#just a few more chapters I think | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

minty364 · 4 hours

Text

DPXDC Prompt #58 Part 3

Gotham Academy High School was the sort of school where almost everyone was elite in some way or another. Some of them were from old money like Damian who held himself up to a very high standard in his academics and was the top of the class. Others from new money like Dash and the rest of his cohorts became very hateful of somebody like Danny who was given a scholarship by Bruce Wayne, in their eyes Danny was taking advantage of Damian not even knowing that Damian approached Danny for companionship two years ago.

This also meant that everyone including the teachers would compare Danny and Damian to each other even though they weren’t brothers. That didn’t matter though as Danny was associated with them so that was all the reason they needed.

Danny groaned as he sunk into the seat next to Damian. The lunchroom was filled with chatting students and Danny was glad he shared the next class with Damian, which happened to be English. Dash never bothered Danny when Damian was around, probably because Damian had threatened the jock. How he was threatened Danny didn’t know, Damian never told him what happened and he was a little scared to ask.

The guy hadn’t stopped harassing Danny since he and Jazz transferred a couple years ago. The school year had barely begun and Dash had made Danny his primary target like he was making up for lost time over the summer. Danny sighed as he dropped his paper bagged lunch on the table with a little plop. Jazz had packed for him this morning hopefully before his parents arrived and contaminated the entire kitchen.

“Dash again?” his sister asked across the table, she was seated next to Tim.

“I was paired against him in dodgeball again,” Danny lamented, his head resting on his arms that were crossed on the table.

“Danny, could you just talk to Mr. Lancer or something?” Jazz asked before she took a bite from her sandwich.

Danny sighed again and unpacked his lunch, “I have but no one will listen! They all act like I’m lying or something.” The teachers at this school probably wouldn’t listen to a charity case like him. Dash was a football player and had plans to become captain of the team. Everyone at the school loved Dash and it was precisely why everyone except maybe the four students at the table they were seated looked down and sometimes even bullied Danny.

Danny ignored it all eventually, it was better just to let the jock tire himself out.

Once Danny and Damian finished eating they made their way to English. Luckily it was easy to carry the material for a class that only required a small binder and whatever book they were reading, in this case it was ‘gone with the wind’. Danny didn’t really care about reading old literature like this but he did what he had to maintain the grades he had. He’d endure anything, even Dash’s bullying, to become an astronaut.

Danny could hardly concentrate today through his afternoon classes. For some reason he had a bad feeling that something was going to happen. He tried his best to ignore it, he was probably just tired or something. Soon the school day was out and Danny packed up whatever homework he had for the day and headed outside to wait with Jazz. Damian and Tim were probably wrapping up their classes. Tim had an AP class that ran an extra 30 minutes and Damian’s last class was art, they were doing a painting and it wasn’t unusual for Damian to finish up what he was working on as he found out over the last few years that he enjoyed painting.

“… Do you think it’ll work?” Jazz asked a hint of hesitation in her voice. Danny knew she was talking about the portal, the both of them had talked about it before. Danny glanced over at his sister, he could tell she was having trouble sleeping lately, her face looked tired and her posture was stiff with her arms crossed in front of her. Both of them had anxiety about the possibilities the portal possessed, and they were especially worried that their parents wouldn’t take it well if the portal didn’t work.

He was equally concerned that it would work. “I hope not…” he said eventually. It was something that brought the siblings closer as the whole of their family fell apart. How their parents managed to pull off getting the funding in the first place seemed to be a miracle. Everyone called their parents crazy and dismissed all of their science as ludicrous garbage.

Danny wondered how they even managed to stay under Batman's radar, he thought that something like this would be cause for the vigilante to look into it but maybe the thought of ghosts was just that outlandish that even the dark knight himself thought it to be crazy too. Danny himself didn’t believe in anything his parents published, some of the papers even seemed to be biased somehow, even though his parents hadn’t ever actually encountered a ghost. That last part was probably the reason no one bothered to actually investigate his parents, there wasn’t really much to investigate.

The siblings waited in silence and eventually Tim and Damian showed up after their classes and the four headed to Alfred waiting by the car.

If anyone tried to start a conversation with Danny he wasn’t paying attention. If he was being honest, his parents' portal scared him a lot. He wasn’t sure why he felt so nervous about it, both him and Jazz renounced the thought that ghosts could exist. Something deep down in his guts told him that he should turn and run, that what his parents were attempting was taboo and that his parents were tampering with forces unimaginable.

No one was going to listen to a fourteen year old though so Danny kept his feelings to himself and ignored them.

Soon they were pulled in front of their apartment and true to their word, Damian and Tim asked Alfred to park nearby. Danny and Jazz took a hesitant glance at each other as they walked into the house.

#dp x dc prompt #danny fenton #danny phantom #dp x dc #dc x dp #poor danny #Major Character Death and undeath in the next one #bad parents jack and maddie #Danny gets his powers and everyone else gets trauma #This is going to focus heavily on Danny and what he’s going through #Bulling mentioned #Danny loves space #Heavy angst in the next few chapters #Let me know who you'd like to see show up from DC #I'm also thinking of bringing in Sam and Tucker #I know exactly what I have in mind to bring them into the fray too #I'm excited to write some of this but also a little nervous lol #I have ideas #I have a little more of an idea of where I want this to go so I will be focusing on this one #I haven't forgotten the others though I find it easier to take breaks and let parts breath for a bit #I have a few books on writing that I've been meaning to read so I might give those a go #One of the things I'm struggling to figure out is showing and not just telling #my asks are open #all my prompts are free to use

29 notes · View notes

skitskatdacat63 · 7 months

Text

Boy King AU | Vettonso + Martian | 1.3k

There's something about putting the future emperor of the Holy Realm on his knees like this. About how easily he goes, how willingly, how obediently. What would his adoring public think if they could see him now. If they saw their beloved king pressed down like this, in the cramped space between Fernando's legs. When they realized their little boy king took it like he was a little concubine instead.

