#killing the refugees is Rough

[brackenfrond]

Sometimes I do think about how things are going to go in my BG3/DA fic. Future things, but crucial things.

For example:

Carver wakes up to Astarion's fangs nearly at his neck and manages to push him off. Astarion doesn't stand in this scenario, he stays on the ground, eyes wide and scared as he stares up at Carver, attempting to babble off some excuse. Carver pinches the bridge of his nose.

'OK, for a second, imagine I'm really stupid.'

'Not that hard, considering.' The words come out instinctively, an echo of their usual banter.

'Astarion.' Carver's voice is harsh, harsher than he means it to be, and he's bigger than Astarion, stronger and he's angry.

Astarion flinches, arms coming up instinctively to protect his head, but it won't matter. Everyone hurts him, flays flesh from his bones, starves him, buries him alive. Hands over his head won't stop the pain if they want it.

And Carver freezes, piecing together things remarkably quickly.

Carver, who tries to be kind and considerate and is so very soft, suddenly wants to kill someone.

[s1ithers]

this must be them throwing in the towel on the evil route bc she was all the grove choice had going for it

which is a shame bc it's really so close to being a great rp moment! the narrator straight up tells you, meeting minthara—"participating in the slaughter as she asks may be the perfect way to earn her trust, and gain access to the cult's inner circle." that's a great motivation for a self-serving character. except it's just sort of breezed past without much buildup, you haven't even exhausted all your tadpole options yet (whole other post how weird it is they put the creche where they did), then you go to moonrise and despite the goblin witnesses & all the scrying eyes hanging around, nobody seems to know/care you're the one who killed their warband and you infiltrate the cult anyway without any problems. likewise, nobody at last light knows/cares if you slaughtered the grove and the whole thing goes basically nowhere

tbh i almost think the evil route exists, they just stuck all its content into the good route. you'd just have to rearrange the pieces a bit—

>act 1, you putter around asking everyone you run into, nettie, ethel, volo, nobody can help you. meet the gith doctor, one of the few people on this plane with actual expertise on the matter - her machine explodes. halsin is your hail mary. he doesn't know shit. so you're standing in the goblin camp and it's become inescapably clear that the only people with answers are the cult themselves.

the game emphasizes that this is the fork in the road. you either 1) decide to infiltrate the cult and betray the grove to minthara to buy your way in, or 2) defend the grove bc it's the right thing to do and take it on faith that you'll find some other way to cure the tadpole

>side with minthara -> infiltrate moonrise, as in canon

>side with the grove -> alternate questline that leads you to the nightsong (maybe some kind of investigation with the harpers, maybe pull it out of halsin's backstory, secret third thing)

you get either moonrise or last light as a hub, the other base is automatically hostile. (maybe there's still some way to talk jaheira around, since i'll buy that she hasn't heard about the grove incident. or not, maybe a couple of tiefling survivors made it to last light before you.) flesh out some of the cultist npcs with some side quests etc to balance out the lost content from the tieflings. maybe you have to run a few errands before z'rell trusts you with the relic mission

both routes converge on the gauntlet of shar

did they really make minth recruitable on the good route.... man, they've got to learn to say no

[toastandjamie]

Thinking about Mat’s first meeting with Olver. Just this twenty year old who’s so frustrated with responsibility that despite hating fighting goes into this situation looking for an excuse to hit someone. Then he sees that a kids involved, and he tries to diffuse the situation, he’s tired and just wants to solve this quickly so he can go back to the inn and get some sleep- then this full grown man threatens to kill a child, for the crime of roughing his horse. And Mat, Mat KNOWS what it’s like to be that kid, too curious for his own good and getting into trouble, but never NEVER has anyone threatened to hurt him over it. And Mat without any thought for potential repercussions breaks a dudes wrist and hits the other right between the legs. And then he threatens to have the lot of them run out of town by the Band because they had the audacity to say that Olver was “just a peasant child” as of that changed the situation for Mat, a horse traders son in fancy clothes. Because to Mat that’s all he is, a peasant in nice clothes. Then he’s trying to figure out what to do with Olver, since his parents are no where to he found, and Olver tells him not to talk about him like he isn’t there. And Mat ACKNOWLEDGES that, he apologizes and kneels down so they can be eye level. He doesn’t talk down to Olver, because he knows what it’s like to have other people make decisions for him. He is so keenly aware of his Olver feels, the frustration and rebelliousness that comes from being a child because he isn’t that far removed from it. Just three years ago he was still just a kid, older and a bit more mature than Olver perhaps, but still just a kid and one who hadn’t seen the horrors that ten year old Olver had seen. He acknowledges Olver’s feelings and talks to him like he’s anyone else, and redirects Olver’s stubbornness so skillfully. He’s just so good with kids in a way that not even just having two younger sisters can account for. He Gets It, the parts of him that others consider immature are what make him so good at communicating with Olver.

Then think about this from Olver’s perspective. He’s been alone for who knows how long, forced to flee his home, to bury his mother, and now all alone in some strange place. He was likely sleeping in the stables, and that was how he ended up trying to make friends with the Hunter of the Horns horse. Then this Hunter drags him out to the middle of the street, threatening to Jill him. Olver was brave about it but it must’ve been terrifying. Especially upon realizing that none of the other refugees would help. Then suddenly a man in nobles clothes, a strange hat and the coolest looking spear he’s probably ever seen intercedes on his behalf. A man Olver has never seen before, a foreigner no less, but here he is coming to rescue Olver like some gleemans hero. Then Olver sees Mat fight, while to Mat this was hardly even a struggle, a few cracks with the blunt of his spear and the ‘fight�� is over, but to Olver, Mat probably looked like a warder with how easily he handled two armed men presumably trained in using those swords they carry. We as an audience see Mat mainly through the eyes of people who don’t take him seriously, Mat himself included, so it’s easy to overlook just how badass Mat must seem to anyone else looking from the outside, especially a young angry boy who wants to fight the aiel who killed his father. We don’t know how Olver found out, or when, but imagine being Olver and hearing the most certainly exaggerated story of Mat “dueling” Couladin. Is it any wonder that Olver hero worships Mat? That inspite of what Olver perceived as Mat being hypocritical and foolish(or as Mat sees it trying to properly care for a child and be a good influence) he still considers Mat to be someone to emulate. Whether Olver sees Mat as more a mentor, brother or father figure he very clearly idolizes him. He wants to be like Mat, he wants Mat’s attention and praise because despite Mat being “no bloody hero” to this little boy he IS a hero, one worthy of any gleemans story

[arabian-batboy]

If they had social media during the Holocaust I can grantee you that Nazis will be posting things like:

"Being German in these times is so rough, everyone hates us simply for being Aryan and NO other reason whatsoever......"

"Being Nazi and being German isn't the same thing........but if you're anti-Nazi then you're inherently anti-German and want all of them dead"

"Never Again is just a slogan that means wanting to commit a genocide against all Europeans"

"Germany has the right to self-defense"

"Instead of being mad at Germany for starting the Holocaust why aren't you mad at other countries for not accepting Jewish refugees instead????"

"Not because I'm a Nazi soldier and work at a concentration camp that doesn't mean I agree with Hitler!"

"Forget about the concentration camps for a minute, do you condemn Jewish terrorists killing innocent German civilians?"

"Why do you refuse to condemn Jewish terrorists killing innocent German civilians? Do their life not matter because they're German?"

"You don't care about Jews, you just hate Germans and want an excuse to kill them all"

"Anne Frank's was being used as a human-shield and there was a terrorist base under her house, her death isn't our fault."

"The holocaust is a very complex and complicated conflict with both sides doing bad things toward each other and if you're not Aryan or Jewish you shouldn't be allowed to talk about it"

"Please pray for both Germans and Jews in these hard times.......but please don't stop unconditionally supporting our country and never ask us to stop what we're doing."

Basically everything the Zionists are posting right now, victimizing themselves, justifying their crimes and shifting the attention away toward anything else, most of the time toward fake "crimes" committed by the people they're killing in hopes of making what's going on seem two-sided.

[littlethingsinlife]

Happier

A/N: I had this idea while I was listening to some music and I guess I was feeling some type of way. P.s. I couldn’t find a clearer picture (rn my source of pics is pinterest lol). A little bit of a warning, I’m INCREDIBLY rusty when it comes to writing as I haven’t done it in awhile. This songfic is inspired by Olivia Rodrigo’s “happier” but it doesn’t really follow the lyrics word for word. Anyway I’m really hoping that it’s not hard to read. I hope you enjoy~

Pairing(s): Lo’ak x Tsireya, Past Lo’ak x Omaticayan!Reader 

Warning(s): None :DD Except for the writer is REALLY rusty when it comes to writing fanfic. The formatting might be a little wonky cause I copied and pasted from google doc. 

Word Count: 4,990 

More Info: The same old trope where the reader is orphaned and was taken in by the Sully’s which is why there were no questions asked she’s coming with. Also the storyline is not really in chronological order with what happened in the actual movie. There will be scenes pulled from the movie but placed where I think it would fit the best :’D

Summary: Traveling with the Sully’s to Awa’atlu was supposed to bring comfort and dissipate the fears of losing your loved one, not break your heart in two.

Part 2: i’m sorry

Key: 

(Y/N) = Your Name 

Lyrics = Bolded Italics 

Flashbacks = Italics

Na’vi Words: 

Yimkxa - Banshee Catcher 

Txe’lan - Heart

Uturu - Tradition of granting refugees sanctuary  

Marui - Pods where the clan live

Tsaheylu - Bond 

Olo’eyktan - Clan leader 

Tsahik - Spiritual leader 

Skxawng - Idiot

We broke up a month ago

Your friends are mine, you know, I know

You’ve moved on, found someone new

One more girl who brings out the better in you

We arrived in Awa’atlu a month ago. When I think about it, it pains me a great deal to have left all that I knew behind, but it would’ve killed me if they left without me, if he was no longer there, even if the forest will forever be my home it would’ve felt desolate without him and the light he would bring along with him. Oh how foolish I was to think that them leaving would be the only thing to tear my heart in two. 

The night before Tarsem became the new Olo’eyktan and the Sully’s and I would begin our journey for uturu, I cried, cried in the arms of my best friend and my first love as fears and uncertainty overwhelmed me. 

“I-I am afraid, what if the sky people come to find us again? I cannot lose any of you; it would break me into a million pieces,” I sobbed. 

“If they find us then we will fight and we will win,” Lo’ak declared as he softly rocked me back and forth in his arms. 

“You are an idiot, I was so close to losing you, to losing Kiri, Tuk, how do you think it would make me feel to lose the most important people in my life?” I sniffled. 

“(Y/N), sweet girl, you will not lose us, we will always be there for you. Do not worry your pretty head over such things, I promise that I will be with you all throughout the journey as will my family. We love you, and even if you do not believe it, you are a Sully. And you know what my dad always says.” 

