#he is his dad and you can fight me | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

avisisisis · 5 months

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Something I love about ATLA is that it doesn't force the "forgive the villain" on all the characters. It's been left clear that Ozai is a bad person, and there's no chance of redemption; the only reason he's not dead yet is because Aang is a pacifist

The one episode where a character is supposed to forgive someone who has hurt them in the past is the one where Katara is off to kill a man (which, fair) and Zuko helps. In that episode, even if Aang is telling her to let go, she doesn't forgive him. She never will. But she spares him. Not because she thinks he doesn't deserve death (he does), but because she's not willing to continue the cycle of violence

Killing someone can have a very important impact in your entire being, mostly depending on who you are as a person. Aang would've never recovered from killing Ozai. Katara wouldn't be who she is now, had she taken her revenge on the man that killed her mother

And the best part of it is that Ozai doesn't deserve to die. Not in a "I'm defending him" way (ew), but in a "he deserves worse that than" way

Taking away his bending was the perfect punishment for him. He believed bending made you superior and he never cared enough to train something besides his bending. What a loser. Zuko and Azula wouldn't be restrained by something like that

He's alive. Nobody has forgiven him. Nobody ever will

#on a “ozai deserves smth worse than death” mood #which is. my everyday mood but we're not talking about that #read a fic where ppl were mad ozai was still alive #zuko clarified that he's still alive not only bc that's what aang wanted but bc death would be a mercy for him #that's the man who ruined everybody's life(s). you can't tell me we can just let him die like that #and they're not even torturing him. he's just in prison #but he's so fucking weak that not having his bending = torture #pathetic #honestly what did he even do? his entire family was better than him #zuko was better at any kind of fighting and he learned firebending from the fucking dragons #azula is. azula! she bends blue fire and is the best at lighting n stuff #iroh created a whole new bending technique and broke out of prison w no bending #ursa killed the fucking fire lord #i mean sure ozai can shoot lighting out of his hands. but so can iroh! so can azula!#his 14 year old daughter is better than him #she could kick his ass if she wanted #but that's her dad right there and the obssession she has w pleasing him is straight up unhealthy #man. poor azula #anyways back to the point: ozai is pathetic #loserlord indeed #atla #avatar the last airbender #fire lord ozai #zuko #aang #katara #azula #uncle iroh #avis' post #avis talks

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ubashaaa-archived · 2 years

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Going to stay,

Are you going to stay?

Can you stay here in the moment?

We've only got a moment.

#mine #my art #jjba #stone ocean #stone ocean spoilers #jjba spoilers #jotaro #jolyne #uhm. hi.#EEUUIIIHHHH THIS TOOK A BIT. BUT IM REALLY PROUD OF IT.#working it over came on shuffle while i was drawing this and good LIRD . so i had to make it the caption.#they make me ill. imagine your dad. who has beem gone most of your life. shows up to break you out of jail.#you hate it at first and you hate him. but then in his weakest place. where he has nothing he says that he always cherished and loved you #then you realize that its worth it to fight through it all JUST so you and your dad can live a normal life. together after everything.#uuggagggggghhhhhhoouyquijhggghh

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felikatze · 2 years

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the kirby anime is cool guy meta knight propaganda.

game meta knight is an adrenaline junkie. game meta knight encourages children to pick up knives. game meta knight swears on live tv (show hosts hate him). game meta knight is a workaholic in a world where people only have jobs as a personal gimmick. game meta knight is gay, even.

#feli speaks #kirby #dad meta content is as precious to me as anything else but he hands out swords to children so he can fight then #he would NOT keep kirby out of harms way the only time he'd stop kirby from eating something is if kirby threatens his candy jar #the wonders kirby games having so little dialogue does for his image #well main character dialogue anyway. side characters and antagonists can have as much dialogue as they want #.....is super star the only time he speaks in the games??? is it????#also for the last part have you LOOKED at kirby fighters 2. congrats on the marriage king

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ziskeyt · 6 months

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thinking about how, in a lot of fics i’ve read with BotW Link he has a fear of caves. Or, well, trauma around them due to, you know, being dead inside one for a century and locked away.

and then in TotK the world collapsed and suddenly there are caves everywhere. But, they aren’t just new caverns, many of them have ruins inside and I just. I know Link is ~supposed to be a blank slate character~ and all that rot. But like, if this game full of caves and darkness below is supposed to be a sequel to BotW — I dunno. It just feels lacking that we get nothing, no reaction to caves in general, none to what happened to the Shrine, none when you discover what is below the Shrine. I mean, the way they did Link’s reactions to memories in BotW was laughable anyway and obviously I am craving for far more than nintendo will ever give — but what is courage without fear?

