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turtlethon · 2 years

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“Raphael Versus the Volcano”

Season 5, Episode 11 First US Airdate: October 5, 1991

Raphael mistakenly believes he only has 24 hours left to live.

Season five of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles continues with “Raphael Versus the Volcano”. This is the first episode of the series written by Carole Mendelsohn, spouse of TMNT’s Story Editor Jack Mendelsohn.

In his workshop, Donatello applies the finishing touches to his latest invention, a Healthometer. He outlines to Splinter how the contraption can identify the current physical status of anyone who uses it, providing an indicator of their well-being on a scale ranging from “A-1 SPECIMEN” to “ADIOS, AMIGO”. Supposedly the machine’s accuracy is as good as an actual medical exam, “and a whole lot less embarrassing”. Splinter is impressed, but cautions his student that no machine can take the place of a trusted physician; Donnie counters that he’s working to change that.

At Channel 6, a heavier-looking than usual Burne Thompson hands out assignments. Vernon is tasked with travelling to the island of Poppalua, where the famous “Toppa-Poppalua” volcano is about to erupt. April is given the job of reporting from the Botanical Gardens, where a new species of lily has been found by well-known botanist Wilhelm Vanilli. April and Vernon are both unhappy about their assignments, each feeling they’d be more suited to the other job. Burne, being a garbage human being with terrible judgment, tells his employees that he’s paying them to work, not to be happy, and angrily orders them to hop to it.

Leonardo, Michaelangelo and Raphael are playing some strange video game where a biplane fires laser beams at a little guy – I'm not sure how this is a three-player operation – when Splinter yanks the power cord, declaring that recreation time is over. He extols the virtues of having both a healthy mind and a healthy body, and asks his students to each get a reading from the Healthometer. As with Donatello, Leonardo turns out to be in optimal condition. To my astonishment, even Michaelangelo somehow gets a perfect reading. Raphael is extremely reluctant to participate, declaring that if something is wrong with him, he’d rather not know about it. Finally giving in, he places his finger in the machine and gets the worst possible reading, suggesting that physically he’s on the way out; in fact, the Healthometer's readings are so ominous that the mechanical arrow showing the readout pops off. Donnie is baffled as to how this could be, and before he can have Raph try again, the invention explodes.

At the Botanical Gardens, April bemoans being stuck covering a dull story about flowers while Vernon is seeing action reporting on the imminent eruption of the volcano. It seems like this was supposed to finally be a chance for our favourite cameraman Stan to get a proper line of dialogue, his first go-around being way back in “The Turtle Terminator” when MW Dublin managed to have his words come out of Vernon’s mouth. Someone in the recording sessions clearly half-remembered he had a vaguely rural voice as we hear it consoling April here; the problem is the animators didn’t get the memo, and draw an entirely new cameraman instead. Denied!

April is greeted by LaVerne Portside, Chairperson of the Flower Lover Society, and can barely disguise her contempt for the organisation’s ceremony. Meanwhile Vernon arrives with his own camera on Poppalua and films his report. The volcano is approaching the point of eruption as he speaks, with a stray blast of lava destroying his umbrella.

Back at the Botanical Gardens, April grumbles as a ceremony unfolds. LaVerne announces to a small but appreciative crowd that the new lily will be named “the Lady LaVerne Lily”. This draws the ire of a diminutive bald man who turns out to be Professor Wilhelm Vanilli. He angrily declares that he was the one who spent years cultivating this new flower and expects to get the credit for it. Laverne explains that the name “Willy Vanilli lily” simply sounds too silly. Furious, the well-dressed dandy storms off, vowing revenge on the whole world.

A downtrodden, sulking Raphael wanders around the sewers, grousing about the reading from Donatello’s invention. Hypochondria begins to set in as he mistakes drops of water that land on him from an overhead pipe for a cold sweat, and steam from a vent beneath his feet for the first signs of a fever. Now convinced he’s rapidly becoming unwell, Raph stumbles back in the direction of the Lair.

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In what must be the funniest scene of the season thus far, Raphael stands outside the kitchen and happens to catch part of a conversation between Michaelangelo and Donatello. The pizza oven is on its way out, and Mikey is inconsolable, weeping as Donnie suggests the amount of time left will be twenty-four hours. (This is the most confusing part of the exchange – why would a failing oven work for approximately one more day? Does he mean it’ll take that long to get the parts he needs to fix it?) Not having the whole picture, Raphael assumes the conversation was about him, and wanders off to figure out how best to spend his last day on Earth.

Heading to the surface, Raphael decides that if he’s about to die anyway, he has nothing left to lose, and should spend his remaining time helping as many people as possible. To find the appropriate attire for his new role, he visits an all-night costume store, where he picks up a discounted superhero outfit.

In the Lair, Donatello finishes re-assembling the Healthometer. Now convinced that he’s identified the issue that led to Raphael’s poor reading, he heads off to tell him, instead encountering Leonardo. Both are mid-conversation when Michaelangelo walks in, clutching a note from Raph that to our eyes is visually indecipherable. Helpfully, Mikey decodes the message for us: “I’ve decided to devote what’s left of my short life to do-gooding. Goodbye awesome foursome, hello fearsome threesome!” The trio wonder where their friend could have ended up. Michaelangelo picks up one of Raphael’s distinctive red bands, and suggests that wherever he is, “he’s practically naked!”

Wilhelm Vanilli continues to gripe about his snub to nobody in particular as he pours the contents of a test tube into a cannister. Testing out his formula, he sprays all the plants surrounding him, which die within a matter of seconds. Satisfied with this outcome, he prepares to enact the next stage of his plan for revenge.

Raphael wanders the streets in a green hat and cape with red tunic as he happens to witness a crime unfolding at an unconventional looking bank. He quizzes “Sarge” - the same cop who April addressed as “Chief” that was oblivious to an entirely different bank robbery in “Michelangelo Meets Mondo Gecko” - and learns that some gunmen are holding the employees of the bank hostage. Charging in, Raph shows no fear as the generic criminals fire their laser guns at him. Our hero uses a sai to drop a light fixture on top of the villains. Astonished by this new do-gooder's effectiveness, Sarge asks his name. Raphael responds that he’s “The Green Defender”, backflipping his way out of the bank.

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April rolls up in the news van and asks the Sergeant to recount the events that just unfolded for the viewers at home. This leads to a drawn-out bit about how the mysterious hero’s name isn’t The Green Defender, it’s The Green Defender. Donatello checks in via Turtlecom, and learns of what just happened, providing the Turtles with a lead on Raph’s location.

In the Turtlethon entry for “Muckman Messes Up”, I mentioned how odd it was to see the un-named Channel 6 news anchor – who I’ve taken to calling Walter Cronk-like – out and about filming news reports instead of behind a desk. Today he’s at it again, reporting in front of some trippy-looking curving tower blocks about a kitten that’s stuck on the ledge of a historic building’s thirtieth floor. The reporter speculates that only some “self-destructive idiot” could possibly save the feline, and right on cue, The Green Defender arrives. Raphael scales the building, swooping in with a grappling hook to catch the animal before safely landing back on the ground. After again making a point to remind everyone what his new moniker is, the heroic Turtle makes his exit.

April again arrives on the scene moments after the event in her van, this time with the Turtles as her passengers. What happens next raises a lot of questions, as she addresses “Walter” by declaring that she’s from Channel 6, the inference being that he isn’t. He responds that as usual, April is “a day late and a dollar short”. Is he supposed to work for a rival station now? Did he get fired after his expose of the Turtles raiding the lab turned out to be unfounded in his last appearance? If so, he should probably remove that “6” badge he’s still wearing. (The mostly likely explanation is the animators needed a news guy and pulled him out of the model sheet pack, thinking he could pass for someone from a competing channel despite every prior episode contradicting this.)

Via a hand-held video link Vernon checks in with Burne, who’s furious that the volcano hasn’t erupted yet. In a move that’s low even for him, the news boss demands that his reporter find a way to speed things up; when Vernon suggests it might require “human sacrifice”, Burne angrily hisses “well what are you waiting for?” I would remind you that this isn’t even the first time something like this has happened, and that when the prospect of April filming while a skyscraper collapsed last season was discussed, he thought it would be fantastic for ratings. Burne Thompson is truly a despicable man.

Toppa-Poppalua finally begins to erupt, with Burne demanding that his employee get to work filming the event. Rightly seeing that his life is in danger, Vernon flees the scene, leaving a livid Burne to vow he’ll punish the reporter for his “insubordination”. Vernon is not a nice guy, but even he doesn’t deserve to be treated like this.

Back in New York, a dynamite factory becomes the site of a major fire, thought to be due to the ill-advised decision to hold the firm’s annual barbecue party there. A Fire Chief warns Raphael to keep his distance as over a ton of explosives are stored in the building. Nevertheless, Raph charges in, ready to perform his next benevolent act as The Green Defender.

April is still driving around when she receives a video call from Burne informing her of the news. (Oddly, for all the venom the station boss has been dispensing in this episode, he doesn’t seem fazed by the Turtles being in the van and joining the conversation.) By the time the group arrive at the location, they learn that The Green Defender has long since dealt with the situation, and subsequently left again.

Wilhelm Vanilli is seen flying to Poppalua in his own personal helicopter, adorned with a dollar sign on the side because... he’s a rich guy I guess, though we haven’t really seen anything to indicate that up to this point beyond the fact that he wears a fancy suit. He re-iterates his grudge again for the benefit of any viewers at home who may have forgotten what he’s up to, before making a point of dropping the cannister containing his special formula into the volcano. Vanilli declares that when Toppa-Poppalua erupts, the people of the world “won’t be able to say it with flowers any more”.

Vernon is having another go at filming the unfolding events when Vanilli touches down, emerging from his helicopter and grabbing the microphone out of the reporter’s hand. He declares that when the volcano blows, the poison gas will spread across the entire world, killing plant life everywhere. Raphael sees these events on – yes – a TV in the window of an electronics store with the sound up that he just happens to be passing by. When Vernon speculates that anyone willing to step in and fish the cannister out of the volcano would be staring death in the face, the forlorn Turtle realises this is a job for The Green Defender.

April returns to the offices of Channel 6, where she winds up getting assigned to cover the volcano story after all, on the basis that Vernon can’t handle it. Huh? We just saw that, against all odds and common sense, he was still broadcasting! April is thrilled at the prospect of seeing some action, but is told that “this counts as [her] vacation”, because apparently Burne just hasn’t been nasty enough today.

The Turtles head into the hangar where the Turtle Blimp is stored – the first time I believe that we’ve actually seen this area of the Lair in the series – and find their vehicle is no longer there. Instead, Raphael has left a note, which this time is legible: “I’m off to save the world’s vegetation. If I don’t return you’ll find the blimp on the island of Poppalua. This is my very last final note.” The team learn that April is also heading for the island, and ask to travel there with her.

The group arrive on the island in the Channel 6 news copter and use the Turtle Blimp to lower Donatello into the volcano via a rope, where he finds Raphael. Donnie explains that his Healthometer was faulty the entire time, which leads Raph to realise the predicament he’s wound up in right as the ridge beneath him crumbles. A grappling hook deployed by Michaelangelo narrowly prevents Raphael from winding up in the lava, and the Turtles, having retrieved Vanilli’s cannister, make a quick escape before a giant blast of lava fires out of the volcano.

We wrap up today’s adventure in the Lair, where the Turtles watch April report on today’s events. We see footage of Professor Vanilli running from the lava – it's not clear why, surely he could have just gotten in his helicopter and left – before he happens to run into the Police Sergeant from earlier. Splinter asks Raphael if he’s learned not to jump to conclusions. Raph quips that he’s learned not to jump into volcanoes, before Donatello wheels in the Healthometer for him to destroy.

“Raphael Versus the Volcano” is one of the strongest episodes of TMNT I’ve seen from a comedic perspective in some time. When the show entered its fourth season, I speculated that the humour on Turtles was benefitting from the change to living in a post-Simpsons world, where the bar for writing in animation had been raised and everyone else in the industry had to produce more compelling television as a result. Truthfully the show has never quite managed to reach that level, but this is as close as we’ve gotten, with some biting one-liners and genuinely funny character interactions.

On the action-adventure side of things, this episode is a true oddity, introducing a villain who really is just some weird little fellow with a grudge about not having a flower named after him, then having him not do an awful lot throughout beyond re-iterating that he wants revenge. Most of the excitement in this story is derived from Raphael’s reckless behaviour as The Green Defender. I can’t remember another episode of the series where a villain debuted and was captured without having any direct interaction with any of the Turtles at all. Willhelm Vanilli might not be the most thrilling enemy to appear in the series, but Rob Paulsen at least provides some sparkling voice acting to bring some entertainment value to the character.

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For the benefit of anyone reading who wasn’t around when TMNT ‘87 was originally broadcast, I should probably point out that this episode’s title and the most basic elements of its premise are a play on the mildly successful but now largely forgotten 1990 Tom Hanks film Joe Versus the Volcano, about a man who’s led to believe he’s terminally ill and agrees to be offered as a sacrifice to a volcano in the South Pacific in order to appease an island’s superstitious natives. Similarly, this episode’s villain’s name is a play on the briefly popular but ultimately disgraced musical duo Milli Vanilli. So much of the culture of that era is just dust in the wind now, yet the Turtles themselves live on. We’ll re-join them next time as we continue to explore season five with our now-annual Baxter Stockman episode, “Landlord of the Flies”.

#Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #TMNT #TMNT 1987 #1991 #TMNT Raphael #TMNT Raph #Raphael TMNT #Raph TMNT #Raphael Versus the Volcano #The Green Defender #Ninja Turtles #Turtlethon

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if-you-fan-a-fire · 1 month

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Check out this great letter challenging the City of Kingston's plans for daytime evictions in Belle Park (from Mutual Aid Katarokwi-Kingston, March 19, 2024):

"I am a citizen of Kingston who lives on Montreal Street and volunteers five to seven days per week, for two or three hours per day, at the Integrated Care Hub with my colleague Brigit Smith.

In our role, at this grassroots level, we support the ICH shelter residents, substance users at the Consumption Treatment Centre, encampment residents at Belle Park and many unhoused in the community who have learned about the kindness, warmth and support we provide to the homeless.

As background, one of our business clients donated $10,000 to purchase a golf cart for the CTS and ICH staff to provide swift responses to overdoses, ultimately saving lives. We set up a prepaid account at BnB Pharmacy to support fulfillment of prescriptions, which we top up on a monthly basis. We raised over $12,000 this past winter to provide tents, air mattresses, sleeping bags, pillows, hygiene products, winter coats, boots, hats, gloves, running shoes, back packs, and warm clothing. We have built relationships with businesses in the community who support our efforts to take care of our homeless. We often purchase and donate coffee, donuts and

muffins so our unhoused feel, in some small way, that we care about their well-being. We process all incoming donations. We take care of everyone with respect and dignity and we are honoured to serve them. They are warm, friendly, appreciative, and respectful in all interactions. We do not deny the reality of challenges, as we see them every day, however one would think the threat to life would include concern for fires and freezing to death. We do not feel your decision is taking all complex matters into account. We feel uniquely qualified share our perspective.

The announcement of the City of Kingston to prohibit day use and evict our encampment homes on a daily basis, effective April 2, 2024, simply must not go forward.

We are in the midst of a national housing, economic, substance use and drug poisoning crisis. This is our reality. It is not going away. Delegations have approached council to talk about substance use in our schools at the elementary and secondary levels. Poverty and homelessness are growing. This is evident in the statistics authored by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. These may be the most complex times we will face in our lifetime and as citizens we can not condone the short sited and thoughtless approach of daily prohibition and daily eviction of homes. Asking our vulnerable residents who are often medically ill with complex mental illness, and or substance use and many fragile elderly, to pack up their homes and belongings daily, is inhumane. We must have more scope than knowing we will be complicit in the death of our vulnerable citizens, if we push them further into the woods and isolation, as Justine McIsaac stated at your council meeting in January 2023.

Moreover, the Office of the Federal Housing Advocate, authored by the Canadian Human Rights Commission (Feb 2024) clearly indicates the need for the City of Kingston to comply. It is a human right to receive adequate housing and yet you are proposing we dismantle the only home they have on a daily basis, destroying the little dignity they have. These are their homes, and it is incumbent upon us to improve their homes, not dismantle them. Our citizens in Belle Park are already a community in crisis, a traumatized and disadvantaged population. We have a group of seniors who depend on us to listen to their stories and memories and be present for their needs. Many, are quite sick and dropped off from the hospital in various states where continued active care is required. We also provide walkers, canes and wheelchairs. It is our norm. How can we respect and support the decision of the city when you do not seem to understand the complex matters of these very important citizens. We need to collaborate to find common ground.

Can you imagine what will happen to our emergency departments when we can no longer administer naloxone in Belle Park. An already overburdened HDH and KGH will now be providing overdose support because residents have moved further away from their support at the CTS and ICH. We serve hundreds of overdoses. These overdoses will land squarely at emergency along with the Paramedics and Police who must remain present until the emergency dept can serve them.

Our residents will find places to live in their tents further away from the ICH. Tent encampments will not cease to exist, with your dismantling strategy. Recently, you took the tent of a resident, and this particular resident continues to live at Belle Park under a tarp. You accomplished nothing but putting this resident further into crisis. This is their community, it is their home, their tents are their homes. Let that sink in, tents are the best we have provided them. This eviction will push them further into crisis, despair and desperation and as Justine stated, resulting in death.

It is our understanding, a resolution from Council is required to move forward with your April 2 directive and we did not find this resolution. Can you please advise us as to how this decision was made as we understand this directive to be illegitimate

Please let us work with our community, fire department, police and bylaw to educate and support our residents. Our outdoor engagement team has worked very hard to collaborate with citizens, police and fire and we believe with a dedicated team we can build understanding and find common ground. We are inviting the community to volunteer with us. Give us a chance to build relationships. Please reconsider your decision and work with us to support our community while we build a made in Kingston strategy together. On a strategic level, we have a made in Kingston plan to collaborate with private sector and all levels of government to lift Kingston as the innovative and dynamic city it is. Please reconsider and work with us toward a sustainable solution.

Sincerely,

Pamela Gray and Brigit Smith"

#kingston ontario #belle park #encampment #clearing encampments #municipal politics #homeless encampment #homelessness #punishing the poor #poverty in canada #policing the crisis #canadian politics #ontario politics

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starwarstbbfan · 2 months

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THE BAD BATCH: THE RUNAWAY

Chapter 56 - On the Wings of Keeradaks

So I realized I'm a couple chapters behind on this story on Tumblr and I apologize for never updating. I kind of went on a hiatus as life was hectic, and it was a much needed break. But I'm gettin' that writing itch and REALLY want to get to the Bad Batch series!! So I'm back baby!!

