#south seas alliance

[bozemane]

Sōjō Levan Fuu

[suetravelblog]

Exploring Kuching Malaysia

Darul Hana Bridge and Sarawak Parliament Building Kuching is one of the most exotic and beautiful places I’ve visited in my travels. The tropical weather requires considerable adjustment for those unaccustomed to heat and humidity, and a daily swim in the lap pool helps! Kuching Apt Lap Pool Daytrips I’ve been exploring the surrounding areas but have had difficulty booking daytrips. There aren’t…

[kaiijo]

LOVER — RORONOA ZORO

roronoa zoro + i take this magnetic force of a man to be my lover content: gn! reader

request a character and prompt for my spotify wrapped event here!

dinners between pirate crews don’t usually occur since your alliances are fragile and you’re all prepared to fight at a moment’s notice. but given the collaboration between the strawhats pirates, the heart pirates, and the kid pirates, it’s safe to say that you’re all a bit more reassured that no one’s about to slice someone’s head off.

you accept another glass of wine from robin as usopp rambles on about how he took out at least thirty marines in your latest high-sea tussle. across the table, zoro snorts and gives you a dead-eyed stare that has you giggling behind your cup. 

you and zoro have been dating for quite some time, having begun only a few weeks after you joined luffy’s crew. neither of you have been inclined to tell the rest of your friends in order to avoid merciless teasing as well as mitigating the damage should your relationship go south. if it does, only the two of you will know about it and stew over it — the least amount of risk, you both agreed.

franky glugs down another stein of beer, laughing jovially, “alright, alright, i’ve got an idea!”

“oh? and what’s that?” robin asks, resting a hand on her chin. 

“let’s play a game. gotta spice things up!”

“hey!” usopp protests. “my stories are super spicy!”

“yeah, right,” kid snickers, “they’re also lies.”

usopp glares and is about to retort but franky beats him to the punch, saying, “truth or dare!”

“really?” deadpans law. “isn’t that for kids?”

“aww, you need to loosen up, cap!” shachi says, nudging law. “i’m down.”

franky says, “i’m sure everyone knows the rules. only thing is if you refuse to answer a truth or do a dare, you drink!”

luffy perks up. “yeah, alright! that sounds like fun! zoro! zoro! truth or dare?”

your boyfriend smirks. “dare. do your worst.” 

“i dare you to eat one of your swords.”

zoro’s eyes nearly pop out of his head. “no way!”

“gotta drink then,” you say to him. 

“not a problem.” zoro lifts his stein to his mouth and you watch with appreciation as his bicep flexes and bulges under the tight t-shirt he’s wearing. he easily chugs down his beer, wiping his lips with the back of his hand. 

zoro dares sanji to throw out his collection of dirty magazines that he found under sanji’s bed; sanji asks nami who she would date if she could date any crew member (“ew, none of you.”); nami gets bepo to perform one of uta’s songs and bepo asks franky what’s the best kept secret he’s held from you all. 

franky smirks at law and says, “alright, law, truth or dare.”

“truth.”

“if you could hook up with anyone on the deck, who would it be?”

law frowns at the question and you’re sure he’s going to drink instead but when he says your name, the ship erupts into chaos. nami and ikkaku elbow you, their grins suggestive and encouraging; sanji glares at law; shachi, penguin, and bepo gape; and kid and luffy howl with laughter. you sit there in stunned silence, your face on fire, and you can’t look at law.

you chance a peek at zoro and find that, in all the ensuing chaos, he’s nowhere to be found. you catch the door to the belly of the thousand sunny swinging closed and you immediately stand, heading downstairs. you ignore everyone’s questioning shouts in favor of searching for your boyfriend. 

“zoro?” you call. “zoro!”

you wander the halls for a few minutes, checking the kitchen, the men’s quarter, the gym. you find him quickly, though, inside the energy room. he’s sitting on a crate, expression sour, and you plop down next to him. “you okay?” you ask.

“i’m fine.” 

you study him — his profile, the slope of his nose and the sharpness of his jaw, the way the low light of the room makes his tan skin look golden. you sit quietly with him for a few moments, listening to the engine of the ship run. zoro holds himself rigidly, unnervingly still, but you can feel the irritation rolling off of him, can still see the tension in his body. 

you reach over, brushing your hand against his brow to smooth out the furrow. he looks over at you, still scowling but a little less intensely now. you say, “i’m guessing what law said bothered you.”

he shrugs. you sigh, “it’s just a game, zoro. i’m sure he didn’t even mean it, probably said the first name he thought of.”

zoro grunts derisively, “he definitely meant it. look at you.”

you can’t help the pleased feeling the rushes through you but you don’t let it show as you let your hand fall to his shoulder. “it’s just a game. doesn’t mean anything.”

“yeah,” zoro says. there’s a beat and then he says, “i hate hidin’ this.”

“really?” you can’t hide your surprise. zoro’s the one who initially brought up keeping this from everyone.

“i’m sick of it,” he says. “sick of the fuckin’ love cook always saying shit to you. i hate when guys flirt with you and i can’t fuckin’ do anything because the rest of the damn crew is there and luffy’s makin’ me watch his scarf down twenty plates of roast beef.”

you snicker at the memory, which pulls a small smile at of zoro. you rest your head against his shoulder and he mutters, “hate that the fuckin’ doctor said you.”

“we could tell them, you know. i think it’s okay now.”

“yeah?”

“yeah,” you say. “i’m, like, super in love with you so you’re stuck with me.”

zoro snorts, “yeah, yeah. love you too.”

“are you ready to endure all the teasing from franky, robin, and nami?”

“for you, yeah.”

you tilt your head up and kiss his jaw. zoro grins, leaning down to catch your mouth with his. 

When you break apart, you ask him, “I would’ve placed money on you going to the gym. Why’d you come here?”

“Oh. I got lost.”

“You two okay?” asks robin as you and zoro resurface. the game seems to have finished and everyone’s back to drinking and chatting, though they all turn to you when they hear robin.

“yeah, we’re good,” you tell her. “we actually have something to tell you.”

“what is it?” nami asks.

“we’re together,” zoro says. “have been for a while.” and then, unexpectedly, zoro’s arm wraps around your hip and pulls you close.

the ship erupts into the chaos again with you and zoro in the middle. somewhere among all the yelling and gasping, law taps your shoulder and apologizes, which you wave off with an easy smile and zoro gives a firm nod.

nami shakes her head. “i can’t believe you two kept this from us!” and then, she turns to you. “zoro? really? you could do so much better.”

you wind yours arms around zoro’s waist, crushing him in a sideways hug. “nope, i don’t think so. he’s all mine!” 

nami gags and robin smiles calmly. “i’ve always known.”

you and zoro stare at her. “what?”

[somanyratsinthewalls]

Run Away With Me Chapter 1

NEW SERIES BABY

Pairing: Vinsmoke Sanji x Named Female OC (Charlotte Ginger)

Summary: Big Mom's daughter, Charlotte Ginger is married off to Vinsmoke Sanji. What could possibly come of this?

WC: 2200

Run Away with Me Chapter 1

— —

The transponder snail rings. 

Big Mom waits a few tones until she answers.

The snail was presented to her on a silver platter from one of her many servants. She lounges in a giant bed and presses the phone up to her ear. 

“Yes?” She answers. 

“Madam Charlotte. It is a pleasure to speak to you directly. Thank you for taking my call.” A deep voice booms from the other end of the snail. 

“The pleasure is all mine, Judge. Did you make a decision from the papers I sent you?” Big mom asks, nibbling at a carrot cake slice she had left on her side table. 

There was a pregnant pause. 

“I’ve made a decision… but not from the options given to me.” Judge Vinsmoke says from the other end of the line. 

“You know how I feel about a change in terms, Vinsmoke… tread carefully.” 

“Your daughters are nothing less than spectacular, Madam Charlotte, but what I think would best serve our alliance is one of them I didn’t see in the file.” Judge replies. 

“Oh? And who would that be?” Big Mom inquires after wiping the cream cheese frosting from her lips. 

“The red haired one. The hunter. From the wanted posters. That’s the one I want for my son.”

Another silence. 

“So you want my Ginger, eh?” Big Mom indulges him. “Why?”

“She’s strong. Intelligent. Crafty. Good breeding stock for my boy. This legacy lives long after we’re gone, Linlin, am I correct? I have no interest in simply making an alliance. I want to build an empire.” Judge says grimly, with a smirk hidden not-so-plainly in his voice. 

“Hmm… you make an interesting point, Vinsmoke. I’ll consider it.” 

— —

*peck*

*peck*

*caw?*

Your eyelids flutter open. Your familiar raven, Nori, was gently prodding his beak at your nose, causing you to wake up and scrunch your face together. 

“What? Gods forbid a girl get a break around here.” You sigh and throw the blanket off your body. Nori flaps his wings and settles on your night table before cocking his head and giving you an urgent sounding coo. 

You throw your long, bright red hair into a ponytail quickly as you rise to your feet. You slip on your boots, still slightly dank from the long journey at sea. You were sent on a hunting expedition, as searching and destroying was always your area of expertise. Your mother, an emperor of the seas, had you go off to hunt down a pack of deserters and bring back some supplies along with the bodies of her betrayers. 

Always the good daughter, you obliged your mother’s every request. It was no easy feat, capturing and executing the deserters, but with your skills and prowess you were able to achieve your goal. You carried the men’s heads deep within the belly of your ship, carefully preserved to present to your Mama. Years ago you lost count of the heads of dead men you’ve offered to your mother for her shrewd approval. Marines, pirates, low brow bootleggers, high born nobles, no target was safe from your murderous grasp. 

You loved your position. A general of Big Mom’s army and Minister of Spice, you were her most powerful daughter and an essential member of her armada at the tender age of 24. As little love and care as your mother showed you growing up, you appeased her now to stay in her good graces. You knew if Mama got a single *whiff* of indignation, your status would be lost to one of the multitude of your other siblings…

Perhaps someone larger… one of Mama’s children with giants perhaps. Or one of her fishmen children, adept in the arts of karate and unmatched in the seas. Your father was a wood elf from a secluded island in the South Blue… or so your mother told you. Perished before he could meet you. She explained this only once when you asked why your ears were different… pointed so much that you were bullied in school. 

“Tell me who’s bothering you, cupcake. I’ll just have a nice talk with their parents..” Your mother would always say when you asked her why the other children made fun of your ears as a kid. When you were young you hid your ears with your long hair, but once you proved yourself as Big Mom’s strongest tracker and hunter, you no longer feared judgment and mostly wore your hair in a slicked, long ponytail. 

*squaaak!* Nori cawed louder, as if trying to urge you to hurry up getting ready. 

“Alright alright, I’m moving.” You hush the bird and throw the pink cloak emblazoned with your mother’s jolly roger over your shoulders. You slide your daggers into the holsters on your thighs and swing your bow and quiver across your back before making your way to the door of your captain’s quarters. 

You push the wooden door open and trudge out into the sunlight. You bring your palm to your brow in an attempt to shield your eyes from the sun’s brightness. Once your eyes adjusted to the light, you can see Whole Cake Island coming up fast on the horizon. You let out a deep sigh. 

Another mission over. Stuck at home until the next assignment… But what was home, really? You loved your ship, your crew, your job… being at the chateau depressed you. Stewards and maids waiting on you hand and foot… constant badgering from your underlings and younger siblings… you wished you could always be at sea. 

The sea awakened you. The battles filled you with vigor. The camaraderie of a crew on the ocean brought you to life… But you were cursed to always come home to Mama. 

“Men! Prepare for arrival!” You shout to your crew before beginning to take down the main sail yourself. 

— —

You stepped off the gangplank and your soggy boots met the worn wood of the dock at Whole Cake Island. 

“Alright men, bring my cargo up the chateau. Mama will be quite pleased to see her spoils from this trip.” You say as you wipe the sweat from your brow. You turn around and see an emissary with several guards approaching you on the dock. 

“I can’t say I’m used to a welcoming party. A special occasion?” You quip at the emissary as you straighten out your leathers. 

“Big Mom has requested your audience as soon as possible, Miss Ginger. You are to come with us.” The grey bearded emissary said with a blank expression. Your hunter’s intuitions can’t help but notice the way the guards grip on their spears tighten as he finished his sentence. You scan their faces. You can only see fear. 

“And if I don’t go with you?” You cock your head curiously.

“I am afraid that’s not an option.” The emissary purses his lips. “Miss Ginger.” 

You were exhausted and not prepared for a fight, your men were loyal to you, but wouldn’t risk their lives to Big Mom for anything. 

“Aye. I’ll come.” You resign. 

*caw! CAW!* Nori frantically called from your shoulder. 

The emissary clears his throat. 

“Your mother requests you alone.” He says as he eyes your bird. 

“I’ll be fine, Nori. I promise. Wait here.” You coo to your familiar. 

He grows disapprovingly before flying off. 

— — 

You follow the emissary and the guards up the the chateau through the winding, frosting lined corridors of the castle as your mind races. What could mother possible want with you so urgently? You had done everything she asked for… the heads of the deserters on a silver platter… a ship filled to the brim with sweets and supplies… you couldn’t think of anything you’e done recently she could even consider a transgression… unless it was about Lazora….

You eventually reach Big Mom’s chambers and the emissary holds the door open for you. You take a deep breath before crossing the threshold. 

