#Star Wars: The Force Unleased

[toxic-garbage-island]

Whoops God of War once again making me debate buying a PS2 and finding all the GoW games

[foolishlovers]

hiii!!! do u have any recs for long AUs??? thank you! :]

of course, i love long good omens AUs, here are some of my favourites:

[you can request more fic recs here.]

Golden Handcuffs by seekwill (E, 70k) Far from any city, near the Scottish coast, Tadfield College has a celebrated history, an unrivaled academic reputation, and two departments at war. When the Biology and English departments are forced to share a building, Senior Lecturer and botanist Anthony Crowley finds himself drawn into the orbit of the polite but strange English professor, Dr. Aziraphale Fell. As the new term begins, two academics navigate the politics of both their offices and academia, and try to solve the puzzle of one another.

Fifty-Two Blue by bendycello (M, 84k) It would be a gross understatement to say that Crowley simply didn't like Aziraphale. He was posh and stuffy and arrogant, and Crowley couldn't figure out why everyone else in the program liked him so much. It hardly mattered; they were competitors, and Crowley didn't need to make friends to become a surgeon. It takes several unleasant encounters, the excessive use of house plants as a coping mechanism, and getting stuck in an elevator for Crowley to start reconsidering his priorities. Or… Crowley and Aziraphale are surgical interns with competitive streaks a mile wide each, and they really do not like each other at all. Until they do.

Waking Up Slow by the_moonmoth (E, 87k) “Then you’ll just have to come back with me," Aziraphale said. “You what?” “You’ll have to come and isolate with me, at my cottage.” The thing about messing with people, Crowley thought, was that sometimes, they genuinely surprised you. After both being exposed to coronavirus, total strangers Crowley and Aziraphale are forced to wait out their isolation together. A tale of soft winter romance by the sea.

Slow Show by mia_ugly (E, 95k) In which temptations are accomplished, grand romantic gestures are made, and two ineffable co-stars only take four seasons of an award-winning television program to realize they’re on their own side (at last, at last.)

Car Trouble by summerofspock (E, 102k) Aziraphale's car breaks down so he takes it to the first mechanic he can find. From there, his mundane life changes drastically as he finds himself befriending the man fixing his car.

on the same page by Chekhov (E, 117k) Aziraphale Z. Fell is a rising star of the spiritual literary genre - the next Eat Pray Love guy - and his version of Chicken Soup For the Christian Soul is flying off the shelves. It's not that he's not grateful, but it's one thing to enjoy a career in writing and another completely to be pigeonholed into a specific genre, so much so that you are almost forbidden from writing anything else. So yes, maybe he has a bit of a secret. An outlet for his less… appropriate urges. And yes, if his typical readership got word of the sort of paragraphs he could put out on a particularly inspired night, they might suffer some form of heart attack typical for their age. But all of that is well hidden, and there is absolutely no way anyone would ever find out about his Arrangement with A.J. Crowley - the most debaucherous romantic fiction author of the decade. That is… until they have to pretend to be married to each other.

Married at First Sight by Aracloptia (T, 146k) “Well, that was a thing,” Crowley said once they were out of earshot. Without talking about it, they were both heading down the field, towards the lake where the photographer (and likely a few more people from the TV crew) was waiting. “That was a wedding,” Aziraphale replied, surprised at his own annoyance that somebody called a wedding a ‘thing’. “Yeah, obviously, didn’t miss that part,” Crowley said with a shrug, and waved abruptly in Aziraphale’s general direction. “Neither did you, from the looks of it, since you’re dressed like a wedding bride and everything.” “Excuse me, I am a—“ Aziraphale stopped himself, and started over. In which Aziraphale ends up marrying a rude stranger who wears sunglasses.

