[infiinitepossibilities-a-blog]

Good customers are as rare as latinum. Treasure them

[professortora]

identity theft

[infiinitepossibilitiesarchi-blog]

professortora

Naprem’s stomach is twisting itself into knots as anger and shame war for control of her – the rage is still dancing like electricity over her skin, but as soon as Macet mentions Athra, the shame in her blood turns to lead. She turns her face, averting her eyes for the first time since she ran into him. It courses through her; it consumes her.

He just had to mention Athra.

“I’ve never claimed they did,” she says of the insults. She doesn’t bother to say that hearing them from the mouth of a Dukat – very less from a man who looks so much like Skrain it’s like talking to his much more reasonable doppelganger – hurts much worse than she anticipated it would. She doesn’t bother to mention that, for all the bitter things Macet has to say of Skrain’s lack of honor and lack of faithfulness, Skrain can still rely on his love and loyalty as family.

“I haven’t vilified anyone,” she says, because she hasn’t – save, perhaps, for him. “And I haven’t denied any wrongdoing – I’ve candidly admitted to what I did. And I never had any expectation that my daughter would be accepted into the Dukat household – I wasn’t delusional.” She shakes her head a little. 

“But,” and it aches to say, “for all your disregard of him – and it is earned… Skrain never cast off the bonds of fatherhood, simply because it was inconvenient to him. Yes, he hid us away – but if he’d wanted us gone, it would’ve been simple to turn us out and let us disappear. He hid us. He kept us safe. When he found Ziyal on Dozaria – he could’ve done anything. I wasn’t there to protect her. I never had any expectation that he’d try to make her a part of his real family.” Not after everything that had happened between them.

“But he did. Because at the end of the day, Skrain – is a good father. To all his children. Inherited and biological, convenient and not.”

She looks at Macet when she says this, but she can’t maintain eye contact. She’s lost the strength her anger afforded her.

“My daughter never did anything wrong. She didn’t ask to be born. Obviously, I understand how difficult it must be to make peace with her existence, and I won’t ask you to be quick about it – but laying the blame for my actions at her feet is unconscionable. She had nothing. She had nothing. And she was just a child – she was Skrain’s. Child. You were the only family she had left in the world. And if I hadn’t come back…” 

She stops, shakes her head. 

“If I hadn’t come back, she’d have had no family at all.”

Her shame is making her whole body ache – her anger and her sadness are collecting, like rainwater, in the hollow of her chest. She closes her eyes outright, puts a hand to her head. Everything she’s put that woman through – her guilt is eating her alive.

“I never set out to hurt anyone,” she says, almost to herself. “Honestly, I – when I died, I really thought that was it. I thought, well… at least I’m through making poor Athra Dukat suffer.” She shakes her head. She folds her arms around her chest. “But I should’ve known better. Asking others to be willing to do what you would do in their place… it’s too much. I’m not being facetious. It’s… too much. It’s too much to ask.”

It was rewarding to see that his tactic had worked not simply because it put an end to their fight, but also because it allowed them a chance to talk. As real people, who both held shame and regret for that which had been done over the years.

“I believe we can agree on that matter. I hold no issue with her existence--not the way my aunt or Athra do. But it is hard to look at her and not see Skrain’s failings in life. From the affair to shipping his child off to remain hidden for life with you to his admission of it all, she is the product of dozens of selfish decisions. And I suppose I pity her for that as, by all accounts, she loves him. Foolishly so.” Much like they all foolishly loved Skrain for their own reasons in his family. 

At least, they had once upon a time. Now, it was harder and harder to think of the man responsible for so much trouble as the cousin he had grown up thinking of like a brother. It was unfortunate to say the least, though he tried not to think too hard about it.

"I can not speak for all of Cardassia, but I know for myself and my crew, we never wanted to hurt anyone either. It was a side effect of the war and the Occupation and the following war,” he said bluntly. It was just a fact--not an excuse--for what had been done in his eyes. “And for all of Athra’s suffering at the hands of my cousin’s affairs, your part in it was... distanced. It’s easy to hurt those you don’t have to see face to face, those you don’t know. Much like taking a life, it’s harder to do when you have to face your victim.”

