saviorgoddessastrid:

fleet-admiral-red‌:

“Mmm…hehe…nowhere in mind yet.” Hope admitted with a chuckle to Agape as she hugged a blushing Lumi by the side. ”We thought we’d just walk around the place first. The Temple itself is nice to look around in.”

Though thinking about it, both of them having a serene walk through the Temple’s surrounding grounds sounded wonderful enough to warrant a go.

“Sure thing,” Agape replied.  “I’m sure that you’ll enjoy Lady Astrid’s temple.  It’s quite the lovely place if I do say so myself.”

Both shipgirls nodded in agreement. Hope smiled as she brought her face close to her sister’s.

“One more offering to her before we leave this shrine, hmm?” she whispered lovingly (though surely Agape would have heard her) before giving her sister a gentle, sweet kiss.

It didn’t take Lumi long to return it, barely aware in the moment of affection that Agape was clearly able to see them doing this.

saviorgoddessastrid:

fleet-admiral-red‌:

“….”

Yellow bowed her head again before her party and the two goddesses. To be named as the Initiative’s ideal leader and compared akin to Astrid was praise she couldn’t accept.

She was posthuman and an aspiring peacebringer, to be certain. But even that held little water next to Astrid’s divinity and literal reality-warping capabilities. Despite her idealistic views, she knew that whether she liked it or not (often the latter), the Initiative military had its place, her attempts at curtailing it notwithstanding.

“To say that and mean it…you’re too kind, Bellatrix. I’m just one woman who tried to make the universe a brighter place.”

“I couldn’t protect all those who lost their lives to us…but maybe here I can save some.”

“You’d be amazed at how many people try to do that in the wrong way,” Bellatrix mentioned.  “If it wasn’t for those people, I’d be out of a job.”

Astrid smiled to Yellow.  “Besides, I think that you’ll be a great Adventurer,” she mentioned.  “Just make sure not to get ahead of yourself, alright? Don’t get too self-sacrificial in your desire to help people.”

She couldn’t say no to a concerned request like that. And so she nodded. “I…will do my best not to, Astrid.”

She turned to the rest of her party, sadly aware that they had heard everything, including her rank within the Initiative. “You know who and what I am now. Does that…change anything about your views of me?”

She wouldn’t blame them if it did.

saviorgoddessastrid:

fleet-admiral-red‌:

Lumi nodded silently, looking very gratefully (albeit blushing from her teasing remark) at the Goddess of Love. It still threw her off slightly that Agape wore Hope’s appearance.

“Thank you, miss Agape. I won’t. I’ll ask her…when we’re both ready for it.”

She stowed the box within the same front pocket again, the object seemingly disappearing into it. Magical sparkly shipgirl shenanigans at work, most likely.

Lumi gave a short bow as Hope walked up to her, smiling warmly. The white-haired cruiser looked over at Agape, pulling Lumi close by her side.

“Guess that’s all we wanted to say, miss Agape. Thanks so much for your advice. We’ll be sure to come back to visit your shrine!” Hope said as she beamed. “For now, we’ll continue our little sightseeing.”

Beside her sister, Lumi smiled as well and gave a small wave. “Thank you, truly.”

“No sweat!” Agape replied.  “Where you thinking off to heading off next?”

“Mmm…hehe…nowhere in mind yet.” Hope admitted with a chuckle to Agape as she hugged a blushing Lumi by the side. ”We thought we’d just walk around the place first. The Temple itself is nice to look around in.”

Though thinking about it, both of them having a serene walk through the Temple’s surrounding grounds sounded wonderful enough to warrant a go.

saviorgoddessastrid:

fleet-admiral-red‌:

“…You are certain? Truly certain?”

The healer’s response to Bellatrix was soft in tone, but she’d listened. It seemed an obvious thing to do, but she found herself still not ready.

