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chasseurdeloup-retired · 3 years

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Hell’s Kitchen || Ariana, Rio, Damien, and Kaden

TIMING: Current LOCATION: Kaden’s Apartment PARTIES: @letsbenditlikebennett, @3starsquinn, @damienxsheppard, @chasseurdeloup SUMMARY: Kaden finally recruits help to make the staggering number of pies needed. Two werewolves, two hunters, and one pixie, no problems whatsoever.

“Is there more flour over there?” Kaden called out, barely looking up from the counter as he worked to make more dough. It didn’t matter who answered. Honestly he wasn’t certain that his apartment was big enough for all four of them at once, at least not actively working and baking. He knew it wasn’t big enough for the number of pies they had to make. It was hard to keep from muttering curses under his breath as he worked, mostly about two hundred pies and mostly in French. Still, he was grateful for the help at the moment, odd bunch though it might be. Two werewolves and two werewolf hunters. All in one apartment. Kaden had to keep rolling his shoulders back to ignore the chills down his spine every now and then. “Make sure the finished ones are labeled,” he called out to the living room. “Uh, please.” The timer buzzed and he nearly jumped out of his skin. “And someone grab that. I’ve got another ready here to swap out.”

Orion felt like a fish out of water. He didn’t think it was going too far out on a limb to assume that he had the least amount of experience with baking. Unless watching his sister bake growing up counted for anything. “I think I saw some flour over here.” Rio answered Kaden, dodging in and out of furniture and people to get to the counter. “Sorry, excuse me!” Rio mentioned to Damien as he slid behind him. Though the two had not met before, Rio figured that if he was a friend of Kaden and Ariana’s then he must be alright. He finally reached the bag and held it up in the air triumphantly before tucking it under his arm to take back over to Kaden. He ignored the tingling sensation nipping at his skin, a mainstay anytime he hung out with Ariana. Eventually it would stop bothering him like it always did. “What do you want me to do with it?” Rio found himself asking. This had been how he tried to make himself useful despite the minimal amount of baking experience he had. He didn’t know how to bake the pies, so he busied himself grabbing ingredients and measuring things out instead.

Damien wasn’t sure why he agreed to help. He was not typically the sort to be favorable to others, and he sure as shit didn’t know how to bake. Regardless of his usual disposition, he found himself here, ignorant of the threat the two men in the room could be to him, and annoyed to see the little werewolf walking about. “What are you doing here?” Damien grumbled lowly as he bent his form down to address Ariana. His tone lacked the sharp edge he wanted it to have, dulled now by their familiarity and a liking he wouldn’t admit to. If he was made to recognize the two hunters in the room he’d be forced to realize she was his closest ally. With a brief introduction to Rio, and an old greeting given to Kaden, Damien went to work. His hand snapped out to clasp the timer as Rio slipped past him, he should be glad the alarm of it signaled another pie was done and the lot of them were closer to their goal, but he hated the sound. Maneuvering through the maze of people, Damien arrived at the oven to free it of a recent baked good, leaving the door open for someone to place another on the racks.

“Hand it to me,” Kaden said simply, holding his hand out to take the bag of flour. With a quick sigh, he realized he could actually take a whole fucking second to explain. Rio did want to learn about baking, he’d said as much before. “I need to coat my hands again so that the dough doesn’t stick to them when I’m working with it.” Without even looking at the bag, Kaden reached in to scoop out some flour and pat it onto his hands. Only as soon as he did, something was off. It was… sticky? Definitely not flour. “Putain de merde,” he grumbled to himself, holding out his sugar covered hands. “Did you read the label on the bag, kid? I thought you liked reading.” he asked as he dodged around the two werewolves to get to the sink. “Please tell me you’re doing better over here. And can you get the next pie in the oven, Rio? Just make sure it’s not one that was already baked.”

Appreciative of Kaden trying to teach him along the way, Orion listened eagerly as Kaden explained the process and dipped his hand into the bag, only to pull out a handful of definitely not flour. Rio frowned at the bag, doing a double take to see that it did indeed claim to be sugar on the outside. Which didn’t make any sense considering he knew he had grabbed the flour. “I’m so sorry! I swe- I thought it said flour.” Rio caught himself mid sentence and rephrased, still eyeing the package as if the words were going to change back to flour. Rio pivoted quickly, still listening to Kaden while trying to right the wrong he had done. He found the bag of flour, opening it up to confirm this time before picking it up to take over to Kaden. Except this time when he lifted it, a stream of flour began pouring out of the bag from the bottom. “Oh come on!” Rio groaned, lifting it up to see a hole in the bottom. How had that happened? He plugged it with his hand and moved it next to Kaden, “There’s a hole in this, I don’t know why.” He explained clumsily before moving along to Kaden's next request, the new pies. He grabbed an unbaked one and moved towards the oven, waiting for Damien to remove a few before occupying the empty space. “Are you any good at baking or are you just as inept at this as I am?” Rio asked, smiling weakly at the man in what was probably a poor attempt at making conversation.

The commotion behind him drew Damien’s attention and he turned to watch as Kaden plunged his hand into a white bag and drew it back with his fingers covered in sugar. It seemed like an easy enough mistake to make, various ingredients in the kitchen were astray as the lot of them clamored to make more pies. One by one Damien pulled the pies from the oven, placing them on the limited counter space till only one was left perched in his hands wrapped in a cloth to prevent the heat from sinking into his fingertips. Searching the area for an available space, he found Rio struggling with the sought after bag of flour, a hole allowing for white powder to flow from the bag and dust their surroundings. He couldn’t help the small grin that developed on his face as Rio spoke to him, “you’re making me look good,” the werewolf replied as he moved through the limited space and dropped the last pie on the counter. An audible crack followed its landing as egg oozed from beneath the pan. “Fuck!” the curse was a little louder than need be, amplified by his genuine surprise, “where the hell did that egg come from? Did one of you put it there?” Damien reached for some paper towel to address the mess, “who the hell just leaves eggs lying around like that.”

The last person Ariana expected to see at Kaden’s apartment to help with baking pies of all things was Damien. Did Damien know Kaden was a hunter? Did Kaden know Damien was a werewolf? He had his whole werewolf sixth sense thing so he had to know, right? Maybe Ariana wasn’t his only exception which she was somehow both grateful for and a little jealous of, but she definitely preferred Kaden not trying to kill the grumpy werewolf she adopted so she’d take it. She couldn’t help the eye roll when Damien asked why she was here. “Helping make pies, obviously,” she answered jokingly as she continued rolling out some pie crust she had been working on. As fun as embarrassing Kaden could be, she wasn’t too keen to go into their fairly complicated backstory. Instead, she cackled as Kaden got his hands all sticky with sugar. It seemed like what followed was just a series of unfortunate events as Rio dropped flour everywhere and Damien broke a random egg. Ariana couldn’t help but laugh at Damien’s curses. “Y’all good? Do we need to like… reorganize the space,” she asked before her rolling pin went over an egg that definitely wasn’t there when she started rolling. “Hey,” she exclaimed with a hint of frustration in her voice, “Just because you’re making a mess of the eggs doesn’t mean you had to put one in my way,” she grumbled at Damien.

The kitchen was filled with cursing, which was nothing new, but it left Kaden wondering if the was a good idea after all. Maybe he should have just continued to struggle on his own to chip away at the growing list of orders. “My hands are wet, I can’t--” He didn’t get to finish his sentence before having to try and clumsily grab the leaking bag, alternating wiping his hands dry on his jeans. It only worked a little. The cracking behind him made him wince. “The hell is going on in here?” he muttered, mostly to himself, setting the bag aside for now. He ran his fingers through his hair, pushing it back out of the way before remembering that his were both still a little wet and sprinkled with patches of flour. “Rearrange. Yeah, let’s do that. We can, uh… We can move things…” He looked around for any opening. “Somewhere. I don’t know, we can move the extra ingredients out onto the table over there, the one with the--” His brows furrowed as he went to point towards the dining room table. The one currently covered in mushrooms. Putain. Of course the fucking pixie was at it. Something he knew he could explain to Rio and Ari. How much did Damien even know? And what kind of shit would that lead to? Kaden sighed. For now, ignore it. “The mushrooms. Just move those. Ignore them. Whatever.”

“When was the last time you had your eyes checked,” Damien countered Ariana as she reeled to recover the damage the egg had done to her rolling pin, “I’ve been too busy to plant eggs around here for you.” He snagged another paper towel and cleaned the surface the pie was resting on, discarding the material into the nearest trash bin. He had hardly been paying attention to what the hunters were doing, only turning around when Kaden began to formulate a new plan for their operation. Eyes scanned the cluttered workspace for available room for the pies, locking on the table the same time Kaden noticed the abundance of mushrooms. Where the hell had those come from? He didn’t remember seeing them when he walked in, and if he had he would have turned tail and left thinking this was some kind of joke. Damien had been fortunate enough that since moving to White Crest his interactions with the supernatural were limited, or subtle. They didn’t exactly step out and admit they were vampires or fae. Only recently had he encountered another of his kind that resulted in any damage. He had no idea what could have produced so many mushrooms. “Are you joking?” he turned to the others, clearly confused, “are we using those? We’re not using those, right? That would be disgusting. I might not have the cooking skills of a Frenchman but even I can’t stomach the idea of mushroom pie.”

Did baking usually involve this much mess? Orion knew people always said that a few eggs had to be cracked, but he had never considered that the phrase was meant literally. “Mushrooms?” Rio asked, perplexed by Damien’s statement until he had turned and spotted them for himself. That was certainly odd, and if Rio had to take a wild guess, probably involved some sort of fae. But why here of all places? “Is this a normal occurrence while you’re baking?” Though the thought was perplexing, he thought it would be mildly humorous if the hunter’s secret to baking was some sort of fae ingredient. Rio was checking on the pies he had put in the oven when he heard music start playing from seemingly nowhere. Recognized the song too, Abba. He had always loved the group until he realized the Silver Bullet played it so much. “Where is that music coming from?”

Not quite willing to admit Damien was probably right, Ariana opted to stick her tongue out at him before cleaning up the mess in front of her. “Whatever,” she muttered before following Kaden out to the table. Her brows furrowed in confusion at the sight of all the mushrooms. Sure, he was dating a banshee, but Regan didn’t exactly seem the type to enjoy getting hopped up on fairy mushrooms. Plus, she was pretty sure those weren’t there when she arrived. “Ignoring the mushrooms. Sounds like a great idea,” she said with a not so subtle hint of sarcasm in her tone though she eventually found herself laughing at Damien’s questions. She’d explain later, but for now, she joked, “Obviously someone requested a mushroom pot pie.” Only seconds before Rio mentioned it, she could faintly hear the sound of that one Gimme Gimme Gimme song that Celeste had always liked. It caused her mouth to twist into a slight frown. “Yeah, Kaden, what’s with the old people music?” She shook her head, “No wonder you and Celeste were friends. Same boomer music taste.”

“Not normal, no,” Kaden called out with a sigh not far behind. He wiped off his hands once more on his jeans before turning to the fridge, swinging the door open, and reaching in for two bottles. “Here,” he said, handing one of the bottles of beer to Damien. “I think we’re going to need this.” He cracked open the cap and took a swig before looking at the state of the table. Rumpleskuffs, had to be. Showing off for all the new guests. Kaden debated disappearing into the other room to make a deal with the pixie just long enough to get this all over with when he, too, heard a familiar sound. His eyes darted to the teenager, wide and shocked before narrowing in on her. “Cut it out, Ari. Is this another one of your tocking tick pranks? Putain, this isn’t--” Only it was clear she wasn’t responsible for the music, either. “Hey. I’m not that old. I don’t even like ABBA. That much. Anyway.” The timer went off again. His brow furrowed and he looked back to the oven. There was no way that was right. The pies just went in. “One second,” he said as he went to check on the pies. Not done. He turned off the timer and reset it, hoping that he wasn’t going to have to reset it again in a minute or two. Something told him that might be the case.

“You don’t like ABBA?” Orion questioned the hunter, perplexed by the bold statement. When it played at the Silver Bullet was just about the only time that people in that place didn’t seem all that bad. For a moment, they stopped being all grumbly and macho. Or maybe that was just wishful thinking on Rio’s part. “It’s tiktok, Kaden.” He sighed, almost amused by how terribly he had butchered the app name, “And I don’t think this song is one of the popular sounds.” Not this ABBA song at least. A timer suddenly going off made Rio jump, hopping away from the oven and raising his heart rate on instinct. There was no way those were done already. Rio folded his arms and cast a worried glance over towards Damien. If he wasn’t here, Rio would be asking about what was actually going on. Since Kaden and Ariana weren’t bringing it up, he assumed that meant he must not be in the know. Or at the very least, not in the know about fae and the mischief they can allegedly cause. “I didn’t know volunteering to help you bake pies was going to be so... eventful.”

