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starprin101 · 3 years

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Soundscream Week:

Day 3: Longing

(Just a warning: mentions of interfacing, for those of you who are squeamish about it. Nothing graphic, but I indulged myself because I thought, who cares?)

Starscream is a manipulator.

When Starscream wants something, he'll do whatever it takes to get it. And absolutely not being a bot of action, he'll usually talk his way into getting it. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't. But one way or another, it always leaves a lasting impression that acted up the next time he talks to you.

He'd always had this way with words. When he spoke, yes, it was annoying, but there was something in it. Something that would put you in a sort of trance. His actual words fall on deaf ears, because you would just block out everything but the sound of his voice. And by the end of the conversation, or many after, Starscream has probably convinced you to make what should be the biggest mistake of your life.

Or maybe that was just Soundwave.

Starscream is a liar.

That's just what he does. He'll say anything to get himself out of unfortunate situations. He'll blame anyone, innocent or otherwise, to shift the blame. He'll make empty promises that fool you into trusting him.

Or maybe that was just Soundwave.

Starscream is a coward.

When a situation was bad, and all cards were off the table, Starscream will cower and beg for forgiveness. He'll promise, once again lying, to fix the situation. And when he's done something and no one's there to witness it, he'll walk away and pretend nothing has happened and never speak of it again.

Or maybe that was just Soundwave.

Starscream is a manipulator, a liar and a coward. Those are his most defining qualities. Every single time, it was the exact same order. That's what made him predictable. And when Soundwave found him killing his leader, those qualities came into action. It should have been predictable to Soundwave, but, unknown to him, he had fallen under Starscream's finest quality.

He manipulated him.

All those conversations they had, all those times Starscream had smooth talked him and he never realised it. He should have, this is Starscream. But he allowed himself to lower his guard, just slightly, and tried trusting him. And the scene before him had successfully shattered that.

He lied to him.

He'd told him he was trying to help and, unsubtly, shifted the blame to Knockout. He almost believed him. Almost. But he gave himself a wake up call. And it just made him mad.

He was a coward.

Starscream cowered against the wall, gave a last few fruitless attempts at saving his spark- then said something that threw him off.

"-A-and also, possibly, for the incident-" he stopped talking and Soundwave froze.

The Incident. Also known, between the two of them only, as Starscream's Rut.

A week before Lord Megatron came back from his journey. A seemingly normal day. Everyone did their duties as per usual. The only abnormality of the day was Starscream was nowhere to be found.

Soundwave was working overtime, and finally disabled the console when the first warning for low fuel appeared on his HUD. He turned around, and there was Starscream standing at the entrance. His plating rattled, his servo left dents where he was holding the door frame, his fans were obviously flared wide open due to the sound of rushing air, his EM field was flaring wildly and angrily. He had a hungry look in his optic, and it was pointedly glared at him.

"You..."

He ran and pushed Soundwave back into the console, he slammed his hands down and towered over the TIC. "You... you y-you..."

Soundwave shot an angry burst of feedback, then wriggled and tried to push him away. It was obvious what his condition was, and he wanted no part in it.

"Starscream- leave me and- use the drones instead." He played using different recordings, but Starscream made no move to leave. Soundwave could easily fight him off, he just had to put into consideration that if he harmed Starscream in any he would be very upset about it after. And then he leant toward his audio receptor and whispered: "You... you are wonderful."

...

...what?

"You're... extravagant."

What is happening?

Starscream caressed his claws along Soundwave's sides, making him shiver, then rested them on his hips. He just nuzzled his neck and kept complimenting him, and it was so bizarrely out of character and he didn't know what to do.

At some point he was lifted onto the console and Starscream started biting and pulling at cables. His vents hitched. Should he be fighting back? That was the logical move, but did he want to? Frag if he knew. He should. He absolutely should! But...

The attention to his cables actually felt really nice, and his spark fluttered everytime Starscream called him beautiful, and elegant, and mystifying...

Everyone has an ego, even Soundwave. And if Starscream wasn't a miracle worker at stroking them the right way...

It wouldn't be such a bad thing, would it?

"I want you..." Starscream growled and tightened his grip, slowly losing control of himself. Soundwave shook, gripping the edge of the console.

"I need you..." he placed open mouthed kisses along his jaw. "To be mine."

I mean, nothing could go wrong out of this, right?

"Soundwave... let me take you..." He stopped moving, other than shaking harder. He was waiting for his response. And all Soundwave did was wrap his arms and legs around him.

The rest was lost in oblivion.

The next day Starscream continued as normal, and he never spoke of it again. Soundwave couldn't believe him. What he did was atrocious. It was demeaning.

And Primus he wanted more.

For the rest of that week, Soundwave was aching everywhere and he couldn't work at the console without getting aroused.

He longed for more.

He craved it.

And so he was gonna find a way to get it.

And for this he decided to pull a "Starscream": get close to him, make him feel important, pretend to trust him and accidentally do, and the rest of the time you pretty much just wing it until he trusts you enough that you can make the first proper move. Basically manipulation but nicer. Convincing him.

It started out like that.

But after that first flying session, he actually started enjoying his company. He slowly started seeing a different side to him. He was more open than he used to be. Open and vulnerable. He probably didn't even realise he was.

It was... it was nice. Being unknowingly trusted with something like that.

And then he tried to kill Megatron.

He was just going to rough him up then leave, like Megatron usually did. But Screamer practically begged for a compromise like the coward he is, and he wasn't in the mood for fighting anyway, so he just agreed and left. Only afterwards did he actually think about the gift he was just given.

A favour.

He could do anything with that.

He could make Starscream step down as Second in command. He could make him do his dirty work. He could make him go out and make an absolute fool of himself.

So many possibilities.

And obviously he's gonna use it for the one thing he truly desires.

Yes, it wasn't the most practical decision. But after careful debation and admitting he wouldn't use it for anything else, he confronted Starscream and cashed in his favour.

"You want me to WHAT!?" He screeched, then continued to stutter nonsense while Soundwave just stood silently. Starscream was tripping over himself and it was hilarious. He had to savour it.

