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castrian-amore · 8 months ago

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Stellata Notte(C’è finalmente libertà)

Death Defying(Danny Fenton x Dick Greyson), DC X DP, Space AU, Unfinished, Chronic Illness, Please see ao3 for full list of tags

Gift fic for @nikki-pondtheauthor

2/? Chapters | Chapter Length: 10,162 words

Chapter 2: When the Welcomes of Star Systems Sing

Dick Grayson was born at approximately 20 Darths and 4 Tiths on the 3rd rotation of the calendar year on the planet of Isman. The planet where his family’s business had taken them for the moment with the intergalactic Haley’s circus. It had been a normal day for them. Land the ship and begin to set up outside of the city capital. Of course his mother had gone into labor and even though she hadn’t been performing that night any hope of the Flying Grayson’s performing at all for the next little bit would have been ruined in general.

The circus was originated by the Humans of the planet of Earth centuries ago but there was little care in the world now where it originated. Now it had shown the detailed and impressive physiological feats of many races from across the galaxy and the various star systems throughout. They were a wonderful mix of new and old and ancient. Forgotten performances of praise to gods no one knew the names of. Dangerous acts of high intensity swinging, and of course that had been how Dick Grayson had grown up.

He was used to the strangeness of the universe and known life having lived and grown up alongside them, many questioning whether or not it was fit to have such a fragile little thing to travel with them. Many watched as the Grasyons taught Dick the very basics of the trapeze. They taught him how to fall. How to catch himself and how to react at a moment's notice. His parents had taught him the ins and outs of the performances and so when it was time for him to perform he would do so flawlessly, and thus two became 3. Of course Dick had loved it growing up around such wonderful and kind people.

He learned various languages and methods of communication from across the galaxy. He learned of the stone people and their precious stones they used to convey emotions because they could only make one face and one tone with their voice. Stone used to clearly display their mood.

He met the kryptonians who looked so similar to himself and yet vastly different in a way that he enjoyed. He met a few Amazons, one of the only species to be able to facilitate one species with all of their residing members having both male and female sex organs they could choose whether they wanted to carry or to impregnate someone themselves. It was interesting and as Dick grew and learned he found himself staring at the miracles that beheld him in space traveling with the circus. He got to watch miracles of life and the misfortunes of death from several of their residing species. What he hadn’t expected was for him own parents to leave him too soon as their show went on and the accident happened upon the planet of Krypton.

No one had expected them to die or for their technology to malfunction around them. No one had expected any of it, and yet here they were. Dick had watched his parents die and thus he was left with no family around him. Humans spread too far and thin across the galaxies with no true planet to call their home, they were known as a wandering race anyways.

Dick thought he might have to find new partners to continue to afford to live and eat aboard the ship not knowing where he would turn too scared and confused about what he had witnessed convinced someone had targeted his parents for something, that had to be it right? It couldn’t have been in an accident? They had done this same routine a hundred times and it seemed no different to them that they couldn’t do anything about the accident.

But it had been just that, an accident.

So Dick sat on a bench inside of the ship staring out the window at the landscape of krypton underneath the red run. What could he do after all? What was he going to do? He had only been brought from his reality now once more at the door opening to his room. Haley stood there rubbing the back of his neck.

“There’s someone who wants to meet you Dick..”He spoke softly and gave the man a small smile. Dick had glanced back to see another human in a business suit. He gave a gentle sad smile and walked over.

“May I sit here?”He motioned at the free spot in the window sill. The two sat in silence for another moment and Dick wasn’t about to be the one to break it before the man spoke again.

“My name is Bruce Wayne and my home resides here on Krypton… I am sorry to hear about your parents' young Grayson,”He spoke genuinely and as Dick stared up at him he saw a matching expression. The man held sorrow in his eyes and a soft smile filled with regret.

“Thanks…”Dick whispers out, pushing down his feelings and staring back out the window.

“How are you holding up?” Dick gave a shrug at that one. How was he holding up? How was he holding up against the crushing weight of the worlds resting upon him now. Everyone asked if he was okay. Everyone apologizing to him for his loss. Everyone repeating the same lines over and over again and some slightly different than others but at the end of the day he saw it all for what it was, a facade of caring.

No one offered to take him on as a foster. No one offered him a job to hold onto in the meantime so he had a way to feed himself. No one offered him anything but their sympathies and false promise of hope and dreams that they would never fulfill. Of course they did. Why would they help the now poor orphaned Flying Grayson who was the only one lucky enough to not fall to their deaths.

Then there was this guy, and Dick was so sure he was going to offer him nothing but sympathies and apologies and wishes of things he didn’t even want. Dick didn’t know who this man was or why he had been there talking with him in the first place but that didn’t mean anything to dick did it? This man meant nothing and would mean nothing to him because why should he? He had to be like everyone else right?

“Holding on,”Dick curtly replied, pulling his knees to his chest and gazing fixed out the window in a quiet daze as the thoughts ran rampant through his mind.

“Your parents gave an amazing performance, You did too,”he offered and in a way it was more blunt and stating fact than him trying to actually calm down Dick. It was a quiet comment that he had done his performance well as if that was all there had been to it. Another performance. Another compliment and job well done. What did this man want?

“And? The systems still failed, they died.”Dick ripped the tears wanting to form in his eyes for a moment trying to hold it together and then he felt a gentle hand rest on his shoulder as he looked up at him.

“But you’re still alive and kicking aren’t you,”he offered that same longing smile. A smile and eyes that hid the fear behind them and the quiet intonations that he knew what Dick was going through.

“I guess..”He curtly replied.

“Do you have anything you want to do when you get older?” Bruce gave him a gentle smile. “I wanted to be a pod racer. You know the ones they do on that desert planet just a few darths away from the Kraison system? Have you heard of it? There’s an entire league and they even stream it. It’s still pretty cool if I do say so myself.”

“I haven’t heard of it?” Dick replied softly as the other pulled away. ‘I don’t think I do.. I just wanted to perform with my parents.” Dick looks out the window then down to his hands. “I can’t do that anymore.”

“I think you can use that though, can’t you? Do you like the stars? You like traveling?”Bruce smiles.

“Yeah?”

“Then let’s live one day at a time until you figure out what you want to do. How you want to move on. Moving on from anything is a big task after all isn’t it? Mourning is an even bigger one that is going to take time. Maybe spending some time out in the stars and planet will help, but maybe with a new group of friends.”

“What are you saying?” Dick slowly looked over at the man. His hair black and slicked back in his formal suit and eyes glistening with a plan as he glanced over at Dick gently giving him a smile.

“If you’ll have me. I think I'd like to see if you’ll allow me to take you in as your foster parent. No need to call me dad. No need to feel pressured into my lifestyle. You just will have the freedom to do what you want alongside me for a while and go to school, and study, and maybe figure out a new life one step at a time.” Bruce gave him a smile and stood up offering his hand out to Dick.

A young Dick Gray son new to the world and scared at the news of his parents death and finally looking at the single person he felt as if wouldn’t betray him in the eyes. The man with an old soul and plenty of money as well as the unshaking urge to continue pushing forwards no matter how hopeless things seemed to get.

Dick had learned many things from him. Now where to begin…

9 YEARS AGO

“We are gathered here today to celebrate our graduates of the Federation Academy. All of these students are hard working, responsible members of the federation. We would like to take this time to announce our top graduates in their fields of study and their new ship assignments,”The President beamed. The Federation Academy. The high school was only for the best of the best and the only school allowed to take students from any walk of life and allow them to immediately enroll within the Federation ships.

The classes allow for those who aim for certain fields to focus on them and join within the ranks of the ships where they can build their careers and press on.

“May I present for the top of the Medical Field Classes Jazz Fenton.” The fiery red head walked on the stage giving a bright smile as she waved and took the certificate allowing the media to take a good look and their cannon shots of her. She was charismatic and good at what she did. Able to not only fix you up in a heartbeat physically but mentally. It also made her a dangerous opponent to fight though. Dick couldn’t count the times she used knowledge she learned from who knows where to take down opponents twice her size with secret techniques and things about their physiology No one would normally know. He knew she had a brother she barely got to see and other than that they briefly had interacted. She stepped off the stage exiting to the right of it to sit down in the designated spots.

“M’gann M’orzz head of our Interspecies Relations!”

She gave a polite nod to the class and gave a big wave to everyone. She was always so friendly so the fact she landed top of her class there was no surprise to him. Dick got along well with her and helped her adjust. He had briefly met her uncle J’onn on one occasion alongside Bruce. He was very straight forward but caring in comparison to M’gann who liked to do her own thing and was very animated. He hasn’t been to Mars in a long while. M’gann always said she would show him around if he ever decided to visit.

“Koriand’r of Tamaran top of her class in Civil and Interplanetary Defense!”

Dick had always had a thing quietly for Kori. He had tried to make moves but turns out she wasn’t interested in him back and in turn they still remained close friends as Dick had been the one to first befriend her and help her learn the way of life on Krypton. It had been a tricky situation for all of them.

“Dar’ith Kal’halium,” the man took a breath with a smile as the Greviaan walked on stage with his 4 tentacle like legs.” Head of the class in Engineering and ship design!” An award that would later find itself in Tim’s hands and it would be Dick in the crowd happily clapping at the man with a smile. Dar’ith was a kind soul and he found himself often in trouble a lot more than one would think. He would get to involved with work he forgot to not only take care of himself but he commonly got so distracted he would almost always accidentally drop something or almost hurt someone because of it. Dick would laugh and help him before they moved on.

“And lastly, the top of this years class not only as a whole but also top of the class in Interplanetary piloting in small grade, multi-warp, and long haul capable vessels, Dick Grayson,”the Kryptonian introduced him as he saw his family in the crowd cheering for him loudly. Still a few years before the accident that would end up Driving Jason away from the federation. Dick walked the stage taking the certificate, giving his charming smile across his face and giving a small nod of thanks to the headmaster as they stepped off to the side.

“Everyone give a round of applause for the tops of the classes!” The crowd cheered loudly and Dick looked over at all his friends standing beside him. He couldn’t ask for better people. “We welcome these young souls into the Interplanetary Defense Federation with open arms if they so choose. We have already reviewed words from 4 of them who would like to enlist so now I will read out their ship assignments.”

The crowd began to quiet down and now this was what Dick was nervous about. Ship assignments. His focus was to be a captain of a ship but there was no way he would be given a ship at just 18. Which meant he would be assigned to a ships defense pilot squadron. He knew which one he wanted. The I.D.F.S Unrelenting. The newest ship in the fleet fitted with a long haul multi-warp engine and it’s own 10 small grade defense patrol if needed. It was built for the soul purpose of exploring deep space. Though he didn’t think he’d mind the I.D.F.S Trinity either. Both were newer and the most technologically advanced ships but the catch 22 but even being 18 most humans weren’t allowed for long haul flights and there were rumors of the I.D.F.S Unrelenting to be released on a long deep space mission. It was the largest ship in the fleet after all and it seemed best to go and explore with all of it’s abilities.

“Jazz Fenton will be stationed on the I.D.F.S Trinity! Koriand’r of Tamaran will be on the I.D.F.S Starfire! Dar’ith Kal’halium on the I.D.F.S Krisme the space station orbiting here around Krypton. Dick Grayson will be stationed on the I.D.F.S Bludhaven.”

Dick’s heart fell… the Bludhaven? He was top of his class! He excelled in everything and yet Jazz Fenton beat him out for the Trinity! The BludHaven was an older single-warp long haul ship with a small 4 ship defense grouping. Still, the crowd cheered and Dick fought the disappointment in his eyes and his heart about where he was stationed. The BludHaven was a patrol ship around the outer galaxies centered on the dying planets and maintaining a close bond with the edge of the universe with the rest of the galaxy. It was far away from most people and commonly required a smaller multi-warp capable ship to get to it despite the fact that it, itself was not a multi-warp ship.

Of course he didn’t get it. Of course he never truly would.

5 YEARS AGO

“Dick.” A broke voice called out to him through heavy breaths of smoke.``Dick get up!” There were flames everywhere and Dick was fighting the smoke inhalation as he choked on his own words trying to form any semblance of a sentence to get his thoughts together. He could feel the blood trickling down his face and almost getting into his eyes as he sat up looking around him painfully aware of his throbbing skull and knowing there must be a concussion there. Dirk was already pulling him to his feet with a panicked look across his smooth features Tentacle tightly wrapped around his wrist.

“What’s happened?”

“Someone’s attacking the ship! We’ve got to go! All the other defense pilots were taken out and the captains called for a full evacuation!” Dirk pulled him along the stubling man being dragged behind in his uniform. Both of them trying to blend in with the crowd his mind was trying to work and he pulled himself from Dirk’s grip.

“No-- I have to get to my ship,”he shook his head. “Someone’s gotta help defend the escaping pods none of them are equipped with weapons.”

“This ship is a patrol ship! It’s stationed amongst mining colonies, it’s not meant for things like this!” Dirk tried again to pull him.

“So what?!” Dick flinched as the ship rocked and both of them were roughly thrown into the wall another call for the evatuation filling his ears as he coughs some more his lungs still burning. “So what? Dirk what happened to the other ships? Their pilots? My squadron?”

When Dick had been stationed out here he struggled with finding a place because they had brought him out to replace the old squadron leader. They apparently didn’t seem worth it to promote from within and it had taken him a year and a half before his squad finally started to respect him. He had been the youngest squadron’s leader in the history of the Federation. It had been why they had sent him out there, to try and keep the place from falling apart even as he learned of his groups and the ships nefarious duties. He kept quiet about. Desperately trying to underhandedly sabotage the illegal shipments they let through. Take proof of the bribes and mysteriously send it to command. The ship knew there was someone causeing issues aboard and ruining their entire legal operations but Dick maintained a facade he knew Bruce helf onto far too well.

Bruce always did far more than he let on, having shown Dick his personal space station he had nick named the “BatCave”. Based on old art he had found in the old Earth Archives of an animal that had existed too long ago. Bruce apparently had been apart of a secret society trying to weed out the bad guys within the Federation and across several planets landed himself the name of “Batman”, Specifically on the planet of Gotham. Dick had done it with him for a short while but balancing that and the Academy had not been easy.

Now though, here on the BludHaven? Dick had ended up doing as his father had. They had given him the nickname of “Night” Because he appeared during the sleeping hours of the ship. Dick didn’t quite understand it but he took the name and ran with it. Keeping his little side hobby of ruining the ships underhanded and nefarious purposes were difficult, and he despised most of the people on the ship.

“Dick,”Dirk was pulling him from his thoughts. He shoved a set of bracelets in his hands looking away before walking off. The identification tags. He stared at them. These were his squadrons tags. He was the only one left. That meant there was only one more person able to protect the people. The bridge, he had to get to the bridge. He pushed past the people running towards teh escape pods. He went agains the currents fighting way to get to the bridge. Melinda. She had helped him and if she was ordering a ship wide evacuation he had to know.

“Mel!”He screamed as he pushed his way through the crowd as the doors to the bridge opened. Mel was in rough shape. She had several gashes from expected explosions throughout the ship and she was barely holding on to the captain’s chair as she looked back at him.

“Dick,”she smiled weakly. “I thought I sent Dirk to get you out of here?” Her slightly blue tinted skin gleamed in the light. She had come from a water based planet and had gills normally covers in a thin film to protect them as well as webbed fingers and mere holes for ears with electronic adapters connected through her skull to process sound without overwhelming her.

“You know I don’t listen,”He laughs before he watches her stand and then immediately collapse as he rushes over to catch her. “What’s going on Mel, talk to me?” He urges her.

“It’s a pirate fleet. They caught on that the ship was causing problems and interfering in their trade practices of Sprint. No longer aiding in it.”She coughs weakly and Dick’s eyes widened seeing her cough up the green blood of her species. He looked her over eyes widening finding the

“So they’re taking care of the issue,”He finishes quietly looking out the main bridge window, seeing the several ships. He pauses as he is yanked down to her level.

“Dick,”she starts obviously struggling to breathe. She grabbed his wrist tag and pressed the small button on the side not letting him react. “I name you Captain of the I.D.F.S BludHaven under emergency order code 67901.” She let go of his wrist as the tag flashed red then green.

“Mel, what are you--”

“Shut up and listen to me,”She breathed out collapsing more into his arms. “You are one of the kindest and more caring people I’ve ever met. You care for everyone no matter what and you have a heart a gold and you are one of the best leader’s I’ve seen in the field even when you know that your underlings hate you.”

“Mel, stop. You’re talking like you’re going die!” Dick pulled her close trying to stop her bleeding trying to fight the tears welling in his eyes.

“I am. Stop this.”She uses the last of her energy to push him away. “Go get your fighter ship. Protect your people. They’re your responsibility now. I’m going to drive this ship into these bastards and let this ship go down with glory, in flames.”

Dick paused, wiping his eyes before she weakly slammed her hands on the captain’s chair forcing herself back up as she gave him a final smile. Dick gives a firm nod and a final salute. He hadn’t planned on being captain at only 22 years old. It would not be overlooked as he tried to ignore the pain still edging behind his eyes.

He took a deep breath and turned on his heels and ran towards the ship's bay.

“Kai!”He called out as the AI of the Kryptonian inventor appeared.

“Yes Dick?”It greeted.

“Prepare bay doors for emergency fighter ejection, Is the NightWing ready?”

“She is always ready in case of an attack. Though, the captain put the entire ship on emergency evacuation so I must insist you return to the evacuations Shuttle pods.” Dick held up his wrist.

“No, I’m piloting the NightWing. This ship is set to blow. I’m protecting those transports from the attacks. Give ‘er all the firepower you can.”

The small blue light and scan passed over his wrist as the AI nodded. “Very well then Captain Grayson. I will move her over as you change.”

Dick was already stripping from the standard uniform and into the pilot's gear as quickly as possible. “What percentage of the ship has gotten to the escape pods?”

“Approximately 89%. It will take another 5 minutes to finalize the rest of the ship minus those who have already been recorded as dead.” Kai appeared in front of him, handed over the head piece for the suit and he slipped it on behind his ears.

“Can you connect me to the bridge?”

“Of course Captain,”Kai nodded as he watched it patch him through.