Fernando's bitterness is lifted away in moments like these, like taking off a heavy cloak on a winter's day. It was hard to feel humiliated about his own situation when watching Sebastian debase himself like this.

He always gives himself up so easily. When Fernando threaded his fingers through his thick curls. When he pulled them, and then when he pressed his face down further down into the vee of his legs. Sebastian rubbed his cheek into the coarse fabric of Fernando's breeches and blinked up at him. Fernando had to smother an embarrassing sound; he was just like a little cat!

Sebastian quirked his lips up into an odd little smile and slightly rose up on his knees, "What's funny?" Fernando swallowed lightly and schooled his face back into being impassive, "Nothing. As you were." Sebastian simply smirked at him and let himself be pushed back down by the fist clenched in his hair.

Fernando scoffed internally, there was only so much pleasure in putting the other man in his place when he instead acted like this, this degrading action, was his birthright. He took to ruling and indulging in carnal pleasures as if they were of equal gravity. To be privileged to hold such high station and also let himself be taken apart like this…Fernando felt embarrassed for him.

He is dragged away from his musings when Sebastian moved to settle his hands in Fernando's lap, clutching his hips over the fabric and slightly squeezing; Fernando fought against the urge to shiver. Sebastian pushed up the skirt of Fernando's waistcoat and smoothed his hands over the opening flap of his breeches.

His eyes darted up at Fernando again, a daft smile on his face. Fernando scowled at him, "What?" Seb's grin sharpened, "You could stand to be a little more gracious. This is your future emperor, and future husband might I add, kneeling for you on this dirty, depraved, derelict- ah–" Fernando tugged on his hair again and hissed, "Well then, why don't you show me how eager you are to perform your marital duties?"

Seb licked his lips, completely unconcerned by Fernando's annoyance, and unbuttoned one side of the closure to Fernando's breeches and moved to open the other–

The door to the carriage flew open, arrival announcement dying on a wheezing breath as the servant took in the image the two kings made. One splayed across the seat, exuding power, the other kneeled, debauched, between the former's legs.

One would be hard pressed to determine which was higher on the totem of power and titles.

There was something gratifying about this to Fernando, about being caught. He had been humiliated enough throughout the entire courtship, what was one more thing? And, certainly, what was one more thing if he could drag Sebastian down into the dirt with him.

"Oh Mark, don't act so abashed! It's nothing you haven't seen before, in fact, we have been in this very position not even a fortnight ago!"

Oh. Yes. That.

It was hard to be completely pleased when he remembered how Sebastian had already spent years prior to their engagement sampling the palace's ample selection of fellow high-born men. And how all those men seemed to be completely and utterly wrapped around his little finger.

Fernando released his hand from Sebastian's hair as if it had burned him. He did not understand why he felt ashamed with Mark looking in on them like this. Fernando was the one marrying Sebastian, not Mark; Mark was just a lowly courtier who had the esteemed duty of spending practically every waking hour with the brat…something he himself was decidedly not looking forward to.

Sebastian stayed kneeling, staring impassively up at Mark, still fiddling with the clasp on Fernando's breeches. Fernando gritted his teeth and looked up from where he was watching Sebastian's clever little hands; Mark stared back at him placidly.

Mark's indifference made the entire situation worse. Fernando now felt as if he was not doing anything unique, not doing anything particularly new. How many other men had Mark caught Seb with in this exact position? Fernando felt like he was just another plaything of the boy king, soon to be boy emperor, except his position was forever, permanent. He was the "Kept King", the king who only kept his throne due to the whims of a boy who doesn't even understand what power is.

Mark coughed, "Well," he says, "Your Majesty, I do believe you have a meeting to attend." Seb pouted at him and whined, "We were just getting to the main course," but still braced himself on Fernando's thighs and got up off the carriage floor.

Seb pranced down the steps Mark had placed next to the carriage, miming tripping sown the stairs, snickering when his action made Mark reflexively reach out to grab him, and then playfully skipped off the final step.

Fernando couldn't help but stare as Mark made the weirdest grimace in response, and he inexplicably felt all his mortification seep away from him. Huh. Maybe Mark is-

Seb then turned around and frowned at him, seemingly disappointed, but his eyes are deceivingly sharp, "Fernando, I regret to inform you that I have other duties I must attend to, you will simply have to wait." He then grinned up at Mark next to him and giggled as the other man stiffened when Sebastian looped both of his arms through Mark's.

He leaned all his weight on the other man, Mark not so much as shifting his weight, "Oh Mark, won't you carry me back to the palace? I'm so very tired after all the horse riding," Seb looked up at him imploringly.

Fernando observed as Mark rolled his eyes and shrugged off the man, though notably not pulling his arm from Seb's grasp, and he got the distinct feeling that this exact scene had been played out countless times before.

Fernando clenched his jaw as he watched Seb turn and saunter off, Mark trotting alongside him like a loyal dog. Fernando was supposed to be the unaffected one in this partnership, the unflustered one, the unconcerned one. And yet here he stood, in broad daylight, in a foreign kingdom, on the steps of a carriage with his breeches half unbuttoned and his cravat in disarray.

He heard a cough from beside him, jolted and looked to the side. Sebastian's loyal Horse Master stood there, lounging against the side of the carriage. Fernando had forgotten who had even been driving the carriage in the first place. After Seb has let himself be pushed down, his hair still windswept from their ride together, everything else seemed to fade away. His thoughts were reduced only to how he could mess up the younger man's hair further.