And that personal experience with the latter was enough to make him go quiet as a pensive look settled on his face. Not one to fidget, he stood still, staring at the ground for a second, then two, then finally looking back at her and letting out a small sigh.

Cruelty was not in his nature. Not by choice. Hesitantly, he placed a hand on her shoulder, eyes pleading with her to remain--to let him share his peace.

“It is fortunate that your daughter has you in her life again. One constant seems to be that Skrain’s children require their mothers to lead them in a way their father can--will not, for whatever reason.”

[infiinitepossibilitiesarchi-blog]

I think I'm going to remake this blog tomorrow for the sake of better tags. 

[defectivevorta-and-changeling]

“We (do not) live to serve the Founders in all things.” | About 1 | About 2 | Verses

[infiinitepossibilitiesarchi-blog]

Irsam of the Telik-Hepat

Birthplace: Norat, Daniru, Aulia, Rigel A circa 2173

Parents: Konash (father), Tishka (mother, deceased)

Siblings: Garrel, Nikta, Vaaliz, Saishess, Lesho, Kittol

Spouse: Venna (divorced), Tihotha (divorced),  Ashista Mizach (divorced)

Children: Hidi (Daughter/Venna), Ijeen  Sakal (Sons/Tihotha), Ayur, Ebal, Okodi (Daughter, Daughter, Son/Ashista)

Occupation: Security for the Orion Syndicate/Mercenary

Faceclaim: Darren E. Scott

The eldest son of Konash and his first wife, Tishka, Irsam was raised like all kaylar to be a warrior and instilled with the could of his people. As a son, he was the ideal and as a brother, he helped to raise his younger siblings--especially after the passing of his mother when he was around the Terran age of twenty. Yet, he handled it well. He helped his father maintain their family until he remarried and even helped his father’s new wife in the care of their children.

By time he was in his forties, he chose to leave Aulia to work on another nearby planets. This work put him in the service of the Romulans and Klingons and even the occasional human, but it wasn’t until he wound up working for the Orion Syndicate did problems arise. To work for the Syndicate was to sell one’s soul in a number of ways and Irsam gave willingly. To him, being a mercenary was the same across the board--a lie everyone in the sector knew--yet he still chose the path of the Orions. Because of this Irsam lives a well off life, providing for his many families, but as far as his father’s family is concerned, his contact with them is to be limited for his sake and the sake of the family.

[infiinitepossibilitiesarchi-blog]

Everyone aged quite a bit during the Occupation and following war with the Federation, but Skrain, Akellen and Elim managed to remain ageless gods through it all. That’s a real skill.

[nicole-queen]

star trek ★ 1x00 “the cage“ I’m tired of deciding which mission is too risky and which isn’t. And who’s going on the landing party and who doesn’t. And who lives. And who dies.

[professortora]

identity theft

[infiinitepossibilitiesarchi-blog]

professortora

Naprem shook her head, almost shaking – it’s been a long time since she’s been forced to bear the full brunt of someone else’s assumptions about her. Most people keep their opinions to themselves nowadays. But Cardassians, she knows, have long memories.

It isn’t that she feels no embarrassment, no shame; she does, of course she does. She feels shame, and guilt, and regret, and she did then too, mostly for the same reasons. She’d never intended to be the person Skrain Dukat made her into. She’d been a person, before him – a degraded one, albeit – but now, in the eyes of many, her personhood came second to her status as his. 

And how good those people still managed to feel about themselves, all the while.

“I don’t want your sympathy,” she scoffs. “I have no use for the sympathy of a man who knows less than nothing about me. I’ve never asked anyone to feel sorry for me – as much as you seem to want to act like I paraded myself around, broke down the door of the Dukat Legacy House and made myself a seat at the dinner table, I’ve never done anything wrong by you but exist. You made up your mind about me without ever meeting me – without once availing yourself of the fact that it wasn’t my duty to remain loyal to your family.”

She looks away, seething and – though she hates to admit it, or wear it on her face – hurt. How many strangers will she have to answer to, in her life? How many times must she defend herself against the presumption of her own dastardly disposition?