#Totk #Botw #Loz #tears of the kingdom #breath of the wild #these thoughts brought to you by: i am trying to sleep but my throat wants to choke me #And like i haven’t played any of the other games aside from link’s awakening #But i feel like you can understand fear in the child who’s paternal figure dies and is then sent out to fight #And fear in the child who’s younger sister is stolen away #But these kids have courage (and recklessness and foolishness but *courage*) to try and find their sister and try and stop more from dying #Like their tree dad did #We the player may feel fear of the screaming gloom hands or the ticking guardian laser #Or the darkness of the depths pre lightroots (tho i should do that again now i fixed my tv)#But even with no memories this link still has fears. Or. It is reasonable to think he should #Yet in game?#His courage is just he has to do this #He has to fight he has to continue he has to win #I love botw/totk link for what i have put into him but i just wish nintendo weren’t such fucking cowards

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definitelynotnia · 1 month

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im sorry i have to rant im so fucking pissed

my exams end on 19th and I have to get rid of some books and buy some books which are quite pricy online so I had planned on going to college street on 20th and selling my books and buying the new ones at a cheap price and i was frankly really excited about it because all I get is a one day break to relax bcz i have to start studying for entrances from 21st so all I have is 20th and i wanted to spend it at college street and then get some food and basically have like a solo date kind of thing.

and i was so so excited about it i told my boyfriend about it like 500 times bcz i kept forgetting i've already mentioned it and it was literally on my mind a lott so i kept bringing it up and ik it seems like not a big deal cz i can just sit at home and chill too but i literally do not get to go outside my house. like- the last time i went out was new years eve and after that the only time i've gone out is to school or to give my boards that is it. my mother has some weird like problem wiht me going out like even if i tell her that i just want to go to our terrace for 5 minutes just to get some fresh air she won't even allow that she'll be all suspicious and like sTaNd In ThE bAlCOnY aNd TaKe FrEsH aIr like she herself doesnt leave the house (and blames it on me and my brother ???? when have we ever stopped you bro, she said I HaVe To Be HeRe To KeEp An EyE like im 18 i dont need to be watched 24/7 stop blaming me for choices you put upon yourself) and i just feel so suffocated ALL THE TIME i feel so overstimulated and im so sick of rotting on my bed and i dont want to wait for some birthday party or friends meet up to be able to leave my goddamn house i just wanted to go and have a fun day and get me some books thats it.

anyway so initially the plan was that my mom would go along but something came up so she wanted to postpone it to 21st and i didn't want to bcz i'd already be missing 3 days bcz of my boyfriends birthday, holi and my brothers birthday (all of which are important and i dont want to miss which makes me the villain apparently bcz i should "adjust" and cancel my "parties" instead of trying to stick to my plan bcz that makes me too demanding and selfish apparently) so i suggested that ukw why dont u go do ur thing which came up and i'll go to college street by myself...which is when the solo date idea came which i had really wanted all along but didnt bring up bcz i knew she'd say no but now there's a valid reason for me to go alone so like, its a pretty easy fix i can just go alone but noooo. First of all,

I've been to college street multiple times before so its not like its an unknown area to me

im going by metro which is quite safe

im going when there is stark daylight and i will return home much much before it gets dark and im literally 18

she never lets me go anywhere alone, not even take ubers alone if i want to get back from somewhere my bf has to come drop me everytime and then go backwards to his house which is so so so stupid and i never get to go out alone unless accompanied by family or by a male friend, so obv when i said i'll go to college street alone she refused to let that happen and started screaming about how 'if its so important to go on 20th bcz u dont want to miss a day of studying then cancel ur 'parties' and study then' and i was like no its not about missing a day its just that there's a very easy and logical fix to this problem which is i go alone and its not inconveniencing anyone so why cant i just do that but she will not listen to that bcz im 'adamant' and 'everything has to be according to me' bcz i found a viable solution to the problem. so instead of letting me just go she was literally ready to pay much more money and buy the books online, like.....why cant i just go bro??? (and she keeps telling me im a waste of her money bcz i will amount to nothing in life and my education was a failed investment or wtv so like now why are u wasting more money??? im literally trying to save the money that u 'waste' on me so just let me ???)

