#desired reality by ely | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

talesofely · 3 months

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— Desired Reality - Uno.

A Natasha Romanoff x Fem!Reader Series

Summary : Six people who claimed to be from another universe arrived at the Avengers Tower out of nowhere. The fact that the group of people—NOVA—are essentially Avengers clones only serves to further complicate matters. The only unmistakable distinction between them is that they are of opposing sexes. How will things play out for the two groups of superhumans?

Word count : 1.5k

Warnings : Nothing that I know of.

Next - Series Masterlist.

"Is this it?" A red headed male asked, looking around the unfamiliar yet familiar building in front of them. Nathaniel.

"If the smarties' calculations are correct, then supposedly, we are where we need to be." The youngest member of the team replied with a small sigh. Stephanie.

"Of course it's right, it's us. When are we ever wrong?" The richest member of the team snarked back, making sure to add a sassy eye roll. Antoinette.

"When you said everyone in our team is straight." The archer responded in a tone so flat that you could mistake it for a serious statement. Clarissa.

A chuckle erupted from the quietest member of the team. "She got you good this time." Brielle.

"Bite back, Ms. Snarky." The group's ray of sunshine egged on, wanting to see drama unfolding in front of her very eyes again. Theodora.

"You guys will seriously argue any chance you get, huh?" A white haired female said with annoyance. Everyone immediately stopped talking as if it was their mom scolding them. Y/n.

"Six people are exiting the building. Two on your right, Steph. Two on your left, Brie. And two directly in front of us." Everyone immediately went into full alert mode, ready to fight if necessary.

Just like you said, six people came out of the building. Surprise was immediately shown on the Avengers faces when they saw the six people standing outside the building.

Steve Rogers, Captain America, was the first to speak up. "Who are you?"

"Luke, I am your father." Antoinette said seriously, making direct eye contact with the super soldier.

"Luke? My name isn't Luke." Steve furrowed his brows in confusion as the group of strangers infront of them tries to stifle a chuckle.

"Idiot, it's 'No, I am your father.'" The archer of the younger team would never pass on an opportunity to piss the young billionaire off.

"No? He says 'Luke', you dumb bitch, not 'No'." Y/n let out a loud sigh once those words left Antoinette's mouth, knowing this will lead to a long fight again.

Thankfully, she wasn't the only one who didn't want to go through the banter between the two girls.

"We're you, from a different reality." Steph answered seriously and truthfully, stepping forward to hide the two girls arguing and ignoring the confused looks on the heroes faces.

Silence immediately enveloped them, the avengers trying to study the unfamiliar faces infront of them. You decided to break the silence, knowing that you all didn't have time for staring contests.

"I believe it's best if we speak about this matter inside." You said with a friendly smile, revealing your dimples on both cheeks. Your london accent also surprised everyone, but no one chose to comment on it.

"And how can we trust that you won't try to kill us?" Steve asked, stepping forward to try and intimidate the group.

"Cuff us then." A chorus of disbelieving 'what?!'s could be heard from the younger group. A raise of your right hand, however, was able to silence them.

That didn't stop the quiet cursing and swearing from your group however.

"So you're saying that, you're us, from a different universe?" Tony asked with furrowed brows. They were in the avengers meeting room, the younger heroes all had cuffs on their hands, much to their displeasure.

"Yeah. I'm you," Annie said as she pointed at Tony. "from another reality, wherein you're a gal."

"Wait, wait, wait. So what are your names then?" Clint asked reluctantly, crossing his arms as he stared at the cuffed heroes.

The Vigilantes all looked at you first, seemingly asking for approval from their 'leader' before revealing important information. When you nodded, Clint's counterpart broke the silence.

"I'm Clarissa Francesca Barton, they call me Claire. I'm you, Hawkeye."

"Stephanie Grace Rogers, Steph." Steve raised his brows in surprise at his supposed female counterpart.

"Roxanne Brielle Banner. Guess you can call me Brie." Bruce nodded at his counterpart who just raised a brow at him in response.

"I'm Theodora Odinson, you can call me Thea. Hi, Thor." Thor waved at the girl who smiled at him in return.

Everyone then looked at Annie, who raised a brow at them once she noticed their gaze. "What? I wanna go last."

She sighed before rolling her eyes. "The name's Antoinette Edelle Stark. It's Annie for short, not Toni, not Nette, not anything else."

Tony smiled in triumph when he confirmed that he looks good in every universe, despite being the opposite gender.

"I'm Nate." The only boy in the team said flatly, earning a huff of annoyance from you.

"He's Nathaniel Alister Romanoff." You finished for him, ignoring the look of betrayal on his face.

"I'm Y/n Dawn Maximoff, according to our research, I'm Pietro Django Maximoff. I also have a twin," Your eyes shifted to Wanda, a look of understanding flashed in both their eyes. "His name was Walker Marco Maximoff."

"Wait— I appreciate knowing your names, but that doesn't prove anything, much more being from another universe." Steve asked, still cautious against them.

You sighed in annoyance, you didn't appreciate being asked multiple questions, especially again and again.

You stared at the keys of the handcuffs on the table away from you. You frowned and shifted your gaze to the cuffs on your hand, and suddenly it disappeared.

The avengers looked at you in shock, immediately going into a fighting position when you stood up. You raised your hands in the air to show you weren't doing anything fishy.

"Care to help us here, Y/N/N?" Annie said sarcastically, raising her hands that are still in cuffs.

You walk over to them and touched each of their cuffs that magically disappear each time. You walked over to Cap who backed away slightly. You scoffed and held out your hand that somehow now had all the cuffs.

"Take it, then I'll explain." You threw the cuffs at him, which he caught easily.

Nathaniel walked over to you and frowned, seeing that your wrist had red marks around them from the cuffs being too tight for you.

"Who placed cuffs on you? They need training or something." He said, adding a soft 'tsk' as he examined your wrists. Steve brows raised in surprise, obviously taking offense from that.

"I'm fine, Nate." You pulled your hands away from him and gave him a subtle glare for touching you.

"Anyways, as I was saying-"

"Are you two dating?" Your words were cut off by Natasha's sudden question. You raised your brows in shock, before smirking in amusement.

"Interested in my dating life, are we, Ms. Romanoff?" You asked, smirking teasingly. You saw a few of your members letting out a huff of annoyance hearing you flirting again. You chose to ignore them.

"No. We just don't appreciate having a couple in the team." She answered flatly. You tried reading her even if you knew very well you couldn't.

"But according to our research, you and Mr. Banner over there, had a small thing going on." You countered, raising a questioning brow at her. You didn't know why you even mentioned that, you and Nate really aren't a couple anyways. Maybe YOU are curious about her dating life.

Bruce cleared his throat awkwardly. You didn't let the obvious awkward tension in the room deter you, instead, you sat on the arm rests of Nathan's chair, crossing your arms as you look at the team boredly.

"Being romantically attached to someone doesn't affect my team's performance in the field, don't worry." You saw Steph and Nate giving you a thankful smile, which you gladly returned as a teasing one once you saw them holding hands underneath the table.

Silence overtook the meeting room. The avengers were trying to read you and your team, while your team were just relishing in the fact that you guys know I'm something that the older heroes don't.

"As much as I like the confusion on your faces, we'll have to tell you why we're here." You paused, looking at Steph, a silent cue for her to explain.

"Our universe is fucked. Someone fucked with us a week ago, they wanted to destroy our reality. Luckily, we were able to somehow freeze the entire timeline there. We need to go back in time to fix this mess, to be able to prepare, to avoid our universe from disappearing."

"So you want to create a time machine in this universe to travel back in time to your universe?" Steve asked, his brows furrowing even more than before.

"Yeah."

"Why us?" Natasha asked, raising a brow— specifically at Y/n.

