#I remember seeing Saber's art for the first time and being thankful that they kept his barrel-chest

[xzaddyzanakinx]

Padawan pt. 1

Padawan Anakin x Padawan F Reader

Warnings: fighting (sabers), Muay Thai, underage drinking, masturbation

Info: Padawan Ani is painfully awkward, confused and sad. Poor guy. Reader nickname is Bunny.

“Anakin.” You called, smiling softly.

“This one getting the best of you?” You asked teasingly “me too, everytime I try it.”

Anakin's head snapped up at the sound of a feminine voice, his eyes widened in surprise as he saw you standing there. He took in your appearance; covered in dust and sweat, your normally neat appearance had taken on a wild look.

He took not of your eyes filling with amusement as you leaned against the wall, arms crossed over your chest. He couldn't help but notice how different you looked in the revealing top that clung tightly to your curves, accentuating your figure.

"Bunny! What are you doing here?" Anakin asked, quickly getting to his feet and wiping off the sweat on his forehead before straightening his robes.

His brow furrowed in realization that he had called you by your nickname, something he hadn’t done in a long time.

As you locked eyes, he felt a strange mix of relief and unease wash over him; relief because seeing someone familiar calmed him slightly, and unease because there was something about your presence that tickled those old feelings deep inside him. Ignoring it, he cleared his throat nervously.

"Uh, anyway.” He grumbled.

“I was returning from the gardens… Muay Thai practice. Alone again of course.” You sighed.

You smiled softly, none of the other Jedi used martial arts, but you had found it an important skill to incorporate into your daily lightsaber training.

“I felt your presence and thought I’d say hello, I sensed your annoyance.” You giggled shyly.

Anakin raised an eyebrow in surprise before a grin spread across his face. "Wow, you really are observant."

He chuckled lightly, taking a few steps closer but kept a distance between you as a custom required of Jedi.

"Well, thanks. I apologize for being such a mess right now; this damn simulation... it always gets the best of me."

He rolled his eyes playfully, reaching out his hand towards you with a hopeful expression.

"Could you... help me with something? Just for practice?" His voice held a hint of desperation mixed with determination, praying you’d agree.

“Yes of course!” You agreed, pushing off the wall and accepting his hand, feeling a strange energy between you that you both chose to ignore.

Anakin led you to the center of the training area, motioning for you to stand in front of him.

"Just act like one of those droid targets you see around here," he instructed, moving his lightsaber along the outline of your body slowly and deliberately.

He began by starting at the feet and worked his way upwards, stopping briefly on your thighs, waist, chest, and finally positioning the blade's edge against your neck.

"Now, try to dodge me.” His voice was steady but firm, almost commanding, trying to focus solely on the task at hand rather than the fact that it was actually you standing there.

“Gotcha.” You nodded happily. “Lightsaber for me or no?”

Anakin grinned, handing you a lightsaber hilt-first.

"It's just a training weapon," he said reassuringly, trying not to look at it in your smaller, more delicate hands. He could help but notice how small you were compared to him. Yet something about this situation calmed him down slightly, maybe because it wasn't Obi-Wan standing there anymore?

"Remember, try to dodge and counterattack when you feel ready." His brow furrowed in concentration as he prepared himself mentally for what was to come. As much as part of him wished for you to fail miserably to prove his superiority, another part hoped you would surprise him with agility and skill.

“Do I have your permission to use… non-traditional fighting forms?” You grinned slyly. “After all, you never know what you’ll encounter on the battle field.”

Anakin paused for a second, considering the request. He knew using non-traditional forms wasn't something Jedi should typically resort to but desperate times called for desperate measures.

“Alright,” He finally agreed reluctantly. "But remember, I won't hold back if you start crossing lines."

He took a step back, ready for whatever she had in mind.

This was going to be interesting…

“I expect your best work.” You teased.

You waited for him, watching his upper body as he swung in slicing motions toward your chest. You ducked, landing on your knee and swiping his feet out from under him. Anakin's eyes widened in surprise as he lost his footing, panicking for a fraction of a second before landing on his back. But instead of hurting him, you simply held the practice saber against his chest.

"H-how did you do that?" He panted heavily, heart racing faster than usual.

This newfound physical contact with a girl was too much for him to handle right now; it only served to further inflame those old feelings he tried so hard to suppress. His face flushed from much more than the physical strength he’d exerted.

“Watch my feet and waist. Not my head and saber.” You replied simply, shrugging. “It’s easier to anticipate your opponents next move that way.”

Standing up and offering him your hand, you pulled him up, and started an offensive attack once he was ready.

You lunged forward, using a one handed stabbing motion at his waist. He used a two handed downward stroke to block it, leaving his side exposed. You quickly struck him in the side with your hand, and spun out of reach before he could hit your arm.

Anakin, caught off guard by the speed and agility, barely managed to block the strike aimed at his waist. He grunted in pain as you landed a solid blow on his ribcage, sending a searing jolt through him that left him winded. Staggering backwards, he tried not to show how much it hurt as his vision began to blur around the edges.

"That... fucking hurts!" He growled out, holding his side with one hand while keeping the other stead on his lightsaber's hilt.

Despite his words, a small part of him couldn't help but admire your skill and determination. Maybe there was something to learn from this after all?

“Like I said. Non-Traditional.”You laughed.

Anakin shook his head, trying to regain some composure.

“Are you okay? I didn’t mean to hit you that hard.” You asked genuinely.

"I'm fine," he lied through gritted teeth, taking a few deep breaths to steady himself. "Your move."

His eyes narrowed as he prepared himself for another attack, this time focusing on your movements more closely. He didn't want to let you catch him off guard again like that. You talked while moving, using traditional saber techniques that he could easily parry. Luring him into rebuilding false confidence.

“I trained in Muay Thai, martial arts.” Our lightsabers cracked against each other. “Remember?”

“I use my saber like an extension on my arm.”

He grunted in response to your words, nodding as though he did remember this fact about you.

“When you’re fighting in the ring, you never use two hands like you do when you hold your saber. I strike with one and block with the other.” You grinned, watching his face falter as he reevaluated the way he held his saber.

“People automatically assume my saber is my offense. But it’s not, it’s my way of blocking an attack.” Your voice low as Anakin approached.

Anakin tried to mimic your movements, using his lightsaber in a similar manner. He found it challenging but also liberating; he hadn't practiced this style before and it felt... fresh. The clash of your blades resonated loudly in the otherwise silent training room as you engaged in an intense dance of strikes and blocks.

After several minutes of grueling combat, sweat pouring down both of you, Anakin stumbled backwards, raising his hands in surrender. He panted heavily, leaning against the wall for support. "You are damn good."

His chest rose and fell rapidly as he attempted to catch his breath.

“I can teach you.” You offered genuinely, “if you want?”

Anakin's eyes widened in surprise at the offer, considering it carefully. He nodded hesitantly, "Alright... maybe that would help me..." His voice trailed off as he realized what he had just agreed to.

"Umm.. thanks," he managed to choke out, unable to tear his eyes away from your lithe form moving gracefully around the training area. "We should probably clean up now though..."

“Yeah of course.” You started cleaning up, talking to fill the uncomfortable silence as you worked.

“Discuss it with Obi-Wan and I’ll make sure it’s alright with Plo-Koon. I wouldn’t want them to be upset.” You said matter of factly. “Our masters are in charge of our training, but it’s always beneficial to learn from each other.”

"I'll talk to Obi-Wan about it later," he assured, trying to sound more confident than he felt.

"Uhh... umm..." He cleared his throat uncomfortably, not knowing what else to say. This was definitely new territory for him—training with a fellow padawan instead of just observing or being observed.

“Hmm?” You mumbled at his stuttering.

“I-I’m. Thanks for helping.” He muttered, “I’m gonna go grab something to eat.”

“Alright. Let’s get out of here. I’m hungry too.” You grabbed him by the corner of his robe and tugged him behind you.

Anakin followed, still processing the intense workout you had just shared. His heart rate was finally starting to return to normal, and his headache subsided slightly as adrenaline wore off.

"Sure," he agreed, trying to mask the lingering traces of exhaustion in his voice. You headed towards the 5th level cafeteria, walking side by side without an air of awkwardness that you hadn’t felt with him before.

“That was kind of fun I think.” he said finally, clearing his throat awkwardly.

“Yeah?” You smiled. “it was fun.”

After arriving in the crowded cafe you grabbed a plate and piled on some food, getting a tall glass of ice water as well, and heading toward a table in the corner with Anakin in tow.

Anakin followed closely behind, making sure his own plate held enough food to seem normal for a moment. Once he sat down, he took a small bite of his meal before putting it down on the table and crossed his arms again.

"So... what's up? You never just talk to me without wanting something," He said with a slight tone of suspicion mixed in.

“Well it’s been a long time, that’s all.” You said quietly, masking the hurt from his cold tone.

Anakin studied you carefully, unsure of what to make of her sudden re-interest in him. "Well... yeah, it has been," he admitted reluctantly, choosing not to push on the matter.

"So, how are things with you?" He figured asking about your life would keep the conversation away from himself and prevent any awkward silences.

“It’s been pretty normal. I just got back from Christophsis on a mission.” You sighed. “that task was a waste of time in my opinion.”

“Plo-Koon kept us there for far longer than necessary.” You whispered, not wanting anyone to overhear.

Anakin's eyes widened in surprise. "Oh, really?" He took a sip of his water before setting it down on the table.

"Well, at least you're back now," He said hastily trying to keep the conversation flowing. "So, uh... anything interesting happen while you were away?"

“No, that’s just it. Nothing happened. We were there for a whole week and not a single thing occurred worth noting. I’m not sure why we even went.”

Anakin nodded, having shared similar experiences on his missions. "Same here," he admitted, reaching for another mouthful of his food before placing it down again. "But I guess that's just how things go sometimes, huh?"

“Yeah I guess.” You smiled softly. Thinking about my next choice of words carefully.

“Anakin? You know it has been a really long time since we’ve talked. I feel like… we used to be pretty good friends right?” You asked, head tilted.

“Did I do something to make you upset all those months ago?”

Anakin froze mid-bite, his hand still halfway to his mouth. His eyes widened in surprise as he processed the question, a mix of shock and confusion clouds his usually intense gaze.

"Wh-what are you talking about?" He managed to stutter out, setting down the half-eaten food on his plate.

"We weren’t friends," he muttered defensively, feeling irritated by the memory you seemed to be dredging up. "We were just... acquaintances."

The word sounded so false in his own ears, but it was better than admitting they once had shared a bond stronger than mere friendship.

“R-right.” You nodded, soft smile faltering.

“I guess I worded that incorrectly… what I meant was: we used to see each other more often, and I wondered if I had done something to upset you. You’ve hardly looked at me since that assignment we had together a few months ago.” You tried again, talking quickly to get it all out before he could stop you.

Anakin let out a frustrated growl, running his hands through his hair in frustration.

"No, it's not that," he snapped harshly, slamming his fist on the table.

"I... I don't know what's wrong with me lately! I just... I guess I've been dealing with a lot of stuff." He paused for a moment, considering the question more carefully.

"Look, it's none of your business anyway, okay?" He pushed his plate away, feeling exposed and vulnerable sitting there with you watching his every move.

Ani,” You started to reach out, hoping to calm him and then thought better of it.

“You’re right. I’m sorry.” You nodded.

Anakin glare for a moment before reluctantly softening his tone. "Fine," he muttered, picking up his food and starting to eat again.

He sighed heavily, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand. "And then there's this stupid feeling that won't go away whenever we..."

He stopped mid-sentence, realizing what he had almost confessed. Quickly changing the subject, "So, uh, how's your new droid companion treating you?"

His voice sounded forced, but it was better than admiting his true feelings.

“Um. She’s good, I need to do some repairs though.” You answered quietly. Trying to hide your confusion. What had he started to say?

"Oh yeah? What model is she?" Pretending he hadn't paid much attention to your new droid companion since you’d stopped speaking all that time ago.

“She’s a BD-1. The hydraulics in her left leg aren’t working properly. I call her Betty.”

Well, I'll go check it out then." Anakin said confidently as he walked towards the workshop.

He used his keen senses to navigate through the dusty corridors of the old facility until he finally found the source of the clanging sound. There he saw your little BD-1 droid named Betty struggling with its leg lifted off the ground due to lack of pressure from the damaged hydraulic system. Carefully, he approached the disabled machine and knelt beside it, examining the problem closely.

After several moments of analysis, he determined that a simple replacement part would fix the issue. Pulling out some tools from his utility belt, he went back to his workbench where he rummaged through various compartments until he found what he needed. Returning to the area where Betty was trapped, he began working diligently on repairing her malfunctioning parts.

As he focused intently on fixing the robot companion, something seemed different about him now; almost calmer than usual. Maybe this task provided enough distraction from whatever was plaguing him.

You watched him work on the droid in silence, trying not to smile when Betty kept beeping in protest at Anakin’s tools.

After several minutes of persistent work, Anakin finally inserted a new part into place and flipped a switch. There was a click, followed by a reactivation hum from Betty's systems. Slowly, she lowered herself back onto all fours and spun around in delight, testing her newly repaired leg with quick movements.

"All fixed," Anakin announced with satisfaction, wiping his hands on his pants.

"You can thank me later." He turned to walk away but stopped short when he felt a gentle tug on his arm.

Turning his head, he found himself face-to-face with you standing behind him, your eyes filled with gratitude and something else...something that made his stomach twist uncomfortably.

“Or I could thank you now.” You smiled.

“So, thank you Anakin. I really appreciate it.” You looked at him hopeful that maybe he would start to warm up to you again.

“I had fun today. I’m excited to do it again tomorrow.” You grinned.

"It's fine, Bunny.” He sighed.

“Look, I apologize for acting like that earlier. You didn't deserve that." Rubbing his hands over his eyes before taking a deep breath to calm down.

Turning back towards the door, he forced himself to smile weakly. "Well, we still have some time left today; maybe we could explore a bit of city together?"

Pausing for a moment as they stepped out into the busy streets, he reached out and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“Let’s go out for a drink?” You asked slyly, knowing we were both too young to do so.

Anakin chuckled softly, a rare genuine laugh escaping his usually stoic countenance. "Alright, one drink," he agreed, not wanting to disappoint.

You made your way through the bustling streets, blending in with the crowd of various species and ages until you found yourselves in a dimly lit cantina filled with melodious music and smoky atmosphere.

Finding an empty booth, you settled down, ordering two glasses of iced blue milk for you both. As you sipped on your drinks, conversation flowed naturally, topics ranging from favorite foods to random acquaintances met during missions. For once, time seemed to slow down, and the weight of your respective troubles seemed lighter than usual.

Throughout the evening, Anakin couldn't help but be drawn to your radiant smile and laughter; he loved that you had a contagious energy that was hard to resist. Despite his best efforts to maintain distance, he found himself leaning closer, subconsciously seeking more contact.

Your eyes suddenly lit up at the sound of familiar notes being strummed on the guitar.

“C’mon! Please come dance.” You asked excitedly. “please? I love this song I don’t wanna go by myself.”

Anakin hesitated for a moment before reluctantly standing up from the booth.

“Fine," he muttered, following her onto the dance floor.

As you moved in sync to the rhythmic beat of the music, bodies brushed against each other repeatedly, sparking new waves of desire within him. Despite his best efforts to control himself, he found it increasingly difficult to resist your charms.

You moved with such grace and confidence that he almost forgot about everything else around them; just enjoying the simple pleasure of moving with her was addictive. The alcohol from your drinks slowly loosened your inhibitions further, making it harder for him to stop himself from pulling you closer.

See?” You aughed. “it’s not so bad.”

You drank in the electric atmosphere, clinging to Anakin while you danced. Happy and laughing as you saw him finally relax, finally having fun.

Despite his better judgment, Anakin found himself enjoying the dance, losing track of time and space. Bodies pressed against each other intimately, faces mere inches apart. The intoxicating scent of your perfume filled his nostrils, making it impossible for him to remember why he had ever wanted to push you away.

Breathing heavily, he finally pulled away from your embrace, his heart racing faster than before.

"This... isn't appropriate," he managed to croak out, trying to sound stern but failing spectacularly. "We can't..."

Maybe not in here.” You breathed out, looking at his flushed cheeks. “but no one will know out there.”

You nodded toward the back exit where there was an alley way.

Anakin hesitated for a moment longer before relenting, unable to resist temptation.

"Okay... fine," he muttered reluctantly, following you out of the cantina and into the dimly lit alleyway.

As you stepped outside, the cool night air hit you like a cold shower, making him shiver slightly. With renewed determination, he tried to pull away from your grasp, but he stopped— your body radiating warmth against his icy exterior.

"Bunny, please..." He pleaded weakly, attempting to reason with himself as much as with you.

“Do you really want to go your whole life without knowing what it’s like to kiss someone?” You asked quietly, almost pleading with him.

“I don’t.” You said firmly.

Anakin closed his eyes, feeling torn between his duty as a Jedi and the primal desire burning within him. With a deep breath, he lowered his head slowly, lips brushing against yours softly. At first it was tentative, hesitant, but soon enough, the kiss became more passionate, tongues intertwining in a dance of forbidden desires. Bodies pressed harder against each other, fueling the fire burning inside both of you.

Your hands roamed freely, tracing each others' forms without shame or hesitation. Despite knowing better than to succumb to these base urges, he couldn't resist the pull towards you.

Anakin boldly pushed you against the brick wall. You let your hands find purchase in his hair, gently tugging on his locks while your tongue hungrily explored his mouth. You felt yourself shudder at an unfamiliar feeling.

Anakin groaned into the kiss, his hand reaching down to cup your ass cheek, squeezing it possessively. His other hand reached up to grab your waist, pulling you closer still. The sensation of your bodies pressed against each other was driving him wild with desire.

Breaking the intense kiss for a moment, he panted heavily, "Bunny... I—" He couldn't finish the sentence; all coherent thought had flown out the window.

His hands traced slow circles on your bare stomach before sliding upward towards your pert breasts, kneading them roughly . They were small in comparison to his hands fitting perfectly in his palms, nipples hardened and erect from their shared heat.

“Ani- I… I want,” You blushed, involuntarily groaning as he thumbed over your nipple, rolling your core against his hardened cock through layers of clothes.

“Take me home, please.” You whispered into his neck, sucking softly on the tender skin below his ear.

Anakin's heart raced, his mind a chaotic maelstrom of lust and confusion. He knew this was wrong, against everything he believed in—but the pull towards you was too strong to resist. With renewed determination, he broke the kiss, breathing heavily.

"We can't... we shouldn't..." He swallowed thickly before taking hold of your hand again, releasing it reluctantly.

"Come on," he managed to croak out, half-dragging you back inside the cantina. Once you were safely seated, away from prying eyes, he finally pulled away and took a deep breath. "This wasn't supposed to happen."

You felt like crying, everything was feeling was so intense.

“I’m sorry. It’s my fault.” You nodded, my eyebrows furrowed. You stood up, ready to leave.

“I’m so sorry Anakin. I should’ve- I mean…” Your eyes watering. “I’m gonna- I’ll just go back to the Temple.”

You turned away, pushing through the crowd and wiping at hot tears.

Anakin followed, desperately trying to catch up with you.

"Bunny wait! I'm sorry!" He yelled out, but you didn't turn around or slow down.

With each step he took, the pain in his chest grew worse until all he could feel was emptiness inside him. When he finally reached his quarters, Anakin burst through the door and slammed it shut behind him. Jogging through the living space he shared with his master.

He sat down on the edge of his bed, head in his hands as he scrubbed his eyes with the heels of his palms. Staring over at the empty space where you should be beside him.

A shuffled at his bedroom door caught his attention, suddenly he was face to face with Obi-Wan.

“Anakin? What’s happened?” He asked softly, walking over to place a comforting hand on the back of his neck.

Anakin's eyes widened in surprise at the unexpected intrusion, quickly composing himself. "Uh... Master Kenobi," he managed to croak out, clearing his throat awkwardly.

"I was... just... uh..." He gestured vaguely towards the door.

"Well, um... I actually need to talk to you about something." Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to continue.

"B-Bunny and I... we kinda... crossed some lines today."

Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow, leaning against the doorframe casually. "I see."

He crossed his arms, studying Anakin closely. "And what exactly does that entail?"

Anakin sighed heavily, rubbing his temples. "Well, we danced... and then well-“

He paused, struggling to find words. "We... kissed."

His cheeks burned crimson at the admission. "I... I don't know what came over me. She... she... I mean, it was just... wrong. I apologize."

"Master Kenobi, I—I don't want you to tell anyone about this. Please, I beg of you. It won't happen again." His voice cracked slightly, betraying the turmoil inside him.

“Anakin.” Obi-Wan sighed. “Is she telling her Master?”

“I don’t know… she ran off crying.” Anakin answered, on the verge of breaking out in sobs. “I assume she came back here.”

"I'll handle it myself. Please, I swear it won't happen again." His eyes pleaded with the older Jedi for understanding.

"I... I just need some time alone to clear my mind." With renewed determination, he walked Obi-Wan toward his door and shut him out.

Anakin paced his small room, hands clenched into fists. He knew he should be overwhelmed with guilt and shame but all he could think about was the taste of her lips on his, the feel of her body pressed against his. How did she make everything feel so right?

The clock ticked loudly in the silence, reminding him that time wasn't on his side. With a frustrated growl, he threw himself onto his bed, covering his face with his forearms.

"Why? Why does she have this effect on me?" He muttered to himself, feeling utterly lost.

Anakin's mind was a torrent of conflicting emotions—shame, guilt, desire, and confusion. He couldn't shake the image of your plump ass in his hand, those perfect breasts pressed against his chest. His cock twitched violently, growing harder beneath his robes.

In frustration, he stood up and began to pace again, cursing under his breath. Finally, unable to resist anymore, he stripped off his clothes, exposing his muscular frame to the cool breeze coming through the open window. Moving his hand towards his throbbing member, he closed his eyes, envisioning your soft lips wrapped around him.

With a groan, he began to stroke himself slowly, moaning softly as visions of your curves while you were dancing flashed in his mind's eye. Each thrust of his hips matched the rhythm of his strokes, his muscles tightening in anticipation of release.

Anakin's breath hitched as warmth spread through his core, faster than he could handle. With a strangled cry, he came all over the floor, spurting hot semen everywhere. Breathing heavily, he collapsed onto the cool tile floor, spent and drained.

Whimpering softly, he curled up in a ball, face pressed against the tiles, trying to compose himself. He hadn't cum that quickly in months and certainly never touched himself while thinking of you. Amazement mixed with shame washed over him like waves crashing onshore, leaving him feeling both dirtied and empty inside.

Anakin remained on the floor, panting heavily, trying to calm down his racing heart. Slowly, he stood up and cleaned himself as best he could with a nearby towel, shivering slightly in the cool breeze. He had never felt so exposed or vulnerable in his whole life.

As you slumped to the ground in your own quarters, you couldn’t help but wonder what Anakin was doing. Was he back? Should you go find him? Was he going to tell the council?

You decided it was best to stay in your room. You went to shower and wash away the night’s mistakes. But no matter how hard you scrubbed, you only felt worse.

Finally giving up on washing away the feeling of his skin against yours, you dressed in a night gown. Completing your bedtime rituals as slowly as possible. Pacing the floor snd hoping to the maker that Anakin wouldn’t ruin everything.

As you laid in bed, rest evaded you. Your mind was so loud you couldn’t sleep. You couldn’t even be still, mind racing, body still tingling.

Your thoughts kept drifting to him, the feeling of him pressed against you. Finding yourself wondering what he looked like beneath his robes. What his cock would feel like… and soon enough you found yourself slipping your hands beneath your panties. Pleasuring yourself to the thought of him, praying that he wouldn’t ever find out you were doing this. The Force works in mysterious ways, thinking of someone like this, especially another Force user, could prove disastrous.

You couldn’t stop, couldn’t help yourself, you had to get some release. Softly gasping and moaning his name as you fingered your wet cunt, every second closer to orgasm, the less you regretted your choice.

As your eyes fluttered closed, your memory became reality as you saw Anakin, standing with his hand against the wall. Much like he had been when he was kissing you, only this time he was naked, his hard cock in his hand.

You moaned lowly as you felt a sudden pull of energy, your orgasm washing over you without warning. You laid there breathing heavily, confused and wanting more. Never had you finished so quickly, it was as if it had been stolen away from you, fast enough that if you blinked you’d have missed it.

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[childofaura]

have you done penekoR yet?

*heavy breathing*

I

LOVE

PenekoR's artwork.

Probably another one of my top favorite artists in FEH, and definitely considered one of the most skilled, seeing as they have a HUGE list of credits for characters they've drawn (though for some reason the website I'm using to look at the credits doesn't have Legendary Xander there, even though he is on the website under PenekoR?). Anyways, moving on.

