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4 yrs ago
Current That's being a writer sometimes, man.
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4 yrs ago
Because they can't be apart.
5 yrs ago
We should PUSH the climate SOMEWHERE ELSE!
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6 yrs ago
R.I.P. XXX
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6 yrs ago
I hoped you were lying Odin. Fuck... anyone but him.

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Lavender Town vibes...
<Snipped quote by SoleAccord>

XXX got me into Juice WRLD now, rather late, I suppose. But this guy has some great tracks.



Goodbye & Good Riddance has plenty of dope tracks (his debut album). I'd post most of the album if I was bothered.

“What you’re good at is making excuses while you help choke out any life you can, and nothing more.” Anari was not flattered by his envy nor impressed with his justification for being with this “Un-Refrain”. He made no attempt to mask how desperate he was to leave. His eyes turned to the main entrance far too many times to be taking her, or this conversation, seriously. She reached out to him yet his hands stayed at his sides. She couldn’t help someone who thought better of her perspective, who thought their lives were perfectly situated.

“Don’t be envious. Be better,” she said firmly. She backed away towards the passage holding the liberated slaves. “Goodbye Blank. Continue to think only of yourself. It’s what you're best at.”

She turned her back on him and walked towards the rear exit, her eyes peering upward at radiant glass chandeliers suspended from the ceiling. Beautiful, luminous things; a shame they decorated a place filled for ugly practices. It was one of the few areas untouched by the guards convinced of the error of their ways. Before slipping out she stopped beside her exit and reached out with her left hand, placing invisible pressure against the surface that held them.

Small fissures grew along the ceiling between the decorations, growing larger with each passing second. The ceiling slowly began groaning, until the weight of each chandelier became too much to bear. They each fell to the gambling floor, one after the other, filling the silence of the room with sounds of shattering glass.

Anari turned and left, destroying the rear door console with the Force on her way out. She made her way back to the base on foot, deliberately taking the longest possible path to ponder the choices she made today.
“You live for nothing else but to survive,” Anari summarized. “Instead of lifting your hand to help others who cannot help themselves you decide not to, not because you can’t, but because you see no use in it. What good is surviving then if you are going to die in the end regardless, Blank? Have you given your values as much thought as you claim to, or is it easier for you to not think about anything at all?”

She grew tense in stance and tone, doing nothing at all to conceal how shaken up she was becoming. To live day-after-day and do nothing with your life felt depressing and senseless. It was either a lie he was telling her to justify the rot in Gamorria he stood by and did nothing about, or he was selfish to the core and thought only of himself.

“Better to cling to those at the top and feed from their cruelty like a parasite. Behaving that way is normal I suppose, she said mockingly of his words. “A chance to tell someone of your ambition and survival is the only response you can give? We are all trying to survive, Blank, but some of us choose to make something better of this galaxy before we leave it. You may think you aren’t part of this problem, but you aren’t part of the solution.”

Anari fearlessly stepped forward until she was within reach to grab—just as Blank was. Her stare didn’t waver from his face. Her body was motionless. They were both armed, but it wouldn’t be her that struck first. That was a choice he would have to make.

“I don’t care about anyone else’s reason for joining your organization. I’m not talking to anyone else. I am talking to you,” she said. “You choose not to feel anything for others because you want to survive. In some ways I understand that. What I don’t understand is how you can’t see that the people you aid are the people who cause those ten others to suffer. Have you really become so numb to the suffering that you can’t see your hand in it?”
Anari subdued the urge to interrupt Blank; the explanations he’d given her begged more questions, more than the guy would likely be able to stand all at once. The true mastermind behind Gamorria was a single person, or at least what she was led to believe. Blank said boss, not bosses; one person was making this all possible in a comfortable seat of power hidden from the rest of the riffraff. It was too flattering to suggest this person was anywhere close to the long-dead Emperor. The methods they used to control the populace might be considered similar. There wasn’t enough to speculate on just yet. A little more information, if she could manage to get it, might serve the New Republic better in the investigations to come.

After his explanation for working with the unnamed boss, Anari gave a brief smile before it vanished in its entirety and her expression returned to its natural calm. Next came the usual turn many went towards when she confronted them: Who was she, and why was she doing what she did?

“I’m working with the New Republic because they are dedicated to peace through diplomacy, through reason, and in this galaxy each world should have a voice and a government that does what it can for its people. No exception should be made,” she said. “I recognize that the mission of the New Republic has begun to change. But that is a problem I need to discuss among the few within the military that I trust. I don’t fail to see the irony of this occupation. You didn’t ask for this, but some of your people do want change, and the New Republic should represent a positive one.”

Pitching the idea that the New Republic would be good for Blank felt as fruitless as it sounded. What would he care about a better, brighter world when he stood here unbothered by the hopelessness of others? The upbringing on Gamorria must have left him numb, that is if he was even born here. Another question. She couldn’t stop.