"Why not?" You answered with a shrug. "We have 2 years to do it."

Next - Series Masterlist

#natasha romanoff x reader #natasha romanoff #natasha romanoff x fem!reader #natasha x reader #gay gay gay #natasha romanoff x you #natasha romanov #natasha x you #natasha romanoff x female #avengers x reader #avengers x y/n #ely !! ★#by ely !! ★#desired reality by ely

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wheelcr · 2 years

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You and Mike act like friends then act like couples and I'm getting confused about your relationship with each other

- 🎐 ♡

YEAH UHHH SJNJN THAT'S HOW IT ALWAYS GOES W ME 😔😃

i like acting lovey - dovey w my crushes to hide the fact that 'wow i'm actually super duper in love with you and it's killing me inside haha' plus the confusion that we cause other people is actually a lot of fun

#⠀💭 ۫⠀love letters.⠀୨୧⠀· ˚ 𓈒 #🎐 — nonnie ♡︎#just eli thingz #ahahbsdjsn #SORYRY #mike wheeler #stranger things #shifting #reality shifting #desired reality #bike wheeler!

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scentedpeachlandcreator · 25 days

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You want to manifest your dream life?

I gotcha! This post is right here to make you stop over-consuming content about LOA and finally be able to manifest your dream reality!

Decide:

Okay, so you first need to decide what you want to manifest.

You want to live in a penthouse and in a Big mansion with your family or sp? you Can! You want to wake up in a magical world you created Guess what? Yes, you Can!

Do you want to wake up with your desired appearance from head to toe? Yes, you Can. And when I say you Can that means you're fucking limitless don't let anybody limit you, 'cause you’re the creator of your own reality, not theirs but yours, and you create the rules here!

throw logic out the window! cause it won’t get you anywhere if you still ask “if i can manifest that and that..”

Okay, so when you decide what you want to manifest you might wonder what will you do next?

Well, it's simple really. just decide that you already have it.

But how?

By simply deciding that you already have your desires/dream life in your 4D/imagination.

using methods:

Now you might need to use methods and by methods that means techniques that will help you achieve your desires and that make you fulfilled, you Can Also create your own method that suits you well.

Note: you don't need to do a certain method that everyone uses and that doesn’t resonate with you.

You Can click here and here you will find all the methods that were used in the LOA community.

my favorite: affirming and this method (click here!).

Then when you start affirming for your Desires or use methods to manifest your Desires you might encounter some issues with the 3d.

Things start going the opposite and you’ll start giving up and doubting yourself and the law.

And that when it comes to the important thing to do and it is called persisting.

Persist:

when you see things start going up the opposite way (in the 3d) and that is when you need to do your job by persisting in the idea of already having your desires in the 4d, by being consistent and stubborn in your assumption.

that it! easy right?

you might have some questions about all of this and how to react in certain situations with the 3d I advice you to read these posts and documents:

This one , this , this , this , this one, this, this.

and lastly, stop it like really stop consuming info and not applying the law, you can still be on this app but just don’t be obsessively always here, always waiting for a new post to make you realize what method or technique or what it is will make you manifest your desires.

remember the key is self, and yes you, the reader who is reading my post, you have such infinite power inside you that could change your whole world 360 degree.

remember to trust yourself and to have faith in the unseen, you can do it I have my trust in you, and always remember that some people were in extremely difficult circumstances and they did what? yes succeed, by having faith in the unseen and persisting in their imagination and now they’re living their best life.

be gentle with yourself, take care of yourself, and prioritize your mental health.

Summary:

: ̗̀➛ decide what you want to manifest.

: ̗̀➛ affirm (or use any methods).

: ̗̀➛persist.

chao chao!

xoxo, Eli.

#law of assumption #loa #loa tumblr #loa blog #law of manifestation #how to manifest #loassumption #loablr #manifesting #void state

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madd-information · 4 months

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Calling the tune in maladaptive daydreaming: The impact of music on the experience of compulsive fantasizing - Eli Somer, 2024 (sagepub.com)

NEW PAPER PUBLISHED

Abstract

This study aimed to shed light on the role of music in maladaptive daydreaming (MD)... A thematic analysis yielded three themes describing the role of music in MD. Two homogeneous themes pertained to outlier experiences: Music necessary and Music not desired. The third theme, Music enhances the MD experience, encompassed most of the data retrieved in this study and was further divided into five subthemes: Music avoided in “low energy” daydreaming scenes, Music as white noise, Music enhances MD creativity, Music as an MD trigger compromises the sense of agency; and Music as a powerful immerser that sets MD’s emotional “soundtrack.” The results led to the conclusion that music might be instrumental in MD by distancing the person from the external reality, triggering complex visual storylines, deepening the altered state of consciousness, and intensifying the vividness of the daydreamed plot by invoking an emotional response.

#maladaptive daydreaming #actuallymadd

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adiluv · 10 months

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❥ MERCENARY + HOMEMAKER SPOUSE HCS. ˚⊹꒷

☁️୧・꒰word count꒱ 1158.

🌼୧・꒰warnings꒱ takes place pre-manor.

🦆୧・꒰adi moment꒱ request here! these were originally supposed to be combined into one post, though i decided to split them since they ended up full length regardless, lol. i had a lot of fun writing this, i think it's a super adorable scenario! hope you enjoy! ꒰˵•̀⤙•́˵꒱૭

you can find eli's version here!

꒰🗡️꒱・Naib isn’t exactly accustomed to how peaceful life is with you, having gone through most of his entire life without any opportunity to relax. First, it was the war, which—for obvious reasons—proved to be a rather heavy strain on the man, both physically and emotionally. Even after he’d decided he’d had enough of the bloodshed and defected, living within Britain certainly wasn’t cheap, and he was still unable to seize the chance to step back—though he now had his job as a mercenary to blame for that one.

꒰🗡️꒱・I’d imagine that Naib would prefer to live in a more rural part of Britain, perhaps in a cottage not too far away from the city. Not only does he benefit by encouraging your aesthetic preferences ꒰which is for the best, considering he’s got no taste for design, himself꒱, but he also manages to keep you safe. Two birds with one stone, really. Of course, while living outside of the city does make his line of work slightly more tedious, he’s more than willing to deal with commuting than to move you anywhere closer to such prying eyes.

꒰🗡️꒱・That is to say—he kills, and he gets his assignment done. It’s simply business, as cruel as the reality is. But who’s to say that those close to the victim won’t try to seek ‘reimbursement’ of their own? He’s seen the way that people act when they’re desperate, and he’s seen just how far down they’ll stoop to achieve their goals. For this reason, he’s incredibly protective over you and the life that you share. The thought of anything happening to you is one that he actively despises, and he’s always on the lookout to make sure that nobody’s following him back home.

꒰🗡️꒱・You’re in no real danger while Naib is around, at the very least. He’s got years of experience killing and protecting under his belt, so it’s safe to say that most attackers prove to be of little to no threat to him. Sure, there are occasions where he’ll receive a couple of scratches every here and there, though those tend to be the only signs that anything had even occurred. You’ll patch them up upon noticing them, gently scolding him for attempting to hide his injuries, yet he’s always really preferred to be discreet about such occurrences. In his mind, there’s no need to worry you over a pest that’s already been dealt with… But he is thankful for your concern.

꒰🗡️꒱・As an extension of this, he’s very much insistent on accompanying you whenever you head out—a habit you’d only receive explanation for well into your relationship. Finding out that your partner is a mercenary certainly is quite the shocker, especially when it re-contextualizes the instances in which he’d depart whilst citing ‘work’. Even still, I’d say that Naib was even more shocked when you’d decided to stay with him—under the assumption that there would be no more major secrets kept between the both of you. Regardless, he still couldn’t help but be confused when he’d awoken the next morning to see that you were still sleeping soundly to him. He’d truly expected to lose you.

