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ofoceansandtombsanew · 20 days

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Of All Things, I Became an Oceanid

You always imagined that if you woke up in the world of Genshin, the possibilities of being a Visionless wielder of elements and a slew of romantic shenanigans would lie in your wake. But when you instead find yourself in the body of an Oceanid with romance likely out of the question, your only conclusion is that the gods of reincarnation isekai hate your guts.

cw. you're an oceanid

pairing. navia x reader, kaeya x reader, childe x reader (separate)

notes. don't feel like being an oceanid today? well go ahead and go to the series masterlist and see what your life could be if you were something else in genshin.

So you're an Oceanid now.

You suppose there are worse things you could have turned into. God, imagine if you turned into a hilichurl or something like that. Yeah, you'll take being a graceful water being over a hilichurl any day.

You can talk, you can wield Hydro and you can go literally anywhere you want as long as water is present. It's honestly not that bad of a deal, you can be Mx. Worldwide if you so desire it.

As for finding company with your fellow lochfolk? That's not really much an option, all things considered. As it stands now, Oceanids follow one simple rule.

You stay in your lake, they stay in theirs and you call it a day.

Kaeya

Considering Springvale's small pond is already taken, you decide to call dibs on Starfell Lake since after Rhodeia made even the waters of the Dawn Winery bitter, you figured it would be better to try a source lake not connected to her spot in Liyue

To be honest when it came to being an Oceanid, you figured you didn't really need to become the companion of any of the characters

You're more than content to stay in your lake and mind your business. But truthfully, it does get boring, so when you saw Kaeya's reflection peering into your waters, you popped your head up to say hi almost instinctively

Apart from a brief look of surprise, that's the extent of your attempt to seem regal and mysterious in front of the Calvary Captain

"A water faerie so far from Fontaine? I can't believe my eye; this is the certainly the last thing I was expecting to see while out on a stroll."

It's not everyday you meet something so exciting and considering what happened after encountering the Traveler and Paimon, Kaeya decides to listen to his instincts that there'll be a lot to come from interacting with you

Because of this, Kaeya is a frequent visitor to your lake besides the people who occasionally stop by to clean the statue of the Seven

You ask him about the daily gossip of Mondstadt and he asks you about the life of being a water faerie, a fair trade even if most of your information is based on your memory of the Genshin wiki page and the limited personal experience you have

Kaeya's made a joke about how your meeting is something one might read in a romance novel, much to your embarrassment

Is he serious or no?

It's not like there haven't been any Human/Oceanid relationships in this game so it isn't completely out of the ordinary when you think about it...

At the same time though, you don't want to look super eager

One particular night, a long silence fell over you both when you asked him about his family. He tells you a bit about his past, about being adopted into the Ragnvindr family and his present less than savory relationship with Diluc

You ask if he's lonely to which he asks in return "do I seem lonely?" yet there is no bite in his tone nor is there any sarcasm either. his gaze is thoughtful but miles away from your lake

"Yes" are the words on your non-existent tongue yet you can't bring yourself to say it, all while a warm hand brushes against your watery cheek much too quickly

Navia

Being an Oceanid in Fontaine pre-Neuvillette's judgement was pretty much impossible, thankfully you airdropped into Teyvat after that deciding to call an area near Poisson your home

As to how you met Navia, you heard her crying by the sea as she does sometimes after getting new flowers for the grave of her father and much like the Spring Faerie of Springvale, you answered the call and swam to the surface

She thought maybe you were Melus or Silver, or maybe some other lost soul of Poisson. You quickly let her know that wasn't actually the case, much to Navia's initial disappointment

But Navia is an optimist, first and foremost. So she won't let the reality of the situation get her down and would ask you a bunch of questions. Afterall, Oceanids are thought to be practically extinct in Fontaine after Egeria's death so she doesn't want to waste the opportunity to learn more about you

And boy do her questions range from genuinely thought provoking to so silly it leaves you both in a fit of laughter

It's a first meeting that does Navia good, there she was so sad and then you came and turned the entire situation inside out. She promises to make you macarons as thanks, if lochfolk can even eat

Truthfully, you don't know if you can either. It's not like it's necessary to eat as you are now but fuck it you want to find out for yourself

Navia is also quick to invite you live in the waters of Poisson in general, or at least settle in if you ever want to visit and see the town for yourself

You take her up on the offer to have, if anything, a change of scenery and to see more people out and about than you normally would

You truthfully enjoy a nice yap session with Navia, it's never boring when she's around even if the most you're doing is watching her dish out orders from your comfortable pond in Poisson

But the best hangout sessions you have are when you are a good distance from the place and she can chat with you freely. She'll bring a basket of snacks, a blanket to sit on and you'll chat the day away

Sometimes she'll even bring a sketchbook and attempt to draw your portrait. Navia isn't the best artist but you enjoy looking at her artwork nonetheless

A small secret of her heart though is that Navia is quite sure that as a young girl she dreamed of something like this. Meeting an Oceanid by lakeside and falling in love before willingly being taken into the depths of Fontaine to eternally perform a watery dance of love

Maybe she can't do some of those things as the boss of Spina di Rosula, but maybe the former... maybe she's just been reading too many romance novels

Childe

When it comes to Childe, you truly lucked out in becoming an Oceanid when you lost the isekai 50/50. Because if you were something couldn't talk like a Thunder Manifestation or a Geovishap... you'd be assed out

For he, Tartaglia, is constantly finding ways to become stronger and that includes fighting mythical beings he comes across

But hey, Childe is no barbarian. Anything that can talk and beg for its life, for the most part, isn't a viable option for honing his skills

So congratulations, you narrowly avoided becoming a hashtag in someone's twitter bio twice in a row

Childe quickly laughs off your near brush with death and he dodges the spout of water you send his way. Sadly, he's somewhat charming when he says "come on, in my defense I didn't think you had any real intelligence! Now that I know we can easily become buddies, I'm sure!"

Maybe it's guilt (you doubt it), maybe it's a bit of youthful wonder permeating his soul (you're sure it's this), but he makes it a point to visit you while he is in Fontaine

Yeah, you lost another 50/50 by being airdropped into Fontaine during its Archon Quest but miraculously the water isn't painful. Maybe it's because you're technically not from this world and it grants you some sort of immunity? You're not sure

You are sure of, however, the fact that Childe comes to visit you like he gets paid for it

Apparently he wants to chat it up with you so he has plenty of interesting stories for his younger siblings when he visits them next time he is in his homeland

You sadly have a soft spot for it seems for war criminals that also happen to be family-oriented so you indulge him begrudgingly despite the rocky start to your friendship

When he gets arrested, you don't see him for a while and you admittedly grow worried when he doesn't show up even beyond the crisis of the prophecy coming to fruition but isn't like you can just discreetly find a fatuus in a city, let alone a Harbinger

Childe comes to see you soon enough though when he's recovered a substantial amount (barely any at all)

He laughs at you worriedly berate him for being so careless. "I just had to make sure my favorite Oceanid didn't miss me too much, that's all"

#look she's writing #headcanons #genshin x reader #genshin impact x reader #navia x reader #kaeya x reader #childe x reader #tartaglia x reader

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followmybadreligion · 2 months

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"Je te laisserai des mot"

a valentine’s day date with your sweet, sweet boyfriend.

“Hyunjin, come here.” You called as you dusted your hands free of the white, cakey flour that’d made a thin coat over them. Your voice bounced off the tall walls of your apartment and played back in your head like a loud, jarring record that disturbed the once quiet, peaceful atmosphere, and you immediately regret not just going to get him.

In front of you sat a large bowl of chocolate chip cookie dough, which you’d spent the better half of the morning preparing– from scratch. On the side of that lay two pink, heart-shaped baking trays, one for you and one for him. You’d already coated them in butter (The only non-stick agent you had) and sprinkled a thin layer of brown sugar across them, and now all that was left for you to do was preheat the oven.

“Three seventy-five,” you whispered to yourself, spinning away from your work to assess the settings on your oven. It was brand new, much like the rest of the place, but the controls were easy enough to work with the typical dials traded for a sleek screen. You tapped it once and waited for it to illuminate before pressing the “Bake” option promoted on its right side and setting it properly.

A small smile spread across your lips as you looked at the cute, white fixture nestled among brown cabinets with tops of beige wood. Its once-dark interior lit up with an orange hue, courtesy of the heating panel built into the bottom, and you could just barely feel the heat begin to radiate from it. Just a few minutes before you’d be able to get your treats in there and baking— that was if Hyun were to hurry.

You moved over a few feet to an empty counter space, lifting yourself onto it and crossing your legs over one another as you waited. The wood was warm underneath your exposed thighs, pressing into you firmly enough to leave marks for sure. You giggled as you thought of his reaction to seeing you like this. More than likely, he’d be a little surprised at the sight— you, in his Dear Daniel tee, your panties and socks, and virtually nothing else, lightly dusted with flour and sugar— it’d be a trip for sure. But knowing him, he’d love it. He always loved seeing you in his clothes, and he loved seeing you work on your hobbies even more.

From your spot on the counter, you had the perfect view from one of the living room windows to the incoming sunrise. The sky swirled with beautiful shades of orange and pink, contrasted with the masses of gray and yellow underneath it. Skyscrapers, hoards of cars, lively apartment units— all of it did little to dull the beauty of the new day, and you took a few minutes to bask in it.

You could faintly make out the sound of beeping, rushing cars, even from how high up your flat was, but somehow that only added to the ambiance— warmth enveloping you at all sides, a show of such pretty colors, and the sound of what felt the most like home— Seoul.

But oh, this moment would be so much better with your boy.

You sighed deeply, realizing it’d been a good few minutes since you’d called his name and he still hadn’t answered. You turned towards the oven again, catching sight of the pink, square-shaped clock resting above it on the spice rack. It read 6:34, which was no surprise to you with the sunrise and all. What was a surprise, however, was that Hyunjin still wasn’t up. Normally, he’d already be at the window with his sketch pad, drawing whatever subject had come to mind (It was almost always you) while he sipped away on his coffee or tea of the morning.

You pushed yourself to the edge of the counter, allowing yourself to slide over the edge and onto your feet before you took off towards the stairs of your loft. The railing– a black, thin fixture– was crisp and loud under your touch, prompting you to let go of it as you climbed the remainder of the stairs. You wanted to wake him as softly and sweetly as possible, especially today.

A soft smile adorned your lips as you approached your bedroom, eyes locking on the adorable sight that was your boyfriend. He was sprawled out over the bed, arms clutching your pillow to his chest in his sleep. His face rested on your other one, buried under a mess of long, dark hair, but from what you could make out— his pink, swollen lips and red, flushed cheeks— he was sleeping peacefully. Several large windows fixed across the space poured in more of that golden hue, making him seem even more angelic than he was, and for a moment, you just wished you could draw as well as him.

“Honey,” you called, this time a lot softer as you approached his resting figure. He hummed softly in response, but his eyes still didn’t open.

Crawling into bed next to him, you grabbed the pillow he clung to and pulled it away to catch his attention. He whined at your antics, stirring more as he reached for something else to hold.

“You gotta wake up now.” You said through a smile of pure admiration. He looked so cute to you like this, and there was little you could do to stop your hands from coming up and fanning through his pretty locks. You started at the front, lightly combing away the strands that obscured his pretty face— a face sculpted by some Greek god whom you’d thank every day for the rest of your life. Then, you brought your hands back to gently fluff up the rest of his mane, giggling at how he whined more under your touch.

“I have a surprise for you.”

He blew out a deep breath, eyes clamping shut for a few seconds as he struggled to wake up fully. After a few more moments of silence, his eyes opened in a squint, dark brown irises magnified by light tears. He didn’t speak and opened his mouth in a wide “O” shape, letting out a soft yawn that only made your heart grow softer.

“What surprise?” he whispered, hands coming up to wipe the sleep out of his face.

“You’ll have to come with me to see.” You whispered back, beginning to raise yourself from the bed.

His touch against your thigh immediately halted your actions, the warm sensation sending a small jolt of electricity up your body. It was jarring— the feeling of his hand squeezing into you— but it was also incredibly welcomed, and you immediately allowed yourself to sink back into the plush surface beneath you.

“Wait,” his voice was soft but raspy, still stale from the lack of use overnight, “Will you lay here with me for a few more seconds, please?”

“Baby, I-” but before you could finish your sentence, he was pulling you into his bare, broad chest and laying back down with you.

“Just a few more minutes.”

You weren’t sure how long you spent nestled in Hyunjin’s arms before you realized you’d still had that oven on. While the boy rested peacefully above you, you slid out of his grasp as swiftly as possible, as you knew he’d only pull you back if he were to wake.

Then, you were back downstairs, without your boy, right at square one.

You sighed as you glanced around at the setting you’d created for the two of you: mugs of hot chocolate (That’d long gone cold) with heart-shaped marshmallows floating in it, festive cookware, pink and white candles, your Polaroid loaded with red and white film; a cute baking date for the two of you to bring in Valentine’s day, and yet you couldn’t get him down here.

Sunrise had long since passed, and now, a pale, white light poured into your kitchen, adding a lighter feel to the scene you’d set. It still looked just as pretty to you, even though you hadn’t envisioned it like this, and you were itching for Hyunjin to see it as well.

You racked your brain for what to do, contemplating going up and trying to get him a second time before your eyes ghosted over the light pink vinyl player you’d set up when you were decorating. You immediately walked over to it, looking through the few records you sat out. Most were by Lana Del Rey, a guilty pleasure of Hyunjin’s, though he never seemed too guilty. The only one that was different was one with a brown and beige cover, depicting a man and woman who you could only assume were from the Victorian age. The man was on his knees, facing away from an unknown woman who used his capped head as an armrest or a leaning post. The image of the two was encased by dark, interlinking tiles, snaking from one end of the vinyl to the other, leaving a space at the bottom where you’d penned in a simple titled: “Je te laisserai des mot.”

After lifting the needle, you slid the vinyl from its casing and delicately placed it on the player, taking a second to wipe away any dust that’d settled on it. Then, you dropped the needle to its proper position, lifted the volume slider to its maximum setting, and pressed play.

The melodic humming of a man filled your mind immediately, accompanied by the few keys of a piano. The feeling fluttering through your heart was hard to explain; it was lovely, like a mix of bliss and happiness that possessed you as you melted into the chords, but there was also a sense of pain and longing etched into it.

Your eyes clamped shut as the song forged on, his humming growing quiet as a symphony of strings and piano overtook him. When you first saw the record, you thought that perhaps you’d left it out by mistake. You’d always found it to be a particularly romantic song, and it did remind you of Hyun, but part of you felt as if it were too sad to play at a moment like this. However, now you could see why you’d chosen to leave it out.

When you listened to it, moments that you and he had shared flashed through your mind like pretty scenes from a movie: driving in the rain with your hands intertwined, slow dancing in the living room as the city lights shined on you, staring at each other until you both got shy and laughed the feeling away: all those beautiful things that the two of you had done moving by like a montage. But you didn’t want the moment you two were about to share to be a part of that; you wanted it to be the scene itself.

Just as the symphony faded and the man’s voice bled back in, you began to hear shuffling from upstairs, which snapped you from your sudden idleness.

You turned to the two mugs of cocoa and put them into the microwave to heat for a few minutes, excitement coursing through you.

The song continued to lull in the background, the man’s words echoing through your head.

Je te laisserai des mot

“I will leave you with notes,” you translated out in your head. You didn’t speak French, no, but you’d listened to the song so often that you made it a point to look up translations of the lyrics, and you now knew just about everything he sang by heart.

En-dessous de ta porte

“Underneath your door.”

En-dessous de les murs qui chantent

“Underneath the singing walls.”

You began to sing along with the lyrics lowly, admiring the way your voice seemed to blend in with the silkiness of the singers. At the same time, you could hear how Hyunjin shuffled out of bed, taking a few seconds before he walked towards the stairs. He paused at the top of the case for a few beats, almost as if to get a better listen, before hurriedly skipping down them two steps at a time.