Old Vines by sevdrag (E, 189k) A.Z. Fell, one of the most respected names in wine and food blogging, has been sent on assignment with his assistant Warlock Dowling to spend six months in California Wine Country. Under direction (by his boss, Gabriel) to use this experience to double his blog followers and write a novel, Aziraphale is both excited and anxious about the opportunity. Anthony J. Crowley is the owner and viticulturalist of Ecdyses, a winery that unexpectedly fell into his lap eleven years ago when he hit rock bottom. He may be in debt, yeah, but he’s paying off his loans — and despite pressure from his lenders and their team of inspectors, Crowley has found a kind of contentment tending his little corner of terroir and producing extraordinary wine. Crowley’s old vines are the heart of his vineyard, and he’s never let anyone in. Crowley finds Aziraphale intriguing; Aziraphale finds Crowley enthralling. Turns out a famous wine expert and an experienced viticulturalist can still learn things from each other. The summer of 2019 unfolds.

What We Make of It (Shotgun Wedding) by charlottemadison (E, 213k) The important thing, Crowley tells himself -- the most important thing -- is Adam, his brilliant, creative, empathetic nephew. Being fourteen's hard enough; the kid didn't ask to deal with the weight of the world on top of it. And if taking care of Adam means Crowley has to tough it out at a job he can’t stand, so be it. And if Crowley's job means that Adam’s charming English teacher is NOT a romantic possibility, well, that's just how things go. But the occasional drink with Aziraphale proves hard to resist. They frequent the same pub, so who can object to them saying hello? Briefly sharing a table? Perhaps a little conversation? The painful knowledge that it can’t be anything more -- not without somebody getting fired or sued or both -- well, that can't be helped. Until Crowley stumbles onto a terribly reckless idea…

[gffa]

Do you know if the Jedi Temple had a Danger Room-style training facility which included realistic holograms of dangerous scenarios?

Hi! There are two things that come immediately to mind--different continuities, but with as scarce as Jedi Temple worldbuilding is, sometimes we gotta take what we can get where we can get it! 1. The Force Unleased (Legends canon) has a room that sends out training droids to fight in the middle of a large "Padawan Training Chamber". You can watch a walkthrough of this particular mission here (this specific part starts at about 3 minutes in), where there aren't any holograms being used but it's otherwise kinda a Danger Room-style training area.

2. Obi-Wan & Anakin (Disney canon) has young Anakin training against a droid that he himself layered a hologram of Darth Maul over it in an open training area. Mace and Obi-Wan are surprised by this, Obi-Wan says he knew Anakin was working on something, but not quite this, which seems to imply that the Jedi don't really have Danger Room-style holograms used and this wasn't something they were used to seeing, if it was a surprise when Anakin created one.

It's always possible that I'm missing something in a novel somewhere or a piece of Legends content I haven't read yet! But generally, what we see of Jedi training areas are focused on more simple sparring together in dojo-style areas (Rebels and Tales of the Jedi) or training remotes defended against with their lightsabers or bokken (wooden swords) for those not ready for lightsabers (Choose Your Destiny: An Obi-Wan & Anakin Adventure) or open air courtyard training (The Clone Wars). So, I would say, no, they don't have a Danger Room-style training area and probably didn't really see it as important to develop one, because they're more about training their connection to the Force, rather than pure physical skills, because they deliberately chose to limit themselves in their physical training and weapons:

(Star Wars vol. 2 ongoing) Their bigger point of the Jedi's training philosophy was that they wanted to seek peace and forge a deeper connection with the Force, so that's what they'd focus more on, that their martial arts training was the real thing they wanted to focus on. However, the pieces are there for you to create one, if you want it! And this is my view of the Jedi (with evidence for why I think that way, of course) but there's nothing stopping you from saying, well, the Jedi would want to prepare for more dangerous situations.

[general-kalani]

New commission post, this time gifs! Prices can be negotiated but I'm thinking temporarily $5/two gifs.

Icon commission post here, Dinosaur gif commission post here, Writing commission post here, TWD commission post here

Can be in AUD or USD but if you want to negotiate with any of the options below, lmk! Paypal here and Ko-Fi here

This is an ever growing list and if you ask for a specific movie/show/game/etc I'll do my best to get my hands on it.