꒰🗡️꒱・Although he sends some of his paycheck back to Nepal, you’d be genuinely surprised by the amount that he has left back. Whether it be just by his lack of desire to splurge or simply due to how lucrative his… career choice is, the man is rich—far more than you’d ever guessed. You’ll never be without anything that you need, considering that Naib is perfectly content to allow you to decorate the house and buy anything that catches your fancy.

꒰🗡️꒱・He’s got enough in savings to comfortably retire from his duties as a mercenary, something that he’ll do if you express discomfort with the job. It takes him some time to fully realize that that chapter of his life has finally come to its conclusion—and he’ll be eternally grateful if you attempt to help him ease the transition. Practicing for job interviews and reminding him of what excuses to use should anybody question the sizable gap in his resume does eventually help him snag a new job of his own—free from all the bloodshed of his past!

꒰🗡️꒱・One of his greatest struggles in re-adjusting to an average job would easily be working alongside other people. It’s something that he hadn’t really done since he was in the army, and even then—thinking about his old comrades had the tendency to leave a bitter taste in his mouth. His general introversion does nothing to help him, either, with him preferring to keep entirely to himself or a select handful of trusted individuals. There’s also the added factor of his coworkers just… pissing him off for no reason, as well. He just can’t seem to understand why they’re so incompetent—surely, such simple tasks can’t be all that difficult?

꒰🗡️꒱・Considering his background, you’ll have to admit that it’s quite interesting to see him getting so heavily worked up over something that’s so mundane, though you’re aware that his lack of options wasn’t any fault of his. You do listen to all of his ranting and raving, something that you’d initially recommended to him as therapeutic, though he’d only come to understand why until that first gossip session. He’d ended up getting really into it, and… I don’t think he can go back, honestly.

꒰🗡️꒱・Naib tends to get progressively cuddlier as time goes on, but I’d also say that his desire to cuddle with you is also rather dependent on his mood. It’s relatively safe to say that he’d prefer to be the big spoon—the just something satisfying to him about having your curled up, and safe within his arms—though he’d also still love to be held by you every now and then. Especially so when it feels as though he’ll drown within the memories of his past.

꒰🗡️꒱・Even if he decides to quit his job as a mercenary and return to the life of an average civilian, the pain that he’s felt—and inflicted—isn’t something that just… goes away. There are times where it’ll haunt him, where it’ll break down his walls and make him feel like a microscopic mess. It will claw at him, tearing him down and turning him into a shell of himself, where he just wants nothing more than to be rid of such terrible memories—and you wish that there were a way for you to remove them.

꒰🗡️꒱・He loves you, and he’d never hurt you, but he’s absolutely terrified that he might. Please hold him, please reassure him that you’re there for him. Reminding him that he’s got a whole life ahead of him to live, and that he’s far from alone—that he’s safe, at least now—it helps him… And he appreciates it, more than you could ever know. So, no, he’s never quite understood what it means to have a peaceful life… but if it’s with you, then… He doesn’t mind learning.

i have a taglist, which you can sign up for here!

#꒰📍꒱﹕my writing ⋆#identity v #identity 5 #idv #id5 #idv mercenary #idv naib #naib subedar #identity v naib #naib subedar x reader #identity v x reader #idv x reader #identity v headcanons #idv headcanons #identity v headcannons #idv headcannons

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cynthiafalvey · 3 months

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BIOGRAPHY | MUSINGS

character name: cynthia ruth falvey

nickname(s): cynthie, cynth, thia, princess

age & dob: june 9th, 1990 (33)

gender identity & pronouns: female, she/her/hers

sexual orientation & relationship status: bisexual, single

residential area: an apartment downtown

occupation: producer for local colorado commercial video production company

place of birth: cardiff, wales

length of time in providence peak: consistently from 2000-2008, visiting in between, and permanently since july of 2023

faceclaim: lucy hale

FAMILY.

mother: erica falvey (53)

father: rodney falvey (59)

siblings: elijah falvey (41), nikolas falvey (39), reginald 'reggie' falvey (35)

niece: rhiannon falvey (7 months old)

TL;DR.

youngest (and only daughter) of the falvey family, born in cardiff, wales and moving to providence peak at the age of ten. youngest sibling to her very core, and an expert of teetering on the edge of demanding attention when not easily given and knowing just how and when to slip under the radar. moved to new york after high school to attend university, eventually settling into film & television studies. after finishing her masters degree, a personal assistant role to the executive producer of a reality dating show (what the heart wants) turned into the start of her own producing career. worked on several seasons of the show, but the behind the scenes dishonesty and manipulation eventually got to her. after saying no to her boyfriend's proposal and on the verge of a mental breakdown, cynthia quit her job and moved back to providence peak seven months ago under the pretense of it being a temporary stay for her niece's birth, and is currently working a less soul-crushing producer job at a local colorado production company.

BIO.

Cynthia had just turned nine years old by the time she accepted the fact that she would not be getting another sibling to take over the role as youngest in the Falvey family. It was one year more than the gap between her and her eldest brother, and the surpassing of it successfully sealed her fate in the spot she now knows she was always meant to uphold.

Did it stop her from thinking that the sit down conversation her parents had gathered them for shortly before her tenth birthday had been a surprise pregnancy announcement anyways? Unfortunately, it had not, and the actual reasoning for the common room meeting had left very much to be desired, especially when Cynthia’s usual tactic in getting what she wanted (being cute) did not seem to sway her parents on their decision to move them all to Colorado.

Her go to plan B (kicking and screaming like a bat out of hell the whole way until they changed their mind) and C (turning around and boarding a flight back to Wales immediately upon landing) both proved to be busts, but Erika and Rodney weren’t without some tricks of their own.

Who would’ve guessed that all it would take for Cynthia to change her tune was a little promise that she could get her ears pierced once they were settled?

(Or that that had been her longcon all along?)

Ears freshly pierced, there was nothing her first year in the American school system could throw at her that she couldn’t handle. Socially and academically, she excelled and continued to do so all throughout her junior and high school years.

The worst part about being the youngest was by far that unshakeable feeling of being left behind. They’d always been close, but it was watching each of her brothers leave the nest for their respective endeavors, and the combination of losing Eli and Reggie both in the same year to theirs, that really had Cynthia digging her heels in. She couldn’t, wouldn’t, stop them from achieving whatever it was they were searching for away from home, and would be proud of them all the same, no matter what it was, but she’d be damned if they all drifted apart on her watch.

Her own time to fly came at the age of eighteen with an acceptance to NYU. Though tempted to head to the opposite coast of LA to be closer to Elijah, hearing the way he talked of the big city life there, she couldn’t help but want one of her own after practically conquering Providence Peak.

New York was decidedly not Colorado, but Cynthia fell in love with it all the same. There was always something going on, always something to see or do, and the city quickly became her playground while she figured out just what, exactly, she was accumulating all that student debt for.

She eventually settled on Film & Television studies, which no one in her family had to point out wasn’t the practical choice (then again, what was anything any of them did considered practical?), but after shopping a few different majors, it was the first to feel right. Cynthia learned that she thrived in the behind the scenes of tv and filmmaking, several of the projects she worked on over the course of the four years going on to win local festivals and awards, and even a chance to study abroad in London for a semester before her junior year.

It was a no brainer to continue her studies all the way through to her Masters, graduating finally in 2015. Various odd jobs and several internships were held over this course of time, but her big break came in the form of working as the personal assistant to the executive producer of a reality dating show, What the Heart Wants. It wasn’t exactly what she envisioned herself doing in the long term, but an in was an in, and she was going to give it (and her boss, Isabelle Robbins) her all.