But it didn't last long.

His tentacles cycled out and they slithered toward Starscream, two of them holding his wings and, with a little pressure, scraped down the edges. He immediately stopped talking and stared wearily at them. He just continued the action and added gentle pets along the rest of his body, gently coaxing him. He wasn't trying to force it.

Starscream looked at him and raised an optical ridge. "You really want this?" His only response were the tentacles moving to wrap around him. A small smirk, and he stepped closer.

"Well, I suppose a favour is a favour." He held Soundwave's hips and pulled him closer, the tentacles completely wrapped around them. Starscream leaned in and whispered "Am I that good?", successfully making him shiver.

He knew he shouldn't trust Starscream, Or allow himself to be in such a vulnerable state around him, but that was what made last time as good as it was. He'd lost complete control and it was wonderful.

He longed for this.

Now Soundwave was finally gonna have it.

#this isn't as good as I'd hoped #but like it's out there now #transformers #transformers prime #Starscream #Soundwave #Soundscream #soundstar

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kiaraspeaks · 3 years

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Anansi x Female!Reader: In a flash we'll meet again.

You hope that he understands one day, his father is a complicated man. Man? That's a stretch of the imagination right there. You loved Anansi, loved him more than anything and anyone else in the world, besides Charlie, but, you couldn't stay with him. Children only are able to see what you put in front of them, and Anansi painted just enough of a vision of himself to hide his world from your child. Children. What a fucking mess that is. There are days that you wished that you hadn't met him but that's a pointless line of thought, Anansi desired you, to know you, to have Charlie, long before any war. He may have driven you up a wall at one point but he was family, and you knew that despite any differences when you called he would always come.

After all that's how you met, you weren't trying to summon a God. But praying for somebody, anybody, to stop this man chatting you up in the bar. You came for a quick drink at Randy's Divebar, Anansi materialized nearby (or perhaps he was waiting in the wings the whole time, just waiting, as he had done your entire life) what might be a hideous green and yellow floral pattern worked for him, long lean lines that might make someone else seem imposing made him even more inviting despite the man yammering on and on about himself.

"Bothering you?" He said, he inhaled on the cigarette and blew smoke into the face of the man hassling you. Whichever meathead that was hassling you didn't take kindly to it, but Anansi didn't care, had never cared, didn't care that he was thinner and obviously more breakable. He out maneuvered everyone before ever setting foot in any room, that included you too. "Move."

"Or what?" They said, he'd been hunched over you for the better part of the night but he was standing up rod straight and cutting an imposing figure. First, Anansi smiled, something you learned much later masks more pain and irritation than any human body could tolerate. Next, he picked up his glass and drained it and turned it over in his hands a few times. You heard it, the sound of the glass shattering, the crunching of the bones in his face, and finally saw the mess of the meathead's face. They ran out screaming, bleeding and crying. You should've been positively frightened but you weren't. Not even as Anansi plucked glass out of hands and tossed it into the drink of the man who had annoyed you.

"That wasn't necessary." You said and nursed your drink. The bartender didn't say anything, clearly they had some type of understanding. They moved further down to tend to other customers.

"Maybe so," He said, the cigarette perched perfectly in the corner of his mouth. He pulled out the splintered shards of glass like it didn't hurt, the blood didn't bother him. He raised his bloody hand and signaled for two drinks. "But it was fun."

"For you."

"Well maybe I'll have to work harder to impress you next time." He said.

"What makes you think there will be a next time, and why would you try?" You said, he smirked, didn't smile. His smirks were harmless, adorable, thoughtful. It's dangerous to know a God so closely. You would call it fate, but Anansi hated such words. After all he thought the only stories that were written in stone were penned by him.

"You're Mr. Nancy's girl, why not try?"

"And who is Mr. Nancy?" You asked, two drinks are placed between you both and then a small container of gauze. Anansi grabbed the gauze and one of the drinks, he poured the liquor over his wounded hand and allowed it to drip perfectly into the glass with the bloody shards. He doesn't wince, sigh or suck in deep breaths of air as the booze washes over his wounds.

"Someone important, snappy dresser, charming, and I hear that he might even be single."

"If I'm his girl how is he single?" You asked,he wrapped his hand with an ease that told he got into these types of scuffles often. Again, you learn Anansi doesn't take on any war that isn't already won, that includes your heart.

"Well that sounds like a proposal if I ever heard one." He said.

"You're Mr. Nancy?"

"My friends call me Mr. Nancy, but you, you can call me whatever you want."

"What's your name?" You asked. Another charming smirk, no madness in the eyes, he tapped the growing mountain of ash into the glass with the shards and the blood and tainted alcohol, he killed the light on the cigarette and topped .

"Have dinner with me and I will tell you." He said.

"You don't even know me, Mr. Nancy."

"Well, I want to get to know you, otherwise we wouldn't still be having this conversation." He said, "Do you want to get to know me?"

"I think so." You said, he held out his undamaged hand to you and you shook it.

"My name is Anansi, and it's wonderful to finally meet you." He said and bowed his head and kissed your hand, and when he asks your name you tell him. You don't know it then but you love him, someone so in love with who you are, starting with your name and every other story that you're apart of. You expected dinner much later, perhaps in a couple days but it didn't take much prodding to get you out. Randy's food at the divebar wasn't very good and you didn't feel like fiddling with the oven tonight.

----

You wished that you could properly explain to your son that his father was a God and that made him half and if he chose have kids that would make them a fraction and yet with all the potential of full Gods. There just never is enough time and never a correct way. Even you struggle at times, Anansi appears to just be a man, impeccably dressed, always on time, and two steps ahead at any given time. You had time to walk away, if anyone could imagine doing such a thing, but you knew something was diffferent, something was wrong. Anansi warned you that he got mixed up with some bad people, that bad times might be coming eventually, gave you time to leave, time to ask questions. Maybe you didn't want to know, perhaps you thought you already knew, you suspected he was a criminal but never a God.

