#and another one of those “I've never drawn this pose before” moments

[canisalbus]

✦ Bread ✦

#he's helping #own art #own characters #CanisAlbus #art #artists on tumblr #Machete #anthro #sighthound #dogs #canine #animals #bread and soup kinda lad #I'm not sure if it was the case in all monasteries but usually monks baked their own bread I believe #also huge fan of the big strong baker with nerves of steel archetype #and another one of those “I've never drawn this pose before” moments

[thefreakydeaky]

After the Thrill is Gone

Part Four

Daryl Dixon x Reader

Negan Smith x Reader

Summary: From the first moment you laid eyes on Negan you were inexplicabley drawn to him. The passion between you is hot and only grows more intense the longer you see each other. There is only one problem, you're both married to other people.

Warnings: Dark Fic , Stalking, Stalker behavior, Smuttyness, Adult Language, I'll add more warnings as I post, so please check the warnings for updates on each chapter.

You sat in the pick up lane in front of the school for twenty minutes before you gave in and decided to go looking for Wyatt.

You moved out of the lane and drove up to the parking lot. You grumbled to yourself as you freed Millie from her car seat. You had to pick up Hunter at four thirty and this delay was going to mess up your schedule.

You went to the front office and signed in, Millie on your hip. One of the front office ladies commented on how cute she was and you smiled politely.

"Can you find out what Wyatt Dixon's last class was for me, please?" You asked in your most cordial tone.

"It looks like his last class was gym with Mister Smith."

You fought the grimace threatening to spill over your features.

"Thank you. Can you tell me how to get to the gym please?"

The lady gave you a few simple directions and you headed off.

When you got to the gym, you pulled open one of it's heavy doors and heard sneakers on the polished hardwood floors. You looked around you and caught sight of your son doing jumping jacks. You walked toward him, only to notice Negan watching from a few feet in front of Wyatt.

"Good Afternoon, Misses Dixon." He said in the most off putting jovial tone.

"Wyatt, It's time to go. Go and get your things."

Wyatt slowed his movement, but didn't stop, looking from Negan to you.

"You owe me twenty more of those young man. Don't you stop." He told your son.

"What are you doing?" You demanded.

"Didn't you hear? We teach our students to be respectful of one another at this school and Wyatt here, called one of his classmates a 'fat loser.' So, he's doing a little work towards learning his lesson."

"Wyatt!" You chastized, appalled.

Your son grimaced.

"Where are we at?" Negan called to him.

"Forty. Five." Wyatt answered.

"Fifteen more and you are free to go."

The boy nodded.

"Who is this little angel?" Negan reached a hand out and touched your daughter's cheek. "My, what beautiful eyes."

You didn't respond.

"What's your name, Darlin'?" He spoke to your baby.

"I Miwee." She responded.

He looked to you for clarification.

"Millie." You said quietly.

"Short for Camilla?" He posed. "My mother was a Camilla."

He held his hands out to your baby and to your surprise she reached toward him. Before you could protest he had whisked her into his arms.

"Look at you, little Darlin'. I could just eat you up." He cooed and tickled her chin.

She giggled and put her hand over his. He looked into her eyes again and his eyebrow's came together.

"You can't use him as an excuse. I don't want to see you. I've been transparent about that." You said in as even a tone as you could manage.Displeasure twisted like a snake in your belly.

"Where are we at, Dixon?" Negan prompted, ignoring you.

"Fifty-seven." Wyatt replied out of breath.

Your eyes looked from Wyatt to Negan holding your daughter. You heart squeezed painfully in your chest. It was all so wrong.

"Atta boy." He said and watched him do the final three jumping jacks. "Now you can go get changed and get your things."

You saw your son jog toward the locker rooms and watched him disappear beyond the thresh hold.

"You never said you didn't want to see me." He replied. "You said you "can't" see me. You haven't left me with many options. So, I will take the opportunity that has presented itself and use it to the fullest."

You stared at him, unable to believe what you were hearing.

"You're going to use my son to get to me?"

"What else can I do? You won't take my calls, you won't meet me to talk."

"I can go to the principal and tell her you're harrassing us."

"That's one way of looking at it. Another is If I ever felt like there was something your husband should know, I have his phone number and your address."

Your body went rigid.

"You wouldn't dare."

"Oh, I assure you, I would." He kissed the top of your daughter's head. "But go ahead, take the risk, let the chips fall where they may."

You cursed under your breath.

"Listen to me, I don't want to see you. I don't want to talk to you. I just want to go back to my regular life and forget I ever met you." You hissed and snatched Millie out of his hold.

His grin froze on his face.

"We both know that's bullshit. I am under your skin and I am not going anyfuckingwhere."

Your chest went tight with anxiety.Your daughter prompted by Negan's use of her new favorite word, echoed him, "Fuck!"

Negan chuckled.

Wyatt came out of the locker room then, back pack over his arm.

You waited until he had come up beside you and then you turned your back on Negan, leading the way out of the gym.

"You know, kid, from what I saw today, you got a hell of an arm. You'd do well on the baseball team." Negan told your son.

"Wyatt, let's go." You said without turning back. You heard him jogging a bit to catch up with you.

"Think about it. Try outs are next week." He called after you as you left the gym.

You tried to quickly put the baby back in her car seat, but your hands were trembling. Eventually you got through the task. Wyatt sat up front and you turned the car on. You took a deep breath to steady your nerves and got ready to drive over to Saint Augustine's Acadamy for Hunter.

•••••••••••••••

He wasn't going to let you go easily. He meant it when he said he couldn't be with out you. Your scent, your touch, visions of you on all four in front of him, on your knees for him, on your back for him, begging prettily for his cock filled his head.

You had to be aching inside as acutely as he was. There was a space in his heart that fit only you. It hungered for your presence. He hungered for your presence.

As he stood there in the darkness, watching you wash dishes through your kitchen window, he resolved to show you how wrong you were. He didn't yet know how, but he was sure there was a way.

#negan x reader #negan smith x reader #daryl dixon x reader #daryl x reader

[daily-rayless]

10 Years of Hakuno

By whatever unexpected alignment of the stars, 2023 is a significant anniversary year for a lot of my favorite games/characters. So, continuing my series, it's time to celebrate Hakuno Kishinami, specifically the female protagonist of Fate/Extra, a less known entry in the Fate franchise, a last dying gasp from the Playstation Portable generation, and a game whose remake, Fate/Extra Record, goes for literal years without any updates.

But the heroine is great, so let's talk about her.

September 2013. I liked Fate/Extra so much I played it twice back to back, first with Nero, then Emiya. This was drawn during the Emiya run, and I think it's the first picture I did of her.

Like some other female options in JRPGs, female Hakuno gets less official emphasis than her male counterpart. Some people argue, and I see their point, that it shouldn't matter which version is talked about, as in most ways their writing is identical. To a large degree, the difference in gender is only a matter of aesthetics.

March 2014. Evil Hakuno gets to pose with an evil shirtless Emiya.

For me, that only rings true in a perfect world, where male and female characters have a long and equal history of being main characters written with similar depth and attention. But most often, boys get to be the protagonists, and very often the main girl in a game is largely written as his love interest. (Or, worse, all of the girls are his love interests.)

November 2014. Her Command Seal never gets easier to draw.

So just the act of putting a girl at the helm makes her more unique – and more interesting to me. Even if she's only doing what the male protagonist could also do, the fact that she gets to sets her apart. It's a low bar, I know, but it matters to me whenever it's cleared.

June 2015. Tragedy strikes when Hakuno gets blood in her hair.

People might further argue, and I also see their point, that Hakuno, whatever their gender, is a silent protagonist with barely any personality to start with, so how can either version be interesting? And it's true that a lot of Hakuno's personality is just the Basic JRPG Hero Personality. Oh, she has a strong sense of justice? You don't say.

August 2015. Hakuno shares a moment with Julius Harway before he dies. That is, when she kills him. For the second time.

But all character personalities are cliché to some degree, and whether a character succeeds has to do less with tropes and more to do with how those tropes are handled. And something I love about Fate/Extra is Hakuno's running inner monologue as she fumbles, then attempts to finesse, her way through this seven-week death tournament she had no business joining.

? 2015. She deserves more breaks.

Given how much commentary we get from her, I would argue Hakuno is actually very much not a silent protagonist.

November? 2015. Hakuno deploys Unlimited Swiss Rolls Works and her enemies flee before her.

She's funny, sassy, snarky. She's also very relatable. She's kind of a wimp, especially early on. We've built up this idea of antiheroes being badasses like Batman, who feel more like traditional heroes with bad attitudes.

January 2016. I've said it before, but one of the best excuses for drawing Hakuno is all the pretty hair.

Hakuno can't aspire to that. She can't fight, she's not genius-level smart, she's not rich, she has no secret powers or hidden destiny to discover. What she has, and I love this so much, is endless grit. She will keep pushing through until she faceplants in exhaustion, and it's this inner strength, not any magical heritage or secret weapons, that sees her through, wins the admiration of her loved ones, and ultimately makes her heroic.

? 2016. Probably my favorite Hakuno hair art. Also my favorite Hakuno + disembodied hand art.

Another thing I've always liked about her is that she seems so humane – very down to earth and resolved to do the right thing. Which sounds basic, I know. Like all JRPG heroes.

April 2017. I was going through a real art slump during this period, but I still got a lot of joy from drawing Hakuno. Sometimes when things aren't working, it's good to have that one character you can keep falling back on.

But in the original game, and all the way through Fate/Extra CCC and Extella, Hakuno is paired with Servants who are among the most immoral, evil symbols in history. Nero, Tamamo-no-Mae, Attila the Hun. For Gilgamesh and Emiya, they're two of the most immoral/morally questionable figures in the franchise, definitely not known for always doing the right thing. Assuming (as I do) that Hakuno resonated with these Servants through some innate compatibility, I think it's interesting that this small, quiet, humane person is consistently paired with these gray, or darker than gray, Servants. The games themselves don't dig into it too deeply, but I enjoy speculating what their hidden commonalities could be, what the connections and compensations are.

January 2018. More Extella art. If you had told me, back in 2013, there would be four Hakuno titles, I would not have believed you.

(As much as I enjoy Charlie in Fate/Extella: Link, I was disappointed that his arrival broke the streak and gave Hakuno a fairly straightforward “good” Servant.)

December 2020. My favorite of Hakuno's looks is Extella: Link. I like the silly dress and the shoelessness of the original Extella, but putting Hakuno in a vaguely action hero-y outfit hits a good note of cute and silly but still determined.

