in circular motions.

-I’m doing well. - she thought, satisfied, hearing Feyd’s deep moans.

After a few minutes of teasing she then opened her mouth, barely taking him all inside. 

It was too big to take it all.

She began to move her head, bobbing it up and down his length, while Feyd took her long brown hair in his hand.

"Am I too big for you, little thing?" he groaned, pushing her down further at every movement.

Megan tried to shake her head but she was pushed down on him, feeling his cock touching her throat.

She instinctively tried to retreat, gagging around him, but Feyd kept her still for a few moments, grinning in pleasure.

As soon as he let her go, Megan coughed with tears in her eyes and looked at him with a grim look.

"Don’t make that face." he mocked her, laughing.

He wiped a tear off her cheek with his thumb, smiling even more.

"Now continue, pet." he ordered, slightly slapping his cock against her closed lips.

The girl obeyed, starting again.

After a few minutes and after understanding the mechanism, she began to enjoy it to the point that she instinctively added the hand movement, hearing Feyd groan even louder.

"Yes pet, just like that. Good girl." he said as bewitched, looking at her bobbing her head with teary eyes "Do you want me to cum in your mouth?"

Megan nodded eagerly without stopping, looking up directly at him.

That look she gave him... it sent him over the edge.

He came with a low groan, pulling her hair as he could feel his cock twitching in her mouth.

He looked into her eyes as she swallowed, almost amazed.

It didn’t matter that their marriage was arranged... the sexual pleasure he had experienced with her that week was a pleasure he had never experienced with any other woman, not even with his concubines.

Maybe they would have never loved each other, and that didn’t matter, but at least they could both make each other feel good.

"You did a great job, pet." he complimented her, caressing her cheeks.

Megan smiled slightly, wiping her tears with the back of her hand.

He had been right when he had told his harpies that she was very beautiful.

"You are mine." he added possessively, looking into her eyes.

That sentence stirred something within Megan. At first she looked at him in amazement, remaining silent as she caught her breath.

And then she nodded, not taking her eyes off him.

Perhaps there was a reason why according to the Bene Gesserit’s plan they were destined to be together.

And that was the reason: she was his and he was hers.

******

Two weeks later

Feyd told her about the upcoming fight in the arena. Because of Feyd’s duties as Na-Baron the evening was the only moment they could spend together. And when they were not busy having sex they had made a habit of entertaining themselves in conversations. Megan was surprised that they had sex every night. Men usually prefer the company of their concubines and she was sure that he was still sleeping with his harpies regularly, especially when during the day he was busy and away from her. But after all, he always came back to her and that… that made her feel special.

They regularly spoke after sex. It was always Megan to start, since she had understood that Feyd was of few words, but he always participated in the conversations with interest.

One night, without warning, Feyd spoke first.

"In three days there will be a fight in the arena." he had said proudly, looking up at the ceiling. 

Megan had turned to look at him, observing his facial features, his body perfectly muscular and sculpted. 

"How long have you been fighting in the arena?" he had asked.

"For years. Since I was 14, maybe." he had replied. 

Everybody knew how damn good he was at fighting.

"Do you want me to attend?" 

Feyd had looked at her, perfectly hiding his emotions behind a detached expression.

He didn’t want to ask her directly because he was waiting for her to make the move.

He wanted her to see him fight, he wanted her to understand and see how strong and skilled her husband was.

"The first time we spoke you said you weren’t afraid of death." he had said, "If it’s true, attend the fight. People want to see their Na-Baroness."

By saying so he had pretended that her presence didn’t mean anything for him but that it meant something to people.

Megan agreed.

And there she was, sitting in the arena, waiting for the show to begin with her brother beside her.

"There he is."

Jeremy pointed at the man entering the arena, greeted by the chants of the spectators.

It was Feyd.

"Who are his opponents?" his sister asked him, using a pair of special glasses to see clearer from afar.

"I heard he fights against prisoners from other planets." he explained, clenching his fists in rage "Including Fremens."

Megan felt blood freeze in her veins as a Fremen entered the arena, stumbling.

Although no one, except for the imperial family, knew about their true identity, the Fremen blood inherited from their real father was for the twins a source of great pride; and seeing a Fremen sentenced to death in that way made them seethe in anger.

The fight began.