Your mother was seated on her lavish, massively large loveseat indulging in several bowls of what you could only perceive as banana pudding. Her throat bobbed heinously as she shoveled more of the dessert down her enormous gullet. You stepped towards her softly as not to disturb her gorging. 

“Mama…” You say quietly. 

“Ginger!” Your mother exclaims as she righted herself and placed the empty dish on the coffee table. “I’m so glad you’re back, my sweet child. Something incredible has come up, and I just can’t wait to tell you about it!” 

“Yes, Mama?” You ask. 

“Come, come, my love. Sit down! I can even have the guards bring some of that red wine you like.” Your mother gestures towards the armchair across from her. 

“I’m quite alright, Mama, thank you.” You say as you sit down and place your hands in your lap. 

“Well, Ginge, I’ll get right to it. We’ve come into the opportunity for the strongest alliance the world has seen in decades.. and you’re the one in the middle of it! How exciting!” Your mom claps her massive hands together below her double chin. You were reminded at this point how easily it would be for her to crush you in those hands…

“I… I’m afraid I don’t understand, Mama…” You say, confused. 

“Germa 66… the most powerful technological agency in the entire world has offered to marry one of their sons off to the Charlotte family! It would prove greatly beneficial for both us and them. Isn’t that fantastic, my sweet cupcake? Your wedding will be in nearly a weeks time! I am so happy for you! And all of us!” Your mom grinned. 

“But… mother… You told me if I could rise to the ranks of general… or minister… I would be exempt from political marriage! I’ve managed to do both and you’ve still sold me off? I don’t understand…” You shake your head in a panicked manner as her words start to sink in. 

“Things change, darling. We all took an oath to protect and serve this family… and I’ve determined this is the best way you can do your duty.” Your mother reaches for another bowl of pudding from the table and you instinctively flinch, thinking she was lunging for you. 

“Mother I must protest.. I have no desire to marry, which is why I pursued the role that I did. I am your most elite hunter and assassin… the fleet will be left with a massive gap without me! I have done everything you’ve asked since the day I was born I-“ You stutter out through gritted teeth. 

“ENOUGH!”

You mouth is snapped closed by an unseen force. Your mother’s power was far, far greater than your own. 

“You will marry the Vinsmoke boy with no issue. You have been chosen for this task and should feel grateful.” Your mother scolds you. 

“M-m-my sh-shi-ship-!” You choke out through the invisible grasp that Big Mom has around your throat. 

“Silly girl. Cracker will take over your fleet. He may not be as productive, but he’s got you cornered in the strength department. I’m sure his results will be just as fine.” Your mother shoots you a cheeky glare. 

You sputter for breath as you struggle to breathe. 

“Ma.. Ma..” You croak out. 

The grasp on your throat releases and you clutch your neck, gasping deeply to regain oxygen. 

“The wedding is Sunday.” Your mother says casually as she gulps down a second bowl of dessert. “It’ll take that long to get you presentable.” She gestures to the guards. “Get her to the chambermaids. She needs a decent gown and to wash that vile sea-stench from her hair. The Germa Prince arrives tomorrow and she needs to be look like a lady for once.” She commands as you grasp at your own throat in relief. 

You feel strong arms encircle each of your shoulders 

Your body was too weakened to fight back, you simply had no choice but to allow the guards to shuffle you to your chambers. 

— —

You fall face first onto your plush comforter, your mind still swimming with thoughts of what your mother just told you… you can’t take it laying down.. there’s no way you’ll be married off… it was guaranteed to you…

“Wait! Stop!” You push yourself off the bed and rush towards the door, pulling desperately on the handles, only to find it locked already by your mothers devouts. “No!” You push your legs on the opposite door as you pull the handle with all your might. You pull one of your daggers from your thigh-holster and try to jam Ito between the double doors to unjam the lock mechanism. 

“Ah!” You screamed.

It was like a lightening bolt hit your body. You were shocked and blown backwards. Your mother must have put some enchantment on the door… you were trapped… 

— —

A/N HEY YALL NEW SERIES TIME! I PROMISE WE’LL GET SANJI IN THE NEXT CHAPTER! We’re just doing a lil world building, ya digg?  Also please send me inboxes or comments for ideas for this series or critiques! Love yall.

[innerfare]

Lawbin Headcanons 

Summary: Early stages of Lawbin. This whole thing is basically Law being a dork who’s constantly trying to play it cool while falling for the weird girl (Robin, I love you, never change). 

Characters: Trafalgar Law x Nico Robin

Genre: Fluff

CW: None // SFW

——— 

When Robin met the Captain of the Heart Pirates, the Surgeon of Death and a Warlord of the Sea, Dr. Trafalgar Law, she didn’t trust him, not even for a second. Recall, she has extensive experience with Warlords and would have died at the hands of one if Luffy hadn’t saved her despite her own insistence he leave her to die. As soon as she meets Law, she swears to herself that if things go sour, Luffy won’t be saving her and, in fact, she’ll be saving Luffy. She won’t let the Warlord take a shot at her Captain, and she takes Luffy’s proposition that if the alliance goes bad, the crew will have his back, to heart.  

For the longest time, that’s how Robin thinks of Law: the Warlord. She never talks about it, but she has PTSD from her time with Crocodile. She had never known peace or solace in her life; the safest position she’d had before joining the Straw Hats was as the right hand of a man who ultimately viewed her as expendable. And Sir Crocodile wasn’t just any man, he was a pirate brimming with power and eerily intelligent, with a mind for strategy. Just like Traffy, whose insistence on planning out every little detail and having a backup plan for every backup plan takes Robin right back to Alabasta. 

Robin becomes a little obsessed with comparing him to Crocodile. She zeroes in on his willingness to make small sacrifices for the greater cause, his analytical nature and reserved emotions, his apparent lack of friends. Only, Traffy went to great lengths to help the Straw Hats rescue the children on Punk Hazard, and he didn’t take the opportunity to be too cruel to Smoker and Tashigi despite having them chained in front of him. But that doesn’t stop her from trying to make him into Crocodile 2.0.  

And then there’s Law, who’s such a dork. Strategic alliance this, strategic alliance that, but from the second he met the Straw Hats, he wasn’t thinking about betraying them, he was wondering how he was supposed to remain impartial with such an affable group. He thought Nico, at least, would be an ally against the general Straw Hat insanity, but she turned out to be the crew’s worst enabler rather than the mother hen he had originally pegged her for. Which begs the question, what else was he wrong about? 

Annoyed to have been so wrong, Law begins paying more attention to Nico. He notices that she doesn’t fall into the insular trap that a lot of academics do. She’s not just an expert on her one field but in fact is incredibly well read and is a wealth of knowledge on a menagerie of different topics, and each topic he learns she is well-versed in is weirder than the last. 

Why is Nico an expert on Panda Shark socialization? How did Nico come to find out that there is a mythical, lost library full of love poems on an unnamed sky island? Why does Nico have so many books on a random king from the South Blue who died eight hundred years ago? How did Nico learn that there’s an island in the West Blue where white pumpkins grow on bone trees? And why, oh why, is she versed in Germa 66 lore? Finding out the last one makes his heart drop, the realization that he would risk it all for the Straw Hat archaeologist making Law’s stomach churn. 

And how is she so calm all the time? He had pegged the academic as similar to him, but her crew’s shenanigans seem to just roll right off her. She sat in that cell with him and the others in Punk Hazard reminiscing about old times with Luffy and Smoker instead of cowering in the shadow of Vergo, and she more than held her own on Green Bit, lending herself to him as an asset time and again, always being there to lend a helping hand (or twelve) when the plan fails. 

All that is to say, Law falls first. But it’s Robin who makes the first move. 

It’s only when she sees Traffy interact with his crew that Robin sees him for who he is, and she can’t get that man out of her head- that man who isn't domineering but tries to make people follow his orders to protect them, that man who is so adored by his crew (the members of which he protects rather than uses for his own gain), that man who, despite being called Warlord, is kind of adorable. 

Robin starts teasing him a bit; she just can’t help herself. Now that her Crocodile glasses are off, she can see that he doesn’t have the sort of temper that leads him to kill people but rather the sort that just leaves him spluttering and speechless. And, well, she thinks it’s cute. She starts feeling dumb, too, for not having seen it sooner. After all, Luffy saw he was a good and trustworthy person, and that should have been enough for her, but she had been blinded. 

No longer blinded, she starts enjoying her time with Traffy, though he doesn’t notice the shift, doesn't realize she's soft on him. He thinks she’s needling him for some other reason. It never occurs to him that Nico (or anyone, for that matter) finds him cute. And he almost goes into cardiac arrest when she tells him. 

“Why are you looking at me like that?” He demands one night, fed up with that little smile that always seems to be on Nico’s face while she’s staring at him. “Nothing,” she says, swallowing her giggle, “I just think you’re cute when you’re annoyed.” And with that, she leaves him to process what she’d just said. 

Their relationship is built on info dumping. Robin can talk about her weird interests, such as the mating habits of Sea Kings and the fact that the antidote made from Conine in the bark of Kona Trees can actually be used as a poison if mixed with the correct substances. And Law can talk about his childish interests, such as various comic books and ninjas. These two geek out on a level not previously known to humankind. 

They bring each other odd tokens, typically the weirdest possible thing they could find on their respective travels. 

Law buying Robin books and leaving notes inside that get progressively more personal, Robin asking Sanji to show her how to make onigiri because it’s Law’s favorite. 

And then there’s the trauma. Both were nearby when their parents were murdered. Both were alone in the world at a very young age, Robin hunted by the World Government and Law by the Donquixote family. Both know what it’s like to be completely alone with nothing to their name but a bizarre devil fruit ability and a target on their back. Both managed to find their way in the world despite feeling for years that they never would. They didn’t save each other because they didn’t have to. They’re traumatized, but they’re not broken, and together, they can be even stronger. They saved themselves, and now that they did, they’re free to bask in each others’ presence. And that’s exactly what they do. 

———

Hope you enjoyed it! If you want more, you can check out my masterlist here!

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Overkill. http://Newsday.com/matt :: Matt Davies

* * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

November 13, 2024

Heather Cox Richardson

Nov 14, 2024

Republican senators today elected John Thune of South Dakota to be the next Senate majority leader. Trump and MAGA Republicans had put a great deal of pressure on the senators to back Florida senator Rick Scott, but he marshaled fewer votes than either Thune or John Cornyn of Texas, both of whom were seen as establishment figures in the mold of the Republican senators’ current leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

Scott lost on the first vote. The fact that the vote was secret likely helped Thune’s candidacy. Senators could vote without fear of retaliation. 

The rift between the pre-2016 leaders of the Republican Party and the MAGA Republicans is still obvious, and Trump’s reliance on Elon Musk and his stated goal of deconstructing the American government could make it wider. 

Republican establishment leaders have always wanted to dismantle the New Deal state that began under Democratic president Franklin Delano Roosevelt and continued under Republican president Dwight D. Eisenhower and presidents of both parties until 1981. But they have never wanted to dismantle the rule of law on which the United States is founded or the international rules-based order on which foreign trade depends. Aside from moral and intellectual principles, the rule of law is the foundation on which the security of property rests: there is a reason that foreign oligarchs park their money in democracies. And it is the international rules-based order that protects the freedom of the seas on which the movement of container ships, for example, depends.

Trump has made it clear that his goal for a second term is to toss overboard the rule of law and the international rules-based order, instead turning the U.S. government into a vehicle for his own revenge and forging individual alliances with autocratic rulers like Russian president Vladimir Putin. 

He has begun moving to  put into power individuals whose qualifications are their willingness to do as Trump demands, like New York representative Elise Stefanik, whom he has tapped to be the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, or Florida senator Marco Rubio, who Trump said today would be his nominee for secretary of state. 

Alongside his choice of loyalists who will do as he says, Trump has also tapped people who will push his war on his cultural enemies forward, like anti-immigrant ideologue Stephen Miller, who will become his deputy chief of staff and a homeland security advisor. Today, Trump added to that list by saying he plans to nominate Florida representative Matt Gaetz, who has been an attack dog for Trump, to become attorney general.

Trump’s statement tapping Gaetz for attorney general came after Senate Republicans rejected Scott, and appears to be a deliberate challenge to Republican senators that they get in line. In his announcement, Trump highlighted that Gaetz had played “a key role in defeating the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax.” 

But establishment Republican leaders understand that some of our core institutions cannot survive MAGA’s desire to turn the government into a vehicle for culture war vengeance. 

Gaetz is a deeply problematic pick for AG. A report from the House Ethics Committee investigating allegations of drug use and sex with a minor was due to be released in days. Although he was reelected just last week, Gaetz resigned immediately after Trump said he would nominate him, thus short-circuiting the release of the report. Last year, Republican senator Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma told CNN that “we had all seen the videos he was showing on the House floor, that all of us had walked away, of the girls that he had slept with. He would brag about how he would crush [erectile dysfunction] medicine and chase it with an energy drink so he could go all night." 

While South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham said he would be willing to agree to the appointment, other Republican senators drew a line. “I was shocked by the announcement —that shows why the advise and consent process is so important,” Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) said. “I’m sure that there will be a lot of questions raised at his hearing.” Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) was blunt: “I don’t think he’s a serious candidate.”

If the idea of putting Gaetz in charge of the country’s laws alarmed Republicans concerned about domestic affairs, Trump’s pick of the inexperienced and extremist Fox & Friends host Pete Hegseth to take over the Department of Defense was a clarion call for anyone concerned about perpetuating the global strength of the U.S. The secretary of defense oversees a budget of more than $800 billion and about 1.3 million active-duty troops, with another 1.4 million in the National Guard and employed in Reserves and civilian positions.