“I’m only sorry I can’t possibly be the villain you’d like me to be. It’s a bit too much to live up to – being a vile temptress or a routine seductress of married men seems like it would demand quite a bit of work. I suppose I have no choice but to live out the boring reality of strangers constantly accusing me of a dearth of moral fiber while simultaneously detailing – for all to hear – their most sordid assumptions of what, exactly, my sleeping with Skrain would entail. Your particular fantasy is so far off the mark that I wouldn’t be offended, but that you seem to have been in a prime position to know the truth, but decided not to. I can only assume it would have bothered you to acknowledge that he pursued me.

“And while we’re on the subject of the truth: you don’t tell me how to feel about the Occupation. What I did is my own business, and I can feel about it what I like, but I’ll be damned if you’re going to come in here and presume to know more than I do about the nature of Cardassian oppression. I can criticize the power that robbed me of my home, my livelihood, and fifty years of my life without asking your permission.

“Yes, I let the Occupation change me. That’s what you did during the Occupation. You adapted. You changed. You became somebody you couldn’t recognize – you sacrificed what little dignity you had to be with a man simply because he seemed to respect you and value your opinion. And let me tell you, Gul Macet, since you place such a low premium on kindness – it’s clear you haven’t spent decades of your life without it, before.”

“You seem to labor under the impression that you are without blame for the sake of being victim to he Occupation. I don’t villainize you for being some seductress or for the false idea of chasing after Skrain--I villainize you for being you. Does that make sense? Lay with him once or a thousand times, the problem is that you laid with him. That you gave into him because it takes two to have an affair. I understand the power imbalances and my cousin’s charm. I understand that you both fancied yourselves in love and that he cared for you. So be it. But my loyalty to his wife--my family--does not allow for any need to distinguish how guilty you are of the crimes. Only that you are and your daughter is proof of that.”

He stroked his fingers along his beard. The conversation was a stalemate, that much was clear, but ever the tactician, Macet knew when to change manouvers. Dropping his hand back to his side, he held her gaze as he spoke.

"Let me tell you something, you have certainly never heard: when I say family is first, I mean it. I love Skrain as a brother and his children like my own. The older ones call me their uncle. When his one of children, a son, with Athra died not long after birth... You can’t imagine how painful that was for all of us, let alone them. Procal Dukat, would have been his name according to my uncle--a cursed name,” Akellen said with a bitter laugh. Then, remembering who he was speaking to, he shook his head. “But I digress. The fact is I don’t know your side and I don’t want to. I don’t need to. I have years of watching Dukat and Athra, envying them and their happiness. Pitying her for being yet another of his victims long before she even knew, before you even came into the picture. Or before she had proof. I love her the same way I love him. Athra is a bold woman you see--even in kicking him out of his own home and taking all seven of their children. The same mus be said for my aunt in disowning her son for his conduct on Bajor.

“Women on Cardassia are far smarter and more powerful than even Cardassian men give them credit for and they are worth the weight of the planet in latinum to most men.” He took a step closer to her, tilting his head slightly so that way he wasn’t looking down his nose at her. “Yet these very bold women are people I have only heard you vilify for being upset over your daughter as though she is not proof of infidelity, abuse of power and many more crimes that are not befitting our race and show what kind of man Skrain is. And you do this because you hold no loyalty to them, because they didn’t approve of your daughter. So, clearly we both enjoy speaking of matters we have no personal knowledge of and display a great deal of unkindness on that subject. And please don’t insult us both by pretending whatever bedroom talks you held with Skrain count as knowledge of anything,” he said, holding up a hand in hopes that she wouldn’t even try.

"The only difference is, I can admit I lack first hand knowledge on the matter of Bajor and the Occupation. I spent that time serving Legate Ghemor and fighting a war right when Cardassia was finding its feet again and struggling like everyone else along that forsaken border to maintain peace with the Federation while still following my orders. My knowledge comes from Skrain and having my name sullied by association to him and our similar appearance. From those like my cousin in Central Command who spent the Occupation on their backs instead of on the front line. So if what I know isn’t up to your esteem, continue o tell me as much, but don’t pretend these assumptions and insults only come from me.”