“Mel, I know you can hear me. You have to wait 5 more minutes for the final ships to get out of here. Give them everything we got. I'm about to head out myself okay? Hold on for just a little longer.”

“Oh trust me Dick, I’m holding on with whatever life I have left.” Dick laughed softly trying to ignore how weak she sounded but she was a stubborn one wasn’t she?

Dick climbed into the NightWing as the tops shut and he gave a heavy sigh flipping the controls before he sighs. “Broadcast to the shuttles and this ship.”

“Of course,”A pause from Kai. “Connected, now broadcasting.”

“This is Captain Dick Grasyson of I.D.S.F BludHaven enacted to my position from emergency protocol 67901. Get on those transports as fast as possible and get out of here and jump. Until all ships have warped out of here I will be acting as cover as the last of my Squadron’s Protection Unit. I know this is scary. We will make it through this, and listen to me. I will not let anything happen to the remaining shuttles as best as I can. We will get through this. This is the Nightwing. Comms out.” The communication shut off as he felt the purr of her engine start and watched her come to life in front of him.

He shot out of the bay and it had been a long time since he’d had to do active fighter maneuvers but it proved just how good he was at it, not even the slightest bit rusty.

Still, as the last shuttle still standing left the local space and all enemy fire was on him he stared at the BludHaven, watching her dive headfirst into the main Pirate ship. He watched her explode. Eyes closing as he took a final deep breath.

“Kai, how’s the warp corp?”

“Holding and steady.” His ship rocked as the blast of the Bludhaven finally reached out. “Wait! Losing power! If you need to jump, do it now.”

“On it,” Dick flipped the switch trying to ignore the damage reports now filling his vision as he took another ship and his head moved and hit the glass. Another shock sent down his spine. Fuck, no not yet. “Enable warp.”

Dick barely pushes the button before he blacks out, praying he wouldn’t crash.

ONE DAY AGO

“Dick, this isn’t looking good!”Tim’s voice was frantic from down inside the engine bay. The man had to have been running back and forth with his tools like a madman. “How are they getting so many hits? Why aren’t our shields operating at full capacity.”

“You’re telling me!”Dick hissed out gripping the sides of the pilots chair firmly as he wove them in and out of the way to the best of his abilities trying to avoid what he could from the debris field coming their way. The rings of a planet long since lost to a comet or asteroid having run it through and yet somehow the rings still maintained their shape, probably would end up drifting eventually and cause even more problems but this wasn’t his system and it wasn’t his problem. His problem right now, was the fucking pirates hot on their trail.

They could keep up which was a concern in itself on so many levels. He didn’t know how to take it so that someone could keep up.

“We need to jump,”Jason commented sliding over to push more buttons so Dick could focus on steering the ship in front of him, he just wished they could have left her on autopilot mode and went on with the even with little to no worry but yet here they were being attacked by something, or well someone. A group of people more than likely with their own impressively fast ship.

“You’re telling me! We need to lose them before we can jump!”

“We’re only going to have one jump!”Tim’s voice exclaimed. “I only think we can make it one more jump before we lose warp capabilities!”

“We need to lose them then,”Dick mumbles under his breath. “I need to try out our stealth mode, that's the only way. They only found us because we took them off. We need to turn them back on.”

“You want to jump while in stealth mode! We haven’t even tested that!”Tim’s voice cut off at the end of the radio as Dick heard a squeal and probably the sound of Dick falling.

“Do we have another choice!”Jason pressed. “I’d like to live long enough to go on a date. I promise my girlfriend once she got back from her mission by the way!”

“You’re saying that as if I didn’t cancel a dinner with Bernard for this!”

“Will both of you shut up!”Dick hissed out at his siblings who went quiet at Dick’s stress. He always held his cool. He took a deep breath and gave a sigh. “I’m sorry. Tim, buckle up. You too Jason. We’re initiating stealth mode.”

“On it!” Tims voice echoed and cut off and soon enough the doors to the cockpit opened with a small hiss and in ran Tim who almost practically fell into one of the chairs as he buckled up.

“Initiating spy initiative,”Dick calls out as Jason flips a few switches. “Now.''He and Jason press the designated buttons as they move and feel the ship shutter for a moment and immediately Dick moves to initiate the Warp drive procedure. “Opening coolant vents.”

“Initiating warp corp,”Jason replies.

“Coordinates?”

“The Earth System. We should be able to make it to mars and get a full run down on the ship there,”Tim quotes. “No other system is close enough for us to be able to safely make.”

“Delightful,”Jason grumbles as Dick gives them a smile.

“Come on Jay! You said you wanted an adventure!”

“That was you Dick,”Jason rolls his eyes and Dick smirks.

“Huh, that it was, wasn’t it?” A smile crosses Jason’s face.

“Shut up Dick. Press the goddamn button before we get shot down.”

“Alright alright!”Dick laughs and looks at the joystick in his hand as he presses the button and the three of them are welcomed with the familiar feeling of the FTL drive activating and they soared through the galaxy on their way to their intended location. Mars.

However, they fell out of hyperspace too soon. The entire ship jostled and sparks flew through the cockpit as Tim hopped up without a word and bolted down to the engine bay.

“We have a problem. I don’t care what planet it is but you need to land this ship now!”

“What do you mean Tim?”

“We’re about to lose most of her power capabilities.”

“Nearest planet is that desert planet. I’m still on stealth so asking Barbara isn’t a question,”Dick hisses out as he switches their flying back to 100% manual. Out of all of them DIck was the pilot of the family. Jason the Brawn and Tim was the brains of their little trio, and when they had Damian, well he was a little bit like all of them in his own unique way. Not that Dick let him fly the ship after all.

The two of them buckled and Dick praying Tim would at least be holding on down there he prepped her for landing the ship as they entered the atmosphere picking up the readings of the city below. A small port with seemingly one of two bigger buildings and a shipyard and boy was she shaking and it was taking everything with in Dick to not want to fight her so much as she landed with a small his and no sooner did he put the breaks on her for full final landing initiative did she shut off completely the emergency backup lights overhead picking up and the stars blinking above them.

This was not how this mission was supposed to go. Jason and Dick bolted for the engine bay where Tim was coughing having seemingly just put out a fire.

“So uh.. We may have a few things to repair,”He gave a sheepish smile and Dick groaned quietly, turning on the balls of his feet to head up to the cockpit. Of course they did. Of course he was going to be off planet for a bit.

At least he met a handsome stranger who kept up with his bad jokes.

At least the man had listened to their concerns and took them seriously and more importantly hadn’t ratted them out.

At least he was breathing.

At least he was alive… for now.

At least they had made it to the next star system in one piece.

At least they were Wayne's.

CURRENT

“LOOK AT ME!”Jason shoved Dick into the wall, hands grasped on his shirt. “Leave the kid to me! I know you’re fawning over him. I know that look in your eye where you want to wage war, but who here has fucking first aid training.”

“You.”

“Who here is the only one of us qualified to drive a multi-warp long haul vessel?”

“Me.”

“Exactly,”Jason shoves him towards the bridge as Dick fights the memories of the fires and Mel bleeding out in front of him and watching the shuttle transports explode around him as he tries his best to defend them. Right… Dick took a deep breath. This would be for naught if Danny dies. He had just gotten to the stars; he couldn't die yet. Dick stares at his hands and the blood of the sick friend dying as he watches Jason pick his lip body up to move him.

Warp. Yes, they had one job. He had one job. Jump them to the next system. Dick wiped the blood off his hands with a handkerchief as he walked to the main bridge moving to sit down as he heard the doors open and close behind him not long after. Of course Tim was coming along to the Bridge with him. He takes a deep breath as he stares at the systems in front of him moving to adjust what he needed to as he entered the coordinates for the next major system over, the only one they’d be able to make a warp too and fast. He turned off the spy systems now that they were closer to mars.

“I saw that look,”Tim begins.

“Not now Tim… we’ll talk about it later.”

“You always want to talk about stuff later when it comes to yourself, Dick. Why not now?”

“Because Danny is dying!” Dick spins around to look at him. “You and I both know we don’t have the medical equipment on board to take care of him Tim!”

“Jason is a talented Field medic! He can make someone live with a fucking single roll of gauze and some bullshit medical supplies! If he’s going to survive anything it’s going to be because of Jason!”

“That’s not the point! He’s not a miracle worker! He’s not a fucking medic, a science officer! He was supposed to go to the Federation focusing on Interplanetary Defense, not the medical field!” Dick rubbed his face. “I’m jumping this conversation is finished.”

“No it’s not,”Tim rolled his eyes and turned in his chair clicking the button to allow for security as Dick did the same opening a coms to the room Dick knew Jason would be in.

“Get strapped in this is about to be a bumpy ride to the Greshin Moons.”

“Why there?!?!”Jason called back.

“Closest place with human capable doctors and engineers that can work on this beast,”Tim replied before Dick had time too. “Besides, isn’t that where your girlfriend is stationed?” A smirk could be heard in his voice.

“Jumpin in 5, 4,3--”

“Damn he is in a Pissy mood,”Jason replied. “But yes she’s on one of them, but I’m also supposed to be on Krypton so how about we don’t--”

“1,”Dick finishes as the pull of the warp corp surrounds them as the ship shakes as he hears Tim hissing over the stats on the engine in front of him before they land and the entire energy of the ship flickers and a small explosion is heard from the engine bay.

“FUCK”He heard Tim exclaim before standing up and rushing to assess the damage as Dick ignores it and hails the tower of the port on the first moon of Greshin. Dick was partly thankful the names of the moons were literally just 1, 2,3,and 4. Greshin was a Gas Giant afterall and yet somehow had an entire city built within the highly toxic gasses of the city. The top of the spire just barely visible through the clouds of smoke. He ignored it, heading straight for the main port.

“Central command on Grenshin Moon 1, this is Dick Grayson of Wayne Enterprises on the “Sleeping Bat” entertaining act 4 section 5 of the Federation support code. We would like to request emergency medical aid to meet us upon arrival for a critical human male.”

“Heard that Grayson. Your request is confirmed. Land in sector 7-93.”

“Copy.” Dick didn’t mind the Greshin moons that much. They were filled with a nice group of more beastial races but he didn’t care too much because they had good engineers and were loyal to the Federation most importantly which meant there would be minimal questions as they didn’t like to avoid themselves within the conflict of the federation and the surrounding planets. The only reason why Jason had an issue with the planets was because during his little separation from the family for a little bit he smuggled a lot through the Greshin moons and so most of the authorities on the planets like to give him problems. He wasn’t quite sure what the man did exactly but he would manage he presumed.He had too because Danny seemingly had no other choice did he?

Dick did as he was told though and landed the ship meeting Jason by the doors of the bed bay. As the doors opened they were greeted with the familiarity of the Greshin people. Their dark fur in a wide array of colors overed the body and they had a gurney by them as Jason rushed Danny over to it, setting him down on top and immediately moving to follow. Dick was about to follow until Tim grabbed his arm and shook his head.

“Wait, we need to move. Let’s get our ship fixed. It’s going to take them a second to stabilize Danny anyways let alone think about when he will awake. Jason can stay with him for now and Jason has his tag on so we’ll be fine.” Tim looks at him calmly. “Come on Dick, I don’t think I’ve seen you this mellow in a while.”

“Oh be quiet,”Dick sighs softly, giving a small slightly forced smile as he followed the others knowing exactly where they were headed. “You just want me because Hai’ta’l likes me better than you.” Dick elbowed Tim in the side and Tim responded with a push.

“She does not!”

“Does too! We always get a discount from her! Also your translator working properly?” Dick teases softly as he moves to switch his on. Hai’ta’l didn’t speak English; her particular specifies of insectoid origins didn’t have the capabilities to make the noises that could produce the language. Instead Hai’ta’l spoke through a series of clicks and hisses with her mandibles and even if the name they had given her didn’t completely fit it was the closest translation of what it meant or even the sounds equal to in the english language.

‘Yeah I upgraded it a little too so it’s not so like-”He stopped for a moment trying to think about how to phrase his next sentence as they walked across the jungle-like planet watching one of the Greshin swing onto the next platform above them. “Laggy? I guess?”

The planets of Greshin were beautiful and lush humid planets with lots of oxygen but low enough levels that Humans could still thrive just fine. The planet was filled with large trees and shrubbery with most of the cities being built off of cliff sides of amongst the trees themselves. The carnivorous plants and Jas’i’as lives below them so living amongst the trees was the safest way to traverse the planets. All of them sharing in the similar jungle like environment. The beastial Greshin people who lived there came in a variety of colors of fur and similar yet different features. Most of them had teeth to fit that of a human as they were omnivores and skilled specifically in medicine. Their planets held some of the rarest plants and 20 incredibly different trees with healing and separate factors to assist in healings.

This had been the best place for Danny.

A lot of the people of Grenshin used their claws to climb up and down the trees as well as swing to various platforms amongst the trees, however as they had delved into space exploration and began to travel amongst the stars they had made their lands far more accessible to travelers as well as several different species moving to live amongst the trees as the Greshin did. He knew on the 3rd Moon they were having a Federation sponsored event on the medicinality of the herbs of the Greshin moons and how they could be used and incorporated into the Federation Medical campaign and treatment over all, and it would also talk about how to maintain and keep the plants alive on various ships and even them having talks of the Federation taking spores and roots back to Krypton for the International Greenhouse. Dick only knew of that because Jason always shared what Jazz was doing, always in a constant state of bragging and being proud of her and rightfully so. They cared a lot about each other.

Dick had been discharged after the BludHaven incident at his request. He wanted a break from the Federation but as far as he knew his friends were still involved and wanted him to come back but Dick hadn’t been with the federation for almost 4 years and he didn’t know how to feel, He liked working with his family, and the federation had given him an upgraded version of the Nightwing and now it sat in the garage of the Bat Cave collecting dust. In this day and age most ships didn’t need a large protection squadron and that left the ships like the Nightwing obsolete used for war and quick in and out bombings and raids and things and that wasn’t something he wanted to involve himself in given the current chaos of the war he foresaw coming.

He didn’t want to kill people because his commanders deemed a life less than. He didn’t want to hurt people. He took a deep breath. They showed up to the large warehouse built on the sturdy platform near the shipyard that Hai’ta’l used as her place of operations. Her beloved warehouse where she worked on her ships.

“Well, I did not think I would see you two for a while,” Her form appeared in the doorway her mandibles clicking as her head cocked to the side on her double jointed legs.

“You know us, we have a tendency to break things!” Dick smirked.

“You do have an uncanny tendency to break things,”Tim agreed.

“You’re not innocent yourself tiny Microwave.”She smirked looking at Tim who admittedly was about 3 inches shorter than Dick and about

“It was one time!”Tim exclaimed and she laughed softly at him, motioning them inside.

“What happened this time?” She asked moving to her desk as they moved to sit down and Tim pulled out his blueprints and set them down and laid them out in front of her.

“I can show you this, but you’re going to need to see this yourself in person to see what the damage is,”Tim replies shyly as she looks over the blueprints in front of her.

“Were you commissioned by the federation for this?”

“Yeah,”Tim rubbed the back of his neck for the moment looking away as she poured over the blueprints.

“I can tell from how technologically advanced it is, shit Tim. I know you’re one of the head designers for Wayne enterprises and all but what the fuck? This is insane? You want me to work on this?” Dick gives a nod.

“Not super concerned, we have an injured person with us . We need to get home soon but he needs to heal as well so us spending some extra time here isn’t too much of a concern.” Dick explains.

“Tim, you’re going to have to work on this with me.”

“Oh yeah, that’s kind of not the worst part?” He looks away. “We jumped and definitely broke like a lot more stuff? Uh, we had it patched in the Earth system but like it was just barely patched?” Hai looked at them and gave what amounted to a sigh.

“Yeah you’re helping me with this. Are you guys doing your usual payment methods?”

“We can double it if you fast track it too,”Dick commented. “Tim, if you want to stay here I can go get the ship while you go over the specifics of what needs to be fixed. “ Tim gave a nod as Dick stood up exiting the building as he started back towards their ship and moving it over as Hai opened the bay doors so they could get the ship in. Dick stayed around to watch Hai’s reaction to the damage trying to stop himself from Cackling as he heard the horrendous screech coming from Hai as she saw what she was working this.

“How did you even warp?!?!”

“He was a very good mechanic?”

“Very good mechanic?!? I need to meet this fucker! He did this out of scraps. Imagine what he could do if he worked on an actual ship and with actual parts instead of just---”

His communicator pinged.

“What’s up?” Dick asked as he walked out of the hangar into the outside.

“It’s about Danny..”Jason began. “I don’t even know how to explain this, but you need to see this.”

“What?”Dick frowns, a small panic filling his chest as he begins towards the large white buildings built around the tallest tree with windows lining the sides of it. The hospital. Plants grew up the sides of the building. Dick was hurrying towards it. “What happened?”

“Dick.. he’s fine mostly but this is just-- we need to get him to Krypton. This changes everything Dick..”

Panic filled his lungs and he began to bolt for the hospital adrenaline filling his system as he pushed for the building and almost burst through the doors as the nurse seemingly was there expecting him as she held her hands up.

“Take a deep breath, come follow me.” He does as she says, catching his breath for just a moment before he moves to follow her into the scan room.

Jason was staring at his full body scans in front of them. The holograph projecting everything in front of him.

“Dick,”Jason greets before the nurse shuts the door and Jason gives a nod and the door is locked and then the doctor walks in through the other one locking it behind him.

“What’s going on…” Dick was on edge hand going for his phaser on his waist Jason shook his head stopping him.

“Dick, don’t this is too important.” Jason warned.

“Hello, I’m doctor Lalir,”she introduced herself. “That is my main nurse Fismin.” Fismin gave a curt nod. “We’re here to talk to your about your friend. The injured one you call Danny.”

“Yeah?” Dick crosses his arms and looks at the holograph.

“The first things first is that this is what his body normally looks like under a standard scan, we were able to replicate what it should look like based off of scans we already have,” the holographs flickers just slightly as it shows his bones, nervous system, organs and all in 3 separate layers.

“This is what his showed up as,”The form flickered and it almost all became static for a moment before he could pick up little bits and pieces.

“Why is it so distorted?” Dick frowns.