“Sullys stick together,” we chorused. 

That night, he stayed cradling me in his arms until I fell asleep, whispering comforting words and giving occasional kisses to the top of my head. 

The entire journey was rough. Days seemed to blend together as we flew through the skies on our ikran. We were all quiet at the beginning as we mourned the loss of our home. But by the end of it all Kiri, Lo’ak and I found ways to entertain ourselves by telling jokes and playing a game called “I spy” that Jake taught us when he got tired of the three of us bumping ikran with one another. As we approached the village, a horn was blown to announce our arrival to the village. One by one, we all landed and dismounted our ikran. 

Jake stepped forwards with his hands in the air as a means to show we came in peace. As a large group of Metkayina surrounded us, I instinctively stepped closer to Lo’ak and Neteyam. Looking around, I could see the differences between us, our skin was darker, tails much skinnier, and their eyes were much larger. My tail whipped excitedly as I looked around, but before I was able to tell Lo’ak about any of my observations, two boys around our age started to walk towards us. Out of respect, Lo’ak, Neteyam and I greeted them properly. The teenage boys, however, turned a blind eye and began to make fun of our physical appearances. 

“Is that supposed to be a tail?” The short one laughed.

My eyes narrowed as I followed their movement and was ready to hiss, hackles raised, when Neteyam put a hand on my shoulder and quickly shook his head. Hesitantly my tail fell at the silent order. 

“Why are you so quiet? Lo’a-” I whispered as I turned around to see Lo’ak staring wide-eyed.  “What’re you staring at?” I mumbled as I followed his gaze.  

A beautiful Metkayina girl walked out of the water towards us. As she got closer, Lo’ak let out a meek hello and was rewarded with a shy giggle while an unknown ache in my chest consumed me. 

And I thought my heart was detached 

From all the sunlight of our past

But she’s so sweet, she’s so pretty 

Does she mean you forgot about me? 

Her name was Tsireya, the daughter of Olo’eyktan and Tsahik. Her brother Ao’nung and her are meant to teach us their clan's ways so we are not burdened by being “useless.” Our first lesson was to learn how to breathe properly. 

So there we all were, sitting in a circle while Rotxo, Ao’nung’s friend, and Tsireya tried to teach us to breathe from our stomachs not our lungs as it didn’t supply us enough air to dive deep enough. I sat between Neteyam and Lo’ak while Kiri was across from me. 

My eyes were closed as I tried to focus, ears twitching as Lo’ak playfully swatted my back with his tail. A small smile found its way onto my face as my tail lightly swatted him back.

“Lo’ak you are not breathing properly. Let me show you,” Tsireya scolded. Slowly my smile dropped and I opened my eyes to Tsireya putting her hand over Lo’ak’s heart and stomach.“Your heartbeat is fast. Try to focus,” Tsireya advised, demonstrating how slow we should be breathing herself. 

“Right, sorry,” Lo’ak apologized. 

I could faintly hear Neteyam and Rotxo unsuccessfully try to hold back a laugh as I closed my eyes to try to calm my mind and heart from breaking further. Unbeknownst me, a pair of eyes full of pity were on me the entire time, seeing my ears flatten and my demeanor shrink. 

Oh, I hope you’re happy 

But not like how you were with me

I’m selfish, I know, I can’t let you go

So find someone great, but don’t find no one better 

I hope you’re happy but don’t be happier 

The last two weeks had been peaceful, same routine but I had barely been able to see Lo’ak. He was always gone early in the morning and was there for lessons, but he would leave with Tsireya as soon as we were done. Even though it was our day off from lessons I hadn’t seen him at all. Maybe it was because I had been sticking to Kiri most of the day, but the lack of his presence left me feeling empty. 

Although it really was relaxing to hear the waves crash softly and to sunbathe, it appeared that Eywa had plans of her own as the moment of calm barely lasted before the sound of crunching sand and laughter came closer. My ears twitched as I slowly sat up. Looking to my side I saw Ao’nung and his group of skxawng heading towards Kiri. Narrowing my eyes I stood up quickly and headed over to where she was, but they made it there before me. 

“What is she doing? She’s just looking at the sand” Ao’nung laughed. 

“What? What’d you say?” Kiri questioned slowly, getting out of the water with a confused smile on her face. 

“Are you some kind of… freak?” Ao’nung teased as his friends laughed. 

“Leave her alone Ao’nung. She is no freak,” I hissed, grabbing Kiri’s arm to leave. “Let’s go, Kiri.'' 

“Are you sure? Look at these hands.” he persisted and grabbed the offending hands in question. 

“Ao’nung plea-” 

“Hey! Back off fish lips.” Lo’ak yelled, rapidly approaching as the beginnings of a snarl was already forming on his face.

“Oh another four-fingered freak,” Ao’nung simpered.

“Look at his little baby tail,'' one of Ao’nung’s friends pointed out while pulling at Lo’ak’s tail, causing laughter to bubble up amongst them.

“Leave us alone!” Kiri pleaded as they continued to tease and gang up on Lo’ak. I saw Neteyam stalking towards us in the corner of my eye. 

“You heard what she said. Leave them alone,” Neteyam said as he shoved Ao’nung away from Lo’ak, much to the delight of one of Ao’nung’s friends. 

“Aw, big brother comi-” Ao’nung interrupted with a hand on his chest. 

“Back off. Now,” Neteyam warned Ao’nung, lifting his hands in mock surrender shortly after. “Good choice,” he nodded, eyes never wavering. “And from now on, I need you to respect my sister.” 

Clearly unhappy with being talked down to by the brother of the “freaks,” one of the skxawng hissed before Ao’nung lifted his hand to stop him. My eyes scanned all the Metkayina boys and held Ao’nung’s stare before sticking my tongue out. 

“C’mon, let’s go,” Neteyam ordered. 

As we were leaving, I heard Ao’nung’s voice carried over by the wind. 

“All freaks, the whole family.” 

But before I could do anything, I saw Lo’ak turn and reassure us that he could handle the situation before spinning on his heel and heading back towards them.

“I know this hand is funny,” he said, voice low as he flexed the extra digit to demonstrate. “Look, I’m a freak. Alien. But it can do something really cool.” I tried to hold back my laugh while Kiri rolled her eyes. I looked at Neteyam and gave him a small smirk, he simply shook his head. 

“Watch,” Lo’ak studied the curious expressions of the Metkayina boys while they were enthralled with his hand, “first I ball it up real tight like this, then—” fast enough you could almost miss it, he punched Ao’nung not once, but three times.

“It’s called a punch, bitch!” Lo’ak crowed, pointing an accusing finger. “Never touch my sister again.”

Ao’nung lunged at Lo’ak and tackled him onto the sand. The two wrestled on the ground, and Lo’ak got a good hit in before being pulled off by his tail. What dirty fighters! I hissed but saw Neteyam shake his head and sigh before jumping in to defend his brother before I could do anything. 

“Guys. Stop it,” Kiri groaned. 

“This is embarrassing,” I said as I looked over at her, my tail swishing back and forth in anticipation. As we shared a look we could hear someone yell, “ow my tail!” and a responding,“ow my ear!” 

“This is stupid,” we both laughed. 

My eyes widened as I see Lo’ak climb atop Ao’nung and start serving blow after blow. Before this became any worse and the son of the Olo’eyktan was injured any further, I was already moving to get Lo’ak off of him. 

“You skxawng, if you keep hitting him your father will send you to Eywa faster than—” Interrupted by an elbow to the nose, I yelped in pain and I staggered back as I held my face. 

The fighting stopped. All eyes were on me. 

“Shit! (Y/N) why would you get so damn close?” Lo’ak cursed as he got off Ao’nung to look at the damage. 

“I was trying to prevent your early death, asshole,” I hissed. 

“That doesn’t justify why you would try to pry me off of him, if I didn’t know any better I would’ve thought you were trying to protect his skxawng ass over there,” he scoffed. 

“You’re the real skxawng. I already told you, I’m trying to save your ass from the harsh scolding your father will deal you when he hears that you beat up the son of the Olo’eyktan!” I yelled. 

As Lo’ak and I continued to argue, the group of boys dispersed and all that was left was Ao’nung, Kiri, and Neteyam looking at us confused. Before the argument could get worse, Jake found us and saw the aftermath of the fight. Angered by the sight of Ao’nung injured, he pushed Lo’ak and Neteyam by the shoulders and ordered me to follow him to the marui. My ears flattened and my tail wrapped around my ankle at the sound of his angered tone, but I followed anyway. 

Looking back, I saw Ao’nung sign, “thank you” and— once again—stuck my tongue out at him in distaste. Who did he think he was, thinking that I’d willingly help him after he called my friends “freaks?” Bah, he was such a presumptuous jacka—

“Keep walking, (Y/N),” Jake groused and snapped me out of my thoughts, unwilling to let anymore scuffles happen today. Feeling properly chagrined, I lowered my head and turned around only to meet eyes with Lo’ak. 

The interaction didn’t go unnoticed by him, it seemed. 

After Jake scolded us and told Lo’ak to apologize to Ao’nung, I was told to go wash the blood off of my face, so I followed silently behind a fuming Lo’ak. Lost in thought, I bumped into him and started apologizing before he turned and grabbed my shoulders. 

“When did you and fish lips get so close?” He questioned.

“Close?”  

“Yes, close.” He stepped back and tilted his head, brows creasing in growing annoyance. “Close enough that you would get hurt protecting him, trying to get me off of him. What is wrong with you? Don’t think I haven’t noticed the looks, the fact that you guys talk through sign even when we are not in the water,” he scoffed. 

“Where is this even coming from—”I sputtered in confusion, trying to gather my thoughts before feeling a rising frustration of my own. “You’re unbelievable, you know that? Why can’t you believe that I was doing it for you?! I was trying to save you from a fierce scolding for disobeying your father’s orders. I was trying to protect you,” I spit out, eyes growing blurry with angry tears. 

“Bah! Stop lying, I know you (Y/N). You would have fought alongside me and defended Kiri. You are not the same girl I knew in the forest back home,” he muttered, rolling his eyes and getting ready to walk away. “Talk to me when you’ve come back to your senses,” he called over his shoulder, leaving me behind as tears started to fall and my chest started rising and falling uncontrollably. The familiar ache was back again, only this time it stung with every sob I let out. 

And do you tell her she’s the most beautiful girl you’ve ever seen? 

An eternal love bullshit you know you’ll never mean

Remember when I believed you meant it when you said it first to me? 

It was decided that I would be the first to undergo the iknimaya. Carefully jumping over a fallen log, I grabbed my yimkxa and walked closer to where the ikran rested. Behind me, I heard two new but familiar voices. Without turning around, I could hear the greetings of Lo’ak and Neteyam to the other hunters. Vaguely I registered them saying they wanted to come and watch to cheer me on. 