Before I start talking about the things I love about PenekoR's artwork, all the good stuff and then the criticisms, I have to get one criticism out of the way just so y'all know I AM aware of it, and that is: PenekoR has issues drawing noses when they draw faces straight on:

I fully acknowledge that as a criticism because it does look funky, and I think it's something they could easily improve on, but for some reason it hasn't fully been addressed. Though I will say that Legendary Xander looks like they're finally trying a different approach, as they gave him nostrils and some lighting/shading:

But I'm including the fullbody portrait here because we're gonna talk about why PenekoR's artwork is so friggin' awesome. PenekoR has some AMAZING artwork in the multiple fields: expression, posework, anatomy, color, and detail. All can be seen here with Xander's stern face and this gorgeous armor design.

Seriously, look at the posework and expression for Yarne, Valter, and Catherine:

Everything checks out, nothing looks funky, Valbar's insane face is captured perfectly, and the babe Catherine looks confident and beautiful. Plus look at Yarne, he doesn't exactly have much going for him in terms of clothing or hair to give him motion, but PenekoR pulls it off by giving him his hunched forward pose with his arms stretched forward. He's leaping forward to attack.

And then there's the other thing: PenekoR draws gorgeous men AND gorgeous women.

Deen:

(Which, pardon me for a moment but PenekoR is like Sgt Johnson: They know what the ladies like)

And Sonya:

Which I also have to say that Sonya's art here is perfect, it shows exactly how sultry and assured she is as a character, something I kind of felt was missed with the Easter alt we had.

Now aside from the nose criticism, the only other criticism I can think of was Aversa's attack portrait:

It IS possible for women who are super flexible to twist like that, but that's like for gymnasts, and even showing it in artwork can look funky to the eye. But I understand what they're trying to go for, Aversa's a seductive temptress so you really wanna push that flirty angle she has. Still a little funky to look at, but it looks like from future artwork we've seen that they've tried to go for more of a plausible pose, like with Sonya:

... Seriously IS, why didn't we get Duo Sonya/Aversa?! Aversa would have fit WAYYYY better than Tharja! Could you imagine? Sonya's 25, Aversa's thought to be like... 27 or 28 years old, so Aversa doting on Sonya like Marla or Hestia would could have made for a great interaction! Now I'm just bitter >:(

Anyways, PenekoR's one of my favorite artists. I'm sure to most people, it's hard to get past the nose thing, so they'd see PenekoR as a 7/10. But to me, they've constantly put out such amazing work that's so pleasing to look at, so I personally rank them a 9/10. They're another artist I'd love to see draw Shura when he gets in the game. Or a Priam alt if they get the chance.

[robininthelabyrinth]

For your prompts: Mingjue is ace or demi, and somehow between taking over the sect at a very young age and never displaying interest in it, no one ever gave him The Sex Talk. All the aunts and uncles assumed someone else took care of it. Then Huaisang gets to that age. He seems to be very interested in sex. He needs The Sex Talk. Mingjue feels like that should come from him (he's taken care of all the rest pf raising him after all), but he doesn't have the info to do that.

How does Mingjue give him The Sex Talk? Or alternatively, does Huaisang end up already knowing and giving The Talk to his big brother instead?

ao3

“All right,” Nie Mingjue said, sitting down and gesturing for Nie Huaisang to sit down across from him. “I guess we’re going to have to talk about this.”

“I knew this day would come,” Nie Huaisang said, looking unbearably tragic. “I’m going to die of embarrassment before the day is through, da-ge. Won’t you have pity?”

Nie Mingjue knew him too well, though.

“Okay,” he said.

Nie Huaisang frowned at him.

“If it’s too embarrassing to talk about sex, you’re not ready to talk about sex,” Nie Mingjue said with a casual shrug. “We can postpone the conversation to –”

“No! I want to hear about it!” Nie Huaisang scowled at him. “Da-ge, everyone else got the sex talk! You wouldn’t want me to fall behind, would you?”

Nie Mingjue blinked innocently at him. “But Huaisang, you said…”

“Never mind what I said!”

Nie Mingjue tried to maintain his façade of innocent neutrality but quickly cracked in the face of Nie Huaisang’s exasperation; he started laughing.

Nie Huaisang grumbled.

“There’s not much to say,” Nie Mingjue said, wiping his eyes. “And it’s not as if you can’t get by without it, you know. I mean, no one ever gave me the talk.”

Nie Huaisang frowned. “No one? What about A-die? I mean, before…”

“He was busy, and kept postponing it,” Nie Mingjue said, shrugging. “And then he died, and everyone assumed he’d done it already. It’s fine. Everything I needed to learn, I learned from books, and you’re going to do the same.”

“…books.”

“Yep, books.”

Nie Huaisang heaved a sigh. “You’re going to make me learn this incredibly important subject from textbooks? Really, da-ge?”

“I am,” Nie Mingjue said.

“You’re robbing me of a valuable life experience here.”

“I’m so sad for you,” Nie Mingjue said dryly, pulling out a box and spreading out the books he’d obtained just for this purpose. “Now, I know you hate studying, I know you think it’s boring and a waste of time, but I really think in this instance –”

“It’s fine,” Nie Huaisang said quickly. His eyes were fixated on the books in front of him, and for some reason he’d flushed bright red, even though it wasn’t all that hot in the room. “I don’t mind. I’ll study hard, da-ge.”

“I feel like I’ve heard that before once or twice,” Nie Mingjue remarked, then shook his head. “Anyway, I think just one or two –”

“I need all of them.”

Nie Mingjue blinked, sincerely this time. “All of them?” he said, and looked down at the books. “Huaisang, I don’t think you understand. I got a selection so that you could have your pick, but they’re by and large very repetitive; each one more or less describes the same basic acts –”

“I need all of them. For reasons.”

“…all right,” Nie Mingjue said, bemused but generally pleased by Nie Huaisang’s highly unusual enthusiasm for study. “I thought I was robbing you of a valuable life experience?”

“That was before! I didn’t realize the books were going to be spring books,” Nie Huaisang said. He’d grabbed one and flipped it open, staring wide-eyed at one of the illustrations.

“What type of textbook would there be for this subject other than a spring book?” Nie Mingjue asked, wondering – as ever – if he’d missed something. Raising children was hard, and raising Nie Huaisang was harder; everyone agreed. “Anyway, I’m given to understand that the art is a bit exaggerated, especially in terms of proportion, and the accompanying text can use some rather strange metaphors, but fundamentally the acts described appear generally consistent throughout the various sources. For example, if you look at this one, you can see that the woman has –”

“Yes, da-ge, I can see.”

“I’m just pointing it out,” Nie Mingjue said defensively. Nie Huaisang was being especially impossible to understand today. “Anyway, it’s all a bit weird, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” Nie Huaisang said. “Very weird. Incredibly weird. You know what, I think I need to think about this privately for a while.”

“I…are you sure?”

“Very sure.”

“If you insist.” Nie Mingjue stood up. “If you have any questions –”

“Yes I’ll be sure to ask you please leave now thank you good-bye.”

Nie Mingjue found himself outside the door to Nie Huaisang’s room, not entirely sure how his much smaller younger brother had managed to push him out so effectively. Maybe some of that saber training was actually having an impact, however spaced out and half-hearted Nie Huaisang’s efforts were.

Cheered by the thought, Nie Mingjue headed back to his office, feeling very good about himself: that wasn’t nearly as awkward as all the other people had made it sound. It’d been no problem at all!

Of course, a few months later, he found out that Nie Huaisang had started buying up spring books like he’d developed a mania for it.

“That seems fine,” he said to the disciple who’d reported it. “I mean, it’s a bit strange, yes, but he’s always been fond of hobbies that involve collecting things. Birds, weird rocks…that sort of thing.”

“I’m not sure it’s…exactly the same,” the disciple said carefully. “But if you’re not concerned, Sect Leader, we’ll just leave it be.”

“…I’ll talk with him,” Nie Mingjue decided, mostly because of the weird expression on the disciple’s face, and the disciple looked relieved.

Later that evening, he followed up on his word.

“Huaisang, I heard you’re buying spring books,” he said, and Nie Huaisang nearly choked on his soup.

“You can’t just bring that up over dinner!” he hissed.

“…why not?”

“You just – can’t!”

“I can, and did,” Nie Mingjue said. “Some of the disciples have expressed some concern about it.”

Nie Huaisang’s shoulders went up by his ears defensively. “Is it because I’m buying cutsleeve books as well as regular books?”

“They sell cutsleeve books? Really?” Nie Mingjue said blankly, temporarily distracted. “I wouldn’t have thought there’d be enough of a market to make the printing worthwhile. Aren't they supposed to be relatively uncommon? …anyway, no, it’s not about that.”

“…you don’t mind?”

“Why would I mind?” Nie Mingjue said, puzzled. “I’m glad you’re expanding your horizons.”

“You…are?” Nie Huaisang was blinking rapidly.

“I mean, you’re reading? Reading is good. I’m always happy when you advance your scholarly pursuits,” Nie Mingjue said. “I mean, I’d still like it if you spent a bit more time on your saber…”

“Wait,” Nie Huaisang said hastily, clearly wanting to avoid the subject of his saber training. “If you don’t mind the fact that I’m buying them, or the content, what is the concern?”

“Mostly quantity, I think?” Nie Mingjue hadn’t been able to figure it out either. “You’ve exceeded your allowance twice already, and really, how many books recounting the same exact content can you really need?”

“It’s not quite the same content,” Nie Huaisang said. “There are different…scenarios.”

“Yes, but it all leads to the same place in the end, doesn’t it? Hand, mouth, front, back, inside or outside; you read one, you’ve read them all. Though I guess the cutsleeve ones are different?”

“Not really,” Nie Huaisang admitted. “But maybe take a look anyway? Maybe you’ll like those better…here, come up to my room.”

Nie Huaisang had, apparently, started in on making quite a collection, and from the way he puttered around trying to find the right ones to share, seemed to be in the process of becoming a little connoisseur. It was pretty adorable, actually; Nie Mingjue couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen Nie Huaisang so enthusiastic.

“Having two spears involved does seem to make it a bit more awkward,” he concluded after paging through a few. “And obviously you can’t do it from the front in the same way, but other than that the mechanics generally seem the same. I suppose there’s really only so many ways you can twist the human body…”

“How about this one, then?” Nie Huaisang said, offering up a book about mirror grinders sharing a toy between them. “Twice the young ladies involved!”

“That seems even less efficient. If they wanted to be penetrated, why be a mirror grinder instead of finding a man?”

Nie Huaisang seemed somewhat taken aback by the question. “Maybe they just fell in love with another woman first?” he eventually suggested.

That seemed reasonable enough, so Nie Mingjue nodded agreeably. “Makes sense that they’d use a toy, then. Otherwise wouldn't they be stuck with using just mouths and hands? Though I suppose there’s always the eponymous grinding motion, too.”

Nie Huaisang reached over and put his hand in Nie Mingjue’s lap.

“Huaisang! What are you doing?”

“Just checking,” Nie Huaisang said, rubbing the back of his head. “You’re really not…Wait, let me find you some others. Maybe you’ll like these better – they have more scenario involved.”

Truly Nie Huaisang had a wide collection. There were solo stories, coupled stories, stories involved groups of three or more, stories involving people being tied up or doing the tying, one story involving whips and pinching nails that Nie Mingjue initially thought was a torture manual that had gotten mixed in by mistake except for how the receiving party seemed extremely enthusiastic about it. There was even one involving –

“Fish?”

“Tentacles.”

“People want to fuck fish?”

“It’s not – you know what, I don’t know, maybe they do,” Nie Huaisang said, throwing up his hands. “Octopi are a surprisingly popular subject along the coast, and some of the artwork from Dongying features it.”

“You have works from Dongying?” Nie Mingjue asked, impressed. It wasn’t every young man’s hobby that involved international commerce. “You’re really turning into a collector, Huaisang.”

“I’m not – it’s not –” Nie Huaisang grimaced. “You know what, maybe the disciples are right and I should cut down on purchasing so many.”

“Why? If you’re enjoying your new hobby –”

“There’s a difference between being known as the guy who has some good spring books and being known as the guy who collects spring books as a hobby. The latter just sounds pathetic.”

Nie Mingjue wasn’t entirely sure about that.

“Well, it’s up to you,” he said, and started to get up to leave, only to have Nie Huaisang tug on his hand.

“Da-ge, I have a question.”

Nie Mingjue sat back down.

“Have you ever…?” Nie Huaisang nodded at the books.

“No,” Nie Mingjue said, wrinkling his nose a bit at the thought. “It seems like more trouble than it’s worth, really.”

“What about…uh…” He gestured at one in particular. Nie Mingjue leaned over and checked; it was one of the ones featuring a single man touching himself. “Do you…?”

“Oh, sure,” Nie Mingjue said. “Every once in a while. Don't most people? But there’s rather a difference between doing that and having to get up close and personal with someone else’s genitals, isn’t there? We all wipe our own asses after we shit, but that doesn’t mean we do it for other people.” He gave Nie Huaisang a pointed look. “Present company excluded.”

“I was a baby, it doesn’t count,” Nie Huaisang hissed at him. “Never bring it up again.”

Nie Mingjue smirked at him.

Nie Huaisang rolled his eyes dramatically. “Da-ge, you’re hopeless. One day you’ll find someone you like enough to try it with!”

“Maybe,” Nie Mingjue said. “Maybe not. It doesn’t really matter, does it?”

“Uh, yes it does! You’re going to have kids, aren’t you?”

“I haven’t decided yet,” Nie Mingjue said, hesitating a little. “Huaisang, you’re my heir.”

“I know that! I’m in line until you have kids of your own to inherit…why are you shaking your head?”

“You’re going to inherit after me,” Nie Mingjue said, as gently as he could. “I’m probably not going to have kids, but even if I did, I’d arrange it so that they’d be part of the branch family, not the main line. I want you to inherit.”

Nie Huaisang’s eyes were going wide.

No, it was too early to tell him about the saber spirits, Nie Mingjue thought to himself. About their family's horrible temper and his private suspicion that the temper and the qi deviations fed into each other; his conviction that Nie Huaisang would be a better sect leader than him, a better continuation for their line than him, and his determination to make sure that the next generation of Nie sect leaders didn't have to fear a shortened life the way he did. He’d tell him that later, sometime. Today was a good day, there was no point in spoiling it.

“Is that going to be a problem?” he asked instead. “I mean, you have such a wide variety here; don’t tell me you’re solely interested in cut-sleeves…?”

“No,” Nie Huaisang said. “No, I like – everything.”

“Well, then,” Nie Mingjue said. “There should be no problem, then. If you end up with a woman, have some kids; if you end up with a man, take a concubine. Either way, you’ll get an heir.” He frowned. “Assuming you don’t mind –”

“No, da-ge,” Nie Huaisang said, and he sounded incredibly long-suffering. “I think I’ll manage to have sex, somehow.”

“Well, I mean, if you’re thinking about actually going ahead and trying it out, that’s a whole different conversation we need to have, as opposed to the talk about what it is. You need to be careful about it –”

“Ugh, da-ge, please, no –”

“I’m not going to lecture! Just don’t overdo it or anything. You don’t want to end up with a thousand bastards like Sect Leader Jin –”

“Gross! No!”

“– or with all sorts of diseases –”

“Da-ge!”

“– or with a reputation for being a dissolute or a –”

“I will only have sex with someone I love,” Nie Huaisang announced. “Or at least mildly care for. A nice clean person who likes me back. Okay? Is that what you wanted to hear?”

“More or less,” Nie Mingjue said, and glanced down at the books. “Say, Huaisang. You know so much about this. Have you ever…”

“Do you have a question?” Nie Huaisang scooted forward. “Ask away, da-ge!”

Nie Mingjue flicked his forehead. “Not a substantive one. But have you ever thought about making your own? You’re a perfectly good artist, and you’re very imaginative; I’m sure you could come up with some scenarios of your own that might be very interesting.”

Nie Huaisang’s eyes were wide. “I could, couldn’t I?” he said, marveling, and then suddenly jumped up and dashed over to grab some paper. “Oh, I could! I could – and that – and – and..!”

Nie Mingjue decided to retreat, smiling proudly to himself.

Reading and writing, he thought happily. They’d probably never get a warrior out of Nie Huaisang, but there might be a scholar in him yet!

[capricornus-rex]

A Shadow of What You Used to Be (13)

Chapter 13: The Favorite | Cal Kestis x Irele Skywalker

Requested by Anon

Summary: There is another! Years after young Anakin Skywalker departed Tatooine, his mother Shmi delivers a second child—this time, a daughter. Whilst the circumstance of the girl’s birth remains unexplained, Irele Skywalker has yet to choose the true path between those laid out for her.

Tags: Fem! OC, Irele Skywalker, Force-sensitive! OC, Anakin’s Younger Sister, Skywalker! OC, Darth Vader’s Secret Apprentice, Long-lost Sibling

A/N: I’M NEGATIVE FOR COVID, YAY!!1!! That’s the only negativity I need in life lmao

Requesting to be tagged: @heavenly1927​

Also in AO3

Chapters: Prelude – 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7 – 8 – 9 – 10 – 11 | Previous: Part 12 | Next: Part 14 | Masterlist

14 of ?

16 BBY

Battered by the sweat and grit in this confined dojo, Irele had proved her capabilities for battle.

For every instructor that walked in to face her, the difficulty climbed as well.

But the dojo had become her sanctuary. No limitations, no rules. She can be angry as she likes, she can be violent to her opponents, and then there would be no repercussion—it was all at the expense of “training” which was basically they had in mind for her.

Now that she was conditioned for combat, the next phase of the plan laid out for her growth would come next—although it would be simultaneous to this training regimen.

Today marks the first anniversary of her training, the day that started this all. To commemorate the event in some sorts, they sent in an electrohammer Purge Trooper to fight with her. No trooper of this sort has ever come in to this dojo until today. For a second, it startled her; but then she shook off the anxiety from her shoulders and tightened her grip on a weapon she had stuck with since Day One—a javelin.

Her one display of power that warranted Darth Vader himself to pay a visit to the dojo in Nur.

“Admiral, ready my shuttle and chart a course to Nur.”

“Right away, my lord.” The admiral did not give it a second thought, he immediately proceeded with the preparations.

Everyone in Nur knew that Darth Vader was coming, and so they were all in full-blast in cleaning up the place to make it presentable to the lord. Everyone—except Irele, who was too engrossed with her training.

It was just getting good when Vader had arrived in the viewing room of the dojo—Irele’s already picking up the pace in the fight, but the Purge Trooper was nowhere near tired. Suddenly, it seems like out of nowhere, a strong invisible wave had lifted the instructor off the floor and threw him across the room. The last thing Irele saw was her hand held out, fingers curved in a manner as if choking a neck, and vibrating with remnants of that energy that had sent the trooper five feet away from her.

Little by little, her sensitivity with the Force has become more active.

She could not explain it. She couldn’t even believe it, she thought those moments were just illusions or daydreams that she had mixed with reality.

But this moment proved otherwise.

And it intoxicated her.

Although she had not mastered how to utilize it actively and consciously, she would take every chance she gets when she felt like it would come to her aid in the fight.

Vader departs the viewing room and makes his way down into the dojo.

“You fight well, child,” he boomed as he entered, causing Irele to turn to his direction, javelin at the ready. “But you’ve a long way to go if you are to master the art.”

Under his cape, Vader revealed his weapon: a silver cylinder accented with black duraplast grips, covered to the pommel. His leather thumb pressed the switch and out comes a blood-red beam. Irele has heard the stories, but never did she imagined seeing it in person; as a matter of fact, she’s not sure if her javelin has any chance against that.

Irele took the offensive, she moved first.

Vader, unbeknownst to her to be her own brother, effortlessly evaded it as simple as stepping out of the way.

The girl had too much pride in her to admit that her opponent was indeed stronger and more skilled, but she thought she could outsmart him, outmaneuver him, not knowing that her efforts would be in vain.

They traded strikes, but Vader was taking the lead in this fight. Irele’s tiring herself out in evading and looking for an opening, landing fewer strikes than she did with her first opponent—the trooper. The dark lord was neither generous nor kind with the training, he wanted to show Irele different levels of strengths—if she were to be dispatched in campaigns where combat is inevitable, she might as well be fazed now than later out in the field.

“It’s unwise to presume you can overpower me, child.”

With their blades locked in, Irele caught a glimpse of Vader’s face up close. The crimson red film of the lenses of his helmet uncovered a hazy view of his eyes—his real eyes: twin golden discs, glinting with menace and at the same time, a sort of grief.

For a moment, Irele’s expression showed humanity; but in the next second, she remembered the fight.

“I wasn’t planning to.”

Her overconfidence in her strike was her undoing, Vader’s lightsaber swiped it out of her hands, leaving her literally empty-handed.

“Perhaps you should re-assess that teenage confidence of yours, little one.”

Vader was moving in for a killing blow. He dared go that far. The operators in the viewing room think, “He’s going to kill her!” but the unexpected happened. In that one moment, time seemed to have slowed for Irele; Vader’s heavy yet nimble movement appeared to be slower in her eyes, which afforded her mere seconds to concentrate.

She closes her eyes… and focused.

Behind the darkness shrouding her view, she wondered why the strike hasn’t landed her yet, slowly she lifts her eyelids and saw a clear sheen shimmering in front of her—like glass with a frosted finish—while her hands were held up in front of her and wide open, sparks sputtered on all sides of Vader’s saber.

There was no time to comprehend this, but what Irele understood is that she needs to use this to advantage… now.

She pushed one hand further away, towards Vader—in effect, he was being backed away, by her. The girl took one more step, and alternately used the other hand to do the same thing as the first hand. Once aligned again, she slowly gravitated both hands to each other, closing the space in the middle and she watched Vader succumbing to his knees.

“Yes…” he lowed, rather satisfied. “You are strong with the Force. Like the blood before you.”

Those words rang into Irele’s soul, like a heavy bell with its ram, and on the top of her mind, there was one that came: Anakin.

She ceased using the Force and stumbled to her bottom, Vader remained kneeling but he held his head up to face the frightened, confused teen.

“Well done, Irele. You are ready.”

–

15 BBY

Irele’s training program did not hold her back, neither did it confine her within the walls of the fortress in Nur.

Roughly a month after her first year, she was tasked to hunt Jedi. Everything she needs to know about them—she did some reading in her time alone. She studied every form, their art and history: down to the most minute part of the culture and norms. And especially the broken legacy that had was their downfall.

It’s been an impressive second year.

Irele has been training consistently, of course, having nothing else to do—except interact with HY-L33, whose programming has been modified into half-protocol droid and half-nanny droid. Most crew members who had the gall to speak to the girl kept telling her that interaction with a droid does little with human social development and growth, to which, in her chagrin, Irele would reply: “I think I’m too old to be told about pediatric psychology.”

Despite her snark, Irele tries to be learned in terms of battle strategies—she’s juggled combat training with studying naval strategies and ground assault tactics, after learning that she may be dispatched on  missions with a squadron of troopers in a particular planet from time to time. In one or more occasions, she would cross paths with the devilish Admiral Thrawn, but rarely do they meet for conferences—virtual or otherwise. She can’t help but use some of her street smarts in campaigns, which more often than not, actually works.

These privileges that she enjoys were personally decreed by Vader himself, in the hopes that she would maximize her abilities from more than being a reckless warrior. Some were against it because they perceive her as a rebellious, smart-mouthed child; others decide to give her a chance, because after all, she is a growing girl who’s got a lot to learn in this kind of world she’s been thrown in.

Not all know what she was before—but to generalize it, she was just some local girl in a desolate planet in the middle of nowhere.

The droid HY-L33 looked for her master, and found Irele examining and polishing her lightsaber—something she crafted on her own, the exterior at least. The kyber crystal was harvested from a Jedi survivor she killed not too long ago, in a tropical moon where she was dispatched alone with little to no reinforcements as the troopers were designated as patrols in the town.

“Lady Irele, the briefing with the Inquisitors is due in thirty minutes.”

“Ah yes, the Jedi hunters,” Irele’s brows furrowed, “I thought I wasn’t required?”

“Indeed, but it’s been said to be beneficial for your upcoming campaigns.”

“Who said so?”

“Lord Vader, apparently… and the Grand Inquisitor.”

“Right then, thank you, Haylee.”

Irele dressed into her garbs. Tailored to perfection: the bodysuit and pants were a dark gray waterproof fabric so that the garment won’t weigh her down when fighting under inclement weather such as rain, fog, and snow. The standard material for the armor plating was duraplast—tried and tested against Stormtroopers’ blaster fire and Purge Troopers’ electro-powered weapons—and it covered her torso, shoulders, and forearms; an armor skirt made from the same material complemented the utility belt. Supposedly, they’re to be worn when in the field, but since she’s been cooped up in the Fortress in the past few days, she doesn’t bother strapping on the armaments.