Jenson grinned at him wolfishly, and casually crossed his legs, "First time?" he inquired. Fernando glared at him. The other man laughed openly at him, "What? He's a busy man with big prospects. You're not his majesty's only conquest, you know. Now your throne on the other hand…"

Fernando seethed, it was one thing to be humiliated by the future emperor, but to be patronized by the king's horse boy? No. It would simply not do. He closed his eyes in annoyance, pinched the bridge of his nose, exhaled, and prepared a speech about how he was not about to be talked down to by a man who didn't even have a throne to speak of!

But when he opened his eyes again and opened his mouth to begin his tirade, Jenson was already wandering away to tend to the horses. Dios mío, Fernando was not mentally prepared to spend the rest of his life with all of these impertinent morons.

#i love how i kept saying to people: no no i shant write any fic for this. only art.#me like two weeks later: hey guys :)#this is just: i was sitting in class and had a drawing idea but then im obv not drawing *this* in class so my brain went into narrative mod #not exactly 'baby's first ficlet!!!' but moreso ive not written in a while so i hope its alright???#but aaahhh this was actually pretty fun!! idk i think it was bcs i was also being brainrotted by the image of seb kneeling....#maybe ill draw it. but it felt like something that needed the context of narrative and not just oo here is a drawing!#anyways you can always ask me for a directors cut-(PLEASE PLEAE BEGGING PLEASE)#see this is why im not cut out for writing fic #its not like i dont think it can speak for itself. more that im just an overly reflective person who wants to explain all my thoughts #if i wrote fic itd really be just: chapter 1. chapter 1.5 chapter 2. chapter 2.5 #anyways i think its pretty obvious but this is before their wedding and just like peak bitterness.#well not peak. peak would be the first year- first few months of their marriage #but this is fernando who is only just realizing how naive all his expectations of seb were and getting a glimpse of his future #but mostly: mindgames and power play and: whos actually really winning?#also my god jense is literally the best chara in this au. he is vibing and basically just witnessing ye olde reality tv #mark and fernando are always in a weird powerplay with seb(even if seb isnt even consiously doing so) and jense is just free from it all #hmm now how does one go about tagging fic #vettonso #f1 fanfic #formula 1 fanfic #f1 #formula 1 #martian #sebmark #also idk why im always so concerned abt tagging when im basically just writing this for my little boy king following i have somehow formed #hahaha! it is art to me!:#catie.art.#boy king au

62 notes · View notes

ckret2 · 5 months

Note

Oh my god you actually ARE including a romance element in the fic I’ve been sitting here for the last couple of months wondering if it was just gonna be a will they/won’t they

That's because for the past few months I've been going will they/won't they as I tried to figure out if I could get an airtight IC route Imao. I wouldn't go OOC and force it, so I didn't want to commit and start dropping It's Obviously Gonna Go There foreshadowing just to reach chapter 75 or whatever and go "oh damn nah turns out it doesn't work after all, never mind, sorry bout the foreshadowing guys." The Big Overarching Important Plot works whether or not there's any romance at all, so that was a decision I could put off for a while.

So I couldn't go "YES they will" until I myself knew I had a plan. But now I know I have a plan. So they will.

... though also probably part of the reason it feels will they/won't they is because right now zero romantic feelings are happening. There's no hidden feelings, no suppressed feelings, no denied feelings, no one-sided feelings, no past feelings cruelly smothered that may be rekindled. The romance is happening in the future exclusively. I decided if I'm gonna do this, I wanna do it on hard mode LMAO

#(I think there's still like a 5% chance I'll get to chapter 75 or whatever and go 'no actually I didn't set this up well enough nvm')#(but like. I've figured out Step A to Step T and just need to fill a few gaps between Step U and Step Z. so it's way more likely than not.)#anonymous #ask #about my writing #bill goldilocks cipher

35 notes · View notes

tumatawa · 9 months

Text

I got carried away with something

#dungeon meshi #tumatawart #Im not into/this isnt kabrin I just think as childhood friends they would have had more dialog since basically all their shared scenes #are just plot exposition. They dont have much of a dynamic/chemistry at all despite their long history. So Rins crush seems rather baseless #I dont see how Kabru views her as an older sister... He doesnt really rely on her except for 1 bit in the earlier chapters #Where everyone shows off their skills and what they know about the current situation. But it doesnt really happen again #I dont think a play-by-play of their lives is needed but with their contrasting personalities I was expecting a bit more banter #And since Kabru is so skilled at combat and reading people hed understand Rin's typical fighting style and play off of that. OR SOMETHING.#Then again he doesnt have much banter with his party in general. Sigh #I haven't done a reread yet so Im probably missing a few things 😞 Im sorry. I ❤️ you Rin

72 notes · View notes

aisforinterval · 7 months

Text

this is how cowboys have make love right

#aima's being a smartass look out #for a few dollars more #a few dollars more #clint eastwood #lee van cleef #yeah the lal western chapter got me on my western BS again #you can tell they went to this movie for reference #they just swapped the ages of the two #mortimer is mad dog if he were as cool as he thinks he is #i'll try for G/B/U next time #i remember not liking it as much as few dollars more #also i forgot what an ass eastwood's char is in this movie lol #he has ZERO chill

50 notes · View notes

beaulesbian · 1 month

Text

Thoughts and more thoughts about the potential of Rob Lucci after chapter 1111 - spoilers and theory

(disclaimer: this might be totally implausible and not at all what could happen, but it's something that's been on my mind since last chapter, so here are my thoughts on this. again, very long post ahead, I don't know how it keeps happening)

The way Oda allowed Lucci to feel during chapter 1111, is something I didn't expect to find so intriguing, and it points to how much depth really has each character in this story.