Facing forward, I made sure to be aware of my surroundings so I didn’t make a fool out of myself. Left and right, banshees of all shades and hues screeched and flew off. I scanned through the many ikran that flew off and briefly remembered my mentor telling us that to find the banshee we are meant to bond with for life, it must try to kill us first. 

I found myself face-to-face with a white and gold ikran that stomped angrily to show off its dominance. Powerful jaws that showed off gleaming fangs snapped in my direction, so I bared my fangs and hissed in response. Crouching slightly as I slowly circled around the beautiful creature, I faintly heard Lo’ak’s cheer of encouragement. 

 A strong wave of adrenaline shot through me as the banshee began to bare its teeth and bellow angrily. Before I could register it, I barely managed to dodge teeth aimed for my leg. Ducking and weaving out of reach from its, I quickly swung my yimkxa around its head, successfully immobilizing the jaw. With as much speed I could muster, I jumped onto the back of the ikran—its neck felt like woven stone beneath my legs as it thrashed its head about, trying to buck me off. 

It was hard to distinguish what was up or down as I clumsily grabbed at my queue to complete the tsaheylu. I could barely hear the faint cheering and war cries behind me—the feeling of my vision sharpening and my lungs inhaling with a renewed strength was too overwhelming to focus on anything else. The bond was made. 

“I will name you Tekay,” I whispered as I took the yimkxa off. 

My hands eagerly held onto her as she screeched and began to flap her wings, a signal that she was going to take off. Laughing, I led her to the edge and nose-dived off the face of the cliff. I could hear the screams of the other hunters and the two Sully boys. 

The wind pushing against my face was exhilarating and my chest swelled as I directed Tekay to fly straight up to where the ikran nest was. 

“You scared us shitless (Y/N)! What were you thinking?” Neteyam chastised as I landed. 

“It was amazing!” I shouted, breathless and full of awe. “The feeling of the air against my skin and Tekay’s speed! No words can describe how I feel at this very moment! Did you see that Lo’ak? I did it!” I exclaimed, cheeks flush with adrenaline. 

“You know you’re really beautiful when you’re excited,” Lo’ak laughs. 

Beautiful.

“Wh-what’re you talking about skxawng,” I said, turning around to face Tekay in hopes he didn’t notice the darkening of my cheeks. It seemed as though Eywa was on my side that day as Lo’ak turned back around to get on top of his Ikran and yipped at me. Looking back at him, I tilted my head. 

“Let’s race back to High Camp! The last one there is a skxawng” He taunted. 

“(Y/N)? Are you listening?” A soft voice questioned, pulling me back from my reminiscing. 

“Huh? Oh yeah, sorry… just lost in thought for a second.” I smiled. 

“What were you thinking about, hm? Maybe a certain Na’vi whose name starts with ‘Lo’ and ends in ‘ak?’” Kiri teased and giggled as my eyes grew wide and the tips of my ears grew pink.  

“N-no I wasn’t! What makes you think that!” I gasped. Suddenly, I found a great interest in the ocean. 

“Oh no reason…” she teased. 

Before I could respond I saw two heads pop out of the water laughing, looking like they were in their own little world. That nothing else mattered. As they were getting closer to shore I could see that it was Lo’ak and Tsireya. My heart clenched and I stopped Kiri before she called them over to us. There was confusion on her face, but a look of understanding replaced it soon after she saw me shake my head. 

Too afraid to move in fear of being found, I gripped Kiri’s hand in a silent plea for her to stay as still as possible. Not too far below the rock we were situated on, we could hear the both of them playfully push at and laugh with each other. Tears clouded my vision as I witnessed Lo’ak complement Tsireya. 

“You know you’re really beautiful when you laugh,” Lo’ak chuckled, pushing a stray strand of hair away from her face. My mind was a blur as the once unfamiliar feeling in my chest came back and I could only silence my sobs in my hands while Kiri shushed and comforted me. 

And now I’m pickin’ her apart 

Like cuttin’ her down will make you miss my wretched heart

But she’s beautiful, she looks kind 

She probably gives you butterflies 

I’ve been avoiding Lo’ak all week, which didn’t really take much effort on my part as he didn’t seek me out either. I found myself distancing myself from everyone, whenever I had free time I would excuse myself to a secluded area near the roots of the mangrove trees and wallow in self-pity. My sadness grew with each passing day. I’ve fallen into a routine since our fight and after witnessing  him be oh-so gentle with her, slipping away as soon as lessons are over, coming back just before dinner starts and leaving as soon as I’m done, barely talking to Kiri, Neteyam or anyone in general. 

They tried their hardest to make sure I was alright and actually taking care of myself, but it was hard to keep myself from shutting down whenever I was with them. It had gotten to the point where even Ao’nung was trying to look out for me, like some sort of switch was flipped after the fight. 

If I was in my right mind, I would’ve hissed and blatantly showcased my distaste for him, but even uttering a word other than meek “thank you”s when he hands me water or some sort of snack was more than I could handle. 

“You know you should really eat, you’ve already lost some weight,” A now-familiar voice chastised. 

With a small sigh I replied, “I’m not hungry,” pulling my knees closer to my chest. 

A shift in the air told me that the person has moved and crouched down next to me. Turning my head slightly, I saw that he was holding out a piece of fruit. I stared blankly and after a pregnant pause, he softly took my hand and places the fruit in it. 

“Ao’nung please, I already told you I’m not hungry.”

“I overheard Lo’ak telling my sister you didn’t eat breakfast.” He pulled out a small woven bag of fruit. “And lunch has already passed. Eat,” he ordered. But before he could push anymore food in my direction, I shook my head and turned away. “He can notice enough to tell Tsireya that I’m not eating, but he doesn’t care enough to talk to me himself?”

Ears twitching, I heard Ao’nung take a breath to—I’m assuming comfort me—and I interrupted him, not wanting to hear empty platitudes. It was a rhetorical question anyway, it wasn’t as if I was expecting an answer.

“If I take one bite will you leave me alone?” 

“If you finish the whole thing, then I will leave you alone,” he bargained. 

“Bah, you are insufferable,” I hissed, eyeing the fruit before taking a bite. The juice and flavors that flowed into my mouth made me realize just how thirsty and hungry I actually was. Eagerly I took another bite, until there was nothing left. 

“Right, you definitely weren’t hungry,” Ao’nung teased. Glaring at him, I nudged his shoulder. 

“This is the part where you leave, skxawng.” 

He held his hands up in surrender.  “Alright, alright I’m leaving. I’ll let Kiri know where you are, she’s been looking all over for you,”  he informed as he stood up and began climbing down the root.

As his shuffling grew distant, I growled in frustration as tears welled up in my eyes and pulled my knees even closer to my chest. Before my tears could fall, I heard the familiar sound of laughter that used to fill my stomach with butterflies and made my heart soar. Eyes wide I could see Lo’ak pop out of the water yelling. 

“I did it! Did you see that Reya?”. 

“Reya?” I whispered.

It felt like something broke.

I hope you’re happy 

But not like how you were with me 

I’m selfish, I know. I can’t let you go 

So find someone great but don’t find no one better 

“(Y/N)? Ao’nung told me you were here, are you okay?” a soft voice questioned. 

“Kiri… it hurts” I sobbed into my hands as the scene continued to replay in my head. Gentle arms wrapped themselves around my shoulders, cradling me to their chest. Shushing me as I sobbed, Kiri allowed me to let it all out before she began to softly coerce me to tell her what was wrong. With only faint sniffles being heard, I felt Kiri move so that we are sitting face to face with our hands holding. 

“Take a deep breath with me, calm your heart,” she said, voice soothing as she began to slowly inhale to set the pace. I tried to follow along the best that I could through hiccuping breaths. 

“That’s it txe’lan,” she encouraged,  “once you’ve calmed down we can speak of the storm that’s clouding your heart. Take all the time you need.” 

We sat in silence for a few minutes as the waves softly crashed against the shore, my breathing slowing and all that was left of my breakdown was a shuddering breath. I tried to pull my hands away from Kiri’s grasp but she’s too quick and she tightens her hold on my hands. 

“You are not running away from this, do not collapse into yourself or you’ll lose to the war in your heart,” Kiri insisted, her voice gentle but stern. “Please, tell me what is going on? I’m worried about you. You know I will never judge you, I am here to listen.” 

With one last unsteady breath, I began to tell her the reason for my lack of appetite and why tears stained my face more often than not. As I voiced out my insecurities my vision blurred and I felt the familiar ache in my chest rise as I tried to choke back a sob. 

“I just don’t understand how someone could change so much in such a short period of time. Seeing their lingering looks, the soft touches, the way he tells her things he used to tell me first… hurts. It hurts so much. After the fight with Ao’nung it’s like I’m nobody to him anymore,” I whispered. 

“Oh, txe’lan, my brother is an idiot but he would never think less of you…” Kiri responded. 

“When we fought he told me he didn’t know who I was anymore, that I wasn’t the same girl I used to be…” I sobbed, my hands tearing themselves away from her gentle hold to wrap around myself.  “Why didn’t he understand?” 

Kiri tilted her head as she reached a comforting arm towards me. “Understand what?”

“How could he even think I would choose somebody over him? When I did it for him and nobody else?” Another rhetorical question, I know, but my eyes searched her face for an answer regardless. I scrunched my nose in frustration at the obvious look of pity aimed at me and tried to turn away. 

“Txe’lan..”

“And you know the worst of it all, Kiri?” A mirthless laugh bubbled from my throat. “I can see how easy it is for him to push me away. To forget the years we spent together laughing, making jokes and telling each other things no one else knew about.” 

 “I don’t think he’s forgotten…” Kiri says, trying to reassure me. 

“I know that he still cares, I know that he wouldn’t just leave me behind for someone else to hurt me on purpose but it makes my heart ache. I know that I shouldn’t be sad that he’s found someone to be happy with, that I shouldn’t be selfish. I should be celebrating for him but I can’t. It feels like I’m being left behind in the dust and cast aside while he’s found the one.” As I went on, my chest became tighter and tighter. “It just hurts a lot Kiri. And I shouldn’t be hurting because he seems so— so happy, and it hurts even more—”

“(Y/N), how’re you so sure that he’s left you behind for good?” Kiri sighed and laid her hand on my knee. 

“I’m not sure, which hurts me more than knowing if he has. My heart and mind are clouded with the fear of losing him. Kiri…” I looked up to the sky to prevent any more tears from falling, my voice becoming smaller. “ I just miss my friend, I miss the way it used to be.”

“I know you do.” She frowned and moved to wrap her arms around my shaking form. 

“You’re so dead when I get to you big bro,” Lo’ak shrieked, small canines flashing as he jumped after Neteyam into the river. 