Lastly, she slipped into her low, black boots. Looking at the mirror, she bound her hair in a ponytail. It was once a medium bob with ragged tips, but now she’s grown it out to a length just after her shoulders.

“Alright, I’m ready. I’ll see you in a bit, Haylee.”

The droid gave a short bow and Irele departed her room.

Nur has become her home. The metal maze once confused her, but now she knows where she’s going even with her eyes closed.

She stepped into a turbolift and pressed the button that leads her to the level where the holding rooms and war rooms are.

“Holding Room A-121,” she muttered to herself in reminder.

Along the way, she exchanged short or curt bows to the crewmen who bothered tipping their hats or saluting to her as a greeting. When she saw the engraved number on the door, she pressed another button to prompt the door open. Before her was the group of Inquisitors around a table, lounging about like schoolchildren. Her entrance silenced their already hushed conversations and she stepped in, hoping to find a spot to sit the farthest from them.

“Oh, look who’s come to join us. The favorite.” chided one of the male Inquisitors.

“Let’s make this quick so we can forget each other’s sorry asses were in the same room.”

The briefing consisted of the locations where they would be dispatched. Holograms reflecting the planets flashed one by one on the podium, head profiles of surviving Jedi flashed after the planets, and Irele squinted her eyes on a particular one that stood out like a sore, red thumb.

“Do you know this one, Irele?” one of the male Inquisitors, the Second Brother, asked Irele. He noticed she looked at this one Jedi rather specially—or so he thinks.

Irele turned her eyes to the Inquisitor and replied with a frosty “No” and then she scanned the other head shots. She studied them, since she didn’t want her not being a Jedi-turned-Inquisitor to be a disadvantage. She’s got as much as grit as the rest of them. After the briefing, she isolated herself in one of the couches, locked herself away deep in thought that the Inquisitors’ chatter was just white noise.

She couldn’t wait to retreat to her bedchambers, where she can have some time of her own, unafraid that her idea and its credit might be stolen by another. Over time, Irele has proven to be the kind who “does their homework,” for instance, she remained in the holding room when everyone else had left—probably starting their leg of the hunt once they’re off the moon—and studied the briefing’s log.

“The Jedi are going to be extra cautious if they discover the Inquisitors are hunting them out,” she spoke under the finger against her lip. “Inquisitors are too obvious to spot. The uniforms are a dead giveaway…”

Her eyes widened at the thought.

“But I won’t!” she gasped.

Before leaving the room, she humored herself with listening to the voice logs of Stormtrooper Commanders during their operation in Zeffo. She switched between data tapes, hoping to find an inkling if it was the best place to start.

Audio Data 03403, plays:

“Most of the ancient relics have been extracted from the tombs after much deep digging. Although the acquisition of these antiques were done at the expense of some of us here. Captain Kane, for instance. Who was tagged as K.I.A. while excavating more of these relics underground when local fauna attacked her and a few men in her team.”

Irele stopped midway and scrolled a new one in the databank. Audio Data 34735 plays:

“I’m starting to have a feeling that our patrols are thinning out…”

“Finally, something interesting,” she commented.

“We don’t have the luxury of deploying new troops while sending injured men to the nearest Star Destroyer or outpost. No thanks to that Jedi that was obviously headed in the same direction as we are.”

The girl’s eyes widened upon hearing the word. Her chest tightened, her heartbeat was slow but the thumping was heavy, she could almost feel it pulse through the skin of her ribs. She anticipated more.

“Though I don’t think he was after the relics. I think he was after only one relic, that I don’t know though. Whatever it is, it’s important. But another important thing is that we need to do our job if we don’t wanna lose it—or worse, our lives.”

She’s heard enough and stopped playing the audio recordings. She clicked her way to the metadata of the file and saw that both recordings were one and two days old respectively. She rushed back to her bedroom to slip into her armor, entering the room startled HY-L33, leaving her stuttering and practically choking on what words to say.

“Miss Irele?”

“Haylee, run me a quick scan. How far are we from Zeffo?”

Without question, the droid obeyed. For a minute or two, she stared with unblinking photoreceptors, the white light behind them was unmoving as a faint whirring ran in her central processing unit.

“Approximately two and a half parsecs away, milady.”

“Too wasteful to use Anathema’s hyperspace. No small carrier armed with hyperspace, but the speed is there.”

The words literally rolled off of Irele’s mouth as she talks to herself until she comes into an epiphany of an idea.

“Come on, Haylee!”

“Coming, Lady Irele.” the droid monotonously cooed but one can sense the urgency she adapted with her mistress.

[fgodestinyawakenings]

Which 4 star would you recommend? 🤔

Sorry for the late reply since I’m currently studying a part-time course on the weekday ^^;

I’d say it’s always boil down to what you really need the most in your party? A particular class like Saber, Caster, Extra Classes? Or more of, DPS, Tank and Healer? If you’re going for husbando/waifu, again, all the following above are irrelevant and just grind for QP. Because raising a waifu/husbando isn’t cheap

I’ll put the rest under the cut for Servants (sort by classes), numbering are based on what I used most or feels good which is debatable before anyone starts murdering me. And also some I have yet the chance to try because they are not home for me after rolling/i didn’t pick them at all

Sabers:

ST NP:

Lancelot

Yagyu Munemori & Rama

Diarmuid Saber

Papalot will always be my number one no matter who says, and been saving my ass in both FGO JP and NA. His own skill alone is summary of enjoying hearing him crit his enemies to death. With support like Tamamo and Castoria, he makes the pain twice as fun :D

Unfortunately for all his attacks, he’s your glass canon. So you don’t have either of the two support or just any support in general, he’s going to die ASAP. Munemori’s 2nd and 3rd skill are a headache with them being mixed together, especially that Evade + increase attack

Munemori is the one I feel should actually be on par very closest to Lancelot with both sharing the same NP type. In terms of surviving longer, this old swordsman is your choice. But in terms of consistent attack, it’s Lancelot.

Oh my sweet Rama, while I’m sorry DW is a dick in putting your wife in Arcade (BECAUSE FUCK YOU DW, THAT’S WHY). You’re worth to grind and have on par with Munemori. So far in LB whether or not having any Demon enemies, his damage especially on crit is as good as Lancelot. But unortunately, this skill is a one-time effect, so need to know when to make use of that burst to kill your Boss. Lastly, he’s got the Guts in terms of own survival kit.

As much as a husbando you are my dear Diarmuid... You’re also fucking expensive in terms of grinding 180 stakes to raise you. NP damage is good which is unfortunately held back that your defense buff removal comes AFTER dealing damage to your enemy. He’s more in need of a good support like Skadi to put him to his fullest potential (or heck hell you might as well take Caesar since he does better than him being in the same NP quick category)

AOE NP:

Artoria Alter

Siegfried

Suzuka & Nero

Gawain

Artoria Alter being first aside story-locked, her damage output for me is the highest among all I have used just using her skills alone. But may or not need strengthening to upgrade Intuition, have her more crit-based attack? (dude, everyone getting their intuition replaced.)

Siegfried ranked higher to me because he’s still hits hard enough in my opinion to replace AOE saber that I don’t have such as Artoria Alter in JP. However, he’s still easily replaceable once you got better AOE Sabers. And, you’ll still want him in some event and main story mobs where dragon-type enemies show up.

Compared the two above after using Suzuka, she’s definitely ranked third with lower NP damage. Charm, well, may or not work but LB debuff immunity is saying otherwise for all male servants. But her skill of generating her own stars help her in criting and gaining NP slightly more faster.

For Nero’s case, she’s more on survivalist skill thanks to her 3 times Guts skills. Arts AOE NP Saber are limited until you get budget Jason next year which, yeah, Jason works better than her if you want NP damage. Her attack boost is based on RNG probably either want to love or have hate sex with you to get that buff out. Again, if you want more of surviving long duration fights in LB thanks to break bars, she’s your good choice.

While Gawain is story-locked issue too, he’s heavily reliant on his skills. Which those skills are also can be highly reliant on field to be Sunny before strengthening. But charging of NP will take a long while with his current deck set, so you’ll need a better support or AOE Saber to do the work

Support:

Chevalier D’eon

If you haven’t grinded Georgios or Leonidas, they are your best replacement for tank support. The two I mentioned will do a far more better job than D’eon, aside wanting their NP to debuff.... Which unfortunately also not that useful in current LB difficulty, too many servant bosses are putting up debuff immunity.

Archer:

ST NP

Chiron

Tomoe Gozen

Emiya Alter

Tristan

Chiron-sensei as per his lore is more of a support due to his skills revolving mainly in supporting your party. Castoria and Tamamo may or not fix with his damage output but you definitely want that remove defensive buff which comes BEFORE dealing damage at your Boss enemy.

Tomoe’s burn debuff makes her one of Arjuna Alter’s best friend if you’re aiming for him in the future. But aside from that, her skills are quite generic of attack + np damage buff, crit gather and drop (lacking of crit dmg to make her good on her own right) and guts to survive. However she isn’t story-locked, so if you can wait for her to spook...

Emiya Alter: I haven’t tried what’s the changes aside increased in damage output with Castoria. But he’s more of a staller in removing enemy gauge by 1 and if you have those annoying enemies with tons of defense buff, he’s your Servant against to fire a hole in them. Only issue his normal version Evade and star drop rate is gone and replace with a defense buff, so may or not need support to keep him alive

For Tristan I didn’t put him high because if you have David, he’ll do a more slightly better job than him? Reliant on Skadi if you have her to boost his damage for NP, which... If you’re doing NP charge from his skill, do remember he has that unfortunate debuff of NP seal that blocks him from using NP during or not the same turn. Though if you’re getting him to complete your Knights of Round Table Servants collection urgently and not caring about gameplay, go ahead :D

AOE NP:

Mama Emiya

Atalante

Now that’s my mom who raised me :D But anyway, Emiya’s investment especially 2 years later with that one last NP strengthening, he’s a nightmare of Arts AOE Archer once Castoria joins into the party. Right now before strengthening, he still crits hard in single attacks with his own star generation + also having evasion to survive.

Without Skadi especially, Atalante both damage output of normal and NP is very weak. Her NP more or less served as a function to gain a one-time burst of 60+ stars. But if you have Skadi and your friend support does, then get her for one of your Quick Archer Servant farming if you don’t have her.

Lancer:

ST NP:

Li Shuwen

Vlad III EXTRA

Medusa Lancer

Li Shuwen will be one of decent choice Arts Crit Lancer before Kagetora kicks in next year. A good burst of his NP helps to kill your enemy Boss ignoring that he also have a instant death NP. Though said burst is relying on both 1st and 3rd skill which... they should have just kept either one (preferably ignore invincibility) and pointless for them to stack. 2nd skill however is ok with your evasion to survive and increase star gather rate.

Vlad III EXTRA’s NP... Pretty much gonna see more Evil Servant in the future so he’s good to keep around. And that ignore invincibility is good until DW being a dick and put Archer Servant with Solemn Defence in the future LB. Despite lacking skills to survive, he has his own HP recovery that also buffs his defense and attack. And a decent taunt if you haven’t got Leonidas ready, for 1 turn. Though damage output you’ll need support like Merlin to increase.

Maybe just me without Skadi, Medusa Lancer ranked low due to her damage output. But having Skadi will increase her rank with 1 skill keep her alive (invincibility + guts), 1 skill to stall (charm and provided it’s male servant), and 1 last skill for one-time burst in attack.

AOE NP:

Parvati & Artoria Alter Lancer

Valkyire

Fionn

Elizabeth Bathory

Nezha

Artoria Alter Lancer being another Servant who like her Saber, does well in her AOE NP damage. And a good debuff of NP seal to stall + def buff ignore damage. However trying to gain NP for her is problematic if you don’t have support like Merlin to do so.

Parvati will be one of the many Servants recommended to have if you’re going for Double Skadi farming. She’s got good NP refund and good support to other Servants. But make sure your Skadi or support having a star generator CE to get her loop going.

Like Parvati, you’ll need Valkyire if you already got the former for double Skadi farming. She’s more on a defensive in surviving if not use for farming, and definitely Skadi regardless to improve her damage performance. Beside that, her NP is applied with good buff such as ignore evasion and instant death for demonic enemies (excluding them working on enemy Servants)

If you’re aiming for Castoria next two years, Fionn is one of the Servants to invest for farming. And latest strengthening has upgrade to give more of NP charge to himself and your party. His own NP buff to mental debuff immunity is good to prevent him from being stun like charm, etc. However if you’re in need of Rare Prism and any other reason or so, feel free to burn him.

Elizabeth doesn’t rank high since she’s more support and debuff oriented Servant than damage. Support being attack that gives additional boost to female servants and debuff lower defense and curse. Unless you’re urgent to complete your Eli-chan collection, she’s not in a hurry to get and can spook anytime.

While Nezha has a good skill kit of own Quick + Buster buff, increase star weight and remove debuff, and guts + NP charge.... Most of her skills are best used if they are at max level. And even at max level, her low NP damage isn’t that a viable choice with better AOE NP Servants above be it farming or attack.

Rider:

ST NP:

None of the above

This is the only rare case I really don’t recommend getting, especially mary and anne. The two are definitely meant to be glass canon which unlike Hijikata, there’s no guts for them to survive if you want to utilize their NP at its fullest. Welfare and 3 star like Ushiwakamaru and Ryouma, Mandricardo in the future does a better job than her.

AOE NP:

Astolfo

Martha

Marie

In terms of damage output among the 3 Riders, Astolfo hits hardest and also perfectly compatible with double Skadi farming. Has 2 rank up on strengthening their NP and 3rd skill to improve farming performance. However outside farming, they definitely still need Skadi to keep that performance.

Martha is one of the more recommended Servants when it’s come to Challenge Quest. Mainly her instant team debuff removal and enemy buff removal targetable, and additional healing. Damage output may be easily fix with Merlin and Waver to deal more. But, as of now her status whether being useful is debatable as most LB debuff on your team are permanent thus rendering her to rank lower.

Despite sharing the same NP type, Marie ranks lower using more of a support for herself and her allies on her damage. Her NP buffs while it’s provide good support, it can easily be replaceable with either Jeanne, Merlin, Waver, etc. But if you’re not concern for her and already got Astolfo, you can still get her to invest on Quick farming. Or raise Medusa who could do about the same like Astolfo...

Caster

ST NP

Queen Sheba

Circe

Sheba while story locked, she fits well in both support and own DPS of herself for CQ and in LB. NP damage may be concern but having Tamamo and Castoria will makes up for it, especially in surviving for long fights. Her excellent NP gain with good crit buff helps her to refund NP easily for spam.

Circe while provide good support (debuff removal and star gather) and debuff (poisoning AOE), she ranked lower from a few things. One being very bad NP gain (if your NP charge skill on CD), low NP damage which can be compensated with good support, and debatable stun NP effect. If you already have Xuangzang or Caster Shuten, you’re better off with them. 

AOE NP:

Nitocris

Caster Gilgamesh

Nursery Rhyme

Helena

Thomas Edison

Nitocris ranking top for her being the best farming Servant to have, and remained that spot with now Castoria boosting her damage. NP Charge skill at full 100% when needed, increase death chance (can be RNG and not effective with some enemies) and Guts + Buff removal making her a Servant recommended to have. And of course being the best.... You’re gonna need to offer her 180 bones of your dead enemies to upgrade her skills to the max, making her one hell of an expensive material grinding Servant to have.

Caster Gilgamesh with wisdom now considered one of the recommended Arts Support Caster if you don’t have Tamamo or Castoria. While damage can be lacking, his NP debuff of lowering defense helps your other Arts DPS to crit to death thanks to his skillset. Despite that, he still additional support and composition which preferably best work when the team deck in total has higher percentage of Arts cards.

When paired with the right team, Nursery can be one of the good damage dealing and staller for AOE Caster. The latter however is RNG dependant which praying it works in your favor. She also have good NP refund and self-charging with her skill making her easily spamming her NP. But she’ll need good support to boost her damage and star generation to utilize her.

If you still haven’t gotten Waver and willing to wait for that SSR ticket in the future, she’s your alternative with all cards type buff, 20% NP gauge charge and own crit star generator. NP deals good damage, which further improve with either Tamamo and/or Castoria. However, many may turn away of choosing her because of notorious long skill cooldown even at max level. Also if friend support already got your main 4 or now 5 support of Caster, you’re better off with other Servants unless you want her for farming.

Thomas gonna need his strengthening to increase his rank here, mainly that 1st skill to reduce skill cooldown which is targetable. While his NP and normal damage is weak, he makes up by being the best stalling support (provided no debuff immunity), having skill seal, NP seal to stall enemy Servant. 3rd skill of his provide a good buff to your main DPS to overcharge their NP level. And, also being a story-locked servant some may consider getting him if you can accept the long cool down (2nd skill at 10 turns CD on max level) on his skill.

Support

Medea Lily

If you’re wondering who is the White Mage/Healer in this game, that would be Medea Lily. Pure healing + Debuff removal and now a targetable buff removal resist? That’ll be her where many sought her in Challenge Quest. But her skillset is overshadowed easily by your Top 5 Caster (Merlin, Waver, Skadi, Tamamo & Castoria) who can do those said job if not better than her.

Assassin:

ST NP:

Yan Qing & Emiya Assassin

Wu Zetian

Carmilla

Chiyome

Yan Qing while I put him first, he can easily replaceable with Jack who does better star generation. Or pair them to generate even more stars while you watch them burn your potato phone. His recent skill upgrade increase his damage making him more usable in fights, but will still need Skadi to invest him well.

Emiya Assassin, with good NP damage buff like Ignore Defense + Invincibility and NP drain, own Arts buff, and targetable taunt, he’s one of the recommended Servants for Arts DPS with Castoria when she’s out. And especially needing Castoria because of his horrible Arts card NP generation... If you got Shiki who’s doing better along with Hundred face Hassan, you’ll want them for damage and own survival kit.

Wu Zetian would be in line with Kiritsugu if not better for damage, but is heavily reliant on her Imperial Privliege RNG to work with her. Skadi support and buff removal NP makes her one of the recommended Assassin Quick NP DPS to pick if you’re lacking..

Carmilla is low rank while despite having good NP gain, charge and own healing with a staller..... You’re better off having other Servants like Wu Zetian. Or even Jack who does more better than her on the Anti-female damage.

Chiyome definitely her low damage despite NP spam and charge, make her least wanted for SR ticket. Even NP seal can be ineffective with those having debuff immunity, which many other Assassins are doing their job including the 3 stars one.

AOE NP:

Katou Danzo

While waiting for Gray next year, Danzo is your currently only 4* Assassin with more on the support side. Having both targetable evasion and invincibility, she can keep either DPS or support Caster against enemy on their attacks and NP. AOE damage may not be boost a bit with the help from said support caster, unless your enemies are demon to work against.

Support:

Stheno

Aside additional Rare Prism to exchange, Stheno acts more of a support if you want to challenge yourself with a Divine Servant theme in CQ, etc. She along with Gorgon Sister are known for their notorious Charm Lock in CQ, and NP now easily spammable to remove buffs on enemy. Stheno together with Euryale is why Gawain is having nightmare every night ever since his humiliating defeat in Camelot. But in terms of damage output, you definitely want alternative Servant than her. And support wise, you’re also better off with others if you’re not that into Divine team routine.

Berserker:

ST NP:

Heracles

Penthesila

Beowulf

Atalante Alter

Ibaraki

Aside being bias because that’s my boy I raised and grailed him, Heracles will be your number 1 must have Servant to have for all Master. One of the best surviving Servant for long fights, may need a little boost from support Caster. His investment to get Bond 10 will be a long while but will definitely be worth it once achieved. Now, with the latest strengthening his Guts Skill and own CE makes him the monster on why Lancer ga Shin Da and Emiya in Saber Route one of a nightmare to fight with.

Penthesila while ranked second despite lacking of Greek Males (doesn’t include Achilles avoiding her), she provide a good Buster support for all team, own NP charge and debuff immunity for herself that brings out a high NP damage. However, without Merlin... She’ll die before finding and killing Achilles.

I swear to god DW has a grudge against you, Beowulf. But hey, after his strengthening next year, good bye intuition, hello Inspired Hero that increased crit damage and gather rate! If you’re looking for a more general damage unlike Penth, he’s your boy. High NP damage and Guts to keep him in the game longer, but requires support to boost NP gain and normal damage.

Like many other Quick Servants, Atalante Alter is Skadi compatible. A ST NP with staller and curse debuff, her own crit generation, gather and damage allow her to produce good NP damage. Yet like all Berserker she falls harder in terms of glass canon like lacking of survival skills. Her critical dmg is hard to maintain with her 1st skill merely providing her a one time burst.

Probably the one Servant who fits truly as a glass canon is Ibaraki, NP damage can be comparable with Heracles, Penth and Beowulf. Removing own debuff and enemy buff is a good thing, but defense buff alone may not save her from enemy Servants who hits the poor banana like a truck. NP gain may also need boost from support due to her triple BBB in her deck.

AOE NP:

Lancelot Berserker

Frankenstein

Tamamo Cat

The most recommended yet also possibly need additional whaling is Lancelot Berserker. The moment Skadi appears, he’s on the top list of having in party to do farming. Own NP create large amount of sum and massive crit boost helps to refund NP. But, without Skadi and needing NP2 at least, he’ll be ranked lower.

Frankenstein will be your alternative to berserker Lancelot if you already have him. But like Berserker Lancelot, you’ll need Skadi to do the looping. Her own NP Damage boost and increase gain helps for the loop, but unfortunately you’ll need Servant with debuff removal to remove her stun after using her NP. Aside farming....You’re gonna want other Servant to save her from getting killed within few turns.

Tama Cat aside being one of Chaldea main cook, she’s more utilized for farming after abusing poor Waver and Caster support. And poor Waver everyone will have to do their best to protect Tama Cat who took a few turns of napping (stun) after using her NP. Beside that, she does provide an RNG of NP drain and own defense and attack boost. However other than farming, you’re better off with other AOE Servants for survival.

Avenger:

Situational between Gorgon or Hessian Lobo

Because a Ruler enemy is very rare to find aside coming LB3 without mention spoilers on who, it’s more or less situational. Do you want for the sake of it? Want to do your own CQ rules to experiment against? If so, AOE or ST NP?

AOE being Gorgon where she got a a decent AOE NP Damage with a stun but definitely need support to survive (guts may not be sufficient) and star generation. She’s also story-locked which if you want to get her before Babylonia, might as well do so.

Hessian Lobo is compatible with Skadi and alternative if you don’t Avengers like Jeanne Alter. Good crit gather for 3 turns with Skadi or any other Servants provide star generation. NP damage has own boost of ignore evasion and additional crit damage, excluding your instant death. While having buff removal is one and atk decrease, your death resist is still ineffective on enemy Servants boss.

[medea10]

My Review of To Heart

How did I get into this anime? I have been curious about this anime for a straight-up decade now and the randomizer decided to bless me with something not incest. Thank you Arceus!

Since she was young, Akari Kamigishi has been best friends with Hiroyuki Fujita. Because of kind acts he did for her as a child, Akari has stayed by Hiroyuki’s side. Now that they’re both in high school, something has changed in Akari and it feels more like she’s falling for her childhood friend. Will Akari find happiness with her best friend or will she end up friend-zoned?

And because this is a harem, there are quite a few girls hanging around Hiroyuki throughout the two seasons. Just to name a few, we have the brash friend, Shiho. Then there’s the tomboy type, Aoi. The very silent type, Serika! And then there’s the robotic maid, Multi. Yes, you read right. A robot! This is Japan after all! Oh yeah, there’s also the class rep, an actual American girl, and a quiet girl with supernatural powers.

Akari, girl, you need to step up your game if you’re up against all these chicks!

BETWEEN THE SUB AND THE DUB: Before I discuss all that, let’s go down the ugly story about To Heart for fans in the U.S. The first season (and only the first season) was dubbed by RightStuf (at least I’m certain about that). Everything else wound up undubbed and even unlicensed. To Heart was kind of left in the dust due to what happened when the first season was supposed to release in the U.S. A lot of damaged material was the culprit and this came during the time when animation was transitioning from animating using cells to going digital. So to sum that up, the anime debuted in Japan around 1999, Rightstuf licensed To Heart in 2004 with a release in 2005, and the actual release was delayed to 2007. And in back-in-those-days times, that’s pretty fucking long. I can see why they didn’t want to bother with this series after it took all that trouble to remaster a series many were calling only “OKAY”.

