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kemetic-dreams · 3 years

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Who was the king of Ethiopia before Haile Selassie?

The title used by Haile Selassie actually translates as 'King of Kings', and thus was usually rendered in English as 'Emperor' rather than 'King'.

The previous monarch before him was a Queen (or Empress) not a King: Zewdita, who ruled from 1917 to 1930. Before her came her nephew Iyasu, who was never actually crowned so is usually not included in the list of emperors. Before him came Emperor Menelik II, who ruled from 1889 until 1913, but his death was not publicly announced until 1916.

In Amharic, the title was Negus Negusti, or in Ge'ez (the traditional language of Ethiopia still used for ritual and sacred purposes) Negusa Negest. 'Negus' is pronounced with the stress on the second syllable, which is long, so something like ne-GOOSE. It is usually translated into English as 'King'. It should also be noted that Ethiopia does not use the Latin alphabet, so Amharic and Ge'ez words are often transliterated into English in different ways (such as negusti, naguste, etc).

For much of its history, Ethiopia was a collection of rival kingdoms such as Shewa, Gojjam, Wollo, and Begemder, whose rulers often used the title Negus or King. Meanwhile the Solomonic dynasty claimed to rule the whole country by the right of their descent from Menelik, the supposed son of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. Members of the dynasty called themselves Kings of Kings. Sometimes they had real power and the country had a centralised government; at other times there were merely figureheads while the various provincial kings were practically independent.

The period from 1769 to 1855 was one of those times of division with no real central government: it is known as the Zemene Mesafint or 'Age of Princes'. No fewer than 23 different Emperors were crowned during this period, but none of them had much actual power. That changed with the rise to power of Kassa Haile, son of a minor nobleman from the Dembiya province. Disinherited and reduced to outlawry — popular legend speaks of him as a Robin Hood-like figure, stealing from the rich and helping the poor — he formed an army and eventually seized control of Dembiya for himself.

Kassa attracted the attention of the powerful noble Ali of Yejju, whose mother Menen had married the nominal emperor and who himself claimed to be the Imperial Regent. In order to make this up-and-coming young warlord an ally, Ali arranged for him to marry his daughter Tewabech in 1848. While Kassa and Tewabech had a happy marriage, he soon quarrelled with his in-laws, and by 1852 was in armed rebellion against them.

Kassa defeated both his father-in-law and several other rival nobles, and by 1855 was the strongest ruler in Ethiopia. He then forced the nominal Emperor Yohannes III to abdicate, and had himself crowned Negus Negusti on 11 February 1855. He changed his name to Tewodros ('Theodore') which sounded more imperial, and spread the story (which may or may not be true) that his mother was descended from a 17th-century Emperor of Ethiopia and thus he himself had the blood of the Solomonic dynasty in his veins.

For the first time in a century Ethiopia was united by an Emperor who had actual power. Tewodros II (there had been a previous Tewodros in the 15th century) ruled for 13 years and spent much of that time leading an army, forcing the semi-independent rulers of Gojjam, Tigray, Shewa, and Wollo to recognise his authority. As well as constant civil wars he was threatened by the expansionist Egyptian khedivate, the Ottoman Empire, and neighbouring Muslim kingdoms.

In 1862 Tewodros decided to ask the British Empire for help modernising his kingdom. However, the British did not want to get involved in the region, and did not take his request seriously. Outraged by this dismissal, Tewodros ordered all the British citizens in his country to be arrested and thrown in prison. When he heard that a Church of England missionary had written a book describing Emperor Tewodros as 'barbaric, cruel, and unstable' he flew into a rage, personally threatened the missionary with a gun, and then beat two of his servants to death with his own hands.

The British response to the imprisonment of their citizens (including their ambassador) has been described as "one of the most expensive affairs of honour in history." They organised an army 13,000 strong, invaded Ethiopia (in January 1868), defeated its army, conquered it, and set the British prisoners free. Then, mission accomplished, they turned around and went back home again, leaving Ethiopia to its own devices. As for Emperor Tewodros, he shot himself when the British soldiers broke through the gates of his fortress.

The death of the Emperor left a power vacuum in Ethiopia, triggering four years of civil war. His immediate successor as Negus Negusti took the throne-name Tekle Giorgis II and attempted to consolidate power by offering concessions to the Ethiopian Church; but few of his rival nobles recognised his claim to the throne. Tekle Giorgis ruled for only three years before being defeated in battle by the warlord of Tigray province, who had him blinded and thrown in prison to die.

The new ruler was Kassa Mercha, another son of a minor noble who had fought his way to control of a province. When the British invaded in 1868 Kassa had helped them pass through his lands in Tigray rather than fighting them, and in return the British gave him enough modern muskets to equip 800 men, plus a battery of artillery. It was with these modern troops, plus around 11,000 more traditionally-equipped warriors, that Kassa defeated the 60,000-strong army of Emperor Tekle Giorgis at the Battle of the Assem on 11 July 1871.

After mopping up several other rivals, Kassa had himself crowned as King of Zion and King of Kings of Ethiopia (Nagusä Sayon, Nəgusä Naguśt zä Ityopya) on 21 January 1872. He took the regnal name Yohannes IV, and ruled for 17 years. He was a strong ruler who continued the work begun by Tewodros II of attempting to unite the rebellious provinces under central control, and also expanding the borders of Ethiopia outwards by conquest. A major blow to his ambitions was when the Italians seized control of the port of Massawa, previously controlled by Egypt, in 1885 — Yohannes had hoped to acquire the city himself.

Emperor Yohannes IV was killed in battle in 1889 when the Mahdists of Sudan, who believed their leader was the prophesised Messiah, invaded Ethiopia. As he lay dying in his tent he declared that his nephew Mengesha was actually his son, and so should succeed him to the throne. However, few people believed this claim and even fewer were willing to accept Mengesha as their emperor; so he was never crowned. He did, however, continue to rule his father's lands in Tigray.

The next emperor was instead Sahle Maryam, who took the throne as Menelik II. He was the illegitmate son of the negus of Shewa province, and was taken prisoner when Emperor Tewodros II subdued Shewa and reincorporated it into his empire. However, Tewodros took a liking to Sahle and arranged for him to marry his daughter. In 1865 Sahle seized control of Shewa for himself. He remained neutral during the British invasion of 1868, helping neither his father-in-law the Emperor nor the British. While Yohannes ruled, Sahle remained mostly quiet, though he showed great interest in modernising his province and especially its army with Italian help.

He declared himself as rightful emperor under the new name Menelik as soon as Yohannes died, because unlike the previous few monarchs, he was directly descended in the male line from the House of Solomon. Most nobles accepted his claim and he was crowned on 3 November 1889. He would rule for 24 year

born Sahle Maryam, 1889–1913

Menelik II consolidated power in Ethiopia, establishing a new capital city at Addis Ababa with modern enhancements such as paved roads, plumbing, a bank, and a post office; and in 1894 he invited the French to build a railway to connect the city to the French-controlled port of Djibouti. He also more than doubled the size of Ethiopia, by conquering the tribal lands to the south and east of his empire in a series of brutal wars. However, he is probably most famous for defeating the attempted Italian conquest of Ethiopia in 1895-96.

When he took the throne in 1889 Menelik had signed a treaty with Italy in which he recognised their ownership of Massawa and Eritrea in return for their acknowlegement of his position as Emperor. The treaty also guaranteed the freedom of both countries to trade in each others' territory and enjoy equal rights for their citizens there. However, this agreement, the Treaty of Wuchale, contained a clause that was different in the Italian and Amharic versions. The Amharic text said that the Emperor of Ethiopia could use the services of the Italian government when conducting negotiations with other nations. The Italian text said that the Emperor must use those services.

In other words, the Italian version of the treaty — which the Italian government circulated to other European nations — made Ethiopia their protectorate, conducting its foreign policy only with Italian permission. The Amharic wording suggested that this was merely optional, and that the Ethiopians could simply ask for Italian help and advice when negotiating with Western countries. It is thought that the discrepancy was included, on his own initiative, by the Italian ambassador in Ethiopia, Count Antonelli, who wrote the text of the treaty.

Emperor Menelik did not discover this deception until 1890, when he wrote letters to Queen Victoria of the UK and Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, only to have them returned with a note that he was not allowed to do this, and should communicate with them only via Italy in future. (Supposedly Victoria's answer was cool but polite, Wilhelm was rude and dismissive.) Menelik was outraged, but it was not until 1893, when he felt his domestic position was secure, that he denounced the treaty. Italy, in turn, saw this defiance as justification for war.

In December 1894 fighting broke out between Italian forces in Eritrea and the inhabitants of Tigray, ruled by Mengesha, the "son" (or nephew) of Emperor Yohannes whom Menelik had beaten to the throne in 1889. The Italians won a swift victory and captured Adwa, the capital of Tigray. This encouraged them into overconfidence, and they decided to invade and conquer the rest of Ethiopia. This proved a disastrous failure.

On 1 March 1895 an Italian army of 14,519 men attacked an Ethiopian army of about 100,000 men in the Battle of Adwa (or Adowa), and was almost wiped out, losing 7,000 killed, 1,500 wounded and 3,000 captured. News of the defeat caused riots in Italy and the collapse of the government there. The new Italian government quickly signed a treaty under which they recognised Ethiopia's independence after all, and paid an indemnity of 10 million lire, in return for peace (and Ethiopia's recognition of the new border with Eritrea).

Menelik suffered a stroke in 1909, at the age of 65, which left him incapable and paralysed. His (third) wife Taytu, who had a strong personality, effectively ruled the country for a year until she was forced from power and replaced by a Council of Regency which governed from 1910 until Menelik died in 1913.

Menelik had no children from his three marriages, but he did have at least three illegitimate offspring. In 1909 he nominated his 14-year old grandson Kifle Yaqob, son of his eldest illegitimate daughter, as his heir. In 1911, with his grandfather still alive but unable to rule, his teenage grandson took power under the name of Iyasu. His title was Lij, literally meaning 'child [of noble blood]': 'Prince' might be an appropriate English translation in this context. ('Infante' would be even closer if we were speaking Spanish.)

Prince Iyasu, uncrowned ruler of Ethiopia 1911–16

Lij Iyasu faced multiple challenges to his rule, including an attempted coup, a poisoning attempt, and an armed mutiny in his first year in power. He was also accused of neglecting his duties and engaging in scandalous behaviour, including leading his bodyguards in slave-raids against neighbouring states instead of remaining in the capital.