Enjoy!!!

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It was quiet in the room as Tech began working on the consoles again to get Echo unplugged from the tubes and wires attached to him. They couldn't just simply pull them out, otherwise it would cause considerable damage to both his body and mind, and the results could be fatal.

A surge of anger went through Calli as she looked at all the cybernetics the Techno Union had implanted in Echo, basically turning him into a machine. And the parts of him that were still human weren't any better looking. He was extremely skinny, his ribs visible and cheeks and stomach sunken in, not to mention his skin was a terrible gray color and Calli couldn't help but think he resembled a live skeleton (not in a cruel way, it was just an observation).

Calli felt at a loss for what to do. Tech obviously didn't need her help and Rex tasked himself with keeping Echo calm. She considered doing a scan of his human body to see what state it was in internally, but something stopped her from taking out the scanner from Tech's backpack where she knew it was. Maybe it's because she knew how she felt around any medical device/medic droids after her experience with being experimented on. It was likely that Echo was an experiment for the Techno Union, and even though he's disoriented, he may still panic when Calli approached him with the scanner and she didn't want to put him through that.

So she awkwardly sat by as Rex tried to ask Echo some questions, such as how he got here, but the ARC Trooper could only offer a weak "I don't know" to all of Rex's queries. Calli then noticed he began shivering a little as he became more conscious of his surroundings and the fact that his internal body temperature was lower than it should be, if the frost on his skin that WASN'T melting was any indication.

In a feeble attempt to warm him, Calli took off her cape and draped it over Echo's shoulders, which made the ARC Trooper feebly turn his head to look at her, yet all he saw was a trooper helmet with markings that were unfamiliar to him. It wasn't the classic white armor with blue decals, nor orange like the 212th - in fact he'd never seen black clone trooper armor. And despite being out of it he was able to realize the small, lean (yet still with a slight muscle) build of the trooper, unlike his other brothers.

"Who... Who are you?" He asked slowly, still very groggy and dazed. Calli smiled warmly, then remembered she had her helmet on and lifted it to where it rested atop her head and gave Echo a two finger salute while introducing herself.

"ARC Trooper Scar, at your service." She said with a chipper voice to lighten the mood. Echo now looked more confused and Calli wished she'd left out the ARC Trooper part. She was about to go into a whole spiel, even if in his current state Echo wouldn't be able to process the narrative of her life and why she was an ARC trooper. Thankfully before she could embarrass herself, the doors to the room opened and Skywalker jogged in. The doors remained open and Calli had a clear view of the others who continued holding off the droids.

"Situation's almost under control out there." He said, stopping in front of the trio sitting on the floor, looking at them then to Tech, "How's it going in here?"

"I'm still trying to decrypt Echo's cerebral interface. Until I do, we cannot disconnect him from this computer system." Tech informed without looking up from the console. Skywalker nodded and his expression softened as he focused back on Echo.

"How is he, Rex?"

"He's too weak to walk." Rex said grimly while standing up to talk to the General face to face, trusting Calli to remain at Echo's side temporarily. Echo was staring blankly at nothing, forgetting about the stranger next to him, "Very disoriented. Doesn't even remember how he got here. He remembers being at the Citadel, but that's about it."

"Any word on the extraction squad?"

"We called it in, but no word back." Calli piped up from the floor and Skywalker sighed but didn't seem too disappointed at that statement.

"Well, that's no surprise. We knew when we got into this we'd be on our own."

"It's gonna get more difficult to get out of here." Calli's expression became one of concern and she looked at Echo with pursed lips as she wracked her mind for a brilliant plan. One glance at the door showed that the others were falling back. Eventually they walked backwards into the small hallway and Crosshair jabbed his wrist gauntlet into the control panel, which made the doors close. A few seconds later the doors began being pried open by droids and Hunter and Crosshair tried to close them but one droid managed to get their head through. Wrecker proceeded to rip the head off and while Hunter and Crosshair were using all their strength to keep the doors closed, Wrecker stepped in and easily closed them with minimal effort. Hunter and Crosshair began fusing the doors together soon after that.

"There are several squads of droids closing in." Hunter said once they were finished, loud enough so the ones by the chamber could hear. Crosshair took a couple steps back and flipped down his rangefinder along with a second disc that allowed him to see more than just heat signatures, in this case droids.

"Enemy approaching. Droids lots of 'em." Crosshair informed, flipping the rangefinder back up and looking back at the others.

"How long can you hold them off?" Skywalker asked the Bad Batch.

"How long do you need?" Was Hunter's smooth answer, basically saying they still had a few tricks up their sleeves and could provide more time if necessary. This didn't ease the General's concern and he asked Tech how much longer it was going to take.

"Not yet. I need more time." Calli could hear Tech's frantic heartbeat, not exactly panicking but he knew the time crunch and was getting frustrated.

Outside their temporary safe haven, the Techno Union sent a decimator droid to take care of the clones and Jedi. It was circular, and had up to twelve electrical tendrils that searched for organic matter (i.e. humans) and if one was found the rest of the tendrils would group together and vaporize the target.

As the minutes ticked by, Hunter and the others had to close and seal the second set of doors, as the decimator droid had laser cutters and breached the first ones. Just when everyone thought they'd have to take on the hundreds of droids on the other side of the doors, Tech typed in one last command into the computer.

"I've got it." He declared, looking at Rex, "We can unplug him now." Calli grabbed ahold of Echo's arm and helped him stand. He leaned over the console and Rex brushed Calli's cape out of the way and reluctantly grasped one of the wires attached to Echo. After a slight hesitation, he yanked the wire and Echo's face screwed up in pain but he remained standing, gripping his human hand on the console to steady himself as Rex moved to another wire. Calli wondered if she should have been the one to do this, as Rex wasn't being gentle in the slightest. She at least had some experience with cybernetics and such. Her point was proven as Rex pulled the second then third wire and Echo collapsed to the floor. He let out a few haggard breaths before looking back up at Rex, saying the Captain's name weakly.

"What is it?" Rex asked with worry, fearing something had gone wrong when he removed the wires. Echo looked serious for a second - then the smallest of smiles appeared on his face.

"I got a big headache." He said, chuckling lightly and Rex couldn't help but break out in a smile at his brother's humor. It showed that his vod was going to be OK.

"Better to feel something than nothing, old buddy." For two seconds the atmosphere was lighthearted as the brothers smiled at each other, only for Anakin to bring reality crashing down.

"It's a touching reunion, guys, but we need to get out of here, now!"

"There's an exhaust vent that leads to the cooling systems right there." Echo said, pointing a shaky finger to the ceiling and everyone's heads lifted to look and sure enough, there was a circular vent. "I-I just need to plug into the dataport over there-" Echo tried lifting himself off the ground, yet much to his frustration he was still too weak to even get on his feet - and they weren't even real feet! Calli offered to help and Echo begrudgingly accepted it, letting her guide him over to the datasocket that he would plug his scomplink into and get the vent open.

"They've breached the front door. It won't be long before they're through the second." Hunter informed from the other end of the room, if the laser currently burning a circle into the thick metal was any indication. Just as soon as Hunter said this, the vent opened.

"That should get it open." Echo said, unplugging from the dataport and Rex gave him a hearty pat on the shoulder. There was one slight problem with the plan though, and Crosshair was the one to point it out.

"Great. Now how do we get up there?" The sniper asked with a hint of attitude. Wrecker was the one to provide a solution, having left the area by the doors and joined the rest of the group.

"Oh, I can help with that." He remarked while sneaking up behind a certain Sergeant and Calli knew Wrecker was wearing a mischievous smirk underneath that helmet and if she wasn't mad at the lot of them she'd join alongside Crosshair who chuckled as Hunter began panicking when the strong clone grabbed him by the shoulder and his belt.

"Wait, what?" Hunter begins sputtering as he's lifted off his feet in a very undignified manner, "Wrecker, what are you doing-" Before Hunter could finish his question he's launched upwards into the vent. Hunter barely had two seconds to process what happened and thankfully he was able to think fast enough and when he entered the vent he caught himself before falling, digging his heels into the sides, same with his hands. After letting out a shaky breath, Hunter angrily shouted down to Wrecker, "A heads-up would've been nice!"

While Wrecker tossed everyone else up one by one, Calli looked around at all the machinery that in many ways had been a prison for the ARC Trooper they rescued, and an idea struck her. There's no way this could be left intact, because then all the Techno Union had to do was capture another unfortunate soul and start the whole process over again. Calli couldn't - and wouldn't - allow this to happen. She knew all too well the feeling of being treated as an object at the hands of so-called scientists and Mustafar would have to freeze over before Calli would let someone else suffer what she, her squadmates, and Echo have gone through. Not if she had the power to stop that from happening.

Once Wrecker had gotten everyone else up into the vent(minus the Jedi who could use the force to jump up high), he made a move to grab Calli but she stopped him.

"You got grenades on you?" She asked, and Wrecker scoffed, sounding almost insulted by the inquiry.

"What kinda question is that?" Calli didn't offer a sarcastic reply back, turning and hurrying over to the console nearest to her, taking out the three grenades she had stashed in one of the many pouches attached to her belt. When Wrecker saw Calli start placing them on the consoles he didn't need her to say anything, catching on to what his sister was doing. The giant clone grew excited and was quick to take out the stash of grenades in his backpack. While Calli had placed her grenades roughly twenty feet apart from each other to make sure they took out as much as possible, Wrecker just threw them to where they attached to random parts of the room without any sort of strategic placing whatsoever.

Anakin had noticed that the two clones hadn't joined the others in the vent. "What are you doing?" He yelled down to them

"We're putting an end to Tambor's little science experiment." Wrecker shouted back before throwing the last of his grenades and they landed on the cryochamber.

"Are you done?" Anakin asked and there was a sense of urgency in his tone that made Calli look over at the door and she gasped when seeing that whatever was trying to get in had almost breached the second door. Wrecker noticed this as well. "Time's up!" The General announced and Calli didn't need to be told twice and she wondered how both her and Wrecker would be able to get up to the vent. But she didn't have to wonder long as the strong clone picked Calli up by the strap of her belt and she had no chance to voice a protest like her other brothers before she was launched up. Pressing her hands and feet against the walls, Calli glared down at Wrecker. Ok that took care of her - what about him?

Above her, the General put a hand out and before long, Wrecker was slowly being lifted off the ground and inching closer to the vent where the rest of them were.

Calli watched with horror as bolts of electricity filled the room, searching for an organic being they could hone on and decimate. They drifted towards Wrecker who shouted in fear as the electricity licked closer and closer to him.

"I don't like it! I don't like it! It's trying to get me!!" Calli would have found his shouts of fear amusing if his life wasn't threatened and she held her breath as she could only watch helplessly as her brother's life was in the hands of the General. Only when Wrecker was safely in the vent and the doors slid closed did Calli allow herself to breathe again.

"You alright?" Calli couldn't help but ask, and after letting out a shaky breath he nodded, saying he was fine. After that reassurance, Calli allowed herself to start climbing up the vent once Skywalker started to. After Skywalker was helped out, Jace's hand reached down again and Calli accepted his assistance.

Once everyone was out of the vent, Wrecker, in an attempt to be in Calli's good graces again, handed her the detonator, and the teen couldn't help but smile in appreciation underneath her helmet. She accepted his offer and wasted no time in pressing the button that promptly set the bombs off - it's too bad they couldn't actually see the explosion and she could only imagine the looks on the Techno Union cronies faces once they were able to observe the carnage and millions upon millions of credits in damage they caused. Plus their little experiment and all their research would be ruined. It was enough to make the two pyromaniacs of the group smile as they began making their way through the corridors.

After all that, Calli felt some of the adrenaline wear off and felt the need to take her helmet off, taking a big gulp of the chilly air that filled the area they were now in. Calli welcomed the way the frigid air nipped at her already reddened cheeks

"This ventilation corridor acts as a cooling system for all the computers in the facility." Tech said to no one in particular, moving his flashlight around to see as much as possible while simultaneously watching out for any surprise droids that might attack. Anakin who was walking behind him, looked over his shoulder at Rex and Echo, more specifically Echo.

"How did you know it was up here, Echo?"

"Well, they got access to my memory, and I got access to the Techno Union database." Echo explained and he chuckled lightly, "All their plans, inventory, building schematics," He chuckled again, "-everything."

Calli shook her head, not understanding how Echo was being so lighthearted about the whole thing. These Techno Union people practically stole his mind and turned him into a machine! She chalked it up to him still being slightly delirious, after all his body temperature was still so low that frost was still coating the skin not covered by the cloak she lended him.

"You mean you can find us a safe way out of here?" Rex asked as they stopped at an intersection in the maze of hallways. Echo's eyes glanced anxiously at everyone when they all looked at him expectantly. He removed his arm that had been around Rex's shoulders to stabilize him and straightened his posture to portray confidence as he answered, knowing that his plan might be met with some level of skepticism.

"Well, there is a way... but you're not gonna like it." Was Echo's vague reply which made everyone's already wary expressions deepen. Calli looked at the group then at Echo, who was clearly nervous about what the others were going to say, and decided to back him up.

"How bad can it be?" She asked. Famous last words.

Five minutes later...

Echo had led them to a door and when it opened, Calli quickly figured out why he'd said they wouldn't like the plan. Echo said that one building over was a landing platform and that there might be a ship they could take to get out of the city. However, he failed to mention how they'd get to the other building.

Connecting the two buildings was a pipe, and they'd have to walk on it... with the harsh wind speeds from the storm .. that could easily send one or all of them falling to the ground hundreds of feet below, which they couldn't even see with the dust storm.

"How bad can it be, she asked?" Crosshair retorted, and Calli found herself unable to say something snarky in return because in truth she felt nervous. She was used to doing death defying stunts - enjoyed it even - but this was downright crazy, even for their squad.

"I don't know about this." Rex said, voicing his concern.

"I'm telling you, there's a landing pad on that other building!" Echo insisted, having to yell over the wind in order to be heard.

"So you think there's a ship there we can steal?" Was Hunter's question while the General was the first one to start walking along the pipe. Echo hesitated.

"Well, I hope there's a ship we can steal," He finally admitted while smiling sheepishly over his shoulder at the Sergeant before following Skywalker, and Rex followed suite while the Bad Batch remained at the threshold of the door and watched the trio take tentative, slow steps across the pipe without looking back.

"Let's hope this trip isn't for nothing." Hunter grumbled as his brothers who all gathered behind him, waiting for him to start walking, Crosshair even nudged him a little and he could just imagine the taunting smirk the sniper must be wearing, silently asking "Are you afraid, Sarge?"

Sometimes Hunter really hated being the leader of the group. After internally heaving a big sigh, he left the safety of the building, and like the loyal brothers they were, Crosshair, Tech, then finally though a bit more reluctantly, Wrecker.

Jace was next and made it a few steps before sensing that a certain someone hadn't followed after him and after stopping he turned to find Calli standing frozen in place and looking down at the large emptiness beneath them. There would be nothing, absolutely nothing, to stop their descent if they fell from the pipe. Her jetpack had been damaged in the firefight before finding Echo. Jace could feel the anxiety she was experiencing and made his way back to her, saying her name just loud enough to be heard over the howling wind. The young clone began shaking her head and took a step back from the edge of the platform.

"I can't do this." She stated, and there was a slight tremor in her voice that made Jace's eyes soften but he couldn't let Calli give into her fears.

"We have to if we want to escape this place." Calli again violently shook her head, utter fear taking over and thus she was unable to reason with the fact that their only chance of making it out of here was by walking along the tightrope of death. Calli didn't understand - she's never been afraid of heights before!

Through the force, a sudden wave of dread washed over Jace and he knew that the droids were only minutes, if not seconds away from reaching them and some of his patience went away as his fight or flight instincts kicked in yet he wasn't about to leave Calli.

"Calli, look at me. We don't have time - we've gotta get out of here."

"I-I know-"

"Hey, just look at me," Jace said with a little more force, and he pointed to his eyes, "- focus on me." Once he was sure Calli was making eye contact - it was kinda hard to tell with her helmet in the way, Jace continued in a more soothing, encouraging tone, "You can do this." Without thinking, Jace held out his hand in Calli's direction, and he just hoped she wouldn't be put off by the gesture, now that he'd already out and done it. He watched as Calli's helmet tilted down at his hand, and he could tell she was contemplating his offer.

Not a second later, her smaller, gloved hand slipped into his, which surprised the both of them. Calli blamed the time crunch that made her rashly decide to hold the young Jedi's hand - perhaps desperation even because as her hand reached out to him she wondered how handholding could possibly be an effective way to calm her sudden panic. There's no possible way it could-

Any doubt Calli had died away when their hands touched.

Sure, it didn't take the impending doom away, but it brought... comfort? Enough at least to where she was able to leave the safety of her spot and start taking small, tentative steps onto the pipe, doing everything in her power to not look down. Valli kept her free hand out to the side to keep her balanced and kept her focus on the back of Jace's head, trying to mirror his calmness.

Up ahead, Calli could hear Wrecker was having just as hard a time as she was.

"Oh, boy. I can't even look." He said in an almost shaky voice, "Just-Just keep walking, Tech."

"That's fine, but if you fall, don't take me with you." Tech said in reply, not sounding the least bit concerned. Despite feeling terrified herself, Calli encouraged Wrecker.

"You're doing great, Wrecker, just don't look down-'' Calli should have known better. When you tell someone to not look down, it's gonna make them look! And that is precisely what Wrecker did and he felt his stomach drop, much like he would if he lost his balance.

"Uh-oh. I looked!" Wrecker began teetering on his feet and Calli was worried he'd actually fall! "I think I'm gonna be sick."

"Hang on, Wrecker. We're almost there." Hunter called out over his shoulder and Wrecker nodded while beginning to reassure himself, mumbling that everything was going to be OK and to breathe.

Just as everyone reached the halfway mark and thought maybe they were going to make it without any trouble, the doors leading into the building they were headed towards opened and surprise surprise they were ambushed by droids. Guns were aimed and General Skywalker ignited his lightsaber in just enough time to start deflecting the blaster bolts as they hurled towards the group.

"Turn around! Go back!" He shouted out and no one needed to be ordered twice. At the other end Calli and Jace started heading back the way they came along with everyone else, only for more droids to appear at the other end. On both sides the droids began walking single file onto the pipe while preparing their weapons to fire.