“Well, we weren’t completely sure so we started running some more tests, Taking blood, fixing him up, etc. Then when he tested the blood we saw it was highly radioactive. The radiation dies off quite quickly when exposed to standard oxygen for some reason and it disperses to the air but it still almost permanently leaves the blood with an almost green tint to it. Then we did other tests.”

“And?” Dick was concerned. Radiation permanently fused to his blood? What could do something like that?

“He apparently is so infused with radiation he gives off the same levels within his body that are similar to a warp core. The power inside of him is also like that. He’s undergoing surgery right now, but we have our staff members who we trust enough to work on him wearing radiation suits and being careful while taking care of him. We were able to get a clear picture of his leg to fix it as well but we believe that was likely only due to the fact that we zoomed in incredibly close to the bone and it was far away from his chest where the radioactive energy seems to be centered.”

“What does this mean? Is he still human?” Dick frowns. More scans replaced the ones in front of him.

“It seems he carries the meta gene and as a reaction to high and intense levels of radiation it seems it activated his recessive genes, and when he was in this high stress event of high radiation levels he absorbed it and bonded with it.”

“He’s a walking warp core,”Jason seems to finish. “The guy is a walking, living radioactive warp core inside of a human body. He thrums with energy and electricity and I’m not sure if he knows the extent to which he is but he must know something went wrong? He mentioned an accident right?”

“Yeah, but he didn’t tell us anything just that it fucked up his leg,”Dick bites at his nail hesitantly as he thinks for the second anxiously. “Do you think that accident was this? What could have caused this though, something of this level.”

“Another warp core?”Fismin suggested. “The only thing I can think of with that much exactly and condensed radioactive energy is may there was a crack in the warp core casing? Maybe it shattered when he was near it and consumed him and he only survived because his body bonded with it rather than anything else?”

“Maybe..” Dick hums,” You’re right about getting him to Krypton. This is a medical mystery, but at the same time he doesn’t deserve to become a walking test subject.”

“We agree,”The doctor gave a smile. “That is why we are limiting contact with him and those who want to see his records need my permission to open them, and as soon as he is finished being under our care I will see to it his records destroyed.”

“Is he dying though, how are his cells holding up?”Jason decides to ask next as he looks calm and serious.

“It appears they are withstanding the radiation incredibly well,” Another hologram appeared on the screen of the blood. “These white blood cells you see here? They normally react to intruders and fight of diseases. The white blood cells bonded with the radiation and now it seems the further away from the body they go the less radiation they carry and the faster the cells seem to die.”

“So if he ever loses that radiation with in him?”

“He’ll die, at this point that focal point of radiation centered in his chest around his heart is what’s keeping it moving. If his body loses that radiation then this body will begin to do septic and try and kill him.”

Dick rubs his face anxiously. Of course it would. What the fuck. “But he’s fine for now? He’s going to be okay?”

“Yes, but there is a problem you all need to be aware of. This radiation in his blood? It means unless you can find another cursed soul to have this flowing through them? No one can donate blood and I’m not even sure we can make synthetic blood because of how fast the radiation fades. His lungs are also failing him. It seems on his planet he inhaled so much smoke and dust it seems to have permanently damaged them beyond what I can do here. Because of his radiation I can’t even build any synthetic organs either.”

Dick had felt like he should have expected that from how he coughed and how worn he seemed overall.

“What if you build a small containment device and you put something radioactive in it? We can offer some money in the meantime for you can begin to study it but even if you have to keep the synthetic blood in the chamber it’s important he has a backup because none of us have radiation in our blood.” Dick suggested.

“That could work but it would take time.”

“Something is better than nothing,”Jason agrees. “The reason I think we should get him to Krypton is because what if there’s more to it than just he’s radioactive? What if we’re missing something here? We need the resources to make sure he’s okay. We can have him live a normal life there and he’ll be safe from harm. If we need to get him out, all of us own several conservation planets, we hop from planet to planet.”

“That could work but he just got off Earth. I doubt he’s going to want to remain on another planet for very long,”He laughs softly.

“Okay so how about this..”Jason begins slowly. “We go to Krypton next. We get our scans and we tell Danny what we’ve found. If he wants to stay, he can stay. Otherwise.” Jason pauses with a smirk,”Otherwise you can take a ship and go show him some of the other planets. Dick felt his cheeks get hot.

“Shut up Jay,”He hisses softly.

“What, you can have a crush, all of us have had them,”He smirks and moves to unlock the door before leading.

“Fismin, do you have a waiting area?”He asks quietly.

“Yes of course Sir,”he gives a smile and the Doctor removes the information, locking it up as Dick was shown to the waiting room. It was only another 20 minutes before he was shown to Danny’s private room close to the top of the tall tree, his eyes glancing out the window in awe as he turned to Danny knowing he was asleep.

“See. I told you. You’re out of there aren’t you? You’re free!”He smiles gently. “When you’re awake I’ll help you explore the galaxy.” Dick pulls his chair to the bedside of Danny’s unconscious form. “When you’re awake I’ll show you all of my favorite spots. My favorite planets. The best planets for food. I’ll show you my home on Krypton and at Wayne Manor. I’ll show you my favorite spots to eat and I can introduce you to amazing life forms you’ve never met or encountered before.”

“You’re kind.. Did you know that?” He sighs softly as he moves to take his hand gently tracing over the gentle lightning like scars over it, and now that he was paying attention he realized the other’s scars wound up both his arms. “Shit, you don’t have clothes do you?” Dick rubs his face, Maybe the other could just borrow clothes from Tim until he could get some of his own? Dick could take him clothing shopping, though admittedly shopping on Krypton for clothing was better than anything else. Maybe they could do a full makeover for him once they got back to Dick’s home planet. He gently smiled at the thought. He was sure he could get Kori and M’gann in on it as well and maybe if he was lucky he could get Kon in on it. There were plenty of people he was sure would love a makeover day.

He paused for a second. Did Danny have any experience with ice planets? He smirked and smiled thinking about Danny seeing snow for the first time, or any of the ice planet animals with their layers of fur and fat and that made him smile thinking of Danny in one of those obnoxious Parka’s that always made him laugh. It was silly.

God, Dick was falling hard wasn’t he? He felt like he was on a planet crushed by the gravity that was his heart and keeping him so forcefully continatained all he could think about was how beautiful and resilient Danny was. The man was obviously malnourished and far too skinny right now and yet hadn’t pressured any of them for money offering to help without a care in the world besides the fact they didn’t know if they were bad people.

Danny had the air of nonchalance about him that made him so easy to talk to that even if you had done something so awful he might just say he forgave them and move on with it all. He wore a beautiful smile despite how often he coughed and knew he would eventually fall to his lungs if they couldn’t figure out something. He wondered how Danny’s eyes would look reflected in a pool of water and in a way Danny’s eyes were beautiful hazey green and now with the radiation flowing through him their color made more sense and even how his hair seemed to deny gravity just slightly it also made sense.

There had been such a short amount of time working together, there had been such calm collected conversations between them about topics and where Dick had known quietly about his sister he had kept quiet. He didn’t want the others to know yet and he for sure was not about to tell Jason’s fiery girlfriend he almost got her little brother killed. He knew Jazz would fly over in a heartbeat if she knew Danny was here but he couldn’t risk making a scene. He wanted Danny to be healthy when they met again and in a way where Danny and Jazz could catch up in a way they had never been to before because they could never talk to one another.

Dick wanted to give Danny everything. He thought that he would never meet someone so beautiful and so kind again and his soft mismatched hair was cute and knew he probably needed it cut and how he felt himself with a smile and didn’t let anything stop him was adorable.

Dick wanted to give Danny the universe but he knew he couldn't not really not truly, but he could give him a new life of adventure and smiles and good food. He could give Danny clean air and clean clothes. He could give Danny friends and maybe more family than his own. He could give Danny maybe his love if they evolved that far. Dick didn’t care at this point if Danny would ever develop feelings for him and maybe that was because right now all he wanted was to be with Danny and for Danny to be his Friend. He just desperately wanted to be Danny’s friend and to him? Nothing else mattered.

So he began to talk about Krypton to his sleeping form, unaware he began to stir.

Previous Chapter

Next Chapter

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justinspoliticalcorner · 3 months ago

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Nikki McCann Ramírez at Rolling Stone:

The Democratic National Convention kicked off with a heavy dose of star power on Monday, with everyone from Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr to former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaking in support of Vice President Kamala Harris. But no one worked the crowd into more of a frenzy than Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.).

“I’m here tonight because America has before us a rare and precious opportunity,” she said. “In Kamala Harris, we have a chance to elect a president who is for the middle class because she is from the middle class.” Much like the early messaging of the Harris/Walz campaign, Ocasio-Cortez’s speech centered on the issues plaguing working-class Americans. “Donald Trump would sell this country for $1 if it meant lining his own pockets and greasing the palms of his Wall Street friends,” she added. “I for one am tired of hearing about up how a two-bit union buster thinks of himself as more of a patriot woman who fights to lift working people up every single day.” Ocasio-Cortez noted that Republicans often attack her past work as a bartender. They have “attacked me by saying that I should go back to bartending. But let me tell you I’m happy to any day of the week because there is nothing wrong with working for a living,” she declared. “Imagine having leaders in the White House who understand that.”

Ocasio-Cortez also threw an indirect nod to protesters calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and an arms embargo against Israel. Thousands descended upon Chicago to affirm their calls for Vice President Kamala Harris to break with President Joe Biden and endorse a harder stance against the Israeli government and their ongoing siege on Gaza. Harris has been “working tirelessly to secure a ceasefire in Gaza and bringing hostages home,” Ocasio-Cortez said in her speech.

Last night at the DNC, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) torched Donald Trump in her speech good.

AOC delivered this money quote: “Donald Trump would sell this country for $1 if it meant lining his own pockets and greasing the palms of his Wall Street friends. I for one am tired of hearing about up how a two-bit union buster thinks of himself as more of a patriot woman who fights to lift working people up every single day.” #DNC2024 #DemConvention

See Also:

Daily Kos: AOC fires up DNC crowd with scorching swipe at 'two-bit union buster' Trump

#2024 DNC #AOC #Alexandria Ocasio Cortez #Unions #Labor #Ceasefire #Gaza Genocide

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posttexasstressdisorder · 4 months ago

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Politics

Donald Trump Claims Kamala Harris ‘Happened to Turn Black’ in Stunning Slur

NEW LOW

In an explosive interview at the National Association of Black Journalists convention, Trump—challenged over his racist rhetoric—claimed the line of questioning was “disgraceful.”

KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI/AFP via Getty

Former President Donald Trump claimed Kamala Harris “turned Black” in an explosive on-stage interview Wednesday at the National Association of Black Journalists Convention in Chicago.

“She was always of Indian heritage, and she was only promoting Indian heritage,” Trump said. “I didn't know she was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black. And now she wants to be known as Black. So I don't know, is she Indian or is she Black?”

“I respect either one, but she obviously doesn’t,” Trump said. “She was Indian all the way, and then all of a sudden she made a turn and she became a Black person.”

ABC News’ Rachel Scott challenged Trump, and said that Harris had always identified as a Black woman, and had attended a Historically Black College. (Harris graduated from Howard University in 1986.)

The comments came after Scott pressed Trump on the GOP’s continued attacks on Harris as a “DEI hire” and his choice of Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) as his vice presidential pick. After Trump was asked if he agreed with the Republicans who consider VP Harris a DEI pick, he falsely claimed Harris only recently began identifying as a Black woman.

His attacks mirrored a 2019 GOP-led campaign that questioned whether Harris was an “American Black,” as her mother is Indian and her father is Jamaican. Then-candidate Joe Biden chastised the racist barbs, and Harris compared it to the birtherism attacks Barack Obama faced.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre quickly clapped back at Trump’s comments at the NABJ convention, calling his questioning “repulsive” and “insulting” during a White House press briefing.

“Only she (Harris) can speak to her experience, only she can speak to what it’s like,” Jean-Pierre said. “She is the vice president of the United States and we have to put some respect on her name.”

However, Trump later doubled down on his words via Truth Social, writing: “Crazy Kamala is saying she’s Indian, not Black. This is a big deal. Stone cold phony. She uses everybody, including her racial identity!”

In a combative appearance at the convention, Trump first attacked Scott who questioned him about his past racist rhetoric in a conversation that immediately, and consistently, went off the rails.

The former president spent over half an hour attacking Black journalists, the NABJ that hosted him, as well as Harris' own identity, in an appearance that was intended to defend his record for Black Americans, and his agenda for a second term.

The former president, appearing more than an hour after the conversation’s scheduled noon Central Time start, sat down with the trio of Scott, Fox News’ Harris Faulkner, and Semafor’s Kadia Goba.

In response to Scott asking why Black voters should be Trump about his record of questioning Nikki Haley and Barack Obama’s birthplaces, attacking Black journalists and attorneys, using racist language, and wining and dining with white supremacists, Trump launched into a tirade.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been asked a question in such a horrible matter,” he told Scott, calling ABC News a “fake news network.” “I think it’s disgraceful.”

Trump then used the question to attack NABJ for the late start time, claiming they “couldn’t get their equipment working or something.” He claimed he was told either President Joe Biden or Vice President Kamala Harris would also appear and that he couldn’t appear virtually. Therefore, he claimed, he was invited under “false pretenses,” making the incisive question even worse.

“I think it’s a very rude introduction,” Trump said. “I don’t know exactly why you would do something like that.”

“I have been the best president for Black Americans since Abraham Lincoln,” Trump said to raucous laughter.

Trump also defended the Jan. 6 rioters (saying he would pardon them if they were innocent—“They’ve been convicted,” Scott said), and doubled down on his belief that migrants entering the country from the southern border are taking “Black jobs.” Trump also said he would be willing to take a cognitive test, and speculated that Harris would fail the exam.

Queries from Faulkner and Goba ranged from meandering to direct, with Trump’s different opinions about the moderators coming through in his answers. He praised Faulkner, a Fox News veteran who interviewed him hours before the July 13 assassination attempt, as a “fantastic person” whose success he respects.

He also thanked Goba, who interviewed him in June on his relationship with the Black community, for asking her question about Republicans’ judgments of people’s personal lives in a “friendly manner.”

The conversation shut down abruptly after roughly 30 minutes of questions from the moderators, although it was originally billed as a 60 minute Q&A.

Later on Truth Social, Trump said he “crushed” the panel. “The questions were Rude and Nasty, often in the form of a statement, but we CRUSHED IT!”

Jelani Cobb, the Dean of Columbia School of Journalism, said he knew going into the conversation that it was likely a “bad” idea.

“The traditional objective of interviewing a candidate is to get clarification on their positions, Cobb said. “And I was skeptical that it would happen—and it didn’t happen.”

Cobb said the conversation ending abruptly without a Q&A from the audience was the most problematic part of the program.

“If you’re going to have a candidate like that, you should have a Q&A from the audience,” Cobb said. “This is a room full of journalists, and some of the best journalists in the county, so we should have questions from the floor.”

The conversation took place in a meeting hall right outside the hotel’s gold-encrusted grand ballroom, nearly every one of the rooms’ 1,000 seats were filled. A small group of protesters not attending the convention gathered outside the entrance of the hotel.

Trump’s last-minute appearance at the convention prompted waves of backlash from top Black journalists and NABJ officials alike. Reporters including frequent Trump target April Ryan and Jemele Hill questioned the merits of inviting the former president, while Washington Post columnist Karen Attiah resigned from her post as convention co-chair after Trump’s appearance was announced.

NABJ officials, including President Ken Lemon, tried to defend the decision by noting a tradition of inviting presidential candidates during an election year and the opportunity for Trump to face questions from top Black journalists. Those defenses, however, faced further scrutiny after a Tuesday report indicated the group rejected requests from Harris’ campaign for her to appear for a virtual chat during the convention or for an in-person session at a later date.

Harris will appear for an NABJ Q&A in September, the group announced on Wednesday.

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vampiric-succulent · 4 months ago

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OUAW EP 46:

Spoilers y’all! Also this one is REALLY long. And. Uh. Yeah.

Oh shit the Jabberwock figure!!! Is this the sword that the Campestri were talking about?

Blue vs red roses…….

Given that this is possibly the Palace/Kingdom of Heart’s Desire, maybe the blue represents the allies of Zybilna and the red represents the hags (or maybe opposite bc the temple seems to be of the hags—-idk)

Is the Jabberwock hag-aligned? Or is it kinda doing it’s own thing

TORBEK AND THE HOSES

Gricko and Frost go trick or treating w hootsie!!!

FROST GLASSES MOMENT LETS GO

“Gideon chooses not to read. Torbek can’t read. We are not the same.”

Love that Gricko gaslit Gideon into pulling the sword out of the stone and he didn’t even have to try to get him to do it

Also love how Nikkie’s immediate idea is “let’s rip the page out of the expensive book”

“Gideon’s trying to vandalize private property” “That has NEVER been a problem for you before” “…We’ll talk about this afterwards.”

Oooh cool sword

Guys what do you think “galumphing” is—- there we go

“I don’t know if we count— we’re friends!” “They’ve seen you masturbate many times.” OH

At the jabberwock fighting arena. Straight up “galumphing” it. And by it. Well. Let’s juts say. My blade

Ohh wait maybe the roses thing is who can get to the Jabberwock first

JABBERWOCK DEEZ NUTS AND GRICKO IS CRYING

IT. ITS GALUMPHING. WOW

He can’t galumph 😭😭

“WELL GET UP HERE AND HELP ME GALUMPH!!!” I AM GOING TO CHOKE

How many nat20s can Mace get

Oh shit!!! I think the blue petals was right!! It was an accident but still right

Love Gricko’s parental moments w Hootsie. I live for that

Oh it’s just some kid’s room

SHE HAS THE KREMY KNIGHT ATOP GID’S STEED AND THE GID KNIGHT ATOP KREMY’S

What if this girl is like Fate? Like she’s controlling the story as she plays with her toys

If she is fate and those two steeds are switched then I will be very happy

Hey leave Derek alone yes the connection is laid out but it’s a lot of info chill

OHHHHH FUCK THE LITTLE PRINCE!!!!!!!!!!!! YEP OKAY SO SHES PLAYING THE STORY AS IT GOES—- so who’s Grandmother??? Can’t be Zybilna as she’s asleep and locked away, id be so shocked if it was something like Baba Yaga

BUHBUHBUH WHAT IF THE CHILD IS ZYBILNA OMGOMGOMGOMGOMFOMG

Grandmother brought her into the tower because she says it’s not safe. The child doesn’t know what’s outside the tower. The child says it’s not wise to say her name and that Grandmother says she is very powerful “even for her age.” Zybilna is stuck in time— I thought that meant she was trapped in slowed time but maybe she’s trapped in eternal childhood? That makes so much sense. Oh my god.