You looked his way, smile gleaming as you took note of his disheveled state. Despite your smoothing earlier, his hair was back to being a mess, some of it making a curtain over his eyes while the rest swooped and curled about. He still wasn’t wearing a shirt, and the several love bites you’d given him the night before were very visible, making your cheeks heat a bit. The most amusing part of it all, though, was the boy’s face. Even with his tired appearance, his eyes were wide with shock and excitement, and his lips formed a small circle as he analyzed the kitchen for himself.

“You did all of this, baby?” He finally quipped after a few seconds of staring. You couldn’t suppress your giggle as you moved to stop the microwave, gently grabbing the handles of the mugs and placing them on the counter.

“Of course I did.” You replied, walking towards him. “Happy Valentine’s Day, my boy.”

A soft smile spread across his face at your words, and he began to walk towards you, meeting you in the middle and wrapping you up in his arms without a second thought. You could feel how fast his heart was beating against you, the beat so clear with your head against his chest. Even after dating for so long, being that close to you never failed to make him nervous.

“I love you.” He whispered, breaking the brief silence that’d settled between you. His hands squeezed your waist tighter at his statement, and you could feel how bated his breath was as the words left his mouth– almost like he was scared.

You paused for a second, giving yourself the time to pour over his words. He’d told you that so many times. So, so many times, yet it caught you by surprise each one.

You pulled back for a second and ran your hands down from his neck to his bare chest, allowing them to rest there as you looked up at him.

The song still hummed in the background, a soft, melodic humming drifting through the air as the two of you gazed upon each other. You fought against yourself, wanting nothing more but to press your lips against his and pour as much of your love into as him could, but you knew that you couldn’t. He knew what it felt like. He needed to hear it now.

“Hyunjin,” you started, watching as his eyes widened a bit as he became more eager to hear what you’d say, “there aren’t words strong enough to describe the way I feel about you.”

“I mean…I need you.” You continued, tilting your head slightly as you moved your hands up to play in his hair. His eyes blinked closed a few times at the sensation of your fingers against his scalp, causing you to giggle a bit, before he diverted his attention back towards you.

“I adore you.” A blissful smile crossed his face at that, eyes crinkling at the sides.

You inched your face closer to his, standing up on your tippy toes in an effort to level with him more.

“I love you, baby.” You finally whispered, voice as smooth as honey. “I love you so much.”

And with that, your lips were against his.

“What’d you write on yours?” You questioned, looking over only for him to shield his pan with his arm.

“Not yet!” He exclaimed, lowering his face closer to his work as he moved the piping bag along as slowly and carefully as he could.

“Hyunjin…” you whined, tapping his arm slightly to his panic. You’d long been done with decorating and were now standing off to the side, sipping on your second mug of hot cocoa of the morning.

You knew how particular Hyun was when it came to his art, and it was always something that you admired, but it was killing you that he was being so secretive, especially because you hadn’t expected him to take it that seriously. It was food coloring and frosting after all. Not oil canvases and watercolors. What was taking him so long?

You shifted away for a second towards the record player again, noticing how Lana’s dreamy voice had faded out and the record was starting from the beginning once again. You flicked the pause button and lifted the needle, bringing your finger down onto the vinyl and letting it scape against its surface as it came to a stop.

“Do me a favor, please.” Hyunjin pipped up.

You paused, looking back at him as you waited for him to continue.

“Play our song.” This time he looked back, piping bag in hand as he met your gaze.

You threw him a soft smile before you turned back, putting the first vinyl away and grabbing the all-too-familiar beige cover.

For the fourth time that morning, you loaded it onto the player and began to play it, humming softly as you did so. Hyunjin joined in, voice softer than yours, but still there. He always did that when you sang– joined in with you, softly enough to hear you, but loud enough to let you know he was there.

Just as the man’s voice began to fade in, Hyunjin broke away from the song, and whispered a simple, “Come here, baby.”

You did as he asked, sitting your mug down on the counter in front of you and turning to approach him. You rested your head against his shoulder, one arm draping across his shoulder as you peered down at the pink, heart-shaped pan that rested right next to yours.

In his, lay a heart-shaped cookie cake, covered from top to bottom in light brown frosting. It was perfectly smooth, not a single dip or line in its foundation, and you just knew that Hyunjin had gone over it time and time again to make sure of that. Around the edges of the cookie were white, interwebbing vines that crawled up the sides and stopped just shy of the upper edge. The most captivating part, however, was the top that was particularly bare, away from thirteen, white cursive words.

“I will always leave you notes if you will always pick them up.”

Je te laisserai des mot.

A/N: Hey y'all! This was meant to come out on Valentine's Day (I'm a day late and a dollar short, I know🥲) but I've been swamped and had to push it back. Still, I hope you guys enjoy having a late V-day with this sweet boy. Thanks for reading! -M'k <3

#happy valentine's day #skz fluff #skz hyunjin #skz scenarios #skz imagines #hyunjin fluff #hyunjin x reader #hyunjin x you #domestic fluff

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wpdarlingpan · 9 months

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hello! for the requests, how dark are you comfortable with writing? i wanted to request something barbie movie x reader with maybe kidnapping, noncon/dubcon, breeding, baby-trapping, idk something like that!

Their Love

Hey! Thank you so much for the request. I’ll probably only do kidnapping and a little sleeping kiss cause I’m not the most experienced on writing the other two so I hope you still like it!

Warnings: kidnapping and slight noncon (kiss while your sleeping)

Barbieworld (mainly Barbie and Ken) x Reader

You were from the real world and compared to Barbie world, it was terrible. It wasn’t pink buildings and clean beaches. For you, your reality was anything but. You lived on the streets of Los Angeles. Jumping from bench to bench if you were lucky or the occasional alley way. Your parents had kicked you out the day you turned 18. They had never wanted a child but didn’t want to deal with the legalities of abandonment so treating you as a maid until the day you turned 18 was their next best option.

Today you decided to go visit Venice Beach. It was full of people which meant blending in. At least it was supposed to.

Barbie and Ken had made their way into the real world to figure out her flat feet issue while Ken came to support his supposed “girlfriend”. They had rollerblades in neon rollerblades and flashy outfits, which in your opinion fit them well.

They were going the other direction of you so they didn’t notice how you stared after their retreating figures. A look of admiration sparkled in your usually dull eyes. It was nice, to see more people standing out from the typical style.

But as they were out of eyesight, they were out of mind. Just a brief passing thought as you figured you would never see the random strangers again.

Just to your unimaginable luck, you did.

Ken had made his way back to Barbieland to fill the Kens in on his understanding of patriarchy and horses. When he saw you. You hadn’t seen him yet, just gazing at the waves as they splashed against the shore. People running around with blinding smiles on their faces, surrounded by the people they love. A part of you wished for it but you didn’t even know how it felt.

Ken couldn’t look away, all the feelings of men being in charge went straight out the window as feelings of obsession began to blind his thoughts. He had begun to make his way over to you, his blonde ‘girlfriend’ briefly passed in his mind but he realized how he never truly loved her. He only thought he did because that was all he knew.

You didn’t notice as the blonde man sat down on the bench with you. Your legs pulled to your chest as if to protect yourself.

“Hi.”

You jumped slightly at the unexpected voice coming from your left. You looked on slightly stunned at the sight of one of the people from earlier.

“Hello.” You spoke shyly, you hadn’t had human interaction in awhile. After all the feelings of self doubt flooded your mind from your parents.

Ken couldn’t even speak right as he gazed at you with a look of love to the naked eye. But deep down the root of obsession was growing deep. Wrapping around his heart like a vine.

Once he knocked himself out of it, he was finally able to talk to you. Introducing himself, which you didn’t even find his name odd, after all you were never bought dolls as a child. It made him love you ever more. After all he could be himself. Not a Ken. Just Ken. He felt kenough. (Sorry I had to ;))

You talked for nearly a hour. You had grown comfortable in his presence which was usually hard to accomplish after being mistreated for so long. But a part of you just knew something felt right, and that feeling didn’t happen often.

He grabbed your hand and pulled you off the bench unexpectedly before rushing you guys towards the shops. You just let your new ‘friend’ drag you along because your naively trusted him. You also didn’t have much waiting for you back at the beach. He stopped at a stand that was selling traded in clothes, shoes, bikes, etc…

“What size rollerblade are you?” He question as he found a couple of rollerblades. They weren’t neon nor pink but they would make do until he could get you some in Barbieland.

“Uh rollerblade?”

“Yes. What size?”

“I don’t know I’ve never rollerbladed.”

Ken had a look of astonishment on his face before looking down are your shoe covered feet and took a estimation before grabbing a dark purple pair and running off. The shop manager yelling curses as you two left out of sight.

“What was that?!” You yelled nervously. You couldn’t afford to be arrested. Ken looked calm as ever as he led you to a bench and traded out your shoes for the blades. Once he finished he put his on and helped you stand up.

“What are we even doing Ken?”

“We are going back to Barbieland.” You looked at him in disbelief as if he would suddenly break out laughing but the urge to get you there before you could leave him was overwhelming.

You wanted to protest but the idea of falling and possibly injuring yourself with zero hope of medical insurance, you didn’t have many options. He led you off into a little area where suddenly you weren’t rollerblading. You were on a snowmobile. Then a bike. A rocket ship. A motor home where he had made you both s’mores. Well plastic ones but the flavor still melted onto your tongue and your stomach felt almost sick after two of the treats. Then finally a boat and a car. You saw the giant sign approaching, not realizing this would be the last time you would see this sign. After all, you weren’t leaving anytime soon.

Meanwhile after Barbie had fled from Mattel with Gloria and Sasha they were just about to approach the beach.

Ken didn’t exactly know where to bring you. But as he drove you into town he saw the way everyone’s eyes lingered after the car. More specifically after you. You were silent most of the trip but couldn’t help letting out silent awe’s at the world around you. Followed by a self-conscious feeling. After all you were not the most put together person and all of these people don’t have a hair out of place.

Ken brought you to Barbies Dreamhouse and told you to wait as he opened the door for you like a gentlemen. He never even did it before, but the thoughts came naturally.

“Wow.” You said quietly as he led you into the house and up the stairs. It was the most amazing thing you’ve ever seen. But a part of you was waiting for the other shoe to drop. Like going back to LA.

“I’ll bring you some clothes if you want to go to the shower. Not saying you look dirty or anything I just thought-“ he was cut off by your giggle as he looked at you with embarrassment.

“It’s okay Ken. I would really like to freshen up. Are you sure it’s okay?”

“Of course!” He forgot all about his rant as he ran to go get clothes and you quickly hopped into the shower before he could return. No water came out of the shower head like you expected but you were getting clean nonetheless.

Meanwhile Ken picked out one of his favorite outfits and set it near the shower. The urge to look was overruled by his feeling of protection over the innocent person.

Barbie and the two humans weren’t faced with the volleyball court of boys and female cheerleaders. It was all the same as when she left. She gladly pointed everything out and talked about the amazing world and she was able to back it up with the wonderful sights. They were even able to see the President.

Pulling up to her dreamhouse she saw another car outside which was presumably Ken’s. She held back a sigh before getting out of the car. She led the women in behind her. But what she wasn’t expecting was to see another human standing beside Ken. Barbie noticed they were wearing her clothes but didn’t mind all that much after seeing how they looked on you. Kens arm wrapped around your waist in case of a bad reaction but Barbies eyes gained a similar look as Kens earlier. The feeling of obsession and love competing with one another before mixing into one.

They shared a look of understanding which didn’t go unnoticed to Gloria and Sasha, after all they were quite adverse in the real world.

The three humans had no idea that you would never be leaving Barbieworld again.

But then again… what did you have to lose?

Barbie set up Gloria and Sasha with a house a few away from hers. It was a discontinued house so nobody was currently living in it. She left them to settle in for the next few days, or shorter depending on how long she could stand having a distraction from you. After all she began to feel her heels lift whenever she saw you.

Barbie and Ken talked with you for a few hours, answering all your questions without any distain until it began to grow late. They promised to answer more of your questions tomorrow. Secretly happy they had a reason to cut you off as they felt the question of leaving approaching. Barbie got you some pajamas and before you knew it the there of you were laying in a heart shaped bed. One of the dolls on either side or you.

They both had a arm wrapped around you, leaning you feeling trapped but as you laid there the feeling of being trapped faded into safety.

Once you fell asleep the blondes placed a loving kiss on your lips, just lightly enough not to wake you up even though they could only wish for now to feel it be reciprocated as nature feelings blossomed.

Everyone in Barbieland questioned who you were after you had left with Ken, soon followed by staying with Barbie. But they couldn’t feel themselves being opposed to it, after all you looked so adorable!

So I guess your there to stay huh?

#barbie x reader #barbie 2023 #barbie #greta gerwig #ryan gosling #ken x reader #Yandere #obsession #kidnapping #barbieland #margot robbie

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indyanapolis898 · 4 months

Text

Mastermind

Peter Parker x f!reader

Synopsis: Peter has a crush on you from afar. One day you ask him to tutor you and things go from there.

Note: This really doesn't follow any specific canon from the movies.

"You know staring at Y/N won't make her like you."

Peter's head shot up at the sound of a voice behind him, that of MJ's.

"W-what are you talking about?" Peter chuckled awkwardly, doing a horrible job of lying.

"Me and Ned notice how much you watch Y/N. You always bring up any interaction you two have- and so much more! You like her. Just admit it, nerd," MJ explained amid the noisy school cafeteria.

"So what if I do?" Peter shrugged as MJ sat next to him.

"You should make a move- oh wait- you're too scared," MJ said with a sly smirk, begging him to fight back, which he did.

"Nervous? I'm an Avenger! I don't get nervous!" Peter hissed.

"Then go talk to her, Avenger" MJ shrugged like it was the only obvious option.

"Well- I- I just don't want her to think I'm weird."

"Well, then you're out of luck in that regard," she joked dryly. "You two used to be close. Why can't you spark up a conversation about, like, the past?"

"'Cause it's random, and also, we were friends in middle school! That was a while ago, MJ!"

"OK, Parker, I give up. Enjoy your futile people-watching."

Peter watched as MJ walked away to the lunch line. She wasn't wrong. He was too scared to even consider being near Y/N.

The boy sighed, going back to eating his lunch after you left the room.

___

"Alrighty!" Mr. Harrington clapped his hands together. "We have a new member for this semester's Academic Decathlon!"

The club whispered among themselves in anticipation of who it could be. Peter glanced up from his book when, of course, you entered the classroom with a new copy of the textbook.

"I'm sure you all know Y/N, so welcome her into the club and help her get acquainted with the material for today's practice."

You smiled shyly at the group, waving and going to take a seat in the open chair next to Flash.

Peter silently groaned, letting his head fall onto the desk. Of course, it was you, and of course, you had to sit next to Flash. Flash had an obvious crush on you as well.

"Peter. Wanna start off today's practice?" Mr. Harrington asked, staring directly at Peter as he lifted his head off his desk. Everyone was looking at him.

Peter sighed, standing up with his textbook to go to the podium to call the questions.

The first round went by fast. You answered three times, getting all answers right. Peter could feel himself smile every time you rang the bell.

Peter tried his best to compliment you when you answered during the second round.

At one point, Peter asked a question the Flash rang in for. Peter watched as the boy mouthed to you: watch this.

Flash got the question wrong, making you slightly giggle. Peter chucked, as did the rest of the class, at Flash's misplaced confidence. However, Peter wasn't laughing at Flash this time- he was laughing because you laughed. Peter wanted to cling on to any bit of you he could. He was glad Flash's terrible attempt to show off failed.

After a few more rounds, Peter traded off with another student. Peter didn't want to be like Flash and do a flashy show-off of his skills, but he did want to impress you.

Peter heard the first question- ringing in as soon as he could. He wasn't confident with his odds but gave a shaky answer, which was revealed to be correct.

Peter smiled slightly. When he glanced to the left, you were smiling at him, presumably because he aced the question. He smiled back at you, hoping this was some sort of connection. You were noticing him!

If that was what it took, he could do it. Peter answered every question he could, getting almost all right. He got a thumbs-up from you once after a question!

___

After practice ended, he was packing his bag to leave when you approached him. Peter felt his heart speeding up dramatically.

"Hey, Peter. Love the jacket," you started things off, making Peter smile and examine his jacket, vowing to wear it more often.