Before Calli could reach for her own blaster, an arm wrapped around her waist and she was lifted up by Jace who spun around to set her behind him while his other hand ignited one of his lightsabers to deflect the other onslaught of blaster bolts, acting as a shield for Calli so she didn't get hit. She had mixed feelings about this, but was at the very least grateful because those droids could easily have shot her down and Calli wasn't a Jedi, therefore couldn't deflect the laser bullets.

As if things weren't bad enough, a particularly strong gust of wind knocked Crosshair off balance and he did his best to not lose his footing, but in the end he did. Without thinking twice Wrecker dove after his brother, barely able to grab Crosshair's ankle while maneuvering his legs to wrap around the light fixture underneath the pipe, effectively preventing the pair from falling. Calli would be lying if she didn't say her heart skipped a beat as she watched this transpire, in fact it almost paralyzed her when she saw Crosshair fall to what would have been his death. It made her want to find a way out of here even faster and she wracked her mind for a solution while finally returning fire with her own blaster around Jace and his lightsaber. She succeeded in hitting one right after Tech who was behind her did and the two unfortunate droids cried out "WHY" as they fell to their demise.

"Anybody got a brilliant idea?" Anakin asked while deflecting another shot that nearly grazed his face.

"I do have a brilliant idea!" Tech piped up and he flipped open the screen on his wrist guard and began typing away on it.

"I'm hanging here!" Wrecker announced, feeling the need to voice as much as if everyone else didn't know this already.

"When the locals attacked us, I recorded the creatures' distress call." Tech began to explain while continuing to scroll through the files on his device.

"Why?" Jace questioned, not understanding why Tech would record such a thing. Who records random things like that - or anything period on a mission?

"He records everything. It's a hobby." Calli told him, and before Jace could ask a second time why Tech did such a thing Tech spoke up again.

"Which allows us to call those flying creatures to us." After setting the volume to its maximum level, Tech played the sound and immediately everyone winced at the shrill cries that filled the area - for those with enhanced hearing it was especially irritating and hurt their ears - even their helmets did little to protect their eardrums.

Wrecker shouted his protests about the noise while simultaneously shooting at droids and he paused his yelling to bark out a laugh when he successfully hit one, "Take that!" Crosshair of course couldn't let Wrecker have all the glory and fired his small blaster and rifle in each designated hand at both groups of droids and he managed to hit two but when one that got shot jumped backwards from the impact and rammed into the one behind him and sent the two falling, making it a total of three the sniper took out.

Wrecker's childish groan at this was like music to Crosshair's ears.

As they waited for the flying creatures to appear - if they would appear - the Bad Batch did their best to continue firing back at the enemy to keep them at bay, and while the defective clones still preferred to work alone, they were great full in this instance to have Jedi at both the front and back of the group to deflect the enemy's fire.

On Calli and Jace's side, half a dozen more droids joined the ones already there and in a split-second decision the former took off her jetpack that had been rendered useless save for the rockets which she now planned to utilize. Instead of launching them with the press of a button, Calli simply threw the entire thing at the droids since it was basically dead weight once the rockets were used so might as well get rid of it right?

It was caught by a droid who looked down at foreign object he miraculously caught with confusion, yet he wasn't given a chance to compute what had happened as Calli detonated the rockets and turned the droid and a majority of the others into a scrap pile - what was left of them anyways. While pieces of droid carnage fell on the rest that were unharmed and continued to shoot, suddenly the flying creatures came barreling up from the storm below, answering the distress call like Tech had said they would.

"There is our ride out of here!" Tech said as the creatures circled around them, avoiding blaster fire as some of the droids took to shooting at the new flying assailants. The General then asked the question on everyone's minds - except Tech of course.

"Now, how do we get on them?"

"How else?" Tech asked, before answering what was apparently a rhetorical question, "We jump!" Cue the shocked looks from everyone. Calli looked down at the reptiles circling below them, ignoring the sinking feeling when doing so as she was reminded of how high up they were. Her eyes zeroed in on the saddles located on the reptiles' back and an idea struck in her mind.

Aiming her arm carefully, Calli activated her whipcord launcher, and it successfully flew across the air and imbedded itself in the saddle, ensuring that if she jumped, she wouldn't accidentally miss the saddle and fall to her death.

"Later losers!" Calli hollered - whether she said this to the droids or her team no one knew. She still had Jace's hand in a death grip so he was free falling next to her and an undignified shriek might have left his mouth when he suddenly was yanked from his spot and now had nothing but Calli's hand to hold onto.

For a brief second there was nothing but the sensation of falling, the air whipping around them as they descended, before safely landing on the flying reptile. Jace suffered whiplash briefly, having landed on his stomach, while Calli had somehow expertly landed on her feet in a crouched position. The young Jedi blamed the fact that he hadn't had time to process and prepare for the jump and that's why he landed in such an undignified way. Despite being in a tense, dangerous situation, Jace couldn't help but blush, especially after Calli chuckled at him.

"Heh, sorry, guess I shoulda warned you." She apologized sheepishly before using her free hand to grab ahold of the reins attached to bridle in the reptile's mouths, the other still attached to Jace's until he got situated in the saddle behind her.

Swiftly, two at a time, the rest of the group also jumped off and claimed a flying reptile to pilot, they followed the keerdak Anakin was on that he steered to lead the rest of them away from the droids. For two seconds, it seemed like everything was going to be ok... Then wings suddenly sprouted from the droid's arms and were now pursuing the group.

"Uh, that wasn't part of the plan." Tech said, "Those things can fly!" Calli looked over her shoulder and sure enough, the droids were in fact following them. Great, just great.

"Kriffing hells!" Calli couldn't help but swear, earning a surprised look from Jace behind her. Calli ignored him and focused on guiding the reptile out of the line of fire.

"We have to shake those droids!" General Skywalker shouted, deflecting the blaster bolts while keeping one hand tightly on the reins and he made a noise of frustration as he almost fell off the reptile when it made a sharp turn unexpectedly, being spooked by the blaster fire, "How do I steer this thing?" The others weren't having as hard a time, as one would steer the reptile while the others provided cover fire. Luckily these droids seemed to have just as bad of aim as any other Separatist droid, and it was even worse when they flew.

"How you holding up, Echo?" Rex asked his brother, who smiled up at him.

"Never better, sir!" Was Echo's chipper reply, and Rex chuckled. Despite the fact they had droids trying to shoot them down he was happy as can be with Echo at his side. Eventually they managed to evade the droids through the maze of rock formations, with one not noticing a ledge and going SPLAT on it like a bug on a windshield.

"Let's head back to the village." Anakin suggested - well it was more of an order. And Calli couldn't help but voice her concern because she saw several red flags about that plan.

"Are you sure that's a good idea? What if they find us and send reinforcements? We'd be endangering the Poletecs!"

"We need to bring these guys back to them safely (referring to the reptiles)." Anakin told her, "It's also where the ship is!" Despite the fact about the ship which Calli had somehow forgotten, she still felt it was a bad idea and was going to protest further if not for Jace's hand being placed on her shoulder which made her stop and glance questioningly at him.

"It'll be fine." He assured her, and Calli contemplated this, that nagging feeling in her gut shrinking a little but not entirely going away. She eventually relented with a sigh and faced forward again, and she couldn't help but notice how Jace kept his hand on her shoulder the entire ride back.

○●○●○●○●○●○●○

They landed in the middle of the Poletec village, and the Chief was quick to make his way to the front of the crowd that gathered and by his frantic arm movements and unmistakable angry tone, it was plain as day to everyone that he was none too pleased of the soldier's return. It took everything in Calli to not tell the General "I told you so".

Tech swiftly made a translation of the Chief's words. "Their leader is impressed we tamed the Keeradaks, - but he wants to know why we returned here."

"Tell him we had no choice. Tell him that we wore out our welcome in Purkoll." Anakin explained and Tech nodded and started to repeat the General's words in the Poletec's tongue, yet he was rudely interrupted when a series of blaster bolts rained down from the sky as the two surviving droids they thought they'd outsmarted and left in the dust flew above them.

Crosshair who always had his rifle ready began shooting back, but only managed to hit one of the droids and it hurled into one of the rock formations surrounding the village while it's companion managed to escape and that sinking feeling Calli had earlier came back when her previous concerns about returning to the village came back in full force.

Crosshair's head shook. "Not good. If I know Tambor, he'll come after us, us and the Poletecs, with everything he's got." On top of the dread Calli felt, there was now also guilt as she glared up at the General.

"Hence the reason why I said it would be bad to come back here!" Calli snapped, hating the fact that now the Poletecs were in danger because of them. Anakin briefly scowled down at her but wasn't able to say anything as the Chief was back to yelling at them. The General however remained calm as he asked Tech to translate once more, ignoring the moody huff he heard come from Calli when her statement wasn't acknowledged by any of the adults. Jace at least showed he heard and understood her frustrations by repeating his earlier gesture of placing a hand on her pauldron and while she was still frustrated, she looked at Jace appreciatively.

"He says that we have broken our word." Tech explained, and he paused for a second while translating the rest, "We have brought the war to his village." From her spot Calli threw her hands up in an "I told you so" way, earning another warning look from Anakin and also Hunter this time. Even Jace had to quietly tell her to calm down and if it had been anyone else, she would have told them to kark off. But she couldn't bring herself to say that to the guy who's been more than patient and kind with her up until now and did her best to calm the raging fire within her, reasoning that going into a full-blown argument in front of the Poletecs wouldn't help the situation at all.

"You're right." Rex said suddenly, taking everyone aback as he stepped forward and slipped off his helmet, revealing his determined expression beneath as he addressed the Chief then the goggled clone beside him, "Tell him he's right, Tech." Rex briefly glanced at Calli, "And so are you, Scar." Calli blinked, not expecting that and remained quiet as the Captain turned to face the Chief again, "Tell him we didn't plan to drag his people into war." His companions were all wondering where he was going with this, but didn't have to wonder long when he pointed to Echo, a fire igniting in his eyes as he spoke again, "But look what the Separatists did to one of our people!" Despite the call out, Echo straightened his posture to appear more confident as the attention was now on him, "They took away his freedom, his humanity. They tried to turn him into a machine." Rex was getting more and more fired up with each passing sentence, "The Techno Union claims it's neutral, but they have chosen sides. Now your people have to choose." Once he finished, Rex stepped back and waited for his words to sink in, and Anakin smiled slightly at his longtime friend.

"Couldn't have said it better, Rex."

"Let's hope it works, because I see forces coming more than we can handle alone." Calli said grimly, gesturing with her head in the direction the flying droid that avoided being hit flew back in the direction of the city, no doubt to bring back some friends. While she still didn't agree with dragging innocent bystanders into their battle, it seemed they would have to fight regardless because the Techno Union will definitely retaliate now that they thought the Poletecs were with the Republic.

Several of the Poletecs were now walking up to the Chief and by the looks of it they were prepared to do anything to protect their home. While Calli felt bad that the Poletecs were being dragged into what technically wasn't their fight, she still felt some relief in the fact that there would be more numbers on their side. As long as they were here with their more efficient weaponry, Calli would do everything in her power to ensure these Poletecs kept their humble village and continued to be here long after they'd left. She supposed it's the least she could do now that fighting was inevitable.

In the calm before the upcoming battle, they prepared. Calli helped Wrecker find some large boulders and place them on the rock formations surrounding the village where they could easily be pushed and sent tumbling, effectively taking out multiple targets. The other clones made sure all their weapons had fresh ammo packs before going to their designated hiding spots to wait for the enemy to arrive.

The Poletecs prepared as well, gathering all their own warriors and weapons while also hiding their more vulnerable people in the intricate set of tunnels that ran beneath the surface. After Calli finished helping the others, she was pulled aside by the general who also had asked Jace to come as well. He led them over to the entrance to the tunnels.

"I want you two to protect the elderly and children." He told the two teens in a tone that pretty much said there would be no arguing on the subject.

That of course didn't stop Calli from doing just that. She wasn't after all the model soldier who took orders without question, no matter how much the Kaminoans had tried to condition her to be that way. Five years on her own was enough time for her to grow more of a backbone and such was the result: if someone said something Calli didn't agree with, she voiced her opinion. Only this time it wasn't out of pure stubbornness because she thought it was unfair, no there was a deeper reason she immediately disagreed with Anakin's order.

"W-What? No, I need to be out here, with my team!" The thought of not being beside her brothers in what was definitely going to be a messy fight and no hope of back up from the Republic made her anxiety go to levels it's never been before. If something happened to them and she wasn't there...

"And I'm saying you and Jace are going to protect the elderly and children. End of story." Calli let out a dry scoff and followed the General when he turned and began heading for the exit.

"You've got another thing coming if you think you can just say 'End of story' and walk away, General." The way she was questioning his orders and blatantly testing his nerves reminded Anakin of someone he once knew that was now no longer a part of his life, and for that reason he didn't lose his temper right away with Calli blatantly disrespecting his orders.

"Scar..." Jace said in a warning tone, but Calli shut him up with one glare.

"No!" She said venomously, "I'm not going to just sit back, I can help! My brothers need me!"

"And I need you here. The Chief asked me to have someone protect the elderly and children and I'm trusting the two of you to do just that. You're the last line of defense, and it's our job to protect those who can't fight. If anything goes wrong, it's up to you guys to get them out of here. There's a tunnel that leads near the Havoc Marauder and I hear you're a hell of a pilot. The two of you will be fine."

"But-" Anakin crossed his arms and he and Calli had a stare off, and the latter was determined to win. She wasn't about to let some Jedi tell her she couldn't be with her brothers. She took orders from only one person, Hunter, and that in itself took a while for her to be ok with. Now she heard Hunter's voice at the back of her mind, telling her to follow orders. Calli continued to stare for a full minute before she ground her teeth and shook her head angrily, "Fine!" she spat out, and she put her helmet back on to hide her scowl as she stated she needed to go to the ship to quickly grab something.

"Sorry about her. She's... very strong willed." Jace apologized on Calli's behalf to Anakin, and the latter made a 'hmph' sound as they watched Calli's retreating form.

"I've noticed." Anakin said gruffly, and another pang came from his heart as he again thought of his former padawan, and all the times she stood up to him and/or completely disobeyed orders. "But I know this is the best course of action." Anakin turned to look back at Jace, "I trust you can get through to her?" Jace's expression turned to one of confusion as his eyes left Calli and met Anakins.

"Why me, Master?" He asked.

"I sense a special connection between you two." Anakin had to hide the smile that threatened to appear on his face while saying this. It goes without saying that he and Padme had talked about the young man's interest in Calli, and he couldn't help but tease him a little. Jace's eyes widened and became filled with panic, yet there was still some confusion in them.

"What-What do you mean by that?" Jace asked, and he cursed himself for stuttering. He couldn't be that obvious, could he?

"Oh nothing. And Echo will be joining you as well. Just escaping the Techno building took a lot out of him and Rex and I both agree he needs to be down here." It was a sudden change in conversation, but a welcome one for the padawan, who nodded.

"Yes, Master."

○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○

Calli returned, still in a sour mood, with her backpack restocked with supplies and Scruffy who rode on her shoulder.

"Why'd you bring him?" Jace asked, though he smiled upon seeing the little tooka and when Calli walked past him, Scruffy was quick to nudge his face happily with a chirp.

"He was getting antsy on the ship and I figured he could maybe keep the Poletec kids calm. I'm pretty sure they've never had to live through a battle like this." Already some of the children were eyeing Scruffy curiously and you could hear them talking amongst themselves while pointing in the direction of the teens. Jace hummed.

"That's actually a great idea."

"Yep." Calli replied shortly, taking off the backpack while her feline companion also jumped off his perch and both were now on the dirt floor. Scruffy looked up when Calli made a clicking noise with her tongue, and she motioned for him to jump back up in her arms, which he of course did so with another little chirp. Once secure in her grasp, Calli walked over to the group of Poletecs who looked curiously at both her and the little furry creature in her arms. Some of them tensed as the female clone got closer, and she assured them in a soothing tone that they were ok, though they probably didn't understand her. But it seemed to get through that the two weren't a threat and a few of the younger Poletecs inched closer, with their big dark eyes looking at Scruffy with both skepticism and wonder. When some of them looked at Calli she smiled and nodded encouragingly, silently saying it's ok.

The child closest to Calli reached out one of its long fingered, tentative hands and held it in front of Scruffy's face, and the latter began to sniff the young Poletecs hand. Eventually after a few short sniffs, Scruffy deemed the stranger an acceptable being and licked the child's hand while letting out a trill, followed by loud purring. One second later Scruffy is out of Calli's arms and he climbed up the extended appendage of the Poletec and was now perched on the child's shoulder, happy as can be.

Soon after Scruffy was the star of the show, entertaining the young ones and reveling in all of the attention, making some of Calli's anger over being stuck down here melt away.

It was short lived however, when suddenly the ground above them rattled and she received a message from Tech soon after that said the Techno Union's reinforcements had arrived. Now the anxiety she'd felt earlier was back in full force as they heard the beginnings of a battle. By now Wrecker must have rolled one or more of the boulders they had collected to start the fight, which should have taken some of the droids by surprise and momentarily stunned them.

It took everything in Calli to not make a mad dash for the surface so she could be at her brother's side. She leaned against the wall and Jace joined her and for a while it was awkward silence as neither knew what to say. Eventually Calli nudged her boot against Jace's to get his attention. Emerald green eyes met brown, and Calli tucked a stray strand of her hair behind her ear as she cleared her throat nervously.

"Uh, sorry for snapping at you earlier, you know, when the General and I were arguing. Didn't mean to have you in the crossfire." She apologized quietly, embarrassed to have lost her temper and snapped at the one person who's always been nothing but nice to her.

"It's ok. I know you were just worried about your brothers." Another explosion could be heard and Calli shook the dirt that fell on her hair and face, then dropped her head back until it hit the wall while letting out a quiet groan.

"I just hate the idea of not being there with them. We do everything together." Jace's lips pursed as he stood there, wracking his mind for something to say that might help ease Calli's nerves. But he was never good at this sort of thing. He thought about what Master Windu might say, but quickly stopped that train of thought as nothing good came to mind. While he appreciated the Jedi Master taking him on as a padawan after Kuda Vyn's death, let's just say that they didn't exactly mesh well together.He thought his former master had been strict, well Windu was worse.

Jace then wondered what Master Vyn might've said. But he wasn't one for soothing words. He really was flying blind here. Guess he'd have to just wing it and rely on what he'd been taught. The young Jedi cleared his throat to get the attention of Calli, who'd been staring off into space. When she looked back at him, he began wringing his hands as nerves set in but plowed through and forced his mouth to form words before he lost whatever little bit of courage he had.