I’m convinced this child is Zybilna

THERES A SNAKE IN TORBEK’S BOOT. Very sad that Andy isn’t going the Toy Story route tho.

GRICKO IS A CLOWN. GRICKO IS A CLOWN. MIKEY IS BACK IN HIS ELEMENT. CHUCKLES RETURNS.

Why does Zybilna like the Jabberwock? Or whatever it was before? What was it before?? WHO IS THE PRINCE ACTUALLY??? And why can they not work without each other if the party is here now???

I am also scared rn. What if they never turn back.

DEREK BEING A MIME IS SO PERFECT

Loving Derek’s mimings

YES RICH IS GOING THE TOY STORY ROUTE

BRETT IS BACK

“Do you have your Mojo Dojo Casa House?” “Well let’s find out— can you open your ass?”

Ohh is the Prince the King of Hearts??? That would make sense

HER TWIG PUPPET??? And the roses are bad????

NOT THE ELABORATION ON THE POTATO TOY ASS STORAGE

“There ain’t no eyeballs in this ass!”

“You cannot see that boy anymore, T— I mean, Morgana” WHAT IS THE NAME YOU WERE GOING TO SAY??? If it’s Titania then I’m so wrong about everything

WHAT IF THIS CHILD IS THE BABY SISTER OF THE HAGS?????? Didn’t they say that the baby’s name is Tasha or something?? So why is she aligned with the Prince and, presumably, Zybilna??? DOES THIS MEAN THE GRANDMOTHER IS THE ENTITY IN THE HUT?????????????????????

Yup. Yup yup yup. So she’s not necessarily with Zybilna, just anti-Jabberwock for some reason. Why????

Well this is giving me some ideas

“Twig belongs to herself. Get rekt.”

“If anything happens to Twig, you will all pay the price.” Uh oh. Something’s gonna happen to Twig again.

OH THEYRE IN AN HOURGLASS. HOLY FUCK

also what if Zybilna and the fourth sister are the same? I think that might be not possible given timelines but still

HOLY FUCK IS THIS BABA YAGA????? (I’m very latched into this Baba Yaga thing but I think it’s right unless there’s someone else who fits the Time narrative better)

THE JABBERWOCK IS HERE

Mace save your 20s!!!!!

Shit man I gotta go to sleep

OH FUCK FROST DOWN

This is gonna be a TPK unless y’all run NOW

Gideon please use your fancy dagger

YUP CALLED IT IT WANTS THE KING OF HEARTS’ CHESS PIECES

GUYS PLEASE CONSIDER MULTICLASSING INTO CLERICS AND OR PALADINS AND OR ANYTHING ELSE THAT CAN HEAL

Frost is being iconic rn

ARENT JABBERWOCKS A DRAGON LIKE FEY CREATURE???!??!!???!

Okay so Gideon is dead! Great!! Nikkie what’s your rule on taking damage beyond your death points??

THIS THING DOES SO MUCH HOLY FUCK

You guys are not defeating this thing I’m so sorry

FUCK. FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK

Oh my god. Gideon is dead. Like actually dead. Kremy is down. And Gricko told Hootsie to run. I’m sure he’ll catch up soon. Surely.

Nikkie what the fuck??!?!?! Why would you dread that???? Genuinely this thing is too much for these guys what the fuck is your plan

Oh my god Kremy is going to die

What possibly could they have done to get out of this????? The thing has tracking abilities they were fucked either way—- the only possible way to get out of this thing would be to get rid of the chess pieces quickly but NIKKIE KEPT DREADING THE GODDAMN INT AND PERCEPTION CHECKS

FUCK KREMY IS DEAD. KREMY AND GIDEON ARE DEAD.

They’re not. They’re not getting out of this. They’re all dead.

There’s gotta be a reason Nikkie is going so viciously at this. There’s gotta be some sort of catch or save. Please let there be some sort of save. Please. Please. This has gotta be some sort of nightmare. Please let this just be a nightmare. Please. Please. Please.

Fuck this is literally Frost’s nightmare. This is exactly the situation he saw in the Tunnel of Terror. All his friends are dying and there’s nothing he can do about it. Also that is my nightmare specifically

NOT HOOTISE. COME ON NIKKIE. NOT HOOTSIE.

This has to be a nightmare! Or some sort of dread vision!!!! They’re all gonna wake up at the end of the session and be fine!!!!!!!!

There’s no way that the Jabberwock just comes out and ends then. I know it’s totally powerful enough to do that but there’s so much story left.

Okay. Okay no. No one woke up. There was no dream. No nightmare. No thankful awakening. They’re dead.

I’m still going to hold out hope.

#once upon a witchlight #ouaw #ouaw ep 46 #it has to be a dream. it has to be. there’s no way this actually happened.#guys please.#this has to be a joke #say sike right now #legends of avantris #Nikkie I am sending you personally my therapy bill #this can’t be real #ep 46 #I am sobbing #even hootsie. they even got hootsie #she was running away #she was so close to being out of range #what was the point??????#they’re dead #but I’m holding out hope #that maybe they aren’t gone

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persephoniesgtden · 4 months ago

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MMU Modern Headcanon: Music Tastes

Ok so

DAISY WELLS

Daisy is as casual as a music fan as they come. Her music taste is basic and she listens to whatever songs are popular right now. The only artist she is a dedicated fan of is Marina and the Diamonds, who she is OBSESSED with. Her favourite song is "Are you satisfied?" mainly because she finds it very relatable. Other artists she likes are ABBA, Beyoncé, Nelly Furtado, Chappel Roan and Taylor Swift.

HAZEL WONG

Hazel on the other hand, is a very dedicated music fan. As an introvert, she spends a lot of her alone time discovering new music, esp when she is writing up cases or decoding cryptic messages. Most of the music she listens to comes from the 80s and 90s: The Smiths, The Cure, The Smashing Pumpkins, Foo Fighters, The Cranberries, Cocteau Twins, Lush, Asha Puthli, Bjork, Sinead O'Conner ect. She also listens to more modern artists like Hozier, Mitski, Lana Del Ray, Ethel Cain and Phoebe Bridgers. Her music taste can be described as whimsical and her favorite genres include jangle pop, art pop and alt rock.

KITTY FREEBODY Kitty Freebody is a huge Swifty. She has multiple cardigans, vinyls, CDs and T-shirts and has been to the eras tour. She loves collecting bracelets with other fans. Her favorite era is red. She also likes Charli XCX, Blackpink, aeysha erotica, Oasis, Britney Spears, Sza and Doja Cat.

ALEXANDER ARCADY

Alexander is fascinated by the 60s and 70s, thus most of his music taste comes from those decades. He enjoys the technical side of music, and is very well red on the history of rock. His favourite artists are The Beatles, Oueen, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, The Doors, The Who and The Ramones. According to him, "The Wall" is Pink Floyds favourite album, and he will talk your ear off about that albums lore. He also enjoys some more contempary artists, most notably Gorillaz, Nirvana, Tears for Fears, System of a Down and Queens of The Stone Age. He also occasionally listens to some hyperfeminine early 2010s bubblegum pop, like pre-witteness Katy Perry, Nikki Minaj, Kesha and Carly Rae Jempson.

GEORGE MUKHERJEE

On face value, George doesn't seem like a metal fan, but to those who know him it is very obvious. His all time favorite band is Rammstein, his favourite album being Herzeleid and because of them, he is now learning German. Other artists he enjoys are Iron Maiden, Moterhead, System of a Down, Propagaandi, Dead Kennedys and Misfits. He also listens to Hip Hop, like Kendrick Lamarr, Eminem and The Notorious B.I.G.

BEANIE MARTINEAU

Like Daisy, she isn't too particular about music. Beanie is a casual fan of K-Pop, her favourite groups being Red Velvet, BTS, Twice, 2NE1 and Blackpink. Outside of that, she enjoys Franz Ferdinand, The Killers, Arctic Monkeys and Sir Chloe.

LAVINIA TEMPLE

Lavinia, like George, is a die hard metal fan. She adores bands such as Slipknot, Cannibal Corpse, System of a Down, Black Flag, Kittie, Jack off Jill, Linkin Park, Korn and Dead Kennedys. She also listens to industrial bands, like Nine Inch Nails, Kraftwerk and Ministry.

AMINIA EL MAGHRABI

Though Aminia listens to a lot of music, she doesn't have a particular favorite artist. She has a very diverse taste who share one characteristic of being "cool girl" music. She enjoys AESPA, Lady Gaga, Chappel Roan, Charli XCX, Doja Cat, Megan Thee Stallion, Donna Summer and Rhianna. She also likes some non female artists, such as Queen, Maneskin and Eminem.

#mmu #music #murder most unladylike #daisy wells #hazel wong #detectivesociety

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mariacallous · 1 month ago

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Immigration and economics loom large on the campaign trail and in the minds of voters, but America’s foreign entanglements could well decide the election.

The Democratic Party is desperately trying to keep debate about the conduct of Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon contained to an intramural row over policy, with marginal electoral impact. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s supporters are engaged in a concerted effort to exploit divisions within the Republican Party to defeat former President Donald Trump.

It’s unclear if either will succeed. But as a result, the wars in Ukraine and Gaza are having outsize impact on key blocs of voters in several swing states, according to voters and analysts interviewed by Rolling Stone.

While both the left and the right are divided over various aspects of foreign policy, the most notable gap between majority public opinion and a candidate’s position is with Trump and his antipathy toward Ukraine.

Despite the fact that Russia invaded Ukraine, Trump inexplicably said in a podcast released last week that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “should never have let that war start. That war is a loser.”

Such views may cost him the election against Vice President Kamala Harris.

“This is the most defining and potentially divisive political issue in the most consequential election in modern times,” says Paul Rieckhoff, a political activist who served in Iraq as a U.S. Army infantry officer, who describes himself as an independent. “I don’t know if there is a single issue where [Trump and Harris] are more clearly different than Ukraine.”

While statistical models that attempt to predict voter behavior have, perhaps, proven as close to pure science as ornithomancy or astrology, it is clear that this election — like all others for decades — will be decided in a handful of swing states, likely by the narrowest of margins.

In some of those states, voters who in the pre-Trump era formed the moderate Republican center are now abandoning their party’s candidate — and they are doing so over Ukraine.

“Ninety percent of it is because of his ridiculous foreign policy,” says John Feltz, a 58-year-old software engineer in Michigan. Feltz says he is a Republican who refuses to vote for Trump. “He has no discernible principle that I can see, and that’s what the Republican party used to have: principles.”

The vice president’s campaign is pouring resources into attracting voters like Feltz, particularly in Pennsylvania. Last week, Harris began a tour of the battleground state aimed at disaffected Republican voters. She’s particularly hoping to attract backers of former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, whose long-shot bid to secure the GOP nomination showcased her hawkish foreign policy views.

During the only presidential debate between Harris and Trump, held in Philadelphia in September, the vice president took aim at a bellwether group particularly motivated by the war in Ukraine: Polish-Americans.

“[Russian President Vladimir] Putin would be sitting in Kyiv with his eyes on the rest of Europe, starting with Poland,” Harris told Trump. “And why don’t you tell the 800,000 Polish-Americans right here in Pennsylvania how quickly you would give up, for the sake of favor and what you think is a friendship — with what is known to be a dictator who would eat you for lunch?”

Democrats view Ukraine as an effective lever to move swing-state voters as the issue hits a nerve with many moderate Republicans. Trump’s stance on the war finds resistance even in the deep red South.

Alan Nummy, a 57-year-old EMT from Elmore County, Alabama, says he voted Republican all his life, including for Trump in 2016 and 2020 “with reservations.” This year, Nummy says he “can’t hold his nose any longer,” and will write in “Nikki Haley” in November because of Trump’s lack of commitment on helping Ukraine and “kicking Russia’s butt.”

“I’m probably 90 percent in line with the policies of his administration, maybe even higher than that,” the Biloxi native assures Rolling Stone. “But I can’t vote for him now because he will not commit to assisting a nation in destroying one of the two largest political enemies of the U.S. — China’s number one, Russia’s number two.”

Ukraine is an obvious vector of attack, because it is an issue where Trump is at odds with the general electorate.

More than 62 percent of Americans say their sympathies lie with Ukraine — including 76 percent of Democrats, but also 58 percent of Republicans and 57 percent of independents, according to research by the University of Maryland.

According to the same study, the number of Americans comfortable supporting Ukraine for “as long as it takes” has been increasing — from 38 percent in March 2023 to 48 percent in August. A separate study by the University of Chicago and The Associated Press conducted in mid-September shows that people who think the U.S. is providing “too much” support to Ukraine has dropped from 52 percent last year, to 34 percent this year — 60 percent think the aid is “too little” or “the right amount.”

Contrast this with Israel’s response to the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas and subsequent war in Gaza, where Americans are far more divided. According to the University of Chicago poll, when asked which party they most sympathized with, 25 percent said Israel and 15 percent said the Palestinians — 31 percent are sympathetic to “both equally,” while 26 percent to “neither.”

Further data from the Institute for Global Affairs, a research nonprofit attached to the risk consultancy firm Eurasia Group, indicates regardless of political affiliation, 22 percent of Americans believe the U.S. should end military support for Israel, while 23 percent think it should support Israel unconditionally. The rest of Americans want to see continued military support, but with conditions attached: 34 percent with a cease-fire, and 21 percent dependent on humanitarian aid access.

This lack of consensus on Israel-Palestine is why it has been easy for Harris to simply dodge tough questions about U.S. policy toward the conflict. Her opponent’s other faults — specifically his racism and anti-Muslim bigotry — help explain why it is difficult for motivated Democrats who support Palestine to categorically reject their party’s nominee: They want a shift in policy, not a Trump victory.

“We’re asking for her to commit to enforcing our laws, our international laws on friend and foe alike, which is what we do to Ukraine, which is what we do to everybody else,” Ruwa Romman, a Palestinian-American who serves on Georgia’s state legislature, told NPR on the outskirts of the DNC in Chicago in August. “And that continues to be, and has been, the ask all the time.”

Still, rifts are growing over the Biden administration’s handling of Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon. Arab-Americans, who make up an influential voting bloc in the swing state of Michigan that has traditionally supported Democrats, are now evenly divided on their preferred candidate, according to data from the Arab American Institute.

“In our thirty years of polling Arab-American voters, we have not witnessed anything like the role that the war on Gaza is having on voter behavior,” James Zogby, president of the organization, wrote. “The year-long unfolding genocide in Gaza has impacted every component sub-group within the community.”

History suggests voters motivated by Gaza may find little daylight between the two candidates after the election. Trump — who in 2017 recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel — is fond of claiming, “I did more for Israel than anybody,” and has shown little sympathy toward the Palestinian cause. But while the Biden administration — and by extension the Harris campaign — has at times quietly leaked criticism of Israel’s actions, it has displayed little interest in going to the mat with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over humanitarian aid access or withholding military assistance.

Unlike Gaza, where the two parties differ mostly in how they talk about supporting Israel, there is a deep divergence on Ukraine policy — and that extends to within the Republican Party between MAGA loyalists and GOP hawks.

While most Republicans supported Ukraine at the beginning of the war, as the presidential campaign accelerated so too did discontent with U.S. policy. That’s evident in research showing half of Republicans now think Washington is supplying “too much” aid to Ukraine.

That split has forced GOP politicians to voice mealy-mouthed reservations about aid, primarily focusing on the monetary cost.

“I don’t have an appetite for further Ukraine funding, and I hope it’s not necessary,” Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-La.) said recently. “If President Trump wins, I believe that he actually can bring that conflict to a close … I think he’ll call Putin and tell him that this is enough.”

Trump running mate J.D. Vance, who in 2022 declared “I don’t really care what happens to Ukraine one way or another,” has embraced a skeptical role in line with Trump when it comes to Kyiv.

“The problem here vis-à-vis Ukraine is, America doesn’t make enough weapons, Europe doesn’t make enough weapons, and that reality is far more important than American political will or how much money we print and then send to Europe,” Vance said in a visit to the Munich Security Conference in February, where he skipped a meeting with Zelensky, the Ukrainian president.

After becoming Trump’s vice presidential candidate, Vance clarified his stance, describing to an interviewer in September his vision for an end to the war: “What it probably looks like is the current line of demarcation between Russia and Ukraine, that becomes like a demilitarized zone.”

Trump, meanwhile, has promised to end the war “in 24 hours” if he is elected — although he hasn’t provided specific details. But such musings throw into sharp focus his history of undermining Ukraine’s security for personal political advantage.

In 2019, Trump tried to pressure newly inaugurated Zelensky to investigate a number of conspiracies and tie them to Joe Biden, threatening to withhold military aid if he did not. A phone call in which Trump made the demands was reported by a whistleblower on the National Security Council, and it formed the core of his first impeachment effort — an attempt to overturn his 2020 election loss resulted in the second.

While the House approved two articles of impeachment, Trump was acquitted by the Senate over the Ukraine affair in a February 2020 vote that split along party lines — with Sen. Mitt Romney being the sole Republican to break with his colleagues. Four-and-a-half years later, and the sordid episode continues to lurk in the background, adding to an uncomfortable atmosphere when Trump met Zelensky last month in New York City.

“We have a very good relationship, and I also have a very good relationship, as you know, with President Putin. And I think if we win, we’re going to get it resolved very quickly,” Trump said in a press conference ahead of the meeting.

“I hope we have more good relations between us,” was Zelensky’s tepid response.

The stench of the Ukraine affair permeates Trump’s legacy on foreign affairs — especially given his repeated and consistent praise of Putin, such as calling the dictator “savvy” and a “genius” on the eve of the 2022 invasion.