Sometimes he's in two places at once, some times things fall to the floor, teleport across the room, but there are times when he is so far removed from you, nothing can bring him back from that place. You were tired of being ignored, once upon a time being Nancy's girl meant something but now it meant going to bed alone and waking up alone, sometimes with Anansi having not moved from his spot in a chair at all. You came in, surprised he wasn't in a haze, he seemed to be waiting on you.

"You're late." He said. An observation and an accusation. You weren't cheating on him, you could, there were so many who wanted you and yet here you were...alone in your own relationship. The perks of being Nancy's girl.

"So." You said, he went days at a time in the same household and yet not saying a word. How dare he get up for going one night without seeing you. You'd met up with co-worker, Higgler, went out for drinks. No harm in that.

"I waited."

"I didn't ask you to do that."

"I must be confused," He said and stood up and walked into the the kitchen and came to stand beside you. "Is something wrong?"

"No, you tell me, Anansi."

"Are you drunk?" He asked, yes, you were but that wasn't why this was happening. This conversation was begging to be had for a while now.

"Does it matter? Would you even care?"

"I care. Of course I care." He said, then said your name softly and pulled you into his arms. You stay still for a moment but it's hard to resist him, always has been since the moment you met him.

"Why won't you just talk to me?" You asked softly into his chest.

"Would you believe me if I told you?"

"You've never struggled with being convincing before." You said and looked up at him. Then he smiled at you, looked through you and then pulled away.

"Take a seat."

"What's wrong?"

"I'm about to tell you who I am and you should probably sit down." He said, so you do and he does tell you. Your head doesn't split open and you don't die but initially you think he's lying. He can't be a God! He just can't be! It's your human nature to emphatically deny what you don't understand.

It takes more than him politely explaining who and what he was. He sighed heavily and walked away from you. He stood in the center of the kitchen and raised one hand and touched the ceiling and flattened it, then his other hand and used his weight to pivot and climb the ceiling. If that wasn't enough, his forehead was lined with eyes and large fangs extended from his mouth. A birth defect? A disability, possibly. He can see this is a lot and came to sit at his feet.

“This can be a lot for most people.” He said.

“I’m not most people.” You said.

“I know, that’s why I chose you.” You looked down at him and took the cigarette from his hand and he lit it for you.

“What type of God are you?” You ask after a long while, you go through two more cigarettes before you feel steady enough.

“Jack of all trades.” He said. “The people need to be safe and laugh.”

“You make them all laugh?”

“I can change the story but not completely remove it, important parts have to stick. Humans are sticky and linked to one another, I can only ease the journey.” He said. “Wisdom in the form of entertainment has been easiest, you know it’s hard to tell a stupid motherfucker they’re doing something wrong.”

“Are you apart of my story?”

‘Do you want me to be?” He asked, you stand up and he doesn’t look away. Perhaps, reflecting during these final moments you see what it is. Blind faith. He believed in you. Despite him hating fate, kismet, whatever you wanted to call it, he always knew you’d choose him. Like a good book, you’d always return, even if there was an entire ocean separating you. If you couldn’t then he’d come to you. He couldn’t unmake himself a God, much like your boy won’t be able to burn away that part that calls out and sings so sweetly. You held out your hands to him and he took them.

“How long can you stick to the roof?”

“It’s not a party trick.” He said and wrapped his arms around you, holding you tight and spinning around with you. When he placed you back down you were standing in the bedroom.

“Says who, spiderman?” You asked and you both laugh. It’s a period of adjustment like nearly everything in your life.

----

You ultmately wish for your boy to understand that everything has a sunrise and sunset. You loved Anansi inspite of every red flag you ever saw crop up, and there came a time where loving and being in love wasn't enough. He was your husband, your best friend and beacuse of that you came to a proper agreement. A moment would come when this world and this war was too dangerous. Your boy, charlie, loathed his father because they were too much alike, both parading around in facades, both busybodies in the worst ways, both too damned pigheaded to say what was on their mind truly at times.

"So you're going to leave?" He asked, it was one of the dumbest thing you'd heard him say. You were finally debased to obvious observations, he was always so well spoken and right now he was holding up a wall watching you in your living room. You'd moved from Chicago to Florida, created a life for one another, brought a child into the world, spoke truth into the world only to watch it crumble away partly due to an invisible war you never saw and the fact Anansi spent more times chasing stories than keeping you happy. Those stories always came in many faces, younger, healthier, livelier people who seemed so different from you.

"Bags are packed. This is where we should leave things."

"You're being very cordial about this."

"And you're smiling, are you happy about this too?" You said and pointed out, he ran his tongue over his teeth and tried to remove the smile but failed. He was angry, but so were you for so many reasons you'd never share. If he loved stories so much he could keep up with them without embarassing his son every forty five minutes and neglecting his wife, he'd always be a God and you'd always be a human who might have bit off more than she could chew. Charlie was a God too, no matter how shy and withdrawn he'd became.

"I know what you're thinking." He said and slid his hands into his pcokets.

"I assure you don't." You said, "Maybe in another time but I can't--"

"Can't what?"

"Can't play second fiddle forever to whatever story you're chasing." You said, "Not for you or for any man."

"Maybe not a man, but a God?" He asked. He pushed off the wall and walked over to you. After years together charm wears off, the butterflies die but familiarity never changes. Falling into step has become second nature, you are so far from the young woman impressed by the cool headed man with brute strength who won every battle before he ever picked an arena. "I know you think you're making the right choice."

"And what do you think?" You asked, "And I want you to really tell me, no cheating, no looking into the future."

"I think that no matter where you go, all you have to do is call and I'll come."

"You'll have three more people moved in before the end of the week." You said, you need to say it so that you know this is really over.

"Doesn't make it any less true." He said and you hold out your hand to him.

"When I'm gone, promise you'll be here for him, he'll need you." You said, he took your hand and dropped down onto one knee and kissed the back of it.

"I'll do my best."

"That's all I can ask for." You said and placed your hand on the top of his head and then pulled away and lifted up your last bag and started towards the door. "If I ever call...it will be to say goodbye."