“Like you can take me on skxawng,” Neteyam laughed and dodged. 

“Oh yeah?” Lo’ak smirked, puffing out his chest. “I have a secret weapon. (Y/N)! C’mon, help me take him down!”  I popped out from behind a fallen branch with bared fangs, my tail whipping playfully as I let out a war cry and pounced onto a startled Neteyam. My legs wrapped around his waist while my arms found purchase around his neck in a weak chokehold. 

“What the—”

“Never underestimate the enemy!” I crowed with triumphant laughter as he lost balance and fell into the river.

Lo’ak was doubled over in laughter. “You should see your face!”

“Wait till dad hears about this—” Neteyam threatened, doing his best to seem intimidating while waterlogged. 

“Try your best big bro, you can’t even catch us,” Lo’ak mocked as he took my hand and started running home, laughter ringing throughout the forest. 

  “Have you tried talking to him about it?”

I let out a frustrated groan and flopped onto my back. “What would be the point?”

“Well—”

“I want to be selfish, to yell out that I miss him—us but I truly, genuinely want him to be happy, and I’m not going to get in the way of that.” Raising myself up on one arm to look out into the ocean at the silhouettes of two Na’vi kids playing in the water, I hurriedly wiped away frustrated tears that couldn’t seem to stop. “It just hurts so much more to know that he’s at the happiest point in his life without me in it.” 

I hope you’re happy

I wish you all the best, really

Say you love her, baby, just not like you loved me

And think of me fondly when your hands are on her 

I hope you’re happy, but don’t be happier 

Ooh, ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh

Ooh-ooh 

I hope you’re happy 

Just not like how you were with me 

I’m selfish, I know, can’t let you go 

So find someone great, but don’t find no one better 

I hope you’re happy, but don’t be happier

[forget-me-maybe]

*taps mic* UM HELLO I AM SEARCHING FOR ARADIN FIC IDEA ANON

i got even more carried away and re-wrote and wrote the whole shebang, hope that's okay.

this is also the first time i tried writing kinda rough top tav since i'm such a fucking bottom so it might've trailed off into fluff territory at some point 🤷‍♀️

anyway! here goes 2k words aradin smut:

They haven’t been at the grove for more than an hour and Tav is already fuming. The way the druids treat the refugees, her kin, sending them off to their inevitable deaths for no reason other than greed. She’ll have to deal with them soon, but first she’s going to deal with the merc that called the leader of the refugees a foulblood. 

Racist little prick. 

She wishes she was the one to throw the punch at him, instead Zevlor had been quicker and downed the man before she got the chance. Now he’s scurried off to lick his wounds in a secluded part of the Hollow and Tav is going to make sure he’s learnt his lesson. 

“Leave it be,” Shadowheart said. 

“He’s not worthy of your time,” Gale agreed. 

But this is on principle, if no one stands up for her people, who knows when the next Elturel will happen. It’s just typical she’s going to have to do it on her own. 

Tav can’t say she isn’t a bit nervous, from what she knows about the bastard his temper could blow any time. At least she’s lucky enough to find him alone, sitting on a crate by a makeshift table, shirtless and tending to his bruised jaw. She’s not blind, damn, she’s only a tiefling for goodness sake, and the strong muscles of his torso almost distract her from the purpose of her visit. 

“What d’ya want?” he snarls at her. 

Almost.

“You,” she hisses. “You fucking bastard. You owe Zevlor an apology. Hells, you owe all of the refugees an apology.” 

“Fuck off.” He stands up, approaching her in an attempt to look intimidating. Sure, he’s half a head taller than Tav but she knows her strength and she’s not going to be scared off by some basic, bastardly behaviour. “You brighteyed bitch.” 

There it goes, every single gram of decorum vanishes from Tav’s body and her fist hits the merc on his already beaten face with a force that leaves the man wide eyed with surprise. The shock lasts no longer than a moment before amber eyes turn dark. 

Tav is tackled to the ground hard enough that sends a sharp pain shooting from her tail and up her spine. The merc lands on top of her, pinning her to the ground. 

“I’ll fuckin’ kill ya.” 

“Fuck you.” Tav aims a gob of spit right in the merc’s face. It’s fighting dirty, she knows as much, but it also catches him off guard and he’s distracted enough for her to aim an elbow to his cheek. She takes the opening, and with a push of her hips she’s turned them around with the man under her, her hands holding his arms to the ground. 

There’s a moment of silence, only their panting breaths are heard in the cave. Something changes in his demeanour anger is replaced with something much more dangerous in his eyes. Tav lets go of one of his arms to deal a finishing blow but he’s quicker, grabbing the back of her head and pulling her lips to his with a force that has their teeth clink together. 

Tav wants to yank herself away from his grip, punch him again for his fucking audacity, but that is before she tastes him. The saltiness of sweat lingering on his lips and the bitterness of the ale he must’ve had before she barged in on his brooding. 

It’s intoxicating. She wants to devour him, reduce him to nothing more than a whimpering, wet mess. And he seems happy enough to be devoured as she explores his mouth with her tongue. Sharp teeth take hold of his lower lip as she pulls back, just enough to sting a bit and leave him wanting for more before she releases him. 

His irises are almost completely black with desire as looks down on him, still his eyebrows are pinched together in a way that seems to be permanent. She doesn’t linger on that too long, instead she digs her claws into his curls to yank his head to the side, gaining access to the sensitive skin of his throat. 

Teeth, tongue and lips take turns in administering attention to his dark and salty skin, earning herself something that sounds very much like a whimper from the big, bad merc. Tav can’t help but smirk against his skin. Calloused fingers dig into Tav’s hips as he grinds himself up against her, the friction is enough to leave her core aching with desire. 

“Tav, I don’t doubt your ability to handle yourself I just wanted to check in – oh,” Gale cuts himself off, and Tav isn’t sure if she should thank him or punch him for the interruption. “My apologies, I see you have it all – ehm – under control.” 

While Tav’s reluctant to pull herself away, she knows there’s a time and a place for everything, and riding the bastard into oblivion will have to wait. She gives his cheek a quick pat and the frown on his face deepens before she gets up on her feet to follow Gale out of the cave. 

The merc is quick to follow, grabbing her by the upper arm to pull her close enough for his breath to tickle the tip of her ear. 

“We’re not done,” he growls. 

“No.” She smirks, dusting herself off. “We’re not.” 

– 

Days have passed since their last encounter with nothing more than stolen glances. Tav’s had enough, every day she wakes up and hopes to come closer to a cure and finding that godsdamned goblin camp, every day they end up with some detour and fights they only survive within a hair's width. 

Today, she’s just had time to clean herself from the litres of gnoll blood she was covered in before she arrives at the grove. She’s given instructions to her companions to get some more supplies since it seems they’re never getting out of this godsforsaken wilderness. She’s got something else to retrieve, or rather someone. 

She finds Aradin in the cave where they had their last encounter. Unfortunately he’s fully dressed this time, but she’s quite sure that won’t last for long. He opens his mouth to say something when she takes a firm grip of his wrist to pull him with him. 

“What’re you doin’?” he hisses. 

“Finishing what you started,” Tav mutters as the merc stumbles along behind her. 

They get some questioning looks and raised eyebrows as she leads him out from the grove, there’s a nice, little clearing between her camp and the grove that will work wonders for what she has in mind. They reach it within a couple of minutes, hence the complaints flowing from Aradin’s mouth about Tav walking too fast. 

Only the gods know who initiates the kiss, and soon Tav’s back is pressed up against a tree with Aradin’s taste and scent overflowing all of her senses, his body pressed hard against hers. Tongues intertwine and hands grab onto whatever they can find, unbuttoning whatever clothing they stumble upon. 

When they come up for air again, Tav turns her attention to his neck, her marks from their last encounter are completely faded and that just won’t do. She works her way upward from the crook of his neck, sucking and biting as she earns soft moans from the merc. 

“Be a good boy and put that foul mouth to use,” Tav all but growls when she reaches his here, grabbing his earlobe between her teeth. 

“You minx,” he breathes out. 

Tav chuckles as he obliges, trailing kisses down the ridges of her torso as he kneels before her. His fingers hook into the edges of her trousers to pull them down, shooting her a baffled look as he meets resistance. 

“In the back,” Tav hisses. “I’m one of those foulbloods, remember?” 

A tinge of regret passes in amber eyes before he turns his attention to the lacing just above her tail. Soon, she’s free from her trousers and Aradin doesn’t hesitate to run his tongue along her slit, an appreciative murmur coming from deep in his throat as he notices how wet she already is. 

Tav grabs a handful of brown curls urging him to slide his tongue between her folds, she’s got no time for teasing licks right now. He moans against her wet centre as she grinds against his face and once his tongue hits that sensitive bundle of nerves a guttural moan escapes her. 

They work in tandem with greedy licks and rough grinds as that familiar pleasure builds up in the deepest parts of Tav’s body. 

“Fuck, yes, don’t stop,” she pants out. 

And he doesn’t stop, he picks up the pace of his tongue and with a couple of more licks the coils inside of Tav snaps with white-hot pleasure flowing through her. He continues through her orgasm and if Tav hadn’t yanked his head away he probably would continue to lap up her release until she’s an overstimulated mess.

But it’s her turn now, as Aradin tries to get back upon his feet she places her hands on his shoulders to push him back. He lands on his ass with an offended huff but doesn’t make an effort to get back up once Tav lowers herself to the ground and crawls her way on top of him, straddling his upper thighs. 

“Yer not gonna spit in my face again, are ya?” he asks, one eyebrow raised. 

“Only if you say please.” Tav smirks and Aradin seems to consider her proposition for a moment but settles on keeping his mouth shut for what Tav assumes is the first time in his life. She turns her attention to the laces of his trousers instead, working quickly to free his already erect cock from its confinement. 

She licks her lips involuntarily as she finds out where he gets his confidence from. 

“Like what you see, luv?” he asks cheekily. 

“Shut up,” Tav says, the words don’t fully hold the command she hoped for and the grin or Aradin’s lips widens. 

She goes in for the other way to shut him up, with her lips against his tasting him and her own pleasure on his tongue. She grinds against his length and Aradin moans against her mouth. Pleasure builds up inside of Tav again and she could probably come from this stimulation alone, but she wants more. 

She reaches down between them to position his cock against her entrance. She takes a deep breath and slides down, it’s almost too much but after a moment of letting her body adjust he fills her up perfectly. 

“Fuck, Tav,” he breathes out once she starts to roll her hips slowly. His fingers digging deep into the flesh of her ass as she savours every stroke of his length against her sensitive walls. 

Their moans can probably be heard all the way to the grove as Tav picks up the pace, Aradin’s hips meeting hers, thrusting him as far inside of her as possible. Whenever one of them has to pull away from the kiss for air, tongues wander down necks, tasting each others’ skin. 