Now then, on with the good stuff! I went in thinking that this was a Geneon reject, but was blown out of my ass to hear voices from New York! Lisa Ortiz, Jessica Calvello, Veronica Taylor, Wayne Grayson, and my personal favorite (not who you’re thinking), Carol Jacobanis! Yeah, surprisingly I didn’t hear Ted Lewis here. But Jacobanis is my second favorite in the NYAV group. I am in nostalgia heaven! Yes folks, these were the same people to give life to many characters from Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh, Berserk, His and Her Circumstances, Bakuman, Gravitation…OH, gambled and lost! Well, you get my meaning! Thankfully this dub wasn’t as horrific as Gravitation (despite Hiroyuki’s voice actor is well-known for something from that particular anime). Here’s what you might recognize these folks from!

JAPANESE CAST: *Akari is played by Ayako Kawasumi (known for Ursula on Pokemon DP, Saber on Fate/Zero, Izumi on Beyond the Boundary, Aoki on Bakuman, Laura on Index, Yoshida on Shakugan no Shana, and Nodame on Nodame Cantabile)

*Hiroyuki is played by Kazuya Ichijo (known for Hoteye on Fairy Tail and Zafila on Nanoha)

*Shiho is played by Chieko Higuchi (known for Tomo on Azumanga Daioh)

*Multi is played by Yui Horie (known for Hanekawa on Monogatari, Tohru on Fruits Basket, Hanyuu on Higurashi, Minorin on Toradora, Charla on Fairy Tail, Chie on Persona 4, Maria on Umineko, and Riki on Little Busters)

ENGLISH CAST: *Akari is played by Debora Rabbai (known for Mika from Gravitation, Rika on His and Her Circumstances, Leina on Queen’s Blade, and Boogiepop [original])

*Hiroyuki is played by Rich McNanna (known for Jack Walker on Pokemon Movie 9 and Shuuichi on Gravitation)

*Shiho is played by Jessica Calvello (known for Prima on Pokemon, Hange on Attack on Titan, Excel on Excel Saga, Kanako on Maria Holic, Tsukino on His and Her Circumstances, and Aika on Aria the Animation)

*Multi is played by Tara Sands (known for Richie on Pokemon, Soujirou on Rurouni Kenshin, Mokuba on YGO, Badiane on Sailor Moon SuperS movie, Tori on Pokemon Movie ~ Deoxys, and Filia on Slayers Try)

SHIPPING: So remind me what genre this anime is!

HAREM!

We’re watching a harem! But it’s more slice of life than anything romantic. There are a lot of love interests for Hiroyuki throughout the series. It’s just that it doesn’t develop as much as one might think (except for maybe Akari) in season one.

And it’s so easy to think that Hiroyuki is the object of every one of these ladies’ desire. Serika waits for him to come to the club room. Aoi finds him helpful, as does Tomoko and Lemmy. Multi got attached to Hiroyuki’s headpats. As for Akari, she’s got quite the teddy bear collection because of Hiroyuki. After watching all of season one where Hiroyuki is hanging with all of these ladies individually, I thought there would be a moment of jealousy from one or more of these girls. Much to my surprise, that was not the case. It didn’t go down any of those bad-end routes you’d see with things like Kanon, Clannad, or God-forbid, School Days!

But then season two happened…

Ooh boy! First of all, Hiroyuki ended up getting his first confession of love from the most unlikely person ever. Kotone wasn’t even a contender in the first season as she had other issues. In fact, didn’t she have feelings for Masashi in season one? But halfway in the season, she gets ballsy and confesses to Hiroyuki. He rejects her and thankfully it didn’t get ugly (except Akari heard it and got jealous). Lemmy, I also thought wasn’t in play, but here we are! She was apparently childhood friends with Hiroyuki and brought it up when confessing her feelings. That unfortunately came at a bad time as he’s in a quarrel with Akari so he dismisses her.

And then there’s Akari! She’s been able to put on a smile and kind of be a wall-flower whenever Hiroyuki is doing something with one of the other girls. And most of the season, we see him mostly with Aoi and Multi. Thankfully, Aoi never showed romantic interests in Hiroyuki. I much prefer Aoi x Kotone if you want to know the truth. But halfway into season two, jealousy came in like a drunkard in a bar. Akari was definitely pissed when she saw Kotone confess to Hiroyuki and would get jealous seeing Hiroyuki and Multi together so much.

Oh yeah, good old Multi! Yes Multi loves Hiroyuki. Now does Hiroyuki love Multi back? It’s complicated! Because of Multi, Hiroyuki ends up pursuing a career in robotics and as a result spends quite a bit of time with her (pissing Akari off in the process). But because Multi is kind of a malfunctioning robot, who the hell knows if she’ll even remember being with Hiroyuki.

Now are there other boys interested in any of these other girls? The only other boy that has any prominent screen time is Masashi. It’s just that after season one, he’s only seen every so often because he’s busy with soccer. But in season one, it almost felt like Kotone was admiring him from the distance. Don’t get excited because that was just a one-and-done sort of thing before Kotone set eyes on Hiroyuki. Actually, Masashi does reveal his fondness for Akari (at literally the worst possible time). But it seems like Masashi ends up with Shiho in the end. So…whatever!

Hiroyuki DOES end up with someone. Just go down to the end of season two to get that answer.

ENDING TO SEASON ONE: The last two episodes of this season consist around Shiho deciding that she wants to throw a Christmas party at an old hangout from her middle school days! But this isn’t the only nostalgic kick she feels. Shiho ends up remembering the first day she met Hiroyuki and after he took care of a wound she got, Shiho starts seeing Hiroyuki in a new light. Yeah, up until this point, Shiho and Hiroyuki’s relationship could be summed up by saying they both give each other shit every day. Then you have Akari, who is also feeling a little nostalgic with trying to see if Hiroyuki is able to remember things from their past. During the finale however, Akari does develop a cold and has to bail on the party planning.

When Shiho came to visit Akari, it kinda comes out that both girls do care for Hiroyuki. But because this isn’t one of those kinds of romance animes, it really doesn’t get ugly. It’s more of an “I acknowledge your feelings for the boy I like and good luck to you”. Shiho really didn’t do any confessing and we get a cute moment with Hiroyuki and Akari out in the snow.

Let’s see how Season Two holds up!

OMAKE: Nozomi Entertainment also released the six Omake specials that came with releases of the first season. Not dubbed! Just a couple of minute-long specials that range from cute to wildly absurd.

There were also Omake specials in season two that mostly consisted of all the girls fighting each other in almost a Street Fighter or Dragon Ball style.

REMEMBER MY MEMORIES: Five years after the first season aired, To Heart returns with a bit of a time-leap from where we left off last and some slightly improved(?) animation. And if you’re wondering why this season isn’t called “To Heart 2”, there is a series named that already. To Heart 2 is a spin-off of To Heart. It’s just that none of the characters from To Heart are in To Heart 2. ANYWAYS…

It has been a year or so from where we left off. Hiroyuki, Akari and the others are now in their senior year of high school and a lot has changed. Minor character, Kotone who mostly kept to herself in the first season, has found another role in hanging out with Aoi (the chick who’s into martial arts). Serika is still silent, but that blue hue to her hair is definitely not silent. What the hell is with this new animation? And finally, Multi apparently left a year ago and came back in the first episode of season two. Only now Multi has amnesia. A lot has changed since season one, especially when it comes to romance. Buckle up!

ENDING TO REMEMBER MY MEMORIES: Yeah, this season layed on the melodrama really thick compared to the previous season. All the ladies love Hiroyuki and at least half of them expressed those feelings to him. Akari had some conflicted feelings when it came to Hiroyuki. She loves him, but feels like he doesn’t return the feeling due to him hanging around a lot of other girls (especially Aoi and Multi).

Speaking of Multi, this girl has had such the rotunda of computer issues. My stroked-out Dell PC from 2005 had more working power than this girl! For starters, her memories are in danger of being wiped away at several points of the series. We even begin season two where Multi returns after over a year with full-blown amnesia. And since then, Multi had some sort of malfunction issue arise every other episode. This was showcased in the finale, where Multi gets so upset and runs away to the amusement park!

So, Hiroyuki and all of his friends come together to look for Multi. They thankfully found her at the amusement park (during closed hours) and broke into the main-frame to the Ferris wheel. And did I mention these people almost committed assault on police officers? Yeah, these kids are about to have a rap sheet the size of Texas by the end of the episode. Anyways, Hiroyuki, Akari, and Multi ride the ferris wheel and have a nice talk before Multi falls asleep for…

…Let’s say a long time…

Fast-forward to high school graduation! Hiroyuki and Akari seem to be doing a lot better. They’re both going to attend the same college and are pretty much on better terms than when Akari was having a jealousy, bitch-fit. At graduation, they both decided to give each other the Christmas gifts they never gave each other. Because Multi was having another malfunction, they never got to give the gifts. Hiroyuki got a hand-knit sweater. And Akari got a ring!

Hiroyuki wanted it and so he put a ring on it!

During the ED credits, we see the characters we’ve seen throughout these two seasons and what they ended up doing after high school. Lemmy is back in San Francisco. Aoi and Kotone are still doing the fighting matches. Rio is a primary school teacher. Serica is still into the occult. Tomoko is working for her father’s business. Masashi is becoming a big soccer star with Shiho working on journalism (and I think Shiho ends up romantically involved with Masashi).

And we close with Hiroyuki and Akari working with the HMX robots and surprise, surprise, Multi wakes up.

And before you ask, I did NOT watch To Heart 2. And I don’t intend to…at least not yet. I’m saving it for another day and putting it back on the randomizer list.

This anime was…just okay. Yeah, a lot of things were predictable, especially when it came to who the main male lead was going to end up with. Come on, we all know Akari was going to end up with Hiroyuki in the end. If this were the visual novel, I’m sure there were infinite numbers of routes Hiroyuki could take and there’d be a good end to all of the girls. But I’m mostly anime only here! In terms of recommendations, ehh…I feel like there were other better harems you could watch.

Only season one of To Heart got an official release in the U.S., but you might have to search around for any DVD copies as I’m pretty sure it’s currently out of print. Anything else from the series, you’ll have to do some heavy searching to watch all the way through.

Okay, next licensed limbo/unlicensed classics!

What’s that one play everyone and their mother has seen, but you haven’t?

*sighs* Hamilton.

No, the other one.

Les Miserable? Wait, this never got licensed?!

Okay! I guess I’m watching that. I hope I can do well at this review considering I never watched the play, read the book, or watched that film where Russell Crowe can’t sing.

[luvvewan]

Qui-Gon Jinn never enjoyed walking the streets of Galactic City late at night. The electric farce, the avarice, the seediness and shadowed transactions. None of it felt resplendent in the Force, and if he had been raised outside the Order, he would have avoided the sprawling metropolis altogether. He preferred trees, the natural glow of stars--and quiet. It was difficult to hear himself think, striding past drunken quarrels and luckless spice addicts. He was reminded of something his former Master used to tell him when he was distracted by ‘lesser beings’ on missions: you cannot save everyone.

He had not found that mantra to be resplendent in the Force, either. Long years had passed since he was beholden to Dooku’s teachings, philosophies he disagreed with more than anything. Yet here he was, passing sleek buildings housing the Coruscanti elite, seeking audience with a man Qui-Gon had seen only a handful of times since taking his own Padawan.

Over a decade, he realized, incredulous. We are practically strangers. Qui-Gon paused outside his destination, a tall, modern apartment building. The guard at the door, finely attired and inconspicuously armed, glanced his way before recognizing the Jedi uniform. They exchanged a nod. Still, Qui-Gon hesitated, closing his eyes, seeking some long-elusive peace. He had been driven from his bed and across the city by a rising tide inside himself. For months, he existed on the fringes of reality, ignoring the Force’s warnings, the misgivings blaring from his conscience.

He had been reckless, dangerously so. Perhaps that was why he felt compelled to speak with his old mentor--Dooku had always been the first to call Qui-Gon a fool when necessary.

And when unnecessary. Qui-Gon smirked, looking down at his boots. His stomach squirmed, and he shook his head, chuckling. By gods, I am fifty-eight years old. Besides, he isn’t a Jedi anymore.

The thought brought with it a melancholic shock. He was not quite accustomed to thinking of Dooku as a private citizen. When he pictured the man, he saw an imposing figure in a dark cloak, saber gleaming at his belt.

“Sir Jedi?” The guard interrupted, “Do you require entrance?”

Qui-Gon smoothed his hands down the front of his robe. He released a slow breath. “Yes, thank you.”

-----

He was shown to the lifts, and stepped inside the transparisteel tube, where instrumental music played softly as he ascended. Another guard was waiting when he exited, and he stifled an instinctive swell of judgement. He could not blame Dooku for enjoying the comforts afforded him by his family’s vast fortune. The man preferred the finer things, even when he was a Jedi. His private rooms at the Temple, mostly a mystery to Qui-Gon in his youth, had been filled with rare wine, expensive art and handbound books. Qui-Gon remembered those few occasions when Dooku permitted him to study in the living area, and Qui-Gon would make sure his materials were arranged neatly on the polished tabletop, and tried not to make too much noise. He stole glances at the decor, indulgent compared to the spare walls of other Jedi. In fact, when he was in those rooms, it was not like being at the Temple at all. Sometimes, Dooku would pull out one of the books, and sit beside Qui-Gon, reading aloud in his deep, precise timbre. His voice could be something very close to soothing, when it was not intimidating. Or terrifying.

Qui-Gon moved down the corridor, illuminated by antique sconces, and felt his jaw begin to unclench. Whatever tension that remained between them, Dooku was not unkind. Qui-Gon could trust the man to hear him out, and act with discretion.

Qui-Gon sorely needed both.

He arrived at Dooku’s door and pressed the chime.

----

He was surprised to find Dooku answer, rather than a servant. His heart quickened. Qui-Gon cleared his throat and bowed, both out of respect and habit. “Master.”

Dooku was dressed in his usual attire, from cape to boots, despite the late hour. He was not the kind to greet a guest in sleeping robes, though Qui-Gon doubted the man had been sleeping. As a child, there had been times he doubted his Master slept at all.

He had also thought his Master’s eyes looked like drops of black ink, pupils disappearing in the surrounding pools, eyes that reflected more than they ever revealed. Dooku smiled. “Well, Qui-Gon, this is unexpected.”

His former Master looked no older, but more severe; deeper curves cut into the lines of his long face. His white hair was combed back, a few dark strands at his temples serving as reminder of the formidable man he had been in his prime. He was trim, yet took up the entire doorway.

“Forgive me for imposing, my Master,” Qui-Gon apologized. He knew nothing to call him but the same honorific he began using when he was a new apprentice. And he had never said Dooku’s first name in his entire life, could not imagine how clumsily the syllables would fall from his mouth now.

Dooku’s smile widened, revealing a wide row of perfect, white teeth. “It is good to see you. I may have moved on from the Jedi, but that does not include you, my old Padawan.” He clapped Qui-Gon on the shoulder, “Though I assume the purpose of this spontaneous visit is not to reminisce about our glory days traveling the galaxy?”

“Ah, no.” Qui-Gon admitted. His tunic was already sticking to the sweat pooling in the small of his back. On with it, Jinn. “Rather, I’ve come to beg your advice, Master.”

The dark eyes softened. Through the Force, he sensed a fleeting ripple of pleasure from Dooku, albeit tightly controlled. Qui-Gon burned with guilt--he had not meant to avoid his Master for this long. “Of course, you are welcome to my counsel at any time, Qui-Gon,” Dooku said, and stepped aside with a slender, beckoning hand.

Qui-Gon walked over the threshold. The room was modest in size, and tastefully arranged. Dooku maintained that the mark of true wealth was understated luxury. He detested gaudy embellishments, the nouveau riche who wore a ring on each finger, signalling a “distinct lack of breeding”.

Dooku’s boots clicked with measured precision as he crossed to a small bar table. “I doubt I have anything you’ll like,” his fingers ghosted over the bottles of liquor, “I remember your penchant for the humbler imbibements.”

Qui-Gon smiled. As a Padawan, those barbed remarks imbedded themselves into tender flesh. He would nurse the wounds for months, until he finally adapted, and learned to galvanize himself against backhanded comments. Now he could appreciate the man’s caustic brand of wit.

Well, mostly.

“Anything you have would be appreciated,” he said, glancing at the stylishly spare furniture, dark leather and buffed silver. Truth be told, he had never felt at ease in his Master’s quarters. He imagined himself as a wild bantha led into a gallery, tracking mud and fur across a pristine space not meant for him. Of course, a Jedi was supposed to be comfortable anywhere, and in his life Qui-Gon had slept in more palaces than he could count.

Dooku poured wine into two goblets. “I was gifted this bottle by the Lankashiir premier. An exceedingly rare vintage. It is only fitting that it be enjoyed during an equally rare occasion—a visit from Qui-Gon Jinn.” He walked over to the lounge area, and handed Qui-Gon a goblet.

“Thank you.” Qui-Gon accepted, leaning his nose toward the rim and taking a gentle inhale, as he had been instructed to do early in his apprenticeship.

They remained standing. Dooku lingered over the wine, closing his eyes. “Both to be savored.” He remarked, in such a quiet tone that Qui-Gon barely heard him.

Qui-Gon had not visited when Dooku relinquished his place in the Order. He had not visited in the months after. Qui-Gon swallowed. “I am sorry. My responsibilities—“

“Of course,” Dooku waved a dismissive hand, “No one understands more than I how a Master is kept busy. Now sit. It’s late and you’ve come a long way, and I doubt it’s to offer me belated apologies.”

Qui-Gon settled on the slim couch, Dooku in a chair. The older man crossed his legs and sighed. “Well-“

—This is a weird story about Qui-Gon going to Dooku for sex advice. As in “what do I do if I’ve had sex with my Padawan?!” Dooku sees it as an opportunity to sell Qui-Gon on the idea of leaving the Order.

[swtorizz]

Lost Apprentice (Ashara/Sith!OC) Ch. 5

Chapter 1 | Chapter 4 | AO3

It must’ve been only an hour or two of tossing and turning before Ashara accepted her fate and chose to get prepared for the day to come. She expertly tiptoed around the ship (something she’d learned to do so as not to disturb her crew mates back in the day) until she made her way to the ‘fresher. The water fell quietly and the warmth and steady pressure felt heavenly on her skin. After a few minutes she sighed and stepped out, retrieving her clothes from the wash as she did so.

Once fully dressed, Ashara wandered into the storage room in search of something to sustain her appetite. He, of course, was already there.

The Sith tossed her a protein pack. The togruta caught it effortlessly and tore it open without a second thought.

“The way you move around the ship I’d think you’ve been living here.”

She scoffed between bites, “it feels like I never left.”

The Sith sent her a curious look, “Do you ever miss your master?”

She shrugged, “sometimes. He was kinder than most Sith. He always had something wise to say. I just wish he could give me advice now.”

The Sith clearly wanted to ask what happened, but by the look on his face he decided better of it.

Despite it being so early, the Sith was already well-groomed with his dark hair combed neatly and his boots shined. He stared at Ashara as she ate.

“What?” She mumbled, mouth full.

He shook his head, “I apologize. I was lost in thought.” He pulled over the datapad he’d had sitting next to him that Ashara hadn’t noticed until then, “I may have found us a lead.”

Ashara waited for him to continue, “I contacted my sister, the one in Intelligence. She told me that Darth Iratius has gone completely into hiding, but his son is not so lucky. He is currently docked at Dantooine.”

Ashara nearly choked on her food, “what are we doing here? We need to move now! Before—“

“Relax. I have someone scouting onworld. If he leaves that spaceport, we’ll be the first to know.”

She did relax a bit, but Ashara remained tense. She feared greatly for Nala’s safety.

“I’m setting a course for Dantooine.” She proclaimed, leaving the room before he could interject.

She was nearly on the bridge when he grabbed her shoulder and spun her around.

“Stop. Andarus will have someone watching the skies. The moment we arrive he’ll be on the ground and Nala will be in danger.”

She ripped his hand from her, “I don’t care. She’s counting on me. I need to do whatever I can.”

Immediately she turned and headed for the console.

She heard him sigh from behind her, “you may be the most stubborn woman I’ve ever met.”

“Thank you.” She grumbled.

In seconds the ship was launching into hyperspace. Ashara did her best to avoid thinking about her nightmare which meant chanting her meditation in her head.

There is emotion. There is peace. There is emotion. There is peace.

As the ship arrived in Dantooine’s atmosphere, she felt herself relax a bit. At least now she was on the same planet as Nala.

The togruta knew now that the disguise would be no use. She made sure her lightsaber was clipped to her belt as she flew the ship towards the spaceport.

As soon as they landed, the ringing of an incoming holocall sounded from Darius’ pocket.

He answered, “yes?”

A male voice, deeper even than Darius’, sounded from the other side. Ashara was too busy gathering herself to glance at the hologram.

“He just exited the ship. But he’s heading North.”

“North?” Ashara cut in, “Nala’s house is to the South.”

“It must be a distraction.” The Sith said to himself, then spoke a bit louder, “follow him. Ashara and I will go to Nala’s house. Don’t call unless it’s urgent.”

The holo flickered away. The two quickly made their way off the ship and through the spaceport, electing to rent a speeder rather than take a taxi.

They half expected to meet resistance along the way, but they arrived in half the time with no issue.

It was upon arrival that Ashara truly became fully alert. There was no sign of anything out of the ordinary. Other than the fact that it was mid-morning and no one was tending to the crops.

This concerned Ashara.

She jumped off of the speeder at her first chance and ignited her saber.

Besides the mild gusts of wind, it was quiet. Too quiet.

Ashara found herself hesitating at the edge of the field. She was ready to face what was ahead, but still afraid of what she might find. The speeder’s engine cut and Darius appeared at her side.

He waited with her a moment before saying anything, “are you ready?”

She nodded, then led the way to the front door.

The house was dark. Cold. Ashara used her lightsaber to illuminate their immediate surroundings in soft blue. Slowly, she tiptoed into the main living space—empty. Then the first bedroom—again, empty. This happened again and again, her heart rate increasing each time, until they got to the last room.

Her old room.

From outside the door she sensed nothing, but Ashara knew well that one could hide themselves with the Force. Bracing herself, she kicked the wall panel with her boot and the door rushed open.

Empty.

Nala and her family were nowhere to be found. This concerned Ashara more than anything else possibly could have.

“Where—“

But she was cut off as Darius’ holo went off again. As he lifted it and clicked the button to answer, all Ashara could hear was the pounding in her ears.

“She’s here.” Said the man on the holo. He was crouching and his voice was low, “she matches the description you gave me. Andarus is saying something to her, but I can’t get close enough to hear it.”

“We’re on our way. Don’t interfere unless you have to.” Darius told him.

The hologram nodded and disappeared. Ashara was on the Sith’s heel as they dashed back to the speeder. Darius input the coordinates he’d been sent through the holo into the speeder, pushing it forward just as Ashara clambered on.

The long drive to the Northern desert was grueling. Ashara felt herself go through several emotions, and had to chant to herself as they sped along, “There is emotion. There is peace.”

When they began to approach the coordinates’ location, Darius slowed until the engine was at its quietest. Despite his unwavering exterior, Ashara could feel worry seeded deep within the Sith. For a moment she was thankful to know that he wasn’t completely heartless, as most Sith were, and she felt bad for assuming. She also realized she knew very little about him beyond his wanting to help her.

Her thoughts were cut short when she spotted something in the distance: a caravan.

Three bantha were being led by what looked like military officials. Their pace was clearly too quick, as the bantha were protesting loudly enough for her to hear from hundreds of meters away. She squinted, but could see little other than the large animals, grass, and endless desert beyond.

“We need to get closer.” Ashara whispered near the Sith’s ear.

“We can follow, but once the grass has dwindled we’ll be out in the open. We need a plan for our approach beyond that.”

Ashara wanted to protest, but knew he was absolutely correct.

And then she remembered the holocall, “where’s your contact?”

“Here.”

Ashara jumped from her seat, lightsaber extended in an instant. She sliced the tall grass in front of her to see a zabrak man standing further among it.

His skin was a dark red, covered in elaborate black tattoos, and his eyes a bright orange.

His voice was, of course, the same as that she’d heard on the holocalls, “I’m sorry, I was shrouding myself with the Force. I assumed you would hear me coming.”

A Force user? Ashara returned her saber to her side, “are you a Sith?”

He blinked, looking almost amused, “I am. I’m surprised my brother didn’t tell you.”

Ashara turned to Darius, incredulous, “how many siblings do you have?”

He gave a small chuckle, “only four.”

“Anyhow.” The zabrak chimed in, his deep voice like an anchor in the conversation, “the woman you’re seeking is on top of one of the banthas. Lord Andarus is walking alongside the first.”

Darius nodded thoughtfully. The zabrak spoke again, “brother...he’s kidnapped children too.”

“We know,” he murmured, staring at the ground as he thought, “they’re Nala’s.”

Before Ashara could ask what the plan was, the zabrak pulled something from his pocket.