"Thank you. I... like your shirt. Um- you did good on your first day," Peter gave a tightlipped smile, trying to act normal.

"Thanks, but you were on fire! Like seriously, some of those questions were insane," you gushed, grinning the whole time.

"Oh, wow, uh, thank you!" Peter stuttered out, causing you to giggle. "You gave great answers, too!" He rushed to follow up.

"Yeah, about that... those were the bare minimum. I joined this club to help raise my grades. Clearly you know your stuff, so... I have the biggest favor to ask."

Peter raised his brows. "Uh, yeah, what's that?"

"So, it's OK if you say no because it's so random, but could you tutor me in some of the subjects covered here? I could really use the help, but again it's OK if y-"

"I'll do it," Peter agreed quickly, blushing at how eager he sounded. You grinned largely.

"Seriously? 'Cause I could pay you if that's necessary."

"Y/N, you don't have to pay anything. Honestly, I mean, it's the least I can do for the girl who defended me from Jose in 8th grade," Peter recalled a memory from their past, mentally punching himself for saying something that most likely meant nothing to her.

"You still remember that? Wow, I didn't know I could even make an impact like that," you said, surprised in a good way.

Peter decided to roll with it. "Uh, yeah, I mean, Jose was a jerk, so I was just glad someone stood up for me. So, uh, yeah," Peter awkwardly chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck.

You shrugged nonchalantly. "Anytime. But yeah, thank you so much for agreeing. When are you free to go over the material?"

Peter supposed one evening without Spider-Man wouldn't hurt. "Tonight," he said right away. "Um, like five?"

"Can do. At the library?"

"Absolutely."

"See you then, Peter. Thanks again," you waved at him as you left the class to go to your next.

___

"So, you're telling me that all you had to do was be nerdy, and she just came up to you?" MJ recounted Peter's story in a tone laced with disbelief.

"Yes! Seriously. If you didn't have to miss today's practice for your re-do test, you would've seen it! So, believe it or not, I've gotta get to the library soon and tutor Y/N," Peter said cockily, standing up from the barstool at the cafe MJ part-timed at.

MJ just rolled her eyes but gave a genuine smile. "Good luck. Don't screw it up."

"Thanks? I'll try not to."

With that, Peter slung his bag onto his back and left the shop, library-bound.

___

The library wasn't awfully busy that weekday, making it easy to find a table in a corner. Peter laid his books and notebooks out, realizing you wouldn't know where he was, nor did he have your number to text you.

Everything worked out, however, when you wandered into the back section he was sitting, looking lost. Your eyes lit up at the sight of him, making Peter's stomach churn in a good way.

You walked with a purpose over to the table, sitting your stuff down. "I was looking all over for you," you grinned, not meaning it in a guilt-tripping way.

Peter realized he actually had to reply instead of staying in a daydream. "Oh- yeah. I sat here and realized you might not be able to find me, but luckily you did."

"Yeah, it only took like, seven different aisles," you laughed before opening your notebook.

Peter couldn't tell if he was just nervous or if he just loved the sound of your laugh, but his heart raced.

"So, I was thinking... we could piggyback off what we did in practice today?"

"Sounds good. I'm sure whatever I learn will be good when you're teaching it," you said, laying your chin on the palm of your hand.

Peter could feel his face heat up. He ducked his head down to the textbook and chuckled. "Yeah... I- uh- just start in on page five right here."

For thirty minutes, Peter was able to impart some knowledge your way. After you two finished a chapter, you turned to Peter with a closed-mouth smile. "This has been really helpful, thank you."

Peter frowned. "You're done?"

You continued smiling. "Just for today, yeah. But I'm really hungry... do you wanna get something to eat?"

Peter perked up at the invitation to continue spending time together. "Yeah, I'd love to!" He said very excitedly, to which you just giggled.

"OK, c'mon. I'll show you this really good Thai place I like down the block."

You and Peter collected your things, exiting the library together to walk down the sidewalk to the restaurant of choice.

"So, you had that Stark Internship, right?"

"Yeah- still do, actually. I'm still just the young guy, though."

"Hey, they'll realize what a dedicated worker you are, and when they do, they'll have to give you more opportunities."

"You think so?"

"You seem like you have a great work ethic, Peter, so yeah, I do think so."

Peter just grinned, looking down at the sidewalk. You were making him nervous.

___

The restaurant you two entered was moderately nice for a casual New York City restaurant.

You both ordered at the counter and then sat at an empty table.

Peter wanted to try and flirt, but he knew he'd be super awkward and make things weird. Nevertheless, he still attempted to gain your favor.

"You caught on really fast with the Academic stuff. It was like you already knew it! So, I guess you're a natural."

You looked away and grinned. "Thank you. I- um- guess I just needed a few reminders, is all."

Peter cocked a brow, but their food was placed in front of them at that moment. The two ate, sharing conversation about middle school and how annoying some of their classes were now.

Somehow, the topic got moved on to Flash.

"You know Flash has a thing for you," Peter decided to throw bait into the water as the pair left the restaurant, being that they had finished their food.

You furrowed your brows. "Yeah, I know. We actually have two classes together- three counting Decathalon now. He hits on me every day. It gets tiring really fast."

"What?" Peter exclaimed in fake shock. "You don't appreciate all his futile attempts to be a womanizer?"

You laughed and shook your head. "Crazy, right? I might be the only one who doesn't. I just- I just already have my eyes on someone else."

"Oh," Peter mumbled aloud, regretting how disappointed he sounded. "Um... is it weird to ask-"

"Who it is?" you cut him off. "Yeah, I was hoping you would've guessed by now," you stopped walking, Peter doing the same, peering at you with confusion.

"I-I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to be invasive. I-"

"It's you, Peter. I've been trying to flirt with you and give you hints, hoping you'd make a move," you chuckled to fill the air.

"Oh... Oh!" Peter put a hand to his chest. "You," he pointed at you, then back at himself. "Like me?"

"Yes!" You desperately hoped he felt the same.

"I- woah. I really like you too, Y/N," Peter sputtered out.

"Really? Because I was starting to think my plan failed."

"Plan?"

"You said it yourself in the restaurant... I already knew that stuff we were learning. I don't need tutoring. I just decided to ask you so... I dunno," you looked away embarrassed. "So we could do something outside of school."

When you looked back up, Peter was grinning widely. "You made a plan just to be with me?"

You nodded.

"That's- wow. I was trying to drop hints all day too, but I suck at anything flirting-wise. I was just excited you kept asking to do stuff, but you planned this all along. You made the dominoes fall until we were here."

"I didn't know this would be how I confessed, but yeah. I don't need tutoring when I'm the mastermind," you joked and shrugged.

"Maybe it's my turn to do something..." Peter looked into your eyes, searching your face. "Can I kiss you?"

You leaned in, letting that be your answer. His lips met yours as you two kissed in the darkening evening. The cool Queens air hit the side of your face as you pulled away, catching your breath.

"Was that good? Because I'm definitely not an expert."

You just giggled. "Yes, it was great, Peter."

"Can I walk you home?" Peter pursed his lips, waiting for an answer.

You nodded and thanked him graciously with another kiss. With that, you two set off toward your apartment as the street lights flickered on in the chilled air.

___

"...And then we kissed. Boom! In your face!"

MJ rolled her eyes and laughed while Ned clapped Peter on the back.

"Dude! You got a girlfriend!"

Peter chuckled at Ned's enthusiasm. Peter's phone dinged at that moment. It was a text from you.

"Gotta go, guys. Peter has a second date today with Y/N."

"Did you just refer to yourself in the third person?"

"Yep, deal with it!" Peter called, already out the door of the cafe.

___

You were waiting at the subway station. Peter jogged down the stairs, joining you to enter the train and go ice skating.

You reached your hand out, Peter taking it as you two entered the train.

It was only the second date, but you knew Peter was going to make you happy. You simply looked up at Peter, smiling, which he returned with his signature grin.

The train's doors shut, and you two were carried away down the tracks, ready for what was to come.

#mcu peter x reader #peter parker x female reader #peter parker x reader #mcu peter parker #tom holland peter parker #tom holland #tom holland x reader #fluff #first kiss #peter is oblivious #flash thompson #mj watson #ned leeds #fanfic #fanfiction #cross posted on ao3 #Spotify

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n3xii · 6 months

Text

Rest of October- what will happen?

Hey, havent done a pick a card in a while, today's post is about the remaining days of October, the general energy coming towards you and what you can expect in money, relationships, etc. relationships can pertain to any relationship, romantic or friendships or familial it doesnt matter. Close your eyes and let your intuition guide you to your sweater.

PILE ONE

general- justice reversed, 5 of cups reversed

I feel like the next 15 or so days is about recovering from something unfair, you may have delt with dishonesty or inconsistent or otherwise shitty behavior from someone recently and the next few days are about getting over it essentially. This doesnt mean that your feelings arent valid however, it just means you're realizing that it's not worth it to remain upset over something you can't control, you're in the phase of learning from the situaiton instead of being bitter about it.

relationships- queen of pentacles reversed, 3 of wands reversed

this message can pertain to any relationship in your life that resonates with this, but i feel like this is speaking to a situation where setbacks and delays are occurring due to smothering, over protectiveness and control issues. the next 15 days needs to focus on giving people space (if you're the one being like this) or setting boundaries with the person in your life who is trying to restrict you. I think this over protective, contorlling comes from a place of love and nurturing, but ultimately leads to blockages in the relationship. the 3 of wands is a card about personal development and growth, and this person who is trying to ''protect' you is hindering your growth by being nurturing to an excessive point. this could be you to someone else, this could be a parent, it could be your partner, your boss, it could be anyone. this excessive protectiveness and controlling nature is hindering personal development.

career/money- 4 of cups, page of wands reversed

you're feeling bored and uninspired with your job, things in this sector of your life feel dull and stagant and I think you're craving somehting new and exciting. Consider finding a new position at your job or a new job entirely if possible. the page of wands is a person who needs room to grow and things to explore in order to feel stimulated- but im seeing you feel stagnant because that space to grow isnt there. doing the same shit everyday and not being able to learn new skills and try new roles is killing your spirit. learning a new skill or trade may be a good option for you as well.

PILE TWO

general- the sun, ace of wands

the next 15 days is about happiness and motivation. I think this is pointing to feeling in a good mood, feeling inspired and energetic about your actions, I think you could be trying something new or learning something new and it has you feeling optimistic about the possiblities this new skill, knowledge etc can give you.

relationships- judgement, high priestess reversed

you're gonna have to make an assessment or judgement call when it comes to your connection with someone and this will require you to actually listen to your inner voice. Relying on the wisdom and opinions of other people may be tempting but your intuition already has all the answers there for you, you just have to access them through trusting yourself. You can trust your own evaluations and decisions when it comes to your relationships, you know more than you think.

career/money- page of pentacles reversed, 4 of pentacles reversed

you're being impractical and reckless with your money/resources and i think it stems partially from impatience. saving money may be annoying but the longterm rewards of what you can afford will be well worth it. in the next 15 days, resist the urge to make impulse purchases just because you feel like it. be patient and keep your short term goals in mind when its come to how you spend your money, does it align with your budget or do you even have a budget?

PILE THREE

general- 7 of swords reversed, the chariot reversed

I think the rest of October is about you needing to be honest about the direction of your life and how you've contributed to where you are right now. I think you've been deceiving yourself and making yourself feel powerless, unmotivated and stagnant. lies have kept you from seeing your own potential and ability to take back control over your life, the chariot reversed is the energy of being in the backseat of the car, being controlled by wherever the car takes you. but the truth is you're the one in control. Breaking past self deception will help you realize how much willpower and direction you actually have.

relationships- the fool reversed and the ace of pentacles

I think when it comes to romance you wont be feeling particularly spontaneous in the next 2 weeks or so, and more focused on the matieral, finance or practical sector of your life. if not that, you're just not in the mood for games, you want someone who is gonna bring action to their words and not unpredictability. your patience seems low for people in your life who arent dependable or reliable.

money/career- strength reversed, queen of wands

when it comes to career, I think you're in this energy of trying to increase your self confidence and esteem in order to feel more comfortable in the spotlight, more comfortable in leveling up your responsibilities and more deserving of opportunities outisde of your comfort zone.

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ddejavvu · 1 year

Note

hiiii

soulmate au with Aaron Hotchner in which your scars show up on each other’s bodies?

love you 🤍🤍

today is multiverse monday! send me any au you can think of :)

love you too my darling <3

You'd almost fallen over before your shower this morning. There was no warning, no pain in the night, you'd gone to sleep with a bare torso and woken up with scars. Nine of them, dotted around your abdomen like polka dots, but much less whimsical and far more sinister. They warp and glisten as you twist in the mirror, and you wonder how they look on whoever was unfortunate enough to receive them. While you only got the end result, surely wounds like this hadn't healed all too well on the actual victim.

Your phone rings, and you realized you've spent ten minutes surveying your new body.

"Hello?"

"Hey," Emily's on the other line, "I know you're not coming in for a bit, but can you call Hotch? He's not answering, and it's really weird for him to withdraw like this. I've gotta go, we've got a case, but I'll fill you in when you get here."

"Oh! Uh, yeah," You nod, hastily navigating your way to Hotch's contact before she hangs up so that you don't forget, "Bye, Em."

"Bye," You hear the click of the phone, then she's gone. You try to forget about your new scars, hoping that they weren't fatal to a victim. Bearing the scars of an attack that killed your soulmate would be emotional torture on you.

The line rings as you dial Aaron's number, but he doesn't pick up. His overly formal voicemail 'greets' you, and your voice is slightly shaky as you shake out your hair in preparation to wash it in the shower.

"Hey, Hotch," You tuck the phone to your ear, tugging off your sock as you speak, "Prentiss asked me to call you, she said you didn't pick up when she called, either. I, uh- I hope everything's alright, she says we've got a case. Are you going to be in later? Just- let us know, okay? See you then."

You're minorly worried about Hotch. You ponder in the shower, soaping up your hair and wincing as you feel the tender skin of your scars burn in the hot water, He's never late. Never. And he's never MIA either, completely detached from his phone and out of contact. You hope for his sake that he's just sleeping in, or maybe he's taken a vacation you haven't heard about.

Fortunately for you, a stalking case makes one hell of a distraction. Hotch's presence is definitely missed during the investigation, but Rossi and Morgan trade off authority, and you function fine without him. You're just debating a curious call to Strauss about him when you get one from Emily, and you pick up assuming she's got a new lead.

"Y/N," She pants, and you're instantly worried, "It's- it's Hotch. He's hurt, he-" Your eyes widen, and your stomach drops as she speaks, "He's been stabbed, nine times."

"In the torso," You breathe, nearly crushing the phone in your grip, "Emily, get him to a hospital, now. He- he has to be okay."

"Yeah, yeah, I- How... how did you know where he got stabbed?" She trails off, and you have two options. Reveal yourself as his soulmate, or implicate that you'd stabbed him yourself."

"Uh, lucky guess." You throw a protective hand over your stomach, real slick, "Just- I'll meet you there, okay? Don't you dare let him die on me, Prentiss."

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satoshi-mochida · 4 months

Text

Revue Starlight: El Dorado launches August 8

Gematsu Source

(Possible spoilers for Revue Starlight below)

Visual novel Revue Starlight: El Dorado will launch for Switch and PC via Steam on August 8, publisher Bushiroad Games and developer Frontwing announced. It will support English, Japanese, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese language options.

In Japan, it will be priced at 3,980 yen for the physical standard edition, 14,980 yen for the Starlight Edition, and 39,800 yen for the Super Starlight Edition. The digital standard edition will cost 3,300 yen on Switch, with the PC price still to be determined.