While Fate/Extra was never a perfect game in my book, it shouldn't be any surprise that Fate/Extra Record has a lot to live up to, and how they choose to depict Hakuno – what they emphasize, what they change – will play a very large role in how much I enjoy it. Of course, just having a release date at this point would be a great start.

June 2023. The first Hakuno I've drawn in a while. It still comes very naturally.

But even if the remake disappoints me, or never materializes, I'll still have the Hakuno of the original game. She's a little nobody with no special skills, but she keeps hacking her way into my brain.

#hakuno kishinami #hakunon #fate #fate/extra #fate/extella #character appreciation #fate/extra spoilers #art progress #meta

[archive2394934]

Something else I wanted to mention RE my post from last night.

I guess with this post you could ALSO look at it as Heather is the MF. And is asking Henry!Billy if it was the "girl" they've somehow communicated about before. Particularly as the question is posed to figure out if Eleven is the right girl and I do think either of them could be questioning this. BUT if it was just Henry there would be NO NEED to bring up Eleven's identity. Someone here KNOWS who Eleven is personally and someone here only has (or HAD up till this point) "second hand" knowledge of her and apparently annoyed that she has 'found' them out. But more reasons for why I'm currently leaning toward Heather being Vecna here:

I've talked about this before, but along with Henry's distinctive way of talking, Henry has a distinctive manner about him as well. This was shown very clearly when we were officially introduced to Vecna. Which IMO, to me, looking back, it makes this easy to determine when Vecna is in control of someone and when "he's not." The way they talk and act changes to reflect him. But we don't specifically see Vecna in a lot of the flayed for the majority of the time.

Henry does have his "petty moments," like when he mentions his dad with Nancy for example, but they feel more like a child lashing out than anything else which is what makes a huge contrast for me in how the general flayed (excluding Heather and sometimes Billy) in season 3 act. The "flayed" when being "controlled" are extremely unhinged and bloodthirsty in their behaviors. (just the way we saw Billy to act in the scene referenced in my post and how Will also acted in season 2 while he was possessed.)

A much better example though would have be the assholes from the Hawkins post when they go after Nancy and Jonathan. They're purely sadistic and nearly beastial and they're clearly enjoying what they're doing. This sadism and glee is not something we've seen from Henry/Vecna. Even when Vecna is in pursuit of a victim or hurting someone/thing he doesn't show sadism or any kind of enjoyment, really. Fascination, especially as a child, maybe, but he never seems like he's enjoying or taking pleasure from anything. Henry is very precise and methodical. He is always "restrained". He doesn't have that wild, vicious, animalistic side we see with many of "the flayed". Which leads more to my ideas that Henry can't be the only one controlling them since his behavior when he puppeteers someone vs a lot of the behaviors we've seen the flayed have is so different.

Henry/Vecna also has a tendency to 'comfort' others. We see this with Possessed!Heather in the scene I covered in my post- shes trying to comfort and "tend" to Possessed!Billy's "wounds." Which further mirrors Vecna. Its almost exactly the same as when Vecna wipes Chrissy's tears and when he briefly strokes Max's cheek to comfort her before he starts soul stealing her in the piggyback episode. Meanwhile, Possessed!Billy is angry, he's angry that "The girl" Possessed!Heather seems to know has found out "who" or rather what he is, to the point he grabs Possessed!Heather's arm in a threatening way. Because thats another part of this. Posessed!Billy told the whole party- including Eleven, that the "being responsible" for "this" was "like a shadow." And we've also seen the MF is very concerned with self-preservation even if it seems invulnerable. It does NOT like to be put in situations that cause it "pain" or put it in "danger," even if it seems to have no reservations about inflicting pain on others. Another thing to add is the mindflayer is described often as "a feeling." I've mentioned I think whatever the mindflayer is, it has the ability to manipulate emotions for the worst and it feeds on and is drawn to those negative emotions in particular. The flayed becoming utterly monstrous when "under control" makes sense because if it amplifies all negative emotions like rage and spite, that would make sense for why the flayed get such an extreme spike in sadism and start behaving very aggressively, in a way that has extremely feral / demonic undertones.

Will also describes being "possessed" by the mindflayer as basically feeling like you're drowning. The imagery used when Eleven finds Heather just before she's "taken" is similar, she's pulled down through the "water" into the darkness. This is also laid over top of Will describing the "possession" in a similar way.

There is A LOT OF water symbols/associations particularly with the upside down. I've mentioned some things before but in occultism and esotericism water is linked with things psychic abilities, dreams, visions, other planes, emotions, etc. Water and mirrors have similar associations because of this. Water is also associated with chaos and darkness, in particular the "deep" or the "void". Water has a huge role in life and creation but it usually only takes on those positive qualities particularly in mythology when its directly given them by a 'benevolent' presence. Otherwise, water is a terrifying, fluid, formless black void of "chaos". Water is often depicted acting as a portal and a barrier between our dimension and others in various myth. In some way water seems allegorical for space and the two seem to be conflated sometimes in old texts. Theres a theory that H.P Lovecraft's most iconic monsters are depicted as cosmic sea-beasts for this reason and while they are certainly not of earthly origin, they resemble something that would be most at home in depths of the sea. The Duffers took obvious reference from HP lovecraft's stuff.

The sea and bodies of water have always captivated the human imagination due to their mysterious natures. Bodies of water represent "a world" that we can see, a world that sits RIGHT NEXT TO US, that we can somewhat interact with, but as for what is truly beyond 'the veil' of the water we don't know because underwater is not a world in which humans can naturally and normally exist or explore. Particularly in ye old times.

SO for this reason, yeah, water often symbolizes barriers and other worlds, in a similar way that mirrors do, which isn't hard to apply to the Stranger Things universe nor is any of the other water symbolizations which have all been referenced repeatedly. And these can all heavily relate to the mindflayer PARTICULARLY if its in anyway related to the Leviathan, which IMO seems kinda likely? This is referencing my brain vomit post from before that you don't have to read so I'll recover the Leviathan angle a little bit here from that post.

The Leviathan

is the god of “chaos” and “death” its described as a creature of beastliness, of terror and of undiluted evil. Due to its “demonic” presence in a lot of mythology it has been related to Satan but there is a whole debate about whether or not they’re the same being and/or are actually related– and occasionally if it wasn’t actually “satan” that took the form of a snake and offered the apple to Eve but rather the Leviathan itself that was responsible for this and thus the one who essentially tempted / corrupted humanity with evil.  The Leviathan is also thought to represent the sin of envy, the most “poisonous” human emotion. Its also been thought of as the creature that separates the human/material world from the world of the divine by residing in the realm between. The Leviathan is also depicted as an eater of “lost souls” and it is also considered responsible for generating all intrinsic evil into the world. Further, in demonology the Leviathan naturally represents water and we know there is a lot of water symbolism going on with the upside down which further ties all this together. We know in the ST universe we have a lot of concepts that surround negative emotions and feelings and how these emotions apparently act as massive amplifiers for the powers of the psychic in the show.  ALSO RE: the post I made about the possible link to the psychics powers and the MF cloud.  And I also mentioned the suggestion of the Original Sin back on the Holy Trinity post and how that feels like it could relate to the whole corruption/infection aesthetic the MF seems to have going on and its symbolic relationship to the evils of human nature, etc, which all once again goes back and adds to my theory about the MF in general potentially being a greater force/influence than people give it credit for. 

This could all be coincidental, sure, but its fascinating how much of this seems to relate the MF in the stranger things universe. I mean I'd even say this cant be coincidence with the sheer amount of relating elements.

We have the fact that its VERY likely that the MF represents THE SERPENT from DnD. This brings reference to Leviathan in the fact that Levithan is often depicted as a serpent.

We also have the relations to things such as darkness, chaos, matter and water. In occultism, water can sometimes represent the idea of "spirit becoming matter". The MF is made up of dark colored matter, like particles of dust. Matter is energy given form. We also have the concept of the manifestation of spirit in "matter' representing evil, which is a whole weird complicated metaphorical thing in some religions but its interesting to note that the MF is depicted in ST as a type of animated matter. We have the fact that moreover this is a dark, fluid mass, likened repeatedly to a 'shadow'.

The have the relations to drowning and water which seem connected to the UD, which are connected to Levithan in the sense that Levithan is the demon god of water. The MF is a being that prefers the wet and the dark and dry/hot climates are dangerous to it. Moisture is also something thought to facilitate decay, because bacteria responsible for decomp need moisture to thrive, which the MF has also been related to heavily directly in canon.

We have the fact that its believed Levithan exists in a realm parallel to the human world that separates the human world from the world of the divine. This can relate this to the MF and UD in the sense that UD is a strange plane sitting opposite of the human world which the MF was found within.

We also have the fact that Leviathan is thought to be responsible for generating all "evil" into the human world. (And as mentioned, theres a theory that it was the Leviathan that corrupted mankind in myth) Like the element of water that Leviathan rules over, it is associated with "emotions" (particularly unpleasant ones). We know theres a big link in the ST universe with emotions and in particular we know it seems that the MF creates and is drawn to negative emotions.

We have the fact that Leviathan is heavily associated with the emotion of envy, which is considered to be the most toxic, poisonous emotion. We have the fact that MF's presence literally rots and decays things it comes in contact with. Envy has long been associated with rot and decay. Envy is also represented by the colour yellow, which is also associated with poison and madness. Green and Yellow are sometimes used interchangeably in this way. The saying "Green with Envy" is probably the most popularized but its a regional thing because "Yellow with Envy" is also correct again depending on region. Yellow is a repeating colour in stranger things and its the particular color we see surrounding the MF when Henry first finds it in the UD. Again yellow is associated with things like poison/madness/envy/filth/rot. Yellow (Like green) is used to represent "bile" and in ye old times an "envious" person was thought to be "filled with bile". People stricken with envy were also depicted as pale and looking sick. The MF's victims / the flayed all look pale and sick. And they're "rotting." This further ties together all the rot/sickness/infection/poison aesthetics in the MF. We also have the fact the MF is named the MF after the Mindflayers in DnD which are evil creatures that resemble humanoid octopi. This furthers the MF's sea creature likenesses. The Levithan is also called "the great devourer" and "Hells mouth". Its depicted as a thing that feasts upon souls and even as a literal gateway to hell. (Also mentioned before I think the MF takes heavy reference from IT/Deadlights) I've been over the digestive type of imagery with the way the MF/UD's presence rots things as if consuming them with the weird slimy shit that appears to represent saliva. We also have the fact that somehow Vecna's powers allowed him to not only know how to suck out souls but to actively engage in this and the reason how he knows this and why he does it is still up in the air. Also in how the THING, a creature of extreme reference in ST (no really so many scenes in S2 and particularly 3 are direct references to the thing) is literally a fucking living digestive system that bizarrely doubles as womb allowing it to replicate its victims which it assimilates into itself. Birthing/rebirth imagery is also present with the MF and the upside down. The MF is shown to literally 'create' things. Horrible abominations which are extensions of itself, but its apparently creating "life" none the less. Vecna's body and form is no exception to this and he claims the MF made him what he is.

