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skinnyazn · 2 months

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Like Tears in the Rain

Pairing: Commander Shepard x Liara T'Soni Chapters: 1/1 Notes: @parttimeprophet asked "Ohhhh how about tearful kisses with Liara T'Soni x Femshep 👀🫶🏻? Writing, pls!" for kiss challenge!, Now you get the most heart wrenching bullshit, I may or may not have made myself cry at the end, it's fine I'm fine, excuse any tense issues I never write in present tense so this was a struggle,

AO3 | MASTERLIST

Shepard is a born soldier, fighting with bared teeth and pure grit through every calamity in her life, so this ache that sits deep inside her bones is a familiar feeling. It’s made its home from the years of abuse on the battlefield, across different planets and star systems, but it wears on her the longer she marches through the torn streets of London. Wave after wave, casualty after casualty—the physical aspect is nearly as heavy as the mental. One mistake and it all ends: the Reapers win and humanity, as well as every other sentient species in the galaxy, annihilated. And that simply isn't an option. Not for Shepard. So she does the only thing she knows how to do: fight to survive. It’s an endless reserve of horrors as her crew fight through the crumbling city. Even the Cerberus cybernetics in her body can’t combat the tiredness she feels when they finally reach the Forward Operating Base.

There’s no time for rest as Shepard inhales deeply, breathing the ash-laden air into her lungs, as she walks around the rubble to rally the band of soldiers. She looks at the faces of the men and women who served alongside her over the years, who trusted her—followed her through hell and back. They look older now. Kaidan has grey speckles throughout his temples and Garrus, a few more scars. Anderson just looks tired, and Shepard wishes things could have gone differently for the admiral. She makes it across a bridge to a makeshift medbay where Liara is already tending to the wounded, doing what she can to help the dying with her omni-tool. She still has the gore from the team’s early assault on her armor and Shepard wants to wipe it all away.

“How are the casualties?” she asks instead, walking toward the asari.

Liara doesn’t look up from her tool. “We lost people. Some of the wounded here won’t make it,” and it comes out calmly.

Shepard studies her lover. She hasn’t aged a day since their first meeting in that Prothean dig-site, yet the years took their toll in other ways. The once innocent and shy asari was now hardened by loss—most of all by Shepard’s.

“How are you holding up, Liara?” Shepard asks softly, moving closer.

“This is it, isn’t it,” Liara finally looks up at her commander, but her glacial blue eyes are distant.

“Yeah,” Shepard breathes, “this is it.”

The asari looks away, at the wounded—at the carnage around them in the brief moment of calm.

“I don’t know what to say. I just know I’ll have a clever line five minutes from now,” she chuckles, but it comes out flat. Shepard reaches for her hand.

She stares calmly into her commander’s eyes. “I do have one thing for you, Shepard. A gift. It’ll only take a moment, if you want it.”

“Of course I do.”

Liara smiles and it makes Shepard’s heart yearn. She moves toward her lover, closing her eyes and resting her forehead against the asari’s.

And suddenly there is a weightless serenity. All the heaviness and pain from the battlefield, gone. When Shepard opens her eyes, she’s in a peaceful oblivion, surrounded by stars. Liara’s delicate hands fit perfectly in Shepard’s.

And they don’t need to speak because they can feel each other’s emotions. All the nuances and subtleties that can’t be conveyed with words. The comfort. The calm. The abundance of love. A glowing light rises over an artificial horizon, but Shepard is too lost in Liara’s eyes to notice its color. And when they kiss, it reminds Shepard why she’s in the fight: to give all the lovers a chance like they got. Liara moves her hands over her stomach and Shepard feels a wave of emotions. To give life a chance.

I wish we had more time, she thinks, but when her eyes open, she’s back in London.

Liara looks at her solemnly. “Thank you, Shepard, for everything. I love you.”

Shepard’s hands linger on the asari’s waist, thumbs brushing over her stomach. She’s too scared to say it out lout so she settles for, “I’ll be fighting for us.”

“I know,” Liara smiles, and this time it reaches her eyes. “Now let’s do what needs to be done.”

Shepard nods, taking in her lover one last time before the final push—her particular shade of blue, the kindness in her eyes, the softness of her body. She presses her forehead against the asari once more before she turns and makes her way through the stretchers to gather her crew.

And the minutes feel like hours as Hammer Team make their final assault through No Man’s Land. The swarm of husks and mutilated creatures is overwhelming. Soldiers fall all around, but Shepard and her team push forward. London looks unrecognizable as they navigate toward the massive Conduit Beam in the middle of the city.

“Incoming Banshees!” Liara cries out, readying a warp attack.

“These bastards don’t give up,” Shepard grunts, feeling the weight of her Viper as she takes another headshot.

“Brute at your five, Shepard!” Garrus shouts this time.

“Then handle it! Where the hell is Wrex and the rest of the Krogans?”

“We’re busy cleaning up the mess you left,” Wrex’s voice booms through the static of the comms.

“It’s just like old times,” Garrus quips, but Shepard tunes him out as the claws of a banshee narrowly miss impaling her. She stabs the thing with her omni-tool and the shriek it emits is deafening.

“Shepard, take down that Destroyer!” It’s Anderson’s voice that breaks through the comms now, and Shepard spares a second to glance up a the massive Reaper that just touched down.

“You’ve got to be kidding me…”

“There should be Thanix Missiles controls in one of the tanks. Aim and fire!” the admiral shouts.

“Tuchanka 2.0,” Shepard mutters under her breath as she continues firing at the swarm of ground enemies. The deep boom of the Destroyer shakes the whole ground as its red beam carves through the city.

“We don’t have time! I’ll cover you,” Garrus yells, nearing the commander.

Shepard dashes toward the shuttle, booting up the missiles. Everything slows as she waits for the Reaper’s cannon to open; her whole body vibrates from the adrenaline. A glow of red and she presses fire. It’s a direct hit—until they swerve away at the last second.

“What the hell was that?!” she shouts, as she takes shot at a marauder in stasis. Liara has regrouped next to her as well.

“Damnit. The conduit beam must be interfering with the missiles’ guidance,” Anderson gripes.

“EDI? Do you read me?” Shepard barks through her comms.

“Yes, Commander,” and it’s odd hearing the AI sound so strained.

“Any suggestions?” Another shot to a husk.

“I may be able to use the Normandy to enhance the missiles’ targeting capabilities.”

“Do it.”

“I’ll need you to open a link to the operating systems.”

Shepard punches at the control system while Garrus and Liara continue firing at the enemies that keep coming.

“Missile guidance enhanced! But the Destroyer is still out of range. It needs to be as close as possible, Commander.”

Shepard unloads into another banshee. “How the hell do we get it closer—”

“Shepard!” Anderson interrupts through her earpiece. “Harbinger is releasing everything he’s got. Hammer Team is making its way toward you. Just hold on.”

“Another wave?!” Liara sounds exasperated as her flare of biotics rips through a husk. Shepard can tell it's taking a toll on the biotic.

“We HOLD!”

And wave after wave comes. Banshees, cannibals, marauders—it’s an endless stream of near death calls. The ash from the burning surroundings stick to Shepard's sweat drenched skin and tighten her throat.

“Look,” Garrus rasps between shots, “the Destroyer is closing in.”

Shepard glances at the horizon and the massive machine is nearly on top of them now.

“Commander, it is within range!” EDI shouts over the comms.

“Firing!”

Another two Thanix missiles fire as the beam of the Destroyer weaves its way toward Shepard. This time they stick.

“A direct hit!”

“Hit them with everything you’ve got!” Shepard barks into the comms. An array of bullets and missiles in the city rain down on the Destroyer, exploding the being and littering the surroundings with corpse. A cloud of dust hits the crew.

“Destroyer terminated.” The AI sounds marginally calmer now.

“Nice work, EDI,” Shepard coughs, and she hears footsteps marching behind her.

“Shepard, over here!” It’s Anderson, and the commander feels a wave of relief that he finally caught up to them. She makes her way toward the older man. “We’re not out of the woods yet. Hackett just reported that several Sovereign-class reapers—including Harbinger—have broken off and are headed here.”