Tav’s nearing her climax and, judging by Aradin’s picked breathing, so is he. He moves his hand down between them to rub gentle circles around her clit to urge on her orgasm. The pleasure is so intense now that all she can do is to focus on her movements to secure her release. 

Tav topples over the edge moments before Aradin, leaving her unable to do more than clench around him as he thrusts up into her, filling her to the brim with his seed. They pant into each others’ mouths, as if it’s the only way they can fill their lungs with oxygen. 

Tav buries her face in the crook of his neck and for a moment they stay like that, Aradin’s softening cock still inside of her. It’s not until the chill of the approaching night makes Tav shiver that she pulls away to be met by pinched together eyebrows. 

“I should get back to camp,” she murmurs, sitting up to look around the clearing for her discarded clothing. 

“Aye, I suspected as much,” he says, rising up slightly to support himself on his elbows. 

With that, they dress in silence and walk away in opposite directions.

[1800naveen]

It's the way there are people who hate Tamlin or Nesta more than Amarantha. Like I can't take that seriously. You're telling me that you hate these characters more than the woman who is the faerie version of a certain Austrian painter (Not trying to be offensive with this but it's kinda true.)?

Nesta was going through a rough patch in her life but people get on her more than Amarantha, the same chick that fucked up Prythian and slaughtered 3 high lords and killed multiple faeries.

(Insert any rude comment said about Nesta)

My honest reaction:

And why did I see something about someone comparing Tamlin to Amarantha? That man has fought against slavery, took refugees into his Court, sent out the people he cares for so Prythian would be able to see another day, and turned the Spring Court into a much better place after his tyrant father. AMARANTHA IS A TYRANT, WHY WOULD HE BE LIKE HER?

"Ugh, I hate Tamlin! He became like Amarantha!"

My honest reaction:

[omies-odd-writing-spot]

Doom Prompt 13: Sentinels finding a pet bunny

A writing prompt from my Doom Discord, tied into the Garnets story. Short and chaos XD

. 13: “One of the sentinels finding a pet bunny”

“Commander Milla,” Vega's voice drew the Sentinel's attention, as well as a soft flickering light to the left of her helmet. “Look to your left please?” 

The Argenta woman turned her head, scanning for what might have caught the Fortress’ Atlan’s attention. It was still just the human refugees they had escorted to the docks and the ARC evacuation ship. Then there was a highlight of a group in the back and to the south. Out of the flow of the moving people. 

Even if Vega had not highlighted it, Captain Milla would have, and had noticed this group. Seeing someone with both a rifle and bow and arrows was odd enough, but the three animals for pulling were… odd. She heard before someone called them… jacks? Don-keys? Something about those quadruped animals can and had killed a few lesser demons. Dark browns and lighter bellies with big ears. 

Right now the two that owned the wagon had everything almost packed up, but… they had set up just to the side and were passing out packages to those passing. Simple things like a can of food, what looked like rolls of bread with something inside, and what looked like a pale amber colored candy all wrapped up in a colorful cloth. 

“I know them,” Vega said after he confirmed who he thought was seen from the corner of Milla’s visor, the Atlan sounded surprised and relieved. “I know we can not bring everyone to the Hidden City, Captain, but please, could you see if you can get them to stay and offer them to come?”

“Who are they?” Captain Milla asked softly, her voice too low for anyone else to hear as she kept a lookout. Scanning farther out just in case, but her scouts were showing no signs they had found any more demons near.

“That is Richard Deegan, he was the husband of Commander Deegan of the Elite Guard on Mars. And their daughter Lana.” Vega explained, “I did not know their evacuation ship made it off the surface just as Hell invaded Mars.”

“Elite Guard… those are the warriors that pulled the Lord Slayer out of the Kadingir Sanctum in Hell?” The Captain asked, she had studied what she could around the recent history of humans. As well as what would be tied to the Slayer. 

“Yes, they are the ones that coordinated the attack in the Sanctum,” Vega spoke, watching through her helmet as Captain Milla signaled one of her Sentinels to come take her spot and climbed down to the street. Seeming to be checking on the humans and making sure they were staying orderly and had their things that could be carried. Making her way towards the back, where some of the Shadowed were stationed to guard there.

Captain Milla slowed, listening to the quiet thank yous to not just the Argenta, but realized once closer the three by the wagon. One of those… Don-Keys was eyeing her as if debating on how to fight the giant armored woman if need be. That was when Milla realized the creatures were not tied up at all but just stubbornly standing guard of their wagon and their people. There were other soft sounds of small animals in the big wagon, carefully covered for the most part and if Milla was not seven foot five she would not have seen the glimpses of the small birds and something…fuzzy?

She did not get too close once that bigger Don-Key pinned its long ears back in warning. But the blue-gray furred creature looked like… like… what was it. Little Heather had a stuffed ‘easter bunny’ that looked alike but not really like that creature. The Sentinel looked to the humans as the last group came to get their little gifts.

“I hope that helps,” One of the young women said as she waved at the last small family, at the kids.

“The ginger will at least help, Mary.” The man, Richard said in a tired, rough voice, “Come on girls, let's get ready to leave. I don’t think the ARC will let us take the donkeys, as their mammaths, let alone the other animals… hello?”

The man paused as he stood up and saw the taller armored figure standing near, watching his own family. The silver helmet tilted and then the Sentinel walked around the jack, giving the creature a good berth. 

“What are the creatures you have?” The voice that spoke was a deeper female tone, holding a sort of strength that Richared recognized from his late husband. Strong and that sort of even calm.

It made his heart hurt again.

“Quail, rabbits, some chickens.” Lana spoke as she came over to stand beside her Uncle, who had adopted her as a baby. She looked up at the armored Argenta with some wonder, not expecting the outline to be female at first but then there was no real way to tell who was who with these strangers that helped. “And the mammoth donkeys there, the big jack is Buck, the two jennies are Luna and Grace.”

“Impressive beasts,” The Sentinel noted, sounding a bit amused as she stopped beside the humans, looking at the few packaged gifts they had left. “What were you giving?” 

Mary motioned behind them at the other side of a parking lot to the dark mall, “We found food, and some supplies. We were baking last night so everyone could have some fresh bread rolls with a can of soup. Plastic spoon, a ginger candy to help with seasickness on the boat, and… well a note to remember to be kind to each other and help one another.”

“That’s very kind of you three.” The Captain said, looking at the boxes left over, each with neat, small writing to list what was inside. Then she recognized the feed bags that were found for the animals in the Fortress. She gestured inside the Wagon, “Can you show me what those are? I don’t know the names of those creatures, except for ‘chickens,’ I just found out about the birds.”

The three humans exchanged confused looks, but it was Lana that shrugged and headed to the back of the wagon. She carefully pulled two cages over and lifted the covers, the small birds making nervous sounds, but like the furry creature they at least recognized the young woman as a caretaker. “These are the quail, it's a mix of Valley and Coturnix in there for now. They’re used for eggs and meat. This here is one of the buck rabbits, he’s a rex. Their meat and fur rabbits, but also pets. That over there is a cat that someone couldn’t take on the ship.”

“It looks like you have more supplies for the creatures than yourselves.” The Sentinel noted, but she was very gentle touching the rabbit’s travel cage. Then tilted her head at several clear bins both in the wagon and out, pointing at them, “Those are… seeds?”

“Animals should be supported as much as my girls,” Richard said, and then nodded at the second question, “Yes, we’ve been saving any and all seeds we can find. Trying to save what we can of them.”

Captain Milla smiled, straightening as she looked back at the docks in the semi distance, then around at the small group. “You can’t take all of these on that ship.” 

“We know,” Mary spoke, smiling and then shaking her head, “We weren’t really planning on going on there, or to the Sea Platform offshore. We might set up in the mall for any other survivors and start some things growing.”

Captain Milla stooped a bit, offering a hand to Lana for her own. After a moment she studied the slimmer hand set in her palm. Soft as humans were but also showed signs of working and living. “Would you like to keep your animals, and be safe?”

Richard blinked, frowned and then tilted his head, “What do you mean?”

“You three were kind when you did not have to be, you shared what you found rather than hoard it. You’re willing to take in animals that others are forced to leave to give them reassurance.” Captain Milla let Lana take her hand back, “Those are good traits… and you are the surviving family of the warriors that found and freed my Lord Slayer. By either way as I see it, you deserve to be safe in the protection of the Sentinels. I am Captain Milla, I serve the Lord Slayer himself, and though the big creatures may not fit in his garden, there’s plenty of space in Taras Nabad.”

“...whoa.” Mary breathed as she shifted over and latched as hard onto her girlfriend as Lana did to her. The sudden shock of the offer hand heads, and hearts, spinning. Was this the same place the towering Argenta took the orphans earlier?

“The real Slayer?” Richard asked, in no small amount of shock. “You’re not lying to us?”

“Absolutely not.” Milla said firmly, and then a little softer added, “The Atlan, Vega, he asked me to see if you will come.”

Lana gasped, she remembered Vega when she was little and on Mars! She turned to her uncle, her only father figure left, “Vega’s alive?”

“What will this cost us?” Richard started to ask and then blinked in confusion as the Sentinel pointed to one of the rabbits.

“You will likely need to let the Slayer pet those. Or let him have a baby… puppy? Once they are born and ready to leave the dam.”

“Kittens,” Mary started to correct, paused and then stood up. “Wait, you mean we can have shelter for… a rabbit?”

“Maybe two-” Milla started, tensing at the almost united shout of:

“Deal!”

“If the god of war wants to have a rabbit pet for trade, for protection, he can have his pick of the litter- and I’ll them them breed all the time and he can have whatever one he wants and we’ll make sure that is the sweetest desensitized kitten ever,” Lana tossed her arms up and then waved them at the wagon before hugging tight to Mary. “Just not four of the adults, those are our babies.”

Milla grinned under her helmet.

[ejzah]

A/N: Set shortly after Rosa moves in with Kensi and Deeks.

***

Comfort

The first few weeks with Rosa were admittedly a little rough. Not because of Rosa herself, but adjusting to a third person into the house, a scarily close to adulthood person, took time.

Every day, they learned some new detail about Rosa or discovered a new facet of her personality. For example, Deeks had inadvertently found out she hated brussel sprouts only after she forced her way through last night’s dinner. That had lead to an in-depth discussion about vegetables, which further revealed Rosa only liked cauliflowers raw, loved potatoes, and had never tried eggplant.

“I feel like we’re failing her,” Kensi lamented one night as they got ready for bed. She plopped onto their bed, rubbing both hands over her face. “I know nothing about raising a sixteen year old. What about when she starts school in the fall? I’m not sure I can help her if she needs it.”

Deeks had the same worries. How could he not? They’d planned as much as they could, but nothing could quite prepare them for the reality of adopting a teenager.