There is the idea of the Levithan being a shapeshifter of sorts and related to things such as possession, and multiple consciousness. The mindflayer has a fluid body that it can change shape, the mindflayer is able to literally invade bodies and apparently can assimilate consciousness within itself hence being known as a 'hive mind'.

Also mentioned in my other post I think its interesting how Will's painting depicts the party facing off against a multiple headed dragon. The Leviathan is also depicted as a multiple headed dragon. Its size is also suppose to be massive, just like the MFs "full" form is.

Another fun thing to mention is demonologists and witches and such who claim to have some kind of "astral" encounters with the Levithan claim that it is associated with despair, pain, loneliness, isolation, desolation, the sea, and defense. They say its colour is black and it is a master of shadow work. Furthermore even more interesting still its thought Levithan's "domain" is "a desolate and dry land full of steep canyons" (This is facinating given the fact Leviathan is a creature of water and also relates to the MF given it is also a creature that is apperently related to moisture and water but the UD was shown to be a desolate and seemingly dry land when Henry found it) And honestly there is actually SO MUCH MORE but I'm losing attention span here because I wanna go play pokemon BUT YEAH ANYWAY. More food for thought.

#vecna #001 #henry creel #william byers #the mindflayer #byler #stranger things #stranger things analysis #stranger things theory #old man yells at cloud #it drives me mad how more ppl in the fandom dont find the mf / the ud and shit interesting as fuck

[n1kolaiz]

"Man fears death and yet, at the same time, man is drawn to death. Death is endlessly consumed by men in cities and in literature. It is a singular event in one's life that none may reverse. That is what I desire."

Character Analysis: Dazai Osamu

Age: 22 || Ability: No Longer Human

I've done a lot of research concerning Dazai's character because of how complex he'd initially appeared to me. It is still a question as to what his personality type is; some say he's an ENTP while others argue that he's an INTJ, and his enneagram would most likely be 7w8 (The Realist), but that isn't the thing I'm going to focus on.

According to general databases and fan analyses, his temperament is dominantly melancholic. A person's temperament is basically how they react to and live in this world. For those of you not interested in such details, don't worry, I'll get to my point.

The melancholic behaviour is characterised by individualism, self-reliance, and reservation. People of the melancholic temperament are described as having been overcome with sorrow and depressive thoughts, which is beyond the feeling of "just being sad."

Nonetheless, they are generally calm beings, with a tendency to hide how they truly feel by keeping their composure, even in events that demand severe reaction otherwise. Other aspects of melancholic temperaments is that they are absorbed in the cruelty and tragedy of this world, and tend to get lost in their thoughts.

Sound familiar?

Dazai is seen to be as the comic relief of the adaptation, and he'd never fail to bring about a sense of lightheartedness to relieve the serious moments; we all know that for sure. Remember the time both him and Kunikida found Nobuko Sasaki in that godforsaken hospital, and how Kunikida asked him about his opinion on the current state of affairs?

But, despite having developed a calm and serene personality, Dazai's dark side was more apparent during the Dark Era. There was a type of intimidating and arrogant flair evident in his behaviour, or even on his face. It was the type of demeanour that came off cold and terrifying to the rather unlucky people he dealt with. In a moment's notice, they could literally die by his hands. And I believe most of them usually did. It was during this time, he was more brutal and vicious. He lacked remorse. Plus, Dazai's suicidal ideations were more dense during this Era, and his suicidal tendencies did not do anything to alleviate the depth of how dark his character was posed to be.

Side note: Unfortunately, people misunderstand this 'depressed' part of Dazai; they minimise his character so much to the point that people use only a single word to describe him: suicidal. He is, in fact, so much more than that. I'll elaborate more on that in a while.

"Hey, Odasaku, do you know why I joined the Mafia? I joined the Mafia because of an expectation I had. I thought if I was close to death and violence—close to people giving in to their urges and desires, then I would be able to see the inner nature of humankind up close. I thought if I did that… I would be able to find something—a reason to live."

Dazai's approach to life is that of an aimless soul, weary of the world's oppressions and exhausted from the concept of living itself. Nevertheless, what he said above about having an expectation made me realise something: he had a goal, which he wasn't that enthusiastic about achieving—seeking for a reason to carry on with life. So he joined the Mafia.

And there, he met Oda Sakunosuke.

Despite how resilient Dazai carried himself to be (especially during the Dark Era), this specific excerpt stands in direct opposition of how he effortlessly embodied all things daunting:

"With every step I take, I feel as though the earth has opened up into a bottomless pit as I fall endlessly. As Dazai pointed to his forehead and approached the muzzle, the look on his face – like that of a child about to burst into tears – had already been branded upon my eyes."

- quoted by Oda Sakunosuke, excerpt from Dazai Osamu and the Dark Era Light Novel.

When I read this, it sent my mind into a spiral of despair and confusion. It was so vague, yet it made so much sense. Dazai was desperate to escape from this life, but part of him seemed to live in conflict with his desire for death. I won't elaborate more on this, because this specific excerpt has personal meaning to me, as I'd expect it to have for others as well; so I wouldn't want to ruin anyone else's perception on it.

Back to my point: Odasaku was one of the only characters who managed to interpret the complexity of Dazai's mindset and was able to compartmentalise the specific details of his persona that made Dazai the way he was. Oda knew that Dazai wasn't just suicidal.

"For most things in life, it's harder to succeed than fail. Wouldn't you agree? That's why I should attempt suicide rather than commit it! Committing suicide is difficult, but it should be relatively easier to fail at attempting suicide!"

Others boasted about how he was just a suicidal maniac, and that was only because of how good Dazai was at concealing his own feelings whilst flamboyantly priding himself in new, risky techniques, which he sometimes elaborated on. But Oda, on the other hand, saw through his jokes, and empathised with his friend, never wanting to ever barge into his vulnerability without Dazai's permission, but still trying to be there for him.

"Listen. You told me if you put yourself in a world of violence and bloodshed, you might be ale to find a reson to live. You won't find it. You should know that. Whether you're on the side that takes lives or the side that saves them, nothing beyond your own expectations will happen. Nothing in this world can fill the hole that is your loneliness. You will wander the darkness for eternity."

Notice how Odasaku recognised Dazai's despair, before Dazai even dared to acknowledge his very own emotions? That was why, at Oda's death, he took the initiative to uncover Dazai's bandaged eye to show him that there was no use in concealing his feelings anymore.

Odasaku's last words to Dazai was to "be on the side that saves people," for he was aware that even though Dazai didn't believe there was a clear distinction between good and evil, he thought that perhaps Dazai would find meaning in his life, even if it was just a little bit of purpose.

In Dead Apple, we briefly relive this moment, but I'll write more on that some other time.

And when Dazai joined the ADA, he loses that dark side to him. No, wait, let me rephrase that: he loses a part of that dark side to him. He eliminated the raw sense of bitterness against the world from his face, and instead, he is seen to be a little more passive, and a little more adaptive. No doubt, he still does explicitly state his desire to die, but his wishes are very specific, if you know what I mean.

And a few years later, his journey with Atsushi began.

Atsushi and Dazai's relationship is just one of a kind. I think it isn't a matter of whether Atsushi needed Dazai, or whether Dazai needed Atsushi. It's the fact that they both needed each other. It's the way they both worked hand in hand, and how they sustained each other in ways they were lacking.

The two were polar opposites, but they had a tender kind of warmth embedded in their protectiveness for each other. Atsushi was just as lost as Dazai, but somehow, they worked together just fine. It was like their duality was meant to be. It was the type of symbiotic relationship, where their care for each other was implied, but very deep.

Does this also sound familiar... perhaps, in relation to Dazai's friendship with Odasaku?

Side note: Oda and Atsushi have the same enneagrams, which is Type 2, 'The Helper.'

There is a sort of balance that is brought about by two opposites. Odasaku taught Dazai many things, and I believe Oda learned a lot about a man's life from the way Dazai lived out his life with the innate desire to die. Atsushi sought for the right to live, while Dazai searched for a reason to live; in addition, Dazai validated Atsushi's feelings, and Atsushi was able to acknowlegde the amount of pain Dazai was going through.

Despite how Dazai's perspectives and beliefs stood in contrast with those of Oda's and Atsushi's, a type of inseparable bond connected the man who no longer felt like he was human, to the people who was the most human.

No Longer Human in the Japanese romaji is 'Ningen Shikkaku.' Ningen means "human," and Shikkaku means "disqualified." The late author, Dazai Osamu, wrote the book No Longer Human. He had gone through the rough throes of trauma and wrote this book as a semi-autobiography, whose plot was centred around a man who faked happiness, for he was tainted by the truth that everyone around him was fake themselves. He turned his life into a joke in order to protect himself from the delusions of this world.

This brings us back to the melancholic temperament, where a person was too deeply immersed in the sad truths of reality and the world itself.

And that's what Dazai's character and ability is based on: being disqualified as a human being, because he wasn't well-versed with what being human was actually like. The fabrications of being human sprung up all around him, but he wasn't willing to be fooled by how ingenuine the world truly was.

“I am convinced that human life is filled with many pure, happy, serene examples of insincerity, truly splendid of their kind—of people deceiving one another without (strangely enough) any wounds being inflicted, of people who seem unaware even that they are deceiving one another.”

- excerpt from Dazai Osamu's No Longer Human.

People who don't feel human emotions or don't react to circumstances the way humans do have a variety of ways of explaining how they feel inhuman. They are highly intelligent, which separates them from the average class of humankind, since they've analysed and untangled the truths of life in order to attain understanding, which they value above all else. But, this understanding of the world and its painful truths results in a deep kind of sorrow, which only a few people can seem to empathise with in order to help them out with that burden.