And her all she gave, and then some. For years and several seasons of the show, she made sure she was at the top of her game, Isabelle’s right hand man, but still Cynthia felt like she wasn’t any closer to getting a shot at any kind of producer spot. It wasn’t until an off hand comment she made about a lie to feed one of the contestants was put into action and garnered a viral reaction that opened Isabelle’s eyes to just what her assistant might be capable of beyond fetching her coffee.

Her first official producer role for What the Heart Wants was at the age of twenty seven for the show’s fifteenth season, and Cynthia began to build herself a reputation for knowing exactly what to say and do to get the most drama. She couldn’t say that she didn’t like the attention, didn’t like the praise from her boss, or scrolling on Twitter after an episode would air and see the reaction gifs and memes created from the episodes, and she definitely couldn’t say that she didn’t like the travel perks, getting to visit different beautiful locations with each new season, even eventually meeting her long term boyfriend, Jonas, while abroad.

What nobody prepared her for was how much the constant drama would eat at her over the years. By her fifth year and tenth season (including spin-offs), Cynthia was losing her edge, no longer able to stomach the word-twisting and blatant lies, a development that Isabelle was not pleased with, and was constantly breathing down her neck to fix. And yet, her breaking point was when her boyfriend of several years got down on one knee and proposed: what should have been the happiest day of Cynthia’s life, only for her to look the man that she claimed to love all this time in the eye and answer with a resounding no.

The worst part was that she couldn’t even give a reason. She didn’t have one. There had just not been one part of her that’d wanted to say yes, a part of her that’d felt anything at all, really…and that was what scared her the most.

Needing a change and with the excuse of being there for her niece’s birth, Cynthia quit her job and flew back to Providence under the pretense of it being a temporary visit (just until the ink on her new lease had dried). She loved her family and had never been known to shy away from being the topic of discussion amongst them, but the thought of having to explain to them what had happened both with work and with Jonas was too much when she didn’t even know what to say.

For the time being, she applied for and accepted a producer position at a local Colorado commercial video production company, which has somehow already felt more fulfilling in eight months than the several years she spent in reality TV.

Though still battling the shame that came with trying and failing and trying to decide just what comes next, she can’t say she’s not happy to have her family all back in one place again.

HEADCANNONS.

has never known the correct words to any song ever, and this does not stop her from singing along to them anyways (very reminiscent of this tiktok)

could manage to kill even a plastic plant, do not ask her to water yours!!!

peak of her career was when chrissy teigen replied to one of her tweets and claimed to be a big fan of the show (and then when she met her at the 2022 bravocon)

considers her first time at the cheesecake factory a formative experience

self-appointed herself in charge of the family christmas card, and takes the role very seriously. in similar vein, she's also the queen of wrapping presents misleadingly to look like something else entirely

if at a coffee shop/cafe and a chocolate chip cookie is available, she will be participating in one, and thinks it is a perfectly acceptable breakfast, argue with the wall!!!

always has her nails painted, feels naked without at least a simple nude color

her anxiety manifests itself in the form of heartburn, so she eats tums like they're candy

can, but should not for the guaranteed safety of herself and others, drive

is incapable of walking past a claw machine without trying her hand at it (so you could imagine how dangerous it was once they started slapping credit card readers on them things)

what the heart wants actually won an emmy for it's seventeenth season; the statue use to reside on the mantel above her fireplace, but is now currently used as a jewelry stand

thinks she could have definitely held out longer and swindled a puppy out of her parents in exchange for accepting their move to colorado

has considered homicide over nyt connections (colors with their first letters changed??? get fucked), but still completes it, the wordle and the mini crossword every day and sends her scores to the family gc, even if no one else is playing

isn't picky with food and is pretty open minded when it comes to trying new cuisines...which is good because she's not the best cook (not awful but nothing fancy), and orders takeout several nights a week, so she likes that she has options

though finding her place running things behind the scenes, in high school she made herself nice and visible, participating in a slew of extracurricular, such as cheerleading, debate, dance and theater (her role as juliet her sophomore year of high school was truly inspired)

has a small scar on the underside of her chin from when she was eleven and her brothers had picked her up thinking it'd be funny to swing her into the pool, but accidentally dropped her too early and she smacked the edge instead (first trip to providence peak memorial, ayoooo)

currently on a social media cleanse, going as far as removing instagram from her phone entirely (does it stop her from sporadically redownloading it just to make sure she's not missing anything? no)

loves, loves, loves a bubble bath, and spends an excessively unnecessary amount of time in the shower

has a twelve step skincare routine

still has not told anyone in her family the truth behind her breakup and sudden move/job change

CURRENT CONNECTIONS.

younger (and only) sister of @elifalvey & @reggiefalvey

for all intents and purposes @draslihanxfahri-bailey's sister in law

friends who may or may not have kissed last november and are v much not talking about it @fletcher-braley

rite of passage childhood crush on her older brother's best friend @rcmandaniels

keeping the dmv workers who signed off on their licenses up at night, probs/surrogate sister @phoebeyates

friends who smash (broken tvs) @cjwelford

childhood turned awkward friends who drifted apart @theaxharris

blew off some low key noncommittal steam together in new york @dylan-westwick

fast friends who brunch @sarayoon

met and befriended @jacobklee while in new york

WANTED CONNECTIONS.

to be posted: ex-boyfriend, maybe a past contestant/host from the show she worked on (think the bachelor)!

potentially a roommate!

a best friend or two, girl squad (even old besties that drifted?)

childhood/high school/family friends

high school romances/flings

'used to hook up when home for the holidays but would stop when one (or both) of us got in a serious relationship and now neither of us are seeing anybody'

anyone she'd met while living in new york (on and off 2007-2023) or traveling (studied abroad in london in 2010, and filmed in different locations around the world from 2015-2023)

flirtationship/fwbs/one night stands/tinder dates

friends who’ve had a falling out/frenemies/enemies

connects through her brothers

neighbors

owners of businesses her production company's produced commercials for

drinking buddies

gym buddies

#providence.intro #about

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always-andromeda · 2 years

Text

𝐏𝐚𝐮𝐥 𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐨 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭

♡ – fluff. ♤ – angst. ♢ – smut.

𝐀𝐥𝐞𝐱 𝐉𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬

Bathtime (2.8k) – ♡

➴ After a few years of therapy and working through some of his trauma with his best friend, Alex finally feels ready to take on a bubble bath.

𝐁𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐅𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐦𝐚𝐧

Nobody Does It Like You Do (2.7k) – ♡♢

➴ When you demand Burt's attention, he gives you far more than you bargained for.

The Crush (5k) – ♤♢

➴ Your Biology professor drives you absolutely insane. But are you really ready to face the reality of intertwining yourself with a man with baggage of his own?

𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐯𝐢𝐧 𝐖𝐞𝐢𝐫-𝐅𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝𝐬

Dog Days (0.6k) – ♡

➴ You went to the dog park pretty often. But it wasn't until Scotty scampered into Lula's life that she found a playmate she couldn't get enough of. The man Scotty dragged with him didn't seem too bad himself either. Or so you thought until he opened his mouth.

𝐄𝐝𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐍𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐭𝐨𝐧

NSFW Alphabet (3k) – ♢

Get Home Safe (2.5k) – ♡

➴ Walking home at night in Gotham is always a risk. Luckily, Edward Nashton comes to your rescue right at the nick of time.

Eager Baby (2.6k) – ♡♢

➴ Edward has no idea how to please you, but he’s ever so eager to show you just how devoted he is to you.

Honey Bunny (3.8k) – ♡♤♢

➴ After making a heartbreaking discovery in the midst of a rough patch in your relationship, you decide to treat Edward to a little surprise.

Hellfire (0.8k) – ♤♢

➴ If you weren’t so eye-catching, Edward Nashton might not have thought twice before passing right over you. After all, you're the only reason he came to this godforsaken bar.