Ashara gasped, “a stealth generator!”

“I brought one for each of us.” He handed Ashara hers and quickly she went to activate it.

Darius grasped her wrist, preventing her from doing so, “wait. We need to establish a strategy.”

Ashara plucked his gloved fingers from her arm, “I go now and take care of the Sith, how about that?”

“So were killing him?” Darius asked, eyes boring into hers.

She flinched, “if it comes to that, yes,”

“He’s kidnapped Nala and her children, Ashara. We can’t leave him alive long enough to give the order to kill.”

Ashara thought for a moment. She glanced at the zabrak, who watched them with his hands clasped behind his back, an amused look on his face.

“Fine.” She muttered, “we’ll kill him before he can hurt them.”

As she prepared to turn on the stealth generator, she turned to the zabrak, “I’m Ashara, by the way.”

“So I’ve heard.” He smirked, “Darth Volentus.”

Ashara wanted to quip are all your siblings Darths, too? but kept her mouth shut. She activated the stealth, watching as her companions shifted into nearly invisible figures among the grass.

The three snuck into the desert with Ashara at the lead, their pace fast. She made sure not to go so fast as to stir up sand, however. The caravan was already far enough out that without a speeder it would take hours to catch up, but Ashara was perfectly willing to do so. It was missions like these where she was incredibly grateful for her Jedi training. She may not have learned the delicate art of patience, but she had learned willpower and persistence.

Dantooine’s sun was high above when they finally were close enough to begin preparing for an assault. The two Sith stopped as Ashara did.

She peered ahead to the banthas, now able to clearly see the two children tied to the last creature’s back. She could see the sun glinting off of the dried tear trails on their faces. She pushed down her anger and forced herself to remain calm.

With a deep breath, Ashara mentally prepared herself. She knew that if she acted quickly and used the Force, she could propel herself from one bantha to the next in a matter of seconds.

She reached for her lightsaber.

And suddenly, her stealth field disappeared.

One of the Sith at her side used the Force to reveal a stealth-detecting droid in the sand in front of them.

Several men on the caravan shouted. The element of surprise gone, Ashara was just barely able to propel herself onto the back of the bantha. She unleashed her lightsaber and tore the brilliant blue through the ropes connecting the captive children to the animal.

By now, the Imperials had begun shooting. Ashara deflected several bolts from both sides before vaulting to the next bantha. With a deep breath, she pushed out with the Force and sent the surrounding men flying into the sand on their backs.

And then she saw Nala.

Nala stood in front of the caravan, now completely at a stop, with a lightsaber at her neck.

Through the corner of her vision, Ashara caught the Sith striking down Imperials on the ground, easily taking down groups of three and four at a time.

“Stop!” She yelled, loud enough for them to freeze just as they finished off the last of the lackeys.

Ashara jumped down to the ground, using the Force to soften her fall. She made eye contact with Andarus—whose face was now twisted and scarred by corruption—and tossed her lightsaber to the side.

“I’m at your mercy.” She called, raising her arms in surrender, “please, just let her go.”

The only sounds to be heard in the open desert were Nala’s sobs and the hum of pure energy emanating from the now three active lightsabers.

Nala’s dark hair was unkempt. She wore her nightgown, clearly having been taken before sunrise. Her soft laugh was now a terrified cry and her bright eyes pouring.

The Sith Lord aimed his lightsaber closer to her throat, expertly so in that it didn’t touch her neck. Nala was gasping now, unable to move any further back with the Sith’s fist in her hair.

“You and I can both feel it.” Ashara pleaded, “she’s not Force Sensitive.”

The Sith’s head tilted, and he smiled. Ashara felt her gut clench, “her? You thought I meant her?” He laughed, an evil, wretched sound, “I said the girl, you idiotic alien scum.”

The girl. Ashara whipped around, only to see the children caught in the arms of two soldiers who had apparently been stealthed themselves. She turned back when Nala yelped.

But she was too late. Nala’s body crumpled to the ground in a lifeless heap. The children screamed. Ashara blinked.

And the Sith leapt at her.

Before she could even think, Ashara reached a hand up and caught the Sith midair with the Force. His red eyes widened as she choked him, invisible hands wound around his neck with inhuman grip. The man dropped his saber and clawed at his throat, legs kicking wildly.

All she felt was anger. Hatred. It was unfair.

“Nala didn’t deserve to die.” She whispered.

She relished the feeling as the last of the air left his lungs and he took his final, short breath. He hung limp in the air, but it wasn’t enough. Ashara clutched harder with the Force, until she heard his bones snap, one by one…

“He’s dead, Ashara.”

Darius placed a hand on her shoulder, and Ashara snapped out of it instantly. The Sith crumpled in the sand.

Ashara felt...lost. Not vengeful. Not glad. Just...incomplete.

But she turned quickly when the children’s crying rushed back into her ears, like a wave crashing into the shore.

The zabrak stood above them, the two Imperials laid dead on the ground, the kids sobbing into each other’s arms.

Ashara felt their anguish and despair through the Force. She swallowed, and approached them slowly.

And when she did, she felt a tiny spark of something she hadn’t before. She’d never paid enough attention to notice it, but from the girl came the smallest bit of familiarity. Of the Force.

She struggled to remember their names, “...Mei? Lutis?”

The children peered at her through their tears, clearly terrified. Ashara took a deep breath, “I am so sorry. You have no idea. But I need you to come with me and my friends now, okay?”

“Are we...going home?” Mei asked between sobs.

“I…” Ashara actually had no idea what to do with them, “we’ll see, okay?”

The kids nodded. Heartbroken, Ashara helped them onto one of the banthas and had the Sith gather Nala’s body while she distracted them. Once they were ready, Ashara picked her lightsaber up from the sand and glanced over at the Sith’s body.

Without a word, she took his lightsaber and boarded a bantha.

It was past nightfall when they arrived at Nala’s house. Ashara helped the children into their beds and tucked them in. They were asleep almost as soon as their heads hit the pillows, to which she was grateful.

She closed the front door to the house as quietly as she could. Darius stood waiting for her on the porch.

His dark, tall figure would look menacing in the night had she not already known him, “my brother found someone in the village who’s willing to take them in. They’ll be picked up by a neighbor before sunrise tomorrow.

Ashara nodded, “and what about the girl’s Force Sensitivity?”

“The neighbor is aware.” Darius explained, “he has my personal holofrequency and will contact me if there are any issues.”

“Good.” Ashara murmured.

“I think it’s time we get some rest.” The Sith said quietly and then, as if an afterthought, he added, “can I ask you something?”

Ashara raised a brow at him, “sure.”

“Why take his lightsaber?”

She glanced down at her left hip, now adorned with Lord Andarus’ lightsaber. She looked back up at the Sith and shrugged, “I used to always have two. I was trained to use two. Why not?”

The Sith nodded, seemingly in approval. The two sped towards the spaceport on the rented speeder, returning it as they left for the ship.

Darth Volentus was waiting there at the ship for them.

“He lives on Dromund Kaas.” Darius explained, “we’re taking him home.”

“Ah.” Ashara said, too worn out to say much beyond that.

The three boarded the Fury vessel and set a course for Dromund Kaas. As the ship flew itself in auto-pilot, the three Force users sat on the couch next to the holoterminal.

“Thank you. For everything.” Ashara said to the zabrak. Though she meant what she said, her voice was hoarse and deadpan.

“Anything for a friend of my brother’s.” He smiled.

“I hadn’t realized I’d earned friend status.” Ashara mumbled, just loud enough for them to hear.

Darius, grinned, tongue in cheek, “generally when I meet someone who’s not wearing pants, we become friends rather quickly.”

Volentus was unable to quench his snickering, “my, you must be closer than I thought.”

Ashara felt her face grow warm, “that’s not—it wasn’t like that. He surprised me.”

“I’ll say.” The zabrak chuckled.

Ashara changed the subject, “so is your mother the zabrak? Or your father?”

They glanced at each other in a way that completely sobered the room, then answered at the same time, “mother.”

She wondered about the shift in mood, but didn’t mention it, “Why don’t you have the tattoos, Darius?”

When Volentus cocked his head curiously, she explained, “he won’t tell me his real name, so that’s what I call him.”

He nodded thoughtfully, seemingly unfazed by the answer. Apparently it was normal for Darius to not give out his name to just anyone.

“I chose not to get them when I came of age.” He answered, referring to the tattoos, “hence why I appear more Pureblood than my siblings.”

Ashara pondered this, but didn’t press further. Volentus was, once again, unfazed.

Just then the ship pulled out of hyperspace, marking its arrival at Dromund Kaas. Ashara left to her quarters to allow the brothers to say their goodbyes.

As she felt the ship pull into the orbital station, she set down her lightsabers side by side on the unused top bunk.

She sat down to meditate, but sleep came to her before she could even begin.

[sleemo]

Stardust

[ Translated from Spanish to English by @sleemo and @nightblossoms-and-spinebarrels ]

Two years after ‘The Force Awakens’, the Imperial March plays again. The galactic saga returns to the big screen with ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’, a movie that promises to be quite unique. Director Rian Johnson and his protagonists tell us what this new stellar adventure will have for us, at least as far as Kathleen Kennedy allows them.

— Cinemanía | December 2017 - Janire Zurbano

“I don’t want Disney princesses, I want Leia,” said the little Rey in costume who was standing in front of me in one of the booths for Funko Pop figures in D23. Now that the success of the saga is measured in mind-blowing figures, the Disney convention has become a coming and going of Gamoras, Méridas and Thors, carrying bags full of Funkos. 

“Before, the fans used to tell me how they met their wives because of Star Wars and now they show me the toys they’ve bought for their children,” Mark Hamill tells us. We met with the director and part of the cast of Star Wars: The Last Jedi after the hangover of D23. “I appreciate all this as I never would have been able to at 20. People ask me: ‘Doesn’t it bother you to be remembered for a single movie role?’ I never expected to be remembered for anything. And now someone has a doll with my face!”, adds the actor.

In all honesty, the merchandise for Star Wars: The Last Jedi has given us more clues about the future of the saga than any trailer or official photo of this new release. In February, a toy box made all the galactic alarms go off by showing an image of Rey with what looked like a padawan’s hairstyle. She just needed to say: “I am your Jedi apprentice”. “I cannot talk about that,” laughs Daisy Ridley.

Everything is kept under wraps in the mysterious universe commanded by Kathleen Kennedy, as the cast well knows. “At the beginning of rehearsals, we didn’t know the plot. I remember being with Mark, making conjectures all the time,” says Ridley. “We could not take the script outside Pinewood Studios,” recalls John Boyega. The newcomers also did not get any special treatment. “That room in Pinewood was like a cave,” says Kelly Marie Tran, to which Benicio del Toro adds with laughter: “I read the script with a timer.” It is not surprising that the Puerto Rican actor speaks cautiously about the film: “Star Wars was the first science fiction film that I felt was mine. I don’t want to be the first to ruin something for the fans.” Without Funkos to dissect and now that Kennedy can’t hear us, let's put them to the test.

New King of the Galaxy

It’s been two years since J. J. Abrams expanded the universe created by George Lucas, this time for Disney. The Force Awakens revived the essence of the original trilogy, far from that attempt to renew the prequels. Many specifically criticized that it was a copy of A New Hope. However, what struck Mark Hamill was something else: “Twice a week, for 50 weeks, I was tortured. They called it physical training. I even did a diet of ‘If it tastes good, don’t eat it’. I lost 20 kilos! Then I discovered that I only appeared for a few seconds at the end looking like a grumpy neighbor.”

Now, to Hamill's good fortune, Abrams has handed over the controls of the Millennium Falcon to Rian Johnson. “I remember asking J.J. if it felt like when, in a divorce, your children go to live with the new cool guy. He told me that it was fine with him but I know he thought: ‘I’m going to miss them,’” says Boyega. The creator of Lost will return to lead Episode IX, but before that Johnson will have to prove if The Last Jedi, which promises shocking revelations, is as “unique” as the cast assures. For now, it will be the longest film in the series, with two and a half hours. But will it be up to the much acclaimed The Empire Strikes Back?

“No comparisons,” Hamill says: “This movie is different from the others in Star Wars thanks to Rian. If it had not been for him, I would have dreaded coming back... I wasn’t sure I wanted to be part of the new trilogy. I thought Harrison Ford wouldn’t come back, he was my savior. But then he accepted and I felt trapped. Since I was the only one who wasn’t here, I would’ve been the most hated.”

The Return of the Jedi

“The Last Jedi starts right where we left The Force Awakens,” Ridley tells us, something unheard of in the saga. We will reunite with Rey the scavenger delivering the lightsaber to Luke Skywalker in Ach-To, after having spent the previous film on his trail. “I don’t remember what Luke says when he takes the saber, but he should have said, ‘That came with one hand, did you bring it too?’, jokes Hamill. 

“Rey must accept that she has power and begin to show her potential,” explains Johnson. She and Darth Vader's son will be the focus of the film, although for now nobody dares to say whether the last Jedi master will train the young woman in the art of the Force. It is as if every time a journalist mentioned the word “Jedi”, a fairy died. “Jedi training? That remains to be seen,” says Ridley sounding mysterious, and adds: “In The Force Awakens, Rey was out of control, but now she will learn from Luke and from herself. She will experience growth.”

Her friend, John Boyega, insists on the novelty of the project: “Rian has done something very different. We wanted Finn to have an identity, like Han Solo or Leia. He supported Rey and the Resistance in Episode VII, but now he must decide if he is willing to fight a battle that is not his. His relationship with Rey and now with Rose Tico [Kelly Marie Tran] will push him into action.” The stormtrooper who deserted the First Order will thus find a new ally in this Resistance mechanic. According to Tran, she is “a nobody” that will star in “several fun moments” with Finn.

And what awaits us in the Dark Side? “Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) is as important as Rey in this new film,” says Johnson. After killing dad Han Solo, the pupil of Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis) will threaten the Galaxy again, with a new ship like that of his grandfather Anakin. Another who will be back, to Finn's disgrace, will be his former superior in the First Order, Captain Phasma. “I cannot confirm if her face will be seen, but we will learn more about her and she will leave an impression,” says Gwendoline Christie.

DJ, the hacker who Benicio del Toro gives life to, is one of the great mysteries of the film. Will he brandish a lightsaber? “No”, says Del Toro. And does he look like some other character in the saga? “He has elements of Boba Fett, maybe Jabba the Hutt,” the actor replies. According to Boyega (official spokesperson of the Galaxy), DJ resides in the casino planet of Canto Bight, where Finn and Rose Tico will go looking for him because “they need a codebreaker and he is the best”. 

“The interesting thing was being able to propose things to Rian and that he was open to my suggestions, even if they changed the story,” Del Toro assures us. Another fundamental issue for the Puerto Rican is the diversity that exists in the saga: “I saw that Oscar Isaac joined Episode VII, and that Diego Luna appeared in Rogue One, and I thought: ‘They already have two Latinos, I don’t think they need three’, but they called me. It's also great that there are women in leading roles.”

The Girls Are Warriors

And speaking of women... Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher), princess-turned-general, marked a before and after between the heroines of the cinema of the 70s, a legacy that the saga has continued to reinforce. “They told me that a child wanted to run like Rey because, apparently, she is running the way she should,” Ridley recalls, adding: “The reaction of many parents made me realize what Rey means to them. They told me: ‘My daughter has something to wear now that isn’t sexualized.’” The actress is aware of how much Star Wars does for the empowerment of women, although she believes that “as long as we keep talking about it, there will be work to be done. If there was equality, we wouldn’t be repeating that Wonder Woman is starring and directed by women.”

For Gwendoline Christie, this "feminist” aspect of the saga is fundamental: “We live in a patriarchal society, so being able to play the leader of an army is a luxury. Kathleen Kennedy showed me the results that appear when you google ‘female heroines’: many women with barely any clothes.” 

The actress still remembers the impact Princess Leia had on her: “I was six years old and seeing that Leia was smart, funny and did not look like other female characters made me question how women are portrayed in movies. I hope Captain Phasma will also help change the concept of femininity.” In addition to Rey, Captain Phasma and Rose Tico, Episode VIII will feature Amilyn Holdo (Laura Dern), Vice Admiral of the Resistance.

Goodbye Princess Goodbye

Among all the star warriors of Star Wars, General Leia continues to shine more than any other. Outside of the screens, with no Skywalker brawls involved, the cast makes for much closer family: “Mark is the father. Adam is the serious one, but he has a great sense of humor. Oscar is the charmer, John is the fun one, Carrie is the hilarious one, Benicio the cool, and I'm the one who always sings,” sums up Ridley. 

Therefore, the premiere of this film is a bittersweet experience after the death of Fisher in December 2017. For the British actress, “it is strange to be together again without her”. Little did Johnson imagine that he would direct Carrie Fisher’s last film: “We have a beautiful and very powerful performance from her. We have not changed it.”

The one who gets most excited when talking about the actress is her ‘brother’ Mark Hamill: “I keep missing her. I keep talking about her in the present. Selfishly, I’m so angry. She should be here to share Episode VIII and shoot Episode IX.” The Last Jedi is the farewell to an actress who, 40 years later, continues to make us want to be Leia princesses, not ‘Disney princesses’. The Galaxy will not shine the same without her.

[whillsofstars]

Chapter 14

REY-----------------------------------------------------

It seemed like barely any time had passed since Rey took her first steps on the craggy island where she had first begun her journey as a Jedi. Back then, there were so many questions, so many details of her life left unknown, and while she had come farther than she imagined at the time, there was still so much left unanswered.

The thundering crash of the ocean’s waves upon the enduring rock of the island - Luke’s island - brought her mind back to the present. She had come for a reason, and that reason was to find Kylo Ren. Still, she wasn’t entirely sure what would happen when she found him.

Taking one quick look back at the Falcon and making sure she had closed the landing pad (preventing another infestation of porgs), she began her ascent up the ancient steps cut into the rugged terrain.

The imposing rock of the island was carpeted with the same, lush greenery she remembered from her last visit. Could it have really been over a year since she last stepped foot on Ahch-To? Time was funny that way. A year had passed before her and she hardly felt as if much had changed since she first made contact with the legendary Jedi Master Luke Skywalker. And yet, so much was different. She was different.

Her mind moved to the memory of Luke’s first lesson about the living Force. Out of instinct, she placed her hand firmly into the plush greens covering the island and closed her eyes, giving into the interconnected world of the Force. Warm and cold. Life. Death. Peace and violence. The balance. She could still feel it all at once. Everything existed together, even the light and the dark.

But there was a difference in the dualities of the island that didn’t exist before. Now, she could feel him - Kylo - and with him, a tumultuous energy, almost like a battle waging itself across time and space between both of the life forces that resided within his soul. I’ve seen raw strength like this only once before, a voice whispered in her memory.

A slow breath escaped her lips. She needed to recenter herself. Kylo’s wild Force signature threatened to overcome her calm, meditative state.

When peace settled back into her mind, she pushed her energy outwards trying to pinpoint his exact location.

Almost instantly, surprise overtook her emotions and her eyes snapped open to meet the gaze of those standing just before her. A gasp escaped her lips as she struggled to maintain her footing, preventing herself from falling backwards.

The source of the shock stood just mere inches away from where she stopped to meditate. While still struggling to regain her balance, Rey’s eyes rose to meet the gaze of the one before her, Alcida-Auka, the matron of Ahch-To’s caretakers.

“Alcida!” Rey gasped. “Where did you come from?”

Alcida-Auka continued to stare searchingly, as if trying to stitch together the meaning behind Rey’s return. Rey didn’t know much about Alcida-Auka, other than how highly intelligent she was...and that she was one of the caretakers who was almost crushed by the boulder Rey split in two with her saber...and that she was one of the first to respond to the damage Rey had caused to her hut. Come to think of it, Rey was almost certain that Alcida-Auka must have been thankful to see Rey leave. Admittedly, Rey always felt bad about that.

Alcida-Auka continued to stare at her, arms crossed. Her gray lips pursed into a fine line.

When it seemed that neither of them would be the first to break the silence, Rey let out a long sigh. She had some apologies to make. “Alcida, I ask for your forgiveness and the forgiveness of the other caretakers,” she began, casting her eyes down before continuing. “I left a lot of damage the last time I stayed with you.”

She paused at the memory of her first visit, so eager was she to begin training with Luke Skywalker. Being back on the island and knowing that he wouldn’t be here reopened the wound that she had believed had been healed. A lump began rising in her throat, threatening to bring tears to her eyes.

Seeing Rey’s distress, Alcida-Auka shed her icy demeanor and gently placed a weathered hand on her shoulder, offering what little comfort she could. “No one’s ever really gone, child,” she said in her gentle, motherly tone.

Rey’s head snapped up so that she had a better look at Alcida-Auka. “You speak Basic?” she asked in complete surprise. Being from a planet as remote as Ahch-To without modern technology, Rey had assumed that Basic had missed the Lanai. In fact, not a single one of the caretakers had spoken to her the last time she was here.

“We’ve had visitors like yourself come and go since the beginning of the Lanai,” she clarified. “At some point, one of them shared this language with us so that we could better assist future visitors.”

Now she understood. The caretakers had been giving her the cold shoulder as punishment for the damage she caused.

“There’s been more visitors to Ahch-To?” Rey had assumed that no one had known about this little planet.

“Jedi Skywalker was not the first, no,” Alcida-Auka confirmed. “The temple has called to a handful of others since its birth. All of them took this knowledge to their deaths.”

“Were they all Jedi?”

“No. Some were children of the Dark. Others did not possess the gift,” she said casually.

Rey paused a moment to consider this.

Sensing her opening, Alcida-Auka posed a question of her own. “Why have you returned to us?” she demanded. “You left in such a hurry the last time, the Lanai believed that to be the last we would ever see of you.”

“Oh.” Yes it was true. She did leave in quite the rush. After discovering the truth about Ben Solo and Luke’s betrayal, Rey rushed straight to Kylo Ren naively believing what her vision had shown her when they touched hands.

It would appear as though not much had changed, for she found herself yet again chasing after Kylo Ren.

“Alcida, I’m actually here because I’m looking for someone,” she began. “Is there a man visiting Ahch-To now? He’s quite large - tall, that is - taller than me. His skin is pale. Dark hair. Deep brown eyes.”

Alcida-Auka said nothing as if considering whether or not to help Rey in her search.

“Please Alcida, it’s very important that I find him,” she practically begged.

“He’s here,” she said curtly. “But let me make this clear young one. Bloodshed is forbidden on the home of the temple,” she warned waving one small, gray finger in Rey’s direction.

“Alcida, I’m not -”

“Is that understood?” Alcida-Auka said cutting her off.

“Yes, of course,” she said, surprised at her sternness.

“Good,” she said with a nod before turning around and making her way back up the side of the island. “I’ll take you to him, but first I will show you where you shall stay,” she called not bothering to address Rey, who was now trailing behind her.

“Why is it that the children of the light and dark never get along?” she mused more to herself than to Rey.

Together, they climbed the steep steps carved into the side of the island. All around them porgs were fluttering about, minding their own business. While she didn’t want another family to take up residence in the Falcon, Rey had to admit there birds were a little cute in their own way. There was something about their round, sad faces that seemed to soften her heart.

They were about half way between the Falcon’s landing pad and the ancient huts when tiny droplets made contact with her cheek announcing the fast approaching downpour.

Rey quickly withdrew a poncho from her satchel and draped it over her head and shoulders. It was just in time, for the second she threw it on, the rain grew harder. Alcida-Auka had nothing to shield herself against the pelting rain, though it didn’t seem as though she minded. Not too long ago, Rey would have been elated to let the water fall upon her skin, forming small rivers across her body if the rain was heavy enough. Water was such a precious commodity on Jakku, but here, there was an abundance of it. Its coolness against her skin refreshed her mind, body, and spirit. To think she spent years in the desert without experiencing the true healing effects of water. But now, she was all too quick to shield herself from the small, glass-like droplets that she once welcomed with joy.

Well, maybe a few things have changed, she mused.

Soon enough, they reached the cluster of stone huts nested on the side of second highest peak on the island, which provided a spectacular view of the ocean below them.

Alcida-Auka led Rey to the hut settled slightly higher than the rest. Rey secretly cursed Alcida’s choice. It was Luke’s hut. The metal door still hung ascue after Chewbacca had ripped it off entirely. Inside, the small space appeared seemingly undisturbed with what little possessions he kept arranged neatly in crevices around the perimeter. Old blankets were settled, neatly folded on a stone slab that barely passed for a bed. Next to it, an old wooden chest rested on the floor.

Rey paused a moment, considering the chest. A pull like two magnets was drawing her closer and closer to the chest. She had felt this same pull once before on Takodana.

“Be careful what you find,” she warned as Rey bent down, pulling back the lid with a creak in protest.