“Pain and suffering are always inevitable for a large intelligence and a deep heart. The really great men must, I think, have great sadness on earth.”

-excerpt from Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment.

Don't you think that this deep sorrow that lies in the heart of the intelligent, makes them the most human of all? They're too human, to the point where they don't feel human. Perhaps, it is a type of defence mechanism, where the mind numbs the heart from feeling normal human emotion, because logically breaking down such concepts is easier than feeling them. But it comes at a price. The heart is willing to recklessly comprehend and fathom any sort of emotion, including pain in its true form, but the mind bears more pain in understanding such concepts because it seeks to decipher every single agonising detail of how complex human emotions are. The mind thinks, the heart feels. There is a clear distinguishing factor between the two. Whether feeling hurts more than thinking, or thinking hurts more than feeling, or whether both these processes work hand-in-hand to make up the reality of life itself, is up for an individual to decide.

Only a few people can seem to empathise with intelligent people who are deeply sad at heart, in order to help them out. As for Dazai, it was Atsushi and Oda. They never took away the pain, but they made him grow from it; it worked vice versa, too.

Of course, there are less tedious and more appealing aspects to the concept of Dazai's intelligence. Dazai was seen as a threat to his enemies because of how manipulation and his keen skill of deduction made up how sharp his mind was. Besides, no one could commit '138 murders, 312 cases of extortion, and 625 cases of fraud, along with various and sundry other crimes,' without having a certain level of intelligence, right?

Dazai had the moral alignment of 'chaotic neutral.' He was more focused on using his intellect to achieve the desired end results of a predicament, and he wasn't afraid to use the wrong means. A famous example was when he deflated the airbags of Ango Sakaguchi's car in order to gain the assured protection of Kyouka Izumi.

Justice is a weapon. It can be used to cause harm, but it cannot protect or save others.

Another example was when he blew up Chuuya Nakahara's car.

Just kidding. That was just a simple pastime (；・∀ ・)

His moral alignment points to what Oda said about him: the part where he mentioned that Dazai didn't really see any difference between good and evil. As long as his ends were achieved, especially if it were in the benefit of his fellow colleagues, he wasn't afraid to exploit, threaten, or endanger others' wellbeing. Because, at the end of the day, the end result triumphed the morally bad methods utilised to achieve it, correct? He always had a reason for his motives and actions, even if those actions were evil and inexcusable.

(eg. action: the psychological abuse he bestowed upon Akutagawa Ryunosuke.

motive: to enable him to hone his own ability favourably and to curb his arrogance)

But the consequences of one's actions will always catch up with a person, no matter what heights they've achieved.

Okay, we're reaching the end of my rambling very soon, I promise.

“If I had to go, I’d like to go out just as beautifully.”

“I’d prefer you don’t go.”

This part of the post is highly inspired by iwachuwu!!

An important factor of Dazai's development is highlighted BSD Wan's episode 10:

I'd like to appreciate that this scene focuses on how much Dazai actually means to Atsushi. When Atsushi responds with "I'd prefer you don't go," he said it lightheartedly for he thought Dazai was joking. But he wasn't. And once Atsushi absorbed the fact that Dazai meant what he said, he was overwhelmed with anguish at the thought of ever losing Dazai. Dazai, on the other hand, had a sense of longing on his expression. There was that look of pure desperation on his face. He was so desperate, yet he knew he couldn't act on his desperation due to a promise he'd made to someone dear to him. But keep in mind, Dazai is unpredictable, so we can never be sure of what's going on in that headspace of his.

Nevertheless, this time, Atsushi recognised Dazai's suffering, as no one usually cared to do, and Dazai didn't put in any effort to hide how he truly felt, as he habitually did. And this mutual emotional connection happened countless times during all the times Oda spent with Dazai as well.

To summarise,

Dazai's character had been carefully wired and patterned out in a way only a few would put in the effort to understand. Dazai was more than just suicidal; he was a being wandering from place to place with no specific aim. He was too smart for his own good. Dazai understood too well of how the world worked and deemed it void of any sort of hope.

Side note: Yes, the truth does come at a price, but it all comes down to how a person understands the truth. As for Dazai (both character and the author he was based off upon), well, it was quite tragic. But that's the way it is for some people, I suppose. But everyone has a different path to travel on, remember that.

His transition from working with the Port Mafia to the Armed Detective Agency was proof of how well-executed his character development was. It was two different personas morphed into what he is today: a womaniser with questionable morals a person who is still standing even after the rough refining process endowed upon him by the realities of this life.

However, he had people along the way come and teach him a thing or two, which perhaps made his life a little more interesting. Perhaps these people were passing clouds that hid the void out of sight for just a moment, and Dazai was always seen to be grasping on to these moments, and letting them go whenever it was time to let go.

His outlook on life makes his intellect look all the more intriguing. It shows that not only does his intelligence contribute to his own wit and shrewdness, but also the practical sense of realism that explains how tired he is of the concept of living because of the truths there are to bear.

However he's enduring the pain right now is by far the most bravest thing a person could commit themselves to doing. It takes courage, and it takes strength, but only a few would ever take the time to recognise such efforts.

Dazai has one of the most beautiful character developments, but I do hope that the development doesn't reach its end anytime soon.

fanart credits: @S7dOZPN3jWBB6cW on twitter

“Now I have neither happiness nor unhappiness.

Everything passes.

That is the one and only thing that I have thought resembled a truth in the society of human beings where I have dwelled up to now as in a burning hell.

Everything passes.”

excerpt from Dazai Osamu's No Longer Human.

#bsd #bsd dazai #bungo stray dogs #bungo stray dogs wan #bsd wan #bsd dazai osamu #bsd characters #literature analysis #literature #dazai osamu #bsd odasaku #bsd atsushi #bsd analysis #bsd atsushi nakajima #.ryley.speaks

[lokiondisneyplus]

Variants. Time Keepers. Apocalypses. Alligators. Jet Skis. Over the course of Season 1 of Marvel Studios’ Loki, the God of Mischief has seen and done it all across the Sacred Timeline. But now at the end of time — literally, Loki has arrived at the Citadel at the End of Time, accompanied by Sylvie — only one question remains: Has this journey changed Loki? It’s even a question He Who Remains poses, reminding the duo that they can’t reach the end until they’ve seen a change: “It needs to happen, to get us all in the right mindset to finish the quest.”

For a trickster who has always been so focused on his wants and needs, it’s safe to say that Loki’s time working for the Time Variance Authority (and then trying to take down the TVA) has certainly shaped him in ways we haven’t seen before. Gone is the Asgardian who commanded people to kneel before him; now, for the first time, we’re seeing a softer side to Loki as he realizes that his choices have consequences and he’s in charge of his own destiny — no one else. Going all the way back to the very beginning of Episode 1, as Loki stands before Judge Renslayer at the TVA, he yells that no one else will dictate how his story ends, and he’s finally doing just that.

“Loki, as a show, has introduced so many complex ideas, and themes, and conversations,” Tom Hiddleston tells Marvel.com. “One of the things I've been so pleased and thrilled to see with the show is how deeply the audience is engaged with the big ideas, the ideas of fate versus free will, agency versus determinism. Do we have the capacity to genuinely choose our path through our lives? And in those choices, where do we derive meaning? To what extent are any of us free? To what extent are these characters free to choose their route through the universe and self-realize and determine the course of their lives?”

Loki didn’t change completely on his own, though, as everyone he encounters throughout all six episodes influences him in ways he never could have predicted, from his surprising friendship with Mobius to Classic Loki reclaiming his “glorious purpose.”

“People latched onto the relationship between Loki and Mobius, and understood that there was a mirror in the two of them,” Hiddleston says. “Both Mobius and Loki had a lot to teach each other. Mobius opens up Loki’s sense of his own identity and that this might be something that's malleable. And then Sylvie opens up something in Loki about the nature of identity. And that Loki is able to then reflect back to Mobius.”

“In Episode 5, suddenly, the conversations the three of them have had [cause] an effect on the variant Lokis — on Classic Loki, on Kid Loki, on Boastful Loki. I like to think on Alligator Loki, too. Maybe he starts to think about free will.”

This all comes to a head when Loki and Sylvie have the most important conversation of all, with He Who Remains. Standing before this man behind the curtain, He Who Remains lays out his entire philosophy, the reason behind the TVA and all the smoke and mirrors. It’s to protect the Sacred Timeline from his own variants.

“This conversation between the three of them about the nature of reality, about the nature of time, about the nature of the multiverse, and the question about whether the TVA organization has any moral authority to determine reality as we see it,” Hiddleston continues. “There's an enormous amount to unpack, an enormous amount to think about, and it provokes as many questions as it provides answers.”

Loki, having gained a new perspective, wants to stop and think about what he’s just learned since it’s heavy. Sylvie, on the other hand, believes “he’s stalling for time and that it’s another manipulation. She feels is on the precipice of some catharsis,” adds Hiddleston. The two come to a disagreement where they both believe they’re the one in the right. Loki wants to weigh the options of He Who Remains’ proposal, and Sylvie just wants this puppet-master dead.

“It’s incredibly distressing for both of them that they disagree in this moment,” Hiddleston says. “It was quite an intense scene for us. We knew we had to be quite precise about the way the scene unfolded.”

Not only are they verbally arguing, but soon both have their weapons at the ready and are trading blows back and forth. (Something He Who Remains giddily watches from the sidelines.)

This finale was the last thing shot for the season, with Jonathan Majors joining the cast, as He Who Remains, for the last week they were in production. From there, it was time to dive into the trio’s conversation and how it caps off all the themes leading up to this point — identity, free will, and accepting yourself, to name a few.

“Right up to the time of the few days in which we filmed it, we were refining the dialogue between Loki and Sylvie because we needed to make sure that there was a balance,” Hiddleston recalls. “Both their positions [needed to be] articulated, and the audience could see the struggle. We worked all weekend to make sure we integrated the scene with the choreography so that it was completely seamless. The disagreement was at the center of all of it, and every word and every move.”

Unfortunately, the two just can’t see eye to eye on the situation — as He Who Remains points out, Sylvie can’t trust and Loki can’t be trusted. Hiddleston even notes, “At the center of Loki’s identity, certainly for as long as I’ve played him, is untrustworthiness. He’s unpredictable and spontaneous.”

But now, with a tearful confession to Sylvie, Loki’s newly changed outlook shines through as he takes everything he’s learned over the course of the series and tries to reason with her. But, “it’s heartbreaking pain because she’s not on the same page.”