"So this isn't goodbye." He said and teleported beside the door.

"No, this is just farewell for now." You said and walked out. You don't look back, you don't need to, you don't know exactly what binds him here but hopes he finds something to free himself.

----

You hope one day he understands that his father is not a man and will never behave like one. He doesn't have to, he's not even bound to this planet let alone it's rules, but you hope one day that Fat Charlie realizes he is so much more than just a man and to live the life he really wants to. You can feel when the life starts to leave you and you want all your affairs in order. You move across the country and then out of the country and Charlie followed. He grew bitter and irritated with his father seeing his flambouyant and exuberant personality as a flaw instead of something to carve out in himself. You don't expect cancer to take you, but you've lived a full life and hope Charlie does the same.

You don't expect Anansi to actually show, you don't expect the band, or the kiss that would knock you off your feet if you weren't already in bed plugged up to machines. The nurses enjoy the change in pace and so does Christine, your roommate. Anansi is lively and brings a bottle to celebrate your new change in life, or so he calls it that.

"I'm sick." You said, "I'm dying."

"You're all dying, but it's not a bad thing, and I'm right here, like I promised."

"Still a man of your word down to the parade." You said, you thought the times you got drunk and waxed poetic he hadn't paid attention. You were glad some things hadn't slipped through the cracks. "Talk to Charlie?"

"No, no, you know how he is. Always on about something."

"He's your son and when I'm gone he's all the family you got left."

"You consider yourself family?"

"You wouldn't cross an ocean for no reason." You said. He slid his chair closer, placing his hand over yours.

"You look good." He said, he's older now, or that's what he wants you to think. A little sag here, a bit more hunched over. You've watched him shift his entire body to fit his agenda, this is no different.

"I'm old and bald, Mr. Nancy." You said,

"Call me Anansi."

"Or whatever I want, right?"

"Right." He said and laughed. "But you look good regardless of what you've got. If you could do anything, what would you do?"

"Besides live?"

"Yes, besides that." He said and held your hand in his. His hands have grown harder, rougher. Less story telling, more fighting, much more hard work than he ever should've been used to.

"I want to travel, really see the world, you know I always talk about it but things got in the way, and then Charlie came and I couldn't just take off."

"Yeah, I think I'd lead that boy to an early grave." He said and you both laugh together. A hearty laugh that you didn't know you needed. "Well let me get some things in order first and you'll have it."

"Look, Anansi--"

"You're Nancy's girl, right? You'll have what you need." He said, and you believe him. A spinner of tales he might be but never a liar, at least when it came to you. "Say it."

"I'm too old for this shit."

"No, I'm too old for this. You're exactly where you're supposed to be." He said and you smile, it's been so long since you've done that, you've done more smiling now than you have in the last couple of years. "Say it."

"Say what?"

"You're Nancy's girl."

"I'm your girl." You said and smile again, you mean it, after all these damn years away from him, only an hour together and you've fell back into patterns.

"Kiss on it?" He asked, ever the slick and sly trickster. It has been many years since you've kissed him, it's not just flesh to flesh, he can pour something into you that you didn't know you needed.

"If that's why you came then sure."

"No not the only reason but you know you got what'll make a man sell his soul to the devil and cross the sea." He said, he stood up and leaned over you, not making you work too hard. He leaned on the button helping you lean back and pressed his lips to yours, tilting your head up. You feel it, a tingle, something that starts to brighten and jump to life inside you. You are not a spring chicken anymore, but he makes parts of you spring to life as if you were in the first bloom of your life. "Damn, girl."

"What are you on about?" You asked.

"Nothing, you called, I came, like I told you I would. I've got to get back before anyone knows I'm missing."

"Don't forget to say goodbye to your son."

"Oh, I won't." He said and raised your hand up one final time and kissed the back of it. You watch him go and know you'll see him again but you won't be among the living, this is your last time. You are unsurprised when your tests come back negative and you're discharged. The cancer is gone, dead within seconds, and when you return home you find plane tickets waiting on your counter. Anansi is more than a man and that's okay, you hope Fat Charlie sees that.

-----

You are dead. You know that. You hope Charlie can learn to forgive his father for being so boisterous, larger than life and embarassing, but he is his father's child and it is hard for them to see eye to eye on any damn thing. You rise from the hotel bed and walk over to the balcony and you wait for him because you know he's going to come, or you're going to find him. The land of the dead is silent, there are others, you can see them walking about, playing in the park, running with their dogs, kissing and holding hands, going on strolls. For a moment you think you won't see him, you leave, no need to gather your things, you won't need them.

Anansi once told you about the after life, about what may or may not await you depending on which road you walked. You knew he said he'd never be far behind and you believe that, you believe in him. You step out of the hotel, turn right and walk, going purely on intuition, the hotels and beach towns wash away, through the forests you continue, climb the necessary hills. As you come upon a different world you note your knees don't hurt, your feet don't ache and neither does your back. At the top of a hill is a cave, you pass through the mouth of it and felt something shake and shimmer over you as you enter the room.

It is a large single room, a grate pit in the center of the room surrounded by cushions. There are portraits on the orange walls and shadows dance about the room, you're sure exactly from where. He is laying back on the cushions, his head is pillowed on his arm and staring up at you. He is different, more himself, his true self. His hair is longer, and he has many eyes that line his forehead, and many arms that line his torso. He has a book hand, is weaving with another and waving from a completely different hand.

"You found me." He said.

"For now, I don't think I can stay here, can I?" You asked.

"Not the end of your journey, I'm afraid. Soul like yours comes around once in every few flashes."

"Flashes?"

"It's complicated. You'll learn. All afterlifes are the same in one way or another."

"How much time do we?"

"Oh, as much as you want." He said and dug between the cushions and held a bag of sand. "Sand of times, snatched it off some kid on the way home. Felt like we'd need some time together."

"For what?"

"Whatever you want."

"And Charlie?"

"He'll be fine, smart kid with a good head on his shoulders." He said, he pushed himself up and kept tossing the bag up in the air.