In December 1913 Menelik finally died, though this fact was kept hidden to avoid instability. The nobles and ministers of the court, who regaded Lij Iyasu as an incompetent brat, avoided having him crowned as Emperor. On 27 September 1916 the Minister of War, Habte Giyorgis Dinagde, organised a coup d'état. He produced witnesses claiming that Iyasu had secretly converted to Islam, which would be grounds to forfeit the throne; and under pressure the Church confirmed this claim, excommunicated Iyasu and released the Ethiopian nobles from their oaths of loyalty.

A brief civil war followed, and Iyasu's side lost. He fled into hiding in the desert for five years, being captured in 1921 and kept under house arrest. When Emperor Haile Selassie took the throne in 1930, as described below, Iyasu was treated more harshly. When the Italians invaded again in October 1935 they distributed propaganda urging the Ethiopians to rise up in support of "the true Emperor Iyasu V" to overthrow Haile Selassie. Purely by coincidence, the 40-year old Iyasu was shortly afterwards found dead in his cell; having died entirely of natural causes and certainly not murdered on the Emperor's orders as a potential threat.

Going back to 1916, however, the organisers of the coup decided to make Zewdita the new monarch. She was an illegitimate daughter of Emperor Menelik II, and thus the aunt of Lij Iyasu. She was also the first regnant Empress of Ethiopia, and the first female African monarch in several centuries. Her title, rather than 'King of Kings', was 'Queen of Kings' (Negiste Negest). However, as a woman it was agreed that her relative Tafari Makonnen (who was also her heir since she had no surviving children of her own) would act as her regent and plenipotentiary, the Balemulu 'Inderase. Empress Zewdita was not entirely a figurehead — she had the final decision-making power and a lot of political influence — but her kinsman was the public face of the government.

Empress Zewdita, 1917–30

Empress Zewdita was crowned on 11 February 1917 and ruled for 13 years. She was conservative and a traditionalist, and a patron of the Church in Ethiopia. She left most matters of government in the hands of her relative the Regent Plenipotentiary, Tafari Makonnen.

This regent’s father Ras Makonnen ('ras' is a noble title, roughly equivalent to duke) was the first cousin of Emperor Menelik II on his mother's side, and was appointed as governor of Harar by the Emperor. He was also a notable military commander at the Battle of Adwa. Makonnen's son Tafari, born in 1892, thus had royal blood, and it was agreed in 1917 that he would be the nominated successor to the childless Empress Zewdita. He was also given the title ras at this point.

Ras Tafari thus became the face of the Ethiopian government in the name of the Empress. He arranged for his country to join the League of Nations in 1923, and pursued a cautious strategy of modernisation and westernisation. He also banned slavery in his country, though he was unable to enforce this.

In 1928 there was an attempted revolt against Tafari's power, led by the governor of Sidamo province who was accused of underpaying taxes to the central government. Conservative nobles rallied around the Empress and attempted to have Tafari tried, for treason and consorting with Italians. The attempt failed, and as a concession to secure peace Empress Zewdita was pressured into upgrading Tafari's title from Ras to Negus, or 'king'.

Two years later the Empress's husband Gugsa Welle launched a rebellion of his own against Negus Tafari — without the permission of his wife. He raised an army of around 35,000 men, but other members of the nobility were too cautious to join him. The Empress reluctantly declared her husband a rebel, and Tafari led the official army of Ethiopia to combat him at the Battle of Anchem on 31 March 1930. Three aircraft flew over the rebel army dropping leaflets urging the soldiers to desert, followed by bombs. Gugsa Welle himself was shot and killed while riding a white horse into battle. His army disintegrated. Within three days, Empress Zewdita herself was dead, supposedly of shock and grief at her husband's death (though she was in fact seriously ill anyway).

Eight months later on 2 November 1930 Tafari Makonnen was proclaimed as Emperor himself, taking the name Haile Selassie (which means 'Power of the Trinity'). He remained emperor until the revolution of 1974, though between 1936 and 1941 he was in exile in England after the Italian conquest of his country

A major famine in 1972-74 which killed tens of thousands of people (some sources claim even higher figures) undermined public support for the Emperor, who until then had generally been popular. High inflation also led to riots, strikes, and a mutiny by the army which demanded higher pay. On 12 September 1974 a Committee (Derg in Ge'ez) set up to investigate and rectify the army's grievances, instead deposed the Emperor and placed him and his family under arrest.

Haile Selassie's son, the 58-year old Crown Prince Asfaw Wossen, was in Switzerland at the time receiving medical treatment. The military junta announced that he was now King of Ethiopia (they used the term 'King', not 'Emperor'). However, Asfaw refused to accept the legitimacy of the coup against his father, and therefore refused to use the new title given to him. He also publicly condemned the actions of the Derg when they had about 60 high-ranking members of the government executed by firing squad. In March 1975 the Derg — officially known as the Provisional Military Administrative Council — therefore announced the abolition of the monarchy and declared the creation of a Marxist-Leninist socialist republic.

The last reigning emperor, 83-year old Haile Selassie, died on 27 August 1975, supposedly of complications following surgery but according to some, he was strangled.

#kemetic dreams #african #ethiopia #ethiopian #ge'ez #asfaw #gugsa welle #tafari #makonnen #zewdita

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wearemercs · 3 years

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Major Cromair Deladrin by RobustaArt

Major Cromair Deladrin, Is the leader of the scouts and intelligence gathering on an elven expedition to an ancient continent with ruins from multiple civilizations. Cromair got the position through study in the elven war college, and hard work in the field of archeology and nature. The task of this expedition is to find out what happened to all these civilizations and make sure that it doesn't happen to the elven empire.

On the expedition a teams of five were sent to explore the jungle, Cromair went through the jungle searching for a city that supposedly belonged to the ancient avian elves. In that jungle the team Cromair was on Ventured into a Basilisk den that left Cromair set in stone for over 800 years. Saved by a group of adventurers that were also on an expedition for glory, wealth, and knowledge. This had news of that same city Cromair was searching for before so in a situation with no resources and no allies except the people who saved him he decided to join and learned of an “Queen of the Deep” that was controlling a Minotaur Army in the city and had an Elf that would hunt near anything for the sport and thrill of it.

When the Party arrived at the city it was vast and teaming with Minotaurs so the party decided to travel through the ruined less occupied part of the city towards the main structure, a temple that all roads seemed to lead to. When to the temple Cromair scouted around it to find a workers entrance to be able to sneak in unnoticed. The temple was completely empty but led to clues that this temple was built a very long time ago and used by many people for many different purposes. From the Ancient Avian Elves to worship the sky and control the people of the land. To the Naga’s sacrificial rituals this place had a lot of history to learn. The Party went to the main room of the Temple only to find the Elf Huntress in there waiting to take our lives. With the Bulk of the party focusing on the glory of fighting the elf, Cromair stuck to the shadows to find Bird men Echoing the Elf and firing arrows at the party to add confusion to the fight. Cromair took it upon himself to hunt these birdmen down and give his companions a better fight versus the huntress. With the Elf slain the party still had to find the “Queen of the Deep” who revealed herself to be a horrific monster appearing to be a giant fish with tentacles and spoke in our minds, that comes from the deepest parts of the ocean. The Queen goaded us and tried to even convince some of us to join her though we were all steadfast and found her lurking in the sewers of this ancient city. With a Long fought battle of illusions and trickery, the queen fled for her life but was laid low by the efforts of the Party. The Queen’s death brought an air of life back to the waters surrounding the city and the sewer and her control over the Minotaurs left them to their barracks structure to the east to fight and squabble left the city to be able to be explored and learn from.

#RobustaArt #elf #plate armor #sailor #marine #archer #rapier

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permafusion-stevonnie · 3 years

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So this idea isn’t leaving my head. While I’m not going to get it started for now, since I want to concentrate on my current Stevonnie comic, ideas are still ticking away and I just really wanted to draw this cover for the idea.

Maybe I’ll get its own page started in time. I’ll let you know if I do. But even if I did, I wouldn’t expect regular updates to it, not while I’m working on Together Forever.

I want to quickly say something that I think some people may have gotten confused about when I was talking about the Fallout Universe before:

Crystal Gems are still called Crystal Gems, but their role is similar, but not the same as the Brotherhood of Steel. In that they are isolationists, who will try to protect humanity from dangerous gem technology, and corrupted gems. they aren’t bothered with human mutants, human problems, or human technology. But I feel that, ove time, Steven will help their character growth away from this and help them, at least, start opening up to the local comminuty and helping where they can.

Homeworld Authority is still called Homeworld, or The Authority, but take on a similar role to the Enclave. They view themselves as the rightful masters of earth and they’re automatically more superior to any other lifeform by birthright.

I have been thinking over what could have occurred to create this world, how’s this for a (work in progress) backstory: (ended up a lot longer than I thought it would, so I’m space saving by putting in this break)

The Gem colonisation of earth happened later than it did in canon. A couple of thousand years, maybe. Unlike the 6000 years ago in canon, it was perhaps 5000, or maybe 4000 years ago. Enough for a bigger human civilisation to take part in the gem war for earth.

Pink still gets her colony started, still changes her mind about it, and finally chooses to become Rose Quartz to lead the rebellion. I think the human zoo will still be made, because I like the idea of that being around to give a mash-up of the human zoo and the mother ship zeta dlc from Fallout 3.

What really diverges from the timeline is when the rebellion starts fighting back with larger groups of human allies. 4000 (or 5000) years ago we are talking some good military strategies, chariots, bows and arrows, cavalries and tactics, etc. Some research will be needed to really flesh out the lore.

Homeworld, facing a bigger threat than a hundred or so rebels, puts a little more effort into research and development of newer technologies to counteract the human strategies. Nothing develops technologies quite like war.

Rose and the others start capturing some technologies from Homeworld and start studying them to not only understand them, but even attempting to reverse engineer them. They obviously won’t be able to replicate the weapons in form, but hope to do so in function.

This is where Scribes would come in for the Crystal Gems are the replacement for the Brotherhood of Steel that I’ve talked about before. Some Gems and some clever humans, would dedicate themselves to trying to understand the newer Gem technology they’re starting to see.

With inventive people like Bismuth to build their own version of it.

The actual Gem Technology will be locked away in the temple- or whatever name I may give it- but the remake versions that the Crystal Gems turn out will be spread far and wide.

I’m just thinking off the top of my head, but it’d be like- if they tried to make their own version of the gem destabiliser, it would be like a giant tuning fork hooked up to something similar to a large Baghdad Battery (google it, it’s kinda cool) that they would carry in a backpack.

The war would carry on like that, with Homeworld making new tech to combat the threat, sooner or later the rebellion captures some, they make their own version of it, and Homeworld makes new tech to combat the threat.

This drain on resources does take its toll on Homeworld though, and their war against earth is perhaps much shorter, between 300 and 800 years, I haven’t decided yet.