“The confession in Episode 6 reveals how much he’s evolved. Sylvie believes Loki’s position comes from the same old motivation to sit on a throne. But it doesn’t. It comes from genuine care for another being outside of himself. It speaks to a theme that was very close to all of our hearts as filmmakers, which was about self-confrontation, and self-awareness, and self-forgiveness, and self-acceptance in some way. That the only way of moving forward is to acknowledge who you are. And then change can begin.”

Making matters worse, Sylvie isn’t the only familiar face Loki loses in the end. Though he ends up back within the halls of the TVA, this isn’t the TVA he left. The choices Loki and Sylvie made at the Citadel at the End of Time are already breeding consequences, one of which is that “his friend Mobius doesn’t recognize him and doesn’t know who he is. His destabilization in that moment is profound.”

Loki and Mobius’ friendship has been a touchstone for the series, and according to Hiddleston, as the show was being developed, their relationship was “one of the things I was drawn to.”

“I’m very moved by the idea of their friendship,” he continues. “I don’t think Loki has allowed himself to have many friends. Because to have friends, you have to be vulnerable, and you have to trust. Loki’s so defensive, vulnerability and trust, those two things don’t come easily to him. Mobius is perhaps the first figure in Loki’s life to sit across from him and reflect him back to himself without judgment, but somehow with compassion.”

“Mobius is able to contain Loki and say, ‘This is who you are. And I understand.’ That feeling of compassion or lack of judgment is new for Loki, and allows him to open up in a way that facilitates the genesis of this unique friendship. Mobius also is surprised by his affection for Loki. And then it’s Loki who teaches Mobius about life outside the TVA, life before the TVA. Maybe he had a life. Maybe he had a family. Maybe he had a jet ski. They mean a lot to each other, and they’ve done a lot for each other.”

With a new Mobius now in the mix, this means that the pair’s parting goodbye in Episode 5 was their final farewell, when “Mobius offers his hand; Loki chooses to hug him and he says, ‘Thank you, my friend.’ That’s very sincere and very meaningful.”

What’s a trickster to do when he finds himself in an unfamiliar place surrounded by people he used to know? That remains to be seen, as the season ends before those questions are answered, laying the complex groundwork for Season 2 and the lingering unanswered TVA questions.

“What’s been fascinating for me making it, and continues to be one of the most interesting questions of our story, is the moral complexity of the TVA,” Hiddleston concludes. “The idea that an organization that claims to govern the order of time with benevolence and precision is actually something much more ambiguous. And there's a question: On what authority does the TVA, or anyone who has set it up or runs it, decide who gets to live and who doesn't, who gets to participate in reality as we know it?”

#Loki #Tom Hiddleston #interview

[thefreelanceangel]

Tagged: Getting To Know You

NAME: Crystle

NICKNAME: Angel / Pooka / "Oh god"

FACECLAIM:

PRONOUNS: She/her

HEIGHT: 5' 6.5" (YES THE HALF INCH IS IMPORTANT)

BIRTHDAY: December 9, 1983 (You're all toddlers to me.)

AESTHETIC: Morticia Addams' 8th Grade Lisa Frank Phase

LAST SONG YOU LISTENED TO: "Daze" - Poets of the Fall

FAVORITE MUSE(S) YOU'VE WRITTEN:

...oof... There's... a LOT of characters to sift through to answer this one...

I'll keep it fairly tame and limit it to JUST characters I've written for MMOs. (20+ years of RP both online and tabletop means I have written... a lot of characters... LOL)

Neverwinter Nights: Heathern Ferne is still one of my darlings. A dumb-as-rocks fighter with a heart of gold (and Chessi's first distant incarnation) she ended up becoming a competent fighter, learning some rogue tricks from the ninja she fell in love with, teaching him to view himself as a person instead of a disposable tool, having a child and overcoming some really impressive obstacles.

WoW: Zorayas, the draenei mage, was a spur of the moment character I ended up greatly enjoying because of just how gods damned seriously she took everything. A joke wasn't a joke, it was an offense. A mistake wasn't a mistake, it was a mistake. She was fiercely loyal, extremely suspicious of people who acted free and easy and determined to use her magic for the benefit of herself and the few people she cared about.

GW2: Capricia Vetrov, oh my darling how I love you. While her story never came to a complete conclusion, I've drawn my own mental end for it and honestly... ugh, my heart. My elementalist was vicious and hostile and sarcastic, lashed out at everyone, struck first before anyone could strike at her and had absolutely every reason to be so guarded and bitter. She's still one of my favorite characters, perhaps my absolute favorite, and maybe I'll get around to finishing that novella I started to give her a happy ending.

FFXIV: Having only played the game for about two years, I'd have to say my favorite RP With People character is C'allie Kyho, that outrageously confident, Certified 100% Trauma-Free™ miqo'te. C'allie is a bit of a chameleon, shifting the personality she displays depending on who she's engaging with and why, but I genuinely like the growth she's had and where her story currently is. My favorite character is Annalei d'Latu. I love that thrice-damned bitch. She's vicious and arrogant and brilliant and just downright nasty. I adore her.

--Getting to know the account

WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO TAKE ON THIS MUSE:

C'allie Kyho was my first FFXIV character, made on a trial account just to see what the game was like. Anything with a bow tends to be fairly easy to learn in a new MMO, so I started her off in Gridania and built a vague story about her wanting to see the world and singing her way across it (for the BRD class.) The more I learned about the game's lore and the astounding flexibility of it, the more I started branching out with various characters that I used off and on, depending on who seemed to want what kind of story.

WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE ASPECTS OF YOUR CURRENT MUSE:

C'allie Kyho: Being 100% Certified Trauma-Free™ and the fact that her arrogance isn't even arrogance; her self-esteem is just that unshakeable. (True fantasy roleplaying.)

Annalei d'Latu: The development of her marriage to Seifer d'Latu and the fact that she's a mortician, poses as a therapist and would happily bring another Calamity onto Eorzea if it meant more power for her.

Summer Bellmayne: Il Mheg (having an IC tie to it is just... -chef's kiss- dream come true) and the fact that a deranged romance novelist gets some fascinating reactions from people.

C'esti Kyho: Having a fairly stable Kyho (the tribe is very... interesting) with a skill I deeply admire (aerial hoop performances oh my god) who loves coffee as much as I do and who is actually... pretty normal?

Chessi Eder: She is my favorite punching bag, and it's legitimately sweet and heartbreaking seeing how she will absorb pain without question and then find absolute delight in the simplest things.

WHAT'S YOUR BIGGEST INSPIRATION WHEN IT COMES TO WRITING:

Reading, honestly. I just... cannot be bored, it's like physical agony for me (yay ADHD!) and since I'm lucky enough to have no problems comprehending language or typeface, I read CONSTANTLY. Like... if I'm not RPing or watching a movie, there is an ebook open on my phone or a physical book in my hand. I am almost always reading. [I average a book a day and yes, people who know me IRL can vouch for this.] So reading as much as I do and reading SO MANY THINGS means I'm constantly seeing ideas or plot threads or character traits or combinations of things that feed my own creative spark and make me eager to explore.

My biggest inspiration to write is because I just damn well love a good story and if I can make one happen in RP? Yessssssssss... GIMME.

FAVORITE TYPES OF THREADS:

Honestly, anything but lengthy combat threads with constant dice rolls. I don't mind combat as long as I'm writing with someone who can agree "we both take hits and if I win this fight, you win the next fight" but I get bored very very quickly when it's just a "roll... determine outcome of roll...post appropriate physical action...wait for a roll...wait to determine outcome of roll...wait for post of appropriate physical action..."

I'd almost rather just talk it out OOC, agree to who wins the fight and skip ahead to the aftermath.

Tagged: @bek-sc (Thanks hon!)

Tagging: @luck-and-larceny; @dumb-hat; @eorzeanstarlight; @kich-rp; @miqojak; @ketsuchikotetsu; @mirugaidoesthings; anyone who feels like it! [And feel free to skip the non-RP-related questions if you're not comfortable answering those. ^^]

#Tagged #OOC #Thanks sug!

[roselen-mylady]

In Another Life

Bucky Barnes x reader ° part two

Summary: Waiting 88 years to find your soulmate? It was cruel. But it was a cruel fate Bucky would have to face whether he accepted it or not. Bucky was a tortured man all his life and he wasn't even granted the solace of having his soulmate at his side. All he had was the promise of one in another life.

They were separated by two different times.

But the pain in their lives were connected. Y/n had been alone ever since she could remember. All she could depend on was the soulmate that was destined to be at her side. Yet when the snap occured she lost him.

And Bucky never got to meet her.

A/n: For those who read this book before, I had to do some major redrafting so please be patient with me! Enjoy🤟

2014

“She’s a child, Fury.” The woman’s voice scolded. Y/n winced hating the fact that she was the source of conflict between the two. Fury wore his usual monotone and mildly pissed off expression as his eyes narrowed on the woman. Councilwoman Hawley’s face hardened as she turned to Y/n, “Do your parents know you're here?” She questioned, her voice loud and demanding. 

Y/n's eyes drifted to Fury, uncertain and intimidated. Councilwoman was right, Y/n was just a child. But she had a mind that only Tony Stark himself could rival and that mind quickly realized that the only way she was going to stay at S.H.I.E.L.D was if she lied. 

"Yes. They wanted to thank you for the opportunity S.H.I.E.L.D has given me." Y/n said cooly, trying to muster up enough confidence to fool the woman. Though she didn't seem convinced, Hawley was tired and after a few moments of staring down Y/n to see if she would relinquish her testimony, she sighed. 

Councilwoman then turned to Fury, looking at him with less than pleased eyes. "I trust you'll handle the affairs then." Fury offered no acknowledgement in return and Y/n wondered if everyone in S.H.I.E.L.D was this cold. "Fury, I'm taking a chance here for you. The minute this proves to be more of a burden than a service, I'm ending it." The harshness of her tone shot through Y/n like a bullet but Fury appeared unphased giving her a little solace. 

"You'll find the council will be grateful for what I'm doing here." Fury's proclamation seemed to grip the councilwoman, stopping her dead in her tracks as a conflicted expression fell over her features. She shot him a deadly glare however what rage bubbled up in her wasn't enough to compel her to reply and she continued on, leaving smothering tension in the air. 

"What are you doing?" Y/n asked cautiously, turning to the man who had convinced her to leave her old life behind. The leather of his eyepatch squeaked in protest as his eyebrows furrowed, his eye landing on her small frame beside him. 