Sitting next to her, Deeks took her hand. “Hey, this is not going to be easy and we’re for sure going to make a ton of mistakes, but that doesn’t make you a bad parent.” She nodded, not looking like she actually believed him. “We’re going to get through this. It’s going to be really hard for all of us, but we will be here for her, whatever that’s means. And we’ll ask for help if we don’t have the answers ourselves.”

“You really think so?” Kensi murmured, and her uncertainty and vulnerability nearly killed him.

“I know it.” He pressed his forehead to hers, breathed in with her. “We’re going to be ok.”

Despite his best attempts to reassure Kensi, Deeks started to have his own doubts a few days later when he found Rosa sitting in her room, curled up on the bed, her hunched shoulders the image of sadness. He’d noticed that she was careful to cause as few disruptions as possible.

She tried to wash the dishes after every meal, insisted on washing her own clothes, and kept to herself unless directly invited into an activity by Kensi or Deeks. She was naturally shy, but this seemed excessive, even given everything she’d gone through.

Deeks almost walked by, but at the last second, knocked on the door jamb. Rosa immediately straightened, and offered him a weak smile.

“Hey, mind if I come in?”

“Of course. Is everything alright?” she asked, and his heart squeezed painfully at the realization that she automatically thought the worst.

“Yeah, no. Everything’s fine. I just wanted to check on you,” Deeks said softly. He joined her, sitting on the end of the bed. “You’re been, uh, pretty quiet, so I wanted to make sure you didn’t need anything.”

“You’ve already given me everything.” She glanced over the room, decorated with her reluctant help.

“Well, I wasn’t necessarily talking about things. Though if there is anything else you need, or want, we can talk about that too.” He paused, giving her time to respond. When she remained silently, fiddling with a button on the cut of her jacket, he continued. “Kensi and I want you here—”

“I know that,” she interrupted quickly, nervously. She muttered under her breath in Spanish, and Deeks’ eyes widened.

“Whoa, Rosa, you don’t have to feel grateful for any of this.”

Her mouth dropped open slightly, and then she closed her eyes, looking chagrined. “I keep forgetting you understand Spanish.”

“Yeah, most people do,” he agreed. “Why do you think you have to be grateful?”

Rosa shrugged. “You gave me a home, kept me from staying in refugee housing or worse. I would be an orphan without you and Kensi,” she explained softly. “I should appreciate it.”

“Oh sweetheart.” Deeks opened his arms, and to his surprise, she leaned into him. He blinked back tears, trying to find the right words to silence her fears. “We’ve done all of this because we care about you. You could shout and leave dirty dishes all over your room, and that wouldn’t change.”

“Really?” Rosa let out a shuddery breath.

“Absolutely. Kensi’ll tell you the same thing,” he said, hugging her closer. “And, one more thing. This is your home too. You’re allowed to go wherever you want, use what you want, eat whatever and whenever. Hell, you can make messes if you want. It’s not like I’ll notice with Kensi’s stray cheese sticks laying around.”

Rosa giggled, sniffing a few times, and pulled back. “I just don’t want to make it inconvenient,” she told him.

“You won’t,” he promised. He gave her another squeeze. “Ok.”

She nodded, and he smiled. “C’mon, I hear there’s some chocolate cake with out names on it.”

Later that week, Deeks found a book Rosa had been reading next to a plate with the remnants of a sandwich on the coffee table. He smiled as he carried the plate to the kitchen. It was a start.

[workersolidarity]

[ 📹 Scenes from destruction evident in the Nuseirat Refugee Camp, in the central Gaza Strip, following a week of Israeli occupation ground operations and non-stop bombardment of the camp, destroying the vast majority of the camp's residential buildings.]

🇮🇱⚔️🇵🇸 🚀🏘️💥🚑 🚨

CARNAGE IN THE GAZA STRIP CONTINUES AS ISRAELI OCCUPATION TARGETS NUSEIRAT CAMP BEFORE PLANNED ATTACK ON RAFAH

On the 196th day of "Israel's" ongoing special genocide operation in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) committed a total of 4 new massacres of Palestinian families, resulting in the deaths of no less than 42 citizens, mostly women and children, while another 63 others were wounded over the previous 24-hours.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health stated on Friday that over 730'000 Palestinian citizens of Gaza, in particular the north of the enclave, suffer from a severe lack of healthcare services and accused the Zionist occupation of deliberately destroying Gaza's healthcare system.

In the meantime, at a meeting of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), the United States vetoed a resolution which would have granted full membership status at the United Nations for the State of Palestine.

The Security Council overwhelmingly supported the measure to induct Palestine into the United Nations with full statehood rights, with 12 member-states voting in favor, two abstaining (UK and Switzerland), and only the United States voting against the resolution, vetoing the measure.

In other news, a battalion commander with the IOF announced on Thursday while speaking with his Battalion's soldiers, that the Israeli occupation army would be entering Rafah following the end of the current ground operation concentrated on the outskirts of the Al-Nuseirat Refugee Camp, in the central Gaza Strip.

Meanwhile, the Israeli occupation army's 162nd military division said it had completed its ground operation inside the Nuseirat Camp, which lasted about a week, as occupation warplanes hammered the camp with endless airstrikes. The occupation army also attempted to isolate the two halves of the Gaza Strip from one another and prevented displaced Palestinians from returning to their homes in the north of the enclave.

The Commander of the Israeli occupation forces' 932nd battalion said that following the end of its ground operations on the outskirts of the Nuseirat Camp, “We are going to Rafah, and the people of Israel are counting on you to implement this in the best way, as in Nuseirat, Zaytoun, and Burj al-Tuffah, and as in Al-Shifa (hospital), so in Rafah as well," portending future mass massacres of Palestinian civilians in the city of Rafah.

Elsewhere in Gaza, the carnage continued with the Israeli occupation forces renewing intense airstrikes targeting the Al-Shati Refugee Camp, west of Gaza City, in the northern Gaza Strip.

According to local reporting, at least four Palestinian were killed, and several others wounded, after Zionist occupation fighter jets bombed a residential home belonging to the Al-Sir family, which at the time of the bombardment was sheltering displaced Palestinians, including members of the Abu Jiyab family in the Al-Shati refugee camp.

At the same time, IOF warplanes bombed a residential building in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, north of Gaza City, resulting in the deaths of five Palestinian civilians and wounding a number of others. Victims were transported to the Arab al-Ahli Hospital, also in Gaza City.

Similarly, occupation forces bombed 10th Street, south of Gaza City.

Yet another occupation airstrike targeted in the vicinity of the Al-Shati Camp, west of Gaza City, killing one Palestinian civilian and wounding at least three others.

In another bit of horrific news, the decomposing corpses of about 30 Palestinians were discovered in two mass graves dug in the courtyard of the Al-Shifa medical complex, in the Al-Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City, including the bodies of women and the elderly, while the fates of roughly 1'000 Palestinians who were present in the hospital during the Israeli raid remain unknown at this time.

Israeli occupation warplanes also bombed several sites in Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip.

At the same time, Zionist soldiers opened gunfire on displaced Palestinians east of Jabalia, in the north of Gaza, martyring three civilians and wounding several others.

Elsewhere in Gaza, Zionist occupation aircraft bombarded a civilian residence belonging to the Qishlan family in the New Camp area of the Nuseirat Refugee Camp, in the central Gaza Strip, after which, local paramedic and civil defense crews retrieved the bodies of two Palestinians killed in the strike. The bodies of the dead were taken to nearby Al-Awda Hospital in the camp.

As a result of a previous IOF airstrike, which targeted a tent belonging to the Ayyad family, east of Rafah City, in the southern Gaza Strip, the death toll rose to 11 overnight as victims succumbed to their injuries.

In the Khan Yunis Governate, local civil defense personnel managed to recover the decomposing bodies of four civilians from various areas of the city over the last day, while paramedic crews from the north of the Nuseirat Camp, in central Gaza, recovered the bodies of another 9 martyrs following the withdrawal of occupation forces from the area.

Additionally, warplanes with the Israeli occupation army bombed several sites in the Al-Mughraqa area, in the central Gaza Strip, wounding several citizens, while another young man was murdered by the bullets of the Israeli occupation's snipers east of Deir al-Balah, also in central Gaza.

As a result of "Israel's" ongoing special genocide operation in the Gaza Strip, the death toll among the population of Gaza now exceeds 34'012 Palestinians killed, including over 14'560 children and 9'582 women, while another 76'833 others have been wounded since the start of the current round of Zionist aggression, beginning with the events of October 7th, 2023.

April 19th, 2024

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#videosource

@WorkerSolidarityNews

[cutekittenlady]

Even More BDKO Earthspark Headcanons

First set of headcanons

Second set

I'm evil sooo~ I'm gonna say Velocitron was unfortunately destroyed by its sun in Earthspark rendering all of its citizens who managed to escape through the space bridge refugees on Cybertron. I'm gonna say that Velocitrons sad end occurred before the Civil War started but during the time period were the tensions that caused the Civil War was running high.

All of that to say that Knock Out is a Velocitronian refugee.

He avoids talking about the destruction of his birth planet or reflecting on how its loss and his desperate attempt to escape its destruction effects his tendency towards preserving his own life above all else.

OR how falling in love with Breakdown has created some very complicated feelings in the wake of that unaddressed trauma. (i.e. having a person whose life, freedom, and happiness, he also wants to preserve just as much as his own)

Essential information for the next headcanons; Motormaster is like a gang leader or mob boss. He frequently refers to the stunticons as his "family" and used this metaphor to threaten/guilt its members into doing what he wanted.

Breakdown was deep in this mindset when he was with them. Actively trying to look after the other stunticons, especially Dragstrip, and thinking his rough and cruel relationship with the others is just what combiner teams/families are like. Its only after leaving that he realizes otherwise.

Dragstrip is deeeeep in the mindset. She actively thinks of the other stunticons as her "stupid little brothers" (even though shes actually the youngest on the team) and believes shes Motormasters "favorite"

Deadend knows the whole "family" thing is just Motormasters way of controlling them. But he thinks that all aspects of family and relationships is just a pointless attempt at filling the void and pretending our existence means something.

Wildrider barely notices the metaphor. Only caring that Motormaster lets him bust stuff up.

Knock Out is the one who, in a moment of opportunity, managed to break Motormaster out of prison in the hope that he'd in turn help him rescue Breakdown. Counting on the power hungry combiner being so hyperfocused on wanting to reform Menasor that he wouldn't question why Knock Out wanted Breakdown free. He hoped to doublecross MM by using him as a distraction while he and Breakdown escaped leaving MM alone to be taken down by GHOST and the Autobots.

On Motormasters end he fully intended to kill Knock Out after he was released from stasis up until Knock Out revealed Megatrons betrayal. Deciding he could kill Knock Out anytime he wanted, MM agreed to team up with KO in the interest of collecting the other stunticons, reforming Menasor, and taking out Megatron.