There is a subtle change of certain aspects of Rob Lucci's personality since the start of Egghead, and in the chapter 1111 even a bigger focus is on his reaction to meeting Mars Gorosei and asking for Kaku to be spared.

Given this swept away answer with seeing whom he's been serving all this time, there could come a realization that'd sort of wake him up. There's a potential to somewhat turn power of Cipher Pol agents from blindlessly following the World Government. To stop being the WG's shield.

It's very probable the story might deal with the reform or even collapse as a whole of the World Government - especially since the Gorosei are currently Luffy's main enemies. With that, the Cipher Poll intelligence could play a significant part of it as well, along with other moving pieces like the Revolutionary Army, Shanks, Luffy's fleet or even Morgans and his newspapers, and, of course, the Strawhats.

There's been comments of readers who only saw Lucci and Zoro's fight as one dimensional - one has to win, the other has to lose, and comparing points and skills without really diving into their respective characters - thankfully Oda knows those characters and knows how to make the story interesting and compelling. Where before I hoped we would get a follow up about the words directed at Zoro, instead Lucci was given more space for this chapter.

Where one would hope for Zoro to win and move to other parts of the island with the Strawhats, we instead stayed with Lucci and him witnessing Mars in his full on demon form - something that even Lucci was shocked to see.

Those two pages were such incredible moments for Lucci as a character who serves fully the Gorosei and the World Government in first place, yet! Yet! In the last part he's on the page, he's allowed and shown to be worried and caring for someone else than himself- after arcs and arcs where he appeared here and there just carrying out on orders and missions without seemingly caring about anyone to much depth before, he's given space to actually express the concern regarding Kaku.

Of course he's still this same of bloodthirsty killer, just like in Enies Lobby, (ch. 382),

both his immediate fight upon seeing Luffy on Egghead, and later against Zoro paints it clear what he's capable of.

Rob Lucci is regarded as one of the strongest assassin's in the Cipher Pol agency CP9 (and later with higher rank of CP0). Just reading his wikia to remember more moments, the section about his personality is mostly compiled of traits like cold-hearted, agressive, and especially taking the Wold Governments meaning of Justice into brutal heights, thinking all is allowed to accomplish his goals/missions/orders.

There's his past and how he has been trained by WG to do as they told him, or even go to length which he wasn't even ask to do, but knowing his position as assassin he did as he wanted.

By the end of Water 7 and leaving to Enies Lobby, where he preteded to be friends with Iceberg, Paulie and other shipwrights for 5 years, he didn't show any regrets leaving the place (contrary to Kaku, who seemed to really enjoy his work as shipwright and is sometimes shown really excited about new places and such)

Up until the chapter 1111 I mostly took him as someone really dutiful to follow orders through and through and not gave it much more thought beside that, but it's true that this already started to shift around chapter 1062, when we see Lucci, Kaku and Stussy on their way to Egghead Island:

"They want us to eliminate the most useful man in the world..."

"The last thing a man as keenly perceptive as you should be doing is looking for answers." (says Stussy, a double agent working for Vegapunk, lol).

I wouldn't call it distrust in WG, yet. At this point he was still adamant about following the mission to kill Vegapunk. But maybe it's more visible that he's thinking more about such orders and their consequences.

He fights Luffy immediately after setting foot on Egghead, calls it as it is in wanting to defeat Luffy and destroy his whole crew without any pretense (and maybe that honesty was why Luffy took his word for their brief cooperation in fighting Seraphim). ch. 1076

He says this honestly, yet after the Strawhats and Vegapunks are healing later on, Lucci still tries to attack Vegapunk, ch.1091

Once knowing Kizaru appeared too, Lucci returnes back to finish his mission, he strikes at Vegapunk again - unsuccessfuly because Stussy takes that attack, and Zoro pushes him from the lab and then keep him occupied until the latest chapter 1111.

And that is a big part of him, eyes always on the mission - get information to his bosses, to Navy/Saturn/Gorosei/Kizaru, and keep his enemies occupied or better yet - dead. This thinking was always present with him to this point in ch. 1111, and that is from where it could lead to even more nuance in his future decisions:

The first time seeing Mars in his demon form there's that blink-and-you-miss it expression of pure horror, hinting that even the highest ranking agents probably had no idea just what the true nature of the Gorosei looks like, and that a sight like that can pull this expression from Lucci:

After that brief shocked state, he goes back to immediately report all informations he has on Vegapunks, Strawhats, even their plan of escape, as well as mentioning the other Cipher Pol agents, trapped in the Lab:

then there's this panel, "well done. no further questions.":

which reminded me of very similar words Lucci said to Robin in Water 7, ch. 348: "you've fulfilled your role. good work."

Maybe it's not intended as parallel, but just that similarity of something he's been clearly hearing from his higher ups, that he added it to his own vocabulary.

But then there's this more surprising part of ch. 1111:

After his shock of seeing that monster in front of him, and after giving Mars all the informations, he still finds the strength to ask him to spare his partner's life, to save Kaku:

What he gets as an answer is along the lines of: "it might be difficult when everyone to us is like ants" and that's the last of Rob Lucci for this chapter.

Mars seem to share this same thinking like Saturn expressed before, while the navy guy heard that even the life of an CP0 agents isn't something Saturn (and Gorosei) would really be troubled over, if lost.

and hearing that from Mars could be an eyeopening moment for Lucci.