"They’re drugged." Jeremy noticed "Prisoners are drugged."

It was true. All her husband’s opponents were staggering and their reflexes were slowed.

Her twin brother was confused.

"You can tell he’s a good fighter... why do this?"

"Because Feyd kills for pleasure. He fights for fun, he doesn’t care about fairness or honor." she explained, looking at the prisoners being killed relentlessly.

The way Feyd was killing them was proving to her how much he enjoyed doing it.

Seeing that side of her husband in person wasn’t reassuring her at all. She always contemplated murder but only for those who really deserved it, for those who committed injustice… not as a hobby.

When the fight finished her husband looked at the Baron, who nodded proudly, and then directly at her.

Megan looked at him, unsure how to react.

Did she have to pretend she liked it? Yes, maybe it was the wisest thing to do.

So she gave him a slight smile, a smile that Feyd secretly appreciated.

The chants of approval from the audience did not stop even when Feyd disappeared from sight, entering the underground parts of the arena.

"Let’s go." her brother said, getting up from the stands.

Escorted by Megan’s guards and maids, the twins left the arena to get to the vehicle that would have taken them back to the fortress.

But something went wrong. 

The people were shouting and calling her name again. They started to surround the guards who were trying to protect her, reaching out their hands to touch her, begging for her help.

"Don’t worry." Jeremy told her, drawing out his knife. Her husband was a skilled fighter, but her brother was too.

But Megan wasn’t worried. Not at all.

In those weeks following her arrival she had thought a lot about how the people looked at her, about what Feyd had told her about the prophecy. 

She knew she had to try to help them. She felt like she had a duty towards those people. She needed to understand why. She had to find out if she really was what they thought she was.

The guards began to load their weapons, ready to shoot at the crowd, when Megan felt an arm grab her.

She turned to see a young woman who was pulling her arm with a desperate look. She had the typical features of Giedi Prime, dark eyes, smooth and pale face.

"Please, my lady." the girl begged her in Galach, without letting her arm go.

Megan, as in a trance, started allowing the young woman to guide her out of the crowd, but saw with the corner of her eye a soldier pointing his weapon at the girl’s head, ready to stop her from taking the Na-Baroness with her.

But Megan turned to him and without even thinking she used the Voice.

"Stop. Let me go."

The soldier obeyed without resistance.

"No, no!" Jeremy shouted, seeing his sister disappear into the crowd. He started pushing people, desperately looking for her, shouting orders to the guards. 

But there was nothing to do.

Megan had disappeared.

From that moment, everything changed.

Tag list: @mamawiggers1980 @avidreader73 @pomtherine

[charleecat-bat]

Shadow in my SU/Gem AU (UPDATE, added in his backstory!)

Nickname/s: Mahogany, Obsidian, Maho, Obsi (not recommended you call him by any of the last two) Gem Location: Back of Neck Weapon/s: Spear Rarity and Status: Rare and elite working gem Role on Homeworld: Elite Bodyguard/Escort Gem Unique Powers/Abilities: Enhanced Speed and Agility, Lava Manipulation, Heat Blast.

History:

Mahogany, like most Obsidians, was made to be an elite bodyguard. An escort gem for the rarer more important gems that required or wished for one that were more quick and swift instead of large and bulking one like a Jasper Soldier.

In this case he was created and chosen to guard a high-class aristocratic gem known as Sapphire, whose duty was to be a Cartographer, creating maps of different galaxies to track, mostly to find new planets to spread their empire.

Like most gems, Mahogany knew what to expect from his job the very moment he burst from the ground... which is why he was put very off guard with Sapphire. Unlike most aristocratic gems, who paid him no mind unless to give him some snide comments just for their own ego boost. Sapphire was never like that, she was sweet and soft-spoken. She'd be quiet towards most of the other gems, but when together. She could talk to him for hours, at first Mahogany didn't understand. Thinking he was still expected to keep up his duty. She started to break down his walls to remain focused and not respond unless necessary. They soon became more than just bodyguard and protectee; they had become friends—close friends. Even with this, he started to learn things that Sapphire did, things that she wasn't supposed to do. She had been deceiving the diamonds. Purposefully leaving off planets that had been checked to be full of life and living creatures, she did not have the heart to put them in their clutches and see these lively planets die for their own sake. Even if he didn't fully understand, he found this admirable of her. It just showed how wonderful she was in his eyes...