"Tell me what you did when I left." She said.

"Now that is a story..." He said, you walked over to him and the things he semed to be doing to keep himself busy disappeared. He welcomed you with open arms, when you wrap your arms around him the room changes with a snap. You are back in the bar you met in, you pull away and look up. Yes. This is Randy's. Same dumpy dive bar where he inserted himself in your life and you let him. He walked away and over to the bar and picked up the glass of bloodied glass shards, tainted alcohol and ash from his cigarette.

"WHat's is this about?" You asked. He picked up the second glass and poured it into the concoction.

"Drink it."

"You think I'm crazy?"

"You trust me, right?" He said and held it out to you, "Besides, you're already dead."

"There's so much worse you can do."

"Says who?"

"Says whoever you snatched that sand from." You said.

"Touche." He said, but you drink it anyway. A drink. A potion. Whatever it is it makes your head spin, you feel whatever entity you are shift and turn inside out and the sound from Randys came back but it was different. Not a dusty dive bar but the scent of it is still the same and so is the chipped bar. You and Anansi stood at the back of the crowded bar, someone at the front was tearing it up on a saxophone.

"I made arrangements." Anansi said.

"For?"

"Our boy." He said, and yes, why it is Charlie but he's different. Alive in a way you could never put your finger on as his mother. But you see it, at his core, what makes him a God and a man and they're not at war with one another.

"True to your word, why does that make me feel like we're coming to the end of our journey?"

"We'll meet again, a soul like yours, shines too bright." He said. You nod your head in agreement, you sip the drink again and feel yourself start to break and shift. Charlie climbs down from the makeshift stage and tries to part the crowd, but you are dust in the wind.

Blood.

Glass.

Liquor.

Ash.

----

You are flesh, bone and free will, but you do not have direction. Perhaps that's why you hover here at Mausoleum of the fallen. The entities that are sculpted here are beautiful some made of marble, others onyx, you walk by and sense that you are not alone. You know you are a flash, a shift in the cosmic energy and a rarity, you will continue to hide amongst of the morals, walk between the worlds of Gods and mortals....and then there they are far in the back of the Mausoleum.

"What are you?" You asked.

"Choice." They said, the God walked out, impeccably dressed, "Always on time, I see."

"I don't understand."

"You will."

"Gods have never come to meet me before."

"This is different and I'm not just any God," He said.

"How many flashes have we suffered one another?" You asked, you're not sure but instinct in not something you need to find. This multi-eyed creatures stares at you with fondness.

"Seventeen."

"That is not chance, that is planned." You said.

"Yes."

"Why is this different?" You asked, They held up a tumbler of alcohol with ash and glass shards floating in it. You look away back to the statues, there are handfuls of Gods that are necessary, some haven't been seen in eons, they play it fast and loose and are wild cards. You wonder which one he'll be.

"Just is." He said, you have no reason not to trust him despite being gifted with these instincts. You reach for the tumbler but he pulled it back away from you. "The past couple times I meddled but now you have a chance, a real chance."

"You don't think I'll choose you." You said and tilted your head to the side to study them. "Even though you chose me all these cycles."

"The last cycle was different, you walked away, for good, only called when you were about to die."

"And so you wanted to know that now I'd choose you."

"Yes."

"Fascinating."

"How so?" He sked.

"Even Gods, in all your wisdom and knowledge, have your insecurities."

"We invented them, mortals just inherit them."

"Now what will we do afterward?" You asked, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a bag full of sand.

"We have time to figure that out." He said and this time when you reach for the glass he allows you to take it. You drink it down down, swallowing the glass and ash and tainted alcohol, with each swallow you remember a different life, a different flash, eons of you doing this dance with him, each time you're different, the circumstances are different but the last time is by far the most daunting. Charlie. Oh, how many years has it been? Did your baby boy live well? "How do you feel?"

"Cold." You said and looked down and noticed you were naked. "I bet you think this is funny."

"Only in a cosmic way."

"Is Charlie--"

"He's fine, he's fine. Two wives, three kids, a bar. Living the dream." He said and shrugged out of his jacket and draped it over your shoulder. "We have time to catch up on him later, I've missed you."

"What do you want to do?"

"Lets go to a club, I need to stretch my legs."

"Which ones?" You said and then scoffed as you followed him out of the afterlife. You weren't sure where you were going but you trusted him enough, had trusted him after thousands of rebirths, what was so different this time? For so long you two had been together, maybe now you could stay together without the cruel hand of fate intervening. As you reached the portal you thought of one last thing. "Whatever happened to that war?"

"Oh. I ate the people that were pissing me off.. " He said.

"You're kidding."

"Only a little." He said. "No worries, no war this time, just you and me."

"The way it's supposed to be."

"The way it's always been."

#Mr. Nancy #Anansi #Anansi x Reader #Mr. Nancy x Reader #ag fic #ag

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candy--heart · 4 years

Link

If we nominate a candidate plagued by a litany of disqualifying issues, Trump will win. We can’t make that mistake again.

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

JOE BIDEN

has been personally involved in nearly every bad policy decision of the last 50 years. Currently coasting on name recognition and association with Obama, he can only go down from here as people realize he is more comparable to Trump than he is to anyone else. With all the negatives of Hillary’s failed campaign but none of the positives, he would almost surely see us lose the general election again. If you love your grandchildren at all please do not vote for Biden.