With the exceptions of one bundled mass of fabric she was surprised to find it empty. Rey retrieved the bundle, which was heavier than she expected and slowly began to unwrap the layers of cloth. When she finally removed the last piece, the silver hilt of a lightsaber lay resting in her hands.

Rey turned it over, admiring the craftsmanship of the hilt. This blade, despite its apparent age, was in near-perfect condition, as if the time that overtook Luke’s features had completely passed over the saber entirely. It was beautiful, a true work of art that concealed the purpose of the blade.

And now it calls to you, a voice from a distant memory insisted.

Rey had an urge to ignite Skywalker’s blade and take in the full beauty of this elegant weapon, but decided against it, remembering that Alcida-Auka was still with her. The last thing Rey needed was to accidentally cause more damage to the property the Lanai were charged to maintain, so she wrapped it back up and returned it to the chest.

Rey turned to Alcida-Auka and asked, “The man who came here earlier, was he not interested in the lightsaber?”

Alcida-Auka almost chuckled at her question. Rey’s brows furrowed in puzzlement.

The eldest caretaker looked up at her then. “When I was about to offer him this hut, he stopped dead in his tracks,” she recalled. “And then he told me that he ‘would never share the same space as Skywalker.’”

At the memory Alcida-Auka released a small laugh before continuing, “His face, pale as it already was, turned even whiter as if he encountered a spirit. I gave him one of the huts at the farthest end of the colony.”

“Oh,” was all Rey managed to say. It dawned on her then that Kylo was still scarred by his uncle’s attempted murder. How sad, she thought.

“He made his way to the Jedi temple earlier this morning. There is where you will find him.”

“Thank you Alcida,” she said quietly.

Alcida-Auka gave a silent nod and shuffled toward the door, but paused before opening it and turned to address Rey. “Remember what I said,” she warned, waving a finger in her direction. “Bloodshed is forbidden here.”

“I haven’t forgotten.”

Alcida-Auka gave her a hard look, weighing the truth of her words. When Rey remained silent, Alcida-Auka seemed to accept her promise, and with a final, curt nod, exited Luke’s hut, leaving Rey alone.

Now that she was removed from the scrutinizing eyes of Alcida-Auka, Rey returned to the chest and hurriedly retrieved the saber. She didn’t want to admit it then, but she was secretly thrilled to find another saber, and in such good condition. She turned the weapon gingerly over in her hands. There was something about this saber, much like the one she carried, that called to her deep down in her spirit. Why this family’s swords drew her in so much, she didn’t know.

She glanced behind her at the door, as if she could feel Alcida-Auka’s glare penetrate the thin metal. But for now, she was truly alone. She had to know what this blade looked like alive.

Rey cast her worries aside. The saber ignited with a dull hiss, casting a green glow on the objects around the hut. The hum of it seemed to mingle with the energy of the Force within her - within all things. Like the first time she practiced with her saber, when she held it ignited in her hand, it was as if nothing else mattered. There was just her, the blade, and the embrace of the Force around them. Rey felt alive, as the adrenaline rushed through her veins.

“Wow,” was all she managed to say before flipping the switch and returned it to the chest, making a mental note to come back for it later. She had her own ideas in mind for a new construction, one that would better fit her fighting style. Rey wondered if Kylo would help her with it like he had when she was repairing the one they split in two. She couldn’t be certain of his motives. Which begged the question: could he really be persuaded to come back to the light?

There’s someone who still could, the same voice as before echoed in her memory.

Maybe she’s right. Rey had sensed something different about him when the bond opened again. This time, there may be a chance.

-------------

Time seemed to move slowly as Rey continued the trek up the unforgiving terrain of Ahch-To. A few of the ancient steps crumbled beneath her feet, the mix of salt, wind, and time had worn them down to their now fragile state. The higher she climbed, the faster the wind raced around her, sending chills to her bones. After adjusting to the more temperate climate of the Kashyyyk forests, Rey had almost forgotten about Ahch-To’s harsh conditions.

How did Luke live - no, survive - here for so long? she questioned before another more timely thought passed through her mind. How long would it take to convince Kylo to come with her to the Resistance?

In truth, she had barely an idea of what she was going to say, let alone what she would do when she finally saw him in person. Nerves slowly began building in her stomach, but she tried her best to ignore them. Worrying never helped her on Jakku, and it wouldn’t help her now.

By the time she finally reached the entrance to the Jedi temple, Ahch-To’s binary suns were making their way towards the horizon, flooding the craggy island and the ocean below with a warm, golden light.

She stepped through the entry and made her way towards the tiled mosaic, where a faint tickle of water collected in the stone basin below it. Rey moved to gaze at the figure crafted in the basin meant to show the duality of the Force. If only for a few seconds, she was content to soak in the tranquility it seemed to project.

Liquid gold washed over the water’s surface which served to illuminate the figure resting at the bottom of the pool, thanks to a slit in the temple’s side facing the horizon over with Ahch-To’s suns would set. Upon taking a closer look, Rey noticed a dark outline casting a shadow marking the water black.

She glanced up, and her breath hitched upon finding the source of the shadow. It belonged to Kylo Ren.

But he wasn’t facing her. Instead, he was gazing out at the horizon, his cape billowing gracefully around him as the wind from the sea rushed into the temple.

He must have heard her gasp because he whirled around to face her, though he remained silent. Rey could feel his Force signature tense slightly as if he was shaping it around himself to serve as armour.

Both of them remained rooted to the spot in which they stood, neither entirely sure of the other’s intentions. Finally, Rey mustered the nerve to break the tension in the growing chasm of unknowns that lay between them, and made her way to stand at his side. With every step closer, his eyes, now a deep chocolate brown in the golden light, continued to trail her until they were face to face, just a mere foot apart.

Hazel eyes met brown, each filled with more questions than answers, as the two continued to contemplate each other. His eyes quickly darted from hers to the temple’s entrance and back again. The turning emotion behind his eyes created an intensity that would have intimidated anyone else in the galaxy, but not Rey. Despite this man’s meticulous efforts to block people out, she saw pain, worry, anger, distrust, and confusion reflected in them.

Without having to ask, Rey answered the question nested in Kylo’s thoughts. “There’s only me,” she said quietly, meeting his gaze with as much softness as she could give.

A gust of wind blew against them as Kylo silently considered the truth of her words. He seemed to relax just a little before his lips parted slightly, allowing a long, deep breath to fill his lungs.

“We’ll see,” he said, just before Kylo closed his eyes, slowly exhaling. As he did so, Rey felt a wave of energy pulse through the Force, touching everything on the island, searching for life.

Kylo appeared so peaceful and Rey couldn’t help but think of how unconventionally handsome he looked. His dark hair, like his eyes, now shown as deep brown in the sunset. His skin, which was usually so pale, actually looked healthy with a little bit of color. Rey’s heart tightened when she examined his scar - a permanent reminder of their opposition. Then there were those full lips of his. The way they parted ever so slightly as he took a breath. They looked so soft.

Rey felt heat rise in her cheeks at the thought, quickly casting it away as Kylo’s eyes opened ending his search.

Confirming the truth of Rey’s words, he visibly relaxed, letting his shoulders set naturally while releasing a sigh. It was as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Not only that, but his Force signature, which had been so tightly wound eased until it was no more of a hum of energy filling the space around them. If she could feel this, there was no doubt left in her mind about the power that the man before her possessed. But she wasn’t afraid of it.

At that moment, a new question seemed to flash across those chocolate eyes of his. She didn’t know how - the bond maybe - but Rey instinctively knew what he was thinking before he came out and addressed her. “What does this mean? Why are you here?” he said, voice soft and even.

She swallowed, not entirely sure that she had an answer. When she looked down in thought, she was surprised to find that Kylo’s hands were without his gloves, bare to the world. It almost seemed to be an invitation or a reminder of the last time she was on Ahch-To, when they had first realized the extent of their strange bond. Would those same hands be any different now?

Giving in to her curiosity, she slowly reach a quaking hand out to take his and welcomed the unexpected warmth of them. She smiled at the size difference, his being so massive compared to her smaller, slender ones.

Kylo tensed immediately at her actions, clearly not expecting this. A small chuckle escaped her lips at seeing his unease and she turned to watch the binary suns descend towards the ocean’s horizon. Darkness was beginning to overtake the light.

“You’re not alone,” she assured him after several moments of silence, finally answering his questions.

Though he said nothing, Rey knew the importance of those words between them. He gave her hand a small squeeze and took a step closer. Both of them were content enough to linger in this moment, two lonely people sharing in the comfort of each other’s presence with the knowledge that neither faced isolation for the time being. For in this moment, they had the support of one another, where time and the war and their troubles meant nothing and felt galaxies away.

Light and dark remained in silently entwined in one another until the last sliver of gold faded into the black of the night, and the brilliance of a million stars danced above them.

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Chapter 13

[resbang-bookclub]

AMA Transcript: The Lost Warrior

Next up is @addude to chat about her Resbang, The Lost Warrior! Here’s some of what went down:

Q: Let's start with what inspired you to write this particular story?

ADdude: Honestly, Excalibur. I've always had a thing for myths and in Soul Eater we had a... distinct take on the Arthurian myth. Even in this universe, Excalibur stands out. So it got me wondering what would other elements from those myths be like in this world. We know Excalibur and we glimpsed Arthur. I wanted to do some stuff with other elements from Camelot. Like how they'd fit into the Soul Eater world. I always had some idea in the back of my mind. And I'd started to write this odd world with many elements and it fit in. Excalibur was more prominent in this one, so it worked.  It just felt like there was a lot to work with when it came to Excalibur.

Q: I haven't read the fandoms you crossed over with - how differently did you make them? Like i know this fic takes place after SE ends, was that the same with Is This A Zombie? Does the King Arthur stuff come into is this a zombie or is that something you created?

ADdude: Multiverse theory is your friend. I kept them as separate worlds and you could crossover.  In Is This A Zombie, it was established that there were other realms, namely the Underworld. I just made the SE world another one. the Is this the zombie world was probably closer to us, fantastic elements are hidden but there. The stories of Arthur and Excalibur they knew about actually came from the fantastical filled SE world. Then most of the events happened in the SE world were the baddies came from. Most of the stuff I added was the stuff I made about Camelot.

Q: What was your writing process like? Did you do it more or less linearly, or find yourself jumping around?

ADdude: That’s the odd thing with stories with me. When I get an idea, the whole thing tends to blow up in my head at once. It's like I'm seeing, well, most of the story all play out in my head at once.  Most of my work afterwards is just trying to write it out and putting it in order.  I do jump around sometimes if I get a little stumped on a section of a story. It keeps me working. I hate stalling on a story too long cause sometimes it feels like I'm going to drop the story if I do.

Q: Were there any particularly hard parts to write?

ADdude: Uh, yeah, one comes to mind. I know there are people who seem to enjoy torturing their character but I'm not one of them.  I like giving them challenges and seeing them get stronger and overcome them. But in this story one of the characters I loved, Kami, is fighting and then has the tables turned on them.  It looks bad, then they are saved by the person they love, Nene. It looks great, the evil Lancelot is beaten and then while they are tending to each other he just stabs Nene in the back.  So I had Kami watching someone she loves literally die in front of her. And then Lancelot drags her away so much as to not even give her a chance to say good bye. It's obviously a heart-breaking scene. I worked on it a whole day trying to capture the emotions and the pain in the scene. It was rough, and I found myself actually crying writing it.

Q: Was there anything you cut out of the story that you wish you could have kept?

ADdude: Cutting stuff out? Yeah, I cut some stuff out from the ending.  I wanted to show a lot of stuff that happened after the story, how the character ended up. I wanted to show a bit of Kid and Liz having their baby and everything, Maka and Soul getting married but it was getting long and starting to remind me of the ending of Lord of the Rings.

Q: I feel like because we only ever learn of her through Maka and Spirit's interactions it's difficult to write her as a person, especially hard to write her without a judgement towards how she left Maka or whatever, but here Kami feels realistic and not just an adult or parent to Maka.

ADdude: The thing with her, you have to make a whole backstory. Explain everything so it suits how everyone sees her and how the others have described her. But RPing as her for a while, I've actually had time to work that stuff out. It started as a joke and at some point I started writing a backstory covering everything. So that was ready for an actual story.

Q: Do you feel like your writing has changed at all after making this?

ADdude: A little yeah, I'm more confident on writing tragic scenes. I know such scenes are good and develop character but I've always shied away from them. But this story forced me to write one and really work on it. I'm glad that people responded so well to it. I'm not sure it's something I'll always go to but I like knowing I can pull it out. So got a bit of confidence there.

Q: You mentioned you cut a lot from the end. Do you think you'll make it into a bonus Omake?

ADdude: Maybe. Maybe I'll save it for a sequel. Kid and Liz are going to have a baby. Maka and Soul are going to get married and someday have Kana.  Nene and Kami are going to be happy together.  Frankly, I could do a whole story of any of those stuff. Frankly, I kinda have this thing going with Soul-Dwelling that Kana Altair is Maka and Soul's daughter from the future and best friends with Excalibur. Also Excalibur is Maka's ancestor. That could be a whole crazy story by itself. Plus I really want to write more on Spirit's reaction to Kami getting married to Nene. So I got ideas, like lots of ideas.

Q: Are you working on anything now? Or what's next for you?

ADdude: Soul Eater wise? I've been working on making an abridged series. I've had some big setbacks but I'm just trying [to] edit everything together to have it out for the tenth anniversary of the anime. Writing wise, I'm working on a Star vs the Force of Evil fanfiction that’s gotten pretty popular and has entered its first-year anniversary this Sunday. And I'm working on writing a light novel, I'm editing and going to look for a pro editor later and get some art for it before self- publishing.

Q: I think it's really cool that you wrote about Excalibur as more than just a joke too.

ADdude: Yeah, a lot of his tone for his serious self came from when he talked to Asura in the anime's end.  Then played him off angry when he met the people responsible for Arthur's death. If anything would set him off I think it would be that. It was actually pretty fun to get him rightfully angry. Plus, it helped that Morgan La Fey was pretty much a powerful, evil, slightly drunk fairy through his encounter. Just teasing him the whole time. That reminds me, I wanted to do more with Angela too but I couldn't find a spot to put her.  At first I wanted Black Star to worry that she'd end up like Morgan La Fey because she too started off with magic and being all sweet with people loving her. But then ended up a total monster. I just couldn't find a place to put it in naturally.

Q: What was your favorite scene or arc or section to write?

ADdude: The fight scenes were pretty fun to write. I'm not big on fight scenes but I got to do some crazy stuff. In Is This A Zombie there are weapon people can use to basically turn into magical girls.  Kami ended up using them, switching out into outfit from different magical girls to fight and just complaining through out how skippy there were. It was just fun switch up weapons. And the fight where Maka and Nene have to fight Kami in the end was good. I like how they ended up resolving it. I hate when such resolutions are forced so I like how it came out. I can't remember all the magical girl references. I know I used Mami from Madoka, Saber from Fate series, and Sailor Mars from Sailor Moon.

---

Thanks to ADdude for stopping by!! Stay tuned for more transcripts!

[dimensionslip]

Tales of the Stage -Last Score- Event Report [September 5, 2017]

Went to yesterday’s show at Nakano Sun Plaza! The whole event ran for approximately two hours and was very much enjoyable! My friends and I were seated pretty close to the stage and that definitely added to my enjoyment factor, I would say. More details under the cut!

For the most part, the stage play's contents up to the Absorption Gate were more or less the same as whatever it is was performed during Day 1 of TOF2017. I wrote about that one sometime back. Some differences I remember from the TOF2017 airing would be the Van hypnotizing Luke dance number getting cut short, the Sync and Legretta battle getting shortened. Also, no more Jade vs Van dance battle. At least Jade still got to do his acrobatics, and man, did Van have a lot of dance numbers. I counted three, possibly more. He also gets his human chairs during the Absorption Gate scene.

As for more specific differences between the game and the stage play, they definitely cut a lot of the scenes and edited some bits to make it flow better in a 2-hour adaptation. They also limited the number of cast members, like, only Legretta, Sync, and Asch were around in terms of the Six-God Generals, so Arietta, Largo, and Dist's parts had to be either cut out or relegated--but mostly cut out.

Differences that I can recall off the top of my head are as follows:

Luke and Tear land in Cheagle Woods instead of Tataroo Valley

Instead of Largo, Legretta is the one that uses the fonslot seal on Jade, not that it stops him much because for some reason Jade spends a lot more time doing hand-to-hand combat over here compared to using his spear or artes

The "bring along Natalia or not" scene pre-Akzeriuth goes down slightly differently, with a lot more friction between the girls. Anise was especially extra, it's pretty great ahaha. Poor Guy also got terrorized by the ladies after he made an untimely side comment about them being scary (iirc).

Since the Tartarus isn't really introduced here and there's no core shenanigans, Sync doesn't do the falling into the core thing and commits suicide with what I think to be Guy's sword after it's revealed he's a replica of the original Ion. He doesn't come back after that.

Tear and Ion are the ones that do something about the Sephiroth instead of Luke and his hyperresonance.

Ion and Asch are the ones that realize something is off when Van falls during the Absorption Gate scene

The party is split up during the post-Absorption Gate scene. Luke, Tear, Anise are the ones present for Ion's death, which is super dramatic and a huge tear-jearker. The Anise stage actor was sooooo good in this. Also Mohs goes crazy after the score reading instead (when he learns of the destruction of Auldrant) and seems to explode (and die?) offscreen, because we don't see him again after that. In the meantime though, Jade, Guy, Natalia get a scene discussing stuff regarding the Malkuth soldiers that got attacked, etc. (since the Frings stage actor wasnt here, he got replaced by a generic soldier)

There was no Tower of Rem scene at all and they skipped to Eldrant pretty quickly. They stuck the whole "Luke getting sentenced to death" part before Eldrant, and also stuck Jade's backstory around that part. There's no Nephry to info-dump Luke though, so it's Jade of his own volition that gave it. Just to Luke.

 Also there's this new (?) scene and/or maybe Jade was given the lines of someone else, but yeah as I recall, Luke asks Jade a question after he reveals his connection to replicas, and he replies with something like "Anata wa anata desu" (you're you), and Luke thanks him.

Stuff at Eldrant were spiced up a bit, i.e. the party did get split before fighting Van. We got to see them use their mystic artes at various points, it's pretty great. Jade's Indignation chant was very awesome.

While Asch was getting stabbed like, multiple times by the Oracle Knight soldiers, he got the opportunity to pull off a Rending Saber before dying. It was a sad kind of awesome. ALSO they had Natalia find Asch's body, and boy, was that an interesting and dramatic twist. My heart ached at that part.

Luke actually got to fight Van first one-on-one before getting owned by a Mystic Arte, and that's when the rest of the party comes along and tries to defeat Van. But of course it's all up to the shounen protag to do it so yeah Luke eventually gets to do the honors after he rises up.

Even if there was no Tower of Rem though, they really did the "please come back" post-Van defeat scenes really well. As far as I remember it's faithful to how I remember the lines to be, and heck, even Jade's handshake with Luke was kept. Though speaking of things that weren't kept, I don't think I heard Tear's "I love you" as they were leaving. I COULD BE WRONG THOUGH.

They kept Mr. Ending in the dark a lot, but Luke's armband's pretty noticeable under the coat as with bits of Luke's costume and what not so. Yeah, it’s the Luke stage actor under the coat.

Impressions and some thoughts:

This play is a love letter to fans of the game, I would say. In the sense that it's so worth it to watch for the nostalgia trip over getting a coherent story, I feel. I mean, the story does work, but at the same time they don't really do a good job of making you feel connected to the characters and their plight, so you're gonna need some sort of background like having played the game or watched the anime in order to be able to appreciate the stage play and feel invested in the dramatic scenes, etc.

As for the actors, I'd say people are on point! Anise among the ladies really stole the show though, I feel. I already touched in my old post regarding my impressions of the cast and it more or less stands.

I'm personally a little sad they cut out half the Six-God Generals since that also means cutting plot material and backstory shit in half, but I do understand it's something that can't be helped given their time frame and budget constraints, I'd say. But they made it work, and what they had out there was great and I'm really entertained by it.

And if I were to compare this to the one they performed last TalesFes, I'd say I actually enjoyed the one they did last TalesFes more than the one I watched today. But I think that's mostly due to the surprise factor since I wasn't expecting stuff like dancing Van and acrobatic Jade. In terms of completeness, this one's definitely a lot more "complete" than the one they did last TalesFes.

Still, despite my gripes about the stage play, overall I really did enjoy it! It's something I definitely don't mind seeing a second or even a third or fourth time around. I could only hope that we eventually get this on DVD or BluRay--it's a treat for any Tales of the Abyss fan and I feel really blessed for the opportunity to see this live and up close.

[gkingoffez]

Push

Fandom: Star Wars Rebels

Words: 2,549

Summary:  "Is he… meditating? Isn't he heavy?" Sabine questioned, leaning up against the doorway and crossing her arms, looking down on Kanan and Ezra. She'd probably been right before- Jedi training must have always been this weird to watch as an outsider, if strange things like this were any kind of example.

AO3 | FFN.Net

Inspired by this post. It was so cute I had to write it????

“Kanan? Are you sure this is a Jedi training thing, or are you just trying to mess with me?”

Ezra’s haughty voice echoed across the hall and through Sabine’s open door, and Sabine herself could only roll her eyes as if on instinct. In her mind she could almost picture Ezra’s folded arms and stubborn expression that usually accompanied that particular tone; man that kid loved to complain sometimes.

She would have closed her door to shut out the annoying distraction, but her latest wall mural was still half-finished and the paint fumes had been building up to an uncomfortable level in the small confines of her room. If it was a choice between Ezra and passing out from fume overexposure again, she sadly had to go with the first, although it was a close call.

“No Ezra, it’s not a trick.” Sabine snorted as she imagined Kanan pinching at his temple in frustration. “My master and I did this exercise when I was your around your age. Like I’ve  said, meditation is a vital part of connecting to the Force, and you need to be able to focus on that inward connection and be able to tune out what’s physically happening around you.”

“But Kanan I’ve only just been able to do it sitting still, how am I going to be able…”

Ezra’s voice became quieter, less sure, and Kanan’s reply in turn was soft enough that Sabine couldn’t pick it up through the barrier of Kanan’s bedroom door. Sabine had witnessed enough of the two’s more tender conversations to not try eavesdrop both out of a respect of their privacy and because it simply didn’t bother her. As long as it didn’t affect her in any way, what was discussed between Jedi was really none of her business.

She swiped at the mural with her spray can, and stepped back to inspect the new line, tilting her head to come at it from several different angles. It hadn’t quite had the effect she was going for.

“Ugh, I knew neon green was the wrong move,” she muttered to herself, flicking a stray hair out of her face. The piece was supposed to be a dynamic whirlwind of colour representing Hera in the cockpit of the Ghost in the middle of a battle, but so far it hadn’t been meshing together as well as Sabine had hoped. Flicks of orange, white and green paint covered her oversized painting coveralls, and a fume headache was scratching at the base of her skull. She took several steps back and popped her back, groaning in relief as her vertebrae released their built up tension. It was time for a break.

“I’m telling you, this isn’t going to work,” came Ezra’s voice again.

“You can say that again,” she muttered to herself, eyeing her supposed masterpiece. The small blurs of dark grey that were supposed to represent TIE fighters seemed misplaced. The orange of Hera’s flight suit seemed to be the wrong shade entirely. It just wasn’t working.

Art was hard sometimes.

Sabine put her spray bottle down on the desk next to the other colours and pulled off her stained painting gloves. The air in the corridor immediately smelt so much clearer when she stepped out into it. She moved down the hall towards the common room.

“I’m telling you right now, Kanan, I’m gonna be too heavy for you.”

“Ezra, would you just quit complaining for once and just  get on my back?” replied Kanan’s slightly frustrated voice.

Sabine paused mid-step and looked curiously to Kanan’s closed door up the corridor. That didn’t sound like their usual training dialogue, not that training to be a Jedi was usual for anyone these days.

She briefly wondered if Jedi training had always been this weird to observe by outsiders. Sometimes she would walk by and see both Master and Padawan sitting silently in meditation, and then pass again hours later to see that neither had moved a muscle; sometimes it involved she, Zeb and Chopper shooting stun blasts at Ezra to deflect with his saber, and no one would soon forget that memorable training session that had ended with Chopper pushing Ezra off the Ghost while they were parked in the lower atmosphere; and then there were times like this, of overhearing weird snatches of conversations that probably made more sense with the proper context.

It probably had been just as weird in the days of the Jedi Order, although back then there had been hundreds of other padawans being trained in the exact same way to make it normal.

Not for the first time though, Sabine found herself glad she wasn’t Force sensitive. Sure, telekinesis and seeing the future was cool, but nothing beat her ingrained warrior instincts and the design and power of her trusty blasters. Well, a lightsaber kind of did, but that was beside the point; the proud Mandalorian in her simply refused to acknowledge the Jedi as superior in any way.