“Harbinger…”

“It’s a long shot but it’ll give Hackett enough time to get to the Citadel. But we still need someone on the ground to get to the beam and open the doors for him.”

“We still don’t know what we’ll find onboard the Citadel…” Garrus says bleakly.

“Then that’s our job: find out what we’re up against.” Shepard looks at the turian—at all of the remaining soldiers. “We’ve made it this far. There’s no turning back now. This is what we’ve been fighting for. Victory or death.” They nod.

“Alright,” Anderson said, “saddle up.”

Inside the shuttle there’s an odd sense of peace, in spite of the occasional rocking from explosions around them. There’re no windows and Shepard exhales at the bliss of being able to sit, to rest—if only for a moment. She looks over at her crew. Liara stares fixedly ahead, exhausted, and she reaches for her hand. The asari smiles faintly, squeezing back. Garrus has a shoulder wound and blood splattered all over him. Shepard hopes most if it isn’t his. He gives her a nod, telling her he’s ready to follow her to the end. Anderson sits in front of the commander, looking more than his age. She bitterly wishes he had a chance for a tranquil retirement among the stars.

“I’m proud of you, Shepard,” Anderson speaks, and it takes her by surprise. “We’re in the home stretch now.”

“No one I’d rather do this with.”

“We’re with you ’til the end,” Garrus chimes in, and his dual-tone voice sounds so tired. Liara just squeezes her hand harder.

But the smile is quickly wiped from Shepard’s face as the shuttle crashes to a halt.

“Well it was nice while it lasted,” she says, before opening the shuttle doors. “Ready?”

Outside is carnage, and the road to the Conduit is crumbled from the impact of the beam. They’re so close, but now it’s by foot now.

“It’s Harbinger!” Liara shouts over the chaos, as Shepard spots the colossal being landing. It's at least five times bigger than the Destroyer they just took down.

“We make a run for it! NOW!” she yells, taking off as the Reaper’s beam cuts through shuttles and soldiers alike. Shepard can only focus on the conduit beam as she navigates the debris, dodging exploding tanks and falling rubble. She watches Harbinger’s laser vaporizes the ground next to her, flipping over a vehicle. It lands right in the path of her team.

“Liara!” Shepard shouts, going back for the Asari and dragging her to cover. Garrus slams his body against the flipped tank as well.

“Normandy, do you copy?! I need an evac right now!” She looks down at Liara, who’s starting to bleed on her.

“We’re taking on heavy losses up here, Commander,” Joker yells through the comms, but moments later the Normandy pulls in. Shepard feels a surge of pride knowing only Joker could pull off a maneuver like that.

“C’mon,” Shepard groans, lifting Liara over her shoulder and running back to Normandy. Other soldiers filter off the ship for ground reinforcement. The earth shakes each time Harbinger’s beam cuts through it.

“Here, take her,” Shepard grunts, handing Liara over to Garrus.

“Shepard!” Liara moans, reaching out as blood trails down her side.

“You gotta get out of here!”

Garrus tries to pull her onto the ship but the asari pushes back.

“I’m alright, Shepard.”

“Don’t argue with me, Liara!”

“You’re not leaving me behind!” she cries. And all Shepard can see is the shy, helpless scientist she first met on Therum.

“No matter what happens,” Shepard steps toward the asari, “you mean everything to me, Liara.”

Tears stream down the asari’s face now as her commander kisses her with the hopelessness of a dead woman walking. Garrus looks away.

“It’ll always be you,” and she wipes away the tears and blood splattered across her azure cheeks.

“Shepard I…”

But behind them, the high-pitch whirling of Harbinger’s charging cannon shrills.

“GO!” Shepard yells, looking at Liara for a final time before sprinting away from the ship.

“I love you!” she hears her lover sob as the loading door closes and the Normandy pulls away, but her focus is on the beam now. She weaves through Harbinger’s lasers until things go white. ____

Time is distorted. She remembers the beam. She remembers the corpses. Somewhere in there, Anderson.

“You did good, kid. You did good.”

And she remembers smiling, feeling proud. But it didn’t last. She took the dog tags and put them over her neck. And she remembers the stillness of watching the chaos in space from inside the Conduit—the muted explosions and fleets of ships outside made her feel like she was underwater. She wonders if Hackett made it.

Then there’s The Child—the one she kept seeing on Earth and in her dreams—and it’s telling her she has to make a choice. She studies the thing, this illusion of a boy, and hopes that Liara made it. She wonder’s what she’ll name their daughter; she wishes she could watch her grow.

And when Shepard walks up to the catalyst, she’s not afraid this time. It’s not like the suffocating, cold, loneliness of space over Alchera. Now, she’s over her home. Earth. With everyone she’s ever loved down there. She holds the other set of dog tags in her hands.

“We did it, Anderson. We did it.” And she fires into the catalyst.

#sobbing crying throwing up #mass effect #mass effect 3 #shiara #my fic #my fics #commander shepard #fanfiction #liara t'soni #shepard x liara #femshep x liara #liara x shepard #angst fic #me3 #mass effect fic #shiara fic

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ludiharambasha · 11 months

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While I am not against the idea of Aang not killing The Firelord, and instead imparting justice for the genocide of his people on his own terms and in accordance with his culture per se, something about that narrative thread and how it was explored in the series rubs me the wrong way. It was apparent that AtLA was a rather neolib narrative from the get-go, and this choice is one that is but a culmination of this twisted mindset.

The thing is, killing The Firelord was always meant to be a symbolic action rather than a literal one. The Fire Nation started its military campaigns and conquest long before Ozai was even born. Killing The Current Firelord is not an immediate band-aid fix to a hundred years of oppression the other nations suffered through. While yes, The Firelords stand for the Fire Nation's imperialism, the people of the Fire Nation directly attributed to these campaigns. Ozai didn't kill the Waterbenders of the Southern Water tribe, nor the Airbenders, and neither did Sozin. People of the Fire Nation and its soldiers did.

And killing Ozai would have been a fine narrative choice, as Ozai is nothing more than a symbol of the Fire Nation, and his death would symbolize the death of the Fire Nation itself and its ideology. One could argue that that would have been a rather simplistic choice, but a completely fine and appropriate one for a children's cartoon. After all, children's media rests upon these personified or metonymic representations of abstract things, substituting them with something concrete. While it would have been an oversimplification of the conflict, it would have been narratively more effective than what the series actually offered.

When Aang refuses to kill Ozai, it brings forth all kinds of complications into the narrative, by completely shattering that symbolic aspect of the entire ordeal. The entire series hinged on Aang going against the Firelord, and the audience's engagement was based on this suspension of disbelief that killing the Firelord is in essence, killing the Fire Nation.

Now, when you decide to take this route you have to engage with the literal implication of their fight. Killing the Firelord isn't the end, as the people who actively upheld that system are still alive and did not answer for any of their crimes against humanity. So naturally, defeating the Firelord would only be the first step in that direction - but the writers of the series did not engage with that choice, not really. The series did pretty much end with Aang defeating the Firelord and taking away his bending, and reinstating Zuko as the new Firelord. The people who up until yesterday murdered or fully supported the murder and annihilation of the other nations, just magically started supporting and accepting peace, and aside from Azula and Ozai, no one answers for anything.

Nevermind that Iroh was also a military commander and killed many innocents, nevermind what Zuko did, nevermind that people that tortured Hama and their ascendants are walking scott-free, never mind that we never see what happened to the police officers in the Boiling Rock or the Fire Nation's soldiers that didn't die during Sozin's comet. No one ever pays for murdering Jet's family.

I truly don't understand this choice. You either make the narrative more simple, or you dabble in the more complex implications of it, you cannot have your cake and eat it too.

The people of the other Nations are supposed to just make peace with the people who butchered their loved ones for an entire century.