The secretary of defense also has access to the nuclear command-and-control procedure. Over his nomination, too, Republican senators expressed concern.

While Trump is claiming a mandate to do as he wishes with the government, Republicans interested in their own political future are likely noting that he actually won the election by a smaller margin than President Joe Biden won in 2020, despite a global rejection of incumbents this year. And he won not by picking up large numbers of new voters—it appears he lost voters—but because Democratic voters of color dropped out, perhaps reflecting the new voter suppression laws put into place since 2021.

Then, too, Trump remains old and mentally slipping, and he is increasingly isolated as people fight over the power he has brought within their grasp. Today his wife, Melania, declined the traditional invitation from First Lady Jill Biden for tea at the White House and suggested she will not be returning to the presidential mansion with her husband. It is not clear either that Trump will be able to control the scrabbling for power over the party by those he has brought into the executive branch, or that he has much to offer elected Republicans who no longer need his voters, suggesting that Congress could reassert its power.  

Falling into line behind Trump at this point is not necessarily a good move for a Republican interested in a future political career. 

Today the Republicans are projected to take control of the House of Representatives, giving the party control of the House, the Senate, and the presidency, as well as the Supreme Court. But as the downballot races last week show, MAGA policies remain unpopular, and the Republican margin in the House will be small. In the last Congress, MAGA loyalists were unable to get the votes they needed from other Republicans to impose Trump’s culture war policies, creating gridlock and a deeply divided Republican conference. 

The gulf between Trump’s promises to slash the government and voters’ actual support for government programs is not going to make the Republicans’ job easier. Conservative pundit George Will wrote today that “the world’s richest person is about to receive a free public education,” suggesting Elon Musk, who has emerged as the shadow president, will find his plans to cut the government difficult to enact as elected officials reject cuts to programs their constituents like. 

Musk’s vow to cut “at least” $2 trillion from federal spending, Will notes, will run up against reality in a hurry. Of the $6.75 trillion fiscal 2024 spending, debt service makes up 13.1%; defense—which Trump wants to increase—is 12.9%. Entitlements, primarily Social Security and Medicare, account for 34.6%, and while the Republican Study Group has called for cuts to them, Trump said during the campaign, at least, that they would not be cut. 

So Musk has said he would cut about 30% of the total budget from about 40% of it. Will points out that Trump is hardly the first president to vow dramatic cuts. Notably, Ronald Reagan appointed J. Peter Grace, an entrepreneur, to make government “more responsive to the wishes of the people” after voters had elected Reagan on a platform of cutting government. Grace’s commission made 2,478 recommendations but quickly found that every lawmaker liked cuts to someone else’s district but not their own.  

Will notes that a possible outcome of the Trump chaos might be to check the modern movement toward executive power, inducing Congress to recapture some of the power it has ceded to the president in order to restore the stability businessmen prefer.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was himself a wealthy man, and in the 1930s he tried to explain to angry critics on the right that his efforts to address the nation’s inequalities were not an attack on American capitalism, but rather an attempt to save it from the communism or fascism that would destroy the rule of law. 

“I want to save our system, the capitalistic system,” FDR wrote to a friend in 1935. “[T]o save it is to give some heed to world thought of today.” 

The protections of the system FDR ushered in—the banking and equities regulation that killed crony finance, for example—are now under attack by the very sort of movement he warned against. Whether today’s lawmakers are as willing as their predecessors were to stand against that movement remains unclear, especially as Trump tries to bring lawmakers to heel, but Thune’s victory in the Senate today and the widespread Republican outrage over Trump’s appointment of Gaetz and Hegseth are hopeful signs. 

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[thekingofwinterblog]

Was the Grand Line originally land? (CONFIRMED Theory)

So in lights on the most recent chapter, 1113, we learn that the world government's great and final plan is to flood the entire world, leaving only the red line above the sea level and drowning the rest of the world.

With this in mind, there is of course the obvious question, of wheter this was always the plan, even during the void century.

And if so, there is the question of wheter or not the original alliance succeeded, and the Grand Line as we know it is just a post apokalyptic remnant of a once, much grander landmass, not necessarily one made up completely of land, as we know that some of the kingdoms(the great kingdom itself) during the Void century WERE islands, but one where there was still a very clear land bridge across the world, beyond just the red line.

So, lets dive into this idea, and the evidence for and against.

Starting off with, the grand line is a bizarre place, and we have no actual explanation of why it exists. It cannot be the one piece equator equivelant of the equator, for as oda has confirmed, the map above is aligned so north, south, west and east are those direction on the globe, with the red line and grand line both at an angle across the world, not aligned in the four compass directions.

Then of course there are the frankly bizarre phenomena of the grand line, which though a lot has a somewhat logical explanation, there are still plenty of mysteries, such as the bizarre weather currents of the grand line, and the way the calm belt is very clearly supernatural in how it works.

Why is the start of the line so bloody strange, so much less predictable and filled with nonesense than the rest of paradise?

But lets begin dissecting the idea that the grand line is a post apokalyptic wastelands. How would the continent sinking into the sea explain the weather phenomena?

Well... Crocus claims that the reason for the grand line's being filled with abnormal magnetic fields as a result of each of the islands being very rich in minerals, which frankly speaking, doesnt really seem to be the case for the most part from what we've seen... but if you assume that them "being rich in minerals" actually refers to the idea that the core of each of the islands that survived the ancienct apokalypse were filled to the brim with strong, durable metals from the very core of the earth as the lands around was sunk beneath the waves, there might be some logic to it.

The "islands", or at least the mountains they rest on, would indeed be filled with rich minerals, and more importantly, they would be way closer to the surface and now much more "uncovered" by stone, and be just beneath the surface, and so wrecks havoc on anyone trying to use a compass.

but are there more to suggest the grand line used to be above sea level?

Yes, actually, there is.

In paradise, there are 4 megastructures that seems to defy any, and all logic for how they could possibly have been built.

The tree gates of justice.

And Impel Down.

we have no idea who built these ginormous structures, but the simple reality is that with what we know, They just dont make sense.

The Gates are so so stupidly big, that the only creatures that would match it is the big elephant of the minks, and the florian monster.

However, forget the size, the bigger problem is the foundations.

Impel Down is structured like a castle, with a very clear, tiered set of levels.

assuming it was indeed built in the middle of the ocean, from the bottom up, the only race who could possibly have done it would have been the fishmen, who from what we know would have absolutely no reason whatsoever to help the world government make it, given they were on the opposite side during the Void Century, and relations have not gotten much better since.

however... if we assume that both of these structures, the gates of justice, and Impel down, were made on land BEFORE they were submerged, the mystery of the how their construction suddenly makes way more sense.

they are stupidly big, but they were built above ground, making their construction much more logical.

if so, then at the bottom of the sea in this area, one could probably find walls, similar to the gates, connecting the 3 gates, with all 3 and the castle of impel down obviously having been part of some grand, defensive fortification, with their current use of controlling the whirlpool having little to do with their original intention.

And then of course there is how the one piece world is portrayed in Monsters.

We dont know exactly when Monsters is set, but it has to be sometime before the void century, because it was in a different age than the era of isolation that was put into place after the the mountain walls were put into place after the great war, and it cant have been during the void century itself, for it it had been, any mention of the man would have been ruthlessly wiped out by the world government, and he would most certainly not have been famous across the world.

So he lived sometime before the great conflict started.

the more interesting part about monsters though, is how the world looks. Rather than the familiar world of island based city states, We are shown a wast landscape with no sea in sight.

Now it's of course possible this story is set somewhere on the red line, or one a massive island, but there is something else to suggest that the world of old was fundamentally different than what came later.

Ryuma was recognized as the man who carried "the world's greatest warrior soul", and was famed far and wide, with the nickname suggesting a level of international fame on the same level as mihawk... except there is a bit of a problem here.

One piece's world building is built on the fact that every single island is very isolated from all the rest of the world. even if there is one world government, that a lot of states are a part of, but defacto, each island is an independent nation unto itself, except when the world government wants something from them.

News simply does not spread in this way in the one piece world. The only reason pirates such as Luffy, whitebeard and roger are famous, is because the powers that be have a wested interest in making them famous, and spread their wickedness and thus warning of their danger, but also as a justification to why they need to have the mariens around to protect people.

and yet the tales of Ryuma both in monsters and in one piece proper is a worldwide spread story, which given how old he is seems bizarre all things considered(how old his legend is, how widespread it is, how nobody except the people of Wano would have a political reason for keeping his legend alive, etc)... but if one assumes the entire world has heard of him because he literarily walked from one end of the world to the other, with only small boat trips to cross gaps in the continent of the grand line, then the idea that he would be remembered by all long, long after his death makes way more sense.

And then of course there is another, huge detail that is very easy to miss. One Piece's age of exploration just ended, relatively speaking.

The one piece world is OLD, with Alabasta's capital being 4000 years old, and the world government as an organization being 800 years old.

And yet... The world, or more speciffically the grand line was still being charted out and mapped as late as 400 years ago.

four centuries after having been created, the world government and the people of this world didnt know the rough layout of paradise, the part of the grand line where the only kingdom we know for a fact was part of the original alliance against the great kingdom was located.

That seems... insane to be perfectly honest... but it makes WAY more sense if one assumed that the Grand line used to be one, relatively well connected landmass that stretched across the world in relation to the red line.

But once that for the most part sank into the sea(most certainly as a result of the full might of the ancient weapons being unleashed on either side of the war), the world as the people of old knew it was broken, and had to be completely remapped, a process that took centuries.

This could also explain the world government's big symbol. a cross with 5 dots, one in the middle, and 4 around it.

Now the idea that this symbolizes the 4 directions of the world is not a new theory, but the dots are another question, with us having no idea what they mean.

Here's my theory.

all five represents the same thing, the alliance's big plans for a capital of the world, Mary Geoise, located on one of the spots wheree the world's two big landmasses met. the meaning as it originally was envisioned, was that no matter which direction you went, you would always end up back here at the center of the world.

[igotanidea]

Empty promises: Nikolai Lantsov x reader

A/N: first of all, sorry to everyone wainting for "Traitor", but I felt the need to write something sad and heart wrenching so here;s that. For now. Angst coming right next. Oh, and you have been warned, this is sad. And got spoilers for ep.4/5.

***

„Alina? Are you decent?” Y/n peeked through the door the very second the queen’s seamstress left the room.

“Y/n! Please, come in. It’s so good to see your face.” Alina struggled in the dress “I wish I could greet you properly but I can’t, quite, move in this.”

“Oh, yes, I’ve heard some rumors about certain Saint and the outfit trouble.” Y/N laughed wholeheartedly ”I don’t think it’s really your style, no matter what the queen mother may have to say about that. I may have an idea to save you from that torture though. If, you let me, that is.”

“Please. Anything.” Alina shook her head

“All right then. You know, a tailor would probably be better with the fitting, but as an Inferni I can surely give you something to boost your confidence” Y/N started turning around, picking another outfit for sol koroleva.

“Y/N.” Alina said and the timbre of her voice made the other Grisha stop in her track and look up “How… How are holding up? With me and Nikolai….?”

“I’m fine” Y/N assured quickly. Too quickly to make it believable. “I just ….” She sighed deeply, gathering all the strength she had to finish that sentence “I just wish he told me sooner, you know. Not just leave me like that. Given all we have… had….” she corrected and covered a little tremble by coughing “But he just left me as surprised as any other Grisha in the room when he announced your engagement and  it feels like betrayal, Alina. “ she went silent for a minute “but yes, apart from that I am perfectly fine. Now, let’s focus on the suit.”

“Y/N” Alina grabbed her hand gently “I am sorry for what you are going through right now.”

“Well, we all have our burdens to carry, right? I suppose this is mine.”

“I know it does not make anything better, but I know about heartbreak and making tough choices. Nikolai loves you in a way he would never feel about me. And I feel that for Mal. This is all just a political alliance, nothing more.” Alina assured.

“You know, sancta, when Nikolai left to be Sturmhond I spend two years searching for him, east to west and south to north. And when I did and we got together this was the best time of my life. And I shouldn’t have enjoyed the sea so much, but with him, I did.  And even then I always had this little tingling inside my head. A sneaky voice that was telling me, that we would not last. Turns out I was right. And truly, no one is to blame for that.” The Inferni smiled sadly “This should do the work” she raised the garments she prepared for Alina “I should better go before the seamstress came back. Just for now pretend you’ll wear the dress , all right? Can’t show all the cards at once.” And with such words, she left the chamber, unnoticed by anyone.

The next person to come to Alina was not even remotely as welcomed as Y/N. Vasily came for a little chat coated with veiled threat and perhaps a bit of a warning, but Alina was too strong to let him beguile her.

And then, when time came Nikolai appeared at the door for a little pep talk.

“Well, you look lovely” he smiled eyeing Alina already up and ready in her second army regimentals.

“Y/N came and helped me put this little thing together. So much better than….” Her gaze focused on the dress nearby and the girl rolled her eyes.

“She’s been avoiding me.” The prince said sadly “not that I blame her, but how can she not miss my company even a little? Am I so easily forgettable. She really acts like I’ve grown a pair of horns or started breathing fire…..” he tried to keep his cool and joke around but Alina knew him well enough to see through it.