anyway i called my dad last night and told him and he was super ok with the idea he said its a good idea that i go alone and that he would speak to her but then today when i asked her if dad spoke to her she said yes, we'll go on 20th and i was like .....we? so apparently she CANCELLED her previously immovable thing for which she wanted me to cancel my 'parties', she cancelled that and agreed to go with me on 20th just so that i dont get to go alone- like ???????????????? what is ur problemmmm

so obv i was super annoyed and i went on a whole ass rant about how i literally struggle to even cross roads bcz i dont know shit about basic travelling bcz all my life ive been in a car and its a running joke with all my guy friends that i 'cannot navigate' and 'dont know any places' and obv??? if im never allowed to go anywhere then how tf will i know the places- the only places i know is bcz recently i've been paying a lot of attention and asking my dad stuff about what roads to take to reach certain places and when i go out with my friends i kind of try and learn a bit but thats it i've only ever gone alone completely alone to two places which is my beauty parlour thats 5 minutes away from my house and one bazaar one time that was 2 bus stops away, thats it. thats my extent of public travelling alone. and now im supposed to go to a whole new STATE for college and i cant even call myself an auto without struggling. and like- is this not a basic life skill??? like ok yeah its not rocket science and i will probably figure it out even if i start later in life but why not now? most of my guy friends literally go everywhere alone, why not me? and my dad agreed with all of this but my mom was just like "you'll be in the hostel only, no need to go out of the campus" like ARE YOU FOR REAL????????? and she's like "if u want to learn skills learn how to cook" like ok yes i will also learn how to cook for sure but i wont have a fucking kitchen in the hostel but somehow cooking is an urgent skill i should learn but going places by myself is unimportant bcz i should just never? leave? the? hostel?

anyway after much screaming and shouting my dad gave up and just cut the call bcz he doesnt want to get into an argument with my mother and my mother was being all suspicious like why do u hAvE tO gO aLoNe AlL oF a SuDdEn even though i literally explained why i want to do this alone but she doesnt think thats valid. so she refuses to let me go and i asked her for one reason why i shouldnt cz usuallt its always "no u have exam what if smthn happens" but now i literally dont even have exam so whats ur excuse now? streets will always be unsafe forever so "what if smthn happens" is not a reason to never let me go out without a man so just gimme one reason and she couldnt give me a single reason she just said "i said no, thats it".

and now she's gone off about how im useless and blah blah and "high maintainance" bcz i want books and "everyone else (some pishi's son) just studies online" and so the whole option of college street is apparently now cancelled and she's trying to set up a whole ass kindle account (half the books i need arent even available as ebooks) just because i wanted to go by myself.

#in our house kids dont stay outside past 6:30pm'' but now all of a sudden its fine for my brother to play #till 10:30 at night #she literally stopped me permanently from going down in the evenings since i was in class 7-8 #this is why ive never had any friends outside of school bcz she wouldnt let me leave ths fucking house #and now that my brother is in class 7 #he's allowed to be out playing with his friends till 10 freaking 30 #he comes home an hour late sometimes...45 minutes and almost always at least 30 minutes late at NIGHT and she says nothing except like #one sentence #yeah im only the villain i only keep u locke #up in the house its all my fault #this is just so damn unfair #like literally insulting #im not a child what is her problem #what sort of fucking solution is 'never leave the hostel' like ok even if i do that what happens then??? after i graduate?#i'll be a 24 year old who doesnt know shit about going from one place to another without a man present]#and then this woman preaches how she 'always raises her son and daughter equally' like srsly shut the fuck up #my whole life i've been told abar late?''#and for me bcz i would come home 5-10 minutes late nd i did it maybe once or twice she made me completely stop going down to play #5-10 minutes late from 6:30 wherein he comes an hour late from 9 fucking 30 #and this sounds so stupid bcz im an 18 year old now and i dont give a fuck abt how long i got to play but its just unfair dude #with me it was always smthn or the other either exams or she gets miraculously sick every time i want to go out to play #im not even kidding she did a whole “i have fever and ur going to leave me like this and go play?” on me one time bcz i was adamant abt goi #after months of not being able to go bcz of exam or smthn or the other #she did not have any fever it was fucking bullshit #and how am i supposed to help with ur imaginary fever anyway im literally 12 #its so fucking annoying man and then if i say anything at all she'll go on a tirade about how #like YOU DO THOUGH??????? im sorry ur feelings are hurt bcz i said you do smthn that u LITERALLY DO #istg not even 2 days ago she was having a fight with my dad abt how he should teach my brother to learn how to cycle so that he can go buy #groceries #i can cycle