“My name is Anari. I’m a member of the Jedi Order.” She lightly shrugged her shoulders. “Not a very interesting story to tell, really. I want to do good for the people of the galaxy before I inevitably die. That includes facing the corruption of planets like this and trying to do something about it, and not always letting my raw strength solve every problem I face.”

Anari looked around the room, her eyes hovering across the scorch marks of blasters and overturned furnishings. “There were little girls held back there with their family.” The attention she diverted to the damage caused by persuasion returned to Blank. “I didn’t say anything and I didn’t show it, but the sight pained me deeply and angered me even more. Instead of unleashing it on the ones responsible, I lowered the shield that kept them in. The moment it fell, they collectively felt relief, more than they must have felt in days, maybe weeks. They believed that maybe they had a chance at a better life than servitude and sexual abuse. I took more satisfaction delivering them from this place than I ever would raiding drug houses because changing a life means more to me than taking it.”

Swallowing hard, she became aware that her eyes begun stinging and briefly looked away towards the door she went through to free them. “You call being complicit in these things competence. Something to admire. "They do it well," you said.” Anari lightly shook her head. Although she didn’t meet Blank’s eyes again, the power of her voice didn’t waver. “Those guards, they weren’t beyond redemption. Maybe they were never given a choice. I don’t know the truth. Still, I persuaded them to change their ways and to live better. And now I’d ask that you consider doing the same, Blank.”

She found it in her to meet his gaze once again. “You aren’t what I was told you were. You aren’t evil. But could I—could anyone—call you good? Just for a moment I want you to think about who you are. Then, think about who you could be.”
Anari believed he had little connection to the Sith, and both his attitude and response confirmed it. If she didn’t have a reason to lie about herself, then neither would he. Next, Blank released his aura. She felt darkness, certainly, but what might have alarmed Lahana or Gloopra only caused her to blink. It wasn’t frightening, not to her. There were darker, more potent ways for the dark side to show itself; what Blank believed to represent the dark side through himself was trivialized and almost childlike. The man could wield powers normally tied to the dark side, but he was no agent of it.

“Yes, I suspected he was doing the same,” she replied. Gloopra’s theory could be put to rest. That left only the man himself and his own history, both with the force and with the true power behind Gamorria.

Letting Blank conclude his string of thoughts, she continued. “I admit that I have felt the pull of the dark side before. It comes with my duty. But I’m not here to talk about who I am. I want to know who you are, Blank. I won’t depend on the opinions of others to determine that. Had I done so, I would have wrongly judged you as Sith.”

She moved along the casino table and stopped at its midsection. “And unlike my colleagues, my first action isn’t to point my weapon towards you. All I want are some answers, such as what you stand to gain from protecting slave trade and drug production operations. Who or what runs Gamorria, and why are you insisting on working with them?”
Other than the occasional spark of electricity from blasted casino tables and the return of a service droid looking to serve her a drink, the club was dead inside. It would do Gallowin some good to know that the intel of their new ally could be trusted. The New Republic’s manpower was in poor supply and the effort to conceal it would be wasted; eventually, the enemy would learn that they could be overwhelmed in one swift stroke. The base was well-defended, but throw enough bodies at anything and the odds of it going down are that much greater.

Her mind raced in place of her feet, considering things she’d gone over several times. She spent only minutes seated before the doors to the entrance opened in the distance. She turned her head up and tried to get a read on who was coming, but… nothing. A droid? This club appeared too important to send droids to examine. The reveal of a dull-looking young man, flesh and blood, made her out to be wrong. Tired eyes, tan skin, dark hair—Blank. Lahana wasn’t wrong about how plain he looked.

Gloopra, on the other hand, had been wrong about this mysterious dark side of the Force he claimed to feel.

Ignoring his lackadaisical attitude to focus on the quality of his words, she at least gave Blank the respect one deserved upon a first encounter. Her eyes met his; once stationed, she attempted to find his presence with the Force again. Nothing. He was invisible through the Force, yet sat before her very much real. The technique of hiding oneself through the Force wasn’t unknown to her. How he managed to do it raised another question atop many more.

She chose silence until his introduction was complete, and once it was she did not hesitate. “I’m afraid so, Blank. You really live up to your name.” Seeing that he couldn’t find a chair of his own or didn’t bother to, Anari rose from her seat courteously, lightly kicking it with the back of her heel. It fell over without a fight. “Some of my ‘colleagues’ told me about you. One claimed you were surrounded by the Dark Side of the Force. Said it penetrated you. He even suspected you were Sith.”

For the sake of confirming it through more than words, Anari tried one last time to penetrate the field that kept Blank from being felt. She sensed nothing, again. No darkness. No light. Blank was simply… blank. Sith were known to conceal themselves for opportunities but Blank was far, far too careless to be Sith himself. There simply wasn’t enough evidence. Even so, she had to leave here with certainty.