Edward x Reader with a Cat Headcanons (0.7k) – ♡

➴ When you first tell Eddie about your cat, he internally cringes a little. He likes animals well enough! He's just nervous about them not liking him.

Cuddling with Edward Nashton Headcanons (0.4k) – ♡♤

➴ Physical affection is foreign to Edward. He craves it more than anything else; desires to be known so deeply that when you finally try to give him just that, it freezes him up almost entirely.

Cold Affection (0.5k) – ♡♤

➴ Being cold around Edward isn't something you can simply hide. If your teeth chatter or you tremble even a tiny bit, he notices quickly. And even quicker, he'll do something to rectify it.

𝐄𝐥𝐢 𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐲

NSFW Alphabet (2.8k) – ♢

A Deal (1.3k) – ♢

➴ You’ve been moody all day. And Eli knows by now what that means.

Tabletop (1.2k) – ♢

➴ He’s been seething with arousal the entire day. Eli Sunday woke up that morning, wanting his daily fix of you just to get him through the day.

Sleep Tight (1.3k) – ♢

➴ It’s the middle of the night. Eli’s tossing and turning, hoping he doesn’t wake you. Hoping that it just goes away. Praying that the nauseating shame creeping through his stomach will cease the throbbing below him.

𝐇𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐬𝐨𝐧

Starflower (2.7k) – ♡♤

➴ Identifying with people has never been Hank's strong suit. But fictionalizing them can help, until one day, it doesn't. Perhaps, this is the push Hank needs to begin to build something new; something that doesn't have to be fiction.

𝐉𝐨𝐛𝐲 𝐓𝐚𝐲𝐥𝐨𝐫

NSFW Alphabet (4k) – ♢

sound of a love song series masterlist (57.7k) – ♡♤♢

➴ Joby Taylor was a mess. A washed up, utter failure. But when he meets you, a fellow lost artist, maybe he can start to see the light.

Pink Diamond (1k) – ♡

➴ Joby Taylor doesn't do sparkles. Not unless you want him to, of course.

Taking What's Not Yours (4.4k) – ♤♢

➴ Joby learns a hard lesson when it comes to taking things that don’t belong to him.

Bar Hopping (0.8k) –♢

➴ You have no clue how Joby convinced you to do this. How he had you on his lap, practically molded to his body on the booth of the table.

Joby Taylor x Pregnant!Reader Headcanons (1.2k) – ♡

➴ One usually doesn't try to purposely entangle themselves with Joby Taylor. Joby Taylor merely happens to you. One day you're internally groaning over how he's looking at you from under his heavy eyelids and baring that smug smile from across the bar and the next you're holding a positive pregnancy test and debating whether or not you tell him.

You’re A Mean One (2.4k) – ♡♤

➴ You're a mean one, Joby Taylor...

𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐲 𝐃𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐡𝐲𝐝𝐞

NSFW Alphabet (3k) – ♢

Sweet Pea (1.4k) – ♡♤

➴ For almost twenty long years you’d dealt with Percival Dolarhyde’s bullshit. From the second his daddy started spurting gold out of every orifice of his body, the universe decided that Percy would never grow up knowing poverty. On his own, however, he decided he’d never know a moment of good, pure silence either.

Percy x Teasing!Reader Headcanons (0.9k) – ♢

➴ You’re sworn enemies. You’re absolutely in love with him. But, god, you hate him.

Wish I Was Special (1.2k) – ♤♢

➴ He's not much to look at, but he'll do. That's probably the closest approximation to what you first thought when Percy approached you.

𝐏𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐞 𝐁𝐞𝐳𝐮𝐤𝐡𝐨𝐯

Wanted (6.5k) – ♡♤♢

➴ Pierre is terribly worried his wife is being too hard on herself after becoming a mother. After convincing her to finally come to bed, he gets to show her just how much he’s missed her.

Wedding Night (1.5k) – ♡♢

➴ Pierre has been looking forward to getting married practically since he was little. Being a bastard child, his biggest dream is having a real family; someone who chooses to love him, not something dictated by his status or wealth.

My Lucky Star (4.1k) – ♡♤♢

➴ After an overwhelming society party, Pierre struggles to understand how you feel.

Wine and Pierre (1.2k) – ♢

➴ It’s all hands and giggles as Pierre drags you into some room. You can still smell the rich, mulled wine on his breath with every heavy inhalation he takes between kisses.

𝐒𝐢𝐦𝐨𝐧 𝐅𝐞𝐜𝐤

Together Again (1.4k) – ♢

➴ Simon recreates your face smiling up at him with his perfect mind. He catches the way your teeth part slightly as you try to speak, the slow blink as you process his words. He can pretend that he'd just told you how he felt.

Stars Around Scars (0.9k) – ♡♤

➴ Simon first meets you in an airport. Well. He doesn't exactly meet you. He sees you. Sees you talking to yourself for a split second from where you sit before picking up a book that was laying in your lap and opening it to a random page.

Oh, Mommy... (0.4k) – ♢

➴ What time does a guy like him have for romance or lust when he's literally one of the government's most important assets?

𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐲 𝐊𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐳

NSFW Alphabet (2.9k) – ♢

I'm Not Looking At Your Junk (6.2k) – ♡♢

➴ Despite being an infamous prude, Timothy Klitz wasn't expecting it when you said you hadn't watched the sex ed tape he and his friends made during senior year. Little does he know, however, college has given you a chance to become a bit more experienced.

Love Me On My Bad Days (1.3k) – ♡♤

➴ The second he got to school, Timothy Klitz felt your absence. With that, the whole day seemed oddly empty without you by his side.

Generous Heart (0.6k) – ♡♤

➴ No matter how many times he had kissed you and seen you this way, you never thought you'd be comfortable enough; never thought you could stifle the grimace when you realized he could see every pore and every blemish of your skin.

College!Klitz Headcanons (0.5k) – ♡♢

➴ Our boy changes quite a lot during his first few months of college.

𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐨𝐮𝐬

Paul Characters with an Asexual Partner Headcanons (0.8k) – ♡♤

Dancing in the Rain with Dano Characters (0.6k) – ♡

#paul dano #danonation #danocel #˚ʚ masterlists ɞ˚

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crossdreamers · 1 year

Text

The transphobes’ understanding of womanhood was created by sexist men in the 19th century

Alokvmemnon has presented a great slide show over at Instagram looking into the history of science and how attempts at defining womanhood have aimed at keeping women in check.

As we celebrate the International Women’s Day, this can serve as a reminder of how oppressive narratives do not appear out of nowhere.

The series is based on the book Sexual Science: The Victorian Construction of Womanhood by Dr. Cynthia Russett (Harvard University Press 1991)

TRANSCRIPT

//Often people refuse to accept trans women as women by weaponizing the idea of "biological sex.” They argue that trans women are not women because they are incapable of giving birth like "biological females." They conveniently forget how "biological sex" is a framework that was created by white male scientists in the 19th century specifically to justify discrimination against white women and Black people, Indigenous people, and people of color (BIPOC).

Yale historian Dr. Russet argues that when white women organized for rights in the 19th century, European scientists responded with a "detailed examination of the differences between men and women that justified their differing social roles". For these scientists, issues of race and sex were one and the same. 'They focused specifically on white women because they thought that the "lesser peoples of Asia and Africa.. were dispensable whereas white women bore "the future of the race"

After Darwin's theory of evolution, white male scientists doubled-down on their efforts to deny white women an equal role in society, inserting white women and BIPOC people between themselves and apes in a fabricated racial evolutionary continuum. 'They argued that women were' "inherently different from men in their anatomy, physiology, temperament, and intellect." and that white women "lagged behind men, much as primitive people lagged behind Europeans" in the civilizational hierarchy. German scientist Carl Vogt argued that white women's skulls resembled Black people's skulls more than those of white men. While white men were seen as unique and distinct from one another, white women were seen as "more generic and less specific".