"You know, one of the first things the Jedi teach you is that you have to let go of your attachments, otherwise fear of losing them can lead to the dark side." He could see Calli's eyebrow raise, silently asking where he was going with this, "Master Yoda said to train ourselves to let go of everything we fear to lose." Calli took this the wrong way and was immediately on the defensive.

"I'm not like you guys." She argued, "I can't just 'let go', they're my brothers and I won't ever brush them off easily like you do." Jace sighed while shaking his head.

"I didn't say brush them off and forget about them." He said and his voice raised slightly in annoyance, but not because of Calli but because despite his best efforts he'd inadvertently said the wrong thing.

"Then what are you saying?" Calli asked, also getting frustrated.

"I don't know!" Jace admitted angrily and there was a pause as he tried to think of something else. He wanted to ease Calli's anxiety since Scruffy was too busy being doted on by the Poletec children. "They're capable of doing things no one has ever heard of and if they care as much about you as you do for them - and I know they do," This made Calli smile lightly, and those weird butterflies fluttered around in his stomach. "- then I guess you just have to trust that your brothers will do everything they can to survive and come back to you. But," Call's smile dropped at his use of the word 'but' and she dreaded what he was about to say, "- they can only focus if they know that you're doing your job and not letting your worry get the better of you and you wind up doing something irrational."

"He's right." Echo's voice chimed in as he'd separated from the Poletecs and chose to join the two teens, unintentionally listening in on their conversation and deciding to put in his two credits on the subject. Calli couldn't help but scoff at the ARC Trooper.

"Oh, so you're telling me you're ok with just sitting around here?" Echo opened his mouth, prepared to say yes, but stopped when he realized he'd be lying. Ok, maybe he wasn't ok with being put down here when he'd prefer being up there fighting with Rex and Anakin.

"Orders are orders." He finally said, always being a stickler for rules and such. He knew better than to go against his commanding officer's wishes, "You should be used to that by now, huh?" Calli chuckled nervously and went back to playing with her hair.

"I usually only listen to Hunter, and even then, it's a 50/50 chance I'll listen to that - off the battlefield that is." She admitted, earning raised eyebrows from both the guys.

The conversation was cut short when Calli thought she heard a sound come from the direction the entrance of the tunnels were. Not a second later Jace received a comm from Rex, saying that a few droids managed to slip past their defenses and were now heading into the tunnels.

Calli was about to contact her brothers and ask if they were alright, only to be stopped by Echo.

"Remember what the Commander said." He told her in a stern yet gentle voice, "We focus and do our job and this'll be over before you know it." Calli took a deep breath and nodded, though the pit in her stomach didn't go away.

"What's the plan?" She asked Jace, and he looked surprised at her question.

"Aren't you usually the one with a plan?" Calli shrugged indifferently.

"I'm taking a page from Echo's book and following whatever orders that will get this over with quicker." Jace began stroking his chin as he thought out loud.

"All I know is, there's going to be a lot of blaster fire, and we can't let it hit any of them." He told the pair, gesturing to the group of Poletecs that were still doting on Scruffy.

"We can't use bombs, otherwise this whole place will fall down on top of us." Calli said, continuing the train of thought.

"What about droid poppers?" Echo inputted, but Calli shook her head at that suggestion.

"I pretty much figured the other guys would need it more than us and let them keep what was left of our stock, which wasn't that much to begin with." Calli said, placing her hands on her hips and looking to the floor as she thought of what they had to work with. Blasters, her electrostaff, Jace had his lightsabers. She did bring some bombs, and extra mini rockets for her wrist rocket launcher, but those were a last resort. Her flame projector wouldn't do much against metal droids except scorch the metal, and she had a limited number of darts, which again probably wouldn't be super effective on targets that don't feel pain.

The sound of approaching footsteps was getting closer and closer, putting pressure on the Jedi and clones to figure out something, and fast.

A figurative lightbulb went off in Calli's mind and she reached behind her into one of the many pouches attached to her belt, catching the attention of her companions who looked at her in question at the sudden movement and glint in her eyes.

"What if we took away their ability to see?" Calli said mysteriously before pulling out a single smoke bomb and she was now wearing her signature smirk.

"But then we wouldn't be able to see either." Jace pointed out, and Calli crossed her arms and scoffed mockingly.

"I thought the Jedi used the force to "see" when their eyes couldn't?" Jace wanted to say that while Jedi could sense other living things, they couldn't actually do the same with non living things like droids, but now wasn't the time for that. It did heighten his other senses, so in a way Calli was right, "And with my enhanced senses, the two of us could make our way through the smoke and wipe out the droids before they knew what hit them. And if any stragglers make it through, Echo can stop them - if he's feeling well enough and up to the task." Echo puffed out his chest and said with confidence,

"Just give me a blaster and I'll take down any clanker to the best of my ability!" Calli liked his enthusiasm and just like with Fives, knew right off the bat that they were going to get along.

"Hey, you can have both of my blasters," She offered, taking both of said weapons out of their holsters and she didn't see his face fall and Jace's eyes widen as he glanced at Echo's right arm which no longer had a hand, then back at Calli who again was oblivious as she checked the power packs on her blasters, all the while still talking, "-one in each hand would be more effective -" Jace coughed loudly to get her attention and Calli looked at him, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion as she didn't understand why the young Jedi was now giving her a pointed look, "What?" She asked dumbly, and when Jace subtly pointed to Echo's prosthetic, Calli's face fell, all the while Echo was now looking neither of the teens in the eye as he'd grown embarrassed, though now Calli probably rivaled it at this point, "- oh." Was all she could say after that. Now Calli was mortified at making Echo probably feel awful about his implants that were most likely not put on him with his consent. Great, he probably thinks I'm a heartless jerk now.

Thankfully the awkwardness she created was short lived when just up ahead where there was a curve in the tunnel droids started to appear. Calli, Jace, and Echo were immediately spotted.

"Blast them!"

"Get behind me!" Jace shouted while taking out his lightsabers to start deflecting the onslaught of blaster bolts. Echo did as told but Calli instead pressed a button on her wrist guard, and she looked at the clone Jedi duo with a smirk when a small circular combat shield appeared, resembling ones that Mandalorian warriors utilized in battle. The only difference is, a regular one that was roughly a foot in diameter, hers was twice the size which maximized her protection, courtesy of Tech who suped it up as a surprise for her.

Any thoughts of their previous plan were forgotten as Calli began shooting back, and she stopped briefly only to toss her spare blaster to Echo so he could join in on the action while Jace continued to deflect what blasts he could.

But there were some that made it past his and Calli's defenses. One bolt hit the roof above them and caused a chunk of the rock to break off and land dangerously close to a small group of children. Their cries of fear temporarily distracted Calli and she couldn't stop herself from looking backwards in worry, unintentionally lowering her shield in the process as she made sure no one was injured.

That was a fatal mistake on her part. And if it hadn't been for Jace, it would've been her last.

It was just Calli's luck that one droid would have enough good circuits to actually be observant, and even rarer taking a few extra seconds to aim their blaster pistol before firing, to make sure they actually hit the enemy target dead-on.

Calli was unaware, adrenaline kicked in for Jace, and the Force was unintentionally called upon.

Having to duck behind a protrusion in the wall for a breather, Jace didn't really think about what he did when seeing a droid take notice of Calli. All he did was cry out "NO!" when the droid aimed their blaster, and thrust a handout in Calli's direction.

The only explanation was that the Force must have taken his desperate cry as a prayer, and granted him the mercy of having the power to stop someone he really cared about from taking a deadly blaster bolt to the heart.

The hairs on the back of Calli's neck raised to signal danger milliseconds too late, and whipping around she was met with a red blaster bolt zipping right towards her-

Then a strange reverberation shook her to the core and just like she did the red bolt came to standstill.

Only it unnaturally did in midair.

Just mere centimeters from her chest.

The frantic crackling of the energy bolt mimicked her thumping pulse, and the waves of heat from the unsteady hold on it as it fought to be released were also in tune with her panic-stricken breaths of disbelief. Her entire face slack in terror was omniously shadowed by the intmidating red glow of blaster bolt that should have been her end, and enhanced the petrified glint in her wide eyes.

From his position on sidelines and through the haphazard blaster fire, Echo had watched what happened with awe and disbelief and downright pure terror himself. But unable to do anything himself, he was also thankful.

Teeth painfully gritted, Jace's entire face was contorted as he focused all his energy in keeping the bullet from hitting his friend/crush in what would have been a fatal shot. The split-second decision to stop the bullet with the Force was made completely on the energy field itself, not his own. Still only a padawan, nowhere near as skilled as a Knight or Master, the strength granted to him could rival anyone of those he knew. But somehow, he found the strength to process and wield this power enough if it meant the difference between life and death of someone he cared about.

The Force also granted him the power to change the trajectory of the bullet, and with a bead of sweat forming on his painfully furrowed brow, he flicked his hand in the direction of the droids, and the energies of both powers followed.

It may have not hit the pack of droids directly, but it did impact with the ground in front of them and created a poof of dust and smoke that blinded several, and with a gasp from exertion Jace was still coherent enough to recall what they had planned and with more resolve than before shouted impatiently to frozen Calli, "Throw the bomb!" Taking the opportunity of the droids being also temporarily stunned by his actions.

Jace's frantic voice Calli broke out of her reverie and once it registered what he'd said, Calli broke into action. Taking out the device, she pressed the button to release the smoke in exactly two seconds before throwing it at the small company of droids, landing smack dab in the middle of them. Their little brainless heads all looked down at the device with curiosity that was dumb on their part.

"What's that?" One of the droids asked stupidly as they all looked at the bomb, their circuits not able to compute fast enough what was about to happen, even though a second ago one had been able to almost put a bullet through Calli's chest. They got their unfortunate answer when there was a small click, and smoke began violently spewing out, engulfing that part of the cave in a matter of seconds.

"Let's go!" Jace shouted to Calli as soon as there was ample enough smoke to cover them, having recovered some from the exertion of stopping and redirecting the energy bullet and ready to end this battle before there were any more close calls.

Nodding, two teens ran full force into the smoke without hesitation, trusting they're abilities and each other to ensure they made it out soon and in one piece.

Calli squinted as the smoke stung her eyes, not having her helmet on which would have only held her back as she relied on her impeccable hearing to navigate the dense smoke that surrounded her. She reached over her shoulder and grabbed a hold of her electro staff, bringing it around and pressing the button that made electricity appear on both ends of the weapon.

She could feel Jace's presence still beside her and without having to say a word to each other they got to work.

Calli strained her ears and heard the familiar creaking of a droid close to her left and swung her staff in that direction, rewarded with a satisfying CLANK as her weapon made contact with metal. Her senses picked up another one behind her, she wretched the bladed tip of her staff out of the first droid and after kicking that one to the ground she spun on her feet, sliced off the head of the second and then did a spinning back kick that knocked a third that tried to sneak up on her. When it fell to the ground, Calli stabbed her electrostaff into its body and electricity sparked as she amped up the setting to ensure it fried the droid's circuits.

She could hear Jace's lightsabers slice through droids and felt that familiar spark of competition and a smirk graced her lips as she began working more swiftly with the goal of taking down more droids than her Jedi companion.

Jace sensed the playful shift in her mood and decided to go along with it, pretty much knowing what Calli was thinking if the way she doubled her speed and kill count was any indication.

Despite the flurry of lightsabers and her staff, neither came close to hitting the other despite their close proximity. In some cases Calli would stun a droid with her electrostaff and Jace would follow by swiftly cutting its head off. It was as if their fighting styles and minds became one as they made their way through the dense smoke, taking out droids left and right, each helping the other. When Calli was focused on taking down a droid and another tried to sneak up behind her, Jace rushed into action and took it down before it could harm Calli, and she came to the rescue for him at one point as well. The glow of his lightsabers gave away his position, so several had at one point closed in on him and began shooting. Those droids didn't know what hit them when Calli unleashed her fury on them, and saved Jace's butt in the process.

For those few minutes, Calli didn't think/worry about her brothers, instead focusing on the fight and the boy fighting beside her. Never in a million years did she think she would ever work as well as she was now with a Jedi - a people she used to despise with a passion. Now one of her closest friends was a Jedi and she wondered what Boba or even Jango (if he was still alive) would think!

In a span of a minute and thirty seconds, the fight was over. The smoke began to dissipate and revealed Calli and Jace standing side by side, surrounded by the carnage of their enemy they'd worked as a team to destroy. Both were breathing heavily and Calli wiped the back of her gloved hand across her forehead where sweat had begun to form. She blamed the rush and the fact that Jace had saved her earlier for what she did next. Sometimes after a battle, Wrecker and Calli had a habit of hugging, especially if one or the other had a close brush with death.

Turning off his lightsabers, Jace had barely clipped them back on his belt when he was suddenly tackled into a hug by Calli, and he let out a grunt of surprise while stumbling back a couple steps. After regaining his footing, Jace could only stand stock still as his brain had a tough time computing what was happening.

Calli is hugging me.

We're hugging.

Calli didn't think about how awkward she might have made Jace feel by doing this, in fact she wasn't thinking at all. All she focused on was the fact she just finished a battle and did so without her brothers, and it felt amazing. Up until now Calli thought she always needed her brothers at her side for everything, and as it turns out, she could do just fine on her own. And there was one person she had to thank for that, and she now had him in a bone crushing hug.

Jace has been hugged very few times in his life, in fact he's only hugged one other person and that person was his cousin - and she had initiated every single one of them. He'd always felt weird and awkward receiving hugs, thinking that it went hand in hand with attachment and attachment was forbidden. That phrase had been ingrained in his mind since a youngling.

Attachment was forbidden because it would lead to the dark side. But Jace was now questioning this because the growing attachment he was feeling towards Calli didn't make him feel dark and angry, instead it made his stomach flutter and put a stupid grin on his face whenever he thought about this girl. How can feelings of happiness and warmth turn someone to the dark side?

When Jace couldn't think of a good enough reason that would make him shove Calli away, he had his answer. This would be the only time Jace would curse as he finally wrapped his arms around Calli's armored waist, reciprocating the hug as tightly as he could, lifting her up a few inches off the ground in the process, and unknowingly making Calli internally sigh with relief that her display of affection wasn't rebuffed.

You know what, to hell the Jedi Code. I like this, and I like Calli. He finally admitted it to himself and didn't feel bad. He liked Calli.

○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○

Ahhhhhhhhhh. Jace finally admitted to himself that he likes Calli!!!!!!! YAY! FINALLY!!

Also thank you so much @antisocial-mariposa for helping me write the scene where Jace stops the blaster bolt!! Your flair made it really awesome!!!

#star wars #star wars bad batch #star wars tbb #the bad batch #the bad batch fanfiction #star wars the bad batch #crosshair tbb #tech tbb #hunter tbb #wrecker tbb #calli tbb #arc trooper calli #callistafett #tbb oc #tbb fanfiction #sw tbb

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makkalajagriti · 7 months

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Expert Advice: Choosing the Right Projects to Support in an Indian Youth Empowerment NGO

Navigating the landscape of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in India focused on youth empowerment can be a challenging yet rewarding endeavor. With so many organizations and projects vying for support, it's essential to make informed decisions to ensure your contributions have a meaningful impact.

The Importance of Youth Empowerment in India

India, a country with a significant young population, faces unique challenges and opportunities when it comes to youth empowerment. To truly understand the importance of supporting such initiatives, let's take a closer look at the statistical overview and social context.

Statistical Overview

In India, over 65% of the population is under the age of 35, making it one of the youngest countries in the world. This demographic presents both a demographic dividend and a potential challenge if not harnessed effectively.

Importance in Social Context

Youth empowerment is crucial in addressing issues like unemployment, education gaps, and social disparities. Empowering young Indians not only uplifts individuals but also contributes to the overall progress of the nation.

Why Selecting the Right Projects Matters

In a sector saturated with good intentions, it’s crucial to differentiate between projects that simply aim high and those that can genuinely make a measurable impact. Here are some factors to consider:

Efficiency and Effectiveness: Supporting projects with a track record of efficiency and effectiveness ensures that your contributions have a tangible impact. Look for projects that have clear goals, well-defined strategies, and a history of achieving results.

Long-term Impact: While short-term gains are valuable, focus on projects that also prioritize long-term impact. Sustainable change often takes time, and a project's ability to endure and thrive beyond initial funding is a key indicator of success.

Ethical Considerations: Consider the ethical aspects of the projects you support. Ensure that they uphold values such as inclusivity, fairness, and respect for human rights.

Criteria for Selecting Projects

Relevance to Local Needs: The first step in evaluating a project is understanding its relevance to the specific needs of the local youth population. A project that directly addresses local challenges is more likely to succeed.

Evidence-based Approach: Strong projects are built on a foundation of evidence, not just anecdotal stories or emotional appeal. Look for projects that use data and research to inform their strategies and measure their impact.

Sustainability: A project’s long-term viability often hinges on its sustainability, both financially and in terms of community engagement. Projects that involve and empower the local community are more likely to thrive.

Consider the Target Group: The demographics of the youth population being targeted by a project can significantly impact its efficacy. Consider factors such as age group, gender, and socioeconomic background when evaluating projects.

Types of Projects and their Impact: Not all youth empowerment projects are created equal; they range from educational initiatives to vocational training to mental health support. Understand the different types of projects and their potential impact on the youth population.

Case Studies or Examples: Look for case studies or examples of how the project has positively impacted the lives of young people. Real-world success stories can be strong indicators of a project's effectiveness.

Financial Aspects: Financial scrutiny goes beyond merely looking at a project's budget; it extends to understanding the cost-efficiency and funding sources. Ensure that your support is being used efficiently and transparently.

Involvement of Local Communities: The participation and buy-in from the local community are often overlooked but critical factors in the project’s success. Projects that involve the community in decision-making and implementation tend to have a more significant and lasting impact.

Red Flags to Watch Out For

It's equally important to recognize when a project, no matter how well-intentioned, may not be worth supporting. Watch out for these red flags:

Lack of Transparency

Unproven Methods

High Administrative Costs

Conclusion

Choosing the right projects to support in an Indian youth empowerment NGO is a nuanced process that demands thoughtful evaluation and a commitment to making a real impact. By considering factors such as relevance, evidence-based approaches, sustainability, and community involvement, you can ensure that your contributions are directed towards initiatives that truly empower India's youth and contribute to their brighter future. Remember, the choices you make can shape the destiny of a nation's young generation.