"We are going to take the first step in protecting our world for the future. Welcome to the Next Generation Initiative." Y/n swallowed thickly to try and relieve the dryness of her throat as Fury moved toward the door. 

"We start immediately." His voice called and she quickly followed after him, hoping to not agitate him further. "First let's see what you're capable of." 

•••

The months that followed were hard, harder than she had naively expected. Fury was true to his word, providing her with a living space at S.H.I.E.L.D headquarters along with necessities such as food passes and clothes, though all of them sported the S.H.I.E.L.D logo. 

At first it had been exciting to live a new life, the pride that came from becoming independent being enough to distract her for the first couple of weeks. But soon she found that being isolated from the rest of the agents wasn't just the normal separation from the pack that came with being new. 

Communication with other agents was limited by her new guardian and her access around The Triskelion was even more restricted. It didn't take much for her to catch onto the fact that she was meant to be a secret instead of an agent. 

This annoyed her but she hardly saw Fury which prevented her from questioning or even opposing the situation. And in the times she did see him she never got any answers. Fury pushed her constantly and while she knew she had signed up for it, she couldn't help but wonder if she'd made the right choice. 

In order to stay at S.H.I.E.L.D she had to avoid all contact with her parents and adjusting to her new life without them was hard. The only person she had to trust with her well being was Fury and while he made sure she was taken care of, he wasn't exactly a parental figure. He was cold and abrasive and having conversations with him were frightening and offered very little support. 

Her wish to be a hero convinced her that maybe it'd get better once she adjusted to the way things operated at S.H.I.E.L.D but it never did. Loneliness crept into her every second she was there and nothing she did seemed to help. 

Doubt seeped into her heart and she started to question the cause she now stood for. Her parents had always rejected Fury's propositions toward making Y/n an agent but Y/n had never understood why until then. Fury was shrouded in a thick layer of mystery and the appeal it once had quickly faded away when she began to realize she had left everything behind for a promise of doing something great. 

She felt like a naive and stupid child chasing the dream of being a superhero like so many children had and she longed for the guidance of her parents. 

Training was even more miserable than her solitude. Fury wanted her to be ready for anything even though all of her missions so far were from the safety of a control room. He trained her himself, claiming that it was easier that way instead of taking other agents off of missions.

While she felt like it was a lie she accepted it and attended training everyday. And it wasn't long before she learned that his cold exterior was frozen all the way through. 

"Agh!" Y/n cried out in frustration, forcing herself up from the ground. Fury almost smirked as she rushed forward, messily slamming her fist into his arms that had moved to block his face. A pained groan escaped her lips as she retracted her fist trying to conceal the red spotting through from under the wrap. 

Another hand entered her view and she gave a defeated sigh as Fury took her bloodied knuckles. "I don't understand why I have to do this. You just want me for my brain anyways." Her irritation flooding off of her. 

"It's so that nobody kills you. What good would your brain be if you're dead?" Fury said, offering no warmth or ease as he spoke. A frown tugged at her lips and she jerked her hand away, getting herself into stance. 

It wasn't long before she was on her back again, her lungs struggling to replenish the air that had been knocked out of her. But Y/n found herself strangely motivated with each failure. Each time she slammed into the mat she was filled with an overwhelming amount of rage and whether it had been his plan all along she didn't know but she rose to her feet again with more strength than before. 

With her fists drawn to her sides and her shoulders coming back in a brilliant pose of purpose, she stood before him anger radiating off of her. Her eyes narrowed on Fury with a determined shine and she advanced again, this time landing a hit to his ribs. While she wasn't too intimating in size, she easily calculated places to strike in which would leave the attacker most weakened and with her new found strategy, Fury fell.

Before she could even process her victory, a foreign sound echoed through the gym making her freeze. It was an eerie sound that shouldn't have sent a chill down her spine. A sound that heard from anyone else would've made her smile. Yet coming from the usually stoic man she couldn't help but recoil as if hearing it was the equivalent of being stuck. 

Fury's body shook in laughter as he pushed himself up off his knees. "Motherfucker." He exclaimed, his eye landing on her with a glimpse of something she'd never seen from him before. Pride? Amusement? Either one brought a disbelieving and hesitant smile to her face as she quickly moved to help him up. 

"I was wondering how many times it would take getting the crap beat out of you for you to finally put that brain of yours to use." Fury grunted, his hand coming to his ribs as he stood. Y/n's brows creased looking up at him in confusion. 

"Wait, you're not mad?" She questioned, rattled by how entertained he was with her finally snapping at him. He moved to unwrap his fists looking up at her with a lifted brow. 

"Am I supposed to be? Taking me down was your objective." He replied, glancing over his shoulder as she mimicked him, tugging the wrapping carefully as to avoid further hurting her split knuckles. She offered a shrug, allowing her prideful smirk to appear. 

"Well, you just got taken down by a girl." Fury's gaze hardened on her cheeky grin and he shook his head, his amusement diminishing with her childish humor. 

"Don't give me that bullshit. I've been training you for months, you taking me down once ain't nothing to be excited over." He grumbled, trying to dismiss her win. 

Y/n's smile lingered for the rest of the day. 

•••

"So what's the point of the 'Next Generation Initiative'? Aren't some of the Avengers, like, immortal?" Y/n questioned, poking at the keyboard in front of her. Fury's annoyed gaze fell on her for the fifth time in the past ten minutes and he sighed heavily pushing the keyboard away from her. She lifted her head off of her elbow and turned to face him as his chair swiveled toward her. 

"Thor's practically immortal. But the rest aren't." Fury explained. Y/n reached out to grab the pen on the table only to have Fury slam his hand down on hers, forcibly stopping her. "Do you always have to mess with something?" He questioned, his tone sharp. 

Y/n gave him a glare before retracting her hands and wedging them between her thighs. "What about Hulk? Not only did the gamma rays make him immortal, he can't die as either Bruce Banner or Hulk. And what about Captain America? I mean isn't he like 100?" She rambled. 

Fury massaged his temples, reminding himself that he had to put up with her if he wanted his project to succeed. "96. And no he's not immortal." He corrected, ignoring Y/n's mockful expression as she rolled her eyes. 

"Whatever. You didn't answer my question." She accused, shooting him an expectant gaze. He peered down at her, his brow lowering in an unamused scowl. 

"Like the Avengers Initiative, Next Gen's purpose is to protect Earth from all threats, whether it be from other worlds or our own." Fury droned, his own statement seeming to bore him. He'd given the same speech to the council a million times before and he wasn't someone that cared to repeat himself. Yet in enthusiasm Y/n easily had enough for the both of them as she listened carefully to his every word, enjoying the fact that he was finally telling her something. 

Sure she'd known that joining S.H.I.E.L.D especially with her skills would mean some kind of hero work. Fury had explained to her and her parents once before that with Y/n's brain she could help set the world forward into technical advances and with the right training become an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. All she knew about S.H.I.E.L.D was what could be linked to the Avengers so she had automatically been hooked but her parents didn't share her eagerness. 

Yet never did she imagine becoming a part of a project similar to the Avengers, a team she'd grown up idolizing. Suddenly any doubt she'd felt washed away with her fascination toward becoming a superhero. The idea of putting her skills toward something bigger than herself was what had drawn her away from her friends and family after all. 

"So, the next generation of superheroes?" She assumed, unable to hide the thrilled smile that crossed her face. Fury nodded slowly, unsure whether he should be encouraging her so much. Her unwavering grin stuck as he turned back to the computer in front of him, tapping on the keys with a quick sweep of his hand. 

"Then why don't the Avengers know about me?" She questioned suddenly. 

"The council doesn't want anyone to know about you. At least not until this succeeds." He answered shortly, his concentration unbroken as he did so. 

"When will that be? And why aren't there more of me? I mean aren't there more superhero kids you should be scouting?" Y/n began questioning again making him sigh heavily. He was beginning to regret recruiting her, finding her intuitive and adolescent need to question everything bothersome. 

"You are what we call a trial basis. That's when-"

"I know what a trial basis is. I'm not stupid." Fury's eyes narrowed on the girl who'd interrupted him, nearly chuckling at the irony of what she'd said. 

"Well, then stop acting like it." He retorted, drawing an unhappy pout from her. With arms crossed and her brow creased she glared at him but he ignored her turning back to the computer. 

"I'm not acting stupid. Trust me, I'm sure I'd be a lot more help if I actually knew what was going on. This is the most I've gotten you to talk since I got here." She challenged, making sure not to provoke him. If she had there'd be no way to get answers out of him. "I'm just saying I left everything to be here and you can't even give me the time of day to explain why I'm really here. Why would you recruit me? I don't have powers, I just happen to be smart. Why would you pick me to start such an important project?" 

The doubt she'd been feeling for months was beginning to flood back as she confessed to him. His persistence in wanting to recruit her at the start had convinced her enough that she was worthy of being a part of whatever he had planned but now that she knew what it was she was becoming painfully aware of how minuscule she was in comparison. 

Fury kept his stare focused on the monitor before him, a sigh flushing through him and escaping out his nose as his hands stilled on the keyboard. He knew she was right. All the information he'd given her up to that point was the name of the project and the vague details he'd offered her parents. 

He needed to give her a sign of good faith, something to earn a bit of her trust and acceptance in order to continue with the project. 

Y/n watched with an intense gaze as he grabbed the mouse, directing the cursor toward another file. Everything in her was screaming to press for an answer but the contrast in his behavior kept her from doing so. Never had he gone silent before and she wondered if this was finally it. Was he finally going to reveal his true intentions? 

After effortlessly bypassing several forms of security, a file was brought up, her own picture dragging her attention away from his silence. To the left of the photo was her name, birthdate, social security number and several other pieces of information like her parents' names and her education records. 

Yet beside her name was another name, this one bubbled in quotations like an alias. 

"Next Generation Stark?" She read aloud, the words rolling off her tongue like she was accusing him of a lie. Fury sat back in his chair, crossing his arms as he studied her baffled face and slack jaw. "Stark? Like Tony Stark? What the hell does that mean?" She demanded, all restraint on herself to remain polite out the window upon such an absurd comparison. 

Fury pierced his lips gesturing to the computer, "Exactly what it says." He told her, his tone much more matter of fact than she felt was appropriate. Her head frantically shook as she tried to make him see how absolutely insane he sounded. 

"I can't be. Tony Stark is my hero and a literal superhero. Not to mention a billionaire, genius-" She was cut short by Fury sitting forward, a smirk playing on his lips as he snidely remarked. 