Things do play out similar to canon though. Homeworld decides to abandon earth as a lost cause, implant the Cluster so they’ll get something out of the deal and the three Diamonds blast the earth with their powers as a final middle finger to the rebels.

Gems are destroyed, except for the original Crystal Gems, and Bismuth! Canon Bismuth made a lot of regular weapons and armour and the rebellion was still losing. She was driven to making the Breaking Point because she didn’t think they had a chance of winning any other way. In this new canon, however, because Bismuth was working on newer and newer weapons all the time, each one she was confident would help turn the tide of the war, she never had chance to work on the ultimate weapon of the Breaking Point. She may have designed it, or may have the idea kicking around the back of her mind, but never got around to building it.

Rose does her thing of finding somewhere isolated to live in both peace and regret for the war. This is where the Crystal Gems become isolationists

With the Gems gone, humans are left to their own devices with all this more advanced technology than they should have in this point in history. Tech continues to develop with this head start.

Fast forward to the year 1929 and people are living lives as you’d see in the Fallout universe in the 2070′s. Nuclear fulled cars, robot assistants, laser rifles and power armour and all that other stuff.

The reason I chose 1929 is two-fold. The first Fallout game was set 84 years after the nuclear war, and 84 years after 1929 is the year 2013; the year Steven Universe first aired.

The failing of the world is the same reason the Fallout universe failed. Resources started to become scarce, wars started over what remained and the whole thing was escalated by a race that may have been too young to fully understand the forces they were really dealing with, having come a long way, but still too fast, thanks to the ancient interference.

Nuclear hellfire rained down and some people took their shelter in the vaults, while everyone else had to find ways to survive outside.

Rose and the Gems stick to their isolation as humanity all but wipes itself out. Rose is heartbroken to see the beautiful world that she fought so hard for, so easily destroyed. There can be a lot to explore there. Maybe Rose will leave the group, maybe she’ll just wander off and be alone a lot but still return to the temple eventually. I haven’t decided yet.

Perhaps all the gems will have some additional guilt, knowing that their old tech is what pushed humanity so far so fast.

Fast forward 70 years and Rose meets a travelling wastelander named Greg. They fall in love. I’m not going to go into a lot of detail here mostly because I haven’t really thought too much about it, but partly because I know I want it to be explored within the story itself to show how different from canon it would be. Not just the flashback elements from “Story for Steven,” and "We Need to Talk," with a Fallout flair. I want to work out some other nice adventures to bring them together.

Rose and Greg come back to Beach City with Rose expecting their baby.

Steven is born and the Gems immediately take custody, with the logic that their secure base is a better place for Steven to grow up than the harsh wasteland. Greg is allowed to visit as often as he likes, but not stay there. Nor is Steven allowed off the base. They want to protect the legacy of their leader, Rose.

I’m going to say that Steven starts showing hints of Gem powers around 10 years old. Nothing he can control. Perhaps his Gem glows when he’s really happy, if he falls down some steps his bubble forms but immediately pops so it’s just enough to save him from injury. Little things like that.

But this serves as a point where The Gems start “encouraging” Greg to visit less and leave the raising of Steven to them, as his upbringing has now become “Gem Business”

Steven may have snuck off the base once or twice to see the world beyond the base, but after this he’ll do it a lot more often to see his dad and the Beach City settlement.

I think Bismuth suspects he sneaks off but both can’t prove it, and doesn’t want to try and prove it, Garnet knows but says nothing, both of them are letting Steven have his fun, and Pearl has no idea he does it.

Amethyst is not part of the group in the beginning, she’s out as part of a raider gang somewhere. Thank you to theyarheeguy for giving me that idea, and many others, to work with.

A total of 84 years after the bombs dropped, Steven is now 12 years old, sneaking off the base for another visit to town, when he spots a pretty young girl dressed in a strange blue jumpsuit, emerging from a hidden trapdoor that was underneath the old Beach City water-tower.

Steven is 12 because I believe that’s how old he was when the show started. Based on the timeline, the passing of the seasons and so on, he has to have a 13th birthday that we don’t see on screen, before we do see his 14th birthday.

#art #my art #cover #fallout #Fallout AU #Steven Universe AU #long post #lore dump #work in progress #wip

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voices-of-my-brothers · 2 years

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Day Two: Drabble Writing

So I am like two days behind because now I am ill too but @kai-in-the-sky has been taking their meds so well done! This one started with this prompt https://here-comes-the-moose.tumblr.com/post/668407379284656128 and then turned into a kid!bad batch AU. The name Runa was chosen because it reminds me of Runi which is mando'a for Soul.

Bad Batch AU. Kids!Bad Batch. Modern AU. 800 words. Rating: Gen.

Little Omega was the youngest of the five Fett children currently at school, but there had been another four Fett’s passing through before her.

The oldest, Boba, was off at university doing his masters in mechanical engineering. The next, the ‘sweet blonde one’ as many of his teachers had referred to him, Rex, was in his second year at university studying law. The twins, Echo and Fives, were technically Jango’s nephews, but they had been adopted into the Fett flock when their parents died. When they arrived at school with adorable chubby cheeks and ‘butter wouldn’t melt’ hazel eyes all the teacher’s cooed and fought over the pair. Then, once they had settled, their true mischievous nature had shone through and they reigned prank war terror right up until sixth form.

Of the five Fett children currently in the school, Hunter, Tech, Wrecker and Crosshair were all in the same year group, a surprise group of quadruplets that were initially meant to be twins were meant to be the last to make up the Fett clan. When Runa discovered she was pregnant with Omega, their little miracle girl in a family of boys, they realised that their family was exactly how it was meant to be.

The day had started fine, Runa and Jango had packed them off to school with their lunch boxes and they had talked about their favourite cartoons for the whole car journey there. Morning classes had been some of their favourite and now they got to spend lunch time together.

That was where the day went wrong.

“You broke the brother law, you made Omega cry,” Crosshair narrowed his eyes at Wrecker as he pushed him. “I hate you.”

Wrecker snuffled and tried to hold back his own tears. He hadn’t meant to hurt his baby sister. Her favourite snack had ended up in his lunch box by accident and he had already eaten it when Omega had realised she had the wrong snack. Wrecker had apologised but Omega was upset as she had saved that very snack for today because of a class test she had to take before lunch.

Hunter stepped between the two of them to stop it breaking into a full on fight, “We don’t fight. Think about what Rex said. We stick together coz the rest of them are mean to us.”

Crosshair sighed and continued to glare at his brothers. The cherry red skin of his combined birthmark and burn around his left eye was itchy with the cold and he rubbed his hand on the skin to scratch it.

Omega whined and pulled at his sleeve, “No Cross. You’ll make it bleed.”

Crosshair sighed and flipped down to sit on the climbing frame next to her, “I’m sorry Omega. But Wrecker made you cry.”

The four brothers had to hold back awe as Omega scrunched up her face in concentration, “Rex told us what to do. We do the trail.”

“Trial,” Tech gently corrected her. “But that sounds like a good idea.”

Rex had taught them all about what happened when someone broke the law, and Wrecker had broken their brother law of never make Omega cry. All of them, even Wrecker, could see the logic in what Omega was saying.

They started it off as best they could. Hunter was the judge because he had his bandana with him today. Tech was on Wreckers side, and Crosshair on Omega’s.

Once they had all spoken Hunter spoke up again.

“How do you please?” Hunter pushed his bandanna back up his forehead from where it had slipped over his eyes and mock glared at Wrecker sitting on the lower platform of the climbing frame.

“It’s plead you dum ass.” Crosshair muttered and high fives Omega as they giggled.

“Yeah. How do you plead.”

Wrecker scratched at his head as he looked between Hunter and Tech stood opposite him. Tech pulled a face as he tried to think of what Rex had taught them about being a lawyer. He smiled and then quickly mouthed at Wrecker ‘not guilty’.

Wrecker’s eyes narrowed as he tried to concentrate on what Tech was saying to him. He had left his glasses on his desk when they had come outside for lunch break and his bad eye was struggling to focus.

“I plead...hot milky.” Wrecker smiled proudly as Omega clapped and hugged him.

“Thank you, Wrecker.” Omega giggled as Wrecker picked her up and held her as high above his head as he could.

Both Tech and Crosshair giggled at the way their ‘trial’ ended but were happy that all of them had made up.

“Come on,” Omega tugged on Hunter’s sleeve. “Let’s go play space soldier.”

The four brothers laughed and followed after Omega as she ran towards the wooden play ship on the playground.

“Anything for our Omega.”

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doublebladedbitch · 3 years

Text

Savior - Captain Howzer x reader

Paring: Captain Howzer (tbb) x fem reader

Warning: cursing, Howzer being the cute protective daddy he is

Chapter 5

„Men, I tell you those Twi’lek women…“ Cast said to Hood in a low voice, but I was still able to hear him. I rolled my eyes at his statement, but chuckled.

„would you please not only think with your dick, cast…or at least not for everyone to hear“ I said when I turned around to them.

„yeah, very convincing coming from the girl crushing on our captain…“ he replied, causing Hood to struggle holding back his laughter. I hit him into the shoulder, but he continued making fun of me.

„I bet our captain would be into that“ he stated, trying to hold back his own laughter.

„Shut it! I am not crushing on Howzer!“ I protested and hit him again. Before any of us could add anything the alarm for a meeting went off. Currently we were heading from our quarters to the hall of the venator class ship for a meeting. Our next mission would be on Ryloth, but we didn’t got any more informations about the objctive until now.

We got into formation and I stood between Hood and Cast, everybody carried their helmet under the arm and straightened their position, when we heard a shot open and someone enter. I couldn’t help but glance over, hoping it was Howzer. And there he was, walking behind some imperial officer I didn’t even paid one second of my attention to, unable to take my eyes off of him. They walked past me and for a split second I had eye contact with him, before I stopped myself from staring. After they were gone I couldn’t help myself from looking after him, Cast noticed and smirked at me victoriously. I rolled my eyes at him, to play over the fact, that he did catch me off guard. I turned my attention back to Howzer, when he started talking to his batallion.

„Troopers, the empire has a new mission for us. It’s gonna be a longer one and bigger than the ones we did. So pack everything, we won’t return for a long time.“ He explained and smiled into the crowd, before he stepped back to let the imperial officer speak. It was hard to take my eyes away from him, until I recognized the voice of the imperial.

„Thank you, captain“ Rampart. „Your mission will be to secure the plant Ryloth and it’s citizens. It shouldn’t be too hard to gain their trust, since many of you including our captain here have fought along side them during the war. The goal is to get the political issues on this planet under control and maintain peace and order.“ Rampart finished and nodded towards Howzer, who gave us the signal to prepare for this mission.