Makkala Jagriti is an education NGO in Bangalore which works towards empowering youth from underserved communities with necessary computer skills, like skills and awareness to ensure that they become role models and changemakers in their communities. (Read More: https://makkalajagriti.org/yuva-jagriti/ )

#youth empowerment #makkala jagriti #youth development #youth empowerment program

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prince1-1-1-0 · 8 months

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Exploring Different Approaches to Opioid Treatment

Welcome to our blog, "Breaking Free: The Journey to Opioid Treatment and Recovery." In this space, we walk alongside those affected by opioid addiction, providing information, support, and hope on the path to treatment and healing. Our mission is to empower individuals to break free from the grip of opioids and embrace a life of recovery and renewed possibilities. "Breaking Free: The Journey to Opioid Treatment and Recovery" is an eye-opening documentary that sheds light on the struggles faced by individuals trapped in the web of opioid addiction. Through intimate personal stories, this powerful film takes viewers on a raw and emotional journey, showcasing the arduous path toward treatment and recovery. With a casual tone, the documentary appeals to a wide audience by humanizing those battling addiction, highlighting their pain, resilience, and ultimately their triumphs. It delves deep into the underlying causes of opioid addiction, from prescription painkiller misuse to heroin dependency, revealing the complex nature of this crisis. "Breaking Free" also explores innovative treatment approaches such as medication-assisted therapy and peer support networks that have proven successful in aiding individuals on their road to recovery. This thought-provoking film not only enlightens us about the devastating impact of opioid addiction but also inspires hope for change and compassion towards those affected.

1. Understanding Opioid Addiction:

In this post, we delve into the nature of opioid addiction, exploring how these powerful substances affect the brain and lead to physical and psychological dependence. Understanding the complexities of addiction is crucial for embarking on the journey to recovery. So, let's talk about opioid addiction for a moment. It's a pretty serious issue that affects millions of people around the world. You see, opioids are powerful drugs that can provide relief from pain but also have the potential for misuse and addiction. And that's where understanding comes into play. To truly grasp this problem, we need to recognize that addiction is not simply a lack of willpower or moral failing. It's a complex disease that alters the brain chemistry and impairs self-control. Opioids hijack the reward pathways in our brains and create an intense craving for more. Moreover, prolonged use can lead to tolerance, where higher doses are needed to achieve the same effect, increasing the risk of overdose.

2. Recognizing the Signs of Opioid Dependence:

Recognizing the signs of opioid dependence can be the catalyst for seeking help. We discuss common indicators of opioid addiction and offer guidance on how to approach someone who may need treatment. Okay, so let's talk about recognizing the signs of opioid dependence. Now, opioids are no joke, and if you suspect someone is struggling with this addiction, it's crucial to be able to spot the warning signs. First off, keep an eye out for physical symptoms such as constricted pupils, sudden weight loss or gain, and slurred speech. But it doesn't stop there; frequent mood swings, increased irritability or aggression can also indicate opioid dependence. Additionally, look for behavioral changes like a decline in academic or professional performance or engaging in risky behaviors without regard for consequences.

3. The Importance of Seeking Professional Help:

Seeking professional help is a vital step towards recovery. We discuss the role of healthcare professionals, addiction specialists, and counselors in designing individualized treatment plans for those battling opioid addiction.

4. Types of Opioid Treatment Programs:

There are different types of opioid treatment programs available to cater to diverse needs. We explore medication-assisted treatment, counseling, therapy, and support groups, shedding light on the benefits of each approach.

5. Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT):

MAT is an evidence-based approach that combines medication and behavioral therapy to treat opioid addiction. We explore commonly used medications and their effectiveness in supporting long-term recovery.

6. Counseling and Therapy in Opioid Recovery:

Counseling and therapy play a crucial role in addressing the psychological aspects of addiction. We discuss various therapeutic approaches and how they help individuals develop coping skills and resilience during recovery.

7. Addressing Underlying Trauma:

Trauma and unresolved emotional issues can contribute to opioid addiction. We explore the importance of trauma-informed care and how addressing underlying trauma aids in healing and preventing relapse. Addressing underlying trauma is a crucial aspect of healing and growth that should not be overlooked. Traumatic experiences can have profound effects on a person's mental, emotional, and physical well-being, often leading to long-lasting negative impacts if not properly addressed. It is important to acknowledge that trauma presents itself differently in each individual and may stem from various sources such as abuse, accidents, or even natural disasters. To address underlying trauma, it is recommended to seek professional help from therapists or counselors who specialize in trauma-focused therapy.

8. Overcoming Challenges: Navigating Relapse and Setbacks:

Recovery is a journey with its ups and downs. In this post, we offer guidance on navigating potential relapses and setbacks, emphasizing the importance of resilience and perseverance.

9. Embracing a Supportive Community:

Building a supportive community is essential for long-term recovery. We discuss the significance of family support, peer groups, and community resources in fostering a nurturing environment for healing.

10. Celebrating Victories: Personal Stories of Triumph:

In our final post, we share uplifting personal stories of individuals who have broken free from opioid addiction and reclaimed their lives. These stories of triumph inspire hope and showcase the resilience of the human spirit.

Conclusion:

As we conclude our blog series, "Breaking Free: The Journey to Opioid Treatment and Recovery," we want you to know that you are not alone in this journey. There is hope, and there is help available. Recovery is a brave and transformative process that begins with taking the first step toward treatment.

#Opioid Treatment

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jessejames1802 · 1 year

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9 Things you need to know about Chat GPT - Open AI

Of late, the most talked about language model, commonly known as ChatGPT, was developed by an organization named Open AI. It was developed and trained comprehensively for conversational engagements. Sam Altman of Open AI released ChatGPT on 30th November. Since then, it has stormed the tech industry and the internet significantly.

Open Ai has invented the latest Chatbot launched by Altman and Elon Musk in 2015, and it can comprehend Human speech and develop in-depth writing suitable for typing to a friend.

The new Chatbot, ChatGPT ( Generative Pre-training), is applied virtually to simulate automated customer service conversation. Doubtless, it is an important setup despite there being several possible answers.

The advantage of the application lies in the fact that it provides information and responds to queries in the Way the natural conversation takes place. It nurtures by AI and machine learning.

More Things You Need to Know Regarding ChatGPT

Conversational Format Of Communication

There is a dollop of issues arising in an organization using previously used GPT-3. It fails to answer some of the questions being answered by AI and is unable to compose facts. For this reason, the audience sometimes alters the prompt that renders the text to AI, yet they're trying to remind AI.

It will be prudent if the AI provides an indication rather than you. In that case, Ai ought to ask you if it does not comprehend to conversation manner instead of rephrasing the query to assist you in understanding what you are searching for and answering accordingly. Hence, the emphasis is on the product with ChatGPT.

Using Reinforcement Learning Methods to Respond Dynamically

The aim is to use the conversational approach to permit the new GPT option to answer more dynamic interaction, and there is a possibility of responding more than asking. On the contrary, ChatGPT made with this objective in mind, and GPT3, used earlier by users to begin an interaction, apply a reinforced learning method stemming from human learning.

Techniques Employed

The fruitfulness of the heavily used techniques in games like poker, chess, and Atari games has been amazing. Even though the game has its rule and prizes, a conversation provides little leeway because human feedback is viral under this circumstance.

It can do by asking a model a question, endorsing several answers, and permitting a human being to grade the answers manually. These grades act as training data for the reward data in this process. The reward model outcome is further enhanced by fine-tuning the language model and applying reinforcement learning to respond to queries.

In the same vein, in specialized games like poker, chess, go, etc., the outcome of employing these strategies is particularly amazing. Even though there are predefined rules and rewards for the game, no regulation for conversation is there, so human feedback is important at this stage.

After that, these ranks act as training data for the reward model. To optimize the reward model, a purified language model, then again fine-tuned, applies to reinforce learning to answer inquiries.

Sibling Model to InstructGPT

Consequently, the dialogue style ChatGPT can provide an answer to follow-up inquiries, accept its error, false assumptions rebuttal, and deny inappropriate proposals. A sibling model to instruct, ChatGPT is trained to pursue instructions promptly and answer deeply.

Answer To Everything

A chatbot has been taught to involve in conversation. The dialogue model developed by OpenAI authorizes ChatGPT to answer all kinds of writing, including stories, science, mathematics, and theoretical essays. Additionally, it provides an answer to follows up questions and admits if it makes some mistakes.

Change the Way How users use Of Search Engines.

Simply by providing the users more than a link to browse through, it could alter how audiences apply search engines by rendering answers to problems as well as complex problems. It is not only meant for a good debugging buddy but also to debug the bug when you ask a question.

Free To Use Along with Developing GPT3.5 Language Technology

The users were providing access to AI ChatGPT on the website of OpenAir. Even though it is in the developing research and review stage, people can still sign-up and test it for free.

ChatGPT used GPT-3.5 language technology developed by OpenAI. The advanced AI model has been taught using a large chunk of text data retrieved from various resources.

Elon Musk Throws a Spanner in this Practice

When Elon Musk learned that OpenAI was using the database of Twitter to teach ChatGPT, he stopped these practices because OpenAI is no longer an open source and non-profit, and finally, it ought to pay for using this knowledge.

Alternative To Human

The mind-boggling ability of ChatGPT to develop complicated Python code and write a college-level essay in answer to the prompt creates a lot of concern regarding it may defunct human workers, such as developers or journalists.

Wrapping Up: Does ChatGPT Good Or Bad Thing

The potential of ChatGPT cannot deny. It simplifies our life and helps us with cumbersome tasks, such as searching for an answer on the internet, sending emails, and improving customer care functionalities.

The pertinent question that often hovers in people's minds is whether they should reign the world. Altman from OpenAI says there is no need for panic because AI with human-like intelligence is well within reach.

Even so, ChatGPT is amazing potential, and It will under no circumstance replace human beings, not for the time being.

#chatgpt #contentmaker #openai #contentwriting

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crazyforstudy-cfs · 1 year

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9 Things you need to know about Chat GPT - Open AI

Open Ai has invented the latest Chatbot launched by Altman and Elon Musk in 2015, and it can comprehend Human speech and develop in-depth writing suitable for typing to a friend.

The advantage of the application lies in the fact that it provides information and responds to queries in the Way the natural conversation takes place. It nurtures by AI and machine learning.

More Things You Need to Know Regarding ChatGPT

Conversational Format Of Communication

Using Reinforcement Learning Methods to Respond Dynamically

Techniques Employed

After that, these ranks act as training data for the reward model. To optimize the reward model, a purified language model, then again fine-tuned, applies to reinforce learning to answer inquiries.

Sibling Model to InstructGPT

Answer To Everything

Change the Way How users use Of Search Engines.

Free To Use Along with Developing GPT3.5 Language Technology

The users were providing access to AI ChatGPT on the website of OpenAir. Even though it is in the developing research and review stage, people can still sign-up and test it for free.

ChatGPT used GPT-3.5 language technology developed by OpenAI. The advanced AI model has been taught using a large chunk of text data retrieved from various resources.

Elon Musk Throws a Spanner in this Practice

Alternative To Human

Wrapping Up: Does ChatGPT Good Or Bad Thing

Even so, ChatGPT is amazing potential, and It will under no circumstance replace human beings, not for the time being.

Read Another Blog - What is Chat GPT, and How do you use it?

#chatgpt #openai #content #chatgptopenai

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ulfwolf · 2 years

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Perspectives -- Musing 297

The human take on protons, electrons: How can something be so small?

The Universe’s take on us humans: How can something be so small?

It is all a question of perspective, isn’t it? Astro-scientists tell us that the physical universe these days measures roughly 92 billion lightyears in diameter (yes, billion). This, of course, is a virtually inconceivable distance.

Lightyears.

Light, that makes it from our sun to our planet in eight minutes; light that can circle our Earth—at the equator—seven-and-change times in a single second. This selfsame light would take 92 billion (yes, again, billion) years to cross the universe. That is roughly twenty times the age of our planet. It is, in other words, a very, very, very (ad infinitum) long time.

Still, it all fits inside this one little word: distance. And it certainly can be relative: for a being the size of the universe, heck, it’s no size at all. It’s simply here and now. Hand to outstretched hand. End of story.

To a cell, the human body is inconceivably large.

To a water molecule—and there is a bunch of them sloshing about in us—the enormity of the body must approach the enormity of the universe as seen by us.

Still, it remains a question of perspectives. A lot of very smart people have pondered these questions and some of them have shared their musings.

Erwin Schrodinger, for one, in his book “What is Life?” pondered this size relationship between atoms and our physical bodies.

“To begin with,” he writes, “they [molecules] are very small indeed. Every little piece of matter handled in everyday life contains an enormous number of them.

“Many examples have been devised to bring this fact home to an audience, none of them more impressive than the one used by Lord Kelvin: Suppose that you could mark the molecules in a glass of water [say, paint them yellow]; then pour the contents of the glass into the ocean and stir the latter thoroughly so as to distribute the marked molecules uniformly throughout the seven seas [and its various depths]; if then you took a glass of water anywhere out of the ocean [yes, at any depth], you would find in it about a hundred of your marked [yellow] molecules.”

Oh, man. I knew they were small, but that small?

He goes on to explain, “The actual sizes of atoms lie between about 1/5000 and 1/2000 of the wavelength of yellow light. The comparison is significant because the wavelength roughly indicates the dimensions of the smallest grain still recognizable in the microscope. Thus it will be seen that such a grain [say, of sand] still contains thousands of millions of atoms.”

Schrodinger then goes on to ask not why atoms are so small, but why are we so big. Good point, no? His discussion takes off from there, but that’s a matter for another musing.

As we go about our daily lives, we don’t worry too much about these various sizes, neither the immensity of the universe nor the minisculeness of the atom, but I think we’re well served to reflect on this now and again, if for no other reason than to face the wonder, the miracle of the world now and again.

Perspectives.

P.S. If you like what you’ve read here and would like to contribute to the creative motion, as it were, you can do so via PayPal: here.

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merakiui · 3 years

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Diluc, Kaeya, Xiao, and Childe Finding out That You’re Being Abused HCs

cw: mentions/descriptions of (physical and emotional) abuse, injuries, depressive mood/thoughts, implied violence **please proceed with caution and do not read if this is triggering! note - submissions are confusing for me, so I wrote it in this format. I hope that was okay!

@tuestika said: Hi! Sorry that I send my request through submission, tumblr has sometimes eaten my asks either wholly or have omnomned whole ask xD Usually my requests sent through submissions arrive intact so…. I saw that you had done Scaramouche reacting finding out their s/o is being abused headcanons, may I request headcanons for Kaeya, Diluc, Xiao and Childe finding out their their s/o is being abused? Keep up good job! <3

🔥 Diluc 🔥

Diluc might not be the most vocal person in the world, but he’s definitely observant. He’s gotten rather skilled at picking apart your social cues because he’s spent a lot of time with you.

So when you barge into his tavern one evening, looking absolutely disheveled and asking for one of the Knights, he’s feeling two emotions: confusion and irritation.

For one, you shouldn’t even entrust your issue to those inadequate Knights. Nevertheless, you are his friend and he isn’t going to kick you out just because you mentioned them.

He waves you over to the bar and is thoroughly shocked when you beg him to let you hide behind it. Then he notices your split lip and the fresh injuries on your face and forearms, and he wastes no time in getting to the point.

“Why were you out so late fighting hilichurls? I hope you haven’t led any here. We don’t need that sort of trouble right now.”

“Sorry. No, that’s not it. I just—you’re the only one...” You’re struggling to piece a coherent statement together, too busy looking over your shoulder to keep track of your thoughts. “I didn’t know where I could go. I mean, I thought of you and—“

“Please slow down. Start at the beginning.”

More concerned over your safety than professionalism, Diluc allows you to slip behind the bar counter, where you cower on the ground to avoid being seen.

You gesture for him to come down to your height and he sighs, silently complying when he finds there aren’t any new customers to serve. Bending down to your level, he holds onto the countertop to keep his balance and then he locks eyes with you.

“What exactly happened?”

You inhale a shuddering breath, wrapping your sore arms around yourself for comfort. Tears are gathering in your eyes as you recall the event. Your abuser had found you after you’d left to get some fresh air, they’d cornered you in a secluded alley, and—you can’t finish the rest of the story.

Diluc doesn’t expect you to continue. He nods as he lets the information sink in, already harboring a deep resentment for this despicable individual.

“Wait here. I’ll close the tavern early. In the meantime, we should see to your injuries and then we’ll look for that person.”

“I really think we should tell the Knights...” you mumble, knowing he’ll disapprove. “They’re more suited to these types of cases.”

“The Knights are incompetent. The investigation will take days, if not weeks. What happens if your abuser knows they’ll be coming for them? They’ll try to escape and then there’ll be no telling where they’ve gone.”

“I know, but it wouldn’t hurt to—“

“I’ll take care of it.”

You try to object because it’s dangerous and you don’t want him to get injured on your behalf. But he’s insistent in his decision, claiming that if the Knights can’t help you no one can. And you really wouldn’t feel safe if your abuser was still roaming free, so you have no other choice but to allow him to carry out the investigation himself.

And Diluc can be quite clever at times. It won’t be hard to traverse the interior of Mondstadt at night, where his identity melts away into that of the sneaky Darknight Hero.

He’s going to protect you no matter what. Your abuser won’t receive an ounce of sympathy from Diluc. All he feels is cold hatred when he catches them. Someone as precious as you does not deserve to be put through such torment, and he’ll see to it that your abuser pays a hefty price to make up for all of the damage they’ve caused.

🧊 Kaeya 🧊

Kaeya can’t understand why you’ve started isolating yourself from everyone. In the past, you were always such great friends with the Knights, always catching up to talk to one of them.

He’d spent a lot of time with you and has since gotten to know you through lighthearted conversations and gossip from the people of Mondstadt.

For someone so appreciated and well-known, he can’t wrap his head around why you might want to suddenly disappear, hiding yourself away as if you didn’t exist.

And then he happens to catch you in town one day while you’re out running some errands. It’s so like him to pop in with a few flirty lines, but the words stick in his throat when he notices the bandages stuck to your arms and legs.

“That can’t be good,” he says as he approaches you, leaning ever so gracefully against a wooden support beam. “Why don’t we find Barbara? I’m sure she’ll have you patched up in no time, my dear friend.”

You don’t think you’re worth it so you shake your head, nervously hoping he’ll take the hint and go away.