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franeridan · 7 months

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the whole one hour and forty minutes of op stampede are worth it even just for that half a second of interaction between mihawk and zoro actually thank you and amen 🙏

#he saves his ass #and then looks at him and smirks......#ahshshshsjdjsh that's his dad!!!! healthy father son rivalry i say!!!!#tbh I don't usually feel like watching op movie much #i..... don't exactly read op for the fights and the movies are usually just fights so #¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯#but sometimes I'm in the specific mood of seeing weird team ups or interactions so i end up watching a bunch of movies one after the other #stampede is............eh #it's okay ig a bit too exaggerated for my tastes but that's just the op movies usual taste #only the movies can make me question how things work in the op universe btw usually I'm down for anything #but then i watch a movie and I'm like “is that really how that is supposed to work...?”#Anyway I'm always up for seeing law being treated as part of the crew #and my zoro stan heart cries when i say this but I'm sorta always up for seeing law act as a sub captain for the crew huhuhu #sorry first mate i swear i would never try to take your spot from you #anyway law picking up robin was sweet law seeking luffy as a safe space was beautiful sabo's........#everything but especially his interactions with smoker were fun #but like the whole movie was really more of just a spot the cameo than anything 😂 it's okay!!!#I'm not lying when i say watching it was worth it even just for zoro and mihawk #that's the small stuff i watch the movies for anyway huhuhu #next one....gold. i don't think i watched that yet either #that's for another day tho now sleep

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try-set-me-on-fire · 10 months

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I tried to do the character sorter but then it made me pick between Chris and Buck and the psychic damage was too great

#i’m fragile #the concept of someone having to choose between the two of them in any context was too much for me #that said great angst opportunity #it’s not trapped dads at all it’s trapped Chris and Buck #and Eddie and Buck both know who Eddie is choosing #bucks fine with it Eddie is NOT fine with it #but he’s going to save his kid #and like Chris is there they can’t act scared they can’t say anything #he promises #he Promises to come back for Buck. you have to hold on. I’m coming back for you #and partially that’s to get Chris to leave him #Chris is fighting tooth and nail not to leave his Buck #but they have to go #and even if he gets Buck out fine too Eddie has to live with having had to make that choice #and he and Buck can fight about it because Buck is like I don’t understand it was the right choice #don’t you ever fucking pick me over chris #and eddie wouldn’t!#but fuck you for making him choose!#and then they kiss about it or whatever #angrily at first but Eddie’s a wreck so then it’s like a gross wet crying kiss #then bucks just holding him #eddie quietly says I know you’d choose him too #but can you honestly tell me it would be easy to leave me behind? it wouldn’t tear you in fucking half?#and… oh…. Buck gets it more now……#he’d been thinking about saving chris. he hadn’t been thinking about losing eddie #about eddie losing him #they kiss again softer now #this is probably in a hospital cmon we love hurt comfort here bucks roughed up #they’re having this fight very quietly because chris is asleep a foot away on a couch #it’s ok. soon they’ll all get to go home together. it will be ok

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tarmac-rat · 10 months

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TFW you're two weeks removed from leaving your entire life behind and moving to Night City but you're restless and anxious and can't sleep so you sneak out in the dead of night and do something reckless and the only person you know who can fix you up is that old doctor guy your new friend took you to see in a basement last week for back alley chrome and fighting tips.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

(insp.)