The contents of each edition are as follows:

Standard Edition

A copy of the game

Weiβ Schwarz PR card

Raffle ticket for the stage to be performed in November 2024

Starlight Edition

A copy of the game

Blu-ray disc of Revue Starlight Re LIVE Reading Theatre Part 4 El Dorado – Includes performances of the reading stage performed on December 16 and 17

Weiβ Schwarz PR card

Raffle ticket for the stage to be performed in November 2024

Super Starlight Edition (limited to 999 copies, sold via Bushiroad Online Store raffles)

A copy of the game

Copy of original drawings with serial numbers

Blu-ray disc of Revue Starlight Re LIVE Reading Theatre Part 4 El Dorado – Includes performances of the reading stage performed on December 16 and 17

Weiβ Schwarz PR card

Raffle ticket for the stage to be performed in November 2024

And here is an overview of the game, via its official website:

About

The vast ocean sings to me. I must go and conquer it! Our last summer at Seisho Music Academy… With the 101st Seisho Festival “Starlight” coming up, we the students of the 99th class take up the challenge to perform “El Dorado,” an oceanic epic that Japan is proud of, for our summer performance. The exiled admiral, Salvatore Guglie. The heir to a royal Spanish family, Alejandro Javier Cavallero Cruz. Who will “we” choose… between the “two protagonists” of this story?

Characters

Karen Aijo – “No matter what waters I have to cross, I will… definitely reach you!” A Stage Girl who traded fates with her childhood friend Hikari to “stand on that stage together someday,” after being entranced by the stage play “Starlight” she watched as a child. She gave her all in performing “Starlight” with Hikari, and now begins to walk towards the “next stage” by herself.

Hikari Kagura – “I don’t need destiny or oaths anymore!” A Stage Girl who has loved stage plays since she was a child, and was led into the world of stage plays after watching “Starlight” with Karen. After performing the “fated stage play” with Karen, she has currently returned to studying at London’s Royal Institute of Dramatic Arts. She is striving towards becoming a stage actress while dreaming of the day she reunites with Karen on the stage.

Maya Tendo – “May my revenge shine beautifully as my fuel.” She is the top student at Seisho Music Academy. A thoroughbred, with both parents being prominent figures in the world of theater. Despite overflowing talent in acting, singing, and dancing, she is a proudly independent Stage Girl who has never become conceited and continues to aim to be the best. Aiming to join the New National First Theater Troupe, she imposes strict lessons on herself even today. Maya-sama continues to be Maya-sama even in her third year.

Junna Hoshimi – “I myself emit glimmering lights… A lighthouse star on the Evening Star!” A Stage Girl who keeps taking on stage plays with her vast amount of reading and solid knowledge, she is the most talented girl since the inception of Seisho Music Academy. She was once desperate to catch up with the frontrunners of the scene, but now aims to be a “dazzling protagonist” and sets her eyes far ahead in her own future. She is the former 99th Student Council President of Seisho Music Academy.

Mahiru Tsuyuzaki – “I will decide my own drama… burning myself like the Sun!” Karen and Hikari’s roommate. She is a cheerful Stage Girl with a vast range of expressiveness, and is looked up to by her juniors, but can get extraordinarily scary when angered. She gave Hikari a push of motivation and sent her on her way to share the fated stage play with Karen. She aims to join the New National First Theater Troupe, in order to become a Star who brings smiles to everyone.

Nana Daiba – “I’ll… go slicing for a bit.” She is Junna’s roommate, and at the same time, a Stage Girl with extraordinary talent in both performing and stage creation. She often has the chance to bake together with Mahiru, and she is affectionately nicknamed “Banana.” She loves everyone who helps to create the stage together, and that is the reason why she sometimes shows a ruthless side.

Claudine Saijo – “Thanks to you and my unjustified resentment!” She is a former child actress who has starred in numerous stage plays and movies from a young age. A pure-hearted and highly experienced Stage Girl who knows the ropes of a stage play. Although she honed her skills against Maya as her greatest rival, she returned to her roots in France after graduation and is slated to join a revue in Paris.

Futaba Isurugi – “I don’t want to see a version of you who’s good-mannered and runs neatly!” Unmatched when it comes to sword fights and action. She is a Stage Girl with great expressive power hidden in her small frame. She and Kaoruko have been stuck together since young. They both enrolled in the same school, and she drives them both to and from school on her motorbike. However, she has decided to walk her own path by accepting the challenge of the New National First Theater Troupe, and has entrusted her beloved bike to Kaoruko.

Kaoruko Hanayagi – “A competitive performance between the top stars of the Senka-ryu School and New National… I’d like such a stage play, someday.” The granddaughter of the head of the family that runs the Senka-ryu School of Japanese Dance. After graduation, she returned to Kyoto. She is a Stage Girl who lives a life of history and traditions, and will succeed the name of the 12th Head of Family, “Suisen Hanayagi.” After a huge quarrel, she accepts Futaba’s chosen path and sends her on her way. She is currently considering what to do with the motorbike that Futaba left behind with her, while grumbling that it is “a bother.”

Kiriko Masai and Shion Amemiya – “We are from the Stage Play Creation Program, in 99th Class Group B!” “In order to create an even stronger, even better Position Zero, become even greedier!” From the 99th Class Group B Stage Play Creation Program. Amemiya writes scripts with all her body and soul, while Masai flutters around controlling the stage. The two are also roommates. They stand at the forefront of Group B, having worked on many of the 99th Class’s stage plays, taking on hardships even while clashing and arguing. Before their final summer in the exchange program, they challenge making a stage play with a certain resolve in their hearts.

Judy Knightley – “If you seek a new universe… tear apart your wailing, and overcome the sea of blood!” A Stage Girl who boasts having top grades at London’s Royal Institute of Dramatic Arts, a school that is renowned for being the hardest in the world to get into. With outstanding acting skills and expressiveness that has been lauded even in the British theater world, she is a professional stage actress with a promising future. She has arrived at Seisho Music Academy for an exchange program, and stands in the way of the students in the 99th Class with her overwhelming brilliance.

[Update: Added the opening movie.]

youtube

#Revue Starlight: El Dorado #Revue Starlight #Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight #Bushiroad Games #Bushiroad #Frontwing #visual novel #Gematsu #Hoping for a localization announcement #Since it has an English option maybe it will come to the overseas eShops digitally?#Youtube

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ryz-market · 9 months

Text

📢 How should risk management be managed in trading ❓

✅ Managing Risk Management in Trading ❗

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fourthwingfan · 2 months

Text

Madness - Chapter 3

Hi guys! With this chapter we're finally at Basgiath. From this point it will be more exciting, at least I hope so. Aaaand there are some Liam and Garrick moment. Enjoy it :)

Warning: It's a war college, you know the drill

Blue dragons descend from the extraordinary Gormfaileas line. Known for their formidable size, they are the most ruthless, especially in the case of the rare Blue Daggertail, whose knifelike spikes at the tip of their tail can disembowel an enemy with one flick.

– Colonel Kaori’s Field Guide to Dragonkind

If Jack wants to kill me, he needs to get in line. Besides, I have a feeling Xaden Riorson is going to beat him to it.

“Not today,” I respond to Jack, the hilt of my dagger solid in my hand, and I somehow manage to suppress a shudder in disgust as he leans over and breathes in. He’s scenting me like a fucking dog. Then he scoffs and walks off into the crowd of celebrating cadets and riders that’s gathered in the sizable courtyard of the citadel.

It’s still early, probably around nine, but already I see there aren’t as many cadets as there were candidates ahead of us in line. Based on the overwhelming presence of leather, both the second- and third-years are here as well, taking stock of the new cadets.

The rain eases into a drizzle, as if it had only come to make the hardest test of my life even harder…but I did it. We did it.

We’re alive.

I made it.

“Vi, we did it. It’s over.” I turn to her with a relieved laugh.

“Yeah, you’re right.” And I saw her body begins to tremble. She takes a step and I see her sway a little.

“Come on, we need to explore this fantastic place.” I try to distract the people around us in hope they won’t notice Violet’s condition. I grab her arm as if I want to hurry her, when in reality I only want to support her.

“I think you made an enemy there,” the redhead says, casually shifting the lethal crossbow she wears strapped along her shoulder. She glances at us over the scroll with a shrewd look in her hazel eyes as she looks me up and down. “I’d watch your back with that one if I were you.”

I nod. I know that we will become irresistable targets.

Shit, I knew it before the Parapet, it’s just now it feels all too real. As if I make a mistake then Violet’s or my life is over. I can manage myself quite decently, but I grew up with Vi, and I really like her despite her naive way of thinking. I mean she wanted to be a scribe for her whole life and now she have to watch her back for 24/7. I feel sorry for her. My only option was to be a rider, but I wanted to be a rider, unlike her.

The next candidate approaches from the Parapet as someone grips Violet’s shoulders and spins her around.

My dagger is halfway up when I realize it’s Rhiannon.

“We made it!” She grins at us.

“We made it.” Repeats Vi with a forced smile, that I know all too well.

I manage to sheath my dagger at my ribs, with my other hand still holding up Violet.

Now that we’re here, as cadets, can we trust her? Probably yes, but we’ll see it.

“I can’t thank you enough. There were at least three times I would have fallen off if you hadn’t helped me. You were right - those soles were slick as shit. Have you seen the people around here? I swear I just saw a second-year with pink streaks in her hair, and one guy has dragon scales tattooed up his entire biceps.”

“Conformity is for the infantry,” I say as she loops her arm through Violets and tugs us along toward the crowd.

Damn it. Violet surely hit her knee when she tripped on the stones. I can feel her leaning on me more.

“Speaking of which,” she says, glancing down. “We need to trade boots. There’s a bench-“

A tall figure in a pristine black uniform steps out of the crowd, charging toward us, and Violet stumbles into his chest.

“Violet?” He asks.

Fuck that’s Dain Aetos.

I was hoping to see him much, much later.

Well, truthfully…never.

Violet looks like a lovesick puppy. Smiling… and that’s a blush?

Gods help me.

I really don’t like Aetos. Violet thinks that he’s a charming and kind, good man, but I doubt that. There’s something in his eyes that screams he wants to know all of your secrets. As if he wants to open your skull and drag out every dirty little secret that you own. I believe that he will betray every single one of us if his father gave him the order.

“What the hell are you doing here?” He barks, the shock in his eyes transforming to something deadly.

“Dain. It’s good to see you.” I greet him in a sweet voice.

In this moment Violet’s knees gives out and I had to use both of my arms to keep her up.

“Damn it, Violet” he mutters, hauling her back on her feet. With one hand on her back and the other under her elbow, he quickly guides us away from the crowd and into an alcove in the wall, close to the first defensive turret of the citadel. It’s a shady, hidden spot with a hard wooden bench, which he sits Violet on.

“I’m going to be sick.” She says.

“Just breathe Vi, you’re going to be okay.” I try to reassure her.

“Head between your knees,” Dain orders in a harsh tone as he starts to rub circles on her back. “It’s the adrenaline. Give it a minute and it’ll pass.” I hear approaching footsteps on the gravel. “Who the hell are you?”

“I’m Rhiannon. I’m Aelin’s and Violet’s…friend.”

“Listen to me, Rihannon. Violet is fine,” he commands. “And if anyone asks, then you tell them exactly what I said, that it’s just the adrenaline working out of her system. Understand?”

“It’s no one’s business what’s going on with Violet” I hiss at him sharply.

“Agree, so I wouldn’t say shit.” Rhiannon backs me up.

“You’d better mean that,” he warns us.

“Fuck off Dain. You know that I care about Violet. You don’t have to play the boss here.” I grimace.

“I’m a second-year rider, cadet” he growls.

“I don’t give a shit if it’s about Violet. Besides it’s just us here, who will know if I don’t show you the respect you deserve?” I ask him with a smile.

“No one can see you here Vi, so take your time,” Dain says softly.

He’s ignoring me. That’s fine with me.

“Because puking my guts up after surviving the Parapet and the asshole who wanted to throw me off it would be considered weak.” Violet rises slowly, sitting upright.

“Exactly,” he answers. “Are you hurt?”

“My knee is sore,” she whispers.

“That’s all? You’re sure?” His hands run down on Vi’s sides. “Are you wearing daggers?”

“Three at my ribs and one in my boot.”

“And she knows how to use them.” I butt in.

“Huh.” He looks at me as if he want to say something then his gaze slides to my boots then to Rihannon’s. “Get your boots switched. You two look ridiculous. Vi, do you trust this one?” He nods toward Rhiannon.

“Ridiculous my ass.” I mutter then I take off my left boot to switch back with Rhiannon. My darling comfy boots. “And it’s her and not this.” I add helpfully.

Vi snickers and nods.

“All right.” Dain turns toward us. There are sheats at the sides of his leathers, too, but there are daggers in each of them. “I’m Dain Aetos, and I’m the leader for Second Squad, Flame Section, Second Wing.”

Wow. A squad leader? I wonder how can he managed to become one. He’s an ass. But that means I better watch him.

The highest rank among the cadets in the quadrant are wingleader and section leader. Both positions are held by elite third-years. Second-years can rise to squad leaders, but only if they’re exceptional. Everyone else is simply a cadet before Threshing - when the dragons choose who they will bond - and a rider after. People die too often around here to hand out ranks prematurely.

“Parapet should be over in the next couple of hours, depending on how fast the candidates cross or fall. Go find the redhead with the roll - she’s usually carrying a crossbow - and tell her that Dain Aetos put both of you and Violet Sorrengail into his squad. If she questions you, tell her she owes me from saving her ass at Threshing last year. I’ll bring Violet back to the courtyard shortly.”

“Wait! Where are you taking her?” I ask suddenly.

“It’s none of you business cadet Melgren.”

“Aelin, just go. I’ll be fine with Dain.” Violet says, trying to ease my suspicion.

I glance at her and Rhiannon.

“Go before someone sees us,” Dain barks.

“Shit. Fine.”

I say then Rhiannon and I are trying to find the woman Dain mentioned. It’s not an easy job with so many people gathering here.

“Look, there.” Rhiannon points toward the other side of the courtyard.

“Hey, there.” Rhiannon greets the redhead woman as we approach her.

“What do you want?” She eyes us suspiciously.

“Dain Aetos sent us to told you that he wants both of us and Violet Sorrengail in his squad.” Continues Rhiannon

“Dain? Why would he do that?”

“Because he’s a fucking teddy bear at heart.” I said sarcastically.

“She’s just kidding.” Rhiannon interrupts me, and elbows me in the ribs. “He told us to tell you that you owe him for Threshing.”

“Fine. I can put you and cadet Sorrengail in his squad, but not Melgren. I received instructions from a superior about her.”

“Who gave these ’instructions’?” I ask her.

“I can’t tell. Now I’ll go, I don’t have time for chatting you.” Leaves us the woman.

“Higher ranking than Dain? Do you have an idea who gave that order?” She asks curiously.

“No, I don’t.” I say. I mean I have ideas but I don’t know for sure. “Let’s split up. I want to observe the other cadets.”

“Well then see ya later.”

I walk to a spot where I can see everyone in the courtyard and then I lean against the wall. There’s more and more people. Surely we will be over a couple of hundreds cadets this year. I mused in myself when a light blonde man approached me.

“Hi. Why are you so far away from everyone?” He asks.

“I don’t need friends or whatever so go away.” I say sharply.

“Good. I just wanted to find a quiet corner.” He answers with a smile.

“Then try to find it elsewhere.” I snap back at him.

I don’t want to make friends or get acquainted with the other cadets. Most of them are going to die, and if I have to kill one of them to save our lives, I don’t want to hesitate. But why is this man staying here with me? It’s not like that I was kind to him. Actually I was a real bitch. So what does he want?

I glance at him at the corner of my eyes. He’s tall, has light blonde hair and blue eyes. Quite handsome. He shifted his weight and now I can see his other arm. The dark lines in his skin. A rebellion relic.

“My name is Liam Mairi.” He says turning fully to me. “ And you? Or should I call you Snappy?”

“Don’t you dare!” I glare at him. “I’m Aelin Melgren.”

“Melgren?” He asks “Then I think you know what is this.” He points to his arm with the relic.

“Yeah, so what?” I ask.

“It does not bother you?” He lifts his brows.

“Why would it? It’s not like you did something to deserve it.” I say silently looking at his arm.

“I like you Melgren. You can be my friend.” He smiles at me.

“Who said I want to be your friend?” I narrow my eyes.

“Then I will be your friend. Snappy.” Liam winks at me.

“This is the most ridiculous nickname I’ve ever heard.” I hiss at him. “I have a name you know.”

“Liam. I’ve been looking for you everywhere.” I hear a voice calling to Liam. “What are you doing here?”