Damien gratefully accepted the beer Kaden offered him, with the music playing in the background and mushrooms piled up onto the table things were starting to feel part of a show. A cooking segment you accidentally landed on while clicking through shows and paused on because of the quirky nature of it all. He took a drink of his beer and shrugged off the remarks between the two discussing the name of an app and their taste in music. Damien snagged an empty bowl meant for cooking and started to collect the mushrooms, “mushroom pot pie my ass,” he replied, though he was sure by Ariana’s tone that she hadn’t been serious at all. “And don’t lie Kaden, everyone likes ABBA, or at least one of their songs.” Damien took the mushrooms he collected into review, looking over the strangeness of their appearance as if the answer was written just out of sight. “What do you even want me to do with these?”

“What? No. Even if this was a good prank, this whole mess is longer than one minute,” Ariana said with a matter of fact tone to her voice as if Kaden was supposed to know that TikTok videos couldn’t be longer than a minute. She grabbed some more finished pies to set on the table and clear their workspace and shook her head at Damien’s mushroom pot pie questioning. Later, she’d explain the significance of mushrooms though she was dying to know now just why they were here. Still, curiosity took over as she picked up one of the mushrooms and eyed the almost fake looking spots that danced across it’s cap. “Is Regan on a mushroom kick or something,” she blurted out before adding the mushroom to the bowl Damien was collecting them in. Regan didn’t seem the type to intentionally partake in fae things, but it would explain the pimping out pies thing.

How was it that everyone in that damn room knew his secret? How the hell did they find out? Kaden’s eyes shot to Ari. Did she tell Rio? She could have. But how did Damien know, too? “Alright, fine,” he admitted with a grumble into his beer. “I don’t hate ABBA but I don’t love them or anything like that.” His brow furrowed again as Damien brushed the mushrooms off the table. Interesting. Normally they were just visual illusions. Then again, Rumpleskuffs had been very bored lately. Maybe he save some spores just for this sort of occasion. “You can, uh, just put them in the trash. Or something.” Shit, would that anger the tiny fae? Probably. “Or, uh, just set them to the side. Somewhere. Doesn’t matter, figure it out.” The timer went off again and Kaden thought he might scream. At the very least he was going to take this fucking timer and chuck it out the window. Instead, he simply turned it off again, reset it again, and placed it down on the counter as gently as he could manage. It still was a bit of a slam. “Huh?” he called back to Ari, his chest tightening at the thought. He knew Ari knew what Regan was. And Rio. But would that give her away to Damien? Couldn’t they just all pretend to be completely fucking normal humans for an hour or two? Wouldn’t that be nice? “No, definitely not hers. Regan hates mushrooms. I think. Nah, this is just, uh, wel…” Shit, should have gone with her explanation. “Maybe just another experiment of hers or something. Like that.”

Damien discarded the bowl of mushrooms on the couch sofa, it seemed unlikely they’d need that space for anything else with the pies quickly taking over the apartment. He had never asked how Kaden managed to rack up such an order and it seemed a little late now to question it. The timer began to chime again, signifying one more item baked towards their goal, but the sound of it landing on the counter a little too harshly caused Damien to turn his head. Was this about Regan? He didn’t see how mushrooms could be tied back to her but the stress of this, it seemed like the roots really dug into something more daunting than a bake off. “I don’t get the impression Regan is much of a trickster. Though maybe she’d have an interest in mushrooms if they were sprouting from something recently departed. Or were related to the death of something,” at least, that was more of the impression Damien had of her, knowledgeable about all things deceased. He strode over to Kaden, placing a hand on his shoulder, “maybe you should take a break man,” he gave a light push over towards the couch, “I think he can manage for a little bit.” It was then that Damien turned his head, or rather, looked down to find Ari, “come on girl scout, time to earn a badge for baking mastery.”

Mushrooms were a fae thing, Orion knew that much. Though he didn’t think it was really a Banshee thing. Definitely not a Regan thing. Not unless this whole health kick where Regan assumed that Rio was one missed protein or strong breeze would be his breaking point had been nothing more than a practical joke all along. If that were the case, Rio would actually have to be a bit impressed. And maybe a bit disappointed. “Saprophytes” Rio suggested casually as the discussion turned towards mushrooms growing on dead things, “It’s a type of fungus that grows on dead things.” Not that those mushrooms were the kind that grew on dead things. At least he didn’t think so. Damien was trying to get Kaden to take a break, which was probably the right idea. Even if the idea of losing his lifeline to this whole baking thing was a bit terrifying. “Who is in charge then? Because I don’t know what I’m doing. Guidance requested please.”

Considering Damien seemed to shrug off any warnings she gave him about other supernatural crap that happened in town, Ariana doubted that he’d put together two and two when it came to fae and mushrooms. Kaden seemed pretty certain Regan hated mushrooms and given how serious Regan was, she doubted she was really into pranks. Still, if she happened upon some mushrooms, that could have changed her outlook a bit. At least from what Ariana understood about fae and mushrooms which admittedly wasn’t much for someone who had a warden girlfriend. She looked Damien and Kaden both with an amused grin on her face and wondered why they weren’t just throwing the mushrooms out. “Couch, seems good enough until the kitchen is freed up,” she said with a shrug before she added, “And I’m a little old to be a girl scout, but I’ve gotten pretty good at baking. So don’t worry, you two be grumpy old men together and Rio and I can take over in the kitchen for a bit.” Before she even finished her sentence, she could practically hear Kaden grumbling about how he wasn’t grumpy or saying some French swear word. While he hadn’t responded, it still left her smiling. She linked her arm up with Rio’s and assured, “No worries, Rio. I’ve been baking with your sister long enough that I’m practically an expert at this point.” Somehow, the timer was going off again and she swore it had only been a few minutes. Someone was definitely joking around here. If this was a cartoon, she was sure steam would be coming out of Kaden’s ears and that was enough to have her laughing amongst the chaos again. She dragged Rio into the kitchen, turned the timer off, and whispered, “Okay, what the hell is going on here? Who is not me and pranking Kaden?” Mime stripper reviews crossed her mind and her eyes lit up. She poked her head out of the kitchen and asked, “Hey, Kaden? Has Nell been here recently?” Though mushrooms still didn’t seem like Nell’s style even if she had joked about enchanting vegetables after the potato incident.

Damien was going to elect Ariana as the leader of this little group, she seemed to be the thread that connected most of them, but he also did not want to give Ari the satisfaction of his vote. So, he took to his role in accompanying Kaden to the couch as the second half of the grumpy man team, throwing an arm around Kaden’s shoulder as he indulged in his beer. “I’ll be happy to fit the grumpy man trope if it lets me finish my drink,” he murmured to Kaden, maneuvering towards the couch. Damien let his body all but crashing into the cushion, sinking in without protest. The time spouted off again causing him to briefly turn his head to see how the others were managing the kitchen before returning his focus on the drink. He knew he shouldn’t ask what came next, that he shouldn’t want to know, but some part of him had grown to care for these people and Damien struggled to ignore that. “How are things going with Regan, with her classes I mean?” he asked Kaden, “is she taking breaks in-between to work on the pie business?”

“Guess Ari is your guidance,” Kaden said back to Rio. “Just shout if you all need help. And I’m not that old, alright,” he grumbled as he took a seat on the couch. Putain, he couldn’t remember the last time he sat down today, if he was being honest. Maybe the teenage werewolf was right and he did need the break. The timer went off again and he pinched his nose between his fingers, hoping the pressure would relieve some of the tension in his head. It wasn’t working so he took a swig of his drink instead. It didn’t make the headache go away but it was good beer and it was better than the goddamn mushrooms. “It’s not Nell. Or Blanche. Or Grace.” Not that it was even possible to be some of them but he knew the cause of this was a small fae who had taken up residence in his apartment. Another swig was definitely necessary. “How do you know Nell, anyway?” Then again, it wasn’t hard to run into at least one Vural in town. Well, now that there were three again. Kaden sighed and was about to take another drink but Damien’s comment made him stop and furrow his brows. “Huh?” he asked as he looked over to Damien. Classes? What cl-- Oh. Oh. That’s right. When he’d explained the banshee lessons. Putain. “Uh, yeah it’s going alright. She’s made progress I think. Almost done. But yeah, the pies have been a good break for her. As much of a fucking mess this is, it’s been nice to have.”

Somehow, the two youngest ended up in charge of the pies. Luckily for Orion, Ari knew what she was doing. Unluckily for him, she knew what she was doing because of his sister. She wasn’t exactly an ideal conversation topic. Ironically, she was probably the most conflicting part of his own friendship with Ari at this point. He trusted her to keep Ari safe, but not much beyond that. “Just tell me what to do. I’ll be the obedient sous chef.” Rio laughed. When she whispered to him he shrugged but glanced toward the two. He didn’t know Damien, but he didn’t really seem the type. Kaden hadn’t been wrong to suspect Ari first, admittedly. “No idea. But all seems very… fae-y. Just pretend that’s a word.” The kitchen was a mess and he couldn’t tell what parts of that were their doing and what part was whatever was continuing to mess things up. While he waited on instructions, Rio worked to try to tidy up. “We have a very intricate young person friend group, Kaden.” Rio answered his question. Of course they knew Nell. Probably because of Winston. At least in Rio’s case, they had been the common string that introduced most of the friends Rio had now. “We’re all very tight knit.” Trauma and near death experiences had a habit of encouraging bonding experiences.

Seeing as Kaden wasn’t dropping any hint of who the hell was playing mushroom pranks on him, Ariana figured it was probably time to drop it. She could always bug him about it later. It seemed like she could have a true partner in crime with pranking Kaden. The part of her that enjoyed the clout on TikTok was delighted. The part of her that still struggled to wrap her head around fae things after everything with Lydia and then Deirdre, decided maybe this prankster wasn’t up her alley. Mushrooms brought a rightful sense of unease. “Your sous-chef duty for now is gonna be turning the timer off since it seems to like going off every 2 minutes and we all have too good of hearing for that shit,” she said to Rio who could probably already sense she wasn’t the only werewolf in the room. She got to rolling out some more dough for the crust and called out, “What he said.” It was easier than explaining they chatted online a few times before Nell and Bea helped make charmed jewelry to help protect her and Celeste. So much help that did, not that it was their fault. With a few more crusts cut out, she got another batch of pies ready to move into the oven. As crazy as the afternoon was, Ari found there was some sort of content feeling that came with being surrounded by people she loved.

#writing #wickedswriting #chatzy #hell's kitchen #ariana #letsbenditlikebennett #damien #damienxsheppard #3starsquinn #orion

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mythicalcanary-literature · 3 years

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FanFiction - Crossing the Stars

Hetalia (c) Hidekaz Himaruya

FTL: Faster Than Light (c) Subset Games

[CHAPTER LIST]

Author’s Note: This FanFiction is a crossover between the sci-fi strategy game ‘FTL: Faster Than Light’ by Subset Games and the manga/anime called ‘Hetalia’ by Hidekaz Himaruya. The story will follow closely to the events of the rougue-like gameplay in FTL and the human characters will be replaced with the human versions of the national personifications in ‘Hetalia’. This is a fun personal project and it requires no knowledge of either fandom to enjoy this story. I’d encourage checking the original sources out though! Use of screenshots in this FanFiction are to supplement the storytelling to help plot the course of our heroes’ journey in the universe. Whatever the outcome of the gameplay I base this story on (as each playthrough is very unique) will be translated into the plot of this story. i.e. If the spaceship gets damaged, it gets damaged in the story. If a character dies in the game, they’re dead in this fiction. (Please note that I find this kind of storytelling entertaining to play/write and I plan to do more in the future if time allows!)

Chapter 1

The Federation was struggling with the advancing Rebel fleet. One lone ship carried some vital information that could turn the tides of the war and the Federation allied Star Ship APH was going to be their champion.

At the helm was Captain Alfred Jones, a spry young American whom fit the Golden Boy persona to a tee. Sure, he wore square-rimmed glasses but he was still awesome. Don’t let his cute blue-eyed, blond haired, ripped body mislead you! He had the courage to lead his crew to the very end. He was the youngest of his crew and had a Hero Complex but his heart helped him to make some decent moral choices. His friends might disagree and say that his Hero Complex leads to some very immoral choices, but how could he be wrong? He’s great!