They're assassins and an intelligence agency of almost the highest standing among the World Governement, but even the lives of Kaku and such seem to mean nothing to the Gorosei.

The point of the current anime episode 1098 where Lucci & CP0 were just arriving on Egghead reminded me how he was asking Vegapunk about the missing Cipher Pol agents and their disappearances, ch. 1068:

It's not that he was only concerned about Kaku in the latest chapter, but since the end of Water 7 - and seeing how his crew cared for him to pay for his medical bills (cover story chapters 491 - 528, manga only, which is very interesting that the anime didn't adapt that cover story), I think he started to care more about "his own people" - the Cipher Pol agents in general - even to visit to their "hometown" while he was healing and defended that place (and the new young trainees) from the Marines who were sent to attack CP9 after their failure at Enies Lobby:

So the question is.. once Lucci saw just who he was serving all those years, the World Government and the Gorosei - and now seeing Mars in his bird monster form disregarding any care for any lives, even their own agents - will that be a tipping point for him?

He asked Mars to spare Kaku but got an answer that all of them, Cipher Pol agents even on the highest places, are still the same as insects in the eyes of the Gorosei

Could that be something that will help him make a certain change?

My possible theory of what he might do/what might happen (given that he still has the strength to walk after his fight with Zoro):

Find Kaku himself - he was trapped in the bubble like the other Seraphim - we don't know if anyone else un-trapped him in the meantime, and Lucci himself doesn't know about the bubble prison, given his flashback to Kaku is just him laying down, as he last remembers that from the Lab.

Sanji said to Kaku that Lucci abandoned him - something that Lucci kept taunting Zoro with during their fight - about the inability to sacrifice one from their team for the greater good. (It could mean that Kaku either wouldn't count on Lucci coming back, but it would work even better if it was shown Lucci actually coming back for Kaku

and they could go finish their side mission of rescuing the other Cipher Pol agents -

and that's another thing -

even during that brief panel of their rescue -they were thankful to Luffy! Despite their positions of agents of Government, which puts them always directly opposing pirates/Strawhats/Luffy, they appreciated and thanked Luffy for giving them food and saving them, ch. 1090

This together I feel could become a moment of all these agents realizing that Luffy isn't their real enemy - or wake up from their WG brainwashed thinking once they see just who is outside fighting: Gorosei in their monster forms vs. Luffy

I think that Rob Lucci stands there now as one of the few who could sway the Governments power to a tipping point from the inside.

Not precisely helping Luffy or Strawhats, but taking that power of the intelligence agency away from the WG and Marines.

It was shown in multiple pages how the Gorosei care more about the rank and position than any lives of their trained assassins, and think of them as something to be disgarded left and right.

Their intelligence agency and assassins act as a Shield to the WG, and the CP0 even carries that in their name: AEGIS, (a powerful shield from greek mythology).

If the other agents would follow Lucci in a different direction, he could be the one to take away that shield from the Gorosei, uncover one of the layers that act as their security, leaving them more exposed and vulnerable to future attacks (possibly from people like Dragon and Revolutionary army when the time comes for them to strike).

59 notes · View notes

curiosity-killed · 16 days

Text

"Meryl is not entirely clear on how they got here. Her leading theory is that there was some hallucinogenic cactus in the sandwich she had for lunch. It’s the most likely option for why she can see Chronica sitting in the passenger seat as the red sands roll past." --- Two years after Octovern, the girls chase the Stampede one more time.

Chapter One

#trigun #meryl stryfe #trigun fic #trigun maximum #mostly #the terrible roadtrip fic is live!#i have a few more scenes to write in the other chapters but overall i think it's the shape i want it to be #anyway the actual summary is that meryl and milly accidentally pick up chronica and go on a roadtrip to find vash #which is a thinly veiled cover for meryl dealing with her grief and anger and the way the world has changed #and chronica to sort of start figuring out her own identity outside of future earth's strict perspectives on plants #milly doesn't really get character development im sorry this girl is pretty solid #she just misses her friends

11 notes · View notes

encrucijada · 1 month

Text

pt2 of pointed north and chap1 of keep staring holding each other at gunpoint to see which one will get written first

#i've been chipping at this first chapter. trying to turn it into something i like more #it's still taking inspiration from pointed north but relying too heavily wasn't working #i love pointed north but it's still very much fanfiction that relies on a established world to exist #keep staring is doing all that work herself and personally if i was reading this first chapter i wouldn't be interested as of rn #so we're changing a few things #i do want to finish pt2 of pointed north before touching chap2 #i just think writing the reunion in the pjo verse will be a good foundation for the keep staring version #pia.txt

16 notes · View notes

imarvelatthestars · 1 year

Text

Conscience

Pairings: Clone Trooper Veteran (from Kenobi) x f!Reader

Warnings: Tai's struggling with extreme self-hatred, some PTSD, survivor's guilt, etc.

Notes: Just a few more chapters left in the series! (Although knowing me, I might add more.) I'm so thankful to everyone who's stuck around through my absences. Tai's story means so much to me and I'm honored to share it with you all.

[previous chapter] [next chapter]

He thinks he's going to be sick. They're on a transport, they're hurtling farther and farther away from Daiyu every second, but Tai can't help the sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach.

It wasn't supposed to go like this. He'd finally found something worth fighting for, someone worth living for, and of course he's gone and screwed it up. He just had to go out with you, had to show you off for all the galaxy to see as if he didn't have the most recognizable face in the entire blasted universe. He had to go out of his way to be a fucking idiot and now where's it gotten him, you?

You're huddled together in the cargo hold of a transport that's seen better days and smelled better ones, too. Everything important the pair of you owns is on your backs and when he finally looks at you, really looks at you where you're burrowed into his side, he sees that you're shivering.