Scientists defined womanhood as the ability to reproduce, arguing that women's pelvises were proof of "the promise of capable maternity" and describing women as naturally having less sexual desire (if any) than men. White women's fundamental essence was defined as being a reproductive "racial conduit". Canadian scientist Grant Allen argued that white women were "the sex sacrificed for reproductive necessities". If white women deviated from this role as reproducing agents, they were pathologized as criminal, unsexed, ugly, and abnormal.

Social Darwinist Herbert Spencer argued that confining women at home and preventing them from working was the "touchstone of high civilization," unlike Indigenous and Black communities where women worked. Scientists believed that white women couldn't receive an education or work, because they would lose vital energy that was reserved for reproduction. Ely Van de Warker called this the "penalty of sex" and Herbert Spencer called it "the physical tax which reproduction necessitates." European male scientists concluded that the primary role of white women was to mother, that she had no other "gift to offer but her healthy - and numerous - offspring.

European scientists leveraged the rhetoric of "biology" to naturalize discrimination against women. This wasn't legitimate science based on "reliable data;" instead it was often discussed in their research as "common knowledge". By defining women's whole being and purpose as reproductive, they were able to justify denying women's suffrage and women's mobility as a law of nature, not the result of political choices. Unfortunately, centuries later people continue to use the rhetoric of science - and not the reality of science - to justify discrimination against trans trans and intersex people.

It's not science to define womanhood solely by genitalia and reproduction, it's sexism. Womanhood is far more complex and expansive than the ability to give birth.//

Source: Alokvmenon on Instagram.

#trans #transgender #feminism #sexism #lgbt #lgbtqa #terf #gender critical #woman #international women's day #transphobia #history

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obiwhat · 6 months

Note

hi eli :D! i originally followed you for the aot content but i am also open to learning more about fmab! a summary of the show isnt needed, but could you briefly explain the relationship of the two characters you drew? +any other info to know while reading your fics or art :)

hi hi hiiii!! so happy ur open to learning about fmab after being here from the aot side of things, much much love 🫶🫶

if you’d like to: i would 100% suggest watching fmab or reading the manga (and then watching fma 03 if you feel so inclined bc tbh i got really confused by starting that first lol)

as for royai: this is the ship i’ve been obsessing over lately, it’s between roy mustang and riza hawkeye. roy is a colonel and state alchemist (flame alchemy specifically) in the amestris military, riza being his first lieutenant and right hand. if you like eruri they are a veryyyy similar dynamic — despite how clearly they love eachother, it’s incredibly complicated bc of their positions.

im so sorry I WENT OFF in my analysis below, im clearly very deep in brain rot rn — see below for a long ass answer to this ask lolll

staying relatively vague in these character analyses to avoid spoilers just in case!

riza hawkeye is a skilled sharpshooter, despite not having alchemical skills she goes toe to toe with some intense enemies and holds her own. she often comes off as stoic but is fiercely kind and loyal and just aghhh GOOD. and despite her colonel’s seemingly aloof/cocky attitude, she is one of the few people who knows who he truly is behind his mask. she knows he’ll do anything to one day turn the country around and attempt to correct past failures that they share a similar guilt in. so she supports him, often falling into a supervisory position despite being his subordinate. although, she does not do so blindly. she serves as his right hand with the agreement that at any point she could put a bullet in him, if he were to lose his way and become something sinister. (very much levi vibes right there lol). riza challenges roy to be a better person around every turn.

roy mustang on the other hand is outgoing, a “lady’s man” and exceedingly cocky due to his gifts in alchemy and his steadfast rise to power - although, he uses this persona to mask his true intention; to rise up the ranks and become ruler of amestris. he wants nothing more than to right the wrongs being committed by his country and help to fix the damage already done. in reality he really is a bit cocky, has no sense of self preservation and is sometimes childish. but he cares deeply for every person in his charge, even putting their lives above his own (to his lieutenant’s chagrin). roy’s character is often driven by a sense of overwhelming guilt or even a poisonous desire for revenge, riza is often the only one able to pull him back, to steady him. he’s a broken and messy character but he tries his best to right his many wrongs.

riza and roy partially got to watch eachother grow up, one of the things i like about them (being a first love type trope). roy stayed with riza’s family as a young man, learning alchemy from riza’s father and eventually was entrusted with the secret to her father’s flame alchemy by riza herself - to use it for good. although, circumstances from their shared lifetime somewhat tainted that naive and pure love they once had, creating this need for them both to redeem themselves - if possible. (angsty i know) even so, there is a sense that no matter what horrors they face together, they will always cherish eachother above all others.

anyway~~ in short, riza is girlboss love of my life and roy is pathetic sad boy loser core. and i love them so so dearly.

#asks #long story short LMAO #love these fmab asks #keep em coming!!#royai #colonel mustang #lieutenant hawkeye #roy mustang #riza hawkeye #fmab #fma #fullmetal alchemist brotherhood #fullmetal alchemist

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chasindtrevelyan · 2 months

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The changes wrought by Tranquility:

Prior to being made Tranquil, Eli was an incredibly self assured young man. He had confidence both in himself and in his magical abilities and was not one to shy away from conflict. He was not an instigator by any means, but he certainly wasn’t one to keep quiet whenever certain abuses came to light. He was outspoken in his desire for reform. For the Templars not to be removed necessarily, but to be retrained and more heavily vetted before they were put in place.

In contrast, he would not hesitate to defend a Templar who was being wrongfully accused or even harassed by his fellow mages. He witnessed it enough times to know that it wasn’t always members of the order who were the ones instigating things. Kirkwall was a mess, and rare was there an entirely peaceful day. You didn’t live in an area still commonly known as The Gallows and expect things to be all sunshine and roses.

He was smart, willing to challenge others and be challenged in turn. He relished learning new ways to use his magic, especially when it came to the healing arts. He argued against the idea of complete mage freedom, and insisted oversight was necessary. He felt that, rather than towers where mages were sent to live out the rest of their lives under lock and key, that there should instead be institutions of learning where mages could be taught the control they needed without being made to fear the things they could do. He argued that, rather than acting as jailors, that Templars should instead be taught alongside them and shown better ways to handle magical mishaps. His vision was for a world where Templar and mage could work together rather than always being at odds.

He was a bit of a dreamer, but he was willing to put in the work to see if such a world could ever be possible and if so, wanted to help make it a reality.

After being made Tranquil however…

Five years of being cut off from both his magic and his emotions has completely destroyed his ability to regulate the latter properly. He is much more easily overwhelmed and his reactions to things often seem exaggerated and out of proportion to the event. Where once he might have been able to keep his calm during most situations, now even the smallest things can set him off. He’s afraid more often than not, of just about everything. Himself, the people around him, of what it even means to be him again.

He doesn’t really recognize himself anymore. No longer is he self assured and confident, now he just wants to be left alone to try and piece the tatters of himself back together and try to avoid becoming a monster.

His only saving grace in all of this is that, for the most part, he still maintains his rigid control over his magic. He still knows how to weave spells together with the same causal grace he did before, and even takes some comfort in doing so. This is not always the case however, and he now dreads being startled because it usually results in whomever did the startling recieving a nasty shock.

His dream of building a world where mages and Templars were at peace with one another and magic was no longer so frightening to the masses seems much further away, and his drive to see it done has been severely hampered. He doesn’t think himself capable of fighting for such a world anymore and, indeed, wonders if it was ever possible in the first place.

If given enough time, and with enough help, he may one day be able to regain a semblance of who he once was but he will never fully get back everything he lost over the years.