“She’s an Inferni. A little fire could never discourage her.  But she’s hurt. Twice as much since you kept her in the dark about this whole arrangement.”

“I wanted to save her pain. And possibly myself.”

“’You failed at that.” Alina pouted

“Anyway, I got something to complete the look.” He took a step closer and reached inside his pocket retrieving a green gem “the Lantsov emerald….”

“Nikolai, we don’t have to do this, if it’s too hard. “

“Let’s just keep the pretenses up, shall we? Just remember, shall you decide to punch me, you will probably take my eyes out with this on, and I would not like that.”

***

 “Have you seen Mal?” Alina started spinning around, searching for the one face she so desperately needed to see “It’s not like him to be late.”

“Perhaps your little tracker is not such a fan of festivities as you.” Vasily approached the pair from behind, with some drink in his hand and Alina immediately excused herself, leaving two brothers alone.

“You know, my little brother” Vasily started “I always knew you would not end up with that little Inferni. Why settle for a commoner when there’s a living saint in the palace.” He laughed and took a sip on his drink. “now you will get fire from someone else! I’m sure the Sankta had a lot of it, judging by her actions. And Y/N. Waste of time. She was always a challenge, even when she was a kid.”

“Don’t you dare talking about her like this.” Nikolai hissed, but still kept straight face in a prince-like manner

“Why do you even care at this point, brother? From what I know, she’s been avoiding you, am I right? But look” he pointed out in the crowd, where Y/N was talking to Nadia and Tamar, laughing for the first time in a while “she’s right there. Don’t you wanna talk to her. If has any dignity, which I doubt, she would not cause a scene in public.”

Even though Nikolai knew his brother was only goading him, his brain shut off when legs carried him towards the other side of the ballroom, straight to her.

“Y/N.” he spoke and all three girls turned around, each one of them showing different expression. Tamar was curious of what was going to happen, Nadia a bit stressed out about her friend, and Y/N…. Y/N was just in pain and nothing could have hid it.

“Moi tsarevich”  she bowed, avoiding his eyes

“Please, stop it. Can we… can we talk for a minute? Please.”

“We are  not going to interrupt you….”Nadia started, but Tamar was on the other side of the barricade in the matter.

“I will. I’m not leaving her with you in this state, Nikolai. You know, you are both my friends, but she’s the victim not the other way round. “

“Tamar” Y/N put a hand on her shoulder “it’s all right. It will be just a minute to clarify this little misunderstanding . I’ll be with you before you notice I was gone.”

“I still don’t like it…” Tamar muttered, but let Nadia drag her away to have a little chat with Adrik and watch Alina. When they both left Y/N took a deep breath and before Nikolai was able to say a thing she took the lead of the conversation.

“Nikolai. I don’t really think it’s appropriate to leave your fiancé alone. Especially with Vasiliy acting like a predator tonight.”

“Vasiliy is drunk.”

“He’s been drunk since the age of 18. Remember that time when we played a prank on him and had to run through the palace in the middle of the night?” she smiled

“And when we ended up squeezed in the cupboard to avoid his wrath? Yes, I remember that.” Now they were both laughing outloud “I also remember what happened later on….”

“Nik. Stop it” she warned, her cheeks getting a bit flushed. Of course he had to refer to the moment they shared their first kiss “this is not the time or the place.”

“My feelings for you did not change.”

‘And do you think mine did? But you are engaged now. And I get it, Nik, I really do. You did what you though was right, as always and I can’t blame me for that. We are all pawns in this crazy political game and the point is to minimalize the  damage. If that means you getting with Alina then I cannot interfere. I still be there for you both. Even if it is in the sideline.

“Y/N…. I….”

“It’s all right” she raised her hands almost embracing him, but stopped herself in the last minute. “You should probably go join your family, your mother has been eyeing us for a while now and she knows we have past. Can’t risk anyone getting suspicious, right? Moi tsarevich” she bowed and went back to join Tamar, Adrik and Nadia, who pulled her into a hug.

From then on, everything started happening extremely fast. Vasiliy came onto the podium to gave some mockery speech about his brother, the man of the hour, but in the middle of it, Darkling’s shadow monster decided to drop by and well, cause a little havoc, killing the speaker and some other gathered people. It was chaos. Alina, Tamar, Adrik, Nadia and Y/N were trapped on the one side of the room, while the Lantsov (or rather whatever was left of this family) where stuck on the other.

“They have no heart, no pulse, no nothing!” Tamar exclaimed trying to use her heartrender powers

“Every creature has a weakness” Adrik spit, observing the monsters carefully from behind the table they used as some sort of shield, Y/N following in his steps.

“Those are shadows” the girl said “Look, Adrik, you were right, they have to be in their full form to touch and hurt someone!”

Before another shadow could attack Nikolai and his mother, Adrik came from one side throwing a gust of wind his way, Nadia doing the same on the other. Y/N used this as an opportunity to grab a spark from the nearby candle and throw a fireball straight into the middle of it. For a second, when the monster was tearing apart her gaze met with Nikolai’s who was just frozen like a deer in the spotlight.

“GO!” she yelled at him “Take whoever you can and GO!”

“Everyone into the tunnels!” Nikolai ordered, but before he himself rushed off, he just threw one last glance at his one true love and moved his mouth silently.

“Come back to me.”

***

“You three go find Alina, I’ll go check if there’s anyone lost in the corridors to get them to safety” Y/N commanded her friends ready to run the other way

“Have you lost your mind!?” Tamar spit at her “You are not going anywhere alone.”

“I’ll be fine Tamar.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard that from you hundreds times before.”

“And I am still alive. A little bruised and scared but alive. Not planning on dying today, I swear. Alina needs you three and there’s no time, so I’ll just see you downstairs. GO!”

***

 She was running one of the palace corridors, stating with the greatest relief that all the Grisha that were not killed were off the palace and probably on the way to the tunnel. She almost reached the entrance, but mere meters before, another shadow monster blocked her way.

“Oh, Saint!” she hissed annoyed and focused her energy to gather just a little bit of flame since sadly, there wasn’t any external source of it anywhere near. It was always harder to get fire from nothing, but it used to work for her. Most of the times.

Not this one.

The fire that came out of her hands were so weak it barely reached the shadows let alone cause them any harm.

“Oh, shit…” she mumbled when darkness enveloped her whole and tried once again, this time fueled by fury and worry about her friends. Maybe Tamar was right and she shouldn’t have left them. Nonetheless that was not the time to dwell on the past mistakes, since it was extremely hard to breath inside that fog the monster were created from. It was like all of a sudden she found herself in the fold again, broken and scared. “Hell no! I am not dying today” she put her hands up causing a flare and dissipated the shadows finally getting herself free.

If only it wasn’t for that cut with sharp, thorn-like edges on her  leg, which she did not notice or feel.

***

“Is everyone safe?” Nikolai came from one entrance to the tunnels, meeting with Alina and Tamar coming from the opposite.

“Adrik got hurt in the arm, Nadia is with him.” Alina explained “the healers are taking care of the injured. What about the ones you came with?”

“Saved as many as possible” Nikolai turned around “where is …..?”

“That idiotic girl left us and came for the rescue. I told her she should not….” Tamar’s voice broke a little

“Where is she, Tamar?!”

“We… We don’t know…..”

“I’m here!” all the emotions he felt upon hearing her voice where just too much to handle and not caring about anyone  or anything or whether he was acting like an engaged prince he took off running towards her, wrapping arms around her and pulling her close to his chest.

“You’re safe, love. You’re safe.” He whispered again and again caressing her back, tangling fingers In her soft, messy hair and just getting lost in her.

“Nik…” she gasped taking a sharp inhale “I… I don’t really feel so good….” She stumbled a bit and this made him worry.

“I know, darling, but you were so brave up there. You saved my life with that little trick of yours. And you always said you couldn’t do fireballs. Guess me being in danger enhanced your…..”

“Nik, I really do not feel good” she mumbled and all her strength suddenly left her when her legs gave up and she collapsed into his arms, the embrace being the only thing shielding her from falling straight to the ground.

“Y/n? Come on, tell me, what is it, where does it hurt?” he started panicking just in the slightest.

“My leg….”

“May I?” he hesitated before lifting the material of her pants.

“Saints! Stop being a gentleman now! ” Tamar hissed and started tearing the pant-leg “I wish you were this polite at all those night on the ship instead of giving the crew sleepless nights “Oh….”

“How… how bad is it?” Y/N asked, raising her head from where It laid on Nikolai’s chest and he quickly turned her head away.

“It’s gonna be fine” he assured, grabbing her righter and kissing her temple “I’ll get you to a healer, all right?”

“Mhmmm……” she mumbled, slowly losing consciousness.

“I’m gonna lift you now, ok?” one of his hands sneaked around her back, the other went below her legs when he moved her from the ground “you’re gonna be ok, just don’t close your eyes, love.”

Out of instinct Alina wanted to join them on their walk to healers, but Tamar stopped her.

“Don’t” she shook her head, eyes a bit glassy.

“No.” Alina just stated. “Please tell me it’s not….” bus since Tamar was a heartrender there was really no point in arguing.

***

“Nik…. You smell so good.” Y/N hid face in his chest, locking arms around his neck

“I am all sweaty from the fight and running, honey. As much as I love what you are saying I do not smell good.”

“You smell like the ocean.” She smiled lightly “Like the sunny day on volkvolny”

“We’re going to have a thousand more of such days so you could dwell on the smell.”

 “I…. I don’t really think so, Niki.” She hissed in pain when he reached one of the makeshift flop and called upon the healer

“Always a joker, aren’t you?”

“I wish” she started coughing, a little blood appearing on the hand she tried to cover her mouth with. “Tell me the truth, Nik. How bad is it. Cause it hurts like hell.”

“I don’t want to look. I;m not a healer, I don’t have any experience…..”

“You…” she gasped “are a trained soldier. You know about wounds. Tell me.”

“It’s not good” he closed his eyes almost like those words caused him unimaginable pain and grabbed her hands. “but the healers…..”

“The healers have too much work on their hands. And judging by your voice….” She coughed  a bit more

“Sh, don’t say anything more. Let me just… Grigori!” he called upon one of the corporalki “she needs help.”

“Immediately, moi tsar” Grisha answered and it was probably the first time Nikolai realized that he was the king now.

“Moi tsar” Y/N smiled faintly “it suits you so well, lapushka. Auch! It hurts….”

“I’m sorry Y/N, this wound is unusually deep and it seems like there’s some kind of venom in your veins, going straight to the heart and…..” Grigori started slurring

“There’s nothing you can do, right?” she asked simply

“I’m so deeply sorry, Y/N, moi tsar.”

“Not your fault.”

“Leave us.” Nikolai hissed through gritted teeth and Grigori practically run away trying to avoid king’s fury “Y/N….” he leaned toward her, cupping her pale cheek and caressing it gently “I don’t want you to go….”

“Selfish. As usual. You don’t want me to go, mhm. Do you think I…. auch, want to die like this?”

“I need you with me….” He kissed the top of her head

“Selfish. Again. You got the sun summoner now."

"You are my sun."

"Stop flirting with me on .... on my .... death.... deathbed" she squirmed trying to lift herself up but it was too painful “Help… me….” She panted and Nikolai grabbed her waist with one hand and supported her back with another “I don’t have much time left… I feel it almost in my heart….”

“I don’t want to go on without you.” he whispered

“I know.” tears started showing in her eyes and he wiped them away breathing heavily “I’m scared Nik” she admitted trembling “I feel so cold. Can you just hold me? I don’t….” she gulped “I don’t want to go alone….”

“I’m here with you. No matter where you go, afterlife, I will find you, I swear.”

“Not if…ekhem! Oh, saints, it hurts so much” she cried and his heart broke at that sobbing coming from her. The sounds he would never recover from. Reminded that he failed to protect the only person he ever truly loved. And to think she was dying in his arms, while he was about to marry another woman. This was like a punch in the guts “not if I hunt you first.”

“I love you” he just had to say it. Maybe it was selfish again, but he needed to know that were the last words he said to her “I love you and I will always love you.” he kissed her knuckles, looking straight into her eyes. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Nik. And I’m sure you will….” Her voice was becoming so small, so quiet, almost audible in all commotion “… have a long, happy and fulfilled life. You’ll be great king. And a father…. I….” she closed her eyes “I’ll see you later, Nik…..” and just like that there was silence.

And this was the exact moment Tamar clenched her fist and faced the wall, her back to other Grishas so no one would see single tear falling from her eye.  

She said she’ll be fine…….  Empty promises always hurt the receiving end  of those.

***

“Nikolai? We need someone to get everyone together and ….” Zoya was blissfully unaware of the tragedy that just fell upon the king and was her usual self when she entered the part of tunnels were healers were stationed “what… what happened?”  she stuttered at the view in front of her eyes.

Nikolai was not a king at the moment. He was just a broken man who just lost the love of his life. Not crying, just sitting next to her still figure, holding and caressing her cold hand, unable to stop. Almost like he was in a trance. For what he cared the world could stop spinning and it would not make any difference for him. But for her…. He was going to do anything to avenge her death. But he would do that in a second, for now, he just wanted and needed to stay with her a bit more, even if that meant just watching her face, surprisingly peaceful and running a hand through her hair.

If only he could indulge in that greedy need.

“Goodbye, my love….” He whispered planting one final kiss on her forehead and tugging at his hair stood up to protect and guide his people, his subjects.