Which made the news of her discovery much more horrifying.

It all happened so fast. Sapphire was suddenly summoned, and he saw it all. She was accused, but she didn't dare hold back. She implored them to leave the planets alone. She claimed that causing whole planet-wide species to go extinct just for their own kind was horrible. But the words would fall on deaf ears. Of course, the diamonds wouldn't understand.

And much to Mahogany's horror, she would be shattered, right there by Black Diamond himself. Mahogany was simply shooed away the moment this happened, ordered to be assigned to some other gem.

While on the outside, he was shellshocked and horrified, on the inside, he was fuming, burning up with rage and disgust. It grew more and more with each and every gem he went through. He was barely even focused on his duty anymore, he could only pay attention to the rage and hatred for these gems building inside. None of them were like Sapphire. No one would be like Sapphire. It was clear to him few of his kind cared at all for anything but themselves and the diamonds. The top of this hierarchy flourished, while anyone below it suffered. And the ones outside of their kind, suffered the worst.

One day, he snapped, and Mahogany Obsidian was quickly known as a fugitive. In his rage, he attacked many gems and even shattered some. It wouldn't take long until he was forced to flee form homeworld but he is still a known fugitive in Homeworld and many gems who wish to be rewarded by the diamonds have gone to look for this rogue obsidian but he has remained uncaught.

Mahogany spent many of these centuries alone, until he came across a few select gems. His usual instinct was to attack, thinking they were gems who were after him. But after quite a formidable fight and expecting to be bubbled and presented to homeworld for their own selfish wishes. He was surprised to learn he was spared. Mahogany would come to they were closer to what he was. Unaligned with Homeworld. Runaways. Rebels.

They, too, turned away from their homeworld and its hierarchy. Although their approach was...certainly different to his.

In repayment for sparing him and not taking him back to Homeworld, he made them an offer. The location of the untouched planet they could call their base. Noticing that all they had was this ship that was slowly losing space for their slowly growing numbers.

The Planet Mobius.

It would take time for him to even consider them allies, let alone friends. His distrust and trauma being a difficult thing for him to let go off. But they have slowly broken his walls down... and with these new allies of his, he hopes he could make Sapphire proud and do what she would want. To fight and stand-up against homeworld for the sake of others.

[hihoace]

Athis wasn't really the person who seemed to be found of other humans. Eversince they got on the ship they were very helpful, kind, but quiet. Not the type humans usually are. Athis was not loud, although they liked to sing, and their voice was kind of nice to listen to, so no one had a problem with it.

They seemed to know a good variety of folk songs of a specific region on earth. Oftentimes the crew found her gazing out one of the windows of the cantina instead of talking to the other humans or the other members of the crew.

Not that they were specifically asocial or hostile. They were kind of nice to talk to. On rare occasions they even talked a lot.

I took the time to talk to them as often as possible. I liked them. I asked them about their life... She opened up slowly. One time we started talking about their home.

"Ah... Gaia is a cesspool... It has so many good things but god awful politics and the people... Fuck the people. Honesty they are so brainwashed. You'd think with the universe open to them they would finally let go of these silly things like... Them being weird about same sex relationships. Why? The whole ass universe is open to us, we literally see interspecies relationships but they get weirded out by two women holding hands? And your own relatives chew you out for not agreeing with them on politics. And the lack of spine people have there... No offense Xebie... they are awfully two faced." they seemed stressed as they hid their face in their palms.

"It really does sound horrible... I would understand if you'd never want to go back."

"Ah that's my biggest problem... I cannot tell you how much I hate it but also... I miss it. I wish to go home I want to see trees and flowers I know the name of, I want to sing toghether with people who know the songs of my region... I miss speaking the language of my mother. I really miss it. And the food is great and the people can be so nice. And the Sun is such a pretty star. The evening sky is prettier than any painting or photo of it... Oh and I love people. I hate my kind but I also love them. We go to war, we hate for such ridiculous things, I cannot stand how prejudiced we are. And even like that... People help each other for no personal gain, make art, write poetry that makes me cry, create songs that make me smile... I love that side of us". their face lit up with something I rarely seen in her. I didn't understand human expressions well enough to decode it, but my interpreter program recognised it as something between admiration and disgust... "What I really love that we are not all that different. Not even from the other species. But that doesn't mean we are great. I think humans, though strong, have a lot to learn from species like yours. You never had wars! How much more intreeging that is."