#bedside manner is wasted on you idiots: eli #headcanons #the boy is messed up #and he recognizes that fact #and he hates what he's become but doesn't yet know how to fix it #long post

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plantsgottapen · 10 months

Text

“So Artistically Done; a canon take on the ending of The Last Command”

All beings begin their lives with hopes and aspirations. Among these aspirations is the desire that there will be a straight path to those goals. It is seldom so.

Eli awoke to the low, dull roar of turbolaser fire. He came to his senses quickly, the memories of what he’d been working on returning to him. He had been working on the final logistical details for the upcoming defense of Bilbringi. Moving around shipping schedules, mostly, though he had been invited to help organize the defense force itself. From the sounds echoing through the ship, Eli noted dutifully, the battle had already begun.

Eli sat up from his slouched position, rubbing the portion of his neck which was now aching. Given his general state, he must have fallen asleep at his desk, though given the ringing in his head it clearly hadn’t been a very restful sojourn. Gradually, as his eyes blinked through the grogginess, the room around him came into view. For a moment, he didn’t recognize where he was. Confusion threw his senses into full overdrive, bringing him to reality. He was an executive suite, far nicer yet far colder than anywhere he was used to staying. Every surface was covered in amenities, all in matching warship grey. There was a non-bunk bed to his left; a full kitchen to his right; at least a dozen portraits of old, grizzled admirals and generals.

His eyes flashed to the all-too-familiar vertical lights, embedded into every wall. Then they went to the icons adorning every uniform he had been given: a three headed beast, defiantly lashing out towards whatever unknown threat stood before it. And then, of course, they went to the empty bottle, cast lazily next to a holoprojector and ID cylinder. For a moment his mind flashed back ten years, back to where he had been. With the same haste, it flashed back forwards, to where he was trapped now.

One whose path has taken a new turn is initially disoriented. But as time passes, and the path continues steadily in its new direction, there is a tendency to believe that it will remain so forever, with no further turns. Nothing is further from the truth.

Memories–real ones, not the ones his scrambled mind wanted him to pretend were true–came back to him. Two decades ago, he had joined the Empire, only for it to be all thrown off the path by a single man, discovered rotting away on some forgotten world. As it turned out, that man was something… special. He had eyes that could bore through a soul, a voice which could command any group, and a mind that could solve any problem.

Thrawn.

A decade ago, his life had been thrown off the path, again. Thrawn, again, was at the center of its new trajectory. Seeming him too valuable, too useful for the corrupt and tyrannical rule of the Empire, Thrawn did what he thought best: send Eli, a man who once believed he’d be resigned to the depths of a cargo freighter, to serve with his people, far away from any person or any connection he had. With the Chiss, Eli–or, as the Chiss had come to call him, Ivant–had done a great many things. He fought an enemy whose favorite pastime was kidnapping children. He reunited with people he had known from the years before. He even learned a thing or two about Thrawn; he had not, in fact, been left to rot away on a forgotten world. He’d been sent into the galaxy to find allies for his people, to ensure their existence for millennia on. Sending Eli and others like him had just been another part of that.

Yet, months ago now, everything was uprooted once more. Unsurprisingly, Thrawn–missing for years with little explanation of how or why he returned–was the cause of it. Walking in the ashes of the Empire, the Grand Admiral had pulled together what scraps remained and began a new conquest, one which would defeat the Rebellion–Now the New Republic–once and for all.

When the rumors finally reached the Ascendency, Eli had known he had to leave. Perhaps it was the dream of serving under him again, returning to simpler days where it had just been him and Thrawn against the Galaxy. Perhaps it was something else. Regardless of what he was, he made the difficult choice.

But something was wrong. He had returned, found Thrawn, and been welcomed with open arms. Yet, even as he rejoined life in the Imperial fold, something felt off, about Thrawn, about the Chimaera, about everything. It should have been normal, there was no reason for it to feel any different. Thrawn was still Thrawn, still a tactical genius who cared for Eli like a brother. Eli, given a title and an office, had done his best to ignore it, work through the confusion, for months now.

Ignoring the problem hadn’t driven Eli to this horrid place. Neither had given into that itch, going behind his friend’s back to search for what felt so wrong.

Finding out what was wrong had.

A leader is responsible for those under his authority. That is the first rule of command. He is responsible for their safety, their provisions, their knowledge, and, ultimately, their lives. Failure to act always brings consequences.

What had driven him to investigation had been an incident; or rather, the aftermath of it. A crewmember had failed on some vital assignment, then tried to blame his superior when politely asked why. Thrawn hadn’t had him disciplined. He didn’t even remove him from staff altogether.

He had had him killed.

At the time, Eli had managed to rationalize it. The man—Pieterson, if Eli remembered correctly—must have already had some issues, right? Maybe he was a spy, or he’d failed on purpose, or something, anything. Listen, Eli hadn’t known exactly why, but he wasn’t the Grand Admiral, was he? Kriffing hell he hadn’t been part of the Empire for ten years, so perhaps he wasn't the best to judge something like this. Yet, still, the moment lingered in his mind, driving him to begin his search.

Eli threw his head back, letting out what was best described as a mix between a stressed chuckle and a sob. When he and Thrawn had first met, navigating a very foreign and hostile world together, they’d spend nights together in their cabin, doing anything but sleeping. Hypotheticals came up often; how they’d rule, be it a planet or the Galaxy, was the fake world they tended to visit the most.

Eli remembered their conversations well. They flooded back as easily as water. They’d abolish slavery. Conscription would be done away with, as—according to Thrawn—the only good warrior was the one willingly fighting. The xenophobia and deceptive practices which the Empire had made policy would be ended. Most of all—and this was something Thrawn had preached from day one, not that Eli in any way needed convincing—there would be no senseless harm and bloodshed, towards the innocent or the guilty alike.

On Ukio, on Pantolomin, and on so many other worlds caught up in Thrawn’s war, he’d tricked them into signing away practically everything. The operations were almost painfully simple: once the imperial forces were on the ground, they’d take guard around whatever they deemed important before letting the ISB run wild. Soon enough, the current regime would fall, and a puppet would find its place atop a throne of corpses.

Speaking of Ukio, the man who’d let them conquer it gave Eli just as much trepidation. C’baoth, a “Jedi” found alone in the Wayland System, was a madman. The man made his entire being crawl. Something about the insane glint in his eyes, the manic fits of rage, the way he would dominate every being who wasn’t Thrawn himself. Even before he started—and this really had him freaked out—taking full command of people’s minds, Eli knew that working with him was just plain wrong. Yes, he was imprisoned now and had a squad of Noghri en-route to end the partnership once and for all, but that didn’t exactly absolve Thrawn from allying with him in the first place.

And then, of course, there was the Noghri and their home, Honoghr. Under the old regime, the Noghri had been tricked, believing their sick world was being healed when in reality it was being poisoned more. So, what did Thrawn do when took the reins of the Empire for himself? Did he reveal the deception to the Noghri, forever indebting the world to him and his cause?

No. He continued on with the deceit, and now rumors were spreading that they were in full rebellion.

What confused—and honestly hurt—Eli the most was that, for all of these sins, there were other options. Ukio could have been negotiated with, just like any other world. C’baoth’s tricks were far from essential. Kriffing hell, even if the Noghri refused to believe Thrawn, there were countless, countless warrior and assassin cultures which they could have brought under the Imperial banner as a replacement.

Yet he didn’t. So Eli began trying to figure out why. Did he simply not see these alternatives? That was impossible, Thrawn couldn’t have simply “not seen” these paths. Were there other factors at play? Maybe, but Eli sure as hell couldn’t find them. But they had to be there, right? Right? Maybe Ukio had some underground movement he didn’t know about. Maybe C’baoth’s insanity was just an elaborate illusion, or the Noghri’s plight was all artificial, meant to keep the world’s low profile. Thrawn had to have an angle, he had to be playing some kind of 4D Dejarik that no one else understood.