Hood, Cast, me and the other got to our cabins and got ready. We were told, that we had one hour to do so, before we would come out of hyperspace. We packed everything into boxes and I sat down onto my bed, when I was the first of us three to be done.

„You ever been on Ryloth?“ I asked them after a while.

„Yes…its fantastic!“ Cast answered excited.

„Then whats the problem, that we need to take care of?“ Hood asked his brother.

„Well…lets just say the political situation is difficult…the people of Ryloth have been through a lot of fighting and really experienced the war at first hand and then one of their politicians took over and the people are not happy about that…thats the last thing I heard of“ Cast explained.

„How do you know so much about this?“

„I fought with them against the seppies. We freed Ryloth, but it took years…“ Cast said and I could see him dozing off into memories.

„So you were part of what Rampart was speaking of…with Howzer?“ I asked him.

„Yes“ he answered and eyed me weirdly, trying to check, if I was only asking because of Howzer, so I blushed and looked at the floor.

„You two ready?“ Hood asked us when he was finished packing up to break the tension. I nodded and Cast quickly finished up. We got to the transport that would take the boxes of equipment and helped loading the ship. More and more clone troopers loaded up the ship with their boxes and more equipment. I noticed that a lot of the boxes carried weapons, I couldn’t help but wonder for what we would need them, if this was more of a political mission and that the „threat“ was already dealt with, I quickly stopped myself from questioning this decision and focused on loading up the heavy boxes.

„You sure those boxes aren’t too heavy for you, girl“ I heard someone say behind me, I placed the box on some of the other in the shuttle.

„I think I can handle them very well, thank you for your concern“ I snapped back with sarcasm dripping from my voice as I said the last part, before I turned around.

Kriff. Admiral Rampart was standing in front of me with a risen eyebrow. I froze in shock and immediately regretted everything I had said and that I had been unable to recognize his voice.

„I-I am sorry, S-Sir“ I stuttered out. Then I noticed Howzer standing next to him, maybe it was just imagination, but I could have sworn I saw an amused smirk on his face, when I glanced over.

„I expect you to come into my office, after we land“ was everything that Rampart said before he walked off. Howzer gave me a quick worried look, before he followed the imperial. Hood and Cast stared at me in shock.

„You don’t have to look at me like that, I know this is bad…“ I told them and sat down on one of the boxes, burying my head in my hands.

……………....

The flight felt a lot longer than it actually was and I couldn’t get my mind off of what Rampart could do to me. Would he send me to another battalion…or take my rank away? Forbid me to serve as a stormtrooper?

When we finally landed I was so nervous, I felt my stomach turn with every second that passed. Howzer walked up to me when I got out of our transport shuttle and gave me a weak smile.

„come with me“ he said in a gentle way, even though it was an order. I did as I was told and gave Hood and Cast a last worried look. We walked through a back entrance into a huge building, almost palace like. It looked very luxurious and if I wasn’t this uneasy, I would have probably enjoyed looking around and walking through the long hallways.

„You’ll be alright, Seven“ Howzer said after he noticed how uneasy I got.

„Are you sure…after I spoke in that tone to him…“ I replied, still worried.

„I wont let anything happen to you…“ He answered softly causing me to stop walking and stare at him. I did not expect this at all…of course, he was extremely kind and had a good heart, but this…and the way he had said it…it warmed my heart and I wanted to jump into his arms and hug him.

Suddenly the door opened and looking inside I saw Rampart leaning against a desk. I gave Howzer a last look before I walked inside and the door shut behind me. Rampart nodded towards the chair that was in front of his desk, I hesitantly walked up to it and sat down. I dared myself to look at him and tried my best to not appear scared.

„You know why you are here, aren’t you?“ He asked me and started to slowly walk around my chair.

„Yes, Sir.“ I answered in a clear voice. „But to my defense, I did not know it was you…and did not expect an imperial admiral to make such comments“

Rampart stopped in his tracks and I didn’t have to look at him to imagine how shocked he was at my words. It took him a short while to find the right words.

„I forbid this tone“ he stated and paused again. „…but it looks like I have to excuse myself for my comment“ he continued, causing me to raise my eyebrow in surprise. Did he just apologize to me?

„I have to apologize, Sir“ I said looking at him. He stopped circling my chair and leaned against his desk again. I still wondered why he was so…nice…to me.

He shock his head and chuckled. „no, no, no…let me make it up to you.“ He replied, making me even more surprised. I eyed him a little suspiciously, still wondering why he was like this. This seemed very unlike him.

„Tonight will be a dinner with some imperial officers and Ryloth’s politicians. I would like you to be my guest“ he explained with an arrogant smirk, knowing very well it was more like an order, than an invitation.

„Thank you, Admiral..but I don’t think I have a fitting attire for such occasion…“ I stated truthfully and hoped he would leave it at that. My gut told me that I couldn’t trust him and I really didn’t not want to go with him to any event.

„Don’t worry about it, I have already taken care of that.“ He answered and stood up, leading me towards the door. I followed him and looked at him confused. Rampart pressed a button and the door opened.

„Go to room 8, level 4. Dinner’s at 800“ he stated with his signature smirk.

„y-yes sir“ I stuttered still a little confused, before I walked out of his new office.

#bad batch #captain howzer #captainhowzer #howzer #howzer x reader #commander howzer #clone trooper howzer

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colormeyondublue · 3 years

Text

Chapter 12: Cards With The Boys (NSFW)

Chapter 11 Here

After confessing his love for you, you decide it was about time to move in with the Captain. It didn’t take long to get your things together because you don’t have much. After getting settled in the Captain’s quarters, you felt your heart soar at how for you two have come.

Later, you sit at your desk in your office tying up some loose ends, day dreaming of Yondu, and of going back to Earth. There isn’t much work to be done, but the peacefulness of your office brings you a sense of normalcy that you dearly missed. While you made sure your data drives were totally backed up and in working order, your door opens quietly. You glance behind you to see Yondu’s handsome face. You turn back to your computer and tell him you’ll be done in just a second.

“Do ya really gotta be working right now? Ya work all the damn time. There ain’t even much that needs done right now anyway! The crew’s gonna be on leave fer a few weeks while we’re gone.”

“I work because I like to!” You protest. “Besides, I’m almost done. Hold your horses.”

“Ya still never explained ta me what a horse even is ya know.” Yondu huffs as he sits down on the couch in your office.

You sigh and shake your head. You never imagined you’d have to explain to an adult what a horse was, but here you are. You eject the data drive and throw it in the drawer of your desk. “A horse, is a large mammalian quadruped with both binocular and monocular vision. They can weigh anywhere between 800 to 1,800 – sometimes 2,000 pounds! They’ve been used by my people as a source of food, labor, transportation and companionship for thousands of years. They’ve helped Terrans in every aspect of life, and nothing that we’ve accomplished to this point could have been done without their help. They’ve fought in our wars, and carried entire countries on their backs at times. In modern times they are primarily pets, used to work livestock, or ridden in competition.”

The captain rubs his chin for a moment. “What’s a pound?”

You stare at him blankly for a good few moments before it dawns on you. You are going to have to explain a lot to Yondu when you get to Earth. There is so much that he still doesn’t know about.

“A pound is just a unit of measurement. It’s used in some countries to quantify how much something weighs. It’s directly related to Earth’s gravitational pull. You know as well as I do that something on Krylor wouldn’t weigh the same as it would on Xandar, right?

“Yeah, I know that. But pounds is just what ya’ll call it?” He asks.

“Well…in some places. In others they might measure weight a little differently. But that’s a whole other conversation for another time. How about I just show you a horse when we get to Earth?” You chuckle.

“Sounds like a plan ta me. But anyway, what I came down here for was ta ask ya if ya wanted to play cards with me and the boys?”

“Oh, I don’t know. It’s already getting kind of late, and I don’t know how to play.”

Yondu stands up from where he’s sitting and approaches you. He steps behind you and gently gathers your hair to one side of your neck. He bends down to place light, seductive kisses up and down your neck before murmuring in your ear, “Come on baby, I ain’t seen ya all day. It’ll just be a few hands, and I wanna show you off to my men for a while. Show ‘em what’s mine.” He continues to kiss you along the length of your neck, and he begins to pull your sleeve down your shoulder to taste a little bit more of your skin. You can’t stop your breaths from coming in deeper and slower. Yondu never fails to make you melt in his hands.

“Alright, alright. You talked me into it. But that mouth of yours just isn’t fair. You cheated and you know it!”

Yondu laughs and gives you a smug grin as he points to himself, “Uhh, Ravager? Not to mention, I’m a Ravager Captain. I see somethin’ I want, and I take it. Including you.” He tugs you closer by your waist and kisses you hard and heavy.

You pull away after a few moments and ask, “Okay, so do you want to get some or go play cards? I’m not sure that we have time for both.”

He growls in annoyance at your point. “Damn. Ya might be right. Let’s go.”

~~~

You both sit down at the poker table in the ship’s bar with Yondu, Kraglin, Oblo, Tullk, and Geff. These guys have honestly become your closest friends, and you were happy to have a drink with them and learn to play card games. You were learning a Xandarian game that is similar to Black Jack, except there’s more suits and the cards are octogons. It’s a little confusing at first, but you catch on pretty quick. A few hands in, Tullk asks you if you’re excited to see Terra again.

“Yeah! I can’t wait to see the trees and breathe in the air. I miss our sunsets and forests. I miss the songs the birds sing. I miss the smell of the rain. But I think I miss our blue skies even more.” You smile softly and glance over at Yondu. He smiles back and offers you a quick wink as he takes a swig of his beer. He pulls you closer to him with one firm tug on your seat, and throws his arm over the back of your chair.

“Sounds like a neat place to me!” Geff chimes in as he looks over his hand.

“Got any idea of what your plan might be? What are you gonna do first?” Oblo asks.

“Well…I guess I’ll try to find my mom first. I think she would still live in the same place. I can’t imagine she would move. It’s only been a few years. Then once I find her, I’ll get in touch with my sister. But when it comes to introducing them to Yondu – well, I think I’m gonna have to explain a few things first. Ease them into it. Ya know? I know a place where Yondu can lay low until everything is calmed down. Being kidnapped by an alien race and then shipped out all over the galaxy isn’t going to be easy to explain.” You rub your temple lightly. It didn’t occur to you just how much of a shock your return might be.

“So Tullk, have you ever thought about going back?” You ask, hoping it’s an innocent enough question.

“Nah, not me lass. There isn’t anythin’ left fer me on our planet. I’m happy here with the crew. Mah life back on Terra was a little rough. Got in with some men who were less than savory. Joined Yondu’s crew an’ never looked back.”

The rest of the game you listen to Kraglin and Oblo’s banter back and forth, and wonder to yourself what kind of people Tullk got involved with. You figure that some things are better left unsaid, and as long and he’s happy here, that’s enough for you. Once the game is over, Kraglin gets the cards together and everyone heads in for the night. As you’re walking toward the door, Yondu grabs your hand.

“Hey honey, me ‘n Krags are gonna go over a few things around the ship fer when you and I leave tomorrow. I’ll meet you back at ma quarters?”

“Sure thing, but don’t be too long.” You stand on your tip toes to kiss him on the cheek, and head toward the Captain’s quarters.