#anti atla #atla critical #anti iroh #anti zuko #jet #hama

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bestworstcase · 3 months

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Just found your post about gillian x jaune and I enjoyed it very much! Could you elaborate gillian being anti-theme ozma? Is it like, she’s committed not to GoL and his religion war but the people she loves and she acts in ozma’s manner on this issue? Thank you <3

when i say a character is anti-theme what i mean is they either don’t know or don’t believe��the narrative themes. this is a broad / high-level way of thinking about character arcs in terms of a character’s relation to theme. for example, a lot of fantasy protagonists have character arcs about learning and embracing the story’s themes; think “hero discovers the true power of friendship” type of stories.

one of the characteristics that makes rwby so interesting is that this theme/anti-theme paradigm is decoupled from narrative role, most notably in the case of salem and ozpin.

salem understands the narrative themes. in fact, she articulates them at the beginning of the story with such precision that fans regularly describe what rwby is thematically about by quoting or paraphrasing her: “even the smallest spark of hope is enough to ignite change,” “there will be no victory in strength,” and “your faith in mankind was not misplaced: when banded together, unified by a common enemy, they are a noticeable threat.” salem also describes mankind as “strong, wise, and resourceful” and praises humanity’s “passion, resourcefulness, and ingenuity.” these are ideas that salem truly believes.

meanwhile ozpin professes to have faith in mankind, but in reality he is beholden to a god who explicitly views modern humans as inferior shadows of their predecessors and has commanded ozma to “redeem” them before the gods lest they be found unworthy of existence and destroyed. ozpin himself is also paranoid, deceitful, manipulative, and distrustful, because he has no real faith in people.

and, if you listen to what salem actually says to and about him (including in ‘sacrifice’ and ‘divide’) it’s obvious that most of her fury is motivated by this: salem believes that humanity is worthy and that the divine mandate should be refused, and ozma’s dedication to his task of “redeeming” humanity enrages her. she’s angry both for herself and on humanity’s behalf.

her belief in the themes is also evident in her strategy and the scope of her war: she is very narrowly focused on the huntsmen academies and seems to be making an effort to minimize collateral damage, i.e. pulling grimm out of vale quickly while holding beacon, the surgical strike planned on haven, not attacking mantle (and having the hound send wild grimm out of the city), leaving menagerie in peace. salem is both desperate and ruthless, but her faith in remnant’s ability to survive and rebuild after she knocks the academies down is ironclad.

so, with that laid out, before discussing gillian i want to first elaborate on jaune being anti-theme salem.

salem’s own story is defined by striving for freedom and justice: she escapes her tyrannical father’s tower; challenges the brothers, who are unjust; leads a rebellion; possibly brings humankind back and may have created the faunus through her transformation in the pool of grimm; rejects the divine mandate; and now she seeks to topple the huntsmen academies and create a ‘new world’ free from the divine threat of annihilation.

connected to that, one of the central thematic conceits of her character is the power that storytellers wield over their audiences: ozpin explicitly uses fairytales as propaganda to control the narrative about her, framing her as an inhuman monster who cannot be trusted and desires only annihilation. fairytalesare not real, and the truth is hard to come by. salem is well aware of this and remarks upon it in her V1 soliloquy (“legends, stories scattered through time” that obscure “the forgotten past”). she does not, particularly, seem to like fairytales.

as with hope and faith in mankind, this is another case of salem knowing the theme versus ozma believing the anti-theme. rwby values fairytales because they can express emotional truths, but the whole truth—the reality—is always more complex, and fairytales can also be weaponized as propaganda or tools of condemnation. it is important to understand that fairytales aren’t real, and treating real life like a fairytale only leads to pain.

yes? okay.

jaune and pyrrha reflect salem and ozma; she’s the renowned celebrity athlete with a heart of gold, he’s the self-described “damsel in distress” and “lovable idiot stuck in the tree.” she helps him down from the tree and trains him to a level of competence, and like the original ozma, she dies tragically young. simple.

but,

unlike salem, jaune is not motivated by a longing for freedom or anger at injustice. he comes from a line of soldiers and he wants to prove to his doubtful family that he’s good enough to uphold that legacy. he doesn’t want to be the damsel in distress; he wants to be the hero. he doesn’t want to be saved; he wants to be the one saving others. so he fraudulently enrolls in beacon academy and pretends to be something he isn’t. the tree is his tower—“i’m tired of being the lovable idiot stuck in the tree while his friends fight for their lives,” he says, pointing wildly at beacon tower—but the thing is, he put himself there. during his character arc in V1, jaune is trapped in a cage of his own making, one he built out of childish fantasies about being the fairytale hero.

further, if we compare jaune’s reason for wanting to be a huntsman against the rest of the kids:

ruby wants to help people and feel closer to her mother by being like the heroes in the stories summer read to her when she was small

weiss wants to atone for what her father has done in her family’s name and make things right

blake wants to make a stand against corruption and inequality for her people, even though she’s not sure how to fix it

yang craves adventure and self-discovery, and she wants to pursue it in a manner that will make the world a better place

pyrrha believes it’s her destiny to be a huntress in order to protect the world

nora doesn’t have a clear idea of what she wants, but she’s an intensely compassionate person who, like blake, stands up to injustice and advocates for people in need.

ren wants to become the huntsman his village needed, someone who could have saved his parents and his home, and he’s following his father’s final advice to take action

jaune wants to prove to his family that he is good enough to become a warrior like his forefathers.

jaune is the odd one out. he’s fiercely loyal to and protective of his friends, but he’s the only one who came to beacon for purely self-centered reasons. his arc in V1 is about jaune learning not to be craven and self-serving, to shelve his pride, let go of his cowardice, and do the right thing.

all of this is anti-theme—or at least, the absence of belief in the themes.

and that comes to a head when he’s stranded in the ever after in V9. see, salem’s belief in the themes—in the power of hope, the worth of mankind, and the importance of truth—is not just an abstraction. these beliefs are what drives her. for salem, emotionally, hope and righteous anger are one and the same. when she loses her hope, she remembers her anger; anger motivates her to act, and so reignites her hope. she has never given up because she has taken every horrific hope-shattering experience as a reason to get back up and keep fighting. every cruelty the gods inflicted upon her strengthened her conviction that resistance to their design was worthwhile.

what happens if salem lacks that conviction?

salem believes heart and soul that change is possible and that these humans—this world—are better off without the brothers. in the present, she is hopeless and wrathful, and her desperation drives her to catastrophic extremes, but she is not stagnating: she’s fighting to change the world, freeing herself from exile and everyone else from the threat of annihilation.

in contrast, jaune does not really believe in anything. not in the way salem does—he believes in his friends and he believes in doing his job as a huntsmen, sure. but where is his faith? where, after he’s stranded in the ever after, is his reason to act? after the moonfall, salem curses the gods and wanders the face of remnant alone until she reaches the pool of grimm, then throws herself into the darkness with the hope that it will change something; rather than fall into despair, she holds onto her conviction and searches for a way to keep moving forward.

jaune… sits on a beach for years, passively waiting for something to happen. when alyx and lewis find him, he tries to be the storybook hero and his obsession with making sure that the story happens as it’s “supposed” to freaks alyx out so much that she poisons him. then he lives with the paper pleasers for years, playing pretend as their hero while he runs in circles. he’s trapped. he has no real purpose or direction. the tree is, once again, his tower—that tree is death! it erases you!—and just as before, it’s a tower of his own making.

tellingly, his stagnation in the ever after transforms him into a resemblance of ozpin: paranoid, distrustful, manipulative, controlling of the very people to whom he has appointed himself a guardian. he finds himself in a world completely unfamiliar to him, convinces himself that it’s cursed and bad because it isn’t like the world he remembers, and rots.

so, he’s anti-theme salem: a fractal repetition of her unmoored from her unshakable belief in the themes, who stagnates and is corrupted like ozpin because of his lack of faith.

the natural converse of anti-theme salem is an ozma who does believe in the themes, because that’s the reversal of ozma’s relation to the theme.

presuming that i am generally anticipating gillian’s presence and role in the vacuo arc correctly, there are a few solid reasons to think that her thematic ties to ozma will mirror jaune’s to salem.

first, as the summer maiden—the maiden of destruction—her “moral” (per the fairytale) is “don’t view the world at a distance; take an active part in it,” and destruction itself has been consistently portrayed as a catalyst and agent of change. ozpin fears destruction and views it as the enemy of life itself—anti-theme. being the summer maiden, gillian would embody the thematic refutation to that idea.