Stationed at weapons was his best friend from the academy called Arthur Kirkland. He was an officer from England and was keen to aid in an international project. Arthur was rather lean in build with messy blond hair that matched his sassy personality. His piercing emerald eyes held a wisdom beyond his years. He was tasked with weaponry because of his strategic skills and fearless judgement. Unfortunately his friends and colleagues often made fun of him for his bushy eyebrows, apparent inability to cook, and his obsession with the occult.

Last but not least was the Frenchman Francis Bonnefoy, a flamboyant friend of Arthur’s and on-and-off enemy of his. Much like Alfred, don’t let his looks fool you! Francis’ long, golden hair, sea blue eyes and wispy blond beard could charm many but he was a calculated thinker. He graduated with flying colours in engineering, which is why he was manning the FTL (Faster Than Light) Drive in the engine room.

The blond trio were in their twenties, young and wise together. If they could avoid their normal bickering maybe they would survive this after all!

“This is the awesome Captain Jones speakin’! Get your butts over to the Bridge, we need to figure out where we’re goin’,” the voice on the PA system called in a chirpy American accent.

“We’re already here, dipshit,” Arthur countered as he and Francis joined him on deck. “We’ve best be quick about this, the Rebel fleet is gaining speed.” He pulled up the Beacon Map on screen and surveyed their options. “Unfortunately we have no data on the properties of each beacon towards the exit into the next sector, but hopefully we can acquire that as we go along. The faster we get to the exit the better, our mission is too important to mess around.”

Alfred was sipping some coffee. “Psh, who’s messin’? I won’t lead you dudes astray! Hero’s promise!”

Francis sighed. “Let’s avoid battles if we can, ze stress gives me wrinkles.”

“We’re in a civilian sector! How bad could it be?”

Arthur glared at him. “You’ve best be joking. This area will be littered with Rebel scouts. We need to get a move on.”

Alfred dumped his coffee cup in the rubbish bin and winked. “Fine. Back to your stations! Off to our first stop! Warp us there, Francis!”

“Aye, sir,” Francis responded as they all returned to their posts.

The S.S. APH warped to the next beacon. If they were expecting a calming tour of space they were greatly mistaken. Alfred’s voice carried over the announcement system. “Hey, y’all! We have a hostile Rebel Scout attacking a small refuelling outpost here. That’s totes uncool so we’re gonna kick their asses! Kirkland, fire up the weapons! Try out our Burst Laser II on their weapons!”

“Aye, Captain! Locked on and charging.”

The small ship was quick with a laser drone circling the S.S. APH. An alert blared. “Shields took a hit!” Alfred informed them quickly. “Just an ion blast, it’ll be back online soon, stay at your posts!”

Francis’ voice joined him on the announcement channel. “The drone knocked out our door controls!”

“That’s alright, I destroyed their weapons room,” Arthur chipped in confidently.

“Good work, Artie!” Alfred cheered. “Lock on the drones now.”

“Roger that!”

The ship shook and Alfred’s voice called out in concern. “Yo, Francis? Are you okay? The shields are back online but it says the engines got hit.”

“I’m fine, mon ami! Minor damage to ze FTL Drive, I’m working on a fix. I’m not hurt.”

Arthur switched focus from the enemy drones to the helm. He cursed as he saw that the interior scan of the enemy vessel had repaired their weapons in the time his lasers charged. Luckily, his final few attacks took out the scout and they could safely proceed. He sighed with relief. “Danger has passed, let’s pull in the loot.”

Alfred congratulated them over the announcement system. “Well done, dudes! Artie, join me in the door room. We’re not moving on until that system is running again.”

“On my way!”

Francis kept an eye on the FTL charge as his friends repaired the door functions.

Arthur hummed as he replaced some fried wires and Alfred ran the diagnostics. Oddly enough, they didn’t chat the entire time. It was nice working together. “Alright, let’s get back to our posts. Who knows how many of these automated ships are lurking?”

“Just don’t lead us into a black hole or something.”

“Hahahaha! Noted.”

Back on the Bridge, Alfred pulled up his upgrades panel. They had enough scrap to give them a new edge. He grinned as he added an extra unit of power to their reactor and instructed the Frenchman to monitor the upgrade. He also treated himself to a more slick piloting upgrade. Having auto pilot help him to dodge attacks with a fifty percent advantage was too amazing to pass up! “I’m gonna jump to the next beacon. Hold on to your asses!”

The crew warped into the aftermath of a battle. The battlefield was littered with debris from Federation ships and Rebels alike. Their allies had been sadly outnumbered but it was clear they fought valiantly and Captain Jones respected that. He began performing a more detailed scan of the wreckage when his sensors picked up an enemy ship. He gasped and switched on the comms. “To battle stations! We have a Rebel Disrupter in our vicinity!”

The orange spaceship faced the S.S. APH head-on and momentarily knocked out the shields, just in time for the orbiting drone to shoot their door systems.

“Why do they always target our doors?” Francis complained over the communications system. “It’s hardly a vital system.”

“I think it was potluck,” Arthur answered as his return fire knocked out the enemy weapons. “Got the weapons room! I’m going to knock out that drone and then alternate. I wouldn’t put it past them to begin repairs.”

“As you are, Kirkland!” Alfred chimed in as he kept an eye on the enemy movements from the helm. They made quick work of this battle and reaped the rewards. “Good job. You know the drill, Artie. Gotta get those door systems online again. Meet me there.”

“Aye, sir!”

The next beacon jump was nothing special. Beautiful, but nothing interesting. Francis stared out of his nearby airlock windows to view the dancing binary star before they warped to the next point.

“I’m gonna do a triangular-shaped loop here, dudes. I detect a merchant nearby and I wanna see what they have,” Captain Jones announced to his crew.

“Don’t let us get caught by the Rebels, Alfred!” Arthur’s voice warned him.

“They’re not close enough yet. We’ll be fine. We can’t risk running low on supplies and if we can get this hull fixed that would be great.”

“Good point. Carry on.”

The next jump led them to a destroyed space station. Alfred had reservations about this as life signs could be detected onboard. He bit his lip and weighed up the options of investigating. On the one hand, if he could recruit a new member that would be useful! Although he was well aware that doing these kind of investigations could risk damage to his current crew’s lives. After a moment of hesitation he decided not to risk his friends. They collected miscellaneous debris to repurpose for their own mission and jumped them to the next beacon.

The crew assembled on the Bridge to witness the hails of a Rock Scout. The Rockmen were a powerful race but these aliens seemed to be relatively friendly. “Hey, this is Captain Alfred F. Jones of the Federation Star Ship APH. How can we be of service today, my dudes?”

Arthur stared at his friend unhappily. “You could use proper English, idiot. Did you learn nothing from etiquette lessons when dealing with foreign entities?”

“There was nothin’ wrong with my lingo, Artie! Don’t make me pull rank.”

“Insufferable git.”

The Rockman Captain simply stared at these weird humans before gaining their attention. “We could really use some help.”

Alfred saluted. “How can we help?”

“Our FTL navigation system is shot. Can you help us to a nearby station for them to patch us up?”

“Sure thing, rock friend! I’m receiving your fuel down payment right now and I’ll key in the co-ordinates you sent.”

“Thank you. We will be one step behind you, following your jump signatures.”

Francis beamed at his Captain as their communications shut off with their neutral acquaintance. “That was very kind of you, Alfred!”

The American beamed. “If we can help anyone in distress on the way we damn well will! We’re still gonna do our planned route unless we’re forced to change direction, but those Rebel scumbags ain’t gonna take all of us down.”

Francis patted him on the back and returned to his post. Arthur shook his head. “I wish you’d let me deal with the foreign comms once in a while, Alfred, but you did well. I’m heading back to weapons. Try to get our hull fixed at the shop.”

The next jump led them to an outpost that certainly had merchants selling some wares! Arthur and Francis volunteered to be the away party as Alfred kept an eye on the advancing enemy fleet from the Bridge. Their tailing Rockmen friends also spent a bit of time gathering resources for the journey ahead.

Aware of the encroaching danger and their limited supply of scrap to trade for goods, the European representatives agreed that they should spend all of it on an Advanced FTL Navigation Augmentation that would allow them to leap to any previously visited beacon in one hop no matter the distance and the rest of the scrap was allocated to hull repairs. They promptly beamed back on deck and installed their new augment and checked with the Rockmen to make sure that they were ready to follow.

The S.S. APH jumped back the way they came and immediately leapt to the subsequent beacon. It was a tough decision because they had to completely ignore a distress call. The Rebel fleet was advancing far too quickly, they had to put as much distance between them as possible. Alfred felt terrible but his crew and the Rockmen following them depended on forward thinking. There was no helping those in distress right now.

“Rebel transport ship detected!” Captain Jones announced on the communications system. “It doesn’t seem to wanna fight but we can’t take risks. Plus we need the scrap, we’re kinda poor right now.”

“Engaging weapons, Captain!” Arthur replied, powering up the Burst Laser II to lock onto their weapons room. He was going to target the drones next as those little bastards were a pain to deal with.

“CANCEL THAT INTERACTION, KIRKLAND! ATTACK THEIR ENGINES, THEY’RE GONNA JUMP AND WARN THE FLEET!”

“Fuck, really?! Alright, locking both the lasers and missiles onto their FTL Drive!”

It was a tense moment as their weapons warmed up and as they celebrated decimating the enemy FTL Drive, a missile hit their own engines.

“ENGINES, DAMAGE REPORT!” Captain Jones cried.

“Ze bastards damaged ze FTL Drive. I’m working on a fix but my head…”

“Focus, Bonnefoy. You can heal after we destroy these idiots!” Arthur chipped in urgently. He switched the lasers to focus on the Rebel weapons room whilst keeping their Artemis missile locked on the enemy engines.

An explosion rocked the Bridge and Alfred coughed through the smoke. “Dammit, they’re breaking my controls. Kirkland, finish this now.” He gritted his teeth as he repaired the system damage. His wrist was pretty sore but nothing too dire.

“Aye, Captain!”

Fortunately, the battle was over with soon after and repairs could be finished to both the engines and the piloting systems. Jones and Bonnefoy met up in the medbay to heal their injuries before moving on. It was becoming clear how dangerous this mission was.

Back on the Bridge, Alfred instructed his crew that to get to the quest marker they needed to enter a nebula. Nebula zones were always risky as they knocked out sensors but they could also be beneficial in slowing down the enemy fleet. “We’re heading to the nebula. Be prepared for anything! Warp ahead, Bonnefoy!”

This felt like a mistake. Nebulas can be rather peaceful but today was not their day! A plasma storm was active so not only were their sensors dead but their reactor was crippled to half-capacity. The crew was in a mild panic trying to figure out what systems were down as a Rebel automated scout swooped in to cause them hell.

“GUYS, WE HAVE A PROBLEM. SEVERAL PROBLEMS,” Alfred yelled through the communications system.

“No shit!” Arthur shot back as he examined the diagnostics from his post. “Our oxygen isn’t powered, we’ll suffocate!”

“Heat up the weapons, Artie, we have company! I’ll divert power from the medbay to the oxygen room!”

“SHIELDS ARE DOWN AND THEY HAVE A DRONE!” Francis cried from the engine room. “We’re sitting ducks!”

“Divert ALL power from engines to the shields NOW!”

“Aye!”

“I’m locked on their weapons, Captain!” Arthur informed them. “The shield is holding off the drone, thank God.”

“Fire on that and then the drone. Destroy it as quickly as possible.”

“Thanks, Captain Obvious.”

Thankfully the battle was over swiftly. Shaken and worried, Alfred gave the order to drop the shields and restore power to the FTL Drive. They would drop off their Rockmen friends at the next beacon and make their way to the exit.

“Approaching the quest marker,” Captain Jones announced keeping the ship steady, ready for a break. “I’ll inform our little convoy back there.”

“Can one ship in addition to ours really be considered a convoy?” Francis responded contemplatively.

He didn’t receive an answer as the Rockmen’s ship zoomed away without warning and Alfred flipped the Red Alert siren. “AGH! IT’S A TRAP! How could they? We trusted them!” He turned on the power to all systems after they were clear of the plasma storm and glared at the Rebel Disrupter ship. How dare they! HOW. DARE. THEY.