“I never took leadership of the Initiative like Red did. I’m not like him. Offering one hand, and a dagger in the other, behind his back. I can’t…I won’t be like that. ”

A sad shake of the head. “Even when I return, what then? Our reputation won’t be washed away even if it’s me at the head and following your advice, it never will be. Fourth Fleet has faced increasing resistance to the aid we offered so openly.”

She picked the Caduceus Staff back up, collapsing it. “I can’t go back just yet, Bellatrix. Not while the peoples’ wounds are still so fresh. Maybe they’ll learn to manage without me for a while. I left Fourth Fleet in good hands. As for Red…he’s faced worse times than this, he can bring them through it.”

“I’ll return home, in time.”

“While it’s true that your nation’s reputation has been marred, it’s always possible to redeem yourselves in the eyes of others,” Astrid mentioned.  “You don’t have to be like Red in leading the Initiative, y’know.”

Bellatrix rolled her neck around some to stretch it out.  “Besides, I can’t think of anyone better to lead the GDI than you,” she admitted.  “You remind me a lot of Astrid, y’know, which is a good thing if you ask me.  But if you’re so sure that you can’t return just yet, you’re free to relax here on Terra Ancora.  I see you’ve picked up the Adventurer’s life while you’re here, so that’ll be a good way to pass the time.”

“….”

Yellow bowed her head again before her party and the two goddesses. To be named as the Initiative’s ideal leader and compared akin to Astrid was praise she couldn’t accept.

She was posthuman and an aspiring peacebringer, to be certain. But even that held little water next to Astrid’s divinity and literal reality-warping capabilities. Despite her idealistic views, she knew that whether she liked it or not (often the latter), the Initiative military had its place, her attempts at curtailing it notwithstanding.

“To say that and mean it…you’re too kind, Bellatrix. I’m just one woman who tried to make the universe a brighter place.”

“I couldn’t protect all those who lost their lives to us…but maybe here I can save some.”

fanboyingduringteatime:

stephendann:

ladyunlaced:

spookyhella:

casually call people “human” to unsettle them and make them question what sort of being you are

#real talk one time this punk in intro to creative writing tried to psychoanalyze me#and i turned on him and hissed ‘dont presume to know me son of man’#he was accepatably baffled and terrified and i felt powerful and celestial so all was well

Oooh! I have done this a few times.

One of my favorites is when a religious converter type comes up to me when I’m sitting around.  Because they usually have a cold open like “The Lord has called me to you” replying with “Indeed He Has My Child, for He is Pleased With Your Work, and wishes you to know that you are known to Him”.  Throw inflections into the wrong points in words, but do it with a very calming presence.  After all, you’re the SMS from the afterlife, you’re merely the vessel of the vassal, and nothing scuttles their plans faster than trying to have to process that this very calmly spoken person who InflEcts their words JuiSSSSt quite not riGHt is acknowleding them in an uncomforting way.

Once they leave, watch them until something blocks the line of site, and then move like lightning to not be there when they glance back.

(This is why there are probably some really good rumours in Adelaide about me)

I remember this guy once who tried to dare me (the nerd of the group) to do something or another to prove my “manliness”.
I calmly replied “How cute of you to think I´m human…” and kept walking.
He stared at me in confusion and when I was several meters away I heard him say “yeah…good point.”

These days I refer to a lot of others as ‘baselines’. I’m a baseline myself, but it doesn’t really matter.

We really are a tragedy.

saviorgoddessastrid:

fleet-admiral-red‌:

Lumi was also blushing, though as she took Hope’s place before Agape, her sister briefly gave her an encouraging kiss on the cheek before returning to a spot behind her.

“H-hello, miss Agape. I…don’t know how to say this right, but I’ll try.”

“Being with Hope…she’s given me the chance to really live. See more than just my duty to the Initiative, to its people. She’s even saved my life once before.”

“Sometimes…I still don’t feel I deserve her love. I was such a jerk to her for years, yet she still smiled for my sake. She’s done so much for me, and I can’t express my gratitude to her enough. How I have someone worth living for.”