#Cyberpunk 2077 #CB2077 #V #My V #Riley Aldana #Viktor Vector #I've been nursing a story of sorts that I'm debating penning out but my writing drive is so fickle these days #Riley-- two weeks moved into Night City and not coping well-- sneaks out of the Welles house and stumbles across a Tino fight #(AKA the same spot you fight Cesar)#and fights a younger Cesar 18 months before BotB but gets her ass kicked and run out #So at like 3 in the morning she goes to Vik's with a broken wrist like 'can you please help me?' and he can't turn her down #So they get coffee at Toms and talk about shit after her sets her wrist #Riley-- a nomad who as never once had a dad in the picture-- takes his words to heart #IDK I find Riley and Vik would get along very well due to their similar no-nonsense approach to life and I one day want to explore that #emphasis on one day #But enough of me rambling this post'll get reblogged and then it's just another shitpost so enjoy a laugh I hope #Maybe one day in the future this'll be a fic worth reading #Aldi speaks #Been Good to Queue Ya

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campbenji · 9 months

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no nothing it's just the fact that what caused the split was not the campers showing up at the presentation, it was this:

#when kenji saves darius and brooklynn and darius runs off saying they're finishing what they came here to do #you can see that he thinks it for a second #from the moment when the fight started kenji wasn't sure it was a good idea #and was doubting what his father was doing and then darius says that and thinks for a split second that maybe his dad was wrong #but then he almost gets killed and kenji loses his trust on what the campers are doing #idk why it took me so long but *distressed noises*#kenji kon #darius bowman #brooklynn jwcc #ben pincus #sammy gutierrez #yasmina fadoula #daniel kon #c rambles about jwcc #c rewatches jwcc #camp cretaceous #1 year of jwcc s5

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arsenicflame1 · 2 years

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i dont think we talk enough about how stedes whole thing is like, pretending to be a poor person for a while? like, they establish it in the first episode but we aren't supposed to support izzy when the guys mad this rich fucker who had everything and threw it away to play at doing what they all do because its the only way to survive?

#alexa play common people by pulp #i KNOW theres more nuance than that at the end of the series and stede really begins to Understand but like. how insulting would that be??#genuinely though. common people by pulp sums up my thoughts better than i can word #ofmd #stede bonnet #izzy hands #izzy hands apologist #just tagging to be safe/blacklists or w/e #anyway some bits of common people that feel very stede/izzy #-Cause when you're laid in bed at night; Watching roaches climb the wall; If you called your dad he could stop it all-#-Cause everybody hates a tourist; Especially one who thinks it's all such a laugh-#-You will never understand; How it feels to live your life; With no meaning or control; And with nowhere left to go-#dont get me wrong; i like stede. i like stizzy. i like steddy hands.#i just think stede does a bad job at explaining the nuances in his decision (when he even understands them)#and to people that have had to fight to survive ita fucking insulting to watch this rich prick play pirate

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bubblegum-snowdrop · 5 days

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why does ur dad play fem tavs???? thats weird

No it really isn't, he's played female protagonists for as long as I can remember in games with customization options. Actually I think he even did that back in his teen years when DND was new.

Dad told me back when I was little that he just preferred badass female protagonists to male ones. He's never been a self insert kind of guy, he makes characters to put into the games and they're pretty much always women.

My family has never been traditional, and both my mom and my dad grew up with very strong women as their mothers. My dad has always liked stories of strong women better and has encouraged me all my life to stand up for myself and to be independent and true to myself.

My dad had a strong, self-assured woman for a mom. He married a strong, intelligent, badass woman- my mom. He's done all he can to try and raise me to be strong too. Is it really so weird that he likes stories where women are the powerful protagonists too?

#even without this context like... who cares #but legit dad just. likes strong female characters???? why is that weird #he's been like this for longer than I've been alive and like I said. was raised by my awesome grandma. and then he married my awesome mom #his grandmothers- my great grandmas- were awesome in their own ways too #like why is it surprising that my dad sees women as human beings with thoughts and feelings who are strong and cool #it's probably not even that deep either like. he just sees women as people #he's almost 60 years old bro the man can do whatever the fuck he wants tbh he's earned it #also he's my awesome dad so automatically he deserves to win at life #which he has!! dad told me he didn't imagine his life would end up the way it has but he's so glad it did every day :D #basically: don't be mean to my dad or I will fight you. this isn't weird and neither is he #he's a dude that likes stories about cool women doing cool shit

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todayisafridaynight · 1 year

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would you guys still like me if i rambled about my cringe crackship