Options under cut for what can be chosen:

ANCIENT ANIMALS

Dinosaur (2000)

The Land Before Time (1988 movie)

Walking with Monsters

Walking with Dinosaurs

Walking with Beasts

Walking with Cavemen

Walking with Dinosaurs special - Ballad of Big Al

Chased by Dinosaurs (episodes 1 & 2)

Sea Monsters (episodes 1, 2 & 3)

Prehistoric Planet

Planet Dinosaur

Dinosaur Planet

Primeval

Prehistoric Park

MOVIES

The Hunt for Red October

The Mist

Alien Planet

Dog Soldiers

Dragonlance Dragons of Autumn Twilight

The Last Voyage of the Demeter

Wing Commander (1999 movie)

SHOWS

Babylon 5

Battletech Cartoon

Bitten

D&D Cartoon

Stargate SG-1

Transformers: Beast Machines

Transformers: Beast Wars

Transformers G1

Transformers the Movie

Transformers Prime

Voltron Vehicle Force

Vox Machina (season 1 only atm)

ANIME - LEIJIVERSE

Cosmo Warrior Zero

Galaxy Express

Gun Frontier

Harlock Saga - The Ring of the Nibelung

Interstellar 5555

Queen Emeraldas

Queen Millennia (might not be high quality)

Space Pirate Captain Harlock

Space Pirate Captain Herlock: Outside Legend - The Endless Odyssey

SSX Endless Orbit

Arcadia of my Youth

Space Pirate Captain Harlock (2013 movie)

Space Pirate Captain Harlock: Riddle of the Arcadia

ANIME - IRRESPONSIBLE CAPTAIN TYLOR

Irresponsible Captain Tylor TV series

Irresponsible Captain Tylor OVA series

ANIME - LEGEND OF THE GALACTIC HEROES (original series only)

Legend of the Galactic Heroes series

Legend of the Galactic Heroes - Golden Wings

Legend of the Galactic Heroes - My Conquest is the Sea of Stars

Legend of the Galactic Heroes - Overture to a New War

Legend of the Galactic Heroes Gaiden

ANIME - MACROSS

Macross 7

Macross Delta

Macross Frontier

Macross Plus

Macross Zero

Robotech

SDF Macross

ANIME - REVOLUTIONARY GIRL UTENA

Revolutionary Girl Utena tv series

Revolutionary Girl Utena movie

ANIME - SPACE BATTLESHIP YAMATO/STAR BLAZERS (original series and reboot)

Space Battleship Yamato 2199 (Reboot)

Space Battleship Yamato 2199 - Odyssey of the Celestial Ark

Space Battleship Yamato 2202 (Reboot)

Space Battleship Yamato 2205 (Reboot)

Space Battleship Yamato I (OS)

Space Battleship Yamato II (OS)

Space Battleship Yamato III (OS)

Arrivederci Yamato

Be Forever Yamato

Final Yamato

Space Battleship Yamato (2013 movie)

Uchuu Senkan Yamato (1977 recap movie)

Yamato - The New Voyage

Yamato: Resurrection

GAMES - FAR CRY (only games I own, sorry!)

Far Cry 3 (Can be modded for Jason in Vaas' place)

Far Cry 4 (Can be modded for Sabal and Pagan to switch places)

Far Cry 5 (Can be heavily modded)

Far Cry: New Dawn

Far Cry 6

GAMES - STAR WARS

KOTOR (I and II)

SWTOR

Star Wars: The Force Unleased (I and II)

Star Wars: Rebellion

Star Wars: Republic Commando

Star Wars: Starfighter

Star Wars: Battlefront 2 (Classic)

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

Star Wars: Jedi Knight series (Dark Forces I and II, Mysteries of the Sith, Jedi Academy, Jedi Outcast)

GAMES - BORDERLANDS

Borderlands (GOTY and GOTY Enhanced)

Borderlands the Pre-Sequel

Borderlands 2

Borderlands 3

Tiny Tina's Wonderlands

GAMES - MISCELLANEOUS

Aliens: Colonial Marines

Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3

Dead Island (Definitive Edition, can be modded to get rid of lens flares and more)

Dead Island Riptide (Definitive Edition)

Generation Zero

Left 4 Dead 2

Iron Harvest

Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion (Can be specific matches, races, etc)

State of Decay (I and II)

Strange Brigade

[nintendonext]

Θα κυκλοφορήσει σε υλική μορφή το Star Wars: The Force Unleased

Θα κυκλοφορήσει σε υλική μορφή το Star Wars: The Force Unleased

Έρχεται η φυσική έκδοση του Star Wars: The Force Unleased επιτέλους και σε φυσική έκδοση για το Nintendo Switch. Πάμε να δούμε τι θα συμπεριλαμβάνει αναλυτικά. (more…)

[incorrectnerov-quotes]

Nero: You agreed to stay away!!