TOP 5 HIGHLIGHTS:

Led the fight against desegregating schools even years after it had been proven a success and defended by Republicans [Expanded 7/6]

Voted for the disastrous Iraq War, then escalated it, then lied about it, still says he’d “do it again,” and just hired a foreign policy advisor who helped Bush orchestrate the war before joining a lobbying firm for the military-industrial complex [Expanded 8/13, 8/29, 9/6]

Wrote the racist Crime Bill that intentionally led to record-breaking mass incarceration, positioning himself to the right of even Reagan and Bush

Opposed Roe v Wade and voted to allow states to overturn it like they are now, worked to undermine the ACA’s coverage of birth control, does “not view abortion as a choice and a right” and still opposed federal funding for it multiple times including during this election

Long history of creepily/patronizingly groping/sniffing/kissing/grabbing/condescending women and young girls just so many times, even including intimidation and continuing even now after his non-apology [Expanded 10/14, 10/29, 11/9]

BUT THAT’S NOT ALL:

Racist comments like this and this, and fondness towards if not impassioned support for so many of the worst racists and segregationists like this whom he chose to work with, as well as Republicans like George Bush, Dick Cheney, Mike Pence, and Jeb Bush. Generally has no understanding of racism in America [Expanded 7/27, 8/8, 9/13]

As part of his crusade against desegregating schools he was the only member of the Senate Judiciary Committee to block two black appointees to the Department of Justice

Has lied about marching in the Civil Rights movement multiple times, and seems to lie about attending an HBCU [Expanded 8/31, 10/29]

Horrible treatment of Anita Hill during Clarence Thomas hearing

Supports cutting Social Security and Medicare and raising the retirement age on multiple occasions, backing Paul Ryan’s efforts to do so, while voting to gut welfare

Led the disastrous War on Drugs, and somehow still opposes cannabis legalization (while simultaneously trying to destroy the growing industry by handing it over to the Big Pharma), yet two of his children escaped consequences for drug use [Expanded 8/31]

Pushed to expand death penalty, even to those on drug charges

Opposes Medicare for All while he and his campaign lie about it what it would entail, and wants to bring back penalizing those who can’t afford to pay for private insurance. He continues to praise Big Pharma to his ultra-wealthy donors and is the only candidate to refuse to meet with disabled healthcare activist Ady Barkan [Expanded 7/6, 7/27, 9/21, 10/14]

Originally claimed he “doesn’t have time” to propose his own healthcare plan, then proposed one that would kill 125,000 Americans and leave over 10 million uninsured (which he’s lied about) in a rollout sponsored by Big Pharma (even his own wife admits he’s not good on healthcare, and he’s let slip the true reality of his proposal) [Expanded 7/6, 7/27, 8/19, 8/26, 10/14]

Personally fought to make cancer medication unaffordable for patients in developing nations [Added 10/14]

Opposed equal rights for the LGBTQ+ community even very recently, only eventually coming around just 7 short years ago, and is still awkward at best on the issue [Expanded 9/22, 10/14]

Supported the NRA in passing massive anti-gun control legislation, and has blamed videos games for mass shootings multiple times [Expanded 8/5]

Opposes meaningful action on the climate crisis like the Green New Deal, instead pursuing the “middle ground” while his campaign attacks publications for accurately reporting this

He’s rated D- by Greenpeace in part because he supports fracking, oil and gas exportation, and the building of new fossil fuel infrastructure, and his campaign shot down the proposed climate debate and skipped MSNBC’s climate forum [Added 8/23, Expanded 9/6, 9/16]

Plagiarized fossil fuel groups’ language in his woefully inadequate climate crisis plan after his climate advisor made $1 million from one natural gas company alone. He then made uncomfortable physical contact with and rudely dismissed a young woman who asked him about this [Expanded 10/14]

Broke his own pledge to not accept fossil fuel money by attending a fundraiser hosted by his former advisor and current oil corporation co-founder/owner Andrew Goldman, and lied about it twice [Added 9/6, Clarified/Expanded 9/7, 10/14]

Voted to expand deportations and indefinite detention for immigrants multiple times and opposed amnesty for immigrants and supports requiring them to learn English

As VP his administration deported more people than any other in American history, deporting people at a higher rate than Trump’s administration even according to ICE themselves, and expanding the anti-immigrant system Trump now uses by 3,600%. He still refuses to answer for this and has gone as far as calling the police on immigration activists for passing out flyers [Expanded 7/9, 10/14]

As VP his administration built the inhumane concentration camps in which children separated from their families are still illegally caged, beginning the practice which Trump has now continued and resulting in the ongoing lawsuit claiming that ICE is violating the Flores Agreement by not providing basics like toothpaste and soap [Added 7/9]

Voted to build border walls and supported sending military to the border long before Trump

Voted to ban immigrants with HIV, locking Haitian refugees up in Guantanamo Bay

Spearheaded the Alliance for Prosperity which increased deportations, border militarization, privatization, and oil pipelines for American exploitation while worsening the refugee crisis

Architected Plan Colombia, internationalizing the War On Drugs resulting in mass death, displacement, and destruction of food crops, while opening the country to US business interests

Sides with Trump in backing right-wing coup in Venezuela

Voted to authorize invasion of the Netherlands if an American is tried for war crimes by the International Court of Justice in The Hague, refusal to participate in UN peacekeeping unless the US obtains immunity, and withdrawal of aid to countries that ratify ICC treaty

Supports Israel’s right-wing regime and apartheid in Palestine purely to protect US interests. A self-described Zionist, he blames Palestinians for multiple US-backed Israeli massacres, including an attack that killed 9 peace activists. Calls BDS “anti-semitic” and has a 100% rating from AIPAC [Expanded 7/4]

Recklessly threatens nuclear war with North Korea

Sided with banks to overturn Glass-Steagall and deregulate, leading to financial crisis, and has dishonestly tried to take credit for the formation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau despite actually helping strip state consumer protection [Expanded 10/18]

Defends billionaires hoarding wealth and promises to ensure it keeps happening at the expense of everyone else while voting to slash the top income tax rate and cripple the estate tax, resulting in $83 billion lost annually

Led the disastrous Bankruptcy Bill resulting in increased debt and specifically fought to make student loan debt more difficult to live with before dismissing the plight of Millennials who are now the most indebted generation ever [Expanded 8/26]

Lied about his own student debt multiple times, his own scholarship, and his own academic achievements, and has not proposed any plans to make public college tuition free or to abolish student debt [Added 8/26]

Voted against abolishing the electoral college that undemocratically elected Bush and Trump

Took $200,000 to help a Republican beat a Democrat to Congress despite being anti-abortion