“I made a friend.” He answers smiling.

“I already said that I don’t need friends.” I roll my eyes at him.

“And I said that I will be your friend. You’re stuck with me.” Then he turns to the man in front of us. “She’s Aelin Melgren, she doesn’t know how to behave properly, and a little bit snappy, but that’s fine.”

“Melgren?” The man asks in front of me.

“Yeah, so what? You’ve got a problem?” I grumble with raised eyebrows. I’m really bored that everybody asks the same questions. All the time. Melgren? That Melgren? General Melgren’s daughter? It’s really tiring. I sigh.

“No. It’s just surprising that he sent his own daughter to this death roll school.”

“Well it clearly shows that you don’t know him.” I laugh bitterly. “And who the hell are you?” I look at him properly for the first time since he’s here.

The first thing that I notice are his eyes. They has a beatiful hazel color, with dark curly hair that looks really, really soft. Oh and he’s fucking tall. And I saw a rebellion relic on his arm too. That explains why they know each other.

And what is it with this school? Only handsome men attends it? God, the world is soo cruel.

“I’m Garrick Tavis.” He nods at me, then turns to Liam. “You should join the crowd, it will starts soon.” With that said he walks away without sparing a glance at me.

“Let’s go Aelin.” Liam says while looking at me, waiting to join the other cadets.

“Fiinee.” I sigh then follow him.

The clouds are breaking, and the drizzle is burning off as the gravel crunches beneath my feet on my way toward the riders and cadets. The massive courtyard is shaped like an angular teardrop, the rounded end is formed by a giant outer wall at least ten feet thick. Along the sides are stone halls. I know the four-story building carved into the mountain with the rounded end is for academics, and the one on the right, towering over the cliff, is the dorms. The imposing rotunda linking the two buildings also serves as the entrance to the gathering hall, commons, and a library behind it. There’s stone dais on the right side of the Parapet, occupied by two uniformed men I recognize as the commandant and executive commandant, both in full military dress, their medals winking in the sunlight. Then finally the last of the cadets walks into the courtyard, followed by the riders from the other turret.

Xaden is among them. It’s not just his height that makes him stand out in this crowd but the way the other riders all seem to move around him, like he’s a shark and they’re all fish giving him a wide berth. For a second, I can’t help but wonder what his signet is, the unique power from the bond with his dragon, and if that’s why even the third-years seem to scurry out of his way as he strides up to the dais with lethal grace. There are ten of them in total up there now, and from the way Commandant Panchek moves to the front, facing us seems that we’re about to start.

“Three hundred and one of you have survived the Parapet to become cadets today” Commandant Panchek starts with a politician’s smile, gesturing to us.

“The guy has always talked with his hands.” I whisper to Liam. He doesn’t answer just gives me a look which I know is meant to silence me. It’s a shame because I really like to comment these things. “Good job. Sixty-seven did not.”

„As the Codex says, now you begin the true crucible!” Panchek shouts, his voice carrying over the five hundred of us that I estimate are in this courtyard. „You will be tested by your superiors, hunted by your peers, and guided by your instincts. If you survive to Threshing, and if you are chosen, you will be riders. Then we’ll see how many of you make it to graduation.”

„Your instructors will teach you,” Panchek promises, his hand sweeping to the line of professors standing at the doors to the academic wing. „It’s up to you how well you learn.” He swings his pointer finger at us. „Discipline falls to your units, and your wingleader is the last word. If I have to get involved…” A slow, sinister smile spreads across his face. „You don’t want me involved.”

„With that said, I’ll leave you to your wingleaders. My best advice? Don’t die.” He walks off the dais with the executive commandant, leaving only the riders on the stone stage.

A brunette woman with wide shoulders and a scarred sneer stalks forward, the silver spikes on the shoulder of her uniform flashing in the sunlight. „I’m Nyra, the senior wingleader of the quadrant and the head od the First Wing. Section leaders and squad leaders, take your positions now.”

People starts pushing past us until there are about fifty people in front of us, spaced out in formation.

„First Squad! Claw Section! First Wing!” Nyra calls out.

A man closer to the dais raises his hand.

„Cadets, when your name is called, take up formation behind your squad leader” Nyra instructs.

The redhead with the crossbow and roll steps forward and begins calling names. One by one, cadets move from the crowd to the formation, and I keep count, making snap judgments based off clothing and arrogance. It looks like each squad will have about fifteen or sixteen people in it.

Jake is called into the Flame Section of First Wing.

Rhiannon and Violet are both called to Second Squad, Flame Section, Second Wing. Good, at least they together. Now which wing I will be in?

„Second Squad, Tail Section, Fourth Wing.” the redhead continues.

„Liam Mairi” He grins at me, then goes to join his squad.

„Aelin Melgren” It seems that I have no luck today, I sigh and the sorting continue.

„Hi Snappy. It’s good to see you can’t let me go.” Liam winks

„Shut up. It’s not like it was my choice” I grumble. But I admit that it could be worse.

We’re silent as the rest of the cadets are called. The sun is out in full now, beating into my leathers and scorching my skin.

When the order sounds, we all turn to face the dais. I try to keep my gaze on the roll-keeper, but my eyes jerk right like the traitors they are, and my pulse leaps.

Xaden watches me with a cold, calculating look that feels like he’s plotting my death from where he stands as the wingleader for Fourth Wing.

As I said no luck today. Shit. He’s my wingleader. And he’s still handsome.

I lift my chin.

He cocks his scarred eyebrow. Then he turns his attention to Violet and he says something to Second Wing’s wingleader, and then every wingleader joins in on what’s obviously a heated discussion.

Finally, the wingleaders turn around to face us, and the slight tilt to Xaden’s lips makes me instantly queasy.

„Dain Aetos, you and your squad will switch with Aura Beinhaven’s” Nyra orders.

Wait. What? Who is Aura Beinhaven?

Dain nods, then turns to his squad. „Follow me.” He says it once, then strides through formation. They’re moving to Fourth Wing. My wing. Xaden’s wing.

„Shiit, it gets better and better” I murmur.

There’s a fucking smirk on Xaden’s arrogant, and handsome face.

Then it clicks.

We’re entirely at his mercy, a subordinate in his chain of command. He can punish us however he likes for the slightest infraction, even imaginary ones.

Nyra looks at Xaden as she finishes assingments, and he nods, stepping forward and finally breaking our staring contest.

„You’re all cadets now.” Xaden’s voice carries out over the courtyard, stronger than the others. „Take a look at your squad. These are the only people guaranteed by Codex not to kill you. But just because they can’t end your life doesn’t mean others won’t. You want a dragon? Earn one.”

Most of the others cheer, but I keep my mouth shut. Liam as well.

Xaden’s eyes find mine, and my stomach clenches before he looks away. „And I bet you feel pretty badass right now, don’t you, first-years?”

More cheers.

„You feel invincible after the Parapet, don’t you?” Xaden shouts. „You think you’re untouchable! You’re on the way to becoming the elite! The few! The chosen!”

„Man, he completly lost it.” I facepalmed.

„Shh.” Hisses at me Liam.

„What? It’s true.” I blink confusedly.

„Maybe, but it’s not the right time to talk about this way for your wingleader.” He explains and I shrug. Whatever.

Another round of cheers goes up with each declaration, louder and louder.

No. That’s not just cheering, it’s the sound of wings betaing the air into submission.

Oh. My. God. They’re magnificent.

Just when I think they’re about to fly overhead, they pitch vertically, whip the air with their huge semitranslucent wings, and stop, the gusts of wing-made wind so powerful that I nearly stagger backward as they land on the outer semicircular wall. Their chest scales ripple with movement, and their razor-sharp talons dig into the edge of the wall on either side. Now I understand why the walls are ten feet thick. It’s not a barrier. The edge of the fortress is a damned perch.

A few cadets scream.

Guess everyone wants to be a dragon rider until they’re actually twenty feet away from one.

Steam blasts my face as the navy-blue one directly in front of me exhales through its wide nostrils. Its glistening blure horns rise above its head in an elegant, lethal sweep, and its wings flare momentarily before tucking in, the tip of their top joint crowned by a single fierce talon. Beautiful.

Their tails are just as fatal, but I can’t see them at this angle or even tell which breed of dragon each is without that clue.

All are deadly.

There are three dragons in various shades of red, two shades of green – like Tein, Mira’s dragon – one brown, one orange and the enermous navy one ahead of me. They’re all massive, overshadowing the structure of the citadel as they narrow their golden eyes at us in absolute judgment.

If they didn’t need us puny humans to develop signet abilities from bonding and weave the protective wards they power around Navarre, I’m pretty sure they’d eat us all and be done. But they like protecting the Vale – the valley behind Basgiath the dragons call home – from merciless gryphons, and we like living, so here we are in the most unlikely partnerships.

A cadet bolts out of Third Wing, screaming as he makes a run for the stone keep behind us. We all turn to look as he sprints for the giant arched door at the center. I can almost see the words carved into the arch from here, but I already know them by heart. A dragon without its rider is a tragedy. A rider without their dragon is dead.

Once bonded, riders can’t live without their dragons, but most dragons can live just fine after us. It’s why they choose carefully, so they’re not humiliated by picking a coward, not that a dragon would ever admit to making a mistake.

The red dragon on the left opens its vast mouth, revealing teeth as big as I am. That jaw could crush me if it wanted, like a grape. Fire erupts along its tounge, then shoots outward in a macabre blaze toward the fleeing cadet.

He’s a pile of ash on the gravel before he can even make it to the shadow of the keep.

Sixty-eight dead.

Heat from the flames blasts the side of my face as I jerk my attention forward. If anyone else runs and is likewise executed, I won’t watch it. More screaming sounds around me.

There are two more gusts of heat, one to my left and then another to my right.

Make that seventy.

The navy dragon seems to tilt its head at me, as if its narrowed golden eyes can see straight through me.

I force my shoulders back and lift my chin.

The dragon blinks, which might be a sign of approval, or boredom, and looks away.

„Anyone else feel like changing their mind?” Xaden shouts, scanning the remaining rows of cadets with the same shrewd gaze of the navy-blue dragon behind him. „No? Excellent. Roughly half of you will be dead by this time next summer.” The formation is silent except for a few untimely sobs from my left. „A third of you again the year after that, and the same your last year. No one cares who your mommy or daddy is here. Even King Tauri’s second son died during his Threshing. So tell me again? Do you feel invincible now that you’ve made it into the Riders Quadrant? Untouchable? Elite?”

No one cheers.

Another blast of heat rushes – this time directly at my face – and every muscle in my body clenches. But it’s not flames…just steam, and it blows back my hair as the dragons finish their simultaneous exhale.

They want us scared. Mission accomplished.

„Because you’re not untouchable or special to them.” Xaden points toward the navy dragon and leans forward slightly, like he’s letting us in on a secret as we lock eyes. „To them, you’re just the prey.”

#fourth wing #violet sorrengail #liam mairi #fourth wing x reader #xaden x reader #xaden riorson x reader #xaden riorson #garrick tavis #fanfiction #fourth wing fanfic #oc #the fourth wing

50 notes · View notes

sappymix1 · 4 months

Note

Okay writing prompt -> office au dnf where George is the front desk worker and Dream is in sales and they meetup in the break room and always flirt

hi anon so funny thing it did not occur to me that you meant office au as in the show the office until I turned on the tv earlier today and it was there lmao. but anyway here is 1.3k words of dnfies working for a company that supplies textbooks to high schools lmao

[12:14] 🐈‍⬛: Dream

[12:16] 🐈‍⬛: Hellooooooooo

[12:16] 🐈‍⬛: This is so messed up why are you ignoring me

[12:19] 🐈‍⬛: Dreeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaam

[12:21] 🐈‍⬛: Stop ignoring me, idiot

[12:25] 🐈‍⬛: I’m so bored. I haven’t had to do anything all day. This is so boring.

[12:27] 🐈‍⬛: And now you won’t even text me back. You hate me.

[12:31] 🐈‍⬛: You should come talk to me so I don’t die of boredom.

[12:34] 🐈‍⬛: This is me because of you

[12:34] 🐈‍⬛: Ignore the caption

[12:37] 🐈‍⬛: I’m going to start texting Foolish instead of you. I’ll find his number in my computer.

[12:38] 🐈‍⬛: I’m doing it. I’m going to do it. I’m going to find his number and text him asking if he can show me his muscles

“Thank you, Ms. French; I’ll make sure that gets worked out for you. Have a good day.” Dream hung up his phone, posture immediately worsening as he screwed his eyes shut, trying to force down the headache that had been brewing since about the third question about the difference in price between the fourth and fifth editions of the biology textbook some forgettable high school in Vermont was attempting to purchase before the new school year began.

Dream was pretty good at his job, mostly because he was pretty good with the people. He thought he had a good voice, one that made him good at dealing with people over the phone because it prepped them to like him by that alone. He was a bit more awkward in person, yeah – a bit too tall, not quite sure what to do with his arms or his feet – but clients were already endeared to him enough that at that point his slight awkwardness just ended up being charming. That wasn’t the point though; the point was that he was ordinarily really good at phone sales, customer service, that sort of thing. This particular call had just been a bit exhausting. He had barely even passed his own high school biology class; he definitely did not know which text book was the better option even though he had to at least sound like he did.

Dream glanced over across the office, over to the desk up by the door. His vantage point, unfortunately, wasn’t that great these days. His boss had gotten it into his head that some change of scenery would make everyone more productive as they got deeper into the hot months of summer and, as a result, Dream had traded his desk conveniently within eyeshot of the front desk for one much farther away, and all he could see over, of all things, the fucking broken printer was a little bit of curly dark hair that drifted back and forth in a way that made it obvious that its owner was rocking back and forth in the swivel chair.

Dream wasn’t quite sure that this rearranging was having the effect on productivity his boss had desired. He reached into his pocket, and he slid out his phone.

His lock screen was covered in a long chain of texts, all coming from a contact saved simply as a familiar emoji. Dream scrolled through them, automatically smiling as his stomach buzzed with strawberries and oranges. Apparently, he was not the only person struggling to focus.

[12:47] me: get better bait. you would text foolish telling him to die before you asked to see him shirtless.

[12:47] me: besides, you’d never do that to tina

Dream went to flip his phone over, not wanting to risk someone noticing that he was off task, but immediately, his phone buzzed with a response.

[12:48] 🐈‍⬛: What are you doing?

[12:48] me: i was on the phone.

[12:49] me: lunch?

This time, he didn’t bother putting his phone down, just watched the three little dots indicating someone typing on the other side of their conversation. He realized quickly that he was holding his breath, and he forced himself to let the lingering air leave his lungs. Don’t be stupid.

When the text came, it was much shorter than the time spent typing it would have implied. Dream could imagine him going back and forth and back and forth, fingers freezing on the same anxiety that both worried and excited Dream.

[12:50] 🐈‍⬛: Yes

Dream got up from his desk, heading to the break room to get his lunch. Once the door fell shut behind him, cutting off the low buzz of the lights and computers and air conditioning of the main office with a tight thud, he went to the fridge and pulled out the container of sliced up mango and half a sandwich in a baggie. A green sticky note with a smiley face adorned both of them, identifying them as his. He was in the middle of trying to crack the seal on the lid of his drink when he heard the door swing again and quickly felt arms encircle his waist.

“You’re so, like, needy, today,” he said without turning around. “What’s wrong?” Half teasing. Half so sincere that it made both of them squirm a little bit. Dream had always been good at that – caring about people. Especially certain ones.

“Nothing.” George – the receptionist, the cute British guy in the office, the most important person in Dream’s phone – pressed his face against the back of Dream’s shirt, muffling his voice. “I’m bored. You were ignoring me.”

Dream scoffed. He set his lunch down on the counter and turned around to face George. George was looking up at him, lips pressed together like he was trying and failing to keep himself from smiling. Failing, both because George wasn’t particularly good at hiding his happiness and because Dream could read his emotions from a single movement of his rich dark eyes. “I wasn’t ignoring you. I was working. I spent, like, half an hour stuck on the phone talking about biology textbooks.”