“I don’t think you have any reason to lie about this next question. Blank, are you Sith, or even a follower of the dark side of the Force?”
Dozens of eyes watched Anari, some uncertain, others hopeful, as she approached the nearby console and deactivated the ray shielding. Upon its collapse, the fear she felt dimmed, and faint flickers of hope began emerging. Two young Twi’lek children ran up to hug her while the eldest of the group offered their thanks in hushed whispers, quickly huddling around her for answers; Who was she? How did she find them? What did she intend to do with them now? All valid questions that needed answering. Before she could offer any reassurance that today they were free people, a distinct hum from her vambrace took her attention. As she raised it to her lips, two dozen hopeful eyes followed it.

“Kyrin, I’ve found them.”

“Right on time. Match’s man came through after all. It’s an ugly old junker, but we should blend in just fine,” Kyrin replied over the comm channel. “I’m ready to roll when you are.”

“Good. Pull up now, and help get them loaded in,” Anari replied. “They’ll be out in a moment.”

“Understood.”

Closing the connection, Anari backed away, beckoning the slaves by hand to follow her. The club’s layout was far from sophisticated, allowing her to quickly find the one and only door leading to the alleyway. Manipulating the door control from a distance, it slid open just as the dull gray civilian transport pulled up. She waved the group to go ahead of her and enter it; together with Kyrin, the children were lifted inside the unit first, followed by the eldest of the group, and lastly the adults who whispered their thanks as they entered inside. Once the very last entered, Kyrin turned to Anari who stood unmoving within the doorway.

“What are you—”

“I have a plan.”

“This was the plan. What else are we doing?”

“Not we. Me,” Anari corrected quietly, glancing over her shoulder. She could sense the group of guards making their approach, gathered at last. “I need to meet our enemy on even footing. If the circumstances are just right, he may reveal himself again. And if he does not, the mission is still successful. Either way the Neon Glow is finished. I’ll remain behind and see to it.”

Kyrin grinned. “You haven’t changed at all.”

“Get moving. This is my mission from here.”

She could tell he still wanted to tease her, and thankfully chose not to. He nodded to her and she nodded back before he hustled to the pilot seat of the civilian transport and found the acceleration, closing the hatch that revealed the liberated slaves as he did so. Her last sight of the slaves was of the children waving goodbye to her. Anari waved goodbye in return before backing away into the darkness of the building with the door slamming shut.

Returning towards the cells, the gathered guards were in the middle of a heated argument. They looked for someone to take responsibility for this, having no clear leader to report to on the premises. Anari sensed their fear reaching its peak. Watching over a bunch of gamblers and letting slaves stew in their fear was an easy living. One little hitch in their easygoing lives and they were beginning to turn on each other. They pushed and shoved, threatened with outlandish accusations against each other, looking to condemn one of them to death. Heads would roll.

Finally, she had enough.

“Tell me something,” she spoke out, loud and clear. The confrontational band of nitwits stopped bickering just long enough to take notice of her. “A club centered on gambling and slave trade could invest in bartender droids and expensive carpeting, but not a single surveillance camera? A security droid? Tsk, tsk.”

The pistols they were armed with were drawn, each man taking aim and preparing to put a hole through her. “You don’t want to harm me,” she suggested smoothly. At once their bodies seized, confusion becoming etched on their awestruck faces. They looked to their weapons in hand and lowered them, wanting not to harm the robed intruder. “You want to change your lives for the better. That starts by clearing out this entire club of its customers without use of lethal force, only fear. Fire shots in the air. Destroy gambling tables and scatter chips across the ground. Send the gamblers packing. Let none remain.”

A moment passed as the information was processed. Then, one after the other, they stepped towards her and walked by her, each struck with the idea that their lives did not need to be reduced to guarding slaves for unappreciative masters hidden in the shadows. Today, they would take their lives back with their own two hands.

Anari inhaled deeply and exhaled just as the sound of blaster pistols spraying in the air rang loudly, even back here. Screams and sounds of panic were bountiful. Through the Force she felt dozens of clubgoers retreat towards the main entrance. The guards assigned to monitor this club did just as ordered. In less than a minute, the club was empty, save for what few bartender droids and service droids remained on the floor.

She returned to the main floor, seeing the chaos wrought by just a handful of men with a new mission in life. They stood atop the casino tables that weren’t overturned and celebrated their newfound freedom. The chance to be more than hired muscle, to be somebody in this galaxy, was now in their grasp.

Anari stepped past toppled chairs and abandoned gambling chips, the smell of heated plasma hanging in the air. The club’s space could still be utilized. However, the machines and furniture within were beyond saving; the true owner not only lost their slaves, but also a great deal of investment in making the location more than presentable for prospective buyers.

“Drop your weapons where you stand,” she ordered. All at once the men paused before tossing their weapons on the ground beneath them. “Walk out the front door and change your lives for the better. You’re free now.”

The celebratory jeering resumed. The new comrades joined together and departed the Neon Glow, carefully stepping past a trampled lone guard on their way out.

Left with no other task but to wait and hope, Anari stepped to the center of the floor, dragging a toppled chair up by the Force and standing it upright. She closed her eyes and seated herself before waiting in absolute silence.
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