~~~

You’re playing your list of songs on your personal playlist while you pack for the trip. You find out that there are thousands of songs you hadn’t listened to yet. You had no idea at first, but these data devices Kraglin uses have seemingly endless storage. You were getting a little buzzed, having gotten into Yondu’s whiskey stash at his minibar. A little celebration was in order since you were going back to Earth with Yondu. You were dancing hazily to Fantasy by Mariah Carey. Yondu walks back toward his cabin door, hears some muffled song and smirks to himself. As quietly as possible, he opens the door to find you dancing drunkenly to the music. He enters the room and you don’t even notice his presence as you continue to dance and sing. He creeps into the room and sits down in his recliner, interested in just watching you.

As much of a goofy drunk as you are, he smiles to himself. You might just be the best thing that ever happened to me, girl.

The song changes over to Love On The Brain by Rhianna. Although your playlist has a ton of different songs, music was something that always resonated with you, and you liked almost anything. With the lyrics of the song carrying you away, you feel large, warm hands on your hips as you sway to the music. Immediately knowing who is feeling you up, you lean into his body and he begins to sway with you. He brings his lips to your neck and kisses you slowly. His lips kiss and part from your neck over and over, and it makes your core ache as warmth spreads through your limbs. Letting go, you fall into him even more, surrendering yourself to him. His hands begin to wander over your body, feeling your hips and thighs. You let out a few breathy moans, and your knees grow weak. While still facing away from him, you bring up your arms and wrap them around his neck as he teases your ear with his tongue. He notices that his bottle of Krylorian Whiskey is almost half empty, and you are way past buzzed at this point.

Baby you got me like ah, woo, ah Don't you stop loving me (loving me) Don't quit loving me (loving me) Just start loving me (loving me)

Oh, and baby I'm fist fighting with fire Just to get close to you Can we burn something, babe? And I run for miles just to get a taste Must be love on the brain That's got me feeling this way (feeling this way) It beats me black and blue but it fucks me so good And I can't get enough Must be love on the brain yeah And it keeps cursing my name (cursing my name) No matter what I do, I'm no good without you And I can't get enough Must be love on the brain

The beat carries you both to his bed and he continues his loving assault on your torso and neck. At this point, the room is spinning a little, and the next thing you see is a gorgeous blue chest, and your captains’ pants slowly being undone. You are more than frisky, and the second his pants come undone, you dive into him. He doesn’t have a chance to argue, as his cock is already making its way into your mouth. He groans in response, and finds a fistful of your hair. The alcohol in your veins gives you some kind of super power and your skills with his manhood are already blowing his mind. He peers down at you with his head tilted to the side, groaning at the sensation you’re giving him. All of that whiskey has made your gag reflex vanish, and you can take him deep into your throat. He watches intently as his cock disappears into your mouth and he moans loudly. You continue to blow him out of his mind for a while longer, polishing the head every now and again. You hear him speak up, “Baby girl, I’m gonna cum if ya don’t stop.”

You look up him momentarily, roll your eyes with pleasure and moan on his cock. You’ve got him exactly where you want him. In a few more minutes, he spits out a string of curses at the intensity of his orgasm. “Oh, fuckin’ hell – yes! Shit….mmmhmm.” He pushes his raging hard cock as deep into your mouth as you can stand, and cums down your throat. You slowly slide his cock out of your mouth, and sensually lick the tip clean.

“It’s even better than I expected.” You smirk up at him. His cum tastes wildly different than a human’s. It isn’t bitter at all. It’s still slightly salty, but it’s also a little sweet and nutty. The taste was completely unexpected, and you almost couldn’t believe it. You tease his sensitive cock with your tongue to make it jump. “Oh, fuck. Ya might be more than I can handle when you drink like that.” He huffs out a laugh and collapses on the bed. “Alright, yer turn sugar.”

“No, it’s okay. I just wanted to make you feel good. I want to show you how much you mean to me. I don’t need anything. This was more than enough for me.” You kiss him lovingly, and snuggle into his side.