Voted against enhancing labor protection enforcements

Voted for NAFTA, supports TPP, is generally to the right of Trump on trade, and argued against the prediction that China would become an economic competitor [Expanded 9/13]

Works with union-busters, voted to cut union pensions, continues to snub unions, and is generally bad for workers [Expanded 10/14]

Consistently sides with special interests and corporations against antitrust regulation and voted for the first antitrust exemption since 1922

Opposes net neutrality

Driving force behind the Patriot Act, supports warrantless wiretaps / mass surveillance while his son partially owns the Chinese government’s Islamophobic mass surveillance system [Edited 9/13]

Personally tried to prevent Ecuador from providing asylum for Edward Snowden

Says the CIA torture report is not a “black stain on this country” but a “badge of honor”

Worsened the opioid epidemic and made it harder to treat

Wants to make up reasons to jail anyone associated with a rave and literally bulldoze it down while his RAVE legislation lets kids die from preventable drug overdoses

Was the only senator to vote against expanding a child care tax credit [Added 7/29]

Has questionable electability based on receiving less than 0.22% in 3 previous Democratic primary elections. He has a history of insulting voters and is currently skipping major party events, hiding from the press, and holding only between a quarter and half as many public events as his rivals

Has questionable electability based on his infamous propensity for awkward “gaffes,” including many, many, many, many, many, many, many in this election cycle alone, to the point where he is literally unable to campaign [Added 8/9, Expanded 8/11, 8/13, 8/15, 8/23, 8/24, 9/2, 9/17, 10/14]

Plagiarized law school papers and campaign speeches (in which he lied about having coal miner roots), which ended his 1988 presidential run

His anti-progressive campaign surrogate Ed Rendell is a sexist, pro-fracking, pro-AIPAC Fox News supporter who approved bombing a black neighborhood in Philadelphia, killing 5 children and 6 adults [Added 6/26]

Used Charlottesville as a prop in his campaign video despite never even visiting once

Lied about getting shot down in Iraq and experiences in Afghanistan [Added 8/31]

Has no plan to reform the court system or counter its Republican takeover, has proposed re-nominating the failed Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court, a nearly 70 year-old “moderate” who has opposed voting rights and human rights for Guantanamo detainees, and is fine with Kavanaugh remaining on the Supreme Court for life [Added 7/6, Expanded 9/16]

Is still openly courting Republican billionaires for donations, including John Catsimatidis, who’s compared taxing the wealthy to Nazi persecution of Jews

Endorsed by Alan Dershowitz, the millionaire Trump supporter accused of taking part in Jeffrey Epstein’s sex ring, after Biden’s son ensured a similar billionaire pedophile avoided prison after raping his own toddler

Voted to deregulate the credit card industry while a credit card company was his top donor from 1989–2000 and then hired his son

His administration awarded a $1.5 billion contract to his brother’s construction firm despite his brother having no prior residential construction experience

Has a long history of generally Trump-esque nepotism that he refuses to address [Added 10/14]

Broke his own pledge to take over 2x more money than Trump from lobbyists and special interests, including at least 13 billionaires, has the same general donor base as Trump, and very openly partakes in general corruption [Expanded 8/5, 8/11, 8/23, 10/14]

Flip-flopped on his initial opposition to using Super PACs and established one with military industrial complex and private healthcare lobbyists, even after admitting, “You shouldn’t accept any money from a Super PAC, because people can’t possibly trust you” just one year prior [Added 10/25]

His Senate chief of staff is now running Fox News’ lobbying operation [Added 10/14]

Hasn’t released any tax returns since 2015, which people seem to care about now [On 7/9 he released them to no media attention, revealing an $11 million increase in income in his first year out of office alone]

Seems to have found a loophole to avoid paying his interns [Added 7/12]

Unconvincingly co-opted Bernie’s education plan and slogan, and a Biden PAC plagiarized Kamala Harris’ slogan for its name

Despite his supposed frontrunner status he is a distant 5th in individual donors, raising questions of electability [Added 10/14]

“A lot of us sit around thinking up ways to vote conservative just so we don’t come out with a liberal rating. I’m really quite conservative…”

Meghan and the McCain family and Strom Thurmond have endorsed him, and Trump has donated to him

The worst part? He’s still not sorry for any of this (but wants a black man to apologize to him)

#bidrn #joe biden

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goodnightwatch · 6 years

Text

An Entitled Author

Ever feel betrayed by the promise of a book? “Entitlement Abolition: How to Lead your Family from Me to We,” by Douglas R. Andrew, offers some decent insights, but at the expense of the integrity of the author.

In the introduction, Douglas claims “this book does not have a religious or political agenda” (p. x). Then within the next few pages, the reader is betrayed by the author. On page ten, Douglas begins to describe his “Christian” values and uses Bible verses to support his ideas, which normally would be fine since we’re all welcome to decide if we like the way the author is making their point(s). While I do not have a problem with someone explaining how their religious values work for them, nor am I against the use of Bible verses as a source of inspiration, I do not respect a text that makes a promise and then breaks it unless it’s a great work of fiction.

Assuming positive intent, perhaps the author doesn’t understand how describing his religious worldview is, in fact, promoting a “religious agenda.” He wants to bring people to his side. He wants to convince the reader that his ideas and practices are worth integrating into the reader’s life. And yet, he does that by using religion-based examples, which generally don’t work for people from other religious backgrounds, nor the non-religious, and makes taking this book seriously very difficult for non-Christians. A Muslim or Buddhist or atheist, for example, will have to wade through all of the author’s Christian messaging to arrive at any valuable takeaways. Douglas promised he wouldn’t make us go through that and then he made us go through that.

Not but a few more pages in, the second promise is betrayed: the promise not to be political. Douglas claims “even the poor who become accustomed to receiving handouts lose that humble dedication to growth, learning, and cooperation that brought about that abundance” (p. 15), referring to abundance created by people who generate income by working (possibly forgetting that most of the wealth that exists has been handed down through generations and is permanently inaccessible to the majority of people). Let’s unpack this.