“I hope you’re not accepting those dangerous commissions again,” he adds, half teasing and half serious. You can’t tell whether he’s trying to sound chiding or not.

“Please just...leave me be. I’m a little busy right now.” You try to leave the stall you’re at, walking stiffly to avoid limping in front of him. “I’m not feeling well, so if you’ll excuse me—“

Kaeya pushes off from the beam, standing in front of you with a posture that appears immovable. “By order of the Calvary Captain,” he’s saying, a playful glint in his eyes, “you aren’t allowed to move from that spot until you tell me what’s bothering you and why you’re covered head to toe in bandages.”

You can easily object to such an order, but you figure it’s better to answer instead of arguing over your physical condition. So you explain a modified version of the story, telling him that you simply got into a disagreement and it ended in bruises on both sides.

Kaeya hears the tremble in your voice when you say it; you’re lying. His expression softens at once and he steps away, indicating that you’re free to leave. But you don’t; you’re looking at him with such a helpless, pleading look. It breaks his heart.

You break before him, lips quivering as you beg for his help. You’re so scared and alone, and you’re not sure how long you can suffer through this before it seriously hurts you.

“This is the first time I’ve gotten out in weeks.” So that explains your sudden isolation. “Please... I don’t want to go back home anymore. I’ll do anything. Just don’t let them hurt me again.”

Kaeya’s absolutely stunned to hear the silent revelation in your words. You’re awkwardly reaching to undo one of the bandage wrappings to prove your point, but he stops you short. That’s all the proof he needs.

You’ll be brought back to the Knights of Favonius’ Headquarters to be tended to while he gathers a team to search for your abuser. Since you gave him a solid description, it shouldn’t be too hard to find them.

And once they’re apprehended, Kaeya will subject them to a grueling interrogation. There will be no gentle punishment; it’s going to be as unforgiving as the abuse you had to suffer through.

☁️ Xiao ☁️

You’ve never really been keen on physical touch and Xiao understands that completely. He usually avoids any sort of interaction to begin with, unless it’s absolutely necessary, so it’s not a surprise whenever you shy away from large crowds.

He has grown rather fond of you, which has lead to the two of you meeting at Wangshu Inn for some Almond Tofu and relaxed chit-chat.

During one of your many conversations, you bring up a few alarming statements. They’re just personal points you’d like to change, such as your weak fighting spirit or the way your joints brokenly click when you stretch.

Xiao wonders why you’d want to change yourself. You’re not usually this doubtful of yourself. In the past, you would always play the role of his smiling friend, putting on a positive face even when he was in a disagreeable mood.

Xiao is examining your movements as you awkwardly explain yourself and when your arms move he catches the sight of a rope burn etched into your wrist.

“What happened?” He gestures to your sleeve, to which you react in a nervous manner, shyly pulling your sleeve down to hide it. Xiao frowns a bit. “Did you get into an accident?”

“No, of course not! I’m fine. It’s just a result of my clumsiness.”

It really doesn’t look like that to Xiao and when he truly looks at you again he finds that you appear abnormally tired and exhausted. He isn’t going to sugarcoat anything and he could be making a giant assumption, but he still asks.

“Is someone hurting you?”

Your eyes widen for a split second and Xiao catches that movement like a cat drawn to a laser pointer. He won’t force you to explain unless you feel comfortable doing so. The last thing he wants is upsetting you or pressuring you into something you don’t want to talk about.

Eventually, though, the story will come to light and he’ll hear all about the horrors you’ve gone through. That rope burn was just one of many punishments you’ve had to endure, and Xiao’s just about ready to snap. How dare someone lay their filthy hands upon you in such a violent way?

Xiao will calmly tell you to stay at Wangshu Inn or anywhere else in Liyue where you’ll be safe. He’ll watch over you while you take time to recuperate and heal. He’s going to make sure you’ll never have to go through something like that ever again.

Having Xiao by your side makes the healing process all the more comforting.

And when you fall asleep in a soft, warm bed, Xiao slips out into the night to search for your abuser. It won’t be a pretty sight once he gets his hands on the human trash who dared to hurt you.

💧 Childe 💧

He’s very perceptive when it comes to your health and overall well-being. After all, he’s got brothers and sisters to care for; perception is absolutely necessary in order to keep them happy and healthy.

So it doesn’t take long for him to realize your behavior is uncharacteristic. You’re jumpier than usual, always apologizing for the littlest of things, and you’ll look over your shoulder whenever you sense something.

It’s almost as if you expect someone to suddenly come at you, which isn’t all that odd. Childe has been known to keep you on your toes when he’s looking for a fight.

But on one particular day he manages to give you a spook when he comes up beside you, grinning and showing up in your peripheral so suddenly that it nearly gives you a heart attack.

You’re so frightened as you back away, practically folding in on yourself in an effort to protect yourself from an imaginary blow. Childe pauses, that silly grin fading when he realizes you’re shaking.

“Hey, it wasn’t that scary. Come on, comrade!” He’s approaching you warily, not entirely sure why you’re acting the way you are. He’s always been spontaneous; you should be used to this by now.

But you refuse to let him come any closer, having to distance yourself so that you can ease your racing heart and hyperventilating lungs. Once you’ve calmed down, embarrassment floods through you at the fact that Childe just witnessed all of that.

Childe will ask if you’re okay with him stepping closer and if you nod he’ll be on you like a hawk, pulling up your sleeves before you can stop him.

For once, you catch an expression you normally don’t find on Childe: surprise. He’s genuinely shocked at what he sees: dark bruises and shallow lacerations from something sharp.

Either you got these in your many sparring matches or there’s another factor at play here, and Childe is almost certain it’s the latter.

His voice is gentle as he asks you to explain what’s going on and once you do he’s already set on finding the one who did this. He seems to forget all about his Fatui work, wanting to capture your abuser and give them a piece of his mind—and subject them to more than a few pieces of his strength, too.

He’ll have you protected in no time, offering to take you to the best healer. You’ll be treated wonderfully and he’ll even lay off on your sparring matches for a while.

In the meantime, once he gets his hands on your abuser, everything becomes fair game. After all, someone has to handle the brunt of his anger and pent-up bloodlust from the lack of a fight. And your abuser is the perfect match to pummel into the ground. Childe shows absolutely no mercy for them.

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astrolovecosmos · 2 years

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Sagittarius Common Archetype, The Stranger or Foreigner

Sagittarius can find excitement or even comfort in playing the role of the stranger or foreigner. While this may sound similar to their other archetype, the Traveler, this can also insinuate a transplant, the “new kid”. It can mean a new friend or acquaintance. It can also mean someone who lives in a place other than their birth country. Sometimes a stranger can indicate an outsider, someone not welcomed, or simply someone who seems strange to others. The role of the stranger can describe how Sagittarius approaches people and relationships.

There is a sense of freedom when you are a stranger or newcomer, you don’t have a reputation yet and the future can seem more hopeful, maybe people are more welcoming and helpful (not always of course). Sagittarius desires freedom and this can mean freedom to travel and roam, freedom from possessiveness and control, or it can mean freedom from reputation, responsibility, burdens, or heavy emotions.

The fire element is known for having a fragile ego and Sagittarius is no exception. Sagittarius can have great insecurities around being seen as stupid, weak, uncultured, a loser, and maybe as a fraud. As their polar opposite knows the wisdom of being many things at once, Sagittarius also knows this and desires this. But the potent individuality and heated ego of fire can sometimes make this pill of duality a little harder to swallow. With the urge to always find the next big thing, to grow and improve, and to be free there are times where they fear their own intensity, depth, or contrasting nature. Their gleaming individuality is flexible but zealous and passionate, many times swinging from light-heartedness to harsh honesty or insensitivity. They can also fear the messiness, heaviness, and contradictions of relationships as well from this contrast of accepting inner duality and wearing a fiery badge of a unique and bold personality.

Being the stranger allows them to live in the giddiness or mystery of more shallow relationships. Sagittarius is all about new experiences, fresh ideas, or new people and being a stranger feeds into this. Also by remaining in shallow relationships they can protect themselves. Nobody will learn that they aren’t really as smart or special as they appear to be. No one will get bored or disappointed with them. Sagittarius can easily get disappointed in others as they are an eternal optimist, so maybe this fear is a reflection of that. BUT I am sure and I’m hoping many Sagittarius out there learn or know the importance of having people in your life who love you for YOU! “Those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind”. What is important are those who truly see the genius or kindness in their local Sagittarius.

Being the stranger or a foreigner also allows them to connect with many by not being tied to a single group or person. Being the stranger is an opportunity to connect with many spirits or minds. Also playing the stranger or newcomer can act as a way to draw others in. I’m not going to pretend that Sagittarius doesn’t like attention just like the other fire signs. Leo always gets dubbed the entertainer but Sagittarius can belong to this archetype too.

On the note of the foreigner specifically comes a deep curiosity and possibly openness about learning from others. It can also mean a desire or need to escape into others. There can be warmth and connection to humanity through this role, or at least a deep understanding of our differences and similarities.

Sagittarius has the reputation for not committing, for being unreliable, and maybe for performing disappearing acts. But Sagittarius highly values honesty and trust in their closest relationships. This is because to have a healthy relationship where freedom is granted you need solid trust and openness. To trust a stranger is a question asked in many stories - sometimes the outcome is good and sometimes bad. This rings true when we take risks in love and friendships. Fire is no stranger to risk. Sagittarius can embrace this aspect of life both in action or in character.

Sagittarius is usually represented with an arrow, bow and arrow, archer, hunter, or centaur, the horse is also a common symbol for them. While the horse may symbolize freedom, independence, and wildness in culture, if you know anything about the animal, they are herd animals. Playful, sometimes affectionate, sometimes difficult, but big (and dangerous) puppies who are highly social. What a beautiful world and life it would be for this sign to live like a horse in that they have their loving herd but with wide open spaces to roam.

#sagittarius #sagittarius season #zodiac #astrology #archetype #stranger #stereotype

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baepsaesbae · 3 years

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Taming Temerity

Pairing— Min Yoongi x reader

Genre— SMUT +18, incubus!Yoongi, demon au, Valentine’s Day au

Warnings— Dom!Yoongi, brat!reader, fingering, oral (f receiving), multiple orgasms, hickies, shibari, tickling huehuehue, swearing, explicit unprotected sex (use protection when fucking a demon), ass slapping, creampie

Word Count— 4.3k

/təˈmerədē/: excessive confidence or boldness; audacity || You try explaining Valentine’s Day to Min Yoongi, your incubus boyfriend that feeds on your sexual energy. At first he doesn’t understand the point, but if it’ll make you horny then he’s willing to do anything.

A/N— This fic is part of the Valentine’s Day collab Be My Bangtanvine with @kimtaehyunq @ppersonna @ughseoks @jinned @joontopia and @feliix. Make sure to check out their stories too!

“I never understood this holiday. You know it’s just a corporate scam for suckers like you, right?” Yoongi expressed his disdain as his gaze fell on the extravagant Valentine’s Day section in the grocery store.

“So you’ve mentioned, Mr. Party Pooper,” you rolled your eyes, “Some people just like getting chocolates and flowers from their partners. I don’t see any problem with that.”

“Do you want chocolates and flowers? I can get them for you any time, just say the word,” Yoongi offered.

“That’s the point, it should be a little surprise. I wouldn’t have to ask you to do anything,” you tried to explain.

“At that point you’re already expecting something, doesn’t that just defeat the purpose?” your companion was genuinely confused.

“You know what? I don’t expect a demon like you to get it,” you were getting frustrated.

“No need to throw the ‘D’ word around like that. I’m an incubus sure, but we specialize in lust, not love. However, I’m always down to try new things. You of all people should know that,” he ended suggestively.

You started to think about how your relationship started with Yoongi. Your body went on autopilot mode on the drive back home as flashbacks flooded your mind.

It all started about six months ago when you randomly started to have sleep paralysis consistently. You’d foolishly open your eyes and see a dark figure in the corner of your room that gradually came closer before settling on top of you. The extra weight on your chest made it hard to breathe. Once it got to that point, your eyelids would close and you’d be whisked away to a sensual dream. You’d wake up refreshed and energized, completely forgetting about the terrifying events that led up to your wet dream.

One night, you miraculously were able to break the cycle. As soon as the dark figure approached the bed, you threw a pillow at it. At that point, you weren’t sure if you were in a dream or not, but you dashed to turn on your bedroom lights. The light revealed a man standing frozen in place by your bed. You remember screaming for help and shouting things about a pervert stalker.

“Help! Somebody help there’s an intruder! Someone please--” suddenly your mouth refused to open.

“Well this is awkward,” the man rubbed the back of his neck, “Let’s get a few things out of the way first. I’m not a pervert or a stalker. In fact, I’m not even human, I’m an incubus. A new one at that.”

Your eyes widened in horror at the mention of a demonic entity. You backed up into a wall trying to get away from him while muffled screams desperately tried to escape from your sealed lips.

“I’m sure you have a few questions. Normally I would just put you to sleep but you’re wide awake now and honestly I don’t have the kind of mana to deal with all that. So we’ve found ourselves in quite the predicament,” the demon sighed as he sat on your bed. With a wave of his hand, your mouth was finally able to open again.

“What the fuck do you mean you’re a demon? This must be a dream right?” you were bewildered.

“Come sit by me, I can show you that I’m real,” the demon patted the bed.

“Trusting a self proclaimed demon is probably a bad idea but this is just a weird dream anyway,” you reasoned out loud as you sat beside the intruder.

The man raised one of his hands to cup your cheek; you shuddered at his cold touch. Something changed when you looked into his eyes. Suddenly, you felt like kissing this total stranger. In fact, you felt a lust that you’ve never felt before. Before you knew it, you were straddling the man, rubbing your crotch against his as you passionately made out.

“Lay back and take off your pants, dear,” he commanded. You did as he said without hesitation.

The man licked his lips as he spread open your legs. He slowly dragged a finger along your covered slit. Pulling your panties aside, he dove in tongue first, causing you to shudder at the warm and wet sensation. His tongue flicked around between your folds as his thumb began to circle your clit. Pleasure coursed throughout your body as your hands entangled themselves in his hair. You felt two hard protruding bumps atop his head...horns?

“Reaching for my horns already? Naughty girl,” the man smirked as he inserted a finger into your wet pussy. You squirmed at his action. It wasn’t enough, you needed more.

“Oh? What’s wrong?” he asked with fake innocence as he slowly finger fucked you, “Is one not enough? Do you need more?” You silently nodded in response.

“Nuh uh, I need to hear you say it,” he teased.

“Please, I need more,” you begged as you helplessly tried to grind against his one finger.

“Hm one finger isn’t enough huh? How about two?” he added in his middle finger as you moaned, “Or do you want three?”

His ring finger slid in with ease. Finally, you felt full; lewd sounds escaped from your lips. Your back arched as he picked up his pace, curling his fingers into you with every pump. Something tight wound up in you, indicating that you were close to your high.

“Keep going. Faster,” you panted as your legs began to shake.

“Your wish is my command,” he obliged. You cried out as your orgasm hit you. Waves of euphoria rippled across your body as he slammed his fingers into you a final time, leaving his fingers pressed up against your g-spot to prolong the event.

You focused on catching your breath while the alleged demon smiled down at you. It wasn’t a creepy smile, it was one of triumph. His fingers were still inside of you.

“You can pull them out now,” you said weakly.

“I tried. Your tight little pussy is clamped onto them. See?” he showed you how your lips stayed gripped onto his fingers, “If I can’t pull them out, I might as well go back in.”

He pushed his fingers back in, making you gasp. You were still extremely sensitive, any movement of his would push you over the edge yet again.

“If you do that-- fuck-- I’ll come again,” you warned him.

“Let’s see how many you can handle,” the man challenged as he picked up his speed yet again.

You came three times that night. All just to his hand and occasionally his mouth. The demon looked satisfied with his work as you laid blissed out before him. He slunk down beside you, laying on his side with his head propped up on his arm.

“These got bigger,” you observed as you reached for his horns. The tiny black stumps had grown longer and had a more defined horn shape. They felt cool to the touch and were ridged, similar to those of a ram.

“They’re not the only things that got bigger,” he winked, “This is where my mana is stored. Essentially I get stronger when I consume energy.”

“Consume energy? Are you going to eat me?” you questioned with intrigue. You still believed you were in a strange dream.

“Already did. I told you, I’m an incubus. We feed off of sexual energy. I rather enjoyed the meal. It’s too bad this will be the last time I can see you though,” he pouted.

“What? Why can’t you visit me in my dreams like you normally do?” you could get used to having dreams like this.

“Because you know that I exist. After tonight, you’ll forget all about me and I’ll get reassigned to a different human,” he answered nonchalantly.

“Does that mean I’ll get another incubus demon?”

“Not exactly. There are many different kinds of beings that dwell in the underworld. You could get any one of them. Most of them aren’t as fun or as handsome as me though,” he tried to lighten the conversation.

“I don’t want to forget you, nor do I want this dream to end,” you admitted.

“Silly girl, you still think this is a dream? There actually might be a way to have me stay with you. All you have to do is make a contract with me. Interested?” the demon offered.

“A contract? Am I gonna be selling my soul to you or something? I would prefer to keep that if possible,” you tried to joke.

“I’m not that kind of demon. The contract would simply bind us together. You let me consume all of your sexual energy and I give you the best orgasms you’ll ever have. Seems like a fair deal to me,” he explained.

“So I’ll basically have a demon boyfriend? I don’t mind that, sign me up,” you nodded. You were groggy at this point and your eyelids were getting heavy.

“Boyfriend? I suppose you could put it that way. Let’s seal this deal with a kiss,” he suggested. He leaned in to your already puckered up lips. He paused mere centimeters from your face, “I’m Yoongi by the way. I apologize for not introducing myself earlier.”

You pulled him in for a soft kiss, “Hey Yoongi, I’m ___. I guess I’m your girlfriend now.”

“Whatcha thinking about?” Yoongi interrupted your thoughts.

“About the night we met,” you answered as you pulled into your driveway.

“That was a good night. You were so cute when you called yourself my girlfriend,” he smiled.

“Shut up, I thought it was all a dream,” you said defensively as you unloaded the groceries.

“I was thinking about Valentine’s Day as you were driving in silence. I wanna give it a try. I don’t get the hype, but if it will make you happy then I’m willing to go along with it,” Yoongi stated.

“Really?” your mouth opened with excitement, “Do I need to plan the date or are you taking the reins on this one?”

“I’ll start doing my research now,” Yoongi gave you a thumbs up.

“Rise and shine gorgeous~” Yoongi sing songed as he opened the blinds.