[ozai-the-bonsai]

Thank you for answering my Zuko request ask. My request is Zuko x reader, water tribe princess. They have an underwater cave kingdom. Her father chose to follow his ancestors decision to stay in isolation like the other tribes. Her mother was murdered by an earth king assassin or a northern water tribe assassin (Ozai set it up to look like either tribe). They enter an alliance and betroth Zuko and the reader. Ozai wanted access to their underwater passage ways and healers for his army. The two meet before his banishment and seem to like eachother. During his banishment the underwater kingdom is open to him. They make a plan to lure the avatar and put him to sleep during a celebration banquet. Sokka finds the princess beautiful and flirts with her. Zuko has to keep his fire in check when spying on them. During the banquet a fight breaks out, Zuko vs Sokka and Aang. Sokka thinks Zuko is holding the reader hostage. Katara and the reader have a water bender fight before the Gaang escape. “I’m sorry sister of the south, but I have to protect my people so stand aside!” Aang realizes how sad and trapped the nations have gotten.

Pairing: Zuko x Water Tribe Princess!reader

Summary: See request

Word Count: 3.5k

Warnings: I guess implied sex, but nothing explicit

Additional details: Perhaps I didn't really have to give any thought to these details at all but I cannot start writing something out with question marks in my head. So this is how I imagined the underwater cave kingdom to be: the only way into the kingdom is through a special current in the sea. The kingdom resides in the Eastern Sea between the Eastern Airtemple and the Chameleon Bay of the Earth Kingdom. Which means that they control the waterways leading up to Ba Sing Se. Even though it is an underwater cave, the cave itself is not filled with water. I didn't really like the idea of everyone having to somehow breathe underwater all the time and literally live like people in Atlantis, hence I figured the almighty Waterbenders of the tribe have (with the assistance of the Ocean Spirit) found a way to keep the water away from their city. You can imagine it like a huge vein of caves inside a submerged volcano in the sea but without the water filling in the caves. Lastly, everyone is able to breathe normally without any oxygen shortage due to rich underwater plant life (like the algae) and the plankton around the caves, which produce the needed oxygen. Note: I am a computer scientist, not an oceanologist, so there may very well be problems with my construction. If that is the case, I am really sorry!

"Princess, your guest is here."

Your blue eyes found the servant standing at your door through the mirror as you combed your hair. Realising how fast your heartbeat became by the second, you simply nodded at the servant, not uttering any words. It had been quite a while since you had last seen him, all the longing and the daydreaming had left you overmuch excited for his return.

Deep down, you really wished that you were the sole reason for his return to the Eastern Water Tribe; however, you very well knew that he was here for the big day that is tomorrow. For him, duty always came first - even though he did love you with all his heart.

The moment you saw his reflection through the mirror as he entered your chambers, your heart skipped a beat. Slowly, you turned around and stood up, your gaze meeting his. "You are finally here," you muttered, taking big steps towards him. "After all those long months, you are finally here."

As soon as you saw the shift in his amber eyes, you found yourself inside his arms, his lips capturing yours hungrily. The determination had left its place to longing. "I wish we had more time for each other, my love," Prince Zuko whispered in your ear as his warm lips left a trail of kisses down your neck, stealing your next breath. "But you know - we cannot allow distractions."

"I have missed you, Zuko," you spoke as you wrapped your arms around his body; his cold, firebender armour cold against your silver, satin gown.

Prince Zuko and you had been betrothed ever since you two were kids - eleven, to be more precise. At first, it was simply a great way to form an alliance with Fire Lord Ozai in exchange for giving the Fire Navy access to your tribe's underwater passageways and exceptional healers.

Your father, the Chief of the Eastern Water Tribe, had decided to form such an alliance and side with the Fire Nation after your mother was murdered by a Northern Water Tribe assassin.

Originally, the Eastern Water Tribe had lived in isolation, not meddling with the complications of the other Nations. Even during the war, the tribe had stayed neutral for many decades. The only sided act that could be considered had been carried out to help your sister tribes - whenever a Southern or Northern ship was spotted, the men of your tribe would ensure they had a safe and easy ride through the Eastern Sea.

Of course, the way your sisters and brothers from the North repaid the kindness of your tribe had changed everything. That night, as your mother gave her very last breath in the arms of your father, each and every person in your tribe swore to make the North pay for what they had done. Knowing that as the Eastern Wate Tribe alone, you would not stand a chance against the forces of the Northern Water Tribe, your father spent countless nights trying to find a way for your tribe to gain more power.

Then, one day, the proposal from the Fire Lord reached the Royal Chambers of the Eastern Water Tribe.

However, not to lose the upper hand, both your tribe and the Fire Nation had been holding this alliance as a secret - on the surface, it seemed like it was just two nations doing trading and some political business, nothing more. Also, only the Royal Families in both Nations knew about the betrothal.

Even after Zuko's banishment, your tribe left its doors wide open for him and his crew whenever they needed help around the Eastern Sea; they were also granted special access to your tribe's underwater passageways. Moreover, your father, the Chief, agreed to help the Banished Prince - his future son-in-law - on his quest to capture the Avatar.

After hearing the news about the return of The Last Airbender, you contacted Zuko, letting him know that Eastern Water Tribe was ready to help him if he needed any kind of assistance. That was when he came up with a discreet plan, at the end of which he would have his honour back and you would have your Prince back.

"Are the preparations done?" Zuko asked as he stepped back to look into your blue eyes. You nodded as a cunning smile formed on your lips.

With slow movements, you started to take off his armour. "At this time tomorrow, the Avatar will have fallen into his forever slumber," your voice was a mere whisper as you placed the body armour carefully on the ground. Reaching onto your fingertips, you brought your lips to a level with Zuko's ear. "You will have got your honour and your throne back," Zuko shivered slightly as he felt your warm breath licking the skin of his neck. You could hear his breath getting deeper and deeper. "And I will have had my Prince back at my side."

You let your satin gown fall down onto the ground, leaving you completely naked as Zuko's amber eyes darkened with lust and desire.

[Time Skip]

"I have never been to the Eastern Water Tribe before!" the Avatar spoke with much enthusiasm in his voice while you and your father led him and his friends to the Great Hall, where the celebration banquet was going to be held. You yourself were being followed by a Royal Guarding whereas your father had two - ever since the assassination of your mother, you weren't allowed to go anywhere without a Royal Guardian.

Of course, there normally wasn't a Fire Nation Crown Prince under the Royal Armour. Since the helmet of the armour was large enough to cover most of his scar, no one took another look at him.

"We have always preferred living in isolation, you see," your father spoke with a deep voice, his dark blue robe moving with each step. "Not only isolated from the other Nations but from our sister Tribes as well."

Only you could hear the sorrow and anger in his voice when he uttered the words sister Tribes.

Katara, the last waterbender from the Southern Water Tribe, nodded at your father's words. "That is probably why we have never really heard anything about your tribe," she said, then a frown appeared on her face. "But, you haven't been acting neutral during this war, right?"

"Actually, we have." You spoke before your father could take the word. "Just like the North, we don't mess with anyone unless they mess with us. And since no one can find the Easter Water Tribe without having someone from inside, this has worked out quite well for us."

Aang, the Avatar, was frowning too. "At some point, you will have to take action - we all depend on the balance!"

A big, fake smile inhabited your father's lips as you arrived at the Great Hall, which was illuminated by bioluminescent plants hanging from the ceiling, casting an ethereal glow on the cavern walls. "That is why we are holding this feast in your name, young Avatar, to celebrate your return and offer you our support, as the Eastern Water Tribe, while you put an end to this war and restore balance to the world!"

Everyone sitting inside the Great Hall began to applaud upon hearing your father's words. You, too, had a fake smile on your lips as you turned right, only to come face to face with the boy from the Southern Water Tribe - who happened to be Katara's older brother.

"Is there something on my face?" You asked Sokka because of the way he had been staring at you the whole time. Hearing your question caused him to shake himself properly to get rid of the drooling expression on his face.

"No, nothing, it is just a regular face!" Sokka immediately went red after realising what he had said. Dropping your Princess façade for a brief moment, you raised an eyebrow at him, Sokka started to wave his arms in the air. "I didn't mean it that way, I meant you have just your face on your face."

The brow was still arched. "You are not making this any better."

From behind, you heard Katara giggling.

Taking a deep breath, Sokka let his head fall down to his chest, averting your gaze as he spoke. "I was staring at you because of how pretty you are." He muttered quickly, almost as if he didn't want you to understand what he was saying.

A small, professional smile formed on your lips as you placed the side of your index finger under Sokka's chin to lift it up gently so that you could look into his eyes. "I really appreciate the compliment, Sokka from South."

As you all made your way towards the main table, you slowed down your steps on purpose, waiting for Zuko to catch up with you. Taking the hint, the Banished Prince walked a little bit faster. "Keep your fire in check, my love." You whispered, your gaze still fixed on the table in front of you with a big smile inhabiting your lips. "You are steaming, literally."

It was impossible not to feel jealousy radiating off Zuko's body but on top of that, he was indeed producing steam on top of his head with his firebending. He quickly shook himself to get his temper under control.

"I don't like the way he is looking at you," Zuko whispered under his armour, walking you towards your place next to your father. "You should have worn the betrothal necklace I have made for you."

You had to tighten the grip you had on yourself not to giggle, you found it somehow adorable how jealous he was getting. "Nobody knows that I'm engaged, we cannot blow up our cover just yet."

Katara was seated to your left and the Avatar was right next to your father. Sokka, upon seeing that you were headed to the seat next to Katara, decided he wanted to make himself comfortable close to his sister. Zuko clenched his fists.

"That peasant is pushing his luck," Zuko muttered under his breath. "But my patience is not infinite."

As if you have any, you thought to yourself while gathering your icy blue robe neatly before taking your seat.

[Time Skip]

"Is that a betrothal necklace?" You asked Katara while waiting for the dessert to be served. "Who is the lucky boy?"

The young waterbender's right hand went immediately to her neck as she shook her head while giggling. "Oh no, you have got it wrong - I am not ready for something like that, yet." She corrected the situation. Then, sadness fell onto her blue eyes. "I got this from my mother, who got it from my grandmother." Katara turned her gaze away. "This necklace is the only thing I have left of her."

Understanding the meaning behind her words, your expression softened immediately, empathy inhabiting your eyes. "I am so sorry, Katara." You spoke with a low voice as you placed your left hand on top of her right one in a sisterly manner.

"Thank you," Katara spoke with a low voice as well. "She died when I was little, during a Fire Nation raid."

Giving her hand a gentle squeeze, you pulled yours back. "I can understand how you feel." You said, your words causing the young waterbender to look into your eyes. "I lost my mother, too."

Before you two could share more about both your pasts, the Avatar came flying on an airball. "Hey, Katara, you should check this out!" Aang called at the waterbender. "I have met an incredible Waterbeding Master!"

The moment she heard Aang's words, Katara's eyes were highlighted. "Please, excuse me, I need to go with Aang."

As soon as his sister was gone, Sokka quickly slid onto her seat to be right next to you. "So, uh you enjoying this banquet?" He asked, trying to sound casual.

"It is just another feast for me" You responded with a smile as the servants brought the dessert. "But, how about you? How are you finding the Eastern Water Tribe so far?"

"It's... different," Sokka admitted, glancing around. "I mean, it's not every day you visit an underwater kingdom, am I right?" He chuckled nervously, making you laugh as well.

Upon seeing that the dessert was finally served, Sokka quickly stuffed some into his mouth, swallowed the piece probably as a whole, wiped his mouth smoothly with the blue napkin and turned to look at you once again, acting like the awkward stuffing moment hadn't even happened. "It seems like we will be sticking around longer than just a night."

Looking at where he pointed his head, you raised an eyebrow upon seeing that Katara and Aang were practising some basic waterbending moves with one of the masters' in your tribe. "Oh," you muttered as you turned back to Sokka. "I didn't know the Avatar was looking for a Waterbending Master."

Sokka nodded at you while leaning in a little bit closer. Once again, you could feel the jealousy radiating off Zuko's body. "He needs to master all four elements so that he can face and defeat the Fire Lord. Water is the next in line."

"I see," you said, your arms crossed over your chest. "In that case, you indeed need to stay a little bit longer than intended."

As if the Avatar will be leaving this place any time soon - once we put him into his eternal slumber, Eastern Watertribe will become his forever home.

"Since I won't be practising any waterbending for obvious reasons, would you be interested in, maybe, hanging out?" Sokka asked you, it felt like he had to use all the courage he could gather. "Or do an activity together?"

For a brief moment, you put your princess façade down without even noticing. "Shouldn't you have waited for the third date for that?" You put your hands over your mouth upon realising what you said. After the short, awkward silence, you and Sokka both burst into laughter.

Sokka's eyes wandered to your neck for a second. "You don't have a betrothal necklace?" He asked, kind of surprised. You needed a moment to remind yourself that nobody knew about Zuko; then, you shook your head.

The image of Zuko clenching his jaw and fists appeared in front of your eyes - even though you couldn't see him for he was standing behind you, it was quite easy to imagine how he looked like at the present moment.

"Well, who knows - maybe you will get one before we leave the Eastern Water Tribe." Sokka spoke, his voice flirtatious.

"That's enough!"

Before you could grasp Sokka's words, you saw a fire blast flying in his direction. The next thing you knew, Aang was standing between a frightened Sokka lying on the floor and a furious (and jealous) Zuko throwing away his helmet. The Airbender used his glider to dodge the flames and save his friend from getting burnt.