[bartloki]

melodrama starters

warning for some nsfw content & alcohol.

I know about what you did.

I wanna scream the truth.

She thinks you love the beach.

You’re such a damn liar.

Thought you said that you would always be in love.

You’re not in love.

Did it frighten you?

I’ll come get my things.

I can’t let go.

I wish I could get my things and just let go.

My hips have missed your hips.

Will you sway with me?

I know you’re feeling it too.

Can we keep up with the ruse?

I know this story by heart.

Jack and Jill get fucked up and possessive when it gets dark.

We know that it’s over in the morning.

Don’t know you super well, but I think that you might be the same as me.

Let’s let things come out of the woodwork.

Yeah, awesome right?

You know I think you’re awesome, right?

I guess we’re partying.

Now you know it’s really gonna blow.

I get caught up, just for a minute.

You’re the one to blame.

Can you hear the violence? 

I blow all my friendships to sit in hell with you.

We’re the greatest they’ll hang us in the Louvre. Down the back, but who cares - still the Louvre.

I know that you are not my type.

She’s so hard to please, but she’s a forest fire.

I do my best to meet her demands.

You’re a little much for me.

You’re a liability.

I understand.

I’m a liability. 

I am a toy that people enjoy ‘til all of the tricks don’t work anymore.

Every perfect summer’s eating me alive.

They’re gonna watch me disappear into the sun.

Please could you be tender?

Let’s give it a minute before we admit that we’re through. 

It’s late and this song is for you.

Well, I guess I should go.

Yeah, I guess I should go.

These are what they call hard feelings.

God I wish I believed you when you told me this was my home.

I care for myself the way I used to care about you.

Why even try to get right?

It’s time to let go of this endless summer afternoon.

It was real for me.

I’ll fake it every single day 'til I don’t need fantasy.

But I still remember everything.

I’ll start letting go of little things 'til I’m so far away from you.

What is this tape?

This is my favorite tape.

Bet you wanna rip my heart out.

Bet you wanna rip my heart out.

Well guess what? I like that.

I’m gonna mess your life up.

I’m psycho high.

I know you won’t remember in the morning when I speak my mind.

We wonder why we bother.

You wanted something that we offered.

Break the news.

You’re walking out.

Sorry I was never good like you.

I did my best to exist just for you.

I am my mother’s child.

I’ll love you 'til my breathing stops.

I’ll love you 'til you call the cops on me.

I’ll find a way to be without you, babe.

I still feel you now and then.

Slow like pseudo-ephedrine.

I let the seasons change my mind.

I love it here since I’ve stopped needing you.

We keep trying to talk about us.

I’m someone you maybe might love.

I’ll be your quiet afternoon crush.

In my head I do everything right.

When you call I’ll forgive and not fight.

We were wild and fluorescent.

Come home to my heart.

Maybe all this is the party.

Maybe we just do it violently.

You’re not what you thought you were.

Every night, I live and die.

It’s just another graceless night.

I hate the headlines and the weather.

When we’re dancing I’m alright.

Are you lost enough?

Have another drink.

This is how we get notorious.

I can’t stand to be alone.

Let’s kiss and then take off our clothes.

All the nights spent off our faces.

What the fuck are perfect places anyway?

[brittsmemes]

SEND ME 👌 IF YOUR MUSE THINKS MY MUSE HAS A NICE BUTT

[professortora]

identity theft

[infiinitepossibilitiesarchi-blog]

professortora

He’d almost wooed her into a state of reluctant agreement there for a second. Cardassia’s pending collapse is something Naprem spends an uncomfortable amount thinking about, these days: what might be about to happen, and what it might mean for the man she’s still trying not to love, and for her daughter, and for Bajor.

But then, in an instant, that vague mist of goodwill has been dispelled.