Vergil: I lied.

[residualself]

The Force Unleashed: A Star Wars Story, volumes 1 & 2 available now through Dark Horse Comics. Featuring our song “Know Me” - Residual Self

(via https://open.spotify.com/user/22lb5syeojivhkp5hx7ckpcai/playlist/7JAdM31iOxj54RtGarXCIl?si=wzE0icLNTrqjcsZgHZ8WwA)

[motherovernature]

Past to Present of the Life of Seraphina Pitchiner

This is the established timeline of my Canon Divergence that has been created over time since 2012. There are many events that divert from canon but have some events that still point to what happened in the books (separate from Jack’s book... I’ve yet to read it). 

The people tagged have been part of this story and it’s development as well. It does leave room for canon and original lore of others. Her perspectives and experiences are separate, and I hope you enjoy this read.

It answers how Seraphina became a Titan of Earth, and part of the energies of its very threads, and a bit about what she is because of the past choices, who she was, and what she will be. An individual who is focused on Balance and is herself Grey in a world of Light and Dark.

Golden Age

Birth- Born under Pisces to General Kozmotis Pitchiner @piratekingpitchblack​ and Lady Luthien Dorremacea and given the name Seraphina Dorremacea Pitchiner

Age 0-6- Early childhood with her family in Orion’s belt

Age 6- Tragedy on Orion’s Belt- Seraphina lost, Luthien dies, Kozmotis loses his love and light

Age 6-7 - drifts in star skiff for an undetermined amount of time from Orion’s Belt to Argo where she is taken in by the elder Constellation Titan, Typhan

Age 7-14 - under the protection and tutelage of Typhan, hopeful that her family will find her again. Typhan is able to identify the Celestial blood in her veins, helps her develop powers of controlling the Cosmic Winds. Teaches her about the ascension of Titans. Sets in her mind the goal of becoming a Titan. She fosters a disposition of bitterness towards the Golden Empire and her father, thinking that they have stopped looking for her. Typhan’s manipulations succeed in keeping his protege with him and not leaving. 

Age 14- A vessel is spotted, Sera is hopeful it maybe her father's ship. Typhan points out that Kozmotis and the Empire stopped looking ages ago. Sera comes to a realization that he’s been hiding her from them. He does not deny it, claiming she is his child, his possession. Sera’s pent up anger and rage are unleased in a catastrophic Cosmic Storm. The passenger's vessel is destroyed and Typhan becomes imprisoned in a shell of the home he had built for Sera. She flees, in anguish.

Age 14-15 Travels back to the Golden Empire, gains a little Star Fox as a companion and is determined to find her father. When she arrives she meets the Captain of the Gaurd Noah @acopyoflight​ . She is made a ward of the Tsar and Tsarina.

Age 15-20 gains an education in the Empire and joins the Star Pilot Academy. Graduates from the Academy and becomes a Star Explorer. During that time she becomes close friends with Hevel of Sextans @lordsextans​, Princess Ariana of Aries @warrior-princess-aries​, and Noah @acopyoflight​. Hevel develops and builds Sera’s Star Ship. Sera fuses with a comatose star as the ritual of the Pilots.

Age 20-23 Balances life as an Explorer and a member of the Council. Has a partnership with the Hunter Pilot Theo, develops a unique relationship with the Singularity Lord Nero @lorddevourer​. Visits Typhan’s prison to find the tombs of knowledge he had eluded to her having when she was ready. Lots of crazy things happen that have Sera making progress towards becoming a Titan, politics, and other juicy things. Sera uncovers a piece of her Heritage pointing to her Mother as a Keeper of the Trees. This becomes a goal of hers to find and understand.