Once Knock Out finds out about Breakdowns escape he changes gears to helping Motormaster find the other Stunticons in the hopes that it would allow him to reunite with breakdown. Caring about nothing other than getting to be with Brakdown again.

Since Breakdown never talked about what being the stunticons was actually like with Knockout, KO assumes Breakdown would jump at the chance to rejoin his old combiner team again. In fact, through Motormasters angry insistence that Knock Out destroyed their "family" he develops a bit of guilt. He begins to wonder if he took Breakdown away from people he cared about.

[majorasnightmare]

lorewise, dirges parents fled menzoberranzan to the surface to escape being assassinated (potentially for their relationship, undecided). both their scars are from the escape attempt.

they eventually end up settling in baldurs gate (two bedroom cottage. relative squalor. poor part of the city). given baldurs gate having a track record of not being the greatest towards both refugees and drow, life post-underdark wasnt kind to them. id imagine that they always wanted kids but never had the time, as both of them had to rapidly adjust to a new culture and quickly build up the labor skills needed to survive without the support of a noble House and without any money or anything to sell, so those first couple of years mustve been ROUGH. i think that like, after they settle into a kind of rhythm with work and getting stable, they have a kind of aimless lull period where theyre wondering why theyre doing this, what theyre working towards, etc, thats resolved by finding dirge

in a lot of ways, dirges appearance is kind of like a dark miracle. hes a tiefling child, spattered with blood, wandering the alleyways in the middle of the night. no one besides specifically a poor drow couple is likely to both be in that area AND be willing to adopt a child. the circumstances lead them to draw their own conclusions (hes specifically a tiefling and theyre both experienced enough with racialized prejudice to Come To Some Conclusions regarding why a walking-aged tiefling toddler might be alone in the Bad Part of Town). dirge answers the question of what theyre going to do, or why, because now theres someone here who needs them. if it wasnt them, it definitely wouldve been one of the more unsavory elements in baldurs gate, but because theyre drow, with darkvision, who prefers the nighttime becuse of the light sensitivity, who happen to live in this area because they fled their home, theyre in the right place at the right time and find someone else who probably ALSO just lost everything they had known, and now is lost in a world theyve just recently figured out how to navigate

it goes in reverse too, because despite being a bhaalspawn, dirge LOOKS like a tiefling, and tieflings arent well understood, and frequently demonized besides. the 5e PHB makes mention that tieflings will occasionaly be beset by dark aggressive urges, but even if we understand that as just superstitious prejudice, it still goes a good ways for justifying the oddities dirge experiences as a bhaalspawn. and the only people really capable of meeting that middle ground of being understanding enough to handle dirges quirks with compassion while being just out of the loop enough to be put off by all the myriad ways hes Not A Tiefling, would be this specific couple of lolth sworn drow.

if hes drawn to violence, well thats probably a tiefling thing. and violence itself isnt bad, it just needs to be channeled. a lot of the techniques for child rearing in menzoberranzan are unironically helpful for dealing with a growing bhaalspawn with awakening violent impulses, and a lifetime of dodging poisons and assassins and being permanently on guard just happens to be well suited to fending off the advances of a clumsily run deathcult looking to elevate their newborn scion into a position of dark worship to usher in the end of days

if bhaal ever wanted dirge to do anything for the cult, the only real option was to have his first Dark Urge be to kill both of them before they had time to raise their guards and plan around the situation, because otherwise it wouldve been an uphill battle to get dirge away from them (and one bhaal wasnt likely to win)

[blackjackkent]

The refugees inside the estate, now the uncontested owners of the late Arfur Gregorio's property, are deeply relieved that he's gone.

"Thank the gods, I was sure we were about to be evicted." "I don't think the children could cope with being homeless again." "We're lucky there's still decent folk about."

Rakha has some doubts that she qualifies as "decent folk". The man - Ben - tries to thank her, but she just nods awkwardly and walks away, unsure how to answer.

The refugees don't stop her from taking a look around the house, so she takes her companions to investigate. Arfur mentioned he had some sort of valuable "components" somewhere in the place, which seems worth looking into since he's no longer in a position to use them.

Upstairs yields very little, except a few sets of fancier camp clothes and a journal of Arfur's, full of fourth-rate erotica which Wyll (apparently something of a connaisseur) thumbs through and declares "tripe".

Downstairs, though, is another story:

Arfur's basement, accessed via a hidden trapdoor in his workshop (where he apparently made toys), is intensely trapped. Rakha misses most of them on a cursory glance - but Minthara is much more quick-eyed.

The traps are not terribly hard to disarm but no one in the group is a real master at sleight of hand. So, consequently, this is not a smooth process and probably scares the shit out of the poor beleaguered refugees occupying the upper floor.

The fireworks after the explosion are a nice touch. XD

Eventually, though, they manage to disarm the majority of the threats and make it to the far side of the basement, where they find some very interesting dirt on the late toy merchant.

"Gifts for refugees only. Please distribute," reads a note on a desk next to a large - trapped, of course - chest nearby. It takes some doing, but Rakha manages to work the thing open revealing a stack of gold and a rough-scribbled note:

"Put 'it' in the teddy bears?" Rakha repeats allowed, her brows furrowing with confusion.

Wyll, though, looks suddenly very grim. "Felogyr's," he says, "is a fireworks shop. They mean blasting powder."

"In a toy donation," Rakha says, parsing through this. "For refugees."

Jaheira, behind her, makes a noise low in her throat not so different from the growl of the tiger she can become. Her expression has gone very hard all of a sudden. "For refugee children," she murmurs tightly. "I begin to think you were wiser than we knew, to kill him."

[randomnameless]

Yeah, the argument that "oh Hoshido is completely pure and good while Nohr is completely corrupt and evil" is complete bs and falls apart once you analyze the information you're given throughout Fates, especially in Birthright and Conquest.

Hoshido takes little to no interest in the issues of neighbouring countries once their usefulness is at an end, to the point of Sumeragi refusing to shelter Shura and other Kohga refugees after Mokushu conquered it, just because he wouldn't benefit from helping a now-destroyed nation; Dehumanizes the fuck out of their opposition, with even the royal family being raised under the assumption that the vast majority of Nohrians are inhumane, cowardly beasts who attack other countries for fun and pleasure instead of out of necessity, as is the truth, with things getting so bad that the general populace starts killing anyone in Hoshido who has even the slightest connection to Nohr, with Haitaka going rogue and forming a small platoon for the sole purpose of kidnapping, torturing and killing Azura (with that plot point being conveniently erased from the localization, with Azura claiming that she was the only one targeted in EN); Is so misogynistic that Mikoto and Hinoka were only allowed to take the throne due to the male heirs being either too young or dead to do so themselves, with multiple of the female playable Hoshidan cast having suffered through sexism in the military in the past; And is hypocritical af when it comes to what makes them any better than Nohr in terms of their behaviour on the battlefield, doing the exact same thing Garon did to Sumeragi by ambushing both him and Corrin while they were minding their own business, only to have the gall to call Zola dishonorable for ambushing them in return.

Nohr has it's issues, like the massive resource disparity caused by the nobles and soldiers getting what little food the country has for themselves while the commoners are left to starve (solved by the end of every route thanks to Leo and/or Xander) and it's history of invading and conquering other nations due to being too proud to ask other nations for help with their resource issues (also solved at the end of every route, with Leo or Xander taking pride in the fact that the two countries will be having much better and more open cooperations between them from then on), and is ultimately more morally at fault than Hoshido when it comes to the war, since they're the agressors, but it's also a genuinely better country than Hoshido in a few ways, most notably it's people being much more open and trusting of foreigners by default, with them happily accepting Shura into their midst despite also gaining nothing from doing so, and most Nohrians having no real preconceptions against Hoshidans and being much more respectful of them than the other way around: women are also, generally, much better treated in Nohr, with few to none of the female playable Nohrians having had any issues relating to gender discrimination in the military and being free to choose what they want to do with their lives without fear of being shunned for breaking away from their expected societal roles.

Thinking that Fates in any way portrays Hoshido as solely good and Nohr as solely bad implies a heavy misunderstanding of it's story and themes imo.

(Also, yeah, idk wtf the anon was talking about with "oh Birthright is just a more simplistic version of Shadow Dragon's good blue units destroy evil red units and bring peace to the world story"; an entire chapter of that route is dedicated to showing how rough the average Nohrian has it and how they still band together and overcome adversity by living in the underground, Ryoma's character arc is to understand and soften up to Nohr, ultimately deciding to share Hoshido's surplus resources with it once he's crowned king, multiple of the Nohrians Corrin fights are portrayed in a sympathetic light, and Xander and Elise's deaths are meant to be the emotional high points of the story lol)

(Also also, Ryoma himself never knew that Nohrian land was infertile and it's commoners were suffering prior to reaching Nohr and being told as such by Silas, with him vowing to share food with the country as soon as the war was over once he found out; the Nohrian monarchs prior to Garon were too prideful to ask Hoshido for help and tried to solve all their problems by themselves and the Hoshidan monarchs prior to Ryoma didn't give a fuck about what happened outside of their own country, causing Nohr's resource shortage to only get solved by the end of Fates, though it is likely that at least one Nohrian monarch swallowed their pride, asked Hoshido's monarch for help, and got told to fuck off; no real proof of that tho)

Oh thanks!

Yeah, in general both Nohr and Hoshido are flawed, in different ways, but flawed nonetheless!

Hoshido's extreme isolationism leads them to, not understand why Nohr feels obliged to attack them (but then Mikoto makes her special "and they don't want to fight anymore!" magic, so what happens to the Nohrians who are affected by her magic? Are they killed, or do they return to Nohr or... what?).

FE, in general, always tries to have some sort nuance, not the kind that would excuse imperialism or declaring a war, but it often took the time to explain circumstances that led to the war, so the blue lord doesn't repeat the same mistakes as his forefathers.

Imo, that's why in FE1 we learn about Medeus' motivations and why Jugdral's Travant is so well liked. Zephiel even gets a prequel!

It's never as clear cut as "red empire is evil and invades for shit'n'giggles and blue lords saves the world", or at least, it never was.

[signaturedish]

Dude. I just re-read PA for the 4th time, and dang! I love it unreasonably lots!! You have SKILLS making me adore ypur whole cast of characters! I was wondering, if you aren't already planning to continue in the future, how did you see this story going, and ending? Selfishly, I hope it turns out Everything Is Good, Nothing Hurts at curtains, but what delights and terrors did you have smuggled up your sleeves?? Great work, and thanks for the beautiful masterpiece of a fic!

I got this ask a while ago and I really thought about. I wasn’t sure where I wanted to go with PA until this year. I still really like what I wrote and I love you guys, but as of 2024 it’s safe to say it’s officially abandoned and I no longer plan to finish it.