Such statements, and Trump’s affinity for a dictator responsible for starting a war that may have already killed more than half a million people, embarrass many Republicans. They also provide fodder for his opponents within the GOP.

“Trump is siding with a dictator who kills his political opponents,” Haley said in South Carolina while still running for the Republican nomination. “Trump sided with an evil man, over our allies who stood with us on 9/11.”

Haley has, of course, ultimately kissed the ring and closed ranks behind Trump. But not every Republican is ready to cast aside principles for their party’s candidate.

Republican Voters Against Trump, a Super PAC started by a group of GOP dissidents and funded by the billionaire venture capitalist Reid Hoffman, has churned out ads and social media posts featuring Republicans talking about Ukraine.

“Why I am extremely against Trump now is his position in Ukraine,” says one ad featuring a voter in Georgia identified as Nikita, a Ukrainian American. “I’m doing everything in my power to make sure he doesn’t get elected.”

The Super PAC’s founder, Republican strategist Sarah Longwell, says it is spending as much as $45 million to persuade “center-right voters, right-leaning, independent, soft GOP voters, to vote against Trump.”

While such groups are focused on siphoning votes away from the former president, some of Ukraine’s supporters are hedging their bets. They hope to bring the Republican Party back into line with majority opinion, and to do so they are taking aim at two traditionally conservative demographics: veterans and evangelical Christians.

“Republicans by and large support Ukraine. The question you really have to ask is: ‘Who does not support Ukraine?’” says Rieckhoff, who hosts a podcast called Independent Americans and has a long history of political activism. In 2012, Rolling Stone included him in a list of “Leaders Who Get Things Done.”

“People need to understand that J.D. Vance and Donald Trump are in a very radical minority that undermines American national security,” he adds.

The nonprofit Rieckhoff founded in 2004 — Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, more commonly known as IAVA — was essential to the passage of the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill, which paid for Vance’s undergraduate studies at Ohio State University. Earlier this year Rieckhoff helped start a new group: American Veterans for Ukraine, or AVU. The goal is to shape American policy toward Ukraine.

“This is the same crew who tried to get people out of Iraq, and out of Afghanistan. It’s a veteran’s Underground Railroad … We want to use our skills and our networks to support and defend democracy,” he says. Although the U.S. has provided billions of dollars in aid to Kyiv and “there is significant philanthropy helping people in Ukraine,” he says, “there is comparatively very little advocacy and lobbying.”

He thinks the lack of behind-the-scenes politicking created the crisis earlier this year, when for nearly six months Republicans in Congress blocked the provision of military aid to Ukraine, taking a cue from Trump.

The former president and his acolytes in Congress were vocal in opposing more money for Kyiv. Despite the dire warnings of the national security and foreign policy establishment, the aid was blocked — with disastrous effects for Ukraine’s defense.

It wasn’t until Johnson met a Ukrainian evangelical named Serhiy Haidarzhy in April that the newly minted speaker of the House experienced a Damascene conversion over aid. With Johnson’s backing, Republicans swept away the opposition of MAGA militants, approving a $61 billion Ukraine funding package in a bipartisan show of force.

That meeting with Johnson wasn’t accidental. Ukraine is actively courting America’s conservative Christian right in the hope of strengthening its bulwark of Republican support should Trump regain power in November.

“Speaker Johnson is a great example. He voted nine out of nine times against Ukraine as a rank-and-file member of Congress. The intelligence briefings gave him the intellectual information to support Ukraine. When he met the Ukrainian evangelicals we brought over, it gave him an emotional and spiritual connection to Ukraine,” says Steven Moore, a 55-year-old GOP operative and Tulsa native, who worked on Capitol Hill for seven years as a Congressional aide — including as chief of staff for former Rep. Pete Roskam, an Illinois Republican.

Moore has a perspective unlike that of most Beltway insiders: After Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, he moved to Kyiv and started a nonprofit — one of hundreds of foreigners conducting such grassroots efforts, of varying quality and accountability, that contribute aid to Ukraine’s war effort.

Although he is not a registered lobbyist, he now spends his time networking and connecting Republicans with counterparts in Kyiv. He also works to raise funds for his Ukraine Freedom Project, shooting videos featuring military equipment and sending them to Rotary Clubs across America.

Such outreach is important, Moore says, because “what we find is that for the most part, when you give conservatives accurate information about Ukraine, they come to support Ukraine’s fight for its freedom. Unfortunately, it is difficult to compete with the massive Russian propaganda effort.”

Despite Trump’s claims he can end the war by calling up Putin, any peace deal is outside the power of an American president to accomplish without the cooperation of Ukraine. Ensuring that Kyiv’s calls are picked up in Washington regardless of which candidate sits in the White House is why Ukraine has been trying to build bridges to the GOP.

“I do not see anything surprising if Ukraine is looking for support in all directions,” says Oleksiy Goncharenko, a member of the Verkhovna Rada — Ukraine’s parliament — who is outspoken on foreign affairs.

“Maybe we could have done more, maybe there were mistakes, both with the Republicans and with the Democrats,” concedes Goncharenko. “Our country does not have much experience in promoting itself at such a level. But we welcome the support of the U.S., especially when it comes from both [parties].”

Connecting with American evangelicals has been central to Ukraine’s outreach, as they make up an influential segment of Republicans.

To this end, Zelensky’s government has sought to highlight Russia’s persecution of evangelicals and other religious minorities in the occupied territories under its control. Putin’s regime has kidnapped, tortured, jailed, and even murdered non-Orthodox Christians, such as Jehovah’s Witnesses — regarded as “religious extremists” by Moscow — solely because of their faith, according to findings by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, a bipartisan agency that monitors religious freedom worldwide.

In newly conquered territories in Ukraine, Protestants have paid a terrible price, Moore says, especially evangelical Baptists, who have been singled out for persecution by the Russian military as “American spies.”

“More than half of Republicans identify as evangelical Christians, and 70 percent of evangelical Christians who vote Republican are more likely to support Ukraine when you tell them that Russia is torturing and oppressing Ukrainians like them for their faith,” Moore asserts.

The Zelensky administration has even gone so far as to hold a “National Prayer Breakfast,” similar to the one established in the U.S. in 1953.

The American original is a fixture for Beltway insiders, where global movers and shakers rub shoulders in an informal milieu with U.S. lawmakers, who themselves are keen to be seen by evangelicals as visibly straddling the line between church and state. With as many as 3,500 attendees each year, the event is a clearinghouse for influence-peddling.

When the Zelensky administration decided to begin a similar tradition in Ukraine, GOP activists like Moore hoped it would succeed in attracting the conservative Christian right — and it did.

Rolling Stone attended Ukraine’s first National Prayer Breakfast in June, joined by Zelensky and hundreds of people from multiple religious denominations.

The opening speeches were followed by a prerecorded video address from Speaker Johnson and — much to the surprise of the audience — former Vice President Mike Pence.

Pence’s face suddenly materialized on an array of screens set up around the breakfast hall, his snow-white hair and cold, resolute glare staring out from his pale features. Trump’s former VP delivered a speech praising Ukrainians for their “courage,” reminding the audience of the sacrifices made so that “the blue-and-gold flag still waves over the skies of Ukraine,” as attendees tucked in to their breakfasts and chatted amongst themselves.

“Thank you all for standing with Ukraine … May God bless the people of Ukraine, and freedom-loving people everywhere,” Pence concluded.

Trump’s supporters, of course, erected a gallows and noose while chanting “Hang Mike Pence” during a riot on Jan. 6, 2021, forcing the then-vice president to flee the Capitol.

So while it is unlikely that Pence’s presence at Ukraine’s National Prayer Breakfast persuaded any Trump die-hards to change their vote, the hope was his presence might help convert less extreme conservative skeptics to Kyiv’s cause. And the effort poured into the event shows that when it comes to a new administration’s policy toward Ukraine — whomever is in the White House — its supporters know victory counts on a lot more than November ballots, or even thoughts and prayers.

#ukraine adding trump's campaign to its kill count would be so great #ukraine saying 'До побачення' to Trump would be poetic justice

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sucker4sixx · 7 months ago

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Particles

Recycled from 2023!

Plot: you cant seem to stay away..

Warnings: distressing themes, self destruction, degradation (not in a kinky way), toxic relationships

You sat on the curb, the streets a blur. People pass laughing with their group like you were invisible, you basically were. Eventually you brought yourself to your feet, eyes unable to focus on a thing.

Another mopey night of drowning your sorrows in vodka like a broken record. At this point you werent sure where you were, becoming almost dyslexic trying to look at the street signs "hey.. man do you like" you slurred to a man who stood alone "i got no change lady" he spat, walking away.

'Its all because of him' you told yourself, trying not to trip up over your own feet 'he tricked me, he trapped me in his spell'. The stone wall you held for support left small cuts on your hands when you would fall but you were far too drunk now to even feel.

As you headed from the busy part of town to the more quieter area you got chilly, the small black dress you foolishly picked out incase you bumped into him not doing much for you. When you 'accidentally' ended up in the quite street that was oh too familiar you felt sick with fear, regret, sadness.

You began to stumble along the pavement again, your legs knowing where to go more that you did. "Fuck." you slurred, falling to your knees but not even remembering how. You sighed, knowing you would have to start your unknowing treck sometime soon. Lazily you raised your head and tried to focus your eyes, to your horror, he stood outside his front garden looking forwards unaware of your arrival or just ignorant of your pain, a cigarette hanging from his mouth. Your stared up at him not sure if you were really seeing him or clinically insane.

Slowly his head turned to look at you, unimpressed. "Look at the state your in, doll" the words that wouldve been slurred anyway had completely gone. "What? Cat got your tongue?" Nikki slowly walked towards you, getting down to your level "your a fucking mess, you know that?" He held your chin and slowly moved your head up and down "yes nikki i know that" he spoke in a higher voice to mock you, laughing to himself.

"Your really not going to speak? You cant even focus on me, you alcoholic" slowly you rest your hand on his cheek, moving your thumb round in circles. He was hurt and drunk and you knew that "its okay nikki.. i know your hurt" you tried your hardest not to slur but it was inevitable, his eyes teared up but he kept his beautiful face tough "im not hurt, im a man" he stood up and looked down at you "up. Get up." You obliged, using his legs to help you up "fucking junkie" he muttered, helping you to his house.

Once you were in he gently sat you on his couch, noticing the blood on your knees and hands "you gotta be careful" "why? I have no one to be careful for anymore" nikki sat back, putting his fingers over the bridge of his nose to calm himself down "you broke up with me! Why are you still in love with me?!" He barked, taking you back abit "you cheated on me sixx!" "Oh and fucking what! I did it once, ill do it again!" He sarcastically smiled, quoting the last thing you said to him while you were together "just like you right? Youll show up at my house drunk once? Youll fuckin do it again!" You sighed for a moment, both going quite. The argument suddenly sobering you up more than you would like.

"So? Why are you really here?" He asks, tone still angry but more quite. "I dont even fucking know!" You snap, getting up from his couch and leaving through the front door.

You sat on the curb, streets a blur from the tears that streamed down your cheek. You called a taxi but they said it would arrive two hours tops since it was a saturday night. You missed the way used to be, when you could actually have a conversation and end it with an “i love you baby”.

The tall man sat beside you wordlessly, you didnt even want to look up at him. "Look im so-" "save it, im the one who came here. I need to stop expecting so much from you" he sighed, wiping the back of his arm over his eyes like he had been crying. "I dont think your a mess, i think your the most beautiful girl ive ever seen" you huffed, looking up at him "you cant keep doing this to me" "oh cmon babe, its always going to be me and you"

"look i called a cab just go inside it shouldnt be long"

"is this the last time?"

"Id like to think so" "stop being so god damn negative" he muttered, getting aggravated. You just huffed again, really not in the mood for his antics. He only ever got like this when he had been drinking copious amounts of whiskey.

30 minutes of silence passed "where the fuck is this taxi" nikki looked down at this fingers where he played with his nails "i uh cancelled it" "of course" you brought yourself to your feet, looking down at the man you once thought youd marry "of fucking couse!" Once again you began your treck knowing it would be ages before you got home but way sooner than if you called another taxi "no babe come back" nikki pleaded, walking after you. "This" you pointed between you both "its unhealthy" "i know but it feels so good! Its so right!" He exclaimed, throwing his hands around "you drank more whiskey while i was outside?" "Is it a fuckina crime?" "No but it is when i do it isnt it? What was it? 'Alcoholic'? 'Fucking junky'?" "Oh dont do that, i was speaking the truth!" You walked towards him, now both in the centre of the road "well ill tell you the truth. All you are is your face, your personality is shit and when it can be even near to good thats when your acting like a himbo so that you look dumb and lovable to all your fans that you fuck! Your a manipulator and a cheater and i couldnt name one single positive thing about you. Ive waisted two years of my life over you and that trends over with" nikki falls silent, half of it was fake.. he really could be a sweet guy but you just wanted to hurt him

He tries to speak but tears stream down his face as he backs up, the guilt hits you but you stay silent “i-i just wanted to be perfect for you.. all i wanted was you” he sobs, gasping for air as he backs up to his house, youve never seen him so hysterical before but it worried you. You watch as he stumbles back into his house, slamming the door shut, although he was inside his sobs wracked through the empty street, turning away you walked down the street, trying to drown out the sobs with heavy steps but even when you were too far to hear him his hysterical display still haunted your memory…

You knew youd be back soon enough.

#80s #motley crue #mötley crüe #nikki sixx #tommy lee #mick mars #spotify #vince neil #nikki sixx fanfic #nikki sixx fanfiction

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imhereformysciencefriends · 1 year ago

Text

Blow this popcicle stand

My gift for @missycolorful for the @technoblade-gift-exchange

Read on AO3 here!

I had a total blast writing this! I hope you enjoy as well. I admit I kinda smushed together a couple of your prompts, but I am very happy with the result. Enjoy! <3

Phil was, historically, better at the talking-to-people thing. Not necessarily the being-reasonable thing, Techno did often have to sit in on all of Phil’s meetings in order to prevent unnecessary bloodshed due to, quote, “it’d be funny, mate,” unquote. But talking to people, talking was something Phil could and did do. Techno? Not so much. He didn’t, he didn’t really care for it, you know. Wasn’t really his forte.

But Phil was busy in a month-long series of meetings negotiating a new peace agreement with a nation that wanted regular access to the moon portal (financially a very good move for the Empire, logistically a nightmare). And while Techno would really prefer to be in those, both to have a comprehensive set of expectations for what would be happening in the future and to keep an eye on his partner, it wasn’t the only nation that wanted the Empire’s attention.

And Techno was, if not suited, at the very least capable of trade negotiations with one of their friendlier allies.

Even if he hated the idea.

His thick, heavy, fur-necked cape moved with his arms as he pulled his long hair back into a ponytail, the sound of his hooves ringing out against the arctic stone rather slowly as he approached the meeting room. Almost like he was dragging his feet. But jokes on you, Chat, Techno didn’t have feet to drag! So clearly he was getting there at a very reasonable pace. And wasn’t stalling. No chance of that, not with him, haha, nope!

Despite it being his literal actual destination, Techno found himself surprised when he was suddenly in front of the meeting room door. Who authorized this? Ninja doors, sittin’ around jumpscaring good hardworking emperors. Probably Phil, the weeb. Actually, Techno should try to remember this bit for later, he was sure Phil would love the notion of a ninja door. Get a good laugh outta that one.

Focus. He did still have to, you know, open the door. Have the pre-scheduled and entirely-foreseen meeting that would take place behind it.

Was that the alarm bell he heard? Off in the distance? Wayyyyy far away in the distance? No? Just him then? Alright.

No, Chat, he wasn’t stalling. He was just securing the perimeter with his superior hearing before engaging with outside forces. Yes he had superior hearing, look at the pink shell of his ears, sticking out of his face like that. What, no, he was not a bishounen, Chat, under no circumstances was anyone allowed to call him that. Honestly, the ideas that Chat got in their heads, smh.

Okay! Okay! He wasn’t stalling! He was opening the door now!

Inside the meeting room was the Essempi convoy, its three main representatives seated on the couch that faced the massive armchair Techno took. Next to his was a significantly smaller armchair, specifically designed to accommodate a man’s wings.

Not for nothing, Techno wished Phil was here.

“Welcome to the Empire,” he started, because that sounded most appropriate. Already, the back of his neck felt hot and damp with sweat. That’s why he put his hair up, he supposed.

“Thank you for having us,” replied the woman in the middle, leaning forward across the low table to extend her hand. Shoot, handshakes, should he have done that before he sat down? Did Phil normally do that? Techno was suddenly blanking on any social interaction he’d ever had prior to this one in his life.

Her hand was firm, warm, and had shallow calluses. The strong grip of a woman who worked and wasn’t intimidated by Techno in the slightest. Would it be easier for him if she was intimidated? More importantly, had Techno met her before? Her voice seemed… familiar. Ish. Familiarish.

Niki! That’s Nihachu Her name is Nikki, you’ve met her before Niki! Nikki? I never know which it is

“Uh, Niki, is it?”

She laughed, and it wasn’t a mean sound. Techno felt his face heating up anyway. “You remembered!” The look on her face wasn’t pity, nor offense, but she gave off the impression of being very knowing of what was going on in Techno’s brain, “My hair was brown last time we met, with the blonde in the front.”

Oh! Okay, yes, Techno could place her now. She’d been invited to the same weird political shindig festival party thing that Phil had dragged him to.

“Nice to see you again,” he said, a little more sincerely. And a touch relieved.

“You as well,” she said warmly, then gestured to the woman to her right. Er, well, to her left, Techno’s right—didn’t matter. “This is Captain Puffy, she’s a state-sponsored merchant we’ve been working closely with. She’s interested to see if she’d be a good match for this route, depending on what we work out.”

“Yo!”

Captain Puffy was an extremely short woman (maybe even shorter than Phil), though far from petite. Her big curling hair and big curling ram horns and big sunglasses and big captain’s coat all spoke to a relatively large personality, and the big smile she flashed him did not actually help settle Techno’s nerves. Maybe he should’ve had some tea or something before all this. She was also slouching, leaned against the arm of the couch with all the debonair swagger of a woman entirely at ease around important people. As an emperor of one of the world’s fastest growing empires, Techno could probably stand to take a page from her book.