Age 23-26 Leaves the Empire after deciding she has reached a crossroads, pursue her goals and change the Empire herself, or stay and let things be as they have. She is joined by other Pilots in support of her, they leave the Empire. They come across the Nightmare Galleon, the pilots perish, and in an attempt to take out the Galleon Sera collides her ship with it. Sera effectively becomes apart of the crew with @piratekingpitchblack​ and more complex things happen that lead to stars being consumed, artifacts found, and secrets unraveled about the Keeper of the Trees. Typhan awakens as she gains energy from the stars consumed he too siphons some of this force from her. He becomes a problem, a big problem. Manipulates Sera to try and pull the shadows from the Nightmare King, that backfires poorly and she flees.

Age 26 Typhan and Sera clash as she seeks to find the Keeper of the Trees. The stars she has consumed are not balanced well and cause great discomfort and literally tearing her apart at the molecules, breaking her down. Typhan decimates her, with energy restored to a greater strength he strips the stars from her she consumed. All but one, a volatile one, the one she fused with as a Pilot. It has not been able to grow as it needed because the older ones she held sucked most room up, and it began to pull at their energies, pulling it to them. Creating a supernova and imminent death. Typhan leaves the obliterated ship and pilot to die. In those moments close to death she is found by unfamiliar beings. They stabilize her condition, but she is mortally wounded and her star is still at risk of a supernova. They bring her to the Cosmic World Tree, a place that can only be found when you are truly lost with no direction. In her state, they briefly teach her that she is the Scion of their Keeper, Luthien, her mother, whom they lost before her time. She was to be the guardian of the new Tree, as the old is dying and plagued by shadow. How they have found her though is not ideal, death is inevitable and soon to come. The Ancient Titan has seen their actions and will seek to obliterate her further, and them in the process. Mutual agreement, though concerning, is to have the World Seed germinate with her dying star, and life and death balance... hopefully. Sera dies as the seed germinates, finding purchase in the core of the star. Typhan finds the Keepers and the World Tree and burns it entirely. The Seed Pod is flung across the cosmos and Seraphina Pitchiner disappears from all existence. 

This star-like pod is what Sandy finds and sails, connecting to a disembodied consciousness that is Sera.

Highlights of the 4.5 billion years of Earth

The Seed Pod collides with a distant planet with a black burning, gaseous rock.

The Seed Pod explodes and the energies of both the Pod and the dying Planet clash. Their primordial energies clashing fiercely, violently, catastrophically.

The planet shapes over time, with or without outside help these energies are not aware. Their clash creates friction and new energies, a new entity is developed and creates a sea that tempers the flame and disaster of the Gold and Red. 

The Primordial Energies all develop into Primordial Titans; Earth, Destruction, and Sea. Earth and Destruction violently clash and the Sea grabs each and flings them violently away from each other. Earth is drug to the seafloor and Destruction buried under a mountain.

Together Sea and Earth begin to experiment with odd life forms in the sea. All three Titans begin to develop an identity and self during this time.

When life in the sea begins to get complex Earth leaves, taking what is known from that time onto the dry land.

Earth creates, and Destruction clashes again with her. He is ravenous primal rage, but so is she. 

Ages span again, Earth becomes Gaia, Destruction becomes Ru Udai, and Sea becomes Levyathan.

Complex life is established, but the tides are imbalanced. Much life is lost repeatedly.

A moon appears in the sky and life stabilizes, a dark meteor crashes to Earth and wipes out life again.

The three Titans (in varying animal/beastial forms) contain this darkness deep into the crust of the planet. 

Life stabilizes again, the cycles repeat. More stabilization is gained by the presence of the Moon. Gaia and Ru clash, and eventually Gaia establish herself as superior, she is the protecting ruling entity. Won by superior force, strength, and prowess. Ru makes his dominion in the volcanic systems beneath the crust, Levyathan the depths of the seas, and Gaia, a realm that is at the heart of thriving life and land. The Tree of Life sprouts, and in this lush landscape humanity begins to grow.