Lumi met Agape’s gaze, embarrassed enough as she was, yet still determined to make her point.

“But I’ll do anything to make her the happiest girl in the galaxy. I just want to ask…if you will give us your blessing.”

From a front pocket of hers, Lumi withdrew a tiny box. Somewhat plain-looking, but still quite advanced for a box. And fairly obvious what it was if one considered the size and shape of it.

It might have amused Agape, to know that both sisters were trying to plan the same thing without the other knowing.

“Someday, I’ll present this to her. Someday.”

Agape couldn’t help but guffaw at what she was seeing.  “Man, you two are just precious, y’know that?” she mentioned.  “Of course I’ll give my blessing.  Just don’t sit on it for too long, alright?”

Lumi nodded silently, looking very gratefully (albeit blushing from her teasing remark) at the Goddess of Love. It still threw her off slightly that Agape wore Hope’s appearance.

“Thank you, miss Agape. I won’t. I’ll ask her…when we’re both ready for it.”

She stowed the box within the same front pocket again, the object seemingly disappearing into it. Magical sparkly shipgirl shenanigans at work, most likely.

Lumi gave a short bow as Hope walked up to her, smiling warmly. The white-haired cruiser looked over at Agape, pulling Lumi close by her side.

“Guess that’s all we wanted to say, miss Agape. Thanks so much for your advice. We’ll be sure to come back to visit your shrine!” Hope said as she beamed. “For now, we’ll continue our little sightseeing.”

Beside her sister, Lumi smiled as well and gave a small wave. “Thank you, truly.”

saviorgoddessastrid:

fleet-admiral-red‌:

Yellow nodded quietly, though for the moment she made no verbal reply. She reached for her collapsed Caduceus Staff, expanding it with a tap on its haptic controls.

She got down upon one knee before the Goddess of Destruction, laying the Staff before her.

“My people lost sight of ourselves…thought steel-cold pragmatism would bring peace. In a time of war, thought ourselves facing total extinction. And through us, 37 billion, 659 thousand, eight hundred and sixty four lives now lay as just cosmic dust among glassed and shattered planets.”

“12 million, 465 thousand, 352 of our crewmen perished in the Event, a punishment we rightfully deserved.”

“I could not…did not stop my comrades in these judgements, convinced as they were. As I was. I am as complicit in their deaths as my fellow Fleet Admirals. My life won’t balance all those billions, it never will.”

“I offer through myself an alternative. To truly understand suffering, one must experience it. My only request, Bellatrix, is that I feel all the pain our victims felt in their final moments.”

“Hell no,” Bellatrix replied, plain and simple, in a tone that sounded more annoyed than anything.  “I don’t think you quite recognize what it is you ask of me, so let me make this clear to you: The amount of pain you’ll feel from that request is going to kill you.

“Astrid here knows exactly what that kind of pain is like, and she only survived it due to being immortal, which you’re not.  I’m not going to be complicit in your death just because you want to feel some kind of redemption that you don’t need.”

Bellatrix grabbed Yellow and brought her back to her feet.  “You want redemption for all of this? You go back to the GDI, you go back to leading them, and you listen to what I had to say.  That’s all you need to do.  There’s no need for you to sacrifice yourself so thoroughly for something that’ll achieve nothing.”

“…You are certain? Truly certain?”

The healer’s response to Bellatrix was soft in tone, but she’d listened. It seemed an obvious thing to do, but she found herself still not ready.

“I never took leadership of the Initiative like Red did. I’m not like him. Offering one hand, and a dagger in the other, behind his back. I can’t…I won’t be like that. ”

A sad shake of the head. “Even when I return, what then? Our reputation won’t be washed away even if it’s me at the head and following your advice, it never will be. Fourth Fleet has faced increasing resistance to the aid we offered so openly.”