"I thought you were a genius. IQ of 224 and all." The sarcasm practically dripped from his words and Y/n's glare returned with more intensity than before. 

"If that's the only similarity between us we're going to have a lot of problems." She pointed out earning a returning glare from Fury. The fact that he was arguing with a teenager was enough to make him question his life choices but the fact that she was calling him out on the outlandishness of his operation was enough to make his blood boil. 

Though his pride was unwilling, he managed to release his irritation with a deep sigh. The entire program rested on his ability to train and create the next line of defense and though it frustrated him, the only 'defense' he had was Y/n. 

"Look. I didn't recruit you because I wanted you to be Stark." He began, the tension that built in his shoulders and between them easing some as he spoke. "I recruited you because you have the potential to be someone just as great." 

Y/n tried to fight the warmth that spread through her chest. It had been the kindest thing said to her in months and her need to please others simply jumped for joy at the praise. 

Her once defensive posture slacked a bit as she fell back against her chair, sending him an irritated yet pleased look. "You're strangely motivational. Were you born like that or did you take lessons?" She questioned, her snarky manner returning with the lightness in the air. 

"I know a guy." Fury shrugged before returning to his work. Y/n rolled her eyes, growing used to the way that everything he said had to hold a bit of secretiveness. 

"If you say yourself, I will slap you regardless of who you are." She replied, lifting her legs up and placing her feet up onto the desk. Fury eyed them with a disdained look before pushing them off with one swift movement. 

"You know that code name is all the more fitting with that attitude of yours." He countered, slightly entertained as her feet fell back to the floor forcing her to sit up right. Her expression remained annoyed unable to muster up the effort to glare at him once more. 

"Tony Stark wishes he had an attitude like mine." A short scoff escaped Fury as Y/n crossed her arms, a smug smile tugging at her lips. 

•••

The months that followed were easier with her new found purpose. As Fury had hoped, giving her more details on the project insured her compliance and even inspired her to take on more tasks and missions. 

It was a few months after their discussion before he decided to untrust her with Project Insight. With the help of the 15 year old genius the work went smoother and a lot of the technical issues they faced either became minor inconveniences or vanished all together. 

And with her new access to the labs containing some of the most advanced technology she spent almost all her free time tinkering away. Whenever Fury asked what it was she was devoting so much time and energy to, she immediately shut him down, a little embarrassed by the idea of telling him. 

But it didn't stop him from checking surveillance in the lab. He had to confess it was a pretty good replica of the famous Iron Man though he'd never tell her. He was almost tempted to alert Stark that his precious suit wasn't as exclusive as he'd hoped. 

Though it was slow at first and unwanted, Fury grew used to Y/n's presence and rather than a nuisance she became a normal figure in his life. He'd never admit it but whenever she wasn't at his side or where he'd left her a small bit of panic would set in. The instinct Maria pointed out to be paternal was often and annoyed him beyond belief but happened nonetheless. 

The feeling seemed to be mutual because Y/n frequently came to him with anything and everything that happened during her day to which he reluctantly listened. 

"Some of the other agents were talking about their countdowns. I can't wait to get mine." Y/n spoke, glancing up at Fury as he faintly listened from his desk. Not yet satisfied without his full attention, a mischievous smirk curved onto her features and she leaned on her palm to look at him. "Who's your soulmate?"  

The hard stare he directed at her would've been enough to make a grown man quake but Y/n had become immune to such glares. "None of your business." He replied, his tone callous and indifferent. But Y/n noticed something, a fleeting glance to his left just before he spoke. 

Her knowing smile riled through him and he huffed, moving aside his monitor to properly scowl at her. "Is it Maria? Nah she's too nice to be your soulmate. Or maybe it's one of those opposites attract types of situations?" Y/n unleashed every thought that buzzed through her mind and Fury wasn't sure which one to be most enraged by. So he remained silent, allowing her curiosity to brew. 

Sensing his disinterest in answering her she sat up, moving to climb to her feet. "Well, I guess I'll just have to ask Ms. Hill." The sigh that filled the air was playful as if getting the answers she so wanted was a chore but Fury knew she had no issue in seeking out the woman in question. 

"Leave her be. She's leading a covert mission right now." He cautioned. Y/n paused, sinking back into her chair as he folded his hands. "She's my soulmate, is that what you want to hear?" His confession sent a bit of joy through her from being right but she didn't speak her pride, instead allowing him to continue. 

"When she joined S.H.I.E.L.D we found out we were soulmates but we never let it get in the way of our work." The explanation came easily but the troubled expression on his face was anything but. She almost felt a bit guilty for dragging the truth out of him. 

"So you guys aren't together?" For the first time ever, she watched him shift uncomfortably. His action only seemed to urge her to press more, sensing him beginning to crack. 

"We are a part of the percentage of the world with platonic soulmates." He described. She nodded slowly, not believing him for a second. She may have only been there for a little under a year but she had never seen such a profound bond between two people. A little envy from their relationship had established itself in her even if it was a 'platonic' relationship. 

"Does she know that?" 

Fury froze, his single eye widening ever so slightly. She'd struck a nerve. 

"Y'know what? I'm done telling you shit." Fury snapped, turning away from her with an agitated growl. Y/n instantly sat forward, guilt grasping hold of her creased brow as she scrambled to apologize. 

"Wait no, I'm sorry. I'm sorry." It came rushed but was heard making Fury haltingly glance back up at her. Her lip had been pulled back between her teeth as she chewed at it nervously. "My-my mom used to tell me that just because I know a lot doesn't mean I need to know everything. She usually keeps me in check but-..." 

Her words dropped off into a deafening silence. Y/n tended to question everything and while her mother believed it to be some form of OCD her father argued it was just her paranoia. Whatever the case it led to a lot of frustration for those who were being interrogated and Y/n realized for the past year Fury had been the focus of that. 

His hardened expression faltered and if one truly studied his expressions they would recognize a bit of remorse had surfaced to match her own. 

"I really miss her. My dad, too." Y/n confessed, solemn and longing. "I wonder if they're mad at me. Maybe that's why they haven't tried to visit me." 

An unfamiliar pang of guilt hit Fury's heart and his gaze fell onto the file in front of him. Anywhere to avoid looking at the child before him. How was he supposed to tell her that her parents had tried to see her? Tell her that each time he sent them away, insisting she was safe and that they should leave? Tell her how many letters and calls they'd received from them over the past year in hopes it might reach her. 

How did he begin to make up for such a wrong yet necessary act? 

"Maybe it's time you visited them." The statement left him before he even had a chance to properly analyze it. What was he thinking? Letting her leave would compromise the whole project. 

But he couldn't help it. Something deep inside him needed to make up for all the secrets and lies and his unwanted connection to the girl only justified his actions. 

"Really?" Fury nodded, yet again surprising the both of them. 

"I'll have an agent take you tomorrow. But only under one circumstance." He told her, the seriousness he was known for returning. She nodded instantly ready to pay whatever price to see her family.  

"You must come back to S.H.I.E.L.D." 

A tense feeling she'd only felt upon her arrival rested in the air, easily thick enough to make her choke. But the excitement she felt outweighed any rational thought. 

"I promise." 

Part three

#bucky barnes #endgame #marvel #steverogers #avengers #infinitywar #tonystark #buckybarnes #iron man #first avenger #winter soldier #nick fury #maria hill #shield #sam wilson #captain america #soulmate #au #soulmate au #bucky imagine #bucky fanfic #bucky fluff #bucky fic #bucky x y/n #bucky x reader #bucky barnes x reader #sebastian stan #chris evans

[sirro85-blog]

Humans are Space Orcs:

Part 4

Kovac gave a hiss of pain as Petra sutured his shoulder, he glared at his officers and then took a drink from his glass, Petra tapped his shoulder and he tugged his arm back.

"Just Knickers and Footsteps? Nobody else is hurt?" Kovac said a third time.

"Becca has cracked ribs and you have about 4 dozen sutures in your shoulders and arms." Petra corrected him.

"I'm fine!" Snapped Becca standing up and wincing.

"Sutures heal," growled Kovac.

"Staff and Dana are with Knickers, Fluke is with footsteps, we'll make sure someone will sit Shiva. Panther is checking the walls and Sergeant Webb is with the rest of 3 Troop." Captain Dorman said.

"Go look after your men Captain," Kovac said, he glanced at Becca, "once Knickers is stable and in the healing bay get Staff Sergeant King to ok the rapid healing meds for me and Bec, we haven't got time to sit and wait."

Petra tutted but nodded and she and Dorman left the room, Becca moved gingerly to sit on Kovac's uninjured side. Captain Wolf left with the remaining Flet bodies.

"I thought when that kick landed that I was gonna lose you," Becca said, "honestly I was so scared I..." she grabbed his hand and winced at the sudden movement.

"You were amazing, beating an 8 foot kitty with a 15 inch dildo, not a sight I thought I'd ever see." They both laughed and then groaned in pain, Kovac drank more rum and handed the glass to Becca, "they came for me Bec, Footsteps and Knickers paid the price. Footsteps was a good soldier but Knickers...we've been through a lot together I couldn't forgive that she died protecting me."

"I was always so jealous of how close you two were," Becca sipped the rum and said, "That woman, is tough"

Becca leant her head against his uninjured shoulder, and Kovac turned his head to kiss the top of hers. The quiet moment was disrupted by Staff Sergeant Frank King who blasted into the room and brandished a fist at the Major.

"I'm not dispensing AHMs for those injuries, they aren't fucking Smarties, you can take it easy for a few weeks and heal normally!" He stopped after he realised the Major was grinning. "These are serious drugs, you could have a PE, they damage your kidneys long term and can cause seizures, it could be a CVE or an MI...and stop drinking after you've been given morphine!"

"If you're here that means Knickers is stable, so thank you, Frank you know us, you know we won't take it easy, not after this, Bec will push herself with broken ribs and end up with a, uh, hemanuma-thorax."

"Haemopneumothorax!" Staff King corrected instantly then grimaced that Kovac had provoked him, "alright, take them but I want you both in for daily checks and Knickers doesn't get passed fit unless I say so."

Within two days both Kovac and Becca were sitting with their fellow officers, Captain Wolf sat opposite Captain Dorman who had his hands spread out flat in the table.

"I'm not convinced," said Dorman.