You retreated back under the covers to shield yourself from the light. Yoongi tugged at the edge, making you even more aggravated. Curling up into a ball in the fetal position was your last line of defense. Once Yoongi flung off the blanket, you were done for.

“To start off your very best Valentine’s Day ever, I present you a bouquet,” Yoongi shoved a bundle of red roses in your face, causing you to sneeze. A few petals violently detached and fluttered helplessly onto the bed.

“Thanks Yoongi, the flowers are pretty,” you managed to say with a stuffy nose, “I wish I could adore them more but flowers always trigger my allergies.”

“Hm, every romance film I watched always showed the girl loving roses,” Yoongi pondered, “Not to worry, my algorithm is flawless.”

“Are you a robot now?” you joked. The sweet smell of syrup and waffles caught your attention. Yoongi noticed this and excitedly yanked you out of bed. Normally you would bicker about the manhandling but you decided to let today be an exception.

The living room was filled with pink and white heart shaped balloons. Yoongi dragged you to the breakfast table, where the usual placemats were replaced with red hearts and small metallic heart shaped confetti were sprinkled all across the surface. To top it off, the belgian waffles were heart shaped, outlined with whipped cream and topped with strawberries. The presentation rivaled that of an actual restaurant.

Yoongi watched expectantly as you took the first bite. Your mouth turned into a smile as you tasted the fluffy waffle. The toppings complemented the dish perfectly, and you were hungry for more.

“I made eggs and bacon too, though it was hard to get the eggs into a heart shape,” Yoongi sighed as he showed you his attempt to get heart sunny side eggs. The shape was wonky but it was impressive that the yolks were still well intact.

“I don’t care what they look like, I’m sure they’ll taste great. Thank you, Yoongi, this is incredible,” you showered him with compliments as you continued to eat. Yoongi smiled with satisfaction as he took a sip of coffee, his favorite choice of sustenance from the human realm.

“Enjoying your Valentine’s Day so far?” he asked from across the table.

“I’ve only been awake for about 5 minutes but it’s been pretty good so far,” you nodded.

“Well whenever you’re ready, go get ready for a day out,” Yoongi winked, “Dress however you want, it’ll be casual.”

You couldn’t help but wonder about what Yoongi had planned for the day. It was still a little chilly, so you put on a cute sweater paired with jeans. You accessorized with a beret and your favorite jewelry pieces. Yoongi waited for you in the living room, and his eyes lit up when he saw you. It wasn’t the usual dark lustful look he normally gave you, but rather one of fondness and genuine adoration.

“Where are we off to now?” you asked in the passenger seat, which was a rare sight. Yoongi didn’t like to drive, he always complained about how it would be easier to just teleport. You always had to remind him that humans do not simply ‘teleport’ places and you’d surely turn a lot of heads if you did. Regardless, you enjoyed watching Yoongi drive. You admired his delicate features as he concentrated on the road.

“Can’t tell you, that you ruin the surprise,” Yoongi chided.

Your eyes widened as he pulled into the parking lot of the local aquarium. It had been years since you last visited, and you were thrilled that Yoongi picked this place as a date spot.

“The aquarium! Ah, I’m so excited! But they aren’t inherently romantic, what made you think of coming here?” you questioned.

“I remember you mentioned wanting to come back here someday. I figured today would be a good time,” he shrugged. Yoongi’s thoughtfulness made you feel warm and fuzzy inside.

Once inside, you took the liberty of pointing out every fish you thought looked pretty to Yoongi. He was amused by how much you enjoyed something as simple as looking at fish. Colorful fish chased each other around their tanks, darting between corals and other underwater plants. You loved watching them go about their lives as they vibed within the aquarium.

“It would be nice to be a fish,” you said to Yoongi as you stared in awe at jellyfish that were nearly transparent as they carelessly floated around.

“A fish? Why?” Yoongi scoffed.

“They seem happy, and free in a way. All they do is swim around and eat, that sounds like a good time to me,” you explained.

“And worry about getting eaten by a bigger fish. I’d rather be a cat if I had to be any animal,” Yoongi countered.

“Okay, that’s probably a better choice,” you laughed as you imagined Yoongi as a cat. It fit him surprisingly well.

After leaving the aquarium, Yoongi suggested walking to a nearby gelato shop. You were never one to turn down dessert, so you agreed. The air was crisp and the cold made your cheeks go slightly numb, but you didn’t mind. You happily swung Yoongi’s hand back and forth in yours, you couldn’t remember the last time you’ve been on a date that went this well.

“___?” a voice called out to you. You looked around to see who called you. Out of nowhere, someone ran up and hugged you from behind. You let go of Yoongi’s hand in the commotion as you were spun around.

“What the--” you said in shock. Finally you were put down, and saw a familiar face grinning back at you.

“Oh my god, Jungkook!” you exclaimed as you hugged him back. He greeted you with a kiss on the cheek.

“It’s been forever! I didn’t know you still lived here,” you said.

“I know right?! God, like 13 years or something? I’m here visiting some old pals. We’re all single so we’re celebrating this stupid holiday together,” Jungkook laughed.

“Aww that's cute. I guess this holiday is pretty dumb, but I’m actually celebrating it with someone this year! This is Yoongi,” you introduced Jungkook to your boyfriend.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Jungkook,” the young boy extended a hand.

“Min Yoongi,” Yoongi replied curtly as he firmly shook Jungkook’s hand.

“Damn, where are you hiding all that muscle?” Jungkook joked as he clutched his hand.

“Looks can be deceiving,” Yoongi deadpanned.

“How long are you in town for? I’d love to catch up with you on another day,” you interrupted.

“I’ll be here for a few more days. Is your number still the same? I can text you tomorrow?” Jungkook offered.

“That’s perfect, I’ll see you around!” you waved goodbye and returned your attention to Yoongi.

You took a hold of his hand and continued walking to the gelato shop. Yoongi was noticeably quiet now, and his demeanor had completely changed. There was an awkward silence between you two as you ordered your favorite flavors. You both sat outside to eat the gelato.

“So who was he?” Yoongi finally spoke.

“Jungkook used to be my neighbor when we were kids. We practically grew up together. He moved away sometime in middle school and I haven’t seen him since. He looks great, I almost didn’t recognize him. What? Are you jealous?” you teased.

“I almost killed him when he kissed you,” Yoongi said in a tone that let you know that he was not kidding.

“Yoongi! People greet each other that way sometimes. Sure, it was a little forward, but we used to be best friends as kids,” you scolded him.

“Ready to go home?” Yoongi asked, completely disregarding your explanation.

“Okay let’s go back you big baby,” you sighed as you threw away your trash.

You hummed along with the radio all the way home. Yoongi didn’t say anything the whole ride. You were surprised by his behavior, you figured an incubus wouldn’t mind seeing affection in public. He had never given you the silent treatment before, so this was uncharted waters.

“Today was really nice, I think you did a good job planning out our Valentine’s day together,” you praised Yoongi as you returned home.

“Glad you enjoyed it,” Yoongi said coldly.

“Why are you being so pouty? C’mere, let me give the big baby a hug,” you reached for him with outstretched arms.

“You think I’d let you get away with that kind of behavior?” an annoyed Yoongi glared back at you.

“C’mon, it’s not like it really matters,” you teased, trying to push your luck.

“It matters to me. You’re mine,” Yoongi snarled, baring his fangs.

“You’ve made that abundantly clear,” you tilted your neck, revealing marks from his previous feedings, “I can’t leave the house without a crap ton of concealer to cover up your monstrous hickeys.”

“You knew what you were signing up for when you agreed to be my permanent lover,” Yoongi shrugged, his anger dissipating.

“Who knew dating an incubus would be so tiresome,” you playfully roll your eyes.

“So that random guy kissing your cheeks doesn’t deserve to die?” he asked quietly.

“No! I told you, we’re childhood friends. I haven’t seen him in years. It’s okay to greet close friends with a friendly peck on the cheeks” you crossed your arms, “You’re being annoying. No dinner for you tonight,” you said confidently as you both entered the bedroom.

“Oh? Since when do you call the shots around here?” his voice lowered.

“Since now,” you replied defiantly.

“Keep being cheeky, see where that gets you,” Yoongi challenged.

You smiled slyly as you pushed him onto the bed. Standing before him, you pulled off your sweater to reveal your bare chest. Yoongi instinctively reached out to grab them but you slapped his hand away.

“No touching,” you tsked as you slowly stripped off your bottoms.

You turned to shake your ass at him. The gesture was meant to be playful, but Yoongi took it as a wage of war. He instantly pulled you onto his lap; your panties rubbed up against his hardened crotch.

“I’m hungry,” he growled in your ear as he firmly gripped your ass.

“Not my problem,” you snapped, doing your best to maintain your composure.

“You’ll let me starve?”

“Don’t act as if you didn’t eat me out until I begged for you to stop last night,” you admonished.

“Enough,” Yoongi silenced you.

He roughly latched his soft lips onto your neck. His harsh suckling caused you to moan and tangle your fingers in his minty green hair. You cupped his chin in an attempt to kiss him, but he pulled away.

“You think you get to touch me now? Foolish,” he threw you further onto the bed.

With a snap of his fingers, your panties vanished. They were replaced with strict constraints as your hands and feet were bound by an intricate silk rope pattern. You’ve never been tied up like this before. You’ve dabbled in using handcuffs or fastening a belt around your wrists, but this was something else entirely.

“You wanted to play. So let’s play,” Yoongi cooed in your ear as his fingers traced your sides.

“Oh fuck, Yoongi no,” your eyes widened.

“You’ve been a bad girl,” he smiled deviously.

His fingers dug into your sides. You burst out into a fit of laughter. You wriggled around uncontrollably in a futile attempt to get away from him. Yoongi accidentally found out that you were extremely ticklish, and ever since that day he uses it as leverage against you. It wasn’t fair at all considering that demons aren’t ticklish.

Tears welled in your eyes when he finally ceased his attack. Yoongi also knew that tickling was a turn on for you. Something about having another person’s hands all over you made you wet.

“You look so helpless,” Yoongi chuckled.

“Maybe these ropes have something to do with that,” you retorted as you panted.

“Still talking back? You obviously haven’t learned your lesson,” Yoongi ran his fingers along your sides.

“No, please. I can’t take anymore,” you pleaded.

“I think you can,” he smirked before tickling you again.

This time he didn’t stop until you were on the verge of passing out. The bondage made it even harder to catch your breath. Yoongi gingerly kissed your neck as you howled with laughter.

“Will you be a good girl now?” Yoongi asked as he flicked your nipples.

“Mhm,” you managed to whimper.

“I haven’t whipped out any shibari in ages, but I’m glad I did. I forgot how appetizing it makes humans look,” Yoongi licked his lips.

“I can’t move,” you complained.

“That’s the point, my dear ___,” Yoongi kissed your forehead.

His hand trailed down your stomach to your exposed pussy. He was pleased to find that you were already dripping wet. He rubbed circles around your clit as he licked your neck. He ferociously kissed over his previous marks as he started rubbing you faster. Your energy tasted exponentially better the more aroused you became.

Being in such a vulnerable and powerless position turned you on so much. You found yourself at Yoongi’s mercy. Yoongi easily slipped two fingers inside of you. He curled his fingers to perfectly graze your g-spot, causing you to moan loudly.

“You want me to fuck you?” Yoongi whispered in your ear.

“Please. I need you, Yoongi,” you begged.

“I know you do,” he kissed your lips gently.

With another snap of his fingers, the ropes moved their position. Now your wrists were bound to your chest, and your legs were already spread open.

Yoongi dragged his dick along your wet pussy. He loved watching you squirm beneath him as you impatiently waited for him to dick you down. He relished the erotic scene that lay before him. Witnessing you at the pinnacle of your horniess was a blessing. He couldn’t hold himself back any longer.

He thrusted his hips into you with inhuman force. He didn’t give you time to adjust to his thick cock; you didn’t deserve that tonight. Your cries of pleasure were music to his ears. He grabbed your chin as he ran his thumb along your bottom lip. You automatically stuck your tongue out for him.

“Good fucking girl,” Yoongi growled as you began to suck on his thumb, your tongue swirling around it.

Yoongi tugged at the ropes, making them vanish instantly. Your freedom was short lived since he immediately flipped you onto your chest. He propped up your ass, giving each cheek a firm slap.

This position was his favorite, and admittedly yours as well. He loved the backside view, and you loved how deep he got. You were sure to lose your mind every time he got behind you. This instance was no exception.

You reached down between your thighs to maximize your pleasure as your fingers easily toyed with your clit. Usually Yoongi wouldn’t allow you to touch yourself, but you couldn’t help it. You were too riled up from being all tied up.

You came undone all over Yoongi’s cock. The warmth of your juices heightened Yoongi’s lust, causing him to thrust faster. He released his hot load into you, groaning as he climaxed.

Your chest heaved as you struggled to stay awake. One of the side effects of being fucked by an incubus is that they literally can fuck you to sleep. After Yoongi cleaned you up, it was cuddle time. He ran his fingers through your hair, making it even harder not to succumb to slumber.

“Full?” you asked with your eyes half shut.

“I’m never satiated, but I can’t complain for now,” he answered.

“Great. Happy Valentine’s Day, Yoongi,” you yawned.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, ___. I hope I lived up to your expectations,” he patted your head.

“You surpassed them,” you nodded in approval.

“Go to bed,” Yoongi stifled a laugh, “I guess it’s not a pointless holiday after all.”

#bts smut #min yoongi smut #bangtanarmynet #ksmutclub #btswritingcafe #bangtanshadowfamily #btscreatorscorner #bts pwp #yoongi pwp #bts fanfic #kpop fanfic #kpop smut #demon bts #incubus bts #yoongi fanfic #yoongi fluff #bts fluff #yoongi smut

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myherowritings · 3 years

Text

anywhere the wind blows

SUMMARY. After hunting a bounty near Wangshu Inn, you sensed the faint scent of qingxin blowing in the familiar wind. It seemed like it was leading you somewhere.

PAIRING. xiao x reader

WORD COUNT. 2.2k

GENRE. fluff, pre 1.3 release

A/N. my first genshin fic of my fav character xiao !! i’m definitely still getting used to writing for this world and for him but i hope this isn’t too bad 🥺 i’m so excited for xiao’s story and banner and can’t wait to learn more about him! if 1.3 comes and totally undermines the small guesses abt the lore i added into this fic then…we pretend we do not see u.u ANYWAY PLS ENJOY xx sof

“A rock shieldwall Mitachurl with a resistance to cryo,” you murmured to yourself with a satisfied smile, picking up the ominous mask and heavy horn that it dropped from the fight. “No more terrorizing Wangshu for you.”

You had just accepted a bounty handed out to you in Liyue and arranged for the proper party to come pick it up. The rewards were promptly transferred to your tab and you bade the team who came to collect the Mitachurl a swift goodbye.

It wasn’t normally on your daily agenda to hunt bounty for money—though the mora was quite appealing, you couldn’t lie—but when the beasts were too close to civilization and scared both residents and passerbyers in Liyue alike, you felt a greater need to step in. And now, after a job well done with some mora in your pockets, you realized just how tired and hungry that search made you.

Looking up, you saw the peak of the inn from a distance and followed the silk flower-covered path there. It wasn’t often you frequented Wangshu Inn, but you have visited enough to know their Jueyun Chili Chicken and Almond Tofu were pretty solid reasons to drop by again.

Your appearance was rather disheveled from your fight with the Mitachurl but you weren’t too messy-looking—certainly decent enough to interact with other humans you hoped. Smoothing down your clothes and practicing a smile, you headed over to the outdoor dining area and were greeted by a waitress who led you to an empty table as she asked for your order. The exchange was pleasant enough and you were soon left to your own devices once your food swiftly arrived.

It was dark out in Wangshu. The bounty hunt took most of your late afternoon and by now the sun had fully set. The dining area was quiet and empty with only the moon watching over you.

You hummed, taking in a mouthful of the sweet Almond Tofu. The night was nice and peaceful and quiet, just like most of your evenings.

A familiar breeze blew against your face, chilling yet warm. Captivating. There was a faint smell of qingxin, like the flowers you grew fond of during your explorations around Liyue’s stone forests.

The wind was different from what you experienced in Mondstadt. That air was light and playful. Free.

The wind you felt just now, on the other hand, seemed to convey something more wistful. Almost yearning.

And it wasn’t your first encounter with this qingxin-filled breeze either. When you helped comfort Little Luo back in Qingce Village and fended off the pesky Hilichurls on her trail, this wind blew around you and cooled the heat from your cheeks. Around Bubu Pharmacy when you spent time with Qiqi, a zombie you happened to stumble upon one day, you felt the same curious breeze.

Part of you felt like you were being watched over. But not in a bad way. It made you feel safe and protected, yet empowered enough to continue your bold expeditions and help the people of Liyue when you were needed.

The wind stuck around as you finished your meal, the aroma of Almond Tofu wafting through the air from the wandering breeze, almost as if it was seeking a taste. Once your plates were cleared and your drink emptied, you headed inside the inn and hoped they had a spare room on such a short notice and—to your surprise—for once they actually did.

On the way up the stairs, you passed by an open balcony near the top of the inn where you caught a glimpse of a lean figure with dark hair looking up at the night sky. You normally would have walked away from the balcony and left the man to his own devices, promptly going to your rented room to get some much needed rest, but the familiar scent of qingxin flowers dancing in the wind made you freeze mid-step.

Wangshu Inn wasn’t too far from mountain tops where qingxin grew… It could have been a mere coincidence.

But in Liyue, you knew that believing such things could be a coincidence would simply be fooling yourself.

The person on the balcony gave no indication that he felt your gaze, but you knew intuitively that he had already sensed your presence despite not having moved a single inch. His stance was so steady you might have thought he was a statue if not for his teal-tinged hair blowing in the wind.

Could he have been the cause of the qingxin breeze that recently started following you around?

“Hi,” you said gently to more formally announce your presence. On the off-chance he didn’t realize anyone was there, you definitely didn’t want to startle him. But judging by the unsurprised expression on his face as he slowly looked over his shoulder, you sincerely doubted he was one to startle easily. “May I stand here?”

His eyes were scrutinizing but not unkind as they looked you up and down. You took your time examining him as well— From the top of his silky-looking hair to the blue tattoos wrapping around his arms and to the mysterious horned mask hanging from his hip.

“I suppose you may,” he finally replied with a single nod, his voice neither welcoming nor rude.