Civilization develops, gods, begin to surface, discord and fighting among the gods and Titans reign with conflict. Humans develop towards war and conquest. Disruptive is the way of life now.

Gaia pulls her realm back when humanity tries to overpower her with the gods, creating a pocket realm that is cut off from them and protects her tree. Creating an oasis and garden that will someday be the future of the world her way.

Atlantis rises to existence. Levyathan draws close to this civilization as a parent and guardian. The Atlantians rise in power and hubris, steal his giant, oracle eye and he disappears into the depths to recover from his wounds. When he awakens Atlantis is destroyed, all history lost. He sinks back to the depths and makes himself a haven away from humanity in his own pocket realm.

Ru thrives off the conflict of humanity rising and their conquest, volcano’s and disasters cause unstable environments and Gaia quiets him.

As the Titan’s quiet and pull away as Rome ascends, Gaia begins to recall an old identity as the Tree grows stronger. Seraphina. 

Seraphina begins to emerge and explore the planet, learning of the different creatures, cycles, and realms. She makes alliances, establishes her power, and regains memories

More present events, the Core of Earth shakes and shudders. The memories pouring through Sera’s consciousness causing instability for the core and her own self. She finds connections to anchor her in others, and meets faces from an age so very long ago. She dwells in Shangri La, The Glen with her budding World Tree of Life.

Some she remembers well, others not. A pact (not sure what we refer to it right now) is formed between a unique visitor, Lord Nero @lorddevourer​, friendships rekindled in Hevel and Ariana, new ones developed with Toothiana @flossinspector​, and the world turns as it always does

The core of the Earth cracks and rumbles, a difficult period where both Seraphina and Nero realize the state of existence she holds, a death of a star held in stasis by a force of life determined to grow. A Singularity rests at the core of Earth, a revelation of what will be the future of the planet and of it’s Titan when it fully develops.

Typhan found Earth ages ago and has kept a keen eye on it. His interests lie in it’s Titan who persistently remains and finds that both interesting and useful. His sights also are aware of the Singularity King, and would rather separate the two indefinitely from each other.

The world turns as it does, more webs tied to this planet that it’s sovereign Titan desires, but it is her home, her shell, her work. A wish to change the cosmos, to have a world that balanced light and dark... oddly enough came to fruition. She has her goals in mind but prepares for the future in a much different way than she could have ever foreseen.

PS: image is the distance between little Orion and the MASSIVE broken Argo Constellation that she would of traversed.

[thatwitchrevan]

So I finally watched the Fallen Order gameplay trailer and here are some thoughts:

- while I would greatly prefer a protagonist who's not a white male human, Cal is adorable and I really like him so far. BD-1 is already baby.

- Saw seems a lot better off in this game vs Rogue One or even Rebels. I'm excited to see him from the perspective of rebels who work with him instead of them fighting. Hopefully.

- I like how the health bar on the hud kinda looks like a lightsaber.

- Cal seems pretty powerful for a young Jedi on the run which makes me wonder what his training was like and who the hell trained him. Also, I feel like he'd make a good assassin.

- But surely he's gonna die, though, right? There's a rule about Jedi at this time in Star Wars history, which is that if they're anywhere near imperial space for very long, they die. If he survives there's got to be a pretty good explanation.

- The gameplay looks a lot like The Force Unleased and it looks good.

- idk it looks fun and I'm intrigued but I need more information.

[brutalgamer]

Games With Gold Gets Star Wars, Project Cars And More

The February line up for Xbox Games with Gold will include Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime, Project Cars, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed and Monkey Island 2 SE. This looks to be an exciting line up full of adventure and action. Lovers adrift in space while pirates reveal the mysteries of Monkey...

[bzdsentai]

Haven’t had a character action Star Wars game since Force Unleased 2.

Glad the first new one is a Lego game.