But there was one possible solution, explaining every question. One Eli refused to even let himself consider. He would rather drink, reduce himself to a mindless mess, even spend another thousand hours searching for clues, than actually consider it.

A recording, dropped off in the middle of the night, forced him to believe it in the span of a few seconds.

Alliances are useful in some situations. In others, they are absolutely vital, but they must always be approached with caution. A day may come when one ally sees new benefits to be gained in betraying another.

Thrawn was a monster. Maybe back when Eli met him he wasn’t. He hadn’t been the type to kill his crew for uncertain reasons. He hadn’t been the type who would spark rebellions on capitulated worlds, or work arm in arm with a force-supremacist maniac.

Eli let his head down, letting his eyes fall to his desk, where the recording still stood frozen.

Maybe he hadn’t been the type to bombard a city to slag.

But now he was.

Eli let out a shaky breath, throwing his hands into his head. Part of his mind still tried to grapple with the idea that it was all false. It must be some kind of ruse, or trick. But for every one of those toxic throughs, a chastising voice came back, dispelling theory and theory with ease. Besides, denying the truth, blinding himself, was exhausting. He hadn’t realized how tired and drained this entire campaign had made him until just now.

What do you do when one of your only friends turns into a monster? He couldn’t just leave for the Chiss again, nor could he just vanish into stardust. That would be temporary, at best, if Thrawn was the one hunting him. He could defect, which would surely slow the relocation efforts down. Then again, given how the New Republic seemed on the brink of total collapse, how much would that really delay things.

The New Republic. It had been, what, six months since Thrawn began his campaign? Now, above Bilbringi, if all went to plan, they’d be done for.

A thought struck Eli, turning his half sardonic half agonized grin to a despondent sneer. In just a few months, it would be all over. Thrawn would crown himself Emperor, or Patriarch Supreme, or whatever title he chose. He would be atop the galactic throne, with nothing to stop him from toying with the galaxy however he wished.

All warriors understand the need to face and defeat the enemy.

Eli’s eyes went wide as a horrible, truly unthinkable idea crossed his mind.

No. No, he couldn’t.

Thrawn had done awful things, but to do anything to him, with his own hands? He could never-

He could never bring himself to do it to his one true friend.

He was standing now, paranoidly scanning the room as if it was full as assailants. His mind was a mess, swirling with conflict and agony. Images and phrases from the Thrawn he knew and the one now commanding him fought for dominance in his head. The voice of morality sang a tune of what he needed to do, what seemed clear, while his own self pleaded, begged for some other option.

There had to be some alternative, any alternative. Surely he could reason with him, get him a psych eval, hell maybe he could work with someone like Ar’alani to have him brought to justice. But no, none of those would work. He was too clever, and everyone else was far too naive to even have a chance against him.

He was blacking out now, memories of what he was doing and what he wanted done blurring in painful fashion. At some point, he had pulled out the old holo journal Thrawn had gifted him before leaving for the Ascendency. And he’d smashed it, throwing it against the wall to spark and spitter until its inevitable death.

Then suddenly, everything came back to reality. With trepidation, tears blurring his vision, he looked over to the smashed remains of Thrawn's journal.

The journal, with some pained effort, was projecting an image of Thrawn from who knows how many years ago, speaking an old quote he had thought up after dealing with some rebellion, or another.

That one quote, the one Thrawn seemed to live his life by from the first day he walked onto the bridge of a warship.

That one quote, which had convinced Eli to abandon everything and join a foreign and strange land far away.

That one quote, which silenced the dissent and the hesitancy, and spurred Eli to act.

He moved silently and unthinkingly. He grabbed a clean officer’s uniform. He holstered his blaster and straightened his rank plaque. He dried his tears, cleared his choked throat, and brought himself as straight and proper as an arrow.

Without a word, he exited his room.

Sometimes, all the universe may hang in the balance.

The two Rebel Assault Frigates broke to either side of the beleaguered Golan-II, delivering massive broadsides as they veered off. A section of the battle station flared and went dark; and against its darkened bulk another wave of Rebel starfighters could be seen slipping past it to the shipyards beyond.

Captain Pellaeon was no longer smiling.

“Don’t panic, Captain,” Thrawn said. But he, too, was starting to sound grim. “We’re not defeated yet. Not by a long shot.”

The door behind them opened. Thrawn looked back, a smile briefly taking over his face. “Ah, Liaison Vanto. Please, come in.” He gestured towards the viewport, the battle raging before them. “Join us, and witness the beginning of the end.”

Pellaeon’s board pinged. He looked at it. “Sir, we have a priority message coming in from Wayland,” he told Thrawn, his stomach twisting with a sudden horrible premonition. Wayland. The cloning facility.

“Read it, Captain,” Thrawn said, his voice deadly quiet.

“Decrypt is coming in now, sir,” Pellaeon replied, tapping the board impatiently as the message slowly began to come up. It was exactly as he'd feared. "The mountain is under attack, sir," he told Thrawn. “Two different forces of natives, plus some Rebel saboteurs-" He broke off, frowning in disbelief.

"Aided by a group of Noghri and Chiss—“

He never got to read any more of the report. Abruptly, a blast hit him, just barely catching him on the shoulder. He gasped, falling limply to the floor, his whole body instantly paralyzed.

“There are things in the universe that are simply and purely evil,” a quiet, painfully reluctant voice whispered from behind him. “A warrior does not seek to understand them, or to compromise with them.”

The voice paused, and he could swear he heard a muffled sob. “He seeks only to obliterate them.”

There was a second blaster shot. A whisper of movement flashed before him, and the attacker was gone. Still gasping, struggling against the throb of his stunned muscles, Pellaeon fought to get a hand up to his command board. With one final effort he made it, trying twice before he was able to hit the emergency alert.

And as the wailing of the alarm cut through the noise of a Star Destroyer at battle, he finally managed to turn his head.

Thrawn was sitting upright in his chair, his face strangely calm. In the middle of his chest, a dark red stain was spreading across the spotless white of his Grand Admiral's uniform.

Thrawn caught his eye; and to Pellaeon's astonishment, the Grand Admiral smiled. "But," he whispered, "it was so artistically done."

The smile faded. The glow in his eyes did likewise… and Thrawn, the last hope for the Empire, was gone.

"Captain Pellaeon?" the comm officer called urgently as the medic team arrived—too late —to the Grand Admiral's chair. "The Nemesis and Stormhawk are requesting orders. What shall I tell them?"

Pellaeon looked up at the viewports. At the chaos that had erupted behind the defenses of the supposedly secure shipyards; at the unexpected need to split his forces to its defense; at the Rebel fleet taking full advantage of the diversion. In the blink of an eye, the universe had suddenly turned against them.

Thrawn could still have pulled an Imperial victory out of it. But he, Pellaeon, was not Thrawn.

“Signal to all ships" he rasped. The words ached in his throat in a way that had nothing to do with the throbbing pain of the stunning attack. "Prepare to retreat.”

All strive for victory. But not all understand what it truly is. Sometimes the victory is greater than the warrior could ever hope for. Sometimes it is more than he is able to bear.

The stars stretched into oblivion, and soon the shuttle Eli had commandeered was in hyperspace. The adrenaline wore off. Slowly, with shaking hands, he managed to plug in the coordinates for Naporar.

With that final obligation done, he slumped back in his seat. That was all he really had the energy to do.

The work can also be found here

#short story #thranto #alright all you shipper come line up and cry #star wars #thrawn #thrawn books #canon divergence #mitth’raw’nuruodo #mitthrawnuruodo #grand admiral thrawn #eli vanto #thrawn 2017 #the last command #is this enough tags

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