"Hey." His arm moves around your shoulders unconsciously. Instinct. It's the first time he's properly touched you since Cody smuggled the pair of you in here. He's felt too tainted to even try.

"I'm okay," you whisper as your eyes dart up, heavy-lidded and bloodshot. "Just a little cold."

Tai swallows. This is all his fault. He doesn't even know what he's doing right now. You shouldn't be here. You should be back in bed, snuggled under the covers and snoring, and maybe, maybe if you're feeling gracious enough, merciful enough, you might let him curl his arms around you and find shelter in your warmth for the night. As if he fucking deserves that. He doesn't deserve bantha shit. He almost got you killed today.

"You have anything warm in your pack?" he asks, and the voice that comes out of him sounds like a stranger's.

You gesture to the knitted sweater you're currently wearing. "This is all I have." You sound surprisingly chipper, like you're not even bothered by your current predicament, like you're commenting on the weather or- "Hey. You okay?"

The horrible nauseous feeling falters for a moment as Tai realizes you're watching him. He clears his throat, sits up a little straighter, and musters up as much of a smile as he can. "Yeah. I'm alright, s-... I'm alright." He wanted to call you sweetheart, but the word tastes bitter in his mouth. He's tainted it, like he's done to everything else he touches.

"No, you're not."

You've always had this uncanny ability of seeing through him and catching onto the shattered pieces of him he leaves lying around, picking up his trail until it leads you back to him. It was stupid to think you wouldn't pick up on it this time.

"It's fine."

Your entire face drops into a frown. "Tai."

He spots Cody out of the corner of his eye and has to bite his tongue to keep from snapping at you. Not in front of the Commander. Maker, this is the worst he's felt in months, maybe even years. It's one thing to be harassed, he's been harassed by those damn TKs since the Empire came to power, it's nothing new, but it's another thing entirely to be harassed and embarrassed in front of you. Treated like the cannon fodder he's always been and for you to see it. And then for the Commander to have to smuggle him out of there, to realize that Tai's always been a coward in hiding, desperately clawing out a home for himself in the leftovers the galaxy has thrown at him. To see him holed up in a shitty apartment with a civvie. It goes against everything that the GAR trained them to be.

It's just another reminder that he's a failure.

When you press him again, he takes a moment, takes a deep breath before looking you head on. Properly. Finally. "Not now. Please."

There's something in your eyes he can't place. He's seen you scared before, confused, angry, disappointed, but this is different. It's simultaneously all of them and none at the same time. You seem to swallow your own thoughts before speaking again. "I'm here for you. You know that."

He nods. Of course he knows. He's never been more grateful for anything in his entire life.

"Don't shut me out." He bristles a bit when you reach for his hand and he can see how much it hurts you. It's carved into your face in an instant. "Please don't."

The transport shudders around you both and Tai looks to Cody. It's not a conscious thought, but it's burned into his very soul to defer to his commanding officer. Cody grunts as he pushes himself to stand, checking the chrono on his arm and pursing his lips as he thinks.

"Looks like we're arriving a bit early."

"Think it means anything, sir?" He tries not to think about the strange look you fix him with.

Cody huffs. He rests a hand on his blaster. "Guess we'll find out."

Tatooine is a fucking wasteland. You've never heard or known much about it, other than it being under the control of the Hutts and a breeding ground for spice runners and addicts. That and the slavery. But you hadn't been expecting sand.

There's so much of it. Everywhere you look, sand. Yellow and burning hot and rough on your skin. It's already blowing into your eyes within 10 paces of exiting the transport. The heat is even worse. You first caught a glimpse of two suns before Cody lead you out of the docking bay and your view of the sky was cut off. No wonder it's kriffing hot.

Now you're walking the streets, blending in amongst travelers and tradespeople and speeders. You've only ever seen pictures of banthas before. You never realized they were so humongous. And there are less humanoids here than you're used to on Daiyu. Droids, Jawas, and a dozen other species you can't even name are meandering in and out of cantinas, marketplaces, hopping in and out of speeders.

It's a lot. All of this is a lot. Just a few hours ago, you and Tai were out on a date. You were planning on a romantic night in after dinner, maybe even calling off work just to steal an extra few moments with him. Now you're a fugitive. Your face was plastered all over the city before you left. Yours and Tai's.

He's been off all night. Day now, technically. Not that you blame him, of course, because he did get harassed and assaulted by stormtroopers. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that he's upset about it and you wouldn't be surprised if it had triggered some of his trauma from the war. You want to help him, remind him that everything's gonna be okay (even though you're not entirely sure it will be), but he's distant. Shying away from your touch, avoiding your eyes, barely speaking a word to you unless necessary.

Does he blame you?

Your entire body goes cold, double suns be damned. Of course he does. If you hadn't punched that trooper, none of this would have happened.

"In here," Cody gruffs and it snaps you out of your head, "quick."

It's a house of some kind. You've never seen anything quite like it, not on your home planet and certainly not on Daiyu. The roof is domed and the walls are thick, made out of some kind of plaster maybe or brick, but the interior is cool. The house looks empty with hardly any signs of life beyond the barest of furnishings.

Cody's planted himself by the door, one hand on his blaster and the other braced on the wall. He's practically bursting with soldier energy, the kind you've only ever seen glimpses of in Tai. You're seeing a lot more of it now. You see it in the ridge of his shoulders, the light behind his eyes, not quite right, not quite him, the firm set of his jaw. You've never seen him so alert before. You've also never seen him hold a weapon, but the borrowed blaster Cody gave him lends him a certain aura that's hard to figure out.