As for where I was planning to take PA, of course I planned for a happy ending! I wasn’t half as vicious as some of the people who interacted with this blog lmao. PA was a tortilla chip for hurt/comfort fluff first and foremost!

The plan was bb-Harry hot potato. Raids and swaps and hostages while humans watched in horrified silence as these killer robots invading the planet seemed more occupied with capture-the-flag chrome edition than alien takeover.

Concretely, there was going to be a resolution to that whole growing-up thing. Decepticons were gonna cobble together a second frame for him via human raids (think OG cartoon and all the random raids to acquire resources) and finally conclude they might need a doctor to fine tune it.

Cue Ratchet who’s been trying to get conveniently isolated and captured for weeks atp getting captured (thank god). Harry would get a sick new form- which was more in-tune with regular seekers. Upturned wings, greater independence, durability, etc.

He’d get some fledgling flying lessons, there was going to be a concurrently running subplot about Starscream plotting to use bb harry as a hostage/king’s crown and delivering him to The Fallen for evil nefarious purposes. But of course melting at the last minute and dying to get Harry out of there.

Then being resurrected with the cube, etc etc happy endings because that’s my jam.

The big bad was going to be The Fallen who is Not Cool about this kid who

A. Is not one of the hatchling drones he’s been sinking millions into in order to win over desperate robots as the last option to keep from going extinct.

B. Is in possession of the allspark in such a manner that he can’t just grab it in the dark of night.

Eventually spurring decepticons and Autobots to take him out together as the final conflict. Probably after he successfully captured and almost murdered Harry. I was thinking about having him switch from using Decepticons after Starscream’s double cross and using humans and reincorporating those scientists.

They sneak in while the Autobots and deceptions are on high alert for EACH OTHER, and get their test subject back with the help of a powerful backer they don’t know much about.

Harry would get that one-two punch of being back in the lab, we can have some closure over those scientists and they can rough him up. Then deliver him to the Fallen.

From there, it could’ve gone a couple of ways. Harry, empowered, finding a way to hurt the Fallen with the allspark, maybe getting killed and resurrected, maybe regular old sabotage and halfway failed escape before a rescue in the darkest hour…. I wasn’t sure what tone I wanted for the climax….I was leaning on putting him death’s door and everyone needing to work together to get him out and keep him alive.

In the process of taking on the fallen and getting their baby back, Autobots and decepticons forge a very tenuous peace treaty in the name of Not Almost Getting Their Kid Killed Like That One Time With The Fallen Ever Again.

Somewhere in there we were gonna get second and third wave Autobot and deceptions refugees hitting the earth and Harry was going to find out he could use the allspark to bring more kids to life.

But yeah, post epilogue characters were going to end somewhere along the lines of-

Harry on his way to robot teenage-dom, strong enough and with enough resources that he no longer needs the allspark to live. He figures out how to remove it, but its decided that he should keep it.

Megatron and Optimus, now the most passive aggressive reluctant exes sharing custody of their kid you have ever seen at a PTA meeting.

Ratchet, dealing with his trauma via the deeply healing experience of seeing a pack of healthy kids out in the universe again. Eventually he might have one of his own, tho that wasn’t concrete.

Bumblebee and Starscream become big brothers of vastly different fonts.

Bumblebee is the one adored by all the little kiddies, ready to help with pranks and jokes. Starscream is the one worshipped fearfully from afar. Kids don’t act out in his presence, they act LIKE him and then furiously deny that they were mimicking him at all.

Arcee isn’t that invested in all honesty. Jazz and Ironhide are cool uncles. For basically everyone else I become Oprah- YOU get a kid, and YOU get a kid, etc.

There was going to be an explosion in the UK that no one pursues super seriously. We think it’s a robot stirring up trouble but nothing really becomes of it. Just Wizard World having A Time ™ and Voldemort and Dumbledore speed-running the series off screen.

In a very broad, probably embarrassingly hand-waved manner, they were also going to negotiate their way into owning land for their colony. No longer dwindling refugees, now an infant nation state slowly incorporating themselves politically as a technological power, trading for old relics and refined energy sources.

These were my rough outlines and ideas, which were nowhere near set in stone. So if you prefer a different end or would’ve liked something else to be included, by all means continue with that ending! That’s just what I had planned way back when, and I hope it doesn’t sound like total nonsense lol!!

[cod-dump]

Help I am at "zoo animals during covid" level desperate for interaction.

How about a blorbo of horangi and kronig in Skyrim. Their equipment, factions/guilds They're in, companions (favorite place to do it 👀) etc

Please?

Skyrim fixation grabbing me by the throat

___

Horangi is a mixed race werewolf (who was born in Cyrodiil to a Imperial mother but was raised in Skyrim) was with the Companions for a short period but left because he had conflicting views with them. He later realizes he very much agrees with what they do but he's made his choice. So now he's the friendly werewolf that eats bandits and does deeds and quests for people for little to no fee.

Horangi usually relies on his beast form but is good with his hands and a dagger if needed. Tends to not wear armor but if he has to he wears leather armor. He sells a lot of leftover meat, hides, and whatever from his kills. It isn't uncommon for him to provide struggling families with venison.

Horangi lives in the woods, doesn't like going into inns or renting rooms. He is very much at home in the wilderness and has a pack of ice wolves that follow him around. He loves them to pieces and has put collars on them to try to show people that they mean no harm. Each wolf has a name, and three are pups that Horangi helped raise himself. Has killed a hunter for killing one of the wolves, which lead to him putting collars on them to try and protect them.

Tends to not seek much companionship from others and is content with the wolves being his friends. Though he has gone into inns when lonely and sneaked off with men and women to satisfy his more carnal needs. Has seduced a Thalmor before and fucking loves to bring it whenever he can. Horangi worships Hircine and has a very personal relationship with the Daedric Lord. He believes Hircine gave him the gift to be his true self, to live as both man and beast, and is forever grateful.

_

Konig is a Nord, born and raised in Skyrim and is proud of it (though that pride has dwindled drastically due to recent events). Unfortunately was raised by more traditional Nords in Windhelm and ended up joining the Stormcloaks when he was old enough to defend his family's farm. Served as a soldier for years, Talos being the name he has said more than any other. Wears Stormcloak armor and swings a steel warhammer (though is pretty good with any weapon he can get his hands on).

Despite it being drilled into his mind since a young age, Konig doesn't try discriminate against other races. Has stuck up for any elves being roughed by Nords in Windhelm and has knocked many assholes clean on their ass with one well placed punch. When Konig is not serving, he keeps to himself on his family's farm (which is now empty). He is the last of his family's name and hasn't ever had the urge to settle down and have children. His grew up with a very abusive family and swears that he will turn out just like them if he had children.

Konig has offered shelter to many travelers of all races and factions. He fixed up a hold shed to be a extra bed for whoever needs it. Konig has hidden thieves at his farm, runaways of all ages, refugees, and even a vampire or two who needed to escape the sunlight. If someone is in need he's quick to come to their aid.

_

One storm, worse than what Konig had seen in a long time, blew into the Pale. Konig stood vigilant, knowing that this storm might bring someone needing shelter. And low and behold, a man came knocking. He had short, pointed ears and a pale complexion, something Konig hasn't seen before. And his eyes... they had a wild look in them.

"Sorry to bother you, sir. I normally don't do this but this storm is much more than what I am prepared to deal with-"

Konig didn't let the man say much more before he brought him inside. The man didn't get straight to thanking him.

"I have... companions who are also in need of shelter."

"Bring them in."

"You say that now but-"

"Lad, this storm could kill. Bring them in and let them warm up."

The man blinked before he opened the door and called out to his companions. Konig was stunned by a pack of eight wolves come bounding into his home. One particular small pup was scooped up by the stranger, and Konig noticed it had a collar on it. That all of them had collars.

"I was unaware that your companions were..."

"Wolves?"

"... Fluffy."

The stranger snorts and Konig cleared his throat before he grabbed a pelt to give to the man. The man settled in front of the hearth, surrounded by wolves and a pup in his lap. Konig couldn't help but notice how he checked on each wolf, checking their paws for any cuts that the ice might have caused and making sure there was no frostbite on their ears.

"We'll leave once the storm lifts."

"There is no rush, friend."

Truth be told Konig looked forward to any and all guests that came to his farm seeking shelter. He felt lonely but had a hard time reaching out for companionship. He always tried to not bother his guests but this stranger was not like the others. Never has a man treated his furry companions with such care, not like one would show a pet.

"How does one come to being adopted by a pack of wolves?"

The stranger was resting his head on one of the sleeping wolves, pup nestled against his chest with the pelt over top.

"Well... I guess you could say they view me as family."

Konig nods, "You're a werewolf."

The stranger chokes and sits up quickly, the pup making noise at being disturbed, "N-No-"

"Your connection to nature means nothing, friend. I can tell you're a good man who surrounds himself with good company."

The man breathes out in relief, settling back against his wolf companion, who was perked up and alert after his sudden movement. They stayed silent for a few hours before the stranger finally spoke.

"So... I'm Hong-Jin... and you are?"

Konig stared at the man before speaking, "Klaus..."

Then they started talking. Hong-Jim had first brought up how he normally doesn't try to intrude into people's homes but didn't have a choice with the storm. That lead them to just talking about anything and everything. Adventures they've been on (Konig did his best to avoid the topic of his service), their life stories, their companions (Konig brought this up to learn more about Hong-Jin’s wolves), and everything else they could think of.

They talked through the storm and then slept once it lifted. Konig tried to offer Hong-Jin food but the man waved him off and said he would be fine. Then he gave thanks to Konig and left. And Konig couldn't help but feel loneliness at his departure. Konig would go back to his self isolation, only venturing out to the city to buy necessities before returning home.

One trip he returned to a familiar face sitting outside his home. Wolves laid about and one pup grown but still visibly smaller than the rest. Hong-Jim smiles and stood from the ground. Konig was speechless, he had never had someone return.

"I was passing through and thought I would say hello."

Konig stared before he spoke, "Hello."

Hong-Jin laughs and Konig reached up and pulled his hood down as far as he could to hide his embarrassment at the dumb response. He peeked out from the shadows of the hood.

"I brought gifts!"

Hong-Jin pulled out a bag and Konig would see that it was full of trinkets. Konig watches as the man goes to pull out a strange looking ring, mouth acting before he could even stop it.

"Would you like to come in?"

Hong-Jin looks up, stares in his eyes.

"Yes."

Konig would find himself less lonely since Hong-Jin’s arrival. He never planned on having children, but one of the wolves had a litter of pups and fatherhood was sprung upon him. But he gladly faced the challenge. And the farm was no longer lonely or full of bad memories like it once was. Not now that Hong-Jin and the wolves were here.