second, the crown repeats the ozlem kingdom: both authoritarian cults founded and led by a pair of leaders claiming divine right to rule (ozlem on the strength of their magic, the asturias twins through their claim of royal blood), and both collapse when ozma / gillian are forced to choose between love and their cause. but they choose in opposite directions; ozma sacrifices salem and their daughters for the sake of the divine mandate, but gillian turns against jax at the last minute to save his life (and her own) once it’s clear that he intends to go down fighting. unlike ozma, when the chips were down, gillian sacrificed her cause to save her brother.

third, the whole backstory between gillian and jax—as i’ve pointed out before—revolves around gillian’s absolute rejection of the idea that her brother’s frailty made him inferior. everyone else, even jax himself, sees jax as a parasitic weakling, pitiable at best and repellant at worst, but gillian is glad to share her aura with him and not only treats him like her equal but comfortably follows his lead.

gillian’s semblance makes her terrifically powerful, with or without the maiden powers, and she was raised in a culture that worships power and abhors “weakness”—and yet. she mainly uses her power to support her brother and at one point during the climactic battle she even reflects that the power she grants her forces also leads them to be overconfident and reckless, to their detriment. her attitude toward power is very reminiscent of salem’s—and quite unlike ozma, who seeks out the relics in the hope of using them to overpower salem and goes to extreme lengths to try to keep the maidens and their power under his control.

so while she clearly repeats ozma, gillian does not put her faith in power and chooses to follow her heart rather than let herself and her brother die for a doomed cause, and she might be the maiden who embodies destruction as a force of active change. all of this puts her thematically opposite to ozma in much the same way that jaune is thematically opposite to salem.

and,

if she and jaune do wind up being narratively intertwined (romantically or otherwise), there is a lot of compelling reverse-ozlem ore here. a heroic anti-theme salem in juxtaposition with a villainous ozma who knows (some of) the themes. when jaune is at his best, he’s a healer; gillian loves her medically fragile brother. there’s an obvious narrative opening to bring these characters into orbit with each other and helping jax is an obvious step to healing what’s rotten in the state of vacuo. in the broader thematic sense, gillian as an ozma repetition being motivated to complete a villain->hero arc because they’re helping her brother (and because she’s been given a reason to question whether there’s any real truth or value in her “royal bloodline”) would also elegantly precipitates ozma’s apostasy arc. and then you have the possible ozlem reversal of jaune finding something to believe in through gillian just as ozma found something to live for in salem.

#theme vs anti-theme is rly central to #why ozlem imploded #and in theory (sighs heavily) crochi amour would explore and resolve that conflict #as a prelude to the ozlem reconciliation

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metalcultbrigade · 2 months

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Annihilator - Alice in Hell 17/04/1989

ALICE IN HELL (1989) Facts - read til the end for surprise!):

- ANNIHILATOR: ALICE IN HELL was the 1st Gold Record for Roadrunner Records & the band.

- All songs written between 1984-1987 in Ottawa, Canada.

- All songs from "ALICE" (as well as most songs/riffs from 1990's "NEVER, NEVERLAND") were demoed via 3 cassette demos:

1) 1985 WELCOME TO YOUR DEATH (crystal ann, wtyd, lust of death-turned-human insecticide, buzzsaw blade, i am in command, back to the crypt)

Freed From The Pit (Road To Ruin)

2) 1986 PHANTASMAGORIA (alison hell, gallery-turned neverland and stonewall, phantasmagoria, ligeia)

Mayhem (Reduced to Ash) and I Love The Dead (Kraf Dinner) were demoed in the same session but didn't get on the officially-released version)

3) 1987 "SHOPPING DEMO" (wicked mystic, imperilled eyes, word salad). For record labels only.

- The WTYD demo 85 was reviewed around the world, while the Phantasmagoria demo 86 landed in the Top 4 circulated cassette demos in Metal music. Tape trading/dubbing was big then!

- While Jeff Waters wrote all the drums, Paul Malek played on most of the song demos; Jeff Waters played drums on 3 songs.

- Jeff Waters moved to Vancouver, Aug 1987 and started recording the record, off and on, from late 87-88.

- Studio engineer Paul Blake not only worked on ANNIHILATOR's records 1, 3, 4, 5, and 6, he also taught Jeff basic recording techniques and helped equip the 1st Watersound Studios on Maple Ridge, BC in 1994.

- AIH is cited as an influence by members of bands like Opeth, COB, In Flames, Slipknot, Trivium, Lamb Of God to Nickelback and Three Doors Down (Crystal Ann/Here Without You); and many more.

- David Ellefson (and Nick Menza) stated that: "The Rust In Peace lineup would crank up the ALICE IN HELL cassette everyday, to and from our writing and recording sessions for (their classic) the Rust In Peace record."

- Waters guitar playing on this record is said to be a major influence on the Scandinavian metal scene

- The next record, NEVER, NEVERLAND, surpassed ALICE in sales.

#metalcultbrigade #metal #heavy metal #thrash metal #thrash #annihilator #80's music #80's

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sirendeepity · 8 months

Text

[ Nessian Week, day 5: Home ]

A/N: Another day, another "I don't really know if it fits the criteria, but here it is anyway". Pretty sure it was supposed to be a lot more heavier on the "emotional side" and very less literal, buuut it's been sitting in my drafts for ages, and I needed a valid enough excuse to publish it even tho I don't even have a second part ready (or any idea how it will end, because it could be a very easy, mostly Nessian thing, or it could drastically and dramatically change the course of everything and be as not Nessian centric as they come. So it's either peace of mind or complete annihilation. No in between. I personally love the drama, so there might be a big one coming for you.)

@nessianweek

W/C: 1.7k

T/W: the House is in danger, natural cataclysm, mention of possible injuries? (I don't know how to write trigger warnings without spoiling everything, just know that it's bad, or it's going to be)

“Please, spare my life, oh cruel, blood-thirsty warrior!”

Cassian huffed once more as Mor and Feyre’s mocking laughs followed him through the glass doors of the shop. A shop he’d just got out of with an extra-large sized teddy bear holding a “Hug Me!” sign between its chubby paws.

He tucked the furry thing under an arm as he kept the door open for the two ladies.

Ever the gentleman, Cassian, he thought to himself, wondering what would be Nesta’s reaction to the gift.

She’d laugh too.

Which was a very possible, almost certain scenario.

“Never, in a million years, I would have pegged my sister to be the helpless romantic,” Feyre said, catching up to him. Mor was still giggling a few steps behind.

“She’s not,” was Cassian’s reply. “Not in the way you think, anyway.”

That 4’9 feet tall plushie was not exactly a cheesy gift. It was a necessity. Well, it was a healthy mix of both.

Things were not great in Illyria, so Cassian often needed to fly there early in the morning only to come back home Gods knew when - if he managed to come back at all.

A few times now Cassian had come home from the camps in the middle of the night, tired to his very bones; all he wanted was to take a bath and snuggle in his bed, hug his wife close to his chest, and never, ever let her go again. That had been the plan, at least, until he’d opened the bedroom door and found his beautiful mate curled around a pillow. His pillow.

Cassian knew better than to ask Nesta straight-forward and expect her to answer with her heart bleeding and bare for him: she’d made huge steps, but it was a hard wall to knock down at once. Nesta Archeron was not built for vulnerability. But she was trying - doing her best, really - and that was all he cared about. All that mattered, really.

So he had waited for Nesta to open up about what was really going on - about her missing him, about her being so used to having him by her side every night that she’d felt the need to fill the empty space on the bed in a different way.

The first time he’d been welcomed by that view, Cassian was almost sure his heart had shrunk a size and slipped through his ribs, ending up somewhere around his ankles. He had felt the urge to wrap his arms and wings and every molecule of his being around Nesta and tell her not to worry anymore because he was finally home, home, home.

Yet, he had found himself unable to move, not trusting his knees to keep him standing if he even dared to take a step in her direction. So he’d stood by the door and took her in. How Nesta’s nose was buried so deep into the cushion he had wondered how the fuck does she breathe?; how her long hair, free of any braid and band, waved down in every possible direction, covering the silk bed sheets like a second blanket; how her hands were clawing the pillowcase in a white-knuckled grip, as if she was afraid it would go away, too.