"Zuko?!" Aang shouted in a confused way. "What are you doing here?"

The Banished Prince held you from your upper arm and made you stand by his side. "Zuko, you're hurting me!" You tried to keep your voice as low as you could. Upon hearing you, he loosened his hold on you.

"Sorry, love, I didn't mean to hurt you," he whispered.

"There is a Fire Nation spy in the middle of your celebration and nobody is going crazy?!" Sokka asked in the circle as the noise in the background dimmed down. You realised how Sokka's eyes wandered from Zuko's hand holding you from your arm to your blue eyes which shined with fear. Of course, it wasn't for the reasons Sokka thought - you were afraid that your plan was about to fail.

"He is holding the Princess hostage!"

Without giving you any time to react, Sokka threw his boomerang right at Zuko, who ducked to avoid the boomerang, making you duck with himself. The next moment, you saw fire and air blasts clashing at each other, causing a giant explosion that threw both Aang and Zuko off of their feet.

Taking the opportunity, Sokka ran towards you. "Come on, follow me, there isn't much time!" He told you as he tried to drag you behind him but you forcefully shook your arms free from his hold.

"Let me go, Sokka." You spoke with a dangerous voice, which caused Sokka to take a step back rather clumsily. His blue eyes were wide with shock.

"You..." He stuttered while pointing behind your shoulder. "You are with him?"

The moment you heard Zuko's voice coming from behind you, a smirk formed on your lips. "Yes, you peasant - she is with me." He wrapped his arm around your waist. "For the record, she does have a betrothal necklace."

You chuckled at his words. "The Crown Prince of the Fire Nation craved it himself!"

Sokka's jaw dropped - if it could go any lower, it would hit the ground.

Upon realising that Aang was getting ready to take off, your father's deep voice filled the Great Hall. "Guards, do not let the Avatar escape!"

You knew the fear and betrayal falling into Aang's big, grey eyes had to make you feel guilty at some point, but it really didn't. Using the water from the cups next to you, you froze Sokka's feet to the ground while Zuko went after the Avatar, followed by the guards.

"Be careful!" You shouted, mostly for the guards to hear. "We need him alive!"

The water whip hitting you from behind left you screaming in pain as you quickly turned back, only to see the rage inhabiting Katara's pretty face. She was using the water from the waterfall that adorned the Great Hall.

"Why?" She asked as she generated ice spikes and threw them in your direction, one by one. "Why are you siding with the Fire Nation?" Using the waterfall as she did, you created a wall of ice with a swift movement of your hand. All the spikes Katara sent crashed into the wall, either falling onto the ground or getting stuck in the wall. "After everything they have done to our families?"

"Our families?" You asked while sending the ice wall at a breakneck speed. "It is funny how you so readily assumed that I was scarred by Fire Nation as if they are the only villains in this story!"

Katara turned the ice wall into a pile of water, created a huge wave out of it and tried to wash you over with it - only for you to part the wave in two with your hands. "I don't understand."

The water from the wave started to elevate in single drops, which then froze. "My mother was murdered by an assassin from the Northern Water Tribe." You spoke with a venom-like voice as the ice drops turned into ice bullets. Katara pulled more water from the waterfall.

"It... It cannot be. The North wouldn't do that! No one from the Water Tribes would do such a thing!"

You let out a condescending laughter as you made the ice bullets rotate around their own axis. "You are still so naive, Katara." Taking a deep breath, you took your offensive stance. "I am sorry, sister from the South, but I have to protect my people from the likes that have taken my mother away from me - so stand aside!"

However, before you could launch your attack on Katara, a boomerang hit the back of your head, knocking you out and sending you into a relatively long slumber.

"Sokka, Aang!" Katara yelled in joy as the boys caught up with her. "How did you manage to get away from the guards?"

"Hop on, there is no time to waste!" Aang was flying his glider with Sokka hanging from his leg. Taking the boomerang, Katara wrapped her arms around Sokka's body as the Airbender flew them clumsily towards the gate from which they had come in the first place.

"Aang kind of crushed the cave right on top of their heads," Sokka replied to Katara's question after getting off the glider. "Anyways, do you think you guys can get us to the surface?"

Katara nodded at her brother. "Sure, I guess we could just reverse what the Royal Guard was doing while he took us down here." Realising that Aang was calmer than usual, Katara laid her hand on his shoulder. "Aang, is everything alright?"

The young Avatar shook his head. "I have never truly realised how trapped the Nations became through the war," he spoke, his sadness dripping from his voice. "We... We used to live for balance and for happiness; not for one's selfish interests and desire for revenge."

"You are not alone this time, buddy," Sokka said as he patted Aang gently on the back. "I couldn't have imagined how... corrupt this whole Tribe has become." He put on a giant, but fake, smile. "I am sure it will be nothing like this stink-hole in the North Pole!"

Taglist: @annonymatic @yoongiesstar @lost-inthe-v0id @lokigodofmyheart @4l3x1s @potato87123 @asciendo @angelruinz @unamused-boss @junieshohoho @yourlivewire @itszzmoon @coolgirl458 @vyliie @6000-fandoms @aerikim246 @mymummydustxx @xenop0p @saikikusouswife @marsbars09 @stell404 (I took everyone from my taglist from Cry for the Moon because of zuko x reader, I hope that is alright for you! If not, I am sorry for the inconvenienc :/ )

[mariacallous]

Turkey’s recent effort to join South Africa’s genocide case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over Israel’s conduct in the Gaza Strip highlights a double standard that is all too common when it comes to the politics of genocide.

The Turkish state has little credibility being an arbiter of what constitutes genocide when it has spent the last 100 years denying the role of the Ottoman Empire in the 1915-16 Armenian genocide, during which more than 1 million Armenians were killed or died of starvation or disease, according to genocide scholars, as they were pushed by the Ottoman Turks out of Anatolia. Turkey refuses to acknowledge or apologize for these events to this day, despite recognition of the genocide by countries such as the United States, France, and Germany.

Ankara’s participation undermines the intent and moral seriousness of South Africa’s charges and highlights the unfettered hypocrisy that characterizes genocide allegations made by many governments. Turkey formally denies that the events of 1915-16 constitute genocide; its participation in many ways weakens the current ICJ case by giving Israel an opening to question the legitimacy of the charges.

For far too long, various governments, from the United States to Turkey to Israel, have leveled (or downplayed) genocide allegations in pursuit of various political objectives. But genocide is not a political football to be tossed around. It is a serious allegation that should never be used for political expediency. But sadly, that is what it has become.

Since the founding of NATO, Turkey has exploited its membership in the alliance to both curry favor with the West and avoid any culpability for its actions. It has used its crucial role within NATO as a bargaining chip to its advantage.

It is one of the reasons why U.S. presidents from both political parties have turned a blind eye to Turkey’s denial of the Armenian genocide by arguing that the country’s proximity to the Soviet Union was strategically valuable to the national interests of the United States. When the Cold War ended, the argument turned to Turkey’s importance as a “free” and “democratic” society in a sea of Islamic fundamentalists.

And over the last 20 years, U.S. presidents have largely overlooked Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s rising authoritarianism and egregious regional behavior on the grounds that having Ankara as an ally is strategically important for Washington. This type of transactional diplomacy not only is dangerous but also gives cover to leaders like Erdogan, who feel that they can say or do whatever they want with impunity.

It is unconscionable that Israel, a country founded in the wake of genocide, would deny the Armenian genocide. But that is largely what Israel has done for years—and it is politically motivated. Despite maintaining extensive ties with Turkey, until recently when trade between the countries was suspended, Israel has used the Armenian genocide to needle Ankara when they clash, as they are now over the conflict in Gaza.

Opportunistically referencing a genocide to shame a rival—as Israeli officials did for the first time regarding the Armenian genocide after Turkey decided to support the ICJ case—has no place in international relations. Governments either support a policy of denial or oppose it. There should be no equivocation.

Cherry-picking what represents genocide also sends the wrong message to would-be aggressors who see such vacillation as a green light to act with impunity and evade legal accountability.

It is how former Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir was able to direct the killings of hundreds of thousands of people in the Darfur region in the early 2000s and escape justice—despite being indicted and wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for committing crimes against humanity, war crimes, and genocide. Because various governments did not recognize his acts as genocidal or failed to abide by the ICC indictment, Bashir was for years able to travel freely around the world to visit countries including China, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia as well as Rome Statute signatories such as Jordan, Kenya, Nigeria and, most notably, South Africa—all of which failed to arrest him.

It is how China continues to persecute Uyghurs and other minorities in Xinjiang with few repercussions, even from many Muslim-majority nations, such as Indonesia, Pakistan, and the United Arab Emirates—all of which have rejected a U.N. motion to hold a debate about China’s human rights abuses for political and economic reasons.

And it is how Azerbaijan, one of Turkey’s staunchest allies, has brazenly followed Ankara’s lead in denying the Armenian genocide while seeking to ethnically cleanse Armenians today following its 2023 military offensive in the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Taking a page out of the Turkish playbook, Azerbaijan has been able to leverage political expediency to its benefit by using its vast natural resource wealth, namely oil and gas, to essentially buy a seat at the world’s table as it did when it was named the host country for this year’s U.N. Climate Change Conference.

It is also one of the reasons why Azerbaijan has been able to avoid any punishment from the international community for its mistreatment of ethnic Armenians in Karabakh. While Turkey has deftly used the cover of geopolitics to hide from its genocidal past, Azerbaijan is using global energy demand to obfuscate its own crimes today.

This lack of accountability gives authoritarian leaders and bad actors the wherewithal to ignore international organizations and human rights groups seeking to hold criminals accountable and prevent these types of crimes from happening in the future.

Playing politics with genocide sets a dangerous precedent. It denies victims justice and distracts from the actual merits of the crime. If the international community wants to take genocide seriously, then it must be consistent in its application of the law and its meaning.

[serpentface]

you may have already stated this somewhere but I’m curious who the Wardin Empires main enemies are?

Gonna just go ahead and attach the map for this one

Public Enemy Number One is Finnerich, which is a major competitor for control of the Mouth seaway and has a long, long history of conflict with other peoples along this seaway (Wardi and Burri/Titen/Kos most significantly). They dominate trade WITHIN the Viper seaway (which is not a terribly important trade route beyond the regional scale, as it dead-ends without connecting to the ocean. If anyone ever manages to dig out that 50 mile canal, it will become EXTREMELY important), while Wardin currently dominates the Mouth (which is the eastern entrance to the Very critical inner sea trade routes).

The Finns have a strong sea raiding culture and have attacked coastal towns and villages in Wardin (and in their neighboring Royal Dain kingdoms) for centuries, and carried out attempted sieges on the city Odkoto (godsmouth) twice- one that failed near completely, and one during the vulnerable period post-Imperial Burri withdrawal that failed to end in a sacking but utterly devastated the city's population and is still remembered as a collective trauma. They're also known for piracy (perhaps disproportionately, as Imperial Wardin has an entire fleet of state-sponsored pirates) and frequently raid ships on trade routes in the Mouth. They have been in some level of conflict with the Wardi peoples for centuries, and this has intensified tremendously in the modern period with Imperial Wardin emerging as a dominant sea trade power.

This intensified conflict culminated with Imperial Wardin carrying out a successful siege and notably brutal sacking of its capital city, capturing and executing its royal family, launching a land invasion, and forcing the territory into a partly occupied tributary relationship (occupied in the south with a planted loyalist government and military contingency, unoccupied in the north with nominal self-governance retained in return for economic tribute). Occupation was mostly 'stable' for about 20 years until the tributary north fully organized itself into a separate kingdom and declared war on the loyalist south. Imperial Wardin's intervention in this conflict was a DISASTROUS defeat on their part. All of Finnerich is currently free, and in the messy process of stabilizing post-occupation and forming alliances with neighboring Royal Dain kingdoms to strengthen its position.

The Royal Dain (collection of peoples east of Finnerich along the Viper's north coast) are similarly enemies to Imperial Wardin, though not of similar importance due to being located within the Viper and their activities mostly affecting these less critical waters. Imperial Wardin carried out a few sieges of major coastal cities during its expansionist era, but has since kept conflicts mostly naval. Some Royal Dain groups also have raiding and piracy cultures, though most of their land raids affect coastal North Wardi towns and villages (which themselves are mostly tributaries, and have to rely on internal warrior culture rather than military support for defense).

(TANGENT: The Wardi term translated as 'barbarian' dead literally means something akin to '(far) northerner' and is mostly applied to these North Viper peoples (though in practice is a generalized racist and xenophobic epithet that is sometimes applied to peoples/individuals who are not actually 'northern' at all, its connotations are being ''''uncivilized'''' via disdainful cultural and religious practices). ((The term translated as 'heathen' in contrast is seen (at least by most Wardi speakers) as a neutral, non-derogatory descriptor of peoples of different religious faiths (ie you are either of the Faith of the Seven Faced God or you aren't. Those who aren't are heathens, and not All heathens are terrible evil barbarians), though the term is obviously othering and often distinctly xenophobic in practice.)))