You stood a few feet away from him, leaning against the wooden balustrades as you let the cool air hit your face. The night was quiet and calm, dimly lit by the moon peeking through the foggy sky. Sighing, your eyes fluttered shut in contentment as you felt the wind soothe the aches from the bounty hunt in your muscles.

You wouldn’t normally let your guard down like this in front of someone you just met, but for some reason you weren’t the least bit on edge. He didn’t seem like a stranger. And you had a feeling that maybe he wasn’t.

“Have we met before?” you found yourself wondering aloud. The mask on his hip looked familiar, though you couldn’t pinpoint exactly why, like you’ve seen it in a book you’ve read. And the air around him certainly felt familiar, though it seemed strange to describe why.

He didn’t respond.

Huffing, you tried a different approach. A more direct one. “Have you been following me?”

His brow raised but he uttered no words.

Was that approach too direct?

After a moment of silence, he said, “Were you not the one who followed me out onto the balcony? If I remember correctly, I was here first.”

“But were you not the one who drew me here with your qingxin-scented breeze?” you shot back, tone more curious than biting.

To your surprise, he said nothing to deny it. “Attentive, I see.”

“I’m not sure it’s quite that I’m attentive rather than you wanting me to know.” You hid a smile. He wouldn’t have made it so obvious otherwise, you were certain of it. For someone who held more power in his little finger than you could possibly fathom, you knew that him alerting you of his existence couldn’t be a mere accident.

“You’re right.” He shrugged. “But it’s not so much that I wanted to call you here than I didn’t mind if you happened to stumble by.”

You ran the palms of your hands over the railings, craning your neck to the side to face him. He was a puzzling creature, giving off the aura of something greater and more powerful than a human. The ominous mask dangling around his hip seemed to serve as a word of caution to indicate a menacing side he hadn’t shown you, but his calm stance and the small tilt of his head made him seem curious—almost inviting.

It was intriguing, to say the least.

“And why did you want me to, as you say, stumble by?” you said. “Not that I mind.”

“I don’t know,” he answered honestly, shaking his head and looking confused himself. “Intuition? I noticed you fighting, helping the people of Liyue. You’re doing a...good job.”

You shrugged, rubbing at the back of your neck as you shied away from his praise. “So you summoned me here to thank me?”

“I don’t know,” he said again, his impassive tone sounding almost frustrated.

At the small frown playing on his lips, you couldn’t help but let a noise of laughter escape you. He gazed at you in question. This whole situation seemed strange and peculiar, straight out of a dream you’d have at random only to forget the next morning. He seemed strange and peculiar, like a figure out of a story book lost in the ruins of Liyue.

And yet you found yourself enjoying this odd encounter.

“Well, Mr. Stranger, since you seem uncertain of so many things still, are you going to continue to have your wind follow me around Liyue until you figure whatever it is out?” you questioned teasingly, not at all minding that prospect.

He glared, looking slightly embarrassed. “It’s not that I was following you. I only sensed someone in need but happened to see you rushing along the way and decided to let you handle it. The less involvement in the affairs of mortals, the better.”

So he wasn’t a mortal himself, you thought, his words confirming your previous suspicions. Still…

“Is that so?” You quirked a brow. “And what is this if not for involvement in the affairs of a mortal?”

He folded his arms and didn’t say a word.

“Let me guess— You don’t know?”

“Hmph.”

You smiled. “Well, I guess it’s okay you don’t know. It’s okay not to know sometimes, you know?”

He blinked. “You aren’t making sense.”

“And you are?” you retaliated. “I still don’t know who you are or anything about you yet. But… I know you smell like qingxin flowers and feel like a cooling breeze. And I know that I rather enjoy it.”

The mysterious entity looked out into the mountain scenery, gloved hand resting on the dark balustrade. He seemed both lost in thought and completely aware of his physical surroundings at the same time. Suddenly, he spoke up.

“Xiao.”

Your gaze met his as he nodded once. “Xiao?”

“My name. Now you know who I am.”

You laughed, startled by how blunt he was. “I guess you’re right. Nice to meet you Xiao.”

“Hm.” Xiao waited one moment before he asked, “Do you plan to keep exploring Liyue?”

At his question, you briefly considered your options for the near future. You liked Liyue and there was so much you had left to see. Was it like home to you? No— Not yet anyway, though it could be if the situation was right. But that didn’t mean you wanted to leave just yet.

Not when you may have found a reason you would want to stay.

“For the time being, yes.”

He nodded in satisfaction. “That’s good. You being there to help the people of Liyue means less involvement with mortal affairs for me.”

Though his tone was haughty, he didn’t seem like he actually minded what he considered mortal affairs. If he did, why would he be so alert when he sensed people in need?

“And, if you ever need assistance during your ventures, I’ll be there.”

Xiao’s words comforted you as you looked at him, his hair blowing in the wind. Maybe one day you could reach out and touch it. But not today.

You sensed this meeting was about to end. The breeze picked up and you could feel him getting ready to leave. Whether he was going to leave to go to bed or leave the mortal world, you weren’t sure. But you would rather treasure this encounter than dwell on an inevitable—and hopefully temporary—farewell.

“Thank you, Xiao. And if you ever need assistance with...whatever it is you do, I’ll be there too!” you said confidently. “As I’m sure you’ve seen, I’m pretty handy at weilding a sword myself.” You doubted he would ever need much help in the physical or martial department. “Or, I could simply lend an ear as well.”

It happened so fast, you weren’t sure if it was actually there, or if your eyes were playing tricks on you— Xiao smiled. At least, you thought he did. But in the mere blink of an eye, it was gone.

Still, you don’t think you would ever forget that peaceful image no matter how hard you tried. Not that you wanted to.

Sensing the night coming to an end, you asked, “When will I be able to see you like this again?”

He paused. “In this human form, you mean?”

You nodded, though you figured the answer would be those three familiar words he had said many times tonight.

“I don’t know.”

A wry smile played on your lips. Knew it.

“The mortal realm is not where I naturally belong,” explained Xiao, amber eyes glowing brighter than the moon in the sky. “But I will meet you again in this state soon.”

The scent of qingxin grew stronger as the wind picked up. His skin grew paler, almost translucent as he met your gaze one last time for the night.

“Even if it takes time, at least the wind will tell me when you’re near.” You smiled, raising your hand in a wave. “Goodnight, Xiao.”

“Sleep well, traveller.”

And in your dreams that night, with qingxin in the air, you felt contentment and serenity in ways you never had before. You would see the entrancing being who called himself Xiao again. Soon. But you had the wind to keep you company while in wait.

#genshin impact #xiao x reader #genshin x reader #genshin impact x reader #xiao fanfiction #genshin fanfiction #genshin imagines #xiao imagines #genshin #genshin impact imagines #genshin impact scenarios #genshin xiao

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galadhremmin · 3 years

Note

We have derived Caranthir liking the Dwarves (and vice versa) because apparently, Finrod succeeds in every field Caranthir fails, and at this point it's clear this derives from the in-universe writer of the Silm and his own biases. Think about it: "Dark Finwë" , a grumpy, prejudiced lordling, and "Hair Champion", most handsome, noble king, have met with the same people!! Yet the king of the first secret kingdom is everyone's friend, but the prince that trades with them regularly is not... seems sus.

Hence, Caranthir is friends with the Dwarves. (But that is just an interpretation, so you're free to think what you wish, I just have several opinions on in-universe prejudice and the almighty narrative.)

I think that 'we' might actually have been Dawn Felagund years ago. Maybe this reading existed even before that, but I doubt that-- she's been very influential in silm fandom and was long before tumblr was much of a thing. https://dawnfelagund.com/caranthir-the-slandered

I wouldn't say it's 'clear' that what amounts to Caranthir's entire documented personality derives from the bias of the in-universe narrator, though as you can see from Dawn's writing it's a reading you can argue for. There are a number of different approaches you can take to the Silm and its biases anyway. One of the few times when it's absolutely clear the text isn't telling the entire story is when it talks about the Easterlings. I've posted about this before but the recorded names are, uhh.... the ones to betray the elves are unlikely to actually have been named things like 'ugly lord' and 'ugly beard.' 'Dark Finwe' on the other hand is a documented reference to his haircolour being dark like Finwe's own; hardly a negative judgement!

I personally think Caranthir can be exactly as ill-tempered and prejudiced as the Silm paints him without becoming an unsympathetic character. If a writer cannot make a moody, deeply prejudiced man an interesting character that is a failure as a writer; there are after all enough books who manage exactly that. That is not to say choosing not to write him that way is a failure (obviously not), but it's not necessary in order to make a reader feel for him at all.

Just going by the text, I think it actually might make for a more interesting narrative to explore in fic to me. Because he does change his mind about something, and at a very specific moment; when he meets the Haladin. That is much less dramatic if he secretly been as nice and popular as Finrod, and got along with everyone all the time already. He's been raised by Fëanor, who said things like 'No other race shall oust us!' and rallied the Noldor not motivated enough by vengeance for Finwë alone by playing on their deep-seated fear of being replaced by the Secondborn. Very unlikely that had no impact. At best it has made him uninterested in humans in his area (while they're not much of a threat to ruling instead of the elves anyway). The text says they paid them no heed.

And yet! Caranthir sees how brave Haleth and her people are. He 'does her great honour.' He changes his mind and offers them lands. His tragedy to me is not that of a slandered figure, but of this deeply, deeply prejudiced person raised to distrust the motivations of human beings -- who overcomes those beliefs, offers friendship, is rejected! then extends that same trust to the Easterlings anyway... and it's those specific Easterlings, not the ones who ally with his brothers-- who betray them all. And cause the disastrous ending of the Nirnaeth. It's the 'to evil end shall all things turn that they begin well' part of the curse hitting him in the least fair way possible. Someone finally changes for the better, and the outcome is treason and destruction.

That is a very good character arc to me, actually. His aesthetics-based scorn for the Dwarves is reprehensible but strikes me as deeply Elvish, and part of his prejudices. Naugrim is too unflattering a name for them for it not to be common. His temper-- well why can't he have one? Sure there's only one recorded instance -- but that's imo because there are hardly any conversations in the Silm! Anyway I like some people with tempers well enough. Personally I think people are missing out on opiniated grouches.

Obviously the biased anti-Feanorian Pengolodh reading is a nice one, and I have enjoyed a lot of stories written based it. But it's not at all a reading that is necessary for me to read Caranthir as a flawed but sympathetic character. He can have serious faults and still, ultimately, be someone I feel for.

What I was asking though was if I overlooked any canon evidence of Caranthir being particularly, personally fond of the Dwarves; and it seems I did not. Also; there is room for Caranthir growing to like the Dwarves over centuries without an anti-Feanorian bias reading this strong, there is simply no evidence for friendship in the rather barebones narrative (I'm not interested atm because it's wildly overdone to me & I like variety).

That said, in my opinion making Caranthir the hidden, slandered Feanorian Finrod equivalent with a dash of Curufin's Dwarf affection is not as enjoyable as simply working with what little canon character is actually there. Because there is one (and it's not the greedy tax collector of some fanon depictions either imo)

1. To start with, wrt Caranthir as the anti-Finrod, I don't think it works that well. Sure sure dark/light, open/prejudiced, repressed/shouty, but different motivations, different locations, plus they meet very different peoples even if both are Edain-- besides, Caranthir's own older brothers do successfully ally with the Easterlings without betrayal, while Curufin (much more so than Finrod! no Khuzdul for Finrod!) is the Dwarves' Friend(tm). Also, a flawed Finrod already exists. That's just the regular edition. He has his own faults and (very different) tragic arc.

If Finrod never seems to have strong prejudices to overcome, and if he's not confrontational (which... look he's a diplomat. Make of that what you will. Pretty awkward there in Doriath, buddy!) he does have trouble facing his own complicity (he wanted to sail those ships despite the murders) until Sauron beats him to death with it. He leaves Valinor with the idea of ruling but he has to give up the crown. He's ambitious, he seems emotionally repressed, he's.. possibly paying the greater Dwarves to drive the Petty Dwarves out of their ancestral home to build a city? Oops. Depending on the version you go with in that case, of course; there's also ones where he's free of the blame of that one. Not of wanting to sail those ships and being uneasy with the guilt wrt wanting to do so despite their being stolen and murdered for though. No he doesn't kill; but he wants to use the result of it anyway, and to make it worse he is actually half Telerin.

There's also (to be fair, only for sure after the disaster of the Sudden Flame because that's the recorded instance) his guards killing random innocent trespassers to keep his kingdom hidden -- yes, that's right there in Silm, yes he's still King at the time. Beren has to wave that ring. People just seem to miss that he'd be killed without it somehow.

I think it's just too easy to reduce him to the golden perfect opposite of Caranthir. Yes he's described more positively; he's also just mentioned more because unlike Caranthir he rules an actual kingdom, the greatest and richest in Beleriand in fact; and does things that have a lot of very longterm effects, like helping B&L steal a Silmaril. They don't 'meet the same people' anyway -- the Haladin have a different culture from the Beorians which contributes to their reaction to Caranthir (and iirc their later fate).

Sidenote: Dawn's essay attributes the Green Elves helping the Feanorians at Amon Ereb to Caranthir's diplomatic skills; but why not to those of Amras or Amrod? This is the quote; 'Caranthir fled and joined the remnant of his people to the scattered folk of the hunters, Amrod and Amras, and they retreated and passed Ramdal in the south. Upon Amon Ereb they maintained a watch and some strength of war, and they had aid of the Green-elves' -- nothing here indicates it was Caranthir who got them that aid. In fact A&A are the hunters, i.e. more likely to have roamed in various forests where they would have encountered Green Elves, imo.

There's also the very desperate times to consider in which this aid takes place. This is just post Sudden Flame, and even if the Green Elves didn't like Caranthir they probably liked him better than Morgoth. Also, speaking of cosmopolitans, Maedhros allies with, yes, Dwarves (Azaghal), Grey elves, Easterlings (and you might say: Fingolfinians); even part of the remaining people of Dorthonion rally to Himring post sudden flame (that means Edain and Arafinwean followers in Himring, at least for a time), and he manages to be friendly with Felagund despite calling him a badger. ;)

Finrod is not the only other leader to forge diverse alliances, and though B&L ends happily his people mostly do not. Caranthir's not much like Finrod in any way. Not in motivations, temperament, tragic arc. That's fine. No hidden kingdom for a dragon to eat either. Finrod could probably do with being a little less like Finrod sometimes, though he's well-intentioned and likable. Caranthir loves to shout and isn't sneaky. Good for him.

2. Curufin also already exists. His love for Dwarves is one of his defining and redeeming characteristics and boy does he need them. He's daddy's favourite, a sneaky overambitious bitchy bastard who is also a talented smith and linguist, and truly considered a Dwarf friend, which is apparently exceptional. He's quite flawed; tries to help Celegorm force a political marriage, laughs with a bruised mouth, seeming to lose his mind while attempting and failing murder after first losing his own stronghold and then the city he tried to take from his cousin. He's just... a personality. Mostly a bad one! You can feel for him though, because he seems like an utter mess. Many 'i would love to study you' feelings on my part. Would hate for him to be real but also I'd pay to be his therapist.

3. And then finally there's Canon Caranthir. A difficult, prejudiced person who despite that (which doesn't at all have to mean there is no despite, the despite is what makes it juicy)

- seems to be responsible for re-establishing (large scale?) trade with the Dwarves, whatever he might think of them (and they of him) to their mutual benefit. I don't think he's greedy either. It seems like a mutually profitable situation. Access to Dwarvish goods seems pretty vital to Beleriand, and facilitating trade is a real service.

As someone pointed out in the replies, the Silm does mention Dwarvish companies travelling east to Nan Elmoth and menegroth various times, but quote wrt Caranthir says 'Caranthir’s people came upon the Dwarves, who after the onslaught of Morgoth and the coming of the Noldor had ceased their traffic into Beleriand' and 'when the Dwarves began again to journey into Beleriand.'

They stopped at some point and Caranthir's people made it happen again.

- which means he's practical. He seems like he's good at organising, and setting his own feelings aside if necessary despite his prejudice and temper (which is an achievement it wouldn't be without his, hm, everything). Also he and his people as well as the Dwarves work together well because ''either people loved skill and were eager to learn,' despite their (initial?) mutual dislike. Those aren't bad characteristics; seems like it was an exchange of skill as well as goods and possibly providing safe travel opportunities.

I don't like the 'greedy Caranthir' fanon and don't think it is even that easy support entirely with canon. 'They had of it great profit,' the text says-- both Caranthir and the Dwarves. They exchanged skills and knowledge and Caranthir seems to have helped them start trading in Beleriand again. That's hardly Scrooge Mcduck.

- Another thing we can say about canonthir (lol) is that he apparently attaches a lot of value to aesthetics (was he a visual artist? is a he a sculptor like Nerdanel? WORSE: AN ART CRITIC?! Feanorian art critic is truly nightmare fuel) and that's why he dislikes Dwarves (of all things...). Either way points to 'aesthetics' as something apparently important to Caranthir. Which makes sense given who his parents are. What is interesting to me is that this apparently DOESN'T matter to Curufin, who is a lot like Feanor in most things. That's interesting!

I've never, never seen this but I think it would be very funny to attribute his aesthetic prejudices to Nerdanel. I love her; but why should her opinions be perfect? I know she wasn't considered beautiful herself, but she's an artist. She's got to have had some strong opinions on aesthetics anyway. I doubt it's the beards; Mahtan had one as well. And 'stunted'...at least some of this comes down to the Elvish obsession with height yet again. Hm.

- eventually Caranthir overcomes what have to be some very deeply held beliefs about human beings and their place in the world, and offers what for all intents and purposes looks like real friendship, not the ruling over Men Feanor seems to have had in mind at best. He's capable of real change!

Anyway his character works just fine to me from canon, and what he achieves and the ways in which he fails are more interesting that way rather-- neither slandered Feanorian Finrod 2.0 nor Curufin 'Dwarf Fan' Feanorion without the sneakiness and murder attempts pack the same punch as a stupidly prejudiced grouchy man doing his best anyway for centuries in this stupid ugly cursed land, eventually changing for the better, opening up-- and being brutally punished for it by the Doom.

Dammit. I hope there's therapy in the Everlasting Darkness.

hm a bit long but that's what I get for trying to gather my thoughts wrt why after considering it a bit transferring Curufin's love for Dwarves to Caranthir is a bit boring to me personally. Though there are still stories that still do it very well.

#no one asked including me but there you go anyway #that's what you get when i wake up at nearly 3 in the morning and thnk. FUCK i can't sleep #caranthir

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