Ignoring the possible melodrama his best friend was stewing in, Arthur had already locked their weapons on the Rebel weapons and drones with their Burst Laser II and the Artemis missile. DIRECT HIT! That’s getting business taken care of. He disabled the Artemis and focused the laser onto enemy shields. He needed no consultation on this strategy, they would not be made fools of! With the shields down and the enemies focused on repairing the damage he dealt to the drones, he fired once again at the weapons room. The Rebel scum would not get a say in this!

VICTORY! The crew celebrated briefly as they collected the remains of their enemy vessel.

“Let’s get the hell outta here,” Alfred urged, turning them towards the next beacon. “I don’t want to try my luck with another one of these guys.”

“We can make it to ze Exit Beacon in two jumps, Captain!” Francis informed him over the comms. “With ze Rebels gaining ground we shouldn’t take anymore detours.”

“Agreed, buddy! Full speed ahead!”

The Rebels were determined to control this star system! The subsequent beacon greeted them with another Rebel Rigger patrol. It stood between them and the exit. This could not be tolerated.

“I’m way ahead of you, Captain!” Arthur called over the communications. “I’ve locked on their weapons and drone rooms. I’ll target their FTL Drive afterwards, we can’t let them get away to inform the Rebel fleet of our location.”

“Show no mercy, Kirkland!”

“Aye, sir!”

Direct hits!

“The enemy is powering up it’s FTL Drive!” Alfred informed them urgently. “This could be bad!”

The landed hits on the enemy vessel weren’t enough to destroy the hull and the Rebels were an inch from jumping out of reach. Fortune dealt them an unexpected hand, though.

Alfred opened up the screen to receive a hail from the Rebel Rigger Captain. “Captain Jones speaking. Stop right there!”

The enemy Captain scowled but offered a metaphorical white flag. “The day is yours! Show us your honour by allowing us to leave with our lives.”

This was a very fragile situation. The enemy hull was weak but their FTL Drive was primed to jump any second. There would be no time to stop them unless they agreed to a truce. Alfred growled in frustration but knew there was no choice. “Kirkland, cease fire! We’re entering a truce.”

“What? Um, okay?” came Arthur’s puzzled response. There was probably a good reason to cease fire so he complied. He would demand answers later.

Captain Jones accepted the supplies from the Rebel Rigger and the enemy did not warp away. Phew, that was a close one. The advancing enemy fleet would not gain speed on them.

Tense, Alfred called a meeting on the Bridge. He turned to his crewmates gravely. “We’re getting real lucky with these battles, our damage has been minimal. With Rebels so close to our Exit Beacon we need to be ready for a possible interception between us and the warp point. Don’t let your guard down and we’ll decide which sector to head to next once the coast is clear.”

Arthur nodded and returned to the weapons room without any answers, but he didn’t need them. It was clear they were in trouble and Alfred made a solid judgement call. He would be ready to defend.

Francis remained by Alfred’s side as they made the final jump to the Exit Beacon.

There was an asteroid field not far from their destination. They decided to risk navigating it for some materials that would help them in the next sector. Luck truly was not on their side as asteroids violently knocked down their shields and damaged their hull!

“Fire in ze portside airlocks, Captain!” Francis cried.

“I’ll open the airlocks to extinguish it. Everyone meet me in shields! We’ll repair and move on!”

Once that crisis was averted, the crew met up to decide where to go next.

Would they jump to the Engi Controlled area, or the Zoltan Controlled area? Both were civilian sectors but carried their own unique risks.

TO BE CONTINUED IN THE NEXT SECTOR...

Chapter 1 - END

[CHAPTER LIST]

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[Cover Art] This image was drawn in HB pencil and painted in watercolour paints on the 8th August 2021. It was digitally enhanced in GIMP Image Editor on the 9th August 2021. Paper type = 130 gsm

This chapter was written on the 8th August 2021.

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Please do not repost, modify, resell or claim this work as your own.

(Reblogging is fine, though!)

[Mythical Canary Info]

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stonefreeak · 4 years

Text

Thank you all for your patience! Sorry it took me much longer than I hoped to get the next chapter out. I hope y’all will continue to enjoy this ride!

Obi-Wan closes his eyes and rests his head in his hands, trying to keep his breathing even.

He knew. He knew that Anakin would blow up if he found out... Perhaps it has been wrong of Obi-Wan to try and keep it from him, try and keep their relationship stable. He's afraid for Anakin's sake.

If Palpatine turns out to be as destabilising influence as Obi-Wan fears, if he's truly convicted, then Obi-Wan wanted Anakin to feel like he could still come to him for support. He wanted to make sure that Anakin had more people to talk to than just Padmé... Perhaps it was wrong of him... But Anakin has never been objective when it comes to people he trusts and cares for.

Though Obi-Wan has to admit that it's possible that he's not the best at that either, but he tries. And perhaps Anakin is right... Perhaps no matter how much Obi-Wan loves Anakin, he does not trust him. After all... he's proven himself in many ways to be trustworthy, Obi-Wan would not hesitate a second to place his life in Anakin's hands... But he has also proven himself untrustworthy when it comes to information.

Just as Padmé has.

She promised, swore, that she would tell no one. And yet she did. She decided, without asking, that Anakin should be told. If she had asked, Obi-Wan would have told her the truth: that he was planning on telling Anakin. Even as he's now realised that perhaps it was for the best that Anakin heard it from Padmé and not from any Jedi... The fact that she did not ask remains troubling.

If she had asked him, Obi-Wan might even have given her permission to do so. He knows, after all. Anakin loves her, and bad news from a loved one who isn't involved with the news can sometimes make the blow milder. Lessen its impact.

But she didn't ask.

He pinches the bridge of his knows and breathes through the worry, the sorrow, and the anger.

Because he is angry. Angry that for all of his attempts to mitigate the damage, it has still come to this. Angry that Anakin would yell at Obi-Wan about a lack of trust when Anakin has continuously proven that he doesn't trust Obi-Wan either. Angry about the blatant hypocrisy in Anakin’s actions, but which he most likely does not even think exists.

Obi-Wan would never demand that Anakin bares his deepest fears and emotions to anyone, least of all Obi-Wan himself... But to speak of a lack of trust from Obi-Wan's side when he refuses to trust someone just on Anakin's say so, when Anakin won't even admit that he's in love with Padmé… Won’t speak of his worries, or even admit that he and Padmé are friends sometimes...

Obi-Wan isn't even sure why Anakin would lie about it in the first place. He and Padmé aren't exactly subtle, and it's a bit of an open secret among the Council members. Though, that is the wrong way to put it. The Council certainly suspects, but they have no proof. They can hardly demand or make decisions based on suspicions and circumstantial evidence… But they’re all aware that Anakin is rarely subtle, so Obi-Wan at least is fairly certain that there’s more than meets the eyes when it comes to Anakin and Padmé’s relationship.

Though perhaps Anakin’s silence is because he's realised that a relationship with a Senator means he won't be able to go on any missions that are related to Naboo or Padmé and so he's using plausible deniability to keep doing so. Perhaps he’s decided that he’d rather not deal with the potential political fallout of a Senator being in a relationship with someone she technically holds power over...

It seems like a terribly unfair reading of Anakin's motives, but Obi-Wan simply doesn't have any idea what they actually are. Between him and Padmé, Padmé is the one who might look like she's trying to make use of her position to take a Jedi to bed or even try to influence his diplomatic choices.

Perhaps it's to protect her, Obi-Wan thinks. Anakin is very serious about keeping the people he loves safe after all.

Understandably so.

Nevertheless... It makes for a difficult situation.

If they cannot be trusted to actually keep information secret from each other because they believe the other deserves to know... How can Obi-Wan know for sure that they're not also telling other people? How can he know where it ends? If they cannot be trusted to keep to the strict need-to-know basis imposed, because they believe that someone deserves to know…

He shakes his head and sighs again.

He'll need to discuss it with someone else, get a different perspective on it.

Perhaps he is too involved in this to see clearly. That really is why you shouldn't be involved with missions or diplomatic situations that involve people you know closely and care a lot about—it makes it incredibly hard to stay unbiased. Of course, it wouldn’t be the first time it’s happened simply due to how few Jedi there are.

Rubbing a hand over his face, Obi-Wan sighs again.

He needs to think about something else for a while. He cannot keep tying himself up into knots over his personal relationships. As a Jedi, his duty to the galaxy must come first, even though he knows he would much rather rush after Anakin to try and fix this.

Besides, it's not unlikely that some distance and time apart will let them calm down. If they're both calm when they discuss it again, they're more likely to reach a solution.

Making too many decisions when you're in the grip of high emotion can be a difficult—not to mention dangerous—thing. Emotions are important, they're as much a part of a person as their body is, but just as they can sometimes guide you or help you see things more clearly, they can also sometimes overwhelm you and lead you astray.

He'll need to meditate on this; he needs to reflect over what he's feeling and sort himself out. Then he can try to talk to Anakin again.

Perhaps considering the problem that is Count Dooku and Asajj Ventress will help him get his mind off Anakin and Padmé for now.

Not that Dooku and Ventress are any less of a difficult problem, of course.

It really would be nice if something could go well and resolve itself without much difficulty.

Of course, it wouldn't be politics if it did, he supposes.

—

(Supreme Chancellor Obi-Wan Kenobi masterpost)

#Supreme Chancellor Obi Wan Kenobi #update #obi wan kenobi #My writing #w h e w #angst

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brutcllysoft · 4 years

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post-negotiations ft. @devilwomcn

setting: march 2015, reina’s office.

ROWAN:

There is a pounding in the base of Rowan’s skull. She’s been sitting in three hours of contract negotiation and it’s clear that it’s taken it’s toll on her. Rowan’s been in this life since she was fifteen years old, catching her big break early into her teenage years and turning into an overnight sensation, her career skyrocketing higher than she ever could have believed before she was even eighteen years old. Her first year had been rocky, her mother standing in as both manager and mother but when she was sixteen Reina Savant made her appearance and it just feels like it’s been non-stop ever since then. In the best way, of course. Reina is single handedly responsible for making sure Rowan gets the absolute best version of every opportunity that has been thrown her way and even though they had started off rocky, they make a really, really good team. Though she’s hesitant to get completely on board with the latest idea the older woman has thrown at her.

Once upon a time she may have believed it to be a sneaky, double handed deal ---- something Reina would present as good for her, only later to reveal that it was actually going to hurt her now but have her thriving in the long run. But there is no denying that they’ve bonded over the last five years. How could they not? More often than not, they’re the only constant the other has. Reina’s always on the road with her, accompanying her to every inch of the world and fighting in her corner every step of the way. Rowan’s not sure she could ever put into words how much Reina has done for her, how much she feels like she owes her but she hopes she doesn’t have to. That Reina somehow just knows. The other party leaves the room and Rowan allows herself to slump in her chair, head lolling forward into her upturned hands, heels of her palms pressing against closed green eyes. “Tell me again that this is the right move,” she sighs quietly, looking again for a little reassurance. She looks up then, blinking away the array of colours in her vision from the pressure that had been there seconds earlier and her voice takes on a slightly sharper tone. “And why it had to be him of all people.”

REINA:

They’ve been sitting in a conference room all day it seems, going over the ins and outs of what Reina might call a deal with the Devil if she didn’t already claim that title for herself. It’s not exactly romantic, but then again a set up relationship filled with contract negotiations and a bunch of legal bullshit that Reina’s all too used to dealing with isn’t ever going to be considered the height of romance. She can tell Rowan’s just itching to make a run for it and to be fair, the older woman doesn’t really blame her. This isn’t what she signed up for, she should be able to just make music and do whatever the fuck she wants, but that isn’t the industry and Reina knows that all too well. Once they’re done and the lawyers are gone, she doesn’t miss the way Rowan immediately slumps in her chair, biting back a comment about good posture and how she’s going to start looking like shit in interviews if she keeps that up. Instead she grants the blonde her moment of distress, for once understanding how overwhelming this all must be.