Whose idea had it been to put him in charge, again? Oh right, his.

Gesturing to her other side, Niki continued, “And this is Ranboo. He’s something between a pupil and a little brother, to me; he’s mostly just here for this to be a learning experience.”

As short as the captain was, Ranboo was tall. Wraith-thin with too-big eyes and an air about him that seemed even more nervous than Techno felt. Techno at least had his flat affect and “monotone” voice (he still didn’t get that, but enough people had told him that he had a monotone by now that he just accepted it) to act as buffer. This kid (and Techno got a very strong impression that he was young, despite not knowing much about Ender ages (well, maybe he knew more than most, given the Empire’s plot-relevant access to the moon)) wasn’t so much as wearing his heart on his sleeve as he was stringing it up on a chandelier.

“Nice to meet you both,” Techno said, the captain giving him a lazy salute and Ranboo nodding so stiffly it looked like his neck might snap.

“Shall we get straight to it, then?” Niki asked, and Techno nodded, so incredibly thankful that someone else was comfortable taking charge of a conversation.

And then they sank blissfully into the thing that was Techno’s strong suit: his stuff. Techno had a good head for what items were worth, and while he wasn’t the most organized person (he had goons for that) he absolutely knew how much he had of what, and what the Empire could afford to spare in trading efforts, provided they received what they were promised in return. Now, storms could sink even the most experienced ships, and fleets could get blown off course, so he had to factor in wiggle room and contingency plans as well.

Another strong suit. Techno was a beast at contingency plans. Nobody could plan a contingency plan like Techno planned his plans.

The deeper they got into the numbers game and talk of resources, the more Techno chilled out. This wasn’t socializing, not really. He was mostly just indulging in his inventory vices while other people were in the room.

Something Essempi had in plenty that the Empire desperately needed was food. More specifically: vegetation. They had their arctic, thick-furred cows, their fluffy chickens, their heavy-hided boars, their densely-wooled sheep, and their round the clock fisheries. Nothing would breed too close to the moon portal, but here at the castle their herds and flocks were thriving just fine. But plants? That took underground greenhouses with low ceilings and constant torchlight to do anything. And a growing empire was a hungry thing: greenhouses alone weren’t going to be sustainable. Not long term.

Techno had his reservations about putting too much faith in their allies. A resource as important as food needed more than one source.

But. Techno’s reservations wouldn’t spontaneously feed everybody, and Essempi had been friendly and amicable all through negotiations. All things considered, they were probably the closest and most trustworthy ally the Empire had.

And their representatives didn’t make Techno want to melt into a puddle or stab anybody! So. Points all around in their favor. Niki did most of the talking, her voice soft and cheery, clearly the most familiar with Essempi resources and used to political negotiations. The captain would chime in mostly around the actual act of trade itself, naval logs and star charts and detailed maps crowding her end of the low table. Ranboo, as Niki mentioned, didn’t say… anything at all, the whole meeting. He just sat, straight-spined enough to put the strictest governess to shame and making eye contact with nobody, scratching notes into a book he’d brought.

Essempi was offering them good deals. More than fair, if Techno was being entirely honest. And he knew he didn’t have any personal charm to thank for that. He filed that away for future reference. Either Essempi was even more well off than rumors suspected, or there would come a day when they asked the Empire to pay back their generosity (likely with swords and soldiers, if the history books held any credence).

But that was fine. In the now, they were offering lucrative details for necessary resources. (In the future, Phil would need enrichment anyway (Techno, too, he did love a good fight)). Techno would still probably want to set up a couple additional trade agreements with other nations, just in case, just to cover all his bases. And the greenhouses obviously weren’t going anywhere, Techno would not be sacrificing even an ounce of pre-established self-sufficiency.

But even Techno, of all people, had to admit that he was feeling pretty optimistic by the time they all stood and shook hands in parting. He remembered to shake Puffy’s and Ranboo’s this time, Puffy’s hand tiny and grip strong, Ranboo’s slender fingers still faintly trembling with nerves but his smile seeming at the very least half-genuine.

Woof. Ough. His back. The time! The sun set early here, but he was still surprised to see that it had sunk below the horizon while he was squirreled away looking at documents and maps and an antique abacus. His staff seemed to agree, yawning and musing over dinner plans as the two groups dispersed, the Essempi convoy headed towards the guest quarters and Techno and his officials wandering further inwards of the castle.

“Well done in there, Your Majesty!” praised one of Techno’s staff while he wasn’t looking, and he was too embarrassed to admit that he hadn’t quite managed to catch who was talking, so he just raised a hand and gave a vague “Ayup” before leaving quickly. Much quicker than he had arrived, as it happened. So interesting, that things worked out like that.

“Busy day?” Phil asked as the door to the royal quarters clicked shut. Techno sighed heavily and let his head thunk back against the heavy wood. Phil, the intolerable jerk, giggled at him.

“Why weren’t you the one handling that again?”

“Because the little stunt we pulled was just a biiiiiit too successful,” Phil reminded with another chuckle, and Techno groaned as he shoved off the door.

It had been a gambit, but as a fledgling nation the Antarctic Empire had needed to gain the attention of the rest of the world, and gain their attention they had. An extremely brief, brutal, there-then-gone conquest that had left the vast majority of the world temporarily under the Empire’s claim. It served two purposes, each a message:

Do not, under any circumstances, make enemies of the Empire.

Probably a good idea to play nice and make friends, though.

Most of the world had taken the first message very much to heart, and the testing nudges they’d been making abruptly vanished. Some nations, like Essempi, had quickly jumped to playing nice, eager to make powerful allies (and perhaps just as eager to make sure they didn’t have a powerful enemy).

A couple nations had taken message number one as a challenge, and readied warships with bloodied thirst.

Not that the Empire couldn’t handle a bit of… rough play, but it did mean that after squashing attempts at overthrowing or subjugating them, Phil got saddled with miles of paperwork establishing the enemy’s surrender and the Empire’s new normal.

“I thought you were meeting with the guys who wanted moon access today?” Techno asked as he approached. Phil’d had dinner brought to their rooms, as they did most nights when they weren’t expected to make an appearance, and Techno let into the meat and eggs with gusto.

“That’s tomorrow. Tonight was more surrender talk.”

“So that’s why you double booked us. You wanted ‘em alone in a room with you.”

Phil giggled, waggling his fingers so as to make a show of his talons.

Techno gave a very half-hearted kick to his shin. Quarter-hearted. Maybe even sixth-hearted. Phil cackled at him.

“Can’t let you outta my sight for ten minutes,” Techno groused around a mouthful of chicken. Phil popped a handful of red berries into his mouth (some of the only vegetation that could be grown outside of the greenhouses), and he looked altogether too smug.

“How’re things with Essempi going? Off to a running start?”

“Actually? Yeah.”

“Yeah?”

“I like the representative they sent over, Niki, she’s got a good head on her shoulders, and so far they’ve been fair, if not generous.” Techno gave his partner a meaningful glance. “We should probably expect a request for military aid, sometime in the future.”

Phil shrugged, entirely unfazed. “We’ve always known that’s a possibility. And we’re not exactly hurting for it.”

“Figured as much.” Techno lifted his plate to slide the eggs into his open mouth, the fork method far too slow. “Honestly don’t think this deal is gonna take too long to finalize. Week, probably?”

“For you? That’s a goddamn miracle, mate.”

Techno snorted. “I know, right? She’s got a pupil along with her, skinny guy named Ranboo. Showin’ him the ropes.”

Phil spluttered a laugh. “And she chose you for a practice round!?”

“I know right? Like, c’mon, cut the guy some slack. He looked ready to shake out of his skin. Don’t just throw him off the deep end chanting ‘blood for the blood god’ like there’s gotta be less intimidatin’ guys than me out there.”

Phil giggled and Techno continued, “Brought a ship captain too, Puffy, shorter than you and louder. She’s been a good help settin’ realistic expectations, but I dunno how involved she’s gonna be in the rest of our meetings.”

“Sounds like you’ve got a pretty good handle on it, mate. Good for you, good for you.”

Techno snorted. “Never thought we’d see the day.”

“Aww, I knew you could do it.” Techno cast him yet another look. He giggled. “Eventually.”

Techno guffawed and set his plate down, dropping his head back. By the Blood God, he felt tired.

“Well,” Phil continued, stretching his arms above his head and his wings out to each side, “nobody got attacked and no emergencies happened, so I’ll call this day a win.”

“Ah, but I did get attacked,” Techno said with a raised finger, remembering his joke from earlier.

“Oh?” Phil asked, with all the sharp-eyed curiosity of a man who knew a punchline was coming, but was trying to tell where from.

Techno heaved his head back up. “In the halls of our own very castle. I was caught off-guard—very brutally, I should add—by a ninja door.”

Phil broke immediately into cackles.

“Snuck up on me while I was just innocently walkin’ down the hall, Phil. Never would’ve expected it. One of our own doors. The betrayal was immense.”

“whAT?” Phil giggle-shouted, his feathers poofing and his shoulders shaking.

“I was just mindin’ my own business when bam! Suddenly the door was right there. Scared the life out of me. Don’t worry, Phil, I showed it who was boss. I twisted that handle like I was born for it.”

Phil was now laughing so hard tears gathered in the corners of his eyes.

Techno grinned, warmth glowing in the center of his chest. Truthfully, it probably wasn’t that funny of a joke, but the combination of fatigue, the subject being unexpected, and Phil being an easy audience made it sound like ninja doors were the funniest thing in the whole world.

The night was still young, but Techno was utterly drained from the day of talking (and tomorrow would be much the same) so he called it an early night. Phil, equally tired from twisting arms into surrender (and maybe getting to play a little mean with his talons, who knew. Not Techno! Techno hadn’t been there to reel him in!) was more than happy to agree.

This far south, sleeping in your own bed was about as smart as wandering the town naked. Too much warmth leached out that way. It was only sensible that family members shared a bed together, with drapes around the edges to keep the air captive.

Techno had no family to speak of, except the one, so the two emperors dressed for the night and crawled in together, Phil’s top wing spread out over them like an added blanket and his icy little feet pressed up against Techno’s leg.

“Why are you always an ice cube?” Techno groused, gathering his friend in his arms.

“Shhhh, you’re just a friggin’ blast furnace, mate. Go to sleep.”

Techno huffed, breath stirring Phi’s hair and making him chuckle, then nuzzled down into the blankets and his companion, wishing he could hibernate the day off. Blood God himself, he was tired.

But wake the next morning he did, and the next, and the next after that. Essempi eventually embarked for their home, along with the first shipment of goods from the Empire. More countries entered peace treaties with them, or at the very least non-aggression pacts, particularly as more nations fell to the Antarctic Empire’s might. Trade was good, their people sleeping with full bellies and a more or less nutritionally balanced diet. The Empire produced plenty of coal, in its cavernous depths, and many nations of warmer climates had want for the ice they so easily chiseled up from around them.

Things were good.

Techno was getting… better, about the whole talking to people thing. After the first few days, Ranboo had started speaking, and Techno had found a kindred spirit in him. The two now exchanged regular correspondence. Mostly about books, but sometimes they’d share personal stories or gossip (apparently Captain Puffy was working very closely with a certain someone, indeed). Meetings were no longer torments summoned directly from hell (not that Techno liked them, but Techno was pretty sure he was never actually going to like meetings (honestly, he was pretty sure nobody did)). He and Phil were getting a pretty good handle on this whole, “being emperors” thing.

That said, politically motivated social functions were still the worst. But Essempi was, to date, still their closest and friendliest ally, and Techno knew enough about court niceties by now to know that regardless of how much he might’ve wanted to, he and Phil could not turn down their invitation to a ball.

“What even is the point of balls,” Techno groused as he examined the flimsy nothings the tailor had made for him to wear there. Too thin of a material, not nearly enough fur around his neck, he’d freeze to death in this in an instant. He… did like the gold bits, though. He’d conceded on that. And the jewelry. Those parts were nice. The rest of it was like walking around in wet paper, though.

“Maintaining positive social ties with political figures we’ve already established with and makin’ new friends with new people at a designated function for doing so—”

“I was bein’ sarcastic, Phil,” Techno cut off the overly-formal lecture, making Phil cackle. “It’s called a rhetorical question, Phil, ever heard of it?”

“Can’t say I have, mate,” Phil lied with a giggle.

“A rhetorical question is a—” Techno started, overly-formal lecture of his own primed and at the ready, and Phil swatted him with a big black wing, setting them both to laughing.

The boat ride to Essempi went about as well as anticipated. Phil flitted about, happily assisting with the crow’s nest and upper rigging, and Techno spent about half of it bent over the railing, the other half desperately attempting to coax water and ginger teas into his stomach that he didn’t immediately upend.

“We should build a land bridge,” Techno groused when his friend came over to both hydrate and mock him.

Phil, predictably, laughed, “Mate, I don’t know if even we mine up enough stone for that,” he said as he passed a water flask over. Techno swished it around his mouth and spit, trying to rid himself of the now everpresent taste of bile, then sipped slowly and delicately, his stomach groaning pathetically and churning at even that.

“Then we’re building flying machines and we’re taking those. Planes, blimps, hot air balloons, I don’t care, this is the last trip I sail anywhere.”

“Blimp’s not a bad idea,” Phil mused as Techno shut his eyes, bracing himself against the railing with renewed force and willing the nausea to pass him over without taking his water with it. “It’d be more regal and dignified than staggerin’ off a boat dehydrated and starved and swaying.”

“Gonna punch you for that.”

“Are you now?” he asked with a giggle.

“Ayup. Just give me three to five business days to get off this railing and then it’s over for you. It’s so over for you.”

More laughter. “I’ll be sure to keep that in mind. Well, I’m off to go perch in the crow’s nest again, have fun pukin’ your guts out.”

“Death. Death and violence.”

His friend’s retreating laughter left him and he stewed in abject misery for the rest of the trip. By the time they hit land and Techno was able to collapse into a bed that wasn’t swaying every which way, he was even looking forward to the party, since it meant not being on the boat.

The flimsy cheesecloth the tailor had prepared for him made more sense in this warmer climate, and now that he wasn’t being a stubborn child about it he had to admit: he cleaned up good. Deep red and gold and black, Phil his match but green, they were striking, appearing wealthy and deadly and even, somehow, regal.

Despite, y’know, it being the two of them.

The party goers were respectful, nobody jumping at the chance to speak with the Antarctic emperors but no one intentionally snubbing them either, and Techno mostly just had to loom behind Phil with a ridiculously shatterable little wine flute pinched delicately between his fingers and listen. Answer the occasional polite question that was directed his way, make sure Phil didn’t get too excited at any perceived slight, it was almost even normal.

He was at the food table, piling high a plate he intended to share with his co-emperor, when he heard a familiar, boisterous voice.

“Emperor Technoblade!”

“Captain,” he greeted, turning to her. She extended her drinking glass, and he gently clinked his against it. “They’re lettin’ riffraff like you in here?”

Puffy barked a sharp laugh, loud and unabashed. “I’m a plus one.”

“Oh?” Techno raised an eyebrow. “You and Niki official, then?”

Puffy squinted. “And how exactly do you know about that?”

Techno smirked behind the rim of his glass. “I have informants everywhere.”

Puffy laughed, once again boisterous and booming, and landed a playful punch just barely above Techno’s elbow. Haha why are you so short.jpeg. Oh c’mon Chat that joke is not old that’s still peak comedy right there.

“Man, I can’t believe everyone’s so intimidated by you.”

“You wouldn’t say that if you saw me in a fight,” Techno countered, amused.

“And you wouldn’t say that if you saw me in one, blood boy!”

Techno arched an eyebrow. “Blood boy,” that was a new one. In their trade with Essempi, Techno and Phil had gotten to know the sea captain a little better each time she was in their port, and she’d taken to treating them with the same friendly irreverence she spoke to everyone with.

Techno set his plate down on the edge of the table, largely crowded out by the serving dishes but finding just enough space for it to not go falling over. Intentionally, he loomed over her, his impressive height casting her fully in shadow, and let himself grin.

“Careful, Captain. It’s not smart to threaten me with a good time.”

As tolerable as the party was thus far, Techno would be lying if he said he wouldn’t ditch in half a heartbeat to go screw around. And after the miserable journey here, a good friendly sparring match with a spunky lady sounded like even more fun than usual.

Puffy rocked up on her hooves, and even on the tips while Techno was stooping down she couldn’t really get “in” his face but he understood the gesture. His grin widened. It matched her own.

“What’s the matter, big boy, don’t think you could take me?”

“Miss Puffy, um, you promised Miss Niki you wouldn’t cause a scene,” came a timid voice from nearby, and both Techno and Captain Puffy perked.

“Ranboo,” Techno greeted, scooping up his plate of food and crossing the distance to his young friend.

“Hello, Emperor Technoblade, it’s nice to see you, please don’t encourage her.”

“Good to see you too,” Techno said warmly, meaning it. Through their letters, Techno had come to regard the young Enderian as a good friend.

Puffy gasped as she trotted over, and shoved right up into Ranboo’s space. “Are you the nark?”

“Um,” Ranboo said, backing slowly away only to be further crowded by a sheep woman half his height, clearly confused, “no?”

“Yeah, Captain, what’s with this baseless accusation you’re makin’ against my good pal Ranboo?”

“I can’t believe this. Betrayed by my own girlfriend’s tagalong.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about??”

“Eh, don’t worry about it,” Techno said, slinging an arm over Ranboo’s shoulders and nearly bowling the guy over with its weight. Techno had seen bamboo shoots with more structural integrity, smh.

“E-either way, please do not help Miss Puffy make a scene. Miss Niki specifically instructed her not to do that.”

“Guess we’ll just have to go somewhere there’s nobody else around,” Puffy said, still full of good cheer.

“True. Can’t make a scene if there’s no one to see it.”

“Oh, no. I. I’m going to go get Miss Niki.” Techno barked a laugh but released Ranboo to go do so, and Puffy waggled her fingers at his retreating backside.

“Kayyyy. We won’t be here when you get back!”