She heard Ezra grumble something indeterminable as she shook her head and continued down to the common room, putting the Jedi to the back of her mind and instead hoping that someone had made fresh caf so she wouldn’t have to do it herself.

She found Zeb and Hera sitting in the booth and eating pieces of meiloorun, and after a trip to the galley, was drawn into an extended conversation on the Kessle Run and the mathematics behind how quickly a pilot could race it without being caught in time distortion. It was fun to play-argue with Hera over while Zeb scratched his head in confusion, and by the time Sabine wandered back to her room, stomach full of caff and fruit, her headache was gone.

She remembered the strange conversation she’d overheard before only when she glanced again to Kanan’s closed door. Shrugging, she walked over to it and tilted her ear to the metal. It was quiet, except for the occasional grunt and loud exhale.

After a moment’s hesitation and lip biting, her curiosity won out and she knocked softly. Kanan’s voice, perhaps a bit strained, said “Come in, but be quiet.”

Sabine tapped at the controls and the door hissed aside. The lights in Kanan’s room were dimmed, but they were enough to illuminate the strange sight Sabine found on the floor before her. Her mouth dropped open in surprise and her eyes went wide. She had to quickly stuff a fist to her mouth to suppress the urge to giggle.

Kanan was stretched out on the ground facing away from the bunk, legs straight and arms locked in a push-up position, while astride his upper back sat Ezra, cross-legged and face slack.

“Do you need something, Sabine?” Kanan asked, his face turned up at her. Sweat was beginning to glisten on his upper arms and forehead. He had forgone his usual green sweater for a plain black tank top.

Sabine took a moment to compose herself, blinking and swallowing down her humour. “Nothing urgent, Hera just wanted to remind you about the team briefing later tonight,” she said, not quite keeping the amusement from her voice. Hera had told her no such thing, but it was a good enough excuse to have knocked in the first place.

“Ah, thanks,” replied Kanan. He carefully bent his arms at the joint, dipping down and then back up again in a push up. Ezra tittered slightly at the movement, but settled again after a few seconds.

“Is he… meditating? Isn’t he heavy?” Sabine questioned, leaning up against the doorway and crossing her arms, looking down on Kanan and Ezra.

She’d probably been right before- Jedi training must have always been this weird to watch as an outsider, if strange things like this were any kind of example.

“It’s an exercise. And, yeah, he’s maybe a little heavier than expected. Nothing I can’t handle though, and if anything it’s a good thing. Remember how small he was when we found him?” Kanan said quietly, dipping down again.

Sabine nodded, biting at her lip. It seemed unfair to laugh, but the urge was still strong in her.

Kanan did another push up, and Ezra hmmed, but didn’t stir.

An idea stuck Sabine suddenly. “Hang on, keep doing this, I’ll be right back,” she declared, grinning and flying from the room. She rushed across the hall to her own quarters, ignoring the paint and the half-done mural in favour of scrambling around for some sketching pencils and paper.

Kanan looked at her curiously as she re-entered his room.

“Can I?” she grinned, with the best loth-puppy eyes she could muster, brandishing her art supplies to him.

He raised his eyebrows at her in response, and then frowned in consideration before sighing.

“I suppose, if you’re really feeling that inspired. Just don’t disturb him, okay?”

“Yes,” Sabine whispered in excitement, punching the air. She closed the door behind her and carefully stepped around, searching for the best angle to come at the scene from. She ended up sitting cross legged on the cushioned stool beside Kanan’s bed and spread out her supplies and art pad across her knees.

“And don’t make me look like a fool, please,” Kanan added, as she picked out a good pencil to start.

She snorted down at him. “You? Never.”

Kanan smirked, then his face returned to a scrunched up, concentrated look.

Sabine took a long, calculating gaze at her subjects, then bent over and began scribbling. Soon, the only sounds in the room were Ezra’s even breaths, Kanan’s occasional grunt, the scratching of pencils and occasional muffled snorts from Sabine. She was trying really hard not to burst out into laughter, but the hilarity of the situation kept coming at her in waves.

The central piece she worked on was a semi-realistic illustration- Kanan, strong and steady and Ezra, still and calm upon his back. She worked in the shading of the dimmed lights and the glistening sweat on Kanan’s forehead, aiming for realism but working in her own cartoonish style as well.

She also sketched out several other, far sillier drawings on a separate piece of paper. Among them was a caricature of Kanan with comical sized muscles, grunting and pumping up and down at a ridiculous speed, with Ezra the size of an ant on his back; one of the both of them as Loth-cats, the Loth-Ezra curled up and purring on Loth-Kanan’s furry brown back; and (for good measure) one of Ezra flopping right off Kanan’s shoulders and landing face first in an undignified heap on the floor.

The loth-cat one was her favourite of the bunch.

Sabine also found herself quite proud of the main piece, even if it was far from finished and more of a messy, scratchy draft than anything else. She particularly felt like she’d caught dynamic power of the lines of Kanan’s shoulders and the essence of Ezra’s meditative expression. She would clean and colour the sketch when there was time later on, but for the moment she held it up with a wide, proud smile, angling it into the light and blowing away the small strands of white eraser debris. She could already tell the finished product would be one of her better ones.

Sabine gathered up her supplies and folded the paper with the silly sketches on it in two. She wrote Ezra’s name on it, adding a heart for dramatics and left it on the stool for the kid to find when he came out of the trance.

With her main piece, she stepped forward, crouched and wordlessly placed it on the ground before Kanan. It was a show of trust more than anything- she, like a lot of artists, didn’t like showing off unfinished pieces. It just didn’t seem right to put something out for the galaxy to see that wasn’t polished up to a certain standard.

Kanan, however, had earned it. They’d saved each other’s lives so many times over the years, had each other’s backs through the good and the bad, and as much as Sabine would never admit it out loud, Kanan had become like a father-figure to her. Even if he was a Jedi who used really weird training practices that didn’t really make sense to her.

Besides, the guy probably deserved it. She’d pity anyone who had to carry Ezra on their shoulders, literally or figuratively.

Kanan looked over her work, his shoulders shaking with exertion as he paused mid-pushup. After a moment, he grinned proudly up at her in approval and she smiled back, feeling the familiar swell of pride that usually arose whenever her Ghost family showed how much they loved and supported her art. She picked up the sketch again and tiptoed out with a wave of farewell, returning to her room.

As soon as she was inside and the door had shut behind her, she burst into quiet laughter, which she only half-heartedly stifled.

Only kriffing Jedi, she thought fondly.

The paint fumes had almost entirely dissipated. Still chuckling, she pulled out a plastic folder from a shelf and carefully placed her sketch in it so it would be protected until she had the time to finish it.

There was still a little while before dinner and the team briefing, so Sabine turned back to her newest mural and looked it over with a new eye as she pulled her gloves back on.

“Hmm, maybe neon green is the right choice, but I just need to be bolder with it,” she mused to herself, picking up the spray can again and approaching the wall.

“You couldn’t have asked me before you let her use me for inspiration?” Ezra asked, accusingly. “It’s bad enough that I had to do that ridiculous exercise, but you let Sabine see me doing it as well?”

Kanan stood by his bunk wiping the sweat from his neck with a towel, while Ezra frowned down at the piece of paper Sabine had left for him. A flush of embarrassment clung at his cheeks.

“You were deep in meditation; there wouldn’t have been any point in bringing you out of it just to ask one question. Besides, if anything the extra distraction added to the exercise and you did very well to remain focussed.”

Ezra smirked a little at the praise, and then his face fell back into a scowl. “Yeah, but was it really worth it? She made us into cuddling lothcats, how humiliating is that?”

“What?” Kanan wandered over and took the paper from Ezra’s hands. He frowned at it as well. “I specifically asked her not to make me look like a fool.”

“You look fine. I’m the one she drew as a fool,” moaned Ezra.

“Well, at least the drawings are realistic in that sense,” Kanan replied with a grin. He tussled Ezra’s hair playfully, and Ezra let out a squeak of protest. “Come on, kid, it’s almost time for dinner and I’m gonna have a shower first. You go see if Hera needs anything done before the crew meeting.”

Ezra nodded and snatched the paper back.

“What? It’s addressed to me!” he said in reply to Kanan’s lifted eyebrow. He dashed out the door, Kanan shaking his head fondly in his wake.

I wrote this from Sabine’s POV bc I have definitely been neglecting all the other characters except Kanan and Ezra.

What’s that, you say? Kanan and Ezra are still a lot of the focus of this fic? Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, I know, but I can’t leave them alone.

[multifandomimaginethings]

“Halloween” Stiles Stilinski Imagine

“Ugh why did they have to make her hair so complicated.” You whine as you keep pausing and unpausing  the hair tutorial playing on your computer.

“Just make sure it looks perfect, we need to make these outfits look legit.” The voice replies through the phone speaker.

“Stiles, your lucky I’m even doing this, do not test me.” You warn.

“I’m just saying this has to be the best Halloween ever and because you love me and would- Ok I can sense your death stare through the phone I’m going to stop talking.” He rushes out, god this boy talks fast.

“Good idea.” You laugh.

“So your coming to my shmmmhshsh?” You say as you place a bobby pin between your teeth as you try to roll the plait in circles.

“I got none of that.” Stiles stated and you groan and reluctantly take the pin out of your mouth and let your hair drop.

“I said, your coming to my house at eight right?” You ask.

“Oh yeah eight, yep.” He confirms.

“Ok babe I’m gonna go.” You say. “Ok, I’m serious I can not wait I have been counting down the days and you are going to look so-” He rambles. “Stiles!” You laugh. “Yeah?” “I love you and goodbye.” You giggle. “I love you too but-” You hang up on him and shake your head as you continue to try and get your hair to stay in position. Oh god how did I let myself get talked into this.

“Ok I have an idea what we can go as!” Stiles says excitedly as he types quickly into google imagines.

“Oh god what?” You ask. “Batman and Robin! Obviously I would be Batman-”

“Your kidding right? First off I am not going as a dude and secondly and most importantly I am not going as a side kick! I’m way above that babe.” You argue flopping down on his bed. “You’ve got a point, ok what about..” He says deep in thought as he sits down next to me. “I know! Han Solo and Princess Leia, you can wear that really hot gold bikini- ow!” He yells as you smack him around the head.

“Alright I deserved that.” He admits rubbing his head.

“Ok what about, oh I know!” He says then his eyes widen as a light bulb goes off.

He rushes over to his closet and fumbles around with his back to me.  He turns around with a Darth Vader mask on. “Luke I am your father.” He says in a deep voice causing me to giggle. “That’s cute but no.” You say seriously. He quickly rips off the mask chucking it somewhere, “Luke, your father I am?” He says desperately. “You are not going as Yoda, Stiles.” I giggle and he moans in annoyance and flops down next to me.

He keeps listing ideas off and I continue to say no as I fall back onto the bed and stare up at the ceiling declining all of them. “Ok what about Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia?” He asks as I feel the bed dip and I feel his body heat as he lies down next to me. “No, they’re brother and sister and we are dating, true they didn’t know they were twins when they kissed but it’s still really weird and I could not bring myself to kiss you in those costumes.” You sigh.

You feel Stiles turn his body on his side to face you and you glance over to see him smiling at you. “What?” You ask turning to face him. “Nothing it’s just your so hot when you talk nerd to me.” He smirks. You giggle and lean over gently placing a kiss on his mouth. You shuffle over so your resting your head on his chest and he happily snakes his arm around you bringing your leg over his so your bodies become entangled.

“You created this nerd.” You joke as you gently trace the lines of his plaid shirt. “I know.” He says smugly.

“Look can’t we just, go as Mario and Princess Peach or something?” You ask biting your lip to resist from smiling to spoil the joke. You look up to see him death staring you. “Are you freaking joking? Please tell me your joking or I swear-” “Relax babe, I was kidding.” You laugh as he rolls his eyes and lets his head rest back on the pillow.

“Ok I will go as Princess Leia but-” You say giving him a pointed look as his eyes light up. “Only if I wear the white dress.” You say and he grins. “Deal babe.” He smirks bringing your head up for another kiss.

You sigh adjusting your hair one more time as you look in the mirror. Yep definitely needs another coat of hairspray. You grab the can and apply as much as you can before your eyes start to water. You spin around in the mirror picking at the white material, you stumble around and groan. You could barely walk in these ridiculously high boots.

You hear the doorbell ring and you grin. You slowly make your way down the stairs gripping onto the railing. You call out a good bye to your parents and you swing open the door and immediately let out a snort of laughter at Stiles. God he was a dork. His eyes widen at the sight of you and his jaw literally drops.

“Holy shit you look- I mean you look- like really hot.” He admits causing you to go a crimson red. “That was definitely not in the movie.” He says referring to the slit in your dress exposing your skin right up to your middle left thigh leaving your knee high boot on display. “I know I’m sorry, but this was the only one they had-” “Are you kidding, do not apologize you look amazing.” He breathes.

“Why thank you Mr Solo, you don’t look to bad yourself.” You smirk. “Your majesty.” He bows jokingly. “Would such a beautiful princess like yourself do me the honor of escorting me around the streets as we knock on doors for candy?” He asks extending his arm for you to loop your arm through.

“Well since Chewbaccas not here I guess you’ll have to do.” You tease sliding your arm through his as you walk out of your front yard. “Ah yes Chewie my faithful companion…” He begins causing you to giggle.

You had been out for an hour now and so far it had been way more fun than expected. Even though most of the people out where like half your age you and Stiles didn’t mind. He kept asking you if you wanted to bail and head to Lydia’s annual Halloween party but you insisted you didn’t care, you would rather watch Stiles act like an adorable child than be pressed against sweaty bodies for hours.  

“Stiles!” You say pulling on his sleeve. “What.” He says looking back at where you were staring. Once he spots what you were indicating, you both look at each other smirking and nod together. “He’s home alone, Melissa is out on a shift and he told me he was going to study instead of going to the party.” Stiles adds as you both speed walk towards Scott’s house.

You grab his hand in yours and ring the door bell rocking on the balls of your feet as you hear his footsteps running down the stairs.

“I’m sorry I’m out of-”

“Trick or Treat!” You and Stiles both scream causing him to jump.

“Jesus Christ, *yn*, stiles? What the hell are you guys doing?” He asks his face full of pure confusion. “It’s Halloween.” Stiles states. “Duh.” You add.

“Yeah but why aren’t you at Lydia’s party, oh yeah ok just.. come on in.” He continues as Stiles leads you past Scott as he continues to ramble.

“We went trick or treating.” Stiles grins stopping once he’s insider and swiveling around. “Thoughts?” He asks gesturing at our costumes.

“Uh, good….” Scott trails off.

“You don’t know who we are do you?” Stiles questions.

“Yeah of course I do! Uh you guys are from um Star… Trek?” He winces and I internally cringe. Bad mistake.  “Star Trek, S-star Trek.” Stiles says letting out a loud harsh laugh.

“Oh god here we go.” You mumble  rubbing your temples.

“It’s Star Wars man! Oh my god how many have I told you to watch those movies! They are pure freaking art Scott!  It’s literally a blessing to sit and watch those movies! Jesus what’s next, you’ll be telling me Anakin and Luke are brothers? Or the correct chronological order is movies one, two, three, four, five, six and not four, five, six, one, two, three?” He says forcing out another bound of stressful laughs.

“Why wouldn’t it be one, two, three, four, five, six?” Scott asks glancing at me. Oh those adorable brown eyes aren’t going to save you this time Scotty.

“Oh god it hurts, it physically hurts.” Stiles says dramatically as he clutches at his heart.

“Stiles don’t you think your being a tiny bit over dramatic, I mean they’re just some stupid movies.” Scott says attempting to lighten the mood.

“Oh you’ve really done it now Scotty.” I sigh shaking my head as I watch Stiles turn slowly to Scott. “S-stupid movies? Stupid movies! That’s funny Scott, hilarious.” He says. “Quick question, will it still be as funny after I beat you over the head with this a couple hundred times?” Stiles asks as he pulls out his fake light saber. Oh god.

Stiles begins to run at Scott and I shove myself infront of him. “Stop!” You yell. You were about to get up both of them when an idea came to you. Probably your best one yet. One that definitely benefited you.

“I have an idea how we can settle this.” You smirk.

“Wait so what are we doing again?” Scott asks as he watches you move the coffee table out of the way. “Simple. You and Stiles are going to have a duel.” I say grabbing Stiles’s light saber from him and mine out of its holder on my hip. “Now who wants-” “I shots blue.” Stiles calls snatching it out of my hand causing me to roll my eyes.

“Ok,” I say as I sit down on the couch, a perfect seat to witness the entertainment. “If Scott wins he gets all the candy we collected tonight.” I say pointing out our two over flowing bags as they both stand on either sides of the carpet. “What do I get if I win?” Stiles asks. “Me.” You smirk sending him a playful wink. I watch him as the grip on his light saber tightens, now he had something to fight for. “How do you determine who wins?” Scott asks. “When the other one surrenders.” You say in a mock evil tone drumming your fingers together, Stiles had rubbed off on you way too much.

“And remember Scott no wolf powers.” You warn and he sighs and nods.

“Ok, let the duel begin!” You yell.

For a while both fidgeted, slowly edging towards eachother. Stiles was the first to launch at Scott, out of nowhere he wacks him on the arm. And then chaos ins-sued. Both boys were stumbling around just barely missing things, it was a miracle nothing was broken. Every now and then one would get a good wack in but it was pretty evenly matched. And it was the most entertaining thing you had ever seen. You were in complete stitches as you watched the two idiots dodge each other and fumble around, of course you were filming all of it.

Eventually you noticed Stiles beginning to tire, and you knew Scott was always going to win. You really didn’t want him to, even though it was all in good fun you knew Stiles always felt so inadequate compared to Scott like ‘the sidekick’. You’d tried convincing him that he was the brains and was like the glue holding everyone together but he had trouble believing it. He needed to win this, and the only way that was going to happen was with your help.

You watch as the boys begin to walk towards you, Scott walking backwards with his back to you. Ever so slightly you subtly stick your boot covered foot behind his ankles and as he took a step he tripped over and landed on his back. Stiles yells in triumph as he knocks his light saber out of his hands and points his own at Scott’s face. “I surrender!” Scott laughs putting his hands up.

You giggle as you watch Stiles face light up in pure joy, how is it possible to be so hot and cute at the same time? You march up to him and grab his face roughly kissing him. You hear his light saber drop to the ground, as he begins to react wrapping his arms around you.

You pull away breathless and he eventually opens his eyes in shock.

“What was that for?” He asks in confusion.

“Well my daring rescuer had to be rewarded.” You smirk and his face lit up in a goofy smile.

“I did what I had to do Princess.” He jokes causing you to giggle.

“Oh Han, kiss me, please kiss me!” You fake gasp dramatically placing your hand on your forehead like in the movies. “With pleasure.” He smirks pulling you closer to him and smashing his lips to yours. You run your hands through his hair as you deepen the kiss, ignoring Scott’s awkward cough.

“Well I’m going to go and get some water.” He mumbles.

You moan lightly as Stiles squeezes your sides gently, as he bites down on your lower lip as you get more and more into the kiss.

“Oh my god you guys are still making out seriously! No get out! Stiles go fulfill your weird Star Wars kink, freaking fantasy shit somewhere else!” You hear Scott groan. Stiles breaks away from the kiss only to scoop you up bridal style causing you to squeal.

“Of course Scott, we’ll just vacate to your front porch and continue to make out there.” He says sending you a wink before carrying you towards the door, the candy and light sabers forgotten. “That’s not what I meant can’t you guys just- And your making out again.” He sighs as he stops at his front door to see Stiles seated on his deck chair with you on his lap kissing.

“Alright I give up, happy Halloween you freaks.” He sighs shutting the door behind him.

Stiles pulls away from your mouth and you whine in annoyance trying to pull his head back down again. “You know I was thinking for next year we could dress up as-”

“Oh my god shut up and kiss me you dork.” You giggle cutting him off and pressing your lips to his again.

Best. Halloween. Ever.

[megamanx1994]