Imperial Wardin has much more minor enemies along its sea trade routes. It's been a state of naval hostility with the Yuroma city-states of Suurota and Ummo (located southeast of the Blackmane Mountains) for literal decades (as they are major competitors in the White Sea trade system), but this has not yet threatened to spill into land conflict or attempted sackings. (This is largely due to Imperial Wardin being preoccupied with Finnerich and considering its White Sea trade dominance less critical)

Imperial Wardin is currently in a very close political alliance with the Burri Republic (which is a separate entity from Imperial Bur, and originated as an internal coup ousting the last remnants of the crumbling empire) (not a republic by modern definition btw), maintaining close trade ties and a military alliance, and thus some of Bur's enemies are de-facto Imperial Wardin's enemies. Finnerich is the main enemy of both states, but Bur is also in conflict with sea powers along the western Inner Seaway. Imperial Wardin has not Officially declared war against any of Bur's non-Finn enemies, but utilizes state-sponsored pirates to raid them while maintaining a veneer of uninvolvement.

It has many internal enemies in the sense that a lot of its claimed lands are tributaries (retaining self governance and not being directly occupied in exchange for tribute, mostly of agricultural goods). This tributary system has been more or less 'stable' for the most part, but obviously results in uprisings and reprisals. The Imperial Wardi military originated as a conquering expansionary force to subjugate neighboring lands into tributaries, but this period of rapid expansion was brief, and has slowed to a virtual halt in recent years (due to internal instability and a government unequipped to maintain control of its own claimed lands). Most of the military is devoted to naval forces, and those who aren't are stationed strategically to quash potential uprisings of tributaries (rather than to conquer new ones).

The group that has been most consistently At War with their tributary rulers has been the south-central Hill Tribes located around the Yellowtail Valley region, northwest of Erub. The majority of the Highlands is fully independent with no tributary relations - this is largely due to inaccessibility, relatively poor agricultural land, distance from major trade routes, and in a few (diminishingly rare) cases, Actual Political Alliances With Respected Boundaries (The Ephenni Wardi tribe and Urbinnas river hill tribes have a long history of both positive and negative interaction, turned squarely positive in an alliance against Imperial Bur. The province of Ephennos maintains mutualistic trade relations with them to the present day). The Yellowtail Valley region is an exception- it has highly fertile agricultural land (hosting the source of the region's longest river and second largest lake) and is of strategic importance to the Yellowtail trade route, and as such many of its people have been forced into tributary relations with the province of Erub. This control has been reinforced with the dominant Naig-Troibadnnas tribe being given special trade privileges and military support against their own enemies to encourage loyalty, but many clans in this part of the region frequently practice raids on the Yellowtail trade route and some of Erub's villages and towns (this is not a Purely retaliatory practice, but has intensified SUBSTANTIALLY as means of recouping tributary losses and as reprisal for military action).

All of the region's other native ethnic minorities have experienced a history of land conflict (often predating the rise of Imperial Wardin and the Wardi national identity). The current range of Cholemdinae territory is heavily diminished from its original extent due to land conflicts between the primarily nomadic pastoralist Cholemdinae people and primarily settled agriculturalist South Wardi (both of whom actually stem from a fairly recent common ancestor- the South Wardi were essentially a branch of Cholemdinae that first diverged by adopting settled agriculture). Modern conflicts in this case rarely involve military action and tend to be direct skirmishes between farmers and herders. Jazaiti lands have largely remained intact (due to being mostly unsuited for agriculture), but many of their traditional fishing grounds have been heavily diminished in conflict with Imperial Wardi fishing and trade vessels. The Wogan people originally inhabited most of the region's east (and formed the city that would become Erubinnos). Their kingdoms within these areas were conquered in conflict with Wardi tribes Prior to the formation of Imperial Wardin, and a few others were sacked during the state's expansionist era (remaining Wogan territory is diminished but still pretty substantial, comprises everything between the state's easternmost claimed extent and the Blackmane mountains).

(TANGENT: The Loberan people are notable as linguistically and religiously Wardi, but with very significant Wogan ancestry and fused Wardi-Wogan cultural elements (and a unique dialect). They derived from an alliance between an eastern proto-Wardi tribe and Wogan kingdom that gradually merged into one group by ~300 years BP. Most in the contemporary consider themselves Wardi, but retain a strong sense of individual identity beyond just that their province's subculture.)

Most of the collective North Wardi peoples are under tributary rule (and are commonly considered Not Actually Wardi, or 'Heathen Wardi', as most groups speak Finnic language family tongues and predominantly follow Old Wardi faiths, or heavily syncretic folk variants of the Faith of the Seven Faced God). Their relative isolation and distance from the major cities has lent to open conflicts being few, but there's been a history of direct conflict over the Sons of Creation site. This crater lake has long been sacred to (and fought over by) most of the proto-Wardi tribes who existed in its proximity. This status has been retained in the Faith of the Seven Faced God while also being retained by the northern Wardi tribes that Did Not assimilate into contemporary Wardi national religion. There are several North Wardi groups that claim the territory as their sacred site and consider it desecrated by the presence of the Faith of the Seven Faced God (which many Old Wardi religious practitioners consider an invasive foreign element). This has resulted in open conflict over the site, and the Imperial Wardi military has been utilized to murder and drive out the North Wardi peoples who lived in its immediate surroundings. The site hosts a permanent contingency of soldiers to maintain the state's hold on it.

[rey-jake-therapist]

So at the end of season 2, Gil-Galad hinted at Sauron attacking Lindon, which will undoubtedly happen in season 3, so as I haven't read all The Silmarillion yet I did some fact researches on the Internet... I found this :

Over the next six years, Sauron's armies overran Eriador and moved west, aiming to take Lindon and claim one or more of the Three Rings. By S.A.1699, Sauron has completely overrun Eriador and all its lands, save the Imladris and Lindon. However, Imladris was under siege and Gil-galad was barely holding the Line of Lhûn and the Mithlond. Sauron had summoned more forces coming from the South East, in the hopes of obtaining the Grey Havens.[source?] There, just as Sauron's victory looked secure, a fleet appeared in the north, carrying the forces of Númenor sent by Tar-Minastir, the heir[4][7][note 1] of Queen Tar-Telperiën. The Númenóreans, led by Ciryatur, forced Sauron's armies to retreat south-east with heavy losses. Sauron was defeated again at Sarn Ford, and was pushed out of Eriador, where he burned the forests of Minhiriath and Enedwaith. He had only a small fraction of his army left, although he was reinforced by his force at Tharbad. However, Ciryatur has sent a portion of the Númenórean army to Lond Daer, and Sauron found himself attacked from in front and behind in the Battle of the Gwathló, from which he barely escaped. An ensuing battle in eastern Calenardhon stripped Sauron of all but a tiny bodyguard, with which he retreated into Mordor.[2]

Source

Of course in the show, it won't happen like this. Numenor is currently led by Ar-Pharazôn, who hates the Elves so I doubt that he will send help when Sauron attacks. Tar-Miriel was put under arrest, accused of being Sauron's collaborator. I don't see how she could do anything while being behind bars. So it seems that it leaves us with Elendil? At the end of season 2, he takes Narsil and escapes from Numenor.

(we always joke about Halbrand's resemblance with Aragorn, but they really picked the good actor to play Aragorn's ancestor.... What a man *sigh*)

What I could see, and it's of course pure speculation, is Elendil hearing of Sauron's attack and gathering forces to help the Elves. It might help that he reunites with Isildur before, even though I don't think his grief would overshadow his sense of duty. There are still people faithful to Miriel in Numenor, who, I hope, won't believe that she was saved from the sea monster because of Sauron. Also, Elendil told Galadriel in season 1 that everybody in Numenor didn't hate the Elves, that she still had 'friends' there. So I speculate that we'll see more of these Elves' supporters in season 3.

I mean, the Elves will need to receive help, and I doubt that Durin IV can provide that again while there's a dispute regarding Durin's III's legacy. And would an alliance of Elves and Dwarves against Sauron's might and legions of Orcs be enough, anyways? The Dwarves saved the day in Eregion because there were only the Orcs to fight, Sauron being busy with Galadriel and Adar being dead (RIP). But this time he will be very much present, and he'll make no quarters. Help has to come from other parts of Middle-Earth, and right now I can only see Elendil provide that.

What are your thoughts about it?

[gwynniethenymph]

Do you think so? Part 1.

Pairing: Azriel x Gwyneth Berdara.

Word count: 1212 words.