As soon as blood came rushing back through his body and Cassian remembered how to function—basic coordination and all of that—, he’d walked toward their bed and woke her up. Nesta had opened her eyes, brows already furrowed as her sleepy gaze cleared and her focus snapped into place. As she realized it was not her mind playing with the darkness.

Cassian had kissed his mate ever so gently. He’d kissed her again and then kissed her once more, as he’d gotten rid of the dirty clothes he was wearing. What had come after was not as gentle—it had started as such, only to turn quickly into something else, something a little more—and neither of them had found sleep until sunrise.

That was the real reason behind the disgustingly big teddy bear.

Pity his High Lady and her Third were currently acting way too childish to learn the truth about it.

“Can we go back and buy another one for Amren? I bet it’s taller than her.”

Cassian turned to Mor, opening his mouth to suggest her next Solstice gift for their pocket-sized demon of a friend, but before a single word left his mouth, the ground underneath their feet shook violently. The plush bear was the first thing to fall as Cassian reached for the two females and shielded them both, his wings spread wide open above their heads. It was not long before silence fell again, the only noise being Feyre’s order to “tuck in that bat wings of yours”.

“It had been decades since we’d had an earthquake in Velaris. Are you all okay?” Mor’s voice was full of worry as she eyed her companions, checking for any kind of injury, hands ready to heal. Cassian knew she would find none on him: all his wounds were inside.

It had happened just a heartbeat later, stealing the air from his lungs and knocking him to the ground, every muscle tensed and ready for an enemy that wasn’t there. The panic and the fear build up to undiluted terror—to pain. And then nothing else.

Feyre was shaking him—or maybe it was Mor. Hard to tell, given that all he heard were distant murmurs, remnants of what should have been words. He couldn’t bring himself to get back on his feet, to take a deep, full breath, to remember where the fuck he was and what had just happened.

“Cassian, Gods damn it, look at me. Tell me what’s wr-”

It’s not me, he said. Not me, not me, not me.

No, he just thought it. Because the females in front of him were looking somewhere else.

The bubble popped as Cassian came to his senses—awareness rushing back along with a cacophony of sounds from all over Velaris.

Cassian gulped air down his lungs and jumped to his feet, turning his head in the same direction as everyone else’s standing in the streets.

It had not been an earthquake.

It had been the House. His House. Collapsed onto itself - dragging the Library, the whole fucking mountain, with it.

“Mother help us.”

[ * * * ]

For a long moment, everything was quiet. Until it wasn’t anymore.

Her ears were ringing. A whistle, constantly playing the same plain note, high-pitched enough to cut through her brain. She couldn’t even think above the sharp, throbbing pain, like a hammer against her skull.

She opened her eyes—or tried to: everything was still dark, so dark Nesta wasn’t sure she did it in the first place.

The Library. I’m in the Library.

Right. Azriel had brought Emerie over and they had both joined Gwyn and the priestesses.

Emerie. Gwyn. The priestesses.

Nesta could have called out their name, could have just whispered them, could have said nothing at all.

She tried to move her arms, found them free of any injury or impediment, and proceeded on with the rest of her body. Just as Gwyn had once told her. Frankly, she’d just half-listened to her friend’s babbling, catching words here and there and nodding along in encouragement. There was a different sort of spark in her big teal eyes whenever that side of Gwyn took control, as if the spirit of a long-deceased scholar had just possessed her body and that was the only relief the poor soul could find after centuries of torments. That was a fun way to put it, anyway.

Neck, nothing.

Ribs, nothing.

Spine…

She wiggled her toes, only to realize she could not. A bookshelf had fallen on her.

Not a bookshelf, Nesta thought, just its books.

Something must have blocked it before it hit the ground.To prove her point, dozens of tomes of every size and texture were on her. Burying her alive. Life had a wicked sense of humor. Nesta moved them away ever so slowly, lest something was not quite right yet.

Once the way was clear, she tried again, just higher: bending her knees, she hold on to what felt like a crumbled piece of wall and pushed herself free from under the now empty bookshelf. The idea of running out of luck and being crushed underneath it did funny things to her stomach. To her self-control in general, given that she was already running low on it.

Spine, legs, feet: nothing.

Sitting up, Nesta started to cough at the cloud of dirt and dust and debris floating through the air. It was hard to breathe and there were one too many reasons why.

Nausea and dizziness hit her all at once, in a rush so strong she barely managed to turn her head to the side before throwing up, emptying her guts.

Nesta could almost hear Gwyn say in that tone as condescending as ever, “That’s called having a concussion.”

“Here I was, believing your skull was the hardest thing to crack open.” That would’ve been Emerie, of course. Never missing a beat.

She needed to find them, but first, she needed to make sure she wasn’t going to die in the process. A moment later, her hands were on her head, in her hair, feeling her scalp and looking for open wounds. She didn’t find any, and yet her fingers were warm, wet.

Mh, strange.

She retreated her hand, squinting as she tried to make out the slickness coating her fingers, to no avail. It was too dark.

Something brushed her thigh, making her startle. It was cold, the whisper of a touch.

And it was warning her. Nesta felt it before it happened, before another rumble shook the ground. It was an aftershock—the first of many.

Her head started floating above her shoulder and her limbs felt so inexplicably light. But Nesta’s existence as a feather was short-lived: she’d flown too high, she’d touched the sun. She was free-falling.

Her knees hit the ground first, the rest of her body soon followed, her marble bones too heavy for her to move, to breathe. Cold sweat pin pricked her skin, and Nesta prayed for luck to kiss her once more. She wasn’t known for her faith, though.

And then the ringing began.

I’m sorry, the phantom wind whispered against the shell of her ear. She could hear it clearly over the screaming and the shouting of that noise inside her head. It was a faint embrace, but Nesta reveled in its familiarity for as long as she could.

I tried.

#dee writes #house of memories #nessianweek2023 #day 5: home #nessian #nessian fanfiction #nessian fic #nesta archeron #cassian #cassian x nesta #nesta x cassian #nesta and cassian

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aloneatpeace · 6 months

Text

In Another Universe

Chapter 21

Illuminati falls

You touch the carving of the walls studying every detail “you’re wondering what happens now”

“No. that I’ve already accepted” you turn to him “but I do wonder when you could force America to send you to any universe you want. Why take her power for your own. You know it would kill her “

“For Charlie and Oliver, to protect them. What if they get sick? In the infinite multiverse there is a cure for every illness.” You walk towards Wong “a solution to every problem. I won’t lose them again” you confess honestly.

“Try as you might, you cannot control everything” Wong dismiss.

You come closer to him desperation clear in your voice “but I can” Wong look at you like your crazed glinted eyes with a stoic glance “look around you” walking towards the statue “it carved in stone. I was meant to rule everything.” Pausing for a moment you turn to him “but that’s not what I want. I just want my boys.”

“At a cost of child’s life “he hisses “is there no peace in knowing though you can’t be with the ones you love there are worlds where you are together? Is that not enough?”

Repelled you lifting of the ground “No” throw him out of the temple to the abyss of snow

You float midair the spell back on full force, branches of the multiverse of your alternates life together with your boys around you. Searching for the one that you already had once connected you dream walk to your alternate house. Finding her sleeping in the couch with your boys you possess her unconscious mind.

Earth 838 you wake with red iris and walked out the door thrusting her hands back lift her off the floor.

“We all know how the both you do anything for each other” Charles said looking at sam and dean “as admirable the act is you caused many chaos here. Letting the mother of mother of all monsters Echidna. The death your brother We were at war while the rest of us banded together to try stop you as always choose to go it alone”

“He turned to the Darkhold began Dreamwallking, in hopes that our salvation might lies in the Multiverse” Karls continues

“And guess what, it didn’t but he kept doing it anyway.” Captain marvel adds

“One night, you called us all together confessed that you had Dreamwallking and in your words, “things had gotten out of hand”. You never told us the details of what had happened. Only that you had inadvertently triggered an incursion. you, our friend caused the annihilation of another universe” at reeds statement Sam felt lost and loses of words he gulps as captain marvel said the next words

“Everyone in that reality died, everyone”

“Sam renounced Darkhold’s evil and helped us find the Book of Vishanti, a weapon we did use together to defeat Echidna. But one final threat remained” Charles concluded before lifting his fingers and place it in his temple projecting the past, allowing them to see what had really happened.