“The easy way out?” she repeats, skin beginning to flush with rage. “The easy way out – I was enslaved by the Cardassian Union for fifty years, a good thirty of them before I even met Skrain, tell me sir, what is it precisely that you imagine was easy about that? Or is the scar on my face not enough, would you prefer I show you the rest of them? You people,” she snaps, “you always feel so comfortable passing judgment with a minimal knowledge of the facts, I never know where you find the gall.

“Loving Skrain – that was my mistake, I understand that now, I understood it then. But don’t for a second act like you know me. I survived the Occupation from the beginning, I suffered just as ‘nobly’ as the countless others you’d compare me to, and if, after three decades of suffering, I was vulnerable to the first real kindness anyone had shown me in all that time, I still showcased a stronger will and loyalty to my people than any Cardassian I’ve ever met.

“There was no easy way out of the Occupation, Gul Macet – not for me, not for anyone. There was survival, or death. And if you simply managed to avoid being directly responsible for the suffering of another person, that was enough. A lofty goal, seeing that you’ve been unable to manage it in the span of a single conversation.”

Ever the soldier, he stood his ground. Hands at his side as he listened with an impassive face. Watched her grow a bit more red with anger than she had been as that fake niceness died away.

“Cardassia is built on loyalty. One you could never understand. One Skrain can’t even understand through all his selfishness. If you had even the slightest amount of loyalty my people have, you would’ve never bedded down with my cousin. For you see, all of Central Command knows him for his flaws--charming though he may be. But it’s his skill at his job that led to his promotion through the ranks, not because he is a loyal man to be trusted with even a bottle of kanar. yet you fell in love with one of your oppressors because he was nice? You do not get to criticize a power you gave into willingly. And from the beginning Bajor always gave in willingly.”

They prayed to their false idols for fifty years after some of their own helped to turn over their planet to the few of Cardassia’s religious and then the likes of Dukat. It was hardly worth the military force that had been used to go in and break their spirits. However, he point was to make her seas, not ponder the past.

“And it should be noted that I never claimed I didn’t cause suffering. One does not fight a war and fail to cause suffering. I have taken the lives of men, women and children and regardless of the reason, it has left an effect on their families. However, if you expect me to feel sorry for my cousin’s mistress,” he said, practically spitting out the word. “For getting her her feeling hurt, you’ll be disappointed. I have no sympathy for the likes of you.” And it wasn’t that she was Bajoran--no, his words gave away his true meaning. The idea that she would sleep with a married man and breed with him, regardless of reason was what disgusted Macet.

[mythicalheartbeat]

Ships with height differences. Reblog if you agree

[pancakeke]

[professortora]

identity theft

[infiinitepossibilitiesarchi-blog]

professortora

"Gul Macet,” Naprem repeats. “You must be related on his mother’s side, then.” 

That was easy enough to deduce – she’d never seen Hekessa Dukat in either pictures, or in living color, but she’d known from the recordings of his interrogation that Skrain’s physical similarities to his father were more sparing. Now, with a pang, she realizes he must look very much like his mother, who in turn must look very much like her sisters. It’s really only her festering anger that allows her to put this aside – this deadly longing, this frustration that she will never in her life be able to make the acquaintance of Skrain’s family without a heady dose of shame.

“Well, it’s a pleasure to make the acquaintance of a man who so blithely dismisses the responsibilities of fatherhood. Ah – excuse me. Inconvenient fatherhood. It must be my Bajoran sensibilities that obligate me to take responsibility for all my offspring, rather than those who most flatter my ego. Perhaps it’s simply that we have a more faithful observance of the concept of family. It must be very inconvenient for a Cardassian to be asked to provide for children they do not want, even when they’ve so relished in creating them.

“But then,” she says, “we always were better at living within our means. In fact, that what I’ve always found most confusing – that the Union could’ve been so well provided for through means of a simple alliance, but insisted on wasting precious military resources they didn’t have against a people who offered you no resistance. I dare say between the war orphans, and the hybrids, and the spoils of the Occupation, Bajorans have provided for far more Cardassians than Cardassians have.”

She smiles, in a pinched sort of way.

He nodded, albeit with a suspicious look in his eyes. Curiosity about how open his ever foolish cousin had been with the woman all for the sake of companionship. Clenching his jaw, he fought the urge to roll his eyes. One day he would have to discuss the concept of discretion at length with that man.