“Wow, poor Dream,” George teased, reaching to open the fridge and find his own lunch – left over chicken nuggets, apparently, as well as a plastic bag filled with apple slices – before settling across from Dream at the table. “Forced to spend all day on the phone, while I’m dying at my desk.”

A bite of his sandwich. “Dying? Of what?”

“Boredom and neglect,” George said, sounding extremely put upon. “It’s so messed up that you’re letting your stupid job get in the way of our relationship. Just so that you can, like, have money or whatever.”

“I can’t believe you’d let Patches go hungry like that.” Dream reached over to steal a sip of George’s peach ice tea, and George just grinned at him before sighing.

“I guess that’s a good enough reason.” They were both quiet for a few seconds, ankles brushing under the table as George chewed on his apple slices and Dream picked at his mango with a plastic fork from home. It was comfortable, or at least as comfortable as lunch at a tiny breakroom table that was so short that Dream banged his knees against it every time he sat down could be. It was, arguably, one of the least remarkable days of Dream’s life. Tomorrow, he would put back on his scratchy work clothes and the shoes that pinched his toes, make a million more phone calls to talk about textbooks he couldn’t care less about, and eat another dry sandwich in the shitty breakroom. The same mundanity that he had found, despite the big dreams that he had had growing up, to be his life these days. And, just like he eventually did today, before they threw out their trash and tried to leave the breakroom far enough apart to make it inconspicuous, George would ask if he could come over after work, and everything would feel a little bit more special.

#SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG im so slow #asks #anon #sappy.ao3 #like its not but that's the tag #I HOPE YOU LIKE IT ANOGIEEE #dnf

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reallyromealone · 2 years

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Bunny reader x spider Mikey

Hybrid omegaverse

This, this isn't my best but here you go

Mikey was giddy as he walked into the small quiet house, the spider Hybrid was collecting his mate today! When Mikey smelt the intoxicating scent of him he felt his world shift and offered the omegas family a lovely trade off for their entire villages lives in exchange for the omega.

They agreed almost instantly.

His men waited outside, letting Mikey stalk towards his mate and couldn't help but wonder if he was also a predator hybrid or a prey, god both options sent shivers down Mikey's spine as the bonten clan leader walked into the small bedroom and took notice of the little items his mate had before sniffing the air and zeroing in on the closet and slowly opened it to reveal....oh?

There sat his pretty little bunny, shaking and blushing in his nest like the prettiest doll he had ever seen and the smell of heat hugged Mikey like a warm hug.

It was euphoric.

"Hello little bunny, ready to come home?"

The Omega was far to heat drunk to be coherent as he let the spider king lift him up into his arms "alpha..." (Name) mumbled and snuggled into him, purring loudly at the contact and Mikey could smell the slick so clearly and set the Omega on the twin sized bed before removing his own shirt and putting it on his naked Omega, affectively covering him in Mikey's scent.

"You're mine now Omega, everything and anything about you belongs to me" Mikey said soothingly before lifting his mate in his arms again, smiling when (name) wrapped his legs around the others waist "I have such pretty nesting materials for you, you like that?" Mikey stepped out as his men opened the carriage door and Mikey situated his Omega in his lap as he sat down in the plush seat and rubbed his bare thighs "my pretty little bunny, gonna give your alpha plenty of heirs yeah?"

(Name) nodded rapidly as he snuggled into his alpha, yelping and blushing when Mikey began playing with his tail and the white haired man watched his mate blush and squirm.

Well this is good information for later.

The spider palace was grand and ornate, the Alpha ignoring the bowing servants and made a beeline to his and his mates rooms, the Omega snuggling into the bed when placed and clearly enjoying the scent of his alpha as he scented the pillows.

Mikey had met his match.

He always heard the term "going at it like bunnies" but he never took it seriously until his mate, the Omega was insatiable and riding him at any given moment and practically demanding his knot.

But Mikey wasn't complaining, having an equal amount of stamina as he knotted his mate over and over again until the pretty little Omega was satiated in his arms, belly bulging slightly as he was properly pupped up.

Mikey was pleased with his mate, knowing they would make an excellent partner to rule beside him and his Omega side was already completely obedient to him.

When his heat ended (name) was stressed and scared, not sure what was happening as he felt the sting of a mating mark and looked at the Alpha cuddling him before looking around the room and saw the webs and connected those and the ornate room.... He was in the spider palace.

His new mate was very pretty, having a bite mark on his own neck from (name) and he couldn't deny he smelt very nice.

He just wanted to know how he got here.

"Do you need another knot bunny?" Mikeys voice was deep and gravelly as he spoke, startling the Omega as Mikey sat up and looked at him with those cold black eyes and (name) remembered hearing about the spider king having empty eyes...is this what they meant.

Oh god was he mates with the spider king?!

Mikey could smell the distress radiating off his Omega and pulled him close and followed the steps Emma taught him to calm his Omega.

First: hold him close.

Second: pump out relaxing pharamones.

Third: croon.

The steps seemed to work as the Omega relaxed in his arms "what's your name pup" Mikey's voice was soft as his made fiddled with his fingers "(name)...." His voice was barely a whisper as Mikey hummed "you can call me Manjiro in private, outside these walls though it's either Mikey or alpha"

"...how did I get here?"

"Your family traded you for protection of the village" Mikey said it as if it were nothing because to him it was nothing but (name)... His family traded him off like that?

How could they?!

"Don't worry pup, alpha will take care of you" Mikey said scenting him before lifting him and bringing him to another room, very obvious a nesting/heat room and piles upon piles of nesting materials to choose from "my sister said bunnies like to burrow so there's enough materials to make an above ground burrow" Mikey was completely unphased at his mates nervous energy, assuming it had something to do with him being a bunny.

"...your not gonna eat me?" (Name) asked hopefully to the Alpha who tilted his head in return "not in the way you're thinking no, in spider culture it would usually be the other way around but since you're a bunny I don't have to worry about that do I?" Mikeys voice was deep as he spoke into (name)s ear "my pretty little mate, no one but me gets to touch you or look at you" Mikey said softly "understood?"

(Name) nodded and looked at him "what...what will I be?" He didn't want to just be a breeding tool and discarded when no longer needed "my mate, don't worry I don't care much for multiple mates" Mikey assured the bunny "wouldn't let you claim me if that were the case"

Oh right, the claim marks.

If mikey let him claim him then that means Mikey is dead serious about no one else, if anything happens to (name) Mikey will feel it and vice versa.

So keeping his mate happy would be important for Mikey's wellbeing.

Not to mention if he was just brought for breeding Mikey wouldn't have claimed him at all.

"So you're gonna be a good bunny for me yeah?"

"You want me?"

The question was so genuine it threw Mikey off, he knew omegas weren't treated the best but to so willingly offer himself to a man who essentially got him in a trade.

"I wouldn't have brought you here if I didn't"

(Name) just nodded before looking at the nesting materials "...can I have some of your clothes for the nest...." (Name)s Omega practically demanded the alphas scent in his nest and Mikey let out a low rumble before standing up and leaving, returning with all his laundry.

A large basket in his hands and plopped down before (name), the Omega preening at the scent radiating off his alphas clothing and got to work making his nest as mikey got food.

(Name) didn't know why he was so calm around his alpha but he didn't think to much of it as he began making his nest, when Mikey returned the Alpha used his saliva as a glue to keep things in place when directed.

When the nest was done, Mikey fed his mate to show he could care for him and provide for him and their future pups.

The two spent the day getting to know one another, Mikey never felt this relaxed around another person and found he quite enjoyed it.

(Name) learned he was a funnel spider, having a spiders nest in another room away from (name)s nest as he didnt need the bunny getting trapped in there unless it was Mikey's rut.

The two went deep within (name)s burrow like nest, Mikey sealing the exit as the two snuggled in the soft bedding and clothing and spent the next two days there.

#tokyo revengers x male reader #tokyo revengers x reader #tokyo revengers fluff #bonten x reader #mikey tokyo revengers #male reader #mikey x male reader #omega male reader #omegaverse

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spinef0ryou · 7 months

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An interview with Dave Mustaine from this month’s Metal Hammer magazine. Transcript under the cut.

THE REVENGE OF DAVE MUSTAINE

Forty years ago, Megadeth emerged from a maelstrom of drugs, carnage, and raw fury. Now, the man at the centre of it looks back at the birth of one of metal’s most iconic bands.

WORDS: JON WIEDERHORN

It has become one of the most oft-repeated legends of metal history. At 9am on April 11, 1983, Metallica woke up guitarist Dave Mustaine and told him he was out of the band. They were holed up in a divey live-in rehearsal space in Queens, New York, preparing to record their debut album, Kill 'Em All. With hardly an explanation, they handed him a one way bus ticket back to Los Angeles, and James Hetfield drove him to the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Midtown Manhattan. Without a dime in his pockets, Dave boarded the 10am bus, which was scheduled to arrive in LA four days later.

Broke and hungry, he spent much of the ride looking out the window, stewing in rage. His drinking had become a problem with the rest of the band, though the tipping point came when he attacked James Hetfield after the latter allegedly kicked Dave's dog. Still, Metallica were about to head into the studio to record their full-length debut without him, after he had written four songs, seven guitar leads and two sets of lyrics for the album. And that stung like hell.

Sitting on the bus, he glanced at a political postcard he had picked up along the way. It was from California Democratic Senator Alan Cranston, and it read in part: ‘The arsenal of megadeath can't be rid,’ political speak for, ‘now that the U.S. has ramped up its production of nuclear weapons, the genie is officially out of the bottle.'

It was like a bomb exploding inside Dave's head. ‘Megadeth: what a cool name for a band.’ Inspired, he started scribbling new song lyrics on the back of a cupcake napkin. This was the basis of the very first Megadeth song, titled Set The World Afire, which would eventually make its way onto the band's third album, 1988's So Far, So Good...So What!. But on that bus heading across the middle of America, Dave was determined, driven and hungry. Failure simply wasn't an option.

It's 40 years since that fateful bus ride, and Dave Mustaine has lived multiple lives. He's endured drug addiction, countless line-up changes, the death of close friends and his own throat cancer diagnosis (he got the all-clear in 2020). But the one constant throughout has been Megadeth, the entity he imagined into being while staring out at the passing landscape and seething.

"I was driven by revenge" recalls Dave of Megadeth's inception today, speaking to Hammer from his home in Nashville. "I was angry about what happened with Metallica, and all the way home I kept thinking, 'I'll just be faster, I'll be better, and my songs will be heavier."

It didn't take Dave long to get back on his feet once he returned to Los Angeles following his unceremonious dismissal from Metallica. Crashing at friends' houses in Hollywood, he began looking for bandmembers for his new project. Word soon began to spread - the guy who got kicked out of Metallica for being too fucked-up was back. And he was pissed off.

"Somehow everything turned into this thing where we had a band ready called Fallen Angels" says Dave. "I thought, "Uh, no we don't.!' I didn't even have a full band yet."

Trading under the name Megadeth - after the phrase he'd seen on that political postcard - he began trying to piece together a stable line-up, something that proved easier said than done. A churn of guitarists and drummers came and went throughout the rest of 1983 and into 1984, none sticking around permanently.

Some interesting characters passed through their ranks. One drummer, Dijon Carruthers, was the son of Hollywood actor Ben Carruthers (best known for his role in the 1967 war movie The Dirty Dozen). Another drummer, Lee Rausch, claimed he'd sold his soul to Satan, something that even Dave, who had performed occult rituals, found too bizarre (Lee, who died earlier this year, later became a committed Christian). And then there was a young guitarist named Kerry King, who briefly pulled double duty in Megadeth and his own band Slayer.

"When Kerry sat in with us [for five gigs in early 1984), he was doing us a huge favour" Dave says. "He didn't have any plans on being in Megadeth because he loved Slayer, and that was his band. I really didn't want to take him away from another band. Poaching bandmembers has never been something I've been into."

Finding a bassist was easier. Recently transplanted Minnesota native David Ellefson had moved into the apartment below Mustaine, and paid his new neighbour a visit to ask where he could buy cigarettes and beer. The two men got talking, and Mustaine plaved the AC/DC- and Judas Priest-loving Ellefson some of the music he'd written for his new band. The bassist liked it and threw in his lot with the guy living upstairs.

That just left the task of recruiting a singer. Dave didn't see himself as a vocalist, so they tried out a few other people. They either looked wrong (one guy turned up to rehearsal in make-up) or sounded wrong. It didn't help that the music he was writing was faster, angrier and more complex that any mainstream metal of the time. Eventually, someone suggested he do it himself.

"I was reluctant right up to the last minute," he says. "And then I finally said, OK, fuck it, I can't be worse than some of these other dudes."

Even while the line-up was solidifying, Dave kept writing. He was determined not to produce songs that sounded like his old band, which wasn't easy given his input into Metallica's early material.

"When I was in Metallica, I was kind of playing at Lars's level, because Lars was still learning to play drums back then," he says. "But watching James play guitar for the first time was kind of shocking, because I didn't know he knew how to play guitar. We just got fed up one day of auditioning guitar players, just like I did with singers. And he picked up this guitar and started playing, and inside I'm going, 'Get the fuck out of here. How can you possibly be satisfied being a singer when you play like that? Why not be both?' I've always thought he was a really talented guitarist."

The first 'proper' Megadeth line-up began to take shape in mid-1984. "There was a guy, Jay Jones, who managed another band and was a very scandalous person," says Dave. "He came into the rehearsal studio when he heard me in the room playing and said, 'Have I got a drummer for you!"" That drummer was Gar Samuelson, who had formerly been a member of a jazz/ fusion group named The New Yorkers.

Dave agreed to meet Gar in his studio and, right from the start, was impressed by his jazz swing, crushing hits and jarring mannerisms.

"Gar sat down on a couch in Mars Studios, and he was smoking a cigarette," says Dave. "He fell asleep and his cigarette burned through his hand and burned his fingers. I thought, 'Shit, this guy is crazy. wonder what he's into?”

What he was into was heroin, the reason he nodded off mid-cigarette - something Dave himself would find out soon enough. Today, the singer speaks highly of Gar's abilities (the drummer died in 1999, reportedly of liver failure).

"We became great friends, and his jazz style complemented my riffing," says the singer. "I gotta give credit where credit is due. He had a lot to do with the sound of that first Megadeth record. He had taste and technique for days."

Megadeth entered Hollywood's Hitman Studios in 1984 and recorded a three-song demo, Last Rites, which featured Last Rites/ Loved To Deth, The Skull Beneath The Skin and Mechanix, the latter a gas station sex fantasy that Dave had written when he was in his earlier band, Panic, and brought into Metallica (who would subsequently change the lyrics and rename it The Four Horsemen). Desperate for someone to help promote them and bring them dope, Megadeth hired Jay Jones as their manager/ pharmaceutical supplier.

It was Jay who helped find the final piece of the jigsaw. Guitarist Chris Poland had been a member of The New Yorkers with Gar Samuelson, and, more recently, a group named No Questions. Like Gar, he was a jazz guy - and, also like Gar, he was a heroin user. He had little interest in playing metal, but he was interested in a pay cheque to fund his own drug habit. Despite that, Chris and Dave hit it off musically, the spontaneity of the former's playing meshing with the growing complexity of the songs the latter was writing.

Mustaine and Ellefson weren't strangers to drugs, though they initially favoured weed and beer, but they soon gave in to temptation and started dabbling in smack as well. With time, dabbling became binging. For Mustaine, narcotics were a coping mechanism, a temporary respite from hunger and homelessness.

“I liked getting high, but it was more about escape than anything." he says. "If there was a moment we were awake, we were looking for drugs because that's how horrible our existence was. We were scratching and clawing to get someone to take notice of us and thank God, no matter how fucked-up I was, my first priority was making music and playing good shows."

After sending Last Rites to various L.A.-area indie labels, Megadeth caught the attention of New York’s Combat Records, who gave them $8,000 to record their debut album, Killing Is My Business... And Business Is Good! They stumbled into Indigo Ranch Studios in Malibu, plugged in and got by on a combination of ambition and muscle memory. One day, when Dave asked Jay where his bandmates were, his manager told him they had just spent $4,000 (half the budget for the album) on blow, smack and frozen hamburgers. Dave promptly sacked Jay, cajoled another $4,000 from Combat, hired engineer Karat Faye, and paid him $50 a day to finish co-producing the album with him.