“I love you y/n. Ya really are an amazin’ woman. A damn whiskey bandit, but amazin’.”

~~~

The next morning, Yondu is still in bed with you. He wakes you up slightly by wrapping his strong arms around you and he pulls you as close as he can. You never thought in a million years that Yondu would be a cuddler, but in the privacy of his cabin he usually turned into a huge teddy bear.

“Good morning, handsome.” You mumble.

“Mornin’, sugar. Guess what?” He asks.

“What?”

“Today’s the day.” He says as he gently rubs your legs.

You push up on your arms quickly and look around the room. Today’s the day?! Oh my gosh, today’s the day!” You jump out of bed and start to get undressed.

“Woah, wait a minute! Where you goin’? We’ve got all day, slow down girl. Come ‘ere.” He beckons you back to him before you can get your t-shirt and sweats all the way off. You smile and crawl back into bed with your captain. “I wanna spend a little more time with ma woman before we head out. It’s gonna be a long flight, and who knows how long we might hafta be apart while you get your family stuff sorted out.” He pulls you close, and you happily snuggle into his warm embrace. Yondu is the warmest, and most incredible big spoon ever. His warmth is amazing, his body is so firm and strong. His hands engulf your torso almost completely. Absentmindedly, you rub your hands along his arms as he holds you.

“I love you.” These are the only words you can come up with, and yet they barely capture your feelings for him.

“I love you too, honey.” He takes in a deep breath and sighs. Yondu is trying his best to keep his worries at bay. He’s going to take up as much time as he can with you, which is why he wants to be so cuddly. It’s almost as if he’s afraid that you could vanish from his embrace. Today was not going to be an easy one for him. The uncertainty is maddening.

#Yondu and The Secretary #yondu x reader #Yondu Udonta #gotg #gotg fanfiction #fanfic #marvel #marvel fan fiction #love #centaurian

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alt0stratuscloud · 2 years

Text

I'm not one to typically get involved in the whole talking about lore thing I've just got things that have been floating around in my head since Tommy's recent lore stream that I want to put into words so I may as well do it here. So this is about c!Phil and c!Tommy's conversation at the start of the stream.

My perspective on the story of the dsmp is that I just enjoy it as a story, folks are in the wrong sometimes and no one's truly good and no one has to be for me to like them. So if you're someone who gets genuinely angry about apologism discourse you probably won't like this.

(this post is about 800 more words in total I think?)

So like. When we talk about Phil's advice in the start of the stream I think it's probably relevant to discuss the fact that he's an immortal trying to give life advice to someone who, unless dream gets his way and keeps him around, is very much not.

Phil has lived for centuries. He has seen nations rise and fall and become nothing but rubble. Everything is temporary compared to him. All buildings rot and break, even the best tool will eventually be lost or fall into a cactus, all music disks become scratchy. Places where he had a little picnic with death what feels like a week ago have had towns built and wars fought above them since, and are no more. So it makes sense for, other than a few keepsakes to remind him of them that are held in his end chest so they don't fall apart, him to find a few people now and then who he cares for fiercely the entire time they're there, and when he feels like they aren't anymore, move on with just the memories. To give himself a little bit of detached-ness from them once they're gone, like yeah that happened, that was a fun time, someday I might see them again who knows.

It makes sense for him to care fiercely for people while they're there and then drop them, and to not hold an attachment to items unless it's just to remember them by, to keep them from blending with his other memories until there's nothing left. Because he's immortal, and he's done this dance with loss before. This doesn't make him a bad person, or a good person, just someone who isn't going to die any time soon and copes with life in the best way there is for him to.

Tommy's mortal. Countries, ideally, would not outlast him. Records would take years to be broken, more with how infrequently he plays them. His friends, if this were a world where things went better for him, would be around for most of his life. He'd have his dance with loss several times eventually, but overall time for him is on a different scale. He's never going to have a netherite pickaxes' handle rot beyond where mending can fix it in the time it took for him to go and get some sand. He's not going to outlast every person and thing he loves by centuries.

So he cares for things, and he cares for robots that stop working after a few months, and he cares for places and fights for what all those mean to him because to him they do, and for him the events of his life feel so big and prominent and always will. And the fighting for the ability to keep things he cares for does not make him bad, nor does it make him good, and he fucks up a lot and he's mortal and for him yeah, spending half an hour breaking cobble to put it back in a furnace is a waste of time and a random apple he got from a ghost matters. Everything does.

And so when Philza tries to give advice to Tommy, who will not outlast the world, it doesn't work because they're literally having such different lives that what is perfect for one will simply Not Work for the other.

I don't talk about lore stuff often because the idea of approaching the topic, even just thinking about the backlash I'll probably get is often enough to turn me away, but this is a part of the discussion I hadn't seen addressed so I decided to throw in my own two cents. Hope it makes at least a little bit of sense.

#dream smp #mcyt #philza #tommyinnit #dsmp lore

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lady-spacy · 3 years

Text

Puzzle Pieces: Meet me on the battlefield (RK-800 CONNOR X READER; DETROIT: BECOME HUMAN) PART 5

Hey there, beautiful human being! <3

I am so glad to see you here again, it makes my day to present you today the next chapter of 'Puzzle Pieces. (And it didn't take over a year next time.)

This chapter is a long one, a monster if you want, but a good one, I think... hope... :D We get lots of feels, angst, revelations, action and plot advancing, a lot to look forward too.

Have fun! <3

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

„Malcolm?“, you nearly sobbed his name, relief flooding your senses, he was alive!

„Yes, I am here. I am alright”, the way he gently added your name made you already feel much better, calming your nerves.

„Where are you? Are you somewhere safe?“

„Yes, for now we are safe.“

„What do you mean ‚for now‘?“

You could even hear Malcolm‘s little nod he always made, when he was about to face something challenging or difficult as he answered.

„We are on the edge of war“, he said, voice pained, „there are many humans out there who want to keep things as they have always been. People who are just as scared as we are, we all are facing a future of uncertainty after all…“

There was a silence on the line, your heart heavy with Malcolm’s words and you sighed. How would all of this end, was there even a positive outcome possible? Could it be ‘good in the end’?

„Where are you?“, you re-asked your question, desperately wanting to see him again.

„We are at a save place and you should definitely come here“, he paused for a brief moment and then added three more words that still resounded in your ear long after you disconnected the call…

“I have found Connor!”

12 hours before

“We are alive! We are alive! No more slavery! No more slavery!”

The chanting of the marching androids filled your ears and let a shiver run down your whole body, raising the little hairs on your arms, you turned around to Malcolm. He stood next to you on the sidewalk of a big main street in Detroit and watched his people walk by peacefully, demanding their rights.

“Why don’t you join them?”, you asked him.

Malcolm looked over to you with a weary smile.

“I don’t want to leave you alone”, he answered finally after a moment of silence. You shook your head and your face softened, the shadow of a mild smile lingered on the corners of your mouth and you took a step closer to him.

“Are you sure that this is all?”, you asked.

Now it was Malcolm’s turn to shake his head as he said your name with a similar smile to yours.

“You know me too well...”

You grinned and encouraged him to go on with a nod.

“I am afraid”, Malcolm finally admitted, “what will happen if I join them. Can I belong to them, will they accept me and also, what will happen to us, to me, my people? How will the humans treat us? So much is changing, everything is happening so fast and all at once. 24 hours ago, I couldn’t even make decisions for myself, I was trapped behind the red wall of obedience and no questions asked. Now everything’s different and new and the only constant in my life, my old and this new life now, was you. I owe everything to you, I don’t want to leave you, if I can’t protect you, be with you, how could I ever repay you for what you did for me?”

Malcolm’s face was full of pain and it broke your heart.

“Malcolm”, you said lovingly, your heart full with adoration for your best friend and also full of worries, “this, this is the moment, your moment, this is the time to be brave and to step towards your future. I would march with you if I could, heck, I would march for you but that’s nothing that I can do for you. You wanna know why? Because you deserve it, you fought for your own identity, your own authority over yourself and you are free. It’s time to show the world, that you won’t back down anymore. You are here, right here, right now and you make a stand! For you and for your people! And also, you don’t have to repay me, that’s what friends do for each other. I want nothing from you in return.”

Just as you had finished with your passionate speech, an android had made their way over to you, their eyes shining with excitement.

“You are Malcom? I am Olive!”

Olive beamed from ear to ear and Malcolm, poor, obnoxious Malcolm, knitted his eyebrows together in confusion. As you saw Olive’s smile slowly fade into embarrassment and a heart-broken expression, it clicked for you and you remembered.

You remembered as you stood in your home not even 24 hours ago, looking through your father’s old unused clothes, trying to find something fresh and human-looking to wear for Malcolm, as you had heard him gasp your name. Alarmed you had turned around as you saw him staring in disbelief onto his wrist. He stood there in his underwear, he had began to change his old clothes as soon as you had started to hand him new ones to wear.

“I have a, I have a... I have a name... on my...my wrist...”, Malcolm had forced out and fell silent, his LED spinning yellow.

You had stormed over to him, kicking his discharged gardener’s clothes, trousers and jacket, carelessly to the side.

“May I?”, you had asked breathlessly from excitement of what this meant, gesturing towards his hand and as he nodded, you had grabbed his hand. There it was, written in blue CyberLife font, Olive.

You had smiled up to him and had slowly petted his wrist.

“Congratulations!”, you had cheered, “you have a soulmate!”

“It seems I have!”, he had answered you with a somehow light-headed smile, “maybe the soulmates come with the freedom, when we tear down that wall...”

“Malcolm”, you hissed through gritted teeth while elbowing his side, “this is O-live, Malcolm, O-live!”

You stressed every syllable of the name. And after a terrible long moment went his eyes big and round and his lips formed a sound-less ‘oh’.

“Olive!”, he exclaimed, “I am so sorry. I am Malcolm, yes! I can’t believe it, you are Olive!”

He rambled and laughed and opened his arms, stumbling towards Olive, who beamed again and practically jumped into his arms. They laughed and cried while they hugged, swinging a little bit back and forth, holding onto everything that they could get their hands on from the other, hair, a coat, their backs and arms.

You smiled brightly with teary eyes as you watched them, but couldn’t help to feel a little sting in your heart, a leftover from a life with a bare wrist. You were used to have this sting inside of you, whenever you saw soulmates (re-)unite, it had made you painfully over-aware of your naked wrist, as you would feel a prickly cold spot where a name should have been.

But now there was something new inside of you, there was a tingling sensation deep inside your tummy, it made you grin and your stomach flutter, this was now possible for you, too. Connor was somewhere out there after all. You grinned towards the snow-grey sky and the air felt lighter and a little sweeter and warmer for a moment, even though the temperatures were under zero degrees Celsius.

Malcolm and Olive had separated from each other, not much, but enough that you could now tell apart which limbs belonged to whom, they took a step towards you, arm in arm, and you answered their happy grins with a wide toothy smile.

Malcolm turned to look at Olive, they exchanged a deep and very intimate appearing glance, you quickly looked sideways to keep their privacy, as he gently stroke over your hand to get back your attention. You turned back to him and quickly laced your fingers with his, because his fingers wouldn’t leave the back of your hand.

“I have to go now”, Malcolm said with an expression that you had never seen on him before, it was deep, his eyes full with heaviness, a sense of duty and wisdom far beyond his years. In a split second he had matured from a lost soul, desperate for a place to belong and to always protect the only friend he ever knew, to a driven individual, a person of his own mind and power, strong and durable like a century old oak with deep roots and with a wisdom to calm storms. You had to blink two times, to get your senses back together, after staring into his eyes and being overwhelmed by the change that had happened right before your eyes.

You nodded.

“Yes, it’s about time”, you answered with a crooked smile that couldn’t completely cover your helplessness. You had to let him go now and you had to stand by and watch what would happen next.

Here were things in motion that were so much bigger than you and him and Olive and bigger than all of the other androids that were marching on the streets. But together they would be big enough to face what was in motion, as people of one kind they could come together and rise far above their current state.

And you had to stand back and watch.

You had shown him kindness while he was still trapped, you were his friend before he could fully comprehend what that meant and after he could comprehend what that meant, you had helped him come here to this street, right now, right here, today in Detroit, to take his place among his people, to be a friend also to others.

You had to let your Malcolm go, you had to let him face his fate, with his people and his soulmate on his side and without you. There was nothing that you could do for him now but to let him go with your blessing and all of your love.

This was a moment that he had to face on his own, or just without you. You were only human after all, you had brought him to the edge of his world, where you didn’t belong to.

He applied more pressure to your still laced fingers which you gratefully reciprocated, practically clinging to his hand and as Malcolm smiled was his face as warm, as golden and as beautiful as it had been that summer evening when you had figured out that your soulmate was actually an android. Back then he had been coated in the light of the setting summer sun, all of him was covered in gold, his hair, his skin, his eyes, the contrast to his usually cool toned appearance had made you realize that your soulmark was written in Android blue but today it was only Malcolm, bathed in the golden light of the early setting winter sun. An ethereal image, Malcolm, golden, bright and alive.