Notes: Sooo... here is jealous Azriel and a one shot that accidentally became a two chapter story! I'm very nervous about posting this since it's the first story I write in years, but I'm also very excited. Constructive criticism is very welcomed! Don't know if I should post this in ao3, but I'll think about it. Also, Azriel is very, very bad at feelings in this first part.

~~~

"Is it normal for the sun to be so... bright?” Cassian complained for the fifth time in an hour. Azriel only stared at him. His shadows writhed in agitation too, but there was little he could do.

The Summer Court offered oceans of the purest water and clear, hot days. Oddly enough, the Shadowsinger sometimes appreciated this kind of weather, though Illyrian leathers were unbearable in the heat. He missed his leathers.

Despite the initially pleasant atmosphere, the air around them crackled with raw power and fear. War was imminent, and so was betrayal, hence the week-long Courts Meeting. The Spymaster just couldn’t understand why war meetings were disguised as luxurious balls and quick alliances as amicable friendships.

“Courtier's shit,” Rhys had answered with a scoff. They needed to keep the common people calm while orchestrating swift relocations to the south, far from the borders between Spring and the Human Lands. The urgency of such activities was probably the only reason Tarquin tolerated Cassian's presence.

Azriel had plenty of work to do as well, trying to keep his High Lord informed of every glance and conversation. He sighed. It would be easier if that devilish, mischievous little nymph wasn’t so damn... distracting. And offensively good at her job.

With the growing popularity of the Valkyries Division and her remarkable contribution against the Illyrian Revolution, Gwyn had become a respected and well-known name across Prythian. According to Amren, she was also quick-witted, well-versed in history and politics, and "strikingly beautiful". Before understanding her line of thought, Azriel had agreed and added how good of a spy the priestess was.

As a result, Gwyn had been assigned to secure Tarquin's alliance and friendship. Considering how closely they danced at the moment, Azriel thought he might have to remind her of the "friendship" part. Or perhaps punch Tarquin and get himself banned from Summer.

It would be worth it, though.

The dark-skinned High Lord held the Valkyrie against his chest, one hand around her slim waist as they spun. The silk of Gwyn's gown resembled a cobalt ocean, the halter neckline exposing the toned muscles of her freckled arms. If she were closer, he would see her huge, mesmerizing eyes lined with gold and her pink, plump lips. She looked like a siren from the tales Azriel’s mother used to tell him—a beauty like no other, ready to enchant unsuspecting sailors and drag them to the depths of the sea.

Tarquin looked quite happy in his "sailor" position. Azriel would be happy too. He couldn't tear his eyes away from her, couldn't ignore the pang in his chest. Gwyn had become too important to him in the last few years, their time together reserved not only for training and sparring, but for the deepest conversations he’d ever had, for silly jokes and friendly flirting.

Well, he had believed the flirting was not that friendly anymore, but as Nesta and Emerie giggled and whispered about the dancing couple, the Shadowsinger concluded he must have been wrong. As that terrible, awful dance ended and Gwyn separated from the High Lord with a courtesy, Azriel found himself relaxing, his shoulders dropping for a mere moment before he realized how many heads turned towards her.

“Twenty and seven, Singer.”

“What?”

“Twenty and seven males turned their heads to look at Our Light, Singer. Would you be interested in knowing the number of females too?”

Azriel sighed. “No, thank you.”

“Twenty and three females turned their heads to look at Our Light, Singer.”

“Okay, no more counting.”

“This equals fifty heads turned. Dismissing, of course, the heads that didn’t need to be turned because they were already looking in Our Light’s direction, Singer. This includes your head, Singer.”

Azriel gritted his teeth. “Please go check on the Vanserras.”

“Of course, Singer.”

As his shadows went silent and the Spymaster sighed, Gwyn reached the group with a smile. The golden sunlight streaming through the tall, arched windows hit her eyes, making them seem like a gateway to the shallow seas of Adriata. Emerie and Nesta grabbed each of her arms and proceeded to gossip and giggle:

"Who could imagine Tarquin uses dancing as a form of foreplay?" Lady death grinned, mischievously.

Even the tips of Gwyn's ears went red, her eyes going wide "It- it was not! We just danced. Like... friends. Very good friends."

Emerie snickered wildly "I am your friend for longer and never received this type of treatment. You are hurting my feelings."

"Oh, shush. I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, but I know, Gwynnie. He looked at you the same way I do when you look too pretty."

Gwyn's mouth went slightly agape. "Wouldn't that make the look even more... friendly?"

Cassian, who had been observing the conversation, pointedly looked at his mate and nodded. "Wouldn't it, Nesta?"

Caught in the act, Nesta cleared her throat before uttering a simple, "No". Gwyn considered her friend for a moment before shaking her head.

Azriel expected her to say the relationship with Tarquin - and, well, Nesta - was nothing but friendly. That their were all going insane and seeing things that weren't there. He expected her to shrug it off. Instead, Gwyn's eyes glinted with interest.

"I'm not going to dive into your last comment, but... You think so? That he looks at me... like that?"

The two Valkyries looked at Gwyn like she had just convinced Helion to give them a pegasus. Azriel's shadows were whispering about murder and something else the Spymaster couldn't quite catch given the zooming in his ears. His fists and jaw were clenched so tightly he feared it may break. She... she truly liked Tarquin?

"SO YOU LIKE HIM!"

As if it was possible, Gwyn went even more red. "Perhaps, but-"

Azriel couldn't help himself from murmuring "That's not what you should be worried about."

Gwyn's eyes found his "Oh. I- Sorry?"

He shouldn't be saying this. It was only meant to hurt her like he was hurting. But, again, he simply couldn't help himself. "I said you shouldn't be worried about silly romantic... whatever. You have a job to do, and seducing Tarquin is not a part of it."

Their small group went deadly silent, Nesta shooting death glares at him. "I... I was not trying to... seduce him. I'm doing my job perfectly well."

Between the hurt he saw in her eyes before, there was anger emerging. One he matched quite well. "Well, then keep your- your heart and feelings out of it. And your body at least a few inches separated from his."

This time, her mouth was fully agape. Gwyn stuttered from a moment, trying to find an answer, when Tarquin suddenly surged behind her.

"Gwyn? Is this a good moment? There's something I want to show you."

She turned around to face the High Lord and, before Azriel could growl at him or stop her, one of his shadows - the only one that actually listened to the Shadowsinger sometimes - nervously darted across his face, whispering about something about Beron.

Azriel turned around, scanning the room in search of the Autumn High Lord, only to find him having a mildly heated conversation with Helion. But when he returned to excuse himself from the group, Gwyn and Tarquin were gone.

[blueberrypancakesworld]

Love in the military hospital

Tappert x Nurse!reader

warning : hurt/comfort, fluff, flirting, kissing, angst, smoking, world war ii, hospital, blood, no use of y/n

Summary : After another exploration of the area with his group, Tappert is shot in the chest and sent to the nearest military hospital where he is confronted not only with misery but also the woman he said goodbye to six months ago.

info : Even though the film is only good for two thirds and the ending is ignored i had to write for Tappert such a cute little sniper so have fun reading the one shot :) And honestly, it's one of the best things I've written in a while.

masterlist

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

When an entire world had only just begun to recover from the horrors of the First World War in less than two decades, no one could have guessed what would happen in the forties.

The Second World War, which spread across almost the entire world, an opponent who was unstoppable, with a power that no one knew how quickly such forces could be ready, former enemies forming alliances and the whole world looking towards Germany with the aim of defeating it and its leader and paying for the horror it had caused and would continue to cause.

In the north, south, west and east, all powers allied themselves to rise up against this enemy and even the world power America joined in with a force that hit harder than anyone had expected…or so it was said.

The simple soldiers and troops in the trenches, on the torn fields and in the ruined cities could not say whether this was true or not, because they were the ones who fought the battles, they were the ones who fought the battles on land, at sea and in the air, they did everything they could to fight one German and another enemy after another.

This also applied to Private Tappert, who moved through the countryside with a small unit, stopping small patrols here and there, killing and clearing new positions, helping people with the most necessary things they could do, but at the end of the day there was always only their own survival and killing.

A killing in which he had already killed almost fifty officers and higher with his sniper rifle, it was no longer the newest but it was always enough to kill his enemies, just as that night Tappert felt the cool ground under his chest as he had been lying on the cool ground for two hours, in the corner of his eye when he looked to his right he saw his team crouching hidden in the tall grass.

They had intercepted a radio message and decoded that a patrol with supplies was coming to one of the camps and they wanted to prevent this, ,,Come on you bastards, where are you now?" he asked himself again, mumbling.

Looking through the scope which was already slightly overcast, darkness, road, grass and bushes did not seem to move only a few ravens flew in the sky seemed to feel the bloodbath that I was about to experience.

Ravens…they were her favourite birds, the thought flashed through his mind as he thought of the last autumn of peace a year ago in the birds.

A year ago everything had seemed fine and he had just graduated from the military academy and she had been waiting for him, dark flowers in her hands and ravens flying in the sky as they had walked through the park hand in hand. Her smile was the prettiest he had ever seen and the kisses they exchanged were sweet and intimate.

It was a memory he hadn't thought about for a long time when his mind was full of blood and misery, but the screeching of the ravens pulled him back, his hands freezing cold without the gloves, but he had better control with the gun, he looked through the scope again.

His chest pressed against the cool ground, his hands ached and his bright eyes were dark in the night as he saw the truk approach with a rising heartbeat, one shot at the driver and the vehicle would most likely crash into the grass.

Holding his breath, he put his index finger on the trigger and as the truck crested the small hill that night a shot rang through the night a bullet flew through the air shattering glass and a German slumped in front of the steering wheel of the vehicle.

Immediately shouts and orders could be heard in a language he didn't understand as the vehicle skidded slightly and toppled sideways into the ditch and came to rest on the cold glass, hearing the shouts of his team they all rose within a fraction before rushing towards the still dazed and confused opponents and raising their rifles.

But then, as Tappert stood up from the ground, gripping his weapon tighter and about to aim, a shot rang through the night in the commotion.

A bullet fired from the pistol whizzed through the night with barely a whisper and suddenly hit Tappert, who stumbled backwards, barely keeping his feet as the air left his lungs, his hands dropped the gun and his trembling fingers felt the blood pouring out of his chest like a stream before he finally regained his breath and let out a cry of pain.

The world in front of him began to spin with adrenaline, pain and fear and he lost consciousness and crashed hard onto the cold ground where he had killed someone only seconds before.

Would he die too?

A question that gave way to the image of her, he heard the shrill cry of the ravens, the last and again the first thing he heard as he opened his tired eyes, painfully and with a pressure on his chest he tried to sit up but a short pained grunt left his lips as someone pushed him back onto the cot, ,,Not so fast soldier, it's time for you to rest," he heard a nice sounding voice and his eyes seemed too tired and heavy for him to make sense of it, the only thing he could make out was the smell of roses as if someone had brushed past him.

Almost like back then.

What Tappert hadn't realised was that after the attack, which was successful, his bleeding body was glowing, the shot had missed any critical points and yet it was dangerous, his troop had taken him to the next best point, as stated in the report, since then they had to move on and leave their comrade in the next best hospital.

A place he was reluctant to visit because when he woke up a day later in a large hall, the smell of disinfectant and iron rose to his nose, an unpleasant odour that could wake you up, staining the white bed with his blood.

He was still slightly dazed when the doctor came to check on him, handed him the post-mortem that his friends had left him and also took him out of the war for a few months because they had to watch the wound and couldn't rule out that it was worse than they thought.

A diagnosis that made Tappert swallow and he reached for a cigarette, not thinking about it because sirgendjamn must have put the cigarette case there, but when the fire came on and he inhaled the nicotine he could not have guessed what would hit him harder than the bullet that had to be operated out of his chest.

A bullet that was lying on their table just a few minutes away from him, a bullet that, like the other one, was to be thrown in the rubbish - a task given to the newer nurses.

A task she enjoyed doing to some extent, the misery and death were hard, she had nightmares and had to pull herself together sometimes not to cry and yet she always remembered what she had sworn to herself, what she had sworn to him, ,,If you need me I will be there and heal you…I will heal and save everyone Tappert" she had said to him as a farewell when she had pulled the bandage with the red cross on her arms shortly after he had boarded the train.

Still she had felt his kiss on her lips as she walked into the hospital and had seen the misery for the first time half a year ago, she was still quite ‘new’ and yet one could never really get used to the injured.

She didn't want to be idle and even if she only received letters from Tappert sporadically, she always sent him two back, always sealed with a kiss and smiling to herself at the thought that the next letter would arrive soon.

She had had a bad feeling the last few days as if something was happening, because the letters came monthly and last month none came, it had taken a few words from her friend to convince herself that everything was fine but that feeling inside her chest was piercingly painful.

Especially when you were surrounded by death all the time, you knew the danger of war almost as well as the soldiers.

She flinched as she heard the doctor's footsteps, an older man with glasses and always a hopeful smile on his lips, he didn't want to give up on anyone. An attitude she admired because she had been losing hope more and more over the last few weeks.

,,Miss…I want you to monitor the new patient for the next few weeks, give him this medication here is the file he's in room twelve," the white-haired man said and handed her the clipboard on which a few notes were scribbled and she saw the prescribed medication in the knotted handbag.

Actually just a few pills and fluid for pain, seizures and fever, the usual for a gunshot wound, she had overheard the gossip from the other nurses that it would have been fatal if the bullet had gone just a few millimetres to the right, but it wasn't and as she threw away the bin bag with the rest of the metal she grabbed her new task and hurried off to the supply room to put the medication together on a small tray.

Keeping her steps through the corridors and hallways, she greeted a few of her co-workers and made a few notes for her other patients who also needed to be kept track of, room twelve or rather room twelve was a small room where the freshly operated patients who needed to be monitored more than others stayed.

As she paused outside the double she didn't look at the small board with the names written on it, in the corner of her eye she only saw a name scribbled in white chalk but this encouraged her, if there was only one patient it must look good for America maybe the war would be over soon.

Pushing the doorbell down with her elbow she opened the door and closed it with a light kick lifting her gaze she said ,,Welcome back sold-" as her voice fell silent and she paused in her walk to the bed, a clang and clatter echoed through the hall as the tray slipped from her shaky fingers and everything fell to the floor and shattered ,,My heart" came a soft whisper from the brown haired man who slowly rose from his bed.

The two of them stood facing each other for a moment, but their eyes were soon filled with tears as they embraced and her bitter, relieved but above all painful weeping echoed through the hall as she pressed her head against his shoulder and he held her trembling form.

She wanted to say something but with every opening of her mouth she seemed to breathe too much and too little at the same time, she couldn't get anything out and looked at him in tears, her fingers gripped his face, the rough time out there had hardened him but she only saw her boyfriend who had been through hell on earth and now came back to her, ,,You…you're back…Tappert I-I've got you back" she sniffled smiling tasting her tears and seeing his nod, feeling his hands on hers as he looked at hers and kissed them a moment that seemed like eternity.

,,Yes-yes I'm back….I'm back with you my heart as promised" he murmured blinking away his tears as he gently wisked hers away and pulled her into a long awaited welcome back kiss.

A kiss where he pulled her to him, his hands holding her tight and even if the pain of the wound was there, it didn't matter as long as she didn't let him go, as long as he felt her hands on him and she held his around her, protecting her from the horror of reality, everything would be alright.

A kiss from which she first broke away as he gently stroked her hand, every single finger, and she understood that he wanted to kiss her hands again, ,,Everything, I've missed everything about you, I should have written more often, please forgive me," was the first thing he said and sat down carefully on the bed, looking up at her as she stood in front of him and looked down at him.

He hadn't changed, his hair was only slightly shorter, his moustache a little fuller and yet she had her dear Tappert back.

He also looked up at her, she was still the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, still behind all the pain and fear she was the bright beautiful woman he had known back then, soft hands as bloodstained as his but in her eyes was life, a life he loved and cherished.

However, she shook her head slightly and wiped away the tears and snot with a cloth from her dress pocket, ,,You were on a mission Tappert, I knew it would be hard…I-I'm just glad to see you…alive," she also admitted, seeing the brief snort of amusement as he looked down at himself and she saw fearfully that the bandage was soaked with blood.

She immediately wanted to scream for a doctor, but when he suddenly held her hand, moving it to her hip and holding her there, he gave her that reassuring look again, a small grin, ,,You're my nurse, my heart, so what do you suggest?" he said and leaned back slightly, seeming to want to make an inviting gesture.

A gesture that could not have been more provocative when he took off his T-shirt completely, exposing himself just like that and although she had seen many men dead and alive as well, she felt the warmth on her cheeks when she had to look several times.

Smirking to himself, he continued to watch his wife as she gathered a few things together, mumbling something like a curse under her breath before she sat down on a chair in front of him and slowly removed the bandage, ,,Ouch, dear, you can lose me so quickly if you don't pay attention…and just let yourself be distracted so easily," he suddenly whispered to her and stroked her cheek, a gesture he had usually made at other times in a more private establishment.

In one aspect he hadn't changed after all, Tappert was still someone who loved to tease her wherever and whenever he seemed to get his kicks out of it and worst of all it worked.

When she averted her shame-filled gaze for a moment, her skin tingling where he had touched her and her fingers resting on his thighs, feeling the muscles underneath, her sensations and feelings returned.

,,Don't blush like a poppy seed, dear, I'm just trying to support you, you know," he said, wanting to remind her, gave her a kiss on the head and leaned back again to let her do her work, which she continued with a grin.

,,Yes…Yes, I know that Tappert and yet I would like to treat you first and then who knows what comes next," she said with a wink as she closed the wound again, causing him a little pain and giving him a small dose of morphine before putting him back into bed.

She now saw the reproachful look at the activity that was actually implied, she only laughed amusedly at it before she sat down on the bed, his hand moved tiredly to hers, his eyes tired and above all exhauste.

A look that matched hers and the two of them looked at each other for a moment. ,,I love you" came from him quietly, tiredly but above all sincerely, words that still made her blush, words that she returned with ,,I love you too” and stroked his rough hand, talking to him until she saw his chest slowly rise and fall.

The nurse could feel her strength slowly leaving her, how tired and exhausted she was and that she hadn't had a break for hours, it would have been a good idea at least for a moment if she had laid her head carefully on his chest, listened to his heartbeat while the room was completely silent and the two sleeping to the lullaby of their two hearts reunited in love and fell into a peaceful loving sleep hand in hand.

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

@angelsanarchy , @starry-eyed-wild-child , @rl-nancyholbrook , @pattydia , @thevampiresbirthdayparty , @mlentertainment , @metam0rphine , @esenvano