“We did the takes quickly, with Dave, Gar and I in one room, playing together, with no click tracks," Ellefson told Metal Hammer in the mid-2010s. "You can hear the tempos shifting around, depending on whether it was a 'heroin take' or a 'cocaine take'. It's funny now, but I wouldn't recommend that approach."

Since three of the songs were from the Last Rites demo, Megadeth only had to finesse another four tracks and a cover of Nancy Sinatra's 1966 hit These Boots Are Made For Walkin'. Once the album was finished, Megadeth hit the road, though the severity of his addiction meant Chris had to sit out the first two weeks of the tour.

"He was a real Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde because of his personal issues," Dave says. "As much as I loved Chris and tried to get close to him, what he was doing just took precedence over anybody and anything. What they say is true. You become powerless over that stuff. So, when you came down to it, I didn't mean anything to Chris, Megadeth didn't mean anything to Chris. All he cared about was what he was doing on the side."

On the road, Megadeth spent many nights crashing at fans' houses, preferably apartments owned by nurturing women turned on by bad boy rockers. They spent other nights in Motel 6s and when nothing else was available they would sleep in the van.

"The shows were out of control because hardly anyone knew what moshing was," Dave says. "They weren't familiar with crowdsurfing. Kids would just jump up on the stage and there was no stagediving protocol. Some of them would run over to you and grab your mic stand to get some picks off. They'd bang into your guitar or try to scream into the mic. Then someone would shove them off the stage. It was pure balls-to-the-wall metal insanity."

The band environment was no more relaxing offstage, especially when Chris and Gar needed to score.

"They'd sell a whole bunch of gear to buy drugs" Dave says. "We'd have to drive around town to all the pawn shops and instrument shops looking for all the drum pieces, or other pieces of equipment."

The situation wasn't helped by the fact that their label didn't seem to care about the band. A particularly demoralising moment came when the band ran out of money and didn't have enough gas to get to the next gig.

"I called up the vice president of Combat and he was a real piece of work" Dave recalls. "I told him I was at the hotel, and I needed gas money to get to the next town so we could get paid. And the guy says, 'Get a day job."

Other, more weak-willed musicians probably would have quit there and then, but not Dave Mustaine. Every obstacle, every element of adversity, provided extra determination not to let getting kicked out of Metallica mark the beginning of his downfall.

Killing Is My Business... And Business Is Good! caught the attention of the thrash scene when it was released in June 1985, not least thanks to their frontman's connection with Metallica. It was a subject was brought up in every interview, usually resulting in shit talking from a still-bitter Dave.

The vengeful drive that had given Megadeth their initial impetus hadn't abated. Dave found time between gigs, fixes and after-show debauchery to write a bunch of new songs on the road to add to the ones he'd been stockpiling since the beginning of the band.

One day Mustaine and Ellefson were at Killing Is My Business... producer Karat Faye's house when the frontman picked up his bandmate's bass and began playing a rolling, strident riff. Ellesfon was blown away. It took them two hours in the rehearsal room to turn it into a song. On the car ride to that rehearsal, Mustaine had turned to the bassist and asked: "What do you think of Peace Sells... But Who's Buying?” Megadeth had the name of both their second album and - in the truncated form of Peace Sells - its iconic near-title track.

Lyrically, Peace Sells was a world away from metal's traditional fascination with swords'n'sorcery and the occult, injecting a dose of politics into the Megadeth's melodic thrash attack. What do you mean, "I don't support your system"?" sneered the singer. 'I go to court when I have to.'

"I tried to keep up with what was going on in the world and I still do,” Dave says. "I mean, it's not especially deep or anything. It's kind of like the credo of Al Bundy from the (late 80s/early 90s] TV show Married... With Children if he was a metal fan. That's a silly comparison, but it's what was in my head at the time. And I wrote all the lyrics on the wall of the practice room. When you're writing on a wall there's not much room to come back with an eraser. I don't know if they painted over the wall, but they probably should have excavated it and sent it to some kind of museum.

Despite their tensions with Combat, the label stumped up a budget of $25,000 for Megadeth to enter Malibu's Indigo Ranch studio with producer Randy Burns to record their second album. Even before the album was released, major labels had begun sniffing around the band. One person who was interested was Michael Alago, the A&R hotshot who had recently signed Metallica, but Dave had no interest in being on the same label as his former bandmates-turned-antagonists.

"I didn't want to play second fiddle to them." he says.

In the end, they signed with Capitol, who opted to buy Megadeth out of their contract with Combat and bring in producer Paul Lani to remix it and give it a slicker sound. Along with the deal came a noticeable improvement in the band's financial situation - as Capitol's shiny new thrash metal band, Megadeth received more tour support and bigger royalty cheques than they'd ever got on Combat. But much of the money they were now making went into their expensive pharmaceutical habits. Even though he was deep in his own addiction, Dave knew that providing some sense of leadership was important, now more than ever before.

"I quickly realised that when stuff goes wrong - and it does go wrong - that if you're the leader, you need to take responsibility for shit even when it's not your fault,” he says. “You need to step up and make it right. I look at stuff and say, 'I've got to do whatever I can to make this right. We've come too far for everything to go sideways."

To Dave Mustaine, righting the ship has also meant knowing when it's time to make changes. In June 1987, Megadeth wrapped up the tour in support of Peace Sells... But Who's Buying? with two shows in Honolulu, Hawaii. When the band got back to LA, Gar Samuelson and Chris Poland were jonesing for a fix. According to the frontman, they ended up selling band equipment again to buy more drugs. It was the final straw.

"I was totally fed up," Mustaine says. "I guess it was just one too many times driving around Los Angeles trying to find everybody's band gear. I told Ellefson, 'Well, that's it. I'm breaking up the band and I'm getting rid of those guys. If you want to stay with me that's fine."

David Ellefson did stay, though Chris and Gar were history. They'd eventually be replaced by guitarist Jeff Young and drummer Chuck Behler, whose one-album tenure - they appeared on 1988's chaotic So Far, So Good... So What! - proved to be no less volatile.

Forty years after Dave Mustaine formed Megadeth in the wake of his firing from Metallica, much has changed about both the band and their leader. Today, he's the sole remaining original member and the only one who has played on every album (after leaving and rejoining the band in the 2000s, David Ellison was ousted for a second and seemingly final time in 2021 following an online sex scandal.) The singer himself cleaned up long ago, embracing his Christian faith in the process.

But at the same time, the single-mindedness and stubborn streak that saw him pick himself up post-Metallica and build an entirely new band remains intact. Lesser musicians would have folded a long time ago, but not Dave Mustaine. And it all dates back to those earl vears when he had so much to prove and nothing to lose.

"We went through everything, man, from what happened on the road, to homelessness, to starvation," he says. "The panhandling, the sleeping on people's floors. The destitution the desperation and poverty. We survived it all."

MEGADEATH’S LATEST ALBUM THE SICK THE DYING… AND THE DEAD! IS OUT NOW VIA UMC

Sidebar:

THE SONGS THAT BUILT MEGADETH

The best of Megadeth’s 80s output

Killing Is My Business… And Business Is Good! (1985)

The snarling, sneering, 100mph title track of Megadeth’s debut album and a defiant ‘fuck you' to his ex-bandmates in Metallica.

Mechanix (1985)

Aka the song that begat Metallica's The Four Horsemen. Megadeth’s version is faster, sleazier, and had flames shooting out of its exhaust. 'Made my drive shaft crank/Made my pistons bulge,’ indeed.

Wake Up Dead (1986)

Peace Sells... But Who's Buying?'s opening track is a thrash song like no other, possessed of an oddball arrangement and lyrics that detail an extra-marital affair. The 'Diana' in the lyrics was Mustaine's real-life girlfriend.

Peace Sells (1986)

An iconic 80s thrash song: Dave takes aim at The Man over a massive bassline and ver instant-classic riff. It was purloined as the theme to MTV News, for which Mustaine claims he never got a penny.

Good Mourning/Black Friday (1986)

Begins with a downcast, jazz-adiacent guitar duel before it utilises circuitous riffing and glorious half-step abuse to show just how different Megadeth were to everyone else.

The Conjuring (1986)

Dave once claimed to have buried part of a hex in this occult-inspired rager ako featuring an evil-sounding guitar run, which explains why he stopped playing it for years after re-embracing his Christianity.

My Last Words (1986)

A Favourite of Lars Ulrich, apparently, and it's easy to see why, with its climactic build and fist-pumping gang-vocal climax, the Peace Sells... album closer is a tension-and-release masterstroke

In My Darkest Hour (1988)

So Far, So Good... So What!'s power ballad written in response to his ex-Metallica bandmates failing to tell him about Cliff Burton's death. The disdain at being left to fend for himself is tangible.

Liar (1988)

One of metal's greatest diss songs, aimed at former guitarist Chris Poland. Dave reels off a list of vituperative personal insults at his despised ex-bandmate before reaching an apoplectic climax: 'You... you... you fucking LIAR!'

Hook In Mouth (1988)

The 80s was the PMRC decade, and motormouth Mustaine had something to say about it on this scathing, bass-driven rebuke to the ‘Washington Wives' who were trying to silence metal and hip hop's freedom of speech.

"METALLICA WOULD COME TO OUR SHOWS!"

Ex-Megadeth bassist David Junior' Ellefson looks back on his early days in the band

WHERE DID YOU FIRST MEET DAVE MUSTAINE?

"I'd moved to Hollywood with my friends and Dave had an apartment directly above. We went and knocked on his door to buy cigarettes and he went, 'Down the street' and slammed the door in our faces. We went back later and asked him where to buy beer and he looked us up and down and said, 'All right, now you're speaking my language."

HOW MUCH INPUT DID YOU HAVE IN THE SONGWRITINGEARLY ON?

"Dave wrote the songs that cast the die of whatever Megadeth was going to be, but at the same time those songs were put together in the band room, and when you're in a room together there's a lot of collaboration. There are musical moments that happen that would never have happened with one guy putting, the songs together on his own.”

HOW WAS IT PLAYING WITH SLAYER'S KERRY KING, WHO WAS BRIEFLY IN THE BAND?

"Going to San Francisco with us opened his eyes to what thrash metal was, seeing bands like Exodus. Kerry went back to LA and Slayer took the make-up off and became more the band that we knew them to be."

HOW CHAOTIC WERE THOSE EARLY DAYS?

"Everything in Megadeth was chaotic because we were poor and we were on drugs. Some bands 'party' and to me that's beer and a little weed, hanging out. When you get into heavier drugs like cocaine and especially heroin, that’s not partying. You’re going down a very dark, secluded road.”

YOU AND DAVE WERE HOMELESS FOR A WHILE, RIGHT?

"Oh yeah, we were living in the rehearsal room, living in my van, finding people to take us in to crash at their house. Me and Dave would hock our guitars on any given week. We had these little phone sales jobs so when we got some money together we'd go get our guitars out of hock so we could go to rehearsal that week."

WAS THERE A RIVALRY BETWEEN BANDS IN THE SCENE?

"I'd say there a friendly rivalry. Dave was obviously furious about being let go from Metallica but Lars and the guys would come to some of our shows. For me, the rivalry was never Metallica. i'd listen to them and go, 'Fuck, they're hitting every mark. I know it was hard for Dave because how could it not be to look to the left and see Metallica going straight to the top?'

HOW DO YOU LOOK BACK AT YOUR TIME IN MEGADETH?

"No regrets and 100% pride. I will always be a lifelong champion of that band and legacy because It never would have happened without me - I financed the Killing Is My Business tour on my dad's credit card! I'm very proud of the years I was there. It's a cherished moment in time."

TO HELL AND BACK, THE NEW ALBUM FROM DAVID'S NEW BAND, DIETH, IS OUT NOW VIA NAPALM

#megadeth #dave mustaine #thrash metal #interview #interviews #metal hammer #metal hammer magazine

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dindjarindiaries · 4 months

Text

The Dawn of Starlight ➵ Chapter 1

summary: Camellia gets a surprise visit from Captain Teva, who convinces her to bring Din Djarin as hired protection on her mission to Cantonica.

pairing: din djarin x fem!oc

rating: mature (18+)

tags: enemies to lovers, fluff & angst, emotional & physical hurt/comfort, canon-typical violence, injuries & blood, trauma, eventual/mild smut, strong language, sexual references

word count: 3.847k

series masterlist ➵ chapter 2

“Senator Marend, I apologize.”

Camellia already tensed at the tone of Mionna’s voice. Her assistant looked as apologetic as her words were, if not more so. Mionna had never been skilled at keeping the honesty of her expression concealed. We’ve got to brush up on that part of her political training. “It can’t be that bad, Mionna.” Camellia was already walking through the threshold of her office, preparing to do the same to her private desk setup.

“It might be.” Mionna squeaked these words, causing Camellia’s brow to quirk up. “I told him you weren’t taking guests after today’s session—,” Camellia sighed, closing her eyes and dropping her head back as the revelation fell upon her, “—but he was insistent upon waiting for you.”

Camellia offered Mionna a small smile and set a hand upon the Mirialan’s shoulder. “Thank you for trying.”

Mionna returned a meager smile of her own as Camellia pressed her hand upon the access pad. It slid the door open for her, and immediately, the man in the room stood at attention.

“Captain Teva.” Camellia widened her arms to the New Republic ranger as she approached him, allowing him to take her hand and place a kiss on the back of it. The senator had long since dismissed Carson’s need for propriety, but he insisted upon it nonetheless. “What a surprise to see you here again so soon.”

Carson’s dark gaze twinkled underneath his gray brow. “As wonderful as it always is to see you, Senator Marend…” Carson paused, waiting until Camellia was seated to do the same across from her, “this visit’s much sooner than I would’ve liked.”

“I concur.” Camellia folded her hands on her lap. “To what do I owe the pleasure of such a surprising visit?”

Carson reached for something on his belt and tossed it on the desk. So, the propriety would be dropped, after all. Camellia leaned forward to take the transceiver. “The news of your visit to Cantonica has already spread.” Carson crossed his arms and raised his brow. “You plan on facing Vondar alone, don’t you?”

Camellia’s jaw tensed. “I only wish to have an audience with him to explore some more beneficial trade options.” She nodded at Mionna to dismiss her. Her assistant bowed her head in respect and left Carson and Camellia alone. Camellia released a deep breath and slouched her shoulders. “That man is too dangerous to leave alone, Carson.”

“You’re right.” Carson leaned forward and rested his elbow upon the senator’s desk. His brow was etched in deep worry for her. “But he’s also too dangerous for you to take on alone.”

Camellia shrugged and let her lips spread wide in a somewhat amused smirk. “You underestimate my skill, Captain.”

The corner of Carson’s mouth twitched upwards in a small smile of his own. “Not at all, Senator. I fought alongside you to liberate your homeworld.” His expression once again became more serious. “That also showed me how much your people need you.”

“And it would be a waste for me not to say that to Vondar’s face.”

Carson’s hand pulled tight into a fist. “Raxus would be a useful asset to him, Senator, and that means he wouldn’t hesitate to kill you for it.” His gaze darkened, his tone lowering in gravity. “Your people need you. Alive.”

Camellia scoffed at that. “An Imperial admiral hiding out on Cantonica is no true threat, Carson.” She opened a drawer in her desk and showed him all the data tapes she had acquired over the past few months. “I’ve read all his files, and I’ve accessed all the intelligence.” She put the tapes away and nodded at the captain. “We’ve seen all the same things. I can take him.”

Carson shook his head. “Not alone. He may not be dangerous, but his security detail—his army—is famed for how it eliminated our troops.” The ranger’s face fell at a memory he left trapped within his own mind. Camellia began to wither with sympathy. “Trust me.”

Camellia stood from her chair, pacing over to the viewport of transparisteel that offered her a view of Coruscant’s bustling airways. “You’ve seen how the Senate reacted to me proposing my diplomatic visit to Cantonica.” Her shoulders rose and fell in a deep sigh before she faced Carson again. “They would never approve any kind of ‘mission’ to take Vondar down.”

Carson’s expression spelled out the same amount of defeat. “I know.”