[yourgamecheats]

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (PS4)

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (PS4)

It’s been nearly a decade since we were last given a single player story-driven Star Wars game with the second Force Unleased game, which may be why so many of us were all chomping at the bit for Fallen Order. That and we’ve been tempted before with Star Wars greatness with the likes of Star Wars 1313, only to have it cancelled and ripped away. Then there was the Amy Hennig project; the famed Unc…

[paigecoe]

Star Wars posters - I want to look at taking inspiration from this format as it is so well recognised. Using the characters from Force Unleased in this way would be a really effective way to create posters for the game campaign

[our-workis-never-over]

The Force Unleased 1 was one of my favorite Star Wars stories of all time. Conversely, TFU2 comes across as really bad fanfiction written by Juno herself.

[incorrectnerov-quotes]

Vergil: Your feeling for him are not real

Nero: They are real to me!

[tryingtofindthestories]

Watching the World Burn

Prompt:  There are people who try to avoid any kind of conflict. And then there are people who just want to watch the world burn. - @creativepromptsforwriting

In this world, there are people who try to avoid any type of conflict. An then of course, there are the people who just want to watch the whole world burn. Likely with an over priced bag of popcorn in hand.

And I swear to God, my best friend is one of the latter. 

“I mean, isn’t Star Wars and Star Trek the same thing?” As the words tumbled with feigned innocence from Tanvi, I felt my eyes widen with shock and my muscles tense in preparation for the battle to come. We were both dead and it was all her fault.

“Well, of course not. Have you been living under a rock or something?” a man with a Skywalker tee-shirt questioned. “Star Wars is an original masterpiece of the epic battle between good versus evil. Not a cheap almost B rated film like Star Trek!”

“Excuse you,” a female Captain Kirk exclaimed, “Star Trek is a parody designed at addressing stereotypes and tropes established by ‘masterpieces’ like your previous Star Wars. It’s satire dumb butt.” As fans from both sides scrambled to answer the call to arms and defend their preferred fandom, I grabbed Tanvi’s arm. She grudgingly followed along with athletic grace, even in her five inch ankle boots that raised her equal to my 5 foot 5 inch frame. Her dark hair bounced in a perky ponytail behind her as she pouted at me like a child dragged from a candy shop. When we were far enough to reassure me that we were not followed by some avid fan who refused to release us from the ensuing melee, I stopped tugging my best friend along. Leaning against one of the buildings walls, I slowly slid to the floor as I breathed a sigh of relief.

“Oh, you take all the fun out of things, Olivia.” I tossed Tanvi a disbelieving look as I clutched my over sized sweater tighter to my lanky frame for comfort. She looked the picture of innocence with her head slightly tipped down and hands clasped politely in front of her. Even the crystal nose stud refracted the ceiling light as if to say, how can you really be mad at this? I put my head in my hands and let out a mirthless laugh.

“You are going to get us killed. We will be the first people ever murdered at comic con by enraged fans.”

“Stop being so dramatic, Olive. We probably won’t be the first.” My only answer was a breathless huff. “Come now, it really wasn’t that bad. All I did was ask a question.” I glared back up at her, taking in every inch from her dark ankle boots, up to the ripped jeans and retro t-shirt that lovingly hugged her thick body and complemented her deep brown skin tone, all the way to her wide eyed gaze. 

“A question?” Eyeing her I tried to find... something. What it was, I have no clue. A sign of remorse? An acknowledgement of the evil she had just released? Any sense of self preservation, perhaps? Taking in the contrite posturing, some other ignorant victim would have believed she truly meant no harm. That she had no understanding of the vicious war she had just unleased in this sacred place of tentative truces. But I had been conditions through years of practice to see through the false veneer, to see the mischievous glint in her warm brown eyes and the little smirk coloring her lips that gave lie to everything else. A groan wheezed out of me like leaky bellows. I curled in more on myself, knobby knees shoved into my chest and my forehead pressed into my knees. My introverted self could only handle so much, and comic con itself was plenty, thank you very much. Tanvi was the outgoing one, the doer of us two. She was the reason we were here no matter how much she didn’t want to be. Had it been up to me I would have kept waffling over buying the ticket. If I progressed that far and actually booked a hotel, I probably would have holed up in my room too terrified to go to the convention. No matter how much I wanted to go.