"Fuck Mark, how many times do you want to hear it!?" Wolf paused and took a breath, "The Flet Royal family are as protected as any target I have ever seen, and I've seen a few. However every shred of information we have secured says that after the current Queen dies there will be three strong claimants to the throne, and after that over a dozen weaker potentials. To eradicate the threat posed by them, the Queen and all 3 heirs must die, after that infighting will take away any political motivation to see Kovac dead." He paused and looked at Captain Gillespie, "Gilly has confirmed that with every source he has at every level."

Dorman nodded and gave a gesture to continue, "Even the best hit-squad I could put together couldn't get to the four targets. However, Becca has credible sources that say the Flet Imperium is making an accord with the Torasa-Rhul of the Dinah system and one of the targets is travelling to Dinah-5 to confirm the accord. Kovac's contact Theo-Finn-Rhul on Garatvali has confirmed this. This target will be significantly more vulnerable, so our proposal is to send out a multiple to snatch and grab the target and use them to gain access to the other three."

Dorman pulled a face and Wolf threw his hands up, "he's just doing his job Wolf, he has to question everything." Kovac reminded his irate captain.

"No need to be such an old woman about it. All our Intel suggests this attack is too audacious for the Kitty's to expect and that the Flet Royal family will consider that using us to remove their rivals would be a savvy political manoeuvre. If we decide to do this then we have to be precise, we fail this and we show our hand to the royals and probably provoke the Imperium enough that they just blow up the whole planet."

Dorman sat in thought for a moment and then nodded, "alright, it's our best shot, what do we need?"

Plans were made and as soon as Staff had cleared Knickers she found the Major, "I want in."

"You don't know what the plan is, or if we have a plan," the Major countered.

"Of course you have a plan, I served in the 88th, slick drills and all that. I want in." Knickers scoffed.

Kovac looked away from her and then said, "it's Wolf's command, he's making the selection."

Knickers glared her nostrils flared and then nodded. Kovac watched her leave the office and gave a heavy sigh.

"Theo-Finn-Rhul has sent us what we asked for and the Ditiri has given us the information we needed." Wolf informed the Major as he entered the meeting.

"Hate to think what that cost us" Becca said.

"No worries mate, just told him you'd give him a demo of what you can do with a dildo," Wolf laughed.

Becca raised two fingers in the shape of a V a gesture that humans consider an insult.

Wolf crackled, "I offered him your nudes but he wasn't interested."

"Too bad you didn't offer him yours Wolf, he might have charged less after a laugh." Becca countered, Dorman and Gillespie laughed.

"Enough, Wolf it's now or never, we will need to depart tonight, have you made your selection?"

"Me, Panther, Hemmings and Richards, Knickers and Ocampo, Gray and uhh you."

"Kovac! Knickers!" Snapped Becca. " No,! One stray shot and it's all over. Knickers nearly died a week ago."

"She's also the best soldier we have, Hemmings and Richards are our best shots, Ocampo is the best scout I've ever known, there's a reason you always have him on point, Gray lives up to his name, him and Panther are bloody shadows but if this goes south name one other soldier you'd prefer to Kovac and Knickers watching your back, look I don't want to do this with only 8 men but that is how many we can get in so it has to be the best we have.

Becca stared first at Kovac and then Wolf and then moved to sit down. Plans were made and a contingent of 12 more soldiers under Fluke were assigned to accompany the unit as far as possible. Afterwards Wolf waited for Becca.

"I don't like it, anymore than you do mate but he's as good as they come and we'll need that. Bex, if I could do this without any of them I would."

"I know mate, I know," she patted his shoulder and walked away.

Some humans would take the time to say goodbye to those left behind, facing an unknown future they would ensure nothing went unsaid, these soldiers just made cruel jokes to one another, lots were drawn who got Ocampo's Whisky collection and who got to burn Richard's "god awful" record collection.

The evening arrived and Wolf's unit departed. At an appropriate distance the support unit stopped and Wolf and his men boarded the Rhul shuttle to land on the planet. They were silent as they came into land on Dinah-5. It was midday where they landed and Wolf quickly sent Gray and Ocampo out to surveil the targets, an hour later the unit were gathered around a small model forming their plan.

For all the frenetic energy of recent weeks now that these 8 humans were about to embark on the action they were remarkably calm. Wolf had them run a practice drill of the mission before they departed.

Ocampo led the way towards the camp, followed by Hemmings and Richards then Wolf and Panther, Kovac and Knickers with Gray at the rear. They made good progress and soon were on the edge of the camp, over four dozen Flet soldiers stood guard around the site.

Wolf's unit settled in to watch as the Flet occupied themselves. The target was identified and from the general behaviour it became clear that their information was accurate, the meeting had occurred and some time tomorrow the Camp would pack up and they would depart. As night fell Wolf sent his unit forward, Gray and Panther slipped through the darkness, Kovac close behind, the first two sentries were cut down silently, Kovac followed the two through the camp as Wolf and Ocampo followed behind, they neared the command tent when the first guard reacted, he turned toward them, reacting to some slight noise, there was. a moment as it raised it's power lance to it's shoulder and opened it's mouth to speak before it dropped, Hemmings lived up to his reputation as the finest shot in the squad. Kovac caught the Kitty's corpse at a run to stop it making noise.

Panther stalked the second sentry and in a flowing movement stepped up behind it and with a jump clamped a hand across it's mouth and drove her blade between it's ribs, collapsing it's lung to stop it calling out and with a second thrust finding it's heart. She strained to hold up it's weight and gently lowered it to the floor.

Kovac took position at the entrance to the main tent and Panther and Gray slipped inside, now the noise level grew, shots were fired and as the camp came awake Kovac met the now captured Flet royalty.

"Major Kovac, I must admit I thought you'd be dead, the Hyte don't normally fail us, but we thought the survivors may plan this, so we had a little plan in place." She spoke calmly with no trace of an accent.

"We guessed you might, Wolf thinks you have three times as many soldiers on base as we've seen," Kovac replied a slight smile on his face, "You did well hiding them but you have enough food supplies here to feed the 50 or so of you we've seen for a month." Explosions rocked the camp and flames lit the night sky, " I do find that giving Wolf a grenade launcher tends to be one solution to most problems." He looked at Panther, "gag her and get back into the tent, wait for the signal from Ocampo."

Bolts tore through the night and shredded the tent, Kovac dropped to one knee and returned fire. More explosions tore through the night and Kovac discarded his first magazine and hoped their luck would hold out.

When the flare lit the nights sky Kovac could see the success Hemmings and Richards had been having at keeping the Kitty's hemmed in. He remembered the old saying "at night all armies are the same size." More explosions sounded this time more distant and Kovac covered Panther and Gray as they dragged the prisoner out. They hastily retreated and quickly met Ocampo who fired his own RPGs to shield their retreat. They found Knickers in a clearing with multiple dead Flet in it, a shocked looking Hemmings and Richards were with her.

"Holy hell Major can she cycle that damn rifle, I've never seen anyone reload that quick." Hemmings exclaimed staring at Knickers with awe.

"Should see the Major, he was pissing out bullets back there," said Gray offering Kovac a spare magazine.

"Alright! We can suck each other off later, stage one is complete, we aren't out of this yet." Kovac said as distant explosions continued to tear through the night.

"Right, Gray and me with Knickers and Kovac, you three get to Wolf and help him." Panther began.

"Gotta change plans Sergeant," said Kovac.

"We can't!" Snapped Panther looking afraid as more explosions sounded.

Kovac raised his left arm to show his body armour shredded and the plates shattered. "Armour stopped the round but I still broke ribs, I'm not gonna be able to keep up."

"Knickers you go with those two and the hostage, Ocampo go with those two and get to Wolf, I'll get back to the shuttle and at least I can come get you if need be."

Panther looked at Kovac and rubbed her face then opened her mouth to speak, she closed it again, nodded and with Gray's help dragged the bound and gagged Flet away into the night. Kovac nodded to Knickers and then to Ocampo and the other two and walked into the darkness.

Captain Wolf marvelled at Kitty pride as they tried yet again to overtake him in the darkness, so often Flet relied on their natural gifts not their technology; humans could admit their limitations, he couldn't outrun the Flet, he could hem them in with enough grenades as he could physically carry. The tell tale crack of a sniper rifle told him that Ocampo had found him and the two snipers were ready to cover his retreat. He tossed aside his heavy grenade launcher and ran hell for leather into the smoke Ocampo's smoke bombs were producing, the Rifleman signalled him and the two men set about the next phase of their plan.

Hemmings gave Wolf the thumbs up as the third claymore mine detonated, "they're gonna be too pissed to think straight now Sir."

"An entire species of rage monsters, it must be like living on a planet of Knickers," said Wolf.

"I heard that," snapped Knickers emerging from the gloom.

"Excellent, we're all here...where's Kovac!?"

"Injured, heading back to the shuttle," Panther said.

"Shit...Alright, we'll adapt, Gray, Panther, dump whoever that is, get back to their camp, collect the royal from wherever you stashed her and get to the shuttle, Hemmings and Richards get to the shuttle and get ready to watch us in, Ocampo and Knickers you're with me, we're going for a run. See if we can't derail this friendly Rhul-Kitty alliance"

I never understood how humans could think in such circles, that they would kidnap a target and then leave with a decoy seemed bizarre to me but when the Flet realised they had been deceived they were sure to feel even more rage.

The Captain's plan seemed to work well, first Hemmings and Richards signalled on the radio they were in position and then Panther signalled that they had reached the prisoner and were extracting. Wolf, Knickers and Ocampo led the Flet on, the explosions and the claymore had done enough to wound the Flet so they were unable to catch the humans who's superior endurance now began to tell as they led the Kitty's into the final trap.

Wolf set the last two grenades on the tripwire and they turned wearily for the shuttle. A few minutes later blasts rang out and the Rhul were woken by explosions on their camp perimeter and a Flet war party in their midst. Shots rang out in the darkness as Wolf led his men away into the breaking dawn.

A fatigued Wolf jogged into the clearing to meet a frantic Panther, "it's Kovac, he's in trouble."

The Major was slumped against the edge of the shuttle, his breathing shallow and his face pale, "punctured lung." He wheezed.

"Shit!" Swore Wolf.

Kovac nodded at the hostage, "she's, getting her, wish." He gasped and stopped breathing.

#space faerie #space australia #space orcs #humans are space orcs #earth is a deathworld #earth is weird #earth is awesome #humans are weird #humans are space oddities #humans are space australians #humans are insane #kovac #this is why i call kovac daddy