Athis smiled at me than shook their head. "I talk to much." they said as they covered their mouth. "I am so sorry."

"Oh don't worry about! It was intresting. And I think I understand your feelings a little bit. I had a friend who was very talented, but turned out to be a horrible person overall. It was a very confusing feeling." I replied.

Athis wasn't that different afterall. Soon I learned most humans on our ship seen Gaia similarly. Humans seemed to carry a type of guilt with themselves. Learning the history of their homeworld made me understand why.

[crippledgiraff]

The toughest trench fighters in the Imperium come from @qsycomplainsalot 's homeworld, France! Printed on clear vinyl, they can either be used as one long sticker, or easily separated with scissors or a hobby knife into individual guys.

[two-sides-halved]

Continued | @erisdiamas

"Again, using the term, phobia would imply that I am afraid of her, which I'm not. I hate her not because she's a Lapis but because she is factually horrible, she's an abuser of people, and animals, she's a manipulative piece of garbage who everyone was tip toing around because we didn't wanna upset the precious scared little girl who is over 5000 fucking years old... but because we handled her with these delicate kid gloves she never really changed into a better person like other people in the Little Homeschool program did... hell she's even been shirking her fucking responsibilities as a teacher... by kinda just telling them to go with the flow and then she'd fly off to who knows where... lazy asshole."

Gem Steven squinted at her as if he heard her incorrectly, picking up Eris and placing her on the couch, to get a reasonable distance away from her so he wouldn't end up hurting her fingers when she played with his hands.

"EXCUSE YOU?? Why the fuck would you think I would enjoy watching anyone nearly loose their life in front of me? I've already failed an entire planet's worth of people once, I failed Dad." He is crossing his arms.

"And you of all people... think I'd get aroused by that fucked up shit?? Fucking hell, Eris, you must be huffing paint thinner to think that is in anyway what I would like at all." He huffed irritated, tears in his eyes, looking away from her, his fists clenched, stomping his way to the kitchen to get himself something to shove into his face before see says something he'd regret. "If the misnaming was ALL I had to deal with... I wouldn't have such a fucking problem with her... I'd just say, ah she's annoying if she doesn't remember your name but she's good people BUT SHE FUCKING ISN'T!! Any time that the tough got going, she went gone... she ran away... she didn't believe in this planet, yet had the nerve to call it home instead of LITERALLY ANY OTHER COLONY OUT THERE IN SPACE!... But no, she chose to abuse and fester here like an untreated infection... and we just dealt with her like she was a misbehaving toddler, who didn't know how the world worked cause we didn't wanna upset her... and now she thinks she can do whatever she fucking wants." Gem Steven replied shoveling some of last nights reheated left overs into his face, thankful for the subject change.

"It's Sadie Killer and the Suspects... and they broke up a few months ago." Gem Steven replied with a disgruntled huff, shoveling another spoon full of foo into his face, chewing thoroughly, before swallowing "Sadie went off and formed a new band with her new partner named Shep... Shep's a chill person... I'm happy for them." He said in a notably bittersweet tone, being the hopeless romantic with the emphasis on hopeless.

"Well that's because Peridot is genuinely nice to be around... and if you were born on Homeworld, Rose might not have known that human's sweat... plus Gems themselves don't really sweat either. Plus you're half human so you'd have a whole bunch of powers she wouldn't have access too." He replied, with a mumble through his half chewed food.

"She wouldn't have known about half of the shit you'd go through... hell if she were here she'd be so much better at this whole parent shit than I am..." He huffed taking a big drink directly out of the jug of milk that was nearly gone anyway. "Guilty... I wouldn't doubt it was yours anyway..." He huffed into his nearly empty food bowl. "Most of the plants I make just try to rip me to shreds." He replied, before he yelped as she was practically dragging him out. "Eris, slow down!"