Rowan’s quiet request for reassurance puts something in the pit of Reina’s stomach that she can’t quite place — maybe it’s guilt for pushing this, which is something she’s never felt before about a deal, or maybe she’s just afraid it is the wrong move and she’s setting Rowan up for failure — but either way, she knows better than to display anything but confidence when she answers. “It’s the right move,” she affirms, reaching out to squeeze Rowan’s shoulder lightly before retracting her hand like she’s just been burned. “You’re too goody-two shoes — too cookie cutter. Obviously you’re doing well but it wouldn’t hurt to expand your fanbase to people who don’t shit sunshine and daisies.” Which isn’t her entire fanbase, and of course Reina knows that, but it’s a pretty big chunk of it and if they ever want to move away from the Country Girl Barbie act, it’s going to be pretty damn hard to do without this publicity stunt and the kid that comes with it. Andrew Thane may be a nightmare in the press, but on paper he’s exactly the edge Rowan needs. “Trust me, I’m not all that thrilled about this match either, but we have an image in mind and he fits it. It’s just two years, Ro. In and out. Y’all don’t even have to see each other except in public.”

ROWAN:

Somehow even with Reina's reassurance, Rowan can't help but feel like this is a bad idea. Usually all it takes is one word from Reina and Rowan is all in. She's never lead her astray before, always proven to have her back and is the one person that Rowan can count on her being in her corner no matter what. So it would be easy to just lean into that reassurance and run with it --- she wants to. But Rowan is, at her core, a hopeless romantic. It's something the media has ripped into her about before, as if the string of boys she has dated is any longer than that of her male counterparts. The idea of devoting two years of her life to something fake and with Andrew Thane makes her feel like her skin is too tight. The fact that she'll be wasting some of the best parts of herself--- that big heart of hers that is so often getting her in trouble -- on something that isn't even real is a hard pill to swallow.

"Okay." She simply nods at Reina's reassurance, sighing and raking a hand through blonde locks. Reina's next words pull a laugh from her, a sound that's equally tired and full somehow; bordering right on the edge of being forced and genuine. "You don't think the teenage girl market is a good one anymore?" The reality is, the majority of her fan base a girls between the ages of 9 and 19 right now and while they're great -- she loves all of her fans, owes her success to them of course, but they've also all got parents willing to shell out big bucks with just a bat of their eyelashes -- she can't deny that it would be nice to appeal to an older, more mature audience as well. Maybe it would help the industry treat her more seriously. "Two years is a long time," she points out with a tilt of her head. It's not that long in the big picture and she knows that there is a possibility of it flying by in a blink. "How badly are we going to get sued if we have to pull the plug early?"

REINA:

Even though the laugh that comes from Rowan isn’t quite genuine, it’s nice to hear nonetheless, and Reina’s relieved that despite her hesitation she’s not completely ill at ease with all of this. “Well it depends, are you hoping to make a deal with the Disney Channel any time soon? Because if not, I’d say it’s time we move on,” she jokes, because obviously she already knows Rowan’s got zero interest in that. She’s entering her twenties and it’s about that time when she’s still seen as a kid but should be treated like an adult, and Reina knows Rowan wants to be taken seriously as a musician rather than catering to a young demographic for her entire career. It’s best to move forward now while they can, and in Reina’s mind there’s no better way for her to do that than being associated with Andy Thane and his chronic inability to seem even remotely innocent.

The more Reina thinks about it, the more she’s convinced this move is right — but once glance at Rowan tells her the blonde isn’t quite there yet. She knows Rowan’s got a big heart and a lot of love to give, and the last thing Reina wants is for her to somehow get hurt from this, but she’s fairly certain that won’t be a problem with a jackass like Andy in the picture. If anything, she thinks an issue might come from how much Rowan dislikes him. “It isn’t so long. Just one album,” she counters, giving Rowan a nudge with her foot in return. The legal part of this deal has Reina cringing a little, though, and while she told herself early on that she’d never lie to Rowan, she doesn’t exactly want to tell her the full truth. “Badly enough that I think you’d much rather just stick the two years out.” Truthfully, Reina can’t imagine Chris pushing Andy to actually sue them, but she does think his label would and they’d at minimum be suing for any money he would have made from being in the tabloids with Ro — which is a lot, and another big reason Reina’s so adamant on doing this as well. “Think of it this way — when it’s all over, you can buy a nicer house up in the mountains and I’ll even let you tell the paps to fuck off whenever you feel like it. Perks of your new bad girl image, hm?”

ROWAN:

Reina’s joke lands where Rowan needs it to, and the laugh that follows though quiet is much more real. “I think we missed the boat on Disney. We should’ve cashed in on it a few years ago.” Though that has obviously never been part of their plan --- she’s had friends make a deal with that particular Devil and it isn’t something she has any interest in doing. Maybe six years ago before she’d gotten her big break -- there’s no denying that Disney is one hell of a way to break into the industry -- but not anymore. Reina’s gotten her better deals than any cartoon mouse ever could, and she doesn’t have to compromise who she is. At least, not entirely. Sure, she’s had to play up the small town southern girl act for the last few years, but it hadn’t always been an act. When she’d first been signed it was just who she was and now that she’s begun to evolve out of that and is looking to spread her wings and be taken more seriously and make moves in other directions, Reina is right there to make it happen ---- even if it’s happening in a way Rowan doesn’t fully understand.

Admittedly, when the idea of a fake relationship had been brought up, she had been completely against it. Rowan isn’t stupid and she knows herself --- she knows she sometimes jumps too soon, dives too deep and it’s gotten her burned in the past. Not to mention the media scrutiny it has landed her on more than one occasion. But as soon as Reina told her it would be with Andy Thane she knew that she’d be safe --- after just one interaction, she knows she can’t stand him and the possibility of actually falling for him is laughable. So between that and the airtight contract they’ve got laid out -- she tells herself it’s important to keep it professional, that the boundaries being on paper will make it impossible for her to cross them if she somehow ends up with a brain bleed and finds herself attracted to the man in question -- they’ll be pretty safe. But she’s still not thrilled about having to spend time with him and honestly, she’s worried. His reputation isn’t a good one and while she tries to see all of this from Reina’s perspective, to see that it will be good for them both she can’t help but worry being with someone like him is going to turn her already existing fan base against her.

She nods when Reina mentions waiting it out, knowing she wouldn’t put herself or her manager and legal team through that kind of battle over a measly two years. She’s resilient and she can wait it out. And honestly, the mention of a new house in the mountains does make it sound a little more worth it. “You might never see me again then,” she teases, only partly joking. Obviously she’d never just up and disappear but there’s no denying she’s more comfortable when she’s out of the hustle and bustle of the city most days, finding comfort in the quiet and being around nature. Not to mention it’s nice to not have to worry about some idiot with a camera hiding outside her front gate. Which brings her to her next point, accentuated by a loud laugh. “I’m going to remind you that you told me that two years from now when you’re telling me I need to watch my mouth more.” While her squeaky clean image has her refraining from cussing, there’s no denying behind closed doors she has a potty mouth.

REINA:

Reina can see that even just in the last few minutes, Rowan’s easing up just slightly. She knows her girl like the back of her hand and where her body language was once tense and anxious, she’s now loosened up a little and that’s enough to put Reina’s mind at ease. The older woman understands Rowan’s uncertainty when it comes to this deal, these are unchartered waters they’re entering but Reina is going to do everything in her power to make sure the next two years go by as smoothly as possible without a single hitch. It’s time that Rowan steps out as more than just the girl next door, and Reina can’t think of a faster way to get her there than to have the world think she’s shacking up with America’s Most Wanted. There’s a part of Reina that secretly hopes Andy’s image is almost as cultivated as Rowan’s, though — that he isn’t as much of an asshole as everyone says, because not only does she not want Rowan getting hurt, she doesn’t want Rowan falling down the path he seems to be going down. She’s a good kid, always has been, but the temptation to become a Lindsay Lohan or a Paris Hilton has never really been there until now, and Reina can only hope that Rowan’s got a good enough head on her shoulders to avoid a mess like that.

Although she’s kidding, Rowan’s warning that she may disappear to the mountains and never come back makes Reina tsk, the disapproval of that plan evidently clear. Rowan loves what she does too much to ever do something like that, though, so she’s not actually all that worried. “A few fucks here and there might do you good, so I’ll let it slide.” Really, it’s a miracle in itself that Rowan’s never been caught swearing too badly because she’s got a mouth on her that rivals Reina’s own, and maybe that’d do her some good with the image reconstruction they’re going for. Checking her watch, Reina realizes she’s got another meeting coming up and Rowan’s got her own schedule to adhere to, but they’re not done here just yet and she’ll gladly push everything back if Rowan still needs to talk out her anxiety before they move forward. She shifts the papers scattered on the table before them into a neat pile, clearing her throat as she laces her hands together on top of them and fixes Rowan with a serious look. “I’m only going to tell you this once because it’s an absolute last resort, but if something happens and you do want to pull the plug, I’ll figure it out. I don’t want you stuck in this if you’re miserable, that’s not going to help anyone.” Not only will Rowan probably not be able to pull out a great album if she’s in a bad place, but it’ll fuck with her for the rest of her life and that’s exactly what Reina wants to avoid.

ROWAN:

Reina’s disapproval is apparent, but Rowan lets it roll off of her back. Normally she’s one who takes any criticism to heart, maybe sometimes a little too personally. But seeing as this is a result of something she’d said in jest --- something she would never in a million years do, she isn’t very worried. Years ago she never thought she’d find herself in a position like this. She’d been sixteen when she moved in with Reina and they began their business arrangement, and she thought that was all it was ever going to be. They’d been awkward at first, with Rowan tiptoeing around the Nashville home in an attempt to stay out of the brunette’s way so she didn’t end up on the first flight back to Montana. And now Reina has come to be a presence that seems to automatically put her at ease, even in a situation as confusing and nerve wracking as this one. She doesn’t miss the way Reina checks her watch, though, and she does the same in return. Honestly her day is fairly laxed -- she’s got an interview in the morning and so today they aren’t doing much, but she knows Reina almost never has an easy day and she doesn’t want to keep her manager from taking care of her business just because she’s nervous. She’s a big girl, despite public opinion, she can ride this out and figure it out without needing someone to hold her hand the entire time. “Nothing is going to happen,” she frowns when Reina gives her that serious look, letting her know they can always pull the plug if she needs it.

“We’ll figure it out. I’m not worried.” Which is maybe the biggest lie she’s told in a while because she is very worried, but she doesn’t want to go down that road right now. Instead she clears her throat and moves to push her chair back. “I should get outta here before your next client shows up and starts complainin’ about you going over time with me.” There have been rumors about favouritism before and honestly, who else has Reina ever let into her home the way she has Rowan? But she doesn’t want to make waves at the office. "I'll see you tomorrow, right? Have a good night. Try not to make too many people cry today," she teases gently, giving one last smile.

#am movin tngs over (:#v: nashville.#nash: reina.#nash: reina 002

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quakerjoe · 6 years

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A Cuppa Joe for 3 January 2019

Regarding Patriotism

Patriotism. What the fuck IS that exactly? I used to think it stemmed from the nation’s actual motto “E Pluribus Unum” meaning “From Many, One” where we all stand together, united, as one people, Americans, and look out for one another. That was a hard delusion to wake up from. While such a thing is possible if we so desire it, it isn’t going to happen evidently. Seriously, think about this for a moment. Who do you see the most out here going on about “patriotism” today? Angry white dudes. I don’t see African Americans out there blowing the “Look at me, asshole! I’m a PATRIOT!” horns loudly, nor anyone from the LGBTQ community or from any minority such as our Islamic/Arabic neighbors who came here to get away from all the radical, violent religious bullshit and just want to pray in peace. Angry. White. Dudes. All pining for a “Christian Nation” while acting exactly the opposite to the teachings of Christ. They clean their guns and play circle-jerk warrior in the woods with their limp-dick friends because they’re too much of a sad sack to actually JOIN the military and SERVE. THAT would be Patriotism.

Then again, is serving in the military really being patriotic anymore? I was proud when I served, but looking back on it, WHO was I really serving? Was I truly protecting the US from some threat? Not really. We’re on the other side of the planet, far away from any direct threat. Two massive oceans divide us from any other military that may want to harm us. Then again, WHY would any other military even WANT to harm us? Could it have something to do with the way this nation invades other nations to topple their elected governments and establish banana republics in order to get what “we” want from them? By “we”, I of course don’t mean that you or I give a shit what the price of bananas is. Oil, on the other hand… We all care about oil prices because we’re constantly being blocked from developing and using green power sources so that the rich twats in Big Fossil Fuels can get even richer. They spend thousands on buying elected officials here who band together and pass a tax break law that gives those rich twats savings in the millions and even billions.