#snap chats #masadai #yeah ill ramble down here im not brave for the main text #see this is my version of a read more the main text is just a warning #anyway main text is semi a lie i am rambling bout masadai but just mostly bout sawashiro cause Shotgun Dad is my favorite #oh im sleep so im going to be even more incomprehensible than normal #like like like like sit here and be delusional with me alright. '95-2000's era right.#jo knows masato- as a civvie- tries to keep outta yakuza shit (with the exception of ichi helpin him at least)#so can you imagine bro having to process the fact now his son's Apparently entangled not just with a yakuza's son but SOHEI'S #bitch ass sohei who get necked and since then his bitch ass son's been going on a bitch ass rampage as a street thug #How The Fuck Did Those Two Happen but w/e. if masato's happy jo'll Begrudgingly not do anything. on the surface.#i know he's already having some poor arakawa grunt tail daigo until dude inevitably notices and beats his ass #and hes def not goin back to sawashiro a failure bro's getting outta town 💀 but yeah point is jo dont exactly have. The Highest Opinion #we all saw my masumi and daigo comic right. we all know i think masumi adopts daigo at some point cause the seeds of that are here #masumi knows whats goin on in his own house he knows jo's being ill so he prob just assures him daigo's not That Bad of a kid #he wouldnt hurt masato anyway. listen if theres a fight he knows his son's starting it He Loves Him but he knows how he is #and daigos way too soft spoken and like. Depressed Rn to really instigate anything unless prompted #either way jo's still edgy- prob isn't too stoked to hear news daigo's in jail after he an aoki get back to japan in '04 either #but no listen there's a turnaround OBVIOUSLY for one thing aoki and daigo could never date nowadays #but now daigos become chairman and ?? he isnt a single thing like sohei and he isn't at all how jo initially thought he'd be #he might make awkward decisions sometimes but considering the cards he's dealt he's not doing TERRIBLE #jo's designated to hang with aoki most of the time anyway so even if he did have any lingering grievances theyre not something to worry bout #too late to give that blessing tho For Starters bro's living a new life now and Secondly he's getting everyone evicted in ten years 💀💀#thats the end of my ramble sorry everyone. if i had more time nd energy to draw nowadays i prob woulda just drawn somethin quick and dummy #but alas. i do not. potentially more text posts to come because of this because i very much am still mentally ill #i love masadai i love making shit up its actually so fun #im bad at writing full on fics so the spark notes version <3 ok im sleeping now bye

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australet789 · 1 year

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Another unpopular opinion about TLOU but i dont like how everyone compare Kratos and Atreus with Joel and Ellie

JOEL WISHES HE COULD HAVE BEEN HALF OF WHAT KRATOS IS

If something, the one that has that same arc and attitude, is Abby.

Because Joel never wanted to change his ways. He was a violent man, and never showed mercy or wanting to change how he dealt with his problems. He only thought killing was the way, and that doomed him. And that's being showed in the tv adaptation! How Sarah was rightfully scared of her dad showing his violence (even before her death). How cold and unmerciful he was with anybody.

Kratos, while violent, changed for the sake of his son. Same as what Abby did, changing her violent mindset for Lev. Them both broke the cycle of violence when it was needed, to show their kids they could be better and find a better life.

If Kratos is Abby, then THOR should be Joel. That's a good parallel.

#tlou #the last of us #god of war #AND YOU CAN FIGHT ME #joel was never a good man until before he died like thor #he was a good dad to ellie but not the one she needed #because she ended up carrying his sins...until she could let go

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eorzeashan · 1 year

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Kismet

“Nine won't kneel,” Eight says, the sickly sterile glass-bottle green of the interrogation room casting them in a garish light.

Keeper frowns, all hard lines and age. The lamp swinging overhead casts his sharp features in angular shadows, deepening the discomfort meant for detainees. Currently, the room was empty: it was just an old man and his spy. “They will, if they know what is good for them.”

“They won't. You taught them to be that way,” Eight points out with the needle-thin end of his pipe, sitting daintily atop the durasteel table as if it were a chaise lounge, “like a good little Imperial. But not enough to bow to the Sith. They have their pride. Their independence. That is why they are,” He pauses. “the best".

Keeper arches a fine brow.

His weekly talks with the Cipher before him were something he secretly looked forward to, though the subject themselves varied from political headaches to anything as mundane as the weather. It was perhaps the only time he was allowed to parse the mystery of the man who called himself Eight- an agent who wore the moniker of a dead woman, and all that the title carried.

Very few were afforded such instances. Fewer still could keep up with his machinations or his mind. His method bred more enemies than friends, and Keeper often found himself assigning the minimum personnel to Eight on account of his difficult behavior.

Insights like these were a gift.

“If I didn't know any better, I would call you envious, Agent. Why the sudden interest?”