"I don't think we were followed," Cody says a few minutes later and you finally feel like you can breathe. He untucks the flap of his poncho so that it covers his blaster again, then steps a little further into the house. "We'll stay here tonight, make for Mos Espa tomorrow morning."

Tai nods and moves to the dining table where he shucks off his pack and his coat. His movements are quick and precise. He falls into the role of a soldier easily. He doesn't look at you and he doesn't ask questions.

But you have a lot of questions. You have so many questions that your brain hurts.

"What's in Mos Espa?"

Cody looks at you from under his lashes. He looks so much like Tai that it's uncanny, he even moves with that same soldier gait, but he doesn't look at you like Tai does. You look at him and you see a stranger. "Another spaceport. It's too dangerous to leave from this one, they'll be looking for us there."

"Wait." Your head starts spinning. "We're leaving again?"

He shakes his head. "Not quite. Tatooine's remote, off the grid, the Empire isn't too focused on this place, but on the off chance that they followed us here, it's best to keep moving so they can't find us." His focus shifts to Tai then. They start talking logistics, strategies, transportation and timing, but it's all white noise to you.

You flitter in and out of total awareness as your body begins to move on autopilot. You're sweating, so you take off your sweater. Best to fold it so it doesn't get wrinkled. You're thirsty, so you meander in the direction of the kitchen, start poking around for glasses and a faucet. While you're in here, you might as well see what food there is. You're not hungry at the moment and you're not even sure if you can stomach food right now, but you and the two soldiers in the other room will need something soon to keep up your strength.

Right, the two soldiers. The two strangers you're holed up with. The man you love and the man who wears his face, shares his body and voice. You've always known that Tai's a clone, after all he wears clone armor, he's a clone wars veteran, but it never really occurred to you just what being a clone meant. Now you're faced with the reality of it.

Tai's still Tai, but Cody looks so much like him. If you close your eyes, their voices blend together until you can't tell them apart. They're the same height, tall and broad and a little thick in the middle, but you've always liked that about your weary old veteran. The same dusting of black and gray hair on their arms, probably the same on Cody's chest as it is on Tai's. Cody keeps his face clean shaven, though, doesn't even let a hint of stubble grow in. His hair is longer and is nicely groomed, but you can see some tighter coils poking through the gel. Kind of like Tai's hair before he cut it.

The biggest difference is, ironically enough, their faces. Cody has a massive scar on one side of his face. You wonder how he got it. The only facial scars Tai has are the one on his chin - from a blast during his first battle - and another on his neck where he nicked himself shaving. But they both have the same heaviness in their eyes. You recognize it from late nights soothing trauma-induced nightmares.

"Hey."

You aren't sure which of them is speaking to you at first. You're not sure you like it. But you hum in response and turn to acknowledge him.

"You alright?"

A scruffy goatee and weary eyes. You know this clone. You think you do, you hope you do.

It takes you a minute to respond. Your mind feels far away. "Mm. Yeah, I'm okay."

Tai lifts a brow and it's the most familiar thing you've seen him do in forever. "You look tired, my love."

Something warm curls around your heart, gentle and strong enough to encourage a prickling along your waterline. You didn't realize until now just how much you missed him, how much you missed the two of you. You look up into those big brown eyes, a shade lighter than kaf and a shade darker than the earthen floor of this little house, and you immediately have to look away when yours start watering.

"I am," you mumble.

"Go get some sleep. You've had a long day."

What about you? you want to ask. Won't you come to bed with me? But you know deep in your gut that he won't go with you. He's punishing himself. He's an idiot to think you can't see through him, but you won't push him on it, not in front of Cody, not right now. You're honestly too mentally exhausted to even try.

You still cry when you tuck yourself into the tiny cot at the back of the house. There's a couple doors between you and the men, and you're quiet, so they won't hear you. All you know for sure is that you're more lost than you've ever been and you're terrified you're losing him, too.

"There's not too many of us left now."

Tai runs his palm across his face. "I thought I might be the last one." It hurts to say it out loud, to finally vocalize this fear that's been eating away at him for Maker knows how long.

The Commander makes a face akin to a smile, but there's no humor behind it. "Not yet, you're not. The Empire couldn't get rid of all of us."

No, but they certainly tried. It's an unspoken understanding that hangs in the air for a while. Tai suddenly wishes he had a glass of spotchka. He wishes a lot of things.

"So." Cody shifts forward in his seat so his elbows are resting on his knees, chin in against his hands. "How'd you meet her?"

Dammit. This is the kind of questioning he was really hoping to avoid. There's nothing for Cody to find but shame and disappointment. He could try to lie, of course, and he considers it for a moment, but he's always been shit at lying. A lot of the boys in the 501st were shit liars. Now he's the last of them and he fucking wishes he wasn't.

"It's a long story," he tries.

"We have all night." Cody smiles a bit more genuinely this time, but it drifts soon after when he senses his brother's discomfort. "You don't have to tell me, vod. But she's... she's nice."

You are. And he hangs his head in shame because look at what he's done to you.

"She's the best thing that's ever happened to me." It comes out unbidden, but he doesn't regret saying it. "Took me in when I had nothing." For a moment, he's back on Daiyu, gazing up at you, awed, confused, mortified because you took pity on him, saw him through all the filth and neon-lit spice fog. "I sure paid her back for it, didn't I?" he scoffs.

The wind howls outside, tossing sand against the walls of this new little hovel on another backwater planet, and Cody watches him for a moment in the dimly lit dining room.

"What happened out there, vod?"

Fuck, what didn't happen?