But do Central and South American nations have a mobile force to invade us? Fuck no. What about Persian nations that we and other European nations carved up for oil field access, ignoring the territories if Sunni and Shiite, creating nations that have all sort of in-fighting between the two peoples? That’s on us, kids. Still, they don’t have a military worth a damn that can cross the oceans and get to us. So is being over THERE being “patriotic” and really defending our freedom? Fuck no. So WHO are we serving? Rich. White. Dudes. Period. Are THEY “patriotic”? They bribe the government to use military force in nations that they want something from, like oil, or poppy fields for Big Pharma, and they USE us as cheap mercenaries; cannon fodder to secure their FINANCIAL interests, and the thanks veterans get when they get home is shit wages, their families on some sort of financial assistance, and when they need medical or mental health, we practically ignore them and then wonder why the suicide rate for returning vets is so high. Fewer mouths for Uncle Sam to feed, right? Meanwhile, the rich, white dudes don’t ever have to look at them or deal with them and even though the blood is on their hands from war, they weren’t the ones sent in to do the killing. THEY don’t have to deal with the consequences; they just cash in and get rich. No guilt. No empathy. No PTSD. Nada. Just loads of cash. Meanwhile, we use up our munitions and equipment and keep the War Machine and major contractors super-financed in contracts that aren’t bid for anymore. That doesn’t sound at all patriotic to me, but there’s something you need to understand.

YOU are not a person, you’re a component. You’re something to exploit and rob. When people in government today see “We the People” they automatically see that as “We the Rich Fuckers” and the rest of us are the plebes; the livestock that generates money for them and we don’t matter to them. If we did, we’d have had free healthcare coverage and education decades ago, and it’d also be the best on the planet and there’d be a sense of pride in being an American from the richest down to the poorest because we’d be at our healthiest and our smartest. Instead, we revel in our arrogance, our ignorance, and our stupidity. We roll in a puddle of hubris and it seems that most “patriots” don’t even know what that word means. THAT, dear Joes, is the new definition of “patriotism” among the ‘plebe class’, and just like in days of Olde, when the Constitution was first drafted, “People” meant the wealthy class who owned land and property and were the only ones who voted. They got the good food, the good medicine, and the good education while you got little to none of any of it and you’d have been working since the day you could walk and talk at the same time until the day you dropped dead. That’s what MAGA is all about, only trumplefuckstick’s supporters are poor, stupid fucks who must believe that they’re really millionaires who are temporarily inconvenienced at the moment and that they’ll be rich soon with 45 at the helm.

Their idea of “patriotism” is to literally shit on everyone here that isn’t of their ilk- ignorant-as-fuck white, cist-gendered, white, “Christian” MEN or their brainwashed, sidekick women who dine on hate as well. They’re praying for the End of Days one moment, while hoping that just before that happens they get an opportunity to hunt down and murder Obama or HRC or just go on an all-out “nigger hunt” or a chance to do-in the “towelheads” living here. They’re praying for a chance to slaughter anyone LGBTQ because the bible calls them an abomination to be destroyed. They give me the impression that they watch “The Handmaiden’s Tale” and jerk off to it because using women as breeding stock and enslaving them and killing the “uppity ones” is a dirty, wet dream of theirs, and they call it “patriotic”.

So someone out there, please remind me what it truly means to be a Patriot of the United States of America. As far as I can see, we went from aspirations towards “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country” to “I got mine; fuck the rest of y’all! Bootstraps, fucker! Pull yourself up or just die ‘cause I’m not going to help you. I had to work hard to get what I’ve got. Get a job!” Instead of looking UP at the rich and powerful shitting on us, too many of us are looking down at those less fortunate than those wielding the “White Privilege” card and blaming the POOR for all their woes as they look down their noses at them and continue to let the shit roll downhill instead of reaching down to help someone up. It’s a disgrace. It’s the OPPOSITE of being patriotic. It’s the COMPLETE OPPOSITE of what I was taught it meant to be an actual Christian and frankly, the level of hypocrisy from the religious people here is sickening, insulting, and fucking INSANE.

I tire of so-called “Christians” showing up here telling me that they’re not ALL bad. Well, they ARE. If you’re watching evil transpire before you and you do NOTHING, you’re guilty of that evil too, and frankly I am still waiting for some sort of allied Christian movement to get together enough to call out the ‘false prophets’ getting rich in this country and getting behind, en masse, to see to it we get Universal Healthcare for ALL, a bolstered safety net program that includes “food stamps”, the promotion of medicines and science because if there is a god, we were blessed with senses that should be trying to study how He/She/It made the universe and how to make the world a healthier, safer place of PEACE, not a nation with a bloated military budget that can’t even pass muster when audited while people here in our own country are going hungry and homeless because “fuck you, you peasant, that’s why”. If your idea of being a “Christian” is ignoring the bible and praying at home, in private and you insist on going to a tax have to pray (yes, church) then you’d better be DOING something to fight against the evils sweeping the nation and against the tenants of Jesus. Evangelicals, or Talibangelists as I call them, are on the move. Where the fuck are YOU? Yeah, hanging around your community trying to do “good deeds” is sweet and all, but wouldn’t it fight hunger and poverty MORE, in line with Christ’s teachings, if you got off your ass and rallied AGAINST the Talibangelists and called them out on their bullshit? Where’s your presence in the REAL clear and present danger here? Where is YOUR voice when it comes to defeating the false prophets we’ve been warned repeatedly about?

>Matthew 7:15 clearly states “Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are raving wolves.” Perhaps you “Christians” should STOP ELECTING THEM! Forwarding and backing known pedophiles and sex offenders doesn’t sound too Christian OR patriotic to me.

>Matthew 24:11 Jesus says “and many false prophets will appear and lead many astray.” Sounds like the brainless twats on FOX and trumplefuckstick lying to the masses who slop back the shit like it is gravy and not the feces that it is.

>Matthew 24:24 says “For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.”

>Second Peter 2:1-3 “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.”

>First John 4:1 “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” So forgive my skepticism of all you alleged “Christians”, but I’ll believe in you when you SHOW me that you’re not all talk and no ACTION.

> Jeremiah 23:16 Tell me this one doesn’t apply to suckers who vote GOP and Corporate Democrat as well as those fuckwits who go to mega-churches to throw away their money and their souls: “This is what the LORD Almighty says: “Do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you; they fill you with false hopes. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD.”

> Ezekiel 13:9 “My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and who give lying divinations. They shall not be in the council of my people, nor be enrolled in the register of the house of Israel, nor shall they enter the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord God.” We have truly FAILED as a nation at this one, kids. So quit with all the religious preaching on my page. If you haven’t sold all you own and have given it all to the poor, then I’m not going to take you seriously. (Matthew 19:21 and Luke 18:22).

From what my parents and grandparents taught me, part of being a Patriot was to confront evil and help those in need, and honestly, I’m not seeing it from the “Christian” community, only their hubris and vanity and a defensive sense of pride compounded with an extremist element here that uses the Bible as license to commit all manner of atrocities against their fellow countrymen/women etc. even though we were WARNED about this sort of fuckery- “because they are turning whole families away from the truth by their false teaching. And they do it only for money” (Titus 1:11) AND “Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself.” (1 Timothy 6:5).

If you haven’t noticed, we are HERE:

> 2nd Tim 4:3-4 “the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” So let’s just pull this sanctimonious bus off to the side of the pretentiousness highway and cut the shit with your religious ramblings and let’s focus on saving the world and figuring out what it truly means to be “patriotic”, shall we? We SHOULD be looking out for one another REGARDLESS of religious beliefs.

Having said all that, Dear Joes, tell me this- how do YOU define “Patriotism” today?

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tfloosh · 6 years

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Distractions

Zelink Month is here y’all!!! I’m kicking it off with Hyrule Warriors Shink because you just know Link got distracted by Sheik during battles.

At first, Link wasn’t too bothered by her, Sheik, the new Sheikah assassin they had picked up in the Eldin Caves. She had done her own thing and covered their flank well, so she must be a decent fighter.

But then they were stuck fighting back-to-back against Gibdos at the Great Deku Tree, and Link couldn’t not notice her. Sheik didn’t fight; she danced across the battlefield, throwing kunai where enemies would be, blasting them with magic channeled through her harp. Link was a little embarrassed to admit he almost lost a limb because he was distracted watching Sheik fight instead of paying attention to the Gibdo in front of him. He almost slapped himself. The Great Deku Tree was on fire! He didn’t have time for this.

Talking with Lana after the battle left more questions than answers, and Impa was still stressed about not finding Princess Zelda. They had both left after everyone had agreed to march toward the Valley of the Seers in the morning, but Sheik had stayed. It confused Link. He hesitated before leaving the meeting tent.

“You were distracted in battle, Chosen One,” she narrowed her red eyes as Link flinched at the title. “You will have to do better if you expect to survive this war.”

She started to walk out of the tent, but Link felt the need to apologize.

“I’m sorry. I’m still new at this. I- I’ll try and do better.”

Sheik stopped, folded her arms, and scrutinized him.

“You are fighting on instinct, relying too much on your gut. That’s not a bad thing, but you need more discipline.”

“Could you train with me?” Link asked on a whim. “It’ll take a week to reach the Valley of the Seers. That should be plenty of time to, uh, learn discipline.”

Sheik raised a brow but nodded all the same, “We’ll meet at dawn.”

Training with Sheik was just the worst. She didn’t go easy on Link at all, and more than once, Impa yelled at him for getting injured when they weren’t even in a battle. Link had hoped these training session would help desensitize him to Sheik’s fighting so he wouldn’t be as distracted by her. But he was wrong.

“You’re distracted!” Sheik yelled again. “Focus, Link.”

“I’m trying,” he grunted, throwing his weight behind his shield to force Sheik a step back.

“I’ve seen you fight better than this,” she said as she circled him. She jumped in again, her dulled, practice kunai appearing in her hand suddenly. Link blocked with his shield again and trust with his sword.

“Not good enough,” Sheik’s voice suddenly sounded to his left. Link turned to try and block her attack, but was too slow. Sheik’s eyes bore into his as she held her kunai steady at his neck.

“We’re a day away from the Valley of the Seers,” she narrowed her eyes at him. “If you fight like this tomorrow, we could lose.”

“I know,” Link reached up to move the kunai away from his neck, probably rougher than he needed to.

“I think it best we stick to opposite sides of the battlefield,” she stated as she sheathed her weapon.

“What?” Link asked as he sheathed his own practice sword.

“It’s obvious I am the cause of your distraction. I commend you for attempting to overcome the problem, but this week of training has done little to help either of us.”

“Either of us?” Link’s confusion grew.

“You aren’t the only one who has been distracted, Link,” her eyes twinkled mysteriously before she left the training grounds.

Sheik’s comment stuck with him during their whole day of marching. Avoiding each other hardly seemed like a good solution, but it was really the only thing they could do. So as they approached the perpetual dusk of the Valley of the Seers, Link went along with Sheik’s lead and avoided her on the battlefield. It was pretty easy. The desert land of the valley was huge, and Impa decided to split up their army to cover more ground. Link took the west side, while Sheik supported Impa along the east. The fighting even stopped Link from overthinking about Sheik being distracted by him. They were doing perfectly fine, even while fighting the Manhandla, until they had an opening to storm Cia the top of the temple.

Link couldn’t help but give Sheik a once over, checking for any injuries. He also couldn’t help but notice Sheik doing the same to him. But in that split second, Cia cast a spell that froze them in place. Lana was able to jump out of the way, but the rest of them weren’t so lucky. Cia stole Link’s Triforce and oddly enough Sheik’s, since apparently she held a piece. Then more magic happened than Link thought he would ever see in his lifetime.

Lana debriefed all of them on what had happened. Cia had ripped time and space apart to bring the areas that held a part of Ganondorf’s soul into their world.

“I had no idea the Triforce could do such a thing,” Impa mused once Lana had finished. “The tales always spoke of unlimited power but to see it in person.” She shook her head. “We will have to split up.”

They spent the next two hours debating who would go where and how many companies they should bring with them. Link voiced some concern over going to the area Lana called Skyloft alone, but Impa insisted.

“I have faith in you,” she nodded. “You have grown so much since I saw you on the training ground. Believe in yourself, Link.”

Again Sheik hesitated while everyone else left. Their rule of avoidance flew out of Link’s head, and he stayed behind with her.

“Impa doesn’t trust me,” Sheik said, a frown evident in her tone, though Link could not see it. “I should be going to Skyloft with you, not running around Death Mountain so Impa can babysit me.”

“So you’d rather we both get distracted in battle again?” Link half-teased.

“No, I,” she turned away, refusing to meet his eyes. “I want to make sure you’re safe. I can’t do that from Death Mountain.”