Sam was on his knees, face bruised and blood dripping from his nose and side of his face, his fingers had turned black. A devastated look on his face surrounding him various monsters, creatures of the dark some that they never encountered oh their hunting life lay dead, beside his side farther away a woman of dark hair, dressed in black clothes a crown on her head lay dead with a large sword piercing her heart.

“I shall miss you my friend”

“I’m ready”

Black blot walks forward his trident on his forehead glow a buzzing sound emitting “I’m sorry” the small whisper from his mouth caused higher sound wave that caused everything burst into nothing, a flame can be seen as the group stands mourning silently for the man.

The take in everything when sudden an alarm rings reed glances up “the building has been breached”

“No, shit genius” dean mutter

“Status report on sentries” captain carter commands

Camera around the front of the appears on the screen earth 838 you can be seen fighting the Ultron’s robots lift and right, blasting away them, tearing the machine apart easily. She pulls the last one making them clearly see her with her half side of the face covered with the machines oil.

“Stop where you are…” the Ultron’s word cuff of by her as she crushes him with her power.

The feed ends.

“she’s heading for the child” captain marvel yells

“Watch them, we’ll vote on our return”

“If you return. You cannot handle her, let us help” dean yell at them

Charles and Karls were remains as the rest left to deals with you/her.

“Perhaps we accept that their help” Charles said making Karl stand up from his seat

“What the hell are you saying?”

“Save the girl and get to the book of Vishanti”

“You have the book here?” sam asks

“Yes, you build a waypoint”

“Charles, we cannot trust him “

“I believe we can, just because someone stumbles and loses their way, doesn’t mean they’re lost forever. We will see what kind of sam Winchester you are”

Charles unlocks their cuffs and sent them free “thank you” Sam said.

Cas was still in lab trying to see who is the intruder was, but the cameras has been cut off no feed come up when the building shook all the Ultron in the lab run towards the hall.

“PERIMETER BREAKDOWN”

‘ALL SENTRIES ENGAGE”

“INTRUDER APPORACHING”

America looks around from glass cell as Cas tell everybody to get out

“NOW” everyone in lab flees as Cas stand in the front door of the lab anticipating the entry of the intruder.

“it’s y/n” America said. Cas turns to the system to shut the door as the protocols says, but the system failed to do so. America watches Cas she momentarily looks back at the entrance everything was smokey due to the fire. An Ultron runs into the smoke sound of machine buzzing can be heard then a head of a robot come bouncing

“ULTRON COMMANDS YOU TO HALT”

From the smoke you step out Americas eyes wide in fear, the blood and oils on the side of your face and the white cloth with face void of any single emotions made you look like a monster. The Ultron repeat the same sentence with flick your fingers its decapitated robotic head exploded into pieces beside you without glancing it you walk pass it barefoot to America.

“Hurry, hurry she’s coming” America bangs at the glass scared out of her mind

Cas curse it would’ve been fine if he had his powers but he doesn’t have it and nothing seems to work he cannot release America or lock up the lab.

Seeing America held in the glass cell, the red mist in your hand buzz ready to break the glass when captain carter land in front of you. You tilt your head at the new comer, black bolt captain marvel and reed then stand Infront of you.

“Y/n, stop” Reed spoke with a clam voice “you’ve possessed an innocent woman, but you can still do the right thing” you stand head shifting to side your hands no longer having the red mist “let her go” your non-threatening stance made him take a step closer “please. I have children of my own I understand your pain”

“Is their mother still alive?” an innocence in your voice but your eyes said another story.

“yes” reed answer honestly

“Good. There will be someone left to raise them” nonchalantly you state

Reed sigh at that “y/n, Black Bolt could destroy you with one whisper from his mouth” a warning was evident in that.

“What mouth?” a false confusion in your voice

Black bolt opens his mouth only to realize his cannot feel his mouth is no longer in his face a sudden panic settle in him as he touches his where should his mouth should be only for to his to be widened in fear when he found his mouth gone, in fear he touches all over his face to find his face, behind him carter and captain marvel stand puzzled. In desperate need of searching his mouth black bolt let a muffled scream before he could stop his brain exploded and the trident blink blood drips from his nose and he falls dead on the floor.

Angered at the loses of his friend, reed quickly react by extending his arm to grab you, you lift your hand and lift him of the floor and tear him into pieces, from his hands and leg reed start to tear into pieces until he screams and last of him was shuddered like a paper.

Captain carter and captain marvel look at each other both shocked and angered at the death of their friend. Your eye glow red as captain marvel suits up and fly up as captain carter run to sideway, captain marvel sends a blast that you used a psionic shield to cover you, with one hand projecting the shield you use other to blast captain carter with a blast she sends the shield at you as the blast hit the statue missing her.

You made the shield hit the pilar behind you with your power. Captain marvel again send a full thrusted blast both hands thrusting down trying to crush you down, you do the same both hands ready to blast, but she blast the ground near your feet making you stumble and captain carter who was running to you be thrown away by the force of the blast, you quickly stand as captain marvel hover in the sky her suit and eyes glowing hands buzzing with blue energy preparing to blast you quickly send a blast to captain carter as the you send numerous blast but she skillfully dodge it, gliding she pick up the shield as captain marvel hits you with a blast you shield yourself, you breath heavily as the intense of power increase you send a statue flying to her and she was hit with it as they both crash into the high wall.

You glance around for the super solider smokes around you, she run silently behind before you can see you turns to where you could feel and was hit with her shield you quickly stand on your feet as well, she “haven’t you had enough?”

She spit the blood out her mouth “oh, I could do this all day” she answers with a smug smile, she swings her shield but you crouch down doge the hit pushes her away with your power you block her shields with your power and throw her to the ground.

She stops the skidding with the help of the thrusters that she uses to fly standing up she throw the shield at you catch it with your power and throw it right back at her with a brute force that the shield cut her at torso she gasps at that staying still for a moment before her top half and bottom half falls. the shield hit the pilar with blood dripping down it.

You didn’t spare a glance and turns to captain marvel who now come out the wall with a blast, she blasts you with her full power and you stumble a little with one hand blocking the blast and one hand using your power to stabilize yourself you lift yourself and send the ground stones at her but she blasts through it and send blast but you block it. Lifting yourself off the ground, both of your power meet, the crackling with glowing eyes she hisses at you “get the hell out of my universe”.

You let your power envelopes her the golden energy turns to red with intense eyes you allow her power to flow inro absorbs her power making her suit fall apart her helmet and hand raps fade away.

Back in earth 616 you sigh as the power feel your body through dream walking.

With that earth 838 you push captain marvel with a grunt which caused a huge blast and the two of you to be thrown away. Captain marvel groan as she crashes into a statue and fall down, glasses shatter and you fall top the pieces lay down you look up to see her lay under the statue and make the statue fall top of her. Captain marvel close her eyes and helpless trying shield her self from the impact, without knowing that you had already absorbed your power. Her hand fall limp outside the rubbles of huge stones.

All this was seen by Sam, dean and Klaus after they fought with Karl Klaus knocked him out as they gone to search for America. They have been trying to get America out of the cell with cas after she punched the glass Klaus final punch shattered the glass successfully releasing her.

Sam, see you approach he slowly walk towards you but was stopped when Charles tells him to go to get the book and they leave as Charles get inside your head in earth 616 you scream as Charles get inside your head.

Charles walks through a door with no walls attached or anything everything was white, parts of broken beds with sheets and dolls was that burned, a gap between the broken bed was filed with darkness beside it was tv that playing a show two a couple in black white the women was wearing a wedding gown as the husband beside her.

Charles looks down the hole and gasp in surprise when a hand shoots out its earth 838 you “help me, please”

“y/n, your mind is being held by your alternate self “Charles said quickly knowing that you could gain control anytime. Her eyes widen at that and the ground shook “grab my hand” she does as he says “perhaps, if I can pull you from under the hole the spell will break” he grunts as he pulls her, she come up slowly as red mist approach them.