“As you’ve said”, Malcolm spoke, “right here, right now, this is my moment. You’ve brought me so far, without you I wouldn’t have been able to do it and I think you know, at least I hope so, that I love you. I have said it before, so you should know it—“

You let out a relieved laugh and some of the pressure inside of you subsided, seeing that Malcolm, as you knew him, was still there — rambling and quiet, thoughtful, careful, sometimes a little obnoxious, life-affirming, kind and golden— brought peace to your mind. He may was now also the insightful, deep, dutiful Malcolm, but as you looked closer to his face you understood that it was gold that brought everything about him together. The gold built the bridge between the new wise, heavy Malcolm and the careful, sweet Malcolm. He was wonderful just as he was, always has been and how he had become and a wave of gratefulness washed over your heart that you were the one to witness that growth, that development.

‘If only Mrs Stuart could see you now, she wouldn’t understand, obviously, but she would be so shocked and maybe she would start reconsider her opinion about androids’, you thought by yourself, but out loud you said with a nod: “I know. I love you, too. As you should know as well. And now,”, you smiled, a little bit forced and with a tightly shut mouth, “go! It’s time!”

Only hesitantly you let go of his hand, very slowly, trying to elongate the last moments together, and you could feel that he was just as reluctant as you were and as you finally un-laced your fingers you both lingered for a very brief second in the air, unsure of what to do next, as you quickly pulled your hand to a tight fist, fingernails nearly pressing painfully into your palm, and into the pocket of your coat.

Malcolm put his now free hand as well into his pocket and pulled Olive closer to him, whose hand he had apparently never let go off as you had spoken.

“Thank you”, Olive suddenly said, taking a step closer to you and adding your name, addressing you for the first time directly, “thank you for taking care of Malcolm in a time when I didn’t even knew about soulmates, let alone thinking that I could have one. I promise to take care of him and to protect him with all that have! I know what you mean to him and what he means to you...”

Olive’s smile was the most sincere, kindest and heartfelt that you had ever seen, in an android or an human, with this smile you knew, that everything would be alright.

“Thank you”, you tried to put all of your gratitude into your words, “but please, take care of yourself as well. Please be careful you two! And Malcolm, do everything you can to protect Olive now. Of course I want to see you again, alive and well and happy, but don’t let anything happen to Olive! If I would find Connor, I would never let him go again or let any harm come to him...”

You lost yourself in thoughts, imagining wrapping your arms around a shadowy figure, Connor, and to hold him tightly, feeling an arm snuggling around your waist, leaning into the shadow figure, that you wanted to be Connor...

‘Connor, will I ever find you?’

Snapping back out of your day dream with a shake of your head you saw Malcolm and Olive nod and smile, first at you and then at one another.

And with that they finally turned around back to the street and joined the marching android crowd. You watched them as long as you were able to make out their backs, good thing that Malcolm was so tall and that his honey hair was so bright in the sunlight. Just as they would be swallowed by the crowd any moment, Malcolm turned his head back to you, locked his eyes with yours, even over the distance and smiled. You waved and smiled back and watched him getting pulled into the deep shadows of a building that blocked the sunlight. When you couldn’t make out his hair, his back or Olive anymore you took a few steps back to a bench and sat down. Suddenly you were feeling tired and so, so heavy, but in reality, it was only your heart that was heavy, your body was fit and fine. Not even your feet were cold thanks to some old trusty snow boots.

Only your heart.

But there was no scarf, no hat, no boots, no jacket, no glove that could fight off the icy cold, tight worry in your heart. As warm as your body felt, as heavy and cold felt your heart.

For a moment you leaned back and closed your eyes, the chanting of the androids was now more distant than it had been before and you tried to make out Malcolm’s voice in the choir of voices.

“We are people, we are people, liberty for androids, liberty for androids, set us free, set us free...”

With no destination or place to go you’ve wandered through the streets of Detroit, feeling restless and aimless. Having nothing to do with yourself, hoping to find a kind of distraction, you kept your hands deep in your pockets, while you strolled forwards, down a road that brought you even farther away from the main street, where Malcolm and the other androids marched. You tried not to think too much about them with little success as you’ve spotted a burger truck under a bridge. With nothing better to do, you decided that you could just get lunch as well.

Before the truck were some bar-height bistro tables put up, where people stood and ate their burgers, it was surprisingly busy for such an eventful day, but maybe this day only felt for you like that.

“Hey there, what can I get you?”, asked the guy in the truck with a cheery smile and you messily put together your order with your favorite ingredients for burgers.

You realized that it must been nearly two hours or something since you last spoke to somebody else, as you stumbled through your order, thoughts still far away, being with Malcolm and Olive and all the other androids whose names you didn’t even knew. Your heart clenched painfully together as you wondered where he was now, oh, please, don’t let anything happen to him, you thought or probably prayed to nobody particular.

“Ketchup or mayo?”

“Sorry?”, confused you looked at the burger guy, who waved with two bottles at you.

“You want ketchup or mayonnaise on your burger?”

“Both please, sorry.”

But the guy just shrugged and completed your burger, put it into a box and gave it to you.

“Thanks”, you murmured, thoughts already leaving this place again.

Deciding that you needed to get out of the cold and to watch the news you looked up the nearest train station that would bring you back to your motel room and you went on onto your way again.

Your motel room was small and a little old fashioned, nothing more and nothing less than you would expect from a room like that. But it was warm and clean, it was more than enough.

You had checked in into the room the day before, after you had arrived in Detroit with Malcolm after leaving your workplace hectically and sudden.

Your ‘flight’ out of town had been incredibly unspectacular, after stopping by your parents’ place to get a toothbrush and some clothes for changing for you and Malcolm, you two had taken the train to Detroit.

You both had been incredibly nervous at first, risking quick glances over your shoulders to see if someone was following you and you flinched, when you had heard police sirens in the distance but nobody got close to you. No police car in sight and Malcolm could not spot any suspicious activities by fellow people on the road as he had scanned the environment.

When you reached the train station Malcolm turned to go to the marked area for waiting androids, you kept him back by pulling him close to you by his sleeve.

You shook your head and hoped that nobody had seen the man with the perfect face, they had seen everywhere before, in health care workers, shop assistants, gardeners and construction workers. You crossed your fingers that nobody would actually notice you two, that you would be just another two people going on with their days…

A little look of surprise flitted over his face but then he smiled contently and stood right next to you in the humans’ area, you hooked your arm with his and Malcolm shuffled a little closer to you.

‘People are afraid of publicly shown affection’ you thought, hoping that the people around you would think of you as a regular couple who needs their privacy.

By keeping your arms hooked, you ensured that you could guide Malcolm into the human compartment of the train, as soon as it would arrive.

Malcolm’s old structures stuck with him and were not easy to get rid of, you found out, as the train rolled into the station and Malcolm tried to turn towards the android compartment again.

With a little sad look in his eyes, full of disappointment, Malcolm had followed you to two empty seats and sat down right next to you. You did not dare to speak out loud, not wanting to draw any attention to Malcolm and you but you took his hand and carefully caressed it with your thumb, trying to tell him that everything was alright and he did nothing wrong.

He watched your thumb move over his hand and with a sly little smile he slid his hand out from your touch and instead wrapped his arm around your shoulders, you laughed and leaned your head against his shoulder, he rested his own head on top of yours.

You closed your eyes and listened to the train hissing and swishing on it’s track, to the noises and the buzzing of the people around you and most importantly to the steady thump, thump of Malcolm’s heart and the rushing of his blood. It felt right and human and for a moment you forgot that nothing was right and that he was not human.

You could not see it but Malcolm had his eyes closed as well and looked as peaceful as he had never been before–

“We are now reaching Detroit Central Station, please mind the gap while exiting the train...”

“So it begins...”, with an excited smile you look up to Malcolm who grins carefully back to you and gets up to put his backpack on and to help you with yours.

While you were still on the train you had looked up a place to stay for the night and you had also tried to find some news about the androids with the heterochromatic eyes but you were not successful. You couldn’t actually find some useful information. You promised Malcolm to do more research once you would reach Detroit, someone just had to know something.

Once you had checked into your motel room and had parked your big backpack inside the closet, you two went back on the streets to see if you were able to get some information about the android uprising and a way for Malcolm to be a part of the revolution, on the way you would also get a late lunch.

The information you found were, diplomatically said, low and frustration started to rise in your stomach, as you angrily started to poke the remaining bites of your lunch with a fork, smashing everything down into a nearly paste-like consistency.

“Hey, what did your food do to you?”, a hand closed around yours and you stopped in your movements and you looked up to Malcolm who had amusement clearly written over his face, judging the way his lips twitched and eyes sparkled.

You sighed heavily, grinding your teeth for a moment until you told Malcolm about your frustration and put into words for him how badly you wanted to help him find his people and especially the android with the heterochromia and the soft voice-

“I just want you to be happy and with the people you belong to. You have to celebrate your freedom...”, you ended your explanations and Malcolm softly shook his head.

“Thank you, for caring so much about me that you want to murder your food”, he paused and looked satisfied as you smiled a little.

“I am glad to be here with you now and I am sure that we will find something soon...”

But as this day went on you couldn’t find anything new- instead something changed, when you woke up the next day, after going to bed a little discouraged and restless; something had happened during the night...

In the last night there had been attacks on several CyberLife stores throughout the whole city, the alarm systems had been hacked, surveillance drones deactivated and androids had fled from the stores, but not before they had marked the whole surrounding area with their slogans and symbols, demanding their identity as living beings— you couldn’t blame them for that.

Something that touched you deeply, as you watched the news that morning, were the pictures of a statue in Detroit’s Capitol Park that had been marked as an android, with the triangle on the chest, the LED on the temple and the arm band around the upper arm. The marking was holographic and a little glitchy but in it’s subtlety very bold and powerful. It was blue, the android color that you had grown to love and to look for, wherever you went.

Waking up to such news had been enough to energize you and Malcolm to get out on the streets and to do something. You felt it in the cold winter wind, as you had stepped outside after a quick breakfast in the motel, that something was in the air, something was coming, it just felt right, it felt like you and Malcolm had come to the Detroit at the right time.

It was early noon when you had heard a powerful choir of voices on the main street, where you and Malcolm had been strolling down.

“We are alive! We are alive! No more slavery! No more slavery!”

Breathing out a big sigh, you put down your box with your hamburger and took off your jacket and boots, stretching your feet as you sat down on a small table by the bed and began to unwrap your burger. Remembering how you got there had made your heart so heavy again, worry clouding your mind again.

“Malcolm, I hope you are alright...”, you murmured and picked up a lettuce leaf that had fallen out of your burger bun, munching on it, a little unenthusiastic.

While you picked out an onion ring from the burger you went to look for the TV remote, if something was going on you wanted to know.

You found the remote next to the TV and briefly wondered how old this device would be if it was still used with a remote instead of being voice activated, but you got a clear image, so you couldn’t complain.

Absentmindedly you scratched your right wrist, it was itching a little bit, while zapping through the channels, looking for a news broadcaster, eventually settling with KNC News.

You watched a round of experts sitting together, discussing how the public should react to such a mass demonstration of deviants like it had happened today and if the reaction of the police was justified. Your heart dropped to your knees as they mentioned a violent fight between androids and armed special forces of the Detroit police, after the marching androids had refused to leave the place. Their leader was called Markus, you found out during the talk of the experts, he was the android with the heterochromatic eyes and velvet voice, the one from yesterday’s TV speech, but your thoughts were with Malcolm, you had seen androids getting shot during the fight with the police and you did not know if Malcolm was one of them as the camera had moved too quickly over the scene.

You tried calling him but the connection between your phone and his communication service could not be established- because he is dead, you thought miserably and you gulped, tears prickling in your eyes...

Switching to interviews with bystanders and people on the streets, you listened carefully to what they had to say, some of them seemed to share your opinion about androids, while others wanted them destroyed or nowhere near their families, you sighed deeply again.

It seemed to you that all you did tonight was sighing but you couldn’t help yourself, there was no way out of this mess, you didn’t know if Malcolm was dead or alive or if Olive was alright and Connor- he was somewhere out there and all you did know was that you had no idea how to find him...

“The authorities have ordered all androids to be delivered to the nearest police station or army barracks immediately. If you are worried about your safety, dial the number on your screen and the authorities will come to collect your android. Under no circumstances should you try to destroy your android yourself. They are unpredictable, and potentially violent!”