“I don’t know; Death Mountain is pretty tall,” he smiled. “You might be able to see me on one of those floating islands.”

Sheik laughed. It was a musical sound, so light and happy. Link had never heard her laugh, and he immediately decided he wanted to hear it again.

“It’s also more than that,” she sighed. “But now is not the time to voice insecurities. We must rest before we head out tomorrow.”

“For what it’s worth,” Link said as Sheik was about to step out of the meeting tent. “I trust you, Sheik.”

Her eyes seemed sad despite his sentiment, “Thank you, Link.”

Sheik seemed much happier the next morning.

“I analyzed our respective marching routes,” she smiled, or at least Link assumed she was smiling by the way her eyes beamed. “Our routes overlap for at least three days before Impa and I break off to go up Death Mountain.”

“That’s, uh, good,” Link awkwardly held his half-eaten toast.

“So, uh,” she sat down next to him, some nervousness creeping into her tone. “We could spend more time together, if you wanted.”

Link sat shocked for half a second. In his wildest dreams, he never thought Sheik actually liked him. Yet, here she was wishing to spend more time with him before they had to part ways.

“I would like to, yes,” he nodded. “As long as we don’t train together.”

Sheik laughed again, and Link’s heart soared.

***

“I will not have you distracting him from our goal.”

Link had been approaching Sheik’s tent when he heard voices.

“He is the chosen hero,” Impa was saying. “He has a duty to fulfill. You cannot lead him astray with your empty affections.”

“All your talk yesterday about your faith in him must then be a lie,” Sheik shot back, “if you think one woman can deter him from his course. Why aren’t you giving Lana the same shovel talk? Anyone with eyes can see the way she looks at him.”

Link swallowed roughly. He hadn’t noticed the way Lana looked at him.

“Lana can tell that any action on her part will only distract Link more. Unlike you.”

Sheik stormed out of the tent after that. Link thought about trying to conceal himself, but Sheik’s sharp eyes caught him too quickly.

“Walk with me,” she whispered. And so Link followed her until they reached a nearby river.

“I’m sorry you had to hear that,” Sheik finally spoke as she sat down on the grass by the bank. “Impa is unduly stressed about the disappearance of Princess Zelda, and she felt the need to exert her command over something she could control.”

“I would have thought she’d figured out she can’t control you already,” Link smiled as he sat down next to Sheik.

“Yes, one would have thought,” she sighed. “But she wasn’t entirely wrong.”

Link only stared.

“It is improper of me to pursue you when we are in the midst of war,” she continued. “I am being selfish and thinking only of my fears.”

“If I didn’t have someone like you to talk to,” Link started. “I would probably go crazy. Impa expects too much of me. She wants me to keep up the façade of being super-human, even while in camp. If I didn’t have you, I would have gone insane with stress and sleep-loss.”

They sat in silence for a while, simply watching the stars between the clouds and trees.

“There will come a time when I take these wraps off,” Sheik touched her scarf, which was pulled up over her nose like always. “And you will look at me differently. I just want you to know, that despite my appearance, I am still the same, and my intentions are true.”

“No matter what, I will always trust you,” Link whispered back.

***

Link came back from Skyloft with Fi in tow. He was still unnerved by her (It was a ‘her’ right? Despite being a sword?) calling him Master, but Link had faced stranger challenges during this strange war. This was nothing compared to an evil sorceress trying to destroy a whole kingdom out of some twisted version of love for him.

While his successful return was applauded, it was nothing compared to the news that Princess Zelda had returned with Impa from Death Mountain. Link was happy to hear the news, while secretly hoping Impa would lay off Sheik since the Princess was back. But he didn’t see Sheik the whole day since his arrival in the morning. She wasn’t with the healers in the medical tent, which was a relief, but she wasn’t in her own tent either. Link simply decided to distract himself with training. Sheik would come find him soon enough, he figured.

And just like he predicted, she surprised him as he walked down to the river they had visited not too long ago.

“You didn’t come to say hi to me all day,” her voice was filled with a pout. “It’s quite rude of you, making me come find you instead.”

“I didn’t even see you in camp,” Link began as he turned around, but his voice caught in his throat once he saw her. It wasn’t Sheik, but Princess Zelda, in front of him.

Link fell to one knee, “Your Highness.”

“Oh, never to that again,” the Princess motioned for him to get up. “You promised you wouldn’t look at me differently and that includes when I wear a crown.”

Link stood feeling extremely confused, “Sheik?”

The Princess laughed, and Link knew she and Sheik were one in the same.

“I’m sorry to have deceived you,” Zelda smiled. “But it was necessary to uncover what Cia was up to. That is until it backfired when Wizzrobe impersonated me at the Water Temple.” She grimaced at the memory. “Will you be able to forgive me?”

Instead of answering, Link kissed her.

“I’ll take that as a yes?”

Link only kissed her again.

#zelink #zelink month #zelink month 2018 #zelink week #hw zelink #shink #hyrule warriors #loz #flooshfics

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poipoi1912 · 7 years

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Carisi-centric thoughts on Ep 19x05

(a tiny bit late, because I’m already working on my new Barisi episode tag and I got distracted)

Overall Thoughts

A half-decent episode, a strong vibe of “been there, done that,” and some very solid acting by regulars and guest actors alike. Not a complete snoozefest (though it did get progressively worse, somehow), but too predictable to be truly entertaining. I am sensing a bit of a slump, but right now we’re at a comfortably mediocre level I could live with, lol. Still, I’m hoping the show will bounce back with episodes that are a little more creative.

Case-Related Thoughts

Uh. Yikes? They see what is effectively a stick figure-like age progression sketch and immediately they’re all “IT’S HER!!!” and then they see footage of her taking the subway and immediately they’re all “WE’VE MADE A HUGE MISTAKE!!!” and then the brother’s story is a little off and they’re all “HE’S THE KILLER”.

Like, maybe show some restraint? Y’all are cops?

All of the drama could have been avoided, which is just poor writing. I mean, I laughed my ass off at “there are no orange groves in Pennsylvania”. That was their other big clue? Not the fact the girl refused to give a DNA sample but SVU released her into the custody of some random family regardless?

Speaking of, why on earth did they allow that girl to move in the family home literally 5 minutes after she was found? Was she even stable enough? And the continued refusal to give a DNA sample was certainly suspicious. Sure, the dad was covering up a crime, so his refusal to get the girl’s DNA tested rang true, but by that point it was already too late. They should have tested her DNA before they ever told the family. Why would they risk the emotional damage? To protect her, or respect her own privacy? Okay, but how about protecting the family as well? How about protecting the mother from the pain of losing her “daughter” twice? That’s the one parallel the episode failed to draw between the main case and Liv/Noah. Liv would never want to give that mother false hope.

Also, the son was acting way too creepy from the start. The dad did that a lot better (then again, Paul Schulze is always fantastic); his reaction was part creepy and part “maybe he’s being weird because he doesn’t believe that’s their daughter, but he doesn’t want to hurt his wife by saying that out loud”. Meanwhile, the son was practically all, “Yep. I did it. I don’t know who this random girl is, but she sure isn’t related to me. My actual sister is dead because I personally murdered her.”

Sonny and Continuity

Sonny crossing himself when finding dead bodies is a lovely touch, and I love that the show hasn’t forgotten his faith or his reverence for human life.

We got yet another random and unnecessary tidbit about Sonny's family life. All I’m gonna say is, I sure hope somebody in the writers’ room is keeping track of all this, because they're giving us 3 new tidbits every week and I feel like we're going to start getting conflicting info by episode 14. "So, when my pops was in the hospital for a month back in 2007, and I was in the waiting room, but also doing a student exchange program in Italy at the same time, and my oldest sister was pregnant with her first, but she also had a 3-year-old at home, and my mom was baking cookies for the nurses every Tuesday, but she had already been dead for 2 years, and...."

What is the point of all that? I appreciate the fact they’re trying to fill in some blanks, and Sonny has always been the type to overshare, so it does fit his personality, but it’s still kind of strange. Is Sonny stuck in the past, reminiscing literally at all times? Or do the writers want us to get to know him a little better? If so, why can’t he talk about his current life? Fill in those blanks? Or, even better, why not show us that current life? Lord knows we’re seeing enough of Liv’s life, but all the other characters have gotten nothing. Sonny and Barba especially had their one and only “personal” episode (one each) back in Season 16. It’s nice to hear about Sonny’s family, but it’d be nicer if we actually saw them :D

Sonny and Continuity Vol. II - Emotion

As I’ve said countless times, Sonny is always hit hard when the victims are younger, and I love the idea that a young-ish Sonny would have followed a missing child case even a decade ago (which would have made him how old? And was he a cop at the time? In college? In the Academy? A rookie? What year is it?) Especially since he was going through something emotionally traumatic, like having an ill parent. The ICU means his dad didn’t have it easy, so Sonny was probably worried and was trying to find an outlet for his stress (I’ve been there. Hell, I am there, that’s partly why I write these posts lol).

That said, I also loved seeing that Sonny’s sensitivity and attachment to children led him astray. It gave him false hope, and an overeagerness which is typical of him in general, but uncharacteristic of him as a cop; he usually has good instincts, but he’s also the cop who will triple-check every possible explanation before forming a working theory, so I liked seeing him get carried away. As sad as it was (because it was totally obvious he was wrong, since it was totally obvious the brother was guilty), I liked seeing him falter.

Not that he really faltered, or not that it was acknowledged.

I sincerely thought Sonny was going to get in trouble with a reporter (lol just kidding, of course that ended up being deleted) because he spoon-fed the girl various details she might not otherwise have known. There’s helpful questions and then there’s leading questions. Sonny was so excited about finding “little Em” that he let his emotions cloud his judgment. Again, that made sense, because he had a special attachment to this particular case, but I kept waiting for the payoff. I thought “Emma” would parrot the info Sonny fed her during her TV interview, or something. I kept expecting him to be reprimanded, later on. I wanted to see him acknowledge his mistake, and maybe even get punished for it. In a subtle way, maybe in a conversation with Liv, who would respect his guilt but would warmly yet sternly tell him not to get so easily excited in the future.

Except Sonny was punished via carrying a dead child. And I don’t know if that was even intentional (as a punishment) or accidental (most likely).

Sonny’s Punishment

As strong of a scene as it was, and not to get gory on ya, I gotta say, carrying a corpse like that after all those years? Wouldn't that girl be, like, a pile of bones at that point? And, dare I say, wouldn’t it have been more jarring and tragic if we had seen Sonny carrying an actual lump of remains, instead of an identifiable human shape? I would have gotten chills. But then, they wouldn't have been able to do the dramatic "carrying the body of a child" shot which...

Thank God Peter is such a good actor, and such an understated actor, at that. He is always given these dramatic-ass moments, but he never overacts, so he is able to bring some truth and some honesty to these otherwise melodramatic scenes. His performance is what grounds Sonny. I love how he goes big when the moment is more comedic, but he always shuts down and gives us these small, numb and nauseated expressions when the moment is tragic. The writing is heavy-handed enough, so a “bigger” performance would hurt its emotional impact.

I swear, sometimes it’s like the writers are trying to turn Sonny into this tortured, “vulnerable” version of a Gary Stu, since he has been the de facto male lead for so long, and there’s no one else around to do that sort of stuff, but Peter is valiantly playing him as a three-dimensional human being, because he’s a character actor at heart. As a viewer, I appreciate that.

If I had written this episode (which I wouldn’t have), instead of that entire “finding the remains” scene, I would have had the mother talk to Sonny after the trial, not Liv. I would have had the mother coldly tell Sonny, “I wish you’d never found her,” which would have been a great juxtaposition to “I look at you and I see the angel who found my daughter.” That would have been a more subtle way of punishing him, but just as much of a gut punch, and I’m sure Peter would have given us a reaction which would have been equally heartbreaking.

(WAIT SHOULD I PUT THAT IN MY BARISI EPISODE TAG? WHICH I’VE ALREADY STARTED WRITING? HELL YEAH I WILL. I don’t only fix the lack of Barisi, I also fix the missed opportunities for closure :D)

Stray Thoughts

Sucks that Fin was off for two weeks in a ro... wait he was in this episode? Oh okay.

Barba was underused again, but his face (and his voice!) when he asked if Liv was okay made his entire appearance worth it not really though, he needs more to do.

What was the brother convicted of? Wasn’t he a small-ish child when he killed his sister?

Girl: “Don't touch me!”