Charles goes still as the presence of you creep in, she also anticipating what about happen suddenly she vanish. you appear behind Charles and snap his neck.

Chest, heaving you turns to where was America was only to see them missing.

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bluerose5 · 1 year

Note

Stargazing with shavik??? Pretty please??

Love them! Just a couple of soldiers in a post-war galaxy. 🥺

~~~

There came a time in life when the war ended.

The soldiers came home, laid down their weapons, and took a breath.

For once, the impossible seemed possible. Species all across the galaxy banded together. All of Commander Shepard’s hard work finally paid off, and that unity survived into the aftermath of the Reaper War. Recovery efforts were extensive; but for the first time in a long while, hope persevered.

There would come a time when Shepard’s help would be needed again. Of that, they were certain.

And when the call came, they would answer.

For now, however, they were going to enjoy the peace while it lasted.

Calloused fingers reached out at their side, brushing lightly along the tips of tall grass. Each blade danced in the cool, evening breeze, their color slightly washed out in the darkness of night.

Echoes of the past whispered through each individual blade of grass, the effects of the Cipher growing stronger with each passing day. Slowing to a halt, Alyx let their eyes slip closed, and they listened.

Flashes of memories played out like scenes out of a movie. Children chased flying insects native to the area. Young lovers sprinted through the fields with breathless grins. Fires roared while the geth trampled past the destruction left in their wake. Ghosts of an empire cried out as their home was annihilated.

Alyx hadn’t even realized they were holding their breath, not until they felt fingers brush against their own.

They inhaled sharply, and fresh air brought in a rush of oxygen along with it, causing their head to spin.

The memories they could sense around them were replaced with familiar ones, most of them equally as chilling, but familiar nonetheless.

Alyx opened their eyes to stare at Javik.

It was still so strange, seeing him outside of his armor, experimenting with different styles from various species. Civilian attire suited him, though, especially the looser, lighter fabrics that he seemed to prefer.

In spite of themself, Alyx smiled.

Javik spared them a glance, lips parted.

“What?” he asked.

They immediately shook their head.

“It’s nothing.” He leveled them with a curious stare, so Alyx shrugged. “I was just thinking that this is where we first met.”

"That, it is," he replied, then snorted after a second. "Don't tell me you're feeling sentimental, Commander."

"And if I was?" they countered, never one to back down around him. "Would that be so bad?"

He considered that, fingers twitching.

"No, perhaps not."

For the first time since Alyx knew him, everything about him was so gentle. His voice, his eyes, his touch.

When he reached out to take Alyx's face in his hands, Alyx surrendered to all of the emotions, thoughts, and memories exchanged between them. He traced every single detail, fascinated, and Alyx let him.

Eventually, he asked, "Tell me. What do people like us do when there is no war to be fought?"

A fair enough question. He had been born into battle. It was all he knew when he went to sleep, and it was the first thing he woke up to in a far-distant future.

Alyx knew a time "before" war, but their time on Earth sometimes felt like a battlefield in and of itself.

They placed their hands over his, stopping them in their path, and squeezed.

For that moment, he sounded so lost, and that feeling echoed through Alyx, both of them feeding into the feeling.

That didn't mean they couldn't at least try and make sense of the uncertainty.

"When the war is over, soldiers must find a new purpose," Alyx explained in a whisper. "Easier said than done, I know, but we have to keep going. We build a new life."

They glanced back over their shoulder, the lights from the colony twinkling like stars themselves.

"That's what Eden Prime has always been, right? A beginning and an end. A place where our old lives ended and our new ones began." They took a deep breath to steady the tremor in their voice. "It was where the Reapers' war on this cycle first started, so… I don't know." They gave a half-shrug. "I felt it was fitting to end the post-war victory tour here, to remember those lost."

Even then, off in the distance, they could hear celebrations in full swing. While there was still much to rebuild, scars that needed to heal, the colonists were more than happy to have a reprieve away from all the devastation that had been inflicted upon them, time and time again. They were given a chance to focus on all of the good that life had to offer, so they seized the opportunity.

They definitely earned the break, and then some.

"Figured this was our chance to put the past to rest," Alyx said. Hesitantly, they wrapped their arms around him, but Javik accepted the embrace without complaint. "Together."

Golden eyes stared down at them. For a split second, he glanced towards the colony, humming low in contemplation.

"Together," he said with a hint of finality. "But let's take a walk. You mentioned on the ride here that it's been a while since you've seen the stars from planetside."

"It has been," they stated, wrinkling their nose ever so slightly, "and Earth wasn't exactly known for its views when I grew up there. Too much pollution at the time."

Not to take into account its condition when Alyx was last there, but neither of them mentioned that.

Javik tugged them along instead.

"Then, let's go." He coaxed them away from all of the noise. "We're not going to see much this close to the settlement."

"Yeah," Alyx agreed, "although, if we want the full impact, then we have a long trip ahead of us."

"That's never stopped us before."

"You're right."

And it wasn’t going to stop them now.

They tangled their fingers together, and they set off into the night.

They lost track of time after a while, but that mattered little to them. They continued walking, hand in hand, no matter how many times they faltered.

Cybernetic scars split open Alyx's skin in little, web-like cracks, but they hardly felt as self-conscious about them now as they did when they first woke up after Project Lazarus. The violet lighting glowed, penetrating through the haze of darkness.

Each step forward revealed how Alyx favored one side while walking, a noticeable limp to their right leg that never really went away after the war.

Their right arm was completely prosthetic. Metallic at the moment, but it worked well enough for them.

There were scars from burns that never quite healed right, and pain always lingered, even if nothing more than a dull background noise.

Alyx coped with it as best as they could, took it all in stride, or so they let on.

It was their reminder of all that they had survived, the sacrifices that they made to get to where they were.

It was a reminder that they were still alive, that they got an actual chance to live.

Neither one of them said much throughout their journey, but the unspoken exchanges through touch said enough.

Once they reached the top of a hill that overlooked the main settlement, they came to a stop.

"Shall we have a seat?" Alyx asked, waving towards a spot on the ground.

Javik grumbled, but Alyx knew him long enough to know when he was about to start trolling.

"You mean you didn't bring anything for me to sit on? Unacceptable. I'll have you know that I do not need to settle for these types of condi—"

"Oh, shut up."

With a shove of their biotics, they knocked him onto his ass.

Before he could respond, they were already snuggling up to him, their back to his chest. As they squirmed their way in between his legs, they took his arms and wrapped them around themself, a smug smile upon their lips.

Javik huffed, disgruntled yet fond.

"I think you just like to push me around."

"I like to put you in your place," Alyx corrected, their expression coy. "'Pushing you around,' as you call it, is a part of that at times, but I certainly don't hear you complaining."

A lone grunt of acknowledgement, followed by a pointed silence, was answer enough.

Alyx snickered, nudging him lightly.

"Now, hush. Enjoy the view with me."

Not a difficult order to follow. Away from all the light and noise, the night sky lit up in delight. Stars came out of hiding and brightened for their audience, glittering like precious gems.

Alyx mapped out that portion of the sky in their mind, seeking out familiar constellations with the eagerness of a child.

Even the soil held onto fragmented remains of those who came before, explorers that charted their course through the vast sea of space.