Techno glanced down at the plate in his hand. Hm. Well, he couldn’t just return it all to the serving dishes, he’d already touched it. Puffy nudged him with her elbow, and when he glanced her way he found her pulling at her wide neckline and winking at him. With her other hand, she lifted the neck of a bottle of what surely must be rum, and he caught on immediately. Using one of the overly-fancy napkins, he bundled his snacks and passed them to her, watching her disappear them into her clothes. That was so smart, he’d have to talk to his tailor about providing him that kind of opportunity in future outfits.

His loyalty to his co-emperor did him in, though. Puffy was already heading out one of the patio doors, sneaking off into a well-maintained garden, but Techno detoured to grab Phil, knowing if there was going to be any fighting, for fun or for murder, he’d be heartbroken if Techno left him out.

“Emperor Technoblade,” greeted Niki from behind him while he was trying to wait out the conversation Phil was currently engaged in. She sounded icier than when she’d been in his antarctic home, negotiating trade.

Busted.

“Hello, Niki,” he returned. Definitely not sounding guilty. Nothing going on over here officer, no suspicious activity whatsoever.

“It seems my partner for the evening has vacated the premises. Would you care to dance with me in her place?”

“Uhhhhh.” Techno wasn’t the best at court niceties, but he knew a request from a “request.” He took her outstretched hand.

“What uh—why the sudden interest?” Oh that sounded so suspicious he could stab himself.

“Can a lowly civic servant not ask an emperor for a dance?”

“Uhhhh no, no that’s fine. That’s uh, that’s fine, just, haven’t uh—how you been, Niki, haven’t seen you in a while!” he not-so-subtly changed the subject.

“I have been alright. Times have been better for us than in a long time, and I have been kept busy making sure it all stays in running order.”

“Not too busy, I hope?”

Niki laughed, but it wasn’t the most mirthful sound he’d ever heard.

In some of Ranboo’s letters, he’d voiced concern for his mentor/sister figure, writing of nightmares and insomnia that was only partially due to her high workload.

“Cause stressin’ yourself out can take a toll on the body, you know,” Techno pushed, not sure if it was his place to or not, but eh. He liked Niki. She was a good sensible woman who (normally) didn’t make him feel like dying or killing out of sheer mortification. And during negotiations, she’d been friendly. “It’s important to take breaks and have fun, every now and then.”

She pursed her lips in a frown, and it looked so much like she was pouting that he chuckled. “C’mon, take a load off.” He grinned at her, playful and a little teasing. “There’s a very pretty girl outside who I know would just love to have you come goof off with us.”

“Well now that’s not out of the ordinary. That very pretty girl is always trying to get me to goof off.”

“Maybe you should listen to her more often.”

Niki sighed and let Techno spin her, the dress she’d chosen for the party flaring nicely. “Maybe I should.”

“Yeahhhhhhhh that’s the spirit! Come join us! We’ll make, like, a bookclub or something.”

Niki let out a “pfft,” and then giggled quietly. “I should put that in my credentials somewhere. ‘In a bookclub with an emperor.’”

“Two emperors if I can get him away from those—what are they, petty nobles?”

“Ambassadors from Kpop.”

“Cringe. We gotta get outta here, Niki, I can feel my viewership dropping by the moment.”

“I don’t know what that means—Technoblade!”

In a grand sweeping movement that was definitely not typical but could still technically be considered dancing, Techno rushed the two of them towards the patio, catching Phil’s eye just briefly enough to give a jerk of his chin, watching his friend’s eyes light up with curiosity and mirth.

Okay, good, Phil was coming.

“Really,” Niki scolded, but she wasn’t resisting him at all as he dragged her along, out into the privacy of the manicured foliage and beyond.

“Ehhh, relaaax. Nobody saw us leave. Probably.”

“I am quite sure a great many people saw us leave.”

“Eh. Phil and I already talked to everybody important that would get, like, big mad if we didn’t. We can ditch.”

“I am part of the hosting party.”

“Aaaaaaaaand now you’re not. So it’s fine, it’s fiiiine.”

Niki giggled, and it sounded just a little more genuine. Good. He was getting a good grade in cheering Niki up, something reasonable to want and possible to achieve.

“Heyyyyyy, look what the pig dragged in!” Puffy cheered, bottle open in one hand and waving excitedly with the other.

“You are incorrigible. I cannot believe you dragged an emperor in on your shenanigans.”

“This is actually pretty consistent with my character honey, I don’t know what to tell you.”

Techno barked a laugh and snagged the bottle from her, taking a big gulp before extending it towards Niki.

“I am surrounded by ruffians,” she said, but he noted she took the bottle and a big drink of her own.

“Ehhh, I wouldn’t really call two people ‘surrounded,’ maybe sandwiched?” A familiar sound of wings had Techno’s elbow angling up on instinct, and soon he had a shoulder full of best friend. “Okay, Phil’s here, now you’re surrounded.”

“Who’re we surrounding?”

“We’re forcing Niki to take a load off and have a nice evening.”

“Pog.”

“Cheers to that, Emperor number two!”

Phil spluttered around laughter as he hopped from his perch. “I’m just the number two now, am I?” He took the bottle from Niki, who went and leaned on her laughing girlfriend and pressed a kiss atop one of her horns.

The sound of footsteps and not-so-subtle huffing and puffing had them all turning to look. It was far too loud to be any kind of assassin, so nobody was on guard, and Phil took another swig of rum as Ranboo rounded a hedge.

Realizing his late entry made all eyes fall on him, Ranboo flushed. Huh. He turned kinda greenish on one side and a more typical red on the other. Pogchamp, Techno supposed.

“Uh,” he said, still catching his breath a bit. “Um. Miss Niki, you, uh, left the party.”

“Sorry Ranboo,” she said, looking honestly chagrined. “I did not mean to leave you there on your own.”

Ah. Left alone by the extrovert that adopted you at a party that wasn’t your idea to attend in the first place. A fate worse than death, which Techno would not wish on his worst enemy, much less friend.

“Um. Why is, everyone here, and not, inside?” he asked, tail twitching and lashing with his agitation.

“We’re ditching,” Techno said, slinging an arm around the little beanpole once again. “You are too.”

“I’m—what?” Ranboo spluttered as Techno dragged him forward, starting the group into a slow amble further from the noises of the party, Niki looking at him with apology and Puffy cheering around a laugh.

“Yeah, mate, you’re a delinquent now!” Phil said brightly, pushing Ranboo from behind while Techno pulled. “Gotta play hookie with us.”

“I, um, I uh, well,” he stammered, twisting his fingers, looking about between them and finding absolutely no help.

“You’re bein’ peer pressured. We’re peer pressurin’ you. Just come goof off with us, Ranboo, join the dark side, we have cookies.”

“We do, actually,” Puffy said, taking the rum back and finishing off the bottle. “I’ve got enough snacks hidden in my various pockets to feed an army.”

“Absolute pogchamp.”

“Oh I knew you were up to something!”

“Always,” Puffy said with a wink, rising up onto her hooftips to kiss Niki’s cheek.

“I, uh…” Ranboo sighed. It was a great heaving thing, making him sound more and more like a dejected cat.

“Yeahhhh! One Ranboo, officially roped into our nonsense. Gang’s all here now, gang’s all here.”

“So what’re we doing?” Phil asked cheerfully, crossing his wrists behind his head in a strikingly anime fashion.

“Well, the captain and I were gonna fight—” Phil’s eyes lit up in an excited glint, drawn to the allure of playful violence, “—but since we’ve got Niki and Ranboo now I say we just goof around on the beach.”

“That… does actually sound kind of nice,” Niki admitted, and Ranboo’s whole body perked hopefully. Techno gave one noodle arm a nudge with an elbow and sent him a quick wink. They’d get that girl to take a load off and enjoy herself, even if it took all four of them to do it.

A rustling, too large to be a rabbit, came from a bush ahead of them, just on that seam of land where dirt shifted into sand. Not a moment later, out spilled a man, a man wearing a bright blue onesie.

“Connor?!?” asked all five of them, equally shocked.

“Hey heyyyyyyy, guyyyyys,” Connor said, one leg still trapped inside the bush, splayed out on his back and craning his neck back to look at them, lifting a hand in a peace sign. “How’s it going?”

“Connor, what are you doing here?” Niki asked, concerned.

“Wait, how do you know Connor?” Phil asked.

“How do you know Connor?” Ranboo countered, Niki helping pry the man loose from the bush’s terrible clutches and more or less right himself on his feet.

“Oh, I get around a lot,” Connor said blithely, “At this point I know most people.”

For a moment, they stood in a loose circle, staring silently at one another.

A bottle uncorked and attention turned to Puffy. “I mean, I also know Connor,” she said, taking a swig of something new. “Wanna come screw around on the beach with us? I brought snacks.”

“Oh fuck yeah.”

And screw around they did. Mostly just walking and talking under starlight, the ocean breeze cool but only as much to be pleasant. They found a nice flat rock to take a sit on and Puffy shared the many treats she’d secreted, everyone chowing down and laughing around jokes and conversation. Phil and Puffy got into a wrestling match in the sand at one point, Connor braided uneven sections of Puffy’s hair while Niki pleated nice, neat rows, Techno and Ranboo discussed the recent installment of a book series they’d both been following and that Ranboo had shipped a copy of, knowing Techno would want one and wouldn’t want to wait long enough to place the order all the way from Antarctica.

Phil perched on Techno’s shoulders for no reason other than to feel tall, Connor relayed a tale so wild no one was sure if Connor could actually have survived that sort of thing, or if he was just making up shit as he went along, and Niki was laughing with her whole chest, flush to her cheeks and a weight lifted from her.

It was a good evening. A good night, as the moon rose higher and the distant, far-off sounds of partying wound lower. Their group was winding down as well, conversation fading into companionable silence.

Niki’s weight slumped against Techno’s side, and he glanced down to find the woman asleep.

“Gotter,” he teased softly, nudging Ranboo on his other side.

“Oh, good,” he said fondly, peering around Techno and ending up leaning on him too, as a result. Phil chuckled from above, still perched on Techno’s shoulders. Connor munched away at the remaining snacks, seated on the sand in front of the flat stone, and Puffy leaned contentedly back on her hands on Niki’s other side, staring up at the starlight.

Techno still might not be the best at talking to people, but even he had to admit: if it meant getting him here, on a night that he would’ve otherwise slogged through in a stuffy party full of people he didn’t know, he was pretty glad he’d done so.

Ayup. Not a bad place for him to be.

#dream smp #Technoblade #Philza #Emduo #Niki Nihachu #Captain Puffy #Ranboo #emerald duo #smpearth #smp earth #fantasy politics #my writing #haro writes #connoreatspants is also there #syndicate #dsmp

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stonesparrow · 4 months ago

Text

Save The World Any%

After getting shot in Araxá, Senku wakes up in his fifteen year old body on the day he first broke free from the petrification, nearly four years before. He then decides to use his knowledge of future events to defeat Why-man as fast as humanely possible. The world won’t know what hit it.

Read on ao3!

One second, Senku’s lying on the ground bleeding profusely from his chest as the petrification light spreads across his body, the darkness closing in on him as he smiles triumphantly at Xeno.

The next, the pain in his chest has vanished completely, and he’s staring up at the sunlight falling over his face through a canopy of lush green trees.

Senku blinks. When he sits up, chunks of stone and moss fall from his body, and he finds himself staring straight at the open face of a very familiar cave.

“Huh,” he says.

Then his face breaks out into a wide grin.

“Kukuku, how very interesting.”

TIME: 00:00:00:00

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

Despite having a pretty comprehensive plan in mind for this second go around, Senku still ends up spending a fair bit of time getting food, shelter, and clothes again—losing what little stamina he’d built up and being reset to his fifteen-year old body is rather frustrating. But he’s been given a chance to do things better, more efficiently, and he won’t look a gift horse in the mouth.

And it does end up being faster, because now he knows how to make a good stone axe, now he knows how to make waterproof pots, how to make a good bone needle.

He still writes the mass-energy equivalence formula on his clothes. It doesn’t seem right to not have it.

The most important thing he knows however is of course, the revival fluid formula, and where to find grapes for wine. And so within two months, he’s got it.

SPLASH!!

“Gwuh-huh?!” Taiju splutters, shaking the stone bits from his hair before his eyes go wide and he gasps. “SENKU!!”

Senku grins. “Hey, big oaf.”

Tears flow from Taiju’s eyes and he launches himself at Senku. Or he would, if he wasn’t still halfway buried in the ground. Luckily it doesn’t take Taiju that much time to dig himself out, with Senku’s help.

Soon however, Senku realizes that Taiju actually doesn’t remember Araxá, or anything from after he was turned to stone. When they go to wake up Yuzuriha right afterwards, she’s the same.

Ah well, Senku can work with this.

“Alright!” he grins at his two best friends, who are eager to help as always. “First thing’s first, we’re going to Hakone!”

Ideally he’d wake up Gen and Nikki and some of the stronger guys to help out, but Senku doesn’t know where any of them are right now—he knows Minami would know, but he doesn’t know where she’d be right now. And he’s not about to wake Tsukasa up to find out. They were cool back in 5742, sure, but Senku just really doesn’t want to deal with 5738 Tsukasa right now.

Besides, it would take time to find them. And Ruri doesn’t deserve to suffer for that long.

“Oh yeah, one more thing,” he says before they set out. Taiju and Yuzuriha stare at him curiously.

“What is it, Senku-kun?” Yuzuriha asks.

He crosses his arms. “You’ve both been crying to me about your massive crushes on each other since we were eleven and it’s fucking obnoxious. Get it together or I’m going to have a goddamn aneurysm.”

They stare at him.

“What?” Taiju croaks.

Senku’s already running over the next hill. “GET IT TOGETHER! CHOP CHOP!”

ACHIEVEMENT: Revival fluid acquired!

Taiju joined the party!

Yuzuriha joined the party!

TIME: 67:11:04:33

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

Just as she does every day, Kohaku wakes up bright and early to get Ruri’s bathwater. When she gets there however, she’s startled by the presence of three people her age she’s never seen before at the hot springs—a girl and two boys.

The shorter of the boys crosses his arms and grins at her. “Heya, Lioness! Name’s Ishigami Senku, son of Ishigami Byakuya. Do you happen to need a cure for a coughing illness?”

Kohaku blinks. “What?”

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

“I’m, sorry, you met who now?” Jasper frowns.

“Look I really don’t know how to explain this properly,” Kohaku says, hand to her forehead. “Can I just talk to Ruri?”

Ruri pokes her head out of the hut. “What is it, Kohaku? Everything okay?”

“Uh well,” Kohaku scratches her head. “Does the name Ishigami Senku sound familiar?”

Ruri’s eyes go wide.

ACHIEVEMENT: Ishigami Village allegiance acquired!

TIME: 69:09:41:01

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

“Wait this is like, a lot to process,” Chrome says as Senku draws out the roadmap on the ground for the whole village to see. “You’re the son of the Founder, you were asleep for three thousand years, and you also know how to make a medicine to cure Ruri?”

“Yeah,” Senku says, tapping the ground. “Now let's get this over with so she doesn’t have to marry you from her sickbed.”

Chrome’s face turns bright red. “WHAT?!”

“Oh, and Kinro!” Senku yells over at him. “You need glasses!”

Kinro blinks. “What is he talking about?” he murmurs to Kohaku. She shrugs.

Four months later and everyone is in tears as Ruri takes her first clear breaths in years.

“How can I repay this kindness?” Kokuyo asks Senku, practically sobbing as he hugs a laughing Ruri to his chest.

Senku grins. “Weeeeell…you could let me borrow Chrome, Kaseki, Kohaku, and Suika for a hot minute.”

Suika looks up from where she’s making straw dolls with Yuzuriha and Kaseki. “EHH??!”

ACHIEVEMENT: Cure Ruri!

TIME: 189:16:17:02

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

“Senku-kun?”

“Yes Yuzuriha?”

“Remind me again why we’re blowing up the hillside here?”

Senku shovels some dirt to the side. “Looking for a kid.”

“See no, I get that,” Yuzuriha says, waving at Taiju and Chrome as they’re carting over the next round of dynamite. “But…why?”

“Don’t worry,” Senku says, shoveling more dirt away. “All part of the plan.”

When they find and revive her, Shishio Mirai blinks up at them in confusion.

“You’re not the doctor,” she says curiously to Senku. He smiles.

“Nope. But I’ll take you to your brother now, if that’s alright with you.”

She lights up. “Okay! Thank you!”

Taiju leads them to where he found Tsukasa’s statue, and as soon as the stone flakes off his eye he spots his sister and freezes.

“Mirai?” he says it like a prayer.

“Tsukasa-nii!” Mirai cheers, throwing her arms around him.

They get Tsukasa dressed and he holds his hand out to Senku.

“Thank you,” he says, voice quivering slightly with Mirai tucked into his other side. “I thought��I didn’t think I’d ever see her again. Please, what can I do to repay you?”

Senku grins. “You ever heard of a reporter named Hokutozai Minami?”

Tsukasa joined the party!

TIME: 200:14:27:54

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

“Oh,” Minami says as they’re making a list of people to revive. “Do you think a spear-user would be useful? There’s this one kudayari athlete, Akatsuki Hyoga—”

“Nope,” Senku says.

“Eh? But we’re pretty limited on weapons,” Minami points out. “An expert might be hel-“

“Nope,” Senku repeats. “Nuh uh. Noooo.”

Minami sighs. “Well, okay…”

Hyoga did not join the party!

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

“I can’t believe all it took was glasses for Kinro to win the entire tournament,” Ginro says in amazement as the party for the new chief continues into the night. “Science sure is powerful…”

“Eh, it was mostly him, the glasses just leveled the playing field,” Senku says, biting into a roast fish. “Anyway, Chrome, since Ruri and Kinro got amicably divorced I fully expect an invitation to your wedding within the week.”

“Why are you like this?” Chrome hisses, face beet red. “Anyway, shouldn’t we worry about Magma? He’s totally pissed at us for what happened!”

“Nah, Gen got him and Yo to start competing and now he’s spending all his energy on that instead,” Senku says, picking fish bones out of his teeth. “And Tsukasa’s keeping an eye on him, it’s no problem.”

“Modern timers sure are weird,” Kohaku remarks.

“I’m fairly certain that’s just Senku-chan,” Gen says.