[lieutenantabrudas]

ngl lads i told myself i'd finish this for mother's day and then immediately forgot and just happened to finish it now anyway because i wanted to close the canvas and do something else. anyway hello good morning can i interest you all in a lawful neutral/evil navy milf

this is nautilea victrilianus, turian imperial navy. she's a vice admiral at the time of canon and a very highly-decorated shanxi veteran, as well as the wife of tibero quentius, turian chief ambassador (and possible councilor if cnclr sparatus dies, depending on timeline). born on rocam in 2094 terran, she met tibero during their mandatory services when they were briefly sharing a ship and the travels were interrupted by a solar storm, and they fell for each other instantly. they have four children together - atticus, valeria, and the twins bellicus and salvius - and now that tibero has switched from the army to xenopolitics, when she isn't out with the fleet (on the dreadnought Enninion, usually, under her own command) she usually resides on the citadel with him or at their beachfront home on his homeworld of parnithas around holidays. the two of them are also good friends with councilor sparatus and his wife aediteia, and frequently hang out together as a group; tibero is also known to spend time with the sparatuses by himself when nauti is away and he's lonely, with her blessing, because she hates it when he's lonely look at his face he's so sad :(

you can read about her mainly so far in these two fics: "a luncheon most foul" [AO3], her actual character introduction feat. teia and other tower spouses, and "a contest of titans" [AO3], from hackett's pov both during shanxi and many years later.

also she has the bird version of a yorkshire accent. for fun. and kinda because she was inspired by jason isaacs as zhukov in the death of stalin. more rambling under the cut i have so many Thoughts about this one horrible terror-bird

during shanxi, nautilea was a lieutenant-commander, and after her unit boarded a human ship and took several humans prisoner, she was placed in charge of their keep and interrogation. one of said prisoners was then-lieutenant-commander steven hackett. they both proceeded to be utterly abhorrent to each other, they both sucked, nauti was mean and violent and taking out her own emotional distress on hackett who had nothing to do with it, hackett was just as nasty and cruel back, neither one of them was a good person in this instance don't get it twisted. nautilea was worried about her husband and son atticus, both with the army (atticus being 21 and only a sergeant at the time, while tippi was a major) down on the ground on shanxi, and took it out on hackett, seeing it as humanity's fault that her loved ones were in danger while she was stuck up in orbit unable to do anything. it got worse when she lost contact with tibero, which would later turn out to be because he had been captured and taken prisoner, and then when atticus was med-evaced to her ship because he'd been grievously wounded and wouldn't speak to anyone, just cried for his mummy. his squadmates came forward and vouched that the humans who'd ambushed them had started to take them hostage, but needed "mama" to be translated for them as parental terms hadn't been translated yet, and then retreated once they learned what atticus was saying and how old he was, uncomfortable with the knowledge of what they'd done to someone so young. unfortunately, nautilea didn't care, and took out her rage on the humans in her charge. she calmed down significantly once atticus recovered enough to talk to her, and formally requested being taken off prisoner duty so she could focus on her son. hackett would never learn why she disappeared.

later on, hackett would continue to hold a grudge well into the future, while nautilea mostly put everything behind her and stopped caring, because her husband and chicks were safe and that was all that ever mattered to her. in the current period, she generally doesn't care about humans and leaves dealing with aliens (the ones who aren't actively shooting at her men, anyway) to her husband once he switches to xenopolitics. she cares about her people, and her duty to them, and that's what she focuses on. if tippi asks for her input, she'll give it, but for the most part she keeps work and home separate. it helps that when she comes home to tibero, her main line of thought is just about how happy she is to be home where she gets to be cuddled and cooked for and given shinies and not have to wear real people clothes if she doesn't want to, everything outside their apartment be damned. she does still think it's funny that she lives rent-free in hackett's head, especially after tibero is made chief ambassador under sparatus and hackett complains in the news about her. it's whatever. that was the old her. she's moved on.