Perhaps that could be their new purpose. To explore, instead of fighting. Even the Milky Way still had a lot of untouched areas, ready and waiting to be seen.

All things considered, staring up at those stars reminded Alyx how small their corner of the universe truly was.

It might make their lives seem insignificant to some in the grander scheme of things, but Alyx thought that it emphasized the importance of their home all the more, to have so many willing to fight so hard to preserve the integrity of a speck of dust that was lost amongst the sandstorm.

Parting their lips, they released a shaky breath.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" they whispered.

"Yes, you are."

A solid beat passed before they fully processed that, startling even themself by laughing aloud.

"I meant the stars."

"Oh." He sounded extremely unimpressed compared to before. "Then, yeah, they're alright."

Alyx couldn't help but to grin, even as they rolled their eyes.

To think, they had traveled all over the galaxy, met so many people, but they found their solace in the arms of a Prothean. An alien outside of his time.

And while they might not ever be the types for grand gestures or flowery words, they had something that simply worked for them, and that was all that mattered.

Understanding, familiarity, belonging.

Alyx wouldn't trade that for anything.

Turning in his arms, they captured his lips into a kiss. They knew that it was still strange to him, to show affection in such a way, but he never hesitated to kiss them back.

Roaming hands quickly sought out bared skin, so many words communicated at once yet left unsaid.

Right now, they might feel like a couple of worn-out souls, left floating adrift on their own, but Alyx had faith in them. They'd find what awaited them beyond the uncertainty.

Even those lost at sea could one day happen upon a shore.

When the time was right, they wouldn't hesitate.

They would take that first step towards solid ground, towards stability.

And they would do so together.

#mass effect #mass effect trilogy #alyx shepard #themshep #genderfluid shepard #javik #shavik #bluerose answers #bluerose writes

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ivan-fyodorovich-k · 11 months

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In Congress, July 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

Georgia

Button Gwinnett

Lyman Hall

George Walton

North Carolina

William Hooper

Joseph Hewes

John Penn

South Carolina

Edward Rutledge

Thomas Heyward, Jr.

Thomas Lynch, Jr.

Arthur Middleton

Massachusetts

John Hancock

Samuel Adams

John Adams

Robert Treat Paine

Elbridge Gerry

Maryland

Samuel Chase

William Paca

Thomas Stone

Charles Carroll of Carrollton

Virginia

George Wythe

Richard Henry Lee

Thomas Jefferson

Benjamin Harrison

Thomas Nelson, Jr.

Francis Lightfoot Lee

Carter Braxton

Pennsylvania

Robert Morris

Benjamin Rush

Benjamin Franklin

John Morton

George Clymer

James Smith

George Taylor

James Wilson

George Ross

Delaware

Caesar Rodney

George Read

Thomas McKean

New York

William Floyd

Philip Livingston

Francis Lewis

Lewis Morris

New Jersey

Richard Stockton

John Witherspoon

Francis Hopkinson

John Hart

Abraham Clark

New Hampshire

Josiah Bartlett

William Whipple

Rhode Island

Stephen Hopkins

William Ellery

Connecticut

Roger Sherman

Samuel Huntington

William Williams

Oliver Wolcott

New Hampshire

Matthew Thornton

#declaration of independence #independence day #4th of july #july 4 #american revolution

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defjux · 2 years

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100 of my favorite rock, punk, and metal adjacent (-core) releases since 2010, limited to two per artist. i feel like the top of this list is pretty typical, but there was a point around the middle of last decade where i stopped paying as much attention to newer bands popping up since i just wasn't finding a ton of stuff that grabbed me. despite me going back later on and listening to a lot of the stuff i missed i don't have as strong of a connection to some of it as i do bands i've been listening to 15+ years. there's actually been a handful of artists putting out music in the last few years though that have helped reignite that spark and helped push me to seek out anything i might have overlooked - shout out to brutus, the armed, greyhaven, soul glo, state faults, shin guard, blood command, blind girls, callous daoboys, dreamwell, frontierer, crowning, frail hands, nuvolascura, portrayal of guilt, senza, and vein.fm to name a few. as always, if anyone reading this has any recommendations feel free to send them my way. it's always appreciated. Spotify Playlist with one song from each of these albums Chart w/ album titles Top 100 Modern Metal Releases i'll do another one of these for death, black, sludge, prog, death, post, drone, stoner, doom, etc metal in the future, it just seemed like it'd be easier to narrow down if i split it up this way and might make it seem a little less all over the place but i'm not so sure i succeeded at that, ha. hopefully there's something on here for everyone though. peace to you and yours, i hope everyone's doing well. 1. The Dillinger Escape Plan - One of Us Is the Killer 2. Every Time I Die - Ex Lives 3. Converge - All We Love We Leave Behind 4. The Chariot - Long Live 5. Gospel - The Loser 6. Kvelertak - Kvelertak 7. Nails - Unsilent Death 8. Loma Prieta - I.V. 9. letlive - Fake History 10. Rolo Tomassi - Time Will Die And Love Will Bury It 11. Glassjaw - coloring book 12. KEN mode - Entrench 13. State Faults - Resonate/Desperate 14. Brutus - Nest 15. United Nations - The Next Four Years 16. Idles - Joy as an Act of Resistance. 17. Shin Guard - 2020 18. Frontierer - Orange Mathematics 19. Exotic Animal Petting Zoo - Tree of Tongues 20. Wormrot - Voices 21. The Armed - Only Love 22. Think Again - NEVER 23. Vein - Errorzone 24. White Lung - Deep Fantasy 25. Protest the Hero - Volition 26. Blood Command - Cult Drugs 27. Beastmilk - Climax 28. Melt-Banana - Fetch 29. Every Time I Die - Low Teens 30. Protomartyr - Relatives In Descent 31. Soul Glo - Diaspora Problems 32. Gridlink - Longhena 33. tricot - A N D 34. Cloud Nothings - Attack on Memory 35. The Dillinger Escape Plan - Dissociation 36. Greyhaven - Empty Black 37. Turnstile - Glow On 38. The Callous Daoboys - Die On Mars 39. Cloud Rat - Pollinator 40. Converge - The Dusk in Us 41. Parquet Courts - Wide Awake! 42. Dreamwell - Modern Grotesque 43. Circle Takes the Square - Decompositions, Vol. 1 44. Gaza - No Absolutes in Human Suffering 45. Respire - Black Line 46. Lightning Bolt - Sonic Citadel 47. Senza - Even a Worm Will Turn 48. KEN mode - Loved 49. Brutus - Burst 50. Crowning - Survival / Sickness 51. Blind Girls - Residue 52. Car Bomb - Meta 53. Frail Hands - Frail Hands 54. Glassjaw - Material Control 55. Portrayal Of Guilt - We Are Always Alone 56. Envy - The Fallen Crimson 57. All Pigs Must Die - Hostage Animal 58. Birds in Row - We Already Lost The World 59. Sectioned - Annihilated 60. For Your Health / Shin Guard - Death Of Spring 61. mewithoutYou - [Untitled] 62. Cleric - Retrocausal 63. IDYLLS - Prayer For Terrene 64. Nails - Abandon All Life 65. Rinoa - An Age Among Them 66. Knocked Loose - A Tear in The Fabric of Life 67. The Chariot - One Wing 68. Beau Navire - Lumens 69. Loathe - I Let It In And It Took Everything 70. Squid - Bright Green Field 71. Black Breath - Sentenced to Life 72. Oathbreaker - Eros|Anteros 73. State Faults - Clairvoyant 74. Lord Snow - Solitude 75. Single Mothers - Negative Qualities 76. øjne - Prima Che Tutto Bruci 77. Full of Hell & Merzbow - Full of Hell & Merzbow 78. Touché Amoré - Stage Four 79. Iceage - Beyondless 80. Marmozets - The Weird and Wonderful Marmozets 81. snag. - Death Doula 82. Incendiary - Thousand Mile Stare 83. Defeater - Letters Home 84. Shizune - CHEAT DEATH, LIVE DEAD! 85. La Dispute - Wildlife 86. Nuvolascura - As We Suffer From Memory & Imagination 87. Comadre - Comadre 88. Ampere - Like Shadows 89. Dead In The Dirt - The Blind Hole 90. Cult Leader - Lightless Walk 91. Svalbard - When I Die, Will I Get Better? 92. Pupil Slicer - Mirrors 93. Norma Jean - Meridional 94. Hopesfall - Arbiter 95. Chalk Hands - Don't Think About Death 96. Ion Dissonance - Cursed 97. Gouge Away - Burnt Sugar 98. Ostraca - Last 99. Punch - They Don't Have To Believe 100. Bagdadski Vor - Колхида

#music recommendations #favorite albums #the dillinger escape plan #converge #shin guard #every time i die #oathbreaker #letlive #glassjaw #blood command #greyhaven #loma prieta #rolo tomassi #ken mode #kvelertak #protest the hero #soul glo

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fellthemarvelous · 2 months

Note

In Congress, July 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.