Douglas is suggesting that “poor people” have the resources to “grow, learn, and cooperate” in a capitalistic nation where the vast majority of the wealth was already possessed by other people at the time and place of their birth. How many people can you really expect to successfully tap into other people’s wealth and make constructive use of it? It can’t be everyone. The fact is, most poor people—or rather disenfranchised people—will either find a way to sustain themselves or they will die. By providing some level of free resources to the poor, we give them a chance to decide how that’s going to go. To suggest that we—those of us who have resources—shouldn’t help them is some coldhearted, law-of-the-jungle thinking. People above the poverty line and higher will never have to worry about this. That is a monumental privilege. This means that the poor are not experiencing the same kind of entitlement as anyone else who might be experiencing entitlement.

So why is the claim that the poor are just as entitled as the lazy rich a betrayal to the reader? The notion that “the poor”—the disenfranchised and unlucky majority—take what they can as a “handout,” is a well-known, typical right-wing conservative agenda: abandon the poor, praise the rich, and work like hell to pay the bills and feel individually and religiously superior and righteous about it. Then, bark at others for not doing the same. “Why should my tax dollars go to pay for some lazy bum?!” Bear in mind, I’m not addressing some of the valuable notes that certain entitled and privileged people should take from the book, I am specifically addressing what is clearly a political attitude about how we ought to help people who have next to nothing.

Where Douglas fails is, he immediately expects everyone to assume that all entitlement is bad and he predicates this upon a common political agenda. He suggests that we’re not helping the poor by giving them money, so don’t give them anything. The author’s religious book, the Bible, speaks expressly against this line of thinking (see below). That aside, like I said earlier about his religious agenda, it would be fair of him to express these views if he had simply been honest about their origin in the first place, but he wasn’t. And so, to drive the key point home, he said he was not going to bring religion or politics into his book, but he did. This directly undermines the trust the reader can have with this author.

It’s great that Douglas wants to teach people how to have a positive can-do attitude and to assume that the best way to live life is to be productive and serve a god (even though believing in literal gods is a primitive structure of consciousness) while implementing known-good processes, but he predicates his claims on an agenda that he promised he wouldn’t at the beginning of the book!

Even if some of his information is helpful to people, that still doesn’t make him any less of a liar, having betrayed the reader right up front in those two ways. And that still doesn’t mean that he’s the authority on how to live life as a human in the world. At best, this is a relatively well-written support mechanism for people who already believe what he’s saying is true. In essence, he is, in fact, enabling people and not empowering them with this text, even if some of this text can help people to empower themselves. Slightly paradoxical, it seems, since one of his core values is to move from enabling to empowering. Digging deeper into why this author might’ve been unconscious to his own betrayal of the reader, again assuming positive intent, let’s look at some basic facts about the man himself and see how this book might actually be a form of finger-pointing where the truth is that the author is not only himself entitled but also (trigger word) privileged.

If you’re going to make the case for a worldview and a way of life, it needs to come from a place of integrity, objectivity and, most important of all, honesty. All Douglas had to say (to come clean) was, “I base my beliefs and practices on Christian values and a [seemingly] right-wing conservative agenda.” Or he could’ve left that disclaimer sentence out entirely!

However, then it would’ve been harder for him to sell books, maybe. I wonder how many people bought the book, got a few pages in, and then threw it away... In any case, the deeper reality about the origin of this kind of writing from this author is that Douglas is not only privileged, he is also hypocritically entitled by thinking that he can lie to his readers and take their money and that somehow he deserves to make a living this way. How more self-righteous could you be?

Douglas should take every penny he has earned from this book and give it to the so-called “poor,” (people who are actually disenfranchised, or rather, deprived of access) because that would be the “Christian” thing to do. Look at what the Bible has to say (since I did not promise not to use his own weapon against him) about giving money. Here are some Bible verses that appear to challenge the values presented in his book:

1 Timothy 5:8 ESV / 161 “But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”

Proverbs 19:17 ESV / 195 “Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed.”

Matthew 5:42 ESV / 102 “Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.”

Deuteronomy 16:17 ESV / 74 “Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord your God that he has given you.”

Proverbs 21:26 ESV / 41 “All day long he craves and craves, but the righteous gives and does not hold back.”

Read more here, if you’re interested in the author’s text of authority: https://www.openbible.info/topics/giving_money

Again, Douglas makes some good points throughout the book about what any person might want to consider, but as an instruction manual for how to be a person, this work cannot begin by pulling the rug out from under the reader if it’s to have any lasting value. There was a promise to deliver this material in a secular and unbiased fashion and that clearly did not happen.

Furthermore, according to the Bible, it’s not up to us to decide what other people do with what they are given. And giving is good! You give what you can and then the outcome is not up to you. Also, if you are on the receiving end, you are not obligated to do anything in particular with what you are given. What will be will be.

Now, if we’re NOT assuming positive intent, I can move directly to what appears to be the case from the perspective of a non-Christian. This book was created to support the values and ontology of an audience of people who are already set up to agree with every word. This text might even be used to impose values and practices upon others that could be harmful to their mental and/or physical reality. For example, many poor and homeless people have disabilities, mental illness, or have simply been left behind and do not have the skills necessary to support themselves, much less a family.

"Entitlement Abolition” is not a work that invites critical thinking. The hubris of the narrative is one that speaks as if it is demanding to parent the world. Douglas R. Andrew is a “wolf in sheep’s clothing,” in some ways, at times pushing a right-wing conservative Christian agenda about how to live a life that benefits the individual and their family, but judges and alienates others.

While there might be some valuable ideas in this book for introspection and self-improvement (and even family and community improvement), no one needs to read this specific book to learn how to live correctly or develop objectively great leadership—much less how to live well—because the author cannot be trusted to show his teeth before devouring the reader’s trust with his positive intentions.

Image source: https://www.pexels.com/photo/portrait-of-young-man-326559/

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vitalmindandbody · 6 years

Text

How Chelsea fell from champions to a rabble at Roma in less than six months

These beings may have spread assistance responsibilities. They may have personal mental health issues topics. What is your conglomerate doing to help?