Captain Falcon: The Last Mimeosome Chapter 2

Chapter 2: A Stasis Pod (Disclaimer! I own nothing of Smash Bros or Xenoblade X!) I woke up after another all nighter and headed down to the lab. “Good morning Nicholas,” said Professor Elvin, “Burning the midnight oil again?” “Yeah, sure looks like it,” I said. “You’ll make yourself sick if you keep doing that you know,” said Luna walking down, “So how are things with you and Sakura?” “Pretty good,” I said, “She’s traveling to train up for some martial arts tournament and Daisy’s off for some convention, so looks like I’m on my own.” “Well you got me and Dad,” said Luna. “That’s true,” I said. “It’s a good thing we have you at the labs, because of your healing factor,” said Professor Elvin, “No matter what injury you get, it heals up in a hurry.” “Thanks to you,” I said with a grin. I noticed something under a cover. “What’s that?” I asked. “Just something I’ve been working on,” said Luna. “Is it an upgrade for my armor or more of a….. self project?” I asked. “It’s a little of both,” she answered. I was about to take a peek. “Uh uh,” she said. I got a text from Colleen. It read ‘You free? I could use your help on a mission.’ “It says I should meet her at B.L.A.D.E HQ,” I said. “Need a lift?” asked Luna, “I’m going that way to hand some tools to my friend Alexa.” “Might as well take it,” I said. We made it to Blade HQ. I was helping Luna carry some of her stuff. I was also busy bumping into others. “Sorry,” I said, “Pardon me.” “Watch where you’re going,” said someone. I bumped into a table and their rifle dropped. “Great,” said someone, “Would you be….. careful?” I got a good look at him. It was my old pal Gwin. “Gwin?” I asked. “Nicholas!” he said as he greeted me with a hug, “Oh my god!” “Its been years,” I said. “Come with…. Actually wait right here I’ll be back.” He went to get something. “I’ll see you later Nicholas,” said Luna, “I’ve got a date with the training grounds.” Luna met up with Alexa at the Training Grounds. “So do you have your thing ready?” asked Alexa. “Indeed I do,” said Luna, “Its something I’ve been working on for a while.” “Is it some kind of skell weapon?” asked Alexa. “Its armor,” said Luna. “Aw, lame,” said Alexa. “You’ll be taking that lame back once you see it,” said Luna, “Ta-da!” She took out some kind of watch.  “Um…….” Said Alexa. “Wait for it,” she said. Luna pressed a button. A strange liquid went around her body forming armor. “Holy shit,” said Alexa. “This exo skeleton armor is made from a liquid is known as Labranyum, and is controlled by my brain,” said Luna, “This armor coats around my body while granting me enhanced endurance and strength.” “Shut up,” said Alexa amazed. “Not only that, but in battle the armor also repairs itself,” said Luna, “While allowing me to enter environments that no human could survive in.” “So if its advanced, couldn’t it make you vunerable to it?” asked Alexa. “True, that’s why I made this neuro transmitter,” said Luna, “It means I maintain control of it.” Gwin had something for me. It was a cake. “I made it myself with the help of Irina,” said Gwin. “It looks great,” I said. “Nicholas?” asked Irina, “Hey, how have you been?” She gave me the cousin kiss.  “So where can I find Colleen?” I asked, “I was asked to accompany her on a mission.” The three of us were walking by the combat arena. This is where Blades train and hone their skills. “That bald guy over there is Boze Lowes,” said Gwin, “Just try to stay on his good side.” “He’s one strict dog,” said Irina, “Last guy that ticked him off ended up not being able to sit for months.” “Ouch,” I said. He looked at me. “Nicholas Shay I presume,” he said. I was surprised. “How do you know my name?” I asked. “I know more than just your name son,” he said. “So this is the infamous soldier who took out the Slipknot army,” said a blade soldier, “Not bad, or was it all just luck?” I was looking at a soldier with blonde hair. “Look lady I’m just here to meet my partner Colleen,” I said. “Lady?” asked the soldier. “That’s a dude,” said Gwin. “But what about the hair, and that dress?” I asked. “It’s a Tunic.” “I think Zelda’s gonna win this one,” said another soldier. “My name is Link Jackass,” said Link. “Wait…” I said, “You’re Link as in….. hylian army link?” “That’s right,” said Link, “The one who took down Volga’s army single handedly.” “……..but you’re a runt,” I said. “OH YEAH CAN A RUNT DO THIS?!” he shouted. He grabbed a ball and chain and threw it at me. I quickly evaded. “Now you’re in for it,” said Irina. He got out his sword and started to attack me. I countered with my robotic arm that now had a blade installed. “You wanna get nuts?” I asked, “C’mon, let’s get nuts!” I read his movements to see when the right time was to counter. Link kept coming at me without breaking a sweat. “Not bad,” I said. “I could say the same about you,” said Link. We kept clashing. Link them saw an opening and hit me by the knee. I quickly got back up and did a sweep kick knocking him over. Boze blew his whistle. “A fine example of a fight,” he said with a grin. Colleen saw me. “What’s I miss?” she asked. “A lot,” I said. A white haired woman was behind her. “Who’s the other woman?” I asked. “My name is Elma, leader of the Skeleton Crew,” said Elma, “And you must be Nicholas.” “I am,” I said, “So what’s this mission?” We were all in the debriefing room. Elma’s commander Vandham was briefing us. “We’ve heard rumours that C.H.A.O.S has a hidden base in this area,” he said, “If we can find anything that’s useful we may have a shot at fighting them.” “Looks like S.M.A.S.H isn’t the only group hunting them down,” I said. “That’s right,” said Vandham, “So the mission is simple; go in, find anything useful then get the hell outta there.” “You can count on me,” I said as I transformed into my armor. “Me too,” said Colleen. We were heading to the said location. There weren’t any guards around. “Its gotta be a trap,” I said, “I say we scan around the perimeter and see if anybody is there.” “Good strategy,” said Elma, “No wonder you asked him to come along.” “Well he is my best friend,” said Colleen, “Let’s split up.” “Roger,” I said as I activated my thermal visor. Colleen, Elma and I searched the entire base to make sure there were no guards. “Clear on my end,” I said. “Clear on this end,” said Colleen. Elma was still looking around.”Elma, what’s your position?” asked Colleen. She saw some kind of capsule. “A stasis pod?” she asked. She examined it and saw something inside of it. “Someome must be inside of it,” she said. She pressed a button and the stasis pod started to open. A blue haired boy came out of it. “Looks like you’re still in one piece,” said Elma. The boy started to come out and almost fell. “Careful,” she said as she helped him up. The boy looked at Elma. “I need to ask you something….” He said. “What is it?” asked Elma. “Come closer,” he said. “What?” asked Elma. “……..Will you go skating with me?” he asked. “Um…… yeah,” she said, “Why not?” Colleen and I met Elma at her location. “Did you find anything?” I asked. “This young boy,” said Elma, “He was stuck in this stasis pod.” The young boy was starting to walk better. “It’s a good thing that I found you,” said Elma, “My name’s Elma. You wanna tell me your name?” The young boy tried to think. “What is my name?” he asked, “I…. I don’t know.” “Wait,” I said, “You’ve forgotten who you are?” I asked. “Yeah,” said the boy, “I remember being placed inside this capsule, and everything going dark and then nothing….. I can’t remember a thing past that!” “You can tell us everything later when we’re back at HQ,” I said, “But first you’ll need a weapon.” I gave him an extra rifle. “You’ll also need this for close combat,” said Elma. She gave him a longsword. “These look familiar,” said the boy. We headed back to Blade HQ. “So it looks like the place was abandoned,” said Commander Vandham. “Unfortunately,” I said, “But we did find somebody locked up in it.” Elma showed him the boy we found. “He’s lost his memory, probably from the stasis hangover,” she said, “We told him we would help him rediscover it.” “I see,” he said. The boy was looking at some weapons at a store. “You seem pretty intrigued by what we have here,” said Alexa. She pointed at a laser sword. “That is what we call a photon saber,” said Gwin, “Used by the Galactic Knight class blades. “He can be in your care for now Nicholas,” said Vandham, “Elma can help you.” “As you wish sir,” said Elma. We were walking around Blade HQ. “Wow,” said the boy, “Its so cool how you’re able to cross a sword with lasers to make such a cool weapon.” A few minutes earlier he got a facial tattoo of a cross on his face. It was a pretty nice touch, and gave me an idea of what to call him. “If you say so,” I said, “How about you come with me and do some errands? Maybe you’ll start to remember something Cross.” “Cross?” he asked. “I gotta call you something don’t I?” I asked, “Like the name?” “Yeah,” he said, “Cross, its great!” “Well let’s head out,” I said, “I gotta deliver some stuff to Dr. Light.” It Comes Back to You from Smoke+Mirrors 4 AM beside myself And what I think of mental health All the things that worry me All the things you don't believe I've been told just what to do Where to look and point my view All the things that I could be I think I learned in therapy Am I just a shadow you drew? It comes back to you, it comes back to you All the things that you had lost will find their way to you It comes back to you, it comes back to you Looking back into the past and I can see it through We were at Dr. Lights lab delivering some tools. He was repairing the damage did to Guts Man. “Dr. Light?” I asked. He saw us. “Oh hello Nicholas,” he said. Rock and Roll were assisting him. “Nicholas, welcome,” said Roll, “Keeping out of trouble?” “Yeah,” I said. “And who might this young man be?” asked Dr. Light. “This is Cross,” I said, “I’m helping him regain his memories.” It comes back to you, oh, oh [3x] It comes back to you Mocking birds and diamond rings Oh, I have thought of greater things All the things that fly by me All the lives that I could lead Maybe I was born for that Or maybe I was first to last You could call it cowardice But leave me to my studied bliss Am I just a shadow you drew? Cross was looking at the armor. “Amazing right?” asked Rock, “He created all of these.” Dr. Light cleared his throat. “My name’s Thomas Light,” said Dr. Light, “I’m the creator of these robot masters, and of Megaman. “You’re his father then?” asked Cross. “In a sense yes,” he said. I laughed. It comes back to you, it comes back to you All the things that you had lost will find their way to you It comes back to you, it comes back to you Looking back into the past and I can see it through It comes back to you, oh, oh [3x] It comes back to you I then went to visit my friend Madelyn Olivia Alanzi whom I call “Hope”. “Hello Nicholas,” she said, “How are things going?” “Pretty well,” I said, “This is Cross.” “Hi,” said Cross. “Its nice to meet you,” she said. “He’s lost his memories so I promised him I’d help get them back,” I said. “Well if anything is troubling you, please feel free to come to the cathedral,” said Hope, “Its all part of my duty as a mediator to help those who are lost to find their way.” Cross smiled. "Thanks again for the lunch yesterday," I said, "It was delicious." "Even when you're not hungry, you have to remember to eat you know," said Hope.

[eienias20]

Coffee Date

Having promised to get together for a cup of coffee in New Los Angeles, Jaynix and @phoenixfireartists‘ Athena meet to do just that.

Eienias || Jaynix

Another day in New Los Angeles brought forth another seemingly endless list of possibilities. For Jaynix there was a lot to do, granted she spent most of her time out in the field putting away mission after mission...but today was different.

Whistling to herself she strolled through the Commercial District. It's been a while since the camping trip with Athena, Zack, Mavis and Xenth and with the busy schedules BLADEs had it really was no surprise it took some time before she and the woman she was meeting found some conjoined free time. Stopping by several of the stores, Jaynix took in the varied scents and smiled.

Athena was a good friend. She'd learned a lot about her during the camping trip and shared a lot about herself as well. It was a quite the weight lifted...and since then she's been excited to get together with the other woman.

"Now...which place was it again? I should come out for coffee more often, familiarize myself with all this..."

Tapping her chin, she began surveying her surroundings, looking for that familiar face.

Art || Athena

The sun beat down on Athena as she tapped her finger away on the table at the cafe. A cool breeze blew by, messing with Athena's hair a bit. She had the day off, which was a miracle to behold since she rarely got days off, and she decided to finally have that coffee date with Jaynix. Looking at her comm device again, she looked at the time and then turned it off again. "Just where is she?" she muttered to herself.

Eienias || Jaynix

Continuing down the street, Jaynix made note of the names of all the places for future reference before finally seeing her, unable to stop herself from exclaiming...

"Athena!"

Smiling, she jogged the rest of the way to the table.

"Oh gosh, I'm sorry. All this time waiting to finally meet up and I'm late. My bad."

Jaynix chuckles, rubbing the back of her head.

"Shit. I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long."

Art || Athena

The voice of the Fiery Corporal made it to Athena's ears as she saw the Interceptor jog over to Athena's table. The Mediator smiled a bit, glad to see that her friend has finally come, as promised.

"It's alright, Jaynix. you didn't keep me waiting that long," she stated, "I guess you don't come over here often, do you?"

Eienias || Jaynix

Jaynix shook her head.

"No. I mean...some times. My brother usually drags me along y'know...get out of the house sort of attitude and Ni Zain's a friend of mine but other than that..."

Jaynix pulled out the seat across from Athena, sitting down she looked back at her friend and smiled.

"Glad to know I'm only a little late...but what about you? How have things been since the camping trip?"

Art || Athena

"Things have been pretty good, actually. I just got back from another trip to Noctilum and have talked with Ceres a bit more. Not much after that, though."

A waitress came up to the two ladies and placed menus out in front of them. "I'll be back to take your order in a few minutes," she said, and soon walked off.

Eienias || Jaynix

"Good huh? Well that's the best damn news one can give another if I do say so myself. Things aren't usually good or normal around here...so that's a relief..."

Taking the menu, Jaynix nodded and thanked the departing waitress before opening it up and giving it a quick read through.

"Hm...goin to new places always leaves me at a loss of what to get..."

Jaynix dropped her voice a bit before asking.

"Is it...odd? Being able to just...mention Ceres around people?"

Art || Athena

"For all people know, Ceres is just someone I talk to, a friend. Nobody else knows who she actually is except for a few BLADEs," she stated in a hushed voice.

It did feel weird, though, talking about Ceres in the public eye and not getting asked as to who she is. But she was thankful no one else asked about her.

"I always get a cup of tea here and a pastry. I'm not much of a coffee person." She set down the menu, knowing what she wanted to order. "Anyway, what about you? Anything happen since we last met?"

Eienias || Jaynix

Jaynix looked continued glancing over the menu, nodding as Athena spoke.

"Smart way to go about doing it. She's just a friend...that so happens to be...well...yeah."

Jaynix eyed some of the pastries, nodding to herself before looking up at Athena.

"Anything happen? Not much just..."

Her voice trailed off, as she recalled what's happened since the camping trip. Oblivia. Again. And Dadaan. Again. And everything that followed.

"...well...I'm not sure how to put this but...I uh...rough mission...half my team almost...died...yeah...yeah..."

Art || Athena

She sighed and looked Jaynix dead in the eyes, sympathy hidden within them.

"Do you want to talk about it, Jaynix? I've heard talking about your problems makes you feel better. And as a Mediator, it is my duty to make sure all people, civilian or BLADE or xeno, are okay with how things are."

Eienias || Jaynix

Jaynix could only shrug.

"I don't know...it's been a while since then. I know talking about it could help but...I just...it's difficult for me. These things always are even though they shouldn't be..."

Jaynix waited, tapping the edges of the menu.

"They're fine now but...during it...unlike with the Ictus I was never in harm's way but seeing people I care so much about and love..."

She shook her head, her rage building inside her, pushing all the other emotions clouding her voice.

"I wish that when you and I and the rest of our team had killed Dadaan, the fucker had stayed dead...if he comes back again I'll run over to Oblivia myself and slit his fucking throat."

Art || Athena

She listened to Jaynix speak about the fight with Dadaan, the Strongest Prone. And with every word she spoke, she could feel the fear and rage in her voice. Every syllable was hissed out with a hatred to this Prone man. And Athena remembers that they killed Dadaan the first time. So how did he come back?

"The Ganglion probably found a way to bring him back from the dead..." she muttered to herself before looking at Jaynix, "Either that or some form of advanced medicine that we do not understand or have yet. Either way, if Dadaan came back, he'll just cause more trouble than before."

She shook her head before speaking again. "We'll get him back, Jaynix. Don't worry about it. For now, I wanted to ask you something."

She didn't know how Jaynix would react to her knowing this, but Athena did have a goddess sharing her body, after all. "Do you want to tell me about what happened with Pongo in Cocytios?"

Eienias || Jaynix

Jaynix nodded, feeling the rage simmer down. As the fires died she let out a long breath, already feeling a tad exhausted.

"I want him to come back. I want to make him suffer more. I have to..."

Closing her eyes, she took another deep breath before hearing Athena's question.

"Pongo? In Cocytios? How would you know about...that..."

Jaynix waited a few moments as a rather obvious connection was made. She could only nod.

"Right, um...I...Pongo swore me to secrecy about that Athena. I can't just...then again if you're asking then I assume you know about Pongo...and about him..."

Art || Athena

"I know about Mira, Jaynix. And Ceres is out to get him for good." Her tone was serious and her voice proved it. She knew about Pongo and Mira residing within him.

"I met him after Cain and I hosted this costume party around Halloween. The next day, I met him out in Cauldros. He was looking for Octopus Regulators and I went out to see how Vortice was doing. Don't ask why I went to see Vortice. That's a story for another time."

She paused, then continued. "His eyes kept switching from those usual indigo ones to a pure white. I had Ceres take over my body to heal him. And she did...but she also unleashed Mira to her in the process. He wanted her dead. He wanted all of humanity dead. And I still don't know why he does, dammit!"

Her fist slams itself on the table. Several people look over at her, wondering what happened. Athena hesitated for a moment before letting out a sigh. "Even I sometimes cannot control my anger for those I do not like, it seems..."

Eienias || Jaynix

Jaynix listens to Athena's stories, recalling what Pongo said. Mira has gotten out before and done...things. It should've been more obvious given Mira is the planet's sentient self and Ceres is the Goddess, of course they'd know about each other in some way. Reaching over, Jaynix put one of her hands on Athena's.

"Believe me. I know all about that..."

She smiled at Athena before pulling her hand away and sitting back, thinking on what happened in Cocytios.

"Well...Pongo seemed normal when I first joined up with him but then I started noticing a few...odd things. He seemed really weak and tired. Didn't have his usual energy. His eyes shifted colors and eventually that thing. Mira. Came out and stated that it wanted to kill me."

She recalled how odd that moment was, seeing the kind Pongo exude such...anger and rage. The hatred Mira let off rivaled her own when things got bad...and even then she's never felt the urge to just murder everyone around her. She prayed she never would.

"Pongo was able to push through and regain control of his body...he told me all about how he came to be and what Mira is exactly. From what Pongo says, one of the reasons Mira is upset is Miranium. Mira needs it, it's his strength. His power. And all of us mining it is diminishing that. Hell, nothing we humans are doing seems to be pleasing him...I know I didn't help by drawing my blade and threatening him but I figured once you open with 'I'll kill you first' there's nowhere to go but down from there..."

Jaynix narrowed her eyes, remembering Mira drawing Pongo's photon saber. How would that fight have gone? Would the day come where she would find out?

Art || Athena

"Miranium mining? That is how we've managed to upset it? Just mining for resources?" Athena was a little shocked by this. Even though she had a goddess within her body, she never felt the energy drain from Ceres due to the lessening amounts of Miranium.

"If we possibly find another way to get energy, maybe we can upset him less. But as far as resources are concerned for building materials and tools and metals, we're still gonna need Miranium for those things until we either run out or find a way to fabricate metals."

The waitress finally came back and penciled in thier orders. "I'll have your drinks and food in a bit," she stated simply before she skipped back off to another customer. "Makes it hard to beileve we've survived for so long without Mira ravaging on us, don't you think?"

Eienias || Jaynix

"If we're being honest. Larger wars and conflicts have been started over less..."

She thanked the waitress again before turning her attention to Athena.

"I had the same thought. Realistically speaking, we need Miranium. It's unimaginably useful. Only idealists would demand that we immediately cease all use of it and find some other way to continue living here...we spent a lot of time on Earth with similar problems...this isn't gonna fix itself anytime soon and having an angry planet trying to kill us isn't going to make finding any solution any easier."

Jaynix crossed her arms, continuing to think this situation over.

"The only reason I think he hasn't ravaged us the same reason he's angry with us. Miranium. Come to think of it...if Mira is the planet...it could be possible that we aren't just weakening him but this very planet too...Pongo didn't say anything about that but...it's a thought to have."

Art || Athena

She nodded in agreement. "If I may be honest with you, I have not never dealt with something like this before. Even back on Earth, those that were deemed 'vessels' by that bloody bastard, Manchester, had psychological aspects and problems just like Mira did. And it showed in their behavior. They became restless, rage-induced, animalistic. They would stop at nothing to get what they wanted in life. And I feel like Mira wanting us dead may be the only way it might find peace..."

The thought scared her, badly. She never thought this dark before, and she knew it. But it was better to let it all out that having it be bottled up and kept deep within her for all eternity until she exploded into a sea of rage and anger. "Maybe one day we'll figure out a way for Mira to calm down..." Her eyes shifted colors, from silver to gold. "Yes...maybe one day he will find peace..." Ceres stated before Athena's eyes went back to their silver color.

Eienias || Jaynix

"Hearing about the things you've gone through back on Earth...I wish I could've helped...I wish my Unit could've been on that case...you and whoever else had done what was done to you...I wish I had words to say for you. Words that could mean...something, but I don't. I understand wanting peace of mind...but if it comes at the cost of killing all of us, then we can't grant him what he wants."

Jaynix took a deep breath, listening to the voice of Athena and of Ceres, a small smile coming to her face.

"At the very least, Ceres wants...unity. A peace between all of us...at our core I'd like to think that's what everyone wants..."

Jaynix fell silent for a bit before snapping her fingers.

"There was one more thing. Pongo said Mira has emerged from within him multiple times...yet something about when it happened in Cocytios was different. Even if he tried to describe it to me I don't think I'd understand but...it was different. Pongo said that he felt...at home in Cocytios. More comfortable there...I have a feeling the region was almost bringing him there. I'm not sure what it all means but it's food for thought...hell, Cocytios was also the first time Pongo actually held Mira back..."

Art || Athena

"Perhaps that was where Pongo was...born, maybe? I do not know the exact details of how he was born, but Ceres did say to me once that Pongo was created by Mira as a vessel. He was never really from Earth to begin with. Perhaps that is why he is always quoting something from Earth..."

Athena couldn't help but chuckle a bit at her last statement. "He's curious about our culture, yet he looks like he should belong to our society of humans. I get the deepest feeling that he feels like an outcast against the majority of humanity. Those that were born normal and lead actual lives. Unlike some of us who spent some of our lives as lab rats for government-funded projects that we had no say in..."

Eienias || Jaynix

Jaynix couldn't help but chuckle.

"I asked him the same thing...about being born. He only remembers a pitch black place, blue light and feeling angry...beyond that, he's at a loss. That said, I still believe Cocytios means something to him...just not sure what yet..."

Jaynix continued to tap her fingers against the table, listening to Athena talk about Pongo...and also a little bit about herself.

"I spend a lot of time around Pongo...he never seems to me like he doesn't feel like he belongs. But maybe that speaks more for my inability to really read him. I don't know. I mean, I know now this stressful secret he has, but beyond that he seems happy. He wants to know. Not just about us, but about Mira and about why..."

"...and Athena, the time you spent with those people may not have been ideal. Shit, it wasn't. Not in the least. But you made it out. You're here and you're married...you fought for this life you have...it's heartwarming to see someone rise above adversity and find happiness and stability..."

Jaynix smiled at Athena, her gaze faltering for a few moments as she thought about herself. Pushing the thoughts away she nodded at Athena, hoping she could convey whatever else she needed to, through her eyes.

Art || Athena

A smile tugged on Athena's lips.

"Thank you, Jaynix. You're probably one of my most trustworthy friends and I can respect you for that. Your loyalty to others radiates off of you like the heat of a fire: warm and welcoming. I couldn't ask for a better friend."

She then decided to change topics. "So, have you seen that psychologist I mentioned ever since the camping trip? I've been meaning to ask him about you, but I've been busy, so I haven't had time so ask."

Eienias || Jaynix

Jaynix's eyes widened at Athena's statements, she found her heart pounding and...even her cheeks were growing warm. Unsure of what to do she looked away from Athena and brushed some of her hair behind her ear.

"I uh...th-thank you, Athena...no one...ever...thank you."

Jaynix knew she should say something about Athena...she doubted the other woman was expecting a return of deep and meaningful compliments but she felt she should. Any plans to do so were derailed by her next question. Jaynix remained silent for far longer than she should have before finally speaking.

"I did...a few days after coming back from the trip I went by..."

She looked down briefly before facing her companion again.

"...once...and I didn't like how I felt during the session...at all! I just...I didn't like it! So I..."

She fell silent again, unable to continue, expecting disappointment and all manner of emotions to follow.

Art || Athena

"You haven't gone back yet, I presume?" Athena placed both hands on the table and looked at Jaynix. She thought Jaynix might not like the sessions, but it was at least a try. She sighed.

Before she could mutter another word, the waitress finally came with their orders. "Anything else I can do for you?" the waitress asked. Athena shook her head, "Not at the moment. Thank you, though."

Eienias || Jaynix

Jaynix looked up at Athena, her expression unlike that of a child waiting to be scolded.

"No. I...I left in the middle of the first session...couldn't even finish that...I'm pathetic..."

Jaynix put on her best smile for the waitress as she left them their food before leaving. She looked to her coffee, a caramel macchiato. Recalling her and Pongo's 'game' in Cocytios and everything they shared. Needing some semblance of comfort she picks it up and takes a long drink.

Art || Athena

Athena takes a sip of her tea before speaking again. "I shouldn't have brought up the session, then. I just thought it would help with your PTSD. Guess I was wrong..."

The melancholy in her eyes was back again, showing itself very prominently. "Just like all the other times I've been wrong in my life..."

A small chuckle escaped her lips. "Heh...you would think a prodigy kid would not be prone to mistakes. And yet I am living proof that they can screw up...screw up a lot..."

Eienias || Jaynix

Jaynix looks to her friend and shakes her head.

"Don't think like that Athena...you were absolutely right! I need help. I know I do. I've known since...well...it's been a while. I've been afflicted with and fighting with my PTSD and traumas all on my own since I woke up in Noctilum...but having you. Pongo. Aevi. Zack. Draco. Kruse...you help me...you do...that's what you were trying to do in Noctilum, around the campfire when I told you about my hallucinations."

"Don't let this weigh on you, you did what any bright, selfless, caring and wonderful individual would do for another...I just...I'm just really hard to deal with."

Jaynix tapped her fingers against her drink, her feet tapping against the ground as well. All this nervous energy was beginning to become too much for her. She couldn't stop fidgeting.

"Athena. It's such an old and tired saying...but it still rings true. Nobody's perfect. Even prodigies make mistakes. That said, I really don't see this as one. I refuse to believe you looking out for me to be a mistake. In the end, you were right. I had to talk to someone...someone just wound up being Pongo...but it was you adding on your concern, your point that I have to talk about it and open up that convinced me to do so...again, I have to say. Thank you, Athena."

Art || Athena

Another smile tugs at Athena's lips as she looks at the Fiery Corporal again. "Thank you again, Jaynix. My words still ring true. You truly are a loyal friend."

She took a bite out of the muffin she also ordered before speaking again. "How is Draco, if you don't mind me asking? I've been wanting to talk with him again, but like I said before, I've been busy."

Eienias || Jaynix

Jaynix allows herself to smile in relief before picking up her own sweet pastry and taking a big bite just as Athena asks about Draco. Chewing, Jaynix thinks over her response. With a swallow, she can't fight off a laugh.

"That's really good...um...Draco...he's alive. Which is the best news...I really thought he was dead back in Oblivia but I refused to let myself believe it...I had to hold onto the hope he wasn't...and he isn't...that said...I haven't spoken with him since."

Art || Athena ||

"Well, here's hoping that he's alright, right?" She raises her cup into the air. "A toast to us for becoming friends and for somehow surviving on this planet." She couldn't help but let out a bit of a laugh.

Eienias || Jaynix

Jaynix raises her cup up as well, tapping it against Athena's before taking a long drink. Chuckling she speaks.

"I'm glad we're friends. I really am. And on days like this I'm truly grateful to still be alive."

Taking another bite from her pastry she decides to ask.

"You've got any plans after our little date here?"

Art || Athena || Nyx

"Not really," she says after taking another sip from her tea.

"However I have this feeling Cain is gonna get it the next time I see him. I know something happened while I was gone..."

She soon gets up the minute the waitress leaves the bill. Athena pays her half of the bill before taking off. "Enjoy the rest of your day, Jaynix!" she states before she takes off.

Eienias || Jaynix

Jaynix nods at Athena, smirking.

"Married life. You just know these things right?"

Chuckling, Jaynix takes her pills out, downing two as always before paying her half of the bill. Standing she does a few stretches.

"If he ends up deserving somethin or other, give him an extra one from me! Have a great day Athena!"

Looking down at her no longer fidgeting hands, Jaynix smiles, looking back to Athena's form as the woman walks away, Jaynix nods her head to her, grateful.

Whistling again she turns and departs, deciding that a few missions needed clearing...maybe she'll call Zack in for this batch.

Regardless, she'll be thanking Athena a lot, for making the rest of her day seem brighter than ever.