“Is it considered strange to be interested in our counterparts now?” Eight smiles at him.

Keeper finds it reminds him of the false face of a poisonous insect: permanently at ease, painted on, artificial, yet a warning and an invitation all at once. The smoke curls from his pipe, accentuating the silence in the air.

“No. Perhaps not.” Keeper replies, his hands still clasped behind his back.

“I'm not going to interfere, if that's what you're asking.”

Keeper pinches his thin nose bridge, the inflection in Eight’s voice alerting him prematurely to what was heading into unpleasant conversational territory of the migraine kind. Eight always did know how to read between the lines, and years of dancing around one another had made him adept at knowing the old man’s silence better than his words. “Not directly. We wouldn't be having this conversation at all if you weren't. In fact, I’m ordering you as of right now to do nothing.” He locks eyes with him, leaving no room for argument in the steeliness of his gaze. They stare at each other until the younger gives in.

“Bah, you're no fun,” Eight whines, turning away from him like a petulant child.

Keeper shakes his head. Eight was a handful and liked to make it everyone else's problem; it was how he was. Yet beneath that slacking attitude was a blade more sharply honed than any other, and woe befall those who failed to recognize its glint before it was too late. It made him effective. Impersonal. His instincts were good, if not better than any other in their division, and this made him as destructive as a precision-guided missile yet as accurate to his goals as a dart striking center.

Something to do with his ecology, Keeper recalled, though the specifics escaped him; Eight was Near-Human, yet found the Empire's distaste for aliens a “waste of time” and so waved the human-passing card more often than not.

His appearance was once again, a falsehood. His identity, a convenient lie. They spoke of him in dead-end rumors and baseless whispers that made him more of a ghost story inside Intelligence than a service member, the most prominent of these stories being that he had once been a Chiss woman who surgically altered her appearance to escape her previous life.

Eight did nothing to discourage it.

He never was one to follow the rules amidst Imperial rigidity, bending them every chance he was given and otherwise. Keeper suspected this was why the higher-ups kept him most cycles on Dromund Kaas- fearing he’d stray far out of bounds the minute they gave him any length of leash. For that, he and Keeper came to know one another very well.

By the time he’d returned to the present outside of the quagmire of his mental dossier on the agent, Eight had ditched all decorum to lie flat on his back atop the durasteel table with his folded hands cushioning the back of his head. Getting bored, it seemed.

“Credit for your thoughts?” Keeper asks, surprised by his own pleasant tone amidst the emptiness.

Eight exhales lungs full of smoke in reply. He removes one hand from behind his shock of white hair to hold his pipe between two fingers- “like a Red Light District whore,” some of the more…derogatory members of their branch had said. Said members had since been disciplined and lectured on their poor choice of verbage, but Keeper was inclined to agree that even the smallest of his habits were quite suggestive- no doubt intentional on his part. He made no effort to hide it. What was taught had become second nature, and in Eight’s case, he saw no division between his personal self and that of a Cipher.

He taps the ash from the thin pipe on the side of the table, extinguishing the thin trail of smoke that indicated their time was up.

“Let's make a deal,” Eight says, propping himself up on his elbows to twist around and look at Keeper with a heady light in his fawn eyes. It was routine. He’d propose a game, and they’d play accordingly. It was easier than arguing over mission specifics where Keeper knew Eight would force his own way regardless, and so he appealed to his penchant for gambling and let chance decide what path the agent chose to follow.

“Go ahead.”

“If Nine doesn't kneel, transfer the investigation of Jadus to me.”

Keeper pauses, the words dying on his tongue as he looks at his agent with nothing short of bewilderment. “What are you asking of me, Eight?” What could you possibly want from a man like that? goes unsaid between them, but Eight hears it in the stressed twitch of his lower lip, and smiles still.

His current fascination with Jadus was nothing new, but ever since he’d missed the debacle of the elusive Sith arriving at headquarters he’d been quiet. Moody, even. Planning something was an understatement- whatever was brewing in his head had been for weeks. Keeper almost didn't want to know.

Eight doesn't elaborate. That was how the game was played. Rules and rewards. No questions.

“If Nine doesn't kneel,” He repeats slowly, “I won't lift a finger.”

Keeper sticks him with a look that could wither water. “You are making me bet against the house.”

Eight shrugs. “It was your call.”