Tanvi bought the tickets for my birthday and she dragged me out of my room to the convention. She was the one who pushed me toward the booths with my favorite comic artists and publishers and asked my questions for me when I refused to speak up during panel audience Q and A. 

“Hey,” Here I felt slim hands gently touch my knees, “You ok?”

Taking a deep breath, I forced myself to look up. A concerned gaze met mine when I did and a twinge of guilt stung in my chest. Tanvi didn’t like comics and superheroes, yet here she was for me, and what was I doing? Hiding behind my hands. Tanvi gave me a stern look, almost like she could read my mind. “None, of that now. No reason to feel bad about how you react, remember?”

“Yeah,” The word came out a little weak so I repeated myself, “Yeah, I remember.” Tanvi smiled and squeezed my knees.

“So, you ok?”

“Yeah, I’m good.” A sigh followed. “Why do you have to harass all the fans?” A wider smile was my first answer.

“It’s so fun and way too easy, don’t you know?” I rolled my eyes at her before dropping my hands to my sides. Tanvi moved to my side, crouching easily with no sign of discomfort. I stretched out my legs while shooting her an envious look.

“Showoff,” I grumbled at the athlete. Tanvi just laughed in response. “But really, do you have to harass them?” She offered a tired smiled and arched brow at that.

“Did I really though? I just asked the difference, they were the ones who turned to insults.” I hesitated a moment, before shrugging.

“I guess.”

“No guess, they did. I didn’t. What if I really didn’t have any friends into it, and was asking so I could learn more about them, genuinely?”

“You probably wouldn’t have joined either one.”

“Yeah, and someone would have missed out on something they could enjoy just because some people can’t let others love something that isn’t what they love. Even I can laugh at good natured jokes about softball, and not only do I love it, I’m getting a scholarship from it as well.” We both paused a moment at that, my gaze held by my shoes as I tapped them firmly against the floor. Letting the conversation roll over me and consider it thoroughly. Tanvi lost in her own consideration of something else. “So really what harm is there in my enjoying the chaos that comes from their own ridiculousness? Why shouldn’t some good come of it?”

I hesitated in answering this, my gut instinct being to reject the idea. That any kind of provoked fan war could be a good thing or the instigated excused for it. Yet, she made a strong point. She had asked a genuine question, it was the fans who had taken it too far. And truly, I knew she would have enjoyed a true discussion on the differences just as much. Would have loved to see their passion for their chosen fandom the same way she loved listening to Jackie and I talk about our fan theories and love of this or that comic, despite the fact it never tempted her to go and pick up the comic herself. Was it really bad to enjoy the battle that ensued then?

“I guess not.” Tanvi hummed at that, before shrugging. With that, she quickly stood to her full height  and smiled down at me, something about it all a firm statement that she was done with the conversation. At least for now.

“Are you feeling ok enough to keep going, or do you want to head back to the hotel. I don’t care either way, before you ask. I have a wicked murder mystery back in the room waiting for me or this fun here, so I’m good either way.” Taking a deep breath, I studied her. Warm, brown eyes and bright smile, strong shoulders and a friendly hand held out to help me up. My symbol of safety and comfort. Smiling back, I told myself to be just a little braver today and reached up to the outstretched hand.

“Let’s keep going. I’ll let you know if I need to bail.” Tanvi nodded as she firmly gripped me.

“Ok.” Smoothly she pulled me to my feet. As I awkwardly regained my footing, Tanvi tucked my arm under hers so we looked like two girls from an Anne of Green Gables novel meandering along, arm in arm. Not two seconds in and Tanvi was pointing something else out to me.

“Oh look, the Marvel fandom is right over there.” Turning to me she flashed her charismatic grin, “Why don’t we see what fun we can stir up over there.” Then she dragged me along to act as witness to her dangerous games, because everyone knows that you have only yourself to blame if you get hurt during a fan war, especially if you started it.

“Wait, wasn’t there a story line about a Civil War, between Ironman and Captain America? Who was the good guy in that?”

Remember what I said about watching the world burn?