ACHIEVEMENT: Resolve the Grand Bout!

TIME: 378:20:06:51

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

When Kirisame and Mozu are sent to deal with a mysterious boat that’s appeared on the shore, they’re both pretty certain it’ll be a quick job.

But when Kirisame throws the petrification weapon, some sort of flying creature suddenly appears and snatches it out of the air, and to their shock and confusion the beam completely misses the entire boat.

“What the—?!” Kirisame exclaims, the rope having been pulled right out of her hand.

The strange bird drops down to the deck of the boat and a young man with green hair plucks the petrification device from it with a wild grin, looking directly at the two warriors.

“Get the device!!” Kirisame yells, and she and Mozu leap aboard the enemy’s craft, but before they can so much as swing their weapons—

“Three meters, one second.”

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

“That was awesome!” Ryusui chortles. “The drone worked perfectly, they didn’t know what hit them!”

“I’m still confused as to how we knew exactly which direction they’d come from,” Ukyo mutters.

“Don’t worry about it,” Senku says. “It all worked out fine.”

“Did you have to catch me in the blast too?” Gen whines as Chrome is revived. “That was terrifying!”

“Hey, it got them, didn’t it?” Senku shrugs as he dumps revival fluid on a tied-up Kirisame. She blinks in confusion.

“Wh—I’m alive? But how?!”

Senku pulls Soyuz forward and snaps his fingers in front of Kirisame’s face. “Yo! Your Master is dead, here’s your prince, we’re gonna throw a coup now.”

Kirisame stares at Soyuz, eyes widening in recognition.

“WHAT?!”

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

It’s been a weird day for Amaryllis. First she misplaced her basket, then she accidentally burned lunch, and then messengers came from the capital saying that Minister Ibara had been discovered as a traitor and was defeated by their new Master, the long lost son of the first Master who had been unjustly killed by Ibara. The harem obligation has been completely abolished, and apparently the new Master had a bunch of friends from far away who brought with them an elixir that could cure petrification!

It all gets to be rather much, and Amaryllis finds herself sitting outside her hut in a daze realizing that someone beat her to the punch to overthrow the tyrannical leadership. She won’t have to join the harem. They can revive her friends.

She’s free.

Then of course, every young man in the village suddenly appears at her feet begging her to marry them. Amaryllis stares for a second, then bursts out laughing.

“I’m sorry to disappoint you all,” she grins as they all blink in confusion and dismay, “But you’re going to have to get to know the real Amaryllis before you can hope to win my hand.”

No more fake tears. No more pretending to be silly and sweet and mindless. The true Amaryllis is finally back.

On the other side of the island, a ship is sailing away, and Senku waves to Soyuz triumphantly.

ACHIEVEMENT: Reclaim Soyuz’s throne!

ACHIEVEMENT: Medusa acquired!

ACHIEVEMENT: Platinum acquired!

TIME: 668:13:07:42

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

When he open fires on the strange ship that’s coming up the river, Stan notices that they all instantly duck behind heavy walls that look…almost like they’ve been set up in anticipation of gunfire.

He’s about to circle around for another round when suddenly one of the young women leaps up and throws something.

A flash of green, and everything goes dark.

“Oh my god,” Gen says as they haul the wrecked plane onto the shore. “We didn’t kill him, did we?”

“Naaaah, he’ll be fine,” Senku says. “Right Yuzuriha?”

“You owe me a five hour modeling session,” she says pleasantly as she puts the smaller pieces of Stanley Snyder in her basket.

Senku shrugs. “Fair enough.”

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

“Hmm.”

“What is it boss?” Brody asks.

“Something’s wrong with Stan’s radio,” Xeno says. “He’s not answering.”

“Maybe those strangers shot him down,” Maya says, frowning.

“No way!” Charlotte declares. “Captain Snyder is a top class pilot. Even if the trespassers have guns like ours, he wouldn’t allow himself to get shot out of the air so quickly!”

“Something’s definitely up though,” Brody says.

“I concur,” Xeno nods. “Charlotte, take the second plane and go investigate.”

“Yes sir.” She moves towards the door, but then suddenly it opens.

“Dr. Xeno, sir,” Leonard says. “We’ve discovered a trespasser.”

“Oh? Do bring them in,” Xeno clasps his hands over his lap. Two burly soldiers escort a young blonde man into the room between them. He looks half-Asian.

“Good morning!” He says cheerfully in barely-accented English. “You sure have a nice place here! I desire such architectural talents myself!”

“And I desire to know who you are,” Xeno says. “And what you plan on doing here, if you would be so kind.”

The man smiles. “Three hundred meters, one second.”

“What?”

Everything goes green.

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

“I can’t believe you volunteered for such a dangerous mission,” Ukyo says, shaking his head at Ryusui.

Ryusui laughs. “It was pretty fun, actually!”

Senku dumps the revival fluid over Xeno, who stares at him in amazement.

“Senku Ishigami?”

“In the flesh, Dr. X!” Senku crosses his arms. “Look. There’s no point in a dumbass dream like world domination when there’s a very real, very unknown force on the moon trying to turn the whole world to stone with little gadgets like these.” He holds up the Medusa. “So you’re going to help us get there, got it?”

Xeno tilts his head, processing the information. Then looks at Tsukasa and Nikki standing on either side of him with their big burly arms and swords at their waists.

“My my,” he says. “You’re all grown up, aren’t you?”

Senku scoffs. “You in or not?”

Xeno grins. “Well with an offer like that, how can I say no? Yes…this will be an elegant project indeed.”

Senku rolls his eyes. “Weirdo.”

“Pot, kettle,” Gen whispers to Ukyo.

ACHIEVEMENT: Defeated the Americans!

Xeno joined the party!

TIME: 708:15:52:09

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

“He can’t be like, psychic, can he?”

“No way! Psychic powers don’t exist.”

“Are we sure? When I was younger I was pretty certain stonification beams didn’t exist.”

“Maybe he reads minds or can see the future or something.”

“No, that doesn’t make any sense. If he could see the future, he’d have stopped the global petrification before it ever happened.”

“Well whatever it is, he hasn’t gotten us killed yet. That has to count for something, right?”

“Key word being yet…”

“Aw come on guys it’s not that bad. Yeah he’s weird, but he cares. Maybe eventually he’ll trust us enough to explain himself a little better.”

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

The rocket is built.

They meet the ones responsible for the global petrification.

It’s over.

ACHIEVEMENT: “Defeat” Why-man!

TIME: 2533:21:29:17

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

Or is it?

TIME: 2533:21:29:32

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

The world isn’t saved yet, Senku thinks as he watches Chrome converse with the little Medusa in its glass pod. There’s still millions of people, billions of people, who need to be revived. There’s still important technology that needs to be rebuilt. There’s still Taiju and Yuzuriha’s wedding to be planned.

No, it’s not over yet. Maybe it never will be.

But they’re here, and he’s happy with that. So there’s no use in counting anymore. Only looking to the next goal, the next step.

That’s life, after all.

TIME: ——:——:——:——

#dr stone #dcst #dr. stone #ishigami senku #time travel fix-it au #au #aus #my fic #my writing #dcst manga spoilers #manga spoilers

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thezombieprostitute · 9 months ago

Text

Changing Minds - Part 4

Summary: Your long time work acquaintance Nick Fowler offers to take you to a fancy fundraiser as a way of cheering you up. He insists it's only as friends but when he sees you falling into the grasp of someone he knows is no good, he might change his mind on that.

Word Count: ~2.4k (definitely a big'un for my standards!)

Warnings: Implied violence and attempted murder. Please let me know if I missed any.

A/N: Reader is an older female (late 30's +). This is part of the Garbage Men AU.

Part 3 -- Part 5

Series Masterlist

Nick’s been making sure to keep texting you. Nothing too romantic, too revealing, but still keeping in touch, keeping up the appearance of interest. He’s gotten his hands on a tennis bracelet with your favorite color gemstones. Jake was able to find a small enough tracker that could be hidden behind one of the stones. He figured it should be easy enough to offer it to you while you were at work.

But as he pulls into the parking lot he’s thrown into a mild panic at the sight of so many police vehicles and ambulances. He gets out of the car and walks as close as he can before he’s stopped by an officer.

“What’s going on,” he asks, worry etched into his face.

“There’s a bomb,” the officer responds. “We’ve got almost everyone safely out. Bomb squad is in there now.”

“What about Y/N? She’s a friend of mine who works here.”

The officer shrugs, “everyone who’s gotten out of the building is over in that section.” He points to a small group near the ambulances. Nick immediately walks over but he doesn’t see you. He recognizes one of the people who works for you, Nikki? Nicole? He can’t remember but he gets their attention.

“Where is Y/N? Why isn’t she with you?”

“The bomb was at her desk,” the young lady whispers. “It…it was activated when she sat down on her chair or something.”

For a moment, Nick can’t think. Any second now you could be dead, likely all because of him. He sees the police lights flashing and pulls out his phone, dialing Sheriff Bodecker.

He answers after three rings, “this had better be damn important, Fowler.”

“The City Clerk office–”

“Yeah, we got our best people helpin’ out that little lady. What about it?”

“I need access.”

“No can do, Fowler. That’s a city-owned building with city employees at risk. Can’t be havin’ a civilian helpin’ on the investigation. This stays in house.”

“Bullshit,” Nick growls into the phone. “She’s my friend! She’s in danger and I need to know who the hell placed that damn thing!”

“You’ll get access to the reports the same time as every other citizen,” Lee states. “You know where my loyalties lie, Nick, but when it comes to city stuff, I got alotta protocol to follow if I want to keep my job.”

Nick angrily hangs up the phone. He knows Bodecker is right but he’s still pissed off about it. He calls up Jake to ask him to hack the security cameras but Jensen says it’s a no-go. The security cameras are all self-contained. He’d have to be in the building itself to mess with them. Nick hangs up, frustrated.

He’s trying to think of other options when his eyes spot Clark Kent near the building, talking to the police. Confused and enraged Nick stalks over to him, trying to pick up as much of the conversation as he can. He hears snippets of “oh that poor lady,” and “any resources I can offer” before Kent spots him.

“Mr. Fowler,” he greets. “I’m not surprised to see you here. Your poor friend must be a mess!”

“What are you doing here,” Nick seethed.

“I was hoping to pay the lovely Lady a visit,” he calmly answers. “I had such a lovely time talking with her and I was hoping to talk to her some more. But then this!” Kent gestures at the building, “who would do such a thing? Why would they do such a thing?”

Nick sees through the mask of concern Kent has set up. They both know the value of the records in that building and several reasons why someone would want them destroyed. But if either of them admits to it, it would only be used against them. As much as Nick wants to punch him, he knows it would only make everything worse.

Fortunately the tension is cut with a small cheer from your coworkers. Both men look and see you being walked outside. Nick’s never seen you so scared and he tries to run to you but is stopped by the officer.

“Please,” Nick insists, “she’s my friend. Please let me go help her.”

“It’s okay, Officer,” Kent adds. “I can confirm their friendship. Please let him go to her?” The officer looks at both men and lets Nick pass, letting the officer escorting you know what’s going on. When you see Nick you reach out to him and take his hand.

“W’ere taking her to the ambulance,” the officer tells him. “Gonna get her vitals checked. Likely in a state of shock.” Nick nods and walks with you, his hand never leaving yours.

You find yourself leaning into him as you get to the ambulance. Your coworkers try to get closer but Nick gestures at them to stay back saying, correctly, you need air. The EMT gets to work checking everything she can. She confirms that you’re suffering from shock and either need a hospital stay overnight or to have a friend keep an eye on you at your home. You don’t argue when Nick says he’ll take care of you. You just nod.

Your coworkers give you space as Nick walks you to his car, all of them giving you well wishes. You nod and quietly thank each of them as you walk. You definitely didn’t expect to see Mr. Kent walking up to you, steel blue eyes full of concern.

“My dear Lady,” he starts, taking your free hand in both of his, “I do hope you will recover quickly.” You can’t bring yourself to say anything so you just nod and keep walking.

Nick helps you into your apartment and let yourself slump into your favorite chair. Every time Nick has tried to speak you put up a hand to stop him. You need this. The familiarity of home and comfort before you can bring yourself to have the conversation you know you need to have with him.

Nick has respected your request for silence but, in his need to do something, he asks, “can I get you some tea or something? If I can find the stuff.” You take a deep breath to steady yourself. Nick notices your nostrils flaring in agitation and wishes he’d kept his mouth shut.

“What I need,” you huff, “is for you to tell me what the hell is going on?” You glare at Nick and he’s taken aback at the ferocity in your eyes.

“I don’t know anything about the bomb, I swear to you.”

“Of course it isn’t you, Nick,” you scold, your voice getting louder with each word. “We’ve been acquaintances for years with no problem. Then I’m introduced to Mr. Kent, hear your background with him, and suddenly I’m given police reports meant to make you look dangerous and have a bomb placed at my desk! He even showed up to the scene of the damn crime! It doesn’t take a genius to figure this shit out!”

Nick finds himself stumbling over his words. He’s never seen you like this before and he’s not sure what he can do or say to help.

“Don’t you dare tell me you don’t know anything,” you scold him. “You got me into this damn mess, you’re going to either get me out of it or keep me safe!”

“Yes, ma’am,” Nick whispers in awe of your anger. He’s very glad he didn’t get you that cup of tea as he’s pretty sure he’d be covered in burn marks from you throwing it in his face.

“And you’re going to call whatever people you’re associated with and get me some more secure locks on my door and maybe even a fucking panic button I can press if I need help. Hell, maybe even a tracker in case I get kidnapped!” Nick ducks his head in shame at that one. “You actually have something already, don’t you,” you chide. “Well, let’s see it!”

Nick pulls out the jewelry box with the tennis bracelet and hands it to you. Your eyes widen in surprise at how pretty it is. “So this is why you wanted to know things like my favorite color?” He nods. “Alright, show me where the tracker is so that I can make sure it doesn’t get damaged or something.” He quietly shows you everything and you put on the necklace. He shows you the locator app on his phone and you feel a little relief. At least now there’s a chance someone would find your body.

While his phone is out he calls someone named “Barnes”. He tries to walk to another room to have a quiet conversation but you refuse to let him leave you alone. If he says anything that downplays his role in your current situation you will make sure this Barnes fellow hears your counter argument.

The entire conversation he feels the burn of your glare on him. He had no idea you could possess such rage. He wonders if this is how people feel when he’s angry at them. He feels like he needs to confess every bad thing he’s ever done just to get you to stop looking at him like that.

He hangs up the phone and tells you a couple of people will be there to beef up your security around the apartment and talk to you about other security options.

After a couple of hours Nick tells you the “guests” are here and there’s a knock at the door right after. He checks the peephole and opens the door. Inside walks a tall, broad man with a dark beard, blue eyes, wearing a beanie and carrying a toolbag. With him is a curvy woman who approaches you with a gentle smile and says, “you can call me Teach. This is Curtis, he’s going to make sure your apartment door and windows are all reinforced with stronger locks.” Curtis grunts acknowledgement as the door closes and he immediately gets to work.

Nick tries to approach and stand next to you as you start talking with Teach but you give him a glare and he ends up sitting at the far end of your couch. You’d laugh at how much he looks like a petulant child if you weren’t still angry at him. Teach definitely picks up on your animosity and asks “would you like someone else on your security detail?”

“I’m not sure,” you quietly admit.

“If it helps at all he is one of the best three in terms of personal security.”

You nod, “but will having him around just make it worse for me?”

“Quite possibly,” Teach admits. “It feels like the closer you and Nick appear to be, the worse it’ll be for you. On the other hand, if he’s not around, it leaves you open and vulnerable. We just don’t know enough to know if Kent’s people will leave you alone if the two of you have a falling out or if he’ll try something anyways just to further hurt Nick. Considering the options, it’s likely safer for you to keep him around.”

Sighing, you concede to her logic, “I suppose we can keep up the friendship and fake dating thing until we know how Kent will react to a breakup.”

“Oh good,” Teach says. “Nick did tell you it was a platonic date.”

“No he didn’t,” you shake your head and her eyes widen. “He didn’t need to,” you scoff. “Nick isn’t as good at hiding his feelings as he likes to think.”

Teach seems to consider your words, “or you’re just that good at reading him. He’s a regular winner at the monthly poker games.” She shakes her head, “but that’s neither here nor there. He’ll be assigned to your security under the premise of dating. We’ll make sure to get you some additional coverage in the form of surveillance. We’ve got eyes on nearby security cameras for your apartment and your office. I’ll give you my contact information so that, if you think of other security measures you’d like, you can ask me.”

“Thank you, Teach, sincerely. How can I repay you?”

She gets a sly smile, “make sure Nick doesn’t get off easy? He fucked up big time and you’re paying the price.”

“He only took me to that event to try to cheer me up.”

“And yet,” she whispers, “from what I’ve heard, he didn’t even try to play it cool in separating you from Kent. If he’d been more casual, let you spend the evening with Kent, maybe there wouldn’t be such a big target on your back. Seriously, for as good as Nick can be about hiding his feelings, he seems to be unable to mask up around you.”

You ponder on that while Curtis finishes up the reinforcement measures for your apartment. He and Teach head out and move to stand in front of Nick, who hasn’t moved from his spot on the couch.

Clearing your throat to get his attention your heart softens when you see the pain in his eyes. “We need to discuss the rules and get our story straight,” you tell him. He nods and you continue, “we can actually use the emotional trauma of the bomb and say that was the catalyst that moved us from friends to dating.” Again, a silent nod from him. “Every time you’re at my apartment you will sleep on the couch. Every time you see me you will bring me a flower or some other small gift. Every time we go out, we will keep PDA to a minimum.” For each requirement you bring up he silently nods.

“Do you have anything to say,” you chide.

“I’m…I’m sorry,” he starts. “I…I shouldn’t have…I’m just...so sorry.” Your feel deflated as the last of your anger dissipates at his sincere apology.

Sighing, you tell him, “I need to get some sleep. Feel free to familiarize yourself with the kitchen. You are allowed to roam my apartment but not my bedroom.” You start walking towards your bed and mutter under your breath, “that’s reserved for people actually interested in me.”

Part 3 -- Part 5

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