... except in my "bad end" timeline, where the destiny ascension is left to die under shepard and hackett's orders, and she and tibero lose a very close friend. as hackett was in command of the fifth fleet and made the call to hang back and let the ascension burn, all those bad memories come roaring back, and nautilea goes on the warpath. when the alliance make a move to try and get more of their own ships defending the citadel, the council shoots them down and lets the turians take command instead, and nautilea is put right at the head of the fleet. hackett is not happy about this. nautilea is not happy about hackett killing her friend. the alliance's betrayal is taken as proof that they should have crushed the humans at shanxi, and while tibero tries to counsel peace, nautilea spirals, and becomes determined that what happened to ierian sparatus will not happen to her tippi. things get bad, they almost divorce, the series is about dealing with tragedy nobody's having a good time okay but it works out tippi insists on therapy because he recognizes she's grieving and cracking under the strain of trying to be the strong one

and, just for fun, her character inspo:

his intro with the slowmo and dramatic music is exactly what you should be thinking of when she arrives in luncheon most foul btw. as a treat. that's her that's nautilea. wife <3

[ckret2]

how implausible is it that the glasses thing *isn’t* from his homeworld? half-baked possibility: he had some sort of horrible 3D glasses-based thing happen the first time he possessed someone with two eyes. other half-baked possibility: he was scared shitless while dimension hopping by something with the 3D glasses look to their eyes/face.

I think pretty implausible.

You've gotta think about Bill as a character instead of a person. Sure, a person with a phobia for 3D glasses and a trillion-year life could have easily picked up that phobia from any random incident anywhere along the way. But Bill's not a person, he's a character with a narrative. When details are added about him, they serve his character—or else they wouldn't get added.

For example, if, say, you got in a minor car accident five years ago, that's probably just random bad luck that comes from being a human in a car and it doesn't necessarily reflect anything about your personal journey through life; but Bill can't "randomly" get into a minor car accident because Alex wouldn't waste time writing about it if it didn't add something to our understanding of Bill's character. So if we got a scene where he got into a car crash, it would probably be something like "haha yeah that happened when I was drunk" and added in to highlight a drinking problem—and it would probably be added only as a part of the plot, like, say, as part of his O'Sadley's/Mexican restaurant bender.

Right now, Bill's established as a character, we don't need to tack on Random Quirky Details like "deer teeth" or "head that's always screaming" or "pours soda on his eyes" to show you what Bill's like. The details we receive about him are added to expand on and further explain who his character is; and at this stage in his character development, almost all the "deeper" "hidden" details we've gotten about him (the hidden codes in TBOB, just about everything Bill-related on the website) have been about his home dimension and the trauma connected to it.

If the 3D glasses thing was some random one-off event with no important connection to Bill's overall story, it wouldn't have been important enough to include in the Secret Information Website.

As I see it, there are only three possibilities:

The 3D glasses and Venetian blinds are narratively meaningless and are just added into the list to be weird things that serve as distractions before we're hit with "TV static," the one item on the list with significance; or

the 3D glasses and Venetian blinds ARE connected in a MEANINGFUL, IMPORTANT way to Bill's backstory

we're actually gearing up to get more story and it'll be explained somewhere in there

Given the mention of red & blue and the significance of 3D vision in Bill's narrative, and that I feel like the new content is PROBABLY winding down instead of up, and that there aren't any other loose-end-y details on the site that feel like they're dangling a followup, I'd give 3/4 odds that it's option 2.

[chrisrin]

What did bismuth Dirk make Hal FOR?

ALRIGHT! TIME FOR MY SECOND STORY DUMP! We need a bit of context before we get to Hal, so bear with me. (this is a long as fuck post)

SO! Dave and Dirk both come from Homeworld, as all gems do. I'm not super sure on the exacts, as the Alpha Kids are the first ones to leave together and they pick up the Beta Kids later but, we're kind of floating around the idea of Bro being Yellow Diamond or having some sort of equivalent power. Both Dirk and Dave are gems under Yellow, Dirk being a Bismuth and Dave being a Carnelian.

Plot stuff happens, Dirk escapes and at some point comes back to get Dave and now they have a whole squad and all that, yadda-yadda. However, during their escape from Homeworld, something Bad happens and causes Dave to get injured (don't know what it is yet but it's something)

Dave's gem gets cracked but everyone still makes it out okay. Due to whatever the circumstances are surrounding this, only Dave and Dirk know of the status of Dave's gem, Dave starts wearing actual clothing upon getting to Earth to hide his cracked gem, using the excuse that it's cool and he's trying to vibe with the style.

Dirk is a Bismuth, he's been trained his whole life to create weapons of war and things for destruction, and now, faced with one of the people he's come to care about most, it's the one time he can't fix a problem by putting a hammer to it. He can't help Dave, and Dirk blames himself for letting Dave get hurt in the first place, thinking he wasn't strong enough to protect him.