She picked the Caduceus Staff back up, collapsing it. “I can’t go back just yet, Bellatrix. Not while the peoples’ wounds are still so fresh. Maybe they’ll learn to manage without me for a while. I left Fourth Fleet in good hands. As for Red…he’s faced worse times than this, he can bring them through it.”

“I’ll return home, in time.”

saviorgoddessastrid:

fleet-admiral-red‌:

Hope began swaying this way and that, clutching her upper arm as she continued blushing. “Mmmhh. Sis has been so accepting of everything we’ve done together that it feels like my dream come true.”

The cruiser giggled, casting a quick glance back at Lumi behind her, before looking again at Agape. “If we move on to that, I’ll be sure to really please her too. I’ll be by her side always. Thanks miss Agape. Anyway…Sis wanted to speak with you as well. I’ll let you two talk.”

With that, Hope stepped aside, gesturing for her sister to come up to Agape in turn.

Agape grinned as Lumi approached.  “So, what do you have to ask of me?” she asked.  “Don’t be shy now~”

Lumi was also blushing, though as she took Hope’s place before Agape, her sister briefly gave her an encouraging kiss on the cheek before returning to a spot behind her.

“H-hello, miss Agape. I…don’t know how to say this right, but I’ll try.”

“Being with Hope…she’s given me the chance to really live. See more than just my duty to the Initiative, to its people. She’s even saved my life once before.”

“Sometimes…I still don’t feel I deserve her love. I was such a jerk to her for years, yet she still smiled for my sake. She’s done so much for me, and I can’t express my gratitude to her enough. How I have someone worth living for.”

Lumi met Agape’s gaze, embarrassed enough as she was, yet still determined to make her point.

“But I’ll do anything to make her the happiest girl in the galaxy. I just want to ask…if you will give us your blessing.”

From a front pocket of hers, Lumi withdrew a tiny box. Somewhat plain-looking, but still quite advanced for a box. And fairly obvious what it was if one considered the size and shape of it.

It might have amused Agape, to know that both sisters were trying to plan the same thing without the other knowing.

“Someday, I’ll present this to her. Someday.”

saviorgoddessastrid:

fleet-admiral-red‌:

As soon as Yellow had seen the goddess, she’d fallen eerily silent, never meeting her eyes.

With Astrid inviting all of them inside, she followed her party into the Temple quietly. While a part of her still silently marveled at the Temple’s grand architecture, she made no outward sign of it to her teammates, simply walking along behind them with her head bowed.

Surely she would be able to meet Bellatrix here in the Temple as well. And that was all she needed.

“So, what brings you all out here to the Temple?” Astrid asked, floating on midair as she looked back at the party.  “I can’t imagine Yellow would drop by here for no real reason.”

“Yellow wishes to meet with Lady Bellatrix,” Thrud answered.  “I’m not entirely sure why.”

“Ah, I see,” Astrid replied.  “One moment…” Astrid quickly reached out telepathically to Bellatrix, who arrived via her own Warp Doors.

“Someone wanted to see me?” Bellatrix asked, arms crossed as she looked right at Yellow.  “Ah.  Admiral Yellow.  Good to see you here.”

Yellow nodded quietly, though for the moment she made no verbal reply. She reached for her collapsed Caduceus Staff, expanding it with a tap on its haptic controls.

She got down upon one knee before the Goddess of Destruction, laying the Staff before her.

“My people lost sight of ourselves…thought steel-cold pragmatism would bring peace. In a time of war, thought ourselves facing total extinction. And through us, 37 billion, 659 thousand, eight hundred and sixty four lives now lay as just cosmic dust among glassed and shattered planets.”

“12 million, 465 thousand, 352 of our crewmen perished in the Event, a punishment we rightfully deserved.”

“I could not…did not stop my comrades in these judgements, convinced as they were. As I was. I am as complicit in their deaths as my fellow Fleet Admirals. My life won’t balance all those billions, it never will.”

“I offer through myself an alternative. To truly understand suffering, one must experience it. My only request, Bellatrix, is that I feel all the pain our victims felt in their final moments.”