Keeper sighs- a deep one that comes from the depths of his diaphragm. Loathe as he was to admit it, Eight was right: Nine shone as a figure free from the manipulative claws of the Sith. Officers respected them for keeping their head unbowed- their quiet dignity made them the pride of Intelligence and that of the Imperial military. Those who stood up to their superiors were few and far in-between, and Keeper made it a point that Nine’s autonomy was to be protected. He had made it his life’s work to keep them free of their influence, in the hopes that their Empire could grow beyond their reach.

So why was Eight asking this of him?

“I don't want you anywhere near him.” Keeper shoots him down, the risk too great to be worth considering. He would not lose two Ciphers to a megalomaniac.

“Keeper.” Eight’s tone takes on a deadly gravity, one that Keeper recognizes as the calm before the storm.

“No, Eight.” Keeper holds his ground, his eyes stormy. He jabs an accusatory finger at the younger operative. “I bit my tongue when he came. I let him into our operations. He took our best- I will not give him more.”

Eight goes nonverbal. When he meets his unchallenged gaze again, there is darkness dawning in his eyes.

“A warrior protects his people from those who come from beyond the stars,” He speaks in the familiar purr of Cheunh, alien from the throat of one who lacked their blue skin, and Keeper sucks in a sharp intake of breath at the horror that overtakes him.

“Do not bring her into this!”

“To fight those who mean our way of life harm,” He continues, steady, like a mantra. His eyes bore into Keeper, seeing beyond him, digging beneath his skin and gently cutting him open layer by excruciating layer with all that they see in the twist of his aged features- all that he does not say.

“Keeper.” He repeats, sitting upright with his legs dangling. One hand grips the edge of the table, the other- to Keeper’s surprise and dismay, is extending his pipe to him in an offering for peace. He lets it swivel on the balance of his finger around, the mouthpiece facing Keeper. All the while, the set resolution of his gaze never leaves him, and Keeper glares at the item as if it offends him grossly.

Not out of anger towards his agent, but towards these Force-damned circumstances and the games they must play.

Keeper bites back a swear, taking the pipe from Eight’s outstretched fingers and stuffing it hastily into his thinly pressed lips. He inhales with all the professionalism of one exposed to far too many questionable substances in his youth and the desperation of a man who needs it for the days to come.

“I will use him, as he will use me. But if we do not take this chance to earn his trust, we risk losing the most powerful of allies we could gain.” Eight speaks smooth and low, his voice as delicate as garrote wire and twice as cutting to Keeper. “I will join him. It matters not whether he cares to have me by his side- only if I can turn his power into ours. Nine will not have to give themselves up.”

Keeper ruminates, though he hardly needs to. When it comes to risk and beings of immense danger, no one is better suited. He saw the way Nine stiffened at Jadus’ selection, the way the pain and suffering of the rest of Intelligence affected them. Jadus would break them.

Eight on the other hand, had nothing left inside to break.

He spits out a stream of smoke through the corner of his mouth- quick and unpleasant, to show his dissatisfaction. Keeper turns the pipe back over to Eight. His eyes speak of regret. “Damn you. Damn you and him.”

“Curse me later,” Eight says, lighting a weak flame beneath his pipe, “you haven't even seen how the dice rolls.”

—-----------------

Nine limps out of Jadus’ office smelling of burnt fabric and ozone. Their pride is in tatters, for what good they did to preserve it.

Eight watches from afar, hidden as blue collar personnel melted into the backdrop of the Sith sanctuary.

He touches a finger to his private comm.

“It’s my win, Keeper.”

#swtor #swtor fanfiction #oc: orradiz #imperial agent #cipher eight au #if you dont know what the fuck going on im sorry #I started thinking of what cipher nine represents to others in the imp military. a lot of soldiers look at them with awe #and it got me thinking that so many agents have their pride that they wont bow to the sith #and then I started thinking how Eight fit into all this and it spiraled #in short: I kind of like the idea of Eight as the shadow of Nine since thats what he was conceived as #Jadus is the biggest mystery of his life and he intends to play his game excellently #who is nine here? well that's whoever you want it to be #also keeper was the original dad you can fight me #random character study is random #admin writes #i had to suffer writing this half asleep in a k bbq and now im posting it at shit hours #you're telling me theres a big hotshot sith and no one wants to be a mole to spy on him personally.#eight: outta my way gayboys im boutta get it

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