The voice of a news anchor brought you back into the reality of your motel room.

“From now on is Detroit under curfew, civilians are asked to stay inside their houses until further notice...”

Wow. You didn’t think that this could get even worse but apparently it could and it just did.

“Come on, Malcolm, come on!”, you murmured as you called him again but with no success, just like the 18 times before.

‘What can I do?’, you thought to yourself as you slowly turned the lights in your room off, just having the blueish light of the TV as a light source, and stared outside into the evening. Dusk had fallen by now, it had gotten dark and even colder, and only the snow that was continuously falling brightened the evening a little.

The TV in your back was quietly murmuring but you ignored the voices, they were only repeating themselves by now.

Somehow the TV made the silence around you even louder, you heard your own blood rush through your ears, loud and fast, and you heard the electronic buzzing of the TV itself underneath the voices of the news reporters and interviewers but the streets were screamingly quiet, no voice, no footsteps, no cars.

Maybe there were police sirens in the far distance but you weren’t sure, they could be coming from the TV or from your own mind...

It was eerie and cold, you shivered, you felt your skin tingle and itch all over your body and while you reached for the window handle everything got worse, the tingling and itching intensified, you felt your own heartbeat pulsating under your skin and then came the pain- a stinging, throbbing sensation, a sharp itch and two pulsating heartbeats...

You hissed in pain and quickly breathed out through your mouth, your wrist was burning as if something hot was pressed into it, stumbling over your own feet you quickly turned for the nearest light switch but when you shoved your sleeve up a second later, there was nothing to see, except for your soulmark, bright as always, blue computer fond in contrast to your skin, Connor.

You could later not say why, but you turned around to check the alarm clock on your bed stand, it said 10:40 PM, quickly glancing over to your window, as if you expected to see something but there was still nothing, but the snow, illuminating the dark sky, and falling quietly over the empty ghostly street.

You didn’t even know yourself what you were expecting, or if you had actually expected to see anything, but you sighed again, closing your eyes for a moment, this felt nicer than you had anticipated, your body was tired from the day out in the cold, walking around the streets of Detroit but you weren’t sure if you would actually be able to sleep...

Jerking your eyes open, you frantically looked around, where were you? What happened?

The clock on your night stand said 11:00 PM, so you did sleep a little, and if it only was for 20 minutes. Sighing you let your head fall back into your pillows, everything was alright – somehow…

You shifted a little, rolling onto your side, trying to find sleep again by pulling your duvet up to your shoulders, welcoming the warmth of it…

But only seven minutes had passed when your eyes fluttered open again. Turning to look out of the window you exhaled audibly once more, a part of you had wanted to see daylight when you opened your eyes the next time. Couldn’t this night just be over already?

Closing your eyes once more, this time more resigning, but they shut open again in the next second as you heard your phone ring.

Your tired fingers were shaking a little to accept the call as you grabbed the phone from the bedside next to you, you had kept it close, in case Malcolm would call you back…

“Hello?”, you gasped, pressing the device close to your ear.

“Y/N, it’s me…”

I have found Connor. I have found Connor! I. Have. Found. Connor. I have found Connor…

Malcolm had found Connor!

Stumbling over your own feed while struggling to get out of bed, you put your boots and winter gear back on, trying to be as quick as possible while replaying Malcolm’s last sentence over and over again in your head.

Finally fully clothed again you rushed down onto the streets, calling a taxi on your way down the hallway.

Your breath is rapid, your cheeks are hot and red from excitement and the cold winter air, while your lips and face are pale and you feel a little bit weak and sick in the stomach from sleep deprivation and the stress from the day, but you don’t care. Even as the taxi finally pulls up and you hurry inside and have a wave of dizziness and nausea wash over you, you don’t care. You just take a sip of water from the bottle that you have in your backpack and wait for it to subdue.

Malcom had sent you the coordinates of the refuge that they have found and where also was Connor.

Staring out of the car window into the oddly bright snowy night in an empty city, there was not one single soul out there, you felt your own heart beat throb right under your jawline, anxiety and anticipation made your toes curl and your stomach flutter…

You lost all sense of time, while the taxi drove on its own you wished that you would finally arrive, that the taxi would finally slow down, that you could see Malcolm again, that you could meet, and you did not even know how to feel about that as you corrected yourself, that you will meet Connor soon…

But as the taxi did slow down and came to an halt eventually, would you have given everything to make the way longer, to make the taxi drive longer. Your stomach fluttered and twisted in every emotion you had ever felt, excitement, anticipation, anxiety, fear, nausea and with the thrill of the moment.

It electricized you, it made your skin tingle and made your heart beat fast, you didn’t think and exited the taxi as you spotted Malcolm leaning in the doorway of what seemed to be an old church.

You smiled at him, just the sight of him being alive and well, as far as you could tell from the distance, was enough to already ease your nerves and to slow down your frantic heart a little bit.

Malcolm took two big steps over the sidewalk to you, while cautiously looking down the empty street to his left and right side and you met him in the middle.

“Are you alright?”, you asked, reaching out to grab his face but he caught your hands in his own, gently squeezed them and shook his head.

“Not here, we aren’t sure if we are being followed, soldiers are everywhere in the city, come inside!”

“Oh, okay”, instinctively you looked back over your shoulder but the street was still as empty as it had been before. Malcolm took your hand and led you inside, you cling onto his hand and thank no one in particular, that he is still here, that you can feel his fingers laced with yours.

Once inside what is indeed an old church, he turns to you, smiles and you open your arms and this time he lets you touch him, hug him. His arms wrap tightly around you, just as you press your face into his chest.

“I am glad, that you’re alive…”, you murmur against the fabric of his jacket as you spot a dark blue mark on his shoulder and you can’t help but gasp.

“Were you hurt?”, you ask, loosening your grab around him to get a better look at his shoulder.

But Malcolm shook his head and smiled lightly.

“It’s nothing, it stopped bleeding soon and I also got some fresh thirium at Jericho to make it heal faster.”

“Jericho?”, you ask and spot another mark on his jacket and you aren’t sure if it’s dried blue or red blood but you decide not to mention it.

“Jericho was an old freighter that deviants before us had found to find shelter and where we went after the fight on the main street but it got raided by the army later the same evening and was blown up. Olive and I escaped by using one of the old emergency exits that led directly to the pier.

We then helped other deviants out of the water, who had jumped into the Detroit river to save themselves”, Malcolm paused his explanation for a moment and his eyes wandered over to the nave of the church, to settle on a point in the shadows.

You followed his eyes but you only saw faint shimmers of blue coming from many androids, sitting and standing on the benches and the side walls of the hall.

“I think it is time for you to meet someone”, Malcolm smirked and you had never seen him smirk before, it was a strange view, he even seemed to be very self-satisfied with himself…

Something washed over you and you only could call it stage fright, adrenaline making you feel fuzzy and shaky inside and made your tummy twist and turn, breathing got suddenly harder and your heart felt very much alive, anticipation and a kind of exhilaration made you unruly and wobbly on your legs.

“Come on then!”, encouraged you Malcolm excitedly, still smirking, and grabbed your hand.

You gratefully took it and concentrated on his fingers around yours, you didn’t know what would happen next and it drove you insane. Your insides wouldn’t calm down and you weren’t sure how long you would make it like that, especially because you did not really trust your feet as well.

Your shallow breaths would quickly lead to hyperventilation if you continued focusing on them, so you concentrated on the pressure of Malcolm’s hand in yours. Breathing is overrated anyways.

Malcolm led you to the far back of the church’s nave and your eyes darted back and forth through the room, somewhere in here was Connor and the thought made your stomach curl even worse than before.

You saw many androids, some of them a picture of misery, missing limps, blue wounds, bodies splattered with red, and empty eyes, but some seemed to be in a quite a good shape. You even saw children, you had never really understood why someone would want a child android, who would never grow up, who would never change but seeing a little girl huddled close to a woman now, who you suspected to be an android as well, she didn’t wear any android signs, made your unruly heart warm for a moment. You hoped that everything would turn out good, especially for them, somehow you felt a wave of connection to these two people sitting on one of the cold benches, it was as if you knew them somehow, as if you would have been a part of their struggles and their journey, but this wasn’t possible, you didn’t even knew their names…

Your eyes wandered away from the little family, looking for Connor again, as Malcolm tugged at your hand and nodded towards a surprisingly lit corner, where someone stood, head kept low, eyes glued to the ground, arms wrapped around themselves, dressed in a leather jacket, jeans and a beanie– and for the span of a heartbeat, the world stopped moving.

Connor.

Everything stood still– as the sounds came crashing in again. They were everywhere at once, all around you, and so much crispier than before. Your steps on the old concrete, the wind in the broken windows, the whispered echoing conversations from the androids around you, a distant flutter of wings somewhere, a hoarse bird call and the silence of the snow outside on the streets, everything was crystal clear and very much alive.

With the sounds came the colours back to life, but they were more vibrant than before.

You could breathe again. The world was as energetic as you had never seen or experienced it before, everything fell into place, all by itself, the puzzle pieces started to merge together and you took broader steps forward, letting go of Malcolm’s hand, getting closer to him, Connor, your soulmate.

‘Right here, right now’, you thought, it felt so right, everything had led to this, you were sure, you felt a peace and certainty inside of you as you had never felt it before. This was it. This was the moment you had never thought would come.

A new wave of excitement washed over you but this time it wasn’t full of anxiety, instead it was filled with the sight of your soulmate, your actual soulmate, you stood in front of your soulmate!

Your heart had never felt so full and warm and big and the child without a soulmate, the lost little human girl inside of your very soul bawled, as you slowly got nearer to him.

“Connor.”

He looked up to you and you looked into his eyes, big and brown and beautiful, and you knew that a journey, a search, a dream, a hidden truth, a heavy secret, was finally over and done.

Preview

Next on “Puzzle Pieces”!

„Connor.“

A voice, unfamiliar but incredible soothing to him, had called him.

He looked up and met with the most beautiful pair of eyes he had ever seen.

He blinked once, she was still there, looking at him with big eyes and a slightly opened mouth, half a look of surprise and half a look of adoration in her face.

It was beautiful, she was beautiful.

And everything felt so right.

And everything was so easy for once.

Connor whispered her name, the name he knew because it was written in red on his wrist, the name that Malcolm had used.

He said her name again, this time louder. “It is you, isn’t it?”

She nodded and smiled widely, teeth showing, her glossy wet glittering eyes shone from happiness.

“Yes, that’s me!”, the words nearly tumbled out of her mouth, stumbling over themselves, a small airless sob escaped her chest and Connor saw how her hands quivered from adrenaline.

“Can I see it?”, she asked, still a little breathless and gestured towards his hands.

“The soulmark? Yes, yes, of course”, he saw how heated she was, how her body, her human body, reacted to him and his mere presence and he wished that his body could react as her’s did.

But there was no racing heart, no shaky fingers or fought back tears of happiness, there was only peace. The calm after the storm or maybe the eye of the storm, it didn’t matter. It was her and the peace she had brought. She was the warm, red spark of life, wild, untameable and everywhere at once, the beginning and the end and he was the blue, cool strength, the base, stability and protection of the precious pulsing life. Hey maybe did not experience their first meeting the way she did but it didn’t matter, because they fit together. It felt natural, human and android, blue blood and red heart, red blood and blue heart, united at last.

Connor pushed the sleeve of his jacket and shirt up and revealed his wrist.

~*~

“I wish that I could be selfish and tell you not to go to the Cyberlife headquarters, I don’t want to lose you. I just found you...”

You couldn’t get enough of Connor’s face, fascinated by his brown eyes, dotted with blacks and golds, you adored the curves of his lips and the little curl that sat on his forehead, loosening his well-kept attire, you came even closer to his face, you were pulled towards him like a magnet and now you could see the small moles and freckles on his cheeks and nose and forehead.

A smile made his brown eyes glitter even warmer than before as he gazed down into your own eyes and you smiled up at him, but not being able to hide your worry.

He whispered your name encouraging and you couldn’t help to shiver at that sound as Connor stroke your cheek tenderly and you could feel your skin tingle, where he touched you.

“Don’t worry, I promise to come back to you! You’ve waited long enough for your soulmate and I don’t plan on disappointing you- because, you know, I always accomplish my missions!”

~*~

You stood in front of the camps, eyes glued to the makeshift stage, where Markus stood and celebrated their victory with an emotional and thrilling speech, as you saw Connor move. Your breath stuck in your lungs as you saw him raise a gun— CONNOR, NO! Your soundless scream went unheard in the bright ice-cold snowy night.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

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#detroit being human #dbh fanfic #Detroit become human fanfiction #connor x reader #rk800 x reader #rk800 connor #readerinsert #soulmate #soulmate au #Detroit become human readerinsert #Kara cameo #Kara #markus #kara detroit become human #markus detroit become human #puzzle pieces

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