As time goes on, Dave gets worse, and especially after escaping Homeworld, Dave's cracked gem prevents him from spawning his weapon. This means Dave is filled with trauma on top of feeling deeply defenseless, coming from a place where having a weapon on you at all times was the only thing keeping you alive.

Dirk, watching Dave's deterioration, decides that enough is enough and he seeks out Pink Diamond. Upon finding Feferi, Dirk trades in something (A deal? A service?) in exchange for some of her healing material. He brings it to Dave and heals his gem.

So, you'd assume everything's fine and dandy now, right? Surely.

But no, it's Dirk, so it's not.

Dirk looks at this situation and says, "I'm never going to let this happen again" and concludes that the reason Dave got hurt was because he, Dirk, was not strong enough. So Dirk asks, "How do I get stronger?"

At some point during this time, the group is all out doing stuff together and Dirk watches Sollux save all their asses from something. Dirk realizes Sollux is statistically the stronger gem out of the whole group and puts two-and-two together (literally), concluding that what he needs to be powerful is...

Fusion. (do you see where this is heading?)

Will Dirk go and ask Sollux about this? Will he go and maybe ask Roxy, who he trusts? Will he talk to Dave and get his thoughts?

No, of course not. Because Dirk is a little stupid.

Dirk theorizes that if he can splinter his own gem and create an artificially copied fragment of himself, he'd be able to fuse with himself which would avoid having to rely on other people. So Dirk does the one thing he wasn't going to do to Dave. He takes the hammer to himself.

This, as you would imagine, goes fucking horribly wrong.

Dirk creates Hal, who is only a very small sliver of Bismuth. A corrupted gem that can't properly speak, seems to be intelligent, but also fucking hates Dirk.

Dirk, panicked, both because now his own gem is fucked up, but now because he has a little Dude running around his workshop, decides "oh fuck I need to fix this" and tries to fuse with Hal.

It doesn't work. Their fusion isn't stable. They can't fuse back together.

Dirk, having no idea what to do, decides to hide Hal away in his workshop and does his best to lie to everyone. Dave is suspicious, as Dirk starts to wear clothing that covers his gem, but Dave also isn't one for emotional vulnerability so he doesn't ask. Dirk continues to lie to most of everyone, even as his own state gets worse and worse.

Eventually, Sollux realizes what Dirk did. And he's fucking pissed. The lie gets uncovered and Sollux is ANGRY. Remember when Pearl lied to Garnet about the tower and the whole Sardonyx thing? It's like that, but both sides are angry at each other and refuse to apologize.

The rest of the group do their best to take care of Hal, they try to help Dirk fuse properly with him but it's not working, and Dirk keeps trying to force it but they aren't stable.

Eventually, something happens, and Dave gets poofed while they're out on an adventure (obviously Dave can recover, but it's a huge scare for Dirk). It's something Dirk could've easily protected Dave from, but now because he fragmented himself, he's even weaker than before. This is the final tipping stone for Dirk.

He goes to Sollux and apologizes, begging him to help him figure out fusion.

Sollux, resigned, sighs and agrees to help him. With time, Sollux slowly teaches Hal and Dirk how to work together and fuse, gradually helping them become more and more stable until finally they can fuse together and be like normal again.

Even after all of this, Hal and Dirk fused together aren't any more powerful than they were before. But Dirk grew in a different way, learning to trust others and see that not all his problems can be solved by just relying on himself.

Sollux, seeing Dirk & Hal's growth, who have now become a proper permafusion, offers to fuse with them if he wants to try it. Dirk smiles and shakes his head, and says that he'll be happy with where he is for right now, though he wouldn't mind taking it up in the future. Sollux is beaming back, satisfied that Dirk learned his lesson. (and then when shit goes down in the future we have this fucking awesome moment where Dirk and Sollux fuse together for the first time and theyre so fucking cool and i physicall explode)

ANYWAYS THAT'S MY STORY DUMP. LONG-ASS POST I KNOW BUT I HAVE A LOT OF FEELINGS ABOUT THEM! HOPE THIS ANSWERS YOUR QUESTION!!

[thisbreadisnotgucci]

Horrible Bill Cipher headcannon: Bill wears gloves bc his hands are permanently stained with the blood of his homeworld :3