Instead he allows his gaze to turn sharp and that never ending amusement to light up his eyes again. Tilting his head as he regarded, he sighed. Would wonders never cease?

“You say that as though you’ve not met and bedded Skrain. You must remember him. He’s the man who hid you and your daughter away for years like the secret that you both were. A man, who in a truly stunning move, created one of those orphans out of a member of the civilian council’s son. Really remind me to tell you of that little event some time. I found the story most amusing.” He snapped his fingers then held up his pointer finger to her. “A man who helped foster the Bajoran occupation from the beginning to the end, making it last as long as he possibly could to keep himself in supply of power and Bajoran women. Or does he get a pass because you love him?”

He clasped his hands behind his back, standing up a bit taller as he did. “Because, Tora, I don’t disagree that the occupation was a mistake. Cardassia was crippled at the time and we treated superficial wounds with our occupation of Bajor without treating the fatal wounds that could only be fixed on Cardassia. People like Skrain used their power to handle a defenseless populace while people like me fought to protect the borders against capable militaries. And nothing has changed except for the fact that instead of the Federation, we fight the Klingons and the Maquis. Instead of occupying Bajor, Cardassia fights for control of itself.”

A control that did not seem likely to come as far as he was concerned. Not withh people like Skrain still vying for military control. Once he might have agreed with the notion, but now? Briefly closing his eyes, Macet took a deep breath before opening them.

“But my dear Tora, do not lecture me about wars you didn’t fight in as though you are enlightened. There were Bajorans who fought, Bajorans who slaved and there were the likes of you: Bajorans who bedded down with people like Skrain and took the easy way out of both sides of the Occupation and act as though you did something grand and noble in that time.”

[infiinitepossibilitiesarchi-blog]

astrohistoria

“Believe it or not, Harry, I’ve known some really horrible people in my life. I don’t count you on that list.” Mika leaned away from him and shrugged. “Even with your…lifestyle, you seem to have a healthy dose of morals.” She side-eyed him with careful consideration. “Harry, I know you don’t like it when I’m nice but at least let me make you a drink, or something? And we can talk about something else?”  

Turning to her, he placed a hand on her shoulder and nodded. “You can be whatever you want to be love. In fact, I think I would like it if you told me just how wonderful I am.” He leaned over to rest his head in her lap and stared up at her. “Come on. It’ll be a wonderful experience for us both, as far as I’m concerned.”

[infiinitepossibilitiesarchi-blog]

Gul Macet worked along the border in the CDS Trager for decades. He has always been on the frontlines and has fought in the likes of Setlick III, against the Maquis, against the Klingons, and in the Dominion War. By virtue of not dying, he’s damn good at his job and he managed to even get through the Dominion War with nothing more than some minor cosmetic damages to his vessel.

[infiinitepossibilitiesarchi-blog]

astrohistoria

“Of course the emperor knew what he was doing. He wanted control of all of Asia. I come from a line of prideful, arrogant, assholes.” She sat next to him and stayed quite while she listened to him and even a few minutes after he stopped talking. placing her chin on his shoulder, she nudged him gently. “Then maybe it’s time I write a paper debating the contrary,” she offered softly. “After all, I like you. I mean you’re annoying as hell, frustrating, paranoid, and you can be an ass but…I like you. If I didn’t, I’d have plenary of opportunities to kill you in your sleep.” Mika sighed and placed a hand on his back. “It seems your family has a great affinity for self preservation, Harry. You do deserve to life, no matter how many people say otherwise, cause I think, deep down, you really are a decent guy.” 

“The Mudd family doesn’t need some paper defending him. We know the truth and no cares about whether or not he was innocent any more but us.” And even then he couldn’t claim that his entire family felt the same way that he did. He let out a tired exhale. “I don’t know if I deserve livfe, but I do know I’m not giving up mine without a fight. I’ve been sentenced to death at least twice and I’m still here. So that’s something.” What he wasn’t sure of, but he was doing a better job of hiding his feelings regarding his ancestor.