(Sonny approaches her with the clear intention of touching her)

Girl: “I said don’t touch me!

(Sonny keeps moving in her direction with his hands literally outstretched)

Girl: I SAID DON’T TOUCH MEEEE!!!!

*DUN DUN*

Oh, SVU, will you never learn? A “dramatic” moment doesn’t work it if it’s based on total contrivance.

The Noah storyline is getting predictable. Liv is going to start grudgingly trusting Sheila, despite her original (and correct) instincts, and then Sheila is going to pull something intense; kidnapping (in time for February sweeps, perhaps), or maybe making her case (to somehow vacate the adoption, which, lol) more legitimate by gathering “evidence” Liv is unfit to be a mother. You know Liv is going to get into trouble eventually, with a perp or a long case, and Off-Screen Lucy will be conveniently busy for once, and Sheila will volunteer to babysit, etc etc. That said, I loved that first courtroom scene. It’s always nice to see Langan, and Brooke Shields is very good (in setting up the fact she’s possibly deranged and will go awf later in the season)

Continuity has been better this season, but apparently it doesn’t reach back to the Stabler years, just to SVU 2.0. So I guess it’s understandable that they virtually redid an entire episode from SVU 1.0 and no one had any memory of it happening.

Amanda: “Liv’s going to bring in a reunification specialist.” (cut to Liv doing the reunification her own damn self) I love this show and its unintentional hilarity :D

Sonny’s sweet face when the parents thought they recognized their daughter? Peter is so good. He really broke my heart last night.

#sonny carisi #peter scanavino #svu #law and order svu #episode thoughts #yeah i wasn't really feeling this episode #only the acting kept me interested #oh well #can't win them all #brb writing some barisi to properly process this entire case #and its emotional impact on poor sweet sonny #because somebody's gotta do it #and you know the show won't #oh #also #long post #and hopefully #long fic to follow lol #i love you all

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alma-liveblogs · 8 years

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Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood Episode 3 Liveblog

Last time, we delved into the Elric brothers’ backstory and ended off with a somber look at the adventure beyond. Today, we (probably) arrive in Liore. Three, two, one, and…

Start!

And we start off with the running gag. Wee.

Episode 3, City of Heresy!

Hey, a lying religious leader using the promise of god to lead the masses astray. Although I guess it’s not really lying, since a Philosopher’s Stone probably would give everyone those boons. However, that would assume everyone gets one, or they can be shared, which I doubt, so most likely he’d just keep his for himself.

Ed………

And there it is. The Philosopher’s Stone. I wonder what will happen that will make the Elrics not get it this time.

Well hello there lady with two completely different hair colors. Will you be a main/intermediate character? Or a villain?

To be fair that’s kinda what praying is to some people. A solution beyond mortal science.

And there it is. He’s forgetting the soul. The thing that makes us a living being and not a mix of substances and material.

“We don’t believe in the existence of God”

YOU LITTLE SHIT LITERALLY MET GOD THEMSELF. DID YOU JUST FORGET? THE FUCK

Christ, again? Will this joke ever end?

Wow, a gun made with metal and spears with metal tips. I wonder how this is gonna go.

But this does make me think that in the future, when Ed and Al are more well-known, people will take the magneto approach and start using plastic or similar stuff in their weapons, as to weaken the bros.

They didn’t even need to use alchemy. lmao

So her name is Rose. Cool name.

So that’s why she believes him. She believes his promises of bringing back the dead. If she gives up hope on that…

I can feel the infamous rushed pacing especially in this scene. I assume in 2003/the manga the brothers spent a lot more time with Rose, so this scene with her hesitating so much to kill them would make more sense. As it is now, it just… doesn’t feel right.

Rose: IS HE OK? Ed: He lost his head. Rose: BUT IS HE OK? Ed: Yeah, he’s fine.

Is Al completely invincible? Or if someone, say, completely melted the armor, would he die or just… inhabit a metal brick for all eternity? Is there a time limit for this thing? Does he even feel pain?

OH HEY CHIMERA COOL

KNOWING WHAT I KNOW ABOUT SOMEONE CALLED NINA THIS IS TROUBLING TO SAY THE LEAST

Holy lord, those scars in his right shoulder look painful as hell. I now understand why the grandma said he’d be coughing up blood if he tried to accelerate the implanting process.

AND SURPRISE MINIGUN OK SURE

Why is everything suddenly so cartoony. What happened to the atmosphere. What

So if you sacrifice yourself or someone else, it should be fine, right? If the one thing y’all were missing was a soul, and you add a soul to the mix… although that wouldn’t work because every soul is unique and without equal, since no one person is the same, so forget that idea.

Where does Al’s voice come from? The neck circle? The helmet? Probably the circle tbh

Random observation time: I love how Ed’s eyebrows are drawn, reminds me a lot of my own zigzag style.

Wow what a shitty evil plan. And Ed agrees.

HOW DID HE NOT NOTICE THAT

Oh dear god his arm

Oh, poetic justice, how I love you so.

And then it ran out. Wow, perfect timing.

No ed bby it’s not fake it just runs out

Good god this is just heartbreaking. This poor woman.

Ed is right, here. You just have to keep walking. Keep going. Keep living.

And here are the two first Sins. Lust and Gluttony, as predicted.

OH CHRIST

Wait hold up.

Father?

Who is this?

Satan?

Good lord Gluttony.

Ok so that seems to be the mark of the sins. And its placement seems to be related to what sin they represent. Lust’s is over her heart, Gluttony’s is in his tongue. If I were to guess, I’d say Wrath’s will be in their arm/fist, Sloth in the belly, Greed in the palm of their hand, Envy in the eye and Pride in the middle of the chest. Let’s see how many I get right.

And that’s the episode! Pretty weak, honestly, at least compared to the other two. Not many revelations, only a few questions raised (who is father? Was the stone a fake or do they run out? Is god a dick?), and the rushed pacing really hurt its emotional core with Rose. I rate episode 3 a 6/10.

I’ll see you next time for more!

#fmab #fmab liveblog #fmab ep 03

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thecelibateshoewhore · 5 years

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Yoke: Dating in the Church (Part 3)

“Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?” (II Corinthians 6:14 NKJV).

“Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?” (2 Corinthians 6:14 NIV).

“Don’t become partners with those who reject God. How can you make a partnership out of right and wrong? That’s not partnership; that’s war. Is light best friends with dark?” (2 Corinthians 6:14 MSG).

Note: This is part three in a series. To better understand this post, it’s best to read part 1 and part 2.

As previously mentioned, this series was inspired by a retweet that came across my timeline, which attempted to address why dating in the church is difficult. While there is no biblical position on dating — as in a particular passage or scripture that addresses how single Christians should date — there are godly principles in scripture that can be applied to dating.

The third point listed was:

“We [as in the church] don’t like accepting the reality that someone can be saved and y’all are still unequally yoked.”

While this final point isn’t completely off base, as I’ve stated in my previous posts, context is extremely important. This tweet isn’t the first time I’ve seen “unequally yoked” used when discussing Christian dating or godly dating. It’s apparent that a lot of Christians haven’t been properly taught the meaning behind certain scriptures. Contrary to what your favorite storefront preacher or Christian public figure would have you believe, in its original context, being “unequally yoked” isn’t specifically referring to marriage (or dating). Paul is referring to any kind of fellowship or association with unbelievers — that is, those who don’t believe in Jehovah or believe that Jesus Christ is the Messiah. In the Message version of the scripture, he refers to these people as “those who reject God” (see scriptures above). More specifically, he is referring to the individuals outside of the Christian congregation. Why is this important to know? Because if a person is “saved,” it means that they’ve publicly declared and accepted Jesus Christ as their personal savior. Understand that biblically speaking, unbelievers don’t have a yoke. Therefore, two saved people aren’t unequally yoked unless one of them decides they no longer believe in Jesus Christ. I love Bible hermeneutics and analyzing scripture, but we must be careful not to add to the Bible what’s not there.

In order to have a yoke, one must first believe in God and His word, and be saved. (There are people who’re in church and not saved, but this post wouldn’t apply to them). It’s possible, however, that two people can be saved or in church together and not be spiritually (or religiously) compatible. It’s also possible for two people to share faith in God and have different spiritual connections with Him. Although many of us attend nondenominational churches now, we might’ve grown up in churches that held vastly different beliefs regarding what is required to be saved and live holy. There is a denomination that prays to saints and still confesses to priests despite the fact that Yeshua (Jesus) is our High Priest and intercessor (Hebrews 4:14-16). Some denominations believe you aren’t saved unless you can speak in tongues. Some denominations believe it’s more righteous to worship God on Saturday as opposed to Sunday. These differences often get in the way of our love and worship of Christ, which remains the crux of our faith (1 Corinthians 1:10-13). If nothing else, our eyes should always remain focused on Christ, His death and resurrection, and what it means to be a true disciple of Christ.

Please also note that the term “equally yoked” doesn’t appear anywhere in the Bible. Somewhere in between the time Paul wrote 2 Corinthians and today, it’s become the preferred term for marriage compatibility among Christians. I recently saw a meme from the popular Godly Dating platform that depicted two egg yolks (not yokes) with the message, “It matters that you and your partner are equally yoked.” Now, I have nothing against this platform, but as believers, we must take responsibility for knowing the Word of God for ourselves. We can’t rely on Sunday sermons or Christian platforms to disseminate God’s truth. That’s how many people end up misinformed and confused. The Godly Dating meme isn’t the first time that I’ve seen the phrase “equally yoked” or the association of yolks with yokes, which are two completely different things. A yolk is the yellow, internal portion of an egg. A yoke is the crossbar that encircles the necks of animals, such as oxen. This is why I recommend reading the Bible for oneself, in multiple translations, because it’s easy for your favorite charismatic pastor to insert (or delete) pertinent information that’s needed to understand the connotation or context of a particular scripture.

Referring back to the initial point, a yoke was traditionally used to allow two animals to pull a load simultaneously and keep both on the same path. Spiritually, for believers, that path is, and will always lead toward, Jesus Christ. As Christians, we should already apply 2 Corinthians 6:14 to all our associations. Although this increases the likelihood that we’re around people who share the same path as us, I want to reiterate that it’s not a guarantee for marriage. This is why I feel spiritual (or religious) compatibility is a more appropriate term here. In the context it was written, disagreements among factions in the body of Christ don’t make two people unequally yoked. And I have to stand on that because it’s God’s word. A believer and an unbeliever are unequally yoked. It would be crazy for anyone who’s baptized and born again to seek a spouse who doesn’t worship God since that’s the guiding force behind our beliefs, values, goals and outlook on life. I want to also reiterate that two people can be saved and in the same church and still be incompatible or not suitable for marriage.

For any relationship to work, two people should foundationally agree upon what exactly is guiding their faith and what is required to maintain it. This doesn’t mean that those two people will agree upon everything; it means they must agree that there’s only one source guiding their union. This is why submission within marriage only works properly when a wife is submitted to a husband who’s submitted under the authority of Christ. A woman who knows God and hears from God also knows that she doesn’t need to agree with a man all the time or feel inferior in her role when she has a husband/covering that has God’s heart. This kind of man wouldn’t lord his role over her, or intentionally lead her astray, because during times of disagreement or strife, both are seeking God’s face for a resolution.

When it comes to marriage, I think many Christians go astray because they allow physical attraction, lust and/or emotion to guide their decision-making for a spouse. Sometimes, we’re in a vulnerable state so when people show up in our lives, we look to them as saviors. (Yes, this is a form of idolatry). People often swear that they heard from God regarding their mate when truthfully, they’re spiritually deaf. They also mistake God’s permissive will with His sovereign will. They assume that if God really didn’t want them to do something, He would step in and stop them from doing it. (Any mature believer who subscribes to this notion is in need of some oil and a good, old-fashioned rebuke LOL). As I’ve stated in part 2, marriage is not a requirement for heaven or salvation. God granted us both free will and discernment but He also created boundaries to {spiritually} protect us. It’s very possible to open yourself up to pagan gods and foreign spirits when you join with others who worship those things. It’s important to note that grace and the blood of Jesus are atonement for when we operate outside of God’s sovereign will, but like any loving parent, don’t push it! Your personal relationship with God will ultimately determine the outcome that your decisions have on your life. As with anything else we pursue, we shouldn’t place our desire for marriage or a relationship before communion with God. Having a strong {spiritual} foundation in Christ will ensure that any decision we make regarding dating or marriage is properly rooted.

I love you.

xo,

thecelibateshoewhore

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