Tai's entire throat constricts when he finally finds the words. "I failed. I failed her, Commander, just like I failed our vode, like I failed Rex." He squeezes his eyes shut against the tears that are suddenly threatening to wash him away. He can't quite breathe. His fist smacks hard into his thigh as he twists his face away. "And now I've put her in danger. We were supposed to protect civilians, we were supposed to protect the Republic, and I can't do either."

Good soldiers follow orders. He jolts out of his chair, shaking. When will it stop, that voice in his head? When will it stop haunting him? Master Skywalker. No. There are too many of them. When will he be free of the nightmares? What are we going to do? And the padawan still falls at Skywalker's hands, and Tai is still covered in blood, and he's still a failure.

He starts when Cody rests a hand on his shoulder. He wants to fight it, he wants to hit something, he wants to scream and cry and beg for death because he knows he deserves nothing less. He betrayed the Jedi and to this day he still doesn't know why. He put you in danger, almost let those TKs get their hands on you, almost let you get shot, and still you gave up everything for him.

Cody holds him and Tai cries, and nothing is right anymore.

"We all have to live with the choices we made, the things we did during the war, and after it. But we were good men. We still are."

A question starts to burn in the back of his esophagus, bitter and painful as bile. "Did you kill them, too?"

The silence he's met with solidifies a lot of things for him - he's not alone in his shame or his grief, if the great Commander Cody fell to the nightmares and the whispers, then perhaps there was never any hope for a trooper like him, he has to let you go. That one stings the most because he's only just found you. He's never known love like this in all his life, never fathomed a kindness like yours before. You gave him hope when there was nothing left to hope for. He knows it's the right thing to do, though. You'll never be safe with him around.

Killer. Murderer.

There's something inside him that isn't quite right. It came out last night when the TKs rounded on you, cornered you, promised to show you a 'good time'. He saw red, felt his blood boil, felt the entire universe melt away until it was just his fist and the back of that trooper's head and he was going to smash it in for even daring to look your way, to try and scare you into submission. It was there that night you saw his nightmares for the first time, when he swore you were drenched in Jedi blood and he wanted to crush your head in his hands just to prove how utterly unlovable he was.

"Can you get her somewhere safe?"

Cody blinks at him. A sliver of eternity passes before he seems to understand. "Vod..."

"I can't stay with her." Memories start flashing across his mind's eye, unbidden and beautiful - the first time he called you sweetheart, he thinks it was the night he told you about his job, the night out at that bar and the kiss it wrought the next day, the first time he told you he loved you, the first time he touched you, the mug you bought him for late night teas and early morning kafs. "She deserves better, better than an old man like me can give her."

"Does she know that?"

Tai actually laughs. "She'd slap me for saying it. But it's true. I'll only get her killed in the end."

"Maybe," Cody muses. "Maybe you're not thinking clearly." He doesn't seem bothered by the flashing in his brother's eyes when they round on him. "Not all of us were as lucky as you, vod. Not all of us found someone willing to walk through the fire with us."

The wind howls again in the moments between Cody's wisdom and Tai's panic.

"For our brothers who lost the fight, the brothers that never found what you did." A hand rests over Tai's heart. "Don't push her away."

It's funny, really, how the littlest, simplest thing can change one's mind, how a single object can be the difference between one destiny and another.

He shucks your pack and his over his shoulders and shuffles as quietly as he can into the back room. You're snoring and sleeping pretty heavily by the sound of it, so you hopefully wont be disturbed when he slides in beside you.

He's still undecided about you, although Cody's advice is rattling around in his brain. He'll have to decide before you wake up. But then your pack tips over as he's taking off his boots and something goes clank inside. He frowns, leans down to pick it up, and just misses catching the metallic object half-wrapped in one of your blouses before it smacks on the floor.

Your breathing hitches, Tai swears his heart almost stops, and then you settle back into a steady rhythm. He unwraps the blouse. And there's his mug, the one you saw in a street vendor's shop. It's plain metal, all shiny and silver, but it's shaped vaguely like a lothcat. The handle has a pattern etched into it reminiscent of the ones many tookas sport on their tails.

"It reminded me of you," you'd explained. "Because a lothcat always seemed to have my tongue when we first started talking." Then you'd pecked him on the cheek and bowed your head all flustered and shy.

He's a fool. A damn fool. And he's still got one boot on when he twists and throws his arm over you, drags you into him so he can bury his face in your neck. You wake up fully this time and start squirming under him.

"Wha...? Mnh, Tai?" Your voice is drowsy and rough.

"I love you," he grunts against your skin. He's absolutely crying now. "I love you, sweetheart." He can't keep his hands off you, can't stop kissing every inch of you that he can reach. He has to commit you to memory so that the next time he gets an idiotic idea in his head, he can conjure up this moment and smack the stupid out of himself. "My sweet, wonderful, beautiful girl." Each word is punctuated with a wet kiss.

You have no clue what's going on and you're probably more asleep than awake, but he doesn't care. He'll shower you in love again the moment you wake up. He's never letting you out of his sight again, never letting himself doubt you, never getting stuck inside his own head ever again.

taglist: @moodymisty @arandomnerdsblog578 @jambolska-grozdova @curly-funk

#clone trooper x reader #clone trooper veteran x reader #clone trooper tai x reader #clone veteran x reader #keobi clone trooper #clone veteran #clone trooper tai #star wars #i struggled a bit with cody's characterization bc i don't write for him so i hope he came out in character #anyways uhhhhh i think i wrote this in like 4 hours? i just. could not stop thinking about them and this chapter #i know i said there would only be a few more chapters but honestly i don't know if i can say goodbye to them in like 3 chapters #this might end up being a legit full-on series #i have more plans for them so stay tuned!!

75 notes · View notes