“That includes you, Captain.” The corners of Camellia’s mouth tightened. “You won’t be granted any type of approval to venture to Cantonica, especially not after the Seatos incident.”

Carson tilted his head to the side for a moment, as if proving her right. “Well, Senator, if you’re set on it…” the smile that tugged at his lips instantly piqued Camellia’s curiosity, “I have another idea.”

Camellia walked back over to her chair, crossing her arms and resting them upon the back of it. “Go on.”

“Let me walk you through a hypothetical.” Carson’s gaze twinkled, a sure sign that the idea was anything other than a hypothetical. “I wouldn’t be able to go with you, this is true, but let’s say I have someone on my team who can. An operative who’s contracted.”

“Contracted?” Camellia nearly scoffed again. “You mean, someone outside the New Republic’s jurisdiction itself?” The senator raised her brow at Carson. “That would be illegal, Captain Teva.”

“Hypothetically speaking,” Carson went on, “this contractor, who’s responsible for Moff Gideon’s death, could go with you in my place.”

Camellia blinked in succession, chuckling in her disbelief as she set her shoulders. “Let me get this straight.” She narrowed her eyes at Carson. “You want to send a Mandalorian gun-for-hire, who’s illegally contracted, with me to face off against an Imperial admiral?”

Carson’s gaze cut to the side for a moment. “Did you miss the part about Moff Gideon?”

“I got that.” Camellia sunk back into her chair, her bewildered stare never straying from the New Republic ranger. “And how exactly is that safer than just letting me go on my own?”

“He’s one of the galaxy’s greatest warriors, Camellia.” Carson’s use of her name alone reveals his true sincerity, particularly the concern that drips into his tone as he goes on. “And he’s… different from other mercenaries. He sprang a prisoner from a ship cycles ago, but also apprehended three people from the wanted register—and he tried to save the lieutenant on board’s life.”

Camellia relaxed her set jaw, but she remained silent. Carson took the opportunity to reach out and hold her hands.

“Like I said before, Senator. Your people need you. Alive.” His kind gaze began to convince her. His eyes were much like her father’s had been, gentle and wise. It made it even harder for Camellia to resist Carson’s genuine plea. “If I can’t be there to fight with you, allow me to send the best I have to offer in my place. You know I would never send you with someone I didn’t trust.”

Camellia considered his words for a long moment, her gaze falling to their entwined hands on top of her desk. Carson had once risked everything to Camellia and her homeworld, and his leadership had been vital to the liberation of Raxus. She, and her planet, owed him more than the New Republic would ever admit. Camellia knew better than to ignore that.

“All right.” Camellia went on before the relieved light in Carson’s gaze could give way to interruption. “But how the hell do I talk around a Mandalorian escorting me?”

“Hired protection.” Carson withdrew his hands from you, his brow raised in slight amusement. “The Outer Rim’s a dangerous place compared to the Core.”

“A bodyguard?” Camellia huffed and gave her head a quick tilt. “I don’t need a bodyguard.”

Carson gestured to the viewport behind her. “The people, and your adversaries, don’t need to know that.”

Camellia nodded to agree and reached for her datapad, glancing at her upcoming itinerary. “This mercenary needs to be ready to go by tomorrow. Moving my departure date would only draw suspicion.”

“He will be.” Carson stood from his chair and bowed his head. “I’ll personally escort him here tomorrow, before your departure.”

Camellia rose with him, offering a genuine smile as she stepped around her desk to meet him. “Thank you, Carson. Truly.” She invited him into a friendly embrace, grateful to have at least one ranger within the New Republic’s ranks who bothered to help her and the other planets of the galaxy who had yet to see the last of the Empire’s lethal touch. “I’m grateful to have you on my team.”

“And it’ll stay that way, Senator.” Carson gently held Camellia’s shoulders as he nodded at her. “I’ll have him report to me throughout the mission, in case you end up needing any… unauthorized backup.”

Camellia grinned. “That’s the best kind there is.” She patted his shoulder and began to lead the way to the door. Camellia opened it for him, meeting Mionna’s shocked face as she took a few steps away from the threshold. The assistant’s green face flushed with embarrassment.

“Miss Mertil.” Carson bowed his head at her in respect. With that, he found his own way out of Camellia’s office, leaving the two Raxians alone once again.

“You’ve got to be better about learning when to step away from eavesdropping, Mionna.” Camellia’s voice was nothing but teasing as she raised her brow at her assistant.

“I apologize, Senator,” Mionna gushed.

“Please. You know the real reason why I dismissed you from the room.” Camellia tended to some of the plant life that decorated her office. It was all from Raxus, meant to transport her back to her old home along the outskirts of Raxulon—a place very far from Coruscant. “It’s only to prevent—.”

“—Officially being found guilty for conspiracy if something goes wrong.” Mionna smiled. “I know.”

Camellia tilted her head at the Mirialan. “And Carson is the last person who would ever care about an eavesdropper.”

Mionna nodded. “So,” she tapped around her own datapad, “we’re adding the Mandalorian to your itinerary. Correct?”

Camellia’s jaw began to tighten again. She nodded. “Correct.”

“If… I may, Senator?”

Camellia looked up from her plants. Mionna was hardly hiding the smile that tugged at the corners of her mouth. “You may.”

“I think it’s utterly wizard we get to go with a Mandalorian.” Mionna’s gaze lit up the more she spoke. “I read about their people in my history classes. Like Captain Teva said, they’re the galaxy’s greatest warriors.” She paused. “Well, other than the Jedi, but…” She shrugged and set down her datapad. “I mean, they just reclaimed their homeworld. We thought they were all dead, but yet again, they somehow avoided being wiped out completely.”

Camellia raised a single brow at her assistant. “Yes, Mionna, you’re right. I’m as caught up on the galaxy’s past and current history as you are.” Mionna’s green skin began to flush again, but Camellia reassured her with a small smile. “It seems like you’re going to have more fun on this excursion than I will.”

Mionna slowly picked her datapad back up. “I guess what I’d like to know, Senator, is why you’re so against the idea of him coming with us.”

Camellia stopped what she was doing altogether, turning her full body to Mionna and crossing her arms over the ornate trim of her dress. “It’s not about him being a Mandalorian, Mionna. It’s about him being a mercenary.” She shook her head and painted her expression with as much severity as she could muster. “You can’t trust them, no matter what.”

Mionna’s brow furrowed. “But Captain Teva trusts him.”

“I know.” Camellia sat down at her main desk and exhaled a troubled breath. “That’s why I’m at least willing to keep the guy around.” She gestured with her hand to one of the chairs in front of her. Mionna took her place without hesitation. “Let’s get the final plans set so we can rest. We’ve got a long day of travel ahead of us tomorrow.”

For the next hour or so, Mionna walked through each vital step of their travel plans—lodging, meal reservations, diplomatic meetings, and more—to add their new guest into the schedule. Camellia began to fear what she had gotten herself into. There was no person in the galaxy she trusted more than Carson, especially given everything he had done for her and Raxus, but the uncertainty surrounding his contracted mercenary filled her with a mysterious chill.

That night, Camellia dreamt of Admiral Tantam Vondar’s cruel face, a twisted image of someone who was once a much kinder soul. He seemed to be the only Alderaanian who agreed with the motivation behind their planet’s fate. Vondar would gladly let Raxus and the other planets in his reach suffer the same fate. The weapons he bartered would do just that, if Camellia failed.

This mercenary couldn’t get in the way with the stakes set that high. Camellia would make sure of it.

The morning arrived quickly, and soon Camellia was awaiting Carson’s arrival on the landing pad with her own ship fully prepared for takeoff. Mionna, as well as a member of her own small security detail, waited behind her as Carson’s X-wing landed. It was trailed by a Naboo N-1 starfighter, a relic from the Galactic Republic era that made Camellia’s brow lift in surprise.

Carson hopped out first. He smiled at Camellia as he made his approach, taking her hand and providing a kiss to the back of it as always. “Senator Merand.” Carson’s voice was warm before he stepped back and gestured to the man approaching them. “This is the Mandalorian Din Djarin.”

Din Djarin. Camellia tasted the name on her own tongue as her gaze studied him. The man was taller than she had expected, and certainly more broad than any other warrior she had faced—even those who fought against her on Raxus many years ago. His beskar suit of armor was entirely silver, with the outline of a mudhorn attached to his right pauldron. The armor caught Coruscant’s sunlight and danced in the reflection as he continued his approach.

He stopped once he reached Carson’s side. Only then did Camellia spot the tiny green creature standing at his side, only just a hair taller than the Mandalorian’s boot.

“Senator Merand.”

Camellia’s stomach did backflips at the sound of Din’s modulated voice. It was low and raspy, as if it had been sparingly used. Damn. She fought to conceal her unexpected reaction.

He raised his gloved fist to his cuirass and bowed his head. “A pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

Camellia bowed her head back at him. “The pleasure’s all mine, Din Djarin.” Her gaze caught the creature at his side once again.

Din’s visor followed her eyes. “This is my apprentice, Grogu.” An apprentice? It was strange for a mercenary to take on an apprentice, much less a… well, a child. He set his hands on his belt. “He’ll be accompanying me, if that’s all right.”

Grogu cooed and lifted his long, petal-shaped ears, his gaze finding Camellia’s. She smiled at the little one. “Certainly.” Camellia gestured over to Mionna. “This is my assistant, Mionna Mertil. She’ll be joining us as well.”

Din nodded, also bowing his helmet in Mionna’s direction. Camellia saw the light of excitement flicker in the Mirialan’s gaze at the gesture.

Camellia shifted her focus back over to Carson. “We ought to get going.”

Carson bowed once more, his eyes flickering over to the extra member of Camellia’s security detail. “Enjoy your time on Cantonica, Senator.” For a brief moment, his gaze darkened in concern, but it was fleeting. “I’ll be eagerly awaiting your return.”

Camellia could only offer her most reassuring smile to him before she nodded at her security. The officer led the way to the open ramp of the ship, with Mionna remaining at Camellia’s side. The Mandalorian and his apprentice brought up the rear, and the senator could feel the warmth of Din’s gaze on her even through his helmet. For a strange, fleeting moment, Camellia thanked herself for choosing a dress that was well-fitting to her form.

Camellia blinked a few times and nearly tried to shake the thought from her head. What the hell is wrong with me?

Though, she reminded herself, there was a reason why she began to distrust mercenaries in the first place. It seemed, unfortunately, that she had a type—and both her heart and her bed had been empty for quite some time.

But a Mandalorian who always kept his face concealed would certainly never find himself in either of those places.

Camellia resisted the urge to scoff to herself. Clearly, it had been too long since she last allowed herself to live the life she once had beyond the walls of her senatorial office. She refused to project that onto the mercenary, and the mission. After it was all over, then Camellia could begin to think about filling those empty voids.

The senator released a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. The Avalon was Camellia’s most luxurious ship, though certainly much smaller than those of her fellow senators from the Core and the Mid Rim. The main hold was filled with white-and-gold embellishments and cushioned seating, the circular door leading to the cockpit fit with the same decorative swirls as the interior of Camellia’s office.

The ship served the senator enough to feel like something of a home, causing her to release a relaxed breath as she sat on one of the cushioned seats. Mionna sat beside her as the security officer continued on to stand just outside the cockpit. The Mandalorian and his apprentice remained standing across from Camellia. She furrowed her brow.

“Please, gentlemen.” Camellia gestured to the cushioned seat behind them. “Have a seat, relax your legs. This will be a long trip.”

Din hesitated, as if he was going to protest, but he stopped himself and nodded. He bent down to pick up the little one and took his place across from the senator. Din set Grogu next to him and remained at the ready, his gloved hands settling on his armored thighs.

“So, Din Djarin.” The Mandalorian’s visor locked on Camellia the moment his name rolled off her tongue. “Captain Teva told me you had quite a hand in the reclamation of Mandalore.”

Din nodded dutifully. “I was a small part of a greater effort.”

Camellia smiled at his sense of honor. Still, her skepticism remained. “What keeps you away from rebuilding the planet?” She gestured to herself. “Embarking on a New Republic diplomatic mission must put a sour taste in the mouths of your people, who wish to remain independent.”

The Mandalorian’s helmet tilted. Each word he spoke was careful, calculated even. “Bo-Katan Kryze is overseeing the rebuilding of Mandalore. My current responsibility is overseeing Grogu’s training.” He gestured to the child at his side, his visor never once straying from Camellia’s gaze. “It’s Mandalorian tradition that he embarks on his apprentice journeys.”

Camellia focused on her hands as they smoothed out the silk material of her dress upon her thighs. “And you being my hired guardian won’t cause your people to be seen as sympathetic to the New Republic?”

Din’s gloved fingers curled into fists on his thighs. Camellia swallowed hard. “You’re the politician here, Senator Merand.” He nodded at her. “You know the answer to that question better than I do.”

Clearly, Din’s wit was evenly matched with Camellia’s own. He had already far outpaced the past mercenaries she had reluctantly worked with. Fine. She shifted gears. “Have you traveled to Cantonica before?”

Din’s fists relaxed. “Once.”

Camellia raised her brow in interest. “What was the occasion?”

“I’m afraid that’s my private business, madam.”

“Of course.” Camellia bowed her head in apology. Damn it. Trying to get information out of this man was more difficult than convincing the entire damn Senate to send her to Cantonica in the first place. “I was simply hoping you would have a firm grasp on the layout of the planet’s biggest city.” The corner of her mouth twitched. “For my protection.”

“I recall Canto Bight. I also refreshed my memory of its layout last evening.” Din nodded at Camellia. “You’re in safe hands, Senator. I assured Captain Teva of such, and I assure you of the very same.”

Camellia was nearly embarrassed by the heat of Mionna’s amused gaze piercing her side. She returned his nod, maintaining the propriety. “Thank you.” Camellia stood, causing Mionna and Din to do the same. Even Grogu stood on the cushioned seat, his tiny chin lifting to emphasize the movement. “I ought to get some rest, as should the two of you. There’s no doubt you had a long trip to Coruscant this morning.”

Din nodded once again. As Camellia set off to her private quarters and took Mionna with her, she felt the warmth of Din’s gaze, just like before. She tried to fight the way it sent a blaze throughout every inch of her skin that his eyes touched.

Once Camellia and Mionna were alone inside her quarters, the senator heaved out a sigh. “That didn’t go well.”

Mionna couldn’t resist the smile that overtook her lips. “If I may, Senator?”

Camellia simply raised her brow at her assistant.

“I’m not sure questioning a Mandalorian about his possible betrayal to his homeworld was the right way to set the two of you up on good terms.”

Camellia scoffed. “I don’t care about being on good terms with the man.” She sits on the edge of the furnished bed and catches Mionna’s confused gaze. “All I care about is finding out what his true intentions are.”

Mionna held her datapad tighter. “Credits?”

Camellia raised an eyebrow. “A Mandalorian mercenary responsible for killing Moff Gideon wants more than just credits, Mionna.” She gestured with her head to the closed door. “He’s accompanying a New Republic senator to a planet he’s only been to one other time, and he’s working for Captain Teva instead of helping to rebuild his homeworld.” Camellia narrows her eyes and gives her head an aimless shake. “There’s something more he wants out of this.”

“Well, Senator, you know the Empire was responsible for Mandalore’s destruction.” Mionna shrugged. “Maybe he just wants revenge.”

“Maybe.” Camellia’s hand ran over her concealed blaster. “But the black market of weapons Vondar’s establishing in Canto Bight would be much more profitable for a mercenary than a simple protection job.” Her voice lowered in gravity. “And weapons are a vital part of Mandalorian religion.”

Mionna sat across from Camellia. “Do you think this Mandalorian, one Captain Teva trusts, would really subject a young apprentice to all that?”

Camellia chewed on Mionna’s words. Her teeth captured the inside of her cheek as she mused for a long moment. At last, she brought the daunting truth to life, speaking the words even as she prepared herself to rest. “We’ll just have to wait and see.”

series masterlist ➵ chapter 2

#i personally understand camellia very well here #din djarin #the mandalorian #din djarin x original female character #din djarin x ofc #din djarin fic #din djarin fanfiction #the dawn of starlight #dindjarindiaries

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